CHAPTER 1
A New Self Going From Who You Are, To Who You Wish To be.
In the pursuit of a goal we effectively change who we are. The challenges we experience and the road blocks that we encoun- ter, are so by way of this change.
In order to realise your goal you must see the new you. You must find a way around, through, under or over the road blocks you meet. This can be a very difficult time and your suc- cess will be built on the foundations you create here.
If you are to realise your dream you must plan & create the new you. Above all else this is your challenge.
“Dream lofty dreams and as you dream, so shall you become” - James Allen
SECT I ON 1
Who Are You?
Who you think you are will form the basis of your success.
C ONTENTS C HAPTER 1 S ECTI ON 1
★ The Signal You Broadcast.
★ The Power Of Imagination.
★ The Primary Thought.
★ Fear & Arrogance.
Q. So who are you?
Q. Are you “just a tradesman”?
Q. Do you believe yourself to be less than others?
Q. Are you missing vital skills and believe yourself to be at a disadvantage?
THE SIGNAL YOU BROADCAST
These are very important questions and you will need to be brave enough to answer them honestly. This section is about establishing a positive, concrete sense of self, one that will be at the core of your business and will permeate everything you touch.
Did you know others unconsciously pick up on this sense of self that you broadcast? Despite your best efforts you can not hide this. Others form their opinions of you and consequently either support you or not, based on this. Customers, staff, sup- pliers etc are all attracted to, or repelled from you based on the sense of self that you carry.
This is really important stuff. It is an element of success not many business people ever fully recognise. All the very best and successful, happy people in the world carry with them a rock solid sense of self and disregard the opinions of others, well wishers or not.
THE POWER OF IMAGINATION
You were once a tradesman working on site with your hands, with your tools and you were likely working for a “boss”. Mod- ern conditions in the work place are generally good between workers and their superiors however, in this relationship you were answerable to your “superior”.
In the order of superiority you were way down the pecking. The mindset held by those in this position is not conducive to business success, however if your are reading this book then it’s likely you’ve moved beyond this mode of thinking, or are close to it.
YOUR HIG HE ST IDEA
When you imagine yourself in business, you must picture the highest idea of yourself. When you do this you take on in imagination, a very significant level of responsibility. Do not belittle your imagination as it is the birthplace of the greatest (and worst) things in your world.
Whatever you picture in your mind with emotion and desire, you will eventually out-picture in reality. Everything that was ever made was first and idea in someone’s mind. Your imagi- nation is a very powerful tool! Be mindful when and how you use it.
Imagination is the birth place of the greatest things in this world. All great things were once merely an idea held in the mind. When intention to create is applied wonderful things can occur for you.
THE PRIMARY THOUGHT
You can not get anything else from an apple tree but apples. If your primary thought is that you are incapable in some way then that is what you will experience. The construction indus- try is a tough business, so if you feel intimidated by others you believe are in a higher position to you you’re in trouble. You must fix this.
You must do whatever you believe it takes to become more self confident. Educating yourself in new skills and acquiring qualifications is a great way to achieve this. Affirmations are another way to change habitual thoughts of insufficiency.
THE IDEAS OF OTHE RS
Creating a new version of you takes time, but with a sustained effort you can and will do it. This is the beauty of being hu- man, we can create what ever version of ourselves we wish. It merely needs a concerted and sustained effort.
Don’t take the ideas and systems of others verbatim. Try new things and adopt new practices based on the experience you have. If you gain benefit from certain systems then apply them. Take no one at their word. Always use a healthy level of scepticism and take 100% responsibility for your own deci- sions.
FEAR & ARROGANCE
Arrogance is fear masquerading as courage. It is a symptom of a person who secretly fears being discovered as incapable or inadequate. Arrogance tells a double lie about you, the first be- ing “I am inadequate, and the second being “Others will think less of me if they find out”.
Fear is a great human motivator, however it can never bring positive outcomes. If your motivation is born from fear you need to reassess. I guarantee it, you’ll never make the correct decision for yourself or your business if you are fearful of a particular outcome.
Fear is the most poisonous thought you can hold and once you identify it you must break through it without mercy. Fear will destroy all chance you have of success. Once you take the first step towards your dreams, the next one will appear. when you know something is right, feel the fear and do it anyway.
TOOL TIP - DO THE OPPOSITE
If you are presented with an important decision to make and you feel a knot in your stomach at the prospect of a particular outcome, then it’s not the time to make a deci- sision. Imagine the outcome you want then take time to “sleep on it”.
“People are never more insecure than when they become obsessed with their fears at the expense of their dreams.” - Norman Cousins
SECT I ON 2
Who Do You Wish
To Be?
Who you wish to become must be created first in your mind.
CONTENTS CHAPTER 1 SECT I ON 2
★ Following The Inspiration.
★ Forming The New You.
★ Making “I AM” Statements.
★ Practicing The New You.
FOLLOWING THE INSPIRATION
For some reading this it may appear that so far, what I’m ask- ing you to consider is somewhat pie-in-the-sky. I can under- stand that. There’s a lot of mis-information out there. Busi- ness advice for this, books and systems for that. How is it pos- sible to filter through it all?
The information that’s within these pages is my interpretation of an age old concept that says we are creators of our own real- ity. When we take complete and absolute responsibility for our lives and hold fast to our picture then we see it form into reality. We must break the the forms of normal thought that prevail around us in order to realise our business dreams.
REMOV I NG DOUBT
I can assure you, if you take on board what I am telling you, and you are willing to put 100% into what I offer, you will see the results that prove the concept within these pages. Do it, and you’ll be the evidence you need to witness.
Whatever idea you have previously held of yourself, in order to realise your dream of building a successful business, you’ll need to change it and remove all doubt. The critical thing for you at this point is to trust and follow your inspiration.
The majority of people don’t follow their inspired ideas when they come, because they’ve been conditioned into working for others. Breaking through the layers of doubt in your own abil– for what you will write inside those pages. A regular cheap ford it the best you can. What you are doing here is expressing your ideas into form. What was once just an idea is now tak- ing physicality in the form of words on the page. My notebook is a Moleskine and I write all my ideas and plans in this.
Writing in the present tense and with the thought of who you wish to become, describe yourself in the following ways;
1. What you are wearing.
2. Where you live and what’s your home like.
3. How old you are.
4. The friends you keep.
There are many elements to this and you must decide what ones are important to you. Put into words in as much detail as possible “who you are”. Don’t worry if you don’t have all the details yet, they’ll come in time.
TOOL TIP - DON ’T STRE SS IT
Take care not to stress about the deatil initially. If you don’t have the detail then go general. The key is that this process feels good to you. If it’s stressing you out then its counter productive. Nothing is more important than you feel good, that you’re excited during this process.
IT TAKES TIM E
This process takes some considerable time to complete. It takes a while to perfect the new story. In fact it’s never fin- ished and always evolving. The idea is that you get the first draft to paper and continually refine it over the subsequent days, weeks and months.
The content of the “New You” story may initially even seem un- believable to you, even foolish, but you must stand firm and accept that breaking those old ideas takes time. Habits of thought and action are incredibly powerful. Your current hab- its have taken many many years to develop and will take a de- termined effort to break them.
MARKETING TO YOURSEL F
Marketeers know this. They know how important it is to sus- tain their message to the buying public. They know that if they keep delivering the same message over and over via the me- dia, it eventually sticks in the minds of the buyers. People are bombarded with product adverts for weeks and months until buying becomes automatic.
You must do the same, only you are the marketeer working on yourself. You are preparing your marketing strategy on your- self and eventually your brain will get the message. You’ll be- gin to see the changes almost like magic. You are now leaving a mode of unconscious creating and moving into a mode of conscious creating.
You are beginning to take control of your future experiences. Instead of being like a robot in the world where others deliver the script to you to carry out, you are writing your own script.
MAKING “I AM” STATEMENTS
When Napoleon Hill began to first spend time with Andrew Carnegie, the Billionaire steel magnate from the early 1900’s, Carnegie told the young Hill to declare to himself every night, into the mirror, who it was he wish to be. In Hill’s book Think & Grow Rich he recalls declaring the affirmation of his new self into the bathroom mirror and feeling like a liar. But he trusted the process and kept it up until such time as it came into his experience.
You see belief is simply a thought you keep thinking over and over. The messages you’ve been receiving over your life to date have formed beliefs in your mind of who you are. If you are to succeed in your business ambitions you must stay the course in spite of your current pre-programmed beliefs.
Declare who you are using “I AM” Statements and write these in a dedicated section in your notebook. They should be formed around what you wish to experience and written in the present tense. For example;
“I am a wealthy business man"
"I am a successful businessman”
“I am attracting to me all the resources I need”
“I am getting paid on time”
“I am delivering great service to my customers"
"I am attracting to me only the best customers"
"I am happily married with 3 children”
“I am driving a black 5 Series M BMW Touring”
You can construct these statements to match what ever you wish to experience. The key is to write them in the present tense and stick at it. Please note that this is not some kind of hocus-pocus, fairytale stuff. This is a practice to change your thought processes and is scientifically proven to effect behavior.
The greatest of Olympic Athletes use this very technique in preparation for their events. They decide who they are in ad- vance, they see themselves on the podium, they practice the victory before they arrive, they feel their event in the finest de- tail in their minds before they even get to the track. You must do the same. You are literally practicing your future before it arrives.
TOOL TIP - KEEP THINGS PRIVATE
Write these statements in your notebook and keep it pri- vate. Every evening and morning in your quiet space, re- peat these statements to yourself without interruption. Re- veal it to no one, for they will not understand and you risk attracting their negative commentary.
PRACTICING THE NEW YOU
Every day you must read your story to yourself. While you are reading, if you find there are parts that don’t quite fit, or you feel uncomfortable with them, then go general. Stand further back from things a bit until your line of thought feels good to you. Re-write the part of the story in a little less detail so you feel better about it. You can refine it further later.
Remember that your story must be written in the present tense and excite you. You know you are on the right track when it makes you smile. Your emotions are a powerful indica- tor of where you are, so follow them and adjust accordingly.
Also read your “I AM” statements out loud. If you’ve recorded them on your mobile phone then listen and repeat. It’s best to do this early in the morning before the rest of your house is awake.
A QUI ET SPACE
Early morning is a great time to carry out this practice. When the rest of the world is still asleep you have the space to make it count. If you are getting up at your normal time and you ex- pect to fit this process in, you won’t. The demands of the day will drag out of you and your mind will not be still enough for it to be effective.
At night before you retire is also a great time to carry out your practice. You are filling your mind with your plan before you retire giving your mind a wonderful opportunity to digest the information you are feeding it.
Practice, Practice, Practice, and when you’re finished practic- ing go back to the start and practice some more. Finally when you’ve practiced to the point where you can practice no more, go back and practice again.
A BIT OF SCI ENCE
What you are doing here is creating new neural pathways in your brain that form the basis of your new habits. What hap- pens is you’ll find, things begin to occur in your experience al- most by default. You will begin to notice things you didn’t no- tice before, things that bring you into alignment with favour- able circumstances.
Remember this is NOT some kind of hocus-pocus. Studies of human behavior and brain function have proven that consis- tent focused activity around a new skill, develops new connec- tions in the brain that weren’t there before. These neural links literally bring new experience.
“Repetition of the same thought or physical action develops into a habit which, repeated frequently enough, becomes an automatic reflex.” - Norman Vincent Peale
TOOL TIP - REMAI N POSI TI V E
Remember to remain positive in your expectation. This doesn’t mean you get stressed out about things. If you do feel negative emotion then go-general. Tell the new story in such a way that makes you feel good. YOU MUST FEEL GOOD while rehersing this. Forget about “making it hap- pen” because if your trying to “make it happen” you won’t.