For 97% of the world’s population, “I” stands for indecision. They can’t make a decision. Go to any restaurant and you’ll see this for yourself. When asked if they ready to order, nearly every answer will be – “No, I don’t know what I want. Go on to the next person.” They’ve had several minutes to make a decision about something as simple as what to eat, and they still can’t decide! What do you think happens when they’re faced with a real, life-changing decision? Nothing! They’re paralyzed by fear. They’re afraid of making a mistake. They ask other indecisive people around them what they should do.

Inside the word indecision is decision. Make a decision right now to develop and live free from the nonsense of the world. Associate with other champions. Never ever give up in pursuit of your dreams. Keep progressing towards the achievement of your goals and dreams and remain confident in your decision. The moment that you give up and listen to the enemy, you’ve quit. You’ve given up on your dream. You must never give up on your dream! God birthed that dream inside of you so that you could realize it and see its fulfillment. It’s no mistake that you have big dreams for your life. Do yourself and the world a favor. Follow your passion. Follow what drives you forward. You owe it to yourself, to others, and to God.

While 97% of people are indecisive, 3% of people are inspired. Champions are inspired by their dream and their purpose. They are continually inspired and fulfilled and inadvertently inspire other people around them. Inspiration radiates from them, because they believe in themselves and their dreams with every ounce of their being.

When you’re inspired, you take action. You see your dream, your vision, your goal, and you move towards it. Action is one of the most important factors in achieving success. You can visualize and say affirmations all you want, but if you don’t take strategic action towards the achievement of your goals and dreams, nothing is going to change. You simply can’t attract success, you have to take aggressive action to achieve it.

One of the best actions steps that you can take to propel yourself towards your goals and dreams is to examine what you fear. Is there something that you fear so much that is getting in the way of your dream? Maybe it’s prospecting. Maybe it’s changing your diet.

Maybe it’s getting away from your negative associations. Without reading any further, I want you to think of the thing that you fear the most that is preventing you from achieving your dreams. After you have a clear image in your mind of that fear, I want you to commit to overcoming. How? By just doing it.
You will be absolutely amazed how quickly your life will begin to change if you simply just do the things you fear. The sooner you face them, the better! After you conquer your greatest fear, every other obstacle in your success path will become easier to overcome. Here’s a great acronym to assist you in overcoming your FEAR:

F — Face it and don’t back down.
E — Extinguish it. Commit to no longer letting fear stop you.
A — Annihilate it. The fear is gone forever!
R — Return to your dream. Keep forging forward towards success.

Once again…just do it! Get inspired to take the action needed to finally achieve the things in life that you’ve only dreamed of until now.

Are you famous or are you focused? Let’s start with “famous”. When people look at you, what do they say that you are famous for? Are you famous for procrastination…negative words…poor time management…What are you famous for? Let me share with you what I am famous for. I am famous for consistent, structured, focused daily strategies and techniques to live a victorious life. I know…that is a pretty strong statement! You see, I would rather be “focused” than famous.
I am focused on success. I am focused on assisting you in achieving you dream and discover the greatness that is inside all of you! Forget about being famous, let’s be focused. Be focused on your dreams…be focused on providing for your family…be focused on building a huge team…be focused on Finding Your Why! Let’s commit today to become focused and start changing people’s lives.
Millions of people world wide watch shows like “Who wants to be a Millionaire” or “Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous”. The interesting thing is that everyone sitting on the couch with a bag of popcorn watching these shows are broke. Why? Because they are famous for sitting back and watching shows on other people being famous. How about we flick the switch in life from famous to focused. Stop dreaming of other people being famous and start being focused on your own destiny! You must laser-focus in on your success and demolish procrastination and create action. Demolish resolutions and create results! Let’s demolish fear and create faith! How is this all possible by simply being focused. How do people become gold medalist, super bowl champions, etc? They take charge of their lives, hire a coach and become focused.
What are you? Who are you? Where are you going? How are you going to get there? More importantly, why are you not focused? Those that know their “Why” are very focused. I am focused on my Why of changing lives of Champions worldwide through my coaching, mentoring, seminars and success library and creating massive success in those Champions lives! Do not allow famous to get in your way of being focused. Make a commitment today to forget fame and become laser-focused! Let’s get focused and know your Why! Let’s go out and impact the world one heart at a time. Focus creates success and Fame creates problems. It’s your decision…become focused and live your dream!!!

It is my personal opinion that there are two words that are the driving force behind your personally achieving your ultimate outcome and your WHY in Life. These two words are the most powerful words that you can and will ever speak to yourself about any situation – “CAN” and “CAN’T” As I’ve said many times, “CAN” is a word of power; whereas, “CAN’T” is a word of retreat.

You have the power to decide if you wish to ACHIEVE or RETREAT, because when you speak victory words such as “I CAN”, you will attain whatever you set out to do regardless of what others are saying to you. In another article, I made reference to famous entrepreneurs such as Ray Kroc, Fred Astaire, Walt Disney and Dick Clark. I can attest to the fact that if you spoke with each of them individually, they would tell you that in the beginning of their journey the majority of people told them —-you CAN’T do that! Fortunately, they disregarded these statements and listened to their inner voice, who said, “Oh yes I CAN!”

The key in life is to realize the most important person who speaks to you every day is you on the inside! You need to review your WHY in Life and see if your are on track toward achieving your WHY, or are you on a detour because someone told you, “You CAN’T do that so stop dreaming and just forget about it!” As a personal mindset builder, you need to speak to your inner person and say to yourself, “Today I will take another productive stride!”

Each morning, I visualize myself winning. My personal outcome for each day is to build a community of people who we can inspire and motivate all of us to make the world a better place in which to live. I have to admit if it was not for my inner person saying, “John you CAN do it! YOU CAN do it!” I may not be in the position of success that I am today. Some days it is still difficult, but guess what — we ARE doing it!

In summary, you need to ask yourself a very honest question, “Am I listening to my victory words from the inside or am letting the outer defeat (loser) words control my outcome in life?”

FIND YOUR WHY AND FLY CHALLENGE
As many of you have heard me say, you must know your WHY in life (your ultimate purpose) in order to deal with such issues as:

•    Why recruit?
•    Why deal with traffic in the morning?
•    Why come in early and work late?
•    Why deal with certain clients?
•    Why introduce your business to people on a daily basis?
•    Why work and plan over the weekend?

My personal mission statement is “You must be absolutely clear about your goal and be relentless in your pursuit of your “WHY” and reading your WHY card for the first seven minutes upon rising is the secret to cementing your WHY into your heart.  In turn, this will direct your actions as you progress through your day.  You will begin to see yourself handling some of your challenges a little differently, because you know WHY.  You will not be afraid to deal with the challenges as you proceed towards your WHY.  An example of a WHY card is:

I will deal with all the challenges of today, because my WHY is to spend more time with my family, provide for my children’s education, have the finances needed to take regular family vacations and be a mentor to my kids.  I will be able to donate/tithe a percentage of my earnings to my church or favorite non-profit organization.  I am successful entrepreneur and build an ethical, profitable business for me and my family.

I challenge you to re-evaluate where you are today and where you wish to be 5 years from now. Then, decide to take action and write a personal WHY card that you will read daily.

“…write the vision and make it plain on tablets that he may run who reads it.  For the vision is yet for an appointed time but at the end it will not lie.”

You need to accept my challenge and write a WHY card!  This step will totally empower your life. I would love to read your WHY card so feel free to e-mail it to me John@ChampionsLiveFree.com.

H-A-B-I-T…When 95% of people hear this word, a
negative thought pops up in their minds, because
most people think of a habit being negative. The
secret to your future lies in your daily habits so
ask yourself right now, “Are my habits today going
to help me achieve my WHY in life?”

I received the following excerpt from a very dear
friend of mine and felt that it is definitely the
best explanation of a habit that I have ever heard:

I am your constant companion.
I am your greatest helper or your heaviest burden.
I will push you onward or drag you down to failure.
I am completely at your command.
Half the things you do, you might just as well turn
over to me,and I will be able to do them quickly and
correctly.
I am easily managed; you must merely be firm with me.
Show me exactly how you want something done,
and after a few lessons I will do it automatically.
I am the servant of all great men.
And, alas, of all failures as well.
Those who are great, I have made great.
Those who are failures, I have made failures.
I am not a machine, though I work with all the
precision of a machine.Plus, the intelligence of a man.
You may run me for profit, or run me for ruin;
it makes no difference to me.
Take me, train me, be firm with me and I will
put the world at your feet.
Be easy with me, and I will destroy you.
Who am I?

I am a HABIT!

- Author Unknown

“I’ve had enough of this. I’ve had enough of dreaming, quitting is much easier. This is too hard. I’ve simply had enough!” These people give up on their dream. They dwell on the adversity rather than focusing on their dream. They forget that their vision controls their future, and they control their vision! They’ve had enough of dreaming. They’ve had enough of thinking about how they’d like to live their life. It’s so sad to think about the number of unfulfilled dreams that exist in the world.

There are an infinite number of unfulfilled dreams, because there are an infinite number of ideas that people simply give up on. But remember, everything has an opposite. If there are an infinite number of unfulfilled dreams, there are an infinite number of fulfilled dreams of people just like you that simply refused to quit.

Those people are in the 3% group and are Empowered by their dream. Their dream fuels them. They gain power from it. They wake up feeling good about themselves and blessed to have the ability to achieve their dream. In the old Greek, blessed means empowered to prosper. You have to be empowered to surpass mediocrity and achieve greatness.

The amazing thing is that when you are committed to achieving your dream, you not only empower yourself, but you empower the people around you to want more out of life. Empowerment is contagious. When you’re empowered, other people are empowered!

Now that you have an insurance plan for your dream, you’ll be able to stand toe to toe with anyone that challenges your ability to achieve it. Remember, you have made the decision to join the 3% crowd. Don’t listen to the naysayers or those stuck in the 97% group. It’s your dream so protect it!

I know your thinking…Okay John, 5+5 does not equal 5 so let me please explain. Let’s start with a question. How many times have you heard that you need to have a “long term” goal and be focused for the entire length of that “long term”? In this article, I am going to focus on a 5 year goal and explain how you will know if you are truly on track to achieve your 5 year goal in life. In the equation, the answer 5 is your five-year goal and the 5+5 is the underlying secret to attaining that goal.

As I speak with numerous people on a daily basis, I hear their frustration about their goals that they’ve set and the lack of progress that they have made. As I say, “A mountain is built one pebble at a time and climbed one step at a time.”

The first “5″ in the equation represents the 5 people that you call your friends, associates, etc. I suggest that you make a list of the 5 people that you associate with on a regular basis, and then take a good look at it to see if they either have goals similar to yours or are progressing towards the achievement of a goal similar to your 5-year vision. A major key to unlock the secret to your future is to be 110% conscious of the fact that you will ultimately become who you associate with. For example, if you have dreams of becoming healthy and wealthy and your associates are overweight smokers that complain about working one-minute overtime, then I can predict the odds of you being healthy and wealthy are slim to none. Millions of people never attain their dreams, because their “friends” serve as “cement shoes” as they walk towards their goals in life. As I set my goals, I surround myself with people who are on the same path in life that I am on. If you truly internalize this same mindset, then you can achieve your goals in life.

The second “5″ in the equation is to take a personal inventory of the last 5 books that you have read or CDs that you have listened to. Just for fun, the next time one of your friends complains about something, ask them what were the last 5 books that they have read or CDs they have listened to. You will get one of two answers: I do not remember or I do not have the time to read. Your last 5 books that you read will determine where your focus or direction is in life. The average person reads 1 book a year after high school, which is the #1 reason why 95% of people are “dead broke at age 65″.

Even the greatest computer in the world needs to be programmed in order to perform its functions. We are all designed for greatness, but we need to be conscious of our associations and what we are reading or listening to on a daily basis will decide the level of greatness that we all reach. Decide today to focus on your 5 year goal and realize that your 5 friends and the 5 books/cd’s that you listen to will determine if you hit your Why or not. Success is simple, but not easy because it takes the ability to grow, stretch, search and learn to enjoy everyday as you progress towards your 5-year goal.

5 + 5 = 5, give it a try and let me know if it works for you. I can actually predict your results…5 + 5 = Your Dream

As per my writing last week, I challenged you to invest only 1/96th of a day to change your life. How did you do? Remember, only you truly know the answer.

Each day as I am speaking with people and especially when I do training workshops, people are always asking the secret to true success in life. You need to re-read last week’s writing because the secret of your success is what you are feeding your spirit each day. I suggest that if you have not made a personal commitment to invest 1/96th of a day, which is only 15 minutes out of 24 hours, to begin doing so today.

You can search and try to figure why it is that you do not feel fulfilled in life or feel that you are not on track to where you want to be…or, you can try this foolproof method — take action today and commit to beginning your day each morning with 15 minutes of empowering spirit food vs. negative depressing news or radio.

Treat each day as a gift and be excited about opening up your personal present from God each day, which is A NEW DAY on this earth to prosper. In life, the smallest improvements compounded over a period of time produces the largest returns. In the world of finance, a penny a day doubled will create more wealth for you than you can humanly imagine, but in the beginning it is worth only pennies.

As you invest 15 minutes daily, you may say to yourself, “This is not working. My life is still the same.” The only currency each of us has on earth is time. You need to allow time to take its course, and you will begin to see the results in your life. The first result is that you will begin to make clearer more productive decisions, which will position you toward a more prosperous future.

A very simple tool that you can you utilize to track your growth is to keep a daily log on your “spirit food” time. Many people have diet or exercise logs to track their progress and help them achieve their physical goals. When you implement a “spirit food” log, you will begin to build up your investment in your spiritual account which, when tapped, will produce results beyond your wildest dreams. I was compelled to write again on this topic, “For whatever a man sows, that he will also reap.” It stands to reason, that if you sow 15 minutes a day, you will reap hours of positive, productive results.

Feel free to e-mail your results to me directly as you reap them in your life at John@ChampionsLiveFree.com. YOUR stories personally empower ME! So, make your commitment to 1/96th of a day and begin to watch what happens.

The following 7 techniques with assist you in building your business to levels beyond your belief. No matter how simplistic these techniques seem if you implement them into your everyday business practice, then your business will explode!
1) Simply lose the “always be closing mindset” and live with the mindset of “always be opening long-term relationships”.
2) Never prejudge. You just never know who will be your next huge sale or potential business partner. Let them tell you yes or no. Don’t make the decision for them!
3) You must imagine you have ears like the size of dumbo. Always out listen your prospect and they will sell themselves on your business.
4) Attend every business presentation with the business relationship already cemented in your mind. A business person without a strong belief along with rock solid vision will fail.
5) Offensively handle every objection. Learn to love it when someone tells you no. Sell offensively versus trying to close defensively.
6) Always be early for all your appointments. This gives you the edge in the game of sales. This alone will increase your closing ration 25%.
7) Just go for it! Spend everyday knowing why you are building your business and what the ultimate outcome will be. You must see it in order to accomplish it!
I challenge you to add these business building techniques to your daily action steps and commit to doing them every time you enter into a new business relationship. Your life and your business will change!

Each and every day, all of us continually search for the extra edge to win at the sport of sales and marketing. One of the most important things that you need to know is that there is a thin line that exists between activity versus accomplishment. Many people feel if they are “active” then they are productive. This is not true! Too often people run around shuffling papers, go back and forth to meetings and are continually on and off their cell phones, but they never accomplish a single task. Consequently, they never obtain their ultimate goal.

Each day as an achiever, you need to set daily, productive action goals that are results-oriented. I personally prefer a goal partner – an accountability partner – someone you can be accountable to each and every day to make sure you did what you said you were going to do! As soon as you instill this into your mindset, you will see the results of your productive efforts flourish very quickly.

The daily compounding of effectiveness will be very dramatic for you to witness. The key to success is leverage, but you must be confident in your efforts to be duplicated in a productive manner. You need to ask yourself a very powerful, truthful question every night as you retire to bed, “If everyone did today what I did for my business, how much would they have actually accomplished?”

Always remember, a small improvement over a long period of time produces dramatic results! Begin to review your actions TODAY…RIGHT NOW! Confirm that they are accomplishment-oriented and that your mindset reflects productivity versus pure movement as activity. I WARN YOU! You will begin to see outstanding results begin immediately. Always be a truthful judge of your actions and determine if you are just being active or are you accomplishing your ultimate outcome through your daily activities.