You're just a kid engineer. You need to know your place

"I was 23 and working for a small company that was running out of cash. The company had hired me as a software engineer to help build a new product they were convinced would be a huge hit. I didn't realize until I joined that the financial situation was so dire, but I was told that if we could build the product quickly, there were scores of big customers lined up to buy the product and save the company.

I was energized and loved the challenge. I poured myself into my work. But as we built the product I couldn't shake the sinking feeling that I didn't see a real use for it. It was a solution for a problem that didn't feel compelling to me. I voiced this concern a number of times and at one point even pushed for a different strategy.

The executive team was dismissive and even indignant. "Who the hell do you think you are?! You're just a kid engineer. You need to know your place," one red-faced executive told me. So I backed off, against my better judgment.

We completed the product and I joined the CEO for the big customer road show. It was a total disaster. Meeting after painful meeting confirmed my intuition: there was no reaction, no feedback, not even a hint of interest from a single customer.

On the flight home I realized that I needed to start my own company, that my instincts for products and customers were really good. I needed to free myself from the burden of convincing someone else to let me run with my ideas.

Two weeks later I met my co-founder and we started Bullhorn together." 

Art Papas, founder and CEO, Bullhorn

You can't run a legitimate business from your home

"You can't run a legitimate business from your home in NH while you raise your girls." That was the feedback I got when I started exploring the idea of building my company after leaving the corporate world to be with my kids.

Then it was, "You can't build a virtual career coaching practice. Everybody knows the best coaching is done in-person." Again my idea was trashed by people who thought they knew better.

Ironically, I've never taken well to being told I couldn't do something (thanks Mom and Dad!)

So, looking back, I realize what got me into entrepreneurship, and more importantly, what helped me succeed were all those naysayers. I never intended to run a company, but the road filled with people trying to push their negativity on me only helped me to see how much I needed to start my own business to prove them wrong.

I'm grateful for those people who said it couldn't be done."

J.T. O'Donnell, founder of CAREEREALISM

Teachers who told me I would never amount to anything

"As a kid I was dyslexic and had bad eyesight. That meant I often couldn't see the writing on the blackboard and even when I could, I still couldn't read it.

Unfortunately it took a long time before either problem was recognized. Before that I was simply labeled lazy, unwilling or stupid. By the time I was fifteen I was three years behind and very unhappy. Then one day I decided to drop out of school and apply to the circus school. Officially I was too young but I was determined and had talent for juggling so my parents supported my decision.

The teachers at my school weren't so supportive. They took turns trying to persuade me to stay and all said the same thing: "If you drop out now you will never amount to anything."

They tried to persuade me by threatening me but their strategy had the opposite effect: I felt liberated and even more determined to choose my own destiny. I figured if leaving meant starting from zero and being labeled as an outcast, than everything I would accomplish from now would be to my own credit. I felt empowered and excited at the opportunity to design my own life without someone else telling what I could and couldn't do.

For me that was a defining moment. I've always felt like the rules didn't apply to me and I could do what I wanted. After I graduated circus school I applied to an art academy, graduated cum laude, and then started my first Internet business, one I sold three years later.

Although you never start a company alone and I had many partners to thank, I did feel I truly earned my success as a self-made man when we signed those contracts, and I definitely thought back to those teachers who told me I would never amount to anything."

-- Boris Veldhuijzen van Zanten, founder of The Next Web

I had no idea I wanted to be an entrepreneur

"In 1998 I was a copywriter/account manager at a small ad agency in NYC. I liked what I did, but working in jammed quarters with ten people (and one stinky bathroom) and being told when to show up and when I could go home was getting old.

I was just twenty-seven but knew I was doing good work for our clients and that I had some talent. Then I noticed a freelancer coming in and out of the office on his own schedule yet doing pretty much the same work as me. He'd come back all tanned from the Hamptons and would do his work while he was there.

I was so envious. And then I found out he was making way more money than me.

But then I realized my envy simply meant I wanted more freedom for myself. So I didn't get mad... I got smart. I took him to lunch, asked how he got started, and once I kind of understood the first few steps I quit my job.

I didn't have any clients, I had never taken a business course, I was cash-poor and in over $15,000 of credit card debt. But I somehow knew I could hustle. And it was just more painful for me if I had stayed at that job and never known what would have happened if I didn't try.

I stopped at Staples on the way home and put a new printer-fax machine on the last bit of room I had on a credit card. I printed business cards that said I had offered marketing communications services. I attended any networking meeting I could find. I asked for referrals. I met a lot of people but nothing was happening. And I was getting tired of ramen noodles.

When I didn't have the money for my next rent payment on my tiny apartment, I was getting nervous all this wouldn't work. But one day, after praying for guidance, the phone rang. One of the agency's clients had looked up my number. They said they had no reason to stay with the agency if I was gone. They became my first real client--one that at least paid for my rent, groceries, and Metro card.

And from there, you couldn't stop me."

Ali Brown, founder & CEO, Elevate

Life is simple

Derin Cag
Founder and CEO of Richtopia

We are all Motivated - Either Positively or Negatively

This is a story of two brothers. 
One was a drug addict and a drunker who frequently beat up his family. 
The other one was a very successful businessman who was respected in society and had a wonderful family. 

Some people wanted to find out why two brothers from the same parents, brought up in the same environment, could be so different. The first one was asked, "How come you do what you do? You are a drug addict, a drunk, and you beat your family. What motivates you?" He said, "My father." They asked, "What about your father?" The reply was, "My father was a drug addict, a drunk and he beat his family. What do you expect me to be? That is what I am." They went to the brother who was doing everything right and asked him the same question. "How come you are doing everything right? What is your source of motivation?" And guess what he said? "My father. When I was a little boy, I used to see my dad drunk and doing all the wrong things. I made up my mind that that is not what I wanted to be."

Both were deriving their strength and motivation from the same source, but one was using it positively and the other negatively.

Negative motivation brings the desire to take the easier way which ends up being the tougher way.

Life is an ECHO

A little boy got angry with his mother and shouted at her, "I hate you, I hate you." Because of fear of reprimand, he ran out of the house. He went up to the valley and shouted, "I hate you, I hate you," and back came the echo, "I hate you, I hate you." This was the first time in his life he had heard an echo. He got scared, went to his mother for protection and said there was a bad boy in the valley who shouted "I hate you, I hate you." The mother understood and she asked her son to go back and shout, "I love you, I love you." The little boy went and shouted, "I love you, I love you," and back came the echo.

That taught the little boy a lesson that our life is like an echo: We get back what we give. Benjamin Franklin said, "When you are good to others, you are best to yourself.”

SMART Goals

If you ask most people what is their one major objective in life, they would probably give you a vague answer, such as, "I want to be successful, be happy, make a good living," and that is it. They are all wishes and none of them are clear goals.

Goals must be SMART:

1. S--specific. For example, "I want to lose weight." This is wishful thinking. It becomes a goal when I pin myself down to "I will lose 10 pounds in 90 days."

2. M--must be measurable. If we cannot measure it, we cannot accomplish it. Measurement is a way of monitoring our progress.

3. A--must be achievable. Achievable means that it should be out of reach enough to be challenging but it should not be out of sight, otherwise it becomes disheartening.

4. R--realistic. A person who wants to lose 50 pounds in~30 days is being unrealistic.

5. T--time-bound. There should be a starting date and a finishing date.

It doesn't matter how many times you've failed - as long as your goals are still SMART (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Time-bound) - keep pushing until you succeed!

Little Things That Make a Big Difference

There was a man taking a morning walk at or the beach. He saw that along with the morning tide came hundreds of starfish and when the tide receded, they were left behind and with the morning sun rays, they would die. The tide was fresh and the starfish were alive. The man took a few steps, picked one and threw it into the water. He did that repeatedly.

Right behind him there was another person who couldn't understand what this man was doing. He caught up with him and asked, "What are you doing? There are hundreds of starfish. How many can you help? What difference does it make?" This man did not reply, took two more steps, picked up another one, threw it into the water, and said, "It makes a difference to this one."

What difference are we making? Big or small, it does not matter. If everyone made a small difference, we'd end up with a big difference, wouldn't we?

Strong People Rarely have an easy PAST

If you are going through hard times right now, let this quote sink in, let it resonate with your circumstances, let it be your hope to strengthen you to endure whatever you are facing. 

Falling down is a part of life; staying down is a choice. Make the choice to conquer adversity and see the good in every situation. 

Sometimes we don't know what a blessing this is, because we refuse to see it. Don't pity yourself, when you've been given the strength to absorb it and win!!

Derin Cag
Founder and CEO of Richtopia

Ten reminders..

Ten reminders that could make a big difference …

 

He was Upset When His Rich Boss Ignored Him, Until..

 He was Upset When His Rich Boss Ignored Him, Until He Learned This Heartbreaking Secret!

“My boss drove a luxury car everyday and it was my duty to greet him and to open the gates for him, as I worked as a watchman in his villa. But he never responded back to my greetings.

One day he saw me opening the garbage bags outside the villa in search for any leftover food. But, as usual he never even looked at me, it was like as if he never saw anything!
The very next day I saw a paper bag at the same place, but it was clean and the food inside was covered well. It was fresh and good food like someone had just brought it from the supermarket. I didn’t bother as to where it came from, I just took the paper bag and I was so happy about it.

Every day I found this paper bag at the same place with fresh vegetables and all that we needed for home. This became my daily routine. I was eating and sharing this food with my wife and kids. I was wondering who this fool could be?! To forget his paper bag full of fresh food everyday.

One day there was a big problem in the villa and I was told that my boss has died. There were too many guests coming to the villa that day and I didn’t get any food that day, so I thought that one of the guests must have taken it. But the same thing happened the 2nd day, the 3rd day and the 4th day.

It went on like this for a few weeks and I found it difficult to provide food for my family, so I decided to ask the wife of my boss for a raise in my salary or else I would quit my job as a watchman.

After I told her, she was shocked, and asked me, how come you never complained about your salary for the last 2 years? And why is this salary not enough for you now? I gave her so many excuses but she was never convinced!

Finally in the end, I decided to tell her the truth, I told her the entire story of the bag of groceries, and as to how it was my daily provision. She then asked me as to when this stopped? I told her after the death of her husband. And then I realized that I stopped seeing the paper bag immediately after the death of my boss. Why didn’t I ever think of this before? That it was my boss who was providing this for me? I guess it was because I never thought that a person who never replied to my greetings could ever be this generous!

His wife started to cry and I told her to please stop crying and that I’m really sorry that I asked for a raise, I didn’t know that it was your husband who was providing me with the meals, I’ll remain as a watchman and be happy to provide my service.

His wife told me, I’m crying because I’ve finally found the 7th person my husband was giving this bag full of food. I knew my husband was giving 7 people everyday, I had already found the 6 people, and all these days I was searching for the 7th person. And today I found out.

From that day onwards, I started to receive the bag full of food again, but this time his son was bringing it to my house and giving it to my hand. But whenever I thanked him, he never replied! Just like his dad!

One day, I told him THANK YOU in a very loud voice! He replied back to me to please not be offended when he doesn’t reply, because he has a hearing problem, just like his dad!”

Oh! We have been wrong so many times judging others without knowing the true story behind their actions. Be kind and courteous in dealing with others, for everyone is fighting a hard battle. Be careful, not everything is about you. Before you assume, there is this thing called ASKING.

Don’t just jump to conclusion, because that is truly not an exercise, it may cause you more harm at the end of the day. Many of our problems are caused by how we process what happens around us. Don’t judge a situation you have never been in. Be humble enough to learn. You do not know it all. Lets change the way we feel about ourselves and others.
There are two sides to a story. Don’t believe everything you hear.

Everyone you meet is fighting a battle you know nothing about.

Submitted by: Sanket Shah

Every Morning You Have Two Choices

Person 1 sleeps for 8 hours. She reads lots of books, spends most of her income on appreciating assets, volunteers time for charity, and is excited about work.

Person 2 sleeps for 10 hours. She watches lots of TV, spends most of her income on depreciating assets, spends time shopping for things she don't need, and feels like work is something to get away from.

Sadly many people would choose to be person 2 because of what it feels like in spite of the reality that person 1 is more gainful.

Your circumstances will never change until the way you act changes.


Derin Cag
Founder and CEO of Richtopia

Appreciate those who don't..

Success, both personally and professionally, is challenging to achieve without others who fill gaps for you and support you. Make them feel remarkable!

 

Derin Cag
Founder and CEO of Richtopia

Stop Doubting Yourself..

It’s about saying YES to what’s possible for you. Saying YES to the opportunities that are divinely given to you—and then taking action. 

 

Derin Cag
Founder and CEO of Richtopia

Be who YOU want to be

 

Derin Cag
Founder and CEO of Richtopia