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What If Man Could Fly?

October 11, 2010 By Leave a Comment

No…I do not mean jump in a 747…that is a ride. What if a man could really fly?

If you asked anyone 20 years ago if a man could fly, I bet the answer you would receive would a be a definitive no. Are you crazy?! Man can’t fly! Of course, like most things in life, there are people out there that have the drive and the passion to bring what would seem to be unachievable in reality by defying odds and forever changing what we consider normal. Jeb Corliss and his wing suit prove in this video that man can fly and it looks like it has to be the coolest thing on the planet…at this point in time. What does this have to do with you and does it really relate to blogging? Well…watch the video first and then scroll below.

Defying Odds To Achieve Greatness

All of the greatest inventions of our time or companies that rise to new heights are all founded on one basic principle when it all boils down to it.

They take an idea and achieve the unimaginable.

Throughout life…we live in a set of rules. You drive on a specific side of a road, you buy your groceries in a certain way, you have to watch your favorite show on a specific channel with pre-chosen commercials and then you wake up…day in and day out…at the same time to go to the same job and repeat the same tasks. These are the rules we live in as consumers within our communities.

If we want to break into greatness…in life or with our blogs/companies…we have to step outside the barriers to progress and think outside the box. We have to break the conventional rules of thought and bring something new to the table that connects with large audiences. We have to create that wow moment that forever changes the perspective of the people we come in contact with. It is up to us…as the idea people to come up with the alternatives.

Let me ask you another question…if someone asked you 10 years ago if a single person could achieve high 6 figure salaries with nothing but a domain name and an idea…would you have said yes?

It is time for you to fly

Right now, we live in a crazy world where the Internet has opened up more opportunities for decision makers than ever before. We are on the edge of greatness and have achieved it in many ways. Bloggers are now seen as news sources that can alter how audiences consume content. No longer are we 100% dependent upon newspapers and magazines to get the latest news or digest our obsessions. Bloggers just like you are providing this content on a daily basis and making a really good living from it.

The trick…you have to fly. You have to take that leap and come up with your ideas that are going to rock your niche. You have to have the determination and guts to go after that idea and make it a reality for yourself and your readers. Do you think Jeb Corliss started flying overnight? Absolutely not. There are going to be trials…there are going to be roadblocks…there are going to be people that will tell you it can’t be done. But, with hard work, dedication and a unique idea…you can defy the odds and fly, but you have to believe in yourself, your idea and be willing to make that jump.

Are you willing to fly?

Filed Under: Blogging, Lifestyle Design Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

Dreams Are Made Reality One Step At A Time

August 20, 2010 By 1 Comment

Everyone has a dream. For those of us in the online world…it is to see our little corner of the web grow. For others around the world, it might be professional achievement in corporate, a healthy set of two kids or even that car they drooled over as a kid. Each of these dreams are achievable, but many people run throughout life talking about their dreams only to find out later they were just words hitting air. Time goes on…things come up…and somewhere down the road…action was not taken. Every day of the week you can walk down the street and hear people talking about their dreams and what they want to accomplish, so what separates those that achieve their goals from those who just pay them lip service over time? Is there a secret? Is there something you can do today to change the outcomes of tomorrow?

Dream Lock: The Action Of Doing Nothing

It does not matter what your dream is. It can be a personal goal or a professional achievement. If you focus on the dream solely hoping that one day it will come true, you are going to be constantly waiting. I like to think of this as dream lock. The dreamer has an idea of where they want to head, but by focusing on the last step 24 hours a day, 7 days a week…they forget that there are steps 1 through 285 that need to be carried out before the dream can be realized.

By focusing on the dream and not how to get there…the dream becomes another “I wish I could have” in the life of the dreamer. Why does this happen? It’s simple. It is a lot more fun to talk about the dream ahead than it is to sit in reality about the boring steps it takes to get there. Instant gratification of the thought of a dream can often times be more satisfying to the human psyche than the accomplishment of a small task that adds up to that dream.

Dreams Are Made Reality One Step At A Time

Like most things in life, it is the small steps that matter. The small steps add up over time to bring you to the big reward. When you have a dream, it is important to have that focus to know where you want to end up down the road, but…during that process…the focus on step 1 and then step 2 and then step 3. By focusing on each step and checking them off the list, each step will add up to your dream.

Set the goal but focus on the steps.

By following that simple theory and keeping your focus on action, your dreams become a reality before you know it.

Too Much Future Thinking Is Overwhelming

Right now, my wife and I are going through some issues at home that are hard to deal with. Starting a family is proving to be a little bit more involved than we had hoped for, so there are certain things we are having to do that are outside of the normal way to do things. If we continue to sit back and wonder “what if” or just focus on the end result instead of the action we need to take to get there, we will end up overwhelming ourselves and getting into a situation where we freeze.

This theory of taking it one step at a time holds even more true for toughest situations in our lives. To truly be successful or tackle elements out of our control, we have to focus on each step and not lockup. It’s hard, but no one promised that life would be easy. Who we are is defined by the actions we take and by choosing inaction…you are making the conscious decision to be just another number. By choosing action…you are making the decision to be extraordinary.

Our success as human beings in life is the addition of small steps taken over time. Which step forward are you taking today?

Image by Michelle Brea

Filed Under: Lifestyle Design Tagged With: , , , ,

You're Boring. Just Admit It.

June 30, 2010 By 6 Comments

So I was hanging out over at Blogussion the other day when I fell upon this article titled, “Interviews are Boring, Reviews are Fake & Lists are Kind of Lame. Let’s Get Real“. In the article, Alex (who I respect in the industry by the way) brings up a valid point about a blogging timeline that seems to plague bloggers across the web.

The basic gist of the idea is that a blogger initially comes to the table with some engaging, unique content. You subscribe to their RSS feed because you like what they have to say. And after a period of time, the blogger gets away from their uniqueness and falls into the boring trap of being like everyone else. What you basically end up with is a RSS reader full of bland trash that used to be unique and engaging.

While I do agree with him to a point, there are several aspects of the article, that while I do see it happen out there, I do not hold to. Specifically that interviews are boring, reviews are solely to make money and lists are lame.

Blogging The Way I See It

The way I see it…there are two things that start to happen amongst new and experienced bloggers.

  1. The passion fades and complacency and bordom start to show in the articles. The result…what once used to be an engaging blog is now a cookie cutter copy of everyone else. Bring on the same lists and reviews as you see all over the web as the blogger is just going to do what he/she sees or reads.
  2. After a period of time, after putting in above average effort, the blogger only sees sub-par results. Instead of pushing forward and keeping the bar high, the blogger gets lazy and complacent once again, and that starts to show through the content…specifically by sacrificing value for writing money driven articles or a “Digg perfect” article and not taking as much time as effort as before.

The reality of the situation is that blogging is hard. If you are looking for an easy way to make money online, you have come to the wrong place. You have to keep the intensity high even when you are not seeing the results or “you just don’t feel like it that day” to make a real run at doing this craft full-time.

It is all about blogging priorities and where you stand at that point in time. When the shift in blogging priorities goes away from providing unique value to making money or trying to write the perfect Digg article, the content suffers in a big way and that is transparent as hell.

Don’t get me wrong…I still run businesses, but I absolutely love what I do and hopefully that shows in my writing. If I get to the point that I am ready to sacrifice that unique value (that can be done through product reviews, interviews and lists), then I might as well sell off the property and start up something else.

  • I started writing product reviews in the mountain biking industry because I saw a need for honest reviews instead of glorified advertisements. The money made from those reviews is secondary and a result…not the goal. (Bike198.com)
  • I started RobbSutton.com to help other bloggers bring in review product for their blogs. The money earned from eBook sales and this site is a result of that…not the goal. (Ramped Reviews)

When you focus on the right elements, the rest falls in place with time and smart decisions. When you shift those goals to ones that do not provide value, you are making the conscious decision to be boring.

Image by latigi

Filed Under: Blogging, Content Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Personal Experience: Overcoming Life's Closed Roads

May 20, 2010 By 11 Comments

Over the course of everyone’s life, we come against closed roads. Somewhere in our carefully laid out plan, something goes wrong and throws a wrench in our entire system. These events can be everything from self inflicted disasters to health problems completely out of our control. Regardless, they derail our once steady track and throw us into a state of disbelief and confusion. The strong overcome these obstacles and find a detour in their path while the weak freeze and let the closed road control their path in life. In my life, I had to find a wide detour…and here is some of the story for inspiration in your own life…

Life Under The Arches

I graduated from the University of Georgia. For those that do not already know, the historic arches on the outer edge of North Campus in between the campus and downtown are historic. With all of that history aside, undergrads at UGA are not supposed to walk under the arches until they graduate. If they do, they are cursed to never graduate and fail out miserably, so thousands of students walk around these arches on a daily basis with the goal of one day walking under them as a graduate.

My story starts at the cocky age of 18 as I entered the university as a freshman. Like any “I know everything about everything” young scholar, I didn’t believe in hoaxes so my cocky ass danced under the arches specifying it would never happen to me. As time went on, I got myself into a lot of trouble taking in the party scene of Athens, GA until I eventually got myself into trouble that was going to be very hard to get out of. The result..I ended up having to leave the university in the pursuit of getting my life back together (I have written previously about it on this post) and the dream of leaving UGA as a graduate looked bleak at best.

After years of working my ass off collecting the wreckage and trying to assemble a life I could finally be proud of…I started taking classes at a local college to get essential hours and eventually returned to UGA with hopes of graduating. After hitting a perfect window of time, I reentered UGA with several more course hours under my belt and a new outlook on my education. I commuted back and forth from Marietta 3 days a week (1.5 hour drive each way) to take classes and get that degree I sought out during my naive, adolescent years.

After hard work and focus, I was sitting in the center of Sanford Stadium graduating with hundreds of other students from UGA still checking the list of names to make sure mine was there and it wasn’t a dream.

Why This Story..and Why Now

UGA Arches - University of GeorgiaYesterday, I had the chance to walk around the campus of UGA and take in some memories. Coming back with a fresh mind and a different outlook on the past, I was able to walk under those arches as a successful graduate from the university. I didn’t end up taking the cocky path that the 18 year old had in mind. Instead, through self inflicted hurt, I took a much different path that made me who I am today and extremely humbled the inner adolescent.

I use this story illustrate to myself and others that we do not always get to pick the events in our life’s path. It is our job to use our free will to make the best we can of the time we have. When we make excuses why we can’t do something or it is just too hard, we jeopardize the incredible things that can happen in our lives. Far too often, I hear people quitting. If you really want to go after the finer things in life, you have to work hard for them.

When you are going through tough situations in your own life, you need to remember one simple fact…

Just when you think you can’t take it anymore…you are just about to make it.

Great things in life do not come without sacrifices and those that consistently look for handouts will always be begging. Happiness in your own life is accomplished by pursuing the good. Everyone has a choice and no one is a victim of circumstances.

When you take ownership of your own life, your own problems and your own successes, you get to enjoy the victories over defeat. You get to walk under the arches and feel that chill go through your body knowing that you have accomplished something for you. You get to prevail over evil and make the life you always dreamed. Leave the complaining and excuses for those that are never happy with their spot in life because you are going to enact change through action.

You are going to detour around the road blocks with a positive outlook because this is your one and only life to live. There will always be someone who has it harder and someone who has it easier…it is up to you how you handle your own life obstacles…

Filed Under: Lifestyle Design, My Life Tagged With: , , , , ,

Destroying The Road Blocks To Success

March 23, 2010 By 11 Comments

Do you ever wake up and feel like there was a party you weren’t invited to? Like there is some kind of roadblock in your way or a secret key you forgot to pick up? You are taking in all of the advice, doing all of the work, planning your future but it is all not coming as fast as you would like. Why is it coming for others faster than it is coming for me? They are doing the same things I am…what gives?!

There is some point in time when EVERYONE feels like this as they grow their blogs, their businesses and their personal lives. It is a natural part of progression and if forces you to take a deep look inside yourself and your actions to evaluate where you are and where you are headed. Why is it that some people seem to just ooze success while others (who seem to be doing everything correctly) are like a duck on water. Everything looks calm on the outside but their legs are moving like crazy just to get a little forward motion.

The Problem With Too Much Advice

One of the major road blocks to success is too much advice. I know…funny thing to hear on a blog where I give advice but stick with me for a second it will all make sense.

When beginning bloggers and entrepreneurs hit the ground running looking to make a life for themselves instead of being reliant on others, they take in as much information as humanly possible. This learning stage we all go through is part of the process of wrapping your mind around the industry and where you have to head to get things rolling. This learning process is vital, but also self defeating in some ways.

There is such thing as too much advice.

At some point in time in every successful blogger or entrepreneurs career, they came up with an original thought. The ebook, course, product, style, etc. was different than anything else the market had seen up until that point, or it was so much better than the competition that it left no other alternative (this can be content driven as well). This original thought was unique to their business and brought it over the hump and off the plateau of small growth into successful, large growth.

You are not going to find your unique idea in an ebook or ecourse, you are going to have to apply the knowledge you have learned to provide your market with something unique and useful to separate yourself out from everyone else who is absorbing advice! What are you doing to do that is different and new? That is the question you need to ask yourself once the learning process is complete.

Outside of the original idea, many people get stuck in the learning process. They spend most of their time reading and learning instead of trying and doing. This sponge absorption trap will constrict you from trying new things and actually getting out there, so take a look at how you spend your time closely. You might be constricting yourself from the beginning by not allowing yourself enough time to actually try techniques instead of reading about them.

As you start to grow your blogs and businesses, start asking yourself…

  • What am I doing that is unique?
  • How am I spending my time?
  • What can I do today to separate myself from the pack?

When you start to answer those types of questions, you are tearing down the road blocks to drive down the road to success.

Filed Under: Lifestyle Design Tagged With: , , ,

Where Bloggers Fail With Money and A Story

March 12, 2010 By 13 Comments

Over the course of your blogging and business building career, you are going to be faced with many questions. The decisions made with these questions will have a lasting impact on your future growth and expansions, so answering them correctly is vital to your bottom line.

One of the biggest things I see bloggers struggle with is money. Ironic isn’t it? The thing you are trying to make also ends up being your downfall, but how does that happen? How does money kill bloggers in the pursuit of their dream and the internet lifestyle?

Where Bloggers Fail With Money

The typical road of a blogger is a hard one. They slave over content, monetization techniques and growing their blogs to make pennies on the hour over the course of the beginning stages. Then something hits. A nice spike in traffic, a great review or a feature on another site and the income starts to flow in. Even if it is not a lot of money, there is the instant satisfaction that all of this work is not going to waste and money actually can be made online!

So what does the blogger do?

Celebrates! The blogger buys that big TV, the game console or whatever other toy they have been pining for all this time. They have earned it right?! It can’t be all work and no play!

One BIG problem.

That big TV does nothing to help grow your business or invest in your future. You just took all of your hard work and invested it in a depreciating asset that will be obsolete in 6 months. All of that hard work, those late nights and time away from your family will be absolutely worthless in less time than it took you to build that small income stream. Congratulations, you just crippled your success and you are going to have to work even harder to get it back.

What should you have done?

Looked for ways to reinvest back into you blogging and saved the excess (or paid off high interest credit cards if you have them). Building a business online is no different than any other business. You need to reinvest back into the business if you want to see future growth.

Was there a paid plugin that you needed?

Was there a design or coding project you needed done?

Do you need a better camera or piece of equipment that would benefit your blogging?

These are the questions you need to ask yourself as you start to see money coming in from your blogging. That expensive “celebration dinner” might make you feel great for an hour, but the increased revenue from reinvesting back into your blogging will pay for itself over years.

Bloggers tend to get all of the advice down on growing a community and monetizing a blog. What they fail to realize is that a business can not grow without capital and they are squandering away that capital on a bunch of stuff they really don’t need…leaving nothing for the business when you need an interview transcribed or help with a new design or logo that will increase your professional reputation online.

Personal Story: What I Bought This Week

Ok…so what spurred this thought process? With some extra income in the bank from hard work at the keyboard, it was time to reinvest in my business some. While I could have gone out and bought that new HDTV my wife and I have been looking at. I instead picked up a new camera that is going to help out my biking sites A LOT. With better high ISO quality and 7 fps shooting, this Nikon D300s will be able to catch trail side shots much better than my previous Nikon D80. (Luckily for me…a lot of my reinvesting money is on stuff I like too!)

Nikon D300s DSLR with Super Wide Lens

Pictures are a huge part of the biking culture and I have been relying too much on the support of my community and friends for shots to use on the site. What I really need to do (and the reason for the purchase) is capture my own shots for the blogs. Now…armed with a Sigma 10-20 super wide and the Nikon D300s, I have zero excuse for not lugging around this heavy beast with me on rides to capture the shots I need.

As a nice side affect…photography is a hobby of mine so I get to enjoy it for personal reasons as well. Like shooting my two girls laying on a couch.

My Two Girls Shot with Nikon D300s

Now…does anyone have a Sigma 70-200/f2.8 they want to donate to RobbSutton.com? ;) You can keep up to date with what I am posting on Flickr through the widget on the sidebar.

So what can you do to reinvest back into your blog and business?
Filed Under: Blogging, Generating Cash Tagged With: , , ,

The Secret To Success – A One Step Process

February 18, 2010 By 13 Comments

Right in line with the article yesterday on my Zero Tolerance Policy, I wanted to go into a little bit more depth about getting past the excuses and getting into what it really takes to be successful. Michael Dunlop from and IncomeDiary.com and I were talking during a recorded interview over the weekend (will be published on RobbSutton.com) about what it is that makes some bloggers successful and others not at all. While there are a lot of contributing factors to successful blogging, there are several different themes that run throughout the blogging industry that are absolute truths.

What is the secret to success in blogging? Well…you won’t be too surprised because it is the secret to success in just about everything. Taking action! I can not tell you how many bloggers I talk to on a regular basis that want success in blogging, but they are too busy reading instead of doing. Don’t get me wrong, taking advice from those that have been there before you has a ton of value, but there are a lot of bloggers that get stuck in that rut. All they do is take the advice in the form of free eBook, eCourses and seminars to do absolutely nothing!

That’s right…they spend all of their time and money learning instead of doing. I don’t know if it is fear of failure or the inability to get the car started and start driving, but these serial learners do nothing but talk about their next big idea instead of actually trying it out for themselves.

The Secret To Success In Blogging And In Business

The secret to success in blogging and in business in general is taking action. There are times you are going to fail miserably flat on your face, but at least you tried! Now you can take that knowledge and apply it to your next success. If you spend all of your time worry about whether or not you are going to make it…you never will. If you are waiting on that next informational product or course to make your blog successful….guess what…only you can actually make your blog successful.

You need to sit down and take a serious look at how you spend your time. Are you spending the majority of your time learning or doing? Learning has its place and it is a valuable part of the process, but it is on the only part of the process.

Are you going to be part of the 10% that actually takes action and sees success? Or are you going to be part of the 90% that has the knowledge and does nothing with it? That choice is up to you…and only you can make it happen.

Filed Under: Blogging, Lifestyle Design, Tutorials/How To Tagged With: , , ,

Wealth Does Not Equal Success In Life

December 1, 2009 By 16 Comments

There is a common misconception out there that wealth = success. In today’s capitalistic society, we often measure our success and self-worth by our assets and income. Those that have the fancy BMW are somehow perceived as more successful than those with a Honda Accord. It is an easy trap to get into. Monetary value is the easiest thing to calculate…but…it only shows the face value of someone’s life. Unfortunately, true success is not measured by a dollar value. True success is defined by the individual as they go through life looking, searching and bleeding for the happiest and healthiest way to take each waking step.

What Is Real Success?

Most people would be surprised how “rich” some people really are. With a society that condones being debt loaded to the tilt, many of these perceived successful people are really a stack of cards ready to fall with the slightest bit of breeze or unexpected event. So the real question becomes…what do I consider successful? Here are my notes on success.

  • Real success has nothing to do with monetary value…rather the quality of life you create for yourself.
  • Living a happy and healthy life is much more important than the big house.
  • Spending time with friends and family will bring you more rewards than a physical object.
  • Sometimes less is more.
  • There will always be something bigger, better and different.
  • The key to happiness is enjoying what you have instead of worrying about what you don’t.
  • Helping others is the key to long-term success both professionally and in life.
  • Some of the most successful people in life…are actually some of the poorest.
  • Life is about experiences…not material possessions.
  • Money makes things easier…but not happier. True happiness is found within.
  • Sometimes the best things in life take the largest sacrifices.
  • Nothing good comes without work.
  • Those that constantly stick their hand out looking for something for free…will always have their hand out.
  • You can measure some people life success by how often they smile in a day.
  • Real success has no room for large egos.
  • Each person’s definition of success in their own life is completely different and can not be defined or measured by another.
  • Those that measure the success of others, typically forget to measure themselves.
  • Having material possessions is not a bad thing…measuring your life by them is.
  • You need to define what you consider success before you can achieve it.

As you can see by my notes…success is a complicated beast that is not measured by what you have…but how you live.

Filed Under: Lifestyle Design Tagged With: , ,

How To Turn The Job You Hate Into Success You Can Live By

August 7, 2009 By 2 Comments

Let’s face it…we are in troubled times and many of us are in jobs we absolutely hate, but since it is a paycheck that pays the bills…we continue to show up day in and day out to sign up for more misery. Why do we wake up to the alarm every morning knowing that the day is going to bring more monotonous pain? Because we know eviction and debt is thousands of times worse than dealing with the annoyances we are putting up with on a daily basis. We would switch jobs to something more tolerable or something we actually enjoy, but in today’s economic conditions, there is high competition for a decreasing amount of openings. People just aren’t hiring! So with all of this stacked against us…what are we supposed to do in the search for professional freedom and happiness?

Your 2 Options as the Unsatisfied Employee

Like it or not…misery, frustration and outright unhappiness can all be incredible motivators. When faced with almost unthinkable conditions, you…as the employee, family member, leader, bread winner…have two distinct choices you can make with your available resources at the time.

  1. Bathe In Your Misery – This is an option. You can come home every day and bitch about how bad you have it. You can tell all of your friends and family how horrible your job is…how much worse it is getting and how you can’t do a thing about it because you are just an innocent victim in this situation. Feel sorry for me because my life is so terrible! You just wouldn’t understand! You continue this cycle everyday until you are finally throwing yourself into a depression because you see no end in sight to the madness. Your largest flaw in this line of thinking is that you are now letting others directly affect how you live your daily life and where you derive your happiness. These people that you bitch about on a daily basis are winning…and in a big way!
  2. Use Your Misery as a Motivator – Time to get off your ass and do something about it! That’s right…misery can be one of the greatest motivators to change. If you decide to treat your situation through a different outlook, you can come out on the other end happier than you have ever been, but it is going take some work and you can’t bitch your way through it.

How to Turn that Job You Hate Into Success

For those of you that picked #1 from above, you can stop reading this article right now and go bitch to someone about how bad you have it…the rest of this will not apply and you are going to tell me it is not possible if you read it anyway. Like I said in point #2, you can use your current unsatisfied outlook with your professional life as a gigantic motivator to get up and do something about it.

Every morning, when I wake up and start up my iPhone, I am greeted by a quote that gets me started during the day.

You never know how STRONG you are…until being strong is the ONLY choice you have.

During times like this, being strong is your only option for professional change. It is not like the olden days when you could just sneeze out a new job that paid, appreciated and thanked you more just for stopping by. Everyone is on harder times than usual so being strong and pushing through is your only option in the search of happiness. But how do I turn this strong motivation into professional happiness?

Right now is the time to start conditioning yourself into habits that will benefit you greatly in the long haul even if you do not see the direct benefit now (or it takes a lot more work than it will in the future).

  • Start Your Own Company – Sounds weird to start your own company during hard economic times, but truly successful business owners will tell you that troubled economic times can be the best time to start something of your own. Do you have that idea that you have been holding onto for forever but never acted on? Now is the time to try to get things going. You are going to spend countless hours during what used to be your off/down time outside of work growing your business, but when your little start-up takes over your full time income, you are able to drop that job you hate in favor of something you can call your own. You just have to be willing to put in that extra effort and give up a lot of your free time in the beginning. Your ability to adapt and change quickly will give you an advantage over competition that has more overhead and bills. Many of you that read this blog are interested, trying or already have setup online businesses that have the added benefit of low start-up costs. Now is the time for you to put forth the effort and get the grunt work done as you look forward to growth and success. If you can make money now…image the results when the economy shoots back…
  • Be Willing To Do What Others Are Not – Maybe owning your own business is not for you…that is ok…owning your own business is not for everyone. During times like this you need to use your unhappiness with your current work situation to be willing to do what others are not. Are you willing to walk into prospective businesses and hit them up face to face with a resume? Now…more than ever…is the time to actively market yourself to keep your resume from being just another white sheet in the massive stack. You need to find new and unique ways to make yourself more marketable and not rely on the conventional job searching techniques that…quite honestly…do not work anymore. You can not expect to throw your resume on Monster.com and get great offers.

As you go out and try to change the way you are doing things, you are creating habits and confidence that are going to help you tremendously in the future. It is times like these that true greatness is born from the ashes…you just have to be willing to step outside your comfort zone to try something new. You never know…it could lead to professional life happiness and satisfaction that you had never dreamed and it was all because you decided to use your misery as a motivator and not a crutch. Sitting around and complaining does no one any good…especially you!

“I Hate My Job” image by Adam Foster | Codefor

Filed Under: Economy, Generating Cash Tagged With: , , ,

1st Step to Success: Believe In Yourself

July 23, 2009 By Leave a Comment

I don’t care who you are or what you are doing. If you are a blogger, mother, business executive or bum on the street, you are not going to be successful at anything until you start believing in yourself. If you do not believe in yourself and your own abilities, you are immediately stunting your growth. Your self doubt and low self worth will spread like the plague as you continue to beat your head against a wall in search of ultimate success…only to find failure.

This is all easy to say, but having the hardcore belief that not only you can…but you will accomplish your goals is not an easy task. Everything in this world is weighted against you. Throughout your entire life, you have been graded, ranked and put in line. The media has put bad news in front of the good. You have been convinced that you are just another number in society and that one person can not enact change. You are left up to your own vices to develop the self awareness that will bring you to new levels of success. No one is going to step up and hand you the self confidence you need to succeed. It has to come from within your heart and soul as you walk the treacherous path of self fulfillment.

Believing In Yourself and Blogging

Typical blogging niches are flooded with new, eager bloggers every day that all think blogging is the new wave of internet wealth. What they…and most bloggers…do not realize is that the wave of exponential wealth in a short amount of time is gone. In place of that wave is a much more stable business model that may or may not be as new and exciting.

The problem arises when you see little to no results in your first 6 months. You start to doubt your ideas and your goals. Maybe you were wrong…maybe your content and ideas just are not good enough…maybe those other successful bloggers are lying and this really is not possible to do. Of course, you would be wrong on all counts, but your mind is telling you otherwise and you are believing it.

You need to have the self awareness to believe in yourself and your ideas to make it as a blogger. Readers are not attracted to self doubt and uneasiness. They want a blogger that is going to stand up for them and their own ideals. They want to connect with a secure foundation as they walk down the exact same road you are. They want to walk (and sometimes run) hand in hand with the blogger as they can start to see the gains…which are sometimes really small…in their own blogging and life.

Does this mean you can not have any mistakes in your blogging? Absolutely not. You need to also believe in yourself enough to know that you are going to have more mistakes than successes throughout your blogging career. It is having the confidence that you can learn from your mistakes and celebrate them. Bring your mistakes out into the open and show how they were overcome with hard work and dedication. I have said this before and I will say it again…perfection is boring. By overcoming your mistakes…you are human and therefor you can connect.

As You Go Through Life and Blogging…

…believe that you can make it. This can be harder for some than others, and I am not advocating a gigantic ego. I am simply stating that you need to truly believe…from the depths of your soul…that you can make it. It is going to take hard work, there are going to be road blocks on the way, but you will push through and use the hard times as learning experiences and capitalize on successes. To even start this road to success…you must first believe that it is possible for you. Lend yourself a hand…because you too can be a success…

“Lend Yourself a Hand” by * Photos by Chris M *

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