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Fear: the Great Paralyzer

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Help ButtonWhen we look at successful people, there are a variety of assumptions we can make for why they are successful. Hard work comes to mind. Smarts never hurt. Maybe they were born with advantages that other people weren’t born with.

But let’s be honest: there are times when you wonder why someone who doesn’t seem terribly bright finds success. “How the hell did they get to where they’re at? I’m smarter than them!” That may or may not be true, but one thing is for sure: however one reaches success—even if intelligence and ability weren’t factors at all—those people aren’t afraid to take action!

It’s Not All About the “Great Idea”

Lots of people have great ideas. Even more may be sharp as pencils. They can know exactly what to do. But what good is all that knowledge, imagination, and information if you’re too scared to do anything about it?

Let’s not give fear too much of a bad rap here. When mankind needed to be hyper-aware of our environment in more primal times, fear was certainly a useful tool for staying alive. We were born with the ability to fear, so like anything else we’re born with, it serves a purpose.

Fortunately, most of us aren’t typically in “fight or flight” situations like our ancestors. Unfortunately, people tend to invoke that same primal instinct about things that have nothing to do with life or death. It just seems like it when a big change or decision is upon us that moves us out of our comfort zones (even when we know financial “comfort” isn’t quite as comfortable as financial freedom).

The Protective Mind Can Hold You Back

It’s that protective mind acting like a helicopter mom, hovering over us as if every move we make will end in disaster. It’s constantly creating doom and gloom scenarios, trying to scare the heck out of us in the hopes that we won’t try anything new. It’s our own protective mind that prevents us from taking the actions necessary to reach our dreams.

When that happens, all of our great ideas are now full of uncertainty and doubt. A lot of people wait for their fear to subside before doing something. Wrong! You don’t have to be fearless in order to act. You acknowledge the fear and act anyway. Fear itself holds no real power over us.

Successful People Have Fear

Successful people have doubts and successful people worry. The only difference between those who succeed and those who don’t is that successful people act regardless of the fear. Even those who don’t have integrity or brains but who act anyway are going to find more success than geniuses with integrity who keep it to themselves because they’re too afraid to put themselves out there.

Habitual fear can be paralyzing. It can trick us into believing that we can’t act, that we shouldn’t act, that acting toward what we really want is going to lead to pain because that’s what we’ve been taught, or because that’s what happened before. You’re never going to be happy or successful if you don’t get beyond fear.

 

Now it’s your turn: What’s been some of your biggest fears, anxieties and worries that—now that you look back on it—were overblown? What was the result once you got past those fears? Where in your life are you letting fear, doubt or worry stop you from taking the necessary actions for happiness and success? Share here so others can learn from your experiences.

Remember this:  Don’t let fear ever paralyze you into inaction. Overcome your fears!

Go Hard or Go Home

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iStock_000010769378XSmallgoHARD

I’ve seen that mantra in several different contexts, in particular to athletics or anything with a kind of “edge” to it. It comes off a little severe, like something those guys who pound each other in cages on Pay per View would say. Train hard, push hard, work hard, fight hard. Otherwise, what’s the point?

In general, people recognize the truth in the phrase ‘Go Hard or Go Home.’ If you’re going to do something, either be the absolute best you can be or don’t do it at all. Well, not everything. You can enjoy the heck out of playing golf, but you don’t have to be a PGA player to get something out of playing. You do it strictly because you want to, no reasons needed.

Consider, though, the difference between something you do for fun versus something you’re doing for your life, like working toward financial freedom, or living more healthy. Being an average golfer is fine, but there’s no such thing as an average millionaire. You’re either a millionaire or you’re not, and quite frankly there aren’t as many millionaires as there are wanna-be millionaires.

In other words, you can’t just “okay” yourself to riches. You’re either going to master wealth, or you’re not.

That’s where the warrior mentality is critical for the mind of the millionaire. The warrior always chooses to be a master. A warrior has to! There is no other option. For a real warrior, mastery can make the difference between life and death. Not that being anything less than rich equals being dead, but the same kind of must-mentality is … a must!

Mastery isn’t as much a skill as it is a matter of discipline, desire, and commitment to taking your life to another level. Most people are not living anywhere near their potential because they’re playing in the minor leagues. Major leaguers, no matter what job or industry, are making lots of money because they’re not afraid of themselves, the work, the responsibility, making the necessary changes, of playing big, and they believe they must play big in order to win big.

Does it take more work to play in the majors than in the minors? Not necessarily. It takes more practice for sure, but sometimes all it takes are minor adjustments to your thinking and how you apply your skills in order to make big changes.

If you want to master anything, you’ll have to do at least some things differently. Your standards must change, your thinking needs to change from “This is okay” to “I can do much better,” and you’ll need to find reasons why there’s room to get bigger rather than reasons why not.

Can you be a master at everything? No, nor does anybody need to be. You need, instead, to prioritize, choose and focus on those things you really want for yourself. Whatever you choose, know that you’re going to master it or not take it on. If you aren’t willing to see your potential and hold yourself to it, then you won’t master much.

You will always get what you’re willing to settle for. The hardest part isn’t actually becoming a master. It’s deciding that you’re going to be one in the first place, and not going backwards from that moment on.

Now it’s your turn!  Are you playing in the major leagues or still down at the minors?  If you are mastering your life, what was the turning point to get you to make the shift up?  If you are still in the minors, what will it take to get you to play bigger?  Share here—someone just might read what you write and be inspired to live a better life.

What good is creating wealth if you’re going to kill yourself in the process?

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Help!What’s the point of starting a business? To make more money, yes or yes? And what’s the point of that? So you can do more of whatever you want whenever you want.

If you haven’t experienced this for yourself, though, then you might have heard: that’s often not what happens, at least not at first. People get caught up in their business, a lot of the time working harder either out of necessity to make sure that it’s running, thriving and growing, or out of fear—sometimes over-reacting panic—that without their presence, the business will collapse.

In other words, the business—for one reason or another—takes them over. And that’s not unusual, at least not in the beginning stage of a business. However, if you find yourself in that same “supervisory” position after years and years, then I’d say you made things harder on yourself than you had to, and that’s because the freedom of accumulating wealth through business is directly related to how well you structured your business’ foundation.

What happens if you try to build a house on a weak foundation? It eventually cracks, caves in, or turns into the leaning Tower of Pisa. The business equivalent of building a solid foundation is creating a system, repeatable methods and procedures that produce profit. The idea is to systematize your business so that you can effectively and efficiently sell and support your product or service in bigger numbers as you grow.

So how do you create an effective business system?

Keep it simple. When it comes down to it, business should consist of only 3 parts:

  • Marketing—getting people to know about what you have to offer
  • Production—getting the products and/or services made, distributed, or performed
  • Administration—accounts payable/receivable, human resources, finance, assistants, etc.

Each part requires specific processes so they run smoothly. Aim for flawlessness, but be prepared to settle for “almost automatically.” The idea is to create a well-oiled machine—a money machine. And what do machines do best? They repeat the same functions over and over. Your system must be a repeatable process that can work without you!

Why?

If you want to gain wealth you can’t have a ceiling on your income. Your earnings must be unlimited. If you have to be physically present for your business to work, it can only grow to the extent that you can personally handle. It doesn’t matter how brilliant and energetic you are, you still only have but so much time in a day! You have to eat, sleep, relax, talk, think, meditate, spend time with family and friends …Tired young couple resting at the beach

In other words, all the things you’d rather be doing other than stressing. What good is creating wealth if you’re going to kill yourself in the process?

Work on the business, not in the business. Creating a system is what gives you freedom to do just that. With a strong system in place, you’ll two have options. You’ll have the flexibility to hand it over to competent managers and have an excellent source of passive income, or you can sell the business and become an instant millionaire. The more solid your business foundation, the quicker it can happen.

In both cases, because you created a system, you win. An effective system that works instead of you working is an absolute must in order to enjoy the ride.

 

You know the drill….it’s your turn!  I want to hear from you.  Make sure to leave a comment below and share your insights with all of us.  Have you had successes with growing your business in ways it can thrive even when you are not around?  If so, share your tips and strategies here.  If you have not gotten to this point (yet!) share your struggles and challenges—you might be surprised with the support and feedback from the others in our community.

Behind Every ‘Problem’ is a Bigger You in Waiting (But Only If You Believe It)

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Girls can do anything!

If you think having more money means you’ll have fewer problems, then think twice about wanting to be a millionaire. Problems and obstacles don’t stop, you just get a new set of them.

Wealth and poverty aren’t distinguishable when it comes to problems, or, as I like to think of them, challenges. There are times when challenges are considerate, significant, and maybe even scary, and there are other times when we’re really just making a mountain out of a molehill.

Whether it’s over-coming a mountain of debt or making tough investment choices, it could seem daunting to take on these decisions and commit to following through.

Really, though, we all need to thank our lucky stars for mountains that seem to be in our way. Why, because I’m a glutton for punishment? No, because personally it was the only way for me to find out for myself one of the most important ideas most millionaires share in common—you have to be bigger than any problem you can ever face.

In other words, you have to think big! That’s so easy to hear, and nod your head, and say, “Well, yeah, of course.” Understanding it, knowing it, and living it, though, are different.

The truth is few people “think” big and even fewer “play” big. Why? Because “big” often means big responsibilities, big hassles and big problems. They look at that “bigness” and shrink. They’re smaller than their problems. They back away from challenges. Ironically, they back themselves into the biggest problem of all … being broke, or close to it.

The secret to success is to grow yourself so you’re bigger than any problem.

Imagine a “Level 2” person looking at a “Level 5” problem. Does this problem appear to be big or small? From a Level 2 perspective, a Level 5 problem would seem HUGE. How would it look to, say, a “Level 8” person? The same problem would seem small. To a “Level 10” person? NO problem at all. It’s just an everyday occurrence, like brushing your teeth.

It’s not a special skill that separates rich from poor, but a simple yet profound understanding—if you’re breathing, you will always have situations that aren’t perfect. Therefore, the size of the problem is never the problem. It’s always the size of you!

The bigger problems you can handle; the bigger business you can handle; the bigger responsibilities you can handle, the more customers you can handle, and the more money and wealth you can handle. Your income can only grow to the extent that you do!

So here’s your exercise this time:
Commit to growing yourself. This month, do not avoid problems and or complain about problems. Don’t let them bother you. In fact, don’t even call them problems; refer to them as “challenges” or “situations”.

Let go of the emotion and drama you create when you don’t get what you want. Just stay present and handle one situation at a time with an open mind and an open heart. Trust yourself and in the universe that everything will work out in the end.

I want to hear from you, so make sure you leave a comment and tell me your thoughts on this post.  And after you do the exercise, let me know how it worked for you.  Your feedback is valuable and others can learn from your experiences.