Small Business owners have been challenged more in the last few years than anytime since the Great Depression of the 1930′s. What I have found to be odd is how the Entrepreneurial spirit is more alive today as a result of the bad economy. Lots of fortunes were made during the 1930′s just as fortunes are being made in today’s difficult economy.

When times get tough businesses need to innovate, improve, and adapt to the new economy. I have seen some great leaders develop new products and businesses since the Great Recession began in 2007. One of those leader’s is Brian Tracy, and he has had a big impact on my mindset the last few years. Brian’s last few books address what entrepreneurs should be doing to innovate and lead their way out of bad times. The three books I recommend are as follows:

1) Reinvention…How to Make the Rest of Your Life the Best of Your Life

2) How the Best Leaders Lead

3) Full Engagement!

All three books were authored by Brian Tracy since 2009, and published by Amacom. Visit Brian’s Amazon Page by clicking here after watching the video.

The video below is one of Brian’s best videos on the subject of creativity and improvement.

Every business owner in America should read Brian Tracy’s new book… “Full Engagement!”

The most important lesson I learned from doing the P90X program is that if you want to get major results, you have to cut out what I call “food porn”—food that’s doing nothing to fuel your body, and in some cases is actually doing more harm than good. To keep things simple, there are 5 things that we absolutely, positively, MUST stop eating and drinking if we want to achieve our fitness goals:

1. Processed sugars. I’m talking about white sugar, high fructose corn syrup, sucrose, or pretty much any kind of sugar that came from a factory instead of a piece of fruit. Processed sugar negatively affects your metabolism, your insulin response, even your mood—and all for totally empty calories. Cutting sugar out of your diet means you’re going to have to read some labels, because it is by far the most common food additive in the U.S.

2. Alcohol. Calories that are as empty as sugar, and at 7 calories a gram, booze can really pack it on. Alcohol also dehydrates your body, which compromises muscle growth. Plus it slows your metabolism, so you burn fewer calories. In short, drinking gives you less muscle and more fat—you’re just undoing everything you’re trying to achieve with your workout.

3. Caffeine. I know there are a lot of people out there who say caffeine can give your workout a little extra “oomph.” Obviously, it can give you some extra energy to make you push harder, but the cost is that it increases cortisol levels in your body, which inhibits lean muscle growth. Plus it can negatively affect your sleep patterns, and you’re better off working out when you’re rested than when you’re juiced.

4. Anything with a face. It used to be that you could find some decent lean meat sources, but in the last few decades, the hormones, antibiotics, and chemicals that have been used to process meat and fish make them pretty worthless as a source of protein. There are plenty of excellent vegetarian protein sources, like beans, tofu, and nuts, so you can eat clean while you get lean.

5. Gluten. Gluten is a grain-derived protein found in lots of different foods, mostly wheat, rye, and barley products. The name comes from the Latin word for “glue.” You don’t need to eat glue. Even if you’re not one of the millions who are sensitive or allergic to gluten, you’ll be operating a much cleaner machine if you cut it out of your diet. There are plenty of other healthier gluten-free alternatives, like millet, amaranth, quinoa, and oats.

By eliminating these empty or harmful “foods” from your diet, you can start turning your body into the well-oiled machine nature intended it to be. By eating a diet rich in fruits, vegetables, and whole grains, you can give yourself the premium fuel to get into the best shape of your life.

By: Brian Tracy

You become what you think about most of the time. And the most important part of each day is what you think about at the beginning of that day.

Start Your Day Right
Take 30 minutes each morning to sit quietly and to reflect on your goals. You’ll find when you read the biographies and autobiographies of successful men and women that almost everyone of them began their upward trajectory to success when they begin getting up early in the morning and spending time with themselves.

Feed Your Mind With Positive Ideas
This is called the Golden Hour. The first hour sets the tone for the day. The things that you do in the first hour prepare your mind and set you up for the entire day. During the first thirty to sixty minutes, take time to think and review your plans for the future.

Use Your Quiet Time Effectively
Here are four things that you can do during that quiet time in the morning. Number one is to review your plans for accomplishing your goals and change your plans if necessary.

Number two is think of better ways to accomplish your goals. As an exercise, assume that the way you’re going about it is totally wrong and imagine going about it totally differently. What would you do different from what you’re doing right now?

Number three, reflect on the valuable lessons that you have learned and are learning as you move toward your goals.

Practice Daily Visualization
Number four, calmly visualize your goal as a reality. Close your eyes, relax, smile, and see your goal as though it were already a reality. Rewrite your major goals everyday in the present tense. Rewrite them as though they already existed. Write “I earn X dollars.” “I have a net worth of X.” “I weigh a certain number of pounds.” This exercise of writing and rewriting your goals everyday is one of the most powerful you will ever learn.

Fasten Your Seatbelt
Your life will start to take off at such a speed that you’ll have to put on your seatbelt. Remember, the starting point for achieving financial success is the development of an attitude of unshakable confidence in yourself and in your ability to reach your goals. Everything we’ve talked about is a way of building up and developing your belief system until you finally reach the point where you are absolutely convinced that nothing can stop you from achieving what you set out to achieve.

Everything Counts
No one starts out with this kind of an attitude, but you can develop it using the law of accumulation. Everything counts. No efforts are ever lost. Every extraordinary accomplishment in the result of thousands of ordinary accomplishments that no one recognizes or appreciates. The greatest challenge of all is for you to concentrate your thinking single-mindedly on your goal and by the law of attraction, you will, you must inevitably draw into your life the people, circumstances and opportunities you need to achieve your goals.

Become A Living Magnet
Once you’ve mastered yourself and your thinking, you will become a living magnet for ideas and opportunities to become wealthy. It’s worked for me and for every successful person I know. It will work for you if you’ll begin today, now, this very minute, to think and talk about your dreams and goals as though they were already a reality. When you change your thinking, you will change your life. You will put yourself firmly on the road to financial independence.

Action Exercises
Now, here are two things you can do every single day to keep your mind focused on your financial goals:

First, get up every morning a little bit earlier and plan your day in advance. Take some time to think about your goals and how you can best achieve them. This sets the tone for the whole day.

Second, reflect on the valuable lessons you are learning each day as you work toward your goals. Be prepared to correct your course and adjust your actions. Be absolutely convinced that you are moving rapidly toward your goals, no matter what happens temporarily on the outside. Just hang in there!

Truer words have never been spoken. Throughout the ages seemingly great men and great women have been exposed as less than noble, less than genuine and even less than human when faced with challenging circumstances. The reverse is also true – Men and woman who seemed ordinary and average when thrust into the most difficult situations have risen to extraordinary heights of character, leadership and excellence.

Watching this great “revealing” is the stuff history and legends are made of. Observing a person in a challenging situation or circumstance will manifest much about who they are deep, deep inside and what they will likely do in the future. What your are at your core is your center of strength and that ability to do what is right, under pressure or even when no one is looking, is the core of your personal integrity.

Anything that lacks integrity is unstable, as any engineer will tell you. A bridge or skyscraper that has structural integrity simply does what it was built to do. It isn’t necessarily perfect. It could have flaws. But, under stress, pressure and repeated use, it does what it was built to do. Even in extreme circumstances it will do what it was designed to do. If, on the other hand, a structure does not have structural integrity, it will at some point fail, as was the case with the world’s first jet airliner, the British-made de Havilland Comet.

When the Comet was introduced in 1949, the future seemed bright for jet travel and the Comet was the undisputed, front-and-center leader – until three Comets unexpectedly disintegrated in flight, killing all aboard. The planes were grounded as puzzled engineers worked feverishly to understand why they had operated flawlessly at first, only to break apart later in midair. The engineers set up a fuselage in a large pool and pumped water in and out, simulating the effects of repeated cabin pressurization. At first, the experiment revealed nothing, nothing at all. But over time the pressurized circumstances yielded a startling discovery. The repeated stress caused small, microscopic cracks to form around the rectangular windows, cracks that would eventually widened into gaping holes. The planes could not withstand repeated pressure. They lacked structural integrity and the pressurized circumstances revealed what the Comet was at it’s core – a bright shiny pretender that was not secure or safe.

You and I live in a world filled with pressure and pressure filled circumstances – pressure to accomplish, pressure to get ahead, pressure to be smarter than we are, pressure to conform, pressure to be popular, pressure to appear successful, pressure to earn large incomes. None of us are perfect. We all have flaws for sure. How, then, under repeated pressure, can we avoid allowing small cracks in our integrity to form? How can we be sure that our character is structurally sound? How can we stay true to our core regardless of setting or circumstance?

Ultimately this is an exercise of not only looking in the mirror, but looking deep into our hearts and souls and asking uncomfortable questions of ourselves. When you find yourself in challenging circumstances what are you learning about yourself? Do you like what is being revealed? If not, why not? And while we cannot control those around us during difficult time, and it can be devastatingly disappointing to watch false friends or self-serving leaders crumble and reveal their true stripes and identity at such times, ultimately it comes down to ensuring that your own structural integrity reveals your greatness to the world.

I would like to start the new year with a recommendation on a book that has had a huge impact on my life and business over the past few months. True transformation is costly…it requires time, energy, and money. Most of us spend the majority of our time reacting to the circumstances that surround us. After reading Steven K. Scott’s new book, “The Greatest Man Who Ever Lived”, I became aware of how my mindset was geared for failure in many different areas of my life.

The example that Jesus has set for us to follow is amazing. He never lost sight of his mission on earth…His WHY has never been better articulated than it has in this book. If you have a strong enough WHY, you can do anything you set your mind on accomplishing. Having a strong WHY is one of the most powerful forces in the universe. The reason we give up on our goals so quickly every year is due to not having a strong enough WHY for accomplishing the goals we set for ourselves.

Also, the book covers the seven communication techniques that can turn a poor communicator into a great one. This book has helped me to be more creative and productive, which has enhanced my family life and business. More than just a book about values and “principles,” The Greatest Man Who Ever Lived is a step by step guide to overcoming every obstacle you’ll ever face while achieving extraordinary success and lasting happiness.

Get a copy of this book…read a chapter per day! “The Greatest Man Who Ever Lived” is one of the best books I have read in a long time. Take a few minutes to watch the video interview with Steven K. Scott below so you can get a good overview of this inspiring book.