10 excuses only 1 reason

Here are 10 excuses people give for not starting their own business:

• I am too busy
• I can not afford it
• My spouse will not let me
• I am not interested
• I tried something else and failed
• I do not want to contact people
• This is too complicated
• I will miss my TV Shows
• This must be a pyramid
• Multilevel Marketing does not work

There is only one reason they give those 10 excuses: fear.

Just about everyone I contact is the result of a lead. The person requesting the information clicked on a link on the internet, read a bunch of information about our business and actually entered their contact information requesting more information about getting involved in a business. The only thing keeping them back was a four letter word FEAR.

There are a number of things that create the fear response and they all happen subconsciously. Clearly these people want to get started in a business and they want to do better, why else would they click on the link and request information?

Fear is the result of something that pushes us out of our comfort zone. Before the contact they read some information that got them excited and they were looking to get started. Then the dreaded phone call from a stranger, the first hit to the fear factory. Next some more exciting information and thoughts that you may actually have to get started in something new and different, strike two on the fear engine. Strike three comes somewhere around the second or third day, if the person even got far enough to ask you to get started. You can hear the umpire scream “strike three” and all the negative thoughts start racing around your head telling yourself why this is not a good idea and out comes the excuse. Then for about 1 second after the call you are relived.

What happens next for most people is the reverse or the fear of not starting. You were clearly interested that is why you clicked on the link. You probably needed a change and were looking for something better and you let it pass you by. Next are thoughts of remorse for being a coward and not jumping at the chance to better yourself and better your family.

Fortunately it is never too late to take the next step. There are hundreds of opportunities to better your life. As with anything some are better then others. If you speak to almost anyone that has been successful you will find a history of past failure. The important thing is to learn from the past and keep stepping up to the plate. Failure teaches us two things, the first is what not to do and the second is what we need to do better next time. It took over 2000 experiments before Thomas Edison found the correct carbon thread to make the light bulb work. When asked about his efforts he replied:

"The electric light has caused me the greatest amount of study and has required the most elaborate experiments. I was never myself discouraged, or inclined to be hopeless of success. I cannot say the same for all my associates." - Thomas Alva Edison

His message was clear, it did not matter what anyone else had done, that others had failed, or how long it took. He was resolved to find the solution to the problem and thankfully he was successful.

What happened to the dream?

I watch my 3 year old grandson and it reminds me of my childhood. It's funny how we forget about our youth as the years roll by. As he plays with his action figures you can just see him becoming batman in his mind or imagining he is really flying his toy helicopter.

We all start out life full of hopes and dreams. When we are young we have a grand vision of our future and the drive that nothing will stop us from meeting our goals. But as we mature we watch the failure around us and we finish school and the reality of life hits us head on. Bills, relationships, children, and the cost of continuing education all become road blocks to our success. For most of us they turn into the excuses that help us justify missing out on our dreams of success.

For most people as time passes our dreams become fond memories of our childhood instead of a future goal. People are quick to trade in their hopes and dreams for mediocre.

Where we really reaching for something that was so far out of reach that it was impossible to obtain? For most of us the answer is NO. Dreaming of being the leader or obtaining riches is not out of reach of any body in our society. In this country we can be what we want and we have unlimited earning potential. Still most of us reach adult hood and quit trying. Several years ago I spent a year as a volunteer and committee chairperson on the Special Olympics. As we got closer to the games I watched the athletes, some severely handicapped expend everything in them to compete and win. This just demonstrates how anyone in our society can succeed if they go out and give it everything.

We can blame our education system, our years of being a nation of plenty and a number of other things but the truth is we can only blame ourselves for not setting a goal and making it critical that we continue until we reach that goal. Since most of us don't learn how to invest money, we aren't taught about the stock market or to seek multiple forms of income we must teach ourselves. These are all techniques used by the rich. The concept of multiplex income, residual income and networks are what allow them to enjoy success. Many people I speak to think of multiplex income and multiple streams of income as being some form of scam this is why they never obtain wealth. The scam is that you can become wealthy or even comfortable getting paid by the hour in a job. Most people really understand that but they just don't know any other way to pay the bills.

Our continuing education and the education of our young must start at home. We are also taught little on goal setting and follow-through. Follow through to our public school system is finishing your homework and attending class regularly. Don't these teachings sound more like good habits then goals? A far cry from what we will need to succeed in the world beyond school.

Since our schools don't teach these techniques we need to make a conscious effort to teach them to ourselves and our children. There are a number of great self help books, CD's and DVD designed to teach us just those habits. A quick visit to Amazon.com or your local book store will show you just how many authors are dedicated to bringing us to the next level. This is one of my favorite quotes that I learned in my early 30's

"Whatever the mind of man can conceive and believe, it can achieve." W. Clement Stone.

The dreamer inside us is never lost, it just lay dormant waiting to be awoken. Before you look for that dream job, start a business, or reach for that higher position take a few days to teach yourself the habits of successful people. Above all never stop trying or dreaming. You can only fail when you have exhausted all possibilities and stopped trying.

Finding the diamonds in a field of stones

Did you ever wonder how many people you need to contact to be successful in your business? The answer is 1,200 people on average will result in 12 executive leaders.

Before you jump ships thinking that finding 1,200 people is an insurmountable goal listen to these statistics:

• 1 out of 3 people you contact will look at your business and products
• Of the people that remain 1 out of 3 of those people will take action and get started
• Of the people that get started 1 out of 3 will stick with the business

Action equals results so keep trying. Action will result in income opportunities beyond finding executive leaders. While you are searching for the 12 best people out of a group of 1,200 you will also be finding customers and resellers.

We run into interesting people everyday. Do you make an effort to start a conversation with any of them? A simple Good Morning or Wow how about this weather is enough to establish a bond with people you run into. If the person seems open to your contact and responds in a friendly nature try to strike up a conversation. If all goes well before you part company offer a business card with a line like:

You are such a friendly person, I am expanding my business in this area and I am looking for friendly, motivated people like you. If I give you my business card can we set up a time when we can speak about this further?

If the person asks what this is about, simply let them know that you will need about 10 minutes of their time, but you dont have time right then. Then give them a closing line like I guarantee this is the most exciting thing I have ever seen, trust me if you dont feel the same way I would be very surprised

Always try to get their number and follow-up with a meeting reminder so they dont miss the meeting.

Did you know there are three types of income?

Did you know that there are three different types of income? When I left school I thought you had to go to work everyday to earn a paycheck and if I wanted to make more money I had to build a business and hire people. Then I could make more money off of their efforts. It took me 20 years to figure out that this was only creating a lifetime of stress, long hours, missed vacations, and the slowest way in history to get rich. Chances are I wouldn’t be in a place of comfort until I was 65, if I survived that long. That sounds worse than a job, right? It was! Unfortunately this is what we teach in our school system. Most of our society exits school looking for a job that will pay enough to cover living expenses and a vehicle to get them back and fourth to that job. Of course we dreams and ambitions, but those are always somewhere in the future. So why doesn’t our school system have classes on how to identify and earn residual income? If you have an answer on this please comment back.

The three different types of income are:

• Linear –You are exchanging money for time. One hour worked equals one hour paid.
• Residual – Continuing income in the form of commissions. Normally a percentage from a recurring sale from a customer you initially brought to the business.
• Multiplex – Money earned based on your efforts and the efforts of others.

Clearly the ultimate situation is to identify and capitalize on ways to generate multiplex income. For the average person without millions of dollars in the bank this is a challenge.

I would rather earn 1% off a 100 people's efforts than 100% of my own efforts. Author: Jean Paul Getty.

In today’s high tech world it is much less of a challenge. There are really two options: one would be to identify a new and unique opportunity and then begin contacting others to get them to market it for you. Is this possible, sure it is just look at the forum we are sharing this information on. A few years ago this was a dream a man name Tom created and marketed over the internet. The second is to find an existing organization with a cutting edge product, sound marketing plan, and stable company.

So what do you want to do to secure your future? There are positive and negative aspects to each of these income streams. Since there are there are few “secure” jobs that provide linear income, everyone’s goal should be to identify a way to create a residual or multiplex income that allows you to grow financially based on your efforts.