You may find this Newsletter a little long winded but it’s for a good cause: It’s all designed for Your Success!
One of my favorite quotes is by Alfred d’Souza. It goes like this:
“For a long time it had seemed to me that life was about to begin, real life. But there was always some obstacle in the way, something to be got through first, some unfinished business, time still to be served, a debt to be paid. Then life would begin. At last it dawned on me that these obstacles were my life.” – Alfred d’Souza
What I love about the above quote is that it has a very strong yet well hidden message in it.
Let me attempt to have you get it!
Any business that belongs to you is better than any job where all you end up doing is making someone else’s dreams come true at your expense.
However, where most people fail in business, as in Life, is when they find themselves waiting for their issues to get handled before ever even starting on their own road toward their very own dreams and aspirations.
You see; most people fail in business because they never get started in the first place. “there was always some obstacle in the way, something to be got through first”
Hence they shut down their project prematurely, somehow justifying the act because of some circumstance that was in the way (not enough money, experience etc.) Yet, they fail to realize that this wasn’t something new in their lives.
They get sucked in to the drift of being human. They give up! They abandon ship!
Most small business opportunities start-up as solutions driven projects, backed by much enthusiasm. Yet they end up as “just another string” of events and small bursts of activities (brilliantly executed with much success I might add) ending by making yet another “almost successful entrepreneur” right about his or her failure.
I have been working closely with YOU for many years now and this, I have discovered to be true.
The real challenge with small business opportunities as opposed to big business opportunities is that; with a small business, less is at stake making it easy to give up.
Big business means higher stakes. You can’t walk away for big business the way you can from small businesses. There simply is no option to walk away…
Herein lies one of the best kept secrets in business (there are many others but this is one of my favorites. I call it the “NO BACK DOOR” approach. It requires a unique commitment to keeping your word. It also requires a further commitment to keeping that commitment of keeping your word.
Once your commitment is in place, all you need to succeed is to commit to it “NO MATTER WHAT”. Success is inevitable inside this kind of commitment. Failure (the back door in this case) is just not an option. You are doomed to honor your WORD as YOUR SELF and you give your word to yourself.
“Yeah right”, you say!
Yup! That’s right!
At least, I believe it to be one of the most profound truths about business… and success in Life for that matter.
So how does one apply a truth such as this in real Life?
First, there must exist “thinking” (and I mean original thought), not all this nonsense that you and I call thinking.
I refered, in an earlier Newsletter, to that “little voice” we listen to while we shower in the morning. The joke is that we believe these (automatic) thoughts to be thinking.
Sorry guys and girls! These are just thoughts. Quite different from thinking! Yours and my automaticity is our worst enemy as entrepreneurs. We must find a way to break the drift (of these thoughts) and replace it with a new kind of thinking. The kind of thinking that wasn’t going to happen anyway. Therein lies, I believe, many more ideas and secret keys to lead you to whatever level of success you desire.
At this point, I’d like to share some guidance, some fundamental laws of business that if you put a little heart and lots of thinking into them, you will find yourself supercharged for success.
Small Business Opportunities are everywhere to be found. Whatever business opportunities attract you, remember to apply some golden rules. I must thank Quincy Scarborough for his great insights into the following passages.
Here are a few:
==>TEN RULES FOR SUCCESS IN THE NEW MILLENNIUM
Expect Volatility – We are witnessing an exponential increase in the velocity, complexity, and unpredictability of change. This increase creates a hyper-competitive international environment that bears little resemblance to the one that existed even five years ago.
Invent New Rules – Invent your own and make others follow you! Competitive advantages and profits will belong to innovators who transcend the existing parameters of competition.
Innovate or Die – Develop conscious strategies and mechanisms to promote consistent innovation. Resting on your laurels is simply not an option: winners are innovating and surpassing themselves constantly.
Break Barriers – 21st Century companies must dismantle the internal barriers that so often separate people, departments and disciplines. The boundaries between firms and their outside suppliers, customers and sometimes even competitors are also under severe pressure.
Be Fast – Implementation is everything and it better be fast. These days it’s far better to be 80 percent right and quick than 100 percent and three months late.
Think Like an Entrepreneur – The days of depending on corporate size and reputation to drop opportunities in your lap are over. Entrepreneurs go out and make things happen and allow themselves to fail and improve because of it.
Think Global – The fastest growing markets in the world today are outside North America. Companies can and do now shop in a single global supermarket for just about everything.
Keep Learning – At the end of the day, the only truly sustainable competitive advantage will be your ability to learn faster and better than your competitors, and to turn that learning into new products, services and technologies before your competitors can imitate your last innovation.
Measure Performance Differently – Concentrate on key strategic and profitability drivers, ones that reveal the underlying dynamics of your business, focus your energy on what really drives the future success of your business.
Be Nice – The place to improve the world is first in one’s own heart and hands and then work outward from there. If we improve ourselves by doing good for others, we build a solid bridge for success in the 21st century.
==>TEN LAWS OF FOCUS
Your Focus Needs to be Simple and Clear – Think transparent. What you are aiming for should be obvious. Ambiguity has no place in your success
Your Focus Needs to be Memorable – Your mind should be stimulated by the smallest of coincidences, even if you are not thinking about your goals at the time.
Your Focus Needs to be Powerful – Power comes from clarity. The clearer you are about what you want, the more personal power you develop and the more energized you are to achieve it.
Your Focus Needs an Enemy -At each moment you are moving either toward or away from your goals. In addition to your desires, the things that move you away such as bad habits, competition, or the threat of mediocrity are the enemies you need in order to keep you motivated to do right or better.
Your Focus Needs Short and Long Term Objectives – Long-term focus and planning is more about understanding the consequences and impact of short-term focus and decisions than about long term decisions themselves. You need a healthy respect and understanding of the two.
Your Focus Will Not Appeal to Everybody – Successful is different to each individual. Don’t be surprised if you receive resistance to your goals. Better yet, expect it!
Your Focus Will Not Be Instantly Successful – Life is a process, not an event. Maintain reasonable expectations. Rome wasn’t built in a day, and they were using local talent.
Your Focus is Not a Product – The hand can not touch your focus, only your heart. Concentrate on the benefits received, the feeling enjoyed. That’s what matters most!
Your Focus Does Not Come Without a Price – Success requires many things. Sacrifice is one of them. Be prepared do what you have to do to achieve your goals.
Your Focus is Not Forever – Everything changes. There is a shelf life, even to your goals.
==>TEN COMMANDMENTS OF GOAL SETTING
Thou Shall Be Decisive – Success is a choice. You must decide what you want, why you want it, and how you plan to achieve it. No one else can, will, or should do that for you
Thou Shall Stay Focused – A close relative to being decisive, but your ability to sustain your focus from beginning to end determines the timing and condition of your outcomes.
Thou Shall Welcome Failure – The fundamental question is not whether you should accept failure. You have no choice but to expect it as a temporary condition on the pathway of progress. Rather, the question is how to anticipate failure and redirect resources to grow from the experience.
Thou Shall Write Down Thou Goals – Your mind while blessed with permanent memory is cursed with lousy recall. People forget things. Avoid the temptation of being cute; Write down your goals.
Thou Shall Plan Thoroughly – Planning saves 10 to 1 in execution. Proper planning prevents poor performance.
Thou Shall Involve Others – Nobody goes through life alone. Establish your own “Personal Board of Directors”, people whose wisdom, knowledge and character you respect to help you achieve your goals.
Thou Shall Take Massive Action – Success is not a spectator sport – achievement demands action. You cannot expect to arrive at success without having made the trip.
Thou Shall Reward Thyself – Rewards work! Think of what you will give yourself as a result of your hard work, focus and persistence