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

From goal setting to the psychology of achievement, New York Times bestselling author and motivational speaker Brian Tracy knows what he is talking about. This powerful session on staying positively focused is filled with ideas for higher achievement. You’ll learn exactly what to do in order to the break negative patterns that are stopping you from reaching your next level. Goal setting is one of the core skills for creating your ideal life. You’ll discover the critical steps necessary to stay focused on your goals and make the goal setting process fun, instead of a chore. You’ll also get the motivational boost you may need, to follow through on your goals and keep yourself in balance. Loaded with great ideas and philosophies for the achievement of big dreams, this power-packed training video is one of Brian Tracy’s best ever.

Brian Tracy is one of the most in-demand speakers in the world on the subjects of goal setting, success and personal performance. He’s a dynamic and entertaining presenter, teaching critical laws and important ideas on how to reach higher levels of achievement. Brian Tracy is the author of numerous bestselling books and audio programs on achievement, and has appeared on countless television and radio shows. In addition, he is featured regularly in major publications across the country, and overseas. Brian Tracy has also conducted high-level consulting assignments with several billion-dollar-plus corporations in strategic planning and organization development.

Most people think that failure is bad and success is good. I want to help you change your thinking about that if you fall into that category. I will give you that failure isn’t fun and success is, but I think the following is true:Both failure and success are good… if you know what their specific purpose is.

Of course we know that success is good, but why? Success is good because it confirms things for us.

Success confirms our plans.
Success confirms our decisions.
Success confirms our resources.
Success confirms our strategies.
Success confirms our hunches.
Success confirms our teamwork.
Success confirms our risks.
Success confirms a lot of things!

So when you are successful, ask yourself the following question: What does this success confirm in my mind?

Now, what about failure? What is the role of failure and how in the world can it be GOOD?

Failure’s role is to teach us. We learn from failure.

Failure teaches us that we need to change our plans.
Failure teaches us that we need to change our decisions.
Failure teaches us that we need to change our resources.
Failure teaches us that we need to change our strategies.
Failure teaches us that we need to change our hunches.
Failure teaches us that we need to change our teamwork.
Failure teaches us that we need to change our risks.
Failure teaches us that we need to change a lot of things!

But at least now we know one more thing that won’t work! With every failure, we learn one more way we can abandon and focus in on what may be the correct way in the future! When we look at it that way, we set ourselves up for a powerfully successful future!

So when you fail, ask yourself this question: What does this failure teach me?

Remember, Success and Failure are both good. They can both be your friend… If you know what role they are to play in your life.

Learn From Failure and Confirm with Success.

Reproduced with permission from Your Achievement Ezine. To subscribe to Your Achievement Ezine, go to www.yoursuccessstore.com. All contents Copyright © YourSuccessStore.com except where indicated otherwise. All rights reserved worldwide. Duplication or reprints only with express permission or approved Credits. All trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

- Jillian Michaels

For many people, change is more threatening than challenging. They see it as the destroyer of what is familiar and comfortable rather than the creator of what is new and exciting. Most people, and organizations, would rather be comfortable than excellent.

But these days, if you don’t change, you stagnate and die. We must implant change in the corporate culture.

As a businessman myself, and as an adviser to executives, I’ve encountered many examples of constructive change brilliantly executed.

Let me share with you some of the things I’ve learned:

People will change only if the alternative is worse than change.

Sometimes it’s hard for people to internalize the need for change. A Naval aviator once made an interesting observation to me that illustrates the point.

He said many pilots have died because they stayed with their disabled aircraft too long. They preferred the familiarity of the cockpit to the unfamiliarity of the parachute, even though the cockpit had become a death trap.

Many businesses have died because their people preferred the familiar but deadly old ways to the risky but rewarding new ways. We must teach them that to stand pat is to perish.

People hunger for stability amid change.

The steady, reliable people in any organization are often fearful of change. We must keep them in mind. We must assure them that change doesn’t mean an end to their world; it means a continuation, but with improvements.

Here are some things we can do:
Explain the reasons for the change. When people understand the logic behind change, it becomes more rational and more comfortable.

Show how our plans keep risks to a minimum. Emphasize the things that will remain the same.

Let them know what to expect, step by step.

Let them know that top management is fully behind the change. Our confidence in the value of the changes will be reassuring to them.

Commend them and recognize them for the constructive changes they make.
For change to be successful, it must be planned.

We must be in control of the changes instead of at their mercy. Successful changes are based on values.

As Levi Strauss CEO Robert Haas told Harvard Business Review, “Values provide a common language for aligning a company’s leadership and its people.”

Levi Strauss summarized its values in a document it calls its “Aspirations Statement.” Everyone in the company is familiar with it and is guided by it. Whenever a Levi Strauss team analyzes a new idea, among the first questions asked is “Is it aspirational?”

When Honeywell decided to change its orientation from national to global, it adopted a set of values that included integrity, quality, performance, mutual respect and diversity.

These values enabled it to steady its course through the sea of change.

Planned change involves a three-step process: softening, reshaping and restabilizing.

The softening stage is the most uncomfortable for employees. After years of doing things the same old way, they have been hardened into rigid habits. Now they have to unlearn them.

When you want to soften something, you usually apply heat. During the softening stage, we apply heat by attaching a stigma to the old behaviors we want to discontinue. We stop rewarding them.

This is the time when you’re likely to encounter the greatest resistance to change. Even your management people may dig in their heels. After all, you’re changing the system under which they rose to their present jobs.

Here’s where you need skillful communication: You must make clear the reasons for change and the consequences of not changing. The gain and the pain must be made clear to managers and employees alike.

John F. Welch Jr., the CEO who led General Electric through a highly successful change in corporate culture, identifies four types of management individuals with whom we must deal during the “softening” stage. Here’s how he classifies them:
1.People who deliver on commitments and share the new values. These are the people you want to retain and reward.

2.People who don’t meet commitments and don’t share the new values. These are the people who must go.

3.People who sometimes fail to meet their commitments, but who share the values. For such people, a change of environment may produce a change in behavior. Give them a second chance.

4.People who meet commitments but don’t share the values. In Welch’s words, this may be “the autocrat,the big shot, the tyrant” -people who try to force performance instead of inspire it. The results they get aren’t worth the price. They’ll have to change or go.
The reshaping phase calls for a positive approach. We’re now less concerned with rooting out old ways and more concerned with implanting new ways. Managers and employees must be convinced that the new way is the right way.

Your staff and employees now must learn a whole new attitude toward their work. Managers must see themselves as facilitators, not dictators. Employees must see themselves as value adders, not order-takers or machine operators. This calls for a well-thought-out educational program.

Finally comes the restabilizing stage. During this period, you want the new behaviors to become a natural part of the everyday routine in the work place.

Pilot projects can help managers and employees feel comfortable and natural with the new ways during this stage. Let them try out the new methods in “practice runs” to see how they work.

Another way to replace the discomfort of change with the comfort of familiarity is to provide suitable role models. Find people who are familiar with the new ways and let them model them for the rest of your managers and employees. When your people witness the success of the new methods, they’ll feel more comfortable about following them.

The system of compensation and rewards should be based on the new behaviors we want to encourage. If we’re asking people to value teamwork above individual effort, then the system must be set up to reward team efforts.

My friend Joe Jacobs, founder and CEO of Jacobs Engineering, used this principle to great advantage during the ’80s. Jacobs Engineering’s individual offices each operated as separate profit centers. When Joe took on a project that required the pooling of resources from several offices, he had difficulty getting the teamwork he needed.

Executives from each office looked at the project from the standpoint of its effect on the profits of their respective offices. Joe solved this by tying each executive’s compensation to the performance of the company as a whole. When he did that, he got genuine teamwork.

Throughout the change process, everyone from line workers to senior management must be convinced that the company is behind the change. CEOs themselves must take responsibility for encouraging the new behavior. They must model it as they deal with people on as many levels as possible in the organization.

It may take years to effect fundamental change, and you should never consider the job finished. Instead, you should look for ways to institutionalize change. When your people are oriented to change and educated in effective ways to bring about change, you’re geared up for the future.

Napoleon Hill, in his classic Think and Grow Rich felt so strongly about this subject, he devoted an entire chapter to it. Hill suggested, “There may be no heroic connotation to the word persistence but the quality is to your character what carbon is to steel.”

Think about it. If you took a quick mental walk down memory lane and reviewed some of your accomplishments in the past – large and small – you would have to agree that persistence played an important role in your success.

Napoleon Hill studied many of the world’s most successful people. He pointed out the only quality he could find in Henry Ford, Thomas Edison or a host of other notable greats, that he could not find in everyone else was persistence. What I found even more intriguing was the fact that Hill made comment of the fact that these individuals were often misunderstood to be ruthless or cold-blooded and that this misconception grew out of their habit of following through in all of their plans with persistence.

It’s both interesting and sadly amusing to me that, as a society, we would be quick to criticize people for realizing they had an unshakeable power within them and were capable of overcoming any obstacle outside of them. This power would ultimately move them toward a greater chance of achieving any goal they set for themselves!

Milt Campbell is a good friend of mine. He and I have shared many hours together discussing the very topic of persistence. Milt was a Decathlete in the Olympic Games held in Helsinki, Finland in 1952. His goal was to capture gold for the US. Unfortunately, another fierce competitor who had taken home the gold four years previous in London wasn’t satisfied with one gold, Bob Mathias wanted two; Milt had to settle for silver. That did not deter Milt one bit. He had formed the habit of persistence and four years later in Melbourne, Australia, Milt won the gold medal, earning him the title of the greatest athlete in the world.

On numerous occasions Milt has said, “There were many guys in school who were far better athletes than me, but they quit.” I can recount story after story about individuals who overcame obstacles so great, but only did so because they dared persist. These individuals are no different than you and I.

Ultimately persistence becomes a way of life, but that is not where it begins. To develop the mental strength – persistence – you must first want something. You have to WANT something so much that it becomes a heated desire… a passion in your belly. You must fall in love with that idea. Yes, literally fall in love with the idea and magnetize yourself to every part of the idea. At that point, persistence will be virtually automatic.

Persistence is a subject I have studied all of my adult life and I can tell you one thing I know for certain: very few people ever, mentally or verbally, say to themselves… this is what I really want and I am prepared to give my life for it, and thus, they never develop the persistence to achieve it.

Persistence is a unique mental strength; a strength that is essential to combat the fierce power of the repeated rejections and numerous other obstacles that sit in waiting and are all part of winning in a fast-moving, ever-changing world. As Napoleon Hill found out, there are hundreds of highly successful men and women who have cut a path for others to follow, while leaving their mark on the scrolls of history… and every one of these great individuals was persistent. In many cases it was the only quality that separated them from everyone else.

It is generally believed that a lack of persistence is a consequence of a weak willpower. That is not true. A person could have a highly evolved willpower and still lack the persistence required to keep moving forward in life. In more cases than not, if a person lacks persistence, they do not have a goal that is worthy of them, a desirable goal that excites them to their very core.

Though willpower is important in moving a person toward their goal, if there is ever a war between the will and the imagination, the imagination will win every time. What that means is: you’re powered by desire and fuelled by the dream you hold. Once you start to use your imagination to help you build a bigger picture of your dream, to define and refine it until you get it just right in your mind, the emotion that is triggered by that desire far outweighs any force that may be caused by sheer will alone. I am not suggesting the will does not have to be developed, it does. It must become highly developed in order to direct you toward the image with which you are emotionally involved.

Your intellectual factors hold the potential for enormous good when they are properly employed. However, you must remember that everything has an opposite and any of your intellectual factors can turn, without warning, into destructive lethal enemies when they are directed toward results that are not wanted. It is easy to find individuals who are persistently doing what they don’t want to do and achieving results that they do not want. A lack of persistence is not their problem; that person is persisting to their own detriment. Ignorance and paradigms are the enemy that we must defeat. Everyone is persistent. Our objective must be to put persistence to work for us rather than against us.

Vision and desire have to be the focus of your attention if you’re going to develop persistence into the great ally it can become.

Another excellent example of persistence was demonstrated when, in 1953, a beekeeper from Auckland, N.Z., Edmund Hillary and his native guide, Tenzing Norguay, became the first two people to climb Mt. Everest and return, after having tried and failed the two previous years.

Hillary had two obvious character strengths that took him to the very top —- vision and desire. Even despite the seemingly insurmountable challenges, he had no trouble persisting with the strenuous acts that were required because every act was hooked into the image of him standing on top of the mountain. They were expressed because of his persistence, but he was persistent because he was emotionally involved with the image. Without persistence, all his skills would have meant nothing.

Persistence is an expression of the mental strength that is essential in almost every profession, where repeated rejection and obstacles are part of a daily routine.

In closing, let me give you four relatively simple steps that will help you to turn persistence into a habit. These steps can be followed by virtually anyone.

1. Have a clearly defined goal. The goal must be something you are emotionally involved with, something you want very much. (In the beginning, you may not even believe that you can accomplish it—the belief will come.)

2. Have a clearly established plan that you can begin working on immediately. (Your plan will very likely only cover the first and possibly the second stage of the journey to your goal. As you begin executing your plan, other steps required to complete your journey will be revealed at the right time.)

3. Make an irrevocable decision to reject any and all negative suggestions that come from friends, relatives or neighbors. Do not give any conscious attention to conditions or circumstances that appear to indicate the goal cannot be accomplished.

4. Establish a mastermind group of one or more people who will encourage, support and assist you wherever possible.

What do you dream of doing with your life? Do it. Begin right now and never quit. There is greatness in you. Let it out. Be persistent.

- General Colin Powell

- Benjamin Disraeli

– Michael Jordan