It's human nature to want to believe that we have done something of value when we make a purchase. We like to feel we've used proper sense and keen determination in choosing things that are going to be good for us and of the greatest use. And we most certainly want to know we'll feel good about the choices we've made in the long run.

From time-to-time I like to bring up some concepts that might be considered a little woo woo. I ask your indulgence with this and suggest that if it works, even woo woo has value.

Intuition is defined in the Oxford English Dictionary as "the immediate apprehension of an object by the mind without the intervention of any reasoning process".

The three things you should never do are exactly what you're told to do, so this may be shocking to you or comforting. When you do these three things you're setting yourself up for a painful path to failure. It explains why over 90% of the people entering the insurance and financial services industries fail in less than three years. The first thing you never want to do is cold call. If you've tried it you already no it's a low failure ego eroding waste of time activity.

You're stuck being average but you want to be a top producer. Even though you do what you're supposed to be do according to industry experts it isn't working for you in a way that will get you to the top. You don't know what you don't know and you're frustrated and exhausted. If you keep doing what you've been doing you'll stay stuck and frustrated. The success you have now can be the very thing that stifles future growth because the very things that got you where you are will keep you trapped at your current level.

Confidence . . . when we interact with our affluent clients and prospects, we need to exude confidence. We need to show them what we are made of. There's a point where confidence becomes over confident and self assuredness becomes arrogance. These are not good things to be full of. Being competent, self assured and having a solid sense of self are excellent things to be full of.

Do you get off track after a poor sales conversation spending time and energy crying over spent milk? What do you do immediately after a sales call that doesn't work out? Many salespeople call time out. A time out may be exactly what you need. It's how you use that time out that provides a benefit for you.

Amulets (or objects that protect a person from trouble) and talismans (objects intended to bring good luck or protection) have been around since the dawn of man. Seriously, the first man probably saw a shell or a rock, picked it up, and thought, 'Hey, this is a great rock (or shell). I'll bet it's a special rock (or shell) and will bring me good luck and protect me from evil."

A documentary came out late last year called Jonestown: The Life and Death of People's Temple. It's the history, through photographs, film clips, recordings and interviews with survivors, of the cult leader Jim Jones and the eventual mass murder/"suicide" of 913 members of the People's Temple in Guyana.

This is a subject that's near and dear to my heart. I've been exploring it over the last year and a half and have had some tremendous results with self persuasion and self mastery in this arena.