Do You Have The Courage To Ignore The Experts?

Do You Have The Courage To Ignore The Experts?

by: Graham and Julie

Do you have the courage to ignore the experts? Do you have the willingness and ability to understand and use the power that is within you? Courage is that state of mind when you do something that you know is right for you and your loved ones and the rest of the world thinks you’re mad. The ability to make the decision and then make it happen. Courage is not progressing through life with gay abandon, ignoring all the fears. Quite the contrary. Courage is an understanding of fear. An understanding of what to fear and what not to fear. Courage is the ability to challenge what is deemed to be common sense.

The world will constantly knock the courageous because they want mediocrity. They want mediocre players and people. People who don’t rock the boat. People who do what they are told. People who willingly stay within the rules even though they know they are causing harm to others.

Pause for a moment. Just think . Does it take courage to make the latest technology go faster, make it bigger, more complex than the last edition? Does it take courage to add to what already exists? For us, courage is shown by those who fight for something new. Follow their dream and see the benefit of going in the opposite direction.

The question is do you have the courage to do what you want? To touch your potential. Do you have the courage to speak out for what you believe in? Do you have the courage to go for it? Remember when you were a child. Were you curious? Were you a risk taker then? No doubt you had lots of courage when you were a child. You did many things based on a focus and no evidence. As a child no doubt you trusted the processes of life. So what’s different now?

If you are now feeling a huge resistance to going forward to naming your aim and objective, to realising your potential. Don’t worry it’s normal. The resistance is a normal way of moving forward. It’s your natural brake that is saying hang on a minute lets have another look at this. Every time you meet resistance within yourself or others it means you are growing because only as you start to think and state something outside your box do you encounter opposition. So don’t be discouraged and write yourself off. Stay with it.

You see, the feeling of fear and not following your beliefs was no doubt planted in your childhood. The time when you were told that you ought to value money. That you ought to save. You need to be careful, you need to have heroes and follow others. Perhaps instead we should have been taught to respect money but to be generous with it rather than be thrifty. Perhaps we should have been taught to go for our dreams rather than settle for security. As Andrea Dworkin, the feminist and civil rights activist, stated in one of her speeches:

By the time we are women, fear is as familiar to us as air. It is our element. We live in it, we inhale it, we exhale it, and most of the time we do not even notice it.

We think it applies to men as well as women. Well at least Graham says it applies to him. Every time he thinks of stepping out of his box, fear is present.

So there isn’t a fearless state. We just have to accept it and carry on. What is that phrase? ขFeel the fear and do it anywayข. Start by looking at your aim and objective. What is your aim? Do you have one? Is it a general I want to earn $50,000 a year or is it more focussed on an activity. For example, I want to tap into, understand and use the power that is within me. I want to assist others to do the same. All you need is an aim and the willingness, the courage to make effort to implement it.

Once you have your aim the hard work really starts. Now it’s time to practice, practice, practice. To read all you can around your subject. To buy all the books that will help you. Go on courses that will help. Meet successful people in the sphere of your chosen aim. Pick everyone’s brain. Whatever needs to be done to reach your aim.

Don’t worry about your capabilities they will come. If you have chosen the aim from your heart, from your subconscious then the capabilities will follow. How do you know your aim is chosen from your subconscious? Because you have no doubts about it. It feels comfortable. More than that it makes you get up in the morning.

As they say, the journey begins with a first step. Now; do you have the courage to take it? Do you have the courage to ignore the experts and do what you really want to do in the world?

It’s up to you.

Courage charms us, because it indicates that a man loves an idea better than all things in the world,

that he is thinking neither of his bed,

nor his dinner, nor his money, but will venture all to

put in action the invisible thought of his mind.

Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803 1882)

Good Luck

Graham and Julie

www.desktopmeditation.com

About The Author

Graham and Julie

To see more of our work please go to: www.desktopmeditation.com

[email protected]

This article was posted on December 21, 2004

by Graham and Julie

Improve Your Business Using The Principles Of War

Improve Your Business Using The Principles Of War

by: Hirini Reedy

The art and science of war has been studied and developed since the dawn of mankind. Many business principles and terminology have military origins. For example the word entrepreneur was originally a French term used to describe a person who undertook a military mission. In Asia today , many business leaders still study Sun Tzuกs ancient text กArt of Warก written 2500 years ago. It contains timeless wisdom that is still applicable today. It is based on principles of nature that can be applied to more than just warfare. It allows for the understanding of flow and force, the yin and yang of every situation.

In a world that is becoming more global and uncertain, business success will be achieved by utilizing both hard and soft strategies. The yin and yang of business can be likened to the push and pull style of combat. Each one flows into the other like night follows day.

So, how can one apply the Art of War to marketing and business?

A possible answer is to understand the principles of war rather than the specific skills of combat. How you apply the principles will vary according to your specific situation and desired outcomes. Here are some principles of war that can be used to improve your marketing and business.

1. Selection and Maintenance of The Aim.

Every successful military operation has a clear aim. Generally the aim is connected to the desired outcome. In business, it is important to define your aim and intended outcome. Maybe your aim is to create a successful business that you sell for $2 million dollars within 3 years Or establish a group of successful internet minisites that generates collectively $20,000 per month. Your aim is broken down into phases. Each phase has its own objectives, tasks and timelines. For example you could use a 90day Marketing Phase. Your marketing objectives could be broken down into key tasks.

Task1. Write an article every week for submission.

Task2. Send offers to 10 potential joint venture partners.

Task3. Build optin list by 200 subscribers each week.

Task4. Test and measure website performance each week.

2. Know Yourself, Know Your Enemy, Know Your Terrain.

A military commander uses a process called a tactical appreciation or estimation to prepare his or her battle plan. Basically this is about asking brutally honest questions. What are your strengths and weaknesses? Are you lazy or impatient? Sometimes the biggest enemy is yourself. We all have our own limiting beliefs and bad habits that can jeopardise our success. We must eliminate these internal threats efficiently and systematically. The terrain in war is like the market place in business. The more intelligence you have around market trends, customer needs and consumer choice the better your ability to plan your business strategy. So be like a forward reconnaissance troop and start gathering your market intelligence. Whenever you get market intelligence, always ask the question, so what? This forces you to look beyond the obvious to the hidden possibilities within your information. As you read this article, ask yourself ก yeah, so whatก?

3. Concentrate Your Forces At The Appropriate Point

Your force can be diluted and weakened if you apply it over too wide a front. It is better to concentrate your force at the appropriate point where you can have most impact. In marketing this is likened to focusing on a a niche. A niche is a small crack which can be opened for maximum advantage. Right now there is so much competition among internet marketers that it maybe better for a new marketer to focus on marketing to particular niches. So concentrate your marketing effort on niche areas. Maybe consider marketing to gardeners, first time mothers, poodle owners or personal trainers. Start with identifying a crack or niche in the market place then do your recon to find out as much information as possible. Make sure you have all the key information to properly plan and phase your business strategy. Then act.

4. Taking Bold, Offensive Action

Business, like war, involves taking action. It may mean bold, offensive action that has risks involved. However if you have planned your business strategy with sufficient rigor then the chances of defeat and failure are lessened. In my opinion, anyone who starts their own business deserves a commendation for courage and risktaking. It takes courage to leave the security of a job and start your own business. Failure is always a possibility. No business is failureproof. Like a modern day battlefield, markets and technologies are changing a lot quicker now. A business may have only a lifecycle of three to six months before the market or technology changes. So a business owner must be thinking twobattles ahead so that (s)he can maneuver and position to meet changes in the market.

5. Economy of Effort, Time And Resource

The best military formations and units have Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) that standardize and systemize repetitive functions and activities. SOPs save lives, resources and reduce confusion during war conditions. For the single business owner, plan to systemize and standardize your repetitive functions. Organise your repetitive activities such that you minimize time wastage. Use the 20/80 rule. 20 percent of your activities produce 80 percent of your results. So in an 8 hour working day, roughly 2 hours should be spent on high value activities. So make sure that you automate your repetitive functions using software if possible. Use templates, scripts and checklists. Systemize your business so that you can spend quality time on high value activities.

Apply some of these principles of war to your business and marketing today. Become the commander of your own success rather than another casualty on the business battlefield. May you enjoy the sweet fruits of victory.

Copyright 2005 Hirini Reedy

About The Author

Hirini Reedy is a native author, poet, civil engineer, retired military officer, martial arts founder, NLP master and internet entrepreneur. He shows people how to integrate ancient wisdom with modern success principles using SIMPLE TEACHINGS. Learn more at http://www.maorisecrets.com/?warprinciples.

This article was posted on March 08

by Hirini Reedy