The Grand Slam Formula in the Focal Point Process is made up of four parts: simplification, leveraging, acceleration, and multiplication. The Grand Slam Formula is another key to doubling your income and doubling your time off.

Simplify

The first letter in Slam stands for simplify. To get better control of your time, to double your income and dramatically increase the quality of your personal life, you must learn to simplify everything you do. You must be continually reducing and eliminating activities that take up too much time and contribute very little to your goals. You simplify your time and your life by stopping doing as many things of low value as possible. This will free more time to do the few things that really make a difference. To simplify your life, zero-based thinking is one of the most powerful strategies you can learn and apply on a regular basis. Here's how it works. Ask yourself, "Is there anything I am doing right now that, knowing what I now know, I wouldn't get into again if I were starting over today?" Is there any relationship, personal or business, that you wouldn't get into again today if you had it to do over? Is there any product, service, process, or expenditure of time or money in your work or business that, knowing what you now know, you wouldn't get into again today if you had it to do over? If your answer is "yes," then your next question is, "How do I get out of this situation, and how fast?" If you find yourself doing something that you would not start up again today, knowing what you now know, this activity is a prime candidate for downsizing or eliminating. Discontinuing just one major activity or separating yourself from one person who no longer belongs in your life can dramatically simplify your life, sometimes overnight. Continually ask yourself whether there is anything you should do more of or less of, start doing, or stop doing altogether? These are questions you should ask and answer every day. They are important keys to simplification.

Leverage

The second letter in the Grand Slam Formula stands for leverage. You use leverage to get the most out of yourself. You leverage your strengths and abilities to achieve more than you thought you could. The Greek philosopher Archimedes once said, "Give me a lever long enough and a place to stand, and I can move the world." This principle applies to you as well. There are seven forms of leverage that you can develop. These forms of leverage are often available to you for the asking.

Other People's Knowledge

The first form of leverage is other people's knowledge. One key piece of knowledge applied to your situation can make an extraordinary difference in your results. It can save you an enormous amount of money and many hours, even weeks or months of hard work. For this reason, successful people are like radar screens, constantly sweeping the horizons of their lives, searching in books, magazines, tapes, articles, and conferences for ideas and insights they can use to help them to achieve their goals faster.

Other People's Energy

The second form of leverage is other people's energy. Highly effective people are always looking for ways to delegate and outsource lower-value activities so that they have more time to do the few things that give them the highest payoff. How can you use the energies of other people to help you to be more effective and productive?

Other People's Money

The third form of leverage is other people's money. Your ability to borrow and tap into the financial resources of other people can enable you to accomplish extraordinary things that would not be possible if you had to pay for them out of your own resources. You should always be looking for opportunities to borrow and invest money and achieve returns well beyond the cost of that money.

Other People's Successes

The fourth form of leverage is other people's successes. You can dramatically improve the quality of your results by studying the successes enjoyed by other people and other companies. Successful people usually have paid a high price, in money and emotion, difficulties and disappointment, to achieve a particular goal. By studying their successes and learning from their experiences, you can often save yourself an enormous amount of time and trouble.

Other People's Failures

The fifth form of leverage is other people's failures. Benjamin Franklin once said, "Man can either buy his wisdom or borrow it. By buying it, he pays full price in personal time and treasure. But by borrowing it, he capitalizes on the lessons learned from the failures of others." Many of the greatest successes of history came about as the result of carefully studying the failures of other people in the same or similar fields and then learning from them. What or who has failed in your field that you can learn from?

Other People's Ideas

A sixth form of leverage is other people's ideas. One good idea is all you need to start a fortune. The more you read, learn, discuss, and experiment, the more likely it is that you will come across an idea that, combined with your own abilities and resources, will make you a great success in your field.

Other People's Contacts

The seventh form of leverage is other people's contacts or other people's credibility. Each person you know knows many other people, many of whom can be helpful to you. Whom do you know who could open doors for you or introduce you to the right people? Whom do you know who can help you to achieve your goals faster? One introduction to one key person can change the entire direction of your life.

Accelerate

The third letter in the Grand Slam Formula stands for accelerate. Today, in our society, there is an incredible need for speed. Everyone is impatient. Everyone wants everything yesterday, even if they didn't know they wanted it until today. Anyone who can act quickly to satisfy the needs of other people can move rapidly to the front of the line. Always be looking for ways to do things faster for the key people and customers in your life.

Multiply

The fourth letter in Slam is M, which stands for multiply. The primary way you multiply yourself is by organizing and working with other people who have skills and abilities that are complementary to your own. A good manager becomes a multiplication sign in that he or she coordinates the work of different people so that the outcome of the team is far greater than the total outcome of the individuals working alone. The effective manager creates a high-performance climate that elicits extraordinary performance from ordinary people. Your ability to assemble a team of excellent people and then help your team accomplish important tasks is central to your long-term success. It is the key to multiplying yourself and your abilities.