Setting Priorities

It's amazing how things can get out of hand when you are having fun. For me and my temperament I am especially susceptable to putting so much on my plate that I can't even tell which is the peas and which is the carrots. With all of the events, people and opportunities that come my way on a weekly basis, I am surprised that I haven't got more than 3 businesses going. This weekend was no different. Another opportunity another deal to weigh.

Our networking group was really blessed this week. We had a world-famous author and speaker come and address our group. He was fantastic. Polished, clean, sophisticated, and a snappy dresser. At the end of the meeting, he signed a copy of a book for me and the "Lovely Mrs. Ray" and I. It was all really heady stuff.

That same day, while we sat at brunch discussing how we were going to make the next deal or market the newest product line, my phone rang. On the other line was a job offer to do the largest project that we would bid on to date. We were so excited that I didn't even ask how the business got our phone number. When you get a job of this magnitude you don't even care. All you think is, "Thank you God"...

Back at the office we put together the team and started working on the projectboards and preliminary drawings. All of the sudden my phone rang again. On the other line was our special guest speaker from the morning networking mixer. He was inviting us to attend a meeting where his business associates would be attending. I said, "Sure, if you are there then I know there has got to be good things involved." Little did I know that this meeting would be the very thing I needed to get my head and prioritites in line.

The meeting was excellent. Motivated, positive people. Speakers with a message and a product that was reputable. I took notes, got inspired to continue to move forward. Met a bunch of people who are 6 and 7 figure earners. People who earned BMW's for just making a great living. In many people's eyes this kind of weekend starter would be a sign to get MORE involved in whatever was happening in the cosmos. We were asked to join this company and become leaders in our town. Whew!!!

I had a moment of hesitation, a "Come to Jesus" moment. "What was I doing?" "Why yet another business?"
My heart was telling me one thing and my emotions yet another. I was torn between getting back on that MLM rollercoaster and being satisfied with what I had already and making the most of it. Then all of the sudden it became crystal clear.  I was so out of control up to that point with more, MORE, MORE. Now I was hearing that still small voice telling me to Stop STOP, STOPPPP....

I've said this before but when we get so many things on our plate that we don't have time to enjoy the things that we already have then maybe it is time to take a step back and reassess. Now I know there will be those out there that will dispute my position but for me I am at peace with my decision. I will be content with a handful of businesses, a growing family and my home church. That's enough for me, I don't have to prove anything to anyone.

Innovation Means Innovation

Alright, so I stopped mid-sentence and decided to change my subject for this weeks blog. I was going to write it about being innovative in business. You know, how to make purple the color of springtime, tall is in and all that stuff. When all of the sudden I saw on the screen, Herman Cain. Many of you know this man. He is one of the nominees for the Republican party to become President of the United States. In recent months he has been really moving up in the rankings of potential nominees.
Mr. Cain was a corporate titan in Burger, Godfathers Pizza and head over the Restaurant Association. No small marks on anyones resume but the thing that gets e going more than anything else is his stance on the folks down at the corner of Wallstreet.
Many of you know what is happening down in the Big Apple. And Herman Cain ain't holdin no punches.
http://youtu.be/KcWompIc--U

This guy is so passionate about being a full fledged American if he got a cut, he would bleed Red, White and Blue. The coming months will be interesting indeed. Are we watching the making of the next President of the United States? This I don't know but I'm sure excited to see what will happen.

Sticking With the Program

Anything worth having is worth the time an energy in developing. That saying is especially true when it comes to building a business or for that matter a networking group. In our case, it applies to both. You see for the past year Linda and I have been knee deep in developing an Interior Design firm and simutaneously building a networking group.

I know what some of you are about to say, "What are you kidding me?" I get a lot of that. Most people are just overwhelmed with just getting up in the morning and going to work, for someone else, let alone run a startup business. Linda and I have had a great training bed even before we decided to go into business, full time for ourselves.

We started out many years ago working for various church organizations. We would be the first ones in the door in the morning and help lock up at night long after everyone had gone home. In our travels we had started many programs and built teams of people to satisfy the need. In addition we would still have to do our regular 9-5. So working on a few businesses really isn't all that hard.

The hard thing to do for most of us though is to stick with the program when we haven't had the advantage of being workaholic slobs like the Rays. When you don't have this foundation, what do you do?
I wish I could tell you that there are seven wonderful tips that I could give you that will prepare you for this sort of dedication but alas I don't have any tips. I can tell you what helped us and maybe you can glean something from our experience that may prepare you for your own venture.

We established a relationship with an organization that was moving forward.

This may be the foremost important thing that you can do. Align yourself with an organization that already is moving forward. This relationship will ensure that you won't be involved with a crew that is going nowhere, In our case it was the International Church of Las Vegas.
ICLV was a small church with a global vision. It's pastor is a driven man who demands excellence and innovation from his people. This sort of relationship is vital to their forward movement and global impact.

Seek out mentors who are driven more than you.

It is easier to become better when those around you are better than you are. In my case we were surrounded by people who were well travelled, educated, financially able and dedicated to becoming successful. In this inner circle of people there was no room for losers. You were either a winner or poised on the vurge of being a winner. As a matter of fact, we spent more time praying that everyone around us would become a winner than we did worrying about if someone had failed or not. You see we just didn't have time to think about failure. We were too busy building and achieving.

Volunteer for the hard jobs.

During our formative years we were urged to step out of our comfort zone and become well-rounded workers. You see up until that point all Linda and I had really done was teach a few classes and sing alot. At the urging of a mentor, we immersed ourselves in areas that we had never even thought of going. That proved to be the best thing we ever did. Within a few short years, we found ourselves utilizing these new skills in ways that were beyond our expectations.

Sticking with the program is all about seeing your dreams come to pass. In most cases it is a muscle that needs to be put to work. It may take a while to see the dream come to pass but like anything else that is worth having....it is worth waiting for.

It’s All a Mindset

It was almost time for me to close the meeting. I only had a few seconds to compose myself and deliver the benediction and send our members on their way. It had been a great meeting. If I didn’t give em something to really seal the deal everything else would have fallen flat. Then it came to me.

Earlier in the week I had the opportunity to speak in front of a Christian businessmen’s meeting. It was great speaking in Christianese and cracking open my bible to this verse and that. The flow in the room was awesome. I mean it was tangible how the ideas and confirmations were being received. Now how could I translate that same course of ideas into my beloved group? It wasn’t long before I found out.

How is it that Jewish people and those who come to our Americas become so influential and rich, while we who were born here don’t prosper on such a large scale? The answer is really found in scripture and the Old Testament. From the time that a young Jewish lad or lady able to understand they are indoctrinated into a cult of success. You heard me right, a CULT of SUCCESS. They are brainwashed into believing that they WILL become Doctors, Lawyers, Politicians, Business owners, Leaders, etc… This isn’t an option for them it is a MINDSET.

The Success mindset is one that has been studied, written about and disseminated in so many books that if I were to begin listing just the ones written in the last quarter century, there wouldn’t be enough paper to list them on. It is the thing that all great business people aspire to acquire and the one thing that separates those who have and those who have not.

The Success mindset goes something like this. You are born to be successful. Everything that you do leads you to a place of completion. You are going to make it to the top of whatever you put your hands to. There is an outside force that is driving you to this ultimate end and there isn’t anything you can do to stop it. You were born to achieve great things. You are to be the head and not the tail. You are to be the lender to many and never to be the borrower. Abundance is deep within your DNA. Aside from times of respite, creative thoughts are continually overflowing from your mind.

This is why Jewish people are so successful. They were taught it from their parents, it was nurtured by their society and they in turn pass this down to their children and their children’s children. When I asked this of one of the people who was in our group, who happens to be Jewish, he nodded in agreement. He didn’t have a choice in life whether to be rich or poor. It was something predestined for him to be. If he wanted to be something other than successful, he would have to find another family. It just wasn’t going to happen in his father’s house.

The key for us today is how are we to foster this same mindset in our own families? Just like the Vanderbilt’s, Kennedys, Rockefellers’ and Schwab’s of this current age, we need to begin by instilling this vision of greatness in our children. Take them with us to our businesses, expose them to great thinkers and sights, let them experience the exchange of barter. These will begin to show our children that working for someone else isn’t in their DNA stain. They were meant to be the Head. I myself am always taking my children and grandchildren with me to events, business conferences and sites to expose them to where they will ultimately be.

This is the Success Mindset. Bind it upon your forehead. Teach it to your children daily. Tell them about the past and show them where they shall be in the future. Never allow them to settle for second best. For they were meant to be the next generation of leaders in our society. They just need someone to show them the way.