I helped save Sam The Poodle’s life earlier in the year… now I’m being asked if I can save a human life… “It’s only $2,000,000.00″. My trip is departing in late January, and I’m in the middle of hectic non-stop getting ready. I barely have time to handle my own projects when I get this text:“Think you can do that thing you did for the poodle, but for my friend? He needs a heart transplant.. I’ll do anything!”  Yeah… talk about bad timing… I mean… that’s a big project… raising 2 million dollars is something I can do, though I’ve never quite tried.  A business tip for y’all is that you need to have a goal, a reason, and a deadline in order to achieve great things.  If you just talk about it, and don’t make a plan (break it into steps, figure out what needs to get done, and what are some likely solutions to achieve those), you’ll never do it, ’cause you’re not serious.  If you don’t set a deadline, you won’t get it done, because you can always blow it off to another day…. and then it gets forgotten about, or marked as yet another slacker-failure.  If you don’t have a really damn good reason to do it, you won’t do it, because “ewww… work! This is tough! I got other shit to work on!”  and it joins the rest of the departed goals (gym usage, diet, quit smoking, volunteer more, focus on time management, earn an extra $5,000 a month).  Smokers quit instantly when they have all 3: Goal- Quit smoking /Deadline- Now…and definitely in less than 6 months / Strong reason- The Doctor said that I’m going to die if I don’t quit now, showed me the ex ray, and my wife was balling her eyes out, and I don’t really want to have some other dude banging her, and being called Daddy by my kid.

That paragraph about goal setting is good advice, you should consider it with your next goal, whatever it is.  For me, my CouchSurfing is my goal, and I am focused on that, and setting up my business to be ready by February to be able to run smoothly while I’m on the road.  My reasons– I’m really passionate about traveling, meeting new people, seeing new things, taking cool photos, and having adventures.  Working in front of my computer all day is rewarding… I enjoy what I do… but I was never as alive as when I was CouchSurfing full time.  I’ve met incredible people, changed my life, and changed many others’ lives.  So… why not mix my passions– travel, and business.  But… that’s another blog post to come   This one’s about saving a life… and procrastinating.

Procrastination is in regards to setting up my business.  It’s been moving along incredibly more smoothly than I ever thought possible.  But I have tons to do before daylight, and it’s 1:30am (and here I am writing this.. *sigh* — remember, this is why you need deadlines).  When my friend texted me if I could help save his friend’s life, I called him up… (this was actually last week- but resumes today) I mentioned that I can’t do the fundraising for him, but I can give him some great tips to help.  I haven’t heard much about it, and so tonight, I brought it up again.  I guess he figured that 2 million dollars is more than a 21 can raise.  I was actually finally getting really focused for the day, and was gaining momentum on the evening’s task-list.  Then I ended up donating 3 hours of straight consulting, to help this kid save his friend’s life.  It’s a lot bigger than that…  You see, Robert was my assistant for a few months this year.  He has ADHD, and is a really nice guy.  I think he’s very smart, but he hasn’t completed school, and was bouncing between jobs.  I took him under my wing, and started teaching him about Marketing, how the internet works, sales, project management, lead generation, and had even brought him to Matt Bacak’s Marketing Maddness seminar.  I know he can do this… both with what I’ve taught him so far, and with the plan I laid out for him tonight.  He just has to stay motivated…  That’s the other thing with big goals… you have to be passionate about them, and keep reminding yourself of your reasons.  In this case, it’s a matter of life and death.  It would kind of suck to say to your friend “Hey man… sorry… I know I have the skills and knowledge to save your life, and make sure your newborn has his daddy… but… gosh, it’s really digging into my DVD watching schedule… so… sorry.”

45 minutes of the consult was spread throughout the talk, and consisted of reminding him forcefully that he can do this.  I’m often confused for ADHD (or I may have it… I don’t know, or care… I think my scattered mind that can seek so many tangents instantly, and figure out solutions to ANY problem, is a golden gift)… and I know how hard it is to stay on task, when people expect you to fail.  I took Robert under my wing because I saw the makings of a talented marketer in him… the way his mind works.  But, as I said, he’s 21, has the drama that 21 year olds have to deal with, and needs his self-confidence in his gift built up.  So, while I’m not going to do this for him (I did mention that it’s not MY friend that’s dying, therefore my reason ain’t strong enough… if it were a family member of mine— this site would INSTANTLY become FundRaisingOri.com ), I will help him along the way *IF* he proves he’s serious… He can do that by taking action.  Action begets action, and provides momentum.  Follow the 1st steps– do the research.  Break the problem down into steps:

How long does the guy have to live if nothing is done? How much total is it to fix him up (to the penny!) ?  What is the minimal amount that can be raised, and by when (i.e. give him a bionic heart, or keep him on life support, or… that kind of stuff)?  It’s not all or nothing!  I gave him a huge list of another 30 things to research… ways to contact those people, what to say, what to do, what to offer them, how to piece it all together, what resources you need… and I provided a lot of that info, but he needs to get the specific details.  So… all he has to do is get some people involved, maybe get in the papers, or maybe get a few thousand donated, or just some agreements for some of the support I told him to get.  Get SOME results, and I’ll pitch in… website, photography, copywriting, press releases, exposure, seo, and flooding the web with the right material that will get donations. It’s 1:53am, so I’m not going to delve into all the action items…. but you see what I mean?  I was on this great productivity streak, but had to refocus my energy towards helping someone else, rather than me.

I know Robert can do it. That’s the only reason I donated the time…. that, and he’s my lil protegee.  I’ll donate enough to make this happen, but he has to get it started… You should presume the same applies for all of your business ventures.  People will join in and assist you when you actually are doing something.  But, if you’re all talk… people have their own crap to deal with.  If you can show your passion, dedication, and that you’re already taking action…. they’ll join in on the effort, and great things can be done.  I hope he gets enough momentum to convince me to join… ’cause he gets to save a friend, I get to help save a life, and Robert’s own life will completely change forever.  He will have completed the biggest goal he’s ever set, and be able to move mountains after that.  And that last sentence is the real reason I’m blowing off my own project.

It’s 2:05am, I guess Procrastination method 248 is “Blog about saving a life”.  I really do have to go now, so … go change the world!  Hopefully my motivational lecture /consult has energized Robert enough to where soon you’ll get another blog post by me telling you the URL for this life-changing project.  As of right now, there’s no URL to even ask for donations.

Message or comment if you’ve ever helped save a life, or raise massive sums for a charitable project.