Take Permission

The Right Tools & Mindset For Success

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When your heart compels you…take action.

Please read this entire post.  I’ve never asked that before but this post is unlike any other I’ve ever written…

Things with a heart are always compelling.
Countries pull their hearts together during times of war.  Families pull their hearts together during times of loss(dead) or gain (birth).  Individuals pull their hearts together to get behind a cause that compels them.  We don’t really get to choose what cause compels our heart to feel something but we do get to choose which cause we act on.

Many people support politicians when they don’t run on a platform of policies as much as they run on a platform of feelings.  You only change things if you don’t like the way you feel.  People support businesses because of the feeling they get from a clerk, a doorman, or the founder (Dave Thomas the founder of Wendy’s comes to mind.  What a likable guy).  Today my heart was compelled and it reminded me that today, January 24, 2011, is the easiest day in the history of our human existence to share messages.   I have 937 friends on Facebook and 848 followers on Twitter.  That’s not just 1,785 connections. Every single one of those people has followers and friends, some of them have many more than me.

  • What do we do with this connectivety?
  • What do we do with this authority?
  • What do we do with this influence?
  • What do we do with this voice?

Today I am asking you to click on one link and consider funding a project that will comfort parents who have lost a child to a miscarriage.  It’s uncomfortable to even type those words because the topic is so taboo. It’s so hard to talk about.  It happens every day and you likely know someone who could have used a source of comfort during that time.  An accomplished pianist is creating an album to bring comfort to parents and I am ask you to use your influence to help the project happen.

  • You have connections.
  • You have authority.
  • You have influence.
  • You have a voice.

Will you join me in using those things for a cause?  Is your heart compelled to act like mine was?  I hope so.  Let’s stop feeling something and start DOING someting.

Click the image below to help…

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My journey to self-employment interview

This week I sat down to talk about my journey with my good friend Kevin Miller, founder of the Free Agent Academy. It’s not every day that someone asks me to talk about how I’ve found success advising companies on how to use social media to grow their customer base and deliver better service.  It was perhaps my favorite interview of all time and at the same time a very humbling experience.  In the first 60 seconds of the interview I tell Kevin what percentage of my success I am responsible for.  Hint: it’s a small percentage.

If you’d like to hear some strong opinions then hit play. If you have disagreements or questions about stuff I’ve said then this is the place to voice them (in the comments below). I welcome the opportunity. Thanks for listening.

[audio:http://www.traubhosting.com/andytraub/audio/KevinMillerFreeAgentAcademy7.23.2010.mp3]
Right click to download Andy’s Story with Kevin Miller

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Starting is not normal

There are two groups of people I talk to every day;

1. “I want to do….. for a living and I need help starting.”
2. “I want to use the internet to help my existing business grow.”

Both groups are similar in that they want to be the boss, they’re discontent and they’re taking action.  That’s not normal.  Starting is not normal.

I’m surrounded by “normal” right now. I’m sitting at a diner in downtown during lunch hour.  People are scurrying through the line, most of them needing to return to their cubicles in the next 45 minutes.  I think you can do important work in a cubicle by the way, but that’s despite the cubicle, not because of it.

The guys sitting next to me in suits aren’t dreaming about much of anything, other than 5 o’clock.  My dad was one of those guys I think.  He traded his dreams for a suit because he loved his family and wanted to provide for us.  It worked out for most of his life until he got fired when he was about 60.  I’m grateful for the work he did but I sort of wish he could have been a firefighter.  I think that was his dream.

I have no idea what your dream is but please don’t trade it for 45 minute lunch breaks.  It’s always hard to start or improve something, that’s why most people don’t try.  They stay where they are, they get 2 weeks of vacation and they work for someone else.  If that’s your dream then go for it, but if it’s not then from one starter to another, don’t give up.  Don’t be normal.  Start.