How to Have Poor Self-Discipline and Still Succeed

By Susan Fujii

Today I want to talk to you about discipline – specifically, why it is so important to your financial success and how I am absolutely terrible at it but still manage to "win" financially (and how you can, too, if you choose!).

So let's get right to it... why is self-discipline so important to your financial success?

To achieve financial success, you must learn things like:

• How to stop yourself from buying yet another "shiny object" that you don't need (even though you really want it!)
• How to firmly stick to your savings plan (even though you really want to go out to dinner instead of cooking tonight)
• How to use a trailing stop on an investment and stick to it when it hits (even though you "know" the stock is going to go higher and this hitting of your stop is only temporary...ha!)

Yes, self-discipline is vital to your financial success!

So what is self-discipline and how do we acquire it?

Well, the official definition according to Merriam-Webster is:

self-dis·ci·pline: The ability to control one's feelings and overcome one's weaknesses; the ability to pursue what one thinks is right despite temptations

This implies that self-discipline is an "ability"...either you have it or you don't. (I totally disagree, by the way, but we'll get to that in a minute...).

It IS true that some people do just seem to be born with an extra dose of self-discipline – my husband, for example, is one of the most disciplined people I know. He will always choose a "side salad, no dressing" instead of french fries, every single time (actually his whole family is like that, so I suppose that supports the whole "genetic" concept!).

But what about those of us who weren't magically born with the self-discipline gene/ability? What do we do?

I personally have terrible self-discipline. When faced with a choice between sleeping in a few more minutes or springing up out of bed the instant the alarm sounds, I hit the "snooze" button every time. When choosing between another glass of wine or a healthy glass of water, the wine wins hands-down. When setting a sell-limit order for a stock, I have been known to panic, cancel it, and put in a market order to sell the stock "RIGHT NOW" because I don't have the discipline to wait and instead worry that the price will drop further before I can sell it.

Like I said, self-discipline is not my strong point.

And yet, I have still managed to work around this flaw and achieve financial success. So what is my secret weapon that allows me to beat out those non-disciplined behaviors above, every single time I use it?

It's my own definition:

self-discipline: the act of forcing yourself to do things you really, REALLY don't want to do, but know you should do anyway because it's good for you

My secret weapon is the fact that I know myself and KNOW that I have absolutely no natural self-discipline whatsoever, so in order to do the things I know I need to do to be successful, I must game my own system so that I will win. This allows me to beat out those non-disciplined behaviors that I mentioned above every single time!

Let me show you how this works for me:

I will hit the snooze button every time... UNLESS I know I will make my kids late for school. (Note that being late myself isn't always enough motivation for me, but making someone ELSE late does it for me)

I will choose wine every single time... UNLESS I know that it will totally wreck my sleep and make my next day a disaster (alcohol within 2-3 hours of bed just kills my sleep, and sleep is my favorite thing in life!)

I will cancel my well-thought-out sell-limit order... UNLESS I completely leave the house and get away from my PC! And preferably to meet someone else, so that I can't just turn around and drive home without having to explain myself to the friend and become incredibly embarrassed.

I will procrastinate writing these blog emails... UNLESS I have multiple people waiting for me to send it out and I will be totally embarrassed not to get it done!

I will procrastinate working on this site/business at all... UNLESS I set up a meeting with coaches who will be holding me accountable on my progress.

For me, since I have no innate "self-discipline" behavior, it all comes down to pain and pleasure. I have to make the pain of NOT doing whatever it is I should be doing worse than actually just doing the disciplined behavior.

I've found that embarrassment is a huge motivator for me, although your mileage may vary... you will have to find what works best for YOU, and then go on and game your system so that you win!

I've also found that I respond more to "avoiding pain" than "experiencing pleasure", because most of the behaviors I am trying to make myself do are painful in the first place, so I have to make NOT doing them even more painful! But again, your mileage may vary... just figure out what works for you and get it done.

Focus On Clean-ups And Multiply Your Energy:
Transform your messes into progress and breakthroughs.

By Dan Sullivan

As you progress through life and your business grows, it's natural that some messes will accumulate in your life. We define a "mess" as an obligation you're not committed to. You can remember this as "M = O – C," or "Mess equals Obligation minus Commitment."

Common messes entrepreneurs experience are legal issues, financial concerns, and problems that arise out of the complexity of running an evolving business. As messes build up over the years, they can start to block your progress and bog you down in minutiae.

When you leave a situation in a mess, a part of your brain stays with it. That bit of mental energy isn't able to contribute to solving other problems or creating new opportunities. With each clean-up you do, a portion of your brain is set free again.

The clean-up two-step.

The process for cleaning up a mess involves two steps. The first is to face it. Until you've looked at the messes in your life head-on, acknowledging and identifying what they are, you can't begin to clean them up.

The second step is to deal with it. Messes are often the result of guilt, justification, and avoidance, so a little action goes a long way toward dealing with them. Complexity and negative emotion then turn into a new sense of simplicity and confidence.

The Monday morning invasion.

Your office can be a constant source of messes. For instance, you might not even use your desk drawers anymore. Many people's drawers turn into time capsules and their closets become museums, while the bulk of their work sits on their desk. If you have piles of paper to get past just to reach your chair, Monday morning might feel more like storming the beaches.

A mess in your physical space goes beyond mere untidiness. There's nothing inherently wrong with a cluttered or haphazard workspace (no matter what a compulsive organizer might say!). What really matters is whether your space contributes to your ability to think, communicate, and act, or if it gets in the way.

There are many solutions for getting your space set up so it helps you do your best work. One strategy I recommend to my clients is "The No-Office Solution": Instead of having a space where "stuff" can pile up, work off-site or use a temporary space in the office. When you're finished, a team member takes your stuff away, so there's nowhere for more of it to accumulate while you're out of the office.

At first, many people think they couldn't possibly do this. Those who try it, though, find that it provides a huge boost in confidence. Being faced each day with stacks of stuff can keep you from recognizing the progress you've made. The No-Office Solution™ focuses your attention on active tasks and projects that you can deal with one by one.

Doing deals with the world.

Many people get into messes when they work outside their area of expertise. When there's something you know you have to do, but you don't enjoy doing it and don't do it well, it's easy to put it off until it becomes a problem. While it's up to you to say what needs to be cleaned up in your life, you're not necessarily the person to have to do the clean-up. You can get anything accomplished in the world as long as you're not always the person who has to do it!

Delegation is a key strategy for cleaning up a situation and preventing it from becoming an issue again. The power of delegation lies in the way it extends your abilities. By surrendering a task to someone with a talent and passion in that area, you make sure it'll be handled now and into the future, and you also open up the opportunity to have it handled well.

Wondering what to delegate?

There are a few key things in life you do really well and that give you energy. Then there's everything else. Some of these other activities are things you're simply not good at. These "incompetent activities" can be very frustrating, and are dangerously easy to ignore because you dislike them so much. There are other activities you're competent at, but you don't add anything special to the way you do them; anyone could get the same result as you. Then there are things you do exceptionally well, but aren't passionate about. You might enjoy the attention or the results these excellent activities get you, but they don't really ignite your passion.

These three types of activities–incompetent, competent, or excellent–are good candidates for delegation, starting with incompetent activities. In these areas, you might find that your energy drops after the novelty wears off, and you have trouble finding the motivation to complete projects. Someone else, however, might have the energy to finish the job, or to add a new element that makes it interesting for you again. They might enjoy tasks that you don't, and have a different perspective or abilities to bring to them.

The trick is to draw a circle around those few activities you're great at, then make deals with the world to take care of everything outside that circle. In doing this, you multiply your abilities and preserve your energy for those activities that distinguish you from everyone else.

Releasing potential energy.

The initial thought of doing clean-ups may not excite you–after all, aren't these things you were avoiding in the first place? But think of how good you'll feel once they're done. With every mess you clean up, you'll transform a source of guilt, frustration, and suffering into a source of confidence, energy, and progress. This releases an enormous amount of energy, freeing you up to shift your attention from dealing with little problems to the much more rewarding business of creating the future you want to see.

Third Time's a Charm - True or False?

To me, it's "True." 

 

There's a natural temptation to quit after a second try. The average, busy, over-worked adult says to themselves, "Well I gave it a couple shots. This is going to be a waste of time. I'll do something else."

Remember the other expression? "If at first you don't succeed, try and try again." It's not just "try again." Often, the trick is to get past that second hurdle.

In business, sometimes we must quit. Our idea isn't working. The margins aren't there. Other endeavors or projects are more important. But many successes are lost because of retreating too early. The result of quitting means you don't grow, push your limits, accomplish your dreams, and you end up sitting next to your buddy at the retirement home watching HSN repeating, "I had that idea 30 years ago."

Remember, your second try will often be as bad or worse than the first. Why?

1. Overcorrection. A staggering number of car accidents happen each year when drivers swerve a little, then whip the wheel the opposite direction to get back to the middle of the road. Overcompensation causes the accident. Your second attempt is often an exaggeration of your first failure.

2. Hyper Awareness. On your second attempt, you become overly conscious of your thoughts, words, hands, and body. You tighten up. Ever coached a kid playing tee-ball for the first time? If the child has a modicum of athletic ability, they'll almost always foul tip the ball on their first swing. But on the second attempt, they're now tense with self-awareness. What happens? They hit the tee. (Hyper-awareness on the second try can also explain "beginner's luck.")

3. Impatience. When I drew pictures as a youngster, time didn't exist. I could draw all day. My only goal was to enjoy the spilling of my imagination onto a blank page. I had no deadline, no boss, and no quota. The impatience of adults comes from time constraints, budget restrictions, and performance pressures. We can write off our first failure, but after the second defeat, the risk can be perceived as too great. The result – we quit. What a shame.

I think the third time IS a charm. After all, it's not two strikes and you're out. And who can forget "School House Rock," who taught us all, "Three is a Magic Number."

The simple knowledge of this life nugget helps. When attempting something new, remind yourself three times "I may get worse before I get better." If I'm right, your over correction will decrease, you'll remain more relaxed, and you'll afford the patience required. The profit for your persistence could be a blockbuster project, a lucrative new business, a standing ovation, or a home run at whatever you put your mind to. 

Instead of annoying your retired pals with your infomercial regrets, you could be addressing an audience of thousands with a speech that begins, "When I had this idea 30 years ago..."

Now, cue De La Soul...

Negotiating Is Good Marketing in Disguise

Most of the principles that apply to marketing also apply to negotiations. So it stands to reason that if you are a fairly good marketer you will be a fairly good negotiator.

Likewise, if marketing is not your strong suit, you may need some help in the negotiation department.

Let me give you the top techniques I've used to negotiate game-changing partnerships, amazing salaries, bonuses, and benefits... and much more...

The 7 Core Principles for Million Dollar Negotiations

1. Determine your desired outcome before you start your negotiation. It is critical to understand what you want before you ever set foot in a negotiation. That way, you'll know when to push forward and when to stop. Knowing your bottom line prevents you from taking advantage of the other person in the negotiations (See Principle 7 for more on why this is a bad idea!)... And it also prevents you from agreeing to terms that are unacceptable to you.
2. Know your audience. This is by far the most important principle in marketing and in negotiating. Make sure you do your homework. Find out as much as possible about the person sitting across the table. Find out about other deals he has made. Understand if he is a handshake kind of person or a long contract kind of person and prepare yourself accordingly.
3. Understand your worth. The biggest mistake I see employees and entrepreneurs make is not understanding what they really bring to the table. Make sure your accomplishments are ingrained in your head. But also make sure that they are accurate and consistent.
4. Listen, listen, and listen some more. Most of the time we are so busy making sure that people hear what we have to say that we forget to listen. But the best negotiators are detectives. They ask probing questions and then stop talking. The other negotiator will tell you everything you need to know – all you have to do is listen. Many conflicts can be resolved easily if we learn how to listen. You can become an effective listener by allowing the other person to do most of the talking. Follow the 80/20 Rule: listen 80 percent of the time and talk only 20 percent of the time.
5. Lead with optimism. Aim high and expect the best outcome. Successful negotiators are optimists. If you expect more, you'll get more. A proven strategy for achieving higher results is opening with an extreme position. Sellers should ask for more than they expect to receive, and buyers should offer less than they are prepared to pay. People who aim higher do better. Your optimism will become a self-fulfilling prophecy. Conversely, if you have low expectations, you will probably wind up with a less satisfying outcome.
6. Never threaten and don't get emotionally involved. One big mistake many amateur negotiators make is to become too emotionally attached to winning. They shout, threaten, and demand to get their way. This is all counter-productive. Most deals are only possible if both people feel they're getting something out of it. If the person across the table feels attacked, or doesn't like you, they probably won't back down. Most people hate bullies, and will be more willing to walk away from a transaction if it involves one. Be calm, patient, and friendly, even if the other person starts losing their cool. Make sure you leave any pride or ego at the door. You're much more likely to do well that way.
7. Never walk away feeling you "pulled one over" on someone else. Many people try to drain every last drop of blood from a negotiation. This is a mistake. If the other person feels they've been cheated, it can come back to bite you. They may not fulfill their part of the deal. They may refuse to deal with you in the future. They may even spread the word to others you might want to negotiate with. Negotiations should leave both parties feeling satisfied with the outcome. Be willing to give up things that don't really matter to you in order to create a feeling of goodwill. For example, if you are re-negotiating your office rent downwards, try to offer to sign a longer lease. That way, the landlord knows his property will have tenants for a longer time, and you get a cheaper rent.

The ability to negotiate successfully in today's turbulent business climate can make the difference between success and failure. It is a skill you must master. If you keep these seven strategies in mind each time you step into negotiations, you will be well on your way to earning a better income, eliminating frustration, and having a more satisfying life.

Gratitude Is the Highest Point
of View

Experiencing gratitude is one of the most effective ways of getting in touch with your soul. When you’re in touch with your soul, you eavesdrop on the thoughts of the universe. You feel connected to everything in creation. You embrace the wisdom of uncertainty and you sense yourself as a field of infinite possibilities.

Gratitude is a fullness of heart that moves you from limitation and fear to expansion and love. When you’re appreciating something, your ego moves out of the way. You can’t have your attention on ego and gratitude at the same time.

Just for a few moments, consider the things you have in your life that you could be grateful for – all the nurturing relationships, the material comforts, your body, and the mind that allows you to really understand yourself and everything around you. Just breathe and be grateful for the air that is filling your lungs and making your life possible. Simply feel your body and your aliveness and acknowledge what a miracle it is just to be alive right now. Allow your awareness to appreciate what you are seeing, smelling, and touching just at this moment and you will find yourself in the middle of the stream of life without trying at all.

Feel the love, compassion, and understanding that gratitude brings into your heart. Notice how gratitude brings your attention into the present time, which is the moment in which miracles can unfold. The deeper your appreciation, the more you see with the eyes of the soul and the more your life flows in harmony with the creative power of the universe.

Love,
Deepak

Google+ Pages Can Now Be Managed With Third-Party Apps

Google+ Pages Can Now Be Managed With Third-Party Apps

Find a goal that scares the crap out of you

by Sally Hogshead on November 14, 2011

Do you have a career goal that makes you a little uncomfortable? You should.
This goal doesn’t have to be majestic, like ending world hunger. It can be specific to your profession, like helping every single customer find exactly the product they need. Or it can be personal, like saving enough to put three kids through college.
There are only 2 ground rules:

1. Your goal has to expose you to a very real chance of failure.
2. Your goal has to be big and important enough to proclaim a true purpose for your work.

As I’ve said before: If your goal is comfortable, it’s not big enough.
What do you stand for, really? What’s your career about? Once you figure that out, and then steer your life toward it, you can start to realize your true potential. This can be daunting to consider. (At least, it will be daunting if you’re doing it right.) But don’t play it safe.
Here, I’ll go first:
The goal that truly inspires me is teaching people how to become their most fascinating.
Why? Because when you fascinate, you communicate your best self. You are heard and remembered.
When you fascinate, you slice through distraction. You are not ignored or forgotten. You are not irrelevant. You have the chance to actually connect.
When you fascinate your customer, you sell more and earn more. When you fascinate your co-workers, they act upon your best ideas. By fascinating your employees, you’re motivating them to more fully engage.
When you fascinate your family, you build stronger trust.
Only by understanding your natural, authentic fascination strengths can others see your best self.
Then, and only then, can you start to make a real difference in this world.

Okay, that’s my goal that scares the crap out of me.
Your turn. Go.

Five warning signs your business is veering toward a cliff | Focus | Crain's Chicago Business

Five warning signs your business is veering toward a cliff | Focus | Crain's Chicago Business

Role Modeling For Success

By Ryan Murdock

Do you struggle with Goal Setting?

I'm not surprised.

"Goal setting" has either been beaten into unbearable dullness by the anal retentive authors of certain business books, or it's been co-opted by unicorn-riding New Age "thinkers" who tell you all you've gotta do is imagine really hard and that Lotus Esprit will show up in your driveway. So you're either doomed to drooling boredom or confined to strait jackets and padded rooms.

It doesn't have to be that way. Goal setting is simple, and it forms a key pillar of the Shapeshifter Lifestyle strategies I share with my fitness clients.

So you've got your big dream. You know what you want. But how do you break it down into concrete, achievable steps? That's exactly what one of my readers wanted to know...

Dale asked me: "I know what I want to achieve, but trying to set all the little goals to get to that point kills me. If your goal is something you have never achieved, how do you realistically know the steps to get there?"

It's an excellent question, and an honest one. Your goal is pretty much always something you've never achieved. Otherwise why would you bother? But how the heck do you orient your compass when you don't have a map?

It's actually pretty easy. You just map the process of another person who has achieved the same or a similar goal.

Find a "role model" who has the sort of lifestyle you're trying to create. What did he or she go through to get there? What specific things worked, and which "dead ends" should you avoid? What skills or traits does this person embody?

Compare these details to where you are right now. Then figure out what's missing from YOUR equation – and how you're going to get it.

I'll share a personal story that illustrates exactly what I mean.

When I'm not helping average folks redesign beautiful bodies with the Shapeshifter fitness program, I'm also a professional travel writer. How did I learn to write well enough that magazines would want to send me on expeditions at their expense? I didn't have a teacher, that's for sure! I did it by myself, sitting alone in a room. Writing isn't something you can be taught – but it IS something that can be learned.

When I was first starting to write, I devoured the work of a writer whose style and worldview I admired. His name was Lawrence Durrell. I read absolutely everything he published, right down to the most obscure collection in university libraries. Then I read his published letters. Then I read all the biographies that had been written about him. Finally, I read critical articles about his work to see if I agreed with the opinions formed by these authors, or if I'd missed any nuances.

By the time I was finished I knew so much about Lawrence Durrell's life, and I'd followed his creative process at such a deep level through his work, that I had a pretty clear sense of the skills he developed and how he got there. I also assessed myself – clearly and honestly – to see where my own writing fell short. And then I worked backwards from my vision to my current state to build the skills I needed, step by step.

Yeah, that sounds like a lot of work. But it wasn't enough...

I followed this same process with every writer whose work resonated with me on a deep level: Paul Theroux (who I consider the greatest living travel writer), Henry Miller, Jack Kerouac, Arthur Rimbaud, and Steve Kilbey.

I lived and breathed my craft. I read the classics. I read poetry to understand how to manipulate images in original ways. I read history and psychology to inform my work. I read old explorer's journals to honour those who came before me. And I'm still doing it a decade and a half later.

So yeah, that's it. That's how you do it.

Mapping is a sure fire way to discover the path to the dream you want to live rather than just wish for. All it takes is a little work.

So who do YOU admire? Who has the type of business you aspire to create? Who lives with the kind of energy and joie de vivre you'd like to experience? Who has surrounded themselves with the kind relationships and friendships you want in your life? And who embodies the career of your dreams?

Pick one person and start your own modeling process. This person can be someone close to you, someone famous, or even a fictional character. The important thing is to go deep and truly feel, know and understand what makes that person someone you admire. How do they act, think and feel? What would they do in a given situation?

Then start imagining, practicing and applying those actions and reactions to yourself.

Stop Promoting Your Business On Social Media

One of the main reasons people fail using social media is they over-promote on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, LinkedIn, etc. Stop it. Social media opens the door to have conversations with people you may not have otherwise met. Use social media to engage with others, build the relationship first.

You have to earn trust with people offline. It’s no different online. Only it may take even longer. How long does it take you to trust someone?

Figure out what value you can add to people’s lives online, through your social media channels. Once you’ve added value, sparked meaningful conversation and engagement with others, then you might consider promoting an offer.

Is Leadership Really Salesmanship?

By: Mike Hourigan

In a recent TV appearance, President Obama said: "If John Boehner can sell it to his people."

The President did not say, convince his people or negotiate with his people, he said: "If he can sell it to his people." In other words, it not just that he agrees, or is willing to make a compromise, does he have the sales ability or salesmanship to actually get his people to buy it. This article is not intended to debate any political issues or choose sides, rather it is intended to take a look at salesmanship and how it is an essential leadership skill.

Some politicians are referred to as slick, smooth, or glib, and many salespeople are referred to the same way. As any sales manager will tell you, the sale does not go to the slickest, but to the best prepared and the most customer-focused. Every sales training program is filled with systems to prepare the salesperson for the sale. The same is true for leaders. Employees know when someone is just going through the motions, or has not given any thought to how a new plan affects them, or is just giving them a "sales job."

You can have the best leadership ideas in the world, but if your employees do not buy in, it is not going to happen. Employees are just like customers -- they want to believe that you have their best interest at heart and they are willing to give you the benefit of the doubt the first time.

Employees actually want to buy into new ideas and new ways to do things, but they don't want to be sold unreasonable demands, or rehashed old ideas presented in a clever new way. As sales speaker Jeffrey Gitomer is fond of saying: "People don't like to be sold, but they love to buy!"

So, how do you sell your ideas without your employees feeling like they are being sold or even worse - being sold out? Here are three salesmanship principals that apply to leadership:

1. Be honest. As trite as it sounds, telling the truth goes a long way in making a sale - and it goes an even longer way in keeping a sale. The inevitability is that your customer will find out you lied and so will your employees. A customer may choose to confront you or never buy from you again if you are caught lying to them. An employee will simply find ways to work around you if they can't trust you.

2. Believe in what you are selling. I like it when a salesperson's optimism for his or her product is almost infectious; I almost want to help them sell me. Employees who see you are excited by a well thought idea can't wait to jump on board and are willing to bring other employees with them.

3. Know your competition. You can't just know your product inside and out, you have to know your competitors' products as well. You can be honest, and you can believe in what you are selling, but if it is not competitive or is deemed irrelevant, you will not make the sale. The same with your employees, they know competition can make or break them. They know how fast your market is changing. So be prepared to give them the facts and figures to back up your strategy.

So, as you crunch the numbers, develop a new model and prepare to send out the word, don't forget the most important part of the process: salesmanship.

Metra approves largest single fare hike in its history

Metra approves largest single fare hike in its history

Banana nutrition facts - nine things you probably never knew about this nutritious tropical food

Banana nutrition facts - nine things you probably never knew about this nutritious tropical food

Practice Right So You Can't Get It Wrong

Excerpted from The Mackay MBA of Selling in the Read World by Harvey Mackay

  Practice makes perfect ... not true. You have to add one word: Perfect practice makes perfect.

I wish that I had coined that phrase, but I didn't. Vince Lombardi did. Practice something time and time again and - if you don't know what you are doing - all you are really doing is perfecting an error. You have put a ceiling on how good you can become.

A golfer can go out and play eight days a week. He can practice eight days a week. And if he doesn't know what he is doing, all he is really doing is perfecting his errors - eight days a week.

I have studied the Russian, Chinese, Japanese and Arabic languages and quite frankly, people think I am a heck of a linguist. Actually I am a lot slower learner than most of the people with whom I started my language classes. But there is one marked difference: I finished. They didn't.

In Japanese it might take 200 hours. Russian 300 hours. Mandarin, 400 hours. But eventually that breakthrough occurs.

It's kind of like a stonecutter hammering away at his rock perhaps 100 times without a dent in it. And yet on the 101st blow the rock splits in two. It was not that blow that did it, but what followed all that had gone before. If you're not willing to practice - and practice until you get it right - you will never make the 100 blows that make the breakthrough on the 101st.

A perfect example of this was when my son, David, and I were taking Japanese lessons from the Berlitz language school in preparation for our four-week stay in Japan. At the time, he was an undergraduate student at Stanford University and right at the peak of his learning curve. I was somewhat over the hill and would not be considered a fast learner. However, it made no difference whatsoever because of my perseverance. After two weeks into the class, David was on page 75 of the text, and I was on page 30. By the end of the course, he had learned approximately 35 percent more than I had because of his speed and young brain. To overcome this, I had to spend an extra three weeks of studying to catch up with him. In the end, we both left with the same Japanese vocabulary. I just had to pay a higher price.

Look at the great athletes and musicians. There are no walk-ons at the Super Bowl or Carnegie Hall ... or in corporate boardrooms, for that matter. The level of performance in those exalted places is only partially a reflection of talent. There are two other qualities that are indispensable in making it to the top: determination and expert coaching.

Over a lifetime I've had numerous coaches to help me bring out whatever God-given talent and potential I have. I've had coaches for:

• public speaking
• writing
• ideas/creativity
• computers/social media
• foreign languages
• marathon running
• golf (including putting)
• downhill and waterskiing
• swimming
• dancing (thanks to my wife, Carol Ann
• table tennis
• bowling
• stretching
• boxing
• scuba diving
• ice skating
• basketball
• volleyball . . . and many, many others.

Whatever it is you do, you can be better at it if you just keep on learning. I certainly have not mastered the art of making envelopes, selling envelopes or developing new envelopes.

The minute I persuade myself that I have learned all there is to learn about a subject and can relax, that's the moment my competition will hand me my head and slam me into the pavement. The annals of business are filled with stories of companies which thought they had it made and could milk their enterprises as cash cows without having to bother about improving their products or services. It's amazing how fast they found their markets disappearing.

Apply this lesson to your own business. Hire people who are still learning, people who feel that learning is a lifelong process, either in the classroom, in the office or at home. Show them you want them to grow - and your business will grow too.

Right after Communism fell in the early 1990s, I made a seven-day lecture tour to Moscow. I will never, ever forget a Help Wanted sign I spotted. It translated: "Inexperience Wanted!" In short, they didn't want anyone who had been practicing bad habits. They wanted a new and fresh employee that they could train properly.

Mackay's Moral: All the world's a stage, and most of us need more rehearsals.

What Twitter Users Think About the Brands They Follow - eMarketer

What Twitter Users Think About the Brands They Follow - eMarketer

Mobile Brings New Opportunities for Local Retailers - eMarketer

Mobile Brings New Opportunities for Local Retailers - eMarketer

What Encourages Facebook Engagement? - eMarketer

What Encourages Facebook Engagement? - eMarketer

The Entrepreneur and the American Dream

By Robert Ringer

With the word entrepreneur becoming increasingly popular with media pundits on both the right and the left, more and more people are coming to realize that entrepreneurship was the driving force behind America's widespread prosperity – prosperity that few Americans could have imagined as recent as the mid-20th century.

Entrepreneurship, in fact, embodies the spirit of the American Dream. After all, many of the Founding Fathers were entrepreneurs, and perhaps the two most famous in that regard are George Washington and Thomas Jefferson. They also are good examples of just how far apart the results of individual entrepreneurs can be. Though they were both farmers, Washington was one of the richest men in America, while Jefferson struggled financially throughout his life and died broke.

Jefferson's financial difficulties are a reminder that there are no guarantees for the entrepreneur, who labors away without the luxury of a safety net. In fact, perhaps the single greatest attribute of an entrepreneur is his willingness to take risks – including the risk of losing everything if he fails. By everything, I'm not just referring to savings, stocks, bonds, and collectibles. I'm talking about his house, his furniture, his cars – everything he owns – not to mention his credit and his self-esteem.

In this vein, Barbara Walters did an excellent special last week on self-made billionaires. The slant of the show belied the rhetoric of politicians who pander to voters by implying that being rich, of and by itself, is evil. They would have people believe that rich people somehow prevent others from getting ahead financially. The truth, of course, is that most wealthy people achieved their success by creating products and services that others want.

Barbara Walters' first guest was Guy Laliberte, founder of Cirque du Soleil. Laliberte, who has a net worth of $2.5 billion, struggled early in his career as a street performer in Montreal before venturing out as an entrepreneur. Today, his multibillion-dollar business showcases in 271 cities worldwide, employing tens of thousands of people in the process.

When Walters asked Laliberte if he still takes risks, he quickly responded, "Every day." Wall Street Journal Wealth Reporter Robert Frank, who added his insights throughout the show, then explained, "Part of the risk-taking personality is the ability to overcome failure. ...One of the things that makes billionaires successful is their reaction to failure."

Unfortunately, those who spew out class-warfare rhetoric are clueless about the risks the entrepreneur takes in his quest to achieve the American Dream. Or about the self-evident principle: The greater the risk, the greater the potential reward.

As a result, politicians have a stubborn habit of stepping in and trying to curb the natural rewards of the marketplace, insisting that "it's unfair" for the super rich to make so much more than the average working person. That's right, no other explanation other than "it's unfair."

It goes without saying that from a moral point of view, their position is indefensible. If people are truly free, they should be free to become as wealthy as their talent, creativity, and hard work can take them, so long as they do not use force or fraud against anyone else. The American Dream is about opportunity, not guarantees.

And from an economic viewpoint, it's a no-brainer. Contrary to what some politicians would like us to believe, it's impossible for anyone to become rich without creating jobs. Wealthy folks start and expand businesses and, in the process, employ others – not just by hiring people, but through the jobs that are created indirectly by those who furnish the raw materials, parts, transportation, etc. that their businesses require.

But what about someone who spends hundreds of millions of dollars indulging himself in such luxuries as mansions, private jets, and yachts? It doesn't take a Ludwig von Mises to explain that workers are needed to build those mansions, private jets, and yachts, not to mention to produce the materials and thousands of parts and accessories that go into them. Then, once built, it takes people to operate and service those mansions, private jets, and yachts – which means long-term employment.

Thus, economic reality makes it clear that the entrepreneur is not the villain some politicians make him out to be. On the contrary, he is a bona fide hero who creates jobs and wealth for everyone who is willing to work, thus giving others a leg up in achieving the American Dream.

As such, entrepreneurs who accumulate great fortunes should be admired rather than scorned. To vilify someone for having "too much" is the height of asininity and self-destructiveness. The American Dream is not about envy; it's about getting what you want in life by creating products and services that are valued in the free market.

The single most important fact about entrepreneurs such as Bill Gates and the recently deceased Steve Jobs is that their great wealth not only does not prevent others from becoming successful, it actually gives their customers the tools to become wealthy themselves. Think computers, hand-held electronic devices, and cell phones, to name but a few of the more obvious of such tools, all of which are easily available to even the most financially challenged among us.

The optimistic side of me wants to believe that truth may be on a roll here. If so, it needs all the help it can get. As angry redistribution-of-wealth advocates preach about lame abstracts such as social justice and fairness, those of us who know the truth about the American Dream need to spread the word.

We need to explain to all who will listen that the individual who aspires to great wealth by creating products and services people want is not the cause of America's problems, but, rather, the solution to its problems.

When an individual focuses on hard work, resourcefulness, and wealth creation – and is willing to take risks – it puts him in a position to achieve the same American Dream that millions of wealthy people have experienced through their own efforts.