The Max Strategy

So the past two weeks, as far as business building goes, I can't say I've accomplished much. As far as organization goes, I've gotten things done. I have to say I much like working on creating advertisement of the products than actually getting to talk to people. Partly because I'm terrified of their rejection. Something as a business person I should just get over it. I'm still looking for full-time work while running this business since I've started to desperately run out of funds.

A part of me is so confused, scared really, of the possibilities of rejection. I think it's the fear that has held me back and so fear is causing me to fail. However when I think about it, why do I fear failure so much? Life is not a series of failures but a series of adventures.

My greatest fear is not being able to do this. I think I'm sabotaging myself. I know if I get over my fear I can achieve success. The part of jumping out of a flying plane is the jumping off the plane.

I read an interesting book about business and career. Actually it was by chance that I came across this book. I was having a conversation with my younger sister who is now temporary residing in Quebec about career and life choices. Sometime in our conversation I was talking about maybe going back to school to do something else, her reply was...umm you can't be a bum forever. You have to pay off your debts sometime. Excuse me, when did education become attributed to being homeless...

Though I understand what she meant. I can't be drifting off when I should be focusing on one thing. The problem is, I don't really know what that one thing is. What if I'm meant to discover a whole bunch of things. I don't think I fit well in a box.

Anyway this time that I have has given me the opportunity to look and read up on things that I wouldn't have normally read. One article on careers lead me to this book called The Max Strategy: How A Businessman Got Stuck At An Airport And Learned To Make His Career Take Off by Dale Dauten.

I wrote down some quotes that I found valuable to me. I don't know if you'll find it valuable as well but it's worth a thought.

True achievement is something better than it has to be. It's not just good, it's amazing. It's magic.

We are so afraid of making mistakes that we don't bother to see that they are gifts of the universe.

Do everything because you never know where the great idea will come from.

A problem is an opportunity. Every problem is an opportunity to demonstrate how ell you handle problems.

If you don't want to wait around for your problems, you can always ask yourself "What could go wrong?" and then, "What could we do if those things did go wrong?"

Remember: It's easy to experiment, but hard to change. None of those people started with a grand vision and then worked toward it. These people were not goal setters or planners; they were adventurers.

Each quandary is a call for experimentation. Each experiment, a question put to the world. Each answer a journey. Let life plan the itinerary. Your job is to pack light and bring a camera.

Remember POST-ITS!

I wish for you that you find joy in your experiments. Be wealthy in ideas. Try everything. Be different tomorrow from the man you are today. Be one of the happy warriors, egar for morning.

Change is hard, experimentation is easy.

These things got me excited the other day. I was going to tackle my resume in a new light and my business. Some how I woke up today with less joy than the night before. I don't know if it was the sleep I got but something just didn't jump out as when I was reading the book.

Anyway that's my thoughts from today.

Mae

First wave of rejections

So today I got my first rejections toward my new business. Well it's not bad. I mean at first I was like wow, I'm going to fail at this. Then I thought, well if it's not meant to be, I'm not going to push it.

There are other people who will come. I just got to believe right? Anyway I've been to a couple of meetings and it's been encouraging to be there. Part of me knows that there is a 50% chance that I might end up losing money over this, but I know that I got to be the little engine that could right?

So I ordered some more samples and I will be shipping them off to see how my friends respond. I have to keep trying. Not a lot of people are gun hoe about my parties either. I got to keep trying. While working today, I thought of a childhood story that brought me comfort growing up. Especially because I suffered from a mild learning disability and never really discovered it into my adult hood. The story that encouraged me to think positive about my business was the Little Engine That Could. I think I can, I think I can, I can, I can.

Business is not easy. It's hard but I can't give up. I have to try until I've learnt what I need to know and I'll know when God tells me that it is done. I'm hoping it will teach me a lot about rejection. So far I've spent around $300 on business supplies and the membership fee. But what I've started to develop was a bit of my self-confidence back. Not that being rejected has helped this, but daring to do what is challenging and knowing that failure could be around the corner, still trying to succeed. I'll throw in the towel when there is nothing left to learn but for now, I think I can, I think I can....