You have amazing possibilities and potentials just waiting inside you, but most of them can die stillborn waiting for you to take action. The Nike commercial contains one of the best pieces of advice in the world: “Just Do It!”

“A journey of a thousand leagues begins with a single step,” wrote Confucius.

Do you want to be happy?  Do you want to be thin?  Do you want to work at something you really enjoy?  Do you want to make money?

Whatever it is, write it down. Set a goal. Take a few minutes for “Gap Analysis.”  Look at where you want to be and then look at where you are.

Examine the gap that exists between the two and think about how you could close, it like building a bridge or staircase across an open space.

What would be your first step?  What would be your second step, and so on?  Most of all, what action would you take right now if you were guaranteed of success?

What would you do if you had no fear of failure?  What would be your first step on the staircase toward your goal?

All great accomplishments begin with a leap of faith into the unknown.  They begin when you take action toward your hopes and dreams before you  have any assurance of success.

Most people are paralyzed by the uncertainty that surrounds any new venture.  They hesitate.  They stop.  They turn back.

But not you.  You know that “nothing ventured, nothing gained.”  You know that you have to stick your head up if you want to get above the crowd.

You know you have to go out on a limb if you want to get the fruit, because that’s where it is.

Go for it!  Take that first step and everything else will follow.

Want to make 2009 the year all your dreams come true?
Join me for a LIVE Teleseminar on January 13th to learn how you can accomplish all your goals in record time.  The skills I will teach you in just 1-hour will give you the edge you need to become a more efficient, effective and productive version of yourself!  Learn more today!

See Also

• Brian Tracy International
  Helping you achieve your personal and business goals faster than you ever imagined!

All the top salespeople ask good questions and listen carefully to the answers. One of the most important skills of listening is simply to pause before replying. When the prospect finishes talking, rather than jumping in with the first thing that you can think of, take three to five seconds to pause quietly and wait.

Becoming a Master of the Pause
All excellent listeners are masters of the pause. They are comfortable with silences. When the other person finishes speaking, they take a breath, relax and smile before saying anything. They know that the pause is a key part of good communications.

Three Benefits of Pausing
Pausing before you speak has three specific benefits. The first is that you avoid the risk of interrupting the prospect if he or she has just stopped to gather his or her thoughts. Remember, your primary job in the sales conversation is to build and maintain a high level of trust, and listening builds trust. When you pause for a few seconds, you often find the prospect will continue speaking. He will give you more information and further opportunity to listen, enabling you to gather more of the information you need to make the sale.

Carefully Consider What You Just Heard
The second benefit of pausing is that your silence tells the prospect that you are giving careful consideration to what he or she has just said. By carefully considering the other person's words, you are paying him or her a compliment. You are implicitly saying that you consider what he or she has said to be important and worthy of quiet reflection. You make the prospect feel more valuable with your silence. You raise his self-esteem and make him feel better about himself.

Understanding With Greater Efficiency
The third benefit of pausing before replying is that you will actually hear and understand the prospect better if you give his or her words a few seconds to soak into your mind. The more time you take to reflect upon what has just been said, the more conscious you will be of the their real meaning. You will be more alert to how his words can connect with other things you know about the prospect in relation to your product or service.

The Message You Send
When you pause, not only do you become a more thoughtful person, but you convey this to the customer. By extension, you become a more valuable person to do business with. And you achieve this by simply pausing for a few seconds before you reply after your prospect or customer has spoken.

Action Exercises
Here are two things you can do immediately to put these ideas into action.

First, take time to carefully consider what the customer just said and what he might mean by it. Pausing allows you to read between the lines.

Second, show the customer that you really value what he has said by reflecting for a few moments before you reply.

Superstar Selling!

See Also

• Brian Tracy International
  Helping you achieve your personal and business goals faster than you ever imagined!