Most folks are afraid to take risks because they fear losing everything.  They fear ending up with less than they started with.

While this is a valid fear, it's a limiting one.  You could cabash your whole project simply by being afraid of something that may not even happen.

Next time, act like you have nothing to lose.  If you have nothing to lose, you have nothing to be afraid of.

And then you're free to change the world.

Be wrong.
Be right.
Be confused.
Be confident.
Be scared.
Be unwavering.
Be flabbergasted.
Be fun.
Be serious.
Be intelligent.
Be ditzy.
Be unbelievable.
Be completely believable.

Be you.

We wanted to win meet and greet passes to meet our favorite bands.  When the festival's radio station sponsor had games at their tent, we were there, ready to win.  We were cheering, excited, ready to play.

We listened to the radio station almost the entire three hour drive up to the festival.  We listened to the station while we were driving around town.  We told other people to come to the radio station's tent to play the games.

But the radio station's promotions team ignored us.  Even when the crowd was us and a handful of other people, the promotions team passed over us.  They didn't seem to care how enthusiastic we were about them.

Are you ignoring your biggest fans?

It's really easy to say what everybody else is saying.  And upon first glance, it works pretty well.  As long as you're shouting the same things as everyone else on the wagon, you'll have plenty of people listening.

If you're across the field on your own wagon shouting something completely new and original, you'll have even more people listening.  Because they're sick of hearing the same old.  

Of course, it's not that simple.  If the people on the other wagon are shouting louder than you, nobody will hear you.  While original content will surely attract attention, the loudest content will attract the most attention.

So how do you become new, original, and louder than everyone else?

I had a really nice bus driver the other day.  He was friendly, cheerful, and helpful.  I smiled to myself as I was reminded how even in an organization known for not caring, one person who does can make a difference.

Then he started slamming on the brakes at every stop.  Every two blocks, SLAM!

I stopped smiling for the rest of the ride.

Are you slamming on the brakes every two blocks?

When you're the first one to honk in traffic, everybody notices and looks.  But once everybody starts honking, nobody can tell whether or not you're in there.  Your honk sounds just like everybody elses.

Once traffic starts moving again, everybody is excited to be on their way.  Honking at the end of it all just to be heard makes you looks desperate and unsure.

Are you the first to honk?

All the news stations are #1 in town.  All the sightseeing tours offer the best views.  All the grocery stores have the lowest prices on fruit.  All the car dealerships have the lowest financing available anywhere, ever.

Except they don't.  Because they can't all be the best or have the lowest prices or offer the best selection.  In order for there to be a best, there has to be a worst.  And folks in between.

So stop lying.

Are you the best? Or are you the worst? Or are you in between?

You're hiking in a dense forest and there's a large leaf lying on the ground a few feet in front of you.  You heard from someone once that such large leaves usually cover very deep holes.  The group behind you says all the large leaves they've ever encountered have been safe to walk across.

Do you walk across the leaf?

Everybody is telling you what to do.  They're the expert, they have the results, they know what you should be doing.

But do they really?  They might.  Their advice might make you a millionaire.  It might make you an idiot.

The difference is the degree to which you question.  Do you accept everything you see and hear as true?  Or do you actively question what's going on and learn from it?

People like to complain.  It's really easy and requires very little effort.    But it's not productive at all if you're not actively trying to change the situation.

Simply complaining and not trying to do anything about what's wrong is pointless.  But actively trying to alter what's happening and suggesting new ideas is productive.

Complain all you want.  But be productive and try to change the game.  Otherwise you'll just come across as annoying.

Are you being pointless or productive?

I went to Best Buy about a week ago to get a digital converter for our other TV.  The guy in the TV section said he was pretty sure they were all out.  After all, it was a day or so after the digital transition date.

He checked with some people on his walkie talkie and informed me they were indeed out.  No biggie, makes sense, everyone probably ran out as soon as their TVs stopped working.

As I approached the exit of the store, the guy working the security desk motioned for me to come over.  He said the girl at the customer service desk had a converter for me.  I look over at the customer service desk and sure enough, the girl is smiling, holding a converter box, motioning for me to come over there.  Turns out she had been holding it for someone but they never showed.

These three Best Buy workers took it upon themselves to go the extra step to help me.  And I didn't ask them too.  They could have left it at "sorry, we're out, we can't help you" and I could have been on my way.  That was fine with me.

But they didn't.  They cared.  And while I've had plenty of bad experiences at Best Buy, I'll remember this one.  It's all about the small things.

Do you care about the small things?

At the end of the day, it's not about how many business cards you collected or how many followers you have or how cool strangers think you are.

It's about surfing, sailing, soup kitchens, documentaries, road trips, wildlife, campfires, rock-n-roll, flea markets.  It's about keeping it real.

Are you keeping it real?

You want to be comfortable but not too comfortable.  Too comfortable may encourage you to become lazy, slow, and unmotivated.  You may gradually stop yearning to innovate and learn.  You may just settle.

And if you settle, you become like every other company on your block.  Happy with the hum drum, the average, the grey walls, the drop ceilings, the cubes.

Are you too comfortable?

Everyone wants a community.  They're the thing to have these days.  All the cool kids have a community.  How do you get one?

Start by understanding what a community is.  Richard Millington has plenty of excellent ideas and advice on what a community is.  Spend some time reading his thoughts and you'll walk away inspired and equipped.

Determine what kind of community works for you.  There's a community of 20 Something Bloggers.  That community is much different than the one that comments on YouTube videos.  And the YouTube community is a whole different ball game than a band of Harley enthusiasts.

A community doesn't just land on your doorstep.  And if one does happen to just show up overnight, you're welcome to question their intentions.

A community develops, grows, and evolves.  Most importantly, a community fits.  Members feel comfortable, appreciated, at home.  You don't buy a community.  You earn a community.

Have you earned your community?

The honeymoon's over.  The companies that succeed now are the companies that stop staring at the shiny object and grab it instead.  The folks who grab it and use it for real.

Forget the tools.  Twitter is great.  But if only 6 of your customers use it, maybe get a live chat for your website instead.

Blogs are informative and great to read.  But if you have nothing to write about and nobody to write that nothing, do something else.  Maybe attend more events related to your industry and wear a really big name tag.

Try listening less to what everybody's saying you should be doing and start doing more of what works for you.  If they happen to be the same thing, then great.

But if only 15 of your customers use Facebook and 314 use Yelp, get on Yelp.  Who cares that Facebook has 200 million users?  Yelp has 314 that are waiting for you.

Are you doing what works for you?

Despite how much you know and how much you've learned, there are still things you cannot control.  There will always be things you cannot control.

So you have two options.  You can sit around and pout, complaining about how things shouldn't be this way.  Or you can adapt.

Pouting and wishing you had control gets old quickly.  The faster you accept the situation and adapt to it, the faster you can be on your way.

Do you pout or adapt?