Success Strategies For Successful People ~ Steven Roddy

Last week I was asked to judge a pageant to see who would go to the Miss Georgia competition and during the pageant interview I posed the simple question, “Who are you?”

Oddly, girls effortlessly answered questions concerning Obama’s health care and what they would do to better marketing strategy the Miss America organization but when asked the question concerning a subject that they should be intimately acquainted, they stumbled.

Know Thyself

Socrates stated simply, “Know thyself.” Strange that a two-word quote seems to have so many applications, can pierce so deeply and transcend 1,000’s of years of time to prove the relevance and power and yet is still misunderstood.

Now, in fairness to the beauty queens answering the question, they were posed a question in a high stress environment that most individuals in a comfortable environment could not answer…myself included.

“Who are you?” is such a deep, vague, penetrating question that usually elicits the response such as I am honest, a marketing director, entrepreneur, Christian or some other characteristic that society defines us by. When upon further investigation these titles are merely roles that we play or qualities that we possess. So who the heck are you?

Do you know?

You are everything, yet nothing. You are both the answer and cause to the world’s problems. You are a lover; you are an instigator. You are an emotional leech sucking dry those whom love you while providing an emotional shelter for those who need you. You are eternal, yet fragile. You possess endless possibilities while dwelling inside limitations.

In short you are a living paradox, full of complication. The reason for this paradox is that you are a dichotomy of flesh and spirit. You really cannot be labeled or defined. You are a god and NOT a mere human.

Side Note: Names define, that is why God has so many of them. God lives in you and like any offspring, you carry the characteristic of your father. Think about it…

So what does our complexity have to do with business marketing? In every situation, with every encounter you are marketing yourself. You market yourself to the people whom you interact with and to the people whom hear about that interaction. In my personal life there are individuals who proclaim me to be the villain and those who swear I am their angel.

I Am Both Hero and Enemy

They are both right. To some I am an enemy and to others I am love embodied. The trick is NOT to loose sleep over the perceptions of others but to, “Know thyself.” In order to properly market yourself you have to first know yourself. You have to know what you offer to the world and what problems in this world you have been gifted to solve.

What subjects piss you off? What types of people get under your skin? And what type of problems do you find yourself facing time and time again? Where is your passion? Once you begin to understand the subject of “you”, you will have a better understand of your business and your call.

But, the only way to understand the complexity of you is to spend time ALONE. Without television, without media, without friends, without phone, and without all of the other bubble gum for the mind, providing you with activity but no nutritional value.

Solitude is an Emotional Gym

In the deafening silence of life you will find yourself and find your path. Preachers, friends and councilors can guide you but without silence you will be lost. Recently I have been scared to spend time alone. My heart has suffered greatly recently and life has kicked me in the shins therefore, my thoughts tormented me. My solution has been to run. Run to people, run to activities, run to work but run away from self. The result? The cloud of sorrow weighed on my mind, as the world upon the shoulders of Atlas.

Solitude is an emotional gym forcing the strengthening of your inner strength by forcing you to see what you don’t want. Only in silence do you begin to learn thyself. And the more you “know thyself” the more you know God. Why? Because God dwells in you.

And you cannot begin to understand you until you understand the God in you. And silence is an important activity that will bring Him out. Though I must admit that the silence is rarely silent. In the silence my thoughts scream that I am unloved, a failure, a success, a king, a pulpier and a variety of other things that are both true and false.

Distinguishing Fact from Fiction

Sometimes my truth is that I am a failure and a pulpier at other times my truth is that I am a king, and a conqueror. The only way that I can tell you how to decipher the truth is to quiet your surroundings until you are at peace with yourself and your situation. If you feel you are a failure, ask yourself (out loud) why? If you are a failure then ask yourself in what area? When you find the area, make the changes to become victorious.

Today I am a failure in some of the areas that I used to conquer. But, I am also king in areas where I used to be a beggar. You will not always like the answers to your questions but they will change your life, if you let them.

As you are finding your business, fine tuning your organization and expanding your enterprise remember that the people whom are remembered the most in your industry and in life are the ones that had a clear definition of their purpose. Find yourself in the silence, and then express your purpose to the world through your business.

Entrepreneurs are misunderstood…I am going to tell you why we are misunderstood and what you can do to turn your entrepreneurial dream into a business owning reality.

There are 6 things in this world that separate us:

1. Culture
2. Gender
3. Religion/beliefs
4. Personality
5. Social-economic level

AND

6. Mentalities.

The separation factor that I am going to focus on is what separates the employee mentality from the entrepreneurial mentality? Employees are basically o.k. with having their schedule laid out for them. Employees find rest in security knowing that week after week, if they put forth the work and don’t ruffle too many feathers they will receive a paycheck.

Entrepreneurs on the other hand, want their freedom. They find that being under someone else’s rule is well…restricting. Sure they like their security but what they like more is their freedom. So they are willing to emotionally and financially take risks in the hope that their efforts will pay off causing them to be the one managing the schedule and calling the shots.

Entrepreneur Mentality vs Employee Mentality

Now, I am not saying that employees and entrepreneurs cannot get along but I am saying that they do not understand each other. Employees do not understand why entrepreneurs jump from one “multi-level marketing adventure” to the next or why they seem to be starting up a new business every 30-days, or coming up with a new random idea that will “get them rich” or how they constantly talk of owning lavish luxuries when they can barely afford to pay attention. (How do I know this so well…oh yeah I was describing myself a couple of years ago!)

Nor, can entrepreneurs understand how employees though they are dissatisfied with their job, boss and their pay that they would not look for other options…like being their own boss.

Entrepreneurs are Different

Now, being an employee is not better than an entrepreneur or vise versa for we each have a unique calling. However, as entrepreneurs you have to realize that when a person with an employee mentality attacks your dreams or your business venture that they are just different. See when you bring your business ideas to the table in a sea of employees you are the odd ball out and the first nail to show its head gets wacked. However, take that same tenacity and present your idea to them and you will receive praise.

I was raised in an entrepreneurial family therefore; the idea of working for someone else was appalling to me. So, I started several different business from Quixtar to a painting company, then I modeled some, then another MLM, then I bought a football team, then I wanted to be a financial advisor, then an actor, then a real-estate investor, then a business consultant…(*sigh) sounds even more ridiculous when written out. The longest that I ever held a job was about 7 months, those close to me questioned my stability and many spoke poorly of me.

Did their slander hurt? Yeap.

Did their words cause emotional wounds? Unfortunately.

Did I recover? Oh, yeah.

Will you? Of course.

The problem with me and with most entrepreneurs is that we chase the money. We see potential dollar signs and we sprint for cash like a pig to slop. But, when the money doesn’t come as quickly as we like we then move to the next opportunity. We are very much A.D.D. as we pursue our business…or should I say the rewards of business.

Entrepreneurial A.D.D.

The reason we entrepreneurs are A.D.D, and largely unsuccessful is because we chase the rewards of business and not the business of our purpose. Two years ago, I decided that I was going to pursue my purpose…and forget about the money. What happened? The money came…about a year and a half later after working forty hours per week, while working a full-time job, going through a break up, losing my house, sleeping on a friends floor, with no job and no savings. At the end of my first year of hard work I received my first paycheck of $124.36.

I bet that makes you excited. LOL

But, I was excited.

The next month, that $120 turned into about $800. The next month that $800 turned into about $1,900 in addition to the income that I was earning waiting tables. Here is the thing that I have found to be true in my life, if you pursue your purpose the money will pursue you…after you work you’re A*# off. God created the system to work like that.

Turn Your Purpose Into Profit

Now, how do you find your purpose? Well, I wrote an eBook that is titled, “How to Turn Your Purpose into Profit.” This eBook will cost you an email address and takes you through the series of questions that I asked myself when discovering my purpose. But, once you find your purpose the book then shows you how to get started in that business.

2 Resources for Purpose Discovery

But, I realize that everyone learns differently and my style might not be the best for you, so here are 2 other resources that I highly recommend when pursuing your purpose.

1. Darren Hardy, publisher of Success Magazine has put together a $1,500 course called, “Design the 10 Best Years of Your Life” and he is giving this course away for free. But, the course is almost finished so I suggest going to sign up right away. I am taking it right now and the course is changing my life.
2. Steve Pavlina wrote a purpose discovery article that teaches you how to find your purpose in about 20 minutes. Steve Pavlina has the number one personal development blog on the web and though he is a little eccentric concerning his philosophies this article is pretty good.

So here is the deal. That MLM might sound promising and they might even earn you a lot of money but lets start pursuing purpose first…and leave the money pursuit for treasure hunters, gold miners and bank robbers.

Then let us use our purpose to help others fulfill their purpose. As you are reading the information on Darren Hardy, if you find it helpful share the content with others through Twitter, Stumble, Digg or if you find this article helpful share the link via social media.

If you have specific questions or you would like to share what your purpose is do so in the comment box below. I read all of the comments and respond back when questions are asked.