Ten Steps to Succeed in all you do

I saw this post a couple of years ago, and it challenged and help me with what I do. i will to share them with you as well. happy reading.

Ten steps from Michael

1. Take the first step immediately
Michael is a master at this.  He really taught me how to think straightforward and just act on something. To give you an example, I was pitching him the idea and he asked me, “Yeah man that’ sounds cool.  What would you call it? What would you want to call the product?” I was like, “Masters Blueprint.”  He’s said, “Well that’s a cool name, let me see if that’s available.”  He checked and he immediately registered the domain and set up a blog on it.  It took him 5 minutes and it would have taken me 5 minutes as well but the difference is he just did it and I didn’t.  I would’ve probably gone like, “Yeah man why don’t we think about the name a little bit more and make sure that it’s right for the product.”  He just did it and I loved that about him because it was really easy to take my crazy perfectionist brain out of the game sometimes and it was truly necessary. I learned a lot through that and I aim to take the first step immediately.

2. Focus on your partner’s benefit and how solving your pain point will help you both.

The second lesson was especially important when I was pitching Michael because I approached him and said, “Yeah you know Michael you have this great knowledge, you have this proven system that works and you can replicate.  A lot of people would be interested in it yet I know it also takes you a ton of time and it takes you a lot of effort to do it. That’s where I come in. I always wanted to create a product but never got myself to follow through.”  I can create all of this for you and I think because I’m working with you and your reputation I will get myself to follow through. At the end it will help us your both because we will leverage your network but you don’t have to do a whole lot of work.

I think it was truly instrumental that I also put my pain point I there because if I was going to be, “Yeah man that’s so awesome for you. These are all the results you’d get.” Then at the same time he would be suspicious asking himself. “Why would you do that? Why are you offering this to me?”  I also aim for always saying your pain point and how it will help you both because it will give them a reason to say yeah man I see why he’s approaching me.  At the same time he’ll also know it will help people.  Most people are really willing to help especially Michael.

3. Make an irresistible offer.
The next lesson I learned was to make an irresistible offer.  Always think of the things that the people care most about. Michael cares most about his time because he already has enough money to fund his lifestyle. Make an irresistible offer that won’t take them a lot of effort to say yes to. Get rid of the objections. I said I was going to cover the production costs; I was going to fly over to your place and shoot it. You don’t have to come to me I’ll just chill out with you.  All these things make it easy for him to say yes.

4. Be brutally honest and hold yourself to high standards.
I’m from Germany as I said and we have a very direct standard of approaching problems, so I really liked that he just said straight out, “I like this, the header is great. This cover sucks it doesn’t look very nice. I know what you can do; you do what you did with the other website that looked brilliant.” He held me to high standards and pushed me to do better, which really allowed me to give my best.

5. Don’t BS yourself! It may not be complex but it’s not always easy.
We all know this, yet I went into the project thinking I know web design, I know how to cut videos, I know how to shoot videos. I know all this stuff that we need to do so it’s going to be easy…

 Then again even if you know all these things, it still is hard sometimes because there are days when you just don’t want to anymore.

It’s like “oh my god another error, another video to cut, another thing to do.” Even if it’s nothing spectacularly difficulty or complex and you even know how to do it.  You’re annoyed, sometimes you’re not motivated and I think it’s not always easy but you really need to focus on the right things, push yourself through. I listen to a lot of great entrepreneurial books and listen to a lot of great speakers, motivational stuff and also talk to Michael and my other mentors through it and just did that. It truly helped me but just be aware of it don’t go in with the expectations that it’s going to be very easy because then you’re going to bump into the first road block. I think for the next project I will definitely keep that in mind and go into the expectation knowing that it will suck at times. At the same time I know I have the ability to push through and it’s well worth pushing through.

6. Strategize everything on PAPER.
Lesson six I strategize everything on paper.  This was huge for me because while I love technology and I’m quite a tech geek. I love hanging around on all the forums and all of the blogs, and just reading what people say and learn a lot of things from technology- there is a time when it’s better to be off line. I surprisingly found that the longer I spent off line strategizing everything I wanted to get done on the day or in the project or the weeks on paper, the more effective I was.  Way more effective.

What I do now is every day I journal on things and prepare my actions. It may just be some simple things like the layout of the website, or where a button should be, or which colour something should be.  It’s just amazing what paper can do for you if you just get off the computer for a while and go back in with a lot more clarity.

7. Schedule your time wisely and embrace RULES.
Even though we all want to have the freedom and lifestyle to be able to do whatever we want, I think what we ultimately want is still have some sort of freedom to choose but set rules ourselves.  We ultimately don’t want to live without rules. They may work for a while, while you’re on vacation or something but ultimately you need rules especially if you want to be productive and get something done.

I always had a pretty tight schedule some weeks it was more planned out than others but in general I set a schedule and I have my rules.  For example the biggest rule for me was no e-mail prior to noon and to that day I still keep that rule and because it just helps tremendously to get things done before you check your e-mail.

8. GET a Mentor! BE a Mentor!
Then number eight, get a mentor and be a mentor. As I said I worked together with Michael and I also worked together with Clive our copywriter. Both of them are tremendous mentors of mine. They helped me a lot on various aspects of the project. Also they keep you not only accountable but they really can give you feedback and perspective on a lot of things.  You can just bounce back ideas from them, but at the same time you need to remember that all of these people, as amazing as they are, they all have their challenges. They all have their imperfections and don’t know everything. They need some advice as well.

This works for everyone because no one is perfect.  Once you understand and accept that then you also know that everyone can need help and that you always know something that will help them because they don’t know it. It could just be a fresh perspective on something, but really make sure that you embrace that and help them out.

9. Set 2 deadlines.
Lesson number nine, set two deadlines. This was something that came across more or less by accident. Michael wanted to set a deadline roughly four weeks prior to launch we set a deadline. I was pushing for the quick deadline because I know that I get myself to follow through a lot better when I have a short and really tight deadline.

He came up with the idea of, “Well let’s do an internal launch first without a lot of affiliates or no affiliates at all, and then push out to the official launch.” I pushed for having another deadline way earlier and I think that was great, because now I got myself to follow through a lot better and pushed hard and worked a lot of hours to get this done. Ultimately what ended up happening was that we missed the internal launch deadline, we missed it completely but we were ready for the official launch.  I think if we wouldn’t have had the first deadline in the first place, we would have just missed both deadlines.

It was great having the second deadline where you have to deliver but it’s without a huge risk. It would just have a benefit. It would have been cool if we would have been able to launch earlier but at the same time now there’s no real risk involved. That was tremendously helpful and I aim to use that in other projects like my study papers at the university or other things as well.

10. Do it once and you can do it forever!
Then the last lesson, do it once and you can do it forever.  The project was so worth it for me just as a personal experience, because I’ve grown so much I think throughout the whole project. I’ve proven to myself that I can do it and that is the biggest aspect of it. I’ve learned a lot, I’ve honed my craft in design and it all came together nicely. I’m very proud of the product and I also think I’ve done a great shift in my mindset.  Because now I have a new belief that says that I can freaking do it.

Before it was like you know whenever I wanted to do something my mind would like “yell yeah remember the time when you screwed up this thing? When you procrastinate when you said you would do this and you had this great idea but you didn’t do anything on it?  Now I say, well you know when you did that that was really cool.  Like you finished it and you did a great job on it and I think that was so helpful.  Now with that new belief I can build on this and I can push through much more easily on new projects because I have completed it.

This were some of the biggest lessons that I learned from Michael over the past months, I hope they’ve been helpful to you.  It has definitely been a great experience so far, I am proud and really excited about how the product is going to do in the long run. I have learned a tremendous amount and…

Little Steps That Can Change Your Life

Change is the only constant factor in life, I want to share with you what I have read over the years and has transformed me.

Looking back, I can see how much I’ve changed. I almost haven’t noticed the change, because it sneaks up on you, until it’s impossible to ignore.
It’s like when you were a kid. You got taller, but you didn’t notice until you stood up against the wall with the marks.
The same holds true for life changes.
You are constantly changing, but it’s hard to notice until it pokes you in the ribs.
It’s not even a question of if you’re changing; it’s a question of in which direction are you changing.
Most people want change because they want to escape. But it doesn’t work.
It is by facing your inner demons that you heal yourself, and change your life for the better.
Below are the 21 things you can do to change your life. It’s a hefty and spicy read, so grab your beverage of choice and enjoy.

1. Take Tiny Steps
   A baby learns to crawl before it can walk, and it learns to walk before it can run.
   Most people expect rapid life changes. If they’re wasting their time at a soul-sucking job, they expect success and fame within six months.
   I’m not saying it isn’t possible, because it is, but in most cases it’s not going to happen.
   People who need life changes right away don’t realize that it’s not going to make them happy anyway.
   All they want is their dream of a problem-free future. When they get there, reality sets in, and another goal is set.
   And the wheel keeps turning.
   So realize that there will always be problems in life. It’s not our job to eliminate them, but to do our best, take tiny steps, and see where life takes us.
2. Take Quantum Leaps
   Something I’ve learned in working with people is that changes can happen in an instant. Old pains, fears, and negative emotions can vanish and be replaced by something more useful.
   This may seem contradictory to what I said above, but it isn’t. It’s not either/or, it’s both/and.
   We don’t live in a black and white world.
   Quantum leaps are tipping points (as Malcolm Gladwell, the author likes to call them).
   As you keep taking one step at a time, you will eventually reach a tipping point where your thinking shifts.
   The problem is that most people never get to those shifts. They stop drilling when they are about to hit gold.
3. Accept Where You Are
   I learn a lesson playing freecell and solitaire, that each game can be won knowing the right moves to make. By accepting who you are you can make a lot of difference in the world.
   Things come and go. People live and die. Your life feels good, and it feels bad. The more you accept this, the easier it is to change your life.
   In fact, it seems as if life changes itself when I stop pushing so hard.
   Here’s a video I recorded on being in the present moment:
4. Be Patient
   I learn this while learning how to play the guitar, that no knowledge is a waste, invest you time into learning something new and don’t try to rush and don’t try to skip a lesson.
   I stumbled a lot in the beginning. I made mistakes, I failed, and I gave up in frustration more times than I’d care to admit.
   I began seeing results when I became absolutely determined to succeed.
   It was a big lesson in patience. It doesn’t matter what’s going on. There will always be problems. But they don’t have to clutter up your whole life.
   Be patient with your progress. Stay true to your heart.
   You can change your life. Sometimes it just happens in its own time.
5. Forgive
   We all have memories—painful memories.
   What you may not realize is that the person hurting you with those memories is you.
   You are the director of your mind. While the event may have happened in the past, it’s you who keeps playing them over and over again.
   Reliving the past will get you nowhere. That’s why it’s essential to forgive and forget all those people in your memories.
   You don’t even have to forgive. All you have to do is pay less attention to those thoughts and memories.
   Once you see that the only one suffering is you, the grip tends to loosen.
6. Heal
   Healing yourself goes hand in hand with point #5. When you know that you can let go of past memories, fears, and obstacles, your self-confidence grows.
   Most people aren’t ready for life changes. They avoid any and all solutions, because they are comfortable where they are.
   And that’s fine with me, but if you make that choice, you have no right to complain or make excuses.
   You either choose to be where you are, or you choose to change your life. The choice is yours.
   Healing starts with seeing that you are not your thoughts; you are the awareness behind them. Thoughts come and go, but your true nature never changes.
7. Face Your Fears
   When you face your fears, possibilities open up. Even now, there are time when I’m scared.
   Fears don’t disappear, they simply become less important. Fear is the opposite of faith.
   And remember, this is not about comparing yourself to someone else. This is about following your inner GPS, and living the life you were meant to live.
8. Kill Your Excuses
   Your excuses are mere illusions.
   You may have excuses about why you can’t follow your passion and build do what you have always dream of, but are they really true?
   If you really wanted to, you could take one tiny step forward.
   That’s all it takes.
   One tiny step.
   Then see what happens, re-assess, and take another step.
9. Take Responsibility
   Since talking with more and more readers, clients, and people in general, I’ve started to notice a scary pattern.
   That pattern is the lack of responsibility. I see people wanting to change their life, but they aren’t willing to take responsibility.
   They wait for a white knight (or black, depending on your preference) to sweep in to save the day and make change effortless and comfortable.
   I hate to burst your bubble, but it’s not going to happen. When you take responsibility for the life you’ve created, you can begin to move forward.
   If you’re blaming someone else for your situation, you’re stuck.
   Learn to make decisions from your inner authority. Here’s a video where I share how I do this:
10. Follow Your Heart
    And what would an article of mine be without me telling you to follow your heart?
    If you’ve been reading my articles, you know that I keep writing about following your heart, and there’s a reason for it.
    As I’ve been living my life, I’ve started listening to my heart more and more.
    And when I say following and listening to your heart, I mean it in the broadest sense of the word. It can mean anything, such as following your gut, intuition, feelings, or going with the flow of life.
    When you begin putting the pieces together, and taking responsibility, and healing yourself, you naturally begin to follow your heart, your inner GPS.
11. Follow Your Passion
    If you drive to a gas station, and fill your car with the wrong kind of fuel, it won’t run very well, if at all.
    That’s what most people are trying to do in life. They are listening to outside influences, and that’s when all the “shoulds” come in.
    It’s the belief that you have to focus on money in order to build a successful business. I did this in the beginning, so I know what it’s like.
    You want to do your research and know whether or not your idea is viable, but if you don’t do something you’re passionate about, your car will run out of fuel sooner or later.
    It is your passion that will fuel your journey for the rest of your life.
    The problem is that you may not know how to even start finding and following your passion. I had the same problem when I was starting out, but eventually things clicked.
12. Meditate
    Ever had the experience of your mind racing out of control? It almost feels like you’re going crazy, doesn’t it?
    A great way to calm yourself (and your mind) down is to meditate. Even five minutes of meditation can do wonders.
    Meditation has taught me to see through the dance of thought. I have thoughts. I have worries. And I have fears.
    But I can observe them without getting too involved. It’s not always so simple, but knowing that I am not my thoughts is a tremendous help.
    What’s important is not to just know it intellectually, but to see how you create your experience of life.
13. Express Yourself
    I find writing therapeutic. It’s something I love to do. It calms me. It’s inspiring, and it infuses my life with serenity.
    I highly recommend you try journaling or just writing down your thoughts after every day. If you’ve tried to solve problems in your head, you know it doesn’t work.
    You can have a conversation on paper, freewrite, and solve problems easily. It has the ability to change your life completely..
14. Kill Your Comfort Zone
    If you want to change your life in the most positive sense, get comfortable with being out of your comfort zone.
    When you’re learning something new, you’ll bump into the walls of your comfort zone.
    Your spirit yearns for freedom. It’s when you put yourself into a little box that your spirit feels the need to rebel. You start feeling bored, and restless.
    You don’t have to suddenly infuse your life with discomfort. All you have to do is dip your toes from time to time.
15. Flow
    Let’s face it. You don’t know what you want.
    Most people think they know what they want. They make five and ten year plans, acting as if they know all the variables of life.
    I’m on board with making plans and setting goals. But I don’t rigidly stick to them. You will miss opportunities if you disregard the whispers of your heart, if you trade the present moment for the future.
    You miss life.
    It’s like driving with all the windows painted black except the front window. You see where you’re going, but you miss everything else.
    Accept that life brings you possibilities. You don’t always know where your life will go. But go with the flow, and you will be where you need to be.
    
    16. Focus
    In order to change your life, you have to change your focus.
    If you don’t take control of your mind, it will run amok. You will focus on the negative. You will imagine the worst possible scenarios.
    What works for me is to focus on who is aware of the thoughts swirling in my head.
    There’s an awareness there.
    When I focus on it, I almost immediately relax. I see how my thoughts take me on a roller coaster ride of emotions. One day I can feel fine, and one day I can feel miserable.
    The only difference is thought.
    But there’s one thing most people miss when I share this: I’m not talking about changing my thoughts. I don’t try to change anything. Instead, I observe my thoughts, and let them be. I’m mindful of what’s going on.
    Here’s a quick video on how I went from miserable to loving life:
16. Read
    I love reading.
    We live and die by stories. My life has changed several times by reading a book.
    The stories you read have a profound effect on how you view the world. You can be stuck on a problem, and the solution can pop into your mind while you’re reading.
    Your mind does not work sequentially. You can be reading something, then something goes click, and your life changes forever.
    And as you’re reading these very words, it causes you to think, doesn’t it?
    In order for you to make sense out of the funny letters you see here, you have to go inside, and make sense out of it from your own map of the world.
17. Befriend the Unknown
    You never know what you need. Remember point #15, going with the flow?
    When you’re open to the unknown, which is a synonym for possibility, you accept that life may bring you something negative to teach you a positive lesson.
    I had some horrible days when I played poker. It can murder you psychologically, especially if you’re playing it for a living like I was.
    At one point I was looking up at the sky and asking “Why?”
    It helped me realize what’s truly important in life. It isn’t money, or material wealth, although those things can be nice.
    You just never know what life will bring, so you might as well become curious.
    How will the seemingly negative turn to positive in your life? What are you learning?
18. Reclaim Your Personal Power
    Stop looking to others for approval. Just like taking responsibility (#9), you have to reclaim your personal power.
    You know what to do. You can feel it. You just haven’t been listening to that inner voice until now.
    It’s easy to give the decision to someone else, but it’s your life. The sooner you realize that, the more fun you will have.
    What do you want to do right now?
    If you don’t know, then start somewhere, because action will bring clarity.
19. Accept Failure
    You will make mistakes.
    And you won’t even know if they are mistakes when you make them, because mistakes and failures have a tendency to transform into blessings.
    You only fail if you give up, so if you never give up, you can never fail, only learn, and grow.
20. Remember Who You Are
    And above all, remember that you are always more than you think you are.
    You are more than your problems, more than your fears, and more than your body.
    I learned this from an excellent NLP trainer called John Overdurf.
    It’s only when you focus on your problems and believe them to be you that you get into trouble.
    So, remember to relax, because life is way too important to take seriously