February 2013

Born To Do What? No Plan B


heart shapeNOTE: HAPPY VALENTINE’S DAY!

I originally released this video this past Sunday exclusively to my Inside The Yellow Studio list, but some thought it’d be useful out here on the front end of Bula! Network. So, here goes! If you’re not part of Inside The Yellow Studio I hope you’ll plug in your email address here.

 

Do you feel you born to do something? Do you have the talent for it?

What if your plan A is all wrong? What if you love it, but you’re no good at it?

How long should you hang onto a plan A that isn’t working?

Van Morrison’s latest record is entitled, Born To Sing: No Plan B.

Today’s topic involves:

• Going all in on one thing, that thing to which we may feel we were born
• Having a single plan, plan A
• Changing direction, figuring out a plan B when plan A doesn’t work out
Getting To Plan B, a book by John Mullins and Randy Komisar
• And a lot more seemingly contradictory questions…and thoughts!

Let’s see if we can’t figure out a few things…or at least, see if we can gain some clarity.

Do you have a Plan B? How did you figure it out? How long did it take you?

Randy

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Do You Ever Ask Yourself, “Am I Worthy Of Success?”

Do you prefer audio? That’s why I’ve made the audio only of today’s video available separately.

Today’s show is important because the message is universal. Everybody suffers hearing two contrasting voices. One tells us we can keep going, encouraging us to push forward. The other one tells us to quit, urging us to give up because we’ll never be able to succeed. Sometimes we listen to one over the other.

The high achievers have both voices. They’re just able to silence the naysayer better than the rest of us. They think differently. They feel differently. And they perform differently, too.

Randy

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Episode 161 – The Gears In The Business Go Round And Round (Productivity Talk)

Your business won't go anywhere without workflow and systems that fit.
Your business won’t go anywhere without workflow and systems that fit.

When’s the last time you closely examined your habits?

If you’re like me, it’s been awhile. It’s not that we avoid it. We just don’t think about it. We go ’round and ’round and ’round giving it little (if any) thought.

Until something happens…

That causes us to think about what we’re doing and how we’re doing it.

I’m fond of systems and automation. Always have been. And I love technology. But I still find myself doing things simply because I’ve always done it that way. Only when I’m inspired enough to examine my habits do I come face to face with the reality that what I’m doing may not be working for me, or my business. Other times a workflow or system is in place that works well, but circumstances change…and I don’t change the system.

If you carefully think of how much life is spent in mindlessness — you’ll quickly be depressed. Most of us waste hours doing things that don’t work, but we’re not thinking about if it works or not. We just do it because it’s what we’ve done for a long time. Or because it’s comfortable. Or because it’s easy. Or because we think there’s some reward (when in reality, there is no reward). Delusion hurts us every time!

Today’s show would likely get downloaded more if I filled it with the lastest, greatest iPhone apps…or talked of the newest software…or explained some “hack” that a famous blogger uses. Nope. That’s not it. It’s about getting more done. It’s about finding out what works for us. It’s personal. It’s individual.

I know it’s easier to listen to somebody we admire tell us what she does. Then we can just copy that.

It’s a lot harder to examine what we do, figure out why we do it that way, then architect a better way. It’s a LOT harder. But it’s more profitable.

Mentioned in today’s show (fondly):

Beyond the To-Do-List with Erik J. Fisher
Field Notes
Evernote
Moon Hoax Not (a YouTube video)

Randy

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Everything’s Hard, Until It’s Easy

There are many great quotes attributed to Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. This post’s title is among my favorites. It probably has something to do with my age. And the realization of how true it is. Here are some snippets of wisdom that life, experience and maturity have taught me. Just understand that even though I know these things are true…it’s still challenging to incorporate them into my life. It’s still about trying to turn a lot of avergeness into something more!

Don’t avoid trying something because it’s hard – instead, run toward trying it because it’s hard.

Too many times we avoid chasing a dream because we’ve convinced ourselves (or we’ve allowed somebody else to convince us) that it’s just too hard. All the more reason to give it a go!

When you first try, expect failure. After all, if it were easy everybody would do it.

Failure is part of the process. Learning doesn’t happen without it. We need to kick to the curb the notion of failure as being the end. Instead, failure is often the beginning of success. Take the training wheels off the bike and we all fall down. Figuring out how to balance the bike takes experience and repeated attempts. Nobody ever figured out how to ride a bike without skinned up knees. Nobody. Be willing to skin your knees.

Perform as though the world is expecting you to figure it out…and waiting to stand up and cheer!

One of the biggest characteristics of successful people is their ability to expect success. It’s as if they think the world is just waiting for them to perform. They sell expecting people to buy. They pitch expecting to hear somebody say, “Yes.” They talk about their idea as if it can’t fail.

When asked to perform, most people say, “Oh, I don’t want to.” Why not? They’re afraid. They’re embarrassed. They’ve got it all wrong. You have to be willing to be embarrassed else you’ll never be able to experience applause.

When you view the world as anxiously waiting for you to succeed, it spurs you on to give the world what they want. What if we view the world like an anxious audience at the end of a great concert? What if the world is waiting to stand up and cheer for US? Too many people focus on the haters who want to “boo” when they should be considering all the people who want to see us succeed. The world loves a winner. Give them one. YOU.

Discouragement is a sifter that determines if you’re a winner or not.

Everybody experiences discouragement. Everybody. Setbacks happen to everybody. You think you’re the only one, but you’re wrong. Intellectually you know that, but emotionally you don’t. You feel alone. Depressed. Discouraged. Rejected.

Welcome to the sifter! A sifter can serve to not only sort and eliminate, but it can serve to prepare an ingredient to succeed. When flour is sifted it’s aerated, evenly distributed and makes the finished product a winner. When you’re sifted, it can result in the same thing – success. But only if you don’t buck it. Only if you accept it for what it really is. Only if you refuse to quit.

Most people don’t survive the sifter. It defeats them. That’s good for YOU. The sifter eliminates those who aren’t worthy of success. Those people who don’t have enough determination, confidence, experience, know-how or courage — they don’t survive the sifter. That’s the point. Somehow the winners and losers must be separated. Discouragement enters and presto. Welcome to the sifter. Your response will determine your destiny.

It takes time. Be patient.

Lastly, if it’s worth doing, it’s gonna take some time. Riding a bike takes time, but anybody can master it if they put in enough time. Only the kid who falls, then runs home to mommie fails to learn. Quit crying. Quit whining. Put in the time and be patient. What you’re doing is big, right? It’s worthwhile, right? It’s highly valuable, right? Then it’s gonna take time and it’ll be worth it. Races aren’t won until you cross the finish line. Keep running.

Randy

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Luck, Timing And A Benefactor: Lessons From Early American Titans Of Industry

Like most young people who get breaks, luck has a lot to do with it, and timing. And the second factor, besides timing, is that as a young man usually all of us would admit that there was a mentor, a benefactor. And when an older person who you respect and admire has confidence in you, it’s a great booster to your own self-confidence.”

– Steve Wynn, regarding Tom Scott’s mentoring of Andrew Carnegie, on the History Channel’s “The Men Who Built America”

 Timing. Andrew Carnegie’s life was full of good timing and bad timing. Not unlike your life. Or mine.

As a 12-year old boy, “Andy” was working for Tom Scott’s Pennsylvania Railroad. He became Scott’s personal assistant and in short order, Scott took a special interest in Carnegie. He taught young Carnegie the railroad business, and along the way a thing or two about operating a business.

There’s much more to success in business than luck, timing and a benefactor.  Some things that are good. Others…not so much.

Ruthless business behavior isn’t limited to the stories you hear about today’s technology giants or social media moguls. It was well practiced by the men who built America. Winners don’t take well to losing. Some will do whatever it takes – legal or not, ethical or not – to gain an advantage.

Smartness isn’t the private domain of those who’ve built companies like Apple, Microsoft, Intel, Oracle or Facebook. Being smart pays off in every arena of life and in every era. Yet, there are many success stories whose main character was less than brilliant. You don’t have to be a top drawer brain to be successful in business.

Luck, timing and a person willing to show us the way or help us out are three common denominators often seen in the stories of successful people. That isn’t meant to diminish brilliance, determination and courage. Or the power of ruthlessness.

Post Civil War America was built mostly by ruthless men. Men whose business success was fueled by fearlessness, opportunity and an intense desire to best their peers. Putting the other guy out of business was often the primary objective in the early 1900’s. During America’s industrial age capitalism was dominated with men doing their best to gain a monopolistic advantage. From railroads, to steel, to oil and to electricity – early American business success came most to those able to dominate an infrastructure industry.

Could these industries have progressed without enemies driving the competitive spirit? Likely not. It’s the reason Edison invented the electric chair! Nor is it likely that any of these early pioneers of business could have achieved their success without luck, timing and a benefactor.

Take Edison and Tesla, one of Edison’s underlings. Both were brilliant (smart). Both were hard-working and devoted to their ideas. Tesla resigned from Edison’s company because of his firm belief that alternating current (AC) was more powerful and useful than direct current (DC). Edison was all in on DC and dismissed Tesla’s ideas so Tesla quit.

Edison had JP Morgan backing him. Tesla had Westinghouse.

JP Morgan ended up with the whole shebang called General Electric. Sometimes one benefactor wound up on top! It’s always better to have successful coat tails to latch onto. History might have been very different if Tesla’s benefactor had won. But he didn’t. Tesla’s horse lost and the rest is history.

Without boldness, courage, conviction in their rightness and confidence in their ability…it’s doubtful any of these early American businessmen would have found luck, timing or a benefactor. Good things don’t necessarily come to those who wait. More often than not, they come to those who step out from the crowd determined to find them, chase them down and own them. It’s high risk behavior.

But I wonder if it’s any riskier than those poor workers who suffered the abuses of working conditions that were life threatening. Living without options, no choices. Destined to accept whatever low wage was offered, working whatever schedule was imposed on them and suffering a life without hope for improvement.

The titans created their own choices. Failure was always an option, but so was success. It seems they were driven to have choice. And to connect with whomever could help them achieve their dream. They were committed to their own cause, their own idea and their own belief. I hope you are, too!

Randy

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