The X Factor of Entrepreneurship
March 22, 2008 by Akemi · 9 Comments
How luck, or synchronicity, came into my life today
Happy Easter, my readers. I understand Easter is a celebration of renewed life. For me, it is a beautiful time in spring to appreciate the gift of life and review if I am living it fully.
What we do is a big part of our lives. I have been thinking a lot recently about my coaching business and its marketing. Some of you may have noticed that I changed the tagline of this blog from “For Tomorrow’s Successful Entrepreneurs” to “Life Purpose, Passion, and Entrepreneurship” I’m clarifying my niche – in other words, I am redefining my target market and my message. And this is a scary process because choosing something is about letting go of others. After tons of brainstorming, I thought I could really use a little guidance . . .
My guidance came unexpectedly. After I visited my CPA’s office this morning, I stopped at Powell’s Books nearby. There was a book-signing event going on – an old man was talking to a bunch of people. I listened to him for a while and liked his non-arrogant way of talking, so I took a seat, still not knowing who he was. He was talking about how we are all spiritual and how the invisible power works behind the scene. It was Neale Donald Walsch promoting his new book, Happier Than God: Turn Ordinary Life into an Extraordinary Experience
BE who you intend to be whatever you are DOING
During the Q&A, he told us how he started to do what he does now. At that time, he was very frustrated because he wanted to be wisdom, to work as the wise-man helping people, but he didn’t seem to get there. In layman’s terms, I guess he was unemployed. That night, he was asked what he needed to DO right now, and he answered he had to do some grocery shopping. Then he was told, “Then go to the grocery store.” Neale responded with frustration, “You don’t understand. That is not what I want to do.” “You can BE what you intend to be whatever you are doing. Be the wise-man you want to be while doing the grocery shopping.”
So he went to Safeway. There he saw a woman with a baby cart. The kid was picking grapes while the mother walked off to pick up things from the shelf. When she saw what the kid was doing. she hit the kid’s hand, and the kid started to cry. So Neale walked up to the woman and quietly said to her, “You don’t need to do that to your child.” She got upset at him and yelled at him it was none of his business, blah blah blah. He again told her she didn’t need to do that to her child, in his wise quiet voice. Again, she bombarded him with her stories – how her husband lost his job that week, how tough things are for her, etc. Third time, Neale talked to her, and she started sobbing, asking him who he was. “Are you a minister of some kind?” By the time, a crowd was forming around them and listening what he had to say. By BEING what he intended to be, a spiritual worker, he became one, although what he went out to DO, a grocery shopping, had nothing to do with it.
What does this story have to do with my or your businesses?
On one level, the message is straightforward. We need to BE first before we DO it, BE it whatever we are DOING. If you want to become an entrepreneur, be an entrepreneur whatever you are doing now. Think as entrepreneur even when you are doing employee work.
When we do this, the X Factor of life kicks in. Coincidences start to happen. Like Neale walking into the situation where he could exhibit his wisdom. Or me walking into his book-signing and hearing what I needed to hear. This is the second takeaway of the story.
We are spiritual beings, and spirituality works in business as well.
We have the tendency to think of business in a superficial way. We tend to see only the doing part of entrepreneurship. I think this is quite an ineffective way of thinking. DOING it right is of course important, but there is this hidden working in entrepreneurship, the BEING part.
So I think my blog is about BEING a successful entrepreneur, the inner mechanics of thinking and feeling as a successful entrepreneur so that we can act as one. Maybe I just lost a group of readers who are only interested in the How-To’s, and honestly that saddens me. I am also excited about this niche. There are a lot of good teachers and their blogs about the doings of entrepreneurship, and there are also a lot of great personal development and spiritual growth blogs, but I don’t know many writers who effectively connect the two points. Jonathan Fields occasionally writes about it (like this post), but that’s about all I know. This is still a pioneer field.
From experience, I know that synchronicity starts working when I embrace my spirituality.
In fact, my next post is about another synchronicity I had this past week and the great motivational speaker I had the honor to interview. Stay tuned.
Do you see synchronicity working in your life and in your business?
Is Becoming An Entrepreneur Harder Than Surviving In A Foreign Country?
March 20, 2008 by Akemi · 24 Comments
In 1995, I came to the US to rebuild my life. The more I think about it, the more I realize the similarity of this experience and that of becoming an entrepreneur.
If you are currently employed as a professional and dreaming to have your own business, the land of entrepreneurs probably look like a foreign country. You can see that entrepreneurs speak different language, they act differently, and you sense they think differently. You read a few guidebooks, which give you some ideas, but you are not sure if you are ready to make it there. Something, however, is very attractive about the land of entrepreneurs, and you start packing despite the nagging fear of the unknown. . .
Why did I leave the stability and comfort behind, once in Japan and then in Corporate America?
Unlike some immigrants, I had a good life back in my original country. I didn’t run from poverty nor persecution. In fact, I had far more luxury back then because my parents wanted to give to me. We went to Honk Kong to shop brand name dresses and dine like royalty. The analogy goes to the comfortable life as employee. When I had the day job, I was paid quite well, the banks loved my credit, and life was stable and comfortable. I had no problem putting foods on the table, and I could even get a mortgage to buy a house.
So why did I leave the comfort or even the luxury behind and dived into the unknown water? Crazy, huh? In a sense, yes. I wouldn’t recommend doing this if you are so completely against feeling miserable and vulnerable among strangers, overwhelmed with the amount of work you have to do to catch up and establish yourself in the new land, with all the risks known and unknown.
My parents thought I was out of my mind when I declared I was leaving for America. They thought I’d be robbed and killed. Honestly, I was afraid about it, too, in my mind. When I arrived, I quickly figured how hard it was to keep up with all the readings my college courses required. I thought I spoke pretty good English (and I did – I passed the test so I didn’t need to take any ESL courses) but it was not enough. When I spoke up in class, some people sneered at my accent. I was stressed out. The worst part was that, even when I was sick and found myself in a doctor’s office, I still had to speak in English. . .
I knew there was a higher purpose in life and had to seek it.
I wanted to become the person who I believed I could be. A stronger, wiser person. I felt I wasn’t really living if I just stayed in the superficial comfort. I wasn’t sure if I could make it, but I just had to try.
Two years after I came to the US, I graduated with honors and straight A (okay, with just one B from my first semester, in fact). The class listened when I had something to say. I had won the trust of many friends and faculties, which helped me to land a good job. Now I have far more American friends than Japanese friends.
My English is – well, I still have a bit accent, and maybe I make errors with singular and plural rules or the use of prepositions, but in spite of all these minor issues, I write as part of my business, and my readership is growing . . .
I again hit the point where I knew from within that I could be something more than the role I was playing in Corporate America. The best I could do there was to assist the president of the company. Although I knew I was as intelligent as any senior management (or better ^_^), I couldn’t get their positions because I didn’t have the specialized education and background. Then why not have a business of my own and utilize my generalist skills and deeper wisdom?
Coming to the land of entrepreneurs is just like coming to a foreign land. Some of the more established entrepreneurs may sneer at you, try to kick you off the competition, or even take advantage of you. Perhaps, however, your darkest time comes when you realize your limited sales ability. You realize you don’t speak the language of sales and business well enough, and the only way to make it is to learn it — quickly. When you keep going, there is hope . . .
The rewards that surpass my expectations
In both of my trials, once establishing my new life in America and again becoming an entrepreneur, I have found freedom, confidence, and renewed love of life. Moreover, I have found that living in a new land is not just scary and alienating. When I had the courage to reach out and ask for help, I was rewarded with great friends who have stimulated my growth. The realization that I am always connected in the big circle of life have strengthened my spirituality.
My American friends (or whoever or wherever you are), let me tell you, if I could come to America and rebuild my life from scratch, you sure can become an entrepreneur.
It’s a choice. If you are driven from within, believe in yourself and in the world. Your fear of the unknown is natural and understandable, but don’t let the fear run your life. The journey is tough, with lots of interesting and magical twists, and when you think you are just barely making it, you are actually making it real inside out.
What are the values you seek in life? How are you materializing them?
Special thanks to Barbara of Blogging WithOut A Blog for choosing this post and my blog for the NBOTW (New Blog Of The Week).
If you like this article, you might enjoy my eBook on spiritual entrepreneurship. Click here for free, immediate download
Interview With Successful Entrepreneurs
March 18, 2008 by Akemi · 15 Comments
I am so excited to deliver the first post in the Interview With Successful Entrepreneurs series.
As I maintained in If You Want To Become An Entrepreneur, Be With Entrepreneurs, it is critical for aspiring entrepreneurs to learn the entrepreneur mindset directly from successful entrepreneurs. So I scout out successful entrepreneurs online and offline and ask for interviews.
My definition of “successful entrepreneur” is someone who has built a profitable business that resonates with who he or she is.
If you are not happy with your enterprise, it is not worth bothering to build the business. It is about passion. At the same time, it is not only about passion – it is a business, so it must be profitable. When you clear these two criteria, then it is up to you how far you want to take it. I respect the owner of a closely held micro business just as much as the owner of a multi billion dollar public corporation.
If you are such a successful entrepreneur, please contact me. I’d be honored to interview you.
Now the feature interview. Christine O’Kelly is a SEO marketing and copywriting expert. She has been writing and publishing since childhood. Moreover, she was an accomplished salesperson in her previous jobs and brings that experience into her business. Be sure to also check SEO Copywriter and her outstanding blog, Self Made Chick.
1. Tell us a bit about your business.
As an SEO copywriter, I help businesses market themselves online by creating content that is optimized for search engines – and most importantly, for humans. I provide website content, press releases, landing pages, articles – and many other types of content that help businesses increase their search engine ranking and build engaging relationships with their customers.
2. What were the biggest challenges when you were starting off as a new entrepreneur?
Certainly one of my biggest (perceived) challenges was having no capital whatsoever. I mean, I was really broke. I barely had enough just to pay the rent, internet, and phone bill. Just after I quit my job, my computer broke and I started my business on a $100 clunker that I bought on Craigslist. When you are broke like that, your spirit can feel really weak – and that is probably what is more difficult than actually being broke is feeling helpless.
Another challenge was that I didn’t think that I was good enough. I think that is a lie that everyone tells themselves. Everyone is good enough to provide some level of service no matter where we are on the
expert curve.
3. And how did you work through these challenges?
It wasn’t an accident that I ended up in this situation where I was broke. I put myself there knowingly. I had tried to start businesses on the side for years, but because I didn’t NEED them to succeed, they didn’t. When I quit my job and had no other options, I knew that I was either going to have to make it, or else. I knew that if I had a life preserver that I would get desperate and grab onto it so I jumped in without one.
I knew that I, like most people, had a habit of justifying ways of not pushing forward when things got tough. That might mean saying “I’m tired, I think I’ll go watch something mindless on TV just to unwind and let my brain relax.” I didn’t want to give myself any excuses not to be 100% focused. I got rid of TV for 2 years and only read books or occasionally watched movies. I was vigilant about only putting information into my mind that I thought would benefit me on my quest to become successful. That may be a little extreme, but I put myself into an extreme situation and I decided to take extreme measures.
4. What is the best part of being an entrepreneur for you?
The best part about being an entrepreneur is that you can see so many more possibilities in business and in life. Suddenly, anything really is possible. When I was working the 9-5, I had heard that this was possible and wanted it to be true, but I never felt that. It’s like there is this invisible dimension right next to us that you cannot see unless you are in the right mindset.
5. Any advice for people who dream to have their own business and yet find it hard to make the leap?
Really, you just have to do it. You have to stop thinking that you’re insignificant and that you can’t possibly make a difference because you can. Someone needs exactly what you have to offer. You need to go for it even if your competitors are more established. You need to go for it even if you’re not an expert yet. A little bit of action over a long period of time ends up to be something quite significant.
My Takeaway
Thank you, Christine. I am so impressed with her focus on success. Becoming an entrepreneur does involve risks and it is scary – we need to focus on moving forward despite the fear. It is also intriguing that she points out the sense of new possibilities as the #1 reward of entrepreneurship. We can make money in so many ways, but the spiritual awakening is priceless.
Enjoyed this interview? Read on to the next interview here.
If you like this article, you might enjoy my eBook on spiritual entrepreneurship. Click here for free, immediate download
