Don’t just rely on motivation alone!

From a successful web person, I thought it was a good short article worth your time.

http://www.brittanylynch.com/why-relying-on-motivation-alone-sucks/

Why Relying On Motivation Alone Sucks!

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Relying on motivation alone to conquer a goal is setting yourself up for failure. Today I’m going to explain why, and give you an actionable strategy to overcome this and accomplish more than you ever thought you possibly could.

Let me ask you a question – have you ever set yourself a goal and at the time of setting that goal, felt like nothing in the world was going to hold you back from accomplishing it? Maybe it was losing 20 pounds, or making money on the Internet?

The day you set that goal you probably feel really motivated, maybe you exercise 45 minutes that day or start to build a website, and then the next day you’re back at it still feeling pretty good…but slowly somehow day by day you start skipping days, you don’t end up exercising, you put it off until tomorrow…and then you wake up months later and realize that you haven’t worked towards that goal in over a month? Sh*t!.. I guess tomorrow never came.

This is what happens when you rely on motivation alone to accomplish a goal.

The problem with motivation is it comes in waves. There are peaks and then there are lows. When you’re at a motivation peak – it probably feels like you can take on the world and definitely take advantage of that…however when you’re at a motivation low, good luck getting anything done if motivation is all you’re relying on.

Plain and simple this sucks…but I’ve got good news for you. I’m going to give you my strategy for accomplishing more than you ever thought possible…and it’s actually a lot simpler than you might think.

At the heart of the concept is the idea that you must balance “motivation” and “ability” together.

When your motivation is very high, you have the ability and mental strength to persevere and do more difficult things , such as running for 45 minutes.

When your motivation is low, you have less ability and lower mental strength to accomplish difficult tasks.

So how do you compensate for this? Easy – when you are feeling very motivated – get on that treadmill and run 45 minutes. When you’re not feeling motivated, you need to reduce ability and make that task easier for you to accomplish – for example instead of running 45 minutes – run for just 10.

Okay this might sound overly simplistic but what I’ve found is when I’m incredibly motivated, I can get on that treadmill and pound pavement and run for 45 minutes and feel awesome doing it.

However when I’m feeling a little tired, or had a bad day and just want to curl up on the couch and watch TV the last thing I want to do is run for 45 minutes. The motivation just isn’t there.

What I’ve found is, if I lower my mental expectations, lower the ability and tell myself “Okay today you don’t need to run for 45 minutes, just start by putting on your running shoes.” So I go put on my running shoes, first task done. Then I tell myself “Alright today all you’re going to do is run for 10 minutes. “

As soon as you reduce ability you’ll find your mind relaxes and that guilt you were previously feeling about the possibility of skipping a day working towards your goal melts away – because at least you’re doing SOMETHING. Something is always better than nothing.

Does that make sense to you?

You have to go with your bodies natural motivation waves.

You can’t be highly motivated at all times.

That’s why adjusting your ability with your motivation peaks and lows you’ll actually find that over time you’re able to get a lot more done.

Something else interesting happens.

As you rely less on motivation …you’re able to accomplish a lot more. Your ability really does increase. At first you’re running just 10 minutes on a low motivation peak, then one day you set out to just run 10 minutes but you end up running 15, it’s mentally getting easier for you to run …then that 15 minutes turns in 20, then 30 and so on and so forth.

Your ability will increase overtime and you’ll be less reliant on motivation alone and this will happen in a very natural way.

This same thing happened to me when I was trying to start my online business. At first I found it really difficult to motivate myself to get to work. Don’t get me wrong – I wanted the results of my business …the money and the freedom and lifestyle that came with it but I found it hard to just sit down and get my work done. Get all of those “tasks” done.

So I went back to the ability versus motivation formula and relied less on motivation and more on ability. I’d start by breaking down my overall goal into small steps and then just sitting down for 10 minutes a day to get work done. 10 minutes may not sound like a lot, but be honest and think back on all the days where you’ve spent a big fat ZERO minutes working towards your goal. 10 minutes increased to 15, 15 minutes to an hour…and as my ability to get this stuff done increased I progressed further and further along towards my goal until one day I realized that I did 8 hours of work, and it didn’t even feel like work at all. I just got better at getting things done. Not surprisingly as I got better at getting things done, my income and success towards that goal increased too. I was overcoming the learning curves and just improving overall.

So my advice to you is to never just rely on motivation. Doing this is a recipe for disaster. Try and balance ability and motivation and you’ll be able to get a lot more done, and you’ll be developing much better work habits towards your goals. – Brittany Lynch

•10 Great Ways to Get Noticed as a Blogger

Posted on November 5, 2012 by lesleycarter

http://lesleycarter.wordpress.com/2012/11/05/10-great-ways-to-get-noticed-as-a-blogger/

Getting Noticed with Your Blog Content

If you’re new to blogging, it can seem impossible to make a name for yourself among the hundreds, or more likely thousands, of bloggers out there covering the same topic, but don’t let that discourage you. Everyone had to start somewhere. I’ve compiled a list of ten things that worked for me. Of course, not every technique will be right for your blog; hopefully, these techniques will help you build a foundation for success over time.

1. Write good content. (This one should come as no surprise to you. If you write amazing content, you’ll attract attention.)

2. Create other forms of content, rather than just blog posts. You can build an audience if you are everywhere doing lots of different things at once. Record podcasts, shoot videos, take pictures, and utilize social sharing and social media.

3. Compile lists. Whether it’s a Top Bloggers list or another kind of “top” list (like Top Travel Destinations), this kind of thing always gets attention. Be prepared for some controversy, since there will always be people who disagree, and make sure you do your research so your list is complete and valuable.

4. Team up with other people. Joint ventures are always tricky to orchestrate, but when done successfully, you both reap the benefits. Think about what you can bring to the table. Otherwise, an established blogger won’t have any reason to want to work with you. An audience isn’t the only important asset you can add to a project.

5. Be personable. Telling interesting, personal, or funny stories can help you stand out in a sea of posts. Tell people about you — storytelling is an extremely popular way to bring people into the fold.

6. Put your nose to the grindstone and write! More content leads to more readers, as long as you can maintain quality.

7. Write great headlines. There’s no faster way to catch the attention of people in your niche than an intriguing headline.

8. Interview someone in your niche who is not a blogger. Bloggers tend to interview one another fairly regularly, and while this is a good technique to use, you can also get noticed if you interview people outside of the world of blogging. For example, if you’re a travel blogger, you could interview a hotel manager or a hotel chef.

9. Do reviews. If you’re new you might not get products for free or be paid to do review yet, but you can still review products you love. Make sure to notify the company/author/etc. whenever you do, and they’ll often share your post via social media or email.

10. Make it easy for readers to share your posts. Word of mouth marketing can drive tons of traffic if you’re a new blogger, but if I can’t really quickly find sharing buttons, I’m probably not going to bother. Don’t make it hard for your readers.

Don’t forget to vote for me in the Biggest Baddest Bucket List Contest at http://www.mydestination.com/users/lesley/bbb#tab

Read more great tips, articles, and stories at Bucket List Publications Online Magazine!

HOW TO SET AND ACHIEVE GOALS

 Goals, Goals, Goals

I thought this was a great article “as-is” and wanted to share – it is from Michael Port http://www.michaelport.com/

——

These pillars are essential to success in any business, but especially important if you’re building your business on your own. They are:

1.      BUSINESS MODEL
2.      PLANNING, PROJECTS & SYSTEMS
3.      MARKETING
4.      MINDSET

In today’s lesson I’m going to give you specific exercises that will help determine your financial future. But first, I think it’s worthwhile to know why I created The Alliance – not because I want to sell it to you; but rather to start a conversation about what it really takes to learn what you need to know, AND build something remarkable (and profitable) with that knowledge.

I’ve been serving as an author, speaker, and mentor for service business owners for the better part of a decade and I’ve always been a bit skeptical of my industry. Over the past few years, I think it’s gone even farther off the tracks with inexperienced coaches offering mentoring programs, over-the-top hyped up events and too many silly and half-baked “3-easy-steps” type of advice.

I know that service professionals are in need of a lot more than a weekend event or a teleseminar lasting a few weeks. It’s great to get energized but it shatters your confidence when you come home and all the hype fades away.

Don’t get me wrong, inspiration and passion play a huge role in creating the life of your dreams. After all, I am “the guy to call when you’re tired of thinking small.” In fact, I wrote the book on it: The Think Big Manifesto.

But you also need real, concrete, actionable plans to serve as a vehicle for your passion if you want to succeed. I’ve taught thousands, tens of thousands actually, how to get more clients and the truth is; there is an unending source of tactical information out there but only those who are truly serious and committed to a long-term plan create remarkable (AKA: real marketable) businesses.

I wanted to do something about it. It’s one thing to sit around being annoyed by what I saw as the lack of real business-building programs but another to do something about it.

Anyone can tear something down; building something better in its place takes courage and commitment. If I was really going to be true to what I teach, I needed to create the solution.

I believe that I’ve done it in The Alliance. If you are serious, I mean very serious about creating the business and life that you really want then consider applying. It’s not for everyone. It’ll be hard work and I’ll challenge you. But it may be for you. If it is, that means I’m meant to serve you and I’ll do my best work with you.

In The Alliance, we always start with the most important habit an entrepreneur must develop: GOAL SETTING and the ACHIEVEMENT of those goals. It’s a basic concept but fundamental to success. I suggest you start with the same now.

Of course, the future is uncertain. You cannot always predict a result but when you set goals you:

Engage the power of a decision. Your Ferrari will go nowhere until you decide to shift into first gear.

• Begin      to filter out the noise. When you know what you want, you can begin to      ignore the things that don’t support the achievement of your goals.
• Conscious      and subconscious mind begin to work in unison to achieve your specified      objectives.
• Are      able to model others who have achieved what you want. Only by being clear      about what you want can you locate the best mentors to model what they do.      It’s one of the fastest ways to succeed.

Great leaders always deal with reality. If you know where you are then you can map out where you want to go and how you will get there. Start with the two most important questions:

What’s working best in your business?

What aspects of your business are in need of the most improvement?

Now, look at how you currently spend your time by filling in the blanks to the following statements:

Over the past 12-months,             % of my time has been spent working ON the marketing, sales and growth aspects of my business.

---

Over the past 12-months,            % of my time has been spent working IN the business with clients.

---

Over the past 12-months,            % of my time has been spent on personal pursuits (friends, family, hobbies, etc.)

---

Over the past 12-months, on a scale of 1-10, I would rate my efficiency as a ________

 

---

How would you like to spend your time?

Over the next 12-months,             % of my time will be spent working ON the marketing, sales and growth aspects of my business.

---

Over the next 12-months,            % of my time will be spent working IN the business with clients.

---

Over the next 12-months,            % of my time will be spent on personal pursuits (friends, family, hobbies, etc.)

---

Over the next 12-months, the #1 thing I need to do consistently to be as efficient as possible is…

---

And, finally, how much money are you going to make over the next twelve months?

 

Over the next 12-months, I would like to earn $ ________ in gross revenue.

---

Over the next 12-months, I would like to keep my expenses below $ ________.

---

Over the next 12-months, I would like to earn $ ________ in profit from my efforts (gross revenue minus expenses).

That’s it for today. Remember to think big and embrace abundance. If you need to go back and do this exercise of thinking bigger about who you are and what you offer the world, do so now.

Know that the only true scarcity is your resistance to embracing your own true self, your hopes and dreams, your capacity to think big.

When you resist yourself you create false scarcity: I’m not enough. I’m not as good as . . . [pick a name]. It’s too hard. There’s no time. I can’t start because I don’t know how it will end. When you focus on what you are not, what you do not have, and what you do not (and often cannot) know, you focus on a self-induced scarcity.

Each of us is naturally abundant. To exist is abundant. Look inside and see the glory of who you are–more than good enough.

I’ll be back soon with a deep and inspirational message on how to get your mind right. You’ll need it so that you’re able to handle all of the success that comes from the goals you’ve set.

Keep thinking big,

Michael Port

Something for Father’s Day- about advice

This is a post/article written by someone else but I wanted to pass it along in the spirit of Father’s Day. It is written by Matt Furey http://psycho-cybernetics.com/101_ways.html

The Best Advice a Father Can Give

By Matt Furey

It hit me like a ton of bricks.

I couldn’t believe I’d missed it before. I’d read the book many, many times – but this time was different. A secret was revealed to me – and today I’m going to give it to you.

If you are open and receptive to what you are about to read, you can expect a major breakthrough.

Here it is:
“Psychologist David Seabury says that the best piece of advice his father ever gave him was to practice positive mental imagery – immediately and ‘on cue,’ so to speak, whenever he became aware of negative feelings. Negative feelings literally defeated themselves by becoming a sort of ‘bell’ which set off a conditioned reflex to arouse positive states of mind.”

Now read that passage again. It comes from the 35-million-copy bestseller, Psycho-Cybernetics. Pay particular attention to the words “the best piece of advice his father ever gave him.” Why? Because whenever something is “the best piece of advice” someone can give you – especially your father – you know it’s got to be good.

In reading this passage, I not only see it as the best advice I can give my son – but myself, and everyone I teach at my seminars and in my coaching programs.

Many people wonder why I am always so calm, cool, and collected. Many wonder how I am able to speak before a crowd in such a nonchalant, totally relaxed way and still have everyone totally riveted.

It’s mostly because I have no thoughts of resistance when I speak. I’m not concerned about offending anyone. I’m not even trying to get people to like me. I am simply ME, take it or leave it.

Very few people are like this. They’re always trying to figure out how to get others to approve of them or like them. Not good. Because the more you NEED others to like you the less they will like you.

Same goes with money. The more you NEED it, the more it will stay away from you. Money and friends go where they are wanted – not where they are needed. There is a world of difference between want and need. One attracts. The other repels.

Want comes from a vibration of “I’m happy already and I’d like to have this, too.” Need comes from a vibration of “I’m miserable and frustrated and I need this thing to make me happy.”

Become aware of negative NEED feelings when they arise. And when they do, learn, through practice, to have those feelings immediately trigger the thought to change your vibration into a “feel good” one.

Most people have never been taught to do this by their fathers – or by anyone else. They’ve been taught to set goals, to have a burning desire, to be optimistic and have a positive attitude.

But what do you do when you look at the state of your finances and you feel bad? What do you do when the reality of your situation begins to ruin your day? What do you do when you’re feeling frustrated, fearful, and worried? You do what Dr. Seabury’s father told him to do… and what I’m telling you to do.

First, you “recognize” that you are feeling bad.

Second, you understand that this “feel bad” vibration REPELS what you say you want. Your want is not a want. It’s a need that comes with the expectation that something outside of yourself will make you happy.

Third, you recognize that this “feel bad” imagery sends a signal to the Universe that you cannot be happy “for no particular reason.” And that’s not good.

There is a balancing act between having a burning desire and having a desire that burns you.

Having a burning desire creates the necessary mindset that will attract the thing you want. On the other hand, if the desire is connected to “I’m miserable unless I have this thing” – then you are chasing success and that success will always run faster than you do.

Your objective is to attract success, not chase it. Chasing success is repelling success. You never get what you are chasing.

Several years ago, a man sent me an e-mail in which he accused me of “chasing the almighty dollar.” He was wrong. At that point in my life, I couldn’t even form a mental image of myself doing what he said I was doing.

When I did chase the almighty dollar – and I did it for years – I had no money. When I stopped chasing and learned to attract it, it flowed into my life so fast I was nearly knocked over.

The forces of attraction and repulsion are always at play. Whether you attract more than you repel or repel more than you attract is simply a matter of how strong those forces are. If your repelling energy is stronger, you go deeper into debt. If your attraction energy is stronger, you get wealthier. If both are equally strong, you feel “stuck.”

Now the question is… what do you do if you are repelling more than you’re attracting?

The answer:

1. You change the way you feel by changing the mental picture you have of your situation.

Every time you feel a negative emotion, you sound the alarm in your head. “Uh, oh. Not good. Change the mental picture to a positive one.” You do this over and over, and before long the feel-bad vibe lasts less than a second and you’re back to feeling good.

2. You begin each day with exercises that help you go through the whole day without resistance.

You don’t just read inspirational messages and books. You stand in front of the mirror and tell yourself what you want. You picture what you want when you speak. You recall previous successes and link them to your future.

3. You have a burning desire in mind, a goal.

You don’t expect the goal to give you happiness. You don’t let the desire for it burn you by feeling bad that you don’t yet have it. In fact, even though you WANT the goal, you are able to “walk away” from it emotionally. If, for example, you want more money – you don’t expect more money to give you happiness. You simply want more money – and you put yourself into happiness mode NOW.

If you’re happy even though you don’t yet have in your possession the thing you want – then you are attracting it to you.

If you’re unhappy because you don’t yet have in your possession the thing you NEED – then you are repelling it.

So get happy NOW.

Recognize that fear, frustration, and angst are only there to help you change course. They’re there to help you see that your mental picture is off-target. Put the right mental image back onto the screen of your mind and watch how the Universe lines things up in your favor.

[Ed. Note: Matt Furey, an internationally recognized expert in self-development, fitness, and martial arts, is president of the Psycho-Cybernetics Foundation, Inc. With Matt’s 101 Ways to Magnetize Money, you can learn the REAL SECRETS of financial success known only to the most prosperous men and women who have ever lived

Ways to Create Content that Sells

— a quick break in the other types/styles of blog posts for some marketing ideas, I love marketing stuff…..

Are you blogging?

Are you thinking of starting a blog?
Do you want to monetize it?

What kind of content? Other questions?

I sometimes read Social Media Examiner – here is a great article they wrote about blogging –

http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/how-to-create-content-that-sells/