By Dan LeFave
The power of morning and evening routines are the “bookends” for a successful sales life. It’s what separates the leaders from the followers.
Imagine a piece of string with a series of beads on it. Each bead represents your priorities, goals and relationships. Tip the string to one side or the other, and the beads will easily slide off and spill on to the floor. Tie a knot at each end of the string, and the beads remain intact. The knots represent your morning and evening routines. They maintain the priorities in your life, keeping the beads in balance and from falling apart, thus helping you to progressively become a better person.
Many people ask me what I practice on a daily basis in order to attract what I want in life. I have heard people say, “Why can’t I just focus on what I want in my life when I have the time?” Or, “Why can’t it be easier?” I’ve had other people say, “I want to achieve this or that, but I can’t commit or I don’t have the self-discipline.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson said, “We become what we think about all day long.” It is through the practice of thinking with repetition that allowed us to learn our names, drive a car or know a song by heart. With this concept in mind, it absolutely makes sense to practice, study and learn with repetition focussing on your biggest desires on a daily basis. You must accomplish this by using your imagination to propel your ideas upward and forward, into your consciousness. Then take action to draw things that you desire with passion and purpose.
The term “bookend your day” is a practice of starting and ending your day with the thoughts of what you love and desire the most in your life. Whether you’re affirming, reading, writing, meditating or any combination of methods to visualize and conceptualize the possibilities of greater sales, combining constant space repetition with faith and expectancy will lead to the realization of your dreams.
Write out a mental list of all things that you love the most and expand on them without limitation. See yourself in the midst of having everything you desire, feel it and begin acting as if you already have it in your current environment. For example, if you want to be rich, begin acting like a rich person by tipping extremely well at a restaurant. Plant your biggest ideas in your mind as soon as you wake every morning and before you retire for the night for up to 30 minutes. Have complete faith in your ideas coming true and empower the possibilities with new information and resources that come your way.
Become aware of the people, places and things appearing in your environment that are aligned with your bookends. Write a mental thank-you list for all of the new avenues and opportunities appearing as a result of your new practice. Embrace your life and enjoy creating your world around you by practicing bookends along with gratitude for all that your desire and deserve.
Key points:
1. Establish quiet time for yourself every morning when you rise and every evening before you retire for up to 30 minutes to affirm what you want most.
2. Bring into focus an image of what you want that makes you feel good (you may say the words to yourself, “Imagine if….).
3. Hold that image in your mind to the exclusion of all outside interference (this may take some practice).
4. Notice how you feel when you act as if you already have what you want.
5. Pay close attention to the colours, textures, people or any other characteristics of your image.
6. Practice every day until you begin to notice things changing in your environment, always expecting your ideas and images to come true no matter what.
7. Write out or journal your thoughts and ideas around your desires.
8. Affirmations can be in the form of writing, talking about or meditating on an idea multiple times (for five minutes or more for example).
Dan LeFave teaches what inspires getting results, what inhibits it and how you can have more. With over 17 years of experience in telecom and commercial real estate, he is a speaker, author and success coach teaching elite business leaders and athletes how to achieve better results by applying their minds. He says,“You can have results or excuses but you can’t have both at the same time.” www.danlefave.com
