Have you ever failed at something really important or vital? Of course, what a ridiculous question. How did you respond though? Everyone fails in life. Some people more than others. Some fail by doing the same thing over and over. Pure insanity. Some fail by trying to achieve a goal or result, they don't get what they want, and then they commit the ultimate failure - they never try again. Others fail simply by never putting themselves out there. For the sake of space, let's forget those who never put themselves out there. That's just pure loser mentality. Let's deal with how to handle failures. What separates the successful in life from everyone else, in regards to failure, is to view and approach failure differently. First, don't view failure like everyone else. See the results you’re getting for what they are, and accept them as just that. Don't see them worse than they are. The result is just some form of outcome. What can you learn from your result, and how can you change your approach to get a different result - preferably the one you're after? It's about measuring and managing the process. You must think of it this way. Next, you absolutely must learn to love failure. Nothing in life is easy or free, and everything worthwhile requires effort and sacrifice. I don't know a single successful person who doesn't fail over and over. They step up though, and respond. They welcome the failures, because they know that right around the corner lays their next greatest successes. The legendary basketball player, Michael Jordan, said it best, "I fail over and over again, and that is why I succeed". Words to live by. It's not about looking for failure, it's about accepting it for what it is, learning from it, and changing your approach when it happens. There's one more element to dealing with failure, and probably the most critical - the emotional element. Rather than go on-and-on, let's get right to the strategies to prepare you. Here are 5 simply ways to prepare yourself emotionally for dealing with failure: - Start each and every day reading something positive and uplifting. You must set your mind up in a positive way each and every day.
- Get the heck away from negative people. Toss them, expunge them, fire them, do whatever you have to, but get them out of your life and as far away as possible.
- Surround yourself with positive upbeat goal driven leaders.
- And while we're on the topic of goals, review yours regularly. If you don't have any, now is the perfect time to create some
- Create a list of your last three failures. Then write down absolutely everything you can do differently to achieve what you were originally after. No you have a plan. Go do it.
Look, you failed in life at some things. So what, who cares. The only person in the world, who should matter to you, is you when it comes to your success. Don't be a failure. Welcome it when it happens, then step up and take some responsibility and action. Go after what you want. You failed - so what - don't be a failure! It's your choice.
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How many articles have you read on the topic, "how the way we do business has radically changed over the past 5 to 10 years", or something related to that. Everyday another expert offers his or her opinion on how the business climate has changed and the absolute steps you must take or fail miserably. You know what, they're all correct. Technology has repainted the business landscape. You know what else, they are all missing and dismissing one critical element though. RELATIONSHIPS! No matter how you slice business, at the end of the day you still have a product or service to sell and those who develop sincere relationships sell the most. Don't get me wrong, use technology and new paradigms to meet and reinforce relationships. But at its core, businesses are built by face-to-face and over-the-phone interactions. Over 80% of all communication in non-verbal, according to the most recent Stanford University study, so you must commit to honing your interpersonal communication skills. Here are 5 actions to take now to build your interpersonal skills: - Put down the phone, iPad, and shut off your computer when your talking to someone - be fully present
- Do not text or email when your talking with someone. It's so damn rude and unprofessional
- Make a list of topics or ice breakers to use at networking events
- Practice active listening. You have two ears and one mouth. Use them proportionally
- Ask open-ended questions that engage both the mind and the emotions
And one more... if you make a promise, keep it. Nothing destroys the value of your commitment like breaking your word. Okay, okay, one last one... ...send a hand written note to new contacts that includes just a brief note about something you either talked about or have in common. They'll never forget you for it, and it will fortify solid ground to build a genuine future on. Technology is wonderful. It has changed the way we do business from a functional standpoint. Use it to augment relationships, but don't ever let it get in the way of real relationship building skills. People still buy from people. Go out, shake a hand and make a friend.
Do you play a sport? Actually, do you do anything competitively?
If you're reading this, it's safe to assume you do. When you want to improve your skills, performance or results, who do you surround yourself with? People like you with similar level of talent that you can relate too, those with inferior abilities so you can dominate, or do you demand of yourself to compete against stronger talent?
Most people play against similar talent levels or lower talent levels, and that's exactly why they never improve. You see, when you your standard is set exactly at the level you're currently at you will never improve. Even worse, when you compete against lesser talent your level doesn't stay the same, it DROPS.
You actually get worse by lowering your competitive level. Your standard winds up becoming that of your competition. If that's the case then you must raise your standards and compete against, sell against, work with, and play against opponents that are significantly better than you.
You become who you spend your time with. I bet if you look at and analyze your peer group, you probably earn within $5,000 of what the average is and you probably weigh within 5 pounds what everyone else does. If you want different results, raise your standard and develop a higher performing peer group.
You don't have to say goodbye to your friends. Help them raise their standards and bring them along for the ride. Bottom line, you become who you spend time with. So, do you want to compete against a lesser opponent, similar opponent or someone or some company that is significantly stronger than you?
How many of you are blessed with children, and how many have homework to contend with nightly?
Growing up you went through school, just like your kids, and came home with homework. Homework is designed to test, reinforce and condition what you've learned. It's also designed to expand your knowledge and your belief systems.
Children have homework right through high school for some, college and post graduate work for others. The fact is, homework is effective at improving your skill sets. Why then, do you stop doing homework, stop expanding and stop growing, learning and reinforcing the moment you graduate?
It's not because you've decided to stop growing and learning. It's because you've gotten so wrapped up in the day-to-day minutia of your professional and personal life, that knowledge takes a back seat. It's also because you've never been given a blueprint to succeed beyond the school systems.
What we know is from traditional education, and the focus has always been on structured academia. That works in the school systems, but in the real world, the professional world where you get downsized, laid-off and fired for not performing, this model simply doesn't work.
It's not enough to rest on your laurels any longer. Great performers get fired everyday, because there's a class of elite professional who constantly focuses on improving their industry and personal knowledge, professional skills, and mastering their relationships.
These elite members of all professions are safe, because they do their homework. Daily, weekly, monthly and annually they look for ways to improve. They're not satisfied with the status quo. They actively seek out the latest success books, industry journals, and related seminars. They network effectively, and their constant focus is on moving upward in all ways. They do their homework.
So, what homework will you do to dominate your company, market and competition?
Our middle child, Carter, has an incredibly valuable lesson he can teach all professionals. It's the lesson of mastery. You see, Carter is a passionate movie lover. He completely and totally immerses himself in the experience; acting out the scenes of the characters, reciting the lines as they happen and mimicking every move the actors make. Its as if he's apart of the movie. As proud parents, it's so amazing to watch him in action. I asked him why he does it. His answer was simple. "I want to be just like them, so I pretend and do what they do." How profoundly intelligent of a six year old. That begs the question, if a 6 year old can master a character, why don't adults do the same thing? As professionals, many people have already paid the price and achieved great success in every profession. So what can we learn from a child watching movies and pretending to be the main character? Well if you want the same results as someone else, here's my recommendation: - seek out who is the absolute most successful in your chosen field
- find a way to connect with them - use LinkedIn, facebook, their website, their blog, seminar, event, anything that puts you in their line of sight. There's always a way if you're determined.
- Be humble and ask for their guidance or mentorship
- Buy them breakfast, lunch, a cup of coffee, or pay them for an hour of their time and pick their brain
- Create an outline to implement what you've learned - they have a success plan, use it
- copy and emulate them - drink what the drink, eat what the eat, model their behaviors and actions, plan the way they plan, prospect the way the prospect, and so on - whatever it is for your profession
If they can do it, heck if a six year old can do it, so can you. Commit to mastery. It's not hard if your passionate about your profession. It's serious fun, and nets you serious results!
Top athletes, top business professionals, really anybody who's at the top of their game is typically performing at peak performance levels. With peak performance comes peak physical health and peak business health. Some of you might be saying, "but Greg, I don't have my own business. I work for someone else. Why should I care?" It doesn't matter if you work for someone else. You're still running a business. You have to market yourself, you must master sales skills, you must know and manage your professional finances, improve your professional skills, and have enough fuel in the tank to manage it all. I'll spare you the physical health lecture for today, and please know that it is critically important to the success of your business. Your business does have a health level. How often are you playing doctor and assessing your business health level? How often do you get your metaphorical checkup? All businesses, all skill sets, all successful people are constantly assessing their business and how it's living, breathing and functioning on a daily basis. There are 6 critical areas to your professional and business health. Neglect or abuse any of them, and your business and success will suffer. The six areas to master are: - Sales
- Marketing
- Operations
- Financial
- Professional Skills
- Health
Imagine your business is a high performance sports car, and that each of the 6 areas represents a section of one of the tires. Rate yourself and your business in each area on a scale from 1 - 10; with 1 being you're in trouble and 10 being you've mastered the area. If you're 8 or better in all these areas chances are your business is very healthy and you're experiencing success. If not, your wheel is not going to roll smoothly and your high performance sports car, or business, is no longer high performance. It's time to go to work on your business. So what can you do? - First pick an area, any area that you need to improve
- Identify 3 key variables that will have the greatest impact on improving these areas
- Decide if you can either do them yourself, delegate them to someone else, or outsource them
- Then, execute that decision - make your plan and get it done.
Your health, your business and professional health must be constantly monitored. You cannot improve unless you take a step back and play the role of a doctor periodically. Find out where you are really, and then create and execute your plan to drive to where you want to go. Don't be too proud to get help elsewhere. Delegate and outsource whenever possible. Make your professional life easier, more efficient, richer, and most of all - HEALTHIER!
Recently I made a major purchase, and I asked the sales representative a question he simply could not answer. Rather then choose to help me the right way and get back to me, this salesman obviously choose to improvise on the spot. He not only lied to help the sale along, but he really damaged the credibility of his company in doing so.
Needless to say I invested my money elsewhere, and unfortunately for him, his boss is one of my Winners Edge subscribers.
So that begs the question - Have you ever been asked a question at a sales meeting you don't know the answer too? Of course you have.
How do you react to it? Do you fumble your words searching for answers that make sense, or do you lie? Do you try and fake your way through it, or do you have a plan how to handle such situations? Well, if you're reading this my money is betting that you're a person of sincere integrity and character.
Here's the thing, you don’t have to have all the answers all the time. The moment you try and fake it, your prospect or client senses your disingenuousness. Let me say it another way, they know you're lying immediately.
So what can you do to turn the odds in your favor? Honesty and candor are always the best approach.
Simply respond by telling the truth. "I want to provide you with the absolute best service and results possible, and in order for me to do that I'm going to have to research you question further to get you the correct answer."
Your prospect or clients will respect your character and business integrity. This is true in all areas of life. So, my point in this week’s article is this: who do you know that engages in this type of behavior that you can immediately go out and positively influence? Who's professional life, and more importantly, personal character can you help transform.
Go forth and be a force for good!
Who are your dream clients? No really, who exactly do you dream about doing business with? Who will make the biggest impact on your top and bottom line, and who will make the biggest impact on your life? What do these clients businesses, lifestyles and investing habits look like? Some experts claim your list should be 25 people or companies, some 50 and some 100 people or companies. It really all depends on your sales cycle, industry and the number of clients you are capable of supporting. For arguments sake, let’s assume you know the exact description of what your dream client looks like, and let’s assume you even possess their contact information (which you must). Now what? Now here's the absolute most critical series of questions period: - What common ground or relationships do you have?
- Why exactly should they take your phone call, read your email, or accept your LinkedIn request?
- What exactly is in it for them? And I don’t mean your marketing departments list of company or product and service features.
- How will you save them time? Specifically, how much time, where’s it coming from and why?
- How will you save the money? You must know exactly where the savings are coming from and have concrete results and testimonials to back it up.
- How will you save them aggravation? What sources of stress are you going to cut out? Can you prove it?
Once you have exact answers to these questions, you can focus on meeting them and building a winning relationship. Until you have them answered though, the relationship is all about you and your pompous platitudes. I’m sure those are wonderful, but they don’t support your clients or you long-term. So, who are your dream clients and why should they become your clients. Answer those questions and you set yourself and your dream client up to win.
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