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One of the most successful self-made businessmen
in the Middle East has agreed to regularly reveal his success secrets to our
readers on the strict condition that we don't reveal his identity
(He HATES publicity).
Because
there is no way to succeed in life without interacting with others
to varying degrees, you need a basic understanding of human nature.
So here's three fundamental truths to be going on with:
1. Most people are more negative than positive because they've spent
their lives being exposed to more negatives than positives. They've
heard over and over why they can't achieve certain things, why they
shouldn't expect too much out of life, why they should just go to
work every day, pay bills and raise their children to do the same.
2. People are motivated by the need to experience pleasure and avoid
pain.
3. People love to talk about their problems, but they don't want to
hear about yours. They might sound sympathetic as you talk, but they
really don't want to hear it. More important, they probably don't
care about your problems, so why bother telling them?
You must come to terms with this reality: When someone says, "How
are you today?" they don't want a health report or a financial statement.
So don't give them one. Instead. Say, "Great" no matter
how things really are. They will usually be pleasantly surprised and
may even allow some of your positive energy to rub off on them.
We all have problems, but wallowing in them won't make them go away.
Of course, you can't ignore them, either, but resolve not to talk
about them unless you are in a situation set up for problem solving.
If you do nothing else as a result of reading this article but change
the way you respond to inquiries about your health and status, you
will have made a major improvement in you life.
Before you decide that I'm just another motivational preacher, let
me stress that positive thinking alone won't bring you success. You
need strategies, plans and methods, and you're going to learn them
from me in later issues on this site. But your attitude is a critical
component of success.
After I started my business and had to hire people to work for me,
I realized that my negativity affected my employee's productivity.
I'd stop by the job site, scowling and snarling, and they'd slow down.
Finally I decided that, since I found books that told me how to make
money, maybe I could find some on how to have a better attitude. I
bought one of those "rah rah" positive attitude books and hated every
page of it. I thought it was the stupidest thing I'd ever read. Why?
Because the author said that in order to become positive you had to
go around saying things like "super" and "fantastic" words that were
not in my everyday vocabulary Not only did the technique seem phony,
but I wasn't about to embarrass myself or put my oversized ego on
the line doing something I
thought was silly.
But my desire to become a millionaire soon overcame my ego. And if
being positive and saying dumb things would help me reach my goal,
then I'd give it a try. It was one of the hardest things I've ever
done. I began meeting with my employees and pumping them up by telling
them how well things were what a great job they doing, and how they
were going to benefit when we had the project complete. I used words
like "Great!" I smiled and put plenty of positive energy in my voice
and gestures. In short, I put on a terrific show. And when I was finished,
I'd scurry around the corner, out of their sight, and breathe a deep
sigh of relief that my performance was over. I could go back to scowling
and being negative until it was time to talk to my employees again.
Two very interesting things happened. First, worker productivity increased
significantly. I was delighted, because that meant more profits. Second,
and even more important, I began liking myself when I was wearing
my positive mask. Some of my own medicine was working on me. The more
I pretended to be positive, the more I liked how I felt when I was
doing it. The more I liked how I felt, the more I did it. Pretty soon,
it wasn't uncomfortable anymore, and it wasn't long before I realized
I had experienced a metamorphosis. I had unwillingly transformed myself
from someone who was totally negative and abrasive to someone who
was positive and happy.
People saw the change and thought it wouldn't last. In fact, my wife
says that I did a complete attitude turnaround in just a few days,
and she sometimes found my new optimism irritating. But eventually
it grew on her. Today, being positive is an integral part of both
our natures and has
helped me to build our personal fortune.
We are shaped by our environment, so if we are exposed more to negative
attitudes than positive ones, we will tend to be negative.
You might feel a little uncomfortable when you first start saying
"Great"' That's understandable, because it probably goes strongly
against the grain of the habits you've acquired over a lifetime.
If you're thinking that it's easy to have a positive altitude once
you've got a lot of money, you're right. But it's not easy to get
wealthy without a positive attitude.
You'll
find success comes much easier once you've developed a success attitude,
and you do that through conscious change. To the casual observer,
the results of your conscious change may look like magic, but there's
nothing at all magical about the process.
Conscious change is simply the tool you use to adjust your attitude
so you feel deserving of success.
How do you purge the negativity from your mind? I learned how to do
it by accident, and confirmed it during a period when I was working
on understanding just exactly how I managed to overcome my negative
upbringing and become a millionaire. I needed to know how my attitude
changed, how I
kept my marriage together, how I learned enough about business without
much formal education
to make huge fortunes in several totally unrelated fields.
Why me? Because I learned to feed my mind with positive material.
And why not you.? There's absolutely no reason why you, too, cannot
enjoy a life full of personal satisfaction and material comfort. You
can begin by applying the process that will create the most dramatic
change in the shortest time frame.
What do you get from reading most newspapers or watching television?
Primarily wars, car crashes, and similar mental junk food. It's the
mental equivalent of high-fat, high-calorie snacks they may taste
good but they are ultimately harmful to your body. I'm not suggesting
that you cancel your newspaper subscription and sell your television.
What I am suggesting is that you become as careful about what you
feed your mind as an athlete is about how they feed their body.
Belief is a powerful tool, and after I'd read a few good books, I
became a believer. But I didn't stop reading. I continued to feed
my mind with productive information.
I look for information on how to improve myself, and I want to learn
how other people have done so. Then I take what I consider to be the
best ideas and apply them in my own life and business.
This is not just a lot of psychological claptrap it's common sense.
(and common sense existed a long time before psychology ever did).
So give it a try, because the techniques I'm revealing to you really
do work in the real world!
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