The Riddle of Connected Autonomy

Hello :) Hopefully you have read last week's post. If not, go here. More importantly, I hope you have taken the time to ponder my question.

Did you think about it? The question is, how can we be simultaneously independent and connected? When you really think about that question, it is deeper than you might have imagined.

In the post I promised that, this week, I would provide you with an answer. Of course, this is not the only answer. But, it is an answer.

Have you ever read The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey? If not, please, please, please read the book. It can be life changing.

In 7 Habits Covey talks about interdependence, and suggests that it is a desirable state. He warns that true interdependence is hard to achieve. I concur. And, that is one of the reasons we should strive for it.

At first, humans are dependent creatures. We know this to be true. Human babies are highly dependent on a caregiver. I have heard it said that humans depend on a caregiver longer than any other mammal. Not sure if that is strictly true but we do remain dependent for many years.

In the parlance of Self-Determination Theory, dependence corresponds with relatedness.

The next stage of development, according to Covey, is independence. This is the stereotypical teenager. I am not sure exactly how long it takes to achieve independence. In fact, I think it can take an entire lifetime. Meaning, some people cease developing once they become independent.

SDT would use the word “autonomy” but we both know the terms are synonymous.

The last stage, in Covey's model, is interdependence. I believe interdependence is an element of what Abraham Maslow would call self-actualization. And, this is where things can get dicey.

Maslow spoke of the internal desire that all human beings have to self-actualize. In simple terms, self-actualization is the process of reaching your full potential. It is about continual growth. According to Maslow, when we stop growing, we become susceptible to neurosis. A complicated but interesting idea.

Anyways, back to Covey's perspective. True interdependence is not easy to achieve. But, even if we never truly achieve interdependence, it is a state worth striving for.

Interdependence is a paradox. It is the state where we are simultaneously connected and autonomous. The buzz word, for interdependence, is synergy. As you probably know, in the synergistic state, 1 + 1 can equal 3 or more.

Let me give an example. One, two-by-four piece of wood might be able to carry twenty pounds of weight. However, when two two-by-four's are used together, they can carry fifty pounds. That is synergy.

Interdependence is desirable because it allows for synergy. It may not be easy but it is worth it. In order to synergize we must allow ourselves to be dependent on others. Of course, we are not obliged to snyergize. It is a choice we make.

Some people choose independence. What might be called “rugged individualism.” And that is perfectly fine. However, an independent soul might choose to evolve further and realize the benefits of interdependence.

In order to truly achieve interdependence, people must first be capable of independence. And, through being interdependent, we can hope to synergize. That is to say, we can hope to collaborate in a mutually beneficial relationship which grows the pie for all involved. Sadly, a dependent person cannot synergize. He or she weighs more than s/he carries.

Yes, I do believe in the value of resolving paradoxes. And, hopefully you choose to play along with me. If we ever hope to experience the benefits of synergy we must learn to become interdependent. And, to become interdependent requires that we learn to live in apparent contradiction. Meaning, we must learn to be both independent and dependent.

A Paradox of Motivation

Back in the 1970's two psychologists, Edward Deci and Richard Ryan, performed research that lead to the creation of Self-Determination Theory.

If you do not know, Self-Determination Theory is about intrinsic motivation. There exists, basically, two types of motivation: intrinsic and extrinsic.

Extrinsic motivation, as the name suggests, is about things external to us. This is the more common form of motivation. Extrinsic motivation is about money, material possessions, titles, prestige, etc.

Intrinsic motivation, again from the name, is about things within ourselves. It is more rare and more difficult to achieve. And, thus, it is more powerful.

Self-Determination Theory talks about the three pillars of intrinsic motivation. They are: Autonomy, Competence, and Relatedness.

Autonomy is about independence, something all people yearn for. Competence is about getting good at your job, whatever that job may be. And, relatedness is predicated on the fact that humans are gregarious. That is to say, we tend to enjoy ourselves more in the company of others.

Are you with me so far? Not too difficult, right? Well, let us add a layer of complexity to make things more interesting. Do you see the any contradictions in Self-Determination Theory? I can show you one. Actually, it is not so much a contradiction as it is a paradox.

Autonomy is at odds with relatedness, wouldn't you say? On the one hand, humans yearn for freedom. At the same time, we crave connection. Uh oh!

If you have followed me, for any length of time, you know that I am fascinated by paradoxes. First off, paradoxes are deliciously scintillating. Above and beyond that, paradoxes are EVERYWHERE.

Personally, I believe the paradox is woven into the fabric of the cosmos. Let me give you just one, nerdy example. In quantum physics there exists something called the double-slit experiment. I am not going to explain the experiment right now. If you are interested, please Google it.

What I will say, about the double-slit, is that it demonstrates what is known as “duality.” In simple terms, duality means that things can be both waves and particles. Things can have a dual nature. It is pretty trippy, but it is also true.

Okay, back to my point. What I am advocating, in this blog, and in life in general, is that we practice become good at resolving paradoxes. Today's paradox pertains to intrinsic motivation. Specifically, how can we be both independent and connected?

I am going to answer that question. But not today. I would rather you chew on it for a while. I believe it is a good exercise. Mental exercises help keep us flexible like Benjamin Franklin. They also give us practice embracing the genius of “and.”

Next week, I will post an answer to the question of how we can be both independent and connected. Until then, I do encourage you to think about it. Really think about it. At first glance the answer might seem obvious. But, I would encourage you to not be so dismissive.

Remember, the tenets of Self-Determination Theory are not silly abstractions. What Deci and Ryan have codified talks about deep, human yearnings. True desires. How can we yearn for independence and, simultaneously, yearn to be connected? Are we all just hopelessly two-faced? Is this a cause of mixed emotions and indecision?

I would encourage you to ask yourself how we can deeply desire things that are opposites. I believe that having that answer is worthwhile. And, next week, we will talk more about it.

You: The Best Guru EVER

This week, I say it is time for a little more borrowed genius. Seeing as, last week, I violated the rules of copywriting, this week I figured I should make a nod to the experts.

Do you know much about a gentleman named Frank Kern? If not, Kern is usually labeled an “internet marketing expert.” I think that label is kind of silly. Kern is an adman. Among other things, Frank is mostly a copywriter.

At any rate, in his typically irreverent fashion, Frank wrote a great blog post, and I wanted to pass it along to you. The rest of this post are the words of Mr. Kern:

A few weeks ago, I was on the porch knocking back a Modelo Especial working and I noticed one of my friends walking up to the front door.

So I eased on down the steps, let him in, and invited him to up to the porch to take in the scenery with me.

He readily agreed so I grabbed us both a couple of Mexico’s finest beers and we took our seats.

But something was wrong. My (normally laid back) buddy was all weirded out.

“Poor bastard’s probably suffering from a beer deficiency”, I thought as I went to grab us a few more.

They didn’t do the trick so I finally asked him what was wrong.

Turned out he’d been disappointed with a recent “Guru” experience. I’m not talking about spiritual guru stuff here …I mean “get-your-shit-together-in-business” stuff.

That type of Guru.

No, there’s no drama to report …nobody felt ripped off or hosed or anything. It’s just that the relationship didn’t work out as planned and my buddy was bummed.

“I really thought this was the guy who would take me where I want to go”, he said.

And There You Have It …The Root Of The Problem Revealed

See …here’s the deal (and this is what I tried to explain to my friend without sounding all high and mighty):

YOU are the only person who can take you where you want to go. There is no Guru, teacher, mentor, author, speaker, shaman, or whatever who can or will do that for you.

Ever.

Sure, they can show you cool stuff. They can show you what worked for them, they can give you encouragement and motivation …and they can help you keep your head on straight when the going gets weird.

But in the immortal words of Hunter S. Thompson,

“When The Going Gets Weird, The Weird Turn Pro”

And what that means in the context of this little rant is simple:

DON’T FUCK AROUND AND EXPECT SOMEONE ELSE TO SAVE THE DAY.

They won’t. Hell, they can’t! Not even if they want to. Only YOU can.

So whenever you’re considering buying advice, coaching, mentoring, seminar tickets, or whatever – understand this:

They Are All WORTHLESS

...Unless you’re bull-headed enough to immediately put what you learn into action. (And then get right back to work when your first attempts inevitably present some challenges).

And if you’re waiting until you get some big amazing revelation before you actually do something, you’re going to be waiting a long time. There ain’t one.

Well, that’s not entirely true. There is one …but it’s just kind of anti climatic. Here it is:

Some Stuff Works, Some Doesn’t.

And the stuff that’s worked for lots of other people will probably work for you too …if you put in the effort.

See …that’s the key word there.

Effort.

Let’s juice it up and add the word “educated” to it.

Now we have “educated effort”. And that’s a hell of a thing.

See, with “educated effort”, you can do anything you want.

Add in a little “determination” and you’re damn near unstoppable.

Then throw in a little bump of what my teacher Dan Kennedy calls “stick-to-it-iveness” and you WILL get to where you want to go.

Let’s take a look at the last part of that sentence.

YOU. Will. Get. To. Where. YOU. Want. To. Go.

We didn’t say “[INSERT GURU HERE] will get you where you want to go”, did we?

Nope.

You.

All a Guru can give you is education.

But the fact remains that’s only 25% of what you need.

You still need throw in 25% effort, 25% determination, and 25% sticktoitiveness.

...And that’s the 75% that YOU and ONLY YOU can provide!

So that's why YOU are really the only Guru who can EVER get you to where you want to go!

Hell, how much education do you need, anyway?

Imagine a guy wanting to lose weight (ahem). How many books does he need to buy? For the love of God, it’s easy! Put the fork down and walk around for a few hours a day.

Do that for a month or so and you’ll weigh less. (Duh!)

That’s been the winning formula forever, right?

But There’s A Gazillion Dollar Industry Delivering “New” Weight Loss Stuff Every Day!

There’s a new diet book every 20 minutes or so it seems.

And the books aren’t the problem. I’m sure they all work if the reader takes the education they just got, adds in a lot of effort, determination, and sticktoitiveness.

But that clearly doesn’t happen. People just keep buying books and gizmos that go unused. Same thing happens in the marketing world. We buy courses and seminars and then jump to the next one …without implementing any of the stuff we just learned.

Why?

Because The Short-Term Pain Of Effort Is Often Perceived To Be Worse Than The Long-Term Pain Of Failure

There it is. The ugly truth.

It’s hard to get out there …try …work like hell … probably hit a few road blocks …and then keep busting ass until you succeed.

It’s a LOT harder (and less fun) than buying the latest “shiny object” and enjoying that temporary mental “high” that comes from the false sense of productivity you get from making the purchase.

But the fact is, the ONLY way you’ll get anywhere is to realize that YOU ARE THE GURU and that ONLY YOU can make it happen.

So if you keep on buying advice without putting forth determined and consistent effort to implement what you’ve learned, you will NOT succeed.

But if you’re willing to endure the short-term discomfort that stems from stepping outside your comfort zone and actually working like crazy for a while, you’ll get to where you want to go.

All the “Gurus” can do for you is give you the car, so to speak. It’s still up to you to get gas and actually drive it.

My Challenge To You

1. Don’t buy any advice this month. Go back and re-read whatever you’ve bought in the past. It’s still good.

2. Turn off the damn computer and write down all the good stuff you learn. On a legal pad. (OLD SCHOOL!)

3. Review those notes and write down every possible action you could take to start making money immediately. Do whatever actions jump out at you. Don’t over think this. Just do it. Life is short!

4. Write a new offer for your products. You’ve probably bought a ton of stuff on writing offers and copy …so dig it out of the closet and put it to use. Nothing happens until something gets sold. So start selling (and quit buying).

5. Take the money you would have spent on whatever new marketing product you were thinking about buying this month (but didn’t) and use that money to drive traffic to your offer. That’s right! Invest in business instead of buying more stuff about business. Revolutionary concept!

6. Measure the results of your activity (note the word ACTIVITY!) and tweak accordingly.

7. Repeat 1-6.

Oh – and if you’ve ever looked for a magic formula, that’s pretty much it.

I know because I’ve been at this now for 11 years and I’ve tried everything.

It’s simple:

1. See what worked for other people.

2. Try it for yourself.

3. Adjust according to results.

4. Repeat

Now Let’s Kick Some Ass

We’re heading into the 4th quarter and ’tis the season to SELL THE HELL OUT OF YOUR STUFF.

This is the time of year when people love to buy things more than ever …and that means your odds of success are even greater!

So get to work and let me know how you’re doing with my challenge. Leave me updates in the comments below.

Ossification

If you are trying to write a great headline, you probably DO NOT want to use the word “ossification.” But, me? I like to have a little fun. What's more, I am not going to use all the tricks and techniques. My articles are not always named, “The Four Secrets to Guarantee Unlimited Success.”

At any rate, let us talk, for a minute, about ossification. If the word is not coming to mind, the word ossification is defined as, “A tendency toward or state of being molded into a rigid, conventional, sterile, or unimaginative condition.” As we age we tend to ossify. And, often times, that is not a good thing.

In some ways ossification is inevitable. I mean, I figure rigor mortis is a form of ossification. But, let us talk about something we actually have control over. Namely, the thoughts and beliefs that run through our mind.

As we get older, we tend to get set in our ways. Becoming set in our ways can be a good thing and it can be bad. First, the good. Routines are not only good, they are necessary. They save us much time and brain power. Could you imagine having to figure out how to shower every day? Yikes!

At the same time, set patterns of thought and action can also backfire. The world is a fast moving place, and evolution is life's imperative. If we are stuck in old ways of thinking and acting, if we succumb to ossification, we can set ourselves up for failure.

To warn against the perils of ossification I want to tell a little story about Benjamin Franklin. Franklin was expert at keeping a flexible mind. As you probably know, Ben was of one three people assigned to negotiate the peace with Great Britain.

After the Revolutionary War Franklin, John Adams, and John Jay were the three people in charge of making peace with the English. A difficult task indeed. Once an agreement was made, it must be upheld. This is where we encounter something of a conundrum.

Just think about it. The Americans entered into a peace treaty. A treaty that was only as good as it was honored. Part of the treaty involved the repayment of debts. In order to pay those debts, the American government needed to collect taxes.

This is where a big problem was encountered. The entire Revolutionary War was largely fought as a tax protest. We all know about the Boston Tea Party and the famous saying, “No taxation without representation.” So, how does one square this circle?

I will not get into all the ways America repaid her debts. The point of this blog is to highlight an element of Franklin's genius. Old Ben was 78 years of age when the war was over. And, he had long preached the virtues of frugality.

The American colonialists, like a lot of people, enjoyed their luxuries. And Franklin had long warned against the folly of over consumption. Especially while he was trying to convince his fellow countrymen to repay their war debts.

Here is where Franklin provides us with such a genius model. Even at the ripe, old age of seventy-eight, Ben was able to invert his beliefs and assumptions. An idea I wrote about here. Having spent a lifetime promoting the importance of frugality Dr. Franklin was still able to consider the virtues of luxury.

Specifically, Franklin thought about the motivating power of luxury. He asked, “Is not the hope of being one day able to purchase and enjoy luxuries a great spur to labour and industry? May not luxury, therefore, produce more than it consumes?”

I have to trust you can appreciate the genius of Franklin's mind. F Scott Fitzgerald is quoted as saying, “The test of a first-rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposed ideas in mind, at the same time, and still retain the ability to function.” And, Ben Franklin's 78 year old mind clearly demonstrated first-rate intelligence.

As we all know, the founding of America was a truly profound event. And, it took profound intelligence to catalyze such as event. Ben Franklin being perhaps the most profound of all.

What I am recommending, in this post, is that we all remember Dr. Franklin. I am recommending that we keep our minds elastic and flexible. One way to do this can be summed up in three words, “Invert, always invert.”

See ya soon :)

If They Don't Care, Don't Waste Your Time

Marshall Goldsmith is a pretty well known executive/leadership coach. Not too long ago I read a little blog post of his and I really liked it. So, I have decided to pass the information along. The following comes directly from Mr. Goldsmith.

If you are an entrepreneur, you need a team. This will/may require that you coach people.

My job is to help people achieve positive, lasting change in behavior. Every once in a while I run across someone who doesn't want to change. What do I do to convince them that the change is good for them?

Nothing.

Have you ever tried to change the behavior of an adult who had absolutely no interest in changing? How much luck did you have with your attempts at this "religious conversion"? Have you ever tried to change the behavior of a spouse, partner or parent who had no interest in changing? How did that work out for you?

My guess is that if you have ever tried to change someone else's behavior, and that person did not want to change, you have been consistently unsuccessful in changing their behavior. You may have even alienated the person you were trying to enlighten?

If they don't care, don't waste your time.

Research on coaching is clear and consistent. Coaching is most successful when applied to people who want to improve -- not when applied to people who have no interest in changing. This is true whether you are acting as a professional coach, a manager, a family member, or a friend.

Your time is very limited. The time you waste trying to change people who do not care is time stolen from people who do want to change.

As an example, back in Valley Station, Kentucky, my mother was an outstanding first grade school teacher. In Mom's mind, I was always in the first grade, my Dad was in the first grade, and all of our relatives were in the first grade.

She is always correcting everybody.

My Dad's name was Bill. Mom was always scolding "Bill! Bill!" when he did something wrong. We bought a talking bird. In a remarkably short period of time the bird started screeching "Bill! Bill!" Now Dad was being corrected by a bird.

Years passed. When Mom corrected his faulty grammar for the thousandth time, Dad sighed, "Honey, I am 70 years old. Let it go.”

If you are still trying to change people who have no interest in changing, take Dad's advice. Let it go.

Click here to watch a short YouTube video from Marshall Goldsmith.

A Paradox of Productivity

If I had to pick one book, to keep with me on a desert island, it would have to be Flow by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi. The book is truly outstanding.

Csikszentmihalyi came to study the phenomenon, which he called "Flow," by observing artists. Subsequent to the book titled Flow, Csikszentmihalyi wrote a book called Creativity.

In the book, Creativity, Csikszentmihalyi tells a funny story about Peter Drucker. Csikszentmihalyi is on the faculty at the same school that Drucker taught at. Namely, Claremont Graudate University in California.

As Csikszentmihalyi was doing research for Creativity he contacted Drucker and asked if Peter would participate. At question was how Drucker was able to be so prolifically creative. Drucker replied that he was able to be so prodigious by not wasting his time on studies such as Csikszentmihalyi's. Drucker must have also saved a lot of time by being direct and to the point. HA!

What I am talking about, here, is an old but important idea. Indeed, it is a paradox. The key to doing more is doing less. I feel this needs to be repeated because of the rampant pride people seem to take in the concept of mutli-tasking.

Please allow me to state something unequivocally, multi-tasking is largely an illusion. Now, before you blow a gasket (while simultaneously feeding the dog and checking the mail) let me clarify.

It is true that humans can do more than one thing at a time. We are capable of walking and chewing the proverbial bubblegum. But, we are not really capable of doing multiple, difficult things at the same time. We can send text messages while driving a car but we end up doing neither very well.

Not too long ago, Greg McKeown wrote a book titled Essentialism and Gary Keller wrote one called The One Thing. Both books are talking about this paradox of productivity. The idea that we do more when we do less.

If we want to get really great (and I believe we should all strive for excellence) we need to focus our effort. It is for this reason that I do not use LinkedIn or facebook or SnapChat or Twitter or any of the other distractions that exist.

Speaking of great, several years ago Jim Collins wrote a famous book titled Good to Great. In the book Collins talks about what he calls the “Hedgehog Concept.” Collins would say, in order to become great we must crystallize our Hedgehog Concept.

Without getting too much into it, in order to clarify your Hedgehog Concept, you need to answer three important questions: What can you (your company) be the best in the world at? What drives your economic engine? What are you deeply passionate about?

Again, I am not going to get into it, for more details simply read the book. But, I do want to draw your attention to that second question. What drives your economic engine? The answer will be your One Thing, to borrow Keller's term.

Listen, the world is much too sophisticated these days. Excellence has become the price of admission. And, we are not going to become great at anything by multi-tasking.

Last week I talked about the fact that Peter Drucker was largely a psychologist. And, Drucker would say that the biggest reason to pursue excellence is psychological. Becoming excellent makes us feel good about ourselves. 

So, again. Focus on what is really important and you will be able to produce more by doing less.

Drucker on Procrastination

Peter Drucker is widely recognized as the man who create the science and practice of management. While that is accurate, Drucker was so much more than just a management guru. Among other things, in many ways, Drucker was also a psychologist. You will see what I mean in a second.

Now, John Flaherty was a professor of management at Pace University. Some years ago, Flaherty wrote a fantastic book titled Peter Drucker: Shaping the Managerial Mind. The book is quite excellent and I highly recommend reading it.

This week, I decided to grab an excerpt, from Flaherty's fabulous book. The excerpt is a section from the chapter on time management. Specifically, as you will see, the discussion is about procrastination. The following are Flaherty's words,

“It was debatable, Drucker argued, whether we were living in the best of times or the worst of times, but he was certain that it was the only time we had. Looking at procrastination from this point of view, he saw it as the greatest thief of time and the most obvious impediment to achieving results.

"In any discussion of time, Drucker said, it was crucial to address procrastination, the normal human propensity to postpone to tomorrow what should be done today, to talk about intentions rather than work toward results, and to delay actions until ideal conditions prevail. All these factors contributed to lost opportunities, exacerbated emotions, produced psychological fears, and generated unnecessary pressures. Equating procrastination with the fine art of staying apace of yesterday, he observed that postponement resulted in physical fatigue and psychological anguish that made the job seem increasingly difficult the more it was put off.

"Drucker realized that simply sermonizing on the ways procrastination inhibited action was useless. His recipe for avoiding these pitfalls of procrastination in the first place invoked an alliterative triad of steps: definition, delegation, and deadline. The executive needed to define the problem or the task, delegate accountability to a specific person along with responsibility for the specific thing to be accomplished, and establish a firm deadline for completion. The definition ensured a sense of purpose, the delegation identified who was going to do the actual work, and the deadline substituted action for inertia.

"To offset the perils of procrastination, Drucker's greatest single antidote was “to start.” Then, by doing a little bit on a regular and consistent basis, even the biggest project would diminish in size. Moreover, in commencing a task some degree of accomplishment was inevitable, and this achievement reduced the element of fear and apprehension. Drucker was convinced that a sure sign of the consummate professional was the capacity for “getting started.” However, he also worried that a robotic concern with the principles of time management could destroy the human side of executive effectiveness. It could lead to the sacrifice of family responsibilities, the neglect of friendships, the forfeiture of hobbies, and the loss of the satisfaction of serving others through voluntary activities. Drucker considered this too big a price for pursuing a successful career.

"Moreover, a virtue could disintegrate into a vice if the rigorous control of time created a workaholic. Drucker concluded there were few more pressing issues in effectiveness than the proper management of time, but when taken to extremes it violated the moral tenet that everybody needed a private life.”

Reluctant Modernity

One of life's most well-known paradoxes is the following, “The only constant is ______.” What goes in the blank? Everybody knows the answer is the word “change.” The only constant is change. This is an idea which is so well-known that it has practically become a cliché.

Even though we all know, in theory, that change is the only constant, humans fundamentally resist change. We are all wired with a way of thinking that the psychologists call the “Status Quo Bias.”

The Status Quo Bias is the name for people's tendency to hold on to the past. Joshua Knobe, a professor at Yale University, says, “The basic idea here is just that people have a bias toward choosing options that allow everything to stay the same as it was.”

The great Danish philosopher, Søren Kierkegaard, said life fundamentally exists in tension. And, here we have one of life's main tensions. People prefer for things to stay the same. But everything must change. This can create quite a lot of problems. The tension, between change and continuity, is ever-present.

Enter the world of business. Business is the first human institution that was designed to lead change. This is an idea I am borrowing from Drucker. Other human institutions are meant to preserve continuity. Have you ever thought about that?

For example, the church is organized around continuity. Let's take the Christian tradition. As we all know, the Christian tradition is based upon the Bible. And, like any other church, Christian churches are meant to go backwards.

That is to say, what we learn in church is to be more like Jesus Christ. A man who died about 2,000 years ago. Most people are aware that Jesus taught us various principles to live by. And, one role of the church is to preserve those principles. The church is not looking to change things.

Business, however, is all about change. Capitalism is, at its core, creative destruction. It is about change. The old is constantly killed off, and the new is born. Companies like Airbnb and Uber have been born and are making all kinds of noise. Meanwhile, Compaq, MCI, and PaineWebber have gone the way of the dodo bird.

Far from trying to hold on to the past, Richard Farson and Ralph Keyes say, “Economists consider a high rate of business failure a sign of economic vitality.” The Soviet Union's communist regime was doomed because they refused to let businesses fail. A healthy economy needs to make it easy for businesses to be started and closed.

In many ways business is the agent of change. Of course, this cuts both ways. Sometimes people get talked into buying bad stuff. This is inevitable. But, for the most part, business serves a valuable purpose. And, this is why it is so important to be a salesperson.

As we all know, businesses are started by entrepreneur. And, as I have stated repeatedly, the two entrepreneurial functions are innovation and marketing. I generally do not slice hairs when it comes to sales versus marketing. I use the two terms interchangeably.

In a well functioning society, the business, the entrepreneur, the salesperson, they are the change agents. They help people get over their status quo bias, and the resulting procrastination. A good salesperson helps people to make quality decisions that are in the client's best interest.

Done properly, businesses solve problems. The first problem is helping people overcome their resistance to change. Only then can a person enjoy the benefits of various products and services. When the refrigerator was invented a lot of people resisted purchasing one. They were content sticking with their old ice box. It is kind of hard to believe, but it is true.

What tipped the scales, and got people to buy refrigerators, were direct sales people. I think is this a great example because, in this analysis, we have the benefit of time. Looking back there is no doubt that a refrigerator is better than an ice box. The proof is obvious in that nobody has an ice box anymore. But, it took a while for some people to give up their old ways. The SQB is strong.

I guess the point of this post is a moral one. The job of an entrepreneur is to improve peoples' lives with quality goods and services. To do that we must help people overcome their natural tendencies and biases. In a word, the job of the entrepreneur is to SELL! It is quite a noble endeavor.

Money Advice

From time to time I like to repost articles from other authors. That way, if you like what you see, you can investigate some of the thinkers I tend to admire. What's more, a variety of perspectives is probably a good thing.

Grant Cardone is an interesting guy. He is a sales and business trainer who lives down in Miami, Florida. I recently read a blog post, of his, titled "Money Advice." Mr. Cardone is a self-made man who does quite well financially.

I thought this post was good stuff, so I decided to pass it along. Let me point out one lesson within the lesson. As you will see, Cardone makes a lot of mistakes in his writing. I find that inspirational. As you know, I tend to be a perfectionist. And, whenever I am tempted to head down the perfect path, I try to remind myself of Grant's story. Cardone does very well and has zero concern for perfection.

Here is the post, in its entirety:

The following are 100% true statements that will guarantee you never have money: a penny saved is a penny earned; a home is a great investment; money doesn't grow on trees; get a good job; get a good education; work hard and save your money; invest in a 401k and on and on--they go with the promise that you will live happily ever after. Are you nodding in agreement? Well, these are all the things you were taught that at one time might have been true for your grandparents but today will only ensure you are a mere slave to your finances--or lack thereof. These false ideas about money, saving, investing, working, and education have trapped hundreds of millions of people. The illusion of the middle class is sold so well that many who read this will think I am being sacrilegious.

I remember my father telling me, "money doesn't grow on trees." The point here is that money was a scarce commodity that needed to be protected, conserved, saved and budgeted. The problem with that mentality is it suggested that money is in a shortage, but it is not. Money comes from a cotton bush and is printed by groups approved by government agencies. There is no shortage of money on this planet and never has been. The only shortage is people going out to meet people that have abundances of money.

If you were raised like me I know you've heard, "a penny saved is a penny earned." Uggh wrong, a penny saved is a penny. This thinking is why so many people never have anything. The biblical saying, "ask and you shall receive" is true and today that means get into sales, marketing and the business of asking for money and then learn how to ask often and ask for more.

You focus on pennies you get pennies.

Do you remember your mother telling you, "eat all your food and be grateful, there is someone starving somewhere in the world." My mom told me this at every meal, comparing our situation to someone else's that was worse off in order to make me grateful and a little guilty. The reality is she was right, but me comparing my financial situation to another that is doing worse than me will never improve my financial condition--much less theirs.

Many people believe that scrimping to save and hoarding money to make them wealthy. But no one has ever gotten truly rich saving money, they just get old. I don't want to wait until I am 90 to have money. You aren't rich if you can't spend your money, you are just a miser. Why have money if you can't use it? The real key (to wealth) is to have multiple flows of income that are indestructible due to economic conditions or technological developments.

Quit focusing at the expenses portion of your finances, that is playing defense, not offense. The budget is to spend and I want you to spend (invest) your time learning new ways to increase income and stop investing in things that don't produce other flows of income. The sacred middle-class that was sold to each of us as a state of financial nirvana is no more than a hoax of hope.

The home as an investment is just another complete lie or delusion at best to prop up an industry. I hope all my real estate friends don't hate me, but a home is another trap immobilizing people. Sold as the American dream is more like the American nightmare where people can't move, don't ever truly own and must continue to spend to keep. Go back over the last 50 years you will only see about a 1-2% increase in home values per year adjusted for inflation.

Compare that to apartment ownership which doubles in price every 10 years while producing income to the owner and paying down the debt, the maintenance, and property taxes.

This doesn't mean you shouldn't own a home, but I certainly wouldn't own one until you are rich. You never think a home is a way to create financial freedom. A house should be looked at as an expense, not an investment and merely a place to live. I hope this gives you something to think about today.

I hope this gives you something to think about today. If you feel a little irritated as a result of this article, it is because you should, but don't take it out on me. You have been lied to and at best misguided. Now that you know, it's your job to change the way you approach money. Just a few things that I started with to get me moving in the direction of financial freedom.

Just a few things that I started with to get me moving in the direction of financial freedom:

1. Income matters more than expenses. I got into sales and learned everything I could about it. I hated sales in the beginning, but it gave me the ability to control my income and not be limited. Now I have my own sales training university, CardoneUniversity.

2. Get multiple flows of income, not just one. This does not mean you need to get a second job. Look for other opportunities where you work now that can make second sales (income) or bonuses. Also I joined network marketing groups as a way to broaden the people I knew and give me another flow.

3. If there is no income don't invest in it. Sell your house and buy rental property. I know this sounds crazy, but rent where you live and own what you can rent to others. This will create amazing wealth for you and your family over your lifetime.

Bizarre advice you might be thinking? Only if you are so committed to what your mommy and daddy told you. That was a different time. I suffered with the middle-class mentality most of my life and everything changed for me when I started studying people that had attained financial freedom. Google my name and money or Grant Cardone net worth, it's low, but at least it may give you a little more confidence in this advice.

You have been brainwashed and it's holding you back, the middle class is not what was sold to you. It is filled with traps and you need to get out. Don't hate on the rich or wealthy, hate on the scam and get out.

The Paradox of the Great Economist

Let me ask you a very simple question. Can you name a single American, who would be listed in the history books, as a great economist? Just one. Go ahead, I will wait.

I am willing to bet the answer is “No.” You cannot name a single, great, American economist (without Google) How can that be? Think about it. I mean, I realize not a lot of people spend time thinking about economists. But, all I asked for was one name. Does it not seem curious that you could not think of a single name?

This week we celebrate the birth of America and it got me to thinking about this blog post. America is arguably the greatest capitalist nation in the world and yet we have produced no great economists.

How can that be?

When we think of great economists, what were their nationalities? Adam Smith, Thomas Robert Malthus, John Stuart Mill, David Ricardo, and John Maynard Keynes were all British. Karl Marx was German. Joseph Schumpeter, Ludwig von Mises, and Friedrich Hayek were all Austrian.

I just named nine well-known economists and not one of them was American. I realize this is something of a nerdy investigation, but I think it is fascinating nonetheless. I had to think about it for a while.

Do you have an answer? Do you have a possible explanation?

I must admit I am coming up short on this one. I do not really know why America does not have a great economist. We have modern economists, like Ben Bernanke and Paul Krugman, that have name recognition. But, they are a long ways from being judged as great.

Part of me wants to leave it as an open question, and part of me feels that would be lazy. So, I will attempt to answer the question.

A while back I wrote a blog post titled "America's Genius." And, I think it might shine some light on our current paradox (if a paradox is even what it is.)

As we all know, America did not invent the capitalistic system. So, maybe that is part of the reason why America is not known for her great economists.

One thing America did kind of “invent” was the concept of self-governance. Government of the people, by the people, and for the people was America's main contribution to the world. The most prominent US innovation was political in nature.

For this reason, if America has a king, or some sort of saintly character, his name is Abraham Lincoln. A political figure if ever there was one. I think that might help explain our lack of economists.

By the way, we have had great economists. You just could not think of their names. Thorstein Veblen and Henry George were both great economists. And, here is a name you will recognize. Alexander Hamilton. He was a great economist. But, I bet you would think of him as a President before thinking of him as an economist. Which would be even more interesting, because he was never a President.

It does appear to be true that the great gift, which the United States gave to the world, was political more than it was economic. I think this is kind of a neat reflection as we celebrate the birth of this marvelous country.

Talent is Overrated

A little while back I talked about an interview between Bryan Elliot and Gary Vaynerchuk. If you follow Gary Vee, at all, one of the main takeaways is the importance of good, old-fashioned, hard work. In fact, here is the interview clip so you can listen to it yourself.

The three main lessons, from that video, are: commit, work hard, make lots of mistakes, and talent is overrated. Keep doing it, keep getting better. Act, adjust, act, adjust, act, adjust. In a word, iterate.

I do follow Mr. Vaynerchuk but I think he makes one critical mistake. Gary talks a lot about passion, the importance of passion. And, I think he misses the bull's eye.

The more I pay attention to Gary Vee the more I believe he is passionate about success. And, being that hard work is the prerequisite for success, Gary is very passionate about hard work.

I have heard Vaynerchuk say that he works, every weekday, from 7am to midnight. If you watched the clip above you can hear Gary say, in no uncertain terms, that he outworks people.

In an effective, capitalist system, like the United States, we do not really have the option of either working smart or working hard. To get to the top we have to do both. Read this post.

Regardless of whether you chose to work smart and/or hard, one thing you might notice is that talent is not really part of the equation. This is a message that a lot of people have been eating up lately. The idea I speak of is the idea that Talent is Overrated, which is the title of a book written by Geoff Colvin.

America is the quintessential egalitarian society. We believe in a level playing field. We believe in equality of opportunity. I realize that the idea that talent is overrated feeds into this notion of egalitarianism. For this reason, I am a bit reticent to buy-in.

But, this notion of talent not being all that important is rooted in scientist. The world's expert on expert performance is a gentleman names K Anders Ericsson. Ericsson is a professor of psychology at Florida State University.

It is Ericsson's work that was explained in Colvin's book. The professor was also covered in the more popular book, by Malcolm Gladwell, titled Outliers. And, of course, the idea that talent is overrated, is brought up in Gary Vee's video, when he mentions LeBron James and Kobe Bryant.

Forget about LeBron and Kobe. Everybody seems to agree that the greatest basketball player of all time is Michael Jordan. So, if you still think talent is critically important, think about this: Jordan was cut from his high school basketball team.

Again, the option is not to either work smart or work hard. The imperative is to do both. Embrace the genius of “and” like Imentioned in a previous post.

One activity which ties together smart and hard work is deliberate practice. This is one of the main findings from Anders Ericsson's work. What separates the people that make it to the top from everybody else is this activity that has come to be called “deliberate practice.”

You would have to agree that practicing is a smart idea. But, we cannot just practice things we are already good at. We also have to make sure that the practice is difficult. That is to say, practice needs to truly stretch us and make us grow.

Deliberate practice is the embodiment of working hard and working smart. And, there are six elements, pf deliberate practice to take into consideration. If you wish to reach your full potential, you will need to implement deliberate practice.

Here are the six elements of deliberate practice:

1. It is designed to improve performance

2. It is repeated a lot

3. Feedback on results is continuously available

4. It is highly demanding mentally

5. It is hard

6. It requires (good) goals

This is a subject I will revisit often. For now, I just wanted to pass along the six elements so that you can get started today. Do not wait until you are good to start. You must start if you are ever to get good. This blog is a great example. I know I am not a great blogger...yet. And that is why I do it. Get it?