ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS To my late business partner and best friend, the great Bill Gove, for everything you taught me and all the fun we had together building Gove Siebold Group. We will meet again, Spider. I miss you. To Ada Gove, for loving and taking care of Bill for all those years, and for always support- ing our work at Gove Siebold Group. Bill lived a longer, healthier and richer life because of you. To Larry Wilson, for being a great friend and mentor, and for showing me how the system works. To Bob Proctor, for promoting Gove Siebold Group tirelessly over the years. For always pushing me to think big. To John R. Spennuth, for introducing me to Bill Gove, and for always encouraging me every step of the way. There would be no Gove Siebold Group without you. To Keith Harrell, for your friendship, guidance and endless referrals. To Lou Wood, for your friendship, and for your ongoing feedback during the mental toughness process. A speaker could never have a better client. A person could never have a better friend. To Sheila Laughlin, for your outstanding layout and design work on this book, and for everything you’ve done for Gove Siebold Group over the years. If only Bill could see you now. To Gina Carroll, for your tireless editing of this book.
Action Step for Today: Invest 20 min- utes today leading someone through the introspective process. Your first question should be: Tell me what you really want out of life more than anything else? Your goal should be to make the person com- fortable enough to answer you in terms of how she feels, rather than how she thinks. Once she begins to explain her feelings, follow up with these questions: 1) What exactly do you mean by that? 2) What does that look like? 3) Why do you feel that way? 4) Tell me more about that. 5) Why is that important to you? 6) What does having that mean to you?
is limiting because it comes from people who believe they are limited. That’s why aver- age people are saddled with a set of beliefs that are more about survival than success. Aver- age people have been programmed to avoid pain at all costs, which promotes a ‘playing not to lose’ mentality. Many world-class performers were raised with these same beliefs, yet learned to reprogram themselves somewhere along the way. Champions learn how to develop empowering beliefs and invest a substantial amount of time solidifying those beliefs, mostly through their own self-talk. With guidance from coaches and mentors, champions monitor the words they use. They know reprogramming is a never-ending activity. Some people even consider this process ‘positive brainwashing.’ When aspiring champions learn they can program any belief they wish, and through repetitive, ongoing self-talk, build that belief into a foundation for their consciousness, it’s a revelation. A world-class belief system can be created from scratch, no matter what your age, upbring- ing or current lot in life. A world-class belief system is a primary factor in the making of a champion, and every great performer knows it. While average people see champions as more intelligent, the champions know better. The truth is that intelligence plays a small part. Belief is the real star of the show.
“There is no mat space for mal- contents or dissenters. One must neither celebrate too insanely when he wins or sulk when he loses. He accepts victory profes- sionally and humbly. He hates defeat, but makes no poor dis- play of it.” – Dan Gable, collegiate wrestling legend Action Step for Today: Make a list of the five things you would like the following groups of people to say about your conduct: 1) Your family 2) Your friends 3) Your customers Now go to work and become this person. World-Class Resource: To further polish your personal and profes- sional behavior, attend a seminar from Jacqueline Whitmore, direc- tor of the Protocol School of Palm Beach. Sign up for their free newsletter by going to www.etiquetteexpert.com