Another great article that I read and would like to share!!!
Your Daily Habits
Your future is hidden in your daily routine…
Do you have the habits of a successful person? Your habits alone determine who you become. Your habits alone determine if you succeed.
James Allen said, “We are anxious to change our circumstances, but we are unwilling to change ourselves.”
Put it another way, we are anxious to succeed, but we are unwilling to create the habits that cause success.
The Law of Habit
The Law of Habit states that the more frequently you perform a task the easier is becomes to perform that task the next time, and consequently, the more difficult it becomes not to perform the task.
If you go the same way to work everyday, you would find it difficult to go in a different direction, simply because we are creatures of habit, and we protect the habits that we have, good or bad.
Over 90 percent of the tasks that we complete are rooted in habit: the way we put on our shirt, brush our teeth, skip flossing at night, all are rooted in habit.
Our habits are a very powerful tool, and when used to our benefit can be life altering. However, they can also be used to our detriment.
The Purpose of Discipline and Will Power
Discipline will only get you so far. In order to make progress you need to tap into the power of your subconscious mind, the source of your habits.
The subconscious mind is the “work horse” of the mind because it controls your habits; it manages the “habits” that accounts for your life.
If you have good habits programmed into your subconscious mind, then you will do good things, and you will succeed. And, if you have bad habits programmed into your subconscious mind, then you will act accordingly.
Discipline and will power are to be used to create the right habits, and then those habits will give you the life you desire.
Change Your Habits
Today I want to encourage you to change some of your bad habits to good habits and use the power of “habit” to change your life.
If you can learn how to have a perfect day, then you can have a perfect life, you just have to duplicate that day through the tool of your habits.
Your habits are a servant, and they will enslave you or free you. You choose by using your will power what they do. When you consciously make a choice over and over again, it eventually becomes a habit. Your desires are turned over to the force of habit, and you become the slave of the habit.
If you’re wise you will use your will to create beneficial habits, and those beneficial habits will grant you the life you desire.
The Profound Power of Habits
Your habits will take you further than your dreams. You don’t need a miracle, and you don’t need to be lucky. You need the right set of habits.
If you have the habits of a rich person then you will become rich, if you have the habits of a thin person then you will become thin, if you have the habits of a successful person, then you will become successful, it’s all about the habits that you have.
It’s important that you discover the habits that cause you to succeed in a given area. Once you find what those habits are it’s just a matter of using your will to repeat that activity over and over until it becomes a habit.
Getting the Right Habits
If you can get the habits right, the results will come automatically. A habit of investing large sums of money will eventually make you rich; a habit of eating the right foods and exercising will eventually give you the body of your dreams.
Will power can’t do this for you because you only have a limited amount of will power. That will power is used up every time you resist a habit and even when you’re under stress.
Will Power
Will power shouldn’t be used for avoiding habits directly, but for creating new habits; a slight but crucial difference.
That’s why it’s critical that you muster up all of your will power to create a habit and not use your will power as the source of controlling your activities. You can’t consistently use your will power to keep you from doing your habits. You must use your will power to create new habits.
How do you create new habits? By performing the task over and over again at the same time, in generally the same way.
When you do this you will have a new habit, which will take control over the old habit. It won’t be easy at first, but once the habit becomes set, it will be as difficult to break the new habit as it was to break the old habit.
Breaking Old Habits
The best way to break a habit is to replace it with a new habit. You replace eating bad food with a habit of eating good food. You replace not working out at 1:00pm with working out everyday at 1:00pm. Not saving money with saving money. You find the opposite of the task and you perform that as well. And if you can do it consistently, through will power at first, then you will build the habit and the habit will cause you to succeed.
How long will it take? It depends on the complexity of the habit that you’re trying to break and how deeply it’s rooted in your life. But one things for sure, if you keep on going in the right direction you will eventually get to your destination. And another thing, failure is not an option for you, so keep working on creating the habit until you succeed.
In Closing
Nothing is more important then the right habits which will cause success. Can you build the right habits, I believe you can? Here’s to starting new life-changing habits, here’s to your success.
- KNOX
Make Moves
Make Money
Make Progress
#mmmp
Monday, May 16, 2011
Tuesday, May 10, 2011
#MMMP this is another great piece of food for thought!
A great article for All my Friends
What is a greater priority in your life: happiness or success?
While it is possible to achieve both, we often sacrifice one for the other when making major life decisions such as what career to pursue, whether to move to the suburbs to afford a bigger house, or whether to attend a family event if it means getting less work done.
The science of happiness, also known as positive psychology, basically studies human behavior and positive emotions with the aim of determining what factors can result in an increased level of happiness. The conclusions from this research can provide interesting insights into how we can maximize our happiness.
The following concepts are featured in the book Happiness Hypothesis, which is a great book for learning about the findings from happiness research.
Does Increased Income Improve Happiness?
Research that examines the correlation between income and happiness has found that increased income has a very small correlation with happiness for most people. The exception is for people who live in the conditions of poverty, in which money can help provide basic necessities like food, shelter, and transportation. Once people reach the middle class however, additional income tends to have little effect on happiness.
This counterintuitive finding can be explained by our ability to quickly adapt to new conditions, also known as “the adaptation principle”. While winning the lottery may provide an immediate boost in happiness, studies suggest that lottery winners return to a level close to their baseline happiness in about one year. We’ve all heard stories of the miserable millionaire or the unhappy but successful professional. This finding suggests that it can be a big mistake to pursue a career primarily to gain a higher salary over a career that you intrinsically enjoy.
The Progress Principle
Pursuing worthwhile goals is often a major aspect of how we choose to spend our time. People can spend years pursuing a specific goal while imagining how happy they will be once their goal has been achieved. However, “the progress principle” suggests that we receive more happiness from making progress toward our goal than we do from achieving a goal. This can be explained by our brain’s reward system which provides a boost in dopamine immediately after we make progress towards a goal in order to encourage behavior that leads to genetically favorable outcomes like accumulating wealth or power. This supports the old adage that the journey is more important than the destination or as Shakespeare said : “Things won are done, joy’s soul lies in the doing”. If you are not enjoying the journey, you may not be pursuing the best goal.
Reducing Your Commute
The American Dream has traditionally involved getting a good job at a corporation so that you can buy a nice house in the suburbs. However, the adaptation principle comes into play as we quickly adapt to having a larger home but we typically don’t adapt to a traffic filled and unpredictable commute. People who experience slow traffic arrive to work with higher stress hormones in their blood and commuting to work is often reported as one of the most unpleasant activities in our day. Choosing to live closer to your work, even if you have to buy a smaller home, can be a wise decision in terms of maximizing your happiness.
The Importance of Relationships
One of the strongest variables in happiness that we can control is our personal relationships. An increased quantity and quality of personal connections can have a significant impact on our happiness. This is one reason that people who attend church are happier on average than non-church goers and married people are happier on average than single people. Spending more time with your close family or friends rather than working extra hours can also lead to a happier life. Additionally, your income can provide a more positive impact on happiness if you choose to spend it on experiences that you share with family and friends such as a dinner at a restaurant or a vacation instead of buying luxury items like expensive cars or accessories.
Finding Flow
Psychologist Mihály Csíkszentmihályi coined the name “flow” for the idea of engaging so deeply in an activity that you lose track of time. The Happiness Hypothesis describes flow as the “state of total immersion in a task that is challenging yet closely matched to one’s abilities. It is what some people call ‘being in the zone’”. Finding what activities lead to a state of flow for you, such as playing a sport or writing a guest blog post, and allocating more time to these activities can lead to a more enjoyable career and life.
Happiness research may not provide the secret to achieving happiness but it can suggest ways in which we can potentially increase it. The conclusions are often based on the “average person” so these ideas may not work for everyone. However understanding the findings from happiness research and experimenting in your own life can help you determine what will ultimately lead to “the good life” for you.
Make Moves
Make Money
Make Progress
#mmmp
What is a greater priority in your life: happiness or success?
While it is possible to achieve both, we often sacrifice one for the other when making major life decisions such as what career to pursue, whether to move to the suburbs to afford a bigger house, or whether to attend a family event if it means getting less work done.
The science of happiness, also known as positive psychology, basically studies human behavior and positive emotions with the aim of determining what factors can result in an increased level of happiness. The conclusions from this research can provide interesting insights into how we can maximize our happiness.
The following concepts are featured in the book Happiness Hypothesis, which is a great book for learning about the findings from happiness research.
Does Increased Income Improve Happiness?
Research that examines the correlation between income and happiness has found that increased income has a very small correlation with happiness for most people. The exception is for people who live in the conditions of poverty, in which money can help provide basic necessities like food, shelter, and transportation. Once people reach the middle class however, additional income tends to have little effect on happiness.
This counterintuitive finding can be explained by our ability to quickly adapt to new conditions, also known as “the adaptation principle”. While winning the lottery may provide an immediate boost in happiness, studies suggest that lottery winners return to a level close to their baseline happiness in about one year. We’ve all heard stories of the miserable millionaire or the unhappy but successful professional. This finding suggests that it can be a big mistake to pursue a career primarily to gain a higher salary over a career that you intrinsically enjoy.
The Progress Principle
Pursuing worthwhile goals is often a major aspect of how we choose to spend our time. People can spend years pursuing a specific goal while imagining how happy they will be once their goal has been achieved. However, “the progress principle” suggests that we receive more happiness from making progress toward our goal than we do from achieving a goal. This can be explained by our brain’s reward system which provides a boost in dopamine immediately after we make progress towards a goal in order to encourage behavior that leads to genetically favorable outcomes like accumulating wealth or power. This supports the old adage that the journey is more important than the destination or as Shakespeare said : “Things won are done, joy’s soul lies in the doing”. If you are not enjoying the journey, you may not be pursuing the best goal.
Reducing Your Commute
The American Dream has traditionally involved getting a good job at a corporation so that you can buy a nice house in the suburbs. However, the adaptation principle comes into play as we quickly adapt to having a larger home but we typically don’t adapt to a traffic filled and unpredictable commute. People who experience slow traffic arrive to work with higher stress hormones in their blood and commuting to work is often reported as one of the most unpleasant activities in our day. Choosing to live closer to your work, even if you have to buy a smaller home, can be a wise decision in terms of maximizing your happiness.
The Importance of Relationships
One of the strongest variables in happiness that we can control is our personal relationships. An increased quantity and quality of personal connections can have a significant impact on our happiness. This is one reason that people who attend church are happier on average than non-church goers and married people are happier on average than single people. Spending more time with your close family or friends rather than working extra hours can also lead to a happier life. Additionally, your income can provide a more positive impact on happiness if you choose to spend it on experiences that you share with family and friends such as a dinner at a restaurant or a vacation instead of buying luxury items like expensive cars or accessories.
Finding Flow
Psychologist Mihály Csíkszentmihályi coined the name “flow” for the idea of engaging so deeply in an activity that you lose track of time. The Happiness Hypothesis describes flow as the “state of total immersion in a task that is challenging yet closely matched to one’s abilities. It is what some people call ‘being in the zone’”. Finding what activities lead to a state of flow for you, such as playing a sport or writing a guest blog post, and allocating more time to these activities can lead to a more enjoyable career and life.
Happiness research may not provide the secret to achieving happiness but it can suggest ways in which we can potentially increase it. The conclusions are often based on the “average person” so these ideas may not work for everyone. However understanding the findings from happiness research and experimenting in your own life can help you determine what will ultimately lead to “the good life” for you.
Make Moves
Make Money
Make Progress
#mmmp
Monday, May 9, 2011
#MMMP Read this! For all of you talking about what the music industry used #nohottubtimemachines
The New Music Industry is Not Coming
We can all stop waiting for the “new music industry” to arrive. The new music industry is not coming, it is here already. The only thing that will change is change. New models reshaping the way music is marketed and distributed will continue to change the landscape, and there will be many. Right now we have an emergence of abundance within the music industry. There are countless new artists emerging and the same goes for the ways of consuming those artists. This will not change; the emergence will continue to evolve as humans will continue to evolve. With that being said, there will be a shaping and weeding out process. The shaping and weeding out process will define which artists and which models work best for you individually, the consumer. The process of definition for the music consumer will cross all boundaries including race, gender, and age. I would like to include money, but I can’t help but to imagine the rich kid who only wants to see their favorite artist live, so they pay for live shows whenever they decide to.
The music industry of yesterday consisted of great control. If one could just control the few available key aspects, they could and have controlled the market. Distribution in the days of music consumption yesterday consisted of record stores. This is something that I am very fond of, as I remember being a kid working in my grandfather’s record store in Northern New Jersey. I remember the days of going to one-stops in Brooklyn early Saturday mornings and rushing back to New Jersey to make it in time for opening. The distribution dollars still led back to the same few places. Huge media conglomerates controlled distribution channels and consumption channels through radio, tv, and later on portable devices. This took MAJOR funding. It was unthinkable to go against these conglomerates in this state of the music industry. The costs of producing, distributing, and marketing a record were extremely expensive. Even if you had the funding to produce a record, marketing and distribution channels were still tied up with the large media conglomerates.
With the emergence of new music technology, the scope has broadened on all levels. Technology has made way for new opportunities, thus creating new models. The internet has eliminated a lot of past costs within the music industry; this goes for the way music is recorded, the format of music, the marketing, and especially the distribution outlets. New models have taken away the control aspect. A child can be born, grow up developing their musical talent, gather people who can assist in the process, record an album, market that album, distribute that album, get paid, and repeat the process over and over without ever dealing with a record label for their entire career. And that’s just the basic capability of an artist operating in today’s music industry.
Right now we are looking at three entities that are battling in the “Who’s Going to Shape the Music Industry Showdown.” None of these entities are record labels; in fact they are all technology companies. They are Apple, Amazon, and Google. Does this spell doom for major record labels, I doubt it, but who knows? That’s the beauty of the current state of the music industry. It is imploded with an unforeseen greatness of potential. In the coming days, we will see artists partner with entities that we never would have imagined, in fact it’s happening now! Incredibly amazing talents that we never would have heard of in the days of yesterday now have a shot. Sure there will be lesser talents also with opportunities, but if you don’t want to listen to them DON’T. You now have that power in today’s world. The control of the experience has returned to the user, where it should have and always be. So has the music industry changed from what we once known? YES, and it will continue to change, but you will hold the reigns. Follow the technology at your own discretion. The new music industry is here, and from the looks of it, the new music industry will always be here.
About the author: Taurean Casey is a Co-Founder of Music Assistant Now.
- KNOX
Make Moves
Make Money
Make Progress
#mmmp
Tuesday, May 3, 2011
#MMMP a great article for my friends with a facebook bandpage
Sudden Page Removals Threaten Facebook As Music Marketing Tool
This guest post from Moses Avalon originally appeared on his Moses Supposes blog. As a producer and engineer of Grammy award-winning artists, Moses earned several RIAA Platinum awards. He's also the author of two top selling music industry reference guides: Million Dollar Mistakes and Confessions of a Record Producer.
This week The Next Web.com posted a alarming story of how several prominent Facebook pages were deleted for unspecified copyright infringement complaints. The episode gave a rare window into the mind of Facebook, their polices and how easy the gift of a free fan-magnet can have serious hidden costs for artists.
How would you like to wake up one morning and check your Facebook page to see that you’ve gone from 10,000 fans– to zero? Scary? It could happen quite easily if someone was to complain that your page was infringing on their copyright. You may ask, wouldn’t the complainant need proof? No. In fact, according to the recent events re: the Ars Technica incident, you don’t even need a Facebook account.
One anonymous complaint is all it took to sentence several prominent Facebook fan pages to sleep with the fishes. These pages were allegedly posting infringing work and/or promotional links to copyrights they did not control. In the speed of a mouse-click, their fans, data, email logs and all evidence of their Facebook existence, vanished. Facebook didn’t specify what items were infringing or tell the creators of the removed pages who the complaints came from. Their accounts were just GONE, with no human to whom an appeal could be made.
Now, to artists this might seem like a bonanza. Facebook–an ISP–giving the heavy hammer against infringement to creators of content, but upon closer examination, all is not rosy.
If Facebook is going to take a zero-tolerance policy about alleged infringement, regardless of degree or investigation, artists could end up in a potentially worse situation than when ISPs turned a blind eye to copyright issues. How so?
MUSIC MUGGINGS
Not focused upon much in the main-stream media, is the fact that record labels and artists can have intense rivalries. Extreme cases are stories like the East Coast/West Coast beef of the rap world that took the lives of artists Biggie Smalls and Tu Pac, but many other animosities exist that are far more subtle.
Some famous songwriters, for example, disapprove of certain artists and enforce their own interpretation of the compulsory license and fair use provisions in the Copyright Act to shut down legal covers of their songs.
Many demos use un-cleared audio samples temporarily as well as bits of melodies, guitar riffs as part of the creative process. In fact, the artist development process is rife with corner-cutting infringements that are necessary to grease the wheels of progress. But, with Facebook as enforcers, every copyright-commando has a weapon that requires only a keyboard and a beef to road-block a developing product.
Acts, fighting over logo design or a group name in a territory, could use an anonymous complaint to suspend or completely remove their rival’s account.
A label, could agree to license a sample to another label for a test release, then “change their mind,” after its posted for review.
Authors of hits can object to a badly recorded versions of their “masterpiece.”
In each case, such content owners could bypass the expensive and slow legal process with an simple infringement complaint to Facebook, and instantly vaporize the many fans an emerging artist worked so hard to aggregate on the Social Network.
WHO IS IMMUNE?
No one. Most every form of pop-music uses melodies, samples, and components of previous sound recordings. It’s virtually unavoidable, especially if you’re producing rap, R&B pop or hip hop, where samples or a “collage”of tracks are a part of your creative process.
If removal of a fan page and all its valuable data is probable, with only an email-based appeal process, then more transparency is needed in the court of Facebook.
For a company that has built their $50 Billion dollar value on content submitted by emerging artists and average Joes (who do not understand intellectual property) a more precise method of determining the actionability of infringement accusations should be a priority.
Until that time relying on a Facebook account for street-cred or building a fan-base might be mistake. Many PR and marketing gurus have warned about this in the past, and the ones who have been using FaceBook as the tent-poll of their methods now know why. One PR friend of mine put it this way, “Everyone is rethinking the big blue F.”
Have you or some artist you know had their Facebook page removed due to infringement accusations? Speak out.
ReverbNation Upgrades Free Facebook App
May 2, 2011 at 1:34 PM
Make Moves
Make Money
Make Progress
#mmmp
This guest post from Moses Avalon originally appeared on his Moses Supposes blog. As a producer and engineer of Grammy award-winning artists, Moses earned several RIAA Platinum awards. He's also the author of two top selling music industry reference guides: Million Dollar Mistakes and Confessions of a Record Producer.
This week The Next Web.com posted a alarming story of how several prominent Facebook pages were deleted for unspecified copyright infringement complaints. The episode gave a rare window into the mind of Facebook, their polices and how easy the gift of a free fan-magnet can have serious hidden costs for artists.
How would you like to wake up one morning and check your Facebook page to see that you’ve gone from 10,000 fans– to zero? Scary? It could happen quite easily if someone was to complain that your page was infringing on their copyright. You may ask, wouldn’t the complainant need proof? No. In fact, according to the recent events re: the Ars Technica incident, you don’t even need a Facebook account.
One anonymous complaint is all it took to sentence several prominent Facebook fan pages to sleep with the fishes. These pages were allegedly posting infringing work and/or promotional links to copyrights they did not control. In the speed of a mouse-click, their fans, data, email logs and all evidence of their Facebook existence, vanished. Facebook didn’t specify what items were infringing or tell the creators of the removed pages who the complaints came from. Their accounts were just GONE, with no human to whom an appeal could be made.
Now, to artists this might seem like a bonanza. Facebook–an ISP–giving the heavy hammer against infringement to creators of content, but upon closer examination, all is not rosy.
If Facebook is going to take a zero-tolerance policy about alleged infringement, regardless of degree or investigation, artists could end up in a potentially worse situation than when ISPs turned a blind eye to copyright issues. How so?
MUSIC MUGGINGS
Not focused upon much in the main-stream media, is the fact that record labels and artists can have intense rivalries. Extreme cases are stories like the East Coast/West Coast beef of the rap world that took the lives of artists Biggie Smalls and Tu Pac, but many other animosities exist that are far more subtle.
Some famous songwriters, for example, disapprove of certain artists and enforce their own interpretation of the compulsory license and fair use provisions in the Copyright Act to shut down legal covers of their songs.
Many demos use un-cleared audio samples temporarily as well as bits of melodies, guitar riffs as part of the creative process. In fact, the artist development process is rife with corner-cutting infringements that are necessary to grease the wheels of progress. But, with Facebook as enforcers, every copyright-commando has a weapon that requires only a keyboard and a beef to road-block a developing product.
Acts, fighting over logo design or a group name in a territory, could use an anonymous complaint to suspend or completely remove their rival’s account.
A label, could agree to license a sample to another label for a test release, then “change their mind,” after its posted for review.
Authors of hits can object to a badly recorded versions of their “masterpiece.”
In each case, such content owners could bypass the expensive and slow legal process with an simple infringement complaint to Facebook, and instantly vaporize the many fans an emerging artist worked so hard to aggregate on the Social Network.
WHO IS IMMUNE?
No one. Most every form of pop-music uses melodies, samples, and components of previous sound recordings. It’s virtually unavoidable, especially if you’re producing rap, R&B pop or hip hop, where samples or a “collage”of tracks are a part of your creative process.
If removal of a fan page and all its valuable data is probable, with only an email-based appeal process, then more transparency is needed in the court of Facebook.
For a company that has built their $50 Billion dollar value on content submitted by emerging artists and average Joes (who do not understand intellectual property) a more precise method of determining the actionability of infringement accusations should be a priority.
Until that time relying on a Facebook account for street-cred or building a fan-base might be mistake. Many PR and marketing gurus have warned about this in the past, and the ones who have been using FaceBook as the tent-poll of their methods now know why. One PR friend of mine put it this way, “Everyone is rethinking the big blue F.”
Have you or some artist you know had their Facebook page removed due to infringement accusations? Speak out.
ReverbNation Upgrades Free Facebook App
May 2, 2011 at 1:34 PM
Make Moves
Make Money
Make Progress
#mmmp
Thursday, April 28, 2011
#MMMP Sharing with what I use to get my day started.If you agree reply #mmmp
How to Achieve Your Goals with Healthy Habits
Written by Leo Babauta
We’ve all faced the disappointment and guilt that comes from setting a goal and giving up on it after a couple of weeks. Sustaining motivation for a long-term goal is hard to achieve, and yet the best goals can usually only be accomplished in a few months or even years.
Here’s the solution: Focus instead on creating a new habit that will lead to achieving your goal.
Want to run a marathon? First create the habit of running every day. Want to get out of debt and start saving? Create the habit of brown bagging it to work, or watching DVDs instead of going to the movies, or whatever change will lead to saving money for you.
By focusing not on what you have to achieve over the course of the next year, but instead on what you are doing each day, you are focusing on something achievable. That little daily change will add up to a huge change, over time … and you’ll be surprised at how far you’ve come in no time. Little grains of sand can add up to a mountain over time.
I used this philosophy of habit changes to run a marathon, to change my diet and lose weight, to write a novel, to quit smoking, to become organized and productive, to double my income, reduce my debt and start saving, and to begin training for an Olympic triathlon this year. It works, if you focus on changing habits.
Now, changing your habits isn’t easy — I won’t lie to you — but it’s achievable, especially if you start small. Don’t try to change the world with your first habit change … take baby steps at first. I started by just trying to run a mile — and by the end of the year, I could run more than 20 miles.
How do you change your habits? Focus on one habit at a time, and follow these steps:
Positive changes. If you’re trying to change a negative habit (quit smoking), replace it with a positive habit (running for stress relief, for example).
Take on a 30-day challenge. Tell yourself that you’re going to do this habit every day, at the same time every day, for 30 straight days without fail. Once you’re past that 30-day mark, the habit will become much easier. If you fail, do not beat yourself up. Start again on a new 30-day challenge. Practice until you succeed.
Commit yourself completely. Don’t just tell yourself that you might or should do this. Tell the world that DEFINITELY will do this. Put yourself into this 100 percent. Tell everyone you know. Email them. Put it on your blog. Post it up at your home and work place. This positive public pressure will help motivate you.
Set up rewards. It’s best to reward yourself often the first week, and then reward yourself every week for that first month. Make sure these are good rewards, that will help motivate you to stay on track.
Plan to beat your urges. It’s best to start out by monitoring your urges, so you become more aware of them. Track them for a couple days, putting a tally mark in a small notebook every time you get an urge. Write out a plan, before you get the urges, with strategies to beat them. We all have urges to quit — how will you overcome it? What helps me most are deep breathing and drinking water. You can get through an urge — it will pass.
Track and report your progress. Keep a log or journal or chart so that you can see your progress over time. I used a running log for my marathon training, and a quit meter when I quit smoking. It’s very motivating to see how far you’ve come. Also, if you can join an online group and report your progress each day, or email family and friends on your progress, that will help motivate you.
Most important of all: Always stay positive. I learned the habit of monitoring my thoughts, and if I saw any negative thoughts (“I want to stop!”) I would squash it like a little bug, and replace it with a positive thought (“I can do this!”). It works amazingly. This is the best tip ever. If you think negative thoughts, you will definitely fail. But if you always think positive, you will definitely succeed.
Make Moves
Make Money
Make Progress
#mmmp
Written by Leo Babauta
We’ve all faced the disappointment and guilt that comes from setting a goal and giving up on it after a couple of weeks. Sustaining motivation for a long-term goal is hard to achieve, and yet the best goals can usually only be accomplished in a few months or even years.
Here’s the solution: Focus instead on creating a new habit that will lead to achieving your goal.
Want to run a marathon? First create the habit of running every day. Want to get out of debt and start saving? Create the habit of brown bagging it to work, or watching DVDs instead of going to the movies, or whatever change will lead to saving money for you.
By focusing not on what you have to achieve over the course of the next year, but instead on what you are doing each day, you are focusing on something achievable. That little daily change will add up to a huge change, over time … and you’ll be surprised at how far you’ve come in no time. Little grains of sand can add up to a mountain over time.
I used this philosophy of habit changes to run a marathon, to change my diet and lose weight, to write a novel, to quit smoking, to become organized and productive, to double my income, reduce my debt and start saving, and to begin training for an Olympic triathlon this year. It works, if you focus on changing habits.
Now, changing your habits isn’t easy — I won’t lie to you — but it’s achievable, especially if you start small. Don’t try to change the world with your first habit change … take baby steps at first. I started by just trying to run a mile — and by the end of the year, I could run more than 20 miles.
How do you change your habits? Focus on one habit at a time, and follow these steps:
Positive changes. If you’re trying to change a negative habit (quit smoking), replace it with a positive habit (running for stress relief, for example).
Take on a 30-day challenge. Tell yourself that you’re going to do this habit every day, at the same time every day, for 30 straight days without fail. Once you’re past that 30-day mark, the habit will become much easier. If you fail, do not beat yourself up. Start again on a new 30-day challenge. Practice until you succeed.
Commit yourself completely. Don’t just tell yourself that you might or should do this. Tell the world that DEFINITELY will do this. Put yourself into this 100 percent. Tell everyone you know. Email them. Put it on your blog. Post it up at your home and work place. This positive public pressure will help motivate you.
Set up rewards. It’s best to reward yourself often the first week, and then reward yourself every week for that first month. Make sure these are good rewards, that will help motivate you to stay on track.
Plan to beat your urges. It’s best to start out by monitoring your urges, so you become more aware of them. Track them for a couple days, putting a tally mark in a small notebook every time you get an urge. Write out a plan, before you get the urges, with strategies to beat them. We all have urges to quit — how will you overcome it? What helps me most are deep breathing and drinking water. You can get through an urge — it will pass.
Track and report your progress. Keep a log or journal or chart so that you can see your progress over time. I used a running log for my marathon training, and a quit meter when I quit smoking. It’s very motivating to see how far you’ve come. Also, if you can join an online group and report your progress each day, or email family and friends on your progress, that will help motivate you.
Most important of all: Always stay positive. I learned the habit of monitoring my thoughts, and if I saw any negative thoughts (“I want to stop!”) I would squash it like a little bug, and replace it with a positive thought (“I can do this!”). It works amazingly. This is the best tip ever. If you think negative thoughts, you will definitely fail. But if you always think positive, you will definitely succeed.
Make Moves
Make Money
Make Progress
#mmmp
#MMMP A great article to remind us of something we should already know
Building Healthy Relationships
Written by Tejvan Pettinger - 62
1. Speak a little less, listen a little more
Most people get tremendous pleasure from speaking about themselves. But, here we have to be careful; if we always speak about our achievements or tribulations, people will get fed up with our egoism.
If we are willing and able to listen to others, we will find it much appreciated by our friends. Some people are not aware of how much they dominate the conversation. If you find you are always talking about yourself, consider the advice of the Greek philosopher, Epictectus:
“Nature gave us one tongue and two ears so we could hear twice as much as we speak.”
2. Which is more important being right or maintaining harmony?
A lot of problems in relationships occur because we want to maintain our personal pride. Don’t insist on always having the last word. Healthy relationships are not built through winning meaningless arguments. Be willing to back down; most arguments are not of critical importance anyway.
3. Avoid Gossip
If we value someone’s friendship we will not take pleasure in commenting on their frequent failings. They will eventually hear about it. But, whether we get found out or not, we weaken our relationships when we dwell on negative qualities. Avoid gossiping about anybody; subconsciously we don’t trust people who have a reputation for gossip. We instinctively trust and value people who don’t feel the need to criticise others.
4. Forgiveness
Forgiveness is not just a cliché, it’s a powerful and important factor in maintaining healthy relationships. However, real forgiveness also means that we are willing to forget the experience. If we forgive one day, but then a few weeks later bring up the old misdeed, this is not real forgiveness. When we make mistakes, just consider how much we would appreciate others forgiving and forgetting.
5. Know When to Keep Silent
If you think a friend has a bad or unworkable idea, don’t always argue against it; just keep silent and let them work things out for themselves. It’s a mistake to always feel responsible for their actions. You can offer support to friends, but you can’t live their life for them.
6. Right Motive
If you view friendship from the perspective of “what can I get from this?” you are making a big mistake. This kind of relationship proves very tentative. If you make friendships with the hope of some benefit, you will find that people will have a similar attitude to you. This kind of friendship leads to insecurity and jealousy. Furthermore, these fair weather friends will most likely disappear just when you need them most. Don’t look upon friends with the perspective “what can I get out of this?”. True friendship should be based on mutual support and good will, irrespective of any personal gain.
7. Oneness.
The real secret of healthy relationships is developing a feeling of oneness. This means that you will consider the impact on others of your words and actions. If you have a true feeling of oneness, you will find it difficult to do anything that causes suffering to your friends. When there is a feeling of oneness, your relationships will be free of jealousy and insecurity.
For example, it is a feeling of oneness which enables you to share in the success of your friends. This is much better than harbouring feelings of jealousy. To develop oneness we have to let go of feelings of superiority and inferiority; good relationships should not be based on a judgemental approach. In essence, successful friendship depends on the golden rule: “do unto others as you would have done to yourself.” This is the basis of healthy relationships.
8. Humour
Don’t take yourself too seriously. Be willing to laugh at yourself and be self-deprecating. This does not mean we have to humiliate ourselves, far from it — it just means we let go of our ego. Humour is often the best antidote for relieving tense situations.
9. Work at Relationships but don’t over analyze
Maintaining healthy relationships doesn’t mean we have to spend several hours in the psychiatrist’s chair. It means we take a little time to consider others, remembering birthdays and anniversaries etc. But, it is a mistake to spend several hours ruminating and dissecting relationships. This makes the whole thing very mental; it’s better to forget any negative experiences. Good friendships should be built on spontaneity and newness, sharing a moment of humour can often do more benefit than several hours of discussion.
10. Concern and Detachment
Healthy relationships should be built on a degree of detachment. Here, people often make a mistake; they think that being detached means, “not caring”. However, this is not the case. Often when we develop a very strong attachment we expect the person to behave in a certain way. When they don’t we feel miserable and try to change them. A good friendship based on detachment means we will always offer good will, but we will not be upset if they wish to go a different way.
.
Make Moves
Make Money
Make Progress
#mmmp
Written by Tejvan Pettinger - 62
1. Speak a little less, listen a little more
Most people get tremendous pleasure from speaking about themselves. But, here we have to be careful; if we always speak about our achievements or tribulations, people will get fed up with our egoism.
If we are willing and able to listen to others, we will find it much appreciated by our friends. Some people are not aware of how much they dominate the conversation. If you find you are always talking about yourself, consider the advice of the Greek philosopher, Epictectus:
“Nature gave us one tongue and two ears so we could hear twice as much as we speak.”
2. Which is more important being right or maintaining harmony?
A lot of problems in relationships occur because we want to maintain our personal pride. Don’t insist on always having the last word. Healthy relationships are not built through winning meaningless arguments. Be willing to back down; most arguments are not of critical importance anyway.
3. Avoid Gossip
If we value someone’s friendship we will not take pleasure in commenting on their frequent failings. They will eventually hear about it. But, whether we get found out or not, we weaken our relationships when we dwell on negative qualities. Avoid gossiping about anybody; subconsciously we don’t trust people who have a reputation for gossip. We instinctively trust and value people who don’t feel the need to criticise others.
4. Forgiveness
Forgiveness is not just a cliché, it’s a powerful and important factor in maintaining healthy relationships. However, real forgiveness also means that we are willing to forget the experience. If we forgive one day, but then a few weeks later bring up the old misdeed, this is not real forgiveness. When we make mistakes, just consider how much we would appreciate others forgiving and forgetting.
5. Know When to Keep Silent
If you think a friend has a bad or unworkable idea, don’t always argue against it; just keep silent and let them work things out for themselves. It’s a mistake to always feel responsible for their actions. You can offer support to friends, but you can’t live their life for them.
6. Right Motive
If you view friendship from the perspective of “what can I get from this?” you are making a big mistake. This kind of relationship proves very tentative. If you make friendships with the hope of some benefit, you will find that people will have a similar attitude to you. This kind of friendship leads to insecurity and jealousy. Furthermore, these fair weather friends will most likely disappear just when you need them most. Don’t look upon friends with the perspective “what can I get out of this?”. True friendship should be based on mutual support and good will, irrespective of any personal gain.
7. Oneness.
The real secret of healthy relationships is developing a feeling of oneness. This means that you will consider the impact on others of your words and actions. If you have a true feeling of oneness, you will find it difficult to do anything that causes suffering to your friends. When there is a feeling of oneness, your relationships will be free of jealousy and insecurity.
For example, it is a feeling of oneness which enables you to share in the success of your friends. This is much better than harbouring feelings of jealousy. To develop oneness we have to let go of feelings of superiority and inferiority; good relationships should not be based on a judgemental approach. In essence, successful friendship depends on the golden rule: “do unto others as you would have done to yourself.” This is the basis of healthy relationships.
8. Humour
Don’t take yourself too seriously. Be willing to laugh at yourself and be self-deprecating. This does not mean we have to humiliate ourselves, far from it — it just means we let go of our ego. Humour is often the best antidote for relieving tense situations.
9. Work at Relationships but don’t over analyze
Maintaining healthy relationships doesn’t mean we have to spend several hours in the psychiatrist’s chair. It means we take a little time to consider others, remembering birthdays and anniversaries etc. But, it is a mistake to spend several hours ruminating and dissecting relationships. This makes the whole thing very mental; it’s better to forget any negative experiences. Good friendships should be built on spontaneity and newness, sharing a moment of humour can often do more benefit than several hours of discussion.
10. Concern and Detachment
Healthy relationships should be built on a degree of detachment. Here, people often make a mistake; they think that being detached means, “not caring”. However, this is not the case. Often when we develop a very strong attachment we expect the person to behave in a certain way. When they don’t we feel miserable and try to change them. A good friendship based on detachment means we will always offer good will, but we will not be upset if they wish to go a different way.
.
Make Moves
Make Money
Make Progress
#mmmp
Tuesday, April 26, 2011
#MMMP Some info for Creative People!!!
.The music industry had a wild ride in 2010. Companies came and went, layoffs hit every sector, rapid growth delivered opportunity, and Spotify still didn't launch in the U.S. This year, 2011, should be no different.
Here are some predictions and thoughts about what 2011 may hold for the music industry.
1. A Major Label Shakeup
Despite all the talk about the major label system collapsing at any moment, it doesn't seem likely. However, 2011 may finally see a restructuring of assets and brands. EMI has no shortage of financial issues, and the current discussion points to Terra Firma handing them over to Citigroup in the near future. The big assumption is that EMI will be broken up and sold in pieces to the other three majors (Universal, Sony and Warner Bros). Of particular value is EMI's publishing division, and if the piecemeal sale does happen, there may be a fight for this asset. Of course, the other three majors aren't having the smoothest time with cash-flow either, so it remains unclear exactly who can buy what. At minimum, EMI will not look the same at the end of 2011 as it does now.
2. Indie Label Opportunity Grows
All music companies will be focused on streamlining their efforts in 2011. This involves smarter processes, innovative policies, and keeping overhead low. Independent labels typically have had to function with these elements in place from day one; their ability to stay nimble will allow for continued growth opportunity. As business partnerships continue to solidify between content owners and brands, smaller labels will be able to adapt quickly and profit at lower revenue thresholds. This creates a strategic advantage that, if managed properly, will see upward trends on indie label balance sheets.
3. Streaming Services Reach Critical Mass
In 2011, someone will become the Apple of streaming -- perhaps Apple itself. Consumers are getting closer and closer to accepting renting over owning content. Companies such as MOG, Rdio, Spotify, and Rhapsody are poised to capitalize on this. With good timing, savvy marketing, and clear messaging that succinctly communicates the benefits, a streaming music provider can easily take the leading role in this race. The safe money seems to be on Apple (in part thanks to the Lala acquisition), but the other contenders are quite serious and finding the level of funding necessary to compete. This sector is also making major moves into mobile and car audio; these additional distribution avenues only strengthen the push toward widespread adoption.
4. Free Continues Moving Upwards
"Free" has been a highly debated concept. One side states that the awareness and data capture free provides can be converted to sales over time. The opposition feels that free devalues content and sets the wrong precedent. The truth may lie somewhere in the middle, but it is clear that with the volume of free content (legal and otherwise) one has to be giving something away simply to stay competitive. This line of thinking is nothing new, but it has finally permeated the companies and artists at the top. The majors and superstars have relaxed their policies on free (especially when paired with data capture) and that trend will continue. This will happen in parallel with efforts to find techniques to convert free to paying -- a critical element to make this model work.
5. The Essential Toolkit Solidifies
Digital marketers have an almost endless supply of new technology and techniques to try. However, over the past 18 months, many have faded away or a best-of-breed front-runner has emerged. In 2011 we will see this continue as it becomes more clear which technologies and techniques provide real value. In 2010, it became easy (and essential) to track true performance metrics; marketers now have multiple tools to evaluate effectiveness based on conversion, data capture, sentiment, and engagement. This analysis is helping define where to focus efforts -- and that is helping digital music marketing become a more precise practice.
Companies with momentum in the digital marketing toolkit space include Topspin, Bandcamp, Nimbit, Rockdex, NextBigSound, Rootmusic, SoundCloud, Buzzdeck, Artistdata, Mozes, and the ever-essential Google Analytics. Let's also not forget the mainstays -- Twitter, Facebook, and email-marketing platforms such as ExactTarget, Mailchimp and Constant Contact.
6. The Net Neutrality Debate Continues
The positions and arguments haven't changed much, but the Net neutrality discussion (particularly at the government level) has accelerated. In late December, the FCC approved rules that enable mobile carriers to regulate application use. Many members of Congress have already stated they will fight this by creating a new law. This debate is still far from over; expect heated discussion all year long.
In many ways 2011 won't look much different than 2010. The music industry is still suffering from steep declines and is still building strategies and systems to counteract this. The key words moving forward are innovation and experimentation; most people have accepted the fact that we cannot force consumers to behave as they did in the past. Instead, we must seek to better understand our audience, foster stronger communication, and be willing to take leaps of faith on a regular basis.
*****
What predictions do you have for the music industry in 2011? Please share them in the comments.
Jason Feinberg is vice president, direct to consumer marketing for Concord Music Group. He is responsible for digital and physical direct-to-fan solutions for CMG's frontline and catalog including the Rounder, Fantasy and Stax labels. Recent campaigns include Paul Simon, Allison Krauss, Paul McCartney, Elvis Costello, Carole King/James Taylor, and Crowded House. Follow Jason on Twitter @otmg
Here are some predictions and thoughts about what 2011 may hold for the music industry.
1. A Major Label Shakeup
Despite all the talk about the major label system collapsing at any moment, it doesn't seem likely. However, 2011 may finally see a restructuring of assets and brands. EMI has no shortage of financial issues, and the current discussion points to Terra Firma handing them over to Citigroup in the near future. The big assumption is that EMI will be broken up and sold in pieces to the other three majors (Universal, Sony and Warner Bros). Of particular value is EMI's publishing division, and if the piecemeal sale does happen, there may be a fight for this asset. Of course, the other three majors aren't having the smoothest time with cash-flow either, so it remains unclear exactly who can buy what. At minimum, EMI will not look the same at the end of 2011 as it does now.
2. Indie Label Opportunity Grows
All music companies will be focused on streamlining their efforts in 2011. This involves smarter processes, innovative policies, and keeping overhead low. Independent labels typically have had to function with these elements in place from day one; their ability to stay nimble will allow for continued growth opportunity. As business partnerships continue to solidify between content owners and brands, smaller labels will be able to adapt quickly and profit at lower revenue thresholds. This creates a strategic advantage that, if managed properly, will see upward trends on indie label balance sheets.
3. Streaming Services Reach Critical Mass
In 2011, someone will become the Apple of streaming -- perhaps Apple itself. Consumers are getting closer and closer to accepting renting over owning content. Companies such as MOG, Rdio, Spotify, and Rhapsody are poised to capitalize on this. With good timing, savvy marketing, and clear messaging that succinctly communicates the benefits, a streaming music provider can easily take the leading role in this race. The safe money seems to be on Apple (in part thanks to the Lala acquisition), but the other contenders are quite serious and finding the level of funding necessary to compete. This sector is also making major moves into mobile and car audio; these additional distribution avenues only strengthen the push toward widespread adoption.
4. Free Continues Moving Upwards
"Free" has been a highly debated concept. One side states that the awareness and data capture free provides can be converted to sales over time. The opposition feels that free devalues content and sets the wrong precedent. The truth may lie somewhere in the middle, but it is clear that with the volume of free content (legal and otherwise) one has to be giving something away simply to stay competitive. This line of thinking is nothing new, but it has finally permeated the companies and artists at the top. The majors and superstars have relaxed their policies on free (especially when paired with data capture) and that trend will continue. This will happen in parallel with efforts to find techniques to convert free to paying -- a critical element to make this model work.
5. The Essential Toolkit Solidifies
Digital marketers have an almost endless supply of new technology and techniques to try. However, over the past 18 months, many have faded away or a best-of-breed front-runner has emerged. In 2011 we will see this continue as it becomes more clear which technologies and techniques provide real value. In 2010, it became easy (and essential) to track true performance metrics; marketers now have multiple tools to evaluate effectiveness based on conversion, data capture, sentiment, and engagement. This analysis is helping define where to focus efforts -- and that is helping digital music marketing become a more precise practice.
Companies with momentum in the digital marketing toolkit space include Topspin, Bandcamp, Nimbit, Rockdex, NextBigSound, Rootmusic, SoundCloud, Buzzdeck, Artistdata, Mozes, and the ever-essential Google Analytics. Let's also not forget the mainstays -- Twitter, Facebook, and email-marketing platforms such as ExactTarget, Mailchimp and Constant Contact.
6. The Net Neutrality Debate Continues
The positions and arguments haven't changed much, but the Net neutrality discussion (particularly at the government level) has accelerated. In late December, the FCC approved rules that enable mobile carriers to regulate application use. Many members of Congress have already stated they will fight this by creating a new law. This debate is still far from over; expect heated discussion all year long.
In many ways 2011 won't look much different than 2010. The music industry is still suffering from steep declines and is still building strategies and systems to counteract this. The key words moving forward are innovation and experimentation; most people have accepted the fact that we cannot force consumers to behave as they did in the past. Instead, we must seek to better understand our audience, foster stronger communication, and be willing to take leaps of faith on a regular basis.
*****
What predictions do you have for the music industry in 2011? Please share them in the comments.
Jason Feinberg is vice president, direct to consumer marketing for Concord Music Group. He is responsible for digital and physical direct-to-fan solutions for CMG's frontline and catalog including the Rounder, Fantasy and Stax labels. Recent campaigns include Paul Simon, Allison Krauss, Paul McCartney, Elvis Costello, Carole King/James Taylor, and Crowded House. Follow Jason on Twitter @otmg
Saturday, April 23, 2011
5 Must-Read Life Lessons from Alexander Graham Bell
Written by Mr.SelfDevelopment Published on November 22, 2010 - 8 Comments
Categories: self improvement
Alexander Graham Bell was a prominent scientist, inventor, engineer and innovator who is credited with inventing the first “practical” telephone, although some believe he stole the idea from Elisha Gray.
Bell’s father, grandfather, and brother were all involved with work on speech and elocution, and both his mother and wife were deaf, profoundly influencing Bell’s life’s work.
Bell’s research on hearing and speech further led him to experiment with hearing devices. These experimentations eventually resulted in Bell being awarded the first U.S. patent for the telephone in 1876. Interestingly enough, Bell considered his invention an interference with his “real” work as a scientist and refused to have a telephone in his study.
Bell is also known for many other landmark inventions including his work in optical telecommunications, hydrofoils and aeronautics. In 1888, Bell became one of the founding members of the National Geographic Society.
5 Must-Read Life Lessons from Alexander Graham Bell:
1. Development
“A man, as a general rule, owes very little to what he is born with – a man is what he makes of himself.”
You are what you make of yourself!
This is why self-development is so important; you are “exactly” what you have spent your time developing into. You decide what you become. You can develop into success or failure. You can get better or worse, you decide. A man, or woman, is what they make of themselves.
2. Preparation
“Before anything else, preparation is the key to success.”
Les Brown said, “It’s better to be prepared for an opportunity and not have one, then to have an opportunity and not be prepared.” Are you prepared to succeed? If the opportunity you’ve been waiting for suddenly appeared, would you be ready for it?
The first step to success is to be prepared.
3. Concentration
“Concentrate all of your thoughts upon the work at hand. The sun’s rays do not burn until brought to a focus.”
Alexander Graham Bell said, “What this power is I cannot say; all I know is that it exists and it becomes available only when a man is in that state of mind in which he knows exactly what he wants and is fully determined not to quit until he finds it.” Are you concentrating? Are you focusing all of your power on the work at hand? You’ll never know your potential if you don’t focus your power.
4. Look for Open Doors
“Sometimes we stare so long at a door that is closing that we see too late the one that is open.”
Every time a door closes another one opens, look for the open doors, look for the opportunities that are in front of you.
Are you looking for opportunities? It’s hard to find an opportunity if you’re not looking for it. With every closed door there is a seed for something greater.
5. Steady Progress
“The most successful men in the end are those whose success is the result of steady accretion.”
Most people want overnight success, however, those who succeed, succeed as a result of many years of steady progress. Are you making progress? Are you closer to your goal this year in comparison to last year?
To succeed you have to make progress, you have to be consistent to win the race. As the quote goes, “The race is not given to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, but to the one who endures until the end.
Make Moves
Make Money
Make Progress
#mmmp
Written by Mr.SelfDevelopment Published on November 22, 2010 - 8 Comments
Categories: self improvement
Alexander Graham Bell was a prominent scientist, inventor, engineer and innovator who is credited with inventing the first “practical” telephone, although some believe he stole the idea from Elisha Gray.
Bell’s father, grandfather, and brother were all involved with work on speech and elocution, and both his mother and wife were deaf, profoundly influencing Bell’s life’s work.
Bell’s research on hearing and speech further led him to experiment with hearing devices. These experimentations eventually resulted in Bell being awarded the first U.S. patent for the telephone in 1876. Interestingly enough, Bell considered his invention an interference with his “real” work as a scientist and refused to have a telephone in his study.
Bell is also known for many other landmark inventions including his work in optical telecommunications, hydrofoils and aeronautics. In 1888, Bell became one of the founding members of the National Geographic Society.
5 Must-Read Life Lessons from Alexander Graham Bell:
1. Development
“A man, as a general rule, owes very little to what he is born with – a man is what he makes of himself.”
You are what you make of yourself!
This is why self-development is so important; you are “exactly” what you have spent your time developing into. You decide what you become. You can develop into success or failure. You can get better or worse, you decide. A man, or woman, is what they make of themselves.
2. Preparation
“Before anything else, preparation is the key to success.”
Les Brown said, “It’s better to be prepared for an opportunity and not have one, then to have an opportunity and not be prepared.” Are you prepared to succeed? If the opportunity you’ve been waiting for suddenly appeared, would you be ready for it?
The first step to success is to be prepared.
3. Concentration
“Concentrate all of your thoughts upon the work at hand. The sun’s rays do not burn until brought to a focus.”
Alexander Graham Bell said, “What this power is I cannot say; all I know is that it exists and it becomes available only when a man is in that state of mind in which he knows exactly what he wants and is fully determined not to quit until he finds it.” Are you concentrating? Are you focusing all of your power on the work at hand? You’ll never know your potential if you don’t focus your power.
4. Look for Open Doors
“Sometimes we stare so long at a door that is closing that we see too late the one that is open.”
Every time a door closes another one opens, look for the open doors, look for the opportunities that are in front of you.
Are you looking for opportunities? It’s hard to find an opportunity if you’re not looking for it. With every closed door there is a seed for something greater.
5. Steady Progress
“The most successful men in the end are those whose success is the result of steady accretion.”
Most people want overnight success, however, those who succeed, succeed as a result of many years of steady progress. Are you making progress? Are you closer to your goal this year in comparison to last year?
To succeed you have to make progress, you have to be consistent to win the race. As the quote goes, “The race is not given to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, but to the one who endures until the end.
Make Moves
Make Money
Make Progress
#mmmp
Friday, April 22, 2011
#mmmp
MMMP
What Kills Your Motivation?
It changed my perspective entirely when I took the time to identify the motivation killers in my life.
For as long as I can remember I’ve wanted to write a teen fiction book. Besides my love for writing, the primary motivation behind my goal has always been to create an original story that sucks young people in and gets them excited to turn to the next page. A secondary motivation is to have a means of bringing truth and encouragement to teenagers in a day and age where they face such unique challenges. Yet another motivation behind this goal was a desire to create something lasting and tangible to leave behind me after I pass away.
As noble as these motivations are, years went by and I made little progress on the book. I recently had the startling revelation that I must be allowing certain things in my life to kill my motivation. So I made a list of the things that were holding me back from accomplishing my goals. This is what my list looked like.
My 4 Motivation Killers:
1.) Social networking. For starters, I spent hours on Facebook and wasted valuable time I could be spending writing my book. But that’s not the real reason social networking is a motivation killer for me. By the time I finish reading all of my family and friends’ status updates, I am usually left processing other people’s thoughts, frustrations, goals and successes instead of focusing my energy on my own thoughts and motivation. All my creative energy starts channeling into solving and mulling over my friends’ mini-crises and I never end up channeling that creative energy into my book.
2.) Fear of failure. The fear here is that it won’t matter if I finish the book because it will only be rejected by every literary agent and publishing house in the country.
3.) Fear of my work being snubbed. The fear here is that even if I get the book published, no one will like it and I will get all this hate mail telling me what a lame book I wrote.
4.) Lack of support. My closest friends are neither readers nor writers so it’s a big motivation killer when I share my goals of writing a book or try to get a friend to read a rough draft of a chapter and I am met with very little enthusiasm.
Once I had identified the things that were holding me back, I was finally able to do what I could to overcome these motivation killers and get back to my original goal. First, I cut back my social networking significantly (no easy task for the Facebook addict) and I began using the time I normally spent on Facebook to pour over online writers’ forums and connect with like-minded people who would help motivate me to finish what I started.
Secondly, I acknowledged that my fear of failure and fear of being snubbed were irrational. If I produced a quality manuscript that fit with what a literary agent is looking for, then it would get accepted and could later be enjoyed by the age group I care so much about. But you can’t create a quality piece of work if you reject yourself before anyone else has even gotten the chance to reject your work. Rejection from literary agents may be commonplace but it’s also commonplace for successful authors to have their work rejected repeatedly before finding a literary agent and publishing house that see the work for what it is—an excellent story. As for the critics I will face one day? Well, they’re simply not as important as the ones who will truly enjoy the book
If you agree reply #mmmp
What Kills Your Motivation?
It changed my perspective entirely when I took the time to identify the motivation killers in my life.
For as long as I can remember I’ve wanted to write a teen fiction book. Besides my love for writing, the primary motivation behind my goal has always been to create an original story that sucks young people in and gets them excited to turn to the next page. A secondary motivation is to have a means of bringing truth and encouragement to teenagers in a day and age where they face such unique challenges. Yet another motivation behind this goal was a desire to create something lasting and tangible to leave behind me after I pass away.
As noble as these motivations are, years went by and I made little progress on the book. I recently had the startling revelation that I must be allowing certain things in my life to kill my motivation. So I made a list of the things that were holding me back from accomplishing my goals. This is what my list looked like.
My 4 Motivation Killers:
1.) Social networking. For starters, I spent hours on Facebook and wasted valuable time I could be spending writing my book. But that’s not the real reason social networking is a motivation killer for me. By the time I finish reading all of my family and friends’ status updates, I am usually left processing other people’s thoughts, frustrations, goals and successes instead of focusing my energy on my own thoughts and motivation. All my creative energy starts channeling into solving and mulling over my friends’ mini-crises and I never end up channeling that creative energy into my book.
2.) Fear of failure. The fear here is that it won’t matter if I finish the book because it will only be rejected by every literary agent and publishing house in the country.
3.) Fear of my work being snubbed. The fear here is that even if I get the book published, no one will like it and I will get all this hate mail telling me what a lame book I wrote.
4.) Lack of support. My closest friends are neither readers nor writers so it’s a big motivation killer when I share my goals of writing a book or try to get a friend to read a rough draft of a chapter and I am met with very little enthusiasm.
Once I had identified the things that were holding me back, I was finally able to do what I could to overcome these motivation killers and get back to my original goal. First, I cut back my social networking significantly (no easy task for the Facebook addict) and I began using the time I normally spent on Facebook to pour over online writers’ forums and connect with like-minded people who would help motivate me to finish what I started.
Secondly, I acknowledged that my fear of failure and fear of being snubbed were irrational. If I produced a quality manuscript that fit with what a literary agent is looking for, then it would get accepted and could later be enjoyed by the age group I care so much about. But you can’t create a quality piece of work if you reject yourself before anyone else has even gotten the chance to reject your work. Rejection from literary agents may be commonplace but it’s also commonplace for successful authors to have their work rejected repeatedly before finding a literary agent and publishing house that see the work for what it is—an excellent story. As for the critics I will face one day? Well, they’re simply not as important as the ones who will truly enjoy the book
If you agree reply #mmmp
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