Many years ago, I awoke not excited to get going and hit the ground running. In fact, I wasn't just missing the excitement to do it, I was more excited not to.

That morning I knew I needed to take a serious look at some things, as I knew that I was not preparing myself to be the best I could be or do the best job, that day, that I could do. So, I gave myself a test while knowing what I needed, emotionally and psychologically, to be most effective. The core content of this test is called “The Power”. Here are the five questions I asked myself:

Am I POSITIVE today?

Being positive is more than just believing I can make something happen. I know many people who say they believe, but still, flounder because they think that belief is magic. Henry Ford once said, "whether you believe you can or believe you can't, you are right".

This, for many, has created a great paradox of thinking that trying to convince them to just believe is what makes the magic happen. It is not! It isn't thinking “we can” that makes things happen, it is what that positive belief actually releases in us. The belief, if true belief, will be proven or manifested by what we do and attempt to do that day. If we truly believe, then we will truly do. Remember this statement; "We only truly attempt that which we truly believe we can achieve"! Again, it is not convincing ourselves of what we believe, its what we do with that new belief.

Am I OPEN to hear, accept and consider new concepts?

The longer that someone works within the industry, the more they sometimes think that they need to stubbornly stick to what they have always done. In other words, if they were to take a new direction on a modified, even proven path they might realize or notice the current deficiencies that they have when it comes to their current role. Since we all have these deficiencies, there should be no reason to hide them from others, but we should maintain an openness, as difficult as it is, to reveal them so we can continue to grow in our careers.

In fact, people who are closed minded when it comes to this topic are simply called "not teachable". This is the limit of one’s lifestyle, career, and happiness. Think about this. If you love your current life and everything is going perfect, but I told you that your life will never be better than it is right now, wouldn't that be about the most depressing thought you could imagine?

Here's the real truth, "Our potential is not a fixed item, rather a variable one”! Our career and life will never rise above our level of thinking. Therefore, if we can change our thinking, we have, in essence, just began the path of changing our potential, which can and will change our lives.

Am I WILLING to do things differently?

There are so many difficulties when it comes to professionally trying new things, but most of them are simply possessed in our own mind. This one is the cousin of the prior point, being OPEN.

It’s one thing to begin to allow ourselves to be open when it comes to new ideas. That is why educational events are so enjoyable as they allow an openness to temporarily occur because it is exciting and…we are not back out in the workplace yet nor attempting to put things into practice. That is where the real work begins.

I often ask my audiences around the world about change. Based on the fact that everyone "thinks" they fear it, I ask them which type of change is more easily sustainable; moderate or radical? Approximately 80-90% of all audience participants select "moderate". They have fooled themselves into thinking that slow change is more sustainable than radical change. Besides the fact that they are wrong, the reason they are wrong is more important.

The reason they select "moderate" is that they do not want to contemplate changing and so change that is not like actually changing sounds most appealing to them. Notice I did not ask which was the most appealing, but the most sustainable.

The problem with moderate change is that it remains too close to what we are trying to change "from". It makes us feel safe because we can still reach out and touch our old ways while pretending to adopt new ones.

Here is something to think about. When you or I change clothes, we do not put on an additional layer of clothes on top of what we were wearing already. We must actually take one outfit off before putting another one on. While this is incredibly simple, many do not practice this at the professional/personal level. Instead, when new initiatives arrive, we tend to "do what our boss wants" and instead of replacing old behaviors with new ones, we try to put the new proven initiatives on top of everything we have already been doing, creating an even more stressful work day.

Am I ENERGETIC enough to fully execute?

People love to be around people who exude energy. We love to be around the ones who make us feel like we can do more just by watching them. We have all asked someone how they were doing just to hear them say that they are "exhausted". When that conversation ends, we sometimes find ourselves feeling like we could also use a nap. That's because their lack of energy is negatively contagious.

I have people ask me, all the time, how I stay energetic and tend to bounce around stages, jet-set across states and continents, work long hours and never seem to disengage my brain from the mission. My answer to them always includes two ingredients.

1. When we truly love what we do, it is impossible to hide our passion and energy is always a by-product of passion.
2. I am a really good actor. Even though I have times in which my body tells me "enough-is-enough" if I am not in a position to stop or still on tour, I must simply fake it.

The second one is what people tend to latch onto, as it appears to contradict the first one. Well, in all actuality, it doesn't, as it is needed only when my personal gas tank is empty. Everyone has heard the term, “fake it until you make it"! I am not a true believer in this as it's related to a necessary skill we all need in order to be successful and frankly, I would not want a surgeon “faking it” until they make it.

Instead, when it comes to the items in this “POWER” list, they are related to our own way of thinking and acting, not a skill-set based structure. So, I am a big believer in this statement: "One will never make it until they learn the skill of faking it".

As a speaker, I can't get on a plane and then walk onto that stage without my "A" game. That would simply be robbing someone of the best I have to offer and that is exactly what they came to receive. In fact, I have had people ask me what I do when I get sick. The answer to that is simple, I fake it! And…when I say I fake it, what I mean is that I fake myself out, not the audience.

Your position on your team is your stage. It always requires your “A-Game” and anything less is simply working against the team goal and since you are a member of that team, your own goal as well.

I can remember a large event, states away in which I was the keynote speaker. It had a very large attendance and many were coming from multiple states just to attend this event. A day before I was to travel to the destination I began feeling ill. I started running a fever, aching all over, sweating and just could hardly fathom the thought of actually going to the event. This all comes with one problem. The problem is that the line of work I have chosen to be involved with requires an unwavering commitment to the people that so heavily rely on us. It is more than a career, it is a responsibility.

I went on that trip. I drove to the airport over two hours away. I flew across the country and made my way to my hotel room where I found myself sicker than I was before leaving home. I then studied my notes for the morning and sent down for some additional cold medicine, not yet realizing that I actually did not have a cold. The next day was truly an amazing moment in my life. The moment I hit that stage, I did not feel at all ill. In fact, I was rejuvenated by the audience and the satisfaction that, in-spite of everything, I was blessed with the opportunity to help this large group of business people. Simply stated, I authentically faked myself out when it came to how I felt.

When one makes a commitment, we must fully own our responsibility.

I am not suggesting that you should ever go to work sick, please don't misunderstand. What I am saying is that we all should be cautious of thinking that faking it (faking ourselves out) won't ever be a required element to continuously elevate our personal and professional achievement. In other words, if every time you don't feel like doing something and don't fake yourself out, you will never reach your full potential! Even the best have bad days. Those bad days tend to multiply when we mentally concede to them.

Here is the truth; we do actually have days where we don't feel positive. I say fake it. Eventually, you become a pathological optimist. You have spoken the same positive words so many times that you actually believe them. The exciting thing is what that belief releases in you…actions!

One may not always be or feel open. To that, I say fake it!

As people, we have many days we simply are too afraid to try things that are foreign or new to us, especially when we risk being found out. To that, I say fake it.

We have all had days we have woken up tired and not feeling energetic, to that I say fake it!

Am I RESULTS oriented?

Have you ever wondered why you get up and go to work each day? Is it for the money? (I hope not) Is it to help people? Is it because you love what you do? What is it?

I once had a CEO, who I was a friend with early in my career, who was so results-minded; he failed to ever think of the entire mission. People came second, profits came first.

On many occasions, I spend significant time with him. Each time I did, I found myself reeling him back in when it came to situations of dealing with the team, etc. Somehow, even though I was very young, he allowed me to help him in this way.

So, when I ask if you are results oriented, I am not asking you if you are like the above, mentioned man. I am simply asking if you are focused on achieving whatever it is that you are going to work to accomplish in the first place. Activity does not pay our bills, our earnings do. But if all we focus on our earnings, we miss our true mission. That mission is simple; it is to make a difference. When we make a difference, all earnings go up…. and that “is” what does pay the bills!

So each morning moving forward, give yourself this test before even getting out of bed.

• P: Am I POSITIVE today?
• O: Am I OPEN today?
• W: Am I WILLING today?
• E: Am I ENERGETIC today?
• R: Am I RESULTS oriented today?

Then, once you decide to have “THE POWER”, go put that “POWER” to work for you, your company and those around you!

Darryl Turner is Founder and CEO of The Darryl Turner Corporation. He has been helping organizations in the real estate industry achieve their goals for over three decades. *Darryl speaks at over 125 live events each year to over 25,000 people annually. His companies include:*

• Title Solutions Group
• Agent Star Coaching
• Mortgage Star Coaching
• RepStar Coaching for Title & Escrow Marketing Reps

The Darryl Turner Corporation can be reach by email at info@darrylturner.com or by phone at 209-548-9000.