"Imagine that the world had no middlemen, no publishers, no bosses, no HR folks, no one telling you what you couldn't do.

If you lived in that world, what would you do?

Go. Do that.

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In China, there's a factory that can make the same widgets your company makes, for a tenth of the price.

Down the street, there's a restaurant busy stealing your menu and your wine list, but charging 20 percent less than you can charge.

The last travel agent has left the room. Magazine publisher gave up all their growth to bloggers. Wikipedia didn't have to grab the reins of authority from the Encyclopedia Britannica; contributors just showed up and did the work. Britannica staffers just sat and watched.

The intermediates and agenda setters and investors are less important than they have ever been before. last year, sixty-seven Web start ups in San Francisco and New York were funded for what it costs Silicon Valley to fund a third...

"Annie Downs works at the Mocha Club, a nonprofit based in Nashville that raises money for the developing world by working with touring musicians.

Last year, she called her boss and said something she had never said before. "I've got an idea, and I'm going to start working on it tomorrow. It won't take a lot of time and it wont cost a lot of money, and I think it's going to work."

With those two sentences, Annie changed her life. And she changed her organizations and the people it serves. 

You're probably wondering what her idea was. You might even be curious about how she pulled it off.

That is the wrong question.

The change was in her posture. The change was that for the first time in this job, Annie wasn't waiting for instructions, working through a to-do list, or reacting to incoming tasks. She wasn't handed initiative, she took it.

Annie crossed a bridge that day. She became someone who starts something, someone who initiates, someone who is prepared to fail along the way...

This morning I was inspired by Kim B's post in another group. You may have seen it. If you know her, invite her into the group! 

"Just wanna say.... I have arrived at the end of my rope. I am exhausted, weak, and in tears..."

My response comment was: 

Welcome to the end of the rope.

Let me assure you there is a knot at the end that you can hold on to.

After you hold on for a while and catch your breath, start to look around you.

See that door in the room right in front of you? Start to swing back and forth until you’ve got your momentum back....

aim carefully..... and LET GO!

Your momentum will take you through the next doorway.

That’s where we’re all waiting for you.

The truth is, when we are at the end of our rope we can't always see that doorway that is right in front of us can we?

We can't see what is beyond the light at the end of the tunnel.

We can't see that gold is just two more inches away behind that rock you've been chipping at for years!...

There's always a messy middle, isn't there? 

Whether it's a new business, new relationship, or even a pandemic, believe it or not.

In the beginning, we're always excited and full of hope aren't we? Visualize starting your new business rolling on flat ground. You're just getting started so you've got the opportunity to  build momentum. As you progress rolling your boulder through life you start to feel a little success with your momentum and realize you're starting to climb up that proverbial mountain.

You're visualizing rolling a heavy rock up hill, right? We've all seen the analogy, haven't we?

In the beginning, the ground is flat and you can usually see the path before you and it motivates you. As you begin to push the rock uphill however the path before you becomes less and less visible doesn't it?  Because the rock is being pushed uphill the path before you becomes obstructed. You can't see a clear path anymore. This is the messy middle.

It's the messy middle...

This morning I was watching a LIVE with John Maxwell. My nugget takeaway was "What you focus on expands" ...essentially, of course, if you focus on the crisis, then the crisis will paralyze you and that will expand.

On the same token, if you focus of the opportunity that lies before you, then the solutions will present themselves. 

Yesterday I told you to acknowledge the fear or frustration that was holding you back. Put it out there. Look at it's face in the mirror and do something about it. I did that because I want you to eliminate the UNCERTAINLY you're still carrying with you. 

Think about this analogy. You're in the airport. The flight you're about to bored is announced it is running 30 minutes late.

What is your first thought? 

Probably something along the lines of "Crap! Am I going to miss my connecting flight?"  (worry/fear sets in). As you sit there another while longer another announcement is heard. Your flight is now going to be one hour late. The...

There is no EASY BUTTON in this business, is there? I started my career in a market of mortgage interest rates at 18%. I've navigated my business through 9/11 and The Great "Recession". I guess I'll be able to add Covid-19 Pandemic Quarantine to that list. Just when you think you've seen it all, right? Well, I'm here to tell you, regardless of whether you feel its warranted or not, here we are today under a National Emergency. Psychologically the consumer is getting beat up. If they crawl  under a rock and cash out we're done. But even if we manage to sustain employment situations in the short term and life goes on as we know it, make no mistake, there will be a market disruption. How you navigate the next 30 days will determine if your business finishes strong in 2020 or not.  

Here's three areas I want you to focus on today in your business. These key elements are going to sustain your business through the storm.  

You've seen those epic FAIL photos of home designs gone bad, haven't you? LOL!  Major design fails, right?

But, the design fails that never get posted are the fails that seem insignificant, such as the toilet paper holder placed so far away from the toilet it's impossible to reach from a sitting position! Seriously! The person who installed them obviously never sat on the toilet to experience what it was like to use the commode and then reach for the paper.

This is an example of how an insignificant frustration can become a major frustration point. 

So I pose the question, have you traveled your own funnel?

Have you experienced what its like to do business with you? To engage with you? To communicate with you? To receive  your own "drip" emails? 

If you haven't done this, I want you to PLAY THE ROLE of  your own "new lead".

• Like your own business page
• Register on your own website
• Opt in to your own email list
• Email yourself listings
• Receive all of your own...

I was "indisposed", so Jake took the incoming call on our business line. The caller didn't want to speak with anyone but me. As much as Jake tried to help, it was only me she wanted to speak with. 

Well, as soon as I got off the toilet, (too much information there? I'm sorry!) I returned her call.

She said:

"I only wanted to speak with you because I posted in a Facebook community group about helping my son find his first home to rent for $700-$800 per month range. There were a lot of unnecessary nasty comments, but YOU, you were a kind voice of reason and I made a note of your name. Then I saw you again in another group and decided that you were the only person I needed to speak to".

We had a good conversation and in the end we discussed the better option of her buying a property she could rent to her son.

"BE THE DIFFERENT BRAND that cares about people even if they aren't customers yet and you'll find that you will stand out among the crowd like no other."  Pat Flynn.

...

My mother had all the patience is the world.

I remember when I got frustrated as a child she would always say "patience is a virtue".

But practicing delayed gratification isn't always easy, is it?

I think we all struggle with delaying gratification from time to time. 

We all see the shinny object dangling in front of us and we naturally want it, don't we?

We want that new car, that new boat, or that new outfit. Even though it's not in the budget. 

The same thing happens to us in our businesses.

We see a new tool, platform, or service that everyone claims to be the newest, latest and greatest "thing".  Sometimes we get so wrapped up in the hype, we don't stop and think through the process. We end up buying something that is next to impossible to implement and even more impossible to maintain. 

I've learned that lesson haven't you? Please, tell me I'm not the only one! ...lol

I remember one time, a few years back. I watched a webinar that pitched having a...

"Professionals show up" 

You've heard me say it, but have you FELT it?

You're probably asking yourself "What the hell do you mean by that?"

It's one thing to say "professionals show up," but unless you've been around the block a few times, you probably have no idea what that really means. 

Professionals show up after sending a prospect listings for two years to help that prospect finally become a homeowner.

Professionals show up after the seller has revealed their true objections to listing and you now have roach blocks to resolve.

Professionals show up after every single tech problem that can possibly go wrong does go wrong and even though it isn't perfect, its done!   

Sometimes, as an entrepreneur, you've got to know when to hold 'em and know when to fold 'em (yes, that's a reference to an old Kenny Rogers song, and I'm sure I've dated myself here.)

Problems will always show up, but its how you re-act to those problems in your business that is going...