The big problem with most of them is they leave you with either fluffy motivational hype that makes you feel good but accomplishes little else, or they give you simple 1-2-3 tactics that only work in very limited and ideal situations.

The bottom line is you walk away no better than you started out. That's why I always advise people to concentrate on developing character and professional life skills. These are rock solid, time-proven principles that will help you attain a greater level of success in just about any situation.

It doesn't matter if you're a sales professional, an executive with a large company, the owner of a small business, or a young person who wants to start off with a huge advantage over your peers. These highly-effective methods of deciding what you want, creating a plan to attain it, then going after it with an insurmountable determination are just about all you need to be happy, rise in any organization, earn a mountain of money and gain true freedom.

Here are four professional life skills no one should be without.

* Creating goals that are the RIGHT SIZE. Too many people either pick out a goal that is so small that it doesn't inspire them, or the decide on a goal that is so big, so difficult, that they grow discouraged before achieving it. Does this sound familiar? You may decide to go from zero to earning $250,000 this year from your your first web site. You'd do better to pick a smaller number at first -- like $200 or $500 per month -- then work your way up to $1,000, then $5,000, then $10,000 per month. Choose goals where you can build on your small successes and leverage them quickly up to where you really want to be.

* Targeting and attracting your best potential customers. Don't try to sell to everyone. Focus your efforts on finding and attracting the kinds of customers that will give you the best continuing profits with the least effort and expense. That's probably the fastest and surest way to real, long-term wealth and freedom. There's no need to re-create the wheel. Simply follow proven systems to help you achieve this (Of course, I regularly address this topic in my materials.)

* Building and motivating a winning team. To accomplish anything of significant size or value, you simply cannot go it alone. You'll go farther and faster if you surround yourself with great people who can help you succeed. From individuals or employees who support your efforts, to the management and legal experts who can help you make the best decisions and even those friends and colleagues who advise and motivate you -- your rise to the top requires a great team. Attracting and motivating a superior team requires developing superior leadership skills.

* Becoming a master persuader. Most people will tell you they don't like to sell, but persuading people is something we all need to do on a regular basis. Whether it is persuading a prospect to buy our product or persuading a police officer to not give us a ticket, we all face situations where we would benefit from knowing how to consistently get what we desire from others. Two year olds (and some adults) try to accomplish this through intimidation or other such tactics. But, the most foolproof and fulfilling way to accomplish this is through the application of a principle-based method of positive persuasion -- one that makes the person you are attempting to persuade feel good in the process. When you learn to positively persuade like this, you'll get a "yes" almost every time.

These four advanced professional life skills are certainly not the only ones that can drastically improve your life. However, beginning by focusing initially on these four will pay big dividends and help you begin to make huge rapid improvements in both your personal and professional life!