Running Down A Dream!

Most people wander aimlessly through their life. Many don’t realize options exist outside of the daily grind. We become so focused on the immediate schedule, chores and tasks or simply feel we don’t have the time to allocate towards our dreams. The only remedy is to create the time and start now!

Look at your schedule and decide what to give up for one hour of working on your dream.

Logout of Facebook, give-up your favorite online games, turn-off Twitter, television, email and chat for an hour in order to do something that will make a difference in your life. Perhaps, stay-up one extra-hour or get out of bed one-hour earlier to work towards your goal. You’ll be surprised at the amount of time available.

Start seeing yourself as a business- your business.

What have you always wanted to do?

·        Search the Internet for connections with people of similar interests and ideas.

·        Seek advice and ask questions.

·        Realize the journey is a process and anything worth doing takes time.

·        Find a niche. Look for a need to fill or a unique slant to something where you can fill a void.

·        Break down your idea into a realistic path.

What will it take to launch your idea?

·        Develop a step-by-step process.

·        Research each step and gain the necessary knowledge.

·        Seek advice, check forums, send emails to experts and ask questions.

·        Focus strictly on one-step at a time; otherwise you will become overwhelmed and likely give-up. This isn’t a race. Overnight sensations are rare and few survive the long haul anyway.

By breaking down the process the plan becomes manageable. You will become one of the experts once you finish each process in addition to developing your own product or business.

Don’t be afraid of making mistakes.

Mistakes are a learning experience, not a failure. They give us our chance to improve and gain valuable insight. How could we perfect something if we didn’t have errors? Mistakes are little bumps along the journey to correct our maneuvers.

Stop doing nothing and start becoming productive. Once you realize there is life ‘outside the box’, you’ll become excited at your progress and will find additional hours to spend on pursuing the dream. You will discover how creative, talented and passionate it is to chase down your dream.

At some point you will wonder why you didn’t act sooner. But it’s ok and it doesn’t matter because your moment arrived now. Start running down your dream today. I guarantee you’ll love it!

Until We Meet Again,
 Jim Carver

Author: The Legacy of David A. Wells- The Lexington High School “Band of Gold”
Something Meaningful that Matters!
www.successthroughmusic.com

http://jimcarver.blogspot.com/

Disclaimer- Books and links on this website contain affiliate marketing sources between Jim Carver and third party companies. I only recommend products, brands and businesses that I strongly support. Photos used on this site are used courtesy of the original authors and in no way endorse The Rust Belt Chronicles or my work. Thank you.
 

The Opportunity of a Lifetime!

We often make decisions based on fear. When faced with a choice between comfort and uneasiness, we tend to side with comfort. Making that decision isn’t necessarily correct or safe; it just appears to be less troublesome to our emotions. A child learns this at a young age and is able to manipulate a parent into seeing the desired outcome.

The problem of being part of the status quo is it locks us into a parameter of common predictions and outcomes. Creativity becomes limited and many of the comforts we enjoy today would not exist. Typing a blog on this laptop is one of the perks of someone being different. Virtually all we touch today was created by someone who dared to have the courage to test the unthinkable.

It’s time we stopped trying to be like everyone else. Maybe not fitting-in is an advantage. Some of the quietest kids in school were the smartest and I always noticed they excelled fluidly at everything. Perhaps being odd or exuberant is a gift. Some of the best keyboardists I’ve known were odd and intelligent people.

How many medical, scientific breakthroughs or technological changes have we lost due to someone trying to be a square peg in a round hole?

The status quo says those people are weird. Stay away from them. Did you ever think perhaps they’ve been staying away from you a lot longer?

We shun those we fail to understand or simply are unable to label. We view those folks as freaks, possibly unstable or dangerous.

People who see things different are interesting to talk too. They are usually gracious when someone takes an interest in their lonely world. We’re all human beings, no matter what our style, flavor or color. Everyone wants to be loved and accepted.

Isn’t taking the time to connect perhaps the opportunity of a lifetime?

Until We Meet Again,
 Jim Carver

Author: The Legacy of David A. Wells- The Lexington High School “Band of Gold”
Something Meaningful that Matters!
www.successthroughmusic.com

http://jimcarver.blogspot.com/

Disclaimer- Books and links on this website contain affiliate marketing sources between Jim Carver and third party companies. I only recommend products, brands and businesses that I strongly support. Photos used on this site are used courtesy of the original authors and in no way endorse The Rust Belt Chronicles or my work. Thank you.

Checkout Anytime you Like, But you Can Never Leave

In one of Seth Godin’s recent blogs, I was inspired by several notions and wisdom.

Some valuable lessons from Seth’s blog:

·         Associate closely with those who emphasize and are experienced with productive failure.

·         Surround yourself with those who are motivated to make a difference daily.

·         Breakthroughs throughout history (music, software, athletics) are geographically located by attracting tribes of followers.

·         Relocate if you must, in order to join the tribe and become part of the creativity.

You can Checkout Anytime you Like, But you Can Never Leave

Living in the rust belt isn’t a place where ideas are flowing. The mindset is often discouraging and anti-productive. Consequently, it’s tough seeking out others with the same ambitions, goals and desires. Our local community is full of people who have experienced failure. The problem is few understand the greatness accumulated from productive failure.

Same Old Story

Many people in the rust belt have followed the status quo all of their work life only to be laid-off or shuttered from the industrial age.  Lacking other skills and every ounce of confidence shattered by the belief in a system that by being compliant ensured their success (until someone, somewhere else, could perform the duties cheaper). The low self-esteem, depression, shame and prevailing attitudes prevent those folks from moving on.  Creativity stripped from their souls.

Heart of Gold  

We have people within the community who want to make a difference. Many churches, organizations and people with huge hearts have donated selflessly their time, money and energy. But we need more.

We need people who can break down barriers and actually solve social issues. Instead of wasting funding (because we’ve have always done it this way). We need new ideas to promote prosperity verses a lifetime of dependency through aid and charity. We need to teach those in poverty the skills necessary to provide a plan to change their life. Only then, we will see dramatic results.

Where the Action Is

When I think of geographical breakthroughs music most often comes to mind. Prevailing musical styles and trends have always been a source of crowd sourcing and formation of human tribes. New Orleans (jazz), Nashville (country music), Seattle (Grunge), England (The Beatles) easily come to mind. It’s no accident software start-ups were created in certain parts of the USA.

Many of the most unique writers, financial experts and life coaches  are all located near Nashville Tennessee. Dave Ramsey, Jon Acuff, Michael Hyatt, Dan Miller and a host of other folks reside near Nashville.

One of my former classmates, Terri Lynn Weaver (who I played in a rock band with), is the first female State Representative within the State of Tennessee. Prior to her political achievement, Terri recorded a #1 Christian hit record and won a Dove Award. She is one of the sweetest and genuine people you could ever meet. Well done-Terri!

 

Former Cleveland native, drummer, Jimmy Clark and his beautiful wife are involved in the Nashville music scene and are great people! Jimmy has worked tours with Kenny Chesney, Keith Urban, Taylor Swift and Van Halen, along with many other big names in the music scene, through his Nashville connections. There really aren’t many recording artists in Nashville, Jimmy hasn’t toured with or provided the backbeat for during his career.

Coincidence? I think not. It seems personality, wealth and success have a common factor just like fashion, music, software, architecture and cuisine- the act of creativity has its own geographical reaction.

Easy Livin’?

I’ve definitely got Nashville on my mind for a future location to live.  Surrounding ourselves with people thriving on ideas, creativity, and success is exciting, motivating and stimulating!

People will flock in droves to the latest trend or the next “big thing.”

When will a breakthrough occur in the rust belt?

Who will lead us from the rust belt to the success belt?

Somehow, I believe Seth Godin has better wisdom.

Until We Meet Again,
 Jim Carver

Author: The Legacy of David A. Wells- The Lexington High School “Band of Gold”
Something Meaningful that Matters!
www.successthroughmusic.com

http://jimcarver.blogspot.com/

Disclaimer- Books and links on this website contain affiliate marketing sources between Jim Carver and third party companies. I only recommend products, brands and businesses that I strongly support. Photos used on this site are used courtesy of the original authors and in no way endorse The Rust Belt Chronicles or my work. Thank you.

Bigger = Better?

Businesses spent huge sums of dollars advertising their product or specialty; yet the closest contact often fails to engage the customers.

Does anyone actually listen to the "Big Box" greeter?

Photo by: dno1967b.

Nothing against the greeter, but why not allow the employee the freedom to express himself in his message? The opportunity exists to create a remarkable first impression, instead of allowing the employee to bore everyone with a script message.

The message you are sending is the workers aren’t creative, can’t be trusted, or have the ability to think for themselves.

We employ computer geeks whose only ambition is to earn a commission. The next time you purchase a computer do your own research on a specific product and ask the sales person a few questions. It is shocking to hear the answers or observe their lack of knowledge. The big box store trains the employees to be “pushy”, aggressive and sell the additional warranty. Nothing else matters!

Sadly, this is part of the dumbing-down of the American worker and customers. The attempt to control the outcome has overtaken personalization.  The employees and customers are just a statistic.

We used to employ people and give them tools to work with to increase the company sales and the customer experience. We wanted to standout and prove we could make a difference from offering something in exchange for valuable insight.

 Instead, the message is “we are all the same.” You, me, the employee, everyone!

The good news is the Internet allows us to research and review any product available. Social media has given us the ability to discuss our questions before buying. No need for scripts or obnoxious sales people, just the facts and opinions.

The opportunity exists for smaller business to “dazzle” customers and build a following by word-of-mouth sales. Entrepreneurs know in order to compete with “big box” companies personalized service is a huge advantage. Many people want to see, touch and experience the product prior to purchasing.

The industrial age took us into mass manufacturing for the masses. The post-industrial age will lead us back to a simpler time. The return of the "mom and pop shops" that understands the need to give people what they really want is the future.

Give customers a unique quality experience and you have purchased their loyalty for life!

Until We Meet Again,
 Jim Carver Author: The Legacy of David A. Wells- The Lexington High School “Band of Gold”
Something Meaningful that Matters!
www.successthroughmusic.com
www.bestofvegaswebsite.com
www.paradisefitgranola.com