I have just returned from two days where I spent time with a group of like-minded, positive, successful people and wow do I feel inspired and empowered.

Surrounding yourself with positive, supportive, successful people really will assist you in moving closer and quicker to your goals. It is so true that it rubs off on you. So who are you surrounding yourself with? Are they people excited and happy for you always wanting to push you up… or people that are constantly wanting to pull you down with them, always discouraging your ideas.

Ask yourself this – how can you surround yourself with positive people if you are currently surrounded by negative people? There is a few ways: Attend business networking events, attend Personal Development Seminars and Workshops, Go Dancing, Do sport… anything that gets you out and active and makes your mind and body work.

Another way is to join online Success clubs… a great example is www.lifesuccessclub.com

Surround yourself with Positive people and you will attract more positive things into your life!

Where are some other places you can meet Positive Motivated People?

I am so excited that this weekend we are heading down to Sydney, Australia for our next 1 Day Personal Development Event. I have been to plenty of events like this before, this one I feel is more exciting to me for a few reasons.

First of all I have a team of people coming along with me whom I have been mentoring and training for the past 12-24 months. I'll be able to see them move closer to their goals through what they are going to learn. Secondly, taking my learning to a whole new level. I have created some awesome success this year and have marked off so many of my goals, so being able to improve from my already improved position makes me so much more excited.

Continually working on your personal development may include things like listening to audios, reading books, attending seminars. Really anything that helps you stretch your mind and think of things, ideas and strategies to create more success in your life.

The thing with Personal Development is you cant do it once and then expect all these great things to appear in your life, you need to really embrace the strategies, feel the excitement and be passionate about your goals happening, all these things together create the strong pull of the law of attraction to attract those things you want into your life.

What are some things you do regularly to continue your professional/personal development?

There are so many different strategies I could share regarding keeping your business flowing long term. I will pick my favourite ones to share with you and will most probably write a follow on blog from this one.

• Consistency – you need to be consistent. Consistency builds momentum in your business. Without momentum you are continually pushing up hill. Putting in the consistent effort ongoing rather than stop-starting will give you better long term results with less pain.
• Passion – You need to be passionate about what you do. Not a fake excited, happy face. But really love what you do. People need to be able to see your excitement in the way you speak and also hear it without you saying anything.
• Goals/Plans – You need to be clear on what your goals are in your business. Have a business plan. If you don’t plan, you plan to fail. So sit down and really think about what you want to achieve personally and financially in your business
• Networking – If you aren’t networking you aren’t working. You need to build strong alliances and business relationships. Having a strong network is the making of a strong long term business

In summary, you want to make sure you are pro-active in your business. Not sitting waiting for the phone to ring or for the next door to open. Successful business owners don’t wait for doors to open, they build them!

There are so many distractions we can let into our lives. Excuses and reasons not to start something or even worse not finish something.

So what are some strategies for staying focused on your goals?

I know for me it is picking one of my main goals and making an affirmation around it. Then visualising it as I say the affirmation. And most of all repeating the affirmation as much as I can all day long. It becomes a habit after a while.

Another way to stay focused is to break down your goals. Rather than just seeing this big goal that seems so far away, break it down into steps, and then you can mark the smaller goals off as you go, so then you can see your progress along the way. You could even give yourself some small rewards along the way also.

For a goal to come into reality you need to make sure you 100% believe in yourself and believe in yourself achieving the goal, you need certainty, excitement and passion. If you doubt that it is going to happen, then you will be right.

Be sure to revise your goals regularly and always stay focused on the goal (you will find that the obstacles that appear to be in the way will disappear)

I would love to hear some of your strategies and stories of visualisation

Do you feel you have what it takes to be your own boss? Are you self-disciplined? Can you think outside the box? Are you determined and motivated to do what is needed and get outside of your comfort zone?

Many people go into business without a second thought thinking that having your own business is easier than working for someone else because you will get to call the shots. The one thing they forget about is all the additional work and things they will now be responsible for that they didn’t know went on behind the scenes.

Key points to keep in mind when looking to become self employed

• Consistency – You need to do all the things you need to do every day no matter what – Do not stop start or treat your business like a hobby ( I don’t know any hobby’s that make you money, just cost you money)
• Research – You want to research your competition, be sure there is a market for the type of product or service you are looking to offer
• Systems – If there is a business model you can plug into and use rather than reinventing the wheel, do that. You then can focus on building the business rather than setting up systems and processes
• Build Momentum – You need to plan a 90 day marketing plan and each 30-90 days review it and build your next 90 days.
• Invest – Investing in your business and in yourself. Money, Time and Personal Development. You need to fill your tank with positive thoughts and information. Don’t focus on the negative. It comes down to the CDI formula… Consistent Daily Improvement.
• Focus – You need to focus on the wins… Not the failures. The difference between a successful person and an unsuccessful person is the successful person has had more failures and has picked themselves up that one extra time to create success.

So if you are motivated, determined, focused and most of all passionate and excited you can create success being your own boss. As long as you can be consistent!