Choose Your Friends Wisely
By Cheval John
Photo courtesy of www.blog.ezinearticles.com
It is true that we need friends in our lives to keep us company.
However, not everyone will be your friend.
Though you had a lot of friends in high school and was probably the most popular person around.
But when college arrived, everyone will go their separate ways.
That moment when you had a lot of friends was only meant for that specific season.
And that is a good thing because you might have some dreams that you want to fulfill and not everyone will be on board with your dreams.
So if you are surround yourself with people who do not believe in your dreams, you must make the choice to let them go.
If you don’t let the people who are holding you back go, your dreams will be squashed and you will be wondering what would have happened if you had pursued your dreams.
Thomas Edison had failed about 10,000 times before he invented the light bulb. What would have happened if he had listened to the scaredy cats who were probably telling him to give up?
*What if Michael Jordan would have allowed the negative review from his high school coach that he was not good enough to play basketball? *paraphrased
Thank God they did not listened to the doubters and kept on pursuing their dreams.
Mr. Jordan and Mr. Edison also surround themselves with the right people and cultivated successful habits like self-discipline, hard work, dedication and a tough mindset.
That is what separates the ultra-successful from the mediocre.
So if you want to be highly successful, you must let go of the people who are holding you back and develop the right habits.
Overtime, you will be able to fulfill your dreams and make the world a better place.
As for me, I am going to continue to spend time with friends on Twitter chats like Tamara McCleary, Rachel Miller, Brian Fanzo, Lorrie of Movy Stream and many others who are making people’s lives better.
I will also surround myself with etiquette experts who stay true to themselves and are genuinely humble even though they have achieved huge “success.”
And for the three habits that will allow me to achieve success, I will aim to continue to write everyday, read great books, blogs, magazines, etc. and watch inspiring videos from people who did not allow doubt or fear to stop them from achieving their goals and make other people’s lives better.
Finally, the two bad habits I will give up is comparing myself to other people and overcoming self-doubt.
What are the three successful habits you will develop in order to fulfill your dreams and make the world a better place? You can leave your comments below.
Countering Distractions In Our Lives
By Cheval John
Photo courtesy of www.examinedexistence.com
*Disclosure: I am an Amazon Affiliate and I make a commission from recommending a book on Amazon.
I only make recommendations on books that I have read.
Distractions come in many forms and can hinder you from accomplishing your work.
It could be watching television or checking that e-mail the very first thing in the morning.
Sometimes distractions happen to the best of us.
When we have a monumental task to get done, we might use distractions to put those tasks off.
If a person does that, then they will end up feeling guilty about not finishing the task at hand.
So one of the best ways to avoid distractions at all cost is to set a deadline of when you want to get the most important task done.
That way, it will force you to focus on your work.
Tim Ferris shared in the *Four Hour Work Week on how he was able to get a huge paper finished in a short amount of time for one of his undergraduate classes.
Though it was not a distraction that got him in the predicament of rushing to get a paper finished, the deadline was set for him by his professor.
At the same time, the professor introduced him to a principle called “Parkinson’s Law.”
Parkinson’s Law is **”the adage that work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion”.
In the case of Mr. Ferris, the term paper was the most important task for him.
So he spent all night working on the paper and was able to turn it in before the deadline and got an A.
So whenever we are faced with a distraction, find a task that is super important that you will have no choice but to work on it.
As for me, the one distraction I will eliminate is looking at the e-mail first thing in the morning because it will allow me to be super focus on creating great articles for the site and thinking of ways to help people feel good about themselves.
What is the one distraction that you will eliminate? You can leave your comment below.
** Definition is from Wikipedia
Organization Is The Best Way To Stay Productive
By Cheval John
Photo courtesy of www.lifehack.org
This blog post is in response to the question Natalie Sisson asked in the third day of her 15-day blog challenge, “Which One Social Media Tool Will You Use To Be Productive.
If you want to join in on Natalie’s blog challenge, you can click on the link here
When you see athletes being successful at the highest level, you might wonder how they make it look easy.
Like Denver Broncos quarterback Peyton Manning, who is now the National Football League (NFL) all-time leading passer in touchdowns.
You might wonder “how does Mr. Manning make it look so easy to dissect the defense on a mostly consistent basis?
What many might not know is that Mr. Manning prepares everyday for his opponent by watching game-film of the different defense formations, shows up early for practice and leaves late.
Peyton is super organized and that is why he really successful at the NFL.
What can we learn from elite athletes like Peyton Manning?
For starters, it is very important to be really organized because our brains can be at a million places.
Dr. Melissa Gratias explains it in this video below that was produced by MBG Organizing Solutions
In addition, the most successful people take the time out to plan out their day with to-do list the night before so that they can be laser focus on the task at hand.
The point is that with different social media tools that can help us to be really productive, there is no excuse on to why you can’t be productive.
For example, Natalie uses social media tools like Asana, Google Drive and Evernote to remain really organized with her business.
And since I want to be more organized, which has been a challenge, I will aim to use a lot of social media tools that will help me to stay productive.
As for today, I will start using Evernote again because it allows you to put reminders on important to do list like write 1,000 words or listen to a podcast.
Also, the representative from Evernote, Cristina Riesen took the time out of her busy schedule to showcase her expertise on a Twitter chat called #bizheroes a couple days ago.
That showed me Evernote’s dedication to their customers and I believed that if many businesses go out of their way to be where their fans or customers is at on social media, they will gain some new customers in the process.
So if you want to increase your productivity, you must be very organized.
Once you are organized, you will increase your chances at being successful just like Peyton Manning and Natalie Sisson.
Which social media tools do you use to be highly productive? You can leave your comments below.
The Most Successful Always Wakes Up Early
By Cheval John
Photo courtesy of www.biznetsoftware.com
I saw a link of a post on Facebook by my good friend, Tamara McCleary that said, “The Early Bird Gets The Worm.”
That was a great and cruel reminder on why it is always important to wake up early and get the most important work done right away.
Unfortunately, I did not followed that advice as I went back to sleep after waking up around 7:30 this morning
You see, when you wake up early and do the most important things like blogging, mediation, exercising, etc, you are setting yourself up for a very productive day.
Even if your day goes bad and of course, life happens, you will know how to handle it because you are in a right state of mind.
As a result of waking up late, I was in a rush to get things done like write this blog post for the second day of Natalie Sisson’s 15 day challenge and at the same time get in the processing of getting some of the 4,000 words as homework for a four week, self-publishing class that is being taught by Jimmy Burgess and Kimanzi Constable.
So after learning this brutal lesson on being productive when you wake up early, I will aim to wake up very early and get some writing done on my site for the rest of Ms. Sisson’s challenge and also as part of completing the homework assignment for the self-publishing class the first thing in the morning.
Even though it will be tempting to go back to sleep because of the “free time,” it will not be worth it because once you get something very important finished, you have all the time in the world to enjoy yourself and attend to other business like answering the e-mail or spending time on social media.
My goal is that I will continue to get in the habit of waking up early and writing everyday to keep the creativity flowing throughout the day.
Has waking up early and getting your work, also known as the Most Important Action M.I.A.* accomplished?
You can leave your comment below.
*Term coined by Ms. Sisson
Being A Problem-Solving Business
By Cheval John
Photo Courtesy of www.exchange.aaa.com
Disclosure: I am an Amazon Affiliate so I make a commission for books recommended on their site. I only recommend books that I have read already.
This post is in response to Natalie Sisson’s question, “Identify Your Ideal Business Model” as part of her “15 Days To Freedom Blog Challenge.”
If you want to participate in Natalie’s challenge, you can visit her website right here.
Before the days of the internet, everyone who wanted to run a business had to set up shop in a strategic location in order to get customers.
They had to go through the process of filing for a particular type of business structure like an LLC, Corporation, etc.
And for those who had wanted to become a travel writer, they had to be based in New York City, one of the most expensive cities in the United States.
Now with the internet, anyone can run a business without having a physical location.
Of course, they still will have to create a business structure like an LLC, etc.
And those same travel writers can have their base of operations from anywhere in the world.
The only question is “How Will You Stand Out From The Crowd”
You could start out with building a website and have a blog integrated into the site using WordPress and start spreading your message.
Though I am a strong proponent for blogging, the blogosphere is overcrowded.
According to statista.com, in 2011 there were 173 million blogs.
That number has increased dramatically.
One option that will work for those who wants to stand out is having a podcast.
The reason is because there are about 300,000 podcasts in the world today and Apple released their Carplay system that will be in 50% of automobiles by the end of the year.
So if you are creating a podcast from New Zealand, then people who are either commuting to work, cleaning the house, etc. will be able to listen to your show.
So how does this relate to Natalie’s question.
If your podcast, blog, or YouTube channel are really good, you will attract sponsorships opportunities from brands who wants to get their products out to your audience.
Another way is that you can repurpose your information into webinars, books, workshops, etc.
Also, if you are an author of a best-selling book, then you can land speaking engagements that will help your business to flourish.
Even if your book is not a best-seller, just the fact that you have written a book and the cover design is outstanding will earn you respect from people who dream of writing a book.
Just make sure that you are providing valuable information and are focused on solving someone’s problem.
That should always be at the heart of any business.
So for me, my ideal business model is having an online business where it will allow me to travel the world and experience different cultures.
I have already written two books, have a podcast, and this website.
The only thing now is to become a travel writer because it will allow me to share with an audience about the different lifestyles of that culture.
What is the type of business you want to create that will give you the freedom to enjoy life? You can leave your comments below.
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