I have been thinking a lot about something that I think is one of the key elements in whether or not someone becomes successful. It is Execution. In many cases you have two people who have equal intelligence and equal resources, etc., but one succeeds and the other does not. Why? One executes and the other does not.

A few years ago, Fortune Magazine asked the question, "Why Do CEO's Fail?"

The answer - they do not execute. It isn't for lack of vision, but for lack of execution. They simply do not get the job done.

I think there are three parts to successfully executing: Idea, Strategy, and Action. In order to execute, you must have all three.

First, you have to have your big idea. Your vision. What is it that is the spectacular that you will attempt? It is the goal. It is what drives you.

Next, you must have a strategy. A plan. How will you go about getting to your big idea and making it a reality?

Lastly, you must take action. All the big ideas and their well thought out strategies are for naught if you never take action. The plan to get to the goal must be implemented.

How about you? Are you executing? Do you have your big idea, your vision? Do you have a strategy for getting there? And lastly, are you taking action each and every day that will make your dream a reality?

Get to it - Execute!

P.S. Today's issue is going out to 102,172 subscribers. If you've gained value from what you read in my Ezine, then I would like to thank you in advance for forwarding this issue to friends, family and associates!

In This Issue.......

1. Charting Your Course to Success Article
2. Made for Success Quote and Commentary
3. The Last Word...
4. The first quarter of 2008 is gone...
5. More Information

1. Charting Your Course to Success Article

Attitudes of Successful Learners by Chris Widener (excerpted from Week 44 of the Jim Rohn One-Year Success Plan)

Hi there, Chris Widener here. This week I want to talk with you about the attitudes of successful learners.

We can choose our attitudes about anything, including learning and education. That's right. We get to choose what our attitudes are. Here is the definition of attitude: "The feeling or opinion about something or someone, or a way of behaving that follows from this." We choose our opinion about people and situations. We choose the way we will behave in relation to other people and circumstances. We choose what we believe about learning. We choose it. Learning doesn't have to be bad. It doesn't have to be anything but what we want it to be. We have the option. We can have tremendously optimistic attitudes about learning - attitudes that will help us grow in ways we have never achieved before!

The choice of a right attitude will significantly determine new circumstances. Choosing to have the right attitude will change the world around you. This isn't any sort of magic; it is just how the world works. Now, don't get me wrong. It won't cure everything and turn your world into a virtual Shangri-La, but it will significantly improve the world you live in. For example, let's say that every day you go into work and you gripe about life and work from the moment you get there until the moment you leave. Will others want to be around you? Will others ask your opinion? Will others like you? Will others ask you to join them for lunch? Probably not! But what if you come to work every day and you are the positive optimist of the crowd? Will everybody love you? No, but significantly more people will than if you are the office pessimist! Your choice of attitude will determine what kind of circumstances you get!

The same is true with learning. What we feel about learning, and what we believe about it will determine the outcomes of our learning. And the outcomes of our learning will determine the outcome of our lives.

Ultimately, our attitude is a choice. Nobody else can force you to have a bad attitude. Nobody else can force you to have a good attitude. It is simply a choice we each make.

Where are you with your attitude about learning? Is it positive? Take some time to give it some serious thought. Then, no matter where you find yourself, decide to take your attitude to the next level! If you have a really bad attitude, decide to take it up a couple of levels!

So, if our attitudes determine to a great degree what kind of life we have, shouldn't we focus on the best attitudes to have and then make them ours? Absolutely! If we want to soar with the eagles in this life, and if there are attitudes that will make us soar, shouldn't we pursue them with all our hearts? By all means! So here we go!

Attitudes of Successful Learners

1. "I can."
This is the most basic of all attitudes. We simply must choose to believe that we can learn. In our house we are not allowed to say, "I can't." We can say, "I'll try," or "I tried and failed," but not "I can't." Telling yourself that you can't will in effect make it so. But telling yourself that you can, will in effect enable you to learn much more. Even if you actually only achieve 50% of what you tell yourself, you will achieve at least that much more than if you told yourself you couldn't. So many people were told at a young age that they couldn't learn. Many others were allowed to engage in that kind of negative self talk (tell themselves, "I can't learn", "I don't understand", I'll never get this", etc.) and their parents and teachers didn't intervene. This enabled them to develop the "I can't" attitudes that become self-fulfilling prophecies.

I actually have a standard way of going about getting myself off of the starting block. I simply say if somebody else has achieved great learning heights, then I can too. I have to be smarter than at least one of those who has already done it. I have to be able to work harder than at least one other. There has to be at least one other person who has come from more difficult circumstances than me. And if they can do it then certainly, "I can!"

2. "This is a long-term approach."
Learning isn't something that happens overnight. Yes, you can learn individual facts, but the real growth comes when you see your learning build on itself and compound for years, when your knowledge meets up with your experience. When we take the attitude that it all has to happen immediately, we hurt ourselves in the long run because the fact is that it takes time to learn (even though we can accelerate it). If we expect it to happen immediately and it doesn't, then we can get frustrated and stop learning altogether.

Instead, we need to take a long-term view just as we do in financial matters, weight management, leadership, etc. Long-term thinking, including our learning is always the best way to go for success.

3. "Learning is valuable."
Some people have a "learning schmearning - who needs learning" attitude. They think that learning is overrated. I hate to tell you this, but not only was that wrong 5000, 500 and 50 years ago, it is especially wrong today. We live in the information age. We must gain knowledge and the ability to apply that knowledge if we are going to be successful. We must tell ourselves and cultivate the attitude that learning is valuable and that it will affect our lives.

4. "I will make a difference in the lives of those around me."
People who soar are generally people who have the attitude of helping other people. Yes, they may do it for monetary gain, but they are others-focused. They want to change the way people live and experience life for the better. They are difference makers all around. This is the same in what we learn. We learn first for ourselves, but then with the goal of taking what we have learned, and what we make of ourselves, and we then help others to do the same.

I live in a town that is very affluent. Most of the people I know, work with and have as friends are very successful in this world. They have learned a lot about life and how it works. They have learned how to make money and be successful in business. One thing I can say, as almost a universal truth, is that as people, they are not self-consumed but genuinely care about others and will do what they can to help others. This is what I know to be true about the attitudes of the genuinely successful.

These are the attitudes of people who are not just successful at getting information into their minds, but in becoming good people because of that information. Learn all that you can, and be sure to keep the attitudes that will make you a successful learner and a successful person!

Have a great week!
Chris

This month marks the end of the 1st quarter of 2008. Keep your 2008 goals on track or get back on track with the Jim Rohn One-Year Success Plan -- one of the most comprehensive resource and success plans ever created for you to reach All of your goals in the next 12 months.

To hear (or see) what Chris Widener has to say about the Jim Rohn One-Year Success Plan or to join Chris and Jim Rohn as part of the Jim Rohn One-Year Success Plan and to participate in a Special Introductory Offer, go to http://oneyear.jimrohn.com or call 800-929-0434 for more information.

2. Made for Success Quote and Commentary

"For everything you have missed, you have gained something else; and for everything you gain, you lose something else." -- Ralph Waldo Emerson

Chris' Commentary:

The way I would put this is: Everything costs something. Your time will cost you money and your money will cost you time. This is why it is so important to do two things: First, understand the importance of priorities. What are you willing to give up in order to make money or build a business? What will you be willing to give up in order to spend more time with your family or pursue a hobby you have a passion for? Second, realize that sometimes when you "miss out" on something, it may just be Providence getting you "in on" something better!

Action Point: Do two things today. One, prioritize your life. Sit down and write out the ten most important things to you and then attach time to them. Second, think of something you feel you are missing out on and then focus in on what you may be able to get in on instead. You may be surprised at the turn your life takes!

3. The Last Word...

This week's Last Word offering comes from my good friend and colleague, Jim Rohn. Jim is a legend in the personal development industry having trained and influenced millions of people worldwide for the last 4+ decades. Today, his short article simply and profoundly explains why personal development is paramount. Here's Jim...

The Miracle of Personal Development by Jim Rohn

One day Mr. Shoaff said, "Jim, if you want to be wealthy and happy, learn this lesson well: Learn to work harder on yourself than you do on your job."

Since that time I've been working on my own personal development. And I must admit that this has been the most challenging assignment of all. This business of personal development lasts a lifetime.

You see, what you become is far more important than what you get. The important question to ask on the job is not, "What am I getting?" Instead, you should ask, "What am I becoming?" Getting and becoming are like Siamese twins: What you become directly influences what you get. Think of it this way: Most of what you have today you have attracted by becoming the person you are today.

I've also found that income rarely exceeds personal development. Sometimes income takes a lucky jump, but unless you learn to handle the responsibilities that come with it, it will usually shrink back to the amount you can handle.

If someone hands you a million dollars, you'd better hurry up and become a millionaire. A very rich man once said, "If you took all the money in the world and divided it equally among everybody, it would soon be back in the same pockets it was before."

It is hard to keep that which has not been obtained through personal development. So here's the great axiom of life:

--To Have More Than You've Got, Become More Than You Are--

This is where you should focus most of your attention. Otherwise, you just might have to contend with the axiom of not changing, which is:

--Unless You Change How You Are, You'll Always Have What You've Got--

To Your Success,
Jim Rohn

This month marks the end of the 1st quarter of 2008. Keep your 2008 goals on track or get back on track with the Jim Rohn One-Year Success Plan -- one of the most comprehensive resource and success plans ever created for you to reach All of your goals in the next 12 months.

To hear (or see) what Chris Widener has to say about the Jim Rohn One-Year Success Plan or to join Chris and Jim Rohn as part of the Jim Rohn One-Year Success Plan and to participate in a Special Introductory Offer, go to http://oneyear.jimrohn.com or call 800-929-0434 for more information.

4. The first quarter of 2008 is gone...

And my question to you is: Are You On Track To Achieve the Goals You've Set for 2008?

Right now is the perfect time to assess the first quarter and either get back on track or set goals for 2008... But how many times have you set goals only to find yourself 1/2 or even 3/4 of the way through the year with little or no progress toward those goals? Well, I can help!

I am excited to announce a Very Special Invitation to All of our Chris Widener Ezine Subscribers to be part of the Jim Rohn One-Year Success Plan - One of the Most Comprehensive Resource and Success Plans Ever Created For You To Reach All Of Your Goals in the Next 12 Months - all for only an initial payment of $9.97 a month for the first 3 months!

Did you read that right? Yep, only $9.97.

To join and/or to hear my complete description of the One-Year Success Plan, go to: http://jr1.jimrohn.com and click Play.

5. More Information

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