When I first assembled this mom team a couple of years ago, I promised these women the chance to build their own businesses, and do you know what they did? They kind of blushed and laughed and said they couldn’t do it.

Now here we are two years later, and these moms have launched their first business. It’s called BeautySecrets101.com, a site where women can sign up to receive Ali’s Bling Box—a box full of name-brand fashion and beauty products for 50% to 70% off the retail price.

What’s the story? How did they go from giggling and questioning if they could run a business to successfully launching a big time beauty site?

First of all, these women are smart, talented, and passionate about learning and acheiving. They spent time zig zagging. They learned to drive traffic and manage a group of 80 Websites in the highly competitive coupon genre. They took ad campaigns from zero to full force. They sent press releases, built websites, and tracked financials. They fought off malware and struggled with Google algo changes. As they did this I watched their confidence and excitement for building and managing businesses grow. Now when I challenge them to launch a new business they jump on it.

Since the team is made up of moms their number one value is flexibility. Another value is “beleive in it” which means concentrating their efforts on businesses they are passionate about—which is exactly what they are doing with BeautySecrets101.com and the Bling Box.

The Beacon in the Fog for this mom team is to become financially stable and independent. As mothers they face unique challenges from my other teams. During meetings it’s not uncommon for someone to excuse herself to change a diaper or clean up spilled milk. One woman is working to support her family while simultatiously providing care for a terminally ill spouse. There’s PTA and carpool and bedtime stories. But in between it all there’s this passion to sell the Bling Box and to build this business to the point of providing for themselves.

So here we are one day after Mothers Day—and I’m rooting for this team of intellient, beautiful mothers because I’m delighted in their progress and their strength. Please join me in saying, “Go Moms!”

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After we land, we’ll take a ten-hour bus ride out of Guatemala City, into a little remote village. The destination is a spot where they set up the first secondary school in the history of the region. This group of teenagers will help educate and teach computer skills to the people of this village–particularly the youth.

Many of you have reached out and approached and asked, “Rich, what can I do to help out with this education goal?” Indeed, now is an opportunity to help with this goal. We want to take at least 12 used laptop computers into this little village.

If you happen to have access to one or more used laptop computers that is:
-    In good working condition.
-    Available for donation.
-    Loaded with basic word processing
-    Loaded with Excel spreadsheets.

The teenager and I would greatly appreciate hearing from you if you are willing to help contribute to this cause.

I am so excited about this effort. Indeed the juice and the fuel that keeps me excited in my life is this–making a difference in the lives of youth.

As I wrote The Zig Zag Principle we did three start-up business tests. One was with a group of work-from-home mothers. One was with a straight-up businessman. And the third was with this group of teenagers. I am so thrilled with this group of teens. They created a successful business, and they indeed knocked it out of the park. These young men and young women are the ones that are leading the effort in Guatemala. It is going to be amazing.

I’ll make sure I take pictures and keep you posted with this wonderful experience. And I do appreciate your support and assistance in helping me educate these young men and young women throughout the world.

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My oldest son, John recently returned from two years in Japan, and my second son Matthew is preparing to go to Italy. During this short time we have when both boys are home, we decided to take the whole family on a trip to play and celebrate together.

The first day I found myself a little antsy reaching for my cell phone or other technology, but then an amazing thing happened. In no time I was weaned from the addiction and the technology bad habit. The result was that I was able to think on a deeper and clearer level.

I think so often the things we think are helping us be productive are no more than a noise or just “movement”. I’ve previously posted about the difference between motion and momentum. And indeed in creating a business the difference between success and failure frequently comes from engaging only in the momentum activities.

This week I’ve concluded that everybody needs to take time to unplugged for clarity and to get focus back in his or her life. I know I’ve come back not only resolved but also with clarity of thought in several areas that had been eluding me earlier.

Unplug. You’ll find great power in it. Give your full attention to your family and your loved ones for an extended duration. I promise it will have impact in your lives.

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I am excited to be a part of the 12 Books Group this next month as their featured author during the month of May. Please come join us as we dig deeper into The Zigzag Principle. You won’t want to miss the exclusive giveaways, bonus materials, and excellent discussion with me and other readers.

This really is a unique opportunity because you are going to get a chance to glean knowledge from 8 different business authors from May through December. This will load you with great information to add to your zigzag strategy. 

Go to www.12booksgroup.com to sign up for a free account and keep checking in for reader discussion, video tips from me, and a live Q&A webinar at the end of the month. 

I hope you will come join us! 

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Rich: Hello everyone. I’m here with Bo Eason and we’re at the Gathering of the Titans. I’ve spoken several times with Bo and I always love to hear him. Bo’s got a really interesting background. He’s come out of the NFL. Bo’s one of the most articulate individuals I’ve ever met and he’s done really a lot of play work. He’s did “Runt of the Litter”, which was an amazing play. But I was fascinated and captivated by what Bo had to say this week. Bo, I want you to tell everyone the phase coming up is and why we need to be able to tell our story.

Bo: Yeah, the phase coming up in our era – we’ve just left the information age. That’s what all the futurists have predicted. And we’re stepping into what they’re calling the transformational age, or the “storytelling” age. So the key to the “key to the kingdom” now, “the golden goose” now is the ability to share yourself, the ability to tell your own story. Because you, as an entrepreneur and a business owner, you are the owner and the global brand and the face and the mouth of your business. So you’ve got to be able to share yourself. What we’re finding is that the more people are able to share themselves, and share their personal life story, with clients or potential clients, they’re making a lot more money and making a lot more difference out there.

Rich: And I think that’s absolutely true. And I think we all intuitively know that and until you see Bo move like…

Bo: vicious tigers on the stage!

Rich: talking about Rick Sapio being a monkey. It’s really interesting how you draw on the animal kingdom to do this. And I don’t even dare, but I’m going to because I’m vulnerable and at risk with my audience here. What animal am I? The big million dollar question…

Bo: Yeah, you’re some kind of predator cat.

Rich: Well, oh, okay. I’m good with that. As long as we’re keeping within the family.

Bo: Yeah, that’s right. I want you to work on that – that predator cat.

Rich: Okay, yeah we’re going to talk more about that offline. Because we’re not going to give all of your secrets away. So, hey everyone, Bo is a great guy, you’re going to love him. I want you to go to the link below and find out a little more about Bo. Great stuff here. Fundamentally aligns with the Pendulum – the concept of swinging back now into a community-type society. You’re going to love it.

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The Zig Zag Principle is a disciplined approach to business and life.  It is not an “easy” approach; in fact, it requires incredible effort to traverse the mountain before you as you make your way to your destination. But being willing to zigzag—and then doing it with control—will help you build a business and a life that will be stable and strong. As we wrap up this journey we’ve taken together, I want to reiterate the underpinnings of the Zigzag Principle:

You must begin by creating a foundation. 

First, you need to look deep into you pockets and see what resources you have right now.  Second, you must determine what your beacon in the fog is going to be.  Third, you must identify and hold to the values you are going to follow in pursuit that particular goal.  And, finally, you must fuel your efforts with passion and determination. 

Once your foundation is set, you can begin to zig and zag toward your goal.  

The first zig is always to get to profitability.  If you do not meet this goal, then you must try something different and keep trying until you get your business or your life profitable.  The second zag is to use the cash from the previous zig to add resources. This requires that you to let go just a little bit and teach other people how to pursue your dream.  The next zig is to scale your business.  This is the part when you are working on your business, not in your business. 

There will be more zigs and zags as you work toward your final beacon in the fog. 

Just look forward and plan three zigs ahead.  The third zig out can be adjusted and changed to match the terrain of the trail you are following.  All of the zigs and zags need to be bound by guardrails.  These guardrails are the things that will keep you away from the trees, the weeds, and the cliffs.  They are aligned closely with your values.   Each zig and zag is bound by how much money, time, and personal resources you have pre-determined to put toward your goal.  In each case, there is a financial target you need to achieve before you can turn toward the next zig, and this target is always bound by your knowing what you can and can’t afford to lose.

As you hit each zig there will be a planned reward.

The rewards are the motivation that will make you and those around you chose to make that turn toward your next zag.

I set some very ambitious goals for myself when I was a rather ordinary young man living in rural Utah. At the time, I was determined to achieve success in life, and I considered a straight line to be the path to follow in achieving those goals. When I mowed lawns to save for college, I loved to finish a job and look back at those straight lines I had created. If there was a door in my way, I didn’t see any need to open it to get to the other side. If there was a cinderblock wall between me and my goal, I was generally smart enough to recognize my need to go around it, but not without considerable resentment and a consideration of the odds of my crashing straight through. 

Given all of the skiing and mountain climbing I’ve done, coupled with my wife’s insistence that we not chart our course to Disneyland as the crow flies, it’s curious to me that it took me as long as it did to realize that zigzagging really is both a law of nature and (with few exceptions) the most effective way of getting to where we’re headed. But I finally did come to that realization, and by adopting a philosophy that was once antithetical to my very nature, I have achieved considerably more success, even as I have maintained my sanity and my sense of balance and control over those things in my life that matter most. 

While this book has, at times, focused on business settings and practices, the Zigzag Principle can be used in any part of your life. It changes the rules from “one strike and you’re out” or “it’s all or nothing” to principles that help you navigate toward your beacon in the fog. 

You may miss the mark sometimes. That’s fine, as long as you take a minute to get your head above the fog and pinpoint once again where you’re headed. And as long as your zigs and zags are guided by your catalyzing statments. There is nothing more satisfying to me than standing with a son at the bottom of a ski slope and examining the tracks we’ve made in getting down a seemingly impossible slope. Or standing on a jagged mountain summit with my wife and children and retracing our steps to the top. Both are remarkable views – ones that I hope you too will enjoy.  

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I just returned from Boston where I had the opportunity to talk with and learn from the great business sage Warren Rustand. This amazing man shared with me, his philosophy for mental preparation. And I’d like to share it with you.

Warren says one of the things he has discovered is the necessity of preparing the mind to have a great day.

“I have a drill I do every morning.” He explains that it works for him, it’s worked for millions of others, and it will work for you. It’s about, “Setting your mindset for success.” Here’s a brief explanation of the steps:

1.    Pop out of bed. Sit on the edge of bed and think great thoughts about yourself and the impact that you’ll have on people during the day.

2.    Set apart the next 30 minutes broken into10 minute segments, in the following way:
       – Read great, positive, inspiring thoughts. Avoid anything negative.
       – Sit back and think great thoughts about the world. Think outside of your immediate environment. Extend your        thought to the world.
       – Take out a personal journal. Handwrite (no electronic device or data processing) the great things that are going on in your life.

These are Warren Rustand’s simplified actions to have a more positive mindset and in turn to be more successful each day.

Although I’ve applied portions of that to my life, here and there, I’ve never done so in that sequence. I’m excited about applying this to my morning—in fact I’ve already started! And I hope you’ll join me.

Warren isn’t just talking here–he’s lived it. He’s worked for US Presidents, earned a gold medal, ran large corporations—he’s the epitome of what I aspire to.

I’d like to thank Warren for taking time to share and teach me. I know this will have a large impact on our success if we apply it.

As Warren says at the close of the video, “I think that’s what our life is about. It’s learning from each other, sharing with each other, and then caring for each other. When we do that, we will impact the world.”

Well said, by a great man.

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In the end, we will avoid the “all or nothing trap” if we adhere to the principles we’ve established for ourselves as we zigzag toward our beacons in the fog.  I once listened to Jeff Sandefer, a university professor and Harvard MBA who BusinessWeek named as one of the top entrepreneurship professors in the United States.  Jeff spoke of a final exam he gave his MBA students, who were required to speak with ten seasoned and successful executives.  Jeff further specified that the first three executives they interviewed needed to be highly successful, but under the age of thirty-five.  The next three successful executives were to be in their mid-forties and fifties.  The final four interviews were to be with successful executives who were in the final stages of their careers.  In each of the interviews, Jeff’s students were to elicit information on how these executives pursued and viewed success.

Invariably, the young bucks were beating their chests and chasing after the brass ring, often in ways that put them at risk of losing their balance.  The middle-aged executives were beginning to figure life out.  Some of them had regrets and others had chosen to add some balance to their lives.

Of course, it was the older executives who gave the real insight.  It did not matter what type of business these men or women were involved with.  In each case, they described a pattern of pursuing success that was guided by these three questions:

1)    Was it honorable?

2)    Did it leave an impact?

3)    Who loves me and who do I love?

Many of these older executives were billionaires.  And yet they talked very little about money.  What mattered to them was how their business helped others and whether their business mattered.  They wanted to leave a legacy. And most importantly, they talked about the people who loved them and the people they loved.  Of course, there were those who did not have loved ones, and they talked about that absence with regret.  They were honest and open and direct about their successes and their mistakes. 

Whatever our goals are, whatever our beacon in the fog is, it is critical that we do what we do for the proper reasons and that we stay within the guardrails and values that we have set for ourselves.  If we do, we will get to the end of our lives—which will inevitably come—and have no regrets.

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Right now the three companies that were created as proof points for Zig Zag Principle are in a very interesting and important transition periods.

-       Frog Hair, a company ran by Curtis Blair, is in the process of dramatically expanding.

-       A second business, ran by a team of teenagers is zig zagging to adresses market changes. This is a very powerful group that I’m extremely attached to.

-       Golden Zephyr is a company ran by a group of moms. Oh how I love my mom team. These woman are zig zagging as they grow and add additional mometization methods. 

I’m so vested in each of these teams and the companies they are running. I so badly want to see these three groups succeed that my instant tendency is to want to jump in and rescue and advice and get involved at every turn.

Yes as a business owner, you have to be there at critical points—but it reaches a point after you zig zag and you’re on your second zig that you have to morph into a manager and avoid the day-to-day working of the teams.

I’ve compiled a list of seven things that you must do in order to succeed at this delicate, yet necessary detachment.

1.     Create a structure that allows detachment.

2.     Very clearly define a level of authority.

3.     Set up a line of return and report. There must be a communication sequence and an opportunity for the team members to report both individually and as a group.

4.     Clearly establish the boundaries so everyone knows the level of expectation as well as when you’ll engage and when you won’t.

5.     Clearly vet out those that you’ll be mentoring and those that will be doing the direct reports. The reality is that we all have different stages of development. It’s important that the people who are reporting to you feel comfortable taking on that level of responsibility. Likewise you must have faith in the mentee so that you’re not continually being tempted to step in. It’s critical to get the right person in this role.

6.     Redefine what failure means. You have to allow individuals here to fail. Failure is often a learning experience. Even though you could have jumped in and rescued something—when you look at failure as a learning opportunity, then you’re in a better position to mentor.

7.     Learn how to feel the emotion without reacting. In other words, you’ve built a structure to detach; now you’ve also got to build a level of emotional detachment. Last week one of my close friends and team members actually thanked me for backing off and allowing the growth that has taken place.

The reality is that kids grow up. The way we give them more responsibility and growth as they become adults is to give them more latitude and growth and ability to make decisions. The same things are true in our businesses.

We have to learn how to:

-       Emotionally and physically detach a little bit.

-       Allow a scale element to take place.

This is how we foster the ultimate success in the business.

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My philosophy involves having a line of balance.  Many people think you achieve this line of balance by being at work exactly at 8 a.m. and leaving within minutes of 5, by getting eight hours of sleep each night, and by controlling life with a rigid schedule.  I don’t live my life that way. At times I live my life extremely out of balance. I’ll work so crazy hard that I think I’m going to die, and then I’ll cross over and go for a cruise where I sleep eighteen hours a day. Then I’ll charge back across the line and spend some incredible family time, then I’ll go work my guts out again and literally not sleep for a couple or three weeks while I start another new business. Then I’ll spend a month in the Himalayas with my family. The way I define balance is not to try walking the perfect line, but to cross that line of balance as frequently as possible.  This is the final form of zigzagging I would suggest.

Added to my own bad example of charging straight toward a goal is the example of an individual who completed his MBA program the same time I did.  He was a charismatic and brilliant man.  He had everything going for him—far more than the rest of us, really.  During school and after we graduated, he was fixated on the same path I was on.  He was going to the top and he was going to succeed at all costs. I guess the only real difference between us is that I am fortunate enough to have a wife who has helped me become grounded and remember what really matters in my life. (Sometimes she has had to beat me over the head, but I count that as a form of help.) 

This man was relentless in his pursuit of wealth.  He racked up frequent flier miles and spent even more time away from his family than I did.  He did whatever it took to get to the top, and he got there.   In fact, by some measures, he has achieved a level of success I might have been envious of at one point in my life.  But now, as I look back over my life and this man’s life, I see some significant differences. He has been married and divorced multiple times.  He has had more flings than I can count with my hands and my toes.  He has no relationship with his children; in fact, they will not even talk to him.

I look at him, and I am so grateful that Dr. Horne took the time to counsel with me—and then put me on a transatlantic flight to think about what he said.  As a result, my son Nathan, who would not let me touch him because he did not know who I was, now calls me his hero.  Success is not worth heading over a cliff or getting so out of balance that we lose control.  Everything in life requires balance.  The best skiers cross that line of balance as often as possible as they race down the hill.  But they know how to keep their momentum and stay upright through the race, rather than crashing and burning.

A key to maintaining our balance in life and in business is not getting so tightly wound up and so intense that we do not get in a rhythm, or what the best athletes call flow.  In his book, Golf is Not a Game of Perfect, sports psychologist Bob Rotella, who has worked with many of the world’s greatest golfers, talks about the mindset the best golfers have to get into. When golfers are playing at their peak, Rotella says, they are only using a part of their brain while the other part is shut down.  It is almost as if they are in a trance.  Things just come naturally to them.   They are relaxed, and they let the intuitive and creative part of their brain do the work.  That is flow.

Many of us, on the other hand, get so stressed and uptight that we create our own failures.  Our stress then creates a form of reverse psychology, similar to what happens when I’m golfing and see a water hazard off to the left.  If I allow myself to think (which Rotella would suggest I not do!), I tell myself,  “Don’t go left into the water.” And, just like that, the ball invariably ends up going left right into the pond.  The same thing is true as we pursue our beacons in the fog. If we get fixated on the things we think we can’t do or if we get consumed with the possibility of a little error or failure, we get wound up too tight.  And that actually translates into negative behaviors that undercut our efforts.  

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