BECOME AN ENTREPRENEUR

To be honest I never thought that I would ever be interested in becoming an entrepreneur.  I envisioned it as long hours, pounding stress, and often small rewards.  Although this can be a part of it, it shouldn't have to be a long term part.  This sadly, is the case for many...but not for me!

Why do you ask?  What would make me any different?

Well I'm glad you asked!!!

The key to becoming a successful entrepreneur is Education, Mentors and Trying!  

Start by becoming educated through books, seminars, classes...anything you can get your hands on.  Apply that knowledge gained with the experience that a mentor can provide.  Then your attempts will be calculated and the risk will be reduced. 

If there is no action there will be no success.  Success comes through achievement and failure.  The more you try the more you will likely fail, which in actuality is a learning resource.  The likelihood of earth shattering and disastrous failures are slim to none if the decision is based off self education and mentors.  

The reason I bring this up is the reason I have been so absent from my blog.  I am stepping into the entrepreneur world!  At first I was nervous, but now I am totally psyched!!!  I have been incredibly busy working on my business skills as I have plans to have my own business set up by next year.  The details of that business will be given much later after I have everything finalized, but I couldn't be more excited to start implementing all the ideas and education I have acquired.  I have great mentors and am reading amazing books so I will be ready to go.  

Then the goal will be to progress toward a functional business that provides residual income!  That is the goal and prize for any entrepreneur.  A prize I know I can achieve if I surround myself with the right people and right resources and work harder than anyone else!

Books I am or will be soon READING

1. The Entrepreneur Roller Coaster -Darren Hardy-

2. The Spirit to Serve -JW Marriott-

3. Launching a Leadership Revolution -Chris Brady and Orrin Woodward

4. The Nordstrom Way to Customer Service Excellence -Robert Spector

5. The Portable MBA in Entrepreneurship -William D. Bygrave

Follow Up on "JUST TRY IT" Day

So I did it, I just tried it.  I girded up my loins and I made the calls that I needed to make.  I took the first step into darkness, the step that everything in my body screamed out not to do...you aren't smart enough, you will say something dumb, you won't make the right impression...all words that my subconscious screamed at me!  But I did it any way!!!

It worked out wonderfully
The contact I had to get a hold of a mentor I have been trying to reach was finally available.  I talked to him for quite some time and the conversation went well and he is going to talk with my potential mentor and see what he can do for me!  It was a great experience and not near as scary as I had expected.
I started reading again.  I felt like I didn't have time to fit reading one more thing, but as I looked at my schedule I figured out what I could eliminate and where I could fit it in.
I am progressing with the lawyer that I had drug my feet to contact.  Now the ball is rolling toward business ownership and opportunity.

It was hard to make myself do it, but anything worthwhile is going to take effort.  Because I wasn't afraid to try good things will come from this or something else down the road.  Plus, it really builds confidence to do things that are difficult, no matter the end result!

"JUST TRY IT" DAY!!!

Today is Just Try It day!
Yes this has never been celebrated, but I am starting this wonderful day when all the ventures, calls, and opportunities that I am afraid to take I take today!  This is the day when I am no longer going to let fear keep me from trying or procrastinating what I want to do.  In the next 24 hours I will do the things that I have been putting off, for whatever reason!  I invite any who read this, no matter what day, to commit yourself to the same challenge and to JUST TRY IT!  99% of the time the step that we feared was easier than we thought once we tried to accomplish it!
I have been progressing in many avenues to better myself, but in a couple business ventures (some of which cannot be disclosed at this time) I have drug my feet a little.  Mostly because I am often not sure what to do and there is a part of me that worries about not succeeding.
However, if there is one thing I have learned that no attempt, whether I fail or succeed, is in actuality a failure if I learn!  There is no possible way to achieve dreams without failure...aka learning opportunities.  I believe this so much so that I have began teaching it to my kids.  I have been congratulating them when they do things wrong.  Jerika will spell a word wrong and I congratulate and give her a big high five for trying on her own!  Then we go over how to spell it right and I can show her that she learned because she tried.
Today I am going to...

1.  Make a phone call to a man I have been trying to get mentorship from
2.  Set up a meeting with lawyers to progress in a business venture I am pursuing
3.  Start reading "One Simple Idea" to make my attempt at licensing and reaching my goal of having a residual income source

I invite everyone to join me on this JUST TRY IT day!  I hope you can make the seemingly scary step toward a big goal you are trying to achieve!

LOVE FAILURE AND GROW FROM IT

You have to hang with the big dogs....

How I got the mentors I needed!!!

I had the opportunity to travel out to Chicago on a business trip.  I was going to learn from the top business minds in Physical Therapy, how to grow and build a successful company with the right team.
After having a couple opportunities to have one on one time with a couple of business leaders, including a fortune 500 company CEO, I walked away feeling motivated and encouraged with the direction I was heading in business.  I learned how important it is to spend time around those who have success oriented minds and those who have achieved great success already.  This is applicable to any goal we have, whether it be business, relationships, or improving life in any way!
By spending time with amazing people it gives us the drive and the examples we need to be amazing!  It drives you to want to be better.  Check out this blog post on FORBES MAGAZINE on that topic!
The other principle I learned is that when I spend time around amazing people you are being given an awesome opportunity to be mentored.  At my conference I was able to talk one on one with super successful people because I was willing to approach them and ask them the questions I had.  We cannot be afraid to try things outside of our comfort zone.  Because I approached some of these successful people I was able to obtain personal contact information so I can continue to mentor with them.
The more we can observe and talk to people who have achieved higher levels of success, the more likely we will achieve success.
Every human being has great potential, but sometimes we need others help to guide us in unlocking that potential!

Principles on Prosperity

I had the opportunity to travel out to Chicago on a business trip.  I was going to learn from the top business minds in Physical Therapy, how to grow and build a successful company with the right team.  The ticket to the conference and hotel was extremely pricey.  My employer was so awesome to cover all the expenses but the plane ticket.  

I didn't exactly have a bunch of cash that I wanted to fork over to plane tickets, but I really wanted to go.  So I found another way.  My brother has been learning to use Credit Card promotions and miles to travel with his family.  He sent me a deal for a Chase United card that included a bunch of benefits including 55,000 miles.  All I had to do was spend $3000 in 3 months.  With my student loans and every day bills I figured that would be easy enough to do, but because I was short on time we recruited my wonderful Mother In Law to help us spend.  I gave one card to my wife and one card to her.  Between the two of them they accomplished spending the $3000 in relatively concise time, giving me eligibility to fly to Chicago for 50,000 miles and only having to pay tax fees.

On my travels I needed something good to listen to or read.  I was going to have a lot of travel time, so I figured I might as well listen to something productive.  Reading can make me have motion sickness so I opted for a lecture series I had been given by my brother.  

The 13 principles on prosperity is a series by Rick Koerber.  Many are familiar with Rick and what he does for work and even the recent legal problems he has had.  There are many critics out there and have accused him of many a things.  Despite the rumors and critics out there about him, I can't help but find truth all over his 13 principles of prosperity, which are:

1. Principle #1 – God is the Author of Prosperity
2. Principle #2 – Faith Begins with Self-Interest
3. Principle #3 – Agency implies Stewardship
4. Principle #4 – Perspective Determines Action
5. Principle #5 – People Are Assets
6. Principle #6 – Human Life Value is the Source and Creator of All Property Value
7. Principle #7 – Dollars Follow Value
8. Principle #8 – Exchange Creates Wealth
9. Principle #9 – Profit is the Tool of Validation
10. Principle #10 – Productivity is the Standard
11. Principle #11 – Force Destroys Freedom and Prosperity
12. Principle #12 – Collective Action has no Unique Moral Authority
13. Principle #13 – Personal Liberty Requires Private Property

Here is the introduction video to the 13 principles (see link below).  You can get the lecture series off his website and listen about each in more detail.  The principles that he teaches are profound and have really changed how I view money and wealth.  

The key to it all is what I have blogged on recently...creating value and exchanging that value for something else that you value.  Although many don't agree with Ricks ethics and ideas, I found that he delivers truthful and powerful statements on realizing your "human life value" and how that can be used to accomplish your goals.

It just makes sense that the more value we create in ourselves through learning, education, developing skills and trades increases our value.  If we are more valuable other people are willing to give us more in return for our abilities.  This is how we achieve greater wealth in this life.  Take a listen for yourselves, it's very interesting and informative!

13-principles-of-prosperity

PUBLISH A BOOK

TIME TO BRIGHTEN LIVES and MAKE SOME RESIDUAL INCOME!

A few years ago I became aware of an author with incredible talent who had never done anything to publicize her writing skills.  She was a natural at rhyme schemes and had written many different poems chronicling peoples lives.  She approached me in regards to my art skills 5 years ago.  I started college as an art major, working toward computer graphics, but decided it was just a hobby.  Not that I was ever that great of an artist I did enjoy drawing and even studied cartoon drawing for a time in high school.
Anyway, she informed me of a Children's Book that she had written and was looking for someone to illustrate it.  I jumped at the opportunity and started drawing.  It took about a year to complete the pictures, and then started the real work of trying to find a publisher.

Where myself and the author had no idea of how to publish a book there was a learning curve.  The author went to writing conferences in Salt Lake City to critique her skills and to learn how to publish.  She gained valuable knowledge and mentor like connections that offered her any help whenever she needed it.  Over 2 years ago she started sending out her manuscript, and through a series of learning events we have now sent the manuscript off to get copyright license and ISBN#, then we can do a self publishing and release it to the world ourselves.

Why self publishing?
Well we weren't able to get a publisher for starters.  The author researched publishing companies specific to children's books.  She then had to send a copy of the manuscript to each one.  The companies take the liberty of saying it can be up to 6 months before they will respond.  Our book was sent to over a dozen companies, and none decided take our book.

Does that mean it's no good?
No! it could mean that it doesn't fit what they are looking for at the time.  It could mean that it is no good, but I have read poorly written children's books and this is not one of them!!!  So that is why we are going to do self publishing.
The cool thing about writing a book and living when we do is that you don't need an ISBN number or copyright to write a book and sell it online.  However, if you ever want a published print edition of your book you will have to get an ISBN.  It costs money and must be done through ISBN.org.
A copyright can then be acquired.   It is not necessary but offers a higher level of security for your work.  Read more about it here at the US copyright website.  We found that LegalZoom offered the best deal for obtaining a copyright, but it still cost over $100.
We are planning on doing the promotion and selling ourselves, mostly online to begin with but then go through a printing company that will print as ordered online.  Form more information on Self Publishing check out this website from LifeHacker.

Currently we wait to get our Copyright. It has been nearly 6 months and we are getting excited to get cruising with our book!  Once we obtain that we can start advertising and selling it online and in Printed form.
It is very exciting to see this project come together!!!  We can't wait to give this to the world, I know people will love it!!!

Here is a sample pic that I drew with the book title (it will be much improved on the final copy):

WHERE DID I GO!!!???

After passing my exam last month I thought I would jump right back into my old schedule without a hiccup and start cruising along my path to success.  However, it was summer time and with the change in study habits, exciting and important family changes, and summer fun, I have become a victim of completely falling out of my "Success Schedule".
I have realized that no matter how well intended you are to keep to a schedule there will always be interruptions and hiccups that roll through our plans.  The important thing is consistency in daily efforts to do the best you can.  Remember the good days and move on from the bad.  I don't feel too bad about why I got distracted, they are worth while causes...but now I am BACK and ready to keep to my schedule and post my success!!!

Here are my summer Speed bumps:

Father and Son Backpacking trip:
We hiked over 14 miles, crossed the same winding stream over 30 times, sat in a great natural hot springs, and had great conversation before the end of the trip.  My brothers and dad go camping somewhere together every year.  Usually it's a back pack trip and we always have a memorable time.










Boating trips with family and friends:
Earlier in the year I spent a couple days at Bear Lake UT camping and swimming with my family.  After passing my exam I had the opportunity to go with my in-laws to have an equally fun time jet skiing, swimming, and building sand castles.  Then I had some great friends invite us Jet Skiing.  They owned single rider jet ski's, something I have always wanted to try and wasn't about to pass up a fun time and good company.

Epic Pinewood Derby:
Had a "No Rules" pinewood derby race with my Elders Quorum at church.  I spent Friday night and Saturday morning working on it, and after some youtube advice I ended up with a pretty fast car.  It was helpful that our track was twice as high!
MY CAR




The slightly modified and elevated track


Sick Baby:
Poor little Max, he had his molars come in and maybe a little sickness as well, but for 2 weeks he didn't sleep worth beans, ran a high fever every evening, and even a little throw up to top it off!  He would wake up 3-5x/night screaming, and we often had to resort to children's Tylenol to help him, and us, make it through the night.  After 2 weeks of complete sleep deprivation I completely fell out of schedule.  This is probably one of the major factors in killing my schedule because I was so tired every morning it was all I could do to drag my body, kicking and screaming at me, out of bed.  It has taken me a week to recover but now I am so out of habit I am fighting to get back to it...aka waking up early and not falling asleep while I read at night!

Sick Mommy:
My wife is "Great with Child"...we are expecting our fourth in March!!!  She is such a trooper the first trimester being nauseous and very tired most of the time, especially in the evenings.  She has just entered the second trimester where she typically does much better, and we have already seen the shifting of the tides.  To complicate matters she has a subchorionic hemorrhage, which she had with our last baby, and is very limited in lifting and anything that might be the slight bit jarring.  This is the main reason I haven't been blogging.  By the time I get home, help or cook dinner, clean up dinner, spend time with kids, put kids to bed, then clean house and dishes I am exhausted and don't really have time to do anything else.  I have been very tired and had little energy to do anything but take care of my little family right now.  However, now that Heidi is feeling better I will have a little time in the evenings and hopefully can get back to making progress in reading and growing residual income sources and business plans.  Although this may have slowed me down a little, I wouldn't change it for anything in the world!!!  We are very excited for a new little person to enter our home!

Family Time:

After neglecting family time to study for 2.5 years, I have been trying to spend more time with the kids playing, hiking, and just being there more!  Although I still have a billion and a half things to do, it is so nice having achieved my goal and not have the weight of the exam hanging over me!  I thank God almost every day for helping me pass!  I'm so excited to move forward!!!

 Movie Time

Hiking Trip