Yesterday, we did a show about the high cost of instant success. We wanted to add a couple of thoughts to that post today.

It’s not wrong

Some people dream of being rich and famous. Other people think it’s wrong – evil even – to wish for fame and fortune.

BIGG success is life on your own terms. There’s no judgment in that definition. Your vision of BIGG success is all yours. Own it.

There’s nothing wrong with wanting fame and fortune except …

It’s misguided

It puts the focus on the wrong thing, the proverbial cart before the horse. Money and celebrity may follow BIGG success. They may be the reward for people who think like an entrepreneur.

Entrepreneurs know that the first value they create won’t accrue to them. They add value to the lives of others. Then they get their reward.

What value are you adding? Who are you helping?

The great separator

Almost everyone longs for a better life. Almost everyone wants to stand out, to be recognized for their unique ability.

However, there’s a great separator. Most people wish for it. They may even long for it.

But they don’t do anything about it.

If you want it, do something about it. Take action.

BIGG success is about entrepreneuring your life. Entrepreneurs start with nothing more than an idea. They leverage the resources at their disposal to turn something small into something BIGG.

You, too, can be an entrepreneur. You, too, can be a BIGG success. And, you never know – fame and fortune may follow.

(Image in today’s post from srbichara)

Some people sing. Some people make fun of the people who sing.

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It makes me think of that time, Mary-Lynn, when you were still in radio and we ended up at Karaoke Night with one of my favorite bands of all time, Cheap Trick.

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Yeah, I had interviewed Rick Nielsen, their lead guitarist, on my show that day. He arranged for backstage passes which was awesome. After the concert, they invited us back to the hotel bar to hang out.

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It just happened to be Karaoke Night. A woman attempted, and I’m being generous here, to sing Pat Benatar’s Hit Me with Your Best Shot. Robin Zander, Cheap Trick’s lead singer, made a face I’ll never forget.

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I kept hoping someone would sing one of their songs, but that never happened. It was still a fun night!

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Enough about karaoke. That’s just one half of the topics for today’s post.

We talk to a lot of people about social media. A lot of people in the bricks-and-mortar world are trying to get it. And like a lot of things that are new, it seems complex.

So let’s see if we can take away some of that complexity by comparing Karaoke Night to social media. We’ll look at three things we need to make a successful Karaoke Night and apply those to social media. It comes down to 3 P’s:

Place

With karaoke, we usually think of a bar or a coffee shop. Someone has to organize it and promote it.

In social media, the place may be a blog or a site like Facebook or Twitter. They organize and promote their place so people will come there and hang out for awhile.

People

Karaoke wouldn’t be much fun if there was no one there. It’s the people that make it interesting. Similarly, Facebook and Twitter are great places to be because there are so many people there.

Performers

If no one ever sang, how much fun would karaoke be? It’s fun because of the variety of talents and interests displayed. You learn about people by the songs they choose to sing.

In social media, everybody can be a performer. Of course, there’s the blogger or podcaster. There are people who leave comments; they’re performing, too.

Every tweet in Twitter or status update on Facebook is just like singing a song at Karaoke Night.

They’re both networking

Karaoke and social media both bring people together with something in common. They both allow people to show off their talents and interests. They both allow you to meet new people. They’re both an opportunity to share experiences and build relationships.

If you pick the right song when you karaoke, everybody will sing along. If you share something people find intriguing or useful, they’ll share it too. Do it enough and you might just become a celebrity with your own group of fans!

Can you think of other ways that karaoke is like social media? Share that by leaving a comment below, calling us at 888.455.BIGG (2444) or e-mailing us at bigginfo@biggsuccess.com.

To connect with us on Facebook, Twitter, etc. visit our About Page.

Thanks so much for reading our post today.

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We’re going to continue talking about social media tomorrow. We’ll look at some new research to discover if social networking can help you live longer. Until then, here’s to your bigg success!

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Direct link to The Bigg Success Show audio file:
http://media.libsyn.com/media/biggsuccess/00449-073009.mp3

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It sounds funny to think about it that way, but your bigg dream can turn into a nightmare in both cases – coming up short or succeeding wildly.

Talent in triumph

We’ve recently seen an example of this with Susan Boyle. She walked out onto the stage of "Britain's Got Talent" as a middle-aged Scottish woman who said that she had never been kissed.

She had lived a very simple life, took care of her mother and sang at her local church. She dreamed of having a career in music for 23 years, even putting together a demo with no success.

Then she took a chance and auditioned for the popular TV Show. It was her bigg opportunity and she nailed it. Her life changed from the moment she began to sing "I dreamed a dream."

The whole world loved Susan!

Talent in turmoil

She became an international singing sensation overnight, going from obscurity to sudden celebrity. She couldn’t anonymously walk over to her local church any longer without a swarm of paparazzi tailing her.

No more quiet at home. Her phone rang off the hook. Everyone – from news outlets to fans – wanted to talk with Susan now.

It took a tremendous toll on her emotional state. Although she smiled for the cameras most of the time, she had a couple of incidents that made her appear unstable.

She was overwhelmed and exhausted by being thrust into the spotlight. In a recent interview on Today, Susan said, “[The] impact was like a demolition ball."

Before long, she started skipping scheduled appearances after her run on the show ended. People questioned her health. They wondered if she had what it took to be a star.

Her bigg dream had turned into a nightmare.

Crossing the line

There’s a dividing line when bigg success is at our fingertips. Will we accept it and move over to the new life of which we dreamed? Will we navigate the road less traveled and keep moving on to bigg success?

Or will we be afraid to cross into the unknown? Will we allow self doubt to hold us back? Will we tell ourselves we don't deserve this bigg success?

You have to plan for bigg success so you’re mentally prepared when you reach this point. How do you prepare?

Visualize it.

By picturing it clearly, you’ll be ready for bigg success when you reach it. You’ll also be more likely to get there! Use all your senses to experience it as if it had already happened.

Build a support network.

Surround yourself with people who care about you and believe in you. Associate with people at the level you’re trying to reach. Let them guide you on your way to your bigg dream and reach out a hand once you've made it.

That's what Susan Boyle finally did. As she said on Today, "I've got to be honest here. I guess I had to get my head around it, but through the guidance of a great team — and they are very good — I was able to see that in perspective and really turn that around.”

Bigg goal-getters work hard every day to achieve their bigg dreams. Make sure you also spend some time planning for that moment when you step into the limelight and shine. That's preparing for bigg success!

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Thanks so much for reading our post today. Next time we’ll discuss what a karaoke party has in common with social media. Please join us. Until then, here’s to your bigg success!

Subscribe to The Bigg Success Show in iTunes. 

Subscribe to the Bigg Success feed.

Direct link to The Bigg Success Show audio file:
http://media.libsyn.com/media/biggsuccess/00448-072909.mp3

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(Image in today's post by xymonau)

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We wonder what could have caused it. Usually, it’s a very individual thing but there are some common reasons:

#1 – Self-doubt
You’re not sure that you can handle bigg success. You worry about what you don’t know. You dwell on what you don’t have (a common worry is not having the right degree). You tell yourself all the reasons why you don’t deserve this level of success, even though you’re so close to it.

#2 – Fear of loss
If you become more successful than your friends, what will they think? Will they still be your friends? Will they be jealous of your success? You know the answer to these questions already. What kind of friend wouldn’t be thrilled with your bigg success?

#3 – Fear of embarrassment
This fear is a carry-over from childhood – that adolescent fear of standing out from the group. You’re afraid of what people will think if they see you fail. Which leads us to …

#4 – Fear of failure
You may think that it’s better to have never experienced bigg success, than to have it and then lose it. Somehow it’s better to never get there. But why do you assume it will be fleeting?

The net result is that we talk ourselves out of succeeding bigg. We accept that it’s better to be part of the crowd than to blaze our own trail. We feel more comfortable. It seems less risky. But we’re wrong!

How to conquer your fear of bigg success

#1 – Self-talk is so important.

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As a first-time entrepreneur, fear has crept in on occasion. I’ve been lucky to have George around. He’s helped me understand that negative self-talk isn’t going to help you succeed. You have to turn it around.

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Even as an experienced business owner, I still have to battle that little voice that impedes bigg success. You just have to constantly keep telling yourself why you will do it.

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Think of all the things you’ve done right to get this far. Remind yourself of the obstacles that you faced and how you overcame them. Focus on the things that have already gone your way.

#2 – You don’t have to get it perfect; you just have to keep going.
It certainly hasn’t been perfect up to this point, has it? So why would it have to be perfect from here on out? Enjoy the journey. Enjoy the growth you’re experiencing.

Every time we reach another plateau, we celebrate our victory. Then we look back and realize the victory had already occurred. We grew. We learned so much. That’s the real joy of bigg success!

#3 – Success comes one level at a time.
Sure you have to keep your eye on that ultimate goal. But you get there one step at a time. You only have to take the next step.

You’ve learned enough to know how to do that. Perhaps more importantly, you’ve already learned how to find out anything you don’t already know.

#4 – Surround yourself with people who have made it.
We can’t possibly over-emphasize this point. Develop a support network of mentors and coaches. People who were once where you are now, but are now where you want to be.

Don’t be afraid to take those little steps that lead to bigg success!

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Evidence shows that more and more of us are running two businesses simultaneously. Next time, we’ll get some tips from an expert who’s doing just that. Until then, here’s to your bigg success!

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We did some research and found a lot of articles on the internet about starting a conversation, but few about keeping it going. We also found that many suggestions for conversation starters would probably be better conversation “continuers”.

So we thought we’d focus on that part of the conversation today. 

With some people, it’s tough to keep the conversation going. They may be extremely shy or you might just not “click” with them. In those cases, you may just have to resign yourself that it’s not going to happen and move on.

6 ways to keep the conversation going

One simple way to keep a conversation going is to ask questions. Don’t get too personal. Keep it light-hearted. Also, don’t fire them off so rapidly that the other person starts to feel like they’re being interrogated. We use this one a lot, particularly early in a conversation. But here are six of our favorites ways to keep it going:

#1 – “What’s the best book you’ve read recently?”
Variations could be best movie, TV show, or music they’ve heard.

#2 – Offer up some interesting trivia.
Just don’t go Cliff Claven on them! If you’ve heard something that intrigued you, and it’s germane to the conversation, share it!

For example, we heard not long ago that 80% of all men said they would marry the same woman all over again. However, only 50% of all women said they would marry the same man. Can you see an interesting conversation coming out of that tidbit?

#3 – “If you could trade places with one celebrity, who would it be?”
Variations could be favorite actor, or you could limit it to favorite living actor, etc.

#4 – “If you could do college all over again, what would you get your degree in?”
This question also has many interesting variations. For example, you could ask them what’s the one class they would like to take now.

#5 – “What are you working on that’s fun?”
We heard this one from our friend Chris Brogan. It makes “What do you do?” seem boring, doesn’t it. We loved this question the first time we heard it.

#6 – Create a game.
We like to come up with a word of the night or phrase of the day. It’s an interesting word that naturally came up in the conversation. Ideally, it’s a word or phrase with a double meaning of some sort. Then see how many times it can be worked into the discussion.

What’s your favorite way to keep a conversation going?

Subscribe to The Bigg Success Show in iTunes. 

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