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(02/17/09 5:18am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Chances are you probably need a bit of your own stimulus. If you are like most seniors, you either have no job offers or are staring at the prospect of working at a job you dread. Do not despair just yet. By using the methodology offered in this column, you will be well on your way to your ideal job.Before we go into specific tactics, we must change the way that you look at employment. You do not “get a job.” A job is not something that you win at a raffle or catch at a concert. A job is a two-sided contract where the employee trades his or her skill set and effort in return for job security, fulfillment and a paycheck. Don’t underestimate what you bring to the table. Whether you realize it or not, highly qualified and reliable employees are in limited supply, even in today’s economy. To make yourself attractive to a potential employer, you must get out of the commodization trap that you have inadvertently fallen into. As President of Kelley Consulting Group Adil Minocherhomjee said, “If you don’t know what the commodization trap is, then chances are you have fallen into it.” The act of not differentiating yourself is the ultimate sin an individual or business can commit in a capitalist economy. Before we get into developing your skill sets, we need to narrow down your job search to one industry. Focusing on one industry will help you custom-tailor your skill sets. E-mail HR recruiters the following: “I am a senior at Indiana University and I’m doing research on your industry. Can you send me the top five attributes that you look for in a prospective employee?” Now we have something you can work with. For every hard skill mentioned – like Microsoft Excel – go to Amazon.com, purchase the book, and go out and pass a certification on it. Google it. Soft skills are harder. Depending on the soft skill, you will probably want to take a leadership position. You can work for Habitat for Humanity like most people. You can also significantly improve your presentation skills by joining Toastmasters. Once you have maximized your personal skills, it’s time to put on your suit, shine your shoes and go in through the back. Utilizing your network your chances of success will exponentially heighten.To expand your network, take the following steps: 1) Join LinkedIn.com – the Facebook for professionals.2) Add your friends, your professors, the recruiters you meet, your parents’ friends and me. 3) Use the search function. LinkedIn will tell you how you are connected to everyone.Ask the connector to introduce you to your next potential employer.Do not despair. The job search, as many things in life, is more about perseverance than it is about short-term success. So whatever you do, don’t lose that swagger. Things will be better soon enough.
(04/22/08 4:17am)
As a Hollywood society, we are obsessed with the rich and famous. Magazines, TV shows and newspaper columns are dedicated to this phenomenon. We are fascinated by actors, musicians, politicians and sports figures. We care about their on-field performances and their everyday lives. We hang on to every word about their marriages, divorces, trials and struggles. \nYet, while this may appear to be a harmless hobby, this obsession can actually be detrimental to our personal success.\nIn business, the concept of stargazing is applied to top entrepreneurs and CEOs. Many of these top professionals, such as Apple CEO Steve Jobs, have cult-like followings. People spend days posting rumors on online forums, following these icons’ every move. In technology, these people are called nerds; in Hollywood circles, these star-obsessed cults are usually called \nteenage girls.\nIt can be detrimental to stargaze in the business world as well. When we put other people on a pedestal, we handicap our own performance because it no longer becomes disappointing to underperform. \nWe often fail to realize that everyone has different and unique skills. The idea that there is someone who is an overall “excellent business person” and can be successful in all aspects of business is false. Everyone has his or her niche, and the sooner you become aware of yours, the sooner you can start to make progress.\nThere is no question we are all born with different talents. To be an entrepreneur, it is crucial to have an awareness of your strengths and weaknesses. It is fascinating to see how many different personality types become successful entrepreneurs.\nIn business school, we are taught to be well-rounded and to work on our weaknesses. This ironically goes against the basic economic concept of competitive advantage. Spending years learning anything past a basic understanding of all aspects of business is a waste of time. Work on your strengths and focus on becoming the best at what you do.\nAre you the big picture evangelist that can inspire an audience but have trouble executing? Are you the reserved type that is detail-oriented and can work day and night on a project? Perhaps the two of you should have lunch. \nThis concept can be best summarized from my dinner conversation with National Lampoon CEO Daniel Laikin, when he admitted “I never follow through with anything.” Laikin, a college dropout like his brother Robert, the CEO of Brightpoint, has the street smarts to know his weaknesses. He does what top entrepreneurs have done for many years: He surrounds himself with people smarter than he is and who know how to execute. \nWhat is important to understand is that no one knows precisely whether something will work. Even venture capitalists, who make a career out of funding businesses, fail to predict this. When you read about successful people in business, know that they are nothing more than successful people in business; they are human and make mistakes on a daily basis. So, absorb as much experience from them and model their behavior, but never fall into the trap of stargazing. \nAt the end of the day, there are only two legitimate distinctions: man and God, and everything in the middle is up for grabs. Take it.
(04/15/08 4:24am)
What matters more, success or happiness? We can argue over this issue for a long time and not come to any conclusion. In fact, this issue is nearly impossible to resolve because of the biases and agendas people have. While I outsource this issue to a philosopher in India, let’s focus on practical steps we can take to increase the latter. \nThe looming question is: Does more money make us happier? A lot of research has been done on this question. The basic answer has been that it has a neutral effect; it simply makes us more comfortable. The problem, however, is that the question is so broad that the answer is useless. \nThe real questions, ones most researchers have ignored, are when does money make us happy, and when does it decrease our happiness? From my personal experience, I have spent money in certain ways that have consistently improved the quality of my life. \nSpending on services, in my experience, is one of the surest bets. Anything that takes a hassle out of your life will automatically increase your quality of life. Another sure bet is good entertainment; restaurants, concerts and parties are positively correlated with happiness levels. \nIn regards to products, the media likes to blame “consumerism” for Americans’ unhappiness. Again, the issue is more complicated. I have a simple rule: buy few but buy the best. The average person has a lot of marginal items and only a few top-quality things. Let’s call it “the $25 jean problem.” After a year or so, the individual has eight pairs of $25 jeans. The closet is cluttered and he or she no longer wears four of the pairs. The solution is purchasing three to four pairs of $50 jeans. Be the biggest pimp in the club (like my roommate Dmitrii Gabrielov) and decrease your clutter.\nWhat is most interesting about happiness is how unaware most people are about what makes them happy. Most people do not differentiate between short-term and long-term happiness. Going on spending splurges offers the individual short-term pleasure, which is good. The problem is money and items quickly become part of our endowment, which leads to us taking them for granted and not gaining satisfaction from them (read “Paradox of Choice” by Barry Schwartz). There is, as with everything, a loophole. The loophole in gaining sustainable satisfaction is being thankful and imagining how bad things could be. It works.\nThe answer to increasing happiness is simple math. Rather than searching for the “ultimate happiness,” the key to personal satisfaction is to increase the things that make you happy on a daily basis. Alan Cohen, author of “Why Your Life Sucks,” proposes going around for a day and noting on a scale from negative 10 to positive 10 what makes you happy and what pisses you off. For Cohen, the goal is increasing the happy activities and minimizing the things that piss you off. It really is that simple.\nRemember, diversification is the best hedge against volatility in both business and your personal life. I invest in my relationships with my family and friends. When problems arise in any of these areas, I am fortunate enough to have people who support me.\nIt has been a pleasure writing this column for the past three years. Do not hesitate to e-mail me at dweisburd@gmail.com if you would need my help or liked my column. Add me on Facebook and LinkedIn. Thank you and God bless.
(04/01/08 4:24am)
There is a human characteristic that limits the number of entrepreneurs and other high achievers. The problem is mental in nature and stems from the way we are taught in school. The problem is risk aversion.\nFrom kindergarten on, we are taught to be risk averse. We are rewarded and punished based on the number of errors that we commit. Those who commit the fewest mistakes are praised and win the game of school. Those who fail early on to conform to these standards either learn the system or become disenfranchised. The latter soon realize that there is no incentive to be excellent and a strong incentive to be “good enough” and feed the dog his own food. Good boy.\nThis risk-averse attitude follows us into the workplace. This creates a large disconnect between what it takes to be a high achiever. The problem is that often, people hide the mistakes they make and emphasize the successes in their lives.\nWhen entrepreneurs start out – for better or for worse – they have high hopes and expectations. Every entrepreneur believes, as I did, that he or she can skip the blunders and failures of other first-time entrepreneurs. The rules of success, the entrepreneur believes, only apply to less-talented individuals.\nWith high hopes, the entrepreneur enthusiastically starts his venture. And then it happens. For some reason the business doesn’t work out. The entrepreneur is down for a little while but is confident that the second business will be better. The second idea will be cleverer. The business will be stronger.\nThe second business is indeed more successful. The entrepreneur is flying high, and things are good. And then it happens again: The business fails for a second time. This time, the business fails for a completely different reason.\nThus, the once-confident entrepreneur starts to doubt his or her own skill. His or her thoughts turn from, “How can I accomplish this goal?” to more self-destructive questions: “Why am I such a failure?” What the entrepreneur doesn’t comprehend is that the mind is a powerful device. It will answer whatever question you ask of it. When the entrepreneur asks, “How can I accomplish this goal?” the creative juices begin to flow and the mind finds ways to get things done. When the mind asks questions such as “Why am I such a failure?” it provides 100 answers.\nBecause of a personal bias, the entrepreneur is not able to see the picture clearly. While the entrepreneur keeps on increasing his skills, his confidence goes down inversely. This is because the entrepreneur doesn’t realize that failure is a success in and of itself. It is failure that teaches the most. It is failure that makes entrepreneurs incredibly resilient and cool-headed. Every entrepreneur, even the superstars such as Bill Gates and Steve Jobs, had many failures before they had one success. As an entrepreneur, you must fail many times before you reach the next step. The sooner you start to fail, the sooner you will start to have success.\nTo increase your chances of success, surround yourself with people who understand the time and dedication it takes to be successful. Most importantly, surround yourself by friends and family who accept and understand you despite your short-term or long-term failures. Focus on improving your skill set and execution, and the money will follow.
(03/18/08 2:50am)
For the last five weeks, I’ve been meeting with numerous professors, administrators and students about the issue of financial literacy. There is overwhelming support for having IU add financial planning to the mandatory curriculum for every student. In fact, in a statistically-validated, third-party survey done by Indiana Public Interest Research Group, 85 percent of students responded that they believe more needs to be done in order to promote financial literacy. Despite this, the issue is being pigeonholed and completely ignored by the IU president and his administration.\nThere are several important reasons why teaching financial planning at the university level is crucial. For one, lack of financial planning has led to more personal strife then any issue in the country. Financial mismanagement is often cited as one of the top reasons for divorce in America. For many years after graduation, students carry loans and credit card debt that decrease their standard of living – all of which could have easily been avoided with proper financial planning. For example, by using a tax-free College 529 plan, parents could cover the cost of tuition and board at an in-state school with as little as $25 per month for every child. Credit cards could be reconsolidated. The problem is not that these solutions are difficult to understand. The problem is they are not being taught in universities.\nIn my previous column, “An Inconvenient Truth,” I brought up national security, the low U.S. savings rate and the possibility of class warfare as reasons for why our educational system must change. The problem is deeper than even these issues, and has spread throughout society. As a society, we have embraced a policy of social welfare over personal empowerment. The government has focused on taxing individuals more in order to account for the poor decision making of a segment of the population. This is different from the original intent of taxes, the idea of focusing tax dollars toward supporting those who couldn’t support themselves: the physically and mentally handicapped. This has led to higher taxes and a co-dependent culture in the lower class. The national debt continues to rise and the dollar is devaluated. This is not a sustainable model.\nIn fact, the issue of accountability has spread throughout our educational systems and universities. Tenured professors and administrators with guaranteed job security and large pension plans have become out of touch with the issues concerning the student body. The administration has taken the attitude of “why should we embrace this policy change,” rather then taking responsibility for their role in teaching the student body. Issues such as funding, curriculum and faculty (which are all taken into consideration in our proposal) have been overblown and used as excuses to preserve the status quo.\nI have personally admired the work of IU President Michael McRobbie in connecting with the student body. However, when the president spends an entire week focusing on firing a basketball coach and will not take 30 minutes to sit down with a student-led group, there is a big problem at our university. This issue will not go away until the student body has a voice at the table. If you support this issue, take two minutes to e-mail President McRobbie at iupres@indiana.edu and join the “Financial Literacy @ IU” group on Facebook. Let’s make this happen.
(02/12/08 5:51am)
There is a problem in this country. This problem is serious, time sensitive and can have a very negative impact in the coming century. That problem is a lack of savings. Last year, our country’s savings rate was negative 0.5 percent. This is compared to a 6.7 percent savings rate for Japan, and a 11.2 percent savings rate for France. Our age group is hit especially hard with crippling debt and bankruptcy.\nWhy does this phenomenon happen? Why do I constantly see intelligent, educated people make terrible financial decisions? \nThe reason this happens is that these people, though intelligent, do not know any better. Many go their entire lives without a single bit of financial education. This is the result of a negligent policy by the educational system. It is the result of a system that teaches people how to find a tangent in trigonometry, but not how to take care of their own lives.\nSeveral high-profile authors have gone after this problem, including Donald Trump and Robert Kiyosaki, author of “Rich Dad, Poor Dad.” While they have been successful in helping millions of people, they have still not fixed the fundamental savings problem. The problem still exists and we are just beginning to see the repercussions.\nFirsthand, I saw the direct effects of poor financial decisions. Growing up I had a unique perspective. I lived among both the rich and the poor. At home, I lived among the immigrant community and lower-class Americans. At the same time, I went on scholarship to a private school with students from the upper class.\nAt home, my parents worked very hard but still lived from paycheck to paycheck. Even at 8 years old, I knew that something was wrong. After going to the library and doing some research, I proposed a budget to my parents. Of course, my parents laughed it off. For many years I felt very money conscious, even when my parents started to earn more money. What I saw was that as we earned more money, the effect was the same: zero savings, zero progress. I started to realize that the problem was with the lack of financial education and not with the amount of money. \nThe struggle my family dealt with is a common one across the entire country. In fact, I soon learned many “rich” Americans had even bigger financial problems.\nMany people have started to take notice. Politicians, hoping to capitalize on fear and ignorance, have framed it as a rich vs. poor problem. \nHistorically, the lack of financial education has been the downfall of the greatest civilizations. Rome fell because the gap between the rich and poor was too wide. France had its revolution. Our country is not immune to natural forces. Even now our country is faced with a recession because greedy and unscrupulous people have taken advantage of financially uneducated individuals. Our natural security is at risk because of the amount of foreign money in our economy. \nThere is only one possible solution: We must commit to mandatory classes in personal finance for every student. Like every large idea, it must start on a small scale. This goal can best be achieved by starting with universities. \nIU is in a position to be the leader in personal accountability and financial education. The university’s own class on personal finance, Business F260, can be enlarged to accommodate every student. Personal finance should not be framed as a business subject, but rather an issue that is pertinent to every student. \nI have personally spent the last two months gathering support from alumni and professors. This issue is now supported by hundreds of individuals associated with our university. Like with any new idea, there are many obstacles that need to be overcome. Such is the case with any large project. This, however, should not deter our efforts.\nUltimately, the University and specifically its president must be accountable to the student body. I need your help. If you support this issue send an e-mail to President Michael McRobbie at iupres@indiana.edu with the subject “I want University-wide financial education.” Let’s tackle this important issue together once and for all.
(01/29/08 5:55am)
What if I told you that I have come up with a proven way to generate great new ideas, consistently? Would you believe me? Would you be willing to pay a high price?\nOf course, I don’t need or want your money (you can just buy me a drink). What I want is your commitment to success. In “Think and Grow Rich,” Napoleon Hill points out that both successful and unsuccessful people often have big dreams; the only difference is that successful people are willing to set aside resources (time, money and concentration). What are you willing to give in return for success?\nI have often been asked about ways to formulate great ideas and I have thought about it at great length. How does it work? Why do I come up with a lot of ideas every day? As a service to you, my reader, I have gone back and re-engineered the process.\nMy first realization was there is no such thing as a new idea. Read that again. Every new idea is only a combination of two previous ideas. No idea is made out of thin air. You walk down the street chewing gum and you see a watermelon. You get a craving for watermelon. Suddenly, you think to yourself how great it would be to have watermelon-flavored bubble gum. A new idea is born.\nThere is only one way to come up with new ideas: Put more old ideas into your memory bank. Not all ideas are created equal. Let’s focus on putting innovative ideas into your head. One easy and effective way to do this is to read. Read business books with high ratings on Amazon.com, as these are usually written by people that have introduced new ideas. Just because these books are easy to get, it does not mean they are not of incredible value. One new idea in a book is worth 100 times the price.\nMagazines and blogs are a great way to get a first look at new ideas in the marketplace. How can you evolve someone else’s idea? I read the following blogs: BlogMaverick, TechCrunch and that of lesser-known Seth Godin. I read Inc. and Entrepreneur magazines.\nAn even more effective way is to surround yourself with successful, innovative people. This is where the Young Entrepreneurs Association comes into play (visit YEAIU.org.) I always try to surround myself with people who are smarter and more successful than me.\nFinally, there are physical ways to stimulate those old ideas out of your head. Napoleon Hill writes about sexual transmutation, which is the idea that sexual stimulation, if channeled into business, can spur a lot of great new ideas. Physical exercise is a great way to stimulate the mind and help it be sharper. One entrepreneur is known to have kept a notepad by his swimming pool so that he could write down all the new ideas.\nIn order for the brain to keep getting new ideas, you must rid it of crap. Use a planner to write down deadlines and goals. In “Getting Things Done,” David Allen notes that the brain can only hold five to six thoughts at once. The brain doesn’t care if it is a deadline or if it is the next big idea. In order for your mind to be open to new ideas it must be rid of the non-consequential things. Also, clean your room. A cluttered room is a cluttered mind and an empty wallet.\nOpen your mind to new ideas, experiences and people. Rid your mind and life of crap and crappy people. Soon enough you will find that you will naturally start to have new ideas.
(01/15/08 5:06am)
During my four years at IU, I have had the chance to speak to hundreds of entrepreneurs. I have met with everyone from the owners of mom-and-pop shops to very successful alumni like Mark Cuban. As a student of success, I have tried to understand the differences between these two groups. Was it intelligence, resources or plain luck? For several years, I didn’t understand. As I started to read Dr. David Schwartz’s “The Magic of Thinking Big,” I finally got it. The main difference was in the scope of their thinking.\nSentimental issues set aside, thinking big has many practical advantages. The positives of thinking big heavily outweigh the negatives. Time is a main reason to think big. There is a misconception that larger businesses require a proportionally greater amount of time, but there are only 168 hours in a week, no matter how you break it up. In fact, it is often people involved in small businesses that spend more time working than those in big businesses (read “E-Myth” by Michael Gerber).\nAfter meeting with legendary private equity investor Jay Jordan, I saw firsthand that a $2 billion fund manager spends as much time working as a $20 million fund manager – the only difference is a return 100 times that.\nThe second reason thinking big is smart is that it rallies people to work significantly harder. Employees, investors and partners all want to be part of something great, new and successful.\nDespite the advantages of thinking big, there are many obstacles. From my personal experience, I have found there are two main reasons why people do not think big. One is they do not feel like they are “good enough.” This is typical for people in the middle class. Group dynamics keep people in the middle class in check by shunning and criticizing anyone that believes he or she is good or special. We are conditioned from an early age to be polite, humble and not upset others. This is fine and dandy if you would like to be on a “Barney” set. If you want to do something great, you will have to ruffle a few feathers. People will criticize you and mock you if you tell them you aspire to be great. It is up to you to decide whether what you are doing is worth this treatment, because I have found this to be universal among all entrepreneurs.\nThe other side of this coin is that people do not think big because they think they have to be anointed by an outside source. We are so accustomed to being externally validated that we waste years trying to find someone to believe in us. Successful entrepreneurs learn to validate their goals and dreams from the inside and stick to them.\nNowhere is the magic of thinking big more evident than in the cultures of companies and universities. Certain universities, such as Stanford, are notorious for churning out great entrepreneurs at an incredible rate. Unperceptive people will say Stanford graduates are more “educated.” While this might be true, it has very little to do with their success, which can be attributed to the school’s culture of entrepreneurship.\nUnfortunately, the IU culture has traditionally produced few entrepreneurs. We have been the school for middle managers. Things are quickly changing, though. Under the transformational leadership of Donald Kuratko, executive director of the Johnson Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation, we are quickly turning into a hub of entrepreneurial thought and ambition. Even within the last several years, several entrepreneurship professors, such as Johannes Denekamp, have made it their careers to help students become successful.\nThe future of entrepreneurship at IU rests in the hands of the students. If you would like to be surrounded by people that believe in thinking big, I invite you to attend the Young Entrepreneur’s Association call-out at 7 p.m. Thursday in Kelley School of Business 209. I have been asked to speak at this meeting and I promise not to disappoint.
(12/04/07 2:41am)
The average life expectancy for a person in the United States is 28,562 days. Considering the average person reading this column is roughly 7,300 days into his or her life, this is a relevant statistic. \nBefore you go into panic and breakdown, it is important to know another fact. Over the years, scientists have tried to calculate the odds of a specific person being born. It has been reported that the number could be as low as one in 4 million. What does that mean? It means we are very lucky people to even be alive. Our entire lives are essentially extra credit. It’s time to take some risk with this bonus.\nOur society places a high premium on safe behavior and following a safe track in life. This strategy might work well in terms of diversifying your portfolio, but in terms of living a life, it is a poor choice. By taking this safe strategy, you are guaranteeing yourself mediocrity. It is as if you have already bowed out of the game.\nWhen I talk to people in corporate America, they have a very bland, neutral look on their face. Oftentimes, I question whether they are even alive, or living for that matter. What is sad is that these people aren’t 50 or 60 years old. The fact is that some of these individuals are 25, 30 or 35. When did their dreams die and how did it happen?\nThese individuals are not irrational or conformists by choice. The reality is that, like you and me, these individuals are at the mercy of societal pressures. Parents often expect their children to become packaged, successful people: doctors, lawyers, bankers, etc. This happens in part because they want what is best for their kids, but also because they are at the mercy of societal pressure from their own parents and friends. Often these parents are in their careers for the same exact reasons. This pressure creates a perpetual cycle of conformity. It is time for us to break this cycle.\nThe issue is not what career choice you make, but whether you make true and authentic choices in your life. What happens if you want a career that doesn’t have a track? Well, the odds are stacked strongly against you. You have about the same odds I did, a person who came from a non-entrepreneurial, lower-middle class, English-as-a-second-language refugee family. But like me, you can reach the ranks of people that have overcome these hurdles.\nAt the end of the day, you need to ask yourself who you live your life for. I respect my family, but my life is mine and mine alone. I can do with it as I wish. I often take big risks both in my professional and personal life. People criticize my behavior as high risk; however, this same behavior has brought me all of my success. I have gone toe to toe with society, and I have kicked the crap out of it many times.\nEvery individual must weigh the pros and cons of being a maverick. Whether it is in business or any profession, it takes a unique person to challenge the status quo. Most who try will fail. Those who succeed will earn the ultimate prize: personal satisfaction. Fail or succeed, both groups will forever have my respect.\nThe idea that no one lives out their dreams is perpetuated by conformists who could never achieve their own. It is indeed false. I have held tightly to my dream for many years amidst constant criticism and being patronized. My sister used to ask me why I didn’t get a real job like “normal” people. Older and “more intelligent” people told me my dreams were unrealistic. Well, times have really changed.\nWork all day and night, always keep your head up and stick your middle fingers high in the air, and those dreams will surely come true.
(11/13/07 3:07am)
By the time I was 19, I had learned from some of the greatest business minds of our generation – excellent managers, networkers and leaders. I had spent many hours learning from their triumphs, failures and insights, and I had done it for several hundred dollars.\nWhat others simply glanced over, I found incredibly valuable. I am talking about the concentrated wisdom of business books on niche subjects. \nIn my teen years I had a dilemma. I wanted very much to become a business person, but the problem was that I had never met a business person, and I knew that the only way to learn business was directly from successful individuals. \nSince my funds were limited, I went to the one place that could satisfy my desires: the Borders store by my house. Whenever possible, I convinced my parents to drive me to the bookstore so I could spend several hours going through the business section. Ignoring the patronizing looks of 40-year-old balding men, I began to devour book after book on different subjects from business to psychology.\nThough I didn’t have a name for it at the time, I had placed all my chips on my bullet hole theory. The bullet hole theory is based on the assumption that every individual is born with several strengths and significantly more weaknesses. I call these weaknesses bullet holes. They are bullet holes because not only do they leave gaps, but they are potentially deadly.\nBecause everyone is born with these bullet holes, we need to examine why only a small minority of the population is able to overcome them. \nIn order to understand, we need to consider the two types of confident people in the world. The predominant type is composed of the men and women who have never tested their skills but develop a strong aura of confidence. Call him cocky; call her stuck up. Whatever it is that you call them, these individuals get laid, and some of them get laid a lot. The problem is that these individuals rarely get paid. The reason is simple: While these individuals are confident, this confidence is not based on any logic or experience.\nThe other type of confidence is what you see in most successful leaders. This confidence comes from experience with facing great obstacles in their lives and overcoming them. These individuals often look for challenges and obstacles because they know that it will lead to greater confidence and reward.\nThe reason the latter population is so successful is because it has embraced a specific attitude. These individuals are able to accurately and objectively evaluate their own strengths and weaknesses. Once they identify their weaknesses, they are able to focus on them in an ongoing effort to increase their skills. These individuals understand that there is no wholly successful or unsuccessful person in the world. There are only people that hold different levels of skills and skill sets.\nThe weaknesses that are holding you back from success are not permanent, regardless of how deep and personal you believe them to be. My legs used to shake when I presented to a class of 20 people. Several years later, I can now give impromptu presentations to hundreds of people without breaking a sweat. \nSometimes, an entire skill can be fixed by reading one book and implementing a strategy. Perhaps it’s by reading Keith Ferrazzi and Tahl Raz’s “Never Eat Alone” and learning how to network. Maybe its by reading Manuel J. Smith’s “When I Say No, I Feel Guilty” and learning assertiveness skills. Whatever it is, get it fixed and stop putting it off for tomorrow. You owe it to no one but yourself.
(10/30/07 2:02am)
The last two weeks have been tough. Very tough. My worst nightmare came true when I got a call from our largest partner. After receiving pressure from top competitors, he had decided to drop my ticket brokering company. The majority of my business was gone; I had experienced a colossal failure.\nMany successful entrepreneurs tell you, in retrospect, never to give up. It seems easier to say this looking back, but is very difficult to deal with in the present. Today, keeping my experience in mind, I will give you a condensed guide on how to rebound and how to do it quickly.\nYou see, I am an expert in two things: failing and rebounding. I have run 12 businesses into the ground, and I have rebounded 12 times, each time with a larger business. When I have failed, I have always failed “up” and never “down.”\nThe first thing to realize is that failing hurts. It hurts a lot and that is fine. More than any physical pain, more than heartbreak, more than losing a close friend. It hurts more because it is very personal. The good thing is that it hurts for Donald Trump and Mark Cuban to the same degree as it hurts for you and me. Our pains and experiences are not unique, and it is for that reason that we shall overcome them.\nFailure feels as if the entire world is pointing a finger at you and telling you that you that you will never succeed. Blair Singer, author of “SalesDogs,” points out that individuals irrationally universalize many negative experiences. If you are late to a meeting, your mind automatically says “I’m always late.” At the same time, many people attribute success to being “lucky” rather than to their own hardworking effort.\nThe way to deal with this is to isolate the situation as much as possible. A more accurate and rational way to deal with these situations is to realize that you were late that one time. The individual that is able to embrace this mindset is the one that will be successful in all aspects of life.\nInterestingly enough, successful running backs in the NFL and successful entrepreneurs have one very important thing in common: They always keep their legs moving. Four hours after losing everything that I had worked for years to create, I was back to the drawing board. Within another hour I was calling partners and employees to rally everyone behind the company’s new direction. There is very little time to sulk or feel sorry for yourself. The time right after a collapse is the time to embrace change and take action. Keep momentum because it is on your side. Do not let your mind stop and consider how much you have lost, or you will become discouraged and depressed.\nThe pressures of entrepreneurship are oftentimes overwhelming and paralyzing. You may constantly feel as if you have reached the end of the plank. \nIn Napoleon Hill’s classic “Think and Grow Rich,” Hill interviewed 500 of the most successful people alive at the beginning of the 20th century. What he found was a very small difference. He found that a large majority of the individuals’ greatest successes came shortly after their greatest failures. I attribute all my early success in my business’s foundation, as well as the recent turnaround, to this life-changing book. \nAs for myself, business is back and better than ever. The day we bounced back was our most profitable day ever. This experience has increased my faith in myself and my respect for the entrepreneurial community. As entrepreneurs, or people who seek to make a true difference in the world, you will undoubtedly have to deal with this situation. Practice the rules of survival, and you will join the most elite alumni network the world has ever known.
(10/18/07 4:00am)
The line\n"He asks you how it feels / And he says, 'Here is your throat back / Thanks for the loan'"
(10/16/07 1:43am)
The one thing that humans seem to have in common is the fear of rejection. Regardless of ethnicity and culture, most human beings cannot take it. Before learning the science of rejection, I had not considered why it is that rejection is feared. Modern science shows us that rejection sends the same exact pain signal to the brain that a physical blow does. That, my friend, is why it hurts.\nYou see, the fear of rejection has evolutionary implications. Tens of thousands of years ago, social scientists believe, man lived in clans of roughly 30 to 50 people. At that time, life was a daily struggle. One wrong move could mean certain death for yourself and your family. \nIn those times, any sort of rejection was incredibly dangerous. Therefore, our bodies evolved to send us these sharp pain signals. These sharp pain signals, however, no longer serve any useful purpose.\nIf only it was that easy. Although knowing this information may help reduce the fear of rejection, it goes far from solving the issue. The only known cure for rejection is becoming desensitized. Unfortunately, the only way to become desensitized (or close to it) is to be rejected time and time again. We are talking about thousands of times, at least.\nNinety-nine percent of the population tries to ignore this issue. People put it into a dark corner in rooms that they never visit. Of course, that room is the same that holds the key to personal development and all major human advances. Considering this, it is important for us to figure out how to overcome this fear.\nI have been fortunate enough to be put into many different situations in which I was rejected. Such is the result of pushing the envelope and not taking “no” for an answer. The most significant experience occurred when I first entered the ticket industry. I didn’t enter the industry through an internship or office position. I entered the same way most successful ticket brokers do: on the streets. \nWhen I was 16, I decided to become a ticket scalper. I convinced my friend, Steve Higbee, to scalp with me. Together we stood outside of Verizon Wireless Music Center with a sign. As I stood with that sign, I started to feel a pain in my stomach. As one car after another drove by, I felt a taste of rejection. It didn’t taste good. Car after car passed by at a fast rate as I continued to feel worse and worse. Ten, 100, 1,000 cars passed. After an hour the rejection wasn’t as painful.\nLater that evening I started to feel better and better. I wasn’t necessarily happy about being rejected; I just didn’t care anymore. Being desensitized to rejection started to feel good. I was liberated.\nOne year later, when it was time to call up brokers to partner with my company, I no longer had the same fear. The lessons learned from the street were directly applied to the office business. I was the complete package: half gangster, half businessman. These lessons came to good use because the first 15 brokers I called rejected my offer. Some even shouted profanities. Number 16 was a different story.\nUnfortunately, the fear of rejection never fully goes away. The goal is to minimize it enough so that it doesn’t stop you from achieving your potential. When thinking about rejection, consider not only the negative feelings, but the doors that will open if you are able to overcome it. Take pride in every rejection because it brings you that much closer to the prize.
(10/02/07 3:22am)
When I hear most people talk about dreams or ambitions, they talk about their plans for the future. As I was talking to one of these individuals recently, I had an epiphany: There is no such thing as the future. Well, at least not the kind most people envision.\nThe future people refer to is part of the imagination. It is not real. Most people refer to the future as if you can get into a time machine and end up in a time five years from now. It is as if the future is separated from the present in some way.\nThe reality is that we live our lives one second at a time. Every human being lives in what I call the fluid present. The future that is one minute away is as real as the future that is five years from now. Success in both situations requires some kind of action in the present.\nPeople often imagine becoming very successful and achieving goals in the future because it seems easier than in the present. The cold, hard truth is that you will NEVER live in the future, but always in the present. The chances of success in health, wealth and relationships are as high, or arguably higher, at this moment in time as they will ever be.\nNow, this is not to say that one should not plan for the future. You cannot become successful in business, or anything worthwhile, overnight or even after several years. In George Leonard’s book “Mastery,”The author claims that it takes most individuals more than seven years of constant practice to master any aspect of life. Personally, it has taken me nine years of constant business practice and learning to get to my present level, and God knows that it is going to take many more decades to get to the level of skill that I aspire to have. The good news is that with a high enough level of commitment, you are rewarded both intrinsically and materially during this journey.\nFor some, the fluid present is an idea that will crush their dreams; for others, it will act as a wake-up call. In “The 4-Hour Workweek,” Timothy Ferris claims that most people are not pessimistic, but unjustifiably optimistic. They believe things will change without any kind of action or event. This is not the way it works.\nOn some level, without defining it, I have always believed in the idea of the fluid present. I have complemented this idea with belief in myself and humanity as a whole. \nGrowing up as part of the Russian immigrant community, I was exposed to an interesting phenomenon: I was surrounded by a community that started with nothing. I became aware of how much attitude and perseverance play a role in success. My parents’ constant push and persistence to learn English and excellence at their jobs helped my sister and me get out of the lower-middle class community in which we spent our first years in this country.\nIn a fluid present world, making things happen is on your shoulders. When you look into the business world, you see that those who focus on getting things done are successful. Successful people are not harping over the past or dreaming about the future. They are taking action, making mistakes and redirecting their course. \nThe past doesn’t define you, so get over it. The future doesn’t exist, so forget it. In order to succeed, you must embrace the present. The rest, as they say, will be history.
(09/18/07 3:59am)
Over the years, time management has been the most requested topic by readers. Friends and family have wanted to know how I manage to finish everything while leaving a lot of time for exercising, partying and traveling. More importantly, readers have wanted to know how they, too, can achieve this.\nWhile thinking about time management, I began to realize that the issue is not so simple. It seems as if people want to know how to do their tasks faster. Techniques in getting things done quicker are helpful and are outlined in David Allen’s “Getting Things Done.” However, they still do not address the key underlying issue. As actress Lily Tomlin said, “The problem with the rat race is that even if you win you are still a rat.”\nStephen R. Covey discusses this subject in his book “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People.” He notes that most people want to know how to stop doing harmful things like watching junk on TV, surfing online and playing video games. In other words, they want to get rid of some of the NOs in their lives. The answer, Covey suggests, is rather to get bigger YES’s in your life. Would you really watch “The Real World” if you had a hot date waiting for you on your bed? Chances are you wouldn’t be thinking about whether or not the episode will be good.\nTo people who are ambitious, the hot date on your bed represents the goals we strive for on a daily basis. It is important to understand that your ambitions can be similar or different from anyone else’s and can change daily. Oftentimes, my ambition is to make money, but sometimes it is to travel to a remote island. It is important to make the final decision yourself and not be manipulated by what others think you “should” want. Look within yourself to discover your true passion.\nWhen we have this ambition it becomes easier to manage our time. Still, it is easy to be carried away. The first thing to consider is managing your cues. As I learned through my textbook for the course Managing and Behavior in Organizations, managing your cues or environment is crucial. If you want something done, don’t do it in your house or a place where people will distract you. If I need to complete something very quickly, I will lock myself in a room in the library. This task takes a lot of discipline, but it works every time. \nFurthermore, here’s what to do if you really want to get things done: Block all the distracting Web sites on your computer. You will be surprised how many times you loop through distracting Web sites without consciously being aware of it. Do you rotate from e-mail to Facebook to ESPN every five minutes? Stop it. When you feel yourself doing this, write down a list of everything that you have to do. Put it on paper!\nThe most effective way to manage your time is by leveraging your resources. It would take me hundreds of hours a week to do everything that my company did if I didn’t have employees. The business school (and IU), ironically, doesn’t allow you to partake in the most important business and life practice of utilizing other people’s help. However, you should ask yourself whether you can leverage some of your out-of-school activities and hire or partner with other people. I recommend Timothy Ferris’s “The 4-Hour Work Week” on this subject.\nFinally, and most importantly, in order to become a happy, stress-free working machine you MUST exercise, sleep and eat right. One technique that I have changed is eating four to five meals a day. In the past, overeating at lunch caused my productivity to drop dramatically for three hours. By eating a big breakfast and small meals throughout the day, I have significantly improved my energy and productivity. I challenge you to eat half portions at lunch for seven straight days and see if it increases your energy. \nImproving time management is not an overnight activity but can be dramatically changed within a couple months. Pick one of the tips outlined above and start implementing it today.
(09/04/07 2:35am)
Erik von Markovik, aka “Mystery” from VH1’s “The Pickup Artist,” teaches that all success and happiness in life is a result of our health, wealth and relationships. Anytime you are down or feel that something is wrong in your life, it is because you are missing one of these essential components. More importantly, all of these aspects of life are very closely connected and have an effect on others. \nFor example, after breaking up with a longtime boyfriend or girlfriend, you might find that you become depressed or discouraged. As a result, you might lose motivation to go to the gym and your health might start to decline. When your health and relationships decline, you lose your drive for business, and your wealth suffers as well.\nOn the other hand, you might find that once you start exercising and doing cardio, you feel an extra spring in your step. You might find yourself being able to cope with stress and day-to-day issues. Many top executives and successful business people exercise on a daily basis. Of course, once you get some money in the bank and consistently go to the gym, you might find that some cute girls start to accidentally bump into you. You might also find that you have more energy and attract more energetic and positive people into your life. It’s just how life works.\nAs I started to become successful in business, I noticed that something was missing. I became aware that although I was successful in the wealth aspect of my life, I had ignored my health and failed to cultivate relationships. I had lost my balance.\nThis past summer, I set out to do two things: add 12 pounds of muscle mass with my trainer, Matt Hunckler, and take my ticket brokering company to a new level. When I set these goals I figured that the business goal would be much more difficult. I was wrong.\nAn interesting phenomenon happened. I found hitting the weights in the gym significantly harder than conducting business. In fact, with the help of my trainer, I was able to overcome mental and physical obstacles that were far more challenging than I had encountered in the business world. The weightlifting began to act as a motivator for every aspect of my life and spiraled me into a high level of success in business. \nTo write about business and not include the aspects of health and relationships is like writing about making soup without including all the ingredients. Health and relationships are crucial components of business success.\nI challenge you to start focusing on all aspects of your life. If you don’t exercise, start by running two to three times a week for 15 minutes. Sure, it is hard, but it will also clear your mind and help you deal with daily stresses. \nIf your relationships are suffering, go out and make some new friends. Ditch any people who do not want you to reach success in your life. They are bringing you down. Learn some game, do what you have to do. Remember, success in any one of these areas will lead to further success in other aspects of your life. At the same time, neglecting them will hurt the overall quality of your life. The choice is yours.
(05/10/07 4:00am)
It’s no secret that self-help gurus teach that people can dramatically change their lives by changing how they view the world. Nowhere is this more evident than with regard to how people view opportunities.\nWhat keeps many people from success is that they view opportunities as natural occurrences in life. In fact, they believe an average person will naturally have an “opportune time” and will have several opportunities to take advantage of. Rather then seizing opportunities, these people believe that opportunities are “presented to them.” People with this mentality generally do have several opportunities and either capitalize or fail to capitalize on them.\nThe reality of the situation is that opportunity is a dynamic beast. People of the same socio-economic level and school education can have vastly different numbers of opportunities. Furthermore, what looks like an opportunity for one person can look like an impossible task for another. In real estate, the most successful investors live by the mantra “the deal of a lifetime comes once a week.”\nEven those that are “presented” with opportunities have more to do with it than they would admit. Perhaps they presented themselves with this opportunity because of their knowledge in this specific area (education), or because they became friends with someone from their church or religious group (networking), or because they worked on a similar project several years ago (experience). Rarely do opportunities arise from thin air. (If someone knows of any such occurrences, please contact me and I will take you out to lunch.)\nThe number and quality of opportunities are a result of your conscious and unconscious actions. You can significantly increase your number of opportunities by increasing your knowledge and networking and by consciously choosing a career. Opportunities are directly correlated to how proactive you are with your life and how successful you are in planning your future.\nYou can start things off by deciding on a five-year plan for yourself. People often change careers and life plans. The important thing is not whether you strictly conform to your five-year plan, but that you always have a plan for the future. I have changed my plans many times, but I am always striving for some goal at a given time. Changing your plans does not mean you are a hypocrite or noncommittal. It simply means you have changed your priorities and interests through your personal life experiences.\nFor graduating seniors, you will soon be presented with an infinite amount of career paths. Unlike school, the real world is less systematized. This will create great opportunity for some and will reveal the glaring holes of the school system for others. It is this time of great opportunity that you must seize the day and take control of your future. Seek new experiences, continue to learn and always be networking. The real game starts the day after you graduate. Get your gloves on, because it’s time to play.
(04/10/07 4:00am)
At age 14 I was an up-and-coming entrepreneur. I had just spent several years running a successful video-game company but was ready for a new challenge. My goal was to find the perfect business. This business would be easy to start and manage, highly profitable and encounter no competition.\nI tried many different industries. Among them were the travel, jewelry and vending industry. But something was wrong. Within every industry, different and often unexpected problems arose. No matter how well-thought-out my plan, I was still not able to find the perfect business.\nAfter spending thousands of dollars on failed ventures, I had an epiphany: There is no such thing as a perfect business. Every business has problems and opportunities. The success of the business largely depends on the experience and skills of the entrepreneur. A great entrepreneur can carry a poor business along; a poor entrepreneur can destroy a great opportunity.\nAs one dream died, a new dream was born. I committed to investing the time and effort needed into developing my entrepreneurial skills to become a great entrepreneur.\nI realized that the failure of many of my previous ventures had little to do with the ventures themselves. Although the ideas were good and the market was ready, I simply did not have the skills to tackle the business environments. \nIn 1982, William Deming, a quality guru, introduced the idea of constant improvement. His idea was that a company should constantly improve production, service and planning. Rather than worrying about being perfect, the business should focus on incrementally improving.\nIn Deming’s idea lies the key to becoming successful in business or any aspect of life: constantly improving. The problem with most aspiring entrepreneurs is that they try to come up with a perfect plan or a perfect product. Not only is perfection a mirage, but it keeps most great ideas from reaching the market. \nAll companies run imperfectly. Even FedEx, in my opinion the greatest company in the world, is not perfect. The truth is that imperfect businesses make money. Businesses with large fundamental flaws and imperfect business models make billions of dollars every year.\nThere are millions of reasons why businesses should not work. Many people believe they are original or smart in pointing out flaws in startup businesses. Research by a top professor at Purdue University has shown that even baby chimpanzees can do this successfully (tested on MBA class of ’98). The truth is that no business can ever be started in a perfect environment. What is important is that you start the business. Once you start the business, you will learn to adapt, or you will cease to exist.\nWhile most people believe in “ready, aim, fire,” entrepreneurs are infamous for embracing the “ready, fire, aim” mentality. Whichever mentality you embrace, it is important you are able to pull the trigger at the appropriate time. Though you should do the appropriate research, extra research will not alleviate your fear. Embrace the fear, because it is a natural aspect of entrepreneurship. Let go of your obsession for perfection and you can start making money today.
(03/29/07 4:00am)
Music is the universal language that brings us all together. Virtually every social situation from birthday party to subpoena serving could benefit from a mix of sweet jams. Your hospitalized friend can experience the healing power of music through a "Get Well Soon Mix" with songs like "Knockin' on Heavin's Door" by Eric Clapton, "Live and Let Die" by Paul McCartney and Queen's "Another One Bites The Dust." We compiled five musical mixes for five life situations you're bound to encounter.
(03/27/07 4:00am)
There are many in the business world, including myself, who believe in the Keep It Simple Stupid, or KISS, method. It encourages individuals to keep ideas and concepts as simple as possible. Personally, I think the KISS method is brilliant. Using the KISS method as a framework I have come up with what I call the “third-grader” test. I have found that for something to be effective and to be accepted on a large scale, it must be easy enough for a third-grader to understand. This applies to customers, employees and even investors. \nAt its core, business was intended to be very simple. The higher up in the company you are, the simpler and clearer you need to communicate. A finance “number-cruncher” can use vocabulary words that only big-time MBAs would know, but a CEO and owner needs to be able to communicate to the entire company. \nNowhere is this more evident than in written communication. Many of my peers believe they are good writers because they sprinkle in big words amid painfully long sentences. It is much easier to use a thesaurus than to consistently work on your writing skills. While you might think you are a good writer, you aren’t fooling anyone. Maybe you can impress a second-grader, but after that it is going to be hard. Learn to write simple, clear sentences. There is nothing more effective than a revolutionary idea that is easy to understand. \nThe third-grader test also applies to customer service. It is the reason why so many MBAs and “highly qualified individuals” find it hard to interact with customers. I am not implying that you should talk down to a customer. All I am saying is that you should assume a third-grader’s level of comprehension (even though that is probably not the case). Educate your customer on your company and market and clearly explain everything to them.\nWhat surprises most businessmen and -women is that investors should also be treated as third-graders. There is a big misconception that investors are looking for highly complex business models. While there can be many facets and details about your plan, an investor wants to be able to easily understand your idea. The concept of “elevator pitch” competitions (where individuals are given one minute to pitch their business idea) demonstrates this idea. The KISS method is especially important when the entrepreneur is pitching his or her idea for the first time. As a general rule, the first meeting with an investor is a “What is your big idea?” meeting. Remember, investors are very busy individuals and don’t want you to waste their time before they have even decided whether they are interested in your business.\nTo many, the KISS method sounds counter-intuitive. But it is highly effective. \nThe art of keeping things simple (ironically) is difficult. It takes a lot of time and effort to develop these skills. However, if you put in the time, it will bring with it great rewards.