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Time goes by fast. Real fast. It has been just about a year since moving out to Huntington Beach, California and boy have I learned a lot–personally and professionally. Overcoming adversity has been something I’ve been used to growing up. Challenges motivate me and push me to go the extra mile…when I set my mind to it. Failures disappoint me, but I’ve learned to pick myself back up. I absolutely hate failing and will not accept failure as an option.

When times get tough it’s easier to give up and throw in the towel. Trust me, I’ve been there multiple times this past year (2010). Sometimes it seems like you just can’t catch a break. You will. Sometimes it seems like the world is against you. It’s not. Sometimes it seems like you’re by yourself in a small dimly lit or dark room struggling to find your way out. You aren’t. Life can get pretty discouraging at times. Maybe a lot of time to make it sound more realistic! Trust me, I’ve been to the bottom of the barrel mentally and physically. My will has been tested time and time again. At times it seems like no matter how much effort you give or how hard you try nothing goes as you expected them to or planned them out to be.

I’ve felt discouraged on multiple occasions throughout the year. Just until recently, I’ve felt like no matter how hard I tried things wouldn’t get better. Negativity found it’s way and dug itself deeper into my mind. Thoughts ran through my head that used to never exist. I was constantly asking myself and to a higher being (God if he exists), why me? People closest to me may have not noticed, but I was miserable. I’m pretty good at putting up a front and acting like everything is normal. Especially to those around me. I’ve always known that friendships were priceless. In times like mentioned above friends and family are your backbone, your support.

Throughout this year, I’ve always known, but learned first hand that quality friendships and the time spent with those friends is priceless. And though it’s hard especially in these economic times, don’t grow old, look back, and regret the things you didn’t do with the people who meant the most to you. Be free and let loose every once in a while. Make the time to be around and surround yourself with the ones you care about most. I’m guilty of this one and haven’t made enough time to build upon existing relationships. To that I’m sorry.

Here are a few things I’ve learned during my first year as a struggling unemployed graduate, door-to-door salesman, and corporate puppet:

Creating balance is essential
Balance is essential to living a less stressful lifestyle. People work way too much these days. It’s not a bad thing, but sometimes we forget to make time for ourselves. It takes a lot out of you. What’s it worth going through the daily grind and letting life pass you by? I was working way too much at one point. I forgot to make time for myself because it felt like I didn’t have enough time in the day. Making the time to go out with friends or just do some personal reflection is quite refreshing. Don’t let yourself get caught up in a daily routine, that’s…well…boring!

The ‘Real World’ is all about experience
The school you graduated from and the degree you have mean absolutely nothing. It does mean something, but not everything. In this day and age with the technology that surrounds us we have access to unlimited resources of information. If you set your mind to it, apply yourself, and put forth the effort you can learn anything you want to learn. Your degree can get you into the door somewhere, but your experience is the deal breaker.

Suggested Reading: Will Paypal Billionaire Peter Thiel’s Team of College Dropouts Change Learning

At my current job I manage a book of over 80 accounts, optimize new and existing campaigns, responsible for the initial set-up of a new campaign, and the landing page copy writing. Guess what…there weren’t any classes that I took or was even offered on the subject of ‘Pay-Per-Click advertising’ and ‘search engine marketing’. Much of your success in this world (in my opinion) will be based on what you do with the hours after your normal work hours. What are you going to do to better your life? That’s why I carry the mentality and philosophy to always be learning. Apply myself at my job and when I’m at home. Eventually, this will hopefully assist me on reaching my goal and working for myself on my own terms!

Don’t let money dictate the way you live YOUR life
This one is kind of hard to follow. Trust me, I’ve been here as well. Not having money can be quite depressing because you just can’t go and do many of the things you want to do. Especially when your friends are always asking you to go out as well! Don’t get down on yourself and crawl into a cave because you don’t have any money. There are plenty of things to do that don’t require money and it’s much better than sitting at home complaining about the fact that you don’t have money! I do want to say though, make wholesome decisions and don’t be careless with the little bit of money you do have.

Look out for yourself, ’cause no one else will
No one has really screwed me over “royally” I guess you could say, but… When conversation arises and good advice is flowing I’m all ears. I’ve heard this many times from [older] successful people that I’ve had conversation with. The business world is a nasty world. The business world is where you separate the men from the boys.

Just the other day my brother and I were talking to a man by the name of Scott. He started a successful business and sold it back in 1999 for lots of money. Despite being screwed over on big deals a few times his advice was to watch out for the pricks. He said, “there are people out there who will take a carrot and stick it up your ass. They’ll act like your friend and fuck you over in the blink of an eye.” His message was clear as day and I definitely won’t forget it. He also advised us to be aggressive. We’re young, ambitious, have energy, and no obligations…to basically take the world by storm. Go after our wildest dreams and make something of them.

You must LEARN to make sacrifices
We’re all young (most of us) and love to go out and spend our money on who knows what. What I’ve learned is that making sacrifices in the business world (career and growth opportunity) and in our personal lives is essential. Think of it like this. You’re chilling with some friends drinking some beers or just shootin’ the shit. What you’re doing at that point in time is what you’re doing and nothing else. You’re obviously not going to be getting anything productive done. Tomorrow is a new day though, and what you do with your time is up to you!

In the business/corporate world you must make unwilling sacrifices that may not seem too glamorous at times, but will pay off if you stick with it. It’s crazy when you look at the breadcrumbs of the many coincidences that occur in life. Here’s my past year in a nutshell. Work door to door sales commission only for 5 months, apply for inside sales position at Internet Brands but get interviewed for the marketing support analyst position and get the job, work at Internet Brands for 6 months, apply to Deluxe Corporation and because of my experience in the non-corporate world as well as at Internet Brands get a job offer. As the year progressed things gradually got better. It didn’t seem like they would at times, but they did. It may seem like hell right now…your hard work and perseverance will pay off. Trust me, it will. I lost faith in myself many times and when you do that it makes things so much harder. Don’t lose faith in yourself and believe in your capabilities! Each job was a stepping stone and without each job preceding the other I wouldn’t be where I a today.

Making more time in the day isn’t impossible
Do you find yourself occasionally saying “there’s not enough time in the day“! Referring back to the creating balance is essential topic, it never seems like you have enough time in the day. There’s always so much to do and just not enough time. I’ve figured out the secret to making more time in the day. Some say it’s impossible, but it’s not. You can literally slow down time… just kidding! Sorry, I had to. Anyways, the only way to gain more time in your day to accomplish more is by going to bed later and waking up earlier. Don’t push yourself to exhaustion doing this. Get your rest, but put the hours you’re awake towards being productive and getting the things done you want to get done. You need to get done. This way, you will have extra time for yourself to do what you want, when you want, and with who you want.

This post is getting a little lengthy. I know there’s more advice that has crossed my mind. When I remember those topics I’ll make another post. For now, this will suffice. Hope you enjoyed this read and feel free to share your thoughts if you so please.

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There’s been a part of my sub-conscious lately that, for some odd reason, keeps letting doubt creep into my mind! I hate it, I hate it, I hate it. Let me repeat that just one more time. I hate it! Now that that’s out we’ll move on. Many of you have probably read some of my previous posts so I’m sure you’ve been able to make your own assessment of what kind of person I am (hopefully it’s good). For that reason I’ll save both you and I some time and won’t get into the whole spiel about how I’m this and that and how you should take my word for it. Moving on…

Getting back to the point and the direction I want to go with this post. Our society often creates a false sense of hope in the minds of unsuspecting victims. Unfortunately, myself included. Creating ideas through elaborate marketing and advertising schemes or even by ways or the means of friends and family. What I mean by this is that we all have high hopes, dreams, and expectations for our future. For example, there’s not one person who can’t say they haven’t watched some show (think Entourage) and while watching that show said to themselves, “I want to live that lifestyle” or “Someday I’ll drive an Aston Martin” or “I want girls and to party like rock star.” How about flipping through a magazine and you see something, we’ll say for this example, a Harry Winston diamond ring that God forbid one day you will own. Maybe you drove past a house (a mansion for better sake of a term) and said to yourself, “Daaanngg that’s what I want my house to look like!” YES! One day it will all be ours…just wait…one day…

It’s sad these materialistic objects become the focus of our lives. That we take the most simplest of things for granted–like going for a walk outside or spending time with loved ones. You can travel to a third world country and in some areas find human beings, yes you read correctly, HUMAN BEINGS who are genuinely happy with their day to day lives with the simplest of things. They don’t have the material objects we want and desire, but don’t necessarily need. They don’t know what a cell-phone or iPod is or even what they look like for that matter. These are technologies that we submerse ourselves in everyday and something that they’ll never probably get to experience. It’s great that we have big dreams, goals, and future with all the fancy, hip, and cool stuff. But it’s also pathetic that we don’t take the time to sit back and realize that we’re truly lucky to be where we’re at today, regardless of the situations we’re currently struggling to get through as individuals and as a society.

I think and dream big. I hope you do to. Because there’s nothing wrong with that. However, as I mentioned before there’s been some doubt that has managed to find it’s way into my mind. We’re not bad people to want and desire all the material things portrayed in the media every single day. Are we? It’s good to want that stuff because it means you want more out of your life. That you aren’t going to settle for average. Simply put…it’s motivational. For me, the doubt that I have allowed to creep into my mind has slapped me across the face. Not once, but twice. As much as I am entrepreneurial, business minded, and goal oriented I’ve been pulled back down to reality. “Realistically where am I going to be in 10 years?,” is the kind of thought that is going through my head. Versus the optimistic view of what was previously going through my head, “I’m going to start a business, get rich, and in 2 years have everything I ever wanted!” Yeah…right…unless I’m real lucky. The odds of that being one in a million. I’ve realized that it’s going to take time, effort, and dedication to get where I want to be. It’s just hard for me to accept that in the end I may fail despite my efforts or whether or not I put more blood, sweat, and tears into whatever it is I end up doing than someone else who may have got lucky or put forth less time and effort.

The realization that I’ve come to is that sometimes we get get trapped into a sense of belief or hope that we can’t escape or are too stubborn to admit otherwise. The belief that I will own a multi-million dollar company one day and drive my Lamborghini to work. I intend on making that a reality… it’s great and all, but realistically and statistically the odds are against us. Stubbornness can hurt you and learning to let go and move on (knowing when to quit) is one characteristic one must acquire. Sometimes you ARE the stronger person for letting go than trying to hold on. Here’s the definition of insanity by Albert Einstein, “doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.” I know he intended the interpretation of that quote another way, but you can’t keep doing something that you know deep down inside isn’t going to change. We’ve all been stuck in that position before. Don’t create a false sense of hope or even a false sense of reality and tell yourself it’s going to work! On the flip side, we wouldn’t be where we are today without the efforts of great minds and individuals before us who just wouldn’t give up. Thomas Edison failed more than 1000 times when trying to create the light bulb. There are unique and amazing stories like that and don’t get me wrong you could be one of them. I could be one of them. Actually, let’s be one of them.

As you can tell I see both sides. Never give up because if you’re doing something you believe in you should give it your all and put your effort into it. But then again if something isn’t working why keep wasting time, which is priceless, and keep trying? We only get one life (yes I know I’m pointing out the obvious) and I guess that’s up to you what you want to spend your time doing with it. Life is tough and making decisions is tough. A lot of the time we get thrown rocks when we were expecting marbles. It’s what you do with those rocks to polish them down and create your marbles.

I don’t even know if this whole thing made any sense. It’s just what’s been going through my mind lately and I wanted to get it out and write about it. It didn’t really come out the way I expected it to, but maybe I can come back at a later time and edit this bad boy. To me, sometimes we lose our own perception of reality because we get lost in a false sense of hope and create ideas and thoughts (think Inception) that aren’t real. Or that we get stuck doing something because others have created an environment that makes you feel guilty if you give up.

Disclosure: I began working on this post back in November 2010. I let some of my posts sit in the queue…It’s refreshing to come back with a clear mind and re-edit posts I was having a hard time completing. Think of it as wine…aging in the queue whilst getting better as time progresses.

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Photo by DeviantArt user ni-ki-tas

I’ve probably put this quote in previous posts, but doing some morning reflection on my drive to work made me think of it some more. One of my favorite quotes is by George Seaton, “Faith is believing in things when common sense tells you not to.” When most people look, read, or hear that quote they don’t know how to interpret it. Myself included. It seems pretty simple to understand, but actually applying it in your life is a whole other story.

My interpretation of the quote is that regardless of whether or not every nerve in your body is telling you not to do something, you do it. You follow your heart. Why? Because you believe in yourself, your decisions, and your capabilities to accomplish whatever it is you may be trying to accomplish or to succeed in whatever it is you may be trying to excel in.

This quote was taken from the movie The Sunset Limited. If you haven’t seen it, see it. No action and takes place in one room, but amazing dialog. This quote got me thinking as well… It’s the perception of reality that we have in our minds that which gives us hope. It’s all about having a purpose and what keeps me waking up in the mornings are my dreams. My dreams and hopes to get where I want to be in life.

I wish I could write some more and put to words the thoughts running through my head, but I’m having a difficult time expressing myself. Just a few things I wanted to share, though.

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This quote was taken from the movie Step Up 3D. My brother and I watched it last week and at first I wasn’t too sure what to expect. I like the quote “To travel is better than to arrive,” because it truly is about the journey we take in life. Sometimes the journey isn’t what we expected. I, for one, know that first hand. However, it’s the knowledge we gain, the people we meet, and the mistakes we learn from that gets us to where we want to be in life.

In my opinion, when we just have the destination in mind it skews the direction we want to go in and the way we ultimately perceive things. By only seeing the destination in mind we don’t realize the obstacles we’re going to have to go through to get there. I think this quote truly defines that we won’t get anywhere in life without having to work hard for whatever it is we want to achieve or where we want to get. We WILL have to work hard and put in the effort to learn. We WILL meet people, make friendships, and build relationships–some that last and some that don’t, unfortunately. And we WILL make mistakes. With those mistakes (and failures) we’ll have to learn to pick ourselves back up.

I also think that this quote is telling us not to take the simple things in life for granted. Every day we’re fortunate enough to just take a breathe of fresh air. A lot of us don’t think about the lives we live on a daily basis (sometimes thinking we’re miserable). We don’t realize that there are kids and families around the world who barely make $1 dollar a day, don’t have food on the table (or even a table to enjoy meals at), and their main focus is survival. We’re so caught up about the way we look and what others may think about us when in reality it doesn’t matter. We often think too much about the future and what’s up ahead than just enjoying the now.

What makes life so precious? It’s the journey we go through. What we experience and what we gain from those experiences while headed towards the destination. The end result.

I’d like to hear what your thoughts are about this quote and even the experiences and journeys you’ve gone through in life! Feel free to share in the comments below! I’ll be looking forward to hearing back from anyone who reads this!

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After four months with The Southern California Group I decided to thrown in the towel and call it quits. I could walk door-to-door all day long if I wanted to. I don’t have a problem with that. However, after pondering for about two weeks I came to conclusion that there were too many variables that weren’t within my control. Aside from the variables beyond my control everything else was great. I didn’t know jack diddle squat going into the job and came out with a wealth of knowledge, skills, and experience that I would have found hard to come by at any other job. This was raw get your hands and feet dirty stuff. You grind it out until you make it. What I love about it is that I have the experience and skills to take with me anywhere I go in life. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again that on a daily basis, we as individuals or business owners, are selling our dreams, visions, ideas, products, and services to others. In doing so it’s a transfer of our enthusiasm that makes or breaks a deal. Just like Ted said, if one of your friends called you up and said to get over to the party because no one else is there and bring friends along you probably wouldn’t go. BUT, if a friend called you up and was yelling with excitement to get over to the party as soon as possible that there were a lot of girls, the alcohol was flowing, and it was going off you’d be jumping off the couch in a heartbeat. Sold.

The knowledge, skills, and experience I gained from my time with The Southern California Group was priceless. I learned boatload of stuff in such a short amount of time. I gained knowledge of sales, developed leadership skills that were hiding deep within that I didn’t know I had, and now carry with me a thick skin that’s difficult to penetrate. I built relationships and gained friendships that will last a lifetime.

It’s funny how you can tell your friends and family what you do for a living and everyone can nod or say that they understand. I laugh because I know not everybody in a roomful of friends or family really understands or have experienced working 60-70 hour work weeks going door-to-door. A salesman can look at another salesman in the eye and both knows and understands exactly what each has been through. There’s a common ground that we can all relate to and understand the hardships and difficult times through the highs and lows of our job. One of my favorite quotes, “Never criticize a man until you’ve walked a mile in his shoes.” You don’t know and you probably will never know.

Going in on Monday (November 1, 2010) was more difficult than I could imagine. When I got out of my car and started walking towards the building I had to stop for a little bit to gather myself. I felt anxiety. “Wait, what? Why am I feeling like this right now?” was going through my head as my heart kept beating faster. In a few moments I was going to tell David and Ted, both of whom I look up to, admire, and consider friends, that I was calling it quits. It was hard to go one-on-one with David in his office, look him in the eyes, and let him know of the news. I felt guilty and to some extent like I was letting David down. I felt pain, sadness, and maybe even somewhat a little depressed on the drive home. A million thoughts were running through my head about whether or not I made the right decision. In the end, what I’ve learned, is that you have to look out for yourself. Bottom line. You make a decision and move on or the world is going to pass you by.

Now that my time with The Southern California Group is over I can look back and appreciate everything I learned and experienced first hand. I have the future ahead of me and can only hope for the best. Things always work out. It’s weird how they always do even when you don’t think they will. I guess it’s all about faith. Faith is believing in things when common sense tells you not to.

Looking back, I have calmed down quite a bit. From that I mean that I am a very optimistic individual, but also a realist when it comes down to it. I used to think that I was going to get rich fast. That all my dreams and fantasies would come true overnight. What I’ve learned the past four months is that nothing comes instantly (success for this post’s sake), without hard work. When reality hits, it hits you hard. The shitty thing is that it keeps hitting you and you have to learn to get back up. Over and over again or you lie on the ground defeated and a failure. Take a moment and think about someone you look up to, see as a model figure, or a mentor. They didn’t get to where they are at by sitting around doing nothing. They were proactive and gave it their all to get where they are today.

Here’s a little rant I hope you don’t mind in the middle of this post. Take a look at star athletes. Many of them never started on their high school teams and were told they weren’t good enough to play. Now, we see many of those athletes and hear about their stories in the media. Many athletes have natural talent. They take that talent for granted and don’t work as hard as other athletes. A naturally gifted athlete misses a shot, strikes out, or fails in some way or another they brush it off and wait for the next game. Many of the star athletes miss a shot, strike out, or fails in some way or another they’re taking shots, hitting balls, or practicing when everybody else has showered and gone home. Why are the misfits usually better? Because they had to work twice as hard to get where they were at. It takes a strong will, strong work ethic, and dedication. You can’t let others pull you down to their level. They wanted to prove the critics wrong. So what did it take? Laser focus on the goal at hand to be the best. An unrelenting work ethic. Their goal had to be higher than any obstacle in their way. In their mind the end picture was 100% clear.

When making a decision you must follow your heart. You can’t let anyone hold you back from your true potential. Remember, you are what you say and believe you are. If your heart is telling you to do something… heck freakin’ go for it. You’ll never know what could have been unless you tried. What you make of life is totally up to you and the decisions you make. Control your destiny by taking action now. You can’t wait for something to happen you have to make something happen.

Cultivate and encompass a mindset that you are what you say you are. That you can become what you say you will become. And lastly, act as if. Act as if you’re anything you say you are. When you believe in something it becomes your perception and what your perception of something is becomes your reality.

In due time success and happiness will cross paths in my life. For now, I understand that it truly is in due time. All the small things I do today, tomorrow, a week from now, will get me to the end result I desire. “Victory is not always winning the race. Sometimes it’s simply beating your best.” (Gloria Plaisted)

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You can’t play hard unless you work. Bottom line. The purpose of this post is to hopefully pass down some knowledge I have gained through the last 4 years of my life. Mainly, my college days and through my first 10 months as a college graduate in the oh-so-dreaded “real world”. First of all, I can tell why we, as a society, refer to life after college the real world. That’s because, in fact, everything you once knew and grew accustomed to will change. Whether you like it or not. Think back to the days when you were a little kid..there was absolutely NOTHING you had to worry about. Except whose house you and your friends were going to have the next sleepover at and play truth or dare. A few years pass by on you and you finally made it to high school. You went out on Friday nights to the football game with your friends and partied afterwards, but made sure you made it home by curfew (if you had one). Still nothing really to worry about. Some of us had jobs but for the most part that money went into a savings account or towards food and clothing-the material things we want, but not necessarily need. As the years went by you may have heard your parents tell you something about when you’re grown up you’ll have bills to pay and when you graduate you’ll be an adult! In one ear out the other, right? Yeah. Then the day comes when you graduate college and reality hits. Hits you fucking hard. The hours you work increase and the bills pile up. Questions and thoughts start going through your head when times are tough financially. I have $50 in my checking..should I pay for my cable bill (something of which I don’t need to survive) but love to have for leisure time or go to the grocery store and purchase food for the upcoming week. You get the point. You’ll hit rock bottom and have to find a way to get back on both feet. If you haven’t hit rock bottom yet I promise you that you will. And if you don’t you’re one lucky son of a bitch.

So frequently we hear the phrase “work hard play hard”. I love that phrase because we all in some sense work hard and when we do have time off such as the weekends, holidays, or vacation play hard. It’s a rinse and repeat cycle. However, I started to think about work hard play hard…It occurred to me that I work my ass off 60-70 hour weeks and when I have my free time to play hard I usually just sleep in or don’t really have the energy to do anything because I want to relax and re-cooperate. It came to my realization that to work hard in order to play hard makes sense logically, but as young adults why not concentrate on play hard, when the opportunity is there and to work harder in all other aspects of our lives. We’re focused on our careers, setting short-term and long-term goals, and setting ourselves up for the future, whatever that may bring. We played hard the last four years in college. It didn’t matter what day of the week we got “slizzard”. Our play hard days are behind us and the work hard days are here to stay. There’s a fine balance between playing hard and working hard once you’re in the real world. Many of us have aspirations to be successful in one way or another whether it’s successful in finding happiness, in our careers, or having a family. For me personally, it’s to be a successful business owner and entrepreneur. To be retired before I’m 30 so I have the rest of my life to play hard. I want to work hard right now while most of my friends are playing hard so in the long-term I’m playing hard and retired while others are on the 50 year retirement plan.

It’s all about DISCIPLINE and SACRIFICE.

The most successful people have the discipline and will to sacrifice many of the things they enjoy doing in order to get where they’re at today. It’s a trade-off that many people can’t muster the strength to do themselves. I’m a victim of my own habits. I have grand ideas and dreams, but I find myself not willing to sacrifice the time needed to get where I see myself in the future. Something needs to change. My habits, my attitude, my mentality, and my willingness to sacrifice the things I once wouldn’t pass up. Discipline is also an important role that we must instill in ourselves. When you want to do something, but know you shouldn’t the will power to stop yourself will separate you from the rest. You must take control of your own life and lead by example.

I used to think that I was going to get rich quick. I didn’t know how, but I had a misconceived perception of reality and thought that somehow I would be able to live in my mansion and buy my Lamborghini. The real world has taught me, fairly quickly, that no matter what you do you’re going to have to work hard to get what you want in life. To stick with something instead of jumping around from one thing to another. If money is what you’re after there is no secret to getting rich. The only secret is to work hard. We’ve all heard the expression that money will follow. Here’s a quote that I find quite inspiring and let you dwell on as well. “Experience is a hard teacher. She gives the test first and the lessons afterwards.”

Lately, I’ve been trying to balance my life. Since the last writing on my blog I’ve gone camping in La Jolla with everyone from the office and tubed down the river, attended Nocturnal 2010 and saw Kaskade perform at The Hollywood Palladium last night with a few other things inbetween those events. I’ve come to fall in love with music, the beats, and people at these events. We’re all part of a society that we’re trapped in doing the conventional things every-freaking-single-day. At music festivals the atmosphere is euphoric. Walk through the gates and everyone forgets about all the shit and drama going on at home and work and enjoys their time listening to and feeling the music. Tune your ears, close your eyes, and raise your hands in the air; you’re free.

My brother and I, aside from working our jobs, are working on a side project that will hopefully get us back on our feet. Success isn’t always about the money. Success is sometimes just finding something you can have fun with, love doing, and with the people you care about most. I’ll be writing more about this project in the future. Right now everything is baking in the oven.

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Photo by Deviant Art User fbuk

I wanted to write something that would motivate those of you who are taking the time to read this post. For many people, the paths we decide to take in life are indirectly dictated by those who surround us. Whether it’s our parents, friends, professors, and co-workers we always think about the consequences and trade-offs in whatever it is we’re trying to decide upon. Most of the time we make a decision, or choose a path, that we know is safe and will be accepted amongst the people in our lives as well as society. That’s why there are more Average Joes in our society than there are champions. People settle for mediocrity, let Average Joes influence their decisions, and being them down to a lower standard of thinking. In my opinion, being a champion doesn’t have to mean you’re great at a sport or on a team that wins championships. Being a champion is someone who is able to take control of their life despite of what may others think and the criticisms that may come along with those actions. The difference between an Average Joe and a champion is that the champion is willing to go the extra mile in whatever it is he is putting his mind to.

So first of all, in order to be a champion, one must create good great habits. Ask yourself, when no one else is looking what are you doing? A Champion is always doing something productive–in a sense always learning. Learning new techniques to become better at whatever it is he’s doing. While he’s going the extra mile the Average Joe is sitting on the couch watching television only wishing he could live the life he visioned 15 years ago. The Average Joe is making excuses to why he can’t get up and go for a run or workout to better his health even though he made a new years resolution to better his health. The Average Joe is saying to himself “I have time to do that tomorrow,” “someone else will do it for me,” and “I don’t want to do that right now.”

Creating great habits is essential to becoming successful. Let’s say, for example, you’re building a team in your business. You hire someone and they’re doing a great job. As the leader that person looks up to you. You’re constantly under a microscope. If that person sees you slacking off, cruising Facebook on the computer, taking 15 minute breaks every hour that person is going to pick up on those habits say to himself, “he’s doing it so I can do it” and those habits will be increased ten fold. When you hire someone else they see that person taking a 15 minute break and start taking a 30 minute break. These bad habits will grow exponentially. Yikes! Everyday that goes by and you tell yourself I’m going to sleep in for ten extra minutes. Have you noticed that after a month goes by you’re still laying in bed and that ten extra minutes has become an extra hour. That’s an hour of your life that you can NEVER get back! You need to hold yourself accountable for your actions and stop blaming everyone else and their mothers for your problems or why something didn’t turn out the way you had hoped for.

The quote above is perfect. I hope you take it to heart. It’s just like the saying you are what you eat. Create good habits in the workplace, being a parent, as a friend, as an athlete, and good things will come from them. Nothing comes easily, only through hard-work, dedication, and time will you see results. Yeah, life blows. It’s hard. Nothing’s easy. Get that through your head. The leaders and Champions that we look up to on a daily basis didn’t get to the top of the pedestal without dedication and hard-work. Get back up on your feet and figure out what you need to differently so you don’t fall down again. If you fall down again get back up. It’s the people that fall down and don’t get back up that become Average Joes. Champions ALWAYS get back up on their feet.

It’s the mindset you take with you wherever you go and with whatever you do that separates you from the Average Joes. Champions and successful people are made. They created the habits necessary to reach the top. They had visions and goals that towered the obstacles that got in their way. When times got tough they didn’t give up when the others around them did. They pushed harder and fought harder until they reached the other side of whatever obstacle that was slowing them down. Once Champions reach the top they don’t slack off. They work harder than everyone else around them because they have to. Making their way to the top was easier because they knew what they had to do in order to become the best. When someone was better than them they did those things and figured out a way to do them better than the person ahead of them. Seeing that other person above them just fueled the fire.

What I’m trying to get at is that Champions don’t have bad habits. When Michael Jordan missed a free throw to win a game what do you think he did while the other athletes showered and went home? He was on the court after everyone else left shooting free throws. When Tiger Woods misses his putts where is he after the day is over? On the putting green tweaking whatever it is he needs to tweak so he makes his putts the next day. When Tony Gwen was in a slump what did he do? Took extra batting practice before a game and after the game. These guys had the desire to become the best. Being just like everyone else and complacent with where they were at wasn’t good enough for them. They wanted more and they did what they had to do to get to where they wanted to be.

Next time you find yourself making excuses or blaming everyone else but yourself pouting because this and that didn’t work out the way you had hoped for. Take a second to step back and re-evaluate yourself. Change your mentality, attitude, and blame no one else but yourself. You’re where you’re at because that’s where you set yourself up to be by the habits you, not anyone else, created.

Related posts:

1. What is the Key to Staying Motivated?
2. Put Two Feet In…

Photo by Alexander Hassenstein/Getty Images | Life.com

In my last post “Put Two Feet In” I mentioned that we must be quitters at quitting. I will stand by that statement and guard it with my life.

Take a second to reflect on the past. I’ve been doing quite a bit of soul searching and self-reflection lately and realized that I have quit many things during my short 23 years on this planet. I didn’t practice the piano when I was younger and stopped receiving lessons, I got bored with Tae Kwon Do and quit, I dedicated countless hours to practicing and playing baseball wanting to play in college and decided not to play, and I could keep going if I wanted to.

Why have I been doing a lot of soul searching and self-reflection lately? Because I’m not really enjoying life right now. We all have these dreams of our ideal lives and…most of the time…it doesn’t work out as planned. I never, for the life of God, even wanted to consider about getting a sales job post college, but I did. And like I’ve mentioned in previous posts I’m actually enjoying it to an extent. However, lately I’ve had probably a million thoughts running through my head. I wanted to write this in my journal, but decided I’d rather share it on my blog for others to relate to. Sharing is giving, right?

Anyway, during the last few weeks I haven’t been performing very well out in the field. Specifically, the week of August 2nd through the 7th. During that week I closed two accounts. Fuck. As the week went on I felt like giving up. Quitting a job that I, in a sense, voluntarily show up to every morning since I don’t clock in. I was having a hard time out in the field letting objections from customers get to my head. It was affecting my performance and day after day I was letting it drag me deeper into a hole. Instead of walking door-to-door thinking about how I could have better rebutted the previous customer the thoughts running through my head were somewhere along the lines of, “fuck my life why the hell am I doing this?,” “this is bullshit I could be doing something else,” “I’d rather be working for minimum wage,” and the list goes on. I was putting a front up at the office. Smiling and appearing as if I was still confident and happy, when inside I was hurting and down right miserable.

Fortunately, on August 5th, 2010 I knocked on the door of a man by the name of Frank in Yorba Linda. I saw him the previous day and he blew me off. Since I was in a shitty mood I decided to knock on his door again and see if I could get my pitch and presentation in before he closed the door on me. First of all, I was shocked he actually answered his door. I had knocked on his door a previous six times without him answering knowing he was home. Frank comes out stands behind the gate and listens to my pitch. As I moved into the why I was there he stopped me and said that he didn’t want to upgrade his services, but wished me luck going to the doors down the street. This kind of caught me off guard, but I went into deeper questioning and so forth. Skip forward a bit, he looked at me straight in the eyes without the slightest of movement. Our eyes locked and after a few moments of silence he said that my pitch was good, my overall appearance was good, and that I was personable–to him all great qualities to have in the field. He said that he understood what I was going through. I asked him how he knew what I was going through? He pointed to his withered faced and said “I’ve done sales my whole life. Started off commission only just like you going door to door and made a damn good living off of it.” I asked him is he had any advice for a young guy like me just starting off. Frank said, “Stick with it and don’t give up. You’ll have your ups and downs, but guys who can overcome the downs and stay persistent will make it.” He also told me not to rely on what we call “go backs” that they mean shit. The only day that matters is the day you speak with the person and you better damn well get them to sign on the dotted line.

He also told me many things of which I’ve learned in the office. Set short-term goals and learn from the best. To set realistic goals, ones that I don’t fall short on every day, week, month, but ones that I accomplish and set a higher standard for next time. To look at the best performing person in the office as my mentor. To ask questions and keep track of my closing ratio always trying to improve on it. To have a vision that’s crystal clear. A plan of exactly how I’m going to get to where I want to be a year from now.

As I walked away from Franks house I had more thoughts and emotions running through my head. This guy has done sales his whole life and has obviously done well for himself. He was a complete dick, asshole for that matter, the first time I saw him outside and that day he shared with me his story and gave me advice and words of encouragement that will stick with me for the rest of my life.

I’ll be honest, I was going to quit my job after the 7th. I was going to set up a one on one and tell my leader that I was throwing in the towel and calling it quits. But after my encounter with Frank my whole perspective changed. I also couldn’t build the courage to actually tell David face-to-face that I was done. I look up to him and he’s done a lot for me. I didn’t want to see the disappointment on his face after I told him that I was quitting. I’m glad that I became a quitter at quitting.

Now you’re probably wondering how I did the following week (this last week August 9-14). I started the week strong by closing 2 accounts on Monday. I thought to myself that “hmm, something’s working here,” and came to the conclusion that it was the change in my attitude. I finished the week with 6 accounts ending up 2 short of my goal of 8 for the week. I’m going to be fully committed this upcoming week. I’ve decided that I’m going to stick with this NO MATTER WHAT for at least a year and see where I get.

Related posts:

1. Put Two Feet In…
2. What is the Key to Staying Motivated?
3. To Wake Up with a Smile

Photo by Flickr User klorrainegraham

So, where to begin. These last four weeks have been exhausting. I’ve been working literally 12 hour days with my sales job. To top that off I haven’t had a day off from work because I spend my weekends working at a restaurant in Fashion Island in Newport Beach. Now you’re saying to yourself, “man Gregg must be making some big bucks.” Not yet. I’m still working on that part. I’m doing alright, but not performing at the level I know I can perform at. It’s rough though, I just want some time to myself and to be able to have the freedom to do the things that make me happy. I just don’t understand how people manage to work their whole lives. How they’re content with mediocrity and with the same rituals and habits everyday living paycheck to paycheck. I want more in my life and am willing to sacrifice anything to get to where I want to be.

I mentioned that the job is challenging, fun, and discouraging and I mean it in every sense possible. It’s challenging because I’ve never done entry-level sales business-to-business or business-to-residential. I’m not going to lie, I’m a shitty sales person and I know that I have a lot of ground to make up if I ever want to be a top dog high rolling the office every week. It was a reality check when I saw my name at the bottom of the production list last week. I never want to see my name at the bottom again and I never want to feel the punch in the gut I felt when I saw my name at the bottom. It was like, damn this is embarrassing I don’t want to experience this feeling of shame ever. I’ve always been good at anything I do…but I’ve never been great. So now I’m challenging myself to be great at what I do (sales for the time being).

I was fortunate enough to have the chance to listen to a bronze medalist speak at my office earlier this week. His name was Simon Cho. This kid is 18 years old. He grew up on skates since he was 3 years old and it’s the only thing he knows. I was able to take a lot away from the things he said, which I hope to apply to my life in general. First of all, Olympians are the top 1% of athletes IN THE WORLD. You don’t become an Olympian by half-assing it all the time when you’re training. You must have the willingness to sacrifice everything else. Like I said, you can’t half ass something and expect to be great. For Simon, he put 100% of his time into skating. This made him better than his fellow peers because they were putting 50% towards skating and the other 50% towards their studies in school. You must have the diligence and consistency to keep at it. It takes someone special to keep doing something for 10 years and not giving up. To stay motivated you must be able to answer the question why you’re doing it. Simon, for the longest time, was doing it for his father. He saw how much time his father sacrificed for Simon’s career to get him where he is today. Simon finally began skating for himself and not his father. We have to be doing something that we want to and not because someone else wants us to. You must have the support and atmosphere to act as a backbone when you truly just want to call it quits because you don’t think you can take it anymore. Athletes mentally quit all the time and lose track of their vision and don’t see the future. When Simon wanted to quit and didn’t think he could make the Olympic team. He was having a bad season so he called his Dad and said “get me out of here,” and his Dad said that he believed in him. He was right. We all go through struggles and have to overcome those struggles. Quitting cannot be an option. We must be quitters at quitting. When standing on the podium Simon said that is was like a piece of Utopia. He had flashbacks of all the hardships he overcame to get to that point. It was the journey that got him there that’s been the most valuable.

Now that I got through that I wanted to bring up the fact that you should ALWAYS have a student mentality when it comes to any endeavor you take on personally and professionally. Knowledge is priceless and I’ve realized that I can learn something new every day as long as I apply myself and am willing to grow as a person mentally, physically, and emotionally.

My job is also fun. I get to surround myself with a bunch of young, like minded individuals who want more out of life than to settle for average. I’ve never been in an atmosphere with so many young go getters who are also there to support each other every day while at the office and in the field. It truly amazes me how much of a family everyone is outside of work as well.

Lastly, working in general is discouraging, but sales has made me feel quite discouraged at times. I’ve learned that I must keep my head held high and a positive attitude. Not to let the little things get to me and know that there’s always tomorrow. It’s discouraging when you come home from a long days work and didn’t close an account. “Fuck, I just worked a 10+ hour day for absolutely nothing.” There’s nights I’m driving home constantly asking myself “what the fuck did I get myself into” or “why the hell am I putting myself through this/doing this when I could work a shitty job for a wage that’s less demanding and requires less energy.” Yup, that’s what goes through my mind. Then I take a step back and realize that I need to take a deep breath and focus on how and what I need to improve.

Overall, the experience has been great. Having experienced first hand entry-level sales has allowed me to develop a skill set I can take with me anywhere I go for the rest of my life. Sales is a great vehicle to develop a strong root system and grow from that point on. At first I was worried about the performance based commission only structure, but have become fond of the whole structure. This is because at a job that pays a wage the employer pays his employee just enough so he doesn’t quit. The employee works just hard enough not to get fired. With a commission only structure I have to work my ass off to get paid. I have to be willing to learn and stay motivated in order to succeed out in the field. It lights a fire under my ass because if I slack off I won’t close any accounts and if I don’t close any accounts the bills don’t get paid.

What I wanted to get at is that in whatever you pursue you must be willing to put two feet in. You’ll never reach your true potential if you never dedicate 100% of your efforts towards whatever it is you want to excel at. That’s why my short-term goal is to close enough accounts in during the week (8 accounts) so I can generate a steady income every week high enough to quit my job at the restaurant. This is so I can work my sales job Monday through Saturday with nothing else on my mind and have one day (Sunday) to relax, reflect, and gather my thoughts for the upcoming week.

And no, I wouldn’t trade this job in for anything else. Give me one year and we’ll see who’s on top!

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Photo by Flickr User Pixelinthebox

Some of you may recognize this poem, some you may not. I came across this poem in Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill, of which I’m currently reading. It was written by Jessie B. Rittenhouse.

In this economy many people have been hit hard. It has forced the masses to think differently and redefine the conventional way of doing things. For some, that may come in the form of inventing products or services that improve our way of life and for others it may be to improve upon what is already existing by effectiveness and efficiency.

Let me tell you something. I’m a dreamer. Not just a dreamer…a BIG dreamer. You’re probably a big dreamer as well. What we all have in common is that we let others tell us something can’t be done and that whatever it is that we’re on a mission to accomplish is impossible. GET THESE PEOPLE OUT OF YOUR LIVES! THEY’RE POISON. The difference between you and those people is that you have not been defeated. “No one ever is defeated until defeat has been accepted as a reality” (Napoleon Hill). Dominating thoughts, negative or positive, consume our mind. Our minds are like a magnet and will ultimately believe what we think and what others tell us. If, for some reason, you believe you can’t do something, guess what? Whatever it is that you thought you couldn’t do or accomplish will become a reality. If you believe you can do something you WILL be able to do that something. It’s not that hard of a concept to grasp. Magical isn’t it?

There’s nothing wrong believing in a dream or goal that is not yet tangible; something that’s just a pigment of your imagination. If you believe in a dream or goal so much that you believe it’s really there, actually happening, it will become a reality sooner or later. Assuming that you’re willing to do whatever it takes to get there! To have faith, overcome obstacles, and have courage when it seems like you have nothing more to give. Believe in your dreams and goals and they will eventually come true.

I hope this lesson has helped you in some small way. It may seem like I’m regurgitating what is said in Think and Grow Rich. My word may not seem a lot to you, but take it as you please. I was in a position, we’ll say 3 weeks ago for the sake of this post, where my mind was full of misdirection and doubt. I have finally understood what others have been trying to tell me and the message authors such as Napoleon Hill try to help guide people and understand. To think positively about success and put that energy in my daily life to attract the things I desire. To believe in myself.

Don’t get me wrong either. I still have days of doubt, but I’m working on it. What I’ve realized is that it takes time and that I must have the courage and desire to change. If I don’t have the willingness to change or take risks than the lifestyle I’m living won’t change. If I don’t change my bad habits, thinking process, or take on challenges that seem impossible to overcome then what I want and desire will never become a reality (so help me God if anyone or anything gets in my way!). I’m finding out that I must grasp onto what I desire most and run with my gut feeling, my first instinct, and what I believe in most. I don’t want to get old sitting around regretting decisions I made in the past. We only live once and I want to make the most of it. Personal development is something I must accept. It’s been a rough journey really thinking about why I want to change. I know what I want in life and it’s just a matter of getting there.

All I want for you to get out of this is that you should follow your dreams and believe in yourself. There’s no reason why you should be working for another man’s dreams your whole life. We all have aspirations, dreams, and goals. Too many people have thrown those aspirations, dreams, and goals out the window because they lose faith in themselves. Regain that faith and know that you are capable of doing anything you set your mind to.

I keep hearing successful people say that the journey to the top was the most gratifying thing and what they appreciate most. That the journey was worth it. My journey hasn’t been quite so sunny…pretty gloomy if you ask me, but I know when I finally make it to the top by accomplishing my personal and financial goals. I’ll be able to look back and appreciate everything that I will have learned and the person I became.

Related posts:

1. A Kid’s Mentality…Dream Big or Go Home
2. To Wake Up with a Smile