Immature Entrepreneur

There is a very common misconception in the United States today: people think they have the right to not be offended.

Living in a country that provides the gift of free speech, chances are you will be offended. And probably often. The beauty is you have the freedom to change the channel/turn off the radio/close out the webpage.

“I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.”– attributed to Voltaire

You don’t have the right to not be offended. But you do have the freedom to choose not to listen. Important distinction to be made there.

Pause for a moment and think about why you work. Do you work to pay the bills? Or do you work so that you don’t have to work any longer when you’re older and ready to retire?

Most people spend more time planning vacation than they do planning their retirement.

Although you pay into the social security system, don’t count on the government to take care of you in your senior years (unless you’re a fan of cat food). Why leave your fate in someone else’s hands? Take control of your future. Create a plan to get you where you want to be in retirement.

Remember, a failure to plan is a plan for failure.

You don’t deserve a raise. You don’t deserve a new car. You don’t deserve a vacation.

In fact, when it comes to making financial decisions, “deserve” doesn’t even get a vote.

When you work hard, it’s easy to feel as though you deserve certain things. But working hard isn’t enough. You also have to work smart. In other words, manage your money in such a way that you are able to take a vacation, you’re able to buy a new(ish) car, you’re able to spring for that designer suit/dress, and so on.

Don’t allow sly marketers to trick you into thinking you deserve. Take control of your reality and put yourself in a position where you are able to do the things you want to do.

Read everything Seth Godin writes. I can’t stress that enough.

In Linchpin, Seth illustrates the importance of positioning oneself as indespensible within your organization. It’s career and economic suicide not to do so.

Godin encourages people to produce emotional work, to put your heart and soul into what you do. This is certainly the type of behavior that can lead one down the path of entrepreneurialism.

Seth is a futurist. He sees trends coming before they have even developed. Read whatever he writes, as it will keep you ahead of the curve while everyone else has yet to come around the bend.

Deutsch has a CNBC television series called “The Big Idea” where he interviews “average joes” turned entrepreneurs. This book is a culmination of the many lessons he has learned not only in his own rise as an entrepreneur but from his many successful guests as well.

Focusing on normal people with a unique idea, The Big Idea is brimming with Deutsch’s contagious enthusiasm. There’s no way you can read this book and not come away motivated.

The Big Idea will help spark your own creative energies when you see firsthand how the guy next door or the gas station attendant or the stay at home mom saw their ideas become reality. There is some solid “brain training” here as well, as the reader learns how to identify opportunities that surround us everywhere in normal day to day life.

There has recently been talk of a new “sin tax” law on soda pop, due largely in part to rising health care costs. For example, instead of paying .50 cents for a can of Coke, in the future you may pay .75 cents. The thought here is that those who need greater health care coverage as a result of unhealthy lifestyle should, in all fairness, take on more of the financial burden.

As expected, the major soda producing companies have come out swinging. They’ve got high priced lawyers scrambling and lobbyists lobbying and everyone is screaming and kicking and fighting. Maybe even crying.

Here’s a thought: why not embrace the change? It seems to be a good idea to encourage a healthier diet. How about having some of those scientists on the payroll at Coke and Pepsi cook up some healthier options and reinvent/modernize the oudated soda pop recipes? We know a lot more about nutrition and wellness today than we did when the recipe for Coca Cola was created in 1885.

Resisting change for the sake of resisting change is illogical (and ineffective). Be a student of change. After all, change is the only constant.

I received a monthly newsletter in today’s mail from my bank. It’s sort of a fun little 6 page flyer filled with local events, seasonal recipes, happenings with the bank, advertisements and so forth. I typically toss it every month without even glancing at it.

Why? Why do we throw mail away (i.e. in a landfill) every month? Why does my bank waste the money on printing these newsletters when an email is free? Why do Americans accept this?

According to a recent study, junk mail in America has the same carbon footprint in a year as nine million cars. Astounding.

I called my bank this morning to cancel my subscription to this unsolicited advertisement. The nice woman on the phone paused for a moment to think. “I’ve never had that request before. I’m not sure how to direct you.”

E-mail is fast, free, and saves trees. For all intents and purposes, the United States Postal Service is an outdated, antiquated system. Unsubscribe from mail you don’t want. Think “do not mail” when it makes sense, which is most of the time.

If you don’t like where you’re at, do something different.

Albert Einstein is credited with saying the definition of insanity is “doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.” Yet so many of us get up day after day, driving the same route to the same job simply going through the motions. Or staying in the same bad relationship. Or having the same financial worries. Insert your issue of choice here.

The point is this: you have the ability to change your reality. It’s actually not as complicated as you think. Do something different.

Your credit score does not indicate whether you’re financially successful.

That’s worth repeating: your credit score does not indicate whether you’re financially successful. What your credit score does demonstrate is whether you’re good at borrowing money and paying it back.

Rich people got to where they are by not borrowing money. They don’t live on credit. They don’t make installment payments with interest. They don’t know what the inside of a Rent-A-Center looks like. Rich people save their money until they can afford to buy what they want. And with time, they have a lot more money as a result.

Choose not to participate in the credit system. Rich people have figured it out. You can too.

Many people accept the fact that you wake up Monday morning, dreading your day. Many people accept the fact that you hate your job and just try to get by day after day until retirement.

Many people are wrong.

Dan Miller’s book “48 Days to the Work You Love” truly opened my eyes and helped begin my journey into entrepreneurism.

The core concept here is this: rather than trying to find a job, try to figure out what you are wired to do. Dan shows you how to turn your passion into dollars and have fun in the process. Again, this is one of those books that will change your life.