“I’ve missed more than 9000 shots in my career. I’ve lost almost 300 games. 26 times, I’ve been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed”

- Michael Jordan

Something that I believe will help you grow your business and make you more successful in every aspect of your life.

It’s one of those issues that we all like to believe doesn’t really affect us. We tell ourselves “we grew out of that a long time ago.” Or, “sure that affects other people, but not me.”

We all pay a steep price for ignoring it.

I see this with my business clients all the time. These would-be entrepreneurs look at their business performance and they can’t understand why their struggling.

They have no idea what’s really holding them back.

Yet it’s obvious to me. It’s the same thing that holds all of us back in all aspects of our lives.

I’m talking about fear.

We all suffer from it. The only difference between those who are successful and those who struggle is the successful people learn to master it.

Fear is the oldest and strongest emotion that all human beings share.

It’s actually hard-wired into our nervous system – our subconscious. And it creates its own self-fulfilling dynamic as we give in to it.

You see, at the end of the day, the majority of people are all too afraid of offending people – of stirring up conflict, of standing up or out from the crowd, of taking bold action.

And when an entrepreneur gives in to fear like that, they lose energy, they lose momentum, they lose the ability to be confident in their decision-making. They can no longer take advantage of the opportunities that fit in with their own strategic alignment.

Unfortunately all that eventually translates into inaction. And that inaction or procrastination ultimately leads many people to have less and less confidence over time.

Our relationship to fear has evolved for thousands of years.

It’s changed over time from a primitive natural fear of being killed, of immense danger, to a more generalized anxiety about the future.

Now the majority of people have a fearful attitude about life itself that I believe dominates most of our lives.

I’ll explain a bit more about that in a second, but because fear has evolved like it has, we come to see almost every event in terms of risk.

When you do that, you tend to exaggerate the danger of your own vulnerability. Therefore, you focus on the potential adversity as opposed to the upside.

But as a rational, productive, and ultimately successful entrepreneur, it’s necessary for you to overcome this trend and evolve beyond your fears.

Realize that no one is born without fear. It’s actually unnatural to not feel fear.

To overcome its constraining forces on your growth – of you as a person, you as an entrepreneur and your business – you have to go through a conscious process to overcome it.

But before I walk you through how to do that, I want to give you a little bit more background.

From my perspective, America was once a country that was full of pragmatists and realists. Realistic thinking. But today, with the threats we face in society no longer being so violent, so hazardous, our character has changed.

Reality of life has become something that most people try to avoid. Something they want to escape from by means whatever means.

And our culture has manufactured endless ways to escape reality: Movies. TV. Websites. Anything to help escape for a period of time.

No matter how challenging the economic times might be, we now live in a society of relative prosperity. We are all better off than our ancestors. But in many ways that has turned out to be a detriment to the resilient spirits of many people.

Today, most people feel that they naturally deserve things. They are due certain privileges. When any setback occurs, it’s almost like a surprise. How could it have ever happened?

And because we live in these comfortable circumstances, our main goal then becomes how to maintain the comfort and security that we have.

Remember we have these layers of fear that we’re neurologically hard-wired for, so our natural tendency is to interpret any minor, temporary obstacles as something larger – as bigger setbacks, as crises.

We become more sensitive to the slightest risk or threat to the status quo.

We find it harder to tolerate feelings of fear because they are now more vague and troubling as opposed to direct and acute. So many people default into a passive mode rather than taking action to face down our perceived threats.

While you can’t stop the tide of fantasy and escapism that basically pervades society these days, what you can do as an individual, as a successful entrepreneur, is decide to buck the trend and create a more powerful you.

Ultimately you are born with the greatest weapon in all of nature – a rational conscious mind.

It has the power to expand your vision far and wide. It gives you the unique capacity to distinguish patterns and events and learn from the past.

It allows you to glimpse into the future. See through facades and appearances.

You must use that gift to fight escapism and move in the opposite direction. Instead you have to focus outward and become a keen observer of everything that’s going around you.

You are fighting for your own clarity. You don’t want to escape.

Things will always happen, but it’s your mind that chooses to interpret them either as positive or negative. If you can see everything (or at least most things), as a challenge, a positive – it will help you combat that fear.

What every successful entrepreneur needs to do at some point is take the opposite approach to the norm if they’re going to be successful.

Instead of becoming discouraged and depressed by any obstacle, see it as a wakeup call. As a challenge that will transform you into a better, more successful entrepreneur. Into someone who can be successful no matter what’s thrown at you.

When that happens, your energy levels rise. You move to the more aggressive side of growing your business. You are able to surprise your competitors with boldness and ultimately, you care less what people think and paradoxically this causes them to admire you more.

It starts with a choice: Decide to NOT live in fear. Suddenly all those obstacles won’t be so insurmountable.
Author’s Bio:

About the Author: Rich Schefren has been in the business world for over 20 years. During that time he’s grown three multi-million dollar businesses. Rich is known as the “Guru to the Gurus” because he’s coached 90% of the gurus in the marketing industry today. He has also taught his business and marketing strategies to both online entrepreneurs and marketing powerhouses like: Agora Publishing, Boardroom, TheStreet.com, Weiss Financial, and The Motley Fool. He’s also been featured in the Wall Street Journal, and profiled on every major television network, including: Fox News, CNN, MSNBC, ABC, CBS, and NBC. Yet he still coaches individual start-up online entrepreneurs. To find out how to revolutionize your business, watch Rich’s free “From Frustration to Freedom” webinar at http://www.strategicprofits.com/content/.

Article Source: http://www.selfgrowth.com/articles/what-s-holding-you-back-from-the-success-you-want

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It is very common these days to look for ways to earn some amount of cash online. Sadly some fall into fraud traps like “buy this and get that for free only for $xx.xx“, only to get their credit card information and eventually suck all that their credit cards have. There are those that will make you believe that you can really earn by just clicking through links and ads. There are tons of more stuff like these around the internet and I tell you, they all sound promising!

As someone who has been broke and not an internet type of guy back in 2010, I too fell to these traps. Luckily I do not have a credit card that maybe pissed those online burglars off. I spent hours and days and weeks and months online, hoping to find ways to earn some cash coz I am in desperate need. Back then I just got married and I don’t have a job.

So I Can Really Make Some Cash Online?

If you’re thinking that you are the only one who is incurred into huge debt burden, you need to know that there are others too who are facing the same problem in this tough economy and as such, worry how to come out of it. Although you are in debt burden at this moment, you will not have to stay in it for life long. By putting little effort, you will surely be able to overcome it. There are several debt elimination programs that help you remove your debt problems. You only have to find the right option for yourself.

While you are entangled into serious debt problems, you should do little research as to how you will be able to get rid of outstanding debts. Learn about the importance of a good budget and the budgeting tools that may help you eradicate your debt problems. You did not fall into debt overnight and so, you will need at least some time to free yourself from its clutches. Take some time and find out all the suitable options available to you, speak with people who may be able to provide you some help and then come to a final decision to erase debt problems.

A good debt plan will be one that includes the reason why you got entangled into debt and then provide solutions to your debt problems. This is important because if you do not know how you have fallen into it, you will never be able to stay away from it in future. Thus, take the necessary steps to repay your debts soon so as to enjoy a debt free life and save your dollars to keep your future secured. At times, you may find your debt plan difficult to follow. It is advisable that you stick to the debt plan that you have chosen so that you may be able to become debt free soon.

About the Author: This article was written by Alfred Smith the Community Mentor of Oak View Law Group and has been contributing his suggestions to the Community since 2005. Not just that, he has also made notable contributions through the various articles written on different subjects related to the debt, credit consolidation, bankruptcy, etc.

The clearer you are in your reason or your WHY, or your purpose for doing anything, the more likely it is that you’ll succeed. So rather than setting up all the incentives, the best thing is to help an individual get clarity on the WHY it is important to them and to the other people that is going to be affected. That is going to be the primary driver and motivator.

Once a person is purposeful about something then we can get out of the way, no one needs to motivate or do anything to push him to do things. This is because his commitment is already built in, his intrinsic motivation is happening and intrinsic motivation is always better than extrinsic motivation.

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Abah Komon, a 70 year old granpa from Indonesia walks from Subang to Bandung (± 60 km) to sell BroomSticks. Aside from his age, Abah is also blind but this does not hinder him from going out daily to sell broomsticks to feed his family.

For the past 32 years of selling broomsticks in the streets of Indonesia, Abah Komon has experienced undesirable things like being hit by a bike-car, stepped on thorns and spikes, fooled by some people by not paying him or taking too much change, there has also been times when he was lost that he could not go home.

When a lot younger,he could carry 40 pieces of broomstick, now in his age, he can only carry 20 pieces that weigh around 25kg. Using his bare feet as his eyes, Abah Komon walks to and fro daily.

A tie of broomstick costs 2500 Rupee making the whole bundle (20 pcs) 50,000 Rupee. And as part of his expenses, occasionally he would ride back his place to Bandung Earring Elf from 16,000 Rupee and to feed himself will costs him 20,000 Rupee. Doing the math, what’s left for his family is around 14,000 Rupee.

Despite his situation – poor, old and blind, rather than complain for despair, Abah Komon keeps working hoping to somehow make ends meet. There are people when faced with such challenges and difficulties will probably just sit and complain about life, depend on others and beg, and worst end their life.

Poverty and physical limitations is a sad side of the story, while the happy side is he still has the enthusiasm and is working towards helping family in a way not dependent to others. Abah Komon is blind, yes, yet he can see the world and the meaning of life.

Other posts that is related to this topic: Click them Below

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Ed Feliciano is an Electrical Engineer and at the same time an Entrepreneur. His love and passion of entrepreneurship and positivity in life is very evident when one meets him in person. Ed is also a faithful member of and a local leader in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (Mormon).

Though he spoke to Latter Day Saints that day, his message is also relevant to everyone who is looking for inspiration to better their lives.

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Joshua 1: 9 “… Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the LORD thy God [is] with thee whithersoever thou goest.”

I have chosen to share these thoughts to you my brothers and sisters because as you go out and embark in businesses of your own after this commencement exercise, the opportunity for you to acquire things are limitless. And every day, during the course of every business transaction you will make, it will test not only your faith and your hope, but also of your courage – your courage to fail and to succeed.

You see, business is not for the faint of heart, as shared by no less than Mr. John Gokongwei Jr., in his book, “The Path of Entrepreneurship”, have said: “… I chose to live my life unafraid even during times when I was afraid. I discovered that opportunities don’t find you. You find your opportunities.” He continued: “Call it trite – but believe me, success can be achieved through hard work, frugality, integrity, responsiveness to change, and most of all, the boldness to dream.”
As I have read Mr. Gokongwei’s book, surely in his businesses there are lots of money involved, but it is not so much about the money, but his being, that he masters not only money, but most importantly himself, and as soon as he had mastered himself, he was able to focus all his energies into realizing his dreams.

John Gokongwei Jr

The words: hard work, frugality, integrity, responsiveness to change or adaptability, boldness, and courageousness are traits that are not tangible, not seen, but can only be felt, or a state of being. Like faith, which are not seen, but things we hope for.

Being is spiritual in nature – it is what we are inside: courageous, daring, bold, not afraid to fail, sincere, honest, grateful… you see, all fruits of the spirit. Mr. Gokongwei, almost has all that virtues. He had mastered himself and so whatever he focused his mind to; he can create, and test his faith.

As President Uchtdorf, First Counselor in the First Presidency (of the LDS church) once shared: “we have the power to create”. And one of the best areas where we can exercise this power is in business, in the field where our faith can be tested to the fullest.

Therefore, (our) being is most important. In addition, in acquiring “to be”, you need to be spiritually grounded and to be spiritually strong. Does the Lord’s declaration: “All things are spiritual to me” make sense now?

As a member of the church, we have the distinct advantage, for we know where we are heading, we know the why of things, and almost daily, we are cultivating ourselves in all our lessons in the church. So we do not have the problems in “the being” part, we are learning that in the church. And now, in OTP class (ACE training) that you have had, you have acquired something as part of your being. However, as Elder David A. Bednar, said: “It is not in how much we know that is important, but in what we do, with what we know.”

Ed then shared his story of being in business in electrical consultancy, installations, and maintenance, and the following:

1. Do not be afraid to make mistakes, even costly mistakes, but before embarking into something, count the cost first. See the opportunity to learn from the experience. To be patient and alert during the time of adversity.
2. Develop the habit of constant learning. Cultivate the strong leadership qualities that you have.
3. Be adaptable to change, and focused on what you can become.
4. Never, Never, Never, ever give-up.
5. Put family first. Remember that no amount of millions can mend a broken heart or broken family.

In closing, I would like to congratulate each of you in taking the step toward realizing your goals and no matter how will the journey be, whether it’s rough, tough, or smooth. You must find joy in that travel and must have a good ride until you reach it.

You now have the skills to be in business, step-up, and get on in business. Now, visualize it (see it in your mind), and get ready, aim, Fire!

Just do it! Brothers and Sisters.

It is my prayer that all of you succeed and that you may help our Father in Heaven build His kingdom upon the earth, and in doing so, may His love and protection be with you all. In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

Let’s have a closer look on how creation works and how our subconscious mind works. Because it’s the same.

Everything that exists; what we see and experience, were first created in someone’s mind. Everything starts with a thought. A thought is an energy. Energy wants to manifest itself. A lot of thoughts in the same direction will, that’s for sure, manifest in the real world.

This is the process of creation. We are created by the same process. We use this process of creation all the time, without knowing it. We are creators.

When we are not conscious, then we are like most people and use this power to create a negative life. We have negative thoughts and get negative results. On contrary, once we learn how to think positive thoughts, we will get positive results in our life.

When the mainstream of your thoughts is negative, let’s say for 85 %, then the outcome will be negative for 85%. Your thoughts fall into your subconscious mind, which executes exactly what you put in it. It is like a computer. When you type in your computer : “I am stupid, I am fat, I am ugly, nobody loves me”, are you angry with your printer when the paper comes out that says “I am stupid, I am fat, I am ugly, nobody loves me”? Do you throw a shoe at your computer and do you yell at him that he is the fault of everything that’s going wrong? No, because you know you put that information in it and your computer does not interfere. The output matches exactly the input.

So work out your subconscious mind. If you don’t like the output (what life is giving you), change the input (what you are thinking). You will when you believe. You get exactly what you ask for = what you think of the whole day. Don’t be angry with your life.  You are not angry with your computer, are you? Instead of being angry, learn how it works and learn to get positive results in your life. Start thinking positive thoughts. Think only thoughts you wish to see happen in real life. Think only what you want to become true. And wait for a while, be patient. One day you will harvest what you sew, like you know earth will give you back what you put in it. It is never lost. Just wait and see.

Content source: http://www.squidoo.com/abc-of-life

ABC of Life

Many of us set goals to make our life full, rich, and abundant. Goals help us to receive an outcome desirable by our own impressions as we take in the good and the bad. Many times, our life will be what we make it out to be. We all can’t be astronauts or the Noble Peace prize winner and therefore life isn’t a failure if we don’t reach these lofty goals that we may make.

So, how therefore can life be fulfilled with what may be determined by others as a wasted life. Just as we learned and did our ABCs in school, let us view our later years ABCs;

A = Attitude

President Thomas S Monson said, “William James, a pioneering American psychologist and philosopher, wrote, ‘The greatest revolution of our generation is the discovery that human beings, by changing the inner attitudes of their minds, can change the outer aspects of their lives.’”

Our life depends so much on our attitude. How we choose to see things and how we respond to others will determine our growth.

Their should come a time that we stop saying, “tomorrow I’ll change, tomorrow I will not react that way”. It takes a wise person to change and their attitude will help them derive on their proper path of desire.

Ones attitude is more important than the past and is more important than money. Ones attitude is more important than their appearance, the praise given them, or their skill. Attitude can make or break a company and a home.

President Thomas S Monson has said, “we can’t direct the wind, but we can adjust the sails”.

B = Believe

Believe in yourself; attitude depends on your belief in it.

Believing is what brightens your attitude and providing you with nourishment on how you choose to be and feeling empowerment on your beliefs.

Choose this day to be honest with yourself and others on how you will live your life, be who you feel good about. If you do not know what to believe in, take baby steps on your path towards knowing who you are and what you want to become.

C = Courage

President Thomas S Monson said, “the American essayist and poet Ralph Waldo Emerson: ‘Whatever you do, you need courage. Whatever course you decide on, there is always someone to tell you are wrong. There is always difficulties arising that tempt you to believe that your critics are right. To map out a course of action and follow it to an end requires some of the same courage that a soldier needs. Peace has its victories, but it takes brave men and women to win them.’”

At times, being frightened is discouraging and you may feel depressed by feeling defeated and the odds to win the fight at something may seem victorious against you but as David reacted against Goliath the victory can be made!

Be true to yourself, we are more then just flesh and bones, there is a spirit inside and one’s mind is what is ours to keep. If you fall, get back up.

You can earn income only by performing some productive activities. It needs skills and knowledge. Therefore, a proper education that can impart sound knowledge is essential to improve the standard of living of all the sections of the society. Only with education, people can gain knowledge and utilise that in order to do jobs and earn income. Therefore, education is one of the basic solutions for poverty. Education can help you enhance not only your standard of living but your cultural and civilised aspects of life will also improve.

One of the solutions for poverty is not to waste the existing resources. You should be efficient in utilising both the man made and natural resources. So that it can give you an optimum level of output without reducing the availability of such resources. There might be some lands in your area that are kept idle for a long time. You can start utilising that land for cultivating vegetables or something else that can be grown there according to the climatic conditions. By doing so you can increase your income without waiting for any well paid jobs for a long time. That means a self employment is also a solution to poverty by increasing your income.

There are many people around the world who live in absolute poverty. They lack either will power or resources. But it has been pointed out by may experts that ignorance or illiteracy is the root cause of poverty. You can think yourself and find out new ways for increasing your income level in your locality and become rich. However, a country cannot become rich all on a sudden. It will take some years to remove the poverty from the society. It necessitates a good governance that is corrupt free and efficient. Income and wealth should not be accumulated in the hands of a few people. Only a socialist pattern of society where the resources are distributed equally among all sections of the society will pave the way for wiping out the social evil of poverty from the grass root level.