Posts Tagged ‘inspire’

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TGIM #207: Worse Than Swine Flu? PLOM Outbreak Detected!

Monday, June 22nd, 2009

ARE YOU FEELING A LITTLE ANTSY about the H1N1 virus (aka Swine Flu) which continues to make headlines, particularly in major metropolitan areas?

The idea plagued my thinking recently. I confess that my concern about contracting some contagious malady did click up a notch or two for me recently.

Reason: I spent many busy days full of handshaking and close talking among tens of thousands of visitors and exhibitors at, not one but, two multi-day events at Jacob Javits Convention Center in the crossroads of the world, Manhattan.

And it was there I detected a little-reported outbreak of a malady that may be as pernicious as H1N1 spreading among the attendees.

TGIM EPIDEMIC ALERT: To inform yourself about this outbreak and learn how to safely immunize yourself and those you care about from this scourge, let me state the case for you here.

P.L.O.M. runs rampant in New York!

As I worked my way from exhibitor to exhibitor at Javits I found an almost universal trace of PLOM in the folks I talked with.

You could see it in their eyes and hear it in their voices. As visitors stopped at my home base, virtually every one exhibited the telltale signs and behaviors of infection. And since the folks I met came from around the nation and the world, I think we can conclude the contagion is global!

While PLOM is not a new disease, the particular strain I encountered seems to have evolved into something virulent and its contagious aspects threaten even previously immune and robust individuals.

With my usual dedication to bringing you the facts I tried to dig back to find the origins of PLOM but came up with nothing definitive. But I think some of the previously discovered remedies can still counter the dread disease, if you’re willing to apply them.

So first, let’s spell out the basics.

PLOM stands for
“Poor Little Old Me” disease

My old mentor John Beckley, founder of The Economics Press and longtime publisher of business-skills training and motivation and inspirational material, first made me aware of the childhood form of the disease. He told this story:

Years ago, when a childhood friend of ours was in a foul mood, and complaining bitterly about almost everything, her mother would, sooner or later, interrupt the proceedings.

“Melinda,” she would say. “It seems to me that you’ve got a bad case of PLOM.” Then she would send Melinda to her room with a paper and pencil to write down a list of things she ought to be thankful for. When the list was long enough – and when her attitude improved enough to satisfy her mother – Melinda would be allowed to rejoin the group.

The conclusion that Mr. B reached: We all, adults as well as children, occasionally overemphasize the bad side of things and underemphasize the good.

Certainly some folks more than others. Yet the fact is we all have things to be thankful for. It’s also a fact that, practically no matter what the situation, it could be worse. So if we do for ourselves what Melinda’s mother enforced for her, we should get a better perspective on things.

Helen Keller, who certainly knew adversity, counseled: “Self-pity is our worst enemy and if we yield to it, we can never do anything wise in this world.”

Now, about the PLOM epidemic sweeping through Javits Center:

I hear you. It’s been a rough year – maybe longer. No doubt “The Business” … “The Economy” … “The Politicians” … maybe even “Life” … have dealt you a bad hand. Perhaps you’ve lost customers, money, family or health.

I get it. Everybody enjoys wallowing in a little self-pity. It makes us feel better to remind ourselves how terrible the world is … how we’ve not been given the right opportunities … how people are against us … how life has been a real struggle.

I sympathize. No doubt you (and I) have had undeserved blows and missed out on many opportunities.

But here’s an axiomatic –

Secret to Happiness:
Don’t believe everything you think

Yes, you’ve got reasons to think that fate really HAS been unfair to you. But feeling sorry for yourself and whining about it is not going to help the situation. PLOM thinking and behaving like a victim only sinks you deeper into the quicksand of apathy.

Think about this: It’s not what happens to you; it’s how you handle what happens to you that makes more of a difference in your life.

Q: Are you really the kind of person who can’t do anything about the things that happen to you?

If you’ve read this far, I doubt it. So stop feeling sorry for yourself and actually GO and DO something about it.

TGIM ACTION IDEA: Turn your attention to the things you really appreciate: Favorite daily moments. Interesting ideas. Attractive sights. Stimulating experiences. Funny incidents. People who brighten your day. Think about these things. Write them down. And appreciate all of the stuff that you can appreciate.

TGIM IDEA IN ACTION: Here are a few more PLOM-countering suggestions to help you combat the dread disease and maybe even inoculate yourself with happiness and joy so a more “healthy” mindset becomes the dominant factor in your daily routine and life.

• Let the future be the future and the past be the past. Live in the “now” as much as you’re able.

• Focus and work hardest on your own life and your own path forward. Let go of judgment, resentment, criticism, blame. Let others have their own experiences and lessons.

• Take a personal inventory. Would you exchange your work … your eyes … your freedom … the people you love … the people that love you … for things to be better? Define “better.”

• There is always someone else worse off. Practice random acts of kindness. Or not-so-random. Give of yourself to someone whose need is greater. (Wasn’t “The best way to forget your own problems is to help someone else with theirs” one of TGIM #206’s Universal Rules?)

• Make some time just for you. Step back. Get “quiet.” Go within. Pray or meditate. Listen to what some might call “your higher self” wants and needs.

• Do the Melinda’s-Mom Drill. Make a list of something/someone you are thankful for. You don’t have to stay in your room until you’re called. Start with one person and one thing you are grateful for each day and build on that.

• Add your new-and-improved PLOM-resistant attitude to the items on your list.

There. That makes me feel better about those lousy days stuck in Javits with all those whiny people. (Just joking. In fact I thank them for bringing these TGIM strategies back to top-of-mind awareness for me. See. It works.)

Geoff Steck
Chief Catalyst
Alexander Publishing & Marketing
8 Depot Square
Englewood, NJ 07631
201-569-5373
tgimguy@gmail.com

P.S. So-called Swine Flu is real enough and I don’t mean to make light of it in this TGIM. It was recently declared a pandemic. In our home state of NJ and in neighboring states it continues to take lives and in this hemisphere it’s not even the flu season. Just plain seasonal “flu” claims over 35,000 lives in the USA each year. So let’s take this opportunity to recap some basic flu prevention measures.

TGIM ACTION IDEA: First and foremost, hygiene works. Wash your hands. Keep your environment clean. Watch for symptoms and don’t ignore them. Stay home until you’re symptom free. Get plenty of rest and exercise to keep your immune system strong. Eat a healthful diet. Sunlight provides system-supportive Vitamin D. Finally, relax. Like PLOM, flu feeds on psychological stress which produces a weakened immune system. “The preservation of health is a duty. Few seem conscious that there is such a thing as physical morality.” The English philosopher Herbert Spencer (1820-1903) posited that.

GEOFF STECK leads Alexander Publishing & Marketing, a company he formed in 1986. The core AP&M mission: To create and publish leadership, sales mastery, self-improvement and workplace skill-building resources and tools. The focus: Areas such as business communication, staff support, customer care and frontline management. Geoff also puts his corporate and entrepreneurial experience, independent perspective, and skills as a catalyst to work for other firms (ranging from multinational corporations to more modest operations), not-for-profits, and individuals who have conceived or developed programs or initiatives but are frustrated in getting them implemented.

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FYI #162/TGIM #206: A Special Message Today

Monday, June 15th, 2009

Dear High Achiever:

“WHAT’S SPECIAL ABOUT TODAY?” YOU ASK? Well, before we attempt to Inspire you this morning, I want to acknowledge some changes in the format of today’s FYI / TGIM that you may have already noticed:

Starting today, we’re hoping to give you a more informative, inspirational and engaging experience throughout the summer and the remainder of 2009.

• Thank Goodness It’s Monday will be the featured stand-alone article. Geoff Steck, my friend, editor and collaborator on the Best Year Ever! System has successfully delivered intelligent, motivational and educational TGIMs for the last 205 weeks, each Monday. (Duh. When else?) Geoff has a great business mind and is a life-long student of achievement and personal development. He is also a very talented writer.

• My commitment is to inspire and energize you every Wednesday “live” via video with my Instant Inspiration FYI – For Your Information and Inspiration.

Here’s why we’re changing the format:

Some of you know that my friend and father-in-law Poppa Ray recently died. His life and his death has motivated and inspired me more than any other major life event, other than the birth of my five children.

So, this summer I committing to myself and Poppa Ray to finish a book project I’ve been working on for the past 3 years. It’s about my experience producing the seminar Empower New Jersey on September 29th 2004. Christopher Reeve was the keynote speaker on that memorable night. He died ten days after the event and his words of inspiration changed my life forever.

To honor Chris, Poppa Ray and my commitment, I’m dedicating my writing time to finishing the book.

So, with that as groundwork, below is Geoff’s TGIM. And I will see you “live” this Wednesday with my latest Instant Inspiration video.

Eric Taylor is the Chief Inspiration Officer of SelfGrowth.com and founder of New Jersey based Empowerment Group International. He delivers more than 100 energized and interactive keynotes, workshops and seminars each year to corporations, associations and tradeshows. He is the author of the Energy Passport, Co-creator of the Best Year Ever! Success System and Co-author of The Complete Sales Training Encyclopedia. To get complete details about Eric’s background, his products and services, visit Eric Taylor’s Blog and review Eric Taylor’s Profile.

Thank Goodness It’s Monday # 206

UNIVERSAL RULES TO LIVE BY

DO YOU HAVE RULES YOU LIVE BY? Of course you do. We all do. Some are so basic and ingrained that we don’t even notice them.

Examples: The absorbed-in-childhood rule for crossing the street: “Look both ways!” Or the underlying imperative present in virtually every mainstream religious teaching, the so-called Golden Rule: “Do unto others …”

As good as those rules are, our successes are built around other Universal Rules we incorporate into our lives and our philosophies and aspire to live by.

Example: The fundamental Rules of Self-Improvement –

#1: It will be difficult.
#2: It will be worth it.

Got it? Great! So a good rule for getting even more from this TGIM is to click through here for more Universal Rules To Live By:

The Universal Rule of …

• Time management: Make the time because you’ll never find the time.
• Happiness: Don’t seek happiness. Create it.
• Laughter: Be able to laugh at yourself.
• Winning: The will to win is not nearly as important as the will to prepare to win.
• Preparation: Dig the well before you’re thirsty.
• Sales: Stop selling and start helping.
• Overcoming adversity: The best way to forget your own problems is to help someone else with theirs.
• Getting what you want: Ask for it.
• Dealing with others: Patience.
• Goal setting: Shoot for the moon; even if you miss, you’ll end up among the stars.
• Risk taking: If you don’t take a chance, you’ll never stand a chance.
• A successful product or service: Be first, best, or different.
• Fitness (or healthful living, or weight loss): Eat less and exercise more.
• Overcoming procrastination (aka The Nike Rule): Just do it.
• Starting the day off right: Say “Good morning!” even if it isn’t.
• Being a great student: Ask good questions.
• Being a great teacher/leader: Keep being a student.

Were these useful rules for you? Did they make you smile … or say, “That’s true” … or at least bring some long “forgotten” rule you’re guided by back to top-of-mind awareness?

TGIM ACTION IDEA: Share please. Post a blog response. Or reach out to me directly at tgimguy@gmail.com. It would be cool if your Universal Rule can be stated concisely like these. But it’s not necessary. We’d love to read your rules and maybe even include them in future TGIMs or FYIs. Just tell your story to the best of your ability. And if you have a source or attribution, please share that. Thanks.

TGIM IDEA IN ACTION: Here are just a two more Universal Rules about Rules that should guide our thinking:

• The First Rule of Rules: There’s usually an exception to every rule – including this one.

• The Last Rule of Rules: Reading these or any other rules is not enough. If they are to work for you, you have to use them.

Geoff’s personal rule: Everything happens for the best – for those who make it happen. (EHFTB-FTWMIH.)

Make it happen.

Geoff Steck
Chief Catalyst
Alexander Publishing & Marketing
8 Depot Square
Englewood, NJ 07631
201-569-5373
tgimguy@gmail.com
P.S. “Rules are made up for people who aren’t willing to make up their own.” Famed test pilot Check Yeager said that.

GEOFF STECK leads Alexander Publishing & Marketing, a company he formed in 1986. The core AP&M mission: To create and publish leadership, sales mastery, self-improvement and workplace skill-building resources and tools. The focus: Areas such as business communication, staff support, customer care and frontline management. Geoff also puts his corporate and entrepreneurial experience, independent perspective, and skills as a catalyst to work for other firms (ranging from multinational corporations to more modest operations), not-for-profits, and individuals who have conceived or developed programs or initiatives but are frustrated in getting them implemented.

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TGIM #201/FYI #156: Sing Out

Monday, May 11th, 2009

DO YOU KNOW PETE SEEGER? He’s a hero to me. And I reference him from time to time in TGIM, most recently (I think) at year end when I cited “Turn, Turn, Turn” the well-known song he created based on the verses in the Book of Ecclesiastes.

Pete just turned 90. And some of his friends celebrated his birthday earlier this month.

I was there. And Bruce Springsteen dropped by.

And, oh, Joan Baez, Emmylou Harris, Dave Matthews, Dar Williams, Arlo Guthrie, Roger McGuinn (who, with the Byrds, made “Turn, Turn, Turn” a pop chart hit), Oscar the Grouch, and 50+ other celebrities of all ages and musical and political genres. And enough others (18,000 by some counts) to fill Madison Square Garden.

It was a benefit concert. Pete, who normally doesn’t condone such commercial events, allowed this concert/birthday celebration to raise funds for the cause currently dearest to his heart, the Clearwater organization. He and a handful of others started it in the ‘60s with the goal of cleaning up the Hudson River. Now the intention is to scale the effort up, and that takes money, and so Pete OK’d the fundraiser.

But this is not a Clearwater commercial. It’s just giving you some background before I let Bruce pretty much take over this TGIM.

Several years ago Springsteen released a work he called The Seeger Sessions as a musical tribute to Pete’s influence on his songwriting and life. And Bruce closed the formal part of the Clearwater concert with an informative and inspiring acknowledgment of Pete’s activist contributions and thoughts on behavior well worth emulating.

Here’s my transcript of what Bruce said:

As Pete and I traveled to Washington for President Obama’s inaugural celebration, he told me the entire story of “We Shall Overcome” — how it moved from a labor movement song and, with Pete’s inspiration, had been adopted by the civil rights movement.

And that day, as we sang (Woody Guthrie’s) “This Land Is Your Land,” I looked at Pete. The first black president of the United States was seated to his right. And I thought of the incredible journey that Pete had taken.

You know, my own growing up in the ’60s, a town scarred by race rioting, made that moment nearly unbelievable. And Pete had thirty extra years of struggle and real activism on his belt.

He was so happy that day. It was like, Pete, you outlasted the bastards, man. You just outlasted them.

It was so nice…. It was so nice ….

At rehearsals the day before, it was freezing. It was like fifteen degrees. And Pete was there; he had his flannel shirt on.

I said, “Man, you better wear something besides that flannel shirt!” He says, “Yeah, I’ve got my long johns on under this thing.”

I said – I asked him, I said, “How do you want to approach ‘This Land Is Your Land’?” as it’d be near the end of the show.

And all he said was, “Well, I know -

“I want to sing all the verses. You know, I want to sing all the ones that Woody wrote, especially the two that get left out, about private property and the relief office.”

And I thought, of course. That’s what Pete’s done his whole life.

He sings all the verses all the time — especially the ones that we’d like to leave out of our history as a people, you know?

At some point Pete Seeger decided he’d be a walking, singing reminder of all of America’s history. He’d be living archive of America’s music and conscience … a testament of the power of song and culture to nudge history along … to push American events towards more humane and justified ends.

He would have the audacity and the courage to sing in the voice of the people.

Now, despite Pete’s somewhat benign grandfatherly appearance, you know, he is a creature of a stubborn, defiant and nasty optimism. He carries-inside him, he carries a steely toughness that belies that grandfatherly façade. And it won’t let him take a step back from the things he believes in.

At 90 he remains a stealth dagger through the heart of our country’s illusions about itself.

Pete Seeger still sings all the verses all the time. And he reminds us of our immense failures, as well as shining a light toward our better angels in the horizon, where the country we’ve imagined and hold dear, we hope, awaits us. And on top of it, he never wears it on his sleeve. He’s become comfortable and casual in this immense role. He’s funny and very eccentric.

The song that-I’m going to bring Tommy out. And the song Tommy Morello (of the group Rage Against the Machine) and I are about to sing, I wrote in the mid-’90s and it started as a conversation I was having with myself. It was an attempt to regain my own moorings. And its last verse is the beautiful speech that Tom Joad whispers to his mother at the end of The Grapes of Wrath. It says:

Wherever there’s a cop beating a guy,
Wherever a hungry newborn baby cries,
Wherever there’s a fight against the blood and the hatred in the air,
Look for me, Mom. I’ll be there.

Well, Pete has always been there.

***

TGIM ACTION IDEA: Find yourself a few good heroes; whose beliefs align with yours; who sing – and make you want to sing — all the verses all the time.

TGIM IDEA IN ACTION: Be very discriminating and deliberate in the search and selection process. Be alert for mentors who resonate with you. Make a determined effort to uncover and understand what makes them appealing to you as well as great. That information can be the key that unlocks the door to personal fulfillment and endless passion for the rest of your life. Take the very best parts and work at building on them in your own unique and individual way.

Then –

Sing out! It was a party for Pete’s 90th birthday but he took an active role throughout, from the opening moments to the stage-filling group tribute that closed the show 5 hours later. Roughly midway through the celebration, before leading the audience in a group sing of “Amazing Grace” (sung “slower than you’ve ever sung it before” as Pete asked for and lead it) Pete encouraged the active participation of even the most musically challenged of us with the wisdom -

“There’s no such thing as a wrong note just as long as you’re singing it.”

Geoff Steck
Chief Catalyst
Alexander Publishing & Marketing
8 Depot Square
Englewood, NJ 07631
201-569-5373
tgimguy@gmail.com

P.S. “I honestly believe that the future is going to be millions of little things saving us. I imagine a big seesaw, and one end of this seesaw is on the ground with a basket half-full of big rocks in it. The other end of the seesaw is up in the air. It’s got a basket one-quarter full of sand. And some of us got teaspoons, and we’re trying to fill up sand. A lot of people are laughing at us, and they say, ‘Ah, people like you have been trying to do that for thousands of years, and it’s leaking out as fast as you’re putting it in.’ But we’re saying, ‘We’re getting more people with teaspoons all the time.’ And we think, ‘One of these years, you’ll see that whole seesaw go zooop in the other direction.’ And people will say, ‘Gee, how did it happen so suddenly?’ Us and all our little teaspoons…” Pete Seeger said that

P.P.S. Who’s Your Guru? Model Your Mentors/Accelerate Your Success is a key component The Best Year Ever! Program. There are no Pete or Bruce concert highlights there but we’re continually updating and improving the BYE content and media formats. Check out the latest developments at the website and ET’s blog.

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TGIM #198 An Almond Tree Or An Oil Well?

Monday, April 20th, 2009

IS A PARK BETTER THAN A COAL MINE? What’s a mountain got that a slag pile hasn’t? What would you rather have in your garden – an almond tree or an oil well?

Those suitable-for-Earth Day 2009 (Wednesday, April 22) challenges were articulated by a character created by French diplomat and author Jean Giraudoux in the 1943 play The Madwoman of Chaillot.

The plot in a nutshell: In a sidewalk café near the Champs Elysees, three corrupt businessmen scheme to manipulate the stock price of their unnamed startup corporation. The plot thickens when they meet an unscrupulous prospector hell-bent on digging up the streets of Paris to harvest the oil that he can “taste” in the local water. Countess Aurelia, the Madwoman of the title, is eccentric, extravagant, imperious, humane, living the truth of her own imagination. With the help of her streetwise friends she hatches a plot to defeat the forces of greed and liberate the world from their deadly influence.

There’s a late 1960s movie version of the play that displays the title card, “This is a story of the triumph of good over evil. Obviously it is a fantasy.”

Fast forward to Earth Day 2009: Obviously the theme still applies all too well to our current economic and environmental situation.

Now I’m not going to make the case for or against global climate change here. I’m not going to suggest any change-all-your-light-bulbs, drive-a-hybrid-fuel-vehicle strategies or try to even figure out how the trade in carbon offsets works (or doesn’t). Instead I pose a -

TGIM Challenge: Do you know about Edward W. Bok?

Not many folks know about Edward W. Bok. Yet his influence is still felt today. Let me give you a little background and then tie this to our theme.

Born in the Netherlands, Edward Bok was brought to America when he was 13. He grew up to become, among other things, the editor of the Ladies Home Journal from 1889 to 1919. During his tenure, he made it one of the leading magazines in America for women, introducing many of the features now common in women’s magazines.

Having achieved some wealth, he gave liberally to further peace, endowed the Woodrow Wilson professorship of literature at Princeton, and underwrote broadcasts of the Philadelphia Orchestra to schools. He won the Pulitzer Prize for his autobiographical book, The Americanization of Edward Bok.

Now, what has Bok to do with this TGIM? Well, in essence he chose a park over a coal mine … an almond tree over an oil well … a mountain over a slag heap.

He is buried in a garden park he had constructed (landscaped with the aid of Frederick Law Olmstead, the leading influence in the design of New York’s Central Park) in Lake Wales, Florida, atop Iron Mountain, the highest point on the Florida peninsula.

Some five decades ago, long before Disney and the like built their Florida super park attractions, I was taken there as a child. I remember it well and recommend it to you. (It’s not-for-profit.) Adult admission is currently $10, a bargain for a Florida “theme park” I’d say.

I doubt you’ll have to wait in line. You’ll be entertained by the 57 tuned bronze carillon bells in the memorial Singing Tower and will enjoy the gardens.

What’s the TGIM point? The words of Bok’s grandmother that inspired all this and all his other charitable works are an Earth Day/Every Day theme worth noting and knowing and taking to heart:

Make you the world a bit better
or more beautiful
because you have lived in it.

Bok himself counseled: “A young person, to achieve, must first get out of his mind any notion either of the ease or rapidity of success. Nothing ever just happens in this world.”

Earth Day/TGIM Takeaway: Don’t wait to be inspired (or incited) by Al Gore. It’s your world as well as mine. You’re living in it. Want to do something special for Earth Day?

Make It Happen. That sentiment fits in nicely with TGIM #197′s EHFTB-FTWMIH message, I’d say. Make It Happen — Today … on Earth Day … Every day.

Geoff Steck
Chief Catalyst
Alexander Publishing & Marketing
8 Depot Square
Englewood, NJ 07631
201-569-5373
tgimguy@gmail.com

P.S. “What have we achieved in mowing down mountain ranges, harnessing the energy of mighty rivers, or moving whole populations about like chess pieces, if we ourselves remain the same restless, miserable, frustrated creatures we were before? To call such activity progress is utter delusion. We may succeed in altering the face of the earth until it is unrecognizable even to the Creator, but if we are unaffected wherein lies the meaning?” Author Henry Miller (1891-1980) expressed this view in 1940.

P.P.S. Make It Happen for the best with The Best Year Ever! Program – an unsurpassed tool for self improvement that we can all use, especially in times such as these. We’re continually updating and improving the BYE content and media formats. Check out the latest developments at the website and ET’s blog.

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FYI #153: Stop Trying…Damn It!

Monday, April 20th, 2009

Dear High Achiever:

I’VE GOT IT LOCKED UP somewhere in my visual and auditory memory bank. I don’t know who, what, where, when, why or how it got there. But it’s there. And I’m grateful.

“What is it?” you ask.

It’s a reminder. And it’s -

A very real picture. Of? Of a whiney, wimpy voice of a person, perhaps named Johnny, Suzie, or Steve. The name doesn’t matter (unless it’s yours).

And here’s what they are saying…

“I’m trying… to lose weight but this diet’s not working.”
“I’m trying… to quit smoking but I just can’t.”
“I’m trying… to open up that big account but the economy stinks.”
“I’m trying… to wake up early but its dark out at five in morning.”
“I’m trying… to get a date or meet the right man/woman.”
“I’m trying… to get to the gym at least 3 days a week.”
“I’m trying… to get an interview at XYZ Corporation.”
“I’m trying… to save money but I just can’t seem to find the bank.”

Got it?

I have to tell you, it’s excruciatingly painful every time I hear the words “I’m trying” come out of someone’s mouth at a seminar, at a cocktail party or – Damn It! — ANYWHERE.

I automatically picture Johnny or Suzie or Steve making that wimpy, whiny face of defeat, acting as if they’ve really given it all they’ve got, and saying…

“I’m trying.”

You might say — or I could say — like Avis:

“Try Harder!”

But that’s not what Hertz Rental Car is saying, is it?

Hertz says: “I Am …” or “We Are …” the #1 rental car company in America.

Hertz isn’t “Trying.” They’re doing it … being it … living it.

And so should you!

FYI ACTION IDEA: You’ve got to say, with conviction –

“I Am … Damn It!”

– and be on a mission to achieve your goals and dreams.

Get Rockin’ & Rollin’. Be like Jake and Elwood – The Blues Brothers. (You remember the movie, don’t you?) Be on a mission (from God!)

When I was promoting and producing seminars I didn’t say –

“I’m trying to put 1,300 people in Count Basie Theater to see Jeffrey Gitomer.”

I said, “I am selling 1,300 tickets. And the place is going to be packed and rocking for this sales seminar.”

I didn’t say “I’m trying to sell 5,000 tickets to see Christopher Reeve at the Empower New Jersey seminar.”

I said “I am filling this baseball stadium.”

Did I sell 1,300 tickets at my first seminar with Gitomer?

No! I sold 800.

Did I sell 5,000 tickets to the Christopher Reeve event?

Not even close.

Did it matter?

Not at all.

Both events were wildly successful. What mattered most was that the audience was empowered, inspired and entertained and I reinforced my conviction and belief that what I’m doing makes a positive difference in peoples lives.

Speaking of entertainment. I’m not a big Star Wars fan, but I know there millions of people who are and perhaps you’re one of them. If you are, I’m certain you know the famous quote from Jedi Master Yoda when he was teaching Luke Skywalker:

Do, or Do not. There is no try.

“I am” a big fan of Yoda’s quote and here’s the YouTube clip http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q3hn6fFTxeo if you’re not familiar with the scene.

FYI Takeaway: I encourage you to embrace the “I am” philosophy and mindset. It has literally transformed my life, my self-confidence, my self-esteem and my belief that “I am” worthy of everything I want in life.

And so are you… “I am” certain.

Make It Your Best Year Ever!

Eric Taylor is the Chief Inspiration Officer of SelfGrowth.com and founder of New Jersey based Empowerment Group International. He delivers more than 100 energized and interactive keynotes, workshops and seminars each year to corporations, associations and tradeshows. He is the author of the Energy Passport, Co-creator of the Best Year Ever! Success System and Co-author of The Complete Sales Training Encyclopedia. To get complete details about Eric’s background, his products and services, visit Eric Taylor’s Blog and review Eric Taylor’s Profile.

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