Last night, well technically early this morning, we concluded another successful Nite Owls Networking meeting.  We had over 40 people in attendence and from where I sat, it seemed that everyone had a good time.

It was a pretty exciting night with plenty of announcements.  Peter Gauthier had brought a copy of his brand new course The Wholesale Genius System to share/show with the members.  (There will a lot more coming on that product soon!)

Tom Zeeb brought a flier for his big event in October (The Building Wealth Expo) and explained to the crowd that this event was probably unlike many had seen before.  The thing I’m really excited about was when he explained that the Expo is not only a speaker event (where our own Peter Gauthier will be speaking and doing a bus tour!) but more importantly it is a TRADE SHOW.

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The title kind of says it all.  I realized today, well yesterday, that the month of March is not very friendly.  Essentially, as per my post from last week White Death 2009, we had snow at the beginning of the week yet by the weekend we had near 80 degree weather.  Crazy Maryland weather!

But that’s not why the month of March has been a flurry of activity.  No, it’s because I realized yesterday that billing for our phone service hasn’t been done (our assistant who does that has been on holiday).  Why did it take so long to notice? Well I have been working on updating my course “Basic Training: Affiliate Profits and YOU!” for my event on March 15th (yes that is a shameless plug).

Tie in the writing of the course, preparation for the HUGE event that Pete Gauthier and I are running in April (The Exponential Wealth Conference is coming! More info will be coming soon I promise!), meeting with clients, cycling in near 80 degree weather, setting up Affiliate Programs for local gurus, supporting friends opening their local clubs, writing my book on Living in Balance, and making sure that we have everything ready for Sunday.  And I didn’t even go into monitoring the various businesses that K and I have.  Oh, and putting together this month’s Newsletter

Don’t get me wrong.  I am not whining, no actually I’m tickled pink and running at full speed right now.  I am totally elated with the way things are traveling!  While I do want to slow down to take time to enjoy the nice weather and start riding with my buddy Ernest (feels like an eternity since we rode together…), I know those days are coming.

Anywho, I just wanted to let all my readers know that I haven’t forgotten you, nor have I forgotten your Newsletter (it’s in the works, but may be a bit late this month).  I have a lot of exciting things moving forward right now that I will be sharing with everyone…just not right now

Hopefully I will be seeing some of you (not all of you as seating is limited) at my event!

Dan

Recently I posted that I was a Mentor now, or a Life Directional Coaching…sounds like of mystical, very esoteric even!  I have gotten a LOT of emails about this from friends, family, and clients who thought I had perhaps jumped off the deep end.  Some thought the name was great!  Others called me a sissy boy (Yes I’m looking at you James!)  So I thought I would come clean on where the term came from…Ancient Greece!  Oh wait, that’s mentor not Life Directional Coaching.

In truth it came up in a conversation I was having with a new friend of mine, Tom Zeeb of Profitable Partnerships, when I was trying to describe to him what it is that I do.  You see for the last few years I have been a Business Management Consultant and most recently I have spread out into being a real estate investor and mentor to young (not in age) Entrepreneurs.  In my conversation the term “Life Direction” came up.  It really does embody what I do, after all.

As any of my readers know, or perhaps don’t realize, I believe that living in balance is the path to not only healthy living, opportunity, but more importantly freedom and true happiness.  Each of the three top level areas of living in balance (Health, Wealth, and Fun) are individual facets of our life.  We have our personal life, our business life, our financial life, our social life, our private life, and the list goes on and on.  All of these facets make up the complexity that we call SELF.

So recently, I decided to brand myself as a Life Directional Coach.  I help to coach those (primarily Entrepreneurs) through the hardships of LIFE.  All the facets of LIFE that affect their business and balance…but primarily business.   I have to be honest here, I am a very private person and I was not really all that sure of whether or not I wanted to “out” myself as a coach/mentor/etc fully, yet I knew it was my path…it is after all a HUGE responsibility helping a young (again not age!) Entrepreneur move forward through the trials of that life and learning how to Live IN Balance.  Yet it is extremely exciting and fulfilling!

So here is my question to all of you, my readers, what do you think of the term Life Directional Coach?  Is there a better name out there?  Is it an AWESOME title/description of what I do?  Or is it lame?

James…you are not allowed to comment, nor are you allowed to rally your supporters!

Let me know what you think!  Leave a comment below and let me know your thoughts!

Today is the eve before the historical Inauguration of Barack Obama and it has me thinking about all it means.  Tomorrow we will witness, some of us in the freezing cold and some in the warmth of our living rooms, the swearing in of the first African American President.  Even if you do not approve of his platform, even if you do not approve of his ideals, even if you do not think he was the best person for the job, you have to admire the moment we will witness.

Shortly after Obama’s victory in November, I was having a great conversation with a client of mine about the meaning of the victory and all it implied to our future.  It was during this discussion that he said to me, “Dan, I view the election as the end of racism as we know it.”  Needless to say, it made me pause.  “What do you mean?  How so…?”

My client went on to explain to me that growing up as an African American boy, when he was told, “If you study hard and really apply yourself, you could be President of the United States!”  The truth is, he never believed it.  I mean why should he?  It wasn’t until John F. Kennedy’s election that anyone who followed the Catholic faith should believe similar statements.  Growing up as a white, protestant male I never doubted that if I worked hard, studied hard, and applied myself that I could be President.  I mean why should I, since I fit the bill for a majority of our Presidents through out history (beyond growing up in a wealthy family that is, but this isn’t about economic status).  To hear this statement from my client was mind blowing, in one of those “Holy Cow!  Your RIGHT!”  This election and now inauguration represents the changing times and maturity of a nation.  The truth is tomorrow represents a time of CHANGE in America.  And how exciting is it to be a part of that?!?

For me, the Inauguration represents a positive change in America, yet for my client and all the generations of young African American males it represents the opportunity to actually achieve the highest office in the country.  Perhaps one day, I will be writing the same type of article in reference to the opening of opportunity to members of other ethnicities, or perhaps even women?  One can only hope.

Think about what this election means to you and what lessons can be learned from it.  How are you planning to change?

See you after the Inauguration, if I survive the cold!!

What does the word “NO” mean to you?  What power does this word have OVER you?  What emotional reactions do you feel when you hear it?  How do you respond when you hear “NO”?  Why am I asking all these questions about such a small, common word?

This last weekend, my good friend Capt. Pete was running his Captain’s Guide to Wholesaling event and he added (I think it was new…) a new section about the getting the response of “No” in calling back whole sale leads.  Pete talked about the fact that for every “No” response you hear, you are one step closer to a real deal and profits.  He went on to explain that as his students, he wanted each and ever person present to re-train themselves away from the negative feelings they have to the response and transform it as a positive step forward.  This reminded me of my days of sales training.

In sales, I taught that in an average sale you will get five “NO’s” before you get a “Yes” (or sale).  This concept comes very easy to some, while incredibly difficult to others.  What I learned is that the salespeople who had little issues with hearing “no” were those personalities who had “thick skin”, yet they often had difficulty building long term rapport with customers. Read the rest of this entry