Chart a Course to Your Dreams

Most people start life traveling aimlessly through an unchartered world, says goals expert Brian Tracy. "They simply figure things out as they go along. Often, 10 or 20 years of work will go past and they will still be broke, unhappy in their jobs, dissatisfied in their marriages and making little progress. And still, they will go home every night and watch television, wishing and hoping things will get better. But they seldom do," Tracy says.
The key to not letting life just happen to you is to set goals. Working toward goals will also make you happier. "Goals fulfill the greatest need of human beings—a sense of meaning and purpose in life," says Tracy.

To get yourself going, follow Tracy’s goal-setting tips:

1. Write your goals down on a set of 3-by-5 cards to carry with you wherever you go.
2. Always thinking of the next specific action step you can take toward your goals.
3. Review your goal list frequently.
4. Visualize your goals achieved continuously.
5. Do something every day toward your goals. The most essential factor is persistence.

Realize you have unlimited potential, Tracy says. "You are completely responsible for everything you are today, for everything you think, say and do, and for everything you become from this moment forward."

Read here for more insights on goal setting...

The Great Leadership Challenge by Jim Rohn

If you want to be a leader who attracts quality people, the key is to become a person of quality yourself. Leadership is the ability to attract someone to the gifts, skills and opportunities you offer as an owner, as a manager, as a parent. What’s important in leadership is refining your skills. All great leaders keep working on themselves until they become effective. Here are some specifics:

Learn to be strong but not impolite. It is an extra step you must take to become a powerful, capable leader with a wide range of reach. Some people mistake rudeness for strength. It’s not even a good substitute.

Next, learn to be kind but not weak. We must not mistake weakness for kindness. Kindness isn’t weak. Kindness is a certain type of strength. We must be kind enough to tell someone the truth. We must be kind enough and considerate enough to lay it on the line. We must be kind enough to tell it like it is and not deal in delusion.

Next, learn to be bold but not a bully. It takes boldness to win the day. To build your influence, you’ve got to walk in front of your group. You’ve got to be willing to take the first arrow, tackle the first problem, discover the first sign of trouble. Like the farmer, if you want any rewards at harvest time, you have got to be bold and face the weeds and the rain and the bugs straight on. You’ve got to seize the moment.

Here’s the next step. You’ve got to learn to be humble but not timid. You can’t get to the high life by being timid. Some people mistake timidity for humility. But humility is a virtue; timidity is a disease. It’s an affliction. It can be cured, but it is a problem.

Humility is almost a God-like word. A sense of awe. A sense of wonder. An awareness of the human soul and spirit. An understanding that there is something unique about the human drama versus the rest of life. Humility is a grasp of the distance between us and the stars, yet having the feeling that we’re part of the stars.

Here’s a good tip: Learn to be proud but not arrogant. It takes pride to build your ambitions. It takes pride in your community. It takes pride in a cause, in accomplishment. But the key to becoming a good leader is to be proud without being arrogant.

Do you know the worst kind of arrogance? Arrogance from ignorance. It’s intolerable. If someone is smart and arrogant, we can tolerate that. But if someone is ignorant and arrogant, that’s just too much to take.

The next step is learning to develop humor without folly. In leadership, we learn that it’s okay to be witty but not silly; fun but not foolish.

Next, deal in realities. Deal in truth. Save yourself the agony of delusion. Just accept life as it is. Life is unique. The whole drama of life is unique. It’s fascinating.

Life is unique. Leadership is unique. The skills that work well for one leader may not work at all for another. However, the fundamental skills of leadership can be adopted to work well for just about everyone: at work, in the community and at home.

To Your Success,
Jim Rohn

Chunk-Down that Goal and Get Out of Overwhelm

by Jack Canfield

Sometimes our biggest life goals seem so overwhelming.

We rarely see them as a series of small, achievable tasks, but in reality, breaking down a large goal into smaller tasks—and accomplishing them one at a time—is exactly how any big goal gets achieved.

After you have decided what you really want, with specific deadlines, the next step is to determine all of the individual action steps you will need to take to accomplish your goal.

How to Chunk It Down

There are several ways to figure out the action steps you will need to take to accomplish any goal. One is to consult with people who have already done what you want to do and ask what steps they took. From their experience, they can give you all of the necessary steps as well as advice on what pitfalls to avoid.

Another way is to purchase a book or manual that outlines the process.

Yet another way is to start from the end and look backward. You simply close your eyes and imagine that it is now the future and you have already achieved your goal. Then just look back and see what you had to do to get to where you now are. What was the last thing you did? And then the thing before that, and then the thing before that, until you arrive at the first action you had to start with.

Remember that it is okay not to know how to do something.

It’s okay to ask for guidance and advice from those who do know. Sometimes you can get it free, and sometimes you have to pay for it. Get used to asking, “Can you tell me how to go about...?” and “What would I have to do to...?” and “How did you...?”

Keep researching and asking until you can create a realistic action plan that will get you from where you are to where you want to go.

What will you need to do? How much money will you need to save or raise? What new skills will you need to learn? What resources will you need to mobilize? Who will you need to enroll in your vision? Who will you need to ask for assistance? What new disciplines or habits will you need to build into your life?

Another valuable technique for creating an action plan for your goals is called mind mapping.

How to Use Mind Mapping

Mind mapping is a simple but powerful process for creating a detailed to-do list for achieving your goal. It lets you determine what information you’ll need to gather, who you’ll need to talk to, what small steps you’ll need to take, how much money you’ll need to earn or raise, which deadlines you’ll need to meet, and so on—for each and every goal.

When I began creating my first educational audio program—a breakthrough goal that led to extraordinary gains for me and my business—I used mind mapping to help me “chunk down” that very large goal into all the individual tasks I would need to complete to produce a finished product.

To mind-map your own goals, follow these steps as illustrated in the example:

1.) Center circle: In the center circle, jot down the name of your stated goal—in this case, Create an Audio Educational Program.

2.) Outside circles: Next, divide the goal into the major categories of tasks you’ll need to accomplish to achieve the greater goal—in this case, Title, Studio, Topics, Audience, and so on.

3.) Spokes: Then, draw spokes radiating outward from each mini-circle and label each one (such as Write Copy, Color Picture for Back Cover, and Arrange Lunch.)

On a separate line connected to the minicircle, write every single step you’ll need to take. Break down each one of the more detailed task spokes with action items to help you create your master to-do list.

Next, Make a Daily To-Do List

Once you’ve completed a mind map for your goal, convert all of the to-do items into daily action items by listing each one on your daily to-do lists and committing to a completion date for each one. Then schedule them in the appropriate order into your calendar and do whatever it takes to stay on schedule.

Do First Things First

The goal is to stay on schedule and complete the most important item first. In his excellent book, Eat That Frog! 21 Great Ways to Stop Procrastinating and Get More Done in Less Time, Brian Tracy reveals not just how to conquer procrastination but also how to prioritize and complete all of your action items.

In his unique system, Brian advises goal-setters to identify the one to five things you must accomplish on any given day, and then pick the one you absolutely must do first. This becomes your biggest and ugliest frog.

He then suggests you accomplish that task first—in essence, eat that frog first—and, by so doing; make the rest of your day much, much easier. It’s a great strategy. But unfortunately, most of us leave the biggest and ugliest frog for last, hoping it will go away or somehow become easier. It never does. However, when you accomplish your toughest task early in the day, it sets the tone for the rest of your day.

By chunking down your goals, and then taking daily action on them, you create momentum and build your confidence, both of which move you farther and faster toward the achievement of your goals.

Now go take some action!

© 2009 Jack Canfield

Take Control of Your Dreams Charting a Course to Reach Them

Brian Tracy August 31, 2009

Imagine arriving on the outskirts of a large city and being told to drive to a particular home or office there. But there are no road signs and you have no map. In fact, all you have is a very general description of the home or office, so finding it would be very much a matter of luck. Sadly, this is the way most people live their lives.

Most people start life traveling aimlessly through an unmapped and uncharted world. This is the equivalent of starting off in life with no goals and plans. They simply figure things out as they go along. Often, 10 or 20 years of work will go past and they will still be broke, unhappy in their jobs, dissatisfied with their marriages and making little progress. And still, they will go home every night and watch television, wishing and hoping things will get better. But they seldom do. Not by themselves.

Earl Nightingale wrote, “Happiness is the progressive realization of a worthy ideal or goal.” Goals fulfi ll the greatest need of human beings—a sense of meaning and purpose in life. One of the great benefits of goal-setting is that you control the direction of change in your life. Setting goals, working toward them day by day, and ultimately achieving them is the key to happiness in life.

"You are completely responsible for everything you are today, for everything you think, say and do, and for everything you become from this moment forward."

In more than 50 years of research, psychologists have determined that your locus of control is the determining factor of your happiness or unhappiness in life. People with an external locus of control—those who typically don’t set goals—feel controlled by external factors, by their boss, their bills, their marriage, their childhood problems and their current situation. They feel out of control, and as a result, they feel weak, angry, fearful, negative, hostile and disempowered. People who do set goals often operate with an internal locus of control—they feel in complete control of their lives. They feel strong, confident and powerful. They are generally optimistic and positive. They feel terrific about themselves and very much in charge of their direction in life.

The starting point of goal-setting is to realize you have virtually unlimited potential to be, have or do anything you really want in life if you simply want it badly enough and are willing to work long enough and hard enough to achieve it. So, what do you really want to do with your life? What do you want to be or to have in life? You should return to this question over and over again in the months and years ahead. Remember, you can’t hit a target you can’t see.

Brian Tracy is a top management consultant to more than 500 corporations, including IBM, Xerox and Hewlett-Packard. He is the author of dozens of books, including the best-selling Goals! How to Get Everything You Want, Faster Than You Ever Thought Possible.

Change Begins with Choice by Jim Rohn

Any day we wish, we can discipline ourselves to change it all. Any day we wish, we can open the book that will open our mind to new knowledge. Any day we wish, we can start a new activity. Any day we wish, we can start the process of life change. We can do it immediately, or next week, or next month, or next year.

We can also do nothing. We can pretend rather than perform. And if the idea of having to change ourselves makes us uncomfortable, we can remain as we are. We can choose rest over labor, entertainment over education, delusion over truth, and doubt over confidence. The choices are ours to make. But while we curse the effect, we continue to nourish the cause. As Shakespeare observed, “The fault is not in the stars, but in ourselves.” We created our circumstances by our past choices. We have both the ability and the responsibility to make better choices beginning today. Those who are in search of the good life do not need more answers or more time to think things over to reach better conclusions. They need the truth. They need the whole truth. And they need nothing but the truth.

We cannot allow our errors in judgment, repeated every day, to lead us down the wrong path. We must keep coming back to those basics that make the biggest difference in how our life works out. And then we must make the very choices that will bring life, happiness and joy into our daily lives.

And if I may be so bold to offer my last piece of advice for someone seeking and needing to make changes in their life, if you don’t like how things are, change it! You’re not a tree. You have the ability to totally transform every area in your life—and it all begins with your very own power of choice.

—Jim Rohn

Eight Choices You Can Make Today That Will Change Your Life Forever by Chris Widener

The direction of our lives is determined by the choices we make every day. They accumulate and add up to our ultimate destiny. Here are eight choices you can make—choices that will create for you abundance and prosperity in all areas of your life.

1. Choose to grow personally. This sounds simple but many people only wish to grow personally. They never choose to grow by taking action, such as actually exercising, saving more money, etc. Make a decision today to be a person who is on the never-ending journey of personal growth.

2. Choose to always treat others right. We come across all sorts of people, many of whom will treat us poorly. We can choose to treat them right, no matter how they treat us. When they lie, we will tell the truth. When they cheat, we will play by the rules. We may get the short end of the stick sometimes, but in the long run we will win. And most important, we will be able to sleep at night.

3. Choose to break a bad habit. Take the biggie first. Tackle it head on. If you don’t know what it is, ask a friend. Then spend every effort you can to break that habit. Forget about the others, as you will get to them later. Stop smoking, get out of debt, lose your excess weight. Exercise the power to choose!

4. Choose to work smarter. Many people I work with feel like they are out of balance. One of the first things I do is try to find out how much time they are wasting at work, which makes them work longer, which throws the rest of their life into chaos. Getting your work done by diligently working in the time you have will free your life up extraordinarily.

5. Choose to see your work as a way to help others, and not a way to make money. If you put your heart into helping others, the money will most assuredly come. Spend time helping others grow and your finances will grow with it.

6. Choose to become balanced spiritually, emotionally and physically. Our lives are best when we have these three major areas in balance. Spend some time cultivating your spirituality, becoming emotionally healthy, and physically fit.

7. Choose to sow more than you reap. There are many takers in this world, but our lives will be better as we become givers. The world will become better as we become givers. Give away your time, give away your money, give away your love.

8. Choose to get home for dinner more often. The family is the most important group of people you will ever belong to. Make a decision today to grow in your relationship with your parents, siblings, spouse and children. This one choice you will never regret.

One of my favorite quotes: “The history of free men is never written by chance, but by choice; their choice.” —Dwight D. Eisenhower

—Chris Widener

Take Control of Your Life Your happiness is in your hands.

Take Control of Your Life

Your happiness is in your hands.

Deepak Chopra Richard Eyre Robert Kiyosaki Dave Ramsey Jim Rohn Brian Tracy August 31, 2009

We can’t do it all, so we do most things poorly—on a good day. And we’ve lived like this for so long that we don’t even realize how very far we are from reaching our potential!

Most times, we’re just reacting, as though we’re being jerked to and fro by some gigantic remote-control device. We’re trying desperately to keep one thing or other from crashing and burning. And we’re doing well just to make sure the kids are off to school wearing matching socks, and we don’t forget the big proposal on the kitchen table after working on it most of the night, and we’re getting most of our bills paid before they’re 30 days overdue.

Goal-setting? Forget about it. Attitude? Do you really want to know? Happiness? Come on!

And what about managing our money and taking control of our income? How’s that possible when we live paycheck to paycheck? As for our relationships—who would know? We hardly see each other or talk.

The signs of a life out of control may seem subtle: Your kids are growing up before your eyes, yet you hardly know them; you dread going to work at a job you’ve had for years; you want to say “no” before you even hear the question because saying “yes” means adding something to your plate.

Does any of this sound familiar? Is it normal to live a life out of control? Does it have to be?

The first step toward regaining control is examining your life and determining where you have problems. So take the self-assessment quiz that follows. Then read the insights offered by some of the best-respected experts and thought leaders.

You can change your attitude so you’re open to opportunities, so you feel it’s possible to chart your own course and drive your life forward. You can set goals—and you can reach them! Despite the economic chaos, you can take control of your income and start your own business. You can build wealth. You can reconnect with your family. And you can be happy.

Is Your Attitude Your Challenge?

1. Do you believe that now is the perfect time to seize opportunities?
2. Do you feel confident that your future is full of prosperity?
3. Do you believe that you have the skills and abilities to meet your goals?
4. Do you look at the challenging people in your life as teachers rather than enemies?

If you answered NO to 0-1 questions, congratulations! You have a winning attitude that inspires others and keeps you on track to your goals. If you answered NO to 2-4 questions, you may have a great attitude when things are going your way but struggle to stay positive in challenging times. Check out Jim Rohn’s advice for changing your attitude to change your life.

Are You Pursuing Your Goals?

1. Have you written down your long-term goals?
2. Have you written down a few things you want to achieve by the end of the year?
3. Have you developed specific steps to meet your larger goals, plus a way to measure your progress?
4. Do you meet your goals regularly and set new ones?

If you answered NO to 0-1 questions, congratulations! You are a champion goalsetter. If you answered NO to 2-4 questions, you could be settling for status quo instead of reaching for your dreams. Read Brian Tracy’s advice on goal-setting and achieving.

Is Your Life Fulfilling?

1. Do you feel like something is missing from your life?
2. Do you neglect your hobbies or interests in favor of daily tasks?
3. Do you find yourself watching the clock, waiting for the day to end?
4. Do you fill your downtime with mindless distractions like too much TV?

If you answered YES to 0-1 questions, congratulations! You balance your personal interests and passions with your responsibilities to stay happy and fulfilled. If you answered YES to 2-4 questions, it’s time to make a change and bring the joy back into your life. It’s never too late! Read Deepak Chopra’s advice on creating happiness.

Do You Need a Relationship Checkup?

1. Do you opt out of family activities because of work?
2. Do you think you’re too busy to connect with old friends?
3. Has your social life dwindled down to your spouse or co-workers?
4. During stressful times, do you avoid “burdening” others with your problems?

If you answered YES to 0-1 questions, congratulations! You’re doing a great job of making relationships a priority in your life. If you answered YES to 2-4 questions, don’t let another day go by without refocusing your daily life on what’s truly important: people. Read Richard Eyre’s advice on relationships.

Do You Have a Grip on Your Finances?

1. Do you know where your money goes each month?
2. Are you allotting money each month to your savings goals?
3. Do you feel in control of your credit card spending?
4. Are you on track to build wealth with your income?

If you answered NO to 0-1 questions, congratulations! Your money management skills are in top form. If you answered NO to 2-4 questions, you could be creating unnecessary financial stress and keeping yourself from achieving true wealth. Read Dave Ramsey’s advice on money management.

Do You Control Your Income?

1. If you face a layoff, do you have an alternate income source?
2. Do you feel you have just as much control over your financial situation in an economic downturn as you do in a boom?
3. Do you have a plan for building wealth?
4. Have you taken steps toward starting that business you’ve always dreamed of owning?

If you answered NO to 0-1 questions, congratulations! You understand the secret to building wealth is owning your own business. If you answered NO to 2-4 questions, there has never been a better time to take control of your life and your income. Read Robert Kiyosaki’s advice on entrepreneurship.

Perverse Motivation

By Brian Tracy

Everyone likes to buy, but no one wants to be sold. People don't like to feel that they are the recipients or the victims of a sales presentation. Most customers are independent in their thinking, and they don't like to think that they are being manipulated, pressured, or coerced into doing anything. They like to feel as though they are making up their own minds based on good information that has been presented to them.

Sales Helper

The best salesperson is perceived as a helper who assists prospects in getting what they want and need. Remember, it is the perception of the customers that, more than anything else determines how the customer behaves toward a salesperson. You must do everything possible to appear to be helping rather than selling.

Salespeople are Teachers

Top salespeople are teachers who show their customers how products and services work to satisfy their needs. The more you are perceived as a teacher, the more likely it is that you will also be perceived as a consultant or an advisor. You will be seen as a trusted counselor who can be depended upon to help customers get what they want by means of the product or service that you are selling.

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Don't Pressure the Customer

If ever your customers feel, even for a moment, that you are trying to sell them into buying something, they will instantly resist and withdraw. The most important part of selling is the quality of the trust bond that exists between you and your customers. You can't afford to do anything that threatens that trust bond. It is important that the customer feels that they are being informed about something that will benefit them, rather than feel pressured to buy a product that is being pushed upon them.

Design Presentation

Design your presentation in such a way that you are always showing, explaining, and asking questions to assure agreement and understanding. See yourself as a teacher with a willing and able student, eager to learn.

Action Exercise

Think of yourself as a teacher and your sales presentation as a "lesson plan." Always begin your presentation with agreement on the value or benefit that the customer seeks that your product or service can deliver.

"24 ways to close more sales now!" Now you can double, triple, or even reach 100 percent on your closing rate using 24 of the finest closing techniques ever devised. When you start using these easy to learn techniques, the customers will buy from you. Sales will be easier and you will make more money. Learn more here >>

How To Quickly Build Rapport With Your Prospects!

By Jim Klein

I'm sure you'll agree, building rapport and trust with your prospects is one of, if not the most important presentation skills you can learn. It's been said many times, people only buy from people they like and trust.

Have you ever had an experience with a salesperson and you have said to yourself "I will never buy anything from that person"? You have probably also had the experience where you hit it off with a salesperson and you would buy just about anything they recommend.

Why?

Because you didn't like or trust the first salesperson and you did like and trust the second. Why did you like and trust the second person so much? Because they took the time to build rapport with you. In simpler terms they probably showed a sincere interest in you and/or were like you.

The last sentence sums up the points I want to discuss in this article.

The first point you should learn in building rapport and trust with your prospects is, show a sincere interest in them. How do you do that? The first thing to remember is you have two ears and one mouth, so you should listen twice as much as you talk. Sales really is all about asking the right questions and then shutting your mouth and waiting for the answers. Then ask another question and so on and so on.

The questions you ask initially should be about them, their interests, how many kids they have, what kind of car they drive, where they work, etc. Get to know them like you would a new friend and you'll build a deep rapport.

Find out as much as you can about them, all the time looking for common interests. You see the second point I talked about earlier was people like people who are like them. So find the common interests and expand on them.

Don't take this step lightly. This is very important! People love to talk about themselves. Don't you agree? So let them talk as long as they like. The more they talk and you show a sincere interest, the better the rapport.

The second way to establish rapport with your prospects quickly is called mirroring and matching. This rapport technique can be accomplished in a couple of different ways.

One way is to pay attention to their communication style. Do they like to get right down to business, tell stories or joke around? Do they talk soft, loud, quick or slow? Do they communicate visually (use words like see, clear, reveal), or auditory (use words like hear, clear as a bell, tune in), kinesthetic (use words like feel; get a handle on, concrete).

The second way is pay attention to how their sitting or standing. Are their legs crossed, arms folded, do they use their hands when they talk, do they lean forward with their arms on the desk.

Then once you understand their communication style, mirror and match them, in other words, do what they do. If they talk loud, then you talk loud. If their visual, use visual words in your communication.

If they cross their legs, then you cross your legs. Now, I'm not talking about right away, use some discretion. Don't immediately cross your legs when they do. Use a slight delay. This will take some practice. However, in time you can become a master at this.

Once you build rapport with them and they like you and trust you, and feel you care about them, then and only then should you begin to ask qualifying questions.

Many salespeople fail to build rapport and then can't figure out why the prospect won't buy.

There is so much more I could teach you about building rapport, however, there isn't enough space here to do it.

If you interested in learning more about how to build rapport, check out my personal sales training program. Building rapport is one of the many parts of the sales process I can assist you in becoming a master at.

See you next week.

Make it a GREAT day!

The Power of the Right Coach

Throughout history, most of the great achievements and incredible comebacks have been the result of an individual whose motivation to persevere was influenced by a coach or mentor. In science, art, politics, sports and business, there is a common thread of having been coached among those who achieve greatness. A coach doesn’t need to be a professional consultant or counselor. He or she could be someone within your organization or industry, or it could be someone from your personal life whom you respect or admire.

A study was undertaken on the Hawaiian island of Kauai by two researchers named Emily Werner and Ruth Smith. This study, which followed more than 450 people from childhood through their adult lives, was an attempt to learn why some people are motivated to overcome severe disadvantages while others from the same background seem to have been overwhelmed by their problems. This research continued for an incredible length of time: 40 years, to be exact.

According to the research, one of the most interesting qualities of these motivated individuals is their ability to recognize potential sources of support in other people, to look beyond the walls of their homes to find relatives, friends, teachers or other role models who can provide help. This very important finding illustrates the benefits of forming mentor relationships to encourage achievement.

Choosing a coach or mentor is like having an additional correctional device to keep you on target. An analogy of this premise comes from aerospace technology. Years ago, the military used inertial guidance systems on missiles. Unfortunately, once the course of an inertially guided missile is set, it proceeds along that path with no capability for adjustments. It’s like a bullet fired from a rifle. Even when the aim is good at the outset, if the target moves unexpectedly once the projectile is in flight, the shot is going to miss. And if there’s one thing you can count on in life, it’s that the target is going to be moving! In the Gulf War of 1992, the Patriot missile that defended Israel and Saudi Arabia was introduced. Unlike previous defenses, this system had an advanced self-adjusting navigation system that continuously monitored the missile’s trajectory as well as the path of its swiftly moving target. The Patriot was able to make whatever corrections were necessary, regardless of changes in the position or speed of its objective.

A highly motivated person uses a coach or mentor in the same way when he or she has targeted a worthwhile goal. A coach or mentor can assist you in making adjustments and navigating through difficult times.

Finding coaches and mentors is an important mission, and you will no doubt have several over the course of your life. It is critical that you choose them wisely. Your mentor is someone to whom you’ll be committing a great deal of time and attention, and who ideally will take a very focused interest in you as well.

—Denis Waitley

The Power of One-on-One

The secret to being a good role model and mentor is in finding out what others want and helping them succeed. The secret to being a good and wise communicator is the patient listening for those desires in others, and also in learning from the experiences of others by questioning and listening thoroughly, so that we may learn from their successes and failures.

Frank Sinatra learned his superb breath control in singing from his first band leader, Tommy Dorsey. In large part, the person Helen Keller became was because of Anne Sullivan. Plato learned from Socrates. Jesse Owens credits his winning of the long jump in the 1936 Olympics to a tip given to him by his top German competitor, Luz Long. In the middle of the event, after Owens had already fouled twice on takeoff, Long gave Owens a helpful hint on how to correct his takeoff point. The result was a record breaking leap of over 26 feet, which stood for more than 20 years.

Artists have always learned more from observing other artists than from going to classes or observing nature. In a sense, you and I are master artists who have the opportunity to breathe new colors, shading and perspective into the lives of other artists who are struggling with their oils, brushes and canvases. Think back to the people who have had the most influence on you. You will likely find that they have been people who really cared about you—your parents, a great teacher, a coach, business associate, a good friend—someone who was interested in you. The only people you will influence to any great degree will be the people you care about. When you are with people you care for, their interests, rather than your own, will be uppermost in your mind.

Our success in getting along with others and communicating effectively with them depends solely upon our ability to recognize their desires and needs, and help them fill those desires and needs with positive actions.

In the communication process, knowledge is not always wisdom, sensitivity is not always accuracy, and sympathy is not always understanding. All customer service and the ability to gain trust and repeat business is based on empathy. Empathy is “feeling with” and never assuming anything until you have “walked a mile in the other person’s moccasins.” Since it is impossible to know the road another has walked, the best alternative is to ask questions with interest and respect, and listen for the hidden agendas and desires.

In this way, you can be a Renoir to the next Monet!

—Denis Waitley

Perverse Motivation

By Brian Tracy

Everyone likes to buy, but no one wants to be sold. People don't like to feel that they are the recipients or the victims of a sales presentation. Most customers are independent in their thinking, and they don't like to think that they are being manipulated, pressured, or coerced into doing anything. They like to feel as though they are making up their own minds based on good information that has been presented to them.

Sales Helper

The best salesperson is perceived as a helper who assists prospects in getting what they want and need. Remember, it is the perception of the customers that, more than anything else determines how the customer behaves toward a salesperson. You must do everything possible to appear to be helping rather than selling.

Salespeople are Teachers

Top salespeople are teachers who show their customers how products and services work to satisfy their needs. The more you are perceived as a teacher, the more likely it is that you will also be perceived as a consultant or an advisor. You will be seen as a trusted counselor who can be depended upon to help customers get what they want by means of the product or service that you are selling.

"Brian Tracy Testimonial Contest-- Ends Sept. 30th!" Learn how you can win a personal phone call from Brian Tracy, a $500 Gift Certificate to BrianTracy.com, an iPod with 20 Brian Tracy 1-hour MP3's of your choice, AND a FLIP Video Camera… All by simply submitting your success story of how Brian has helped you change your life or business! Learn more here >>

Don't Pressure the Customer

If ever your customers feel, even for a moment, that you are trying to sell them into buying something, they will instantly resist and withdraw. The most important part of selling is the quality of the trust bond that exists between you and your customers. You can't afford to do anything that threatens that trust bond. It is important that the customer feels that they are being informed about something that will benefit them, rather than feel pressured to buy a product that is being pushed upon them.

Design Presentation

Design your presentation in such a way that you are always showing, explaining, and asking questions to assure agreement and understanding. See yourself as a teacher with a willing and able student, eager to learn.

Action Exercise

Think of yourself as a teacher and your sales presentation as a "lesson plan." Always begin your presentation with agreement on the value or benefit that the customer seeks that your product or service can deliver.

"24 ways to close more sales now!" Now you can double, triple, or even reach 100 percent on your closing rate using 24 of the finest closing techniques ever devised. When you start using these easy to learn techniques, the customers will buy from you. Sales will be easier and you will make more money. Learn more here >>

Success Is Easy, But So Is Neglect by Jim Rohn

People often ask me how I became successful in that six-year period of time while many of the people I knew did not. The answer is simple: The things I found to be easy to do, they found to be easy not to do. I found it easy to set the goals that could change my life. They found it easy not to. I found it easy to read the books that could affect my thinking and my ideas. They found that easy not to do. I found it easy to attend the classes and the seminars, and to get around other successful people. They said it probably really wouldn’t matter. If I had to sum it up, I would say what I found to be easy to do, they found to be easy not to do. Six years later, I’m a millionaire and they are all still blaming the economy, the government, and company policies, yet they neglected to do the basic, easy things.

In fact, the primary reason most people are not doing as well as they could, and should, can be summed up in a single word: neglect.

It is not the lack of money—banks are full of money. It is not the lack of opportunity—America, and much of the world, continues to offer the most unprecedented and abundant opportunities in the last six thousand years of recorded history. It is not the lack of books—libraries are full of books, and they are free! It is not the schools—the classrooms are full of good teachers. We have plenty of ministers, leaders, counselors and advisors.

Everything we would ever need to become rich and powerful and sophisticated is within our reach. The major reason that so few take advantage of all that we have is simply neglect.

Neglect is like an infection. Left unchecked, it will spread throughout our entire system of disciplines and eventually lead to a complete breakdown of a potentially joy-filled and prosperous human life.

Not doing the things we know we should do causes us to feel guilty, and guilt leads to an erosion of self-confidence. As our self-confidence diminishes, so does the level of our activity. And as our activity diminishes, our results inevitably decline. And as our results suffer, our attitude begins to weaken. And as our attitude begins the slow shift from positive to negative, our self-confidence diminishes even more... and on and on it goes.

So my suggestion is, when given the choice of “easy to” and “easy not to,” that you do not neglect to do the simple, basic, “easy” but potentially life-changing activities and disciplines.

To Your Success,
Jim Rohn

Thoughts Create Behavior by Vic Johnson

“Cause and effect are as absolute and undeviating in the hidden realm of thought as in the world of visible and material things.” —As a Man Thinketh

We remember from science class Newton’s physical law that “every action creates an equal and opposite reaction.” Or, every cause has an effect. And because it is a law, it is absolute and undeviating. It always happens—in every circumstance, under every condition.

James Allen says the same law that applies in the physical also applies in the world of thought. Every effect must have an originating cause. Our life does not develop as a result of chance but as a result of causes.

In the thought world, a thought (the cause) creates a feeling (the effect). Feelings can eventually materialize in the physical world because they create actions or behavior. These actions cause results or outcomes, and thus our life goes.

When we say a person “looks worried,” what has taken place? A negative thought of some kind (the cause) triggered a feeling of worry (the effect) that materialized in the physical world through the person’s facial actions. Those feelings may also materialize in other ways. For instance, by increased blood pressure or nausea. All of these “effects” originated from the original cause, which was a thought.

Dr. Wayne Dyer writes that “all of our behavior results from the thoughts that preceded it…. So the thing to work on is not your behavior but the thing that caused your behavior, your thoughts.”

That was so liberating to me because I was so frustrated in trying to change the behaviors that I knew were causing the pain in my life. But I had been working on the wrong thing.

We cannot change anything in our life without first changing the originating cause. And everything in our life originates in our thoughts.

As Jim Rohn says: “If the idea of having to change ourselves makes us uncomfortable, we can remain as we are. We can choose rest over labor, entertainment over education, delusion over truth, and doubt over confidence. The choices are ours to make. But while we curse the effect, we continue to nourish the cause.”

And that’s worth thinking about.

—Vic Johnson

The Biology of Leadership: Allowing the Wisdom of Your Body to Lead You to One Spirit - By Brenda Sanders

Everyone we know is experiencing some form of increased "pressure" during these transforming times. These pressures may appear in the form of financial struggles, relationship challenges or health issues. It is helpful to understand from both a scientific and spiritual view point, that any particular form comprises only a small percentage of "all that is" about your life. It is equally helpful to live life from the perspective that you are one part of a collective. One individual calling forth the changes we are experiencing collectively. We do not want things to remain the same! Thus we must be better prepared to adapt to the even greater changes we know are coming. By understanding that we actually are creating this reality, this knowing becomes the impetus to evolve both as an individual and as a species. We are evolving as a species one individual at a time! New discoveries in Biology are actually proving scientifically what the great sages and saints of our history have been saying for thousands of years: We are ONE!

In this human form, we tend to focus on what we can see. It sure seems as if we are separate from each other and our environment. Yet many of us have had momentary glimpses of another reality, one in which we are all interconnected through the One Spirit that animates all life, and it cloaks us in abundance, beauty and divine love. This view of life feels more real to us. It also feels good because it evokes love, compassion and awe, emotions that are directly linked to our wellbeing. Studies have shown that the greater our feeling of connectedness, the less stressed we are. Positive emotions help us to meet life's challenges with grace and to sustain meaningful relationships. They account for the increased health and vitality among elderly people who have pets, or a circle of good friends, and are the reason that happily married couples live longer than singles. Yet because our interconnection defies our senses, and our logical mind only recognizes our separateness, positive emotional experiences are short-lived for most of us in our day-to-day lives. They are transient and unpredictable, wiped out in an instant when an event passes by that is not to our liking.

Just as our sense of connection evokes positive emotions our sense of separation brings negative ones that pull us even further away from Oneness. They bump us out of present moment awareness which is the only place that Oneness can be found. The more separate we feel the more depressed, angry and stressed we become. Our isolation brings a sense of scarcity and we feel as if we are in competition for limited resources. We know that stress taxes the immune system and other natural defense systems in the body, making us prone to cancer, heart attacks and other life threatening illnesses. In short, we die sooner.

Unfortunately, as adults, our natural tendency leans closer to separation and negative emotional experiences, than to our interconnection and positive ones. Even when we know that we are Spirit at our very core, we function in a constant state of forgetfulness thinking that our physical form is all there is. It is as if our short-term memory of One Spirit can last only a few moments and we must reconnect to it on an ongoing basis. This is why we need a daily practice... to remember. In this remembering we can hold the Oneness, even though unseen, in a balance with the visible world. It affords us the perspective of the modern mystic, of seeing the divine through our human form and we become authentic leaders. We change the world by changing ourselves and lead through love, compassion for each other, and appreciation of life's gifts.

It stands to reason that the more that we can stabilize positive emotions, the healthier, happier and more compassionate we will be. We will live longer and become better leaders. But how can we evoke and stabilize these emotions? Is there something we can do beyond focusing on our breath in mediation, or trying to think better feeling thoughts? Can we draw upon the wisdom of our body to bring positive emotions more to the forefront of our lives?

Scientists have been studying the biology of stress for years. We know that it triggers the Fight or Flight Response. Regulated through the autonomic nervous system (ANS) and the hormone adrenaline, it acts to quickly ramp up processes that increase our energy level, such as heartbeat, respiration and blood flow, and it shuts down digestion. Although this shutdown helps us better fight an adversary or flee from a predator, habitual negative thoughts and emotions can keep the system revved up for long periods of time, causing the physiological burnout that compromises our health.

What most of us don't know is that our body also responds when we reach out to connect to others and to the natural world. In addition to the biology of stress, there is the biology of love and compassion, and it also under the control of the ANS. It is regulated through an alternate pathway to the one used for the stress response. While the former increases the heart rate and slows down nonessential processes to prepare for fight or flight, the Compassion Response slows down the heart rate, slows down breathing and relaxes us. It sustains positive emotions, such as love and compassion by synchronizing the heart, the brain and the nervous and hormonal systems. This response is coordinated through the vegus nerve which resides in the chest. It produces a feeling of liquid warmth that spreads throughout the heart area when it is activated. It also triggers the secretion of oxytocin, the hormone which elicits a sense of trust, love and compassion.

Research at the Institute of Heart Math has shown that we can bring on the Compassion Response by simply slowing our breathing. It is strengthened even further if we consciously generate feelings of love and appreciation, and imagine breathing directly through the heart area. This triggers positive feelings through the ANS and evokes feelings of security and well-being. This practice has the added benefit of over-riding negative thoughts, feelings and behaviors. Through practice, the Compassion Response becomes stronger and more enduring. In time, simply visualizing our breathing through the heart during a challenging situation will shift us from the Stress Response to the Compassion Response.

We can strengthen this response many-fold by being in the presence of others who are stepping into their full potential SELF. By expressing from the Compassion Response, our hearts and minds synchronize as SELF. It is in this experience that we become entrained in One Spirit and cloaked in the abundance, beauty and divine love of our inter-connection.

** To comment on this article or to read comments about this article, go here.

About the Author:

Brenda Sanders is the SelfGrowth.com Official Guide to Spiritual Growth. She can be found at http://selfgrowth.com/guide/brendasanders.html

This is the magic and the grace of One Spirit Weekend. We hope you join us to learn to embody your role as an awakening leader during this shift. To learn more about One Spirit Weekend please visit us at: http://www.onespiritweekend.com, email us at info@onespiritweekend.com or call us at 928.649.1921

Persist Until You Succeed

By Brian Tracy

The most important single quality of success is self-discipline. Self-discipline is having the ability within yourself, based on your strength of character and willpower, to do what you should do when you should do it, whether you feel like it or not. Character is the ability to follow through on a resolution after the enthusiasm with which the resolution was made has passed.

Persistence is Self-Discipline in Action

Perhaps the greatest display of self-discipline is persisting when the going gets tough. Persistence is self-discipline in action. Persistence is the great measure of individual human character. Your persistence is, in fact, the true measure of your belief in yourself and your ability to succeed. Each time that you persist in the face of adversity and disappointment, you build the habit of persistence. You build pride, power, and self-esteem in your character and your personality. You become stronger and more resolute. By persisting, you become more self-disciplined. You develop within yourself the iron quality of success, the one quality that will carry you forward and over any obstacle that life can throw in your path.

Get Going and Keep Going

Orison Swett Marden wrote in his book, “There are two essential requirements for success. The first is 'go-at-it-iveness' and the second is 'stick-to-it-iveness'” Referring to the quality of persistence he wrote, “There is no failure for the man who realizes his power, who never knows when he is beaten; there is no failure for the determined endeavor, the conquerable will. There is no failure for the man who gets up every time he falls, who rebounds like a rubber ball, who persists when everyone else gives up, who pushes on when everyone else turns back.”

"Accomplish More in a Month Than Most People Accomplish in a Year" Your ability to discipline yourself "to do what you should, when you should do it, whether you feel like it or not," is the key to becoming a great person and living a great life. When you develop the habits of self-discipline, you will accomplish more in a month than most people accomplish in a year. Click for more >>

Persistence is Your Greatest Asset

Perhaps your greatest asset is simply your ability to stay at a task longer than anyone else. B.C. Forbes, who founded Forbes magazine and built it into a major publication during the darkest days of the Depression, wrote, “History has demonstrated that the most notable winners usually encountered heartbreaking obstacles before they triumphed. They won because they refused to become discouraged by their defeat.”

Adversity is What Tests Us

Throughout history, great thinkers have reflected on this paradox and have concluded that adversity is the test that you must pass on the path to accomplishing anything worthwhile. Herodotus, the Greek philosopher, said, “Adversity has the effect of drawing out strength and qualities of a man that would have lain dormant in its absence.” The very best qualities of strength, courage, character, and persistence are brought out in you when you face your greatest challenges and when you respond to them positively and constructively.

Action Exercise

Your greatest successes almost invariably come one step beyond your greatest failures, when everything inside you says quit. Think of failures in terms of how you can make them successes.

Eleven Keys to Increasing your Productivity

By Brian Tracy

• Develop clear goals and write them down.
  Because higher productivity begins with clear goals, goal setting is a key component of our coaching program. As you know, a goal must be specific and measurable to be effective in guiding your behavior. It must reflect your beliefs and be within your power to achieve.
• Write a clear action plan.
  Next, if you want to turbo-charge your productivity, make sure you have a clear, written plan of action. Every minute you spend in careful planning will save you as many as ten minutes in execution.
• Set your priorities.
  The third step is to prioritize your list. Analyze your list before you take action. Identify and start with the high-value tasks on your list.
• Concentrate and eliminate distractions.
  In this step, choose a high-value activity or task, start on it immediately, and stay with it until it is done. Focusing single-minded attention on one task allows you to complete it far more quickly than starting and stopping.

"A Goal Without a Plan is Only a Dream…" If you dream of achieving great things in life, planning for making them a reality on paper is vital to your success. The Life Planning Process is a step-by-step manual to help you set and achieve your goals. Using this Action Workbook will guarantee that you stay on course, on time and on target. Learn more here >>

• Lengthen your workday but increase your time off.
  By starting your workday a little earlier, working through lunchtime, and staying a little later, you can become one of the most productive people in your field.
• Work harder at what you do.
  When you are at work, concentrate on work all the time you are there. Don't squander your time or fall into the habit of treating the workplace as a community where socializing is acceptable.
• Pick up the pace. At work, develop a sense of urgency and maintain a quicker tempo in all your activities. Get on with the job. Dedicate yourself to moving quickly from task to task.
• Work smarter.
  Focus on the value of the tasks you complete. While the number of hours you put in is important, what matters most is the quality and quantity of results you achieve.
• Align your work with your skills.
  Skill and experience count. You achieve more in less time when you work on tasks at which you are especially skilled or experienced.
• Bunch your tasks.
  Group similar activities and do them all at the same time. Making all your calls, completing all your estimates, or preparing all your presentation slides at the same time allows you to develop speed and skill at each activity.
• Cut out steps.
  Pull several parts of the job together into a single task and eliminate several steps. Where you can, cut lower-value activities completely.

Action Exercise
What are your ten most important goals? Carefully review your ten most important goals. Select one that, if achieved immediately, would have the strongest positive impact on your life.

How to Drive Your Career Change - By Peter Fisher

If your career has gone off the road, take control and drive back to job satisfaction with a direct approach.

When you're looking for that new job or a career move it's easy to think that 'they' hold all the cards.

But if you can change the way you think about it, you can get back in the driver's seat, and after all, this is your career we're talking about.

Remember 'they' don't hire you for the sake of it; they hire you to help them make a profit!

So two things first -- how you are (attitude) and how you react (the way you see things)

1. Attitude

Everyone goes on about positive mental attitude, don't they? But what does it mean?

To some extent we can all have some influence over what happens to us. I don't mean to say that we can make everything go right all the time, but we can hold an attitude of expecting things to go right

If we expect things to go well they're more likely to.

If we expect things to go badly they probably will.

So even if everything doesn't go right we can get past the things that go wrong so much easier. This is what I mean by positive mental attitude.

2. The way you see things

-Instead of thinking they're in charge, try 'I'm in charge';
-Instead of waiting to be chosen, decide what you want and present some proposals;
-Instead of dreading interviews, think of yourself influencing key decision-makers;
-Instead of scouring the adverts, read them as sources of inside information;
-Instead of worrying about vacancies, think of them as needs waiting to be met;
-Instead of having to accept the offered terms, think how you can negotiate;
-Instead of them getting what they want, you both get what you want.

Job banks, search engines, job listings, and job guides are all useful tools in your employment search; however they won't find you the unadvertised jobs. Statistics show that perhaps up to 60% of all jobs are unadvertised and are found informally - that is to say through networking and the direct approach - so the unadvertised jobs are what you really need to uncover.

You can uncover these unadvertised jobs and get back into the driving seat by putting together a carefully crafted direct approach letter.

This direct approach is no more and no less than a 'marketing' exercise to a specifically qualified target audience. It is NOT a mail-shot and certainly NOT 'speculative' letters that some people would have you waste your time writing.

Compared to a direct approach letter, the speculative letter or mail-shot is a complete waste of time, effort and possible opportunity. So don't do it!

Why do I say that?

Because: A speculative mail-shot aims to cover as many possibilities as you can, so inherently it's not specific to any particular reader. A speculative letter labels you as a jobseeker and gets sent to the Personnel Department (if they have one and it gets past the waste-basket). Unless you want to work for the Personnel Department (if they have one) that's the last place you want your letter to go.

Also, mail-shots in general usually have less than 2% response rate so to generate some interest, (even before an interview is offered) you'd have to spend maybe £300 on postage alone. This approach at best will bring you what 'they' think you should have, not necessarily what you want for yourself.

But the most important reason is that when you try to cover all the possible employers you then make it virtually impossible to approach them again or in any other way. (Oh yes, you already sent your details in to us didn't you?)

So what should you do?

1. Each direct approach must be tailor-made for the reader;
2. Your letter must include a business proposition;
3. Only address to the decision-maker who can employ you;
4. Research the organization in detail;
5. Be businesslike and professional;
6. Do NOT include your CV
7. Make it clear you would like to arrange a meeting;
8. Be prepared to follow-up quickly once sent;

9. Be persistent -- they need you.

You already know there is so much more to job or career change than waiting for the right advert to appear so if you want to get back in the driving seat prepare a good direct approach.

Remember - fail to prepare - prepare to fail

Use your research and personal achievements to pack real benefits into your letter; the research you do will show you exactly what proposition you need to develop.

When a need exists because of expansion or new locations; departure or retirement of employees; new product launches; new markets at home or overseas; downsizing (businesses often lose people they'd rather keep); or change in legislation, somebody has the problem to solve. You simply present yourself as the solution, and so remove their headache.

Use this direct approach as one of the main tactics in your overall career change strategy; your time is better spent on this and networking than scouring the papers for adverts to reply to.
** To comment on this article or to read comments about this article, go here.



About the Author:

With over 25 years running businesses as a Career Coach and Consultant in many sectors, Peter Fisher is well placed to guide job seekers through the steps needed in order to achieve that all important new position.

He has personally coached thousands of individuals to career success.

For specific guidance on how you might produce your own direct approach letter go here.

You can learn more about his dynamic and comprehensive approach to career change, with every page dedicated to helping serious career changers if you go here.

5 Secular Trends Investors Must Know

Posted: September 15, 2009 1:59PM by Ryan Barnes

Difficult questions abound in today's stock market. Are we in a new bull market or does the bear still roam? Have the broad economy and the business cycle rebounded, or are we in for further rounds of low growth? Questions like these are easy to ask, yet very hard to answer.

So is there any low-hanging fruit out there for an investor to find? Below are five of the most prominent secular trends from around the globe. What is a secular trend? Quite simply, it is a trend that has long-term causes, long-term effects, and can be depended on to be just as important in the future as today. The companies that lead in providing solutions to these trends should outperform the broad market over the next decade, as they have a neon-lit pathway to higher revenues and profits. Let's take a look at five secular trends that every investor should know. (Read more in Digging Deeper Into Bull And Bear Markets.)

1. The Baby Boomer Generation
The boomers represent the single most concentrated source of wealth in the history of mankind. Many of them are retiring (granted, some later than they may have wished), which means they will be tapping into their nest eggs. Many will travel or move to a new home. They will take up new hobbies and activities.

In short, boomers will be spenders rather than savers. They will be able to spend more on necessary healthcare than any generation before, and in their twilight years they will look to senior living centers that can provide a valuable social setting while getting closer access to important health care. Follow this powerful demographic – it's a bankable one for the next 20-30 years.

2. Mobile Devices
When the most recognizable U.S. President in world history can't detach himself from his Blackberry, consider yourself witness to a big trend. The acceptance rate of smartphone devices – which offer cell service, email, Internet, and countless other data applications – has grown dramatically in recent years. This trend looks to continue as technology makes mobile devices smaller, more powerful and more affordable.

Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL), Nokia (NYSE: NOK), Palm (Nasdaq: PALM) and Research in Motion (Nasdaq: RIMM) are all big players in the market for the devices themselves, but the secular trend also extends to the wireless carriers, and the makers of the "guts" of the device, such as semiconductors, touch screens and software applications. (To learn more, check out Dial up Choice Telecom Stocks.)

3. The Scarcity Trade - Peak Oil, and Peak ... Water?
We are somewhere near peak oil, that point when the world's drillers tell us that they're not finding any more meaningful stores of the black gold. When that day is upon us, chances are that crude oil will still be fueling the majority of the world's engines, automobiles and mechanical equipment. And from that day forward, it's a good bet that the price of oil and gasoline won't be heading down. Alternative green energy sources are making great inroads to solving this problem, but it will take decades for them to replace a meaningful chunk of global energy production. (For further reading, check out our special feature on Green Investing.)

Meanwhile, the most important scarce resource on earth is also the simplest in chemical structure – water. While the vast majority of the earth's surface is covered by it, only 2.5% of the world's water is fresh water, and the majority of that is locked up in the polar ice caps.

To about 20%, the world's ever-growing population, potable (drinking) water isn't even accessible. More than 75% of China's fresh water is already polluted. The secular trend here is for companies that can filter polluted water, desalinate salt water or cull fresh water from the atmosphere.

4. Agriculture Products
To say that the world's population is on a permanent uptrend is no news flash. Neither is the fact that the world is consuming more food each and every day. But what kind of food they're eating is a secular trend in its own right.

In most developing nations, people are craving diversity in their diet, which has mostly consisted of grains and vegetables in the past. They want protein, and while they can get it, the growing of cattle, pigs and chickens means that more grains, rice and corn must be produced on our farmland to feed those animals. It takes about 16 pounds of grain to produce just one pound of beef.

The world's arable (farmable) land is shrinking as more people populate a planet that isn't getting any bigger. In addition, the soil in many developing markets can't produce rich crop yields due to insufficient nutrients. These trends have resulted in commodity food prices rising for decades, a trend that looks to continue. Companies that provide fertilizers, stronger seeds and farming equipment could greatly benefit from this secular trend in the coming decades.

5. Globalization & Emerging Market Infrastructure
By now you've probably heard of the BRIC acronym, identifying four super-fast growing economies. GDP growth in China and India alone was not only above 6% in 2008, but will grow just as much in 2009. And those were global recession years.

More importantly, these nations have a growing number of college-educated professionals that can compete for jobs around the world. They have growing middle classes with personal incomes that can be spent on better living standards and consumer goods.

What will take these economies to the next level is the gradual rollout of a broad infrastructure. The main reason why America rose to become the world's largest economy in the past century was our infrastructure. We built a vast network of roads and bridges so that goods could flow freely to anyone, anywhere. We built an electrical grid to connect every home, and made fresh water, plumbing and sewage a mandatory part of homebuilding. These trends are still in their infancy in many parts of the world.

This secular trend is very fluid, and the companies who benefit the most is likely to change over time. Gain your clues from the U.S. companies that are building the biggest inroads to consumers and projects in these fast-developing nations. (Learn more in Re-Evaluating Emerging Markets.)

Parting Thoughts
Nobody can say for sure if the companies leading the charge today will be the ultimate beneficiaries of these secular trends. So your homework is to keep tabs on them yourself, to follow them in your own way. Identifying the winners is a ticket to solid investment returns and an excellent long-term strategy.