There are a handful of things that I would say I am full-fledged, die-hard fan of. One of the ones at the top of the list is easily Harry Potter.

From book one to book seven, the story still blows my mind when I reread the books. The descriptive detail, the character development, the intricacy of the story from one book to another is amazing. As someone who has always dreamed of writing a book, I can’t help be be impressed by the world J.K. Rowling created for her characters.

Another key part of the stories for me is the growth that you get to witness those characters experience. Throughout the story, different challenges and milestones arise for Harry, Ron and Hermione to work their way through, learning vital lessons and gaining invaluable experience along the way.

Take for example a particular chapter in The Half Blood Prince – entitled “Felix Felicis.” Spoiler alert: if (and I can’t imagine how this would be true) you have neither read the book, nor seen the movie, I am going to give away a minor part of the story. Nothing major, I’m not going to ruin the book for you. I just wouldn’t have felt right about not warning you.

I’m sure some of you can already see where this is going, but this chapter really impresses me – it says a lot about how we all think, act and ultimately succeed and fail in our lives.

Towards the beginning of the book, the newest teacher at the school introduces Harry and Ron’s class to a potion they’ve never seen before, called Felix Felicis, commonly known as “Liquid Luck.”

After explaining what this potion does (exactly what it sounds like) Professor Slughorn announces a contest during that day’s lesson – with a vial of Liquid Luck going to the winner who (spoiler) of course, turns out to be Harry.

For a while, the vial of potion isn’t mentioned much, and Harry does a remarkable job of not wasting it until he needs it. That need presents itself in the form of Harry’s best friend Ron.

The previous year, Ron had joined Harry on the Gryffindor Quidditch Team (sorry to all the non-fans out there, but there’s really no avoiding a certain amount of words that don’t exist or make sense outside of the story. Long story short, Ron was the goalie in a wizarding sport called Quidditch. I won’t go into the details of the game, save to say that it is awesome.). The problem was, Ron was a lousy Quidditch player. He could hardly ever save a goal, and was therefore scared stiff.

The source of Ron’s poor Quidditch playing wasn’t a lack of skill however, it was nerves. Harry had noticed this in the past and was determined to help Ron get over his problem.

Harry came up with an ingenious solution to Ron’s problem. With a big match coming up, Harry got Ron to drink some juice that had been spiked with Felix Felicis – (spoiler alert!) or so it seemed. There was, in fact, nothing in the juice at all.

The match went amazingly well and Ron, of course, was the hero of the day.

Now, on the surface, this seems like an incredibly simple and almost superficial way of making a the point that our own beliefs are what govern our success. Our negativity can hold us back while faith in ourselves propels us forward, but there’s a lot more going on here than a simple placebo effect.

The thing is, Harry did a lot more than trick Ron into thinking he had good luck for the day.

When Harry let Ron think he had been slipped some Liquid Luck, he was actually giving Ron permission to believe in himself. That is what made all the difference.

Anyone who’s been struggling to succeed has come across the same basic mindset and personal development principals; things like the law of attraction, positive energy, holding an unwavering belief in your own success.

At the end of the day, it’s fairly easy to decide to believe something, even to convince yourself or the people around you that you believe it. Actually giving yourself over to, and genuinely benefiting from that belief, however – that’s something else.

A lot of the time we need permission to actually believe these things. Now, when I say “permission” to believe these things, I don’t mean we need someone to tell us it’s okay, I mean we need someone, or more often something to validate things for us. Until we feel like we have proof that the thing we want to believe is actually possible, it’s hard for us to give ourselves over to it fully.

A lot of the time we simply can’t believe in our own success until we’ve received that validation – it’s just another example of how we get in our own way.

Of course, once we receive that permission, once we see the validity in the belief, it becomes possible for us to truly own it, like Ron did.

Ron was lucky to have someone in his life who was able to give him the validation he needed, but in most situations, a little slight of hand and a simple placebo isn’t going to do the trick.

There is, at the end of the day, only one person that can give any of us the validation they need to maintain the beliefs that will carry them to success.

That person is you.

While Harry and Ron’s example illustrate our need for permission to believe in ourselves, they don’t unearth any magical (yes, I chose that word intentionally ) solution.

So where does that leave us? Back at square one?

Not exactly.

I honestly believe that needing permission to believe in themselves in one of the biggest things holding most people back. What else could explain the difficulties faced by so many people who know what to believe, who practice positive affirmations and create vision boards and so on?

There are people who know what to believe, who know what to do. They’re just subconsciously waiting for someone or something to give them permission to act upon that knowledge.

Waiting for that permission is, in my mind, the final obstacle. The last step you take as you get out of your own way and swing for the fences.

Recognizing an obstacle is always the first, and most important part of overcoming it.

Accepting the fact that you may be wasting time waiting for permission and validation is the best way to give yourself both of those things.

Take a good look at your life, your goals and your future. Recognize that the biggest thing holding you back might be that you’re waiting for someone else to give you permission to believe in yourself, waiting for someone else to show you that you really can succeed.

It’s time you gave yourself that permission. It’s time you showed yourself, and the rest of the world, exactly how much you are truly capable of.

…including walking on water. Well, running on water, actually – but still pretty impressive.

Officially named “Liquid Mountaineering,” this new sport is pretty straightforward in concept. Using the proper water-repellent footwear, get up to speed with a well calculated running start and continue out across the surface of a still lake or pond.

According to Liquid Mountaineering’s creators, the most important part – along with having the right equipment – is belief. It’s all about mindset, and truly believing that you can run across the surface of the water – skimming over the surface like a skipping stone.

Take a look at this video to see some of these pioneers in action:

Awesome.

Now, before any naysayers reading this rush to the bottom of the page to leave a scathing comment – I want to make one thing clear.

These guys didn’t really walk on water. I know that. This video is actually just a really clever piece of marketing, designed to sell the shoes they wear.

Hi-Tec footwear contracted a marketing company to help them put together a video that would go viral on the internet – and it worked. At the time of this writing, the video is closing in on 9 millions views.

I’d call that a success.

To simulate the appearance running on water, a special platform was developed that floats a couple of inches below the surface – creating a very realistic effect. You can see a “behind the scenes” video on Hi-Tec’s website.

Now, while the video may be fake, the message that these guys deliver (intentionally or not) is phenomenal.

“If you don’t actually believe that you’re going to walk on that water (accomplish whatever seemingly impossible task you you’re facing, it’s not going to happen for you.”

I don’t know about you, but personally, I think that’s an astoundingly poignant message to get from a video designed to sell sneakers.

Think about anything you’ve undertaken in the past, or are presently undertaking. Anything that required true effort.

In order to succeed in anything truly challenging, anything that really pushes the limits of who you are and what you know to be possible, you have to believe it will happen.

This is true in all areas of life – business and personal. Belief in the impossible defines the possible – and that’s really what this video is about – to me anyway

Now, I’ll freely admit – the first time I saw this video, I bought it. I was thoroughly impressed, and while I wasn’t making plans to run out and try it myself, I did think they’d managed to make it those few steps across the surface.

Maybe that makes me gullible. I’d rather think that it shows that I choose to live my life believing that extraordinary things can – and do – happen every single day.

To me, the world just seems like a much bigger, more interesting place when you have an open mind.

“The only way of finding the limits of the possible is by going beyond them into the impossible.”
-Arthur C. Clarke

We live in a society where bigger is better, more is better. But is it?

When it comes to building an online business, is more and bigger always better?

More specifically, is it better to have more friends on Facebook? Is it better to have a bigger list?

I don’t think this is always the case, and I also believe that this is where a lot of network marketers go wrong.

Everyone is so concerned with gathering as many Twitter followers and Facebook friends as quickly as they can.

This, however, doesn’t necessarily mean you are going to build your business any faster, or make any more money. It also does not really ensure any long term success.

Perhaps if we all took the time to build stronger relationships and actually network with people, we would have more success.

How does a whole bunch of friends on Facebook or a whole bunch of Twitter followers (who could care less about what you have to say) benefit you, or them, or your business?

What about having a list of 15,000 subscribers? It’s great if that lists consists of people who are genuinely interested in what you have to say and who you can build a relationship with.

But, what if most of them don’t really care? What if you don’t take the time to build a relationship with your subscribers because you feel like you have so many prospects, that you don’t really need to worry about it?

You could be just as successful with a list of 1,500 subscribers who actually hear what you have to say, and care what you have to say.

Now, my message here isn’t that you should shoot to only have 100 friends on Facebook or that you should try to keep your list small.

There are people with 300 friends on Facebook that are very successful and others with 5,000 friends that are just as successful. There are successful network marketers with 1,000 subscribers and those with 10,000.

Regardless of the size of your list, or how many friends and followers you have, if those people aren’t responding to the content you create, they don’t really impact your business in any meaningful way. Responsiveness is much more important than size – it’s another case of “quality over quantity.”

The point is that it should be about the quality of the relationships and not just the quantity. I’ve always felt that having 10 close friends that you can count on and really connect with is much more meaningful than having 100 friends that just want to party with you and that’s about it.

Think about this as you build your business. Who are you spending your time and energy on? Consider that as you build your business and remember that it is called NETWORK marketing for a reason!

Well, I just finished reading Switch by Dan and Chip Heath, and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

The book focuses on the necessary elements to effectively creating a change – in your personal or professional life or in your business or organization.

Elephant, Rider, and Path

The book investigates change through three metaphors: two for different aspects of the personalities of the people affected by a change, and one representing the environment surrounding that change.

The three-pronged analogy is borrowed from a book the authors read prior to writing Switch called The Happiness Hypothesis by a psychologist named Jonathan Haidt (I haven’t read this book yet myself, but it’s been added to my ever growing list of required reading!).

I could honestly go on forever about the details of this metaphor, because I think its nothing short of brilliant, but I’ll try to keep it brief.

In a nutshell, your personality is made up of two main components (similar to Freud’s ego and superego) – an Elephant and a Rider sitting on that elephant’s back holding the reigns and attempting to guide the elephant along.

The problem is that the Elephant sometimes wants to go in a direction that rider disagrees with, and since the elephant is so much larger than the tiny Rider, there’s not a lot he can do about it – he can only pull on the reigns for so long until the Elephant wears him out and does whatever it wants.

Examples from the book of the elephant’s emotional tendencies are failing to quit smoking, cheating on a diet or saying something you don’t really mean in a fit of anger. Our “Elephants” represent action – not thought or analysis, just response to the world around us.

The Elephant represents emotional responses and instincts. The problem is that those emotions and instincts are often counter to the changes we need to make in our lives – so we need to convince the Elephant (ourselves) to move in a less than comfortable direction.

The Rider’s job is to direct the Elephant down the right Path (the third part of the metaphor), even when that path is difficult to travel.

The Rider is our analytical mind – the part of us that can see around obstacles and look at the bigger picture.

The problem with the Rider is that he can spend too much time over-analyzing a change and then nothing happens (that familiar “spinning your wheels” feeling we’ve all felt when undertaking a new challenge).

The third component to Haidt’s metaphor is the Path – which is simply the environment surrounding a change. This can be the culture, the attitudes of the people around you or systems that are already in place that help or hinder your efforts.

Seeing The Metaphor In Action

Throughout Switch, Dan and Chip Heath demonstrate effective change with a simple, three part process based on the metaphor described above:

• Motivate the Elephant
• Direct the Rider
• Shape the Path

Each of the steps in this process is the focus of one of the books three main sections. Essentially, you need to get the Elephant moving, give the Rider a clear destination to travel in (preventing him from spinning his wheels) and shape the Path you’re traveling on to eliminate or avoid obstacles.

All three of these sections is further broken down into three smaller pieces, and the book is full of examples of all off the different components.

As you read, the authors introduce you to wide variety of changes (and the people behind them) that they studied while writing this book. These changes range from individuals to companies, from departments to entire corporations and governments.

Why This Book Works So Well

Let’s be honest – the concepts this book are based on aren’t the kind of thing that sounds thrilling to everyone. In spite of that fact, the authors did a very good job of making it an extremely entertaining book to read.

The simple fact the book is broken into well organized sections – and those sections broken into isolated stories that make a point and reinforce each other – keeps the content of the book fresh and interesting from beginning to end.

Add in that the authors added in plenty of small side notes that are full of humor and personality and you forget you’re reading a “personal development” book because you are constantly engaged in short stories that are both entertaining and easy to identify with.

Dan and Chip Heath do a remarkable job of drawing parallels between different types of change efforts, allowing you to see some of your own habits and tendencies as they exist on a national or corporate level.

I guess what I’m trying to say is that this book is loaded with moments that leave you thinking “Yup. I totally do that…”

All in all, this a great read for anyone who has a habit they don’t like, or something they think they need to improve in their life or their business (which I think covers pretty much all of us )

If you’re interested, Switch is available on Amazon, and I’d definitely recommend picking up a copy.

At this point, it’s safe to say that anyone who knows me would tell you I’m a huge “Avatar” fan. It’s quickly become my favorite movie, which isn’t something I say lightly – I’ve always been really into movies and in the past I have always had a hard time choosing just one favorite.

The difference here is that while on the surface, “Avatar” may appear to be a simple sci-fi/fantasy flick with lots of great special effects, the film provides a commentary on a lot of different aspects of our world, culture and society – some less obvious than others.

One of these is what I’d like to talk about today.

I think one of my favorite scenes in this movie (and I’m sure many other fans agree) is when the main character, Jake, first rides his ikran – the large flying reptiles that inhabit the world of Pandora.

Aside from the obvious thrill that this scene creates (who among us, at some point in their lives hasn’t wished they could fly?), this scene also provides some interesting insight into how we think and approach challenges.

One of the challenges that Jake faces while adapting to life on Pandora is the act of Tsahaylu – mental bond with other creatures. Jake must learn to embrace that bond and use it to impact the actions of the creature he bonds with – like the ikran he rides.

When watching this scene for the first (several) times, I noticed the trouble Jake has on his first flight, and didn’t really think anything of it – it made sense that he wouldn’t get it right away. Later on however, I noticed an interesting pattern in how he manages to gain control of his flight.

When Jake first climbs on the back of his ikran, Neytiri tells him to think “Fly,” which is exactly what the ikran tries to do – leaping out off of the cliff.

The interesting thing is that the ikran, which has been flying successfully it’s entire life, can’t seem to keep itself in the air – because it’s linked to Jake’s mind.

Jake isn’t thinking about flying.

He isn’t focused on success, or achieving his goals.

Jake is only focused on one thing, and that’s falling – which is exactly what he ends up doing.

Think about how this pattern applies to your own life. How many times have you leapt into a new project, or attempted something new and exciting – only to find yourself focusing on the potential pitfalls and failures that await?

What does that focus get you?

When Jake thought the word “fly,” he and the ikran took immediate action, but without the right focus, that action wasn’t enough.

Once Jake was able to calm down and stop screaming, the ikran was able to level out and regain control – just as you and I are able to when we shift our focus away from potential failures, and look instead to accomplishing our goals.

But what happens when we encounter an obstacle? We all know they exist – life isn’t perfect and things do happen. Jake experiences this moments after his ikran levels out.

He looks up and sees the wall of a cliff rushing toward him – his momentary composure (and controlled flight) come to an end as his focus shifts once more – rather than thinking about a smooth controlled flight around any obstacles, his mind latches onto the fear of crashing into the wall and scrabbling to stay in the air – which is once again, exactly what happens.

So often in our lives, both personally and professionally, we let the small obstacles that pop up in our way rob us of focus, and therefore of our control.

We, like Jake, need to strive to see beyond our obstacles so that we can look for ways around them.

Once Jake and his ikran got off the wall and continued to struggle through the air, Jake was able to finally take control and focus on what he needed to:

“Shut up and fly STRAIGHT!”

Now, this may not be the most eloquent way to phrase it – but how often would we benefit from saying those exact words to ourselves?

Stop complaining about the things that have gone wrong (like falling down when we try something new).

Stop stressing ourselves out about what could happen when we encounter obstacles (like running into a wall – both literally and figuratively).

Shut up. Fly straight.

Focus on what you’re going to accomplish, and how you’re going to accomplish it. Everything else is just noise that will drag you out of the sky.

An important part of becoming a Millionaire is recognizing the value of positive energy. Millionaires put positive energy out into the world, and welcome the same positive energy from others.

They do not, however, allow their positive energy to be tainted by the negativity of others.

They isolate themselves from it whenever possible.

This is mostly done by surrounding themselves with like minded, positive people. They avoid interaction with complainers, whiners and pretty much anyone with a “my life is so miserable,” mentality.

Energy is contagious, both positive and negative, and Millionaires naturally, and intelligently, remove themselves from situations where they will be surrounded by negativity in any form.

Incorporate this philosophy into your own life.

Complaints and negative energy are distracting. The irritation they perpetuate is background noise that prevents you from focusing on success and happiness. Don’t let yourself complain, not aloud nor to yourself. This might sound difficult, but it is possible.

The best advice I can offer when starting out is whenever you feel a complaint (internal or external) coming on, stop and remind yourself that a complaint is a negative thought, and that negativity is seeping into every aspect of your life and holding you back.

Push the thought out of your head and think about something else. If you can’t do that, try thinking about thinking about something else. Spend a minute considering the importance of not dwelling on the negative.

You’ll be surprised how quickly the complaint passes and takes the irritation with it.

You’ll find yourself thinking about thinking positively and suddenly realize that the urge to complain has gradually passed while you had yourself distracted and you dominated your negative energy.

The bonus is that doing this feels empowering, the next breath you take is deep and full and now rather than being caught up in your negativity, you feel empowered and are putting off positive energy.

Accept the fact the person you are today is what has earned you the results you have experienced up to this point. Understand that to have a different life, you will need to be a different person. Avoid negativity, and spread positivity.

Adopt the traits of Millionaires and start training yourself to live as one

We all take them, probably almost every day of our lives…left turns that is. Do you ever find yourself saying “Oh shoot (let’s keep this PG), I should have gone,” realizing you had the opportunity to go, but hesitated just long enough to miss your chance?

That’s what I want to talk about today. I want to talk about opportunity. We are all presented with different opportunities throughout our lives on a regular basis. Some we don’t even recognize as opportunities and others we may not take advantage of because we might hesitate just long enough for the opportunity to pass.

We’ve all missed out on and will continue to miss out on opportunities in life. Some may be small while others could be life changing.

So, what do we do differently so that we don’t continue to miss out?

Well, first we need to educate and prepare ourselves.

Let’s take a simple example.

Perhaps you are looking for a new home or maybe an investment property. Have you researched the area you are looking in? Do you have a good understanding of that particular market, the prices, the inventory, etc.? Are you working with a Real Estate Agent who you know and trust that is ready to move if the right property comes along?

If any of us were in this situation, we would want to be able to answer yes to the above questions. Let’s say a great deal comes on the market, but we haven’t done our research or we don’t have a trusted Real Estate Agent. More than likely, we wouldn’t recognize that it is a great deal until it may be too late because another buyer may be more prepared.

By the time we’ve had the chance to do our homework that we could have already done and assess the situation, another more savvy investor may already have scooped up the property…and we don’t want that!

The second thing we need to consider is that when an opportunity presents itself, we must not be afraid to be decisive and act quickly. Being able to make decisions, in a timely manner I might add, is an absolute essential trait for any entrepreneur.

I’m not implying that we just throw ourselves into everything that comes our way. However there are definitely times when we hesitate and miss out on that chance, on that potentially life changing moment…we’ve all done it.

I think there is also something to be said about being in the right place at the right time. However, I also feel that we have control over where we are and when, so being in the right place at the right time is something we do have some control over.

The bottom line is this. As entrepreneurs, as human beings, we are not going to make all the right decisions, we certainly aren’t perfect after all. What we can do though, is prepare ourselves and be ready to be able to make those decisions quickly and recognize opportunities when they present themselves to us. Heck, sometimes it’s when we make bad decisions that we learn and grow the most!

So don’t be afraid to take that left turn out on the road and in your life and your business, but please do drive safely

Beggars can’t be choosers generally means that people who are desperate or in great need must take the help that is offered to them, even if it doesn’t really solve their problem(s).

We are going to discuss this saying today and talk about how it relates to our mindset.

You see, one of the biggest mistakes that is often made in network marketing is people want to sponsor distributors so badly that they sponsor anyone.

They are so desperate because of the financial pressure they are feeling that they don’t stop to qualify their prospects and then end up attracting the wrong people into their business. They may make a quick sale, but they will not be positioning themselves for long-term success and will end up wasting time on the wrong people!

Let’s think about it for a minute. Beggars can’t be choosers. When I think of a beggar, I think of someone who is desperate and really needy, so by the definition above desperate or needy people lose their ability to make choices.

Having the ability to choose is probably the single most important power each of us possesses. We make choices every single day, some small and some big, but in the end they all have an impact on our lives in some way or another.

So how does all of this relate to our mindset?

Well, it is extremely important that you focus on maintaining a confident, secure and abundant mindset. Even if you are not as successful yet as you want to be in your network marketing business, remaining fixated on your goals, rather than your needs, will inevitably attract the right things into your life.

If you don’t, you will allow yourself to become a “beggar.” Then you will limit your ability to make choices and then you become powerless. I’m sure that isn’t something you had in mind when you set out to have your own business!

Remember, stay focused and always position yourself as a leader, rather than someone who desperately needs to make a sale. You will be amazed at the energy and people who will be attracted to you and the choices you will be able to make!

Recently, we discussed the four primary components of a goal in detail, so now let’s look at the importance they play in our future goal setting. The best way to do this is to build a goal, and investigate the negative effects of not including the various qualifiers we discussed last week. For our example, let’s start with:

“I’m going to visit the Grand Canyon.”

Great! We have an Action, a “what,” something we are going to do. That’s it though, that’s all we have. The reason goals are so useful is that they give people a reason to push themselves towards a particular accomplishment. The problem with a simple goal like this one is that it doesn’t have that “push.” There is nothing in this goal that drives a person towards achieving it.

When qualifiers are left out, they don’t go away, they just take on a state of being implied rather than defined. The goal, with its implied qualifiers actually reads:

“I’m going to visit the Grand Canyon eventually, at least once.“

Pretty vague. Doesn’t exactly portray any real sense of determination, does it? It also doesn’t set us up for constructive goal revising. With this goal we’ll ask ourselves “Have I gone to the Grand Canyon, at least once, yet?” and the answer will be “No, but I said “eventually” so there is still time,” and we are left with no reason to revise anything.

Now, if we add or rather define a qualifier (remember, undefined qualifiers don’t disappear, they just become implied), this simple goal takes on totally new life:

“I’m going to visit the Grand Canyon before I’m 40.”

Wow! All we did was define a simple Deadline and we now have a goal that will actually drive us toward achieving our Action. Now when we evaluate our goal we will be getting closer and closer to that deadline, which will drive us to act.

What about a Quantity? Or a Method?

“I’m going to visit the Grand Canyon 6 times before I’m 40, by setting aside $30 dollars a week.”

There. Replace your original, Action only goal with this new qualified goal and I’m pretty sure you’ll be going on a lot more vacations. This goal will drive you to look at how far off your Deadline is, how much of your Quantity is still to be met in that time and a Method of how you will accomplish what you are striving for.

It allows you to assess if your Method is effective enough as you approach the Deadline and perhaps modify one, or both of those qualifiers as needed.

Ultimately, the more you qualify your goal, the more effectively it can drive you to succeed, and the more readily it can be revised to be attained in the future. Obviously, not all goals are created equal. Sometimes you will need to replace your Deadline with a Frequency, for example if you wanted to visit the Grand Canyon once a year, or make ten sales every month. Along with your Frequency you might want to add a Duration, determining how long you want to maintain the Action.

The important lesson to learn is that the different aspects of your goals are important keys to your success. When a goal seems out of reach, don’t despair, simply reevaluate, revise and retry.

Jim Rohn was one of the greatest business philosophers of our time. He was an inspiration to so many and touched thousands of people’s lives and we were very saddened to hear of his passing yesterday.

Chad and I looked up to him as one of our mentors and even though we never had the privilege of meeting him, he has forever influenced our life and will be greatly missed.

Jim Rohn had an amazing ability to simplify the things in life that many of us seem to complicate. Through his teachings, he helps us to understand how we can have everything we want in life.

The following videos are three of our all time favorites and we wanted to share them with you so we can remember and honor his life.

“Formal education will make you a living; self-education will make you a fortune.” ~ Jim Rohn

“Learn to work harder on yourself than you do on your job.” ~ Jim Rohn

Words to live by…

Thank you for having such a powerful impact on so many of us and for living a life of inspiration and influence. You will forever be missed, but never forgotten.