My youngest son "getting in the game..."
I believe an entrepreneurial spirit is one that some people are born with, and there are certain things that “just make sense.”
It’s a desire to be all that you can be and do the very best at what it is you do. You’re not afraid to take chances, and you tend to be a leader in whatever it is you set your mind to. In fact, I mentioned a few of the “Top I AMs of an Entrepreneur,” in an earlier posting.
This morning I received the following excerpt in an email, and I had to share it with my fellow “entrepreneurs.” I just know that it will make as much sense to you as it did to me!
Have an AWESOME day and a great weekend!
GET IN THE GAME AND STAY IN THE GAME
by Jeffery Combs
As a personal success coach and mentor to entrepreneurs from all walks of life, I have had the privilege of spending thousands of hours with clients who are just getting started in free enterprise as well as those who have been in numerous entrepreneurial endeavors.
I have coached people who have achieved no money, people who have achieved millions, people who have gone from zero to hero and people who have struggled to just “make ends meet” yet refuse to go back to the j-o-b and Corporate America.
I have coached professional athletes, actresses, movie producers, and stay-at-home moms. I have a very diverse client base, but one situation all of these people have in common is that they have had to “GIG” get in the game in order to begin realizing success as an entrepreneur.
Getting in the game means making a decision that you will not settle for living an average life in someone else’s dream because you are going to create an exceptional life by living your own dreams.
Most people have the greatest challenge making a decision and if you are going to succeed as an entrepreneur, you will be required to make multiple decisions every day.
I believe most people avoid making decisions because they do not want to be held responsible for the resulting situation. Most people associate responsibility with a negative outcome, but in reality claiming responsibility lead to both positive and empowering results.
Take a Chance and Participate
In many of my events I play a game with money where I stand on the edge of the stage holding up a one hundred-dollar bill and ask, “Who is responsible for this?” At every event, the first reaction of my entire audience is to freeze. Everyone looks at each other, waiting for someone to react, wondering what to do next.
I repeat the question until a few people begin to say “I am.” I nod my head and keep repeating the question. Eventually, one person finds some courage and begins to move toward the stage, which then allows about four other people to come to action.
Suddenly, all four are racing toward me, each more anxious than the others to claim responsibility. In the end, one person reaches me first, takes the “C-note” from my hand and claims responsibility. The result is the easiest hundred dollars ever achieved in the five-second journey from chair to stage.
My point here is that making decisions will require you to get comfortable with the idea of being responsible for both the desirable and less-desirable outcomes your decisions create.
Realize that your decisions do not have to be perfect and that in five years you will probably look back at many of the decisions you make today thinking if I knew then what I know now I would have decided differently. This is true for all of us, no matter our vocation.
What matters to you now, as you begin to claim your destiny and take back control of your present, is that you decide to get in the game and to make the best decisions you are capable of, knowing that you have many great lessons ahead of you and that you are on your way to manifesting your vision.
Participation Makes a Difference
Getting in the game means committing to learning a new set of life skills that will allow you to hone your craft so that you can get paid what the free market bears for the value and service you bring to the marketplace.
It means becoming comfortable with the knowledge that success is a process and having the courage, the guts, the intestinal fortitude to dive into that process each day, leading with your heart, knowing that the lessons you learn will prove invaluable in a future situation.
Each day you have an opportunity to grow from the people you meet, situations you encounter, lessons you learn, challenges you turn into triumphs, and risks that you take to earn the rewards that you seek. The game of free enterprise and entrepreneurship is really the game of your life, and the question is: “Are you ready to play?”
Are you ready to start? When the whistle blows, will you be ready to take off from the starting line, or will you be sitting on the bench tying your shoes? Are you ready to get in the game of free enterprise?
If so, you are playing for high stakes – your freedom, your dreams, and your life on your terms. Getting in the game means committing to making short-term sacrifices to achieve long-term goals, it means learning to be consistent and diligent, and it means being rewarded for your efforts based on what you decide your time and energy is worth instead of what someone else is willing to pay you to complete a task on a job.
Getting in the game means allowing yourself to have dreams and visions of what your future will hold and then using your creativity to turn your ideas into results that will allow you to manifest your dreams.
Many people say, “But what if I am not creative?” Each and every person has creativity inside of them. Each and every child used crayons, pencils, and markers to make pictures at some point in their childhood, and perhaps you are not a great artist, but you have creativity!
What happens to most people in our society is that at some point during their childhood they are criticized by a teacher, a parent, or a peer and they end up stuffing their creative impulses down inside in an effort to avoid humiliation.
Your creativity is your uniqueness, it is what makes you different than everyone else, it is intrinsic to you – no one else will ever be able to duplicate it, and this is the value you bring to the marketplace. This is the value that if you have the guts to reveal, I guarantee you will find a market for. The process here is to take your vision, your idea, what you can see in your “mind’s eye” and create a tangible product or service that will allow you to receive results in exchange.
I say results because not everyone is in the game for money, although on my journey I have found that while “love makes the world go ‘round”, money pays for the trip. Whatever results you are seeking on your journey, the game is taking your ideas and creating a product or service that becomes valuable to the marketplace, and from there it is an experiment to see what value the free market will bear in exchange.
Stay in the Game
Once you have made the decision to get in the game you will find that to “SIG” stay in the game will require a different set of habits than those that serve you in a typical job. Remember, this is the game of your life! Begin creating million dollar habits and you will greatly increase your odds of succeeding!
Begin studying millionaires to see what they do with their time. You will find that almost every millionaire you meet has developed great habits to enhance the skills that have allowed them to achieve the level of success that they are achieving.
Entrepreneurship will require you to learn a whole new set of life skills because in this industry you get paid for your results, not for your time.
We as a society are conditioned to be hourly employees, and are generally conditioned to create very few results in a short period of time on a job because we get paid for the time we work, not the results we produce. Free enterprise works in exactly the opposite way.
The free market will often pay you more for an idea or result that you create in an instant than for a project that you sweat and toil over and brainstorm and plan and perfect and get ready to do. Having said this, I will also tell you from my own personal experience that I have yet to meet an exceptional entrepreneur who has not developed a routine to focus the direction of their ideas and enterprise.
Successful entrepreneurs develop simple, effective routines that they are able to commit to repeating day in and day out over a long enough period of time to begin to experience quantum returns on their continual efforts.
YOU DESERVE TO HAVE IT ALL!
Jeffery Combs
You have to love a nation that celebrates its independence every July 4, not with a parade of guns, tanks, and soldiers who file by the White House in a show of strength and muscle, but with family picnics where kids throw Frisbees, the potato salad gets iffy, and the flies die from happiness. You may think you have overeaten, but it is patriotism. ~ Erma Bombeck
Tomorrow is the the 4th of July, and the day in which our country celebrates its independence. What an honor to live in a country so great that we can have the freedom to be who we want to be, and to be able to to come and go as we please.
I want to personally take this opportunity to thank all those brave men and women that are out there fighting for our freedom. My family, of many generations, was born and raised in this country that we all call home. If it had not been for these brave souls, that fight for our freedoms, we may have not been able to live the free lives we’ve lived for so many years. Thank YOU for defending all of us, and for our rights and freedoms!
I also want to acknowledge the AWESOME singer of this video clip, Fernando Varela. Fernando has been hailed as the Puerto Rican Pavarotti by El Nuevo Día. I am honored to call Fernando my friend, via Twitter, as well as his siblings Julito (the brother I never had), their sister, Vanessa, and the father that started it all, Julio. They are a family who have truly touched my heart and it’s an honor to call them mi familia. 
Have a wonderful 4th of July weekend, be safe, and May God Bless YOU, your family, and our country!
Tags: Holidays, Random Thoughts
My youngest son with his Fifth grade teacher on the last day of school
“What appears to be the end may really be a new beginning.” ~ Author Unknown
Today is the first day of July. Gee, I can’t believe May & June have already come and gone! I meant to write this posting at the end of May, however, it all came and went so fast.
As we attended my youngest son’s continuation to middle school, and my nephew’s graduation from high school last month, I had to stop and think…this is just the beginning of what lies ahead for both of them.
It also made me realize that my boys are now both out of elementary school! Now THAT was a shock. Never again will we be walking through the halls of the elementary school for parent teacher conferences or other school activities! Now it’s on to middle school and the remainder of high school memories for my sons.
My nephew, Randy, excepting his high school diploma
It was also a shock when I sat in the high school gym of Lake County High School to witness my nephew, Randy, receiving his high school diploma. I walked along that same stage many years ago when I received my own diploma. I guess it’s just weird seeing all of our nieces and nephews now taking the plunge into adulthood.
Not to mention, my own high school English teacher was giving the commencement speech that day – and even though she looked great for her age, it was evident that the years have passed.
It’s exciting to see what lies ahead for the children in my family. There’s so many hopes and dreams that they have. Hopes and dreams we all have. It’s all very exciting, and we all just need to keep in mind that we can all go wherever we want to go.
Have a great day!
I have lived my life for so many years worrying about what others think of me, and I was always trying to please others. However, in the past few years I’ve learned to let go of those worries, and have learned to live MY life for ME. Some people may think this is selfish on my part, and others may think it’s just wrong…but you know what? I really don’t care any more.
The way that I see it now, is that until I can be happy in my own skin, there’s no way I can make anyone else in my life happy. I now realize that we were all put on this Earth for a reason, and I am here to fullfill MY purpose…not in the way everyone else THINKS I should be doing it, but in the way I KNOW I should be doing it. So for all those individuals that tend to constantly judge others, including me, take a moment to step back and think about what you’re doing or not doing in your own lives. Live your life for you…and don’t worry so much about me.
Just remember, this comes from the heart…
Tags: Inspiration, Random Thoughts
Rest in Peace, Farrah & Michael...
Today we mourn the loss of Michael Jackson and Farrah Fawcett. What a sad day in the heart of America and around the World. We lost two extremely talented and loving entertainers yesterday. Two whom I personally grew up with…watching them on TV, and singing & dancing to Michael’s AWESOME music. They are no longer with us, and that just makes me sad. Not only because they were awesome entertainers, but also as we sometimes forget – they were fellow human beings. They were someone’s son, brother, daughter, sister, mother, father and FRIEND.
As a mother myself, I can’t imagine what their parents must be going through this morning, just knowing that their child has left this world before them; and as a daughter, I can’t imagine, nor do I want to imagine, what it’s going to feel like to lose my own mom or dad.
This morning on the radio, I heard the comment that Jaime Fox made regarding the loss of Michael Jackson…”You cannot say enough about what he has given to us musically and culturally. We take for granted people like him… all he wanted to do was give us great music and that’s what he did. Every single day was dedicated to us. “What a great time. What a great entertainer. There will never be anybody (like him).”
This was so TRUE! Michel grew up in the world of fame and fortune, however, unfortunately for him, he was never able to live the life of a “normal child” – or the life of a “normal adult.”
Over the years, Michel showed some very odd behavior and created a strange lifestyle for himself, but who’s to say that the same wouldn’t have happened to any one of us had we grown up in the same way he did…ya know? Who are we to judge…we never walked in his footsteps, or lived his life. We all have our own trials and tribulations in life… All I know for myself, is that I loved Michael as a singer, dancer and GREAT entertainer. He personally brought happiness to my life with his music and dance, and I will miss him.
Farrah, was the Angel she was…at least in my own eyes. I remember as a little girl, wanting to be just like “Charlie’s Angels.” Running around the way they did, solving crimes and making everything in the world just right! She was the “pretty blond one…with the GREAT hair!” Ah yes, Jill, Kelly & Sabrina…who could ever forget them and the awesome women they were?!
Farrah just had a certain spark in her eye and a stride to her step. She was glamorous, yet sophisticated. However, never did I appreciate her quite as much as I did until I watched “Farrah’s Story,” just last month. This was the documentary she recorded about the the trials and tribulations of her battle with cancer.
I remember sitting in that hotel room in Orlando, just sobbing, because of what she had been through and what she was going through. I can’t even imagine…but one thing is for sure now. She is no longer suffering.
Farrah & Michael’s legacies will continue to live on, even though they are no longer with us. They both played huge roles in my own life. Not only will I miss them, but all of America, and even the World, will be void without them.
Rest in Peace Farrah & Michael…you’ll both forever live on in my heart.
Tags: Random Thoughts
My Dad...
A Dad is a person
who is loving and kind,
And often he knows
what you have on your mind.
He’s someone who listens,
suggests, and defends.
A dad can be one
of your very best friends!
He’s proud of your triumphs,
but when things go wrong,
A dad can be patient
and helpful and strong
In all that you do,
a dad’s love plays a part.
There’s always a place for him
deep in your heart.
And each year that passes,
you’re even more glad,
More grateful and proud
just to call him your dad!
Thank you, Dad…
for listening and caring,
for giving and sharing,
but, especially, for just being you! ~ Author Unknown
Tomorrow is Father’s Day, so this post is dedicated to all fathers everywhere but especially to my dad. A man of so much wisdom and so much Faith. Thank you for always being there when we needed you! You paved the way for us growing up, and taught us right from wrong. My sisters and I are forever grateful, and we think you and mom for being such wonderful parents. I love you Dad, and I thank you just for being you! Have a wonderful Father’s Day!
With all my love,
Tags: Friends and Family
Photo courtesy of Walt Pourier
“Fanatics in power and the funnel of a tornado have this in common – the narrow path in which they move is marked by violence and destruction” ~ Oscar Ostlund
Tornado sightings all across the Denver metro area this past week. Generally not a common site we see in the city, but they’ve sure been unwelcome visitors this week, that’s for sure! Pretty scary stuff.
Walt Pourier (Nakota Designs Inc.) took this photo last Sunday, June 7th 2009, in Thornton Colorado (just north of Denver). It was approximately 3 blocks from his house!
We’ll continue to watch the skies and hope we don’t get whirled up in the winds of the tornados this coming week. “Toto, I’ve a feeling we’re not in Kansas any more.” No…we’re in Denver?!
UPDATE: I just received additional photos from Walt, with yesterday’s weather craze. Infact, here was what he said in an email he sent me:
“WOW! We have been having like seven days of freaky weather in Colorado… and expecting more of the same today. These are from yesterday, June 14th, Sunday. Over our neighborhood, Thornton Colorado just north of Denver… over the house looking South and North and East.. all above.
Crazy, the clouds, actually have faces in them, changing, rolling… rotation was crazy, funnels picking out…. sirens going off in downtown Denver, evacuated a Rockies baseball game, sent everyone into the tunnels at the stadium. The lightening has been INTENSE bolts and instant BOOMS!!!, yesterday the worst… HAIL pounded us… intense rain, flooding, my friend Trevor sent me the pic on his cell phone of his car getting flooded… June is kickin our butts over here, so far.
Maybe they are trying to tell us something??… question is, are we listening?….. crazy, crazy… crazy.”
Walt Pourier
Creative Director
Nakota Designs Inc.
2022 East 134th Way
Thornton CO. 80241
303.255.1730
www.nakotadesigns.com
myspace.com/nakotadesigns1
-
- Photo courtesy of Walt Pourier
Have a great week everyone, and be safe!
Tags: Random Thoughts
My nephews - Joseph giving Gabriel advice
“Making changes in your life is never an easy task. The key, however, is not to get caught up in the distance you have to go to get to where you want to be. Nor should you despair over the amount of control you have over your circumstances. Progress is made in the small, intentional steps, and chances are, you have more power than you think. By focusing on little steps you can take every day, the progress you make will motivate you to continue your journey, and eventually, you can go wherever you want to go. The important thing is simply to begin.” ~ Stephen Cherniske, M.S.
Another AWESOME quote from Lucy MacDonald this morning! I definetly recommend you subsribe to her daily quotes if you’re not already doing so.
When I read this quote this morning, I immediatly knew that I had to post this! We each have our journey in life, and we will never know where exactly we’re headed. However, if we just take each day in stride, we’ll get exactly where we’re meant to be.
Enjoy your day have have a GREAT week!
Tags: Inspiration
Photo taken near St. Elmo, CO
“Rivers know this: there is no hurry. We shall get there some day.” ~ Winnie the Pooh
After a nice three-day weekend it’s nice to know that there’s time to rest and step back out the normal rat race of everyday life. I hope you took some time to dwell on and appreciate what’s important in life.
We all have our own goals to meet on a daily/weekly/yearly basis, but make sure you take that little time for yourself. Stop, smell the roses, and take everything in stride. It will all come when the time is right – don’t rush.
Have a great week!
Tags: Inspiration
Wow! Another exciting #FollowFriday! You can feel the energy today that’s for sure! Last week I was away, so I wasn’t able to get my list of recommendations out. So this week, I had to make it point to get them out before 5:00pm!
Have a great Memorial Day Weekend!
Be Safe!
Here’s my list for the week:
- Great peeps who interacts: @ladydreamer823 @DYerMaker @imjstsayin @billzucker #followfriday
- Helpful peep: @DeanBenninger #followfriday
- Great #Women2Follow: @DrJennifer @ZnaTrainer @MARCOME @prosperitygal @heshiesegal @NancyPerez @THEDIAMONDCOACH @synergyblog @TiffanieTillman @SherryinAL #followfriday
- Some favorite peeps: @Adesoji @SteveGarufi @AceConcierge @tommytrc @shellykramer @BillBeavers @RickBakas @NancyPerez @modishplum @ginidietrich @Tekee @VOLOforDRBC #followfriday
- Some of the “GREAT” tweeters: @AlohaArleen @zaibatsu @WarrenWhitlock @jim_turner @prosperitygal @joelcomm @RobMcNealy @BuzzEdition #followfriday
- Tweethearts: #golfnovels @LiveYourBrand @vicarsyf @entreprediva @calhardesty @Per_Iscritto #followfriday
- Awesome Colorado peeps: @Tekee @SteveGarufi @TotalBevJim @catttaylor @kimberlyellen @STORMTRACKER_13 #followfriday
- Awesome Latinos to Know: @Raquel_Soto @NancyPerez @Xavierism @joseluissantos @julito77 @fernandovarela @PrKid @blogomomma @Blanquis26 @LatinaLeader @latinaprpro @FashionGrail @Paco_Carreno @guillermop @PhatGyrl @KellyMullaney @DaivRawks #followfriday #vivaviernes
- Inspirational peeps: @synergyblog @Adesoji @ZnaTrainer @MARCOME @THEDIAMONDCOACH @boulderchamber #FollowFriday
Tags: #FollowFriday
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