If any part of your business involves negotiations or sales, it is vital that you learn to close the deal. Learning the principle of closing the sale is important for any entrepreneur.  This is true whether sales are your primary business function, or just one task that you do – perhaps even reluctantly.  For either group, the sales process can be made easier by learning the principle of closing the sale.

Most businesses involve sales, but in many of those businesses they are not the primary function.  Instead these entrepreneurs often focus on other tasks throughout the bulk of their day.  They might be a writer or a tradesperson.  Imagine a cabinet maker who starts her own business.  She spends most of her day making cabinets.  She is great at it.  But, in order to make any money, she needs to make some sales.  So sales, while not her primary activity, are vital for her success.

The good news for our cabinet maker, and for entrepreneurs of all types, is that the principle of closing the sale is simple.  It is not a complicated formula, or something that is left for professionals.  Anyone can do it.  Here’s the principle:

ASK FOR THE SALE

That’s it.  It’s that simple. One of the biggest mistakes made in sales, in fact one of the biggest mistakes made by people in business is not taking the initiative to close the sale. While even seasoned sales people can struggle with this issue from time to time, it is most noticeable in people who only make sales once in a while.

You can’t expect the prospect to take initiative in making the purchase, you need to ask for the sale.  People who are not experienced in sales, often view the sales process as a self-serve retail store. In self-serve retail, the customer comes in to the store, picks what he wants off the shelf, and goes to the cashier.  Unfortunately, in most entrepreneurial endeavors it doesn’t work that way. If you are waiting for people to ASK to purchase, you will be missing out on a lot of business.  Instead, you need to ask for the sale.

Thankfully, there are some simple steps that make this easier.

1. Ask open ended questions

Open ended questions are questions that do not have a yes or no answer. They are questions that you can ask to get your prospect talking and get them articulating what they are looking for.  For our cabinet maker, some examples might be: “What would your dream cabinets look like?” or “If money was no object, what would you want to do in your kitchen?”  This helps the entrepreneur to know what the prospect is really thinking.

2. Ask alternative questions (other than yes/no)

Alternative questions are questions that have two or more alternative answers.  Examples here might be: “Are you looking for delivery this month or next?” or “Do you prefer design A or design B?”  This continues to help narrow down what the customer is looking for.

3. Ask the close question, based on the previous answers

Your close question will often be a yes/no question, but by now you should know enough about your prospect to direct the question to what they have already said. For example, our cabinet maker might take the previous answers she has received and create a question like this, “So, if I am able to complete your kitchen using design A by your deadline date, do we have a deal?”  Then wait.  Wait for the answer. If there is dead air, you need to wait.  Let them think.  Wait until they answer, and then move forward.

4. When they appear ready to buy, ask!

Too often entrepreneurs will be so passionate about their product or service that they will keep going on and on and on well after the person they are speaking with has decided to purchase.  The risk then becomes that you will lose the sale.  So make sure you are aware, and when they appear ready to buy – ask!

You need to plan ahead.

Take some time and write up some questions that you can ask.  Think through your business, and write out what some questions for each step would look like.  Practice these questions so you are prepared to ask them of your clients.  Then follow the principle of the sale – and ASK FOR THE SALE!

Written by:
Danny Gamache – The Success Professor

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A little over a year ago I shared a list of my top 10 podcasts.  The list has become one of the most popular posts on this site.  Over that time some of the podcasts have gotten better, some have gotten worse, and a few have basically disappeared.  On top of that, I have discovered a few new podcasts that are excellent. In this article you will find the updated list!

Podcasts are a fantastic way of learning, being inspired, and for personal growth. They are audio presentations that you download and are able to listen to at your convenience, whether on iTunes or on an iPod (or other Mp3 player).  If you don’t currently listen to any podcasts the first step is to download iTunes.  After subscribing to podcasts, such as the ones listed below, iTunes will automatically download any recent episodes every time you open the program.  I listen to some podcasts directly on my computer and download others to my iPod.

Each of these podcasts can be found by searching for the title in the iTunes store, or by subscribing at the webpage linked to in the title of each podcast.

1. The Daily Boost

This is a powerful motivation podcast from motivationtomove.com. The free podcast is generally a once a week motivating message, that comes out of their daily podcast service for “premium” members.

The message is short, about 10 minutes a day, and provides a powerful personal development tip that motivates you to move forward.  You may consider upgrading to the paid premium membership, the podcasts are that good!  At least check out the free version.

http://www.podanza.com/podcast/the-daily-boost/1f69ac3b897e89089c4df741388ef093/

2. Inspiring Words of Encouragement – Zig Ziglar

Motivational expert Zig Ziglar offers this excellent podcast.  The subject list is diverse within the framework of living a positive life.  Past episodes include tips on success, lessons for salespeople, and even parenting advice.

This podcast is updated every two weeks, and I never fail to be encouraged, inspired, and to learn every episode.  The full archives are available for download also, giving you lots of powerful motivational material.

http://www.podanza.com/podcast/inspiring-words-of-encouragement/45e6042b3698d45c9a06ff1686a395ac/

3. Mosaic – A Community of Faith, Love & Hope

One of two churches that make the list.  I hesitate to call it a church.   Partly because it meets in a night club, and partly because it is nothing like most churches you may have experiences with.

Pastor Erwin McManus is an amazing communicator of God’s word.  He does it in a way that communicates the true message of Jesus.  He speaks of important personal development topics such as work, relationships and money.  Be sure to make your way into the archives of past messages.  My favorite messages that I recommend you check out are entitled, “Fear”, “Work”, and “Everyone Gave”.

http://www.mosaic.org/podcast/

4. Duct Tape Marketing Podcast

John Jantsch, author of the book Duct Tape Marketing, hosts this excellent podcast filled with interviews of marketing experts and entrepreneurs.  It is always informative and helps to keep up to date with trends in the world of marketing, particularly social media and new marketing. These podcasts come approximately once a week and there is a fantastic archive of previous episodes.

http://www.ducttapemarketing.com/podcast.php

5. Harvard Business Review Ideacast

This weekly podcast from the editors of Harvard Business Review shares interviews with the author of an article in the current issues of the Harvard Business Review.  Listening to this podcast allows you to hear about import research in the world of business and get application ideas directly from the author.

http://www.hbsp.harvard.edu/b01/en/hbr/hbr_ideacast.jhtml

6. Help My Business Sucks *video podcast*

This is the only video podcast on my list.  I am not usually as much of a fan of video podcasts because I prefer to listen to podcasts while walking to work or driving.  In spite of that this video podcast is worth subscribing to.  I let a few weeks accumulate at a time and then watch through them during a workout.

This podcast is done by Andrew Lock and focuses on marketing for the small business owner and entrepreneur.  It is an excellently produced piece that includes several different segments in each week’s episode.  The idea is that all decisions an organization makes needs to be tied to marketing.  Lock frequently repeats his theme, “Everything is marketing, and marketing is everything.”

http://helpmybusiness.com/

7. Andy Stanley Leadership Podcast

This is a monthly leadership training podcast by leadership expert, author and pastor Andy Stanley.  While the podcast is actually designed for church leaders it is a valuable resource for anyone trying to grow an organization, especially entrepreneurs.  The current series has been on the topic of vision, and it has discussed how to come up with your vision, state your vision clearly, and communicate it to your organization.

To subscribe visit this site: (it is the third podcast listed)
http://www.northpoint.org/podcasts

8. CBC Radio Vinyl Café

Stuart McLean is a master storyteller.  This podcast of his weekly radio show is a fantastic break from the ordinary as it allows you to listen to a master story teller at work. This podcast is a wonderful break for relaxation and stress reduction.  If you are looking for a personal development angle beyond the rest it is this: listening to Stuart will help you become a better storyteller for all of your presentations.

http://www.cbc.ca/podcasting/index.html?arts#vinylcafe

9. Mars Hill Bible Church

The second church to make my list is Mars Hill Bible Church from Grand Rapids, MI home of pastor and author Rob Bell.  Because of Bell’s travel schedule normally about half of the teachings are from him and half are from other fantastic guest speakers.  Bell teaches the Bible in a way that helps you open your eyes to the uniqueness of who Jesus is and the type of people he calls us to be.  Again, this is not your typical church.

http://marshill.org/teaching/pcast.php

10. Behind the Leader/ Renegade Profile

This podcast is a series of excellent interviews conducted by Jonathan Fields author of Career Renegade.  The podcast consists of interviews with business leaders and entrepreneurs.  The podcast recently switched from “Renegade Profiles” to “Behind the Leader” in order to focus more on established business leaders.  There are plenty of podcasts to listen through in the back catalogue with all sorts of different entrepreneurs.  The interviews Fields conducts are excellent and thorough, many lasting almost an hour. He asks great questions that really help you get an idea of how these leaders and entrepreneurs think.

You’ll need to go to the iTunes store to subscribe, but you can check out a sample episode here:

http://www.jonathanfields.com/blog/behind-the-leader-mullen-cco-edward-boches/

I hope you find a couple of valuable podcasts from this list.  What did I miss?  What is your favorite?  Be sure to share below!

Written by:
The Success Professor – Danny Gamache

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In the personal development and self help work there is a lot of focus on setting and achieving goals.  If you’ve read this blog for any length of time you will know that I am a firm believe in this kind of goal setting.  Unfortunately, one thing that is often missing is celebrating goals that have been achieved. We tend to move from one goal to another. If we do celebrate it is for just a short while before moving on to the next goal. It is important to look back from time to time at what you have achieved.

Reviewing your accomplishments does a lot of things for you:

• reminds you of good things in your life
• helps you focus on positive happy things
• gives you belief that you can really accomplish your goals
• forces you to be thankful about where you have come from
• sparks your imagination about future goals
• inspires you to do it again

You can do a review of your accomplishments at anytime.  Here is how:

1.    Pick a period of time to review. One year is a good starting point, but you could also go shorter (try six months), or a little longer (perhaps three years).

2.    Divide your life into important roles or functional areas. (If you follow my weekly goal setting plan you should already have this done).

3.    Think through the MOST IMPORTANT thing you have accomplished in each area during the specified time period.

4.    Think through other accomplishments that you have achieved that you are proud of.

5.    Don’t forget to include little things. Sometimes little things to you would be big things to others, plus what is little to you know may have been a big thing at some point in the past.

6.    Look at old goals lists so you don’t forget anything.

Once you have done a review make sure you put it somewhere that you can return to it. You want to review your accomplishments from time to time to help you remember the goals that you have achieved.

Lastly, make it an annual tradition. I do an annual review as a part of my New Year goal setting process. You can use my reviews as an example.  Here is my review of 2008 and my review of 2009.

You don’t need to wait until a new year to do this exercise. You can do it anytime. The benefits are worth the time. Before you leave this article, schedule a time to do this exercise. Even taking thirty minutes will go a long way.

Written by:
Danny Gamache – The Success Professor

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Ok, so now Danny must really be going crazy you think. Isn’t gravity what holds us to the earth? Isn’t that a good thing? Well yes, and no.  Yes it is good that we have gravity to keep us from floating off into outer space, but don’t you ever have times that you wish you could just defy the law of gravity and fly. I mean really fly! Fly above the beautiful earth we live on; fly through the valleys and over the amazing mountains. You would marvel at the beauty of creation and you would be away from all the struggles of life!

The same applies to you as you pursue your goals. If you want to FLY you need to break the law of gravity. The law of gravity I’m talking about here is the gravity that comes from negative people and things that are trying to hold you where you are at. They are trying to keep your feet on the ground and keep you were you are now– they are your gravity! There are several types of gravity to avoid: the negative family member or friend; the gravity of negative self image; and the gravity of life’s distractions.

The first type of gravity often comes from a negative friend or family member. This person is likely very well meaning, in fact the likely want the best for you. The problem is they usually want their best for you – not what you might know as best.  They are likely trained in the 40/40/40 mindset. That is the 40 hours a week, 40 weeks a year for 40 years – and boom you get to retire! They don’t mind the idea of spending 60000 hours of your life working for someone else! They don’t really mind having to leave the kids at home while you go to work!

Often the best way to handle this type of gravity is to prove them wrong – as Nike says, “Just Do It!” When they see you start to have the success you’ve dreamed about often this person will come around. If it is your spouse sometimes you will have to be a little more patient. It might be worth asking him or her for permission to give the your goal one-year, or at least six solid months of effort. There will be sacrifices in working towards your dream, and getting permission to make those sacrifices for a one-year period can often give you the time you will need to prove that the goal is worthwhile.

The next form of gravity that can prevent you from seeing success in life is a negative self-image. Not believing in yourself can actually be the biggest form of gravity you will face. I believe the first important step here is to realize that your negative beliefs in yourself are irrational and are going to hinder you from success. Choose NOT to believe those negative thoughts. Make a DECISION to move past it.

There are a few practical steps that can help you: First off, listen to positive motivation and self-improvement tapes and read similar books (see my top books choice here and my top podcasts choice here). These can really make a difference. Secondly, don’t compare yourself with the top performers. A golfer who is used to shooting in the 80’s does not compare himself with Tiger Woods – that would only be more discouraging. Instead he or she tries to beat their personal best. They can still make it all the way around the course (which is a success in itself), and they can still try to do better and better. If that same golfer shoots a 78, they have an even bigger success. A lot of times when I am coaching people towards a goal they get disappointed if they don’t immediately see success.  You should look for continuous improvement towards your goal, not necessarily getting there day one.

A third form of gravity that can hold you down and keep you from really soaring are the distractions of life. Everyone has them. The number of things we have to keep us busy naturally expand to the amount of time we have. There is no such thing as spare time – in my experiences it doesn’t exist. So the key is as Stephen Covey says, put “First Things First”. First things naturally need to include your faith, your family and perhaps you job. Immediately following those things, I suggest that you give your primary goal a high priority. Finally the idea of ‘First Things First’, can also be applied WITHIN the goal you are focused on. Know what activities are critical in moving you forward, and then focus on those activities. Do not focus on things that will not provide you with results.

What is the gravity that is holding you down? What is keeping you from soaring to new heights and reaching your goals? Is it one of the examples listed here? Is it something else? Whatever it is, the key is to realize what is holding you down and break past it. Make a decision today that nothing will hold you down from reaching your goals and do whatever it takes to move past the Gravity, and soar!

Written by:
The Success Professor – Danny Gamache

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Every second Sunday, I share some of the best articles that I have come across in the past two weeks.  Here are some great articles that I hope will be helpful to you:

1. Tim Brownson has a guest post on AlexShalman.com detailing “12 Transformational Life Coaching Tricks“.

2. Read about “Six Ways to be More Followable” on Twitter, from the Hello My Name is Blog!

3. Gary Vaynerchuk has a great video post reminding us to spend time with people we know and want to do business with.

4. Michael Hyatt shares “Five Ways to Energize Your Team“.

5. Finally, Mark & Angel Hack Life shares “40 Modern Non Fiction Books Everyone Should Read.”

Elsewhere on the web:

A guest post I wrote at DUMB LITTLE MAN, “Top 10 Tips for Maintaining a Positive Attitude“, is getting a lot of attention.

On my other blog, I just finished a series on Leadership Lessons from the Life of Joseph (Part 1, Part 2, Part 3).
I hope you have a great week!

Danny Gamache – The Success Professor

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Imagine that you take the top archery expert in the world out to the archery range. This person has won Olympic gold medals and countless other competitions. You get out to the range and you take this expert to the firing line. You then pull out a blindfold and place it on the expert, spin the expert around several times, and have him take his shot. You don’t point him towards the target, or offer any guidance. How likely is he to hit the target, not to mention the bulls-eye? He is not very likely to hit anything, of course.

Now imagine that instead of blindfolding the archery expert, you take him out to the range on a very foggy day. It is impossible to see the targets in the distance. In fact you can only see a few feet forward. This time the expert is able to stand at the shooting line and aim in the direction that the targets are. He is not able to see exactly where they are, or how far away they are. How likely is he to hit the target? The bulls-eye? Certainly he is more likely to hit something than when he shot in a random direction, now at least he is aiming the right way. Of course, it is still very unlikely that he will hit the target or bulls-eye; at least not very often. He might get lucky once in a while, but that is all it would be – luck.

A third time you take this archery gold medalist to the range. This time there is fog, but not as thick. In the distance you can see the stand that the target is on. You can’t see the target exactly, but you know where it is. You certainly can’t see any of the circles on the target, or the bulls-eye. The archery expert steps up to the shooting line and fires. What would you expect this time? Likely the expert would find the target with most of his shots. He may even hit the bulls-eye once or twice, but for the most part he would just be somewhere on the target. Overall, he is getting closer.

A fourth and final time you take the archery champion to the shooting range. This time it is a clear sunny day. There is no fog, and there are no clouds. You did not bring a blindfold along or anything to impede the view of the archer. He takes his time setting up, moves to the line and fires. What would expect now? Naturally he hits the bulls-eye. He fires several arrows all of them hitting the bulls-eye or just off. He is the champion after all!

“You will me 100% of the shots you don’t take” – Wayne Gretzky

This story represents how people pursue and achieve goals. The first example of the blindfolded archer represents the person who has no goals. This person does not have any clear purpose or direction in life. They don’t know where the target is, or what they are really aiming for. Like the archer, they are unlikely to hit anything. They are unlikely to achieve what they really want in life. At some point in life they likely will remove their blindfold and realize that there was a target all along. They just didn’t know where it is. There was something they wanted to achieve in life, they just didn’t know it.

In the second situation the archer was in a deep fog. He knew the direction to the target but that is all. This is the person who has an idea about what they would like in life but have no clarity around the situation. They have not taken the time to think through what their goal or dream really looks like. Like the archer, this person may hit the target once in a while, but when they do it is simply because they got lucky.

The third story is a big step forward. In this case the archer was able to see the outline of the target stand, but target itself was still not clear because of the fog. This represents the person who has a goal, knows their goal, but has never written it down and clarified it. Their goal is only in their mind. As such, they may likely get close to their goal – getting on the target board many times – but they are unlikely to hit the bulls-eye, at least not very often.

The final story then represents the person who has crystal clear clarity about their goal. They know exactly what they want to achieve. Their goals are written, dated and specific. They have a plan in place for achieving it. This person will hit their goals most of the time. Sure, sometimes they will miss by a little, but even then they are at least close to what they were aiming for. They had a clear picture of their goals.

One final part of the story is the archery champion. What does it take to become a champion? To become someone who hits the bulls-eye most of the time? It takes hours and hours of practice, a support team and a motivation to be the best. The same is true for you. If you want to be a champion at reaching your goals, you need to practice. You need to surround yourself with a support team and have the persistence and motivation to keep going even when you face challenges. Then take the shot, and keep on shooting.

“The difference between a big shot and a little shot is that a big shot’s just a little shot that kept on shooting. “- Zig Ziglar

So how clear are your goals? Are you wearing a blindfold shooting aimlessly at a target you aren’t even sure is out there? Are you in a deep fog, only knowing the direction you want to go, but having no real clarity about what you want in life? Are you in a light fog, able to see the goal in your mind, but the clarity that comes from writing it down? Or are you out in the sunlight clearly looking at your target?

If you are anything other than the last person, today is the time to change that. Write down your goals, put a date on them, make them specific, and develop a plan for achieving them. Remove the blindfold, get rid of the fog, and stare down your goals in the bright sunlight that comes with perfect clarity.

Written by
The Success Professor – Danny Gamache
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Are you making progress toward your goals?  Last week we started a series of “check-ups”.  These check-ups are quick questions that help you make sure you making progress in different areas of your life.  The first part of this series was a health and fitness check-up. Today we move to a goal setting and progress check-up.

Once again the questions are all pretty simple.  There are no tips here that you haven’t read before…. But are you doing them?  Do you have your goals in place, and are you doing what you need to in order to move towards those goals? The questions are all YES or NO questions.  If you answer NO then you should make it a priority to complete the project and change your NO to a YES.  If you answer YES to all of these you are likely making significant progress towards your goals.

Question #1 – Do you have a clear understanding of the mission and values that drive your life?

Setting goals is irrelevant if you don’t have clarity about who you are. This means you have a clear understanding about the values that drive you and the overarching mission of your life.

Values are the core beliefs that drive you and guide you. They set the parameters around what you will do and what you won’t do.  They are internal and fixed.  Identifying these values is vital.  If you don’t identify your values you may find yourself inadvertently working against your values; doing this will make you miserable.  For example, if one of your true values is family-time, and yet you spend all of your time at work, then even success at work won’t satisfy you.

Your mission stems out of your values; it is what you are meant to do, or who you are meant to be. Your mission can be broad and yet focused; broad enough that you have lots of ways of living it out, but narrow enough that you have a clear purpose and direction.

Question #2 – Do you have your long-term goals written down?

Long-term goals stem directly out of your mission; they reflect where you want to be, have or do in the distant future.  Some of these long-term goals may be ten or twenty years down, and others might be thirty or forty years. For example, if you are thirty you may have a long-term goal of retiring comfortably at sixty.  This would be a long-term goal.  You need to write this down and clearly define what “retiring comfortably” means.  Another example might be that you want your business to do $100 million in sales.  This might take ten years to complete, but it’s a clear goal that you want to achieve.

Any goals you have need to be written, dated, and specific. This is true, even for your long-term goals. You will likely have several long-term goals.  One way to think through and determine your long-term goals is to imagine what your ideal day would be like at some date in the future.  Write out what you would have, do and be at some date in your future.

Question #3 – Do you have shot-term goals for the next three-five years?

The next step of goal setting is to have short-term goals for three to five years out.  These are often a lot more clear and vivid.  Naturally, most of these short-term goals will be direct steps to help you achieve your long-term goals.  In essence, the short-term goals are the next major steps that you are working on. Make sure they are challenging goals that will advance your life in significant ways.

Question #4 – Do you have current goals for the next three to four months?

Likely the most important goals to have clearly defined are your current goals.  Current goals can be anything from one year goals to one month goals.  I recommend quarterly goals as the best option. Three months is a great length of time for you to focus on a few projects and goals.

Remember that these current goals can just be steps towards your short-term and long-term goals.  By breaking down the longer goals into more basic projects you will be more focused and motivated to see success.  You might not be able to see a lot of progress towards a long-term goal, but if you break it down to immediate goals of three or four months long you can be encouraged as you see daily progress.

Question #5 – Do you take your immediate goals and divide them into weekly goals?

The final step of breaking down your goals is to have weekly goals that build towards your immediate goals.  Your weekly goals can be set as a part of a weekly review time that you schedule each week.  This is where you can examine your accomplishments from the previous week, review your immediate goals and set new goals for the following week.  I follow my weekly planning process as part of this review process.

Question #6 – Do you have things that remind you goals throughout the day?

You can’t just set goals and forget them.  Ok, you can, but you won’t succeed in achieving them.  Instead you must think of your goals throughout the day on different occasions.  One great way to do this is to have reminders that you will see throughout the day.  These can be things in your home or office that help you to connect to your goals and inspire you to move towards them.

There are a lot of ways to set these kinds of reminders.  Some of my favorites are:

• tape photos of your goals to your mirror
• use a screen saver or desktop photo on your computer
• design a goals poster and place it somewhere you will see it
• put reminders and photos on the fridge
• put notes on a bulletin board

Now that you have your goals clearly set, have a weekly review process in place, and have things to remind you of your goals throughout the week all that is left to do is to work.  Do the activities that you have set out to do.  Get started and go!  Before you know it, your goals and dreams will come true.

Written by:
Danny Gamache – The Success Professor
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I’ve been a dad for one month! Noah is growing and it is fascinating to watch him learn new things.  It’s also been fascinating to watch me learn new things about life, success, and achievement.

1. Work in Bursts

Life has gotten very busy.  Ok, that might be an understatement.  With a schedule that is significantly fuller, that is no longer under my control, and that is fairly unpredictable, the importance of being able to productively work in bursts has increased.

Often breaks between helping with Noah are only 30 or 45 minutes, or even less.  Thankfully this is enough time to work in bursts.  You can get a lot done in a short period of time if you focus in for that time.

Perhaps you are not being interrupted by a baby you need to help with but you likely have many short periods of time throughout the day that you can turn into a burst period. When do you have a burst that you can focus in on?

2. Know Your Priorities

Having a baby has made it more clear how important it is to know your priorities.  You can’t do everything in life, so you have to make decisions about what you do and what you don’t do.  When something gets added to your life, you need to give up some thing else. Too often people keep adding and adding things to their lives until they are juggling more than they can handle.

Clearly caring for Noah has become my new top priority.  That means projects like my affiliate home business, this blog, and other activities need to be selectively neglected for periods of time.  My focus has to be on being a good father and a good husband, because those are my priorities. What are your priorities?

3. Don’t Feel Guilty

One of the biggest challenges for me has been the guilty feeling that comes with this kind of selective neglect of some of these activities.  When life gets busy, it is easy to focus on what you aren’t doing, even if they are lower level priorities.  I’ve had to learn to release these guilty feelings and just do what I can do.  You don’t need to feel guilty about neglecting things that are not priorities. Is there something you feel guilty about not doing, that really isn’t that important anyway?

4. Be Flexible

I’m not known as a flexible individual.   I have a plan and like to stick to it.  One of the biggest changes is that I have learned to be flexible.  Having a plan, but being flexible has many advantages.  It allows you to be consistently making decisions based on your priorities. This way you are doing the things that are most important in the moment, instead of something predetermined in advance.  You will need to learn to make decisions that truly reflect your long-term priorities, but if you are able to do so you will have a much more mission driven life.  Are you flexible and able to make moment by moment decisions based on your priorities?

5. Enjoy the small things

Life is filled with small things. The beautiful day that you get to spend with friends, the family vacation, the rainy day with nothing to do but sit inside and read a book.  Whatever the little things are in your life you need to enjoy them. With a newborn the list of little things grows immensely.  It’s watching my son wake up from a sleep and stretch his little body making himself as long as possible; it’s the many “firsts” that we get to witness; and it’s the ability to lie on the coach and write this article with him sleeping on my chest.  What are the small things in your life?

Hopefully some of these will help you also.  What other lessons have you learned from life changes such as having a child?

Written by:
Danny Gamache
Follow me on Twitter: @Successprof
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