Gotta Love Fall.

Does this shirt indicate that the wearer is not concerned about money ??

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7 Tips for Overcoming Feelings of Inadequacy

1. Remind yourself that you are not who other people think or say you are.

2. Remind yourself that everybody makes mistakes at times, has areas of weakness, and things they want to change.

3. Remind yourself of ways in which you’ve grown and changed with time. You’re not who you once were - so celebrate how far you’ve come.

4. Also, the ending isn’t written and the future isn’t fixed. You’re free to change your image, and an old identity.

5. Identify the lies you have believed about yourself – and work on changing them so they’re more accurate and true. Also, don’t reinforce those lies by acting like you think they’re true.

6. Remember that your feelings are not the same as facts. Don’t live based on your feelings … as that will keep you trapped.

7. Hang out with those who see, and who appreciate, your worth. And take their words to heart, and let them help to build you up.

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HOW TO STAY MOTIVATED AS AN ENTREPRENEUR

I believe motivation is highly subjective and that each person has a unique motivational catalyst. So this post isn’t actually written to motivate you (LOL). What this post will do, however, is give you 3 distinct suggestions on how you can generally stay motivated by yourself. These are based on observations made in my brief time working with entrepreneurs. Of course, like with anything, this is not a closed list.

1. Have Passion For What You Do:

You’ve heard this plenty of times, I know, it’s annoying to me too. But we wouldn’t hear it so often if it wasn’t so important.

Steve Jobs, when addressing a crowd at his alma mater, famously said “You’ve got to find what you love. And that is as true for your work as it is for your lovers.”

Do what you love, and not in an airy fairy, kumbaya kind of way. If you derive actual pleasure from what you do, you are likely to be more motivated than the average person. It follows that people who do what they love will approach their work with a guaranteed level of enthusiasm. I don’t think this needs a great deal of explanation.

2. Find A Suitable Co-Founder:

Some of the best companies in the world were started by co-founders (e.g. Apple, Microsoft, Procter & Gamble, etc.). Often, a start-up is launched and maintained through a combination of expertise, which, for complex projects, is hardly ever held by a single person. Sometimes it takes 2 or 3 people to start a project. So the importance of compatible co-founders cannot be stressed enough.

Like with every endeavour, there will be challenges that dampen the passion. The honeymoon period WILL end, and co-founders need to understand their effect on each other because this can serve as the necessary spark to push each other forward. During a slump in motivation, if you don’t feel more motivated after speaking with your co-founder, he or she may not be the right person for you to work with.

Some questions you should ask about your co-founder - When you are not feeling your best will they be able to take control? Do they create a mood which is conducive to productivity? How do you feel after talking to them about a hurdle you are facing? Do they actually have the capacity to perform the tasks that are needed to drive the project forward?

To achieve the best results, be brutally honest with yourself when answering these questions. Based on your answers, you may need to make some changes.

I left the first business I started at University because I could no longer work with my co-founder. The person whom I had originally chosen as my co-founder because of his technical knowledge of the (media) industry became the reason for my loss of enthusiasm. I am not sure what the root cause was, but my co-founder started developing a habit of killing the business relationships I had worked hard to build (and other bad habits, which are best left unmentioned). In turn, our reputation as a serious business began to take a knock. But this wasn’t yet the issue. The real issue was his inability to realise his problem, and then act in accordance with such realisation. 

Needless to say, I was brutally honest with myself - I just did not believe that he had the capacity to perform necessary tasks anymore, so I cut all professional ties with him.

3. Figure Out Your Motivational Currency

I define motivational currency as: a positive response which fuels the desire to be productive.

For example, I run a consulting business. Now, as much as I love what I do, there are mornings which feel completely hopeless (because - life) and my reason for continuing has escaped me. However, my mood suddenly changes when I get up from my bed, check my mail, and find an email from an entrepreneur requesting my services. After viewing this email, I feel a new energy, a sense of purpose, which prompts me to keep going. I am motivated, and the email is my motivational currency. 

If you are an outdoor event organiser whose event receives good reviews on social media and in the local papers, such reviews are your motivational currency because they prompt you to repeat the amount of effort put into your work, in pursuit of the same or an even better response from your market. 

This type of “currency” is different for different businesses, and is usually controlled by external factors. We cannot determine when motivational currency will be forthcoming, but the more work we put in, the more motivational currency we are likely to receive. (i.e. the more good work I do for my existing clients, the more likely I am to wake up to an email requesting my services.)

Conclusion:

Staying motivated is, in my opinion, the most important thing for any entrepreneur. You can do anything you set your mind to with the right amount of motivation. Conversely, you can do very little without it. This is why it is crucial for entrepreneurs to find what motivates them, and have ready access to it whenever it’s needed.

So print this. Put it on your wall, and highlight the points which speak to you the most. Every time you feel demotivated, give it a quick read, and remind yourself of the ways in which you can regain your motivation.

As always, thanks for reading. I promise to make it a shorter read next time.

There are two types of mistakes: mistakes of ambition and mistakes of sloth.

The 4-Hour Workweek (via paninapress)

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Logo design is like the idea of the lean startup. Each iteration gets you one step closer. Awesome lesson in this.

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Startup business | logo concept

A worthy goal will do both.

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When life knocks you down, you realize how much power you have.

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HOW TO GET THE MOST OUT OF SOCIAL MEDIA AUTOMATION

Work Smart Show daily blog.

Now please don’t think I am scared of or anti-technology, in fact it both amazes and frustrates me. I am far from a Luddite taking to a computer with a hammer, well sometimes, but there are some parts of technology that I could do without. I am talking specifically about the auto likes, auto followers and auto DM’s on Twitter.

Almost every time I post an article or daily blog I will receive a notification a second later telling me that someone has liked, retweeted or commented on this. Now please don’t think I am bragging in fact it is quite the opposite; this will be a company targeting a keyword that I have used such as ‘entrepreneur’ or ‘business’. At first I would follow the account because of their like but very quickly stopped when I understood their tactic. They are trying to illicit a human response, a like or follow, with a system set to auto-pilot.

The other example of is auto DM’s when you follow someone. I have read the auto DM’s of three people. Only three of the 1,810 people that I currently follow. When I receive a DM stating “XX person sent you a link” I don’t even open the message. To have people open and respond to your DM’s you need to respect them, their time, needs and wants. Almost no one on twitter wants a link to your site, training course or sure fire way of earning an income at home. Also if you have set up your profile correctly the follower would have already seen this information and links in your bio.

Now let me tell you about the three that I did open and respond to even though I knew they were auto DM’s. The first was when I followed @begosite and received the message “Are you the DIY type of person, or would you rather someone else do things for you?” There was no link, no promotional material even though this is an account for a DIY website builder. This lead to a very interesting DM conversation about outsourcing and what work as an entrepreneur or business you could or would outsource. It also lead me to follow all of the accounts linked to this; @bruceandeddy and @butchewing and receive a similar auto DM; “Would you rather see us as giant corporation or small business?”

Now aside from being another interesting topic for a blog post some other day these accounts went to the time of posing an interesting auto DM question, then taking time to converse in depth once I answered instead of spamming me with promotional material that I would resent.

I have said on the Work Smart Show podcast that I don’t mind advertising if it is interesting and relevant to me and in the same way I don’t mind auto DM’s as long as they are engaging and not self-promoting.

So I give you this challenge; do you have a auto DM? Is it engaging or simply more of your site and contact details? Take time today to work this into an engaging question and then answer the responses. What have you got to lose? After all have you honestly ever made a sale, gained a listener or fan through an auto DM?

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There’s a phrase that’s often used in upper management: “Don’t talk about it, be about it.” Good ideas are worthless. Your ability to execute them will bring value. This is true no matter how much capital you have to invest into your business.

Yoda speaks.

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