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8 Reasons Why Becoming Successful Is Not Convenient

Why would someone say, “Becoming successful is not convenient”?

After all we all seem to want to become successful, don’t we? Well, here are 8 reasons why it is not convenient.

1. There is a cost to becoming successful. Opportunity costs are what you give up in return to do something higher up on the internal meter. You have one thing that is good and fun to do by itself, but if you choose to work on yourself or a business, you are giving up that fun thing to do the work.Now let’s look at a real world example. It’s 8:00 a.m. on Saturday morning and you are working on your opportunity or business or catching up with your family time. A very good friend of yours calls and says, “Let’s go to the gun range, today”. You love going to the range, but you haven’t spent time with your family or have several important calls to make for your business. Successful people make these sacrifices daily because they see the value in the future.


2. Successful people do not get successful working 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. They work 12, 14, 17 hours a day. They love what they are doing, so it’s not work. Work after all is desiring to be someplace else while you are working. If you love what you are doing, you do not desire to be someplace else (make sense?).


3. Successful people send time every month working on themselves by investing in personal development. They recognize that there are things about themselves that they could improve if they just spent some time on it. There are skills that are needed and tasks to master in order to move ahead.


4. Successful people very seldom make it big trading time for money. They learn how to leverage their time. This could come from investing (having your money work for you) or through something as simple as network marketing. Learning how to maximize your results from your efforts is key to your success, no matter what the field.


5. Successful people do not follow the herd. They have a vision and step-by-step they start to achieve it. Walt Disney founded Disney World but it wasn’t huge until after his death. Someone told his son one day, “Too bad your dad wasn’t alive to see this.” He replied, “He saw it first.”


6. Successful people are open-minded. They are always looking for a better way to do something. They might go to a seminar and say, “if I learn just one thing today it will be worth it”.


7. Successful people surround themselves with positive minded and talented people. This might include changing or alternating peer groups. It is essential to your future to be around people that support and encourage your vision of success. If you aren’t, you are likely getting discouragement instead.


8. Successful people see an idea and act on it very quickly. Then move mountains to get it accomplished. The words “I can’t” are not in their vocabulary. They don’t fear failure, but rather know it can happen and expect to learn from it if it does.

Each one of these 8 reasons will cause a disruption to your daily life in some way for at least a little while. But keeping a normal life is what got you where you are. If you want to be somewhere else, if becoming successful is important, you need to do a little disruption now and then.

8 Reasons Why Becoming Successful Is Not Convenient

Why Not Act Like It's January 1st Every Day?

There is a tape that a friend of mine gave me a long time ago. It’s called the Winner’s Edge. Great tape, and lots of good stuff on it. I am reminded of one thing in particular as I am creating and launching new products.

In it, Ray Pelletier asks what if every day were January 1st? Other than a perpetual hangover for a lot of folks you may be tempted to say “So what?”

What do people do every year on Jan. 1? They set new goals or resolutions. They mentally wipe the slate clean. They start over on their promises and intentions. They take this arbitrary date on a calendar that really is only significant because we GIVE it such and they FORGET THE PAST so they can CREATE THE FUTURE!

If you treated every day like it was a fresh start from where you are now, what would happen? Would you have less stress? Less headaches? More energy? Would you see the possibilities before you because you were at a beginning?

Don’t we all generally look forward to the potential of what lay ahead at every time of year? In the Spring we have warming weather and Easter. In the summer we look forward to vacations, cookouts and ball games. In the Fall we tend to breathe a sigh of relief as we send the kids off to school and get them out of our hair. Finally in the winter we are all about Christmas, presents, football and winter activities. It’s all about what can happen it seems. We tend to bury the past in favor of the future.

As we move through the year, we drag the baggage of the missed opportunities, the little failures, the big problems, the small and the inconsequential with us only to let go of them at January 1st.

Why not act as if EVERY day is January 1st in that respect? Let’s drop all that baggage now. Let’s now wait another week or another month. Most importantly, let’s not wake up in a month still dragging last month’s baggage with us. Let’s all leave it behind every day and focus on the future.

Imagine what life would be like if you lived each day like this. It doesn’t mean you don’t ever think about the past, because we build upon our past. But it does mean that we don’t let our past rule our future. It’s too easy to get caught up on our past problems or failures.

Instead, get caught up in your future and your triumphs. Build on yesterday and today. Discard the past that doesn’t work and keep what does. It’s the only way to treat every day like it’s a new year.

Why Not Act Like It's January 1st Every Day?

Network Marketing – How to Choose a Company

When choosing a network marketing company, I recommend looking for several things:

1 – Established company with established products. This means a network marketing company that has been in business long enough to have their feet wet, but not to have hit a plateau level on growth, at least in your area. Established products means that the company shouldn’t be betting the future on something new just as you join.

2 – Good Leadership – Is the company run by solid people with solid reputations, skills, vision, leadership, integrity and honesty? Are the people you are going to be working with compatible with you? Can you get along with them? Are your goals similar? Do you have a vision match?

3 – Great Products – Can you get excited about the products? If not, pass on the company… no matter how good, established, well-paying, etc. If you cannot get excited, then how can you get someone else interested in this network marketing opportunity?

4 – Solid Marketing Plan – In other words, is there a path laid out for you to follow? Are the goals attainable? Does the pay plan make sense? Do they pay out as much as they say or is it all smoke and mirrors? Can you make the promotions? Is pay based on product sales as opposed to recruiting new people?

5 – Training – What kind of training does the company and/or the local leaders provide? Are they there to teach you or are you left to your own devices? Are there training programs, books, tapes, step-by-step guides? Network marketing has been called a self-development program with a pay plan. The better you get as a person (belief in skills, abilities, knowing where you are going, etc.) the better you get as a networker. And you get paid for that and to help others do the same.

Network marketing gets a bad rap by many uninformed people or ones that have been burned by unscrupulous companies or so-called leaders in the past. Often people will say, “I was in one of those scams for a couple of months and it didn’t work!”

Right… couple of months and you weren’t making $10,000 a month. It MUST be a scam!

Remember that most people will take 2-5 years to develop the kind of income that will allow them to walk away from their day jobs. That is approximately the same time it takes traditional businesses to become profitable, if they keep their doors open. You can keep your doors open as long as it takes.

Persistence is the key.

Where would you be right now if you had begun a network marketing business 3 years ago? Would you care if you were laid off tomorrow? Probably not. It would mean you could finally work your business full-time and REALLY start making some money!

It’s not too late yet. Get started looking now!

Network Marketing – How to Choose a Company

Second Income - Why Wait Until You are Laid Off?

Why is it that most people seem to wait until they have been laid off or fired before they get serious about developing a second income source?

Have you noticed that? Have you done that yourself?

Personally, I refuse to participate in any recession. It’s all a state of mind in my opinion. Sure, you can lose a job, and that is not a state of mind. But they used to call them Depressions and Panics. Why? Because it’s an emotional state of mind.

Part of not giving in to the fear and stress is being prepared for the possibility. Most people who are in the so-called Generation X age group never truly knew a recession of any kind in their adult lifetimes until recently. This left most of us ill-prepared for the economic and social shock our country has taken and will take.

How do you prepare yourself for a second income?

First, you develop yourself into a desirable quantity. Do what you can to make yourself indispensable at your job. That makes the next part easier, because it’s hard to develop a cushion in the form of a second income when your primary source may go away!

Second, find some kind of home-based business to run. Home-based businesses are the best hedge against loss of income and also rising taxes (which may also be a consideration, unfortunately). This type of second income is as diverse as you can get too. There’s almost nothing you can’t do from home now.

My advice is to choose something that can be done part-time and expanded later. It should require relatively small start-up and operating costs. By “relatively small” I mean $500 or so on startup and a couple of hundred on monthly expenses. Neither number is set in stone. Many second income home-based businesses can be entered for as little as $20 with a $50 a month (even less) overhead.

Many require several thousand dollars to start and hundreds to operate. You shouldn’t choose your business based solely on startup or operating expenses. Both are flexible. Most companies will have multiple amounts you can start for and your operating expenses are also largely up to you.

You can create a second income business from your own skills by marketing personal services such as programming, web design, resume services, courier services, etc. The only problem here is that you are trading dollars for time. You will likely be unable to build a stable income that continues when you stop working.

Or you can go the non-traditional route, and the one I recommend, by joining a network marketing or direct sales company for your second income. The really good ones offer low start-up costs, great training, mentoring and a good residual income… If you are willing to follow a plan and work it for anywhere from 2-5 years, you can replace your current income in that time frame with many companies. The key is to focus and not give up.

For instance, if you put $50,000 into opening a small flower shop, if you are not making money after the first 2 months, are you going to quit? Of course not. It takes time to build a clientele of regular customers and to get referrals from them. The same is true of almost any business. Traditional small businesses leave you in debt when you start by tens or even hundreds of thousands of dollars. Rarely will you go into serious debt (and I don’t mean putting the business kit and initial product order on your credit card) to begin a networking business.

Second Income - Why Wait Until You are Laid Off?

Open Mind - Where Are All the Opportunities?

First thing I have to ask you is this: Do you have an open mind and an open heart?

Now why did I ask that? Hmmmn.

Well, an open mind should be obvious. You can’t pre-judge things and people and be able to find an opportunity. It’s that simple. Don’t pre-judge. You never know when someone will come into your life that will offer you something or have something that will help you. You never know when a piece of information will come to you that is that missing ingredient.

The open heart is your own. Are you ready for opportunity? Not everyone is. If they were, the world would be a far different place! Are you ready to act? Are you ready to see yourself taking advantage of an opportunity or are you still paralyzed with fear and indecision?

Some time ago I was in Nashville for a training seminar. A woman I met owns a video production company with her husband and saw the cover I created for the training tape set. Turns out she is looking for someone to design video cases for their company. While I haven’t been pursuing graphics projects for some time, I am always open to new projects. So, we exchanged information. That’s having an open mind and heart.

One of the speakers talked at the end of the second day about motivation and opportunity. Wow, he was good! What he had to say and how he said it were really inspiring. So, we talked about the website and he promised to look at it. I will be calling him to see if there is something we can do together. That’s having an open mind and heart.

I was there for training, but I made two contacts with people I had never met before that may mean more money. It was because I had an open mind and an open heart. I was open to talking to these people, and I was able to see myself working with them, before we even talked. That is having an open mind and an open heart.

A quick note here: I am not just referring to business opportunities. Opportunities can be for relationships, learning, career, where you live, what you drive, what you where, who your friends are and even what you think.

So, now that we have an open mind and an open heart, where ARE the opportunities?

Everywhere.

Huh? That’s it?

Yep. Everywhere. Look at the paragraph that started with “A quick note here:” That describes an awful lot of types of opportunities doesn’t it? So, with all those types, doesn’t it follow that they are everywhere?

Click. (The sound of a light bulb going on.)

So if the definition of an opportunity is that broad, then why don’t we see them?

Closed mind and closed heart. Is yours an open mind and heart or are they closed?

Open Mind - Where Are All the Opportunities?

Belief System - What is your Frame of Reference?

You are obviously working on bettering yourself and your life. Depending on where you are with it, the possibilities and opportunities may not be recognizable yet; but they will be. One thing that is extremely important in recognizing opportunities is your frame of reference. Some will call this your belief system, paradigm, world view or just outlook on life.

Whatever term you use, it is how you look at life and how you filter that into an understanding or belief system. Simply put it is what you think is true about yourself and everyone and everything around you.

Let’s examine what makes up your belief system. What are the things that you know in your heart are true above all else? Write down your belief system for the following areas:

1. Yourself


2. Family (them and your relationship with them)


3. People


4. Justice


5. Faith


6. Your Country


7. Your Future


8. Your Past


9. Your Limitations (external and internal)


10. Your Potential (current and undeveloped)

If you are totally honest with yourself, this belief system you have described will give you a picture of how you view the world and your place in it. Your belief system in these areas will tell you where you are and whether you have any expectations of a better or worse future.

Does the belief system you defined hold you back? Does this belief system empower you? How many beliefs are about things you think you can’t control or even affect? Those things you think you cannot affect or control are NOT really what limits you! It is your belief that they do.

Seriously.

Take that belief system and create a new one that empowers you and makes you stronger. It can be as simple as turning “The deck is stacked against me because I am a man/woman/minority/etc.” into “I can shuffle ‘the deck’ any time I want.”

Now look at this new belief system and envision for it how you and your life would be different if you acted as if it were true. Quite a difference isn’t it?

That is exactly how big time, massively successful people act!

They act as if nothing can stop them and believe it. When a setback occurs, they adjust and move on. They don’t focus on the setbacks; they focus on the positive and learn from their setbacks. Anyone can do that.

If they believe they can.

I challenge you to examine those negative beliefs and replace them with positive, empowering ones. It will take time and you will meet a lot of resistance since your old beliefs are pretty well entrenched.

I suggest you write down the new belief system and read it in the morning when you get up, at night before bed and any time you are in need of a booster shot of positive beliefs. Do it after a setback. Do it before a big meeting or presentation. Do it every day.

In the coming months we will have online courses on the website that will help you in this process along with goal setting, creating a vision, how to get out of Drift and many others.

Belief System - What is your Frame of Reference?

Want to be Better? Top 10 Things Stopping You

Just about everyone wants to be, do, havem act or live better in some way. It’s human nature to desire something better than what we have now. That is most definitely NOT a bad thing. This desire is responsible for much of the good in the world today.

But have you noticed that the majority of people don’t really get that much better, whether it’s being, doing, having, acting or living? Or if they do, they often slip backwards and may be worse off than before?

Below are 10 reasons why people don’t get better:

1. 
   What is Better? – The desire hasn’t been defined. You may know that you want more in life, but do you really know what that more is?


2. 
   Am I already Better? – Sometimes we don’t realize that we’ve already made progress in some areas. This lack of recognition keeps our attention in places it shouldn’t be.


3. 
   How much Better? – Have you quantified how much you want to improve an area? Just saying I want to make more money this year isn’t enough.


4. 
   Too many Betters? – Many times we decide on too many areas to work on. There’s only so much time and attention that we can give to getting better. Let’s not do everything at once.


5. 
   Too few Betters? – Sometimes we don’t pick enough areas to work on. While our time is limited, some things need or can be done together or in tandem to really work.


6. 
   Is it the wrong Better? – To everything there is some order. And that applies to getting better. You may apply for a new job, but have you developed the skills yet to do the job?


7. 
   Do your Betters make sense? – Do they fit together? Getting rich at any cost is not compatible with being closer with your family most of the time. Don’t be contradictory.


8. 
   Who makes me Better? – Who are you surrounding yourself with? Sometimes our biggest stumbling block are the friends and family we let influence us. Remove or limit the influence.


9. 
   Are my thoughts Better? – One of the most important things to do, and the hardest, is to limit the negative thoughts we all have. These hold you back as much or more than anything else.


10. 
    Why do I want to be Better? – This is huge too. If you don’t know why you want to do something, then it will never be important enough to do it at all.

Want to be Better? Top 10 Things Stopping You

Just What IS an Opportunity?

This is probably one of the most important questions we can discuss. This being the United States of America, It seems to me that Opportunity is something that ALL Americans have around them and can take advantage of, no matter the quality of the economy.

Opportunities come in many flavors, styles, degrees of visibility, levels of difficulty and accessibility. Opportunities sometimes don’t look like opportunities, sometimes they look like disasters or problems. Sometimes factors stand in the way of opportunities that come your way. It may be a lack of money, time, resources, emotional support, belief or prejudice.

But, what IS an opportunity? Well, let’s start with what it is not. It is not a guaranteed result.

Catch that?

NOT a guaranteed result.

I don’t care what someone tells you about any opportunity, specifically or opportunity in general. By its definition, opportunity is a chance to win and it is a chance to fail. No one is guaranteed anything in this country except Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness. See the Declaration of Independence.

Pursuit. . .

What does that mean?

It means you can chase Happiness to your heart’s content. Notice it doesn’t say “Life, Liberty and Happiness.” Want to know why? Because those old men knew something too many have either forgotten, never knew or choose to ignore: Happiness comes from within. Therefore, it cannot EVER be guaranteed.

What does that have to do with Opportunity?

Everything.

Opportunity requires something from WITHIN each of us.

It requires that we believe certain things and accept certain facts.

I believe that some of these things are:

1. I can do it.


2. I may not do it.


3. I will have to work for it.


4. Obstacles are always in the way. I choose whether or not to ignore them.


5. I create my own limits.


6. I do not have to let others’ opinions stop me.


7. I must be determined to win.


8. My beliefs determine whether I see opportunities or not.


9. If I quit, I fail.


10. Success is not guaranteed.


11. Failure is not guaranteed.


12. The chance is the only thing that guaranteed.


13. The odds are never the same for any two opportunities or for any two people.


14. Life is not fair, but you can make it work in your favor.


15. Your biggest obstacle is in your own head.

I know that a lot of people will immediately question and deny some if not all of these 15 things. More will deny that there are any opportunities unless you are the right color, gender, ethnicity or have the right bank account already.

Hogwash.

There are enough examples of people facing impossible odds and winning. Against all kinds of obstacles including the ones listed above.

So, what is the difference? Those that triumphed did not quit. They didn’t let anything stand in their way. The rest quit. It’s that simple.

Now a word of caution. The winners are on the ball enough to watch what they did and notice whether or not it was working. Sometimes they quit on one or another opportunities, but they NEVER QUIT ON THEM SELVES!

Opportunity is the possibility of achieving what you want and believing that you can do it. Not hoping. Not wishing. Believing. And not quitting on your belief.

Just What IS an Opportunity?