http://www.thefastlaneforum.com/blogs/yussef/ Fastlane Entrepreneur and Startup Business Forum - Discuss Entrepreneurship, Start-ups, Business Building And Learn How Multi-Millionaires are Made en Tue, 21 May 2013 10:42:37 GMT vBulletin 60 http://www.thefastlaneforum.com/images/misc/rss.jpg http://www.thefastlaneforum.com/blogs/yussef/ http://www.thefastlaneforum.com/blogs/yussef/356-when-not-listen.html Mon, 03 Sep 2012 19:40:38 GMT I watched a piece on 60 minutes last night 9/2/2012 on the founder of Khan Academy and it left me pondering a thought. For those of you that may not... I watched a piece on 60 minutes last night 9/2/2012 on the founder of Khan Academy and it left me pondering a thought. For those of you that may not have caught the segment, it is basically a free online academy that may very well transform education as we know it. Globally, and completely free of charge.

But my thought was less about the academy and more about the resilience of the founder to do what most said was undoable. The boldness of this young pioneer left me asking myself, when is it ok not to listen? I started to wonder how many potential patents, ideas, software programs, medical devices or god only knows what are lying in the graveyard of hopes and dreams because someone convinced the dreamer, it simply could not be done?

Society accepts the notion that if someone else has done it, then of course you can too. But when is it OK to tune out the naysayers and sail uncharted waters? To defy the experts and the gurus and listen to that feeling in your gut that says “I know I can do this?” What keeps the fire burning when there is no road, only trees where the visionary can see a highway to the future? Truthfully I do not have a freaking clue, and most are not brave enough to test those waters.

In my own experience I find it difficult at times just applying proven business strategies to produce a profitable outcome. I cannot imagine what keeps the trailblazer moving forward. How many times does he/she tune out comments like “ Uhhh it might be possible but It would be expensive,” or “If it were needed that badly someone would have already done it,” or a flat out “I don’t think it will work because no one is making money doing it.?” All legitimate comments that I honestly would listen to and move on to something else.

What produces that exceptional guy or gal that decides: they will show the world that a mile can be run in 4 minutes, or people will one day have personal computers small enough to put in their homes, or a social network is needed to help connect long lost friends and family." In my opinion that person has discovered how not to listen and still pour every ounce of conviction into just a vision, and I find that amazing.

Odds are that not many of us will ever find out the answer to this question. But it won’t stop me from celebrating those that did.
:jackson: ]]> Yussef http://www.thefastlaneforum.com/blogs/yussef/356-when-not-listen.html http://www.thefastlaneforum.com/blogs/yussef/348-there-no-magic-moment.html Sat, 01 Sep 2012 15:52:49 GMT I think I speak for most on this forum when I say that we are all either products of change or in search of that "thing" or defining moment that lifts the veil of mediocrity from our eyes, so that we may see and understand, that the box is not big enough to think in.

It has taken me 42 years to understand one of the most basic but life altering truths about controlled change, and that is simply that very rarely can a successful person point to a single event or "moment" in their life as the single cause for their success. Let me say that another way. There is no epiphany that creates success as a by-product.

I have read many great books by prolific and insightful authors that got my creative juices stirred up, purchased courses, engaged in forums with exceptionally creative and successful business folk and so on. But regardless of how epic any single event happens to be I understand that my momentum is the total sum of a collection of events, conversations and experiences that I have been blessed to be a part of.

When I was much younger in business I remember always searching for that one book, or that one course, or meeting that right person that would reveal the hidden secrets that could open up the flood gates of success for me.

Now I understand after 42 years that success is not an ingredient, but a recipe. It is tuning your mind and habits to become an internal gps with success set as the destination. It is surrounding yourself with people, ideas, and examples that keep you on course so that you end up in the right place.

So if you are at the beginning of your journey or have been on your path for some time now, I wish you well and leave you with a quote from a guy I really have never heard of but I like the quote.

"Success is not a place at which one arrives but rather the spirit with which one undertakes and continues the journey." -Alex Noble

Much Success To YA. ]]> Yussef http://www.thefastlaneforum.com/blogs/yussef/348-there-no-magic-moment.html http://www.thefastlaneforum.com/blogs/yussef/182-alarm-clocks-graveyard.html Tue, 24 Apr 2012 01:33:24 GMT One day an old head (older gentleman) over heard me arguing with a guy that was rambling just for the sake of being disagreeable then the old head... One day an old head (older gentleman) over heard me arguing with a guy that was rambling just for the sake of being disagreeable then the old head pulled me to the side when the debate was over and told me something profound that I always quote till this day when I hear someone trying to convince a fool to invest in his own existence.

He said " Hey young buck, why are you throwing alarm clocks into the grave yard?" I was totally confused and asked him what he meant by that. He said that I was throwing an alarm clock into the grave yard and trying to wake the dead. "Sometimes you have to let the dead stay asleep young buck" He said.

After giving it some thought I realized that I had been on some personal crusade since I was a kid trying to convince people of the potential that I saw in them. But how is it they couldn't see it?

I believed that every homeless musician had a shot at fame if he just got serious about his craft. I knew hardcore drug addicts that maintained a 4.0 gpa throughout undergrad but believed they just needed someone to show them a better vision of themselves. I believed for years you could change anyone with a stern conversation...And then I woke up.

"Don't throw alarm clocks into the grave yard, let the dead sleep" rocked my internal compass. Because some people enjoy their slumber and others will drag you into the grave with them as you struggle to resurrect them.

I'm still a little guilty of entertaining the dead every once in a while but quicker to back out of it now. Bottom line is if it's their future you are trying to salvage then halfway ain't far enough for them to meet you. Meet me 3/4 of the way to let me know your serious.

I see it everyday. Brother's, cousins, sisters, parents, church members, co-workers etc. all do it. They all pour time, energy, hope, prayers, money, tears, lies, heartache and dreams into people who are committed to habits of destruction.

The hard truth is, sometime you have to let people be who they are, or they will extinguish the light within you that someone looking for it may need one day. Let the dead rest in peace ]]> Yussef http://www.thefastlaneforum.com/blogs/yussef/182-alarm-clocks-graveyard.html