Adjust Your Attitude and Expect Success

If you’ve ever called me, you’ve heard my answering-machine message end with the words "Expect Success." There’s an important intent behind that. What if every time we made a phone call or personal request or met with a potential client, we expected we would be successful? Do you think our behavior would be different? It seems likely that if we had that confidence, we would make more phone calls, make more requests and schedule more appointments. And that would result in more business, more income, more ease in our workday, and more overall success.

Last week I was making marketing calls with only two business days left for the month and I had set a goal to have my best month ever. I decided to adopt an "Expect Success" attitude. I visualized each person on the other end of the phone anxiously waiting to hear from me. I made my calls with enthusiasm and purpose. There was no uncertain or apologetic tone to my voice; I spoke to each person with the knowledge that my programs would benefit them and that they therefore were very interested in enrolling in my group their staff. After a short number of calls, I had scheduled more programs than I usually do in two weeks. This would never have happened if I hadn’t come from a place of expecting success when I started to make those calls.

What about that proposal you have been meaning to get out, that course you are thinking about taking, that person you want to approach at an event, that career change you want to make? What if you cast off all your scripts of self-doubt, fought off your recurring fears, disproved the critic inside you—and instead gave your goal all you could because you knew success was your destiny? Begin all relationships with this attitude of success—when you introduce yourself to someone for the first time, expect that they are glad to meet you. Then, when you call someone up on the phone, expect that they are on the other end waiting for your call; and when you ask for the sale, expect they will say yes.

I got a call the other day from a woman. Her failure expectancy was apparent; she was anxious on the phone and gave me the impression that she was already sure I would not be interested. In her own mind, she clearly expected to fail before she began the call. Do you ever sound like that on the phone?

When we call people or meet with them, we have to hold the attitude that we are offering them an opportunity—an important opportunity, and maybe even the perfect opportunity for them. If they do not go for it, that’s fine. Our responsibility to ourselves is to make the offer. It doesn’t matter what the thoughts and actions of the other person are; it doesn’t matter whether they agree to what you are offering or not. What matters is that you go for what you want all the time, every time, and are as proactive and confident as you would be if you knew you could not miss.

Success is not a destination we arrive at; it is an attitude we hold along the way. All the joy of our professional lives is not in the outcome, but in the process. Do not rob yourself of the satisfaction that lies on the path along the way—enjoy every call you place, every order you take, every presentation you make. Revel in the process of being a success—today.

To expect more success, more of the time, follow these steps:

Acknowledge all the small successes in the process. Count your "wins" daily. Wins are all those things that go your way in a given day—the letter you wrote, the VIP you finally got hold of, the parking ticket you eluded, the compliment you received.

Smile. Both psychologically and physiologically, this simple, easy action improves our well-being, which improves our outlook, which prepares us for all the great things we are expecting to happen to us. To become fit and healthy from a success standpoint, give your smile muscles a workout just like the rest of your body.

Hold your success attitude in your body. Stand up straight, raise your chin up, keep your shoulders back and feet firmly planted. Feel the power of personal success in every cell in your body.

Create a compelling success image in your mind. Once you expect your success, see it. Imagine it vividly and in color—what are you doing, where are you, what are you wearing, how does it feel like in your body? Make your success as real as possible in your mind, so your expectancy is even stronger and, as a result, your actions even bigger.

Do affirmations. I like to call them "intentions." State to yourself over and over what you intend to create in your life. State your intentions verbally, out loud to yourself; state them silently, in your mind; and record them on a cassette tape so that you can listen to yourself stating what you expect to create in your life. If you think these efforts are excessive, ask yourself if it is possible for you to be excessively successful. You will only manifest in your life what you first manifest in your mind.

Be bold. Do all those things today that you know you will do when you are more successful. That is how you will create the success you strive for in your business and life.

You will never be more successful than you expect you can be. Greet every day with the belief that good things are going to happen to you. Expect to be successful with your calls, appointments and projects. Your work life will be enriched; you will take more risks, make more requests, and seize more opportunities. That will result in a better life, and that is what success is all about. A friend told me recently that studies show people with a positive disposition not only think they have better lives, they actually do have better lives. Following that with unscientific logic, I say that people who expect success not only think they are more successful, they actually are more successful. I urge you to vigorously and fully prove my theory in your own life.