Posts Tagged ‘self growth’

It’s been said that golf is an 80% mental and 20% physical sport. It’s similar to the way Internet marketers build their businesses. The planning and strategic stages take a lot of time, while the actual task list is quickly implemented once a plan is in place.

Golfers have several strategies they have to put into play during a single round of 18 holes. They have their tee shots, fairway strategies, decisions to make around the green, and a way to sink the putt once they are close. Regardless of where they are on a hole, golfers know one thing has to remain constant – they have to follow through with the shot.

As an Internet marketer, you know how distracting this business can be. There are always new “secret ways to make money” popping up on the ‘net. It’s hard to stay focused on following through with what you’re doing because you’re anxious to make money, and if a buzz is circulating about something you’re not doing, you instinctively want to abandon your efforts and jump on the bandwagon.

Keep Your Eye on the Ball

Golfers keep their head down and their eyes on the ball. They can’t be concerned about where Ted’s ball landed or if the people watching the game are admiring them or laughing at their stance.

You have to stay focused on your tasks as well. Don’t get tied down to trends and who’s doing what – all of that will be history tomorrow. You’re building your own business from the ground floor up, so you have to do it one brick at a time.

Create a detailed strategy for your business and then have a spreadsheet of tasks you need to do each day. For instance, you might have a column for your blog, one for your PPC efforts, and another for product development. Each column should be broken down into daily tasks, such as “conduct keyword research with GoodKeywords tool,” or “Split test headline on PPC campaign #1.”

If it helps, assign an amount of time and a timeframe for each task. As you finish a task, delete it from or cross it out on your to-do list and you’ll feel great about making progress toward your goals. If you don’t think this is how most of the gurus have made their mark on the Internet, then you haven’t done your research.

Imagine Your Success

When a golfer approaches a ball, takes a stance, and gets ready to swing, he’s not thinking about what’s going to happen if he flubs it. He has to think of where the shot is about to land – on the green or in the middle of the fairway.He pictures his swing as smooth-flowing, not one where he accidentally hits the ground two inches behind the ball and ruins a shot.

How do you imagine your own success? Are you waking up each morning to consider how much you have to do – overwhelming yourself from the minute your feet hit the floor, or are you looking into the future (even later in the day) to imagine how good it will be to accomplish everything you need to get done?

As you sit down at your desk to work, imagine the finished product you’re working on – the completed eBook, the 10,000+ membership site, or the #1 spot on the Search Engine Results Pages. Seeing it will help it come to fruition.

Don’t Let Fears Interrupt Your Follow-Through

Even professional golfers sometimes let certain things creep into their consciousness that cause their swing to falter. If they’re faced with an obstacle like a water hazard and are unsure of the club they should choose, it can make them swing differently, overcompensating for the mistake they knew they made when they picked the club.

Have confidence in your choices. If you make a mistake, stop and correct it instead of continuing in the wrong direction. You’ll know something’s wrong because your inner voice will be trying to get your attention and turn your focus toward a better choice.

Listen to that inner voice. As you move through your day, make sure you follow through on the tasks you have listed, the plans you have developed, and the success you are seeking.

Once you gain the confidence you need to make decisions you are comfortable with, you will start to notice that your success is becoming more streamlined and easier to achieve than when you were drowning in self-doubt.

Daydreaming and doing something toward the betterment of your life are two totally different things. One gets you places, while the other spins in circles within your own mind. Online marketers want to reach the rung of success on the  ladder they’re climbing, but some of them often get hung up on one of the bottom rungs.

Those that can’t move higher are the ones that get stuck in daydreaming mode.  Everyone has a tendency to ponder the “bag full of riches” they could have in their hands once they’ve reached success. It’s normal to see an opportunity and stop and think about what this could mean to you and your family.

Something you’re pursing might provide your child’s college education, help you build your dream home, or deliver peace of mind and financial security for years to come. It sometimes inspires you to take action.

There’s nothing wrong with daydreaming, but in order to reach your ultimate success and hold on to that dream, you’ll need to do something about it. Staying in thought mode won’t get you anyplace, but putting those thoughts into action and becoming a doer will.

Walt Disney himself once said, “The way to get started is to quit talking and begin doing.” Walt Disney made fame and fortune with the Disney Empire we’re all familiar with today.

How do you suppose he got there? Did he daydream his way to a worldwide brand, or take action to promote and build a recognizable brand that would turn into a household name? In his case, it was a little of both – but the point is, he got out and made his daydreams come true.

Online marketers can reach the same success in their own way if only they would realize there’s a time and place for thinking, and a schedule for doing. It can be tough, since it’s easier to dream about success than it is to actually reach it.

Sitting around thinking about this strategy and that new tool or gadget won’t deliver profits in your pocket. Any successful marketer will tell you that they reached success by envisioning the life they wanted and then acting on it.

They concentrate on the strategies they want to implement in their business and find ways to make them work. After a lot of hard work and dedication, they’re then rewarded with the lifestyle they’ve always dreamed about.

Even a beginning online marketer can be side by side with the so-called gurus if they get themselves out of the dreaming stage that has them stuck in what can be like quicksand. All you need is a little motivation to get you going.

Put your dreams on paper and stick it where you’ll see them every day. Use those dreams as your goals, not as your distractions. Break those goals down into baby steps with specific dates of when you will accomplish them. Then you can cross that milestone off your list as you achieve it.

You can even use a chart with a picture of a ladder with rungs on it. Each time you meet one of the baby steps, you can move a token of some kind up one rung on the ladder you have on your chart.

For example, if your goal is to get 1 million visitors to your site, you would break that down into baby steps. One step could be to get a website up and running. When that’s done, move up a rung on that ladder.

Keep going until that token has reached the top rung, which would be your ultimate goal for your business. When you’ve reached the top rung of each of the ladders of your goals, then you can truly hold onto that “bag of riches” you daydreamed.

Making money online from the convenience of home (or the deck of your sailboat) is a powerful lure. If you have the slightest hint of  competitiveness, as many  entrepreneurs do, then you will get hooked on the high of the game.

Let’s face it, success is energizing. What does your family think about your online success? Sure, they are thrilled to see you at home, but what do they see? They see the back of your head as you face the monitor.

Are you at home but not with them? Does your family really have more time, or less, with you since you became an entrepreneur? Is this what you wanted? If your answers are at all vague, it is time to reassess your goals and get your life on the track you envision.

Leaving the 9-5 office job for working at home was supposed to give you more time with your family, more time for sports, more time for hobbies … just more time. Is that happening?

Think back to the reasons you wanted to work independently and answer these key questions with brutal honesty:

1.) What were the top three priorities that you would focus on if you had more time?

2.) How many of them do you have time for in your life right now?

3.) Are those still your life priorities? If not, revise your top three priorities list. Don’t just think about it – type it and print it out for a constant dose of reality.

Making your personal development plan work for you, while you work to support your family, takes as much planning and analysis as you put into creating a successful online business.

Now look at the seven elements of your life. Think of these as building block of various sizes that join to reflect who you are and what motivates you.

These elements are:

1. Mind: mental and emotional
2. Body: health and wellness
3. Spirit: connection outside my self
4. Financial: supporting self and family
5. Relationships: significant other, family, friends
6. Recreation: enjoyable activities, sports, hobbies
7. Community: involvement in helping others

If you want to go all the way with your personal development plan, then it is time to create a journal page (typed or handwritten) for each of these elements. State at least three goals for each element. They can be a mix of short-term and long-term achievements.

Short-term goals can be completed in less than six months. Long-term goals take from six months to ten years. Once you write these things down, you will have some direction.

Those random thoughts of, “Gee, I wish I could help with the beach cleanup project” or, “I need to start a walking program to improve my health” become goals that are turned into actions.

You can use this personal development plan in two different ways. You can focus on a different element for each day of the week. Or you can devote a week to each element.

Add notes in your journal about what you did toward that goal and how you felt afterward. Once something becomes a consistent part of your life schedule, like getting up and walking two miles before turning on the computer, then mark it off and add a new goal. Keep at least three goals for each life element.

The biggest obstacle to personal development planning is getting started. The next obstacle is committing to stay with your plan. Yet busy marketers do exactly this process for their work schedule, so why not for their  personal lives?

Could it be because you are so driven to succeed that you don’t see how you could make money by taking a ceramic class or playing touch football in the park with the kids? Well, here’s the surprise: you will make even more money by doing those things.

Toss away any notion that a personal development plan is selfish, because it is far from that. The more you grow as a person, the more you have of yourself to give to your family, friends and community. Sending a check to charity is easy. Giving your time and your attention is a prize of great worth, particularly to your family.

When your life has direction on several levels, not just in business, you are a more relaxed, creative, and energized person. Unless you use the freedom that being an independent businessperson brings, then you might as well get in the car and fight the traffic back to your old job.

Before, you had little time for personal development and you wanted it so much. Now you have the potential to take time for personal development, but it might be left to the wayside while you pave a path to online riches.

Here is your official permission to go for it! Even if you lose a sale from an impatient buyer who can’t wait a few hours for an answer, let it go. What was more valuable in the grand scheme of living: the two hours you went to your son’s soccer game or a few dollars from the sale of an ebook?

Some choices in life are just that basic. You have to take time to keep all of life’s elements in balance. Are you ready to get serious about a personal development plan?

Start with the process suggested here. If you need more structure or  monitoring, consider hiring a qualified life coach to keep you moving forward toward the life you want.

If you want to improve your business and make more money, self motivation must become an integral part of your life every day, with every thought you have. This is especially true if you are an online marketer and your ultimate success depends upon new ideas and the ability to rejuvenate yourself on a daily basis.

Here are some tips and techniques that will keep you motivated even  during the bad days(we all have them):

1. Set Goals and Review them Often – You have to know where you are heading in both your personal and professional life before you can plan how to get there. Set short and longterm goals and make them attainable. If they are too far out of reach, you will become frustrated and the goals will never be accomplished.
2. Reward Your Successes – Think of ways to reward yourself when you reach a coveted goal. Look at the way corporate world rewards: bonuses, lunches, days off, and promotions. You can do the same for yourself. Make the rewards larger and more extravagant as you progress from realizing short and then long-term goals.
3. Ultimate Failure – Failures are a natural part of the progression of life, but the trick is to learn from them. Havelock Ellis, British physician and social reformer once said, “It is on our failures that we base a new and different and better success.” Take the time to analyze your failures, but don’t spend too much time on them. Move ahead!
4.  Don’t Procrastinate – Procrastination can be a deadly blow to motivation. To avoid procrastination, have a clear idea of what the task is, gather what you need to accomplish it, and then complete the task before you go on to the next. Perform the small tasks on days when you are not as energetic, and save the more daunting tasks for days that you feel clear-headed and energized.
5. Answer Only to Yourself – If you quit a 9 to 5 job to concentrate on your own business, it will be easy to turn off the alarm in the morning and sleep an extra hour or two. If you find yourself slacking off on your pre-determined schedule, tell yourself that you ae the boss now and you must act like it. Don’t adopt behaviors that would get you fired from a traditional job!
6. Seek Personal Growth Along With Business Success – As your business grows and you start making more money, you will want to evaluate and set goals for your personal life as well. Do you need to lose weight, give yourself a makeover or improve your surroundings? By reaching your personal goals, you will find that you have more positive thinking and an abundance of energy to achieve your goals.
7. Persevere – As you climb the ladder of selfmotivation, you will discover paths to success that you never knew existed. Your personal life will be happier and more content and your business will prosper. You will become more aware when negative thoughts enter your mind, and with the selfmotivation techniques you have learned you will be better able to turn them around.
8. Have Fun – Having fun doesn’t have to be limited to a reward for reaching a goal. You can learn to have fun in your work and day-today life. Live your life like it’s a big adventure and you will stay motivated.

Consider self motivation as an important asset to your business and personal success. You’ll want to practice it every day to avoid waning enthusiasm and sluggish or non-existent progress of your life’s goals.

One of the biggest challenges to making money has nothing to do with how hard you work or what method you choose. If you have a poverty consciousness, it will be very hard for you to jump out of the limitations of low income.

Poverty consciousness is an emotional state that keeps you constantly worried about whether or not you will have enough money. These thoughts come from beliefs that you developed in your early life about the flow of money and your personal worth.

Generally speaking, poverty consciousness is a set of attitudes, beliefs, and feelings that are associated with not having enough money. It results in a belief in limitation. When you have a poverty consciousness you are always in fear of not having money, and when you do have money you live in fear of losing it.

Breaking out of your poverty consciousness is essential to making more money and keeping the money that you make. By following a few simple steps you can liberate yourself from limiting thoughts and begin to embrace the abundance that is available to everyone.
 
First, you need to pay attention to the language that you use, both with other people and in your mental self talk. If you are constantly talking about your poverty, and using phrases like “I’m broke” or “I’m poor” or “I can’t afford it” you will find yourself manifesting what you say. (It can manifest no other way because money is not going to fight its way into your life while you’re proclaiming to be poor!)

Instead of focusing on these states of lack, tell yourself and others that “I am growing wealthy every day.” If something you want is not in your budget today, a neutral response is “I am choosing to spend my money in other ways.”

Replace your old thoughts and habits with empowering ones. Release yourself from previous notions of what it means to be rich. This is especially important if you were raised in an environment that valued poverty or equated money with evil. You need to do conscious work now in your adult life to redefine what it means to be wealthy.

If you are accustomed to feeling fear when your bank account drops, you will begin to expect that feeling of fear even when there is money in the bank. You may even begin to resent money coming to you, because you know the fear is just around the corner.

Instead of getting nervous or anxious when there is lack of money, work on changing your emotional state. By recognizing that money is just a way to exchange value, you can take the power of money away by changing your emotional state.

Visualize money acting like an ocean current that comes in and out across the beach. When the waves retreat, no one on the beach worries or wonders if it will come back. They don’t think negative thoughts about themselves or their worth. They trust that the tide will come back and it does, again and again. Viewing money in this way allows you to free yourself from the fear, and embrace abundance.