Monday, September 15, 2008

Fear and Focus

Putting Fear in It’s Place
As you move forward on your journey from where you are to where you want to be, you are going to have to confront some of your fears. Fear is a just a natural part of living.
Whenever you start a new project, take on a new venture, or put yourself out there, there’s usually some fear involved. Unfortunately, most people let fear stop them from taking the necessary steps to achieve their dreams.
Confronting your fears is a very necessary step in achieving success.
There is simply no other way.
Fear can be a helpful emotion, as it tells you when you need to be extra careful, keenly aware, and cautious. Fear is not an emotion that is telling you to stop. In fact, it’s telling you just the opposite!
Acknowledging your feelings of fear helps you know when you are stepping out of your comfort zone. It points your awareness to areas where you could improve and grow.
Successful people also feel fear. Yet they don’t let it get in the way of anything they want to do-or have to do. They understand that fear is something to be acknowledged, experienced, and taken along for the ride. They have learned, as author Susan Jeffers suggests in her must-read book, to “Feel the Fear and Do it Anyway®.”
(Susan has been a friend of mine for twenty years now, and her work, which is very powerful and transformational, has helped millions of people overcome their fears and move forward to create success in their lives. I highly recommend her as a resource: www.SusanJeffers.com)
You see, fear is more of a signal that we should stay alert and cautious. We can feel fear, but we can still move forward anyway.
Think of fear as a 2-year-old- child who doesn’t want to go grocery shopping with you. Because you must buy groceries, you’ll just have to take the two year old with you. Fear is no different. In other words, acknowledge that fear exists but don’t let it keep you from doing important tasks.
Also realize that so many of our fears are self-created. We might frighten ourselves by fantasizing negative outcomes to any activity we might peruse or experience. Luckily, because we are the ones doing the fantasizing, we are also the ones who can stop the fear and bring ourselves into a state of clarity and peace by facing the actual facts, rather than giving in to our imaginations.
If a fear is too great for you to overcome, try breaking it down into smaller challenges.
Try starting out doing the parts of the project that don’t scare you so much. You need to give a speech in front of a large group? Try giving your speech in front of a small group of people who care for you. Work your way up until you are able to feel the fear but still move forward. As you do you will build your confidence and eventually you won’t feel fear surrounding those issues because you’ll have done them enough to count it as a skill.
As you move toward your goal, don’t attach yourself so much to the outcomes.
Keep moving toward your dream doing everything you can to create what you want, then let it go and see what shows up. Sometimes the universe will have a better idea in mind for you and present a better opportunity when you were expecting something completely different. Don’t let fear keep you from moving forward. Even if the horrible outcome that you imagined happens, the universe will always provide for you another way to succeed. So be on the look out!
Trust that no matter what occurs, you are smart enough and strong enough to keep looking for, and attracting, opportunities.
If you are willing to try new experiences in spite of your fears, then more new experiences will present themselves for you to try. And the more you try, the more you are likely to succeed!

Saturday, September 13, 2008

Company Leader Coaches Winners on the Football Field as Well


Bergen Catholic 27, Southington (Conn.) 6 by JOHN RUYZAM, FOR THE STAR-LEDGER
Friday September 12, 2008, 8:19 PM
Bergen Catholic, No. 6 in The Star-Ledger Top 20, is implementing a new offense and defense this season, and the squad from Oradell came through for coach Fred Stengel with a 27-6 victory over Southington of Connecticut last night at the Kickoff Classic at Giants Stadium.
Bergen Catholic (1-0) switched to a spread offense to take advantage of its skilled position players and went from a 4-4 to a 4-3 defense because of a talented secondary and linebacking unit. It made the changes to compete more closely with Don Bosco Prep, winner of The Star-Ledger Top 20 Trophy as the state's No. 1 team the last two years.
"I had an opportunity to hire two great assistants, Tom Falato (a former head coach at Ridge) as my offensive coordinator and Mike Katz as my defensive coach. And I changed both the offense and defense," Stengel said. "Also, because of my personnel, I have more secondary and linebacker type kids and skilled players on offense. I went to my strengths. Did I do that to close the gap with Don Bosco? One hundred percent."
Stengel said when he had to debut his new offense in the rain he was concerned.
"But I was very pleased with the way the offense played under the conditions," Stengel said. "I wasn't happy with the defense in the first half, we missed a lot of tackles and that helped them score. But we did better in the second half."
Southington was 9-2 last year and lost in the semifinals of the LL playoffs, the largest public-school division in Connecticut.
Running back Nick Gerst carried 26 times for 176 yards and two touchdowns and quarterback Rob Eckrote completed eight of 15 passes for 103 yards and ran for two scores for Bergen Catholic.
"This was a start," Stengel said. "We're still a work in progress and have a lot to do."
Southington scored on the opening drive of the game as it marched 78 yards on 14 plays with quarterback Josh Lamson throwing a 2-yard TD strike to Ryan Borawski. The kick was blocked.
Bergen Catholic came right back as Anthony Marino took the kickoff and raced 20 yards to the Southington 44. Five plays later, Gerst ran 17 yards for a score and Zack Kovalovsky's kick gave the Oradell team the lead for keeps, 7-6, with 3:08 left in the first quarter.
Bergen Catholic forged a 14-6 lead with 9:52 remaining in the second quarter. Runs of 32 and 26 yards by Gerst advanced the ball to the Southington 2, from where Eckrote sneaked over.
Bergen Catholic made it 20-6 at the intermission. The Southington punter went back to kick and, on a low snap, his knee touched the ground, presenting Bergen Catholic with the ball on the Southington 16. From the 9, Gerst went over left tackle for the touchdown. The kick failed.
Bergen Catholic scored its final touchdown with 6:33 left in the game, going 57 yards in 10 plays. Passes of 14 and 18 yards to Tanner McEvoy and Marino helped push the ball to the 4. After a run by Gerst, Eckrote punched it in from the 1.
1st 2nd 3rd 4th Final
Bergen Catholic (1-0) 7 13 0 7 27
Southington (Conn.) (0-1) 6 0 0 0 6
First Quarter
Southington (Conn.): Borawski 2 pass from Lamson (kick failed)Bergen Catholic: Gerst 17 run (Kovalovski kick)
Second Quarter
Bergen Catholic: Eckrote, Rob 2 run (Kovalovsky, Zack kick)Bergen Catholic: Gerst 9 run (kick failed)
Fourth Quarter
Bergen Catholic: Eckrote, Rob 1 run (Kovalovsky, Zack kick) Southington (Conn.) Bergen Catholic

Friday, September 12, 2008

Have No FEAR

Putting Fear in It’s Place
As you move forward on your journey from where you are to where you want to be, you are going to have to confront some of your fears. Fear is a just a natural part of living.
Whenever you start a new project, take on a new venture, or put yourself out there, there’s usually some fear involved. Unfortunately, most people let fear stop them from taking the necessary steps to achieve their dreams.
Confronting your fears is a very necessary step in achieving success.
There is simply no other way.
Fear can be a helpful emotion, as it tells you when you need to be extra careful, keenly aware, and cautious. Fear is not an emotion that is telling you to stop. In fact, it’s telling you just the opposite!
Acknowledging your feelings of fear helps you know when you are stepping out of your comfort zone. It points your awareness to areas where you could improve and grow.
Successful people also feel fear. Yet they don’t let it get in the way of anything they want to do-or have to do. They understand that fear is something to be acknowledged, experienced, and taken along for the ride. They have learned, as author Susan Jeffers suggests in her must-read book, to “Feel the Fear and Do it Anyway®.”
(Susan has been a friend of mine for twenty years now, and her work, which is very powerful and transformational, has helped millions of people overcome their fears and move forward to create success in their lives. I highly recommend her as a resource: www.SusanJeffers.com)
You see, fear is more of a signal that we should stay alert and cautious. We can feel fear, but we can still move forward anyway.
Think of fear as a 2-year-old- child who doesn’t want to go grocery shopping with you. Because you must buy groceries, you’ll just have to take the two year old with you. Fear is no different. In other words, acknowledge that fear exists but don’t let it keep you from doing important tasks.
Also realize that so many of our fears are self-created. We might frighten ourselves by fantasizing negative outcomes to any activity we might peruse or experience. Luckily, because we are the ones doing the fantasizing, we are also the ones who can stop the fear and bring ourselves into a state of clarity and peace by facing the actual facts, rather than giving in to our imaginations.
If a fear is too great for you to overcome, try breaking it down into smaller challenges.
Try starting out doing the parts of the project that don’t scare you so much. You need to give a speech in front of a large group? Try giving your speech in front of a small group of people who care for you. Work your way up until you are able to feel the fear but still move forward. As you do you will build your confidence and eventually you won’t feel fear surrounding those issues because you’ll have done them enough to count it as a skill.
As you move toward your goal, don’t attach yourself so much to the outcomes.
Keep moving toward your dream doing everything you can to create what you want, then let it go and see what shows up. Sometimes the universe will have a better idea in mind for you and present a better opportunity when you were expecting something completely different. Don’t let fear keep you from moving forward. Even if the horrible outcome that you imagined happens, the universe will always provide for you another way to succeed. So be on the look out!
Trust that no matter what occurs, you are smart enough and strong enough to keep looking for, and attracting, opportunities.
If you are willing to try new experiences in spite of your fears, then more new experiences will present themselves for you to try. And the more you try, the more you are likely to succeed!

Believe in The Right Person


Success Begins with Believing
In a previous edition of Success Strategies, I talked about how in order to be successful, we must first define what success means to us, and that means getting CLEAR about what you want, writing it down, and thinking BIG!
If you are going to be successful in creating the life of your dreams, you have to believe that you are capable of making it happen. You have to believe you have the right stuff, that you are able to pull it off. You have to believe in yourself. Whether you call it self-esteem, self-confidence, or self-assurance, it is a deep-seeded belief that you have what it takes - the abilities, inner resources, talents, and skills to create your desired results.
Ultimately, you must learn to control your self-talk, eliminate any negative and limiting beliefs, and maintain a constant state of positive expectations.
Control Your Self-Talk-Researchers have found that the average person thinks as many as 50,000 thoughts a day. Sadly, many of those thoughts are negative - I’m not management material… I’ll never lose weight… It doesn’t matter what I do, nothing ever works out for me. This is what psychologists call victim language. Victim language actually keeps you in a victim state of mind. It is a form of self-hypnosis that lulls you into a belief that you are unlovable and incompetent.
In order to get what you want from life, you need to give up this victim language and start talking to yourself like a winner - I can do it… I know there is a solution… I am smart enough and strong enough to figure this out… Everything I eat helps me maintain my perfect body weight.
You Are Always Programming Your Subconscious Mind. Your subconscious mind is like the crew of a ship. You are it’s captain. It is your job to give the crew orders. And when you do this, the crew takes everything you say literally. The crew (your subconscious) has no sense of humor. It just blindly follows orders. When you say, “Everything I eat goes straight to my hips,” the crew hears that as an order: Take everything she eats, turn it into fat and put it on her hips. On the other hand, if you say, “Everything I eat helps me maintain my perfect body weight,” the crew will begin to make that into reality by helping you make better food choices, exercise, and maintain the right metabolism rate for you body.
This power of your subconscious mind is the reason you must become very vigilant and pay careful attention to your spoken and internal statements. Unfortunately, most people don’t realize they are committing negative self-talk, which is why it is best to enlist another person - your success partner - in monitoring each other’s speaking. You can have a signal for interrupting each other when you use victim language.
Use Affirmations to Build Self-Confidence-One of the most powerful tools for building worthiness and self-confidence is the repetition of positive statements until they become a natural part of the way you think. These “affirmations” act to crowd out and replace the negative orders you have been sending your crew (your subconscious mind) all these years. I suggest that you create a list of 10 to 20 statements that affirm your belief in your worthiness and your ability to create the life of your dreams.
Of course, what to believe is up to you, but here are some examples of affirmations that have worked for others in the past:
I am worthy of love, joy and success.
I am smart and make wise choices.
I am lovable and capable.
I create anything I want.
I am able to solve any problem that comes my way.
I can handle anything that life hands me.
I have all the energy I need to do everything I want to do.
I am attracting all the right people into my life.
Believing in Yourself is an Attitude-Believing in yourself is a choice. It’s an attitude you develop over time. It’s now your responsibility to take charge of your own self-concept and your beliefs. It might help to know that the latest brain research now indicates that with enough positive self-talk and positive visualization combined with the proper training, coaching, and practice, anyone can learn to do almost anything.
You must choose to believe that you can do anything you set your mind to - anything at all - because, in fact, you can!

Success is for EVERYONE


Success is for EVERYONE

By Doug Smith September 5, 2008
We've all heard the saying: " do success.
If we know this, what are we waiting for? So many mortgage loan originators are waiting. They are waiting on the market to change, waiting for the rates to come down, waiting for the weather to warm. Others are waiting for some new product, waiting until the new computers are in, waiting for summer, waiting until they feel more confident in their skills. Waiting, waiting, waiting. While they are waiting they're losing opportunities, losing momentum, losing loans and losing money.
Would you classify yourself as a bit of a procrastinator? Are there things you want and need to be doing but are putting off?
We human beings are an optimistic sort. We believe that tomorrow will always be better and that things will improve. We become victims of circumstance, rather than masters of our future. Perhaps that is why so many in this business are not having the fun and success they should be having right now. If you are one of them, read on!
Are you tired of waiting for success to happen to you? Then let's do something about it!
1. Make a list of three things you have wanted to do but have not yet done. These might be:
Weekly sales calls
Start a database
Learn a new loan program
Attend a seminar
Join an association
Mail out letters
Run a magazine ad
Design and deliver a seminar
Target a new prospect
Organize your office
Design a personal brochure
Hire an assistant
There may be many things you want to do, but let's just start the ball rolling with three.
2. After you list your three actions, ask yourself: "Why haven't I done these things?" I'll warn you in advance the answers will be pretty lame. You'll hear yourself saying things like: "I just haven't taken the time," or "I've been a little busy lately," or "I haven't gotten around to it," or "I'm not ready." You have to admit that those reasons are hardly a strong defense for your inaction. Recognize and realize that very little is keeping you from moving forward except yourself.
3. Take out three brightly colored index cards and write each action on a card.
4. Place these three cards at the top of your desk facing you, in plain sight where you can't miss them.
5. Each day when you arrive at work, look at the cards. Make a deal with yourself that you will keep the three cards out and look at them every day until you either have accomplished the activity or you are doing it as you should.
6. When you can say you are no longer procrastinating and that the activity is happening or has been achieved, tear the card in half and throw it away!
Procrastination can paralyze you! There's no need to wait weeks or months for good things to happen to you when you can make them happen for yourself...right now!

Wednesday, September 3, 2008

2 IN A ROW!!!


This makes 2 Months in a Row as Agent of the Month
Khem Persaud is now the agent of the month for 2 consecutive months. Khem has posted another month with 6 listings in the same 30 day span. Khem is working his tail off in the summer market to make sure the year finishes as it started, with a bang. Khem leads a group of agents in the Rahway office of CENTURY 21 JRS Realty that are on pace to have a 2008 that is better then 2007. In this market that is an amazing accomplishment. Khem is the top listing agent in a company that has well over 150 listings in the Union and Middlesex County area's. CENTURY 21 JRS Realty is lucky to have an agent like Khem on its team, and we wish Khem the best of luck moving forward.