Before taking a look at my past, I had always assumed that I was one of the best employees that ever walked the face of the earth. I have held job positions that I absolutely excelled in. There wasn’t anything out there that I couldn’t do, or learn how to do, at a quicker rate than most of my co-workers. My employers always praised my work and how well I was doing. All was good.

Everything I just mentioned above is completely accurate and true. I was the best employee a wage could buy…..at least for a while. Then, I started to think of how all of my jobs ended. I was fired from a restaurant job during college because, in their words, “I didn’t have what it takes to work with food!” Translation…..I liked to eat it more than sell it! I worked construction and couldn’t handle getting told what to do all the time, “get that hammer, get me a 10′ 2×6, etc.” I learned what I needed there and actually went on to build two homes on my own for a few hundred thousand in profit. Working in the glass industry, I excelled to a certain point, and wanted to continue learning and growing but was kept within my job description and held back from higher earnings. So I quit and started my own glass company for a period of time.

I started to see that even though I was able to do well, I wasn’t able to keep doing the same things over and over again. I always wanted more.

So here are five simple signs that you might be fit for entrepreneurship:

1. If someone told you to stare at a screen all day long for a set amount of money, and you couldn’t do it without wanting more responsibility or without feeling like you were wasting away your life.
2. You’ve never really been a great employee, although you accomplish great things when you are and may jump from job to job frequently.
3. The thought of having someone dictate your time during the day sickens you.
4. You have so many ideas flowing through your head that you find yourself writing them down in a journal or notebook to keep track of them all.
5. Instead of being content with where you are, you are constantly engaged in thought about where you want to be financially, in the near and distant future.

Entrepreneurship isn’t for everyone. Some people like the so called “comfort” of a steady bi-weekly paycheck or 40 hour work week. Some enjoy the fact that they can check out at 5pm and not have to think about their job until 8 am the next day.

I once read a quote that I’ll end this post with, and it went something like this: As entrepreneurs, we do the things now, that most people won’t…..so that we can later, live a life that most people can’t!

For the past week or so, as you all have definitely seen, I have taken time off from everything….including this blog, my marketing, making phone calls, masterminding with others in my business, and pretty much everything else. It’s really given me some time to think about where I am, by reflecting on my results thus far since becoming a home business entrepreneur and even more specifically, my results for this past year. I can tell you this much, having the time off,  has been a breath of fresh air!

At times, I think we get so caught up in doing the “thing,” the thing that produces the income, that it’s difficult to see all that is really going on. At times, taking a step back can give you a completely different perspective. You’ll be able to see things that were nearly impossible to see while engaged in the “thing.” For some, they may realize that their current profession isn’t what they really want to be doing. For others, they may get an added sense of conviction and clarity towards their chosen course. Whatever the result, taking an occasional time out can only benefit. You can become the player with the coaches perspective.

WARNING: Just a bit of a notice before you engage in your “time off” session……Expect change! You can’t take a step back for an outsiders look and not expect to change something about what you are doing. In fact, if you take that step back and don’t change something, you didn’t really take a step back. The change doesn’t have to be huge, but it should exist. Maybe a better word for it would be an “adjustment.” You can’t become a “fine tuned machine” without the “fine tuning.”

You will rarely achieve any degree of significant success by sticking with the masses. Now I know this may be a difficult concept to understand for those of you who are currently in the masses. You might say, “I measure success in a different way you do.” Or, “Just because I choose to work a job doesn’t mean that I am part of someone else’s vision.” Or, “It doesn’t mean that I’m not successful because I choose to work a job.” And those are all valid points, however, there are “Degrees” of success. The success I am speaking of involves more than success in just a few areas of life, but success in ALL areas of life….family, self, business, time, community, religion and the list goes on and on.

The masses, meaning the majority of the worlds population, are living someone else’s vision. That vision includes you, not as the main role, but as an extra in their movie. To truly achieve your dreams, a higher degree of success, everyone else must be the extra in the movie you write. You are the Individual. You are the main character in your own movie. When it all comes down to it, the difference between an “A” or a “C” grate average depends on YOU. The individual.

If you think about all the different components of a car that have to work together to make it work, there are a ton. The main goal of all those car parts is to make a vehicle that works. The vehicle, the car, is it. Everything else is just part of it. I mean, if you want to be the rim, the gas pedal, the steering shaft or the radiator, you can fit into that position very nicely and will probably do a great JOB in making that car work…….but you’ll never be the car. When you get into your car, you don’t say, “Man, I love the radiator, the gas pedal and the rims that make up this car.” No! You say, “Man I love this car!” The car is the thing that exists, and as a component of the car, when you break, you are replaced with a better working part. The car still exists. It was always about the car, not the parts.

Are you getting my point here? Sometimes I feel like I get too thick in the analogies, but I think that’s how my brain understands best. And since my brain works that way, so should yours, right!?

You must, and I say MUST, separate yourself from the actions that seem most common in order to get uncommon results in your life. And the uncommon results, are the successful ones. Very few people ever get the joy of truly accomplishing their goals. Very few people ever live out their dreams. But the people that do, have learned to single themselves out as individuals and have created their own path to follow, their own movie and their own car.

Point blank, individuals succeed. Masses do what they are told!

What is one of the main causes of discouragement for an entrepreneur? Rejection is. Throughout the process of creating success in any given business opportunity lies opportunities for rejection. When you apply for a business loan, you may get rejected. When you out in a quote for a job, they may reject your offer. When you make your sales calls, most likely, you will get rejected before you make a sale. Heck, you will probably get rejected over and over again.

Rejection is not personal

Rejection is a natural part of the process of success in any venture, even in a job setting as well as an entrepreneurial venture. How many job applications and interviews does a person have to go through to find the perfect job? How many “No’s” does an entrepreneur have to sort through to find the yes? That’s the key! The more “no’s,” or rejections you get, the closer you are to the “Yes’s!” In addition to a thought out business plan, a great location, a proven system and a customer base, that’s all business is. It’s the process of sorting through the “no’s” until you find the “Yes.”

Discouragement from rejection comes to entrepreneurs who don’t have a strong enough goal, or vision for where they are headed. Rejection can get monotonous, repetitive and quite annoying. It’s easy to look at rejection as failure. Failure brings a lack of motivation, poor mindset and very little progress. It’s grounds to think about the forbidden “Q” word. QUITTING! Which is why it takes a lot of self motivation and ambition to succeed as an entrepreneur. It’s all on your shoulders, success and failure.

What you have to realize is that rejection is not personal. The person on the other end of the phone line, directly in front of you, behind the application, looking at your product or whatever it may be, may reject your offer because of them, not you. Rejection is something that happens when a person doesn’t understand the value of your product or service in their life. That’s it! They don’t say no because of who you are. It’s not a personal attack. It’s just the process of sorting. Success happens when your product or service finds customers who can see it’s value in their own life. That’s who you are sorting for.

So the more “No’s” you get, the better. You can’t treat every potential customer like they are the only potential buyer you will ever see, as you drool with dollar signs in your eyes. That’s insane. They are either a no or a yes. That’s it. As long as your presentation, display, product or service provides value and is presented properly, you will make the sale. Don’t read into it too deeply. Don’t get your feelings hurt when you encounter rejection because it will happen. Learn from it and move forward until you find that “Yes,” again and again and again. If you can do that, then welcome to Entrepreneurship!

I’m going to ask you a very simple question and I want you to answer it as honestly and in as much detail as you can. Okay….are you ready for it? Here it is. How do you pick an apple?

I know….tough question right? So take a moment to think about it.

So what was your answer? Just for fun, let’s see how you measure up to the answers of others. The most common answer to this question would go something like this: Well, I stand under the tree. I reach out with my arm, open my hand, grasp the apple firmly and yank the apple downward. That my friend, is how I pick an apple!

So was that somewhere close to your answer or were you a bit more analytical in the exact same process? Maybe your answer wasn’t even anywhere close to the same. Maybe yours involved a longer process, the true process of picking an apple.

So here’s the correct way to pick an apple:

1. You pick a spot of land. Preferably on your own land.
2. You dig a hole.
3. You buy the tree.
4. You put the tree in the hole.
5. You water the tree.
6. You fertilize the tree.
7. You brace the tree up to protect it from the wind.
8. You put a fence around the tree to protect it from wildlife, such as Elk and Deer.
9. You spray it with chemicals to protect it from insects.
10. You trim the tree from time to time.
11. You then repeat steps 5 and 6, until one day, your tree finally produces apples.
12. You then, stand under your tree, reach out and pick the apple!

That, my friends, is the way to pick an apple! Would it have been easier if I had given you another question as an example, such as: How do you become wealthy? You don’t just reach out an grab the money. There is a process that comes before you “pick the apple”, or get the money.

So many people, in fact the majority of people, prefer to just simply “pick the apple.” They want someone else to take care of the “process” for them, which is exactly why most people will never get to pick the apple or become wealthy. You can’t just skip to the end. That’s a fairytale. Luckily, with modernization and grocery stores, we have people who take care of “process” so that we don’t technically have to pick the apple. That’s their way to create wealth and unfortunately, you can’t just pick up a box of wealth at the store like you can an apple. You must go through the process of creating wealth for yourself.

I teach others how to go through the process, but you must be willing to put in the time and effort before you can reap the reward. But, the process is proven….meaning, it works. I, along with thousands of others, have done it. It’s a lot like picking an apple, but with a few more steps along the way. If you can follow steps, bring a little creativity and a lot of ambition, you too can become wealthy!

The great Personal Development mentor and coach, Jim Rohn, left this world last week after a long struggle with pulmonary fibrosis and as much as I could tell you about how he died, I would much rather tell you how he lived. Although I didn’t know Jim personally and was never able to attend one of his events, he went with us everywhere. We carried his audio cd’s with us as we traveled. He was and always will be, in the books, on of the best inspirational speakers and mentors in history. With his unique style and his christian background, I completely related to Jim and his message. His humble beginning as an “Idaho farm boy” is a testament to everyone that anything is possible for those who believe in something greater for themselves.

If you don’t have any of Jim Rohn’s material, get some. You’ll love it. I don’t think I have ever heard common sense in such an inspirational and useful way. Jim has a talent for allowing you to use the commonalities you already know to drastically improve your life.

There are very few people that can truly look back on their lives and see the millions of people they have directly and indirectly inspired and assisted. Jim’s message is one that will continue to inspire and uplift and I am grateful that I was here and alive when he walked this earth.

If you would like to check out some of Jim’s websites and material, there are plenty of places. Here are a few:

http://www.yoursuccessstore.com/

http://tribute.jimrohn.com/

http://video.success.com/featured/jim-rohn-tribute/

Jim’s Facebook Page

In closing, I’ll leave you with the quote on the header of his site:

“I wish for you a life of health, wealth and happiness; a life in which you give to yourself the gift of patience, the virtue of reason, the value of knowledge, and the influence of faith in your own ability to dream about and to achieve worthy rewards.” ~Jim Rohn