“It seems everywhere I turn I sabotage my own success.”
Friends describe her as pessimistic. She thinks of herself as being a realist. Like most of us, she thinks she sees things as they really are. Sadly, she thinks things are really bad.
And she’s right.
Henry Ford is credited with the famous quote, “Whether you think you can, or you think you can’t–you’re right.”
So what do we do to help ourselves? What can we change to improve our self-talk and our mindset? Are we doomed to maintain an outlook on life – on our life – that sabotages our future success?
People can improve. We can change. We can learn.
Questions are worth asking…and perhaps more importantly, they’re worth answering. Let’s dive into them together to see if we can help ourselves.
Duke basketball fans are legendary. Just like Coach K and their years of fielding great teams. Speedo Guy was a student whose goal was to distract opposing players shooting free throws. His goal was to distract players away from their talent to successfully shoot free throws.
Universal wisdom tells us that distractions are counter productive. Focus, intensity and attention to detail. These are the tools of success. Distraction destroys these things. Don’t let yourself get distracted.
Well, universal wisdom isn’t true wisdom. It’s wrong! And we all know it.
Not all distractions are created equal. And they don’t all hinder us. Today, I’ll toss distractions into two categories and hopefully I’ll give you a few things to think about as you chase your dreams, try to solve your problems, build your business and try to simply live better.
Have you found a distraction that delivered high value to you?
Shel Silverstein is my kinda guy. He wrote the wildly successful book, A Light In The Attic.
There’s a light on in the attic.
Though the house is dark and shuttered,
I can see a flickerin’ flutter,
And I know what it’s about.
There’s a light on in the attic.
I can see it from the outside.
And I know you’re on the inside… lookin’ out.
Then there’s this…
Last night while I lay thinking here Some Whatifs crawled inside my ear And pranced and partied all night long And sang their same old Whatif song: Whatif I flunk that test? Whatif green hair grows on my chest? Whatif nobody likes me? Whatif a bolt of lightning strikes me?…
I’ve loved going up into the attic since I was a kid. Dusting off boxes, opening them up to see what hidden treasures they contained was fascinating. I’d look at stuff and wonder about the past. Getting lost in thought and memory was fun. Dreaming about the future was equally fun. How can you not think of the future when you’re remembering the past?
For some weeks now I’ve been wanting to pull out the stairs to the attic here. Today I went up there, turned on the light, dusted off a few boxes and opened them up to see what I might find. My hope was to dig out a few memories, connect a few dots and think about the future. Attics have often helped me do that…so I figured it was time.
It wasn’t a stomach bug, but it had created similar effects. Nausea. “It” was a conference call Tim Tebow had with reporters following his trade to the New York Jets. He’s so positive. Obnoxiously so.
Thanks to everybody (so far) for your feedback from episode 121. In today’s show I’ll begin by reviewing some of the feedback I’ve received. I had show notes (a very rough outline) that I quickly abandoned in today’s show. Time got away from me, as it is wont to do! You have only yourselves to blame though because the show is based on your feedback.
Here’s another show you can go back and check out after you listen to today’s show. You may find it helpful. It’s an epiphany episode (and those don’t come around nearly often enough). Yes, I reference Salty Droid in today’s show. If you know “the Droid” then you know part of the subject matter discussed in today’s show. Internet Marketing.
I admittedly have a bias in favor of one form of Internet marketing – affiliate marketing. My roots in commission sales likely have a lot to do with it. Just check out my resources page. It represents just a few of the products and services that I’ve used through the years…and found useful. If you trust me, you might consider them useful if they fit a need or desire. If you don’t trust me, then my recommendations have no value.
Every act of selling involves earning trust. Unfortunately, some sellers earn trust and they’re not worthy of it because they’re scoundrels. Buyer beware is still very sound advice and unlike our legal system, we ought to assume sellers are guilty of being scoundrels until they prove to us they’re not. If that sounds cynical, well, it is! But that cynicism has helped me live debt-free for much of my life.
Thanks for coming by the website to listen and watch. I greatly appreciate it. Your presence moderates my grumpiness and gives me hope that not everybody is an idiot (yeah, I’m looking at YOU).
Today’s show is a personal appeal. I’m not singing in The Yellow Studio, but I have before. Not nearly as well as John Lennon.
Here are the questions in today’s show:
1. If you create and consume content, how often do you do that? You may create content only weekly, but consume it hourly. I suspect we all tend to consume far more than we create.
2. What’s your schedule? Do you create content on a regular basis? Do you visit various content regularly?
3. Do you subscribe (either by email or RSS or any subscribe button) or do you just visit sites to consume their content?
4. How do you feel about the content created here? We’ll go ahead with a few more numbers under this heading (but don’t worry I’ve only got a few more questions). Rate my content on a scale of 1 to 5 with 1 being “I could care less” and 5 being “I can’t take my eyes or ears off of it.” (In the podcast I call this the final question, but the following questions are under the headline of this question so my numbering system may confuse you. Sorry.)
5. I should ditch this content: ______________ (fill in the blank). This is subject matter I should stop producing. (Yes, I call this number two.)
6. I should do more shows on this: _____________________ (fill in the blank). This is subject matter I should more heavily produce. (I call this one number three.)
7. Yes or No. I should stop producing video. (I call this one number four.)
8. Do you wish I would blog more? That is, I should just write posts without video or audio. (And this one is number five, confused yet? Me, too.)
9. I’m currently podcasting once a week. That is, a single audio only show comes out once a week. Is that enough, too much, not enough? (Here’s number 6.)
10. Is it just time for me to stop all this? Actually, this final question is just whatever feedback or suggestions you want to give me. (This is the final question. I called it number 7 and it’s the most important one.)
Email me or leave me voicemail feedback. Please, please, please!
Thank you for listening, watching and reading. Thank you for being part of my life. I hope I’m just a small resource to help you along the path. We’re all just a work-in-process.
More often than not, the pan is empty and the water is dirty.
Internet Marketing is like the gold rush…creating more fools than millionaires.
It’s likely Levi Strauss got more money than the richest 49’ers ever did. Here’s a nice little resource from Mrs. Thonus’s 3rd Grade Stars! Here’s a quote that might get your attention:
Then a man named Sam Brannan, a merchant from San Francisco, saw his opportunity to get rich! And he did it without ever mining for gold! He had heard about the news of gold on the river, the news most people dismissed as being just a rumor. Sam also knew about the law of “supply and demand” so he ran through the streets of San Francisco shouting about the discovery of gold. Brannan showed everyone a bottle filled with gold dust so they believed him. Mr. Brannan had a brilliant plan. Before he spread the news about the discovery of gold he had bought up all of the supplies the miners would need: pick axes, shovels, and pans. He sold miners pans for $15 each when he had bought them for only 20 cents before the Gold Fever hit. He made $36,000 in just two months and that was worth even more in 1848! He eventually became the richest man in California.
Today’s gold rush is the Internet. Shouting “there’s gold” garners lots of attention. Especially given the convergence of a bad economy and global connectivity. It’s a recipe sure to drive hoards of clamoring people who long to be rich into the waiting arms of Internet marketers making wild claims.
Too much money is going into the pockets of the folks selling the picks, shovels and pans. They know the “typical” customer won’t make enough money to offset the purchase of the picks, shovels and pans.
Buyer, beware! There’s one ingredient you need in order to succeed when you’re mining for gold. Listen up and I’ll tell you what it is.
Shel Silverstein is my kinda guy. He wrote the wildly successful book, 
