One of the bonuses of learning to persuade is that we have the ability to work our skills on ourselves.   When we apply self-persuasion, we can naturally accomplish anything we set our minds to.

However, we must set the stage for productivity and there are a number of things we can do to increase our capacity to achieve.  These are simple, practical, and sometimes elusive activities and mindsets that come easily for some and are more of a challenge for others.  With persistence, comes progress.  I promise.

One of the most passive and pleasurable (though sometimes hard to attain from a time management standpoint) is getting enough sleep.  Our brains recharge us as we sleep allowing our bodies to cleanse, repair, and rejuvenate on a deep cellular level.

In terms of maximizing your productivity, think about your own internal rhythms and when you get the most done.  Are you an ‘early to bed, early to rise’ full of energy in the mornings type of person?  If so, try adding ten or twenty minutes to your morning by going to sleep a little earlier.  Conversely, if you’re a night owl, determine when you are at your peak in terms of getting things done.

These next two ideas may seem time consuming, but the energy you will get from them will help you incredibly in all aspects of your life.  Proper nutrition and exercise. UGH!! I know, it’s hard to eat right, junk food tastes good, it’s too difficult to exercise, it takes way too much time. I know, I know.  I used to think exactly the same way, but the myriad benefits you will gain from incorporating these into your life will more than make up for the effort and time you invest.

As creatures of habit, we do the next step instinctually.  Creating a routine helps with both starting a new, healthy habit and eliminating an old, unhelpful habit.  Success comes about as a result of your intention.   We’ve all been in ruts and know that they have a negative frame attached to them.  I’m not suggesting we all get ourselves in ruts where we can’t see the forest through the tress.  I am suggesting that we learn to do certain things without thinking--like taking your vitamins or starting the day out with a light and sound session, or working on your universes or expressing gratitude for the good things that come to you.  These are all routines that have a positive impact on us.

And lastly, creating stress free situations and environments is crucial.  Even if your work requires a certain amount of stress, if you’re constantly under deadlines you have got to make sure there are places in your life when you can simply decompress.   Sleep is not enough when it comes to decompressing either, so there has to be a hobby or meditative state or prayer or quiet time or time in nature, playing golf, playing cards with the grandkids... whatever pleases you--in order to unwind.

Incorporating these five steps into your life will boost your productivity, not to mention your health, well being, and peace of mind.

Warmly,

Kenrick E. Cleveland

Dear Persuader,

'Anyone who has never made a mistake has never tried anything new.' --Albert Einstein

The concept of change is a difficult one to define.  Sometimes things seem to stay the same for huge periods of time. Many people do their absolute best to hold on to things vehemently hoping to stave off the inevitable—their houses, way of dressing, hairstyles, friends, familiar belongings surrounding them all remaining the same giving them a sense of comfort, security.  This is a sad misconception. Holding on to outdated ways does not keep us more secure.

The world around us is constantly changing. The weather changes, time changes, seasons change… there is absolutely nothing we can do to hold back and working against it is incredibly detrimental to our growth.

I’m now in my late forties ready to make personal and professional changes which both excite me and scare me. And I face this thrill/fear with an eagerness to embrace the inevitable growth these changes will bring.

Now that we’re a little way into the New Year, it’s time to take inventory of what needs to change for you.  I wrote a little bit about resolutions at the beginning of the year. This is a basis for change for some people, a nice trigger. However, larger changes come at you at unexpected times, not on a predictable timetable, many times without our consent. (Scary.) And managing our fear over these changes is really the key to happiness and fulfillment on all fronts.

If you’re one of the many people with the fear of change, this is for you, a new start, a chance to stop robbing yourself of the opportunities available to you with a little risk.

The first thing to realize is that your resistance to change is emotional. And emotional resistance is really difficult to overcome. It can be done.  Lately I’ve been thinking a lot about emotions and how each and every emotion we have is a choice. This has really struck a chord in me and given me a new found sense of freedom over what I choose to feel.

Sometimes this resistance is ennui, a general weariness (not to be mistaken for laziness) and what is required in this instance is a sincere desire to push past. For other people change is a fear losing something valuable and a fear the unknown. Valid, both, but remember, regrets are seldom about things we tried, and often about the things we were too afraid to try, the chances we didn’t take.

Part of what I am changing has to do with really exciting developments soon to come in what I am offering at MAXpersuasion. Please stay tuned for new classes, new opportunities to expand your persuasion and your life.  If you would like more information about classes starting soon, please contact Kim at kim@maxpersuasion.com and ask for a run down. Otherwise, stay tuned… there are many exciting changes to come.

Here's to your success!

Kenrick E. Cleveland

Hi Persuader,

We live in a world of distractions and this, I feel, is an understatement. We have so much coming at us from all arenas. . . Even as I sit here typing this, I’m getting alerts that I have new e-mail, I’m getting instant messages from my assistant,  the dog wants to play, nature calls, I’m thirsty, the phone rings.  Phew.  It’s exhausting just to write a paragraph with all of the other things intruding on concentration and focus.

There’s an old saying, ‘If you chase two rabbits, both will escape.’  By scattering our energy, we are not giving adequate attention to the important task at hand.

Alexander Graham Bell once said, ‘Concentrate all your thoughts upon the work at hand. The sun's rays do not burn until brought to a focus.’

There are so many things we can and may be thinking about when we are interacting with a prospect or client. Our internal dialogue may have us worried about our breath or maybe we’ve got something stuck in our teeth. We might be worried about what the mechanic is going to tell us when we call them back or if the kids got to school on time. Issues large and small will battle for our attention and really what we need to be doing is focusing on our prospects and moreover, focusing intently on our prospects criteria and values.

I think of this focus as a flashlight. For example, if we aim our flashlight at a wall out in front of us, we might think we’re seeing quite a bit.  But say there’s something on a shelf that you really want to see. . . what do you do? Well, if you have a flashlight like mine, you have the ability to make the beam wider or narrower. When it gets narrower, it penetrates further. And when it’s wider, it shows me more space, but less distance.  By beginning to focus laser-like on one aspect, we can see more clearly what we want to see (in this case, what we want to know is what our clients want).

As persuaders, I would say one of the things to focus with our flashlight upon is the identity of the person that we’re talking to.

What did I just do? I adjusted the flashlight. I got clearer about where I wanted to focus.

I like to imagine that the client is a white board, I’ve wiped clean, wiped myself clean, and now they’re writing themselves onto that board of which I’m becoming a part of.  If we can focus on identity as persuaders, this would be a key area for which we can develop parts, a key area that we can frame and reframe. It’s a very powerful area.

The whole point of what we’re s persuaders is to learn to shine that light in various ways to best understand and provide what it is that our clients and prospects want. So take a deep breath the next time you are interacting with a prospect, and really focus that beam on them shutting out all other distractions.

Kenrick

“We shall never have more time. We have, and always had, all the time there is. No object is served in waiting until next week or even until tomorrow. Keep going... Concentrate on something useful.” --Arnold Bennett

Hi Persuader,

Okay, so sometimes I just don’t feel like writing. And sometimes I just don’t feel like working. And on occasion, I’ll admit it, I just don’t feel like going to the gym. And I can always think up so many other things to do, like organize my receipts, or walk the dog, or catch up on my TiVo viewing. . .

And sometimes I even procrastinate on one thing by doing another thing which I was previously procrastinating on. For example, sometimes I don’t want to write so much that I’ll choose the gym as an alternative.

For the most part, though, I’m lucky. I love what I do and I have overcome my minor bouts with procrastination by working with my other-than-conscious mind and working with my intention to set my daily, weekly, monthly and yearly courses, setting watermarks along the way to make sure I am succeeding in my goals.

Procrastination is avoidance. But sometimes there is value in procrastination, sometimes avoiding one thing can push you into another.

In the business world, time is of the essence, so time management and getting things done is king. Having a way to manage any serious procrastination problem is vital. Procrastination is a habit and habits can be broken and rerouted. When you break an old habit, however, it’s important to have a new one in its place, a system for dealing with the ruts that we’ve gotten into over time. (Many times you’ll see a smoker nibbling on carrot sticks as a temporary alternative to get them over the hump where their hand/mouth habit is concerned.)

Understand that your intention is what is setting you on the path to avoidance. And by switching this intention and having a solid resolve for what you want to do and how you’re going to do it, you are setting your other-than-conscious on a mission. This works only if you train your other-than conscious mind properly.

Try this: have a conversation with your other than conscious. Ask it for its help in turning a new leaf on getting things done. Set small goals at first, goals that you are certain you can keep, because you are training your other-than-conscious to work on your behalf. So if you say, ‘I’m going to take out the garbage’, take out the garbage. That’s totally doable. And if you say, ‘Okay, tomorrow I’m going to make two phone calls which I will follow up on with letters’, make those two phone calls and write those two letters.

Visualize yourself keeping your appointments with yourself, following up on your intentions, and getting things done. By creating this synergy with your intention, other-than-conscious, imagination and your deep desire to accomplish what you need to accomplish, you have the ability to push past any procrastination problems you might encounter.

Here's to victory over procrastination!

Kenrick Cleveland

Hi,

Recently I began looking for quotes that show the power of belief.

What I found surprised me.

While I prefer to focus on the positive, these show just how powerful beliefs can be. (I'll be posting more of these on Twitter so be sure you are following me there. And of course, I'll follow you back. Just click here to add me.)

Here's a few of what I found.

"Heavier-than-air flying machines are impossible." (Lord Kelvin, president, Royal Society, 1895)

"I think there is a world market for maybe five computers." (Thomas Watson, chairman of IBM, 1943)

"There is no reason for any individual to have a computer in their home." (Ken Olsen, president, chairman and founder of Digital Equipment Corp., 1977)

"The telephone has too many shortcomings to be seriously considered as a means of communication. The device is inherently of no value to us." (Western Union internal memo, 1876)

"Airplanes are interesting toys but of no military value." (Marshal Ferdinand Foch, French commander of Allied forces during the closing months of World War I, 1918)

From a persuasion standpoint, you can clearly see the problem you'd have if you needed persuade any of these people. Their beliefs would clearly need to be addressed. But it goes beyond merely addressing them. This effects their entire world view. And if others had bought into their positions, where would we be today?

But the bigger lesson here is the realization that beliefs (including values) really do run our lives. They shape what we see and what we don't see. They enable us to be rich and successful or poor and limited.

The great thing is that WE HAVE CHOICE.

Examine what you believe about why you are where you are today. Examine why you do or do not have the money you want. And examine why you are creating the life of your dreams or are manifesting the excuses as to why you don't have it. It's your choice - choose well.

Now, tell me your thoughts. I'd love to hear from you. And while you're at it, share this post on Twitter, if you would.

Kenrick

"An intense anticipation itself transforms possibility into reality; our desires being often but precursors of the things which we are capable of performing." -- Samuel Smiles

Hi Persuader,

I've always been an instant gratification kind of guy. When I'm hungry, I want to eat. When I'm thirsty, I want some water. When I'm in traffic, I want to be moving. And when I'm persuading, I want it to work, immediately, if not sooner.

But lately, I've been understanding and even enjoying the benefits of delayed gratification and anticipation. In visiting a Latin American country such as the one where I find myself, life does not move at the speed of Starbucks. Life moves with a rhythm and tempo of the people, of the earth, of the seasons. It's taking a huge internal shift, one which I'm alternately struggling with and relishing as quite enjoyable and expansive. Letting go of the controlled chaos of the big city life of Seattle and its outskirts, and moving into the speed of this life I am now experiencing has been the biggest adjustment and challenge and has expanded my frame of the world immeasurably.

When the air is dense with humidity, the temperature is in the upper 80s, 90s, higher, movement becomes more languid, like you've just entered a steam room. You can almost imagine fish swimming by your face in the thick air as you walk through the streets like in a Gabriel Garcia Marquez novel. Siestas become almost mandatory when the sun is at its high point. Work gets done in the morning and at night.

This is not at all a suggestion to slow down or relent any in your persuasion studies or in your work, however, as I suggested in a previous article about getting out of your comfort zone of familiarity, there are also benefits to speeding up or slowing down the tempo of your life to further embed and deepen your learning and expand the frames within which you find yourself.

I had a friend once who told me, 'I can't meditate. I've just got too much going on in my mind. I don't think it's for me to just sit there and not think.' But when I asked her what she 'thought' about when she was on her treadmill or elliptical machine, she said, 'I don't think at all.'

It's a matter of taste, I suppose. Many people are comfortable with the adrenal charged experience of a big city. Many people couldn't live any place with more than one stop sign and any sign of traffic or commotion sends them into a panic. Some people can switch between worlds and have developed a comfort in all types of settings, and I believe this versatility is the hallmark of a good persuader. Persuasion is truly about being a chameleon and experiencing the differences that places and people have to offer, even if that means slowing yourself down for a time or quickening your pace. This is most definitely a tool that will serve you well to practice with.

So as I take a little bit of my own medicine and develop a taste for anticipation and delayed gratification, I hope you too will challenge yourself with a different pace for periods of time.

Until Next Time,

Kenrick E. Cleveland

Hi Persuader,

"Great wealth and the lack thereof, both provide for unbelievable experiences that we might not otherwise have had."

Is the cup half full or half empty? It's a common 'test' or indicator of what your attitude is. What's your focus -- half full or half empty?

Both are accurate. Both are absolutely accurate. The glass is half full and half empty. To that end, we have tremendous opportunities right now in this seemingly half empty economy. In light of persuasion, since some of the best minds in the world are even telling us that this is where the greatest opportunity is what we need to do first is know how to manage our expectations.

I was talking to one of my coaching groups earlier today about how it's not so much what happens to us, it's how we think about what happens to us. That's easier said than done but I'm going to give you a bit of the explanation I was giving to my class and it's simply this: the idea that we're born into the physical world, into this place, to earth, in which time is such an enormous underpinning of all that we are and all that we have, is truly amazing.

Time, if you think about it, it's something that we take for granted. It's a presupposition of all that we are and all that we have ever been, all that we've done, and time forms just an elemental aspect. However, time a bit arbitrary as well.

It doesn't necessarily exist where there's no cycles. With the earth, there's the cycle of the sun rising and setting and there's the cycle of birth and death and so, how many suns will rise and set before a person is no longer here.

Time forms an integral part of all that we are and all that we do. And so the key to having an even deeper understanding is that time is so very real and not real at all.

I think all of us would choose to have the great wealth more than anything, but the fact is, is that again, it's how we think about it. I really believe that thinking about things begins with a great understanding of where we are, an acceptance of where we are, and so to that end, it's really good if we just look at our lives and write a snapshot of where we are and where we want to be. Where are you? Where is your business?

In it really boils down to what we think of it and how do we use it to our advantage. Again, it is not that we are in any way limited by what's being thrown at us, we're limited about how we think about what's being thrown at us.

Once you've done that, and you really see clearly where you are and what you want then I would answer the question in your snapshot, how do I feel I can best use persuasion skills to get ahead?

Why do I say you should answer that question? Because it puts, as a presupposition into your mind, that you're going to be using them and if you are, you're going to be more successful than you would be otherwise.

Put these kinds of presuppositions into your head because they're going to do amazing things for you. This is something I've been thinking about an awful lot lately in my own life and how can we use it to our advantage? It all starts with what's between our ears and then it goes from there.

Until Next Time,

Kenrick E. Cleveland

"Reflect upon your blessings, of which every man has plenty, not on your past misfortunes, of which all men have some." Charles Dickens

Hi Persuader,

We're all affected, some teetering on the edge of hope, some finding the silver lining, some succumbing to fear, and some not even knowing yet how they're affected. I'm remaining in the silver lining camp. It's always the best way to raise your vibration. Finding that quiet, calm place and looking at the long term, bigger picture, the one in which I'm the creator of my universe.

I understand that it's not easy to keep the positive focus in times of trouble. I understand that when the crap hits the fan, it's less likely that one will reflect upon their plentiful blessings and not on misfortunes and the crap itself. In the midst of misfortune, it's hard to accept that what goes down, must come up.

Charles Dickens' quote above is very prescient. As a child, Charles' family was moderately wealthy, but when Charles was 12 years old, his father was arrested and brought to debtor's prison. After that, Charles had to go to work, 10 hour days with no child labor laws, and lived away from his family. Adversity overcome, focus on plenty. And still, he ended up describing these debtor's prisons in his many of his books.

I don't know if young Charles looked at his life back when he was 12 and thought, I'm so blessed. But he came to realize that there's an ebb and flow to life (clearly indicated in the above quote and his life story).

This ebb and flow is part of all of our lives. If there were no ups and downs, how would we know when we felt anything? If it all just stayed static, there would be nothing to compare.

Most, if not all of us, have experienced the death of a loved one or a break up from a boyfriend or girlfriend, husband or wife, or a financial setback, or an illness or accident that we didn't believe we could overcome. Maybe we even felt like whatever sadness or pain or fear we felt would never subside. But the fact that you're reading this right now is an indication that you survived. And maybe even realized that when one door closes another one opens, as in, maybe the change or setback was only an incubation period and helped to make us more who we are, stronger, smarter, wealthier, happier.

I often think about one of my employees who was living in New Orleans at the time of Hurricane Katrina. She's told me on several occasions that it was heart wrenching and traumatic, and yet, she's happier now than she ever was in the south. She feels blessed with her friends and new town and especially with her new job.

The old cliché, what doesn't kill us makes us stronger, while framed in a somewhat negative fashion, is really a very comforting thought. The current economic struggles we may be facing are uncomfortable, infuriating, frustrating, and they are not going to kill us. So the lucky outcome is that we're going to be much stronger in the future.

Until Next Time,

Kenrick E. Cleveland

Hi Persuader,

I'm sure I've used this quote before while writing a blog post, but it's an incredible quote and it is worth repeating.

"While I'm sure that you're familiar with the notion that the map is not the territory, I'm wondering if you have fully realized that as human beings, we will forever experience only the map and not the territory. We but alter maps. That is, we change people's subjective experience of the world, not the world itself." -- Leslie Cameron Bandler

Let's think about that for a moment. If we don't experience the territory, but we only experience the map, then what are we?

We are walking map makers, cartographers of our own lives and in a sense, we are map makers for the people we persuade. That's an awesome and powerful place to come from.

The issue is this: when we look at anything and everything, we can only see it through our own filters. All we have is our own filters. We don't see anything directly. We see the world and each specific interaction we have through our biases, our filters, our values and our beliefs. We see them through who we are as a person. The only way that we can do anything is to see through our filters and to that end, everything we experience through sight, through hearing, through touch, through taste, through smell -- absolutely everything -- builds our maps more.

Children build maps at high speed because at that point in development, we are a blank canvas. Everything we are navigating is new. The older we get, the more detailed our maps become and to a certain extent the less we change them which can leave us stuck in a rut.

Now this is good news and bad news. It's bad news if you don't know that you or your prospect or client is in a rut and don't know how to persuade your way out of it. It's good news for anybody who knows this because you can un-stick them if you want to do it.

This is a large part of what got me into this field, the idea that I wanted to be able to smoothly get people from where they are to where I wanted them to go. I didn't want to be afraid anymore that I couldn't do it, or I didn't want them to hear no and not know why I got it or almost worse, hearing yes, and not understanding why I got it.

This isn't a simple thing to learn how to do. There's no way I can sum it up in a blog post or e-mail. It's true, some things worth having don't come easily. But with realization comes opportunity. You are your own map maker and can choose to start making that map more expansive and inclusive of so many things including say, learning how to persuade your way through the current rocky economic terrain we're finding ourselves in at this point in history.

To learn more, drop Kim an e-mail at kim@maxpersuasion.com.

Until Next Time,

Kenrick E. Cleveland

Hi Persuader,

Man, there's all sorts of chaos going on out there in the world. Seems like with the elections, the bailouts, the hurricanes, the anniversary of 9/11 -- all that, and then the holidays are coming -- more chaos (no matter what you think of the holidays, they are absolute chaos).

This is the perfect time to really check in with ourselves and get some inner work done. As the world swarms around out there, having a solid inner foundation is critical in maintaining our equilibrium. This is the case in good times and bad, however it is mainly in bad times that we rely our foundations in a significant way.

When's the last time you spent a little time alone? Remove all disturbances -- television, computers, your iPhone or Blackberry and cut off the outside for just a little while. I'm not suggesting you have to full out meditate (though there's so much phenomenal benefit to meditation that's an entirely different article), I'm simply suggesting you listen to your inner voice for an hour or two.

There's a beautiful quote by Lord Byron: "In solitude, we are least alone." I think this is just amazing. It's said that we are our own worst enemies, but I've decided that's bad programming and have reprogrammed it as, we are our own best friends.

Maybe use this time to write out your universes or write in a journal. If cleaning soothes you (and I know a few people for whom this is true), then go crazy. Wash that kitchen floor or re-alphabetize your CD or book collection. Hell, why not pick up one of those books and read something inspiring.

If you're so inclined, how about a little yoga? I understand there's a yoga practice where you're moving very slowly in a very hot room. (Not my cup of tea, but I can see how it might be good for the aches and pains.)

What else can you do for yourself? Practice forgiveness and gratitude. I've written about both of these before at length and can attest from personal experience and the experience of many of my students that these are two of the most clearing practices you can perform and will garner for you untold benefits.

And how about this: say no when you don't want to do something. This is a tough one but really vital to caring for yourself. I personally don't have an issue saying 'no', but I've met a number of people who feel that it is rude or they become uncomfortable and worried that they will make someone else uncomfortable.

All of these things not only have the benefit of shoring you up and building and maintaining a strong, unflappable foundation, they will also improve your energy, your mental health, your physical health, your spiritual health, how effective you are in all aspects of your life, how happy you are overall, and it will give you a great outlook when the world outside seems to be instable.

Until Next Time,

Kenrick E. Cleveland