Beating the Demons : The 6 Principles of Self Mastery: For Men Who Want to Get More Done

By Dan Boe

Ever set a goal, then quit before achieving it? Ever blocked out four hours to make business calls, only to be astonished when the four hours were up and not one call was made? Ever committed to any kind of diet plan and then never took action? Wondering why that is? There seems to be an invisible force that stops us from getting what we want. Dan Boe has labeled this invisible force. It is called The Demons. This book shows you how to Beat The Demons.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lulu.com
• Release date: May 5, 2011
• ISBN: 9781257740086

Book preview

One

The Invisible Force

I’m at my desk. I am about to make my cold calls. These calls are critical to earning my income so that I can have a place to live, food to eat, and money to take care of my family. I have been about to make my calls for 2 hours and 47 minutes now. During this time I have gotten up to get coffee three times, gone to the bathroom twice, checked and responded to my email five times, and considered taking off for an early lunch. It is completely illogical to not make these calls. I know that if I dial 39 times, based on past history, I WILL MAKE $1,892.76 TODAY.

Marc (his real name) always makes his calls. He will dial 65 times in one day when he is prospecting for new clients. I wonder if he holds some secret power, or learned a key lesson that I somehow missed in all my business training. The question keeps repeating itself in my mind as I avoid doing the one thing that will bring me the income I need to survive and thrive: How does he get started?

I’m paralyzed, so I call Marc and ask him how he does it. Marc, what do you do when the phone seems so heavy, and you are having an extremely hard time dialing that first number? How do you overcome that call reluctance?

He says, I pick up the phone.

That’s it? It can’t be that easy? No affirmations first? No pushups to clear your thoughts? No psyching yourself up? Just pick up the phone and dial? It can’t be that easy.

But it is. Marc knows how to beat the demons. The same demons that keep us from making our calls also keep us from completing that new exercise plan. The same demons that keep us from sticking to that diet keep us from that perfect relationship, and yes, keep us from writing that book.

Everybody loves Marc. I thought it was because he was a good schmoozer, but now I know why everybody loves Marc. Because they know that he knows how to beat the demons.

His co-workers know it when he puts up his record sales numbers each month on the board. His friends know it when he turns down the offer to play golf on Thursday morning. And his family knows it when all his work is done and he is home by 4:00 p.m.

YES. The ones who beat the demons do not live at the office. The ones who do not beat the demons, stay at the office all night because they feel guilty for the whipping they let the demons give them that day.

You may know somebody like Marc. You may have recognized in somebody else the ability to overcome that invisible force that seems to keep the rest of us down. We call this invisible force: The demons.

Notes on feeling paralyzed:

Two

What are the demons?

The justification and rationalizing in your head when you are avoiding doing the things that need to get done to achieve your goals? That is the demons hard at work.

The creative avoidance that turns your plan for constructive work time, into precious time wasted on unproductive menial tasks? That is the demons’ masterpiece.

The distractions we often say that we hate, but secretly really love because they keep us from doing our real work? That is the demons working overtime.

The perfectionist inside of us that declares that no project we are working on is good enough? That is the demons keeping us from finishing that which we start.

The demons hide, but we know they are there every time we set a goal and don’t achieve it.

The demons aim to keep us away from that which we love. They aim to stop us from achieving our life’s dream. They aim to stop us from living up to our full potential. They aim to stop us from feeling a sense of accomplishment. They aim to stop us from changing the world for the better. AND THEY AIM TO STOP EVERYBODY ELSE, TOO.

But wait a minute. If I am facing a demon that wants me to fail, but it exists inside of me and inside of you, then let’s look at the following question:

Are the demons real?

I coach Entrepreneurs in business sales. Every time I obtain a new coaching client, I always give them an assignment to increase the amount of outbound calls from the number they are currently making. They will commit to making a specific number of calls by the next coaching session. They will come up with their own heinous consequence if they don’t make the calls. A good example is no skiing for a month if the student really loves skiing. At the next coaching session, what do you think was the outcome of the calls? That is right; the calls weren’t made. The consequence is not put there to punish them; the consequence is there so they can see that the demons are real.

The demons are a ceiling to productivity.

The demons tell us that there are limits to how much we can accomplish in a day. These limits are relative to how much we have accomplished in the past, and are not based on our potential. We get done a little more than we usually get done, then start feeling overwhelmed.

The demons tell us what we want to hear.

They may tell you