A shout out to my friend, Barry Goss (from LWLWorldWide) for sending me this video…

It absolutely sums up my attitude towards life in 46 seconds - I guess no where better to get it from than Rocky (the fighter) himself!

I couldn’t agree more Rocky Balboa!

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Yes, rub your eyes and read that again! I won a freaking car recently. More than winning, I “earned” a free car Here’s the back-story:

I was visiting a colleague fighter, Mike Filsaime, at his office in New York to do some video filming for our upcoming project (releasing in Mid May). However, he was also just days away from launching his own product.

They were currently in their “buzz building” mode and had all their promotional partners (including me) promoting.

I was #5 in “most leads generated” and was (at the time) set to win an Amazon Kindle (but who cares, I already have one).

Well, while at New York, I was checking my e-mail late that night and I got an email update from Mike regarding who’s leading the “lead contest.” I went to read it and I was amazed at something…

Right before my eyes, he listed that if someone get 4,000 leads, they win a FREE CAR.

“I’m sorry…WHAT?! All I have to do is send you 4,000 leads (free leads, they just have to put in their name/email) and you’ll give me a freaking free CAR?!”

Here’s the thing…

1. Getting 4,000 is *not* easy - many times, just getting 4,000 CLICKS is hard enough. To get 4,000 leads, you’re looking at needing to send at least 16,000 clicks - wow.

2. I didn’t know this till the END of the promotion. There were 2 days left.

3. He already had 40,000 leads! That meant that 40,000 people had already filled in this form and wouldn’t do it again (even if they did, it wouldn’t count).

A lot of the people who promote, we have very similar “lists (of customers)” so it’s very competitive…

So…lots of reasons why I “couldn’t” do it.

But here are a few reasons I *could* do it (the positive):

1. I was AT his office. I had an advantage. I could make quality video interviews, etc…to send to my list.

2. For a recent promotion our company did, we had generated over 8,000 leads and close to 20,000 clicks!

So…all in all…I decided to take the challenge because I LOVE challenges.

Proof - Concrete Goals WORK!

I have to admit that in the last 3 years I can’t remember the last time I had worked this relentlessly to hit a goal. It was down to the wire (4 hours left) and I was only 400 leads away!

I had done everything I could. I had mailed my customers multiple times, promoted HEAVY.

But I’m so close, what to do?

“Ok time to do some out-of-the-box thinking…” - It led me to doing things I never imagined possible…

A) I immediately went and promoted this to my lead lists that were in completely different niches - I mean COMPLETELY different.

I had NEVER promoted anything like this to them. I did it anyways.

B) I immediately had one of my team members help me start a PPC campaign. She was awesome, even after a long flight, she sat down and did this as a personal favor for me.

…and now for the crazy part…

C) I e-mailed my friends who had customer lists and asked them to send their list MY link!  Yes, imagine if Coke called Pepsi and said “hey buddy…can you send a blast to your entire customer base and make us money - help us win this contest?”

…Although I’m not enemies with the ones I asked, we are technically a bit “competitive” - but we’re all great friends.

I’ve never had the nerve to ask for anything like this. Even when I was up for “Top Entrepreneur Under 25″ by BusinessWeek, I never had the nerve.

NOW…I was taking it one step further.

What Were The Results?

3 out of the 4 I asked IMMEDIATELY sent the mailing to their list as a friendly favor! What great people…

The contest ended 12 AM ET (Tuesday) and when it ended I was still 200+ leads away

However, the product did not launch for another 13 hours. I had a feeling that Mike would quietly extend the deadline for all his affiliates and he did JUST that!

Someone from Mike’s team (Becky) was awesome, she stayed up all night with me and kept me updated.  At exactly 8 AM (5 hours before he launched), I hit the 4,000 mark!

This truly was an amazing feat because I did it when he already had 40,000 leads! I got into it so late and barely had any time.

I was the #1 promoter!

The Car…

I won a Toyota FJ Cruiser, but really don’t want it. So, I’ll be taking the cash value in order to get something different (something I can love).

The Lesson?

Bottom line, you need a short (realistic but hard to get) goal in your life. These goals can REALLY drive you.

The key is to have a strict deadline. It’s also best to maybe have a deadline that is not “you” giving it, it’s a 3rd party (so you can’t just move it).

I’ve learned a lot about myself this week. I see that I’m an incredibly “goal” oriented person. This new knowledge is going to really help me structure my life and make some major changes (leading to mo’ money)!

Go and make a goal, fight for it. You’ll see amazing results and maybe walk away with a free car too!

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LITERALLY…

I just learned recently that we are living in the same area that the movie was shot in.

As a matter of fact, I have a direct view out of my bedroom’s window of the house that the “DON” a.k.a gangster lives in (the same guy that whines about how bad his sandwich is)…

This is the house that the boy sneaks into acting to be a dishwasher, but the gangster thinks he’s the new cook and demands he make a sandwich…

Ironically, this house is actually used to host weddings, really loud ones at that….

Look At These Views…

Now, at another scene in the movie, the main character is staying shortly with his brother and looks out and they show the following view…

Now, compare that to the following view:

Here’s the difference. We have two wings in our apartment, the character from Slumdog is in Wing A (to the right of my building). Also, he’s higher up.

Interesting to also see that the buildings under construction are about HALF the size they really are now.

Anyways, just a little interesting tid bit I thought I’d share!

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Wow, something I had forgotten or honestly not felt in a while…

I like to consider myself as someone who inspires and motivates. In reality this also means that I end up spending a lot of my time around those who NEED inspiration.

Well, I never thought about this - but what about ME being inspired? I still need something to help ME get out of bed in the morning!

Lucky for me, I ended up spending the last few days with people that really light a fire under my butt!

This weekend we had amazing team meetings planning for 2009 and I can barely wait to get it started - our company is really working on freaking amazing things!

Then…take that and combine it with my dinner last night…

I Saw Myself 4 Years Ago…

Here’s what a growing business can do to you - it can take out the FUN of doing business. Many times a growing business can take the ENTREPRENEUR out of you … you know that guy who runs around dreaming, fantasizing and hustling to fight for his dream?

Well, when you’re doing well, you find that you have others to help you fight, you have to fight less hard many times and YOUR job becomes more about MANAGEMENT (booooooring).

Although this all signifies growth and is EXCELLENT - what about that little dude inside me that wants to be running around, dreaming and taking risks that make no sense to the rest of the world?!

My Dinner with a Long Time Friend…

I had dinner with a College Friend last night, he’s started a new business recently and wanted some advice from me. I went to his office and gave him a complete run down on what he can do online and he says I was incredibly helpful - I HOPE I was…

But here’s what I noticed…

The first 30 minutes of our meeting, this guy just pitched me the business - he was doing backflips about it. His eyes were gouging out, he was just freaking EXCITED.

At first I was a bit annoyed honestly. I’m not the kind to hype stuff and go around blabbering about how great our company is (but maybe I should be doing more of that). Either way, initially I was getting annoyed…

Then as time went, I was getting REALLY impressed. Why? Because I just saw ME in him only four years ago!

This guy was ready to hustle, he had a vision, he BELIEVED in what he was doing and he was ready to FIGHT for it.

Wow, “I” Was Getting Inspired!

I don’t know what it was, but his excitement was like a virus that spread to me really fast. All of a sudden, I’m talking about all my non-profit goals for 2009 and how excited I am.

<<< I haven’t talked about my non-profit goals with even my closest friends, it’s just how I am…I like to get results and not gloat about them…but I think I’ve been looking at it wrongly all this time >>

Anyways, today I woke up feeling more motivated, inspired and ready to get started!

Your Takeaway From This?

HANG AROUND THOSE WHO INSPIRE YOU!

I don’t care what it takes, but be around those that can challenge your frame of thinking and your beliefs. This means be around those that are more successful or at least share the same ideologies as you.

This friend of mine is just like me. No one can tell him what he can or cannot do. Honestly, many of my personal friends in my life are NOT like that at all.

It was refreshing hanging with him, I’ll definitely be doing more of it soon.

Thanks for inspiring me all over again my friend.

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Hey Everyone,

I’ve had many write to me about the terrorist attacks going on in Mumbai. Yes, I am in Mumbai. Yes, I’m very close to it all. I’m doing OK - but there is something to be learned here…(I’ll get to that in a minute).

It seems they are targeting 5 star hotels and my luck, I am in one of the top ones in Mumbai. Fortunately they have not attacked this one. However, my heart, best wishes and prayers go to the hundreds of innocent people who were not so fortunate.

Not a moment to judge India…

I am quite taken back by comments like “Man, it’s great to be American…” and things. These attacks effect everyone around the world. What India needs is your prayers right now - NOT your judgements.

Also, they are targetting US Citizens and UK Citizens specifically, so this has global impact and it’s not a “country thing.”

Lesson Learned…Being a Fighter Does NOT Mean Taking Unnecessary Risks…

I was actually scheduled to LEAVE Mumbai just a few hours from when the attacks started. My flight is still leaving and I am fairly close to the airport.

However, the advice of many in the area was that we should cancel our flights and not take any unnecessary risks.

This is exactly what I have done.

For a few I did have the attitude of “Whatever happens, happens…I want to go home” - Afterall, I’ve been traveling for a month now and really want to go home.

However, I had to use sense. This is teaching me a LOT about fighting my own arrogance and “sense of security.”

Time To Come Together, Not Make Smart Remarks…

I really want to reach out to everyone and ask that they provide their SUPPORT right now rather than gloating about the benefits of their current situation (aka not being in India).

This is tragic, 80 are already dead and over 200 are injured.

To all the 100+ hostages, I pray for your safety - this is a true time to fight. A time no one ever wants to face.

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Hey Everyone, I’m in transit to Hong Kong right now. Stephen Pierce had recently visited my house and done an interview with me. Have a see!

(I have a shameless plug in there for IwillFight.com)

Part 2:

Enjoy!

I’ll message everyone again soon with some more fighting goodies.

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For those of you wondering where the heck I’ve been the last month, there you go - I’ve been under my desk!

Of course I’m only kidding, I only spent a few hours there

But it does bring up an interesting question - why was I down there to begin with?

Here’s what’s been going on the last couple of months…

We had an ENORMOUS product launch, the biggest in our company’s history and to say “we had some problems along the way” would be an understatement!

We launched a huge brand new eLearning system and well, it crashed. We also brought in over 6,200 customers so you can imagine - every time someone so much as “farted” inside the system, we got TONS of emails!

But, you know what? I have NO bad news to report - only good news.

I’ve Never Learned So Much About Myself & My Business…

This launch really was the moment of truth for us and a test to the will, power and “fighter mentality” for everyone on the team.

I learned a TREMENDOUS amount about my own fighter mentality and also that of those on our team.

I also have great lessons that came out of it - things I will share over the coming days with you right here on this blog.

We’ll start with the first lesson today…

It’s OK To Freak Out - Just Do It Fast…

Look, we’re all human and it’s only natural for us to “lose it” or get overwhelmed. Being a fighter does not mean you’re not allowed a moment of weakness.

Being a fighter means you can recollect yourself fast and snap out of it.

Let me give you a story I remembered while I was under my desk…

This Lesson Brought To You By a TV SHOW - “Lost”

Background of the show: A plane mysteriously crashes on an island. Lots of people die but lots also survive. The island is weird and lots of unexplainable things are happening - people are still dying; everyone is scared out of their minds.

As in all crisis moments in life, a leader rises to the occasion. His name is “Jack” and he’s a spinal surgeon back in the ‘real world.’

He gathers everyone and starts to provide structure.

During the first season, something horribly horrifying is happening that they don’t understand and he needs to take a moment to calm down his “right-hand man” - who happens to be a woman (Kate).

She’s on the verge of a breakdown and asks him how he is keeping his cool.

Here’s what he says (I’m paraphrasing, I don’t remember exactly what he said):

“I was once in a surgery, life-threatening surgery, one small mistake and the patient would be dead and it would be MY fault. Well, it was one of my first surgeries and it was a very serious case…

I’m in the process of the surgery and I did something wrong, something terribly wrong - I had the patients entire back open and all her spinal nerves exposed.

Whatever I did caused ALL of her spinal nerves to pour out of her like spaghetti - I had basically sentenced this woman to death - holy sh** what had I just done?

Panic came over me, I freaked out and I filled with fear…here’s what I did:

(Pay attention to this part - it changed the way I handle crisis moments…)

I told myself ‘Jack, it’s OK to be afraid…here’s what we’ll do - go ahead and freak out, go nuts, lose your mind, fill yourself with fear - but do it for FIVE seconds. That’s it.’

Jack goes on to say: ‘I counted down from 5 to 1 and I let fear overtake me, but the instant my 5 seconds were over, I cleared my mind, got rid of the fear and FOCUSED. I fixed the problem and the woman survived and is living a healthy life.’

So what’s the moral of that long paraphrasing?

It’s OK To Be Afraid - Just Get Over It Fast!

Look, the launch that went sour this past month for us, the results could have been catastrophic - my name/reputation/team - everything I spent 4 years building could have been gone in the snap of a finger.

Scary eh?

And, yes, I WAS afraid. But, when I was under that desk - I told myself:

“Your team, your business, your customers - they need you right now, people are counting on you. It’s OK that you’re afraid, just let it overtake you for a minute or so - don’t fight the fear, let it come…

BUT, after that, shut up, sit up and get it done!”

What was the result?

The result was a record-breaking launch not only for the company but for our entire industry.

I’m actually being PRAISED and RESPECTED for the way we handled the aftermath - it’s freaky but it’s almost like it HELPED us. That, my friends, is called making lemonade out of lemon!

=================================

The moral of the story is to NOT fight back against fear - let it come, accept it, acknowledge it, even let it overtake you. BUT, always control it.

YOU tell it when it can come in and YOU tell it when it has to leave. Let it come in for just a bit, then kick it out, re-focus and bring the fighter back out to solve the crisis.

Till next time…

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** This post has been dedicated to 2 Indians who actually got Tshirts printed with this blog on them! hahaha…

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I had promised you this video too and I completely forgot to upload it. This is one of the videos from my recent trip to Mumbai where I spent some time with the Aseema kids.

I’ve told you in the past that they are FULL of energy and it amazes me. Well, here’s proof…

Just some back-story on this: I was walking through and they caught me with a camera and immediately wanted to perform so I could record them.

One of the kids comes to me and says: “I can do a cartwl;kjalksjdf” I asked him 10 times to clarify and I just could not understand what he was saying.

So…he decides that rather than deal with trying to make me understand, he’d just SHOW me…

The following is what ensued…

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I was in Mumbai last week. As always I came back refreshed and once again reminded that there IS more to life than “earning a buck.” Or at least there is more you can do with that buck than just buy the latest Mercedes

Through a generous gift by my dear friend Helen, I am now sponsoring the education of an 11 year old girl at the Aseema school - her name is Bussra.

Myself and a few friends spent half the day at Aseema again and I had a chance to meet her! However, the meeting was very informal - she is not allowed to “know” that I am sponsoring her (Aseema does not want some kids to feel special, etc…).

So, my meeting with her was in context with my meeting with the entire class.

Go Figure…Born Leader!

As if they could not have found a BETTER fit for me, Bussra is a born leader! Her class self-elected her to be the class captain (aka class president).

In the video below, she’s the one wearing the red stash…

Tomorrow, I’m going to post a video that shows you how “crazy” (in a good way) these kids are. I don’t know WHAT Aseema feeds them in the morning, but their amazing energy is infectious. If only all of us could be this happy with life.

I ENVY them for that…

More on my visit tomorrow

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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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