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1st TASK

Au royaume de l’espoir, il n’y a pas d’hiver.
(Proverbe russe)

your Self-Talk determinate your personality

Perhaps the most powerful influence on your attitude and personality is what you

say to yourself, and believe. It is not what happens to you, but how you respond

internally to what happens to you, that determines your thoughts and felling and,

ultimately, your actions. By controlling your inner dialogue, or “self-talk,” you can

begin to assert control over every other dimension of your life.

Your self-talkthe words that you use to describe what is happening to you, and

to discuss how you feel about external eventsdetermines the quality and tone of

your emotional life. When you see things positively and constructively and look for

the good in each situation and each person, you have a tendency to remain naturally

positive and optimistic. Since the quality of your life is determined by how you feel,

moment to moment, one of your most important goals should be to use every

psychological technique available to keep yourself thinking about what you want and

to keep your mind off of what you don’t want, or what you fear.

Arnold Toynbee, the historian, developed what he called the “challenge-response

theory” of history. In studying the rise and fall of 20 major world civilizations,

Toynbee concluded that each civilization started out as a small group of people — as

a village, as a tribe or in the case of the Mongol empire, as just three people who

had survived the destruction of their small community.

Toynbee concluded that each of these small groups faced external challenges,

such as hostile tribes. In order to survive, much less thrive, these small groups had

to reorganize themselves to deal positively and constructively with these challenges.

By meeting each of these challenges successfully, the village or tribe would grow.

Even greater challenges would be triggered as a result. And if this group of people

continued to meet each challenge by drawing upon its resources and winning out, it

would continue to grow until ultimately it became a nation-state and then a

civilization covering a large geographical area.

Toynbee looked at the 21 great civilizations of human history, ending with the

American civilization, and concluded that these civilizations began to decline and fall

apart when their citizens and leaders lost the will or ability to rise to the inevitable

external challenges occasioned by their very size and power.

Toynbee’s theory of civilizations can be applicable to our life as well.

You are continually faced with challenges and difficulties, with problems and

disappointments, with temporary setbacks and defeats. They are an unavoidable

and inevitable part of being human. But, as you draw upon your resources to

respond effectively to each challenge, you grow and become a stronger and better

person. In fact, without those setbacks, you could not have learned what you needed

to know and developed the qualities of your character to where they are today.

Much of your ability to succeed comes from the way you deal with life. One of

the characteristics of superior men and women is that they recognize the inevitability

of temporary disappointments and defeats, and they accept them as a normal and

natural part of life. They do everything possible to avoid problems, but when

problems come, superior people learn from them, rise above the, and continue

onward in the direction of their dreams.

Dr. Martin Seligman of the University of Pennsylvania has written a fascinating

book based on his 25 years of research into this subject. It’s titled Learned

Optimism. In this book, Dr. Seligman explains the basic response patterns of both

positive and negative people. As a result of his many years of work in cognitive

therapy, and the use of exhaustive testing, he finds, quite simply, that optimistic

people tend to interpret events in such a way that they keep their minds positive and

their emotions under control.

Optimists develop the habit of talking to themselves in constructive ways.

Whenever they experience an adversity, they immediately describe it to themselves

in such a way that it loses its ability to trigger negative emotions and feelings of

helplessness.

Dr. Seligman says that are three basic differences in the reactions of optimists

and pessimists. The first difference is that the optimist sees a setback as temporary,

while the pessimist sees it as permanent. The optimist sees an unfortunate event,

such as an order that falls through or a sales call that fails, as a temporary event,

something that is limited in time and that has no real impact on the future. The

pessimist, on the other hand, sees negative events as permanent, as part of life and

destiny.

For example, let’s say that the optimistic salesperson makes 10 calls on likely

prospects, and every one of those calls is unsuccessful. The optimist simply

interprets this as a temporary event and a matter of averages or probabilities. The

optimist concludes that, with every temporary failure, he is moving closer to the

prospect who will turn into a sale. The optimist dismisses the event and goes on

cheerfully to the 11th and 12th prospects.

The pessimist sees the same situation differently. The pessimist has a tendency

to conclude that 10 unsuccessful sales calls is an indication that the economy is

terrible and that there is no market for his product. The pessimist generalizes and

begins to see the situation and his career as hopeless. While the optimist just shrugs

it off and gets on with the next call, the pessimist becomes discouraged and loses

heart and enthusiasm for the hard work of prospecting.

The second difference between the optimist and the pessimist is that the optimist

sees difficulties as specific, while the pessimist sees them as pervasive. This means

that when things go wrong for the optimist, he looks at the event as an isolated

incident largely disconnected from other things that are going on in his life.

For example, if something you were counting on failed to materialize and you

interpreted it to yourself as being an unfortunate event, but something that happens

in the course of life and business, you would be reacting like an optimist. The

pessimist, on the other hand, sees disappointments as being pervasive. That is, to

him they are indications of a problem or shortcoming that pervades every area of

life.

If a pessimist worked hard to put together a business deal and it collapsed, he

would tend to assume that the deal did not work out was because the product or the

company or the economy was in poor shape and the whole business was hopeless.

The pessimist would tend to feel helpless, unable to make a difference and out of

control of his destiny.

The third difference between optimists and pessimists is that optimists see events

as external, while pessimists interpret events as personal. When things go wrong,

the optimist will tend to see the setback as result from external factors over which

one has little control.

If the optimist is cut off in traffic, for example, instead of getting angry or upset,

he will simply downgrade the importance of the event by saying something like, “oh,

well, I guess that person is just having a bad day.”

The pessimist has a tendency to take everything personally. If the pessimist is

cut off in traffic, he will react as though the other driver has deliberately acted to

upset and frustrate him. The pessimist will become angry and negative and want to

strike out and get even. Often, he will honk his horn or yell at the other driver.

There is a natural tendency in all of us to react emotionally when our

expectations are frustrated in any way. When something we wanted and hoped for

fails to materialize, we feel a temporary sense of disappointment and unhappiness.

We feel disillusioned. We react as though we have been punched in the “emotional

solar plexus”.

The optimistic person, however, soon moves beyond this disappointment. He

responds quickly to the adverse event and interprets it as being temporary, specific

and external to himself. The optimist takes full control of his inner dialogue and

counters the negative feelings by immediately reframing the event so that it appear

positive in some way.

Napoleon Hill, who, prior to writing his best-selling books on success, interviewed

500 of the most successful people in America, concluded that “Contained within a

setback or disappointment is the seed of an equal or greater advantage or benefit.”

And this is one of the great secrets of success.

Since your conscious mind can hold only one thought at a time, either positive or

negative, if you deliberately choose a positive thought to dwell upon, you keep your

mind optimistic and your emotions positive. Since your thoughts and feelings

determine your actions, you will tend to be a more constructive person, and you will

move much more rapidly toward the goals that you have chosen.

It all comes down to the way you talk to yourself on a regular basis. In our

courses of problem solving and decisions making, we encourage people to respond to

problems by changing their language from negative to positive. Instead of using the

word problem, we encourage people to use the word situation. You see, a problem is

something that you deal with. The event is the same. It’s the way you interpret the

event to yourself that makes it sound and appear completely different.

Even better than situation is the word challenge. Whenever you have a difficulty,

immediately reframe it and choose to view it as a challenge. Rather than saying, “I

have a problem,” say, “I have an interesting challenge facing me.” The word

challenge is inherently positive. It is something that you rise to that makes you

stronger and better. It is the same situation, only the word that you are using to

describe it is different.

The best of all possible words is the word opportunity. When you are faced with a

difficulty of any kind, instead of saying, “I have a problem,” you can say, “I am faced

with an unexpected opportunity.” And if you concentrate your powers on finding out

what that opportunity is—even if it is only a valuable lesson—you will certainly find

it. As the parable says, “Seek and ye shall find, for all who seek find it.”

One of my favorite affirmative statements, which I use to deal with any

unexpected difficulty, is this: “Every situation is a positive situation if viewed as an

opportunity for growth and self-mastery. Whenever something goes wrong,

immediately neutralize its negative power by quickly reciting this statement.

If you are in sales, and your method of prospecting is not generating the results

that you desire, you can view it as an opportunity for growth and self-mastery. The

adversity you are facing may be meant to indicate to you that there is a better way

to approach this task. Perhaps you should be prospecting in a different place, or with

different people, or using a different script or a different method. Perhaps your

difficulty is simply part of the process of developing the persistence and tenacity that

you need to become successful in any kind of market. The difference between the

winner and the loser is that the winner faces and deals with the adversity

constructively, while the loser allows the adversity to overwhelm him.

The hallmark of the fully mature, fully functioning, self-actualizing personality is

the ability to be objective and unemotional when caught up in the inevitable storms

of daily life. The superior person has the ability to continue talking to himself in a

positive and optimistic way, keeping his mind calm, clear and completely under

control. The mature personality is more relaxed and aware and capable of

interpreting events more realistically and less emotionally than is the immature

personality. As a result, the mature person exerts a far greater sense of control and

influence over his environment, and is far less likely to be angry, upset, or

distracted.

The starting point in the process of becoming a highly effective person is to

monitor and control your self-talk every minute of the day. Keep your thoughts and

your words positive and consistent with your goals, and keep your mind focused on

what you want to do and the person you want to be.

Here are five ideas you can use to help you to be a more positive and optimistic

person:

First, resolve in advance that no matter what happens, you will not allow it to get

you down. You will respond in a constructive way. You will take a deep breath, relax

and look for whatever good the situation my contain. When you make this decision in

advance, you mentally prepare yourself so that you are not knocked off balance

when things go wrong, as they inevitably will.

Second, neutralize any negative thoughts or emotions by speaking to yourself

positively all the time. Say things like, “I feel healthy! I feel happy! I feel terrific!”

As you go about your job, say to yourself, I like myself, and I love my work!” Say

things like, “Today is a great day; it’s wonderful to be alive!” According to the law of

expression, whatever is expressed is impressed. Whatever you say to yourself or

others is impressed deeply into your subconscious mind and is likely to become a

permanent part of your personality.

Third, look upon the inevitable setbacks that you face as being temporary,

specific and external. View the negative situations as a single event that is not

connected to other potential events and that is caused largely by external factors

over which you can have little control. Simply refuse to see the event as being in any

way permanent, pervasive or indicative of personal incompetence of inability.

Fourth, remember that it is impossible to learn and grow and become a

successful person without adversity and difficulties. You must contend with and rise

above them in order to become a better person. Welcome each difficulty by saying,

“That’s good!” and then look into the situation to find the good in it.

Finally, keep your thoughts on your goals and dreams, on the person you are

working toward becoming. When things go wrong temporarily, respond by saying to

yourself, “I believe in the perfect outcome of every situation in my life.” Resolve to

be cheerful and pleasant, and resist every temptation toward negativity and

disappointment. View a disappointment as an opportunity to grow stronger, and

about it to yourself and others in a positive and optimistic way.

When you practice positive self-talk, and keep your words and your mental pictures

consistent with your goals and dreams, there is nothing that can stop you from being

the success you are meant to be.

2nd TASk

Il ne faut jamais caresser sa douleur.
(FEUILLET)

improve your Charisma

Webster’s Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary defines charisma as “a personal magic of

leadership arousing special popular loyalty or enthusiasm for a public figure.”

Charisma is also that special quality of magnetism that each person has and that

each person uses to a certain degree. You have a special charisma to the people who

look up to you, who respect and admire youthe members of your family and your

friends and coworkers. Whenever and wherever a person feels a positive emotion

toward another, he imbues that person with charisma, or attractiveness.

In trying to explain charisma, some people speak of an “aura.” This aura is a light

that is invisible to most people, but not to everyone, and that radiates out from a

person and affects the people around that person in a positive or negative way. The

halo around the heads of saints and mystics in many religious paintings was the artist’s

attempt to depict the light that people reported seeing around the heads of these men

and women when they were speaking or praying, or in an intense emotional state.

You also have an aura around you that most people cannot see but that is there,

nevertheless. This aura affects the way people react and respond to you, either

positively or negatively. There is a lot that you can do, and a lot of good reasons for

you to do it, to control this aura and make it work in your best interests.

If you’re in sales, this aura, reflecting your level of charisma, can have a major

impact on the way your prospects and customers treat you and deal with you. Top

salespeople seem to be far more successful than the average salespeople in getting

along with their customers. they’re always more welcome, more positively received and

more trusted than the others. They sell more, and they sell more easily. They make a

better living, and they build better lives. Salespeople with charisma get far more

pleasure out of their work and suffer far less from stress and rejection. The charismatic

salesperson is almost invariably a top performer in his field and enjoys all the rewards

that go with superior sales.

If you’re in business, developing greater charisma can help you tremendously in

working with your staff, your suppliers, your bankers, your customers and everyone

else upon whom you depend for your success. People seem naturally drawn to those

who possess charisma. They want to help them and support them. When you have

charisma, people will open doors for you and bring you opportunities that otherwise

would not have been available to you.

In your personal relationships, the quality of charisma can make your life more

joyous, happier. People will naturally want to be around you. Members of your family

and your friends will be far happier in your company, and you will have a greater

influence on them, causing them to feel better about themselves and to do better at

the important things in their lives.

There is a close association between personal charisma and success in life. Probably

85 percent of your success and happiness will come from your relationships and

interactions with others. The more positively others respond to you, the easier it will be

for you to get the things you want.

In essence, when we discuss charisma, we are talking about the law of attraction.

This law has been stated in many different ways down through the centuries, but it

basically says that you inevitably attract into your life the people and circumstances

that harmonize with your dominant thoughts.

In a sense, you are a living magnet, and you are constantly radiating thought waves,

like a radio station radiates sound waves, that are picked up by other people. Your

thoughts, intensified by your emotions, as radio waves are intensified by electric

impulses, go out from you and are picked up by anyone who is tuned in to a similar

wavelength. You then attract into your life people, ideas, opportunities, resources,

circumstances and anything else that is consistent with your dominant frame of mind.

The law of attraction also explains how you can build up your levels of charisma so

that you can have a greater and more positive impact on the people whose

cooperation, support and affection you desire.

The critical thing to remember about charisma is that it is largely based on

perception. It is based on what people think about you. It is not so much reality as it is

what people perceive you to be. For example, one person can create charisma in

another person by speaking in glowing terms about that person to a third party. If you

believe that you are about to meet an outstanding and important person, that person

will tend to have charisma for you.

One of the most charismatic people in the world today is Mother Teresa of Calcutta.

In a physical sense, she is a quiet, elderly, frail woman in poor health, and she wears a

modest nun’s habit. She might be ignored by a person passing her on the street, were

it not for the tremendous charisma she has developed and for the fact that her

appearance is so well-known to so many people as a result.

If someone told you that he was going to introduce you to a brilliant, self-made

millionaire who was very quiet and unassuming about his success, you would almost

naturally imbue that person with charisma, and in his presence, you would not act the

same as you would if you had been told nothing at all. Charisma begins largely in the

mind of the beholder.

Of course, lasting charisma depends more upon the person you really are than upon

just the things you do. Nevertheless, you can build the perception of charisma for

yourself by utilizing the 10 great powers of personality that seem to have a major

impact on the way that people think and feel about you.

The first of these powers is the power of purpose. Men and women with charisma

and personal magnetism almost invariably have a clear vision of who they are, of

where they’re going and of what they’re trying to achieve. Leaders in sales and

management have a vision of what they’re trying to create and why they’re doing what

they’re doing. They’re focused on accomplishing some great purpose. They’re decisive

about every aspect of their lives. They know exactly what they want and what they

have to do to get it. They plan their work and work their plan.

In more than 3,300 studies of leadership, in every book and article ever written on

leadership, the quality of purpose, or vision, was one of the few qualities that was

consistently used in describing leaders.

You can increase your charisma and the magnetism of your personality by setting

clear goals for yourself, making plans to achieve them, and working on your plans with

discipline and determination every day. The whole world seems to move aside for the

person who knows exactly where he is going. In fact, the clearer you are about your

purposes and goals, the more likely people will be to attribute other positive qualities to

you. They will see you, or perceive you, as being a better and more admirable human

being. And when you have clear goals, you begin attracting to yourself the people and

opportunities necessary to make those goals a reality.

The second personality power is self-confidence. Men and women with charisma have

an intense belief in themselves and in what they are doing. They are usually calm, cool

and composed about themselves and their work. Your level of self-confidence is often

demonstrated in your courage, your willingness to do whatever is necessary to achieve

a purpose that you believe in.

People are naturally attracted to those who exude a sense of self-confidence, those

who have an unshakable belief in their ability to rise above circumstances to attain their

goals.

One of the ways you demonstrate self-confidence is by assuming that people

naturally like you and accept you and want to do business with you. For example, one

of the most powerful ways to close a sale is simply to assume that the prospect has

decided to purchase the product or service, and then go on to wrap up the details. One

of the best ways to achieve success in your relationships is to assume that people

naturally enjoy your company and want to be around you, and then proceed on that

basis. The very act of behaving in a self-confident manner will generate personal

charisma in the eyes of others.

The third power you can develop is enthusiasm. The more excited you are about

accomplishing something that is important to you, the more excited others will be

about helping you to do it. The fact is that emotions are contagious. The more passion

you have for your life and your activities, the more charisma you will possess, and the

more cooperation you will gain from others. Every great man or woman has been

totally committed to a noble cause and, as a result, has attracted the support and

encouragement of othersin many cases, thousands or millions of others.

The fourth personality power that you can develop is expertise, or competence. The

more knowledgeable you are perceived to be in your field, the more charisma you will

have among those who respect and admire that knowledge because of the impact it

can have on their lives. This is also the power of excellence, of being recognized by

others as an outstanding performer in your field. Men and women who do their jobs

extremely well and who are recognized for the quality of their work are those who

naturally attract the help and support of others. They have charisma.

The fifth power of personality that gives you charisma in the eyes of others is

thorough preparation, detailed preparation, prior to undertaking any significant task.

Whether you are calling on a prospect, meeting with your boss, giving a public talk or

making any other kind of presentation, when you are well-prepared, it becomes clear to

everyone. The careers of many young people are put onto the fast track as a result of

their coming to an important meeting after having done all their homework.

Whether it takes you hours or even days, if an upcoming meeting or interaction is

important, take the time to get on top of your subject. Be so thoroughly prepared that

nothing can faze you. Think through and consider every possibility and every

ramification. Often, this effort to be fully prepared will do more to generate the respect

of others than anything else you can do.

Remember that the power is always on the side of the person who has done the

most preparation and has the best notes. Everything counts. Leave nothing to chance.

When you do something related to your work or career, take the time to do it rightin

advance.

The sixth power that gives you charisma is self-reliance, or self-responsibility. The

most successful men and women in America are intensely self-reliant. They look to

themselves for the answers to their questions and problems. They never complain, and

they never explain. They take complete ownership of projects. They volunteer for

duties and step forward and accept accountability when things go wrong.

An amazing facet of human nature is that when you behave in a completely self-reliant manner, others will often be eager to help you achieve your goals. But if you

seem to need the help and support of others, people will avoid you or do everything

possible not to get involved with you.

One of the most admirable qualities of leaders, which lends a person charisma in the

perception of others, is the capacity to step forward and take charge. The leader

accepts complete responsibility for getting the job done, without making excuses and

blaming anyone. When you become completely self-reliant, you experience a

tremendous sense of control and power that enhances your feeling of well-being and

that generates the charisma that is so important to you in attracting the help of others.

The seventh personality power is image. There is both interpersonal image and

intrapersonal image. Intrapersonal image, or self-image, is the way you see yourself

and think about yourself in any situation. This self-image has an inordinate impact on

the way you perform and on the way others see you and think about you. Your self-image plays an important part in your charisma.

The other type of image is interpersonal. This is the image or appearance that you

convey to others. The way you look on the outside has an inordinate impact on the way

people treat you and respond to you. Successful men and women are very aware of

how they are coming across to others. They take a good deal of time to think through

every aspect of their external appearance to assure that it is helping them rather than

hurting them.

Remember that everything counts. If an element of your image is not building your

charisma and your respect in the eyes of another person, it is lowering your charisma

and your respect. Nothing is neutral. Everything is taken into the equation. Everything

counts.

The three primary factors in personal appearance are clothes, grooming and

accessories. Select your clothes with care. Before you go to an important meeting,

stand in front of the mirror and ask yourself, “Do I look like one of the best people in

my field?” If you don’t feel that you look like one of the best people in your business,

go back to the closet and change.

Look at the most successful people in your area of endeavor. What do they wear?

How do they dress? How do they wear their hair? What kind of accessories do they

use? Pattern yourself after the winners in your field, the people who already have

personal magnetism and charisma. If you do what they do, over and over, you will

eventually get the same results that they get.

The eighth form of personal power is character, or integrity. Men and women who

possess the kind of charisma that arouses the enthusiastic support of others are

invariably men and women with high values and principles. They are extremely realistic

and honest with themselves and others. They have very clear ideals, and they

continually aspire to live up to the highest that is in them. They speak well of people,

and they guard their conversation, knowing that everything that they say is being

remembered and recorded. They are aware that everything they do is contributing to

the formation of their perception by others. Everything about their character is adding

to or detracting from their level of charisma.

When you think of the most important men and women of any time, you think of

men and women who aspired to greatness and who had high values for themselves and

high expectations of others. When you make the decision to act consistent with the

highest principles that you know, you begin to develop charisma. You begin to become

the kind of person others admire and respect and want to emulate. You begin to attract

into your life the help and support and encouragement of the kind of people you

admire. You activate the law of attraction in the very best way.

The ninth power of personality is self-discipline, or self-mastery. Men and women of

charisma are highly controlled. They have a tremendous sense of inner calm and outer

resolve. They are well-organized, and they demonstrate willpower and determination in

everything they do.

The very act of being well-organized, of having clear objectives and of having set

clear priorities on your activities before beginning, gives you a sense of discipline and

control. It causes people to respect and admire you. When you then exert your self-discipline by persisting in the face of difficulties, your charisma rating goes up.

Men and women who achieve leadership positions, who develop the perception of

charisma in others, are invariably those who possess indomitable willpower and the

ability to persist in a good cause until success is achieved. The more you persist when

the going gets rough, the more self-discipline and resolve you develop, and the more

charisma you tend to have.

The tenth power that you can develop, which underlies all of the other powers that

lead to charisma, is result-orientation. In the final analysis, people ascribe charisma to

those men and women who they feel can most enable them to achieve important goals

or objectives.

We develop great perceptions of those men and women we can count on to help us

achieve what is important to us. Men and women who make great sales, or who

establish admirable sales records, develop charisma in the minds and hearts of their

coworkers and superiors. They are spoken about in the most positive way. Men and

women who are responsible for companies or departments that achieve high levels of

profitability also develop charisma. They develop what is called the “halo effect.” They

are perceived by others to be extraordinary men and women who are capable of great

things. Their shortcomings are often overlooked, while their strong points are

overemphasized. They become charismatic.

Charisma actually comes from working on yourself. It comes from liking and

accepting yourself unconditionally as you do and say the specific things that develop

within you a powerful, charismatic personality.

When you set clear goals and become determined and purposeful, backing those

goals with unshakable self-confidence, you develop charisma. When you are

enthusiastic and excited about what you are doing, when you are totally committed to

achieving something worthwhile, you radiate charisma. When you take the time to

study and become an expert at what you do, and then prepare thoroughly for any

opportunity to use your knowledge, skill or experience, the perception that others have

of you goes straight up. When you take complete responsibility and accept ownership,

without making excuses or blaming others, you experience a sense of control that leads

to the personal power that is the foundation of charisma. When you look like a winner

in every respect, when you have the kind of external image that others admire, you

build your charisma. When you develop your character by setting high standards and

then disciplining yourself to live consistent with the highest principles you know, you

become the kind of person who is admired and respected everywhere. You become the

kind of person who radiates charisma to others. Finally, when you concentrate your

energies on achieving the results that you have been hired to accomplish, the results

that others expect of you, you develop the reputation for performance and achievement

that inevitably leads to the perception of charisma.

You can develop the kind of charisma that opens doors for you by going to work on

yourself, consistently and persistently, and becoming the kind of person everyone can

admire and look up to. That’s what charisma is all about.

3th TASK

Le contentement est la pierre philosophale qui
transforme en bien tout ce qu’elle touche.
(C. WAGNER)

classify your business by the level of importance

In 1970, sociologist Dr. Edward Benfield of Harvard University wrote a book

entitled The Unheavenly City. He described one of the most profound studies on

success and priority setting ever conducted.

Banfield’s goal was to find out how and why some people became financially

independent during the course of their working lifetimes. He started off convinced

that the answer to this question would be found in factors such as family

background, education, intelligence, influential contacts, or some other concrete

factor. What he finally discovered was that the major reason for success in life was a

particular attitude of mind.

Banfield called this attitude “long time perspective.” He said that men and women

who were the most successful in life and the most likely to move up economically

were those who took the future into consideration with every decision they made in

the present. He found that the longer the period of time a person took into

consideration while planning and acting, the more likely it was that he would achieve

greatly during his career.

For example, one of the reasons your family doctor is among the most respected

people in America is because he or she invested many years of hard work and study

to finally earn the right to practice medicine. After university courses, internship,

residency and practical training, a doctor may be more than 30 years old before he

or she is capable of earning a good living. But from that point onward, these men

and women are some of the most respected and most successful professional people

in the United States. They had long time perspectives.

The essential key to success in setting priorities is having a long time perspective.

You can tell how important something is today by measuring its potential future

impact on your life.

For example, if you come home from work at night and choose to play with your

children or spend time with your spouse, rather than watch TV or read the paper,

you have a long time perspective. You know that investing time in the health and

happiness of your children and your spouse is a very valuable, high-priority use of

time.

If you take additional courses in the evening to upgrade your skills and make

yourself more valuable to your employer, you’re acting with a long time perspective.

Learning something practical and useful can have a long-term effect on your career.

The key word, then, to keep in mind when you’re setting priorities is sacrifice.

Setting priorities usually requires sacrificing present enjoyment for future enjoyment.

It requires giving up a short-term pleasure in the present in order to enjoy a far

greater and more substantial pleasure in the future.

Economists say that the inability to delay gratification—that is, the natural

tendency of individuals to spend everything they earn plus a little bit more, and the

mind-set of doing what is fun, easy and enjoyable—is the primary cause of economic

and personal failure in life. On the other hand, disciplining yourself to do what you

know is right and important, although difficult, is the highroad to pride, self-esteem

and personal satisfaction.

So setting priorities begins with your deciding what you want most in life and then

organizing your time and activities so that everything you do is the most valuable

use of your time in achieving those objectives.

With your larger, long-term priorities in order, you can much more easily decide

upon your short-term priorities.

You can say that the process of setting short-term priorities begins with a pad of

paper and a pen. Whenever you feel overwhelmed by too many things to do and too

little time in which to do them, sit down, take a deep breath, and list all those tasks

you need to accomplish. Although there is never enough time to do everything, there

is always enough time to do the most important things, and to stay with them until

they are done right.

Peter Drucker once said, “Efficiency is doing things right, but effectiveness is doing

the right things.” And this requires thought.

Once you have listed your tasks, ask yourself this question: “If I were to be called

out of town for a month, and I could finish only one thing on this list, which one

thing would it be?” Think it through, and circle that one item on your list. Then ask

yourself: “If I could do only one more thing before I was called out of town for a

month, what would it be?” This then becomes the second thing you circle on your

list.

Perform this exercise five or six times until you have sorted out the highest

priorities on your list. Then number each according to its importance. With these

priorities, you are now ready to begin working effectively toward the achievement of

your major goals.

Another popular method for setting priorities on your list, once you have

determined your major goals or objectives, is the A-B-C-D-E method. You place

one of those letters in the margin before each of the tasks on your list.

“A” stands for “very important; must do; severe negative consequences if not

completed.”

“B” stands for “important; should do; but not as important as my ‘A’ tasks, and

only minor negative consequences if not completed.”

“C” stands for “nice to do; but not as important as ‘A’ or ‘B,’ and no negative

consequences for not completing.”

“D” stands for “delegate, or assign to someone else who can do the task in my

place.”

“E” stands for “eliminate, whenever possible.”

When you use the A-B-C-D-E method, you can very easily sort out what is

important and unimportant. This then will focus your time and attention on those

items on your list that are most essential for you to do.

Once you can clearly see the one or two things that you should be doing, above all

others, just say no to all diversions and distractions and focus single-mindedly on

accomplishing those priorities.

Much stress that people experience in their work lives comes from working on lowpriority tasks. The amazing thing is that as soon as you start working on your

highest-value activity, all your stress disappears. You begin to feel a continuous

stream of energy and enthusiasm. As you work toward the completion of something

that is really important, you feel an increased sense of personal value and inner

satisfaction. You experience a sensation of self-mastery and self-control. You feel

calm, confident and capable.

Here are six ideas that you can use, every day, to help you set priorities and to

keep you working at your best:

1. Take the time to be clear about your goals and objectives so that the priorities you

set are moving you in the direction of something that is of value to you. Remember

that many people scramble frantically to climb the ladder of success, only to find that

it is leaning against the wrong building.

2. Develop a long time perspective and work on those things in the present that can

have the greatest positive impact on your future. Maintain your balance in life by

setting priorities in the areas of your health, your personal relationships and your

financial goals.

3. Make the commitment to improve those aspects of your life that are most

important to you. If you’re in sales, learn how to be an excellent salesperson. If you’re

a parent, learn how to be an outstanding mother or father. The power is always on the

side of the person with the best practical knowledge.

4. Be sure to take the time to do your work right the first time. The fewer mistakes

you make, the less time you will waste going back and doing it over.

5. Remember that what counts is not the amount of time that you put in overall;

rather, it’s the amount of time that you spend working on high-priority tasks. You will

always be paid for the results that you obtain, not merely the hours that you spend on

the job.

6. Understand that the most important factor in setting priorities is your ability to

make wise choices. You are always free to choose to engage in one activity or another.

You may choose a higher-value activity or a lower-value activity, but once you have

chosen, you must accept the consequences of your choice.

Resolve today to set clear priorities in every area of your life, and always choose

the activities that will assure you the greatest health, happiness and prosperity in the

long term. The long term comes soon enough, and every sacrifice that you make

today will be rewarded with compound interest in the great future that lies ahead for

you.