Privateer Nation Blog
The Privateer Nation is the first nation in history to be created by people who share a common philosophy, dreams and vision instead of common orgins, history or religion. The sole purpose of the Privateer Nation is to help you get rich in the profession of your choice, travel the planet and change the world. To learn more go to www.privateernation.com

A COMPLAINT FREE WORLD

Filed under: LIFE LESSONS — admin August 26, 2008 @ 1:10 pm

CHANGE THE WORLD:
Compassionate Capitalism

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I’ve been taking the A Complaint Free World Challenge that was created by Will Bowen for 2 months now.  The results are incredible!  Read on to learn more….

HOW IT ALL GOT STARTED
Will is a pastor at a church in Kansas City.  Back in 2006 he came up with an idea for a sermon that discussed the nasty impact complaining has on a person’s life.   At the end of the sermon he threw out a challenge.  Everyone knows it takes 21 days to create a new habit.  Will challenged the audience to go 21 days with out complaining. To aid those that were willing to take the challenge he passed out purple bracelets.  The idea was that you had to switch the bracelet to the other wrist if you complained.  The goal was to keep the bracelet on the same wrist for 21 days, signifying that you had gone 21 days with out complaining.

REALITY CHECK
Now I’m going to say something that might shock you.

You have NO IDEA how much of a whiny, sniveling complainer YOU ARE.  If I were to ask each one of you individually, I bet all of you would say, “At the MOST I complain once or twice a week.” You’d be SHOCKED if I followed you around with a tape recorder for 1 day and then replayed what came out of your mouth.  And believe me I know because I’m speaking from personal experience.

BENEFITS
So let’s talk about the benefits you’ll get from creating the habit of not complaining…

We’ll start with Pat’s favorite word “Entrainment.”  We are constantly synching up to people around us.  When you complain you are “entraining” i.e drawing other complainers to you.  Think about the people in your life right now.  Are they complainers?  If so that means you are too.  Stop complaining and you’ll draw fun, joyful, loving people to you 

Complaining is talking about things you DO NOT WANT rather than what YOU DO WANT.  When we complain, we are using our words to focus on things that are NOT as we would like.  Our thoughts create our lives and our words indicate what we are thinking.

By not complaining you get play at the leadership level of Gandhi and Princess Di and your peers will see you as a leader at a higher level.

Buddah said, “We are shaped by our thoughts; we become what we think.”  Most of your complaints don’t even escape your lips but you are still thinking them.  Guess what you are becoming?

Stop complaining.  Change your words, change your thoughts, and you will change your life!  When Jesus said, “Seek and you shall find,” it was a statement of universal principle.  What you seek, you will find. When you complain, you are using the incredible power of your mind to seek things you say you don’t want but nonetheless draw them to you.  Then you complain about these new things and attract EVEN MORE of what you don’t want.

Now let’s hear from a couple of people who have chosen not to complain…

TESTIMONIALS
I suffered from chronic headaches.  Every night I’d come home and tell my wife how much my head hurt that day.  While taking the Complaint Free Challenge I realized that telling my wife about my headaches did nothing to lessen their occurrence or painful severity.  I decided to stop talking about them.  To my utter and complete surprise my headaches stopped.  Today I’m headache free.
        Tom Alyea

In 1999, at the very young age of 39, Hal was diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer.  The doctors gave him 6 months.  In addition to his mortal diagnosis, Hal was facing other challenges.  Even though Hal had sold health insurance for a living, he had none.  His bills piled up and it was a constant struggle to keep the lights on and his family fed.  When Will (the pastor who wrote A Complaint Free World) found out about Hal’s situation he went out to visit him.  Will expected to find Hal in a pretty bad way but Hal spent the entire visit talking about how great his life was and how fortunate he was.  Will came back to visit him twice a week after that.  One day Will asked Hal, “How do you manage not to complain with all you are going through?”  Hal smiled and said, “Easy, it’s not the 15th of the month.  I decided that I’d allow myself to complain one day a month.  And you know what the great thing is? By the 15th of the month I’ve forgotten what I was going to complain about.”  Hal actually lived for 2 years past what the doctors gave him and he was an inspiration to everyone that even in the face of terminal illness you can choose to be happy.  That’s the health affirming power of living a life of gratitude rather than one of complaint.
        Will Bowen

This last one is my personal testimonial.  Like everyone else I thought that I complained very little.  Two weeks after putting my complaint free bracelet on I hadn’t even been able to keep it on the same wrist for one day.  Today I’m at 2 months and the longest I’ve gone is 3 days.  Now I know why the average time to win the Complaint Free Challenge is 4 to 8 months.  Even though I still have a ways to go to reach my 21 days I’ve noticed a dramatic increase in my daily happiness.  This was super surprising to me because I was already a happy person.  I feel like this huge weight has been lifted off me.  I’m floored and it keeps getting better.
        Namaste Faustino

In closing, when Will was being interviewed by an associate producer before he went on the Oprah Show he was asked, “What is your goal with all of this?”  He replied, “To transform the consciousness of our world.”  The associate producer looked at him and smiled sympathetically, “That’s a pretty big dream, don’t you think?”  He smiled and replied, “Do the math.”  The challenge started just over 2 years ago.  Today we’ve shipped over 6 million complaint free world bracelets to 80 countries around the world.  We’re now receiving over 1000 purple bracelet orders a day and those numbers just keep getting bigger.

It’s no accident that you are on this call.  You can change the world by simply becoming an example of positive change.  You can create a complaint free world.  As you become a happier person, you raise the overall level of happiness in the world.  You will send out a vibration of optimism and hope that will resound with others of similar intent.  And together–we will–change the world.

Go to www.acomplaintfreeworld.com and order your bracelets today.  However you can start immediately by simply putting a rubber band around your wrist and switching it when you complain.  Don’t wait.  Do it now. 

I promise you that it will be the most impactful thing you do this year. 

My Definite Major Purpose Updated

Filed under: LIFE LESSONS — admin August 21, 2008 @ 12:23 pm

GET RICH:
The 4-Hour Workweek

I first read Napoleon Hill’s famous book Think & Grow Rich when I was 19 years old. In that book he explains that knowing your definite major purpose is the key to success. What’s a definite major purpose? It’s the thing that you desire most in life. Why is it the key? As Napoleon Hill says, “Our brains our magnetized with the dominating thoughts that we hold in our minds, and these magnets attract to us the forces, people and circumstances of life that harmonize with the nature of our dominating thoughts.”

Over the years I’ve spent a lot of time figuring out my definite major purpose. And I’ve learned some things…

1. You have to really want it. If you have to force yourself to think about it 10 times a day then it’s NOT it.

2. It changes. I’ve achieved my definite major purpose before and now I have another.

3. Spending the time to figure it out is worth it because you get exactly what you ask for (or extremely close to it).

4. If you read your definite major purpose statement, and it does NOT excite you, then you need to change it. Why? If it doesn’t excite you then you won’t do what it takes to bring it into your life.

All of this year my definite major purpose was to make $4000 a month building/supporting the Privateer Nation. When I first wrote this statement it excited me. Two weeks later it didn’t and I kept putting off changing it because I couldn’t figure out what was wrong. Finally, I figured it out. It’s not the money that excites me. It’s the lifestyle the money will bring me that excites me. It seems like I’m being overly picky about words but in my experience you have to be. Here is my new and updated definite major purpose (by the way I carry this around with me at all times and look at it a couple of times a day)…

Say it out loud, “My definite major purpose is to be

living with my girlfriend near the beach

in an energy intense city in Florida

while making $4000 + a month building the Privateer Nation

before I’m 32 years old.”

For fun I included my notes on creating a definite major purpose….

Is it definite?

Does reading my definite major purpose make me excited?

Is it a burning desire?

Am I continually intensifying my desire for it in my mind?

The main thing, is the keep the main thing, the main thing.

Any idea that is held in the mind that is either feared or revered will begin at once to clothe itself in the most convenient & appropriate physical form available.

An intangible impulse of thoughts can be transmuted into material rewards by the application of known principles.

Truly “thoughts are things” and powerful things at that, when they are mixed with definiteness of purpose, persistence and a burning desire for the translation into riches or other material objects.

Our brains are magnetized with the dominating thoughts that we hold in our minds, and these magnets attract to us the forces, people and circumstances of life that harmonize with the nature of our dominating thoughts.

You may as well know right here that you can never have riches in great quantities unless you uncover the white heat of desire for the money and actually believe you can possess it.

Thoughts + Words + ACTION = Creation

People Come Into Your Life For A Reason, Season or Lifetime.

Filed under: LIFE LESSONS — admin August 17, 2008 @ 6:11 pm

GET RICH:
Think and Grow Rich

An unknown author wrote the following lesson.  People come into your life for a reason, a season or a lifetime. When you know which one it is, you will know what to do for that person…

When someone is in your life for a REASON, it is usually to meet a need you have expressed.

They have come to assist you through a difficulty, to provide you with guidance and support,

To aid you physically, emotionally or spiritually. They may seem like a godsend and they are.

They are there for the reason you need them to be.

Then, without any wrongdoing on your part or at an inconvenient time,

This person will say or do something to bring the relationship to an end.

Sometimes they die. Sometimes they walk away.

Sometimes they act up and force you to take a stand.

What we must realize is that our need has been met, our desire fulfilled, their work is done.

The prayer you sent up has been answered and now it is time to move on.

Some people come into your life for a SEASON, because your turn has come to share, grow or learn.

They bring you an experience of peace or make you laugh.

They may teach you something you have never done.

They usually give you an unbelievable amount of joy.

Believe it, it is real. But only for a season.

Other people come into your life for a lifetime.

LIFETIME relationships teach you lifetime lessons,

Things you must build upon in order to have a solid emotional foundation.

Your job is to accept the lesson,

Love the person and put what you have learned to use in all other relationships and areas of your life

It is said that love is blind but friendship is clairvoyant

Thank you for being a part of my life, whether you are a reason, a season or a lifetime.

Learn how to deliver a masterful Elevator Pitch by Startup Nation

Filed under: LIFE LESSONS — admin @ 5:56 pm

GET RICH:
The Power of Nice

You can picture it – you step onto an elevator and standing right there is your dream financier. It’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Your pulse quickens. Your body temperature rises. You know this is your shot.

Elevator Pitch

To make sure you’re ready to seize the moment when fate puts you on that elevator with Mr. Moneybags, here we give you our advice on delivering an effective “elevator pitch” in as little as a one-minute ride. After all, Mr. Moneybags is always in a hurry and you’ve got to hook him quickly or you’ll never see him again!

You have to convey all the essential information in a clear and concise manner, communicating in a tone that’s likeable, passionate and also credible.
Remember, the elevator pitch is not designed to take the place of a solid business plan, but is simply intended to capture the attention of a potential investor. If you achieve that, the odds are good that you’ll get a chance to present your business idea in more detail at a later time (part of why having a complete business plan is also a must).
When you deliver an elevator pitch, you have to clearly and succinctly address the following points:

1. What’s the idea?
2. What’s the status of the idea or business?
3. What market or markets does the business address and are there any testimonials or customer feedback?
4. Why do you believe you have the advantage in the marketplace relative to the market needs?
5. What’s the competition in the marketplace?
6. What’s the revenue model (such as “e-commerce,” or “wholesale”)?
7. Who’s the team that’s going to make the business succeed?
8. What’s the longer term vision, the “end-game,” for the business and the projected return on investment for investors? (some examples are: “the business will distribute big profits to investors from cash flow by year X”, or “the business will be acquired by another company for $XYZ”)
9. What’s the total funding required to execute the business plan?
10. What amount of financing are you seeking initially and what are the terms of investment?

Your Elevator Pitch

Note that the order of these points can be changed around depending upon what your strongest points are. If, for example, you’ve got the most amazing and experienced team members, by all means, bump that up in front. Or, if you’ve got incredible initial sales results or testimonials, then mention that earlier. Whatever you believe is most compelling, you have to try to mesmerize Mr. Moneybags before he gets off the elevator!)

Example Elevator Pitch

Read the pitch out loud and time it - you’ll see that it can be done in 60 seconds or less. You’ll need to be able to pitch your idea in the same amount of time.

“Our company is called ConstructionBoots.com, an e-commerce website that sells brandname construction boots. There are currently no companies serving this niche exclusively. ConstructionBoots.com will drive traffic to the site by linking to other websites catering to the construction industry as well as through word-of-mouth. In industry surveys, over 90% of construction workers have these three traits: 1) they have a favorite brand of boots, 2) they know their size, and 3) they hate shopping at stores. In our own polling, over 70% indicated that they would prefer to buy their boots online and have them delivered. Accordingly, we expect a great market response and rapid sales ramp-up.

We need $1.5 million in funding to get to the point where the company is self-sustaining. This should happen in the middle of our second year. Right now, we’re seeking $500,000 of initial funding in exchange for a 30% ownership stake in the company. I am the CEO with lots of operational experience and deep contacts with boot manufacturers. Our Marketing Director was instrumental in the growth and recent sale of a very successful e-commerce clothing company. If we hit our numbers, we expect to be able to sell ConstructionBoots.com to a ‘brick and mortar’ retailer within 3 years.”