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Introduction

“If you don’t make a total commitment to whatever you’re doing, then start to bail out the first time the boat starts leaking.” (Lou Holtz)

T housands of the most successful men and women in every field have been studied exhaustively over the years. They have been interviewed at great length, as have their

colleagues, teachers, friends and family members. In every case, researchers have been looking for the reasons why some people accomplish so much more than others, given the same opportunities, abilities, education and talents.

The average person uses less than 10% of his or her potential. Men and women who accomplish extraordinary things are not necessarily extraordinary people. They are simply people who have learned how to get far, far more out of themselves in achieving their goals and enjoying their lives.

Sometimes, one idea is all you need to change the direction of your life. In this lesson, you will learn some of the key thinking tools and strategies practiced by the happiest and most successful people in every area of life. By practicing some of these ideas, you can dramatically improve the quality and quantity of what you do and accomplish.

In this lesson you will learn:

■ The Winning Edge Theory of success

■ To identify the critical success factors of your job

■ How to develop a bias for action

■ To dedicate yourself to continuous personal development

Sales ManagerGrowth StrategiesBy Brian Tracy

ThePursuitofPersonalExcellence

2© Brian Tracy. All rights reserved. The contents, or parts thereof, may not be reproduced in any form for any purpose without the written permission of Brian Tracy.

What Do You Already Know?

Test your knowledge by attempting to answer the questions below.

1. In what areas of your work could small differences in ability translate into large differences in results?

__________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________

2. What are the critical success factors of your current job?

__________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________

3. What is your major definite purpose in life right now?

__________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________

4. If you were the president of your own company for a day, what one change would you make immediately?

__________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________

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5. What one skill, if you developed it, would have the greatest positive impact on your career?

__________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________

6. What is the key to developing courage and self-confidence?

__________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________

7. Why is it important that you associate with positive, upbeat people?

__________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________

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The Pursuit of Personal Excellence

You have within you, right now, tremendous reserve potential that you have never even come close to using.

The average person uses only 10% of their potential for effectiveness, probably closer to 2%.

1. One of the most important principles of the 20th century is called the Winning Edge Concept.

1) Small differences in ability equate to large differences in results.

2) Companies that do small things in an excellent way often achieve extraordinary market results.

3) Successful people are just about 3% better in the critical areas that make a difference in the minds of their customers and in the performance of their work.

4) Identifying your winning edges and establishing a marginal difference from your competitor can change your whole life.

2. One of the breakthrough concepts of the 20th and 21st century is the identification of Critical Success Factors.

1) There are no more than 5 to 7 critical success factors in any job that you absolutely, positively have to do well in order to be successful.

2) Your weakest critical success factor sets the height at which you can use all of your other skills and abilities.

3) Your job is to identify your critical success factors and determine your weakest areas.

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4) Ask yourself, “What one skill, if I developed it and did it in an excellent fashion, would have the greatest positive impact on my future?”

5) Everything counts! The mark of the superior executive is that he doesn’t take anything for granted.

3. The key to achieving professional excellence is to for you to decide exactly what you want.

1) What are your personal and family goals?

2) What are your career and financial goals?

3) What are your personal and professional development goals?

4) What is your major definite purpose?

4. Accept 100% responsibility for your life, and for the achievement of any goal you set for yourself.

1) See yourself as where you are and what you are because of yourself.

2) See yourself as self-employed, as the president of your own personal and professional services corporation.

3) You are where you are and what you are because of your own choices and decisions.

4) The key to accepting responsibility is no excuses, no blaming, no complaining, and no criticizing.

5) Never complain, never explain. It just makes you look weak and ineffective.

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5. An essential key to personal performance is for you to commit to excellence – be the best!

1) What one skill, if you did it in an excellent fashion, would have the greatest positive impact on your life?

2) Excellent performance is the rung on the ladder to high achievement.

3) High performance comes from doing everything you do in an excellent fashion, one step at a time.

4) Work on getting a little better every single day.

6. Develop courage and self-confidence.

1) Fear is the greatest single obstacle to success.

2) The great discovery in psychology? Everyone is afraid!

3) What’s the difference between the brave person and the coward? The brave person feels the fear but does it anyway.

4) Make a habit of doing the things you fear.

5) Develop the habit of confronting your fears.

6) Act as if it were impossible to fail!

7. Be impeccably honest with yourself and others.

1) Integrity is the foundation of character; the most demanded and respected quality of leadership.

2) Be perfectly honest with yourself.

3) Live in truth with others.

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4) Get a reputation for absolute truthfulness.

8. Get around the right people; get around positive people.

1) Your choice of a “reference group” can make or break you.

2) If you want to fly with the eagles, don’t scratch with the turkeys.

3) Get away from negative or toxic people.

9. Learn to speak on your feet.

1) Public speaking is a learnable skill that can help you in your career and your life more than you can imagine.

2) Join your local chapter of Toastmasters.

3) Take a Dale Carnegie course in public relations.

10. Dress for success. Your image is very important in determining how people perceive you, accept you, treat you, help you and support you.

1) People judge you by the way you look on the outside.

2) 95% of the first impression you make on other people is your clothes.

3) Buy and read at least one good book on how to dress for success in business.

4) Always dress for the job you want, not the job you have.

5) Pay special attention to your grooming, to your hair, face, fingernails, shoes and other aspects of your appearance.

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11 Dedicate yourself to continuous personal and professional development.

1) Read one hour per day in your field.

2) Listen to audio programs in your car.

3) Take all the training you can get.

12 Commit yourself to hard, hard work.

1) Working hard will bring you to the attention of key people faster than anything else.

2) Start a little earlier, stay a little later and work a little harder.

3) Concentrate single-mindedly on your most important tasks.

4) Work all the time you work!

13 Develop a bias for action.

1) Do it, fix it, try it, get on with it!

2) Develop a sense of urgency. Do it now!

3) The faster you move, the more energy you have, the more you get done, the better you feel, and the better you get at your job.

Action orientation is the key quality of successful people. Resolve to persist until you succeed. Once you get started, never, never give up.

You have extraordinary potential that you have not yet begun to use. Your job, your goal in life, is to become everything you are capable of becoming, to become the very best you can be. There are no limits on what you can accomplish except for the limits you place on yourself.

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Action Exercises

1. List three areas where small differences in ability or performance can translate into major differences in your results:

1. ________________________________________________________________

2. ________________________________________________________________

3. ________________________________________________________________

2. What are the critical success factors of your job? What do you absolutely, positively have to do in an excellent fashion to be successful?

1. ________________________________________________________________

2. ________________________________________________________________

3. ________________________________________________________________

3. What specific skills could you develop, that if you did them in an excellent fashion, would have the greatest positive impact on your career?

1. ________________________________________________________________

2. ________________________________________________________________

3. ________________________________________________________________

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4. What are your specific career goals? Where do you want to be in 3 to 5 years?

1. ________________________________________________________________

2. ________________________________________________________________

3. ________________________________________________________________

5. You are where you are and what you are because of your own choices and decisions. What new choices and decisions should you be making?

1. ________________________________________________________________

2. ________________________________________________________________

3. ________________________________________________________________

6. What are the major fears in your life and work that could be holding you back from performing at your best?

1. ________________________________________________________________

2. ________________________________________________________________

3. ________________________________________________________________

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7. What three things would you do differently today if you were absolutely guaranteed of success in each of them?

1. ________________________________________________________________

2. ________________________________________________________________

3. ________________________________________________________________

8. What are the three qualities of the most effective people in your work and personal life?

1. ________________________________________________________________

2. ________________________________________________________________

3. ________________________________________________________________

9. What specific things could you do to improve your personal appearance and image?

1. ________________________________________________________________

2. ________________________________________________________________

3. ________________________________________________________________

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What one action are you going to take immediately as a result of what you have learned in this lesson?

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