Attract money and everything else you want in the New Year

There is something miraculous about demarcation points, where some things are left behind and new things are on the horizon. 2010 is one of those years where fantastic things are now in the process of becoming a reality – provided you believe they are. This notion may run counter to what we read and hear about in the news. But as the saying goes, what you dwell upon expands. Consequently, if you dwell upon the bad, it becomes larger just as when dwelling upon the good also enlarges. So, if what you think about is your lack of love, money, or a great career, guess what? You will continue to attract more lack of love, money, or a great career. Want to attract love, money, or a great career? Then you must think about how one or all of the things you want are currently being drawn to you. Keep that thought in your mind. Banish, completely, any thoughts that bad things will happen or that something stands in the way of you getting what you want.

In 1963, Dr. Joseph Murphy’s groundbreaking book, The Power of Your Subconscious Mind, offered the timeless secret of how to attract everything you want into your life. Today, this secret still holds true. He wrote:

Whatever thoughts, beliefs, opinions, theories, or dogmas you write, engrave, or impress on your subconscious mind, you shall experience them as objective manifestation of circumstances, conditions, and events. What you write on the inside, you will experience on the outside.

Like me, I am sure you know people who have it all – health, wealth, and happiness. Are they really that much different than you? The answer is: likely not. The only difference, then, is that they expect the best to happen and it does. Remember always: What is written on the inside will be experienced on the outside. You have a choice of what you write on the inside and once you do, your subconscious takes over and makes certain that what you ask for appears. I wrote about this in my last blog but as we enter a new period, it needs to be stressed now more than ever. As you think about what you want, not what you don’t have, you will begin to see miracles. People and things will show up exactly when you need them to have them realize what you envision. It is then especially important that you are careful for what you wish because as you dwell upon something, it will come into realization. Here are some helpful tips for guiding your subconscious mind to attract what you want:

1. Be specific in what you want. If you want a new job, write out exactly what you expect from the new job. The act of writing will help you better formulate the work you want to do and the things you do best. Review it, amend it, and when it reads exactly how you want, spend 3-5 minutes a day envisioning how you feel in your new job (or a living in a new city or home, or being handed that award). Feel it as it is happening.

2. Concern yourself only with the fact that everything is currently coming into alignment to produce the results you want. Do not worry about the details as to how it will come to be but dwell only on the fact that what you want will be.

3. Pay close attention to chance meetings, a statement someone makes, or something you read or hear about. These are opportunities that are leading you in the direction of your desires.

We are the brink of a new year and a new era. You have, at this very moment, the power to attract what you want into your life. When you allow your subconscious mind to do the heavy lifting in your life, you will begin to see the miracle that is your life.

Happy New Year, everyone!

Your resume stinks and other things that keep you from getting what you want.

We’ve all heard the cliché, competition is fierce. When it comes to this job market, it may feel as though this really is true. But is it really that competitive out there or are you not stepping up to you’re A-game when going after what you want?

Try this cliché on for size: Cream always rises to the top.

I can’t tell you the number of cover letters and resumes I’ve received over the years that did nothing to compel me to read beyond their “objective”. Quite frankly, I already knew their objective was to get a job when they sent me the resume in the first place so reiterating this at the start is just a time waster. Beyond this, it was the tedious and painful reliving of every copy they ever made, phone call they ever placed, or report they ever wrote (three to five times over when working at multiple companies) that had me toss their resume aside in favor of a resume that would tell me what its author could do for my organization. Sometimes I was successful in my search and other times, not.

Competition will always exist – in good times as well as bad. That’s not the issue. The problem is that too many people believe that what worked for them when companies needed to hire warm bodies is the same thing that will work when real competition exists. A Google search of the term “resumes” produced more 5 million sites. It is not that information on how to write a resume is scarce; it’s that, for the most part, many job hunters simply don’t want to do what it takes to rise above the crowd. In plain English, their resumes stink. They are poorly planned and executed. Their cover letters, if they bother to write one at all, is littered with irrelevant verbiage. It tells the hiring company nothing about why they are the best person for the job. When you commit these job hunting sins, do you really have the right to complain about the employment situation?

The underlying issue is that some people just don’t want to do the work it takes to get what they want because it is hard. Spending several hours, days, weeks, and months writing, editing, and rewriting a resume for a specific job is tiresome; so it is with cover letters. But the people who invest – yes, ‘invest’ – the time it takes to write a moving resume and cover letters are often the ones who receive the call back for an interview. Not so coincidentally, they are also the ones who receive the job offers – even in bad times.

Can’t string together a sentence? Then get professional help. Just as you might not change out a carburetor on your car without the requisite knowledge, if you don’t know what you’re doing with your resume, hire someone who does. Forgo the movies, dinner out, or whatever it takes to hire the people necessary to whip that document into shape.

And, while we’re at it, take a course to brush up on skills that are non-existent or may be rusty. I believe it is de rigueur these days for hiring companies to ask that candidates have computer skills. You may think you are beyond this, what with your plethora of other skills and experience, but if they want Excel experience, give them Excel experience. Take a class.

I have seen some downright bad resumes in my time. I often wondered if the candidate would have had a better chance at getting an interview if just sending their name and phone number. A poorly written resume told me about their lack of attention to detail, that they were unable to effectively communicate, and, most importantly, they didn’t care enough about the opportunity to go the extra mile to get it. They would almost certainly bring that same attitude to the workplace.

This is not a job hunt tactic but a life philosophy. Do what you do better and more consistently than anyone else and you will find success.

Two secrets to getting what you want

Some years ago, I started AdQuick, a printing and advertising company in Franklin, TN. In the production area was a white board where I had listed each month’s sales goals. As the month progressed, I marked where we were in relation to the goal.

A funny thing happened each month – we hit or exceeded each sales goal. There wasn’t a single month when this did not happen. Reflecting upon this and other similar situations that involved goal setting, each time I set a goal, the goal was achieved. Dissecting these occurrences, I found a couple of things:

1. At their foundation was a plan.
2. When focusing on a goal, actions, thoughts, and behavior align to make for better decisions and greater creativity that move you toward your goal.

For the first discovery, people who achieve what they want usually have a plan. As a sales professional, over the years I have worked with really good, really bad, and mediocre reps. Aside from the expected personality traits of a good sales rep, such as charisma, diligence, and having a real interest and understanding of what they were selling, the really good sales rep also did a lot of planning. Each day, at the start, they knew exactly what they hoped to accomplish and structured their time so they would accomplish their goals. Thus, superstar sales reps are never surprised by their success.

Conversely, mediocre and not so good reps usually do not invest much time in planning. Time is their enemy and they float through the day reacting instead of acting. For me, there is not a day I do not conclude with a to-do list for the following day. This helps me prioritize and focus my efforts so I can keep moving forward. And I am not exempt from crisis. But once the crisis has passed, I return to my plan. Think of it as taking a car trip from New York to California. Half-way to your destination, along your charted path, your car breaks down in Nebraska. You wouldn’t put down roots in Nebraska, would you?

The second discovery is a little bit more mystical in how it happens but is, nonetheless, very real. It works much as a laser does, in that a single-minded focus on achieving a goal channels your energy so that you plan more effectively, come up with brilliant solutions, or has you say just the right thing at just the right time, among a bunch of other amazing things. It is also infectious and rallies others in your life or organization that, in turns, has them coming up with just the right solution to help in attaining the goal. Great salespeople and sales teams know these two secrets and you can put this same magic to work for you in crafting the exact career you want.

One simple strategy to achieve what you want

What if I told you that you could accomplish anything you wanted? Would you believe me?

OK, here’s a challenge for you: Think of something you want to accomplish. For the next five minutes, think of all the ways you can accomplish it and write them down. Not a single solution is off-limits.

For example, say you want a different career. Start by writing:

1. Research what it takes to have that career.
2. Assess current skills and knowledge to determine if a starting point already exists.
3. If so, re-write resume to reflect skills and knowledge to pursue that career.
4. If there are no required skills and knowledge, acquire necessary education.
5. Research schools or programs to get that education.
6. Ask people who already have that career what they did to achieve it.
7. Peruse job listings in that field.
8. Hire a coach to keep you focused on your goal.
9. Apply for jobs in that field.
10. Ask an organization to allow you to spend a “day-in-the-life” in that career.
11. Get up 30 minutes earlier each day to spend time researching.
12. Become an intern in the desired field.
13. Email everyone you know and ask for advice on how to get where you want to go.

I admit I only spent 3 minutes coming up with these action items but even at that, I came up with 13 ways to start moving in the direction of obtaining a new career. And none of them appear impossible to do, do they? Notice, too, there isn’t a single obstacle. This is a major point and I will let you in on a little but incredibly powerful secret as to why not a single roadblock was introduced in this list:

Your mind cannot hold opposing thoughts at the same time.

If you’re busy focusing on how to accomplish something, you cannot simultaneously be focusing on how not to accomplish something. Put another way, if I am thinking about how to prepare chicken for dinner, I cannot, at the same time, be thinking of how to barbeque ribs. Therein lies the difference between people who get what they want and those who do not. They simply program their minds to think of solutions instead of obstacles.

Now, go write your list.