Steven Cox - Founder of TakeLessons. Build Something You're Proud Of

Benjamin Zandler Persuades You to Fall in Love with Classical Music

Benjamin Zandler, motivational speaker and conductor of the Boston Philharmonic, gives a fabulous TED talk to persuade the audience to fall in love with classical music.

He explains that everyone can hear and no one is tone deaf. He then plays a piece by Chopin and helps you identify impulses and chord progressions - ending in a final resolve.

While I don't LOVE classical music, there's nothing better to calm the mind than a classical piece in a minor chord. It just helps me chill out.

Give it a view. It's an enjoyable presentation that leads the viewer through high points and low points, ending in a call to let the music move you to understand it. He then explains how it has helped him understand the value of helping others see their own abilities and capturing the spark in their eyes.

Well worth the 20 minute watch!

 

 

Image via Wikipedia

 

 

 

 

Michael Lazero of Buddy Media On the Value of Beating Fear

I met Michael back in the late 90's when he was working on UWire and I was working for an early social network called CollegeClub.com. He's done great work with his company, Buddy Media.

Here's a recent video of him speaking on how he was able to use the realization of his own mortality to look fear in the face and press forward.

Thanks to Chris Waldron for turning me on to this vid.

In his words:

"I spoke about the relationship between corporate innovation and mortality and used my personal experience as a two-time heart surgery patient has a backdrop.

The primary point I was trying to make is that it's easy to innovate - to pivot, to change courses - when you come face to face with your own death. It's much harder to do the unimaginable when things are going well. Companies (and people) who reinvent themselves when things are going well build long-term value (and live the lives they want to live)."

 

 

The Road to Success

 

Start. Stop. Turn.

Stop. Go fast. Run.

Jump. Backpedal. Think.

Twist. Get depressed. Pull yourself up.

Build a team. Fall down. Get up.

 Take another step. Get you footing. Build something real.

And never ever doubt that you will make it.

 

(Image borrowed from rockstar Megan O'Brien)

Steve Jobs: Magnificence and Mortality

Today, I woke up to the death of Steve Jobs.

At the age of 56, he did what most entrepreneurs dream of doing - changing the world for the better.

Even though I didn't know him, I could help but feel saddened and tearful. Part out of respect - and part out of feeling that I'm so far from realizing my own change in the world and making the impact that I want to.

He's was 16 years older than me.

16 years.

When I think about that, and let it sink in, my head spins with the idea that every day must be important - it must matter. I can't spend my time getting caught in the thickness of thin things. One day, my life will be done here on earth, and what will matter are the gifts I've left behind, and the positive, lasting impact I've made on the world.

"Remembering that I'll be dead soon is the most important tool I've ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life,"

"Because almost everything — all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure — these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important."

"Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart."

- Steve Jobs, 2005

Today, I woke up to the death of Steve Jobs.

Today, I woke up with a deeper realization of my own mortality.

Current Obstacles Will Pass. Focus on the Big Picture.

I was checking my email this morning and a new start-up founder asked me the following:

"P.s.  how did you stay focused and motivated with so many obstacles and uncertainties when you were first starting takelessons?"

Great question and something all entrepreneurs will face. Here's my answer:

Peter,

Thanks for the note.

The obstacles are like the first down marker on a football field. You have to get to them and run past them in order to stay in the game. But the first down marker - and the challenge necessary to get there - is only temporary. What counts is the end zone - the big WHY behind what you're trying to accomplish.

Never lose sight of the end zone. It is much further away than today's challenges and more fulfilling than any smaller obstacle that is present now.

The uncertainties are as much a part of the business as rhythm is part of any good song. Learn to get very comfortable with it and thrive on it. The perils are half of what makes the game fun.

That's the way I look at it. I know I'm in for a long hike, so I put out of my mind any sort of short-term gratification. It seems to help keep me on the right path.

Just my two cents worth...

Steven

 

 

Related articles

• Today is TakeLessons' 5 year Anniversary (stevencox.com)
• Entrepreneurship 101: A Guide for New College Grads Looking to Fly Solo (dailyfinance.com)
• How To Stay Focused (styleandthestartup.wordpress.com)

Never Get Stuck in the Thick of Thin Things

My friend Dalia sent me this. I thought it was a good analogy on deciding to spend time on things that matter. It reminded me of a saying (not sure who said it):

"Never get stuck in the thick of thin things"

A professor stood before his philosophy class and had some items in front of him.

When the class began, wordlessly,he picked up a very large and empty mayonnaise jar and started to fill it with golf balls. He then asked the students if the jar was full. They agreed that it was.

The professor then picked up a box of pebbles and poured it into the jar. He shook the jar lightly. The pebbles rolled into the open areas between the golf balls.He then asked the students again if the jar was full. They agreed it was.

The professor next picked up a box of sand and poured it into the jar. Of course, the sand filled up everything else. He asked once more if the jar was full. The students responded With an unanimous 'yes.'

The professor then produced two cups of coffee from under the table and poured the entire contents into the jar, effectively filling the empty space between the sand. The students laughed.

'Now,' said the professor, as the laughter subsided, 'I want you to recognize that this jar represents your life.

The golf balls are the important things - family, children, health, friends, and favorite passions - things that if everything else was lost and only they remained, your life would still be full.

The pebbles are the things that matter like your job, house, and car.

The sand is everything else -- The small stuff.

'If you put the sand into the jar  first,' he continued,'there is no room for the pebbles or the golf balls. The same goes for life.

If you spend all your time and energy on the small stuff, You will never have room for the things that are important to you..

So...

Pay attention to the things that are critical to your happiness.
Play with your children.
Take time to get medical checkups.
Take your partner out to dinner.

There will always be time to clean the house and fix the dripping tap.

'Take care of the golf balls first -- The things that really matter. Set your priorities. The rest is just sand.'

One of the students raised her hand and inquired what the coffee represented. The professor smiled.

'I'm glad you asked. It just goes to show you that no matter how full your life may seem, there's always room for a couple of cups of coffee with a friend.'

A Simple Life Philosophy: Incredible Experiences with Incredible People

I'm working on simplifying my life.

Less overhead. Less stress. Better health. Smarter brain. etc.

When I was in Amsterdam last year, I was thinking about designing my life in conjunction to letting life happen. I wanted to plan it and give it direction, yet allow for the beauty of serendipity. I wanted to find the balance between running hard towards my goals, and stopping the run to enjoy each day.

I asked myself about what life is, and how someone gets the most out of it.

I came up with a simple life philosophy:

To me, life is about "incredible experiences with incredible people"

Thats it. Nothing more. Nothing less.

I want to have incredible, fulfilling experiences. And I want to share those with awesome people.

Incredible people means people who are emotionally sound, creative, curious, honorable, genuine, self-appreciative, brilliant thinkers. People who make a positive impact on others, give as much as take, thus creating value.

That means in order to attract awesome people into my world, I have to first be awesome myself. This takes me on the quest for constant and never-ending self-improvement. It's my opportunity to learn how to be awesome.If I am not awesome, then incredible people will choose not to spend time with me.

It means I have to treat people well and seek to make a difference in their lives. I have to add value to them.

This means I have to be in good health. My 'incredible experiences' will be limited if my health fails me.

It helps me plan on how I want to spend my time, what vacations I want to take, where I want to live, who I want to surround myself with, how I spend money, and just about everything else I can think of.

So, while the philosophy is simple, for me it's all-encompasing. It helps me design what I want my life to be, and allows me the freedom to explore what 'incredible' really means.

 

Keep Running

I just got back from a five mile run along San Diego's waterfront. The sun was out, the skies clear, and The Chemical Brothers blasted at perfect volume through my iPod.

Yet, for whatever reason, I struggled. Every step was difficult, and every mile challenging.

A few times, I felt like stopping and taking a breather underneath one of the giant sycamore's.

But, I didn't. I just kept running.

Not as fast as normal, not as fluid as others that passed me. At time, I had to slow down the pace. But I just kept running.

As I rounded my last turn and headed for my finish, I realized that my business is a lot like my running.

Sometimes it's easy and fluid. Other time, each step feels like climbing a mountain.

So many others get winded, other get frustrated, and they quit - never experiencing the sheer joy of overcoming. But if you just keep running, you'll eventually round that last turn and be able to cross your own finish line.

Just Keep Running...

Self Growth

Working on yourself like clay should be one of your greatest and most pleasurable life tasks. It makes you, in essence, an artist. An artist creating and shaping yourself.

- Robert Green

Staying Motivated

I keep track of all of my goals and look at them daily. At the bottom of my goal sheet, I have the following reminders and hints taken from Tony Robbins, Brian Tracy, Steven Cox, and others. Sometimes, I'll be reading them and one will jump out at me, and be just the thing I need to press a little harder and find a way to hit my goals.

STAYING CONFIDENT

• Practice crtainty in the face of fear
• Develop the habit of focusing on what's right instead of what's wrong. Be positive about finding a solution.
• Commit to seven straight days of only positive, good thoughts. Do not allow myself to hold a negative thought.
• Decide to be curious instead of judgmental
• Find something to appreciate in every challenge. Respect and use the pain to my benefit.
• If I commit to continuous improvement, then each day and week and month gets better and better.
• Decide not to be perfect. Just commit to doing better.
• Develop my faith. As I believe, so it is created.
• Information * Focus = My Reality. Change what I focus on and change the quality of information, and I change my reality
• "You never know what's possible until you attempt the impossible"
• The more clear I can be on exactly what I want, the better I can find the people and information that will help me get there
• A dream, coupled with an unrelenting will to attain it, is a reality with an eminent bearing. It simply will happen.