Look up ahead on the road. See what is there? The road bends. The future has decided to head in a different direction. Are you ready? Will you make the turn or go off the road? A bend in the road is not the end of the road unless you fail to make the turn.

The road to the future does not always travel in a straight line. There are times when the road leaves a direct path. One stimulus might cause a bump, another a turn. Be aware and know that these changes bring other opportunities.

“Ah,” you say, “I am moving at full speed! I’ll ride the turn out!” No, you will not. If you are not able to make the turn, you will run off the road. You will be out in a field somewhere, praying the road comes back. “Silly!” you say? Look again.

Although several companies had introduced computers for the home and personal use, in 1981 IBM introduced the IBM 5150. Like other machines at the time, it used an open architecture. Based on the Intel 8088, it was one of the first to finally get into the business environment and be taken seriously. Over the next few years, the standard was IBM and clone makers strove to be compatible. Then in the late 80’s, IBM introduced MCA and changed the royalty structure. Suddenly, making a clone was no longer profitable. IBM was expecting to grab more control of the market, but the road turned. Clone makers discovered how to have VGA compatible without MCA. They also pushed the limits of ISA, created VLB and eventually PCI. And IBM? Sure, they are still around, but they have long closed their PC business.

The road to the future is littered with the remains of many businesses that failed to make the turn. KMart. Circuit City. Biggs. Never assume all is known and travel my proceed without care. Ever be vigilant. Ever understand your customer, the market and the road. When it turns, be ready to turn with it.

Do you know who you are? Really? Down deep? Do you have what it takes to be an entrepreneur? To go where few have trod? Are you fully aware of yourself?

This is more than just a simple question. As humans, there are many times when we will have everyone fooled, but underneath, we know the truth. Fully one’s self show the lack of one trait: Integrity.

A pastor once told me that Integrity is what we do when no one else is watching. This can easily be extended to include where no one else can see or know, that is, inside your heart and mind. This is where Integrity starts. If you start by kidding yourself, no true Integrity can follow. There is nowhere else to go. If you lie that deeply, you will lie to everyone else. Start with truth and honesty and it will flow out and others will notice.

Be aware of what you lead yourself to believe. If you are caught up in who you are now and not move toward who need to be, you will not have results. Fool yourself into thinking you are, and failure will follow you in spades. Starting with Integrity leads to good character, which leads to results. Grow through the changes, do not fear them.

Being in business is one thing, but it tends to focus on the owner. After all, it is the owner who takes all the risk. It is the owner who does all the hard work until the business can support itself. It is the owner’s name of the door and the owner who is responsible when it fails. Why shouldn’t the focus be on the owner?

What of others? What are you doing for them? In the world of business, what you do for others, without regard to payment, speaks more loudly about you and your motivations than any sales record your business may break. It shows your integrity. It shows your commitment. It shows who you are.

A pastor once told me that Integrity is what you do when no one is looking. I would expand that to include what you do when no reward is expected. Learning what others need, where their weaknesses are, that is where you should spend time. Leaders are not just born from some factory, they are forged over time, through hardships, through good, through fire. Leaders think of others before themselves. They train. They learn. They listen. And they act, for others. What of you? Are you a leader or are you looking at just yourself?

Change your focus and start becoming the leader YOU need to be. The one YOU need to see. Understand your weaknesses and train your strengths to overcome them. Lead by example. Stop the complaining and the excuses and get growing. If you are not growing, you are dieing. Leaders grow.

This is the first in a series on helping people to answer the question as to a home business: why start, which one, are they any good, etc. So many start home businesses and fail, usually do to not full investigating the business and their willingness.

Before starting a business, one needs to understand why they would take on such a task. Beyond want more money or more time or more whatever, there needs to be an overpowering and all consuming purpose. Starting and running a home business is tough. There are many distractions and needs for your time. Discovering your why will aide in keeping perspective.

Once you have settled on your why, determine your time. How much time do you really have to spend on your business and yourself? Learning what you will be doing takes effort and time, how much do you have? Unless you are some super sales and marketing person, you are also going to need to learn about yourself and train your weaknesses. This also takes time. Starting some business that requires 10 hours a week to learn and needing 10 more hours a week to train yourself when you only have 5 hours a week to devote is a recipe for sure failure.

Know your time limitations before starting. Develop a schedule to make the necessary time available. Write down what your impediments are and seek solutions. If you have kids, will you need a sitter? Get your spouse to help take care of them? Get the time set aside BEFORE starting the business. Spend that time working on your mind set. Once you start your business, fill that time with training, learning, reviewing, developing. It is easier to accomplish this task before trying to start. That may, it becomes routine and the excepted norm.

Having your why, knowing where you need to learn and managing yourself in time are important first steps when starting a home business. You will be busy enough once you start, so set these down first. Then you will be ahead of everyone else who is just starting. It is a good way to get yourself set up to succeed instead of failing. Now get to it.

What makes a business person successful? Is it using the best technology? Being able to write the best copy? Making the greatest advertising or the most interesting speeches? Are these the secrets for business success?

Having great skills is indeed helpful, but that is not what tends to lead to success. Many business people have become successful without the best skills, nor access to those who do. One may build the best marketing campaign the world has ever seen, but it will not guarantee results.

Access to the tools and training are requirements to get started, but they will not continue a person onward. The best coaching, the best materials, even the best products only do so much and then more is needed.

There is something missing.

Donald Trump build his financial wealth more than once. Colonel Sanders was in his 60’s and shared his idea for chicken to more than 1,000 people before finding a yes. Do you think Richard Branson just lucked into his success? What of Martha Stewart or Oprah? Just shear luck? Were they born into their positions? Gift from the government?

All of these successful people came from different walks of life and have vastly different business. All of them share at least one trait. This is the trait that powers them on. This is the trait that really matters. They have discipline.

Discipline is what keeps a business person on course will all seems lost. Discipline is what drives and continuously motivates people to succeed. It simultaneously satisfies their hunger and keeps them wanting more. It is what kept getting them up in the morning when all that could be seen was drudgery. It also kept them up at night plugging away at their goals.

Discipline inspires. Disciplines does take no. Disciplines produces. Discipline is what differentiates the 3% from everyone else. It captivates. It encourages. It feeds on itself. Discipline begats discipline begats discipline. There is no magic formula. There is no get-rich-quick path. Discipline rules and everything else drools.

Being able to fully visualize your goal is very important. It expresses fully, in every part of your being, what you really and truly want. Realize these goals by being SMART.

SMART is an acronym for Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant and Timely.

Specific

• Goals are not written in generalities, they are written to a certain objective. They must be clear and concise.

Measurable

• There is a saying, “What gets measured gets done.” Obtaining a goal requires a list of tasks and milestones, and a way to measure both progress and success. If nothing is measured, then there is no constraint, no feeling of urgency, no pressure. Ergo, no progress.

Attainable

• Getting a goal to go from coach potato to a 4 minute mile in 6 weeks is beyond unreachable. Set goals that doable, even if they are accomplished quickly. Just set a new goal and keep moving the bar. Set smaller goals in line to met a larger objective. Set reward points at milestones to keep yourself motivate.

Relevant

• Along with attainability comes relevance. Setting a reachable goal of eating less food when you are trying to increase sales has little relation. How does the reaching of the smaller goal help in obtaining the larger? Perhaps a better goal is generating more leads or better quality leads. Maybe less time spent “shooting the breeze” or working on your mindset, those are far more relevant.

Timely

• Placing a goal so far out makes the goal have less value. Again no urgency is provided and no pressure will be felt. Place a date on delivery. Commit to it. The time frame must be balanced with the attainability.

Learn to use SMART in building your goals. Set several related goals out. Measure progress to them and do them in a timely fashion. Balance your expectations and increase your efforts. You can reach them.

Browse a simple search for legitimate business opportunities, one might wonder if such a thing exists. There are all manner of promises and ideas. Some will start “FREE” with a “FREE SITE” just for you, but only if you act now. Others speak of how simple it is and how quickly money can be made. Keep clicking and the order pages never seem to end. So much noise, so little meaning. Is any of it real? Or has legitimate been reduced to a slogan? A way to get SEO up?

I’ve been there in those businesses. Sure, I cannot say to have tried them all as there are some many. Some do work, but many do not. It seems it is more profitable to sell programs on how to make money on the Internet that it is to actually make money on the Internet. The programs that start cheap do not have the support nor the education to get new people started. The more expensive ones do, but any program, no matter how great, is limited by the work ethic of the participant. There is no quick way, it all takes work.

Too many have a lottery mentality these days. Buy a ticket at the local store and win $100 million dollars in some multi-state super drawing. Yes, there are a select few who win those, but most people who have built wealth for themselves and their families worked very hard. There is no such thing as a free lunch, unless you work for Congress, someone always pays. When that someone is you and you are working in a proven program with the necessary support and education, you will succeed. You do the work and you get the rewards.

Ask anyone who owns a business. Do they run it or does it run them? In the latter case, it is more likely due to a poor business plan, support system or a product whose market is too saturated, or perhaps combinations of all three. For those who run their business, they have learned what works, they have a system that has properly trained them and they have a product that is wanted and sells well.

Yes, everyone uses soap and shoes, but when was the last time you bought some from a man knocking on your door? When is the last time a new hamburger franchise opened near you? Yeah, never. Those markets are so saturated, a new player cannot be seen through all the mist. There is no angle that will stick. The work will be very hard and lead to nowhere. How can you follow Sam Walton’s advice and swim upstream? It is a torrent. Find a new stream.

It is for these reasons that Carbon Copy Pro was created. It has the support and training to get you started and on a road to success. It is a legitimate business and is for those seeking to build wealth. It is not get rich quite. It takes work and dedication, but the rewards are yours. You grow and you finish rich.

***Copied from original blog***