Category Archives: Personal Development

12.3% of the U.S. population was actively engaged in starting or running a new business in 2011

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According to the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor, 12.3% of the U.S. population was actively engaged in starting or running a new business in 2011, a staggering 60% increase from 2010.

The annual report defines new businesses as ventures less than three-and-a-half years old.

An increase in start-up activity is a good sign for the overall national economy because it will lead to more employment opportunities in the near future, says Donna Kelley, the report’s lead author and an associate professor of entrepreneurship at Babson College in Wellesley, Mass. “It’s indicating that we’re seeing a recovery,” she says.

The report, based on a combination of survey results and population data, shows that more than half of U.S. early-stage entrepreneurs—59%—expect to create up to four jobs within the next five years. Another 27% plan to create between five and 19 jobs and 14% plan to create 20 or more jobs during that period.

Full Article Here: WSG.COM

“Am I operating from a place of creative opportunity or loss aversion?”

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This is an excerpt from a Jonathan Fields article he recently published on his blog.

I highly recommend taking this creativity audit and buying his book “Uncertainty – Turning Fear and Doubt Into Fuel For Brilliance.

 

But, then something happens. You succeed.

You begin to build a real business. You have offices, assets, overhead, inventory and employees. People, families, are counting on you to pay their rent and send their kids to school. Your own family begins to expect a certain lifestyle. And so do you. You get comfortable. And, along with your success, you now have the perception of so much more to lose if you fail.

So, instead of continuing to take risks, your mindset begins to shift into what famed psychologist and winner of the Nobel Prize for behavioral psychology, Daniel Kahneman, calls loss aversion mode.

Rather than being driven by what you can build, create and have, you are overwhelmed by a fear of losing what you’ve already amassed. Being an entrepreneur, and innovator, an artist or a creator does not make you immune to the often irrational pull of loss aversion. Because, as Kahneman’s research points out, it’s simply a part of human nature.
Two problems with this when it comes to creators and entrepreneurs…

One – The switch from seeking gain to loss avoidance cultivates a strong negative creativity bias that makes us say no to innovative ideas. Ones that come from our own minds, as well as from those around us. And ones that, embraced, could have been key drivers of innovation and growth.

Two – Because we set the tone as entrepreneurs, when we pull back, stop innovating ourselves and rebuff innovation and creativity from employees, we create an idea-killer emotional virus that destroys the very culture that got us where we are. It breeds loss-aversion, fear and scarcity, which is death to innovation and expansion.
So, what do we do about it?

If you’re an entrepreneur, or you work with an entrepreneur or a team charged with innovation, create a monthly mindset circuit-breaker check-up. Take a step back, preferably leave the office and take a few key creators with you. Maybe get out into nature and ask a big question -

“Am I operating from a place of creative opportunity or loss aversion?”

Take the audit and buy the book!

(Uncertainty: Turning Fear and Doubt into Fuel for Brilliance)

Would you cut down a tree because it gives unripe apples?

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When you take a bite of an apple that’s not ripe, perhaps even bitter, the problem isn’t with the apple; the problem is we didn’t wait for the tree to get to the place where the apple is ripe.

It’s our timing that is the problem, not the apple itself, nor the tree.

This is a powerful message for us, because it makes clear that the only real problem we have is that our process is not yet complete. That means we cannot beat ourselves up because we’re angry, sad or depressed, or because we haven’t reached our goals or benchmarks. We’re just a work in progress. We are the fruit not yet ripe for the picking.

Would you cut down a tree because it gives unripe apples? No. You would be patient and have trust in the process. Ditto for you

You’re already “the 1%”

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If only people realized that they are also in the 1%, they would stop worrying about themselves, snap out of their victim hood, and start helping those around them make their lives better and solve their problems, and increase their income even more!

I am working on a piece right now that stunned even me. Here are some quick facts to help put life into perspective.

If you make $500,000 a year in the US, you are in the top 1% in income.

But,

If you make $50,000 A YEAR you are in the richest 1% in the WOLRD. (Click here to see how you personally measure up against the other 7 billion people on the planet.)

Where do you/your family fit in…? Recently the 7 billionth person was born. This is an incredible milestone for humanity and a great opportunity to stop and think about the reality of live for billions of people.

Over 3 BILLION live on less than $2.50 a day and at least 80% of humanity lives on less than $10 a day (this is considered the poverty line here in the US.)

1 Billion of the world’s 2.2 Billion children live in poverty without clean water etc. 22,000 of them die EVERY DAY and 50,000 people total die EVERY DAY from poverty. THAT’s a football stadium every day folks.

So, what is your excuse for not being wealthy and living the life of your dreams? i am not saying that you have to commit yourself and your life to freeing the world of poverty and malnutrition… what I am saying though, is that if you are laying with your face in the mud, even though there IS NO FOOT of oppression on your neck, shame on you!

In a couple of weeks I will be rolling out a personal mentorship program where I am going to take 100 people and show them each how to make $1mm each, simply by helping others. These 100 people will be case studies for a book that I plan to publish in 2013.

If you are interested in being one of my 100 case studies, please subscribe to my email list above and stay tuned for details.

-Jay

P.S. I consider “mud” anything less than your highest potential. You deserve it, and can have it all. Stop making excuses for yourself and unleash your inner entrepreneur. The world is yours! Stop being a victim and GO GET IT!

Are you ripe?

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When you take a bite of an apple that’s not ripe, perhaps even bitter, the problem isn’t with the apple; the problem is we didn’t wait for the tree to get to the place where the apple is ripe. It’s our timing that is the problem, not the apple itself, nor the tree.

This is a powerful message for us, because it makes clear that the only real problem we have is that our process is not yet complete. That means we cannot beat ourselves up because we’re angry, sad or depressed, or because we haven’t reached our goals or benchmarks.

We’re just a work in progress. We are the fruit not yet ripe for the picking. Would you cut down a tree because it gives unripe apples? No. You would be patient and have trust in the process.

Ditto for you.