Throughout the history of the world there have been visionaries that existed, people who have been able to see beyond the knowledge of the rest of the masses. These visionaries have propelled humanity to new heights in science, technology, medicine, sports and every other industry out there. The list would go on and on. These visionaries accomplished things, knew things and discovered things that everyone else thought to be impossible, non-existent or fiction. They moved forward with their vision despite the opposition and belief of others and succeeded. And believe me when I say this, every single icon in history had to overcome intense opposition. Most people thought of their vision as foolish, crazy or risky.

Is this sounding familiar to you?

Roger Bannisters four minute mile

Have you heard of it? Everyone thought it would be medically impossible to break the four minute mile. Medical professionals believed that human lungs would burst if put under that kind of strain. They thought it impossible for a human to run a mile in under four minutes. Well, while the masses sat there in opposition, thinking of the impossible, Roger Bannister completed the impossible. He ran the mile in 3 minutes 59.4 seconds.

In the face of opposition and all doubt by most of the so called “professionals,” Bannister broke the laws of reason. He achieved a task that had been deemed “Unobtainable” by society and he did it against all odds.

This is just one example of a visionary that existed in his prime at that given time. He acted, and mankind from that time forward will remember his choice to act. Sure, he could have been just like everyone else, sitting there thinking about how impossible things were. That would have been easy. Instead, he trained, he worked at it and he was the first of his kind!

So back to my question, is this sounding familiar to you? Have you heard someone tell you that you were crazy, foolish or taking too large of a risk? Have you had people telling you not to do something that you had your heart set on doing? Have you had someone tell you not to start that home based business or that “thing” you wanted to start?

I sure hope so. Because if you haven’t, most likely, you are the one telling others that what they have set out to accomplish is impossible. You have a choice. You can be the one telling the visionary that he is a fool, or you can be the visionary. One way leads you to a life of fulfillment, abundance and joy. The other way, just leaves you right where you are. I can show you the door, but you yourself is the one that has to walk through it.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BEgHhijFnEU[/youtube]

I’d like to do a quick comparison between you and any given hero. I would like to make a comparison between the way you handle yourself, your life, your choices and the way you think. I’m not going to compare the fact that most super heroes can throw cars and break through walls and you can’t. There are many types of heroes in the world, besides the obvious fictional heroes such as superman.

So let’s define a hero:

• mythological or legendary figure often of divine descent endowed with great strength or ability
• an illustrious warrior
• man admired for his achievements and noble qualities
• one that shows great courage
• the central figure in an event, period, or movement
• an object of extreme admiration and devotion

Think about what a hero would do when facing a burning building. He doesn’t think, he just acts and he does so in a completely selfless way. Lives are at stake. He trusts his intuition and moves with haste. What does a fictitious hero do when the end of the world is at hand? He looks at himself as the only one with the power to save it. He doesn’t go to the police or other super heroes to take care of it. He takes the responsibility on himself.

Think back to the times when you might have saved your child from falling or actually saved someones life. Did you think much? Did you sit back for a moment to contemplate all the different scenarios or outcomes of the situation? You just acted, right!? Your natural abilities just kicked in and made it happen.

I am sure we can all agree that a hero is someone that succeeds. A hero is a person that is looked up to for their actions. Based on what we have just discussed, a hero is also someone who trusts his immediate “gumption!” When he gets that gut feeling, he knows it is the right thing and he acts on it before it is too late.

Now, let’s reflect a bit on our lives. How have we been acting? Have we been heroic or a little cowardly. Have we been a person of action, trusting in our gut feelings? Have we been confident in making big decisions quickly or did we sit back and contemplate? When things get grim and our lives seem to be upside down, do we turn to others and expect them to bail us out or do we take on that responsibility?

The absolute truth, everyone one of us, has the potential to become a hero. The definition above describes each one of us, if we but choose to act heroic. We were all “endowed with great strength or ability” when were were born into this world. We just have to learn to use it. A “man admired for his achievements and noble qualities” is simply a man who acts instead of contemplates. “One that shows great courage“ is simply someone that makes decisions quickly and then moves forward with those decisions in a massive way. Believe it or not, we are all “the central figure in an event, period, or movement” in our own lives. We are the main character, or hero, in our own action flick! Sometimes people choose to pass that role to others out of fear of the unknown. Choose to be that central figure! And believe it or not, people are looking for “an object of extreme admiration and devotion” to follow. People look for leaders, heroes in a sense, to show them what is possible in their own lives!

If you are an entrepreneur who is taking action in your own life, you have many of these same qualities. Most people have these heroic qualities but are terrified to use them. They walk around in skepticism of change and a fear of success. The true key to success is to trust your first gut feeling and to follow it up with massive friggin’ action! Through your passion to succeed, your willingness to serve and your God given abilities, your results will be something to look up to. They will be of a leader! So you decide, are you a natural born hero or just a puny little human?

During college did you ever think about being a walk-on in your favorite sport? Now, of course I’m speaking about the ones that didn’t have that full ride scholarship and a reserved spot on the team. However, this pertains to everyone, scholarship or not. So how about it? Did you? Did you actually try out for the team or did you just think about doing it? If you did try out, did you make the team? Did you give it your best?

This is about making things happen. It’s about creating a spot for yourself. It’s about wanting it bad enough that you’ll do just about anything to get it.

If you think about a walk-on, what comes to mind? Determination? Persistence? Vision? I can tell you this much, a walk-on is someone that makes the team out of pure will power. It is that person that knows they can hang with the big dogs, the high recruits, that already have a place on the team. This is a person with drive, with ambition and with a tremendous amount of self belief. There is no spot on the team for the walk-on. He has to create his spot on the team, work hard for it and claim it as his own. He has to earn the right to play with the big dogs and a lot of the time, is one of the better players on the team. Most if the time, the coach already has a good idea of who is going to fill the open spot on the team. So if that’s not you, you’ve got to want it more!

I’d like to give credit to Wendy Stevens for providing the idea for this post. True story, Wendy was actually a walk-on. She had a conversation with the coach one day about what she could do to make the team. The coach told her, “Play left handed!” So she did everything with her left hand. When opening the door, she would use her left hand. She brushed her teeth left handed. If you’ve never tried that, do it. It isn’t as easy as it may seem. Wendy was right handed, but she made the team. She used muscles that had never been used in that way before. She had to train these muscles to work just as good as her right hand muscles in order to get the spot on the team.

This is exactly the same thing that a new entrepreneur or new network marketer goes through. They get started in a business opportunity to create that spot on the team, to reach their goal of being a big time player. Once started in a business you quickly find out that you have never done some of the things you are now required to do. You must think differently, work differently and operate in a completely different way than before. So you work at it and work at it until it becomes natural. You are exercising your entrepreneurial muscles and the more you do, the easier the game becomes. The easier the game becomes, the better your chances are in winning that spot.

If you’re having trouble finding the way to get ahead, just keep being consistent. Consistency = exercising those muscles. By doing things that feel different than anything else you have ever done before, you will start adding new skills into your game. Once these skills are streamlined to perfection, you will gain that winners edge and claim your spot on the team as the walk-on who wanted it most!

There’s a very common understanding floating around among the successful people of this world. It’s the fact that most of the decisions they have made and will continue to make are not the same decisions that the majority of people would make. They tend to stand out in a crowd because they are walking the opposite direction. While everyone else merely chooses to go with the flow, they choose to resist and make their own path.

Here’s some statistics that may shock you a bit. Less than 5% of the people of this world will live their dreams out. Less than 5% will accomplish their goals. So what are the other 95% of people doing? They are probably doing what everyone else is doing, or what everyone else says they should be doing. It just makes sense.

Here’s a question for you: When you hear of a success story, why is it always taking place in the middle of opposition or adversity? Any clue?

This analogy might paint a better picture for you.

Have you ever flown a kite? Please say yes, because if you said no, you missed out on an important part of childhood. What do you have to do to get the kite up in the air? First off, some wind is required. You can still kind of make a kite fly without it if you are sprinting while holding the string, but that’s no fun. The wind is the key to all flight. It’s called resistance. Kites fly their best going against the wind, not with it. It’s the resistance that makes them fly. A kite flying with the wind will just fizzle out and fall to the ground to be tossed to and fro. Against the wind, you can feel the power behind the string and it soars.

The same applies to you and I. If it is success you desire, first understand that if you could obtain it by making the same decisions as everyone around you, then everyone around you would be wildly successful. You must go against the flow. You must think differently. Resistance is a good thing on the climb to success. It builds you and gives you the wind necessary to fly. So if you announce to your friends and family that you intend on starting a business and they all tell you not to do it, know you are thinking and making decisions differently. You are on the path.

Don’t try to avoid resistance. It’s all part of the process and necessary for growth. Try this one on for size. We all know how successful Wal Mart is right? Well, they get sued a ridiculous amount. Is it because they are a horrible store? No! They are just wildly successful and everyone else who is not, can’t stand that fact. So they resist!

In my opinion, if you get something negative written about you on an internet forum from someone you have never met, get told that you will never succeed, placed an ad that didn’t work, wasted money with an idea, have been told you are crazy for starting that business or anything similar, you are doing something right!

If you ever find yourself in the majority, and your goal is to become wildly successful, you are doing something wrong. Making decisions, that are just like everyone elses decisions, lands you right where everyone else is. Choose to go against the flow a bit and see what happens!

For the next 30 days I am going to take a challenge to arise before the sun does. Why am I doing this? Well, there are multiple reasons.

First, I am a father of three girls all under the age of 8 and for the most part, the only “Me” time I get is early in the morning. I use this time to educate myself. I once read a quote by Mark Twain, “Don’t let schooling interfere with your education.” If I am not learning, I am wasting my life away doing nothing. What good am I and what difference can I make in the world if I am not making a difference in my life. Educate yourself! Learn as much as you can. As you do, apply it and use it to serve and inspire others.

Second, there is a power spoken of in ancient scripture about arising early. I certainly don’t write all these blog posts just to write them. I do it to teach people what I have learned. Scriptures were written to teach wisdom. Amazingly enough, the principles taught thousands of years ago still work today, and may even be working better today than then. Just as I write, they have written, with the intent for others to read. Scripture reads, “Retire to thy bed early, that ye may not be weary; arise early, that your bodies and your minds may be invigorated.”

Third, I take a moment every morning to express my gratitude for all that I have and know. This is actually the first thing I do every morning. Unless I am grateful for what I currently have, I will never be blessed with more. As I take the time to think of all the abundance in my life, more abundance is added to it throughout the day.

Fourth, I set goals in the morning and come up with some of my best ideas. My mind is rested and fresh. Ideas just pour in like rain in the morning time. It is a self mastery period for me. Visualizing, goal setting, thinking of ways to improve, saying affirmations and setting courses of action for the day are a few of the things I do. For all you fisherman, remember, the big fish are always caught in the morning!

During this challenge I will think of 5 new ideas that will move me toward my goals, every morning. At the end of 30 days, I will have a ton of new ideas to work with, of which, many will already be put into action. I will have my journal on hand to keep record of these ideas as they come to me. I challenge each of you to do the same.

Think about the power that comes with arising early on your own terms. What I mean by, “your own terms,” is doing it not because you have to, but because you choose to. If you are employed and are compelled to get up before the sun does, wake up a little earlier on your own terms. Claim victory on your day instead of giving credit to someone else or doing it because you have to. It will change your outlook. I promise.

I can’t speak for anyone else, but I love getting up early. I love it even more than sleeping in, but it can be hard, if you’re not in the habit of doing it. Once that habit is created, it is as easy as brushing your teeth every morning. So starting tomorrow, June the 6th 2009, I’ll beat the sun up.

If you’d like to take this challenge along with me, congratulations! Let me know your thoughts and experiences! See you in the morning!

What if I told you that if you could learn just one simple principle, you would be able to create success in everything and anything you decided to do? What if, by applying this one principle, you could take an average income and turn it into an exceptional income. With this one principle, or concept, small things become great. This one key principle is a key attribute in developing true leadership. People will follow you because of it.

Now, what if I told you this one principle was something simple, like Persistence? Well, it is. Persistence is the key principle to succeeding at any endeavor. Do it long enough, with passion and you will succeed. In my business opportunity, there are three key ingredients to be persistent at…..

• Placing Ads
• Calling the people who respond to those ads
• Providing details for them to review
• Collecting checks

I know! It sounds like a tough work schedule right?! Now you know why this is a part time business. However, the checks range from $1,000 to $8,000. Part time hours in this business definitely does not mean part time income, but the moment that I stop being persistent and consistent in any four of those areas, my business will start to falter. If I place an ad that results in a poor response, I place another ad. I am persistently working towards my goal. My goal is to maintain my lifestyle of working from home and making the income I deserve. So one failed ad holds little weight in the total outcome because I am persistently moving towards it regardless of the obstacles.

The definition of being persistent is: to go on resolutely or stubbornly in spite of opposition, importunity, or warning!

And believe me, there will be opposition, importunity and warning in every endeavor. Where would the fun be in doing it if there wasn’t?

Persistence

Kids are very good at this. What does a child do when he or she is hungry? They keep asking you, and asking you, and asking you, until what? They ask you until they get what they want, food! So how many ads will I place before I get what I want? The answer……As many as it takes!

But here’s the secret. This whole persistence thing cannot be mixed with indecision! Repeated, persistence cannot be mixed with indecision. Translation, when you start a business, be persistent in that business. Take the mindset of “There is no other option,” cutting off all other possibilities other than the one you are in. Cut yourself off from any other possible outcome other than the one you desire. Be set on one thing, one outcome, and do whatever it takes, as long as it takes to get that one thing. Jumping from one thing to the next, even if your intentions are to be persistent, is actually being resistant. Persistence works the best when focused on one thing. Simply put, STAY PUT!

Learn it! Use it and live the life of your dreams!