Overcoming Obstacles

I was reviewing a chapter in Rich Dad, Poor Dad about overcoming obstacles. Think about this:

One of the biggest obstacles keeping you from success is the fear of losing money. Or I might add the fear of losing period. And it is the fear of losing that in fact causes one to lose more than anything else!

Playing it too safe is another way of putting it. A great analogy is the pursuit of winning the Super Bowl. I remember when the Denver Broncos were yet going to another Super Bowl after losing their 1st two tries. There was such concern by the fans that they would LOSE again and heaven forbid be associated with losers like the Vikings or the Bills.

The fear of losing actually had many thinking that it would be better not to even be in that game because of the chance of not winning it!

When you think about it, that is ludicrous. When I hear talk about the Bills and Vikings being the all time losers, it really shows just how warped our society is about true winners. The losers those years were not the final two teams, but the teams those years who really had compromised themselves...did not pay the price that it takes to win...and finished last etc.

No one remembers the teams those years that really did have losing records, losing attitudes, lazy work ethics, etc. Remembering teams like the Bills or Vikings as the greatest losers strikes me as really having it wrong. They just came up short in the final game after a great season.

Fran Tarkenton said, "Winning means being unafraid to lose."

And isn't it true that success/winning will most often follow times in our lives that we have failed! Think about when we first tried to walk, ride a bike, speak/learn our language, play a sport....we failed miserably.

Isn't it interesting that these things we have now learned to do very well were at the time supported with an abundance of encouragement, praise and celebration! Remember when your child was learning to walk and fall down we would clap, laugh and be so excited for them! Or when they said their first words, in a very unintelligible manner, we would laugh in amazement!

That is how we tend to teach and handle the development of young ones.

As we get older, we do just the opposite. We criticize, humiliate, down grade, poke fun of anyone with a dream, a hope, or worse yet, a defeat.

As hard as it is to go against the stream, I am going to live trying to take every failure and loss as an inspiration to succeed.

If only we had the support of the world around us as we had when we were kids!

Three times a week...

I am finding that this Blogging is probably going to be about a 3 times a week thing for me. I hope that as I become more comfortable with it, it won't be such a labor...writing IS work. Having not done much of it for some time, each entry has actually taken much longer than I would prefer to spend.

I have read that the writing/journaling of one's activities has a powerful effect on the bringing to fruition a successful result. We'll see.

My friend Steve of coloradoguy.com has said while finding the BLOG interesting, he tires of the focus on my marketing efforts. LOL This will be something I will see how and what develops. The primary aim here will be to share the steps I am taking as I move toward successful online marketing. In doing so, I hope others might be helped in their own efforts or even better, that they could be inspired to find within themselves an idea/project.


A Horse of a Different Color
have you ever come to realize something that makes you really wonder why? For instance, I have always thought that everyone had the desire to do more and be more. Well guess what. Obviously, many do not. They have found contentment in the spot they are at. Sometimes I find that enviable.

On the other hand, what I do see most often in others is a very serious attitude of discontent! They live lives stuck in discouragement. I saw that a lot in many of my friends in education. Never really happy, wishing they could do something else, but never willing to risk the move to pursue a dream or a new direction.

After I left teaching, (to pursue new challenges/dreams) the question I always heard from my teaching friends when we would cross paths was, "So, Phil, what are you doing now?" They said they always admired my courage to do what most just talked about. And some I know think it was a stupid move.

Many expressed the desire that they wished they could do what I was doing..breaking out of being stuck, so to speak. There is a price to pay and sometimes I think maybe I made the wrong decision. The jury is still out on that.

An incident that really tells the story is the time this question, so what are you doing now, was asked by a guy who was within a couple of years of retirement. At that time I had to halt the business I had left teaching to pursue and was looking at the possibility of returning to teaching. He looked at the guy next to him and said, "Yeah, everyone eventually comes back."

That really struck a cord. There was a sense of failure from my venture, and at the same time going back into teaching felt like an unsuccessful option as well. And there were so many I had seen do just that..leave with great expectations only to return much less excited and somewhat scarred from the experience.

I knew then that if I ever did return, it would not be in a way one returns to the safety of the known. It would be because I felt I had new enthusiasm to bring something exciting back to kids in the classroom.

I continue to believe in the importance of growing and being responsible for that growth. If you feel like you are in a rut, then think about what it is you would like to do different! Find a book or a resource and start expanding your view. Find a purpose within your interests!

Don't step out, STEP FORWARD! It is when I focus on this that I find my motivation and excitement in the endeavors.


Affiliate Update
Everyday Wealth is an affiliate I found in April of 2003. I was quickly drawn to the fact that here was a service offered to people that provided help in the areas of debt, identity theft protection and credit report monitoring in a very affordable monthly subscription ($19.95). The market is huge. Who hasn't struggled with their finances? I also had no idea that there is a financial strategy that if followed correctly allows one to get out of debt years ahead of time without having to increase your present monthly payments! And this is not a gimmick!

I had some really good growth through October. I participated in an advertising coop and had an editor to an online home business newsletter join me. I backed off my marketing efforts during the holidays and am now looking into different courses of action to take in marketing online.

I presently have 179 subscribers. My goal is to make this 500 by June.

I am going to use the following two websites, provided with the service to promote it online:

Debt Revolution

Everydaywealth Facts


Lastly...
I have to note the passing of Captain Kangaroo, Bob Keeshan. He died Friday, January 23rd.

Captain Kangaroo premiered on CBS in 1955 and ran for 30 years. The show won six Emmy Awards and three Peabody Awards. It is one of my earliest and most positive childhood memories.

Reading the article reminded me of the specialness of this show. The memories are clear as I read about the characters developed and brought into the lives of a whole generation: Mr Moose, Bunny Rabbit, Mr Green Jeans, Grandfather Clock, Magic Drawing Board, and the falling ping pong balls!

There was a lot of good in Captain Kangaroo.