Dan Peña an ‘Executive coach’ and ‘Business mentor’ class apart

has based his life and success on 5 “basic” Credos - he writes these

down every month, along with his goals, and repeats them every

day - Dan believes one must “internalize” these credos, and make

them a part of oneself to succeed. These special Credos are:

1. Yesterday’s Dreams are Today’s Realities

Or, what you dream about today will be your reality tomorrow - if

you don’t have a dream how can it come true! My personal

example of this is Guthrie Castle - I dreamt of living in a castle,

and visualized walking through each room, upon the grounds, in

the garden - and this dream is now my reality - I live in a 15th

Century storybook castle - Guthrie Castle, Scotland!

2. Seeing Dreams Ahead

It’s important to see yourself as you want to be - where you want

to be - see yourself at the “goal line” - most people get stuck on the

“rocky road’ - Focus on the Goal not the Road to get there,

because the “road to success” is always under construction.

3. Simulation: Practice Within When You’re Without

People regularly practice playing a sport like golf or basketball -

but few people think about “practicing being successful” - I had

practiced meeting the Queen of England - what I would wear, how

I would stand, the handshake, so when I did meet her I was

comfortable - for I had practiced the moment for years. You

should “practice” success before you reach your goal.

4. Act as if There are NO Limits to Your Abilities

I coach my mentees to act as if they are invincible - to act as if they

could accomplish anything! Once one “acts” this way - they

actually internalize the concept and start believing it themselves - I

know one can accomplish much more than they usually ask of

themselves; I always ask for more!

5. Enthusiasm: Greek God Within

Enthusiasm is from the Greek - meaning “God Within” - there is

not one high performance person alive (or dead) who is not over

enthusiastic about their business, their life - enthusiasm is

contagious!

Peñaisms

1. !Don’t waste time on things you can’t change!

2. !Tough times don’t last - tough people do!

3. !The best way to predict the future is to create it yourself!

4. !Dream Big, Think Big, Be Big!

5. !Man Plans - God Laughs!

6. !Don’t under any circumstances, ever, second guess yourself.

7. !Even when one thoughtfully and judiciously plans, more often

than not, such plans are overcome by external events. Therefore,

never underestimate how wrong you can be!

8. !Any problem solved will be replaced immediately by a larger

more complicated one!

9. !Don’t focus on mistakes, focus on the positive “next time”!

10. Progress often masquerades as trouble.

11. The more you investigate, the less you have to invest.

12. Cash only prolongs death. It doesn’t avoid it.

13. I’ve never seen a “part-time” super successful, high

performance person.

14. A deal has to sound good before it is good.

15. Hunger makes beasts of men, and demons of beasts.

16. If you want things to change, first you have to change.

17.The only difference between a Champ and a Chump is “U”.

18. Quantum Leap success means fishing with nets, not just with

lines.

19. Conventional wisdom is almost always wrong.

20. A deal is either hot - or it’s not.

21. We must all remember life doesn’t have to be fair for us to

succeed, if we take charge and become masters and creators of our

own destiny!