If you’ve ever been to any business or networking events, you probably noticed that many times attendees are hanging out in the hall instead of listening to the presenters.  People want to interact, learn, network, brainstorm, and mastermind, and a line-up of presentations with short breaks simply doesn’t allow for that to happen.

I wanted my event to be different. Lots of interaction, hot seats, Q&A, mastermind groups, networking, and other group activities allowed me to connect people during the event.

Unfortunately, this trip would never qualify to say that I’ve been to Dallas. We stayed at the hotel and visited the biggest mall in Dallas, where the hotel was located, but that was the extent of seeing Texas

Coaching Millions Super Summit - Milana Leshinsky Dallas Texas, Westin Galleria Mall

I don’t know what it was….

- the simple compelling language
- the promising topic of a best-selling title
- the deep thinking it made me do

But I just couldn’t stop reading “The Secrets of the Millionaire Mind”, by Harv T. Ecker.

Have you read it?

No, no….

Have you DONE it?

It made me look back at my upbringing and ask myself: “What did my family teach me about money?”

We definitely couldn’t afford a lot of things, and even if we could, we’d have to be on a mission to FIND it (former USSR in the 80’s is where I spent my childhood).

But then I remembered something else…

My dad has a business on the side…quite illegal in those days, but he was simply responding to consumer demand.

It was impossible to find any European or American music in stores. You had to go to the “black market” to meet with other “moonlighters” and either buy it or trade it there. Then my dad would resell that music to others for a higher price.

He also would create a custom recording from different albums by request, for a special price.

So he was always on the lookout for business opportunities… Unfortunately, that’s as far as his entrepreneurship took him in the socialistic Russia in the 80’s. I wonder what he’d be doing if he lived here in his younger years.

Perhaps that’s where my entrepreneurial “gene” came from…

One of the things that especially hit the nerve from the book was the fact that, just because you’re rich, you shouldn’t feel guilty or bad about people who don’t have as much as you do. After all, your being poor doesn’t make them any richer.

On the other hand, if you’re rich, you CAN help them by doing charity, pro-bono work, fundraisers, etc.

Here’s my top 7 business book list I discovered and read over the last 5 years:

1. “Unleashing the Idea Virus”, Seth Godin
2. “The E-Myth”, Michael Gerber
3. “Four-Hour Week”, Tim Ferriss
4. “The Irresistable Offer”, Mark Joyner
5. “Work Less, Make More”, Jennifer White
6. “Secrets of the Millionaire Mind”, T.Harv Eker
7. “The Ultimate Sales Letter”, Dan Kennedy

If you recognize yourself here, you must be an introvert. Most of this is certainly true for me I used to think an introvert was someone who  doesn’t like to spend time with people. But I actually LOVE being with people, doing live events, running retreats, and helping my clients.

However, there are certain things to understand about introverts that affects their communication and relationships.

• Respect their need for privacy.
• Never embarrass them in public.
• Let them observe first in new situations.
• Give them time to think.  Don’t demand instant answers.
• Don’t interrupt them.
• Give them advanced notice of expected changes in their lives.
• Give them 15 minute warnings to finish whatever they are doing before calling them to dinner or moving on to the next activity.
• Reprimand them privately.
• Teach them new skills privately rather than in public.
• Enable them to find one best friend who has similar interests and abilities; encourage this relationship even if the friend moves.
• Do not push them to make lots of friends.
• Give them the opportunity to have “down time” which involves no talking. Silence is golden.
• Respect their introversion.  Don’t try to remake them into extroverts.

How did you do?

How do you define success in your own life?

Freedom to do what I choose, when and where I choose.

What was the turning point in your life that began your success? In other words, when did things begin working for you?

When I realized that the world puts a huge value on knowledge and expertise, not on time.

What was the toughest personal challenges you have had to overcome, and how did you overcome them?

My mom and I in Las Vegas First Time, 2009

Most people think it’s immigrating to another country. However, I had very little to do with it. My parents made the decision and I followed them. Of course, the challenges came when we actually arrived - language, culture, and financial barriers lasted for a couple of years.

I had three main challenges after that.

Changing my career from music to computers. After spending the first 20 years of my life in music, it was a tough and painful decision to make. But computer programming promised to be a solid and reliable career, so I went for it.

Quitting my job to start my business was another big one. After struggling to find good day care for my one-year-old at the time, I finally took a plunge and gave my notice. My family couldn’t believe it, I would wake up in cold sweat for the first few weeks, but I knew somehow everything would work out. It just had to.

Realizing that I can’t do it all and building a team. Three years into my business building venture, I had more ideas than I could handle on my own. I knew I needed to hire someone, but that required a big mind shift: hiring someone to do what I could do myself? Impossible! Today I have 7-9 people on my team depending on the time of year, and love being able to delegate and outsource many projects and tasks.

What is the best piece of advice you can offer someone who is struggling to achieve success in any area of their lives?

Choose one idea, one strategy, one mentor, focus on it for a year, tune everything else and everybody else out.  That’s how I’ve been able to get ahead and build a business without any previous experience.

Who or what inspires you?

I love personal brands. It’s such a noisy world, everybody is an expert, everybody has something to sell. But when I see someone who used their personal story to create a compelling brand in their niche, built a product line for their customers, and was able to rise above this noise in the market, I feel inspired.

My favorite people who have inspired me are Michael Gerber, Seth Godin, and Nido Qubein

My daughter is making yummy crepes filled with banana and Nutella

Summer cooking camp has paid off! I made the crepes, my nine-year-old filled them with heavenly stuff that even her brother enjoyed!

Somehow when there’s nothing else to do, cooking is the most fun activity we always enjoy together.  No idea what this means in terms of her unique ability yet (too soon to tell), but I am watching closely to find a diamond in the rough and nurture it in her!

Clearly, these lions are still learning what they can and cannot do. Or rather, what they’re born to do naturally, and what they should stay away from. Chances are, if they keep trying, they’ll get better at it. But most soon realize that it’s easier to use their natural abilities … and instead of trying to climb a tree to go after a baboon, they simply chase a zebra.

Unfortunately, many humans never realize what their natural abilities are and keep trying to strengthen their weaknesses, ignoring the abilities they were born with and could master much faster and be much more successful in business and in life.