For all his legendary success and greatness as a president, Abraham Lincoln lost all the time.11/13/2012
For all his legendary success and greatness as a president, Abraham Lincoln lost all the time. Lincoln experienced numerous business, political, and personal setbacks over his life. But he never let any of his failures discourage him from pursuing his goals. Lincoln failed in business. He failed as a farmer. He lost running for state legislature. He had a nervous breakdown. He was rejected for a job as a land officer. When he was finally elected to the legislature, he lost the vote to be speaker. He ran for Congress and lost. He ran for and lost a U.S. Senate seat. He ran for vice president and lost. He ran for the Senate and lost again. And, when he was finally elected president, the nation he was elected to lead broke apart. But by this time, all the activities, experiences, and people he came to know in the process helped him set a direction for that country that will stand as one of America’s great legacies. My point is, behind any successful person stands a long string of failures. But toughness and tenacity like Lincoln’s can overcome these setbacks. Lincoln knew the only way to gain ground, to move forward, to turn his goals into reality, was to learn from his setbacks, to stay engaged, and press on!
Never Eat Alone: And Other Secrets to Success, One Relationship at a Time by Keith Ferrazzi, Tahl Raz Business mindset matters. Business can be hard. You need to understand that, and use it to give yourself an advantage. I like this quote.
D "It goes back to what fighting is all about: honesty and identity. You have to know who you are. There is no dissembling about your character in the ring. There is deception-fighting involves faking one thing and doing another. As Randy Couture said, "No lies get told when you're in there." You can't lie about being in shape, about knowing the techniques, about being faster than him, about being stronger or tougher. The truth will out. I asked him about the mental game he'd learned in Thailand. "The first lesson I learned is never show any emotion while fighting," he wrote me from Australia. "And if you want respect from the Thai fans, you never give up until the final bell. I've seen some Thai boys fight their heart out, for four and a half rounds, getting a sound beating. Then, for last half of the the last round, they stopped fighting and waited till the clock ran out. When we got back to the camp the boys would cop an ear full from the trainers, till the point where they would start to cry. They would be ordered, even though they were busted up, to run and train the next day-because they didn't deserve a day off until they learned to fight till the end." I think it was Cus D'Amato, the legendary boxing trainer, who said, "I get them to where they can't do it wrong even if they tried," meaning he would train his fighters to do the right thing until it was instinctual." The Fighter's Mind: Inside the Mental Game by Sam Sheridan 7 Things I learned About Success and Business Watching a Man Free Fall 23 miles Down to the Earth10/14/2012
7 Things I learned About Success and Business Watching a Man Free Fall 23 miles Today Austrian extreme skydiver Felix Baumgartner became the only human being to break the sound barrier outside of an airplane after skydiving from 38 km above the earth. That feat was amazing, and it made me think about what we all do on a daily level, and what we don't do. I also thought about how we could stand to be a little more adventurous and take more risks. Here are the seven things I thought as I watched; 1. There is power in putting your back up against the wall - I was watching the ascent and it dawned on me. There really was only one way down. To jump. If you watched the flight and jump, you realize just what that means. If you have no plan B, if you have to succeed, it makes you tackle problems just a little harder, and you don't give up. You can't. 2. Do go if the numbers say go, don't go if the numbers say it is not time - this wasn't the first run at this, he had previous attempts stopped by wind. Sometimes it isn't the time. Respect the numbers. Too often we go off emotion, but as study after study has shown, we are the best judges of risk. Get the numbers, live by the numbers. 3. Just because you didn't go the first time, it doesn't mean you give up. It doesn't mean you stop. This has been in the works for a while, he has tried before. Just because it didn't work the first time, doesn't mean you were wrong to do it, it just means you need to regroup, and come at it again on a new day. 4. Teamwork can make anything happen. Did you see the team behind him. Systems matter. Systems make things happen. Your business is made of systems. Teams matter. 5. Doing something that frightens everyone else, or everyone is afraid to do, and that leaves that opportunity wide open for you. Do what everyone else does, and you then are simply everyone else. Go where other are afraid to go, then use your head, train, get the numbers, build a team, and win. 6. Think big, and big things happen. This jump wasn't just a record breaking free fall 23 miles up, it was also a record breaking balloon flight, and it was also the first time a free fall broke the sound barrier. Three amazing feats, one jump. That was one man's dream that he slowly built one person at a time. Amazing feat. 7. Finally, Spacesuits are cool - agreed, not a business topic, but they are still cool. You have got to watch the video. D Your products are experiments.
If they don't sell, you may stop selling them but those roducts are not failures, they are knowledge earned the hard way. As you test the waters and try different products, remember that if they don't work, they are not failures, they are experiments on the way to success. I read a quote once, and I am not sure who wrote it but to paraphrase, if it is not working, it doesn't mean it will end badly, it just means your work isn't finished. No one, nothing, is ever perfect out of the gate. Set a goal, set a deadline, and measure your progress. Decide on a number, could be sales dollars, and then set a date, say 60 days, and then measure your daily progress. What gets measured gets done, and turns this from wishful thinking to an actual plan. Measure your progress. See what worked, see what didn't, redo, improve,and do it again. D I heard a quote the other day, that no business plan survives contact with the first customer, and it is true. No one can foresee every possible issue or problem, or know how the world will interconnect, trust me, no one is that good.
What you think will happen will not happen the way you believe, and when it all hits, and your product is selling, or not selling, or there is some other problem, then you stop, you need to look at the data objectively, and then you decide on how to change your business, or as they say in the "in" crowd, Pivot. Pivot is simply taking your business and when an idea doesn't work, changing directions. The worst thing you can do is drive your business in to the ground because you refuse to admit that the first idea, made back before you had the information you had today, was not that great. Success goes to the tenacious, the networked, and the ones who can adapt. It is that simple. D What is Ramen Profitable?
Ramen Profitable is a phrase used in startups to determine when you are cash positive. You making some money, not much, but some. The goal with ramen profitable is make enough money that you can survive, you may have to eat instant ramen every night, but you make it. Getting to this point is important. Positive cash flow is good, it is the point of the whole project. Making money is what allows you to continue, to grow, making money gives you opportunities. We are starting our businesses to make money, build our skill set, and increase our network. You do that and you are far ahead of the rest of the pack. Most people never start. Many only dabble or merely try with no goal or idea of why you do it. If you do this, and you increase the number of people in your network, and you learn more and know how to learn, and you make money doing it, you just became an entrepreneur. D ?Disciplined dreamers all have one thing in common: a mission. The mission is often risky, unconventional, and most likely tough as hell to achieve. But it is possible. The kind of discipline that turns a dream into a mission, and a mission into a reality, really just comes down to a process of setting goals.
Turning a mission into a reality does not “just happen.” It is built like any work of art or commerce, from the ground up. First, it must be imagined. Then, one needs to gather the skills, tools, and materials needed. It takes time. It requires thought, determination, persistence, and faith. The tool I use is something I call the Networking Action Plan. The Plan is separated into three distinct parts: The first part is devoted to the development of the goals that will help you fulfill your mission. The second part is devoted to connecting those goals to the people, places, and things that will help you get the job done. And the third part helps you determine the best way to reach out to the people who will help you to accomplish your goals. It’s a bare-bones, straightforward worksheet, In the first section, I list what I’d like to accomplish three years from today. I then work backward in both one-year and three-month increments to develop mid- and short-term goals that will help me reach my mission. Under each time frame, I create an “A” and a “B” goal that will meaningfully contribute to where I want to be three years from now. (Example of the Plan)............So she set about filling out the worksheet. Her “A” goal three years forward was to be a teacher. Her three-year “B” goal was to be a teacher in a well-respected district located in a place she wanted to live. Then she filled in his short-term A and B goals. In ninety days, she wanted to be well on her way toward becoming certified as a high school teacher, enrolling in some type of program that would help professionals transition into the field of education. In a year, she wanted to be teaching full-time; she made a list of some of the best high schools in Manhattan that she might enjoy working at. In the second part of the Plan, broken up in similar time increments, she had to name one or two people for each A and B goal who she thought could get her one step closer to making her goal a reality. Within a couple of weeks, Jamie was on her way. She started to see the symbiotic relationship between goal setting and reaching out to the people who can help us achieve those goals. The more she accomplished, the bigger her teaching network grew. The bigger her teaching network grew, the closer she came to accomplishing her three-year goals. This process can be used by almost anyone, whatever your career. After completing the worksheet, you’ll have a mission. You’ll have the name of a flesh-and-blood person who can help you take the next step in achieving that mission. And you’ll have one, or perhaps several, ways to reach out to that person. The purpose of this exercise is to show that there is a process, a system if you will, involved in building a network. It’s not magical; it’s not reserved for a select few born with an inherent gift for being social. Connecting with others really just involves having a predetermined plan and carrying it out, whether you want to be a ninth-grade history teacher or start your own business. Your goals must be specific. Vague, sweeping goals are too broad to be acted upon. They must be concrete and detailed. Know what steps you’ll take to achieve your goal, the date by which it will be accomplished, and the measurement you’ll use to gauge whether you’ve achieved the goal or not. Your goals must be challenging and demanding. Step out of your comfort zone; set goals that require risk and uncertainty. And when you achieve your goal, set another one." Never Eat Alone: And Other Secrets to Success, One Relationship at a Time by Keith Ferrazzi, Tahl Raz As soon as Guns began to play regularly in L.A., we started up a phone and mailing list. We obsessively made sure people who came to shows signed up—well, actually, what we did was send stripper friends out into the audience and have them convince people to sign up. Obviously we had to write good songs and play well live to get a bigger audience. On that front I already knew we had the components we needed. But the mailing list really worked for us—within six months we had a thousand names with contact info for each. Other bands had mailing lists, but one of the secrets to GN’R’s success was how much time and effort we spent building and maintaining ours. We knew we had to make it on our own, and after our Seattle road trip, failure was not an option with this crew.
It's So Easy by Duff McKagan "Renzo Gracie said, "The beauty of the art is that it is so efficient. It molds itself to whomever is practicing. As long as you stick with it, you can be a good fighter. It's not only certain body types or athleticism. I've seen guys that couldn't run or jump for shit, with no coordination at all, become unbelievable champions because they dedicated themselves. The other fighting arts, even judo, wrestling, boxing, they all depend on athleticism. I train judo my whole life but the moment I get out of shape I lose everything. Boxing you need speed, even when you have a lot of experience. Jiu-jitsu is about dedication and knowledge."
The Fighter's Mind: Inside the Mental Game by Sam Sheridan The is no defeat until you say you are defeated. Until that point you are still in it, still trying, you can still win, and only you can lose it. People are not overcome by situations or outside forces; defeat comes only from within. Only you can make yourself lose. The world can throw anything at you it wants but you are the one who says you are done. This is a very interesting and important thought; Defeat is a mental act. Defeat is not something that really exists outside your head. The world doesn't know or care what you are trying to do, nor does it make you give up, you are what gives up. You can see it in someone's eyes, that moment when they quit, and then they give up. In a fighter's eyes, in a runner's, you can see that point that they no longer believe in what they are trying to do. "It's just knowledge man. It's the same for everyone. You go over the basics and pretty soon you're dreaming about it like everyone else. Be honest and humble enough to learn from everybody." If you want to succeed you do not give up ever. You fight not until the end, you fight until you win. The success ones are those who brought it, who understand that the losses make them stronger, smarter, better. Dedication to the craft, to the business, leads to winning. It is all in the mind set, yours and no one else's. D |
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