jyellin

The first thing that you must realize is that you are NOT alone with this unfortunate thought process. Some background on me...I am a motivational speaker, writer, personal trainer, entrepreneur, life coach, etc. The reason I provide this background information is more for social proof than anything else because I have spent years of my life studying the human psyche, identity theory, and emotional pain. What I have learned is that our country has been inflicted with a disease, a plague of far reaching magnitude, where almost every person is negatively affected. I have coined this catastrophic dilemma as an IDENTITY CRISIS where you begin to live the life that someone or something has created on your behalf. This is what you are experiencing because at some point their was a "PAIN" which surfaced in your world, that never had the opportunity to heal, but in order to eliminate this emotion, you subconsciously allowed this wound to scab over. As you have evolved, this pain was never healed, and instead masked, but now it has SURFACED once again. I would like to assist you through this process because I have worked with countless people who also experienced exactly what you are going through. In the meantime, please invest in yourself, and visit my website (www.jaredyellin.com) and subscribe. Everything is FREE and I believe this is will enable you to begin the process of thinking differently about your life. With all of this being said, I want you to remember, that you are NEVER alone!

“All good things must come to an end, but great things will live on forever, only in a different form.” I am not sure what your belief system is, but I am going to express mine because I am assuming, based on your post, that Greg is an example of a ‘great thing.’ And although he will not be by your side in physical form for those late nights, his legacy will live on forever. It is important to realize that Greg would not want you to mourn and instead he wants you to live, to live in a way that you have never lived before. Death is obviously an inevitable occurrence in our lives, but it does not necessarily need to result in feelings of angst because Greg served his purpose in the world by becoming part of who you are today. He will forever be with you, like all great things, only this time in a different form. Have the will to live, have the will to thrive, and have the will to allow Greg’s legacy to continue onward as your start-up becomes a huge success…

Good luck to you and may Greg rest in peace…

Initially, the first point (1. The average and median age of company founders when they started their current companies was 40.) surprised me the most until I re-read the first paragraph and realized that the study was representative of the entire start-up landscape, not just software. This proves that it is never too late to have a profound impact in this world!

I think that it says that money is not the root to all evil when used to help those who are in need...give for the sake of giving!

People often spend a significant amount of time worrying about what tomorrow will bring and in turn negatively affect today. This is a dilemma that we all face on a regular basis. We worry about hitting our quota because if not, we will potentially lose our job; we dread an upcoming family event because we are going to be forced to spend time with a "long lost" relative; we are concerned about going on vacation because we have not kept to our diet; we worry that our start-up will not get funded and we will be forced to work at a corporate giant; we fear an upcoming airline flight and do not enjoy our vacation; and we are troubled that a loved one, (or even ourselves), is going to die because of a recent diagnosis of a terminal disease. All of these worries, dreads, concerns, and troubles lead to what I like to call "F-e-a-r"or in other words, False Evidence Appearing Real. I am sure we will agree that we often worry about future events that never turn out to be as bad as we originally thought. So in the time from the initial thought, up and until the event, we have "destroyed" a period of time that could have been significantly more enjoyable. Now there are cases that are inevitable, like the eventual death as a result of a terminal disease, but even with these occurrences, the death component is going to occur when your time is finished on earth, but the life element is up to you. Remember, F-e-a-r is only False Evidence Appearing Real.

Passion is the prospect that something incredible is about to take place. Notice the term prospect because a prospect is not a guarantee, but rather a chance that the world will be different based on whatever you desire to achieve. My personal opinion is that you can have all the intellect and money in the world, but if you do not have passion and enthusiasm, you have nothing! The irony of this concept is that passion and enthusiasm are the most powerful forces in the world, which means that as good as they can do, they can also be destructive in such a way that people will forever be changed due to their wrath. Let’s think about Madoff, Hitler, or Bin Laden because all three of these infamous figures had passion and enthusiasm which is how they were able to manipulate the lives of thousands, and potentially even millions of people. All three of these men obviously had intellect, but if they were lacking in the passion department, there would have never been a $50billion ponzi scheme, a Holocaust, or 9/11. Now let’s bring this to perspective for all of us entrepreneurs because these three men exuded passion in such a way that they were literally able to create a cult-like following and etch a place in history. I am sure that all of you will agree that their passion was overshadowed by their sickness and lack of self worth. But Steven Jobs, Mark Zuckerberg, and Biz Stone are currently doing what these three infamous men have done in the past; but the difference is that they not only have the secret sauce of passion, but also an insatiable desire to impact the world in a positive way! Get excited about what you are doing and start to live with passion…

All of these lessons are powerful and communicated in a wonderful way, but #2. Make Everything Your Own - Self-Reliance, is something that all aspiring entrepreneurs need to focus in order to take an idea and make it a reality. There are many talented people in the world who fear losing a steady pay-check regardless of the potential innovations that could be created. Stability means that you are actually moving backwards on your personal continuum of life because if you are not evolving, then you are going to compromise who you are for the sake of something other than yourself. Be creative, be alive, and realize that the most severe risk that you ever face is the risk associated with living a life that someone or something has created for you to live...be the creator, director, and artist of your own world!

I actually did not realize the date until I read the first few paragraphs either! In my mind, Google has come closer than any company history to doing everything for anyone. With this being said, I agree with the focused innovation point that you made and the attention to positioning themselves as we progress...I find it to be rather exciting to think about what Google will become in 30 years.

That is what I found to be most intriguing as well...Do you think that Google is congruent with this message?

First and foremost, procrastination is death. We were born to take action, even if the action we take is not in the direction of our ideal life, it still enables us to begin a journey and experience everything that the world will present on our path. I believe that life is a puzzle, made up of millions of pieces, or in other words experiences; career, school, relationship, money, vacation, camp, good times, bad times, sickness, regret, deceit, etc. This list could literally go on forever, but what is important to realize is that every single experience that takes place in your world will provide you with a piece to your puzzle of life. Each of these pieces will enable you to get closer to completing your puzzle and having your ideal life being revealed to the world. Now you might be asking yourself, how many people get to the point of actually completing their puzzle? And the answer is extremely few, if any, because human nature is most comfortable, in an uncomfortable way, to be a “fence sitter.” The definition of a “fence sitter” is someone whose complacency and over-analysis of every situation prevents personal growth, and ultimately the puzzle from being completed. So, what I ask you to keep in mind as you begin to make the first magnanimous decision in your life is to listen to what your “gut” is telling you to do. Your intuition will never lead you in a path where you will not grow and when making a decision, if you are unable to look in the mirror and feel comfortable with the person who looks back, then realize that you lying to yourself. The feeling of doubt is called “The Unknown,” because regardless of what path you take, it will be uncharted territory in your world. But like Alan Alda once said, “You have to leave the city of your comfort and go into the wilderness of your intuition. What you’ll discover will be wonderful. What you’ll discover is yourself.” Trust yourself…we are all born with all of the tools that we need to live a life filled with endless opportunities, but it is your choice if you decide to use all of them! Good luck….

This is a valuable lesson for all of us, but I believe can be stated differently, which will enable an even more profound result to take place for all of our ideas. People often ask themselves, what is it in for me, and if the product/service that you are developing can not answer this question in a appropriate fashion, then the user will become a non-user! How is the product or service going to benefit my life? This should be the first question that all of us entrepreneurs are answering on behalf of the audience that we are looking to capture…

D--Differentiated: I think that this is an important concept to address because what I have often seen in companies which do not reach the level of creating a brand is that they play the game of forceful differentiation. Ideas need to be natural and authentic which in turn will enable them to be different than anything else that currently exists. It is also important to realize that contradictions lead to destruction and the size of the destruction is contingent on the magnitude of the contradiction. When developing a brand, this needs to be part of each individual within the organization. They need to become the brand and the CEO needs to be promoting this vision at all times. Contradictions in the workplace will lead to a company with a non-existent brand!

That is a great recommendation...I have actually read pieces from Meditations which is extremely congruent with my statement...I am happy that you enjoyed my neologism!

I was slightly confused as well...and I appreciate your support!

I suppose that the first step to "getting fit", or in other words living a wellness oriented lifestyle, is to actually define what this means to you in your world. My belief is that "change" starts from within, which means that you can eat all of the right food and exercise on a consistent basis, and still not be "well." The change that I was referring to is the space between your eyes, controlling how you think, also known as tangebalizing (I made this word up) your thoughts. Can you imagine having the literally controlling how you think and how you perceive a situation? Because you can and the first step to eliciting change is realizing that you were born with all of the tools to evoke this type of result...

A simple message, but the lessons are important to absorb and digest.

Lesson 1- Do something you love and do it with someone you trust Lesson 2- Do something you understand Lesson 3- Start with the end in mind Lesson 4- Protect your ideas, invest in an expert Lesson 5- Be ready for the unexpected

My personal favorite is Lesson Three because the strategy of starting with the end in mind is something that I believe will be the final piece in the puzzle of taking an idea and turning it into a reality. The concept of setting goals without actually knowing where you want to end up is kind of like taking out a map, determining a route to follow, but never actually deciding on where you would like to go. I am an advocate in the concept of envisioning what you want your LIFE TO LOOK LIKE, not just the next year, but actually taking the time to ask yourself what you want to be, do, and have in life? What do you want to achieve, how do you want to feel, and who do you want to do all of this with? Once you start with the end in mind, then you have the ability to work backwards in order to return to where you stand today.