Replace These Two Limiting Words From Your Vocabulary

positive talk

“Don’t stare at the sun too long.” “Eat your dinner before dessert.” “If you keep making that face, it’ll stick.”

We’ve all heard them — those cliché pieces of advice that parents give their kids. And for the most part, we follow their advice. I eat my dinner first. I don’t stare at the sun. And now it’s my wife who tells me to stop making funny faces in public (sorry, hun!).

But there is one piece of advice perhaps told more often than anything else:

You can do anything you want if you put your mind to it.

But that’s BS, right?

There are limitations. There are conditions. There are rules. There are impossibilities.

Or are there?

What if the simple answer to achieving massive success in your business was staring at you in the face all along. What if you really could do anything you put your mind to?

What if your mom was right?

The truth is, everything is possible, and if you want to achieve success in your business and in your life, you need to believe that.

Let me teach you a simple exercise. I want you to eliminate two simple words from your vocabulary and see how your business grows.

What are those words?

I can’t.

We all say it all the time: I can’t.

“It won’t work.” “It doesn’t happen like that.” “I can’t afford it.” “I can’t find it.” “I can’t build that.” “We can’t finance that!”

I’m tired of hearing it!

For one week, stop being a negative Nancy and try this:

Instead of saying “I can’t,” train your brain instead to turn this negative statement into a positive question.

Instead of “I can’t,” ask “How can I?”

It’s a subtle change, but a powerful one. If you can eliminate this one simple phrase from your life and replace it with this question, your whole life, both business and personal, can change.

I first encountered this mindset shift when reading Rich Dad Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki. In this book, Kiyosaki tells the story of his two “fathers,” one rich and one poor. His poor dad always said, “I can’t afford it.” His rich dad always asked, “How can I afford it?”

As Kiyosaki explains, changing your words from a statement to a question allows your brain to start working. Suddenly, you begin thinking and planning. You strategize. You learn. You grow.

And before you know it, the thing you said couldn’t be done is done.

Replacing two words helped me grow my business.

I recently bragged to a friend how much one of my small entrepreneurial projects had made in one month, but due to bad cell phone reception, he misunderstood me.

I told him $1,000 but he heard “$10,000.” After several minutes of us chatting, I finally realized he misunderstood me, so I corrected him. I think my exact words were, “Hah, $10,000 in one month? I can’t do that!”

“Why not?” he answered.

Like a ton of bricks, I suddenly came face to face with what I was doing. I was limiting myself. I was applying negativity to the situation when I should have been asking a question. I was forcing my brain to stop working. I was giving in to failure.

That day I changed my mindset and began to ask, “How can I?”

My wife and I, who were on vacation at the time, sat down with a pencil and paper and brainstormed ways to actually achieve that $10,000 number. No matter how wild and crazy the idea was, we wrote it down.

Within 60 days, I had that project bringing in $10,000 per month.
You see, because I thought it was impossible, it was. My mind never even considered it. But as soon as I began asking the question “how?” I went to work on answering it.

What are you saying “I can’t” to?

It’s time for some honesty. Think back to the past week. When have you used the words “I can’t?” When have you shut your brain off? When have you let an attitude of failure, rather than an attitude of success, rule in your life? Transform these statements:

Instead of “I can’t raise money for my business,” try “How can I raise money for my business?”

Instead of “I can’t get 1,000,000 users on my app,” try “How can I get 1,000,000 users on my app?”

Instead of “I can’t buy a rental property,” try “How can I buy a rental property?”

Instead of “I can’t get Christopher Walken to sing karaoke at my birthday party,” try “How can I get Christopher Walken to sing karaoke at my birthday party?! (I’m still working on this one …)”

You get the picture.

Make it your goal this week to eliminate the words “I can’t” from your vocabulary. You don’t need ’em! Embrace the advice your mom gave you as a child and realize it isn’t cliche.

You can do anything you put your mind to.

Source: Entreprenuer.com ~ Author: Brandon Turner

10 Habits for Success From Two Billionaires

I have spent decades “being educated” — in college, graduate school, numerous professional certifications, and now a Ph.D. program. All of that schooling and training helped shape the person I am today, but at no point in my life has there been a more profound education than my time working for Enver Yucel and Oprah Winfrey.

Enver and Oprah are two extraordinary people. And on top of that, they’re both billionaires. On the surface, they appear to be totally different people. They are in different industries, have different family structures, practice different religions, and speak different languages. However, once you get past their written biographies and dig deeper, you will notice they possess many of the same successful habits.

I had the opportunity to work with both Oprah and Enver for six years collectively and those were, hands down, the best professional experiences of my life. I worked my ass off for them and in doing so absorbed everything I could.

It’s my honor to share with you what I learned from them. Here is Part 1 of the 20 successful habits I learned working for two billionaires:

1) Invest in Yourself

This is a very simple concept, but something you would think someone who has “made it” would stop doing. Not at all for these two. I saw them both spend a significant amount of time dedicating their resources to self-development (whether it be a new language, exercise, social media classes, etc.). The moment you stop investing in yourself is the moment you have written off future dividends in life.

2) Be Curious… About Everything

What the average person sees as mundane or overly complicated is not viewed the same way with a billionaire mindset. I once had a 30-minute conversation with Enver about the height of the curbs in Washington DC versus Istanbul, Turkey. Billionaires are incredibly curious; what the rest of the world thinks is a problem and complains about — that’s what these people go and work on.

3) Surround Yourself With “Better” People

I hope this is why they kept me around. Seriously, I never knew my bosses to keep anyone less-than-stellar in their inner circle. There were many times I thought to myself, “Damn, they have dream teams built around them.” Jim Rohn had it right, “You are the average of the 5 people you spend the most time with.”

4) Never Eat Alone

The last time I had dinner with Enver, as well as the last time I ate dinner with Oprah, there were easily 15 people at our tables, respectively. Coincidence? While most of us derive our key information from blogs or the newspaper, power players get their information from the source (other power players), directly. However, just because you can’t call up the Obamas and break bread with them doesn’t mean eating with others in your circle doesn’t carry value. In one of my favorite reads of the last few years called Never Eat Alone, author Keith Ferrazzi breaks down how you can identify “information brokers” to dine with you. I’ve seen firsthand how enormous the benefits are of this strategy.

5) Take Responsibility for Your Losses

I was working for Oprah during the time she was taking heat from the media about poor network ratings. I was also working for Enver during the closing of one of his prized divisions. What I witnessed them both do in response was powerful. Opposed to covering the losses up with fancy PR tactics, both stepped to the stage and said in essence “I own it and I’m going to fix it” and dropped the mic. Guess what? They sure did fix things (It’s widely noted Oprah’s network is realizing rating gold and Enver’s assets have probably doubled since the division closing).

6) Understand The Power Of “Leverage”

This is something that was quite a shock to me. From afar, a billionaire appears to be someone who is a master at everything. But, in truth, they’re specialists in one or a few areas and average or subpar at everything else. So, how do they get so much done? Leverage! They do what they do best and get others to do the rest. Here’s a great article on leverage. Keep in mind I see this done with wealthy people and their money all of the time — they use OPM (other people’s money) for most or all of their projects.

7) Take No Days Off (Completely)

I recall going on vacation with Enver several times, yachting up and down the southwestern coast of Turkey (also known as the blue voyage). Sounds ballerific, right? No doubt we had a great time, but mixed in with all that swimming and backgammon was a discussion of business, discussion of strategy, planning, and plotting. The best way I can describe this habit is thinking about your business or your idea like your literal baby. No matter your distance, you don’t stop thinking of him/her (and after just having a second son, I can attest to this).

8) Focus On Experiences vs. Material Possessions

When you have money, your toys are big. However, the vast majority of money I saw spent on their “leisure” was on actual experiences versus the typical car, jewelry, and clothes we’re familiar with seeing in music videos and gossip blogs. I recall one time at dinner with Oprah, I spotted a table of about 20 girls off to the side. I later found out Ms. Winfrey was treating some of her graduating girls from her school in South Africa to dinner in NYC. Experiences create memories, and memories are priceless.

9) Take Enormous Risks

This is another one of those successful habits every entrepreneur can attest to. A matter of fact, Entreprenuer.com created a great infographic outlining commonalities of the world’s billionaires and one of the most prominent was this characteristic: billionaires are not adverse to risk. What intrigues me even more about Enver and Oprah was that even at their high financial status and success level, they still possessed a willingness to risk their most precious asset (their name and legacy) on new and bolder projects. If you’re not taking risks, you’re not making moves!

10) Don’t Go At It Alone

Nothing great in life is achieved alone. Especially in business, success isn’t a solo act. This character trait is akin to “surrounding yourself with better people.” It takes teamwork to make the dream work.

Source: huffingtonpost.com ~ Author: Paul C. Brunson ~ Image: Canva Pro

4 Ways to Max Out the 40-Hour Workweek

Entrepreneur

In today’s 24/7 world, is the 40-hour workweek still possible or is it a pipe dream?

It is absolutely possible; you just need to work smarter, not harder.

In my role as VP of Communications at Porch.com, a home-improvement network, I communicate this philosophy to my team along with the importance of adopting work-life balance principles.

So how can other businesses implement these ideologies? They need to have a plan of action.

To help people crack the code for how to create an efficient and impactful 40-hour workweek, here are four methods to set a course for successfully working smarter, not harder.

1. Ignore the visibility trap.

Over the years I have observed one consistent action that extends their workweek well beyond 40-hours: The never ending quest for visibility. The No. 1 sign you are stuck in the visibility trap is you are going to too many meetings and particularly meetings you don’t really need to go to. Why is this trap so common? I have found that many people may feel left out or left behind if they are not at every meeting with their colleagues. Ignore this trap. I know it can be hard, but if you are in meetings, chances are you are not working.

How do you ignore this? Meetings are expensive so don’t spend valuable minutes in meetings you don’t really need to be in. Do a hardcore audit of your meetings. What is being discussed in the meeting that you can’t get after the fact? Does the meeting really need to be 60 minutes or can it be 30 minutes? What are the goals of the meeting? If a meeting does not have a structured agenda, clear roles for participants and a set of desired outcomes, it is probably not going to be a great use of your time.

2. Outcomes over activities.

Throughout the day you need to ask yourself, are you producing tangible outcomes or are you just participating in activities that you think are important? If you don’t have any goals in mind for the week, you won’t know if you are on track and driving actual value to the business. When this happens you also won’t have clarity, predictability or know if the week was truly a success (and if you spent your time on the right things).

How do you do this? Set up weekly priorities and stick to them. Communicate daily with your manager to ensure you are always on the right track and your week is setup for success. Are you getting the right support and resources? Do things need to change on the priority list? Have a conversation on Monday to set the table for the week. When you get to Friday, how will you know that the week was a success? If you focus on the outcomes over activities you are halfway there.

Only you can truly control the fate of your week. Yes, things come up that you can’t plan for, but if you are focused on working with your manager on the right outcomes, you will have the air cover you need to stay focused on the task at hand. If you allow people to pull you off on the wrong path you will lose focus. Pick your spots, leverage the help of others, and control your day in a way that keeps you in the driver’s seat.

How do you do this? At the beginning of the day take a serious look at the day ahead. What MUST get done? What needs to happen to hit your daily goals? If you feel randomized call a time-out and reassess how you will carve up your time for the rest of the day.

4. Fly above the noise.

When you need to truly get work done nothing matters more than finding a way to fly about the noise. You can easily fall behind if you are spending too much time chatting in the hallways with colleagues, taking extended lunches, getting wrapped up in conversations and other activities that pull you away from the task at hand.

How do you do this? Stay heads down. Stay off Facebook and Twitter. Don’t get wrapped up in the gossip chains. Ignore the shiny objects. If you can do that you are well on your way to maximizing out your workweek to produce great results.

Source: entrepreneur.com ~ By:  ~ Image: Canva Pro

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