1. Secrets of the Millionaire Mind, by T. Harv Eker

Can you go seven days without complaining about anything? How about one day? Eker believes that this is just one thing that separates most rich folk from the poor. The premise of this book is that we all develop an attitude about money from a very young age, and that we are limit ourselves by that attitude. We set an internal “thermostat” about how much we are capable of earning, and live by it. Poor people often have a victim mentality and complain a lot. Poor people don’t take action; rich people do. In all, there are 17 mental attitudes that the rich have that others do not. This is a quick read and very entertaining.

2. The Richest Man in Babylon, by George Clason

Written as a fable in 1926, this small book contains 7 principles of wealth which are passed on by the richest man in this ancient to two of his friends who did not fare so well financially. The principles are timeless and include such things as “Pay yourself first,” and “Live below your means.” This is a quick easy read, and you can put these principles into action immediately.

3. The Automatic Millionaire, by David Bach

How many times have you heard the advice, “If you would just stop buying that latte every day, you would save $1500 a year.” Well this “latte factor” came from Bach’s book. His advice is this. There is a path to becoming a millionaire, but it is slow and steady and requires small sacrifices, like giving up that latte and putting that same amount of money into savings instead. And this should be done with all little wasteful expenditures, along with having money taken out of your paycheck automatically, before you ever have it in your hand. Bach contends that becoming a saver is a matter of developing the habit, just like any other habit you have. A practical good read.

4. Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill

This book has been around for a long while, and it is not particularly entertaining. However, much like Eker, Hill insists that becoming rich is really a mental thing. You set goals – how much will you have in 5 years? 10 Years? And all of your focus is on each of those goals you set. If you put your thought energy on these goals, you will achieve them. There are a total of 8 mental steps in this reading that you must practice to become rich.

5. The Millionaire Next Door by Thomas Stanley and William Danko

According to Stanley and Danko, there are many, many millionaires among us, in our own neighborhoods, whom we would never imagine to be that rich. They have done the research and what they found was this: Large numbers of millionaires live below their means, don’t buy “toys,” and spend energy on making wise investments. These are people who, as income increased, did not advance their lifestyles like so many do – no bigger house, no new car every 2 years, no vacation home, etc. They invested their increased income amounts. A really practical book, based on actual research.

6. Rich Dad, Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki

This story is about a young boy who had a biological father (the poor one) and another “father” (the rich father of his best friend). Both men teach the boy lessons about money, and it is clear their attitudes and behaviors are very different. The poor dad does not have good financial sense, works to earn the money needed to live, and doesn’t do much else with money. The rich dad makes money work for him instead, is financially literate, and ultimately teaches the kid 6 lessons that can make him rich. A good book that will make you explore your attitudes about money and how they are holding you back.

7. How to Get Out of Debt, Stay Out of Debt and Live Prosperously by Jerrold Mundis

Many think this book is not about getting rich, but, in fact, it is. The inspiration that comes from this book is the author’s personal story about indebtedness, and what it took for him to get out of the mindset that debt is just unavoidable. Once out of debt, moreover, the opportunities to save and invest become real things and can lead to wealth over time. A great read for anyone even a bit concerned about debt and how to get free of it.

8. Get Rich Carefully by Jim Cramer

If you have never watched Jim Cramer on TV, you should, for it is an experience. Here is a man who lives, eats, and drinks investments and has become a multi-millionaire from this passion – TV shows, books, and, of course, his own wise investments. This book is a blueprint for analyzing a company, a stock, and market trends. Very practical, and it takes a lot of the “guess” work out of investing.

9. The Millionaire Fast Lane by M.J. DeMarco

According to DeMarco, all people travel in one of three “lanes” – the sidewalk (poor people), the slow lane (middle class people) or the fast lane (rich people). He describes these people against the backdrop of the traditional advice on how to be financially stable – get a good education, a job, save for your retirement. Poor people either never got this advice or chose to ignore it; middle class people have chosen to take the advice. They get out of school, find a job opportunity, write that letter of motivation along with a resume, get the job, and live in the “slow lane,” comfortable but never wealthy. Getting into the fast lane, says DeMarco, is knowing that traditional advice but ignoring it in favor of taking risks, following passions, and building businesses. Some will fail, yes, but there will ultimately be the one that makes you rich. If you have an entrepreneurial spirit, this book is for you.

10. Screw It, Let’s Do It by Richard Branson

An autobiographical book by multi-millionaire owner of Virgin Airlines, this work will inspire those who want nothing as badly as they want to be entrepreneurs and wealthy. In between telling his own story, Branson provides principles for success and wealth. The biggest takeaway from this book is this: if you have a passion and you never act upon it, you will be neither happy nor rich. This is the ultimate read about risk-taking.

This group of books provides a variety to approaches – some fast, some slow; some based upon very practical steps to wealth, others based upon taking big risks. Some speak to behaviors; others speak to attitude and thought patterns. Find one or two that may speak to you, and chew on them!

Everybody writes their resumes in ways that enhance their best qualities and obscures their weaknesses. In the same vein, people answer interview questions in the most self-flattering way possible. This behavior is perfectly acceptable and should be expected from recruiters and business managers. The problem comes when interviewees tell out and out falsehoods about their experience, skills, education, or intentions.

When a person is hired under false pretenses, the company is out more than the salary and benefits they’ve paid the prevaricator. They also must absorb training costs, recruiting costs, relocation fees, hiring bonuses, etc. If a recruiter sends a candidate to an employer who has lied on their resume or during interviews, they lose their fees and suffer damage to their reputation.

The question is, what can be done about this? To be frank, there are no easy solutions. For example, a candidate can easily create a false reference and have a friend cover for them. They can even create a fake job to cover up a gap in employment history.

There are even websites that candidates can use to create falsified job history, education, and references. All the job seeker needs to do at that point is write a cover letter. To have a good chance at weeding out dishonest job candidates, recruiters and employers must know where lies are likely to occur, knowing how to ask the right questions and using the right screening methods.

Finding the Lies

The single most likely topic that a candidate will lie about is job history. Typical lies include:

• Fabricating jobs to increase years of experience or hide gaps in employment
• Fudging start and end dates to hide short employment duration, frequent terminations, and job hopping
• Exaggerating the position(s) held
• Lying about reasons for leaving

Other likely areas of dishonesty include references, where job seekers will have buddies stand in as personal and professional references; education, this can be as simple as fudging a GPA or as extreme as fabricating a degree; and skill set, this is very common in IT fields where job candidates will use manuals and technical forums as ‘on the job training’ while they learn skills they promised they already had.

Ultimately recruiters and employers know their industry and what is important. Are degrees and certifications key? Then lies will likely appear in the education section. Are years of experience most important? Then it’s best to look at employment history.

Asking the Right Questions

The best way for interviewers to weed out dishonest candidates is to ask them detailed questions. The best way to accomplish this is by doing a bit of research. Does your candidate claim to have worked at a Fortune 500 corporation? Try researching that company.

Does your candidate use the right ‘vocabulary’ to describe their position and duties? If something seems off, be prepared to ask them lots of detailed questions about what their duties and how their performance was measured. If a major event impacted their employer while they were there, ask them for details.

The same strategy works when verifying educational history. If an employee claims to have a degree, look into the college. Who was the department head over their academic area? Ask them about extra-curricular activities and well-known on and off-campus events.

One business owner once tripped up a dishonest candidate who didn’t know the name of their university’s sports team. Unless you are dealing with a real sociopath, most candidates will get caught up in the details.

Using the Right Tools

Fortunately, there are more ways to discover resume fraud than intuition, research, and questioning. Recruiters and employers can use screening tools such as background checks, skills tests, and psychological batteries.

Many assume that a background screening will only show criminal history. This is not true, a thorough background test done by a professional company will also show financial information and employment history.

Psychological batteries may not illuminate dishonest statements, but they are a great tool for determining if a candidate is possibly a liar. Finally, skills tests are a great way to determine whether or not a candidate possesses the skills he or she claims to. These can often be found through professional groups and standards organizations.

These tools aren’t free to use, but in many cases they may be less expensive than firing an employee and recruiting new talent. As a bonus, simply knowing that they will be vetted may be enough to chase a few dishonest characters away.

Photo by: Alexa LaSpisa

The findings are beautifully simple.

“The only thing that really matters in life are your relationships with other people. Happiness is love”

Without wanting to disparage the research and the dedication of everyone involved for what initially seems like a logical conclusion, there is a little more to it than that (which you can read about in this excellent post). But essentially we’re happiest when we have a place in the world, when we love and are loved, and when we make the most of our gifts.

Making the most of our gifts is arguably why we take up hobbies. Whether our own particular penchant for happiness is sport, art, candle making, writing, coding, food; it’s enjoyable to do the things we’re good at. With work taking up so much of our time in the modern world, doing what you love and turning a hobby into a successful business is the Holy Grail many of us aspire towards.

The research from the study shows that 50% of our happiness is determined by our internal “set point,” which is shaped by genetics and early childhood. 10% is determined by circumstances and the remaining 40% from how we react to circumstances. It’s over this last 40% that we thankfully have some control.

Taking control of your happiness by pursuing what you love invariably involves the dilemma many aspiring entrepreneurs make; should you leave it as a hobby, or give up your day job and go full-time.

If you’re currently mulling over this particular dilemma, there may be a number of considerations that could help you reach the happiest of conclusions.

Turning you hobby into a business

Teach what you know

Whether it’s cookery, engineering or your prowess on social media, there are always people willing to learn from those with experience. Setting up online courses, forums or even teaching in person are cost effective ways to get everything up and running without the need for heavy investment.

Find a niche

Unless you’ve come up with a truly innovative idea, then it’s likely you’ll have competition. Finding a niche will not only help differentiate your business, but will give customers reassurance that you’re trusted and credible within the niche. It’s also much easier to target specific audiences online without wasting valuable budget during the early stages.

Combine previous work experience with your hobby

For example if your background is in publishing, but you love cooking, you could teach chefs on how they can get their cookbooks published. A happy compromise between previous experience and your passion.

Research & Business plan

This is an area that’s often overlooked, but by doing the necessary due-diligence you can save yourself a lot of time and effort in the long run.

Research

Learn about any competitors, how much they charge and how their offering differs to yours? Think about every step you need to make and what you need to achieve each stage. Have all the contacts and resources in place when you reach every individual step.

Pricing

Not having a comprehensive understanding of costs, revenue and profit margins is surprisingly common and a fundamental error that can have a major impact on the success of your business. Have a clear idea of what your costs will be and how to price your product/service/time accordingly? Spreadsheets are likely to become your friends.

Evaluation

Most of the time our hobbies are fuelled by passion, and with it comes emotion. Evaluating your products or services from an objectionable point of view will help you to iron out any kinks that may have previously been missed. Get views from friends, family and any business contacts to have an unbiased appraisal of your idea.

Get help from experts

Getting the advice from experts and those who have been through the process before can not only save time, but can have a positive impact on revenue. How to structure your business (sole trader, limited company etc.) has various implications on tax, accounting and VAT. Getting the appropriate expertise in place early on is one of the most sensible decisions you can make for your business.

Find out what grants and loan schemes are available

There are a number of schemes, grants and incentives all designed to help entrepreneurs get their businesses off the ground.

Unemployed

If you know what you’re going to do, you can apply for the New Enterprise Allowance, which is available to people who are unemployed.

Government grants

There are a number of government grants available at www.gov.uk.

Female entrepreneurs

With the government realising that the economy could be improved with more women running businesses, they have started offering mentoring services to female entrepreneurs. This along with resources to find grants especially for women, and help with the creation of small businesses generally, you can find there’s a wealth of inspiration for female entrepreneurs.

Turning your hobby into a business often takes courage, careful preparation and perseverance. But according to our friend Professor Valliant, the route to happiness can often be paradoxical in nature. Among those he studied he found that the most inspiring triumphs and happiest times, were often the result of studies in hardship.

Aside from choosing to sleep even less than you already do or squeezing in a chapter here and there during bathroom breaks, there just isn’t a lot of time leftover to read everything on your wishlist from start to finish…

Until now.

The same technology that has stolen our extra time and hindered us from enjoying the tried and true method of flipping through a full-length paper book, has now made it possible for us to consume our favourite non-fiction books digitally in approximately 15 minutes each.

All thanks to Blinkist.

What is Blinkist?

Blinkist is both a Web and iOS app that allows you to absorb a catalog of non-fiction book titles in approximately 15 minutes each. Each book is broken down into summarized chapters, or blinks, that present the reader with all of the essential parts of the book. 

Blinks are powerful bites of insight from outstanding nonfiction. You can read a flashing in less than two minutes, so with each book made up of about eight blinks, you can cover the work's key insights in 15 minutes.

It's important to note that the blinks are 100% uniquely written by actual humans on the Blinkist team, and they take pride in their work (as they should).

We start from scratch every time. Bright, inquisitive readers and writers dive deep into the books we blink in order to create thoughtful new content imparts did the original work's key messages and intent.

Not sure about summaries? Are you a book purist?  That's ok,  Blinkist can be useful for you too!  In fact, on their website, they make it perfectly clear that blinks are not meant to replace books - and that they'd never want them to. 

Blinks are made to be read fast, so their very size keeps them from filling a book's formidable (if imaginary) shoes. We think of Blinkist the way did Neil Degrasse Tyson does a soun?dbite : as the beginning of a self-driven path toward learning. Get your bearings with Blinkist, then take your learning in whichever direction you choose.

How To Use Blinkist

Both the Web and iOS app are extremely easy to use and navigate, which is crucial since this app is primarily about saving us time, right? Here's a quick breakdown of what to expect once you're logged in to your Blinkist account.  

Discover and Choose a Book Title

When you're logged into your Blinkist account, you can browse their catalog of book titles using one of three simple ways after clicking "Discover" from the main menu:

1. New: In the first screenshot, you can see a list of the newest titles added to the Blinkist catalog (they are currently adding 40 new titles per month) 

2. Categories: You can also choose to list book titles by category. Blinkist currently has books in the following categories: 

• Entrepreneurship (our favorite!)
• Politics & History
• Health & Happiness
• Business and Careers
• Popular Science
• Productivity & Guides
• Society

3. Curated: You can also search by curated lists of book titles such as "Self Help's Greatest", or favorites from guests such as the curated list titled "Product Design with Hunter Walk", where YouTube's former leader of product management shares his no-design design reading list.  

View the Details of the Book Title

Is this book what you were looking for? Once you've clicked on a book title, you are shown a series of details about the book as seen below: 



These details include the following: 


• What this book is about 
• Who should read it
• Who is the author
• Key Insights

The key insights here are brief overviews of the summarized chapters (blinks) that you will be reading (click on any one of them to expand that section). 


Read, Highlight, and Share

Once you begin reading the key insights (the meaty stuff), it will look like the screenshots below: 

Design is clearly a priority for the team at Blinkist, as it's apparent immediately after loading the app. The features work well and the navigation is very smooth and simple to use. 

From the top of the app navigation, you can choose to share/save, edit font sizes, or view a jump menu of the key insights. 

The middle screenshot above shows the highlight option which allows you to highlight a section of text and then share it on social media and/or save it to your Blinkist account, organized nicely by title and date. 

Your account also automatically saves which sections of every book you've read so far, as well as the option to save a future reading list. 

Whether you're a busy entrepreneur looking for a detailed overview on new and popular books, or just an avid reader looking to double up on your book consumption, it's worth taking a peek at Blinkist to see if it can improve on (or add to) your reading routine. 

How Much Does Blinkist Cost?

Blinkist is a subscription-based service, but registered users can get a free 3-day trial to test the service. 

The pricing is as follows: 

• Free 3-Day Trial 
• $7.99 / month
• $14.99 / 3 months
• $49.99 / yearly

Blogtrepreneur Reader Discount: 

Blinkist has been kind enough to offer Blogtrepreneur readers a 20% discount on yearly subscriptions. When you upgrade from your free trial account, simply redeem the discount using the code: Blogtrepreneur (case-sensitive). 

Let us know what you think of Blinkist! 

An apple a day may keep the doctor away, but in reality the modern human diet is woefully short of fruit and vegetables. The fuel you put in your body sets the tone for human performance. Fruits and vegetables are packed with the vitamins and nutrients every Entrepreneur needs to keep up with their demanding schedule. If you know you’re falling behind on your daily dose of fruits and veggies, you may want to consider juicing. With a high quality juicer, you can add your daily servings of fruits and veggies into your morning breakfast routine. It’s a great way to get the plant support you need.

Here are three of the great benefits juicing can offer.

Great Absorption

Most nutritionists agree with the USDA recommendation of six to eight servings per day of fruits and vegetables. Juicing allows you to not only get those servings in your day, but allows you to absorb all the nutrients from fruit and vegetables without cooking or altering them. Raw veggies and fruit in the right quantities and combinations can make delicious morning drinks that you’ll actually enjoy consuming, with the added benefit of fast, efficient absorption of the plant’s nutrients.  According to Dr. Mercola, found of Mercola.com, most of us have impaired digestion as a result of making less-than-optimal food choices over many years. This limits your body’s ability to absorb all the nutrients from vegetables. Juicing will help to “pre-digest” them for you, so you will receive most of the nutrition. Juicing breaks cell walls of whole foods, which make it easier for your body to absorb all the nutrients of the vegetables and fruits fast, usually within twenty minutes of consumption. It’s a nice, natural boost that will energize you in a sustainable way for the day ahead.

Meet The Serving Requirements

When was the last day you remember getting your full eight servings of fruit and vegetables in a single day? If you can’t recall, juicing is a great opportunity to win back the health battle. For example, a common green juice recipe found on JustOnJuice.com, requires one whole cucumber, four celery stalks, two handfuls of spinach, one whole apple, one entire carrot, and a quarter of a lemon. If you sat down to eat that raw, you’d have well over your daily fruit and vegetable serving requirements, as well as quite a plate to devour. However that entire ingredient list when processed through a high-quality juicer will yield about 16 oz of juice. That’s the size of a Grande drink at Starbucks. Entrepreneurs are all about function and efficiency, so in many ways juicing makes good nutritional and time saving sense.

Mix it up

When you juice your fruits and vegetables, you have the opportunity, in particular with vegetables, to mix up some fun and interesting things you haven’t tried before. If you aren’t a big Kale or Bok Choy fan, you can still easily introduce these dark leafy greens into your juice routine without them overpowering the flavor of your veggie cocktail. That means you’re adding new, packed sources of vitamins and minerals into your diet that you otherwise wouldn’t touch. You’re also doing this raw which means the nutrients are all there for you to absorb and use as energy throughout your day.

The Rise of Science

The Greek philosopher Aristotle was obsessed by the idea of amassing all the knowledge that existed in the world. Of course, this lofty goal undoubtedly proved to be futile, but thousands of years ago, you could get pretty close with some hard work and dedication.

Aristotle not only tried to collect the world’s knowledge, he made observations and formed plenty of theories of his own, increasing the sum total of information.

But something was missing.

Centuries later, after what historians conventionally refer to as The Dark Ages, clerics and civil administrators began to reopen the ancient books and seek non-religious knowledge once more. As the Renaissance paved the way for independent thinking, natural philosophy completed its metamorphosis into modern science.

The Method

This transformation was due in part to increased communication between knowledge-seeking parties, but also due to a reworking of how people generally thought about wisdom and learning. No more would simply reasoning through a problem lead to an accurate answer. Instead, one would have to formulate a hypothesis, observe and collect data, and most importantly, conduct repeated experiments to isolate the nature of the problem and discover proven solutions. Armed with the mode of thinking, science and commerce propelled themselves forward and shaped the modern world.

Get to Carnegie Hall

The most successful professional athletes are the ones who show up an hour before practice to hit the gym and then stay an hour afterward to practice technical drills. They also absorb as much information as possible, studying charts, analyzing opponents, and dissecting their own weaknesses. All this hard work makes their actions appear effortless when in fact, the opposite is true. They’ve put in more effort than anyone else. To succeed in the challenging world of business, and indeed to succeed in life, you’ve got to become an expert at trying. Incidentally, this also means you’ll become an expert at failing.

Be Honest with Yourself

But these failures are not in vain. In fact, you can reframe any failure as simply another step toward success if you genuinely learn something and make applicable changes. Look at your attempts as objectively as possible. Ask others you trust for their opinions. Identify what went wrong, tweak and adjust your attempts until they become as clean as a professional basketball player’s free throw shots.

Don’t Stop Believing

Whatever you do, you’ve got to keep moving. Even when things begin to look bleak, you’ve got to stay in motion. If you stop making attempts, you’ll be weighed down by the heavy distress of inaction. The best way to keep moving, and keep trying, is to capture the energy and exuberance that acted as your catalyst in the first place. This is easier said than done but it must be achieved. Remind yourself of your initial vision and take small and large steps that will allow you to actualize this vision. If all else fails, pop on some Journey and belt out an inspirational song. Don’t worry. No one is looking.

A young child makes his way home through a dense forest.  He’s keeping close to the trail when he notices some unusual bushes off to the side.  Peeking through the shrubs, he realizes that if he could walk directly through them, he would be headed in a direct line home.  Wielding his trusty pocketknife, he begins to cut away at the growth.  With the first small trees out of the way, the young boy is dismayed to see even denser vegetation behind them.  He doesn’t give up.  He hacks and slashes and begins to make his own trail.  Eventually, he’s cut right through the thick forest and arrives home in time for a pot roast.  Later, when other children are hiking through the forest, they see his home made trail, look at it in admiration, and step onto it.

Travelers from the Past

When you set out on your journey toward success, you’ll soon realize that many have traveled a path similar to yours long before you.  It’s only natural to look to successful people for examples on how to proceed.  It’s definitely true that by paying attention, you can learn from the triumphs and mistakes of those before you.  Still, don’t be afraid to make your own mistakes.  And if another avenue toward accomplishment becomes apparent, always consider taking…

The Road Less Traveled

When you’re playing the board game Risk, there are many strategies you can employ to take over the world.  You can start quickly, amassing every territory you can, and intimidating other players to retreat before your eyes.  You may be rewarded with a victory.  On the other hand, you can bide your time, build up your resources, let the other players battle one another, and wait for the perfect opportunity.  The point is not to compare business to a war strategy game but to illustrate the idea that there are multiple roads to victory.  Consider taking the road less traveled on your journey toward success.  If you really want to shake things up, you can always grab your pocketknife and…

Blaze a Trail

Maybe you have an entirely new way to go about things.  Maybe you have a revolutionary idea, the means to implement it, and the confidence to follow through.  Go off the beaten path and blaze your own trail.  Cut through the growth in the forest and march along a path that you create.  Not only will you gain the personal fulfillment of doing things your own way, you’ll have an advantage over everyone else that is following the same boring roadmap.  Set an example for others by changing the game.  Become the person that everyone looks to for example.

Be Open to Adventure

Going your own way is exciting but can also be overwhelming.  You don’t have easy answers available if you make a mistake.  You may not even know if you’ve made a mistake.  Keep your ears and eyes open and keep a keen sense of adventure.  If you’re a natural trailblazer this should come easy to you.  If you become concerned about the perils of the unknown, remember that only the adventurer who explores the deepest parts of the dungeon is rewarded with the treasure.

Everything Changes

The roads to success are continuously being repaved.  What worked a hundred years ago may no longer be a viable option.  Even last year’s road may be out of date.  Don’t try to follow an outdated path that will lead you astray in an ever-changing environment.

Everything Stays the Same

Even though the world is in a constant state of change, some concepts just don’t go out of style.  Determination, passion, and confidence will always reap huge rewards when it comes to success in business and in life.  Even if you blaze your own trail, you’ll have to pay attention to these qualities to get out of the woods.

Become your own example of success and set your own standards for success and development.  When you look back at the trail you’ve blazed, you can smile at your personal method of accomplishment.

Destiny has plagued the philosophers for centuries.  It can be a powerful source of both positive and negative states of mind.  Is destiny something out of your control?  If so, have you given up all your power in life?  Or is destiny something you can guide and direct?  A compromise is that destiny is what you make of it.  Define your destiny as your ultimate achievement.  Let your destiny come from self-fulfillment and strive toward it with purpose.

Looking Forward

Destiny can seem pretty far away when you’re looking ahead.  What started to take shape as a dream in your mind looks cloudy and blurry in the distant future.  When you’re starting out as an entrepreneur, you may not have a fully formed idea of where you’re headed.  It shouldn’t dissuade you if your vision isn’t crystal clear.  You can still mold your destiny by taking incremental steps toward achievement.

Looking Back

Destiny can take another form if you’re looking back on your accomplishments.  It may seem like everything fell into place at the right time.  It may seem like you were just along for the ride.  Whatever your personal philosophy may be, the big picture can make you forget all the ups and downs of your long journey.  Remember, life is about the details.  All those little decisions contributed to your success.  What may seem like random noise is actually the chaotic and influential outgrowth of all your choices.

Shaping the Future

Manufacture your own destiny by imagining the end point of your journey.  Picture yourself with a fulfilled destiny and see yourself looking backward from the future.  What kinds of steps are you taking in this time-traveling scenario?  What kind of steps led you to the destiny you’re imagining for yourself?

Step into Yourself

Don’t sit around waiting for your destiny to fall into your lap.  You’ll be waiting an awfully long time.  Destiny is not concerned about you.  It doesn’t have to be.  It’s in very high demand.  Destiny is out there waiting for the right person to come knock on its door.  Take the initiative and be the one to make the journey.  Step boldly into the shoes of your imaginary future self.  Don’t be passive and let life dictate its terms to you.  Be active in creating whatever you’ve determined your destiny to be.

Open Yourself Up

As you’re achieving your destiny, don’t be afraid to keep an open mind and attitude toward everything around you.  You have a flawless game plan set it stone.  Prepare to have your plan go awry.  Destiny can be fickle.  Even if you have a series of calculated steps to carry out in order, life will throw you a curveball.  Stay flexible and remember that part of destiny is reacting to challenging situations and remaining resolute.  Embrace obstacles as part of your growing process, and plant yourself firmly in a position to succeed.

Games

Your life is not a game of dice left to random chance.  It’s also not a game of chess with no element of luck.  It’s more like a game of poker, a mixture of good decisions and knowing when to capitalize on good situations and react strategically to bad ones.

You write your own destiny while you live your life.  To achieve a destiny of success, make well-reasoned choices that reflect your ideas of fulfillment.

Almost every epic tale tells of a prophecy.  A young hero who will rise up, fulfill her destiny, and save the day.  This hero follows a typical pattern.  At first, she is resistant and doesn’t accept the fact she is the chosen one.  Then she feels fear.  She’s scared of the responsibility and the duties that have been imparted on her.  Eventually, through an act of valor, she steps into her role and realizes her destiny.  While real life may lack details like castles or dragons, stories like this ring true and occur all the time in everyday life.

Your Life is Your Story

Stories have such an impact on people because they recreate emotions felt over a lifetime.  Your life is unique.  Everyone’s got a story and they’re in the middle of living it.  You’re introduced to the world.  You grow up and change your perspective.  You face challenges and start to shape your destiny.  You may become resistant to the role you’re perceived to play.  You may start to hesitate or even reject success because of fear of responsibility.

You’re the Author

You’re writing the book of your life.  Like a lot of authors, you’re not sure of where the story is headed even though ultimately you’re in charge.  Realize that although you’ll face circumstances that are out of your control, you make the decisions about which roads to take.  You decide what direction the story is going to take.

You’re Also the Hero

Not only are you writing the tale of your life, you’re living it directly.  As the hero of your story, you experience and feel the results of your decisions.  It may seem like a conflict to be both on the outside and the inside of your experiences.  In fact, you can use this dual perception to approach challenges from different directions.  View your own life from multiple angles and you’ll be able to consider multiple solutions.

Affirmations

It can feel silly sometimes telling yourself to stay positive, to keep going forward.  Don’t stop.  Affirmations not only build confidence and desire from the inside, they project an appearance to the outside.  Sometimes it’s necessary to remind yourself that you are in fact in the driver’s seat.  You have the capabilities to achieve.  At the same time, you have the responsibility to admit mistakes.

Take Control

Live life by the terms you’ve set for yourself.  Don’t back down in the face of adversity or peer pressure.  Once you’ve realized that you are solely responsible for your actions and your life’s story, step up and take control.  Stand up for your beliefs and have confidence in your decisions.  Even if something goes awry, you’ll have the maturity to admit an error and better yourself because of it.

Don’t Forget to Trust

You’ve taken your life into your own hands and actively work to shape your destiny.  It can be easy to go it alone at this point, confident that only you can get the job done.  Don’t miss out on letting yourself learn to trust and giving others the opportunities to trust you.  Though we’re all writing and starring in our own stories, we’re still all in the same bookstore.

It’s not what happens to you, but what you do with what happens to you that matters. Not everything is within our control. Weather, the economy, our competition, and any number of other factors can affect us and our businesses. But in every climate where some are failing, others are succeeding. In most cases, it comes down to a choice in how they respond to the events popping up in their lives.

The Sandcastle

There was a young child who was being laughed at on the beach by the older kids.  Everyone had built sandcastles but his was simple and unimpressive.  They get to talking and decide to take turns dumping buckets of sand all over his creation.  Eventually they notice that the small kid has been constructing a sand masterpiece will all the fresh material.  Soon they’re starting to bring him buckets of sand and placing them gently next to his workspace.  By the end of the day he’s got the greatest sand castle the beach has seen all summer.

Sticks and Stones

Bricks can hurt and they can come in many forms.  They can be personal.  They can be professional.  Even the most steadfast people sometimes are a little vulnerable.  During one of these vulnerable moments, something malicious could do some damage.  On the one had, you don’t want to overreact to what is probably petty.  On the other hand, there’s no reason to try and become inhuman.  Instead, put negative feelings to positive use and let what could have been damaging turn into something constructive.  Don’t be afraid of a few bricks being tossed your way.

Won’t Break Your Bones

What can seem like assaults can be seen just as easily as instructive challenges to overcome.  If you know the source of this resentment, the attacks instantly lose their power. Other people’s insecurities come out as aggression. The brick being thrown may be their disguised failures.  They may not know how to react besides hurling their pessimism toward you, hoping to draw you down to their level.  Let their failures be your success.  If someone is too stubborn to learn from their own mistakes, that doesn’t mean you can’t use their mistakes you your benefit.  Focus on your success and foundation and use their energy as fuel.

Jealous People

People will try and bring you down for all sorts of reasons.  All these reasons stem from one place, however.  Jealousy.  You shouldn’t get angry with people for behaving out of jealousy.  In fact, you should feel pity.  Maybe these kinds of people are rude and cynical, but remember; deep down they feel scared and powerless.

Constructive Criticism

On the other hand, don’t become impenetrable to every brick thrown at you.  Sometimes a heavy brick can really knock a new idea into your head!  Even a badly packaged critique may have something of value inside if you look hard enough.  Use every tool at your disposal to improve yourself and your business.

Success is the Finest Victory

Truly succeeding will give you the greatest satisfaction when dealing with brick-throwers.  As your business grows and grows, these types will continue to be stuck in a rut.  They have a new generation to hurl bricks at.  You can watch smiling now and see the young entrepreneurs that have a gleam in their eyes.  You can see them building their foundation.

Don’t be afraid of bricks in your journey toward success.  Use other’s ammo as fuel for your ultimate sandcastle.

Adam Toren is an Award Winning Author, Serial Entrepreneur and Investor. He Co-Founded YoungEntrepreneur.com along with his brother Matthew. Adam is co-author of the newly released book: Small Business, Big Vision: “Lessons on How to Dominate Your Market from Self-Made Entrepreneurs Who Did it Right” and also co-author of Kidpreneurs.