Practical Wisdom from the Entrepreneurs Creative Edge by William Reed

How can this be? And what does it actually mean?

Many things are possible which defy the logical constraints of our preconceptions. Has anyone ever told you that something can’t be done? Have you ever proved them wrong? Yes, it happens all of the time!

The fish (魚) in my calligraphy appears caught in a net, yet already has one foot to freedom on dry land! This is more than a metaphor for evolution. It is an invitation to imagination. The saying that The Small Fish Swallows the Big Fish (小魚呑大魚) is a Zen proverb. It is the awakening of the small self to the big self, the bridge to enlightenment (satori).

It also describes what happens when you surpass yourself or the expectations of others, by achieving something that was assumed to be beyond your ability. The expectations and rules created by other people should not be the determining factor in what is possible for you.

If you want to see what is possible in thinking forward, try first thinking back. Everything from the telephone to the airplane to the computer was predicted by the leading authorities of their day to be impossible or impractical. H.M. Warner of Warner Bros said in 1927, “Who the hell wants to hear actors talk?” Decca Records rejected the Beatles in 1962 saying, “We don’t like their sound, and guitar music is on the way out.” BusinessWeek predicted in 1968 that, “With over 50 foreign cars already on sale here, the Japanese auto industry isn’t likely to carve out a big slice of the U.S. market.”

Famous last words, all of them. It makes you wonder if the experts really have any authority to predict the future at all. For an entertaining list of similar such quotes, visit the List of Bad Predictions at http://budurl.com/pfar.

What is more important for you and me is to make our own predictions come true, by showing how the small fish can swallow the large fish, over and over again.

The way this is done in personal branding is by creating value and multiplying it with leverage. Having a website makes this easier to do than ever before. Yet there are many people who have tremendous value to offer, but are held back by real or imagined fears of the technical hurdles in creating a website. This keeps many web designers in business.

Have you ever experienced the frustration of waiting for your web designer to make a minor update? You know it would only take a few minutes, and you’d gladly do it yourself if you knew how. The problem is that this update is time sensitive. It could actually win or lose an opportunity for your business or career. But for some reason known only to the web designer, your request is in the queue, and you have no idea when it will be taken care of. This is the longest day, as you wait in vain for the service that never was.

Although this is a remarkably common experience, it doesn’t have to be that way. In fact, I have discovered a web designer that will build your website, blog, or membership site in 3 business days, and turn over the keys to you so that you can tweak it as you like in real time. Jody Jelas is the Webchik in New Zealand, and her Big Fish Web Design site (http://budurl.com/9rky) is your fast track to having your own extremely affordable web platform almost overnight, for just a dollar down. Her blog is both fun and fantastic for practical advice on web marketing, and you cannot find a better bargain.

The small fish can swallow the big fish, because BigFish is the platform I used to build my newest website at http://www.williamreed.jp. All up and running within two days. I direct you to my new site for another reason, because this is where you will find the latest announcements and coolest content on the two pillars of my own brand, Wealth Dynamics and World Class Speaking, with new content and programs available for both. This site can be your fast track for personal branding as an Entrepreneur, and for anyone on a Creative Career Path.

William Reed

WEBSITE: http://www.williamreed.jp

JAPANESE SITE: http://www.reedcom.jp

BLOG: http://www.EntrepreneursCreativeEdge.com