Some of the Things it Takes

If this is your first time on my Blog, I suggest you scroll down and start at the beginning.

Before we move on in calendar years, I would like to give you a preview of what it takes to be a Serial Entrepreneur… thick skin and a willingness to live alone, no I don’t mean without a companion. You will find yourself on a desert island for most of the time, yes the people around you say they will hear the music you play but they won’t hear the words you say. You really can’t blame them because they did not sign on for problems, they are there for the rewards or they believed in the dream about the picture you painted for them, but you did not tell them there might be a storm and if you did, they did not hear that part.

As we go along in my story I am going to cover what I believe are some of the key traits and foundations for success. Over the years there have been a lot of statements about success, most of them attributed to Napoleon Hill and “Think and Grow Rich”, this is my adaptive version of one: “Success is a Progressive Realization of Predetermined, Worthwhile Personal Goals.’ When you think about this, think about the words that are truly personal: Success-is something different to each of us; Progressive-a time frame, it does not happen overnight; Realization-you get to feel it, touch it, enjoy it, without that it’s hard to move forward; Predetermined-When we lay out what we are working for it’s easier to avoid rationalization of accomplishments, Worthwhile-our efforts must be worth the effort, Personal-Yes, there has to be something in it for you and it may be just the gratification of helping someone achieve their goal; Goals-extremely important, you must know where you are going to know when you have arrived. So, first understand what it is you want and where you want to be.

Now let’s look at some of the keys:
1. Having someone to confide in will help you look at yourself.
2. Having a clear plan and direction as to where you are going and what you want to achieve.
3. Have faith in yourself.
4. Check your ego at the door; this will enable you to listen.
5. Remember, there are two types of PMA and one I believe is more hurtful than helpful.
6. Remember, most important there are consequences for every action you take. As a result of my actions I spent 30 months in a Federal Prison. (more about that as we move on in this story)
7. Review your dreams, get out of the stands, stop being a spectator and become a participant in both life and your project.

Most of us give up on our dreams, think back to high school, sitting there dreaming about the car you are going to have. Now, look at the top selling cars in America, are they the cars you were dreaming about? Probably not, the reason they are the best selling-most of us have given up on our dreams. Well, let’s get started. Dream again!

The first thing you will really need is SOMEONE!

That SOMEONE is probably the most important key to your future; we must all adapt the “don’t-do-it-alone” advice which is one of the main foundations of a lot of the step programs. In other words, we need a few key people who will have your back, people that will tell you the truth, and people that will hold you accountable. We’re all entrepreneurs of our own ideas! As we venture down the wild and crazy path of life, now compounded by entrepreneurship, we will come up against personal and professional problems that are just too big to solve alone. If we want that goal we have set in front of us, we will need the help of others.

You would think in the age of the internet we would be able to reach out to just about anyone. Well the stats don’t show that; I read in 1985, the average American had three people in whom they could confide important matters. Later in 2006, that number has dropped to two. More than 25 percent of American’s admit they have no confidants at all.

If you are truly looking for success, look at it this way: Success is the ability to create the results in life we truly seek and not, say, just the amount of money you make.

If you look around at the people close to you, do they think you have all the answers? That’s really not what you need, what you need people you trust and who understand your professional goals. You need people you can open up to; that you can share your fears and failures and goals and dreams with, and you can ask for help. You need to build an “Inner Circle” a “Mastermind” group.

All you need is three people to change your life for the better. That’s it—just three people. In all likelihood, (there not the three people who probably just came to your mind!)

So it is with opening yourself to two or three close advisers, the people are your tribe. Nature wants to take you there—you just have to trust yourself to ease off the brakes. (Pick up a copy of Seth Godins book “Tribes”, it will help.

I believe that this first step is the hardest part of your journey. I was told when I was 16 years old “Good people are hard to find, either you can’t afford them or their in business for themselves” and I’ve told people, “Don’t tell people your problems, because 80% don’t care and 20% are glad.” The people you need are normally not the people you are working with now, they are people you have crossed paths with or people who know people you know, but they must understand life and the concept of what you are going through.

Next… 2. Having a Clear Well-Defined Plan

Having a clearly defined plan will develop faith and belief in your plan and your project; it will also give you guidelines for levels of achievements. Now when this is clearly laid out, you and everyone around you will be motivated by your level of accomplishment and will want to give more and do more. We all like to see where we are in every project we do. This plan will also be your road map to success.

Next… 3. Having Faith in yourself

Here is where I really fall short. I tell everybody, “I’m a great teacher, I’m a terrible student.”
Difficult for me, always has been. People around me have always thought that I had enough self-confidence for the US Army that shows you what they knew. In addition, it relates back to number 1, having people that know you and you can confide in. From the time I was a teenager, I lacked the self-confidence to really move forward. I was being written about, I was giving seminars from the time I was eighteen, still, not enough. Oh yes, I had the confidence in the project I was moving forward and that the way we were headed was the right direction. But, I always felt there was somebody who could do it better.

It made no difference to me if it was going on a date, I felt my date could do better of it was a work related project, I knew I could resolve whatever problem or method necessary, but someone could do it better.

Funny, as I’m typing (with two fingers) this blog, all my thoughts are coming together and I realize this goes all the way back to my childhood and this blog may have helped me resolve this problem.

When you lay out your plan, put you in the picture, search out support not acceptance. Always remember, the majority of people really don’t want you to succeed and move up from them. When you have faith in what you are doing and faith where you are going and faith that YOU will get it done, you are unstoppable.

Now… 4. Check your ego at the door; this will enable you to listen.

It’s important to have faith in yourself, yet you have to be open to other ideas. It’s really a fine line between the conviction and belief in what you are doing and the understanding of another way. I said recently in a business I was involved in I would welcome competition because they could make some of the mistakes for me and maybe they would find a better way sooner that I could alone. So, take off the blinders and check your ego at the door.

Now… 5. Here we are at My Favorite topic, the infamous PMA. (Positive Mental Attitude) – The Foundation of the so called Self Help Industry.

This is one area where I completely disagree with the concept. I really don’t believe that the concept of a Positive Mental Attitude prepares one for the inevitability of Murphy’s Law, and yes, it does come into play. It’s great to move along and believe that you can get something done, and yes when I was younger I did believe that I could perform brain surgery, you would need to hold the book for me. That’s when I became more realistic, and became a realistic optimist with PMA (Proper Mental Attitude.) I’ve traveled all across the United States and have met with hundreds of individuals who got themselves in problems for having that Positive Attitude, now there is nothing wrong with Positive, we just have to be realistic and everything else will fall in place.

Now… 6. Consequences

Wow, I know this one well, too well! I will not go into the full details of my situation at this point, but yes, due to mistakes on my part I spent 30 months in Schuylkill Federal Prison. I will discuss more of this when we get to 1994 in my story. It makes no difference, basic high school physics; every action has a reaction. You eat too much, you gain weight; You work too much, you can get tired; You go to the Casinos and gamble, you can lose; You make mistakes in business, you can lose as well. Just keep the consequences in focus and in your rear view mirror. Remember what you are working for and don’t lose sight of what you have.

Now…7. It’s time to Participate in what you are doing, more important Participate in Life.

I went to see a movie “Flash of Genius”, the movie was about the inventing of the intermittent windshield wiper, his commitment was there, but in the end his wife was not. The majority of us lose sight of what is important, I mean really important. Take the time, stop being in the stands get into the arena of life and participate. Doing this will make your accomplishments even more worthwhile.

Well enough about what I think, funny, that’s what makes the self-help industry so big, it’s really just based on people’s opinions, not necessarily facts.

Now we will back to my journey, we will come back in around 1960