If you have done any extensive reading on Benjamin Franklin you will realize, all the more, how much of a genius this man was.  An entrepreneur, writer, printer, scientist, inventor and the later part of his life a statesman.  He was one of the only signers of both the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of the United States.  It’s easy to look BACK in history and think with all of his talent, his success came to him easily but you will soon learn of him that even geniuses must follow the laws of success, one day at a time.

The following expert is from a book called ‘Launching A Leadership Revolution’ by Chris Brady and Orrin Woodward, which is excellent for anyone who wants to improve themselves to have positive influence over others.

…There is a story Franklin himself tells in his autobiography about his troubles with relating to people as a young man.  A confidant took him aside one day and was both bold and kind enough to share the truth with Franklin that people didn’t like him.  Although he was amazingly brilliant, nobody cared.  They couldn’t stand to be around him.  He was too argumentative and opinionated.  His informer even told him that people would see Franklin approaching on the street and cross the road so as to avoid any contact with him.     Franklin was devastated.  But his reaction to the cold hard truth was perhaps one of the most important components in his meteoric success.  As a young man, he decided to do something about it.
 First, Franklin began tempering his statements to people so as not to offend.  He worked hard to become less dogmatic in his choices of words and tones of voice.  Then, a few years later, while sailing from England back to the colonies, he undertook “the bold and arduous Project of arriving at moral Perfection,” commenting that “I was surprised to find myself so much fuller of faults than I had imagined.”  So Benjamin Franklin deliberately set out upon a program of personal growth.  He selected thirteen virtues he felt worthy of his attention and organized a demanding schedule of improvement and tracking.  He would work on one virtue for four weeks at a time, recording his progress or lack thereof, then move on to the next virtue, repeating the cycle over and over throughout several years.  Regarding his faults that had surprised him so much, he “had the satisfaction of seeing them diminish.”  As an old man he would say about his little project, “But on the whole, though I never arrived at the Perfection I had been so ambitious of obtaining, but fell far short of it, yet I was by the Endeavor made a better and a happier man than I otherwise should have been, if I had not attempted it; as those who aim at perfect writing by imitating the engraved copies, though they never reach the wished for excellence of those copies, their hand is mended by the endeavor, and is tolerable while it continues fair and legible.”

Not just another idea out of the sky! Ben put daily effort into his success!

Franklin’s thirteen virtues were as follows. 
1. Temperance
2. Silence
3. Order
4. Resolution
5. Frugality
6. Industry
7. Sincerity
8. Justice
9. Moderation
10. Cleanliness
11. Tranquility
12. Chastity
13. Humility

He would focus on one virtue each week for 13 weeks then begin the process again working on each virtue four times each year.  I encourage you all to DO things with specific intent just like one of our founding fathers!  Imagine if he would NOT have undertaken this task of improving himself.  Would the course of history have been changed?

Happy Independence Day!

 
Tim Schmidt

“I’ve missed more than nine thousand shots in my career.  I’ve lost three hundred games.  Twenty-six times I’ve been trusted to take the winning shot and missed.  I’ve failed over and over again in my life.  And that is why I succeed.”  - Michael Jordan

• For most people, simply getting started on the road to wealth is the hardest part.  At least that’s what we tell ourselves right?  I like what Felix Dennis says, “Once begun-the job’s half done.”  Once begun…so why don’t we begin?  In ‘How To Get Rich’ Felix says;
  “If young and relatively penniless, many will argue their lack of experience and capital (especially capital!) dooms them to decades of wage slavery.
• If slightly better off and on the way up with a halfway decent job and perhaps the probability of further advancement, the problem is often considered to be the loss of what they have already achieved.  Plus the lack of capital.
• By the time one is a senior manager or professional, probably with a decent house, a mortgage and children, it is the risk to the security and happiness of the latter (and maybe to a spouse), plus the usual lack of capital, which are most often cited as insuperable difficulties to taking the plunge.”

I had the honor this past March to speak at Yanik Silver’s Underground 5 Seminar and I was very humbled by the amount of people that came up to talk to me about their ideas the rest of that weekend.  Many of the ideas were good!  Heck, many of the ideas were AWESOME and I wanted to tell them, ‘If you’re not going to implement that I want to!’  But talking to these aspiring entrepreneurs I noticed one thing and I’d be willing to bet money that at least 80% of the people who had these awesome ideas will NEVER do anything about them.  Why?  Personally I think its lack of confidence in themselves and their abilities.  And that leads to fear of failure.

So now we know what it is that holds us back, what can we do about it?  Like Felix says, take that first step.  Take it on faith and the second step will be easier.  Like Michael Jordan says, think of every failure as a stepping stone.  Everyone fails…its what you do with that failure that counts.

All the best!

 
Tim Schmidt

Have you ever worked for a micromanager?  Annoying isn’t it!!!  In my opinion, there is nothing worse than someone constantly checking over your shoulder to make sure you are getting something done.  I hated when people did that to me, and I don’t do it to my employee’s.  So now you’re thinking… “Tim, how do you know when they are getting work done?”  Well, actually most of my employees live out of state which means that for me to know they are getting the work done; they have to PROVE it to me on a weekly basis!  It’s really a win-win situation.  They get to work at home, and I get responsible, self-motivated employees.  

I was recently reading out of this book called “A Leaders Legacy” by Kouzes & Posner and chapter 10 was actually all about this subject of giving the responsibility back to the employee.  Samta Bansal says “What worked best for me was the freedom and power I gave to my team; the trust and confidence I showed in them.  It increased their commitment level to the project.”  Kind of counterintuitive isn’t it?  She goes on later to say “The concept of giving away power was NOT in my comfort zone.  But what I learned doing it was a great humbling experience.  Once I consciously started to create a climate of trust and started GIVING independence to my team, the sense of responsibility and accountability increased.  People started to own the tasks instead of considering it a team liability.”

Heck, I think she just hit the nail on the head.  I’ve seen this happen numerous times with all of my employees (heck, my kids too!).  Giving away power is out of ALL our comfort zones!  I mean, do we let just anyone drive our cars?  Or watch our kids?  No.  But, empowering others is the BEST thing we can do for them.  Give them the responsibility, and then recognize them for their efforts.  Everyone from the grocery clerk to the ‘big-wig’ president of a company wants to be recognized for the good they do.  Don’t ever underestimate edification.

Take the leap of faith and let go! The only person you can control is yourself.

All the best!

 
Tim Schmidt