Sometimes the hard things turn out to be easy

As we begin a new year we often find ourselves looking back over the past year as well as thinking of how 2010 will be for us. I find myself in the very fortunate position of being able to talk to many entrepreneurs on a weekly basis and many times it is their positive unstoppable attitude that encourages me to keep going and face some of the hard things that life puts in our way. I had two such conversations the other day and both wound up surprisingly the same way. For many of us 2009 was a year of taking hits, assessing the damage and creating plans to repair the damage. 2010 not only will be a good year but it has to be a good year! 2010 will be, it must be, a year for building.

Although 2010 is a year we must build, we actually have three options; we can continue to take hits and put out fires blaming the economy, greed, the weather, whatever, for our continuing struggle; we can go back to what we were doing back before we decided to spread our entrepreneurial wings, reliving the reasons we wanted out or we can determine that 2009 is over, we learned some lessons but now it is time to move forward. For most of us there is only one choice, in 2010 we must build.

Building our businesses will require an honest look at what we are doing and accessing just how effective those things are. Processes that worked like a charm a year or two ago may no longer work today. Building our businesses now also requires a new focus on the bottom line. In years where revenue was easily generated we could afford to take our eye off of expenses. We no longer have that luxury and controlling our expenses is just as important as generating additional income.

Building in 2010 is not just about business it is also about building or rebuilding relationships. Taking the hits that many of us took in 2009 can put serious stress on our relationships. Relationships with our family, friends and even business associates suffer as we lose trust in each other. It is a natural instinct when things go wrong to look around in order to find fault and lay blame. 2010 must also be a year to build relationships. Without the support of those that truly love us and want the best for us building a business is difficult and pretty much pointless.

Building sometimes seems to be hard and if we look at it as a whole it might even seem impossible, but if we break it down into steps it begins to look possible. As we execute those steps we will look back and say “Why was I dreading doing that? That was easy”. Sometimes the hardest part about doing something is deciding to do it and then taking the first step.

I recently had an experience with doing something I thought would be hard but it turned out to be easy. I learned to be a fire eater. That’s right I ate fire! I went to an event where I knew at some point we would be given the chance to eat fire. The group leader told us that after lunch he would teach us how to eat fire. I thought “good there will be some detailed instruction, practice drills and plenty of discussion of technique.” I was wrong. The instruction took about 30 seconds and the practice took another 30 seconds. It turns out there are only four steps to eating fire. (I would give you the four steps but I could not live with myself if you set your living room on fire) Before the fire eating, Marshal Sylver, our instructor, asked us if we thought it would be hard to eat fire. We all answered yes. Afterwards, he asked how many of us now found out how easy it was to eat fire. Again we all answered yes. Then came the big question how many things stand in our way because we think that they are too hard to do when if we actually did them we would find out that it was easy. I ask you the same question in choosing to build in 2010.
See my FIRE EATING VIDEO>>

Some Call It Greed

We have seen a change in our nation’s attitude toward wealth and those who try to achieve it. It seems to have started a year or so ago and began to gain speed immediately following the collapse of the economy. Things such as building businesses and maintaining portfolios are now consider greedy selfish endeavors “How dare he try to make money now? Can’t he see that there are people suffering?” For some reason people see the suffering but not the cause, the collapse of wealth. It was just a few short years ago when wealth and achievement were celebrated.

The focus has changed from wants to needs. How often do we hear, “does he really need that trip, airplane, luxury car etc.?” Need is understandable in a person’s own life when the current circumstances cause personal cut backs. However need should not be a factor when looking at others. Want is an acceptable reason for having something. I went to an expensive restaurant not because I needed to but because I wanted to and there is nothing wrong with that. I can still remember hearing the collect gasp that was uttered when it was announced that Michel Jackson’s elaborate casket cost more than $25,000.

In times like these, I remember the teachings of one of my many mentors. “It is indeed not selfish or greedy to create businesses, focus on achieving your goals or building wealth. It is in fact selfish and greedy not to do so. If you have been given the intellect, the strength and the courage to create businesses, achieve great things and make money and you do not do it, then you are selfish. The businesses you did not create will not provide the goods and services the public wants. The non-existent business will also not provide jobs for your local community. The world will not benefit or be encouraged by the things you did not achieve. The wealth you did not create did not benefit people in need around the world. Not many great chartable works are funded by the impoverished.

Not only is it selfish and greedy to not do all you are capable of doing to build your wealth, but it is also unpatriotic. America is the country credited with the phrase “making money”. Before America came into existence money was not made, it was inherited or otherwise transferred. Wealth creation is an American born idea. It goes hand and hand with freedom and liberty.

Another important concept I have learned from my mentors is that wealthy people support charities. It is important to be part of the solution and many worthwhile causes allow us to do just that. Now it is an especially important time to find a cause and support it. With the government created (it is my blog so I will tell it like it is) economic crisis we are now in charitable giving is down. The lack of private sector support for many worthy causes is giving the government another excuse for interfering more in our daily lives.

Some of you may be saying that you will start giving once you have become wealthy. Please let me share another concept with you. In order to achieve or create anything great you should follow these three principles. First, make your desire known. Second, do everything you know to do to accomplish it. Third, accept it is being done. The first two are easy to understand but what does accept it as being done mean? It simply means being ready to accept the fact that you actually have achieved your goal. One of the ways to do this is to begin to act as if you have already achieved it. In other words if want to be wealthy then act as the wealthy act and start to give. Pick a cause that you can get behind and support it.

Inside The Mind Of A Racist

Why does Jimmy Carter think that Joe Wilson and everyone else opposed to Obama’s policies are racist. Some people say that they are just trying to take the focus off of the policy. Some think it is a way to shut off conversation. Once you accuse some of racism the conversation is pretty much over.

While these reasons may be true for some Racers I don’t believe it is true for Jimmy Carter and many other Racers. For Jimmy I believe he honestly believes Rep. Wilson and the rest are racists. It is well know that Jimmy is a racist. His racist world view helps form his opinions. For example Jimmy’s racist hatred of Jews leads to his unrelenting support for Hamas. So the reason Jimmy thinks people are opposed to Obama’s policies are because they are racist, is because that is how he would see things. He assumes that because he sees the world through racist eyes that everyone else does too. Well Mr lust in my heart the world is not made up of a bunch of racist like you and the people you surround yourself with.

In September 2009 Joe Wilson, a white man, called Obama, a black man, a liar. Jimmy says the reason this happens, a white person calls a black person a liar, is that the white person is a racist. In April 2008 Jimmy, a white man, called Condoleezza Rice, a black woman, a liar. In Jimmy’s mind why did he do that???????

I Was Wrong!!

Anybody who knows me knows that I am not a liberal. I am one who clearly stood on the side of the CIA integrators in the torture controversy. These heroes were doing what was necessary to protect our nation after the attacks on 9/11. I was outraged to learn of the justice department’s investigation of the CIA. I thought that Obama was on the verge of treason for releasing documents on our enhanced interrogation methods, allowing terrorist to learn to withstand them. I believed that idea of closing GITMO was ridiculous and misguided.

It is with great humility that I now admit I was wrong. I had no idea until now how far over the line the thugs at the CIA had gone. At some point you need to ask yourself is this nation worth saving if it becomes unrecognizable in the process. Are we not a nation built on justice and mercy?

What brought me to this revelation? It wasn’t the reports of mock executions or the naked human pyramids at Abu Ghraib. It was not even the sleep deprivation or the water boarding. What finally changed my mind is what I saw in a newly released video. In the video it shows CIA operatives dressed in red using the most inhuman forms of torture possible. To make matters worse (as if that were possible) the video shows clearly the torture was being perpetrated on an innocent little old lady! As anybody can see and hear for themselves this women had no idea why she was even there! On top of all of that the reason for the torture was not only to obtain information but also to force her to convert.

I am just relieved the 8 long years of the dark ages in America are over. I just hope this renaissance is not too late. I know some of you are disappointed and angry with me for my change. All I can say is please watch this video, it is short, and tell me if it does not change your mind as well. Be prepared this video is shocking. Watch Video Now

Finally Someone Has the Answer and All He Gets Is A Boycott

I have always liked Whole Foods, although I have only been an occasional shopper, but after the Op Ed article, Whole Foods CEO John Mackey, published in the WSJ I will make Whole Foods my primary store. He exactly nailed the solution for healthcare in our country. His thoughts are not just a mere theory but they have been employed with great success at his company.

A misguided group of, well I won’t write what I am thinking, let’s just simply say socialist and their blind followers started a group on Facebook to boycott Whole Foods. Why, because Mackey had the nerve to suggest an alternative to the healthcare plan of our Dear Leader. I seem to remember that on several occasions our Dear Leader said he was willing to listen to anybody’s suggestions on how to “fix” our healthcare system. I guess that to the socialist members of the Facebook group this does not include the ideas from someone who has actually been successful at “fixing” healthcare. The reaction to Mackey’s Op Ed shows us that the goal of the left is not to solve the problems with our current healthcare system as they proclaim it to be. Their goal is in reality to continue increasing the government’s role in all of our lives.

What are the horribly dangerous ideas that Mackey suggested justify the boycott and the personal attacks? You can read the Op Ed for yourself but in summary here they are right out of his article

• Remove the legal obstacles that slow the creation of high-deductible health insurance plans and health savings accounts (HSAs)
•  Equalize the tax laws so that that employer-provided health insurance and individually owned health insurance have the same tax benefits
• Repeal all state laws which prevent insurance companies from competing across state lines
• Repeal government mandates regarding what insurance companies must cover
• Enact tort reform to end the ruinous lawsuits that force doctors to pay insurance costs of hundreds of thousands of dollars per year
• Make costs transparent so that consumers understand what health-care treatments cost
• Enact Medicare reform
• Finally, revise tax forms to make it easier for individuals to make a voluntary, tax-deductible donation to help the millions of people who have no insurance and aren’t covered by Medicare, Medicaid or the State Children’s Health Insurance Program

I have had many people say to me that you are quick to criticize Obama’s plan, but what are your suggestions. Well the points listed above are them; by and large Mackey nailed it. He was brave enough and patriotic enough to offer positive input on this volatile subject and he has been rewarded with calls for his resignation from the company he co-founded. Mackey was foolish enough to believe that Obama and his supporters really wanted to solve the problem and he tried to help.

Please support Mackey and Whole Foods, shop at their stores, e-mail your support and if you are on Facebook become a fan of Whole Foods. If you want to let one of the founders of the boycott know what you think e-mail him at markerosenthal@gmail.com Please be respectful he was brave enough to list his e-mail address.