Trust Your Struggle …

Posted on July 16, 2015 by frankcianciulli

Success is a beautiful thing. It really is. At times I look back and tell myself, “Thank God I kept going”. I can’t lie, it was never easy at all. At times, I thought of giving up but in all actuality I actually continued to keep going. As you can see I’m still here. Still going. Still moving …

The journey is always a rewarding one. It moulds you into the person you want to be. Experience is everything and regardless of what naysayers may tell you don’t trust their words, trust your struggle instead.

Every day I wake up with a new found energy because my passion drives me. I love to win! I love watching my company grow. Through my journey I’ve learned so much. Most importantly, I’ve learned that regardless of the past you must focus on the NOW. That’s all you can control.

Never get ahead of yourself, even if you’ve had a history of winning. As history has made evident, even the little guy can take the big guy down. Take time each day to starve your ego and feed your soul. Sacrifice will take you where you truly want to be. Be true to yourself and ask yourself what your vices are and get rid of them! Let go of negative energy, because it won’t do any good for you other than weigh you down.

On a positive note, if you’ve started you’re way ahead of anyone who hasn’t started trying. Life is a beautiful struggle—it truly is. There will be set backs. There will be stumbling blocks along the road. Pick yourself up and keep your eye on the prize, I guarantee it will be a rewarding experience. Accepting when things are tough, it’s for your benefit in the end; a life lesson that needs to be learned.

I’ll see you at the finish line.

Frank.

The Waves of Entrepreneurialism

Posted on April 20, 2015 by frankcianciulli

I’ve had the luxury of spending the winters in Miami. As a result I have really taken advantage of walking along the ocean a lot lately. I’ve always found it to be a helpful and therapeutic tool as an entrepreneur. In life and in business there are always circumstances that are out of our control where you wished you had made a different decision or taken a different path. Recently on one of my walks I took notice of the ocean waves pounding relentlessly against the shoreline and I thought to myself how this resembles the life of an entrepreneur. There are certainly days or periods on the entrepreneur’s journey that the ocean is calm and cooperative, swaying you in just the right direction you want and need to go, smooth sailing in other words. However there are also many periods where you stand at the shoreline of entrepreneurialism getting knocked and smacked around wave, after wave. It can feel never ending, unfair, exhausting, and frustrating. Walking gives me a sense of perspective and gives me a chance to clear my head and helps me step away from the swirling chaos with the ability to see the big picture. It provides the space for solutions to come to me naturally without forcing, and to reflect on past storms that rendered me more compassionate, wise, and learning to trust my own intuition more often. There has been a lot written lately about the adverse effects of sitting too long and how critical it is for your physical well-being to get up and walk around often. From my experience the psychological effects have been incredibly rewarding as well. Steve Jobs famously had meetings with key people often by just going for a walk around the Apple campus so they could get away from the office or boardroom environment as walking during a conversation seems to have the same mystical power as breaking bread together. So let us learn from what the greats did like Jobs and hold strong through the times of pounding waves by using this free and powerful tool to help keep you steady until the next calm, ‘smooth sailing’, reprieve arrives.

Have a great week!

Frank.

Brazil Showed Us That You Can’t Always Be The King

Posted on July 14, 2014 by frankcianciulli

Germany-2014-World-Cup-Champion Congratulations to Germany – they clearly played better than the other teams this World Cup, and their dominance will be discussed for a long time to come. One of the things that will clearly be a talking point for quite a while is their dramatic win over Brazil.

I was in a meeting for the first 35 minutes of that game and was stunned when I finally had the chance to check up on the score. It was stunning because Brazil has been known as the undisputed king of soccer for years, and they ended up suffering the worst defeat possible – in their own home no less. What was once the best and highest scoring soccer team in the world has now been officially eclipsed by Germany.

This loss made me reflect a lot, because I see this exact same thing happen to companies all the time – they become the best, then underestimate the competition, eventually losing to them. As an entrepreneur, it’s important that you keep working hard, even if you’re the “king” of your industry. Here are a few lessons that I think entrepreneurs can learn from Brazil’s loss to Germany.

Overconfidence Can Ruin You – A lot of soccer fans were hoping that Brazil could take pride in winning the World Cup in its home continent. Despite the support of their fans, in all the games Brazil played in they either barely won, got lucky with their win – or both. As an athlete or entrepreneur, overconfidence will hurt you. Overconfidence leads you to under estimate the efforts you need to put in to achieve greatness, meaning that someone else who knows the value of hard work will eventually usurp you.

The Unexpected Can Strike Anytime – Change is the only constant. While Brazil’s defeat could be attributed to the loss of their two key players before the game, it was really their inability to adapt to change. Sometimes you won’t have the resources available to appropriately deal with change, but those are the instances where you experience the most growth and reach new limits. Accept the situation you have been presented with and use your creativity to find a new solution.

If You’re Going To Lose, Do So With Dignity – One thing I have to commend Brazil on is keeping classy while they were trailing far behind. Too often you’ll see a team go out of their way to injure players to make sure that they have a rough time in their next game. But hacking and slashing your opponents in order to jeopardize their chances is undignified. If you’re lagging behind your competition with no realistic chance of pulling through, take the fall from grace with class.

As much as we want to thoroughly enjoy our triumphs, it is important to stay humble. Doing so will allow us to accept the challenges when they are thrown at us and make us more willing to put in a fair effort to overcome them.