Choose to Succeed

Does your cell phone control you? 3 ways how to escape!

2013-12-29T23:40:00.001-05:00

Isn't it interesting how North America has become so dependant on constant communication?

Whether it be through mobile, Internet, or phone, people within our society, especially generation Y, have this fear of loneliness that prevents them from communicating in the moment and being in the present time.

When's the last time you went outside without your phone? Or even went to dinner without bringing it out at some point?

This constant urge to reach in our pockets and literally connect with the world is incredible yet scary at the same time.

Even as I write this from my mobile phone I am surrounded by 50-60 people on a bus in absolute silence. Why?? Because we all have cell phones and are afraid to talk??? It just makes me want to stand up and scream "is anyone awake? ".

I don't understand it, yes I too have fallen a victim to the constant global communication, but its as if we've forgotten to use our vocal chords and live this other life behind technology. We all can be the person we want to be online meanwhile its nothing like your real personality face to face. The communication barriers are overwhelming online and anything can be preceived.

That's a whole other topic, but I want to give you 3 ways that will help you resist that constant itch to talk to someone through technology and live in the moment and talk face to face.

1. Turn your notifications off on your cell phone. Don't give in to your cell phone and constantly checking it in awkward situations or in silence. This way you can check your messages when you need on your time not being controlled by your phone.

2. Turn off your sync emails button. This will maximize your productivity because you will focus on what's important and not check emails all day. If it's am email it's NOT urgent. They would call if that were the case. Check emails only at night and you can even respond when everyone will be home to receive them.

3. At least once in a while, feel the freedom of leaving your phone at home. It's a great feeling. You start seeing the world in a whole new light. It's like you've been set free. You start to appreciate nature and the world and people around you more. Try it!

Live your life, be aware of your technoology habits and how they not only affect your life, but the people around you.

Stop settling. Start living.

Ps, would love to hear your comments, and your technology stories....

Dream Bigger

2013-12-04T12:43:00.001-05:00

What if I told you, the only difference between you and any successful person is time and the size of their dreams?

This is proven to be true. Successful people know what they want, have a strong burning desire for its achievement and have been practicing their big dreams longer than you have.

I encourage you to dream bigger. Remove that glass ceiling you're putting on yourself.

"Whatever the mind of man can conceive and bring himself to believe he WILL achieve"

You must learn two elements of success

1. Know what you want, with a burning desire to achieve it.
2. Dream big!

To help you dream big here are a couple questions to consider:

When you have all the time and the money in the world what will you do?
If you were a superhero what would you do first?
If you have vibrant health everyday and couldn't get sick, what would you do?
If you made $50 000/month what would you do with it?

One thing I recommend you do right now is start writing down everything you want.. Then we will create a dream board.

You see, success is just merely what you can believe. Whatever you think you can or cannot, you're right.

Here are some big dream ideas that you CAN accomplish. Whatever your bliss is, because you'll only do something if it makes you happy, so believe in yourself and do it!

Build a school
Start a business
Start a non profit organization
Invent something
Help a world cause
Become an actor and/or musician
Become a motivational speaker
Become President/Prime Minister
Learn 10 languages
Become professional sports player
Have your dream home, car and significant other.
Talk to Oprah Winfrey or Warren Buffet
Change a social system for the better

As you go through this list, we can all think of hundreds of people who have accomplished their dreams and have one or all of these big dreams.

Stop watching others build their dreams on the TV and Internet. Go out there and build your own.

You have greatness within you. Stop being selfish and bless the world with your greatness.

Stop settling. Start living.

How do I become a master? 4 phases in learning EVERYTHING

2013-12-04T12:38:00.000-05:00

When ever you decide to learn any information you go through 4 phases to learn anything.

In order to be successful it is important to know which phase you are at and what you have to do in order to move into the next phase.

Here are the 4 phases you go through when learning anything.

1. Unconscious Incompetence - this is the stage where you don't know that you don't know. You aren't aware of your lack of knowledge on how to tie your shoelace

2. Conscious Incompetence - this is the stage that you KNOW YOU DON'T KNOW. Your realization that you didn't know how to tie your shoelace.

3. Conscious Competence - This is when you know that you know, but you have to
consciously think about it. When you are thinking how to tie your shoelace; "double loop, over, under and done"

4. Unconscious Competence - This is when it is second nature; when the information is part of you; you know it just as easily as you know your own name. You can bend down and tie your shoelace without thinking about it

To master any learning process you go through all four of these phases whether you are conscious of it or not.

The first two stages happen quite quickly through your own recognition.
The third stage is usually what most of us are in, in our lives. In order to move into the fourth stage is through repetition of consciously knowing what you're doing. Until it becomes internalized and you don't have to think about it any more.

Use this new found power on your success journey to master the basics.

Now you know what you didn't know..

What else don't you know?

How to create a dream board?

2013-12-04T12:28:00.002-05:00

Dream boards are a visual collage of all your hearts desires and dreams

Warning: Creating a dream board may leave you feeling motivated and excited everyday and will make you want to achieve your dreams.

Step 1: Write down everything you want in life. Everything! You can break it down into categories: I want to have (material things): I want to learn: and I want to look ( health): I want to make this much money. ...

Tip: put these phrases in the present tense to intensify this achievement. Example: I am making 500 000 a year. I know 5 languages.

Step 2: Find pictures of saying, inspirational people, anything that resembles your dreams you can get these off the Internet, out of a magazine or from books.

Here are a couple websites I use for dream building.
Luxury dream building

Maximize your dream building

Step 3: Buy/make a pin it board. This is where you will glue/tape/pin all of your dreams, goals and desires. Once you have put all of them in a magical collage move on to the next step.

Step 4: location, location, location! Now that your board is set up, you want to put your board in a location where you will always see it. Every morning you wake up and right before you go to bed.
Here are some ideas of where you can put it:
Bathroom mirror
Bedroom ceiling
Bedroom door
Fridge
Office wall
Any place where you can see it throughout the day.

Ps. Using Pinterest as your dream board is great, but is not the same. Do not fall into this trap and settle for just Pinterest.

When you create your own dream board with your hands, the tactile contact is very powerful. It will raise your believe and bring your "feeling good" to new levels.
Try it...

Is your life way to busy? 5 steps to prioritize your time better

2013-12-04T12:23:00.001-05:00

Are you always finding that their isn't enough time in the day to complete tasks? Or are you wasting time that could be spend on more productive things?

If you want to be successful, it is important to realize that you won't be able to accomplish all the tasks in life that you want. Unfortunately the reality is that you won't be able to watch all the movies, read all the books, and do all the things in life that you want.

This is why we have to prioritize your life so you complete the most important tasks. If you learn how to prioritize properly you will be ahead in life. You will be accomplishing tasks daily, weekly and monthly, which will give you ultimate bliss and happiness in your life, because you will have reached your goals.

Time is our most valuable commodity. Unfortunately we can't control time. We can't go back in time or pause time, or get more time. Once the time has passed, its gone. So the phrase "time management" is in actuality not possible. You can prioritize your time but not manage it.

Before we can prioritize your life, you have to know what you want in life and have a burning desire for it's achievement. Now that you know what you want, we can set goals to achieve it.

Goal Setting

Long Term Goals (More than 1 year): Set your long term goals so you have something to strive towards. Then work your way backwards from there. To help, ask yourself these important questions:
What do I want to accomplish in the next 1-2 years that will make me happy?
Mid Range Goals ( 1- 3 months). What can I accomplish in the next 1 to 3 months that will help me reach my long term goal?
Short Term ( Daily and weekly) what can I do today that will help me reach my mid range goals?

2. Brain Dumb: Create a list of everything you have to do that week or even month. Every commitment, task or meeting.

3. Prioritize A, B, or C

A : Tasks you have to do, can't be moved, and if you don't do this you'll miss your goal or commitment
B : Task you must do, can be moved, and will become an A priority in the next week or so
C: Task that can be moved and it's nice to get done but not crucial

Place a time frame beside each task.

For example: Meet client at 8am (A Priority, 1.5hrs)

4. Now you're ready to schedule. Find a scheduling book with an hourly schedule works best.

Start by scheduling all of your A priorities first. Since they cannot be moved you don't want to miss these.

Then start scheduling your B and C priorities.

Key things to remember when scheduling

Slack time: planning a little extra time for each tasks. If you think you appointment will be 2 hours schedule it for 2 hours and 15 minutes.
Travel Time
Meal Time
Sleep Time
Execution and Review Time: Don't forget to plan am hour every week to review this plan and make any necessary changes. For example you may have thought dinner was 2 hours but you found you finished it in 1 hour.
Stick to the plan. The more you plan the better you will get and the more effective you will be one with your time.

A plan is only good if action is taken. Since you've taken the time to plan your life and use your time most effectively, just follow the plan and you'll achieve your successes. Just do it.

Stop settling. Start living.

3 health tips that may surprise you

2013-11-29T13:47:00.002-05:00

I want to share with you 3 very important health tips that may surprise you. In order to be successful you have to be healthy. What good is success if you can't enjoy because of your ill health.

From the health guru himself, Kevin Trudeau, has traveled around the world and has researched 1000's of natural health doctors and people that have learned to live a long and healthy live as he says from his #1 best selling book, Natural Cures book- They don't want you to know about. He researched people you are able to live well into their 90's with vibrant health, full energy and a full head of hair, why can't we.

There are 1000's of great words of advice to a healthy lifestyle, from eating vegan, eating meat, drinking milk everyday, how do you know who to listen to and the correct health plan to follow for true vibrant health.

Everyone has their own way of being healthy, but from his Natural Cures Book they don't want you to know about, Kevin Trudeau share some very simple tips that is backed by research and his personal experiences that you might want to consider. He was able to determine 3 common healthy living tips to live by in order to live a long and healthy life that people around the world are practicing.

1. Walk at least 20 minutes a day (preferable in barefoot). Walking is a very healthy ailment for the mind and body. The sun light provides a significant energy source and re energizes your body. Especially walking on the ground in and digging you feet into the earths soil it releases most of the negative energy charges into the ground from your body.

2. Stay away from fast food chains Out of the 1000's of people Kevin studied he found out that they very rarely ate at fast food restaurants. Most of the food they ate was home cooked from food that was grown locally. The reality in North America, is nearly impossible to never eat from fast food chains. So realistically the studied showed that they ate at fast food chains for about 5% of their life. So for special occasions and celebrations, no problem. Dive in and indulge. Just minimizing these toxins from entering your body will help you live a long and healthy life.

An exerpt from his Natural Cures book;
"Fast food is simply some of the most nutritionally deficient and chemically loaded "food" on the planet. If the definition of food was "fuel for the body that also encourages life," fast food could no longer be called food. It should be called "fast, good tasting poison," which is a more accurate description of what it is. Oh, and did I tell you that it's designed to increase your appetite, make you physically addicted, and purposely constructed to make you obese?"

3. Be careful of pharmaceutical drugs. Taking pharmaceutical drugs can lower your mental and phyical health and cause chemical imbalances in your body. There are many toxins and chemicals in pharmaseutical drugs that can be harmful to your body. Many of these healthy vibrant people rarely took any kind of drug, even anything as "minimal" as advil.

From his Natural Cures book he further says;
"This is the description of a healthy person. A healthy person never has to take a drug. A healthy
person never has to have surgeries. A healthy person has no cancer, diabetes, or heart disease. A
healthy person lives without illness, sickness, or disease. Most people have no idea how good their
body is designed to feel. We have been brainwashed into believing that it is natural for a human
being to get colds and flus, have aches and pains, and have major medical problems like cancer,
diabetes, and heart disease.We are also brainwashed into believing that it's "natural" to take drugs"

Don't gamble with your health, be aware of what you are putting in your body.

Stop Settling, Start Living.

This is my opinion and not FDA Approved.

3 ways to feel good RIGHT NOW!

2013-10-14T15:22:00.001-04:00

Smile

Just say out loud to yourself- "I FEEEEEL GRRREAT"! You will instantly start to smile and feel good. Your mind believes what you say. It can't tell the difference from truth or lie, so start using these 3 feel good tips right now. Just by saying to yourself that you feel great you will begin to throw your shoulders back, smile, and stand up tall and be proud of who you are; be happy!

Laugh

Laughing is one of the greatest and underrated medicines in the world to feeling happy. It just makes everyone feel better in the room; it''s catchy. You can't help but smile or laugh when someone else is laughing and having a great time. This is a great method to feeling good. Surround yourself with a great group of friends that care for you and share funny stories together, and you will instantly feel better. Not only because you are laughing but because you are surrounded by other like minded people.

If none of your friends are available at the time you aren't feeling 100%, have a select few clips online that you always laugh at and find funny. For example "America's Funniest Home Video's" would be a great clip to watch to get you laughing again. Don't be afraid to laugh, everyone loves a good laugh, just be yourself, laugh away and instantly feel like your awesome self again.

Hug

If you are feeling a little down on yourself, go hug someone for 3-5 seconds, even a stranger if you have to (They'd enjoy it as well). When your body feels the affection of another body it instantly fires off endorphins to your brain and calms your nerves with security and compassion. This is a great remedy I use all the time that makes me feel good. Hug like you've never hugged before and feel good right now!

5 other quick tips to feeling good now:

Listen to Music

Create something with your hands

Dance

Go for a 20 Minute walk

Create your dream board.

Love: The Ultimate Success Indicator

2013-10-14T14:40:00.002-04:00

I just recently watched the movie "Click" with my lovely girlfriend and it had a great underlying message that I just had to share with you all that explains why love is one of the ultimate success indicators.

"When the leprechaun got to the end of the rainbow in search for his pot of gold, he found only a pot of cornflakes" This is one of the famous quotes in the movie, and when I heard this it hit me like a ton of bricks.

We all have dreams, goals, ambitions and have a passion for their achievement, but above everything else, what is a passion in life that we all share?

Love.

Whether it is for your better half, your siblings, your parents, or your friends, love is one of the most powerful feelings on earth. Everyone just wants to feel good and be all they can be. You can! There is nothing stopping you- but you. But love is something even more special, sometimes out of your control, and something everyone wants.

Let me put this into perspective; you are the most successful person you can be and you are feeling good. You have achieved all your tangible dreams and goals. You're driving the sport car, have the enormous house, your own private jet, and the lifestyle you've always imagined. Now picture yourself having all of this and you rush home to....emptiness. You look in your cellphone to call your friends, but realize it’s all job related contacts and your parents haven’t talked to you in years because you were too busy building your dreams. You go give your dog a big hug wishing he could talk and share this excitement with you.

How do you feel?

How much do your dreams and goals matter now?

This is important to note that I’m not saying to stop building your dreams, but to build your dreams FOR the ones you love and put the 10 years of wealth creation in now, so you can enjoy your dreams with your loved ones.

Love is an unparalleled feeling that you can't describe.

I'm not necessarily talking about being in love with someone, but just someone you love that you can share your excitement, passion and dreams with. Life is all about building those relationships and FEELING GOOD.

If you are feeling good, you're already feeling like a winner. You're already successful. Once you have this feeling it propels you forward to achieve those dreams and desires, but not only yourself, but for the others you love. This is why feeling love and sharing it with someone is an ultimate success indicator

The moral of this story is- don't ever take for granted the ones you love; cherish them and don't let go.

Go achieve great success, your dreams, all of your goals and your hearts desires, but don't forget about the people in your life that matter.

Thinking of becoming an Entrepreneur? 7 questions to consider.

2013-10-06T15:54:00.002-04:00

First of all, I would like to congratulate you on taking a step towards gaining control of your life. Being an entrepreneur isn't easy, but the payoff is much more rewarding, something I like to call freedom!

You want to be in business for yourself and fire that boss of yours? Is something holding you back?

Here are 7 tips to consider before you decide to build your own empire and become an entrepreneur.

1. Are you self-driven and ready to jump in the driver's seat?

2. Do you like change?

3. Are you ready to accept to new challenges?

4. Would your friends/family buy from you?

5. Are you passionate about it?

6. WHY are you doing this?

For Money?

For Time Freedom?

For Family?

7. Are you willing to fail your way to success, NO MATTER WHAT

A few helpful links:

Are you a born entrepreneur?

Take the strength test (Free)

Are you an Entrepreneur?

Is fear and failure holding you back?

2013-09-30T22:13:00.002-04:00

Fear and Failure are both a choice we all make.

We were not born with the emotions of fear and failure, it's a choice. When you see that spider, or are told to present in front of people, you chose to be afraid.

Time to stop being afraid and be a kid again!

Think back when you were a kid, you would fall down and get back up. When you learned to walk and fell down, your parents never said, "Oh well you failed, stop while you're ahead" They encouraged you to keep trying until you got it right.

Why?

Because you have to be able to walk, no exceptions. That's how we need to treat our life's goals and ambitions. Of course you're going to "fail" but that's the only way to learn.

Imagine all of the successful people in the world, Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, Oprah Winfrey, etc, told everyone is was really easy, no problems, just straight up to the top. Everyone would be doing it and what fun would that be? You wouldn't learn anything and you wouldn't be able to go through all the hardships any challenges and say you made it!

I'd be like playing a game of football on offense with no defense in front of you. There's not glory in that.

Thomas Edison, said " I have not failed, I have just found 10 000 ways that don't work"

Stop wanting what you think you don't want.

Don't wish for things to get easier, wish for you to get better.

You want failures and fears because you know on the other side are successful lessons that will drive you to the top.

You must become best friends with fear and failure in order to succeed.

Be like an ant. No matter what the challenge you will go through the challenge, around it, over it, or under it! Don't give up!

It's impossible to stop a man or a women that will not quit!

Don't Quit

4 pitfalls you're not successful

2013-09-30T21:43:00.002-04:00

Before we dive into the reasons why you may not be successful, lets first understand that success is very subjective to the person you are today. What you might think success is, another person will have a completely different answer. So whatever success means to you, this is a simple guideline that will outline some key principals to avoid so you will have continued success in your life.

1. Associations: YOUR INCOME= Wrong Associations

Who are the 5 people you hang out with the most? Now take the average lifestyle and income of those 5 people = YOU. You will be the average of the 5 people you hang out with most. Your associates dictate who you become and how you succeed. For example, have you ever caught an expression from one of your friends, or copied their behaviour? If you are hanging around the wrong people, this could have a negative effect on your life. On the other hand, if you hang out with people that you want to be like and have things similar to what they have than you are on track for success. Some people just want to make you feel bad, so they can feel better. We call these people the dream stealers. So be careful with who you associate with on your journey to success, because the people who you thought might be beside you in the beginning, might not be in the end.

2. Mental Health: Wrong Associations + Unhealthy Foods = Mental Meltdown!

Do you find yourself eating fast foods a lot? Tired and low energy? In order to think and act success, you must feed your brain with the right energy sources. There are a lot of foods on the market that is very toxic to your brain and actually prevents you from thinking clearly. Have you ever felt completely drained and sleepy after eating a meal? Or even worse, upset stomach or headaches? This is your brain telling you to not put these foods in your body. Be aware of what your food intake is because you need a clear vision on the path to success. Just monitoring what your brain doesn't like and stay away from will make you feel a thousand times better.

3. Poor Attitude: Wrong Associations + Unhealthy Foods + Mental Meltdowns + Negativity = Poor Attitude

Are you constantly thinking of the worst possible outcome of any situation? Are you always saying no right away to events and circumstances? Do you avoid change like the plague? This is all negative thinking and leads to negative actions. If you are not having the success you desire a lot of it is due to this negative thinking. This way of thinking is preventing you to jump on new opportunities, learn new things and most importantly enjoy life.

4 Personal Development: Wrong Associations + Unhealthy Foods + Mental Meltdowns + Negativity + Poor Attitude =success detractor

When was the last time you read a book? Or pondered what I can do to be better? Have you ever thought to yourself, how do I learn more? This will categorically lead you down a spiral path of boringness and unfulfilled life. When you stop learn, you stop living. All successful people look for ways to better themselves by reading books and audios from great mentors. You’re learning never stops, it is something you have to embrace because you will always be changing and growing. Take advantage of it now and learn to succeed, learn to be great, learn to love learning!

5 Reasons you don't succeed after graduation?

2013-09-30T17:32:00.000-04:00

We've all been raised in society to go to school, get the good grades and get a good job; you've done that. You have the grades, you worked your ass off and now you're thinking, "great, now what?"

I want to share with you my experience. While attending school full time, I was always busy working or running a business. One major thing I learned, which urged me to create this post, was that my experience from business ("real world") and my school experience were far from the same, even though school is "supposed" to prepare us for the "real world".

Here are 5 reasons why you might be feeling ill prepared for life outside of your post-secondary bubble. Whether you went to university or college in Canada, I'm sure most of you can relate,

1. Isn't school just short term learning?

A lot of the times we are cramming for those last minute exams and assignments just to get that A or B so we can get through that part of the course and repeat the process again for the next big assignment. Or maybe this isn't you, maybe you study a week or two before the test, which is optimal learning, but here's the problem. This is only learned knowledge, not practical.

Think back when you got your driver's license, you got your G1 by reading a book: did you really know how to drive a car after? Most likely not.

This is the problem with the learning that schools set us up for. We spend thousands of dollars on these great textbooks (usually only read half of it) and we've learned the theory of how to be successful in that course. This is very short term learning; sitting in a classroom and writing a test, the model works great. But when you go out into the workforce, you don't have the luxury of only reading a book, you have to just do it.

Let me give you a statistics:
Based on the curve of forgetting, you only retain 30% or less of the new information no more than a week later, with no reviewing. This is why you feel like you haven't learned much after graduation, because this new knowledge hasn't embedded itself into your subconscious. Even though you paid $10 000-$40 000, cost 3 years of your life and you earned your graduation certificate.

How much have you learned from your school?
Do you feel prepared for the next steps in your career?

2. School is a great business don't you think?

Whether you like to think so or not, a school is a private institution that has profits and losses, aka a business (probably one of the most genius ones). Every day when you walked down the halls you were exposed to advertising, food, bookstores, all of which are businesses trying to make a living.

Why is this wrong you ask?
Let me rephrase this question another way, if you were the owner of such and such college or university, would you want more or less students graduating?

This is just an interesting perspective to ponder from your $10 000 education and how they use it to make money, not necessarily to help you succeed in the world outside of school. They do what makes them look good and profit. Which is another reason to consider why you're learning isn't at it's peak.

3. 5 courses? 6??!! Isn't this too much information all at once?

How many of you at one time or another felt overwhelmed with the work load or stressed out?

Let's not all jump at once, but I know almost all of us have. There is an information overload in schools. It is mandatory to take 5-6 courses per year if you want to graduate in the least amount of time possible. Yes you can take fewer courses, which is probably recommended, but nobody tells you that it's okay to do so. Not to mention having to pay another years worth of tuition if you take the less work load and slower route. This amounts to another $5000-$10000.

They say, this information overload will prepare you for the real world and help you get that job...Yes..but no. This information overload isn't the same as a new job. In a job, you are focused on many different tasks related to one specific job. Schools pile you high with 6 different courses and new concepts and learning that drown you with knowledge. Which is why it is understandable you remember very little of your schooling years. Just when you feel like you've just got your neck above water, they throw down a dozen more concrete bricks for you to catch, oh by the way, don't drown. This method of learning is old fashioned and although it is obviously a path, it is not a successful path that anyone should bare to take.

4. How does a schools marking system measure success?

"The teacher was horrible I just had to drop that class" or "my teacher loved me, I definitely can't fail now". Teachers today are a dime a dozen, but finding GOOD teachers are tough. It is very subjective when you take a class and how they grade. Also it is very dependent on the student and how they learn. Teaching bright minded students eager to learn is truly a difficult task. I realize this is all upheld by the education systems and they have curriculum's to follow- that's the problem.

When you go for that job or run a business your success is measured through your results in performance, hard work and profits. Contrasting that to school, your success is measured through numbers and words on a piece of paper; hard work right? Of course it was hard work studying for that test, or completing that 20 page essay. But my point is, is your time and resources being spent in the right areas? We are all bright individuals capable of anything we set out to be, but spending day in and out of the classroom, listening, watching, and writing is only one side of the learning you should be receiving. There are many programs like trades schools, that do this very well, but not frequent enough. You need practical hands on learning immediately after you have learned a new concept. Until you have mastered that you shouldn't be allowed to move on to the next concept.

This grading system of A, B's or 75% etc, is great but as a student that's all you look at. Is this assignment worth marks? What's on the test? See, we are all focused on the end results of the test and not the learning. It is because of this flawed measuring system of success that we are incapable of successfully managing ourselves outside of school environment.

5. You chose to go to school right?

Well you chose university or college right? You didn't have to go and get the post secondary education. So why did you?

We all have our different reasons, but the bottom line is to get that job or business in doing something you like.

Unfortunately, in today's economy it is almost the minimum standard to have your diploma to get a half decent job (If it is a job you are seeking).

Even after all of those hard long years of university or college it is still hard to find a job. Now, you are not only in a similar situation you were before you went to school (career wise), but you have a lot more friends, more networks, new practical learning (hopefully), thousands of dollars in debt, 3 years older and are still working that minimum wage job.

Just to be clear, educating yourself and continually learning is the best thing you can do for yourself and others throughout your lifetime. I just want to point out that the school system isn't the greatest learning institution for optimal learning and is the reason why you probably aren't succeeding as much as you originally thought after your graduation. But schools serve their purpose in society quite well; house the masses before they enter the workforce.

Stop Settling, Start Living.

Are you sure you want a job?

2013-09-15T02:34:00.004-04:00

One of my mentors recently brought up a very interesting question regarding working a job; "If you were the absolute best at what you do, the Michael Jordan at your job, at the end of the day would it give you your dream lifestyle?

I was probably like most of you, because the answer was no. I quickly realized that there was no light at the end of the tunnel; no chance of living my dream lifestyle which is why at such an early age I chose to run a business.

For those of you that are stuck in your job and are hesitant to start a business like I was, here are a few things to consider about starting a job vs. a business.

Why your job isn’t giving you the dream lifestyle?

No Time, no time. If you only get paid by your efforts alone, what if you get sick? Laid-off? Or injured? What happens to that income stream? It fades away as fast as you do. Time is your most valuable commodity.

Everyone has 24 hours in a day and I'm pretty sure all of us are using all of our 24 hours, it just depends on how.

Just to put this into perspective in terms of time, let’s say you get paid $20/hr at your job. You have two options, you can either work more hours which maxes out at 24/hrs a day ($480/day max) or get paid more per hour. Getting paid per hour or salary will always have a cap because it is solely based on your efforts.

Let's be real, working 24/hrs a day consistently isn't possible, trust me I've tried. Then it hit me like a ton of bricks and I woke up and decided to take control of my time.

Money we will always be able to get. Time we cannot.

Is your job meaningful? Most people that don't like their jobs don't feel valued and don't feel like their efforts are contributing to the company as a whole.

Why would you waste your time working a job that is income restricted that you do not like? It's nonsense.

For those that do enjoy their jobs, hats off to you, as you found something that you value doing. Now the questions still stands, is what you are doing meaningful? Do you feel good after work?

Hopefully yes, but most likely not. The worst part is, you can't change that. If you don't like where you work, or how you feel about it, you are very limited as to what you can do; it's out of your control.

You can't make the decision, other than leaving your 9 to 5, I call solitude.

You make the call...

Me change? No I don't want to do that. The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result.

Some of you can relate, because a lot of people's jobs are get up, go to work, come home, go to bed, repeat. Insane? I think so.

How do you enjoy life when it's stagnant and a vicious cycle of fatigue and stress. A job is built to keep you in the "rat race".

With few exceptions, your employers don't want you to become better outside of work, you know why? Because you're making them rich! They try to keep you happy and they stay rich.

Change is needed to become better in life. There are only two things in life we can guarantee; change and death. I don't wish the latter, so if you want things in your life to change, you have to change things in your life.

Why running a business gives you the dream lifestyle.

More Time, more time (Time Leverage). You no longer have to work on a linear basis, where you are only getting paid off of the time you put in. You can now leverage your income by getting paid 24 hours a day in spite of your own efforts.

Now you can enjoy your time whenever, with whoever you chose. Why? Because you have a system that generates cash flow; your business. You can now leverage your time because you have people working for you.

For example, if you have 5 employees working 8 hours a day that's 40 productivity hours that you get paid on. Whereas a job, you can only get paid on a max of 24 hours.

I like the potential growth here with no ceiling, what about you?

Do something meaningful. Since time is your most valued commodity, it is a great feeling to be doing something you love to do. We've all heard the saying, you never work a day in your life if you like what you do; it's true.

Jobs and business are dime a dozen, but the best part about a business is you can design and mold it to however you like, not to anyone else’s standards.

You call all the shots. Wake up at 10am, sure; weekends off, why not! It's all up to you, which makes your life that much more entertaining and invigorating.

Not only do you feel better, but you are adding value and contributing to society as a whole. You're now in the driver’s seat with the world at your fingertips, ready to start the engine?

Money, money and more money. With your new found glory of a system that runs in spite of your efforts 24/7 you will learn to use your money wisely and in many different avenues.

You are in complete control of your income stream and you can now pay yourself first (yes, even before the government!)

The money generated from the business does not have a ceiling on it. If you buy, sell a product or service you can't run out of people to sell to; it's nearly unlimited.

This is why your income stream can continue to grow, and then you can have your money work FOR YOU as oppose to you working for money. Meaning you can now invest those profits from a business into another business venture, stocks, real estate, whichever you see fit.

Continue Changing. If you stop learning you stop growing. The best part about running a business is the changing environment. You are always learning new things and you can never know everything. This allows you to continue to develop your skills and it will keep your mind active your entire life.
Never a dull moment!

What about the responsibility, hard work and risk?

See, I know what you’re thinking, because I thought the same way and to answer that, lets put this into perspective in terms of your job.

You already have responsibilities at your job, and they keep getting bigger and bigger, is it easy? Of course not, it's what you are told to do to keep your job and ultimately get the paycheck.
Now if you work harder, or train someone else to do what you do, do you get paid more? Probably not, or if so it'll be a measly $1-2/hr raise?

If you are willing to work 40+ hours a week for 40 years of your life building someone else's dreams, why not do it for yourself?

You already told me that your job didn't give you the lifestyle of your dreams, why not put a little more effort, responsibility and risk into a business that gives you the time, money, satisfaction and YOUR dream lifestyle?

Still want a job?
Don't get me wrong, a job has it's time and place. It has a great structure because we need people to work the jobs in order for our economy to be successful.

But for those that want more out of life, and live that dream lifestyle, there is another way: Become a business owner. A job is meant to create finances, not wealth.

Is it all about the money?

Although most of you might be thinking right now "it's not all about the money, there is a lot more to life". Yes I would completely agree.

On the contrary; how limited are you with money vs. without? If you made a list of all the things you want in life, how many of them can you get without any money?

It's not all about the money but what you can do with the money that will give you the dream lifestyle. Whether it be, to buy your family a new home, put your kids through school, or relieve yourself and loved ones from debt, it's a different feeling to be able to have money.

It's the feeling money brings, when money is out of the equation and you can focus on the more important things in life that YOU WANT TO DO.

Choice is yours, I've made mine.

Feel free to comment and stay tuned for part two of this miniseries and find out what limits you to become that successful entrepreneur and be your own boss.