Well, I just finished reading Switch by Dan and Chip Heath, and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

The book focuses on the necessary elements to effectively creating a change – in your personal or professional life or in your business or organization.

Elephant, Rider, and Path

The book investigates change through three metaphors: two for different aspects of the personalities of the people affected by a change, and one representing the environment surrounding that change.

The three-pronged analogy is borrowed from a book the authors read prior to writing Switch called The Happiness Hypothesis by a psychologist named Jonathan Haidt (I haven’t read this book yet myself, but it’s been added to my ever growing list of required reading!).

I could honestly go on forever about the details of this metaphor, because I think its nothing short of brilliant, but I’ll try to keep it brief.

In a nutshell, your personality is made up of two main components (similar to Freud’s ego and superego) – an Elephant and a Rider sitting on that elephant’s back holding the reigns and attempting to guide the elephant along.

The problem is that the Elephant sometimes wants to go in a direction that rider disagrees with, and since the elephant is so much larger than the tiny Rider, there’s not a lot he can do about it – he can only pull on the reigns for so long until the Elephant wears him out and does whatever it wants.

Examples from the book of the elephant’s emotional tendencies are failing to quit smoking, cheating on a diet or saying something you don’t really mean in a fit of anger. Our “Elephants” represent action – not thought or analysis, just response to the world around us.

The Elephant represents emotional responses and instincts. The problem is that those emotions and instincts are often counter to the changes we need to make in our lives – so we need to convince the Elephant (ourselves) to move in a less than comfortable direction.

The Rider’s job is to direct the Elephant down the right Path (the third part of the metaphor), even when that path is difficult to travel.

The Rider is our analytical mind – the part of us that can see around obstacles and look at the bigger picture.

The problem with the Rider is that he can spend too much time over-analyzing a change and then nothing happens (that familiar “spinning your wheels” feeling we’ve all felt when undertaking a new challenge).

The third component to Haidt’s metaphor is the Path – which is simply the environment surrounding a change. This can be the culture, the attitudes of the people around you or systems that are already in place that help or hinder your efforts.

Seeing The Metaphor In Action

Throughout Switch, Dan and Chip Heath demonstrate effective change with a simple, three part process based on the metaphor described above:

• Motivate the Elephant
• Direct the Rider
• Shape the Path

Each of the steps in this process is the focus of one of the books three main sections. Essentially, you need to get the Elephant moving, give the Rider a clear destination to travel in (preventing him from spinning his wheels) and shape the Path you’re traveling on to eliminate or avoid obstacles.

All three of these sections is further broken down into three smaller pieces, and the book is full of examples of all off the different components.

As you read, the authors introduce you to wide variety of changes (and the people behind them) that they studied while writing this book. These changes range from individuals to companies, from departments to entire corporations and governments.

Why This Book Works So Well

Let’s be honest – the concepts this book are based on aren’t the kind of thing that sounds thrilling to everyone. In spite of that fact, the authors did a very good job of making it an extremely entertaining book to read.

The simple fact the book is broken into well organized sections – and those sections broken into isolated stories that make a point and reinforce each other – keeps the content of the book fresh and interesting from beginning to end.

Add in that the authors added in plenty of small side notes that are full of humor and personality and you forget you’re reading a “personal development” book because you are constantly engaged in short stories that are both entertaining and easy to identify with.

Dan and Chip Heath do a remarkable job of drawing parallels between different types of change efforts, allowing you to see some of your own habits and tendencies as they exist on a national or corporate level.

I guess what I’m trying to say is that this book is loaded with moments that leave you thinking “Yup. I totally do that…”

All in all, this a great read for anyone who has a habit they don’t like, or something they think they need to improve in their life or their business (which I think covers pretty much all of us )

If you’re interested, Switch is available on Amazon, and I’d definitely recommend picking up a copy.

At this point, it’s safe to say that anyone who knows me would tell you I’m a huge “Avatar” fan. It’s quickly become my favorite movie, which isn’t something I say lightly – I’ve always been really into movies and in the past I have always had a hard time choosing just one favorite.

The difference here is that while on the surface, “Avatar” may appear to be a simple sci-fi/fantasy flick with lots of great special effects, the film provides a commentary on a lot of different aspects of our world, culture and society – some less obvious than others.

One of these is what I’d like to talk about today.

I think one of my favorite scenes in this movie (and I’m sure many other fans agree) is when the main character, Jake, first rides his ikran – the large flying reptiles that inhabit the world of Pandora.

Aside from the obvious thrill that this scene creates (who among us, at some point in their lives hasn’t wished they could fly?), this scene also provides some interesting insight into how we think and approach challenges.

One of the challenges that Jake faces while adapting to life on Pandora is the act of Tsahaylu – mental bond with other creatures. Jake must learn to embrace that bond and use it to impact the actions of the creature he bonds with – like the ikran he rides.

When watching this scene for the first (several) times, I noticed the trouble Jake has on his first flight, and didn’t really think anything of it – it made sense that he wouldn’t get it right away. Later on however, I noticed an interesting pattern in how he manages to gain control of his flight.

When Jake first climbs on the back of his ikran, Neytiri tells him to think “Fly,” which is exactly what the ikran tries to do – leaping out off of the cliff.

The interesting thing is that the ikran, which has been flying successfully it’s entire life, can’t seem to keep itself in the air – because it’s linked to Jake’s mind.

Jake isn’t thinking about flying.

He isn’t focused on success, or achieving his goals.

Jake is only focused on one thing, and that’s falling – which is exactly what he ends up doing.

Think about how this pattern applies to your own life. How many times have you leapt into a new project, or attempted something new and exciting – only to find yourself focusing on the potential pitfalls and failures that await?

What does that focus get you?

When Jake thought the word “fly,” he and the ikran took immediate action, but without the right focus, that action wasn’t enough.

Once Jake was able to calm down and stop screaming, the ikran was able to level out and regain control – just as you and I are able to when we shift our focus away from potential failures, and look instead to accomplishing our goals.

But what happens when we encounter an obstacle? We all know they exist – life isn’t perfect and things do happen. Jake experiences this moments after his ikran levels out.

He looks up and sees the wall of a cliff rushing toward him – his momentary composure (and controlled flight) come to an end as his focus shifts once more – rather than thinking about a smooth controlled flight around any obstacles, his mind latches onto the fear of crashing into the wall and scrabbling to stay in the air – which is once again, exactly what happens.

So often in our lives, both personally and professionally, we let the small obstacles that pop up in our way rob us of focus, and therefore of our control.

We, like Jake, need to strive to see beyond our obstacles so that we can look for ways around them.

Once Jake and his ikran got off the wall and continued to struggle through the air, Jake was able to finally take control and focus on what he needed to:

“Shut up and fly STRAIGHT!”

Now, this may not be the most eloquent way to phrase it – but how often would we benefit from saying those exact words to ourselves?

Stop complaining about the things that have gone wrong (like falling down when we try something new).

Stop stressing ourselves out about what could happen when we encounter obstacles (like running into a wall – both literally and figuratively).

Shut up. Fly straight.

Focus on what you’re going to accomplish, and how you’re going to accomplish it. Everything else is just noise that will drag you out of the sky.

An important part of becoming a Millionaire is recognizing the value of positive energy. Millionaires put positive energy out into the world, and welcome the same positive energy from others.

They do not, however, allow their positive energy to be tainted by the negativity of others.

They isolate themselves from it whenever possible.

This is mostly done by surrounding themselves with like minded, positive people. They avoid interaction with complainers, whiners and pretty much anyone with a “my life is so miserable,” mentality.

Energy is contagious, both positive and negative, and Millionaires naturally, and intelligently, remove themselves from situations where they will be surrounded by negativity in any form.

Incorporate this philosophy into your own life.

Complaints and negative energy are distracting. The irritation they perpetuate is background noise that prevents you from focusing on success and happiness. Don’t let yourself complain, not aloud nor to yourself. This might sound difficult, but it is possible.

The best advice I can offer when starting out is whenever you feel a complaint (internal or external) coming on, stop and remind yourself that a complaint is a negative thought, and that negativity is seeping into every aspect of your life and holding you back.

Push the thought out of your head and think about something else. If you can’t do that, try thinking about thinking about something else. Spend a minute considering the importance of not dwelling on the negative.

You’ll be surprised how quickly the complaint passes and takes the irritation with it.

You’ll find yourself thinking about thinking positively and suddenly realize that the urge to complain has gradually passed while you had yourself distracted and you dominated your negative energy.

The bonus is that doing this feels empowering, the next breath you take is deep and full and now rather than being caught up in your negativity, you feel empowered and are putting off positive energy.

Accept the fact the person you are today is what has earned you the results you have experienced up to this point. Understand that to have a different life, you will need to be a different person. Avoid negativity, and spread positivity.

Adopt the traits of Millionaires and start training yourself to live as one

We all take them, probably almost every day of our lives…left turns that is. Do you ever find yourself saying “Oh shoot (let’s keep this PG), I should have gone,” realizing you had the opportunity to go, but hesitated just long enough to miss your chance?

That’s what I want to talk about today. I want to talk about opportunity. We are all presented with different opportunities throughout our lives on a regular basis. Some we don’t even recognize as opportunities and others we may not take advantage of because we might hesitate just long enough for the opportunity to pass.

We’ve all missed out on and will continue to miss out on opportunities in life. Some may be small while others could be life changing.

So, what do we do differently so that we don’t continue to miss out?

Well, first we need to educate and prepare ourselves.

Let’s take a simple example.

Perhaps you are looking for a new home or maybe an investment property. Have you researched the area you are looking in? Do you have a good understanding of that particular market, the prices, the inventory, etc.? Are you working with a Real Estate Agent who you know and trust that is ready to move if the right property comes along?

If any of us were in this situation, we would want to be able to answer yes to the above questions. Let’s say a great deal comes on the market, but we haven’t done our research or we don’t have a trusted Real Estate Agent. More than likely, we wouldn’t recognize that it is a great deal until it may be too late because another buyer may be more prepared.

By the time we’ve had the chance to do our homework that we could have already done and assess the situation, another more savvy investor may already have scooped up the property…and we don’t want that!

The second thing we need to consider is that when an opportunity presents itself, we must not be afraid to be decisive and act quickly. Being able to make decisions, in a timely manner I might add, is an absolute essential trait for any entrepreneur.

I’m not implying that we just throw ourselves into everything that comes our way. However there are definitely times when we hesitate and miss out on that chance, on that potentially life changing moment…we’ve all done it.

I think there is also something to be said about being in the right place at the right time. However, I also feel that we have control over where we are and when, so being in the right place at the right time is something we do have some control over.

The bottom line is this. As entrepreneurs, as human beings, we are not going to make all the right decisions, we certainly aren’t perfect after all. What we can do though, is prepare ourselves and be ready to be able to make those decisions quickly and recognize opportunities when they present themselves to us. Heck, sometimes it’s when we make bad decisions that we learn and grow the most!

So don’t be afraid to take that left turn out on the road and in your life and your business, but please do drive safely

Beggars can’t be choosers generally means that people who are desperate or in great need must take the help that is offered to them, even if it doesn’t really solve their problem(s).

We are going to discuss this saying today and talk about how it relates to our mindset.

You see, one of the biggest mistakes that is often made in network marketing is people want to sponsor distributors so badly that they sponsor anyone.

They are so desperate because of the financial pressure they are feeling that they don’t stop to qualify their prospects and then end up attracting the wrong people into their business. They may make a quick sale, but they will not be positioning themselves for long-term success and will end up wasting time on the wrong people!

Let’s think about it for a minute. Beggars can’t be choosers. When I think of a beggar, I think of someone who is desperate and really needy, so by the definition above desperate or needy people lose their ability to make choices.

Having the ability to choose is probably the single most important power each of us possesses. We make choices every single day, some small and some big, but in the end they all have an impact on our lives in some way or another.

So how does all of this relate to our mindset?

Well, it is extremely important that you focus on maintaining a confident, secure and abundant mindset. Even if you are not as successful yet as you want to be in your network marketing business, remaining fixated on your goals, rather than your needs, will inevitably attract the right things into your life.

If you don’t, you will allow yourself to become a “beggar.” Then you will limit your ability to make choices and then you become powerless. I’m sure that isn’t something you had in mind when you set out to have your own business!

Remember, stay focused and always position yourself as a leader, rather than someone who desperately needs to make a sale. You will be amazed at the energy and people who will be attracted to you and the choices you will be able to make!

Recently, we discussed the four primary components of a goal in detail, so now let’s look at the importance they play in our future goal setting. The best way to do this is to build a goal, and investigate the negative effects of not including the various qualifiers we discussed last week. For our example, let’s start with:

“I’m going to visit the Grand Canyon.”

Great! We have an Action, a “what,” something we are going to do. That’s it though, that’s all we have. The reason goals are so useful is that they give people a reason to push themselves towards a particular accomplishment. The problem with a simple goal like this one is that it doesn’t have that “push.” There is nothing in this goal that drives a person towards achieving it.

When qualifiers are left out, they don’t go away, they just take on a state of being implied rather than defined. The goal, with its implied qualifiers actually reads:

“I’m going to visit the Grand Canyon eventually, at least once.“

Pretty vague. Doesn’t exactly portray any real sense of determination, does it? It also doesn’t set us up for constructive goal revising. With this goal we’ll ask ourselves “Have I gone to the Grand Canyon, at least once, yet?” and the answer will be “No, but I said “eventually” so there is still time,” and we are left with no reason to revise anything.

Now, if we add or rather define a qualifier (remember, undefined qualifiers don’t disappear, they just become implied), this simple goal takes on totally new life:

“I’m going to visit the Grand Canyon before I’m 40.”

Wow! All we did was define a simple Deadline and we now have a goal that will actually drive us toward achieving our Action. Now when we evaluate our goal we will be getting closer and closer to that deadline, which will drive us to act.

What about a Quantity? Or a Method?

“I’m going to visit the Grand Canyon 6 times before I’m 40, by setting aside $30 dollars a week.”

There. Replace your original, Action only goal with this new qualified goal and I’m pretty sure you’ll be going on a lot more vacations. This goal will drive you to look at how far off your Deadline is, how much of your Quantity is still to be met in that time and a Method of how you will accomplish what you are striving for.

It allows you to assess if your Method is effective enough as you approach the Deadline and perhaps modify one, or both of those qualifiers as needed.

Ultimately, the more you qualify your goal, the more effectively it can drive you to succeed, and the more readily it can be revised to be attained in the future. Obviously, not all goals are created equal. Sometimes you will need to replace your Deadline with a Frequency, for example if you wanted to visit the Grand Canyon once a year, or make ten sales every month. Along with your Frequency you might want to add a Duration, determining how long you want to maintain the Action.

The important lesson to learn is that the different aspects of your goals are important keys to your success. When a goal seems out of reach, don’t despair, simply reevaluate, revise and retry.

Jim Rohn was one of the greatest business philosphers of our time. He was an inspiration to so many and touched thousands of people’s lives and we were very saddened to hear of his passing yesterday.

Chad and I looked up to him as one of our mentors and even though we never had the privilege of meeting him, he has forever influenced our life and will be greatly missed.

Jim Rohn had an amazing ability to simplify the things in life that many of us seem to complicate. Through his teachings, he helps us to understand how we can have everything we want in life.

The following videos are three of our all time favorites and we wanted to share them with you so we can remember and honor his life.

“Formal education will make you a living; self-education will make you a fortune.” ~ Jim Rohn

“Learn to work harder on yourself than you do on your job.” ~ Jim Rohn

Words to live by…

Thank you for having such a powerful impact on so many of us and for living a life of inspiration and influence. You will forever be missed, but never forgotten.

Yesterday, we discussed the critical difference between how Millionaires and most other people approach the goals that they set. Today, we will look more closely at goals themselves, and how to structure, set and monitor them for optimum success.

The key point to successful goal attainment is never giving up on a single goal you set.

As silly as it seems the old adage “if at first you don’t succeed…” really rings true for successful people. When you don’t experience success in reaching a goal, you must continue to strive for it until you do.

Many people feel that this is impossible, because many people don’t understand the anatomy of a goal. Goals have a few different parts, or at least they should, and if you don’t take those different parts into consideration, you will very often feel that you have “failed.”

Let me offer an example. Let’s use a goal that an online marketer might set:

“I’m going to make ten sales by April 30^th.”

This may seem like a very simple goal, but it is absolutely crucial that the person setting this goal recognize the different components that make up the anatomy of his or her goal and appreciate the significance of each. Let’s break down this goal into its different components, and investigate how to treat each one.

The components we will be discussing are:

• Action
• Quantity
• Deadline

There is a fourth component not included in the example goal that we will discuss later on.

First, let’s consider the Action, as this is the most pivotal part of any goal.

Goals pretty much boil down to an Action, as it is the only goal component that can stand completely alone. Simple goals are often nothing more than an action, which is why they are often left unmet, but we will discuss that more later.

In the case of our example, the Action is to “make sales.” This is what our online marketer is going to achieve and therefore is the heart of their goal.

Second, let’s take a look at the Quantity.

This is actually an optional component, as some goals will revolve around a specific event, or an Action that can only be achieved once. If the Action in a goal you set can be achieved multiple times, consider including a Quantity in your goal.

Generally speaking, when a goal needs a Quantity for its Action, but the person setting that goal doesn’t include one, they are implying a quantity of “at least one.” The importance of recognizing Quantity as a separate component from Action is that not meeting your Quantity does not diminish the success of achieving the Action.

In our example the Quantity is obviously ten sales. When April 30^th arrives and our goal setter sits down to evaluate his or her success, they may find they only made seven sales, or five, or even one. They could very easily fall into the trap of feeling they had failed in achieving their goal.

The important distinction for this person, and you, and me, to make is that they set out to make sales, and they did! They were successful in taking the Action they desired, even if they came up a little short on the quantity side. The appropriate step now is to reset the goal and work harder towards meeting the Quantity requirement.

The third component, and sometimes the most dangerous, is the Deadline.

This is the “when“ of your goal. Not all people include Deadlines in their goals, which can sometimes lead to problems. In the case of our example the deadline is April 30^th.The reason Deadlines can be so dangerous, is a lot of people have trouble separating them from the rest of the goal and moving forward.

Many people feel that if they set a goal and aren’t successful by the date they hoped for, then there’s nothing they can do. After all, if your goal is to make ten sales by April 30^th, and April 30^th comes and goes with just five sales, how can you keep trying? This type of thinking leads many people to despair and feeling that they have failed.

The answer lies in the fact that the Action makes up the main body of your goal, while the Quantity, Deadline and a fourth component we will discuss shortly can all be viewed as qualifiers for that action. They can be revised or temporarily set aside.

Let’s consider what happens to our example goal when only five sales are made and the online marketer starts getting down on him or herself about it.

Think about the fact that it is now May 1^st and only five sales were made. Not an ideal situation, but think about your goal without the Quantity attached. In our example goal, you would ask yourself the following question: “Did I make sales by April 30^th?” The answer is, obviously, yes. Try removing the Deadline. You are now left with the question “Did I make ten sales?” The answer to that question is very simply “Not yet.”

This is where Millionaires set themselves apart when it comes to goal setting. They recognize the value of a Deadline, but don’t give it control of their success. The same applies to Quantities.

The fourth component to a goal that is somewhat optional is the Method.

This is the “how” of your goal, and is generally the least included component. While not always necessary, if you are continually missing Quantities and Deadlines, consider adding a Method in your goal revisions. Remember, when you do not succeed at a goal, simply revise your qualifiers: Quantity, Deadline, and Method.

An example of how a method would fit into a revised version of our example goal is:

“I am going to make ten sales by June 30^th by placing more classified ads.”

In this revision, we have left the Quantity, because it is still something we can reach for, moved our Deadline to a date we can still reach and added a Method that will help provide focus for how to achieve our Action. If you are revising a goal that already includes a Method, consider adding additional Methods, or trying new ones.

Now that we have discovered the various components to effective goal setting, in a future post we will use them to create a goal from the ground up and further explore the value of a well built goal.

Yesterday we discussed a few of the characteristics that make a person a Millionaire (and how it is those characteristics and not their net worth that make the difference). One of the most valuable pieces of the “Millionaire Puzzle” is how you handle your goals.

Think about the last time you set a goal for yourself. If you are having a hard time with this step, that may be one of your greatest obstacles.

Millionaires are goal setters.

They constantly evaluate where they are and where they are going. Notice I did not say where they want to be, but where they are going.

Let me ask you a question: the last goal you set for yourself, did you succeed or fail?

If you succeeded, that’s great! Can you remember another goal you might have set where you failed? If the answer is yes, you are probably not a Millionaire (yet), because Millionaires don’t fail.

I’m not saying Millionaires never make mistakes, and that every action they take is a successful one, I’m just saying they don’t fail.

Millionaires don’t view goals in terms of success and failure. Millionaires view goals in terms of success and “in progress.”

If a Millionaire sets a goal and does not succeed, they do not view this as a failure. They view the goal as simply in progress, as in they are still working towards it.

That is why Millionaires don’t evaluate where they are and compare it to where they want to be, they compare it to where they are going. Because once a Millionaire decides to achieve or attain something, they will achieve or attain it. They won’t rest until they do.

The only reason a Millionaire’s goal is ever left unsatisfied is if the situation changes and that goal is no longer in their best interest. Period.

Millionaires approach their goals this way because they recognize what people commonly refer to as failure for what it really is: a reason to give up. Millionaires are very driven people, not prone to giving up on things. When a person says they failed at something, what they are really saying is…

“It didn’t work out as I intended, and I’m not going to find another way to make it happen. I give up.”

This type of reasoning is completely alien to a Millionaire. When a Millionaire’s goal is left unmet, they change tactics, shift focus and continue striving to meet the original goal. They learn from whatever obstacle has slowed them down and make sure that it doesn’t happen again.

How do you personally perceive “failure?” Is it an ending? Or is it an opportunity?

When you set a goal, and it remains out of your reach, you are instantly faced with a choice. You can accept failure, and move on with your life, having gained nothing from the experience.

Or…

You can accept the opportunity to grow. This is the way of the Millionaire. Where most see failure, the Millionaire sees education. They recognize that the goal they set is harder to attain than they originally thought and immediately and decisively take new action to grow beyond whatever is in their path.

Think about that the next time you “fail” to achieve a personal or professional goal. Is your temporary lack of success really a failure? Or it is an excuse to throw up your hands and give up on your dreams?

One of the main reasons many (non Millionaires) feel that they fail at goals is because they don’t set or approach their goals appropriately. Tomorrow, we will discuss the anatomy of a goal, what most people do wrong when setting goals and how to alter your goal setting techniques to all but guarantee your success.

I am a Millionaire. Are you? You might or might not be, and if not, you can certainly become one.

I can even tell you how.

The first step is discovering whether or not you are, in fact, a Millionaire already. The answer lies not in your bank account, nor your net worth. The property you own, the car you drive, the watch on your wrist and the phone in your pocket has nothing to do with the determination of whether or not you are a Millionaire.

Being a Millionaire has nothing to do with money.

That’s right. Nothing whatsoever.

Being a Millionaire simply means you possess certain mindsets, habits and traits that set you apart from other people, which will help you to both attain and maintain wealth. These traits do not make you inherently better than anyone else, they simply make you different.

A Millionaire is a type of person that anyone can become. In his book Secrets of the Millionaire Mind, T. Harv Eker says, “Becoming rich isn’t as much about getting rich financially as about whom you have to become in character and mind, to get rich.”

Read that again.

Think it over. Accept it, because it is the truth that needs to be at the foundation of your success. Becoming rich is about who you are, not what you have.

This is the exact reason that the vast majority of lottery winners are worse off financially within five years than when they started. A Millionaire is a person who possesses the necessary traits and habits to not only attain wealth, but also maintain it.

Understand this: You need to be a Millionaire to be wealthy. If someone who isn’t a Millionaire, who hasn’t grown and attained the necessary mindsets, should suddenly obtain a large sum of money, they will invariably lose it rapidly.

Why?

Because they aren’t a Millionaire!

They lack not only the ability to attain wealth but also to maintain it. This type of person will go from someone who had little or no money, to someone who was lucky enough to win a fortune, and then to someone who won the lottery a few years ago and lost it all.

Millionaires create their own wealth, rather than waiting for it to simply fall into their laps, mostly because they recognize that anything that falls into your lap, can just as easily fall out of it!