Pebblestorm

George Kao introduced me as a guest business speaker to HUB (Humanity Unites Brilliance), a very interesting organization that helps people combine their interests in personal development, business development, and humanitarian work.

Without further ado, here are the conference call notes, courtesy of Elizabeth Jarosz, the moderator (who did a fantastic job). I’ve added a few pictures, but overall the notes are unchanged:

HUB BUSINESS GROWTH – Hosted by Elizabeth Jarosz
“Making Money Through Enjoyment” with Aaron Ross

THERE’S A DIFFERENCE BETWEEN “MAKING MONEY THROUGH ENJOYMENT” & “MAKING MONEY AND THEN ENJOYING IT”

In the past, many people have tried to make a choice about doing a) what they love OR b) making a stable income. Aaron wanted the best of both worlds. He wanted to:
1) Do what he does best,
2) Make money,
3) Enjoy every day, and
4) Work through meaning (to make a difference, contribute)

This is an integration of personal development and work. They are complimentary. Why should we live a life of disconnected ‘lives’? (work, spiritual life, family, etc.)  Isn’t that a form of multiple-personality disorder?

Making money for enjoyment can be “for profit” or “non profit”. All organizations need money flow to sustain itself and do what it needs to do.

Core concept from PebbleStorm = Unique Genius

All of us have a certain combination of things we love to do, we are talented at, and it adds meaning to our life, as we can understand what those are. Once we understand this we can start to understand our “unique genius”.

Five Steps

1. Reflect – often we dive into creating a business too quickly (rush, rush society). Begin reflecting on your unique genius: 1) what you love to do; 2) what you’re good at; 3) what would add meaning to your life. Combine your passions. What do you love? What are you good at? How could you combine them? What do you want to create? Reflect – what is your unique genius?

2. Play – Play and experiment about your ideas / your unique genius. The more serious you take things, the less you enjoy them… Play with it. You’ll never know how it will look, so try this and that. Create something you can show another.  Experiment to find out what works, what clicks with people.

3. Attract (an Audience) – Examples are posting a blog, creating an event, etc.

4. Package – After you have an audience, what is it that the audience wants to buy or subscribe to. It doesn’t have to be yours… Package products in a way that’s compelling to the audience.

5. Receive – receive income, receive growth.  

Full blog post on the stages: “The Five Stages of PebbleStorm”

A Major Trend In Business

There’s a massive shift right now in business – away from masculine (forcing) energy, more to a feminine (receiving) energy. The internet is a great example. Now, for example, people can find you. You put your “materials” out there, as beacons or magnets, and they attract people. In the old days to market yourself you’d send out mail pieces and follow up in person, etc. – not any more. In sales, it no longer works to be pushy or manipulative. What does work is to be helpful. Put something out there and wait for them to be ready for it. We’re moving away from “making something happen” to “creating the conditions to make it more serendipitous to happen”.

Put something that is unique / yours – and put it out there for people who want it to receive it. And you will receive the business.

Keys To Success: Patience & Resonance

It’s usually not months when you’re trying to make money through enjoyment. This is contrary to our culture that wants it fast, that wants instant gratification. Think in years. Be patient. It will come. Spend your time to make your passion creative and unique. Find your own resonance – it’s this resonance that will appeal to others who are like minded. This will make your message stand out. Faster is NOT better, more unique / authentic is better. Take your time. This will allow you to build the business that you truly enjoy.

You can begin to enjoy your current work now – if you start paying attention to it.  How can you eliminate, delegate, outsource, automate or reframe/reposition tasks you don’t enjoy?  At least to minimize the amount of time per week you spend on them.  Selling is one example, and a theme of his sales blog, www.BuildASalesMachine.com, is that by rethinking ‘sales’ and making it more enjoyable for both the seller AND buyer, both parties can be more successful.

What consistently works in creating a business?

1. Put out your stuff in places like-minded people will find it, and let it germinate.

2. Word of mouth. People will “share” what’s interesting to them.

Things that trip people up / Things to think about

Most people think they need to quit their job to create a new business. No! Start it while you’re working. It could end up to be an extension of what you’re doing. If you’re only enjoying 20% of your day and you want to enjoy 80%… perhaps you need to outsource some things and that’s it!

There is an ebb and flow to things. When there’s ebb – it’s OK to put it aside for a while. When there’s flow – go with it. It’s OK to put it on the shelf for a few months.

People feel guilt – in order to enjoy what you do, hold no guilt. At the end of each day, “am I enjoying this?” If not, how can you reframe / shift so you can enjoy it. Sometimes that means putting it down for a while. Sometimes it’s eliminating and activity. Sometimes it’s reframing your mind. Sometimes it’s creating something new.

Steps / Actions You Can Take

Unique genius is the core. Ask yourself “what is my unique genius”. Take out a blank page. Write things out for yourself. Example questions:

– Assume money was abundant and you wanted to do something that makes your heart sing, what would it be?

– What are your “hobbies”?

– What did you want to do when you were young / 8 yrs. old. This will offer clues. I wanted to be a pilot. Now one of my core things is “freedom”

– What do people come to you for advice on?

– Create a list of your passions. Start to combine them. My friend started a yoga studio and also likes poetry. I said, “what if you combined yoga and poetry?” Framed pictures / large poems on the wall. Small cards by the front door for people to take. Poetry during class. She added meaning to her life in a way that was unique to her.

This is a beginning of a longer conversation with yourself about what you want to do. Start keeping a journal, online or offline.  Regularly consider it and write in it.  Within a few weeks or months, you’ll amaze yourself at what begins to take shape.

Baby Steps

– What are the small steps you can do today to take you one step closer to your passion. Could be as easy as reserving a url, making a list of what to do tomorrow, do a blog post. Take a baby step. We’re used to creating such big things. The alternative is burnout, overwhelm, or penalization.

– If you can only do one thing today, what would it be? (prioritization technique)

– Just “throw a rock” in the direction you want to go. “Leap and the net will appear.” I wanted to do an event (didn’t know what it would be, who would come). I picked a date and posted it on a blog. That created the momentum and it will be successful. This is pre-committing. It’s OK if you don’t know how it will happen.  Throw the rock, and it’ll energize everything that needs to make it successful.

Thank you.

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