Archive for Personal Development
Are You Having Fun?
Posted by: | CommentsI gotta admit, I use to be an entrepreneur snub.
What I meant by that was since I quit my job (and become J-O-B-less), I couldn’t Actually» understand folks who have jobs and enjoy them. I was convinced those who say they enjoy their jobs were either:
- Lying and fooling themselves
- Cukoo in the head…
After all, how can anybody possibly enjoy working a 9-5 for someone else?
What They Have to Put Up With
I Mean, Seriously!
Look at what these folks have to put up with:
- The whole 9 to 5 thing, and sometimes having to work even more hours than that
- Sometimes having to work with folks they may not like…
- The stress of making deadlines and making ends meet
- Having to balance family and loved ones
- Keeping yourself sane by trying not to have to work TOO much
- And on and on and on
Wouldn’t these folks much rather do what I do?
- I mean, I only work… oh wait, f*, every waking moment.
- I sometimes have to work with folks whom I don’t like that much (luckily most of the folks I do work with are those whom I like).
- Damn, I have deadlines too – doh!
- And double-doh, I sometimes struggle to find that balance between work and spending time with loved ones
- And on and on and on…
But But But…
Here’s the thing though, I ENJOY what I do.
Case in point, when I was in Vegas for a week several months ago (yes, a friggin’ week in Vegas… wow) for a business trip with many other top marketers, I found myself brainstorming and masterminding with others. It didn’t matter where we were at (at one point, we were chilling on top of Rio at Vodoo Lounge at 3 in the morning), what we were doing, and how absolutely exhausted, hung over, and some times… a bit tipsy we were.
We just LOVED what we do so much that it was second nature to us to always be thinking and always be progressing. And it gets us absolutely excited to talk about what we do.
Here’s another case in point. My sister and I recently went to Florida for several days for a marathon no...» . During the time we were there, I’d have to make calls, take calls, send emails (via my iPhone while we are waiting in line) and do whatever it took to stay on top of my business. Now, would my business have crashed and burned without my constant supervision and intervention while I was chilling in Disney World? Of course not, but I did it because I wanted to and enjoyed it.
After the trip, my mom asked my sister how I was doing and my sister told her I was busy… REALLY busy.
BUT she also noted how much I enjoyed doing what I do, that I had true passion for my “work” if you will.
Let Me Ask You
Listen, I’ve come to respect folks who have jobs – realizing that some of them actually ENJOY their jobs. They enjoy the challenge of it, they enjoy it because what they do is their passion, they enjoy whatever it is that they do because it gives them a sense of accomplishment, they enjoy it because it’s FUN. I respect these folks as much as I respect folks who chooses a different path, the path of entrepreneurship.
But I also know this… there’s a ton of you out there who absolutely HATE your job. You hate getting up in the morning to have to go to work. You hate having to say goodbye to your kids and family. You hate having to fight traffic. You feel no sense of pride or passion for what you do.
What the hell are YOU doing? You are being inauthentic and doing your job lacking integrity.
I know some of you do it because you don’t have a choice, or at least don’t THINK you have a choice. Here’s the truth though, we ALL have choices. Some are just harder to make than others and some takes more courage to make than others.
But ultimately it’s those folks who make their choices with absolute strength and conviction that end up achieving the dreams they’ve had since they were kids, and end up living the life they want and deserve.
So if you are not having FUN doing your job, maybe it’s time to reevaluate and do something different. Good luck.
Raymond
Don’t Let Your Past Dictate Your Future
Posted by: | CommentsI am reading Psycho Cybernetics (well, technically listening to the audio CD).
It’s pretty fascinating and I’d recommend you to give it a good read/listen.
One discussed topic that kept ranging in my head, and one which I want to share with you here, is the concept that too many of us live in our past. Too many of us beat ourselves up too much when we fail, and we let those past failures affect us too much for far too long.
A prime example has to do with professional athletes. What makes a great wide receiver on a NFL team, among other things, is his uncanny ability to forget about the perfect pass he just dropped. What makes a great golfer like Tiger Woods is his willingness to let go of the easy shot he just mucked up. I started this post...» And on and on and on…
What Makes Them so Special?
See, these top caliber athletes don’t let what happened in the past affect them, no matter whether what happened were a year ago or just mere seconds ago. They don’t dwell on the mistakes they made in the past, instead, they focus on their strengths and the opportunities in the near future for them to showcase those strengths.
They don’t think about what they do NOT want to be or do… instead, they focus on what they WANT to do and WANT to be.
You see, your mind can’t interpret any “do not wants”, it just interprets everything you envision as a “want”.
It’s sort of like this… you are riding a bike and you see an obstacle in your way that you want to avoid (so you don’t end up doing a face plant). Well, if you focus on the obstacle thinking “must avoid this, must avoid this”, it’s almost a sure-bet you are going to automatically drift towards the obstacle and run smack into it.
However, if you instead focus on the road ahead, on the path you DO WANT to follow (to naturally avoid the obstacle), you’ll naturally follow that path and avoid that obstacle!
This is your mind taking what you envision (and not able to discern your “do not want” but instead, treat everything you envision as “want”) and making it into a reality.
So if an athlete was to focus on his last dropped shot or missed shot and how he wishes to NOT do it again, you can bet that he will do it again and again. This is why top athletes have that uncanny ability to let go of the past mistakes and instead, focus on the future he wishes to create for himself (and his team).
What About You?
Are you leaving with some regrets in your life you have a difficult time letting go? +/-» Are you living in the past? Do you think to yourself, “I’ll never do THAT again?”
Stop.
Don’t think about the mistake you wish to never make; instead, focus on the mistake life you want to lead. Don’t think about the person you wish to never be; instead, focus on being the person you WANT to be.
It’s Not How Many Times You Fall Down…
Posted by: | CommentsYa know… clichés are cliché for a reason – there are elements of truth to them.
Here’s one, “It’s not how many times you fall down but how many times you get back up.”
In business and in life, it’s always those who choose to get back up, no matter the cost, that find ultimate success, and… dare I say, happiness? Those are the folks who rise above mediocrity – never mind the amount of ridicule and pain he may have had to endure striving to be exceptional.
The fact that he failed doesn’t phase him – he does not dwell on the failure and does not define himself by those failures. In fact, he defines himself by how he overcomes those minor setbacks and focuses on how he can learn and grow from them.
Much power is it to the man who’s able to humble himself during those times of weakness and darkness, during those times when nothing seems to be going right and all hope seem lost. Much power to the man who’s able to look within himself for the cause of those failings and to grow from them.
Self awareness must take place before self transformation can take place.
And believe me, we should all strive for self transformation – like a caterpillar to a gorgeous emperor butterfly – from who we are today, to somebody better tomorrow.
But also believe me this… while many of us may understand the need and desire for self transformation, few of us understand the need for self awareness – the uncanny and scary process of looking ourselves in the mirror and seeing the ugliest side of us, the side we are ashamed of, the side that’s holding us back from success, the side that’s been lying to us, that’s been hiding the ultimate truth from us.
So I implore you, when you fall, get up. And beyond that, understand why you fell, understand what you did to contribute to that failure as opposed to looking for excuses and casting blame on other factors. Learn from your failures, grow from them and you shall prosper.
Raymond Fong
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