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!

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

The unwritten law of success has always included, and begins with, thanksgiving. Gratitude is the act of showing appreciation. It is always said that, unless you are grateful for what you currently have, you will never be blessed with more. As I show that I can appreciate and manage all that I do have, it merits the fact that I deserve more.

Success Begins with Thanksgiving

I actually take time every single day, not just on Thanksgiving day, to think of all that I have in my life right now that I am grateful for. I think of my children, my home based business, the roof over my head, my vehicles, my family, friends, my church and yes, at times, I even think of my Sony LCD TV (Which is bigger than anything else in my house)! No matter what stage I am at in my life or whatever my circumstance, the day will ALWAYS go smoother if I simply spend some time to reflect on the things that are most important to me. As I think of my children, I have a little more temperance. As I think of my business, I become more passionate about changing peoples lives. As I think of my faith, my testimony is strengthened. As I reflect, I become stronger in every area that crosses my mind.

I once read a quote that stated something along the lines of, “Gratitude is pointless when kept quiet.” The best form of gratitude is the kind shared with those you are grateful for. It not only strengthens you, but the other person as well. So take some time to tell those who are closest to you how grateful you are for them and how much they mean to you. Chances are, they really needed to hear it, and may not hear that sort of thing very often.

Take the approach this holiday season to see who’s life you can effect in a positive way instead of who can effect you. Be the proactive blessing in other people’s lives. You deserve it and so do they!

Happy Turkey Day to everyone here in the US! Any holiday that involves a ton of food and family, I’m in!

This is a perfect example of one of the biggest Losers of all time! Many of you will know exactly who this is at a glance. Check out the amazing record of failures this guy had in his life compared to the amount if wins. It’s pretty shocking. I bet he was made fun of quite a bit by his peers and was told to give up on his dreams….

• 1831 – Lost his job
• 1832 – Defeated in run for Illinois State Legislature
• 1833 – Failed in business
• 1835 – Sweetheart died
• 1836 – Had nervous breakdown
• 1838 – Defeated in run for Illinois House Speaker
• 1843 – Defeated in run for nomination for U.S. Congress
• 1848 – Lost re-nomination
• 1849 – Rejected for land officer position
• 1854 – Defeated in run for U.S. Senate
• 1856 – Defeated in run for nomination for Vice President
• 1858 – Again defeated in run for U.S. Senate

How pathetic is this guy!? Well allow me to introduce you to Abraham Lincoln, elected President of the United States of America in 1860!

How many times was he defeated before he won? Count ’em! Whenever you hit a hard spot, don’t EVER think that you are special….or any different than anyone else who has chosen to go down their own road of success. Talk about a perfect example of persistence and willpower. You can accomplish ANYTHING you set your heart on. Celebrate your losses….because all they have done is put you that much closer to the wins!!

While in Puerto Rico at this last event, I must have taken around 10 full pages of notes. Six of those were from Yossi Ghinsberg. The guy was a walking quote book and if you’re like me, you get more out of a simple, blunt and to the point statement than you do a long drawn out explanation. Simple minded! That’s me.

One of the things he said was, “I don’t dream when I sleep….the dreams keep me awake.” This statement had a little deeper meaning for me than what it might have intending. Now it’s obvious that we all dream when we sleep and if you’re anything like me, most dreams you might have really make no sense at all and have very little meaning. If you forget them the moment you wake up, it’s okay. But, every once in a while you might have a dream that wakes you up in the middle of the night because if feels as if you just had instant revelation or pure knowledge flow into your brain. Instead of being able to sleep you are prompted to get up and write it down so that you can remember it in the morning. It has you inspired and excited to face the next day. You now have an immediate purpose or a direction…. and that’s exciting! Don’t under estimate the power of your dreams. If you are on purpose, they can be a great source of direction to you.

How many of you just can’t wait until the days passes so that you can hit the pillow? On the other hand, how many of you just can’t find enough hours in the day to fulfill your passions and accomplish your goals, having to be forced to sleep while eagerly awaiting to start the next day? Some people love to dream without action and others love to dream in real time….in action. That’s the difference. One is really happening and the other is forgotten.

In a true dream, you should be awake. Stop sleeping through your dreams and start living them!

Yossi went on to say, “If you don’t have a purpose or a dream, that is the most dangerous place you can be.” If you don’t have a purpose, then you fall back into the default purpose….which is the purpose of those that have a purpose. This means YOU are the victim, the one being directed…not the one directing. That is default.

If your purpose is to help everyone else in the world achieve their purpose, the way to do it is proactively. A dream is only a dream and will never become reality without belief that it actually can. Today, define your purpose or your dream. What is it that you are here on Earth to do? Stop thinking of what others would have you do! What is it that YOU want to do? Now, write it down, IN DETAIL, and then go do it. You are right in the midst of your dreams. The only difference between a sleeping dream and that same dream awake, is that one is done without your body. Just include it next time. It really is that simple. And according to my watch, that time is NOW!

Last week while Amy and I were in Puerto Rico we attended an inspirational conference. This was a three day event centered around the Positive Media and Personal Development industries. This conference, just like many others we host around the world, is a setting to learn from some of the most amazing speakers, individuals, authors, entrepreneurs and guru’s in existence today. This is what I do! I show people with ambition, such as yourself, how to grow personally and financially through these events. It’s a huge industry and for the next three blog posts I am going to give you a sneak peek of the three top notch speakers I was able to meet and listen to while at one of these conferences in Puerto Rico.

All three of these individuals inspired me with their stories and for me, life is all about your story. As you near the end of your life, what story are you going to be able to tell to your grandchildren and great grandchildren? Is it going to be a story of passion? Excitement? Adventure? Accomplishment? Or is it going to be a story of wishing? Failure? Mediocrity? Misery? The choice really is yours and the start of your story isn’t what really matters…we all have to start from somewhere. It’s the middle and end that should be the climax!

What do you think will inspire a child more: Telling that child of all the hardship you had in your life’s story and all the things that child should learn from your mistakes, or telling that child of all the amazing things you were able to accomplish and experience? As I ask that question I can literally picture that child’s face. As I picture the child, the first story has his eyebrows looking stern and wrinkled. With the second, you can nearly see the dreams stirring through the child’s eyes. That’s more powerful than anything. Inspiring a child to dream by sharing your own dreams will allow him to soar far beyond a child who is simply taught how to avoid your mistakes. A dream speaks volumes in comparison to anything else.

Whether you can picture that day or not, it will come. You will one day tell your story. Is it going to be a story that inspires or restricts? Making a difference today creates a great story right now….but that story will continue to inspire and make a difference many years after it was created. That’s the beauty of it!

So what actions will you take today to make sure your story is exactly the way your heart wants it to be….not the way your brain tells you it should be?