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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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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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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I was reminiscing today about my business and my life and just thinking over the times where I’ve experienced the most growth or had the BEST results.

When I looked long enough I found some “spikes,” it was not that smooth. I was actually a bit disappointed. I was confused as well. I work hard all the time don’t I? Is this just luck?

Guess what I found when I probed long enough?

1. It had NOTHING to do with luck.

2. I DIDN’T work hard all the time.

3. It was 100% correlated with how hard I was working…

I Call This The “Hustle Effect…”

Now, what I’m about to say is 100% against what EVERY single “self help” book teaches you, so just deal with it If you don’t agree, no problem, just don’t complain to me later on when I’m right!

Here is what I saw in my life with the “spikes.”

Every time I had the extended success, I found that I was “heavily motivated” by something. I was working LATE hours and I was just going and going and going. Those were times when I actually remember not knowing what day it was or what I had to be doing that day.

What a crappy life? Right?

Now all the self-help books blab about this “balance” crap. You know, “don’t bring your work home…” blabbady blah.

Bottom line is that that is 100% baloney. The truth of the matter is that you NEED to bring it home and to your car, to your shower, everywhere you go!

I completely agree that a “smart” businessman delegates. You have a great “A player” team that you can delegate and that will allow you to take more time off. However, do you know how expensive it is to have this kind of team?

How do bridge the gap from when you can’t afford that team to when you can?

You work your tail off…that’s how.

See, when looking back, I saw that the MOST success I had came from the times when I was hustling around. I wouldn’t take no for an answer and I was doing EVERYTHING and ANYTHING it took.

Then, when success started to hit a bit, I got comfortable with my nice big car, my beautiful condo, my take-out food, etc… Now, I find myself spending hours a day sometimes watching movies.

Then, I wonder why the growth has slowed from what it was years ago? DUH!

I have a new rule for myself starting yesterday - i’M TURNING THE HUSTLE BACK ON.

I now wake up and come to the office and the first thing I do is make a list of everything I have to do that day. I make a “to-do” list.

My rule now is that I will NOT leave my office until that list is finished, period. I know that I don’t have the discipline to work at home, too many distractions - so I just won’t allow myself to go home.

For example, it’s 6:30 PM on a Friday evening and I’m at work. Oh well, I still have 6 things to finish. Hustle time, HUSTLE!

NOTE: I’m a single young guy, so yes, I have less responsibilities. For those of you with families and other responsibilities, please adapt my rule above accordingly to your lifestyle. Just don’t buy into some of the self-help mumbo-jumbo, you WILL have to work your tail off if you wanna become something.

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