Category Archives: Commentary

Commentary

Without Action, 2012 Is Just Another Year

The Year End

At the end of the year, many people reflect over their lives. What did they do that year? What do they like? What do they not? Such reflections usually result in some manner of a list of changes they would like to make starting Jan 1. New Year’s Resolutions they are called.

Some want to lose weight. Others want to quite smoking. Still others may opt to manage their time better. No matter the desire, the results typically are the same. That first week of January the gym is crowded, but soon the attendance wanes and returns to normal. Money comes out each month anyway for that membership, few go.

The cigarettes. The alcohol. The overeating. The laziness and complacency. It all returns. Old habits come back. Oh, maybe next year.

Stop the Procrastination

The problem is not in the resolution. The problem is not in the desire. The problem is in the execution. In the action. Without action, 2012 is just another year. Just another time. Just more waiting and wishing.

Miss one day? So what, pick it up the next. Miss a week? So what, start over again. Right now! Don’t procrastinate anymore! Take action!

Take Massive Action

Some changes need to be built, slowly over time. They still require massive action, just action that is placed over many days or weeks. That twenty extra pounds were not gained in three days, so don’t expect it to be gone that quickly. Develop a plan. Take action against it. Massive action! Build the momentum.

Learning new skills may require massive action up front, coupled with restrained action as a follow up. Research. Study. Testing. Great bits of information all at once, digested slowly. Akin to pushing a large bolder. Take the massive action at the start and let momentum carry the rest, providing additional energy as needed. Without that first action, nothing will happen.

Without Action, 2012 Is Just Another Year

Decide what you want to change. Research what it takes. Find experts who can help. Find mentors who will encourage and equip. Develop a plan. Take a deep breath. Start. Take MASSIVE action. Don’t let 2012 become just another year. Create the better habits. Walk the talk. Get results. The secret is actions, not resolutions.

Business, Commentary

Have Faith

The Apostle Paul writes in Hebrews that without faith it is impossible to please God. Dani Johnson writes that it is the lack of faith in one’s self that causes failure. Faith is more than just a religious expression, it is how we live our lives.

For the Entrepreneur, faith is an all important component. It is what let’s one know that success will be had. It is more than just leaping blindly from the ledge, it is in knowing that there is a place to land and it will be reached. Faith is that knowing.

Having constant failure in your business venture? Working very hard, but not seeing any results? Take a good step back and examine yourself. Do you believe you will have success or are you just wishing? Having the latter means you do not have faith. Success in business is not about winning the lottery. It is not dumb luck that a business grows and brings rewards to those who start. It is about faith.

Faith is the underlying support. Someone’s why is what drives them, what keeps them going. It is their faith that allows them to see success before it happens. It is their faith that cuts through all the murkiness. They have faith in their abilities. They know they have what it takes. They know they will be successful and realize their dreams. They have faith.

Work on your faith this week. Examine and meditate on how you truly see your abilities. Where you find lack, seek training and guidance. Build on small successes and increase your faith in yourself. After all, you are an Entrepreneur. You did start a business. You much have at least a mustard seed of faith in yourself to get that far. Grow it.

Commentary

Not the Tea Party

The bloggisphere is all alight blaming the Tea Party for the downturn in the market. They pull out all manner of “facts” to support their suppositions, but they are not truthful with their information.

It’s Reagan’s mess

While it is correct Reagan promised balanced budgets in his campaigns, he was not able to fulfill it. His tax cuts sparked growth in the economy and when he left office 8 years later, revenues to the treasury were twice what they were when Carter left office. Detractors will quickly point out that Reagan raised taxes twice in those 8 years, but they are slow to recall that $2 in spending were to be cut from every $1 raised. The cuts never took place in a Democrat controlled Congress. Reagan also caused two government shutdowns to try to get a balanced budget. The such budgets ever left Congress for Reagan to sign.

Clinton Balanced the Budget

Candidate Clinton’s budget proposal was lauded by all manner of Keynesian economics in 1992. These are the same economics who are complaining about the S&P downgrade and the Tea Party.

Clinton gave the middle-class the largest tax increase in American history and budget deficits of $220 billion a year. This plus his wife’s attempted take over of 1/6 of the American economy lead to an electorate revolt that gave the Republicans control of Congress for the first time in decades. The Conservatives cut taxes and spending and balanced the budget. No longer invited to the elite parties in Washington, RINOs thanked Newt by throwing him under the bus and slowly losing power. These same RINOs now yell at the Tea Party.

Bush Spent the Surplus

Bush was chosen the Republican candidate over the objection of the Conservatives. A Social Democrat at heart, Bush was the embodiment of tax cut and spend life crazy. The growth during his Presidency was more a left-over of Reagan era policies than his own. The spending really ramped up the last two years of his Presidency when he finally had a Congress that would not oppose him. That is when the Democrats took full control back again.

Listen to tapes of the various talk radio shows during the Bush era and you will hear people pissed off. They were holding their collective noses voting for RINOs all around the country because the thought of total Marxism running unchecked was too great. The support for Fascism’s track of the Progressive ideals was nearly too much to swallow. This culminated in the Tea Party spawning after the 2008 election. No longer bound by some allegiance to a party, they found one another and grew.

The Real Blame

Lost in all the shatter is how much S&P agreed with the Tea Party. The cuts have to be real, not just some reduction in the rate of growth. No Democrat has proposed real cuts, his Holiness Obama included. Only the Tea Party backed bill sought to cut real spending and it died in the Senate at Harry Reid’s hands. America would not have defaulted, but the crowing from the Progressives was great and they had the People well scared. Yes, the Progressive share much of the blame, but they are not the root cause. They are but a symptom of the disease.

The late comedian George Carlin was heading in the right direction with his rant on the voters. Yes, the start of this whole mess is the public. Once Politicians realized that many voters’ had their votes for sale and the Supreme Court reversed 150 years of Constitutional precedent, the race over the cliff was on. Money was borrowed and borrowed to ensure the end was not reached while they were in office. This last bunch were caught out when the music stopped. The Progressive gravy train is over. It is up to the People of America to get out of this mess; not the Politicians, not the Government, but the People. The People have the power. Hopefully they will seek Freedom and Liberty and not shared misery through Tyranny.

Business, Commentary

“Two if by Tea” is good for America

Recently, Rush Limbaugh started his own line of tea. The brand is call “Two if by Tea” and is run by his with Kathryn. He says the tea is the best and the formula is well researched. Despite being only available on-line, it is selling well.

The broke 98% crowd hears this news and reacts in the most typical of fashion. Phrases such as “Doesn’t he have enough money?” and “More money for him” come out of their mouths. They are too broke and down on their own lives to see the bigger picture. Rush’s expansion into tea excellence is good for America.

The venture shows the entrepreneurial spirit. It is giving new jobs to some Americans. Rush has gone out of his way to make sure as much of the product comes from America and not overseas from some Chinese sweat shop. The ingredients, bottling and labeling are all high quality. The patriotic theme is more than a marketing stance. Think of it as all-American tea for all Americans.

Seeing the entrepreneurial spirit in action should be applauded, mattering not if you like Limbaugh or tea. Forget the taking head haters and look beyond his politics. Look at the employment of Americans without help from the government. It is in the entrepreneurial spirit where America will find release from the current economic malaise. It is the entrepreneurial spirit that help create, shape and drive America. It is the entrepreneurial spirit that made America great, not government spending and enslavement.

Celebrate the entrepreneurial spirit. Buy tea.

Business, Commentary

Focus on the solution

Bam! Failure! Bam! Failure! Plunk!

Failure comes to all. Failure is a part of growth. Failure happens. It is what you do with failure that is important. Failure only wins if you do not get back up and move forward again.

It is good to take ownership of the failure (the “buck stops here” principle), but do not dwell on it. Analysis what went wrong and then seek solutions. No, hunt down solutions like your life depends on it.

Finding solutions to failures and problems separates the 2% from the rest. They do not see failure as a negative. It is simply a way to eliminate a pathway, find a dead-end and an opportunity to start again. It shows them what does not work and points toward what does.

Solutions are what allow one to overcome obstacles. Concentrating on the problem and failure leads nowhere. Over analyzing the situation also leads nowhere. Knowing the cause of the problem is only helpful if it leads to a solution. Otherwise, it is a wasteful exercise or self-loathing.

Own the failure. Understand what went wrong. Own the all out creation of the solution and overcome.

Commentary

Let Others See Your Satisifaction

You strive and try. You retry and start over. You mold and form. You adjust. Finally, you step back and are satisfied with the result. The task is complete. The job done. You smile. You are satisfied.

When you do this for your business, do you do this alone? Is there anyone that sees you? Or do you do it all out of sight where no one sees? Learn to allow others to see your satisfaction.

People are drawn to leaders. People are drawn to other who are satisfied with their work. People are drawn to satisfied leaders.

Satisfied leaders start a task determined to give their best efforts. There is no kinda doing anything. Leaders start with the intention of finishing. The in between doing is done with 100% of their best. Doing it right the first time diminishes the need for rework. It produces the required result once and the next task is targeted.

The effort is focused. The effort is directed. The effort is pure. Satisfied leaders are not just going to stick their big toes in and just stirring. They jump in and enjoy the journey. The enjoyment builds the satisfaction. The journey builds the results. The results speak for themselves. The leader is satisfied. The job is complete. There is no need for rework.

Commentary

Are You Looking Or Searching?

Growing up, I remember my mother telling me to search, not just look. I couldn’t find anything unless it was sitting on top of everything else. That’s looking. That’s just kicking the tires and seeing what might happen. That is living life unguided. That is just going along.

Searching is far more active. It requires moving things out of your way, looking under things, actively being involved. Searching is what those who want do. It is what those who want to truly find do.

Going about just looking results in nothing. Window shopping is just looking. It consumes time, but does not result in anything lasting.

Are you looking or searching?

Looking about for solutions to one’s problems or avenues to new discoveries will lead to frustration and resentment. The issue with looking is that it lacks purpose; it lacks drive; it lacks determination; it just is. It is passive. There is nothing propelling it. There is no Why, so there can be no How.

Searching, on the other hand, is about finding solutions will all manner of vigor. Searching will chase down solutions. It will go down avenues to find them. It is relentless. It is full of drive. It is determined. It has a Why and pushes the How through all possible combinations. It finds new ways when old ways run dry. It makes discoveries that lead to more solutions. Searching is active.

Are you looking for searching?

Looking is use Google or Bing to find 42,000 ways to make money on-line. Looking will take one to many websites, perhaps even sign up for a few. Looking sees $200 to start and thinks that’s too much. Looking leads to thinking everything is a scam and there really isn’t a way out. Looking is what the 98% do.

Searching uses Google and Bing to find reviews. Searching discovers which businesses are best. Searching scoffs are $200 to start as too cheap and understands the profits will be too low. Searching leads to start a business that costs thousands and doesn’t worry about the fees. Searching gets results. Searching is what the 2% do.

Are you looking for searching?

Business, Commentary

DRIVE to Business

Want to know what sets Entrepreneurs apart from Employees? Want to know what makes them tick? It is quite simple. It is DRIVE.

Now DRIVE is not just some verb meaning they push forward. DRIVE is an attitude. DRIVE is a way of life. DRIVE lives and breaths. It is.

Determination

No matter what happens, an Entrepreneur is determined to see the outcome. No obsticle is too great and no setback is too large. They go through, around, over or under anything in their path. They will not be stopped. They are the bull.

Readiness

An Entrepreneur does not just jump without looking; they prepare. When action is required, they are on the ready. They train. They practice. They look for the opportunity and then jump. They move against the flow. They are the boy scout.

Initiative

The Entrepreneur does not need to be told to move, they are already are. They set goals and then assign tasks to complete them. They do not need to be told what to do and when to do it. They see where their strengths and weaknesses are. The seek training to strengthen all aspects. They are the self-starter.

Vision

The Entrepreneur knows where they want to go and plan to get there. No wondering around in the wilderness aimlessly looking for a promised land, they know where they are at all times. Their vision guides and propels them. They are the profit.

Expectation

The Entrepreneur expects to win. There is no “perhaps in the future” or “maybe it will work” attitude. They are instead “when it works” and “I know it will work” mentally. And if it doesn’t? They have DRIVE to change course and expect results. Failure is just another step to the goal, but an end unto itself. They are the winner.

Know that you know the difference, it is time to put DRIVE into your business. It doesn’t matter if you are an employee or wanting to start a new business, the practice of DRIVE will lend results. Survey yourself and your situation, determine goals and strategies, and then DRIVE to them.

Commentary

July 4, 2011

As America celebrates another year of independence from England, how free are her citizens? Where has their Liberty gone? As a start of something a little different, here is a video blog reflecting on economic and personal Liberty.

It is time for Americans to take back their Liberties. The Government is not a Giver of Liberty. It is a Guarantor. Liberty belongs to the people.

Business, Commentary

This Blog Is Too Good For You

Taking a page from a previous column, this one is started with some controversy and a bit of offense. The milquetoast amongst the readers will be put off, but the more back boned will respond more like, “Oh yeah! I’ll show you and read the %@#* article!”

Getting, or grabbing, a reader’s attention is all about the headline. It is all about emotions and the one you wish to stroke. Make an appeal to their pain, by relieving yet? Push their pleasure buttons and sustaining? Ask a compelling question they will feel lead to answer? All are good and all are effective. Knowing the audience you seek will determine the path you choose.

Yes, again it gets back to the audience and knowing them. Drilling down into a niche will also narrow the focus and give more weight (dare it be gravitas??) to the headline. Spreading a wide net might catch more fish, but there will be far more thrown back than is worth it. Focused marketing will get the most sales and that is the goal. Remember, ROI is about the return in increased sales, not just the traffic uptick.

So, be bold and controversial. Make a pass at your customer’s “I’ll show you!” side and win.