Download The Magic of 3 Letters The AND Principle mp3
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The And Principle is one of my favorite methods of getting off to a quick start with a new project or a new goal. It’s also a sure-fire way to quickly fix a slump. It’s very simple.

Here’s how it works: Every performance is broken down into two components. It has an effort and then it has a result. What the And Principle focuses on is you achieving both the effort and the result before you stop working on that project for the day.

What’ll happen with many people, sales people are famous for doing this, is that you’ll set out to do X amount of calls and make Y amount of sales. If, for example, you wanted to make ten sales calls in a day and have two sales, what will frequently happen are people will get to the end of the day, they’ll have made their ten sales calls and possibly they’ll only have one sale. So they say, “Hey, I’ve done what I said I was going to do, I made my ten sales calls,” and they stop working for the day.

Or on the flip side of that, they’ll have the intention to go out and make ten sales calls and they’ll only make eight and on that eighth call they got their two sales. So what do they do? Stop working for the day.

The And Principle simply states that if you focus on both the effort and the result, seeing both of them through to completion, you’re always going to be assured to be ahead of the game. So when you’re on that eighth presentation and you just made your second sale, you keep working. You do your ninth and your tenth and possibly your eleventh or twelfth presentation to get yourself ahead. Again, this is a very effective way to getting off to a quick start on a new project or to getting yourself out of a slump, focusing on both of these things at the same time.

This can take place in many different aspects as well. Many people, when they’re starting a new diet or exercise regimen, they set out to improve their physical activity and improve their diet. And what they’ll do is they’ll do a great workout and they’ll be really excited about themselves. Then somehow they’ll forget the other half of their commitment and they’ll head straight over to the ice cream shop and they’ll get a big bowl of whatever type of ice cream or sundaes it is and it kind of defeats the purpose of working out.

Another common example of this is when people are trying to improve their personal financial situation. Many people either find themselves in credit card debt or are trying to increase their savings for a major purchase or for retirement. And what they’ll do is they’ll set out to reduce their expenses and increase their savings. Somewhere along the line, however, both halves of that equation seem to get lost. They start out doing a really good job of saving money and they’re putting money away and they’re gaining some momentum, or they’re paying off that credit card bill. They forget that they need to reduce their expenses or they forget some of the sacrifices that they were planning on making at the first half. So the And Principle simply states is that when you set out to do this, to get that momentum or to get yourself out of that slump, you’re going to want to make sure and save the money and reduce your expenses at the same time. This is the important part of this because when you do this at the same time, you’re going to generate momentum, you’re going to generate confidence and you’re going to be building the habit that will last much longer than the initiation of the activity.

The habits that you form by using the And Principle will serve you long after your slump is gone or long after you’ve started your new project.

Be Free!

Eric Plantenberg
President