Joe Girard's 13 Rules To Success!

Talking about Joe Girard yesterday, I thought I should share some of his principles which would help us in day today life, no matter in which field we are.

• HAVE A POSITIVE ATTITUDE: hang around with positive people, stay away from cry babies and complainers, because they will pull you down to their level. If something isn't going right in your life, keep it to yourself, no one wants to hear your problems, make people believe you are having a wonderful time.


• ORGANIZE YOUR LIFE: keep an appointment book so that you don't have to use the words that sicken me: "I FORGOT." At the end of each day, meditate upon what you did or did not do, so you can become stronger for tomorrow. Plan your work for the next day. If you know where you are going you will get there. If you don't, you are LOST!


• WORK WHEN YOU WORK: don't take long lunch hours, and only eat with people who can help your cause, not with other salespeople. Do not sneak out of work early, if you do you are a LOSER.


• OBSERVE GIRARD'S NO-NOs: No smoking or chewing tobacco, no gum, no colognes, no profanity, no dirty jokes, no alcohol breath, and men do not wear earrings when you are working. Turn off cell phones - they're irritating. The biggest killer of them all is NOT BEING ON TIME.


• DRESS THE PART: what kind of people are you dealing with. If you are selling to blue collar workers, don't wear $500 suits and expensive shoes, jewelry or watches (it's a big distraction). Wear it on your own time, not when you're working - clothes can turn people off.


• LISTEN!: People can tell if you're not listening. The longer you listen, the more obligated people will feel towards you. The more you listen, the more likely a customer is going to do business with you. Listening shows that you care. "The mouth should only be used for eating - keep your mouth shut!" Silence is Golden.


• SMILE!: A smile increases your face value. If people would smile more, your customers would feel better and want to do business with you, plus it's great for your health!


• RETURN ALL PHONE CALLS & EMAILS: not returning calls or emails are a way to lose customers and friends. Return your calls and emails as soon as possible. If you don't, that's a good way to burn a bridge!


• TELL THE TRUTH: if you get caught in a lie even once, you will always be a liar. Even if you tell the truth for the rest of your life, you won't be trusted or believed, consider yourself DEAD.


• DON'T OVERCHARGE: if you do, and the customer compares your deal with somebody else, you have lost him. Take a little and leave a little; Joe only worked on a small profit, but he was heavy on volume, averaging six retail automobile sales a day. Word of mouth got around that YOU CAN'T BEAT JOE GIRARD'S PRICE.


• STAND IN FRONT OF YOUR PRODUCT OR SERVICES: not behind. The most important thing to do for your customer is SERVICE them, and they will do business with you over and over again. This is what made JOE #1 IN THE WORLD.


• LOCK UP EVERY SALE: after you have closed the sale, ask your customers why they bought from you - if they tell you why, they are reinforcing their trust in you. Therefore no more buyers' remorse, MEANING NO MORE CANCELLATIONS.


• REWARD YOURSELF: treat yourself well for all the smart work you have done; YOU DESERVE IT!

For more information on Joe Girard visit his official site here

The Ant

One morning I wasted nearly an hour watching a tiny ant carry a huge feather cross my back terrace. Several times it was confronted by obstacles in its path and after a momentary pause it would make the necessary detour.

At one point the ant had to negotiate a crack in the concrete about 10mm wide. After brief contemplation the ant laid the feather over the crack, walked across it and picked up the feather on the other side then continued on its way. I was fascinated by the ingenuity of this ant, one of God’s smallest creatures. It served to reinforce the miracle of creation. Here was a minute insect, lacking in size yet equipped with a brain to reason, explore, discover and overcome. But this ant, like the two-legged co-residents of this planet, also share human failings.

After some time the ant finally reached its destination - a flower bed at the end of the terrace and a small hole that was the entrance to its underground home. And it was here that the ant finally met its match. How could that large feather possibly fit down small hole? Of course it couldn’t. so the ant, after all this trouble and exercising great ingenuity, overcoming problems all along the way, just abandoned the feather and went home.

The ant had not thought the problem through before it began its epic journey and in the end the feather was nothing more than a burden. Isn’t life like that!

We worry about our family, we worry about money or the lack of it, we worry about work, about where we live, about all sorts of things. These are all burdens - the things we pick up along life’s path and lug them around the obstacles and over the crevasses that life will bring, only to find that at the destination they are useless and we can’t take them with us…

5 Ways To Stay Focused On Your Goals

No matter how excited you are about your work/business, with so many distractions and things that may be going on in your life, you can easily find yourself losing focus on your goals and what you want to accomplish. Below you will find 5 things that will help you stay focused on your goals.

>> FINISH WHAT YOU STARTED:

You probably have heard the saying, "So many things to do and not enough time to do them." Even though that may be true, you still have to complete them all, especially if these things help you to reach your goals. To make it easier for you, just take 1 thing you have to do and complete that task until it is done. When it is done, you will feel a sense of accomplishment and it will motivate you to move on to your next task.

>> ORGANIZE TO MAKE THINGS EASY AND SIMPLE:

Take a moment to put things in order. If people write to you or send you orders in the mail, make 3 piles. Put the letters that need to be answered right away in the 1st pile. Letters that can be answered at a later date you can put in the 2nd pile and letters that have orders in them, you can put in the 3rd pile. Doing things like this in other areas of your life will help you keep things in priority and keep you focused on your goals.

>> CHANGE THE WAY YOU LOOK AT THINGS:

If you find yourself at times having a negative attitude, you must realize that the way you look at things can make all the difference when it comes to reaching your goals. Even when obstacles stand in your way, maintaining a positive attitude, not a negative one and knowing that things can and will get better, will help you stay on track in reaching your goals.

>> UNDERSTAND GOALS WILL TAKE TIME TO REACH:

Everything in life, if it is worth it, will take time. This goes for the goals you set for yourself. When you set goals, you should set 2 types of goals. A short term goal such as 6 months and also a long range goal, such as 3 years. You must realize that you are not going to reach your long term goals in 2 weeks. Whatever your goals may be, only through hard work, determination and keeping yourself focused, this is the way you will eventually reach your goals.

>> STUDY AND READ ARTICLES ON MOTIVATION:

Reading articles, books or even listening to cassette tapes on motivation is a must if you want to keep yourself focused on your goals. Many successful people will tell you that even when they wanted to give up and throw in the towel, a paragraph in a book or something a motivational speaker said put them back on the right track and helped them reach their goals.

So if you want to stay focused on your goals, take these 5 points and put them into action today.

Interesting quotes with beautiful pictures

Self Made man

Bobbie Carlyle's 'Self-made man', a statue I greatly admire and a principle I strongly believe in.



Bobbie Carlyle's 'Self-made man'


If you look at the above picture, you will see a man carving himself from a stone. As I said in real life too, I believe the same. What we are is what we carve for ourselves with our body, mind and soul. At the end of the day, we are 'only' responsible for our actions and we are answerable to ones own self.

And when we are able to answer all the questions truly for ones self, I think that's is the first step to success and success for mankind.

To brief:

"...left to his own devices, man will use his God-given talents to be creative, productive, and prosperous. Using free will, he will better his own situation and that of those around him, thereby influencing in a positive way his own destiny..." *


* I picked this paragraph from some where on the web