Entrepreneurship – Serious about Business
Published May 2, 2012 | 
Successful entrepreneurs are always searching for change, enthusiastically responding to it, and taking full advantage of it as an opportunity.
Characteristics of Successful Entrepreneurs – Be Serious about What You Do
The serious business mindset is an attitude you cannot expect to be effective without, since successful business experiences have shown that unless you truly believe in your business and in the goods and services that you sell, you run the high-risk of failure. Far too many entrepreneurs fail to take their own businesses serious enough, and wind up getting easily sidetracked, loosing motivation, and fail to keep their noses to the grindstone.
The important point is as stated earlier, to become a serious business entrepreneur you must have the right attitude. This not only means thinking strategically, but knowing and understanding the factors that can make or break a new business enterprise. The following elements are all part of a sound business entrepreneur mindset:
Become a Serious Business Entrepreneur
A business entrepreneur must be focused on making money with the most efficient processes possible. This of course is the bottom line of being in business, and unless you remain mentally-vigilant of the effects of every business decision on the bottom line, then your business can drift into the danger zone of losing ground to competitors and with it valuable market-relevance completely.
A business owner must have confidence in their own decisions, which doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t seek expert advice when you need to or in realizing your goals, but you most certainly can’t let other people make any key decisions that are yours to make. 
You should always carry out important research to gather the facts you need for a sound basis for any decisions in moving forward with your lean business planning and execution. Remember, this is your business, your decisions, and not someone else’s.
A serious business entrepreneur must make strategic business decisions with the keyword being strategic-mindset, and not to jump unrealistically into every business activity on first offer. You should gather and use the facts to determine which are most likely to produce the greatest results, both short-term and long-term for the business. For instance, any type of networking or training must first be relevant to the business, and then be beneficial or they will waste valuable time, resources and money.
An entrepreneur must have a comprehensive understanding of profitability since profitability is the basis of being in business, then it is absolutely necessary that you know and understand all the information that relates to this, including your profit margin, your cash flow, your sales goals, your competitive advantage, and your key profit/performance indicators. These are the critical elements that keep you as an entrepreneur, focused.
A business owner/entrepreneur needs to implement and execute strategic business processes and procedures to avoid easily getting to the point of being so bogged down in the here and now (the little things) that you lose focus on the bigger picture. Understand completely that every decision you make today must have some connected-relationship to the long-term profitability of your business enterprise. You should be mindful of the ever-important question of whether the practices you decide to engage in are beneficial in moving your company forward.
A successful business entrepreneur must be willing to diversify when opportunities are presented because there is no real reason why you have to focus and concentrate all your efforts on only one business to the simple exclusion of all other opportunities. A shrewd and astute entrepreneur will always keep an eye peeled for their next profitable business idea.
Even if you utilize someone else and “outsource” the day-to-day operations of another business, it always pays not to put all your eggs in one basket.
The Zen of Success – Successful Thoughts on Kindness
Published August 16, 2010 | Kindness is a conscious act we often perform without completely understanding our individual motivations nor the impact of the results that kindness can have on individuals, groups, households, families, villages, towns, counties, cities, states, and countries. 
Lasting relationships are often built on simple acts of kindness that often change the world, providing evidence of the powerful force that is KINDNESS.
One of the most important and effective ways to gain knowledge, enlightenment and understanding about the act of KINDNESS and the great importance of it to our lives, is to learn from Successful people in history that have gone before us and become a priceless part of our past and positive, and who were and are generous with their thoughts, experience and understanding.
A laugh, to be joyous, must flow from a joyous heart, for without kindness, there can be no true joy. – Thomas Carlyle
A little thought and a little kindness are often worth more than a great deal of money. – John Ruskin
A mistake made by many people with great convictions is that they will let nothing stand in the way of their views, not even kindness. – Bryant H. McGill
A part of kindness consists in loving people more than they deserve. – Joseph Joubert
A spirit, breathing the language of independence, is natural to Englishmen, few of whom are disposed to brook compulsion, or submit to the dictates of others, when not softened by reason, or tempered with kindness. – Joseph Lancaster
A tree is known by its fruit; a man by his deeds. A good deed is never lost; he who sows courtesy reaps friendship, and he who plants kindness gathers love. – Saint Basil
A warm smile is the universal language of kindness. – William Arthur Ward
A word of kindness is seldom spoken in vain, while witty sayings are as easily lost as the pearls slipping from a broken string. – George Dennison Prentice
An enemy to whom you show kindness becomes your friend, excepting lust, the indulgence of which increases its enmity. – Saadi
And as I’ve gotten older, I’ve had more of a tendency to look for people who live by kindness, tolerance, compassion, a gentler way of looking at things. – Martin Scorsese
As much as we need a prosperous economy, we also need a prosperity of kindness and decency. – Caroline Kennedy
Ask yourself: Have you been kind today? Make kindness your daily modus operandi and change your world. – Annie Lennox
Beginning today, treat everyone you meet as if they were going to be dead by midnight. Extend to them all the care, kindness and understanding you can muster, and do it with no thought of any reward. Your life will never be the same again. – Og Mandino
Carry out a random act of kindness, with no expectation of reward, safe in the knowledge that one day someone might do the same for you. – Princess Diana
Constant kindness can accomplish much. As the sun makes ice melt, kindness causes misunderstanding, mistrust, and hostility to evaporate. – Albert Schweitzer
Deliberately seek opportunities for kindness, sympathy, and patience. – Evelyn Underhill
Everyone responds to kindness. – Richard Gere
For beautiful eyes, look for the good in others; for beautiful lips, speak only words of kindness; and for poise, walk with the knowledge that you are never alone. – Audrey Hepburn
The Zen of Success – Successful Thoughts on Positive
Published August 12, 2010 | Yin and Yang, left and right, good and evil, positive and negative, represent one of the most powerful aspects of human nature and life, the forces that can have a direct impact on the quality of life and the choices people make that determine their actions causes 
and effects not in only their lives but sometimes in the lives of many others including the entire world, depending on who the people are and their positions in life.
One of the most important and effective ways to gain knowledge, enlightenment and understanding about being POSITIVE and the great importance of it to our lives, is to learn from Successful people in history that have gone before us and become a priceless part of our past and positive, and who were and are generous with their thoughts, experience and understanding.
If you’re not making mistakes, then you’re not doing anything. I’m positive that a doer makes mistakes. – John Wooden
When I examine myself and my methods of thought, I come to the conclusion that the gift of fantasy has meant more to me than any talent for abstract, positive thinking. – Albert Einstein
The gift of fantasy has meant more to me than my talent for absorbing positive knowledge. – Albert Einstein
Positive thinking will let you do everything better than negative thinking will. – Zig Ziglar
Choosing to be positive and having a grateful attitude is going to determine how you’re going to live your life. – Joel Osteen
Always turn a negative situation into a positive situation. – Michael Jordan
Most of the luxuries and many of the so-called comforts of life are not only not indispensable, but positive hindrances to the elevation of mankind. – Henry David Thoreau
Every positive value has its price in negative terms… the genius of Einstein leads to Hiroshima. – Pablo Picasso
We succeed in enterprises which demand the positive qualities we possess, but we excel in those which can also make use of our defects. – Alexis de Tocqueville
Like success, failure is many things to many people. With Positive Mental Attitude, failure is a learning experience, a rung on the ladder, a plateau at which to get your thoughts in order and prepare to try again. – W. Clement Stone
There is little difference in people, but that little difference makes a big difference. The little difference is attitude. The big difference is whether it is positive or negative. – W. Clement Stone
Winners make a habit of manufacturing their own positive expectations in advance of the event. – Brian Tracy
It takes but one positive thought when given a chance to survive and thrive to overpower an entire army of negative thoughts. – Robert H. Schuller
If you have a positive attitude and constantly strive to give your best effort, eventually you will overcome your immediate problems and find you are ready for greater challenges. – Pat Riley
Suffering is the positive element in this world, indeed it is the only link between this world and the positive. – Franz Kafka
Your smile will give you a positive countenance that will make people feel comfortable around you. – Les Brown
There is little difference in people, but that little difference makes a big difference. That little difference is attitude. The big difference is whether it is positive or negative. – Robert Collier
I’ve always believed that you can think positive just as well as you can think negative. – James A. Baldwin
Success or failure depends more upon attitude than upon capacity successful men act as though they have accomplished or are enjoying something. Soon it becomes a reality. Act, look, feel successful, conduct yourself accordingly, and you will be amazed at the positive results. – William James
Say and do something positive that will help the situation; it doesn’t take any brains to complain. - Robert A. Cook
A positive attitude causes a chain reaction of positive thoughts, events and outcomes. It is a catalyst and it sparks extraordinary results. – Wade Boggs
Foods high in bad fats, sugar and chemicals are directly linked to many negative emotions, whereas whole, natural foods rich in nutrients – foods such as fruits, vegetables, grains and legumes – contribute to greater energy and positive emotions. – Marilu Henner
The way positive reinforcement is carried out is more important than the amount. – B. F. Skinner
I do believe we’re all connected. I do believe in positive energy. I do believe in the power of prayer. I do believe in putting good out into the world. And I believe in taking care of each other. - Harvey Fierstein
So there was a fire inside me. And that fire inside you, it can be turned into a negative form or a positive form. And I gradually realised that I had this fire and that it had to be used in a positive way. – John Newcombe
The Zen of Success – Successful Thoughts on Freedom
Published August 10, 2010 | One of the most important and effective ways to gain knowledge and enlightenment about FREEDOM and the importance of it to our lives, is to learn from Successful people in history that have gone before us and become a priceless part of our past and present, and who were and are generous with their thoughts, experience and understanding.
Our greatest happiness does not depend on the condition of life in which chance has placed us, but is always the result of a good conscience, good health, occupation, and freedom in all just pursuits. – Thomas Jefferson
Those who deny freedom to others deserve it not for themselves. – Abraham Lincoln
Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn’t pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same. – Ronald Reagan
All the great things are simple, and many can be expressed in a single word: freedom, justice, honor, duty, mercy, hope. – Winston Churchill
Freedom prospers when religion is vibrant and the rule of law under God is acknowledged. – Ronald Reagan
Freedom is not worth having if it does not connote freedom to err. – Mohandas Gandhi
Freedom is never dear at any price. It is the breath of life. What would a man not pay for living? – Mohandas Gandhi
Violent means will give violent freedom. That would be a menace to the world and to India herself. – Mohandas Gandhi
Freedom means you are unobstructed in living your life as you choose. Anything less is a form of slavery. – Wayne Dyer
If the freedom of speech is taken away then dumb and silent we may be led, like sheep to the slaughter. – George Washington
Freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded by the oppressed. – Martin Luther King, Jr.
Change does not roll in on the wheels of inevitability, but comes through continuous struggle. And so we must straighten our backs and work for our freedom. A man can’t ride you unless your back is bent. – Martin Luther King, Jr.
The sweltering summer of the Negro’s legitimate discontent will not pass until there is an invigorating autumn of freedom and equality. – Martin Luther King, Jr.
For to be free is not merely to cast off one’s chains, but to live in a way that respects and enhances the freedom of others. – Nelson Mandela
There is no such thing as part freedom. – Nelson Mandela
Money won’t create success, the freedom to make it will. – Nelson Mandela
What is ominous is the ease with which some people go from saying that they don’t like something to saying that the government should forbid it. When you go down that road, don’t expect freedom to survive very long. – Thomas Sowell
Freedom has cost too much blood and agony to be relinquished at the cheap price of rhetoric. -
Thomas Sowell
I had crossed the line. I was free; but there was no one to welcome me to the land of freedom. I was a stranger in a strange land. – Harriet Tubman
Whenever men take the law into their own hands, the loser is the law. And when the law loses, freedom languishes. – Robert Kennedy
Ultimately, America’s answer to the intolerant man is diversity, the very diversity which our heritage of religious freedom has inspired. – Robert Kennedy
It does not take a majority to prevail… but rather an irate, tireless minority, keen on setting brushfires of freedom in the minds of men. – Samuel Adams
The Zen of Success – Successful Thoughts on Knowledge
Published August 4, 2010 | One of the most important and effective ways to gain knowledge and enlightenment about KNOWLEDGE and the importance of it to our lives, is to learn from Successful people in history that have gone before us and become a priceless part of our past and present, and who were and are generous with their thoughts, experience and understanding.
It is the supreme art of the teacher to awaken joy in creative expression and knowledge. – Albert Einstein
Imagination is more important than knowledge. – Albert Einstein
The only source of knowledge is experience. – Albert Einstein
The difference between a successful person and others is not a lack of strength, not a lack of knowledge, but rather a lack of will. – Vince Lombardi
A little knowledge that acts is worth infinitely more than much knowledge that is idle. – Kahlil Gibran
He that hath knowledge spareth his words. – Francis Bacon
Three passions, simple but overwhelmingly strong, have governed my life: the longing for love, the search for knowledge, and unbearable pity for the suffering of mankind. – Bertrand Russell
Every addition to true knowledge is an addition to human power. – Horace Mann
Some people drink from the fountain of knowledge, others just gargle. – Robert Anthony
The recipe for perpetual ignorance is: Be satisfied with your opinions and content with your knowledge. – Elbert Hubbard
Knowledge slowly builds up what Ignorance in an hour pulls down. – George Eliot
Golf… is the infallible test. The man who can go into a patch of rough alone, with the knowledge that only God is watching him, and play his ball where it lies, is the man who will serve you faithfully and well. – P. G. Wodehouse
It is beyond a doubt that all our knowledge that begins with experience. – Immanuel Kant
Science is organized knowledge. Wisdom is organized life. – Immanuel Kant
A loving heart is the beginning of all knowledge. – Thomas Carlyle
You can do anything you think you can. This knowledge is literally the gift of the gods, for through it you can solve every human problem. It should make of you an incurable optimist. It is the open door. – Robert Collier
The price one pays for pursuing any profession, or calling, is an intimate knowledge of its ugly side. – James A. Baldwin
It is the province of knowledge to speak, and it is the privilege of wisdom to listen. – Oliver Wendell Holmes
Knowledge comes, but wisdom lingers. It may not be difficult to store up in the mind a vast quantity of face within a comparatively short time, but the ability to form judgments requires the severe discipline of hard work and the tempering heat of experience and maturity. – Calvin Coolidge
Prices are important not because money is considered paramount but because prices are a fast and effective conveyor of information through a vast society in which fragmented knowledge must be coordinated. – Thomas Sowell
It takes considerable knowledge just to realize the extent of your own ignorance. – Thomas Sowell
Carry out a random act of kindness, with no expectation of reward, safe in the knowledge that one day someone might do the same for you. – Princess Diana