Where There's A Will There's A Way

I was hanging out with a good friend the other day, and we started reminiscing about "the old days".

High school.

During the summer before my junior year of high school, my parents had a finished basement that my sister and I lived in.  2 bedrooms, 1 bathroom, a living room, full kitchen, and a back door entrance so we didn't even have to go upstairs and see our parents to leave or enter the house, guests included.  Basically, we were two high school teenagers with our own apartment.

And there was only one word to describe that summer before junior year.

LEGENDARY.

I mean this to the point that my friends who I still talk to today still refer to it as "Mark's Basement Days".

For nearly 3 months, we partied EVERY NIGHT.

Now I'm sure some of you have had some wild party days, so I'm not going to go off on how my party days were harder than yours...but we partied hard.

So much so, that by the start of the school year, we managed to accumulate a total of 24 handles of liquor with NO repeat bottles, and 3 trash bags full of beer cans, which at 5 cents per can, made us $50. (read: 1000 cans collected.)

Sometimes it was just 5 or 6 of us, sometimes 10, sometimes more.  For my 17th birthday which was a week before school started, I asked a couple friends to come by and told them I was having a party.  This led to about 120 kids from my school showing up and many many stories I won't be sharing with you, probably ever.  What I can say though was that no one got hurt, arrested, or hospitalized, so good times overall.

But I tell you all this to ask you a question.

How the hell did we do it?

We were a group of teenagers, some with part-time jobs, some without, who no matter what, for 3 straight months always managed to pull together $30 for a bottle of liquor (or 2), a case of beer (or 2), and a tip for the guy who pushed grocery carts at the local Shoprite and would walk to the liquor store to buy us booze.

So the simple answer? We wanted it bad enough. No excuses.  We were all broke as hell, but somehow, some way, we always had enough to drink ourselves into oblivion.  There was no such thing as "Oh hey, everyone is broke so we're not going to do anything tonight." No. It just didn't happen.  We sacrificed things that weren't a priority.  Like proper nutrition ($1 McChickens for all!), our livers, and our brain cells.

So ask yourself, How badly do you want to live life on your own terms? And what excuses have you been telling yourself why you can't do it? Is it money? Is it time? I don't believe it. Why? Because if someone were to pull out a briefcase in front of you with $1 million in and and said "I'll give you this briefcase and everything in it if all you do is give me $20,000 and take a month off from work", I GUARANTEE you would find a way to pull it off.  You just have to want it bad enough.

My challenge for you today is to ask yourself "What kind of life do I want to live, and what do I have to do to get there?" And please, don't think small.  Be grand with your vision for yourself.  And don't let excuses and blame cloud your thoughts.  Take 100% responsibility and understand it's all a choice.

If a group of young, dumb, full of...pride teenagers can make it happen, trust me, so can you.

Don't forget to Like/Share/Comment below!

Mark Lopez blogs about leadership and personal development in order to strengthen his own leadership skills.  As a Christian, father, husband, and CEO of his own life, Mark looks to empower others so they can lead lives of success, happiness, and personal fulfillment.  To learn more about how Mark can help you live on purpose, e-mail him at thatninjamark@yahoo.com or follow him onFacebook.

Being In The Business of YOU

The 40/40 Plan doesn't work anymore.

You know what I'm talking about.

Work 40 hours a week for 40 years so you can retire with a nice pension?

I think it's common knowledge at this point that that doesn't exist anymore.

Neither does job security. Or company loyalty. Or social security for that matter.

Why spend your entire life slaving away at a job you're not truly passionate about, working under a boss that doesn't truly appreciate and recognize you for your efforts, for a paycheck that's hardly enough to get by with, just so you can spend the last few years of your life in enjoyment?

Or maybe that's not the case.

Maybe you LOVE your job. You make GREAT money. But there are obviously certain restrictions, responsibilities, and sacrifices that come with it.

Like spending time with your family on a Tuesday afternoon.
Or planning out a spur of the moment 10 day vacation.
Or simply being able to raise your children instead of paying someone to do it for you because you have to focus on your career.

IT'S TIME TO FLIP THE SCRIPT! 

THERE'S MORE TO LIFE THAN LIVING FOR THE WEEKEND!

Why not create a legacy every single day?

Why not live out your passion, every single day?

Why not make more than enough money to support your lifestyle and have the freedom to travel and do your heart's desire whenever you want?

It is possible you know.  You just need the right vehicle.

YOU NEED TO BE IN THE BUSINESS OF YOU. 

With the end game of either creating a residual income that pays you whether you show up to work or not. Or to eventually sell for millions, retire on the interest, and focus on new projects and passions.

Something you can pour your heart into, even if it's during the pockets of your day while you work your day job to support your family.

And in my experience, there are 3 ways you can do that (and I've done all 3):

1. Start your own company

2. Franchise

3. Join network marketing company

1. Start your own company.  This is typically the hardest option but also the first option people run to.  Why? Because you're literally starting from scratch.  All you have is a vision, maybe some start up capital, and sweat equity.  While the rewards can be astounding (think Apple, Microsoft, Disney, Starbucks, etc), you are limited by your time and money, with limited leverage of other people's time and money.  Skill becomes a major player because at first, you are everything to everyone until you can hire and delegate, which may take years.  It's not easy, but again, it can be incredibly rewarding.

2. Franchise.  This can be much simpler to do than starting your own company because you are leveraging other people's resources to help you benefit.  Typically, for a large initial investment up front and monthly royalties, you can get the systems and support of a proven company and you just have to put in the leg work.  The advantage is in its leverage over starting your own company.  The disadvantage is you lose your own brand as there are many restrictions to what you can and can't do, as well as high initial investment costs (typically $50,000 - $250,000 or more to start).  Not to mention the difficulty of trying to operate a franchise part time.

3. Join a network marketing company.  I've found this to be the most rewarding of the three.  After starting my own company as well as franchising, neither have come close to the freedom and income potential of network marketing.  Minimal start up costs (typically less than $500), minimal overhead, no employees, choose your own hours, create your own schedule, work only with people you want to, and unlimited income potential.  Not to mention receiving a residual income and getting paid whether you work or not.  The trick lies in finding a strong, stable company built on integrity, with products/services you can stand behind, and being committed to learning the skills to become a professional networker.  Network marketing is quickly becoming the fastest growing industry in the world due to its nature of cutting out third-party distributors and directly referring outstanding products and services via word of mouth. Its reputation is also growing as the industry that's creating more 6 and 7-figure earners than any other.

In any of these 3 scenarios, you can be in the business of YOU.  You can live a life on purpose, knowing that you're really contributing to society in a way that only you can.  Knowing that you're not working a job, but creating a legacy.

All you need is the desire to make it happen, the will to plan, and the courage to act.

Thanks for reading! Don't forget to Like/Share/Comment below!

Mark Lopez blogs about leadership and personal development in order to strengthen his own leadership skills.  As a Christian, father, husband, and CEO of his own life, Mark looks to empower others so they can lead lives of success, happiness, and personal fulfillment.  To learn more about how Mark can help you live on purpose, e-mail him at thatninjamark@yahoo.com or follow him onFacebook.

5 Lessons That Changed My Life

I wasn't always this awesome.

I mean I was always awesome. Just not as awesome as I am today.

I didn't live a terrible life.  I grew up in the public school system in the suburbs of New York State.

My parents are still together to this day.

And except for maybe the very early parts of my childhood, we never really had to struggle.

But like probably many kids, life was its own version of awkward for me.

A shy, first generation Philipino-American trying to find my place in the world.
Trying to find my purpose.
Trying to make a name for myself.

By the time I was 23, life was very different from "traditional".

I had my first child at 19, married that same year.
I dropped out of college after 3 semesters.
Working at a bar till 5am and sleeping until 2pm didn't help.
Neither did the whirlwind of drugs and alcohol that accompany the bar scene.
You work 4 nights a week behind a bar for cash tips.  Then spend the other 3 nights on the other side of the bar donating those tips right back.
(And on the nights you do work, it's usually shift drinks until daybreak)

I tend to think of those years as the low point of my life.
But to be honest, it was fun while it lasted.
It was also an easy way to get trapped in a world that looks appealing from the outside, but soul-sucking on the inside.

I've turned things around since then.

I've since spent the following 5 years in business for myself, in an unending journey to be the best possible version of myself each and every day.

So I'd like to share with you 5 lessons that changed my life.  As you'll notice, I take a lot of these lessons from books as I'm a huge book worm.  So I highly recommend you checking them out yourself.

1. The Compound Effect.  Right around the time I was at my lowest, I picked up and read a book called "The Slight Edge" by Jeff Olson.  That book literally changed my life.  It was based on the simple premise that by doing simple acts daily, compounded over days and weeks and months and years, depending on the actions, could either take you on a downward spiral in life or turn you into a phenomenal success. I decided right then to start cutting out negative habits and start building positive ones into my life.  Many of which I carry on to this day.

2. The Power Of Choice.  The next "ah-ha" that clicked with me was after reading "7 Habits of Highly Effective People" by Stephen Covey.  As one of the habits, he states that we as humans don't have to just accept anything in life that happens to us.  But that we have a choice as to how we react to those events.  And if we can choose how we react, we can change the outcome.  Instead of getting angry every time you hit rush hour traffic, you could choose to get excited that you get to listen to more music on the way to work!

3. 100% Responsibility.  This was a tough pill to swallow, but my life was changed for the better the day I decided to take 100% responsibility for everything in my life.  Instead of blaming others for things that happened to me, or complaining that things weren't going my way, or allowing life to happen to me, I could take 100% responsibility for my thoughts, my words, my actions, my reactions, my choices, the people I surround myself with, and create the life of my dreams, instead of allowing life to push me around.

4. The Law of Attraction.  Another life changing book for me was "The Secret" by Rhonda Byrne.  It talks about the Law of Attraction, and how we unconsciously attract what we think of most.  Your subconscious mind cannot distinguish reality from perception, so by creating an image in your mind of essentially your ideal life, you send out vibrations into the universe that attract exactly what you're looking for.  So start today envisioning your ideal day, your ideal life, and watch as opportunities start flowing in that allow that life to take shape.

5. Gratitude.  When I stopped thinking about all the things in life that I don't have, and focused on being grateful for all the things in life that I do have, my life changed.  Suddenly, instead of living a life of never enough, my eyes opened up and I started living a life of more than enough. A life of abundance. A life of gratitude.  So if you haven't yet, just be grateful that you woke up today. That you're alive.

I hope this helps! Don't forget to Like, Comment, and Share below!

Mark Lopez blogs about leadership and personal development in order to strengthen his own leadership skills.  As a Christian, father, husband, and CEO of his own life, Mark looks to empower others so they can lead lives of success, happiness, and personal fulfillment.  To learn more about how Mark can help you live on purpose, e-mail him at thatninjamark@yahoo.com or follow him onFacebook.

Ignore the Haters, Screw Being Normal, Be A Boss

STEP 1: Ignore the Haters.

The crabs in a bucket trying to bring you down? Yeah, them. Ignore them.

Better yet, walk away from them.

Those so called friends who only want to talk about how crappy their job is, or how bad the economy is, or why the President is the reason they're not making any money.

You don't need them.

You've always known that.  I just wanted to remind you.

They're holding you down.

You know how I know? Because you've got a flame in you.  A fire.  A dream to be something wild and crazy and awesome. To do awesome things. Make a difference in others lives like no one in the world has ever seen. To be AMAZING.

But you wouldn't dare tell them about it.  Because you know what their reaction would be.

"You're crazy."
"That'll never work."
"I wouldn't do it if I were you."

OF COURSE THEY WOULDN'T!

They're not going to do ANYTHING. Because they live their life in fear, afraid of what other people will think. Afraid of getting out of their comfort zone.  Afraid of being unique. And they definitely don't want you to go out there and chase your dreams. Why would they? All it does is shine a mirror on their life and their own fears.

You can't live your life pleasing everyone and living under other people's expectations and opinions.  Unless they're feeding you, what they have to say and think about you doesn't matter.

MAKE A CHOICE TODAY TO LIVE BY NO ONE ELSE'S EXPECTATIONS BUT YOUR OWN!

THEN, RAISE YOUR OWN EXPECTATIONS!

STEP 2: Screw Being Normal

Take a look at all the "normal" people in your life.

They have safe, secure jobs.

They do the same exact thing day in, day out.

You ask how their day went and its "Eh, alright."
Or "Another day another dollar."
Or at best, "not bad".

Do you really want to live like that your entire life?

Or do you want to respond with "great" or "amazing" or "fantastic"!

Not because you're trying to be fake or overly enthusiastic.

But because you actually live a great, amazing, fantastic life, and you can't help but be ecstatic about it when someone asks.

Do you want to live a life full of excitement, and adventure, and fun?

Here's the secret...

Do the EXACT OPPOSITE of what everyone is doing!!

Be the truest, most authentic version of yourself. Or, ass someone once told me,

"Be the grandest version of the greatest vision you have for yourself."

STEP 3: Be A Boss.

Take 100% responsibility for EVERYTHING that happens in your life.

Don't blame the weather, the neighbor's dog, the economy, your boss, your coworker, your boss' boss.

If you don't like the way something is going in your life, CHANGE IT!

Because NO ONE ELSE IS GOING TO CHANGE IT FOR YOU.

Tired of your job? Quit! Find a new one you LOVE! Don't spend the next 3 years living out a miserable existence thinking things will get better. IT WON'T!

You have the CHOICE to either create a life by your own terms, or let life decide the terms for you.

All you have to do is DECIDE what you want.

And want it sooo bad that it lights a fire under your ass and puts you to work.

Being the CEO of your own life is hard.
Living a basic, boring, inside-the-box life is hard.
Which hard are you willing to accept?

Surround yourself with other bosses.  People who take control of their own life.  People who inspire you.  People who uplift you.  People who have your best interests at heart.

Act as if.  Act as if you're already a millionaire.  Act as if you've got your dream job/career/business.  Act as if you are living your dream life.  And it shall be.

Most importantly, take consistent, persistent, action until you can look up one day and say to yourself "I did it. I took a chance.  I risked it all. But now I'm free. Free to live my life exactly how I want to."

Just remember, it's YOUR choice.  I encourage you to choose FREEDOM. Choose DARING. Choose EXCITING. Choose FUN. Choose TODAY.

Mark Lopez blogs about leadership and personal development in order to strengthen his own leadership skills.  As a Christian, father, husband, and CEO of his own life, Mark looks to empower others so they can lead lives of success, happiness, and personal fulfillment.  To learn more about how Mark can help you live on purpose, e-mail him at thatninjamark@yahoo.com or follow him onFacebook.