You’re a competent sales consultant, right?

Given current economic circumstances, your results aren’t too bad, right?

Why bother to put a lot of time and effort into self improvement?

If you believe the pundits, the road to wealth is investment.

If you look at it from the perspective of investing in assets to increase your wealth it starts to look a little different.

Other than a house and a car, the only asset anyone has to produce income is their skills, knowledge and ability that they can offer to someone in return for income.

It is common knowledge that the better the asset the more people will pay for it. It is no different when you consider your skills, knowledge and ability. These are the assets you posses, so the higher the level of your skills, knowledge and abilities the higher price you can receive.

Value is relative. That is value can only be measured when you compare it with something. For example, in the case of a sales consultant their value is measured in terms of the finite results they produce. That is compared to the expected outcomes agreed upon, your KPIs.

Take a moment and reflect on how frequently you exceed your KPIs. Do you consistently exceed them? Or have they become the ceiling of your results?

I do not believe there is an individual on the planet who cannot improve in some aspect of their life. I’d be very interested to meet such a person.

If I am correct then it is logical to assume that each and every sales consultant in the company is capable of significant improvement in performance.

That is not to say that our consultants are not trying, or coasting, not at all.

Recently we had a discussion on expectations and how limiting, or liberating they can be.

Let’s go one step further and look at how you can invest in ourselves to produce a better you.

Think back to the time when mobile telephones were built like bricks. All you could do was either take or make a single call. Look at them today. The range of applications is mind boggling.

It is said the shelf life of a new computer model is about three months before an improved model is on the market. The rate of change in life is constantly accelerating and we need to be growing and expanding just to keep up.

So, investment in your skills, knowledge and abilities is vital if you are to realize your potential and live the successful life you want.

How do you do it?

Let’s look at it from the perspective of your professional life, although the same principles apply to your personal universe.

The very best professionals in any activity have a very thorough grasp of the basics of the activity and they continually revise the basics as well as look for the latest developments in their craft.

I recently sent an email to all consultants offering three e-books on selling skills. I am not surprised at the identity of those who responded.

It is no coincidence that those who responded are already producing good results, in spite of the difficult economic times we are facing.

This ties in completely in the level of expectation we have. If your attitude is, “near enough is good enough” then you have already lost the battle. I cannot emphasize enough that your expectations are what you create for your future. It is rare to exceed what you expect.

Even when you exceed your expectations, how strong is the urge to downplay the results and assign the cause to something other than yourself? “I was just lucky,” “Good fortune,” “It just fell into place.” All these statements go to undermine your strength as they deny the fact that any success is usually the result of YOUR effort, creativity, determination and courage.

Accept credit for what you can, and have achieved. Recognise however, that by tomorrow, today’s success will be history. Continuous effort, creation and action are the only paths to continuing success. To be able to do more you must know more and you can’t know more unless you take every opportunity to learn and develop.

It is human nature to want stability and predictability in our lives. But doing the same old things each and every day will never stretch you and bring about development. It is only when you step into the unknown, open your mind to new experiences, knowledge and viewpoints that you develop.

Unless each week, each day, each moment is a journey to continuous improvement, you will fall behind. It is far easier to be in front of the game than forever trying to catch up.

So, how do you start on the road to continuous improvement? You look at the successful people around you. Ask them what they do and how they do it.

It is a fact that if a successful person does something and you do the same thing, you will be successful. You may not do quite as well as the successful person, but that is only because you haven’t yet got the experience of doing the successful action.

You read books, listen to cds, read industry journals, you listen to your peers. It doesn’t mean that everything you read and hear will necessarily be beneficial, or applicable to your particular circumstance. But constant exposure to new information, viewpoints and experiences will have a cumulative effect and you will become far more professional in every way if you seek to learn.

We are unique individuals, and will put our own spin on whatever we try to do. That will produce a variation in the result and you must be prepared to do something new quite badly at first.

With practice, you will improve and, if you persist, learning from every mistake, you will master any skill, knowledge or ability.

• Ask questions.
• Read books.
• Observe successful people.
• Be prepared to try.
• Persist and you will succeed.

Have you ever wondered why it is that you find some activities easy to do and you have great skill in that area? Conversely, have you ever been frustrated at being weak at some things. Not seeming to ‘get it’ and failing or not performing well?

Why is it that some people are skillful in some areas and apparently ‘stupid’ in others?

It’s all to do with the fact that we are unique individuals and we all have skills somewhere. What determines our natural ability includes our experiences and the decisions we make about them.

Here’s an interesting observation. Have you noticed you seem to like those activities that you are good at and tend to avoid those you do not like? Those activities you do not like are, co-incidentally those you have less competence at.

Whether you like something because you are good at it or are good at it because you like it is not important. What is important is to recognize that the relationship exists.

If you think of something you are really good at you will find you tend to feel a certain way. Think for a moment and recreate the way you feel. What is the feeling like?

Observe your level of confidence about the activity? Yes, that’s right, you have a high level of certainty. What is that certainty based on? It’s based on previous successful actions.

When you do something successfully what were you thinking at the time? It varies according to the individual and the activity, but be assured, you will find that your were learning or realizing something as you went along.

The main reason we have a low level of ability in any area is that, firstly, we have in place a negative decision regarding the likelihood of success. This negative decision is the result of past negative experience.

The end result of past failure is often confusion and confusion is the result of unknowns. In other words there is something to learn that you did not learn.

Skill in any area of life operates on a gradient scale. The more you know the more you can do, the less you know the greater the difficulty and so your application of the skill suffers.

What is the answer? How can you get over the negatives that face you? The answer is quite simple. If you are having difficulty in an area of your life and you feel negative or unsure of whether you can succeed, recognize that you simply have a learning opportunity.

THERE IS SOMETHING TO KNOW YOU DON’T CURRENTLY KNOW. – THAT’S ALL THAT IS PREVENTING YOU FROM SUCCESS.

So, how do you address this? Whenever you need to learn you must:

ASK QUESTIONS

Go to someone who is successful in the area you are struggling with and ask them how they do it.

So many of us are unwilling to say, “I don’t know.” Please recognize that until you do you cannot progress in improving your skill, knowledge or ability.

The only thing standing in your way of improving your ability is you.

The pathway to increasing your ability in any area is as follows.

OBSERVE

Look realistically at the results of your actions.

BE HONEST WITH YOURSELF

The only one you will fool is yourself.

BE PREPARED TO ADMIT YOU DON’T KNOW

The first step to understanding is this recognition.

ASK QUESTIONS

Be prepared to learn from others.

TRY A DIFFERENT WAY

Try things and be prepared to fail. When you do, try something else until you find what works for you.

RECOGNISE THAT FAILURE IS AN EVENT –
IT IS NOT YOU

Failure is simply the opportunity to do things better next time

ABOVE ALL – PERSIST

The difference between a champion and an also ran is that the champion never gives up.

NEVER, NEVER, NEVER GIVE UP

We all want and need respect; we deserve it. Let me show you how to win it.

Click on the video and discover your first How Can I answer.

Either way, you’ll be right

Henry Ford
Industrialist

I’ve seen this quote a number of times over the years and never given it much thought other than, “I suppose it’s right.”

Then I spoke with an acquaintance the other day. He was bemoaning the fact that he had lost the love of his life. He continually said to me, “I’ll never be that lucky again. She was the best thing that ever happened to me. No point in even trying to get another like her.”

On and on he went, secure in the firm belief that life had dealt him a grievous blow and that all was lost.

Then I found out the truth of the matter. He was the one that ended the relationship!! True as I sit here.

I thought to myself, “Why, in the name of all that’s holy, would he do something as stupid as that?”

Then it struck me. He must have had a negative belief so strong that it sabotaged his happiness. He “KNEW” he couldn’t be that lucky as to have this young lady. So he made sure he was right.

It seems to me we have an incredible power. We can choose how life is to be for us. Believe it hard enough and, sure enough, it happens! Talk about the secret, the Law Of Attraction.

Or maybe it’s simply the fact that we make a decision in a particular direction and focus all our intention in that area. Then we make it happen.

I suppose it depends on what you want in life.

Beware of what you believe. It will come true.

Just make sure it’s positive.

Regards,

Ollie

I went on in the higher grade match first. In the warm up my opponent, younger, bigger and much more powerful when he hit the ball, looked a worldbeater. It looked as if I was on a hiding to nothing.

Watching this fellow hit the ball as if he hated it and trying to get it back, the thought struck me. “this guy really likes to hit the ball hard and he has great reflexes. Maybe if I mix it up I might take some points off him.”

The match started and I hit the ball away from him as much as I could. Then it happened. I claim no credit for it at all. It was as if a switch went off in my head and I only focused on the single shot I was playing at the time.

All of a sudden the ball didn’t seem to be travelling as fast, I was able to get in good position and all my shots actually went where I wanted them to go. I even had to be told when the first game was over. I had focussed so hard I had no idea what the score was.

The next two ganes passed in exactly the same fashion and I won the match 3-0. My opponent was upset as he knew I was from a much lower grade and he had expected to have an easy match.

No one was more surprised then me when I won. The team members was astonished and, of course, pleased.

I went back to my own team and exactly the same thing happened. It was one of those nights. When I got home I thought about the night. What had been different?

Then I realised. I had been entirely in the present. I hadn’t thought about it at all. I simply focussed on the ball and hitting it where I wanted it to go. I was exhilarated at having control of my actions and really experienced the moment. Nothing else, just the moment.

The difference was I simply was. I was in the present and lived the experience to the fullest.

If only we could focus like that all the time. What an experience life would be then.

I invite you to the present. It’s a great time and, in fact, it’s the only time you have.

Regards,

Ollie Lind

We were there to examine how people learn and to foster understanding of how we function when we seek to master any skill, knowkedge or ability. I was happy to do this workshop because the Master, Sifu Rick Spain is dedicated to the spirit of learning and he was happy for me to share the concepts we had previously discussed.

In fact, I had already done a basic workshop a couple of months ago and this was to be an extension of that. Well, I have to tell you it became much more than that. Fortunately we had decided to film the workshop.

Not only did we overview the philosophy of learning, we expanded into my favourite subject; how to transform yourself and your life. We looked at so many things it’s impossible to list them.

What we did do is examine the realtionship we all have with the universe and how we function in terms of, not only taking on new skills and knowledge, but how we interact with others and the reason we are on this planet.

We also looked at the Law of Attraction. Everybody had heard of the latest buzz word in personal development. In fact the law is not new at all. I commend you to read the ancient Greek philosophers, the Holy Bible. Thomas Equinas and myriad other influential thinkers.

Personally I am disappointed at the merchandising that has surrounded The Secret. There is no doubt the Law of Attraction works. Unfortunately the impression given is that you simply have to focus on what you want and the universe will reward you.

There is more to it than that and we touched on it at this workshop. The atmosphere was electric when we looked at it. We called the workshop, “HOWCANI learn the Secret to mastery and abundance.”

I have just finished watching it and I have to say I’m very pleased at the concepts we examined. It simplifies the reasons why we function as we do and what we can do to maximize the chances of the Law of Attraction working for you.

I don’t normally ‘plug’ the videos I create. (perhaps I should, but I have an aversion to blatant merchandising) I believe people should be free from pressure when they look at concepts of this nature.

I am suggesting you look at the preview we will place on the product page in the next few days. It could help you transform you life.

Regards,

Ollie Lind

I was approaching a hotel and noticed this young man leaning against a pole. He was smoking. (It has just been made illegal to smoke in hotels)

Our eyes met and he straightened up, moving towards me. I slowed, unsure of what was next. He smiled, as if he knew me and said. “How are you this evening?”

I was surprised and replied. “Fine thank you.”

He smiled and said. “Good to hear.” He then turned to a young woman emerging from the hotel. “Not going home so soon, are we?”

I didn’t hear her reply as I had moved on. His greeting echoed in my mind and got me thinking. What would life be like if everyone greeted a stranger with no agenda other than to acknowledge the other person and connect.

So many people are starved of acknowledgement and have moments of frustration and loneliness. Wouldn’t it be something if people could be honest and free with their emotions?

I decided to make sure I acknowledge someone else and have a meaningful conversation. Just to let them know I care. So far it has been very rewarding. It doesn’t take long to communicate and gain some meaning from the exchange.

I commend it to you.

Regards,

Ollie

When I was a small boy I couldn’t wait for the latest edition of Reader’s Digest to arrive at home. I would feverishly rifle through the pages looking for my prize. That prize was any quote I could find from a “wise man.”

The fact that I was often too young to understand the true meaning of the quote was not important. I had something of value to be puzzled over, to worry in my mind like a kitten with a fluffy ball.

I knew these sayings were valuable and loved using the quotes in the most inappropriate moments. It felt like I really knew something and wasn’t that a great feeling.

My passion for great quotes has not diminished over my lifetime. Sharing the viewpoints of outstanding people gives me new perspectives on life and living.

Take the Da Vinci quote above. It says so much about what people really search for; CERTAINTY.

Another way to put that is answers to the many questions that plague us all.

I suppose that’s why I started HOWCANI. So often we are given ‘advice’ on all manner of things and we take on someone else’s system for doing something. So often we don’t gain the understanding necessary to really master some skill knowledge or ability.

At HOWCANI we offer, not only the answer to How Can I ? do something, but an understanding of the principles that are so vital to mastery of the subject.

You deserve the right to make your own decisions on how you take on a skill, knowledge or ability. HOWCANI helps you achieve that.
Let me know what you think.

Regards,
Ollie Lind