[Editor's note: this is a re-post from January 2012. Part 4 of a series of year-end posts I write each year. When we migrated to the new site design, all the old posts were archived. Here are posts 1, 2 and 3]
Every year, I pick a word to frame my development. I also pick a "theme song" to underscore my morning mindset work. I get to dig in and rock on each morning with a tune that pretty much sets me up for the day I want to have, the life and business I want to create.
Last year, my word was "ENTHUSIASM" (yes, I decided on all caps about half way through the year) - the idea being to infuse more spirit into everything I was doing. My theme song was Matthew West's "The Motions". I would lip sync and sing and conjure my own "rock videos" in my living room - like I was going to be on American Idol or something. It was funny, but it was also a very honest reflection of the kind of enthusiasm I really wanted to imbue in every action, every effort, every everything in 2011.
This year, after a daunting 2011 (hey, I asked for it!), I figured I needed to power up a bit, and picked "brave" as my word o' the year. I also selected Nichole Nordeman's song by the same name (some of the lyrics are in the boxes below). (more…)
I was working with a client/colleague/friend* recently, celebrating her recent launch of a free worksheet she created for an opt-in on her website. She made mention that she'd gotten more response from her audience with that one freebie than she had from several other paid launches she did this past year.
And I don't mean "thanks for the free stuff!" kinds of responses. I mean her audience as actively seeking her out and thanking her for the powerful work she had just offered to them.
Before anyone jumps off the deep end about the "paid/free" conversation, that's NOT what this is about. There are pros and cons to giving stuff away. This conversation, instead, is about response vs. effort.
When she mentioned that she'd gotten such a great, positive, empowering response, I asked her, "About how much time do you think you spent working on this?"
She replied "About 30 hours, though I may be remembering too low."
Entrepreneurs dream of success.
We crave it. We stalk it. And some of us continue to be eluded by it. You've probably written down a number -- or certain other goals -- and then began bowing at the altar of “if only.”
“If only I could have x, then I’d be successful.”
“If only y would happen, then I’d see some success.”
Two years ago, I put together this video mashup of two scenes from Spider Man 2. In it, you hear Aunt May talking about how there's a hero in each one of us. I thought it was a perfectly inspiring underscore to Spidey's big train rescue scene.
This video's been watched over 175,000 times to date by a bunch of total strangers.
-Aunt May
12/20/2012 update: Since I wrote this post, (Sept 13 2012) the video has now been viewed over 227,000 times. We are crying out for heroes in this world. We are crying out for YOU.
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