Monthly Archives: May 2011

The Good Life

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It’s a warm and sunny Monday morning in May….

 

You awaken from a deep sleep, it’s about 6am, and you have a smile on your face. You slept great… better than you have in a long time… and after a few minutes of laying there listening to the birds chirping and watching tiny specks of dust float through the tiny light beams peeking through the shutters, it hits you…

 

The adrenaline.

 

Friday was the last day at your job of 15 years and today is the first day of the rest of your life. You have been earning an additional $5000 a month for the last three months or so, from home, part-time, after hours…

 

You convinced your spouse that you have what it takes to make the plunge and quit. You gave your notice and now you are done.

 

Instead of forcing yourself out of bed and dragging yourself to the shower, like you did for years and years… you spring out of bed and leap down the stairs.

 

You log into your virtual business to see what’s going on….

 

By 6:15 you are sipping on a cup of Joe and checking your emails. You have a few appointments that your assistant has scheduled for you and you notice that you have $800 in commissions that came in over night, while you slept. Then it hits you…

 

You smile to yourself.

 

You silently clench your fists, close your eyes, and let out a sigh… you say thank you. Thank you thank you thank you.

 

You get up, walk to the bathroom. You wash your face, and as the water is dripping off of your face, you look up in the mirror, and staring back at you is the person you always knew you could be.

 

You pound your fist on the counter top and say in a quiet yet victorious voice: “You did it….You did it! I knew you could. I knew it. I knew it!”

 

You catch a smile in the mirror out of the corner of your eye as you turn out the lights and head to the kitchen to refill your coffee.

 

Suddenly you hear a door open and your two sleep-eyed kids come wandering into the kitchen… “What’s for breakfast?” asks your son…

 

What do you WANT for breakfast, buddy..?

 

Frosted Flakes!

 

Alright, Frosted Flakes it is!

 

Out comes the milk, the bowls, and the Frosted Flakes. Before long the sugar has kicked in, and the kids are off playing… you clean up breakfast and take a cup of coffee upstairs to your other half who is just getting up.

 

You have to get to work… “yeah right!” is the reply… I know what you do all day. You just sit behind your computer and poke around online–that’s not work!

 

You laugh and agree… you say, you’re right it’s not work… it’s too much fun to be work… but I got kids to feed and we all know we can’t live on cheerios… gotta go bring home the bacon!

 

You are shaking like a two year old filly in the starting gate… you take a 3-minute shower that barely gets you wet and you throw on some jeans, sneakers, and a tee shirt.

 

You are on top of the world. You are invincible. You are free. You are flying. And you are flying high. You are high on life for the first time in years. The trek into work, the BS, the politics, the endless meetings, the chit chat, the small minded people complaining about their lives. All of that is behind you and you have joined the ranks of the few. The proud. Those who write their own ticket.

 

The 3% who dream… You have escaped the indentured servitude of the 97%ers and have crossed over to the other side. There is no feeling like it, and there is no going back. You are all chips in. Fully committed. Free at last.

 

The scene I just described is not only my typical Monday morning… and the life I get to enjoy, but also that of countless members of the PRO U family.

 

It could be the life waiting for you, too.

 

There is only one way to find out.

 

And that is to have the courage to take the next step.

 

It’s your call… you can spend the next three years trying to figure it out… continue to struggle, and potentially fail, or you could plug into PRO and WAKE UP the inner entrepreneur that you KNOW is inside of you.

 

Let’s go folks. Its time to WAKE UP and live the good life.

 

You Are Always “BRAND YOU”

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That means anything and everything that you do is associated with “brand you”—from how you respond to an email to how you treat your server at a restaurant. It all impacts your reputation and, in turn, your brand.

 

Everything you choose to do, or choose NOT to do, will impact your brand.

 

Make sure you stay true to your personal brand by making decisions and taking actions based on who you want to be, not on the amount of financial gain or power you believe will make you happy in the future.

 

Once you’ve created your brand, and you’ve created your “brand you” personal brand statement, and you’ve started working on your reputation….now it’s time to raise your brand awareness. It’s time to get people to know you and want to work with you.

 

Here are the everyday actions you can take to market and grow your brand and to become noticed and known:

 

First, everything online lives for ever…

 

Be conscious of your posts and comments on Facebook. Do the images you upload reflect your brand properly? Would your newest client be impressed with what you posted?

 

Proofread your emails

 

Research shows that over 50% of all emails and text messages are misunderstood in their intent. Don’t just focus on grammar and spelling but also on tone and intention. Could others misinterpret something you wrote? It sounds simple, but your emails are an extension of your brand.

 

Give Something of Value

 

Sharing your stories, successes, and tips in your emails, during your sales calls, and when you leave messages makes you valuable.

 

If you give value, then customers will more likely take and return your calls or emails.

 

Be on time

 

Showing up on time and being prepared for meetings shows that you are not only responsible, but it also says that you care for others and their time. Are you on time?

 

Do you value other people’s time? If you are consistently late to meetings, what does that say about you? What do you think about others when they are late?

 

Don’t flaunt success; reflect on it

 

Think about what past successes and failures led you to this win.

 

Go back and think about what was done right and what could have made it better. Think about the people who helped you along the way and recognize them. Show them gratitude for their help.

 

The last piece of the puzzle—the element that holds all the pieces together—is the integrity of your brand.

 

It’s what sees you through both the good times and the bad. It’s what makes your brand real… legitimate and authentic. It’s what keeps people loyal to you.

 

Integrity is like having absolute clarity on your direction in life. When you are whole and undivided, you become unstoppable.

 

Maintain your integrity and all the other pieces will stick. Your brand will solidify, and “brand you” will rise to the top.

 

To learn more about personal branding be sure to check out the PRO Sales course available now at http://myprou.com

 

Best,

 

Jay

My 10 reasons for not getting out of bed this morning…

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This morning was one of those days for me… I could not get out of bed.

 

I was in a funk and it was deep.

 

You ever get out of the wrong side of bed? You feel like the whole world is out to get you? Like the midnight monsters conspired to take you DOWN!?

 

Well, every once in a while I have one of those.

 

Jamie thought I was having my period. I mean it was THAT bad.

 

So, instead of doing what I normally do… get up, take a shower, have my oatmeal and Starbucks… check my email, reply to the 18000 text messages that came in overnight from all my guys; hang some drywall, and do 100 pushups, etc…. I decided to stay in bed.

 

Yup, I crawled back into bed. Under the warm sheets–remote in hand.

 

While I lay there I came up with 10 reasons to stay in bed all day…

 

  1. I don’t need to do anything today, It’s Saturday. Most dudes watch sports on Sunday (so I flipped on Sports Center)
  2. I don’t have any major chores around the house today.
  3. I am cranky and irritable and I would save others the displeasure of being around me
  4. Miki seems to be having fun with Ayumi, I spent three hours with her last night
  5. Jamie is out with friends for breakfast
  6. I already gave Jamie her Mothers day gift and card (a sweet baby blue beach cruiser with a baby seat for Miki)
  7. I am tired (not sure why, I got 8 hours of sleep)
  8. I shouldn’t have to do what I don’t “feel” like doing
  9. I feel like being a dude and watching sports
  10. I can just call my mom from bed… and as I grabbed for my cell phone…

It hit me like a sledge hammer.

 

This is the first Mother’s day in my 33 year existence that I can’t call mom and tell her how much I love her. She is gone home to meet her maker. She is resting in peace, like a princess deserves, for a life well lived.

 

By the time I got to the 10th reason for I felt so decrepit and disgusted with myself that I nearly broke an ankle flying down the stairs.

 

I was grabbed my baseball cap so fast (to help tame my bed-head) and jammed on some sneakers. I grabbed my bag and was busting skids out of the drive before the front door closed behind me.

 

How pathetic that every one of the reasons I found to be lazy either started with “I” or where about “me.” How disgusting! Mom taught me the joy of serving others… her entire life was a service to others and her maker.

 

Fast fwd an hour and Starbucks “venti bold” later I feel like a million bucks. Serving others is what make life worth living and it seems that every time I find myself in a funk, it’s cuz I have lost sight of my priorities or I am not is a space of gratitude and service.

 

Wishing a wonderful Mother’s Day to all the awesome moms out there… you are the reason boys turn into men. (Men, be sure to tell your mom you love her today.)

 

Best,

P.S. I love you mom. Your legacy lives on. Thank you for being such an awesome example for me.

What Is Your Obstacle Today?

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You are the underdog. Statistically you DON’T have a chance of success. Most people don’t… However, if you have belief above the average, the statistics don’t apply to you. Averages and statistics are for average people. Not relentless entrepreneurs.

 

Like Dr Marshall Goldsmith says… Whatever got you HERE, WILL NOT GET YOU THERE.

 

You will not become a self made millionaire using the same logic and making the same types of decisions that got you to the point where you now are in life.

 

So, what is the big secret to success?

 

The secret is what I call the “99% methodology,” which is based off a very famous quote by one of the most important inventors in history, Thomas Edison.

 

He said, “success is 99% perspiration, and 1% inspiration…” wow… 99% perspiration, and 1% inspiration… and this is where it all started with me.

 

What if I don’t need that MBA that I thought I needed.

 

Maybe I don’t need any special skills, education, or opportunity.

 

Maybe I have it all wrong… maybe there is nothing wrong with me and maybe it’s just that there are a lot of sheisters out there and like an idiot, I am buying all of their junk.

 

Common sense told me it wasn’t plausible to expect money to come pouring through the computer screen the moment I started clicking…

 

So I started doing some research.

 

First, I found that there are thousands of successful entrepreneurs and business owners just like me who were drop outs.

 

I found that most millionaires do not have MBA’s… in fact a lot of them are elementary or high school drops outs just like me!

 

Here are a few…

 

Albert Einstein

Henry Ford

Dave Thomas

Thomas Edison

Michael J Fox

Evil Knievel

George Harrison

The Wright Brothers

and Quinton Tarantino to name a few

 

A LOT more here: http://www.hereinreality.com/drop_outs.html

 

So, I scratched “no eduction” off my list of excuses…

 

But, the next day I realized that in order to start a business, you have to have capital… lots of it. Crap.

 

So, I used the excuse that I am broke, maxxed out on credit cards, and without funding…. hmmm now what was I going to do.

 

So, I turned to google and started doing some research on the topic. Not surprisingly, yet again, I realized that what I THOUGHT was an obstacle was really not an obstacle at all.

 

In fact I found that virtually all of the entrepreneurs that have gone on to become incredibly successful and build huge brands, were not only drop outs, but self funded do-it-yourselfers just like me!

 

Bill Gates – Microsoft

Steve Jobs – Apple

Gary Gilbert – The Midas franchisee where I was selling mufflers

Mark Zuckerberg – Facebook

and of course, my idol Richard Branson.

 

At this point, I was out of excuses.

 

Not having the education…. strike that off the list…. no money–not an excuse, no time–not an excuse, no experience–not an excuse.

 

In fact the harder I looked the more I realized that virtually all of the most successful companies I researched were started by entrepreneurs with no better circumstances than I had… a lot of them worse!

 

There was nothing left to do but make up for lost time and get to work!

 

It was time to get to work and start building something of value. Start serving others and EARN my way… Seven years later I have not taken the foot off of the gas pedal. Nor will I ever.

 

What is the obstacle that you think is holding you back? What is in your way?

 

Go ahead and forward this message to your PRO leads and applicants in case they need to rethink their obstacles too.

 

-Jay

 

P.S. Without “vision” all you will see are the obstacles. So let me ask you this… what is your VISION and what are you willing to do to fulfill it?