Become A Consultant For Yourself

If you are anything at all like me, there are times when your creative ideas tend to flow faster than other times.

In particular, I seem to get great ideas when they are related to other people's projects.  When it comes to my own projects ideas seem to dry up.

Why is this?

Reason #1-Myopic Viewpoint

The main reason this occurs for many people has to do with relaxation.  Often times when we are thinking about our own projects we have a huge load of emotional connection that overly increases the perceived importance of our project.

This increased value causes us to go into caution mode.  This mental lock box causes a myopic view of the possibilities and options that are available.  This 500ft view of the issue prevents us from exploring perfectly valid solutions.

Generally, when this occurs we also get into a bit of panic mode, especially if there is a deadline associated with the project.

The solution to this is to begin all projects early.  As soon as you know something needs to be done, do not delay.  By beginning the project early you have an opportunity to get your subconscious mind involved.  When you understand a problem and have time to relax, your mind will work on the solution without you having to consciously think of ideas.  These subconscious ideas will suddenly pop into your mind.  You must capture these!

The first day you have a project, begin by taking a 50,000ft view of it.  Get an idea of what is involved and what the best ultimate result would be if you project were a 100% success.

Once you have this understanding, set the project aside for a few days.  If you are on a very short timetable, set it aside for a while, but only so much that you have at least half of the overall time left to finish the project.

If you need to, do some relaxation exercises or focus on something else.  Even work on another project if you have it.  If you have any ideas pop up, quickly write them down and get back to your other project.

When you re-approach your project, make sure to prep your mindset.  You want to come in with the thought that you are just taking a look for a friend.  If you are relaxed and have the right mindset, you should have some ideas pop up.  Write these down.  When the ideas are all on paper, you should find that you have more options and possibilities to begin attacking the project in ernest.

Reason #2-Fear Of Failure

The second reason that we tend to have a more difficult time finding solutions to our challenges vs. the challenges of friends is that we have to suffer the consequences.

When we look at a friend's project there is no benefit or detriment to us regardless of the outcome.  This allows us to be free to explore any and all options without fear.

When it comes to our projects, we automatically (and sometimes subconsciously) disregard ideas that are out of the box.  We also tend to disregard ideas based on how unsure we are of their outcome.  Unless we know it will work, we fear the unknown and push the idea aside.

Again, by stepping outside ourself and look at the situation as a bystander we can help to reduce the negative impact that fear can have on us.

How To Step Outside Of Yourself

Chances are at some point in your life you have already done this.  Can you remember a time when something you did seemed surreal?  You watched the event unfolding but you had that feeling of being an observer instead of being involved.  If you remember this feeling, try to put yourself in that mode again while looking at your project.

If you are not sure what the feeling is or how to get there, you can practice this.  Sit at a table in a room that you are very familiar with.  Take a few deep breaths, letting them out slowly.  Close your eyes.  Start to imagine that you are standing a few feet behind the chair looking at yourself sitting there.  Imagine what your posture looks like from behind.  Imagine what your hair looks like.  Create a mental picture of yourself and actually see it.  After a few minutes raise your right hand and see your hand raise in the mental picture you are creating.  Put it down and do the same with the left hand.  Keep breathing in a slow fluid manner.  When you are finished, visualize walking up and sitting back down into yourself and slowly open your eyes.

If you do this exercise a few times it will get easier and easier.  Then, when working on a project, do the same thing and pretend that the guy in the chair is a consultation client or a friend and you are just going to give them a bunch of ideas that they can consider for their project.

Write down any ideas that come to mind and consider each one later.

Ultimately, the entire post is about freeing yourself and giving yourself permission to explore any possibilities as they relate to your challenges.  You are a creative person and you deserve to benefit from your creative ability!

Best of luck!

For Those Struggling To Build An Internet Business!!

Hey folks!  I came across a really interesting deal a few days ago and after some thought I wanted to share it with you.

This is really for people who have tried to make an internet business work and have struggled, but if you are just looking to build a business online, it will help as well.

The Millionaire Society  is a group that has video's by some of the top internet marketer's out there.  It's really a neat way to learn from some of the best without forking over huge mounds of cash for private consultations.

Don't get me wrong, I know there are tons of places online to get information on building an online business.  The difference with this is that they have a ton of tools available to help you get going.

One of my biggest struggles is that, while I'm not computer illiterate, I have struggled with making sites and figuring out how to put the business together initially.  Never mind any tips to market the site, just getting something up and running that I felt was worth while has been a pain in my ass.

Millionaire Society takes a the pain out of the up front part and then teaches you how to work everything else and the best part is....

It's dirt cheap to try out.  $4.95 to be exact.  Yes, there is further cost if you want to keep going, but to actually be able to check it out for that, it's a no brainer.

That's always been one of my biggest pet peeves about internet training "programs".  I hate it when they just won't tell you what they are talking about, but expect you to fork over $80 or $100 to see what it's about.

So, if you want to get past the problems you've had in the past with getting an online business up and running I highly recommend you check this out!  Here is the link again:  Millionaire Society

Two Ways To Develop Focus

Our society in America is full of distractions.  There are so many competing messages that if you don't make an active effort to control your focus, it can be hard to develop.  We are also a society and generations that have been raised to distract ourselves from discomfort.

Some people use food, exercise, or drugs, to distract from reality.

Largely, focus is about closing out any and all distractions to give your undivided attention to the one thing you need to accomplish.

This sounds easy enough, but in reality it can be quite challenging.  The easy part is shutting off the TV, radio, phone ringers, etc.   The difficult part is in focusing and shutting off your thoughts.

How often do you get side tracked because a random thought pops up about something you need to do.  Maybe it's about a birthday party that you need to take the kids to, or your brain spits out a solution to a key problem you are facing at work.

Whatever, the problem is you need learn to use your mind on purpose.

Meditation can be helpful here.  In sitting quietly and focusing your attention on your body's natural breathing patterns you can develop the ability to quiet those random thoughts.

Here is how to do it:

          Turn off all things that might make noise, this includes phones.
          Sit quietly, in a chair, or on a pillow on the floor (be careful not to get too comfortable, you need
               to stay awake!)
          Leave your eyes slightly open, you can close them if it's more comfortable.
          As you sit, listen to you natural breathing.  Do not force your breath.
          Sit like this as long as you can.

At first you will probably have difficulty doing this.  Your body will fidget and your mind will come up with thoughts to distract you.  When this happens, recognize that this is your mind fulfilling the distraction habit you have created.

By recognizing the thoughts and letting them go, you will slowly train your mind to know that these thoughts are valuable, but not so important that it needs to interrupt your thoughts.

Another way to help keep your mind from randomly tossing out ideas is to write things down when they come to you.  Keep a calendar or schedule that will allow you to capture anything you need to do. This includes if you need to pick up milk, or drop the kids off at a birthday party next week.  As things come up, you need to get them out of your head.

Just like the meditation, this will take time.  Your brain needs to recognize that you are doing this and trust that it works.  In order for that to happen, you will need to keep track of these things and follow them for at least a month before your brain will shut off the distracting reminders.



         

The One Thing You Can Do, Today, To Succeed!

I have spent countless hours reading books and doing audio programs to learn about success.  What I have learned is that there are several key components that many successful people have in common.  They have to be confident, aggressive, action oriented, etc.

I find that a lot of people begin to get down on themselves when they begin trying do model a successful person.  They see that this person puts in a lot of hours at the office.  They see this person taking control at meetings and acting like they own the place.  This can be very dangerous when you are just starting out.  If you have not yet reached the level of success that you want to, maybe it is because you are trying to jump ahead of where you are.

If you are a fan of poker you will see this happen every year at the World Series of Poker.  People watch video of the final table and then go out to their local tournament and try to play the same type of game and then they wonder why they don't win.

The fact of the matter is that in both of the situations above, the person is failing to see that the game has to be played differently depending on where you are at and what the situation is.

You cannot spend every hour of your day working on your business.  Maybe you have kids to take care of or a yard to mow.  The fact is you have other responsibilities.  The person who is already successful has enough extra cash to be able to pay to have these things taken care of by someone else.

If you try to play the game like a billionaire, you will be frustrated.  The same goes for the way you handle meetings or negotiation situations.  The more successful you are the less you need each individual deal.  Also, the more successful you are, the more others want to work with you.  This gives you a significant advantage when it comes to negotiations.  If you try to wield this type of power before you have it, you will lose business while making yourself look like an ass.

Is there anything you can model off of the already successful person that will help you in your game?

Thank goodness, the answer is YES!

The number one thing you can do today to begin succeeding is........FOCUS!

Have you ever seen someone who is very successful work?  Have you ever wondered how that billionaire runs 15 companies while traveling the world?  It's all about Focus.

Most people who are not successful allow themselves to be pulled in many different directions.  The secret is to control what and when your attention is pulled.  You may have 15 different things that are pulling at you.  That is ok.  By controlling what you focus on, you can complete everything and step toward success at the same time.

This is where I break a traditionally held belief:

When it comes to your focus, multitasking is VERY BAD!!!!!

Whatever you are doing should have your undivided attention at that moment.  You cannot be giving a seminar while you are thinking about sales goals, kids soccer, you have to mow the law, pick up coffee tonight, etc.

Each and every activity you take action on should be the only thing in your world at that time.  I don't care what is going on.  It's not that you forget everything, it's about being able to control your attention.

By maintaining a specific focus and not letting any distraction in your productivity will increase into the stratosphere.

Learning how to focus on one thing at a time can be difficult.  We live in a society that is driven by distractions.  So much so, most people don't even realize that they are eating breakfast, while watching TV and reading news on their computer at the same time!!!  Consider driving down the road while listening to the radio and having a conversation with a spouse, all while the kids are watching two different shows on their mini-tv's and fighting over a toy.  Yeah, we are distracted!

I just learned about Squidoo!

Not sure why I haven't seen more about this, but Squidoo is actually a pretty neat idea!

If you have an area of expertise, or even if you just enjoy a subject, Squidoo can be a great easy way to make some extra cash (small amounts per topic but still money).  Be conscious of what you are writing, they are pretty strict with their Squidon't policies.

Go to Squidoo and see how it works!

On Squidoo you can make individual "Lenses."  Making these lenses is FREE.  Yes, I'll say it again this is FREE FREE FREE.  Did I say it was FREE.

If you click on the link above or below, you'll be able to do set up a free account and begin making your lenses.

Here is a link to the first lens I made:   My First Squidoo Lens

How do you make money?

Two ways, there are advertising fees that you earn as well as modules where you can list items from Amazon and if any of those are purchased, you get a commission.

There are other ways to make money on Squidoo other than Amazon, you just have to pick the module you want and you are good to go!

Go to Squidoo and see how it works!

You will not likely get rich doing this, but it's free to get going and you can make money right away.  

Think about expanding this as a business though.  For a little work on the front end you have an opportunity to make money for a long time down the road.  There is no limit to the number of lenses you can make, as long as you are making original content, the sky is the limit.  So, what does that mean?

If you have 10 lenses making $1 per month.  You make $10 per month.   If you have 500 lenses averaging $1 per month each, you make $500 per month.  It really is that simple, sign up, build a lens that attracts people and complies with the original content rules, and repeat!

It seems very interesting to me, check it out!

Go to Squidoo and see how it works!

Make Money With Ebooks!

So, I've been looking a lot lately at some new book ideas.  Just like everyone I'm in need of making extra cash.

There are a lot of books out there about making money selling Ebooks.  Frankly, I think it's funny that there are so many Ebooks about making and selling Ebooks.  Anyway, I digress.

I have written a couple books for Amazon Kindle, but since I have done exactly ZERO marketing, I've only made about $50 over the last couple years on them.  It also has to do with my writing skills.  If you read any of my previous blogs you know I can ramble.

It boils down to the fact that money was made!  So, If I can make $50 with little to no effort, what could I or you do with a lot of effort?  What would that effort look like?

What do you write about?  Well, thats actually the easiest part.  There are a lot of books that recommend you have someone write the book for you.  I don't like this.  It's really just a personal thing I guess.  What you can do is look around.  What are people interested in?  What do you know about, or what can you learn about.  You'd really be surprised at what people will buy.  For example, maybe you like baking cookies.  Well, a lot of other people do too.  What about a book on 101 recipes for great cookies!  Just research and find your favorites and you are set to go!

Sure, there are a lot of cookbooks out there, but there is a reason for that, right?!

Once you write it you can load it up to the Kindle Direct Platform.  Just Google Kdp Direct and you will be able to find a link.

Amazon will market the book for you but it's minimal and will not likely make you a large amount of money.  They also allow you to give the book away for free for a limited time.  While initially you might think that you don't want to do this, it's actually a great way to build a following.  You can go up to five days for free.  I recommend 3 days, as it's enough to get exposure.  You can do this every 90 days or so.

The goal is to get a few good reviews.  If you do, it will allow you to sell copies once you get off the free list.

Also, you can set up a twitter feed and Facebook page for your book.  This will generate sales over time and both will get stronger with time, if the book is good.

There is obviously a lot more that you can do with this and you could really take it to the limit.  If the book begins to sell, you could make videos showing each recipe step by step walk-through.  Then sell the videos as a package.

Its important to look and see as much opportunity as you can.  We have a tendency in our society to not see opportunity until it jumps up and bites us, or until we accidentally stumble across it.

Here are links to three of the top kindle books on how to make money selling ebooks.  They are definitely worth a look if you are new to this!

Amazon Prime

For those that haven't tried it, Amazon Prime is a pretty good deal.

Here is a link for a free no strings attached trial:

http://amzn.to/15egIhX

Enjoy!