No doubt you're familiar with the concept of online curation. Basically it's taking the work of others and assembling it onto a website. The Huffington Post is the most famous example of this. But the other day, someone suggested to me that perhaps it would be a good idea to curate our own experiences and thoughts. In fact, Joel Zaslofsky has written a book on that very topic which I look forward to reading.
In the mean time, I would like to share with you a few thoughts and ideas I've curated over the past month on success, in no particular order.
“I knew it wouldn't work!”
I was on the Warrior Forum reading a post that basically said, “In my humble opinion, email marketing is dead.” This poster had evidently sent emails to a list of 500+ opportunity seekers and received 5 clicks. “It's all fantasy and guru lies,” he wrote.
Of course forum members asked for details, since his numbers didn't seem right. What was he mailing them? How often? How old was the list? What was the quality of his free incentive? And so forth. All good questions. His answer with (I'm paraphrasing here) “The list is 5 months old and I didn't start mailing until I had at least 400-500 list members.” Ahh.
But that's not the truly interesting part – what he wrote next is: “I knew it wouldn't work, just created that list to confirm what I already know.”
Ahh-ha! Seems this poster decided it wouldn't work and then tried it. I wonder if he has ever heard of self-sabotage? If you believe it won't work (and “it” can be anything) and then you try to make it work, 9 times out of 10 you will do a marvelous job of proving yourself correct. “See? I TOLD you it wouldn't work! I was right!”
Yippee. As Henry Ford said, “Whether you believe you can, or you believe you can't, you are right.”
My question to you is, do you believe you can achieve that next big goal on your list? Do you REALLY, TRULY believe it? If not, you might want to get to work on your beliefs, because if you keep believing what you've been believing, you'll keep achieving what you've been achieving. And no more.
“Is This Too Obvious?”
I read a quote the other day: “If you want to get what you want, you first have to DECIDE what you want.” In other words, get clear on exactly what it is that you want. See it. Hear it, taste it, touch it, live it, experience it, etc. Get it super clear in your head. Only then can you begin to make it yours.
“Act as if”
Do you want to know what I think is one of the biggest secrets to success? It's acting like you're already successful. Here's a Jack Canfield story I heard this week: When Jack decided he wanted to be an international consultant, he applied for a passport, bought a clock that told the time all over the world and bought business cards announcing his new, self-given title.
Then he decided the first place he wanted to go was Australia, so he bought a picture of the Sidney Opera House and hung it up. Within a month he had an invitation to speak in Sidney. Coincidence? I don't think so.
CBS News reports that if you want the job, you should act like you're already on the payroll. When George Clooney stopped thinking, “Oh, I hope they like me” at auditions and instead walked into the room thinking he was the answer to their problem, his career took off.
Wealth seminar participants are asked to act as if they're already successful millionaires at a cocktail party. After just 15 minutes, participants report feeling more self-confident, more out-going, more generous, happier and more enthusiastic.
Whatever it is you want or want to become, act as if you've already got it. This is the closest thing to magic I know of.
“It's not just about the money.”
So you get clear about what you want - $10,000 a month income, a new house and a new car. Or something along those lines. But guess what? Those material things are really cool, and it's great that you're working towards achieving them. I salute you for that. But what you might not yet realize is that in the process of getting your goals, you're going to achieve something much greater than all those material things combined, and it's this:
The greatest benefit you get from pursuing your dreams isn't the money and the stuff, it's the mastery over your own life. It's who you become in the process of achieving your goals that's important.
Because once you become the person who can set and achieve big hairy goals, you've got it made. Your business can fail, you can lose everything, you can go bankrupt and it won't matter, because you'll have what it takes to build it all again, bigger and better. And no one, NO ONE, can take that away from you.
“Rejection is a myth”
I love this one. What is it that stops you from asking for a joint venture, or a partnership, or an interview, or assistance, or advice, or funding, or anything? It's fear. Fear that they're going to say no. Fear that you're going to get rejected. Look at the typical new sales person – they're scared to death to ask for the sale because, “What If The Customer Says NO???”
To which I say, so what if they do say no? What have you lost? You met with them or called them to get the sale. Before this, you didn't have the sale. They weren't your customer. Now that they've said no, what's changed? You still don't have the sale and they're still not your customer. You've lived all your life without making that particular sale, and I'm going to guess that you can continue living without that sale. Nothing is different, except for one thing: You've just gained a little bit more experience at ASKING.
So when you want that JV with somebody, are you going to be afraid to ask? I hope you aren't. Because the very worst thing that can happen is, nothing happens. They say no and you have lost nothing. You are exactly where you were before you asked. Except that now you have a little more experience in asking, which is a positive. Bottom line, you CANNOT lose by asking. Rejection is a myth, a vapor, a fantasy. It's less than nothing, so don't sweat it.
“FREE: 365 hours of time per year”
Want to get another 365 hours every year? You can use this time for anything you like – including building your business. So how do you get your “free” hours? Simple. Stop doing that time wasting thing you're doing now. For many, it's watching TV. For others, it's video games, reading junk fiction, gossiping, driving to the store to get that beer/chocolate you don't need, etc.
By the way, an extra 365 hours a year is like getting an extra 15 whole days, or half a month. Don't squander it.
“One last thought”
You know that expression, “Ready, fire, aim?” It's used so often it's a become cliché. But the other day I was reminded of something when I tried playing darts:
You see, I'm not very good at darts because I don't play it. So when I picked up a dart and went to throw it, I didn't really know what I was doing. But that didn't stop me from throwing it and seeing where it landed. And once I saw where it landed, I adjusted accordingly and threw again. I was throwing, adjusting, throwing, adjusting... and pretty soon I was not only hitting the target, I was even getting a few bull's-eyes.
Business is like that. You try something, see how you need to make adjustments, and then do it again. This is the best way I know of to get started and get success quickly in anything. So whatever your big goal is this month, get ready, fire, readjust your aim and do it again. By the end of the month you'll have made great progress.