Closing deals and getting more business is the lifeblood of any business.  I recently came across a great infographic on "How to Close 95% of Your Leads."  It is excellent and gives you the path to more sales - as long as you are willing to put in a little work and effort.  Happy selling!

I was recently watching a really heartwarming documentary about the 9/11 tragedy called "Boatlift."  I have placed it at the end of this post for you.  The 11 minute video chronicles the largest boatlift/mass-evacuation in history.  

To put things in perspective, the largest rescue and one of the most famous boatlift rescues up until 9/11 was at the battle of Dunkirk where over 300,000 men were rescued by boat from almost certain death by the Nazi's.  This was done over a couple days and saved the allies chances to win the war.

When 9/11 happened, ordinary citizens - ferry operators, tug boats, commercial boats, and people with boats all came together and evacuated over 500,000 people off of Manhattan and did it in less than
9 hours!  It is truly an amazing story that not many people have probably ever heard.

There is one part, at the very end of the video where one of the commercial boat operators talks about how he has one philosophy in life that he follows and has taught his kids.

That philosophy?  "Never go through life saying I should have..."

He's right.  When your life comes to an end, all of the "should haves" will come into focus.  All of the things that you wanted to do, but never took the time or chance to do will be forefront.  This has been studied many times and it's always the same.  People wished that they did their "should haves." 

Don't put off the things you know you should do and want to do with your life.  If there is something you know you should do, ​ do it.  If you give it a shot and fail, at least you will know that you gave it a shot...and if you succeed, well, even better.

Does this mean you have to do something radical?  No, but it does mean you have to take some chances, get out of your areas of comfort, and push yourself in ways that you haven't before.  If you do, you'll be better for it.

The only things you miss in life are the shots and chances you don't take.  It may sound like a platitude, but it is true and has been since man has existed.

Get out there and turn your "should haves" into "I dids!"

I was recently asked on Quora "What were the most Important things learned when starting your business?  Good question and there are about a 1000 things to answer with.  I thought about it and narrowed it down to these 4 as a starting point.

• Don’t be surprised if 5 seconds into starting, the business plan you spent so much time on goes out the window.  But, that shouldn’t worry you – how many things go exactly as they are planned anyway.  That is part of the fun and challenge of life.  The biggest thing you can learn is to be prepared and ready to roll with it, pivot, and find the way to success.  Always remember, people don’t rise to the level of their expectations, they rise to the level they prepare for.  Which brings me to #2

 

• Before you start, condition yourself to be “bulletproof.”  Here’s the cold hard fact.  Most startups don’t make it.  But that doesn’t mean YOU don’t have to make it.  It does mean that you will have to go through the rite of passage of becoming an entrepreneur.  This entails failing, overcoming seemingly impossible obstacles, and figuring it out.  Winston Churchill famously said, “When you are going through hell, just keep going.”  And this is really it – just keep going.  The trick I used early on when things got bad or it seemed like we were doomed is to promise myself that I would do it “one more day.”  The next day, I promised myself that I would do it one more day.  And the next and the next…  Just by keeping going, we outlasted the problems, and many competitors, and gained success.  We weren’t always profitable, or making much – but we were alive and still going in business and that laid the groundwork for the success to come.

 

• Balance empathy with toughness of leadership.  It is important to be understanding and caring for those you are working with, especially in the beginning – but don’t mistake that for not sacrificing and doing what has to be done to make the business viable and go.  Be tough, but fair and remember, “Fairness does not mean sameness.”  You can treat everyone fairly and with respect, but you do not have to treat them the same.  For example, if you have sales rainmaker, you have permission to treat them differently than someone who is not performing.  There will be many times that you as the founder have to carry everyone on your back to get over a challenge or to the next level – you will have to be tough and that is ok.  You have to lead.  This scene from Guardians of the Galaxy always reminds of this balance and the trials and tribulations of leading… 

• Lastly, make sure to have an outlet for busting stress and to give your mind chances to clear out.  For me, this has always been rigorous exercise.  I work out for 1-1.5 hours per day at a pretty intense level with a mix of weight training and speed training to compete in half marathons.  Always for the first 30-45 mins my mind is going a million miles an hour with random thoughts, ideas, and all of the things happening in my life.  Only after about 45 mins does it calm down and allow for peace and clarity.  Whether it is 5 miles into a long run or in the middle of a set, this peace and tranquility always comes and it gives me the release of stress I need.  Many times, with my head clear, some of my best ideas show up at these times.  Find whatever works for you to give yourself the time each day to find clarity and bust stress and make sure to incorporate it from day one.

There are a ton of other things I could give you, but if you can put these 4 into practice, you will have a good foundation to take on the challenge of starting a business, persevere, and succeed.  Now, go make it happen!

The difference between those that succeed and those that don't is that they don't give up.  It sounds simpler than we know it is.  But at it's core, the truest path to succeed in anything is to keep going.

But all of us have points in our life where we have to choose.  Does this sound familiar?  You have put what you believe is your life and soul into something, spent countless hours toiling away at it, sacrificed many things for it, but you still haven't reached what you consider success.  You still haven't broken through and hit the levels you know (or think) you should be at.  At this point, the thoughts and doubts start to come into your head. Why am I doing this?  Why do I continue day after day?  Will I ever get the results I should? Should I even continue doing this?

Maybe you start to feel dejected and like a failure.  You think about giving up - and it doesn't sound so bad. You gave it your best right?

Everyone goes through times like this in their lives.  It is not that we go through them that matters.  It is how we respond to them.

So, what do you do when you feel like giving up?

1. Realize that many before you have been here before.  You are not alone and you won't be the last. But, you do have the choice of what you are going to do at the moment.  It is yours to make.
2. Get some perspective.  Many of the greatest successes we study, read about or see in life, came after getting to many points of giving up - from people like Colonel Sanders to Steve Jobs (who was actually forced out of his own company) to Winston Churchill during WWII - they all kept going and things changed for them.  They can and will for you too.  Remember, people are praised in public for all of the hard work, sacrifice, and pain they went through in private that the public never really sees.
3. Don't be afraid to go a different way to accomplish the goal.  The definition of insanity is doing that same thing over and over gain and expecting a different result, like a lemming.  Look at adjusting your strategy and tactics to find a better way to make it happen.  Sometimes it is best to get away from things for a little while or have someone else take a look and give your honest feedback. You will see things from a different angle or perspective and that will spur ideas and action.
4. Take control of your thoughts.  Those thoughts running through your brain - Are they yours?  Do you agree with them?  Do you want to question yourself and your abilities?  Probably not.  Stop letting them run you.  Take control and when a thought comes into your mind that you don't agree with it, stop it, and redirect to the thought you want to have.
5. Lastly, believe in yourself.  For God's sake believe in yourself, you abilities, you power, your spirit, your willingness to make things come true.  You are more powerful than you can ever imagine and can break through and reach where you want to go.  Use #3 and make changes, seek out help. use #4 and take control.  Find the way and make the way, but...

                        Don't ever give up or give in on your life's pursuits!