Motivational Monday #27

This video is tremendously motivating to me; as is this poem by Marianne Williamson:

“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear
is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our
darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to
be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous?

Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your
playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing
enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel
insecure around you.

We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to
make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It’s not just
in some of us; it’s in everyone. And as we let our own light
shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to
do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our
presence automatically liberates others.”

One of my mentors once told me that fear is nothing but False Evidence Appearing Real.

How are you overcoming your fear of being powerful beyond measure? I’d love to hear your answer below in the comments section.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Motivational Monday #26

I once heard that “50 percent of your success is attitude. The other 50 percent is attitude!”

If that’s the case, it looks like the star of this week’s Motivational Monday has success all figured out…

Whether we realize it or not, we all have an amazing ability to transfer emotions.  Positive attitudes are just as contagious as negative ones and this video is proof.

People want to be surrounded by people who make them feel good. Great leaders have an amazing ability to make people feel better about themselves. A major way to do that is through your positive energy.

So how can you harness that positive energy and use it to create success?!?

It’s simple…  Spend a few minutes in front of the mirror every day listing everything that you like about your life!

The Entrepreneur’s Guide to Lifestyle Freedom: Episode 30

Last month, my family and I went to Los Cabos, Mexico for a much needed vacation. Quite honestly, we didn’t do anything other than play on the beach for the first three days we were in Cabo! Finally, on the fourth day of the trip, I remembered to grab my video camera so I could shoot Episode 30 of The Unemployed Millionaire Show!

I’m not telling you about my vacation to impress you… I’m telling you about it to impress upon you how much your life can change when you finally break out of the mold society placed you in and start taking advantage of opportunities that will allow you to live your dream lifestyle!

My personal philosophy about life is this: Life is all about the experience of chasing peak experiences! Contrary to mainstream beliefs, I believe that it is possible to live life constantly wrapped up in joyous and exciting moments…

Years ago, I made the decision to become an entrepreneur so that my family and I could have the opportunity to live every day of our lives with feelings of intense happiness and well-being! That decision is exactly what separates the people who live an unconventional life with total lifestyle freedom from the people who don’t.

Most people don’t understand that in order to live an unconventional lifestyle – you have to do unconventional things (like  focusing solely on opportunities that offer you a chance to become wealthy.) Once you get comfortable with the idea of pursuing unconventional opportunities in life, you will naturally develop the ability to create an unconventional lifestyle.

Creating an unconventional lifestyle is not easy but it’s absolutely worth the extra effort… After all, life should be an experience in chasing peak experiences!

What are you doing today in order to live a life of peak experiences tomorrow? I’d love to hear your answer below in the comments section!

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10 of My Favorite Lessons For The Pursuit of Happyness

This week’s Motivational Monday Video features Chris Gardener giving the 2009 UC Berkley Commencement Keynote. (If you aren’t familiar with Chris Gardener, he’s the character Will Smith portrays in The Pursuit of Happyness – one of the most inspiring movies of all time!)

Prior to making it big on the silver screen,  the amazing story of Gardner’s life was published as an autobiography, The Pursuit of Happyness, in May 2006, and became a New York Times and Washington Post #1 bestseller.

After conquering numerous challenges to become a successful entrepreneur, Gardner became an avid motivational and aspirational speaker, know for his ability to teach techniques for overcoming obstacles and breaking cycles.

He kept his commencement speech under 9 minutes but gave away TONS of inspiring lessons for a real-life pursuit of happyness. Here are 10 of my favorites…

1. Always, always, ALWAYS be true to yourself.

Chris is spot on when he talks about having ‘people’ after you reach a certain level of success. I LOVE the fact that he ripped up the speech his ‘people’ wrote for him and said exactly what he wanted to say….

2. Show gratitude to the people who always believed in you.

The people who believe in you give you the foundation to believe in yourself which is an extraordinary gift. Be sure to take time to thank them in person because they deserve it!

3. When you write ANYTHING for an audience, consider what your audience wants (and needs) to hear before you start speaking or writing.

This commencement speech is legendary because Chris obviously considered his audience before he went on stage. Properly considering your audience in advance will allow you to bring an enormous amount of value to their lives.

4. The current economic situation is irrelevant to your future.

I love this quote from Barry Asmus: “Economists are pessimists: they’ve predicted 8 of the last 3 depressions.”

In all reality, the current economic situation is irrelevant to the success you will experience in the future so stop reading into the negative, ‘doom and gloom’ reports you see on TV or read on the internet. The only determining factor of your future is YOU!

5. Economic downturns are actually an opportunity for YOU to re-create the American dream.

Historically, after every economic downturn there is a period of record-breaking economic growth that produce legendary success stories. Whether you see it or not, there is currently a tremendous opportunity to create a success story that is so legendary that it changes the American dream as a whole. What steps are you taking today to ensure that you and your family will experience the  American dream of tomorrow?

6. The balance in your life is more important than the balance in your checking account.

The best and most important things in life are given to us for free – our mind, our body, our soul, our ability to express love and kindness… And unlike money and material things, the best things in life can never be replaced. Do NOT neglect the best things in life for things that are replaceable!

7. Appreciation is greater than expectation.

I was blessed to learn this lesson in my early years as an entrepreneur. Tony Robbins explains the importance of appreciation flawlessly in this quote: “When you are grateful, fear disappears and abundance appears.”

8. Do NOT confuse your net worth with your self worth.

Any self-made millionaire would agree that they developed their net worth after they developed their self-worth. Self-worth is the single most important component of living a rich life.

If you need help developing or maintaining your self-worth, incorporate these last two lessons into your life on a daily basis:

9. Whatever you do, always pursue happyness.

10. Start where you are.

What was your favorite lesson for the pursuit of happiness? I’d love to hear your answer below in the comments section!

Click here to view the embedded video.

Viktor E. Frankl: Why To Believe in Others

This week’s video features Viktor E. Frankl, the author of one of my all-time favorite books, Man’s Search for Meaning.  This rare video of Frankl was filmed during his 1973 lecture to the Toronto Youth Corps.

I love how Frankl is able to use 4 minutes and 22 seconds to explain why believing in other people is the greatest gift we can give. “If we take man as he is we’ll make him worse. But if we take man as he should be we make him capable of becoming what he can be”.

I’ve been in Europe for over a week now so I’ve had quite a bit of personal time for thinking and reflection.

As I reflected on the people who have had the most significance in my life, they all have one thing in common… They all believed in me which is by far the most meaningful gift I’ve ever received. Because they believed in me, I developed the foundation to believe in myself.

That’s exactly what we do when we believe in others… We give them the foundation to start believing in themselves. This week, I encourage you to look at the people in your life that you are closest to – figure out why you believe in them and let them know. By telling the people you love  most why you believe in them, you will be giving them an extraordinary gift!

Since I’ve been in Europe, I’ve also re-read Man’s Search For Meaning and  I highly recommend it…

The book opens with a lengthy and deeply moving personal essay that explains Frankl’s experiences at Auschwitz and other concentration camps  during a 5 year period. He outlines the struggle he endured to keep finding reasons to live. In the second part of Man’s Search for Meaning, Frankl explains logotherapy which is the psycho-therapeutic school he created and  founded.

Frankl explains that the meaning of life is has absolutely nothing to do with money, social status or even physical appearance. Our primary motivating force in life is meaning and purpose…

P.S. What was your favorite part of this week’s Motivational Monday? I’d love to hear your answer below in the comments section!

The scenario I just described to you is business coaching at its finest. Judging by the striking amount of growth the business coaching industry has experienced since 2004, lots of entrepreneurs would agree that working with a business coach just makes sense. Here’s proof:

• “Annual spending on business coaching in the United States is estimated at $1 billion.” – Harvard Business Review, November 2004

• “Use of business coaching is widespread in UK organizations, with almost nine in ten respondents reporting that they now use coaching in their organization (88%).” – University of Bristol Newsletter, 2005

• “An estimated 40,000 people in the U.S. work as business or life coaches, and the $2.4 billion business coaching market is growing at about 18% per year.” – 2007 MarketData Report

Quite frankly, I wouldn’t be where I am today without the help of my business coaches! Although, understanding exactly why you need a business coach and finding a business coach that’s perfect for you  can be harder than it seems… So without further ado, here are 5 Things Every Entrepreneur Should Know About Business Coaching:

1. Why YOU Absolutely NEED a Business Coach

Only personal business coaches have the ability to show you first-hand how to develop the people-oriented skills that are vital for success as an entrepreneur. (An essential step in mastering people-oriented skills is actually working with people!)

You can read tons of marketing books, listen to a TON of personal development audios, participate in every sales seminar the world has to offer but you won’t even come close to creating the level of success you experience after working with a business coach one-on-one.

2. What Makes a Successful Coaching Relationship

The absolute most important ingredient for a successful coaching relationship is a student who is highly motivated to change. Students who have a ruthless desire to learn and grow will absolutely benefit from investing in a coaching program.

Good chemistry between the business coach and the student is an equally important component for a successful coaching relationship. A good chemistry between the coach and student creates an environment that will foster the growth of trust – a requirement for creating the desired level of results.  (I’ve built a team of 17+ dynamic business coaches so we’re more apt to find the perfect match for students which will ultimately create mega-success stories for people from all walks of life.)

3. The Three Main Roles of a Business Coach

The role of a good business coach goes above and beyond the obvious coaching responsibilities of: helping you discover your long-term plans and focus on the future, increasing your level of confidence, as well as fostering a significant improvement in your individual performance.

Modern business coaches also provide consultation and therapy for their clients. Coaches are similar to consultants in the fact that coaches also:

• Advise you on how to become a better leader in your company and industry.

• Assist you with the full goal-setting process.

• Provide counsel for maintaining a high standard of ethics in every aspect of your business.

A Business Coach’s role is similar to a therapist’s role because:

• You pay them to ask you the right questions.

• They help you tackle difficult issues that affect you on a personal and professional level.

• They focus on individual behavioral change.

• They create effective, long-term solutions by exploring subjective experience.

4. How to Find an Extraordinary Business Coach

Investing in a business coach is similar to hiring a personal trainer… In both situations you are looking to save money and time by hiring a coach who has achieved exactly what you want to achieve. In most cases, you can immediately tell how physically fit a personal trainer is by looking at them. A business coach, however, isn’t that simple. Here are some questions you can ask a potential business coach to help ensure a good match:

• Do you have experience coaching in a situation similar to mine?

• What are the fundamentals of your coaching methodology?

• How will you help me measure my return on investment?

5. The Elite Coaching Program Layout

The desired outcome of business coaching is to help the student become more competent and self-reliant. With that being said and based on my personal experiences as a student of business coaching, I developed a coaching program that consists of two main phases:

• Proactive Phase - This is the training phase.  Students will work with their business coach one on one for a pre-determined number of sessions.  The goal for the proactive phase is to analyze where the student’s business is today, observe the student’s goals, and identify resources, strengths and weaknesses. Next the coach works with the student to build a plan that will help the student achieve their business goals as quickly as possible.  During the proactive phase of coaching, business coaches also work with students to start building the foundation of the business.  In this phase, my business coaches and I’s main objective is to keep our students on track doing the most effective things possible to achieve the necessary milestones as quickly as possible, with the least amount of trial and error.  Moving forward step by step is key to success in this phase.  Working with a coach also builds their confidence, because they are no longer alone, and trying to re-invent the wheel.  Because students see progress much quicker, they experience higher levels of confidence. Ultimately, students become willing to do things that they never would have done on their own.

• Reactive Phase – This is the “as needed” phase.  As the students are working on the assignments that their coach has given them, they run into road blocks that they haven’t figured out how to avoid just yet.  Instead of getting frustrated and or discouraged, they are able to stop what they are doing, and get in touch with their coach.  We use 3 main methods of communication in the Reactive Phase:  Phone, Email, and Chat.  As students are working on their business, they are encouraged to email questions to their coach as often as necessary. If a student in the Reactive Phase experiences a “code red” problem, they can chat to with an available Unemployed Millionaire Business Coach using Skype or set an appointment to speak with their personal coach. Students in the Reactive Phase are guaranteed to have any communication with their coach addressed within 24 hours.

Typically, ideal coaching programs will last for an average of 12 months – just enough time to make a dramatic change but not so long that students become dependent on their coach.

What do you think every entrepreneur should know about Business Coaching? I’d love to hear your answer below in the comments section!

P.S. I’ve decided to continue accepting applicants for my Elite Coaching Program for the next 48 hours ONLY so if you think you’ve got what it takes, apply here: http://www.mattmorris.com/elitecoaching!

One of my good friends, David Wood, released his new book, Get Paid For Who You Are, today. When I met David a few months back at an event in Los Angeles, I would never have guessed he’s an expert at teaching people how to use their life experiences to free themselves from the typical 9-5 lifestyle our culture has become accustomed to.

David is quite a character but the message he shares in Get Paid for Who You Are could definitely be helpful for you (especially internet marketers or people aspiring to become internet marketers)….

David opens the book by sharing how he left behind a high-paying job in New York City as a consulting actuary to Fortune 500 companies to pursue a more fulfilling career. David’s story is proof that anyone can create a business that allows them to design their lifestyle if they really want it…

The best part about Get Paid For Who You Are is how David shares the five steps he used to create lifestyle freedom in a detailed, systematic way. Here’s a quick look at how he did it:

• Step One: Decide who you help.
• Step Two: Set up your website in seven days.
• Step Three: Set up your newsletter in seven days.
• Step Four: Create your own product in seven days.
• Step Five: Get massive traffic to your website.

Obviously, there’s a lot more to learn about getting paid for who you are than those five steps so I recommend getting your FREE copy of David Wood’s book, Get Paid For Who You Are, here: http://www.GetPaidForWhoYouAre.com/mattmorris.php.

David has a conversational writing style so Get Paid For Who You Are is a really easy-to-follow and beneficial read for future Unemployed Millionaires. The foreward is by Jack Canfield, creator of Chicken Soup For The Soul. Jack is always awesome which is another reason why you’ll likely benefit from reading this book.

Since you can download Get Paid For Who You Are for free (and instantly as an eBook), go get your copy and then let me know what your favorite lesson from the book is in the comments section below!

Click here to view the embedded video.

Motivational Monday #22

I came across this Becel commercial over the weekend while I was waiting to board my flight home after a leadership event.

At first, I wrote it off as a very interesting way to market margarine. Then I realized that there are actually a couple of pretty important success and leadership lessons hidden in this broken escalator commercial…

People who are serious about success take charge instead of waiting for help to arrive.

Unfortunately, lots of people expect the journey to success to be effortless, simple and smooth – kinda like riding an escalator. When their escalator breaks, they start stressing out and waiting for help instead of creating and following their own plan to reach the top.

We’ve all felt like we were stuck at some point in our life. The difference between those who succeed and those who don’t is simple…

Successful people are willing to take charge of their life and create a plan for how they are going to reach the top.

Obstacles are really just opportunities in disguise.

They say you can always measure the character of a man by the size of the obstacle it takes to overcome him. I sincerely believe that we are never faced with an obstacle that is impossible to overcome.

Obstacles come into our life as gifts that are meant to refine our character. People who overcome obstacles in order to reach success experience a more fulfilling life and gain the ability to motivate others.

The next time you are facing an obstacle, look at it as an opportunity to enhance your success story. I promise it’ll make overcoming obstacles a breeze!

And, if you ever find yourself stuck on a broken escalator, think of it as an opportunity to get some unexpected exercise…

What did you learn from this broken escalator commercial? I’d love to hear your answer below in the comments section.

P.S. For more lessons on success and leadership, be sure to get your copy of my book, The Unemployed Millionaire, right here: http://www.MattMorris.com/book. (You’ll also receive over $2,000 worth of bonus personal development education and help me feed 5 hungry children!)

P.P.S. If you missed last week’s Motivational Monday, watch it here: What’s One Red Paper Clip Worth?

Motivational Monday #21

One of my all-time favorite books is The Magic of Thinking Big by David J. Schwartz, Ph.D.

The Magic of Thinking Big was one of the first books I read after starting my entrepreneurial career. I’ve re-read it every six months since the first time I read it over ten years ago. The book’s principles are that important!

In less than ten minutes, this week’s Motivational Monday proves exactly how far thinking big can get you…

26-year-old Kyle McDonald’s red paper clip was worth little-to-no value (and ‘little’ walked away); yet he was determined to trade it for a house. One year later, he traded that red paper clip for a white house with red trim.

At 21, I was homeless, $30,000 in debt, living out of my beat up Honda Civic and bathing in gas station bathrooms; yet I was determined to become a millionaire by the age of 30. By the age of twenty-four, I was earning a six-figure income as an entrepreneur and by the age of twenty-nine, I became a self-made millionaire.

If you told the average thinking person Kyle’s dream and my dream before we had achieved them, they’d likely retort by saying it would be impossible for us to achieve our dreams because average thinking people don’t have the ability to see what can be.

Big thinkers train themselves to see beyond what is – big thinkers develop the ability to see what can be. How are you developing your ability to think big? I’d love to hear your answer in the comments section below…

P.S. To learn the strategies I used to become a millionaire by the age of 30, pick up your copy of The Unemployed Millionaire here: http://www.MattMorris.com/blog. You’ll also receive over $2,000 worth of bonus success education!

P.P.S. If you missed the last Motivational Monday, watch it here: Motivational Monday #20 – Climbing Over Adversity.

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Motivational Monday #20

Despite losing his vision at the age of 13, Erik Weihenmayer has become an accomplished mountain climber, paraglider, and skier, never allowing his blindness to interfere with his passion for life.

On May 25, 2001, Erik became the first blind man to summit Mount Everest. And on September 5, 2002, when he stood atop Mt. Kosciusko in Australia, he completed a 7-year quest to climb the Seven Summits — the highest mountains on each of the seven continents — joining only 100 others who have accomplished that feat.

Erik Weihenmayer and Mark Wellman are living proof that true leaders find a way to win not despite adversity, but because of it…

To really acheive greatness, we must face adversity head on. By understanding and harnessing the opportunities that are revealed during times of struggle, we often discover the fuel that will enable us to reach goals we never even imagined reaching.

Mark wellman created a solution that turned the impossible to the possible. I’m so amazed that he climbed all 3,000 feet of El Capitan in Yosemite National Park by pulling himself up 6 inches at a time! His decision to invent equipment that would allow him to continue climbing is extremely inspiring to me.

How did Mark and Erik’s story motivate you? I’d love to hear your answer in the comments section below!

P.S. If you missed last week’s Motivational Monday, Lessons on Dancing and Leadership, watch it right here: Motivational Monday #19.