The Myth of the Overnight Success

"Oh, yeah! Success!"

We’ve all had those thoughts, those “Why not me” thoughts, those, “If only I had come up with that idea instead of him” thoughts.

They start innocently enough, we see an interview with Mark Zuckerberg talking about how many users Facebook has or hear about Richard Branson taking Virgin across the UK in a matter of months…both before their 30th birthdays.  You feel like you missed the boat, you [Read More…]

How to Win

“Losers give other people what they want, winners give people what they need.”

-Me (Yeah, that’s right.  I quoted myself)

Speaking

When I think of bad speeches, there are two that come to mind.  The first was a standup comic asked to showcase at a convention where performers go to try to book gigs.  He proceeded to spit out every airline food and recycled 80’s joke about how there are thousands of channels but nothing on.  The [Read More…]

The Road to Success Step Three: Become Your Own Expert

It’s happened to all of us, we get so enamored with our idea for a great new product or goal or service, that we just go for it without a second thought.

We tell our friends, “I’m going to make a million dollars, because if I just sell to one out of every thousand people in China with a one dollar markup…” but we never stop to actually step back and see if our idea is supported by reality – will [Read More…]

I Want You to Fail

That’s right.  I don’t want you succeed at all.  At last I finally peel back the curtain on my real intentions.  I’m an evil genius who wants nothing more than your complete and utter failure in all you do.

…or not.

What is it that so universally terrifies us of failure?  So often, when someone starts working towards a new goal, you’ll hear things like, “Yeah, but that would never work, so why try,” or “Well, I don’t really have a good [Read More…]

Success is Dead; Long Live Success!

If you’ve watched any TV in the last few years, you are almost certainly familiar with the four fellas above; they’re the “Pawn Stars.”  By all accounts, they’re extremely successful.  Since their show began airing, they have expanded their showroom, went from 100 to over 1,000 customers a day, and hired 30 more staff members in order to handle those customers.

The cast of the show recently signed a 4 year, [Read More…]

How Creativity Works (Flowchart)

So, you say you don’t have any ideas?  Need a little help being creative?  Having writer’s block?  Here’s a flowchart to help you out:

What?  That didn’t help?  Well, that’s how most people approach creativity.  It’s no wonder that most people suck at coming up with ideas for businesses, goals and ways of achieving those goals.

Over the coming weeks, I’ll be laying out some brand new ways for you to approach creativity [Read More…]