Attitude is the Edge - (This excerpt was taken from Denis Waitley's The Seeds of Greatness Treasury)

At the world-class level, talent is nearly equal. On the PGA tour only a few strokes for the year separate the top money winners in golf from the rest of the players. In baseball, the American and National League batting champions hit safely about 20 or 30 more times in an entire season than those below the top ten. In the Olympic Games, the difference between the gold-medal winner in the one hundred meter dash and the fourth place, non-medal winner is less than two-tenths of a second. What's true in sports is also true in our business and personal lives. There is only a fractional difference between winners in life and those who merely exist. The difference is attitude under pressure. It's the winner's edge. The Edge is not a gifted birth. The world is full of wasted talent. The Edge is not academic degrees. Education is important, but the world is full of educated misfits. The Edge is not luck. If it were, Las Vegas would be a ghost town. The Edge is not capital. Many of today's self-made, multi-millionaires started building their fortunes with under $5,000. The Edge is all attitude. Attitude, not aptitude, is the criterion for success.

Becoming a Proactive Leader by Dr. Denis Waitley

The knowledge era's new leaders, many of whom are immigrants and women, are managing change by conceiving innovative organizations and novel ways to attract and motivate employees. They are learning to be proactive instead of reactive, and to appreciate the full importance of relationships and alliances. They also have a healthy aptitude for risk and perseverance, and know how to gain strength from setbacks and failure. Life's Batting Average Baseball's greatest hitter grew up near my neighborhood in San Diego. When Ted Williams slugged for the Boston Red Sox, my father and I kept a record of his daily batting average. And when I played Little League ball, my dad told me not to worry about striking out. In Williams's finest year, dad reminded me, the champion failed at the plate about 60 percent of the time. Football's greatest quarterbacks complete only six out of ten passes. The best basketball players make only half their shots. Even with satellite mapping and expert geologists, leading oil companies make strikes in only one out of ten wells. Actors and actresses auditioning for roles are turned down twenty-nine in thirty times. And stock market winners make money on only two out of five of their investments. Since failure is a given in life, success takes more than leadership beliefs and solid behavioral patterns. It also takes an appropriate response to the inevitable, including an effective combination of risk-taking and perseverance. I meet many individuals who are seeking security at all costs, and avoiding risk whenever and wherever possible. Knowing that certain changes would make success much more likely for them, they nevertheless take the path of least resistance: no change. For the temporary, often illusory comfort of staying as they are, they pay the terrible price of a life not truly lived. Parable of the Cautious Man There was a very cautious man, Who never laughed or cried. He never risked, he never lost, He never won nor tried. And when he one day passed away, His insurance was denied, For since he never really lived, They claimed he never died. In other words, missed opportunities are the curse of potential. Just after the Great Depression, Americans, perhaps understandably at the time, took many steps intended to minimize risk. The government guaranteed much of our savings. Citizens bought billions of dollars worth of insurance. We sought lifetime employment and our unions fought for guaranteed annual cost-of-living increases to protect us from inflation. This security-blanket mentality has continued in recent decades as executives awarded themselves giant golden parachutes in case a merger or takeover took their plum jobs. These measures had many benefits, but the drawbacks have also been heavy, even if less obvious. In our eagerness to avoid risk, we forgot its positive aspects. Many of us continue to overlook the fact that progress comes only when chances are taken. And the security we sought and continue to seek often produces boredom, mediocrity, apathy and reduced opportunity. We still hear much about security, especially from federal and state politicians. But total security is a myth except, perhaps, for those six feet underground in the cemetery. We may indeed ask our government for guaranteed benefits. But we must be aware that when a structure starts with a floor, walls and ceilings will follow. And herein lies a paradoxical proverb: You must risk in order to gain security, but you must never seek security. When security becomes a major goal in life – when fulfillment and joy are reduced to merely holding on, sustaining the status quo – the risk remains heavy. It is then a risk of losing the prospects of real advancement, of not being able to ride the wave of change today and tomorrow. Had the founders of Yahoo, Amazon.com and America Online been concerned with immediate profits and return on investment, we would not be enjoying those Internet services today, each of which has a greater market capitalization than IBM or General Motors. Seek to risk a little more this week! -- Denis Waitley

Every Decision We Make has an "Opportunity Cost" by Denis Waitley

Every decision forfeits all other opportunities we had before we made it. We can't be two places at the same time. In their excellent management book, Tradeoffs, Drs. Greiff and Munter discuss the difficult options that face us in all areas of our lives. One case in point illustrates a common opportunity cost. It's a true anecdote they call, "Bicycle vs. Mother": "John is a precocious eight-year-old boy. Both his parents work. His mother is a management consultant and travels frequently. After being away for several days, she arrived home late one night and hugged her son. He said, 'Mom, I missed you. Why were you away so long?' She smiled and replied, 'One of the reasons I was away was to make enough money to buy you the bicycle you wanted.' Young John looked at her reflectively and stated, 'Mom, I really did want the bicycle. But mothers are more important than bicycles. So please stay home more.'" Even though we all are aware of the tradeoffs of "quality time vs. Quantity time" in our relationships, we are not used to thinking specifically about how our decisions cost us other opportunities. Without this understanding, our decisions will often be unfocused and unrelated to helping us achieve our most important goals. This week be more aware of the "opportunity cost" and use this to help you make great decisions! Denis Waitley

Be a Doctor of Selling

By: Brian Tracy

Three Keys to Building Relationships
Top sales professionals see themselves as "Doctors of Selling." They see themselves as professionals, well educated, acting in their "patient's" best interest, and bound by a high code of ethics.

The medical process is the same everywhere. Whenever you go to any doctor, of any kind, for any condition, he will follow the three part sequence of examination, diagnosis and prescription.

Begin With a Thorough Examination
Just as a medical professional would never think of treating you without following these three steps in order, you as a doctor of selling, would never allow a customer to force you to sell without your going through your three stages as well. This is as applicable to selling magazines door-to-door as it is to selling oil tankers to Exxon.

In the examination phase, you ask excellent questions, carefully prepared, in sequence, which are geared to give you a thorough knowledge of the patient's condition, or the customer's situation.

Diagnose the Customer's Need Accurately
The second phase is that of diagnosis. In the diagnosis phase with a customer, you would repeat back the results of your examination and double check to be sure that the symptoms that you had detected were the real symptoms being experienced by the patient. You would ask additional questions to confirm and corroborate. You and the patient would mutually agree that this diagnosis seems to be an accurate description of the condition or problem.

Make the Right Prescription
Once this mutual agreement has been reached, that a treatable condition exists and that you have identified it accurately, you can move on to phase three. This is the prescription phase, where you show the patient (customer) that your product or service is the best available treatment, taking all the factors of the patient's situation into consideration for the ailment that you have diagnosed. You show that, on balance, what you are suggesting is the best of all possible solutions.

Professionals who sell in the way that doctors treat patients find that their sales activities proceed far more smoothly and result in better sales in less time.

Action Exercises
Here are two things you can do immediately to put these ideas into action.

First, take the time to do a thorough examination by asking excellent questions and by listening carefully to the answers.

Second, repeat back and check your diagnosis with the customer so that you both agree on the need or problem - before you recommend a solution.

Generating Energy

By: Brian Tracy You may have a thousand different goals over the course of your lifetime, but they All will fall into one of four basic categories. Everything you do is an attempt to Enhance the quality of your life in one or more of these areas. The first category is your desire for happy relationships. You want to love and be Loved by others. You want to have a happy, harmonious home life. You want to get Along well with the people around you, and you want to earn the respect of the People you respect. Your involvement in social and community affairs results from Your desire to have happy interactions with others and to make a contribution to the Society you live in. The second category is your desire for interesting and challenging work. You want to Make a good living, of course, but more than that, you want to really enjoy your Occupation or profession. The very best times of your life are when you are Completely absorbed in your work. The third category is your desire for financial independence. You want to be free From worries about money. You want to have enough money in the bank so that you Can make decisions without counting your pennies. You want to achieve a certain Financial state so that you can retire in comfort and never have to be concerned About whether or not you have enough money to support your lifestyle. Financial Independence frees you from poverty and a need to depend upon others for your Livelihood. If you save and invest regularly throughout your working life, you will Eventually reach the point where you will never have to work again. The fourth category is your desire for good health, to be free of pain and illness and To have a continuous flow of energy and feelings of well-being. In fact, your health is So central t your life that you take it for granted until something happens to disrupt It. The common denominator of these four goals, and the essential requirement for Achieving each of them, is a high level of energy. The achievement of even a small Amount of success in any one of these areas requires the development and Expenditure of energy. Energy is a critical fuel and the one ingredient without which No other accomplishment is possible. The aim of strategic planning for corporations is to find ways to organize the Business to increase ROE, return on equity. ROE refers to the return on the capital Invested in the enterprise. By shifting resources from areas of lower value to areas of Higher potential value, the ROE in the business can be increased. In personal Strategic planning, the aim is similar. It is also to increase ROE, but in this case, ROE Stands for return on energy. All the work on personal development, self-improvement, Goal setting, and time management is aimed at helping you to Increase your return on energy, or as my friend Ken Blanchard calls it, “your return On life.” You are continually organizing and reorganizing your time and your Resources so that you can get the very most pleasure, satisfaction, and rewards from The time and energy you put into your activities on a day-to-day basis. Whereas companies have financial capital, you have human capital. Your human Capital is composed of mental, emotional, and physical energy. The more energy you Have to invest, and the more intelligently you invest it, the greater will be your Rewards. It is not the amount of time that you spend at your work or on your relationships That matters. Rather, it is the amount of yourself that you put into the time. If you Have gone to bed late, gotten up early, and gone to work tired, you may be Physically present for eight hours, but the quality and quantity of work that you can Accomplish during that period of time is compromised. You’ll achieve only a small Percentage of your potential productivity compared with what you can accomplish When you are fully rested and filled with enthusiasm. In every area of your life, it is the quality of the time that you put into your activities That determines the rewards and satisfaction that you receive from them; this Depends upon your energy level. Building and sustaining your energy level is imperative. Since your energy is central To everything you accomplish, you should be very sensitive to things that either build Or deplete it. Here are six keys to building and maintaining a high level of energy and Vitality: 1. Proper weight. Carrying extra weight on your body is like carrying a pack Loaded with bricks on your back — uphill. Excess weight tires you out. It taxes Your heart, your lungs, and your muscles. Extra weight forces your body to Burn up more energy than it normally would just to maintain life and proper Functioning. On the other hand, losing weight will increase your energy level almost Immediately. Your self-esteem will go up. You will feel healthier and happier. As you lose weight, you will feel a greater sense of power and personal control. When you reach your ideal weight, you will be more effective in everything else you do. 2. Proper diet. The foods you eat have a tremendous impact on your energy Level throughout the day. Changes in your diet can make you feel fresher, More alive, more alert, and filled with greater vitality than you can imagine. The way to live to a ripe, happy, healthy old age is to shift the proportions of Food you eat so you are consuming more fruits, vegetables, and whole-grain Products. When you get used to eating highly nutritious foods, you’ll be less Willing to eat foods that are not particularly good for you. 3. Proper exercise. The more regularly you exercise, the more energy you have, The better you feel, and the longer you will live. Regular exercise enhances Your digestion, reduces the number of hours that you need to sleep, and Increases your vitality in the physical, mental, and emotional realms. There are three basic types of exercise: flexibility, strength, and endurance. Flexibility exercises, such as yoga, require gentle stretching of all your Muscles and the articulation of each of your joints each day. The more you Stretch your muscles on a regular basis, the more relaxed, coordinated, and Looser you will feel. Strength exercises include calisthenics, weight lifting, and other exercises that Build your muscles. But perhaps the most important are endurance, or aerobic, exercises. One of The keys to long life and good health is aerobic exercise at least three times Per week for a minimum of 30 minutes per time. You can achieve aerobic Fitness by walking, running, swimming, cycling, rowing, or cross-country Skiing. The important thing is that you exercise at least three times per week — and many people say five times per week — for the rest of your life. This Will affect your levels of health and energy in everything else you do. Everything counts. 4. Proper rest and recreation. On average, you need seven to eight hours of Good, solid sleep each night. Some people can get by on less. But you should Plan and organize your evenings so that you are “early to bed and early to Rise.” Remember, nature demands balance in all things. If you are going to Work hard during the day, you must take time off to rest and recuperate in The evenings and on the weekends. The more balance you have between Work and recreation, the more energy you will have and the more productive You will be. 5. Proper breathing. By breathing, I mean deep diaphragmatic breathing, where You fill your lungs to the count of 10, hold to the count of 10, and then exhale To the count of 10. If you do this seven to 10 times, two or three times per Day, you will be amazed at how much fresher and more relaxed you feel. 6. Proper attitude. Positive Mental Attitude seems to go hand in hand with great Achievement and success in every walk of life. The more positive you are, the More energy you have. The more positive you are, the happier you are. The More positive you are, the more positive are the people and situations you Attract into your life. The more positive you are, the easier it seems for you to Get the cooperation of other people. The more positive you are, the more Effectively you perform. On the other hand, negative emotions drain your energy, enthusiasm, and Vitality. They tire you out and depress your immune system. Bouts of fear, Anger, doubt, resentment, or guilt will be manifested in your physical body. Keep your energy level high by always looking for the good in every person, In every situation. Seek the valuable lesson in every setback or adversity. Look for the equal or greater benefit that comes out of every disappointment. Be a perennial optimist. Be cheerful and positive. Be helpful and supportive. Be a source of encouragement and inspiration. Be the kind of person Everybody looks forward to seeing and talking to. Every success is the result of hundreds, and perhaps thousands, of tiny Efforts that nobody may ever see or appreciate. These tiny efforts, sacrifices, And disciplines accumulate to make you an extraordinary person. Everything that you do counts in some way. Nothing is neutral. Everything Either helps you or hurts you. Everything either adds up or takes away. Everything either propels you toward your goal or moves you away from it. Everything counts. With regard to your levels of health and energy, everything that you do, or don’t do, will have an impact on how you feel and how you perform. And the Results of all these activities are cumulative. People who are healthy and Energetic in their 50s and 60s were engaging in positive health habits in their 20s and 30s. People who live a long, healthy, happy life into their 80s are People who began planning for it and disciplining themselves in their 30s and 40s. Everything counts.

Increase Your Three Types of Energy

By: Brian Tracy

Most successful people can be characterized as having very high levels of energy. Since energy is the fuel with which everything is achieved, there seems to be a direct relationship between energy levels and levels of accomplishment. It is hard to imagine a tired, burned-out person achieving much in life. On the other hand, energetic, positive, forward-moving individuals seem to get and enjoy far more of the things life has to offer than does the average person.

Physical Energy is Basic
We have been led to believe that there is basically one kind of energy. We supposedly replenish this energy by sleeping at night, and during the day, we use it up again. It is as though we are machines powered by batteries, and each night we recharge our batteries for seven or eight hours. However, there are some problems with this view of energy. The biggest problem is that it does not deal with the fact that there are actually three different kinds of energy, each of which is necessary for maximum performance.

The three main forms are physical energy, emotional energy, and mental energy. Each of these energies is different, but they are interrelated, and they depend on each other.

The Sweat of Your Brow
Physical energy is raw energy, coarse energy, bulk energy, what we call "meat-and-potatoes" energy. Your physical energy is what you use to do physical labor. It is the primary energy applied by men and women who earn their livings by the sweat of their brow.

The Source of Enthusiasm
The second form of energy is emotional energy. This is the energy of enthusiasm and excitement. This is the energy that lends sparkle to the life of an individual. This is the energy that is necessary for feeling love, happiness, and joy. Largely, it is your emotional energy that makes life enjoyable for you. In fact, almost everything you say and do is determined in some way by an emotion, either positive or negative.

The Requirement for Creativity
Mental energy is the energy of creativity, of problem solving and decision making. You use mental energy to make sales, write reports and proposals, plan your day and your week, and learn new subjects. Your level of mental energy is a major determinant of the quality of your life.

Conserve Your Best Energies
The reason why most people fail to realize their potential in life and work is because they burn up their energy at the emotional level, or the physical level; therefore, they have very little energy left over for mental activities. Most people burn up their emotional energy through the expression of negative emotions. Negative emotions are like a fire that burns up their energy so quickly that they have very little left with which to think positively and constructively. In fact, one five-minute uncontrolled outburst of anger can burn up as much energy as an average person would use in eight hours of work.

Your job is to think continually about how you can stay calm and positive, and work smoothly and efficient, so you can have more mental energy to do the things that are most important to you in life.

Action Exercises
Here are three things you can do immediately to put these ideas into action:

First, take time to identify the different ways that you either use up or deplete your levels of physical, emotional and mental energy. How could you improve in each area?

Second, be sure to get plenty of healthful, nutritious food so you can keep your physical energy at high levels. This is the key to all other energies.

Third, look for ways to conserve your emotional energies by being more relaxed and optimistic in the face of daily problems and disappointments.

The more energy you have, the happier and more productive you will be.

The Magic of Solitude

The Magic of Solitude
By: Brian Tracy

The greatest men and women of all ages have practiced solitude regularly. They learned how to use silence to still their minds and tap into their superconscious powers for answers to their questions.

In this newsletter, you learn how you can apply this wonderful technique immediately to improve the quality of your inner and outer life.

The Magic of Solitude
Your feelings, your emotions, are the access point to your inner powers of mind. The most important part in the process of getting in touch with your feelings is to begin to practice solitude on a regular basis. Solitude is the most powerful activity in which you can engage. Men and women who practice it correctly and on a regular basis never fail to be amazed at the difference it makes in their lives.

Most people have never practiced solitude. Most people have never sat down quietly by themselves for any period of time in their entire lives. Most people are so busy being busy, doing something-even watching television-that it's highly unusual for them to simply sit, deliberately, and do nothing. But as Catherine Ponder points out, "Men and women begin to become great when they begin to take time quietly by themselves, when they begin to practice solitude." And here's the method you can use.


To get the full benefit of your periods of solitude, you must sit quietly for at least 30 to 60 minutes at a time. If you haven't done it before, it will take the first 25 minutes or so for you to stop fidgeting and moving around. You'll almost have to hold yourself physically in your seat. You'll have an almost irresistible desire to get up and do something. But you must persist.

Solitude requires that you sit quietly, perfectly still, back and head erect, eyes open, without cigarettes, candy, writing materials, music or any interruptions whatsoever for at least 30 minutes. An hour is better.

Become completely relaxed, and breathe deeply. Just let your mind flow. Don't deliberately try to think about anything. The harder you "don't try," the more powerfully it works. After 20 or 25 minutes, you'll begin to feel deeply relaxed. You'll begin to experience a flow of energy coming into your mind and body.

You'll have a tremendous sense of well-being. At this point, you'll be ready to get the full benefit of these moments of contemplation.

The River of Ideas
The incredible thing about solitude is that if it is done correctly, it works just about 100 percent of the time. While you're sitting there, a stream, a river, of ideas will flow through your mind. You'll think about countless subjects in an uncontrolled stream of consciousness. Your job is just to relax and listen to your inner voice.

At a certain stage during your period of solitude, the answers to the most pressing difficulties facing you will emerge quietly and clearly, like a boat putting gently to the side of a lake. The answer that you seek will come to you so clearly and it will feel so perfect that you'll experience a deep sense of gratitude and contentment.

Trusting Yourself
When you emerge from this period of quiet, you must do exactly what has come to you. It may involve dealing with a human situation. It may involve starting something or quitting something. Whatever it is, when you follow the guidance that you received in solitude, it will turn out to be exactly the right thing to do. Everything will be OK. And it will usually work out far better than you could have imagined. Just try it and see.

You must learn to trust yourself. You must develop the habit of listening to yourself and then acting on the guidance you receive.

Action Exercises
Here are three steps you can take immediately to put these ideas into action.

First, select a specific time and place to sit quietly and practice one full hour of solitude. Don't put it off.

Second, take small periods of silence and solitude during the day, especially when you feel overwhelmed with problems or responsibilities.

Third, take action immediately on the ideas and insights you receive while in solitude. One good idea can save you months and years of hard work. The key is trust.