From an early age, we’re led to believe that nothing is more satisfying than finding happiness. But happiness is so elusive and intangible.
Plus, happiness is different for everyone, so how do you know when you find it? And is there something out there that can make you feel even better than happiness?
Yes! It’s called having a sense of fulfillment. Yet, what is that exactly, and how do you get it? That’s what we’re here today to find out.
So, keep reading to learn how you can stop chasing happiness to find fulfillment instead.
Happiness Vs. Fulfillment
Take a look at this quick overview of happiness vs. fulfillment because they are two vastly different ideas, and many people may not be sure about what they are and the differences between the two.
So, let’s dive in and take a look at happiness first…
Happiness includes feelings like contentment, excitement, and joy. But the problem with these kinds of emotions is that they are all temporary.
Sure, it feels nice while it lasts, but other emotions take over, like anger, fear, and anxiety, and these negative emotions tend to hang around for much longer!
The trap many of us fall into is that we believe we’ll reach our point of happiness when we achieve certain things in our lives.
Of course, you’ll be happy! But that happiness can only last so much. After that, reality sets in, especially when the bills start coming in.
Another problem with happiness is that we often view it in terms of other people. So, we compare our lives to theirs, which is never a good idea.
No one knows what’s going on in other people’s lives. So, it’s not fair to compare only the good parts. It sends you on a loop of perpetual disappointment. The only person you should compare yourself to is you.
When you pursue the things that really matter to you, you bring fulfillment into your life. Fulfillment is when you take actionable steps towards the things you value. Part of it is also achieving goals that were set up based on these core values.
Living your life with a consistent set of values allows you to have integrity towards who you truly are. It also allows you more control over your emotions and thoughts.
The bottom line is that happiness is dependent on external factors. Many of these factors are material and likely to change at any moment.
Fulfillment, on the other hand, is internally driven. You’re the one who determines what means more to you, and then by going after it, you elevate the levels of fulfillment in your life.
You can find fulfillment in many ways. But you have to choose to see it in every experience and situation in your life, especially those that don’t go your way.
It sounds more challenging than it really is, but it’s actually relatively easy once you know what you’re doing. And it’s way more rewarding and empowering than chasing the ever-fleeting feeling of happiness.
Here are some ways to find fulfillment and bring meaning to your life.
The great philosopher, Socrates, said, “Know Thyself” to encourage his students to look inward when searching for the meaning of life. So then, when you know your true nature, you can find fulfillment because you know your true self-worth.
The more you know about yourself, the more fulfillment you’ll find in life. Remember, fulfillment isn’t about having a nice house or the latest fashion. It’s much deeper than that and much more nuanced.
It just takes a bit of soul searching.
Helping others is one of the best ways to fill your life with fulfillment. You feel good by volunteering your time or money to help someone in need.
The science behind it is that helping others boosts the release of ‘feel-good’ chemicals in our brains. Some of these include hormones, such as dopamine and serotonin.
So, whether you’re helping a friend move or helping out at a local soup kitchen, you’re bringing joy and ease into other people’s lives. Not only that, but you’re also making yourself feel more fulfilled.
Surrounding yourself with a healthy, supportive social circle allows you to feel connected to something. In addition, being part of something fosters a sense of fulfillment in your life.
You have people you can talk to anytime you feel sad or stressed out. Consequently, you don’t suffer from any feelings of isolation, disconnection, or separation.
Having a sense of gratitude can help you see the purpose in life and feel like you’re connected to a greater good. Gratitude also boosts your overall health and encourages positive emotions, which can come in handy when you’re going through a tough time.
It also motivates you to strive for more. Yet, when there’s a setback, you focus more on what you have and what you’ve accomplished rather than wallowing in your losses.
Keep in mind that if you’re not okay with what you don’t have, you’ll never appreciate what you do have.
Always trying to chase happiness definitely affects the way you think and if you are constantly chasing this, you need to start to think differently because if you don’t find happiness, self doubt and negativity can creep in. If you want to know more about avoiding self-doubt and developing a positive mindset, check out the featured resource below for a free detailed report; download, read it and take action 🙂
If you’re going to build a list of subscribers and send emails to that list, then you need to select an email service provider.
The key here is that you must select a GOOD provider.
Otherwise, you’re going to have issues with poor deliverability, spam complaints, losing access to your list and more.
Let me make a quick note here. If you do a search for list managers or autoresponders, you’ll quickly discover that you have two options:
A lot of beginners look at option #2 and think it’s a good idea. One benefit is that it’s cheaper, as you generally just pay a fee for the script once, and it’s yours forever. Another benefit is that some folks like the idea of controlling all aspects of their list in any way they choose.
But despite these benefits, there’s one very big downside that trumps them all:
Deliverability.
In a nutshell, if you’re running your own list, then you’re going to spend an incredible amount of time working on deliverability issues.
The point is this lesson is about selecting a third-party email service provider because it’s the best, easiest and safest option for both beginners and seasoned marketers alike.
With that out of the way, let’s take a quick look at what benefits and features you should be seeking in an email service provider. Read on…
There are a lot of email service providers, but they don’t all offer the same level of service. That’s why you’ll want to make sure your provider offers the following:
Great Customer Service
No matter what features and benefits are available, you want to be sure to choose a reputable, well-established ESP (email service provider). The ESP should have multiple customer service options available (such as live chat, email and/or phone), and they should respond quickly.
You’ll also want to check when customer service is available. Is it 24/7? If not, are the available hours during your typical business hours?
Good Uptime
The next thing you want to check for is how often the ESP is up (or, conversely, how often it goes down). Ideally the ESP should communicate in a transparent way if an issue does arise.
For example, Aweber has a status page where you can always check the status and recent history: https://status.aweber.com/
A Focus on Deliverability
A good ESP will devote a significant portion of its staff and resources to deliverability issues. To that end, look for a company that monitors deliverability and works to improve it.
A good ESP will also include a built-in spam checker so that you can tweak your emails to avoid spam folders and filters.
If the company and its customer service look solid, then you can start reviewing the ESP’s features. Here’s what to look for:
See if Templates Are Available
Look for a company that provides both opt-in form templates and email templates. A good company will provide a variety of templates, plus these templates will be “point and click” customizable.
Check for Tracking Tools
Next, see if the ESP offers built-in testing and tracking tools. You should be able to check open rates and clickthrough rates which you can use to track things such as subject lines, calls to action, and more.
Ensure Segmenting is Available
Another good feature you’ll want to look for is the ability to segment your list. Often this is done with “tagging.”
For example, if you want to send out an email to people who’ve purchased a certain product from you, then you can include all recipients who have a “Purchased Product X” tag.
Note that you should also be able to segment based on recent email behavior.
For example, you can pull out a segment of your list who did NOT open your last email. You can then send these folks a follow-up email with a different subject line to see if you can catch their attention and get them clicking.
Look for Automations
You’ll find that automations, if available, are a time-saving feature. You can think of automations as “If – Then” features (if X happens, then Y should occur).
For example, if someone clicks on a link, then that person should get a particular email, or they should be added to a particular segment of your list.
Now that you’ve determined that a potential ESP includes the core features you need, you’ll want to think about any other features that are important.
For example, if you’re already using other tools and platforms, you’ll want to check if your selected email service provider will integrate with the tools or resources. E.G., If you have a shopping cart, see if it integrates with your ESP. (Some do it with just one click, while others will integrate if you do a little technical work.)
Now that you know what to look for in an email service provider, you’ll likely still find it an overwhelming task to select an ESP since there are so many options. As such, you can start your selection process by reviewing some of the top ESPs, including:
The list above is in my personal preference order. Best for marketing and growth in your business is Active Campaign. Best for novices and affiliate marketers is Aweber; either of those will be a great choice.
This is especially important if you are going to be relying on affiliate marketing as your business model because most ESP’s don’t like this particular model due to the fact that most marketers don’t do it correctly and end up spamming their list with offer after offer and provide no value whatsoever.
You don’t want to build your mailing list on a house of cards, which is why it’s important to choose the right email service provider. Use the tutorial above to help you do it!
If you want to know more about building and nurturing your email list, check out the featured resource below where you can get a free report about simple list building to expand your knowledge further. If you do download it, please read it and take action and good luck 😊
Confidence is all you need to succeed in many cases. The confidence that you can achieve a goal or live a dream, powers you past obstacles. It’s contagious, too.
Build confidence once and you begin to feel confident regularly. It’s a self-fulfilling success cycle, and is incredibly powerful if you can harness it.
For more goal-crushing, dream-achieving confidence, here are 7 proven practices successful people use to turn desires into reality.
Many failures can be blamed on worrying about what other people think. It may be tough to hear, but the world really doesn’t care about you. It’s true. The people you think are waiting for you to fail or will otherwise make fun of you if you don’t succeed at something are probably not even paying attention.
Who really cares, anyway? The minute you stop worrying about how others perceive you is the instant point in time where you start feeling more confident that you can handle just about anything.
Many self-help gurus will teach you to “fake it before you make it” on your way to pursuing a large goal. This is because of the inability of your subconscious mind to differentiate reality from imagination or fantasy. If you dress and act and walk and talk “as if” you have accomplished something, that immediately improves your confidence.
This doesn’t mean to be arrogant or to lie to yourself. It means that acting as if you can do something triggers a belief in your mind that you actually can. You basically trick your subconscious mind into thinking you have already succeeded at some tasks, even if you never have.
Of course, it goes without saying that you don’t lie to others; this is a purely internal process.
Try this. Do just one thing that makes you scared or unsure every day. Seriously, intentionally take small steps outside of your comfort zone. Science tells us this is where the largest achievements are found.
Researchers into goal achievement wondered how they could help people realize more of their dreams. Their testing led them to a startling discovery.
They found that when an individual takes small but challenging steps in the direction of uncertainty and fear, huge achievements are often the result.
This means you should be experiencing minor discomfort and uncertainty regularly if you want to become more confident and capable. Push yourself and slowly expand the boundaries of your abilities.
And don’t forget to enjoy the journey you are on. So many people are only focused on the end goal that they forget to enjoy the whole process of getting there. If you want to know more about this, take a look at this training here: Enjoy The Journey
Teamwork can accomplish what individuals cannot in many cases. Having a support team that motivates you and keeps you focused is a great way to build more confidence.
We are all going to stumble and fall on our paths to success. It’s just normal, and it’s how you react to that obstacle which determines where you will end up!
Knowing that you have a team of friends and loved ones to support you makes it a lot easier to ignore those temporary setbacks that are going to appear in your life. This gives you more confidence because you know that there are people that have your back when you need them.
Visualization is used by the most successful athletes in the world. Actors and politicians visualize giving a great performance or speech. This goes back to how you can program your subconscious to create the desired result.
Rehearse and rehearse and rehearse.
Confident people aren’t usually freaking out. There is definitely a positive relationship between staying calm and focused and having a confident belief in one’s ability.
Remember, stress is the enemy of confidence. It can wear down even the most confident person. You can’t be very self-assured when you’re stressed out, nervous and anxious.
Take up yoga. Start meditating. Those are two proven stress-relieving practices that go back thousands of years. Work to stay calm in the face of anxiety and stress and you can enjoy more confidence.
If you have religious beliefs, prayer can also help and can be very powerful for the Christians among us.
You can’t help someone else until you take care of yourself. This means you should be practicing self-care. Self-confidence can come from feeling good about the person you are, and that means respecting yourself enough to take care of your mind and body.
Another thing that boosts your self-image and cranks up confidence is helping someone. When you help another person improve their situation in some way, you feel good about yourself.
These are simple practices. They don’t require anything more than a change in mindset on your part. Simplicity can be powerful, and it is here. These are some of the things successful people do to turn their dreams into reality. They can give you the confidence to achieve all the important things in your life.
Being confident requires self discipline and many people struggle with this, so if you want to harness the power of self discipline, check out the featured resource below for a free report; download, read it and take action 🙂
So, you’ve got your blog all setup, you’re cranking out content, you’re getting traffic, and sales are… meh! This can be disheartening but hang in there!
If you’ve put in all the work and are at least getting some sales, it’s time to bring in some tactics that will help you make more sales from your efforts.
And if you ARE making sales, that’s a good sign as it shows that people are looking to you for your opinions and you can build on that.
So, here are six strategies you can start using right now to start making more sales blogging as an affiliate marketer.
As an affiliate blogger, your content is everything! It’s got to be absolutely incredible content that your audience wants to read. You can’t just throw some words together and expect the sales to start pouring in.
There are many online resources that will tell you the content that is getting the most engagement and you can look at that content and get ideas for your own content.
You could also try using PLR (Private Label Rights) content to use as a starting point for some of your blog posts, and as inspiration.
Now this is a little obvious, but if you have content on your blog that is already making you sales then if you can get more traffic to it, you will make more sales.
Of course, you can use free, organic traffic and SEO, but it isn’t really free as it takes time. But it is a good place to start and probably best for new marketers who will likely be watching their budget and may be nervous about spending money on ads.
Wouldn’t you invest $1 in ads to make more than that $1 investment back? Of course, so find out which blog posts you have that are doing the best and pay for all the traffic that you can.
Just make sure to test and track so you can ensure you’re making money on your advertising investment. This is not a novice strategy so don’t go running into this too quickly!
As an affiliate blogger you may think that they only way you can reach your audience is to… well… blog!
However, you can also use your blog to build your email list! Honestly, if you’re not doing this, you’re leaving a lot of money on the table.
The number one asset for any online business is their email list, so start building it from day 1. There are many posts on this site about email marketing and list building, such as Simple Email Marketing Tips and How To Write Emails That Get Read.
If you don’t use anything from all of the strategies I’m giving you here, make sure to at the very least use this one!
Build your list even if you’ve labeled yourself as a blogger because you will watch your sales go way up every time you send an email to your list!
One of the best strategies you’ll ever employ is video marketing, but in a very specific way.
Get on camera and show your blog readers the products and services that you’re recommending and promoting.
You also have many options for doing video marketing in this way. You can do comparison videos, screencam videos (you don’t even have to show your face with these) review videos, unboxing videos, and videos where you’re actually using the products.
You’ll be able to come up with many more ideas when you’re actually using the products and services, so make sure and take notes of any ideas you have and use this strategy!
Ok, I’m not recommending something illegal here, but I do recommend you find your competition and spy on them. I’m talking about the other affiliate marketing bloggers in your niche that you KNOW are making money and building a huge audience.
And of course, I am not saying to copy anyone. That’s ethically and legally wrong, but you can definitely research your competition and get ideas for your own strategies!
Always remember… Success leaves footprints and you should always be looking for those footprints.
I see a lot of affiliate bloggers out there with great content and they have a healthy size audience, but they just aren’t making a lot of sales.
The biggest reason is they aren’t telling their reader what to do.
You can’t just casually mention a product all of the time and expect sales. You have to actually tell your readers what to do and what benefit their going to get by doing it.
Of course, we want to tell them to click the link to get the thing that will solve their problem or help them or whatever the benefit is.
If making money is your number one reason for being an affiliate blogger, and your number two reason is to help and educate people there is absolutely nothing wrong with making money being your number one reason, so don’t be afraid to ask for the sale.
Start studying how to create “calls to action” that will make your readers click and buy through your affiliate links, and you’ll see your affiliate sales go through the roof!
There you go! That’s 6 different strategies you can use right now to start increasing your sales as an affiliate blogger. You don’t have to use them all at one time.
Pick one to start with right now, put it into use, tweak it until it’s working, and then come back and add another strategy. As you stack these strategies on top of each other your sales will continue to grow!
Follow these affiliate marketing tips, and you’ll be on the way to becoming a successful affiliate marketer in no time. And if you want to know more about affiliate marketing check out the featured resource below for a free report; download, read it and take action 😊
Before we start, if you want an explanation of what fear is, then read this post.
For you to learn how to conquer your fear and turn your fear into courage, you must understand the science of fear, and this is what leads us to the 5 things you probably never knew about fear.
Have you ever wondered why some people avoid fear while horror movie buffs and roller-coaster fans thrive on fear for pleasure?
Here are a few things to keep in your mind about fear.
Well, you’ll already have understood this by now since it was already mentioned earlier that fear can be a biochemical reaction. Triggering a strong physical reaction in your body, fear is as well experienced in your mind.
Your body as well prepares for fight-or-flight as you’ll find it easy to run for your life or start throwing punches due to the changes in blood flow.
Yes, fear can make you foggy. In case you’re not so sure about what the word “foggy” means, this simply means to be “befuddled” or “confused”. If you’re a movie buff, you’d have a clear idea of what this is about.
For example, let’s say a guy is getting “cozy” with his girlfriend and three armed persons forced their way in. If that guy is captivated by fear, you’d see how confused or perplexed he would be.
At that point, he won’t be able to think clearly and he’ll be so melted that his decision-making skills will suffer. When fear happens, there are some parts of the brain that stop working and there are also some parts that become very active. When fear sets in your body, the brain’s area that’s responsible for judgement and reasoning, the cerebral cortex, suffers an impairment.
Do you ever wonder why many love it when they get caught up in stressful, fearful, moments?
People who are a great fan of horror movies, haunted houses, and rollercoasters thrive on fear to derive pleasure, and for them, the excitement doesn’t come just during the activity but when it has ended because their brain and body stay aroused as the excitation transfer process occurs.
Pleasure is elicited as more of a chemical called dopamine gets produced during a staged fear experience.
Many tend to misconstrue fear with phobia not knowing that these two are clearly different. For instance, you may be experiencing more than just fear if the thought of basking on the beach makes you powerless, traumatized, and terrorized. On the other hand, you may just want to avoid swimming in the ocean because of a movie you just watched.
When you find it herculean to maintain a consistent quality of life and your ability to function is being interfered with, this is when fear becomes a phobia. Fears are how you commonly react to objects or events.
Yeah, that was clearly written; fear does keep you safe. Unlike what you may have thought, heard, or believed, fear keeps us safe and it’s very vital that we experience fear.
We all experience this natural and biological condition, fear, and even though it can have its negative consequences, it can also be positive and healthy because it’s a complex human emotion.
Meaning fear or horror, the Greek word “phobos” is where the word phobia comes from. Phobia is unlikely to cause harm and it’s simply an irrational fear of something. Fears associated with specific situations, medical issues, natural environments, or animals are some of what phobias typically involve.
There are certain situations and objects attributed to specific phobias and phobias can be further explicitly described to be an unrealistic, intense, and persistent fear of a particular situation or an object.
People who are phobic about something tend to manage to endure it with so much anxiety or fear or perhaps, strive to avoid whatever it is they have a phobia for.
However, note that the list of specific phobias is quite long because there’s an endless number of situations and objects. Phobias come in all sizes and shapes and there are five general categories where specific phobias typically fall within, as stated by some experts:
When one speaks of phobias, the list is endless. The five general ones and the list of many others have already been outlined. However, it seems that phobias never end as there are usually different phobias discovered by researchers and clinicians.
These medical experts have found it necessary to rise to the occasion of naming different phobias as they are identified. For this, they use the -phobia suffix and a relatable Latin or Greek prefix relating to the phobia to make up a name.
For instance, hydro (water) and phobia (fear) are combined to make hydrophobia which means the fear of water. We also have phobophobia which means the fear of fears.
Here they are:
Just as we have common phobias, you shouldn’t find it surprising that we also have unique phobias. We call these phobias unique because most people who have them tend not to report these unusual fears to their doctors and this makes them difficult to identify plus some of these phobias may only affect a handful of people at a time.
Since you now know that certain phobias tend to be incredibly specific and unusual, here are some of them:
A qualified mental health professional or a psychologist is the best person to speak to if you seek treatment for your phobia and this is simply because a combination of medications and therapy is what’s used to treat phobias.
Howbeit, exposure therapy is a type of psychotherapy that’s noted to be very effective in treating specific phobias. You’ll get to learn how to become less sensitive to whatever makes you fearful as you work with your psychologist during exposure therapy.
These medications do a lot of good in making exposure therapy less distressing but take note that they aren’t exactly a treatment for phobias for they are only to help you through the exposure therapy.
As you can appreciate, changing the way you think can have a huge impact on your life, and if you want to know more about developing an inspirational mindset for success, please click on the featured resource below for a free Strong Mindset report; download, read it and take action 😊
