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Manifesting change is a topic highlighted in the book The Secret, also something very NLP oriented (i.e. Tony Robbins).  In truth, I am a believer in this…not because the universe listens (as the author of The Secret says), but because I think it has to do with reprogramming the mind for opportunities that may have previously been ignored by one’s own conscious /subconscious mind.  I believe we can change our brains thinking patterns by, functionally, being more optimistic and/or believing in the opportunities that exist but may not yet be seen.

This kind of leads to a blog offshoot on how people think about ‘the future:’

1)  The optimist / believer / faithful – those who believe in the possibility of the unknown. Maybe they don’t know the specific answers to a question (such as how am I going to become successful, how will I become ceo someday, how will I meet the man/woman of my dreams and have relationship bliss, etc?), but they believe the answers are ‘out there.’  And that those answers will, in fact, come to them eventually. These people grasp opportunities, and look for chances to be lucky. They usually work hard at creating their ‘luck.’ These people live for the future; the past is simply a learning opportunity.

2) The pessimist / non-believer / unfaithful –  those who do not have any faith in what the future holds. They feel a lack of control of the future, and over-compensate by seeking proof of everything before they act on anything. These people are genuinely confronted with a problem in their lives; because they do not grasp opportunities, even when the opportunity is clearly within their grasp. Instead, they find excuses not to act and reasons to delay. Until eventually someone else takes advantage of the opportunity or time degrades, ravishes, or simply terminates the opportunity. They are always ‘unlucky,’ and typically find themselves in administrative or non-decision-making oriented roles. These people live for the past; they live in fear of the future.

3) The agnostics - those who simply don’t care. Not that that they do or do not believe…they truly do not want to worry about it. They choose not to choose. They live for today. Yesterday is a memory, and tomorrow is soon to be a memory as well.  Thus, they live for the moment.  Usually a lot of fun, very charismatic, and often lucky through overt risk taking. If there is no past and no future, why not push the envelope today? This sometimes pays off, but inconsistently and without regard to plans or intentions.

I was recently asked for examples of when I made myself change my thinking, and therefore change the outcome.  In reality, I think I have only ‘changed’ my thinking one time.  I made a choice a long time ago to start seeing things differently, to choose to be optimistic and believe in a positive outcome.  In reality, I probably made that change around the time I was a sophomore in high school. Prior to that I was kinda the fat nerdy kid. Class clown. Never played sports, never took too many risks, never asked a girl out. I simply made the decision that if I didn’t change something, my life would be more of the ho-hum same ‘ol thing. And the same ‘ol thing was making me unhappy.

So, I decided to create a bolder me. I changed my thinking about myself. About my possibilities. About my capabilities. Like the old saying, I faked it til I made it. And when did I become the person I had pretended to be at that moment: a bold, confident, optimistic, success oriented person?

Great question…what came first, the chicken or the egg? I don’t know.

But I do know that by the time I graduated high school, I was voted most likely to succeed, I had a hot girlfriend, I had slimmed down considerably, been accepted to private college, and within another few years I had started my first successful company.

So, how do you manifest change? You simply make a decision. Then commit to that decision. Burn the ships. Tell the world.

Because indecision kills manifest destiny.

I truly love the movie Contact, with Jodie Foster. In particular, I love the end of the movie. A child asks her if she believes in aliens, and she smiles ironically (we the viewer know that she doesn’t really know). She looks at the child and says: “I’ll tell you one thing about the universe. The universe is a pretty big place. It’s bigger than anything anyone has ever dreamed of before. So if it’s just us… seems like an awful waste of space. “

After a two hour festival of deep exploration of truth, we are left with a simple CHOICE on what we want to believe.

Another great quote from Jodie Foster’s character: “Funny, I’ve always believed that the world is what we make of it.”

So, I suppose the answer to the question I was asked about manifesting change is simply: sometimes you just choose to believe.  In yourself.

I’ve noticed many people think they lead; when in fact they follow.

Followers are easily identified by their unwillingness to make tough decisions that aren’t first dictated or lead by their alleged glorious leader. Followers prefer someone to make decisions for them; and Leaders like to make decisions… take action.  Thing is, the fact that someone makes decisions and takes action might make them a Leader, but it does not make them a Good Leader. Positive impact on their constituency. Nor does it make them a Leader worth Following: Jim Jones, Hitler, Charles Manson… those are obvious examples of decisive action taking Leaders. I used to sit and cogitate on one question: ‘How the heck did they attract followers?’

Theory / Hypothesis; consider this: What if you follow the “Right” thing to do according to Society; you know, the norm dictated by people and media around you at that time? Your preacher, your Imam, your military leader; they all are in charge, they know what’s right and wrong, they were democratically elected or voted or believed into power! Right?

Society, the rule of numbers, the people, democracy … that’s always right. Right? NO! Sometimes leaders rule through the pretension of acceptance, dictation of societal norms; this is how they control the masses. The unthinking people. Those who hate to make action oriented decisions. You’ve felt it before…. follow. Follow what you dare not question. Follow because we are all doing it… Right?

These dictatorial decision makers are not the people who may be perceived as psycho. They are usually middle-men. Intermediaries. Preaching ideology, dangerously rooted in “righteousness” or “ethics.”

This is the most nefarious thing on the planet. Not the occasional bizarre-nut-bag like Mao Zedong, Idi Amin or Pol Pot; not even present day nut-jobs like Reverend Moon (his son is largest arms dealer in Korea), or Kim Jong-il (er…Team America…need I say more).Those people are obvious to the intelligent book-reading crowd.

I am talking about the people who push or promote ideological justifications, ultimately for the purpose of following the bold and decisive actions of a ‘Prophet.’

See….it isn’t the nut-jobs that are dangerous; it is the legions of enforcers and thought leaders that convince everyone else that following this new and perfectly communicated ideology is the Right (i.e. Righteous) thing to do.

WHY ????????

Because the followers never question the alleged ethical or righteous authority of their Beloved Leader; particularly when / if they believe wholeheartedly in the ideology. Which allows the prophet forgiveness for their obvious flawed human-ness.  That is how Hitler attracted an entire country, or three, to his mad ramblings and insanity-inspired musings.

OK…so… who is wrong here? The leader or the follower?

IMHO ~ I believe it is society as a whole. See… when you have a society that doesn’t reward individualism, a society that doesn’t reward people who break out from the pack, a society that instead rewards unquestioning followers…. you get a beautiful opportunity for well communicated, shiny and pretty , yet flawed, even psychopathic leaders.

Honeslty… Korea and Germany (Japan to a lesser degree / pre 1945)…. are hot-beds for goofy-0ass followers. Their societies are engineering dreams. Particualrly potent during the Industrial Revolution. Do as you are told. No individuality. Self-expression is the Devil. So is Football (Water Boy metaphor for the slower readers).

What a shame.

I have personally and carefully crafted a brand for myself over the years. A brand that allows me some freedoms. These freedoms were what that I knew I would require… because I am a little crazy. Like a Fox.

Crazy enough not to follow society’s rules.

Crazy enough to tell people to F-Off if I didn’t believe in their ideologies.

Crazy enough to reject ideology as THE rule of life.

And so I became an entrepreneur. Someone who could craft my own world. My own rules. My own destiny.

And yet… I live within your world. Your rules. Your perceptions and allegations. Trust me, it ain’t always easy to Lead vs. Follow. Few supporters and friends, even amongst family and loved ones.

Here is what I learned from Ayn Rand, author of Atlas Shrugged and The Fountainhead: I learned…the world is yours to craft. The leaders of this world create, without concern for acceptance or recognition; without concern for wealth or assimilation. Leaders are alone – because they create new rules. They Lead … They Thought-Lead.

Now… who are you? A leader or a follower? A thinker or a non-thinker?

Leaders are disdained and ostracized. They test limits. The bulk of humanity doesn’t have the cojones to test the limits. This is A-OK, as long as you understand how important it is to choose Who and What you Follow.

Do you Lead? By making tough decisions and suffering occasional judgment and ostracism? Do you Follow? If so, Who and What are you Following? Yesterday’s leadership; those who are well rounded, dictated, processed, ideological? The Bizarre Nut-jobs on the fringe?  Who?

Do you follow tomorrow’s leadership? Angry, mistaken, often humiliated, maybe even ostracized? Present day nut-jobs?

I can assure you; Leadership is a yoke. For those who bear this yoke, I encourage you to keep on KEEPING ON! Humanity needs Leaders. Despite the fact you may not see this today; or feel appreciated, or even have followers.

For those who Follow… please choose your Leaders wisely.

Today’s leaders have been tested. Tomorrow’s leaders are risky. Sometimes risk equals reward. Sometimes it does not.

No matter what… Leader or Follower…you must understand that YOU dictate YOUR future.

Enjoy the song…. I did: Breaking Benjamin Follow

As Robert Frost said in the last sentence of his poem The Road Not Taken: “Two roads diverged in a wood, and I — I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference.”

Every day we are greeted with issues, decisions, challenges, and options. Each of these is a prime opportunity to face the divergence in the road and decide: Good or Bad. In truth, the decision in front of you is simply two moves on the chess board of Life. Each leads to another move from your opponent (Unhappiness), and then another move, and another, and so on. If you are not 99 years old, deaf, dumb, and blind…there is good news: you have a CHOICE.

Should I be happy or should i be ____(something else)_____? Read more

I love people sometimes; they come up with every possible excuse and self justification for their own actions. Usually focused on how somebody else’s actions or thoughts are the REAL reason they turned into a sloppy, irresponsible, broke jerk wad. So…I decided to sum up some of the more effective methods of thinking and acting like a loser. The next ten steps are not in any particular order, you can choose any combination of the ten below in order to prove to the world how awesome at NOT being awesome you really are:

Read more

I’ve taken way too long to list out ten simple rules…but here are the last two. I’m currently at the San Jose Search Engine Strategies Conference and about to attend the Google Dance…so I gotta type fast…Mecca calls (at least for my industry). Remember, these were in order of task completion or at least as you will become aware of the issue they address as your business evolves from wild-ass idea to something you can pass on to your kids (or dog if you are a loner):

Read more

Your people…that’s who!!! What people? Employees, vendors, investors, and customers. Note: I did not put the customer first. The customer does not ALWAYS come first…because some customers are better off being sent to your competitors. Great post on that right here…I’ll write more on my vehement belief that customer service is crucial but clients do not always come first. Back to that later; on with the countdown: Read more

Continuing the list, Number 4: If it is good enough for Rudyard Kipling, it’s good enough for me -

The Five W’s (and one H) of SALES. Many a great idea has died a slow and painful death due to no cash to buy food and drink for the human beingswho are building this new enterprise, many an army has lost the war before ever entering battle from a lack of supplies. Business is no different. Cash is oxygen. Cash flow is created through the production of sales. I must admit, this is a subjectI can wax poetic about for a while. Sales can be one of theleast appreciated, albeit oftentimes highestpaid, career paths in existence. Bottom-line though is this, new businesses need to generate cash. Cash can be easily generated from sales. Sales don’t happen by accident though, and they rarely happen virally. They happen through a planned target for customer acquisition and servicing. Thus…Rudyard Kipling’s poem:

I keep six honest serving-men
(They taught me all I knew);
Their names are What and Why and When
And How and Where and Who.

Read more

I occasionally speak at the Prison Entrepreneurship Program (PEP) to new ’students’ on consideration or ruminations related to starting their new gig. A few weeks ago I was speeding up the road, running late , in my oh-so-smooth new car (Jaguar XK-R) and my wonderful devoted wife was scribbling notes I was dictating to her as I kept Jelly-watch between Houston and Huntsville. After I gave my little speech, to a crowd of aspiring entrepreneurial hopefuls, I felt this was something worth sharing for all… so here are ten thoughts to consider, in rough order, if you want to start a new business:

Read more

This guy rocks!

If you’ve seen Entourage you either love Ari or hate him. Even if you hate him, you probably admire his bulldog tenacity, his superbly quick wit and his insanely funny sharp tongue. Played by Jeremy Piven, the character is a cartoonish version of an all-sales-all-the-time-super-performer.

Here is why I love Ari Gold…. he is the physical representation of capitalism at it’s best. Supreme confidence. Awe inspiring. Ari is all business all the time: “Playboy mansion, strip clubs, whore houses, I go where the meetings are…its my job.” – Ari Gold Hear more Ari one-liners here (not for the feint of heart).

In real life, we cant all be like Ari …but we can duplicate his work ethic, his aggressiveness, his tenacity and his drive to win. In Ari’s case, he is already rich. Its not about the money, it is about the will to win. The desire to prove who is the BEST agent in town. Read more