How to Develop a Mindset for Success

I'm really proud of the Achieve Momentum NOW! program which will be released on May 2nd to subscribers of my 'Momentum' e-zine and to all of my affiliates subsciber lists.

This program is an 8-week course that helps anyone create a Mindset for Success. The past two years I've offered the program live at the first of the year as a New Year's Resolution commitment program and the results have been outstanding.

It's been said that business success is 80% mindset and attitude and only 20% mechanics. I find so many people with a tremendous amount of intelligence, and skill but lack what I call a mindset for success and so they fall short of achieving their full potential.

About 4 years ago I created a program called End Procrastintion NOW! ( wwwEndProcrastinationNOW.com ) because I found so many business professionals stuck and mired in a habit of procrastination. And the sad thing is, they didn't even know it because they were doing 'stuff' but not the 'right stuff.' They were busy doing things that distracted them from doing what was truly most important and so they were falling short of achieving their goals.
Two years later, I created a program that creates new habits of thinking, feeling and acting because it takes place over 8 consecutive weeks.

I'm really proud of the Achieve Momentum NOW! program in its ability to help people create that success mindset.

I'm excited and looking forward to seeing how its received next week when its released as a home study program. To learn more about it you can visit www.AchieveMomentumNOW.com and get on the waiting list so you can get a very special discount offer before its released to the general public.

Let me know what you think...thanks.

I feel different today

Less than two full days since the big event and I feel different. I felt different all day on Friday, actually, too.

It's a air of confidence I didn't have before. I really feel like a different person. I'm now looking for other opportunities to play out and identifying the next songs I want to learn to perform live. It's a new exciting part of my life. I think that's a given, but I really believe it is spilling over to my business as well.

Yesterday I felt really confident about the direction my business is headed, and some of the business opportunities that are starting to come my way. I don't think that's a coincidence, I believe that the confidence created by stepping out of my comfort zone and becoming a musician (a new identity I believe I'm now creating within myself) has opened me up to stepping out of my comfort zone and doing more courageous things in my business.

This is a great thing on a number of levels. The most important of which, though, is the fact that I've been touting a theory in my coaching practice that confidence in one context of your life or business can be used to create confidence in other areas to give you a jump start to getting to the next level, even though you may not possess all the knowledge and skill necessary to be experienced, you still have enough to put yourself out there and begin gaining even more experience.

So, I think my experience this week is reinforcing that belief. Something I'll keep tabs on in the coming weeks and give you an update as we move forward.

'Til Next Time...

I Did It, What Are You Gonna Do?

I did it! I actually did it!

And, I was pretty good, too. Or at least some people said I was. After just 15 months of guitar lessons and 6 months of voice/singing lessons, I made my Open Mic debut. I played and sang two songs, Bruce Springsteen's 'Devils & Dust' & 'The Price You Pay.'

When I finished my mini-set, a woman sitting at a table next to ours turned around and said, "you did very well, you would never know you've only been playing for 15 months, great job." She made my night and validated all my hours of practice.

I was actually amazed at how little nervousness I felt last night. I felt a little anxious as I walked into the club early in the evening but never really got nervous. I realized that there were two basic reasons why I felt little nervousness.

The first is that I really felt prepared. I had rehearsed the two songs to the point of knowing the chord changes and the lyrics without needing the lyric/chord sheet that I had on the stand in front of me. So, preparation is key. Preparation creaes confidence. True confidence surpresses any nervousness.

The second thing that prevented debilitating nervousness was my absolute passion and enthusiasm for what I was about to do. I had set a goal to play at an Open Mic from the time I began my guitar lessons 15 months ago. Except my original goal was to do it within 3 years. In August '05, I committed to doing it before the end of the 2005 calendar year.

I wanted to do this more than anything I've wanted to do in a very, very long time. I was ready. I was enthusiastic and looking forward to the night.

So, for all of you who are paralyzed by stage fright and are among those that would rather be in the casket at a funeral than doing the eulogy standing in the front of the casket, the number one way to overcome that fear is preparation. Prepare and practice your material so you know it like the back of your hand.

My wife took some pictures just to prove I actually did it, but if you look at them, you'd never believe I was actually singing because all 8 pictures taken in the 7-8 minutes I was performing all have my mouth closed, or hidden behind the mic. It doesn't look as if I was singing, but I was.

So, now that my Open Mic debut is out of the way, I'm even more enthusiastic about doing it again. I'm ready to make this my #1 hobby. I'm already planning my next event and the songs I want to play.

I fulfilled the goal I set last year that truly seemed like such a long way away when I first got started. But in applying the Japanese concept of Kaizen (continuous improvement), little by little, day-by-day, I saw gradual progress and that kept me going.

I'd be remiss if I didn't challenge each of you, as subscribers to the 'Momentum' e-zine and The Business Achievement Gym community, to reaching the summit of your next hill to conquer. What would it be? Why not honor my achievement, by making a commitment to yourself and decide on a real deadline for that goal you've been putting off? For me? Please?

I look forward to hearing from you at MomentumChallenge@TheAchievementGym.com

Subscribe to my newsletter...click here!

Home Page for The Achievement Gym - http://www.theachievementgym.com/