A man to carry on a successful business must have imagination. He must see things as in a vision, a dream of the whole thing. "Charles M. Schwab"

Too often, vision casting is simply an exercise in viewing the future through a big telescope. You look to see where you want to end up achieving your business or personal success. In order to push big Square Rock uphill you must use your imagination and not only see where you want to go but how to get there.

I have been most successful when I can in-vision every element on the very steep hill that is standing between my efforts and success. For every idea I have had, only those where I can see myself actively engaged in have been successful. If you cannot imagine yourself in the daily grind towards success, you may be on the wrong hill with the wrong Square Rock. The successful entrepreneur must not only take the time to cast a vision for the ultimate destination, but also a how to get there.

General Norman Schwarzkopf who laid out the blue print for the allied forces in the first Desert Storm battle in Kuwait and Irag, inspired me with his vision casting for the battle plan of the war. He said the vision was to win the battles, the difficulty was to in-vision all the different ways to get to the successful outcome. He said he tried to anticipate all the different moves the Iraq Republican Guard might make and be prepared to respond to them. The battle field is like business, the successful leader must adapt as changes happen real time. Nothing kills business momentum as quickly as having to stop pushing the Square Rock uphill because you have encountered a major obstacle in your path that you did not expect.

This concept has been around for thousands of years. Sun Tzu who wrote the "Art of War" said it a little differently but the end result is the same. He said' "The general who wins the battle makes many calculations in his temple before the battle is fought. The general who loses makes but few calculations beforehand."

By spending time each day on the vision for your company, project, or idea you are able to look at different ways up the hill. To often, we see only the prize and one way to achieve our goal. As the leader you must see things as a whole, which includes the daily grind of helping insure you team does not become confused by the obstacles they encounter on the hill.

I am able to close my eyes and role-play a variety of scenarios all with the intent of reaching the top of the hill. This is how I use the in-vision process to make sure I have evaluated as many possible directions and situations as possible. The exciting thing is when one of the in-vision role play actually becomes a reality. Just as General Schwarzkopf did in Desert Storm 1, I have practiced the reality in my mind and I am not surprised when or if it actually happens. Shame on the leader who only sees vision casting as a single final destination or single caculation. The successful Rock Pushers are always evaluating and recasting their vision to include as many possibilities as they can imagine.

Go out today and bring your vision casting from the top of the hill down towards the path you are rapidly approaching and see if makes it easier once you approach this part of you quest.

The Chief Rock Pusher.

Enthusiasm is the best protection in any situation. Wholeheartedness is contagious. Give yourself, if you wish to get others. "David Seabury"

The dictionary defines enthusiasm as great excitement for or interest in a subject or cause.

Enthusiasm is an underutilized business tool that we are individually in total control of how it is personally used. . We do not need permission, an appointment, or even have to purchase this business tool. Enthusiasm is the by product of passion and can provide you with a competitive advantage in any situation.

Many times you may not be sure of how to lead but I ask you to consider wholehearted enthusiasm. It allows us to stay focused on creating excitement for our passion and beliefs. It does protect us in a variety of situations. Consider an enthusiastic person, it is hard for this person to disparage another. They are too passionate and excited about their own situation.

Enthusiasm can also turn negative personal interactions into a postive situations. I have started many meetings with people who are either in a bad mood, too busy, or do not want to really hear what I have to say. Regardless of the my mood, I can turn anothers moods around by simply bringing an enthusiastic attitude into the conservation. It has been reported that 80 percent of remembered communications are from how they are presented not what was actually said. If a communication is delivered with enthusiasm and passion you will be favorably remembered.

Personal enthusiasm is a leadership trait that always invites others to follow. Be honest, would you rather follow a boring, dour, unenthusiastic leader or someone with passionate enthusiasm. Serial Entrepreneurs, or as I call them Rock Pushers can not push their big flat rocks uphill without the assistance of hill climbers (those who follow). We Rock Pushers rarely have enought money or resources to attract the followers so we have utilize other assets. A person who can give wholehearted enthusiasm will create a contagious environment that will infect all they come in contact with. This attitude giving yourself will give provide greater opportunities to engage new Hill Takers onto your team. Your enthusiasm will also provide motivation to your team as you engage them in daily communications

Give a dose of personal enthusiasm to all you come in contact each day and you will advance your Square Rock further up the hill. Never forget you have an unlimited supply of this valuable business resource. Only you can control its use.

The Chief Rock Pusher

Big Shots are only little shots who keep shooting! "Christopher Morley"

 Too often we look to those successful "Big Shots" and wonder how they ever made it. Chris Morley summarizes it in this quote for us. Unless they inherited a family fortune, they started just like you and I, they were first "Little Shots". There are many more Little Shots than Big Shots, so how do we have a chance to become one. I found in my life the key is try to build more Momentum each day than you had the day before.

Momentum can be seen and felt during a sporting event on television and yet we rarely think of applying it to our daily quest for greatness. Momentum is changed by only two things, Mass or Velocity. Mass is how Big Shots create momentum, by throwing money or people at an issue. Little Shots rarely have Mass, so they have to use what they have, Velocity. This means you throw your energy, time, creativity, and enthusiasm at an issue.

Little Shots keep on shooting each and every day in their quest to achieve their objective. This continued shooting creates Velocity, and the more Velocity you throw at a situation the more Momentum you create. Ask any Big Shot how they got to their position and most will tell you they simply never gave up. While they may not verbalize it the same way, they knew they had to advance everyday and they kept shooting every day.

In my life, it meant I had to make more sales calls than the Big Shots, make more phone calls, work longer hours, enlist more friends and family, work smarter. As I used every tool at my disposal to create velocity, I found I was creating more and more momentum being created pointing towards success.

This same approach while focused on business can be applied to every aspect of your personal life. You will not succeed unless you are always shooting. Become a Momentum creator in all aspects of your life. Too often Little Shots do not even try because they do not understand the vast resources at their disposal to create Velocity. The creation of Momentum is the great equalizer in business. Once it is created, is is hard to stop.

Today, go into the battle of life with an eye towards evaluating how you can use your resources as limited as they might be to create Big Mo. Over time as you keep up this approach you will find yourself in transition to a Big Shot. After you have become a Big Shot never forget what got you there, Velocity. While success brings Mass, every Big Shot I know continues to keep shooting everyday so they stay a Big Shot.

The Chief Rock Pusher.

Business is like a man rowing a boat upstream. He has no choice; he must go ahead or he will go back. "Lewis E Pierson"

As we attempt to move our careers and ideas forward it is important to understand our focus must always be on moving forward. The idea of the row boat is perfect as it is easy to understand how hard we must work to row a boat. Rowing a boat is hard for me even in a calm lake. The idea of rowing a boat upstream seems impossible.

As a leader your boat is probably filled with those who are relying on you to get upstream. This puts even more pressure on you not to float backwards to where you have already been. Business is like rowing upstream each and every day. Rarely does it get easy and if you are going downstream you are going where others have been before. Success does never comes from floating a boat where others have already been.

The excitement is in the daily row for those of us called serial entrepreneurs, or as I call them rock pushers. Our survival in rowing upstream involves learning how to create momentum in rowing the boat. Momentum will allow us to rhythmically create power and speed as we push our business upstream. Without a focused effort to create momentum it is virtually impossible to row the boat upstream day after day to your destination.

Others are required to help row the boat, but it is your vision to insure that the boat is always moving forward, falling back makes it more difficult to move back upstream. Rhythm and momentum, are the only way I know make this task achievable.

Today, I am a very weary from rowing the boat. This happened several years ago when and I was in an early stage project working on my own. When I quit rowing, nothing good happened and the project stalled and lost momentum. That is why birthing a company or idea is so hard if you are doing it alone, you have no one to pick up this slack of the daily row of the boat.

I encourage you to find a person or team of people who want to embark on the adventure with you. You will need a time to rest from the row and without others you cannot continue to move upstream. This time I have a great team around me that will continue to make progress while I catch my breath and get ready to row harder.

The Chief Rock Pusher