Below is a system that was shared with me early on in my own personal development journey. It is a simple yet powerful method to turn dreams into goals and goals into reality.

The S.M.A.R.T. goal system is a proven method of defining and developing goals. Use these guidelines to identify and write your goals.

• S – Specific – Identify your precise why, what you are passionate about. It may be financial, spiritual, health, material, etc. For example, if your goal is financial, what exact amounts do you want to earn and, most importantly, what it will provide? If your goal has to do with weight reduction, how much do you wish to take off and what size you will wear? If you’re goal is to buy a car–know the color, make, model, options and all the details of the exact car you want. Take time to visualize having achieved what you desire. How do you feel now that you have achieved your goal? Become emotionally involved with the result.
• M – Measurable – Identify your marker–how will you know you are moving in the right direction? Your goal must be measurable. Saying “I want to be out of debt” definitely isn’t going to get you the results you desire.  Saying, “I will earn $50K by December 1, 2012″ is far more positive. The result, of course, will be that you are out of debt as well.
• A – Attainable – You must believe that you are able to achieve your goal. It may seem somewhat unrealistic to you now, but it shouldn’t seem insurmountable.
• R – Relevant – Your goal should be something you are passionate about–you should be emotionally involved with your goal. If you are married or have a partner, each person should have his or her own goals-ones that are personal to you that you desire to achieve.
• T – Time-tableable – Your goals should have an expected date of completion. This is usually an educated guess. Keep in mind that work expands to fill the time allowed for it!

Once you have set your goals using the S.M.A.R.T. goal system, spend time daily reflecting on them. Write them onto your goal cards and carry them with you everywhere. Identify what actions are necessary to take on a daily and weekly basis to achieve your goals. In addition, identify what actions you currently are taking that are NOT in alignment with achieving your goals (ex: TV). Follow through with consistent, focused action. When you have goals you are emotionally involved with and are passionate about, taking action will be easy.

The elevate Life Achievement Program recommends setting short term, medium term and long-term goals. Follow the directions and exercises in the elevate Life Achievement Program to develop and write-out your goals. With a clear purpose, defined goals and focused action, the results are already yours!

The Strangest Secret by Earl Nightingale

Some years ago, the late Nobel prize-winning Dr. Albert Schweitzer was asked by a reporter, “Doctor, what’s wrong with men today?” The great doctor was silent a moment, and then he said, “Men simply don’t think!”
It’s about this that I want to talk with you. We live today in a golden age. This is an era that humanity has looked forward to, dreamed of, and worked toward for thousands of years. We live in the richest era that ever existed on the face of the earth … a land of abundant opportunity for everyone.

However, if you take 100 individuals who start even at the age of 25, do you have any idea what will happen to those men and women by the time they’re 65? These 100 people believe they’re going to be successful. They are eager toward life, there is a certain sparkle in their eye, an erectness to their carriage, and life seems like a pretty interesting adventure to them.

But by the time they’re 65, only one will be rich, four will be financially independent, five will still be working, and 54 will be broke — depending on others for life’s necessities.

Only five out of 100 make the grade! Why do so many fail? What has happened to the sparkle that was there when they were 25? What has become of the dreams, the hopes, the plans … and why is there such a large disparity between what these people intended to do and what they actually accomplished?

THE DEFINITION OF SUCCESS

First, we have to define success and here is the best definition I’ve ever been able to find: “Success is the progressive realization of a worthy ideal.”

A success is the school teacher who is teaching because that’s what he or she wants to do. A success is the entrepreneur who start his own company because that was his dream — that’s what he wanted to do. A success is the salesperson who wants to become the best salesperson in his or her company and sets forth on the pursuit of that goal.

A success is anyone who is realizing a worthy predetermined ideal, because that’s what he or she decided to do … deliberately. But only one out of 20 does that! The rest are “failures.”

Rollo May, the distinguished psychiatrist, wrote a wonderful book called Man’s Search for Himself, and in this book he says: “The opposite of courage in our society is not cowardice … it is conformity.” And there you have the reason for so many failures. Conformity — people acting like everyone else, without knowing why or where they are going.

We learn to read by the time we’re seven. We learn to make a living by the time we’re 30. Often by that time we’re not only making a living, we’re supporting a family. And yet by the time we’re 65, we haven’t learned how to become financially independent in the richest land that has ever been known. Why? We conform! Most of us are acting like the wrong percentage group — the 95 who don’t succeed.

GOALS

Have you ever wondered why so many people work so hard and honestly without ever achieving anything in particular, and why others don’t seem to work hard, yet seem to get everything? They seem to have the “magic touch.” You’ve heard people say, “Everything he touches turns to gold.” Have you ever noticed that a person who becomes successful tends to continue to become more successful? And, on the other hand, have you noticed how someone who’s a failure tends to continue to fail?

The difference is goals. People with goals succeed because they know where they’re going. It’s that simple. Failures, on the other hand, believe that their lives are shaped by circumstances … by things that happen to them … by exterior forces.

Think of a ship with the complete voyage mapped out and planned. The captain and crew know exactly where the ship is going and how long it will take — it has a definite goal. And 9,999 times out of 10,000, it will get there.

Now let’s take another ship — just like the first — only let’s not put a crew on it, or a captain at the helm. Let’s give it no aiming point, no goal, and no destination. We just start the engines and let it go. I think you’ll agree that if it gets out of the harbor at all, it will either sink or wind up on some deserted beach — a derelict. It can’t go anyplace because it has no destination and no guidance.

It’s the same with a human being. However, the human race is fixed, not to prevent the strong from winning, but to prevent the weak from losing. Society today can be likened to a convoy in time of war. The entire society is slowed down to protect its weakest link, just as the naval convoy has to go at the speed that will permit its slowest vessel to remain in formation.

That’s why it’s so easy to make a living today. It takes no particular brains or talent to make a living and support a family today. We have a plateau of so-called “security.” So, to succeed, all we must do is decide how high above this plateau we want to aim.

Throughout history, the great wise men and teachers, philosophers, and prophets have disagreed with one another on many different things. It is only on this one point that they are in complete and unanimous agreement — the key to success and the key to failure is this:

WE BECOME WHAT WE THINK ABOUT

This is The Strangest Secret! Now, why do I say it’s strange, and why do I call it a secret? Actually, it isn’t a secret at all. It was first promulgated by some of the earliest wise men, and it appears again and again throughout the Bible. But very few people have learned it or understand it. That’s why it’s strange, and why for some equally strange reason it virtually remains a secret.

Marcus Aurelius, the great Roman Emperor, said: “A man’s life is what his thoughts make of it.”
Disraeli said this: “Everything comes if a man will only wait … a human being with a settled purpose must accomplish it, and nothing can resist a will that will stake even existence for its fulfillment.”

William James said: “We need only in cold blood act as if the thing in question were real, and it will become infallibly real by growing into such a connection with our life that it will become real. It will become so knit with habit and emotion that our interests in it will be those which characterize belief.” He continues, ” … only you must, then, really wish these things, and wish them exclusively, and not wish at the same time a hundred other incompatible things just as strongly.”

My old friend Dr. Norman Vincent Peale put it this way: “If you think in negative terms, you will get negative results. If you think in positive terms, you will achieve positive results.” George Bernard Shaw said: “People are always blaming their circumstances for what they are. I don’t believe in circumstances. The people who get on in this world are the people who get up and look for the circumstances they want, and if they can’t find them, make them.”

Well, it’s pretty apparent, isn’t it? We become what we think about. A person who is thinking about a concrete and worthwhile goal is going to reach it, because that’s what he’s thinking about. Conversely, the person who has no goal, who doesn’t know where he’s going, and whose thoughts must therefore be thoughts of confusion, anxiety, fear, and worry will thereby create a life of frustration, fear, anxiety and worry. And if he thinks about nothing … he becomes nothing.

AS YE SOW — SO SHALL YE REAP

The human mind is much like a farmer’s land. The land gives the farmer a choice. He may plant in that land whatever he chooses. The land doesn’t care what is planted. It’s up to the farmer to make the decision. The mind, like the land, will return what you plant, but it doesn’t care what you plant. If the farmer plants too seeds — one a seed of corn, the other nightshade, a deadly poison, waters and takes care of the land, what will happen?

Remember, the land doesn’t care. It will return poison in just as wonderful abundance as it will corn. So up come the two plants — one corn, one poison as it’s written in the Bible, “As ye sow, so shall ye reap.”

The human mind is far more fertile, far more incredible and mysterious than the land, but it works the same way. It doesn’t care what we plant … success … or failure. A concrete, worthwhile goal … or confusion, misunderstanding, fear, anxiety, and so on. But what we plant it must return to us.

The problem is that our mind comes as standard equipment at birth. It’s free. And things that are given to us for nothing, we place little value on. Things that we pay money for, we value.

The paradox is that exactly the reverse is true. Everything that’s really worthwhile in life came to us free — our minds, our souls, our bodies, our hopes, our dreams, our ambitions, our intelligence, our love of family and children and friends and country. All these priceless possessions are free.

But the things that cost us money are actually very cheap and can be replaced at any time. A good man can be completely wiped out and make another fortune. He can do that several times. Even if our home burns down, we can rebuild it. But the things we got for nothing, we can never replace.

Our mind can do any kind of job we assign to it, but generally speaking, we use it for little jobs instead of big ones. So decide now. What is it you want? Plant your goal in your mind. It’s the most important decision you’ll ever make in your entire life.

Do you want to excel at your particular job? Do you want to go places in your company … in your community?

Do you want to get rich? All you have got to do is plant that seed in your mind, care for it, work steadily toward your goal, and it will become a reality.

It not only will, there’s no way that it cannot. You see, that’s a law — like the laws of Sir Isaac Newton, the laws of gravity. If you get on top of a building and jump off, you’ll always go down — you’ll never go up.

And it’s the same with all the other laws of nature. They always work. They’re inflexible. Think about your goal in a relaxed, positive way. Picture yourself in your mind’s eye as having already achieved this goal. See yourself doing the things you will be doing when you have reached your goal.

Every one of us is the sum total of our own thoughts. We are where we are because that’s exactly where we really want or feel we deserve to be — whether we’ll admit that or not. Each of us must live off the fruit of our thoughts in the future, because what you think today and tomorrow — next month and next year — will mold your life and determine your future. You’re guided by your mind.

I remember one time I was driving through eastern Arizona and I saw one of those giant earthmoving machines roaring along the road with what looked like 30 tons of dirt in it — a tremendous, incredible machine — and there was a little man perched way up on top with the wheel in his hands, guiding it. As I drove along I was struck by the similarity of that machine to the human mind. Just suppose you’re sitting at the controls of such a vast source of energy. Are you going to sit back and fold your arms and let it run itself into a ditch? Or are you going to keep both hands firmly on the wheel and control and direct this power to a specific, worthwhile purpose? It’s up to you. You’re in the driver’s seat. You see, the very law that gives us success is a doubleedged sword. We must control our thinking. The same rule that can lead people to lives of success, wealth, happiness, and all the things they ever dreamed of — that very same law can lead them into the gutter. It’s all in how they use it … for good or for bad. That is The Strangest Secret!

Do what the experts since the dawn of recorded history have told us to do: pay the price, by becoming the person you want to become. It’s not nearly as difficult as living unsuccessfully.

The moment you decide on a goal to work toward, you’re immediately a successful person — you are then in that rare group of people who know where they’re going. Out of every hundred people, you belong to the top five. Don’t concern yourself too much with how you are going to achieve your goal — leave that completely to a power greater than yourself. All you have to do is know where you’re going. The answers will come to you of their own accord, and at the right time.

Start today. You have nothing to lose — but you have your whole life to win.

30-DAY ACTION IDEAS FOR PUTTING THE STRANGEST SECRET TO WORK FOR YOU

For the next 30-days follow each of these steps every day until you have achieved your goal.

1. Write on a card what it is you want more that anything else. It may be more money. Perhaps you’d like to double your income or make a specific amount of money. It may be a beautiful home. It may be success at your job. It may be a particular position in life. It could be a more harmonious family.

Write down on your card specifically what it is you want. Make sure it’s a single goal and clearly defined. You needn’t show it to anyone, but carry it with you so that you can look at it several times a day. Think about it in a cheerful, relaxed, positive way each morning when you get up, and immediately you have something to work for — something to get out of bed for, something to live for.

Look at it every chance you get during the day and just before going to bed at night. As you look at it, remember that you must become what you think about, and since you’re thinking about your goal, you realize that soon it will be yours. In fact, it’s really yours the moment you write it down and begin to think about it.

2. Stop thinking about what it is you fear. Each time a fearful or negative thought comes into your mind, replace it with a mental picture of your positive and worthwhile goal. And there will come a time when you’ll feel like giving up. It’s easier for a human being to think negatively than positively. That’s why only five percent are successful! You must begin now to place yourself in that group.

“Act as though it were impossible to fail,” as Dorothea Brande said. No matter what your goal — if you’ve kept your goal before you every day — you’ll wonder and marvel at this new life you’ve found.

3. Your success will always be measured by the quality and quantity of service you render. Most people will tell you that they want to make money, without understanding this law. The only people who make money work in a mint. The rest of us must earn money. This is what causes those who keep looking for something for nothing, or a free ride, to fail in life. Success is not the result of making money; earning money is the result of success — and success is in direct proportion to our service.

Most people have this law backwards. It’s like the man who stands in front of the stove and says to it: “Give me heat and then I’ll add the wood.” How many men and women do you know, or do you suppose there are today, who take the same attitude toward life? There are millions.

We’ve got to put the fuel in before we can expect heat. Likewise, we’ve got to be of service first before we can expect money. Don’t concern yourself with the money. Be of service … build … work … dream … create! Do this and you’ll find there is no limit to the prosperity and abundance that will come to you.

Don’t start your test until you’ve made up your mind to stick with it. If you should fail during your first 30 days — by that I mean suddenly find yourself overwhelmed by negative thoughts — simply start over again from that point and go 30 more days. Gradually, your new habit will form, until you find yourself one of that wonderful minority to whom virtually nothing is impossible.

Above all … don’t worry! Worry brings fear, and fear is crippling. The only thing that can cause you to worry during your test is trying to do it all yourself. Know that all you have to do is hold your goal before you; everything else will take care of itself.

Take this 30-day test, then repeat it … then repeat it again. Each time it will become more a part of you until you’ll wonder how you could have ever have lived any other way. Live this new way and the floodgates of abundance will open and pour over you more riches than you may have dreamed existed. Money? Yes, lots of it. But what’s more important, you’ll have peace … you’ll be in that wonderful minority who lead calm, cheerful, successful lives…

I will admit, I was a little hesitant to want to read this book due to the Holocaust references.  I am the grandson of 4 Holocaust survivors.  They were the lucky ones to escape or “get out”.  Most of my family was not so lucky, as a large majority of my family was exterminated in the 1940′s.  I grew up listening to the stories from both of my grandmothers and watched them relive the pain, the suffering and the sorrow.  Needless to say, I was not jumping for joy to read about killing 11 million people when 95% of my family were included in the 11 million.

This book is powerful.  It is a quick read and something that every American citizen, no, every citizen of the ‘”free world” should read before we give all of our remaining freedoms away for false safety and security.

As an American citizen and someone that doesn’t take my freedom for granted, I highly recommend reading this.  I don’t know that I can place a better recommendation, especially with the US Presidential elections looming a few months away.  Be sure to share your copy with someone in your life that matters to you, as directed by Andy in the book.  Thanks to my mother-in-law for sharing her signed copy with me.

Michael Hamburger

P.S. – I’ve made it really easy for you to grab a copy today.  Simply click on the book cover above and you will be taken to Amazon.  I assure you, this will be the best $10.91 you’ve ever spent on a book.

Per FTC guidelines, I hereby notify you that should you use the link above to purchase this book, I will be compensated a few pennies.  

Listen, if you’re new to my thoughts and writing, allow me to warn you upfront.  I’m not here sharing my thoughts for fans, friends, likes or any of the social media stuff you see people putting out these days.  I write and share my writings for myself and those that care to have a mentor willing to kick their own tail and the tail of those that care to play the game.  If you’re looking for “sugar coated” you’ll want to stop now.  You can find that on the candy aisle of your neighborhood 7 Eleven store.  You will not find “sugar coated” here.  The way I see it, the most effective mentors in my life called it the way it was and were not scared to push me outside of my comfort zone!  They called me on my crap and I am a much better person today because of it.  If you’re ready for real and raw, read on…

So back to the number 45.  Allow me the honor of reminding you why 45 either makes you “your word” or a poser.  Have you figured it out yet?  If you have, odds are you are your word and your life is exactly the way you planned it.  If you are in this category, right on!  You are a powerful human.  You created a goal backed by a plan and methodically carried that plan out each day for the past 45 days.  You see, it was New Year’s Eve 45 days ago and most people around the world set forth resolutions filled with grandeur and great intentions.  Unfortunately for the masses, most of these resolutions were abandoned like a stripped car in Detroit left for dead.  I heard that most people abandon their NYE resolutions within 14 days!  Two weeks?

Think about that for a moment.  Where were you 45 days ago?  Were you partying like a rockstar? Were you thinking about how great your life could be if: __________ .  What were you going to be, do, have?  Were you going to stop smoking, lose weight, get fit, make more money?  What was it?  How are you progressing towards making that your reality?  Did you spend time thinking with the end in mind and then meticulously organize a plan that took you from your starting point to your end result?  Did you make up your mind and fully commit?

What’s in the number 45?  Are you starting to see it?  Everything you ever wanted is… so what are you waiting for?  You are either in the game called “your life” or you are not.  Listen, I am not one to harbor on all the stuff that doesn’t work, makes you feel wrong and keeps you stuck.  No sir.  No way.  No how!!!  I am going to take a stand for your possibilities right here right now and tell you that you can achieve anything you truly want in your life.  It starts with that multimillion dollar real estate each of you have supported on the top of your neck called your brain.

I want to encourage you today to take an authentic accounting of where you are right now.  Compare where you are today to the resolutions and goals you declared to yourself and the world 45 days ago.  Whatever has happened over the past 45 days cannot be changed.  If you followed through, I acknowledge you for being your word.  Keep up the tremendous job.  You are on a path that you designed and will reap the rewards you deserve!  Listen, if you did not follow through, don’t harbor on it.  Let’s use the past 45 days as the fuel to re-fire your desire.  Let’s look at the past 45 days as the what not to do moving forward.  Instead of wasting time wishing we could make the past 45 days more than it was, let’s instead get raw and real.

I want to invite you to get your New Year’s Eve resolutions out right now.  The ones that you are achieving, let’s highlight those and keep on the path towards accomplishing your objective.  Let’s also get real with ourselves.  Do you see anything on your resolutions list that you wavered from or have let slide?  Let’s circle those.  You see, these are the resolutions we are going to turn into achievable goals.

Let’s get some paper out.  I suggest a clean sheet for each new committed goal.  At the top of the sheet of paper, I want you to write the goal in the present tense with a date as if you have already achieved it.  An example would be you may have written “quit smoking” on your list of NYE resolutions.  On the sheet of paper, I want you to write something like this: Today, March 30, 2012, I am a nonsmoker enjoying fresh air through smoke-free lungs.  By the way, 45 days from today is March 30, 2012.

Now that we have established the timeline that each goal is achieved, we begin working with the end in mind.  We also have the benefit of the past 45 days to remind us what not to do, where we fell short and slipped off track altogether.  We have taken a less than spectacular performance and we can now use it to our benefit.  As we begin to think with the end in mind, let’s establish a plan for achieving this new goal.  What are the daily actions, behaviors and commitments that we must do repeatedly to make this goal a reality?  Write down each action and each behavior on this sheet of paper.

If you have ever completed an exercise program with a trainer than you are most likely familiar with the fact that during each exercise you take some time to write down how many reps, sets and weights you do.  I’m not an exercise trainer but commons sense tells me that we do this for a multitude of reasons: consistency of doing the exercise, gauging how we are progressing and being able to watch our growth.  It not only tracks, but it shows us where we slipped or failed to show up.  If you have done one of my companies personal development courses before, you know that if you skip a day in your journaling or exercises we have you leave the page(s) blank too.  This is rather enlightening when you look back and see your results.

During the next 45 days or whatever time frame you establish, mark down the stuff you achieve.  No one said this was going to be easy.  Personal development is just that…it’s personal.  Only you can do it.  No one else can make you do it or do it for you.

After you have written down all the goals you are choosing to accomplish and commit to achieving, I suggest that you set your Daily Method of Operation or your DMO.  I have found that it is very important to schedule time with myself.  All of us have busy lives.  Whether you have a job, a boss, a spouse, kids, hobbies, whatever.  We all have 24 hours in a day and I have found that if I do not schedule time to accomplish my goals, my days slip past me.  Once I fall into that trap my days slip into weeks, into months and the next thing I know, I look up and another 45 days has slipped right past me!  Right now, grab your calendar or the device you use for your calendar.  Make a standing appointment with yourself now to make your goals a reality.  You have to carve out the time.  Over the next few days and weeks, it is important that you create habits.  When Leslie & I first started dating, she was selling gym memberships in Atlanta.  She was trying to sell me a gym membership.  I remember her saying that a habit is created in 21 days and destroyed in 3 days.  Create a habit right now and follow through for the next 21+ days.  Be sure to mark down your actions towards your goal daily.  Focus on accentuating the positives.  Ex. If your achieved outcome is to be a nonsmoker, your action step maybe something like: I did not purchase cigarettes today or I overcame the urge to smoke today.

The final step before beginning the journey is to make yourself accountable.  Now that you have told yourself what you plan on achieving, let’s “kick it up a notch” as ole Emeril Lagasse would say!  I have found that when I enroll others in my possibilities and make it known that I intend to do X,Y,Z, it becomes far more achievable when I’m accountable.  Tell the people around you in your life what your goals are and the timeline you intend to achieve them by.  I have found that those that matter most begin to see my goals as the possibility I will become.  They encourage me to do the daily actions and follow through.  They also call me on the baloney when I miss a day or cheat.

Listen, I want to hear from you.  What can you achieve in the next 45 days?  Will you be your word?  I want to invite you to “name it and claim it”.  Please use the comments box below to make yourself accountable to your word.  Tell me what you are committed to and set a reminder to pop back here in 45 days and let me know your outcome.

DREAM BIG!!!

Michael Hamburger

P.S. – By the way, I bought the gym membership.  I was what you call “paid in full” which meant that I paid in full upfront for the membership for a year.  Not only did I get the membership, it’s been 10 years next week that Leslie & I have been together.  I’m a better man today than I was 10 years ago and I have my lovely wife Leslie to thank for much of that!  She never allows me to play small and reminds me how powerful I can be when I choose to be.  Happy Valentines Day my love.

* This blog post is the intellectual property of Michael Hamburger.  Referencing this piece of work is allowed in advance with proper author credit listed to Michael Hamburger and links back to the original work (http://michaelhamburger.com/45-youre-either-powerful-or-a-poser).  All reprints must be approved in advance by the author and must contain proper credits as described by the author.

We have all encountered a certain type of person at some point in our lives – whether it was at work, at a party, in our own families, or even just watching them on television. There is just something about these individuals that make you want to learn everything you can from them. Have you ever stopped to consider what it is that sets an average person apart from an extraordinary being?

The answer is actually a lot simpler than many would realize. These people all made a choice one day to include two things in their everyday lives: dreaming big and possessing an unstoppable attitude.

This concept almost sounds too easy, doesn’t it?  We’ve all heard it before said a different way…  Wait for it.  ”It’s too good to be true!”  Ouch.  Those words are like hearing fingernails scraped across a chalk board.

The place where these people are today merely started with a few simple steps that led them to their present life of success. First, they came up with a big dream. Whether this dream may or may not have been the end result does not matter. They focused on one aspect of where they wanted to eventually be, which set the whole plan in motion.

Second, they made the decision to have an unstoppable attitude, no matter what. You see, there is a certain thing that happens to the brain the moment a person decides that nothing will get in their way of attaining their goal. It is almost as though there is a switch that keeps them from reacting to anything that could possible set them off their course. Negativity, rumors, naysayers, speed bumps, and other problems have little adverse effect to them. With absolute certainty, these people have decided that nothing and nobody in this world is going to derail them from the end result that they so desire.

So, how can you be one of these types of people? And, better yet, how can this affect you in your home life and business?

Choose to DREAM BIG. Once you make a clear determination as to what you are after, write it down. Elaborate on it in great detail with clarity. This can be the state of personal relationships in your life, a health or wellness goal, a financial goal, or an experience. Envision yourself  feeling and experiencing that goal. What emotions are coming up for you when you see this dream accomplished?  Write it down. The more clearly you are about the end of the path when you start, the more likely you are to reach the end.  It’s called beginning with the end in mind.  Don’t just play the game haphazardly.  Play it to win it and achieve it.  Your goal, your dream deserves absolute clarity to achieve it.  Smell it.  Taste it.  Experience it in your mind and watch what happens in your reality!

Next, become determined to be absolutely unstoppable. Let no one and nothing stand in your way. When problems or challenges arise, see them as minor setbacks and keep working towards your goal. Obstacles yield when you have clarity combined with purpose. When negative people begin trying to deter you from reaching your dreams, ignore their comments. Use my favorite math formula: addition through subtraction, meaning remove the negative influences in order to achieve your dreams. This means turning off the TV (yes I said it), the radio (sorry but no more Crush Limbaugh while you’re driving to work), and even removing the negative nellies in your life that believe their sole purpose in life is to protect your current miserable existence by shooting your hopes and dreams down.  After all, they are doing you a favor by protecting you from reaching for a dream and then possibly not achieving it, right?  Excuse me, but no thank you.

Wake up each and every day with the determination that you will let nothing stand between you and the life you envision. Not only will you find out how much extra time you never had before, you will be able to turn this extra time into time when you feed your brain the positive messages it deserves and craves.  I have found that driving in traffic is not so bad when I am inside my mobile library listening to my favorite personal development material.

This week I challenge you to go out and try these two concepts. Take note of how this simple paradigm shift changes your entire outlook on life. Then, repeat it again and again until your reach your end goal.

DREAM BIG!!!

Michael Hamburger

Personal development/direct selling firm Avant recently announced the start of their Avant Audi Luxury Car Bonus program.

Effective January 9th, this innovative luxury car program enables the company’s associates the chance to earn the ability to drive any black or white Audi luxury vehicle — model year 2005 or newer — with Avant taking care of the bill. In addition, those who qualify for the bonus can also earn additional incentives for helping their team members achieve the same goal.

“We really wanted to make this an attainable milestone for everyone,” said Avant founder, Brent Payne. “Work hard, play hard. In this case, play is a new luxury car. Who doesn’t want a new car?”

The basis of Avant’s product line is to promote self-awareness and encourage users to take control of all facets of their lives, no matter what their circumstance is. “This luxury car program only strengthens our members’ ability to focus on their goals and find the path to meeting that prize,” continues Payne. “We want it to be used as a way to reward our associates for their continued hard work.”

By simply making six sales of Avant’s Elevate product in a single month, Avant Associates qualify for up to $600 towards the lease or purchase of an Audi luxury vehicle. The retail price for the Elevate product is $1695.

“Never before has a luxury car program of this caliber been established in a top tier direct selling company,” cites Michael Hamburger, COO & partner of Avant. “We know this will encourage and inspire our marketers to dream big, set goals, and make them a reality.”

Avant, a leader in personal development products, offers many solutions to help users improve their lives. Find out more about Avant or become a distributor by visiting www.WeAreAvant.com.

A few years ago I left the marketing side of the business to run a $100 million dollar network marketing company.  It was a ton of fun and I learned what to do and what not to do.  I missed the personal development side of the industry and building a team of like-minded leaders dearly.

Several months ago I sat down with my original mentor and sponsor Brent Payne.  Many of you know Brent as he was the co-creator of the largest top tier direct selling company in network marketing history.  Anyway, Brent and I started talking about the future and what we were both looking to achieve.  What came out of months and months of conversation is this:  I joined Brent as his business partner at his company, Avant.

Since joining Avant, we have seen a vertical spike take place.  From brand new people to the industry to marketers from traditional network marketing to some of the biggest marketers in the top tier space have made the choice to join us at Avant!  The momentum and buzz we are creating in the marketplace is really just getting started.

It’s often been said that magic will happen if you can put lightening in a bottle.  From my experience in this life changing industry, this is the closest anyone will ever get to that.  I am excited about what the future holds, especially for those that elect to join us.

One of the great things about any holiday is the break in routine – the opportunity to look at life from a fresh perspective and take inventory on our priorities. We get so caught up in barbeques, parties and last minute getaways before the kids head back to school that it’s easy to forget where Labor Day and other celebrations like it around the world originally came from. I looked it up this morning and was reminded that legislation to make Labor Day an official federal holiday in the U.S. was actually rushed through Congress in the 19th century in the aftermath of the Pullman Strike that ended in violence during Grover Cleveland’s administration.

As entrepreneurs, Labor Day gives us a lot to think about. The old paradigm is gone forever. Gone are the days when we can rely on a job, an employer, a corporation or even a government program to carry us safely into the future. If you’ve read Crashproof Prosperity by Kip Herriage, you understand that the age old conflicts between “management” and “labor” completely miss the point of the realities unfolding around us. Labels like this serve no purpose but to create division between people and have nothing to do with how wealth is really created. Money follows value. Always has. Always will. It’s all about choices and actions. Some choices and actions add value and others take it away. Everything else is academic.

So where does that leave us? Fully in charge of our own destinies. Fortunately, we still live in a world where hard work has the same power to create abundance that it’s always had – provided that it’s channeled in a single, positive direction and based on a passionate belief in solid success principles. As you look around you today and reflect on the blessings in your life, take time out to renew a few commitments to yourself. Promise yourself that you will assume 100% responsibility for the results you’re getting in wealth, health and wisdom. Promise yourself that you will get totally clear on what matters to you most – the ideal scene you envision in your work, in your home, in your relationships and in your private time. Promise yourself that you will relentlessly develop the habits of thought and action necessary to make that ideal scene a reality.

Everything you’ve ever wanted in life is waiting for you just outside your comfort zone. It’s there for the taking, but no one is going to bring it to you. You already have everything you require to succeed inside of you, so there’s no reason to wait for the “perfect” conditions to start enjoying the rewards you desire TODAY! Have a safe and happy Labor Day and pass me that barbeque platter one more time!

DREAM BIG!!!

Michael Hamburger

Here’s the connection. New toys and gadgets and bells and whistles are always fun, and believe me when I tell you that we’re rolling out a set this week unlike anything you’ve seen before in this industry. But once all the tools and systems are in place, it’s PEOPLE who make them work… it’s PEOPLE who apply them to get an end result they’ve set their focus and intentions on. How many times have you heard someone say that they’ll start getting better results when they’ve had more practice on live calls, or when they’ve really mastered handling objections, or when they finish that big project at work, or when they quit their job, or when they know the product line a little better, or when they start getting more support from their spouse?

Your capacity to act right now, in the present moment, is every bit as powerful as that of any top producer you can name. What’s holding you back is not circumstances or tools or even time… you have access to the same 24 hours in a day that Warren Buffett, Bill Gates, Donald Trump and Brent Payne have. The limits we bump up against are the limits we set for ourselves… beliefs we’ve formed over time based on the experiences in our past. Let’s clear this up once and for all… your past has absolutely NOTHING to do with your future. What limiting beliefs can you let go of right now that might be holding you back? Is there a scarcity mentality about time, money, relationships or success that keeps you from making newer, more powerful choices?

Let me give you a quick, practical example. Whether we’re aware of them or not, most of us have subconscious “set points” about how much money we can make, how fulfilling our relationships can be or even about the quality of our experiences in life. You may have a goal card, a vision board and a list of affirmations all pointing to a seven figure income, but if you subconsciously believe that you’re only worth $30,000 a year because of what you or your friends or your parents earned in the past, your choices and actions… even the way you speak and carry yourself… aren’t going to be in alignment with that new number. Without even realizing it, you’re going be actively REJECTING the opportunities, relationships, and resources  that will propel you to seven figures.

Get this in a real, internal way and you’ll be amazed at the miraculous changes that start picking up speed and frequency in your life. Your past has nothing to do with your future. Change your set points. Update your belief system. Pay attention to that inner critic that tries to shout you down every time you affirm something better in your life… those are the unconscious set points… the limiting beliefs that must be re-written NOW. I KNOW without a doubt that you absolutely deserve an abundant life. I’m willing to celebrate the GREATNESS in you before you see it in yourself. No matter what tools or systems may be within reach on any given day, that one-two punch of new beliefs and relentless action will make you unstoppable.

DREAM BIG!!!

Michael Hamburger