Many people have asked me this question about the business projects that I have worked on, or ideas that I have turned into a business. Last week, one of the regulars at my Monday morning coffee group asked me that very question about the investment company that I am part owner of. It got me to thinking about how I do things.
Each and every time I get an idea, it’s a matter of time before it is built into anything that becomes a product. If I could go back about 25 years, maybe more, I remember sitting at a weekly Bible study group where, as teens, we were asked for prayer requests. I’m not sure how I said it, but it was a way that brought everyone there to laughter. I suggested we pray for something I felt should be in our world, something that was unheard of at that time although today it is commonplace. It was Christian television programming. I felt it was something needed in the world. This blog is not about that, but rather, it’s about the reaction that I received from those friends – which was laughter.
Have you ever had an idea and when you mentioned it, your friends told you “That won’t work” or “It’s IMPOSSIBLE.” I know I tell this to many people about their ideas. Not that they won’t work, but rather, I’ve told them about how I’ve seen someone else fail at the very idea they are presenting. I did this to my own partner once. She is still proving me wrong, and I hope for the day that she waves the big check in my face and says “See, I told you I could do it.” It’s that concept of people telling me I could not do something that makes me start thinking of ways to make it work. While I did not create the television network I envisioned, the idea stayed in my mind as I thought about how the concept could be done.
When I think about how to accomplish something other people have told me is impossible, I use a form of meditation I learned as a young adult from a Bible professor who spoke at a businessmen’s breakfast I attended. He told us that if we wanted to learn how to handle things, we should use the Bible. He suggested we think about a problem we are facing and then use a Bible verse to find an answer. Well I still do this, but in many ways, I always think through whatever I’m about to do, then review it and review it in my mind till I see a solution worth starting to fix the problem.
From there I go over five to ten solutions to whatever I’m facing, start with one and move down the list until the problem is solved. When I started the idea for the investment company we have, I had many different ideas for getting the funding to start. Ultimately, we ended up starting small and working our way to bigger and bigger projects. Before I got to this point, I had gone through five partnerships, ten ideas, and one failed start-up by myself.
Last thing I’ll share with you about how I do that is I never let go of an idea I think will work. I speak it to myself like an affirmation, telling myself I’m successful at whatever project I’m going to do. For instance I would tell myself that I have already paid for five more rental properties this year. Telling myself this over and over, my mind believes I’m already successful at it. My mind then is confident and starts to think of better ways to make this happen.
These are ways to start preparing yourself for ways to make your life better. Setting goals is only part of the solution. The hard work is making the goal and taking the steps to reach it. So how do I do that? It takes work – mental and physical work. You can do what you want in this life; if you are willing to pay the price, anything is possible.
So let me recap how you should be working towards your goals:
1. Believe nothing is impossible. Find a way
2. Keep the goal always in front of you. Meditate on it, thinking about how to do it.
3. Repeat affirmations confirming that you already achieved this goal. Tell yourself it’s already done.
My Life coaching program will work extensively with you on these and other steps for achieving the confidence in yourself to meet your goals. Do you need some one-on-one assistance? Contact me to see how we can help you meet your goals and live the dream life.
This is Tim Gillette, the Rocker Life Coach, reminding you to Live, Love, Rock on.
