Discouragement and fear are the dominant emotions being felt by many brokers. It’s difficult to not be afraid, with the sharp decline of stock values and the elimination of many jobs from top corporations like DuPont, Viacom and AT&T.

What can you do to make things better? First, I’d like you to stop reading this and take a deep breath. Now let the tension ease out of your shoulders. Doesn’t that feel good?

Ok, here’s a fact. Lessees are still acquiring equipment. Some leasing companies are doing very well right now.

If you are not booking the volume you would like, then it’s time to focus on the one thing you can control, you. The antidote to all the negativity is progress: progress on yourself.

I know a salesperson who is paralyzed with fear, wondering what is going to happen next. All she can say is “It’s really scary, it’s really scary out there.” She tells anyone who will listen that a catastrophe is coming. She keeps talking about losing her job, her house and ending up destitute. Yes, this is a highly unusual time; however, if she would stop spouting negativity to anyone who will listen and step back and see the big picture she would realize that life is cyclical — everything has a season. A better response would be to accept this season, and use this time to make progress so when things turn around (and they will), she will be stronger and wiser.

Progress, to me, is about awakening dormant skills. This is very useful especially in times of uncertainty. Brian Tracy explains, “You need to invest 3% of your income in self development to guarantee your future.” I’m not sure if 3% is the magic number. All I know is that if you invest in yourself it will pay large dividends. Is there a class you have been wanting to take, but you think you can’t afford it? It could turn out to be the best thing you’ve ever done. We need to follow our highest impulses, hone our intuition. Here are four ideas that can help you make progress and get rid of thoughts of hopelessness.

1.) Get Your CLP
Become a Certified Leasing Professional (CLP). It’s continuing education for our industry. I just got the CLP handbook ($63.80) and reading it is sparking my own creative marketing ideas. If you pass the CLP test you will have more credibility in our industry and no one can take your newfound knowledge away from you. The CLP Foundation can also pair you up with a mentor, so you will be learning from an industry professional and expanding your social network as well. (Did you read this idea and immediately dismiss it? Why? What is the harm in gaining more knowledge?)

2.) Go Through Your Pending Files
As a leasing sales professional you should have two categories of pending files: pending lessees and pending vendor relationships.

My definition of pending lessees includes approvals that have never booked and half-completed applications that never materialized. If you don’t continually clean up pending lessee files you will have a false and enlarged sense of your existing backlog.

Pending vendor relationships are prospects that have said, “I’ll get back to you…” or, “Call me in a couple weeks and we’ll set up another meeting.” They are being very fuzzy and noncommittal about doing business.

Take action. E-mail these pending customers. Have an eye-catching subject line, for example “Before you leave today…” Then in the body of the e-mail write, “Before you leave today can you let me know if I should be putting my notes from our conversations about working together into the ‘no-longer interested’ file?” Or if that is a little too bold for you, try this subject line “Just a quick follow-up…” The text of the e-mail could read, “Just trying to follow-up, do you think we can take the next step with working together? What questions might you have about equipment leasing?” That’s it. Short and sweet.

You’ll be surprised at the responses you receive. The prospect usually apologizes for not getting back to you and may finally reveal the true objection. With this strategy you clean out non-prospects and take a classy step by sending out a handwritten thank you note to the truly interested.

3.) Focus Like a Laser on Your Top Ten Prospects
Your top prospects may be going through their own internal changes in this recession. Concentrate your efforts on the prospects you have always wanted to land. Maybe the leasing company they have been using is cutting back and their level of service has declined. Your top prospect may be looking to make changes to their bottom line, and now is the time to see if you are a match.

4.) Take Advice From Charlie “Tremendous” Jones
The late leadership guru Charlie “Tremendous” Jones said, “Five years from now you will be the same person except for the books you read and the people you meet.” I agree with him, however I would add one thing — your thoughts. Your life is determined by the people you associate with, the books you read and the thoughts you think.

I used to be a ski instructor. In skiing we always say, “Ski with a better skier and you will become a better skier.” It’s the same with the people you meet. Network with achievers and you will be a better achiever. If you hang around negative people who constantly complain and you continually get sucked into the steady stream of low energy from the television news, you will become negative.

According to a new study published in the British Medical Journal, the more happy people you know, the more likely you are to be happy. Happiness was assessed based on the answers to four basic questions:

Data showed that the people with the most social connections were also the happiest. The study also demonstrated that happiness is more contagious than unhappiness. (That’s good news, especially for the co-workers of a highly negative sales rep.)

“If a social contact is happy, it increases the likelihood that you are happy by 15%,” says University of California researcher, James Fowler. What this means is that your connections matter. When seeking out new people to network with look for people that see the best in things. It makes a difference.

I also believe to truly make progress that you should be involved in a mastermind group. The concept of the Mastermind Group was formally introduced by Napoleon Hill in the early 1900s. In his classic, Think And Grow Rich, he wrote about the Mastermind principle as: “The coordination of knowledge and effort of two or more people, who work toward a definite purpose, in the spirit of harmony.”

Hill also wrote, “No two minds ever come together without thereby creating a third, invisible intangible force, which may be likened to a third mind.”

In a mastermind group the agenda belongs to the group, and each person’s participation is key. Your peers give you feedback, help you brainstorm new possibilities, and set up accountability structures that keep you focused and on track. You will create a community of supportive colleagues who will brainstorm together to move the group to new heights.

Want to make progress? Why not send out a couple e-mails right now to form your own mastermind group?

Besides surrounding yourself with uplifting people, what you feed your mind in term of reading will also speed up progress.

I’m a bibliophile. I read on average two books a month. The books that have made me progress the most include: The Psychology of Winning by Denis Waitley, The Power of Intention by Wayne Dyer, and A New Earth by Eckhart Tolle. Even if you don’t like to read, or you instantly fall asleep when reading, you can get these books on CD and listen in your car.

Finally, the thoughts that continually go through your mind will either help or hinder your progress. If you let thoughts of lack continually be your dominant thought, you not only hurt yourself, you corrode your soul.

Quiet the thoughts of doubt, fear and anxiety and replace them with thoughts of how you can best serve your customers and how you can make more money right now. Discipline your self to prospect continually. When negative thoughts pop into your head simply think “Next!” and switch to a productive thought. The disciple of prospecting will allow you to be constructively busy and this will put anxiety and fear on the back burner. You can create opportunities. Start making progress on yourself and favorable circumstances will appear.

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Linda P. Kester is a bestselling author and professional speaker with 20 years of experience in leasing sales and marketing management. She has helped hundreds of salespeople increase their volume. Her book, 366 Marketing Tips for Equipment Leasing, has produced results for leasing companies in the U.S., United Kingdom and Australia.