Immature Entrepreneur

According to this study, modern day superheroes may be poor role models for young boys. This ”shocking” find *heavy on the sarcasm* was discussed at the American Psychological Association convention last Sunday.

Do we really need a study to tell us that superheroes are corrupting today’s youth? Did these psychologists even consider the fact that these movies are not made for kids? (Anyone that reads comic books will tell you that comics and comic related movies are written for adults.) Why do we, as a society, engage in the blame game? I’ll tell you why–because it is much more difficult to accept responsibility. It is much more difficult to accept the truth. 

Here is the reality that we are avoiding: bad kids come as a result of poor parenting. YOU are to blame. Not Spiderman. Not Harry Potter books. Not rap music or rock n’ roll. Not video games. Not the devil. You.

Blaming other people or outside influences is easy. Accepting responsibility is difficult, but it is also the right thing to do. And ultimately, doing the right thing is what this is all about.

What you put on your body, you put in your body.

Yesterday, 3 Florida children aged 15, 13, and 11 saved up $700 in babysitting money and, unbeknownst to their parents, decided to take a vacation to Dollywood theme park. The kids booked a flight on Southwest Airlines, paid cash for their tickets, and hopped a plane. They landed in Nashville and upon realizing they were miles away from Dolly Parton’s east Tennessee attraction, they called their parents who promptly flew them home.

Of course the mainstream media in typical fashion tries to play the blame game and points the finger at the airline, rather than the parents. However, the sensationalistic tendencies of the news networks is a blog for another time.

What you won’t hear anyone talk about is the impressive qualities these kids displayed. Granted, it was a bonehead move and probably not very safe. But think about the planning, determination, and strategy that went into this. These kids displayed some serious independence.

These aren’t the type of children who will grow up to become “cogs in the machine,” falling into compliance like so many generations prior to them. They will question what they are told in school. They will question why their parents work 60 hours a week and are still unhappy. They will question why no one else questions these things.

Bad idea? Probably. But did they display some creative, impressive leadership skills? Without a doubt.

Do you want to enter a certain field but you’re worried there are already too many players? Are you seeking a nearly untouchable niche market? How does one go about outdoing the competition? Here’s the secret answer to all of these great questions:

Do something different.

Look around you and observe what everyone else is doing. Now do something different. It’s not that difficult.

Here are a couple of great examples:

In the early 80s, Domino’s Pizza (which had a sub-par recipe at best) entered the market and completely changed their industry by offering delivery.

The average person had no idea what organic food was 20 years ago. Today there are people that wouldn’t dream of setting foot inside a Wal-Mart for groceries and happily visit places like Whole Foods or their local farmers’ market (myself included).

Many people/companies are content with mediocrity. This makes for countless opportunities for the entrepreneurial mind to seize upon. Sometimes the way to succeed is to break the perceived “rules” and just be different.

Do you work to live or do you live to work?

A friend of mine recently told me of an experience she had at our public school system. Her daughter, a 1st grader, was given a coloring page and told to color a person. She colored the person brown. The teacher actually called mom in to discuss her “concerns” with the picture. All of the other students colored their pictures the same color as their own race, so why didn’t her (white) child?

This story sums up the fatal flaw in our public school system–we teach conformity. Perhaps to an extent conformity was desirable 20 or 30 years ago when a job required one to function as a robot and do as told without question. Not so today. Those jobs are rapidly being outsourced.

Take a moment to read this brief article. This was written by a 15 year old child. Kids today are far more sophisticated than in years past yet the model for our public school system has essentially remained unchanged for decades. We are losing them. Shame on us.

There is a wide open market for a modern, progressive private school that is able to be flexible and innovative, one that will offer suggestions instead of directives, encourage creativity rather than knowledge, and guide its students based on where their passions lie rather than forced mediocrity in several general areas. The first step in this direction can be seen in this example of an online school based out of Lawrence, KS which is available to students worldwide.

By guest blogger Josh Bulloc

An immature employee feels he is entitled to a job just because he has been there a certain number of years.  An immature employee expects his job to be there until he retire. An immature employee thinks he deserves a raise because he is on the job for a certain period of time.  An immature employee only complains about his problems and does nothing about it.  An immature employee has every excuse why he cannot change his life.  An immature employee is just trading his life for dollars.  An immature employee allows life to push him around.  An immature employee is always looking for ways to get out of work.  An immature employee only enjoys the weekend.

An immature entrepreneur knows that he earns his work through the results he produces.  An immature entrepreneur loves his work so much that he would never retire.  An immature entrepreneur earns more money by serving more people, better.  An immature entrepreneur sees a problem as an opportunity for a solution and to learn.  An immature entrepreneur knows that all his problems are based on the choices he made and that knowledge gives him the ultimate ability to change his future.  An immature entrepreneur knows the truth that only he can change his life.  An immature entrepreneur knows he can leverage his skills to make money while his is not actively working.  An immature entrepreneur sets goals and lives his life deliberately.  An immature entrepreneur is always looking for ways to serve others better.  An immature entrepreneur enjoys his life.

How can I help?

Josh Bulloc, The Bootstrap Coach, is a lifestyle expert and small business coach based in Kansas City, MO.  You can read more from Josh at his blog joshssimplelife.wordpress.com and his website www.joshbulloc.com.

Why do we work in an office? If you stop and think about it, in many cases it really doesn’t make sense.

The concept of being in a chair from ”X” start time to ”X” end time all began with the mass implementation of the assembly line. (You can thank Henry Ford for that.) The assembly line was capable of producing a certain number of products per hour. The more hours worked, the greater the number of products manufactured. Bosses watched over employees to make sure they were working so that the maximum number of gadgets were produced each hour.

Today, we are moving to an information based society. We tend to produce ideas rather than widgets. We are now paid for results, not hours. So what if you were able to produce those results in 6 hours per day? 4? Maybe 2? Would that efficiency be a bad thing? Does the metric of “hours” even make sense? And if the results weren’t there, the boss would certainly know. He could easily determine this without standing over your shoulder 8 hours a day.

If the world were to begin tomorrow, no one would suggest we work from an office because, quite simply, it’s illogical.

What I like most about Tim Ferris’ book is that he gives you the nuts and bolts, the “how to” behind starting your business or finding a product to sell or networking with the right people. Many books gloss over this important information, assuming you already know. Not here.

Tim has a very no-nonsense approach and displays a stunning mastery of efficiency. When he says 4 hour workweek, he means it. This is no exaggeration and he shows you in plain English how to achieve exactly that.

Are you time poor?

You may have a lot of money. Lots of money gets you lots of stuff. But is life passing you by? Entrepreneur Tim Ferris refers to the “new rich” as having plentiful money and time.

Is your new car or your big house or the resulting bragging rights worth sacrificing your humanity? Is that success?

“Lost time is never found again.” ~ Benjamin Franklin