Author: Joe Barnes
3 Enjoyable Ways (that I’ve used) to Make Money and Support your Dream
My dream to become a prominent personal development author, and speaker, had its inception back in 2002. Although I took little action at the time, my mind started pondering the practicalities of reaching this destination.
The problem, as I saw it, was that it would take at least a year to write a book. Then, after that, I had no idea how long it would take to get a publishing deal and start receiving royalties. What would I do for money in the meantime (at the time, I was a post graduate living with my parents and, although I wasn’t in any financial difficulty, I didn’t have more than a couple of thousand pounds to my name)?
My savings weren’t going to support a potential 3-year journey (it turned out to be much much longer). Therefore, I had to have another plan. There had to be some way I could make money in a relatively enjoyable way that would also leave enough time for me to write.
As I write this blog post, in 2020, in turns out that there are a multitude of solutions. I’ve experimented with many of them and I’m going to reveal, what I feel, are the best 3.
Before I do so, let me first explain a few of the nuances. One of these methods works best if you are a UK resident (although still applies to Australia, some European countries and US states). Furthermore, I will be using UK based wages and so, the figures, if you live outside of the island, may not be exact. However, the principles and methodology should still be the same, and, therefore, you can adapt the advice to your particular location.
You can use these methods in the same manner that I did (as a way to support yourself while you pursue a greater dream). Or, they can be combined with each other to provide an enjoyable and, potentially wealthy, lifestyle.
What you shouldn’t do, though, is think that any of them are a quick and easy method to making money. Without exception, they all require effort, a willingness to master the fundamentals of each opportunity and a commitment to stick the course until you are successful.
In fact, throughout my 18 years of being self-employed, I’ve never encountered a legit get rich quick, or get rich without putting in the work, scheme. They just don’t exist.
Option Number 1: Network Marketing
Back in 2004, I joined a UK based network marketing company called Utility Warehouse. Our M.O. was to sell utilities (gas, electricity, broadband, mobile) at discounted rates and acquire customers from the mainstream providers. Also, as with other network marketing businesses, a large part of the work involved building a team, operating underneath me, who I would train to find their own clients and, as a result, earn a commission off their activities.
I paid £200 to join, received a training day from the company and support from the person who signed me up.
Ultimately, my foray into the world of network marketing didn’t last long. I was with Utility Warehouse for two years. However, despite my brief tenure, I could see that the model worked.
The services they provided were good, it was run by a competent CEO and their share price on the London stock exchange has over 10x since their inception. I feel confident that, if I’d made Utility Warehouse my main focus and sole form of income, I could have, within 5 years, been earning £5000 a month (this was the estimated length of time and monetary figure they were touting to prospective distributors). Subsequently, I have met people who are making a full time living from this particular company.
Of course, the network marketing model expands well beyond the company I worked for. You might also be interested in;
Arbonne – cosmetics and nutrition
Amway – health, beauty and homecare products (if you’re interested in this particular company, then contact Marcus Suitor. I can vouch for him being a great guy. He also helps organise my Success Club meet up group)
Forever Living – Aloe Vera based drinks and bee derived cosmetics
doTerra – essential oils (contact Margaret Holvec – similar to Marcus but she doesn’t have a connection with Success Club)
The beauty of network marketing, if accomplished successfully, is that the bigger you grow, the less work you have to do (this is because it’s possible to build a small army of distributors working underneath you, from whom you earn a monthly commission on all the products they sell and the people they sign up). After 5 years, you might only have to put in 10 hours work a week, yet the cheques will keep rolling in.
At this point, you could enjoy your copious free time, or go all in with your main dream, knowing you are financially stable thanks to your business.
Option Number 2: Freelancing
In 2003, I began working as a tennis coach. By 2005, I had added hypnotherapist to my freelancing roles.
The selection criteria for these professions followed a 3-part process,
- I had to enjoy the work I was doing.
- It had to pay relatively well per hour (I get, on average, £40 per hour for my tennis coaching work and £70 for the hypnotherapy. This is important because I need enough money so that I don’t have to work full time hours and can, therefore, make time for my writing and speaking businesses).
- The training required to become qualified, and start charging for my time, couldn’t be too long (tennis coaching was just over six months and, to become a hypnotherapist, was just under a year).
If you follow these criteria, you could find yourself in an enviable position. As a freelancer, you get to control your hours and charge more than you would if you were performing the same skill as an employee of a company. However, this type of work is not without its downside.
Client acquisition could be your biggest hurdle. Just because you have the skills, and the qualification, doesn’t mean clients will flock to you. It took me a year and a half before I was making a liveable wage from my tennis coaching and I’ve never reached the point where seeing hypnotherapy clients alone could sustain me.
Despite this drawback, though, freelancing still provides an excellent opportunity to make a liveable income. After working in your industry as an employee, you might already have the skills and qualifications needed to make the switch to freelancing. If not, you could consider any one of these options.
Website, or mobile, developer – approximately 1 years’ worth of training and earning around £3000 a month
Photographer – length of time to qualify varies greatly, but an average seems to be around 2 to 3 years, with the potential to make between £20,000 and £30,000 a year
Personal Trainer – you can qualify in under a half a year and charge £30, and more, per hour
Plumber – approximately 2 years of training with the potential to earn around £25,000 per year (or more)
Uber Driver – a matter of months to receive your license and then you could be earning around £500 per week
Option Number 3: Matched Betting
This option works best for those residing in the UK (although also works for Australia, some European countries and US states). I started matched betting at the end of 2018 after attending one of Ben Father’s excellent masterclasses (see below for more info).
The concept is relatively simple although, if you want to take it to the level whereby it provides a full-time income, you must be prepared to invest time to master its nuances.
Get started by signing up to online bookmakers like Ladbrokes, Coral and William Hill (sign up to all of them). Receive free bets for doing so and then use online software (which you can find out about in Ben’s training) to find the sporting events, and odds, that will enable you to use the free bet in a way that guarantees a profit.
For example, the online software informs you that Arsenal beating Tottenham 2-1 in the Premier League is a matched bet. You then bet for this outcome to occur (using your free bet) at a bookmakers like William Hill. Then, you head over to a betting exchange like Smarkets, and bet against Arsenal beating Tottenham 2-1. Because you are using a free bet, and because of the genius of the online software, you will win money regardless of the outcome.
Sounds good?
You can trawl through every conceivable online bookmaker using their free sign up bets in this manner. Then, after you’ve exhausted this initial phase, the bookmakers will, in conjunction with various major sporting events (for example, when Wimbledon is on), offer you more free bets. Repeat the process and rake in the money.
Sports betting isn’t the only avenue for taking advantage of matched betting. Once you’ve mastered it, make your way over to the online casinos and use the free bets that are offered.
I experimented with Matched Betting for 4 months. In that space of time, I made a profit from exhausting all the free sign up bets.
At this point, I stopped. The demands of being a writer, speaker, tennis coach and hypnotherapist were just too great for me to continue with matched betting. However, my brief experience taught me that it worked.
£500 a month was the figure I kept hearing at both the masterclass training seminar and from other matched betters in the community. This was relatively easy to make and required approximately an hour of your time each day.
If you want to take it further, it appeared there were people making thousands of pounds per month from mastering matched betting, teaching others how to do it and being an affiliate. A full-time income is possible and, most importantly, it can be achieved without working full time hours.
SPECIAL OFFER: TO FIND OUT MORE ABOUT MATCHED BETTING, ATTEND BEN FATHER’S FREE ONLINE TRAINING THIS MONDAY THE 13TH JULY AT 8PM UK. SIGN UP HERE
IF YOU’RE READING THIS BLOG POST AFTER THE 13TH OF JULY, CONTACT ME AT JOE@ESCAPETHESYSTEMNOW.COM, PUT ‘MATCHED BETTING’ IN THE SUBJECT BAR, AND I SHOULD BE ABLE TO GET YOU ACCESS TO A REPLAY.
FINAL THOUGHT
I hope you’ve found these 3 options useful. It is possible to make money in an enjoyable way that doesn’t eat into all your free time.
If you enjoyed this blog post, or know a friend who might benefit from reading it, then please share with them or on your social media. Also, if you want to learn more on this subject, then check out my new book, Do The Work you Love. It expands on the ideas listed here, helps you identify your passion and gives you the roadmap to making a living doing it. To learn more, click here.
(image taken from Pictures of Money photostream flickr.com)
Call to Action
If you want to discover a passion you can make a living from and overcome the fears that are holding you back, check out my free course 30 Days to Escape The System. Click here to get the course right now! (You’ll find the tips on developing belief and self-confidence fascinating!)
Why you Should Seek Fame, not Power or Money (Extract from my Diary)
I was teaching a tennis student last weekend and she said to me, “I’ve got to find some way to be famous.”
Ain’t that the truth. Fame, above money and power, is where the real juice is at because fame, unlike money and power, carries with it the implication of excitement and fun. You can be rich and powerful, yet still have a boring life. However, if you’re famous, even if it’s only in your own little universe, you have freedom and fun.
A person can be famous in so many different ways. Youtubers like The Hodge Twins are famous. An author like Conn Iggulden is famous. A financial mogul like Warren Buffett is famous. Even a reality TV star, considered the lowest level of trashy fame, is still famous. Their lives are enjoyable and without the drudgery of having to do things they don’t want to do.
Even an ex-bodybuilder like Flex Wheeler, who’s been through so much pain, is famous, and can fall back on his fame to turn his life around. Keir Starmer is famous (for those of you outside the UK, he’s a politician and leader of the UK’S Labour Party). Even though his profession is completely different from the aforementioned individuals, the fame ensures it’s fun. Therefore, aim for fame in something you are good at and that you enjoy, and you’ll never live a dull day in your life.
I think most people, if they were honest, would admit to themselves that they want to be famous. However, if required to give a public response, they would say that they don’t because they’ve been conditioned by the system to play small.
Society worships fame. Look at the people who flock to celebrities, desperate for a photo or a scribble on a piece of paper; somehow believing that the illusory magic of the famous person will rub off on them. Or, more likely, that said photo or autograph will enhance their status.
Fame, if you’re a man, certainly improves your mating options. Physically beautiful women (although not necessarily inwardly beautiful – which is more important for any long term relationship) flock to famous men. However, what lies above fame?
The ultimate aim of the person who craves fame is the destruction of this status. In a world ruled by love, there would be no need for fame. We wouldn’t be trying to escape the system because the system wouldn’t exist. We’d realise that no one man or woman is better than another and that connection is so much more important than adulation.
In this world, every day would be fun and filled with love because we wouldn’t be running around, working our asses off, so the 1% can live like kings. However, while we live in this money driven world, fame is an understandable desire.
Fame represents escape, freedom and the realisation of your potential. There are few things worse than having to spend your life compromising your desires to the point where you are controlled by societies expectations.
So, seek fame, break free from the system but realise that, ultimately, love is what you should aim for. Use your fame to break the wheel and set up a world where status, hierarchy, and even money, are a thing of the past.
(Image taken from Mitchell Goudie photostream flickr.com)
Call to Action
If you want to discover a passion you can make a living from and overcome the fears that are holding you back, check out my free course 30 Days to Escape The System. Click here to get the course right now! (You’ll find the tips on developing belief and self-confidence fascinating!)
My New Book is Ready: Read The Introduction to ‘The Genius of Joe Barnes’
If you’ve read any of my previous work, be it books, blog posts or even watched my YouTube videos or attended my talks, you’ll know I’m passionate about letting people know they have options. You don’t have to accept the life you are presented with. If you want something extra, or different, it is within your power to create it.
If you’re familiar with my work, you’ll also know I’m fond of misquoting Henry David Thoreau. In his book Waldon, he stated that, “Most men lead lives of quiet desperation.” Over the years, this quote has been embellished. Some creative, and wise, soul, added the words, “and go to the grave with the song still in them.”
For me, this improves on Thoreau’s insightful observation. Yes, the majority of people living in the so called ‘developed world’ are desperate. Mental health medication rates and suicide figures reveal this. Divorce is also an indication of our dis-ease. Even our inability to sleep (two thirds of the adult UK population report experiencing disrupted sleep) reveals that something is amiss.
We’re not happy with modern living. It’s fast pace, polluted space, endless written and unwritten rules and various forms of media distractions, disconnects us from nature, our fellow man and the deeper calling of our inner selves. However, rather than protest this malaise, as Thoreau suggest, we suffer in silence.
Why does this happen? Why won’t anyone speak out?
The simple answer is that we believe we are wrong for feeling the way we do.
Since childhood, we’ve been conditioned to accept the world as it is presented. This is ‘how the world works’ we are told, if we ever complain about the stifling limitations imposed upon us.
The implication behind this statement is life could never be any other way. Therefore, we are left in a predicament whereby we must adapt ourselves to the world. If we were to protest, we would be laying ourselves open to looking stupid and courting ridicule. Why challenge the unchallengeable? Far better to get on with life and make the best of what you’ve got.
This is why our desperation is “quiet.” Voicing it appears pointless. Instead, we suffer in silence and attempt to finish the job society started by telling ourselves that we should,
• be happy with a boring job that offers little more than a monthly pay check.
• tolerate a total lack of free time to do what we want.
• accept a passionless marriage devoid of intimacy.
• ignore our increasingly failing health as we prematurely age and deteriorate.
We should accept all of these things because that’s what ‘good people’ do. They get on with things, think about others and don’t complain (or only complain behind closed doors). However, try as we might to force ourselves to fit into the narrow confines of what society wants us to be, the unease and desperation never leaves.
What is the impact of living in a state of “quiet desperation?” Sadly, we shut ourselves down. We trade passion and meaning for security and comfort. As a result, all that we could have been goes to the grave without ever being expressed.
This begs the question, what could you do with your life? What is your song?
Could you have a positive impact on the world through a unique message you need to share? Might you have the potential to entertain millions, bringing joy and amusement into their life? Or, might you make a discovery that will save lives? These are all possibilities. However, they are only possibilities when you open your mind to the idea that you are right to want something more (or different).
Giving yourself permission to ‘want more’ may sound selfish. It’s the antithesis of what we’ve been taught. According to society, you should put others first, be humble and realistic. This makes you a reasonable and likeable person. On the other hand, those that ‘want more’, or something different, are either selfish or troublemakers.
Few people want these labels. They’d rather avoid the criticism and hassle. However, try as you might to be what other people want, there will always be a part of you longing to be itself.
The only way to free this part, and end the internal turmoil, is to embrace your desires. Go for what you want. Don’t be restrained by society’s notions of achievability or acceptability. By doing so, not only will you get to express your ‘song,’ you’ll also have the potential to inspire others.
The rest of this book teaches you how to do this. The method I’ve chosen to achieve this aim is telling stories. You’ll find that some of the sections are based on my personal experiences and most use examples taken from historical, and current, figures and various informative books or studies. Around each story, a lesson is offered, giving you the insight needed to get closer to creating the life you want.
What will this life look like? That’s up to you to decide. I can’t know the individual nuances of your desires. However, what I do know, is that you’ll find your guidance within.
Within you, is an untapped well of ideas, visions and urges, all pushing you in the direction of greater creativity, fun, love and enjoyment. Tap into these. Use them to start piecing together a future where you set your own schedule, have the financial freedom to only do the work you enjoy, have time for your hobbies and exercise, can travel when you feel like experiencing something new and have meaningful relationships that enrich your life. This is your aim and it’s perfectly achievable with a combination of the knowledge in this book and your will to use it.
So, take flight. Let this book be your guide as you attempt (and then succeed) at living life on your terms. There are few greater rewards than being able to say you crafted your own existence. Today marks the first step of achieving this aim.
I would say ‘good luck,’ but you don’t need it. The power is within you.
A Quick Look Inside The Book
Below is the contents page. The book has been designed so that you can either read it cover to cover, or dip into specific sections that are relevant to you. I expect it to be released some time in August and, if you want to go on a list to be notified of the exact date and receive an early bird discount, just enter your email address below the list of contents.
Part 1: Breaking Free
Chapter 1: Guidance for living an extraordinary life
Why you should aim for the ‘impossible’
How to avoid living a life you regret
What happens if you don’t follow your dreams
Chapter 2: Free your mind so you can achieve the impossible
Why you should stop living in the ‘real world’
Why trusting authority can be dangerous
Why you shouldn’t trust mainstream media
How you are being manipulated by science
Why you can push The System’s boundaries far more than you think
Chapter 3: Challenge the 9 to 5 to find something greater
Why it’s bad to have a ‘good job’
How to know whether you should quit your job
Why your work should be about achieving a mission, not selling ‘stuff’
Chapter 4: Embrace your individuality and shine
What to do if you’re not ‘normal’
Why you should feel happy about being depressed
Why you should be proud to be in a minority of one
Part 2: Discovering your Greatness
Chapter 5: Change your thoughts to change your life
How to use the power of belief to achieve your goals
How to avoid the ‘over thinking trap’
Why you shouldn’t place limits on your thinking
Chapter 6: Vital skills to become outstanding
How to reconnect with your genius
How to get rid of self-doubt once and for all
Why it’s so difficult to break habits and how you need to approach change
How to learn new skills quickly
How to perform under pressure
Chapter 7: Daily practices for peak performance
How to coordinate your conscious and subconscious to create the life you want
How to use meditation and self-hypnosis to rid yourself of anxiety and program your mind for success
What happens when you meditate every day for a year
How to set up a quick, daily motivational routine
Chapter 8: Strengthen your soul to overcome any challenge
Why you must have a positive self-image
Why your perspective determines your success
How to bounce back from wasted years and regrets
What to do if you’re worried about getting old or how you look
Part 3: Creating the Life you Want
Chapter 9: Advice for when beginning your journey
Why hope and desire are enough to get you started on your journey to a better life
Why you only need £50/$60 a day to create the life you want
How much T.I.M.E should you invest in your project or business each week?
Why you have a 66% chance of success
How your intuition provides reliable guidance during your journey
Chapter 10: Essential knowledge for achieving results
Why you must become obsessed with your most important goal
Why you must show understanding to yourself when trying to make progress
Why the effort you put into a project isn’t always reflected in the results you achieve
Why you shouldn’t let expert advice stop you from experimenting with your own ideas
Why you shouldn’t give a damn about being successful even with your most important projects
Chapter 11: Practical tips and strategies for getting your work noticed and more
Why advertising might be a waste of your money and what to do instead
Why you should use your existing network to sell your new product
How to highlight the benefits of your product to your customers
Why you should consider rationing the amount of TV you watch
How to overcome the anxiety of sharing your work, project or business with the world
Chapter 12: Clarity when you feel like everything is lost
Why you shouldn’t listen to naysayers
How to cope with heartbreak
The 3 questions you must ask before giving up on your dreams
The ONLY 4 Beliefs you need to be Happy and Successful
Life is a belief game. Henry Ford famously once said, “If you think you can do a thing or think you can’t do a thing, you are right.”
Your beliefs set your boundaries and parameters. Believe your possibilities are limitless and that you can do anything you want, and you’ll have the ideas needed, and meet the people necessary, for this to come true. Believe you’re average and that life is full of limitation, and you’ll overlook the very real opportunities that exist to become great.
Why?
Dr David Eagleman explains how this phenomenon works in his fascinating documentary, The Brain. The take home message is that nobody sees the world as it truly is. In fact, we mainly see projections of our own beliefs.
This occurs because of the way our brains work. We take in information from our eyes and this then travels to our Thalamus. From the Thalamus, the information then travels to our Visual Cortex, where all our memories and beliefs are stored. After that, it moves back to our Thalamus and on to our Cerebral Cortex, where the information is used and understood.
This may seem like a fairly routine passage of information through the brain’s networks, but something incredible happens when it travels back from the Visual Cortex to the Thalamus. 80% more information is added to the original input received from our eyes.
What does this mean?
Essentially, that you add your own meaning to the information you receive. Therefore, life is a fiction and you are the author. You will notice the things that are already important to you and see evidence of the things you already believe. In short, you are always confirming your own biases.
What’s the Lesson?
If there is no universal reality, and all you experience is your own reality, mapped out according to your beliefs, then those had better be good ones. You could, unwittingly, be chaining yourself to a life far smaller, unhealthier, poorer and lonelier than it needs to be. Change your beliefs, and you change your life.
Of course, many of your beliefs were not consciously created. They might have been handed down to you by your parents or conditioned into you by the school, and work, system. The great news is that you no longer have to accept them. Once you realise that they are not the truth but, instead, just one way of looking at the world, you are free to create new beliefs that serve you better.
What should these be?
The following, are my four suggestions. They have served me in my most difficult times. When I’ve felt like my world’s been caving in, and that I’m doomed to play out the same lonely script I adopted in my adolescence, I remind myself that,
- I can do it
- The world is full of opportunity
- There is a solution to every problem
- I’m always learning and growing stronger
Let’s break them down now.
Belief N# 1: I can do it
Repeat this belief before you make an important phone call, attend an interview, give a speech or presentation, before and during a sporting contest and while you are creating your product. Back yourself. Believe you can achieve whatever it is you desire.
Of course, repeating this belief is no guarantee that things will immediately change and you’ll be successful in all your endeavours. The power of belief doesn’t work that way. However, what it does do, is open your subconscious to the idea that you can be successful and encourage it to start looking for answers to make this happen.
Eventually, or perhaps sooner than you expect, these answers will come. Telling yourself that you can do something, will enable you to learn. It will also help you relax enough so that you can give the best performance with the resources you currently possess.
Your mind has a powerful grip over your body. By reminding yourself that you ‘can do this,’ you’re activating all of the neurological and physiological networks to achieve this aim. Whether you achieve your goal now, or later, just know that this is the best belief to have when it comes to fulfilling your potential.
Belief N# 2: The World is Full of Opportunity
Is this statement true? When you look at the job section online, or in the papers, nothing is available. Furthermore, there appears to be no way to make money from doing the work you enjoy.
Perhaps this lack of opportunity extends to your love life as well. You never randomly meet any good-looking potential partners and you only encounter flakes while dating online. How could you possibly believe that the world is full of opportunity?
Because doing so is going to help. Remember, notions of ‘the truth’, or past experiences, are irrelevant when it comes to what might be possible for your future. The world you’ve seen up until this point is, pretty much, a reflection of your beliefs. Therefore, you might have been, unknowingly, trapping yourself. What would happen if you were to change your mind-set and start believing there are opportunities everywhere?
You’d start to see them. Your brain would change its filters and, the information you’d take in, would include opportunities for your advancement.
Perhaps you’d notice a job online where, previously, you’d browsed straight past it. Or, perhaps, a meeting with someone you’d never considered an ally, might lead to the discovery that you share similar interests and then result in a fruitful business partnership.
Whatever you want to do, the opportunities are out there. When I first started selling my book on Amazon, I would barely make 1 sale a week and I couldn’t see how this would ever increase. However, in the space of the last 18 months, I’ve;
- Got a book deal for my second book
- Been invited to join a book promotion that enabled me to sell over 150 copies of my first book in a week
- Been invited to join a book giveaway from which I gained over 1000 subscribers to my website
- Discovered Amazon Ads and almost doubled my sales in the space of 9 months
Belief N#3: There is a Solution to Every Problem
There’s a scene in the Bond film, Tomorrow Never Dies, where James Bond and his Chinese spy partner, are being chased through the streets of Saigon. First, 4 by 4’s are chasing them, then other motorbikes and, finally, they are hunted down by a helicopter. As it appears all is lost, and the helicopter traps Bond and his partner against some buildings and an iron gate, his partner says to him, “trapped!”
Bond’s reply is quick. “Never,” he says, and as he looks around, he finds a hook attached to a close line. This, he uses to perform a daring stunt, where he skids his motorbike under the main propeller of the helicopter (the copter is almost vertical with the blade pointing down) and attaches it to the rear propeller, causing it to get entangled and crash. Had Bond accepted his fate, he’d never have had the ingenuity to look for this solution.
Unfortunately, many people can’t see beyond what appears to be the finality of their situations. When the doctor tells them it’s terminal, they accept it, when the authority in their industry implies they’ll never make it, they give up and when they face rejection after rejection when trying to get a date, they believe they’re unlovable.
None of this is true. Have you ever stopped to considered that human history is one of solving problems?
The cold, and elements, used to kill us so we sheltered in caves, discovered fire, built homes and then installed central heating. Viruses like Polio used to cripple us and many died during surgery, so we discovered vaccines, improved our hygiene and refined our surgical procedures.
There is no problem we can’t solve and you are part of this shared genius. Once you start to believe there is always a solution, no matter how desperate the situation may appear, you’ll tap into the universal mind and discover the multiple options available to assist you in escaping from your predicament.
Belief N#4: I’m Always Learning and Growing Stronger
You don’t have to be perfect or get it right first time. Furthermore, you don’t always have to beat other people or meet their standards. All you have to do is improve. Over a long enough time scale, this will lead to success.
To do this, though, you must adopt a growth mind-set. You must understand that you are not fixed to your so-called innate talents (or lack of). With every day, you can learn something new or experiment with a different strategy.
How will an extra half an hour of work each day impact your results? What will happen if you make adjustments to your technique and alter your swing? There is no area of your life that can’t be improved and there are numerous sources to learn from that will enable you to do so.
What about when you get older? Is it still possible to be learning and getting stronger?
Absolutely. While some physical decline is inevitable (although the extent is up for negotiation), strength can be defined in many ways. You can strengthen your resolve, become wiser and more loving. There are always ways to improve so long as you reject society’s understanding that ability is fixed and dependent on age.
How to Thrive During the Coronavirus Lockdown
These are strange times. For the first time in my life, it feels like external events are having an impact on what I do. I’ve lived through multiple government changes, wars (not that I ever took part), 9/11 and the 2008 credit crash. None of these events had a direct impact on my day to day existence. However, the coronavirus pandemic does.
Now, I find myself limited in what I can do. I can’t teach tennis lessons, I can’t play tennis or go to the gym, I can’t treat hypnotherapy clients in person, my monthly Success Club meet ups have to be moved online and I can’t see friends and loved ones. While this isn’t depravation or prison, my life, for the short term, has changed.
Despite this change, though, I refuse to focus on what I can’t do. You shouldn’t either. It’s not good enough to say you’ll shut down and wait for the problem to blow over. Instead, you must look for ways to thrive. You must get as much out of life now, as you did pre lockdown. Here’s how,
1. Change your Perspective
It’s undeniable that the lockdown is far from ideal. All being well with the virus, you’d rather it was lifted and life could carry on as before. However, as of this moment, you aren’t permitted this option and, therefore, must adapt to the circumstances as they are presented to you.
To do this, stop thinking about what you’ve lost. Instead, ask yourself, ‘What can I now do? What opportunity has this lockdown presented that I didn’t previously have?’
For me, the change of pace has been a Godsend. No more rushing around. No more feeling like I’m being pulled in three different directions as I have to see tennis and hypnotherapy clients and then promote my new book. Instead, I have a wealth of time.
This means one thing – the perfect opportunity to finish writing my third book. Therefore, limitation actually brings freedom. Not being able to do 10 things, means I can focus on one thing.
What about you? Is there anything you’ve been putting off for months, or maybe years, because you’ve been too busy?
Perhaps, like me, it’s writing a book. Maybe it’s learning a second language. Perhaps, finally, you have the time to research starting a new side-hustle and can get a second income stream going.
Maybe it’s none of these. Instead, it could be something as simple (but important) as going through your entire house, or apartment, ordering it, recycling what you no longer need and making small renovations. There will be some project or job, that you’ve been putting off for months or maybe years, to which you can now give your full attention. Do it, and make the most out of the restrictions on your life.
If you want a suggestion for how much time you should commit to this project, follow the advice in Gary Keller’s, The One Thing. In this excellent business philosophy book, he states that we should set aside 4 hours every day (excluding weekends), to work on our major life project. He calls this the ‘Time Block’ and recommends (although it’s not essential), that it’s completed in the morning.
You are permitted to take breaks during this 4-hour time block, but you can’t get mentally distracted by other activities – no phone, no browsing the internet, no talking to other family members and no responding to emails. This provides enough time to make significant progress with your project while also leaving time free for family and hobbies.
2. Exercise
While your major project should consume the largest amount of time while on lockdown, there will be opportunities to do other activities. Exercise should be at the top of this list.
Try to set up a routine. At a minimum, workout (or exercise) 4 times a week for anything between 30 minutes to an hour a day. Select the activities you enjoy. This might mean you cycle twice a week for two hours and, the other two days, you perform calisthenics. Or, if you prefer online fitness classes, tune into these 3 times a week and then do one online yoga session on your spare day.
The combinations are endless. Just remember, what you do isn’t as important as actually doing it. You might not have exercised for a long time, or be recovering from an injury or illness that won’t permit high intensity training. If that’s the case, try to go on four strenuous walks per week, putting in some hill walking to make it harder.
3. Reading
Reading is another activity you should be building into your daily lockdown schedule. Try to do it for 30 to 45 minutes every day. While you might read a novel before going to bed at night, I’m recommending non-fiction during the day as a means to learning and enhancing your knowledge. Here are some recommendations (aside from my new book, Do The Work You Love), covering four important areas of your life.
Personal Development
Can’t Hurt Me, by David Goggins. Excellent memoir and self-help guide with a powerful message – you can endure, and push yourself, far more than you think (very appropriate for our current predicament).
Business
Rich Dad, Poor Dad, by Robert Kiyosaki. A great time to learn the strategies the rich use to ensure they remain on top regardless of markets or world events. There could be some financial opportunities once the lockdown lifts. This book will position you well to take advantage of them.
Relationships
The Truth, by Neil Strauss. I’m currently reading this book and it’s an excellent exploration into the world of modern-day relationships, addressing the question of whether marriage and monogamy are outdated concepts. Although written from a man’s perspective and, probably, for, a male audience, any woman wanting to learn more about what some men really think and feel would do well to read it.
Spiritual
As a Man Thinketh, by James Allen. A timeless classic that won’t take you more than two 45-minute reading sessions to finish. It’s message, that your thinking determines both your happiness and outcomes, is particularly relevant at a time when it appears that external events are robbing us of both these qualities.
Aim to read all four before the lockdown lifts.
4. Reflection
The last thing you should build into your lockdown routine is reflection time.
This can take many forms. You might want to meditate for 10 minutes each day. While, ostensibly, you’re not actually thinking about anything during this time, it’s a great way to clear your mind of worries and stresses about the future or questions about how long the lockdown will last.
If meditation isn’t your bag, then how about priming? Tony Robbins talks about this in a podcast interview with Tim Ferriss. He mentions that he spends 10 minutes, or more, each morning focusing on the things he wants to achieve.
Perhaps the best form of self-reflection is keeping a journal. Every other day, spend 15 minutes writing about how you’re feeling at present and what your plans are for the future. This will give you a sense of clarity that, will put the lockdown into perspective, and leave you prepared for when it finally lifts.
5. Mute Mainstream Media
I appreciate that not everyone’s situation is the same as mine. You might still be working a full time job from home and, therefore, the first point on this list won’t apply (or you won’t be able to dedicate the same amount of time). Or, you might have children to look after, and teach, and find that you have even less time than before.
Whatever the case, a step that we can all take is to reduce the amount of media coverage we engage in. It won’t do your state of mind any good to watch the news, or scour the internet, for hours on end, waiting for the latest updates. After all, the mainstream media’s job is not to keep you informed. It’s to keep you addicted. Therefore, the images and stories you’re going to read, and see, will be at the extreme spectrum of what’s actually occurring.
It’s more than likely that you, and your family, are not under any serious threat from coronavirus. A short-term lockdown might well be necessary but this doesn’t mean you have to live in fear. Don’t pay any attention to the stories of healthy 19 year olds dying from the virus. These are incredibly rare occurrences and don’t paint an accurate picture of what’s going on across the entire population. In fact, if the media were to report on what’s happening in most people’s lives, it would be showing images of people sitting in front of a television, looking bored. That’s not going to grab anyone’s attention though.
Please don’t think I say this to downplay what is probably a serious issue (and the last thing I want to do is upset anyone who’s family has been affected). My point is that by detoxing from the mainstream media, you put yourself in the best state of mind to make the most of this change in circumstances.
It could be a few months before we return to the lives we used to know. Make sure you emerge stronger than before.
(image taken from FolsomNatural photostream on flickr.com)
The Secret to Living your Dreams from a James Bond Villain
It was 18 years ago that I first had the dream of becoming a best selling author. I wanted to be a prominent figure in the personal development world. In a time before blogging, online courses and YouTube, it occurred to me that the best way to achieve this aim was to write books.
Despite my enthusiasm, though, there were many obstacles in my way. First, I had no idea what I would write about. Yes, I wanted to help people live their dreams but, beyond that, there was no angle or approach that would make the book stand out.
Second, I had very little energy or self-belief. I’d just returned from three years of self-imposed isolation at University (no, it wasn’t Coronavirus). While there, I had no friends, no girlfriend and very little contact with other people. As a result, I retreated into my mind, becoming absorbed by a litany of psychosomatic conditions that drained my energy on a daily basis. Post Uni, I wasn’t very optimistic and it was incredibly difficult for me to imagine myself being successful.
On top of these factors, my plans to become an author were met with negativity. My parents rubbished the idea, urging me to think about the tiny minority of people making a living through writing and how unlikely it was that I’d become one of them.
The Writers’ and Artists’ Yearbook didn’t help either. I remember visiting my local library and being thoroughly confused about who I might contact to begin my journey into the world of publishing. Apparently, most publishers didn’t accept unsolicited manuscripts and most agents were never going to read your emails. Dead ends all round.
Despite these factors, though, I still dreamed of becoming a best selling author.
Everyday, I performed the same ritual. While driving home from work, at a set of traffic lights that were always busy, I’d stare out of the window and look at the stars. As I glanced up, I tried to get a feeling for what it would be like to realize my dream of becoming a best selling author.
Sometimes, I could, and this incredible feeling of love and joy would overwhelm me. In these moments, it seemed real. However, in every other moment, the reality of living my dreams seemed as far away as the stars in the night sky.
February 2020
I enter the bookstore and look for somebody who seems like they might be in charge. They point me in the direction of a narrow stair case, leading to the basement floor where everything has been set up for my book launch.
As I walk down the stairs, I’m feeling a little nervous. This is unusual. Typically, I’m comfortable speaking and, after 10 years of keeping my ideas to myself, can’t wait to share my message with anyone who will listen.
This feels different though. It’s my first official book launch. Sure, it’s not my first book – that was Screw The System in 2012, which then turned into Escape The System in 2016 – but it’s a significant moment. I’m now a published author, something I was told was virtually impossible to achieve.
How did I get here? How did I go from being a kid with a dream that seemed further away than the peaks of Everest, to a man with two books available and a growing readership?
A Change in Perspective
Before I go any further, for the sake of authenticity, I have to make something clear. I’m not a best-selling author. I haven’t achieved my dream . . . yet. However, I have come a long way (a perspective shifting distance, you could say) and, in travelling this journey, I’ve learned something of value I want to share with you.
You might just be starting out with your own dream. Perhaps you can imagine it coming true yet have no clue about the practical steps needed to make this happen.
What can you do?
After I’d left my book launch, I paused for reflection while on my journey home. How had I got into this position? How did I go from incredibly abstract idea, to reality?
As I pondered these thoughts, my mind went back to my younger self staring at the stars. And then, it hit me. The one, and only, factor that separated the me back then, who felt like his dream was largely impossible, to the me now, who, on some level, was living it, was belief.
That was it! That was all I ever needed to do – believe that my vision would come true.
The Mystery of Belief
Perhaps you’ve heard these words a thousand times before. I understand they may appear cliched. Stick with me, though, as I attempt to explain the deeper significance of what my revelation revealed.
Back in 2002, when I first had the idea of being a best selling author, the reality of becoming one seemed so far away. It was unreachable. There were so many obstacles in my way.
What I discovered this year, is that this was never the case. In fact, there was no power outside myself that could stop me. The only obstacles to living my dreams were in my imagination.
This is why belief is so important and plays such a crucial role in success. There is literally nothing that can stop you from doing what you want with your life. However, it appears there is, and when you accept these appearances, you create blocks in your mind that stymie your progress.
My younger self just needed to believe in his idea wholeheartedly. As a result, he’d have started work straight away (instead of waiting 5 years), got something written and begun the process of reaching a wider audience.
Of course, he was still going to fail, many many times and experience numerous rejections. He might even have to adapt and change his dream. However, if he continued to believe, he would learn all the lessons necessary to come back stronger and progress.
And that’s it. The entire process laid out before you. It really is that simple. You just need to believe and be utterly unwavering in your belief.
Over to You
So, where does this leave you?
From today, take action with the absolute certainty that what you want to occur, will happen. Of course, you could do what I did instead and test the water. You could semi-believe, make attempts heavily hampered by self-doubt and take almost two decades to get yourself where you want to be.
Or, you could realize there is no power, outside of yourself, to stop you and go full throttle.
I understand that the idea of doing so may still seem preposterous. Right now, you have nothing. No clue where to start, no ideas and no money to invest.
That’s OK. Keep believing in your dream. Keep believing you will be in the position you want to be. Keep believing, and something amazing will happen.
When Doctor No captures James Bond on Crab Key Island, he offers him the secret to creating something out of nothing. As they sit down to what is supposed to be Bond’s last dinner (big mistake Doctor No), the villain turns to Bond and asks,
“Do you not find that it is generally so? When one wants a thing, one gets it? That is my experience.”
Bond replies that it’s only with the small things in life. Doctor No then corrects him, stating that if you fail at the large things, it means you’re not thinking big enough. He then says,
“Concentration, focus [belief] – that is all. The aptitudes come, the tools forge themselves. ‘Give me a fulcrum and I will move the world’ – but only if the desire to move the world is there.”
And there you have it, my friend. If you can believe, and never stop believing, the aptitude and tools, to make your dreams come true, will emerge.
So, whatever it is you want to achieve, believe you can do it.
Go forth, from today, with absolute certainty that it will happen. Sure, the path ahead is unknown, and there will be ups and downs, but calm your tempestuous mind with the knowledge there is nothing outside of yourself that can stop you.
I would say ‘good luck’ but you don’t need it. Just believe instead.
(Image taken from the book signing after my book launch 13th Feb 2020)
THANK YOU FOR READING AND PLEASE SHARE THIS BLOG POST WITH ANYONE YOU THINK MIGHT BENEFIT FROM IT.
The 4 Steps to Achieving the Impossible
“It always seems impossible until it’s done.”
– Nelson Mandela
I did it!!! The picture you see above is of me holding my first ‘published’ book. While I signed the book deal with Watkins Media back in December of 2018, it wasn’t until I held a copy in my hand that it really sunk in.
I’m a published author.
I’ve done the thing I was told was impossible.
My Impossible
I was first told becoming a published author was impossible by my parents when I mentioned my plan way back in 2002. Later, it was reinforced by another author I met and a friend who worked for a major publishing company. Finally, and most convincingly, the general consensus opinion, gathered from reading The Writer’s and Artist’s Yearbook, magazines and being influenced by the media, also indicated this was the case.
Getting a book published was impossible or, so difficult, it’s just wasn’t worth trying. Furthermore, the royalties were so poor that hardly any author could make a living selling books alone.
Unfortunately, I believed what I was told. As a result, I was fighting two battles. Not only was I competing against authority figures, I was also competing against myself.
What do you think happens when you have to work against this backdrop of doubt?
16 years pass in between you accomplishing your objective.
I didn’t start writing in earnest until 2007. That’s 5 years of procrastinating because I didn’t believe it was possible. Then, even when I’d completed my first book – Escape The System – back in 2012, I didn’t approach any publishing companies.
Getting a book published is impossible so why waste time emailing publishers? That was my thought process and it lead me to self-publishing my first book.
More years of grind followed, as I attempted to build an audience and learn about marketing – something that was very alien to me. However, during this time, I learned a valuable lesson.
Getting your book published is possible.
While searching the web, I started to hear stories of authors who had self-published their first book, built an audience and then used their following to leverage a deal with a publishing company. There was nothing special about these authors. Sure, their books were good but so was mine. Maybe I could do it.
Then, in 2017, I met an author at a YesGroup meeting in London. His name was Brett Moran and his first book, Wake The F##k Up, was published by Watkins Media. I bought a copy, wrote him a review and asked if he would share the details of his contact at Watkins.
Fortunately, he agreed and I emailed them, asking if they’d consider publishing Escape The System. After reading the book, they declined but seemed genuine in their praise and request to hear from me in if I had any future projects. A year later, Do The Work you Love was complete and I sent them the manuscript.
Was I surprised when they emailed me back offering a publishing deal?
I was delighted but only partly surprised. I believed in the book and, now that I knew it was possible to get a book deal, I adopted the mind-set of ‘why shouldn’t I have one?’ What once seemed so far away and incomprehensible, had now become ordinary.
Can YOU Achieve your Impossible?
What about you? What are you currently struggling with that, so far, you’ve found impossible to achieve?
Perhaps your impossible is based around your health and recovering from an injury or illness. Maybe it’s overcoming an addiction. Maybe it’s finding love or simply getting a girlfriend or boyfriend.
There are unique reasons as to why we don’t believe we can do certain things. What one person may find impossible, another finds easy.
Don’t be disheartened by this. The only person you’re competing with is yourself. We all bring different capabilities, and perspectives, to the task at hand. Where we all unite, though, is in benefitting from the experience of overcoming our respective impossible.
With that in mind, ask yourself the following 4 questions. Answering them will let you know whether, you too, can achieve your impossible.
- Has someone else done it before?
If someone else has achieved your impossible then you can do the same.
It has been done. Therefore, no matter how many people tell you that you can’t do it, another person has.
What’s so different between you and them? (Read steps 2 to 4 and you’ll discover that it’s less than you think).
Arnold Schwarzenegger, in his autobiography Total Recall, tells the story of the first man to clean and jerk over 500 pounds. Up until this point, it was viewed as impossible for a human to lift this amount. However, in 1970, when Russian weight lifter, Vasily Alekseyev, lifted 501 lbs, three other men broke the 500 lbs barrier within a year.
Knowing that someone else has achieved your impossible awakens your mind to the idea that you might be able to do it.
Even if it’s never been done, this shouldn’t stop you from trying. After all, the Russian weight lifter was breaking new ground. Why not you?
2. Do you have a natural talent for whatever it is you want to achieve?
I don’t want this step to be misconstrued. Talent is not the be all and end all. However, it helps.
I’ve been a tennis coach for 17 years. During this time, I’ve seen again and again, with both boys and girls, that there’s a natural predisposition to the sport. Some young children can just pick up a racket and hit a ball. Most can’t. Those that can, learn faster and progress quicker than the others.
Of course, this doesn’t mean that those without this talent will fail to become good tennis players. However, it’s harder and they’ll need to put in substantially more time to reach the same level as their more talented counterparts.
Having said this, though, there’s a limit to what talent can achieve. Time and again, I’ve seen players with greater talent lose to, and fail to progress as far through the rankings, as a children who play more, are surrounded by others aiming to be professionals and are obsessed with reaching the top level of the game. Over a long enough time frame, desire beats talent.
What can you learn from this example?
Choose something you already have an aptitude for. Be smart and pick your battles. Maybe it isn’t wise to take on the world. Instead, find something you’re already good at, or know you’ll learn quickly, and make your mark in this area.
3. Are you prepared to move heaven and earth to achieve your mission?
It will take extraordinary commitment to achieve your impossible. After all, this is something that, at the onset, you can’t see yourself achieving.
A mission like this requires everything you’ve got. You’ll have to think about it everyday. You’ll have to work on it almost every day. It must become your main life priority.
As a hypnotherapist, I’ve seen a lot of clients who struggle to lose weight. They would come to the session and tell me, for various health and personal reasons, why it was so important to them. However, when I’d tell them that, at least for the period of time it takes to form new habit – typically 66 days* – taking the steps necessary to lose weight would have to become their main life priority (above work and children), they’d baulk at the suggestion.
As a result, things might go well for a week or so but then, when their workload picked up, and they started having to stay late (and, as a result, fell back into bad habits like eating takeaways), they’d believe their failure was justified. Of course, it wasn’t, as we almost always have options (they could have refused to work past their contracted hours) if we’re prepared to take them and face the consequences.
Ultimately, they just didn’t understand the level of commitment needed to achieve their impossible. You have to be prepared to die for whatever it is you want to achieve.
4. Will you ignore the Lies?
What I was told by my parents, the other author I knew and the friend who worked at a publishing company, and what I heard in the media, was a lie.
Having now achieved my impossible, I realise I could have done so in half the time. My procrastination and doubt stopped me, not a real block that prevents people from becoming published authors.
Remember, other people, or The System you live in, are not the keepers of the truth. For whatever reason – sometimes they genuinely believe they’re protecting you, sometimes it’s because they’re jealous of you pursuing your dream – they are just promoting their scared version of reality.
Don’t let it become yours. Ignore the lies and work towards your dream regardless. History reveals there are very few, if any, desires or ideas that are impossible to achieve.
Final Thought
Achieving your impossible f##ks with your head in a positive way.
If you can do the thing they told you was impossible, how many of the other goals and dreams, that you were led to believe were off limits, can you also accomplish?
Achieving your impossible opens your mind to a new world of possibilities. It makes you realise that you, and you alone, are the sole determiner in how far you can go.
Do The Work you Love
My new book, Do The Work you Love, will be launched on the 11th February 2020. To pre-order your copy, click the link here.
* Research undertaken at the University College of London in 2009
How to Use the Power of your Subconscious Mind
Since being published in 1963, The Power of your Subconscious Mind (by Joseph Murphy), has sold more than 1 million copies and impacted lives the world over. A quick perusal of it’s Amazon page will reveal well over 2000 reviews, 78% of them 5 star and the kind of affectionate language usually reserved for a well loved relative.
There’s something magical about this book. It has the ability to sooth and simplify in a way that few others can. People’s lives change after reading it. Mine did. Alongside The Matrix and Fight Club, it was the catalyst for me breaking free from The System and pursuing my dream to become a best selling author.
Having experienced The Power of your Subconscious Mind’s life changing impact, I want to relay its secrets to you. As of this year, I’ve read the book five times, written a 4000 word piece on it for HiBooks and run a workshop covering its key points. I like to think I know it inside out and, to my reckoning, there are 3 key parts you must understand.
- First, we have the theory
- Second, having understood the theory, you’ll need to know some of the techniques for accessing the power of your subconscious mind
- Finally, I’ll warn you about what not to do so you can avoid sabotaging your success
The Theory
Let’s start with a quick definition. Your mind has 2 parts – the conscious and the subconscious. The conscious is the one you’re more familiar with. It’s the voice in your head. Rational in nature, it’s the part of your mind you can control.
The subconscious is the deeper part of your mind. It’s much harder to control and emotional in nature. It responds more to metaphors and images and is less influenced by language.
Joseph Murphy uses two metaphors to explain the relationship between your conscious and subconscious. The first is the captain and the ship. Your conscious mind is the captain, standing on the deck, giving the orders. The rest of the ship, from the crew, to the sails, to the anchor, is the subconscious, faithfully carrying out whatever order the captain gives.
The second metaphor is the watchman at the gate. Here, the conscious mind is the lone guard, deciding who and what can enter the fortress. The subconscious is everything beyond the gate. Therefore, it’s the watchman’s duty to determine the impact of what he lets pass.
Both metaphors emphasize the significance of the conscious mind. You must take responsibility, and be very aware of, your thinking. Your thoughts aren’t insignificant mental chatter. Instead, they are commands. Guard against negative self-talk and thinking about what might go wrong.
The metaphors also reveal that the subconscious can’t discern discern between good and bad. Sure, it’s powerful and will carry out whatever you request. However, it won’t help you in determining whether these requests are going to be of benefit (Present images of failure to your subconscious and it will just assume this is the direction you want to move in and carry out the order).
The subconscious draws its power from a connection with the infinite intelligence. You are not an isolated individual. Through your mind, you are connected with the intelligence that moves the tides, keeps the planets orbiting around The Sun and presents people with ideas for changing the world. Make use of this connection, and through your intuition, your subconscious will reveal the path to your best possible life.
Exactly how to do this, is the subject to which we’ll now turn our attention.
Techniques for Impressing your Subconscious
Murphy highlights two main techniques for impressing a belief on your subconscious. The first is based around visualisation. He advises playing mental movies over in your mind before going to bed and when waking in the morning.
The reason for this timing is that, in his words, there is “the greatest outcropping of the subconscious” upon waking and going to sleep. This is when you’re at your most impressionable.
Your mental movie should be about you succeeding. Perhaps, like me, you want to be a best selling author. If that’s the case, visualise the number of book sales you want to achieve. See a big fat 1,000,000 or 100,000. Also, imagine yourself signing books at a book launch and conducting interviews with popular podcasts. See yourself living the life of a best selling author.
The same principle applies to healing (much of Murphy’s book is concerned with this area). If you’re currently suffering from an illness, or experiencing an injury, imagine your body being healthy and whole. Visualise yourself moving around, being active and partaking in all the activites you did before your illness or injury.
When using the mental movie technique, you’ll want to both keep it fresh and rely on trusted favoruites. The subconscious responds best to familiarity. A repeated mental movie, with time, will be able to trigger an emotional response. Also, big bold numbers (such as book sales totals) or a repeated slogan (I am fit and healthy), easily sink in. However, at the same time, be mindful of the fact you might, occaisonally, get bored. Therefore, be ready to change up your regular mental movies and try something new.
The second technique for impressing your subconscious is called the written statement. Here, you write down a paragraph or two, stating what you want to achieve, as if it has already happened. For example, if you are looking to find your soul mate, you might write,
I am a in love. My ideal partner is with me and it feels amazing. We share incredible moments together and are perfect for each. I’m attracted to both their looks and personality (elaborate from here) . . .
Pay close attention to the language. There’s no room for ‘hopes’ or ‘wishes’. This is affirmative. It’s happened. You have done it. Therefore, be bold and assertive when creating your written statement.
Once created, you should read it out loud 3 times over, 3 times a day. Again, it’s suggested you should do this upon waking and before retiring. Fit the third time of day in whenever convenient for you.
Perform your mental movie and written statement with emotion. Both will be ineffective if you simply read off the script and run a few images through your mind. Instead, you must dig deeper. Why is this dream so important to you? How will it feel when you’ve achieved your desire? Whatever the answer, capture that emotion when performing these techniques.
If you can, amazing changes will occur.
First, new beliefs will form in your subconscious. Your beliefs set the boundaries for your world. The person who believes they can do anything, or that they can achieve their desire, has access to many more opportunities, and far greater information, than someone who believes something isn’t possible.
Second, your subconscious will hit you with insights (via the infinite intelligence) about how to progress. These will come in the form of ideas, usually accompanied by a feeling of inspiration.
Look out for these moments. What they reveal can lead to a new creation or connection that dramatically changes your life.
What NOT To Do
There are 6 reasons why you may fail to influence your subconscious in the manner you’d hoped.
1. Lack of confidence. We live in a world obsessed with the material. Therefore, it can hard to see the importance of the spiritual. However, if you doubt the effectiveness of Murphy’s techniques, it will only work against you. Remember, the subconscious realises your beliefs. This means your doubts will be manifested.
2. Too much effort. Willpower doesn’t work when it comes to influencing your subconscious. Struggling only implies an obstacle. Therefore, let go, and believe your mental movies and written statement will come to pass.
3. You get disheartened. If you get disheartened because your desires haven’t been realised in a week, a month or a year, the message received from your subconscious is that you don’t believe it will happen. How will your subconscious react to this message? Yep, you’ve guessed it, it will continue to deny you the thing you want. Therefore, keep believing until it happens.
4. Old negative beliefs dragging you down. Be aware of the baggage you bring to this book. If you’re like me, you won’t be working with a blank slate. I approached the book with a whole host of hang ups, doubts and fears. As a result, I was constantly sabotaging my progress by fighting with my old problems. It’s far better to let them go. Don’t think about them at all. Focus on what you want to move towards and, eventually, the past will fade away.
5. Imagining the change will happen in the future. This will always make the realisation of your desire something beyond your reach. Instead, know it happens now.
6. Setting yourself too many goals. This disperses your energy. Have one main goal. Focus all your mental energy on achieving it and then move on once complete. This avoids your ship being steered in too many directions and failing to get to its destination.
Final Thought
I hope you’ve found this post useful. Your subconscious can be your greatest ally or your worst enemy. Spend time learning how to master its ways. While doing so, remember that emotion is the key. When you can feel the realisation of your desire, the physical equivalent won’t be far away.
Get your FREE Course
If you want to discover a passion you can make a living from and overcome the fears that are holding you back, check out my free course 30 Days to Escape The System. Click here to get the course right now! (You’ll find the tips on developing belief and self-confidence fascinating!)
EXTRA RESOURCE: If you want to learn more about your subconscious mind and how to use it, make sure you check out the article below from iNLP Center. It comes with a free 18 page workbook which guides you through different exercises to explore the deeper workings of your subconscious mind.
Subconscious Mind| 9 Facts you should Know [plus FREE WORKBOOK]
How to Gain the Knowledge of 20 Life Changing Books Without Reading Them
Have you ever noticed that, after attending a seminar or reading a book, only one concept tends to stick in your mind? Sure, a day or two later, you can still remember most of the ideas but, six months down the line, how many of them are you actually using?
Probably just one.
With that in mind, I’ve trawled through 20 of the most life changing books known to man to present you with their most salient point.
Do I expect you to apply all 20 of them? Probably not. However, there will be 3 or 4 concepts you take from this blog post that could be responsible for your future life success.
For ease of use, I’ve split the books into 4 categories – Spiritual, Business, Lifestyle and Personal Development. These should cover every aspect of your life and ensure that your growth is balanced, leading to love, happiness and success.
Spiritual
As A Man Thinketh – James Allen
You are what you think. Your outer world is a reflection of your habitual thinking. Therefore, if you want to change your life, you must change your thoughts.
The Power of Now – Eckhart Tolle
Your suffering occurs through not living in the moment. If you can let go of regrets from the past, fear about the future and calm your racing thoughts, then a life of peace and happiness will be yours.
Excuse Me, Your Life is Waiting – Lynn Grabhorn
The energy you live with is the key to being successful and living the life you want. Therefore, on a daily basis, find ways to feel great and avoid remaining in a negative state for any length of time.
The Power of your Subconscious Mind – Joseph Murphy
You can programme your subconscious to reveal life changing insights, heal your body and find you love. This is achieved through repeating affirmations, reading written statements and visualising mental movies which all positively state you already are that which you want to become.
Man’s Search for Meaning – Victor Frankl
As long as you have a purpose for your life, you can endure almost any circumstances. Find this purpose through the work you are passionate about, your loved ones or a commitment to bear your suffering with dignity.
Business
The 80/20 Principle – Richard Koch
Your efforts won’t yield result according to a 50/50 ratio. Instead, only 20% of what you do will account for 80% of your results. Discover where your 20% lies and focus your attention there.
Business Stripped Bare – Richard Branson
There are no barriers to entry and you don’t have to follow the rules when venturing into the world of business. All you need is your gut instinct and the wisdom to learn from your experiences.
Rich Dad, Poor Dad – Richard Kiyosaki
You get wealthy through owning assets, not working for your money. This means buying property, shares, bonds, creating/owning intellectual property, investing in start ups and avoiding liabilities like a heavily mortgaged homes, luxury items and credit cards.
The One Thing – Gary Keller
Have one major focus for your life (this can change over time). To achieve this one thing, figure out what the one action you need to take today to get you closer to your overall objective is, and work on that to the exclusion of other tasks.
Start with Why – Simon Sinek
Clients and customers make decisions based in their emotions. Therefore, to get them excited about your work or product, don’t tell them about what you do, or how you do it, tell them about why you do it.
Lifestyle
Willpower – Roy Baumeister
Your willpower is like a muscle. It can be developed but it can also be exhausted. Therefore, tackle major life challenges likes stopping smoking or weight loss, one at a time.
I Can Make you Thin – Paul McKenna
Only eat when you are hungry and stop when you are full. Follow this rule religiously and what you eat won’t be such an issue.
The Game – Neil Strauss
Appealing to other people (in any capacity), is a skill that can be learned. Irrespective of looks, money and past successes, by making yourself stand out, and appearing to be valuable, other people will be drawn to you.
The Latte Factor – David Bach
You have more money than you think. Cutting back on a few insignificant luxuries (your daily Latte) and diverting these funds into relatively high interest investments is the path to your financial freedom.
Easy Way to Stop Smoking – Allan Carr
Addictions are lies. The so-called benefits you think they bring are all psychological. Therefore, there is nothing to lose and everything to gain by stopping and, once you realise this, breaking a lifelong habit becomes easy.
Personal Development
Think and Grow Rich – Napoleon Hill
Write down a statement regarding how much money you desire, what you will do to achieve it (selling a certain product, writing books etc) and the date by which you want to be in possession of the funds. Condition your subconscious to assist you in the acquisition of the money by repeating this statement upon waking up and going to bed.
Psycho-Cybernetics – Maxwell Maltz
Your subconscious works like a guided missile. Give it clear and frequent instructions regarding what you want from life and it will course adjust to bring you your desired outcome.
Can’t Hurt Me – David Goggins
When you think you can’t work any harder, or go any further, you are only at 40% of your true capacity. However, to bring out your hidden reserves, you must break free from your comfort zone.
Never Too Late to be Great – Tom Butler-Bowdon
With advances in modern medicine, and changes in lifestyle, you have many chances to be great at something, or many things, in your lifetime. Take a long-term view of your life and you’ll realise success is virtually guaranteed.
Escape The System – Joe Barnes
Free yourself from the negative influence of society’s conditioning and the possibilities for your life are limitless. You are under no obligation to accept a mediocre life when you have the potential to create a great one.
Did I miss any?
Please share this article with anyone you think will find it useful. Also, were there any books you feel I should’ve included on the list? Let me know in the comments section below.
The 5 paths to Financial Freedom
Why do you work?
Is it because you love what you do and would still be doing it regardless of whether there was any financial incentive? Or, it is because of the money?
If the answer is the latter then you are not free. Of course, there are degrees of servitude, but if your inner voice is rebelling against the routine of reporting to an office, or place or work, 5 days a week, 48 weeks of year, then your time is not your own.
So, what can you do?
The answer lies in securing your financial freedom. Do this, and you will never have to work another day in your life. You’ll have all the time you want to spend with family, friends and loved ones. Furthermore, they’ll be no more working for asshole bosses and compromising your values and ideals.
There are 5 paths to securing your financial freedom. Each one is unique, although you aren’t constrained to one alone. Pick and choose. Find the path, or paths, most suited to your personality, passions, current financial situation, family responsibilities and time constraints.
PATH N#1: LIVE OFF GRID
Buy your own land, or live in a community, where you provide for all of your own heating, lighting, waste disposal, washing, water and eating needs.
Traditionally, living off grid means not relying on the national electricity grid for your power. As a result, you have no bills, mortgage or rent to pay. You owe no one.
What will you do with all of this freedom?
Keep yourself alive!
And, herein, lies a potential problem with living off grid.
You must spend so much time sustaining yourself there’s a chance you’re trading one form of servitude for another. Unless this type of lifestyle appeals to you, think twice.
Many people living off grid report having to spend time getting their living needs and food supplies up and running. This could be a few years of toil, cold, hunger and uncomfortable living conditions. If you’ve got a passion for it, you’ll be fine. If you don’t, there could be easier paths to securing your financial freedom.
Despite this criticism, there’s one undeniable positive of living off grid. You can claim your financial freedom relatively quickly. With some careful planning and a little money to get you started, the life of taking orders, being rushed and worrying about the bills, will soon become a distant memory.
PATH N#2: EARLY RETIREMENT
What would you think to retiring within the next 5 to 10 years and never having to work another day in your life?
Too good to be true? Sounds impossible?
Not if you follow the strategy created by Jacob Lund Fisher on his website Early Retirement Extreme. Originally born in Denmark, Fisher worked for 5 years as an astrophysicist before retiring at the age of 33 with savings of $175,000.
While this sum is not to be scoffed at, you might think it would be hard to live off for another 50 years. Not for Fisher. He recommends saving 75% of your yearly earnings and learning how to live off the rest. This means that, for every year you work, you buy yourself 3 years of freedom.
Fisher was able to reduce his living expenses to $7000 a year. On his website, he explains that the three greatest money drains are food, travel and housing. If you can keep these to a minimum, by eating a mainly vegetarian or vegan diet, living within walking or cycling distance of your place of work and paying a minimal amount of rent or owning your home outright, then retiring within a decade from now is a realistic goal.
The main advantage of the Early Retirement approach is that you don’t have to make any drastic changes to your career. You can keep working as you are, possibly even gaining promotion and making (and saving) even more money. However, a change will need to be made to your lifestyle.
Living on such a tiny budget is anathema to everything we’ve been conditioned to believe in the developed world. Consumption equals happiness and status. It can be hard not to think this way when all the messages you see and hear in the media, and purchasing habits of your peer group, reinforce this ideal.
Have you got the strength of character to stand alone and buck this trend? If you do, you could be claiming something far more valuable than eating out 5 nights a week, flashy cars and an overly mortgaged home. Within 5 to 10 years, you can be completely free to determine how you spend your time.
PATH N#3: THE LATTE FACTOR
You are richer than you think. These are the words of David Bach in his new book The Latte Factor. This story is a modern version of the original wealth creating fable, The Richest Man in Babylon, by George Clason. In that 1926 classic, Clason, through his character Arkad, advises the reader to save 10% – 20% of their annual income before tax.
Bach calls this ‘paying yourself first.’ Dividing your salary, work out how much you get paid per hour. Then, ensure that your first hour’s work, every day, is syphoned off into a separate account.
This is the most important payment you’ll ever make. Before tax, before your rent or mortgage and before your food allowance, you must make this payment towards your financial freedom.
The magic happens when you follow Bach’s next piece of advice. You then take this money and invest it in tracking the stock market. Bach reveals that, since the stock markets inception, it has grown, on average, by 10% each year (US stock market).
With a 10% return on your investment, you can achieve your financial freedom far quicker than you may have believed. By saving just $5 a day, Bach calculates that you’ll have earned $948,611 in 40 years. Saving $25 a day would see you making $1,222,924 in 30 years.
‘The Latte Factor’ path presents an even easier route to financial freedom than ‘Early Retirement.’ This is because the changes to your spending habits are more manageable. Bach shows that, just by forgoing one luxury a day – a latte – with time, you can secure your financial freedom.
There are two catches to the Latte Factor path. The first, is time. While living off grid grants you near immediate financial freedom and Early Retirement might take 10 years, following The Latte Factor Path could, depending on your salary, leave you waiting 25 years. Is it worth it? Two or more decades worth of being somewhere you don’t want to be and doing things you don’t want to do, might have you looking for a quicker exit.
The other problem is relying on a 10% ROI. Just because it has in the past, doesn’t mean the stock market will continue to grow at this rate. And, if it doesn’t, you’re looking at an even longer time scale to ensure that such a small investment can one day lead to your financial freedom.
PATH N#4: MAKE MONEY FROM YOUR PASSION
Like living off grid, this is another path to rapid financial freedom. However, this one requires a change in understanding of what it means to be free.
The previous 3 paths offer you options whereby you have enough money, or resources, to never work again. Path n#4 takes a different approach. It flips the meaning of financial freedom on its head and makes you question what you’re trying to escape.
Is it the world of work? Is it the need for money? Or, is it doing things you don’t want to do?
If it’s the latter, then your quickest route to financial freedom could be finding, or creating, a job you’re passionate about. ‘Choose a job you love, and you’ll never have to work a day in your life,’ is how Confucius put it. But how will you find that job?
First, you must remove all societal conditioning. Forget what your parents want you to do. Disregard what your friends are doing. Ignore what society tells you is a desirable career.
Then, listen to your heart. What do you find stimulating? In which fields is your appetite for learning endless?
In answering these questions, you might come up with answers that don’t lead to any obvious job description. That’s ok. There’s always the possibility of creating an income from something you’re passionate about simply through a relentless involvement in that field – see Clark Little making a living out of shore break photography.
You may not even need to do this. You might be passionate about teaching but have spent the previous 5 years working in banking because you believed the greater financial reward would lead to a happier life. Perhaps, now, you’re reconsidering this decision.
If your passion does lead you to mainstream career then beware of the possibility of ‘System Pollution.’ This means you might be passionate about a profession (e.g. teaching) but all the rules, regulations and red tape that goes with it, kills the fun. If this is the case, you’ll have to take your passion and find another outlet (e.g. become a private tutor).
There’s a lot to consider when choosing path n#4. However, if you can make your money in a way that inspires you, the issue of how much money you’re making won’t be such a factor. So long as you can provide for yourself, you are far richer than the person who makes millions yet doesn’t enjoy what they’re doing.
PATH N#5: MAKE FUCK YOU MONEY
“Somebody wants you to do something . . . Fuck You
Your boss pisses you off . . .Fuck You”
These are the words of John Goodman’s character in the 2014 film The Gambler. He’s talking about the freedom that comes from amassing a large sum of money.
In the film, this figure is $2.5 million. Financial Samurai website claims that Fuck You money comes when you have between $5 and $10 million. Both these figures are derived from the idea that, once you have such a substantial sum, you can invest in a risk-free account, earning you interest of aprox. 2.5% per year. Then, you simply live off the $75,000, $125,000 or $250,000 per year this generates.
But how to earn this amount? Currently, under 0.7% of the world’s population (The 2017 Credit Suisse report indicates that this percentage have assets of over $1 million) are wealthy enough to put themselves in the Fuck You category.
If you are thinking of joining them, then ownership is the key. In his book, Rich Dad, Poor Dad, Robert Kiyosaki makes the distinction that the poor focus on the amount of money they can earn per hour, whereas the rich focus on how much money their assets can make them (even when they’re not working).
If you want to make this shift, start thinking about what you could own. Will it be property, stocks, part of a start-up, your own business or intellectual property? Acquire enough of these assets and you’ll never have to work another day in your life.
The advantage of the Fuck You path is that it’s financial freedom without limitation. All but the greediest would have no trouble living off $100,000 to $200,000 a year without needing to budget. As a result, nothing is off limits and you don’t have to spend a lifetime scrimping and saving.
The downside to the Fuck You path is that it requires an uncommon amount of money. Only a tiny minority ever get to this level. If you have no money to invest, how can you even begin?
However, could the perceived difficulty level also be a blessing in disguise? With the majority keeping their eyes firmly fixed on their salaries, and believing that financial freedom is a goal that’s out of their reach, perhaps there’s less competition for you!
FINAL WORD
Whatever, you believe, and whatever path you choose, make a start today. There are few things worse than wasting all your potential, doing something you don’t enjoy, when there are options to change. Begin to see financial freedom as your right, not something reserved for the lucky or super talented.
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(Image used courtesy of Tax Credit’s photostream flickr.com)