Have a Hero? Be a Hero, Live Large!
September 9, 2007
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Imagine that after surviving abuse, divorce, and having to start over from scratch, you remarry and then decide to start a business. Certain health problems start to turn up and your doctor make suggestions to change your lifestyle and you make the adjustments. Read more
Update: Dramatic Shift In The Make Up of Small Businesses
August 3, 2007
I have written a lot about demographics and yet I still find that I am making observations and drawing distinctions and today is no different.
20 Million Solo-Entrepreneurs
Perhaps I am a bit late coming to the solo-entrepreneur party, nonetheless the shift to single person businesses is significant. Read more
Article Series - Business Transformation Project
- My Business Transformation Project: Taking My Own Advice
- Why My Approach to Build a Better Business Model Is Superior: My Business Transformation Project
- Update: My Business Transformation Project - The Model
- Update: Dramatic Shift In The Make Up of Small Businesses
How Experience, Expertise Lead Me Astray, How I Recovered
July 20, 2007
People think because I am a business coach that I am immune from distractions, missteps, and mistakes. Not true, not at all.
I am just like every other entrepreneur who is easily enthralled with my own success. I am just as vulnerable to the same false confidence, bloated ego, and the trap of self-satisfaction.
As a result I started ‘doing’ before ‘being’ - i.e. getting clear about what I wanted to create and what I would experience as a result of achieving my vision. I was victim of my own self-induced fog.
The Antidote to Clearing the Fog
There is one thing that always makes a substantial difference in recovering from my own self-induced fog - clarifying and developing a clear vision.
My experience is that I cannot build what I cannot see. Starting, building, and growing a business is all about making something from nothing - manifesting abundance out of thin air. Read more
Gaining a Foothold: Patience, Pesistence, and Commitment
July 13, 2007
In an entrepreneurial landscape where people write books with titles like Instant Income, Millionaire Mind, and You Will Make Money While You Sleep is the story of a husband and wife team that did it slowly.
“It takes a long time to gain a foothold. We worked for 3 years without a salary, and eight years until the company had a positive net worth.” That patience has paid off, thanks to calculated risk, trust, and a mother’s fabulous recipe. Via A Brownie Fairytale
It is a great story that illustrates how important a strong vision, long-term business plan, and belief in a product - the difference it makes to the success of business. I can just imagine telling their family that they have plans to build a business around Grandma’s brownie recipe, uh huh.
What would you have said to them? Would you have thought they were nuts? Think about it, how many brownies do you have to sell just to pay the bills?
What do you think makes the difference and allows someone to build a business around a brownie?
Make It Great! with Phil Gerbyshak: The Power of Positive Thinking
July 10, 2007
Wow, what a great story from my buddy Phil Gerbyshak. Phil shares a few stories from his youth and how he was determined to succeed. An inspiring story worth reading, especially if you have ever been told by anyone in your lifetime that you ‘couldn’t’ do what you wanted’.
But one day, the Navy recruiter showed up. He had cool book covers, and told great stories of flying in the Navy, of being on submarines, and being a nuclear engineer. And the boy knew he had found his way out of that small town.So one day, the boy went to the military processing station. He took all of his tests, and he passed them all with flying colors…except his vision test.The boy was red/green color blind. And he was told he couldn’t be a nuclear engineer in the Navy. He couldn’t be a pilot. No matter what, no way, no how. “You can’t do it boy.”And the boy was mad. He was so mad, he called his recruiter up, and he was said he was coming home. He was taking the next Greyhound bus all the way from the big city 250 miles from home to the little town where he grew up. He was going to go back, and work at a restaurant for the rest of his life.And then, the recruiter told him an oxymoron that would change his life: “What about Naval Intelligence?” The boy didn’t know what it was, but it sounded smart. And COOL!I think I can…I know I can… Via Make It Great! with Phil Gerbyshak: The Power of Positive Thinking
Reg from Elemental Truths blog shared a link to the Make A Difference movie. Visit the Make A Difference site your second visit. The two combined together are very powerful.
Live Large!
Blogged with Flock
Tags: MakeIt Great, Phil Gerbyshak
You Get What You Expect
June 27, 2007
I was watching TSTN On Demand yesterday and was delighted to see Dr. Waitley had six videos available. Anytime is a good time to hear Waitley speak and this day was no exception as he was sharing his unique insights into motivation and winning (video 6).
Dr. Dennis Waitley whose book The Seeds of Greatness was the first book on personal development I ever read some 20+ years ago.
Expectation = Motivation
Waitley says that, “We don’t always get what we want in life, but get what we expect.” Think about it - is there there a difference between what you want and what you expect?
Want is your desire for something. Whereas when you expect something - it is likely to happen. Waitley has studied the Self Fulfilling Prophesy for decades. He asserts that, “You get what you expect more than what you want. You are only motivated to do that which you expect and are motivated to achieve.”
Limits are Physical But Limitations are Psychological
Too often our expectations are shaped by a type of self-hypnosis that has us believing less about our capability than we wish to achieve. When the mind talks the body listens and regardless of how much we might want something, the effect of this self-hypnosis is the self-imposed limitations that you permit to hold you back.
Remember, “You will not achieve a goal by concentrating on the reverse of an idea.”
Dr. Waitley says, “Think of the reward and you move toward it. Think of the penalty of failure and you will no longer be able to see past the penalty [and your motivation will vanish].” Because “You cannot drive forward and backward at the same time. Focus on the result, set the expectation or dominant thought.”
Set Realistic Goals
Dr. Waitley said, “Do not tell yourself, kids, or employees to set unrealistic goals. Setting goals that they do not believe they can achieve is unrealistic. Unless they set a realistic target that they believe they can achieve they will self-destruct because they will not have the motivation to go past where they believe they can go.
In the video he went on to say “Preparation plus the expectation that you’ll do well will lead us to the realization of our expectation.” We need to cultivate an expectation of optimism.
I have often felt that small business owners could learn a lot from atheletes. We should be spending more time training and preparing and that is exactly what Waitley states in the following formula.
Preparation + Expectation + Simulation = Realization
Fear is negative belief in something unknown. Faith is the belief or positive expectation in something unknown. When we take time to prepare we transform the unknown into known. To change your self talk follow his formula:
- Preparation: Simulate your success. Invest time in making yourself and your business ready by making sure that you and your staff have the knowledge, training, and preparation to succeed. Then you can say, “I am getting more training to improve my performance therefore I expect to do well.”
- Expectation: cultivate an optimistic outlook, set realistic goals, and believe that you will achieve it.
- Simulation: Dennis has coached Olympic athletes in visualization techniques to imitate the perfect execution of their routine or event with amazing results. Develop a visualization of the process and achievement of your goal. This will develop the motivation you will need to achieve your goal.
- Realization: the fulfillment or achievement of what you anticipated and expected.
Remember, “We don’t always get what we want in life, but get what we expect.”
[TSTN Subscribe Page] [Success Minute]
Living an Uncommon Life Is Your Birth Right and Heritage
June 17, 2007
In Live an Uncommon Life, Walk the Road Less Travelled manifesto I talk about how:
Our Western culture has become fragmented, separated, and isolated. Increasingly we live vicariously via the World Wide Web. This is a less than ideal outcome of our affluent society. Via Live an Uncommon Life, Walk the Road Less Travelled
Other memes in this manifesto include:
- Are Values Lost in Generational Shifts?
- People Helping People
- What happens in the City?
- We Must Learn to Overcome “Isolation Anxiety”
- I Will No Longer Live Small
- I Choose to Live & Love Large and Step Into My Dreams - So Can You
Question of the Day: Are U True 2 U?
June 10, 2007
Season one winner of the Apprentice on the BBC was Tim Campbell.
Every Monday monday9AM.tv publishes a short film (6 minutes). All made in one take with no rehearsal and no scripting. Nic has seldom met the film subjects prior to filming.
Nic has a way of capturing the essence of people as varied as rock stars to the homeless, philosophers to the dying, and free spirits to those who fell in love.
At the conclusion of the film he asks a series of questions that will make you think and get you moving. Pretty good for a Monday morning.
Who Are You?
- Who was it that applied for your last job?
- “If you win then I lose”. It is how many of us believe the world to be, but what if it wasn’t?
- Perhaps Tim is starting to describe the face of a new generation of enterprise. Might such an enterprise be capable of being both successful and an inspiring place to be?
- Might it be capable of capturing your genuine loyalty as an employee and as a customer?
- Might the program producers have used a different set of rules?
- How relevant are the questions that you ask yourself?
- Can you say ‘I was true to myself?’
The Optimists Creed
June 7, 2007
Wow, you have got to see and read the Optimists Creed, very powerful stuff.
Live Large! Listen To You, Not Them
May 8, 2007
Shrinking and limiting beliefs are way to prevalent in our thoughts, words, and deeds. It is really starting to piss me off.
Do not let the missing tooth of Heather Bradley put you off - she has an amazing story.
If you have ever been told you could not do something, should just quit and go get a real job, or felt the pangs of doubt about yourself - you must check out Monday9AM.tv, there is an amazing 5 minute video of the story of Heather Bradley. She is supposed to be 95% disabled but refuses to believe what she has been told and has an amazing attitude.
Talk about Living Large… what a startling film. See the whole thing in just 5 minutes, check out Monday9AM.tv
Sincerely,
Live Large! Shrinking does not become you.
Question of the Day: Time Management
May 5, 2007
“Do we need more time? Or do we need to be more disciplined with the time we have?” - Kerry Johnson
The other day I wrote a post about time management and today ask the question “Do we need to Stop Managing Time and Manage Our Energy?”
Seems to me that what we do with our energy within any given moment of time is what gives us the illusion that we have managed our time well. What do you think?
Has anyone read this book? The Science of Self-Discipline, if so, what did you think of it?
How to Feel More Alive, Absorb Change, and Increase Your Capacity
April 21, 2007
Do we have a limited capacity to absorb change? I used to believe that our capacity to absorb change was finite. I have since changed my mind.
Today, I believe that the human spirit has an unlimited capacity to grow, develop, and prevail. I believe that we choose to limit our capacity to absorb change. Not because we lack desire, talent or the drive to change. Rather we have not been taught how to expand our ‘capacity to change’.
This is born out in the amazing feats achieved by people like Erik Weihenmayer, whose book Touch the Top of the World: A Blind Man’s Journey to Climb Farther than the Eye Can See chronicles his story of climbing Mount Everest, blind.
My big take away from Eriks story? He did not climb Mount Everest alone, he had help.
Erik’s story is atypical for a number of reasons. He was raised by parents who can best be described as ‘possibility thinkers’. Despite his blindness they refused to allow it to limit his opportunities. In fact they worked hard to expose Erik to a wide variety of experiences. They did this by confronting societies bias and removing obstacles.
Certainly Erik was fortunate to have been born to such positive people whop modeled possibilities. But Erik had a choice. He could allow his blindness to define him or he would define what it meant to be a blind athlete.
We also have a choice.
We can chose to shape our own lives or allow it to be shaped by the world.
Answer this question, “Am I living the life of my dreams or have I allowed myself to be shaped by the limiting beliefs of other people?”
Personally, I believe that we retain an unlimited capacity or ‘mental bandwidth’ to absorb change. It has either been limited by our beliefs and life experience or unleashed when we give ourselves permission to succeed and live the life of our dreams.
We Can Increase Our Mental Bandwidth and Unleash Our Capacity
Our capacity increases whenever we choose to our attention on something deemed to be important. When we are mentally ‘present’ and not on ‘automatic pilot’ we pay attention to what is going on around us. In these moments, our attention is pervasive and dominant.
When on ‘automatic pilot’ we operate in what I call the “shadow” of our conscious self. We might be distracted by a string of thoughts, bored with the task at hand, and sometimes even mentally ‘checked out’.
Transfer Out of Automatic Pilot
In the blink of an eye we can snap out of the shadows and into the present.
We actually do this many times each day, we have just not noticed this behavior before. For example, a moment ago I stopped writing and took a moment to eat a piece of banana loaf and drink a glass of milk - all while on ‘automatic pilot’. I snapped into the present when I noticed the unique texture and taste of chocolate and macadamia nuts. I then proceeded to comment “Hmm, this is good. I should buy more of that next time we go to the Farmers Market.”
The significance of noticing myself, noticing the quality, and the special taste of a Banana Macadamia nut loaf will not necessarily increase my capacity to absorb change, but it does serve as a useful anecdote to make my point - we shift in and out of the shadow of consciousness into the present constantly.
I am not placing a value judgment whether it is good or bad to be in the shadows - rather, to point out that we already do it. Plus we can learn to control our attention and in the process be more ‘present’.
Being Present Alters Our Perspective
I first began to pay attention to living my life with more attention and making an effort to be more ‘present’ after doing some consulting with an Anthony Robbins franchise in Edmonton.
This afforded me the opportunity to sit in on some of Tony Robbins’ lesser known, internal trainings and work directly with two very present and dynamic people Darren and Lipi, the franchise owners.
One of Anthony Robbins’ core teachings is that when you change your physiology (physical state) you change your emotional state.
Modify My State of Consciousness
When Tony teaches people to alter their emotional state by changing their physical state he definitely pushes you out of the shadows and into a more conscious and present state of being. Some might view his tactics as extreme and outlandish, regardless it does prove his point that when we change our physiology we modify our emotional state.
I first became aware of Tony Robbins and the whole concept of being ‘present’ back in the early 1990’s. Since then I have paid attention to and experimented with different ways to deepen my understanding of moving from out of the shadows to be more present, here and now.
I have to say that I have been amazed and shocked to learn how often I live in the shadows or on ‘automatic pilot’. I can also say with complete conviction that my performance and the results I create in my life are directly linked to how much I am living in the shadows or the present.
In my experience, the consequences of living in the shadows is less joy, less control, and feeling like life is happening to me. Not a great way to live.
However, when I replace living in in the shadows with making active and conscious choices - this is where I experience the fullness and richness of life. Where I exchange good for better, and better for best. Where I convert from living a passive existence where my life is shaped by the world around me life to choosing to live the life of my dreams and shape the world to suit my needs.
The consequences and outcomes are dramatic.
I feel more alive, am proactive in shaping my world, and enjoying myself more than ever. Plus I also seemed to have increased my capacity to absorb and respond to change.
Pretty fair exchange I would say.
Live Large!
Life Balance for Entrepreneurs, Remember Vimy Ridge
April 9, 2007
- Life Balance For Entrepreneurs: To outsiders, business owners and entrepreneurs appear to be working all the time and balance is not the first word you think of when their names come to mind.
- Remember: Vimy Ridge: 6000 Canadian Casualties on the shores of France April 9-12, 1917, Lest We Forget, check out the Veterans Affairs Canada website. Remember the families of opur six fallen soldiers, also today.
Are you close to dying of a broken dream?
April 9, 2007
“To dream anything that you want to dream, that is the beauty of the human mind. To do anything that you want to do, that is the strength of the human will. To trust yourself, to test your limits, that is the courage to succeed.� - Bernard Edmonds, author.
Do you have a dream? Are you thinking of quitting on your dream? Are you discouraged? Have you been told to quit and go get a ‘real job’?
Excellent.
You are in a unique group, those whose success is just… around the corner. Only if you hang on… just one more day.
What makes you so special is… the power that fuels your dreams is the same power that will give you the strength of will to tough it out, just one more day.
That power is the one that draws you forward, toward your dream as you trust yourself, test your limits, and step into the gap, just one more day.
There is always… just one more day… if you refuse to quit!
Live Large!
Living Large: Shrinking Does Not Become You
April 7, 2007
“To dream anything that you want to dream, that is the beauty of the human mind. To do anything that you want to do, that is the strength of the human will. To trust yourself, to test your limits, that is the courage to succeed.” - Bernard Edmonds, author.
I was tagged today by Dwayne Melancon of Genuine Curiosity blog. Dwayne lists four goals in an effort to keep the meme going started by Alex Shalman who asks that you set “the top 5 to 10 goals that you gotta’ get so that you can truly say you have achieved your wildest dreams in life.“
My Live Large! Goals
I welcome this meme because my personal motto is to “Live Large!” and Bernard Edmonds says so eloquently what each and everyone one of us must come to grips with if we hope to “Live Large!”
- September 1, 2006 I set a BHAG (big hairy audacious goal) of Impacting 1,000,000 Business Owners which I wrote about on my personal blog. I need to get back to writing my business plan so I can Impact 1,000,000 business owners. [March to Impact a Million]
- Own a beach side home. I love the beach, the sound of the waves, and walking the shoreline.
- Own and drive a motorcycle, a Harley Davidson would be great but the truth is I would love owning any comfortable highway cruiser.
- Visit at least one country on each continent.
- A personal net worth of $1,000,000.
- Nap in a hammock by the beach.
- Swim with Dolphins.
- See a real live Volcano.
- Watch my son achieve his dream of making a living as a comedian.
- Walk the shoreline of our favorite beach on our 50th anniversary.
Visualization
One thing I know for sure, the stronger the dream, the more I visualize the end result, the easier achieving the goal becomes. It is almost effortless.
Limiting Beliefs
As a result of setting my BHAG of Impacting 1,000,000 Business Owners, I was confronted with the realization that I had a belief that was holding me back. The uninitiated might have labeled it as fear, however, I discovered something much more profound. I discovered that I held a strong belief in:
Hard Work: I came to the clarity that “everything I have or would ever have was the result of hard work.”
This explained why I had such an aversion to setting large goals. I have always worked hard and so how could I achieve a large goal when I could not see how I could work any harder? Never mind, a BHAG.
I have since witnessed the synchronicity and power of visualization of a BHAG and how effortlessly a goal can be achieved if I allow others to support me in achieving a goal. I cannot tell you how much it means to know that I am not alone and can depend on my friends to help and support me on my path to “have achieved my wildest dreams“. Thanks Dwayne.
Tag You’re It - Live Large!
Now it is my turn to tag some friends to set some goals that would prove they “have achieved their wildest dreams“. Here they are:
- Ken Reiss
- Rosa Say
- Emmanuel Oluwatosin
- Lorelle
- Wayne Hurlbert
- Ben Yoskovitz
- Phil Gerbyshak
- Blog Bloke
- Mike Sigers
- Binnur Al-Kazily
My challenge to each of you, is to blog transparently about your goals and Live Large! Because shrinking is not an option…
“To dream anything that you want to dream, that is the beauty of the human mind. To do anything that you want to do, that is the strength of the human will. To trust yourself, to test your limits, that is the courage to succeed.” - Bernard Edmonds, author.
Live Large!
My Mental Attitude a Help or Hinderance?
April 5, 2007
“Nothing can stop the man with the right mental attitude from achieving his goal; nothing on earth can help the man with the wrong mental attitude.” - Thomas Jefferson
How is my attitude helping or hindering my progress?
Live Large!
P.S. If you have a dream, learn about how to develop “The Mindset of a Champion”
Entrepreneur: Risk of Distraction and Depression
April 5, 2007
Today I am blogging about:
- Distractions Disguised As Opportunities: I think the most insidious distractions are presented by well meaning people who have an idea they want you to consider…
- Depression And Burnout In Entrepreneurs: I have witnessed a significant increase in burn out, depression and extreme stress in entrepreneurs. The long hours and constant demands of building a business can take a heavy toll…
If you know of an entrepreneur that is exhibiting the symptoms outlined in my article, do them and yourself a favor and talk to them. My simple advice about distractions is a powerful tool, only if you use it to decipher whether you are dealing with a true opportunity or a distraction.
What is my deepest fear?
April 3, 2007
In the movie Coach Carter, there is a great scene that speaks volumes…
Reach Your Goal: Get clear, create clarity, and know what problem you want to solve.
March 23, 2007
From one of the world’s wealthiest and least known men. Alas, he is no longer with us.
“To solve a problem or to reach a goal, you don’t need to know all the answers in advance. But you must have a clear idea of the problem or the goal you want to reach.” - W. Clement Stone
Stone “In 1960, Stone teamed up with Napoleon Hill to author Success Through a Positive Mental Attitude” and then by himself, wrote the The Success System That Never Fails.
I can still get Stone to mentor me, I just added that book to my Amazon cart and by reading that book I can get his help.
So can you, if you will.
Live Large!
What Is The Entrepreneurial Shuffle?
March 22, 2007
Like anything in life, balance reduces risk and increases harmony.
The Entrepreneurial Shuffle is what I call the process of “Kaizen” which is a Japanese word for constant and never ending improvement. The entrepreneurial version of “never ending learning, change, and professional development”. It is also:
- Equilibrium: Maintaining an equilibrium is how we create balance in any given situation. You understand the difference between balance and equilibrium. Balance is about even weight distribution, or the state of maintaining elements equally. Whereas, equilibrium maintains a state of equal forces and balance.
- Responsible Commitment: That you had better pay attention because you know that whether your family gets to eat ‘well’ tonight it is your place to make sure they can and do.
- Brutal Reality: Knowing you have shortcomings and when you notice them, you immediately set about to change your behavior and make a new habit.
- Remove Limiting Beliefs: Changing your mind about something based on new information, observations, and learning’s.
- Thinking Ahead: Knowing it is not just about winning or losing but making sure you are able to ’stay in the game’ long enough so you can win.
Beware of The Impostor Shuffle
When you are in avoidance mode you are experiencing the Impostor Shuffle, a distraction. It’s what happens when you move from foot to foot, anxious due to boredom, nervousness, or embarrassment.
You might also notice the ‘impostor shuffle’ when you find yourself ‘tweaking’ this and that to keep busy. Busy work versus important work.
Apply the five traits of the Entrepreneurial Shuffle and change your life and business one decision, one action at a time.
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Getting the Price Right
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