Motivation Monday

“Be patient with yourself. Self-growth is tender; it’s holy ground. There’s no greater investment.”–Stephen Covey

“Success consists of going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm.”–Winston Churchill

“Would you like me to give you a formula for success? It’s quite simple, really. Double your rate of failure. You are thinking of failure as the enemy of success. But it isn’t at all. You can be discouraged by failure or you can learn from it, So go ahead and make mistakes. Make all you can. Because remember that’s where you will find success.”— Thomas J. Watson

“It is a paradoxical but profoundly true and important principle of life that the most likely way to reach a goal is to be aiming not at that goal itself but at some more ambitious goal beyond it.”–Arnold Toynbee

“Strength does not come from winning. Your struggles develop your strengths. When you go through hardships and decide not to surrender, that is strength.”–Arnold Schwarzenegger

Motivation Monday

If you want to conquer fear, don’t sit home and think about it. Go out and get busy.

~Dale Carnegie

Genius is 1% inspiration, and 99% perspiration. ~Thomas Edison

You cannot make progress without making decisions.  ~Jim Rohn

Success is not forever and failure isn’t fatal. ~Don Shula

Only in the darkness can you see the stars. ~Martin Luther King Jr.

Focus on being productive instead of busy. ~Tim Ferriss

Be nice to nerds. Chances are you’ll end up working for one. ~Bill Gates

212 Degrees

Thinking about the upcoming Olympics and all the many years of dedication the athletes endure to earn their shot at Olympic gold, the following is pretty timely.

At 211 degrees, water is hot.

At 212 degrees, water boils. 

That one degree makes all the difference. Just like in the Olympics, with a little bit more effort you can win first place, not second. The difference in the reward is huge! Gold vs silver. One degree of difference. How can you increase your effort in an area of life or business, just a bit, to gain a better reward?

How Close Are You To Success?

Do you have a goal, small or large, that you have been working towards? If you plan on reaching a goal, it first has to be specifically identified. Sounds obvious, but missing this step is often the culprit behind lost dreams. Get downright meticulous when crafting your goal, your end result, your dream. If it is something worth aiming at, you better make sure you are aiming in the right direction. 

Decide what’s at stake. Why do you really want to accomplish this particular goal in the first place? Why is it important to you? This can take some time to flesh out, and you probably need to clear all distractions to narrow down what you want and why you want it. It is worth the time investment. You are worth the time investment.

Next, plan out three action steps. List three concrete things you can do to reach your goal. Begin with just three. These aren’t the only things you need to do to get to the end result, but these are the first three basic steps to get you a bit father down the path. 

Now, what are you waiting for? Begin! Jump in! Execute! Quit thinking of excuses, doubting yourself, stalling for better finances, security, whatever…and execute your plan. Get out there and make it happen!

There will never be a perfect time to turn your dream into reality. Stop mulling over every excuse in the book and instead put all that energy into making your dream actually happen. Save yourself the mental and emotional gymnastics and get moving in the direction of your dreams. Dream about this…how close are you to success?

Do You Have Enough Nerve?

Do you have enough nerve, enough motivation, and enough guts, to risk comfort and security for your dream? If you feel you have an idea that is worth the risk it is going to take to peruse it, then push forward as hard as you can. When that next great idea grabs hold of you run with it!

As a business owner, you never know when a great idea is going to strike, so you have to be prepared for success. Sure, there’s the practical side of things, such as having a good support staff, and systems in place so things run smoothly and efficiently, but the biggest challenge to success is within your own mind. Don’t take the spark of a new great idea and pour cold water on it by rationalizing it away with fear and doubt. Simply recognizing the spark of a new great idea comes naturally to entrepreneurs. It’s just the way entrepreneurs are wired. That recognition is the first step on the road to success. Risk, self-doubt, fear, opinions of others, are a few of the challenges that will come across that road as you journey forward. One step at a time gets you when you want to go.

Risk comes not only when you initially share your idea with others, but throughout the entire development process. Have the perseverance to see it through to the end goal! Don’t let anyone sidetrack you, and don’t become discouraged enough that you quit! You have done your homework, surrounded yourself with great people, fully tested your product, and have a plan in place for success. Right? Don’t give up because life gets hard. It will get hard. You can count on that. There will be discouragement, struggles, changes to your original product which will make it better, and life will interrupt your timeline, but you had the initial vision. You had the spark. You had the new great idea. Take that unique contribution and share it with the world.

Along with big risk can come big reward. What are you waiting for?

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