Image: Renjith Krishnan

Going back through a few of my favorite posts by one of the most amazing writing talents alive today and I came across this quote (really, I wanted to quote the whole darn post, but that’s just not right… so I’ll give you this teaser and you can go read the rest of it for yourself – the man is a MASTER):

“But stop pretending you aren’t wasting
massive piles of time doing things that…

if you were to suddenly come face-to-face
with one of your exhausted, oppressed ancestors…

… he wouldn’t haul off and slug you as hard as
he could, for squandering a life crammed with
possibilities that he never dreamed of.”

Umm. Yeah.

Powerful, intense and makes you kind of want to a) read more and b) get off your tushie and DO something, doesn’t it?

The man who wrote these wonderfully put-together words is John Carlton.

The post where I found them is titled “Top 10 Secrets To Make 2011 Your Best Year Ever (All Of Which You’re Currently Ignoring Or Screwing Up)”

And, since he says it all so eloquently, I’ll let him handle it. Click on the link, you won’t be sorry.

Enjoy!

In the early summer last year I had the pleasure of watching a private interview with Gary Vaynerchuck (ran a camera actually) at Harper Collin’s (he was there working on his most recent book, “The Thank You Economy“, with his editor).

As he was answering the interview questions he said something that just lit me up. What I mean is, I was listening to everything, but that particular piece stood out for me and I took special note of it. I knew it was important, profound even. Later Gary circled back to it and mentioned it again saying he wasn’t sure if they’d understood the gravity of it…

Essentially the crux of what he said was ‘failure’ doesn’t exist for him, and never has. I knew immediately he hit on one of the universal truths of successful people – one of a very small and distinct handful of traits that set successful people apart. Essentially, he said that there was no experience, no initiative – nothing – in his life that he ever considered a failure. If he didn’t ‘win’ or it didn’t go the way he expected or hoped, he learned from it and then looked forward to the next thing.

Imagine how your life might be different if you never, not even for a second (never mind the hours of self-torture most of us put ourselves through over the smallest of things…) gave thought to something that wasn’t exactly the ‘success’ you wanted? What would your life be like? What would you be willing to do? To risk?

A short time after the interview the whole concept was reinforced by a good friend and very successful business woman. We were talking one day about some of the initiatives she’d launched within an organization she runs. I said something about how some of them hadn’t worked out, had ‘failed’.

She looked at me dumbfounded. Completely and utterly dumbfounded.

It had NEVER EVEN OCCURRED TO HER that some of what she’d done, because it hadn’t panned out completely, might be seen as a ‘failure’ to other people. And, it certainly wasn’t a failure to her. She’s just not wired that way.

Ever since hearing it, I’ve worked hard to take it to heart. It takes a while to undo years of self-training, but it’s going pretty well so far. What I do to interrupt the pattern is pretty straight-forward:

1. Notice you’re doing it (that thing you do in your head when you say something or do something that doesn’t work out… or that you say in your head before you even get started, as a way of stopping yourself… yes, I know, I have those moments too…).
2. Make a decision to think differently about it.
3. Spend a little time choosing a different thought.
4. Practice the NEW thought instead of the old one.

I know, sounds really simple, but it’s how every single belief you have and I have is created. Beliefs are nothing but practiced thoughts. Practice different thoughts for a while, and you’ll start to get different results.

Let me know how it goes!

(Oh, and, I’m part way through Gary Vaynerchuck’s, “The Thank You Economy” – it’s great, so be sure to check it out. And, if you’ve never watched one of Gary’s famous Wine Library TV shows, it’s time you did.)

And, stay tuned for an upcoming post on a couple of the other characteristics and traits I’ve noticed are different for  successful people.

Some of you know that over the past few years, I have been on a journey that has taken me from building my online jewelry businesses to building this business as a marketing strategist and visionary and social media expert. Much of what I share is what I learned in the trenches in my own businesses – what works and what doesn’t.

What I haven’t always talked about is the ‘darker’ side of that journey – when I felt kind of lost, uninspired and unmotivated – generally totally bummed out by my business, even when things were going well.

When I was trying to figure out where my passion ran deepest and what and who I most wanted to be in the world, there were moments when all I wanted was to kick my business to the curb and start serving coffee at Starbucks! (It’s really fun to serve people legal stimulants… they’re happy, you’re happy, it’s just great all around!)

So, this week I want to share a video with you. One that I worked on with a fabulous woman, who just happens to be one of the best and brightest PR experts I’ve ever come across, Melissa Cassera.

She has been a big part of my most recent experience of falling back in love with my business. We’ve been working together on a super secret project, which has been more fun for me than Disney is for a 5 year old.

And, today I wanted to share a sneak peak at some of the goofy fun we’ve had as we’ve been developing our project.

Tee Hee! We had SO much fun making this!! Hope it gave you a few giggles!

And, as you’ve probably guessed from the video – the new program is called Boost Your Fame Factor. We’re gearing up to create some incredible success for a lucky few that join us. If you want to stay in the loop and learn more as we reveal all the details, sign up here, and you won’t miss a thing.