So, I was scheduled to fly out today (out of the country). I had my flight leaving Washington, Dulles Airport at 5:05 PM and running a connection through New York (JFK).

It hit 5 PM and they announced that our plane had not even left it’s other destination yet, but that it would come (don’t worry everyone).

Then, at 6 PM, they suddenly just canceled the flight! My connecting flight was at 8:55 PM and this left me little room to do anything.

All the passengers got in the herendous line to get help from the rediculously mean women at the counter. I had two options:

1. Follow suit and get in line and pray for the best.

2. Take things into my own hands and CALL Delta.

I did the latter and although it took me a good 30 minutes on the phone, we came to an agreeable alternate solution (which has me leaving tomorrow). However, there were many times that the call tested my patience. As nice as the woman was on the phone, some of her rediculously imposed red-tape was seriously starting to pi** me off!

“But I Kept My Cool…I Kept On Smiling…”

I almost lost my cool, but I made a conscious decision not to. I was watching what was happening down the line from people who were flaring their arms around and acting like monkeys.

They were getting the same rudness in return and ended up with results they were not happy with.

I, however, kept asking the attendent on the phone to place herself in my shoes and to be fair. The more I talked to her as a PERSON and REASONED, the further I got to getting a desirable result!

In the end, I got a great outcome and was very happy with it.

Then It Happened Again!

As I got home, I had to call the hotel and change my reservation and I already knew that they were going to try to charge me the day because I was within 24 hours. However, IT WASN’T MY FAULT!

Plus, I had extended my stay by one more day, so they were still going to get the same number of nights from me. When I called, the initial reaction was the same “no sir, we have to charge.”

I immediately asked for the supervisor (very nicely) and I made my case. However, STILL they didn’t listen!

Again, about to lose my cool to people who are being unreasonable, but then I remembered…

I realized that I could just call the corporate office and reason with them given my high points with them. So, that’s what I did. The representative was GREAT. She immediately called the hotel on my behalf and argued my case.

Eventually, the entire matter got handled and I have to pay nothing.

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Here’s what I learned…

I’ve watched my own father handle these situations and he’s a firm believer in “ATTACK hard and you get your way…” - Many times I’ve felt that he’s too fast to yell, shout and throw around threats, I’m starting to think that I may be right.

Given that I run my own business, lately I’ve actually been LESS likely to help someone if they call kicking and screaming then someone who calls reasoning with me on logic and nicely asking for HELP.

My Advice To You Is This - Don’t be that guy in line who was flaring his arms around and shouting - it won’t get you what you want. Take a deep breath, nicely ask for help and reason by asking the other person to place themselves in your shoes (while also placing YOURSELF in their shoes so they know it’s a two way street).

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So I was talking to one of my friends the other night. He started to talk about how he’s not happy with his current job and he just doesn’t know what he wants to do.

He said he knows TWO things:

1. He wants to be in business.

2. He likes cars…

“So, Why Aren’t You Working On Cars?”

Of course I oversimplified the entire problem and asked a simple question - mostly because I wanted to see his response. I mean, I get it, the guy has a very nice and comfy job with Hewlett Packard that allows him to travel the entire country on THEIR dime.

But, either way, I wanted to see what he said - he said exactly what I thought he would…

“It would be crazy for me to leave such a great job to go ‘work on cars’ - people will call me crazy!”

Let’s dissect what he said, there are two different parts to it.

1. He called it a great job (however, he just got done saying that he could never see himself doing it and that it was not challenging and boring, hmmm).

2. “People will call me crazy” - AH HA! That’s what I was waiting to hear…what PEOPLE will think.

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See, my point was that “I want to have a business in cars” is not narrow enough - what does that even mean. He needs to take some time and get hands-on time to learn just WHAT about cars he wants a business in.

This means he’ll  have to do some “internships” or “jobs” in the industry and see whether he even likes it.

(This is exactly what I did when I started online, I was a financial planner, copywriter, internet marketing consultant and other things before I really figured out where my calling was).

I wasn’t saying for him to quit his job, I was saying for him to take his free time on weekends and find a way to do some work (even for free) at local car related businesses.

“And, Now Begin The Excuses…”

Here’s how I know that someone just is NOT ready; yhey start making lame excuses of “being too busy.” GIVE ME A BREAK. There is no such thing as “being too busy.”

What he’s missing is the HUSTLE - without hustle, life is not going to change.

But everything he said kept coming back to “well my parents gave me this advice…my sisters gave me this advice…my uncle gave me this advice…”

“I Remember The Days I Used To Ask Advice…”

5 years ago I was at a copywriting workshop and I got a chance to hang out with Michael Masterson, he’s one of the most world-renown copywriters. I was telling him about how I loved business and wanted to start one, but my parents were saying I couldn’t do it, I’d fail.

Here’s how the conversation went…

Michael: “Are your parents doing what you want to do 10 years from now?”

Me: No

Michael: Then why are you taking advice from them?

Me: Because they’re my parents…and even my friends say that I’m crazy…

Michael: Are your friends doing what you want to do 10 years from now?

Me: No way!

Michael: Then why are you taking advice from them?

Me: But, they just want what’s best for me…

Michael: Very true, but how can they give you advice on something they don’t know about. YOU want to be a young entrepreneur, YOU want a business - why aren’t you taking advice from other successful young entrepreneurs?

BINGO!

The moral of the story for you and for my friend today: Don’t waste your time taking advice for everyone and anyone. Any time someone gives you advice, ask yourself just one question:

“Is This Person Doing What I Want To Do 10 Years From Now?”

Thank you Michael. Since that day, I’ve had many mentors, I’ve actually out-grown a few. I no longer take advice from someone that does not know the topic better than me and/or is not living the dream I dream every night…

So, my friend, please, please, do two things:

1. Get your hustle (or else it’s a no go).

2. Start taking advice from other people…when I got started, NO ONE thought I could do it. Well, I showed them didn’t I?

Now, go forth and FIGHT!

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I was wandering around blogs today and came across one of my favorite ones, SuperAffiliateMindset.com run by one of our fellow fighters, Amit Mehta.

Amit happened to stumble upon a commencement speech that Steve Jobs did in 2005 for the graduating Stanford class. Steve Jobs, in my opinion, is one of the most genius minds to have existed in the world of business.

Given he was a bit of a “weirdo” growing up and had an abundance of personal problems (let’s face it, who doesn’t!). Steve Jobs is creative, inspirational, a visionary and he knows how to create IMPACT.

Steve starts by talking about his life and he shares 3 specific stories from his life…

1. Connecting the dots looking back, not forward…the story of how he dropped out of college.

2. Love and Loss…the story of how he got fired from his own company!

3. Death…asking yourself if you’re doing today what you would want to do on your last day?

“Sometimes life’s gonna hit you in the head with a brick, don’t lose faith…”

Spoken like a TRUE fighter! Life is nothing without obstacles, we get strong with every new one and Steve’s life has been full of obstacles. He fought and fought and today he is responsible for many of the world’s largest technological movements…

Here are some of the obstacles that Steve has faced:

- Dropped out of college
- Openly and Publicly fired from his own company
- Lost his friends, even the love of his life
- Diagnosed with cancer

What else can you fight from!!

Hats off to you Steve, keep on fighting, you inspire us all!

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Dave Woodward has started a new web based TV show called “Legendary Marketers” - he actually flew down to Maryland to meet with me in person and film my own personal fighting story!

As I asked just yesterday for everyone to submit their own, I thought I’d share this very well edited video for you.

(BTW, that’s not my house, that’s my parents, I just recently moved out - yes, I know, I was lazy )

Here is a link to the video…

Make a video about your story too and send it to me at leadfighter at gmail.com and I’ll be sure to put it up here!

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I wanted to make a quick post to tell everyone to send me your fighter stories. Tell me if you’re in the middle of a “self-challenge” or tell me about the past when you fought against some odds and made it.

I really want to know and I’m sure the readers here would love it.

Make sure to give me enough details so I can really understand what you’re up to. If you happen to have a website or blog where you’re talking about it, even the better, I can give you some promotion on this blog for free!

Send your fighting story to my e-mail:  LeadFighter AT Gmail . com

BTW, I’m not sure if you’ve noticed, but I’ve been keep the blog real small. I have not even mentioned it to my thousands and thousands of readers. HOWEVER, that’s about to change. I’ll be starting to promote the blog pretty heavily very soon

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So, I’ve been listening to “Good To Great,” which is all about dissecting what made the most successful companies in the world who they are today.

In addition, I had one of those long chats with a close friend last night over a couple of drinks.

Combine the two and it’s exactly why I’m up right now at 1:15 AM on a Saturday night writing this post for you. I couldn’t sleep thinking more and more about it, figured I’d share.

My friend and I were talking about what’s going on with the world today and how things are falling apart left and right. Well, HIS view on the situation is quite more cynic than mine is, I understand there are two sides.

No matter how much evil we see, there is just as much great around us as well (it’s just that the media chooses not to talk about the good).

Anyways, he posed a question that concerned me and also led into a long heated (yet friendly) debate:

“Is it too late to change things? Is there no more hope? Look at everything around us, how did we let it get to this?”

As we talked about it, only one word came to mind…

Leadership

That’s right. I explained to him firstly that absolutely not, it’s not too late. Also, “how did we let things get to this point?” It’s all about leadership.

I’m a big believer that everything, every organization, family, business, government - all of it is shaped by a leader. We all look to follow someone who can INSPIRE and MOVE us. We believe in his/her dreams and we pledge our loyalty.

A great leader stays TRUE to his commitments and does ANYTHING to make them happen. I mean EVERYTHING, that includes the toughest decisions anyone can imagine making.

“Much of The Leadership Is Absent Or Has Gone Astray…”

That was my only answer for him. I oversimplified the matter by saying that really if we want to see things fixed, we need new leadership. But, if you really think about it, it really is THAT simple.

Any and all successful organizations have had leaders that were fearless, brilliant and made tough decisions like you wouldn’t believe. If you have not yet, I HIGHLY recommend picking up a copy of “Good To Great” - it really drives home this point.

A Great Leader Inspires

Without going into a great big rant, I want to leave everyone with just one thought - if you want to succeed in life, you need to first master the art of inspiring and motivating those around you.

You have to begin to lead and get away from following (believe me, it sounds great, but it’s tough).

Every great leader in our world has been the role model for what it means to be a “fighter.”

Creating Impact…

One of my good friends and probably one of the nicest guys I know, Kenneth McArthur, recently wrote a book called “IMPACT.” I just got done listening to the free audio and I loved it.

Kenneth’s book is the next one on my list, I’ve only heard great things about it.

The subtitle explains my entire point:

“How To Get Noticed, Motivate Millions and Make a Difference in a Noisy World…”

Fighting for your goals and dreams involves building a coalition around you and gaining support. If you ever plan on doing that, you have to inspire, motivate and create impact…

Kenneth is giving away MANY of his materials for FREE, including the amazing interview I listened to, just visit his site and sign-up. I highly recommend getting the book as well (I’ll give you a full review when I finish it).

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I got an e-mail that really made me smile today. Oddly enough it was right after my “appreciation” post, but it was sent far before it (I’m just bad with e-mail).

Anyways, he makes a very interesting point … how does someone learn to fight if everything has come easy to them?

Here’s exactly what he wrote:

What’s really awesome is that he’s currently embaring on a challenge that WILL teach him how to fight. He’s training to get back in shape to run a 10 miler…

What’s even better is that he’s started a website to TRACK his endeavours, it’s a great site and it makes him accountable for his goal!

Let’s support him and have a look at: http://downbroadstreet.com/

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Randy Pausch, a truly inspirational man and also responsible for delivering the “Last Lecture” passed away a few days ago.

I wanted to take a minute to publicly thank him as well for his inspirational speech which really makes one think about their life.

If you have not yet seen the video, it’s worth watching (I’ve included it below).

Here’s something interesting I found. Last time I watched his video, it had a little over 500,000 views. On last check minutes back, look at how many views he had…

In just a few months he has TEN times as many views! You can definitely get a feeling for the impact he has had on lives. Not to mention the MILLIONS of copies of his book that are for sale right now.

Anyways, thanks a lot Randy, I hope to make even 5% of the influence you made and I’ll be a happy man!

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“Thank you so much, you do such a great job, I wish I could do it this well…”

Sound a bit too mushy for you? Well, either way, try it. It can make a major impact on someone.

Yesterday night, around 9 PM my phone rang, it was my sister. I picked up and she said that my brother-in-law wanted to talk to me.

Some Back-story for you:

My sister is applying to medical residency programs and wanted me to edit her personal statements. I was cursed (I mean blessed ) with being a good writer. Funny thing because “writing” was the only thing I got a B in in high school (screwed up my 4.0 GPA).

Thanks to learning how to copywrite from Justin Ford, I do write very well now.

Anyways, I digress in self flattery…

She has two essays, one of them I had re-done and sent to her the night before. I was extremely tired when I edited it, it was NOT my best work, but still felt it was much better than the original draft.

My brother-in-law had called JUST to thank me. First of all, mind you, this favor was for my SISTER, not him. However, he said he was so incredibly impressed with my ability to write that he just had to call and say thanks (I’ve written things for them in the past as well, so he’s seen me at work in the past).

His exact words:

“Man…thank you so much…I just don’t get how you do these so well, it was amazing. Keep this up and you’re going to take over the world!”

(Obviously he got a bit exaggerated, I have no plans to try to take over the world).

The entire conversation lasted less than 2 minutes and I was glowing from ear to ear!

My sister had already thanked me. They weren’t telling me something I didn’t already know. Yet, him taking that extra step to make a phone call out of his way SPECIFICALLY to appreciate and acknowledge me went a long way for me.

Next time either of them needs a favor, I’ll be 10 times happier to do it for them versus someone else.

Lesson to take away - Take a minute every day or at least once a week and appreciate someone near you. Your wife, kids, co-worker, boss, kid’s teacher, employee, the local cross-guard - anyone, just do it.

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Definition of Insanity: Doing the same thing over and over, but expecting different results.

Yes, I paraphrased that, someone told me that definition one day (still unable to find it stated like that in a dictionary), but that’s not the point. The point is that sometimes I wonder if I’m going insane (given the definition above).

Here’s what’s going on…

Have you read my rant about “Mind Aerobics” yet? I talk about how this program has changed my life multiple times. I describe exactly how it works, you have to have an open mind - I didn’t believe it at first either.

Anyways, I also talked about how I keep starting and then STOPPING. I start listening to the CD every night religiously and almost IMMEDIATELY I see amazing impact on my day-to-day. Then, as things get good again, I get lazy or I get “over confident” and I stop listening to it.

I had promised myself about a month back that I would not (under any condition) stop this time. Well, guess what? I started traveling and the laziness kicked right in.

So, What Happens To Me When I Don’t Listen To Mind Aerobics?

I figured since I screwed up again, might as well turn it into a case study for everyone.

What happens is that I get more antsy. My ability to take stress drops significantly and I become more REActive then I do PROactive.

Meaning, I start to react to everything going around me, rather than taking logical steps back and evaluating everything.

In other words, I start to lose my cool.

I recently called Allen Koss and spoke with him about this and he said that “when you’re using Holosync technology, a certain element of it never goes away, even if you stop listening to it. However, your level of stress does catch up with you. Whereas if you keep doing the CD you stay 2 steps ahead.”

Personally, to me, it feels like I end up losing everything I gained?

Either way, off I go to start again today.

A lesson in discipline - Seriously, try to learn your lesson the first time, rather than the fifth time like me?

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