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Welcome to Your Achievement Ezine
Issue 361 - May 1, 2008

YourSuccessStore.com - Your very best source for Inspiration, Sales, Leadership and Personal Development Resources and home of Your Achievement Ezine featuring the very best personal development articles, quotes and success tools from Your Masters of Success.

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Your Achievement Ezine is committed to helping our readers grow both personally and professionally by consistently applying time proven principles and ideas in areas such as time management, leadership, communication, sales, investment, marketing and goal setting from many of today's recognized authorities on success. We thank you for reading and for forwarding this on to others who might benefit.

"When we have done our best, we should wait the result in peace."  J Lubbock

Today's issue includes:

1. Your Achievement Article - Dedicate Yourself to Educate Yourself by Tom Hopkins
2. Your Achievement Quotes - Basics/Fundamentals, Being The Best and Belief
3. Your Achievement Tips - Obstacles are the Stepping Stones of Success by Harvey Mackay
4. Tom Hopkins Special
5. More Information

1. Your Achievement Article

Dedicate Yourself to Educate Yourself by Tom Hopkins

To become and remain a professional in this business of selling, you must recognize that you are in charge of your own training and act on that fact. Build on your strengths and correct your weaknesses. If you aren't sure of what to work on first, there is certainly someone in your life who will gladly assist you - your manager, your spouse, your children, a trusted friend. Here are six skill areas that I strongly recommend you consider developing or strengthening:

Negotiation
Do you consider yourself a trained negotiator? Trained negotiators can quickly and effectively analyze the details of situations and determine the best route to resolution. If that brief description doesn't fit you, make an effort to find a book, tape or seminar on the subject, then schedule the time to learn from it.

A Second Language
Consider the part of the country in which you live and those people you do business with. As our country continually redefines itself by its people, be aware of the advantages of being able to communicate with others in their native tongues. Today's projections show that both Hispanic and Asian portions of the population are on the increase. To be able to offer your fine services to more people, you must learn more about them, their language and their cultures.

Voice
Since your clients choose to 'own' your products or services based on what you say and how you represent it, doesn't it make sense that you train your voice to give the highest level of professional presentation? If you've never considered voice training before, tape yourself giving a portion of your presentation, then listen to it. Most of us hate the sound of our voices on tape. Just imagine how our clients must feel when listening to us. To project your message with clarity and power, consider at least one session with a voice coach. They can be found in your local yellow pages.

Public Speaking
Many sales professionals find that giving short speeches in their communities helps build their name recognition and their business. Public speaking is also a great way to build your confidence. Try your skills out by speaking to your child's class about what you do or a hobby you have. Teachers love it when the students can learn first-hand about careers. Join Toastmasters International. There are local chapters in just about every city. They provide excellent opportunities to hone your skills and meet other business professionals with whom you might do business or share referrals.

Memory
Having a good memory is critical to anyone in today's world, but especially so to those of us who meet many new people every week. I have learned to make a game of it in my career. I challenge myself to remember as many people and their stories as I can. There are some great courses and books written on this subject. Even if you learn and use only one small strategy, I guarantee you'll see the benefit of having done so.

Math
Don't cringe on me here. I know there is a large percentage of people who hate math. However, in business, you need to know some basic math skills really well. How does it look when you take a client to lunch and you have to think real hard to calculate the tip? Do you think that will raise any doubts about your competency in the client's mind? Of course it will. Also, when clients toss out figures in their projections, you have to be quick on the uptake in understanding what that means in your business - quantities of supplies they'll need, projecting delivery dates and times, etc. Practice your math skills. Every time you hear or see a number in a conversation or even in a bit of advertising, take a moment to work with the number and see what it means. Compute unit costs for grocery items - $1.29 for 12 ounces. How much is that per ounce? I know the favorite computation of every salesperson who works on a fee basis is to determine their percentage of every sale. Don't stop there. Play the numbers game often and you'll get better at winning.

Choose just one of these six areas and dedicate yourself to improving in it this month. Then, next month, choose another. Once you get started on this journey of self-education, you'll be amazed at what you learn and how simple things can have a powerful impact on your overall success in life.

Over the years, Tom Hopkins has taught how-to sales strategies and tactics to more than three million students on five continents. To this day, he maintains his dedication to the continued growth of his students. Here's your opportunity to become a student of sales legend Tom Hopkins and discover how to turn the art of selling into a simple science using his proven tried-and-true techniques.

Don't miss this special offer! Order Mastering the Art of Selling now for only $19.97-that's 33% off regular price!

Go to http://hopkinsblm.yoursuccessstore.com   

P.S. Order Mastering the Art of Selling as part of a special set featuring 10 DVD programs with proven personal achievement strategies from some of the most respected and recognized experts in their fields and you can save 58% off regular price-plus get a FREE bonus! Go to http://hopkinsblm.yoursuccessstore.com now to find out more!

"Everything has its wonders, even darkness and silence, and I learn, whatever state I may be in, therein to be content."  Helen Keller

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"I am beginning to learn that it is the sweet, simple things of life which are the real ones after all."  Laura Ingalls Wilder

2. Your Achievement Quotes

BASICS/FUNDAMENTALS

"The most important thing I have learned over the years is the difference between taking one's work seriously and taking one's self seriously. The first is imperative, and the second disastrous." -- Margaret Fontey

"Rely on the ordinary virtues that intelligent, balanced human beings have relied on for centuries: common sense, thrift, realistic expectations, patience, and perseverance." -- John C. Bogle

"The three great essentials to achieving anything worthwhile are; first, hard work, second, stick-to-it-iveness, and third, common sense." -- Thomas A. Edison

"It takes less time to do things right than to explain why you did it wrong." -- Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

BEING THE BEST

"A champion is someone who gets up when he can't." -- Jack Dempsey

"A hero is a man who does what he can." -- Roman Rollard

"Offer the best you have and expect the best in return." -- Denis Waitley

"Benchmark your performance against your best competitors. Think how you can beat them next time." -- Brian Tracy

BELIEF

"One person with a belief is equal to a force of ninety-nine with only interests." -- John Stuart Mill

"Success is not what you think it is... it is what you believe it is... and most never believe..." -- Doug Firebaugh

"If you don't think you can do it, who will? You control the most important tool in success, your mind." -- Jeffrey Gitomer

"Your belief determines your action and your action determines your results, but first you have to believe." -- Mark Victor Hansen

"I am a big believer in the 'mirror test'. All that matters is if you can look in the mirror and honestly tell the person you see there, that you've done your best." John McKay

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"Blessed are the flexible, for they shall not be bent out of shape." Dr. Michael McGriffy

3. Your Achievement Tips

Obstacles are the Stepping Stones of Success by Harvey Mackay

A man was walking in the park one day when he came upon a cocoon with a small opening. He sat and watched the butterfly for several hours as it struggled to force its body through the little hole. Then it seemed to stop making any progress. It looked like it had gotten as far as it could, so the man decided to help the butterfly. He used his pocketknife and snipped the remaining bit of the cocoon.

The butterfly then emerged easily, but something was strange. The butterfly had a swollen body and shriveled wings. The man continued to watch the butterfly because he expected at any moment the wings would enlarge and expand to be able to support the body, which would contract in time. Neither happened. In fact, the butterfly spent the rest of its life crawling around with a swollen body and deformed wings. It was never able to fly.

What the man in his kindness and haste did not understand was that the restricting cocoon and the struggle required for the butterfly to emerge was natural. It was nature's way of forcing fluid from its body into its wings so that it would be ready for flight once it achieved its freedom. Sometimes struggles are exactly what we need in our lives.

If we were allowed to go through life without any obstacles, we would be crippled. We would not be as strong as what we could have been. And we could never fly.

History has shown us that the most celebrated winners usually encountered heartbreaking obstacles before they triumphed. They won because they refused to become discouraged by their defeats.

My good friend, Lou Holtz, football coach of the University of South Carolina, once told me, "Show me someone who has done something worthwhile, and I'll show you someone who has overcome adversity."

Beethoven composed his greatest works after becoming deaf. George Washington was snowed in through a treacherous winter at Valley Forge. Abraham Lincoln was raised in poverty. Albert Einstein was called a slow learner, retarded and uneducable. If Christopher Columbus had turned back, no one could have blamed him, considering the constant adversity he endured.

As an elementary student, actor James Earl Jones (a.k.a. Darth Vader) stuttered so badly he communicated with friends and teachers using written notes.

Itzhak Perlman, the incomparable concert violinist, was born to parents who survived a Nazi concentration camp and has been paralyzed from the waist down since the age of four.

Chester Carlson, a young inventor, took his idea to 20 big corporations in the 1940s. After seven years of rejections, he was able to persuade Haloid, a small company in Rochester, N.Y., to purchase the rights to his electrostatic paper- copying process. Haloid has since become Xerox Corporation.

Thomas Edison tried over 2,000 experiments before he was able to get his light bulb to work. Upon being asked how he felt about failing so many times, he replied, "I never failed once. I invented the light bulb. It just happened to be a 2,000-step process."

Franklin Delano Roosevelt, elected President of the United States for four terms, had been stricken with polio at the age of 39.

Persistence paid off for General Douglas MacArthur. After applying for admission to West Point twice, he applied a third time and was accepted. The rest is history.

In 1927 the head instructor of the John Murray Anderson Drama School, instructed student Lucille Ball, to "Try any other profession. Any other."

Buddy Holly was fired from the Decca record label in 1956 by Paul Cohen, Nashville "Artists and Repertoire Man." Cohen called Holly "the biggest no-talent I ever worked with."

Academy Award-winning writer, producer and director Woody Allen failed motion picture production at New York University (NYU) and City College of New York. He also flunked English at NYU.

Helen Keller, the famous blind author and speaker, said: "Character cannot be developed in ease and quiet. Only through experience of trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened, vision cleared, ambition inspired and success achieved. Silver is purified in fire and so are we. It is in the most trying times that our real character is shaped and revealed."

Mackay's Moral: There is no education like the university of adversity.

 
Purchase Outsell, Outmanage, Outmotivate & Outnegotiate Your Competition by Harvey Mackay as part of a special set featuring 10 DVD programs with proven personal achievement strategies from some of the most respected and recognized experts in their fields and you can save 58% off regular price-plus get a FREE bonus! Go to http://hopkinsblm.yoursuccessstore.com now to find out more!

"Nature tops the list of potent tranquilizers and stress reducers. The mere sound of moving water has been shown to lower blood pressure."  Patch Adams

4. Tom Hopkins Special

Over the years, Tom Hopkins has taught how-to sales strategies and tactics to more than three million students on five continents. To this day, he maintains his dedication to the continued growth of his students.

Here's your opportunity to become a student of sales legend Tom Hopkins and discover how to turn the art of selling into a simple science using his proven tried-and-true techniques.

Order Tom Hopkins' Mastering the Art of Selling DVD program now for less than $20! See below.

Whether you want to sell homes, cars, financial services or an idea to your family or friends, following the practical, useful tips developed by Tom Hopkins will help you "close" the sale easily and professionally. Tom helps you master the art of selling by presenting:

- Effective questions that persuade people to buy

- Clients' 10 most common money-spending fears and how to relieve them

- Substitutes for 8 fear-producing words that make people feel uncomfortable

- 5 ways to make a great first impression

- Tips on the art of closing the sale and much more!

Don't miss this special offer! Order Mastering the Art of Selling now for only $19.97!

Go to http://hopkinsblm.yoursuccessstore.com   

P.S. Order Mastering the Art of Selling as part of a special set featuring 10 DVD programs with proven personal achievement strategies from some of the most respected and recognized experts in their fields and you can save 58% off regular price-plus get a FREE bonus! Go to http://hopkinsblm.yoursuccessstore.com now to find out more!

"Some luck lies in not getting what you thought you wanted but getting what you have, which once you have got it you may be smart enough to see is what you would have wanted had you known."  Garrison Keillor

5. More Information

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