Dylan Tanaka... The Dragon Slayer?

Hunting For Enormous Fire-Breathing Dragons With Nothing But Small Gang Of Entrepreneurs

I like to think of myself as a Dragon Slayer. I know that this is the first time that you've ever heard this from a non-profit founder who has an affinity for argyle sweaters. Sometimes I equate what we as entrepreneurs do to what 17th century Dragon Slayers did. Every time we create a new business or a new marketing campaign it's like inventing fire. Now I know that fire was discovered before the 1600's just play along.

There are 4 traits that almost all successful entrepreneurs possess:

1. A Feeling
2. A Strategy
3. Trust
4. A Lionheart

Lets break each one down as Webster's Dictionary would;
1. Feeling-to find or pursues one's way. What this means is you believe that you know or can produce a better way to do something. It may be building and designing a car, or it could be how to build a human transporter, like on Star Trek. It's an idea.

2. A Strategy-a plan for obtaining a specific goal. This one is straight forward. After yo have an idea you must have a plan on how to execute it.

3. Trust-confident expectation of something. This one is critical. You must have confidence in your product, service, or idea.

4. A Lionheart-having exceptional courage and bravery. Having the Dragon Slayer designation demands an unrelenting can't-lose attitude. This trait is by far what catapults most entrepreneurs into super-successful business owners. You must have a powerful confidence in yourself. If you don't "seem" to believe in you and your business potential investors or customers, they simply Won't believe in you either. Also to be a leader you simply must have an unwavering poise about yourself.

There are no absolutes in life, so not all ultra-successful entrepreneurs posees all of these traits, but I challenge you to show me a few who don't. The more prosperous Michigan real estate investors that I do business or have coffee with seem to harbor these attributes. I know that The REIA of Macomb couldn't be the triumphant success that it is, if my partner Nathan Mayes and I didn't deliver these characteristics.

So I ask you when facing an intimidating, razor toothed, fire breathing, dragon do you have what it takes to be a Dragon Slayer???

Sharpen Your Sword,
Dylan Tanaka
http://www.reiaofmacomb.com/
http://www.oaklandbusinessforum.com/
http://www.wealthinrei.com/
http://www.weoffertoday.com/
http://www.prettymichiganhomes.com/

The Man Who Started It All

STOP Right Now & Listen To The Master

If you know me or have heard me speak. you know that I believe Napoleon Hill can change lives from the grave. I read Think & Grow Rich at least 3 times before I ever thought about buying a house. It helped me form principles that I live by in life and business.

I don't care if it takes you 3 months you need to read this book. If you can't get it done, buy the audio book on cd, or if you know what your doing download the mp3.

If this inspires you to start studying Mr. Hill's teachings, please send me your thoughts and successes that you can attribute to Napoleon Hill's Laws Of Success.

Spoken words leave impressions, written words leave tracks.
-Napoleon Hill

See Ya At The REIA,
Dylan Tanaka
http://www.reiaofmacomb.com/
http://www.oaklandbusinessforum.com/
http://www.wealthinrei.com/
http://www.weoffertoday.com/
http://www.prettymihomes.com/

Missing Cufflinks

Only Through hard Work and Persistence Will You Truly Reach Your Goals

A little over a month ago my team and I rented a vendor table at a Macomb

Chamber of Commerce event titled "Sales & Marketing 2008". It was an awesome seminar/trade show for small business and entrepreneurs. Not as exciting as The REIA, but that's okay. What does this all have to do with Building Wealth?

Immediately following the Sales & Marketing Event in Sterling Heights I went over to Royal Oak to have dinner with a Wealth in R.E.I. member, actually the mastermind groups Ambassador, Paul Smudski.

I was scrambling around that morning looking everywhere but I couldn't find the cuff links. No big deal, I went to the office and bought & sold some real estate, like I do all day every day. When I was driving home I realized i was wearing a par of cuff links that were sub-par. So I decided my mission was to find my favorite cuff links when I got home.

About 2 hours later I'd gone through the suit that I wore the day they went missing, the shoes, the couch, under the bed, under my computer desk, my car, my whole bookcase was ripped apart, behind all of my dressers and nightstands, and of course a couple calls to my girlfriend who I was sure was in on the conspiracy. No dice, or should I say no cuff links.

I decided to give up for now and resume my search at a future date. Out of sight out of mind, the next time I thought about my favorite cuff links was when they would have finished off my suit about a week later. Again I scrambled around in the morning for a couple minutes and vowed to myself I would not sit down when I got home later until they showed up. After another day living the dream I pulled in my driveway on a mission.

I calmly took off my suit and put on a t-shirt and Adidas pants ready to go to war with my house. This time I went from the basement to the bedrooms upstairs. I looked in every suit coat, so I thought, all my pants, my shoes, every nook and cranny in my house. 3 hours later it was over. I actually failed, remember you DO NOT FAIL until you quit, and I quit!

I decided that it was time to go out and find a special new pair of favorite cuff links. They had to have been thrown out accidentally. One positive development came out of the 5 hours I searched, my house was never cleaner. This was the first time in a very long time that I actually believed I failed. That night i picked up my second favorite book for inspiration, Dale Carnegie's Lifetime Plan For Success, which is just a compilation of How To Win Friends & Influence People and How To Stop Worrying & Start Living. To put it lightly i was disheartened.





This is why you never give up...

The next morning I woke up happy, after my homemade Starbucks, and I was ready to go out and Slay Some Dragons. I went through the routine of picking out a suit, showering, shaving, bla bla bla. Again wearing a french cuffed shirt with less than desirable stand in cuff links, but I was 99% over it. As I was getting all of my gear ready, my Blackberry, cell phone, my pen, & wallet I reached down into my pants pocket and a sense of peacefulness washed over me. My CUFF LINKS!!!

Somehow they ended up in a pair of suit pants that I was sure they weren't in. This is a lesson in never giving up. You may think that cuff links aren't worth looking 5 hours of your time. They cost close to $100, so we're talking about $20 an hour for some old used cuff links right?

Wrong!

It's about doing what others won't.

-Maybe that's buying a house, renting it out, and learning people management skills dealing with tenants while they pay for your house over 15 or 30 years.

-Maybe it's staying up until 2:00 a.m. after your spouse and kids are in bed while you're learning how to get traffic to your new website.

-Maybe its an undeniable urge to get out of the herd of sheople and Make it Happen.

Dylan Tanaka
http://www.reiaofmacomb.com/
http://www.oaklandbusinessforums.com/
http://www.prettymihomes.com/
http://www.weoffertoday.com/
http://www.wealthinrei.com/