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Sometimes you just need to look under your nose for success

January 12, 2010 By Leave a Comment
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I had a meeting today with a really interesting guy who is running a business. I won’t go into what they do or his name just for privacy but he has a really interesting product that is doing well but could do really well.

He had been referred to me by someone else as they need some help with their marketing strategy and joint venture/affiliate process. Aside from this blog and other ventures my “day job” is working with companies to help them leverage the marketing opportunities online. This often means working with companies that have a good product but just need a more strategic approach to how they sell it.

So, there we were chatting about his business and I asked him some questions that are fairly normal. Then I made some suggestions about how they could make some changes that would bring in some money.

Well the conversation changed!

The ideas I gave him were not that amazing but he seemed amazed at them. In fact he said he would look at them right away.

The more we talked the more he seemed happy to look at them.

What is really funny about this is that I know this guy had looked at these ideas before. They were not that ground breaking and he is a clever guy so I know he would have thought of these.

So why had he not implemented them? Two answers. Fear of failing and being too busy.

Success was right under his nose but he couldn’t see it.

I think this is a common problem for many business owners. We are so focused on running the business, or managing customers, or looking after the bills that we miss some of the obvious things that could make our business amazing.

Our subconscious mind sees that we might fail and stops us from doing these things. While we are working hard doing other things we forget to stop and follow what we know could work. I often think I should do something in my business and argue myself out of it and let other things get in the way.

If you run a business I suggest you take an afternoon to really sit down and think about things you can do to make your business better. I know many will say they can’t take an afternoon but I would say to you that you can and should.

Ensure you cant be called or emailed and just sit and let your mind come up with ideas about you business. take some paper and make notes.

Now you have some ideas work on them and write down what you need to do.

You now have a plan!

I would love to know how you get on.

Matt

15 reasons why you are not successful

December 30, 2009 By Leave a Comment
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Hi,

There is a lot of great information about how to become successful. I have done some articles on success also. However, I think there is a challenge about this. The problem comes when you try to put MORE things into your life.

What we don’t normally talk about is things we should TAKE out of our life. This is what I talk about in this video.

Please leave a comment if you do some of these!

Why you may never be Successful

December 7, 2009 By 1 Comment
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Is that possible?

Yes it is.  It’s very likely you may never be successful.

If you don’t know how to be successful then you will never be successful.  That’s a pretty negative thought isn’t it!  Well I guess it is but I also think being honest and true to ourselves is half the challenge.  Let me explain more.

If you want to become the best in Golf you need to work very hard at it.  But, it doesn’t really matter how hard you work unless you have someone who can teach you how to be the best.  Someone who knows what it takes to be the best, what it takes to win and beat the best.

You may have an amazing talent but I can almost guarantee that talent isn’t enough on it’s own to make you be the best and become successful.

So what if you don’t have an amazing talent like Tiger Woods?  Well many would say that hard work is enough to get you through.  And that is true, hard work can “get you through” but that isn’t what we are talking about here.  We are talking about being successful and getting what you really want.  So if you don’t have a great talent at that then you need something else.

Having someone who has achieved what you want to achieve or can help you get there is vital.  I realise that to do this isn’t as easy as just finding them in your home town!  But that doesn’t really matter.  Let me give you an example.

If you have read my about page then you know that I am involved in several projects.  Most of them for business but some are for other purposes.  This blog is the example I want to use.

Before I started this blog I had never had a blog before.  I didn’t know how to install it, how to make it look like I wanted to or even how to make a post!  Some of this I learnt and some of this I asked someone for help.

The biggest challenge I had was knowing how to make it a success.  My goal is to help 1million people change their lives.  That’s a big goal but I am working towards it!  In order to make this happen I needed to know how to run a successful blog by others who have or are doing that.

I live in hertfordshire in the Uk and to my knowledge there isn’t a successful blogger that lives here!  Not that I know of anyway.  So I went online and found some bloggers who are successful and considered some of the best in the market.  Those two people are Rosalind Gardner and Yaro Starak.  You may know of them?

Both are very well known bloggers and considered very successful.  I have never actually met these two people but I have paid them money.  Rosalind has a great eBook called Super Affiliate Handbook and Yaro has a course called Blog Mastermind.  Both are excellent and if you are looking to make money online then I suggest taking a look at these.

Why did I spend money with people I hadn’t met?

Simple.  I know they are successful online and I know that they have the knowledge I need in order to make my blog a success.  In other words get my goal of helping 1 million people!  When I look at it like that the costs are very little.

It is possible I could have made the blog work well without them but I the fact is without their help I would probably never get to my goal.

And that’s the main point.  If you have a big dream or goal then you will need others to help you.  Someone who has done what you want to do or has great expertise in that topic.  Please don’t get me wrong.  I am not saying you need someone to get started!  You can start the journey anyway, but at some point you will need help.

To be frank, it has taken me a long time to find this out.  I have been involved in lots of business projects and many I thought I knew exactly what to do.  Well, I can tell you now that none of those businesses worked!  Sure I made some money in them but they were not a “success”.  They were short term.

If I had been taught or helped by someone who had done what I was trying to do then perhaps they would be making money now.

I know there is often a challenge with asking for help.  People tend not to want to show they need help but it’s a strength to realise you do.

So if you are working on a big dream or goal and things are not going like you had planned or just not working at all…..you need some help.  Hard work, yes, but you need help.

Go for your dreams and goals.

Matt

Why Sexual energy helps you achieve success

November 30, 2009 By 1 Comment
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After I posted my article about the secret to success I have had questions from people asking if there is anything else that will help them be successful. There are, or course, many other things that will help in the attainment of success.  The steps to success are nearly always identical for the endeavour you are trying to achieve but there are other factors that can help.

In the article I also said that you can have all the knowledge but not the energy.  If you don’t know why you are doing something then you will probably not be successful at it.

Something I didn’t discuss in detail in that post is how Sexual energy can be used to speed you towards your goals.  Why am I only mentioning sexual energy here?  Well there are other types but sexual energy is so powerful that if you can learn to use it then it will give great results.

Sexual Energy

I guess I should  say it first; that we are all sexual beings.  It’s built into our conscious, our nature and our way of life.  We do it, we think about it.  It’s how the population continues.  It is probably one of the most natural activities we have.

There are some exceptions and challenges for many people but aside from these being sexual or having sex is part of being us.

Now I am not going to write this article about sex but this is about using the sexual energy we all have to help us achieve success.

Napoleon Hill talked about using this energy in Think and Grow Rich. He said that we have so much of it that if we knew how to use it to we could achieve amazing success.  It’s the same when people talk about not having sex before playing sports.

Specifically men talking about this!

Apparently it helps keeps the testosterone levels high so you have more energy whilst playing.  Since I am a man and have played sports all my life I can say that I have actually tested this out.  Does it make you play better?  No, it doesn’t.  Does it give you more energy?  I would have to say I think it does.  What I can say for sure is that having sex before playing certainly makes you less energetic.  Perhaps this is down to plain expense of energy rather than anything else?

If I was asked I would say that I do believe this to be true.

So how do I use energy?

Well the first think to do is know that you can control any energy you have in your body.  Positive energy can be used for positive things and negative energy can be used for positive things.  Let’s look at an example of negative energy being used for positive things.

Let’s say you have had an argument with a loved one.  You are angry and upset and lots of negative energy will be moving around your body.  Now you could use this to go mad, maybe kick something, start shouting at other people.  Get into such a bad mood that is lasts all day and you don’t think about anything other than that!

Or

You could say to yourself

“OK, I am angry and upset, why don’t I go for a run and get rid of it?”  Or “I have so much energy right now, I am going to clean the shed out”.

I know these are simple examples but they ways to use negative energy for a positive.

Once you have learnt how to use negative energy for positive results on things as simple as cleaning your house, then you can start to use that energy to do things that really make a difference to your goals and ultimately success.  If you have some projects that need doing, things that are essential to your success, you can turn that energy to do them.  You can say to yourself

“Ok, I realise I am angry, I know I am upset but I am going to use this right now to spend some time focused on my goals”

Is it easy to learn how to do this?  Honestly, not really.  It takes some time and you have to practice at it but you can do it.  You probably don’t realise but you will have done it already!  There will have been times you have used negative energy to do something positive.  Even if it was cleaning the house!

I know someone who had a terrible argument with their boss.  Actually they had a very bad relationship with their boss.  Neither the boss nor my friend were happy and this had been getting worse over about a year.  Then one day after an argument my friend quit her job.  Her boss was stunned but she had made her decision!

When my friend got home she spoke to her partner and realised she had made a knee jerk decision and now wanted to undo what she had done!  After some further thought instead of doing that she realised that she had an opportunity to go out and find a job she really wanted to do with a great boss (well at least find a job she liked!).  And that is exactly what she went out and did!  She used that negative energy to find a great job with more money and a better position.

Sexual Energy is much more

Sexual energy can give you so much more potential than negative energy.  Firstly it is positive energy.  It is there to give you a good feeling, to do something positive and natural.  They key is to learn how to use it that way and not let it turn into something negative.

You don’t have to have an argument with someone to have sexual energy (although we all know that can happen after an argument!)

It can just come to you whilst you are doing a task, whilst you are walking.  You get the picture.  The key is to be aware of this and then use that energy to go and do the tasks you know will get you towards your goals.

How do I use Sexual Energy in that way?

Once you aware you have the energy just say to yourself

“I have some sexual energy right now, I am going to focus this on my tasks rather than reacting to the energy”.

Take control of it, it’s within you and you can focus it where you want.  Perhaps you could spend an hour on your tasks before reacting to the energy (you know what I mean!).

It’s something that has to be practiced but in time you can do it.

I realise some might be reading this and thinking I have lost my marbles!  Well, that might be true but I know for a fact that this works.  The first time I heard Napoleon Hill talk about it I thought it was a nice idea but not possible.  Then when I started to practice it worked.

I had so much energy to do things it was amazing.  It’s just about knowing how to manage it all.  It’s actually good to store it up for a while and then focus on some tasks.  Your partner may also enjoy that!

Give it a go.  I would be interested to know what results you get!

To your health, wealth and happiness.

Matt

Success – The secret to success

October 30, 2009 By 3 Comments
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I am working on several projects with some friends right now.  Mostly they are projects on the internet.  We are putting lots of work in to make them a success.

The truth is we have no idea if they are actually going to be successful on not!  Obviously we have a good idea that they will but really until we launch it is really just a best estimate.

So why do all the work with no guarantee?

Well if you never try then you will never succeed.  If you never want to fail then do nothing and try nothing.

And that is how you get successful.  What? is it that easy?  Yes that is it. There is nothing more to it.  You just need to try things and make them happen.

OK, so is this article finished then?  Well no.  If you didn’t read any further and just took that advice literally then I know you would succeed.  The fact is that no one reading will!

Human nature means that no one really ever does.

The answer to the first question “How do you get successful” is not really that simple.  It has more elements to it.  If you are now thinking “Oh, so this is going to be complicated” then you will be pleased to know it is not.  Interestingly it is very simple.  You just need to know how to be successful and apply what you know.

When I started Lifeturnaroundnow.com I wanted to create a website that helped people.  I went through a life turning stage and I thought that other people would want to know how I did it.  I completely changed my life and thought that if I helped just one other person do the same then the site would be a success.  The site is about Personal Development at this is a good description of what it covers.

Did I know it would work?

No, not even sure I could do it.

Ok so I didn’t know it would work, I had no idea how to do it…then why do it?

This goes back to what I said before.  You just have to get out there and do it.  If it fails, do it again with the lessons you learnt.

The others elements of being successful have to do with the “Why” instead of the “how”.  Have you ever heard the saying: -

“People who know how always work for those who know why”.

Let me show you some examples.

When Mr Henry Ford became successful with the Model T Ford many crticised him.  I am not going to go into why but most successful people are crticised at some point.  The criticism got so bad that someone said he didn’t have any qualifications and would not even be able to answer basic high school questions.

Now I know this doesn’t seem that bad but back then when someone crticised you in such a public way it was an insult you had to respond to.  In a paper someone challenged Mr Ford to answer these questions publically.  Mr Ford accepted.

Now it was common knowledge that Ford didn’t have these qualifications so the public were really interested to know how he was going to manage this test.

Well, whatever we know about Ford, one thing for sure is that he was a big thinker.

When they had him come into the court room to answer the questions, Ford also brought with him his team of advisors.  Accountants, Lawyers, Technicians.  Every time he was asked a question he was unable to answer he asked him team to answer for him!

Of course for the people conducting the questions this was not a fair test.  But Ford had made his point.  He didn’t need to know the answers.  He had a team around him who did that for him.  He knew “Why” and they knew “How”.

Let’s look at a more recent example.  Jeff Bezos.  Do you know him?  He is the guy who started Amazon.  Did you also know Jeff was very successful on Wall Street before he started his business?  If you did you may think (like I did) that this is the reason Amazon is successful.  Well it makes sense.  He already had lots of money, probably knew all the people he needed to know and was successful.

Well if you thought that like I did you would be wrong.  Jeff was all of those things but that didn’t matter when he started Amazon.

So how did Jeff Bezos start Amazon?  Well he was sick and tired of working on Wall Street.  He didn’t want to do that any longer and really wanted to start his own business.  The challenge was that Jeff had always worked for a company.  He didn’t really know how to start a business.  And what would he start it in?

Well as the story goes Jeff one day realised he could start a business selling books on the internet.  Remember he had no experience in books, the internet or running a business!

So with this idea the first thing he did was go to California to a book convention to learn as much about the publishing world as he could.  Next he found out about selling products on the internet.

This was a guy who knew about business on Wall Street but had no experience in either books or the internet.

Jeff knew the “why”.

He needed the money to start the business.  This was a challenge.  Jeff had some himself but not enough to get the business off the ground.  So while he was going to California to the publisher convention he went to his parents and asked for them to give him the money he needed.  Now these were not wealthy people.  They gave Jeff all their savings based on his belief that the idea was going to work.  They also had no knowledge of selling books or the Internet.

Well you probably know the next part.  Jeff has built one of the most well-known and successful companies on the Internet.

So, you see it is not really the “how” that makes you a success but the “why”.  If you need a “how” then it’s the “why” that you should know!

Am I saying that you just need to believe in something enough for it to work?  Well no.  It is possible, but really there is more that we have to know.

Let’s say you are looking to start a business.  You have a great idea, you know it will work, you believe it will work but you also need to do more.

Jeff didn’t just believe his idea would work he went and discovered if it would.  He went to the conference and also met with Internet experts.  He asked them what to do, how to do it.  He took their advice.

I didn’t just start my website with an idea.  I went and found people who knew about running a successful website and learnt from them.

This rule applies to anything you are looking to achieve.  If you want to me a sportsperson then you need to believe you can be the best and find someone who can teach you how to be the best.

So success is  = Believe + Work + Knowledge

I go to a Ju Jitsu class and my instructor is a Black Belt in Karate, Kickboxing and Ju Jitsu.  He was also the UK Middleweight Kick Boxing champion.

He told me that he had lots of belief to make it and win the belt but didn’t have the knowledge.  That is why he trained with one of the best coaches.  Together they won the belt.

If you are looking for the secret to Success then this is it.  It’s the same secret that is used by anyone who has achieved anything amazing.  There is no more to it than this.

Does Personal Development Really Work?

October 11, 2009 By Leave a Comment
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This is a topic I have wanted to write about for a while.  I guess I wanted to voice my opinion as I have read some interesting views and articles on this.

I obviously don’t have the final answer but I will give my thoughts and ideas on it.  As always, it would be great to hear your thoughts on this also.  The answer to this will be personal, rather than one for all.

So let’s really get into the question and see if we can come up with a tangible answer.

If you have read my story here then you know that I had dropped to a low point in my life.  Financially and emotionally I was beaten.  I still had something deep within me but I wasn’t in the right state of mind to start over again.  I won’t go into the story here but essentially I was given a couple of great books and that started a life of reading and listening AND applying as much as I could.  Essentially I changed my life, or I should say the information I took in helped me change my life.

So I am an example of someone that Personal Development has really ‘worked’ for.  But this is only a small part of the story.  It might be ‘working for me now’ but what if I stop reading or listening or going to seminars?  Will Personal Development still work if you stop putting the effort into making it work?

What if I stopped wanting it to work?

And that is the real question we should be asking.  Not Does Personal Development work but how does it work?  I am not trying to trick you into reading this with the first title.  What I am trying to get to is if we take it that personal development does work then why does it work.  If it doesn’t then we don’t need to discuss that here!

Like the saying goes “It will work if you work it”.  That is right for so many things.  I remember in my career of software sales, a manager telling me that the sales process will work if you put the effort in.  Then when I was involved in a Multi Level Marketing Company a successful speaker saying “The system will work if you work it”.

It’s the same in everything in life.  Often it’s your belief and effort that makes ‘it’ work.

What about a Marriage?  Isn’t that the same?  I always think it’s odd when I hear someone say ‘my marriage didn’t work’  What does that really mean? It means, sadly, that neither side put enough effort to make it work.  They may not have wanted to which is fine, it’s just the reality is that once that decision is made effort is not put in.

Fitness is the same.  You can be given the best fitness plan created by a very fit sportsperson but unless you WANT it to work and put the effort it in won’t work.

And that’s really the point.  Personal Development works if you want it to work.  It doesn’t do it on it’s own.  You need to be involved in the process.  It is all fine and dandy reading 100′s of books, going to seminars and listening to audio but you have to WANT to make it work and start applying what you have learnt.

How do I make Personal Development Work for me?

This was the kind of question I was asking myself back when I started reading Personal Development Books.  The books I was given were Magic Of Thinking Big and Rich Dad Poor Dad.

Two great books that made a huge impact.  Once I stared to read these my mind changed, it changed from the ‘Poor me’ mentality to the ‘Get up off your backside and get out there and do something!’  I think this is key.  I was already someone who wanted to achieve, I believed I was going to do something great all my life it’s just right at that moment I was feeling sorry for myself.  Those books gave me the mental restart I needed.

But I was looking for it anyway.  I wanted to be kicked up the backside, I wanted to be told I was feeling sorry for myself and I wanted to get out there again and start making it happen.

As I mentioned above you have to want it to work for you, really believe it is going to work.  So once you have this you then need the next thing…..and that is – effort and the knowledge this will take time.

I give personal development books to people all the time.  I just suggest they read them and if they do that is fantastic.  Sometimes they come back to me and say ‘I read your book, didn’t like it much.  Don’t think it has helped me’  That’s interesting.  Interesting because I am normally giving them a book that has sold all over the world in multiple languages.  So were all the people who read it reading something different?  No.  The person I gave it to might not have been ready to ‘hear’ what the book was saying.  They might not be in the right place just now.

So I normally just smile and take it back off them and suggest they try another.  I know they will remember something from that book and perhaps when they are ready to apply they will want to read more.

What makes the difference is getting out of the starting blocks and applying what you have learnt.  Most likley you will not feel like anything you have learnt is making any difference.  But you have to keep trying.

That’s where the amazing power of personal development comes in.

It starts to work when you keep trying. keep going, keep moving towards your goal. In Psycho Cybernetics Maxwell Maltz talks about how success is about adjusting as you go along.  It’s not always a straight path to your goal.  In fact I have never met a success person who had an easy time achieving their dreams and goals.  And that’s part of the secret.  It’s the journey that makes as change.  Not the information we take in.

As you go along the journey you will find many things change.  Not just you but the world and people around you.   I am going to write an article about what happens when you start on your journey so keep looking for that!

The Personal Development industry is very much misunderstood.  It’s not about just ‘thinking yourself rich’ (although using visualisation is very powerful) it’s about doing the work and learning along the way.

Books will open your eyes, they will give you things to work on.  They will perhaps explain feelings you have had but didn’t really know why.  They are tools not the answer to your success.  You have to want to work hard for yourself and use these tools as you go.

So where should I begin?

Well, if you haven’t read any books yet or want to know what books to read then you can read my post about the Top 10 personal development books.

You can also go to Amazon and type in ‘personal development’ as a search and see what is suggested.  What ever you do I would encourage you to read many books before you make a decision about what works for you.

There is always a nugget of information in each book so keep reading.

It would be great to hear what books have made an impact on your life.  What have you read?  What did you think is a great book?

Go for your dreams!
Matt




Personal Development – What is that?

September 22, 2009 By 4 Comments
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Although I think the the answer is probably very subjective and open to interpretation I will do my best to give you an answer that I think is accurate.  It will, if anything, be my interpretation.

I have been thinking about this for a while.  “Just what is Personal Development?”.  I mean what does it actually do for you?  We could look at that question and give a relatively simply answer: -

“Personal Development is any process, teaching or experience that improves us in many ways.  Ultimately creating a better person”  or as Wikipedia states: -

Personal development for individuals refers to actions oriented towards one or more of the following aims:

  • improving self awareness
  • improving self knowledge
  • building or renewing identity
  • developing strengths or talents
  • identifying or improving potential
  • building employ ability or human capital
  • enhancing lifestyle or the quality of life
  • realizing dreams
  • Fulfilling aspirations

But there in is the challenge.  How can we quantify what ‘improves’ means.  Or looking at Wikipedia how can we be certain that is the full list of what encompasses Personal Development?

I am not so sure we can, just like we can try to ‘explain’ what Love is but really we all have different answers to that.  We know how it feels and we THINK we feel about like others do but really we can never really know.

You might have read this before – “Success is the progressive realisation of a worthy dream”.  That might be a good place to start when looking at Personal Development.  Earl Nightingale is considered the “Father” of all personal development.

He created an audio track on Vinyl called “The Strangest Secret”.  If you have not heard this I RECOMMEND you get a copy!  It is excellent.  That was the first ever recorded Personal Development message.  It was a huge hit and changed the lives of millions of people.

Earl talked mainly about achieving more in life.  About getting ahead in an world full of opportunities.

And I think that might be where the answer is.

Perhaps Personal Development can be accepted as anything that helps you in life.  It could be a book about selling, a CD on relationships or even a meeting with someone who makes you feel empowered.  Whatever gets you to move towards your goals.

Perhaps even it’s a book that helps you set goals!

There is also an excellent book called the Magic of Thinking Big by Dr David Schwartz. You can see my view of that book here.

So is there an a way we can define this?  Most likely but I think to do that would confine Personal Development and that’s exactly what it is trying to help us avoid.

Personal Development as an object is focused on helping us expand and realise our goals and dreams.

If you are reading this it would be good to get some thoughts.  What do you think?

Regards

Matt

Danyl Johnson Xfactor – Got the Success mindset!

September 10, 2009 By 1 Comment
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I know this is probably more familiar to those in the UK but I wanted to write a short note about Danyl Johnson’s performance on the XFactor.  (XFactor is like American Idol!).

Aside from the fact he did a great performance what set him apart in the audition is that he implemented the success mechanism.  He might not have know that is what he was doing but it is clear to me he was!

What do I mean by that?  Well Danyl might never have read a Personal Development book, he may not even know what Personal Development is but in those few short minutes he applied what most of us struggle to apply for years.

He used visualisation.

Once the audition was going he didn’t think too much about being at the audition he just thought about doing a great performance like he WILL do when he is a big star.  You can see it on his face, he was in HIS moment and loving it. He may well have been nervous but you can see once he got going he was the Star that he believes he is.

I don’t mean he was ACTING the part, not at all. In fact acting the part wouldn’t have worked in such a pressure situation.  He was BEING the part.  He was being the star.

I think there is a great lesson in this.  If you can just let go and be what you know you can be then you will achieve anything you want.  You don’t need to act that part….just be it!

Take a look at the performance and see what you think.

Matt

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