Friday, October 2, 2009

Because "it felt right"

“A Business Without a Dream is Like a Life Without a Purpose,” explains Michael. “Most entrepreneurs and would-be entrepreneurs are dreaming with a small-d–dreams fashioned from personal expertise and by what is expedient in solving the problems of the moment, be they personal or business issues. This kind of incremental dreaming always becomes prison and can never bring the true freedom the entrepreneur seeks, or the true miracle he wishes to create”

It was a Wednesday night, I was pacing the floors tweaking our wireless connection at the office and I got a call from Keith – founder of “Rent-a-geek” who asked me if we could chat. Of course, I wanted to talk to him! He and I share a mutual love of Michael Gerber and he was coming to town and Keith said, “Minna, let me tell you what he has done for my business.”

Well, enough said I’ve read his books 6-7 times over and I need to attend a workshop with him. By Friday, I was ushered into the Wall Centre Hotel with 20 other people. Michael entered and he said, “Today is the beginning of the rest of your lives” in a very ominous God-like voice. This little man in a white suit, pink tie and a booming voice said he was going to teach me how to dream.

What?!!?? Dream???? I paid my hard earned cash to learn how to better my business. Is this all I’m getting for it?!? I have to sit here for 3 days through this dreaming hokey pokey?

But after everything was said and done, it became clear that it is indeed about my business and even more than that, it is about me. Every business begins with a dream – that dream has to be big enough to sustain itself.  Unfortunately, we dream small dreams, the “incremental dreams” as Michael Gerber puts it – because we are scared of what we are capable of, so we shrink our dreams to fit our comfort zone. 

 It is almost as though there was not a decision made, but an act moving one forward.  First I was here, and then I was there.  There’s no way in most cases that one can explain it.  It simply felt like the right thing to do.  Talking to hundreds of thousands of people who had made that choice, the majority of the answers to the question: So why did you take this step? The  answer almost always was…”It felt like the right thing to do.”    

I’m glad I kept an open mind and was receptive enough to his words because they were some of the most inspiring and mind opening I have heard in a long while. If you are thinking about starting a business or have your own business, you definitely need to read Michael Gerber’s books – THE E-MYTH or attend the Dreaming Room and see Michael in person.

A business is a reflection of its founder – what were you feeling at the moment you conceived your business?

Quote of the day:

It has been my observation that most people get ahead during the time that others waste time.

                                                                                                    Henry Ford

Posted via email from minna's posterous