Turn Your Passion into Money

Originally Posted on Successful Thinkers Meetup by Josh Shackelford
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You will spend more time working than you will with your own family.  It is important that you do what your love.  Right now there are a lot of people hurting for an income.  Many businesses are suffering slower sales, or even a loss.  Barely keeping their head above water.  It is important that all of these business owners find their passion.  If you are are one of the unfortunate unemployed, then it is even more important that you live your passion.

 

Getting Started
When I first started down my IT career path, it wasn’t for money.  There was a large technology boom going on, but I didn’t even notice.  I didn’t pay much attention to industry trends at the time.  Instead, I was following my heart.  I enjoyed helping people.  I was going to college, studying organic chemistry, working part time as a business tech support representative.  I wanted to go into medicine to help people have a better life.  I was working tech support to aid businesses with their technical needs so that I could pay my bills.

 

My passion to help people, drove me to learn to develop websites, begin programming, and to promote other companies.  By following this passion, I became very dedicated to learning to do it better.  Passion motivates learning.  If you are passionate about something, you will continue continue to push yourself to be better.

 

Marketing
When we all go out and socialize with other, we talk about our passions.  When we meet new people, we talk about our passions.  You will naturally share your passions, and people around you will become more interested in what you have to say, as they see that passion come out of you.  The people that you meet will recognize your expertise and will be drawn to you.

 

Building a Team
The hardest part about running your own business and following your passion, is the paperwork.  Few people are passionate about paying bills, reading up on laws, paying taxes, etc.  However, you will find that there are plenty of people around you that are willing to help you succeed.  As they see that fire inside of you, they will catch it.  They will want more.  They will want to be part of what you have.  You will be able to create a win-win team for yourself and the people around you, as you all help to build each other.

 

Terrible Time to Start
Many people will tell you that it is a terrible time to start a business.  And as you begin, you might even be discouraged at the outlook of the current economic trends.  But if you look at the experts, they are all saying that now is the best time to build a business.  Business that start, build and survive through economic turmoil, will come out stronger and more successful than anyone else.  You will find that people are more desperate to work with you, it is cheaper to get started, and your customers are more loyal.  Now is the best time to get started, or to start building.

 

Looking for a Way to Start
I have been helping startups get on their feet for the last 9 years.  I have a passion to help brilliant entrepreneurs find their dreams and to find ways to achieve them.  Often people have great ideas, but run into challenges in finding economical ways to achieve them.  I can help you get the resources that you need to start your business, or to take it to the next step.  Please leave questions or comments below, and I will help point you in the right direction.  If I am unable to answer your questions, I can put you in touch with someone who is passionate about your topic, and they will help you follow you dreams and keep your passion alive.

 

Don’t Get Discouraged
As we follow our passions, we often run into things that are not so much fun.  Every job as parts that you don’t want to do, parts that your are not passionate about, and parts that you might not be that good at.  Do not get discouraged about these things.  Instead, reach out to the people around you.  Focus on your passion and let them focus on theirs.  When you come across someone passionate about their field, they will help you because they love what they do.

 Originally Posted on Successful Thinkers Meetup by Josh Shackelford

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Success Like Children - Child like Faith

Originally Posted On Successful Thinkers Meetup by Josh Shackelford

There are few things that stand out in my mind from year to year. Normally these phrases are short, incomplete sentences that pack a powerful punch behind them. There are 3 words that have just about always stuck with me, “Child like faith.” I’m not going to go in too deep on the philosophy or origin of this simple phrase, but lately it has been on my mind as I’ve been thinking of successful people.

Learn from Everyone
Recently there was a young child, only 8 years old, that was highlighted on TV, newspapers, the radio and internet. Tanner Leuellen calls himself an “Apprentice Creator”, and was published as the next Donald Trump. As an Apprentice Creator, he is learning to create anything, and looking for anyone that will give him an opportunity to learn from them.

We should all strive to have a child like faith. Success comes from trying endlessly, without giving up. Children feed off of the knowledge around them, trying endlessly to make themselves better, celebrating every step of the way.

Listen to Learn
Children are constantly listening to learn. If you watch their faces as as they listen, they are not thinking about anything else, just listening intently. Over time, as we grow up, we start to loose that. When listening to people, we all too often find our thoughts wandering to other things. Or even when our minds are focused on the conversation at hand, we are not listening to learn something, we are looking to interject. Typically we are either defending, looking to contribute, or looking for how we can show our superiority. This defensive, self-centered listening will inhibit success because it stunts our ability to learn and grow.

Believe
Children have no difficulty in accepting the truth of things. They trust their parents, grandparents, older siblings, etc… to guide them and teach them. As they begin to interact with other children, they are looking to learn from their friends. Yet, as we get older we begin to see more and more with a doubting eye – only trusting our own thoughts as dependable. Yet – is it not wiser to trust a more experienced source than ourselves when it is available? Success comes not from our sole ability to improve our lot in life – it comes from our ability to learn from and have faith in the knowledge of those who went before us.

Self-Confidence
Children have the most amazing self-confidence. Every accomplishment, even if it is something they’ve already done, is celebrated joyfully. Watch a young child as they learn to jump, dance, and throw. Every time that they jump or throw, they celebrate this advancement, and celebrate that they are able to repeat these results. They never discourage themselves with negative critiques of their skill level – children are happy to be where they are at and excited about where they will be next.

As adults we start to loose that joy. Children are focused on enjoying life and bettering themselves. They are constantly at everything and everyone to discover new ways to have fun and new skills to learn. Many top level executives are recognizing that success doesn’t just happen. They are hiring executive coaches and learning how to listen to learn. Success is more likely when those in charge value the individuals they’ve collected around themselves – and in turn listen with the purpose of learning from those valued people.

We must not forget to remember that we are continually learning and growing – and that celebrating the small things we do does not mean we do not aspire to bigger things. Don’t discourage yourself – or your team – by only dwelling on what you can not yet do. And be humble enough to recognize that we can, and should try to, learn from anyone and everyone.

Commitment
This morning, someone I admire told me that frequently people don’t commit to fixing tough issues. Often people will give up. Though he was speaking in reference to the rising divorce rate, there is a connection to be made to employees. Many employers think that their employees owe them a debt of servitude. They don’t praise the successes of their employees and over time their employees loose the joy of the job. Commitment slowly dries up, and rather than fixing the problem, they leave. Children, on the other hand, have a completely different attitude. They commit completely and figure that since they will be staying, issues need to be resolved, so that they can go back to having fun.

If you're losing good people, look to their immediate boss. The immediate boss is the reason people stay and thrive in an organization. And he's the reason why people leave. When people leave they take knowledge, experience and contacts with them, straight to the competition.

Managers can stress out employees in different ways - by being too controlling (micro-managing), too suspicious, too pushy (unrealistic demands), too critical, or even too absent. These managers forget that workers are not fixed assets, they are free agents. When this goes on too long, an employee will quit - often over a trivial issue.

Parade Your Achievements
Children are happy and parade in their accomplishments, admiring those around them, celebrating their successes as well – without jealousy or false praise. In order to complete the long race to full success, we need to fortify ourselves with each achievement – enjoy each step as it comes. Let each achievement contribute to the successful person you desire yourself to become. No success is too small to smile about!

Like children, we will always need help from others to grow. We must treat others as the valuable assets they are – to encourage them to stay close and continue to be of help. The best way to encourage the loyalty of our employees is to inject fun into the workplace. People who enjoy what they are doing, will go a lot further.

Child Like Success
All of our potential success is anything but assured. It can be easy to ruin and difficult to realize. Yet, children give us such a clear example of achieving success. We must have faith in those around us – namely our employees, colleagues, and advisors. Trust that they have something to teach you – and listen intently for those lessons. When accomplishments are made – celebrate like a child! Resist your self-critical tendencies and do a Happy Dance! Laugh out loud! Smile with pride! And remember that this is just the tip of your iceberg. Let the people around you see your glee at the work of their hands. Get excited at each step – it will encourage the next one. Commit to those around you. Treat them well to encourage their loyalty. Loyal and happy employees will offer you much – but an unappreciated one will never seek your approval (and will not hesitate to leave you in a lurch). Believe in your staff (and let them know that you do) and they will work harder for you. Put your full heart into every task (great or small) you begin – make it worth your time. You can not ace a project if you don’t believe in it’s importance.

In short – you are not likely to succeed as a negative, isolated, & arrogant island… Take a page from a toddler – Listen to Learn, Commit to Your People, and Have Fun!

Originally Posted On Successful Thinkers Meetup by Josh Shackelford

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Top 100 Cities to Start a Business

Is your city listed? 100 cities from all over the US have been selected as the best places to launch a new business.

I was depressed to see that my city (Stockton) was not on the top 100 list, but that was to be expected. After all… it has made the top 10 list for most miserable cities. So I looked a little deeper to see how close some of the top cities were, after all, a successful thinker is going to look for opportunities everywhere.

6 of the top 100 cities are within 2 hours of me.

11	American Canyon, CA	12,484
16	Novato, CA	48,410
66	San Jose, CA	895,535
68	Ventura, CA	108,143
69	Danville, CA	45,093
76	Folsom, CA	68,912

That is not too bad. I guess the next step would be to get a successful thinkers chapter started in each of these cities. Any takers? Are there any hosts or ambassadors that would like to start a mixer in these cities? Feel free to comment below.

I would actually be interested in helping anyone start a chapter in any of the cities. I notices that a couple of the cities on the list (in other states) already have chapters going.

Originally Posted At Successful Thinkers Meetup