What does success look like to you? Your vision of success is unique. It might be similar to my vision of success, but it probably will not be exactly the same. I’ve learned in my own life that if you don’t identify your vision, others will plan and direct your life for you. True happiness comes when we create our own vision and work toward achieving it.

A compelling vision will help you succeed, be more satisfied with your life, and get the most out of your business relationships. Many leadership and personal development experts emphasize the importance of crafting a clear vision for your life. Vision can propel you and inspire those around you to reach their own dreams.

The first major reason to create a clear vision for success is to understand and clarify what you want your life to look like. When you have a clear vision of what you want your life to look like, then you can shape your business to make that vision a reality.  Here are the steps you can take to get started:

Step 1: Schedule an hour or two to create your vision of success.

The first step is to develop and clarify your life vision – when you are ready to

retire, 15 years from now, 10 years from now, 5 years from now, and 6 months

from now. Then you can become clear about how to build your business to

support that lifestyle.

Step 2: Brainstorm your Vision for Your Lifestyle

Take a pen and paper, and go to a quiet and relaxing place. Then close your

eyes and imagine you life when you achieve success.

Step 3: Write Your Vision Story

Then write a story about yourself in present tense. The subconscious part of the

brain only understands now – the present tense – so it is important to phrase your

affirmation in the present tense.

There was a teenage boy on the corner near my favorite grocery store.  He had a sign that asked for money so he could go to his prom. Now, my head told me he should really try getting a minimum-wage job at that grocery store right around the corner instead of asking for handouts. My gut told me otherwise. When I asked him why he was doing this he said that he was already working two jobs and that his parents were both laid off and he had taken his money he had saved and put it toward his SATs.   I have to tell you; I gave him $20.  Is it possible he was making it up..yes, but my gut told me otherwise.  And frankly, I thought it was brilliant that he had the courage to go out and ask for what he wanted.    I appreciate that he was “working” toward an end goal and his story had emotionality to it, which appealed to me.  You’ll see a lot of the panhandlers who communicate their story in a similar such way.  It’s these folks that you may be able to relate to because their story touches you in some way.  Importantly, you’ll notice that their story ISN’T based on price.

In business, this story is your brand and in order to relate to your potential clients, you need a compelling and relatable hook with emotionality that connects them to you. Just like in the story above, the brand of your company should reflect the personality and character of the product or service it provides, both physically and emotionally. The image you are aiming for makes your product or service more desirable than your competitors’.  Your brand image should be trying to meet your affluent target customer’s expectations, needs and aspirations, it is important to try and reflect exactly what they are looking for.

Now is the time to take these lessons to heart.  Do NOT settle for less than what you want and deserve. Decide now to create the results you desire, design your plan accordingly and then focus your passion and aspirations on success!

Would you believe it if I told you that many clients come to me earning incomes less than $50K?  Here is what baffles me…passionate and brilliant entrepreneurs who are putting everything they have into their businesses are choosing to settle for earnings less than a panhandler.

As I previously mentioned, a recent article* indicates that an active panhandler in the city can earn $50,000 on average (tax-free). Here is an important take-away we might all want to consider in our business and in our lives:  You must ask for money.

Do you think the people on the street are embarrassed or scared to ask for money?  Well maybe they were the first few times they did it.  But now they clearly understand that the only to get what they desire is to ask for it.  So, why would clients pay you premium prices for your services unless you felt you DESERVED and ASKED for it?

In fact, asking the RIGHT price for you services is key, especially for the affluent. When your work costs more, people value it more highly. There are many “bottom feeders” scurrying around to get the cheapest work. If your work costs more (and you deliver more value) it will be worth more to the buyer.

Research shows that many times the affluent buy on prestige.   Prestigious products and services are bought for the image as much as the product itself — and a key component of the image is the price. They are too expensive for most people, ergo the one who can buy them is rich, successful, upper class, elite — or all of the above.

Would you believe it if I told you that many clients come to me earning incomes less than $50K?  Here is what baffles me…passionate and brilliant entrepreneurs who are putting everything they have into their businesses are choosing to settle for earnings less than a panhandler. According to a recent article*, an active panhandler in the city can earn $50,000 on average (tax-free). It was calculated using survey results which gauged how much and how often the population gives to panhandlers projected across the known panhandling population in the city. Now, I’ll admit, this number may be soft.  Most researchers will agree that respondents often exaggerate how much they contribute to charity. That aside, confidential interviews with panhandlers even back up this number indicating that they make between $35,000 and $100,000 tax free per year and view panhandling as the equivalent of a job or a profession. Clearly, there is something to be learned from results-oriented panhandlers.

The folks earning a sizeable amount of money in this article are consistent in their actions.  They get out there day-in and day-out.  If a location isn’t working, they adjust.  Similarly, you must dedicate yourself to consistent marketing and sales efforts. Jay Conrad Levinson once told me, “It is unfortunate but true that bad marketing done consistently is better than good marketing done inconsistently.” Create consistency in your marketing program and you will create over time, a steady stream of incoming leads, as well as stabilize your revenue generation.

*”Brother Can You Spare $4.6 Million?” by Dave Navelle as published on the BC, Blogcrtics.com

A positive mindset is the foundation for attracting abundance. How do you ensure your mindset is centered and focused on what it is you want to create? Please click on my video and listen as I share my quick tip.

Successful Entrepreneurs know how important it is to stand responsible for their own actions. As I teach my kids…you are in charge of your own thoughts, feelings and actions.  No one else.   It is all on you.  And every action has a result.  Some results you like and some results you don’t.

Here is what I know to be true.  We have all created our environments to be perfectly designed to deliver the results we are currently getting.  If we want new results, we need to realign our strategies to create those results.

Those who live at Cause, get results and those in Effect, get Reasons. When people don’t succeed and they give justifications to themselves why they didn’t, they must be aware that that is a form of self deceit. To justify is to give reasons (or excuses).

To be at Cause means that you take responsibility for decisively creating what you want in your life and then from that, what you achieve or will achieve as a result. You view the world as a place of opportunities and move towards what you want. If things don’t pan out as you would like, you take action and explore other possibilities.

Here is an example:

Effect Based Thinking (Reason/Excuse)

Entrepreneur A:

“I would really like to sign up for that coaching program, but I can’t afford it because my business isn’t doing so hot right now because of the economy.”

Now think about this for a moment. What is the first thing that you noticed?  By blaming her business woes on the economy, Entrepreneur A has left herself completely powerless to do anything about it because it really isn’t her fault, it is the economy. She has an opportunity right in front of her that she believes will help her create a better business and yet, she is going to allow something like lack of current funds to limit her from taking the next step to ultimately help her create the funds she needs?  When put in that perspective it sounds pretty silly right?  Is it possible that this kind of thinking keeps people stuck, sick and broke?  You better believe it!

Those people who continually live their lives at the Effect frequently see themselves or live their lives as victims, with no choices whatsoever. The irony is that they do have choice and they have chosen not to choose but to be responsive to whatever is given to them.

Cause Based Thinking (Result)

Entrepreneur B:

“I saw the economy having an effect on businesses and I made the choice to not alter my strategy and as a result of my choice, I don’t currently have the money to sign up for that coaching program.  I believe it can really help me take my business to the next level.  So, how can I create revenue right now that would allow me to take advantage of the opportunity?  What action do I need to take to create the result I desire?”

Do you see the power in that kind of thinking?  What results do you think this person creates in life and in business?

Life constantly throws choices at you everyday and whatever choices you make are seeds that will shape your future. Make no mistake, you are your choices. The law of gravity says, whatever goes up, must come down. This is also true, for every cause, there is an effect. To every action, there is a reaction. Whatever you sow, you will reap. If you sow negative thoughts everyday, and speak pessimistically over your situation, you will experience negative outcomes.

If you consistently choose to focus on lack of money and lack of time, you will continue to create more lack of money and lack of time. Your mind will not be open to all of the possibilities of opportunities coming your way because you are so focused on your lack of time and lack of money.   It is a self fulfilling prophecy that will keep you sick, stuck and broke.

So…what do you choose to focus on?  Your lack or your abundance?

Life constantly throws choices at you everyday and whatever choices you make are seeds that will shape your future. Make no mistake, you are your choices. The law of gravity says, whatever goes up, must come down. This is also true, for every cause, there is an effect. To every action, there is a reaction. Whatever you sow, you will reap. If you sow negative thoughts everyday, and speak pessimistically over your situation, you will experience negative outcomes.

If you consistently choose to focus on lack of money and lack of time, you will continue to create more lack of money and lack of time. Your mind will not be open to all of the possibilities of opportunities coming your way because you are so focused on your lack of time and lack of money. It is a self fulfilling prophecy that will keep you sick, stuck and broke.

So…what do you choose to focus on? Your lack or your abundance?

An excuse is simply a limiting belief. Each belief, in its own way, exists to justify the person’s perceived inability to achieve certain objectives. Sometimes the gap in the person’s logic is relatively easy to spot and correct. In other cases, the belief is more insidious because it contains an element of truth that is harder to overcome.   ex. there is not much money in the bank at this moment.

People express limiting beliefs with statements like: ‘I cannot…,’ ‘I have to…’ or ‘It is impossible to…’ These leave the speaker no choice or alternative possibilities and they are therefore, disempowering resulting in a less than desired outcome.

Because those beliefs were created to protect us from being hurt, they lead us to misinterpret things that happen to us today. We perceive “danger”, which creates stress and shifts our nervous system into a flight-or-fight response and our cells into self-protect mode. This kind of habitual stress in our nervous system creates pain and suffering and will eventually lead to illness and disease. Stress has been found to be a causal factor in 95% of all health problems.

Here is the most classic example of a limiting belief:
On May 6, 1954, Roger Bannister did what no man could possibly do previously.

Bannister became the first man to break the 4 minute mile in 3 minutes and 59.4 seconds in England on a windy day. Prior to that day, it was commonly accepted that no man could break the 4 minute mile barrier. It was believed that the 4 minute mile was physically impossible. And it was commonly accepted. It was a fact.

The reality was… The four minute mile was a psychological barrier more than anything else!

Forbes at the time, called the breaking of the 4 minute mile by Bannister one of the greatest athletic achievements.

Bannister wasn’t alone in his new paradigm. Once it became mentally feasible, others would join him…
• Within 56 days, John Landy broke Bannister’s record in 3 minutes and 57.9 seconds in Finland.
• By 1957, 16 other runners had also broken the 4 minute mile.
The Roger Bannister example of breaking through limiting beliefs is truly profound. It categorically proves that when you change your thinking, you change your results.