A GREAT FOUR LETTER WORD!

The following was passed on to us by Brian Tracy.  It's an outstanding article about a great four letter word:  N - E - X - T.  All great shooters go on to the next shot, whether the miss or make the previous one.  A great hitter is great in part because he can put the last at bat out of his mind.  As a team, it's important to play the game one possession at a time and to do that, you have to forget about the previous possession and concentrate on the present.  As coaches, and this one was hard for me when I first started, you have to move past the last game.  I didn't have a problem with a victory but I would let a loss or poor performance linger to long in my approach with our team.  Sue Gunter would also stress that the most important game on your schedule is the next one because it is the only one you can do anything about.  The same is true with a shot, a possession, any phase of the game -- or life for that matter.

Use This Four-Letter Word A Lot
By Bill Bartmann

The more you use it, the more successful you'll become.

So I don't keep you in suspense too long, the word is "next."

If you're in business for any length of time, you will experience three very distinct environments in which the most valuable thought you can have is "next."

Environment #1: When you fail.

I imagine you know what it feels like to fail. I sure do, having been bankrupt more than once and sued multiple times. I was personally indicted by the United States Attorney General on 58 felony counts totaling more than 600 years in prison if I had been convicted. I was found not guilty on all counts, by the way, and the government later apologized.

When I have faced catastrophes of the financial, legal, or personal variety, I've come to realize that the faster I could get to "next," the sooner I recovered.

It all has to do with your subconscious mind. I'm absolutely convinced that your brain works on a deep and literal level, whether you realize it or not. It will amplify what your conscious mind is chewing on.

If you continually think: "How could I have been such an idiot!" then your obedient subconscious will look for answers as to why you are such an idiot. If you think: "Someday I want to be rich," your brain will explore how you can become rich someday—but off in the distant future, not now. You specified "someday," after all.

On the other hand, if your thought instead is: "What can I do next to fix this?" then its mandate is to find a solution. I suggest that you not deny any realities of your failures, but that you mourn quickly. Wring your hands, punch the wall and move on, with plenty of "next" thoughts as soon as possible.

Environment #2: When you succeed.

The second distinct environment in which the concept of "next" is your friend is when you're extremely successful.

In my case, I had become a self-made billionaire, and the 25th richest person in America by some accounts. I had exclusive contracts with 21 of the top 25 banks in America for my services. As CEO of my company, I found that my "highest and best use" was to think day and night about "next".

How could I expand our operation to Europe and eventually the world? How could I line up the financing I needed without diluting the equity in my privately held business? I found that if I asked the right questions and focused on the future, my subconscious would deliver the goods.

Environment #3: When your customers want more.

I don't know the business you're in, but I can tell you something about your customers. They pretty much follow the "80-20 Rule": 80 percent of them have a passing interest in what you have to offer. They may be your customers, but are steal-able by another competitor which comes along, if you're not careful.

On the other hand, 20 percent—or maybe even just 2 percent—of your customers have an insatiable appetite for what you have to offer: They buy your premium offering. They become great testimonials for your goods and services. Some of them might even leave their credit cards on file for any new stuff you offer.

These customers are not only insatiable, but they're highly profitable. They take no arm-twisting to buy and spread the good word about you.

Oddly enough, most businesses do not cater to their insatiable customers. If you're smart, you should always have a higher-end, "next" product for them to buy.

I know a guy who makes really high-quality luggage that costs about 50 percent more than other high-quality luggage. He told me once that some of his customers are from various royal families in the Middle East. With some of those folks, not only is price not an object, but high prices can sometimes be a badge of honor. Yet my buddy had no ultra-high-priced option, made out of pure silk or perhaps carbon fiber.

Just as you can buy a Kobe beef hamburger in Manhattan for $175 (pickle included), you should be able to buy a $10,000 suitcase. Not only will someone buy it, but you'll get free publicity.

Ray Kroc, the chairman of McDonalds, knew the concept of "next" when he said about his competitors: "We invent faster than they can copy."

Unleash the smartest friend you have—your subconscious mind—by focusing it on what you want to find around the next corner.