Larry Hochman

A home business fantasy of success sounds like a lot of fun, doesn’t it?

Maybe.

Most people stay in that fantasy for their entire home business careers.

And they never, ever get out.

Truth: most people love the fantasy of success in their home business.

And I’m not even talking about millions and millions of dollars. That’s too far outside the realm of reality for most.

They just want to feel good, and important and have that show up in the form of money and followers.

And I’m not the marketing expert in the family, but the reality is it isn’t insanely hard to achieve that.

Warm market or cold market, a simple sustained effort in a quality program will give most people a positive cash flow and enough recognition to give them their fantasy.

So how come so few people are fulfilling that home business fantasy?

Because they’re afraid of actually stepping into it.

If you are successful, you have a responsibility to live that success.

You have a responsiblity to the habits, and values and commitments that go with that success.

You have to feel worthy of it.

You have to carry yourself in a way that people recognize your leadership and are drawn to your products or your business. They are drawn to you.

That’s too far a distance for most.

They love the idea of success in home business.

Enough to fantasize about it.

But when it comes time to do the things that bring the success, they run into the trap of a damaged sense of self-worth.

And they make lots of small, subconscious choices that stop their progress dead in its tracks.

And they start over…often with a new program. Or new lead generation system. Or even a new coach, thinking they’ve found the magic solution.

And the pattern repeats.

If you do nothing else in your home business building efforts…

Find a way to raise your sense of self.

See yourself fully in your success.

Not as a fantasy that’s fun to carry around, but too tough to navigate in real life.

But as who you are.

This is how I help people turn people’s home business fantasy into home business reality.

In the afterglow of the Enshrinement Ceremony of the Basketball Hall Of Fame.

Not the first one I’ve been to. Hopefully not the last. There’s always something new to see…

Heath LaBox, my “date” for the evening, since Diane was doing her genius marketing trainer thing in Texas.

The current and past inductees. That’s Calvin Murphy in “the jacket.” He’ll be making another appearance in this post.

I took a photo with Artis Gilmore once before, maybe last year. He is the single largest human being I’ve ever been in the presence of. I’m 5’10”. Do the math.

Unless you were family or a serious V.I.P. you weren’t getting past the security checkpoint to hang out with Shaquille O’Neal. He was the most famous of the inductees, who also included Yao Ming, Alan Iverson and Sheryl Swoopes. (Sidenote: Sheryl Swoopes was back on the court six weeks after giving birth. Now that’s tough!)

Artis Gilmore is the largest man I’ve ever been in the same room with. But Yao Ming was the tallest. He was camera shy, not really coming out to mix and mingle with the crowd. Whatever answer he gave to this question, I’m sure it was thoughtful.

This looked like a really good “bromance” to start. Shaq and Calvin Murphy messing around. After all it’s a really close knit circle of circle of people who are in the Hall Of Fame. Greatness appreciates greatness. And whatever else those guys have in common…there is greatness.

Then I saw how eager Calvin was to meet the people. It explains “the jacket.” He was loving the play, the attention, the fun of it all. I don’t know what he does on days when he’s not doing Hall Of Fame stuff. But he sure has fun when he’s on!

And then of course, what would a Hall Of Fame affair be without Hall Of Fame desserts?

YOUR TURN

What brushes with greatnesses have you had? How did they affect you?

Comment below. Like, Tweet and Share above. Someone is waiting to hear your “tall tale.”

Is there such as thing as “half of zero?”

Most everyone working a home business program is worried about protecting their little spot in the marketplace.

Or to be more accurate…

Most everyone is worried about doing “stuff.”

“I gotta get my posts done.”

I gotta like a certain number of posts.”

“I gotta do my busy work.”

I see it people who’ve been bringing the same kind of energy to their “business” for years.

Note quotation marks in the above sentence.

It isn’t really a business. It’s a something. But it’s not a business.

Step back and ask yourself an honest, painful but productive couple of questions…

How far is that busy work getting you?

If you stopped doing it, what would be the consequence?

If you’ve been at it for the longest time, and you basically have nothing to show for it, what would happen if you did half of it?

Half the results?

Half of…ya know, zero?

Doesn’t seem like such a bad thing.

Because the usual pattern is people will do stuff on will power for a little while.

And then at a certain point they’ll realize they have nothing going on. And they’ll quit.

Or they’ll move onto a new shiny object, thinking that will be the “magice bullet.”

And the pattern repeats.

Now…what would happen if you replaced “half of zero” with stuff that works?

Exercises that increase self esteem and improve self respect?

Better skills at listening and building long term relationships?

Income generating activities?

What would happen if, instead of fooling yourself into thinking you have a business, you actually took yourself seriously and created one?

Here’s what would happen…

1. You would make money. Not a million dollars right away. But more than you have now.

2. You would start to believe your own words and your own actions…because you have something to show for it.

3. Other people would start to see you as a leader. Your confidence would shoot through the ceiling and others would notice.

4. You would challenge yourself to live stronger and better than you have been.

Look at what you’re doing with your business time right now.

If you did half of it, would it make a difference?

If you figured out better stuff to do, and learned to do it better, would your business change?

Would your life change?

YOUR TURN

What activities have you been doing that are “half of zero?”

What would be a better use of your time, talent and energy?

Comment below. Like, share and Tweet above. Someone is looking for a role model to break out of half of zero.

I liked Gene Wilder. A lot.

I liked him because Blazing Saddles is probably my favorite comedy of all time. It came out in 1974, but I didn’t see it until the early 1980’s right about the time I most appreciated a movie with cowboys and farts.

I liked him because he was in Young Frankenstein, which I didn’t know as well, but any Mel Brooks film made me laugh.

I liked him because he was in Stir Crazy, with Richard Pryor. Their screen chemistry was fantastic. You could feel Gene playing off the craziness of Pryor’s personality.

And of course I liked him because he was Willy Wonka. There wasn’t a kid who couldn’t love Willy Wonka. And if, like most kids you read the Roald Dahl original in elementary school your mind formed an image of what Willy Wonka looked and felt like. Gene Wilder was true to that image, and only supplemented it.

So yes, I liked Gene Wilder for all his characters. And his contribution to many of the comedies that became the cultural context on which I grew up.

And the movies I still come back to, even to this day.

Here’s the real reason I liked Gene Wilder…

He made compassionate something cool to be.

Be a preteen kid for a moment. Or be a full blown teenager.

You want to be cool. And you want to be funny.

And often times the way to be either is to be mean. To put down the other guy.

Certainly not to be vulnerable.

For me, Gene Wilder broke that mold. He was hip. He hung out with Richard Pryor, and Sheriff Bart. He got cozy with Madeline Khan and Teri Garr, among others.

And in real life he married Gilda Radner, one of the funniest women of the 1970’s. He stayed with her through the cancer, until she died.

Gene Wilder became cool by being funny, but not mean.

It’s something I carry to this day…as a counselor and a coach, and even a marketer.

You can be good and gentle, and make people laugh at the same time.

You can lift people up without being a wimp.

That’s a distinction a lot of adults still have trouble making.

The ones who do have unlimited potential, especially if they work (and play) in the home business or Internet marketing space.

That’s my memory of Gene Wilder.

Next chance I get, I’m spending a few hours with him, Sheriff Bart and the rest of the Blazing Saddles crew.

YOUR TURN

Do you have any favorite memories of Gene Wilder? Anyone else in the other Mel Brooks crew?

Comment below. Like, share and Tweet above. Help someone take a fun trip down Memory Lane.