In order to succeed, your desire for success should be greater than your fear of failure.

Bill Cosby

One of the hardest things to do is to let go of those fears that hold us back.

For some reason, we get stuck on being afraid of failure and of coming up short. We fear making a mistake, choosing the wrong path, or any number of things that might not work out the way we envision.

We must each find our way to move past our fears if we are going to achieve success.

A couple of things I thought of to help along the way:

· You are worth it. A lot of fear comes from thinking that we aren’t worth it and so it won’t work out any way. Each and every one of you is worth it. You are worthy of success.

· You have nothing to fear but fear itself. This infamous line embodies the fact that fear is in our heads. We must control our own thoughts in order to get past the fears in our life.

· Sometimes trying and getting most of the way there will leave you in a much better position than you are now. Want to lose 50 pounds and afraid you won’t get there? I bet you would be happy with losing 40 and “failing” to meet your goal.

· What doesn’t kill us makes us stronger. Failure can and will happen in your life. Use those moments to get stronger and wiser.

I know a lot of that will come off as a bunch of clichés to some of you, but maybe, just maybe there is some truth in there that applies to you.

There are a lot more reasons to not be afraid of failure, find your own and use it to begin the process of succeeding.

Jake

http://youtu.be/UQ3mjZAqhkA

Last night at Ashlyn Barnlund’s birthday party, we had the desert before dinner. It reminded me of the quote that Les Brown mentions in this short video.

This video is one of my favorite short videos.

Les speaks so powerfully about the relationship between risk, change, growth and happiness.

Spend the minute to watch the video and think carefully about what areas of your life might need a little risk taking and growth.

Jake

You have heard me mention Earl Nightingale and “The Strangest Secret” before. This morning I thought I would share this excerpt that I received in another email.

For the Mavideans receiving this, email me if you want to know where the entire audio for this is. For the non-Mavideans, go out and find a copy.

The audio recording is one of the most thought provoking things I have ever listened to.

Jake

An excerpt from
The Strangest Secret
by Earl Nightingale

George Bernard Shaw said, “People are always blaming their circumstances for what they are. I don’t believe in circumstances. The people who get on in this world are the people who get up and look for the circumstances they want, and if they can’t find them, make them.”

Well, it’s pretty apparent, isn’t it? And every person who discovered this believed (for a while) that he was the first one to work it out. We become what we think about.

Now, it stands to reason that a person who is thinking about a concrete and worthwhile goal is going to reach it, because that’s what he’s thinking about. And we become what we think about.

Conversely, the person who has no goal, who doesn’t know where he’s going, and whose thoughts must therefore be thoughts of confusion, anxiety, fear and worry—his life becomes one of frustration, fear, anxiety and worry. And if he thinks about nothing…he becomes nothing.

How does it work? Why do we become what we think about? Well, I’ll tell you how it works, as far as we know. To do this, I want to tell you about a situation that parallels the human mind.

Suppose a farmer has some land, and it’s good, fertile land. The land gives the farmer a choice; he may plant in that land whatever he chooses. The land doesn’t care. It’s up to the farmer to make a decision.

We’re comparing the human mind with the land because the mind, like the land, doesn’t care what you plant in it. It will return what you plant, but it doesn’t care what you plant.

Now, let’s say that the farmer has two seeds in his hand—one is a seed of corn, the other is nightshade, a deadly poison. He digs two little holes in the earth and he plants both seeds—one corn, the other nightshade. He covers up the holes, waters and takes care of the land…and what will happen? Invariably, the land will return what was planted. As it’s written in the Bible,

“As ye sow, so shall ye reap.”

Remember, the land doesn’t care. It will return poison in just as wonderful abundance as it will corn. So up come the plants—one corn, one poison. The human mind is far more fertile, far more incredible and mysterious than the land, but it works the same way. It doesn’t care what we plant…success…or failure. A concrete, worthwhile goal…or confusion, misunderstanding, fear, anxiety, and so on. But what we plant it must return to us.

You see, the human mind is the last great, unexplored continent on earth. It contains riches beyond our wildest dreams. It will return anything we want to plant.

“The presidency has made every man who occupied it, not matter how small, bigger than he was, and no matter how big, not big enough for its demands.” – Lyndon B Johnson

Last night was the state of the union address.

While watching the first part of it, I realized something. While I wouldn’t have been standing and cheering for everything the President said, there were plenty of things to stand cheer for.

I would have stood and cheered for the President who goes to sleep each night with the worries and cares of a nation on his shoulders.

I would have stood and cheered for the Commander and Chief and the military men and women he represents.

I would have stood and cheered for the American people, who despite all our faults are still a kind, giving, hard working and creative people.

I would have stood and cheered for Mavidea and how we are a part of the American story in our special way as we chase our dreams of becoming the best.

I would have stood and cheered for each of you and how all your stories, good and bad, are represented in this thing we call America.

As the political season goes into overdrive again with the elections this fall, remember to keep things in perspective a little and try not to get swept up in the negativity. Do your best to become informed and make the best decision for you, but don’t decide out of hatred for one candidate or another. Decide based on hope for a better future.

We live in a great nation and should be proud of that.

Jake

The Three Bricklayers

A story that well summarizes the power of Vision, is the story of three bricklayers. The story goes, that three bricklayers were working side by side.

When asked, “What are you doing?”, the first bricklayer replied:

“I’m laying bricks.”

The second bricklayer was asked. He answered,

“Feeding my family.”

The third bricklayer when asked the question,

“What are you doing?”, responded,

“I’m building a cathedral.”

Yesterday’s email talked about enthusiasm. It’s hard to have enthusiasm without a vision of the future that you are excited about.

When someone asks you what you do for a living, how do you respond?

Do you respond with enthusiasm and an answer with some vision of the future?

And this goes further than what you do for a living.

If someone caught you at home on a Saturday and asked you what you are doing, how would you respond?

Do you have a vision for yourself outside of work? Do you have a vision for your family?

These are some challenging questions and they aren’t easily answered for most of us.

Spend a few minutes today thinking about how you would answer the question “What are you doing?”

Jake

"Enthusiasm is one of the most powerful engines of success. When you do a thing, do it with all your might. Put your whole soul into it. Stamp it with your own personality. Be active, be energetic and faithful, and you will accomplish your object. Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm." – Ralph Waldo Emerson

One of the best things about working with a group of awesome people every day is the enthusiasm.

Everyone gets excited about some part of their job or something awesome they did for a client.

The MavideaAll emails fly around when someone claims The Rock.

It’s part of what makes Mavidea and each of you special.

Let’s all find ways to show more enthusiasm and encourage the enthusiasm we see in others this week.

Jake