1.  “It does not matter how slowly you go so long as you do not stop”. We live in a world of speed and instant access, yet it is common for entrepreneurs to have minimal business success, on average 17 times, before they reach the pinnacle of success.  It really does not matter how long it takes, what matters is getting there in the end.

2.  “Our greatest glory is not in never falling, but in getting up every time we do”. These words have been repeated by leaders throughout time, recently with a little variation by Sir Winston Churchill who said “Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.”  Hmmm, the power of great philosophy is that it never changes.  Such good advice for any entrepreneur.

3.  “What the superior man seeks is in himself; what the small man seeks is in others.” Looking inside yourself to find the strength and conviction necessary to achieve anything that you want is the foundation of modern personal development programs.  Today, this philosophy is couched in such terms as “lead from the front” or “be the change that you want to see” and “the only person that you can motivate is yourself”.

4.  “Wheresoever you go, go with all your heart.” Today’s philosophers and guru’s talk about finding your passion, having a burning desire or 100% commitment, they could just as easily say “go for it, with all of your heart”.

5.  “They must often change who would be constant in happiness or wisdom.” And the baby boomers have thought that they had the premium on change with frequent comments that they are change weary or have endured too much change in their lives.  Linking change to happiness and wisdom is a concept not often heard; yet any entrepreneur is likely to be living this reality.  Others might choose to live a life with less fulfillment rather than face the change required to do something different.  The idea of seeking wisdom and happiness through change is exciting and one of Confucius’ philosophies to be embraced.

6. “Things that are done, it is needless to speak about…things that are past, it is needless to blame.” You attract what you focus on and if you focus on past hurts or injustices then you will get more of the same. Blame is a negative emotion and if you focus on blame you will attract negativity. Instead, use what you do not want to get focused on what you do want for your future and speak about that.

7.  “Without an acquaintance with the rules of propriety, it is impossible for the character to be established.” If you want to be successful, be in the acquaintance of successful people. If you want to be a millionaire associate with millionaires.  You will learn much in the company of others and even more if you carefully select your role models.

Thousands of years ago or 2009? It seems that the philosophical teachings remain the same and entrepreneurs can continue to look to the Masters of every generation to learn and develop their own unique way of viewing the world and achieve success.

How do you embrace change and maintain 100% commitment to your business, even when the going is tough?

How are you using the present moment to prepare for your future?

Recently I was working with a young woman who told me that she was extremely stressed and unhappy with her work. She said that she had no time to herself, no time to think and her mind raced constantly.  In an average day she had information overload from the time that she woke until she went to sleep.  She would rise in the morning to the television, took her iPod when she went for a walk, listened to the radio to and from work – you get the picture.  Sound familiar?

To start, we found some time during the day when she had zero information flow. The TV was turned off in the morning and no radio in the car to and from work.  Just quiet time to contemplate.  We then moved to meditation.  “Well”, she said, “I have tried that.  I can’t meditate and I hate it.”  Turned out she had launched into an hour long session, could only last a short while and decided it was not for her.  An all too common a story.

What is meditation and why bother?  Meditation is a process or technique that you use to clear and calm your mind. You can use meditation just for that purpose or you can focus your meditation on something that you desire such as prosperity or well being. Meditation has been scientifically shown to be a powerful healing tool  and a self help tool for achieving stress reduction and better sleep.  Many people enjoy the personal development, self awareness, inner peace and freedom that results from meditation.  Successful entrepreneurs often claim that meditation creates clarity of mind which in turn effects their success.

So how do you meditate?  The following five steps will help you to get started:-

1. Learn something about meditation, just as you would with any new pursuit.  There is an unlimited supply of books, web sites, free classes and resources available.  Start at the beginning and get to know a little.

2. Be very patient with yourself and release any expectations that put you under pressure to perform.  In meditation you are quieting and clearing the mind but  the mind may want to keep right on thinking.  Be patient and just keep drawing your mind back to focus upon the meditation.

3. Start with a short time, try five minutes, and increase the length of time over a few weeks.  Even a few minutes will make a difference so see step one and just be patient.

4. Before you begin to focus on meditation, I highly recommend the use of a relaxation audio program.  You can download podcasts and other resources free, from meditation sites on the internet.  Start with some of these and learn to relax and then lead into meditation.  When you become adept with your meditations you will continue to commence every meditation with a short relaxation.

5. Try this simple meditation, starting with a short time.  Get into a comfortable position; sit on a chair with your feet flat on the ground, try sitting cross legged on the floor or lie on your back well supported wherever you need it.  Close your eyes and feel your body relax.  Take several deep breaths and release your breath with a deep sigh.  Relax more and feel the tension float away with every sigh.  Now imagine that your body is a vessel full of water and feel the water draining from the top of your head down through your body to the soles of your feet.  Just slowly, let it drain downwards and then feel it moving slowly from the soles of your feet to fill up your body, up to the top of your head.  Feel this happening, imagine it happening and let it happen naturally.  Should your mind wander off, just bring it back to the water and gently move back into the meditation.  Do this for as long as it takes for your mind to give up and just be empty or for as long as you like.  Each time, see if you can do it for longer until eventually you find your mind calms and stops thinking.  At that time you will find that you can feel every part of your body at the one time.  You should just feel that feeling for as long as it lasts or as long as you like.

Keep it simple!  This is a great principle when learning relaxation and meditation. Be patient with your self and move to higher forms of meditation when you are comfortable to do so.  You are your best teacher when it comes to meditation which is a great way to learn about yourself.  Have fun, create yourself a little head space achieve success with meditation.

Yet many entrepreneurs achieve success based on their intuition and a belief that they have got something special. This poem deals with the issue of miracles and proof in an inspirational and delightful way.

Miracles
These things that they call miracles
Seem few and far between.
Are they for the specially blessed
Whose lives have been pristine?

And what by chance is a miracle?
An event of great sanctity?
Or simple things like the breath we take
That gives us life and possibility?

Some say they do not happen,
That there’s scientific proof.
Some believe their all around
And some remain aloof.

For all that want scientific proof
That’s all that they will find.
They only create what they want to
And to miracles they are blind.

The aloof are neither here nor there,
Upon the fence they sit.
They aren’t quite sure what to believe
And so never will commit.

And then there are those of us you see,
Who see the golden thread.
The thread made up of miracles
By which each day our life is lead.

Small or big there is no size
To the miracles of today.
They happen every moment,
Every minute of the day.

Some are splashed across the news
And some we will never know.
They take place every moment.
Take heed and we will grow.

So what you do from here
Is up to you alone.
But take life not for granted
And the miracles will have grown.
(by Hayley Hohn, A Slice of Life (With All The Cream Filling), 2008, seekerpublishing@iinet.net.au)

In the end, only you can decide; to reach for the stars, to proceed with an idea or to even get an idea, enjoy a miracle or do nothing at all. Do you believe in miracles?  have you personally experienced a miracle?  I would love to hear from you.

Recently for example, I was in Hawaii with a group of entrepreneurs who raised $300,000 dollars for the Make a Wish Foundation in Hawaii. I am also aware of a well known Cairns entrepreneur who has set up and sponsors a number of Foundations, some in support of young people.  Doing good works is part of being an entrepreneur, however they are not necessarily out there telling everyone that they are doing good things.  Often it is about the quiet achiever.

Becoming an entrepreneur is about much more than making money.

Intention, as described by  Deepak Chopra is singlemindedness of purpose, it is well defined  and not countermanded by any other conflicting desires or interests. You make a decision and go for it and then be alert for opportunities.

Napoleon Hill, the first writer of personal development, calls this your “burning desire”; grow your burning desire to be an entrepreneur. You may not have that burning desire right now but you may have a tiny ember, glowing somewhere deep within.  Often people have carried a dream from childhood and every now and then they feel the warm glow of what used to be a flame, but then they let it go again.  It is true that many potential entrepreneurs know what they want but simply do not do what is necessary to get it.  So, to overcome that inaction, fan the flames of your burning desire to achieve whatever it is that will take you to entrepreneurship.

There are any number of ways to fan those flames and become an entrepreneur! I have heard it said that the quickest way to have a million dollars is to make a million dollars and there has never been a better time than right now.  Right now is always the best moment to take action and it will always be easier to take action if you burn to have something.  Take a little time to figure out what the something is.  For me it was to be happy, have freedom and have my own business.  So on all of those fronts I found my burning desire.  Give attention to what you want.  Think about it, talk about it, see your burning desire growing and growing and intend to succeed.

Intent is everything to the entrepreneur, it keeps you focused and in action. It is hard to imagine how one can succeed if you do not start out with that intent.  This is the basis of the burning desire.  Your intent should headline your every day – I intend to succeed at …., today I intend to ….., right now I intend to …….  Determine your intent as a part of you overall goals, as part of your day and every moment.

You can even play with this and have fun – being an entrepreneur is not all very serious business. For example, one of my favourite bits of fun is to set off from home with the intent to have a park exactly where I need it and then to see how well I have done.  Intend to be an entrepreneur – it is a key part to your success.

Recently, speaking at a Telstra breakfast, Andrew Griffiths, Small Business and Entrepreneurialism Expert, provided a number of ways that you can bullet proof your business and he also said that after every recession/downturn there is an equal or greater upturn and the smart entrepreneur is watching for the wave and gets onto it early. In May this year, Andrew said that the upturn is coming and to get onto that wave now.  Wow – are you ready for the wave?

Is entrepreneurship for you or will you just let that wave slide right by? There are a number of ways that you can be sure to be on that wave, starting with having passion and enthusiasm for something.  You know there are  great stories of success right now, even with the apparent world wide financial slump.  For example, the combination of sport, fantasy, passion and enthusiasm has created a niche that appears to be recession proof.  Same for personal development programs which have created a 19 billion worldwide market over the last year, in spite of the economy of the time.  Want to know more about that opportunity?

In essence, what I am saying is that coming out of an economic downturn is prime time for those with a bit of  entrepreneurship. You may want to explore entrepreneurship – it might be for you.  You could join the legions of others who have found prosperity by being on the crest of the wave.  And remember, many of the most successful businesses started out as home businesses – start from where you are at.

This all points to the fact that entrepreneurs hold a particular attitude. And almost anything that you read on this subject will say that.  An entrepreneur believes that they will be successful, they create an aura of success around themselves and they take a very positive attitude towards achieving success. Of course they do a lot of other things as well, but they hold a positive, optimistic view of the world and their ability to do what they want to do.  They move in a circle of like-minded people and they take the necessary action to keep their positive mindset.

I grant you that is not easy when being bombarded by negative input on a daily basis, yet if you wish to succeed as an entrepreneur it is something that you must do. So here are a few pointers in how to get started with creating your positive attitude:-

• Put your attention on being positive and looking for other positive people.  Within a very short time you will start to hear your own words and those of others and you will identify the positive and negative tone.
• Take a little time out of your busy day to write down what you are thinking about in terms of optimism or pessimism.  Check in with yourself to see if you feel positive.  Do this at least once per day and keep your focus on seeking optimism.
• Find a test for optimism versus pessimism – positive versus negative and see how you rate.  Do this test regularly to see if you are shifting.
• Actively seek out positive things about people or situations and then thank someone for what they have done.  As you continue this process, soon you will be thinking more about the positive and less about the negative.
• Make an effort and send people a written message of thanks.  This makes you think about positives about that person  Send five of these a day for a while and keep up the practice.  People might be a little shy of it at first, but I know people who have kept every one of my notes!
• Go out of your way to help people and be surprised at how good that feels.  Such help will take you outside of yourself and let you see the good in others.  As you get repaid for your kindness, you will see more and more good in others and the world at large.  And become more and more positive.
• Start to associate more and more with those people who are positive, listen to how they talk and the words that they use.  Try it and see how it works for you.
• Finally, read some good personal development material, so that you can keep going.   Inspire yourself on a daily basis.  Try The Gratitude Effect by Dr John Demartini as a starter.

I will finish this piece with a lovely quote from actress Mary Pickford “You may have a fresh start any moment you choose, for this thing we call ‘failure’ is not falling down, but staying down.”

The second resource that is available is the Internet and a search of entrepreneur or entrepreneurs will yield a host of information and from my reading, much of it excellent. Entrepreneurship is becoming a key platform for educators of all kinds which is hardly surprising given the number of people who are no longer prepared to spend their entire life in a job; know by some as Just Over Broke.  Questacon have a lovely page called What is an Entrepreneur to which you could go as a starting point.  Entrepreneur has some fantastic resources and even has this page to help you with ideas – it is a great site, just persevere with the advertising.  And on Becoming an Entrepreneur you will find lots of practical advice.  Give this a try and it might help you to start your entrepreneurial journey.

My favourite ever resource however, is Polaris Media Group, which covers the personal development aspect of being an entrepreneur like magic. These programs are simply the best that you will find and have helped countless people get started on the journey of a lifetime.

Some of the things that I have discovered about entrepreneurs is that they have the following traits:-

• they are operating new business ventures
• take responsibility for the risks that they take
• have deep belief in the product or service
• have a burning desire to succeed
• are prepared to work hard and do whatever it takes
• are optimistic
• hold a realistic view
• show leadership, especially during adversity.

Entrepreneurs can see a great reward, they set their sights in it and will take great risks in order to achieve the reward. Incidentally, entrepreneurs come in all shapes and sizes, ages, nationalities and both genders.  Oh, and while no one said so, I just bet that entrepreneurs associate with other entrepreneurs and successful people.  And I also just bet that they seek out optimistic and positive people to be around.  There is no doubt that the people that you associate with can either help or hinder your progress.

For example, if you are associating with people who are not entrepreneurs but who work long hours for little reward, then chances are that is what you will do. On the other hand, if you associate with millionaires then you will know what it is that they do to earn money and achieve success.  Now I hear the arguments that success is not always about money and that is true, however money gives you a degree of freedom to achieve other things in life and often that is what people are looking for.  The freedom to make their own decisions and do their own thing when they want to.

In the words of Anita Roddick, founder of The Body Shop and entrepreneur, “success to me is not about money or status or fame, its about finding a livelihood that brings me joy and self-sufficiency and a sense of contributing to the world”. I’ll let the entrepreneur have the last word.