Why Most Small Businesses Don't Work, And What To Do About It

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Technician, Entrepreneur, Manager

The reason most small businesses don't work is that they are run by a "Technician", someone who knows how to do the technical work involved in a job, without much thought to two other, equally important roles described in the book, the "Entrepreneur" and the "Manager".  These are not separate people, but distinct elements of our personalities.  In other words, while we might be biased towards one, we all have all of them, and to successfully run a small business, they must all play a role.

• The Technician is someone - a bicycle mechanic, computer programmer, cook, etc... - who is an expert in his or her craft.  This often leads these people to go into business for themselves - they're good at what they do, and they know it, so why not reap the rewards of their labor?  The technician is happiest doing the work they are good at and ignoring the rest, which is, in the end, a recipe for failure.
• The Entrepreneur is the dreamer, the one who sets out to do something new, who reaches for the stars.

The Confidence Gap

A wonderful book.

By 

Ronald Spiers 

The confidence gap is a brilliant new book by Dr. Russ Harris that in my opinion has really hit the nail on the head with how true confidence works and can be achieved. It explains clearly how with a little hard work and perseverance we can learn to understand ourselves better and achieve things we were previously terrified of. 

Anyone Can Do It: My Story - by Duncan Bannatyne

After reading this, you really believe you can do it!,

By 

Tony Gough

This review is from: Anyone Can Do It: My Story 

If like me you are an avid viewer of `The Dragons Den', you will have already had a glimpse of the personality of Duncan Bannatyne. From the inability to hide a mischievous grin when faced with a weird and wonderful contestant or idea (and in some cases both!), to getting seriously involved in negotiations on an idea he thinks could work, you get a hint as to why he is successful, he enjoys what he does and he seems to enjoy life.

Super Confidence: Simple Steps to Build Self-Assurance

By

consultesh

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is one book that every women should read. The content is easy to read and hard to put down. The author recommends reading each chapter and digesting the information then trying out her exercises before moving onto the next chapter.

 I know it's easy to think that after reading one scenario that we are familiar with we don't need to try out the recommendations, but I think it's worthwhile doing them. Anyone who is uncertain about where their future is going should read this book.

 We live in a world where bullying is second nature to a lot of people and the guidance given in this book is mind-blowing. Even if you feel that you are already a confident person this book is a worthwhile read because confident people don't always realise that sometimes they are in fact over-confident and this can be a really negative quality in a person. Happy reading.

 http://www.amazon.co.uk/review/R19D0XYUHOQHWT/ref=cm_cr_pr_viewpnt#R19D0XYUHOQHWT

Believe It’s Possible

by Vic Johnson

"Belief is the basis of all action, and, this being so, the belief that dominates the hearts or mind is shown in the life." –Above Life's Turmoil

You will rarely attempt something you don't believe possible and you will 'never' give 100 percent of your ability to something you don't believe in.

Some years ago I was listening to a friend speaking to a business audience. She quoted a teaching by David Schwartz from The Magic of Thinking Big that rocked my life. She said, "The size of your success is determined by the size of your belief." Now that was the first personal development book I ever read and I've read it at least 20 times since. I'm sure that I had heard that concept many times before that night. But it impacted me so much that I wrote it down and must have looked at it a hundred times or more in the thirty days after that.

Seven Strategies for Wealth and Happiness - By Jim Rohn

Brilliant ! A must read for the budding entrepreneur.
A tremendous book on success principles written in 'layman's' terms. It is full of great quotes like, "rarely will your income exceed your personal development", and "don't send your ducks to eagle school - all you will get is unhappy ducks!" Jim Rohn is able to get across that success is not for the chosen few, but for anyone that is prepared to follow some simple principles - principles that are portrayed in an uncomplicated form in this gem of a book. A must read for anyone that wants to get ahead in life.
Find out more here.

The Impact System, By Stephan Longworth - "Inspirational!"

Stephan Longworth is an inspirational character who has a remarkable enthusiasm for what he does - network marketing.
Along his journey, he has clearly been influenced by some great motivational speakers (Kalench, Kiyosaki,Rohn) and in the book he has distilled much of this wisdom putting very much his own twist on it.

The first half of the book is "getting your head right" and here the focus is very much on self-belief, positive thinking, perseverance and determination. He leaves the reader in no doubt that the only thing between them and great success is...them.

Easily said, for sure. But this doesn't make it any less truthful. Certainly, this half of the book is good advice for anybody setting out on a significant challenge in their lives - the advice and guidance is all easily transferable.

The remainder of the book concentrates on the process of developing an effective programme which is easily duplicated, the cornerstone of success in network marketing. Who can argue against it as it's been put together by one of the most successful network marketers in the country. So many authors of "self-improvement" and "motivational" books are theorists. What Mr Longworth has on his side is that he doesn't just "talk the talk", he's also very much "walked the walk", something which lends the book instant credibility.

I bought this as I'm very much in the foothills, and was looking for inspiration and guidance from somebody who has had success in this business. This book has it, in spades! 

365 Steps to Self-confidence:A complete programme for personal transformation

Confidence is not something you can have instantly, or without effort, but this book by David Lawrence Preston takes you by the hand and in just a ew minutes a day builds your confidence for any situation. This essentially practical book will enable you to

• Feel good all the time
• Lrarn to love yourself
• be confident with the oppsite sex
• handle job interviews
• cope with rejection
• have the courage to take a step change - like start your own business, or
• advance your career

If you need more confidence, or know somebody else whose confedence is low then you can do yourself or them a favour and get this book!

Why most "Goal Setting" sucks!

At this time of year most  New Year Resolutions are just a faded slightly guilty memory, and the same goes for many of the goals that we are encouraged to set.  "Be outrageous, grandiose, really stretch yourself"  the gurus exhort "If your goal doesn't scare you it's just not big enough!"

We repeat the goals in the present tense, we add to our vision board and repeat our affirmations with emotion, and we visualize living the life of our goals and dreams, but what is the result for most of us?

We end up feeling even more defeated, and what is even worse Guilty, because if we are not achieving our goals it must be our fault, right?

Wrong!

Goal setting is a skill and needs to be learned, and then practiced, refined, reviewed and improved.  The good news is that if your goal setting has all gone pear-shaped up to now you can learn that skill, understand how to practice and refine how you do it.  As you review and improve your goal setting and implementing you will start to actually achieve your goals within the time frame you set.

Goal setting is a process, not an event!

I have just been looking at Darren Hardy's "Living Your Best Year Ever".  This book and 4 CD set will become your most used book in your goal setting and achieving journey, not just because of what Darren has written but because of your own entries in the journal that is included.  This is no "comfort blanket" to carry around with you, in fact part of the purpose is to make you feel damned uncomfortable at times, to shift you off your butt and face up to reality.  Goal setting is often all too easy without any follow through.  Setting and actually achieving goals requires application and discipline, and I am reminded of the words of the late Jim Rohn "We all have the choice of two pains, the pain of discipline or the pain of regret.  The pain of discipline weighs ounces, the pain of regret weighs tons!"

This program will not achieve your goals for you, but it will give you a map, a process and more importantly encouragement and accountability. You will see and understand goal setting and achievement in a whole new light.

Achieving goals, like climbing a mountain, can be tough.  But the view from the top, and the joy of achievement is often even better than expected!  Make this your best year ever!

As you think, you shall become...,

The Magic of Thinking Big is the first book I ever read to do with aiming high, organising your life and living purposefully, and it is a testemant to the quality of the book that my copy is now an incomprehensible mess of highlighted passages, scribbled notes and scrawled realisations. I have read and re-read it many times and have committed it's principles to memory. Cliched as it is, I can say this book has changed my life immeasurably.

3 Simple Sure-fire Tips to Make 2013 Your Best Year Yet

Learn HERE how to make this your Best Year Yet, starting any day!

These tips may seem so simple, so ordinary that your first response may be to say something like  "Get real, tell me something ground-breaking and Earth-shattering that's really going to make a difference!"

And then when I tell you that each of these three tips has been backed by neuroscience research to show that they make a positive difference to how your brain works, and lead to improvements in happiness, self esteem and confidence you may still not believe that they can really make a difference. We do not have time or space here to go over the research but if you are interested go to the PraxisNow web site and look at the posts of Mark Waldman whose work I freely acknowledge as the inspiration for this post.

So what are these three tips?

Great Oaks from Little Acorns Grow

At this time of year many people think of New Year Resolutions, while reviewing the past year and setting goals for the year ahead.  How big to make those goals: Massive, grandiose goals which will require faith and determination to succeed, or tiny baby steps which seem almost insignificant in comparison?

Many  "Gurus" and motivational speakers will have you go for the former.  "Make them outrageous, reach for the stars and Think Big" they exhort.  "Get out of your comfort zone and dare to dream. If the goal doesn't scare you it's not big enough!"

I wonder how many people make those big, extravagant goals and end up carrying them forward year after year, saying "This Year I will definitely make it!  This year I will have the faith, the drive, the enthusiasm to write the book, launch the million dollar product, quit the job, start the speaking tour...etc,"  You get the idea

Every goal that is not met not only saps your confidence, but sends a message to you unconscious mind "These goals are not for real, they are just daydreams!"  Every year, every underachieved goal, every failed esolution, the same message of failure.  Surely there must be a better way to set and achieve goals, to set and keep resolutions?

We have already reviewed "The Compound Effect" by Darren Hardy.  To remind you, or in case you have not heard of it, he iterates the principle that Tiny changes, repeated consistently over time, produce massive effects.

You have probably heard the saying that "most people greatly overestimate what they can achieve in a year, but greatly underestimate what they can achieve in five years."

Now of all times it is good to remember this sage advice.  Do yourself a favour.  If you have not read The Compound Effect, do so now, and it is a must read for anybody even thinking about making a New Year Resolution.

Confidence: The Power to Take Control and Live the Life You Want - By Dr Rob Young

Another review of this awesome book!

This book is divided into two sections. The first section is about 'developing life-long confidence' and is like a long-term action plan. This half of the book covers topics such as tackling doubts and niggles ('automatic negative thoughts' is what the author calls them) which I found useful. There's a chapter on positive body language too, which contained some gems of instruction on controlling your breathing in order to control how you feel and come across.

The first half of the book explains things in more depth, while the second section of the book is a series of short chapters containing 10 key points on tackling key topics. It'll help you to understand if this book could be useful to you if I list all of the topics covered:
~ Confident public speaking and presentations
~ Confident conversations and socialising
~ Confident dating
~ Confident meetings at work and networking
~ Confident job interviews
~ Confident life change
~ Handling conflict with confidence
~ Health, fitness and body confidence
~ Quick confidence

I found these short, targeted chapters very useful too.

Writing style of the book is clear and encouraging without being patronising. If you like to understand why you should use a particular technique, the author sometimes mentions snippets of resarch to back up his recommendations too. Great book!
Review by   R Freeman

Confidence: The Power to Take Control and Live the Life You Want

This book will transform your life. With confidence you can make a success of just about anything!
The second edition of this bestselling book combines the best and most effective methods from

•  CBT,
•  NLP,
•  sports psychology
•  positive psychology

 and much much more, into a definitive and indispensable guide to feeling confident, acting confident, being confident and using these positive mindsets to achieve all your goals.

There’s no psychobabble, no confusing jargon and no demanding and unrealistic expectations, just quick and brilliant ‘Dos’ and ‘Don’ts’ that get you right to the heart of confidence.
Written by a top business and life coach, this new edition features new chapters and content on dealing with conflict, holding confident conversations, confident dating and the 10 Top Tips to boost your confidence NOW!

The Secrets of the World Class!

I do not often post twice a day but I just had to share this with you!

Watch this 3 minute video and be...

Inspired! Watch it Now!!!

My thanks to Denise Gosnell and Jynell Berkshire at Business Thrival for this post.

Find Secrets of the World Class at Amazon.co.uk

Do Not Let Limiting Beliefs Sap Your Confidence!

Psychologist and mental health blogger Elisha Goldstein quotes a favorite author of mine, Don Miguel Ruiz, in his post “4 Steps to Getting Free from Limiting Beliefs”: “You see everything is about belief, whatever we believe rules our existence, rules our life.”
I’ve been using Ruiz’s book, “The Four Agreements,” to help me process the beliefs of others, especially toward me (i.e. “people who struggle from depression are lazy”). But Elisha is right when he explains that the beliefs we hold about ourselves are just as disabling and disempowering as the ones other folks hold about us. He writes:

Of course, whatever we believe colors the lenses of how we see the world and our very next interaction. If we believe we can’t give that speech, lose that weight or live without our Blackberries or IPhones every minute it’s going to be a heck of a lot harder if not impossible to do so. The same goes for getting through anxiety, depression, or addiction. We start to integrate fundamental beliefs in this world from the time we’re in the womb. We’re already beginning to sense the environment around us, taking in and processing information. As life progresses we start to integrate this information as truths. Everything is fresh and new, so what we see must be how the world is. If our parents were erratic or abusive, we interpreted the world as unsafe or insecure and that stayed with us as a feeling of fear to this day. Maybe there is the belief that it’s impossible to love or be loved. Or perhaps they didn’t pay attention to us and so we sprout the belief that we are unworthy. However, at the end of the day it’s all just a story, not a truth, not a fact.

We have the ability to change our stories and beliefs, of course. But the process is difficult and doesn’t produce magic overnight (unless you’re smoking weed as you try). Here are four steps that Dr. Goldstein suggests to form new neural connections that will assist toward mental health and develop breaks before we hit panic:

This Classic Book Can Change Your Life!

How to Win Friends And Influence People, by Dale Carnegie.
You will have noticed that we do not always recommend the trendiest, latest publications but go for the tried and tested: the books and strategies that have stood the test of time and helped hundreds of thousands of people to achieve One Hundred Per Cent Confidence. 

If you have read the book, you will understand why we are recommending it, and if you have not yet read "How to Win Friends And Influence People" then lose no time in getting your hands on a copy.  Listen to what other readers have said;
"This Book Can Change Hour Life! Have you ever met someone that immediately made you feel at ease? Have you ever met someone who seems so pleasant and makes you genuinely feel good about yourself? Or someone that makes you feel inspired? Or someone who gives you confidence?

365 Affirmations for a Year of Positive Thinking By Katie Piper

We have mentioned Affirmations before, and here is a treasure-house with a fresh affirmation for every day of the year!

Reviewers write "This book is a brilliant edition to any bookshelf! Who wouldn't want a book full of positive thoughts...everyone should own a copy of this book", and "A lovely book full of inspirational thoughts and quotes to brighten your day. A good bit of positive thinking that we all need sometimes! Another wonderful book by Katie :)"

If you find it hard to put your affirmations into words, or to say them with conviction this book could make all the difference to your reaching One Hundred per Cent Confidence!

See and buy it at Amazon.co.uk 

Achieving All Your Goals One Simple Step at a Time!

Book Review: "The Compound Effect by Darren Hardy"

The underlying premise of Darren Hardy's The Compound Effect is that the routine choices we make, when compounded over long periods, form habits which exert outsized control over our lives. In other words, seemingly little decisions such as to eat a cookie or watch TV "add up" over time the same what that savings account interest when compounded over years can add up to a significant sum. Hardy believes that for us to achieve our individual goals we need develop new positive habits to replace the existing ones that are keeping us back. For example, reading a little more each day at the expense of watching television -- even 15 minutes a day of this when applied to a year would add up to several books. Seasoned dieters know this trick and Hardy uses the example of cutting out just 125 calories a day when applied to 31 months would equate to over 33 pounds lost in the typical person.
The most important steps are to first write down the goals you want to achieve, then list the reasons (or habits) that are keeping you from accomplishing them, as well as to accept total responsibility for your situation. Once accomplished you can begin........

Building Self-Confidence For Dummies

Learn Supreme Confidence HERE

We could all use a little more confidence in our lives. With a push in the right direction, you can discover how to carry yourself confidently at work, at home, and even in relationships. This friendly guide by Kate Burton and Brinley Platts shows you what confidence is and where it comes from, and offers practical tips and techniques to build on your skills, challenge your fears, and channel your energy into a more effective you.

• Discover how to Recognise your strengths 
• See things from a brighter perspective 
• Say ′No′ with confidence
•  Build confidence in others 
• Raise confident children

I can't remember how many copies of this book I have bought to give to people who are struggling to regain lost confidence or people lost within themselves unable to find their natural confidence. Well written, it's a great 'pick up/put down' book which seems to always fall open at the relevant page every time I open it! It's full of good advice and serves as a reminder of things long forgotten when you find yourself in a confidence dilemma. There are things to do and work on, tips and a wonderful collection of case studies which are helpful and useful for identifying with the situations described. I believe this book is a 'must' for anyone looking to regain or boost confidence and consequently get more out of life. This book accompanies me through life and has become a good friend.

By 

Linda Ogley

More Free Tips on Massive Confidence HERE
 
Buy it now from Amazon!