Posts Tagged time management
Will You Do Whatever It Takes?
One of the questions that I get often has to relate in one way shape or form to how did you become so successful without going to college. Really I think it’s a pretty silly question because if you look at some of the most successful entrepreneurs including Bill Gates (Founded Microsoft & now the richest person in the world), Sir Richard Branson (Virgin Airlines, Virgin Atlantic and about 50 other businesses) just to name a few; they don’t have a 4 year degree. Today it’s more like a 5, 6 or more year degree. With all of the talk coming out of Washington D.C. I think even more students will find excuses to become “life long” students racking up tens of thousands (some hundreds of thousands) of dollars in student loans, yet if you ask them what they are going to do many respond with a puzzled look on their face.
I truly believe in ongoing education, however it needs to be something that you have a passion for. You have to really want to become a master at what you are trying to accomplish. I reinvest lots of time, energy and money in acquiring new information, new tools, new contacts and finding short cuts to success each and every month.
One of the biggest reasons I believe that many people don’t succeed is they don’t have any written goals either. I believe that if you have written goals of what you want in your life personally and professionally you can get whatever you want. If you ask your friends or family members if they had a written goal for their personal life I’d bet a thousand dollars that less than 3 of 10 will have them. How can I be so sure? Most surveys will show that only 3 – 5 % of Americans actually have written goals. Did you know that only 2% of American really gets wealthy? Maybe this is just a coincidence, but probably not! Goals motivate you to move mountains. I recommend you share your goals with your friends and family members out loud. Don’t keep them hidden…now you have pressure to perform.
Let me share my most recent personal goals with you…
Recently I committed to running the Miami 1/2 Marathon as a fundraiser for the Olivia Davis Foundation that I founded for a friend in need at the time. Now we are helping other children and families that have been affected by a debilitating disease. These families crushed by medical expenses and the pure emotional stress that comes along with it. I hadn’t run a single mile for over 10 years before committing to this.
Step 1 – Told a bunch of friends and family members
Step 2 – Told a 1/2 Million Families online about the attempt. These are families that joined our Kids Bowl Free program. We’re actually going to allow families to train with us online. It should be fun.
Step 3 – Started running on the treadmill at the YMCA
Step 4 – Started asking questions at General Nutrition Centers (GNC) and got on a vitamin and protein shake plan to build muscle and stamina. Went to the running specialty store and got some tips on training from some guys who’ve done this before. They sold me some socks that keep your feet from blistering and help your feet breathe. They also sold me some “racing” shoes.
Step 5 – Kind of on accident the Barista at the Starbucks told me that she was a personal trainer after I had told her about the Marathon. Now I have a personal trainer working on helping me lift weights, etc.
Step 6 – Complete the race and raise a whole bunch of money for The Olivia Davis Foundation. (Click Here To Help Out)
See if I would have just said it sounds like a good idea to run the 1/2 marathon I’d probably not have gotten this far. I’m now 30 days from the race and up to 6 Miles in under an hour on the treadmill. My goal was to complete the 13.1 Miles in under 2.5 hours before I started training. I now think I may get their.
Are you willing to tell the world your dreams, take action to reach your goals and then repeat this process? This really is the formula for success. There are lots of talking heads out there telling you what to do…but do they really do what they say they do…ur Tiger Woods! It’s my philosophy that if you set a goal, write it down and then tell a lot of people about it you will do whatever it legally takes to reach that goal.
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Mom I Finally Went To Class
Last Monday one of my friends and business partners that teaches entrepreneurship at UW Whitewater invited me to speak and share my success strategies with his students. It was my FIRST time inside the four walls of a college classroom. I was a horrible class room student in high school, and had very little ambition to study for four more years. I did attend a local tech school for a semester…but I don’t think it would really qualify as a semester.
Al (my professor friend) wanted me to share my entrepreneurship story with his class and then some of my systems for getting things done with his class. Even though I was a horrible student in the class room I consider my self an avid learner. I just took a speed reading course to help me increase the amount of information I am able to sift through to find useful information to help me grow my own businesses and also my clients businesses.
I shared with the class my entire story starting by picking up trash in the parking lot of our family bowling center for quarters to play video games, my DJ business that was started with a set of home speakers and a bunch of borrowed CD’s, my rise from bartender to partner in a 60 lane bowling center and now my explosive growth in my online marketing businesses. All done with no formal education, but probably a HELL of alot more real life experiences, a real passion for business, my personal search for information that helps me grow each of my businesses and a system for managing myself to get things done.
In every new venture I am constantly making mistakes by moving forward FAST. Never getting disturbed or sidetracked with small fires. In fact I look to start fires to move my businesses forward. So many business owners are waiting to get everything perfect…I’ve got news for them…It should never be perfect. It’s a constant battle to make improvements, challenge your self to get your product to the next level. However most business owners are paralyzed trying to make small decisions because they might offend someone, they might upset their staff, etc. My philosophy is to disturb some everyday including my employees. Challenging them to say yes we’ll figure out how to do it instead of coming up with excuses as to why we can’t do it. I encourage my team to push the envelope and challenge me too.
The class had a whole bunch of questions. I’ll share just a few with you.
#1 – What are your 3 favorite books.
- The New Psycho-Cyberntics (Dr. Maxwell Maltz / Dan Kennedy)
- NO BS Time Management (Dan Kennedy)
- Think & Grow Rich (Napoleon Hill)
I have quite a few more but these have probably been the most influential and life changing.
#2 – How do you get so much done and do you ever have fun?
This was a bit of a loaded question as they probed me looking for the excuse for success. Geez look he’s working all the time and never has any fun. Actually I do work ALOT. But I work pretty smart. My entire day is scripted. I take no incoming telephone calls from prospects. All calls are scheduled. Client phone calls are taken at specific times of the day, and most by appointment. I also do alot of group selling instead of 1 on 1.
I do manage to have some fun over the last year: A trip to Disney World for my daughter’s birthday, two trips to Miami Beach, a number of Milwaukee Brewer games, Las Vegas, Tucson, and a few others. So yes I work ALOT, but still have FUN too!
Here are a few comments from the students:
Darin’s Story of Hard Work and Dedication
Meeting with Darin was a pleasure as he had a great story about hard work and success. I loved learning little tid bits that could be utilized with any aspiring business man or woman. Hearing about this different projects and the various events he has attended was a great way to actually see his skills and success first hand. I would recommend allowing him to visit your school to talk to aspiring entrepreneurs about the many opportunities for victory in business.
Alicia Lowe, Whitewater, WI
Darin Spindler is very insightful, knows what he is talking about. Real life stories made me motivated to go get work done so I can become successful. He shows that it isn’t the amount of time but the quality of time you put into the business.Garrett Lutzow, New Berlin, Wisconsin
Darin’s presentation was very insightful. It made me realize that true success is the result of hard work and ambition. His presentation was also motivating for me. Nothing is impossible if enough effort and time is put into it. It would be great if he could come back again and share more of his ideas and stories of being an entrepreneur.
Alex Moores, Whitewater, WI
Darin brought tons of real-world marketing concepts to the classroom that you just can’t learn in books. It was great to learn some of what it really takes to be an effective marketer. Darin even gave us some helpful tips on how to work more efficiently.
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