Finding Your Path to Success

Everyone in the world has been successful at something in their life whether it has been sports, video games, guitar, etc… As people move on in life, they have dreams of success in other things. In my life that has always been success in business. There are plenty of books out there recommending paths to success but I recommend using prior experience. Think back in your life about one thing you were successful at. For example, I was an exceptional wrestler in high school but what steps did I take to become an exceptional wrestler. The most important was the time and effort I put into the sport. There were many small steps in between that took a lot of time and effort and what separated me from the rest is that I took those steps.

The previous example does not apply for everyone but think of someone that is spectacular at Halo (not sure if that is still a relevant game but you get the point). What do they do that makes them better than everyone else? They play Halo for hours at a time against any person they can get to play. When they aren’t playing Halo they discuss it with other people who play. This is what makes them successful.

 If you’re looking for success, take a step back and think of your last success. Get a piece of paper and begin to write down each step you took toward achieving that success. Now, place another piece of paper beside it. Look at each step and think of how that would translate into a step toward your new goal. Here is an example of mine:

Wrestling

·         Offseason Training

o   Personal Workouts

§  Cardio

§  Weightlifting

o   Camps

§  Drills

§  Learning new technique

§  Competition

o   Other team sports

§  Training

§  Competition

·         In-Season

o   Practice hard

o   Drills

o   Mentorship

o   Competition

REPEAT THE PROCESS

Business

·         Training

o   Personal

§  Reading

§  Social Networking

o   Events

§  Practice networking

§  Learn new things

§  Learn from experiences

o   Joining Groups

§  Network constantly

§  Learn from experiences

·         Deal Making

o   Do research, know everything

o   Prepare/practice repeatedly

o   Get mentor/ listen to mentor

o   Learn from experiences

REPEAT THE PROCESS

Check This Book Out!

The book The Art of the Start by Guy Kawasaki is a microcosm of nearly every experience I’ve had with start-up companies, the good, the bad and the ugly. I was hesitant to read the book at first, asking myself what could I learn about something I’ve already experienced. I was definitely wrong. The book did an excellent job of explaining where entrepreneurs go wrong and why. Kawasaki has been at both ends of the spectrum (entrepreneur and investor) giving him an unbiased opinion on the realities of growing a company. While reading the book, I not only received explanation for why things we did went wrong but explanation on why things we did went right. I would recommend this book to any successful entrepreneur not just one at the beginning of their journey.

Moral of the story: you can learn something from every book you read and every situation you’re in as long as you keep your eyes open

Negativity in Michigan

I would say this has recently come to light in Michigan but I would be lying. Michigan is an overtly pessimistic state whether that is due to lack of sunshine throughout the year or “old-timers” complaining about how things used to be back in the day when everyone had jobs at GM and times were great. Whatever the reason, this view of reality hurts the state. As recently as this morning, I read an article on mlive discussing how two brothers created a hangover cure. Comments from the readers were divided in thirds between the negative, the positive and the confused. The negative comments were the most disturbing not because they each began with a sentence about the product potentially being a hoax but that 85% of the prose was verbally attacking two people they didn’t even know on a personal level. This is what’s wrong with Michigan. This is not an argument on whether the product works or not but an argument on the support of their state. Michigan residents do not understand why young people want to move out of the state, well this is why. Young people want to do big things and change the game not be ridiculed for having the proverbially “balls” to change the game. It takes a lot to start a business but the hardest part is clearing through all the haters that wish they were in your shoes. I will say that there has been some positive light shining through the clouds in the last year but a few rays will not make Michigan a leader in the economy again. It will take the whole state to do this, from young to old.