Success Through Positive Affirmations

The longest distance between where you are now and the success you want in life is six inches.  Six inches is all you have to conquer in order to have every dream, goal and aspiration that you can imagine in your mind.   Half the distance of that little wooden ruler that you used all the way through grade school, while you weren’t slapping your friends on the hand with it, is the total distance that must be covered on your journey to success and the fortunes of your dreams.

Isn’t it interesting that people travel thousands of miles.  They literally travel all around the world in search of the “one thing” that will lead them to their own highest achievement. Some people risk life and limb to climb the highest mountains in the world to prove to themselves that they can do it.  Some prefer meditation with religious and spiritual thought leaders in the Far East to bring them enlightenment.  Some people just turn away in frustration and lose themselves in the day to day struggle and never become what they were uniquely created to be.

Well, the interesting news of the day is that the six inches that is so important to yours, mine, and everyone’s success is the six inches resting between their ears.  That bundle of gray matter laced with neurons and dendrites and pyramidal cells and synapses is literally the pathway to success.  It’s all tied up in the dopamine and norepinephrine and acetylcholine and endorphins which are continuously batting around and bouncing into each other that determine how high you go and how fast you get there.

How Can I Gain Success Using Positive Self Talk?

So how can you navigate that six inch trek which 95% of all people fail to tame and settle for mediocrity in their lives?  Well it all comes down to brain re-training.  You have the capacity to teach your brain to believe anything you want it to believe.  You can choose to make your brain lead you to your own personal success like an electromagnet can lift tons of metal once the electricity is turned on.  It’s all about what you feed your mind and how you condition is to feed information back to you in your life.

Henry Ford made the point this way:

“If you think you can do a thing or think you can’t do a thing, you’re right.”

So what are a few steps that you can take to get your brain on board with where you want to be?

1.  Determine a very clear picture of the goals that you want to achieve.  You must be specific.  This is one of the most critical elements of getting to what you want.  Studies have shown that the average person puts more time and attention into planning their annual vacation than they put into a concrete plan for the results of their one opportunity at creating a fantastic life.

2.  Write personal affirmations that state the achievement of these goals in the present tense.  In other words, if you want to earn $100,000 per year and you are not there yet, you would not say “I want to earn $100,000 per year.”  You would say “I’m so thankful that I’m earning $100,000 per year and am able to have the time freedom and stress-free life that comes with this income level.”  It’s also important to write affirmations for the different areas of your life.  It’s not all about money, but let’s face it, I’ve had it both ways and it’s easier having money than not.

3. Dedicate yourself to reciting these affirmations on a daily basis every morning and every night.  You may think it gets repetitive and boring, but your brain doesn’t know the difference.  The reason most people fail is that they let outside influences program their brain for failure.  Most of the outside information that you are fed on a daily basis is negative in nature and shows you why other people succeed and why you can’t.  You must overpower those voices that are speaking directly to your one great brain with the positive statements of achievement that will dictate your life’s success.

Success in selling really revolves around doing simple activities consistently over time.

Many people get caught up in the time consuming, success draining world of invention.  They try to figure out better ways to get their product or service message across to potential customers and they forget about the simple actions that they must engage in on a daily basis to achieve the success that they are striving for.

Darren Hardy, publisher of Success Magazine, recently released a great book on this very subject.  The Compound

Effect talks about little actions done day after day result in big wins over time.  He tells the story about the Tortoise and the Hare, which my kids and other children all over the world love, but shares this tale in a completely different level of understanding that applies to your success journey.  You see, Darren shares that just in the way that the tortoise plods along daily toward his goal of winning the race, your daily completion of simple, but profitable, tasks virtually guarantee that you will get to your goal.  In fact, the Hare, with all of his boasting and starting and stopping, actually loses the race in the end.  Apparently, according to Darren Hardy and proven through this fable, the slow, steady march of simple, repeatable, profitable processes are what lead to winning in the end.

Tip #1 Continually Educate Yourself

I read a lot of books.  In fact, my library of books is somewhere between 800 and 1,000 and the vast majority of that library deals with personal growth, leadership and success.  I like to reflect on the concepts in these books, most of which remind me of the same truths written in different ways.  The last three books that I’ve read are Crush It!: Why Now is the Time to Cash in on Your Passion by Gary Vaynerchuk, The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell and Sway: The Irresistible Pull of Irrational Behavior by Ori and Rom Brafman.  All three are great reads and I’ve written short reviews of each one on my blog.

Tip #2  Surround Yourself With Positive People

You’ve heard the saying “Birds of a feather flock together”, right?  Well, in terms of you getting to the most important goals in your life, this saying could not be more true.  If you have dreams and aspirations that you want to accomplish, you’ll have to check the people and information sources that you are spending your time around to make sure that they are people who are also looking to go in the same direction that you are.  Unfortunately your friends and family might not be very motivated to achieve more in their lives.  They might be happy right where they are.  Worse, they might not want you to move to far ahead of them and will subconsciously pull you back by distracting you from your worthwhile goals and dreams.

Now I’m not suggesting that you should end all of your relationships with people who aren’t the strivers in life.  In fact, some of my best friends have no interest in the type of business building activities that I involve myself in.  That’s ok.  Differences are what make our lives and our culture richer.  However, if I am interacting with a person who takes away from my self-confidence by ridiculing my business activities or intentions, then I must remove that type of person from interacting with me in order to stay focused and committed to my goals.

A few ways to surround yourself with like-minded people are to look for group associations locally that you can start to attend and develop new friendships and relationships around what you are interested in.  One of the new and growing tools that I like is MeetUp.com.  This is a service that allows people to post local, in-person groups that are based on interest categories.  If you’re interested in internet marketing, look for a group that is focused on that and join it.  Attend the meetings and get to know others in the group.  These associations will push you forward in your quest for success.

Another way to surround yourself with positive and uplifting people is to attend industry or company events.  If you’re involved in a network marketing company or a real estate or mortgage company, there are numerous company-sponsored and industry related events.  When I was actively building my mortgage business, I attended a Keller Williams event because Gary Keller was speaking. I didn’t work for Keller Williams, and I wasn’t a real estate agent, but I took the opportunity to learn from Mr. Keller’s success and surround myself with the other people in the local area who were looking to grow their business and their life in a positive direction.

Take Imperfect Action

This is really where the rubber meets the road.  Too many people try to get everything lined up just perfectly before they go out and get busy.  Many times that effort and energy that is put into planning and perfecting your business is wasted because of a fatal flaw in your business plan that wasn’t apparent before you started talking with clients and getting proof of your concept out in the market.

A popular saying by entrepreneurial experts is “Ready, FIRE, Aim!”  That simple saying reminds us to move forward on our goals with urgency.  Once you get your ideas out in front of people, they will give you feedback which can help to make minor adjustments along the way.  Those minor course corrections are what will lead you to the realization of your dreams and goals.  It’s never perfect and you’ll never make everyone happy.  You will, however, make many people happy when you bless them with your ideas, products, and solutions that will improve their lives.

Being proficient in social media skills isn’t just an option anymore. It’s a necessity. Today’s market in real estate and mortgage lending is online and there’s no turning back the clock.

Real estate agents and mortgage lenders can reach many more potential customers today via online media than can be reached through traditional approaches such as radio spots, television advertising, the yellow pages, and classified sections in periodicals. Many clients are increasingly reliant on the internet to connect with goods and services they need and if an agent or broker is online, he or she will gain business. If they don’t have a web presence, many opportunities to make a sale or loan will be lost.

Many agents and brokers don’t possess the timely skills in online media to effectively communicate with younger clientele who spend much of their life surfing the net, banking, and finding desired information online. The most effective way to compensate for thinking a blog is a swamp monster or social media is a disease is to hire a professional to do the job for you.

Professional web communicators create the consistency and focus needed to create a positive and professional presence for your business. The technical skills and specialized knowledge needed are provided for hard-hitting results in the foreign world of the blog as your message reaches thousands of people who no longer thumb their way through phone books or read the local newspaper. Reaching these clients is important for success and the key to reaching them is social media.

Cost concerns are legitimate business considerations all agents and brokers need to keep in mind. As the world of internet business explodes and more people learn to use it, developing and maintaining a professional online presence is becoming a business necessity. Marketing resources used to launch your business online is advertising money well spent.

An even better way to present a professional online presence while not taking away from your high value daily activities is using an automated social media marketing system.  You can find an excellent example of this high class, low cost system by visiting http://www.getasmartblog.com .

Now is the time to let the online professionals do what they do best: make you competitive and successful.

Being a professional in any industry starts with your passion for your work.  If you love what you do, that energy shines through to all of the people that surround you.  Most importantly, your clients automatically pick up on the positive aura that surrounds you like a glowing ring of goodness.  Believe me, that is half the battle in establishing trust and rapport which lead to greater sales success.

I remember one of the greatest experiences that I had with a professional who lived by this paradigm.  My geology professor at Southwestern Oregon Community College was the great Don Stensland.  Don’s claim to fame was that he was the single scientist who most closely predicted the eruption of Mount St. Helens just north of the Columbia River in Washington.  He would tell us again and again how he had the only key given to a civilian to access the blast zone after the eruption.

This guy oozed excitement.  He LOVED rocks!  It was a pleasure to go to class every day just to watch him get lost in his work.  There was nothing that he enjoyed more than bringing the power of geology and what that science meant to his young college students.  He was a treasure and is missed by students who have spread all over the globe.  In fact, you could say that he left a legacy of enthusiasm with anyone who came into his realm. He even has a hall at the college named in his honor.

Please understand this very important point.  Don Stensland did not go without ridicule.  He was so focused within the geologic world, and became so immersed in what he loved, that other people sometimes snickered and sometimes pointed fingers at him as he didn’t “fit in” in various ways with the daily culture of college life.  Being passionate about something doesn’t always mean life is easy.  Sometimes you have to deal with the detractors while you are sharing your passion with the world.  If more people were like Don Stensland the world would be a more joyful place.

I saw this video as I was doing some research for a logo and it was awesome.  It shows the idea of passion perfectly.  Believe me….this guy is in his own world and doesn’t care what anyone thinks of him.  My wish for you is that you find that one thing that you can get lost in and enjoy every minute of it!

Enjoy……

Real Estate sales and mortgage loan origination is a unique business which requires trust and confidence by the potential client early on in the relationship.  In fact, the first two minutes of the initial meeting are critical to establishing the tone of the entire mortgage transaction and future client relationship. These same principles apply to Real Estate customers as well.  I’ve put together five tips to help you manage that initial introduction successfully and turn your customers into commission producing raving fans.

Tip One –  Be Yourself.

The key to a positive first impression is the feeling of trust between you and your potential customer.  Too many times we try to make our professional persona something different than our true self.  This can be dangerous when dealing with clients.  If  the customer feels that we are hiding something or being “fake” they may, even subconsciously doubt our trustworthiness.

Interestingly, we are trained from childhood on in ways that help us instantaneously develop trust with people we come into contact with or to avoid interaction with them.  In Malcolm Gladwell’s book, Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking , he illustrates the point well using the term “thin slicing”.  Gladwell explains that we instantly judge new people and situations “because we have to, and we come to rely on that ability because there are lots of hidden fists out there, lots of situations where careful attention to the details of a very thin slice, even for no more than a second or two, can tell us an awful lot.”

Here’s a question.  Have you ever been in a situation where the hair stood up on the back of your neck? When that happened were you in an uncomfortable or nervous state?

That reaction is caused by the sympathetic nervous system and is part of every person’s natural “fight or flight” response.  It is an example of your bodies’ unconscious response to the feeling of distress.  The snap judgments that you make about a new person or situation is automatically interpreted by your brain and sends messages throughout your body in order to protect you from your environment.  Clearly this is a response that we do not want to trigger in our prospective customer within that crucial two minute introduction.

By being comfortable with yourself and willing to expose your true self to your prospects, they will be more at ease and feel like they can trust you right away.  In fact, in the best of cases, your customer will feel privileged to have made a new friend and will want to tell others about you.

One of the most consistent pieces of feedback that I have received from my clients over the last 15 years of successful referral based marketing in the mortgage industry has been “Mikel, I don’t know why but I just feel like I can trust you.  I’m going to go ahead and do what you suggest.”  My response, developed over the initial years as I started to see this pattern became; “Well thank you for that compliment.  I have to tell you that your trust is well placed.  I really do care about getting you the best deal for your situation and I’d do the same for anyone who you might refer to me in the future.”

Feel free to use that script.  It works.

This is just the first of five tips that I’ll be posting.

The most exhausting thing in life is being insincere.  ~Anne Morrow Lindbergh

By the way, you can subscribe to all 5 tips delivered right to your email including step-by-step worksheets that are guaranteed to boost your sales pipeline immediately at http://www.ultimatehomejournal.com .

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I attended the ActiveRain Rain Camp in Portland, OR today.  I learned a lot of great marketing tips that I’ll be sharing over the next couple of weeks.  I’d highly recommend attending one of these workshop events as they are well worth the very low cost to attend.  You will learn all sorts of great real estate and mortgage referral marketing strategies focused using social media.

One of the tools that was introduced at the event made it easy to generate buyer leads from people posting to Twitter.  This tool is free to use, but also has a subscription option which gets you fresher leads right when people post to their account.

Here is a video that is a basic introduction to DemandSpot.com .

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I played around on the site after I finished this video and was pleasantly surprised at the depth of information that you can get on a real estate purchase prospect. There are also many apartment hunters that this service provides, so anyone in property management might use this tool to generate renter leads for their investment properties.

What do you think about this service? Have you used it with any success?

I’m providing a prize to the best comment within 7 days!

Here’s a quick marketing tip from one of my friends at In Touch Today (intouchtoday.net).   This company does an excellent job with marketing material development and provides easy, automated systems to allow sales professionals to excel with relationships and referral based business.

Gwen Buehler is their marketing manager and she’s a smart, professional woman and offers a lot to real estate agents and mortgage professionals in their relationship and referral marketing efforts. They focus in the real estate and mortgage lending arenas, but they have developed great tools for other sales professions like insurance and financial planning.

Referrals and word of mouth marketing have always been the lifeblood of any serious executive level sales professional.  I’d recommend giving this company a look!

“I wanted to share a quick marketing tip with you. I have been speaking to many professionals nationwide during the past few weeks. Here is a snip it of the conversation I had with a prospective client on Monday of this week as we talked about marketing to his past clients.

Client : “I sent a Refinance Postcard to my clients last October and I only got 2 calls from it and no deals. I don’t think marketing to my past clients is working.”

Me : “Do you contact them regularly with other marketing products, like Home Tips Postcards, or a Newsletter?”

Client : “No, I just sent them the Refinance Postcard that one time.”

Me : “Well in that case, you should be pretty happy that you got those 2 calls!”

Quick Marketing Tip!

Don’t expect your clients to give you a sale when that is the only time you contact them. Increase the chances they will give you a sale or referral by sustaining (or re-developing) a relationship with them. Send them things they will enjoy receiving often like Recipe Postcards, Newsletters, and even the occasional Greeting Card!

Think about it – wouldn’t YOU be offended if the only time you heard from your friend is when they wanted something from you? Same concept here.”

You can also check out one of our marketing products, The Ultimate Home Journal (www.ultimatehomejournal.com).  This referral and relationship marketing tool is great because your customers keep it around for a long time.  It is also specific to their home, which is many times their most important asset.  People love receiving gifts and often respond by giving something back in return….like a referral!