First, it was my little feng shui remodeling. Then, I hung up a big whiteboard on a small budget. The office was shaping up pretty nicely, if I do say so myself.

But, then another idea hit me…

See, around the turn of the year, my lower back was bothering me. While eating like hell over the holidays probably didn’t help any, I also noticed something else…

Whenever I sat down, the back would start to bother me. When I stood up, I was fine.

Now, I am using a Herman Miller Aaron chair in the office. It is ergonomic and quite a nice chair. That’s why I bought it. BUT… for all that special ergonomic-sauce to actually help, you have to sit in the chair correctly. In my case, I had this nasty habit of hunching forward. So, I wasn’t letting the chair’s back do the support. Instead, my lower back was being stressed as I hunched forward.

During some of my random musings about my office on Facebook, my friends Erica Douglass and Brian Fryer were talking to me about how much they love their stand-up desks.

What? A Desk That You… Stand Up At?

Now, I had certainly heard of this idea before. Honestly, it sounded a little…. well, crazy.

But, once you start researching it a bit more, you realize it isn’t so crazy.

A lot of entrepreneurs use stand-up desks. But, it goes all the way back to Thomas Jefferson, who also used a standing desk.

The health benefits of it are many, including:

• Helps you not rot. I mean, the human body wasn’t designed to sit for 8-10 hours per day. Being upright and moving is what our bodies were designed for. Sitting for long periods not only causes your ass to expand (obviously), but it slows all the bodily functions of your body… including metabolism, digestion, blood flow, etc.
• Helps you lose weight. You burn more calories while standing. Your heart rate is actually a little higher. Plus, standing will counteract all those slower bodily functions.
• Helps your back. This one speaks to me, seeing as my lower back was the primary reason I decided to look deeper into this idea. My back doesn’t bother me AT ALL when I’m standing up. However, sometimes when I’m sitting I find myself trying to adjust in my chair in order to find a comfortable stature.

So, I was convinced.

Getting A Stand-Up Desk

My office space is big enough to accommodate more than one desk. And, needless to say, I like my regular desk. Alot. So, I wasn’t willing to get rid of it and switch exclusively to a stand-up desk.

I did my research into different options. Come to find out, you can drop some serious coin on a stand-up desk if you wanted to. For example, a well-known one is the GeekDesk.

The GeekDesk starts out around $800. It looks to be really solid and well-respected. And, one of the selling points is that it is motor-adjusted so you can adjust your desk to stand-up or sit-down position, depending on your mood.

Seeing as I wasn’t going to use this desk full-time, I didn’t want to drop $800 on one of these. So, I looked for other options.

One uber-cheap way to go is simply to jerry-rig your setup to turn a regular desk into a stand-up desk. Some people will stack books or shelving onto the top of a desk in order to artificially raise the work surface. Check out this one from the blog of Melissa Douthit:

Some people will even put their desk on stilts in order to raise the thing higher.

But, I wanted a real desk. Just not a pricey one. So, I looked into Ikea.

You’ll find that there is a desk called the Ikea Jerker that was very popular. I say “was” because the model was discontinued. It was missed so much, though, that it even has fan sites and, apparently, a Facebook group to try to petition Ikea to bring it back.

The successor to the Jerker is the Ikea Frederik. And, to end the long story, this is the desk I ultimately bought.

My Part-Time Stand-Up Desk: The Ikea Frederik

Here’s a quick photo of my setup. In fact, I’m writing this very blog post while standing at this desk.

The desk has three levels on it. Usually the two skinnier levels are seen above the larger desk surface. But, in order to accommodate my height, I simply mounted the desk surface between the two smaller shelves. When I’m standing up, the keyboard is now at elbow level.

I set up my old Mac Pro at this computer, along with a couple of monitors I already owned. Works QUITE NICELY. And the desk costs me $149. Certainly a lot cheaper than $800. Plus, if I actually use it and it helps me get more done (and ultimately make more money), then $149 is a drop in the bucket.

My Findings: Does It Work?

I now go back and forth between my two desks – depending on my mood. However, I’ve been spending quite a bit of time at the standing desk…. enough to the point that I’ve even pondered the idea of moving my iMac (which is my newer and much faster computer) over to it. Not sure if I will, however.

The test, though, is whether this works for me. Well, here’s my findings after having this for a couple of weeks now:

• I am much more focused when I’m standing. I don’t know what it is, but I don’t find that I’m as easily sidetracked when I’m using the stand-up desk. Over at the other desk, I have to employ more self-discipline to keep myself on task. So, I find I get more work done. Sweet.
• My back thanks me. I have zero back issues while working at this desk. Yet, I still have to be careful that I don’t hunch forward when I’m sitting at the other one.

As far as other health benefits, I haven’t been using this thing long enough to tell. But, for me, the increased focus alone means that it was worth it for me to set this up.

A word of warning, however. You will find your feet hurting. Your body eventually gets used to it and the problem goes away, but expect that as you are just starting.

So, perhaps you want to give this a try. As it turns out, it isn’t insane. In fact, I rather like it. And perhaps you will, too.

If you have any experience with this – or comments – I’ll see you below in the comment section.

No related posts.

So, I did some research. I got some advice from some internet marketing friends. And I arrived at a solution. For less than 10% of the cost of a comparably sized whiteboard pre-built, I got the job done.

Why A Whiteboard?

Whiteboards are a favorite tool among many internet marketers I know. Many others have hung them with the best intentions, only to rarely (if ever) actually use it. So, the question is… What use is a whiteboard? Why would I want one?

• Diagramming A Sales Process. When you’re planning out a sales funnel, it is nice to diagram it out visually. This includes the landing pages, thank-you pages, upsells, downsells – you get the idea. And even though you can do this with flow chart software, hashing it out on a whiteboard often works better. Plus, you don’t get mired down with trying to figure out the software or some compulsion to make it look pretty.
• Videos. Recording yourself on video talking about something, but in front of your whiteboard so you can draw out what you’re talking about, all professor-style.
• Projects and Planning. Obvious.
• Model a product launch. There can be a lot of moving pieces to a product launch. Map it out on the whiteboard.

You get the idea.

Whiteboard On The Cheap

Small whiteboards are easy to come by, but their size is usually a limitation. Hell, my computer monitor is bigger than some of those things.

Once you move up to something of decent size, you have to pony up some serious scratch. The larger (usually commercial-grade) whiteboards can cost several hundred dollars.

Then, you have paint options. For example, companies like IdeaPaint or Whiteyboard have paint-on options. You literally just paint your wall with this material and it turns the entire wall into a dry-erase whiteboard. This is probably your best option if you truly want wall-to-wall whiteboards.

Whiteyboard also has adhesive options. You buy the whiteboard material in a roll and you, well, roll it on.

As convenient as these options are, the problem is that you need a very smooth service. A standard texture on drywall should work OK with paint because the paint will even out as it dries (in theory). Some walls, though, have a more pronounced texturing to them. That would make the whiteboard surface bumpy and that’s annoying. Same problem with the adhesive.

The other thing to consider is removability. Paint-on whiteboard is, I would imagine, pretty much a bitch to remove. So, if you’re in an apartment or in a rental house (as I am right now), it might not be a viable option. You want to be able to move out and leave the walls undamaged.

So, This Is What I Did…

I went to Lowes and picked up an 8′x4′ white panelboard. This is the kind of board which would be wall-mounted in a cheap bathroom or something. It happens to make a pretty decent dry-erase board, though.

The price of the board (at Lowes) was $11.87 per panel. If you wanted more than one, I bet you could afford it.

The biggest problem is fitting in in your car. You pretty much want to have it inside the vehicle. A flat item like this would act as one HELL of a sail if the wind caught it, so roof-mounting it might prove problematic. I couldn’t even fit this thing in my wife’s SUV, so I actually had to have the folks at Lowes cut the board for me. I had them cut it right down the middle, so I had TWO 4′x4′ boards.

To mount it to the wall, you have a couple different options. One is, of course, adhesive. A simple tube of liquid nail would do it. Just keep in mind that this would screw up the wall if you try to remove it.

The way  I mounted it? Velcro. Industrial stength velcrow tape, as shown here: (link to Lowes)

Since I had two separate 4×4 panels, I cut up the velcrow tape evenly and stuck strips in each of the 4 corners of each board. I actually placed the strips a few inches inward on each corner, not right at the edge. This velcrow is more than adequate to hold up the weight of this panel.

Don’t worry about measuring it precisely and trying to match it up on the wall. I’d recommend pre-fastening the velcrow before wall-mounting it. Then, you simply position the wall panel and stick it onto the wall. Then, pushing inward to really stick those things to the wall. This saves a lot of hassle from trying to match up the locations of the two sides to the velcrow.

The End Result

There you have it.

The ONLY problem with this is the fact that I had to cut it in half to even get it home. I now have this seam (which is pretty visible) in the middle of it. In practice, I doubt it will be any problem. Worse case, I could probably reduce the seam with some chaulking or something.

All in all, though – pretty dang swanky. And, panel and velcro, my total cost was only about $20 or so. When  you consider what a whiteboard this size would have cost pre-built, pretty sweet.

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Looking forward comes naturally. But, what about looking backwards? What about reflecting on the year we’re coming out of and seeing what you can LEARN from it to apply to the upcoming year?

So, I’m going to look back on 2011. And, here’s my take-aways…

#1 – Don’t stop doing what was successful before.

Most of us have done something in the past which worked out REALLY well. Then, we went and enjoyed the fruits of our labors, got comfortable, got lazy, then failed to do it again.

Why NOT do what worked before?

I’ll give you an example from me. One of my most successful actions in the growth of my business was doing a large scale product launch (in this case, of Blog Masters Club). The last large launch I did of it, I added several thousand people to my mailing list and ultimately brought in close to $80,000.

But, I haven’t done it in awhile. Why? Honestly, it is because I dropped the ball.

Now, I have legit reasons for not wanting to do those kinds of launches all the time. When a business depends on things like a launch, then it becomes like crack. You need your next hit otherwise things curl up and die. I don’t want my business in that situation.

That being said, there are aspects of a launch which need to be kept going all the time – EVEN IF you’re not doing an official launch. Things like actively working with affiliates. Being “out there” on other people’s sites. Being preeminent.

So, one of the things I resolve to do in 2012 is be a lot more “out there”. And, maybe throw in a launch or two in the mix. You never know.

#2 – Don’t let your connections go stale.

I have the honor of knowing most of the “players” in this niche. We’ve hung out at conferences and talk on Skype/Facebook and the like.

But, looking back on 2011, I think one of the things I didn’t do well ENOUGH is maintaining those active connections even when I’m not at a conference.

This reminds me of Christian Russel’s “Power Rule of 100″ – which he outlined in this guest post he wrote for my blog awhile back. It is the idea that you make 100 personal contacts every day. Whether it be an email to somebody, a Skype chat, a tweet reply – whatever – it is the idea that you make at least 100 contact points every day. I’ve remembered this rule a few times in the last year (good job, Christian!)… because I believe there is a lot of truth in that.

I tend to be more communicative than most when it comes to email (for example, I actually make a point to reply to every reader email I get… even if I’m late)…. but I’ve got friends out there (you know you are) I’m not in contact with enough. I might see them at conferences, or perhaps the occasional Skype interaction… but that’s about it.

Gonna have to do something about that.

#3 – Be An Executive

Readers of Michael Gerber’s E-Myth Revisited will be familiar with this idea of the 3 roles in a business. There’s the entrepreneur, the manager, and the technician. The entrepreneur is the “big picture” guy, the manager oversees day-to-day operations and balances out strategic and tactical plans, and the technician does the nitty-gritty work.

Now, I personally like to call the “entrepreneur” role the “executive” role. I personally think it communicates the idea better.

… but, the idea is that these are three distinct, SEPARATE roles. The executive is like the brain, and the technician is like the limbs of the body.

Now, many of us end up being stuck in the technician role. And, many times in 2011, I’ve found that to be the case with me. I’d find that I felt the most productive when I had fairly brainless work to do…. tasks with an obvious beginning and an end to them. What I didn’t do as well on in 2011 is maintaining my eye on the bigger picture and devising real STRATEGY to do it.

See, to a large extent, I let the “executive” hat drop off my head. And, seeing as the “manager” post is the bridge point, when there isn’t any executive defining broad strategy, the technician works in a rather aimless fashion. Kind of like a body writhes after the head is cut off (yeah, I know… what a fantastic image )

This is what leads to being BUSY, but not a whole lot of real forward progress.

See, even when we KNOW these things, sometimes the lack of discipline means we do it anyway. Yikes!

So, one of the things I’m doing in 2012 is to actually SCHEDULE time to be in the “executive” role. Work ON the business rather than IN it. A bunch of dropped balls are being picked back up again. And I’m jumping back into the role that I SHOULD have been doing without stopping – EXECUTIVE.

#4 – Take Care of the “Whole Package”

It is REALLY easy for us entrepreneurs to get so into our businesses that it basically defines us. We end up letting other things go.

But, we all have other drives in life. Our health, our family and friends, groups we belong to, etc.

My family took up a lot of my time in 2011. It just goes with the territory. My wife and I have two young children and they need us both. And, generally, I let my family take priority (as I believe it should be). The side effect of that is that – MANY times – I felt like I didn’t have ENOUGH time to actually work. It is the usual tug-of-war that I would imagine most parents have dealt with.

Problem is… the end result for me was that I let other things go. Namely, my body. No, I don’t have any health problems or anything like that… however I pretty much suck when it comes to exercise and eating well. And I fell into this short-term thinking when it comes to eating. You know, “oh, this one meal of Taco Bell isn’t going to hurt me”. Sound familiar? I also started enjoying alcoholic beverages in the evening. But, we’re talking stiff ones. Vodka straight-up. That kind of thing. It isn’t every night (by far), but when you combine something like that with not exercising much…

Yeah.

The end result is that I currently weigh about 240 pounds (well, I did as of a few days ago). My ideal weight, given my height, is probably between 190 and 200.

One could say that I let the “executive” role on my health drop off, too. The thing is… as AWESOME as this internet business lifestyle can be… it PLAYS HELL on your health unless you counter-act it.

So, as we move into 2012, I’m beginning to take care of the whole package. What do I mean by that?

Well, business, family, health, groups – ALL of it goes together to form an overall picture of how well we’re doing. And it is all inter-mixed. I FIRMLY believe that you can’t live up to your full potential in business if your body isn’t up to par. And I’ve pretty much decided that I will never see my business to the next level as long as I ignore my body. It just won’t happen.

I’m now on a dedicated program to get into better shape and lose the weight. I’m watching what I eat. I quit the evening drinks. I’m actually tracking it in an app on my iPhone. I’m not a big believer in calorie-counting diets, but that being said, using an app like this forces me to pay attention and be aware of what I’m eating. You can’t manage what you don’t track. Its an old business rule that I think applies equally well to our diets.

#5 – Build For The Future

This final lesson from 2011 goes hand-in-hand with #3 above.

See, one of the important roles of an executive is to build up the business and plan for the long-term viability of the business. In addition to that, the role of the executive is to build that business so that it lends itself to the lifestyle that the owner wants.

Good ol’ lifestyle design.

When I consider the other things I want in my life, I realize that as long as my business is running like it is now, I won’t be able to do those things. Why? Because my business is still very dependent on ME. It depends on me to do most things. It depends on me to promote things, drive sales, send emails – yada yada.

It is one thing to make money… but when you think about it, TIME is the most important resource we really have. It is the one thing that, no matter how rich you are, you DON’T have more time than somebody else does. We all have the same 24 hours in the day.

So, really, when you think about it… if I’m spending most of the day in my office 5 days a week, what have I really created for myself? I’ve created my own J-O-B. And I won’t have time for other things.

Now, of course, I don’t really compare what I do to a regular job. I don’t have to answer to anybody but myself, and I CAN take time off whenever I feel like it. But, even when I do take time off, I’m still thinking about the business to a degree. And, if I’m going for awhile, I have to attend to some work because… like I said… things still depend on me.

The great part about an online business is that things can be automated, outsourced or systematized to degrees not as easily doable in other lines of work. But, it also takes the EXECUTIVE to purposely build the business in that way.

For example…

• Making optimum use of autoresponder sequences for automated followup. Less manual emails, but more valuable for people because the campaign have structure to them.
• Making a point to document internal procedures as I go so that it CAN be done by somebody else.
• Building up processes and resources for people to promote on your behalf (i.e. affiliates). This combined with some other traffic building techniques (including paid traffic) to build a consistent flow of prospects into the sales funnel… without the need for me personally to continually promote the things to my list manually.
• Building more passive income streams.

Doing things like this will build a flourishing business that I CAN walk away from (even if only partially) without the stats crashing through the floor.

.

.

So, there we are. These are some of my own personal lessons from 2011.

Comment below with your thoughts. Plus, I’d LOVE to hear about your own personal lessons from 2011.

After all, if we don’t learn from our time and experience, how are we going to make the new year any better than the last?

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Usually it is from somebody evaluating one of my products to buy. Sometimes it is from somebody who is seeking a solution and just looking for whatever is going to work for them.

Often, the question is something like this:

How long will your system take to get my income up to $1,000/month?

Every time I get a question like this, I feel this compelling need to start preaching at them. Why?

Because it is the wrong question!

In fact, the question isn’t even valid.

People who ask that question have fallen for the mistaken concept of the “system”. You know, this paint-by-numbers thing where you can just execute some steps – steps that somebody else passes onto you with their ultimate wisdom. And, if you do those steps, in that order, in the exact way you’re told… well, then money will pop out. You don’t have to even know what you’re doing or think for yourself. Just execute the “system”.

Oh, and not only do they want this “system” that removes all thinking and responsibility, but they don’t want the “system” to take up very much time. They want it now. Just money.

Just give ‘em money.

And if the money doesn’t just pop out of the ether, then the person who sold that “system” to them is a liar, a scammer and full of hype.

Has it ever occurred to anybody that they get the marketing they DESERVE? The marketing they SEEK? Those hypey-ass marketers only do that because it frickin’ works.

But, of course, I have to look at myself in the mirror. I want to set an example for my kids when they’re finally old enough to understand what I do. So, I don’t mislead people into “systems”. You can find plenty of people in the Warrior Forum with their fancy WSO’s hocking “systems”.

But, that place is mostly full of hopers, not doers. There are two classes of people in the Warrior Forum… the hoper who just blindly buys stupid shit if its cheap and hypey enough… and the producer who is posting WSO’s because it is like shooting fish in a barrel in that environment. Consumers and producers… the classic breakdown of how any economy works.

So, how long does it take to start making money online?

Well, here’s the real answer:

Nobody knows. Because the answer is determined by one person. YOU.

What market you choose. What your technical skills are. Whether you’ll self-sabotage yourself. Whether you’re willing to work or not. Whether you’d rather sit there and play video games or watch a movie. Whether you’re the kind of person who over-analyzes things and is afraid to pull the trigger.

These things matter. And these are things which YOU control. And ONLY you.

Not the “system”.

The word “system” is a marketing term designed to remove responsibility from the consumer. It is just a mental game being played on you. The word “system” increases conversion rates. Nothing more.

On the flip side, there is some good news. And it is this…

If you’re willing to actually do the work, then almost all the “systems” out there will work for you. And you’ll make money online.

Because there isn’t any magic to internet business. Its just business. There’s nothing mysterious about it. And, yes, you CAN DO IT. Absolutely you can.

The question is only…. will you?

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While I’m removing some of the text, this section is left unmodified. I’m going to BOLD the parts I want to focus on.

I just feel bad that I am not rich and knowledgeable enough to be in your blog master club . But I am not sure if blogging is what I want to do . It seems like a lot of work. I was thinking more about getting a web site, and making it work, and then automating  it . And then have a few of them going . My goal is to put 125,000 a month in my pocket after tax and what ever it cost to do business. I have followed doing business on line for awhile now . And I am not able to make anything work. I realize now it is me . I need to work on myself first and then get a site up and make it work. But it cost lots of money to be able to see someone to get the help I need . So I feel stuck were I am . But I will never stop trying ! Again thank you David for everything you do ! And no matter what STAY REAL !

I would imagine that this email probably reflects the thoughts of many.

But, I’m going to lay it out there. And I’m going to tell it like it is. That’s what people expect from me. Let’s take this one thing at a time…

“I just feel bad that I am not rich and knowledgeable enough…”

This statement is rooted in a feeling of inadequacy. It is an excuse. While this person (I’ll say “he” from now on, just to keep it simple) is saying this because he can’t afford my Blog Masters Club program, that is really only an apparency.

“It seems like a lot of work.”

So, he is looking for a “get rich quick” scheme. Something with a paint-by-numbers, guaranteed income. You blindly follow some “system”, and out comes money if it is done in the proper order. Right?

Wrong. Common sense tells us those things don’t work. Any real business takes a lot of work. What I do is no different. And, the moment I hear that somebody is trying to make this work while avoiding work, I know they have already failed.

“… then automating it.”

Again, this is the avoidance of work. You don’t automate what you can’t yourself do. Automation comes AFTER the process has been mastered, documented, then properly handed over to another.

The Internet seems to further this idea of automated riches. It is true that one CAN create an automated business online, but if they think they can do that while also avoiding work, they’re lying to themselves.

“I have followed doing business online for awhile now.”

So, what’s stopping you, then? It is one thing to read “make money online” stuff just so you can cling to a dream. But, it is quite another to actually read this stuff with a firm eye on APPLYING it and taking action.

If one has been reading “make money online” stuff for awhile and still hasn’t generated the first buck, then the problem is within.

“I am not able to make anything work. I realize now it is me.”

Yes, it is. And part of it is your viewpoint of yourself and your own abilities. The very fact that you say something about yourself like “I am not able to make anything work.” WOW. What an insult to yourself!

As long as you are talking yourself down (and this email was laced with it), it will be a self-fulfilling prophecy.

“But, it costs lots of money”.

No, it doesn’t. It takes lots of action and work (which you’ve already said you don’t want to do). Money isn’t the problem. Money is just a representation of energy. Money is a form of energy. And, you’re not willing to dedicate much energy to what you want. So, obviously, you’re not willing to put much money there, either.

“… to get the help I need.”

It sounds, here, like there is an expectation that the only way to succeed is to have those who came before you take  you by the hand and guide you. That’s not necessarily the case at all.

Information products can help fill in gaps and provide specific strategies to get where you want to be. But, YOU have to bring the drive and the direction. And “make more money” isn’t a drive or direction. That’s a result. That’s an outcome. Not a “why” or a “what”.

“I feel stuck.”

Given all these self-imposed limitations, I bet you do. But, the walls are illusions.

My Parting Thoughts

I don’t write this post in order to be mean or make fun of anyone. I just know that these thoughts aren’t uncommon in this niche. In fact, many marketers seem to foster it and it creates a trap for people who are ripe for being trapped. The person who wrote this email is almost the ideal prospect if one was a dishonest online marketer in it only for the money. The only thing that comes up short is the fact that this person is short on money.

But, this person is looking for answers. He thinks they are to be found in expensive products. And he seems to believe the false dream that this online income can be generated without doing much work.

The difference between one who succeeds in online business and one who doesn’t is NEVER the amount of money they started with, finding the right info product to follow, getting to know the right “guru”. Those things form only a fraction of a possible picture.

What is consistent in ALL who make it is this…

• They’re passionate.
• They’re willing to work their ass off. Not only willing to, but they actively do it each and every day.
• They don’t make excuses for themselves.
• They don’t approach the world as if they’re a bottom feeder looking for the right lucky combination.
• They’re producers, not consumers.
• They’re willing to be personally responsible for the outcome, because they realize that it rests on THEM, not some “guru”.

It starts with a decision.

Are you going to do it “maybe”, “if X doesn’t happen”, “if I can get some money together”, “if I can find more time”…. ?

Or are you just going to DO IT?

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In a word, EVERYTHING SUCKS. Or at least that’s what they’d have you think.

What follows is a chunk of a video from my Time Master Formula training course. I decided to pull it out and post it publicly. Because I think it is something you ought to realize and understand, especially now. The transcript for this video can be found below.

Do You Agree With This?

Successful people don’t let doom and gloom into their minds. (Tweet This)

If you think this message should be seen by others, retweet this post and share it on Facebook. I’d really appreciate it.

The Transcript

You’ve heard the old saying before, that you are what you eat. Now, this saying typically has to do with nutrition, the idea that if you eat junk food a lot, your body is going to kind of turn to junk. If you eat really healthy, nutritional food, then your body is going to obviously reflect healthy and nutritional food.

So a lot of us are familiar with this saying. What I’m saying is we’re going to redefine this just a little bit to include also what you take and what you eat mentally. When you consume bad information or doom and gloom type information, that type of stuff will become a little bit more of what you actually are. You are what you eat. It’s not just our food, but it’s also what you eat mentally.

So let’s look at what happens when you, quote, unquote, “eat” things which go against your desire. You have this desire to survive as best as you can. You want to do things that help further your goals along. You would like to make more money. You would like to have nice stuff. You would like to do lots of things that will help your life be as good as you can. Now, “them,” and I put that in quotes, have an opposite intention.

Their idea is demise. Now, I don’t want you to interpret this chart in saying that everybody other than you wants to see you succumb, because that’s obviously not true at all. But what we’re talking about here in this video is those outside influences that do want to see you not do as well as you are, because they in some cases actually survive better when you survive less. Let’s go over that a little bit more.

Who are we talking about here with “them”? I’m talking specifically here about things like the news media, talk radio, and trash television, like reality TV. These types of influences, and we’ve seen them all over. They’re out there all the time. Just turn on Fox News or CNN or any of them, and they’re doing this. It’s just one piece of bad news after the next. Talk radio is all about controversy, and they drum up controversies over things that were really not that big of a deal.

They take politicians, and they interpret what they say in all these different ways and just sit there and bloviate about it. You’ve got reality TV, which just seems like it’s getting junkier and junkier all the time. There’s just some really, really low end stuff out there on television, and when we’re out there consuming these things, it affects us. The funny thing, too, as a parent, this type of thing is obvious.

We don’t like our kids to watch rated R movies, or we don’t like our kids to watch junky stuff, because we know it affects them. But for some reason, as adults, we lose track of the fact that that stuff also affects us. That matters. It affects our efficiency. It affects how well we are surviving in our lives as well. If we take this chart again and then just look at this comparing to the news and what you’re seeing out there across news and talk radio and TV and all that, you’ll see what we’re saying.

They keep talking about things like how bad the economy is. Usually, that’s in cases like the economy is just doing its thing and it’s so horrible, and we have no responsibility for our own finances. If you open up your local paper, chances are the front page is going to be nothing but doom and gloom in terms of people getting killed or car crashes or somebody got murdered. You’ve got riots in the streets. You’ve got so-and-so getting arrested.

You’ve got the whole left versus right thing in terms of political stuff. If you tune into of these 24/7 news networks like CNN or Fox, that’s pretty much all they do from about 6 p.m. onward, is they debate things. They get up in each other’s faces and they yell at each other over these political things. At the end of the day, they’re not influencing much of anything. They’re just sitting there bloviating and trying to get as good of ratings as they can.

You’ve also got the whole thing with terrorists. The list goes on and on and on. I challenge you to just take a look at your local paper or turn on the news and just sit there for 10 minutes and just listen to the stories that come out of them. You’ll find that an overwhelming majority of them are bad. Not only that, it also affects your mentality, especially the 24/7 news networks. They make it seem as if everything is equal to everything else.

They’ll just jump from one story to the next all day long, and then they will come back and repeat it. It just leads to this entire idea that the world is dangerous. That’s what they’re saying. They’re really saying that the world is dangerous. They’re telling you that you’re not going to make it. They’re sitting there talking about how horrible the economy is. That is a basically indirect way of saying that you’re not going to make it because the situation in your environment is bad. You have no control over it.

It’s all, quote, unquote, “their fault,” that you don’t have much responsibility for things and basically, life sucks. If you just take all the themes of what these news media networks put out, that is basically the theme. Everything sucks. It’s just something that as adults that we wouldn’t let our kids watch horrible horror movies. Why are we watching this stuff day in and day out?

The facts are that them scaring you equals profits for them. They’re in the business of selling advertising. They want you to watch them. You ever watch the 24/7 networks, especially, they will put on some little cliffhanger right before they go to commercial break, so that you will sit through those commercials where they make their money and then come back on the other side. It’s usually something, of course, bad.

They want to shock you into it, make you sit there and wait and find out just how bad whatever it is they’re talking about it is, after the commercials, of course. Them scaring you equals profits for them. Their goals are exactly opposite of yours. That’s the truth of it. So the solution here is don’t watch the news, and that includes not just television, but it also includes magazines. It includes the newspaper, things like that.

At the end of the day, you really just don’t need to consume that stuff. It may go against your grain. You might think that you are not informed or you’re somehow stupider because you’re not paying that much attention to what’s going on out there. But I would challenge you to simply just give this a try and see how your mindset shifts a little bit. Just for one week, stop consuming any current events or news media, just any of it. Don’t consume anything.

If you watch some History Channel or Discovery or maybe some sitcom, you be the judge of that. But definitely avoid any source of news or current events. In order to go in the ideal world here, you would just not watch any TV or don’t read any newspapers at all. But you need to see how far you’re willing to go on this. Then after one week, see how you feel. See if your outlook on things is different because you’re not paying attention to all that crap.

See how much more efficient you are in getting things done or maybe even making some more money because you don’t have the news media shoving down your throat all the time how you’re not in control and how the economy sucks and everybody is poor and unemployed. That’s what they’re telling you, but it doesn’t do you any good to sit there and think those things.

If you ignore all that stuff, and you weren’t even thinking about it all, and you’re only worried about your own environment and getting you as successful as possible, you’ll be amazed how much better you are at it when you don’t have those outside influences pecking at you and telling you that you’re not going to make it.

So you’re basically not in alignment towards your goals at all if you’re letting in forces from the outside world which are counter to your goals. That’s what I’m showing you is happening here. If you’re constantly letting in these forces from the outside that have intentions that are against yours, then you’re not really in alignment toward your own goals, and you’re fighting them all the time, even if you don’t realize it.

So I’ll leave you with this: successful people don’t let doom and gloom into their minds. They simply don’t pay any attention to it, and they realize it for what it is. It is crap, and it’s mental trash, and we just don’t let it in.

To learn more about Time Master Formula, click here.

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I mean, look at it this way…

I like to have a nice bed because we spend around a third of our lives in it. If the average person is sleeping 7-8 hours per night, that’s a third of every day.

Well, I don’t know about you, but I spend about that much time in my home office every day, too. Not only that, this is where I MAKE MY MONEY. So, it is a pretty important space. And I imagine the situation is similar with YOUR office.

Are you as productive as you could be in your office? Is your office a space that you like to be in or not?

Perhaps it is time to get your feng shui on to increase efficiency and get more done.

What Is Feng Shui?

Time to get our “woo woo” on.

Feng Shui is an ancient Chinese art (and science, really) of arranging spaces in order to assure the health, energy and fortune of the people in that space. “Feng” means “wind” and “Shui” means “water”. In Chinese culture, wind and water are associated with good health.

It is based on a Taoist understanding of nature, including the idea that our environment is filled with “Chi”, or energy. Fostering good “chi” makes the space more conducive to success and health, at least according to this theory.

The obvious question from a practical standpoint is…. Is Feng Shui a bunch of horse hockey?

Truthfully, my gut reaction leans toward “yes”. However, I am a smart enough guy to understand that there ARE things going on in this world that we can’t see. I believe energy DOES impact us in ways we can’t see or even directly feel sometimes.

So, I’m at least willing to look at this idea of feng shui, take the parts that make the most sense to me and put them to use.

Which brings me to my own home office….

What My Office Looked Like

The best way for you to see it is to watch a super-short video I did when I first moved into the house we’re in now. The first part of this video is the old office setup…. then I take you into the video room.

A few things to note about the setup:

1. I was facing into the wall. My computer was on a corner desk so I was facing smack into a wall all day, with my back to the door.
2. The hutch on that corner unit was rather claustrophobic. It made the space on the desk look much smaller and it caused the two monitors to bunch up to one another at an angle just to be able to fit on the desk.
3. The room itself is rather small and kinda dark.

The biggest factor for me was the lack of space. And it led me to say this on Facebook…

In feng shui, one of the most important ideas is the “command position”. The command position is when you are seated on the far side of the room from your door and FACING the door. Also, you don’t want to be staring right out the doorway. So, essentially, proper command position is when you’re on the furthest diagonal corner from your entry door.

From an article on FastFengShui.com…

In the Command Position, you are able to benefit from the chi that enters and flows through the space, while being far enough removed from the doorway that you are not exposed to chi that is too strong. A true Command Position also provides a solid wall behind you for support. Using this position puts you in visual command of the space, and allows you to face life directly, both literally and symbolically.

Well, I was facing AWAY from the door, into a corner, with my back at the door. And anybody could walk up on me without me knowing it. In fact, my kids have done it a few times and it freaks me out.

So, I Made Some Changes

I decided to move my primary office setup into that video room shown on the second part of the above video. That room has a lot more space to it. Plus, it is convenient having my video setup right there in the same room.

Interestingly, once I decided that the lack of space in my office was affecting my productivity, I set up a make-shift desk in the bigger room just for a week so I could work in the larger room.

My desk is a modular one which means I could purchase add-ons for it which actually match. So, I picked up a long table desk and NO hutch. I then set up an L-shaped desk setup.

Once the new desk arrived, I got it all set up:

I still have yet to work out where all those video lights are going to go so it doesn’t crowd up my field of view, but I’ll figure it out.

Now, here’s the thought that went into it:

1. When I’m at my computer, my back is now to a wall and I’m looking out into the (much larger) room. Toward the door, too. That is the “command position” according to feng shui.
2. Aside from this room being larger, it also has two windows. More space that way.
3. According to feng shui, the southeast corner of your space is the prosperity corner. While the foundation of this seems a little odd to me, it was easy as pie to stick my desk in the southeast corner of the room. So, I did.
4. The plant is fake (probably not good feng shui), but at least I’ve got something green in there. Perhaps I’ll replace it with a real one soon.

A few other things I might do to the space are:

1. As mentioned above, I’ll likely put a real plant into the room. I’ve even thought about setting up a small electric water fountain. The noise of running water is soothing.
2. Organize the video stuff so that it doesn’t clutter up the room. Clutter is the enemy of focus.
3. Instead of just hanging any ol’ thing on the wall, I can ensure that the things on the wall represent part of me or things that motivate me. Success images, for example. Photos of my kids.

The Point Is…

We have to like the space we work in. When you do, you won’t mind being there.

We are all “hard-wired” to want space. There’s a reason that, when we feel bad, going for a walk can help. It is because you are looking at space. You are actually creating your own space by observing the space around you.

So, try not to work in a constrained environment. Try to set up your desk with the command position in mind. If you absolutely can’t do that, try faking it with a mirror on the wall so you can see space.

For me, I DO feel as if my efficiency was higher since I moved into the larger room. I enjoyed being in there.

So, What About You?

What do you think? Have you had any experiences with the setup of your office increasing or decreasing your efficiency?

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There were at least 10 of us on board. We had met out there at the marina in order to go offshore about 20 miles and go diving.

I arrived with my big pile of diving gear that I bought for myself after I completed my certification. A brand new BC, regulator with auxillary (often called “the octupus” as a slang), even a dive computer.

I didn’t really know where we were going, exactly. I was going with some people from my diving group as well as the instructor. I knew it I would get wet…and that’s about all I knew.

After a long ride and some definite anticipation, we arrived on the site. There were a few boats around, but we were out of sight of land. There was a big mooring ball out there which was the marker for what was below – a boat wreck.

It was in about 80 feet of water – out in the Gulf of Mexico. It was a little out of my comfort zone at the time. I was a new diver. I was ready for the experience, though, and I had the support of the group.

I Took The Punge

So, I put on my gear as did everybody else. I had to remember to connect the SCUBA gear up correctly. Weights? Check. Air flow? Check. Adequate air pressure? Check. Spit in the mask… a little trick to keep it from fogging up.

Then, one by one, we jumped overboard. All the weight of the SCUBA gear instantly lightened up.

Now, here is where that group support came in handy again…

Confronting My Fear

It was 80 feet of water and I couldn’t see the bottom. There was a time – before my certification – where that would have totally freaked me out. It is a fear I had since childhood. Deep water where I couldn’t see the bottom – UUGHH.

Even more freak out…. the anchor line of the boat simply went into the green darkness downward and disappeared.

So, we made our way downward by going hand-over-hand down the anchor line…

Down to a sunken tug boat. And it was cool as hell. The water down there was actually pretty clear. We dove into the wreck a bit. I even visited the bridge. An amazing amount of life had grown on the boat. It had turned into an artificial reef, in a way.

VERY COOL.

After the dive, we all chilled out on the boat. To wash the salt water taste from the mouth, I of course had a beer. Good times.

There was a great comradery on the boat on the way back. Just really fun times.

So, What’s The Business Lesson In This?

I would never have had the cajones to do a wreck dive were it not for the group I was with. Even though many of them felt the same, we backed each other up. We encouraged each other.

It isn’t that a wreck dive is a weird or dangerous thing, but it was for me. I had a little bit of my old childhood fear of deep water still in me and I had to get over it.

It is very much the same in business. Surrounding yourself with like-minded people is a powerful thing. They can back you up and act as mental support. They can help you see things that you may not see for yourself.

And with the group, you find that you are more willing to confront things than maybe you wouldn’t be if you were alone.

I’ve been involved in various mastermind groups for the last few years, and I don’t think it is any coincidence that my business has gone through the highest growth period in the same time. Online business can be a lonely business, by its nature. Plus, I can’t possibly keep up with everything. So, mastermind groups and a support group of peers has been invaluable. We bounce ideas off each other, give fresh viewpoints on each other’s businesses, etc.

Trying to expand your business to the next level can sometimes feel about the same as diving into deep water where you can’t see the bottom. You don’t know what’s ahead… but you follow the line and see where it leads. And it is best done with others.

So, I encourage you to get involved with like-minded peer groups. Put together a mastermind group. Check out Meetup.com and see about joining some there.

You can also consider joining the Inner Circle, since this is one of the primary points of the group. This week has been awesome inside the Inner Circle. You’re really missing out if you’re not in there. We even just started up a private Facebook group to help the instant communication between members.

In diving, you never dive without a dive buddy. Why try to embark into business waters alone? Use the buddy system.

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What’s your mission?

Let me tell you a story…

In The Beginning..

For me, it started with an article in Yahoo Internet Life. It was an article entitled “Your Own Website in 20 Minutes”. And, because I thought it would be fun, I did it.

Using the free 5MB of space my ISP gave me, I set up my first website. Complete with animated images, 88×31 buttons to brag about what browser it worked in (Go Netscape!) and other useless garbage.

Before long, I realized the site needed to have a point. If anybody besides me was ever going to see this thing, I needed to build something worth looking at.

At the time, there was a severe shortage of plain-English technology content. Computers were a hobby of mine. I was a DOS-prompt ninja, baby! But, whenever I went online to figure something out, I went cross-eyed with all the technical jargon. In the days of a very early web, the truth is that most of the people making sites at the time were uber-geeks – and they talked that way.

So, I decided to create a plain-English site to show people how to do things with their computer.

So, I had a mission.

Then, The Mission Changed…

Everything is an evolution. And all entrepreneurs go through that phase – the “gimme gimme” phase.

It might sound a little odd, but everybody goes through a phase where the acqusition of money is the mission. There isn’t anything wrong with it – not in the slightest. For me, it started when this tech site I had built started to earn some money. Once that began, it began the game of trying to increase revenue.

However, it can easily steer you into oblivion. When your mission is only the chasing of money, then it easily leads one into all kinds of directions. There is no central thing guiding you. You end up buying too many information products, chasing a thousand different ideas at once – and ultimately just end up confused.

Today, as I continue to run the tech site and have since began this blog where I talk about blogging and internet marketing, my big “why” is bigger than money.

Sure, I still try to make money. I always will. It is a part of life. And my kids like to eat a lot – and poop alot into expensive diapers.

My Big “Why”

It can take some brainstorming and soul-searching to figure out your big “why”. You have to really sit down and think about what is important to you, but in a way which is bigger than yourself. Deep down, we all want to make a mark in this world. After all, you can’t bring your money with you when you die.

So, after a lot of brainstorming, I’ve arrived at two components to my own personal big “why”. They are:

#1 – Information Marketing Is The Future of Education

Now, anybody familiar with Jeff Walker might have heard this before. I heard Jeff talk about this topic recently and this was one of his own personal “why”‘s. And it exactly mirrors mine.

I personally believe that our school system has failed us – utterly and completely. Simply put, we have some of the dumbest flock of graduates in the world. Too many people are unable to think for themselves. Too many high-school grads are functionally illiterate. And politics and psycho-babble have ruined what was once a good school system. For the richest nation on the planet (in theory, anyway), we have what is more likely the worse school system.

If that weren’t enough, it doesn’t keep up. Our world is changing – fast. And I don’t believe our schools are keeping up with these changes. The old ways are too entrenched. Things get stuck in committees.

So, I think information marketing – a kind of digital home-school revolution – is the future. And we, as providers of quality information online – are at the forefront. People who are creating – and yes, selling – information online are at the forefront of creating a new industry. And I want to help others partake.

#2 – We Are Creating A New Medium Of Information

The old top-down form of media is dying. We used to get all our information from the media. This media was – and is – corporate-controlled. It is often agenda-controlled, and it is ruled by money. If some information isn’t flattering to a company that throws a lot of money at the media company, that information doesn’t see the light of day. For that reason, we are LIED to every day by the mainstream media. Doesn’t matter what the political leanings are of that media organization.

For the most part, only independent blogs are today practicing what used to be standard journalism. Only independent online media sources have the balls to publish information that the big media would be afraid to. For example, big media is hyper-funded by big drug companies. This is why we see so many drug commercials along with “news” stories about the dangers and quackiness of alternative medicine. The industry of sickness is HUGE – these companies don’t want to give it up – and they use the media to control the minds of society and keep them sick. You don’t have to believe me if you don’t want to. Your call.

Only the Internet, for the most part, and the bloggers and independent minds online, have the cajones to publish what the mainstream media won’t. Even if they sometimes get it wrong… they’re at least more open about it than the regular press.

Communication is ultimately the solution to damn near everything. Our society will only thrive with the free-flowing of information. For that reason, I believe strongly in the citizen media, powered by blogging.

And to the degree that I can help these people do their thing, not give up, and receive the income they need to keep doing it… I’ve done my job.

Your Big “Why”

Another way you can tell that the “why”‘s above are coming from the right place…. I get on a soapbox when I talk about it. I get animated. I believe these things to my core. And that’s a good sign that I’m in the right zone.

So, what’s YOUR big “why”?

What motivates you to want to blog? To want to drive traffic to it? To want to ultimately see it take off or move to the next level?

As you brainstorm this, don’t try to second-guess it and wonder whether it is big enough. Remember, there is nothing wrong with your big “why” being income.

So, I’ve shared mine. What’s your’s?

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See, I have a mission. And simply put, bloggers will keep falling off the grid unless they exit this cycle of stupid. That doesn’t help the world. Nobody gains when you arrive at the almost inevitable end of the cycle of stupid – which is… quitting.

So, the cycle of stupid looks like this…

You start a blog. You follow all that advice about finding your niche based on your passion. So, you have this blog. Then, you spend a LOT of time messing around with themes, widgets, plug-ins – basically immerse yourself in technical things you don’t know anything about.

Months later, your blog is still a bit of a mess. But, you’ve resigned yourself to it and moved on with content. You might even start building a list. All your efforts then go into content creation and growing traffic. You figure you’ll “monetize” it once you get more traffic. Until then, you won’t even try because you won’t make much and you’re afraid to piss off your audience.

Congratulations, you’re on the cycle of stupid.

The cycle of stupid is when you spin your wheels building something which has no cash register. In other words, you’re building something with no way of returning value to you for your work. You’re building your own slave-driver.

Don’t feel bad if you’re on this cycle. Most bloggers are. However, it is time to do something about it.

If you have a blog and you’re not building a list, you’re on the cycle of stupid.

If you are building a blog and a list, but you have nothing to sell them and you never do anything to make money, then you’re on the cycle of stupid.

If you’re trying to build traffic – yet you have nothing to OFFER them, then you just might be…. on the cycle of stupid.

So how do you get off the cycle of stupid?

Create an offer.

Have something to offer people as they come to you. Give your blog a reason to exist other than for the purposes of occupying your time.

If you have a blog and you’re working to grow it, then immediately build two things:

1. A squeeze page to get people onto your email list.
2. An offer – something to SELL them. It can be your own thing or an affiliate product. But, you need an offer.

This is ground zero. From here, things grow and all the pieces start to come together.

But, unless you have these core fundamentals – a blog, a squeeze page, and an offer – you really haven’t yet created the basic building blocks of your empire. You’re on the cycle of stupid.

If you don’t have a blog, follow this tutorial on how to set up your blog.

If you don’t have a squeeze page, check out OptimizePress or Premise. I personally prefer Optimizepress, but both make child’s play out of building squeeze pages.

If you don’t have an offer, then sit and make it. It can be just an ebook. It doesn’t need to be long or involved. Just helpful.

We live in a weird economy right now. Things are happening. This is no time to stay on the cycle of stupid unless you just like the view from there.

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