The Django Guide to Business and Living Your Best Life

After having my fill of our holiday feast and watching the children beam with excitement over their gifts a few of us jumped in the car to watch the premier of Jamie Foxx’s new movie, Django Unchained. It’s a Quentin Tarantino movie, so I expected to see blood, guts, glory and a little quirky humor thrown in at just the right moments. But I honestly did not expect to walk away with a new take on business, let alone life.

As we embrace these next few hours at the start of a new year, I am excited to share with you my take on the Django Guide to Business and Living Your Best Life in 2013. I won’t spoil this movie for those who haven’t seen it yet, but simply share those eye opening revelations that I think you need to hear.

Audion Interview Version: SistaSense Circle Audio Session

Speak Up Boys and Girls!
A simple question was asked to a group of slaves and all but one shook with fear, quickly shifted their eyes to the ground, unable to utter even the smallest of sounds with the exception of Django. If you think about how the movie ended vs. how it began you can clearly see one truth; if he did not speak up and conquer the fear all the other slaves were consumed by his life would never have gone through such an amazing chain of events.

Last year I hosted teleseminars and live events for women in business and many of these women were afraid to talk about their business. They feared getting up and speaking in public and they feared getting in front of the camera. But you have to be seen if you want people to see you. You have to be heard if you want people to truly understand your vision. Nothing is wrong with fear, the problem is when you let fear deter you from getting things done. I saw the fear in Django’s eyes when he said his first few words, but he said them anyway nevertheless. I’ve even heard that same kind of fear in my own voice, but I battled through it because it is better to do and be afraid than to do nothing at all. Speak up.

Embrace The Unknown!
At many points in the movie Django had to make serious choices about doing what was familiar, doing what was easy, or doing what had to be done. At every point in time he chose to embrace the unknown. Last night at church I heard the pastor encourage us to embrace change and acknowledge that even in our darkest hour we must go through the process to get to the victory. Django went through some processes that made me squint one eye and hold my breath, but the point is that he went through them and made it through them.

I so often hear my clients say, “Well you know I can’t do that LaShanda. I’m scared that it won’t work out and it will all be a waste of time.” But think about how much time you have already wasted clinging to familiar circumstances that have created absolutely no change in your business and/or in your life. It is almost impossible to be blessed with the best if you refuse to choose the new and unfamiliar road. Embrace the unknown and move forward.

Set It, Prep It, Make It Stick
This whole movie revolves around one simple goal; Django is determined to find his wife and set her free. When the idea first arises, he is so ready to just jump right in. Fortunately, good counsel advices a different more thoughtful approach and he listened. I meet too many entrepreneurs who jump on the first great idea they find without taking the time to be thoughtful and thorough about the process of business development. In true movie fashion we saw months of Django’s life fly by in a matter of minutes, but it is worth mentioning that in that timeframe he planned and prepped; never losing sight of his vision.

Six months ago I started planning for the Power Circle Conference I will be hosting in a matter of weeks. One year ago I set into motion the events that inspired me to take my business to the next level this year. As the wonderful Pam Perry once told me, “It takes about ten years to create an overnight success.” If you want 2013 to bring a better business and/or your best life, you’ve got to stop thinking about the little things that might help you pay little bills today. Bigger and better comes when you look six months and beyond into the future. You need to create a clear vision, set your goal, prep for your prosperity and make it stick. Obstacles are going to arise. People are going to say no. Mistakes are going to happen. The key here is knowing that these things don’t occur to motivate you to give up. They happen to motivate you to keep moving forward. Set it, prep it and make it stick.

Make the Most of the Time You Have
To quote one of my Power Circle Speakers, Yolanda Lattimore, “Time wasting sons of bitches” is my favorite line from the Django. It’s important to be strategic in your plans, but at the same time you can’t waste time. How do you know you can put off an opportunity and have access to it a year from now? How can you realistically plan for that moment you make a pivotal change in your life? When did you receive the power to define when things will come to pass as you see fit?

You don’t have the power to control when things happen, nor do I, which means that we can’t wait for things to work out in timeframes that we try to set. When an opportunity presents itself, jump on it. To me those are the moment’s God is saying, “You said you want this. I think it’s time for you to get this. What are you going to do now to receive this?” It baffles my brain when people say “LaShanda can you host a teleseminar on topic X and then the turn around and say they can’t make it but will definitely be there for the next one. I’m confused when people say the Power Circle Conference is going to be a life changing event, but then resolve to wait a year for the next one a year from now, because this one just isn’t the right time.” How do you know I will or even can create this kind of life changing event for you when you are ready for it next year? How do you know next year you will be in a position to do the things you can’t do right now? Time waits for no man or woman, so you better make the most of the time you have. Because the only thing you can control, is what you do today.

Be Resourceful
At some point Django gets to a place where we are all pretty sure it’s the end of his road. Nobody wants to believe it will end quite like this, but nobody could fathom any possible way of him getting out of this one. What he does and whether or not he makes it through is for you to see, but what I can say is that he had one of those life changing light bulb moments one can never forget. Without giving anything away, I’ll simple say that he pulls this great idea out of nothing more than a few lessons he learned from the past. To this day I’m amazed at how little he had at that moment, but at the moment he figured out how to make even the smallest resource work for him. And I love it!

If I had a nickel for every time somebody told me something like, “I want it, but can’t afford it.” Or “This sounds good, but I don’t have the skills or the means to it.” Or “I love how she did it, but that’s too much for me” … If I had a nickel every time I heard phrases like this I would be officially at Oprah Status today. While I’m no Oprah yet, let me tell you about the power of being resourceful. Let me tell you how I got to my status of working for myself, owning my car, taking vacations when I want, working with the big brands because my brand is moving on up. Let me tell you how I did that. I took $5 and bought my first domain. I took sleepless nights and tapped into every resource I could find online until turning tens into thousands was my reality. I click by click used whatever I had around me and sometimes all I had around me was a computer and my brain full of resourceful ways to get the job done.

You don’t need to do it like her. You don’t need millions or even thousands to start. Hell, in some cases you don’t even need hundreds. You just need to use that brain of yours; think about what you got right now and how you can use it to get started right now.

If Django was here to help me write this, I’m sure he would have used fewer words than I did, but the facts would still remain the same. Don’t be scared to speak up. Do let go of the comfort, so you can truly embrace the unknown. Focus on the future rather than get lost in the day to day. Set your vision, prep for prosperity and stay the course so you can make it stick. Above all things stop using limitations in your life to put things off. Value the time you have and the resources available to you today.

If Django could battle through being a slave and perceived as less of a man to assert his worth and exude a level of greatness that all men could see, why can’t you? Why can’t you rise above all the odds? Why can’t you take all the misinterpretations of you and prove them wrong. Aren’t we all great? I just think some of us choose to live in our greatness and others choose let that greatness go out of fear of other people or personal perception. If you truly want to create better business and a better life in 2013, make sure you choose wisely.

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