Guidelines for using statements to affirm the positive

Don’t make an affirmation that says, “The economy is so slow.” Make a positive statement, such as, “There is so much opportunity.”
2. They must be in present tense.
Not what I’ll do someday, but what I’ll do now.
3. They must indicate achievement.
There is no room for “I can.” It must be “I have, I am”; always act as if you already have achieved it.
4. There should always be words of action in them.
“I easily …. I quickly …. I love to ….”
5. You must be able to feel emotion as you say these affirmations to yourself.
If you feel it, so does the creative subconscious. If you don’t feel it, your creative subconscious won’t use it.
Make it so
Dwell on the negative and struggle; focus on opportunities and make sales
MARCIA GAUGER
For SBT
Question: Our business has slowed recently, and some of my salespeople are a little depressed, even negative. What can I do to help them to think positively and to be motivated?
Answer: There is nothing you can do to motivate them, but there are some things that your salespeople can do to motivate themselves. If you allow negativism to continue, it will slowly start to erode your customer relations and eventually your business.
Why, given like market conditions, do some salespeople excel while others struggle? While attending a recent sales meeting, I noticed two predominant attitudes about slowing business conditions. One group of salespeople seemed to hold a grudge about their market conditions. Their position was that their circumstances were inflicted on them and they would have to wait it out. Their sales were below expectations. The other group, while recognizing that market conditions had changed, seemed exhilarated about new opportunities they recently uncovered. Their sales were holding their own.
Given like market situations, those who embrace positive outlooks significantly outperform those who don’t. Following are some suggestions for ensuring a more positive environment for yourself and your team.
Focus on the future, not on the past – Have you heard someone recently mention how much he or she lost in the stock market last year? Dwelling on the past doesn’t change what’s already happened. What actions will influence results now?
Look for unique opportunities – Tough times make us stronger and force us to look for creative ways to expand our businesses. If you tell yourself that times are tough, guess what: times will be tough. Look for opportunities that may not have been apparent during busy times. Take a tour of your customers’ businesses to see how you can help them grow.
Practice positive self-talk – If you want to change the way you think about yourself and your situation, think positively about your current circumstances and the opportunities that exist.
According to psychologists, people are always working for balance in their minds. “Balance” is that picture we have of how things should be. We see our companies operating a certain way, at a certain level. We have a picture of how we should perform in the company. Balance comes when the picture in our minds matches what we perceive we are getting. When the pictures don’t match, there is imbalance in your subconscious mind. You then get very creative (creative subconscious), very energetic (subconscious), to restore balance. You work very hard to make the picture you see match the picture you have in your mind.
Car advertising is one of the best examples of that. In most good car ads you become the camera. You are standing back looking at a beautiful new shiny car. Next, the camera slides you behind the wheel and it is as if you are doing the driving. The advertiser has successfully put an image into your creative subconscious.
We also place images in our minds by what we tell ourselves. Through our self-talk we are constantly thinking and affirming to ourselves, either positively or negatively. We do it by using words that might trigger pictures, and those pictures or images bring about feeling and emotions that our minds use to form a picture of itself in that situation.
If you were told growing up that you were stupid, you will probably find your subconscious has a picture of you by the word stupid. On the other hand, if you were told you were creative, smart and quick on your feet, then that is the picture your subconscious has and it always works off of that picture.
Have you ever said, “I always run late”, or “I just can’t remember people’s names”?
How could you expect to have a positive outlook if you spend all your time telling your creative subconscious how terrible things are? Your mind doesn’t care what you ask for. Its function is just to give you what you ask for. So, instead of telling yourself how terrible market conditions are, practice making positive statements such as, “There is so much opportunity.” You don’t have a choice about what’s already happened. And, if you do what you have always done, you will get what you have always gotten.
Marcia Gauger is president of Impact Sales, a training and performance-improvement company with offices in Mukwonago and in Arkansas. Small Business Times readers can contact her in Mukwonago at 262-642-9610, or via fax at 501-964-0055. Her column appears in every other issue of SBT.
July 20, 2001 Small Business Times, Milwaukee