I just finished reading a book by Andy Andrews, one of my favorite authors called “Mastering the Seven Decisions.” If you have read his best seller “The Travelers Gift” then this one would be a great read for you. I don’t think I would read it before you have read “The Travelers Gift” as it does make references to it often.

Very good book. Both of them are! I can tell you what, “The Travelers Gift” changed my life. It completely served me. The Seven Decisions are powerful! Apply these seven principles into your life and try not to have success in all you do. It would be impossible. The Seven Decisions are:

1. The Responsible Decision
2. The Guided Decision
3. The Active Decision
4. The Certain Decision
5. The Joyful Decision
6. The Compassionate Decision
7. The Persistent Decision

I don’t want to spill the meat of either of these books to you if you are someone who has not yet read them, but I will tell you this: If you are someone who is sick of the mediocrity you have settled for in life, you deserve to read these books! Here’s a link for each of them in Amazon!

Let’s scrap the dictionaries for today and define what Entrepreneurship is. I think it’s more of a concept or an idea rather than a thing or a status. It is an action word and something that does not revolve around everyone. It is a choice, a role and a journey all in one. It is the very concept that the American economy and several economies around the world thrive on and depend on for survival. It is the idea that will propel you, I and the rest of humanity toward a better financial future. It’s the backbone of all commerce. It’s the reason jobs exist.

Wrap your thoughts around this: Entrepreneurship is the process of making YOU better, more profitable and more capable. I love the fact that the word “process” is used here. Entrepreneurship is a process that involves taking risk, failing, succeeding, learning, growing, connecting, changing, consistency and many many more! You can’t just take a college course and say, “BAM, I am now an Entrepreneur. Now where’s my money?!” It doesn’t work that way and never will. A college education cannot teach you how to become a true Entrepreneur. Business ethics, economic education and other skills will only take you so far in the process. More is required.

Now allow me to get a little religious here without getting too religious. We all have heard the phrase, “Entrepreneur spirit!” When someone has the spirit of an Entrepreneur, it’s almost as if they are possessed, controlled and driven by some unseen force or power. They have that extra bounce in their step, their creative wheels are always turning and they live each day with more than average passion. They have a definite purpose.

The Entrepreneur spirit is the additional piece of the pie. It is the thing that an educational institute cannot teach. It’s kind of like a talent. In order to become better at that talent, you must use it and exercise it. Some are born with it, others aren’t.

Entrepreneurship is a process of taking an idea and changing it into an enterprise that will benefit OTHERS. The trick to making a fortune is to find a solution to a problem. Right!? Is it really that simple? Yes, it is. If someone wants to listen to music all day, the Entrepreneur makes the mp3 player. If someone needs shoes in Africa but can’t afford them, the Entrepreneur starts a business that can provide shoes for the needy. If someone is looking to change their lifestyle from struggling to flourishing, the Entrepreneur provides the income opportunity. Supply and Demand. I would think, for an Entrepreneur, it is reversed. Demand and Supply!

Entrepreneurship is the process of learning to be truly FREE! What does it mean to be “Truly” free? Does it mean to live in a country that allows you the right to do as you please, to come and go as you may? Does it mean the right to practice your choice of religion or exercise your right to freedom of speech? I live right here in the USA, the land of the free. Does that mean I am truly free?

Freedom, true freedom, is Entrepreneurship. No boss to govern you, no time restraints (unless you choose them), no requirements or outside dictators. It’s just simply you, your creativity, your ambition and your ability to choose for yourself the lifestyle you are to live today and tomorrow and the next day. Wake up in the morning because you want to, not because you have to. Entrepreneurship gives you the ability to create solutions, assist and inspire others and in turn, get rewarded for it.

Life in Entrepreneurship is a blank canvas. Most people would be terrified by it as they think of their lack of artistic ability, but the Entrepreneur in spirit is excited about it because that means he can do with it whatever he chooses. No coloring within the lines, no clashing colors and no defined picture. Just pure freedom.

When the sun goes down at the end of each day, I can say that I am living free. As the sun rises in the morning, it rises just for me. It gives me another today to create my day as I see fit! All in all, my worst day as an Entrepreneur is far better than my best day imaginable not as an entrepreneur. I can truly say, “I am Free!” Can you?

I have always had a huge interest in the Roman Empire. I don’t know if that interest came after watching “Gladiator” or if it is something I have always had an interest for. What an insane time to live on earth! The more I look into it, there was very little individual moral value, very little trust and a lot of death! It seems that the only way for the Roman empire to survive was to constantly expand. The people thrived on it and from some of my reading, it kept order in the empire.

Now, I don’t know if this is an actual quote from a Roman Emperor or not, but I thought it was profound. I first heard this while watching a movie, believe it or not! I swear, sometimes I wonder about myself. At times, all I speak in is movie quotes. Maybe I should just invent a new language called Hollywood! The quote was spoken by the character who played Octavius in “Night at the Museum.” He said, “We Expand or Die!”

Now the translation for the time of the Romans was to explore new lands and conquer. Power, wealth and death are the key benefits of that sort of expanding. For the Romans, it was a way of life.

“We expand or die!” The same can be said of us today except we must expand in a different way. We must expand individually. What happens to someone who chooses not to expand themselves? And no I’m not talking about physically! Nobody wants to be a walking blimp! I’m talking about our learning, our knowledge, our experience and our minds. We must expand in order to truly live. Someone who fails to grow, fails. We are all given life so that we can truly live. Living is learning and we learn by doing. Starting from birth we are born to grow, physically and mentally. Our bones grow and our muscles grow. Something is seriously wrong if they don’t. Our minds too, are meant to grow and expand. What is a cell phone without cell phone service? A waste! So are we unless we choose to expand our minds. Someone going through life, not fulfilling their true potential, is struggling against their natural inheritance. Everything about our existence is about thriving and learning to the absolute best of our abilities!

We Expand or Die!

The way to expand is through Personal Development, experiences, knowledge and learning. It is a continual process. The other day my daughter told me she wanted to become an athlete when she was a teenager. That question led into a conversation of what it would take to become an athlete. I reminded her of our last hike we had and how it wasn’t so easy. She complained almost the entire hike. After our conversation, she realized that the hard things make her stronger and the moment she stops doing those things is the moment she will get further and further from her desire of being an athlete. It’s a continual process.

Consistency brings results. Sparsity brings struggle. Doing nothing brings nothing. The moment we stop expanding is the moment we truly do die!

As you all know I am currently here on the Big Island of Hawaii with my family. We are here for two reasons: Lifestyle and Learning. We are attending a conference along with over a thousand people from all over the world who have also come here for Lifestyle and Learning. We have been here since last Thursday and have been having an awesome time! It puts new wind in my sails to sit here and watch my children experience Hawaii for the first time. The light in their eyes and the excitement in their step fuels me and gives me a new passion for life. Life is good!

The Path of Least Resistance

Throughout the conference I have heard a common phrase. The last two presenters, Shawn Achor and Erik Wahl, have both mentioned this phrase. I have always known this but it has taken on a whole new meaning to me within the last few days. The phrase is “The Path of Least Resistance.” Basically put, human nature. We, as human beings, are naturally programmed to take the path of least resistance. We will take the easy road. If we come to a fork in the road and one has a mountain to climb and the other has just a hill, we’ll take the hill. It’s in our nature. We’re not stupid right!?

Well, this can be a damaging trait. Allow me to attempt to assist you in seeing this point through my perspective, or through my eyes. In life, what is the easiest path for you, getting a job or starting a business? Coloring a page with figures already drawn out for you or creating your own figures to color? Building a tree house using a manual or drafting and building your own design?

The answers are obvious right? The easiest path is the one that has already been laid out for you. Most likely, the life that most of you are living right now is a life that you have been pre-programmed to live, a life that has been, in a sense, mapped out for you. You went to college because that’s what everyone did. You got that job because that’s what most people do. You took the path of least resistance. It’s easy to follow something that you have been taught since childhood.

The difficult yet more rewarding path is the path of the entrepreneur. Entrepreneurship isn’t something that is taught to us as children unless it comes directly from our parents. It definitely isn’t taught in schools until you get to college, but even then, learning about business economics can’t teach you how to think like an entrepreneur.

To truly become an entrepreneur one must, more than often, head down the path of most resistance. As they do, they grow faster, learn faster, get stronger, gain more experience and are the ones leading the pack. They are the Rhino instead of the cow.

I can tell you this much, and all of you should already know this…..success evades those who always take the path of least resistance.

So if you find yourself doing what seems easiest, think twice about that decision. Sure, common decisions such as climbing hills over mountains are a no brainer, unless you’re goal is to get into shape. But if you are someone looking to create a wealth of success in your life, make sure your decisions are moving you closer to your goal. At times, that requires you to go against your natural programming, and if you plan on being an entrepreneur for long, get used to it!!

If anyone can tell me where this quote comes from, you are the winner. You win a blog post topic with a link back to your site. “Seek not for riches but for wisdom, and behold, the mysteries of God shall be unfolded unto you, and then shall you be made rich.”

Seek ye wisdom before Riches

This is the way my brain understands this. Basically, if you want to become the ultimate YOU, meaning, if you want to progress as far as you possibly can in this life, seek ye wisdom. Wisdom has more value than riches. Riches are a bi-product of it, and in my opinion, a great way to gain more wisdom. Money is simply used as a tool to have more experiences….experiences of serving, giving, assisting, building, growing. Life is all about the experience of it. It’s not about how much stuff you can accumulate or having a home bigger than the next guy.

What is the definition of wisdom? It is: 1 – The ability to discern or judge what is true, right, or lasting; insight, 2 – Common sense; good judgment, 3 – The sum of learning through the ages; knowledge.

I wasn’t really satisfied with those definitions so I looked a little further and found this one: the trait of utilizing knowledge and experience with common sense and insight.

Wisdom is a combination of experience and knowledge used in a way that makes sense. The common sense part of the definition is, in my opinion, the hardest part for a lot of people. In my experience, there are a lot of people that are majorly lacking in the common sense arena! You know what I’m talking about, and if you don’t, you may be the one lacking.

So why is wisdom more valuable? To get my point across, an idiot with a lot of money is still an idiot! Idiots make a lot of mistakes, and they don’t learn from them. Those with wisdom still make mistakes, but by avoiding the previously mentioned, “common sense” mistakes, they make fewer mistakes. Thus, propelling them toward their goals at a quicker rate. Instead of making the the mistakes that the rich idiot makes, he makes mistakes at a much higher level, a level at which the rich idiot may never achieve.

So if wisdom is worth more in the sight of God, how do we gain wisdom? This life is all about having experiences and as we have those experiences, we learn. We gain knowledge. We can also learn from other peoples experience as well, people who have gone before us and already have that knowledge. Wisdom is a combination of experience and knowledge: Past, present and future. We can learn and we can do. We can learn as we do and as we study, the lesson is completely different. We “do” by getting out of our comfort zone, experiencing something different that will inspire growth. Knowledge without experience just as experience without knowledge will not make you wise. Someone with his nose is books all day can tell you why you can ride a bike but will never be able to show you how. Knowing and doing are separate yet powerful when together.

That is what constitutes wisdom. Any wise person will know how to use the riches they are blessed with in order to serve and inspire others to do the same. It’s a calling, not a status. With great ability comes great responsibility.

“Seek Ye Wisdom” and the rest will be added unto you!

I received an email today from a business associate of mine that inspired this post. Often times I get asked how I can blog as often as I do wondering how I come up with my content. That’s the cool part, I don’t come up with my content. Everyone else does. So thanks to all of you and everyone else. You inspire me!

The quote he sent me was this, “Don’t ask your children what they want to be when they grow up… Instead ask them, Who they came here to be.” Just as it got him thinking, it got me thinking as well. Who did I come here to be?

This post might just be a bunch of questions for you to ask yourself. It know that as I write this, that’s pretty much all that seems to come to mind. Who am I to be while here on this earth? Who am I to be as a mentor for those looking to create success and wealth in their life? Who am I as a father of three girls and a husband to my beautiful wife? Basically, who is the ultimate me?

Finding the answer is simple….Who do you want to be? Think of the details, get clear on it.

Once clear, the questions is how do we become that person? What are the steps to getting there?

Well, I am a very successful home based business Entrepreneur. Why? Well, I before I become the successful entrepreneur, I saw myself as the successful entrepreneur. Once I truly believed myself to be the person I was to become, I started to act as though I was already that person. I just lacked the results. But what happened to my results once I started acting as my future self? That’s right! They starting to come.

So in order to act as our future selves, do we do it all in one day? No! That would be too difficult. Just add one or two things per day that move you closer to becoming your future self. If you are in my business and are only placing a few ads a week and are getting only a few leads a day, what is going to move you closer to that future self who is generating 20 leads per day? Quadruple your marketing efforts! It’s simple. That is one thing, put into practice daily, that will move you closer to your ideal future self.

But becoming your future self is not as simple as just taking the same actions. Most of these actions are inspired by your mindset, or your vision for you future and who you are. You must dig deep in your visualizing. Put yourself in the shoes of your future self. If you are to become the most successful person that ever existed in the direct sales industry, how do you think? What are your priorities? Who do you hang out with? What do you do during the day? What books have you read? How do you inspire others to greatness? It’s all part of the package!

“In order to become the man or woman you have envisioned becoming, you must first become that man or woman mentally, and then start acting like it!”  –David Allred (My future self is a best selling author, so why not start quoting myself right now! Right!)

Ask yourself honestly, are you the person, right here and right now, that you ultimately would like to become? If the answer is yes, congrats. Are your results in order as well? If the answer is no, in the words of Gwen Stefani, “What you waiting for? Take a chance…!” Choose something to integrate into your day that will move you closer to your future self. Imagine the difference you will see in just 30 days. It’s not that far off. It’s just waiting on you!