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Escaping What Could Have Been: Love Works Wonders In Our Livelihood

In 1973 the Texas Rangers drafted a left-handed high school pitcher from Houston, David Clyde. Due to many circumstances beyond his control, his career was derailed by abusive ownership and management. Not yet ready for the major leagues, he was thrust into the spotlight in hopes of driving up fan attendance to a struggling baseball franchise that had just moved from Washington, DC to Arlington, Texas. He burned out. Physically. When a pitcher’s arm goes, he’s useless to his employer.

David Clyde is the poster child of “what could have been” in baseball circles. Just another sad story of a person put into a bad circumstance.

Andy Stanley has a leadership podcast that I listen to. Last week Andy talked with Joel Manby, CEO of Herschend Family Entertainment, about his new book, Love Works. In the interview, Joel talks about having been the North American CEO of Saab. One Easter Sunday he got a call from the Global CEO of Saab, calling him on the carpet for poor financial results. His boss demanded he get on a plane and fly to Sweden immediately. Upon arrival he was berated in front of all his peers.

I’ve not read Joel’s book yet, but I plan on it. Today, Michael Hyatt blogged a review about it.

From major league sports to corporate boardrooms to family living rooms – there are countless people stuck in situations that are holding them back. Preventing them from what’s possible. Catapulting them toward the land of What-Could-Have-Been.

I hope you’re not among them, but if you are — there’s hope. You can do something about it. You must do something about it, starting today!

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The Fear Of Failure Has No ON/OFF Switch

What’s does it mean to fail anyway?

Does failure have a time zone…or a time component? That is, if you’re unable to accomplish something in a predefined period of time…does that make you a failure? Or does it just mean you’re a slower learner?

Beware of the person who says they have no fear.

Remember when the NO FEAR brand was a big deal (well, maybe it still is, but I don’t see it much these days). I admit I had a few baseball caps from that company. I embraced the notion of moving forward in spite of fear, but I’ve never believed we could just make up our mind that we would no longer be afraid.

Sure, fear can be overcome, but isn’t there something about fear that makes us alive? Don’t we get our juices going when we’re afraid? How else can you explain the wild attraction people have to horror movies like SAW? Some of us enjoy being afraid.

Have you ever been scared enough to run? Scared enough to do something other than what you were doing? Me, too.

There are times when fear drives us to take actions we wouldn’t otherwise take. And there are also times when we have to face our fear – and do the thing we’re afraid of any way!

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Chasing And Catching Entrepreneurship: How Can You Solve It? (Part 4 of 4)

This is the follow up question to #3, “What’s your biggest frustration?”

Mentioned in today’s video:

New York Times blog post by David Pogue
Arriva headphones for the ipod Shuffle
Twisted Wave – audio recording software aimed for those of us dealing in spoken word
Mixergy.comAndrew Warner interviewed a founder of Weebly
• Don’t let today be the day that you quit.

Will you do me a big favor?
Insert your name and email address in the sign-up box in the upper right hand corner. I’ll make it worthwhile for you.

Thank you!

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Chasing And Catching Entrepreneurship: What’s Your Biggest Frustration? (Part 3 of 4)

Mentioned in today’s episode:

iVideoHero – it’s a perfect example of a gap in a market that is well served with this tutorial product
37 Signals – they’re another great example of a company whose products stem from solving problems they faced
Evernote – a wonderful tool that many of us couldn’t live without, now that we’ve got it
GoatMilkStuffnot mentioned, but another fine example of a small business that grew out of a frustration/desire. This is directly from their website: “PJ’s adventures into soapmaking originated five years ago out of her desire to not use chemicals on the children’s skin.”
My resources page has links to a variety of useful items…from premium WordPress themes, to membership site plugins, to sources for pro audio gear. Many of these companies likely began because the owners were frustrated. Maybe they saw no solution. Maybe they didn’t see suitable solutions.

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Chasing And Catching Entrepreneurship: What Do You Want To Be Known For? (Part 2 of A 4-Question Video Series)

People often go to one extreme or the other when considering today’s question. Sometimes I see people write down a full page of various things they’d like to be known for. If they lived to be 1000 years old they still wouldn’t be able to accomplish half the things on their list…and that’s assuming they had the natural aptitude for each thing.

At the other end of the spectrum are those poor people who struggle to write down a single thing. They can’t think of anything they want to known for. When I encounter these people I drive them immediately to a crisis center for counseling. I fear for their safety.

We likely fall somewhere in the middle. We don’t want to limit ourselves, so our list expands. We don’t want to live unnoticed, so we write down something.

Narrow your focus to business related pursuits and it doesn’t simplify things for most of us. Today’s question is why so many companies fail to properly identify their target market. Everybody can’t be your target, but neither can nobody. You need somebody!

As you consider what you’d like to be known for you must also ask yourself, “By whom?”

Mentioned in today’s show:

• The $100 Startup: Reinvent the Way You Make a Living, Do What You Love, and Create a New Future by Chris Guillebeau

An anonymous company that is not so anonymous. I ran across this company in the summer of 2007. Here in Texas it gets really hot and I was investigating ventilation options for a warehouse when a Google search led me to them. I instantly “got it.”

Perry Marshall is a guy you ought to pay some attention to. He’s smart and I trust him. No, I’ve not met him, but I’ve paid attention to him for the past 5 years or so. Well, in his archives is a terrific article and audio interview about the aforementioned company.

Take some time and give this question the attention it deserves. You’ll be rewarded with the clarity you need to make progress. Like most of these questions, it won’t be easy. Don’t rush it. Just keep on pushing forward sorting through all the noise in your head. When things quieten down you’ll likely be getting close to your answer.

P.S. Congratulations to the New Jersey Devils and their fans for advancing to the Stanley Cup Finals. It should be a great series!

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Chasing And Catching Entrepreneurship: What Do You Care Most About? (Part 1 of A 4-Question Video Series)

Behind the bench at a hockey tournament

Nothing I’ve ever done has consumed me like coaching hockey. Nothing even comes close.

When I began I read everything I could get my hands on. I connected with people from any English speaking country who could teach me anything. I was a sponge…driven to learn more so I could help my teams.

I’d long been a student and fan of the game, but I never played. Regularly I’d joke with players that I simply had a hockey Rolodex that would trump anybody they knew. Bulletin boards, forums and every obscure hockey website were regularly visited by me as I made notes and obsessed with things I could pass on to my players.

The roller hockey scene of 20 years ago hit. Warm weather locations like Texas, California and Florida were embracing the sport with grand enthusiasm. I dove headlong into that area of hockey at the time because it was virgin territory and the old head ice hockey guys had a strong prejudice against it. I didn’t.

When USA Hockey in Colorado Springs realized the inline version of the game was an opportunity to expose more young players to a great game – they began to bring order and organization to the sport. The Executive Director at the time recruited me to become a Regional Director, a completely volunteer position that I happily accepted because coaching was that important to me.

Over time I coached countless kids, from 6 year olds to college guys.* And I loved every minute of it, even dealing with obnoxious, idiotic parents. Because I had a bigger purpose. A more important compelling reason. I wanted to impart a little bit of knowledge, a little bit of wisdom and a whole lot of life lessons to the players.

My aim was high. To be memorable by helping them achieve more than they might be able to without my help.

I was fully devoted to them, and to the sport.

Coaching hockey has, for years, been the barometer for me whenever I’m looking at my own passions and trying to answer today’s question. Maybe there’s something in your life that serves you like that. I’d love to report that it has helped me clarify things, but it hasn’t. Some days it only serves to confuse me further. And for a guy like me, confusion comes easily so I don’t need any more help in that department.

Look deeply into your life. Look into your past. Carefully consider today’s question. There are three more coming behind it. My hope is that we can work through these questions and learn more about ourselves. Along the way perhaps we can figure out some ways to earn more money because money is the fuel that helps us maintain our passions, and our causes. We need money to support the causes we care most about.

Question 1: What Do You Care Most About?

* Note: The photo was taken of me coaching the roller team of the University of Texas at Arlington during a college national championship tournament. I coached this UTA team for four years. They were, deservedly, the last team I ever coached.

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