I just wanted to write a quick update - I hope that you all got over to HULU to watch the Tony Robbins Breakthrough episodes before they are gone! If not,…I cannot stress highly enough what a benefit I believe they would be to you.

All of us have situations, circumstances, fears, anxieties, and struggles, we contend with in life. No one is exempt. I have heard such people exist,..however, never met anyone who has life all figured out! *smlie*

I remember the first time I read the book “The Road Less Traveled”...and how it started out “Life is Difficult”. And I realized the place I needed to start in order to make sense of life, the FIRST reality I needed to accept, was that life is indeed “difficult”. And it isn’t just difficult for me, or you, it’s difficult for everyone.

We are ALL in constant learning mode as we navigate our way through life. The key isn’t to find ALL the answers, but to discover the ones necessary to thrive in life.

That’s why I can’t even tell you how THRILLED I am at the prospect of this new era we are transitioning through! It has opened up the gates of possibilities and the window of opportunities WIDE!

Never before in history has have we had access to so many unlimited avenues for creating the lives we have dreamed of! Avenues that did not exist prior to this new era we are transitioning into!

And we will detail it ALL for you in the book. Which reminds me, I need to get back to writing in order to meet the deadline.

THANK YOU for your support, patience, and confidence!

To Your Growth and Profit,

A couple weeks ago, I stumbled onto the “Breakthrough” episodes with Tony Robbins. I didn’t even know they existed, or that he had even attempted a T.V. Show. I watched an episode, more out of curiosity than anything else. Motivating people verbally with lectures and speeches is one thing, but after watching the trailer for the program I wanted to see how he would take what most people consider “positive-psycho-babble” and make it practical, down-to-earth information, that when applied could change the course of these peoples lives in 30 days.

And here is what I discovered.
After watching the first one,…I blocked out my entire morning to watch ALL 6 OF THEM!

If you were not aware this program, which unfortunately has been canceled…although I can only imagine that was because there are a lot of people like myself who didn’t know it existed….GO, TODAY, RIGHT NOW, AND WATCH AT LEAST ONE TO GET STARTED! There is not a human being alive who cannot, and will not, BENEFIT GREATLY from each of these programs.

They are INSPIRING, MOTIVATING, ENLIGHTENING, and LIFE-CHANGING!

You will feel something stir in your soul as you watch and feel a sense of RENEWAL towards your dreams and your life!

I had a WHOLE NEW RESPECT for Tony Robbins when I saw these. KUDOS TONY!

Do yourself a favor,..watch one NOW!
When you go to this link, click on “Episodes” in the top navigation bar.

Enjoy and be encouraged! http://www.breakthroughinsider.com/

To Your Growth and Profit,

As an added note – I see that link only has 2 of the episodes. I watched them on HULU….but they are only available there until Sept 4th! SO GO NOW and watch ALL of them. It is one of the most WORTHWHILE exercises in self-motivation you will get from the comfort of home.
http://www.hulu.com/breakthrough-with-tony-robbins

But most people were too busy juggling the day to day activities, responsibilities, and demands, associated with work and providing for their families, to give it much thought at all. Unless this futuristic technology could put food on the table, or money in their pockets“now”…it seemed irrelevant in the scope of things.

Taking little more than a momentary pause, everyone went back to their busy lives, blissfully ignorant of just how relevant that moment really was. Little did we know, life as we knew it, was sitting directly on the fault line of a historical Paradigm Shift about to open up, and swallow it whole.

Paradigms explain, or define the world to us. They shape our perception of life, which creates the boundaries and rules we live by.

When we were in school, history books taught that in the days of Columbus, people believed the world was flat. They thought the Atlantic ocean was filled with sea monsters large enough to devour a ship. And were certain if you sailed to the horizon, you’d plunge over the waterfall waiting for you at the edge of the earth.

The Paradigm was the socially accepted view of a flat earth. That perception defined their lives, and shaped the boundaries and rules of that time period.

When Columbus sailed the ocean blue, in fourteen hundred and ninety-two, (funny how some things stick with you for a lifetime!) he confirmed his theory – the earth was round, and not flat.

That single piece of credible new information created a historical Paradigm Shift. Their perception of life, and the boundaries and rules created by that perception, all made sense in a flat world. But not in a round one.

(And yes, since our elementary school days, it appears that historians have discovered this was a myth. The people of that time period did not think the world was flat.)

Paradigm Shifts change the game and create a new set of rules.

The paradigm shift we are all living through at present, transitioning from an  Industrial Age world, to this new Technology/Information Age world, is a new experience for everyone.

Learning how to thrive in this new environment is challenging, especially since everything is in constant motion. One of the main reasons that so many people are NOT finding success creating income online is because they are trying to fit a 20th Century Marketing philosophy and strategy card, into a 21st Century marketing ATM. The two are not compatible.

It’s like insisting that you are going to keep the world flat because that is what you are used to, and familiar with. And that will get you nowhere fast.

The first step to success in the 21st century, is to accept you’re no longer in 20th century. No longer playing by Industrial Age rules and boundaries. Take a moment to pause, and get comfortable with the fact that things have “changed” .

Once you acknowledge, and accept that….then your journey to producing income in the “New World” can begin.

To Your Growth and Profit,

It sounds great, but who are they kidding?
By the time the checklist of daily necessities, responsibilities, work, errands, and unexpected moments take their toll, reaching for the light-switch is challenging, not alone reaching for the stars!

When taking stock of life, the majority of people know the life they’re living on a day-to-day basis is nowhere close to the life they dream of. Their days are stuck in ‘response mode’, one continual reaction after another to the circumstances and the people, who demand  time, attention and energy.

Most people are on the treadmill of life – constantly moving, putting one foot in front of the other, but going nowhere. They have moments when they realize all too well what they’re doing isn’t going to cut-it. If they stay on the path they’re on, they will leave this world not only never having achieved their dreams, but never even getting started on them.

Those “Crossroad” moments in life are opportunity calls. The opportunity to re-evaluate, weigh out, and make a conscious choice to either stay the course, or change it. To ask yourself ‘am I okay with where I am at? What I am doing? Where I am going? If I never do more, accomplish more, or am more, than I am right now, is that acceptable to me?’ And if the answer is ‘no‘, then those moments can be the catalyst for change.

If only it was that easy! Right?

But that’s just it – it’s NOT easy.
Not easy for you.
Not easy for anyone.

There’s NOTHING EASY about coming to grips with where you are in life, not liking what you see, and deciding to change things. Especially when you don’t get to wipe the slate clean. Don’t get to undo the decisions you’ve made so you can start out fresh, unencumbered by the results, and the circumstances you’ve created for yourself.

The reason the book “Unstoppable” by Cynthia Kersey, or any of the other thousands of books that have been written trumpeting the perseverance of the human spirit, end up on the bestsellers list – is because they’re the ultimate ‘pep talk’ for anyone seriously considering ‘change‘. They reinforce and affirm the message - “It’s Not Easy, But It’s Worth it!”

It’s time to get serious about what you want out of life. And, whether you are on a path that can take you there. Time will either work for you, or against you. If you’re not moving closer to your dreams, time becomes your enemy. If you are moving towards your dreams, time becomes a welcomed friend.

Whatever struggles, hardships, or downright difficult times you endure in pursuit of a worthy goal, is time well spent. It won’t be easy – but it will be worth it.

To Your Growth and Profit,

We’re proud to be Americans.
May God Bless our Country and the men and women that protect it.

As the beneficiaries of freedom, may we diligently remember it is a gift
and some paid the ultimate price to give it to us.

Some Gave All -

Although the answer can be summed up in one simple sentence, the ramifications of it has changed the face of marketing worldwide. “The Marketer Is No Longer In Control, The Consumer Is.”

When social communities began to pop up online like MySpace, FaceBook, Twitter, and many others, they were looked at as nothing more than a venue for people to stay in touch. To share personal info and photo’s online with family and friends, and an opportunity to make new friends in the process. But if anyone could have looked into a crystal ball and foresaw the future, they would have seen the beginning of the most powerful marketing platform ever to come into existence. And it only reaffirmed what we as marketers, have always known – there’s no marketing out there, nor has there ever been, that is more compelling than “word-of-mouth”.

An exuberant testimonial or positive word, from a family member, trusted friend, or acquaintance, is all the endorsement a product or service needs to find its way to the person receiving the information. Word of mouth trumps the most cleverly written pieces of copywriting out there, every time. Word of mouth circumvents the entire marketing process, completely eliminates the work and expense of convincing, leading, and selling, the consumer. Word of mouth is a ‘done deal’.

You’ve heard of the ‘town gossip”? Multiply that by 446,483,050 –  And that’s just the number of Internet users in America. There are 1,802,330,457 worldwide.

It’s called “Buzz Marketing” – one continuous stream of talk, about everything, and anything, you can imagine. Including, your product, your service, your bedside manner. It’s a ‘head’s up’ to the entire world whether or not what you have, what you offer and how you conduct business is something others should avoid like the plague, or rush to take advantage of. There’s no more getting by with only doing enough to say you did it,  and then leaving the consumer hanging. The repercussions of conducting business like that will be swift, just, and permanent. The Internet never forgets!

Everyone likes to believe their opinion matters – never before in the history of the world has something as common as ‘an opinion’ carried the weight it does today. Never has the ability of the average person to say what’s on their mind, been as empowering as it is now. And there are absolutely NO qualifications or limitations, to the process of sharing it.

SO if you are still trying to figure out HOW to succeed with your advertising, here’s the KEY to Marketing in the 21^st century, keeping in mind this can work “for you” and “against you” – “Make Your Business, Product, or Service, “Conversation-Worthy”, and the buzz will take care of the rest.

To Your Growth and Profit,

There are approximately five-million die-hard entrepreneurs in this country. Even though living the up and down financial roller-coaster of creating your own income, comes with the territory, the economic downturn instantly eliminated many thriving businesses. Many an entrepreneur has had to change direction, alter their lifestyles, and start from scratch, in order to survive. But that’s what entrepreneurs do. That doesn’t mean it’s easy, comfortable, or without stress, it’s the natural course of things.

Then you have two hundred and twenty-million people who have never ventured into what seems to them, the risky and unstable life, of an entrepreneur. The lifelong employees, professionals, and career-minded individuals who now find themselves without the ‘financial security’ they built their lives around – the weekly paycheck. They’ve done everything they know to stabilize their unexpected financial situation. They’ve eliminated non-essentials and basically reduced their lives to a shell of what they once were. And, they still aren’t making it. The fixed payments created in better financial times, combined with inescapable obligations and responsibilities, have them pacing back and forth, wringing their hands, wondering what to do.

Regardless of which category you fall into, it’s time to get creative. It’s time to expand the boundaries of what you know and what you think you know,  and consider some new possibilities for getting yourself back on track financially. Let’s translate that into practical advice you can dig yourself out of a hole with.

First off,  don’t disillusion yourself – “quick buck ideas” are not a permanent solutions for what ails you. They might put out an immediate fire, but they never solve the problem for long. I remember about 5 years into our marriage when we were going through some really tough financial times, we sold pretty much everything we owned, a piece at a time, just to get by. Some of it was irreplaceable, but in light of not having food or a place to live, it wasn’t a necessity. I wish I had understood then, like I do now, the unlimited possibilities that were there for me to tap into.

You don’t need any additional skills, or deep pockets to create an income producing opportunity for yourself. Here’s what you do need though –

1) You need to quit thinking YOU, and you alone, are the answer to your problem – The majority of the people around you are in the same position you are. They too,  are looking for solutions. Remember what John Maxwell said - “All of us are smarter than one of us”. By limiting yourself to only what you can conjure up in your own mind, you stifle the real possibilities! Besides, if you had the answer, you’d be doing it already. Right?

2) You need to be CREATIVE! – you don’t need any additional skills other than what you have when you combine forces with one or more other people who all bring something different to the table.

Everyone is experiencing tough financial times, including businesses. EVERYONE is looking for creative ways to create more income for themselves, business and people alike.  Get one other person, or a group of people together for a brainstorming session.

Here’s one idea – think how you can mix and match different businesses together either locally, or on the internet, to create “package deals” that offer services people need. If you come from a large city, perhaps you can create “Night On The Town” packages. Put together different packages with different price points.  Call businesses like – limo services, restaurants, clubs, spas, hotels,…that would love to participate.

Let your imagination go wild with the ways you can get paid. A fee from the client. A referral fee from each business included in the package. And don’t just think in the realm of offering your packages one-on-one to clients, offer them to businesses looking to reward employees or drum up some new clients for themselves. To non-profit organizations for raffles. The possibilities are endless.

You see, just a little brainstorming, combined with an active imagination and some creative thinking,…can be all you need to get yourself on solid financial footing!

To Your Growth and Profit,

Tell me if THIS doesn’t hit home! He said: Most people wake up, get ready for the day, go to work, and even at this point, they really aren’t thinking of anything yet,…they’re still kind of just going through the motions at this point. Then, they sit down and open up their email inbox.

Tip #1) That’s the WORST THING you could do if your goal is to be productive!
Your inbox is really nothing more than a nicely organized system of OTHER PEOPLES AGENDA’S. Every email in there is either someone needing something from you, or pulling at you.Most people start responding to other peoples emergency’s, needs, and wants.  Or they start looking through all their emails scanning to see What should I be doing today? What is the biggest fire I need to put out today?

They are living life in “reaction mode” verses living life in “intention mode“. They’re not focused on what to do throughout the day, they are just saying “Well, I’ll do this, because that’s what popped up today, that’s what’s in front of me.”

I have accomplished a lot in my lifetime, but there are things I have NOT, that I should have. And after watching Brendons video, I realized why. And the 1-page productivity sheet he shows you how to make, helped me organize an area of my life that was causing me sleepless nights!

If you want a very simple plan for starting your day in a way that will make you MUCH more productive throughout the day – check out this video. (btw – this is video 3 in the series. There is a navigation bar at the top of the video that allows you to access ALL the videos in the series. Glean from them what YOU will, not everything will apply, but what does – will truly help to make you more successful! )

Click Here for Brendons video on Productivity, it’s VERY worth your time!

To Your Growth and Profit…