Archive for motivation

admin | October 1, 2011
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How to think like an Entrepreneur

Or maybe a better title would be: How NOT to think like an employee

In the business-world there are 2 types of people:

1) Entrepreneurs

2) Employees

Chances are you’re in the #2 category, and wanting to be a #1 if you’re reading this.  I’d be willing to bet you’ve been thinking about this for awhile. People seeking out such information on how to be an entrepreneur, how to transition to be an entrepreneur, what do entrepreneurs do, how do they succeed, etc., are rarely doing so on a whim or chance. It’s a desire and a yearning for quite awhile before most of us start info gathering. So you have a spark.

if you come from a family that has a history of nothing but being workers, be they blue or white collar, with no business owners, you’re going to have to step out and up mentally more than those who don’t – if you want your own business. This means to stop thinking like the beaten down slave employee that you are.

The unPromised Land

Is it possible to fit all the empty promises we’ve been told by our bosses, HR, employers, company board’s, etc. all into the endzone of Giants Stadium? The answer is a heaping, pile of ‘no.’

The endless meaningless meetings, long petty office politics, the lack of rewards, the unstable chairs with cheap cushions, small monitors and dusty cubicles, the annual promises of stock options worth pennies and commitment to inadequate health insurance … after 10 years of this, well, it was enough mentally.

It’s difficult to explain the contempt that I had developed. 10 years of work, belief, and maleable resumes, was enough before the veil of contempt was uncovered.  My motivation to be my own man was as much a positive one (my own clients, my own hours, ‘don’t tell me what to do’) as a negative one (quitting corporate America and telling them to stick-it). And there’s nothing wrong with that.

For most of you, you gotta get Mad and use it to be motivated.  99% of all employees are too scared to get off their behind and work through the daily work and commitment of being an entrepreneur, when you already have a fulltime job, school, kids, etc.  But you have to find a long term commitment. And one way to do that, is get mad you … ! (Glengarry anyone?)

What I’m trying to tell you is you need a hot heavy fire inside your belly to make it work. Trust me on this.  Most people don’t have that fire and wont make it. You must have a furnace of stoked burning coals to power the perseverance you will need. You will literally need years worth of it to make it on through to the other side, you see, it’s life or death.

The Loss of Security, The Gain of Dignity

Do you really feel secure in your job?  Do you really? If you do, you might be on quaaludes. It’s just not the money too you know. It’s the grind, the feeling of purpose of the structure you’re in. Most of you don’t realize it but you will when you leave. It happened to me.

That first weekend you quit your job is great… you don’t have to answer to anyone Monday morning. But Monday morning you realize you don’t have a paycheck either. I’m not going to lie, especially if you have kids, it can be real scary with thoughts of ‘what did I do?’ But again the one undeniable constant of an entrepreneur who makes it is perseverance. Perseverance in thought and action. If you persevere, over time, the loss of that alleged security, and the realism of a steady paycheck, are nothing to what you get for its loss.

But with the loss of security, both real and imagined, comes the gain of dignity.

dig·ni·ty

definition: nobility or elevation of character and self; worthiness: dignity of sentiments. elevated rank, office, station, etc. having gained self-worth.

Dignity is a self-worth and self-determination of self, having to be able to stake your claim as a man or woman and define and reveal your own journey and destination.  You can only obtain such a profound level of being by your own actions, never by a construct, belief or system of others. Step back and think about it.

I challenge you to seek your dignity. This plus your own children, your own flesh and blood, are the greatest realizations of your life.

 

 

 

Category: entrepreneurship, internet business, motivation |
admin | September 7, 2011
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5 Steps for Successful Motivation

Motivation is incredibly important. And if you’re thinking it’s just about action, like getting your butt moving, well … yea, of course, but that’s not all of it.  It’s a combination of mind, body and spirit.

I’m not getting my Feng Shui out or trying to be cute, just telling you like it is if:

  1. you want it like it is no non-sense style and …
  2. you want it to last more than a week

If you can get some balance amongst these 3 important facets of motivation, the more likely you will obtain a higher degree of success with meaningful longevity.

This is not a complete list but keeping a shorter list is easier to follow and more memorable. Less is more.

#1.  Who loves ya baby…MILESTONES

Milestones are the key to successful motivation, NOT goals.  Milestones can’t exist without Goals so I’m not saying you don’t need Goals, because you do. You have to have Goals, if you currently don’t have goals you need to check yourself for a pulse.  Milestones are the definable, measurable, completed steps that comprise an entire goal.

Do you know how many millions of people have goals and because a goal is so big and large, it can get lost in the self-deception that they are actually working towards that goal, but are in fact not.  The goal is too big to calculate by itself and so you can drift in nothingness-less and go absolutely no where over long periods of time.  Help!

You cannot be successful without defining milestones to achieve your goal, working towards them, completing them, and then celebrating that milestone accomplishment before going on to the next.

For example: You want to write a novel. That is your goal. Fine. How many people consider the milestone and goal to be the same? Millions. And how many FAIL? Almost as many. You need milestones to be the chapters in the book. Likely, your first milestone is probably going to be creating an outline of chapters before you even start your first chapter. You get the point.

Use your head, create measurable milestones that when completed in order, walk you along to achieving your goal.  Make the milestones short and simple at first and as you get better at motivation and achievement, you can move them out a little bit but never too far.  They are steps toward achievement.  Ok?

#2.  The Weekly Standard

As a Project and Program Manager, I analyzed the projected path of my projects not by the day, or a couple of days, or even a month, but by the week.  Unless your goal is something that you can accomplish in a week, or if you need years to accomplish it, THE WEEK is the most important time frame.

The assumption here is that your goal takes anywhere from a month to 6 or 9 months to achieve.  If so, you must realize that a single day’s triumph is meaningless to the big picture.  A month too long… realize your tardiness after a month and you’re already in trouble.

You must judge success and timeliness on a weekly basis to ensure you’re on a cadence of progress before it’s too late.  Setting realistic milestones (see #1) for weekly accomplishments will tell at the end of the week whether you are still on target for success. Weekly success breeds further motivation. If late, you can react and do something about it.  If not, get your resume ready.

#3.  Shakin’ it

A lot of cliche’s are true – sorry but there’s nothing I can do about it. Nor about this one.  To be motivated requires energy, and to have optimal motivation means you must have a regimen of aerobic activity (and weight training if suits).

You can show me rich people who don’t exercise but for every one of them, I’ll show you 10 who do and who have better body and spirit and sleep and attitude toward life. It’s all upside!

I don’t care what exercise or program you might like but find it and do it.  Now. And better food will help too.  Better exercise is proven to provide better sleep, natural endorphins, better toxin removal, and natural energy. If you’re drinking that sugar-water like Monster or RedBull, you’re poisoning yourself, wasting your money and making a deviant company rich. Quit it and get that high for free.

#4.  Less is More

When you wake up in the morning, you should have an idea of all the things you want to accomplish that day. The majority of you are like me, the reality is you won’t be able to accomplish them all. This is reality, and it SUCKS. Unless you adjust.

You need to cut what you want to accomplish that day to only 1 or 2 items. Once these are complete you can move on to other things but you have to learn to cut your expected tasks for the day to only a couple of items.

Now if you’re brain-dead (watch a lot of television) you will take this to mean to do very little and to feel good about it. For those with a brain (don’t watch television), and who try this change, you will realize that you will accomplish more eventually and will do so with a realistic proof of success that will motivate you in a positive way that is real and sustaining.

#5.  Life & Freedom & Television

The odds of you even being born are 10′s of millions to 1, if not higher.  It’s easy to live too deep within your life to not realize that it’s an unbelievable miracle you are even alive, and that you have only so much time to make good and accomplish your goals, become euphoric in success and achievement, and provide freedom for yourself and your family.

Now, if you watch television news, TV sitcoms, etc. you could very well be drooling at this point, fulfilling the potato impression in your couch, still believing the Federal Reserve is actually part of the government. Call 911 immediately!  And don’t worry about the rest of this article.

Point is, the beauty of life is the real meaning of motivation, to profoundly grade toward your ability to act, right now, and make the most of your life.  If your own life and of those you love doesn’t motivate you, nothing will.

Let your being be the fuel you need to succeed your vision. And to be a perfect example to your children, instead of some book-writing-motivational-guru-dude they don’t even know.

Finally

You see it’s about mind, body & spirit, as a whole to motivate a life of action to do the best you can for yourself and all those you love.

 

 

 

Category: motivation |