A few years ago, I was having lunch with a prospective coaching client. We were discussing his aspirations—where he was at the time, and where he wanted to be.

At the end of our lengthy conversation, Bruce asked me what the “key ingredient” was. He wanted to know the one thing successful people do in order to create results. What was he not doing, he asked, that was preventing him from pursuing this dream that he was so clearly passionate about?

There are a number of traits that must be present in order to create results. Investor’s Business Daily, in its “Leaders and Success” page, lists 10 secrets to success. Brian Tracy, one of the all-time “guru’s” of personal development, has his “21 Secrets to Success.” Given the importance of each element, it’s difficult to narrow it down to just one thing.

But Bruce was looking for a magic pill.

And he got it.

Surprisingly, I answered without hesitation. After our meeting, I reflected on this very point. I realized that this “one thing” is absolutely essential. While other traits may or may not be present, successful people always possess this one characteristic. Without it, achieving a desired outcome would not be possible.

What is this important trait?

ACTION.

Think about it. Bruce had an incredible idea for a new business. He was visibly passionate as he described the entrepreneurial opportunity. He had reviewed the plan over and over, sought input from others and examined the possibilities from every angle.

But he hadn’t taken action. He had a sliver of doubt about the viability of his idea, and it prevented him from taking action on an idea that he had been carrying around for almost six years!

Until and unless he took action, he would never achieve his desired outcome. And until and unless you take action, you will wonder years from now why your idea is still stirring around in your head.

Action sets the whole process in motion. It takes what is only an idea, and makes it real. When you take action, results are produced. They may or may not be the desired results, but every event moves you closer to your desired outcome.

Think about how a plane travels. When an airplane is on autopilot, it’s off course much of the time. But it’s constantly moving toward the destination. I love this metaphor, which so accurately reflects the dynamics of our own journeys.

Theodore Roosevelt once said, “There is nothing brilliant nor outstanding in my record, except perhaps one thing: I do the things I believe ought to be done…And when I make up my mind to do a thing, I act.”

Sure, there are other “habits” of successful people. And they are all important. If they are all a part of your life, then nothing can stop you.

You can set goals, and you can think positive, and you can visualize and affirm and practice all the other success habits. But, if you don’t take action, the other habits will all be for naught.

As the Nike commercial says, Just Do It. Decide that you will take one small step. Then another. Then another. Like an infant learning to walk, do not allow the obstacle of an occasional fall to stop you. Pretty soon, you’ll be walking. Then jogging. Then sprinting toward your destination. Just do it! You’ll be glad you did.

                     

It’s hard to imagine life before the BlackBerry. Though it was introduced just nine years ago, 13 million people now use this device to stay connected in the Information Age. The fact is, many people are too connected, literally keeping their BlackBerrys with them 24/7.

For many of my coaching clients, over-dependence on technology is an ongoing topic in our coaching sessions. Here are a few of the comments they’ve made:

 “As soon as the plane hits the runway, I reach to turn it on.”

“I’m not sleeping well, because I’m always on alert.”

“My wife got upset last night, because after we were done making love, I turned on the light, grabbed my BlackBerry, and starting reading my email.”

“When I’m at dinner with clients, I regularly excuse myself, and then go to the restroom to check my emails.”

“I’m addicted, and I don’t know how to stop.”

While technology is designed to make life easier, it’s certainly not having that effect. It’s adding to the stress, overwhelm, and busyness of everyday life. No wonder people jokingly refer to them as “CrackBerrys.”

"American workers have a love-hate relationship with technology,” said Mary Madden. “Along with the benefits of increased connectivity comes a host of new issues into workers’ lives.” Ms. Madden is co-author of a report published Wednesday by the Pew Internet & American Life Project.

Although survey participants cite the benefits of increased connectivity and flexibility that technology affords them, many also say these tools have added stress and new demands to their lives. For example, 50% of email users say they check their work-related email on the weekends. Fully 22% say that they check their work email accounts "often" during weekend hours, compared with 16% who reported the same in 2002. 34% of email users say they will at least occasionally check their email while on vacation; 11% say they do so "often."

Blackberry and PDA owners are more than twice as likely to report that their employer expects that they will stay tuned in to email outside of the office. Fully 48% say they are required to read and respond to email when they are away from work.

What is the impact of this increased connectivity? 49% say these technologies increase the level of stress in their job. 49% say these technologies make it harder for them to disconnect from their work when they are at home and on the weekends. And 46% say these tools increase demands that they work more hours.

Here’s the advice I give my clients: Create boundaries. It’s the only way to prevent technology from completely taking over our lives.

Turn it off, and leave it in your briefcase. It will be there in the morning. You’ll awake more rested, and better equipped to start your day. You won’t wake up with stress, and you’ll be more focused through the day.

And, most importantly, establishing boundaries will communicate to your spouse and children that they are more important than your CrackBerry. Because they are wondering about that.

To read the entire report, visit the Pew Internet & American Life Project website.

                   

There are challenging times ahead. Here in Michigan, for example, we are facing continuing uncertainly due to the higher oil prices, a downturn in the domestic auto industry, and troubles in the housing market. While Michigan may be suffering more than other regions of the country, this challenging environment is certainly not limited to our state.

Then, this past weekend, the news went from bad to very bad to catastrophic.

The U.S. government takeover of mortgage companies Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac…Lehman Brothers collapsing and filing Chapter 11 bankruptcy… Merrill Lynch taken over by Bank of America… the Federal Reserve Board rescue of crumbling insurance giant AIG.

With all the uncertainty about the future, you know you can’t depend on the economy anymore. You can’t depend on your employer either. And your certainly can’t depend on the government.

So who can you depend on?

YOURSELF!

If you have not done so already, now is the time you must start to diversify your income streams.

If you’re an employee, you need to stop thinking that your company is going to provide for your economic well-being until you retire. Even if it’s a strong company today.

If you own your own business, you need to stop thinking that a single source of revenue is enough. Even if you are highly successful today.

A lot of people who had what they thought was a solid Plan A, are finding themselves in economic despair because they put all their eggs in the Plan A basket.

If you don’t have a Plan B, create one today. What could you do to supplement your income if you’re working for someone else? What other profit centers can you create if you’re self-employed?

Diversification is essential in today’s economic climate. Create a new revenue stream, then work to reduce your reliance on any one source of income. Get started today, so you can prosper in any economic environment.

Last weekend, my daughter Carly and I enjoyed a “magic moment” together.

“What’s a magic moment?” you ask? For me, it’s a special experience with someone close to me that I will remember for the rest of my life.

A magic moment can be big, like our family vacation last summer in Europe. We visited Germany, Austria, and France. It was a truly special time for our family.

But it doesn’t have to be big. My oldest daughter Abby and I once enjoyed a snack together in our living room at 2:00 in the morning. Abby’s eyes light up every time she tells the story of how I woke her up that night for our special time together.

In case you don’t know this about me already, I am a big college football fan. And I’m an even bigger fan of University of Michigan Wolverines. Last Saturday, Carly and I traveled to South Bend, Indiana for the Michigan-Notre Dame game.

If you follow college football, you know that Notre Dame won the game. If you follow closely, you may know that Carly and I sat in the pouring rain for much of the second half. We couldn’t have gotten more wet had we jumped into a swimming pool with our clothes on!

And yet, the experience was grand. Carly and I will never forget the rainy drive to and from South Bend. We’ll remember stopping at Applebee’s for lunch, and eating licorice and Sour Patches in the rain at the game.

Oh sure, we’ll remember the disappointing loss, too. But I’m much better today about not allowing the outcome of the game to determine whether or not I have fun. Carly didn’t really care about the game, anyway.

For her, the day was about creating a magic moment with her Daddy. And for me, it was about creating a magic moment with my daughter.

Moral: Create and enjoy magic moments with the important people in your life.

                   

Time is one of our most valuable commodities. That’s why people spend thousands of dollars and, yes—lots of time!—attending time management seminars and reading books about the latest time management theories.

If only we could learn how to better manage time! That would solve everything, right?

It’s funny how we give so much credit to time. When we are feeling frazzled and harried and just plain burnt-out we like to blame it on time, as if it’s something that we can’t control.

And to a certain degree, we’re right. We can’t manage time. We can’t control how much time is in a day, or how quickly or slowly it moves.

But we can control what we do with our time.

I know what you are thinking. Something along the lines of, “Yeah, right. Try to convince me of that once you’ve taken a look at my family obligations, job responsibilities, and all the other stuff that eats up my time.”

If you feel like you are drowning in a sea of things that need to get done, you aren’t alone. But you are out of control.

Forget the fancy seminars and bestseller books. Time management really just boils down to taking back control. It’s about understanding just one simple truth: How you spend your time is completely up to you. It’s not up to your spouse or your parents. It’s not up to your kids. And it’s certainly not up to your boss.

Working less and making more is all about finding the time to do the things that you want and need to do. In order to live—and love—your life, you are going to have to realize that it belongs to you. And that includes your time.

Think about the things that you really love to do. Have you found the time to do them, despite family and job obligations? Probably. So it can be done. Finding time is as simple as investing in the things that really matter.

Life is extraordinary…and there are so many ways to design, live and help others to create significant results in their personal and business life.

The Opportunity

People love to grow, to help others to grow, and to be involved in creative, stimulating projects.

The Solution

The Work Less, Make More R&D Team addresses the challenge by tapping into the opportunity. The Team develops and evolves what is at first mediocre, or maybe even great, and produces something that is extraordinary…something that is, well, WOW!

Introduction to the R&D Team

At JWC Group, we are very busy working on a number of programs, teleclasses and workshops, as well as developing content for our website, blog, newsletter and several books.

Some of what we create will be truly incredible, and will literally change people’s lives when they apply the principles and techniques.

Some of it will need LOTS of work, possibly requiring a complete overhaul, or scrapping it entirely.

We are creating an R&D Team to guide us through the process of creating concepts, tools and programs that will support people in designing a living a great life.

As a member of the Work Less, Make More R&D Team, you will receive emails from me a 2-4 times per month. Sometimes, I’ll share an idea that I’m developing, or a problem that I’m facing, and ask for input/solutions/ideas. Other times, I’ll send a draft or a mock up of a new product or service, and ask for tweaking to improve it.

R&D Team members will be extremely helpful, and bring their expertise from all areas of life into the process. The only pre-requisite for membership is a willingness to play at a higher level than you ever have in your life. And to have fun…!

Why join the Work Less, Make More R&D Team?

Don’t join for the money, because there isn’t any! Everyone’s a volunteer. Here a few reasons that people do join:

1. People get to be on the “cutting edge” of personal development technology. Today, everyone wants to be cutting edge, and the R&D Team definitely is.

2. People like to create, especially in areas that interest them. Call it inventing, or pioneering, or simply creating. It’s cool, and people like that.

3. People like to experience the amazing synergy of a team. The R&D Team is a very diverse group of people who share at least one thing—a commitment to excellence.

4. People like to hang around people who are doing cool things. It’s inspirational!

5. People benefit greatly from the experience, because they get to use, play with, develop and perfect everything that we create at LifeExcellence.

What the R&D Team Does

JWC Group benefits greatly from receiving input from its R&D team members. Here’s some of what you’ll be doing:

1. Validating or trashing an idea. If it’s not GREAT yet, providing opinions, suggestions and ideas for making it great.

2. Creating energy that occurs naturally when so many people are working on an idea.

3. Teaching and educating. What are we totally missing with our idea, program, etc?

4. Sharing relevant examples that you’ve run across in your travels.

5. Accelerating the creative process by a factor of 5 or 10 (or 100!). By providing timely and insightful feedback, the production process will flow much faster than it would without the support of and R&D Team.

6. The process will lead to new and revolutionary ideas that wouldn’t have occurred but for this process.

First Project:

Multiple Streams of Income Teleclass

One of the biggest mistakes people make is concentrating on one source of income. If they are employees, they think that if they stay at one company they’ll eventually get rich. If they own their own business, they think a single source of revenue is enough.

But what happens if they get laid off? What happens if the industry they work in suffers economically? I’ll tell you what happens. That one source of income they’ve been relying upon is suddenly not so reliable.

That’s why I tell people having multiple sources of income is one of the keys to working less and making more. If all your sources of income are up and firing, then you’re in great shape. And if one of them dries up, no big deal. You still have plenty of income sources to depend on.

The first project for the R&D Team is to develop a teleclass on creating multiple streams of income for business owners and self-employed professionals. If you fall into one of these categories, then you’ll have the opportunity to contribute to the design of this material, and to benefit from the implementation of these ideas in your own business or professional practice!

How to Join

To join the Work Less, Make More R&D Team, simply address an email to:

brian64-360822 (at) autocontactor (dot) com, and put "R&D Team" in the subject line.

You may unsubscribe at any time.

Final Thoughts

The only way to achieve significant breakthroughs in your life is to move out of your comfort zone. Exposing our projects in the early stages of development is definitely outside of our comfort zone. But we realize that it’s not enough to create stuff that we think is great. With the R&D Team, we will be creating projects that matter—cool, memorable, life-changing WOW! Projects. Sign up today, and let’s get started!

                   

What does Michael Jordan have to do with working less and making more? Lots. Michael Jordan is a good example of what happens when you focus on and maximize your talents and strengths. He’s also a good example of what happens when you don’t maximize your strengths and talents.

We all have things we’re really good at doing. And most of us aren’t just limited to one thing. Chances are, you’re probably brilliant at many different things. But there’s a difference between being brilliant at something, and loving something. When you focus on something you’re brilliant at, you’re using your strengths and talents in the best possible way. When you focus on something you love doing, you have a lot of fun but aren’t really using your strengths and talents in the best way possible.

Let’s get back to Michael Jordan. Michael Jordan is an amazing basketball player, so good that people were willing to pay him millions of dollars a year to play. And chances are Michael Jordan was born to play basketball. There was something in him that, when correctly nurtured, allowed him to be the greatest. He had a gift. And while all his hard work certainly shouldn’t be undermined—it’s that hard work that helped him hone his sport and become the greatest instead of just a good player—I could spend three times as much time on the basketball court as Michael Jordan and not even come close to being as good as he is. It’s not that I’m a bad basketball player. I just wouldn’t call it one of my gifts. So Michael Jordan is a good example of someone who recognized his gift, honed it, and as a result enjoyed great success.

Okay, so why is Michael Jordan also a good example of what happens when you don’t maximize your strengths and talents? Well, you may remember that at one time Michael Jordan decided to focus on professional baseball. Michael loved baseball and was having a lot of fun, but he wasn’t exactly brilliant at it. And while he was focused on baseball, he wasn’t able to focus on basketball. He wasn’t maximizing his strengths and talents.

Be smart about designing your life around your strengths and talents. Your strengths and talents are your allies when it comes to working less and making more. Focus on what you do best—at what you shine at—and success will come easy. Just look at Michael Jordan.

                   

One of the biggest mistakes people make is concentrating on one source of income.  They think that if they stay at one company they’ll eventually get rich. They think that if they work hard and perform well they’ll move up the corporate ladder. They think that if they keep getting raises, they’ll eventually make enough money.

Creating an empire takes a bit of thought, but as far as work goes it definitely falls under the fun and creative category. If you’ll make an effort to develop new profit centers, you’ll have other streams of income to fall back on, too!

                   

If you’re already a Success Circle Member, I want to give you a sneak preview of the information that you will be receiving shortly in your mailbox.

http://www.successcirclemonthly.com

——————————–

INSIDE YOUR SEPTEMBER 2008 SUCCESS CIRCLE INTERVIEW:

The Psychology of Wealth Accumulation, with Kevin Hogan

Yesterday, I interviewed Kevin Hogan. If you don’t know Kevin, you should. He’s an author, motivational speaker, and the nation’s leading expert in the areas of body language and unconscious influence. Kevin is the author of 15 books (including The Psychology of Persuasion, a MUST read), and he teaches persuasion and influence skills to business and government leaders around the world.

If this interview could show you how to create the life you desired, adopt the mindset of the wealthy, and literally give you a step-by-step map to manifest your life filled with abundance — would you be interested? Then watch your mailbox, because your package will be arriving soon.

Here’s some of what you’ll learn:

- The relationship between psychology and wealth

- What prevents people from achieving financial freedom

- Why your struggle to achieve wealth has nothing to do with the mortgage crisis, or the domestic auto industry, or runaway costs of major expenses like education and healthcare

- The secret to wealth accumulation

- What steps you must take now to achieve financial independence

Here’s an excerpt from our interview:

“The second piece is that people who build and accumulate wealth have a totally opposite way of dealing with post failure, post rejection. It is simple; people who are going to stay in that middle class or in the lower classes of income they do this; they start a business in niche A after they have researched it they found out that this is a really good niche to be in, a good place to be, this is going to be valuable and then all of a sudden they start the business. The business fails and they give up and then they go 90 degrees around the circle and they go try something else. So instead of having a brick and mortar store on the corner which they had researched and done all the demographic research and all that kind of stuff; now they are going to try something on the internet. The guy who is on the internet doing one thing tries a totally different other thing. What happens because people have a steep educational curve that often has to happen is they fail because they go from point to point to point. But the wealthy people, they fail at the pizza business and then they open up a new pizza store. They fail at that one and then they open up a new one and the second one, the third one, the fourth one is what connects, is what hits. So the person who is wealthy goes in a straight line where the person who ends up not wealthy, who does not accumulate any wealth and I am talking about even a quarter of a million dollars in an IRA or $100,000 in an IRA, they tend to bounce around. They don’t ever even have a single focus. It takes a few focuses to be securely wealthy. You have to have at least one focus to start and most people will just try stuff and then they will retire from the project as soon as it fails and go that is it. This didn’t work so I will go do something completely different.”

——————————–

Not yet a Success Circle Member?

Not receiving the Success Circle Interview Series in your mailbox each month?

That’s easy to fix. And you can even test drive two FREE months…starting with the Kevin Hogan interview!

Click here for all the details:

http://www.successcirclemonthly.com

                   

One of the keys to Working Less, Making More is focus. Today, I want you to focus on your three highest value activities. For now, forget the other stuff.