Motivation Monday: You have to say no

Sometimes, you have to say no.

You HAVE to say no.

I’m known around the world for my unshakeable determination to say “YES!” and figure out how. There’ve been countless times in my life where I said yes to the situation, took on the challenge and came out 100 times better for it.

There is no situation where I don’t see a way to say yes, and then get crazy resourceful enough to make it happen.

But trust me when I say that perhaps the most important moment of my life was when I said “No.”

I HAD to say no.

…

Leaving my W-2 job in my mid-20’s was scary.

Seriously – leaving Chevron to start something of my own was unbelievably frightening.

If you’re an entrepreneur, you know the feeling. Your family, your friends, your loved ones – everyone’s trying to persuade you to not do it. Everyone is trying to justify why you’re crazy, why you’ll never make it, and why you’re out of your league.

You have a lot more enemies than friends when you’re on the cusp of becoming a full-fledged entrepreneur.

Pair this with the fact that leaving a consistent paycheck and the comfortability of working for someone else is just about the scariest thing you can do in your professional career, and I felt defeated even before I had started.

Everyone in my world was telling me to get a clue and go back to my “safe” job.

It became so much harder to ignore these doubters when times got tough and I questioned whether this was the right move for me.

I was lost.

Everyone who meant something to me was telling me to give it up and go back to my job.

…

But I said “no.”

I HAD to say no.

I said no to going back to my comfort zone.

I said no to familiarity.

I said no to mediocrity.

I said no to living my life for someone else.

I said no to being less than I was destined to me.

Only when I said no was I truly able to say yes to the life of opportunities, abundance and prosperity that was destined for me.

The wealth, the fame, the celebrity, the experiences, the joy – all of that only came after I said no to leading a life that I knew was not meant for me.

So…don’t settle. Say no to being less than who you truly are.

– LL

4 Questions to Ask a Prospective Employee

After conducting enough interviews, you have a list of questions memorized you can almost rattle off unconsciously. These include hits like:

What is your greatest weakness?
Where do you see yourself in five years?
Name a time you went above and beyond your role.

Just because these questions are common doesn’t mean they’re not useful. However, most applicants will definitely see them coming.

So consider asking the following questions as well.

1) What Do You Know about the Company?

Start out with this one. Most people will be able to tell you general features about the position they’re applying for. Much fewer will be able to do the same for your company and an even smaller number will be able to tell you detailed information about it.

This is important because you should want to hire someone who is passionate about your company. Ideally, you want someone who doesn’t just look at this position as another job. You want someone who will see it as a vocation.

2) How Do You Work Best?

By this we’re wondering about the environment that is best for them. Do they prefer to work alone, in a team, out on the floor, in an office, etc.? This should also cover how they prefer to be managed—do they like constant supervision or being left alone once the directions are given?

3) How Would You Handle…?

Give them a specific example of a challenge you can foresee them having to handle in the position you’re interviewing for. Be fair, however, and pick a scenario they could reasonably take a stab at. If you choose something unique to your company that they couldn’t possibly know anything about, you’re just hurting your chances of hiring a great candidate.

4) What Is Your Ideal Job?

Every candidate is going to be tempted to mention the one they’re interviewing for. If they do, they better have answered that initial question well. You should still consider pushing them to ensure they’re being honest and not just giving the easy answer to look good.

Don’t take it personally if candidates mention another position. Take this as an opportunity to view their strengths and passions on display. Be grateful for their honesty, too.

A company is only as good as the people they hire. Remember that, when you interview applicants and use the above questions. While you can use plenty of others you may prefer, those we covered here deviate from the norm while still providing you important information.

What business would you start if you knew you WOULD NOT fail?

I asked this question on my Facebook about a week ago & got some pretty cool responses. I love asking this question to people I meet at my events, just to gauge their creativeness and open their minds up to endless possibilities!

So…what business would you start if you knew you WOULD NOT fail?

Tell me in the comments section below!
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Money Rules

In my book Wealth Cycle Investing, on page 57, I talk about money rules and taking control. When you opt for direct participation in assets, you need to make decisions based on your personal criteria-your money rules. Your money rules are determined by your current situation and financial objectives, and they help you decide.

Which investments to make
How to make them
What you need to do to get started
Whom to involve

But let me give you some Investing Money Rules:

Decide whether you want to be an active or passive investor.
Are you looking for money now (cash flow) or money later (appreciation)?
Decide what kind of return you want on your investment annually
What are you liquidity needs? Do you need to keep cash on hand or readily accessible for your needs?
What are your tax ramifications? How will your taxes will be created or minimized by your investing? Investments can create huge tax liabilities or create huge tax deductions.
Finally, what are the risks and rewards associated with your investment? How do you measure these variables? Do you have the tendency is to discount the risk and over-rate the reward?

Here are some other Money Rules to help you
Cash Machine Money Rules:

How much money will you invest in the business?
Will you bring in JV partners for capital?
Will you utilize partners for other reasons?
If so, how much interest/ownership are you willing to give up?
Will you borrow money for expansion and/or growth
Will you borrow money for operations?
Will you purchase assets in the business name?

Money Rules For Holding Assets:

What kind of entities will you utilize?
How will your entities be structured in relation to one another?
How much equity are you willing to put at risk per entity?
How many businesses/assets will you hold per entity?
When will you start a new entity?
Will you pay taxes per entity or flow income to a “mother ship” or to your personal tax return?

Money Rules For Family Spending:

Will you combine your money and pay all bills out of the joint account?
Will you have separate accounts for certain bills or for discretionary spending?
How will you decide on large purchases?
How much can you each spend without notifying the other person?
How will you handle money with your children?
What is your philosophy on debt?

Money Rules For Family & Money:

Will you loan family members money? If so, how will you structure the payback terms?
How will you document it?
If you loan family money, how will you handle the situation if they are not able to repay it?
Will you borrow money from family? If so, for what reasons?
How will you repay it? What if you cannot repay it?

Bring your entrepreneurial skills to the next level…attend a free event!
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Guide to Wealth Cycle Investing

What One Skill Do All Entrepreneurs Need to Succeed?

I recently came across this compilation of answers from Young Entrepreneur Council (YEC) and wanted to share them with you here… Loral

Question: What is the #1 skill an entrepreneur must possess to succeed?

Perseverance
“Cash will run low, clients won’t close, team members will leave, the product will have bugs, and the roof will fall on your head. There will be times when you seriously consider quitting. I’ve been there. But perseverance and dumbfounded self-confidence pushed me forward. Without perseverance, you’ll never reach success. “
– Jun Loayza | President, Reputation Hacks

Vision Communication
“First, an entrepreneur must have the vision, and then he or she must be able to communicate it. The communication will be to their team and employees, to their customers and clients, and even to outside sources like potential investors, sponsors, and collaborators.”
– Nathalie Lussier | Creator, The Website Checkup Tool

Persistence
“Entrepreneurs, by definition, fail; it’s the ones that fail the least that are the most successful. The ones that never give up and are fueled by defeat are the entrepreneurs that succeed the next time around.”
– Logan Lenz | Founder / President, Endagon

Sales Skills
“Entrepreneurs need to know how to sell. Everything they do in their business revolves around selling and persuasion: you are selling your company to investors and new hires, selling your product to buyers, selling and persuading your team to perform at a high level, selling yourself and your dreams to the media. If you can’t sell, you will not succeed as an entrepreneur.”
– Greg Rollett | CEO, The ProductPros

Asking Abilities
“Entrepreneurs wishing to succeed in life need to understand their progress will be limited by not learning to ask for what they want. Whether it is mentorship, funding, an explanation or more, the answer is always “no” unless you ask. The sooner an entrepreneur understands this key lesson, the sooner they’ll experience all that the journey has to offer.”
– Jeff Slobotski | Founder, Silicon Prairie News

Selective Focus
“This answer comes from personal experience, both my successes and struggles and those of other entrepreneurs I know. Definitely the top skill is the ability to focus on the “right” things. Once we get the freedom that comes with being an entrepreneur, it’s way too easy to work on a bunch of different things, which leads to mediocre results on everything. Focus on one thing and kick butt with it.”
– Trevor Mauch | CEO (Chief Entrepreneurial Officer), Automize, LLC

Passion Is a Skill!
“The one skill an entrepreneur must possess is passion. If you are truly passionate about what you do, everything else will come naturally. You will persevere when times are rough, in order to protect your business. You will never give up, because you will know it is your calling. And money won’t be the sole focus of your efforts, allowing for your authenticity to shine through.”
– Steven Le Vine | CEO/President, grapevine pr

Love for the Hustle
“I think the ability to hustle embodies a few qualities that are integral to surviving and succeeding as an entrepreneur. To me, hustle is a special blend of motivation, persistence, passion, and persuasive powers that serve entrepreneurs well as they navigate markets, investors, team building, and the various challenges they face as they seek success.”
– Derek Shanahan | Growth Marketing, Playerize

Solve the Problems!
“As an entrepreneur, you’re going to be faced with problem after problem, and you’re going to need to be able to find creative solutions that keep you moving forward. Without the ability to problem solve, you’ll be stuck from the get go.”
– Tim Jahn | Co-Founder, matchist

Be Tenacious
“Whether you’re looking to recruit a superstar new team member or starting to make a sale, the #1 skill you need as an entrepreneur is tenacity. There will be so many times that people say “no” or “maybe later,” and you need the fire in your belly to stay persuasive, smart and tenacious. If you have that quality, you will succeed at anything to which you put your mind and energy.”
– Doreen Bloch | CEO / Founder, Poshly Inc.

A Story Worth Telling
“Entrepreneurs are literally creating something out of nothing. In order to inspire, motivate, and attract others to your vision, you need to be able to tell a compelling story. Frame the context. Set the stakes. Make it meaningful. Everyone from customers to employees and investors — they all want a story to believe in.”
– Michael Margolis | President, Get Storied

Flexibility
“As an entrepreneur, it’s essential to be flexible in all aspects of your business. If something isn’t working, you often need to change direction quickly or else your company might not last much longer.”
– Heather Huhman | Founder & President, Come Recommended.

Execution
“Ideation and strategy are important. However, they’re worthless without the ability to tactically execute on them. Execution is the most important skill that an entrepreneur can possess. Not only will it impact your success rate, but iteration will eliminate fear and set you up for success. Like most successful entrepreneurs I find that “the harder you work, the luckier you get.”
– Erica Nicole | Founder and CEO, YFS Magazine: Young, Fabulous & Self Employed

Resilience
“Resilience! You’re going to get knocked down often building and running a startup. The ability to bounce back and do so quickly is important for any entrepreneur, and one that has been essential to my own success.”
– Lauren Perkins | Founder and CEO, Perks Consulting

Innovation
“The playing field is always changing and evolving. Things will be possible tomorrow that are not possible today. In order to innovate, entrepreneurs must possess open eyes, open ears, and most importantly, an open mind.”
– David Gardner | Co-Founder, ColorJar

Millionaire Maker Makes it to South Africa

For years I’ve been asked when was I going to visit Africa. I’ve been all over East Asia and Australia, South America, Mexico, Canada and Europe, but never to Africa.

If you live in South Africa or nearby you’re in luck.

I’ve been invited to speak with Sir Richard Branson and Dr. John Demartini at the Success Summit South Africa 2013.

Don’t worry if you don’t have tickets. I’m hosting a special meet and greet at my hotel’s bar Friday March 1st.

Seating is limited.

Click the link below to get the address and register. I’d love to meet you. Plus it’s FREE!

See you then!!

Meet Loral in Africa

What encourages you?

We all need a little encouragement every now and then.

What encourages you?
Do you need me to encourage you?
Finally get paid for what you know instead of how hard you work. Loral Langemeier teaches exactly how she built a 7 figure speaking empire, from scratch! Click below to get a pep talk from Loral Langemeier in one of these cities.
Bring your entrepreneurial skills to the next level…get a pep talk from Loral Langemeier! (Don’t worry, it’s free to attend)

When People Become Desperate – They Make Stuff Up

We all have stories and excuses that we tell ourselves. It’s human nature I guess?

We don’t or can’t for some reason be brutally honest with ourselves but we sure can dish it out to others when we want.

What if we were able to turn that harshness inward? What more would we be able to accomplish? What would we stop doing that’s currently sabotaging our efforts?

When you have nothing left to blame you make stuff up.

It’s easier to believe that you’re not successful because you’re a victim of some outside influence or event. Heck, it’s a lot easier for us to tell our loved ones, like friends and family, that the reason why things haven’t worked out for us isn’t because I’m not trying but really because of X.

Let’s get real.

In my book, YES! Energy, I share a few things that have happened to me like losing my company’s ENTIRE database, being fired and finding out I was pregnant. All of these things I take full responsibility for – especially the pregnancy part. ☺ There is no one that I can blame for them but myself.

I can’t tell you how empowering it was for me to stop running from responsibility. By making this decision I’ve taken control of my life and the direction I am heading. No longer was I a passenger, sitting in the backseat of my life letting others drive and control my destiny and outcome.

I’ve heard it said that you play the lead role in your life, so why not write the part that you want.

Here at Live Out Loud we hear excuses all day long.

Some of them we’ve heard more than once. While this list doesn’t reflect any one person it does reflect those that give them to us a whole.

Also note, while we’re sharing these in a lighthearted way we in no way diminish any real hurt or pain that some of the real excuses might represent for those that experienced them firsthand.

Some of the excuses listed are what you would call legitimate ones and others you’ll have to ask yourself if they’re really true or not. Nonetheless these are excuses we’ve personally received either in writing or verbally from our customers.

Truthfully, when you look at some of these excuses for not moving forward with their lives you can’t help but ask the question, what if this was a test?

We know that there’s opposition in all things. What if by taking the stance to move forward financially you were being challenged? Challenged to see if what you said you really wanted to do was indeed really your desire or not. What if by succumbing to your excuses you failed the test by caving in?

The only way to know is to stand up and stick to your commitments.

Bring your entrepreneurial skills to the next level…attend a free event!
Put more cash in your pocket using your skills and hobbies
Act, Think, and Make Money the Way the Wealthy Do

Where’s the Opportunity for Each of These Business? Part 1

If you saw me on The Secret you know that I believe that there’s a silver lining in everything. Heck, if you’ve read chapter 1 of Yes! Energy you know that I’ve not had things come easy to me in my life, but I’ve been able to seize the lesson from each experience.

I found this CNN video and there is a HUGE sales and marketing opportunity for each one of these businesses. In fact there’s several opportunities for each one. Can you find them? What are your thoughts?

In comments section below let me know what you think each of these companies can do to succeed. For the best submission you’ll get one of my books for free. Be sure when you’re leaving your submission to leave your email address so we can reach you.

Tomorrow, I’ll announce the winner and give you my take on what each one of these businesses can do immediately to improve their sales and marketing.

Here’s the video: