Prove it first

I like to talk. I especially like to talk about myself. And if I want to get motivated I like to talk about what I am doing, or what I am about to do. When I talk about my future plans, it feels like I am actually doing something, without ever having to lift a finger. All it takes is to yap my mouth. It is really that easy. So simple!

But I get to the end of every year, look back on all the stuff I have done, but mostly what I didn't after talking it all up. I've been planning on becoming a millionaire for the last few years. And I have told everyone that it is going to happen, thanks to my small plan to take over the world.

The long and short is that it hasn't happened.

So I am taking a new road. This new road means that I will shut up. It will take out a lot of pride in order to do that (we'll see how easy that is), and it will force me to talk about what I have done (past tense rather than future tense). These are my rules. And this is my declaration. If I talk about it again, it should only be to update, not project. I have to put my money where my mouth is.

Feel free to call me out on it.

[This post was inspired by Derek Sivers]

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This is a guest post from my other blog AllCityStartup.blogspot.com

Secrecy or Transparency

I watched the movie Duplicity the other week and thought about it then, but I didn't realize until now that I am playing my own games in the same way, only it is much more destructive. The movie is about 2 double-agents in the corporate world of war. Between two main companies are millions of dollars at stake for minor percentages of market cap.

I am not at that level. At all.

But why am I fearing that someone will steal my ideas? Why do I keep a tight rein on the thoughts and ideas that I have when I start things in my business? I have this idea that my ideas are my money. And if I let out my ideas, I won't make money. This isn't true. What I have deduced is that ideas are free and easy. Everyone has them, and a lot of people have great ones [Seth Godin on ideas]. But it is the ability for the businessman, specifically the entrepreneur, to be able to capitalize on them.

That is why all the multi-level marketing schemes work (which I almost got into, but didn't). They work because they promise the world, and show the people that are doing amazing things with their package. And the package is available to anyone, but it takes a certain person to be able to really capitalize on it. And those people are few and far between. That is why this entrepreneurial wave will not last. But I think the next generation of kids who watched their parents will be successful. Why? Because they were able to watch subjectively and understand the problems and will fix them.

But back to my point, if you want people to trust you, you cannot keep things from them. If you want people to buy from you, you must have them trust you and trust what you are selling. So from here on out, I am going to be completely forthright with my business. Down to everything. Because I know that I can make money from it. I know how, and I have seen it done. My ideas might spark other entrepreneurs to crowd my market, but isn't that what I am doing now?

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This is a guest post from my other blog AllCityStartup.blogspot.com

Sidenote..

I have another blog which probably will not mean anything for most of you. But it is about my window cleaning startup (ha ha, that's why it is called My Window Cleaning Startup) and everything that I am doing with that. It is targeted at other people doing the same, so we will see if it goes somewhere. But if you want to help me out, just click the link and send some internet traffic that way. If you do that, it'll jumpstart the popularity and maybe even get some attention. Because right now it is lonely.

I started with the beginning and my business history. I continued with some Personality info and Personal Branding info. And the last two posts were about the basics and the window cleaning supplies everyone would need.

So feel free to click away at the links. No need to really read them, unless you are interested.

Thank you all.

New Year?

It seems that everything in life is moving. It is moving in a direction that I cannot explain or understand right now. Even now as I think where I am going with this post, I get lost in the thoughts and movement. It's as if you are standing in the middle of a dance floor as everything dances around you, and you look around as if to decide your next move.

Or it feels like one of those great summer nights in front of a fire after most people have gone to bed and you and a few friends still sit around, mostly silent, poking at the fire. You wonder what is about to be said, or what topic will be brought up. But you know it will be intimate and important. Because the atmosphere demands it.

So here I stand, planning my next move. And here I sit, listening intently, staring at the hot coals.

And I can feel the next move, I can see what is about to come. It is just around the corner to a new year and I already have it planned out. New years resolutions are set to start in December. This will be a year I will not forget.

I have never forgotten December 19th. It was the day I asked out my first girlfriend. Also my first kiss. November 5th was the day I flipped my car over with 4 other guys in it. October 30th a year later, I totalled my next car too. I remember a few other memorable dates: Nov 1st, Feb 5th, etc. But I know this next year, January especially, there will be a new date. A date that will start the rest of my life. This date will once again mark a happening in life. To be honest, I am a little scared, I haven't quite taken into account what it will really cost, how much courage and gusto I will have to muster up. But it will be worth it. It's almost like a break-up conversation. You see it coming and know you will feel better once it happens, but you know it will bring pain with it, but you cannot really anticipate that pain. Instead you just have to brace for it.