I remember when I got my first real job. I was so excited! I brought home my official offer letter and showed it to my wife. She looked at the annual salary and said, “$11,900 a year?” I said, yeah, but I can make commissions! She said it wouldn’t even pay our monthly bills. It was then that I realized that I had to rely on myself in order to provide for my family – that my hard work and efforts would directly affect my income.

It wasn’t long before I ended up working for a great manager and mentor. I didn’t realize it at the time, but he used to take me on these little “Dream Building” field trips. Every few weeks, we would take a drive into some nicer neighborhoods and look at homes. He would slowly drive around these neighborhoods and pull up in front of a house for sale and say, “Can you imagine living in that house?” I would honestly say, “No, I can’t.” He would then look over at me and say, “Well, if you can’t imagine it, you will never achieve it.” He would then pull away. I remember sitting there in his car and thinking, “huh, he is right, but I don’t have enough money to live in a house like that.” As I started making more money, I started to actually believe that I could live in some of those houses. I started to believe in myself and I began to imagine living in those neighborhoods. So, when we would pull up in front of a house for sale, I would jump out of the car and grab a flyer for the home. I would then bring the flyer back to my work-space and I would hang it up with the others that I was collecting. This is where my dreams began.

I remember he asked me one day what my dream car was? I told him a Porsche Carrera. We drove over to the Porsche dealership and walked in. As we walked through the doors, I remember seeing a black Carrera sitting in the middle of the showroom floor. I walked over, opened up the door, sat down on the seat, adjusted it a bit, grabbed on to the steering wheel and could not believe how good it felt to be sitting in that car. The smell of leather, the sport seats and the feeling of the steering wheel in my hands. Wow! This was my dream car. I knew then, that at some point in my life, I would be driving that car. So I got a brochure and the price from the sales person and hung it up in my work-space.

From that point on, every call I made, every appointment I set, every time I got in early and stayed late, I saw those dreams on my wall. I knew that if I worked hard and focused my energy and attention on my future goals, I could and would achieve it! But first, I had to believe in myself.

As we begin 2012, The Year of the Dragon, what a great time to re-evaluate our goals, our dreams and our desires for life. Take some time over this holiday, write down your short-term, medium-term and long-term goals. Share them with those around you that can help you achieve them…we are all in this life together, hoping for the same three things in life: Better Health, More Wealth and True, Genuine Happiness!

Now is the time to Take Back Your Life!

Happy New Year Everyone!

Al Diaz Jr.

“Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart.” Psalm 37:4

“Behold, I have inscribed you on the palms of My hands; Your walls are continually before Me.” Isaiah 49:16

“Just as your car runs more smoothly…when the wheels are in perfect alignment, you perform better when your thoughts, feelings, emotions, goals, and values are in balance.” – Brian Tracy

“Excellence is an art won through training and habituation. We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act but a habit.” – Aristotle

Branding Yourself is about honing your skills, narrowing your focus, and getting clear on what you’re passionate about.

Branding Yourself is not just about you being better than your competition. It’s about getting your prospects to choose you as the ONLY solution to their problem.

Here are five great benefits of creating a strong Branding for Yourself:

1. One of the greatest benefits to you of having a strong in Branding Yourself is that it creates a sense of individuality and “separateness” in the marketplace so that your clients are able to easily differentiate your company from your competitors.
2. The goal of Branding Yourself is to be known for who you are as a person and what you stand for. Branding yourself is a reflection of who you are, your opinions, values, and beliefs that are visibly expressed by what you say and do, and how you do it.
3. The Branding Yourself process allows you to take control of your identity and influence the perception others will have about you and the services you offer.
4. A strong Branding Yourself will enable you to effortlessly attract clients and opportunities. You will position yourself in the mind of your marketplace as the service provider of choice to dominate your market and command higher fees – work less and make more!
5. Establish yourself as an expert and become a celebrity in your area of specialty. Gain name recognition in your area of expertise where it counts the most – in your customer’s mind. Make a lasting impression and be super-rewarded for your individuality.

Trust, respect, and admiration will follow when your name and message are embedded repeatedly into the consciousness of your target market. Branding Yourself will be perceived as an expert the more you are visible to your target audience. Branding Yourself will propel you to the top in your marketplace.

Al Diaz Jr.