I came across an interesting article the other day titled “Here’s Why Google and Facebook Might Completely Disappear in the Next 5 Years.” With a title like that, who wouldn’t take a minute to read it?

Thoughts of Google and Facebook being completely gone seem quite absurd at the moment, both are billion dollar companies that do not seem to be stopping any time soon. But I am not writing this to discuss the details of the article or to talk about whether I believe this is true. What I found refreshing, after reading this article, was the fact that we are NEVER at the end of anything. Facebook and Google will not rule the world forever. Things are always changing, and new and innovative ideas are always being brought to fruition.

The key thing to remember after reading an article like this, is that you should never just follow the big guys. Work to be innovative and who knows, you may be that next BIG GUY (or GIRL). It’s important to never settle. We would not be where we are today with the advanced technology that we have at our fingertips, if those before us just became content with how things were. We have to accept that things will change, and we can either be part of creating that change or follow the change once it happens. It’s all up to YOU. Challenge yourself each and everyday to invest in your future. Take time to let your thoughts run free, and allow your self to be innovative.

As entrepreneurs, we NEVER stop with one idea. We are forever coming up with new and innovative ways to do things. AND the time is NOW to keep those ideas coming and to keep pursuing your dreams. We live in a fast moving world, and can no longer think of the now. We have to think 5, 10 even 20 years ahead in order to stay ahead of the game.

Be a leader. Be innovative. But always BU.

It’s easy to go through life and just do enough to get by. We wake up and do the same thing over and over again, forgetting that we are made for so much more; that there is so much potential within each and everyone of us. Don’t let this pattern shape your own life. Strive to do more than just get by in your very own day to day!

As Cicely Tyson puts it, “Challenges make you discover things about yourself that you never really knew. They’re what make the instrument stretch-what makes you go beyond the norm.”

If you aren’t challenging yourself on a regular basis, you too will become stagnate. You will never know what or who you could have become if you would have pushed yourself just a little bit further each day. When we talk about challenges, we don’t necessarily mean go and climb Mount Everest or run a marathon, what we are talking about is just taking a moment to reflect each day and push yourself a bit further than your normal routine.

Instead of setting goals you know you can achieve, make it a priority to set at least one goal that is a stretch for you. Something that you know will take a bit more effort and maybe even force you to dig deep within yourself in order to achieve it. You never know your maximum potential if you never seek to achieve it. Get out there this week and challenge yourself in every way possible!

Never stop dreaming. Never stop growing. AND Never stop BEING YOU!

Living in a society that is always on the go is not always a bad thing. But when we move so fast, sometimes we forget to think about how everything going on around us is contributing to our overall well being. The truth is, with all the information at our fingertips, we are now able to learn on the go. Whatever it is you want to learn about, you can pretty much guarantee to find it somewhere on the internet, in the palm of your hands.

What we do forget about is that with all this information right in front of us, we don’t always apply it directly to our lives. When something is so easily accessible, we don’t have to put much effort into finding it. Without the effort of finding an answer, we sometimes forget that we even learned something to begin with. The truth is, we are always learning. And we should NEVER stop learning. What we need to focus on is applying.

Take the time to sit down and write out one way you can apply what you learned this week to your daily life. Think about what you are learning and learn how you can use what you are learning to better you own life. The other thing I challenge you to do, is to read about something you have no clue about. Open you mind up to learning about something completely out of your realms and see how that information can be applied to your life as well.

Sometimes we get too tied up in reading what is comfortable or what we already know that we forget to open ourselves up to learning about something completely new. As they say… “You learn something every day if you pay attention.”  ~Ray LeBlond

Get out there and learn! You will never regret learning more about something.

As most of you already know, today is Leap Day. This occurs approximately every 4 years, and is an extra day we add into the year in order to make up for the 5.8 hours lost each year (it takes the earth to rotate around the sun 365.2422 days). So why am I telling you this and why should you continue reading? Well, although we may not notice this “extra day” it is important to take the time to make it matter.

We only get an extra day every 4 years or so, and for most of us, we find ourselves saying “If only I had more time”. Well here is your extra time! Today is the day to go do something you have been putting off. Do something for someone you wouldn’t normally do. Don’t just sit there and let this day pass by you. Make an effort to realize that you have been given the gift of an extra day, and you must do something with that gift.

If you are working today, focus on getting things done. Put in the extra effort today, and go above and beyond your normal routine. This is something we should try to do as often as possible but sometimes it takes “an extra day” to do this. And if you are not working today, take time to create a list of goals you would like to accomplish this year. Take these extra 24 hours and plan out your ultimate year!

Whatever you do today, MAKE IT COUNT! We are always searching for more time, and well here it is! Happy Leap Day everyone!

The question of the day is… Do you get excited when Friday rolls around, or is Friday just another day to you?

As an entrepreneur, Friday can be either the end of the week, the middle of the week, or the beginning of the week. When you are in control, you get to choose! And not only that, YOU get to choose if you are going to work 7 days a week or 2 days a week. Those are the perks of going down the entrepreneurial pathway.

To me, I don’t really see my “work” as work. So really everyday is the same to me. If it is Monday and I want to do something that does not apply to my entrepreneurial tasks, then I do it. I have chosen this lifestyle because I don’t have to look forward to a weekend of relaxation and disconnect. I make time for all of that throughout my entire week.

I really think the world would be a better place if everyone was an entrepreneur. But the thing is, not everyone is cut out for it. Entrepreneurs are a unique breed. Being an entrepreneur can allow for lots of “free time” but it takes discipline and self motivation to make use of that time in order to be a successful entrepreneur.

So whether or not Friday is Friday and Monday is Monday, just be mindful that the days do not really matter. It is what you do on those days that does. Work hard but play harder!

I recently came across an interesting concept and believe it may help each and every one of you in your daily life. Let’s thinkabout water for a second… Water is just water when it is at anything below 212 degrees Fahrenheit but the second it hits 212 degrees, it becomes more than just water. It now becomes boiling water; boiling water turns into steam and with steam, you can power a train.

You may be wondering why I am telling you this. And here is the thing… applying one extra degree of temperature to water is the difference between something that is simply very hot and something that generates enough force to power a machine. This basic concept should be applied to your daily life.

When you think about doing a task, think about this concept and put in that extra degree of effort. That extra effort you put in, will take you from being just something to being something more. We begin to achieve life results beyond our expectations when we take small steps in everything that we do. This may sound simple, and it is. But the tricky thing is applying this to EVERYTHING that you do.

Water is just water at 211 degrees but when it reaches beyond that, and an extra degree is added, it is something completely different; and you can be too, if you look at your life this way.  The key, is to be persistent. You can’t just apply heat to water once and expect it to continue boiling. You must continually apply heat in order to achieve not only the primary objective you seek, but to also reap the exponential rewards that are possible by applying one extra degree of effort.

Think about this…

How many opportunities have you missed because you were not aware of the possibilities that would occur if you applied a small amount of effort beyond what you normally do?

For more on this concept, check out “212 Degrees the Extra Degree” by S.L. Parker

I recently had the great pleasure of joining in on Muhammad Ali’s 70th Birthday Celebration. There must be something about Louisville, Kentucky breeding great champions If you are ever in the area you should definitely check out the Muhammed Ali Center. It is very inspiring. The man was a true Champion, and not just in boxing but also in life.

Inside the ring, Muhammad Ali was a legend, becoming the first person in history to win the heavyweight champion title three times. In his professional career, Ali had won 56 bouts and lost only five. Of the 56 wins, 37 of them were by knockout.

But inside the boxing ring wasn’t the only place Ali shined. Once his boxing career came to an end, the “Champion” attitude carried on with him. Shortly after his retirement from boxing, Ali was diagnosed with Parkinson’s syndrome.

Since then he has worked to help charities all over the world. He has helped to provide over 232 million meals to the world’s hungry.  He has visited countless numbers of soup kitchens and hospitals, and helped such organizations as the Make-A-Wish-Foundation and the Special Olympics.

He annually participates in “Fight Night,” which generates funds for the Muhammad Ali Parkinson Research Center at Barrow Neurological Institute, in Phoenix, Arizona.

He is also the namesake of the Muhammad Ali Boxing Reform Act, a federal law that regulates professional boxing to protect boxers from unscrupulous promoters and poor health and bout conditions.

For his humanitarian efforts, Muhammad has been the recipient of countless awards.

This man is proof that you are not a “Champion” just once in your life. True Champions continue to be Champions in every aspect of their lives. They never give up.

As entrepreneurs, we have 1,000 ideas going on up in our heads at one time. We have new projects we want to start, books we want to read and places we want to go. You see, many people venture through life and never truly do what they want to do. We set goals, but never truly put them into action.

So today, instead of saying you are going to do something or talking about your plans to do something, JUST DO IT! Before you even talk about what you are going to do, begin taking the necessary steps to put those ideas into ACTION. If we always wait for the right time or for tomorrow, we never actually get around to doing what we want to do.

So stop planning. Stop talking. Stop hoping and just START DOING!

We learn as kids that our actions speak louder than our words. So spend more time focusing on your actions and less time on your words. Your words mean nothing if there are no actions to support them.

Here’s an excellent video from Jack Canfield on “Taking Action.”

As entrepreneurs, we have the opportunity to do something we are passionate about. We wake up every morning to pursue our own dreams. The moment we realize the passion is gone or that the passion was never there, we are in trouble.

Steve Jobs once said, “People with passion can change the world for the better.” Asked about the advice he would offer would-be entrepreneurs, he said, “I’d get a job as a busboy or something until I figured out what I was really passionate about.” That’s how much it meant to him. Passion is everything.

So much can come from ones passion. Not only does your passion give you the drive and determination you need to achieve your own dreams but it also opens doors to those around you.

If you are sitting there wondering what your are passionate about, take some time to figure it out. Life becomes much more enjoyable when you have a passion for something. Explore the world, try something new, find your passion! Invest your time in something you absolutely LOVE.

Christmas time always seem to bring about much certainty for me. Each year, I can expect many of the same things to happen. It is the one time of the year that everyone seems to know what is going to happen and how it is all going to happen. To me, Christmas is full of certainty.

By definition, certainty is:

1. perfect knowledge that has total security from error, or
2. the mental state of being without doubt

 

Unlike daily life, Christmas provides us with certainty. We know that it is going to happen, and we know what to expect year after year. We are even at the point in which we know exactly when Starbucks will begin serving their delicious Holiday blend drinks; it is becoming that predictable. Certainty is something we all tend to cling to and Christmas is a time that is most certain. We look forward to Christmas and all that Christmas offers even if it is the same thing each year. We find comfort in knowing; knowing what we will do,what we will experience, and who we will be surrounded by.


What I want you to think about during this Christmas Holiday is this:
During this time of certainty, how do you feel? Really focus on your true feelings. Everything from how happy you are to how motivated you feel.


When you sit back and really reflect on Christmas, a time that is full of certainty, you will see how you can truly find comfort in the times of uncertainty. How the things around you, which are unpredictable, can help to shape and mold you into a better version of YOU. The important thing to recognize is the comfort you find in knowing. The scariest thing an entrepreneur can feel, is comfort.


When we feel comfortable, we stop learning and growing and pursuing. We allow ourselves to sit back and just float along. And this is what certainty brings you. It brings you to a place of comfort, a place of knowing. When you know what is ahead of you, you don’t work to make it past that. As an entrepreneur, you always want to feel that spark that ignites you and motivates you. Take the time this year to realize the feeling of comfort, and promise to never let yourself get comfortable on your entrepreneurial journey. Be inspired by the uncertainty of what lies ahead!


Christmas is a wonderful time of the year, and I am so thankful to spend this time with loved ones year after year. As predictable and certain as it is, I wouldn’t want it any other way. I wish you and yours a very Merry Christmas!