How many times have you told yourself that you must quit your job and try something else?
How many times have you paid for a gym membership, and yet, you haven’t set foot in the gym?
What if you could transform your life without actually making big changes? Think of it as a gradual process that you complete at your own pace. Here are six tiny steps to get started!
The first step is to open your mind and embrace change.
We are wired to resist any changes that disrupt our habits and living patterns.
Relax and be ready for whatever comes. Forget the old saying “no pain, no gain.”
Big, dramatic changes won’t necessarily produce big results. Sometimes, it’s the little things that matter.
Let’s say you want to relocate to a new city, but your parents disapprove.
They keep saying that you’ll feel alone, have trouble finding work, and waste a ton of money.
Stop caring about what others think of you. It’s your life, your decisions, your regrets. Focus on the things that make you happy, come up with a plan, and go for it!
No matter how much you want to change your life, be grateful for what you have right now.
Try to find joy in the smallest things, such as a walk in the park or the time spent reading a good book.
Negative thinking may be holding you back and increase your resistance to change.
The bigger your goal, the longer it takes to achieve it.
However, this shouldn’t put you down. On the contrary – take the time to celebrate and enjoy every step of the process.
The whole point is to be grateful for how far you’ve come.
Stick to the changes you have made. Don’t jump from one thing to the next.
Be consistent and take small steps toward your goals.
For instance, if you start meditating or practising yoga, do it every single day.
Want to build your own business? Do something in this regard on a daily basis. That could be setting up a blog, creating a Facebook fan page, or connecting with potential clients.
So, what are you waiting for? An awesome life is just a few steps away!
And to help you along the way, let’s look at some books that can really inspire you along the journey
Books have the power to change lives. Whether you’re getting ready to start a new career, leave your relationship, or start a side hustle, grab a good book that relates to your goals.
It might exactly be what you need to gain new insights and find your inner drive.
To help you out, we’ve made a list of the best books for developing small changes:
Habit Stacking: 127 Small Changes To Improve Your Health, Wealth, And Happiness
Need a step-by-step plan to improve your health, feel happier, and attract more money in your life?
Then this book is a must read! Inside, you’ll find a list of 127 small changes that you can implement on a daily basis. Most of them only take five minutes or less to complete.
The book also features nine routine samples that will boost your productivity and bring you closer to your goals.
You will learn the three types of habits you need to build and how to incorporate them into your life.
Mini Habits: Smaller Habits, Bigger Results
If you keep setting goals and failing to achieve them, then this book is for you.
Mini Habits relies on the premise that small changes drive big results.
It will show you how to consistently build small habits that will change your life for the better.
Over 95 percent of people fail to lose weight. If you fall into this category, it’s time to change your approach to dieting and exercise.
With this handy book, you will learn how to change your lifestyle and develop healthier habits effortlessly.
The strategies featured inside rely on extensive biological and neuroscience research, so they are sure to work. Your only job is to apply them and be consistent.
The Healthy Habit Revolution: Create Better Habits in 5 Minutes a Day
What if you could change your habits and build a better life in just five minutes a day? That’s what this book is all about.
The Healthy Habit Revolution will show you how to develop daily habits that support your goals and keep you motivated.
You will find out why your efforts have failed in the past and what it honestly takes to become more productive and reach your goals.
We’ve all heard the old saying Less is more. It applies to all aspects of our lives, including goal setting and the development of new habits.
The Power of Less will teach you how to create new, better habits by narrowing your focus.
By the time you finish reading it, you’ll work less and smarter, feel motivated, and enjoy a more fulfilling life.
Is clutter standing in the way of you doing your best work? Likely it is. In fact, it’s one of the biggest challenges to your productivity.
Are you constantly searching for client files, notes, or even something to write with?
Is it a nightmare to find a file on your hard drive or the cloud because you lack an organizational structure and/or an effective file-naming convention?
Do you have a dozen tabs open on your computer at any one time? Yes, that’s a form of clutter, too.
Are there stacks of books, papers, or even coffee cups or dishes sitting on your desk?
Are your file drawers crammed with paperwork that’s no longer needed and which belongs in the trash can?
No wonder it’s hard to focus or get anything done. And, even if you do accomplish anything, you’re probably not feeling your best when you work under these cluttered conditions.
Across the board, clutter is often fueling these uneasy feelings and your lack of productivity. It has a way of sucking the life out of you, distracting you from what’s most important, and derailing your success.
You can’t increase your productivity by reading a book or taking a class. You actually need to take action.
After that’s done, you’ll start to see the effects — increased productivity.
Let’s focus on some basic components of your work environment.
A cluttered and messy office is no place to expect your best work. And, while some people believe that’s where they get their best work done, imagine what they could accomplish if working in a completely upgraded environment! Here are some simple tips for helping you to create an environment for success.
Put away everything that belongs in your desk drawers or file cabinet.
If you find things that don’t belong in your office, then take them to wherever they belong and put them away.
Bonus tip: Discard anything you haven’t used in the past year. If you haven’t used it in that time, odds are you never will.
Clear everything from the top of your desk and wipe it down.
Prior to placing things back on top of your desk, evaluate each item to make sure you actually need it front and center.
If not, then put it away or throw it away. Reduce visual distractions as much as possible.
Bonus tip: Wipe down your desk phone and/or smartphone. They’re a haven for germs.
Gather all your Post-It notes and scraps of paper.
For the remainder, type them into a digital document for safekeeping.
Bonus tip: If they include items you need to reference, keep the one page document easily accessible on your desktop or stored in a top desk drawer.
If you have boxes or stacks of items on your office floor, go through them and discard everything you can. Again, if you haven’t used something in the past year, discard it or give it away.
Discarding is the better choice so that it can be recycled.
Bonus tip: Go through your bookcase and get rid of any books you also own digitally.
Box up any others that are outdated and either give them to the library or recycle them.
Technology produces its own brand of clutter.
Close down any tabs that you have open on your computer except for those that apply to your current work.
Bonus tip: Turn off any gadgets except the ones you need to do your core work tasks. You’ll get more done faster and easier without added distractions.
By implementing these simple tips, you’ll be well on your way to clearing the clutter in your office and reducing distraction.
You’ll love the result. You’ll be more energized, less anxious, and more focused on your work. Investing a little bit of time today to prepare your work environment will make a noticeable difference in your productivity!
Outsourcing is the smart marketers most potent weapon and something that you need to seriously consider as early in your business career as possible.
Is it a scary prospect to pay someone to work for you? Yes, but if done right, this should be seen as an investment rather than an expense and the return on investment in your new team member can explode your business growth.
I certainly wish I’d started earlier, but fear kept me back; would I waste a lot of money etc.?
So, to help you feel more confident, let’s show you 7 ways you can outsource and get the maximum bang for you buck.
Let’s be candid – You can discover these outsourcing secrets the easy way or the hard way, but you’re going to find this out sooner or later.
The hard way is the way most marketers do it. They make mistakes when outsourcing, lose time and / or money, and then learn from their mistakes.
I propose we cut out all that nonsense and I’ll just tell you what you need to know here and now.
Ready?
Reason why: If you don’t, you’ll waste half of each day doing things like answering support tickets, changing email addresses for members who changed their email address (yes, that is a thing) issuing refunds, answering questions and so forth.
Your focus should be on building your business, not answering support tickets (“When I log in, I see a funny thing at the top that says I’m logged in… is that what it’s supposed to say?”) I’m not kidding, that is a real support ticket I once received.
Another reason why: Your virtual assistant who is handling your support can shield you from the negative ninnies.
What’s a “negative ninny,” you ask? It’s that person who buys your product and then rants on for 6 pages on how awful your product is, how awful you are and so forth.
You don’t need to hear that stuff. Just tell your V.A. to handle it for you without ever telling you about it. (In this case, refunding the person and removing them from every list is all that’s required.)
And by the way, if you’re thinking that your products will be so great, everyone will love them, well then, I know you haven’t created any products yet.
I don’t care if you invent the method for turning pixels into gold, someone will hate it. And that’s okay, as long as you don’t have to hear about it.
So, let’s say you want to outsource website building, content creation, product creation, sales writing, software creation and so forth.
That’s the project to outsource first.
Maybe you pay someone to create a product for you, and then you turn around and sell that product to hundreds of buyers. BOOM! You’ve just made your money back and much more.
But what if you don’t have any customers yet? And no list? Then maybe you need to outsource the building of your squeeze page so you can start list building so you can start selling stuff to your list.
Whatever will put you in profit first is the thing you need to outsource first. This way you’re not coming out of pocket by thousands and thousands of dollars without seeing a return.
You want to know going in what it’s going to cost you to get a specific job done. And a true professional will be able to tell you exactly what it will cost.
So not only don’t they know exactly what the job will cost – they also don’t know if the outsourcer is dragging the job out longer to make it pay more. Yes, it’s been known to happen.
The exception to the non-hourly rule?
Your virtual assistant or customer service person. Because of the nature of their work, in most cases paying them by the hour is the way to go.
Did you create a new product, but you haven’t edited yet? Or maybe you haven’t built the website or made the sales letter.
All the time you invested in creating that product is going to waste.
Outsource someone to do what you haven’t done, so you can get it online and start making sales as fast as possible.
Sure, you love building websites, but let’s face it: You haven’t updated your website skills since 2007. Or you know how to write sales copy, but you HATE doing it.
Those are things you should be outsourcing.
By focusing on your strengths as well as strategically planning your business, and letting other experts handle the rest of the work, you’ll make more money faster than if you try to do everything yourself.
There may come a time very soon when you have a system in place for making money. It could be as simple as create a product in your niche, write several pieces of content preparing people for the product, record several videos leading up to the launch, and then launching.
Yet all of that is a lot of work. You’ve got sales copy to write, JV’s to contact, swipe emails to write, etc.
If you can afford it, outsource everything you can so that you can focus on working ON your business instead of IN your business.
Sort of a no-brainer, don’t you think?
If you already have an online business, or you’re in the process of building one and you haven’t yet outsourced something, then odds are it’s simply because fear is holding you back.
Go to somewhere like Fiverr, Upwork, Freelancer or Craigslist and outsource a small job, just to see how it works.
I promise, you’ll be hooked, and your business will grow twice as fast.
There is not a seven-figure internet marketer out there who doesn’t outsource. So, isn’t it about time you did, too?
Well, there is a lot more to be learnt about outsourcing; far more than can be covered in this short post, but if you’d like to know more about this, then click on the featured resource below where you can pick up a free report that covers this topic in more detail. Download it, read it and take action 🙂
In the old days, just about everything online was based on text and images. It wasn’t because people weren’t interested in watching video; it was simply a matter of the slow streaming and download speeds that were common at the time made them virtually impossible to watch without the dreaded buffering ruining the experience.
It could take several hours to download a single movie, or 10-20 minutes to download a music video and the vast majority of people just don’t have the patience to wait that long.
These days, smooth streaming is possible in many areas of the world because download speeds are getting faster all the time. It’s now possible to stream full HD videos with little to no buffering in a large portion of the world.
Now that internet speeds have made this possible, video has quickly taken over as the type of media that most people prefer to consume online.
Even websites which previously focused primarily on text or image content have now moved toward video, including Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and more.
You may be wondering if video could even be helpful for your business.
Perhaps you’re in a market that doesn’t usually make use of videos often but does that mean that you should ignore it?
Absolutely not, and it may just make you stand out from your competitors if there is a lack of video in your niche.
The truth is, just about any market you can think of can benefit from the use of videos.
For example, think about a local paint contractor. You might think the company would have no use for video, but this is one way such a company could actually stand out from the crowd.
Most people in similar businesses just post photos of their work on their websites and social media, but videos could increase their business in many ways.
For example, using videos could:
Almost any type of website can benefit from the use of video.
Restaurants can use it to show the sizzle of the steaks they serve. Professionals who offer a service can use it to demonstrate their abilities.
Retail websites can show how well their products work, or how high the quality of their material is. Tutorial websites can create lessons that make it easier for students to learn.
Videos can enhance nearly every site, but a lot of people are worried that it’s too hard to create videos.
However, that simply isn’t the case any more. You can use basic tools which are free or very cheap, such as Screencast-o-matic to record basic videos.
And if you have a webcam, you can record both your screen and yourself at the same time.
In fact, these days creating simple videos is not much harder than sending an email or posting on a blog. If you already have a blog or website, you are definitely capable of making videos.
There are plenty of services that make it easy to create videos, including:
Animoto >> warr.us/Animoto
Vidnami (Content Samurai) >> warr.us/ContentSamurai
Rocketium >> warr.us/Rocketium
Doodly >> warr.us/Doodly
These services will have you cranking out all sorts of videos from sexy animated videos to doodle and whiteboard videos in next to no time at all.
And you will probably want to edit videos too and this is where Camtasia comes in.
Camtasia is a very powerful and user-friendly tool to make editing you videos a cinch.
And if you want to master Camtasia, you should really take a look at Camtasia Mastery as it is an incredibly comprehensive video training course taking you through all the editing options and tricks to make the most out of Camtasia.
Finally, let’s look at some ways to use videos profitably — how to really make the most out of your videos.
Here are a few great ideas for ways to incorporate video onto your websites:
The best way to use video is explained in a fantastic training called Video Marketing Insider and this is quite simply the best course on video marketing that I know and the creator is constantly adding and updating the content.
Plus you also get access to a number of softwares when you sign up so I suggest you check out Video Marketing Insider as soon as possible.
If you want to dive a bit deeper, then there are another couple of posts that you may find useful which cover the benefits of video in marketing in more detail and you can find part 1 here and part 2 here.
OK, there you have it. A quick overview of why you should be using video in your business and a few tips on how to incorporate them. Now get recording…
Every day we have choices to make. Wake up early and go to the gym, or get an extra hour of sleep? Pack a healthy lunch to take to work, or buy something when lunchtime rolls around?
Throw a little extra money in your savings account, or buy that new gadget or pair of shoes you’ve been eyeballing all month?
Deep down inside, we know which actions will yield the best results. Yet many of us struggle with making the best decisions – and fail to reach our full potential as a result. How do we overcome these challenges? Self-discipline is the answer.
If you want to be successful and reach your goals, self-discipline is the most crucial skill to master. Frequently, the best choices aren’t the fastest, easiest, or most pleasant.
Improving your ability to do what is best for you regardless of initial desire is the only way to make consistent progress in life.
As such, if self-discipline is your foundational skill, you grow more effective in everything you do.
When you develop a stronger sense of self-control, you can expect multiple improvements across many areas of your life including health, success, relationships and more, so it is a really important skill to learn how to master, don’t you think?
Here are 7 benefits of self-discipline.
First, improving your self-discipline leads to improved physical health.
Exercising control over the quality and quantity of food you consume, establishing a regular fitness routine, and drinking enough water help you maintain a healthy weight, reduce your chances of illness and disease, and increase your chances of longevity and vitality later in life.
With better health comes increased energy and a better sense of well-being which will help you to get more done and have more success which leads us nicely into point number 2.
Next, self-discipline helps you make choices that lead to higher academic and career success.
Sometimes you must choose between studying longer hours and spending time out with friends, or staying late after work to complete a project and heading home to relax.
This is especially important if you are an entrepeneur/solopeneur; you must be able to focus on the long term strategy for your business and practice delayed gratification by ploughing any profits you make in the beginning back into your business.
Third, self-discipline improves your relationships because you become a person who follows through on your commitments.
People in your life learn they can trust you to do what you say you will, and they view you more favorably.
If you keep your word, people will respond to that but if you are someone who says one thing but does another, this will make people think you unreliable or maybe even dishonest, so having the self-discipline to keep to your commitments will really help all types of relationship flourish.
Next, gaining better control over your finances is another direct benefit of self-discipline and this one cannot be underestimated!
It is linked to point 2 above where you practice delayed gratification now to have a better reward later.
That’s not to say you pinch pennies and sacrifice quality of life.
Self-discipline isn’t supposed to make you miserable. Instead, it’s about weighing the pros and cons and making decisions that bring you closer to your goals.
Examples of financial self-discipline that don’t require total restriction include regularly putting a certain percentage of each paycheck into your savings account or sticking to a budget that allocates a certain amount of money each month for discretionary spending. You still get to enjoy the present, though, not at the expense of your future.
Another benefit of growing more self-disciplined is that you’ll have fewer regrets because you make better choices in the first place.
You’ll eliminate such problems as saying the wrong thing at the wrong time because you’re disciplined enough to think before speaking.
This will also affect how you live and enjoy life. You will need to takes risks occasionally, but they should be considered risks.
You don’t want to be one of those people who ends up saying things like “If only I…” or “What if…” and has so many regrets in their life.
Use your self-discipline to make informed choices and to make great decisions to move you life in the way you want.
With an ever-growing list of things vying for our attention, it seems that time is often in short supply.
One of the best benefits of self-discipline is improved management of your time.
For example, social media can be the ultimate time-killer if you don’t exercise self-control.
While it can be useful at times, you can easily fall into the trap of mindlessly scrolling through news feeds when you could be completing other tasks.
It is a real positive feedback loop which can have a dramatic impact on the way you achieve the things you really want.
Finally, self-discipline helps you complete tasks and projects that you start, even when you lose steam or desire.
Motivation is always high at the beginning of a new goal.
Whether it’s a new diet plan, a new business idea, or even new relationships to a certain degree, when things are fresh, there is nothing but excitement and stimulation ahead.
Yet over time, motivation fades, challenges arise, reality sets in, and its tempting to go back to something more familiar or move on to the next shiny object.
Exercising self-control and choosing to finish what you start, within reason, even when you lose motivation and desire means you not only have the finished project under your belt, but you’ve learned lessons and acquired skills you wouldn’t have had you quit.
As the American writer, philosopher and artist, Elbert Hubbard once said, “Self-discipline is the ability to do what you should do, when you should do it, whether you feel like it or not.”
These 7 factors may seem like small things when taken individually but they stack up and if you do manage to get a hold of your self-discipline, you should see a dramatic impact on the way you live your life and what you can achieve and isn’t that worth it?
