How And Why To Turn Your New Year's Resolutions Into Goals

Here comes 2017.  Let the countdown begin!  Are you ready to start and fail to achieve your New Year's resolutions once again?  I don't mean to insult your resolve: "I'm going to do it this year for sure!"  Over at StatisticBrain.com they have some sobering stats about New Year's resolutions.  Did you know that for 2015,

Only 8% of people were successful in achieving their resolutions.

24% of people who make resolutions (only 45% of all Americans usually make resolutions) never succeed and fail each time.

I can believe these stats.  After all, before I got a hold of Brian Tracy's, "Goals! How to get everything you want--faster than you ever thought possible," I was a statistic myself...


The year was 2006 and I was going to turn 30 in September.  I was having a mid-life crisis.  Laughable, but true.  I told my ex-wife, wife #1, that I wanted to buy myself a Classic car.  I verbalized my New Year's resolution to her: I will save more money each month until my birthday.

To make a long story short, I saved nothing, nada, zippo, but I still bought an $8000, 1965 Corvair Monza coupe.  I had to ship it from Las Vegas to California.  Filled with false emotion that this car would somehow make me feel like I was accomplishing a bucket list item, and with my ex-wife's permission, I tapped into our emergency fund within our Brokerage account to pay for the car.

Not my Monza.  Mine was white.

To this day, it is my dumbest financial move.  I sold the car to raise money for Jessica's, wife numero dos, engagement ring and I only got $3500 as we were dead smack in the middle of the financial crisis.  Lesson learned: never buy a big ticket item high on emotion to fill a void you "think" you have.  But the bigger lesson is that I failed to achieve my New Year's resolution, and it depleted my emergency fund as a result.

Why did I fail my New Year's resolution?  For starters, the resolution was very vague.  This is the one mistake all people make.  When you have a resolution like, "I will enjoy life to the fullest," you are bound NOT to enjoy life to the fullest.  That happened to be 2016's top resolution by the way, according to Time.com/money.  What does enjoying life to the fullest look like?  Are you skydiving everyday?  Are you climbing Mt. Everest once a month?  Are you visiting Venice and riding a gondola with your significant other?  What?!

See you don't have to be specific to fail at a resolution, but you do have to be specific to succeed with a goal.  In addition to being specific when re-writing your resolutions, because that's what I want you to do, you'll need to have a timetable of by when to have your resolution completed.  Lastly, make sure your resolution-goal is achievable.  If you want to "save more money," you wouldn't state that you want to save $2000 a month (specific) when your monthly income is just above $3000 (not achievable).

Let me help you out by giving you some examples of resolutions turned into goals.

Resolution: I will save more money.
Goal: I will save $2400 in 2017 by saving an average of $200 every month.

Resolution: I will live life to the fullest.
Goal: By January 31st, I will have gone on a hot air balloon ride with my significant other.

Resolution: I will lose weight.
Goal:  By March 31st, I will have lost 6 pounds (2 pounds a month on average) utilizing a combination of dieting and exercising.

Big difference right?  With goals, you can have benchmarks that let you know if you're being accountable.  Resolutions completely let you off the hook.  This is why you fail to achieve them!  There's no personal accountability in them.

Please don't do resolutions for 2017 unless you convert them into specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and timely (S.M.A.R.T) goals.  I mean, are you really going to make your resolutions happen this year taking the same approach you took last year, and the year's before?  Chances are that you're not.

Take a deep breath, get a piece of paper and a pencil, and write out your resolutions.  Are they lame?  If so, convert them to goals as I've shown you above.  And just try it out.  You may be surprised by the outcomes and 2017 could in fact be your best year ever!

Thank you for reading.  If you liked this post and want to automate getting them in your inbox, please subscribe to this blog.  See the big, shiny red email widget above on the left?  Don't be lazy, type your email in there!  Until next time.  And...

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!                

10 Easy Financial Moves To Make Before The New Year

December is a month that is stressful, but not because we're still going all out on building a better tomorrow for ourselves.  Rather, December becomes almost a lost month because we have to (if we celebrate Christmas) go shopping for gifts, get online and comparison shop for bargains, book trips and travel, host relatives, and prepare fancy meals.  All of this is daunting.



Watching television is all people can think about doing with the little energy they have left.  I don't blame them.  Heck, I had to give in the other day to my wife's request to take a break and watch the movie, Pitch Perfect, in its entirety.  Confession: I loved Pitch Perfect!  I'll give you a right hook in the mouth if you make fun of me.    

Similarly, looking ahead to an imaginative start like that represented by the new year makes it easy for us let go of the gas.  Have you started decelerating?  You think, "In a few days the hew year will begin and I can start my New Year's resolutions.  I can relax for now."  People, January 1st is nothing but a number!  To successful people, the first day of the year is just another Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday...



Far be it from me to make you feel guilty about your usual December letdown.  I'd rather inspire you to take part in some easy to do financial moves so you can feel great about starting the new year.  In no particular order, these moves are:

1.  Declutter and donate.  Imagine you have to set up for a yard sale happening tomorrow.  Now go through all of the closets in the house and find clothes that no longer fit, ties that are out of style, and clothes you don't ever want to see on your child/husband again.  Stuff these in a plastic bag and donate them to the Salvation Army.  Get a receipt.  Now you have another deductible item for your 2016 taxes.  Hint: You can also donate toys and knickknacks.

2.  Update Your Beneficiaries.  2017 may be the year you die.  As a cyclist, I'm always only a few feet from getting walloped by a car.  This is why I make sure I check who's getting my retirement, bank account, and annuity money, life insurance payoff, and investment homes.  I had a divorce in 2007 and I needed to get my ex-wife off my assets like pronto, yo!  Did you get a divorce?  Did you have kids in 2016?  Better check who's gettin' your money!

3.  Create a budget for January.  Why should your budget, if you have one, be any different in January?  Well, did you overspend on your gifts this year?  Chances are you did.  In fact, most people go over their Christmas gift budget by 20%.  You have to make up this shortfall.  You can do it all in January or you can adjust February's budget as well so you make it easier on yourself to tighten the belt.

4.  Make a quick will.  Google: "will template, (insert your state)."  You'll get a template that you can download, and fill-in blanks within a short amount of time for free.  It's not a long-term solution until you can have it reviewed by an estate attorney, but it will do for now.  It's better than nothing.

5.  Shred files with your social, credit card info, etc.  If you're like me, you probably have a shoe box full of envelopes with letters from your bank, investment houses, credit card companies, and so on.  What if someone were to break into your home?  Is this info you want accessible to an intruder, or even someone you think is trustworthy that happens to be staying in your home?  Shred those documents.  Keep only electronic versions of your tax returns, password protected.  If you have hard copies, shred them if they're more than 3 years old and go electronic from now on.

6.  Change your passwords.  I know this sounds like a lot of work, but you have to do it.  Yahoo had a breach and didn't even know it for years.  Don't go more than 3 months without changing your passwords.  Use a password manager like, LastPass.  It's free for your desktop/laptop.  If one of your passwords is, 123456 or 1234567 or 12345678...you're a moron!  Change it now. 

7.  Check your credit report.  Request a free credit report from AnnualCreditReport.com.  There's no catch if you use their site.  You'll want to make sure there are no mistakes or suspicious activity.

8.  Eat up that FSA balance.  Do you have a Flexible Spending Account?  I hate forgetting to use the dollars I've put into mine.  Some employers allow a $500 roll-over.  Some don't.  So check with your employer and if they don't...refill all your anxiety and depression meds, get new glasses, or go to the dentist.  That reminds me, I have to fill up my Citalopram bottle.  Gotta love drugs in the USA!

9.  Check your investment fees.  You may have bought into an investment like a mutual fund or an annuity without much thought to fees, especially if you had the power to do this within your 401k.  Now's the time to review any pertinent paperwork and check what you're being charged.  Fees will kill your returns over time.

10.  Sell your losers.  If you're in the green so far this year within your stock portfolio and have done some short-term selling, you'll need to offset those gains with some losses to lower your tax bill.  If you sucked and didn't have any gains, you can offset up to $3,000 of your regular income.  Any losses beyond $3K can be deducted from your future regular taxable income.  Sorry to disappoint but these investment losses deductions can only be taken from taxable accounts so forget about claiming them if they occurred in your IRAs or 401k.

There are still a few days before the year ends.  You can sit around waiting for January 1st to get going again (if you're not hung over), or you can make some easy financial moves right now.  What's it gonna be?

Thanks for reading.  Until next time. 
    

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7 Ways To Make This Christmas The Most Memorable Ever

It's Christmas yet again.  No doubt you have already taken part in a number of pre-Christmas rituals like buying gifts, a honey baked ham, and a tree.  You've gotten the eggnog and dark rum from the store, had a few helpings of it leading up to Christmas eve, watched a classic Christmas flick on television while munching on gingerbread cookies, and maybe even listened to tunes to get you in the spirit.

How is this Christmas any different from last year's?  Or for that matter, how is this Christmas any different from those of years before?  Now if someone important to you has died, my condolences.  If your children aren't going to be in town, again, my apologies.  Let's factor out all of the things that can make Christmas one of the most suicidal times of the year.  Let's say that everything points to another routine Christmas day.

How can you make Christmas 2016 be more memorable?  Well, it's not going to be a highlight reel on its own.  You're going to have to completely change things up!  I have seven ideas for you that will undoubtedly make this Christmas the most epic one you've ever had.



1.  Do a Mannequin Challenge opening presents.  This is all the rave right now.  So have someone video people in mid-stride while opening gifts, making happy or sad faces with their gifts in hand, and so on.  Then upload the video to Facebook and let your friends and family see you killin' the best poses.

2.  Go Facebook (or Instagram) live.  Now you can share the enjoyment and love that happens every Christmas morning in your home with relatives and friends on Facebook.  This is such a cool feature.  Your extended family will feel like they are there with you.  Imagine your parents being able to see their grandchildren as they open presents.

3.  Hide the presents.  C'mon, presents under the Christmas tree is so cliche.  Why not make finding presents into an activity your children will enjoy.  Tell your children there are at least X number of presents hidden inside of the house.  They have to find all of them and bring them to the Christmas tree before they can start opening them.  Fun and exercise!

4.  Go out for lunch as a family.  Hey, this works great for Jewish families on Christmas day.  Why can't it work for your family?  No fighting over the television, slaving over the usual cooked lunch, or even clean up.

5.  Have a Karaoke contest.  Put on some jammies, some karaoke jams, and see who can sing it best.  Fun for the entire family.  Everyone must take a turn!

6.  Make dad into a Christmas present.  With the torn leftover paper, have dad lay on the carpet and let your kids go to town on wrapping him up.  You'll need clear tape.

7.  Sit with the homeless.  Now if you search, "how to have the best Christmas ever," on Google, you'll find the recommendation of going to a soup kitchen and serving the homeless as one way to remind yourself of what Christmas is all about.  I agree with this.  Go ahead and serve, for some time.  But more rewarding is actually sitting down with homeless people and having a conversation with them.  This humanizes them.  So join them at their table and spark up a conversation.

It should be clear by now that the best way to have a memorable Christmas is to change things up.  I honestly don't remember very many Christmas days and that's because they were ordinary.  For something to stick in your mind, it has to have a strong emotional component to it or it has to be unique.  Use this formula and these seven tips to make your Christmas the best one yet!  Merry X-mas, Feliz Navidad, Joyeux Noel, счастливого Рождества!
  

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Are You Saving Enough Money For Making Memories With Your Kids?

I have two children, Rehani (5) and Ajani (3.5).  As someone who didn't have the best childhood experiences with his father, I can tell you that being the best father I can be with my children is a top priority.  But like all adults with kids, I often struggle.  The biggest challenge I have with my children is being patient with them and giving them more of my time.  Does this sound familiar?

I used to believe that being a great father consisted of me providing.  If my kids have clothes, a roof over their head, care, and security, then I'm doing my job.  But this just puts me one level above a deadbeat dad.  Loving your children makes you a great parent, especially if your kids are constantly reminded of your love with your affection, concern, and understanding.

My kids are growing so fast.  If you have adult children, you probably wish right now you could've spent more "quality" time with them before they got so big.  Your concerns, however, may have focused on making sure you saved enough money for your children to go to college, as you yourself, saved for retirement.  I don't know if saving for my kids' college education is going to make me a better father.

I'm pretty sure my kids will appreciate having a college fund to tap into.  At the same time, I don't want to sacrifice the time I have to spend with my children by working more to save for their college fund.  What's the fondest memory you have of your father or mother?  Were the two of you alone, on a trip perhaps?  In my case, I remember going fishing with my dad.  He usually went with some of his buddies, and drank beer while waiting for the fish to bite, but at least we were together.

Are you saving money for making memories with your children?

Let me guess, the number one thing on your mind when it comes to saving money is your retirement.  Number two is the college fund.  And this leaves you just about tapped out.

Well the "Cats in the Cradle" my friend!  You need to consider saving money for epic trips with your sons or daughters.  Yes, there are inexpensive things you can do with your children, but how about a camping trip?  Or how about you fly to San Francisco or a great tourist destination with them?  Remember these are one to one adventures.  Don't take all your kids at the same time or the moments won't be as special.

There's a lot of pressure to be good with our money.  I've allowed myself to fall for the trap that saving for retirement is paramount to any other type of saving.  Obviously saving for retirement is important.  But try to squeeze in saving for making great memories with your children if you can.  Before it's too late.

Balance your roles my friends.  You'll lead a happier life if you do.  Thanks for reading!  Until next time.  If you liked this post, and want to automate receiving more like them, please subscribe below.  No spam, just me providing sound advice on various topics.
          

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Not Understanding This One Thing Could Be Fatal To Your Personal Brand

Have you struggled trying to find which you to market to the world?  I have.  Am I going to be in the business of helping people with their writing, blogging, personal growth, or parenting?  This has been the hardest question for me to answer as an entrepreneur.  I almost wish I wasn't good at so many things.  If I was simply good at doing one thing, then the decision to commit wouldn't be so difficult.

To be successful, Internet entrepreneurs must first ascertain which niche they want to enter.  It's not as easy as it sounds.  Again, it's because most people can be an expert in more than one space.  But focus you must.  Now here is where it gets even more confusing.  Say you are a wine connoisseur and want to be the authority on everything wine.  You decide to be an affiliate marketer and make your money selling wine to a growing email list.  Great.  Because you're the wine guru, you believe your focus should be on knowing everything about the industry.  There's a problem with this.

Is McDonald's in the burger business?  Many people would say, of course!  Is Starbucks in the coffee business?  Same answer most likely, "yes!"  But...

Neither answer is correct.  Both McDonald's and Starbucks are in the same business.  Distribution.  Without thousands of locations, McDonald's couldn't distribute their tasty fast food and Starbucks wouldn't be able to please their coffee junkies with their awesome java.  One may think from this that distribution has to do with real estate.  It does partly.  Having the best location to distribute your product is a competitive advantage.




As an Internet entrepreneur, you won't be needing to worry about competing with the likes of McDonald's or Starbucks for brick and mortar distribution.  But you will need to compete with everyone else for the type of distribution that matters most to people like you: virtual distribution.  If you don't by now realize that your social media channels also happen to be your primary distribution centers, you're in deep shit.

Think about it like this.  Say you have an email list of 10,000, but only 500 Twitter followers.  Your distribution is 10,500.  Someone who has a list consisting of 10,000 emails and 10,000 Twitter followers has you beat.  All of your social media accounts are part of your distribution business, which is what you're really in as an Internet entrepreneur.  What you actually sell is secondary.

This means of course that you will have to put in more of an effort to growing your distribution business.  You will have to mind your numbers, tell a great personal story, engage more with people who like your posts or Tweets, and pay to advertise.  That's one of the biggest mistakes I made (not advertising).  Amateurs try to grow their distribution business organically.  They write blog posts that few people read and maybe get one or two subscribers a week.  Meanwhile, the pros know that their bread and butter consists of expanding their distribution as much as possible, so they pay for it!

You will have to decide how much you want to invest to growing your social media.  Whatever you do, don't buy followers.  Random people who come to you by way of a paid service won't stay.  Eventually they stop following you.  You need to do targeted ads that reach your specific audience.  Facebook is great for this.  If you can create a great ad (this too is a skill) you can expand your tribe and sell product at the same time.

Never forget...we're all in the distribution business.  Disregard this fact and your personal brand will not be alive very long.  Thanks for reading.  If you liked this post, and want to automate getting more like them, subscribe before you leave.  No spam, just great content.

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6 Personal Branding Must Haves and To-Do's

My wife and I have been on a webinar tear lately, learning from network marketing experts, sales funnel and lead generating coaches, and personal branding consultants.  There have been some consistent messages being delivered by these people that I must share with all of you.  The 21st century has made it both easy and difficult for entrepreneurs to expand their sales footprint across the world.  Distinguishing your brand from those of others is easier said than done and even harder when you don't know where to begin.

Some obvious must haves if you want to build a foundation of credibility and trust for your personal brand:

1.  A website with your name as the domain
2.  Client testimonials
3.  Contact information that is professional, ex, info@...com.
4.  A professionally designed website
5.  An About Me page
6.  Your services or products presented preferably with a video
7.  An email opt-in form

The challenge for most personal brand entrepreneurs is threefold: getting traffic to their site, keeping traffic at their site (a strong intro and engaging content), and getting visitors to take the bait from the "Call to Action" outro.  Having a clear idea of what you want from each of your visitors is paramount to success.  Some entrepreneurs don't want a sale to take place until further up in the funnel pipeline, preferring engagement and email harvesting.  Other entrepreneurs want nothing more than a sale to take place before the visitor clicks away.  It's ultimately your responsibility to figure out what strategy will work best for you and your business.

Webinars are an example of a tool entrepreneurs can use to accomplish several objectives, e.g., harvesting both emails and sales.  They are a money maker, especially for coaches and consultants.  But they work equally well for email marketers.  An excellent webinar ad can provide email marketers with hundreds of emails.  Now I want to share with you some common threads among the best authority figures on the Internet.  These are must haves and to-do's for all would-be experts in any space.

1.  The effective presentation of your personal story.  I have a great personal story, but I've done a crappy job of presenting it to all of you.  I need to figure what portions of my personal story resonate better with all of my visitors.  So do you.  And then you have to present it on your website in a way that evokes an emotional connection.

2.  The (golden) eggs come first, not the chicken.  What are your golden eggs?  These golden eggs represent your claim to fame, i.e., the things you've done to be worthy of someone's attention.  It will be very hard for you to convince people to buy, become your client, and so on, if you've done little in your niche.  So you may have to "put in work," before you get to rise to shot-caller status.

3.  A professional image (video is even better) of you delivering wisdom to other people on your homepage.  You should be dressed nicely and look the part of an authority.  Leave the relaxed look to the top dogs in your space.  They can get away with it.  You have to look sharp consistently.

4.  Lifestyle shots.  You can't be a someone without some flash.  Sadly, privacy has no place in the personal branding arena.  If you can get selfies with people more influential than you, do so.  If you can get pictures of you enjoying life in beautiful spots, looking fantastic, then you best upload them.  You don't have to be fake, but you should look happy.

5.  Create an excellent first ad.  First of all, you need to spend money advertising your offer.  This could be via a great site like clickfunnels.com or through Facebook.  You will never get the traffic you need to go personal brand viral without spending a good amount of money.  Even the great, Tai Lopez paid for his exposure in the mid-2000's.  In fact, one of his ads went viral and the rest is history.

6.  Website plus Social Media equals liftoff.  You are killing your personal brand if you're not on ALL of the social media channels in some way.  Be on Twitter, FB, Instagram, Snapchat, and have a YT channel!  It's a lot of work but if you want to build personal brand recognition, you need to be where your audience is.  Also remember that doing what others are doing is not the right recipe.  You must be inimitable and unique in your Tweets, videos, etc.  If someone can copy you, then you have no distinction worth exploring.

Don't give up.  I've had my share of bad days and have wanted to quit this blog many times.  But I keep coming back to it because I love to blog and help people!  The secret to my success has been resiliency.  What's yours?

Thanks for reading.  If you liked this post, please comment or share.  If you want to get these posts in your inbox, don't leave without subscribing.  No spam, just me dropping wisdom.  Peace!

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Building A Personal Brand: It's Not Who You Think You Are That Matters

What was it like the first time you heard your own voice from a recording?  Weird, right?  The first time I heard myself from a voice recording, you know way back when kids carried ghetto blasters around, I was like..."Wait, that's not me!  I don't sound like that."  Well I did sound like that...to others.  If you sound a certain way speaking to others, is it also possible that perhaps you come off differently to others?  Of course!



I've learned from entrepreneur extraordinaire, Gary Vaynerchuk, whose course on Udemy right now is selling for a mere $15 through the next two days, that the key to building a personal brand and becoming a leading authority on anything, begins with self-awareness.  You have to know your strengths and your weaknesses.  And you cannot go off what you believe you're great at.  He calls this, the romantic version of yourself.  Instead, you have to get help from acquaintances and close friends.  They have to be the ones that give it to you straight.

Not everyone has it to become a celebrity authority making millions of dollars spreading their gospel on "pillows or wine," says Gary.  It takes a great deal of work figuring out what you can talk endlessly about, crafting the best story of you, and have unlimited amount of content on.  If you sort of like something, you can't go all in.  So determining what you're best at is the key to loving what you do daily.

Next, you'll want to put forth a ton of content.  Daily is best.  You also need to discover which method you're best at.  Do you write well?  Perhaps a blog would suit you best.  Do you listen well?  Perhaps a podcast where you can interview others and chime in once in a while with thought provoking questions is the way to go.  Video is number one, however.  Make great videos sharing your story and awesome content, and you have a shot at being an influencer.

Social Media is the next medium you'll want to conquer.  Be a king of one or two social apps.  If you're doing videos on YT, you'll want to combo this on Facebook.  Better yet, to have as less "friction" as possible, post video from your phone straight to Facebook, meaning not linking YT on a post, especially when you're starting out and want to grow your audience.  

Basically, wherever your audience is, Twitter, Snapchat, etc., that's where you need to be.  Understand the "nuances" of each of these channels.  But also get on the ground floor of any new social sites.  There is so much saturation in the established social sites that carving your space out will not be easy.   

Lastly, don't forget to evaluate your efforts.  You gotta know your numbers.  Is your audience engaged?  Are they clicking and posting comments?  Are they buying.  Are people sharing your post, link, etc.?  Keep an eye on your traffic.

Becoming your own social media empire or online personality is not easy.  It takes learning details from experts, reading constantly, lots of trial and effort, and a thick skin when your numbers fall flat.  If building a personal brand is what you want to do, I strongly suggest you buy this Udemy course by Gary Vaynerchuk.  By the way, I am not getting paid to promote this course.  Wish I were.  I just want you to have the best information possible and achieve your goals.

Thanks for reading.  If you want more helpful articles like this, please subscribe before you leave.  No spam.  Just me.

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10 Mind Hacks to Trick Yourself Into Being Productive

There are days when all I want to do is watch sports.  Not write, read, or think about how to further the reach and engagement of my blog, increase my CCM & Homie G YT Channel subscribers, or likes on my FB Fan Page.  Whatever you need to do on a daily basis to further your own brand or business will always have the laws of physics standing in the way.  In particular, Newton's first law, the law of inertia.


Basically, this law states that everything in the universe is lazy; things want to keep doing what they're already doing.  If you're in bed at rest, you want to remain in bed at rest.  But if you're in motion, you also want to remain in motion.  And that is the key to productivity, just getting into motion.  The following 10 mind hacks will trick you into being productive and defeating inertia.



1.  Pretend a million dollars are at stake if you can be productive for the day.  A productivity auditor will follow you around noting the things you get done and at the end of the day, will hand you a check if you were productive.  I learned this trick from the great Brian Tracy.

2.  If I do one thing I can go back to being lazy.  This is where you commit to doing just one thing on your priority list.  Sometimes what happens is you feel great about that accomplishment and decide to keep going.  Or you simply get in a groove and move to item 2 or 3 on your priority list without being conscious of your permission to quit after getting number one done.

3.  Read the most inspirational book you have in your personal library for 20 minutes, even if you've already read this book several times.  Go to the section that was the most emotive for you and pretend you're reading it for the very first time.  This should charge your productivity battery by inspiring you.

4.  Get up and clean.  Sometimes to get myself into productive mood, I get on a 20-30 minute cleaning spree.  The activity is light enough where you won't be sweating profusely, but brisk enough to warm-up your muscles and get the blood circulating, especially to your brain.

5.  Eat a protein heavy breakfast.  We all know the effects of sugar.  Your blood glucose spikes up and down like a roller coaster, affecting your body's rhythm.  Protein keeps you blood sugar nice and level, meaning you won't feel that euphoria or subsequent crash.  Simple carbohydrates, likes fruits and vegetables, are oaky to eat.  Who know's, after changing your breakfast routine to this on the day you feel lethargic, you may just get in the mood to work.

6.  Do something fun first.  Let's face it, sometimes being productive means doing boring things.  Treat yourself to a fun activity like playing a game on your phone.  A challenge game where your competitive spirit is brought out may get you in a killer mood to conquer the world.  You obviously can't conquer the world without being productive so put the game down and get busy.

7.  Get your laptop, put it in a bag, and drive to a local coffee shop.  You'll not only get a jolt from the great coffee, and the aroma, but you'll also see other people working around you.  This will inspire you to open you bag and bust out your laptop...but don't just surf the Internet...work!

8.  Listen to a kick-ass tune.  My personal favorites: Bon Jovi's, Livin' On A Prayer, Journey's, Don't Stop Believin', and Survivor's, Eye of the Tiger.  C'mon, how can you not get off your behind and start being productive after listening to these classics?


9.  Meditate.  Sit cross-legged (if you can), close your eyes, slow your breathing and try to think about nothing.  A good half-hour of meditation will be enough nuisance on your mind to make you beg to do something productive.

10.  Make a date or an appointment for a meal with someone you like hanging out with.  Tell them that you first must get something done (insert your top priority item here) and that you will pay for the entire meal if you don't get this thing done.  Otherwise you'll split the bill as usual.

Well, there is no guarantee that any of these mind hacks will work on you.  Like all people, you must be open to trying new things and seeing if they work or not.  Being productive on an otherwise "lazy day" may result in an unexpected breakthrough and fast-forward your journey to success.  You never know, right?

Thanks for reading.  If you want to get more articles like this, and my personal email to ask me financial or success questions, please subscribe below.

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Why You Don't Need A Website To Become A Millionaire These Days

Well...just when you think you've figured out the Internet...Bam!  You know nothing, Jon Snow!  I don't know about you, but I'm getting pretty tired of getting made a fool of by savvy Internet entrepreneurs.  (In a good way).  These types of entrepreneurs discover an unexploited Internet opportunity, sometimes on accident, and become the first to market.  Everyone else who finally catches on is left picking up the scraps, and by default becomes a consumer of their system.




What am I talking about?  Well, most of us have caught onto making sure we have a great website for our business.  You, business owner, understand the value of having repeat and returning customers.  That's why you have made sure to include an "Opt-In" pop-up to get visitors to subscribe to a newsletter, deals and coupons, etc.  For those of you selling information products, eBooks, video courses, books, and so on, you know that the money is in the email list.  Every single email you can capture has value.

I've read somewhere that each email subscriber is worth about $40 in revenue per year.  This is a big reason why each day we have around 2700 new millionaires.  Regular people without college degrees, and some who have college degrees and have wised up to their foolishness, have embarked on being part of the Internet Wild West.  This is where you compete with everyone else for email addresses and traffic.

I've seen some creative marketing gimmicks to get you to click, especially on Facebook.  Those targeted ads are just so delicious.  Who can resist a free (insert your information product here), especially with a count-down clock daring you to pass the offer up.  This is how I discovered, perhaps late, that you don't even need a website anymore to make a butt-load of money selling either your own products or as an affiliate marketer.  In fact, nowadays, all you need is a web page...a capture page to be more exact.



Have you caught on?  Listen, if not, you are probably paying way too much for many services, hosting, backup, auto-responder, and so on.  Today, you can go on Facebook, create a Fan Page, and give something away, for example, money or a paid vacation, to get people to not only like your page in droves, but also click on the FB "Sign-up" button, leading them to your capture page.  It is there that you collect emails and even make a little money via Google Adsense if you've embedded ads.  An expert on this is Anthony Morrison.  Look him up on FB.

Or...you can use FB fan pages as funnels to later up-sell your visitors.  You want to check out the work of Jesse Doubek.

Perhaps one of the best explanatory videos online that will make you feel foolhardy for having a website is on the ClickFunnels.com website.  Everything you need is integrated on their platform.  It'll cost you $97 a month.

I'm not entirely convinced, however, that you can do without a website.  I think websites add a credibility factor.  If I can't find a website on a person or company online, then I don't trust them or it.  Even if rudimentary but elegant, authorities and celebrities need websites.  So do established brick and mortar companies that need an online presence.  Not having a go-to website, even with a sales funnel, is suicide in my mind.  Though I would agree that many entrepreneurs no longer need a website these days to become very rich.

For the record, I'm not being paid to promote any person or site.  I just find these Internet pioneers to be very inspirational and worthy of you knowing who they are and what they're doing.  So you too can benefit.  Thanks for reading! 

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