Having a big ego may sometimes be considered a negative thing but I think having an ego is very important when it comes to creating a successful business. I am not saying that you can’t run a successful business without one, I just think it is a huge asset.

I want you to know that I do think there is a difference between having a big ego and being arrogant. I hate being around people who are arrogant and think they are better than everyone else. I especially hate it when those people like to tell you why they are so awesome and why you should think so too. But is it okay for us to think we are better than someone else at something? I think it is, you just don’t need to go telling everyone you are better.

Since having a big ego can be perceived as a negative personality trait, another way to think about a big ego is to think of it as having a large amount of confidence. When we think of someone having confidence it is usually something we admire about that person. Having confidence is something that shows outwardly but we don’t have to go telling everyone how great we are.

Why you need a big ego.

Having an ego means that you think pretty highly of yourself. If you are going to be successful in any business it is important that you believe that you are one of the best at what you do. You must also believe that you are going to be successful because you are just that good.  It is okay to think highly of yourself and believe you are the best at something.

When you truly believe something almost anything is possible. When you begin to doubt the potential for success then there is a good chance things will not work out the way you had hoped. Stop doubting and identify why you are going to be successful.

Be careful.

If you decide to start building up your ego it is very important that you don’t get carried away. I hope that you can acquire a big ego but I ask that you don’t become an arrogant bastard. Becoming arrogant and completely in love with yourself will make a lot of people not like you and can also make running your business harder.

So you want to start building your ego?

Building up your ego is really about listening to others and changing your mindset. When others say you are good at something, believe them and remember it. Usually people only say something positive about you if they truly believe what they are saying. If they don’t think you are good at something they will usually not say anything at all.

You should also focus on being optimistic. Work on intentionally changing you mindset to where your have a positive outlook on things. Optimism is one the driving forces of a successful entrepreneur and pessimism is one of their downfalls.

Below are some ways you can start to build up your ego:

• Recognize what you are good at. We are all good at something. Write down everything you are good at, even if it doesn’t have to do with pursuing your own business. If you are good at soccer write it down. Anything you are good at is something to be proud of and will help to build your ego.
• Remember compliments you have received. Any time someone compliments you believe them and if it helps write it down when you get a chance. Remembering compliments you have received can easily give you an ego boost if you are in need of one.
• Find ways to measure your success. I am addicted to measuring and tracking everything I do whether it is my running workouts or the number of visits to my blog. I guess you could say I am a spreadsheet junky. What is great about measuring your success in different areas is that you can see how far you have come. If I started off only running one mile at a time and now can run 10 miles, that is something to feel proud of.

There are a number of other ways to build your ego but remember that a big ego means that you feel confident in yourself and does not mean that you have to go around telling everyone about how great you are. When you believe you are great others will too without being told.

Is having a big ego necessarily a bad thing or do we just need to change the way we think of our ego? Let me know your thoughts and if you think increasing your ego could potentially increase your success or if you disagree with this idea.

Photo credit: ntr23

Last week I wrote about how I started working a day job separate from my businesses. The reason for doing this is so that I can meet my highest priority goal which is to pay off all of my debt. This new job only lasts for five months and I will be able to put all the income I make from it towards debt. I am really looking forward to the feeling of freedom I will have once I don’t owe anyone anything.

I do spend some time in an office working but I also spend a lot of time on the road traveling. I really enjoy that I get to travel all over the country and get to frequently escape the cubicle.

As of today I have now had this job for two weeks and have started to get used to having a lot on my plate. Even though I am used to it doesn’t mean that it is easy. I have a lot to accomplish and as a result feel increased pressure and stress in my life.

While running a business and having a day job can be very hard at times, I feel that it gives me an opportunity to learn how to manage my time efficiently and help others who are wanting to start their own business while working a job do the same. Time management will be key if I am to continue to meet my business goals and not delay them until after my day job has ended.

Planning.

To meet my business goals I must first write down everything I want to accomplish for the week. I usually plan several weeks in advance. This process will not take up very much time and many times I will only have 2 or 3 main things I am trying to accomplish for a given week.

Once I know my weekly goals, I will break down what daily tasks I need to complete for the week to meet those goals. I usually try to only schedule tasks on Monday through Friday unless I know I will need additional time to meet a goal. By relaxing on the weekends I stay less stressed and have a better quality of life. I don’t want to risk burning out.

During the week days when I know I have to come home and work on my businesses I have found that starting to work immediately after getting home seems to be the best strategy. It is very tempting to want to relax for a while first but I have found that if I relax I begin to put my work off later and later and sometimes decide I will just do it the next day.

When I begin working as soon as I get home I am still in work mode and not relax mode so I find myself getting things done a lot faster and have plenty of time afterwards to relax and be lazy.

Procrastination.

Sometimes it is hard to get to work immediately, maybe after a tiring day, and some days I can’t even motivate myself to work at all. I think this is okay every now and then but it is important not to make a habit of it. The more I procrastinate the more work I have to do on the weekends or the more I push back meeting my goals.

I have found it particularly hard to work when I am traveling. Sometimes all I want to do is go to my hotel room and lay on the bed and watch TV.

Working on the weekends is something I am used to doing, but I want to keep that work to a minimum if at all possible. If I put off tasks until the weekend and find myself working more than enjoying my relax and play time I will quickly begin to burnout. Once you feel burnt out it is hard to recover quickly so it is best to avoid it at all costs.

Having days of rest is extremely important so that you can enjoy life instead of adding unnecessary stress that will only make your life harder. Remember why you are starting your own business and make sure your reasons to do so aren’t forgotten during the process.

Creating a plan for you business and work schedule will help you reach your goals a lot faster while also keeping your stress level in check. Meeting your goals is very important but remember that maintaining your quality of life is the most important.

What strategies have you found helpful for getting things done while maintaining quality of life?

Photo credit: Cliph

I really enjoy working for myself because I get to make my own schedule and have the freedom to do almost anything I want to. However after almost a year of working completely for myself and with complete freedom, I decided to get a job.

As of last week I now have a full time job and I wanted you, my readers, to know why I made this decision even though I prefer working for myself.

You may also be wondering why I would even bring this up on a blog where I try to encourage others to start businesses if they are tired of working for someone else. The answer is simple, I believe in honesty and also want you to trust me. With out your trust nothing I encourage you to do on this blog will mean anything to you.

Goals

I have a very large list of goals that I want to accomplish at some point in my life. Some of my goals are very big and will take many years to meet and others I may be able to meet within the month.

A number of my goals are also dependent on another goal. This means that to meet a certain goal I may have to do something else first. Because of this I have to prioritize my goals and start pursuing the ones with the highest priority first. The priority of my goals may change from time to time depending on what I am wanting more at the time.

If one of my goals has a very high priority or may be the goal with the highest priority, I will do almost anything to meet that goal. To me my goals are not dreams they are things I really think I can accomplish and because of this taking action is the only way I am going to meet them.

Debt

As of right now the highest priority goal I have is to be out of debt. Not having any debt has been a goal of mine for a while now and I have managed to stop accumulating debt for the past several years. But with school loans and irresponsible credit card debt, just refraining from getting into more debt is not enough to get out of debt completely in a few years. It is also important to add that the school loans are from both me and my wife which increases the amount of money I need to pay off.

Making minimum payments on our debt is not a big deal. We have been doing this for years and financially this is very easy for us to do. For me continuing to live with debt is not acceptable. Having debt makes me feel trapped and feel someone else has control over me. I am tired of owing others money and long for the sense of freedom I know I will feel once we are completely out of debt.

Why get a job instead of working harder at my businesses?

Deciding to get a job was a very hard thing for me to do. After having almost a year of complete freedom, the idea of going back to the lifestyle of working for someone else did not sound enjoyable.

I considered the idea that if I work harder on my businesses I could bring in more money and put that towards paying off debt. The issue I found with this was that working harder does not always guarantee an increase in revenue and even if there were an increase it may not be consistent.

By getting a good paying job I would be guaranteed a certain amount of money every month. Since I will still be running my businesses and the money from those helps support my family, all the money I make from my job will go straight to our debt.

The job.

I was very lucky to get the job I did. It is a contract job that only lasts 6 months which is the perfect amount of time to get our debt payed off.

For the next 6 months I will be a technical consultant for a company located in Austin, TX that does business worldwide. I am not going to talk about the name of company and what they do on this blog but if you see me I will tell you all about it.

A very nice added bonus to the job is that I get to do a lot of traveling. This is exciting for me because it will allow me to be out of the office quite a bit and not stuck at a desk day after day.

Running a business with a day job.

Having a day job while also running several businesses was not well planned on my part. I believe this will give me valuable experience to pass on to others who may be wanting to start a business while working a day job.

I am sure that it is not going to be easy for me and have already started to feel the affects of having a lot on my plate. But I am confident that I can do it and know for sure that this was the right decision for me to make so I can meet my goal and get out of debt fast.

Photo credit: wageslaves

Me, April, Julie, and Jonathan on the color slides in Estes Park, CO.

This is the continuation of How I Became A Nomad: Part 4. Make sure to read Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, and Part 4 first.

I arrived at the bar that April had told me how to get to. I will have to admit I was a little anxious. I had no idea what to expect. When I got inside I spotted Julie at a table with a lot of people. There were probably 15 people at the table. I was introduced to everyone including April. I sat next to April and everyone began to ask me questions.

Everyone was so interested in my sudden move to Colorado. I told them the story about the events leading up to me getting there. Then April asked where I was staying. I told her I was staying in my car for now until I found a job.

“Your not staying in your car. We all have places you can stay. How about you stay with me?”

April was a flight attendant for United Airlines. She had recently moved back in with her parents while she waited to move into a house her and some friends (who were sitting with us that night as well) had rented. She told me her brother was off at college and I could stay in his room.

This was great. I didn’t have to sleep in my car another night. Everyone at the table that night was very accepting and fun to be around. I ended up staying at April’s parents house for about a week until she moved in to her house. She told me I could move as well and sleep in the basement.

Me, April, Eric, and Julie

The house was on a street off of Table Mesa Drive. It was a split level house. When you walked in the front door you were immediately met with two sets of stairs. One going up and the other going down. On the top floor was the main living room and kitchen. There were also 2 bedrooms. On the bottom floor was another living room area, a laundry room, and 2 other bedrooms.

Besides April there were three other people living in the house. Three guys. One was an engineer, one was a high school teacher, and the other was in grad school. I was very thankful for everyone being so laid back and not caring that I would be sleeping on the floor in the downstairs living room.

I still did not have a job and was not paying rent. I was diligently applying for jobs, but no one was calling me back. I felt like a mooch, but was consistently reminded that I could continue to stay. I continued to meet new people and Boulder quickly became my home. I had a group of friends that I hung out with everyday. We would go on day trips together to places like Estes Park, CO. I started to rock climb whenever I had the chance. I mostly did bouldering since it didn’t require much gear.

April, Julie, Me, Jonathan, Alli, and Ross

April’s job as a flight attendant allowed her more days off in a row than my other roommates. She would usually work for several days and then be back for several days. This meant that I spent more time with April than the other roommates since we were home a lot at the same time.

One night when we were hanging out I told her we should get out of town and go on a trip. I told her I didn’t want to go too far because I didn’t want to have to drive for a long time. Her response:

“Why would we drive? Let’s just fly.”

That sounded like a great idea. She had buddy passes so that I could fly for free. She pulled out an International Hostels book and said we should pick a hostel we want to stay at. In the US of course.

We came across an amazing looking hostel in Washington State off the coast of Seattle. It was on Vashon Island. The reason this hostel was so great is because you could stay in a tee pee. So we decided that is what we were going to do. We were going to leave the next morning and leave a note for our roommates saying, “we went to ??”

There was only one problem, April had to work the next day. Since she lived in Boulder you would think she worked out of Denver Airport, but she actually worked out of Chicago O’hare airport. So every time she went to work she would jump on a flight to Chicago. Talk about a commute. She thought she might be able to get out of working so we headed to the airport destined for Seattle.

When we got to the airport she went to find out if she could get off. No luck. She was going to have to work. Oh well, I thought, we can just do it another time. Then April asked if I just wanted to come to Chicago with her and stay there while she worked and then we could go to Seattle. April had an apartment in Chicago with two other flight attendants. So we were off to Chicago.

April was working for three days. I did not know anyone in Chicago, so I went out on the town by myself. Her apartment was right off the blue line (one of the train routes in Chicago). I would get on the train everyday and head downtown to explore. I tried to see everything I could that was free. I spent a lot of time in bookstores and on Michigan Avenue.

Once April returned we were off to Seattle. When we arrived we met up with one of her friends. This is the same friend that was having the going away party when I first moved to Boulder. We hung out for the day with her and then she dropped us off at the fairy.

It was my first time to visit Seattle. I loved how green it was there and how you could see Mt. Rainer in the distance.

After the short ferry ride to Vashon Island we were picked up by a van from the hostel. When we arrived, there they were, the tee pees. The hostel was no where near anything. There were no other buildings or houses. We were surrounded by forest.

The weather was perfect. During the day it was in the 70s and at night got into the 40s or 50s. Perfect temperature for camping in a tee pee. The tee pees were big and had enough room for two cots. We spent our days there exploring the trails that ran through the forest. We made a great choice for a hostel.

After our short stay on Vashon Island we were headed back to Boulder. I forgot to mention that each flight we got bumped up to first class. How cool is that.

I stayed in Boulder for a short time longer before moving on to my next destination. I had officially become a nomad.

The trip to Denver was pretty uneventful. I left Lubbock mid afternoon so I arrived in Denver in the middle of the night. I only stopped to eat and get gas.

I was completely unfamiliar with Denver. I had no idea where anything was and what parts of town were safe. But that did not concern me too much. I exited the highway and kept driving till I found a neighborhood apartment complex. I have no idea where I was even today. I drove to the back of the complex and found a dark parking spot and parked.

I had a window shade that you put in your front window to keep the sun out, so I put that up to make it harder to see in my Jeep. The rest of the windows were tinted very dark so no one could see in through those with out trying to look in. I laid out my sleeping bag and pillow with the back seat folded down and went to sleep for the night.

I was in my new home, Colorado. I had made it. It had not even been a week since the idea to move came to me.

I had a few hundred dollars in my bank account, but that would not last long if I didn’t find a job. Finding a job was my first order of business. I didn’t want running out of money to defeat my new adventure. I dreaded the idea of having to call my parents to ask for money because things didn’t work out. I could not let that happen.

I woke up Thursday morning at 9. Sleeping in the car wasn’t the most comfortable place, but I felt rested enough. Since I had to find a job I went straight to a convenience store to buy a local paper and get something to eat. Looking in the job section of the newspaper was a little overwhelming for me. Everything I came across I was either under qualified or would not want to do.

So I thought I would just drive around and find places to apply at. I jumped back on the highway, having no idea where I was going, and headed North. I saw a sign that said Boulder. I knew Boulder was a college town, but didn’t know much else about it. I decided I would check it out.

When I got to Boulder I immediately loved it. I drove around for a while just checking everything out. I ended up on a street named Arapahoe Avenue. It had strip centers on both sides of the street. It made sense to start at one end of the strip center and work my way down applying at every store. So I did just that.

On my job hunt I came to a store called EMS or Eastern Mountain Sports. I loved mountain sports and was very excited about the possibility of working there. In Lubbock I had gotten into rock climbing at the rec center at Texas Tech, so I thought I would see if they had any places to climb in Boulder.

I found someone that worked at EMS. It was a girl named Julie. I asked her if she knew of any rock climbing walls in town. I felt very stupid when she answered by saying, “Yes, but most people climb outside.”

Of course they do!

We continued to talk and I told her that I had just moved to Colorado from Texas. She said she went to school in Texas and was very excited that we had met. She told me that her and some friends were having a going away party for someone that night and asked if I would like to come.

Are you kidding? Someone wants be my friend already? I just moved here!

I told her that would be great. I gave her my phone number and she gave me hers. I was so excited. I was about to meet new people and hopefully make some new friends. I was so excited that I could not fill out any more applications for jobs, so I called it a day, even though it wasn’t even noon yet. I found a coffee shop and stayed there mostly for the rest of the day. I was really hoping that she would call.

A 6 o’clock I got a call. It was her! Well it was her phone number but it was one of her friends, another girl named April. April introduced herself and told me they were meeting at 8 at a bar. She told me how to get there and said she was excited to meet me.

This was great! Making friends here took no effort at all. And from what I could tell both Julie and April were really cool people.

Now I just had to waist time until 8.

To be continued… Read Part 5

Now that I had cleared the biggest hurtle for moving to Colorado, I had to pack and get rid of a lot of stuff. By stuff I mean furniture, clothes, computers, etc.

I think like most Americans I liked having things. My mom is an interior designer so I always had my share of furniture. I had dressers, book cases, desks, and side tables. I also had several computers. I had one very large desk that I had built which had three computers on it. Did I need three computers? Probably not, but I had them.

I also had more clothes than I needed. I always found myself thinking I couldn’t get rid of that shirt or those pants because I may need to wear them someday, just not today.

I guess you could say I was materialistic. Which wasn’t necessarily a bad thing but had to change if I was going to go to Colorado.

My plan for the move was to take as little as possible so that I could be mobile. I didn’t expect to find a place to live right away, so I needed to be able to sleep in my car or camp out. I had decided that the most important thing for when I arrive in Colorado was to get a job. Then I could find a place to live.

So I had to go from materialistic to minimalistic, and fast. Fast because I was ready to leave as soon as possible.

I decided I needed to make a list of the things I would need so I could travel light. My list consisted of:

• 3 shirts
• 1 pair of pants
• 1 pair of shorts
• 2 pairs of underwear (don’t judge)
• 2 pairs of socks
• 1 pair of tennis shoes
• 1 pair of flip flops
• 1 jacket
• minor amount of toiletries
• a survival knife (another story about this later)
• first aid kit
• watch
• peanut butter and crackers

There were a few more things but these were the most important. I was able to fit all of this in to a backpack. Besides the things listed I brought a pillow and a sleeping bag.

Now everything else I owned had to go. I probably could have sold everything, or most things, and made a little money, but I didn’t have time for that. So instead I called several of my friends and told them they could come over and take anything they wanted. Almost everything was claimed and the rest I donated.

So now I had dropped out of school and became a minimalist, now I had to say goodbye to all my friends. There was a part of me that didn’t want to say goodbye or even tell everyone what I was doing because I didn’t want to make a big deal about it. So I decided to only say goodbye to my closest friends.

It was Wednesday night and I had said my goodbyes and was all ready to get on the road. My Jeep Cherokee was fueled up and my one bag, pillow, and sleeping bag were in the back.

So I am off to Colorado, but where in Colorado do I go? I decided Denver made the most sense because I could probably get a job there fairly easy. So I was off to Denver only 3 days after returning from the weekend with my parents in Wichita Falls.

To be continued… Read Part 4

To wrap things up in Lubbock there was a lot I had to do. The deal breaker came down to dropping out of school. It was late in the semester and well past the drop date to get a full refund on my tuition. This would not be a problem if I had paid cash for my school, but I had taken out loans for the semester.

Monday morning after returning from Wichita Falls my first destination was the Registrars Office. I had to drop all of my classes and see if I could convince them to give all the money back to the lenders.

Unfortunately they could not be convinced about returning the money. I was told that I would still have to pay 75% of the tuition for that semester. I did not even have close to that amount of money. With school loans the lenders will not pay if you don’t complete the class. So the lender would refuse to pay and I would be responsible for the money owned to the school.

I was extremely disappointed and confused. I knew I was supposed to go to Colorado, but there was no way I could go if I had to pay that much money. And I could not imagine finishing out the semester and then going.

My personality is somewhat impatient when it comes to decisions that I make. Once I decide to do something I don’t want to wait to do it. I don’t see the point in waiting. That is why it was out of the question for me to wait until the semester ended.

I had to figure out a way to get a full refund. If you have ever tried to get something accomplished at a university then you know it is very hard to find the right person to talk to. And if you do, there is so much bureaucracy that even they may not be able to help you out.

The only person I thought could possibly help me was the Dean of Electrical Engineering. So I immediately headed to the Deans office. Usually you can’t just go to the Deans office and speak with him or her. They are too busy and important to talk to just any student. But I had to try.

When I arrived at the office I was greeted by the Deans secretary. She asked what I needed. I decided to tell her why I needed the Deans help so I proceeded to tell her about my move to Colorado and how I knew I was supposed to go. I asked if she could somehow bend the rules to get me a full refund so that I could go.

After I explained everything she walked back to the Deans office. When she returned she had a printed out piece of paper that she handed to me. She said the Dean had granted me a full refund on my tuition and all I had to do was take this paper back to the Registrar and everything would be taken care of.

What?!?!

I couldn’t believe it. That was way too easy. Why would the Dean approve of me dropping out of school? I will never know.

After returning to the Registrars office everything was resolved and I was one step closer to being on the road to Colorado.

To be continued…. Read Part 3

My major at the time was Electrical Engineering/Computer Science. I enjoyed what I was learning in my classes but was seriously considering switching to a Business major. I was at that point in my life that most everyone gets to, where you have no idea what you want to do. There are the lucky few who probably knew in elementary school what they wanted to do for the rest of their lives, but that was not me.

At the time I lived with two of my friends in a house. The house was in a perfect location only a few blocks from campus. I would usually drive to school because I was lazy, but if I wanted to I could ride my bike or walk. I was also working at a local bank part time to pay for my rent, food, and frequent outings with friends. Life was good and I was very happy with where I was at.

Then one day, Friday to be exact, I had this crazy idea to move to Colorado.

Move to Colorado? Why would I want to do that?

To tell you the truth I have no idea why this idea popped into my head. I had not just watched some movie about Colorado or heard a friend talking about it. It was just all of a sudden. The idea didn’t include some fantasy of what my life would be like in Colorado, only that I would move there.

Moving to Colorado made no sense at all for me. I had a great life where I was in Lubbock. I had friends, was going to school, and had a job I enjoyed. Moving to Colorado would mean starting all over again. Besides that, I was completely unfamiliar with Colorado. The only times I had been there was on ski trips in high school.

This idea to move consumed my mind. I really wanted to go. I felt like I was supposed to go.

Before I made my final decision I thought I should discuss it with my parents. I was going home anyway that weekend and thought it would be a good idea to think it over for a few days.

My parents lived in Wichita Falls, TX which is about a 3 hour drive from Lubbock. I left Friday evening. My time in the car was spent getting even more excited about moving. And becoming even more sure that it was what I had to do.

But what would my parents say? Would they be completely dismissive of the idea?

My parents were not usually that way. They would usually support the decisions that I made. But this was a big decision. I was dropping out of college.

Over the weekend all I could think about was my new journey. I would be living each day with out knowing what would happen next. I would meet new people and live in a place I knew nothing about.

A little to my surprise my parents supported me in my new adventures. They asked me lots of questions to make me really think things through. I never had a single doubt that this is what I was supposed to do.

I left Wichita Falls Sunday afternoon heading back to Lubbock and had a feeling of freedom and excitement. It was a feeling that I had never felt before and for the first time in my life I knew with no doubt in my mind that this is what I was supposed to do.

“I am really going to do this!”

As I approached Lubbock the sun had just set. From a distance I could see the glow of the city lights. For a brief moment I was sad to be leaving Lubbock and all my friends there. But then my excitement returned.

Now all I had to do was wrap things up in Lubbock and get on the road to Colorado.

To be continued… Read Part 2