How to Be a Failure in Life!

We’ve probably read news articles and even self-help books on how to succeed in life. We’ve probably bought and downloaded various self-help audio books as well.

We’ve attended seminars and have vowed to even follow through with what we’ve learned. Yet, somehow, there are still a few of us who are unable to really succeed in life.

Maybe, there are some of us who really don’t want to succeed. Maybe, some of us really want to fail. If you want to fail in life, I’ve listed some tips on how you can be one.

1. Don’t Listen or Pay Attention – Keep doing what you think is right and NEVER listen to anyone for advise. If you get an undesired result, don’t change what your doing. Keep doing it the same way so that you always get the SAME undesired result. The key is consistency.
2. Don’t Prepare – This is a key component in achieving failure status. When going on a vacation, you do not want to prepare for the trip. When you’re working on a project, you do not want to do some preparatory research. When going on a sales call, you do not want to do pre-planning. In order to FAIL, you have to take the first step REGARDLESS of direction. It’s important to NOT understand the value of “preparedness”.
3. Make Everything All About Yourself – In order to fail, you MUST learn the art of alienating people. Your friends and supporters are a hindrance in your quest for the ultimate mastery of failing. These people, who go out of their way and of their day, only give you words of wisdom. Words of wisdom have NO PLACE in the world of failure.
4. Dwell On the Past – Another important element one must master in order to be a failure is the ability to dwell on the past. You must internalize all the disappointments you’ve experienced over time and dwell on them. Don’t let go of these disappointments. You will need to cling on every bad experience in order to help you develop the fear of moving on. You should not let go of the past. If you do, you will lose the foundation of being a failure.
5. Do Not Blame Yourself at All Cost – Never put the blame on yourself. You are NOT responsible for anything. You must blame your parents, friends, relatives, government, church, dog… anything or anybody! But never blame yourself. If you ever feel tempted to acknowledge any mistake… your hopes of becoming a failure will be in vain. Blame it on the rain!
6. There are Only Excuses, Not Solutions – Failures know these by heart and live by the dogma that excuses rule their lives. You must understand that Solutions are mythical and do not exist in the world of Failures. Successful people invented Solutions during the war between “Success and Failure” before the dawn of time.

As you journey toward the road of fail, don’t bring a map. Do not even attempt to know where it begins or where it ends. However, if you do reach the ultimate status of failure, know for a fact that you’ve “succeed”!

Good luck on your journey…

If You Think It’s Good Enough, Give It Away!

I may have said this before but I’ll say it again, nevertheless. If what you have is good enough, and you’re confident other people will appreciate it, give it away and let them try it “risk free”.

I’m not talking about “free estimates” or “free consultations”. I’m talking about an actual product or service that you are willing to give away or let your potential clients try out, RISK FREE! Okay, this is the part where most of you, businesspeople, are going to go “what!?!”

But hear me out here. Unless, you’re the only one in the world carrying a certain “widget” or “service” that people are willing to die for, you’re going to have to stand out against your competition, bad boy! And if you’re the new kid on the block, why are customers going to risk trying you out?

The goal of giving “it” away is to take away the risk factor. The goal here is to create a non-defensive attitude. The goal is to get your potential clients in the door. People in business call this the “loss leader”. And it is. And yes, there is a great benefit for having a “loss leader” in whatever it is that you do. You want people to latch on to something without them losing anything, except time. If your product or service is good enough, they will stick and stay with you.

So what does this have to do with people who are not in business or who do not have anything to sell? A lot! As a matter of fact, as cliché as it sounds, this practice falls under the “it is better to give, than to receive” category. And rightly so, marketing consultants have seen its value during the recession.

And because this article comes out in time for Valentine’s day, don’t we all do this to our significant others? Don’t we give them something… risk free? Don’t we pay for this and don’t we spend for that? Yes we do! And always, we get something BETTER in return, whether we expect it or not.

It doesn’t matter if it’s business or personal, if you believe that what you have is good enough, give it away! Don’t hold back! It might look like a “loss leader” but the return on investment will always outperform the initial cost of providing that “loss leader”, hands down.

Think about it and have a great day.

7 Reasons Why Your Business Needs an Online Presence

7 Reasons Why Your Business Needs an Online Presence

I’m No Genius But This Is Pretty Obvious

By Paco Arespacochaga

When the iPad launched early this year, people were divided about its value and usage. There were those who saw its purpose from the “get go” while there were also those who felt that it was a waste of their money. And then of course, there were those who simply got excited about it because of the fashion statement it was going to create.

Although I still don’t own one, I am leaning toward purchasing the iPad. It just simply makes sense! And I’m no genius to see the importance of what this appliance/device can contribute to my simple daily life.

Let me name a few:

Consolidated Magazine & Newspaper Subscription: If you want to go green and save the planet, imagine how many trees can be saved by simply converting all of your magazine subscriptions on this nifty device?

Online Bill Pay Made Easier: While most of us have adapted the habit of paying our bills online from our desktops and laptops, the iPad has made it easier to pay our bills “on the go” without having to SQUINT at the little smartphone lcd screen.

Virtual Book Library: All your Sweet Valley High, Hardy Boys, Nancy Drew, Tom Clancy, Dan Brown or whoever author you have in mind, and all their catalogue in the palm of your hand. Read whatever, whenever… WHEREVER! Imagine the amount of space you can reclaim at home. I heard that major publishers are releasing their catalog to the iPad.

Virtual Audio Library: iTunes. I don’t need to explain this. *wink*
Movies On the Go: Bring your “digital copy” movie wherever you go. If you need more movies, there’s always iTunes!

Apps, Apps and More Apps: Who isn’t amazed and amused by new apps, paid or free?
And I only scratched the surface of what it is and what it can do.

Now here’s the twist of everything I’ve written. I am not only excited with the iPad from a consumer standpoint. Instead, think about what the iPad, as a digital platform, can do to bring your business/personal brand in front of millions of people.

Now should be a good time to be talking to your marketing team about your online visibility and online reputation. You want to get in now and take as much market share as you can.

This isn’t going away folks. Embrace DIGITIZATION or be ready to lose market share.

Guitarist Series - Otchot Cortes

Otchot Cortes
by Paco Arespacochaga



What would have happened to me as a musician if I hadn’t encountered Otchot Cortes in my life? Maybe, I really wouldn’t be into music the way I turned out to be. I don’t know.

One thing I do know, Otchot thought me how to appreciate music for what it is and for what I could do to alter it. Alter it? WOW!

Otchot Cortes influenced me intellectually. I didn’t care much about his guitar playing style. I was more interested in “why” he came up with a certain part for a certain song. I was more intrigued with his philosophy. I wanted to pick his brains out. He encouraged me to fill my intellect with its own philosophical approach so that my thoughts can permeate through my music, releasing the hook of the song. He was always good at creating the hook!

Every now and then, whenever I think of writing an interesting song or an interesting blog, I simply ask myself… “What would Otchot do?” And from that answer, the choice is mine to follow or go against what his thought process would have been. The results always make me smile!

The Series

by Paco Arespacochaga
photo by Tune Jardinazo aka Clickrhappy

Here I am in Dallas TX trying to figure out what to do with my downtime and it occurred to me that I should write another blog!

Now, for those of you who have been following my blog on Twitter and Facebook and elsewhere, you know that I've been writing about topics that make us realize what we can do to be better. I appreciate the fact that you've liked what I've written.

To pay it forward, I'd like to start a tribute blog to people that have made an impact in my life. I'll call them the "Series". They could be broken into:

• Family Series
• Friends Series
• Guitar Series
• Co-Worker Series and whatever I Can think of.

I'll tag each "series" entry so that you can read it, link it or do what you want to do with it.

Today, I'll start with the Guitar Series

To Fish or Not to Fish

I’ve been helped and have helped. I’ve helped other people and have been helped by other people as well. I’ve benefited from all of the help I’ve received and I’ve felt blessed being able to help others that are also in need.


However, the one thing I’ve found to have been really beneficial to both me and whomever it was that’s helped me was the time spent to have taught me how to fish. And I’ve had quite a handful of “life fishing” lessons from people who took the time to show me the ropes and have taught me the rudiments to fish for my own food and to be able to be good at it so that I can then teach other people how to “fish” till they get good at it.


However, like many of you who have loved ones, we can get crazy and passionate in helping them that we tend to “fish” on their behalf. Instead of showing and teaching them how to cast a net, we set out to sea ourselves and feed them with our own catch. And there's no problem with that... until you're taking away from your own family's catch. But that’s our "nurture" instinct, specially toward other people who also matter to us. But does it truly help them? And does it truly help you?


Most of the time, the people who've ask for help and support aren’t the most sensitive about issues their "fishermen" are having. For example, in the past, I’d go ask for help from any of my aunts without conscious regard if they were capable of helping me or not at that specific moment. And sometimes, I'd feel bad if they couldn't spare me a "fish" or two. (how selfish!)


I would remind whoever that was helping me that they “committed” to fish for me! (was I even entitled?) I didn’t even care if that person was even in good shape to “fish” for me. It was all for my benefit at the expense of other people. It was their fault if they disappointed me. (how absurd!)


Falling face flat on the ground a decade ago made me realize that I had to learn how to fish for myself. I had to be a fisherman and not a mere consumer of someone else’s catch. I realized that the more I “set out to sea” to acquire my own catch, the more other “fishermen” were willing to help me out.


It wasn’t long until I had “seasoned” fishermen teaching me better principles on HOW TO FISH and how to multiply my catch exponentially. I earned the respect of others and I felt good about myself. I counted my blessings and have shared them as well. And it has been better, both for me and the person that I've helped. The result always yields a different kind of pride.


Now stop for a moment and think about where you are in the sea of life. Are you by the shore, waiting for the fishing boat to set in so that you can ASK (not buy) for some catch. Or are you out there with the rest of the fishermen, casting your net and taking home your own catch no matter how little… no matter how great?


Enjoy the week!


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Photo by Andy Zapata Jr.