The scenario is this, you're on your death bed and the question is presented to you, "What were your biggest regrets?".  So what do you say? That's the question that was answered recently in, Top 5 Regrets of the Dying. As I read through each of them I reflected on those areas in my own life.  Just look at the first one... 1. I wish I'd had the courage to live a life true to myself, not the life others expected of me. This was the most common regret of all. When people realize that their life is almost over and look back clearly on it, it is easy to see how many dreams have gone unfulfilled. Most people have had not honored even a half of their dreams and had to die knowing that it was due to choices they had made, or not made Wow, a powerful one for sure.  The commentary on it really gets to the heart of the issue.  I just wrote about our dreams here and how important it is to go after them. Some other interesting things to me were two of the other items..

What is the most resilient parasite? An idea.  An idea can transform the world and rewrite all the rules.." a quote from this summers hit movie Inception. Inception is all about the concept of planting ideas in other peoples minds and is a great lesson for entrepreneurs. The concept was for the main character, Cobb, to plant an idea in someone else's subconscious thus changing the reality for that person.  The idea wasn't true but none the less would manifest itself as if it was. The idea is different than reality. A single idea has rocked Apple's world this summer.  With the advent of "antennagate" the idea that a "perfect" company could have made such a huge mistake was much to big of an idea not to take root.  It's blossomed into a full blown debate for years to come. The reality is that "antenaegate" will more than likely have very little negative affect on Apples market share or stock price.

Could you go 60 days without using Social Media? No blogging, tweeting, fb status updates, etc.? Well I did it....kinda. Here's what I learned. In some areas I was more successful than others. I haven't blogged in two months. As for tweeting and fb the longest I went without using them was 30 days. Honestly it was harder than I thought it would be. So Why Did I Do It? 1) I wanted to unplug. It was time to take a step back from being "plugged in" and just take time to think.  I turned 37 this past May, which puts me closer to 40 than ever before :) I really wanted to take a break from some of the noise that was in my day to day life and just take some time to reflect on where I've been and where I'm going. 2) I wanted to really see if "technology" was hindering or helping me to have a "better" life.  I can honestly say that being unplugged from social networks for a long period of time left me feeling out of touch with people.  As humans we have a basic desire to connect and have relationships.  I will write on this more later but to sum it up, being connected, even if only by a status update, is a good thing. 3) I wanted to get a sense of whether Social Media was indeed here to stay or just a fad. Without a doubt Social Media is not going anywhere...ever. I know that's a big claim but I believe it. It aligns too closely with basic our human needs to have relationships and be connected. Who we are and who we want to be are all played out using Social Media channels.  It certainly will evolve but it's not just a passing trend. 4) Is Social Media consuming all of my time? The answer was no.  Moderation, balance, prioritize...are all words that come to mind when I think about using Social Networks, blogging, etc.

...1,350 feet. It was the distance between the ground and the top of the Twin Towers of New York. In 1974, Philippe Petit had a dream of spanning the towers with a wire so that he could walk between the two of them.  The movie "Man on Wire" documents and recalls the incredible journey of one man to reach his dream. I had the opportunity to see this movie the other day and suggest that every aspiring entrepreneur watch this film.The dream, the planing, the challenges, the naysayers, everything so perfectly parallels what you will face when you reach for your dreams. It was such a great reminder to not only envision the dream first but to never let it fade even in the face of resistance. What about your dream? What resistance, problems or obstacles are you facing?  What's between you and your dream?

What motivates you? Money? Recognition? Fear? Self? Others? As an entrepreneur finding a source of motivation is something you will routinely do.  In fact if you aren't then most likely you're stuck in park, unable to move forward. So what or who do you look to for motivation? Other People Looking to others for motivation is a good place to start.  In fact it's a likely source to helping you get over that hump, or moving to the next level. Learning from others that have been where you're trying to go is a helpful way to help spur you on. Personally I look for stories where people have overcome adversity or great odds to achieve something.  People that have started with just an idea and grown it into a movement. I also don't look to just people in business, I find inspiration and motivation from a variety of areas. However I want to warn you, if you're  motivation continually comes from those around you then you are going to have a difficult time.  The truth is most of the time the road is lonely and learning how to be self motivated is something you must develop.