Grant Cardone - If You're Not First, You're Last - Sales Strategies to Dominate Your Market and Beat Your Competition

There are so many possibilities of items to put on your power schedule that will advance your new economy. Take on another job, learn a new skill, improve those you have in some way, start a home business, get involved with a direct-marketing opportunity, help solve the problems in the marketplace, or join a group of people with common interests. You can learn a new language, learn more about the Internet, read a book each week, listen to audio programs, help out with the community, run for office, help out your church—the possibilities are endless.

Most people use time as an excuse for not doing things that they know will be good for them and claim that they just don’t have time. But the reality is that most of these people simply refuse to put worthwhile items on their schedule. Again, we all have the same amount of time. Treat yours like it is valuable. Make sure you max out every moment of every day, and I promise, you will feel better about yourself, and better things will happen to you.

If you operate this way during a downturn, you will already have momentum when things turn around because you will have honed the discipline, skills, education, connections, and muscle that others didn’t. When people ask, “Why is he always moving so fast?” my answer is, “That’s how I roll.” When they ask, “What’s the hurry? Chill out,” inspire them by saying, “The more I do, the more I can do, and the more I can do, the more I get done!” When they tell you, “Slow down and enjoy your life,” tell them, “I can’t slow down. I have an economy to create so that I can ensure the future of my family.” Be careful of people who challenge your desire to get more done, as they are dangerous to themselves and others.

In addition to creating your new power schedule, make a list of all wasteful actions in which you are currently involved. This action is so very important that I actually could have made it a chapter on its own. Write down all the things you do that in no way can possibly contribute to future production or enhance the way you feel about yourself.

Once you have your list of wasteful activities, decide where on your new schedule these belong. I am not suggesting you get rid of all of them, but at least limit the amount of time you spend on them. I confess that I myself play Xbox occasionally. While I’m aware that it doesn’t contribute to my production in any way, I enjoy playing it. I don’t cut it out completely, but I do restrict it so that it doesn’t cross over into my production time. In this way, I am not deprived of my playtime.

Now, start creating your new schedule. Write down what time you go to sleep tonight and what time you will wake up tomorrow. Here are a couple of tricks for those of you who love to sleep: Disable the snooze button on your alarm clock and keep the shades open on your windows where you sleep so that when the sun rises, it makes it difficult for you to stay in bed. Once bedtime and wake time are penciled in, then start filling in the rest of the day. The next items to add are breakfast, lunch, and dinner, so include those times. Now, continue to fill in the rest of the day with those things that you want to accomplish. Remember, most people get less done than they want—not because they are lazy but because they don’t have a schedule. For instance, the first thing I do when I wake up in the morning is write down my life goals. I do this again before I go to sleep at night, so I have both of these actions on my schedule. After writing my goals, I have a 20- to 30-minute workout, followed by a healthy breakfast.

Construct the rest of your schedule, packing in every bit of the day with a planned event or action. When asked, “Do you operate your life exactly by the schedule?” my answer is, “Of course not.” But each day, I am able to look at what I am committed to accomplishing. I would rather have a full schedule and wonder how I’m going to get all this done than have no schedule and become apathetic because there is nothing to do. Regardless of the economy, I commit each day to something that moves me into the market. The more I have on my schedule, the better chance I have of doing something productive. The more I get done, the better I feel—and the better I feel, the more I get done. When you feel better and actually start getting more done each day, you will find yourself rewarded in the marketplace for activities that had nothing to do with your job.

Here’s an example of a recent day’s schedule:

6:00 Wake up, drink water with lemon, write down my goals

6:15-7:00 Work out, listen to training material, swim and shower

7:00 Eat breakfast with family

7:20-8:00 Drive to office, pay a personal visit to client. Use all driving time to listen to training material.

8:00-8:15 Meet with group

8:16-9:00 Write weekly article for Huffington Post and Business News

9:00-10:00 Attend meeting to plan Web site strategy, promotion, and marketing

10:00-11:50 Direct client calls, followed up with mail and e-mail

12:00-2:00 Lunch with VIP client

2:00-3:00 More writing on book/product development meetings

3:00-4:30 Create new PowerPoint for latest seminar

4:30-5:00 Personal client—drop in on my way home

5:15-6:30 Downtime—play and family

6:30-8:00 Continue writing a new book/do research for an upcoming radio show regarding the economy

8:00-10:00 Watch recorded movie with family (avoiding news)

10:00 Shower, write goals, spend time with my wife, get to bed

As discussed in the previous chapter, your attitude is going to determine how much action you take and how effective it is. It’s always a challenge to remain positive—even more so during economic setbacks. This is the case for you, your customers, and all those with whom you compete. The person who can maintain an optimistic outlook when things are tough will have a significant advantage and a better chance at advancing and conquering.

The most dangerous component of a slowdown isn’t usually the reality of the economic factors; it’s the amount of damaging thinking that can infiltrate the marketplace as well as affect the individuals who support and spread such thinking. While bad attitudes never show up on a profit-and-loss statement, they always have something to do with the bottom line.

It’s best during these times to avoid negativity—and the hopelessness, lack of confidence and direction, and depression it causes—at all costs. All of these factors will start to manifest themselves in your actions and results. Prospects and clients will sense any pessimism on your part and will interpret your actions as those done out of desperation or worry. This will most likely prompt them to respond to your proposals out of fear, which is never good for you.

Countless surveys have demonstrated proof that negativity can actually contribute to poor health, accidents, and lower levels of production. The American Medical Association even believes that 90 percent of illnesses are psychosomatic, or caused by the mind. If you believe that you will get sick, you have a better chance of getting sick. If you believe you will get in a car wreck, you’d better call the body shop—because you’ll soon have to get your car repaired. If you don’t think there is anything you can do during times of contraction, you’ll support this belief by actually doing less. This self-fulfilling prophecy shows the power of your mind and attitude.