Wednesday, March 12, 2008

Tip#138: Leverage Your Contacts - Celebrity Apprentice


When you are stuck in a situation it is important to remember that you already have the tools and resources to get you moving forward. Just remember to leverage what you have.

Leverage here is defined as: To improve or enhance. In other words leveraging what you have is to access something you already possess and maximize it.

Your Contacts

For example, I've started to do some spring cleaning and want to clear a pile of books I don't read anymore. I've been wanting to explore eBay for a long time but couldn't find the time to learn how it works. So I finally focused on just delegating the task to someone who was an expert on eBay.

So I leveraged what I had and chose about 10 contacts on my extensive database and sent out an email call for help. Within hours I received 2 potential eBay experts from 2 contacts I had emailed!

Celebrity Apprentice

I am reminded about an inspiring moment on the current reality TV show, Celebrity Apprentice. It is a spin on Donald Trump's The Apprenticeshow where celebrities are put into two teams to raise money for individual charities they are representing.

In the first episode the teams were asked to make as much money as they could within a day by selling hot dogs in a New York City location. While one team was arguing whether or not they could get $100 for a hot dog, Gene Simmons of the rock group KISS just started calling his friends asking them to come to NY and buy a $5,000 hot dog for charity.

Not only did it work for that one person but for other friends Simmons called as well. He leveraged his contacts. That inspired the rest of the team to do the same with their own contacts. They thought, why not? All they did was ask for help from those they knew. Simmons's team won the task.

So let that inspire you to remember the contacts you already know whenever you are feeling stuck in a situation. Help is just a call or email away. Maintain some sort of database for your social and business contacts and update it as often as you can.

You already have the friends and connections to help you move forward. All you have to do is take action and leverage what you have.

"People are your greatest resource."
Tony Robbins

Emmanuel Lopez
Silverlining Specialist & Motivational Wingman
www.motivatorman.com
© Emmanuel Lopez 2008

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