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Action

e
Th

Principles ®

How Americans
Get Rich
BILL FITZPATRICK
AMERICAN SUCCESS INSTITUTE
A NONPROFIT ORGANIZATION

Visit
BillFitzPatrick.com
Table of Contents
1. Set Goals......................................................................6
2. Divide and Conquer ...................................................7
3. Write A Personal Mission Statement ..........................8
4. Follow Through ..........................................................9
5. Embrace the Hard Work...........................................10
6. Don’t Complicate Matters .........................................11
7. Commit to Never Ending Improvement..................12
8. Be Frugal ...................................................................13
9. Make Today Special..................................................14
10. Record Your Thoughts..............................................15
11. Persist to Win ............................................................16
12. In Business, All Are Not Equal ................................17
13. Risk Failure ................................................................18
14. Get Tough..................................................................19
15. Be the Valued Employee ..........................................20
16. Find Another Job.......................................................21
17. The Wide World of Business ...................................22
18. Stop Wasting Time ....................................................23
19. Spread Your Enthusiasm...........................................24
20. Applaud the Beginner ..............................................25
21. Give Yourself the Gift of Self-Reliance....................26
22. Lead by Example ......................................................27
23. Control Conflict .........................................................28
24. Listen to Your Instincts .............................................29
25. Keep Pushing ............................................................30
26. Style and Attitude and Work Matter ........................31
27. Donald J. Trump: Get Tough ...................................32
28. Buying and Selling Businesses.................................33
29. Be Proud....................................................................34
30. Be Decisive................................................................35
31. Three Rules for Business Success............................36

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32. Embody Integrity.......................................................37
33. Stay Centered.............................................................38
34. Love Many Things.....................................................39
35. Forget Everybody ......................................................40
36. Maintain Your Presence............................................41
37. The Business Doesn’t Matter....................................42
38. Appreciate Your Appeal ...........................................43
39. Develop Your Sense of Humor................................44
40. Create a Winning Team............................................45
41. Show Loyalty .............................................................46
42. Advance Your Career................................................47
43. How to Delegate.......................................................48
44. How to Manage Projects ..........................................49
45. Develop Your Special Talent....................................50
46. Copy Success.............................................................51
47. Develop Winning Habits ..........................................52
48. Salespeople Rule .......................................................53
49. Accept Hard Work ....................................................54
50. The Boss is The Rainmaker .....................................55
51. Communicate with Ease ...........................................56
52. Helping Troubled Employees ..................................57
53. Imitation before Innovation .....................................58
54. How to Choose a Partner.........................................59
55. Invest In Your Future................................................60
56. Retire Early ................................................................61
57. Have Faith .................................................................62
58. Your Core Values ......................................................63
59. How to Build a Team...............................................64
60. Look in the Mirror.....................................................65
61. Imagine ......................................................................66
62. Hold Sacred ...............................................................67
63. Focus on Your Strengths ..........................................68
64. Understand Courage .................................................69
65. Sandra Day O’Connor: Aim High ............................70
66. Run the Short and Long Roads................................71

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67. Advertising Basics .....................................................72
68. Close the Door on Regrets.......................................73
69. Raise Your Prices.......................................................74
70. The Typical American Millionaire............................75
71. Act With Boldness.....................................................76
72. Aim for the One Percent ..........................................77
73. Do What You Love Doing........................................78
74. Appreciate Your Customer .......................................79
75. Build Networks ........................................................80
76. Hire Slowly...............................................................81
77. Fire Quickly .............................................................82
78. The Example of Wal-Mart .......................................83
79. Jack Welch: Self-Confidence ...................................84
80. Learn.........................................................................85
81. Ask a Lot of Questions............................................86
82. Read Biographies.....................................................87
83. Be Open to New Ideas ...........................................88
84. Heed the Warnings ..................................................89
85. American Business Slogans.....................................90
86. Read, Read, Read.....................................................91
87. Write Your Elevator Pitch ........................................92
88. A Few Important Words ..........................................93
89. Go Green .................................................................94
90. Start a Business Now...............................................95
91. Thank Your Ancestors .............................................96
92. Supervise ..................................................................97
93. Go for the BIG Fish.................................................98
94. Magnify Your Effectiveness .....................................99
95. Deal With It............................................................100
96. Embrace Technology .............................................101
97. Invest in Commercial Property .............................102
98. Start Your Revolution.............................................103
99. Become an Action Principles® Champion.............104
100. Your One Life ......................................................105

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How Americans
Get Rich
As you read How Americans Get Rich, you realize that
what successful people have done and are doing in
America, you can do wherever you live, in Hanoi or Havana
or Halifax.
There have been self-made successful people from every
era of history and from every country. They offer a product
that people want to buy. They charge a fair price. They build
repeat business from a satisfied customer base. They copy
the leaders in their industries. They keep their businesses
moving forward, always improving. They make money and
they invest, usually in real estate. You can do this.
I will not wish you good luck. If you are an Action
Principles® Champion, a tough, thoughtful, spiritual person
of action, you don’t need luck. Write down your goals, work
hard, learn from your mistakes and persist. You can have a
prosperous life and make a difference in your community.
Appreciation and respect will be yours. Follow the Action
Principles and these How Americans Get Rich principles.
Watch my free instructional videos. You can do this.
I will be honored to be your teacher.

Bill FitzPatrick • Bill FitzPatrick.com

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1
Set Goals
You have one life. Set a goal right now to rise above
the average and live an extraordinary life. These are
your goals, so don’t be shy. Dream big. What you plan,
or don’t plan, is where you’ll go.
You need the time and the resources to develop
your individual potential and special talent. Plan for it.
Write it down. Commit your mind and actions to do
what it will take to succeed.
Average people work forty hours a week. Set a goal
of working 20% more, working fifty hours and using
the extra income to invest.
Average people buy one house, hoping that this sin-
gle investment will ensure a comfortable retirement.
Plan to do what the average person has done once and
do it again and again until you become a millionaire.
Average people watch twenty hours of television
each week. Set a goal to watch ten hours and use the
other ten hours more constructively.

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2
Divide and Conquer
Initially, many of the goals you set will seem ambitious.
This is good. Reach for the stars. Now, with your feet firm-
ly planted on the ground, make your plans. Take your goal
and divide it into meaningful, realistic, achievable objectives.
You want to own several McDonald’s franchises. You
start by owning one.
You get a job at McDonald’s. You volunteer to do the
jobs that average employees avoid. You mop floors, clean
rest rooms and empty grease traps. You pick up litter in
the parking lot. You react with an understanding smile
when a child spills a milkshake. You willingly work
extra hours.
You become the irreplaceable employee. You become
a shift supervisor and then assistant manager and then
manager. You network with other store managers and
store owners. You learn the fast food business from the
ground floor up and inside and out.
You are known and liked by the national corporation.
You confidently borrow the money to buy your first store.
Then, you invest in a second and third and fourth store.
On the road to your future, divide your journey into
short trips.

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3
Write a Personal
Mission Statement
There is an ideal you.
You are a tough, thoughtful, spiritual person of action.
You are prosperous. Everything about you spells success
from your home and your car, to your office. Some lucky
few are able to call you parent or boss. Others are proud
to call you friend. You have much and are able to share
often. You are admired and respected.
Be the confident, ideal you.
Every day, stop to think about who you were, who
you are now and the ideal you. What mistakes did you
make? What slights did you commit?
Are you enjoying your days? Did you stop long enjoy
to savor your tea? Did you stop to smell the rose? Did
you see the children laughing?
You can describe the ideal you. You can keep a diary
or scrapbook. Or, you can simply write a page or a para-
graph. Keep writing and refining and living. While aver-
age people are idle, you pursue your ideal.

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4
Follow Through
Follow through is the secret weapon of the highly suc-
cessful businessperson. It is bettering the standard. It is
doing the optional. It is always performing above and
beyond expectations. It is the wow factor.
It is openly and honestly talking with a customer who
has a problem and doing your best to correct it.
It is the contractor who cleans up, not just at the end
of a job, but every night. It is the restaurant manager who
visits every table after every meal. It is the florist who
calls the week after the wedding.
It is the car salesperson or the real estate agent who
doesn’t treat you like a one time opportunity but as a life-
time customer. It is appreciating and respecting your cus-
tomer. It is making the customer feel special and impor-
tant.

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5
Embrace the Hard Work
You excel by not being an average worker. You excel
by working hard at the harder aspects of your job. What
the average worker avoids, you embrace. Think follow-
up, clean-up, dealing with problem employees, solving
customer complaints and soliciting new business.
Many average workers are clock watchers. They are
focused on avoiding criticism while waiting for their
next paycheck. Often, the workplace is not a proving
ground, encouraging an individual to personal excel-
lence. Rather, some see it as a comfortable meeting
place where friends co-mingle in a commercial environ-
ment. The business becomes incidental to the social.
If you actually concentrate on working while you are
at work, you give yourself a competitive advantage over
average workers. If you are working for the right com-
pany, your bosses will acknowledge, appreciate and
reward your hard work.

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6
Don’t Complicate Matters
Average people often complicate business matters
because within those complications, they can find excus-
es for inaction.
Following The Action Principles®, you are a tough,
thoughtful, spiritual person of action. What others have
done, you can do. You don’t sit around sharing ignorance
with your friends. You find knowledgeable teachers and
mentors. You listen. You find a way. You research, you
think, you plan and you act.
Running a business is not complicated. You offer a
quality product at a fair price. You appreciate your cus-
tomers. You identity the leaders in your industry and you
do what they are doing.
Becoming financially independent is not complicated.
Average people buy one house in the hope of a com-
fortable retirement. You buy six properties, pay off your
debts, and create a family financial empire.
There are those who talk accomplishment. There are
those who listen, learn and accomplish.

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7
Commit to Never Ending
Improvement
It’s fun and exciting to plan and open a business but after
a few months, reality starts to kick in. Ownership and man-
agement responsibilities are demanding.
Perhaps several vendors should not have been so highly
recommended. Maybe the work ethics of some recruited staff
do not match expectations. After the novelty wears off, some
customer interest will wane.
With the slow creep of discouragement, average people
quit and settle for mediocrity. It’s seems a small fact that the
flowers in the beds outside the office are dead. It gets easy to
overlook the smudges on outgoing correspondence. You
allow discontent among staff to fester. Suddenly updating the
website is no longer a priority.
For the extraordinary, second rate and quitting are not
options. You can’t yawn and shrug your shoulders. You are the
boss. Through your example, you are responsible for the ener-
getic or toxic atmosphere in your workplace. You attend to the
details. You maintain the standards. You don’t turn a blind eye
to anything.
If you need to find new suppliers and new employees and
new ways to promote your products or services, you do that.
To keep to a steady course and strive toward excellence,
you may have to make improvements again and again.

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8
Be Frugal
Employees understand that your company is in business
to make money. You make money by generating revenue
and by looking for ways to reduce the unnecessary; espe-
cially frivolity and waste.
An effective manager sets the example for employees.
You can fly coach. You can eat in the company cafeteria.
You don’t need a private bathroom or reserved parking
space. You see litter and you pick it up.
Get everyone involved. Corporate frugality is a team effort.
Everyone should be engaged in looking for ways to cut
costs and rewarded for sharing their suggestions.
Think before you make major corporate purchases. Don’t
be impulsive. Give yourself a day or two to consider the pur-
chase and if you can still justify the item, then buy it know-
ing that you will use it.
No one likes a cheap person. Everyone will accept a
leader who sacrifices along with the troops for the good of
all concerned.

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9
Make Today Special
You list and tackle your responsibilities head on. You
embrace hard work. Every day, you choose a new chal-
lenge for yourself. You make yourself tough by doing
something that is personally difficult for you to do.
If you want to generate additional business, you follow
up with your old clients and make the effort to reconnect.
If you have been neglecting your health, today you
will watch your diet and take a short walk.
If you have been putting off making personnel
changes, just do it.
If an employee has done an exceptional job, make the
small effort to publicly praise him or her.
Order pizza for the office, bring a rose home for the
wife and a movie for the kids.
You must never allow yourself to fall into a depressing
rut of sameness. Life doesn’t just happen to you. You
have planned to make today and every day special. At
the end of every day, you sleep well with a feeling of
accomplishment.

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10
Record Your Thoughts
You will have lots of ideas. Make a habit of writing
them down. Review your notes. Have your paper and
pen and pencil and marker available. Circle, underline,
highlight, cross out and expand your thinking.
You can’t help it. You are exceptional. When you
aren’t at your desk working, you are probably still think-
ing about business. Take some notes. It is who you are.
You are focused on success. You are always alert and
aware and your subconscious mind is always churning
out new ideas and new possibilities for increasing
income or decreasing expenses.
Your mind is focused on improving your business.
What catches your eye? Is it the layout of an ad or a retail
floor plan or a combination of words or colors? Is it a
new piece of equipment or a website? What do you see
that is efficient or smart or high tech? Record your
thoughts
You aren’t just a person of action. You are a thinking
person of action.

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11
Persist to Win
You will be successful. Of this, there is no doubt. You
will never give up. It will never be over until you say that
it is over. Keep trying. Be good. Get good. Or, give up.
Any particular day may be tough and demand your
best effort and concentration. To walk ten miles, you take
a step and then a step. After six miles you are tired, but
you take another step. After eight miles, you are in pain;
you take another step. It would be easy to find an excuse
to stop and few average people would blame you.
Winners persevere and take another step.
You face a pile of papers on your desk. You pick up the
first paper and deal with it. You pick up the next paper.
You want to make ten cold calls today. You make the
first call.
You have twenty emails to answer. You respond to the
first email.
Take a deep breath; suck it up and do it. Do it know-
ing that what you are about to do may advance your
cause only slightly or have no effect at all. However, with
patience and honest hard work, the rewards of persis-
tence will burst forth or slowly emerge. Either way,
you win.

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12
In Business,
All Are Not Equal
In business, in all countries and throughout all of his-
tory, you will find that workers are divided into three cat-
egories: 10, 70, 20.
Through their own fault or no fault of their own, ten
percent of workers are self-absorbed by their own non-
work related problems. It is difficult for them to concen-
trate on doing their jobs. Their performance is marginal
at best.
Seventy percent of people are average. They work
hard enough to not get fired. They are risk averse, reac-
tive and let circumstance and events shape their futures.
They are content to be promoted when someone in front
of them is fired, quits or dies. They spend what they
make and have little if anything saved for investment.
Then, there is the top twenty percent of pro-active
achievers. These are self-reliant people capable of deci-
sive action. They are ambitious. They research, study,
plan and act. They dare and attempt and sometimes fail
and learn and try again. They are moving forward. They
are in control. They are the corporate leaders and suc-
cessful entrepreneurs.

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13
Risk Failure
Average people are risk averse. They will cling to the
perceived safety of the status quo. They delude themselves
into believing that big companies will always be there to
protect them. Sadly, many have learned otherwise.
The extraordinary person accepts the fact that the real
economic protection for themselves, their families and
their futures lies in their self-reliance and, often, their
willingness to change, to face the unknown.
You are alert and aware to problems. You are working
for a poorly performing company. You don’t ignore the
warning signs. Sales are dropping. Your suggestions for
corrective action are ignored. Get out now. Take the risk.
Find another job or start your own business
You are alert and aware to opportunities. Your boss at
the flower shop announces that she will be retiring and
selling the business. You love your job. Take the risk.
Make an offer to buy the company.
If it were easy, everybody, the average majority would
do it. It isn’t always easy to try new things without proven
guarantees. Pushing yourself beyond your comfort zone
may be difficult but it can also be exhilarating and prof-
itable. Research, plan and then take the risk.

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14
Get Tough
On your way to extraordinary, you might be passed
over for promotion. Partners and employees may disap-
point you. You will lose a big deal. For no good reason,
customers, clients or patients will switch to your com-
petitors. You will introduce products or services that will
fall flat and cost you time and money.
You have hit the wall. Push over because all self-made
successful people have been there. You are being tested.
The world of business is not waiting anxiously for your
amazing personal contribution. The time to prove your-
self is at hand. Get tough.
This is the wall. You need to climb over it. You may
bang your knees and skin your knuckles. This is the price
that you are being asked to pay. Pay the price. Climb over
the wall. Others have gotten over that wall and you can
learn from them. Without whining, second guessing or
complaining, suck it up and do what you know you have
to do to succeed in business. And, yes, there will be other
walls blocking your path. So, get ready and get tough.

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15
Be the Valued Employee
The status quo may be comforting, but for there to be
growth, there must be change. Since you seek growth,
you must seek change. You must see yourself and your
environment not only as it is, but also as it could and
should be. You seek the changes necessary to reach the
better you so that you can play your part in being a bet-
ter sportsperson and role model.
First, you change yourself. Can you change your day
and spend more time with your family? Can you change
your standard lunch routine and take a walk? Can you
volunteer to coach and mentor those behind you who are
just learning the game? What are the possible conse-
quences of not changing?
Realize that many people don’t make plans because
they don’t want to risk any change. Doing little with your
life is much easier and safer than taking risks, but then
you will be a small person. Instead, seek the changes
which will allow you to be all that you can be as an ath-
lete and a person.

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16
Find Another Job
It may be time to look for a new job if:
Your current job lacks challenges and is boring
Your co-workers aren’t achievement oriented
The company isn’t ethical
The quality of your products or services is declining
Your extra effort is not recognized, appreciated
and rewarded
You and the boss’s son are vying for the same
promotion
The atmosphere is chaotic, tense and always in
crisis mode
The economic outlook for your industry is poor
Upper management is jumping ship
The company is not continually upgrading and
investing back
Of course, being an extraordinary worker, a superstar,
you may be highly recruited and can’t resist the pay, ben-
efits and perks offered by another company. Go for it.

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17
The Wide World
of Business
From anywhere in the world, as you read The Action
Principles® and the How Americans Get Rich tips, you
will have a positive response. You will be able to think,
“yes, this is what I believe.”
Yes, in Nairobi, the shopkeeper who offers quality
goods and appreciates his customers is successful.
Yes, in Hanoi, the salesperson who follows up with
customers to be sure that the product has met their
expectations is successful.
Yes, in Lima, the apartment building owner who insists
on a high standard of maintenance will have her units
filled with happy tenants.
Yes, in Sydney, the real estate agent who patiently
shows a young couple twenty houses and then another
twenty houses is likely to sell them a home.
We may be different in very small ways but,
as humans, we are remarkably the same with the same
fears and dreams and aspirations. To think otherwise is
a mistake.

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18
Stop Wasting Time
As a business executive, you appreciate the value of
time. Time wasted is gone forever. To improve your
own efficiency and that of your valued staff, as well as
to root out the do-nothings and the perfectionists, you
should be aware of the following time wasters:
Not planning or prioritizing tasks
Misaligned priorities
Mistakes
Perfectionism
Equipment failure
Not listening or ignoring instructions
Pointless meetings
Lack of self-discipline, motivation or interest
Socializing during work time
Personal business on the Internet
Inability to make decisions, delegate or to say “No”
Procrastination
Inattention or dozing off
In the short run the time wasters may seem like they
are beating the system. However, time waster have few
friends except each other and no respect. Focused hard
work is the honorable path and the sure path to success.

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19
Spread Your Enthusiasm
After a few months of reading your Action Principle®
and How Americans Get Rich tip every day, something
wonderful is going to happen. You are going to start
believing in your own wonderful financial future. After
your twenty minutes of quiet time each day, you will feel
recharged and ready to take on the challenges on your
road to success.
Enthusiasm, motivation, passion, optimism, a zest for
life and a positive mental attitude fill you with energy. You
will know that the only thing that stands between you and
the accomplishment of your goals is a bit of time.
This is really going to happen. You really are going to
be financially independent. You really are going to be
surrounded by wonderful family and friends. You really
are going to be appreciated and respected. This is all
good.
Now, when you see and believe all that you can do, it
is much easier to reach out and help others. Show them
the potential that they have to live full lives of prosperi-
ty and peace.
Smile, give, encourage, support and spread your
enthusiasm.

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20
Applaud the Beginner
Beginners make lots of mistakes. They can look
ridiculous and they can be annoyingly frustrating. And, at
one time, that beginner was us. Every self-made, suc-
cessful person has had his or her own beginning.
A beginner makes a rookie mistake. How does the
beginner react to your correction? Does he act defensive-
ly? Is he angry, frustrated and more interested in making
excuses than making amends? Remember, it would be
difficult or impossible to change this type of person.
Your job as a business leader is to recognize potential.
Who is a good listener? Who appears to learn quickly?
Who shows talent? Who volunteers? Who could you
stand to work with all day? Who is a younger version of
you? This is the beginner to nurture and applaud.

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21
Give Yourself the Gift of
Self-Reliance
Change happens. Be prepared. Economies are global-
izing. The Internet is changing everything. If you are
standing still, you may get passed by or even run over.
You may be saved by the action of others. You may
not. Give yourself the gift of self-reliance and you won’t
be taken for granted. Take responsibility for your own
career. Open your eyes and your ears. Alert and aware,
prepare yourself. In the real world of business, it is naïve
to believe anything except that you work for youself.
You must know your industry, where it is headed and
how you can profitably find your place. What are the best
in your business thinking and doing? These leaders are
writing and speaking and you should be reading and
listening. Get involved and you may put yourself ahead
of the curve rather than find yourself dragged along
behind it.

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22
Lead by Example
If all you do is talk, employees are apt to dismiss your
wisdom or completely ignore you. All your motivational
slogans and rallying cries will go for nothing.
Lead by example.
Show how it’s done. As a teacher, counselor, coach or
manager, when you’ve been in the trenches, walked the
talk, gotten a little banged and bruised yourself, you’ve
earned the right to be taken seriously. You are a veteran
and carry the status necessary to command.
You don’t hide in your office. Sometimes, it is impor-
tant to walk the factory floor and get out into the field.
Get to know your employees, ask for their ideas and
understand their concerns. This is how a leader acts.

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23
Control Conflict
Welcome to modern living. At any time you may
encounter the rude, the crude and the obnoxious.
In the workplace, you may be subject to those who
gossip, cut corners and take unfair advantage. Since you
are ambitious, some may be jealous of your progress and
ultimate success, seeing in you what they were unable or
unwilling to do.
At home, your contribution may be unappreciated and
you may suffer disrespect.
Your first instinct is to retaliate but never retaliate in
anger. Relax, release the pressure and consider your
options. Is the conflict personal or permanent? You don’t
want to get bogged down by pettiness. What would be
your best course of action to defuse the situation so that
you can move forward?
You must be the example, the rock in the middle of
stream allowing everyday frustrations and stress to wash
by you. You do this for yourself, your employees and
your family. Release the stress from your feet, legs, trunk,
arms, hands, neck and your head. Breathe deeply and let
it go.
You may not always like what is happening but this
too will pass.
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24
Listen to Your Instincts
As your knowledge base grows, you instinctively
know what will work and what won’t.
There may be family pressure to hire your troubled
bother-in-law. You know this is a bad idea. You are a
business person and not a social worker. Find some other
way to help him. Do not hire him.
You drive by an old building and you immediately see
this building transformed into your next successful busi-
ness location. While others are skeptical and hesitant,
you know it will work.
You observe an enthusiastic young woman working at
your local coffee shop. When a customer has a problem,
she smiles and solves the problem. When business is
slow, she finds chores to do. She is a good worker. You
make her an offer to work for your company.
Many times you don’t have to do lot of soul searching.
You don’t have to call a committee meeting before you
take action. You get the facts. You know what to do. You
feel it in your gut. If you do feel it, know it, then go
ahead and do it. Odds are, you’ll be right.

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25
Keep Pushing
To push yourself beyond your comfort level is a must
as you travel up the ladder of success.
If it were easy, everyone would do it. If it were easy,
the rewards for success wouldn’t be as pleasant. Average
people don’t want to push or be pushed. They are con-
tent with the sameness of today being like yesterday.
If you want to take the easy road, you will find many
to support your reasoning. Because you validate their
own inaction, average people will agree with your choice
to delay or avoid.
You put your name forward for that raise or promo-
tion. You are that somebody willing to take the risk of
starting a business. If ten customers tell you no, and you
still believe, you ask another ten.
Understand that no one wants to face rejection again
and again. Yet, it is persistent effort that separates win-
ners from losers.
You may not succeed immediately. You may take a
few lumps as you move along the learning curve.
However, with each challenge faced, you gain strength.

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Style and Attitude and
Work Matter
Following The Action Principles , you can be a waiter
®

or a taxi driver or a shop keeper or a contractor or a com-


missioned salesperson and achieve financial indepen-
dence by working hard and investing.
An exceptional man or woman will succeed at any
business any where. They always have. They always will.
It is a style and an attitude. It is having a goal and work-
ing passionately toward that goal.
The ambitious young office cleaner with a plan to
building a building maintenance company is a much bet-
ter prospect for financial and personal success than the
depressed middle age lawyer whose office he is cleaning.
The man of confidence wearing a two hundred dollar
suit will look much better than the slouching weakling in
the two thousand dollar suit.
Stand tall, smile and get busy.

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27
Donald J. Trump
Businessman

Get Tough
Toughness is pride, drive, com-
mitment, and the courage to follow
through on things you believe in,
even when they are under attack. It
is solving problems instead of letting
them fester. It is being who you real-
ly are, even when society wants you
to be somebody else. Toughness is
knowing how to be a gracious win-
ner … and rebounding quickly when Donald J. Trump
you lose.
For a nation, toughness means avoiding complacency,
meeting and solving problems head-on, while keeping
the big picture in mind at all times.
In business, toughness means playing by the rules but
also putting those rules to work for you. It is looking at
an adversary across the desk and saying, simply, “No.”

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28
Buying and Selling
Businesses
You don’t have to crush your competitors. Since there
is usually enough new and underserved business to go
around, the odds are that you can peacefully co-exist
with others in your industry. Not always, but at times,
there may be opportunities to share ideas and ways to
combine your strengths for mutual benefit.
Perhaps on your path to wealth, it may be advanta-
geous for you to acquire your competitor’s business or, at
some point, to sell your business to your competitor.
Since there are economies to be gained from greater size,
successful businesspeople are always thinking about
investing and divesting. When you are known as a capa-
ble, honest and respectful businessperson, these oppor-
tunities do materialize.
In business and in life, if you are following The Action
Principles® philosophy of self-improvement and service
to others, you probably aren’t going to be working for-
ever. This is the plan. You may wish to retire early and
have the time and the resources necessary to fully devel-
op your special talents to better the world.

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29
Be Proud
You exercise and watch what you eat and how you
dress and how you treat others. You study and work
hard. You are a listener. You are a volunteer who is
generous with your time and resources. You delay
gratification and invest. There is no secret to your suc-
cess; you have more because you do more when
more is needed. Be proud of who you are for good
reasons.
You are a demanding employer. You set the bar
high for yourself and you expect the same from your
workers. You are ambitious and goal oriented. You
are a leader in your industry. You employ a staff that
wants more than being ordinary and they expect and
receive above average compensation.
Many employees can’t stand the pressure of work-
ing in a competitive, dynamic work environment.
These average employees, often working just hard
enough to not get fired, perpetually waiting for the
next paycheck, can find employment elsewhere.
Take joy in doing an exceptional job. Be proud of
yourself and your company or keep changing until
you are.

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30
Be Decisive
The United States Marines are a rapid deployment
force. They train every day to face all types of scenar-
ios. When a dangerous job has to be done quickly, the
generals frequently call them. The Marines have to be
ready to fight anywhere under any conditions. They
have to be adaptable and decisive. Marine battle plan-
ners look for a seventy percent advantage and then
they go, go, go. In combat, you can’t plan for every
possible eventuality; you’ve got to take action and
adapt to the environment and the circumstances as
you find them.
In business, you have to train every day to be pre-
pared to meet the challenges of the marketplace. No
one is going to come up to you and hand you a bag
of money. You have to plan and take decisive action.
Don’t over analyze. Don’t procrastinate. You can
become a perfectionist. Take action. Do what needs to
be done and get it done.

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31
Three Rules for
Business Success
You can spend years in business school studying com-
plicated economic theories. You can search the world for
hidden secrets. Or, you can start a business and get to
work.
There are three simple rules required of all successful
businesses:
1. Offer a quality product or service that the market
demands at a fair price.
2. Appreciate your customer. Say thank you. Ask for
more business.
3. Copy success. Find the leaders in your industry and
do what they are doing. If possible, make them your
mentors.
You can do more. You do not need to do more. Very
simply, as an alert and aware consumer, you already
know what characteristics make a business successful.
Don’t fool yourself. Simply start and continue to do what
you know you should be doing.

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32
Embody Integrity
You can take advantage of customers who aren’t
knowledgeable or particularly sophisticated. You can cut
corners on your products. You can recommend unneces-
sary services. You can be deceptive in your advertising.
In the short run, you may think that taking advantage
is an advantage. In the long run, others will have noticed
your duplicity and may plot against you. You will be rich
but reviled. Eventually, many will relish your demise.
It is much better to be a serious person who takes his
business seriously. It is much better to live by a code of
honor and core values.
You can decide to set the standard for your industry
and maintain your core values. You can feel good about
who you are and how you earn a living. Your word and
your handshake should mean everything. You know the
right thing to do.

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33
Stay Centered
As a successful person, there will always be demands
on your time from competing interests. As a successful
person, your natural inclination will be to try to do more.
However, there comes a point when enough is enough
and when you must save yourself and say, “no.”
If you are overworked, need sleep and are stressed
and angry, your efficiency and productivity will diminish.
Your health will be affected. All those forced to be
around you will suffer.
At times, you’ll need to leave work alone, forget the e-
mail, put away the cell phone and just retreat to where
you can find your own way to relax. You need days off
and you need vacation time. Whether that’s playing golf
or sailing or lying on the beach or gardening or doing
nothing, do it. Naps aren’t only for children and medita-
tion isn’t only for monks. Find your calm center where
you can recharge your batteries. The work and the prob-
lems and the opportunities will all be there tomorrow.

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34
Love Many Things
Being a successful businessperson, you can find a lot
to love.
You can love the high standard of living resulting from
your hard work. You can love the feeling of power that
self-reliance gives you. You are in control. You can make
the choice to take early retirement, develop your special
talents and build a solid financial estate, laying a
smoother road for your heirs to follow.
But, success in business can mean more than money.
You can love the opportunity to be a leader to your
employees and a positive example for those in your
industry. You can love the challenge of creating and
building your business. You can love the feeling of pride
that comes from offering a quality product or service to
your valued customers. You can love that you are pro-
viding good jobs, benefiting the local economy and com-
munity while allowing your workers their chance to live
happy and productive lives.

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35
Forget Everybody
Rather than trying to reach everybody, many with lit-
tle or no interest in your product or service through tra-
ditional mass media advertising; newspapers, magazines
and television, you might be much more effective by
finding online niche markets. Introduce yourself and
company to the individual websites and blogs and
reporters with a specific interest in your field. Find ways
for those with influence to sample your product and talk
about it. Start the buzz.
You can never be all things to all customers. All cus-
tomers are not always right. Some have unreasonable
expectations. You are in business to make money.
Sometimes your better course is severing ties with a per-
petually disgruntled customer and finding a new one.
Not all employees are created equal. Some bring to the
workplace personal issues far beyond your control to
correct. You are in business to make money. Sometimes
you have to make personnel changes.

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36
Maintain Your Presence
You are a successful business person with a nice house,
car, clothes and jewelry. You have diplomas and awards.
However, it is not the trappings of accomplishment and
wealth that will bring you respect. It is your confident pres-
ence that says that you belong where you are.
You have strong quiet, hands and steady eyes matched
with a gentle smile. You act naturally and relaxed. You
are curious, open minded and a good listener. You will-
ingly share your enthusiasm and good fortune.
You work hard and you appreciate those around you:
employees, vendors and your customers. You have stud-
ied your business inside and out. You have nothing to
prove or defend. Praise or criticism does not affect you
because you know who you are. You are like a steel bar
wrapped in cotton.
You are a proud example of a leader.

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37
The Business Doesn’t
Matter
The business that you choose doesn’t matter. There
are five thousand different types of businesses and peo-
ple have gotten rich from all of them. You can sell wine
in Buenos Aires or tires in Nairobi or arrange lunch dates
in Yokohama. There are wealthy lawyers in Cleveland
and prosperous sports therapists in Moscow.
The moral is that if the business doesn’t matter you
should choose something that you love doing. When you
love your work, work doesn’t seem like work.
The business doesn’t matter but your style and attitude
do matter. The motivated cab driver in Caracas will make
more money than the lazy lawyer in Caracas. With The
Action Principles® and the three simple rules of business
as your guides, you will soar far above the average.

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38
Appreciate
Your Appeal
Likeability is an important business asset. Consumers
have a choice to whom to give their money. Let them
give you their money because they like you.
As much as possible, learn your customers’ names and
use their names when you see them. Greet them with a
smile and a warm handshake. All of your customers
should be continually reminded that you appreciate their
business whether that’s selling pizza, fixing their car,
selling their homes or teaching them yoga. Always, fol-
low up.
Your appeal pays dividends. Satisfied customers know
you, trust you and are the easiest to sell additional prod-
ucts and services. Satisfied customers are also your best
source for testimonials and referrals.
Be charismatic. Appreciate your appeal. Enjoy the
profits.

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39
Develop Your Sense
of Humor
Business is serious. You need to make money to pay
your bills and for investment. If you have employees, you
are obligated to stay financially solvent for them as well
as yourself.
What’s funny about this? Probably a lot.
You will experience weird customer requests, orders
that are completely bungled and misinterpreted direc-
tions. There are times when all you can do is throw your
hands up in the air and have a good laugh. And, some-
times good humor is the best method for getting every-
one back on track. It’s great when the boss knows how
to take a joke on himself.
Together as a team, you work very hard to get an
important job done. When you are finished, you exhale
in relief, let the tension go, feel good and you want to
laugh. This is the basis of camaraderie. Everybody should
go for a meal together to celebrate.
There are times to be serious and there are times when
you can lighten up. Let’s not fool around here. Well,
maybe just a little.

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40
Ross Perot
American Business Leader

Create a Winning Team


You can do a lot by yourself but
much more by assembling a winning
team. Start by being the example. Be
ready to work harder than anyone
else. Accept that all people have
strengths and weaknesses.
Understand that talent comes in all
shapes, sizes, races, religions, and
both sexes. Be aware. You are
always looking for talented, enthusi- Ross Perot
astic people to hire. Surround yourself
with people who accept challenges and aren't afraid to
carry more than their own weight. Seek people who are
smart, tough, self-reliant and who hate to lose. Look for
people who were achievers since childhood.
As you must keep training and improving, give your
employees the same opportunities to develop and hone
their skills.

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41
Show Loyalty
Build employee loyalty through fair dealing. Let
employees know that you appreciate their efforts.
Reward them. With good news or bad, keep them
informed and in the loop. Make everyone feel that they
are a part of an important team doing honest work. It is
much more cost and time effective to retain loyal employ-
ees than constantly hiring and training new employees.
You need your core of loyal veteran workers to set the
example and lead the way for new hires.
Most consumers are not natural risk takers and
will remain loyal to brands that consistently deliver a
quality product or service. Thank them. It is much more
cost and time effective to keep existing customers satis-
fied than to search constantly for new business. It is eas-
ier to sell to a loyal repeat customer than to try to sell to
someone new.
Loyalty is a two way street. To get it, you have to give
it first.

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42
Advance Your Career
You are a self-reliant, take-charge person on a mission
to build your career. You have your goals and objectives
and to-do lists. You know who you are and where you
are going. Good things will happen because you make
them happen. You don’t sit still and hope that some lucky
opportunity will befall you. You are hard working and
opportunistic.
You are alert and aware. To get ahead, you can read
business books, blogs and journals. You can take cours-
es and join and participate in trade associations. You
have identified the leaders in your industry and you
know what they are doing. From your research, you
know what it will take to reach the next leadership level
of responsibility and income.
Self-promotion is a good thing. Let your bosses know
that you aspire to greater things. Always be on the look-
out for people who can advance your career, such as:
executives, teachers, partners, consultants, vendors,
politicians, clerics, financiers, investors and other busi-
nesspeople. Seek their counsel and ask for their help.
Listen, and thank them. This is how you’ll get ahead.

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43
How to Delegate
You can get more done with others’ help, which
means learning how to delegate assignments. This will
help you to concentrate on what you do best and allows
you to think, plan and improve organizational efficiency.
You assign tasks that are cost and time effective for oth-
ers to do for you. You also delegate tasks that employees
can do better than you.
Match the right person to the right task.
Precisely explain your expectations for the task.
Establish a realistic completion time.
Be sure the employee understands the requirements
and due date.
Ask the employee to assume responsibility for the task.
Encourage feedback if problems arise.
Periodically, follow up.
Say thank you.

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44
How to Manage Projects
Unaccomplished people are aimlessly content to
watch their lives drift by. This is not you. You have spe-
cific projects to manage and complete as you steadily
progress along the path to your ultimate career success.
For each specific project, ask yourself these questions:
Exactly what has to be done?
How important is completion to me and/or the company?
Who is responsible for completion of the project?
Is there a start date or a deadline?
What is the estimated time allocated to complete the
project?
What is the cost and is sufficient capitol available?
Besides money, what other resources are needed?
Which team members are needed to complete the project?
Do all team members understand their specific tasks?
Is there any flexibility in the completion of the project?
How will progress be monitored?
How will final completion be measured?
When you have these answers, you will be on the road
to project success, which is your success.

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45
Develop Your
Special Talent
There is something special about you that makes you
one in ten thousand. You have a special talent which, if
used, will better mankind. The vast majority of people
never find the time or have the resources to identify and
develop their special talent. This is sad.
This does not have to be you.
In the corporate world, you are going to rise quickly to
the top twenty percent of your profession. You will know
what your leaders do and how much they earn. It will be
your goal to join this elite group. With your work ethic and
core values, your entry is almost guaranteed. If you own
your own business, you are even better positioned to
define your own financial future.
You will have the time and the resources necessary to
find and develop your special talent.

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46
Copy Success
You learn all you can about your product and your cus-
tomers’ needs. You learn all you can about sales and you
find the leaders in your industry.
To find the superstars in your industry, read your trade
publications and identify all trade websites and blogs. Join
all applicable trade associations and participate in meetings,
seminars and conventions.
When you find suitable role models, take them to break-
fast or lunch. Find out what they are doing and do what
they are doing. Ask and listen. What are their thoughts on
where your industry is headed? What do they see as future
challenges in the industry? Who were your role models’
role models? And, maybe most importantly, what would
they do if they were you? This is called copying success.
Don’t be shy about asking for advice and networking
assistance. Most successful people will be flattered and not
annoyed by your attention. Of course, you must follow-up
with a thank you and this is also copying success.

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47
Develop Winning Habits
Every day, you stop to think about where you have
been, where you are now and where you are going.
What can you do to make more money and advance
your career?
You work from a prioritized to-do list. This list helps
you to separate the urgent from the important from the
routine. Every day, you look for small ways to challenge
yourself and spoil yourself.
No one knows you better than you. Be honest with
yourself. No one is perfect. There are personal areas that
need improvement. Should you be dieting or exercising
or reading more? Should you be spending more quality
time at home with those who truly love you? Today is
day one of your thirty-day quest to develop a new win-
ning habit.
At work, what tasks are you avoiding? Should you be
cold calling or following-up or soliciting new business or
making personnel changes? Today is day one.
In this defining moment, you can choose to invest one
month in the formation of new, positive habits and
become a better, happier and more successful person.

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48
Salespeople Rule
Every company relies on its sales force. All the jobs
in the company depend on the sales force’s ability to
sell. A person who can bring in business is a very valu-
able asset. This is why sales people are highly paid pro-
fessionals. Most people can’t do this job. They can’t
work alone. They can’t knock on doors. They take
rejection personally.
If you have the courage to talk to customers about
buying a quality product or service at a fair price, your
fortune is make. You don’t need advanced college
degrees, partners or venture capital. You are among the
elite. You are your own business. You have all you
need – you.
If you can understand and accept the following little
reality of marketing, you can be a successful commis-
sioned salesperson. “Some will. Some won’t. So what?
Next.”

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49
Accept Hard Work
You know and accept the value of hard work. Because
you are goal-oriented, you don’t need a lot of motivating.
You want to work at work. Many people don’t work very
hard at work. Some people are productive only half of
the time. The rest of the time they are engaged in non-
business activities.
Almost all jobs have tedious or arduous aspects to
them and it’s human nature to avoid these more difficult
jobs, even though these are the tasks which may be the
most productive for the company.
The salesperson doesn’t want to take the extra time to
explain the extended warranty. The auto mechanic is too
busy to follow-up and check if his customers from last
week are satisfied. The real estate agent doesn’t want to
show a house on a Sunday night. What others avoid can
become your opportunity to profit. Over time, this willing
to work harder and attend to details can make a big dif-
ference in your career advancement and ultimate success.
Appreciate that some may praise your hard work while
some, especially less ambitious co-workers, may resent
your willingness to do more than is required or expect-
ed. You have accepted hard work.

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50
The Boss is The Rainmaker
In a small company, someone has to bring in the cus-
tomers. Guess who? It is the boss who has the responsi-
bility of making it rain with a steady stream of business.
The owner of the landscaping company may enjoy
mowing lawns but someone has to find the lawns to
mow. The law office needs clients. The chiropractor
needs patients. The caterers need functions.
If you own a house painting company, you may want
to work on the crew but your real job is knocking on
doors and always, always trying to get the next job. If
you own a restaurant, you may fancy yourself a chef but
your real job is to make samplers into regular diners who
will also recommend your great food to all of their
friends.
As the boss, until your business is well established,
your primary function, perhaps your only function, will
be as the rainmaker. Without customers, you have no
business.

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51
Communicate with Ease
Body language is important. Before you ever open
your mouth, your body is communicating your interest
and your power. Stand up straight. Keep your chin up.
Take a deep breath and relax your body from the top
of your scalp, forehead, eyes, cheeks, mouth, chin,
neck, shoulders, torso, arms, fingers, legs and toes.
Breathe and relax.
Smile. Have a comfortable yet firm handshake.
Introduce yourself.
Listen and don’t interrupt. Nodding your head shows
that you are listening and are interested. Keep your
hands open and exposed. Respect others’ personal space.
People who are in agreement with each other will usual-
ly be mirroring each other’s moves.
Before a big interview, speech or presentation, you
can mentally rehearse and practice, using the theater of
your mind. Plan what will you wear, how will you sound,
how will you stand and sit and how will you be warmly
received.
When you are giving a presentation, create a better
rapport with your audience by coming out from behind
the podium. Make your speech short and conversational.
Don’t preach. Tell stories.

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52
Helping Troubled Employees
One troubled employee can poison a work environment
for everyone. If an employee becomes self-absorbed by his
or her own personal, outside problems, you can have com-
passion and you can offer some therapeutic suggestions but
individuals must solve their own problems. You are running
a business.
As an owner or manager you must remain aware of all of
your leadership obligations. Be fair but be firm and, for the
sake of all, don’t allow the situation to fester or linger. Act
sooner rather than later.
Have a personnel policy in place to deal with troubled
employees. At the first sign of concern, bring the employee
into the office and have him read the policy. Answer his
questions regarding his rights and responsibilities. He should
understand that he will be treated with respect in turn for
respecting your role in the counseling process and his pos-
sible termination.
You must be alert, aware, compassionate and decisive.

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53
Imitation before Innovation
See what others have done. See what you can do. In
general, when starting your own business, you are an
entrepreneur and not an inventor. You want to research
and stick closely to the tested. If it works, don’t fix it.
Copy it.
When you invent something, you double your chal-
lenges. You first have to convince customers that they
want your new or better something. Then, even if you
succeed at the convincing, you have to make them buy
from you.
After your business is established, there will be plenty
of opportunities for you to innovate and try new ideas.
Again, this is best done after your business is established.
As you think about entrepreneurial opportunities,
don’t forget any networks or connections that may give
you an advantage in starting your own business. Did you
acquire skills working as a child in a family business? Can
you take over an established family business? Does your
uncle or your neighbor or your brother-in-law or a for-
mer classmate have connections to assist your business?
There is a proven path to follow. Follow it.

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54
How to Choose a Partner
A partner is someone joining you on your journey to
financial independence. You should expect that your
partner would be a professional who would support The
Action Principles®. Allow these core values to provide a
framework for working together.
The idea is that you both stand to achieve more with
the help of each other. You have complimentary skills.
You will meet regularly and exchange information in a
supportive environment of mutual respect and trust,
always offering each other objectivity and positive rein-
forcement. You should feel secure when bouncing ideas
off your partners and you should never feel hesitant to
push one another.
Select a partner whose style and attitude is compatible
with your own. If you are an ambitious hard worker, your
partner should be likewise. There must be a shared
vision and a comfortable balance of power.
Partnerships are a two way street. Good partnerships
are a blessing. Partnerships that go bad can be a night-
mare. Choose wisely and benefit.

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55
Invest In Your Future
Regardless of their annual income, average people
spend every dime with nothing reserved for retirement.
They hope that their companies or the government will
take care of them in their old age. Average people think
in terms of immediate gratification, wanting what they
want now.
A self-reliant person thinks differently. They are for-
ward thinkers. They realize the time value of money and
how sound investments made today can have a com-
pounding return tomorrow.
Average people typically work forty hours a week and
feel satisfied and exhausted. Self-reliant workers typically
work fifty hours a week and use the extra twenty percent
in income to invest in a mutual fund or real estate or in
their own businesses.
The rewards of hard work and investing can be pow-
erful. Average workers without investments may have to
work until the day they die. In marked contrast, self-
reliant workers may be in a comfortable financial position
to retire in only a few decades.
Average people will wonder, but too late, how the self-
reliant accomplished what they did. They will assume it
was through inheritance or luck and they would be
wrong.
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56
Retire Early
Kirk Kirkorian kept building Las Vegas hotels into his
nineties. Summer Redstone was one of the most influential
men in Hollywood into his eighties. The average age of
Untied States Senators and Supreme Court Justices is near-
ly seventy. These men and woman love their jobs. You
may love your job enough to never retire. Or, maybe not.
It’s tough to launch a singing, writing, acting or artistic
career, but not if you are young, rich and retired.
Volunteers can assist with many problems in the world.
It’s easier to give your time if you already wealthy. Maybe
you’d like just to relax and play golf or be more involved
with your grandchildren. These are nice options for those
with sufficient investment income.
Retiring early doesn’t just happen. If you work for
someone else, early retirement might never happen.
However, if you work for yourself as an entrepreneur,
early retirement can be your specific goal. You will work
hard for fifty or more hours a week for twenty or thirty
years. Invest, sell the business and retire. This is the plan.
It is a young person’s plan to make.

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57
Have Faith
Anyone can be hard working and motivated for a lit-
tle while, but only those with faith can sustain their
efforts for the long haul. Only those with faith will try and
try again.
Will your new business succeed?
Will your investments prove wise?
Will you retire early, and will your special talents be
developed and recognized?
Have faith.
When you venture out beyond where average people
are comfortable, when you dare and challenge and test the
status quo, you will meet many doubters. Some doubters
will be your family members, trying to protect you. Some
will be skeptics who are jealous of your courage and your
willingness to take risks. Some will be pessimists who
always look at the bad side of everything. You may need
a thick skin to listen and then, proceed anyway.
Have faith in yourself. You research, observe and
study. You have seen what others have done and you see
no reason why you can’t do the same. Persist. Believe in
yourself. Go for it. Have faith.

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58
Your Core Values
As a successful businessperson, a self-confident indi-
vidual and a decent human being, you will:
Embody professionalism
Perform confidently
Face fear and danger
Accept adversity
Work hard
Focus on results
Remain alert and adaptive
Take responsibility
Lead by example
Commit to self-improvement
Seek knowledge
Maintain a positive outlook
Stay faithful and loyal
Display honor and integrity
Act respectfully
Volunteer selflessly

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59
How to Build a Team
To build a strong business team, each individual must
subscribe to the principle of putting the team first. Each
must be willing to make occasional personal sacrifices,
respect one another and share the credit for the greater
good of all.
The team’s mission must be outlined and understood
through clearly defined goals. Individual strengths must
be identified and appropriate roles assigned.
Responsibility and accountability must be accepted. Ideas,
suggestions, reasoned criticism and questions must be
encouraged. Those with experience must be willing to
teach and assist beginners.
Everyone commits to doing his or her individual best
to work to a high standard. Consumers have a choice.
Everyone should take a personal and team pride in beat-
ing the competition and being the choice.
When mistakes are made and business is lost, everyone
should band together to figure out what went wrong, sal-
vage what you can and make amends. Then pull togeth-
er to leave the past behind and move on to new chal-
lenges.

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Look in the Mirror
Look in the mirror. You are who you appear to be. Do
you see an Action Principles® Champion? Do you see a
tough, thoughtful spiritual person of action? Do you see
a fit, confident person capable of taking immediate action
to achieve a worthy goal? You should. Like what you see,
or change until you do. First impressions are lasting and
all impressions are important.
You must know what characterizes the style and atti-
tude of a winner in your profession. Whether you are a
soldier, farmer or bank president, you can look well
groomed, well dressed and confident. Your manners
should be impeccable.
Go through your trade publications, stay alert at indus-
try meetings and find the people who have already done
what it is that you want to do. Copy them in manner and
dress. When you are successful, others will turn to you as
the good example.
Look the best that you can look. What is your best hair
style and fashion style? Are you too flashy or too plain?
Ask knowledgeable friends you trust. Set the example.
Keep improving.
Be yourself, your best self.

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Imagine
You are what you think about all day long. You have
the free will to choose who you will become. So, think
of yourself as an Action Principles® Champion, a tough,
thoughtful, spiritual person of action.
See yourself as a successful businessperson, a leader
in your industry. See yourself earning in the top twenty
percent of your profession. See yourself as a hard work-
er with enough money to pay your bills, live comfort-
ably and still have 15% - 20% extra to invest.
See yourself as appreciated by your family and
friends because you are strong and confident enough to
be selfless.
See yourself as a respected member of your commu-
nity. See yourself having enough to give back to those
deserving who are less fortunate.
Now, stop imagining and do it.

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Hold Sacred
Your word is your bond. When you make a promise
to a customer, you will do everything in your power to
deliver what is expected and more.
You will do your best to offer the highest quality
goods and services, which means not just perceived
value, but real value to your customers.
When customers put their trust in you, you will never
betray that trust. You will give honest recommendations;
whether that means more business for you or not is not
relevant. You will be truthful.
You will lead and insist upon on a team effort to pro-
vide a clean, safe work environment where all employ-
ees can prosper.
You will probably be so successful in business and
investing that you will have the option of early retirement
after twenty or thirty years. You will still build your busi-
ness for the longer haul based on honesty and integrity.
Your good name and your solid reputation will be held
sacred.

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Focus on Your Strengths
You are not some little grey man hiding at a desk in
the corner trying to avoid notice and additional work.
Your strength is that you know what you want to
accomplish. You are the person who will stand for what
is right. You are consistent. Others know what to expect
of you. You have goals and objectives. You have a per-
sonal mission to complete. You are determined to make
your one life meaningful.
Your strength is that you are willing to learn. You will
find the leaders and in your industry and you will listen
to them. You will read books related to your industry,
surf websites and will participate in trade-related blogs.
Your strength is that you are an ambitious, hard work-
er who will concentrate on the difficult aspects of your
job and who will, when necessary, volunteer
Your strength is that you are not greedy. You don’t
grab more than you need. You are able to step back. You
will share.
Focus on these strengths. They put you among the
elite.

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Understand Courage
Rarely will you find a perfectly smooth straight road
to financial success. More likely, the road will be curved,
with plenty of pot holes and boulders to avoid. You will
be delayed. Your faith may be tested.
With the best of intentions, you will risk and fail. Many
around you will be quick to say, “I told you so.”
It will be perfectly natural for you to second guess
your own decisions? Did you do the right thing by choos-
ing the more difficult path? It would have been so much
easier just to have just stayed at home. No one expects
you to be more than you expect for yourself.
When you hit a wall, it will be easy to quit, as most
do. It will take courage to be a contrarian, to carry on
and persist. You may try again and still meet defeat.
Now, you may feel crazy to keep going. If you are mak-
ing the same mistakes again, you are crazy. However, if
you are learning from your mistakes, then, with courage,
you will become a seasoned veteran and your persis-
tence will pay off.
Have, courage, face your fears and do it.

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Sandra Day O’Connor
Former Assoc. Justice of the U. S. Supreme Court
Aim High
The habit of always doing your
best regardless of how unimportant
the task is a habit of the successful.
As Abraham Lincoln once said: “I
always prepared myself for the
opportunity I knew would come my
way.” As his career attests, devotion
to excellence in all things, even when
it seems that the world will little note
nor long remember the small tasks in
which you find yourself engaged, can
have its rewards. Sandra Day
The individual can and does make a O’Connor
difference, even in this populous,
complex world of ours. The individual can make things
happen. It’s the individual who can bring a tear to our
eyes and cause us to take pen in hand. It is the individual
who has acted or tried to act who will not only force a
decision, but have a hand in shaping it. Whether the indi-
vidual acts in the legal, governmental, or private realm,
one concerned and dedicated person can meaningfully
affect what some say is an uncaring world.
So be a full participant in life’s opportunities. Aim high.
If you strive for excellence you can and should have a
substantial impact on the world in which you live.

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Run the Short and
Long Roads
Today is the short road. Your life is a succession of
days. You must do your best to make the best of each
day. You don’t have to wait for a promotion, to get mar-
ried or to graduate. You can decide to be positive, opti-
mistic and happy today. Success is not a distant goal.
Success is lived today and every day.
Starting today, you can make the choice to tackle
something personally challenging that you have been
avoiding. You can decide to change poor habits into win-
ning habits starting today. Do it and feel good about
doing it, today.
Your future is the long road. Your future will be based
on the decisions you make today and live every day. You
can decide to be fit, well groomed and well spoken. You
can decide to be well read. You can decide to work hard
and share. On the long road, the cumulative effect of
good days will be a wonderful life of respect and accom-
plishment.

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Advertising Basics
Know your business. What is your Unique Value
Perspective [UVP]? Your UVP is the single compelling rea-
son why a consumer would choose your product or ser-
vice over your competitors.
Know your target audience. No business can be every-
thing to everybody. Focus. Find your niche and the media
that targets your niche. Talk to your customers about their
preferences. Talk with and not at your audience.
Know your brand. Your logo, colors, slogans, station-
ary, website and advertising should be simple and direct.
They should compliment each other. At a minimum, it
will take 7-12 consistent impressions before you are
noticed and more to be memorable.
Know the media. Do your research. Find the leaders in
your industry and design your advertising campaign
around their online or offline strategies.
Keep it clean and honest. If you have to worry if your
message is in good taste, it isn’t.
Set measurable objectives. When you produce an ad
that delivers the desired result, keep running the same ad
until it stops working.
Satisfied customers are your best advertising, so ask for
testimonials and start the buzz.

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Close the Door on Regrets
Smart people still do a lot of dumb things. Successful
people still make a lot of terrible business decisions.
The building that you didn’t buy or the domain name
that you didn’t register or the excellent worker that you
didn’t hire could all be big regrets. With hindsight, you
might want to shake your head in disbelief at how good
those missed opportunities look now. Well, you can kick
yourself forever, or you can simply get over it. You can
learn from the obvious signs that you missed and do bet-
ter at your decision making the next time.
The important point to remember is that you aren’t a
bystander who will never know victory or defeat. You a
player in the game and you have had successes. You
can’t do everything, but you can and have done some-
thing. Stop to look at all that you have accomplished.
Close the door on regrets. The past is the past; time
moves on. Stop looking back and keep looking forward.

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Raise Your Prices
Being an entrepreneur, you can’t be shy. If you want
more, you’ve got to ask for it. Raise your prices. Raise
your prices and be seen as a premium brand in your
industry.
Bargain hunters will balk at the price increases but
bargain hunters are probably not your target audience. If
the bargain hunters are also cheapskates, they will grum-
ble about everything and, in most cases, produce the
lowest profit margins. Let them go. You want to deal with
the consumers who insist on dealing with the best.
Raise your prices, give yourself a raise and then prove
that you’re worth it. Follow the advice of the luxury
goods maker, Gucci, “Quality is remembered long after
price is forgotten.”

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The Typical American
Millionaire
The typical American millionaire actually has a net
worth of $3.7 million and an average annual household
income of about $250,000.
He is a fifty-seven year old married male with three
children.
Eighty percent are first generation affluent, have a col-
lege degree and are still working. Eighteen percent have
master's degrees. Eight percent have earned law degrees.
Six percent hold medical degrees. Six percent are Ph.D.s.
The majority of millionaires never received even a single
dollar in inheritance or any money for college.
Ninety-seven percent own a home.
Two-thirds of millionaires work for themselves. Most
are entrepreneurs who own their own businesses.
Two-thirds of millionaires work between 45 - 55 hours
per week.
Half of millionaires’ wives work and most are teachers.
Most invest 15% - 20% of their income.
There are over eight million millionaires in the
United States.

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Act With Boldness
If you want to be in the elite, you have to be self-reliant,
make a plan and execute that plan. Every day will bring you
one day closer to your goals.
If you like your job, figure out how you can advance your
career and act. If you dislike your job, figure out an exit strat-
egy and act by getting another job or starting your own busi-
ness.
If you are a business owner or salesperson, remember
these ten important words: “Know your customer; know
your product; ask all to buy.”
Rich people own real estate, so figure out how you are
going to raise downpayment capital to acquire investment
real estate. If you have to work fifty hours per week rather
than forty, you are prepared to do that. You do what you
have to do.
Average people waste a lot of time. If you are well orga-
nized, you can work to pay your bills. You can work to raise
money for investment and manage your investments. You
will still have time to fulfill your family, social, health and
spiritual needs. It takes a plan. It takes a will. It takes sacri-
fice. It takes boldness.

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Aim for the One Percent
Success writers from Napoleon Hill to Anthony
Robbins have freely admitted that most people will never
read their books and, of the few who do, only one per-
cent will ever take the action recommended.
One Percent! What about the other 99%?
Good, bad or indifferent, the 99% simply continue to
do what they've always done: the easy, the convenient,
the known and the predictable.
The status quo, which means “things as they are,” has
an extremely strong pull. Routines are hard to change.
You may make a change and, then, have to change again
and once again. You will feel the pull drawing you,
tempting you back to your old ways of easier days. But,
as the U.S. Navy Seal Commandos say, “The only easy
day was yesterday.”
What do you really need? If you are in the elite top
20% of achievers, you should attain all of the material
wants and needs for yourself and your family. You will
enjoy a comfortable life. By aiming at the top one per-
cent, the top twenty percent will seem like a very easy
target to hit.

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Do What You Love Doing
There are a few people making a lot of money as pro-
fessional soccer stars. There is an entire world wide indus-
try of people making a good living from the sport of soc-
cer. They are coaches and trainers. They are salespeople
who sell equipment. They are: announcers, writers, pho-
tographers, promoters, advertising reps, groundskeepers
and team executives. If you love soccer, you should be
able to work in the field as many people do.
You hate being a bus driver but you’d love being a
portrait painter. You don’t like working in a hardware
store and you’d love working in a bird sanctuary. You
made a mistake going to law school because you’d love
being a personal trainer. Would you love to be an actor
or arrange adventure travel trips or design jewelry? There
are people successfully doing all of these things.
When you do what you love, work doesn’t seem as
much like work. You have one life. Find the work you
love and go for it.

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Appreciate Your Customer
People have money and they choose how to spend it.
As a businessperson, your success relies on your ability
to convince them to choose to spend their money with
your company.
When they do choose you, smile and be appreciative.
As a consumer, you know how successful businesses
operate. You know that too many businesses treat you
like they are doing you a favor. Every day, you may
encounter the grumpy plumber, the disinterested clerk or
the rude secretary. The larger the company, the more
detached the employees may be from service to the indi-
vidual customers. This is a mistake and a sign that the
large company may be losing touch and business.
To build your customer base, listen to your customers.
Pay attention to complaints. Make good on mistakes and
reward loyal customers whenever possible. Thank them
for their honest input.
Keep reminding yourself that without customers, you
have no business. Appreciate the customers you have.

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Build Networks
One hand washes the other. You are not a monk liv-
ing alone in a mountain cave. You are a businessperson
in the real world. You need to form satisfactory relation-
ships and connect with lots of people: customers, suppli-
ers, shippers, technicians and even competitors. It should
be a long list.
All networks begin with you as a strong link. You
should make a solid impression on those linked to you.
Think likeable, competent and helpful. Networking is a
two way street. You get what you give. If someone gives
you a prospective lead, he will expect you to reciprocate.
Don’t make people have to guess what you do and
what you’d like them to do for you. Speak up. Be able to
explain clearly what you do. Hand out lot of impressive
businesscards. Ask for the business. Ask for testimonials
and referrals.
Join trade associations. Become involved in local busi-
ness groups. Volunteer for committees. Learn who the
powerful people are in your community and court their
support. Cultivate relationships. Practice remembering
names. Keep in touch.
If people smile when they see you enter a room, you
are a good networker.

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Hire Slowly
Hiring, which is giving people money, is a lot easier than
firing, which is taking money away from them. Hire slowly.
You want to hire people with the right qualifications for
the right job. You want workers who will comfortably co-
exist with present staff. Ideally, you want new workers to be
smart and hard working. They should not need a lot of hand
holding and can either hit the ground running or learn
quickly.
You want front counter staff to be pleasant and accom-
modating. You want sales people who are knowledgeable
and ambitious. You want customer service employees who
are problem solvers and who follow up. You want execu-
tives with good communication skills who will get up from
behind their desks and lead.
Frequently, your best new hires will come from the rec-
ommendations of existing employees and from your own
networking.
If you want the best, you have to be the best yourself.
When you have acquired a winning staff, you want to retain
them by offering competitive salaries, benefits and perks.
Between the first and second interviews, ask prospec-
tive employees to read The Action Principles®. What do
you think about what they think?

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Fire Quickly
There is a difference between laying off and firing an
employee. A laid-off employee is released for business rather
than personal reasons. The business may be in a slump or the
employee’s position may have become redundant. This person
may be given an excellent reference, severance package and
grace period to find a new job.
You fire employees for personal reasons. These workers
may have been involved in unsafe, deceptive or dishonest
practices. Their image or manner may be unprofessional.
They may be missing during work hours or, have shown
repeatedly that their job performance was unsatisfactory.
The termination should not come as a complete surprise.
The fired employees should have received prior written
warnings regarding their behavior or performance.
Normally, a final warning will carry a thirty-day grace peri-
od to correct the problem or be terminated.
Do not disparage the problem employee. Call him to the
office and be short and to the point. Explain benefits to
which the employee may be entitled and how references
will be handled. He should be escorted to his work area to
collect personal items and immediately escorted out of the
building. Document everything. If you expect trouble, have
a witness present.
This is a difficult part of a manager’s job. Don’t linger.
Do it.
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The Example of Wal-Mart
Here is the ethical behavior expected from those who
work for the world’s largest retailer, Wal-Mart:
1. Follow the law at all times.
2. Be honest and fair.
3. Never manipulate, misrepresent, abuse or conceal
information.
4. Avoid conflicts of interest between work and
personal life.
5. Never discriminate.
6. Never act unethically, even if someone else tells
you to.
7. Never ask someone to act unethically.
8. Seek assistance if you have questions about ethics.
9. Cooperate with any investigation of possible ethics
violations.
10. Report ethics violations.

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Jack Welch
Former Chairman of General Electric

Self-Confidence
Arrogance is a killer, and wearing
ambition on one’s sleeve can have
the same effect. There is a fine line
between arrogance and self-confi-
dence. Legitimate self-confidence is
a winner. The true test of self-confi-
dence is the courage to be open – to
welcome change and new ideas
regardless of their source. Self-confi-
dent people aren’t afraid to have Jack Welch
their views challenged. They relish the intellectual com-
bat that enriches ideas. They determine the ultimate
openness of an organization and its ability to learn.
How do you find them? By seeking out people who
are comfortable in their own skin – people who like who
they are and are never afraid to show it. Don’t ever com-
promise “being you” for any job in any institution.

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Learn
All education is ultimately self-education. Keep repeat-
ing this fact to yourself and you may save yourself a lot of
educational time and money. The job of the teacher is to
guide and motivate. You must do the studying. You must
make your diplomas and degrees worth more than the
value of the paper.
Going to a prestigious university used to mean that you
had privileged access to the world’s best teaching. You
had an advantage. Those days are gone forever. Today
anywhere in the world, a motivated student equipped
with broadband can get a better education than a lazy Ivy
League student.
Your life must be a never ending thirst for knowledge.
You are curious to know how and why some people get
rich. You question why civilizations rise and fall. You try
to understand why happy people are the way they are.
You want to know lots of things because you want to do
lots of things.
You read. You listen. You question. You hang out with
smart people. You learn. You contribute. You are proud
and confident in your self-education.

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Ask a Lot of Questions
You are a clerk working in a bank. You want to be
the head teller. There is no book to tell you how to do
this. You must do your own research, observing opera-
tions and asking a lot of questions. This is your career.
There is no time to be shy; ask. When you are the head
teller, you want to be the manager and then the president
of the bank. You have a lot of questions to ask and a lot
of listening to do. Based on the information you receive,
you will take action.
You are a student taking a course. Average students sit
like stone statutes in class trying to avoid making eye
contact with the professor. You are the opposite. You are
asking lots of questions and tailoring the course to suit
your objectives.
There is no such thing as mental telepathy. People are
not mind readers. If you want something, ask. Most suc-
cessful people are happy to assist enthusiastic students
who approach them with respect and say thank you.

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Read Biographies
The lives of the greatest people ever to walk the earth
have been documented. From Confucius to Caesar to
Jesus to Leonardo Da Vinci to Abraham Lincoln to Mother
Teresa, their lives, their style and their attitudes have
been researched and recorded. Why and how did they
do what they did? You can choose to read all about it
and be inspired
From all countries and in all times, there were heroes
who shaped the world. Who are your heroes? Who are
the people who have already done what it is that you
now want to do? Learn about them.
There were also dictators and despots but we can be
grateful that the good of the human spirit usually does
triumph. You can read the history, heed the warnings and
stand on guard.
As a business person, you are lucky. Besides biographies,
most famous business leaders have written autobiographies
to show you the way to achieve your own success.
The work is there. In the libraries, in the bookstores,
on the web, it is there. All education is self-education.
Take advantage.

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Be Open to New Ideas
The implementation of knowledge is what separates
you from the average and is a straight line to your success.
Average people are waiting in hope that good fortune
will find them. You, an Action Principles® Champion, are
not waiting. You are identifying the next step toward
your goal and you are taking it.
You aren’t afraid to hear the truth and learn. Talk to
your customers and vendors. Go to local business meet-
ings and industry conventions. Read your trade publica-
tions and blogs. Listen to your mentors. Learn from your
competitors.
We are at the dawn of a new Industrial Revolution.
The business world is changing at lightening speed. If
you snooze, you lose.
Find out about the new products and services being
offered by the innovators in your industry. Stick to your
three basic business principles but also look for new
ideas and ways to adapt those ideas to further your enter-
prise.

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Heed the Warnings
As an Action Principles® Champion, you will be curi-
ous, always researching and learning. You will have lots
of ideas. Many of these ideas will be good and will
improve your business and advance your career.
However, some of these ideas will be bad, some very
bad. Heed the warnings.
You spend a lot of time and a lot of money opening a
new location. You have high hopes but hope doesn’t pay
the bills. After a few months, you realize your error. You
made a mistake. Yes, your wallet may be lighter and your
ego may be bruised. Do not throw good money after bad
by trying to save a failed strategy. Even the best and the
brightest make mistakes, lose time, lose money and feel
humbled.
If you find your products are inferior or your staff is
leaving on masse or your few customers are complaining,
heed the warnings. Pull the plug. Bite the bullet. Take
your medicine. Get out.
Be real. Be smart. Be tough. Survive to succeed anoth-
er day. Heed the warnings.

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American Business Slogans
Ford. Built for the road ahead.
Pontiac. We are driving excitement.
Chevrolet. The heartbeat of America.
Cadillac. Creating a higher standard.
Apple. The power to be your best.
IBM. Solutions for a small planet.
U.S. Marines. The few. The proud.
U.S. Army. Be all you can be.
N.Y. Times. All the news that’s fit to print.
Verizon. Make progress every day.
Microsoft. Where do you want to go today?
Visa. It’s everywhere that you want to be.
Hallmark. When you care enough to send the
very best.
Gillette razor. The best a man can get.
Walt Disney World. Make the dream come true.
Holiday Inn. No surprises.
Wal-Mart. Always low prices.
Target. Expect more. Pay less.
Home Depot. Where low prices are just the
beginning.

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Read, Read, Read
There is one significant characteristic that separates
smart people from the crowd. They read.
The average person reads one book a year. This is a
very good reason why the average person is going
nowhere fast.
If you are going to set a new goal for yourself, make
that goal to do a lot more reading. Read every day. Never
waste time. Never be bored. Never be alone. A-B-A-B,
Always Bring A Book.
Educate yourself. Everything you need and want to
know is in books, e-books, newspapers, magazines and
on the web for you to read.
Read forty books on a subject and you will be a world
authority on that subject. Read forty books on small busi-
ness. Read forty books on real estate investing. Read forty
biographies. Read forty books for pure enjoyment.
No excuses. Smart people read. Read.

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Write Your Elevator Pitch
Imagine being caught in an elevator alone with a top
executive from your firm or that one client that you’ve
been trying to reach. What would you say?
Many times you will have an opportunity to expand
your network by pitching new prospects on exactly who
you are and what you do. Your favorable first impression
must be professional: simple, direct, impressive, interest-
ing and brief. Hence, you need an elevator pitch.
You have two minutes; 80 – 200 words is a good
length. Write your elevator pitch before you need it and
keep rehearsing it until it sounds warm, friendly, conver-
sational and unrehearsed.
What do you do? How do you do it? What is your
Unique Value Perspective that separates you from the
average? What benefit will the listener derive from further
association with you? Move quickly from who you are to
how you can help them. Your objective is to exchange
businesscards and, perhaps to arrange a follow-up com-
munication.
It may take you a few tries to get the proper words and
tone. You may want to write different variations for dif-
ferent prospects and situations. All the writing and editing
and practicing is worth the investment.

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A Few Important Words
Good manners open doors and are welcomed any-
where. Be sure that your manners and language are
impeccable. It is easy to say, “Please,” and “Thank you.”
Say them. It may be more difficult to say to say, “I’m
sorry,” and “May I help you?” and “What do you think?”
Say them anyway.
You establish an immediate, positive rapport with peo-
ple by remembering and using their names and the
names of their spouses, children and company.
Be that one person who will step forward, volunteer
for a hard job and say, “Take me.”
Remember the Golden Rule, “Do unto others as you
would have them do unto you.”
Live by these important ten two-letter words, “If it is to
be, it is up to me.”
Any time you give your word, mean it. That’s
important!

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Go Green
It’s good for you, your family, the world and your busi-
ness’s bottom line. Being environmentally conscious can
be referred to as eco-capitalism, sustainable business or
simply called going green.
Many small businesses have reported energy savings of
20%-30% simply by becoming more conscientious. This
means adopting measures, such as using more energy-
efficient lighting, turning down the thermostat, turning off
lights, and recycling.
Being green is a team effort. Encourage everyone to par-
ticipate. Buying new appliances is a smart strategy, since
many new models are significantly more energy efficient.
Easy first steps might be using water filters rather than
plastic water bottles and reusable coffee cups rather than
polystyrene foam cups. Making electronic copies rather than
hard copies and using email more than snail mail are good
options. Choosing to drive hybrid corporate vehicles is an
increasing popular corporate choice. Supporting vendors
who are supporting the environment is always a smart idea.
Today, half of all consumers don’t care about green but
this number is changing as people become more aware of
man’s impact on Mother Earth. The good news for busi-
nesspeople is that half of their buyers do care and half of
that number or 25%, a huge niche market, would specifi-
cally select a product or service because it was environ-
mentally friendly.
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Start a Business Now
You can’t just think about starting a small business. At
some point, you need to take action. You need to find a
way. Here are some suggestions:
You can start a business at home.
You can start a business on the Internet.
You can start an eBay business.
You can start a business with a mall cart.
You can start a business on the street.
You can start a business at swap meets.
You can start a business at flea markets.
You can start a business with garage sales.
You can start a business by sub-letting part of a store.
You can start a business part-time.
Expand your thinking. You can put yourself in busi-
ness as a taxi driver, waiter or commissioned salesperson.
Find yourself a lawn mower, and start knocking on doors.
With the mindset of an Action Principles® Champion,
you can start many businesses right now! Select choices
over excuses.

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Thank Your Ancestors
Whatever country you are from, whatever race, what-
ever tribe, whatever religion, give thanks. You are a sur-
vivor. You come from strong stock.
Your ancestors weren’t weak or lazy or stupid. Your
ancestors were strong, hard-working and intelligent.
They survived. Over the last decades and centuries and
millenniums, living was difficult. Yet, your ancestors
dodged all of the arrows and bullets, bowed when they
had to bow, fought when they had to fight, met all of the
challenges of getting food, clothing and shelter. They sur-
vived.
If you are an Action Principles® Champion, you will
feel obligated to honor your ancestors by working hard
and adhering to your core values. You will be a strong
link, furthering the course of mankind by continuing to
improve as you survive. Do good work, live an honest
life and pass it on.

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Supervise
You can’t become so preoccupied with your own
work that you presume that others are doing their jobs.
You’re the boss and supervision is an important manage-
rial responsibility.
Do the employees appear cheerful and helpful and
ready to help or bored, rude and self-involved?
Are customers greeted with a hello when entering the
store?
Are customers thanked following a purchase?
Are the employees attractively and appropriately dressed?
Is an apology offered if a customer has had to wait or
for any other inconvenience?
Do the employees appear knowledgeable about what
they are selling?
Do employees care enough about their jobs to offer
feedback?
Do employees make an effort to increase sales for the
company by suggesting complimentary items or
upgrades?
Following your continual observation, you should
immediately take corrective or supportive action. In
private, give suggestions or warnings to employees need-
ing remediation and in public, praise exemplary behav-
ior.

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Go for the BIG Fish
Tf you are fishing for minnows, chances are you’ll catch
only those little fish. If you want to land the big fish, you’ve
got to go where the big fish swim and have the correct bait.
Some salespeople sell house trailers and some salespeo-
ple sell shopping malls. The sales volume of your entire
house trailer selling career might not equal the sale of one
shopping mall. Don’t sell yourself short. You may be des-
tined to succeed in the big leagues but you have to put
yourself in place to make the big deals.
Copy success by finding the people who are making the
big deals. Start hanging out with them and looking like they
look, sounding like they sound and doing what they are
doing.
You may find your best prospects while playing golf at
the country club, enjoying the museum, and having a
power breakfast at the right restaurants.
You may look like you belong if you drive the right car,
wear the right clothes and carry the right accessories.
This is not all superficial. It is how big business is done.
You want to be at right place at the right time to make your
elevator pitch for your next big deal. Somebody is going to
make the next big deal, why not you?

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Magnify Your Effectiveness
As a successful businessperson, you accomplish a lot
and with a personal assistant you can do even more. An
assistant frees you to do the more difficult parts of your
job, that twenty percent which is often the most produc-
tive. An assistant can free your time, helping you reclaim
more of your personal life.
Hire an assistant carefully because you will be spending
a lot of time with this person. This person represents you.
An assistant’s style and attitude are at least as important as
an impressive resume. You can teach an assistant your job.
You can’t teach someone to be intelligent, pleasant, well
mannered, ethical or hard working. The best time to hire
an assistant is before he or she is needed and not in the
middle of a crisis.
During the interview process, you must clearly outline
your expectations with a detailed job description. Are you
hiring someone to answer your email or willing to pick up
your dry cleaning or both? How many late nights or how
much travel may be required?
The right assistant is a valuable asset who will magnify
your effectiveness.

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Deal With It
As an Action Principle® Champion, you won’t be a
business owner without problems. You will be a business
owner who knows how to deal with the problems you
have.
How serious is the problem? Is it permanent or per-
sonal? Can you handle the problem yourself or should
you enlist the support of others? Have you dealt with a
similar problem in the past? How would your heroes and
mentors resolve this problem?
Use your quiet time to clarify the exact problem, elim-
inate extraneous aspects and develop possible strategies.
Begin by precisely defining the problem.
Analyze the problem from different perspectives.
Consider solutions. Brainstorm, if necessary.
Project the consequences of different strategies.
Choose your best option and take decisive action.
Review, follow-up, adjust and move on.
Don’t let small problems linger and fester into unman-
ageable crises. Take the lead. Make a decision. Deal
with it.

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Embrace Technology
Don’t be left behind. Modern technology is evolving
quickly making the entire world your marketplace. Get
the right hardware and software and stay in tune with the
changes. What are the best and the brightest innovators
in your industry imagining and doing? It’s probably some-
thing that’s wireless and probably involves video.
Sites like YouTube and Facebook and MySpace are
creating social networks of thousands, sometimes mil-
lions, linked through a common interest or event. Be
there. Start some international buzz.
Yesterday, the Internet was the secret world of the
nerd and the hipster. Today, your company website or
blog or podcast can reach potential buyers anywhere
from eight to ninety-eight.
The world is listening. Say something.

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Invest in Commercial Property
If you are an entrepreneur, you are in an excellent
position to supercharge your financial plans. You can buy
commercial property, a store, retail block, office building
or warehouse for your business. You will have an invest-
ment with a great tenant, you.
As an Action Principles® Champion, you aren’t content
to work in a jewelry store or muffler shop or beauty salon
when you can own the businesses and the real estate.
The retiring employee may be left with little. However,
with ambition, forethought and action, the retiring entre-
preneur/real estate investor may be wealthy. It is not
unusual for a retiring entrepreneur/real estate investor to
find that the value of his commercial real estate invest-
ment far exceeds the value of his business investment. Be
smart; it’s great to have both investments.
In your local business networks, being alert and
aware, you may find up and coming entrepreneurs.
Perhaps, you can be their commercial real estate link and
secure solid, long term tenants for your properties.
If you are living in a foreign country, study American
companies, such as Starbucks and McDonalds. Contact
these companies, find their location requirements and
offer your local expertise as a commercial property devel-
oper for their franchisees.

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Start Your Revolution
Gandhi said of the revolutionary, “First they ignore
you. Then, they laugh at you. Then, they fight you. Then,
you win.”
Starting your own business, you are a contrarian, a rev-
olutionary. Every business starts with one person’s idea
that sounds crazy to the risk adverse. But, you will dare
to challenge your status quo. You will research, and find
the supporters and the money to proceed. You will per-
severe as you are banged and bruised along the learning
curve. Through trial and error, ever self-reliant, you even-
tually win.
Of course, once you succeed, everyone will swear that
they were on your winning side from the beginning.
See what others can’t. Do what others won’t. Succeed
like few others.

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Become an Action
Principles® Champion
Action Principles ®
Champions are working together in
an international effort to change the world. Please join us.
As a person of influence, online, offline, in print or on
your blog, if you can interest others in reading and dis-
cussing The Action Principles®, thank you. If you can
advertise this non-profit work on your website, thank
you. And, don’t forget to write and post your own Action
Principle®.
The Action Principles® have been translated into over
twenty languages. If you have the expertise to add to this
list, please do so and thank you. Also, we need assistance
to translate the “How Americans Get Rich” segments and
to subtitle our video lessons.
If you work for or own a business willing to advertise
in or sponsor a printing of The Action Principles®, thank
you. Not everyone has Internet access, so we distribute
tens of thousands of Action Principles® books each year
through schools, churches, correctional facilities and social
agencies. Your donations are needed and appreciated.
We welcome your promotional ideas and your hard
work. Visit BillFitzPatrick.com for further information.
Thank you.
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Your One Life
You are an Action Principles® Champion. Because of
who you have chosen to become, in business and in your
personal life, you are an accomplished person.
It is your blessing to share your resources and time
with those deservedly in need. Having more, while want-
ing and needing less, is life enhancing. Success allows
you to free yourself from the endless treadmill of con-
sumerism. It is liberating. You are free to be happy.
Money will be a smaller reward of your success. You
will receive gifts that money can’t buy: love, appreciation
and respect.
This is to be your legacy. You worked hard with what
you had. You shared. You made a difference. Your one
life was exemplary. Your one life was important.

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