The Road to Riches

Posted on August 17, 2014 by anentrepreneurswords

Early in my career I did a lot of planning – especially financial planning. I had it all figured out that by a certain age I would be earning a certain income and projected how that amount would grow over time. I obsessed over my calculations and created spreadsheets to track my progress. Back in the day this sort of focus was what you did if you wanted to succeed. Or so I thought. Unfortunately I didn’t have anyone to tell me that there was a better way.

Did I achieve my income goals? For the most part the answer is yes. But what I discovered as I got older, more experienced and wiser, is that this approach was actually limiting me. So how you ask, could prudent planning become limiting? And the answer is elegantly simple. By focusing on a specific amount of income that I desired, I was subliminally telling myself that I really didn’t want any more than that amount. My various income-generating strategies were aimed at achieving the target amount and nothing more.

Fast forward to today. I’ve learned a lot. For starters, I no longer accept the limitations created by chasing a specific dollar amount. Instead I’ve learned to be open to all creative possibilities. I’ve learned not to place restrictions on my potential. I now focus on being much more strategic and much less tactical. It’s now more about service to others than others serving me. When the money no longer is the primary focus it’s amazing how much more prosperous we can become. I still look at the money but only as part of a risk-reward equation – something all entrepreneurs should consider.

Here’s something else I learned. Get rich quick schemes lead to disappointment. Playing the lottery or trying to earn a few extra bucks playing cards is not a winning hand in life. Hard work is also overrated when it comes to financial satisfaction – believe me, I’m an expert on the hard work subject. Smart work is more likely to lead to financial security and independence.

So how does one work smarter? I’ve written many times about how important it is for us to know our WHY. Another way of putting this is to understand what we are passionate about. Why do we do what we do? What makes us tick? What do we love to do so much that we’d do it regardless of whether or not we were paid? When we are living our passion we aren’t chasing financial riches. Our focus is on the process of staying in the passion zone. And one of the byproducts of this approach is that monetary rewards will come our way – sometimes effortlessly. If we’re just working to earn a living, that’s all we’ll do. If we’re working because what we’re doing is interwoven with our passion, positive results will flow to us – financial and otherwise.

When we let go of our limiting money dreams and pursue our bigger and grander dreams we are able to live our passion. And when we live our passion, through our creative energy we will discover infinite possibilities for good in our lives.

This blog is being written in tandem with my book, “An Entrepreneur’s Words to Live By,” available on Amazon.com in paperback and Kindle (My Book), as well as being available in all of the other major eBook formats.

Who Needs King Midas?

Posted on June 8, 2014 by anentrepreneurswords

We all know the story of King Midas. The satyr Silenus became drunk and wandered into King Midas’ rose garden where he passed out. Midas found him and treated him kindly whereupon Silenus offered Midas a wish. The king asked that everything he touched would turn to gold. The wish was granted and thereafter everything that Midas touched turned to gold . . . including his daughter. Sadly, Midas died of starvation because even the food he touched turned to gold. Did Midas actually prosper through all of this?

Prosperity and abundance take many forms. This blog is specifically about financial prosperity. As entrepreneurs we have an opportunity to take stock about our attitude toward prosperity. Early in my career I was focused on the Almighty Dollar. Everything was about money for me. And the harder I chased it, the more elusive it became. It seemed as though I could see prosperity, but it was always just barely beyond my outstretched fingertips. What a frustrating period this was for me!

It’s easy now for me to see why I wasn’t prosperous. Very simply, I had the wrong attitude. I have a surefire, 100% guaranteed method that will ensure that you will enjoy financial prosperity beyond your wildest dreams. And unlike a lot of snake oil salesmen that are peddling their methods, I’m going to pass it along to you absolutely free! Here’s what worked for me.

First, I stopped focusing on money and instead found my Passion. I’ve written before about a concept that Simon Sinek discusses in his book entitled, Start with Why. When we understand WHY we exist and then align everything in our lives with our WHY we begin to live our passion. If we start with our WHY, our HOW and our WHAT will emerge effortlessly.

Second, I embraced Tithing. I give away at least 10% of every dime that comes into my life. We tithe to that which feeds our soul. This might be to a church or some other individual or cause that truly makes a spiritual difference in our lives – and I’m not talking about just religion here. Tithing enables me to see the Law of Attraction at work every single day for I know that when I give away my treasure without condition, I attract much more Good into my life.

Third, I have No Fear of lack or limitation whatsoever. When I write a large tithing check I never wonder for one second if I should give less or keep the money in my bank account until my balance is a little larger. No matter what happens – no matter how tough or bleak things may be in the moment, I always know that good things will come my way – and they always do!

Finally I do my darnedest to maintain Positive Mindset at all times. Negative thoughts are toxic and poisonous to positive energy. And positive energy is necessary to deliver prosperity. Fortunately this isn’t too hard to do as I live my passion every day.

Financial prosperity comes about when we intentionally create the environment for it to grow and flourish. When we do this who needs King Midas?

Lovin’ It – Part 2

Posted on February 9, 2014 by anentrepreneurswords

Question: In your previous installment you wrote about how you eventually became able to live your passion. I want to know how to find mine.

Answer: Let’s quickly review what I previously said. To live our passion we must find balance in our lives in all respects – profession, physical health, relationships, emotionally, intellectually and spiritually. And I said that when we become more multi-dimensional in these areas, the cumulative effect is passion. But there’s a very important element that still must be added to the mix. Without this ingredient we can be well-rounded and multi-dimensional but there’s simply no spark to start the fires of passion.

The ignition source which I refer is our WHY. I’ve written before about the WHY – a concept that is eloquently discussed by Simon Sinek in his magnificent book, Start With Why, and which has been explained to me in much greater detail by my friend and Sinek collaborator, Ridgely Goldsborough. Most people can tell you WHAT they do and HOW they do it. But when asked WHY they do what they do the answer becomes fuzzier. According to Sinek and Goldsborough there are nine WHYs. While we may identify with several, each of us has a predominant WHY. The nine WHYs are:

Do things the right way.
Do things a better way.
Make sense of complexity.
Make a contribution or a difference.
Create trust and build relationships.
Simplify things.
Master things.
Challenge the status quo or think differently.
Create clarity.

To live our passion we must understand our WHY. And to find our WHY we need to ask ourselves a series of questions. Think of something at work that we did that was a success. How did we feel about that success? Why is that important to us? Then ask the same questions about something positive that happened outside of work. We may need to repeat this several times before our answers create a discernible pattern that leads us to our WHY from the list of nine.

What is it about understanding our WHY that is so important in our quest to find our passion? Because to the greatest extent possible we need to align the various elements of our life with our WHY. Think about it – if our profession, physical health, relationships, emotions, intellect and spirituality track with our WHY, won’t we be in a better position to love everything we’re doing?

When we find our WHY we can then discover our passion. The alignment of WHY with the balance of the basic elements in our lives then enables us to live our passion every single day.

Lovin’ It – Part 1

Posted on February 2, 2014 by anentrepreneurswords

Question: You’ve written before about passion. How do I find my passion?

Answer: I’ve said previously that most people go through life and work at a job. Fewer of us pursue a career. And even fewer yet actually live a passion. To be truly successful entrepreneurs living a passion is requisite. But there are plenty of very rich entrepreneurs who are miserable, so what gives? I’m defining success to be much more than just money. A truly successful entrepreneur has success in relationships, in health, in philanthropy, in hobbies, in intellect, in spirituality and in emotion.

Passion is multi-dimensional. I submit that living a passion is more than just our chosen profession. It’s about reaching the conclusion that life is all about more . . . not less. And it’s not just more of one thing but more of many. A fundamental question to be asked is, “What are we excluding from our lives?” Kindling and sustaining passion is difficult if we’re one-dimensional and our lives are out of balance. We may experience bursts of energy and creativity, and we may have moments of euphoria when we achieve that upon which we focused. But then what happens? More often than not we crash and burn. Then we may yo-yo back and forth between the highest of highs and the lowest of lows.

Here’s my story. Early in my adult life I was pursuing a career. I move out of the “working a job” phase pretty quickly. Our business was growing and I threw myself into building it. There were plenty of 18-hour days plus weekends and holidays. In fact, I actually took pride in working 100-hour weeks. I read nothing but business books and thought about little else than what was happening in my company. I was the poster boy for being one-dimensional. No, I wasn’t unhappy but there was always a gnawing feeling that something was missing.

Living my passion did not come through an epiphany but was gradual over time. I loved what I did professionally but realized that burnout was unavoidable if I didn’t change my ways. Over the years my life became more balanced, and that in turn stoked the passion. What I’ve learned is that passion is much more than just loving my profession. The balance of physical, emotional, intellectual, spiritual, and relationships in addition to our profession has a multiplier effect. I love being creative in my businesses. I love the philanthropic endeavors that my wife and I pursue. I love mentoring and coaching others – the list of the things I love to do goes on and on. And the cumulative effect of all of these “loves” is what becomes passion for me.

Make sure to read my next installment in which I’ll add the other ingredient necessary to discover our passion.

Intentional Grounding

Posted on January 19, 2014 by anentrepreneurswords

Question: I personally have a problem with pursuing the future. When I do, I don’t live in the “now.” How can a person remain in the moment but also remain mindful of his future vision?

Answer: It does seem like we must have a bit of a split-personality to do both, doesn’t it? And there’s no doubt that it can be quite confusing at times. On the one hand we’re advised to live in the moment. I certainly subscribe to the philosophy of “live today like you’re going to die tomorrow.” If we spend too much time planning for the future we miss what’s happening today. But on the other hand, if we give no thought to the future, we may not achieve our ultimate goals and objectives.

I’m by nature a planner. I totally enjoy the “vision thing” and plotting a course of action to get there (the mission). A song from 1974 really put it in perspective for me though, and could easily be the national anthem for entrepreneurs . . . The Cat’s in the Cradle by Harry Chapin. To refresh your memory, the song refers to a father and son who are like ship’s passing in the night – always paying lip service to each other but never making the choice to spend quality time together. That song has served as a perpetual reminder to feel the full experience of what I’m doing every moment.

Living in the present and holding a future vision are not mutually exclusive. We entrepreneurs are so driven by our vision that we never have to worry about losing sight of it. It’s our natural disposition to gravitate to holding and nurturing our vision. What we generally have to work harder to accomplish is being in the now. I believe that the key to succeeding in both realms is to be intentional. This means that for whatever we’re doing we need to focus and really see what we’re looking at. If it’s a daughter’s soccer game or a son’s piano recital we need to intentionally focus our attention on this event. Enjoy it, embrace it, and celebrate it. Likewise, when we are contemplating our future vision, we do the same. Be there intentionally without any other distractions and enjoy, embrace and celebrate it. To steal a football term, I like to call this “intentional grounding.”

In the end it’s important to remember what we value. As entrepreneurs we value the passion we have for our friends and families as much as our passion for our chosen profession. The only way we can adequately tend to both passions is to be totally present for each. Succeeding in this regard takes a great deal of practice – it won’t happen overnight. But intentionality will make it so.

Perceptive Passion.

Posted on August 12, 2012 by anentrepreneurswords

Question: Why is it that many entrepreneurs seem so animated about what they do?

Answer: There’s no doubt – entrepreneurs are a different breed of cat. Successful entrepreneurs somehow seem to live in a “zone.” Things always seem to go right for them. It’s almost like they have a sixth sense about everything. How does this happen?

It’s all about perspective. Some people see what they do for a living as a job. Others see it as a career. Successful entrepreneurs live it as a passion. Their vocation may have started out as a job and progressed into the career phase. But somewhere along the line something clicked and it became a passion. I remember when I graduated from college and went to work for the firm that I’m still with. My first position was a job and I hated it. But I was intrigued enough to stick with it and before long it became a career. I knew it was what I wanted to do for a long, long time. This was followed by years of toil, angst and stress – certainly not the most fun period of my life. Then it was as if the clouds parted and the sun began to shine.

For me the difference was the realization that I was actually living the dream I always had. My creativity level was off the charts and I was truly having a lot of fun. I never sought the passion I was feeling, but gradually it was just there. Today I understand that it was all about mindset. Had I willfully focused on changing my perspective I might have succeeded in reaching the passion stage much sooner. I’m lucky that the gradual shift in my mindset occurred. I wonder how many would-be entrepreneurs never achieve this gradual shift.

Intentionally changing your perspective is the key to moving past job and career and into a state of passion about what you love to do. This means understanding that everything you experience can build toward the good you desire. Look for the silver linings. Look for opportunities. Dwelling on what may seem negative is a passion killer. Use these situations as a challenge to learn perseverance and problem-solving. And this will lead to the silver linings and opportunities.

An Entrepreneur's Words to Live By

Lifechanging Ideas for Entrepreneurs

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