I recently took a day off to read this book just after the UPS delivery man arrived. It has been a while since I sat down and read a book in a day.

But with Crush It, I found myself not being able to put it down and by the end of the day I had it read (it has 142 pages). When I skimmed through the reviews on amazon, I found that I was not the only one who read it in one sitting.

If you are looking for a “paint by numbers” book on how to build a business, Crush It will not work for you. But if you are looking for “a shot in the arm” (as Chris Brogan puts it in his video review) then this is a must read.

In a nutshell, Gary’s formula for success is:

• Love your family.
• Work super hard.
• Live your passion.

A brief concise formula yet packed with powerful wisdom.

Love your family
All too many business ventures have been successful at the cost of family relationships. Is that worth it?

Is achieving success in business really success if it has cost a break in family relationships? I don’t think so. Putting family first is a very wise priority. I am certainly glad to see that, especially after working with so many stressed families during my years in Mexico.

The last chapter of the book is entitled “Legacy or Currency”. That speaks for itself right? A business that is built on making a difference in people’s lives and leaving a legacy will succeed.

If you notice what is happening around you, so many of the businesses that are going down were focused on making money. Wrong focus for a successful business.

Work Super Hard
How many times in a day do you receive an email offering you a “business” that is “easy”, “push button” or “instant”? If you are like me, you have an inbox full of them. They get instantly deleted

But the reality is that a REAL business takes time and hard work to build. Anything “overnight” is simply the result of years or at least months of hard work behind the scenes that suddenly brought fruit.

Live Your Passion
This is the way every area of our lives should be. Life should be an adventure, and work is a part of life.

In fact when you are having fun, hard work does not seem hard. Long marathons are not noticed. It is all fun, at least that is my own experience (and my secret to a successful 25 years on the mission field).

There is no doubt that Gary is living his passion, and if you receive nothing else but the challenge to find your own passion and live it after reading “Crush It”, it will be worth your time.

Now I am about to get into “Trust Agents”, so look for my comments on this one soon

P.S. The links on this post are affiliate links. You are of course free to purchase this book from your favorite source.

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What exactly is a setback?
According to the dictionary a setback is “an unfortunate happening that hinders of impedes; something that is thwarting or frustrating”. Sound familiar?

Everyone experiences setbacks in life. Some folk take these setbacks as an excuse to fail and others take them as a challenge to win.

So the real question is: what do you do with the setbacks that cross your path?

One of the things that really inspires me to keep going is to look at the lives of those who have succeeded.

Can you guess who faced the following setbacks? (The answers are in the video below).

Dismissed from drama school with a note that read – “wasting your time, she’s too shy” Who was it?

Turned down by the Decca recording company who said “we don’t like their sound and guitar music is on the way out”. Who was it?

A failed soldier, farmer and real estate agent at 38 years old he went to work for his father as a handiman. Who was it?

Cut from the high school basketball team he went home and cried. Who was it?

A teacher told him he was too stupid to learn anything and he should go into a field where he might succeed by virtue of his pleasant personality. Who was it?

Fired from a newspaper because he lacked imagination and had no original ideas. Who was it?

His fiance died. He failed in business twice, he had a nervous breakdown and he was defeated in 8 elections. Who was it?

Now what is your story? I know you have one. I would love to hear it.

Video by http://www.bluefishtv.com

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It will take some deliberate action daily starting today. Are you ready?

What words do you speak or think, that you need to change to ensure success in your life?

For example:
Let’s suppose you meet some difficult tasks with the thought: “I can’t do that”. You might even speak these words.

This difficult task you are facing may well take you out of your comfort zone.

• It might make you think harder.
• It might make you work harder.
• It might you reach higher, beyond your present ability.
• It will probably task you at least one step closer to achieving your goals.

So right now you are looking at a giant, and you are tempted to say “I can’t”.

But you are a champion! So here is what we are going to do.

For the next 30 days, every time you find yourself tempted to say “I can’t”, STOP.

Remember – you are a champion! Champions are winners. Champions always aim for success. This means you CAN do it. You just need to discover the HOW (the technique or strategy).

The key is to focus on the HOW (the strategy), not on whether you can or can’t do it.

When you focus on problems or challenges your brain may send negative signals. You respond by speaking negative words. These negative words will always stop the flow of creativity.

When you focus on looking for solutions, your brain will open the the creative rooms of your mind. Positive images, words and thoughts will open up your creativity.

• Deliberately begin to look for creative strategies that will lead you to overcome this impossibility.
• Be diligent to consciously continue this process every day for 30 days.

Let us know your results. I am sure that your experiences will be a great help and inspiration to others.

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So you too can be a hero!

I remember when I first started on the mission field I was told that if you made it for the first five years, then you would actually have a great chance of being a “veteran”. Wow!

Getting over the first hump is the most difficult:
Yes, it is true, the highest dropout time is during the first five years. Once you make it over that hump, you practically become a veteran by default.

Of course there is still a long journey ahead but because you found strength to persevere and endure in spite of overwhelming obstacles, the next stage of the journey seems so much easier. Now you at least know the language and the culture.

It is really the same in most walks of life. The first part of any new venture is the toughest. If you can endure and persevere during this stage of your journey, you have a great chance of succeeding.

However: it is not enough to simply “arrive”. It also matters how you arrived.
I have noticed that both on the mission field and in the work force there are people who have “made it” for 20-30 years plus. Yet instead of being the triumphant person you would expect them to be, they are so bitter at everything around them. These folk simply learned to cope over the years, they never really overcame. How sad.

Are you coping or overcoming? You can read more about this here. (How to Conquer, Not Just Cope.

Obstacles cannot bend me. Every obstacle yields to effort. Leonardo da Vinci (1452–1519)

Yes it takes effort too.

• Effort
• Perseverance
• Endurance.
• And don’t forget to maintain the winning attitude.

Are you enjoying the journey, despite the effort, perseverance and endurance you need to keep going? Then you have a good chance of arriving ready to enjoy the prize of your efforts.

There is a series of articles about overcoming obstacles over on Mindset for Living – Overcoming Obstacles
I am sure you will find some tips and principles that will help you overcome the hindrances that cross your path.

Yes, YOU too can be a hero – in fact:

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• This common ground is that they all maintain a very positive attitude. They all have a champion mindset.
• They always look for the opportunities when difficulties arise. They recognize that every obstacle is an opportunity to conquer and thus to grow stronger and better.
• They do not focus on the problem, but rather look for the answer.
• They have learned how to conquer every situation and not just cope with it.
• They know how to embrace change as a friend that will lead them to new opportunities.

Your mindset is very important if you are seeking to become successful in any area of your life. You may be seeking to success in business, in your family life, with weightloss, health. It does not matter what area you are focusing on becoming successful in, the most important thing you need is the right mindset. You need to maintain a champion mindset.

You can find a lot more about how to create and maintain a champion mindset by going over to my blog, Mindset for Living – Champion Mindset.

You Too Can Be A Champion!

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On Mindset for Living I wrote an article about how you can set realistic yet life changing goals for 2009. You can find that article right here

A great way to help you keep on track with your goals is to evaluate through keeping a journal. To some keeping a journal may not be very appealing.

The very thought of it may create visions in your mind of tediously writing your life’s story every day. I remember trying to do that as a youth. Every day (for a few days anyway) I would write things like: Today I went to see my grandparents. We played golf in Granddads back yard … etc. That can get “old” and even tedious after a few weeks. At least it did for me.

But no, that is not the kind of journal I am referring to. The purpose of keeping a journal would be:

• Clear and unclutter your mind. Sometimes we cannot think straight because our minds are too full of multitudes of things we are trying to deal with all at once.
• Make decisions. It is much easier to make decisions once we can see the pros and cons in front of us written down in black and white.
• More reasons can be found in My Journal – Why Write Things Down

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There are two new posts over there:

Mindset Why Is It Important?

and

Does Mindset Create Poverty?

We will have Feedburner installed in the new blog in the next 1-2 days, so you can subscribe to the posts and be able to read them with your favorite RSS reader.

Above all keep moving towards your goals in life! Everything you SET your mind to do, you CAN do!

Tags: mindset, domain, name, feedburner, reminder

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Henry Ford is quoted as saying: If you think you can do a thing or think you can’t do a thing, you’re right. This is the very foundation for our success. Everything we do, we either conscious or unconsciously plan it in our minds beforehand, in much more detail than we ever realize.

Thus it is incredibly important to keep the structure of our minds positive

As I mentioned in the previous post, I have been working on an “extreme makeover” of my blog networks, in order to offer you a better set of resources that will challenge and inspire you to succeed in every area of your life.

As a part of this “makeover”, this blog is being transferred over to a new domain, more apt for its purpose:

http://www.mindsetforliving.com

This transfer process is expected to take about 10 days. If you are subscribed to this blog, please resubscribe over at http://www.mindsetforliving.com.

There is a blog dedicated exclusively to your success with your relationships.

I will keep you informed of progress and look forward reading your comments.

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