tion within six months. At the same time, start using the informa-
tion and practicing the skills in this book to build an entrepreneur-
ial mind-set. During this period, start your own business, part time
at first, until you are ready to move to full time.
I (AF) worked in corporate America for more than 15 years at
Fortune 500 and Fortune 50 companies. I was climbing the corpo-
rate ladder to lead and manage global space and land-based
telecommunications programs with budgets in the range of several
hundred million dollars. I was the person responsible for develop-
ing the plans, bringing in the resources, getting team collaboration
from other groups, and managing the programs for success.
During the time I was working for a company, I always had the
urge to serve others through my own business. I was never quite
content with where I was and with what was happening around me.
I felt that being on my own could be much more satisfying. Then I,
not someone else, would be in control of my own destiny.
In the corporate world, I generated and saved the companies
hundreds of millions of dollars and received very little compensa-
tion in comparison. In addition, I dealt with many people who re-
ally hated their jobs and despised the company they worked for. At
times it was depressing to listen to these people, which made work-
ing for a company that much more challenging.
I continued to look for a better way. I always told myself that work-
ing for a company gave me security. This illusion of security was hold-
ing me back from achieving what I was really meant to do. Six months
prior to being laid off, I knew the company was in trouble. I thought
this would be the push I required to venture on my own. The safety
net would be removed and I would be forced to take action. So I pre-
pared for the moment with anticipation. I re-created my mind-set
about being on my own without a job. At first it was a bit scary and
sometimes even frightening, but I got over that quickly. I was facing a
big step: going from receiving a big steady paycheck whether I made
or saved the company money or not that week to having to go out and
sell myself on a daily basis. Now my paycheck would be based solely on
my efforts. That was a big change in thinking for me.
During those six months, I had to change my thinking and my in-
ternal representations for my new life that was coming. From different
books I had read and from working with Phil and many others, I
learned that I had to create the vision of what I wanted. I envisioned
what life was going to be like without a job. I created every detail
about what I wanted and what I was going to do. I improved the visionIntroduction 5ccc_laut_intro_1-10.qxd 7/8/04 12:22 PM Page 5