Me

Me
my 1st year as a "Nana."

Learn to Earn

Wednesday, March 13, 2013

Checking Success is Like Checking When Spaghetti is Ready

Do you have many interests?  Is choosing one thing to focus on too difficult for you? It is for me! I think I would die if I could only do one thing. I thank God that I live in a country that allows us to choose our destinies.

I know there are studies proving that MultiTasking or zigzagging is not efficient in the work place. I believe this is true for a job. People are specialized for a reason; they can accomplish their tasks and projects needed by their companies to profit and improve their field and services.  But, the bosses and owners have to oversee a sea of things. They are likely looking at many little things in their grand schemes. Like Donald Trump, Bill Gates, Dr. Oz, Dr. Myron Wentz, Patrick Bet-David, etc., They need trusted specialists to delegate tasks to and  have confidence they know their jobs so that work will be completed to their standards. All these people have high standards. Think about people like Ty Pennington and Ryan Seacrest. How do they get to do so many things? Multitasking! There is a blessing to hyperactivity and attention deficits, even mania; they really are strengths.

There is too much to know in a given, short, life time.  Trump chose Real Estate from a young age because he was mentored by his father, but his dynasty is multifaceted. Dr. Wentz had to chose between music and scientific endeavors in preventative medicine, but has built USANA to address many health concerns. Patrick Bet-David, author of Doing the Impossible, is deveopling the fastest growing financial services firm to help save America's middle class! I could go on.  But the point is they need experts for specific things. I am not an expert, but I want and need a lot of specialists surrounding me.

Like this week I am going to get my taxes done; I am not going to the plummer for that!

So, what do you do for your personal growth and satisfaction when you like a lot of things? The way I see it is, you "build dreams and people will come." What is your "Field of Dreams?" And, how much of it can you build in the life you may or may not have left? Who will help you? and how will what you build help them?

I have put all of my most precious interests into the pot of my life. Each project has been like a strand of Spaghetti. In fact, I have several kinds of skinny pasta brewing in the same pot. In stirring and cooking it for a long time, I can see that some noodles are musch now, and some are too firm, but when I test the texture of my cuisine, I throw it on the wall to see what sticks. What sticks is on my list? What sticks best is on the top of my list; what's on the back burner on a low temp is on the bottom of my list.

Some of my close associates and mentors differ in their opinions. I have a littany of things I do listed after my signature in my email to folks I know. These are not business or company letters, yet. I don't get paid for most of them, yet. ('Key word: yet!) But, when people start taking what I do seriously and find value it what I am putting together, my dreams will come to pass and many people will benefit from my list when things come to fruition. When I have established my personal branding, I can drop the long list behind my sig. becasue enough people will know what I am all about and all I do.

Only a few people have found my list of personal interests and affliations distainable. Why? After all, no one else, especially professionals, have such a long list behind their name.  All I can say is, "Well, I am not like everyone else." What's that saying, "...those that matter don't mind"? I think if there is a rule book on this, it is man-made and limiting. Does our Divine Power care how much or little we put behind a signature? My attitude:I am not like everyone; this sets me apart from mediocrity. I do things to make people realize there is something unique and special about me and what I am developing. I wonder what percentage of the population feels they must conform to a signature style in their personal emails.  I think that part of the grammar book is obsolete. Look at how people dress, many styles are "in".

That is why I like being an entrepreneur. Heck, if Richard Branson can do as much as he does, do "yo thin" it matters how he signs his emails. So can I, have my own bylines, with meager means I have so far. So can you! If you, thrive on diversity, creativity and your "out of this earth" imagination, you won't allow people to set limits on you. Every day, nearly every minute, I am working on my dreams. When they come to pass, many people will not know all the work that went into them.  But, my closest friends and associates will know because they see my bucket list every time I send them and email.

I am thankful for my mentors, Chris Lopez, George Fox, Robert Hirabayashi, Mike Watts, Kate Northup, Collette Larson, Denis Waitley, Kathy Kahler, GemmaRae Hughes, John Assaraf, Dr. Denis Waitley, Robert G Allen, Frank Kern, Robert Kyosaki, Donald Trump, Anthony Robins, Eric Lofholm, Cheri Tree, Brenda Avadavian, Gabriel Swan, Jason and Dianna Graziani, Ken Serna, Alfredo Garcia, Matt Coulthard and countless others who are showing me how to build with all they have to offer and knowlwedge they generously share.

Robert Hirabayashi wrote a book, Your Rate Race Escape Plan, Transition out of you 9 to 5 Job. Robert is my friend. He makes it really clear on page 56 people need to get of have a job that supports them and then some before thay can transition to entrepreneurship.

I am happy and excited that I interviewed for Agriculture Inspector Trainee with the County of Ventura this week. I am on pins waiting to know if they will hire me.  My close friends and associates will know from an email soon if I got the job. I can see myself specializing in Agriculture for a career since I have dabbled in it all my life. However, will the retirement income from that job or any job be enough?

I know and have witnessed over and over again (with each passing granparent) the exhuberant costs of being elderly! A day job is not enough if this day and age. People need two and three jobs to support their families. Having a job with residual or royalty-like income is essential if you want a lifestyle that is more than mere survival.

So, Gabe has simplified it even more for me recently: For right now, since my mom is on hospice, my concentration for PHP needs to be on making phone calls and appointments.  My current focus is "good paying steady job first, mom and PHP until I am on my feet! The next 60 days are crucial so I can help my mom financially.

Twenty years times 52 weeks equals, the same number of a form we use to file our taxes: 1040. If a person only has 20 years left they have some choices to make, spend it focused on one or a few big things. As an entrepreneur, I have a launching-list of things I want to A-ccomplish before I kick the bucket. Working this list is not quite like a "bucket list" because there you check things off as they are done and never do it again. My list is not my "to do" task list (although, I do have that for each project). My launching-list is part of the legacy that I want to get off the ground that will live on long after I am gone. It should evolve with my posterity. Hopefully my various company teams get larger so that they leave behind prosperity for many people that break cycles of poverty.

So my process in building big dreams is to try weaving all my passions together that bring myself and others joy.  Together we will see what sticks! My autolist below my email signature is my way of making sure my associates, friends and family know what is going on in my professional and personal life.

For those who have varied desires, for the human who only has about 1000 weekends left in their life, then multitasking and zigzagging from project to project, to complete tasks after task, is the fastest way to get the most accomplished in a lifetime, (not at work or a job). The finish line is important! Finish what you have to do to move forward to the next phase in life or work! There are only so many burners on the stove and loops on a race track. You will know you have done a good job, when what you do sticks!

That is how I test to see if my spaghetti is ready to eat. Really, I am not kidding, I throw a cooked spahgetti noodle on the wall! If it sticks, it's ready. In the end, biblically, all things will be written on a wall. Ready or not....