24 Traits of a “Drifter”

I’ve always been a big fan of Napoleon Hill. After all, Think and Grow Rich is a timeless classic that contains a lot of seeds for personal development greatness.

So naturally, I was excited to learn about this “new” book of Napoleon Hill published just last year entitled Outwitting the Devil. It was actually written in 1938, a year after Think and Grow Rich was published. The story goes that his family (specifically his wife) did not want the book published due to the controversial subject matter (an interview with “the devil”). Napoleon Hill died in 1970 and his wife, Annie Lou in 1984. The manuscript was kept by the Napoleon Hill Foundation and was only released for  publication in 2011.

After having read Outwitting the Devil, I think Mr. Hill has another masterpiece here and a future classic. I recommend you read it whether or not you’re a Napoleon Hill fan. It contains a lot of valuable life and success lessons.

The “devil” claims to have control of 98% of the population while only 2% of people use their minds to stay focused and positive, thereby remaining immune to the devil’s powers. The 98% are what are referred to as “drifters”. The 2% the devil cannot reach are “non-drifters”.

Following is a list of character traits and habits of a typical DRIFTER:                                                                                                                              (How many people do you know that fit into this category?)

1. He will be conspicuous by his lack of self-confidence.

2. He will never accomplish anything requiring thought and effort.

3. He spends all he earns and more too, if he can get credit.

4. He will be sick or ailing from some real or imaginary cause, and calling to high heaven if he suffers the least physical pain.

5. He will have little or no imagination.

6. He will lack enthusiasm and initiative to begin anything he is not forced to undertake, and he will plainly express his weakness by taking the line of least resistance whenever he can do so.

7. He will be ill-tempered and lacking in control of his emotions.

8. His personality will be without magnetism and it will not attract other people.

9. He will have opinions on everything but accurate knowledge of nothing.

10. He may be a jack of all trades but good at none.

11. He will neglect to cooperate with those around him, even those on whom he must depend for food and shelter.

12. He will make the same mistake over and over again, never profiting by failure.

13. He will be narrow-minded and intolerant on all subjects, ready to crucify those who may disagree with him.

14. He will expect everything of others but be willing to give little or nothing in return.

15. He may begin many things but he will complete nothing.

16. He will be loud in his condemnation of his government, but he will never tell you definitely how it can be improved.

17. He will never reach decisions on anything if he can avoid it, and if he is forced to decide he will reverse himself at the first opportunity.

18. He will eat too much and exercise too little.

19. He will take a drink of liquor if someone else will pay for it.

20. He will gamble if he can do it “on the cuff”.

21. He will criticize others who are succeeding in their chosen calling.

22. In brief, the drifter will work harder to get out of thinking than most others work in earning a good living.

23. He will tell a lie rather than admit his ignorance on any subject.

24. If he works for others, he will criticize them to their backs and flatter them to their faces.

 

My next post will feature the habits of the NON-DRIFTER (See that HERE).

Until next time,

Jim

p.s.  As always, please comment or “like” if you’re so inclined. Thanks! 🙂

 

“Well, with MY luck….”

I’m sure you’ve heard someone say, “Well, with my luck, (insert something bad or unwanted here).” Chances are you’ve even said it yourself.

While they my seem like harmless words that don’t mean anything, the fact is they do mean something. We should always be aware of our “self-talk”, and what we say and think, because that is what will determine our life experience. Remember: “thoughts become things”.

When you say things like, “with my luck, it won’t work out” or, “with my luck, it’ll blow up in my face”, you’re actually saying, “I have bad luck!”, “Nothing ever goes my way!” What happens then is your sub-conscious mind starts to believe what you’re saying, and works on making it a reality.

Next time try to catch yourself before you utter that phrase, or better yet, replace the negative with a positive. Say, “With my luck, things will work out perfectly” or, “with my luck, I’ll find exactly what I was looking for at that store.” Just make the last half of that sentence whatever it is that you want.

Some food for thought. Stay positive!

Until next time,

Jim

p.s.  As always, please like and/or comment if you feel so inclined. 🙂

 

If You Have This, You’ll Have Success

If you’re trying to build a home business, or ANY business for that matter, you probably think you’ll become successful with it at some point in time. But will you?

There is an easy way to determine whether or not you will achieve the success you dream of. And that is… your conviction!

If there is one thing I see as a common trait amongst those who do succeed, it is their conviction, their absolute belief that they will do it. Those that have reached the heights of achievement in their field, whether it’s a traditional corporate business, a network marketing company, or an affiliate marketing program, whatever – doesn’t matter, always have that conviction. That deep down feeling that they will do whatever it takes to get what they want, and they will NOT stop for any reason until they have got what they want.

How deep is your conviction? How bad do you want it? There’s a popular fable that I see being frequently posted on Facebook, YouTube, etc. that describes a young man who is searching for the secret of success and happiness and comes upon a master sitting on a river bank. The young man desperately asks the master what the key to success is. The master grabs the young man and dunks his head in the river and holds it there until the man struggles frantically. The master then pulls the young man’s head out of the water and the young man takes a deep breath, and asks the master why he did that. The master replies, “When you want success as much as you wanted that last breath, then you will have it.”

I can’t say that I’ve personally had that kind of 100% conviction in my undertakings. It’s more like an attitude of: “Well, this looks pretty good. Maybe I can make some money doing this. But if not, I’ve got my job to fall back on.” That is not conviction. That attitude will bring mediocre results at best.

The real achievers go all out and don’t accept failure as an option. There is no plan B. It’s all or nothing. In fact, it’s not all or nothing, it’s all or all – it’s ALL, at whatever it takes! That is the kind of deep conviction you need to succeed. When you want it as bad as you want to breathe, then you’ll succeed.

Until next time.

Yours in success,

Jim

MORE Principles from “How to Win Friends and Influence People”

As promised, here is the final list of 10 principles from the Dale Carnegie classic, “How to Win Friends and Influence People”.

These principles fall under the heading: How To Be A Leader

1. Throw down a challenge.
2. Begin with praise and honest appreciation.
3. Call attention to people’s mistakes indirectly.
4. Talk about your own mistakes before criticizing the other person.
5. Ask questions instead of giving direct orders.
6. Let the other person save face.
7. Praise the slightest and every improvement. Be “lavish in your praise.”
8. Give the other person a fine reputation to live up to.
9. Use encouragement. Make the fault seem easy to correct.
10. Make the other person happy about doing the thing you suggest.

Once again, I would like to encourage you to read (or re-read) the book for a more in-depth explanation on how and why to use these principles. Here’s the Amazon link to the book:  How to Win Friends and Influence People

This concludes the little 3-part series devoted to the principles of Mr. Carnegie’s classic. I hope it was helpful or that it at least ignited a spark to go and further study these principles. Thanks for reading!

I appreciate you!

Until next time, I remain,

Yours in Success,

Jim

How To Make Your New Year’s Resolutions Stick

Well, we said good-bye to 2012 last night and awoke to a brand new year. For some, this is a time of renewal, a time for a fresh start. A time to forget about all the “stuff” we would like to forget about the past year and focus on making the year in front of us our best year ever.

Every year, I hear so many people say what they plan on doing in the coming year, myself included, only to find that by February, we’ve lost site and even worse, hope, for achieving our results. Why? Because it’s not enough to just say what you want to do.

One of the best (and probably the simplest) pieces of advice I’ve heard is this: “If you want things in your life to change, you’re going to have to change things in your life.” You may be thinking, “Well, duh! Obviously.” But because it’s such a stupidly obvious statement, it very often gets overlooked.

The fact is, we do have to change things in our life; the sadder fact is, many of us don’t. And if we don’t, nothing changes!

If we want our resolutions, or goals to become reality, then we have to take the necessary steps towards achieving them. Let’s be honest here – it’s going to take some work! The ONLY way we can achieve ANY goal is to DO something about it.

This can be done in baby steps. By changing only one or two things in your daily routine, and doing it consistently over a period of time (3-4 weeks), you’ll be creating new habits. It’s our daily habits that determine where we’re headed. If your goal is to lose weight and get in shape, you’re going to have to change the way you eat and start some kind of an exercise program. Buy different foods when you go to the grocery store. Get some exercise or work-out equipment, or join a gym…and GO, consistently! If your goal is to earn more money, make sure you’re actively searching out ways to do so. If you’re looking to get a raise, or promotion, make sure you’re going the extra mile at your job. Maybe it would help to enrol in some extra courses. The point is, it’s going to take doing something.

The problem with most of us is, even if we do take action, we don’t stick with it for long enough to form new habits. Decide in your mind right now that it’s going to take work, and it’s not going to be easy, but know, that after a while it will become easier and easier. Knowing this going in can make the difference and help break past that point when you feel like giving up. Knowing it’s going to be hard, but that it will get easier will help when you do come to that point.

Following is a list of steps to help ensure you make the most of your New Year’s resolutions:

1. Write down your goals (on paper) in detail describing exactly what it is you want. Most of the experts also suggest you write in the present tense, as if you already have it.

2. Take some kind of action step. The idea is to replace an old habit with a new one, and that requires doing something repeatedly and consistently until the new habit takes form.

3. Stay focused on what you want. There will be many distractions that come along to take you off your path. Never lose site of your desire.

4. Be happy! Yes it’s hard work, but it’s not a life and death situation (at least, I hope it isn’t). Try to be easy about it all and think about how happy you will be when you finally achieve your goal.

I’m going to get to work on my list right now. Let’s all make this the best year of our lives!

Happy New Year! Until next time.

Yours in Success,

Jim

 

 p.s.  If one of your goals or resolutions is to make more money or start a new home-based online business, please check out Empower Network by clicking on one of the links you see on this page.

The Power of Positive “Feeling”

You’ve no doubt heard of the classic book by Norman Vincent Peale,  “The Power of Positive Thinking”, first published in 1952. Although the book was successful in its own right, it also helped to popularize the catch-phrase, positive thinking. For decades that followed, we heard that phrase everywhere. “You’ve gotta think positive”, “be a positive thinker”, “be sure to keep thinking positive”. I’m sure you’ve heard these or similar phrases numerous times.

I was a big believer in “positive thinking” for many years, until I realized there’s more to it than just thinking. I still believe in positive thinking, as opposed to negative thinking. After all, you have to have positive thoughts and always try to see the positive side of things as opposed to the negative side. But after further studying the subject of the Law of Attraction, and why some people seem to attract positive circumstances, and some seem to attract nothing but negative experiences, I discovered the true secret.

The secret starts with positive thinking, but it’s our feelings that will ultimately determine our circumstances in life. You can think positive thoughts all you want, but if you don’t believe those thoughts and feel good about those thoughts, then nothing happens. I recall a Tony Robbins quote that echoes this idea: “If all we needed were ideas and positive thinking, then we all would have had ponies when we were kids and we would all be living our ‘dream life’ now.”

No, it’s not just “thinking”, but it does start with thinking. Let’s say, you want a new car (I’m just using “car” as an example – it could be anything – a new house, a new job, a new relationship, to lose weight, get in shape…whatever). So you want a new car, and you decide to THINK POSITIVE about getting this car. You recite affirmations about having this car. You are constantly thinking about getting this car, you even think about (as you should) already having it. Great. But, if there is any doubt in your mind about you being able to get this car, it won’t manifest itself in your life. You need to believe — no, you need to know without a doubt that this car is yours! AND…. this is the biggie, you need to feel good when you think about the car. If you don’t feel good when you think about your goal (car, etc.), that means there is doubt in your mind that you will get it, and you won’t get it.

So if you don’t feel absolutely great, and excited and happy about the goal you’re thinking about, you probably need to change your goal to something a little smaller or more achievable. Choose a goal that gets you super excited and that you absolutely believe you will achieve, and focus on it daily, and you will achieve it. Then you can move on to bigger goals, and so on, and so on.

I could write volumes on this topic, but this is intended to be a quick blog post, so suffice it to say, positive thinking is great, but it’s only the beginning. Use the power of positive feeling!

Until next time, I remain,

Yours in Success,

Jim

What’s YOUR Business Card Made Of?

One of my favorite places to visit is the book store. I love those big book store chains because they have such a great and diverse selection in almost any category, and because I can also look at some of the latest in music, not to mention get a good cup of coffee.

While I was perusing some titles in the business section recently, I noticed some business cards lying around on a couple of the shelves, and on the floor. Obviously, someone had decided this might be a good way to get some new prospects for their home business opportunity….but is it?

I realize there are people out there in the network marketing profession that use this tactic to try to get new leads, but come on people – is that really working for you?

I think we need to be more professional than that. Your business card is an extension of you. It is your introduction to the world, another’s first impression of “you”. When you give your business card to someone, treat it as if it’s a piece of gold you’re giving them. They should feel privileged to receive it. The more value they place on your card, the more value they will place on you, and in turn, your business. If you scatter your card everywhere and anywhere, it lessens the value of it, thereby lessening the value of you and your business.

Who would you value more – the guy whose card you found in your windshield, or the guy whose card was handed to you in a personal conversation?

If we want the Network Marketing profession to become more mainstream and more accepted, then we have to treat it with more professionalism.

Having respect for your business means having respect for yourself. Don’t cheapen your image by throwing your business cards all over the sidewalk. Treat your cards with the respect your business deserves. Be selective where you hand out those pieces of gold.