Finding Direction

December 2, 2009

Every day bajillions of people start a new venture. They decide to start a photography business, they decide to open a Subway franchise, they decide to create a Facebook fan page, they decide to start selling bowling balls. Whatever. With each of those decisions and all the choices that were mulled over, how many choices were NOT decided upon? We don’t normally think about the unchosen ventures. Focus typically only falls upon the direction that was chosen.
wooden-direction-arrows1
So, let’s say you have a desk job that bores you, but you love to paint with watercolors, take photographs of nature, and teach people about living green. You want to start a business, go out on your own, and follow your passion. Ok, great! But which passion do you choose? Watercolor, photography, or being a greenie? HOW do you know which one to choose? How do you decide?

I got to thinking about this today after a Twitter conversation on the subject. You could have all the motivation in the world, but if you lack direction, you’re stuck dead in the water. The point of this post it not to announce “the way” to make a decision, because everyone does it differently and I don’t think one-size-fits-all when you comes to decision-making. The point of all of this is that, simply, I’m curious.

I have always been able to, upon realizing that I, in fact, have a decision to make, throw the available options into the back of my brain, walk around with them rolling around in there, and confidently know that within a day or two – sometimes just a matter of hours – one will specifically and certainly pop out.

I’m serious. This is how I do it. I mull and mull and mull indirectly until one of the options comes to the surface.

Is that normal?!

How do you do it? Have you ever experienced a time when you had all the motivation and options in the world but were stuck because you couldn’t make a decision on which option to pursue? Share the details. Which venture did you finally choose? How did you do it?

Outside help…time…random guess? When faced with options, how do you decide what direction to go?

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Moving Your Biz Forward Using the Nooks & Crannies

November 27, 2009

Today, the day after Thanksgiving, I tweeted this mid-morning:

Tweet

Then, several hours later, as I was driving down the road, it occurred to me that I completely disagreed with what I just tweeted! Here’s why:

(Yes, TERRIBLE quality and the wrong rotation, my apologies. I’m working on it!)

What do you say? Do you agree? How much of an impact would it make on YOUR business if you took better advantage of the crannies of your day? A little? A lot?

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On making mistakes

November 24, 2009

I’ve been thinking today about being the best person you know how to be. And, that? If it’s the best you can do then it’s the only thing you can do.

In life, in business, there’s no other way to do it, which means that everyone – everyone – is going to make mistakes. It’s the only way you grow and it’s the only way that the best successes are developed. The point of all of this is to say that yes, you are going to make mistakes.
Mistakes

What? You missed that? Let me say it again: YOU ARE GOING TO MAKE MISTAKES.

And that’s ok! Mistakes are a necessary, expected part of growing. You know how they say in sales that the top salespeople have heard the word ‘No’ way more often than those that aren’t at the top? The same concept applies to growing as a person. To growing in business. The best and biggest successes are those that have made way more mistakes than everyone else. Additionally, the biggest successes are those that have not only made the mistakes, but have admitted them, apologized for them, and analyzed and learned from them. And that learning piece? That part is especially important, because if the lesson isn’t learned then the whole point of making the mistake is lost.

It seems simple, but it’s so fundamental. Want to be a success? Be the very best you know how to be. Make mistakes. Learn.

Then keep moving forward.

What do you think? How important do you think past mistakes have been to your success?

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Published in SUCCESS!: Twitter WIN, Part 2

November 22, 2009

Part 2 of the Twitter WIN series, an awesome example of someone “big” reaching down to someone “little” and connecting, providing an opportunity that, without Twitter, would have never been possible. Ok, that was the fancy description. The real one? I replied to one of SUCCESS magazine editor Darren Hardy’s tweets and was published in the mag!!!

Don’t forget to follow Darren Hardy and SUCCESS Magazine on Twitter. And me, too!

So, what about you? Have you connected with someone “big” that you would have never had visibility to without Twitter? What about on another platform – Facebook, LinkedIn, DailyBooth, etc?

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Positive ACTING, not just thinking

November 19, 2009

“Positive anything is better than negative nothing.” ~Elbert Hubbard

I’ve written about positive thinking before and how it can literally make or break a situation. Today, however, I’ve been thinking about acting positively. In other words, outwardly behaving around others, especially when speaking about others, as positively as you’re thinking about yourself and your goals. So, being as supportive and positive and encouraging towards others as you are to yourself. You could be the biggest student of personal development and goal-setting and positive thinking and personal responsibility in the world, but what good is ANY of that if you don’t treat other people with the same set of philosophies?

Food for thought. What say you?

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Story time: A massive Twitter WIN

November 18, 2009

A really cool thing happened to me a few weeks ago that represents the core purpose of what Twitter, and really networking online of any kind, is all about. Here’s why:

You can find Inbound Marketing here.

What Twitter Wins have you experienced? Share.

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Thoughts about 2010

November 17, 2009

2010
1. I’m gonna rock Twitter‘s face off.

2. I’m gonna take even more advantage of the amazing, personalized networking that takes place on DailyBooth.

3. I’m gonna launch 3 new websites & 1 web tv show.

4. It’s gonna be amazing.

More where those came from. What’s on your radar for two-oh-one-oh?

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In the online-media world, is content really king?

November 12, 2009

I just read a fantastic, thought-provoking article this morning on creating content in the online media space that I couldn’t wait to share. In the blogging, podcasting, online video, etc world you constantly hear that “content is king.” Meaning, nothing else matters unless you are consistently producing quality content. If you ARE consistently producing quality content, then everything else can and will fall into place if you keep pumping it out.

But is that really the case? Is it TRULY the content that’s king online? The thoughts of the brilliant Chris Brogan:

“I’ve been thinking about this a lot. Content is not king. You are. (or Queen.) Content is currency. You’re the king.

Content is a means to deliver interest. It’s a gathering place for you and the people you hope to entertain/attract/educate/equip. That doesn’t make it the king.

Kings rule. Kings make hard decisions. Kings try to maintain the balance of the good of the country (you history buffs pipe down; it’s my story). Kings do have egos, by the way. It’s part of being kingly.

But content? That’s treasure. That’s salve. That’s wood for the fireplace around which great stories are told.

Work hard on content, but focus on relationships. Be a good king. Be a servant. Be a steward to your people.

And use content well.

What do you say?”

Part of one of his last sentences made me smile…”focus on relationships.” That’s been the number-one, driving factor for why I have been blogging, networking online, and posting videos throughout the past year – I want to meet new people and develop quality relationships. The kind that, whenever the future need might arise, connect two people who have the potential to, together, create greater good than they could have individually.

Awesome to see what I’ve been doing stated so concisely by an online media maven.

Thoughts?

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