A Little Equation that Creates Big Results

The purpose of man is in action not thought – Thomas Carlyle

Often people will ask me how I get so much done in my life. They wonder at how I am able to accomplish so many things. The answer is found not in what a great person I am, but in an equation I came up with a few years ago and remind myself of on almost a daily basis. And when I live this equation out, it produces big results. What people don’t seem to grasp is that this equation will work for anybody! Anyone can see results in their life if they will live it out!

This little equation, when it is understood, and acted upon, is perhaps the most powerful equation there is in regard to long-term achievement and accomplishment. Yet, this is not a complex equation. In fact, it is rather simple. So what is it?

Your short-term actions multiplied by time equals your long-term accomplishments.

If you want to see change in your life, see big results, the first thing you must do is change your current actions. Otherwise the old saying becomes a reality: “If you always do what you’ve always done, you’ll always get what you always got!” But if we change our actions, we will see different results!

Most people want to accomplish a lot in their lives. Yet very few actually do. Why is this? It is because what they believe will equal their long-term accomplishments are wrong. Here are some of the things that people believe will create great accomplishments for them:
Beliefs
Vision
Big dreams
Ideas
Ideals
Values
Desire
The truth is that while these things are very important, they are not enough in and of themselves. We need to have the above underlying all that we do, but we need to actually do something! And this is where most people stop. We need to take action on our dreams and beliefs every day. Here are some examples of how this works.

Who loses weight? The one who knows all about the benefits of exercise or the one who walks 3 miles a day?

Who retires early? The one who dreams of a house on the beach, or the one who invests $300 a month?

Who writes books? The one who desires to become a best-selling author, or the one who gets up early and writes for half an hour a day?

Who has the best marital relationship? The one who knows how much spending time with their spouse can improve their relationship, or the one who sits down and talks with their spouse every night?

Who makes the most sales? The one who believes they can become a great salesperson, or the one who makes 10 sales calls a day?

I think you get the point. When it all comes down to it, we must act upon our vision, beliefs, and ideals or we won’t see them come to fruition. I see too many people who know what is right, but don’t ever do anything about it. Imagine what a difference we could make in our own lives and the lives of others if we would simply begin to act upon on our beliefs!

When I get to the end of my life, I want to know that I have done all that I can to make this world a better place and to enhance the lives of those around me. I want to know that I gave it my best shot. And I am sure that you do to. I remember reading an interview with an author who has written numerous books that have sold in the tens of millions. They asked him how he did it. His answer was that he got up every morning before anyone else in his family and wrote, long hand, with a pencil, for an hour. Then he quit and went about his day. But his short-term actions piled up. 7 hours a week. 30 hours a month. 365 hours a year. After a while, he had lots of books!

Some questions as we leave:

What long-term accomplishments do you want to see come to pass?

What short-term actions will you need to do over time to see them come to pass?

What will you do today to begin seeing your dreams come true?

What will you do this week to see them come true?

You can have an awesome future, filled with great achievements and results if you begin today to take action and make it a reality!

One more time, so you can plug it in, memorize it, and live it. Your short-term actions multiplied by time equals your long-term accomplishments.

Einstein’s Formula for Success

Albert Einstein had a formula for success. Can you believe that? One of the greatest minds of all time developed a math formula for success! I suggest you read this carefully — this may be the most important math equation that you will ever see.

Einstein said, ‘If A equals success, then the formula is: A=X+Y+Z.
X is work.
Y is play.
Z is keep your mouth shut.”

Einstein no doubt had an excellent sense of humor. Let’s look at the 3 variables in this equation. They are:
1. Work
2. Play
3. Keeping your mouth shut!

1. Work: Albert Einstein had a tremendous work ethic and because of that gave more to society and modern science than any person in recent times

2. Play: Einstein, however, did not work 24 hours a day and made time for fun and relaxation. His idea of fun may have been different than yours, but that doesn’t mean it still wasn’t play.

3. Keeping your mouth shut: Finally, my favorite part of his success formal is to keep your mouth shut. I genuinely believe that the person who talks the least says the most. A friend of mine complains that the woman he is dating talks too much. I don’t know how to break the news to him; however, the problem is not that she talks too much. It simply is the fact that he is irritated that he isn’t able to talk. Now, let me just say this is not a generic man and woman statement. I am speaking about a specific person that I know. His desire is to constantly talk and because he likes to talk so much, he will talk in circles. If you let him talk long enough he will repeat the same thing three times and then contradict himself. His desire is not to hear but to be heard.

Albert Einstein, on the other hand had nothing to prove. He felt no need to be the “Chatty Cathy” he could have been with his knowledge. It wasn’t important to him to talk to everyone he met and talk over their heads to demonstrate his IQ. Instead, he learned the value of quietness and solitude.

Shift your mind set from being a talker to a listener. It has been said that you can make more friends in 5 minutes by becoming interested in others than you can make in 5 years of trying to get others interested in you! How do you become interested in others? You ask questions and then keep your mouth shut!

Dale Carnegie wrote a best selling book entitled ‘How to Win Friends and Influence People.’ One of the key premises of this book was that everyone’s favorite subject is actually themselves and that the sweetest sound to their ears is the sound of their own name. Einstein knew this and realized he could influence others by choosing his spots to speak and validating others by extending them the courtesy of listening.

How To Be An Effective Communicator

A young man whom I had known since he was in high school stopped by to see me and proudly display his new MBA.

“I know a master’s degree alone doesn’t guarantee success,” he said. “What do you think is the most important quality for someone who wants to become a business leader?”

I answered without hesitation: The ability to communicate.

Individuals who communicate effectively with people at all levels, of both genders, and from a variety of cultures and backgrounds are today’s pacesetters.

In the old-style hierarchical, authoritarian setting, communication is relatively simple. The top person tells the underlings to jump, and the underlings need only ask, “How high?”

In a modern organization, communication requires more finesse. The leader is not a transmitter of commands but a creator of motivational environments.

The workers are not robots responding to switches and levers, but thinking individuals pouring their ingenuity into the corporate purpose.

The corporate ideal is not mechanical stability, but dynamic, innovative, continuous change.

The leader who can’t communicate can’t create the conditions that motivate. The genius who can’t communicate is intellectually impotent. The organization that can’t communicate can’t change, and the corporation that can’t change is dead.

The good news is that anyone can become an effective communicator. The door to effective communication will open to anyone who uses these five keys:
1.Desire.

Human infants have an inborn desire to communicate, and that desire enables them to pick up words quickly and to enlarge their vocabularies continuously.

That same kind of desire can enable you to enlarge your stock of words and improve your skill in employing them. Demosthenes, the Greek orator, had a desire to achieve eloquence after he was hissed and booed off the platform in Athens.

He cultivated the art of speech writing, then went to the shores of the Aegean Sea, where he strengthened his voice by shouting into the wind for hours at a time.

To improve his diction, he practiced speaking with pebbles in his mouth. To overcome his fear, he practiced with a sword hanging over his head. To clarify his presentation, he studied the techniques of the masters.

Today, more than 2,000 years later, the name Demosthenes is synonymous with oratorical eloquence.

2.Understanding the Process.

Reduced to basics, communication consists of sending and receiving messages.

Language is the primary conveyer of thoughts and ideas. It turns abstract concepts into words that symbolize those thoughts. Those words take the form of spoken sounds or written symbols.

If the mind can immediately translate the sounds and symbols into mental pictures, communication becomes much more vivid and much more meaningful. If I say “I want a desk for my office,” my listener has only a vague and general idea of what I want. If I say “I want a brown walnut desk,” the listener has a more vivid mental picture.

The more skillful you become at conveying images, the more effective your communication will be.

3.Master the basic skills.

Some people think the first requisite for good communication is an exhaustive vocabulary. Some people think it’s impossible to communicate well without first absorbing a heavy dose of grammar, then memorizing a dictionary of English usage.

Words are important. Good grammar is important. And yes, it helps to know which words and expressions are considered standard and which are considered substandard among educated people.

But slavish allegiance to the rules of grammar can actually impede communication. People will sometimes go to great lengths to avoid usage that somebody has pronounced “ungrammatical” or “substandard.” In the process, they forget the most important rule of communication: Make it clear and understandable.

The vocabulary you use in every-day speech has probably served you well. You use the words that you understand. Chances are, they’re the words your friends, colleagues and employees understand.

If you try to use words beyond the vocabularies of the people you’re trying to communicate with, you’re not communicating; you’re showing off.

Read the Gettysburgh Address, the Sermon on the Mount or Robert Frost’s poetry. The communications that endure are written in plain, simple language.

4.Practice.

I remember a story that gave me inspiration. A young musician had listened with awe as a piano virtuoso poured all his love and all his skill into a complex selection of great compositions.

“It must be great to have all the practicing behind you and be able to sit down and play like that,” he said.

“Oh,” said the master musician, “I still practice eight hours every day.”

“But why?” asked the astounded young man. “You’re already so good!”

“I want to become superb,” replied the older man.

I teach communication skills to thousands of people each year, through seminars, audio tapes, videotapes and books. Most of the people I reach are content to become good. Few are willing to invest the extra effort to become superb.

To become superb, you have to practice. It isn’t enough to know what it takes to connect with people, to influence their behavior, to create a motivational environment for them, to help them to identify with your message. The techniques of communication have to become part of your daily activity, so that they are as natural to you as swimming is to a duck. The more you practice these techniques, the easier you’ll find it to connect with people, whether you’re dealing with individuals one-on-one or with a group of thousands.

5.Patience.

Nobody becomes a polished, professional communicator on the first try. It takes patience. A few years ago, William White, a journalism and English instructor, edited a book of early writings by Ernest Hemingway. The young Hemingway was a reporter for a Toronto newspaper, and this book was a collection of his articles written between 1920 and 1924.

The writing was good, but it was not superb. It gave a faint foregleam of the masterful storyteller who would emerge in The Old Man and the Sea, but it wasn’t the Hemingway of literary legend.

What was lacking?

Experience. The genius was there all along, but it needed to incubate. The sands of time can abrade or polish. It depends on whether you use your time purposely or let it pass haphazardly.

Acquiring skill as a communicator requires constant, careful, loving attention to the craft.

The cub reporter didn’t transform himself into a successful novelist through one blinding flash of literary insight. Like most people, he progressed from the “good” to the “superb” through hundreds of tiny improvements from day to day.
You can use the five keys to effective communication in many settings, under a variety of circumstances. You can be a virtuoso at inspiring your work force, at negotiating business deals, at marketing your products and at building a positive corporate image. All these are important communication skills. But always remember: Whatever communication task you undertake, your objective is to connect with people.

The Secret Life

The secret life is the key to a quality life and that in turn is the key to a quality culture, products, and services. Once in New York City, I attended the Broadway play, The Secret Garden. The play was particularly poignant for me that evening because my mother had just died.

The Tony Award winning musical is the story of a young girl whose mother and father die of cholera in India as the play begins. She is sent to live with her uncle in a large British manor. The old house is filled with romantic spirits. As the restless girl explores the grounds of the estate, she discovers the entrance to the magical secret garden, a place where anything is possible.

When she first enters the garden, she finds that it appears to be dead, much like her cousin, a bedridden boy, and her uncle, still haunted by memories of his lovely wife who died giving birth to the boy. In harmony with natural laws and principles, the girl faithfully plants seeds and brings new life to the garden. As the roots are warmed and the garden cultivated, she brings about a dramatic transformation of her entire culture within one season.

In my many years of teaching and training, I have seen several such transformations brought about by proactive people who exercise principle-centered leadership and the Seven Habits in their secret, private, and public lives.

When I returned home to Salt Lake City the next day to speak at my mother’s funeral, I referred to the Secret Garden, because for me and many others, my mother’s home was a secret garden where we could escape and be nurtured by positive affirmation. In her eyes, all about us was good, and all that was good was possible.

Our Three Lives

We all live three lives: public, private and secret. In our public lives, we are seen and heard by colleagues, associates, and others within our circle of influence. In our private lives, we interact more intimately with spouses, family members, and close friends. The secret life is where your heart is, where your real motives are the ultimate desires of your life.

Many executives never visit the secret life. Their public and private lives are essentially scripted by who and what precedes and surrounds them or by the pressures of the environment. And so they never exercise that unique endowment of self-awareness the key to the secret life where you can stand apart from yourself and observe your own involvement.

Courage is required to explore our secret life because we must first withdraw from the social mirror, where we are fed positive and negative feedback continuously. As we get used to this social feedback, it becomes a comfort zone. And we may opt to avoid self-examination and idle away our time in a vacuum of reverie and rationalization. In that frame of mind, we have little sense of identity, safety, or security.

Examine Your Motives

The most critical junctures in my life take place when I visit my secret life and ask, “What do I think? What do I believe is right? What should my motives be?” These are times when I choose my motives. One such time occurred when I first heard Dag Hammarskjold say, “It is more noble to give yourself completely to one individual, than to labor diligently for the salvation of the masses.” That statement had such a profound effect on me that I started to say to myself in regard to my relationships with other people, “Wait a minute it’s my life. I can choose whether I want to make reconciliation with this person or not. I can choose my own motives.”

One of the exciting fruits of the “secret garden” is an ability to consciously choose your own motives. Until you choose your own motives, you really can’t choose to live your own life. Everything flows out of motive and motivation that is the root of our deepest desires.

Now, when I get into a frustrating or perplexing situation, I enter into my secret life. That’s where I find not only motives but also correct principles; that’s where the inner wisdom is. As I learn to be proactive in exploring the secret life, I tap into self-awareness, imagination, conscience, and into the exercise of free will to choose another motive.

People who regularly explore their secret life and examine their motives are better able to see into the hearts of others, practice real empathy, bestow real empowerment and affirm worth and identity.

A healthy secret life will benefit your private and public lives in many ways. For example, when I’m preparing to give a speech, I read aloud a favorite discourse on faith hope and charity because it helps me to purify my motive. I lose all desire to impress. My only desire is to bless. And when I go to a public setting with that motive, I have great confidence and inner peace. I feel more love for the people and feel much more authentic myself.

Executives who attend our leadership training in the mountain setting of Sundance often tell me, “This is the first time in many years that I’ve done any soul searching. I’ve seen myself as if for the first time, and I’ve resolved that my life is going to be different. I’m going to be true to what I really believe.” Recently, many people have written me to say, “Your habits and principles have made the difference. I’d never really thought about some of them before, but I resonate with them.” That’s because these principles are found in people’s secret life.

And yet most of us spend our busy days privately doing our thing, never pausing long enough to enter the secret life, the secret garden, where we can create masterpieces, discover great truths and enhance very aspect of our public and private lives.

Having a healthy secret life is the key to having a quality private and public life, as well as a quality culture, product or service.

Essence of Success – Motivational Personal Professional Development Video

Positive attitude and happiness go hand in hand. They are the cornerstones of a fulfilling life and the foundation for creating peace of mind and balance. And when you mix a positive attitude with a burning desire, or intense purpose, you begin to tap into the essence of why you are here. Every one of us has a special purpose for living, yet many of us sell ourselves short, and literally miss our calling in life. No matter what you do, or what phase of your life you are in, you can create a more positive attitude, a clearer picture of your purpose, and an even greater sense of significance in everything that you do. Join award-winning speaker Chip Madera as he guides you through the critical elements that make up your essence. You’ll discover some powers that may be laying dormant in you, plus you’ll walk away with key insights for creating greater peace of mind and happiness. From his heart warming stories, to his comical down-to-earth style, you’ll thoroughly enjoy this program from beginning to end.

Chip Madera is an expert professional speaker and leadership development authority. Known as “The Leadership Lion,” Chip Madera challenges people to venture beyond their wildest expectations by opening minds, stirring hearts and inspiring a more positive attitude. He works with organizations and associations all over the world, and speaks more than 100 times each year. His clients include prestigious companies such as The Mayo Clinic, Verizon, Disney, AT&T, and Gatorade. Chip Madera discovered his ultimate purpose after being diagnosed with cancer in 1995. Chip Madera clearly states that his purpose in life is to encourage and inspire others to seek, discover and explore their ultimate potential, and that’s exactly what this program accomplishes. Discover America’s best kept secret in this truly inspirational, and thought-provoking positive attitude seminar.

Do It Now!!!

By Paul J. Meyer

No matter what area of direct marketing you are in, it all boils down to:

Networking
Prospecting
Phoning
Getting Leads
Making Appointments
Opportunities for presentations
and…
The possibility of new business!

There are a lot of ATTITUDES that can come together to make this happen . . . But one of mine that I underscore again and again is to: “Live each day with a Do it Now! attitude.”

I have learned both personally and from study that success doesn’t result from luck or random chance. Success never just “happens to the fortunate few.” Instead, achievers make their own opportunities in business and in life by doing more than daydreaming or vaguely desiring.

They possess a “DO IT NOW!” attitude that motivates them to take actions required to soar above the rest and bridge the gap between their dreams and reality.

Through the ages, philosophers, heads of state, commanding generals, athletes, and businesspeople – leaders and go-getters of all types – have tried to kindle the flame of imagination and light the fire of enthusiasm so that the people can glimpse the heights they might reach, the richness of rewards they might savor, and the happiness they might enjoy.

The early Greek philosopher Plato said that if people would move the world, they must first move themselves. This statement offers one of the enduring truths of all time. To accomplish any personally meaningful and productive result, translate all of your ideas, your plans, and your decisions into immediate action.

The worst handicap any person can possess is the insidious habit of procrastination. Procrastination is responsible for missed opportunities, low productivity, and general dissatisfaction with life.

The most BRILLIANT IDEA, The most IMPORTANT DECISION, or The BIGGEST PROSPECTIVE SALE you will ever make will happen only when you TAKE ACTION and MAKE IT HAPPEN!!

Adopt a SPARK and FIRE of URGENCY, and you can turn your dreams and goals into reality!
A Do-It-Now attitude and self-generated urgency are universally available, and are the keys to success in your particular kind of business.
Anyone. . . including you. . . can become so motivated that you reach and surpass – important life goals.
The intensity of desire you develop depends on YOU; others cannot supply it for you.

I have been credited with starting the self-improvement industry. I know it inside out, forward and backward. I have written about it, and have lived it. And because I care about you, I want desperately in some way to help you achieve. . .

BUT THE TRUTH IS, the intensity of desire you develop depends on YOU and YOU ALONE – no one else can supply it for you.

You can’t be an achiever just because a family member was successful, or because your friends are successful business people. And although you can have mentors who give you guidance, they cannot succeed for you.

It is strictly in your hands. You are the only one responsible for your success.

SO. . .

Exercise initiative!
Always set goals.
Always put your plans in writing with specific deadlines.
Determine the time frames you will work.
Then not only take action, but take INTELLIGENT, RIGHT ACTION and proceed with unswerving singleness of purpose!

Adopt a DO IT NOW attitude, because: NOW IS THE TIME TO SUCCEED!!

Reprinted with permission from YourSuccessStore.com

Quote

“Desire is the starting point of all achievement, not a hope, not a wish, but a keen pulsating desire which transcends everything.”

- Napoleon Hill

How to Build Momentum and Stay Motivated Every Day!

I’m so mad at myself!” she said as we began our coaching call. “I made a goal to get ten new clients last week and I only got three,” she lamented.

The frustration in her voice was something I used to experience as well – until I came to a profound realization: Focusing On Your Results Is Dangerous.

I used to keep charts all over my office to fill in the names of the people who signed up for my Coaching Program and Retreats.

Even after hours of marketing efforts, I would feel defeated if I wasn’t able to fill in all of those spaces at the end of the week.

My definition of success was only based on results.

I was placing all my focus and energy on something I had very little control over. Think about it; you really can’t make your prospect buy your product or say yes to your opportunity.

So why give so much power to an element that you cannot control? What you can do is show your prospect enough intriguing information, in a passionate way, on a consistent basis, that will touch, move, and inspire them to make their own choice. The only factor you have complete control over is your efforts!

So let’s talk today about how you can shift your mindset, release the control the results, and focus on your efforts.

First, decide how many people you are willing to share your product or opportunity with. Again, the only part of the sales process you have control over is your efforts and the quantity of prospecting attempts you will make.

What is that number for you?

Powerfully choose how many people you are willing to prospect and be fiercely committed to it.

Next, realize that the other aspect of selling you have control over is the number of no’s you are willing to take without giving up; or better said, how many no’s you’re willing to take and still stay motivated, excited, and inspired.

The most effective way to do this is to embrace the Law of Average (LOA). Think of it scientifically. How many prospects do you need to share your opportunity with to get a yes? In other words… How many no’s do you have to receive to get a yes?

For most sales people that number is 10. When I realized this truth, I got freed up of the frustrations that come for ‘getting a no’. Getting a no is just a part of selling. The more yes’s you get and the bigger you want to grow your business, the more no’s you’ve got to be willing to receive!

When I was in Network Marketing I did an interesting experiment that helped me focus on my efforts and stay motivated. First, I knew that, on average, I made $500 on each sale. Then I divided that amount by 10, the number of no’s I had to received in order to get a yes (L.O.A.). That meant I made $50 every time I got a no! I actually taped a $50 bill to my phone and every time I got a no, I’d hang up the phone and say, “Thanks for the fifty bucks!”

Free yourself up from trying so hard to convince, persuade, and control your prospects. Let go of the results. Put your energy and power into your efforts and you will be an incredible force. Your prospect will sense your unique and confident posture and will want what you have.

Think of how powerful you will be when you release what you don’t have control over and fervently grasp what you do. The only factor you have complete control over is your efforts!

What this really takes is a shift in your mindset. Evaluate the goals you’ve set and discern if they depend on your efforts or results. Instead of setting the goal of five new business associates, set the goal to put 50 new prospects in your recruiting pipeline. Instead of setting a goal of selling 100 widgets, set your goal to put your widget in front of 10,000 new prospects.

The incredible success I have experienced since I shifted attention to efforts instead of results has been nothing short of amazing! And it will be the same for you…

The only factor you have complete control over is your efforts! And your efforts are all you need to get the incredible results you desire.

Quote

“The way to gain a good reputation, is to endeavor to be what you desire to appear.”
- Socrates

Quote

“The key to success is to focus our conscious mind on things we desire not things we fear.”
- Brian Tracy