What is failure?

You are going to fail.  That's a fact.  And once you make peace with this concept, you will be well on your way to success.  Seriously, you need to figure out failure is part of success like getting wet is part of taking a bath or shower.  Waking up is part of sleep.  Laughter is part of happiness.  Don't be afraid to fail, instead fail your way to success!

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How People Are Doing It: Pat Flynn - Smart Passive Income

I started following Mr. Flynn a while ago and I must tell you that this man is impressive.  He is a person that gives full disclosure of all the things that he does to grow his online business and his income.  

I call him the King of Explaining How to Create Passive Income Online.  I'm serious.  If you want to learn how to make passive income online and do it well, you should read his entire blog, listen to all his pod-casts and watch all his videos.  It will probably take you a whole month to do that, that's how much information he provides and it's all really great information! 

People who demand money for their knowledge do not give the quality of information that Pat Flynn does. Seriously, he could demand thousands of dollars for what he gives away for free.

Can you tell that I love his website Smart Passive Income?

If you are new to passive income or online business, you should hit his START HERE tab on his website.  It begins your journey in his Passive Income 101 Series.

But the coolest thing about Pat Flynn . . . he provides detailed reports on how much income he makes.  That's right, he provides reports on what worked, what didn't work, how much he put into it and how much he gets from it each month.  So you can see how he slowly but surely grew his income over time.  It's great stuff and everyone loves those reports.

I swear once you start reading, hearing and/or watching his information, you will NOT want to stop . . . well, maybe you will because you will begin your online business empire.  

Pat Flynn is the best tool that I can possibly think of to creating powerful and influential friends, because his website and YouTube channels gives you the step-by-step to getting that way!

Check him out and let me know what you think.

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Don't Give Up

Things may not be going your way right now or at least they may not be moving along as expected.  Don't give up!  People may be saying negative things about you or about the things you are doing.  Don't give up!  You may have to back track and take a few steps backward just to take steps forward.  Don't give up!  The closest people to you, your husband, your wife, your mother, or father, your children, your best friend . . . may think what you are doing doesn't make sense and put doubts in your head that you will ever succeed.  Don't give up!  Money may be running low, bills running high, equipment breaking down and competition tough . . . DON'T GIVE UP!

All these things are LIFE testing you to see if you really want the reward in front of you.  If you don't really want that reward then it will not come to you.  If you really want it . . . you'll take whatever punishment Life gives you to achieve it.  You've come this far. Don't Give Up!


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Sometimes, all you have to do is ASK!

We are so afraid of being rejected that we completely overlook, avoid, refuse to do the simplest thing toward gaining our success.  What would that simple thing be?  The art form called: Asking.

Have you thought about simply asking?  Opening a business and you want customers? Have you thought about calling around and asking people to be your customers?  Want to be a singer or you have some other performance art to share? Have you thought of asking an art gallery or a talent show host if you can perform for them?  Simply asking can be one of the most powerful things you can do and you will be surprised with the results you get.

Clearly a lot of people are not getting far in their goals and dreams because they just refuse to ask.  In their minds they have already rehearsed all refusals and rejections they will receive. They have also convinced themselves that they have already been refused and rejected. For example:

A friend of mine became manager of a pet clinic, a place where they spay and neuter animals.  She's great at the job.  One day, she looked at the payment sheet (which has client information, how they wish to pay for services, etc.) and asked her staff why there was no donation portion to the sheet.  The clinic was a non-profit and most non-profits have donation opportunities on every slip of paper a client gets  because asking for donations is usually a primary source of revenue for nonprofits.  

The staff gave her many reasons -- and granted, they were pretty valid reasons -- why they didn't have a donation offer on the payment slip.  A few of the reasons were:
(1) They were working in a "depressed economic" area and the people can barely afford the service none-the-less a donation;
(2) It might put people off as begging;
(3) In the past, no one donated.

My friend reprinted the customer payment sheet with the request for a donation clearly printed on the bottom. She told her staff not to worry about pushing the request, just let the form do the asking. Within two months, the place pulled in a couple of thousand of dollars in donations, just because the company asked for a donation on a slip of paper!  

The technique and art of asking can be applied everywhere.  However, be careful, because there are three (3) keys of success to asking.  

(1) Ask with no expectation.  

I mean that, don't put weight into the request. Don't put your emotion onto it, your anxiety, your eagerness, your fear . . . that's wasted energy.  Look at it this way, it's just a question, a sound, a thought.  Keep the energy around your question as light as a thought.  Ask and don't expect a positive or negative result.  Basically, ask and move on.  If they are willing, great!  If they are not, no problem maybe someone else is willing or they will be willing another day.

(2) Ask in a creative and kind way.  

Recently I realized that I had a lot of famous people and organizations that I follow on Twitter.  I really enjoy their tweets and I've been following them for months and (some of them) years.  And it occurred to me that maybe they would follow me back if I did something outrageous like ASK them to follow me back.  Well, I knew this was Twitter and posts go fast, I knew that I needed an attention-getter, so I created this little meme:

I sent this to a few people and guess what, some of them actually followed me back!  They said they loved my little kitty meme.  Ha!  I'm gaining powerful and influential friends, you guys. The point here is, I asked and I asked in a way that gets attention.  If they follow me back, great!  If they don't, okay, I understand . . . I'll try again another day.  Which leads me to . . .


(3) Ask often and ask as often as it takes.

Have you ever heard the story about Les Brown, the motivational speaker and how he got a job at a radio station?  He was really young and had no experience. He went to the manager of the radio station asking if he could get a job.  The manager said there were no jobs for him.  So Les Brown went back everyday to that same manager, politely and enthusiastically asking for a job . . . he did this every day until the manager (tired of him coming around) hired him as an errand boy.  As an errand boy, Les Brown got to meet great celebrities like Diana Ross and Al Green and finally one day got the chance to go on air as a disc jockey.  Here was a man with no radio experience, no connections, no formal education, but he asked and he asked as often as it took to get to his goal.  

If Les Brown can do it and if I can do it, you can too.  So go out there, throw caution to the wind and ASK!



If you like this article, you should read:

• Little Things You Can Do to Help Someone
• Don't Wait to Have It to Live It
• Phenomenal Things That You Can Do
• Take the Chance and Live Your Dreams
• Slow Progress and Instantaneous Results
• Fail Your Way to Success
• One Bad Apple . . .

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Better Mistakes . . . Intentional Mistakes.

What?  You think you are perfect?  Riiiiight.  

You realize, don't you, that your life is a series of mistakes.  But the best mistakes are the ones you have when you are on the path to your dreams.  These mistakes teach you something.  These mistakes are intentional.  These mistakes allow you to grow, and these mistakes are your dues that you pay to earn the LIFE OF YOUR DREAMS.  

Look at it this way, you are going to make mistakes regardless.  Why not get something that you always wanted from that exercise?  Live your dreams, make intentional mistakes - better mistakes, learn something and step into your success!

You know I'm routing for you because I've always wanted powerful and influential friends.


If you like this article, you should read:

• Fail Your Way to Success
• It's a Numbers Game
• No Obstacles
• Aim At Nothing
• Try Approving of Yourself

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The "I QUIT" Fund

What is the first thing you should start today, if you already haven't?  Your "I Quit" Fund. Really, it's your freedom fund.  It gives you a sense of confidence and freedom.  When a person has an "I Quit" fund, they interview for a job differently.  With an "I Quit" fund, they walk around the job differently.  They seem fearless, crazy confident and amazingly attractive.

Hard to believe, huh?

I tell all my friends that they should create an "I quit" fund.  You should too! 

What's an "I Quit Fund"? It's simply what financial advisers call an emergency fund.  It's a stash of money that takes care of up to 3-6 months of household expenses, in case you lose your job.  Or in case you simply decide you can't stand your job, not one more day . . . not one more moment.

There are so many horror stories about bad bosses, crazy co-workers and dysfunctional working environments it's unreal.  We, as employees, take all kinds of abuse because we need the "security" of a paycheck.  But really, should we take that stress and abuse?  We work hard, shouldn't we assure ourselves of a LIFE as trade off for the hours spent with people that we don't voluntarily choose to hang around?

Begin your "I quit" fund.  Start today.  Stash away $10 or $20 or more.  That's what I did.  I stashed away a few dollars every week and I do it to this very day.  Back then, whenever I got some extra money: a tip, a bonus, a raise, I put the money aside.  Whenever I worked a side gig, I stashed away half of whatever I earned.  Soon, I had over $500 in my little secret fund.  I decided that I wanted my money to grow faster than I could save it or earn it, so I put the money where it would grow.  Within a few months, I had a paycheck worth of savings.  Slowly, but surely I was starting to realize my freedom.

Amassing my "I quit" fund got down-right addictive.  I would save up a paycheck worth of "I quit" funds before I would deposit it into my little mutual fund (that was the way I grew my money).  I did this simply because I liked to count my money after a particularly hard day at work.  I would sit there going with stacks of hundred- and twenty-dollar bills, literally touching my freedom.  It felt damned good knowing that I had enough money to scream out "I quit" and at least be able to survive for 30 days before going hungry.  It was a heady feeling . . . a feeling of true freedom.  

Indeed, that money came in very handy.  Eventually, an ethical dilemma came up on my job.  I had a discussion with my boss about the unethical practice we were embarking in. I told him that I did not feel comfortable doing the task that the company wanted me to do.  He demanded that I continue with the process or endanger my employment.  I quit.  

Everyone was flabbergasted!  How could I quit?  Didn't I need my job?  What would I do next?  All types of questions flew around me. No one understood, how I was brave enough, free enough, to actually quit . . . not my boss, not the other employees, not anyone.  I walked out the door, very satisfied with myself.  Feeling a total control over my life that few people ever feel.

Since that day, I have been hooked on saving.  Even if I save $1 a day, that's one dollar closer to my FREEDOM.   It feels good not being a slave to a job, or a career, or the dictates of superiors in an organization.  

How do you create a little bit of freedom in your life?

If you like this article, you should read:

• 14 Reasons You Know It Is Time to Quit
• Why I Won't Apply for Your Job
• Money & Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
• Money is Everywhere!
• If SHE Can Save . . . 
• Your Six Figure Income

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Try Approving of Yourself

On Facebook the other day, I saw a meme that said "When Satan comes around and reminds you of all the bad things you've done in the past, remind him of how HIS story will end!"  He's going in the pit of fire, right where all your guilty memories of the things you've done should go as well. 

Those things you regret - those things you wish you didn't experience - those things people said about you . . . that was the past.  The only good you can take from it is lessons learned.  

If you've learned your lesson, then those past incidents are incidental to your life.  Their worth has been realized (in learning a life lesson), you have my permission to discard them now.

Learn your lessons and let go of the past.  There.  Done.

If you like this article, you should read:

• What People Think of You is None of Your Business
• You Don't Need to Like Me, That's My Job
• Always Remember, This is Your Life
• 2 Ways to Make Yourself Happy

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Little things you can do to help someone

Several of friends have said to me: "I really love what you are doing with your blog and with your business ideas.  I wish there was something I could do to help you, but I don't have any money, any contacts, anything.  I'm so sorry."

My answer:  Sweetheart, you don't have to be powerful, rich and influential to help me.  There are little things you can do that can help.  

Seriously, make it a small part of your day to help someone.  If you have someone in your life that you want to help.  Do that, in little ways that cost you nothing but your consideration and a bit of your time.  Here's how:

1.  Like what you read on a blog or web page?  Support the writer or blogger. Drop a quick comment.  You don't have to be fancy about it, just something like: "Came to this article through Twitter and really enjoyed it.  So good, I read some of your other stuff too." That's it.  Quick, simple and it helps because if someone stumbles upon that post, they may look at other articles I write just because you said that you did it.  Cool huh?

2.  Share an article, status or blog post with your friends and family via Twitter, Facebook, Google+, Pinterest, LinkedIN, e-mail where-ever you like to hang out.  Ask your friends and family to share it too.

3.  If you know of their work and think they do really good work (or create a really great product) send them a testimonial or recommendation they can use on LinkedIn or on their webpage.

4. Drop a note (e-mail, regular mail, whatever) and tell them how awesome they are! I collect these and keep them in a folder entitled "Read on Bad Days."  And when I'm having a pretty bad time of it, I open it up and read it.  Works wonders!

5.  Find their other accounts on other social media networks and follow, friend, connect with them.  For people trying to develop an online audience, a larger audience is always good.

That's just five small ways to quickly help someone out.  I'm sure there are more ways that I haven't thought of.  Enlighten all of us.  What great little way have YOU helped someone?  What small way has someone else helped you? Leave a comment below so we can pay if forward and learn all the little ways we can help each other. 

You are truly my most powerful and influential friends.

NOTE:
Thank You Patricia, she's @AchtungBaby115  on twitter, for having my back and being my pro-bono editor on this blog post. You are the coolest!  Number 6.  Help a blogger edit their stuff so it makes sense!  Hahaha 

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Worrying

It took me a long time to understand that worrying is literally working against myself.  I used to LIVE in the land of worry.  It gave me comfort somehow.  Don't ask me what type of comfort, I still don't understand what's so comfortable about worrying. I guess worrying feels like you are investing energy into the problem, but in actuality, you are just expelling energy . . . you are not solving anything.  

If you are a worrier and you want to learn to stop doing that, here are some resources to work on your habit of worrying.

Dale Carnegie's: How to Stop Worrying and Start Living

Anxiety Culture's: Undo the Worrying Habit

Huffington Posts: 9 Scientifically-Backed Ways To Stop Worrying

How to Stop Worrying and Start Living


And after you read these articles, DO SOMETHING.  Stop worrying and do something about your problem.  And if you can't do something about the problem then distract yourself and do something else.  Use your energy to your advantage, but stop giving away your valuable energy!

If you like this article, you should read:

What you focus on grows

You don't need to like me, that's my job

Having a Bad Day? Put this on repeat . . .

Stop Avoiding Obstacles

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