I think the best benefit I received from being a professional athlete was not the money, fame or fortune my family enjoyed but the mentality I developed to get there.  Successful athletes have amazing mental discipline, confidence and have command of their thought process.  A successful athlete expects success because all he or she thinks about all day is being successful and winning.   As an advisor, do you think about winning all day long? I never thought about losing, only winning.   I have carried that same mentality into my business and have found out that it works here too.  The successful mentality I developed in sports has allowed me to become the best in the world in two different industries.  Which, confirms to me how you think will govern how well you produce.  Your mentality will define who you are.  As a man thinks so is he.  

When I left sports I was amazed about how some people in the speaking industry think.   In the sports world you are surrounded by people just like you, who thought almost the same exact way.  If they didn’t they typically didn’t last too long.  As our business has grown, we have noticed a correlation between the average financial advisor’s thought process and their production.  The mind is literally a muscle that can be developed over time, in sports we engaged in a strength and conditioning program that was all year long.  We lifted weights constantly to develop our bodies but what also happened was our minds developed and matured as well.  

This consistent effort in the weight room led to amazing physical results everyone could clearly see.  I can vividly remember Greg Lanners, our strength and conditioning coach at the University of Minnesota. Greg would take a picture of our bodies our freshman year and each subsequent year and the results were amazing across the board. Now, for the most part our freshman year picture was not impressive almost embarrassing.  I can remember being ashamed to take off my shirt.  However, over time he turned a group of boys into men and many of us went on to play professional basketball and never shied away from taking off our shirts to show off what we had under the hood.   As our bodies developed our minds didn’t lag far behind.  We began to mature and think as successful people and ultimately we knew that success was in our hands if we put the work in.   

Everyday we focused on the fundamentals of our industry. When I keynoted MDRT this past June, I noticed that everyone I met was a positive person with a great attitude.  So the question I have for you today is simple. Do you have a successful mentality?  Is your mind strong? Is your thought life strong? Do you think about success all day long?   If your book of business is determined by how you think, the stronger your mind is the more successful you will become.   Your mind is a muscle so what are you doing to develop your mentality?  Here are some tips to develop and strengthen your mental toughness.   

1.     Hang around positive and successful advisors and people.  

2.     Read every good business book you can get your hands on.  

3.     Be courageous and not afraid to take risks

4.     Be aware of the media and it’s negative information

5.     Take and off season and plan your improvement each year

6.     Add some form of physical fitness to your lifestyle

7.     Eat right

8.     Get a good night sleep and occasional power nap (love these)

9.     When you have a negative thought attack it with positive thoughts

10.   Look like success, look like money every day

You may reach Walter Bond at: 1 877 882 5368.  Call to inquiry about having him speak at your next event or visit his page for booking information, click here.  Walter Bond is a Motivational, Sales, Former NBA, Accountability, Business, and Inspirational Speaker.

About Walter Bond

Like many young men growing up in Chicago, Walter Bond dreamed of becoming an NBA athlete. Facing injuries and other challenges with unusual determination, he rose from being a reserve player coming off the bench to become the first rookie Free Agent to start for the Dallas Mavericks. This astonishing journey provides the foundation for the powerful principles Walter teaches today.  

Walter attributes his success to the power of accountability. Walter Bond is called “Mr. Accountability” because he compels audiences to take personal responsibility for their current situation, whatever it may be. Then he reveals how to harness and apply the power of accountability so that every listener can become a rock star in his or her industry.

Walter’s stories give listeners a roadmap they can follow to reinvent themselves and recover the confidence they need to focus, align and deliver results. Drawing on lessons learned in the trenches both in sales and as an entrepreneur, Walter’s presentations open up new ways of looking not only at business challenges but also the world.

Walter’s stories are rich with humor, emotions, and authentic breakthroughs. His inventive phrasing, mannerisms, body language, pacing, and wisdom exert a powerful effect on his audiences, making his message memorable for months and years to come.

Walter has impacted hundreds of thousands of people in his rapid rise to the top of the speaking industry. Through his keynotes, workshops, books and CDs, Walter teaches that personal accountability,