The Entrepreneurial Savant

My friend Paul Nunes, an attorney and a musician, gave this secret to me. He says that if their offer is legitimate you’ll make them happy by accepting and if its not, then they deserve to get called on their insincerity.
Gifts are often the result of prior actions and a gift will come when you least expect it and most need it, if you’ve laid the groundwork. Gifts can be many things besides a package wrapped in shiny paper. They may be an offer of help, information or experience, they may be money or physical labor. They may be the gift of time or a sympathetic ear. One of the important parts of Paul’s secret is the phrase, ‘and you want it’. A gift you don’t want or need may be destined for someone else. Who knows?

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Are you stuck or blocked? Unable to go beyond a certain point with a project or relationship? (Sounds like an ad for an over-the-counter remedy doesn’t it?) Sometimes when things aren’t getting off the ground it’s because they’re not ready to. Letting your ideas simmer means putting them on the backburner and forgetting about them for a while. Let your unconscious do the work, assembling resources and facts and making decisions for you. The solution, if there is one, will present itself at an unexpected moment, often an opportune one.

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Throughout our lives there are certain persons who serve as pivot points, making it easier to achieve goals, make changes and find the resources we need to accomplish things. These Key People may be teachers, family members, friends, business connections or anyone else who takes an interest in who and what you are and who want to help you along. Very often Key People move in the background, affecting the lives of many others, seeing and making the connections that move us ahead in life. Finding and recognizing the Key People in your life is a necessary skill for achieving personal and professional success.
The first place to look for these mentors is in your past. Who has helped at times when you were stuck, frustrated or in trouble? Have you ever gone back and thanked them from the perspective of time and experience? Reestablishing and maintaining contact is important to finding and working with your Key People.

Look for Key People in the lives of others:

• Does a friend have a boss who takes an active interest in his or her advancement?
• Does a classmate always talk about a certain teacher who is so much more effective than the run of the mill?
• Are someone else’s parents always hosting their kids friends all the way into adulthood?
• Is there a person who seems to always know where to find a resource or how to go about solving a problem?
• Is there a person or persons you know who always are willing to make introductions and set up contacts between people with diverse skills and backgrounds?

These Key People are to be found in everyone’s lives- although many of us may have ignored their presence or resisted their attempts to help. By cultivating and maintaining mutually beneficial relationships with those people you will help to build a very effective team to aid in your route to success.
Put together a business contact list and keep the people on it up to date with what you are doing. Use the list to send out copies of things you’ve read or benefited from to others on the list. Make introductions when you meet people who can act as resources to each other. Eventually you’ll find yourself being regarded as a Key Person in their lives, a real measure of personal success.

Then take it to the next level and start actively making connections for the benefit of others.

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Mention the word ‘research’ and everyone’s eyes roll back into their heads. It conjures up visions of endless Google searches or copying text out of a wikipedia entry. Researching something that can change your life can turn this drudgery into a fascinating task. I’m always amazed how many people start off on complex ventures without doing any research. Perhaps they think that they can learn as they go along. That’s fine, but why go through the painfully boring process of making endless mistakes when there is a wealth of human experience available to help you take giant steps past the competition?

“I don’t know where to start.”
Fortunately there are easy answers to this common complaint about researching things. Research is a process of unfolding. Each fact leads to another group of facts. As you gain in knowledge, you choose which path or paths to take and when to stop. There are several ways to start. The children’s section of the library is a great place to get basic information on a subject. Good children’s non-fiction distills the essential answers down to their most important aspects. A children’s book on a particular subject gives you a basic knowledge of that subject.
Another place to start is the search engines. Look for data sources around your subject matter such as lists of industrial categories, associations, newsletters and periodicals on a subject, databases available, etc. They can point you to experts and provide you with a view of how big the universe surrounding your interest is. (great for networking and business planning). Books and periodicals usually have notes and resources listed in the back matter.
All of these sources are what is known as secondary research sources. Primary sources are the experiments and people whose experiences generated the published info. Most of us will do most of our research from secondary resources, leaving the really esoteric knowledge to the experts. However, doing the secondary research now means that when you can talk to a primary source you’ll know what questions to ask to get the highest value out of your opportunity. And, eventually, your expertise will turn you into one of these primary sources.
Even a little research can help you avoid major pitfalls on your path. You’ll still fall into a few pits but you’ll have the tools required to pull yourself out.

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We live in a world where it is increasingly unacceptable behavior to rock the boat. Legions of well meaning people in all walks of life spend a good part of their working life avoiding controversy, staying away from potentially damaging decision making and generally covering their collective rear ends. That’s my opinion. Is it based in fact and logic? On some levels, yes and on others it represents an intuitive summing up of a particular set of ideas. Having and expressing opinions serves several purposes. An opinion is an idea that you have put together out of your life experience. As such it is interesting as a glimpse into your character and it shows that you have ideas and are willing and able to express them. Taking a stance also forces you to defend your ideas and determine whether they stand up to scrutiny. Finally, people respect others who are willing to take a reasonable stand and defend it against its detractors. It shows character.
The downside of being opinionated is when you refuse to consider the opinions of others or when you are parroting something you have heard elsewhere without understanding the thought behind it. Another important lesson about having opinions leads us to Secret # 12: Admit When You’re Wrong (next post).

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One great definition of an expert goes like this: If you read about a recent development in the daily paper and you are already aware of it you are probably an expert on the subject. Why be an expert? Because specialized knowledge is worth paying for and because deep involvement in any subject expands your mind in many ways. Most of us are experts in something. Hobbyists, cooks, gamers, musicians, romance novel readers, etc., all have the potential to be experts.
What does expertise mean for success? Many, many businesses have started because of specialized knowledge. In fact, if you are considering starting a business the most common advice you’ll get (from the experts!) is to do something you are an expert at. Look at how many gamers become game developers. It happens because they have a basic understanding of what makes interactivity work and how far it can be carried. They’re at the cutting edge (another definition of expertise). Many hobbyists have made small fortunes out of their expertise by starting websites, designing specialized components or writing books about their specialty.
Being an expert isn’t really about money though. It’s about being really fascinated by a subject. And many people are fascinated by experts. They pay to hear them speak or seek out their opinions. This is great for your self-esteem. And good self-esteem is a part of leading a successful life.

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