The Art Of The Start

Sounds good and in reality is good but it doesn't always work out this way, especially when it comes to big decisions.

Sometimes ready, aim, and fire turns into ready, aim, aim, aim, - you never get to pull the trigger.

The art of the start is to START!

Here's an example from my own life's experience going back about
21 years.

Life was good then - or was it? My first wife, Louise had succumbed to cancer in 1982. Within months I was promoted and relocated to the Chicago area with American Hospital Supply Corporation. I was single and ambitious and for the next four years I got every job I wanted.

As I approached my 40th birthday I developed an itch that need scratching. In 1985 Baxter acquired American Hospital Supply Corp. I made the cut and continued to move up the corporate ladder.

For the first time in my life, however, I wasn't looking forward to moving up to the next rung on the ladder. No, what I really wanted to do was to start my own sales training company.

I tortured myself for three years. Kept asking the question - should I or shouldn't I? It was basically a straightforward and simple question. Was I ready to give up a six-figure income, stock options, company car, a big corner office to do something I had never done before? It took more courage than I thought I had - or so I imagined.

Now that's the short version of a very long story and here's the point to it all. I wasted a lot of human energy, time, and anxiety trying to make a decision.

The decision was a choice between the status quo and in doing something that was bold and brazen for a guy like me.

In November 1987, on a cold winter's night - winter comes early in Chicago, I took out my fountain pen and a yellow legal pad. I committed these words to writing:

"On February 5, 1988 I will resign my position to start my sales training company."

I tore the sheet from the pad and folded it in half and folded it in half again. I kept this written goal in my briefcase and looked at it everyday.

On Sunday, February 4, 1988 I knew what I was going to do the next day - February 5th.

It takes more energy to start something than to keep it going. It takes more courage to start something than to keep it going. Once I made the commitment I never looked back.

For me the hard part was making the decision. The easy part followed, which was building a business. Remember this and never forget it. Everything gets easier after you commit to doing something.

From time to time you may come face-to-face with life changing choices and decisions. Don't do what I did and dillydally around for three years. The Art of the start, is to establish a written goal with a specific deadline. You see, once you have decided on "What" you want to achieve, you can focus all your energies on "How" you plan to do it.

I know this for sure. If this No-Brainer system can work for me it will definitely work for you.

The sales world is increasingly becoming more complicated. You'll accomplish more and feel better about yourself when you develop a system for getting things done.

Simply stated you should establish written goals with deadlines for all major personal and professional decisions.

Anxiety is for the birds. Concentrate on your GOALS.

When you achieve your GOALs you'll experience the thrill of victory and the exhilaration that comes with it.

Make everyday a MASTERPIECE . . .