We’ve all experienced the highs and lows of feeling motivated. One day you want to change the world and accomplish every dream and goal you have written down on a piece of paper. The next day you go back to your old habits, laziness sets in, and those dreams and goals are nothing more but ink on that piece of paper that you crumble up into a ball and throw it through the air towards the trashcan like a free throw hoping to score a point. I have gone through this so many times in the last few years of my life and have finally figured out what the key to staying motivated is.

Yes, you read it. The key to finding the motivation to succeed and staying motivated is inspiration. My brother and I had the pleasure of listening and speaking with a very successful business figure last week on Saturday (March 6, 2010), when we went back home to Bakersfield for the weekend. I learned a lot listening to what he had to say to a small group of us who stayed after everyone else had left the house we were at. What I learned was that you must think positive regardless of how you feel and not let all of the negative people and thoughts have a stronger effect on you. Once you let those negative aspects of your life take over you will ultimately fail at staying motivated and succeeding in your endeavors, whatever they may be. If you don’t make that sale that was going to bring in a huge commission to your pockets don’t get down on yourself and let it consume your mind. You need to let yourself know that there is a tomorrow and other opportunities will present themselves.

Rob asked us a question that had me thinking for a while. It went something along these lines, “When was the last time you were inspired? Inspired by a person or group of people you were with?” I thought and thought… What bothered me was that I couldn’t think of any recent time that I was truly inspired by an individual or group. Inspired to the point where I felt like a new person, someone who wanted to take the initiative to make a change, someone who wanted to start a new path in his life, and someone with a clearly defined objective to find the light at the end of that path. A light bulb finally went off, thank God was I relieved. The last time I was truly inspired was when I participated in the Ray Scherr Business Plan Competition in the beginning of 2009. All of the work and research I did was outside of the class and I didn’t receive any units for participating. I couldn’t tell you the day, but it was when I was sitting in a classroom listening to two successful Cal Poly entrepreneurs who now run multi-million dollar businesses. Hearing their stories and how they overcame obstacles, stayed motivated, and put in long hours all for the one idea they truly loved was priceless. I left that room with a new found motivation that inspired me to want to succeed. If they could do it, I could surely do it.

There was something else that I liked. It was when Rob said, “I got rid of the I have to in my life and replaced it with I get to.” He doesn’t HAVE to go to work, but GETS to go to work and do something he enjoys doing. He doesn’t HAVE to make time in his busy schedule to go to his children’s soccer games, but GETS to go to his children’s soccer games without worrying about when he has to get back to work. He’s free to do what he wants and when he pleases.

Listening to Rob’s story of how he lost everything, only three years back, and had to put a for sale sign up in front of his house and see where he is today truly inspired me. I thought I had it bad when I have my whole life in front of me! Rob had a wife and children to worry about. I couldn’t even think of how devastating it would be to tell my children that we were going to lose our home.

What I want to end this post with is that if you feel that you’ve lost the motivation you once had you can always get it back. I have and it feels great. Listen to something positive for at least 15 minutes every day or read something that’s positive. You will become inspired and find the motivation to succeed. What I like to do is watch/listen to success stories and I have also been reading ever day. It’s helped me and I hope it will help you out as well.

Since graduating I have been applying and interviewing to various positions in multiple companies. Much to my dismay I have been playing the waiting game like many of my friends and other college graduates around the nation. Before graduating I heard it a lot from older peers, but have experienced it time and time again while going through the interview process. It is a trend many companies have adapted to, but is it right or wrong? What I am talking about is a graduate’s grade point average, otherwise known as GPA. The two questions I have are: Should GPA be used to weed out potential employees by prospective employers? And is GPA a direct indicator of ones one’s ability to perform in the workplace? The answer to both of these questions, in my opinion, is a mild yes and a strong no.

To answer the first question “Should GPA be used to weed out potential employees by prospective employers?,” I believe it’s a decent safeguard used by the human resource departments but not the best practice. For example purposes only I’ll use California Polytechnic State University (Cal Poly San Luis Obispo) in comparison to California State University of Bakersfield (CSUB). Let’s take a look at a Cal Poly graduate who applies to a company, gets to be interviewed, and is told a job offer is being written up. Human resources hadn’t seen this graduate’s GPA yet, but this graduate has worked for the company part-time for the last year and has done his job exceptionally well. Once human resources saw this graduate’s GPA, slightly under a 3.0, it was set in stone that this graduate would not receive a job offer regardless of the circumstances. Why? Because there are policies the human resource’s department must follow. Is this implying that a graduate with above a 3.0 GPA from California State University of Bakersfield would get this job instead? I can’t answer you that since I don’t work in the human resource department! The point I’m trying to make is that ALL colleges and universities vary between the caliber of their courses and coursework.

Not only does the caliber of courses and coursework vary from colleges and universities but so do the professors. At every college and university there are multiple professors that teach the same course. With multiple professors teaching the same course you’ll have a similar curriculum but completely different personalities and level of difficulty in the course. I experienced this multiple times during my time here at Cal Poly. I had a finance professor who used to teach at Northwestern University and expected an introductory level finance class to perform and execute at the same level of difficulty as he could. Nonetheless I learned A LOT by the end of the quarter, but I spent twice as much time studying and completing practice problems for the course versus the other courses I was taking. At the same time I had a friend taking the other professor for the same introductory finance course who never had to study because “the class was a joke and an easy A.”

Someone who allocated less time, energy, and effort into the same course with a different professor got that easy A which boosted their cumulative GPA. While I on the other hand struggled alongside my classmates and received a C- in the course, but learned a hell of a lot more than our peers with the other professor. Sure, some of us choose to take the professors everyone tries to avoid because they’re more difficult but that’s because we hear great things about those professors and how much more knowledge previous students walked away with after taking that course with that professor.

Let us take a look at the second question “Is GPA a direct indicator of ones one’s ability to perform in the workplace?.” My answer and personal opinion to this question is absolutely not! After explaining my opinion above I hope you understand why my answer is what it is. My cumulative GPA isn’t above a 3.0, but that doesn’t mean that I’m not a hard worker, won’t be able adapt to a fast working environment, or set goals and continuously accomplish or exceed them. Depending on the major, GPA could be used as an indicator of one’s knowledge on a particular subject especially with the “Learn by Doing” aspect incorporated in many of the architecture and engineer courses here at Cal Poly. But like I said this doesn’t take into account the intangibles and characteristics of an individual.

Many companies are missing out on candidates that would perform and excel in the workplace by setting GPA requirements in order to land a job with their company. Okay, so yeah there’s thousands of applicants to some companies. But as a company wouldn’t I want to at least go through most if not all of those applicants to find the best one to fill a position? Most of these companies have personnel, usually in the human resource department, being paid full-time salaries to do this vary job. They’re getting paid no matter what to go through resumes, cover letters, and writing examples to find the best employee. At least go through every application and/or resume because you might just find that needle in a haystack. Setting GPA requirements is a form of discrimination, not too extreme, but something I think companies should strongly reconsider lifting if they have that kind of a policy in place.

On another note, I’d love to hear your comments and opinions about GPA requirements used by companies. Feel free to post them down below in the comments section!

Recorded on February 1st, 2010 in the same studio as the original version, the 25th Anniversary recording of ‘We Are The World’ features over 80 artists and performers.

I saw the music video on television before the 2010 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in Vancouver kicked off the other night on February 12, 2010. The recording is absolutely amazing and the video is inspirational. It’s great that so many artists were able to get together and make such a beautiful song to share with the world. Especially during a time in which much help is needed for Haiti and during an event that represents and symbolizes unity. Hope you enjoy the video as much as I do!

For more information regarding the video and cause visit We Are The World Foundation.

Those of you watching Super Bowl 44 saw a commercial with a remix by Will.i.am of the song My Generation by The Who. The remix was played on the commercial for flo.tv right before half time.

The Who is also performing during half time. There has been a lot of controversy surrounding the performance since Pete Townshend was arrested in a pedophilia sting in the United Kingdom in 2003. Nonetheless we can expect a great performance and a great super bowl!

Jay Z, RIhanna, and E.S. Posthumus played a mix of the hit song Run This Town before the Super Bowl 44 began. Run This Town / Posthumus Zone was played to start off the Super Bowl kickoff show!

Enjoy Super Bowl Sunday watching the Indianapolis Colts and and New Orleans Saints battle it out for the championship!

Get One Month FREE of Web Hosting from HostGator with coupon CACTUS

You’re probably here because you want to know how to start your own blog. Over the past few years the number of bloggers and growth online has been phenomenal. It now seems as though if you don’t have your own blog that you’re out of the loop. Many bloggers do it because it’s fun to do!

So, how do you start a blog and become a blogger? Take these steps on how to start a blog and you’ll be on your way in no time.

How to Start a Blog: Buy a Domain Name
First, you’ll need your own domain. A domain is what you type in the URL address bar. There are many places that offer ‘free’ domains, but it’s always better to own yours outright. To do so you can go to domain registrars, such as GoDaddy, and register your own domain which will cost you about $10.97 (on the day of writing this article February 1, 2010). Get your domain now if you don’t have one already by clicking the link Go Daddy $7.49 .com Sale!

I’ve used GoDaddy for over 3 years now to purchase my domains. I’ve never had a problem with them and their customer service is beyond amazing. GoDaddy isn’t the only domain registrar, just the one I would recommend because of my experience with them.

How to Start a Blog: Purchase Web Hosting
Now that you have your own domain name you’ll need to purchase yourself a web hosting plan. There are many web hosting companies to choose from just like domain registrars. However, in this article I’m going to recommend going through HostGator. Like GoDaddy I’ve used HostGator for over 3 years now and have never encountered a problem with them. Their web hosting plans are fairly priced and their customer service is beyond amazing as well. You can get one month free of web hosting from HostGator by following these steps:

Step 1: Go to HostGator

Step 2: Click the ‘Web Hosting’ link in the navigation bar at the top

Step 3: Click ‘Order Now’ button for the Baby Plan (middle of the page)

Step 4: Enter your existing domain or purchase a domain

Step 5: Use coupon CACTUS

Step 6: Click ‘Calculate Your Total’ and final price will be $0.00

Now that you’ve purchased your own personal domain name and web hosting plan you’re on your way to becoming a blogger. Come back for the next steps on how to start a blog. I will cover setting up your nameservers and installing WordPress. Be patient, you’re almost there!

J.D. Salinger influenced and inspired the world with his works. For most teenagers growing up, Catcher in the Rye was a novel read in junior high school or at the high school level. The novel has sold over 60 million copies worldwide. He never wrote to become famous, but became famous for not wanting to be.

The Catcher and the Rye was published in 1951. J.D. Salinger was featured on the cover of Time Magazine in 1961. His last published work was “Hapsworth 16, 1924, which appeared in the New Yorker in 1965.

We say farewell to such an iconic author.

Photo by IngnitionNation.com

Jersey Shore Fansite

The phenomenon Jersey Shore became one of MTV’s most viewed reality television shows. It started out with many of us making fun of Guidos and Guidettes, but quickly turned into pure entertainment week after week.

If you were one the millions of viewers that tuned in each week to watch Jersey Shore on MTV you know how raunchy the cast members got when intoxicated. One of the cast members that constantly showed a lot of skin was Jenni Farley also known as “Jwoww.”

RadarOnline learned exclusively that there are nude photos of Jwoww. Jwoww’s nude pictures are apparently “being shipped to several media outlets.” They confirmed that there are three pictures of Jwoww topless. I guess Jersey Shore fans can expect to still be entertained!

Source: RadarOnline

It’s easy to turn off prospective investors.
Just feed them the same old lines.

by Guy Kawasaki

For a few months, Ive had a constant ringing in my right ear. The condition is called tinnitus, and my doctors say that it can be cause by an ear infection, too much salt in one’s diet, a stressful lifestyle, or even a neuroma.

I have a different theory. I think that listening to the lies, exaggerations, and wishful thinking of entrepreneurs has caused the ringing. You see, I’m in the business of helping entrepreneurs raise venture capital, and I listen to hundreds of pitches every year. I hear the same fabrications and delusions over and over again. So, as a public service, I am now going to disclose the top ten lies told by entrepreneurs – and what investors say to themselves when they hear them. I’m not expecting to cure entrepreneurs of lying (fat chance), but hope I’ll at least encourage them to be a little more creative. And I may just save the hearing of a few VCs.

1. Entrepreneur: “Our projections are conservative.”

Investor: “Multiply this forecast by .1 and add five years.”

God bless the entrepreneur who forecasts sales greater than Exodus, JDS Uniphase, and Cisco and then states that the forecasts are conservative. Nobody believes the financial forecasts – investors simply want to see that the entrepreneur understands the industry, the logic involved in putting together a reasonable financial model, and how companies grow. If every man, woman, and child needs to buy two WAP phones for a company to reach profitability, something is wrong.

2. Entrepreneur: “IDC (or Jupiter or Yankee Group or Gartner Group) forecasts that our market will be $50 billion by 2003.”

Investor: This is the fifth $50 billion market I’ve heard about today.”

When every plan makes the same grandiose claims about market size, investors have a hard time taking the projections seriously. Instead of trying to prove that the market will be big, enable investors to fantasize about its size. Give them the facts and the context they need to understand the scale of the opportunity for themselves. For example, if you can demonstrate that every corporate Web site on the planet needs your company’s product, an investor can figure out that the opportunity is big.

3. Entrepreneur: “Amazon will sign our deal next week.”

Investor: Call me when you get Bezos’s signature.”

Few new economy companies ever definitely say no to any alliance, partnerships, or offer. They’re all afraid of missing the Next Big Thing. Instead, everyone says, “You have an interesting idea. We’ll get back to you about it,” and then they don’t. Unfortunately, the entrepreneur hears, “Yes, we’re doing it.” Never talk about a Big Deal until it’s a Signed Deal.

4. Entrepreneur: “Key employees are set to join us as soon as we get funded.”

Investor: “Give me their phone numbers so I can verify this story.”

There’s no chicken-and-egg problem here. The order is clear: you get the human capital, you get the venture capital. If an entrepreneur can’t persuade key execs to join because of the opportunity, she probably can’t entice them with big salaries. Indeed, one of the litmus tests of fundability and entrepreneurial skill is the ability to attract talent without money.

5. Entrepreneur: “We have no competition.”

Investor: “Either there’s no market or you don’t know how to use a search engine.”

To this day, investors get business plans for on-line bookstores calming a first-mover advantage. If an idea is good, five companies are already working on it. If an idea is great, ten companies are working on it. Claiming that there is no competition to an investor who’s heard a similar pitch five times in the last six months is like screaming, “I am a bozo!” Bozos don’t get funded.

6. Entrepreneur: “We need you to sign a nondisclosure agreement.”

Investor: “You’re clueless: no one signs a nondisclosure agreement.”

Investors won’t sign your nondisclosure agreement because they usually see several similar plans: what if they sign one company’s nondisclosure agreement and fund another? In reality, the ability to implement an idea, not thee ability to keep it a secret, is the key to a successful start-up. Investors don’t fund treasure maps; they fund teams that can get the job done. If an investor is willing to sign a nondisclosure agreement, an entrepreneur might not want his money.

7. Entrepreneur: “Cisco (or Oracle or HP or Sun) is too slow to be a threat.”

Investor: “If arrogance were venture capital, your deal would be oversubscribed.”

These companies didn’t get where they are by being big, dumb, and slow. I love Clayton Christensen’s Innovator’s Dilemma as much as anyone, but funding the next c urve is a scary proposition. It’s even scarier when an entrepreneur dismisses the current curve’s gorillas. Show a healthy respect for the incumbents while demonstrating a compelling and believable way to compete with them.

8. Entrepreneur: “We’re glad the bubble has burst.”

Investor: “We are, too, because your valuation just dropped 50%.”

Let’s be honest: no one is glad the bubble has burst. For entrepreneurs, it’s harder to get funded, valuations are lower, and due diligence takes longer. For investors, portfolios are worth a lot less (and the lockup period isn’t over), and the employees of portfolio companies are quitting because their stock options are under water. Since the bubble burst, everyone has been trying to spin a silver lining, but the sun shines brighter and birds sing sweeter when Nasdaq is at 5,000.

9. Entrepreneur: “Our patents make our business defensible.”

Investor: “Hire more engineers, not patent attorneys.”

Unless you’re a biotech or medical- device company, it’s hard to support this claim. If an idea is worth copying, there’s a will and a way to get around the patent. File all the patents you like, but investors believe that what makes a company defensible is the ability to out-implement, not out-litigate.

10. Entrepreneur: “All we have to do is get 1% of the market.”

Investor: “I want to fund a company that will get 99% of the market.”

I call this the “Chinese soda syndrome”: if just 1% of the people in China drink a company’s soda, it will sell a ton of soda. The problem is that getting 1% of the Chinese to drink the company’s soda isn’t so easy. Another problem is that no one wants to invest in a company that aspires to grab only 1% of the market. (It’s every investor’s dream to learn that his company is on the radar screen of the Justice Department’s Antitrust Division.) Shooting for the top-dog position is much more attractive to an investor than claiming it will take only a minuscule market share to succeed.

So if you’re an entrepreneur, do me a favor and don’t repeat any of these whoppers in my presence. If you pitch me and I turn my bad ear toward you, I’m trying to tell you something.

Guy Kawasaki is the CEO of Garage.com, a venture capital investment bank based in Silicon Valley.