Street Smarts The Business of Life: 5 Principles That Will Change Your Life
By Eder Holguin
3/5
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About this ebook
Would you like to achieve all your goals, become successful and reach your full potential–either in your current career, a new business venture or simply in your personal life? Do you think about all the changes you need to make in your life and wish for change but aren’t sure how to get started?
It is possible to reach your goals and attain the success you’ve always wanted and the steps probably aren’t as overwhelming or intimidating as you imagine they might be.
Street Smarts contains a series of proven principles and insights I’ve gathered through the years I spent living in the streets. These principles helped me go from being homeless to becoming a successful entrepreneur in the digital industry. The good news is, no matter at what point you’re at in your own life, you can also make the positive changes you need to become successful. In Street Smarts, I lay out simple principles and insightful ideas and show you how to apply them in your daily life in order to reach your goals.
This book is a simple step-by-step guide with exercises that will encourage you to take action and apply these philosophies to your daily life. By adhering to the following advice, you will be able to accelerate your results, analyze what you are currently doing to see what’s working and what’s not, and make the necessary changes to live a happier and better quality of life.
Eder Holguin
Eder Holguin's story was not always a success story. Born in Medellin, Colombia, he spent years as a young teen living on the streets, selling household goods door-to-door in order to eat and pay his way through school. A natural salesman and imaginative promoter, Holguin learned the secrets and psychology of marketing on the most fundamental level ?? face to face with the customer. By the time he was 16, Holguin had borrowed seed money, hired his own sales team, and had launched a low-budget direct-sales operation. At night, he took high school courses, and spent his spare hours at the local library. Over the next few years, with his fortunes slowly rising, Holguin acquired a business management degree from a local university, graduating near the top of his class. Eventually, he was able to work his way from Colombia to the U.S., landing in high-velocity New York City with little money and just a few phone numbers. "Sure, it was intimidating to a newcomer, but I was computer oriented and knew I could find a way to transfer my sales and marketing skills to the online media space. It didn't happen overnight, that's for sure, but I had another handy skill: sheer determination." Never forgetting his own humble roots, Eder Holguin has reached out to help others who are unable to help themselves. For example, he is a member of the New York marketing and organizing committee for 'El Banquete del Millon', an important charity fundraiser held annually in various cities around the world. Sponsored by the El Minuto de Dios Corporation, the international event generates millions for homeless families in Colombia. "We help feed the poor, build affordable housing, and provide educational opportunities. It offers hope for a better life to those who might otherwise have no hope at all." Reaching out on another front, Eder Holguin is in the process of establishing a foundation dedicated to rescuing street children in Colombia. "I was once a homeless kid in Medellin and understand what needs to be done to make a positive, permanent difference in young lives. For obvious reasons, the foundation is close to my heart and I plan to have it up and running within the next year."
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Street Smarts The Business of Life - Eder Holguin
Introduction
––––––––
Would you like to achieve all your goals, become successful and reach your full potential–either in your current career, a new business venture or simply in your personal life? Do you think about all the changes you need to make in your life and wish for change but aren’t sure how to get started? It is possible to reach your goals and attain the success you’ve always wanted and the steps probably aren’t as overwhelming or intimidating as you imagine they might be.
Street Smarts contains a series of proven principles and insights I’ve gathered through the years I spent living in the streets. These principles helped me go from being homeless to becoming a successful entrepreneur in the digital industry. The good news is, no matter at what point you’re at in your own life, you can also make the positive changes you need to become successful. In Street Smarts, I lay out simple principles and insightful ideas and show you how to apply them in your daily life in order to reach your goals.
This book is a simple step-by-step guide with exercises that will encourage you to take action and apply these philosophies to your daily life. By adhering to the following advice, you will be able to accelerate your results, analyze what you are currently doing to see what’s working and what’s not, and make the necessary changes to live a happier and better quality of life.
So what makes me confident my principles are going to work for you like they did for me?
Throughout my life I have observed that some people go through life with passion and a robust self-confidence; they seem to know where they are heading. This sense of purpose and direction brings them happiness and, quite frequently, material success. On the other hand, there are also those people who never seem to enjoy life and have a hard time getting ahead, even when they have distinct advantages such as being born in a great country, having a great education, or having wealthy parents. So what’s the difference between these two sets of people? Is there a secret to being successful that the other group just hasn’t gotten a handle on yet?
Street Smarts: The Business of Life will take you on an easy-to-follow learning excursion into the ‘secrets’ of success. The book shows you how to be successful, just as long as you are willing to make the effort. It is possible to get what you want and avoid the pitfalls that doom others to a second-class life. The material in this book is based on my five hard-won principles of success that have enabled me to launch new companies, leverage mergers, and engineer acquisitions, all of which have allowed me to become a successful entrepreneur in the digital industry.
Not surprisingly, much of what works in business also works in life.
Street Smarts is set apart from other motivational titles by its solid foundation in ‘what actually works’ and what doesn’t. My life-proven techniques can be learned by anyone. Written in straightforward, non-technical language, Street Smarts details my Five Basic Principles of Success: Awareness, Perseverance, Attitude, Knowledge and Action. Each thought-provoking chapter offers targeted concepts and practical exercises designed to help readers eschew bad habits and redirect unproductive thinking.
Chapter One
What Do You Really Want?
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Know what you want to do, hold the thought firmly, and do every day what should be done, and every sunset will see you that much nearer to your goal.
Elbert Hubbard
What do you want out of life?
Life is about pursuing personal expression, about growing and learning. There are virtually no limits for human potential. The big question is: What exactly do you want to experience? What do you want in your life?
Most of us go through life trying to fit in, trying to please others. Unfortunately, by doing so, we are willing to compromise our ideas and values and most of who we are just to try and get approval. In this process we rarely stop to think about what we really want to experience or what course our lives are taking.
The first principle of success is knowing exactly what you want. After all, without knowing exactly what you desire, how do you know when you get it? Or, how do you determine if you are moving in the right direction?
Having an idea of what you want in life is what gives purpose to life; it gives you the ability to focus your time, talents and effort in order to attain the object of your desire. In order to achieve success
we first need to determine what we desire to achieve. The main difference in how people live their lives lies in the understanding of what their life’s purpose is. Many people keep asking themselves this question, yet they have no answer and seem to be simply going from one job to another, from one relationship to another– just doing enough to get by. Without clear goals and objectives, life becomes a trip without a single destination, similar to a man who just drives around in his car without knowing where he’s heading.
People who have a clear vision of what they want and have clear objectives and goals always seem to be moving towards their main purpose; they don’t waste their time with useless activities. In fact, they always appear to have more energy and seem to be happier.
Knowing what you want
It’s not always easy to know what you want. Maybe you’re unhappy, but you can’t put your finger on why. You might, for instance, have a general unease about your present situation but you’re not sure what else you’d like to be doing. Perhaps you feel as though it’s too daunting or overwhelming to think about changing jobs or making a huge change in your life at the moment. That’s okay!
Rather than thinking about where you want to be in a year, or in five years, try thinking about what you might like to be doing, or what skills you might like to master or be better at. For instance, let’s say that right now you’re working as a photographer. Perhaps within the next year you’d like to expand your skills and start doing more graphic design work. This might mean purchasing a new computer program or taking a class at a local college or university to learn new graphic design skills to expand upon the strengths you already have.
You can also think in terms of a lifestyle rather than a job or skills. Maybe right now you’re living in a large city but you’re unhappy living in an urban environment. You’d feel more comfortable living in the country with acreage, a garden, and being self-employed and self-contained. You might not be completely sure how you’re going to manage that right now, but you know it’s the lifestyle you want to work towards so it gives you a goal to start with.
So what if you’re not sure what you want? That can be a problem. After all, you can’t reach for a goal if you’re not sure what you want that goal to be!
Here are a few questions you might want to keep in mind when taking stock of your life and your future plans:
What do you value most in life? What tangible things (owning a home, having a good job, a