If you called my office you will hear my voice mail message that ends with the words “Expect Success.”

There’s a important intent behind that. What if every time we made a phone call or personal request or met with a potential new customer, you expected you would be successful? Do you think your behavior would be different?

If we truly expected success we would make more phone calls, make more requests and schedule more appointments. And that would result in more business, more income, more ease in our workday, and more overall success.

When we call people or meet with them, we have to hold the attitude that we are offering them an opportunity—an important opportunity, and maybe even the perfect opportunity for them. If they do not go for it, that’s fine. Our responsibility to ourselves is to make the offer. It doesn’t matter what the thoughts and actions of the other person are; it doesn’t matter whether they agree to what you are offering or not. What matters is that you go for what you want all the time, every time, and are as proactive and confident as you would be if you knew you could not miss.

As you well know success is not a destination we arrive at; it is an attitude we hold along the way. All the joy of our professional lives is not in the outcome, but in the process. Do not rob yourself of the satisfaction that lies on the path along the way—enjoy every call you place, every order you take, every presentation you make. Revel in the process of being a success—today.

To expect more success, more of the time, follow these steps:

• Acknowledge all the small successes in the process. Count your “wins” daily. Wins are all those things that go your way in a given day—the letter you wrote, the VIP you finally got hold of, the parking ticket you eluded, the compliment you received.

• Smile. Both psychologically and physiologically, this simple, easy action improves our well-being, which improves our outlook, which prepares us for all the great things we are expecting to happen to us. To become fit and healthy from a success standpoint, give your smile muscles a workout just like the rest of your body.

• Hold your success attitude in your body. Stand up straight, raise your chin up, keep your shoulders back and feet firmly planted. Feel the power of personal success in every cell in your body.

• Create a compelling success image in your mind. Once you expect your success, see it. Imagine it vividly and in color—what are you doing, where are you, what are you wearing, how does it feel like in your body? Make your success as real as possible in your mind, so your expectancy is even stronger and, as a result, your actions even bigger.

• Use an affirmation or set an intentions. State to yourself over and over what you intend to create today. State your intentions verbally, out loud to yourself; state them silently, in your mind; and record them on a cassette tape so that you can listen to yourself stating what you expect to create in your life.

• Beyond Affirming, Feel It. Do not stop at the mental part of expecting success. Also feel it in your body. You have felt the good feeling of connecting, achieving, realizing what you want.

• Be bold. Do all those things today that you know you will do when you are more successful. That is how you will create the success you strive for in your business and life.