The day after Thanksgiving.

Black Friday.

The official start of the holiday shopping season.

Get out of bed in the middle of the night.
Get out to the stores well before sunrise.
Wait for the doors of the store to open.
Rush in with the mass of people gathered.
Fight for the bargains.
Shop ’til you drop.
Come home exhausted.

It’s the Olympics of shopping. And the competition is stiff.

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People invest time and money. Like an entrepreneurial endeavor, the returns are both financial and psychological. You may save money. And you experience a shopper’s high from finding a great deal.

But BIGG goal-getters rise above the crowd. So instead of talking about retailers getting into the black, let’s talk about how you can get into the black, to make more money.

We’ll discuss three ways to spend Black Friday to make next year a BIGG success.

And the best part is…you won’t have to lose sleep or fight the hoards to do any of them.

Spend the day learning

Let the herd spend the day spending their money. Spend your day learning how to make more money.

People in the know tend to have.
People who know not tend not to have.

So go to the library. Do some research online. Read a book.

Browse for ways to improve a specific skill. Check out a new opportunity.

The possibilities are as long as the lines at the checkout. The lines you won’t have to stand in.

Spend the day planning

Instead of chasing deals in the stores, spend your day calculating how to reach BIGG success.

What are your goals for next year? What needs to happen before year end to set yourself up for BIGG success next year?

Start this holiday season figuring out how to make spirits bright next holiday season.

Then sample the eggnog!

Spend the day organizing

Let the crowd place orders. Spend your day creating order.

Get a jump on your year-end organizing. Get your files set up for next year. Get this year’s files ready to put away.

Don’t worry about sorting out the deals from the duds, like the masses. Sort out what you need to keep and what you don’t now. Clear out the clutter instead of creating clutter.

Warning: You may miss a good deal or two.

But you will save yourself time and money. And set yourself up to make more money.

And here’s the bonus: Black Friday only offers one time deals. Spend your day learning or planning or organizing. It will help you get in the black and stay there. Now that’s BIGG success!

How have you made Black Friday a productive day?

Direct link to The Bigg Success Show audio file | podcast:
http://traffic.libsyn.com/biggsuccess/00756-112511.mp3

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Many people waste time and money trying to find shortcuts for reaching BIGG success.

They buy programs that promise an easy road to riches. Unfortunately, these programs almost never deliver.

Time and money wasted…once again.

We’ve talked before about hard work and BIGG success. In most cases, the first is part of the explanation for the second.

So here’s the dilemma:

What can you do if you’re working as hard as you possibly can but not making satisfactory progress toward your goal?

We relate to this subject all too well. We put in long hours almost every day of the week.

Yet, when we finally shut down for the day, there’s always so much left to do. It can wear on you after awhile.

So today we want to share a few things that have helped us.

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Let’s do a quick review (or a quick primer for those of you who are new here):

BIGG success is life on your own terms. The 5 elements of BIGG success are money, time, growth, work and play.

Time and money are your two resources.
Time is more precious than money but, at any given moment, you only have so much of either one.
Almost every human (and every organization) faces resource constraints.

Work and play are your opportunities.
Growth bridges the gap between resources and opportunities.
Growth begins as an opportunity but can become your most significant resource.

Expand your capacity

As growth moves from opportunity to resource, your capacity expands.

As you master anything, you’re able to cut through the complexity and see the simplicity again.

This helps you get more done in the same amount of time.

You can also grow your capacity over time. It’s like any other sort of training.

How far could you jog right now?
If you did that every day for a month, do you think you would be able to either run the same distance faster or run further in the same time?
Of course, you could. This works in all areas of your life.

End your energy crisis

The BIGG idea behind BIGG success is synergy. One area to look for synergy is between the five elements.

We both love our work. We found that we often worked so hard for so long that it became counter-productive.

So now we schedule downtime. Here’s the funny thing:
We usually get more down when we work a little less!

Of course, there’s a limit to this. But there’s a reason for the fifth element of BIGG success – play!

Nobel Prize winners know how important it is. Have you ever wondered why kids have so much energy?

Because they play!

So don’t think so much about managing your time. Manage your energy!

Where to start

When you think of your goals, what’s the most important thing you need to do today to reach it?

Start by getting it done.
Then move onto the second most important.
Then the third.

What difference would it make if you got your three most important things done every day? It’s huge, isn’t it?

Focus isn’t fun.
It isn’t easy.
Focus sometimes means forcing yourself to do something you really don’t want to do.

If it’s important, get it done. Then relish in the accomplishment.

Oh…and keep going!

Can you borrow time?

We’re not talking about the traditional definition of “borrowed time”. It has negative connotations.

This is all positive. You know you can borrow money but you can also borrow time.

Money and time are your two primary resources. Your need for them is negatively correlated.

If you have money to spare, you won’t have to invest as much time. If you have time to spare, you don’t need as much money.

Let’s say you buy a house that needs to be painted.

• If money were no object, you could hire a contractor. If you’ve selected them carefully, you shouldn’t have to lift a finger other than to write a check.
  

• If money were a little more constrained, you might hire a freelancer.
  

• If you have almost nothing left after buying the house, you’ll have to do it yourself.
  

• If you have plenty of money and plenty of time to spare, you can do whatever you want!
  

So you can borrow time by spending money. However – even if you don’t have money – you may still be able to borrow time by taking on a partner.

Of course, you’ll want to make sure you share a vision and you have the same values. Otherwise, your partner will cost you both time and money!

Punt

Finally, we come to the last resort. If you continue to feel overwhelmed by how much you have to do, it may pay to punt. By that we mean:

Push back your due date.

We caution you to think long and hard before you do this. However, you may conclude that your goal was too ambitious.

If you’re stressing out so much that it’s starting to affect your health, the best action you can take may be to decide to give yourself more time to reach your goal.

It’s better to reach BIGG success a little later than to not reach it at all!

Direct link to The Bigg Success Show audio file | podcast:
http://traffic.libsyn.com/biggsuccess/00752-111011.mp3

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BIGG success is life on your own terms. It’s about entrepreneuring your life.

Even in times of great uncertainty, you can take control to build the life that fits you perfectly.

Your life is your enterprise. You are the entrepreneur in charge.

Whether or not you ever plan to be an entrepreneur in the traditional sense, you own your life.

People often wonder: What are the steps to building a successful life? Or a successful business?

There aren’t any. Entrepreneuring is circular, not a sequential.

The process involves 4 D’s:

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There’s a lot of discovery required to entrepreneur your life or start a business.

You have to discover who you really are:

• What are your passions?
  
• What are your likes and dislikes?
  
• What are your strengths?
  
• What are your weaknesses?
  
• What are your core values?
  

You have to discover where opportunity lies:

• Who needs what you can provide?
  
• When it comes to business, where are the customers who are being underserved or not served at all?
  
• In life, who are you uniquely suited to help?
  

Designing

This builds upon the passions, preferences, and proficiencies we discussed earlier. You’ll discover your purpose where the three of them intersect with opportunity.

It will help you determine your destination:

• Where do you want to go?
  
• How do you plan to get there?
  
• What milestones will you create to keep you on track?
  
• What activities are required?
  

Don’t get bogged down with the details. The main thing is to determine where you want to end up.

• What will your life look like?
  
• What will you do with your time and money?
  

Deciding

At some point, you have to stop thinking. Just kidding!

You have to stop planning. Stop analyzing. Stop considering options. You have to decide.

You’ll take all the options and pick one. Pick the strategy you believe is most likely to lead to BIGG success.

This sounds so simple, but it’s the place where a lot of people get bogged down. Because it’s hard. You’re eliminating options. You’re committing.

Doing

Now it’s time to go. Test out your strategy. But the part we’ve left out may be the most important…

As we said before, entrepreneuring isn’t sequential. This process is constantly looping.

When you start doing, you will simultaneously start discovering things you didn’t know before. You may loop back to designing or deciding.

That’s why you’ll note we put the “-ing” at the end of each word. They aren’t a one-time thing; it’s a never-ending process.

A never-ending process that leads to BIGG success!

Where are you in the 4D entrepreneurial process?

Direct link to The Bigg Success Show audio file | podcast:
http://traffic.libsyn.com/biggsuccess/00751-110811.mp3

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Imagine walking on a beautiful, seemingly endless beach. As you look out on the calm turquoise sea, you kick something in the white sand.

It’s a bottle.

As you shine it, a grayish-white cloud of smoke rises from the lid. The smoke forms into a genie.

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Sounds great so far, right?

So what’s the catch? The genie explains:

The money is only available in increments.

Every moment…like this one…and this one…about 1/1000^th of a penny will become available.

It seems so insignificant.

Yet it adds up. Because you can spend it however you want.

Now this moment…and this one…another 1/1000^th of a penny becomes available.

You can’t store them up. Either you spend it or it goes away forever.

However, you can string them together. You can use the money from this moment…and this moment… together for a single item.

However, at the end of the day, all $86,400 will be gone.

The only question will be: How did you spend it?

Would you take this bargain from the genie? Why not, right?

Time is money

As you may have figured out, we’re not really talking about money, one of the five elements of BIGG success.

We’re talking about time, another one of the five elements. Money and time have some similarities:

• Money and time are your only two resources.
  

• They both have inflows and outflows.
  

• You can often substitute one for the other.
  

• You can leverage both money and time.
  

• You can spend or invest either one.
  

Time is not money

But money and time also have their differences:

• You can have money but you don’t have time. Time is here and gone.
  

• You can find money but you can’t find time.
  

• You can make money. But you can’t make time.
  

• While money is infinite, time is finite.
  

Time is a gift. But you can’t keep it.

So the only question is: do you spend time or do you invest it?

Investing time leads to BIGG success!

We know your time is precious. So we thank you so much for investing some of it with us. Until next time, here’s to your BIGG success!

Direct link to The Bigg Success Show audio file | podcast:
http://traffic.libsyn.com/biggsuccess/00735-091411.mp3

Image in this post from Flickr

We love Sherlock Holmes in all his varieties, including the 21^st century Sherlock Holmes. But our favorite is the Sherlock Holmes series with Holmes played by the late great Jeremy Brett.

We recently watched an episode where Holmes reveals his secret to solving a crime. We were struck at his outline – it’s the track a will-be entrepreneur should follow to start a business.

Of course, solving a crime is a backwards-looking exercise. Starting a business requires you to look forward. So other than a change in tense, here are Sherlock Holmes’ three elementary steps to starting a business:

Step 1: Imagine what might happen

You must see the invisible when you start a business. It’s part science, part art.

Picture what might happen. Successful entrepreneurs know they can’t predict what will happen.

As you create the image of your start-up, write it down.

• What are you selling?
  
• How are you selling it?
  
• Who is buying it?
  
• How will you deliver it?
  
• How will you measure success?

To borrow from Holmes, put an “exactly” in front of each question. This isn’t even close to being an exhaustive list of questions, but you get the idea.

We remember a mentor telling us that the most successful entrepreneurs could clearly picture what their business would look like. You should be able to do the same.

And don’t just picture one scenario. Think about what could happen to derail you. How would you respond? You’ll be better prepared to deal with alternative scenarios if they materialize by imagining them in advance.

Also picture the amount of time and money it will take to reach profitability. Hint: Plan on it taking at least two to three times as long and costing at least two to three times as much as you think. Make sure your vision is realistic.

Step 2: Act upon your supposition

It’s fun to imagine. Acting is where things get difficult.

At launch, every start-up is nothing more than a hypothesis. It’s a theory about a product and a market.

You’ll learn a lot about your product, your market, your people and yourself when you launch. In fact, it’s where the learning really begins.

You may think you know before you launch, but remember it’s all hypothetical. You launch to find out what’s real.

Step 3: Find yourself justified (or not)

As you discover reality, your hypothesis may prove to be correct. Congratulations! Keep pushing.

More likely, you will find that you missed the mark in part or in whole. Adapt.

You may tweak what you imagined. Or you may discover a completely different business. In either case, you win by getting started.

Sherlock Holmes had an advantage over entrepreneurs. His job was to go back in time to discover what happened.

Entrepreneurs must start from scratch to create their future. The key is to get started. It leads to BIGG success!

Are you thinking about starting a business? Maybe we can help.

We hope you can detect how thankful we are that you checked in with us today.

Please join us tomorrow when we’ll talk about the three influencers of career success. Until then, here’s to your BIGG success!

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