Is your business listed here? Maybe you can learn a little what you can do to make it better? · The E-Myth Real Estate Brokerage: Why Most Real Estate Brokerages Don’t Work and What to Do About It
· The E-Myth Accountant: Why Most Accounting Practices Don’t Work and What to Do About It
·The E-Myth Attorney: Why Most Legal Practices Don’t Work and What to Do About It
·The E-Myth Insurance Store Why Most Insurance Businesses Don’t Work and What to Do About It
·The E-Myth Physician: Why Most Medical Practices Don’t Work and What to Do About It
·The E-Myth Financial Advisor: Why Most Advisory Firms Don’t Work and What to Do About It
·The E-Myth Chiropractor Why Most Chiropractic Practices Don’t Work and What to Do About It
·The E-Myth Landscape Contractor: Why Most Landscape Contractors’ Businesses Don’t Work and What to Do About It
·The E-Myth Architect: Why Most Architectural Firms Don’t Work and What to Do About It
The E-Myth Optometrist: Why Most Optometrist Practices Don’t Work and What to Do About It
·The E-Myth Contractor: Why Most Contractors’ Businesses Don’t Work and What to Do About It
·The E-Myth Dentist: Why Most Dental Practices Don’t Work and What to Do About It
· FYI Only – I‘ve read a few of Michael Gerber’s books and had friends tell me some of the above are good. Some things you may even already know, but good refreshers… Good luck.
Hello! I am constantly reading good books and trying to stay up on the latest trends, etc.
Recently I came across something and I’m sharing it with several area firms and I wanted to include you in on it too.
First, it is not my main line of business, although I do assist clients in many ways, I do not proclaim to be a retail expert of any kind. Maybe I can help you in some ways, we can discuss. Otherwise, this is just a FYI.
Regardless, here is a quick summary of 3 that may lead to another idea or two…
Burberry in London – The main Burberry store in London is a cutting edge store that uses existing technology to improve client interaction. Maybe you can learn from some of their strategies.
Outside the store, there are cameras that use facial recognition software so that they can recognize clients and relay information to the retail associates inside – they can greet them when they walk in! This technology is currently not being used outside because clarification is needed on privacy law in the public domain.
Inside the store, this technology is useable. First, the walls are ‘tiled’ with very large TV flat screen TVs that are located all around the store. Either by that method or others, when someone enters, the technology identifies the client and accesses the client’s cumulative purchases from Burberry. It sends sales clerks suggestions for future purchases and past purchases. It automatically then creates a custom presentation on the walls of the store showing these items – then it pulls items from an algorithm about future suggested purchases. When there are multiple clients in the store, there is a slideshow of sorts that presents the cumulative history and possible future purchases for all of the clients.
When a client moves or picks an item off the rack/shelf, it triggers the RFD in the item which then triggers a custom presentation on the nearest wall monitor(s) – example, you pick up a raincoat off the rack – on the wall monitors it shows different models wearing the raincoat, shows craftsmen making the raincoat, and other accessories that often go with the raincoat – almost immediately.
TESCO – a grocery corporation in South Korea has been on the cutting edge for sometime. The subway system there is integral to many, many city residents. Therefore the company got permission and paid to put up photos of many of its most popular grocery items on the walls of the subway. I saw photos and it literally covered most of one area from top to bottom. People can stroll along the wall, scan a code with their phone and order it by phone. In some cases the items are simply “pulled” for later pick up at the store, so all are in a basket conveniently ready to go in minutes. In other cases, Tesco is experimenting with delivery to certain local spots in the city. For instance they may delivery to a neighborhood store, similar to a UPS or FedEx/Kinkos location and they text or notify the customer when it is going to be there so they can pickup. This works well in South Korea with its dense and centralized city dwellings. There is a quick video about this on http://youtu.be/fGaVFRzTTP4
Mercedes:They are doing this in Australia to a large degree…Mercedes Dealers will offer varied services for clients while going to and from the airport, traveling for pleasure or business. Often the Mercedes dealer has a kiosk at a major airport. The client can either get a ride to the airport or in other cases, they can arrive at the airport and after checking in for their flight, they can go to the kiosk and check in ….. While they are away, their car is serviced/repaired and cleaned/washed. Clients can also leave clothes in the car to be dry-cleaned. The clients are often able to ride a golf-cart from the Mercedes kiosk to their gates (inside the airport).
After the client arrives/returns they are likewise given assistance and attention. In the case of the dealership that operates from parking at/near the airport: One dealer at least often will park the client’s car next to a new demo of a superior model (if the client has a C-Class, they park a newer E-Class next to it). The client is invited to leave their car and take the nicer, newer demo home for a period of time.
Figures vary but sales are up!
Interesting stuff. I hope it helps you!
Suggested reading: FLIP! By Peter Sheahan / Abundance by Peter Diamandis / Switch by the Heath Bros. / Freakonomics 1 and 2
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
As you may have guessed I have been self-employed before and I enjoyed it. Even when I worked at two banks, I had lots of self-autonomy and acted as if I was running my own business or profit center…….
….I believe that we all should have freedom to be with our family or friends as we choose, to do things as we want, to make as much as we want, to spend quality time with those we want to, to be creative, to exercise and do healthy things, and so on…..
I really relish what working for oneself has to offer – whether it is inside a larger corporation or actually self-employed. I gravitate to these sorts of things….I wish more people knew what it felt like too…..
In any case, we all know that the Internet is full of so many gurus, gadgets and ‘opportunities’ that appear to offer freedom, income, etc. etc. I confess that I’ve tried a blog and business before. I had a CD-set of information, advice and references that I sold. I had podcasts. I sold books written by others on the same subjects. I’ve tried things and failed. I’ve also had a few successes.
I think many of us would like to work from home, or be able to do something like that. I believe that it is possible.
So, my point is, that I’ve come upon a couple interesting things. Really just two. I have spent thousands and thousands of dollars on many others. I have found many useful items, many scams, and things in between. Many items were actually good but perhaps something not what I wanted to do. There are many items out there that one can actually make money or do. It is about committment.
I respect the fact that you read this blog, I respect that visited this once or maybe visit each day. I promise that I won’t abuse your trust and the relationship that we have. This blog is primarily here to share good ideas, information and have fun. Deep down I believe that if I find something that is really good, it will still fulfill these things.
(This is one of a part of a series of WORDS TO LIVE BY. This series grew out of a workbook I first made for my young daughters and discussed at the dinner table. These Words include values, good ideas, and Words to aspire to….and learn from….enjoy!)
Clarity is something I think, as a whole, society, us, most of us, lack.
What do I mean?
Are you really clear about what you want in life?
Are you clear about your desires, dreams, goals?
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For instance – I know many people, including myself, often talk about earning more and having a home business or something independent. We know we want more money, more independence. We know we want some sort of money set aside for a nice retirement, but then we stop there.
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Clarity provides an idea, goal, understanding, transparency that we need.
If you can sit down and clearly write out your goal/plan/intention/idea, if you are clear what you want, all parties benefit.
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How many times have you felt uncertain, uneasy about something? You just don’t feel right about it – often because you’re unclear about it, undecided, on the fence, etc.
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I’ve had situations where I was in a bad financial jamb. I was cooked for the forseeable future.
For a long time I just tried to ignore or avoid the problem.
I felt uneasy, upset, stressed, confused, etc.
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Then one day I told myself I’d sit down for 5 minutes and review all my statements and paperwork. Just 5 minutes.
Even though my situation didn’t improve, reviewing the problem – becoming clear what the situation was, did help.
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Then I took a piece of notebook paper and wrote a very simple plan to move ahead.
I assure you that the plan was not complicated, high-tech, creative, or brilliant.
But I was now clear on the problem, and clear on action steps that I could take.
I felt a lot better. A simple step helped!
I confess that my wife told me I seemed happier. I saw a friend that day and he said I seemed more relieved (He knew my situation).
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My wife and I have had challenges in life and we approach them differently for all sorts of reasons. Like any relationship, we had to communicate our expectations and come to some sort of agreement.
Many times, relationships are stressed because people don’t communicate, they don’t share expectations, and they aren’t clear with each other.
Now my wife and I sit down and spend just a few minutes on our budget, expectations for the week, for the next few months, for our common goals – we work together to get clear on our life.
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It is a simple step that we didn’t take before and it added to our financial problems.
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When you’re working, going to school, doing anything worthwhile (even not-worthwhile), being clear about what you want makes such a big difference.
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How many people do you want to reach today with your message?
How do you want to contribute to the world/society/family/life?
How much income do you want to earn this year/5 years/10 years?
What kind of work do you want to do? How many pages do you want to write?
What things do you want to improve upon in _______?
WHat does freedom/independence/the ideal life really mean to you? What is the ideal day life for you?
What do you want people to ‘feel’ when you talk to them?
What is important to you – GET CLEAR!
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We so often go through the motions, get lost in the noise, listen to society.
Our inner voice is so much better, so much more powerful.
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You may believe in something else, but I believe in some sort of Creator.
I believe that the power or Source or whatever you want to call it is not just “out there” but it is IN US.
We are part of this Source/Creator/God.
If we get quiet, listen to ourselves, and get clear on what WE want, and let our inner voice guide us, rather than someone else, I believe that we can act with guidance from the Source/Creator/God – it is almost divine guidance.
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It doesn’t need to take long either. Just take a few minutes and get clear on one thing….right now.
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Below are some more thoughts on Clarity……
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Think about the recently famous Felix Baumgartner’s Supersonic Jump from the Stratoshpere (on October 14th, 2012). Have you seen it or heard about it? If not – it’s OK – I wrote a post about it here on this site.
The reason why thoughts of that jump filled my mind is because Felix Baumgartner accomplished a very clear goal he set for himself about 5 years ago… it took him that long to train for it… but his intentions were crystal clear even though that goal 5 years ago might have seemed a little unrealistic.
I know it took him 5 years to accomplish it but you’d be surprised what you can accomplish in 30 days.
Just as an example, when I got laser focused on my blogging almost 60 days ago now, my blog traffic went from daily visitors in the teens and twenties to hundreds .
I sometimes listen, watch, and read stuff from a marketing guy named David Wood. David Wood spends close to 2 hours on the subject of clarity in this one podcast (and much much more) and how to set goals in such a way that they become so crystal clear that you can actually feel them as being accomplished.
Also, here is a video by Tony Robbins where he emphasizes how important clarity is to accomplishing goals.
What Tony Robbins says in that video is right on the money…
“Life Will pay whatever price you ask of it.”
Without clarity, you cannot accomplish any goal that you set for yourself.
You too, can have clarity, implement these methods in your business and start making the income that you deserve.
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Do you ever get so busy with the details of your life and the countless things you need to complete, that you end up feeling exhausted and disconnected?
The result: Your mind becomes clouded and unable to focus and you start to make poor decisions regarding your priorities. You end up working hard instead of working smart.
What do you do when this happens? Do you take the time to step out of the situation to regroup? Or do you continue with what you’re doing, all the while feeling that you’re running out of time, besides you still have a massive list of tasks to complete. In the past, my natural inclination was to do the latter and, in the end, I would be left feeling burnt out with my spirits down.
Lately I’ve been running around preparing for several major changes in my life. I’ve felt my mind becoming consumed by the problems revolving around these changes. My eating schedule became irregular and my decisions felt clouded. When my clarity started to fizzle, I found myself making decisions and judgments based on emotions rather than on logic or intuition arising out of clarity.
The following is a simple technique I’ve used to reconnect myself to what’s most important: my inner self. In doing so, Clarity came.
Clarity Day
I’ve always been attracted to the idea of a Spiritual Day or a Clarity Day, in which you spend the whole day disconnected from the information world and the many distractions of modern life, and start to connect within yourself.
If this sounds too mystical, don’t get caught up with the words, they are just linguistic symbols to communicate ideas. When you really get into such a day, it can become a source of great bliss and understanding of one’s self. During these times, we can experience tremendous personal growth, peace, and satisfaction.
This is also the perfect chance to clear out the noise and mental clutter that collects in our inner space from the hectic demands of our life. Through better understanding of ourselves and our surroundings, we gain more than clarity, we gain self confidence.
Similar to Self Dates or Alone Time, on a Clarity Day your goal is to spend an enjoyable day on your own and away from everyday distractions. Aim for minimal planning, so that you spend the day following your heart and enjoying the spontaneous expressions of the present moment.
Here’s an example of how I spent this past Saturday, when I deeply needed clarity and to connect with myself:
Basics – From 8am to 8pm. I was doing everything on my own, without friends or family. All distractions such as cell phones, home phones, computers, and TVs, were turned off.
Salon – I’ve always enjoyed getting my hair done. My favorite salon straightens my hair at each appointment. I sat there with my eyes closed and enjoyed being there. The girls kept asking me if I needed a magazine, and I would say “No thanks. I’m happy just sitting here.”
Walk – I walked out of the downtown Salon and drifted randomly uphill to the Capital Hill neighborhood. The day was so beautiful. I enjoyed looking up at the sky and passing by families of tourists and Saturday shoppers.
Café – I found a comfortable corner seat by the large windows at a local café. I pulled out my book and my journal. Periodically, I would sit back with my book in my lap and enjoy watching people. People are so interesting, and if you try, you can sense what people are feeling. I had a fantastic seat for people watching and deeply enjoyed the experience.
Meet a Stanger – I started talking with an interesting new friend who sat next to me. We talked about happiness, art, and creativity. It was very simulating and felt good to connect with another human being; they add meaning and dimension to your life.
Read – I read Stillness Speaks by Eckhart Tolle. A short but enlightening read. It is full of bite sized wisdom to help find the stillness within you.
Meditation – 35 minute guided meditation. When I opened my eyes after the meditation, I felt like I was seeing the world with new eyes. I felt calm and happy. I followed this up by lying down on my yoga mat and visualizing all of the things I am grateful for. I got up feeling incredibly centered and present.
Journaling – with my new found clarity, I wrote out my thoughts and feelings. In doing this, it gave me a chance to organize my thoughts (which were the source of my problems), along with options for dealing with them. I’ve learned that recording emotional events and personal realizations in a journal can be a fulfilling experience. Especially when you read the entries several years later.
I stepped out of the day in a peaceful state and had regained my clarity. I felt like my spirit had been recharged. It also became clear that my problems are only as big as I perceive them to be, in my mind.
Henry David Thoreau famously wrote that most people (‘the mass of men’) live lives of quiet desperation. Most of us probably wouldn’t describe our daily experience as ‘desperation,’ but there may be an uncomfortable feeling that we are drifting along, not having a clear aim, not having achieved what we dreamed about in the past and yet not knowing quite why.
Usually, this feeling is not painful enough to drive us into making any real changes, so the danger is that we can drift along like this indefinitely. Many people who have made significant advances in life have had periods of intense discomfort which have forced them to go inside, reflect and become more aware.
For most of us, there are things we can do to become clearer about where we are, what we want and how to get there. These practices may be less radical that sudden upheavals and painful experiences, but they can be uncomfortable – learning new things usually is – and a gentle persistence will be an important attitude to adopt if you attempt them seriously.
Meditation
The kind of meditation the Buddha is said to have taught is most closely reflected in Vippassana or ‘insight’ meditation. The technique is extremely simple: no special apparatus or prior knowledge is needed, just a quiet place and a period of time. All you have to do it sit comfortably with a straight back and observe your breath. Nothing more. In time, the practice is intended to bring about clarity and insight into the nature of the self, and that of reality.
Some years ago, I attended one of S. N. Goenka’s famous ten day Vippassana retreats. The Goenka organization is a worldwide group dedicated to teaching the practice of insight meditation. The retreats are tough – many hours of meditation, only two small meals per day, basic communal facilities such as dorms, and a strict code of silence. Attendees are not allowed phones, books, journals or any other form of intellectual stimulation.
The Goenka courses are excellent in the sense that they force you to meditate – there are quite literally no distractions, and one is forced to face up to the many obvious – and subtle – ways in which we try to avoid a practice which is so alien to our restless mind and which forces us to face some uncomfortable realities. But for those not quite ready to take the plunge, there are plenty of online courses available, such as those offered by Wildmind. It is also usually possible to find a local meditation centre offering guided evening sessions.
Mindfulness
Meditation is a way of focusing on the present moment in a very intense kind of way; the practice of mindfulness is a way of being present throughout the day. It just means watching yourself, being a silent witness to your own feelings, thoughts and reactions, in order to gain clarity about everything you do, feel or think. We usually move through life in a fairly unconscious state, responding to circumstances in a conditioned way, unconscious repetition of learned behaviors.
Becoming more mindful is not easy – it requires a great deal of practice but will, in time, lead to a great deal of clarity and insight into what drives us. With this knowledge, we can make better choices and exert more control over how we respond to situations and hence what we experience.
Two books I particularly recommended are Awareness by Anthony de Mello and Mindfulness in Plain English by Bhante Gunaratana. De Mello’s book is full of anecdotes and stories which underline the importance and the (sometimes surprising) consequences of being more ‘awake .’
Our connection with the natural world
Although we might sometimes be tempted to see ‘nature’ as ‘something out there,’ separate from our experience, we are, of course, very much a part of the environment, and we naturally feel more centered and clear when we are close to our natural environment. We haven’t been living in houses and apartments for very long, and city living is a particularly new innovation which can be very stressful.
It is helpful to find time regularly to spend time in a more natural environment. This doesn’t have to mean trekking through the jungle – even walking through a park or a garden can bring great benefits. In Hong Kong, where I have lived for many years, it can be extremely difficult to find the time and the opportunity to get out into nature, but it is possible, and making a conscious effort to do so enables me to maintain more balance and perspective. If I can do it here in Hong Kong, I think almost anyone can!
How much do you know about the microblogging site Tumblr?
Launched in 2007, Tumblr has experienced tremendous growth over the past several years.
Forbes reported that 120,000 new Tumblr blogs are created every day, totaling 86 million that drive 18 billion page views per month.
In this post, I’ll take a look at 26 businesses that have created presences on Tumblr and discuss the techniques they use for their blogs, while also introducing many of Tumblr’s specific features and lexicon.
How Can Tumblr Be Used?
Jason Keath wrote, “Not every brand works on Tumblr” and suggested that three categories of blogs may fare better than others: fashion, large websites and publishing/broadcast media. As we’ll see with the examples below, Tumblr’s features offer the ability to be more visual and less verbose.
I’m on a list from earlytorise.com and I often like their postings/messages. Good stuff from Early to Rise’s Craig Ballantyne !!
This is an example right from Early To Rise’s email – a great message and one that at least I identify with, I hope it helps you too. The bottom of the message is from another contributor and website called JasonLeister.com
FROM earlytorise.com – May 17, 2012……….
“Get Started Early
I was lucky. Early in my teenage years I knew what I wanted my life to look like, and I went about designing it from that day. If you didn’t get started early on lifestyle design, the best you can do is start now. Today, Jason Leister shows you how.
Craig Ballantyne
You can’t change your genetics, but you can change your attitude, your persistence, your environment, the people you listen to and hang around with, and the things you do. You can change, so if you want to, just get started.
Lifestyle Design With Six Kids
By Jason Leister
When I first read Tim Ferriss’ book, The 4-Hour Workweek, I was pretty sucked in. Who wouldn’t want to work for only 4 hours a week?
As it turns out, I wouldn’t.
I derive a lot of meaning and pleasure from working hard. For me, creating something and sharing it with others makes me feel good. It is what I like to do.
But that’s just me. And that’s the point.
Designing your life means designing your life. Comments, questions and criticisms from others, while helpful, are largely irrelevant. The only thing that matters is how you want your life to go.
First, Step Inside Your Own Faraday Cage
In 1836, an English scientist, Michael Faraday, designed a unique device able to shield its contents from electromagnetic radiation. The device was aptly named, a Faraday Cage. Objects inside the cage were effectively cut-off from outside energetic interference, which proved very helpful in certain experiments.
If designing your life is an important priority for you, then the first step is to make sure that your goals, priorities and ideals for that life are in fact yours.
I started out life playing defense. That means I spent most of my time living up to other’s expectations of me.
Living like that doesn’t leave a lot of room for “lifestyle design” because frankly, you outsource that function to someone else… to everyone else actually.
Given my history, one of my (many) weaknesses is that I sometimes fall back into “dealing with what life dishes me” instead of actively creating my future.
This is irresponsible.
I know that sounds weak, but it’s the truth. I reveal things like this in public forums because it provides instant accountability for me. By telling a few hundred thousand people, I’m inspired to become a better version of myself.
Weird, but it works for me.
If you’re going to go to the trouble of designing your life the way you want it, then make sure you are clear about what you actually want.
This means cutting yourself off from the influence of what others might think about your decisions.
You have squash your need to “keep up with the Joneses” or anyone else, for that matter.
Why?
Well, the biggest reason is that there’s a good chance…
The Joneses Are Idiots
The average person just isn’t interested in living life at the level of excellence you probably are. So to look to them for anything (except for a good reminder of what not to do) is not helpful.
And so we go in search of people who do exhibit various levels of mastery in their lives. And that’s when things can get even worse.
It’s easy to look around at the lives of others and just accept that what they want for their life has anything to do with what you should want for yours.
It’s easy to be enamored by someone’s dedication to an ideal and think that you should exhibit that kind of dedication.
It’s easy to be impressed by the material wealth of someone and think you should have that too.
This is living life from the outside in, if you ask me. And I think that is a mistake.
How to Stand as a Giant Among Men
I’m of the firm belief that the only really responsible way to live life is to have the guts to live it exactly as you want.
Don’t want to make a million dollars? That’s your choice.
Don’t want to work 80 hours a week to be “successful?” Again, it’s up to you.
Want to wake up and spend 6 hours a day playing with your children while they’re young enough to still want to be seen with you? Go ahead.
To the average person, living your life with such blatant “disregard” for others might be interpreted as an extreme example of selfishness.
But to the average person, talking about the weather and what they had for dinner last night is interesting.
To me, having the guts and the clarity to live life as you see fit makes you a giant among men… or among women as the case may be.
The point is that your unique value as a human being deserves a unique expression in the world. And to do that, you need to live with a blatant disregard for the thoughts and opinions of others if you’re going to be a good steward of your gifts.
Are There Limits to This Lifestyle Design Thing?
As I sit here writing this, my five children (with a sixth expected any day) are milling around my house. One just woke up, another is pushing a stroller, and still another is outside watching the guy pulling weeds on our property.
This is how I want to live my life. I sit here and think, write and sell things. As the years go by, my vision for exactly how that’s supposed to look for me improves. My clarity improves. My focus improves too.
On certain days, the fact that some people think I’m nuts gets to me. But on my best days, I simply don’t care.
The hardest thing about “lifestyle design” isn’t actually the doing of it. It’s the pre-work that comes before the doing that can be challenging.
To get the right design for you, you have to be honest with yourself and respect yourself. What you want is valid. Period.
Understand that your decisions are your decisions.
Understand that your path is your path.
And know that your purpose is to spend your days walking that path as you see fit, no matter where it takes you.
That, to me, is a life well lived.
[Ed. Note: Jason Leister is an internet entrepreneur, direct response copywriter and editor of “The Client Letter,“ the daily e-letter from ClientsSuck.net, where he helps independent professionals create success. You can contact him via his website at JasonLeister.com.]
If there was a special way to engage with people who buy from your company (and it blocked
out competitors from ever being able to sell to your Clients)… would that help your business?
Obviously it would!
And here’s the kicker: Your competitors aren’t using this “secret idea” (yet)… and you have an
opportunity to TAKE ACTION and USE IT to get your customers buying more and more often
from YOU!
Want to know what the secret is and how to use it???
Well, it’s actually A LOT simpler than you may think.
In fact, watch this video and you’ll see how to use this awesome idea TODAY:
How are YOU going to use the idea shared in the video above to make more money and help your customers feel appreciated?
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