I’ve been reading a book lately, appropriately titled Copycats. I’m sure you have no idea where my inspiration for this post came from…
It is written by Oded Shenkar, and speaks heavily on how imitators actually become some of the best innovators in the world when it comes to business.
I am reading it for the business aim that it takes, but these ideas can be implemented in multiple aspects of our lives.
We have all heard of Boeing, correct? If you’ve ever flown out of a public airport, there is a 99% chance you have flown in a Boeing engineered airplane.
One of, if not the biggest, powerhouses in the commercial aviation industry, had nothing to do with the invention of the commercial airliner.
Comet, an airline company that was dominating the market in the 1950’s, suffered a few crashes in too small a period of time, and the Boeing President at the time saw an opportunity.
Bill Allen saw one of the Comet models at the Farnbourough Air Show and immediately saw an opportunity to take the mold of what has already been created, and simply add a few tweaks to improve it.
This realization probably saved Boeing millions and millions of dollars in R&D.
Now, enough business talk. How does this apply to you?
Because odds are, you aren’t the best in the world at what you are doing.
Don’t be upset at hearing that though, I’m not trying to dishearten you, that is just a simple fact.
You should actually be thrilled about this, it means people have paved the way before you and you can catch up, or even pass them!
Look at someone who is one of the best in the world at what you are doing. Use all of the resources you can, and try your best to pick them apart. Watch them work and study their finished products as much as you possibly can. Find out what they do really well, and find out what they do poorly.
The latter is the most important part.
If you can take someone who is the best at what you both are doing and dissect their strategies and techniques with the intent of making sure that YOU perfect THEIR drawbacks, you are already ahead.
They have spent years and years of work and practice to get to where they are right now. They have made mistake after mistake and potentially lost money, friends, family, the list goes on and on.
There is innovation, imitation, and imovation.
Be an imovator.
Mix the two worlds of imitating and innovating.
Use paths already walked before you, and find out how to walk that same path more effectively and productively.
Personally, I am really good at staying focused and working extremely hard for a couple weeks at a time, but after those couple of weeks, I find myself slipping up for a couple days.
I’ll get in my head and think ‘I’ve been working my ass off for the last three weeks, I deserve this food or I deserve this day off.’
This isn’t a bad thing.
Because when I put it in perspective, I used to go about 5-6 days and then allow a cheat.
I have lengthened my bouts of hard work and improvement, so naturally my ratio of good to bad days is getting bigger and bigger as time goes on.
I saw a post on Instagram today from one of my favorite accounts – @sourcemessages.
It was the inspiration behind my post today, and I will attach the original at the bottom for further clarification.
But essentially, when you are on your journey to a new you, you have to be patient enough to understand that the progression will take time.
It will be a while before the new you has fully moved in and the old you has fully moved out.
You’ll see in the instagram post, it can easily be compared to swapping out the furniture in your house.
Often times, a remodel of your living room is not going to happen in one day.
You’ll buy some new art work, throw the old stuff out.
You’ll get a new coffee table, get rid of the old one.
You’ll buy a new couch, sell your other one.
It takes some time to make a full transition no matter what the circumstances are.
So when things seem all over the place, when you think you have been on a roll and all of a sudden have a bad day… remember that it is like this because you are transitioning.
Almost NEVER, will you be able to dedicate yourself to a change and be immediately flawless in implementing your new lifestyle choices.
As the post finishes, I will too.
Everything you have ever asked for is making its way in to your life, and you should find joy in that.
We all (should) have some pretty big goals in front of us at all times.
I write about goals and vision and things of that nature quite a bit, but today I want to touch on the fear of failure and how it can be an extremely effective motivator.
I have a fairly daunting task in front of me this summer, with a reward waiting at the end to match the journey.
Things are getting pretty down to the wire in terms of time left to accomplish this task, but I’m not freaking out about it (hardly ever do, does no good).
One thing that was brought up to me today in regards to this task, was how I would explain to everyone around me if I were to fail.
‘I’m just not smart enough.’
‘I didn’t study as much as I should have.’
‘I was afraid to ask for more help even though I knew I needed it.’
These aren’t necessarily excuses, but every time you fail, people are going to want to know why. YOU are going to want to know why.
99% of the time, you will know exactly why.
You’ll know that you took too many breaks, too many days off, not enough late nights, whatever it may be.
You will know, but everyone else will also want to know.
So I come to you today with this, DON’T FAIL. Set your time frame to accomplish your goal, and do every single thing you can to make it happen.
As these last few weeks close in on my time frame, I know for a fact I am going to be giving every last ounce of energy I have to accomplish this goal.
When you have something in front of you, and other people know about it, think about how you’re going to explain yourself to those expecting highly of you if you are unable to achieve what you set out to.
I promise the story of why you failed won’t come down to the task being too difficult, it’ll come down to your preparation and your execution.
Give so much to it, that failing isn’t even an option.
If you are reading this, the chances that you’ve at least seen the words ‘New Dimension Supplement Club’ on one of my social medias are pretty high.
I’m finally going to answer the question that titles this article.
New Dimension is an exercise supplement club that currently boasts a product line of four items.
Whey Protein
Pre Workout
Creatine
Amino Acids
Formerly known under a different name and created in 2015, myself and three other business partners came together to purchase the company and rebrand/rename it. We have officially owned the company for two months, and things are really starting to fall in to place.
I have learned a TON that I will share another time and in a different setting, but there are definitely some things that I can take away and teach on that don’t involve Shopify, FBA, Recharge, Conversio, Gempages, etc.
But for now, back to New Dimension.
We are a supplement CLUB not a supplement COMPANY. We model our purchases on a membership basis, with a recurring purchase discount. Meaning that if you head to our site you will be able to purchase a tub of protein at retail price once, or you can cut 15% off the cost if you decide to sign up for automatic monthly reshipment’s.
Since we are still in our infancy, and we purchased a previously existing brand, that means we have some product to move.
1,000 units to be exact.
Gear coming soon.
When we purchased the company, it came with assets from social medias, website domains, email marketing lists, as well as inventory.
The absolute BEST part of all of this though? The inventory is high quality product.
Let me say that again…
THE INVENTORY IS HIGH QUALITY PRODUCT.
As an athlete who has been taking supplements for the last ten years, I have tried and tested quite a few different lines of supplements.
Before we bought this company I USED THE SUPPLEMENTS FOR A MONTH.
If they weren’t great supplements, we would not have bought the company. We wouldn’t have bought 1,000 units of sub-par product to sell to our customers. We are in this, and we are selling the former companies supplement line because we believe in it.
Once we sell out of the 1,000 units we currently hold, all we are going to do is change the packaging to match our branding, and add a few flavor variations to our product lines.
THAT’S ALL.
There is nothing for us to reformulate because the ingredient lists are already exactly what we would like to sell.
Clean ingredients packaged in an FDA approved manufacturing facility. Short lists of ingredients that prove there are no fillers and no additions you don’t need.
That explains New Dimension in a nut shell, but if you have any other questions please visit our site and check it out!
If you read this all the way through and are interested in trying some of our supplements, head to our website and follow the links to our Instagram page where we have an active giveaway rolling until Wednesday of this week. Follow us, like our most recent picture, let us know what your biggest summer goal is, and be entered to win a weeks worth of free supplements!
One of the truest signs of intelligence is the ability of a person to understand that there are things out there in which they do not know about or understand.
This quote here is one of my absolute favorites in regards to this;
The wisest know most what they know least
Socrates
It may seem confusing on first read (much like the title of this post), but as you dissect it a little bit deeper you can finally put a pin in the meaning.
Intelligent people know that there is limits on their knowledge, and they also understand that there is truly an ever expansive amount of knowledge to be had during our lifetime. There are so many elements of our lives that are changing on a day to day basis, even down to the hour and the minute at the pace which we live in this modern age.
With more things happening faster than ever before, it is crucial that you understand this..
YOU DO NOT, AND WILL NOT EVER, KNOW EVERYTHING
Me
Harsh? A little. True? A lot.
Accepting that there are things you do not know will allow you to open up to those things. If you convince yourself you know all that there is to know, you will want nothing less than to learn more. You view yourself at the top of the mountain already, what more about climbing a mountain does someone who is standing at its peak have to learn?
The difference between you and said mountain climber is this, the mountains we face in our lives have no peak.
Can Tom Brady learn more about football and playing quarterback? Absolutely. Even though some may place him at the top of the quarterback mountain, does he continue to try and climb higher? Absolutely.
There are people below Tom fighting hand over fist to replace him at the top of the mountain.
Can Jeff Bezos learn more about business and building wealth? Absolutely. Even though some may place him at the top of the business mountain, does he continue to try and climb higher? Absolutely.
The point is that these two men understand that even though they may be considered the best at what they are doing, there is an endless amount of knowledge and potential for them that they must nail down to stay at the top and continue to raise the roof on expectations for their respective professions.
Understand that there are things out there that you do not know, but they are there for you to know. When you find this knowledge and apply it, understand that it will make you better at what you are doing than you are right now.
In most of our modern lives, there is an abundance of things and moments in our lives that we can be thankful for, yet we choose to direct more of our attention to things that upset us and bring us down.
Why this is the case I will truly never know…
It is a CONSCIOUS choice when it comes to focusing on positivity or negativity, and I try my best to choose positivity. Even in darkness we can find light.
If you look close enough you will see the tattoo on the inside of my right arm…
thankful.
Simply put. As I go through my day I am actively seeking out things to be thankful for and things to appreciate. Instead of finding hate and negativity, I continuously find love and reasons to be excited about life.
Below is a list of multiple things you can be thankful for in almost any moment, remember these and when these things occur in your day to day life, take a moment to LITERALLY speak to yourself and say
I am thankful for,
Clean water
Fresh coffee
Relationship with parents
Long phone calls with friends
A full tank of gas
A bed to sleep in
A roof over my head
3 square meals a day
Hot water for showers
Ability to walk
The job I have that pays my bills
An opportunity to workout and improve my health
Still having my grandparents around
My dog/pets
Being healthy
The bad times because they are what make me realize and appreciate how good the good times are
Sitting down with a good book
Making it home safe after a night out
Having full charge on my cell phone
A closet full of clothes to choose from
Shoes on my feet
Getting to school/work/home safely
A sunny day and clear skies
A rainy day for fertilizing the grass and the trees and the plants
Having someone else’s Netflix login
Getting a good grade on a test or quiz
Doing laundry and getting to wear your favorite underwear/socks
Hitting a few green lights in a row
Beating the line in a restaurant
Watching the news and thinking ‘I’m glad they aren’t my neighbor…’
The list could go on and on and on, and each persons list will obviously be a little bit different but those thirty things are a great place to start.
Recognize those moments or things and appreciate them as they are happening.
In a tough time, remember that without them you would not have the ability to appreciate what is great in your life. There would be no light without darkness, we would not know beauty without the ugly.
