Early in my sales career , I attended a training seminar several hours from home by catching a ride with an associate named Ken. Ken was an experienced salesman, doing a great job and making lots of money. I was a young rookie who asked a lot of questions. I could tell Ken got tired of answering my questions, but I kept asking because I was eager to learn.

Eventually, he threw me a book and said, “Read it.” I did and from that day on I became hooked on learning the strategies of success. I started reading books like The Power of Positive Thinking by Norman Vincent Peale and See You at the Top by Zig Ziglar. As I read those books, I began to understand that we become what we spend the most time thinking about. Then I remembered what the Bible says: “As a man thinks in his heart, so is he.” This concept, that we become what we think about most often is actually one of the foundational concepts of most self-improvement or high-performance principles.

Our thoughts determine our actions, our moods, our self-image, how we present ourselves to others, and even the words we speak. The simplest and quickest way to change our situation in life is simply to change the way we think. In short, our thoughts determine our destiny. You are today where your thoughts have brought you, and you will be tomorrow where your thoughts take you. If you want to improve your life, grow your business, and generate more sales, you gotta think like a winner.

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Did you know that to perform at the highest level, you must practice mentally as well as physically?

Larry Bird was one of the greatest basketball players of all times. I once read a story where he was doing a television commercial in which he was supposed to miss a shot, but it took him 15 shots before he missed one. His unconscious was programmed to make every shot!

The same is true in sales. When you have repeated a process over and over again it starts to flow easily and naturally. It becomes part of who you are as a person.

When I started my career in sales I knew that I was not as good as the top performers. I realized that I had to practice if I was ever going to perform at a higher level. I studied my program and listened to the top producers. I applied what I learned over and over again until it became a natural part of my everyday life.

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While most of us will never be star athletes or win Olympic gold medals, we all can perform at the top of our own game. But to do that, you gotta have a dream.

A dream is what inspires you to get off the bench and get into the game. Dreams are the big vision of what you would be, do, or have if money and time were no object. To accomplish

your dreams you gotta turn them into specific goals. They are the targets you strive for and the signposts that move and guide you in the direction of your ultimate dreams. Goals are also a means of “keeping score” so that you can determine if you’re winning the game.

Dreams and goals help you know where you’re going. But they can do more than guide you. As a salesperson, goal-setting is without a doubt one of the primary determinants of your income. Salespeople who have dreams and clearly defined goals make 80 percent of the money.

Based on my experiences and observations, I’ve concluded that at least 90 percent of success derives from having a dream and knowing what you want. When I coach others, I stress that they have to focus on their dreams. If they already have dreams, they almost always need to redefine them and make them bigger. Then I teach them a simple but powerful system for achieving their dreams and goals.

What is your dream?