As I said in the my last post, I’ve felt as if I’ve been in a creative lull for the past year or so.

I’ve spent a long, long, long time, looking back in reflection over the past couple of years and I wanted to share an observation. I’ve realized it’s not so much a creative issue but more of a comfort issue.

“Most” people don’t have the drive to take risks or get outside their comfort zones. Notice I said most….

Most people would settle for being comfortable.

For example, would you rather work 9-5 with a guaranteed paycheck somewhere where you were slightly miserable or would you rather set your own hours doing something you love but have no guarantee of ever seeing a payday?

Naturally, most people would choose the guaranteed paycheck and just tolerate being miserable.

Why?

Because it’s comfortable.

Most people would prefer the path of least resistance. Less resistance means more time to watch HBO every single night.

It also provides security, usually less effort, it’s relatively pain-free and the finish line can always be seen….. usually a gold watch or thank-you-for-your-life plaque

But for the ones who would choose the other option, we also need to realize that we too can also fall into that same position of just “tolerating” our situation.

Does that make sense?

Here’s what I mean:

I’ve done very well on my own but I got too comfortable.

This means I began to become very careful about taking new risks, the same types of risks that allowed me to get there in the first place.

The same type of risk that allowed me to grow.

I became comfortable with applying only the minimum amount of effort needed to maintain comfort but that stalled growth.

This was great for a while until one day I woke up and realized I had gone off the track and it was time to get back on.

Growth requires taking chances and stepping outside your comfort zone. Most people choose comfort.

Entrepreneurs can choose comfort but I believe that’s the moment our growth stops and the only place to go from there is back down.

As a business owner or entrepreneur make it a priority to get out of your comfort zone on a daily basis. Do something each and every day that is uncomfortable for you.

• Maybe it’s a random phone call to thank a client for something.

• Maybe it’s a wacky YouTube video about your business that results in over 5 Million Views worldwide….(see below)

If it hurts or makes you feel even slightly awkward, you’re on the right track.

Don’t be afraid to get silly and take chances and sure as hell don’t settle for being comfortable.

This is where growth and real success happens.

It really is that simple.

P.S. You’re probably wondering how I stepped outside my comfort zone today right?

Well here’s the thing. I have many clients and people I’ve worked with over the years that have never even seen a picture of me.

Pretty crazy right?

I’ve always been pretty careful about how much of myself I shared online but I decided today was the day to REALLY STEP outside my comfort zone and post a picture of myself.

I took a picture of my nuts and posted them on a DailyBooth.com

Check it out here…… Don’t worry, the link is safe for work

It’s nice to meet you too.

I’m going to continue today on one concept Gary has mentioned which I believe is a major game changer for those willing to embrace it – Tag Team Champions

I’m also going to reference some of my favorite old school WWE Tag Teams. If you grew up in the 80′s with a grandfather who watched Wrestling non-stop, you’ll get the references…If not, read this anyways. You’ll get the overall picture.

A quick background first:

I have no doubt I can market and sell online. I really don’t.

I’ve been able to do so since the very early days of the Internet. I was very fortunate to have parents who allowed me to get online and explore things from a very early age. They were fantastic. They didn’t just toss the AOL CD that came to our door 3 times a week in the trash, they let me use it!

At one point my parents got a bill from AOL for me going way beyond the “free” 75 hours or so… I’m talking hundreds or maybe thousands of dollars.

But even before that, I was dabbling with dial-up modems and text-based BBS sites.

I think our first modem was running at a speed of 4800 bps. I remember the day my dad came home with a new computer and a 14.4 kbps modem. That’s when I knew I could kill it.  The text-based ascii graphics were just flying down the screen!

The ability to market and sell through the computer and over the phone lines was already happening at that point. I saw the potential from day one.

I was selling  and making money on those first BBS boards. There were a few occasions where my mother had to drive me to deliver goods I had sold. I was only about 14 years old at the time.

It was only a natural progression for me to find my way over to eBay  years later where I became a “PowerSeller.”

Then a few years after that I found Google Adsense and from there I made my way into Internet Marketing where I began showing other people how I was doing it.

The last few years however, while I’ve crushed it from a monetary standpoint, have been somewhat of a creative stalemate for me.

I lost that “excitement feeling” about the BIGGER opportunities being presented on the Internet.

Don’t get me wrong, I was excited about the things I’d been doing and the income I was making, but I wasn’t fulfilled. I missed that feeling.

Recently, I’ve got it back.

And it’s come back in a big way.

What the heck does this all have to do with Tag Team Champions?

Here it is.

The concept of tag team champions is simple: Find your Legion of Doom!

I’ve realized that I know quite a few people who have the personalities and DNA to crush it on a huge level.

I’m talking about experts with insane amounts of passion about some specific topic. The type of people with explosive and intoxicating personalities or the type of people who could talk non-stop about worms or miniature schnauzers.

But when I began to look more closely at these people, I realized that many of them were in that all too familiar position:  working at a job they didn’t like or stuck in a career that had hit a plateau 15 years ago.

This week I approached two of those people. I’ve known both them for a long time. One was more of a close friend and the other as a business acquaintance .

I had two casual meetings where I sat down and I gave a grander overall picture of what I believed this person could do and how I could help.

I explained how that by harnessing that passion, we could take things to a higher level. But I stressed that the main goal was for us both to be doing what we loved, not making a bundle of money.

As a Tag Team champion you need two people ready to partner up and battle for the title. Plain and Simple.

I’m passionate about building businesses and entrepreneurship but I’m not necessarily outgoing enough where I want to get in front of a camera or jump online and talk about it for days on end.

And on the other end of the spectrum there are people out there who are so insanely passionate about “miniature schnauzers” or “ant farms” but have no clue how to harness that excitement and tell the world on a grander scale. That’s where I come in.

This is the goal of Tag Team Champions.

Both meetings I had were exciting and both of these people were eager to move forward and take over the world.

I’ll share more about these people as things progress.

So if you’re a little like me, consider this:

You’ve got serious talents. Look for people & businesses where you could tag team and grow together.

I’ve begun to see other areas of opportunity all over the place.

If you’re Ax then look for Smash.

If you find Professor Tanaka, let them know that you’re Mr. Fuji!

Or perhaps you’ve got mega insane talent but you’re unsure about the marketing side of things or maybe the technical side of things, don’t be afraid to seek out a partner for your tag team.

Tag Teams and partnerships can work. Don’t worry too much that you’ve heard partnerships never work. Many partnerships fail because they aren’t Tag Team Champions. You need to find your perfect match.

Imagine Hawk teamed up with Brutus Beefcake… Or one of the Wild Samoans with The Quebecers… That should give you a clear idea of why most partnerships don’t work.

You need to find your true tag team partner.

If you’re Jim Neidhart, do the world a favor and find Bret Heart. You’ll win the title, I guarantee it.

Done.