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Motivation

A Goal Without A Plan Is Just A Wish

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Shooting Star

It is easy to give yourself a goal and write it down. Getting that goal accomplished is not.

Most people go into their goals without giving themselves any kind of plan to get there. If you want to double your sales, how are you going to make that happen. The only way to make your goal happen is by giving yourself a plan and implementing that plan.

I find it annoying when people wish upon a star. Most people who wish upon a star simply wish for something to happen, and just by making the wish, most people expect that wish to automatically happen. No matter how many stars you wish upon, that goal will not get accomplished without a plan.

A goal without a plan is just a wish such as becoming a professional athlete and have a big house. How could those things possible happen? Creating the right plan will allow you to experience the results you want to see.

Stop wishing and start planning.

 

3 Lessons We Need To Learn From High School Sports

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High school is definitely different from prior school experiences. There are more sports and clubs to choose from. The academics get more challenging and in many cases, there is a larger student body, a larger school, or both. Sports in particular can teach a lot of lessons. I am an athlete who has tried out for sports and now runs for my school’s track and cross country teams. I have learned many lessons along the way, but these are the three most powerful lessons I have learned.

  1. There are cuts. Not every athlete makes the roster which is just like not everyone who sends in the job application gets hired. For entrepreneurs, there are countless options. For me in particular, there are thousands of Twitter tools to choose from. However, I only use a select few so I am able to save time and get the best results at the same time. I do not use JustUnfollow very much because I would have to pay in order to get the good features without limits. Instead, I use ManageFlitter and Tweepi for free which when combined can do better than JustUnfollow. Some people use JustUnfollow to put two Twitter tools together, but I prefer using the two Twitter tools that are free that can almost do the same as one paid Twitter tool. Not every option is the right one. There are a lot of reasons to go with JustUnfollow, ManageFlitter, and Tweepi, but there need to be cuts.
  2. The most dedicated athletes make it the farthest. The strongest athlete on the team is not necessarily the best athlete. A dedicated athlete can put in twice the amount of practice and eventually become faster than the strongest athlete. However, if the strongest athlete has a lot of dedication, that tends to results in breaking records and being very effective on game day. Only the most dedicated entrepreneurs and bloggers will be able to go from getting no sales and no visitors to getting hundreds of thousands of visitors while having the luxury of living the 6 figures life.
  3. The best athletes get the most attention. When it’s the best athlete’s turn to play, conversation stops. Everyone watches the best athlete in action simply because that athlete is the best. While all of the other athletes do the same thing, there are some athletes who do a better job than everyone else. If you want to get more attention for your business, do not focus on being the second best or running behind the best person. Focus on becoming the best person so people see your business and products as remarkable.

Those are the three lessons we should all learn (or now remember) from high school sports. Some sports are easier to make in than others, and the amount of attention the best athlete depends on the sport that athlete is playing. However, for all sports, these three lessons apply, and they are also lessons that can easily be applied to business and entrepreneurship.

 

My Interview With Shannon Oleen

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Shannon Oleen is a motivational speaker who empowers young adults. Shannon has followed her passions for her entire life. One of Shannon’s big passions was sports. Shannon played sports in high school, and after a lot of practice, Shannon became an NFL cheerleader for the Kansas City Chiefs. After putting the poms down for good, Shannon pursued another passion which was to become a motivational speaker. I had Shannon on a Google Hangout which you can watch here (the noise in the background is my computer’s fans. Sorry about that). Here were the main takeaways from the interview.

  1. Success does not go to you; you go to it. If success came to us, there would not be thousands of books in the world about success systems that never fail and similar book titles as well. The road to success is the road less traveled. However, by taking that road, you will end up becoming successful by doing the things that you love to do.
  2. Patience and action lead to success. Shannon thought that when she became a motivational speaker, she would be able to quit her old job in 6 months so she could focus on motivational speaking. It took a lot longer for her to eventually quit her job, but by staying patient, she was able to quit her job and focus on motivational speaking. In addition, Shannon Oleen tried out several times for the cheerleader team, and after trying out many times, the Kansas City Chiefs had Shannon on their cheerleading team.
  3. We need to find out who we really are as individuals. In one of her blog posts, Shannon goes in detail about her 2 week canoe ride where there was rationed food and water. From this 2 week canoe ride, Shannon was able to discover who she as a person is minus all of the technology. Shannon did not use any social networks during the canoe ride, and although that alone is brave enough for a gold medal, there were no forms of technology or every day things we take for granted. It is amazing how much we take brushing our teeth and toilets for granted. This experience allowed Shannon to know who she is as a person, and that is something we all must do–find out who we really are minus the clutter. I’m not telling you to go on a canoe ride, but I am telling you to dig deep, remove the clutter, and figure out who you are as a person.

The entire interview has elements of humor and motivation intertwined into one. If you want to get in touch with Shannon, you can subscribe to her blog and follow her on Twitter, Pinterest, YouTube, LinkedIn, Facebook, and other social networks (just search Shannon Oleen, and she’ll show up).

 

How We All Need To Think Of Excuses

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You could have come up with the best excuse for why your book did not get published when you said it would. The best excuse does not change the result–the book was still not published at the time you said it would be published.

“I didn’t study for the test because I had a project that week.” Although this excuse was well done, it does not change the fact that the person scored a low grade on the test.

“I don’t use Instagram because I don’t want to start from scratch when I have 500,000 followers on Twitter.” This is not an excuse. This is a logical reason. Focusing on the 500,000 followers on Twitter is more important than creating the Instagram account.

There is a difference between a reason and an excuse. An excuse is a cover up for a flaw on your part that could have been addressed better. It is better to admit mistakes than to cover them up so everyone can learn from those mistakes, not just you. A reason is something that makes sense but is not trying to cover up a flaw. Not having an Instagram account is not a flaw when you have a strong presence on Twitter. Likewise, not having a Twitter account is not a flaw when you have a strong presence on Instagram.

Excuses should not be tolerated. Mistakes should be admitted. Excuses are just the long route that ends up going exactly where the short route goes–the realization that there is a flaw. Reasons are good especially when they can be supported. Reasons are logical, and reasons don’t hide flaws because there is nothing to hide.

 

Your College Application For Life

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Writing a college application is an interesting process. The college application is a place where it is okay to constantly go on about your accomplishments. Whether someone got all A’s, was the best athlete on the team, or does many extracurricular activities, that person is not going to hesitate to mention those things on their college application.

Most people stop going in detail about themselves after the college application process. There are some mentions about your extracurricular activities, grades, or sports once in a while. However, these credentials lose their effect as they get pushed to the back of other people’s minds. By no means am I saying it is bad to get good grades, do sports, or extracurricular activities. Instead, I am saying that you should prevent those things from getting pushed to the back of other people’s minds.

Just take a look at Jeff Bullas’ Twitter account. In less than 160 characters, you will immediately learn that he is on the Forbes Top 50 Social Media Power Influencers 2013 List and the Huffington Post Top 100 Business Twitter Accounts. On his blog, you can see the “Forbes Top 50 Social Media Power Influencers” picture on the blog’s sidebar with the link to the Forbes article. Let’s not forget that Jeff Bullas has a list of all of his achievements with links in his bio.

Jeff Bullas is by no means the only person who tells people about his accomplishments. Kim Garst is another person who mentions her achievements many times. You will learn about some of her achievements in less than 160 characters, or you can go to her website where she displays two of her big achievements right away.

Jeff Bullas, Kim Garst, and thousands of other constantly show people their achievements through social media profiles, blogs, and bios. If these people decided to mention an accomplishment in 1 blog post, that blog post would be forgotten. However, by seeing the sidebar, looking at the 160 character Twitter bio, and reading the full bios on their blogs, we are unable to forget these people’s achievements. This strategy allows some people to turn a short burst of credibility into something that sticks around forever.

Few people see how the design of a college application is very important even after completing the application and graduating college. The college application is designed to tell people about all of your achievements. By telling people about your achievements in the real world, you will get the college application effect: people remembering you until the next remarkable college application comes along. By telling people and having that picture on the sidebar or something in your bio that mentions your achievements, people will remember you long after you submitted your application.

What are your achievements, and do enough people know about them?

 

The First Day…

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The first day I launched this blog, it got 0 visitors.

The first day I created my Twitter account, it had 0 followers.

The first day Jeff Bezos decided to start Amazon, he had no customers or forklifts.

The first day Steve Jobs decided to create the Apple, no one was paying attention.

The first day is always the most challenging. We often look at the people before us who have become very successful. We look at the Jeff Bezoses and Mark Zuckerbergs of the world wondering if we will ever get there. If you make it through the first day, your chances of making it through the entire week will go up. When you make it through the entire week, your chances of making it through the entire month go up. Then, you keep on sticking with something for many years, and you eventually become the next success story.