Powerful Personal Development!

When I say Think and Grow Rich, what comes to your mind?
Almost everyone in sales and those interested in personal development have read this classic by Napoleon Hill at least once. And almost everyone who's read it has a positive comment. Many (like me) will say, "Turning point in my life."
Everyone has a turning point in their quest for lifelong learning. Everyone has their Aha! In your personal development, it's what you choose to listen to, watch or read that enhances your understanding of your life and teaches you what you need to do to succeed.
Napoleon Hill's 1937 quote sets the standard. "Whatever the mind of man can conceive and believe, it can achieve."
And once you have the information, it's all about what you are willing to do to take advantage of it.
Most people know Napoleon Hill was the author of Think and Grow Rich. The person Hill emulated and studied was Orison Swett Marden. Not many know that.
Marden was the leading positive-attitude genius of the 20th century. Well-known before 1930-almost unknown today. He was a founding father of personal development and positive thought. Aha!
Author of more than 40 books, Marden also was the founder of SUCCESS magazine. Here are a few of his words of wisdom from the book he wrote in 1908, He Who Thinks He Can.

• "Every child should be taught to expect success."
• "The man who has learned the art of seeing things looks with his brain."
• "The best educated people are those who are always learning, always absorbing knowledge from every possible source and at every opportunity."
• "People do not realize the immense value of utilizing spare minutes."
• "No substitute has ever yet been discovered for honesty."
• "Poverty is of no value except as a vantage ground for a starting point."

These are quotes worth learning and passing on to others. One hundred years old!

"Learn More about Orison Swett Marden."

Based on my personal experience and personal Ahas!, I'd like to challenge you with the rules of personal development and give you some examples of what I have learned so you might make your own plan to succeed or enhance the one you have.
1.Expose yourself to knowledge.
At the end of a seminar I gave on positive attitude, I received an evaluation from a woman named Mary with a comment that read, "I wish I would have heard this 30 years ago." I got goose bumps of sadness and thought of a Jim Rohn quote: "All the information you need to succeed already exists; the only problem is you're not exposing yourself to it." This information existed 30 years ago. Mary just hadn't exposed herself to it.
Jim Rohn is known as America's leading business philosopher. His CD, The Art of Exceptional Living, is among the modern classics of personal development. Jim Rohn is the current master of inspiration and Aha! He imparts wisdom in every sentence.
Between Marden and Rohn, there is a long list of valuable books. I owe my career success to these books and to personal development information to which I have exposed myself.
Most of the books are more than 50 years old. Many with religious connotations-but still preaching the right words and thoughts. One of the most notable is The Power of Positive Thinking by NormanVincent Peale. Biblical and brilliant.
2. Simple is powerful.
If you read it and it seems too easy or too hokey, reread it. It's probably part of your personal development foundation.
One of my early Aha! moments of personal development was the simplicity of the message. Sometimes it's so simple, you go right past it without understanding the impact it can make.
A classic example is the eternal How to Win Friends and InfluencePeople by Dale Carnegie. In 1936 he wrote, "You can make more friends in two months by becoming interested in other people than you can in two years by trying to get other people interested in you." How many salespeople could benefi t from that single Aha!? I think all of them.
Interesting to note that Dale Carnegie's lessons still are being taught in the classroom 70 years later!
3. Think and apply to improve.
In As a Man Thinketh, published in 1902, James Allen says, "A man is literally what he thinks, his character being the complete sum of all his thoughts." Thinking what can be done is at the core of your personal development. About 54 years later, in the million-seller, The Strangest Secret, Earl Nightingale writes, "We become what we think about all day long." Get it?
In 1969, I listened to Glenn W. Turner on a cassette tape: "Act as though you have already begun to achieve. Not fake it-live it."
4. Take a daily dose.
Think about the time-worn expression, "An apple a day keeps the doctor away." Apply that to personal development, and it means learn and apply one new thing every day. At the end of a year you will have 365 new pieces of information.
5. The older the better.
If you want a new idea, read a book that's 100 years old. "The best educated people are those who are always learning, always absorbing knowledge from every possible source and at every opportunity." -Marden, 1908. Or, "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 defeats." -B.C. Forbes, 1919.
6. Personal development and positive attitude are joined at the hip-and at the brain. And there is another component-being of service.
"There is little difference in people, but that little difference makes a big difference. The little difference is attitude. The big difference is whether it is positive or negative." -Clement Stone, 1946. Add that to the 5000-year-old Chinese proverb, "To Serve is to Rule."
7. Do it even as your butt falls off.
In 1898, Elbert Hubbard wrote an essay titled, Message to Garcia. Deliver the message, get the job done, complete the task-no matter what. Many have read that essay. Few have emulated it.
Personal development challenges you to think forward. "Greater than the tread of mighty armies is an idea whose time has come." -Victor Hugo, 1874.
Personal development challenges you to be your best. "You cannot mandate productivity; you must provide the tools to let people become their best." -Steve Jobs, 1988.
"I am the greatest of all time." -Muhammad Ali, 1963.
Personal development challenges you to make decisions based on the person you seek to become. "The highest reward for a person's toil is not what they get for it, but what they become by it." -John Ruskin, 1869.
Wondering where you can "find more time" to devote to your own success? "It has been my observation that most people get ahead during the time that others waste." -Henry Ford, 1901. Just a thought.
The key word is not development; the key word is personal. Do it for yourself, in your own way, and make your own time for it-or not.
The biggest Aha! of personal development is from Russell Conwell's Acres of Diamonds. Considered to be one of the finest speeches ever written, Acres of Diamonds offers a multitude of lessons about the rewards of work, education and finding the riches of life in your own back yard-or your own library. Aha!

I borrowed this article from Jeffrey Gitomer, who is the author of The Little Red Book of Selling.
I hope this might inspire you to get going on a new week of opportunities and chances!
Licensed to thrill,
Leo Stroobants
The Energy Evangelist
www.leostroobants.com

6 tips from the superstars

Here are some tips that were send to me a genuine mogul:

Tip 1) "What do other networkers want?" This is the

question you need to ask yourself in order to find out how

to attract them. Give them want they want. Solve their

problems for them. Then you will attract them effortlessly.

Tip 2) Do NOT spend time trying to prove to people why

they should join you! Newbies do this all the time, the pros

never do. Give people real value and you will never have to

pitch your business to anyone ever again.

Tip 3) If you are buying leads, you are lazy. Learn to

generate your own leads, otherwise go get a job.

Tip 4) Every night before you go to bed write down 5

things you need to get done the next day. This way you will

wake up with your goals in mind. And with each task you

accomplish you are a step closer to reaching your ultimate

goals.

Tip 5) Confidence is a decision. People judge you by the

way you look and sound, so if necessary, give yourself a

physical and/or mental make-over. In your videos and your

pictures do NOT look like you just rolled out of bed.

Tip 6) Learn copywriting. You'll need to master this skill

in order to write anything in this industry -- even something

so simple as ad copy. You need to know the psychological

triggers that make people respond and take action.

Now get going, crystallize your dreams!
Leo Stroobants
The Energy Evangelist
www.leostroobants.com

Prosper in difficult times,...

This is kind of a lengthy post, but it’s material you need to know.
It doesn’t really matter what party is in the White House, the fact is the government isn’t going to watch out for your best interest. Instead they’ll cater to high priced lobbyists, and their own selfish interests.
The only person who’ll watch out for you is YOU! You’ve got to learn new skills, economic survival skills. Skills which will allow you to continue living at your current level or better.
Remember that we are overfed and showered with bad news and negative vibes, CNN is almost becoming Constant Negative News! It's not about THE economy but all about YOUR economy. Where attention goes, energy flows and results show.

Learn to sell, learn to market and write and barter. Learn manual skills with which you can trade for other goods or services. Start your own small homebased business using the new skills you’ve acquired
Develop something of your own creation, something of which you are the sole provider. Your own product or specialized service which you have built from scratch, honed and perfected.
The following was written by J.F. (Jim) Straw, publisher of the Business Lyceum e-Letter, and should be a wake-up call for all Americans not wishing to be a part of the quickly evolving economic decline of America.
JULY 2008
Greetings & Salutations:
The biggest questions on the minds of Americans today are, “What is going to happen to our economy?” “Will we have a depression?” “How can I survive?”
It has been my opinion for the past 10 years that we are long overdue for a full scale economic depression. But, it will be completely different from the depression predicted by my contemporaries.
We have already seen a stock market crash in 1987 bigger than the one that preceded the depression of the 1930s. – And, we have already had more bank and S&L failures (percentage wise) than back then, too.
The rate of bankruptcies has grown from tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands each year – now, over a million bankruptcies each year - with the biggest percentage of bankruptcies in the higher income brackets.
Employee lay-offs, plant closings, and business failures have increased exponentially over the past 5 years. And, for the first time in our history, the unemployment rate among white-collar executives is higher (percentage wise) than among blue-collar workers.
All of these facts lead me to sincerely believe that …
The Depression of the 1930s was a “Blue Collar” Depression
But …
The Next Depression will be a “White Collar” Depression
Simply because …
Our Economy Has Become Top Heavy
There are simply too many white-collar workers, bureaucrats, and unnecessary people doing unnecessary paper-shuffling busy work. They consume far more than they are capable of producing. – These are the people who will be out of work, on the bread lines, during the next depression … NOT the blue-collar workers.
As an illustration: Before I had money enough to pay someone to sweep the floors, I did it myself (still do; on occasion). – That is the essence of the difference between the White Collar workers of the 1930s and those of today.
Because there were few business schools before the depression of the 1930s, the vast majority of White Collar workers came up through the Blue Collar ranks. Then, when the economy got tough, Blue Collar workers were let-go and the White Collar workers stepped from behind their desks and filled those jobs. After all, they were the most experienced and best qualified to hold those productive jobs.
Today, the vast majority of White Collar workers are schooled in the arts and sciences of business. They have studied management, economics, political science, marketing, production, contract negotiation, and employee supervision. But, they have never done the jobs they manage and supervise.
It is one thing to tell an employee, “this needs to be milled another one-thousandth of an inch,” and quite another to say, “here, let me show you how to mill this to specifications” (and do it).
As the next depression deepens, it will become necessary (as it was in the 1930s) for businesses to “chop heads” to reduce overhead costs. This time, however, it will be White Collar heads that roll because they are the least experienced and the poorest qualified to “produce” the many goods and services required by our society.
Contrary to the allegations made by a Japanese official, the Blue Collar workers in the U.S. are not lazy and ignorant. They are the victims of the emotional rhetoric of the lazy and ignorant “book learned” White Collar segment of our society. When the Blue Collar workers find that their knee-jerk reactions to that emotional rhetoric has been overcome by reality, they will return to producing more than they consume.
Lest you begin to condemn me as a book burner, consider this … a Blue Collar worker, upon entering the White Collar world, will by necessity read books in order to learn about doing the things he/she does not know how to do. On the other hand, a “book learned” White Collar worker will rarely, if ever, go out on the shop floor and learn how to do the jobs being directed. – My point is that “book learning” is an absolute necessity, it has, however, become an end unto itself. Therefore, I do not condemn book learning, I simply consider it to be a “starting place” not an “ending place.”
Blue-collar workers may be laid-off; the plants they work-for may be closed – but – they will find work because they have historically produced more than they have consumed. They will take jobs at lower wages, without many of the now customary benefits, in order to produce the goods and provide the services needed. And, because of the reduced costs to produce those goods and services, the prices will fall proportionately.
Businesses that will survive and prosper during the next depression will be those businesses that eliminate top-heavy management positions (its already happening) and reduce their debt to a minimum (also happening).
Why? – Because, contrary to the economic manipulators in our government …
You Cannot “Borrow” Your Way Out Of Debt
Even if the “prime rate” goes to 2%, blue-collar workers won’t be borrowing. Neither will wise and prudent businesses. The only people vying for those low-interest loans will be the out-of-work white-collar segment of our society – trying to borrow their way out of debt.
Blue-collar workers will – as they have historically – only “borrow” for purchases of major necessities. Instead of spending their hard earned dollars on frills & fancies, they will save their money for that proverbial rainy day.
Beyond that, during the next depression, there will be …
No Major Banking Collapse
Why? – Because the banks in this country have already been frightened into tightening their belts. – Go to your local bank and count the number of empty desks in the area where the junior vice-presidents used to be. – And, with more low-cost blue-collar savings money coming into their hands, they are shoring-up their shaky liquidity and reserves – PLUS – with the relaxation of some of the more outdated banking regulations, the banks are now in a position to put their depositors’ monies in higher yielding equity positions.
Because of that, during the next depression, there will be …
No Stock Market Crash
In 1987 – when the stock market did crash – most of the trading activity was in the hands of individual investors. Today, most of the trading is in the hands of professional traders … managed accounts, mutual funds, institutional investors … with less likelihood of the major sell-offs that cause market crashes.
But, during the next depression, there will be …
Major Insurance Company Failures
>From the F.D.I.C., on down, you can expect Insurance Company after Insurance Company to fail.
Why? – Because the biggest buyers of insurance are the white-collar segments of our society (individual & corporate). They have, for too many years, been laying-off their major liabilities to insurance underwriters. – As this white-collar segment loses jobs and default on their insurance premium payments, more and more insurance companies will suffer a cash crunch.
When that happens, insurance claims that have usually been paid from current premiums collected, will have to be paid from reserves. Then, when the reserves are gone, it will be time to start dipping into assets … selling at pennies on the dollar in order to meet claims payments.
Of course, as the insurance companies fail, there will be more white-collar unemployed. That will only deepen the white-collar depression.
So … to survive and prosper during the next depression …
Start Thinking Blue Collar
Put aside some money in a savings account with a smaller, local area bank. – Stay away from regional or statewide banks. Preferable is a State chartered bank instead of a National bank and – if you can find one – a bank that is NOT F.D.I.C. insured. You won’t make a bundle in interest, but your savings will be safer.
Quit borrowing money, or buying on credit, except for major necessities. Even if the prime rates goes to 2%, stay away from unnecessary credit.
Invest in the stock market. – Buy stock in companies that produce goods or provide needed services. Put some money in a managed account or mutual fund and learn to trade stock profitably for your own portfolio.
Send your kids to Trade School instead of College. Let them learn welding instead of economics. They will have jobs when the economists are in the bread lines.
Those who produce more than they consume will survive and prosper.
Those who consume more than they produce will suffer the fate of the proverbial grasshopper … and … the hardest hit will be government employees at all levels – city, county, state and federal. – It couldn’t happen to a more deserving bunch of economic parasites.
The “economic parasites” to whom I refer are … holders of positions in redundant and outdated government agencies, bureaus, and commissions; some of which have survived since the early 1900s without any useful purpose today … redundant government employees; unnecessary people who are employed for the sole purpose of maintaining the use of budgeted funds (then can’t be fired without an act of God) … and those persons who perpetuate those unnecessary, outdated and redundant offices and jobs.
Your mission; Become more ATTRACTIVE, always! Raise your vibrations and learn to become more magnetic and remember....YOU MUST WATCH WHERE YOU HAVE YOUR ATTENTION, THAT IS WHAT IS ATTRACTING YOUR CIRCUMSTANCES....GOOD OR BAD!
Licensed to thrill,

Leo Stroobants
The Energy Evangelist
www.leostroobants.com