Are you ‘playing big and living large’ in your business? Or are you in a nice little comfortable place and quite enjoying it? Do you even want to play big or bigger?

For the most part, people fascinate me. It’s probably why I love what I do as much as I do. I love the brainstorming, I love the fire and determination, and I love the honesty I have with my clients. On one hand, I see a desire and willingness to move up and out in the world, and then sometimes I see a reticence to take the necessary action steps. That feeling of ’should I? or shouldn’t I?’ that every entrepreneur goes through intrigues me as I get to watch it, coach people through it and experience it myself.

I always remember the words of one of my earliest mentors, T. Harv Eker, as he leaned over at the end of a retreat and whispered in my ear, “Talk is cheap’. Those words have stuck in my own life.

How’s your 2007 so far? Did you do your business planning for this year? Are your resolutions to lose weight, make more money, have more fun, or grow your business already forgotten? Where are you in your stage of growing personally and professionally?

I smile when entrepreneurs, clamoring for more success in their business, phone me and tell me they want to earn $100,000 plus this year. They expect to command top dollar as a coach, a speaker or author. Does that sound like you? My thought usually is: Great! How do you plan to do that? With nary a plan on paper, not a solid marketing idea in their head, many just believe they will manifest it. I think that the movie, The Secret may only fuel this mistaken belief that just hoping and wishing for miracles is enough.

If you haven’t watched The Secret, you really should. It’s an amazing movie and what a fascinating marketing lesson to be learned. I almost enjoyed that aspect more than the movie! However, with The Law of Attraction, which the movie teaches, there is more to it than is alluded to in the 90 minute script. I had the privilege of spending some time with Bill Harris and James Ray, two of the movie’s interviewees late last year. They both commented that what The Secret didn’t tell you is that you need to put your rear in gear. You state what you want, you focus with an intention that is almost dizzying in its intensity, you do what it takes, and then you wait.

I regularly get mailings in from Bill Harris promoting his Holosync program. He’s working his business. James Ray is constantly putting on programs, traveling the world, teaching and growing his business. Michael Beckwith, another interviewee actively runs one of the largest New Thought churches in the U.S. I listened to Jack Canfield the other day and he is busy promoting his Success Principles project with Janet Switzer. Bob Proctor is apparently working on a whole marketing leg to The Secret.

Mmm, is there a lesson here? I think so! Not one of them is waiting for the next million dollars to just fall into their lap! Now their growing wealth may be happening as they spend time with their families, travel the world and have a vacation this year. But it is ONLY happening because they have put the systems in place, done the work and unreservedly believe that they deserve the wealth! (And to come to that belief took some work too, no doubt!)

My new book, Devil with a Briefcase: 101 Success Secrets for the Spiritual Entrepreneur will be released in March. I am excited about the project and the potential for the book. However, one thing I am even clearer on than ever before is that becoming an author is NO ticket to success! Writing the book is a passion, publishing and marketing the book is a business. I now completely understand why the vast majority of the almost 200,000 authors that will release a book this year will NEVER sell more than 3,000 books. It is quite frankly WAY TOO MUCH WORK!

As I discussed the location of the page numbers in the book, whether or not to use drop caps, what size of font with my formatter, went over every illustration with my illustrators numerous times catching every detail, got testimonials for the book, decided on size, paper weight and number of copies to print with my printer, I have been almost overwhelmed with the number of details. This is a major undertaking. At one point, I sat in bed and thought: Do I really want to eat, breathe, sleep and live with this book for the next 3 years? Am I willing to do whatever it takes to take this book to the level of success I envision? After much contemplation, I decided YES! But I did not take that decision lightly. It is a huge financial investment and an even larger time investment.

As I work with entrepreneurs, I have noticed that very few of them truly understand the marketing funnel. One person asked me if I was writing the book to get more coaching clients! Absolutely not! It would be purely ludicrous on my part to spend this kind of time and money to further a coaching business that is all about trading time for dollars. But she doesn’t fully understand the marketing funnel. Do you understand it in your business?

For example, a book is a lead generator. Nothing more. Devil with a Briefcase will not make me rich. Jay Conrad Levinson, author of Guerrilla Marketing, says that his book made him $10 million. $35,000 came from the sale of the book; the other $9,965,000 came from the information/media empire that he built around the book. It is building that information/media empire that made him the money. That takes time, money, knowledge, expertise, effort and patience. Do you have that kind of stamina, determination and desire to build your empire? Do you even want to?

There is nothing wrong with saying, ‘I don’t want an empire. I don’t want to be that busy. I don’t want to do that much work.’ To be honest, I wish more people would say it! I get excited when people actually stop thinking that they need to be swept along in the mass consciousness believing that everyone needs to be a millionaire to be happy! I love when people start to realize their own values and priorities and then act in HARMONY with what is truly important to them. Who gives a damn what everybody else is doing. What do YOU really want out of business? Decide, get fully focused and then go for it. Hang on to that dream as if your life depended on it. If you decide that you don’t have that kind of fire and passion for your business or for wealth, then live with that decision too.

But stop pretending that you do have a desire that you honestly don’t - it will take a huge weight off of your shoulders when you let that go!

Kahlil Gibran wrote in his book The Prophet published in 1923, “The lust for comfort murders the passion of the soul. And then walks grinning in the funeral.” The lure of staying small, the safety of playing within your comfort zone, the fear of taking a risk, murders the passion that your soul has to fully express itself in this lifetime. You and you alone can decide the price you are willing to pay for the life you say you want to have. Know that there are consequences to pay for staying small as there are for playing big. Which will you choose? That’s the most exciting question of the day!

With love and light,

Jan

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