If you use the internet on a consistent basis for personal use or for work like I do, then you probably have a toolbox of online applications you depend on to make your job easier and to save time. Here are some I use on regular basis which you may want to check out. And the best part is they are all free!
Gmail (http://www.google.com): Before discovering Google’s Gmail, I was dependent on Microsoft’s Outlook for my email needs. But not anymore. With its intuitive interface, accessibility from anywhere, and multitude of features, why use anything but Gmail for your email client? Seriously?
Growing up, it was drilled into me by my dad and granddads you have to work hard in life if you want to have anything. So it was only natural I would carry this belief with me for most of my life. While I do believe some hard work is involved in being successful, it isn’t necessarily “the” work ethic to have.
For example, have you ever had to dig a ditch? I’m not talking about a little ditch for a stream of water to flow through. I’m talking a ditch three to four feet in the ground over, let’s say, six feet at the least? It’s hard work which can take hours to do with just a shovel, pick, and sledgehammer. I’ve done it before so I know it’s hard work. While this kind of work can potentially pay well, at the end of the day, you are sore and too tired to really enjoy the fruit of your labor: your pay for the job.
Another example would be the belief that working longer each day ultimately leads to success. I’ve been guilty of this as well. I would put in between 8 to 10 hours just about every day, hardly taking a full day off, and I was miserable. Instead of focusing on results, I was focusing on packing as much work as I could into those 8 to 10 hours as I could. In my head, I thought I was working hard towards my goals but I wasn’t. Granted, I was working hard but I wasn’t getting any closer to my goals.
Recently, I revisited a great article The 80/20 Rule on Yaro Starak’s excellent blog Entrepreneur’s Journey. If you are not familiar with the 80/20 Rule it goes like this (according to this Wikipedia 80/20 Rule entry):
“… for many events, roughly 80% of the effects come from 20% of the causes.”
Essentially, what this means that 80% of any result comes from 20% of the effort. This is just a broad generalization of the 80/20 rule. You can narrow it down and apply it to just about anything in life which produces a result.
The 80/20 Rule post got me thinking about how I could apply it to my own businesses. One of the points Yaro discusses in his post is the need to identity what should be ignored. This means ignoring what doesn’t help you produce or holds you back from producing the result you are looking for (the 80% part of the equation). It got me thinking what I can start ignoring today which will help me produce the results I want.
There’s nothing like an inspirational story to get your day off on the right foot. Here is a clip taken from a 16-minute conversation / interview between Tony Robbins and John Reese where they talk about how John was able to go from being $100,000 in debt to making over $1 million in a 24-hour period!
But the gist of the conversation was how John was able to build on little successes which ultimately culminated in the $1 million in 24 hours. It is these little successes which we need to focus on instead of the ultimate success (whatever that may be for you). People have a tendency to put all their time and effort into their ultimate success goal that they forget the little successes are like steps to the ultimate success goal.
So check out the short video clip (you can watch the entire video over on Tony Robbins’ blog ), and let us know what you think of it in the Comments below. Thanks!
Everybody has goals. Well, most everybody does. While it’s great to have goals, unfortunately, a lot of people don’t achieve their goals.
Why? There are a multitude of reasons why someone doesn’t reach a goal. Sometimes it is a result of something out of their control (such as wanting to run in the Boston Marathon but breaking a leg before the marathon), or simply not having the necessary resources (an example would be someone wanting to learn how to play piano but only having access to one piano teacher who isn’t a very good teacher). But there is one main reason, I believe, people don’t achieve their goals.
Have you ever set out to complete a task or a goal, staying on course for a span of time, and then finding yourself spending less and less time on it till you come to the realization you haven’t worked on it for weeks- even months?
One reason this happens is because you realize the task or goal is not as important or is critical enough to put the time and effort into. Another reason could be that the ROI (Return On Investment) is not what you thought or had hoped it would be.
Another reason- and one which is probably most likely the culprit is you either don’t have enough or the wrong kind of leverage.
My name is Wesley Craig Green and I'm an entrepreneur, writer, and dreamer.
If you are interested in lifestyle design, personal development, taking control of your life, and building your own personal empire- then this is the blog for you!
@PatFlynn I'm reading The Magic Of Thinking Big by David J. Schwartz. Should be able to find it on Amazon. Great, inspiring read so far.8:08 PM - Mar 3, 2010
Identifying Areas Of Your Life To Change- http://ow.ly/1dQPl8:06 PM - Mar 3, 2010
RT @remarkablogger: 3 Deadly Ninja Comment Tricks for Maximum Blog Traffic http://bit.ly/dvUJ3v (pls RT) - Great tips! Thanks for sharing.8:06 PM - Mar 3, 2010
Into The Great Wide Open - http://ow.ly/1cY4Y10:10 PM - Mar 1, 2010
I have to admit, following only a handful of people on Twitter makes Twitter funner and more enjoyable.3:38 PM - Mar 1, 2010
If you use the internet on a consistent basis for personal use or for work like I do, then you probably have a toolbox of online applications you depend on to make your job easier and to save time. Here are some I use on regular basis which you may want to check out. And the best part is they are all free!
