Zach got diagnosed with a rare form of cancer. His story will teach you to live, now.

Zach’s song, ‘Clouds’

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Portia (my eldest daughter) got some strange spots come out all over her body. As a first time parent you think that everything is going to kill your child. Your biggest day to day fear is that they have stopped breathing or something is wrong. Thus you live in a world of permanent anxiety. I would wake up at night and check that she was still breathing at least 3 to 4 times a night.

We decided that we should take her to the doctor. We walked into his office and we showed him the spots. He saw 2 super anxious new parents and he gave us some personal advice.

He asked us the following questions:

1. Is she eating?
2. Is she pooping?
3. Is she Sleeping?

We answered yes to all 3.

He then said, “If something was majorly wrong, all 3 of those things wouldnt be happening.” He then pleasantly told us to leave.

I felt so much relief.

How to cure your own Anxiety

Ask yourself the following questions:

• Are you eating?
• Can you take a Shit?
• Can you Sleep?

If you answered yes to all 3.

Everything is fine.

What you are thinking about is actually just a waste of time.

Get back to doing what you want to do and stop wasting time.

You will look back on what you are going through in 1 years time and laugh. Its going to be a funny joke to yourself all the activities and things you did when you were anxious.

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“Everything you want in life is right at your finger tips. You just have to reach out and get it.”, Jeremy Cabral.

Jeremy wrote an amazing story about this core insight and it has inspired me ever since.

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Normal is the most offensive word in the english language.

Calling someone normal is the dirtiest word I can think of.

Requesting someone to be normal is unforgiveable.

What is normal?

Normal is:

• Woolworths
• Channel 9
• Smh.com.au
• Soft Drinks
• Pizza Hut
• Tooheys New
• Rent
• Credit card debt
• Corn flakes
• Sydney
• Hangovers
• Big tv and small business book library (Big Tv, Small Business.)
• Computer games
• RedTube
• Public schools
• Medicare
• Public hospitals
• PAYG
• 2 holidays a year
• Frequent flyer points
• Economy seating
• Foxtel
• NRL
• Disney
• Fitness first
• Christmas presents
• Fly spray
• Washing detergent
• Petrol prices
• The current big tv series
• Tourist traps
• Souvenirs
• McDonalds
• Mars bars

That is not want you want to choose.

Choose “Different”.

You don’t want to be stuck in a rut and repeat the same things over and over again. Move forward and open up your life to new things, consider these past things as done:

• Get drunk in your 20s because its fun
• Do it still to have fun in your 30s because its easy and helps you forget your dreams.
• Play Computer games to escape your fears and dreams.
• Take the easy route.
• Dream about the future but just piss it away everyday
• Tell yourself can’ts when really you are just making other choices and you can.
• Forget what you chose in your life and put the blame on everything and everyone else but yourself.
• Choose normal and compromise your dreams and emotions so that you are ok with it.

There is another option.

Choose the life you want. Never compromise and never forget until you get it. Persist against all resistance until you get it, then grab on to it with all of your energy and life and never let go. Its not easy and other people are going to pull you back down to where you were, but that is the path to not being “Normal”. That is the path to greatness, so that you can look back in 25 years time and go, I made a Great choice in not going down that path.

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One night, you are out driving in a remote area that is far from the city.  Its an extremely cold and stormy night, with rain and hail coming down.  You pass a bus-stop in the middle of nowhere and notice that there are 3 people huddled together, sheltering under it.  You can only pick 1 of them up in your car, as it is a2 seater.  The region is so remote that calling for help would be futile. The question is…which of the following 3 people would you pick up?

The first person is the love of your life.  If you leave them there, then you are guaranteed to lose your soul-mate and never find true romantic happiness. The second person is a 40-something year old lady who you do not know.  She is bleeding to death, and unless you pick her up – she will surely die (The area is too remote to call an ambulance).The third person is your best friend.  He has saved your life in the past and this could be your one chance to pay him back.

So who do you pick up and Why?

Put your answer in the comments below.

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3 Quotes that I want to keep repeating to myself until they become part of my mix.

1. Do something that scares you, everyday.
2. In the end, its not the years in your life that count, it’s the life in your years.
3. You only live once, but if you do it right, once is enough.

Fire up!

Hat tip Nike!

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I love Dick Smith. I would say he has to be one of the greatest Aussie PR showmen we have had in a long time! He just keeps punching and waving the flag to get attention. I love it.

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If I receive an auto-responder from someone.

I feel embarassed for them.

I see it as saying:

“I turn my work on and off when I feel like it. I am not that committed to the cause. I won’t reply to your email because I dont really care. Work is just something that I do because I have to do it. I would rather be doing the thing in my auto-responder all the time but I dont have the guts to do it and thus I have to pretend to do what you emailed me for.”

Instead of an auto-responder, I suggest you put none. You will reply to your email when you get to it, dont tell me to wait in the queue. Im already in the queue. If you were going to tell me something, just reply to my email instead.

Unless you have left the job, closed down the business or have died I can’t accept an Auto-responder.

As James Ward always says, “Lift. Show form.”

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Inspirational movies have a way of hitting my entrepreneurial bone and it normally causes me to cry. I cry at the parts that show amazing belief in yourself, persistence and sacrifice for your enterprise.

I think when movies show “belief in yourself” it makes me cry the most.

1. Moneyball

• I would have cried at least 12 times in this movie. The strongest part for me, the part that kept pushing me over the edge was Billy’s belief in his team. He put absolutely everything into it. It has caused me to commit much more to my crew at a whole new level. I aspire to believe like Billy.
• Belief in himself; Billy had so much adversity from people around him. But he just kept believing in himself.
• Belief in his cause; At the end of the movie I thought he was going to go on and be the big coach. He didn’t go on to take the big job, instead he stuck with the smaller team and in his belief. The sad part for me was that others just copied him, like all good businesses do.

2. The Pursuit of Happyness

• This one hits the persistence bell for me. When he gets a small glimmer of hope in his job and a little leg up, it sent me over the edge. I remember in my first business the extreme struggle and the relief when you got a small win. You could explain it to someone else, but no one else would feel how you felt about the moment.

3. Babe

• I see the farmer as an entrepreneur. His untold belief in himself caused me to be a crying mess while my daughter watched with me, confused at what I was doing.
• The farmer had a belief. He backed himself. And sacrificed everything to back it.
• When he stands still while the crowd laughs at him and then the pig suddenly starts moving the sheep was the moment the tears flowed…

4. Jerry Maguire

• Sacrifice and belief in himself sent me over the edge in this movie.
• When he is drunk, beat up and basically tells her he loves her and she says “you had me at..”.. sold me.
• I think I have been drunk, down and beat up emotionally countless times but kept pitching and trying to get what I believed in. Sometimes greatness comes from those moments. Keep punching!

5. Million Dollar Baby

• This movie made me cry at least 5 times. Its pure persistence, belief in your team and sacrifice.
• The raw persistance of the boxer herself connected deeply with me as I see new crew members at Finder.com.au work hard, struggle and rise up to greatness. Her raw belief in her coach and how much she valued the smallest opportunities she had, sent me over the edge.
• Countless times the thoughts and emotions of the struggling boxing coach connected with me. I have a crew of young guns and I try to pour everything I can into them. They might not know it but every time they do something amazing it touches me. Sometimes, I have to leave the room.

What are your favourite entrepreneurial movies? Share them in the comments below.

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Invest in both.

Hat Tip to Rand.

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