I remember years ago while giving presentations and trainings, I would begin with a question. The question was “if you squeeze an orange what comes out?” I would be amazed at the initial facial expressions. They would then start to think I was asking a trick question. It was not a trick question. If I asked you the same question what would you say? The simple and correct answer is orange juice. The next question would be “Why?” After the many scientific answer someone would finally say the simple and correct answer “Because that’s what’s inside!” That also applies to our thinking. If we are to change our outcomes and our incomes we first must change what’s inside.

So how do we get and keep this “Successful” thinking? It must become a habit. It takes on average 21 days for any habit to take hold. So for a minimum of 21 days practice looking for opportunities. Ask questions like “Why is it done that way?”, “Is there a better way to do it?”, “What problems are many people complaining about that I have a solution for?” “What is the positive in this situation?”

This past weekend I had an opportunity to practice what I call success thinking. Over the weekend there was a power glitch at my house. The power shut off just long enough to shut down my computer and long enough to damage my hard drive! This was the drive were all my business files, web designs, programs I wrote, audio files, and 15 years of family pictures were (saved)!!! Of course all my notes for upcoming blog posts and eBooks that have not been published. This was almost 1,000 GB (1TB) worth of data. At this point I had to options. I could get upset and start a pity party in which I was the guest of honor or I could step back from the situation and look for solutions. The second option was not the easiest option, but at some point in your life you have to DECIDE to not let your emotions control your actions and do what is necessary to win. After hours of trying to get access to the data, and looking into data recovery services I had to cut my losses and start planning my next moves.

After the initial deer in the headlights wore off, I came to the conclusion that I had to start from scratch and rebuild all the projects, re-write the programs, re-record my videos and audios, and re-write my eBooks. I had to consume this giant elephant. How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time. I had to prioritize what was critical, important, and necessary. Not based on how I felt about it but based on the results I wanted. After making a list of everything I needed to get done, I prioritized them and started with the Critical and working my way down to the necessary. I know some things may take me months or maybe years to complete. The one thing that I am certain of is this. I got my wish about having a chance to start over knowing what you know now. I know this time it will be even better than before and it will take me less time to get there! Of course, how to minimize the possibilities of it happening again. This type of thinking takes time and practice to develop, but I know if I can get there so can you. It all start with imagination and knowing that problems are going to occur, and mistakes are going to happen. Just practice imaging the outcome you would like to have as often as possible and work towards it daily.

It has been proven that when we allow ourselves to imagine like a child we unleash our unlimited creative solutions. The more we practice our imagination muscle the stronger it becomes. Remember we should imagine like a child, but perform and conduct ourselves like adults. (Doing our research, planning, gather resources, taking massive action and taking responsibilities for successes and setbacks.)

Start today practicing the habits of successful thinking. Tomorrow is not promised and all you have and all you will ever have is NOW.

Wishing you the best and much success!

Dewong Lucas, Sr.

Helping Entrepreneurs.com

Please leave a comment if this has benefitted you or just let me know what you think. If you know anyone who could benefit from these post please let them know I’m here.

Sometimes you have to disobey your Parents.

Many of us probably remember when we were little. Like most children growing up, we were taught by our parents or some loving adult for us not to talk to strangers. That was very important then because we were young and little and it was very important for our survival. They told us that out of love and wanting to keep safe. Unfortunately sometimes the things that we’re taught when we’re little our young that was for our survival can sometimes as we become adults, specifically in the business that is actually detrimental. It could literally cause us death. Not physical death, but death to our business. It can be very destructive to our business because one of the most important things that you can do as a business owner, as an entrepreneur is to talk to strangers. Most of the people who you’re going deal with are going to be strangers. That’s if you want your business to survive. Remember, the strangers of today will become the customer, the employees and/or investors of tomorrow.

It’s important for us to be able to extend a hand, smile, and shake hands. Practice “The five feet Rule”. Whenever we are within five feet of someone we don’t know we should be able to walk up to them, introduce ourselves and find out about the person. Specifically if we are in networking or marketing events where we are to actually mingle with other business owners or would be business partners. Find out what they do first; then let them know what we do. It is very important for us to talk strangers. By not talking to strangers we limit ourselves to our friends and family, to the people who know. Most successful businesses don’t know all their customers personally. If you are to be successful, the majority of the customers will not be people you know. In order to expand your customer base, to expand the potential partnerships and investors it is highly important for us to be able to overcome that thought that has been imbedded in our mind about not talking to strangers.

Unfortunately, some entrepreneurs consider themselves to be shy or bashful. The thing is, we have to overcome that. I remember when I was young, I was considered to be somewhat shy. I was very afraid to talk to people. It was to the point where I was afraid to talk to my own shadow. The reality is that if we are going to do, go or grow in any area we have to be able to move yourself or push yourself out of your comfort zone. For me, I made a conscious decision after graduating High School to go to a college where I didn’t know anyone. Sink or swim. My belief is that success is where the lines of preparedness and opportunity cross. I can’t control when the opportunities will come, so I must get prepared. The funny thing is as soon as you are prepared they suddenly appear! Now I have no problem with speaking to hundreds or thousands at a time. If you need suggestions to help you push past your comfort zone, post a comment below and I make some suggestions. I if anyone else like to leave a suggestion please do so.

As mentioned earlier, the majority of the people you will be dealing with as your business grows will be strangers. Therefore, as an entrepreneurs it is very, very import to improve our speaking, listening and rapport skills. In a future blog I will be discussing how to create business rapport. How do you generate that? What do you say? What do you do? How do you meet someone? What are some of the icebreakers you could say? Not to let them know how much you know, but to find out what they know. If all you hear is what you know, you will never learn anything new. There is one phrase that works every time in networking events. “If I were to refer someone to your business, what 3 things would I need to know?” Practice this at your next business event. The beauty is that it helps them stay focused and it make you look like a confident business owner. Besides, when have you ever met an entrepreneur who did like to talk about their business? It reminds us that every customer or potential partner is always tuned to station “WIIFM”. The “What’s In It For Me” station. So our job is to allow them their 15 minutes of fame. They will love you for it.

To sum up Entrepreneurial Secret #3, sometimes we have to disobey our parents. We have to go against the belief that we have be taught and talk to strangers. They will be the bulk of our customer base. The more people you can add value to, to more people that will add value to you.

If you have any comments or things you would like for me discuss, please leave a comment. I will get back to you and possibly feature your comment and you if you like in a future post.

Thank you,

Dewong Lucas, Sr.