Part Two of Your Life By Craig Ballantyne

Part Two of Your Life

By Craig Ballantyne

For better or worse, many people attach a great deal of their personal identity to their career. Unfortunately, if they lose their job, this personal identification with their employment can dramatically increase the stress of an already traumatic experience.

However, what really defines a person is not their job, but what they do if they lose it. This is true in all second acts of life, whether you’re overcoming a divorce, a financial setback, or any other traumatic experience.

What matters is how you react. Do you sink or swim?

Let’s take a look at one of the most famous job losses in recent memory and see how it was actually the greatest thing that could ever happen to that individual. From that, we’ll apply the lessons to your life, to your struggles and to your challenges. Because whatever is in your way, you’re stronger than it, you’re tougher than it, and you’re better than it. You’re going to beat it.

In 1984, Steve Jobs and Apple launched a pioneering, mouse-driven, personal computer. Jobs expected to sell “zillions” of this new invention, but it wasn’t to be. Within a year, Jobs and the board at Apple had a falling out, and he was removed from Apple in 1985.

You’ve probably heard about Jobs losing his job, and no doubt you know the rest of the Jobs-Apple story. As such, it should come as no surprise when Jobs later claimed that the firing was, “the best thing that could have ever happened to me.”

Despite his public fall from grace in the eighties, Jobs went on to a second act in his life that far exceeded his first. He started Pixar and gave us the movies that your children – and maybe you as well – still hold near and dear to their hearts, including “Toy Story” and “Cars."

He followed that up with a second act at Apple beginning in 1996. The next decade and a half “only” included the release of the iMac, iPod, iPhone, and the iPad. Not too bad for a second act in life.

By the way, Jobs didn’t dwell on those missing years between 1985 and 1996. In fact, he believed the intermission between his first and second acts was necessary. “I’m pretty sure none of this would have happened if I hadn’t been fired from Apple,” Jobs said in 2005.

The lesson we can learn from Steve Jobs is that we all can have second acts in life. It doesn’t matter how tough the days seem right now. There are better days ahead.

If you don’t feel Steve Jobs is a good enough example, let me tell you about my friend Vince Palko. Vince is the successful artist behind our new American Dream adtoons video. But just over 18 months ago Vince was struggling month to month.

Vince was no longer working at his six-figure a year job, he had just gone through a divorce, and he was struggling to pay his bills. There are an infinite number of ways Vince could have responded, including blaming other people or the economy. But he didn’t.

Instead, Vince set in motion a series of daily habits, such as contacting more people in his network, plus daily visualization and implementation techniques that allowed him to slowly but surely create a new international business based on his skills. Today Vince has helped “invent” a new form of video sales letter, and his business is booming. His story is inspiring, and reminds us that we can overcome our obstacles if we are persistent.

No one knows exactly what went through Steve Jobs' mind as he dusted himself off from his fall from Apple in 1985, but it wouldn’t be surprising to find out that he focused only on his future.

As someone who struggled mightily in 2002, I can tell you that the best way to overcome obstacles and rebuild your confidence is by looking to the future. Back then, when I had few clients and a lot of spare time, I created a vision of how I wanted my future to look.

I also made lists of all the people I didn’t want to disappoint, all the people who could help me, all the ever-so-slightly possible opportunities that existed, and all of the skills that I had. Each day, no matter how discouraged I was, I reviewed these lists and forced myself to take action on one big thing.

I also began contacting at least one person in my network every day, asking how I could help them, or simply sending them ideas or material that I thought they could use. Vince Palko did one better. He decided he would double the number of people he was contacting each day and added value to their lives by giving them ideas to help their businesses first.

Simple action steps like this will bring you closer to getting back on track, so take an hour or two and make those lists today or over the weekend. First, you’ll be reminded of all the good things you have in your life. That will make you feel better. But more importantly, it will give you a hope for opportunity. And believe me, there is plenty of opportunity out there for you to reach your American Dream and achieve financial independence. It all starts with your vision.

As Napolean said, “A soldier will fight long and hard for a bit of colored ribbon.” To me, it means that the soldier was fighting for his vision of the future. That is what we must do today, no matter how hard the battle may be. We all fight for what could be, so start by identifying what you are fighting for. Harness the power of this vision so that it drives you through the inevitable dips and over the obstacles you will need to face.

Never give up.

It is time for your second act.

Do You Know This? By Craig Ballantyne (your one key skill)

Do You Know This?

By Craig Ballantyne

Last week my Ipad crashed and required a trip back to the Apple store. I paid one of my assistants to take it. If it sounds a little like laziness, it isn’t.

I wasn’t at home watching TV while my assistant went to the Apple store. Instead, I was filming workout videos. It was grueling work, and I completed another three-hour session yesterday while I paid an assistant to run more errands.

Could I have taken my Ipad to the store? Yes.

Could anyone in my organization – or even my industry – created and filmed the workouts? No.

Teaching fitness and breaking down complex fat burning science into easy to understand lessons is one of my unique skills that no one else in my organization, let alone industry, can do as well as I can. Doing this, and then selling these fitness programs to people all over the world are my unique skills. They are what drive my business, bring in the money, and allow me to grow my company and employ several people full-time.

Understanding that you have a unique skill, and that you must ruthlessly protect and plan your time to work almost exclusively on your unique skill, is a mindset that will help set you apart from other business owners, salespeople, and skilled workers who struggle financially or with time management.

You simply cannot do every little task that comes up in a day if you want to move your business or career forward, because every little task that takes away from time spent on your unique skill – your most profitable work – also takes you away from progress.

Dan Sullivan, creator of The Strategic Coach program, developed the philosophy of working on your Unique Ability after decades of coaching business owners and executives. As a member of his coaching program for the last year, I learned to identify my unique skill and plan and protect my daily work schedule to give myself more time each workday to dedicate to what I do best.

As a business owner or top employee, it really is your responsibility to spend more of your time on your unique skill. It is what drives your business and allows you to bring in revenue for your investors and employees. If you’re an employee, this is what you were hired for. That’s why you should have no shame in delegating any task that cuts into your time spent on your most valuable skill.

Identifying your unique skill should come easy. Again, it’s simply the most valuable task that you do that you do better than anyone else. For my main fitness business, my unique skill is the creation and selling of advanced fitness routines that are efficient and effective. I am an industry leader in this area. For my Internet Independence and Early to Rise businesses, my unique skill is creating a large volume of short to medium length essays inspiring entrepreneurs to take action. I spend almost all of my working day on these few tasks, and delegate all else to my assistants.

If you aren’t quite sure of or able to identify your unique skill, Sullivan recommends asking people around you for their thoughts on what you contribute best to your business. When I first learned of the concept, I surveyed members of a Mastermind group that I belonged to, including our leader, Yanik Silver. It was their input that allowed me to define my best abilities and begin to re-arrange my workday to maximize my time spent on this unique skill, therefore making bigger breakthroughs in my business.

Identifying a unique skill doesn’t just stop with you. Eventually, if you are building a team or a business, your ultimate goal is to have everyone working on their unique skill.

For example, in my Turbulence Training fitness business, each member of our team works in a role suited to their unique skill. This includes our customer service team that is staffed by Lesa who has the unique skill to calm down and communicate kindly with even the most frustrated customers. The end result is that not only do we get testimonials on how well our products work, but also on how well – and fast – our customer service team fixed their problem.

Your next step is to set aside an hour this week to identify your unique skill and begin to plan your workday around maximizing the time you spend working on projects that utilize your unique skills and expertise. Buy the book, “Unique Ability: Creating the Life You Want," written by members of Dan’s organization and use the instructions in it to ask others in your organization and network to help you identify your unique skill.

Focus Like a Black Belt By Shane Fielder

Focus Like a Black Belt

By Shane Fielder

Walt Disney had the confidence when nobody else did to risk it all on building an unheard of concept called a theme park. This was Walt's big crazy dream. Walt would gauge the value of an idea by how many successive "no's" he received when sharing it. Once he had 10 negative responses, he would immediately green light the project.
 
The challenge that 95% of my clients face is that they know what they want, but they have a hard time focusing on all the action steps to get there. It can be extremely difficult to keep a long term focus amidst the diversions and distractions that surround you every day.
 
How many times have you started out working towards your big crazy goal with high energy only to get frustrated and give up?
 
In a moment, I'll share with you a Black Belt secret to accomplishing your goals. But first, a story...
 
I Quit Just Like You Did
 
Nineteen years ago, I had a big crazy goal to become a martial artist. Not just any martial artist, but a Black Belt. In my mind I knew all my friends and family would be mesmerized by an out-of-shape, overweight guy (I was 210lbs) becoming a "Black Belt." After some investigation, I joined a local Aikido Dojo. 
 
About three weeks into the training, things were going well. That's when I started telling family and friends what I was up to. Big mistake. Some of the people I told outright laughed at me. Even my girlfriend at the time laughed at the idea. I had many critics.
 
I continued on until one day I had to start learning how to roll and fall in the dojo. This is the hardest part of the initial training. Falling safely is taught so that you can take bone crushing throws from five feet in the air, and still get up and walk away without a dent. It wasn't easy for me at all. My bruises, sore legs, and weak back left me feeling like a train hit me. 
 
That is when I quit.
 
I gave up and threw in the towel because I thought, "I'll never be like all those other students and Black Belts." By quitting, I made all my critics right. 

Five months later, something changed...
 
I simply decided that I was going to succeed and make all my critics wrong by becoming a Black Belt. I called my Sensei and asked if I could come back. We had a long talk and he agreed to take me back as long as I would not give up on myself again. I agreed.
 
The Secret to Black Belt Focus Hit Me
 
Your path to achieving your big crazy goal will get hard at times. Just like you, I struggled with discouragement. I asked myself how on earth I would keep my commitment to Sensei and get my Black Belt. Then it hit me.
 
I realized that I was thinking too long term and too big for my mind. The solution: show up one class at a time! 
 
One Practice at a Time
 
On average it takes a student 767 practices before they are ready for the Black Belt test. Every time a student shows up for practice, they get one practice day's credit towards their next rank.
 
The key lesson here is that the consistency of being in the dojo puts you in the right mindset. The dojo is a place where you surround yourself with other people who can help you achieve your goals. Regardless of what rank you are, the practice and showing up is what counts most.
 
3 Mindsets of Black Belt Performance
 
Before you take on the work of any goal, understand that you can get there faster by setting your mind right before you practice. Remember "practice" is whatever tasks you need to do to get to where you want to be. Ask yourself this critical question:
 
What Kind of Practice Will Today Be?
 
1. Show Up Practice - When you start at one level, by consistently showing up, eventually you'll move to the next level. Show up practices are when you celebrate the fact that you showed up, did some work and didn't give up that day. You never know when the day you just show up is the day the technique you've been working on for years just clicks! 
 
2. Regular Practice - Regular practices are required to create consistency, build endurance and improve your technique. On these practice days, you learn about yourself and have a chance to determine the right direction and build your confidence. You celebrate yet another practice towards your next rank.
 
3. Accelerated Practice - This is the practice day where you go in with the mindset that you're going to do better today than you ever have before. You work towards blowing past your personal best. But you can't practice here forever, as these practice days are vigorous and strenuous. This is why you will revert back to more Show Up or Regular Practice days.
 
Failure Strikes When You're Not Practicing

When I first started training in Aikido, I missed many Sunday morning classes because I was out late the night before. Then I realized that being late is better than not showing up at all. 
 
If you're serious about achieving your goals, cut through the excuses you tell yourself as to why your big crazy goal is only reserved for other people. Start showing up, even if you are a little late. 

Focus Like a Black Belt Today
 
Focus takes an initial intention followed by consistent practice. This process will help you sharpen your focus today, tomorrow and in the coming weeks to help you reach your destination twice as fast with half the effort. Answer these questions to help you get into a Black Belt mindset:

• What big crazy goal do you want to reach?
• When do you want to reach it?
• How many practices are required to get you there?
• How many practices have you accumulated up to today?
• Identify what it means for you in each practice to: Show Up / Regularly Practice / Accelerate Practice

Pick one style of practice for today and get going. You'll feel much stronger and more powerful afterwards, because you are one step closer to where you want to be.
 
After about five years of consistent practice, my Sensei presented me with my first Black Belt. The feeling of that moment was amazing. It was a celebration of my victory over myself, one practice at a time.
 
Your victory is waiting for you when you stick with training one practice at a time. This approach will end your procrastination and silence the distractions while helping you build amazing focus and drive. You will achieve your big crazy goal with Black Belt focus, faster than you ever thought possible. 

"Time to Get Out of This" By Craig Ballantyne - the comfort zone!

Time to Get Out of This

By Craig Ballantyne

Each afternoon, just before I stop working for the day, one of my final tasks is to review a set of daily inspirational and motivational documents. One document that has been in the rotation for over four years is The Kekich Credos, by Dave Kekich. It’s a list of 100 mantras for life and business.

The first credo may be the most important. It starts, “People will do almost anything to stay in their comfort zones. If you want to accomplish anything, get out of your comfort zone.” – The Kekich Credos

Unless we get out of our comfort zone, the reality is that we won’t make breakthroughs in our lives, our businesses, or our health.

You simply can’t coast through life if you want to get better. However, getting out of the old comfort zone is something everyone deals with and struggles to overcome.

When you have bad days, you’ll be tempted to return to your comfort zone habits, but it’s also the time when you need to fight against that the most.

My comfort zone habits stem from my childhood. There are days when I wish I could become anonymous, get a factory job, and hide out in front of the TV every night.

You see, I grew up in the country on a farm. My parents worked all day and watched TV all night. During the summer, my dad would work late in the fields while my mom tended her garden and I played sports, but by 8 p.m. we were all back in front of the TV.

When I grew up, that was my comfort zone. Staying home and watching TV.

Eventually I got my first job off the farm in 1988 at age 13 for $3.10 an hour and I’ve been working almost every week – if not every day – since. I’ve worked in factories, gyms, offices, and schools. I’ve had dead-end jobs and I’ve also built the life of my dreams through an information marketing business helping people improve their health and fitness.

But there are still those days where I wish I had the 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. factory job so I could go home every day and sit in my comfort zone watching television all night. I sometimes wish I could take every weekend off to play golf instead of working, researching, and studying fat loss and motivation. I sometimes wish I could just, “Clock in. Clock out. Tune in. Tune out.”

I fight that desire many days. I wanted to tell you this because I know you probably feel the same way some days.

It would be easier to go back to your comfort zone. It would be easier if you could give up and go back to doing whatever you wanted and skipping the time you devote to improve your life.

But we have to fight it. Every day we MUST fight it.

I might wake up some mornings and want to quit. You’ll do the same.

But we won’t quit. We never will.

Because the day we quit is the day we start living a life of regret.

That regret will be far more painful than any daily struggle we face while we work towards a better life. Whatever your goal, you must continue to learn and grow and have the discipline to do the things you don’t always necessarily want to do.

As the first Kekich Credo continues, “Strive to increase order and discipline in your life. Discipline usually means doing the opposite of what you feel like doing. The easy roads to discipline are:

• Setting deadlines.
• Discovering and doing what you do best and what’s important and enjoyable to you.
• Focusing on habits by replacing your bad habits and thought patterns, one-by-one, over time, with good habits and thought patterns.”

For my goal of helping one million men and women transform their lives, I need to build a team, spend time creating systems, and improve my sales and persuasion skills to convince more people to believe I can help them. That’s not going to happen if I’m not willing to change and get out of my comfort zone.

For you, it will require setting goals with deadlines, taking time for self-reflection to identify specifically what it is that you want to accomplish, and then to focus on creating the daily habits and positive thought patterns that move you closer to your goals each day.

It’s not easy, but you can do it if you are willing to change. Of course, change is a scary word. As the old saying goes, “people fear change."

But that’s not completely accurate. After all, if I gave you $1,000,000 dollars, you wouldn’t be scared of that life change, right? Of course not. In fact, we embrace positive change.

What we really fear is negative change.

You need to look at what you might think are negative changes, and reframe them as positive changes to your lifestyle.

You have to focus on the small, but consistent increases in your second income you achieve from taking action every day. You’ll need to have gratitude for the new business partners you meet at seminars. Both of those take effort but bring with them great benefits as well.

Trust me, there will still be a time and a place in your life to slip back into your comfort zone activities, but that will be as a reward, not a daily habit.

If we want to make those big changes in our lives, then we need to break free from our comfort zones. We need to challenge ourselves. We need increase the organization, planning, discipline, and implementation in our lives.

If we do this consistently, we will develop new, stronger habits that will allow us to reach our goals.

Start by…

1)    Setting deadlines for your new positive habits.

2)    Making small changes every day.

3)    Preparing for those days when we feel like doing the opposite of what we should be doing.

You can do it. You can break free from your comfort zone.

If you believe in yourself as much as I believe in you, you will succeed beyond your wildest dreams.

It may not be easy, but you can and will do it. I’ll be right here with you every step of the way.

Stay strong and never give in.

Eddie Murphy: He Believed it and he Achieved it

By Steve Rizzo

One Saturday night in 1980, I was performing at East Side Comedy Club on Long Island.  I was fairly new in the comedy arena and this was my first weekend appearance at a premiere comedy club.  To say that I was a bit nervous would be an understatement.  Sharing the marquee with me was a young comic by the name of Eddie Murphy.  Yes, the Eddie Murphy.  

I knew Eddie pretty well back in the day.  We performed at a lot of one-night gigs together, at bars, at dance clubs and restaurants in the tri-state area.  Even though I was 12 years his senior, I knew from the moment that I met Eddie that there was definitely something special about him.  He always stood out from everyone else.  Besides being brilliantly funny and having a great stage presence, he had an air of confidence on and off stage that was unusual for someone barely 18 years of age.  

After the first show, Eddie and I were in the green room talking about what we wanted to do with our lives.  At the time, I was an English teacher during the day and stand-up comedian at night (although sometimes I had difficulty distinguishing between the two).  I told him my dream was to break into the comedy business in a big way.  Then Eddie said something to me that I will never forget.  

"Steve," he said, "I'm going to be to comedy what the Beatles were to music." 

He didn't say, "I would like to be," or "My dream is to be."  He said it as if it were a matter of fact.  "I'm going to be."  He wasn't bragging and it wasn't his ego getting carried away.  There was no conceit at all.  His demeanor was calm and assertive.  It was a simple statement that came from his heart; he said it with such conviction and utter certainty that I had no choice but to believe him.  

Most people view Eddie Murphy's success at face value and think he became a big star simply because he was talented.  Others think it was a matter of luck that Eddie was in the right place at the right time.  Personally, I believe there was a lot more to Eddie Murphy's success than just talent and luck. In my view, the most powerful force at work in Eddie Murphy's rise to fame was the power of positive thinking.  

I'm sure you'll agree that there are many extraordinarily talented people in all walks of life who never achieve the level of success they desire and/or deserve.  You probably know a few personally.  Have you ever wondered why?  They seem to have what it takes to succeed, but somehow, for whatever reason, they never get that lucky break.   

Back to Eddie Murphy.  At that time in television history, the original cast of Saturday Night Live retired and there was a search for a black comedian or actor with improvisational skills to replace Garrett Morris.  A comedian was quickly chosen, but the producers discovered that this person unfortunately had difficulty reading and writing. So another more urgent, casting call was put out.  At the time there were only a handful of black comedians and Eddie was one of them.  Auditions were being held at The Comic Strip in Manhattan and as the story goes, within minutes of Eddie stepping on the stage, the powers that be were convinced that he was going to be the newest prime time player on SNL. 

Now you can call Eddie Murphy's rise to fame luck if you want to.  But I believe we make our own luck.  In other words, what you think is what you get.  We manifest the things we desire in our lives with the power of our thoughts.  If you are continuously creating positive thoughts and focusing your attention on the things you desire, if you take action with joy, passion and enthusiasm, and believe without a doubt that it is just a matter of time before you achieve your desires, then more than likely that is exactly what will come to pass.  

Take note the key phrases to remember are "creating positive thoughts," "taking action with joy, passion and enthusiasm," and "believe without a doubt."  I know.  It's easier said than done.  Don't give me that look.  The good news however, is that it can be done.  

Eddie Murphy is a prime example of "what you think is what you get."  I'm certain he achieved his level of success because he truly believed he was a star long before he became one.  It was as if he had a crystal ball and saw how his life was going to unfold.  It was just a matter of time before his determination to succeed would manifest in the physical world. 

I witnessed firsthand how he carried himself on and off the stage.  I had many heartfelt conversations with him.  His focus on his craft was laser-sharp.  His attitude was unfaltering.  And his passion was second to none.  He never drank alcohol or did drugs - never.  His high was the joy he received from being on stage and making people laugh.  I believe that Eddie Murphy radiated so much positive energy and had such a powerful subconscious belief in himself that he attracted what we call lucky breaks into his life.   He just happened to have the talent and fortitude to take the appropriate action to seize opportunity when it knocked on his door.  

What really separated Eddie Murphy from other talented comedians, myself included, was that Eddie really, really wanted to be to comedy what the Beatles were to music.  I mean, really.  And he truly believed it was possible.  When that combination of desire and belief comes together it is unstoppable. Eddie always knew where he was headed before he got there.  More importantly, there was a constant correlation between his intention, his thoughts and what was manifesting in his life.  

Walk in Your Value By Bob Burg

Walk in Your Value
By Bob Burg

  “Money is an echo of value;
it’s the thunder to value’s lightning.”

Most people intuitively understand this very basic characteristic of Free-Market Capitalism; that we are rewarded for providing value.

The key is understanding that the value comes first. The money is simply a natural and direct result of the value you have provided. And, the more value you provide to a larger number of people, the more income with which you are rewarded.

But, when posting the opening quote as part of a blog post, I received a question from a skeptical reader. He asked:
“Does this mean if someone does not have much money, they are not valuable?”

I appreciated his question because, while his interpretation is not one I would have considered, obviously, since he did, the chances are that others did, as well.

My response was:

“It doesn’t mean that at all. Every human being has great intrinsic value. But it does mean they have not found an effective way to bring or communicate that value to the marketplace.”

Another reader, Amy Wells, a bridal shop owner in San Antonio, Texas, responded:

“I can attest to Bob’s explanation because, as I’m learning to communicate my value to my marketplace, my ‘net’ is getting fuller.”

And, there’s more to Amy’s story which I believe makes a very strong case for what we are discussing.

Amy’s Decision To Communicate Her Value

Amy attended one of my live events in San Antonio where she became inspired by the explanation of The Law of Value from, The Go-Giver. This Law says: “Your true worth is determined by how much more you give in value than you take in payment.”

No, this certainly doesn’t mean you give things away (of course, giving away a free report or video in order to attract a new customer and demonstrate value is a terrific business strategy, but not what we are discussing here).

And, it certainly doesn’t mean you don’t make a profit. Far from it. You make an excellent profit.

So, how does this work? After all, giving more in value than what you take in payment sounds counterproductive at best and, at worst, perhaps even a recipe for bankruptcy.

It’s very important to understand the difference between price and value.

Price is “a dollar amount, a dollar figure.” It’s finite.

Value, on the other hand, is “the relative worth or desirability of a thing to the end user or beholder.” In other words, what is it about this thing; this product, service, concept or idea that brings with it so much worth – or value – that someone will willingly exchange their money for it and be ecstatic that they did…while you make a very healthy profit.

Example: You hire an accountant to do your tax returns. He charges you $1000. That’s his price. But, what value does he provide you in return? Through his expertise, he saves you $5000 in taxes, he saves you hours of work, and provides you with the peace of mind and security of knowing it was done correctly. He provided you both concrete value (the savings) and conceptual value (peace of mind = priceless).

You feel terrific about it and he made a very healthy profit.
He gave you more in value than what he took in payment. Not only did you both win, but you both won big.

This is the essence of a Free-Market based exchange: both parties come away much better off than they were before the transaction. These exchanges increase prosperity both for individuals and for society. It’s why true Capitalism (not to be confused with Cronyism) raises the standard of living for all.

So, what happened with Amy?

She decided that, from now on, rather than discounting the wedding dresses as her prospective customers expected (which, apparently is the norm for her industry) she was going to sell at full retail price and do a much better job of selling on value.

First though, she had to become conscious of the value she provided. After all, how can you communicate your value to others if you haven’t embraced it yourself?

The following is excerpted from an email Amy sent me:

“Bob, of the many things I learned and am implementing daily, the most surprising is what the ‘Price vs. Value’ teaching is doing for me.

“From this, I walked away with a heart understanding that the value I offer to my brides is my experience, expertise and assurance of the perfect delivery of her wedding gown for her very special day.

Furthermore, I have the value of being in the top three of every designer I carry, and I have a lot of influence with them on delivery dates, custom changes, etc. That can only be offered by me and two other salons in the nation. I have now embraced the realization that what I offer my brides is of real value.

“I’m amazed by the additional money I’m netting for walking in my value. I used to easily give discounts, as I wanted each bride to be able to afford the dress that was ‘THE ONE.’ And, I didn’t want price to stand in the way of her dream day. Some brides even threatened to get it elsewhere.

However, as a result of your talk, when brides ask for a discount, instead I offer them me. I’m able to articulate the value of what I offer and how it will affect the outcome of their choice, as opposed to if they internet or discount shop.

To date, I have netted an additional $9,839 for the month and still have one day left to add to that total. Oh and I didn’t lose one bride; they all chose to get their gown through my Salon.

“Thank you Bob. I’m walking in my value, and being paid for that value.”

Amy’s message is so important. Are you ever bullied into discounts or other concessions? Do you feel badly afterwards, as though you’ve operated out of fear or lack? If so, it might be a value question. And, the questioner is you. Sure, expect the other person to try and get as much as they can while giving you as little as they can. That’s just human nature.

But, the decision as to whether or not you’re going to play that game is totally up to you. Sure, you might lose an occasional sale. So what? You’ll more than make up for it. After all, just like with Amy, your prospective buyers will sense that you believe you have/give value. And, when that’s the case, they’ll want to do business with you directly, and refer you to others.

And, oh yes…Amy did indeed hit the $10,000 mark of additional net income for the month. And she has continued to do that consistently, month after month.

Indeed, serving more people, making more money, and feeling great about oneself proceeds from – as Amy would say – “walking in our value.”

Video Vision Board Training

Video Vision Board Training by Kris Britten