Saturday, March 08, 2014

Traits the successful entrepreneurs have in common

Not to disqualify anyone that doesn’t fit under these guidelines, but they can give you an idea if you are one of a select few that can rise to the top of their field.

1. You have to be willing to work hard. It’s the cornerstone of every successful person. Colin Powell: “A dream doesn’t become reality through magic; it takes sweat, determination and hard work.”

2. You are not a quitter. You actually hate giving up. Even if there are setbacks, you will persevere until you make progress or have exhausted all means of resolving a problem.

3. That work ethic and determination stem from one thing: passion. You love what you do and you do it for the satisfaction, not for the money. That’s not to say you shouldn’t make money; it’s to say your love for the work is stronger than the drive for money.

4. You are creative. Look, you can be a math whiz, but it you don’t know what to do with those numbers, it’s not such a big deal. You need to be bubbling with ideas. Some may be corny and never pan out, but others could turn into mega success stories. People such as Thomas Edison and George Washington Carver came up with lots of ideas that didn’t amount to squat.

5. You stay current. You are not afraid to learn about trends and how they will impact your dreams or how they could impact your ideas.

6. The ability and willingness to learn are important. There’s a saying: “The best leaders are the best listeners.” Someone doesn’t have to be a brainiac for you to learn from him/her. A farmer can teach you more about food than a college-educated nutritionist.

7. You are willing to take chances. However, don’t jump the gun and think that’s an OK to head to the casino. It’s about taking calculated risks: well thought-out plans.

8. You’re smart. Again, going to school is a good thing, but you also need good common sense. Successful business owners tend to be people with above-average intelligence.

9. You are a visionary. That means you can see the big picture. You can see beyond your great idea and how it can grow and impact the world.

10. You’re a completer. You don’t leave projects unfinished.

11. You recognize your weakness. You are not afraid to realize you are stuck and need help.

12. You’re excited. People love to be around you because you exude this energy that is attractive. And that’s important because you are not going to be able to climb the mountain of success alone. You are going to have to be able to attract investors or the expertise of others. And if they love being around you, that’s half the battle.

13. You take care of yourself. No one expects you to look like Beyoncé or Tyson Beckford, but your health is important to keeping your mind sharp and your body ready for long days or hard work"

14.  Relationships are more valuable than resources. It is important to know what you are doing, to know your specific skill set, but it is more important who you know. If you have to make a choice between Resources (money) and Relationships (who you know), who you know always trumps what you know and money every time. Build quality loyal relationships with as many people as you can. Never ever burn a bridge; you never know those toes you step on today may be attached to the butt you will need to kiss later. Never burn a bridge... just make distance if the relationship isn't working.



There are markers to entrepreneurial instincts and predictors to future success.

When you consider a line of work or a job give yourself one point for each of these you thought about in deciding:

1. You ask what kind of retirement plan they have
2. Benefits are very important to you in this consideration
3. The number of hours required on this job matters
4. What kind of advancement is available and what kind of pay increase is there.
5. You weigh the amount of hours you will work versus the pay
6. Worry about being held responsible for things without the authority to change things
7. Being appreciated for the work you do is very important to you
8. If a better job for more pay comes along you are on the alert for it
9. A good title matters to you.
10. It matters what people think about you and your work

IF you Scored 7-10 points you will be happiest working for others. Don't go into business on your own. It will drive you crazy.
IF you Scored 4-6 points you might be able to be in business for yourself, but you would do better if you have a partner to keep you balanced.
IF you Scored 1-3 points you can make it, but you have a few mental obstacles to overcome. Making it on your own means you cannot have anything that holds you back. You still have a couple strongholds... but they can be overcome.
IF you Scored 0 you are already in business for yourself, if you have the 14 traits listed above you will become a very wealthy person. Congratulations. You are part of the one percent..

Monday, March 03, 2014

Third World War to begin during Winter Games in 2014 - English pravda.ru

 "I studied the horoscopes of the leaders of all countries of the region.
The Algerian president is the only leader who has no charisma at all. By
the way, his birthday is the same day with Gorbachev - March 2nd, 1931.
He will leave peacefully. They'll even give him a yacht and a villa.
There will be no revolution in Algeria. As for Gaddafi's fate, the
problem is that no one knows his birth date - it's either 1937 or 1940
or 1942. If he was born on June 7 indeed, he will die on his birthday -
there is an eclipse just near that date. But I don't believe that he is a
Gemini. He acts like an Aquarius. Newspapers have recently written that
he is a son of a French pilot, they even published a photo of the
pilot. I saw the photo - they both look the same indeed," Pavel Globa
said.



Third World War to begin during Winter Games in 2014 - English pravda.ru

In defense of a Vagabond Spirit... or cutting apron strings and avoiding new ones

I have been confronted recently with stories of young men, 20-30 years old who are living with their parents, substantially un or underemployed.  The blame is on the economy.  How kids don't have a chance any more.  I don't agree.  I think we have a syndrome that has crept stealthy up on us.  As a culture we have made it too easy to stay in a comfort zone a little less warm and cozy than mothers womb.  We are coddling our young men to death... and it is killing them.

We used to call them apron strings.   Strings that needed to be cut to launch a young man.  I only address men here because I am convinced this is the problem.  Women are different.  I am also not talking about the unmarried middle aged man or woman who after having proven to themselves that they can make it on their own to return to take care of aging parents. That's a different issue.

My concern is the unproven untested bright able man child who never discovers his or her ability.  Who is trapped with a set of apron strings and can't or won't get out.  I see too much of this and it's time to call it what it is. Child abuse.  We used to laugh at such kids (failure to launch) but in the last several years during these economic times it has become almost sacred to shelter, hover, protect our kids to the point where we cripple them for life.  College is not the answer for every lost boy... life is.

Sometimes we must be cruel to be kind.. This is that.  Get them out away from their mothers (and overprotective fathers).  I see this way too much in the community.  I have several friends who in talking to them, live with their mommas.  I'm talking 30-40 year old men.  Something is wrong with this. We joke about the whole Yo Momma thing... but it's out of hand.  We have to begin launching  young people again into household formation on their own. In the economy.  This syndrome has created generations of dependency.  Think of the dad who never got out of the house and now he marries and has kids. He won't get them out on their own because he never did.  Its a nasty cycle.

We need a restoration of testosterone in our culture.  Sometimes that takes a swift kick out the door.  I have real life examples.   Real life men I know who did just that.  Sometimes it involved joining the military to cut the Apron Strings... Sometimes as my younger son did, he moved to Madison to seek what might be next, then to Minneapolis for a couple years, then to Boston, then to Lincoln NE and now Dallas Texas.  All this in about 20 years.  In a couple of these cases he had only a partial idea of what might be next as he went.  That he was going to figure it out when he got there.  He did.

My brother set out .. Mexico.  California.  Not always did it result in improvement, but the ability to test the edge of life's box ... gives confidence.  I won't rehearse my own life... let's just say at 19 years old I took off and did fine.

I know many men who packed up and took off.  They found what was next without really having a plan.  Some would consider them vagabonds.  We need more of that.

We all need to find the place in the world where we fit.  Where we can make our stand.  Sometimes that comes at the end of a journey away from the thing that inhibits our greatness;  those who love us too much to let us go.

For a man between 20-30 years old who is still too connected to his parents, who is aimless, it's time to push them out of the nest.  Here's how:

He needs a fighting chance so he should be:
  • Given a vehicle (not fancy) that runs. Insured and licensed for one year.  Mom and dad should take care of this.
    Given enough for 5 tanks of Gasoline (a Gift Card good only at gas stations).
    Given some establishing money... ~ $500-$1000
    A burner flip phone with enough minutes to get them out of trouble and answer if an employer calls them.  Mom and Dad pay for this for a year.
    Told to pick a direction on the map from where they live in any direction.
  • Drive in the direction of the compass setting for two of the five tanks of Gasoline.  No less than 500 miles away from mom and dad.

AND with a firm hearty handshake.... Pack their things. Wave Goodbye and tell them that barring a REAL crisis, you don't want to hear from them for a month, three would be better.

The boy is on his own. We waste too much time and energy coddling our boys.... let the boy be a boy. A great adventure. Learn to make it on his wits. Sleep in the car if need be. Learn to find a way to make a dollar... When is he ever going to become independent if he never cuts the apron strings?

Yes he might end up a few nights in a homeless shelter.  Hopefully that shelter won't become a place of comfort...  sometimes what we think is mercy is enabling.  I have a problem with an able young man using a shelter as residence which happens far too often.

Every successful man I know who has been thru this wringer would never go back again. It's not survival of the fittest, it's proving to yourself that survival is possible, so one doesn't live on false hope, false support, false security.  It creates confidence and courage.

IF a person never learns this in school of hard knocks, they are handicapped forever. The anvil of experience is the forge of destiny;  it is essential. I know it seems cruel, but without the hardening that goes on as a person learns to come to grips with the edges on the envelope of life, they never find out how powerful they are.

At some point the become so self confident that one could drop them penniless from a helicopter anywhere in the western world where they can speak the language and it will result in not only survival but eventual prosperity. How could anyone deprive a young man of that adventure? I won't.

How can anyone discover their mettle unless it is tested?  I have several friends who have spent many a night in a homeless shelter, gone without food, slept on hard floors, arrested and yet here they are doing well... not only surviving, but prospering. Do you think for a minute they would give those experiences back? I know they would not.

I pity folks who have lived life so protected there are neither ups nor downs, without risk and without any reward ... just a shallow even keel.   President Theodore Roosevelt said:
It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.

"Life is either a daring adventure or it is nothing at all". I didn't say that, the Deaf, Dumb and Blind woman, Helen Keller did...

Now go kick that boy out and let him discover life while he is young enough to enjoy it.

Sunday, March 02, 2014


Just not Right

Monodiet

I remember these days


Tough to even CONCEIVE of the notion that this was a classroom in a public school once upon a time.

Don't

If you wonder where part of your united way contribution goes, it goes to planned parenthood who is spending it on defeating any pro life candidates this fall. That would be mostly democrats. SO, next time the nice lady comes around with the pledge card... you know what to do.

Ignorance

Not to mention disposal of those batteries one day

Could be a game changer


“You only need two things to succeed in life … Relationships and Resources. If you have to choose between the two, always choose relationships, for true relationships will always open the way for resources

This is really good

“You only need two things to succeed in life … Relationships and Resources. If you have to choose between the two, always choose relationships, for true relationships will always open the way for resources.” - See more at: http://www.brianholmes.com/031/#sthash.LkA5KoB3.dpuf

“You only need two things to succeed in life … Relationships and Resources. If you have to choose between the two, always choose relationships, for true relationships will always open the way for resources.” - See more at: http://www.brianholmes.com/031/#sthash.LkA5KoB3.dpuf

Every Day

I have had many people come to me for advice to realese their writing ability. I always advise the same thing, to become writer you must write... Every day.

Sarah Was Right


During the 2008 presidential campaign, Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin warned that if Senator Barack Obama were elected president, his "indecision" and "moral equivalence" may encourage Russia's Vladimir Putin to invade Ukraine.

Palin said then:

After the Russian Army invaded the nation of Georgia, Senator Obama's reaction was one of indecision and moral equivalence, the kind of response that would only encourage Russia's Putin to invade Ukraine next.

I just saw this for the first time today

. This is what music should be. Acapella (almost except for the cello) and voices in harmonic intricacy. In a day when techno noise is honored as good... this is refreshing. I commend it to you.

Big Lie

I am amazed at the blatant lies left wingers are willing to tell. I guess they think all those who voted for them will believe anything.... It is tragic. I am going to start to call them out as lying liars. The Devil is a lie are so are those in government today who think you are so profoundly stupid that they can lie to you straight faced and because you voted for them, you believe them. Hitler was famous for the BIG LIE...here we go again.

BIG LIE OF OUR GOVERNMENT TODAY IS: No one has been inconvenienced, lost their health insurance or been harmed by the implementation of Obamacare.

That could not be more false.... I won't even start to refute.... it's such a blatant lie. You can check it yourself.

Butt Laugh

Putin laughed his butt off, had a shot of vodka and said "Full steam ahead!"

Empty Words

His (Obama's) words seem so empty
Like · · Promote ·