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An informal, stream-of-consciousness reflection on business ideas, events and issues in modern business, modern life and with some specifics to the web-software industry by Paul Tomori, Internet Entrepreneur

Success Will Not Elude You - Success Is Simple By Paul Tomori Wednesday, September 16, 2009 at 00:39:58 (EDT) For my wedding, I had adapted the lyrics from kd lang's song, Simple, into a kind of poem. Certain lyrics in that song became my mantra for about 2 years before I met my wife, but the key line, "love will not elude you, love is simple" really summed things up. It was only when I approached romantic pursuits with that simple mantra that I had the confidence to remain open to the right possibilities and to be ready when the right person came along. It also allowed me to maintain a high self-esteem knowing that there is a fairly natural flow to things if you don't try too hard. I likened it to letting a flower open up on its own instead of trying to hurry up the process by forcing things. If you recognize that you are like a flower heading toward bloom, then you relax and nourish yourself accordingly and THAT state of mind is what actually allows you to bloom. That's not to say I didn't conceptualize what might make me happy long-term. That's not to say that I didn't put me in the right places to meet the right people. That's not to say that I just sat back and waited for the knock on the door. Hardly! I remained proactive, but my state of mind was in that place where things can happen. Sports heros and musicians and writers call it "being in the zone". When you're in the zone, beautiful things can happen. The first step is to correctly conclude that: a) you are worthy of happiness and success and b) you are competent to make it happen I am finding these days that I can say something similar about business success. Looking back on 15 years in this industry, my best successes occurred when I put aside all distractions, ignored the competition, focussed on some specific client need that was in my realm of interest and ability, then filled it. You can really get caught up on the endless cycle of day-to-day stuff if you're not careful. Then, you find yourself driving (or walking) home wondering... "where did the day go?" and "what did I get done today?". When you try to sort out a clear objective while in that frantic, no-breaks work-a-day, you don't get ahead, you get a headache. Is business success really simple? Ya. It's as simple as this: 1) determine what you love to do 2) determine what skills you have that are financially rewardable 3) determine what you can grow to be notably good at Look for the overlap of all 3 and do that. Get the right people helping you. Think creatively. Focus purely on what needs to be done in every avenue of the business. Make a plan. Then start taking the steps that will allow that plan to open like a beautiful flower. In a recent development in our business, I remembered the above philosophy and as soon as I placed focus on the new pursuit, my mind overflowed with creative ideas and solutions for how to pull things together. I am convinced that we have a winning idea and I have several past successes to give me the confidence in my scope. Success will not elude you if you realize how simple things can be. Don't over-complicate your steps and plans. Keep it simple and then execute. See ya at the top. Return To Blog Index