BE THE BEST!

SEVEN STEPS TO THE TOP

Lifelong personal development and the commitment to personal excellence require tremendous dedication, discipline, and willpower. The greatest payoff is that every time you learn and apply something new, your brain releases endorphin's, which make you feel happier and more excited about your future.

Every time you learn and apply something new, you will have a greater sense of personal power. Your self esteem, self-respect, and personal pride will increase. You will feel very much in control of your earning ability, which is one of the most important parts of your life.

In the next chapter, we’ll talk about the importance of courage, of overcoming the fears and doubts that hold most people back. It is often the case that we know what we need to do, but we lack the courage to take the risks that accompany trying anything new. Instead, we make excuses for inaction.

Here are the seven steps in the 100 percent formula:

Step 1: ARISE TWO HOURS BEFORE YOUR FIRST APPOINTMENT, OR BEFORE YOU HAVE TO BE AT WORK.

Invest the first hour in yourself by reading something educational, motivational, or spiritual. As Henry Ward Beecher once said, “The first hour is the rudder of the day.” When you get up and invest the first hour in yourself, you set yourself up mentally to have an excellent day. You will be more positive, alert, creative, and productive all day long when you start your day by investing the first hour in yourself.

If you read in your field one hour per day, that will translate into about one book per week. One book per week will translate into about fifty books per year. Since the average adult reads less than one nonfiction book per year, if you were to read fifty books in your field each year, do you think that would give you an edge in your profession? Do you think that it would move you ahead of virtually everyone else in your business? Of course it would!

If you read fifty books per year for ten years, this would be 500 books that would help you improve your productivity, performance, and income. At the very least, you would need a bigger house just to hold your books. And you would be able to afford it! 

Reading one hour per day in your field will make you a national authority in three to five years. This alone can give you your 100 percent increase over the course of your career.

STEP 2: REWRITE YOUR GOALS, EVERY DAY.

Get a spiral notebook and rewrite your major goals in the present tense every morning before you start out, without looking back at what you wrote the previous day. This writing and rewriting is the process of programming instructions into the guidance mechanism of your mind. When you rewrite your ten goals each morning, you will continually see and think of opportunities to achieve those goals all day long. You will become more focused, channeled, and directed. You will be more purposeful and determined. And you will achieve your goals much faster than if they were merely wishes floating around in the back of your mind. Writing and rewriting your goals each day can give you your 100 percent increase in income over ten years.

Step 3: PLAN EVERY DAY IN ADVANCE.

Make a list, and set priorities on your work before you start off. Your ability to set priorities and to choose the most important thing that you can be doing at every moment is the key to organizing your life and doubling your productivity. (We will talk in detail about time management techniques in Chapter 12.)
Working on your top priorities can increase your income by 100 percent over ten years, and it is probably impossible to achieve without it.

Step 4: DISCIPLINE YOURSELF TO CONCENTRATE SINGLE-MINDED ON ONE THING.

Choose the most important thing that you can do each day. Then, start on it first thing and then work on it until it is 100 percent complete. Your ability to focus and concentrate, when you develop and hone it into a habit, all by itself, will enable you to double your productivity, performance, and output in the next month and it will give you your 100 percent increase over ten years.

Step 5: LISTEN TO EDUCATIONAL AUDIO PROGRAMS IN YOUR CAR.

The average businessperson who drives spends 500- 1000 hours per year behind the wheel of a car. When you turn your car into a “university on wheels” or a “mobile classroom,” you get the educational equivalent of one to two full-time university semesters as you drive around.

Many people have gone from rags to riches, from average performance to excellent by simply listening to educational audio programs in their cars as they drive from place to place. You could do the same. This alone could give you your 100 percent increase.

Step 6: ASK TWO MAGIC QUESTIONS AFTER EVERY CALL OR EVENT.

First, ask yourself, “What did I do right?” Then, ask yourself, “What would I do differently?” The first question, “What did I do right?” forces you to think through and recall all the correct things that you did in that last meeting, presentation, or event, even if it was not successful. Write them down.

The second question, “What would I do differently?” forces you to think through all the different ways you could improve your performance in a similar situation. Write these ideas down as well. In both cases, by reviewing your performance, by thinking about what you did right and what you would do differently, you program yourself to perform even better the next time. This is one of the fastest and most powerful exercises in personal growth and development I have ever discovered. This process dramatically speeds up the rate at which you move into the top 20 percent.

Step 7: TREAT EVERY PERSON YOU MEET LIKE A MILLION-DOLLAR CUSTOMER.

Treat each person you meet and work with, both at home and in the office, as though he or she is the most important person in the world. When you treat people as if they are valuable and important, they will return the favor by treating you as if you are valuable and important as well. They will want to be associated with you, work for you, buy from you, and introduce you to their friends.

You begin treating people like million-dollar customers by starting at home, with the members of your family. Remember, they are the most important people in your life. So when you start your day well, first thing in the morning, by making the members of your family feel important and telling them that you love them, you will be more positive, relaxed, and happier for the rest of the day.

Fully 85 percent of your success will be determined by how much people like and respect you, especially in business and sales. Never miss an opportunity to treat people well. When you practice these seven steps each day for a month, you will see changes and improvements in your life, work, and income that will astonish you. After a month of regular practice, you will have formed a new habit of continuous personal improvement that can carry you onward and upward for the rest of your life.