Writing for Inc. Magazines Great Entrepreneur’s series, Leigh Buchanan breaks down a fascinating study that pits successful entrepreneurs against career corporate managers in a thought experiment. The study strikes a big chord with me because so many of the things I think are necessary running a small, customer-focused service business are exactly the kinds of things the entrepreneurs describe doing – but here’s the catch, by “successful entrepreneurs”, the author means: 15+ years of experience starting successful and unsuccessful ventures and at the time the study was done, the entrepreneurs were running companies with revenue between $200 million and $65 billion a year.

I’m coming to another big teaching cycle in Trainerfly and I think this short clip of David Heinemeier Hansson speaking at Stanford’s Entrepreneurship Corner is really useful to frame the mindset:

I know the point in the clip above is more about a strategy to take when you look at the “big guys”, but I really feel like the alternating cycles of “spending” and “teaching” are relevant here. We just went through a “

Background: Recently, TechCrunch featured an article about the playdeck they use at SCVNGR that outlines the mechanics of gameplay. The article cites at TED talk by game designer Jane McGonigal, which I talk about here. I was a little disappointed with McGonigal’s conclusion, because she basically offered up the solution as specially-themed video games to leverage the power of game mechanics, or “gameplay superpowers”, to do good in the real world and incite behavior change.

It’s the end of the year and it’s time to get out of old habits and mindsets. So, here’s my prediction for the best business model for independent fitness and wellness pros, for the next DECADE. Yeah, I think it’s going to take a few years to unfold, but the groundwork has been laid: No more brick-and-mortar businesses. Trust me, I know what it’s like to cut a $10,000 rent check each month.

I’m working strictly on a hunch here, but I think there’s a connection between the sentiment I tried to express here about not getting lost in the bells and whistles of technology, and this article about “hybrid businesses”. One Foot in the Virtual World, One Foot in the Real World According to the author, Glenn Kelman, a hybrid business has “one foot in the virtual world and one foot in the real world.

Over at TechCrunch, Stephen Martin lays out his thesis about an interesting turning point for entrepreneurs in this economic climate. I could quote the piece at length, but I think this part is especially important: These business mavericks live by a new dynamic of success — unique individual strengths, expertise and credibility — fueled by today’s cultural and technological changes. In this new dimension of business lies the secret to success in our transformed world of commerce.

If you’ve never read Kevin Kelly’s piece called 1,000 True Fans, I suggest you hop on that link and read it. When you come back, you can read some of my thoughts on the issue, but I probably won’t blow your mind the way Kelly will. Ok, are you back? Good. Here’s what I think stands out in his article for the aspiring “Movement Education Professional” (more on that term below).

Claude Hopkins, in Scientific Advertising: A Rapid stream ran by the writer’s boyhood home. The stream turned a wooden wheel and the wheel ran a mill. Under that primitive method, all but a fraction of the streams’ potentiality went to waste. Then someone applied scientific methods to that stream – put in a turbine and dynamos. Now, with no more water, no more power, it runs a large manufacturing plant.