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.

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

When you gonna wake up and fight ?

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)_____?

Buddhists say that everything is void of Good or Bad. That it depends on your perception of the situation; and your situation as it relates to the actual occurrence.

That doesn’t mean that your life is a random event; like some macabre carnival game, pitching our fate with a random roll of the wheel. It means that the determination of Good or Bad is in the hands of the Beholder.

Because no matter what you Perceive to be obvious, you have a choice to behave un-obviously.

This is called Faith.

Faith is choosing to Believe in something you do not see at present. There is no factual data to support the Belief. As you deal with the vagaries and uncertainty of life, Faith gives you the option to Choose. Which path shall I take?

The common path, which is usually that of the flotsam and jetsam of humanity, or the less common path: The Road Not Taken.

The Road Not Taken is Faith & Optimism. Deciding to see the choice you made, whatever it may be, as Happiness. Then taking action, taking that first step down the road, which is: Strength, Empowerment, Life’s Journey, Intuition, Clarity, Power, Subconscious Victory, Will Power… all of which lead to Self-Mastery.

There are two alternatives to this Decision to Accept Happiness. One is that you see the step taken as something that chooses you; an Action you were not in Control of making: Destiny, Fate, Self-Defeat, DNA, Spiritual Forces, The Will of God, Familial Obligation, Race, Gender, Situational Economics. The other is to choose to do the same thing you have Always Done. This has the false appearance of being empowering for some people. If it’s the same thing you always say or do, then it is not empowering you.

Anything that dis-empowers you, that takes Control out of your Hands, and puts it into the hands of anyone or anything else (including your own habits), is dis-empowering. It is the Actions Leading to Self Mastery that Empowers you, and leads to Happiness.

For example:

* I drink too much. I will choose to slow down. (ding: a decision). * I will act upon this decision (ding: action). * I recognize failure is human (ding: reality). *I forgive myself before failure happens, if it happens; although not avoiding responsibility (ding: self-acceptance). * And I am taking this journey, this Step…because I BELIEVE I can Win (ding: Happiness through Self-Empowerment).

Try choosing to walk the Road Not Taken: not even necessarily the one not taken by others; but the road not taken by you, the last time you faced this very same issue. I know when I am finding problems in front of me and behind me, I go left or right. And if yesterday I stepped on dog-shit on the left, my decision is pretty easy.

Try Different-ness.

“If you don’t like something change it. If you can’t change it, change your attitude.” – Maya Angelou

Some related links:

The Road Not Taken – Robert Frost

Meaning behind Shinedown’s Sound of Madness

Shinedown – Save Me video

Shinedown – acoustic version of Simple Man

DC Talk – Consume Me

It Ain’t About How Hard You Hit – Rocky Balboa

10). Don’t think about your future…live for today only. Don’t plan. Don’t cogitate. Don’t worry be happy. If spending every penny you make, and some you haven’t yet made, makes you happy…do it. If quitting college makes you happy…do it. If doing a lot of drugs and partying every single day makes you happy…do it. If you plan for the future, you might be disappointed. Don’t be disappointed…don’t plan. Instead, live for today! You might be dead tomorrow, so why bother.

9) Take no risks professionally or personally. Risks are stupid. Risk takers are stupid. Think about them all: Amelia Earhart, Howard Hughes, Donald Trump, Oprah. Shoot…if you take risks, you could end up dead, crazy, with really bad hair, or have a PR nightmare from your most recent $50 million donation. Who wants that mess? It is much easier to sit on your ideas forever, to play-it-safe, and to ride out mediocrity. If it’s good enough for the unnamed and unknown masses of humanity…it’s good enough for you. Grab another beer and bag of chips€¦life is waiting. It can wait.

Let other people make all your decisions. Stay safe…avoid ever being accused of being decisive. It is always the decisive guy that gets axed first in the movies…witness Samuel L Jackson’s character in Deep Blue Sea. You don’t want to be that guy do you? Crunch!! No way!! Sit back and let some other lime-light grabbing jerkwad lead the troops and paint his face blue…it’s much safer to be the schlep following all their decisions. Do you want to live forever?? Yes!!! Leaders die gruesome horrible deaths.

7) Never, ever read. Reading is over rated. If the subject matter was important, they would have taught it to you in Junior College. Besides, life isn’t fun or challenging when you are smart and well equipped for the variety of challenges life has a habit of throwing at you…it is much more fun to go into the unknown wearing only your underwear. Real men don’t read. Reading is a pansy sport. They read a lot in France.

6) Never accept responsibility. Deny fault, even when you look like a stupid a-hole. You will recover from being a stupid a-hole, but they will never recover from properly assigning blame and responsibility on the irresponsible (i.e. you).

5) The world revolves around you. Keep telling yourself that, it will come true someday. If it doesn’t come true by the time you are old and decrepit, buy some ruby red slippers and tap them together while reciting “It’s all about me, it’s all about me.” You will eventually get back to Kansas Dorothy, or at least your Mom and Dad’s home in Topeka.

4) Join a religious or tree-huggers group that backs up your moral conviction that money is bad. You’ll feel better about being a broke, lazy, stupid, schmuck when you are chaining yourself to a tree or sitting astride your valiant steed Ego, your moral high horse, with your trusted friend Judgment by your side. In fact, if you can tell people that you are following “the will of God”, or helping the green movement shoot.you can justify almost anything. What’s a little laziness, bias, castigation, or abuse of others compared to what other people do in the name of religion and eco-terrorism. I bet God invented potato chips and beer. If not, you know you saved a cow when you bought that Naugahyde couch you can sit and eat your organic chips and drink your micro-brewed beer on who wants real leather anyway.

3) Look for a job with a massive company, ideally the government, where you can hide safely amidst the masses and nobody in management will ever see your complete lack of efficiency and productivity. This is crucial. Good benefits and “job security” come with big companies. Just ask anyone who worked for Enron, Dynegy, Arthur Anderson, Eastern Airlines, or WorldCom. Let some nameless boob control your retirement account and your economic future. He will absolutely take care of you and put your interests first, employee number 32,789, he promises.

2) Never ever learn from the mistakes you make, or the mistakes of others. That would require asking yourself hard questions and accepting responsibility, or humbling yourself to learn from other who may have experienced similar life and business issues to those you are currently exposed. Screw that. Humble pie doesn’t taste good. Instead, just keep making the same dumb mistakes over and over and over. Never change your formula. It worked for Thomas Edison…remember, he tried to invent the light bulb 10,000 times. I’m sure he never changed his test. It just worked one day because he bent the rules of nature to his needs. Persistence. Over and over, never change, but expect different results. Learn from Thomas Edison. 10,000 tests…then whammo…it magically worked.

1) Don’t work hard. Laziness is the secret. You’ve heard the saying about being a duck, calm on the surface but paddling furiously under-water? Screw that. Ducks are lazy. They float around all day, and sleep, and wait for kids to feed them bread crumbs. Be the duck. Float. Don’t even paddle…shoot…who knows where you would end up if you did that! Float down life’s river. Eat the bread crumbs thrown by others in your slovenly direction…because bread crumbs from little booger-picking kid’s hands are much better than fois-gras. Who wants fake grass anyway? Ducks eat real grass. Ducks have it made.

Ps – Don’t be the lead duck. The wind hurts his face when he’s flying. It is way better to be the duck in the rear. Yeah, the view never changes, but it’s better to have your duck bill up someone’s back-side than to be buffeted by the cold, harsh, winds of taking on what lies ahead. Duck-holes are warm; who wants cold duck lips?

So there you go. Follow this sage advice and you will succeed mightily at being unsuccessful. You have to be good at something maybe you have finally found your calling!

1. Develop a personal brand.
2. Learn the language of early stage finance.
3. Determine the viability and demand for your product or service.
4. Sell, sell, sell.
5. Recruiting, partnering, outsourcing, and hiring away your weaknesses.
6. Support your sales efforts with marketing & branding.
7. Learn how to manage others…and yourself.
8. Balancing cash flow in daily operations.
9. Why are you doing this and what is the exit? - You should have your goals outlined LONG before you get started. Granted, life changes and sometimes your goals, needs and desires change as well….but the lack of a goal will likely cause you to wander in the desert for 40 yrs and get a really bad sunburn. What motivates you? Money, your ego, a desire to survive / thrive / grow, to prove yourself, control…what? Define this and you will have a much more clear vision for what actions you should take and when you should take them. Last comment here; you should study how, when and why an “exit” is likely to occur and how, when and why you will pursue this type of event, or if you should simply build your business for lifestyle opportunities.
10. The end is the beginning - Finalizing the list is the simple idea that your business is NOT your child, it is NOT your spouse and it is NOT your sense of self. Learn to see your business as a fantastic and fun ride, a great learning opportunity, a financial vehicle for you, your employees, investors and vendors, and simply stated…the business is owned BY you…it should not OWN you. Someday, the business might go away (through acquisition, failure, or simply winding it down). What will you do next? Will you do it again? What have you learned and become through this phenomenal and gut wrenching thrill-ride? Are you better, did you make the lives of other’s better, are you smarter, wiser and hopefully broader in your resources and mental bandwidth than before? While you may well build the next Koch Industries and find the next Anna Nicole….or you might have to start over. Make sure you learn from every experience, manage your personal finances and lifestyle, try and strive for some balance in your affairs, and work towards your goals daily.

Rock and roll !!!!

1. Develop a personal brand,
2. Learn the language of early stage finance,
3. Invent a bionic product or service,
4. The five W’s (and one H) of sales,
5. Recruiting away your weaknesses – We all have strengths and weaknesses; not everyone is as perfect as Lindsay Lohan or Paris Hilton. However, we don’t have to wallow in our own filth just because we lack the genius of Sergei Brin or the fluid sales skills of Bill Clinton…we can simply hire, recruit or partner away our problems!! This starts with recognizing your limitations, understanding the basic roles that every company requires (even startups), and then being a strong enough person to realize that strength comes from resolving problems and not by ignoring them or pretending these weaknesses do not exist. If you can’t sell…you can’t sell. If you stink at finances…admit it and move on. A few key words: Partnerships -be careful and lay it all out early. Hiring – be careful and lay it all out early. Outsourcing – be careful and lay it all out early.
6. Feed the beast – Marketing & branding. Not yourself, but your company’s products and / or services. Pick a niche, and announce to the world your amazing expertise and the gifts that you bring to humanity through your new venture. Ideally, this is a well crafted, well thought through game plan for expanding the world’s knowledge of your company. Marketing is the support system for sales. Your carefully branded message, supported by well developed marketing efforts feeds your sales staff, who in turn feed the company. One final note about marketing and branding: the web has introduced a new paradigm to this venue, currently being ignored by many ad agencies and pr firms. The web eliminates, in many cases, the idea of the “integrity of the media”…but the social web reverses that and empowers the people’s message. That means they are definitely going to talk about you online, and that will be perceived by many as “truth”…might as well join in and try to guide or manage the message.
7. The secret to managing people - Many hundreds of millions of dollars are spent (and earned) every year as business owners and managers try to figure out that elusive target of managing others to efficient and profitable performance. Most of these otherwise fantastic books and speakers miss the key point of management…leading by example. Leverage, through technology, capital or people is the easiest way to insure your business can grow or at least sustain as you sip Bahama-Mamas on the beach. You will never be able to leverage people if you do not know how to recruit, train, motivate and lead them (i.e. manage away mediocrity). Truth is…they tire of the speeches, the harassment and the “motivational” ass-kicking. What they really want to know is…WWJD…What Would Jefe Do? Do you come in late and expect your people early? Do you refuse to sell, service, or dig into details? Do you set the right example…nearly all of the time? If you don’t, you should expect them to follow suit. They will do half of what you do when they are duplicating positives and 300% your efforts when duplicating negatives (because that is usually more fun). You better get GOOD at managing others, managing managers, and managing yourself. BTW – when managing others, consider Machiavelli’s book The Prince, which can be summed up with, ‘It is best if one is both loved and feared. Given the difficulty of uniting both in one person, one ought to inspire fear in such a way that, if he does not win love, he at least avoids hatred.’
8. Learning to snorkel – Last year, I snorkeled for the first time on a trip to Belize (stayed at Francis Ford Coppola’s Turtle Inn…awesome). OK Boo-Boo, I may be a little slower than the average bear…because it took me a while to figure out that I had to breathe through this tiny little apparatus, and if I went nuts wearing myself out…the hole never got any bigger for me to suck oxygen through. I had to keep it unobstructed and had to bring it above water every now and then. Cash flow to your business is an awful lot oxygen to a slightly overweight man ten feet under the water…you need it to survive and you better pay close attention to its availability. Recently a restaurant opened close to my office. It was busy, had decent food, and looked like it was going to be successful…then one day it closed down with no notice. Happens every single day, probably the most common destroyer of businesses (especially new businesses)…the owner ran out of money. Some businesses eat money faster as they grow more and more successful. My company, Pop Labs, has a similar financial model. Our cost to provide service is much higher during the first 3-6 months than the cash flow brought in by a new client. Thus, our success eats more cash than the business spins off on new clientele; the more successful we are, the more cash we need. You MUST manage cash flow daily; insure you have enough for your payroll, client services, key vendors, etc. Guess who gets paid last? You. Isn’t being the owner awesome!!

Just two more to go…nine (9) and ten (10) are about your goals and obligations. Leadership ain’t easy, nor is ownership; but when done right…it generates safety and security beyond the simple appearance of a “good job” or good benefits. If you are serious about starting a business…get ready to fight, every day of your life, for a while…because, as Tom Hank’s character said in A League of their Own, “If it wasn’t hard, everyone would do it. It’s the hard that makes it great.”

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.

The Five W’s (and one H):

• What are you selling?
• Who willbuy it?
• Why would they buy it?
• How will you sell it?
• Where will they buy it?
• When will you sell it?

You must make a plan for your salesand revenue generation….or you better make a plan on moving back in with Mom and Dad. There is a big reason that many businesses post their first dollar on the wall…because that first dollar is symbolic of something. Not that you will be a millionaire, or that you have all your problems solved (woe ye merry man who doesn’t realize the problems have just begun); rather it symbolizes that you have actually gotten someone to buy your poorly-thought-through, undeveloped, PNQAFAYEIWBASAYGSMC (possibly-not-quite-as-fantastic-as-you-expect-it-will-be-as-soon-as-you-get-some-more-capital)product or service. In other words, “Hot Damn, I sold sumthin!!!” Note: That dollaralso symbolizes hope and dreams and optimism…all crucial.

In summary, you’ve got to make a plan for sales. What will you sell? Will you personally sell it or hire someone? What are the sales growth expectations and how will you fund that plan? What will the product / service generate in short term and long term receivables, are their annuities, what percentage of clients will convert from a prospect to a client, how will you find prospects, what is the sales life cycle (i.e. time to close), how much will you invest in your proposal to a client to buy your product / service, how will you recruit salespeople, what expectations will you manage up front in the buying process, is this product / service profitable enough to justify the sales expense, etc, etc, etc.

Lots and lots of questions you must ask yourself about the sales process, not to mention the service side (profits, costs to provide service, refunds, service personnel, etc.).

A couple last minute points here:

You will likely need to start selling, to generate revenue, before your product / service is “ready” or “perfect”. That is OK. Remember Guy Kawasaki’s Rules for Revolutionaries, Don’t Worry Be Crappy. Remember the next Rule. Don’t Stay Crappy….Release, Release, Release (new versions). I just visited with some Entrepreneurs yesterday who told me what differentiated them from the other products on the marketplace was the fact that they took 2.5 yrs to develop it prior to launch. I leaned over to my co-worker and said…’rich parents’. In the absence of serious early stage funding and rich parents…most Entrepreneurs have to start selling prior to being fully ready.

Price your product / service higher than _______(whatever you were about to price it at). People see more value in higher pried items than in cheap stuff. Witness why you don’t buy most of your friends gifts from the $.99 store, despite the cool wrapping paper and awesome Halloween decorations they have available all year long.

Even if you areThe Greatest Salesman in the World, you will someday get tired,sick, or tired AND sick of selling. The larger your business grows, the more important it is youhave a defined plan for scaled growth that is no longer dependant on your own incredible skills. In other words, avoid thetypicalproblem suffered by most Surgeons…lots of money but no free time to enjoy the cash flow.

So…get cranking. The Five W’s (and one H) are calling. Plan your work…work your plan!!

1. Develop a personal brand – Beyond the idea of networking, you need to make sure people in your community know who you are and associate you with something other than a fun guy to drink Heineken with on Friday night. This is old-school networking, combined with personal business development, add a splash of social media (LinkedIn, Virb, etc.) and “wallah”…you have branded yourself as the “Go-To” guy or girl in the community for ___________ (something besides ‘a good time’).
2. Learn the language of early stage finance – Can you say “Ramen Soup”? In reality, whether you are funding this with your credit cards, the hard working dollars your family has earned over the balance of their lives, that old Star Wars collectibles figurines set you just put on Ebay, or from a serious legitimate investor…you need to speak the language of early stage finance. Understand your growth projections…uh…have growth projections. Income Statement, Gross vs. Net, Balance Sheet and all those other nifty words you heard your Professor using while you were still kinda dreaming about that Heineken. Along these same lines; how are you planning on living during those lean early weeks / months / years? Make a plan now, because a failure to plan in this area will lead to your untimely and, likely, short-lived demise.
3. Invent a Bionic product or service – BETTER – FASTER – CHEAPER !!! That is your mantra. Not..”I know some guys in Boise are doing it and making a killing man…pass the Heiney”. Plan early on differentiating yourself. Talk to prospective customers, suppliers, vendors, and SOLVE a PAIN in the marketplace. That will make much of your business life a tiny bit easier. Do a Google search, make sure 300 people in you neighborhood are not doing the exact same thing. If so…it is easier to change course in the beginning than after you have started building your army.

More to come…I’ve got to hop on a plane and order myself a $5 Heineken.

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.

I manage salespeople, among other things. Guess what is missing in most salespeople? The desire to truly WIN. The tenacity and stick-to-itiveness to see their projects through to fruition. The patience, the work ethic, the humbleness of spirit combined with the CONFIDENCE to win.

I also belong to a great group of entrepreneurs, people who are generally between 35 and 50 yrs of age and run businesses of at least $1 mill in annual revenues. The group is called Entrepreneur’s Organization (EO), and represents 6,400 companies, $85 billion in combined revenues, and 926,000 employees worldwide.

While I have seen all types of personalities, all types of businesses, and all levels of “success” in my exposure to other entrepreneurs through EO…I can assure you one thing seems consistent, at one point in their lives, these guys / gals all put in 110%, they all were focused on their business success, and while they may not all choose the same colorful language of Ari Goldthey all have carried the heart of the champion for a period of time.

“You can have it if you want to live in F’ing Agora Hills, and go to group therapy; but if you want a Beverly Hills mansion, and a country club membership, and nine weeks in a Tuscan Villa, then Im going to need to take a call when it comes in at noon on a MF’ing Wednesday!” – Ari Gold.

What lessons can an aspiring entrepreneur, six-figure salesperson, or up-and-coming future executive take from Hard-Hitting-Ari? What lessons can an aspiring entrepreneur, six-figure salesperson, or up-and-coming future executive take from Hard-Hitting-Ari?

Simple, here are a few thoughts:

What lessons can an aspiring entrepreneur, six-figure salesperson, or up-and-coming future executive take from Hard-Hitting-Ari?

Simple, here are a few thoughts:

1) Nothing comes easy, no matter how connected you strive to be.
2) You can not escape the work ethic requirement embedded in the success equation.
3) Drive and determination are what your clients expect.
4) People are motivated more by emotion than by fact.
5) Regardless of what your spouse, friends, or co-workers sayyou are in charge of your destiny and NOBODY else is going to do it for youand most wont support your crazy visions, dreams and ambitions.
6) Never, ever, ever, ever give up.
7) Fire people who are lazy and / or unproductive; Can you read? {while Ari writes on white board} Get The F Out Ari Gold.
Take risks.
9) Make decisions – Conquer your fears Reward loyalty.

Achieve what you need / require.

Tap your own internal Ari Gold and enjoy the fruits of your labor!!

I firmly believe that any man’s finest hour, the greatest fulfillment of all that he holds dear, is that moment when he has worked his heart out in a good cause and lies exhausted on the field of battle – victorious. Vince Lombardi.

Youve been born into royalty baby, you know it. Now you just gotta be thankful and wear the crown. Ari Gold.

Lets hug it out, bitch Ari Gold.