Jay Samit: Disrupt You – The Blue Fish

Do you have a transformative idea that you are yet to launch due to various shortcomings? You are not alone. Many budding entrepreneurs and business persons possess great ideas but always find it difficult to attract the necessary funding for their projects. The volatility of today’s business environment does not favor upcoming business leaders, as they often fail to attract the attention of venture capital firms. Nevertheless, according to Jay Samit, personal disruption is the first step to conquering the business world.

In case you are wondering, Jay Alan Samit is a world renowned author, technology innovator, philanthropist, and media mogul. He has been in the world of business for many years and has been helping budding entrepreneurs navigate through the turbulent waters of business, using his motivational books and inspirational talks. Disrupt You is one of his bestsellers, and it has captured the imagination of many entrepreneurs; who were mostly on the verge of giving up. Moreover, the book is applicable in all spheres of life and not limited to the world of business only.

Jay has developed radical disruptive solutions for blue-chip companies and big brands like Microsoft, Coca-Cola, Disney, eBay and LinkedIn, among many others. His ideas have helped grow numerous multi-billion dollar companies. It is not surprising that he is among the most sought after business gurus.

In his book, Disrupt You, Jay Samit describes how creativity and adaptability are essential in achieving success in any business environment. Personal disruption is the phrase that he uses to illustrate how you can establish links in your personal value chain that are essential in unleashing your full potential. The book further describes how you can set yourself to identify and seize any opportunity that arises. The people who see failure as a new challenge are more likely to succeed in any venture that they undertake. You may have a big idea but do not know how to implement it. However, by using Samit’s transformative ideas, you can reap greatly from your efforts.

Success does not come on a silver platter, but rather through working smart. How do you work smart? Firstly, you need to re-examine yourself and establish your strengths and weaknesses. Also, determine the challenges or problems that you could be going through, in a bid to finding a lasting solution. Samit believes that by self-examination, you can draw out a plan that includes a starting point and an end objective. The process of drawing out a workable plan is what Jay Samit describes as innovation. Being innovative is not a preserve of a few people. Anyone can do it. Samit shows this by using valid examples of ordinary people who transformed the world.

Successful companies use various strategies including marketing and distribution, to prosper. Additionally, they probably have all the funds to implement these strategies. However, do you know that you can also make it as an individual, by applying the same strategies that companies use to flourish? What is more encouraging is that you do not need to source for funds from outside investors to achieve your goals. The reach of your venture matters more than the size of your business. Size does not matter anymore, for every individual has an opportunity to disrupt. As aforementioned, it all starts with introspection, then innovation. By following the key strategies to disruption, everything else will fall into place, and you will see your business prosper.

I first met Jay at the TedX talk that he did in Augusta, GA

Here is that very TedX talk for you to see how eye opening Jay is, it is motivational to keep this in mind when you ask yourself if you should reach for your hopes and dreams.

The most important aspect of the book, Disrupt You is that Jay Alan Samit uses his personal experiences to explain the whole concept of disruption. Additionally, he has incorporated anecdotes from other real-life innovators including Steve Jobs, Richard Branson, Elon Musk and Tony Hsieh, among many others. What is interesting about these great innovators is that they did not come from a “so great” background. Most of them started from humble beginnings and made it, using their disruptive innovations. If these people made it, you too can make it.

There is no better way to understand Samit’s transformative ideas other than attending any of his inspirational business talks. Just recently, Samit was a speaker at the TedX Talk in Augusta, Georgia. If you did not attend the meeting, then you missed a great opportunity to learn about Jay Samit’s disruptive ideas. Nonetheless, here is a summary of his presentation in Augusta:

In the TedX Talk conference, Samit begins by emphasizing the fact that every career gets disrupted at some point, either by chance or circumstance. As the world transforms, learning one set of skills is not enough. Do you know that the world’s largest taxi company owns no cars? What about the world’s largest retailer? You will be surprised that they own no inventory. How did they manage to prosper to such heights? Disruption is the answer. The first rule of self-disruption is that you only need two things to succeed in life; insight and drive.

In his talk, Samit poses a question to the audience, “Are you living life, or just paying your bills until you die?” This should also be a challenge to you. Do not stay on a job, just for the sake of security. According to Samit, there is no such thing as job security. The illusion of job security robs ambition and you will live to regret the chances that you did not take. The purpose of life is to live a life of purpose. How do you live a life of purpose? By adapting to your challenges and being creative enough to innovate new ideas that can seize the available opportunities.

Visualizing success makes it relatively possible. A negative mind is as good as dead, and will never succeed in anything. If you want to succeed, you should not consume your present energy worrying about the past. Positive thinking increases energy and stimulates creativity and intelligence.

In conclusion, disruption is not about what happens to your business, but rather how you respond to it. According to Jay Alan Samit, the challenges that you could be facing are actually solutions and opportunities for greater prosperity. Only those who find opportunities in obstacles are the ones who make it. If you are able to disrupt yourself, then you can make it anywhere. Remember, success does not make you happy, but being happy creates success.