Archive for the ‘personal development’ Category
In my last post, I had mentioned that I wanted to tell you what my favorite infomercial was and dissect it so we can all learn about why it’s successful. Well, I decided to change things up a bit because a few nights ago, my wife and I had what was probably one of the most important conversations ever, and it’s directly related to what I do online. This message that I want to share with you, which came as a result of our discussion, is more important than any infomercial tactic, blogging tip or online business strategy that I could possibly offer.
(And in case you are wondering, the infomercial was P90X.)
The Issue
The subject of our discussion was my work schedule. The problem was: I didn’t have one.
As someone who has been somewhat successful online thus far earning a passive income, I do have the ability to work less hours, and if I really wanted to, not work at all. However, having this freedom to work whenever I want has put negative thoughts in my head about adhering to an actual schedule.
Why would I want to “force” myself to a schedule and work during specific hours of the day, when I have the freedom to work whenever I want?
I now know the answer.
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A couple of weeks ago, I had the privilege of speaking with Darren Rowse from Problogger.net, who has been more than a true inspiration to me ever since I started blogging. If you’re insane and you don’t know who he is, he’s like the Michael Jordan of the blogging world – he’s original, he’s got mad skills and he’s bald.
No offense Darren. I would gladly shave my head if it meant I could get to your level one day. Although, maybe that’s the trick. Think of Seth Godin, ShoeMoney and Leo Babauta – all top level bloggers…all bald.
Hmm…
Anyways, what made our recent conversation really special for me was the fact that Darren was interviewing me! I still can’t believe it, but it’s true. The interview was announced on Problogger.net yesterday, so if you haven’t heard it already, you can listen to it by subscribing to Darren’s newsletter.
If you’ve already listened to it, thank you for the gift of your time, and thanks to any new subscribers coming over here from Darren’s blog.
Side note: I apologize for the low volume on my end. I’m in the middle of a move and was using a backup microphone that apparently made my voice very soft. When my podcast comes out later in the year, I promise the quality on my end will be much better!
At the end of the interview, Darren had asked me to leave one parting tip for bloggers, and this is what I said:
In order to get to that next level, you’re going to have to take bold actions…
This is a followup post to that very statement.
The Routine
Ahh yes – the routine. A lot of what we do in life is simply part of a routine, and it’s not a bad thing. In fact, a routine helps us live a healthy, stress-free and happy lifestyle. We’re comfortable in a routine.
However, when trying to progress online with our blogs or our businesses, falling into a comfortable routine can stop us from ever seeing the influential results that we want to see.
Doing the same thing day in and day out – whether it be simply writing a new blog post, updating your Twitter or Facebook status, or commenting on other people’s blogs – will definitely help us progress, but it won’t take us to that next level. It’s the bold actions that we take outside of the routine that help us get there.
Think of it like a mountain that you wish to climb. There’s a set of stairs that wind all the way around the mountain, circling hundreds of times so that you can slowly make your way up to the top. In order to reach your goal faster, you can get off the stairs and create your own path.
Yes, it’s uncomfortable.
Yes, it’s risky.
Yes, it takes more effort.
Yes, it’s not part of the normal routine.
But that’s what makes it a bold action, one that could help us reach our goals much faster than if we simply relied on the routine.
Bold Actions
So what exactly are the bold actions that you should take?
For me, it was filing papers for my LLC. It was joining a mastermind group and asking hundreds of questions until I understood exactly what I had to do. It was spending 2 months to write an eBook. It was deciding to be completely transparent on this blog down to the penny. It was personally emailing Darren Rowse and telling him my story.
It was doing things that I was not completely comfortable with, but knew I had to do get to me to where I wanted to go.
And you?
I can’t tell you what bold actions you should take. However, I believe that most of you already have an idea of what they are. It’s probably something that you’ve been wanting to do for a long long time.
So why not now?
Thanks again for your support – it means the world to me. Have a great weekend, and stay tuned for my January 2010 Monthly Income Report in my next post.
Cheers!
p.s. Congrats to Stephanie from EmptyNestRenesting for winning a free copy of the new 4-Hour Workweek from my last post! Thanks everyone for sharing your seriously awesome comments!
It’s that time of the year again – the time when we all start to think about what we want to accomplish in the next year. I know many of you have already thought about what your New Year’s resolutions will be and what you’d like to see happen, but have you given any thought to what you don’t want to do in 2010? Most of us don’t think about our goals this way, but I invite you to do so because understanding what you don’t want to do can help you achieve exactly what you want to do.
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A month ago, I had asked the following question both on my Facebook Page and on Twitter:
“Which do you need more of: ideas, or time to implement your ideas?”
Within 20 minutes, I had received over 50 responses. Ahh, the power of social media.
95% of the respondents said that what they all needed was more time. Here are some direct quotes from a few of the respondents:
“Time, by far. I have ideas by the minute.”
“Definitely time. It’s always easier to just stand at the staircase, than climb it.”
“…Ideas come and go, but time…blessed time!”
“Time…the precious commodity.”
Obviously, this was not a formal survey. It was just a question I had asked my specific group of followers on two social media platforms – so don’t think that 95% of all people in the world would have responded the same way. I think the thing to take away from this is simply that time is something we all wish we had more of.
Imagine what we could all do if there was just one extra hour in each day.
Unfortunately, we’re stuck with 24 hours, so it’s how we utilize those 24 hours that becomes the important factor that determines how successful we will be, with whatever it is we want to achieve. Luckily, there are things we can do to improve how we utilize our time, so it will seem like we’re actually getting more work done in the same period of time.
The following are some things you can do during the day to get that extra hour (or more) that you need to work on your own online businesses or blogs:
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Here are 51 blogging and internet marketing tips that you can use as inspiration for the upcoming year.
Mindset
1. Revisit your goals. Take a moment and rewrite your goals. You may find that they may have changed since the last time you really took a good look at them. If you don’t have any goals, than what are you working towards?
2. Remember where you were. Where was your online business or blog at one year ago? Are you seeing any improvements? If yes, be proud of how far you’ve come along and the fact that you haven’t given up. If you haven’t seen any improvements, why do you think that is?
3. You can always do a little bit more. If you’re up to it, try this 2-step exercise:
- Raise your hand as high as you can.
- Raise your hand even higher.
If you do this exercise, you’ll notice that you can always stretch your hand a little higher, even though you were told to put it as high as you can at first. When I did this exercise as a teenager, it changed how I thought about everything I did after that moment. It made me realize that I can always do a little bit more. Apply this to what you do online.
4. Take action. As I mentioned in my first law of business and success, every business in a state of motion tends to remain in that state of motion unless an external force is applied to it. With that in mind, you can read and get inspired all you want, but nothing will happen unless you take action. Become the external force that is required to get your blog, business and life to exactly where you want it to be.
5. Flaunt your unique. In other words, know what makes you stand out from the crowd, and milk it. In order to succeed, especially online, you can’t blend in and just be another blog or website that talks about X. Your site can still be about X, but you should be one of the only ones that does Y, or Z.
6. No fear. Fear kills progress, and it kills business. When you’re reluctant to take an action or do something new, take a minute and think to yourself, “what’s the worst that can really happen?”. The worst usually isn’t as bad as you might think.
7. Failing is okay. We all want to succeed, but we shouldn’t ever be afraid of failing. Failing is part of the process and teaches us valuable lessons along the way. Learn from your mistakes, and improve on your next attempt.
8. Don’t work more, work smarter. When we think of putting in the extra mile to get things done, we often think that means just putting in more hours of work. Instead, think of ways that you can work smarter, which will accomplish the same (or even more), in a considerably less amount of time. It may take a small investment of time in the beginning to figure out how to work smarter, but you’ll make up for that time (and stress) soon enough.
9. Give back. I truly believe in “online karma”. The more you help others and the more you give back, the more success you will find. If your primary motivation is just to make as much money as you can and do things just for yourself, you’re only going to see a limited amount of success, if any.
10. Just freakin’ enjoy what you’re doing! If you enjoy what you’re doing, it doesn’t become work anymore. You’ll accomplish more, and be happier. If you’re not doing something you enjoy, why not?
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When I started this blog a little over a year ago, I hired a personal trainer to help me “look good” for my wedding, which happened to be about three months later. During this time, working out 2 hours a day with my trainer, David, I learned a lot about the body, but I learned even more about the mind.
I had written a few posts about the correlation between earning a passive income and working out at the gym, which I’ll quickly summarize for you below:
- Both are not easy;
- Both take time and dedication before you begin to notice any significant results;
- Your “workout plan” should be determined by what you want to achieve, not the other way around; and
- You’ll want to give up.
This last point is a killer. You’ll want to give up.
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I Give You Permission to Succeed, By Pat Flynn
You might be wondering to yourself, “Who are you, to give me permission to succeed?”
“Who are you, to tell me when I can do things?”
“Who are you, to grant me any kind of permission to do anything?”
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Last night, I was watching an episode of the Tonight Show with Conan O’ Brien with my wife. We often catch the beginning to laugh at his jokes and how he makes fun of himself and his goofy hair, but we rarely sit to watch the interviews. Seth Green, however, was the first guest, so we decided to keep the TV on. We love Seth Green.
In the middle of the interview, Seth talked a little bit about a video he put up on YouTube and Conan had asked him if he ever goes online to read comments or see what people on the Internet are saying about him. Seth’s response was:
“Never. That stuff is poison.”
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How much money would you need in a year to live a comfortable lifestyle, one where you know your bills will be paid, you’ll have a roof over your head and there will be food on your plate, plus a little extra for fun? $50,000? $75,000? Let’s just say you need $100,000 a year, just to be generous. To put it into perspective, the mean household income in the U.S. (the last time the survey was taken in 2005) was $60,528 USD.
If you sell something online for $30.00, how many units would you need to sell in order to support a $100k lifestyle?
The answer: 3,333 units
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A lot can happen in one year. A lot.
Just one year ago, at the age of 25, I was living in my parents’ home, engaged to be married. I got laid off and wasn’t exactly sure what was going to happen next. Now, I’m married with a baby on the way, we have a puppy, we’re living in an apartment (about to move into a house), I own a couple of businesses and I work for myself on the internet. A lot can happen in one year.
I do feel very fortunate to be where I’m at today. That being said, I also know that it wasn’t all luck. There are a few things I’d like to mention about how I think I got here, before I get deep into the numbers.
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No, I'm not a millionaire, but I am living off of passive income made online. I'm here to show 
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