I remember early on in my entrepreneurial journey, I was told by a mentor of mine that I needed to dream more.  He told me the kinds of things I needed to keep in the forefront of my head, but it just didn’t work for me.  You see, his dreams weren’t mine, and vice versa.

Over the course of my journey, keeping that dream alive was one of the most difficult things I had to do.  You see, I kept thinking that my dream had to be about material things, and I’ve just never been driven that way.  Now don’t get me wrong, there is nothing wrong if that’s YOUR dream, it just wasn’t mine.  Most of you know I’m a huge fan of John C. Maxwell.  I have been working through a book of his that is a Daily Reader with little “nuggets” each day that are totally inspirational.  The other day, I read his daily “scripture” and it really cleared up some of my own misconceptions about having a dream, it was titled “The Power Of A Dream”.

He makes some excellent points about how as success oriented people we need to have a dream that is in our heart, no matter what it is.  He says, “I’m not talking about wanting to win the lottery.  That kind of idea comes from a desire to escape our present circumstances, not to pursue a heartfelt dream.  I’m talking about a vision deep inside that speaks to the very soul.  It’s the thing we were born to do, it draws on our talents and gifts.”

So often as busy entrepreneurs, we get caught up in our daily activities and we forget the very reasons we are pursuing and pushing in our business lives.  We forget that when we started our journey, we had a dream and a vision.  In the book The Compound Effect by Darren Hardy, he recommends that we revisit those reasons daily.  As part of our morning “calibration” meeting with ourselves.  Deep inside of you there is a reason you wake up each morning and do what you do, I challenge you to write those reasons down and review them each and every day.  No matter the reason, it’s what matters to you!

I have said before that one of the greatest maxims of leadership is the desire to help others.  To go from success to significance.  I don’t believe that this goal is altruistic or mere “fluff”.  As business owners, it is incumbent upon us to provide value to those we serve, and with that comes our own success.

So dig deep inside of you and find out the thing that burns in your heart.  I know for me it is that deep desire to help others, maybe for you it is to be free from a job that you hate.  Whatever it is, write it down and revisit it daily.  Here’s what Mr. Maxwell says about your dream.

A Dream Does Many Things For Us:

• A dream gives us direction.
• A dream increases our potential.
• A dream helps us prioritize.
• A dream adds value to our work.
• A dream predicts our future.

To The Success You Deserve!

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One of the biggest struggles for starting Entrepreneurs is finding prospects for their business. Even with over 700 million people on Facebook, many people still struggle to find the right mix of people for their product or service.  One of the more overlooked places for new business owners is their friends.  I think many people feel uncomfortable approaching their friends with their new venture for many reasons, but this is often a very untapped market.

There are some important rules, however, in regards to your friendships.  This week’s Seeds of Success offers the following excellent tips on friendship.

The Incalculable Benefit of Friends

In 1907, SUCCESS founder Orison Swett Marden wrote an article titled “I Had a Friend.” These quotes from Marden’s timeless message express a few of the benefits and the necessity of true friends.

Friends are good for business.
“Most of us would have been very much poorer financially, but for the hosts of friends who have sent us customers and clients and business, who have always turned our way everything they could.”

Friends help us grow.
“Emerson says: ‘Our chief want in life is somebody who shall make us do what we can. This is the service of a friend. With him we are easily great.’ “

Relationships require work. 
“Friendship must be cultivated. It cannot be bought; it is priceless. If you abandon your friends for a quarter of a century or more while you are buried in your pursuit of wealth, you cannot expect to come back and find them where you left them.”

To have friends, be a friend.
“If you would have friends, you must cultivate the qualities which you admire in others…. There is nothing like magnanimity and real charity, kindness, and a spirit of helpfulness, for attracting others. Your interest in people must be a real one, or you will not draw them to you.”

If you are in the networking industry, the first thing you are taught is to contact all your friends and family about your new business venture.  ”Hit your warm list” is the first order of business, right?  Business Leader and former Robert Kiyosaki student Rick Gutman says it best when it comes to prospecting for your business.  He says, “I treat the message that I have like a good stock tip.  I’m not here to hard sell the stock, I’m just here to recommend it”.  Sage advice, and an approach that we can all apply to whatever business we have.

In the end, you wouldn’t be involved in your business if you didn’t believe in it and find value in whatever you are offering.  By asking the right questions and positioning your business as a value to the marketplace, you will find that your friendships will grow and the right people will be attracted to your business.

To The Success You Deserve!

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So often in business and in life we get overwhelmed by the incredible amount of things we need to do and the information we need to process.  Life is really a series of small, minute by minute choices we make.  Watch today’s video to hear what leadership expert John C. Maxwell has to say about the choices we make.

I hope you were inspired by today’s Maxwell Minute.  When the world seems to spin all around us, it’s important to feed ourselves daily with good information.

I hope you were inspired by today’s reading, and that you will share it with others so that you may help to inspire them.

To The Success You Deserve!

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