10 Are You Committed to Doing What it Takes to Build Your Business?

In today’s post I am going to briefly touch on the first question from the Junior Achievement’s list of 20 questions from the previous post about things to consider before starting your business.

Am I prepared to spend the time, money and resources needed to get my business started?

First, you should consider the time it takes to run a business, then ask yourself these three questions:

•Do I really want to give up baseball, hockey, soccer, basketball, football, dance, piano and voice, or hanging out with my friends to run this business?

•Will I have to work at running my business every day or just sometimes?

•Will my family help me out?

It is important to remember that building a new business even if it is based on something you already know how to do, takes time.  One of the lessons in my previous book, 31 Powerful Lessons: Empowering Teens and Young Adults to Develop an Entrepreneur Mindset, is about finding the time for your business.  Finding the time is one of the hurdles that you need to find a way over if you’re going to have your own business.

You have to conduct research to see if there are customers, find out what the competition is doing, how to price your product or service and so on.  If you are going to have an internet based business, even if you already know how to use a computer and are on Facebook and Twitter and other social media sites, you will have to learn how to use those sites for business and create a social media marketing plan.  There are many other steps involved here.

This is the point where you might want to find a mentor, someone who already knows these things and can help you make good decisions and move forward if that is what we decide to do.

Your main task before you can truly answer this question is to find out what will be involved in starting and running the business you decide on.  Once you have all the information, you can make an informed decision.

Are you prepared to put in the time to gather all the information you need to make an informed decision?  Are you willing to even put in the time it takes to do this?

The Getting Stuff Done Tool might help you organize the things you have to do to find your answer to these questions.  You can get that emailed to you by entering your name and email in the box with the red arrow at the top right side of the page.

12 20 Questions to Answer Before Starting a Business: Empowering Young Entrepreneurs

By this time in our series, you should have identified your passion.  If not, you’ll need to take time and go back through the exercises designed to help you do that.  If you still don’t find your answer, ask the people who are closest to you what they have observed makes you happy while you are doing it.  Keep at it until you figure out what you are passionate about and can create a business with.

The next step is to think about how you’re going to build a business around that passion so you can love what you do all the time.

There’s a lot to consider.  Are you going to sell products that you create, or products that someone else has manufactured?  Are you turning your hobby into a business?  Who will be your customers or clients?  How will you reach them?  Will your business be based on the internet or will you have a what is often called a brick and mortar business, meaning a physical location in an office, warehouse or storefront?  Do you have the skills to stay in business or do you need to learn some new things before you start?

You can see that there are a lot of questions you need answers to before you can move forward.  With that said, I’m a big believer  in just jumping in and going for it once you know what you want to do.  However, what you are jumping into will differ with different types of business.

The organization called Junior Achievement has provided a list of questions for you to consider while trying to decide how to build your business.  We will be discussing some of these questions as the series continues, however, there are some things that you will need to find the answers for yourself.  There will be a resource page at the end of the series with links to some organizations and blogs that can help you learn what you need to know to start a business.

Do you already have answers for any of these questions?

As I said, there’s a lot to think about.  If you aren’t willing to take the time to consider these questions and do the research to find answers, then you might want to reconsidering starting your own business.  In order to be successful in business you must be committed to doing whatever it takes to make it work.

The focus of the Empowering Teens and Young Adults to Develop an Entrepreneur Mindset series is going to be on developing an internet business.  Most of these questions apply to internet business, however, they may not all apply to the business you want to start.  Making it happen is on the internet is easier than building a brick and mortar business.

In each post for the rest of the series we will be considering information that you need to know to find answers to some of these questions.

Have you been able to answer any of these questions for yourself yet?

Don’t forget to leave your name and email in the box on the top right side of this page to receive the FREE entrepreneurial tool, Get Stuff Done.

10 “Attitudes Are Contagious. Is Yours Worth Catching?”

Since attitude is so important and has such an enormous impact on the level and quality of success, I am offering some inspirational quotes to consider.  I hope that you enjoy these quotes, find a few that have meaning for you or apply to your situation.  Change your thoughts and change your life.

“The longer I live, the more I realize the impact of attitude on life. Attitude, to me, is more important than facts. It is more important than the past, the education, the money, than circumstances, than failure, than successes, than what other people think or say or do. It is more important than appearance, giftedness or skill. It will make or break a company… a church… a home. The remarkable thing is we have a choice everyday regarding the attitude we will embrace for that day. We cannot change our past… we cannot change the fact that people will act in a certain way. We cannot change the inevitable. The only thing we can do is play on the one string we have, and that is our attitude. I am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me and 90% of how I react to it. And so it is with you… we are in charge of our Attitudes.”  Charles R.  Swindol

“Our attitude toward life determines life’s attitude towards us.”  John  N. Mitchell

“Having a positive mental attitude is asking how something can be done rather than saying it can’t be done.”  Bo Bennett

“You cannot control what happens to you, but you can control your attitude toward what happens to you, and in that, you will be mastering change rather than allowing it to master you.”  Brian Tracy

“Attitude is a little thing that makes a big difference.”  Winston Churchill

“The only disability in life is a bad attitude.”   Scott Hamilton

“Attitudes are nothing more than habits of thoughts, and habits can be acquired. An action repeated becomes an attitude realized.”  Paul Myer

“Take charge of your attitude. Don’t let someone else choose it for you.”  Unknown

“Your living is determined not so much by what life brings to you as by the attitude you bring to life; not so much by what happens to you as by the way your mind looks at what happens.”  Kahlil Gibran

“Weakness of attitude becomes weakness of character.”  Albert Einstein

“It is our attitude at the beginning of a difficult undertaking which, more than anything else, will determine its successful outcome.”  William James

“There is little difference in people, but that little difference makes a big difference. The little difference is attitude. The big difference is whether it is positive or negative.”  William Clement Stone

“Pathetic attitudes are not in keeping with greatness.”   Friedrich Nietzsche

“Attitude is more important than the past, than education, than money, than circumstances, than what people do or say. It is more important than appearance, giftedness, or skill.”  W. C. Fields

“Nothing can stop the man with the right mental attitude from achieving his goal; nothing on earth can help the man with the wrong mental attitude.”  Thomas Jefferson

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4 Your Attitude Determines Your Results

Today I’m posting an excerpt from Bob Proctor‘s book, You Were Born Rich.  Bob talks about attitude in this writing. He tells us how attitude is a decision that we make every day and reminds us that if we change our attitude we can change our lives.

Bob Proctor is widely regarded as one of the living masters and teachers of The Law of Attraction. Featured in the blockbuster hit, The Secret, Proctor has worked in the area of mind potential for over 40 years, is the best-selling author of You Were Born Rich, and has transformed the lives of millions through his books, seminars, courses and personal coaching.

By Bob Proctor

Victor Frankl once wrote, “Everything can be taken from a person but one thing: the last of human freedoms – to choose one’s attitudes in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way.”

Frankl was right. Attitude is a choice. You could be faced with a thousand problems, many or most over which you have absolutely no control.
However, there is always one thing you are in complete and absolute control of and that is your own attitude.

When you surrender control of your attitude to what appears to be a negative
situation, you will react to that situation. More often than not, reacting is inappropriate. On the other hand, if you were to remain objective, you would respond to the situation appropriately, thereby creating a winning situation.

If attitude is such an important word, why do so few people understand it? To be honest, it wasn’t until I was in my late 20s when I finally understood its full impact. All through my teens and into my early adult life, I can’t tell you the number of times that I heard, “Bob, if you’d just change your attitude, you would do a lot better.” In retrospect I can easily see the cause of my problem. I didn’t know what attitude was, let alone know how to change it!

Attitude is the composite of your thoughts, feelings and actions. Your conscious mind controls feeling and ultimately dictates whether your feelings will be positive or negative by your choice of thoughts, then your body displays those choices through action and behavior.

Attitude is actually a creative cycle that begins with your choice of thoughts. You do choose your thoughts and that choice is where your attitude originates. As you internalize ideas or become emotionally involved with your thoughts, you create the second stage in forming an attitude; you move your entire being – mind and body – into a new “vibration.” Your conscious awareness of this vibration is referred to as “feeling”.

Your feelings are then expressed in actions or behaviors that produce the various results in your life.

Positive results are always the effect of a positive attitude. Attitude and results
are inseparable. They follow one another like night follows day. What I mean by that is: one is the cause, the other, the result. There is a term we use to distinguish this “cause and effect” relationship, it is called The Law of Cause and Effect. Simply stated, if you think in negative terms, you will get negative results; if you think in positive terms you will achieve positive results.

Ralph Waldo Emerson reiterated that same point when he said, “A person is what they think about all day long.” The results you achieve in life are nothing more than an expression of your thoughts, feelings, and actions. Take a close
look at your life and evaluate the results you are achieving in various areas. See if you are able to relate your attitude to your results.

Winning and losing are opposite sides of the same coin – and that coin is attitude. There are many things wrong in this world; unfortunately that is all some people are able to see. Those who view the world in this light are often unhappy and somewhat cynical. Usually, their life is one of lack and limitation and it almost appears as if they move from one bad experience to another.

I know people who are like this and I’m certain you do as well. It would appear as if they were born with a streak of bad luck and it has followed them around their whole life. These individuals are quick to blame circumstances or other people for their problems, rather than accepting responsibility for their life and their attitude.

Conversely, there are others who are forever winning and living the good life.
They are the real movers and shakers who make things happen. They seem to go from one major accomplishment to another. They’re in control of their life; they know where they are going and know they will get there. They are the real winners in life and their wins are a matter of choice.

You can experience that kind of life as well, you only need to decide. Making that simple decision is the first step to a new life. Dorothea Brand once said, “Act as if it were impossible to fail,” and I challenge you to do so. By simply becoming aware that you can choose your thoughts each and every day, you will change your entire outlook. You have the power to choose an abundant life no matter your circumstances. That active choice will allow other positive people and opportunities to be attracted into your life.

Don’t wait to experience all the wonderful things the universe has in store for you. Start today by working on you attitude and welcome the abundant life that you were meant to lead.

© LifeSuccess Productions www.bobproctor.com  800-871-9715

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10 5 Easy Excuses to Failure

What really keeps people from achieving their dreams?  I can tell you what it isn’t – it isn’t lack of money, luck, talent or time.

Some people like to use these things as excuses, but they really aren’t the reasons people fail.

For a lot of young people, failure is a matter of attitude and mindset.  If you have a positive attitude and your belief in your dream is greater than your doubts and you are committed to making it happen and willing to do whatever it takes, then you can achieve your dreams.

If you have a negative attitude and give a lot of attention to your doubts, then you are likely stepping up to failure.

“It’s not my fault.”

It’s really easy and convenient to place blame on people or circumstances around you for your lack of success.  You can blame your parents, the economy, your lack of money, but none of that is at fault if you fail to achieve your dream.  The only way to succeed is to take responsibility for your results.  If you don’t achieve your dream, it’s because you gave up before it happened.

“It’s too hard.”

When you say “it’s too hard,” is that what you really mean?  Or are you really saying you just don’t want to put that much effort into what needs to be done?  When you give up will you use ridiculous excuses like, “It just didn’t work out.”

Starting a new business means you have to expand yourself.  It requires growing, learning and finding new strengths.  That kind of growth will give you a sense of fulfillment, confidence and increased self-esteem.   And sticking to it gives you the opportunity to achieve your dream.

“I need to think about it more.”

There is a natural rhythm to the lives of successful people that goes Think–Do …. Think–Do.  Unsuccessful people get caught in the trap of over thinking things and never taking action or they take action without consideration.  Either way the result is exhausting without achieving anything.

“I don’t think I can do it.”

At this stage in your life and experience, it isn’t likely that you are going to try to attempt something that has never been done before.  Therefore, whatever your dream is, it is possible to achieve it.  When you think that you can’t do it, I believe you are really asking if you’ll follow through, not if it’s possible or not.  You really need to stop worrying about whether it’s possible or not, whether you can do it not and just go for it.  Even if you do fail, you will still be closer to your dream than you are without going for it.                                                                                                                                                       “I’m not feeling It.”

Sometimes you start out on a path toward your dream or goal and you realize that you aren’t feeling it.  Do you give it up or keep going?  Sometimes it just isn’t worth it to keep going.  That’s okay, just let it go and start looking for something else.  The difference between giving up, which is a way to being a victim of your failure and changing your mind and looking for new options is a positive decision.  In this case, choosing something new that you feel passionate about is a good choice.

The choice is yours, are you going to give more power to your dreams or your doubts?  Will you take the steps to failure or take the path to success?

“Discipline is the bridge between goals and accomplishment.” – Jim Rohn

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25 Tap Dance your Dream into Reality

Okay, I admit it, I watch Dancing With the Stars.  That’s where I got the idea for this blog post.

They featured a young man named Joshua Johnson, a 20-year old from Harlem, New York who is financing his future by tap dancing on the subway.  Joshua’s story is a real inspiration.  This is a young man who had a dream to be the first in his family to attend college.  He believed in his dream enough to put himself out there in the subways of New York using a skill he started to develop when he was 15 years old – tap dancing.

Joshua soon learned he could make money, enough money to pay his tuition.  He was determined, persistent, tenacious and committed to making this work.  He caught someone’s attention at the New York Times where he was featured in an article which caught the attention of someone at the Ellen Show who arranged for him to be a guest.  This guest spot on Ellen drew the attention of Dancing With the Stars which garnered Joshua a real performance on the dancing show supported by professional dances.

The following is an excerpt from the Huffington Post which reports this about Joshua:

The New York City native has been tap dancing on the subway to pay for his education at Penn State. And his talent has helped him raise the $6,000 he needs to pay for school each year.

On weekends, Johnson makes the trek from Pennsylvania to New York to perform in subway stations, where he says he can make about $200, The New York Times reports.

But in high school, a university education wasn’t always on the agenda.

“I didn’t really think college was an option for me; I was never really an ‘A’ student. But at the same time, I didn’t want to look back on life and say to myself, ‘I didn’t go, because I didn’t apply,'” Johnson said on “The Ellen DeGeneres Show.”

However, even with grants, loans and scholarships, Johnson still came up short on tuition, and he had to figure out a way to pay the difference.

“I didn’t have money, and I didn’t have resources, but what I did have was talent,”the student said on “Ellen.”

Although Johnson is determined to be the first college graduate in his family, he admits the journey hasn’t been easy.

“When I got [into Penn State], it was a challenge — and a challenge I took head on. I am still sticking to it until I graduate,” he told Campus Progress.

In addition to studying and subway dancing, Johnson also holds a part-time job at a clothing store. And although times are rough, he’s keeping his eyes on the future.

“I’m in this situation for now, just now, but I know I’m not going to be here for long,” Johnson told The New York Times.

Inspired by his story, Ellen DeGeneres aimed to fix the situation.

She invited Johnson to appear on her show and presented him with new tap shoes and a $35,000 check on behalf of Chegg, a student network.

You can see clips of Joshua’s appearance on the Ellen Show on YouTube.

The takeaway from Joshua’s story is that if your belief is stronger than your doubts, if your commitment to your dream is strong, you can accomplish anything your heart desires.

Are you committed to your dream that strongly?  Do you believe with all your heart that you can accomplish your goals?

You’ll never know if you don’t go for it.

26 10 Reasons to Have a Mentor

Young people in particular benefit from the experience and knowledge of a mentor.  The purpose for having a mentor is learning.  You can learn more, faster from someone who has been where you are and has experience that you do not yet have.

Here are 10 reasons to have mentor:

1.    Perspective and experience.  A mentor can give you the benefit of his or her perspective and experience.  He or she can help you assimilate to a new position and give you an insider’s view on how to get things done.

2.   Think outside the box.  A mentor can help you look at situations in new ways.  He or she can ask hard questions and help you solve problems. They can help you gain a level of self-awareness that you can’t get on your own and develop emotional intelligence with regard to business.  A mentor can help you challenge your limiting beliefs in ways you can’t do on your own.

3.    Define and reach long-term goals.  A mentor can help you define your career path and ensure that you don’t lose focus and continue down that road even when you become distracted by day-to-day pressures.  You always have to look at where you are going and how you are trying to develop yourself.  Mentors can help you set smart, realistic, future-oriented goals.

4.    Accountability.  When you know you are meeting with your mentor, you ensure that all the tasks you discussed in your last meeting are completed. A mentor brings accountability which develops responsibility.  This can cause you to strive for achievements you previously thought were impossible.

5.   Trusted person to discuss ideas and issues with.  A mentor can be a great sounding board for all issues, whether you are having difficulty with a business decision, an ethical dilemma, or need advice on how to tackle a project.

6.   Champion and ally.  A mentor who knows you well can be a strong champion of your positive attributes and an ally during any bumpy spots when building your business.

7.   Expand your contacts and network.  A mentor can help expand your network of contacts and business acquaintances.

8.   Open doors.  A mentor can open doors for you and introduce you to people and organizations that you might not be able to access on your own.

9.    Inspire.  A mentor whose work you admire can be a strong inspiration .

10.  Work better.  With the help of a good mentor, you can work more efficiently with a clearer view of the future you are trying to achieve.  This helps you feel more confident which leads to better work performance and more success in your chosen business.

Do you remember in the lesson on Building Your Dream Team we discussed how to approach people to be on your dream team and how to ask for help?  When you find someone that you would like to be your mentor, be sure to communicate your vision with clarity and with the passion that you have for your mission and be specific with what you want from a mentor.

You can find mentors in many places.  Could there be someone in your family who is a business person that you trust and feel safe confiding in?  Is there a teacher in your school who teaches business or entrepreneurship?  Perhaps you could give a presentation at the local Chamber of Commerce or some other group like Kiwanis or Lions Club.

Use your imagination, tap into your courage and just go for it.  The worst that can happen is the person you ask may say no.  After asking why they can’t help you, find someone else to ask.

Good luck.

8 Build Your Dream Team

Once you have identified your passion and decided on the business you want to build, it is essential to build a dream team.  A dream team is a group of people that will help you make your dreams come true.

You should include at least one mentor on your team who can help support you with guidance and encouragement at various steps along the way in building your business.  That mentor can be a teacher, a local business person, a family friend, an advisor the local Junior Achievement chapter, or a member of your family.

The most important skill that you must develop in order to put your dream team together is the ability to communicate your vision and ask for help.  Here are a couple of steps to help with that:

•   Communicate the vision for your business as clearly and with as much passion as possible.

•   When you ask for help, make a specific request.  The more specific you are, the more likely you will receive the help you are asking for.  On the other hand, if your request is not specific or if you are asking too much and people aren’t clear on what you are asking of them, they will probably refuse your request.

Here’s an example of two ways to make the same request:

1.   Can you pet sit for me?

2.   Can you pet sit my dog this weekend from 5:00 Friday night until  noon on Sunday at my home?  I will pay you $50 plus provide food for your meals?

Which of these examples is more specific?  Which one would you say yes to?  Why?

If people say, “No” to your requests, politely ask them why they can’t help you.  Maybe they need more information.  If you provide more information and they still say no, ask if they know someone who might be able to help you.  Don’t forgot to thank the people for their time.

When deciding on who to approach to be on your dream team, ask yourself these questions:

What friends can help me?

What family members can help me?

What friends of friends can help me?

What friends in my school community can help me?

Who in my local community can help me?

Which associations or organizations can help me?

Who are people I can go to for support?

Who are people I can ask for advice?

Who are people that I don’t know yet who can help me and how can I connect with them?

Next, make a three column chart with these three questions:

What do I need                   Who am I going                  What am I going

help with?                            to ask?                                   to say?

Answer the three questions.  Remember to be as specific as possible.

To help you find the right approach, write a short blurb, what some call an elevator pitch that gets your point across as quickly as possible.  Write your dream in 25 words or less then practice saying it out loud.  Practice it on a friend or family member and ask for feedback.  The more feedback you get, the better your presentation becomes.

“When you begin speaking your dream and enrolling others, your dream can become bigger and take on new forms, and all kids of opportunities will show up.” Marcia Wieder.

3 Envision Your Dream into Reality

Now that you’ve started to think about and identify the things that you are passionate about, the things that make you feel great when you are doing them, what next?

The next step is to create a visual of your dream life.  What do you want your life to be like if you could create it anyway you want it to be?

Would you be a famous actor or a rock star?  A winning athlete?  A chef at your own restaurant or a rich business owner?  Would you travel, fish, be a public speaker or teacher, design homes and lovely rooms, be an artist?  Would you be a New York Times bestselling author?

Would you drive a fancy car or be driven in a limo?  Would you own a motorcycle or ride a bike?  Maybe own a fleet of cars?  Have a Porsche?  Would you own a boat or have your own yacht?

Would you own a mansion or a cabin in the woods?  A house on the beach or live on an island?  Maybe you want to live in another country.

Use your imagination, visualize all the elements of your life that you can, write them down in the greatest detail that you see in your visualization.

Once that’s done, create a vision board using pictures or words or other images that reflect and represent the life that you have envisioned.  Gather picture books and magazines or your colored pencils and markers and create a collage on a wall or board.  You can glue it or staple it or pin it with a push pin.

According to Wikipedia, “A vision board, also called a dream boards, mind map or goal map, is typically a poster board on which people draw, paste or collage images that represent their desires, objectives, dreams and goals.  The intent is that vision boards be reviewed regularly to maintain focus on the depicted goals.

Research of something called mirror-neurons showed that neurologically, our minds cannot tell the difference between things we see that are real or those that are imagined.  One study found that people who imagined practicing a sport improved as much as people who actually practiced.

The mind processes information better in images and when we can create in our imagination what we want, the mind works subconsciously to create it.  As your board evolves and becomes more focused, you will begin to recognize what is missing and imagine ways to fill the blanks and realize your vision.

Here are a few examples of vision boards to give you an idea of how to proceed.

6 10 Thought Provoking Questions to Help You Find Your Passion and Choose Your Business

If you are new to this blog it’s important to know that I write with the intention of empowering youth to develop an entrepreneur mindset.  So if you already know and are working your business, you may not find all of my posts useful for your situation.  However, many of them can serve as good reminders and motivation for you as well.  I hope that you have as good a time reading the posts as I have had writing them.

We have considered a variety of exercises to do and steps to take toward finding your passion.  In this post I want to provide you with 10 questions meant to provoke a deeper level of looking for your passion and choose your business.

Spend some time considering each question.  Go as deep as you can with these questions.  When you get an answer, ask yourself, “is there more?”  Write down the ideas and insights that pop into your head.  Look for connections or themes between your answers.

1. What do you want to be known for in your life now and in the future?
2. If you could change just one thing in the world, what would that be?
3. What makes you feel good about yourself?
4. What is a goal that you have and how will you achieve it?
5. If you won a million dollars how would your life change?
6. What do you think your strengths are and what skills do you need to work on?
7. If you are feeling unmotivated, who or what helps you get yourself moving again?
8. Do you see yourself as a leader or a follower and why do you think that?
9. If you could spend a day with anyone – past or present – who would it be and why?
10. What are you not spending enough time doing?

Did you learn anything new about yourself from considering these questions?  Are you closer to finding your passion(s) and choosing your business?