You are only as successful as your network.

I want to let that sink in…

Your network consists of contacts you have made and that you can call upon for help, guidance, and even as customers.  The most powerful networkers know that it is imperative to continue to grow the network and to get outside the comfort zone.

How does a network help success?

1.  Everybody is selling something.  If you are a lawyer you are selling services.  If you are a website owner you are probably selling products.  If you are an employee you are selling your time.  No matter what you are selling, by knowing more people you have an opportunity to advance your career through the leverage of these contacts.

2.  Word of mouth is very powerful.  Let’s say you need a referral to get into a new business, you can call on your network to help you out.  Let’s say there is a friend of a network member who needs a service or product you sell, who do you think he/she will refer them to?  If you want to get advancement in your career or even change careers, your prospects improve greatly if you know all the players in your field and they are part of your network.  Any new opportunities are bound to come to you first.

You know how people grumble and say “the old boy’s network” or “it is not what you know it’s who you know.”  These are true.  But the truth is that anybody can be part of the network.

How do you join a network?

Join groups.  Join clubs.  Ask around and try to join the same groups that the people you admire are a part of.  Some resumes may exist online and you can see what associations are the best to belong to.  Some organizations exist for networking purposes, such as BNI.  However, no matter what network you join, be prepared to pay some membership fees.  You may have to work at it for awhile until you find the exact membership groups that really give you the success and power you are looking for.  Some groups will be useless.  Drop them.  But don’t drop the people you meet.  Try to bring them into your new circles of influence.

If a club or association doesn’t exist for what you are trying to target, create your own group.  This instantly makes you the leader and expert.  Then go around and find members to join.  Make the group free, informative, useful and enjoyable.  You will get more out of it than you can imagine.

In order to kill procrastination you need to do a few things.  First make sure that the overall goal is something that you absolutely want to accomplish.  Make a list of undeniable reasons that you absolutely MUST achieve the goal.  Say to yourself, if I don’t accomplish the goal what will happen to me?  What kind of pain will I feel?

Most people work for others because the fear of pain is inflicted by your boss.  Your painful thought of a loss of your job, eliminates procrastination from doing the most important goals set by the boss.  In order to make yourself have the kind of drive of doing your most important goals, you need to really KNOW that there is a NEGATIVE CONSEQUENCE for not accomplishing your goal.

The other thing that can kill procrastination is to set small manageable goals that MUST be accomplished the NEXT DAY.  Take 5 minutes every evening and write down the 2-3 top goals you MUST accomplish the next day.  And do not let yourself be sidetracked by email, other people, or anything else until you accomplish at least your top 1 goal for the day.

That’s it.  Not rocket science, but a true way to Kill Procrastination.

You know that 95% of all New Years Resolutions NEVER get done.

You know that if you looked back at every past resolution you ever set for yourself, so few ever were accomplished.  Why is this the case?

• You don’t have a plan to accomplish the goal.  Almost all goals that have specific plans to achieve realistic goals by a specific time are accomplished.  Or at least they are more likely to be accomplished.
• You don’t take any risk whatsoever.  Most goals require a risk of some sort.  Either you are risking wasting some time towards achieving a goal, or you are going to risk some money to achieve it.  Either way, people are less willing to take risks even though the rewards can be immense.  Risk averse people are afraid.  Fear is a huge motivator to non-action.  It can cause procrastination and so many things that can kill dreams.
• You don’t find people to help you accomplish the goals.  Listen, it is nearly impossible to achieve a goal without the help of others.  Or else, in order to do everything alone, you will need to learn alot.  Take for instance, if you want to create a web business, not only do you need to come up with the product, run the business, but you need to know about marketing, web design, seo, etc.  Not everyone can be good at doing it all.  Or, to learn it all, could take months or years and this leads to procrastination and inaction.  Perhaps you are afraid or fearful to hire people.  This is another mistake.  You may spend $20 at a restaurant buying a high - end hamburger and fries when the same at McDonalds costs only $2.

Put a budget together and say something like:  I will spend $1000 or less to build the site, and $200 a month to market it.  And then hire the people to get it done.  This is how the professionals make significant money online.  Just because you have made the goal, doesn’t mean you have to be responsible to do all of the work.  Do you understand this concept?  The key to success is leveraging other people’s time.  You may have heard of OPM (other people’s money), but OPT (other people’s time) is more powerful.  Money is finite.  Time is infinite.

If you want to get in shape you could have one person working on your meal creation and another as a personal trainer.  You also, may try to get someone to do desk work for you so that you don’t have to do it and can focus your energies on more healthful activities: walking, biking, playing sports, etc.  Maybe you need a babysitter to cover you so you can do these activities.  Add these items to your budget and set aside the money to get these people to work for you and you to accomplish your goals.

Best wishes for your goals in 2009.