SCORE!

Yeah, they're awesome. My meeting with the SCORE advisor was great. It really is what they make it out to be. It's free, professional consulting for business owners. That's cool.

I met with Bill, who spent forty(ish) years in the insurance industry as a risk management specialist. He was very helpful in bringing forth a perspective that is easily over-looked amongst the zeal of the young entrepreneur: the risk factor. If you're diving into a new project, there's often potential for a large payout. Being focused on that is good, but the risk can't be swept under the rug.

It turns out, there's risk everywhere. If you don't like risk, stay in bed. You might get bedsores though, and that's risky too. The people who take the big risks are the ones who receive the payout. The ones that are exceptionally risky often are exceptionally successful. Bill Gates, Warren Buffet, and Steve Jobs wouldn't have been successes if they hadn't taken risks. If they hadn't challenged the status quo. If they hadn't been different, they would've been the same as everyone else.

Yeah, it's risky to be different. In my opinion, it's worth it.

Oh yeah. SCORE is great. Double thumbs up, guys.

I have a meeting this afternoon. I'm meeting with a SCORE counselor to ask some questions regarding this blog, my car detailing company, Eclipse, and get a second opinion on some of the other projects I'm currently involved with.

If you haven't heard of the Service Corps Of Retired Executives, I recommend doing a little research on them; it seems like an excellent organization. Check out their website: score.org. They seem to have a great program. For those of you in the Vancouver area, there's a chapter at Clark College. Just sign up for an appointment, and you'll get a confirmation email shortly.

Before I brag it up too much, I'll go check it out and see what it's all about. I'll be sure to bring a report back for you.

Goodness in Books

Good books are good.

As Seth Godin says in Linchpin (the third from the top), "It's not an accident that successful people read more books."

Read on, my friends!

The Genius and the Soldier

I was reading in Seth Godin's book Linchpin (an excellent read) about our brain, and I learned something fascinating. Our brain is made up of two parts: The Daemon and the Resistance. In an nutshell, the daemon where all our great ideas come from. It's what make us unique and special. It the source of love, kindness, and generosity. It's what makes each of us a genius. The resistance is the other part; the part that does everything it can to keep the daemon quiet. The resistance is afraid. It's the soldier that keeps us safe. And it invents issues, problems, and illnesses to keep us from tapping into our daemon. That's interesting.

The deal is, if we're going to do anything out of the ordinary, challenge the status quo, or put great plans into action, we need to get past the resistance. The minute we have an idea, the resistance will spout out a thousand reasons why it's not a good idea. (You may have experienced this phenomenon this morning while you were snuggled under your warm comforter, totally not wanting to get up.) However, unless you're still in bed, you got past the resistance. It's possible to get past it; it just takes training.

We need to recognize the resistance when we see it. There are tell-tale signs of it's presence when we have thoughts of fear, anger, pain, or failure. When these things come around, we need to douse the resistance and move on. Notice that I've been saying "get past the resistance." It is something we have to get past. We can't eliminate it (unless we hack off half of our brain), but we can overcome it.

I'll talk a little more about the resistance later on this week. Until then, get over failure. Get over the comfort of fitting in. Get over the status quo. Then, let your brain work.

You're a genius.

You are what you...

I was reminded of an important phenomenon yesterday: You are who you hang out with. You also are what you eat, read, watch, think about, and do.

If you don't like the way some of these are going, it's up to you to change it. No one else will change it for you.

I've been told many times to surround myself with people smarter than myself, and when I do, I always learn something. I suggest you try it out for yourself. In doing this, however, we have to be very discerning in choosing who we learn from. Teaching styles alone can shape the way we think and act. Find a few trustworthy people with a mentor attitude, tell them what you hope to gain from your relationship, and you're set up. Anyone worth listening to will be happy to take you under their wing.

Occasionally you'll find yourself questioning your mentor's advice or viewpoint. This isn't a cause for alarm, it's just a good time for you to seek out a second or third opinion.

This seems obvious at best. It is. However, I'm the kind of guy that needs reminders. Often. I trust I'm not the only one in this big world that does.

Who are you hanging out with?