We saw a great post on BNET a while back. It was by Margaret Heffernan, author of a great book Women on Top. She talked about entrepreneurs and risk.

When writing her book, she conducted a study and found:

• women generally start their businesses with less money
  
• they have a higher success rate
  
• their firms are more profitable
  
• they create more jobs
  

What is their secret?

She notes that “the most successful had taken huge risks.”

What did they have on the line?
Savings? Check.
Houses? Check.
Retirement accounts? Check.

Did they have a product? No.
Customers? No.

Most importantly, she points out that they had no safety net.

This reminds us of something one of our friends once told us.

He started out in the corporate world. He was receiving promotions and pay increases.

So his employer was disappointed when he told them he was going to leave to start his own business. They told him he could come back at any time.

That’s where the story gets interesting. He told us that whenever things got tough, he always remembered what they said.

And it almost kept him from succeeding!

So he mentally threw their offer away. He told himself he had no other options. He had to make it. He had to win. He had to be a BIGG success.

Now he’s a millionaire many times over, in part, because he wouldn’t turn back. He wouldn’t lose. Because he couldn’t afford to.

A safety net can keep you from reaching BIGG success. Do you have a safety net?

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With the Super Bowl coming up this weekend, we’re thinking about winners and losers.

We talked with a two-time Super Bowl champ, Howard Griffith, on the show a while back. You can hear what it takes to be a winner straight from the source!

Listen to this post! Click a player to hear George & Mary-Lynn on The BIGG Success Show Podcast. (Runtime 5:05)


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We’ve all seen them.
They seem destined to succeed.
They look the part.
They have people who believe in them.
People who say they are the next BIGG thing.

But success never comes.
Why do they fail to be a success?
How can you increase your odds of being a BIGG success?

You have to have to will the win.
Almost everyone thinks they have it.
But let’s dive into this a little further.

Do you have a hunger for BIGG success that can’t be satiated?
It’s a force inside you.
It constantly drives you.
It presses you to boldly go to places you’ve never gone before.
It pushes you out on a ledge without a safety net.
Then you’re a winner!

Are you consumed by this desire to succeed in a BIGG way?
You think about it all day, every day – from the minute you wake up because you have to get going, to the time you can’t get to sleep because there’s still so much you want to accomplish.
Then you’re a winner!

Do you have to do it, do you just have to be a BIGG success?
You cannot accept not winning.
You cannot accept some modicum of success.
You need BIGG success!
You need to stand out in the crowd.
You need to get through the noise.
You need to win BIGG!
Nothing less is acceptable.

How do you know if you have this winner’s mindset? Ask yourself two questions.

How do you handle adversity?

When things don’t go your way, when you appear to be losing, what do you do?

Because you have a choice to make.

• Option 1: Beat yourself up
  

  Start a dialog inside your head, or even out loud, about what you don’t know, who you don’t know.
  

  Tell yourself you’re not good enough, you don’t have what it takes to be a success.
  

  Watch the conversation quickly spiral downward. Look at people you know who have succeeded. Get jealous. Tell yourself how easy they have it.
  

  People like them; they don’t like you.
  

  And then just give up. Stop trying. Quit. This is one way you could go. It’s the loser’s way.
  

• Option 2: Double down
  

  But you’re a winner! So when you run into an obstacle, you will double down. You will reach deep within yourself to find a reserve of strength you didn’t even know you had.
  

  You will use this strength to get back up. You will huddle up with key people in your life. You will talk to your coach to see how to adapt.
  

  Then you will run another play. You will keep pushing for the end zone. Play after play, you’ll seek to find your best self. You’ll give everything you have to compete for the BIGG win.
  

The 2^nd question to ask to know if you have the winner’s mind is the second side of the coin.

How do you handle success?

When momentum swings your way, what do you do?

Again you have a choice to make.

• Option 1: Playing not to lose
  

  You can start playing to not lose. This isn’t a conscious decision; it’s a sub-conscious reaction.
  

  You start playing it safe. You stop making the aggressive plays it took to get momentum on your side.
  

  You let fear drive you.
  

  “Oh-my-gosh, I’m doing it! I’m winning! Wow! I had hoped for this, but I wasn’t really expecting it.”
  

  And guess what happens?
  

  Before you know it, you’ve lost the momentum you worked so hard to gain. It’s even harder to get back. You end up losing the game.
  

• Push even harder
  

  But you’re a winner! When success comes your way, you will push even harder.
  

  You have the eye of the tiger, that killer instinct.
  

  You will keep playing aggressively because you know you will win. It’s only a matter a time before you win the game. That’s BIGG success!
  

If you were inspired by today’s show, please share it with your friends and followers.

Thanks so much! Until next time, here’s to your BIGG success!

Direct link to The Bigg Success Show audio file | podcast:
http://traffic.libsyn.com/biggsuccess/00778-020212.mp3

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We watched Arthur a couple of weeks ago – the latest version. The fabulously rich-by-birthright Arthur (Russell Brand) falls in love with Naomi (Greta Gerwig), the working-class girl.

If you’re a regular reader, you may have figured out by now that we’re always on. We’re always thinking about ideas to share with you.

One of the most interesting moments in the movie to us was toward the end. Arthur and Naomi were split up.

But, in spite of himself, Arthur had been good for Naomi just as she was good for him. He encouraged her to pursue her dream of publishing a children’s book.

She did. And it got published.

She was elated until she found out that the publisher had been purchased by Arthur’s family business. He was the force behind her success.

When she learned this, she ran away. Arthur chased after her. Once he caught her, he told her that he thought she was talented.

She said, “I thought other people thought I was talented. I thought I had earned it. And that felt really good. I like earning something. And I know that you don’t know what that feels like, but it’s great. You should try it sometime.”

There is a certain void that comes with money not earned. It’s part of what was missing in Arthur’s life.

It’s part of what’s missing in our society today. Too many people think money is the end.

Money may be the desired result. But it’s empty in and of itself.

Sure, it’s fun to spend it. But the glee is fleeting.

Money attached to accomplishment brings a sense of fulfillment. In the end, the dignity is in the work. The money is just a report card.

You can be rich without earning your money but you won’t feel rich for long.

Do you agree?

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Saturday Night Live recently mocked the entitlement paradigm with a bit called You Can Do Anything. It’s about a talk show where the guests are encouraged to do whatever they think they can do.

No matter how good they are.
No matter if they’ve ever done it before.
It doesn’t matter.
You can do anything!

We agree.
You can do anything.
You may not do it well.
You may fall flat on your face.
You may fail.

With a little practice, you will surely get better at it.
With a lot of practice, you may even achieve some level of success.

But you won’t reach BIGG success. So “You Can Do Anything” is the worst advice you can ever receive.

Listen to this post! Click a player to hear George & Mary-Lynn on The BIGG Success Show. (Runtime 4:48)

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___

I wanted to be an astronaut. But math and science were not strength. My mom said to me, “Math and science are going to be really important if you want to be an astronaut.” That was really important to me. I realized how much work it was going to take for me to be an astronaut.

Look at American Idol. The people who reach the finals, and ultimately win, have spent years honing their craft. They may be young, but most of the time, they’ve been singing for ten or more years.

Now we’re all about positive thinking. But sometimes the best thing you can discover is what you can’t do.

___

I was a decent athlete in a much earlier era of my life. But the problem is I played all sports – football, basketball, baseball. Now, I was never going to be a great basketball player. But I could have been a much better baseball player if I had been forced to focus.

Look at Michael Jordan. In our opinion, he’s the greatest basketball player of all time. He’s also a pretty good golfer. But he tried baseball and didn’t make it.

Which raises the question – will you be content with success?
Or is it BIGG success you’re after?

We can only conclude the latter since you’re here with us.
So you’re a BIGG goal-getter.

Step 1

To reach BIGG success, follow George Costanza’s example. Instead of following the advice we hear all the time – think “can” – do the opposite and think “can’t”.

That’s Step 1: to find your talent.

Sometimes it pays to think about you can’t do. Because you may find it easier to spot your shortcomings than your strengths. But you’re not going to stop there!

Step 2

You’re going to quickly move to Step 2: Think the opposite. You’re not a detail person? Okay. Are you a BIGG picture thinker?

Not good at math? Are you good at English?

This is what you often see. There’s a yin and yang to talent. We tend to naturally fall into categories.

Discovering what you can’t do often helps you discover what you can do. And leads to BIGG success.

Direct link to The Bigg Success Show audio file | podcast:
http://traffic.libsyn.com/biggsuccess/00777-011312.mp3

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We recently saw the movie, How Do You Know. We give it two BIGG thumbs up.

In case you haven’t seen it, Lisa (played by Reese Witherspoon) is a jock. She’s been a softball star her whole life.

However, now she’s struggling to keep up with the younger players. She doesn’t make the cut for the USA softball team.

In trying to find herself, she decides to see a psychiatrist. After all, she reasons, insurance pays for six sessions.

But she’s not comfortable being there. She leaves within minutes. She comes back.

The first two keys

The psychiatrist (played by Tony Shalhoub, one of our all-time favorites) gives her the two key things to life:

Figure out what you want.
Figure out who to ask for it.

We agree with the first one. But we don’t agree with the second. We think it should be:

Figure out how to get it.

“Who to ask” may be part of it, but it will only be a small part. We suspect this advice comes from the old saying, “It’s not what you know; it’s who you know.”

But that doesn’t work anymore (if it ever did). It may get you in the door. But it isn’t enough to close the deal.

You have to be good. You have to execute. You have to get results.

The third key

Which brings us to our third key to the life of your dreams:

Get it.

All the “figuring” in the world won’t do you much good if you don’t take action. Planning is an essential activity. It’s one which many people never give much thought.

Let’s say that a little differently: it’s an activity that unsuccessful people rarely undertake.

The first two keys help you identify the “what” (your life plan) and the “how” (your strategic plan). But they aren’t enough.

Contrary to popular advice, the life of your dream won’t suddenly be bestowed upon you just because you’ve figured out what you want.

You have to go. You have to get it yourself.

Or settle. Settle for what you have know. Settle for where you are now.

The choice is yours!

The fourth key

But we’re not through yet. There’s a fourth key if you want to live the life of your dreams.

Keep getting it.

You will face obstacles. This is the final filter on the path to BIGG success.

Losers quit. But you’re a winner.

You will live your dream life. You will reach BIGG success!

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