HUSTLE HARDER-Top 3 "To Do's" for 2012

As much as I tried to fight it off, I just couldn’t do it. There was almost an attack on 4 out of my 5 senses, and I tried my absolute best to keep all of the remarks, the insight, the opinions that I had inside… but I broke, and what you are about to read is the result of YEARS of watching, listening, and most importantly watching again. So what is it that I can’t take anymore, what drove me over the preverbal edge? NEW YEARS RESOLUTIONS.

I’m not talking about the regular “I’m going to lose weight” or “I’m going back to school”, this is of course, catered to the entrepreneurs, and the things that people are telling you to do with your business. For once, I took the “average route”, logged onto Google and typed in something similar to resolutions for entrepreneurs and I couldn’t believe the lists that popped up, I’ll share some of them in no particular order: (along with my opinion of them of course)
1. Go Small: ( I guess they mean “do more with less, stretch your resources…okay fine if it makes sense why not)
2. Go Mobile: (What serious entrepreneur HASN’T ALREADY gone mobile? Most smart phones now almost eliminate the need for a laptop…almost)
3. Go Local: (*blank stare* -as opposed to what? Starting a brand new company in a place you’ve never heard of, with people you don’t know? Still scratching my head on this one)
4. Learn to delegate: (Now this one I like, at some point in the growth of your business, you’ll have to realize that you can’t do everything, so yes…learn to delegate)
5. Expand your customer touch points: use more social media-( HELLO!!! In this day and age, how can you be serious about your business without using the bare minimum of twitter and facebook, I’m convinced this one was a joke)
6. Refresh your website: (if needed okay, sure a fresh look never hurt anyone)
7. Encourage feedback: Most entrepreneurs, sales professionals, and general humans, only encourage POSITIVE FEEDBACK, but I’m here to tell you, if you don’t encourage feedback in general, your business will remain stagnant, and quite possibly regress. Grow thick skin!
8. Obsess about your business: REALLY? (I promise I’ll calm down, but this was literally a suggestion. Listen, if you don’t bleed your business, STOP NOW!

Can you hear me breathing deeply in semi disgust? This was supposed to be a top ten list, but I refuse to do that to you. I just can’t believe that these were the top results on the internet when the average public searched for help. Either someone out there is extremely out of touch, or they are underestimating what people really need to get going, and thrive in their businesses. Please understand that I’m not attempting to say that what I’m going to offer up is the “end all-be all” or that it’s the best advice that’s out there for you. But I will say that this is one of the most sincere posts I’ve ever written, and without these 3 things, it will be IMPOSSIBLE to grow.

I want to share 3 things for new and existing entrepreneurs to implement NOW, or next year, whenever you’re ready. Like the lists above, I’ll add in a little reasoning to go along with what made the HUSTLE HARDER TOP 3 “TO DO’s for 2012.

1. WORK BACKWARDS- Simply means begin with the end in mind, you’ve heard this before probably, but a prime example is to set a goal for the entire year, maybe it’s revenue, or a pin level (for my friends in network marketing) then simply separate that yearly goal into smaller quarterly goals. It doesn’t stop there, separate the quarterly goals into weekly goals. Doing this allows you to have several smaller targets to hit on your way to success, as well as celebrate some “wins” along the way. Additionally, this method will help you manage AND measure your activity on the way to your yearly goal.
2. STUDY YOUR INDUSTRY- There’s a saying that I heard a while back, and it’s stuck with me, one of the main reasons that I read so much, it goes something like this: “Your income growth, will never be more than your personal growth”. That being said, I suggest that you look up the top 5 books relating to your industry, and read them. It doesn’t matter if it’s an actual person that is successful, or a business, but find them, and read them. (Personal favorite: The Magic of Thinking Big by David Schwartz).
3. COLLABORATE- Find out what goes well with your industry, and reach out to someone in that industry and work on a project together remember spider webs catch more than mouse traps by this I mean, if you build a strong network, there’s a better chance of getting referrals out of the blue that ADD to your business, than finding new business on your own. Think about it ladies, have you ever asked someone where they got their hair done? Where they got their boots? BUILD YOUR NETWORK, AND GET REFERRALS!!

Okay, this one has been long enough, so I’ll wrap it up. The main point that I want to drive home guys is that ENTREPRENEURS DON’T HAVE THE LUXURY OF TIME, so I don’t want you to rob yourself of valuable time by setting goals that are “common sense” in retrospect. The difference in your accomplishments from 2011 to 2012 for the vast majority will be based simply on game planning work ethic, it’s all about execution. Remember, don’t wait until new years to have resolve. The change can happen anytime!

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THE FIRST GRAY HAIR

Okay, I know what you’re thinking, and yes you’re right. As much as I’ve never given it a first, second or third thought, it finally came. Life’s most gruesome, evil, forsaken, telling mark of age… my first grey hair. Sure, I went through all the stages, denial, maybe I’m stressed etc, but much more quickly than I’d imagine in retrospect, it didn’t cause the reaction most would think.

I didn’t flip out, I didn’t go on a mad treasure hunt trying to figure out if anymore were coming. For me, the first grey hair wasn’t as much as an alarm as it was a reminder…maybe even a stopwatch. If you know me at all, you know that I’m a sports guy, namely NFL and track and field. The reason I say it’s a stopwatch, is because most athletes don’t use a stopwatch to “countdown” per say, they use them to measure speed, accuracy, and improvement. Okay, okay… back to the grey hair, what I realized is that we don’t have the luxury of time when it comes to chasing our dreams and goals.

I began to think about what I’ve accomplished in life thus far…any self respecting entrepreneur would say it’s not enough, but in the same breath, I’m absolutely grateful for where I am, and what’s on the horizon. In my official effort to give grey hairs a perception makeover…Ask yourself these questions…

1. Have I truly made good use of the time that I’ve been given?
2. When I procrastinate, is there really a good reason?
3. Where would I/we be if I’d saw that one thing through, or not given up so early?

Although we’re all guilty of procrastination in some way, shape or form, nothing is worse than telling yourself flat out excuses (which are nothing more than well planned lies.) How many times have you said “Next year, I’ll definitely get it done, or “As soon as things settle down, it will be easier”, or maybe you just tell yourself “It’s just too late”.
All of these excuses run congruently, it’s kind of like the lie you tell yourself about running a stop sign. If it’s not a complete stop, it’s a roll. Accept it, deal with it, just hope you don’t get caught! However in life, for everything that you don’t give the extra effort for you not only get caught, you get penalized.

Think about it, how many times have you known that you should have done something as simple as changing the oil in your car, and not gotten it done? Only to talk about how “crooked” the mechanic is when he tells you how much it costs to replace your engine. You get the idea.
The reason I’m writing this is to invite you to look at your first grey hair, (or the 6th, 7th or 19 grey hairs that you have) as the starting gun to get things done. It’s clear that time isn’t on our side, so we have to make the most of what we have.

Top 5 things to do:
1. Take inventory of all the projects you’ve always wanted to do
2. Take inventory of the “reasons” that you haven’t done them
3. Prioritize (quickest gratification, sense of accomplishment
4. Plan of action
5. Be Accountable- now that you have a grey hair… how much will you get done, (be it little or whatever) before you find the next one, the next 5…

I can see now, that in the interest and utter respect for your time, this may have to be a 2-part series…but one thing is for sure, Grey hairs don’t come by themselves, and they typically don’t stop coming…why not make sure we have something to show for them. OH! and No!, I'm not telling you where it was!!!

**As always, if you find the contents of this blog helpful or inspiring, we ask that you share the page with your network, and leave a comment so we know what it is you're looking for and how we can help**

He Came... He Saw... He PLAYD- Meet Anthony Frasier the Co-Founder of PLAYD

I have to be completely honest, when I contacted Mr. Anthony Frasier after watching him on the Soledad O’Brien show, I told myself: he’s swamped, and probably too busy to respond. In the back of my head, I heard my mentor tell me “Chuck, the only person that ever loses by NOT asking is YOU. At that moment, I decided to start my research on Mr. Frasier and “PLAYD”. And yet from the moment Mr. Frasier responded, I knew that this would be one of the most influential conversations that I’ve EVER had.

All the questions were lined up, the call was scheduled, but I had NO IDEA what I was in for. The amount of passion, knowledge, excitement, insight, and depth that Anthony possesses makes it absolutely easy to understand why he is literally taking Silicon Valley by storm. This 30 minute interview that you’re about to listen to, in my opinion is the equivalent of YEARS of experience, all gift wrapped for the entrepreneur that is waiting to be uncovered, or polished within you.

We could talk about the pages of notes that were taken during this interview; we could talk about how openly Anthony discusses his journey to success and the hurdles and challenges that lie ahead of him. We could even talk about how this co-founder of PLAYD relates exactly to where you are in your life right now!. But we’d only be talking; let’s listen to this powerful man instead.

**As always, if you find the contents of this blog helpful or inspiring, we ask that you share the page with your network, and leave a comment so we know what it is you're looking for and how we can help**