Life lessons and note to self:

Information worth sharing:

Com Mirza - I have faced thousands of challenges in life and business that were much greater than my own talent, ability, courage and belief at the time. But by remaining stubborn, creative, and persistent each challenge faced increased me, my life and my businesses in every single way imaginable. Each challenge was the greatest opportunity at that time and place to build on who i really was and what i was really made of. It was the greatest opportunity for me to learn and be taught by life itself. So i suggest if your not facing some tough challenges at the moment to go out and bite off more than you can chew. This may sound like crazy advice, and don't follow it unless your backed by an extreme faith in your ability to conquer and overcome. But if and when you do bite off more than you can chew and you manage to digest it down and stomach it, you will understand how i feel right now........No dreamer even dares to dream without a little faith in his or her ability to accomplish it somehow someway.

Com Mirza

CEO at Mirza Ventures

Tech entrepreneur manage a portfolio of 20+ tech brands, venture capitalist and investor into dozens of tech, mobile, app, gaming companies, CEO lemonadeboymedia social media marketing company, CEO mirza publications, CEO howtobuildadream, Partner Allainet corp. Partner groupin.pk

Best, 

Andy Rodie.

Life lessons and note to self:

Shervin Pishevar - I have a simple philosophy of life- to live it well with positive purpose. It's not just a slogan but a daily way of living that I've stumbled upon through trial and error. I do not dwell on failure nor success; I practice success and failure amensia. I distill the lessons of failure or success and move on. I enjoy both failure and success as I learn from both. They are both learnable events. I embrace struggle and pain as they are part of the path to joy. Immersive joy is a force that shields us from the daily onslaught of events that could lead to negative emotion-inducing events. Positivity denatures the bonds of negative emotions. Love, joy and happiness are sweeping movements within us. To be joyful without negative emotions is a state of blessed bliss. It is truly infectious and fundamentally changes the destiny of daily events. Much like Heisenberg's Uncertainty Principle observing the experiment of life effects life by the very nature of HOW we engage and how we observe. What we control is how we calibrate our emotions- do you find yourself easily effected by events in a negative way? Do you feel anxiety bubbling up in reaction to external events not in your control? Does envy ever cloud your views of the lives of others? Does anger interrupt your daily life? If the answer is yes to these questions then it is time try to stretch beyond the patterns that bind us to negative emotions. Take the next event that makes you feel anxiety, envy or anger and try to squash those emotions with a positivity. Engage the source with a noise-canceling positive outlook. Armed with a positive outlook there is nothing we can't accomplish. It allows you to will your dreams to reality. Let me know how it goes!

Shervin is a Managing Director at Menlo Ventures, a venture capital fund with over $4 billion under management (www.menlovc.com
). Check out his website at http://www.shervin.com/

Best, 

Andy Rodie

The 8 Habits of Highly Productive People

What makes a productive person? Is it the ability to robotically churn out work, hour after hour? Is it the amount of discipline one has? Is it the speed at which one works?

Great post!


The 8 Habits of Highly Productive People

Building Dream teams

A great blog post by one of my mentors, Gurbaksh Chahal.

By Gurbaksh Chahal, Chairman & CEO, RadiumOne

Having been on my third startup, I’ve learned a few things about the “starting up” process. And one thing I’ve realized is that a great product isn’t the secret to success, it’s the team around you that makes it or breaks it.

The first “five” people you hire are critical. Think of these as your navy seals that’ll go into battle with you. They need to have the same drive, ambition, and their interests have to be aligned with you. They have to be in it for the right reasons. If you pick the right “five” – you’ll either succeed with the original idea or pivot to an even greater one.

Once you’ve proven to the marketplace you’ve got a reason to be in market – the next question is how big can you make this? It’s the growth stage. If you get this right – you’ll solve two things. The first thing: The foundation of your company culture. This becomes the DNA – the energy that celebrates all the ups and problem/solves the downs.

Second, it’s about the opportunity. How big can I make this? And you’ll only know the answers to that, when you’ve got the best minds working on the problem. Superman was fiction. But, delegation amongst the right team can bring the superpowers of success at your fingertips. Pick the right first 20 and they’ll take you as far as you can lead them.

In the technology world, people get confused – they feel a business is run by a magical algorithm. Relationships are everything in the life and most importantly in the business world. A successful business is not run by algorithms but by relationships.

I remember reading an article about Marissa Mayer, employee #20 at Google. On her second day at the Company, it had signed a deal to become Netscape’s default search engine. Employees were frantically doing calculations to determine whether they would have enough power to handle the searches that came in. They had about 300 computers at the time and weren’t sure they’d have the capacity. Google told Netscape to send only one of every five queries, but Netscape didn’t listen: It sent Google all its traffic, and Google had to take down its site.

Some can argue that it was the Company’s fault for not being ready. I disagree. No algorithm or product is ever perfect or ever will be. It’s an ongoing iteration. A team’s ability to understand, react, and solve each opportunity defines a Company’s future success. 10 years later from that event, they are still the most valuable Internet Company in the world.

And, that’s enough motivation and a case study for every entrepreneur on building his or her dream team.

Best,

Andy Rodie

Want to get out your comfort zone?

Here's how!!

The more excuses you come up with to avoid doing it, the more important it is to get it done. After all, if it didn't really matter, you wouldn't bother with all the excuses.


Whatever you feel yourself resisting, is what you must find a way to do. Because when you can get past the resistance, what you'll be able to create is great and fulfilling value.


It is much, much easier to give in to the excuses. But then all you'll be left with is regret.


It is much more difficult to do those great and wonderful things you know you're capable of doing. Yet from that difficulty comes
the golden experience of the life you know you are meant to live.


Go ahead and feel the fear, feel the doubt, feel the frustration and discomfort and apprehension. Then, take all that energy and lovingly, joyfully, enthusiastically turn it around.


Step confidently forward in precisely the direction that is most challenging to you. Because in that same direction, you'll also find what is most rewarding to you.


Choose to forego what is easy right now. And deliver yourself into the realm of what is truly great and fulfilling.


Ralph Marston - The Daily Motivator


Best,

Andy Rodie

Knocked off your Tush (4 of 4)

Finishing up our series on what you do when you take one to the kisser, knocking you on your rump… (read part 1, 2, 3)

Here is Point No. 3: Turn obstacles into opportunities. Ask any great achiever who has achieved despite great obstacles, if they could go back and avoid the obstacle, would they, and the answer invariably is “no.” Even our friend Roger (born handicapped with only three fingers, one foot and three toes), if given the opportunity to have perfectly formed arms, legs, hands and feet, would chose to be born the same way he was.

This is true for Lance Armstrong and his battle with cancer. It wasn’t until after he fought and beat cancer that he developed the strength to beat everyone in the world, seven times, in one of the most grueling and punishing sport contests there is—The Tour de France.

Ask the woman heralded as the “fastest women on earth” in the 1960 Olympics, Wilma Rudolph, if she would go back and wish not to have suffered measles, scarlet fever, whooping cough and be born with polio, twisting her left leg so bad that it required a brace. It was BECAUSE of those obstacles that she had to dig up her deeper and greater potential and drive. It required her to work harder, longer and with more determination than any would-be competitor. That character, forged through difficulty, is what created the extraordinary achievements and opportunities she realized. As Albert Mensah said so eloquently to me in a recent interview, “Opportunities are cloaked in obstacles.”

In fact, to take this one step further, I have learned to see obstacles, failure and pain as positive and necessary for growth. I learned this early on from my dad, whose mantra in life was painted in big black block letters on our garage wall, “No Pain, No Gain.”

One of my earliest recollections on this lesson was on the ski slopes. My dad taught me to snow ski when I was 6 years old. By the time I was 8, I was skiing on my own. One time, at the end of a full ski day, I eagerly and proudly announced to my dad, “Dad, I didn’t fall once all day!” My dad replied, “If you didn’t fall, you didn’t get any better.” What? This was the opposite response I was expecting and hoping for. The bewildered look on my face compelled my dad to elaborate, “If you are going to get better, you have to push yourself. If you push yourself, you are going to fall. Falling is part of getting better.”

I owe much of the success I have been able to achieve to my dad and this philosophy. My dad taught me it was not only OK to fail, but it was proof you were improving. I never saw setbacks, obstacles, rejection or even pain as things to avoid; rather, they were improvement markers on the journey toward greatness and should be appreciated, even celebrated. I challenge you to adopt such a philosophy.

Here is point No. 4: It’s not whether you get knocked down (everyone will get knocked down), it’s how fast you get up. We all experience failure, setbacks, disappointments and obstacles. And yes it hurts, and that is okay. We are human. Rejection, failure and letdowns hurt humans. It’s part of the deal.

Now the difference is how long you let it keep you down. Confucius has this to say, “Our greatest glory is not in never falling, but in getting up every time we do.” Here is the evolution I have gone through and recommend for you. What used to bum me out for 2 weeks I eventually whittled down to 2 days. Then I got it down to 2 hours and then 20 minutes. Now when I am knocked down, I give myself about 2 minutes (up to 20 if it’s a doozy) to sulk and then I brush myself off and get ‘back on the horse.’ I also look to replace the experience with something positive. I never allow myself to end the session or day with a defeat. I will keep working until I can gain some kind of victory.

Keep the prize in mind. When faced with a temporary setback, take your eyes off the setback and affix them on the reward, the end zone—the pot of gold at the end of the tumultuous rainbow trail.

So it’s okay to get knocked down; its even good for you—it’s the beginning of growth. And it’s okay that it smarts a bit. And it’s okay to give yourself some recovery time. Now just try and reduce the time it knocks you out.

And get over the idea that life sucks only for you. Everyone goes through both sides of the pendulum swing. We all go through our winters in life. Maybe the best motto you can adopt in overcoming obstacles or temporary setbacks is this, “This too shall pass.” And it will. How fast and how grand life is for you when springtime comes around is entirely up to you and the choice you make when faced with obstacles. To overcome or not to overcome—that’s up to you.


Best,

Andy Rodie

Knocked off your tush (part 3 of 4)

Continuing our series of what you do when life gives you a roundhouse kick in the head and you suddenly end up sprawled out on the canvas… (read part 1 and 2)

Here is point No. 2: Focus on what’s good, right and possible. Stop dwelling on the obstacle.

As Roger Crawford said in our interview together, “Focus on what you CAN do instead of what you CAN’T do.”

Think about it, if you had disfigured limbs from the elbows and knees down and only three fingers… total and three toes total… on only one complete leg, it would be pretty difficult not to think about all that you couldn’t do versus what you could do.

Now look down at your hands and toes. Imagine what you can do, IF… you only focus on what you CAN do, given whatever limitations or obstacles you have, or think you have, instead of repeatedly focusing on all you cannot do. Please take this message to heart… and to your focus. As Roger said, “Problems in life are really possibilities, depending on what we choose to dwell on.”

I also have an important warning to offer you regarding this point:
Be sure the obstacle is not SERVING you.

It could be serving as a convenient excuse as to why you are not doing better or trying harder. Take notice of what you talk about. Do you continually talk about the obstacles you are facing or the positive progress you are making without even a mention of obstacles? Do you relish in lamenting, whining or even joking about the tragicomedy of your day? Or do your stories focus on the comeback, the hopefulness and the victory?

This is a key point: If you like talking about ‘woe is me,’ read more »


Best,

Andy Rodie

Knocked off your tush (part 2 of 4)

Continuing our series on what you do when you get knocked on your keister, let me lay out a four-point plan you can use to overcome any obstacle you will ever face in life—a plan to turn any tragedy or setback into triumph.

Here is No. 1: I interviewed Roger Crawford recently, who was born with a physical handicap that affected all four of his limbs from the elbows down and from the knees down, leaving him with two fingers on his left wrist on one on his right, a partially developed right leg with three toes, and his left leg from the knee down was amputated. But he became a world-class tennis player, recognized by Sports Illustrated as one of the most accomplished athletes in history.

During our interview Roger made this very profound statement: “We are, often times, the one who creates our own handicaps.” Meaning, many times our obstacles are self-induced. Or, even real obstacles continue to have a hold on us because of these mental handicaps. I think we lose proper perspective. So true.

This might help you gain perspective…

A few nights ago my wife was feeling a bit stressed and down about a project that had not gone according to plan. She left the house in a bummed out mood and came back a transformed human being.

I asked her what the heck happened and she told me the story of Jimmy…

Jimmy always has a big giant smile on his face. Jimmy cleans people’s fingernails and toenails for a living. Georgia, curious why this man is always so happy, asked how he grew up. Jimmy explained he was one of nine from a very large Vietnamese family. Jimmy’s father had been loyal to the American military during the Vietnam War. He was ordered to pay restitution, which he was told would be an imprisonment term of 2 1/2 weeks. Three and a half years later, weak, starving and brutalized in what turned out to be a labor camp, his father was released.

With his release, Jimmy’s father was determined to leave Vietnam and take his wife and nine children to the United States. To do so they had to read more »


Best,

Andy Rodie

Knocked off your tush (part 1 of 4)

Great blog form Darren Hardy at success magazine.

If you’ve read this blog for a while, you know I like to point your attention and creative imagination toward what’s positive and what’s possible in the world—to look for and see the abundance, potential and opportunities of life.

And that is a good thing… and a very necessary thing if we want to move our lives in a positive direction and toward that greater abundance.

BUT, what do you do when you get knocked down? And you will. This is LIFE we are talking about. It is not always blue skies, singing birds and pretty rainbows outside. Sometimes it rains, sometimes it even storms and sometimes it even comes with the added drama (and potential pain) of lightening and thunder. What do you do then, Mr. Sunshine?

That is what we are going to address in this four-part series: When you get knocked on your tush in life, how do you get back up so you are not knocked OUT?

The interesting thing is, during the times of strife, struggle and challenge that the true achievers are born. Never mind the analogy of the true birth experience, having to overcome the incredible obstacles involved in literally being born. But after that first trying experience—and the slap of the doctor and your first cry—it is during the other challenges and obstacles of life when achievers are born.

Martin Luther King Jr. put it this way: “The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge.” It is only when we are presented with those challenges that we get to separate ourselves from other men and women.

Imagine this: You are at the very top of your game. Let’s say that game is in one of the most competitive and rivaled fields in the entire world. After decades of painful discipline, sacrifice and relentless commitment, you finally rise to the top, the very top in fact, and then tragedy strikes….

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Best,

Andy Rodie

Lifes ups and downs - Ralph Marston

The victories bring joy, and new opportunities. The defeats bring wisdom, strength, determination... and new opportunities. In this way, life moves continually forward. In each moment, you can build upon whatever has come before.

Sometimes things happen just as you expected they would. And then there are times when nothing goes the way you had it planned. In any event, there is a way to respond triumphantly. There is a way to gain value from it all.

Learn to see the value no matter what outer conditions and circumstances may be concealing it. Know that there is value, and you will find it.

Right now, you are where you are supposed to be. For right now, you are where you can truly make a difference. The ups and downs and ins and outs of life have brought you to this day. And on this day, you can make something beautiful out of it all.

Best,

Andy Rodie

Courage

Where does courage come from? What brings courage to life? Courage is the commitment to do what you know is right. Courage arises when your integrity will not allow any other choice. Courage comes from following a purpose that goes beyond your petty concerns. Because of that, courage gives far-reaching power and consequence to your actions. In the short term, courage can often appear foolish.

In the long run, courage has the power to move the whole world in a positive direction. Courage asks much of you, yet it is not complicated and is always within your reach. Courage is truth put into action. In every moment, courage is there for you to choose. In every moment, courage is the choice that will fulfill the best of who you are.

Listen to your critics and learn what you can from them. But don't let them dissuade you from what you know is best. A bright and shining vision has value only when you have the courage to follow it. When you know that it is the thing to do, then step up and do it. Pay attention to what others have to say, without becoming a slave to their opinions of you. Consider differing and diverse perspectives, while keeping the substance of your most deeply held values intact.

Much of the effort of achievement is in keeping yourself focused. Choose to intentionally make that effort, to maintain that focus, and all the rest will more readily fall into place. Though the world may seem to be against you at times, keep in mind that you are working to make that world a better place. Start to show some progress, and others will soon be buying into your vision. Remember who you are, where you've come from, and the real value of what you have to offer. Then step forward, with renewed courage and commitment, and make it real.

Best,

Andy Rodie

Untapped Value - Ralph Marston

Go a little bit beyond what you know you can do, and you'll discover you can do more. Go a little bit beyond what is comfortable for you, and your horizons will begin to expand.

Get away from the routine, and you'll start to see the world more clearly. Give more than what's expected, and you'll find you can expect more from yourself.

Stretch yourself, and feel yourself becoming more flexible, more capable, more confident and effective. Question yourself, challenge yourself, and become more aware of who you truly are.

Life can move quickly ahead when you decide to move ahead with it. Yet if you persist in standing still, you'll end up falling behind.

There is immense untapped value in your life that is eager to be unleashed. Give a little more, go a little beyond, rise to greater and greater challenges, and you'll bring that untapped value to the surface.

There is far more to you than you know. Let it all come to life

Best,

Andy Rodie