How To Increase Your Personal Energy

Successful people have an energy about them. It's one of their most valuable resources. We asked many of the most successful people we know where they would put energy on the scale of requirements for success. All placed it in their top three. They were not talking just about physical energy, but about that hard to describe internal energy - in fact, when pressed, almost all placed internal energy above physical energy in terms of critical attributes.

How do they get and maintain their high level of personal energy?


Here's what they told us about creating personal energy.


The first thing is understanding that a high level of personal energy is a critical success factor, and then placing a high value on the things that create it - and treating the things that reduce it as enemies to success.


It's knowing that personal energy comes from within. There are external sources of stimulation that can add to energy in the short term, but the real source of personal energy is inside.


Optimism, and thinking in terms of opportunities creates personal energy. Pessimism and consequence thinking can suck the energy right out of anyone - even the most optimistic.


Good health - both physical and mental - provides the platform for high personal energy. Taking care of that health is critical. At the same time many highly successful people have overcome very difficult physical and mental issues to create the energy necessary to succeed. That's where optimism and opportunity thinking are so very critical.


It's getting up and acting that creates energy. One of our leaders attended a Hugh O'Brian Leadership Seminar when she was in high school. After the seminar she was asked what was the thing she remembered the most. Her answer was" To be enthusiastic you must act enthusiastic." Having actions control emotions creates personal energy.


Curiosity - a sense of discovery - wanting to know more - and then taking action to gain knowledge - creates personal energy. It's a key way to stay out of a rut. And remembering that the only difference between a rut and a grave is a rut's longer.


It's drawing inspiration from the accomplishments of others - and drawing strength from what they had to overcome to succeed. Reading biographies of successful people is a way many of our leaders create and renew their energy.


It's overcoming fear - today. And overcoming that little voice-demon that sits on everyone's shoulder and says "take it easy" and "be careful" and "this could be a mistake" and 'be afraid."


It's laughter and finding joy in everyday things. It's great to be able to laugh at a good joke - it's absolutely terrific to smile at the little child holding their mom's hand.


It's positive relationships - the kind that add optimism. And it's avoiding toxic relationships - the kind that pull down, create pessimism and destroy energy.


It's giving without keeping track of payback. Years ago one of our leaders was given a terrific piece of advice. "If you want to make a friend, let them do something for you." It works. We all - or at least most of us - want to give - to help.


It's realizing the toughest thing to do is to start - but once in motion, good things will and do happen. A very fit friend tells me the hardest part of a session at the gym is driving there. Once there, the exercise takes on a life of its own. Same thing with all kinds of things.


It's realizing that personal energy is a variable - from day to day the level of personal energy varies. But exerting the discipline to keep personal energy competitive on even the toughest day has its own rewards. Keeping the promises we make to ourselves creates energy.

A personal experience one of our leaders had illustrates that point.

She was working out at a gym. She'd had a bad day and wasn't feeling particularly optimistic or happy or opportunistic. As she worked to meet her time and distance goals, it became apparent that she was really laboring. The thought of just quitting started to be attractive. Then it struck her just how much her mental state of mind was impacting her level of physical performance. Her results that day were a good 10% less than normal performance. But at the end of the workout, she felt really good about overcoming those negative emotions to accomplish something she had promised herself she would do. That little demon perched on her shoulder had been trying to tell her to "give up", to "try again another day." She ignored it. A small victory. It'll be back, but she knows she can overcome it. That realization felt good - felt energizing. Action guided emotion.

Take a few moments - right now - and assess your level of energy. Then pick out one of the ways our leaders use to increase their energy levels. Laugh, smile, think about an opportunity. Discipline yourself to take action, and have that action control your emotions. Be prepared to be amazed at how your thoughts and actions can and will lift your energy level.

Written by Andy Cox, President

Cox Consulting Group, 4049 E Vista Drive, Phoenix, AZ 85032 PH: 602-795-4100; Fax: 602-795-4800; E Mail: acox@coxconsultgroup.com; Website: http://www.coxconsultgroup.com/; Blog: http://multiplysuccess.blogspot.com/

Copyright Andrew Cox 2008 All Rights Reserved

How To Gain Optimism Through Accomplishment

Nothing creates a greater sense of optimism than accomplishment. And optimism is one of the core beliefs and attitudes of successful people. It's estimated that only 30 percent of our population are optimists, but that the majority of successful people are optimists. That estimate says that the better chance of accomplishment and success lies with the optimists.

Ask yourself these questions: When you entered into a commitment with a sense of enthusiasm and conviction, what were your accomplishments? When you entered into a commitment with hesitation, with a sense that it wouldn't work out well, what did you accomplish? Then ask yourself which of these two approaches you follow most often.

If your response was hesitation and the possibility of failure, chances are that you're missing opportunities to succeed - and accomplishment is the only real security any of us have. Read on to find ways to strengthen your ability to seek out and accomplish more in your life - in every part of it.

If your response was enthusiasm and conviction, read on for ways you can share those attitudes and beliefs with the people around you.

Here are nine recommendations:

One -Accomplishment requires putting yourself in your discomfort zone - a place where you're not secure, where you have to learn and challenge yourself. The comfort zone is the danger zone - much more dangerous than taking risk. Staying in the comfort zone keeps people from ever knowing their real abilities and worth.

Two -Accomplishment comes in many forms. It can range from a small triumph to a huge one, but what's important is that the person doing the accomplishing sees it for what it is.

Three - View situations as opportunities first. This is a real challenge for people used to thinking in terms of negative consequences. But if your first thoughts are negative, the chances of passing on real opportunity are very high. Sometimes the best thing to do with those opportunities you grabbed is to drop them - but if you don't act in the now to get them, you don't have a choice - they're gone.

Four - Accomplishment likes action - action now. Accomplishment likes ownership - standing up and taking responsibility for a situation.

Five - Be able to see your accomplishments when they happen. This might seem like a no - brainer - it isn't. For many people. their accomplishments are taken for granted - by them. They don't see their unique abilities and strengths as anything special, and so what could have been a positive reinforcement of their own personal worth and ability, goes unnoticed - by them and by others.

Six - Create goals in order to define accomplishment. State them positively - in terms of gain. Create your own personal goal culture and communicate your goals to others.

Seven - Realize that fear and doubt are as normal as breathing - they won't go away - they will be with you everyday. Enlist fear and doubt as allies. The ability to wake up every morning, deal with fear of failure, and move forward is a quality of successful people. For more on this, read Steven Pressfield's excellent book, The War Of Art.

Eight - Understand everyone else, regardless how self assured they appear, has the same doubts and concerns that you have. Know that what you are going through on the path to accomplishment is shared by others. Know you're not alone in these emotions, but are part of what successful people experience every day.

Nine - See yourself as worthy of the rewards of your efforts. See your accomplishments for what they are - an affirmation of your ability to achieve. Make those subconscious two beliefs that almost all of us share - that we are not worthy; that we are not able - shrink to nothing through personal action and accomplishment

Start today - grab ahold of some situation, project, challenge, and make it your own. Then make it happen. The possibilities are endless. But the one guaranteed outcome will be a more positive feeling about yourself earned through achievement- and isn't that a huge part of optimism?

Written by Andy Cox, President

Cox Consulting Group, 4049 E Vista Drive, Phoenix, AZ 85032 Ph: 602-795-4100; Fax: 602-795-4800; E Mail: acox@coxconsultgroup.com; Website: http://www.coxconsultgroup.com/; Blog: http://multiplysuccess.blogspot.com/

Copyright 2008 All Rights Reserved

Fail Often To Succeed - Says Who?

I don't know who started it, but the idea that you must fail in order to succeed didn't do anyone any favors. Unfortunately, it's become a firmly imbedded belief in the hearts and minds of millions.

We hear the Babe Ruth stories about how many more strikeouts he had than home runs; Michael Jordan, and the many times he missed a critical shot; every successful salesman that has heard "No" so much more often than he has heard "Yes." Out of that comes a message that we have to fail often to succeed once. But I suspect, if you were to ask Michael Jordan, or Babe Ruth, or a top salesperson, they would all tell you they went into the batter's box, or the game, or the sale, fully expecting to succeed - to win the game, hit a home run, make the sale - every time. They didn't start from the belief that they had to fail often to succeed once.

It's a bad message - it's not true. It's one that has kept expectations down for generations of strivers, in almost every kind of life's work. Think about it - your first day on the job, and you're told to be patient, you need to pay your dues, you have to fail often to succeed once - just keep plugging away. Not too inspiring.

How about beliefs that say stay in play; persist; good things will happen to you - expect them as a result of your hard work and persistence. Believe the next sale is right around the corner. Believe you learn from every action, and apply all that growing and learning to the next opportunity. Believe failure only happens when you quit - or when you don't reach your own goals.

Studies have shown that sales trainees learning from successful salespeople with an optimistic approach achieve substantially higher sales performance faster than trainees taught by the gotta pay your dues, expect a long period of preparation, fail to succeed messages given that have held back so many people.

Which message would you want to receive - a message of possibilities, or a message that says you're going to fail often, so get used to it?

Who's to say, on that very first sales call, the new salesperson meets someone who just has to have what they are selling, and despite the lack of experience and knowledge, they connect. Is that possible? Sure it is. It happens all the time - but only to those who deal in possibilities.

This sounds like splitting hairs - it isn't. Success in any endeavor is separated from lack of success by little things. And how each possibility is approached is just a little bit different for the successful and the not so successful. One looks at it as a opportunity - I can win; the other looks at it as a jeopardy - I could lose.

The other thing that a "fail often to succeed once" message can send is that you are not worthy of success, that you are not able to achieve success. While those worms aren't true - I've never met anyone not worthy of success, and only a few people not able to achieve success, they do exist in all of us - to some degree. If you provide the fuel of "fail often to succeed once" to these two worms, your own belief in your ability and worthiness are reduced. Provide the optimistic fuel of possibilities and watch your personal beliefs and success grow.

When things are tough - and they will be tough, from time to time, the only thing that can sustain you is your own sense of possibilities, and your own sense of your worth and ability.

Listen to your own self talk. Is every at bat, every shot, every sales call an opportunity to succeed? Or is it a chance to fail? If you're looking at things pessimistically, work on the belief that the next ball gets hit out of the ballpark - the next shot wins the game, the next call has sale written all over it. Start giving yourself those positive messages and see your success grow - I guarantee it.

Written by Andrew Cox, President

Cox Consulting Group LLC, 4049 E Vista Drive, Phoenix, AZ 85032 Ph: 602-795-4100; Fax: 602-795-4800; E Mail: acox@coxconsultgroup.com; Website: www.coxconsultgroup.com

Copyright 2007 All Rights Reserved

Optimists Lead - Pessimists Provide Input

Optimism plays a huge part in success. About 30% of us can be called optimists, and about 70% are pessimists. Put another way, about 30% of us are motivated by opportunity, and the remaining 70% are motivated by consequences - or fear of loss.

When optimists talk to other optimists, all kinds of opportunities flow - some crazy, some not. When optimists talk to pessimists, they both come away frustrated unless they value the input of their very separate beliefs, and if they do, synergy can do great things. When pessimists talk to pessimists, better bomb shelters to protect from the inevitable nuclear attack are designed and constructed.

So where do you want to be? To answer that question, start with where you are now. Question your own self talk. How do you look at opportunities - as opportunities or as something that has the threat to be screwed up and cause you a loss.

An example: In our seminars on selection of talent in organizations, one of the beliefs we ask participants to talk about is the belief that "every opening in your organization represents an opportunity to make your organization better." It's amazing how many people, when you really listen to what they believe, do not share that view. Many really think hiring is a pain in the ass - taking way too much time away from what is really important, or it is an opportunity to screw up, or they really don't want to be involved - the "just send me a body approach."

Two events motivated me to write this particular blog. The first is the TV ad that shows the guy perched on a bridge spanning a river with a pair of homemade wings strapped to his arms. It's set in what appears to be 1700's Europe. He screws up the courage to jump off the bridge and he glides. The crowd gasps and says " He flies". An old man passing by says, "Yes, But he can't swim!" And the next thing we see is the man crashing into the river. Bummer. Wish he had thought of that before taking the "plunge" over open water.

The second event is an ongoing one for me. A writer named Jon Talton is the business section op-ed writer for our paper - The Arizona Republic. He has to be the most pessimistic, dismissive writer I have ever experienced. There isn't a good piece of news about the local, state, or national economy that he can't dismiss, discount or minimize. Reading him must be some form of perverse pleasure for me - I always come away with less enthusiasm than I had before reading his latest attempt at throwing cold water on good news.

My point in both of these events is to show how varied pessimism can be , and how draining it can be as well. Think about applying for a job where the hiring manager thinks selection is a pain in the ass. Maybe you've been there. Think about having someone rain on your new promotion with an observation that the company is going to hell in a handbasket and is close to failure. The effect - energy drained, passion smothered and a promise to avoid this negative influence in the future.

Listen to your own self talk - do you see the glass half empty or half full. Is your first instinct to define why something won't work, or is it to greet the idea as valuable and worth more thought? As a salesperson, are you more concerned with meeting quota and keeping your job, or with finding that next possibility that will keep you on the road to success?

Give it some thought - value both pessimists and optimists - we sure need both. Just make sure you look for your share of opportunities.