Over the past few months I’ve become jaded by the endless number of self-proclaimed success ‘experts.’ If everyone promoted the same principles, it would be harmless, but it seems that half of them believe the exact opposite as the other half.
To cut through all the smoke, I’ve created a list of 8 businesspeople I deeply admire for their innovation and track record of extraordinary accomplishments.
Benjamin Franklin (for self-improvement)
Andrew Carnegie (for investing)
Richard Branson of Virgin Group (for having fun at work)
Paul Orfalea of Kinkos (for team building)
Barbara Corcoran of The Corcoran Group (for real estate)
Donald Trump of Trump Organization (for deal making)
Steve Jobs of Apple (for innovation)
Keith Ferrazzi of FerrazziGreenlight (for relationship building)
I’m going to begin a serious, in-depth study on how each of them achieved success in their field. This will involve reading autobiographies, biographies, interviews, and any other material I find that will give me insight into their lives and thought patterns.
In the future, I plan to post summaries on each person I’ve studied. If this study goes well, I will create new ‘advisory boards’ for spirituality, philosophy, personal improvement, microfinance, leadership, and so on.
Today I achieved my goal of running a 10k, finishing 2nd in my age bracket.
For the last few years of high school and first few years of college, I was really into weight training and bodybuilding.
Now I’m into running.
As I thought about it over a post-race grilled chicken salad, the advantages of running are obvious:
* Body mass can be achieved relatively easily through supplements, massive protein intake, and so on. (I’ve been there - 25 pounds of muscle gain in 2 months)
* Conversely, there is no equivalent ’shortcut’ to improving your speed and mileage (difficulty is attractive to me)
* The average runner I’ve met is much friendlier and happier than the typical bodybuilder
* Runners have the highest average income of any sport participant (hey, it’s a valid point)
* Running gives me sustained energy throughout the day and increases alertness, whereas my protein and supplement-heavy diet before made my sleepy and sluggish
* Running can be done basically anywhere (attractive to the nomad in me)
I’ve only been consistently training since mid-May of this year, but now I’m hooked. Next stop: a half-marathon.
Sometimes it doesn’t pay to follow conventional wisdom.
Look at Despair.com and their “spin” page. Demotivational posters? Customer disservice?
Look at TheRichJerk.com and his blog. Opening your webpage with “I can already tell I don’t like you”? Starting your sales letter with “Dear Loser”?
Marketing genius. Being so outrageous and over-the-top gets people to talk about you.
When Muslim general Tariq ibn-Ziyad landed at Gibraltar in 711 to begin his Spanish conquest, he had his ships burned, and made this speech to his men:
“Oh my people, whither would you flee? Behind you is the sea, before you, the enemy. You have left now only the hope of your courage.”
For them to return home, they would have to win. Surrender was not an option.
How can you ‘burn the ship’ in your life?
What could you accomplish if you left no chance for failure?
The other day I was looking over my portfolio of business ventures, and noticed something remarkable.
One niche website that I assembled on a Saturday afternoon years ago has consistently earned me hundreds of dollars each month since it was launched — with absolutely no involvement on my part. I spend nothing on advertising (time or money), and have no affiliate program or joint venture in place, yet the orders roll in. It is truly an automated hands-off cash cow. I have other websites like this, but with less dramatic results.
Conversely, there are other ventures in my portfolio that represent months of around-the-clock work and thousands of dollars of investment. One of these projects hasn’t earned me a cent and the other two just broke even (excluding my ‘pay’). Nothing like that to crush your ego.
This ‘disproportionate return on time investment’ is something I’ve noticed in other areas of my life as well. My goal is to discover the common traits in each of these over-performing endeavors and repeat them in the future.
Here’s a tip to help you visualize your end goal and keep focused as you work towards it:
Pretend it’s July 5, 2037 right now. What does your professional bio look like?
What goals have you reached?
What organizations do you belong to, and what is your position?
What life accomplishements are you most proud of?
Where do you live, and what do you enjoy doing?
Take a few moments to write out your professional bio — as you want it to look 30 years from now. Print it out, and place it where you can see it often. By beginning with the end in focus, you’ll be more likely to achieve what you want in life.
(Photo credit Pergamon on Flickr)
I’ve noticed something strange this year. A large number of my young entrepreneur friends and contacts are either working for someone else or participating in internships this year. People who used to write about how they would never work a 9-5 job are doing just that now. What’s happening?
For many of these young entrepreneurs, myself included, starting a business was easier in the past. With parents or college loans to fall back on, we could afford to work on business ventures that provided no immediate cash flow — just for the experience. Now, with the realities of rent, loan repayments, and a myriad of other payments setting in, many of these would-be businesspeople are jumping ship to something more stable — at least for now.
Is this good or bad? I don’t think its necessarily bad. It’s helpful to look at your long-term life goals. If working for someone else will give you experience, contacts, and more imminently, cash, to reach those goals, then it is a good option. You don’t have to look hard to find horror stories of people who got into serious financial trouble by refusing to work when their situation required it.
With this in mind, highschool and college entrepreneurs reading this should realize a couple things.
First, as soon as you move out on your own, you’re going to need cash. Lots of it. If you’re building a business, make sure your company can provide you with adequate cash — right now — rather than at some point in the future.
Second, as you’re focusing on cash liquidity, maintain a long-term mindset. You don’t have to accomplish all of your dreams in the next 6 months. There’s a difference between being ‘realistic’ in the size of your goals, and being realistic about the time frame it takes to accomplish them. Given the right amount of time, you can do nearly anything.
This week, I accomplished one of my 100 Life Goals: I hired a personal assistant.
For a long time, I’ve realized that my personal output had reached a plateau. After trying nearly every time management technique devised, my production was not improving significantly. To achieve more, I needed to have someone do the many time-consuming, but necessary, tasks that were taking up my time.
Reading the 4 Hour Workweek by Timothy Ferris finally kicked me into action. I posted an ad on Elance.com and hired my Indian assistant several days later. So far it’s been great. Some of the tasks I’ve outsourced include:
* Internet research for articles
* Web page updates
* Calling companies to ask about billing options
* Creating a competitive analysis for a venture I’m considering
Eventually, I plan to hire US-based employees to accomplish even more, but hiring a personal assistant has shown me the importance of on working on your business instead of in it.
How I completed this goal
I posted an ad for a part-time virtual assistant from India on my favorite freelance website, Elance.com. The listing attracted 6 bids in 3 days, all between $5-6 per hour. I narrowed this list down to 2 bidders that spoke excellent English, and chose the one that could make phone calls to the US for no extra charge.
Cost to complete this goal
My Indian assistant charges $5 per hour, and he’s currently working 10 hours each week (will increase later). So my total cost is $50 per week.
My New Business Advisory Board
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