90 Days

How to be a Visionary

Lots of people want to start their own business, but get tied up in the idea that they need to have a product or service that is so revolutionary and unique that nothing out there can touch it. Nope. The fact of the matter is, the most you really need is a way to build off of what's already out there and a lil bit of passion. What can you do better? How can you improve what's already there? How can you make it better, faster, less expensive, more exciting?

Getting something off the ground really takes no more than your tweak to an existing idea. Is there something you already use that can be modified to make it more user-friendly? There's your idea, you visionary.

Now go get 'em.

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Comment Brainstorm: What's one product that makes your life simpler? Can you make it even better?

Do Unto Others

Change Is Happening Worldwide from World Change on Vimeo.

To get what you want, give others what they need.

The man in this video washes & feeds the destitute, going against the strict religious caste system in India. Dedicating himself to others, he has found joy in serving those who can not help themselves.

What can you do for others today? What can you gain by doing so?
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Thank you to my friend, Matthew Gillot, for sharing this.

The Right Answer

From: Maxims 4 Mavericks

I stumbled upon this artwork this morning and instantly fell in love with the point. It is obvious that the seeker did indeed find x, though there is also another (obvious) solution- to solve for x.

It reminded me of a post I wrote on my outdoor adventure blog about bouldering. Now, if you're not a climber, you may not be clear on this term. Bouldering is a series of climbing moves done on a short wall or actual boulder without the use of ropes. It's just you, your climbing shoes, a spotter (if you're playing it smart) and a big, fluffy crash pad to break your fall.

Just like in climbing, the moves can be puzzling and there is almost always more than one way to arrive at the top. So much depends on the climber's style, strengths and body stature. I quickly learned that one of my strengths was NOT upper body. Here's the story:

I would attempt a problem (a boulder route), fall off and stand back, bewildered, while I watched someone else complete it. I did this time and time again, trying to pick up ideas and tips from other climbers.

...I stood with crossed arms watching Stephen and Rich climb a problem I had just attempted. One of the girls I boulder with, Breanne, was standing beside me, chatting about her technique on the same route. As we watched the guys on the wall it became apparent that there were two very different techniques being applied- Stephen was able to bypass certain holds because of his longer reach while Rich would turn his feet a different direction on a hold to reach the next point.

After each successfully completed the same route, Breanne remarked, "Even though each person has their own style of climbing they still solve the same problem."

Can you think of a situation where you've always used the same methodology until someone came along presenting an entirely new solution? Did you continue doing it the same way or did you take the opportunity to learn from it ?

9 Ways to Keep Your Training & Diet from Derailing This Weekend

It's a familiar scene: You make good food choices, avoid temptations, and work out every morning only to find that on Friday night, your willpower goes out the window. Suddenly, you're chompin' chicken fingers and snoozing through spin class the next morning.

Weekends can be a challenge to health, weight-loss, and training goals. What makes them so difficult? It may be the absence of routine. On weekdays, we get up, eat breakfast (if you don't, tsk tsk! Make a quick & healthy smoothie), head to work, break for lunch, then find ways to squeeze in a little exercise. Without a set schedule on the weekends (and with more opportunities for temptation) one weekend can easily undo a whole week of healthy habits.

It doesn't have to be this way. Weekends are a great time to practice healthy behaviors because you often have more time. Give these tips a try so you can stay on track!

Squeeze in a longer workout

Eat like it's a weekday. I

Stick to your usual sleep schedule.

4. Get outdoors. (A personal favorite- did you know June is National Get Outdoors Month?) Most of us spend all week inside working, so the weekend provides an opportunity to get outside, see the sun and connect with nature. Studies show that people are happier when they spend time outside, so make sure to schedule some play time!

Limit your drinks.

Plan for relaxation

Break the on-again, off-again diet mentality.

Weigh in Monday morning.

Plan for the week ahead.

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Have any additional tips for staying on track during the weekends? Do any of these work for you? Let me know in the comments!

What's Your Hourly Worth?

You are the CEO of Your Own Corporation

You never really work for anyone but yourself. Even when you have a “Corporate America” position, you're still running your own business. Think about it: you are selling one unit of your existence (an hour of your life) at a set price to a customer (your employer).

Selling Hours = Bad Business

Selling hours for dollars is a flawed business plan. Let’s take a quick look at why:

The business of selling hours for dollars has:

One Product – A single hour of your life.
Static Product Growth – You can change your level of productivity within an hour, but you can’t change the dynamics of the hour itself (which is the metric you are being paid by).
One Customer – Your employer. If you lose your one customer, you lose your business.
Single Point of Failure – If something happens to you (injured, ill, etc.), your business suffers.
Ever Declining Inventory – Life has a limited inventory of hours. They cannot be reproduced.

The Silver Lining: You Must Find Your Passion

When you are passionate about your work, even in a “hours for dollars” environment, you open the floodgates to personal growth and contentment. Suddenly, you are working to learn, indulging in the task at hand. This passion is the byproduct of interest. To attain this silver lining, you have to be genuinely interested in the subject of your profession. In other words, money can't be the primary source of motivation.

Once you find your passion, here are some ideas for maximizing your growth potential:

Learn as Much as You Can – This becomes a natural process when you are truly passionate about your work. Obviously, the more you know the more valuable your time will be to others.
Pursue Unpaid Growth Opportunities – Get out of the “hours for dollars” mindset. See if you can barter your skill set with others in your industry. You educate them as they educate you.
Innovate – If you think there might be a better way, try it. The worst case scenario is you’ll have to switch back to the way things are now.
Help Other People – The best way to get what you want is to help others get what they want. This will also help you establish strong professional relationships.
Market Your Visibility – Don’t be bashful. Take credit where credit is due.

As you do these things, you'll find the opportunity to break out on your own, to finally tackle your lifelong dream, will present itself at the right time. As you push your mind and surroundings to cater to your desires, you become more of the person and create more of the situations needed to pursue your life's passion.
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You got this. Go conquer.

5 Steps to Social Media Success

Even though social media is an incredible way for entrepreneurs to market themselves on a limited budget, most people do not implement these powerful systems effectively. They weave between feeling completely overwhelmed and feeling that the sites are absolutely pointless.

Social media is my personal favorite way of creating awareness of my brand. However, there are some fundamental principles to keep in view that will make your promotion more powerful.

Listed below are five vital guidelines that will boost your overall social media experience:

1. Make a "Landing Page"

No, this isn't directly related to social media sites. However, linking from a social media site to a good landing page is a surefire way to create a strong impression for your visitor. A well-planned landing page is a concise description that offers your guests a quick peek at you and your online company. In addition, successful landing pages provide guests a useful free product in return for their name and e-mail address. Having a landing page is crucial to success because they allow leads to connect with you on a more personal level and easily highlight the benefits of doing business with you.

2. Complete your profiles on networking sites

If you want your campaigns to work, make sure that your online profiles are finished. If leads land on your profile and it doesn’t have a picture and contains little to no information, they aren’t likely to feel any connection with you. Provide as much information about yourself as possible. Remember, people want to get to know you, so provide them with what they’re looking for.

3. Participate; don't push

When advertising on social media systems, remember the 80/20 guideline. You should spend 80% of your energy sharing, answering questions and interacting with others; only 20% of your energy should be spend promoting yourself. If you adhere to this guideline, you will be viewed as a positively engaged in your community, rather than a pushy self-promotor.

4. Be consistent

Developing a strong social media presence is all about consistency. It’s essential that prospects see you regularly. Regular interaction is the key to gaining trust and, eventually, business. Interact on social media accounts each and every day.

5. Make a routine

If you do not have a routine, you soon will be pulled into the “social media black hole.” Instead, decide how long you have each day to devote to social media and then adhere to it. If you only have 10 minutes each day, then only implement one to two social media accounts and work towards producing a strong position on them. I like to time myself to keep on course; when it the timer goes off, I switch to the next site.
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Social media promotion is highly effective as long as you recognize how to tap into its power. If you apply these five guidelines into your initiatives, you should readily produce impressive results for your brand.

Your Superbowl

Imagine this: You're the kicker for a football team that has made it to the Superbowl- and it's this week. You have just three kicks that will determine success or failure, victory or defeat, for the entire game, the entire season, your entire career.

At this point, almost everything else you did in life will be insignificant, non-memorable and perhaps even termed "distractions" except for those three kicks. Those three kicks will make or break your career.

The question is: How important would it be for you to be properly prepared? Prepared physically, prepared mentally (i.e., researching the opposing team's strategy) and prepared psychologically?

If you said "It would be paramount," you are correct.

And that, my friends, is how you need to view your week.

Does this scenario sound familiar? You wake up Monday morning and immediately get sucked into the vortex of emails, phone calls, and office drop ins, office fires, and then rush off to important presentations, client meetings, prospecting appointments or even key phone calls you need to make. Did you take a minute to sift out what really needed your attention?

The truth is, most people never stop to identify which engagements are the most important all week so that they can set aside the time to properly get ready for them. Instead, they wind up at their most critical engagements, unprepared and harried, just to deliver less than their optimal performance. Because of this, their results are mediocre at the end of the week, week after week, until there just isn't much to show for the year.

They miss the big opportunity to advance on their goals in the few moments of that meeting, call or presentation that matter.

Your task: Decide what your three most important meetings, appointments or engagements are of the coming week. What are your three Superbowl winning kicks each week? Isolate them. They are the three most important meetings, calls or engagements where the quality of your performance will significantly determine the success- or mediocrity- of your week's outcome.

And then prepare, prepare and prepare.
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Go conquer. :)