For the last several years, my wife Amy and I have been teaching ordinary people how to create success in a home based business. These people range from stay at home Moms to former military officers and all have one or both of these  common goals: Time Freedom or Financial Freedom. It seems that as people realize how much fun they are not having in their current lives, they start to look for alternate ways to provide them with a different kind of lifestyle. Most people, including you, want a change to take place in their financial life or their personal life. Most people have no idea what that change is, but they know they want it. Some people are very clear on what they want to change but have no idea how to do it.

This is where we come into the picture. We were at this same stage several years ago. I was in a job, knowing I didn’t want to be there, yet I didn’t know how to change it all. Hats off to my wife for finding the way to make that change occur. She discovered a simple system designed for people with zero experience in network marketing or internet advertising. It is a system designed to inspire change in people’s lives. It is a system created by visionaries who wanted that change to happen in their own lives and then in the lives of thousands of others as well.

The simple fact is, most people spend their entire lives just living day to day. They fail to plan for their future. They fail to plan for much of anything thinking they have a sense of security. Until one day, that security ends with a layoff or a dip in the economy and then what?

Why live your entire life enjoying the struggle when you have the ability to skip the struggle and just enjoy life. Time Freedom is reserved for those who step out of the ordinary. Financial Freedom is reserved for the ones who are willing to take a risk and stick their neck out on the line. To have both, it requires leverage. Leverage over your time!

That is simply all my wife and I do. We show you Leverage!

What is an Entrepreneur who is everywhere all at once without ever having to set foot outside his home? Wealthy! Wealthy with Time and Wealthy with Money!

I think it’s about time for you to learn how to walk the walk that most of the people you associate with everyday will never walk. It’s time for you to learn how to walk the path of Leverage!

As you all know I am currently here on the Big Island of Hawaii with my family. We are here for two reasons: Lifestyle and Learning. We are attending a conference along with over a thousand people from all over the world who have also come here for Lifestyle and Learning. We have been here since last Thursday and have been having an awesome time! It puts new wind in my sails to sit here and watch my children experience Hawaii for the first time. The light in their eyes and the excitement in their step fuels me and gives me a new passion for life. Life is good!

The Path of Least Resistance

Throughout the conference I have heard a common phrase. The last two presenters, Shawn Achor and Erik Wahl, have both mentioned this phrase. I have always known this but it has taken on a whole new meaning to me within the last few days. The phrase is “The Path of Least Resistance.” Basically put, human nature. We, as human beings, are naturally programmed to take the path of least resistance. We will take the easy road. If we come to a fork in the road and one has a mountain to climb and the other has just a hill, we’ll take the hill. It’s in our nature. We’re not stupid right!?

Well, this can be a damaging trait. Allow me to attempt to assist you in seeing this point through my perspective, or through my eyes. In life, what is the easiest path for you, getting a job or starting a business? Coloring a page with figures already drawn out for you or creating your own figures to color? Building a tree house using a manual or drafting and building your own design?

The answers are obvious right? The easiest path is the one that has already been laid out for you. Most likely, the life that most of you are living right now is a life that you have been pre-programmed to live, a life that has been, in a sense, mapped out for you. You went to college because that’s what everyone did. You got that job because that’s what most people do. You took the path of least resistance. It’s easy to follow something that you have been taught since childhood.

The difficult yet more rewarding path is the path of the entrepreneur. Entrepreneurship isn’t something that is taught to us as children unless it comes directly from our parents. It definitely isn’t taught in schools until you get to college, but even then, learning about business economics can’t teach you how to think like an entrepreneur.

To truly become an entrepreneur one must, more than often, head down the path of most resistance. As they do, they grow faster, learn faster, get stronger, gain more experience and are the ones leading the pack. They are the Rhino instead of the cow.

I can tell you this much, and all of you should already know this…..success evades those who always take the path of least resistance.

So if you find yourself doing what seems easiest, think twice about that decision. Sure, common decisions such as climbing hills over mountains are a no brainer, unless you’re goal is to get into shape. But if you are someone looking to create a wealth of success in your life, make sure your decisions are moving you closer to your goal. At times, that requires you to go against your natural programming, and if you plan on being an entrepreneur for long, get used to it!!

So, let’s talk about the cubicle, and more specifically, the work cubicle. To preface this post I did a little research on the cubicle and as I started to look at different cubicles, I started to feel restricted. I became less and less motivated as the time crept by. I think I actually acquired a cubicle phobia!! Seriously, do it. Just start looking at all the different types of cubicles on the net and see how you start to feel after a few minutes of doing it. It’s painful. At least for me it was.

Anyways, as I was looking up these cubicles, I ran across something hilarious. There are sites out on the internet that offer “Cubicle Etiquette!” Basically put, “how to behave in your cubicle.” I had to laugh and I am actually going to copy and past the etiquette right here for you all to read. Now, I have to give props to the person who wrote this information for having a desire to assist those who have chosen to experience the cubicle misery day in and day out. She has good intentions and deserves credit for her suggestions. However, why even choose to submit yourself to so much misery in the first place? That is beyond my comprehension. A $40,000 salary is definitely not worth the pain or even a 6 figure income for that matter. There are much more fun, creative, more exciting and fulfilling ways to make a heck of a lot more money.

Here is the “Cubicle Etiquette”:

PRIVACY

• Never enter someone’s cubicle without permission. Behave as though cubicles have doors. Do not enter before you have eye contact “permission” from the occupant.

• Try not to sneak up behind someone in a cube. Announce yourself at their doorway or lightly knock on the wall.

• Post a sign or flag at your cube entrance to signal when you can be interrupted. Avoid making eye contact with people if you don’t want to be interrupted.

• Don’t “prairie-dog” over the tops of cubes or peek in as you walk past each one.

• Don’t loiter outside someone’s cube while you wait for him or her to finish a phone call. Come back at another time.

• Never read someone’s computer screen or comment on conversations you’ve overheard. Resist answering a question you overheard asked in the cube next to you!

• Keep your hands off a cube dweller’s desk. Just because there’s no door doesn’t mean you can help yourself to their paper clips.

PHONES

• Try to pick up your phone after one or two rings. Set the ringer volume at a low level.

• Limit the use of speakerphones. If you must use one, keep the volume as low as possible. Use a meeting room for conference calls.

• Watch your volume when talking on the phone. A wireless headset can help keep your voice low.

• When you leave your cubicle, turn your phone ringer off and let it go to voicemail or forward your phone number to your new location.

• Never leave your cell phone behind in your cube without first turning it off or to vibrate.

• With personal or sensitive calls, be aware that your neighbors can hear your end of the conversation.

TALKING

• Use your “library voice”.

• Don’t talk through cube walls or congregate outside someone’s cube. For impromptu meetings, go to a conference room or break room.

• Don’t bring clients to your cube to meet with them. Go to an office or conference room.

• Don’t yell across the “cube farm”. Get up and move to the other person’s location.

GENERAL NOISE

• Use email or instant messaging to communicate silently with your coworkers.

• Play radios at low volumes or use a headset.

• Set your PC volume to a low level and turn off screensaver sound effects.

• Set pagers to vibrate.

• Work out an arrangement with your neighbors to take lunch breaks at different times. This will give each of you some quiet time in your cube.

• Eat quietly. Avoid gum-popping, humming, slurping and pen tapping.

SMELLS

• A good rule of thumb is to never eat hot food at your desk. Food odors can bother your hungry or nauseous neighbors.

• Perfume and cologne should be avoided in a cubicle arrangement. Your neighbors may have allergies.

• Keep an air freshener handy.

• Keep your shoes on!

There were some great suggestions in there for those of you who work in a cubicle. I wouldn’t be such a critic if I hadn’t worked in one myself. Whatever reason it is that landed you in a cubicle job, make it completely temporary. Certain people are meant for cubicle jobs and certain people have so much more potential. If you feel like you are the latter, kick the cubicle to the curb. I know for Amy and myself, it has been the most profitable decision we have ever made…and also the most liberating!

I’d like to do a quick comparison between you and any given hero. I would like to make a comparison between the way you handle yourself, your life, your choices and the way you think. I’m not going to compare the fact that most super heroes can throw cars and break through walls and you can’t. There are many types of heroes in the world, besides the obvious fictional heroes such as superman.

So let’s define a hero:

• mythological or legendary figure often of divine descent endowed with great strength or ability
• an illustrious warrior
• man admired for his achievements and noble qualities
• one that shows great courage
• the central figure in an event, period, or movement
• an object of extreme admiration and devotion

Think about what a hero would do when facing a burning building. He doesn’t think, he just acts and he does so in a completely selfless way. Lives are at stake. He trusts his intuition and moves with haste. What does a fictitious hero do when the end of the world is at hand? He looks at himself as the only one with the power to save it. He doesn’t go to the police or other super heroes to take care of it. He takes the responsibility on himself.

Think back to the times when you might have saved your child from falling or actually saved someones life. Did you think much? Did you sit back for a moment to contemplate all the different scenarios or outcomes of the situation? You just acted, right!? Your natural abilities just kicked in and made it happen.

I am sure we can all agree that a hero is someone that succeeds. A hero is a person that is looked up to for their actions. Based on what we have just discussed, a hero is also someone who trusts his immediate “gumption!” When he gets that gut feeling, he knows it is the right thing and he acts on it before it is too late.

Now, let’s reflect a bit on our lives. How have we been acting? Have we been heroic or a little cowardly. Have we been a person of action, trusting in our gut feelings? Have we been confident in making big decisions quickly or did we sit back and contemplate? When things get grim and our lives seem to be upside down, do we turn to others and expect them to bail us out or do we take on that responsibility?

The absolute truth, everyone one of us, has the potential to become a hero. The definition above describes each one of us, if we but choose to act heroic. We were all “endowed with great strength or ability” when were were born into this world. We just have to learn to use it. A “man admired for his achievements and noble qualities” is simply a man who acts instead of contemplates. “One that shows great courage“ is simply someone that makes decisions quickly and then moves forward with those decisions in a massive way. Believe it or not, we are all “the central figure in an event, period, or movement” in our own lives. We are the main character, or hero, in our own action flick! Sometimes people choose to pass that role to others out of fear of the unknown. Choose to be that central figure! And believe it or not, people are looking for “an object of extreme admiration and devotion” to follow. People look for leaders, heroes in a sense, to show them what is possible in their own lives!

If you are an entrepreneur who is taking action in your own life, you have many of these same qualities. Most people have these heroic qualities but are terrified to use them. They walk around in skepticism of change and a fear of success. The true key to success is to trust your first gut feeling and to follow it up with massive friggin’ action! Through your passion to succeed, your willingness to serve and your God given abilities, your results will be something to look up to. They will be of a leader! So you decide, are you a natural born hero or just a puny little human?

During college did you ever think about being a walk-on in your favorite sport? Now, of course I’m speaking about the ones that didn’t have that full ride scholarship and a reserved spot on the team. However, this pertains to everyone, scholarship or not. So how about it? Did you? Did you actually try out for the team or did you just think about doing it? If you did try out, did you make the team? Did you give it your best?

This is about making things happen. It’s about creating a spot for yourself. It’s about wanting it bad enough that you’ll do just about anything to get it.

If you think about a walk-on, what comes to mind? Determination? Persistence? Vision? I can tell you this much, a walk-on is someone that makes the team out of pure will power. It is that person that knows they can hang with the big dogs, the high recruits, that already have a place on the team. This is a person with drive, with ambition and with a tremendous amount of self belief. There is no spot on the team for the walk-on. He has to create his spot on the team, work hard for it and claim it as his own. He has to earn the right to play with the big dogs and a lot of the time, is one of the better players on the team. Most if the time, the coach already has a good idea of who is going to fill the open spot on the team. So if that’s not you, you’ve got to want it more!

I’d like to give credit to Wendy Stevens for providing the idea for this post. True story, Wendy was actually a walk-on. She had a conversation with the coach one day about what she could do to make the team. The coach told her, “Play left handed!” So she did everything with her left hand. When opening the door, she would use her left hand. She brushed her teeth left handed. If you’ve never tried that, do it. It isn’t as easy as it may seem. Wendy was right handed, but she made the team. She used muscles that had never been used in that way before. She had to train these muscles to work just as good as her right hand muscles in order to get the spot on the team.

This is exactly the same thing that a new entrepreneur or new network marketer goes through. They get started in a business opportunity to create that spot on the team, to reach their goal of being a big time player. Once started in a business you quickly find out that you have never done some of the things you are now required to do. You must think differently, work differently and operate in a completely different way than before. So you work at it and work at it until it becomes natural. You are exercising your entrepreneurial muscles and the more you do, the easier the game becomes. The easier the game becomes, the better your chances are in winning that spot.

If you’re having trouble finding the way to get ahead, just keep being consistent. Consistency = exercising those muscles. By doing things that feel different than anything else you have ever done before, you will start adding new skills into your game. Once these skills are streamlined to perfection, you will gain that winners edge and claim your spot on the team as the walk-on who wanted it most!

I had fun thinking of all the things that drove me nuts with having a job. It has been over 4 years since I was in a J.O.B and Just Over Broke. I was recently visiting my brother and we were having a conversation about him coming and visiting for New Years. He mentioned to me that his employer requires him to work for an entire year before he will be allowed to take a day off! So with all that said, I am going to rate that as the top situation avoided by being an Entrepreneur!

1. Your Employer or Boss requiring you to work an entire year before taking one day off! You teach people how to treat you and then allow them to do so. If you allow this to happen, you are more wacko than I thought. Yes, I just called my brother a Wacko!
2. “So…why is it that you feel you deserve a raise?” This line drove me nuts even though I only had the privilege of hearing it once a year at most. Basically, you are being asked how much you feel you are worth! My answer: “More than you can afford!” Anything less than that would be settling, tucking your tail between your legs, and taking it up the ‘you know what!’ Always trying to prove my worth was annoying.
3. “Ummm…We’re thinking about laying you off!” Ouch! My Brother-in-law got this line just the other day. They actually offered him a voluntary lay-off instead, basically meaning, 6 weeks of pay and 6 months of benefits. Pathetic severance package huh!?
4. “I want you here 5 minutes early every day, so that you can be ready to work at 8!” You know what I had to say to my boss, “As long as I am clocked in before 8 am, I am ON TIME!” Did that tick him off? Yes! Did he do anything about it? No!
5. Ummm….I feel that my employees are not dressing professionally enough. Can you dress nicer?” My Mother-in-law got this one last week. The sad thing, it’s not directed towards her. It was for her co-worker who comes to work in an accounting office in a skirt, mountain boots, and flannel jacket! I wish I had a twitpic for you all to see that image!
6. Getting told when to go to lunch everyday. This wouldn’t be so bad if lunch time was at the same time every day, but instead, you get a 15 minute notice!
7. “Thanks for all you have done this year but, due to the economy, you won’t be getting a Christmas bonus this year! Instead, I am giving you all a ham!” This actually happened to me, but what he was really saying is, “My wife wants a BMW for Christmas so I took it out on you!”
8. Getting hurt on the job, bleeding from a gash in your head, while your boss shops around trying to find the best deal on getting it fixed! I can understand always finding the best deal but come one! You have an employee bleeding to death while you try to save $50.00!
9. The entire application process! What attributes or qualities do you have that would make you a good employee? “Uh, because I am a team player, I work well with others, and am a go-getter!” That was my most used answer. Say that and you are guaranteed to get hired everytime!
10. Working your butt off for an entire year to get your face put up on the wall with the quotes, “Employee of the Year!” On top of that, working an entire year to get a pat on the back or a little recognition from your supervisor or boss, guys, it’s not worth it!

The truth of the matter is, I can’t stand to work with others if they are morons, I am only a good team player if I am playing on the team I choose and I am a go-getter for me and those I care for, not for a boss. I just want the bi-weekly check!

I think I could come up with at least 10 more on my own. What situations, phrases, or things have you been able to avoid or want to avoid by your choice to become an Entrepreneur?