Yesterday I got slightly distracted. Browsing around YouTube, I found some videos analysing the news media footage of 9/11. They broke down it down piece by piece to show that the planes were actually computer animations and that the news media had used blue screen effects to cover up missiles striking the buildings. Which, of course, had been ordered by the US Government to justify the war in Afghanistan and then Iraq.

Honestly, their analysis was pretty convincing but there was always one question left in my mind: If the US Government was really prepared to kill their own people to justify their war, why wouldn’t they just fly their own plane into the towers instead? Why bother involving the news media at all? Digging deeper, I ’surprisingly’ found websites debunking the “missing plane” theories and presenting much more plausible evidence.

I think the conspiracy theories raise some interesting questions that are being ignored by the news media and US Government investigations. But the point was how scary the world we live in can be. Who do we trust?

When I was a child, I remember thinking my parents knew it all. Obviously, grown ups in general must have a pretty good handle on things and give good advice. As I got older and became able to investigate more ideas for myself, my perspective changed a lot. You realise that your parents might not know as much as you thought, and that maybe they’re just as scared and lost as you feel yourself sometimes.

When you reach this kind of awareness, it can be scary or it can be exciting. I think we all make this decision within ourselves based on our own comfort zones and how much ‘risk’ we are willing to expose ourselves too. After all, if the people you’ve had guiding your life for so long turn out to not know it all, who do you turn to? Who do you trust?

I think we make an important decision at this point and the people that come out on top in this world decide to trust the only person they can, themselves. That doesn’t mean that we don’t listen to other people and take their advice, but we have to ask ourselves if this advice is truly in our best interests and not just blindly follow along.

At University, I just wasn’t feeling right about the whole situation. I’d chosen to study computers because the starting salaries were great and the industry had a great future. Plus, I’d always been interested in tinkering with computers. The only problem was I hated my degree. I enjoyed some parts that had management aspects but it wasn’t enough. When I saw other people programming with their eyes closed and I struggled with it all, I knew it wasn’t for me…but what was?

That’s when ‘fate’ lead me to the answer, a book on a bedside table where I was house-sitting called “Rich Dad’s Guide to Investment.” I devoured it, realised my true passion lay in entrepreneurship and building businesses, and never looked back. Getting a job was no longer an option for me, despite going against what most people believed was the right path.

Seven years later, I’m still on the same path even though I’ve had some detours. I haven’t succeeded in changing the world with my business yet, but I feel like I get closer every day. I know I am doing the right thing, I know I am helping people, and I know I will change millions of lives one day. Because I trust myself.

I had a similar experience in my relationship a few years later. After five years together, the last one and a half years being a painful long distance relationship where my girlfriend lived on the opposite side of the globe, she finally returned and broke up with me. Of course, this was a little devastating to my plans of marriage and babies so it was an interesting time. But on reflection, I decided to find out why this had happened.

After all, I was a nice, considerate guy who would do anything for her. And that, I discovered, was the problem. So I went back to the books and started to realise what I’d been doing wrong, and how to fix it. Now, my love life is pretty sorted, and I’m much happier for it. All by identifying what I wasn’t happy about and making an effort to change it.

When researching, there was a lot of information and advice given. Through experimentation and analysis, I decided for myself what really worked and what I wanted to apply to my life. There were some critical sources that I trusted but at the end of the day, I trusted myself. Because I knew that was the only person I could really trust.

I bring up these experiences in my life because we all face a similar problem. In our relationships, in our businesses, and in our lives. Who can we trust?

When you are looking to improve your business and website you to ask yourself who you can trust. And at the end of the day, the answer will be yourself. You need to be responsible for filtering out the sales and marketing crap that is thrown at you and make good decisions. You need to take responsibility for understanding what you are being taught and if it makes sense to you.

Too many people hide their heads in the sand. When something goes wrong, they are quick to blame everyone and everything apart from themselves. If you don’t get the outcomes you want in your life, it’s your fault, end of story.

You’re the person who didn’t take the time to learn. You’re the person who didn’t take action. You’re the person who let fear of failure or success or clowns hold you back. You’re the one who decides if you are going to be happy or not. Not your spouse, not your children, not your parents, and certainly not the latest salesperson offering you instant riches.

It’s time to take responsibility for your life, your business, and your results.

I believe I have a lot of good information to share with you. I believe I can give you the tools to make a difference with your website. But it all comes back to you. If you don’t believe it, call bullshit. If you do, then hang around and let’s try to do some great things together.

And feel free to share your own thoughts in the comments.

    

This entry was posted on Tuesday, May 27th, 2008 at 2:31 pm and is filed under Continuous Improvement, Mindset, Off-Topic. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.