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Preview chapters of a book designed for people who want to get more out of life, more success in business and more overall joy and prosperity.
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How to Create PRO$PERITY
From What You Already Do
ANGELA DiCARLO, MBAMaster of Being Alive
An insider’s guide to building a profitable career, a satisfying business, improving your life and winning like the big guys
even if you are a one person operation.
Preview Chapters
© Copyright 2012, Angela DiCarlo. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval systems, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical,
photocopy, recording or otherwise, without prior written permission from Angela DiCarlo, with the exception of short excerpts used with acknowledgement of the author. Photos taken by author or purchased on various stock photography sites. Contact the author at [email protected] or (858) 412-7738.
Order additional copies at www.CEOsSecretWeapon.com.
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Welcome
This hands-on guide will help you map out key elements to move forward now.
Do you have a big idea that you want to build and make money from but don’t know how?
“MAN HAS AN INHERENT POWER BY WHICH HE MAY GROW IN WHATEVER
DIRECTION HE PLEASES. THERE DOES NOT APPEAR TO BE ANY LIMIT TO THE
POSSIBILITIES OF HIS GROWTH.”
Wallace D. WattlesThe Science of Being Great
Preface
Every day, a new idea comes around that could change
the world, your world. Sometimes an idea is so big that it
drives that person to create a business, your business. But no
matter how big or amazing the idea is; every business faces
the reality of ups and downs. There are market changes,
unexpected setbacks, product recalls, cash flow issues,
economic catastrophes and more. Despite these setbacks,
there are still businesses making a profit and some are
pumping out hundreds, thousands and millions in profits
from their business today.
If you know an entrepreneur who has succeeded, then
you know they did not do it all alone. They had resources.
Whether they were family, friends, books, seminars,
assistants, coaches, consultants, investors or mentors, they
had resources. The idea was born and it was important
enough that they worked hard despite whatever obstacles
were in front of them to make it a reality.
Once you find the big idea that gets you excited enough
to build a business, what do you need to do to keep it alive?
How do you find the resources you need to build it, the
market to buy it, the branding to make it recognizable, the
strength to stay focused, and the power within to survive the
ups and downs that make or break a business so you can
fulfill your dreams?
It can be relatively easy to get started in business, but
when an obstacle pops up or success does not come as
quickly as expected, many business owners hang up their
hats. They go back to their comfort zones of a job or retreat
into a hideaway until the next big idea is born.
While retreating back into your comfort zone may
provide temporary relief, it will not make you successful or
rich. So how is it that some entrepreneurs seem to flourish
effortlessly? What is their “secret weapon?” More important,
how can you use it to build a healthy, successful business
balanced with a profitable, happy and healthy life?
This book is intended to work like a “Choose Your Own
Adventure” book. During my youth, I loved to get deep
inside the many layers of Choose Your Own Adventure
books. They were amazing and powerful because you created
the story. You chose where you went next. Still today, I rarely
read books straight from front to back. I often randomly
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open the book or flip to the section from the table of
contents that had what I needed and I focused in on that.
You can read straight through or flip around to where you
need the most help now.
There are exercises throughout this guide that you can
do as needed to strategize, strengthen and thrive. I
recommend creating a folder or notebook specifically for this
book where you can keep all your files on hand. There are
also a few pages for notes throughout and at the end of this
book. Feel free to use them anytime an idea pops up that will
get you closer to your goals.
One visual image that works well for me is to imagine
ideas like bubbles floating around in the air. A bubble starts
as a thin almost invisible layer like a concept or idea
beginning to form. Then energy is added to the bubble in the
form of air being blown into the bubble. It grows bigger and
clearer until it breaks free from the bubble maker and floats
into the air. It glimmers like a rainbow in the sunlight for a
brief period. Then just as quickly as it appears, pop, it
disappears. While the bubble is forming, you can see the
colors, the size, and the potential. Once released the idea
floats around the air, and then, POP, the bubble is gone.
Imagine that an idea formed and floated around like a
bubble. Oftentimes an idea makes itself visible and totally
clear for a brief moment. Then just as quickly as it appeared,
like a bubble, the idea can disappear.
How does that relate to business? Sometimes, we see
the picture of what we want so clearly and then past
experience distorts the image, memories of failures or fear of
change burst the bubble. If we could re-capture that idea of
why we got into business in the first place, then we can turn
an idea into a passion.
There is a principle that my good friend Mick Moore,
the Internet Entrepreneur and author of Home Business
Success Kit, was telling me a story about called the 48-hour
effect where he described how an idea must be captured
within a certain point from when they appear or they may be
lost forever…or at least until someone else seizes the idea and
makes it their own.
If you have your idea or you are already in business,
then you may want to know how to grow your business by
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unlocking the code to success (chapter 1), creating a clear
picture for yourself of what you want to happen (chapter 2),
effectively finding a hot market (chapter 5 bonus), and the
knowing the importance of keeping a bird’s eye view of your
business with an end goal in mind (chapter 7). Plus, you can
clearly provide that focused picture to the people who matter
the most (chapter 3). Of course you will want to share your
message clearly with your employees and buyers (chapter 6).
Whichever chapter you start with, you are on your way to
success (chapter 8).
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Chapter 1
“If one advances confidently in the direction of
their dreams, and endeavors to live the life they
imagined, they will meet with a success unexpected
in common hours...If you have built castles in the
air, your work need not be lost: that is where they
should be. Now put the foundations under them.”
UNLOCKING THE CODE
Henry David ThoreauWalden
How are some people successful in business and others can
barely get off the starting line?
Have you ever felt like you just cannot get to the next step?
Have you ever gone to a business event and seen the same people
over and over again? It seemed like some of them just are not
making any real progress. Have you ever wondered if they looked
at you and thought the same thing? Well, if you have been doing
the same things over and over again expecting different results,
then it may be a good time to take a lesson from the ones who are
successful today.
Why are some people doing so well right now? And how can
you be like them?
Having coached hundreds of clients from brand new startups
to multi-million dollar Fortune companies, there are some striking
similarities between those who succeed and those who get stuck in
a rut. Would you like to learn what they are? I did too. So I took
the time to follow top producing sales people and business owners
around to see what separated them from the average
businessperson to learn what they did to succeed.
After numerous interviews, I found the same thing over and
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BIG IDEAS PRINCIPLE
What has kept people from getting what they want?
1. Not having a game plan.
2. Trying to do everything alone and not having mentors.
3. Having a poor relationship with money.
4. Not acting or behaving as a top performer.
5. Being surrounded by naysayers.
6. Harboring fear of success, fear of change or fear of failure.
7. Thinking that it is too hard to reach the right decision makers.
8. Treating their goals as if they were someday far off in the future.
9. Allowing busywork to stop them from doing productive things.
10. Not being fully committed to their passions and goals.
over again. They work. It is that simple. As Rory Vaden
mentions in his New York Times Best Selling book released
in 2012 Take The Stairs, “Top producers do the hard things
that average producers do not want to do.”
So do you just need to work harder? Well, not really.
First, they defined what it is they do best. Then, they created
a game plan to accomplish those goals. Then, they enlisted
the help and expertise of those who knew more than they did
to flesh out their plan. Then, they started calling on their
market to see if there were any buyers. As they proved their
business model was a valid one, they started working. And
they worked a lot.
I found that Top Producers worked at least 40 hours a
week on their business. They were not going to luncheons or
networking events unless they had a specific goal they were
looking to achieve or a specific person to connect with. They
were on the phones or putting people on the phones to
prospect and build their business. They were prospecting,
visiting leads and converting them into clients. They were
hiring professionals to manage and build the parts of the
business that they did not know how to do or knew that
someone else could do for them. They asked for referrals
and stayed in contact with their buying clients. They created
jobs for others by employing people. They had a very
targeted work schedule that helped them accomplish and
exceed their goals.
Most of these people were highly revered by others for
how successful they were.
When I went to their offices to meet with them in
person, their offices did not look much different than anyone
elses. They still had their computer, their stack of work, their
phone, their calendar, and constant interruptions by others.
As an outsider, one would never know the difference
between this person who was building a successful empire
and someone who was just pushing paper around.
Not, at least, until you listened to them. On the phone,
there was minimal chatter and issues on the calls were
resolved by setting up a next step or an appointment to
confirm a detail. Their email was piled as high as anyone
else, but it was based on putting out valid information and
getting quick or accurate responses. Their voicemails
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instructed callers on how often they checked their messages
and what was the quickest way to get a response from them.
Some people instructed their callers to send emails, others
instructed to send text messages.
Let’s turn the focus to you now. Where in your life are
you letting unnecessary “work” slow down your progress?
What actions suck up the majority of your working day? Are
these the things that will make you money or cost you
money? Do you find yourself busy pushing around
paperwork or responding to unimportant emails?
What would happen if you gained back one “working
hour” and turned it into one “income-producing hour?”
Think about how that one shift could change your income
over the next month, or perhaps over the next year. What
would that be worth to you?
BIG IDEAS PRINCIPLE
What has brought people to their goals?
1.Setting goals, making mini commitments and having accountability in place.
2.Finding support through mentors and a community of like-minded people.
3.Developing a good relationship with money and monitoring its use.
4.Looking and acting the part they want to be in the future today.
5.Being able to ask for help even on things that are uncomfortable.
6.Surrounding themselves with positive enforcement tools like vision boards.
7.Actively networking with targeted business connections.
8.Taking action immediately and making the most important calls first and often.
9.Proactively scheduling activities into their day that get them closer to their goals.
10.Loving what they do with a passion for success and improvement.
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Chapter 2
“Productivity is the deliberate, strategic investment of
your time, talent, intelligence, energy, resources and
opportunities in a manner calculated to move you
measurably closer to meaningful goals.”
THE POWER HOUR
Found on a client’s wall during a workshop.
What is one thing that stops you from truly succeeding
today?
According to the thousands of business owners and sales
professionals for whom I have led training workshops, there
has been an all too prevalent theme that inhibits people from
bringing them the wealth and results they desire. It really
comes down to a few common behaviors that can be really
boiled down to in one word: procrastination.
I gave up procrastination for Lent in 2011. I had never
celebrated Lent before but the timing was right. I thought to
myself, what one thing would I be willing to give up for 40
days? I am pretty healthy so I did not need to cut out any
food or add exercise to my schedule. I did not really have any
bad habits that I could think of. I thought long and hard
about it. I could have thought about it for days. I could have
avoided it altogether as I had done with many other parts of
my life where I could have worked to get to my goals but
found other things to do. Finally, it hit me. I needed to give
up the worst of all habits: Procrastination.
Perhaps you can relate to this. I had become an expert
at avoiding the most important thing I needed to work on. It
did not matter if it was a phone call or a project for a client,
for myself, or just something that needed to get done. I had
become an expert at filling my day with everything but that
one all-important task. So I made a vow to myself that I
would give up procrastination for forty days.
Wow! The transformation was amazing. I started seeing
real results in my personal and business life. I started setting
those important meetings with clients and getting projects
done faster. I wrote out my goal list for the year and starting
crossing it off faster than I imagined. Everything started to
come together in my life. No longer was I lingering on any
one task when I could be getting it done and moving onto the
next thing.
Then I thought if I could blast through this
procrastination thing and see such great success, what else
could I achieve? I made my ability to overcome
procrastination into an action that could be repeated every
day no matter how badly I wanted to avoid that thing that I
had previously delayed on.
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If you have ever given up procrastination for a while,
then you know that procrastination unfortunately, like
addictive behavior, can be an easy habit to slip back into.
Perhaps you can relate to this. Have you ever just
wanted to stay in bed and avoid the world? It can be so easy
to lie in bed for just a few more minutes. It is not that difficult
to justify spending just a couple extra minutes checking social
media sites, which quickly turns into an hour of avoiding that
important task. It can be so easy to swing by the store to pick
something up and lose an hour from the workday.
In order to reinforce the power of life without
procrastination, I scheduled a Power Hour into my day. It did
not matter when I did it. But I found I had the best results
when it was done before noon. Just think about this for a
minute. If you invested one hour in your day tackling that
project you had been avoiding before you take your lunch
break, how great would that feel? From my own experience, I
have to admit that it feels pretty awesome.
Now you are probably wondering what this Power Hour
is. To put it to you straight, this is the one hour that you
buckle yourself into your chair and do what needs to get
done. You do not let distractions, unrelated calls, negative
self-talk, unnecessary breaks, refilling coffee, checking the
internet, unproductive time on social media, grabbing
supplies from the cabinet in the other room, or anything not
directly related to the task.
This sounds easy until you try to do it.
You will be amazed at how many things pop into your
mind during your power hour. One way to overcome this is
to get everything lined up before the power hour. Get your
beverage, go to the restroom, have your list of what needs to
be accomplished in front of you, and put your pets or
children to play or rest in another room where you will not
be distracted. For some people, they have to do this before
the kids get up or others arrive to the office. However it
works for you, try it for one day or one week. Once you see
the results, you will want to do it every day.
In your work area, have a blank sheet of paper and pen
next to you for writing down all the other things that pop into
your head during your power hour. I suggest pen and paper
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because if you are on a computer project, it is easy to get
distracted as you go into another program to jot down a note.
If you are ten minutes into your power hour and you
suddenly realize you need to refill the stapler, then write on
your note sheet to refill the stapler. If you remember fifteen
minutes later that you need to pick up dry cleaning, then
write that down. If you need to pay a bill or call your client,
write that down. If you get up and do the thing that pops
into your head, it will take away from your productivity and
encourages the behavior of procrastination.
Now what would happen if you could add one Power
Hour to your day? One session added where things did not
distract you from your productivity. How much wealth would
adding one power hour to your day create? Hundreds?
Thousands? Millions?
The Power Hour is easily translated into one dedicated
hour where you put 100% effort into one dedicated task or
project. During this allotted Power Hour, it is possible to
make more progress than a previously “normal” workday.
That one focused hour per day could generate more results
than would often be accomplished in a distracted eight-to-ten
hour day or a forty-to-sixty hour distracted workweek or a
2,000 hour distracted work year.
Consider this for a minute. If you could add one power
hour to each day, how much new business would that
generate for you? How many more appointments or valuable
meetings would you set? How much additional revenue
would you create? Your answers to all these questions should
make you want to run to your office chair and start making
some calls, but then, life happens and in turn, nothing
happens for your life or business. Why? Because we are so
great at being busy being busy.
If you could add one power hour to your day, when
could you most easily slip it into your schedule?
For some people, their quietest time is early in the
morning. That is why many managers and business owners
often show up to the office an hour or more before their staff
arrives. If you are in sales and selling to business owners or
managers, this could be prime time for calling them as many
managers do arrive early to the office. For others, they can
13
find a quiet hour after they drop their kids off and get back
to their home or office.
Find an hour that works for you and do your first power
hour. If you used to do similar power sessions and had super-
productive times during your day, then this will just be like
exercising a muscle that has gotten out of shape. You will
quickly see results. If this is your first Power Hour, it may
take a few sessions before you can last a whole hour with
concentration. Some people do power sessions of 25 minutes,
then take a five minute break, then do another 25 minute
session. Find what works best for you to get the best results.
It may sound funny reading it, but it can be really hard to
stay focused on the task at hand for one hour. Try it for
yourself. Would now be a good time?
Answer the questions in the following exercise and use
the Power Hour worksheet to track your results. Copy it or
write on it and make it work for you.
EXERCISE
Where in your life are you letting unnecessary “work” slow down your progress?
What actions take up the majority of your working day? Are these the things that will make you money or contribute to your goals?
How would turning one extra “working hour” per day into one “income-producing hour” change your income over the next month? Repeated consistently over the next year, what would that be worth to you?
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Worksheet: Maximizing THE POWER HOUR
Date: ___________________________ Start time: ___________________________
What I want to accomplish during my Power Hour:
Date: ___________________________ End time: ___________________________
What I did accomplish during my Power Hour:
How I felt after my Power Hour:
Schedule your next Power Hour session:
Next Power Hour Date:__________________ Start Time:_______________________
Goals for next Power Hour:
“The master in the art of living makes little distinction
between his work and his play, his labor and his leisure,
his mind and his body, his education and his recreation,
his love and his religion. He hardly knows which is which.
“He simply pursues his vision of excellence at whatever
he does, leaving others to decide whether he is working or
playing. To him he is always doing both.”
ABOUT YOUR AUTHOR
Source attributed commonly to texts from
Zen Buddhism
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A SNAPSHOT OF ANGELA DiCARLO
“If you give me 20 pages to write out my work history, I would ask for more paper.”
Angela DiCarlo, MBA
Author of the book you are reading now :-)
Master of Being Alive
Speaker | Marketer | Life Enhancer | Author | Romantic | Friend
As your author, I can take a step back and let the
biographer take over. Here you go...
Angela DiCarlo, MBA has taught hundreds of programs on
sales training, vision boards, business start up and individual
growth. She is the founder of CEO’s Secret Weapon and Prosperity
and Friends; both described as innovative personal development
programs. She is an author and keynote speaker with her
signature speech titled “Can you pass the Prosperity Test?”
Angela earned her Master’s degree in Business
Administration from Pepperdine University. She often refers to
the MBA that follows her name as a Master’s in Being Alive.
She was blessed to receive life's golden ticket -- a second chance
-- after surviving a traumatic head injury that lead to a 3-day
coma and changed the course of her life.
ABOUT YOUR AUTHOR
She values getting the most of life since her own near
death experience as well as that of losing her best friend at
the young age of 27. Her life is dedicated to helping
individuals, teams and organizations find their focus, share
their voice, and make greater improvements in the world.
In the corporate world, she helped build hundred
million dollar brands including Balance Bar Company
(famous for its energy bars) now owned by Kraft Foods, as
well as Phone People and eFax.com, now owned by j2 Global
Communications. She has toured the country with
Southwestern Consulting as a professional sales trainer and
works with their Speakers Bureau with New York Times best
selling author of Take The Stairs, Rory Vaden.
Angela's consulting and speaking firm, CEO's Secret
Weapon, was formed to help success-focused businesses
become more successful and help individuals live more
empowered lives. For her motivational speeches and
programs, Angela was dubbed the "Queen of Focus” by
award winning speaker John-Leslie Brown.
Angela co-founded Life Enhancer Fitness for elementary
school programs incorporating yoga, meditation and exercise
since 2004. She has authored a business start up book for and
consulted clients of the Small Business Development and
International Trade Center for multiple years.
Angela worked in television production on Fox 6 News,
San Diego 6 News, Del Mar TV and American Idol. She
helped produce Static TV, a teen television program dealing
with issues teenagers face in school and life.
Her clients include entrepreneurs and executives from
around the world. Her advice and training has been sought
by Make-A-Wish Foundation, Goodwill, Salvation Army,
realtors, commercial brokers, auto dealerships, and many
other corporations.
Droid, iPhone, and iPad applications were developed
under her brand Prosperity and Friends for adults and children
with targeted games and exercises to develop role models,
healthy habits, and environmental awareness.
Angela served as an active member or contributor to
Burning Man, Healthy California, Right To Succeed
18
Foundation, Childhood Health Obesity Initiative, Tribal
Truth and business organizations dedicating to improving the
world.
www.CEOsSecretWeapon.com
www.AngelaDiCarlo.com
Don’t be a stranger. Keep in touch. Tell us your story.
Find classes in your area. Email us at
PROSPERITY AND FRIENDS
Be sure to download Prosperity And Friends Guide
Book for teens and adults. You can find it online at
www.ProsperityAndFriends.com.
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“Inspiration without action is merely entertainment.”
WHAT’S NEXT?
Mary Manin MorrisseyThe Dream Builder
Continuing education is something I strive for. Now that
you have completed this book or at least parts of it, you are
probably wondering “What’s Next?”
Great question. At CEO’s Secret Weapon, we offer
multiple ongoing books, coaching and programs to help you
continue to grow.
WORKSHOPS
• Keynote Speeches
• Vision Board Workshops
PERSONAL GROWTH
• Life Coaching
• Personal Development Retreats
BUSINESS PROGRAMS
• C-Level & Business Coaching
• C.E.O. Business Intensives
• Marketing Consultations
• Executive & Speaker Development Programs
TAKE ACTION!
Please contact us to book your free initial consultation at
(858) 412-7738 or [email protected].
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