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9 Ways To Increase Your Self-Discipline

9 Ways To Increase Your Self-Discipline

Becoming self-disciplined is a process, and the quality of being disciplined is like a skill. The more you practice it, the better you’ll get at it.

Just like all skills, you’ll need to follow a system to master self-discipline. There are many books out there on this subject and many ways to go about it.

Generally, the fundamentals are the same no matter which book you read.

This article will simplify the process for you so that you can get started today without having to read a 200-page book.

So, are you ready to boost your self discipline? OK, let’s get started…

Know What Your Goals Are

If you don’t know where you’re going, you’re not going to get anywhere. In order for you to exercise self-discipline, you’ll need a goal that challenges you – and most worthwhile goals will.

Are you trying to lose weight? Or do you want financial freedom? Maybe you want to be a better parent? Or become a popular author?

The goal doesn’t matter as much as having one. List a few goals that you’ve always wanted to achieve.

Focus On What Matters

Once you have the list, it’s time to focus on one goal. If you’re ambitious, you can focus on 2 or 3 goals. But you shouldn’t bite off more than you can chew.

Self-discipline requires willpower and mental energy. Since our daily energy is finite for all of us, trying to do too much will wear you down. When your energy is low, you’ll have less self-discipline and be more prone to make mistakes.

So, it’s best to only focus on one or two goals at a time and give it our best when it comes to being disciplined.

Know Your Reason Why

It’s important to know why you want to achieve the goals you have set for yourself. Dig deep and find out the emotional reason behind your desire. For example, if you’re trying to lose weight – it might be because you want to appear attractive to the opposite sex.

If you’re desperate to own your own business, it could be because you hate your job, and you hate your boss even more.

There are no right or wrong answers here, but it’s imperative that you know your “why” for achieving the goal. When the going gets tough, you’ll need to look at why you’re doing what you’re doing – and this will motivate you to stay disciplined, so you achieve your goal.

Fix What’s Broken

Very often, if you’re not where you want to be, it’s because something is broken in your daily life. Almost always, it comes down to your habits.

Maybe you’re eating too much junk food which explains your excess weight. Maybe you’re spending uncontrollably, and that’s why you’re in debts.

Analyzing your situation will show you what’s broken. You’ll then need to know what new habits you need to build to overcome the problem and help you achieve your goal.

Once you know what habits you need, it’s a matter of harnessing self-discipline to achieve them.

Never Stop Improving

It’s always best to make small, gradual improvements. Trying to climb a mountain in a day is impossible and you’ll just end up quitting.

By taking small steps daily towards your goals, you’ll ultimately achieve them. So, build self-discipline by completing small tasks first. Then slowly and surely keep seeking improvement until you’re unstoppable.

Follow A Daily Plan

Having a plan will mean that you know what you need to do daily. A routine is crucial for success. Your mind loves structure. By giving it a daily plan to follow, you’ll build the habits you need to achieve your goals.

Self-discipline becomes easier when you have a daily routine. As the days go by, you’ll go through the motions without much struggle.

These efforts will compound, and you’ll reach your goal much faster.

Be Compliant And Accountable

Aim for 85% to 95% compliance with your routine and habits. No matter how disciplined you are, you will make a mistake and give in to temptation here and there.

If your compliance is 85 percent and above, you’ll definitely be on track to achieving your goals.

Find an accountability partner who will hold you accountable to the actions you are determined to achieve, and if for some reason you’re not quite on track, they can help you to get back on track

Forgive Yourself When You Fail

Willpower can fail you at times. You may suddenly binge eat at night because you can’t control your food cravings.

Or you may skip a workout because you just had a fight with your spouse and you’re not in the mood. Or maybe you binge watched a Netflix show and neglected to do your work because the show hooked you.

These things happen. You must forgive yourself and carry on moving forward.

So many people make a cardinal error by aiming for perfection. The moment they slip up, they feel like they’ve failed, and the entire goal has gone to waste.

They then decide to just let themselves go and carry on with the bad habits and give up on their goal. All because they slipped up once and think it’s ‘game over’.

It’s not. You still have some ways to go. Acknowledge your mistake and analyze why you slipped up.

Maybe you need to remove all snacks from your kitchen, so you don’t binge eat at night. Or maybe you should workout first thing in the morning, so you don’t skip your training sessions.

Once you figure out a way to rectify future mistakes, you’ll increase your compliance and prevent future slip-ups. Self-discipline is easier when conditions are right.

Never Give Up

Last but not least, all worthy goals take time to achieve. Consistent effort over time creates greatness.

If it were fast and easy, everyone would do it. The reward comes from the way things are set up. You must pay the price for your goal. That price is sweat, effort, time, consistency, patience, and self-discipline.

If you lose patience, you’ll end up quitting and lose the battle. So, stay the course even if it’s taking you several months or years. The grander the goal, the longer it will take.

Keep these 9 tips in mind when trying to become self-disciplined. Discipline is doing what needs to be done, even when you don’t want to do it. It won’t be easy… but it will be worth it.

As you can see, self-discipline is an important skill to master, and if you want to increase your power of self discipline then check out the featured resource below for a free detailed report; download, read it and take action 😊

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5 Benefits Of Affiliate Marketing

5 Benefits Of Affiliate Marketing

We are living in the age of technology and information. The world is basically a global village thanks to different communication platforms such as social media sites and mobile telephony.

Affiliate marketing is a concept that has been built primarily on the platform of information communication and technology. What are some of its benefits?

Low Investment

To the entrepreneur, marketing costs are considered a necessary evil because they consume a lot of resources but still have to be incurred all the same. You can’t create brand awareness and increase the number of sales without properly investing in product marketing.

Internet marketing has provided businesses with a great way of running marketing campaigns while cutting down on costs.

Affiliate marketing is even better at this because you only pay the affiliates or publishers depending on the number of sales made. Without creating conversions, the affiliates earn no pay and the business does not incur unnecessary expenses.

Efficient

Using minimal resources, you can reach a high number of customers. The program is efficient because it makes use of the internet and social media sites that are frequented by several potential customers.

The traditional methods are expensive and may not even reach the target market. A consumer is more likely to notice an advertisement on the internet as opposed to other media such as billboards and radio.

Work From Home

It’s always nice to be your own boss. The challenge that most people and especially young people face is the lack of capital to start a new venture. Affiliate marketing does not need any premises or capital to start.

As long as you have a computer and access to the internet, you can be well on your way to self-employment and financial freedom.

It is an ideal way to generate capital and also find your footing as you begin your journey to self-employment. It is also a perfect home-based business that can give you some good income.

Little Or No Experience

Once you learn the basic concepts of affiliate marketing, you can succeed in it as long as you are willing to put in work and learn along the way.

You don’t have to possess experience to successfully participate in an affiliate program. There are a lot of resources available even on the internet to help you find your way through.

Track Marketing Campaign Effectiveness

It is very difficult to determine the exact impact of most marketing campaigns but with the affiliate program, that is very much possible. A marketing team can keep track of the sales generated as a result of the marketing efforts and change strategies if the situation warrants it.

It is always important to assess the direct impacts of a marketing campaign because if that is not done, a company may spend a lot of resources for nothing.

It is also possible to get instant feedback from customers and that helps so much in improving customer service by designing products and services that match their preferences.

These are some of the benefits of the affiliate marketing program that merchants, publishers and even customers can get to enjoy.

So, as you can see, affiliate marketing is an incredibly viable online business model and if you want to get started, then you need to start using your blog…

How To Run Successful Affiliate Marketing Campaigns On Your Blog

A blog is fairly easy to set up. The most important thing is usually the functionality. Will visitors find it easy to access the content that they need? Will they find the content useful? How easy is it to use the different icons available on the site?

These are some basic questions that one must ask before setting up a blog. It therefore calls for a user-friendly interface that can appeal to the different types of people that access your blog on a regular basis.

Over the last five years, blogs have become very popular. Not only have they given several aspiring content creators a platform to grow their talent, they are also a part of social media that makes communication and reaching of a target audience easier.

What are some of the principles to observe when using your blog to run affiliate marketing campaigns?

Create A Good First Impression

What sort of vibe will visitors receive when they first visit your blog? This is important because it sets the entire tone for subsequent engagements.

Good first impressions will encourage visitors to read the blog content and even click on the affiliate links.

You therefore also have to focus on the design so that it’s attractive and user-friendly. Too many cluttered advertisements send the wrong signals to visitors. The first thing that will come to mind is that you are only after making money. Let the headlines and lists portray the blog as a place where visitors can actually find useful information.

Content Before Affiliate Link

It’s like building a relationship. It takes time and a little convincing. Create content that is useful to the customer before guiding them to an affiliate link. T

he information provided will be enough to build trust and convince them to take a look at what the blog is promoting. You should also make sure that the content created is tied to the product being promoted.

Promote Genuine Products

There is nothing more difficult to rebuild than trust once it’s lost. When customers click on the affiliate links and then end up buying the products, they are in actual sense buying your advice.

You convinced them that the product was great and that’s why they made the decision to purchase.

If their expectations are not met, you will be viewed as a liar who is only out to enrich himself or herself. Promote only genuine products on your blog, more so those that you have already used. You can try and describe them well and at the same time share your experience.

Focus On What Brings You The Most Income

Do not fill your blog with adverts that will not bring you any meaningful income. Focus on brands and products that will give you reasonable commission.

After all, the reason why you are carrying out affiliate marketing on your blog is so that you can make some cash.

Make Use Of A Tools Page

Such a page on your blog consists of useful links to products or websites that are related to your area of specialization. Visitors can find these links helpful and discover products that they were originally not looking for. It’s a win-win situation.

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 😊

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Stop Chasing Happiness And Find Fulfillment Instead

Stop Chasing Happiness And Find Fulfillment Instead

Stop Chasing Happiness And Find Fulfillment Instead

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

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.

We say things like, “If I buy that shiny, red car, I’ll be happy.” or “Once I have my own house, I’ll finally be happy.”

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.

Fulfillment

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.

This makes it possible to bring the locus of control inward. Thus, you feel stronger and more empowered.

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.

How To Find Fulfillment

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.

Know Thyself

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.

You can do that by thinking of a moment when you felt most fulfilled. What about that specific event made you feel this way?

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.

Help Others

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.

Create Connections

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.

Be Grateful

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.

Being thankful each day can help you overcome challenging times and give you the support you need to get back up and keep trying to reach your potential.

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 🙂

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How To Pick An Email Service That Is Right For You

How To Pick An Email Service That Is Right For You

How To Pick An Email Service That Is Right For You

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:

  • You can purchase a third-party email service provider, or
  • You can purchase a script that you install on your own site so you completely control all aspects of your list.

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.

You’ll need to be talking to internet service providers, you’ll need to be finding out why your emails are being blacklisted, and so much more. Plus if you get accused of spam – even falsely – your domain and website can be taken away from you.

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…

Step 1: Start With A Reputable Company

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.

This includes removing low-quality (spamming) accounts from its own service as well as working with ISPs and email providers to improve deliverability.

A good ESP will also include a built-in spam checker so that you can tweak your emails to avoid spam folders and filters.

Step 2: Review The Service’s Features

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.

Step 3: Determine What Other Features You Will Need

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.)

Step 4: Make Your Choice!

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:

  • Active Campaign
  • Aweber
  • GetResponse
  • ConvertKit
  • MailChimp
  • iContact

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.

Note that before you choose an ESP, you’ll want to be sure to read the terms of service and other applicable documents carefully. That way, you’ll know if the way you want to use the ESP falls within the service’s acceptable-use policy guidelines.

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.

Conclusion

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 😊

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7 Ways To Become More Confident

7 Ways To Become More Confident

7 Ways To Become More Confident

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.

Not Caring What Others Think Can Boost Your Confidence

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.

On the other hand, the people that truly love and respect you won’t be kicking you when you’re down. These two facts mean you’re wasting your time if you’re concerned about what other people may be thinking about you.

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.

Start Acting “As If” You Can

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.

Take Small Steps To Grow Your Comfort Zone

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.

Be careful with this. Those researchers also found that when people took huge leaps out of their comfort zone the end results were not favorable.

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

Build A Confidence Support Team

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.

Visualize, Rehearse And Practice

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.

You can also enjoy being your most confident self by rehearsing or practicing. It’s not always possible to practice something you’re going to have to attempt. When it is possible, get those practice sessions in.

Rehearse and rehearse and rehearse.

Be Calm … Learn To Relax

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.

Start Helping People

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.

This gets those positive hormones and neurotransmitters doing what they do best … making you feel confident and self-assured. Reach out to someone in need and help them. Do this regularly and you’ll enjoy more self-assuredness and confidence.

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 🙂

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