My General Interests :)

Success in any entrepreneurial endeavor is contingent on a simple
truth: Learning does not always require thinking.

Actually, thinking often hinders learning. Hinders learning? That
flies in the face of most of what we know, doesn’t it? As
children we were often reproached when we made mistakes: “You
just weren’t thinking! Don’t you ever think about what you’re
doing?”

Then there’s the most successful personal development book of all
time telling us to do what? …That’s right, “Think and Grow
Rich”. True it is a fantastic book and a must read for success
minded people. But many of us get so tangled in thoughts that we
can’t get out of our “heads” and take the action required for
success.

Socrates, one of the greatest “thinkers” of all time, said,
“Action equals knowledge.” Action, not thinking, is how we
achieve results. Take playing the piano for instance. We could
think about playing the piano but we will never become better
until we start pecking away at the keys. If you were to ask an
accomplished pianist to think about what they are playing in the
middle of a rapturous concert, the music would probably fall
apart into a series of painfully disconnected notes.

Same is true with typing. Ask a person who flawlessly types over
70 words a minute to think about the key strokes, and you could
probably watch the mistakes pile up. Thinking hinders execution.
Thinking can hinder success. The fact of the matter is we can
intellectualize all we want, but until we take action we will
never accomplish anything.

There is a mantra in the martial arts that says “Ready, Fire,
Aim”. Simply put, this means take action and correct that action
as you go. It is quite probable that many businesses never get
out of the starting gate because of over-thinking and over
analyzing. Most people want all their ducks to be lined up in a
row before they begin. This will never happen. The time will
never be perfect. The key is to get started and then “keep on
keeping on.”

In the martial arts, students practice moves over and over and
over again. They train their bodies to transcend thought and take
action in the moment. Imagine a trained martial artist getting
attacked on the street thinking, “Hmm, okay I’m being attacked.
Should I turn my body this way or should it be the other way?
Okay, now I have to trap the assailments arms, tighten my fists,
pull back, and strike.”

Of course this is not what happens in the martial arts. The key
teaching in the martial arts is to ACT. NOW! …In spite of the
mind’s tenancy to analyze the situation.

The worst kind of thinking is fear of failure. The “What if”
disease. “What if I fail? What if people laugh at me? What if I
lose all my money? What if, what if, what if?

Fear is paralyzing. It stops the movement necessary for success.
Fear weakens our resolve, cripples our creativity, and ultimately
stagnates our successes. Conversely, movement overcomes fear.
When struck by fear, move. Do something!

So, don’t wait to explore your entrepreneurial spirit; take
action now. When those pesky thoughts creep up, and they will,
scare them away with the mantra, “Don’t think, don’t think, don’t
think, don’t think…” and watch your dreams and goals cascade
toward you.

What is the bottom line? “Don’t think and grow rich.”

Developing your will power is directly related to your success in
life. No one can over-estimate the power of your will to do.

Most people do not fail because of a lack of education. History
is filled with uneducated or poorly educated millionaires who
didn’t let this supposed shortcoming hold them back. On the
contrary, what they may have lacked in education was obliterated
by their overpowering will to succeed, no matter how many times
they failed along the way.

It is the lack of determination and will power that is the true
reason so many people fail. Just as an athlete trains for a
physical game that takes concentrated effort, the mind must be
trained with the proper skills to win in life.

The process of obtaining this self-mastery — the complete
command of your mind’s powers — is a gradual one. It involves
determination and the daily task of making it a habit. Once you
have self-mastery, the cost of obtaining it will bring a real
sense of accomplishment and a realization how minimal the cost
really was in the long run.

You don’t need to be a genius to succeed — just make yourself do
the thing you need to do when it has to get done, whether you
like it or not. This is one of the best lessons you can learn.

When Henry Ward Beecher was asked how he could accomplish so much
more than others, he replied, “I don’t do more, but less than
others. They do all their work three times. Once in anticipation,
once in actuality, and once in rumination. I do mine in actuality
alone, so I end up doing things just once.”

Beecher could concentrate his mind on what he was doing at a
given moment. Then he’d go do something else and concentrate on
his new task. One of the secrets of a successful life is the
ability to focus all of our energies on one thing at a time.

Don’t waste time worrying as it only crowds your thoughts with
worthless clutter. Focus on what you’re doing when you’re doing
it, and stop worry before it stops you. Worry is an energy
vampire. It reduces your chances for success and it can make life
miserable for those around you.

Learning to focus your efforts is the only way you will achieve
the success you’re capable of achieving. The earlier in life you
learn this simple fact, the more likely you will overcome
everything that slows you down and prevents you from reaching
true success in everything you do.

Here’s a recipe for a wasted life — just go about every day
trying to do too many things all at once. Splitting yourself up
into a hundred little parts leads to nowhere.

Yes, there are some people who like to juggle a number of tasks,
and they may be good at it, but for most of us the need to
concentrate on one task at a time is imperative to getting the
job done. It’s not the amount of work you get done in a day or
week or even a year, but it’s your persistence in constantly
moving forward that will get you where you want to go.

Keep at it! And remember …

Focus, Focus, Focus.