Know, Accept, Believe In, and Love Yourself

   Each person who has ever become extremely successful in business and life has had one important and unmistakable trait in common: they each knew, accepted, believed in and loved themselves. Knowing, understanding, and loving one’s self is the bedrock upon which true wealth, prosperity and personal success are built. But knowing, understanding and loving one’s self can be extremely difficult because there are so many distractions around that most people don’t take the time to figure themselves out until much later in their lives. The busyness of life—earning a living, raising a family, coping with the stresses and strains in life—often overwhelms people, so that when they get the chance to assess themselves, they’re too physically tired or mentally exhausted to do so.

   Because you’re on the path to becoming a successful entrepreneur, you must take the time to get to know, understand, accept and love who you really are. You need to make a list of all your strengths—1) those things you do really well; 2) those skills and abilities that you bring to the table; 3) those qualities that showcase your greatest character traits; 4) those qualities that show off your best people skills; and 5) those situations that allow you to do what you enjoy most. Then make a brief mental note about your weaknesses—1) those things you don’t do well; 2) those skills and abilities that you can’t bring to the table; 3) those qualities that showcase your greatest character flaws; 4) those qualities that expose your worst people skills; and 5) those situations that make you do what you hate. Although you should write down and keep a copy of all your strengths, you should NEVER write down your weaknesses—if you do, they will become worse! Just make a quick mental note of them so that you can avoid situations where they may come into play. (Feed your strengths and starve your weaknesses. Be sure that you NEVER divulge your weaknesses to others—they will always hold them against you!)

   Build who you are now on the foundation of your strengths. Just as you are no longer a baby in diapers, a 7-year-old playing ball on the sand lot, or a teenager rebelling against your parents, you are not who you used to be! You are ever-changing, ever-evolving, and always getting better, smarter, wiser, and surer of yourself and the gift that you are to the human race. Learn to encourage yourself, accept yourself and love yourself so that you can encourage, accept, and love others.

Love must start with you—know yourself so that you can love yourself and the people with whom you will do business. 

Pre-Suasion: Secret to “Marketing” Your Positive Ideas

 Pre-Suasion is the notion that there is a specific process of arranging an agreement in your idea “customer’s” mind even before your actual offer of the idea is made. It is a marketing concept related to the core message you are presenting to your idea “customer” that temporarily changes what is most important to her or him at that given moment. For example, if the person you’re trying to influence is busy or pre-occupied with other things of which you are aware, then your knowledge about, research on, and interest in those things could be the lever that shifts that person’s attention from them to you and what ideas you have to offer.

 

Another advanced idea “marketing” technique is to understand the times and seasons when your idea “customers” are most likely to be amenable to new ideas and change.

 

Studies have shown that people are more likely to change at the beginning of the year, at the beginning of the month, and at the beginning of the week.

 

Having this awareness under your belt will allow you to think creatively about how, when, and under what specific circumstances you will choose to “market” your ideas using pre-suasion.

 

The key to using Pre-suasion and the Seven Principles of Positive Thought Leadership “Marketing” is developing yourself on the inside, so that what you do is not manipulative, but is personally heart-felt and intended for the good of your “customer.”

 

This requires that you invest in your own learning, gain practical experience, and continue to stay on the path to Personal Expansion.

Seven Principles of Positive Thought Leadership "Marketing"

 Whenever you attempt to share your ideas with people, you are attempting to influence them to “buy” your ideas and put them into practice. In effect, you are “marketing” your ideas as a “product” to be “bought” in the marketplace of ideas. Your intent is to lead your “customers” to think and behave in positive, life-affirming ways.

 

And although it would appear that your ideas are the “product” that you are attempting to “sell,” you are actually “selling” yourself. Only your perceived credibility with your “customers” will ultimately determine whether your ideas will be “bought” or left unsold.

 

So, the first principle of positive thought leadership “marketing” is to understand that YOU are the message! Therefore, before you put your ideas on the “market” for “sale,” you must be able to demonstrate that you are living by those ideas, and that you are a living ad for the usefulness and efficacy of the ideas you want to “market.”

 

The second principle of positive thought leadership “marketing” is embodied in the Law of Reciprocation: people who receive something from you feel a desire and obligation to give something back to you. What can you offer your idea “customers” that will inspire them to give a “yes” to your ideas?

 

The third principle is Scarcity: the notion that there is not much of what is being offered. It is the idea of something being unique, rare, or only available to a few people. How can you “ethically market” your ideas as only available to select people?

 

The fourth principle is Authority: the notion that if someone is deemed an expert or is otherwise in a position that is respected by others, then people are influenced to do as that person does. How might you expose your “customers” to other people who are respected in the community and have “bought” your ideas?

 

The fifth principle is Consistency: the notion that a person will accept change if they are led to take a small step that will lead to a big change. What can you suggest to your “customers” that will permit them to take a small step that will be consistent with their current state, and yet move them to a big change?

 

The sixth principle is Liking: the notion of locating and raising similarities between you and your “customer” or providing your “customer” with duly earned—not false or phony—praise and compliments. Your “customers” will only “buy” ideas from people they know, Like, and trust.

 

The seventh principle is Consensus: the notion that people want to follow people who are like them and do what they do. What might you use to demonstrate to your “customer” that she or he is in good company when they agree to “buy” your positive, life-affirming ideas? 

Four Fears You Must Master

 The four fears that you must master in order to get to the personal expansion you desire for your life are: 1) being alone; 2) leaving and losing everything; 3 aging; and given the coronavirus, 4) the fear of debilitating disease.

 

The fear of being alone is so common in our society that people rush into meaningless and unfulfilling relationships in order to avoid it. In fact, countless people stay in unrewarding and lifeless relationships just so they won’t experience being alone.

 

Somewhere deep in the recesses of our brains is this fear of abandonment, of being left alone forever. As with any fear you may experience, the first step is to acknowledge it and seek to discover what in your past caused this fear. Discovering the root cause of this fear is important for gaining the confidence you need to overcome it.

 

You cannot get to personal expansion without taking risks—large, life-changing risks. The risks related to moving forward, however, are not as scary or difficult to face and overcome as the risks associated with leaving the comfort zone of your present experience. If you’re not careful, the fear of leaving and losing everything you have will keep you from moving into the future where your success lies. In order to take any journey, you must leave where you are to get where you’re going.

 

Your fear of losing everything you know, understand and with which you’re familiar rears its ugly head whenever you’re required to move away from your past in order to embrace your future. Countless people let this fear of losing everything inhibit them from risking the loss of their current life to gain the benefit of a better, more fulfilling life. Success cannot be achieved without taking significant personal risks—not once, but over and over again.

 

Fear of aging is not something that crosses the minds of young people: they presume that they will be young forever. But for people over the age of 35, there just may be some momentary, fleeting thoughts about what life will be like when they’re older.

 

Modern medicine has actually heightened the fear of aging for many people. Because medical science has found ways to treat chronic illness and prolong life, many people are worried about outliving their resources. So the thought of aging brings with it the fear of ending up in poverty, regardless of the financial success that may have been part of life when they were younger. You must decide not to worry or fret about what might happen to you when you’re 95. You must believe that you will never get old until you decide to be old—which may be when you’re 137!

 

Giving the coronavirus pandemic, the fear of contracting or inheriting a debilitating sickness is more on the minds of aging people and younger persons who are aware of their family medical history than on people in the population generally. This fear has the ability to limit people’s choices for themselves today because they feel tethered to inevitable time-lines in which they see themselves crippled physically, mentally and/or emotionally tomorrow. Consequently, they make what they believe to be “safe” choices—not the choices they would even consider for themselves if the fear of a debilitating sickness were not hanging over their heads.

 

Like every other fear that stands in the way of your personal expansion, this fear must be faced squarely and conquered. You must decide and focus your thoughts on the fact of your long-term health and well-being. You must live your life believing that nothing can keep you from achieving your destiny. Such an attitude will allow you—in the worst-case scenario—to adjust to whatever happens to you and keep moving forward into the future, undeterred. Your Faith and Iron Will are sufficient to get you where you desire to be in life.

Preparation for Initiation: The 10th Virtue of Maat

The tenth virtue of Maat is preparation for initiation. In essence, this tenth virtue is the launching pad from which you will make the decision to commit to the business choice you have made, and give your whole self to its pursuit.

Preparation for initiation is your decision to move away from talking about going into business for yourself and taking the necessary action to do so. It is moving away from simply thinking about going into business and actually doing it.  Preparation for initiation is moving away from merely asking the theoretical questions related to going into business and embracing the practical reality of setting up shop.

The first step in your preparation for initiation is to save the money you need to get started in business while you do a thorough check—your due diligence—of the business opportunities available to you. The second step is to engage a seasoned professional who is qualified to assist you during your decision-making process.