.....I was watching this Tony Robbins video and found some great advice about where to start when you are trying to get yourself pointed in the right direction. At present, I am concerned, as are many of us, about the state of the economy. In some ways I am happy about the economy as it has given me a great excuse for results that just plain suck. In trying to figure out where to start, I have done what many of us do and have taken refuge in keeping myself active in seeking ways to dig my way out of financial challenges. Makes sense, right?  

The first step in turning thigs around.... 

     My mindset has been the best way to initiate change is to start taking action or, in my case, taking a lot of action. Tune up the resume. Send out job applications. Network with friends. If I am busy, I must be doing all I can to get results. If you take a few minutes and watch this video, you will see that, according to Robbins, I have missed an important step. If you hang out at this web site, you will find me quoting Einstein, "nothing happens until something moves," in more than one place. It is not that Einstein is wrong, it is just that my "movement" has not included a very important piece of the puzzle.  Here is the way I understand the high points of the video. Let me know what you think!

     Tony draws it out like this:   

Potential ► Action ► Results ► Belief ► Potential.►

     You can start anywhere on this continuum, but the idea is we all have potential and with that potential we take action and from that action we obtain results and those results build our belief system which in turn affects our potential. Let's say we want to play a sport and we are starting with what we perceive as a limited potential. With our limited potential, we take limited action yielding limited resutls which reinforce the belief that we are not very talented in the skills, thus preserving our limited potential. We all know people, on the other hand, that perceive themselves as "good at everything when it comes to sports," and when they play their action is enhanced which gives them sound results that reinforces their beliefs and improves their results.

     I just put up a note yesterday asking for some help with a network marketing opportunity claiming that I was not at all talented when it comes to the kind of sales work it takes to make a successful cold call. There are many things that turn me into a complete loser when I approach someone even when it is with something that I believe will be a benefit. While I recognize that when I am totally passionate about something that I can create a contagious influence that carries my excitement, unless I am working with something I feel totally confident about, I must look horrible to a prospect. The phone rings and I start my pitch and no matter what I say it sounds like, "I have this great idea/product that will really help you but I know you don't want to talk about this so let me finish, you can tell me no and I can mark you off the list! I'm certain you are not going to find those instructions in any sales manual. When I am passing on something that is heartfelt, the excuses disappear. You will not find a hint of doubt in my spoken language or my body language because of my 'belief.'

     Instead of staring with 'action' the place to start is with your belief. When you believe in yourself, your product, service, skill or whatever, you immediately boost your potential because of the quality of your actions. With quality action, you reap quality results....or in Tony's words, with "massive action," you get "massive results."  The trick here is that you do not start with massive action but rather with your beliefs. There are many ways to change your beliefs and one of the most common is visualization or, perhaps better stated, with your psychology. When you begin to see yourself with unlimited potential and clearly picture the massive action and results, you reinforce your belief system and self-fulfill your perception of potential. The continuum works whether you want to reinforce great success or precision failure...the decision is yours. Everything, and I mean everything starts with a decision.  Your decision determines your direction.

     I will have more for you on this subject in coming days. Next up is how our pre-existing beliefs limit our success. To get a jump, take a look at the video and try the exercise with pointing. We will talk about this more later.

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