There has been a building wave of interest in The Secret, the video produced by Rhonda Byrne and first released in March of 2006. I think those of us who have seen it would agree that it?s a compelling presentation.

The ?Law? is that your focused desire for a result will allow forces in the universe to drive that result to you. According to Wikipedia, William Walker Atkinson first used the phrase ?law of attraction? in this sense about a hundred years ago. The actual inspiration for Rhonda Byrne?s video was reading in 2004 the book The Science of Getting Rich by Wallace Waddles, first published in 1910.

As a coach, I hesitate to criticize anything that results in success. But, you don?t need an advanced physics degree to understand the "Law of Attraction". In fact, you have probably been using the principles your entire life without being conscious of it. In a past newsletter I described the effects of RAS, the reticular activating system as the ability of your subconscious to recognize connections once your consciousness has focused on an idea. This, combined with the power of positive thinking, is the practical explanation for the results people experience.

This is how I describe it to clients: Imagine your dream, your ultimate goal. It?s a thought in your mind, sometime in the future. It?s almost as though it is at end of a long corridor. Each day you are moving closer to it. People with extreme focus will eventually reach their goal. This is the power of positive thinking. But, if you also open your mind to everything associated with that goal, you will soon discover that as you move down that corridor you will notice many doorways. Some are just storage closets filled with the accumulated baggage of life. But others are doorways to unexpected possibilities. Because your mind is open to those possibilities, you realize the connections to your goals and you can seize upon the opportunities they present. It is through these unanticipated possibilities that you begin to live your dreams. These possibilities create new possibilities. They make possible what appeared at first to be impossible.

Desiring a result is not enough. Think of it as "The Law of AttrACTION"!

What are you thinking when you are talking to a prospect? Are you focused on making a particular sale, trying to "attract" a particular result? Are you then disappointed when the customer isn't ready to be led to your result? What if, instead of making the sale you envision, you were able to create a customer for life. How would those sales look over time?

Try looking at the sales process as one of discovery. What is your prospect trying to "attract" to their life. If you can provide a solution to meet that need, you probably will have a customer for life.

Golf season has finally started. One of the best things about the game of golf is that we all play by the same rules and those rules apply to each venue. The single most important feature of the game is that the players are responsible for penalizing themselves for infractions of those rules.

Networking is a lot like the game of golf. Each encounter has its rules - we would call them expectations - and we must each take responsibility for meeting them. When you inadvertantly break one of those rules, take the penalty. Apologize sincerely for your mistake and get back into the game. People will really appreciate the way you play.