So here’s my question; are you a Dyson or a Doreen? Have a quick read below, then watch the video below…

I live by my mantra “It’s your attitude that determines your altitude”. Do I have off days? Yes. But I know how to regain my focus, do you?

In business and in life, attitudes are infectious – make sure you’re spreading something good!

You can moan and groan, bitch and whine – it will do not good! Well OK, there may be a momentary release of frustration, but will it help you reach your goal? No.

If you are to succeed in business, if you are to win more sales and make more profit – it’s down to you to make things happen. It’s been proven time and time again that with the right “mindset” ordinary people can achieve extra ordinary results.

How do you frame success and failure in your mind? How specifically do you view failure?

Inventor Sir James Dyson doesn’t believe failure sucks… (sorry). He says;

“I made 5,127 prototypes of my vacuum before I got it right. There were 5,126 failures. But I learned from each one. That’s how I came up with a solution. So I don’t mind failure.”

I know so many people with tremendous potential that simply never get out of the starting blocks due to their limiting beliefs and fear of failure.

Try asking yourself – What’s the worst thing that will happen? When you put things in perspective, what if you don’t get the outcome you’d really like to see first time around?

We can all learn from mistakes, just as we can all learn from success and failure.

Unless of course your excuse is as simple as Doreen’s…

You have to watch this video, press play now and please share this blog.

Here’s your 7 day challenge…

Why do some people succeed where others fail? Its a big question, but I firmly believe there aren’t in fact too many answers.

All the successful people I know have made a decision to create the life and the business they want. The rest, many of them great people, so don’t get me wrong… take what comes their way, they go with the flow, they accept that things just happen to them.

But here’s what I see. The doers, the achievers, the people I see having extraordinary success in their lives and their businesses – take control. They’re in the driver’s seat, they have the steering wheel firmly in hand, they take control, responsibility and they take action!

What of the others? They take the role of the “victim”. There are always reasons why things don’t come their way, why they don’t get the orders, why the cash flows… (but always the wrong way).

Here are three things I’ve observed from people that say they want to succeed in business and in life, but often… why they fail to meet their goals.

1. Blame. They will always find someone or something to blame on the lack of sales, lack of profits or lack of success. They’ll blame the government, the economy, their competitors, anyone but themselves.
2. Justify. They will usually attempt to justify that things are ok. They’ll say things like… “well, it’s not all about the money, it’s not that important”. Take that attitude and it wont be with you for long if ever at all. Imagine saying the same about your husband or wife, they’ll not be around for long either!
3. Complain. Complainers attract crap like a magnet! Sorry, but it’s true. It’s proven time and time again that you attract what you focus on. Complain and moan about everything and things will only get worse.

I was at a conference recently where a fascinating speaker, T Harv Eker, issued the audience a challenge. It’s a challenge I decided to put to the test. I’d like to offer you the same challenge right here, right now.

For the next seven days – no complaining. Will you take the challenge? I think you’ll be blown away with the changes it can deliver. Go on – I dare you…

Let’s face it were creatures of habit, right? Yet we’re not born with the habits, we learn them. Monkey see, monkey… do. We’ve all heard that too, well we’re not so far removed from the monkey are we? We learn our responses to circumstances and situations, so it figures we can learn different patterns too and not just take what comes out way.

Just like robots, we get programmed a particular way, with certain patterns and behaviours. You can paint the robot so it looks great, looks new, but the programming is just the same and so the results will be too.

What stops people from achieving the level of success of others and changing their programming, their believes and behaviours to reach new heights? Fear. Fear of the unknown, fear of failure, fear of uncertainty.

So are successful people fearless? No, not at all. But they take action in spite of fear!

Nike took three words to get their message across, I will say it in just two – DO IT.

We are controlled by our thoughts which produce feelings, our feelings translate into action and the action we take delivers results. Simple.

If your thoughts of business growth or success fill you with fear and dread, feelings of potential failure or uncertainty and doubt, how powerful do you suppose the actions you take will be? Feel the fear and do it anyway, (the title of a great book by Susan Jeffers).

You don’t need to look at the results you’re getting now as the best results you can achieve. Instead, consider your results as the fruit on a tree. You can’t change the fruit once it’s there, that’s too late.

If you want to see change, if you want different results look to the roots, that’s where you need to make changes. That’s why we call it the root cause. Cause and… effect. Change the roots you can change the effect, the fruits and the results.

What are you going to focus on and think about? Good stuff or bad, problems or solutions?  What you focus on is what you’ll feel. How you feel will determine the action you’ll take and the results you’ll get -  the fruit on your tree.

Once you take decisive action in pursuit of your goals, the fear melts away and confidence grows.

Now stop complaining… let’s see the results you want and deserve.

Your attitude – in business, sport, relationships and in life, will determine the altitude or the heights you achieve.

How many of you watched Andy Murray as he cruised to victory at Queens for the second time? His body language was so refreshing; his head was high, shoulders back. I might have to watch a replay – but I’m sure I even saw him crack a smile a few times!

He was confident… but what was that teasing “through the leg shot” all about? Please beware – there’s a fine line between confidence and arrogance or complacency.

Yet, his performance was worlds apart from the spectacle he made of himself at the recent Australian Open as we were subjected to relentless slow motion TV replays of his foul mouthed Tennis Tourette’s and internal self-destruction.

Let’s hope he has learnt to master the internal game of tennis – the game in his head.

In sport, as in business, confidence is a massive factor and it’s often what separates the winners from the losers, we need to be mentally fit to win.

Over the years, I have read many books on self development and attended numerous courses on the same topic. I’ve walked on the red hot coals and smashed through blocks of wood with my bare hands – the success every time comes from your mindset, attitude… and action.

I also know many people that have bought all the self development books under the sun, got too busy with stuff and just popped them up on the book shelf without reading them… along with all the others. Problem! That’s “shelf” development not “self” development.

Have you ever been amazed by how quickly your attitude improves after achieving even a relatively small success? Or how a complete stranger with a poor attitude can drag you down in a matter of minutes?

Attitude determining your altitude is not a new concept. Marcus Aurelius, the great philosopher and 16th Emperor of the Roman Empire, put it simply: “our life is what our thoughts make it”. He got it!

Thomas Edison the American inventor, scientist and businessman said, “nearly every man who develops an idea works at it up to the point where it looks impossible, and then gets discouraged. That’s not the place to become discouraged.”  Again – it’s about attitude. He got it!

Contrary to what many people often want to believe, outside influences don’t usually determine your happiness or success. Instead it’s how we react to those influences that will make us happy or sad, experience success or failure. So how do you change your reactions to those outside forces?

1. Learn how to handle frustration
2. Learn how to handle rejection
3. Learn how to handle pressure

So with all that mastered you can do anything, right? Wrong. As Gerald Ratner knows in business…

     4.  You must learn how to handle complacency

Here’s the quote that led to his fall from grace… People say, “how can you sell this for such a low price?”, I say, “because it’s total crap”. Gerald Ratner… oops, missed point 4 and mixed in a large dose of arrogance!

Here’s someone’s life history I’d like to share. As you read the time line, consider when you might have thrown in the towel and accepted defeat and failure…

Failed in business aged 21

Defeated in a major political race aged 22

Failed again in business aged 24

Had to deal with the death of his sweat heart at the age of 26

Suffered a nervous breakdown aged 27

Lost a congressional race aged 34

Lost another congressional race aged 36

Lost a senatorial race aged 45

Failed to become Vice-President aged 47

Lost another senatorial race aged 49

Was elected 16th President of the United Sates aged 52

The man’s name was Abraham Lincoln. Could he have become President if he had the wrong attitude? Would Edison have invented the electric light bulb if he accepted failure after his 900th attempt?

A negative attitude will pull you down and with it go your results. Never forget that it’s your attitude determines your altitude.

For help or further information email Steve@eurekasales.co.uk or visit www.eurekasales.co.uk or call 0845 053 4937

To succeed in business and to attract paying clients to your business or service, you absolutely must have an infinite supply of GP + TE… “Genuine Passion” and “Tons of Enthusiasm”.

It’s not always easy, I know that. Some days are tougher than others to whip up enthusiasm, right? No time for marketing and sales are down, you get busy being busy and fighting fires – sound familiar?

Everyone would be in business for themselves if it were an easy ride. But do you know what I found as I studied successful business people? They all had a genuine passion for the business they were creating, and an abundance of enthusiasm to see them through tough times.

They all had a clear vision of where they were going and the type of business they wanted to build along the way. They had a focus and determination, and they adopted a winning “can- do” attitude.

As I studied entrepreneurial success in more depth, I also began to recognise a consistent character trait amongst successful people.

They carried themselves with confidence, with an air of superiority – not to be confused with arrogance or complacency – again, this reinforced the positive, winning “can-do” attitude which I believe exists in successful business people.

The subconscious mind is phenomenally complex, yet it makes no distinction between destructive or constructive thought patterns. If you fill your head with negativity, fear, doubt, and disbelief in your ability to succeed, your subconscious mind will go to work to deliver this outcome for you.

Conversely, feed your mind with positive thoughts, and bingo! Try it.

Test this theory and you’ll find it applies to winners in most circles; sales, sports, politics or the entertainment industry – it can work for you too.

There’s a “Napoleon Hill” verse in my book “How to Thrive Not Just Survive”, which I read whenever I find myself doubting my abilities or facing new challenges – see how this resonates with you:

If you think you’re beaten, you are, if you think you dare not, you don’t. If you like to win, but you think you can’t, it’s almost certain you won’t.

If you think you will lose, you’re lost, for out of the world we find, success begins with the fellow’s will – it’s all in a state of mind.

Life’s battles don’t always go to the stronger or faster man, but sooner or later, the man who wins is the man who thinks he can!

Don’t get me wrong; it’s not all just about a positive attitude, not by a long shot.

But when things get tough, take a moment to remind yourself why you got into business in the first place. What vision did you have, and what vision do you have now for where you’re heading? Ask yourself, and be honest; has the vision faded along with your enthusiasm?

Look around you. Are your friends and business associates upbeat and positive? Guess what happens to your enthusiasm if you spend your time in the company of negative people. They’ll drag you down; they’ll sap all your energy.

So, if you’re feeling battle weary, relight the fire. This is not an option, it’s a necessity. I run regular Sales Mentoring Groups – could that be of help to you?

Establish a sales support network around you that helps fuel your enthusiasm and relight your passion. There are local business groups you could join (be careful not to join the wrong breakfast moaning groups, there are way too many of those around, but there are some great ones too). I am constantly amazed by the amount of business owners who are willing to get up at six o’clock on a Monday morning to arrive for a greasy breakfast with the same people who do nothing but moan, moan, and moan again. Do you belong to a Monday moaning meeting?

There are good inspirational books to read, DVD’s to watch, websites to visit and so on. Subscribe to good email lists that send you useful and upbeat tips. You can join relevant support groups on the likes of LinkedIn and Facebook.

You are welcome to listen in to my regular marketing teleseminars or webinars (you don’t even need to leave your home or office for these!). You could join one of our Sales and Marketing Mentoring Groups, where like-minded individuals meet regularly to share ideas and tips on business growth – strictly no moaning allowed!

To find out more visit: www.eurekasales.co.uk

Watch the news once a day to keep yourself informed, but be prepared to turn it off once it starts repeating itself. Most of the news is bad news – you must have noticed that. Doom, gloom, and despondency.

Some business meetings and network groups can mirror this too, so do be careful. Yet despite all of the doom and gloom around, people are succeeding in business, some people’s sales are booming. Not just surviving the tough times, but thriving, growing their businesses in times of trouble and a shrinking economy.

How? I believe a lot of it is down to one thing – attitude.

Attitudes can be highly contagious – make sure yours is worth catching!