Career: Know where you're going

Know where you're going...

To know where you are going is one of the best pieces of advice any one can receive.  I can't tell you how many times I've heard this growing up, from my parents, teachers, mentors etc.  However, I can tell you it is about just as many times as I've ignored the advice, not necessarily on purpose but more from being naive and inexperienced in life.  I was always one of those people that knew what I did not want to do or where I did not want to go, but that only gets you so far.  At some point you will come to a crossroads in life and you'll have to decide where you are going and where you want to be.  And having a general idea can be extremely helpful.

Although knowing where we are going and where we want to be is a great piece of advice, most go through life without an understanding of what they want for themselves, and what their purpose is.  Many of us let life dictate our future and our plans even if it is truly not where we want to be and go.  Napoleon Hill would refer to this as "drifting".  According to Mr. Hill, nearly 98% of the human population are considered drifters and only 2% are considered non-drifters; therefore the chances are, you, me, and most people you know are drifting.  There are countless reasons for why this happens and Mr. Hill goes in to the details in his books, Outwitting the Devil and Think and Grow Rich, and he explains it much better than I, so if you're interested I'd recommend giving them both a read.  I will, however, tell you that the act of drifting and non-drifting, for that matter, are in full control of the individual.

I actually have been drifting for the majority of my life.  Yea, I always knew what I did not want to do and where I did not want to go, but I never actually knew where I was going and what I wanted to do - until now.  So how did I figure it out?  We'll, it really wasn't rocket science, but it did take a lot of hard work, ups-and-downs, successes and failures, and mental toughness.  I'll outline 3 main steps that changed my path, and pointed me in a direction where I am excited to be adventuring towards.

1. Determination

Determination is what it takes to get through much of everything in life, but it is even more important when breaking out of the drifting mode and into the non-drifter demographic, which is not easy.  As everyone knows, life will always throw you "curve-balls" and try to beat you down, but it is how you choose to react to these life challenges that dictate the outcome.  You can't let these challenges have a negative affect on you, after all, you have a goal and an idea of what you want out of life and where you are going, so keep at it.  Take all those challenges and negative experiences and learn from them, but don't let them set you back - stay on your path and keep moving forward.  Believe me, I have gone through many ups-and-downs from moving to LA without knowing a soul to my dad passing away to leaving a job, laid off, etc.  But, in the end all has led me to where I am now, and mentally I've never been in a better place.  Determination is the one thing that has kept me going through all of this, and I believe it is the most important if one wants to break the habit of drifting through life.  Without determination one would try things a couple of times, maybe even just once and then give up - staying stuck in the same place mentally and physically.   I know this for a fact as I've had this mentality in the past.  I had no clue as to where I wanted to go and how I was going to get there, I just went with the flow.  After all, determination is what made Thomas Edison fail over 10,000 times before he came about the phenomena of electricity, which many of us take for granted as if it has always been a part of this world and human life.

2. Never stop learning

It doesn't matter what it is, never stop learning.  You could be the president and CEO of the biggest and best company in the world - think Amazon, Apple, Google, etc.  And the minute you think you know it all and stop learning, you will lose that competitive advantage, your job, the company will lose market share, etc.   In today's world, the information age, knowledge can be acquired quite easily and educating yourself should be at the top of everyone's list.  While you journey to where you want to go, gather as much information as possible along the way, on as many subjects, as you never know what you'll need on your way and when you get there.   Furthermore, as you learn new subjects and expand your knowledge of topics you already knew a bit about, your path and destination will become clearer with each step.  Maybe you had a general idea of what you want to do, the industry you want to work in, where you want to live, but as you continue to learn - the knowledge you gain may help you hone in on an that exact position, industry, company, city, etc.   Soon your vision will become a reality.

3. Write things down (your plan, ideas, tasks, etc.)

I know it sounds cliché' but it's true, write things down.  We all have ideas and plans in our heads, whether it be personally or professionally, your business plan, marketing ideas, etc., it doesn't matter.  If you ask me, if you don't have it written down you have nothing.  Now, I am not saying that having ideas in your head is a lost cause, quite the contrary, those ideas are the seeds that will lead one out of drifting and into the 2% of non-drifters.  The problem is a lot of us have those ideas for a great business plan, new invention, ways to find that dream job, where we are going - you get the idea; however, the majority of us do not act or succeed in transitioning these ideas in our heads into a reality.  As a matter of fact, for the majority of us life ends up dictating our situation and before we know it time flashes bye and it's either "too late" or the passion for that idea has left or the idea never was expanded on.  I know for me personally, writing things down, making lists, setting goals, and dates to complete "X" by this date has enabled me to have a clear vision of my plan to where I want to be/go.  To be honest, I tell clients that I meet with, many of whom are small business owners and entrepreneurs, where the most common thing among them is they all have plans and ideas, however, it is almost always in their heads, to write things down.  Write that growth strategy down.  Write the marketing plan down, etc.  How do you know how you are going to get there without having it written down?  How do you plan on tracking your accomplishments?  What if you forget?  How can I help you if we don't have it written down in a business plan, marketing plan, growth strategy, etc.?  The same can be said for ones life and where they are going...how do you know exactly where you are going and how you are going to get there, if it's not written down?

I really do not know if these steps will help everyone, but what I do know is this is what has enabled me to move forward and finally find a path to where I want to go, not just where I didn't want to go.  Now everything I do moving forward will be one-step closer in the direction of where I am heading instead of to the right or left, or worse, backwards.  And that is a pretty good feeling.

As always, I'd love to hear your comments on this topic, so please leave comments if you desire.

PS - If you are in need of any Business and Marketing consultation for your small to mid-sized business/start-up feel free to shoot me an email at: modernbizstrategy@gmail.com.

Cheers,

ModernManTellsAll

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Lifestyle: So much to learn, so little time

I can remember growing up and not even thinking twice about how important it is to learn and be educated. My primary focus was on playing sports and enjoying time with friends - that was the most important thing.  Throughout grade school and high school I basically coasted along, going through the motions and getting mostly B's with a few C's and A's, mostly without much effort outside of the classroom.  This mind-set didn't change much, maybe even declined as I graduated high school and went to junior college at Harper and ECC.  I barley went to class and had no desire to learn anything new.  You could say I thought I knew it all as most teenagers assume - at least the males.  I pretty much spent most of the time partying with friends and enjoying life, without even a clue as to what I wanted to do.

Moving on to my decision to go to a four year college in 2000.  I felt I had to do something as I, and the majority of the people I was hanging with, really had no direction - and drifting through life.  So I had a self-realization, so to speak, and went through (mentally) what it is I really like to do, outside of playing sports.   I came up with two paths - both of which would enable me to move out of the mid-west and to the west.  It came down to culinary school and film/audio school.  Well, I chose to go to film/audio school at Columbia College Chicago.  This is where things started to change for me mentally, as the subject matter and teachers at Columbia were intriguing, engaging, and informative.  Although I had been more engaged than ever, I was still only giving about 75% effort towards learning, homework, and classroom participation.  This could be attributed to just growing up and realizing how the world actually works or just slow to adhere to authority.  Needless to say I graduated with a 3.0 average (not bad) and made the move to Los Angeles shortly after.

Not to lose sight of what this post is about, as it's not about me per-se but it gives a real life example to compare to; it's the fact that there is so much to learn and so little time.  The amount of information out there that we now have instant access to is mind-boggling to say the least.  This phenomena really hadn't occurred to me until recently.  Learning is actually addictive, and the personal growth one can achieve through this access to information can be exponential.  I say exponential meaning once your mind is trained to obtain and process information and you break through the misconception that you know everything and/or are content with who you are and what you know, the craving to learn overcomes and drives you.

Take for example my recent studies at Northeastern University where I obtained my MBA.  The amount of information and knowledge I gained just by dedicating myself to learning the material has been a life changer for me.  I like to describe it as a mental evolutionary leap.  It was the first time I actually gave 100% effort towards school or any learning for that matter.  Now, I can essentially talk business and economics with anyone, from Fortune 500 execs to Professors to regular people.  To be honest, it has gotten to the point where I'd rather sit down and read a book or watch an educational documentary, or a TEDTalk than some mindless television show or movie.  I've even contemplated going for a PHD, if it did not cost an absurd amount of money of course.

The point is, once you realize the importance of education and the value of being informed, the more you want to know and obtain, and the less time you want to waste on meaningless content - it's an addiction just like cigarettes or alcohol.  Further, the more educated one is the more freedom one has and the less chance one has of being controlled by fear.  Couple all that with the fact that life is short, even if you live to 90, that is only a blink of an eye in the broad scope of life on earth.

We are living in the information age, and now have access to everything and anything at the push of a button or by typing a few keywords in a Google search.  Many of the top universities are now offering their courses online to anyone interested, granted you will not get credit or a diploma; however you will gain the knowledge which can be applied to your daily life and career.

Learn as much as you can while you can - you will not regret it - and no one can ever take what you've learned away from you. You can lose material things, family and friends, but what knowledge you have that is yours (outside of a mental disease or injury).  In my opinion the most important thing to living is consuming information and growing as a man and as a human.  And then passing that education/knowledge down to others willing to listen and learn.

As always, I'd love to hear your comments on this topic, so please leave comments if you desire.

PS - If you are in need of any Business and Marketing consultation for your small to mid-sized business/start-up feel free to shoot me an email at: modernbizstrategy@gmail.com.

Cheers,

ModernManTellsAll

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Entrepreneur: Most valuable asset

Being an Entrepreneur or a small business owner is not for everyone, nor is it an easy thing to do.  If you ask 100 people what they would like to do with their lives, as far as who to work for/with (if they had a choice), over 75% would say for themselves.  Well, as we all know the majority of people do not become entrepreneurs or small business owners, although the numbers are higher than they've ever been due to economic reasons and the advancements of technology, which have made it easier and more affordable than ever to start and grow a business (if you have a well-defined plan and understand how business works).  According to Forbes, nearly 13% of American adults are involved in startups in 2012 (record high), and nearly 400 million entrepreneurs world-wide (54 countries).  These numbers are great news for the future of the global economy, not to mention the fact that entrepreneurs are ranked as some of the happiest people on the earth.  Do keep in mind that there is a difference between a small business owner and an entrepreneur, just because you work for yourself does not mean you are an entrepreneur.  That is another topic for a separate blog post.

So with that in mind, let's continue on to the topic of this blog post, "Most Valuable Asset".  What I'm saying here is: What is the most valuable asset to an entrepreneur or a small business owner, other than the obvious, capital, of course.  First, let's breakdown a typical scenario that virtually every entrepreneur or small business owner is in, or has been in at one point in time.  Typically a small business or entrepreneurial startup has access to limited resources, including people.  Most of the day-to-day operational duties would be/are handled by the owner or owner(s), with very little time to do anything else.  An entrepreneur or small business owner will work 6/7 days a week and any where from 12 to 18 hours a day.  Some of you just made a face as if your stomach just dropped, yes, this is true and necessary for the business to thrive and grow into a mature entity.  However, no need to feel sorry for these risk takers, as the long hours are typically well worth it for the sole reason that entrepreneurs usually love what they do and would rather be doing nothing else but running their business.

Now that we have a general overview of what it's like to be an entrepreneur/small business owner, what is their most valuable asset (other than capital)?  As stated above, an entrepreneurial enterprise typically will have limited access to resources, particularly people/employees, which brings me to the point I am trying to make, people are your most valuable asset.  And it's not just people in general, it's high quality people; people that understand what it's like to run a small business or startup - "go-getters" as they say.  It's not like a corporate gig where you work in one department and have one or two basic job duties and you work 9 to 5.  No, a typical employee at a startup will easily have five or more duties on a day-to-day basis.  Much of the time these duties will range from low-level intern/entry level type work, data entry, coffee, research, answer phones, etc.; to executing business / marketing plans, financial forecasting, business development, operations management, ordering supplies, traveling, etc., on top of working 12 - 16 hour days.  Sound fun?  Well, if so I'd recommend finding a startup or starting your own business.

My point here is this, not just anyone can fill these positions.  As an entrepreneur or small business owner, you are only as strong as your support (team) staff, whether it be 1 or 2 people or 5 or 6, you need high quality, motivated, intelligent, tech-savvy, diverse, individuals.  People that can multitask and add valuable input everyday, all day.  People that can think outside of the box and create new operational processes or marketing techniques and implement them on the fly.  This is your most valuable asset (people), so you better make sure they are appreciated and taken care of - even before your own needs are met, because once you lose a good one it is extremely hard to replace them - not to mention the loss in productivity, capital, and potential revenue over time.

As always, I'd love to hear your comments on this topic, so please leave comments if you desire.

PS - If you are in need of any Business and Marketing consultation for your small to mid-sized business/start-up feel free to shoot me an email at: modernbizstrategy@gmail.com.

Cheers,

ModernManTellsAll

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Lifestyle: Do what Dogs do

I'm sure the majority of you are thinking to yourself, what does he mean, do what dogs do?  Well, I will explain my logic behind this phenomena that has been peeking my curiosity over the last 4 years.  I'm definitely not saying people should go around and "evacuate" all over the neighborhood, I'm talking about how a dog appreciates life no matter what they are doing.

If you own a dog I believe you would oblige with what I'm saying here, unless you are not present and happy in your own life, then all vision would be cloudy, including your mind.  But for those of us that do appreciate what our pooches have to offer, much of what I'm going to say will make complete sense at least on the surface.  Granted the following will be based on my personal experience of owning a dog and interacting with other dogs at dog parks and friends/family's houses, etc.

So what do I mean, do what dogs do... For starters when you're out walking your dog, and they're all excited just to be out walking around the neighborhood, smelling all those wonderful smells, lifting their leg or squatting to pee on stuff - they are in heaven - nothing else matters.  Now, at that very moment ask yourself how happy am I right now, or what am I thinking about.  My dog is elated to be outside walking around, smelling and peeing on stuff, while I'm thinking about or stressed out about something that happened earlier or worse, something that hasn't happened or may not even happen in the future.

Another example would be when you take your dog (aka best friend/li'l homie) to the dog park, or a friend comes over with their dog, and the dogs are are so excited they can't even contain themselves, tails are wagging, whining, etc.  Now, when was the last time YOU were this excited to see a friend or family member?  I'd argue a long, long time ago, if ever.  How about when you come home from work after an 8 to 10 hour day, who's at the door waiting for you to come inside wagging their tail?  Yep, your dog.

Dog's are masters at living in the moment, granted they have no concept of time, and appreciating all the basic aspects of life, the little things that actually matter, which many of us forget.  Most of us (humans) get caught up in our heads, thinking about the past and/or future, when none of it really matters.  Well, as long as you've learned from the past and don't continue to make the same mistakes.  And the future, well that's out of our control, most of the time much of what we think is going to happen in the future does not even come to fruition; thus, causing you to miss all those smells and wonders of mother nature that all animals appreciate - and since dogs are usually the ones that live amongst us and are apart of our daily lives, we should take notice of how they react to their environment and enjoy life, and make an effort to understand why this is.  It will change your perspective, at least for a moment, and that's a start.

So next time you're out walking your dog take the time to smell, look around, and who knows, maybe even pee on a tree or two! (that last one is a joke, hahahaha)

As always, I'd love to hear your comments on this topic, so please leave comments if you desire.

PS - If you are in need of any Business and Marketing consultation for your small to mid-sized business/start-up feel free to shoot me an email at: modernbizstrategy@gmail.com.

Cheers,

ModernManTellsAll

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