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If you are like most people, your life is full of stress, of all kinds, coming from
all directions. This stress can make you or break you. It can build you up or
tear you down. It can make you healthy, vital, alive and successful or it can
make you negative, angry, depressed and even ruin your health.

It’s Inevitable

The one thing we know about stress is that it is inevitable, unavoidable and
continuous. It never stops. It is triggered by every single event around you
of which you are aware in any way. As Hans Selye the pioneer in stress
research once said, “Stress is any non-specific reaction to a stimulus from
your environment.”

This means that everything around you causes you stress of one kind or
another. Your job is to learn how to identify, manage, control and turn stress
to your advantage. Your goal should be to make yourself a highly effective,
highly energetic, positive, focused, goal-oriented person with a continuous
river of personal power flowing through your veins and into everything you
do.

What You Will Learn

In this report, you are going to learn how to take the raw material of the
unavoidable stress that goes with living in a dynamic, fast-paced society and
transform it into a source of inner strength that you can use to accomplish
any goal you can set for yourself.

All human beings experience stress of some kind. Since it is a non-specific

response to stimuli, it means that everything around you causes you to react
in some way. The only question is whether or not you are going to allow
stress to build you up or to tear you down. And here’s the key: Stress is not
contained in people or events themselves, but only in your reaction to those

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people or events.

The World is Neutral

The world around you is largely neutral. It is how you respond to what is
going on around you that determines how you think and feel about the event.
The only thing over which you have complete control in the entire world is
the way you think. When you choose to exercise your power of thought in
responding to anything that occurs, you determine the positive or negative
content of that event and everything that you will subsequently do in dealing
with that event effectively or ineffectively.

For example, two people could be driving to work and be caught in the same
traffic jam. One person could become upset, angry and frustrated, shouting
at other drivers, banging on his horn and generally working himself into a
lather of stress that may take many hours to dissipate. Another person, in
the same traffic jam, could be listening to classical music or an educational
audio tape, or perhaps talking to someone on his or her cellular telephone.
He or she completely ignores the traffic jam and instead goes about calmly
utilizing every moment to his or her advantage. It’s the same event but two
different people respond totally differently.

It All Depends

Here’s another example. The same person could be caught in a traffic jam
on two different days. On one day, the individual is late for an extremely
important appointment as the result of not starting out early enough or
preparing well enough in advance. This person begins to imagine all kinds of
terrible consequences that might occur as the result of being late for this
appointment. The more he thinks about the negative possible consequences,
the more frustrated and upset he becomes as the traffic inches along.
However, this same person, caught in a traffic jam the very next day with no

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pressure to be at work on time may be completely relaxed and accepting of
the event. It’s the same person and the same situation, but two totally
different reactions.

The bottom line is that how you feel and react is largely determined by how
you interpret events to yourself. And here’s the key to the kind of inner
control that leads to outer power and personal effectiveness. When you
interpret an event to yourself in a positive and constructive way, it makes
you feel calm, clear, poised, powerful and creative. When you interpret an
event constructively, your mind, your body and your emotions all harmonize
and function in a fully integrated way, enabling you to think and respond
better and more effectively to anything that happens to you.

It’s How You Interpret It

However, if you interpret an event in a negative or destructive way, allowing
yourself to become excited, angry, frustrated or depressed, these thoughts
will affect your emotions and your physical body, completely disintegrating
your ability to function effectively and leading to high levels of disharmony
and dysfunction in your reactions and responses to the people and situations
around you.

And you are always free to choose. This is the great discovery that enables
you to take full and complete control over your thoughts, your feelings and
your reactions. You are always free to choose how you deal with anything
that happens to you. You can choose to react in a positive, calm, and
constructive manner or you can fail to choose, and end up acting in a
negative, irritable, reactive-responsive mode that leads to feelings of
frustration and unhappiness. The choice is always yours.

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What Have Others Done?
If you want to be successful in life, the formula is quite simple. Just find out
what other successful people do, and have done, in your field of endeavor,
and do the same things that they do until you get the same results. The
world is full of people who are trying to succeed by doing the opposite of
what successful people do and they are always amazed at their lack of
progress. But this is not for you.

If you want to be a high performance person in a world of constantly

changing stimuli and stressful events, you need only to study the most
effective people around you, and do what they do, and you will be just like
them.

Peak Performers
Men and women who have been defined as peak performers — self-
actualizing, high-achieving individuals — have been studied exhaustively over
the years to find out how it is they think, feel and interpret events to
themselves to keep functioning at the very peak of their abilities. Let’s look
at some of these discoveries and see how you can use them to turn your
stress into success in everything you do.

Nobel Prize winning author Arnold Toynbee studied the rise and fall of 28
civilizations over the course of human history. He developed what has come
to be known as “Challenge-Response Theory of Civilization Life Cycles.” The
same theory is perfectly applicable to your life and experiences as well.

Unexpected Challenge
What Toynbee found is that every civilization began to grow as the result of
an unexpected challenge from the outside to which it reorganized and
responded effectively. Because it responded effectively to the challenge, the

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small group of people, often a single tribe or village grew larger. As a result,
it bumped into another group or tribe, thereby triggering another external
challenge to which it had to respond effectively. As long as the tribe or group
of people responded effectively, it continued to grow and grow until, over
time, great empires and civilizations were formed.

You Will Always Be Surrounded

In your life, it can be very much the same. You are surrounded by a
continuous succession of problems and difficulties all of the time. In fact,
your life is one never ending series of problems or challenges to which you
have to respond effectively if you want to survive and continue to grow in our
fast-paced and competitive society.

Here’s the most important part. The challenges or problems come unbidden.
They come in spite of your very best efforts to avoid them. If you are
intelligent and reasonable, you organize every part of your life so as to
minimize the number of unexpected difficulties that will occur. Therefore, the
ones that do occur are ones that you have been unable to anticipate or avoid.

Challenge Response
The only part of the “Challenge-Response” equation that you have any
control over is your response. In fact, it is your response-ability that
determines your success, health, happiness and effectiveness in life. If you
continue to respond in a positive and constructive way to the inevitable
challenges that you face every single day, you continue to grow and develop
as a person, just as a civilization would continue to grow and develop.

Your response-ability is the most important single measure of everything that

you are and everything that you have become as a human being, to this very
moment. All of your education, your experience, your background, and your

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personal growth are measured at the moment of response to the inevitable
and unavoidable challenge or crisis that occurs, despite your best efforts to
avoid it.

Learn to Respond Better

Highly successful people are those who have learned to respond better than
unsuccessful people. As a result, they grow and move forward in their lives
far more rapidly than others who respond ineffectively or inappropriately.
According to Robert Fritz, author of The Path of Least Resistance, most
people are in what he calls a “Reactive-Responsive” mode of living. That is,
something happens in their environment and they immediately react or
respond, without thought or analysis. Sometimes their response is
appropriate or correct, but because they give no thought at all in their
automatic reactions, too many of their responses turn out to be wrong or
ineffective.

However, you can decide that, between the event that occurs and your
response to that event, you are going to stop and think for a moment before
reacting. In this moment of thought is contained all the knowledge and
wisdom that you have developed in your life to this date. When you chose to
exercise this ability to think before reacting, you become sharper, calmer,
more creative and more alert than ever before.

“Mental Rehearsal”
And the way you develop this faculty or skill of success in dealing with
stressful events is through the process of “mental rehearsal.” When the
event occurs, it is too late for you to stop and think before reacting
constructively and creatively. You must prepare mentally in advance. You
must rehearse, in your mind, the upcoming event so that when it does occur,
you are subconsciously programmed to respond effectively to it.

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This is a method used by the highest performing and most effective men and
women in our society. It is used by all peak performing athletes, all high
achievers and all self-made millionaires. It is as simple as it is powerful.

This is how it works. In your life, there are a variety of situations to which
you can respond either positively or negatively. In many of these situations,
especially with regard to negative people or experiences in your past, you are
unconsciously programmed to respond negatively the very instant the name
of the person or the thought of the situation arises.

For example, if you think of someone who you intensely dislike because he or
she did something that really hurt you in the past; the very mention of the
person’s name will cause an instant, negative high-stress response from you.
You can even be driving along and something can occur to cause you to think
about that person and you will respond instantaneously the way you have
been conditioned to respond when you thought about or talked about that
person in the past.

Rewire Your Thoughts

You have to re-wire your thoughts about this person. You have to disconnect
the reactive response button that causes you to feel negative. And the way
you do this, using mental rehearsal, is you think about the person and
mentally picture yourself responding in a calm, relaxed, positive and
unaffected way to any thought or mention of that person.

As you visualize yourself responding in an effective way to an experience that

used to make you angry or upset, you are gently removing the hot wires
from this situation and neutralizing it in your mind. The next time that this
person comes to mind or conversation, you will find that you experience little

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or no reaction at all. In time, the situation or person will not trigger any
feelings in you of any kind. You will have taken full mental control over the
situation.

When I started in selling, I found myself becoming very tense and anxious
when I approached a new prospect. I steeled myself and got all wound up,
ready for the negative response, objection, turn down or disappointment that
accompanied door-to-door and office-to-office selling. In fact, this kind of
selling leads to rejection as much as 20 times for ever sale.

Then, I decided to rewire myself with regard to rejection. I decided that I

would use every rejection as a stimulus to greater action. I decided, in
advance, that every time someone turned me down, I would become more
positive, more motivated and even more energized in going after the next
prospect. And it worked like a charm!

The very first day I tried this technique, by the time I had been turned down
three or four times, I was so positive and motivated I could barely keep my
feet on the ground. And my sales career turned around 180 degrees. Within
a few months I was the top salesman in my organization, and within a year I
was the sales manager. Within two years, I had 95 salespeople under me in
six countries and I was enjoying the kind of life I had never dreamed of. And
it all happened because I began practicing “mental rehearsal” and deciding,
in advance, that I would respond in a positive, constructive way to every
stressful or difficult event. And you can do the same thing.

There are some wonderful techniques that you can use to turn stress into
success. They are all ways of taking complete control of your thinking, and
thereby your feeling and your responses. Here are some of the most popular
ones used by the most effective people in our society.

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The Law of Substitution
All of these techniques are based on the Law of Substitution. This law says
that you can only hold one thought in your mind at a time, either positive or
negative. And you can substitute a positive thought for a negative thought.
You can, in fact, knock a negative thought out of your mind by simply
switching your thinking to something positive.

Successful people are those who continually think and talk about the things
they want. Unsuccessful people are those who continually think and talk
about the things they don’t want. When you think and talk about the things
you want, you are calm, positive, purposeful and self-directed. When you
talk about the things you don’t want, you are angry, frustrated, disappointed,
and depressed. And the choice is always up to you.

Make a List!
There is an old saying, “Feeling listless, make a list!” The starting point of
eliminating stress in your life is for you to make a list of goals, of the things
you want to accomplish in the next 12-24 months. The very act of making a
list focuses your mind on the things you want and takes it immediately off of
anything else. You cannot write down your goals and think of something else
at the same time. One cancels out the other.

Organize your goals in order of priority and pick your most important goal.
On a separate piece of paper, write your most important goal at the top of
the page and then make a list of 10-20 things that you could do right now to
begin moving toward your goal. Then, select one item on that list and start
on it immediately.

This little exercise is so powerful that it will amaze you. The very act of
writing out your goals, organizing them by priority, selecting your most

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important goal, making a plan to achieve it and taking action on your plan
will cause your negative stress to disappear and will fill your life with the kind
of positive stress that energizes you and drives you forward.

Stay Calm and Think of Your Goal

Every time you feel angry or stressed for any reason, think about your goal.
Visualize your goal. Talk to yourself about your goal. Do something
constructive that moves you toward your goal. All successful people have
very clear, specific written goals that they are working on every single day.
Unsuccessful, highly stressed people, do not. So to start with, it’s as simple
as writing down a goal and getting busy on it.

Another major source of negative stress in our workday world is having too
much to do and too little time. As a result, you become like a person who is
trying to carry too many bags of groceries and is always in danger of
dropping one bag completely. This causes an enormous amount of stress and
anxiety and impairs your effectiveness in everything else you do.

Focus and Concentration

The antidote to stress is contained in the two words, “Focus” and
“Concentration.” When you focus on the most important thing that you could
possibly be doing and concentrate all of your time and energy on doing that
one thing and getting it completed, all your stress evaporates. All your
positive energy begins to work in a forward direction.

Here’s my simple formula for generating positive stress: It is for you to

concentrate single-mindedly on one thing, the most important thing, and to
stay with it until it is 100% complete.

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In fact, sustained, concentrated effort on a high value task releases energy,
enthusiasm and motivation in the direction of achieving that task or goal.

When you discipline yourself to work single-mindedly on a high value task

and you stay at the task until it is complete, you actually get an endorphin
“rush” that energizes you and gives you an overall sense of well-being and
personal power.

Successful people have learned this little trick to keep themselves operating
at the very peak of their potential. They insist on working on big tasks that
really make a difference. As a result, their mental, emotional and physical
energies are all harmonized and they feel terrific about themselves. They are
positive, motivated and creative in everything they do.

Look for the Good

You turn stress into success by looking for the good in every situation. An
attitude of positive expectations, constantly expecting something good or
beneficial, even a valuable lesson, to be contained in every situation you
face, is a major source of positive energy. And because of the Law of
Substitution, you can’t be looking into a situation for something good and
simultaneously feel negative for any reason.

The major forms of negative stress in your life revolve around blame, anger,
resentment, envy, jealousy and other negative emotions that preoccupy the
great majority of mankind. The wonderful discovery is that you can short-
circuit or de-wire all these emotions by refusing to blame anyone for anything
and instead accepting complete responsibility for everything you are and
everything that happens to you. Repeat the words, “I am responsible, I am
responsible” over and over to yourself whenever you face any problem or
difficulty at all.

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These words give you a tremendous sense of personal power and control.
They make you feel that you are on top of your life and the situation rather
than having the situation determining how you think and feel.

Don’t Worry!
Many people suffer stress because of worry. Worry is a sustained form of
fear caused by indecision. Indecisiveness in any situation will translate into
negative stress that trips you up and impairs your effectiveness. It will
actually cause large parts of your brain to shut down and stop working for
you in the attainment of your goals.

The very best technique I have ever learned to deal with worry is what one of
my students called the “Worry Buster.” The worry buster consists of four
simple steps that you can use when you face any difficulty or problem at all
that is bothering you.

First, define the worry situation or problem clearly, preferably in writing.

Take a piece of paper and draw a line down the center. On one side of the
piece of paper, write out a clear definition of exactly why it is you are
worrying. Proper diagnosis is 50% of the cure. When you have a clear
definition of exactly the situation that is causing you to experience worry or
stress, you almost always begin to see steps that you could take immediately
to resolve the problem.

The second step in the worry buster formula is for you to determine the
worst possible outcome of your problem or situation. What is the very worst
that could possibly happen? Whatever it is, write it down on the right hand
column next to your definition of the problem.

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Most worry is caused by resistance, a refusal to face or to deal with the worst
thing that could possibly occur if your worry situation were to happen. Once
you have defined the worst possible outcome of the situation, much of your
stress will disappear, and your mind will become calm and constructive again.

The third step in this formula is for you to resolve to accept the worst, should
it occur. Just say to yourself, “Well, if it does happen, I’ll learn to live with
it.” Your decision to accept the worst, should it occur, eliminates the worry
situation as a source of stress from your life.

The fourth step in the worry buster formula is for you to begin immediately to
do everything you possibly can to make sure that the worst does not occur.
Now you will begin thinking positively and creatively, looking for different
things you can do, and actions you can take to minimize the worst possible
outcome.

The only real cure for worry is always systematic, purposeful action on the
achievement of a goal or the resolution of a problem. Get so busy working
on your goals or your solutions that you simply don’t have time to worry at
all. And suddenly, all the negative stress caused by the worry is transformed
into positive stress that drives you forward toward achieving something you
really want.

Turn Negative to Positive

Turning positive stress into negative stress is no mystery. Negative stress is
caused by having no goals, procrastinating and putting off work on high value
tasks, blaming other people for your problems, and worry about things that
are vaguely defined or about things you can’t control anyway. You turn
negative stress into positive stress by setting clear, written goals and

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organizing them by priority. You organize every hour of every day so that
you are always working on high value tasks. You motivate yourself to
overcome procrastination by selecting the most valuable thing you could
possibly be doing, and by setting in on that one task and staying with it until
it is done.

You eliminate the negative stress caused by worry by defining the worst
possible thing that could happen and then getting to work to minimize the
worst possible outcome.

Overall, you become a high performance person by controlling your inner

dialogue, by interpreting events to yourself in a positive way, and by always
accepting complete responsibility for everything you are and everything that
happens to you.

Success is a series of habits. When you develop the success habits of

thought and response that we have talked about in this session, you will
become more and more positive, more and more creative and constructive,
and more and more effective in everything you do. You will wake up every
morning full of energy, enthusiasm and excitement. You will become a highly
productive, highly effective person in everything you do. And your future will
become unlimited!

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About the Author:
Brian Tracy is Chairman and CEO of Brian Tracy International, a company
specializing in the training and development of individuals and organizations.

Brian is also a founder of iLearningGlobal, the preeminent online Business

Training portal in the world

Brian's goal is to help you achieve your personal and business goals faster
and easier than you ever imagined.

Brian Tracy has consulted for more than 1,000 companies and addressed
more than 4,000,000 people in 4,000 talks and seminars throughout the US,
Canada and 40 other countries worldwide. As a Keynote speaker and seminar
leader, he addresses more than 250,000 people each year.

He has studied, researched, written and spoken for 30 years in the fields of
economics, history, business, philosophy and psychology. He is the top
selling author of over 45 books that have been translated into dozens of
languages.

He has written and produced more than 300 audio and video learning
programs, including the worldwide, best-selling Psychology of Achievement,
which has been translated into more than 20 languages.

He speaks to corporate and public audiences on the subjects of Personal and

Professional Development, including the executives and staff of many of
America's largest corporations. His exciting talks and seminars on Leadership,
Selling, Self-Esteem, Goals, Strategy, Creativity and Success Psychology
bring about immediate changes and long-term results.

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form for any purpose without the written permission of Brian Tracy.
Prior to founding his company, Brian Tracy International, Brian was the Chief
Operating Officer of a $265 million dollar development company. He has had
successful careers in sales and marketing, investments, real estate
development and syndication, importation, distribution and management
consulting. He has conducted high level consulting assignments with several
billion-dollar plus corporations in strategic planning and organizational
development.

He has traveled and worked in over 80 countries on six continents, and

speaks four languages. Brian is happily married and has four children. He is
active in community and national affairs, and is the President of three
companies headquartered in Solana Beach, California.

Brian is also the President of Brian Tracy University, a private on-line

University for sales and entrepreneurship.

If you have any questions about Brian Tracy learning programs and services,
please email Support@BrianTracy.com or call 1-858-436-7300.

Brian Tracy International

462 Stevens Ave. Suite 202
Solana Beach, CA 92075
www.BrianTracy.com

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