You Say You Want to Make a Resolution?
Issue #2242
- WEALTHY: The resolution I make every single year (David Cross)
- HEALTHY: Get more magnesium to reduce your risk of "Syndrome X" (Kelley Herring)
- WISE: Winston Churchill on mastering difficulties
ALSO IN THIS ISSUE:
- Your 11th gift from ETR: How to manhandle paralyzing fears (Suzanne Richardson)
- In a new business, what should get all your attention? (Michael Masterson)
- It’s Fun to Know… about holding your fingers and crossing your thumbs (Charlie Byrne)
- Add "maudlin" to your vocabulary
Revealed: Probably the Biggest Red Herring in History!
While the world’s been stock watching (and losing!), the elite quietly play a different game with different rules…
Feeling cheated and disillusioned by the stock market? Sure, you may have made a good trade here… but then lost on another. The people dutifully pour their hard-earned cash into investment banks to put into the stock market for them… and those investment banks gladly oblige, for a fat fee… which they invest somewhere else! I’m no conspiracy theorist, but in my opinion the stock market is really a diversion for the masses… a distraction from where the BIG and consistent money is made… in the world’s money mountain. And when I say “Money Mountain,” I speak quite literally… the BIGGEST mountain of money on the planet. Click here to read more…
"Difficulties mastered are opportunities won."
Sir Winston Churchill
Kicking Off 2008 With ETR: You Say You Want to Make a Resolution?
By David Cross
"New Year resolutions are a waste of time," my dad, a down-to-earth plumber in Northern England, always said. "Fads. Like diets. I never follow them so I never make them." Instead, he was an advocate of quiet self-reflection at church, while watching cricket on a Sunday afternoon, or over a pint of his famous homebrewed beer. (Religion and homebrew coexisted quite happily in our home, and my dad’s in-depth theological arguments over a pint were famous with pub and churchgoers alike.)
Well, I don’t agree with my dad. In my opinion, making New Year’s resolutions is only a waste of time if, like my dad, you really don’t intend to follow through on them. But if you honestly want to achieve your goals, there’s one resolution you can make right now that will help you do it. I’ve made it myself every year for the past 21 years… and it’s brought me great success.
Let me explain…
I read a lot of "success" books years back, and figured out that if I wanted to be successful it was unlikely to happen by chance. I’d come to realize that many people who appeared to have experienced "sudden" or "overnight" success had, in fact, been laboring away quietly for many years.
I’d also learned that success isn’t something you arrive at, like a place, and then feel "Been there, done that. I’m successful now. The End." Success is more of a continuous process. A habit.
Which all sounds like enough theory to make my dad reach for his Bible… or pint glass!
But it’s easy to put that theory into practice.
What I’m suggesting is that you resolve to move at least one of your goals closer to success each and every day in 2008. It could be a business goal or a personal goal. It could be significant or small. It could be a goal that you feel you have to achieve or a goal that will simply make you happy.
Let’s say you want to start an online business… but you haven’t been able to get it off the ground. Or maybe you already have an online business, but it just isn’t profitable. If you put my resolution into practice, I can practically guarantee that your online business will succeed in 2008.
For example, every online businessperson would like to rule the search engines. That doesn’t happen overnight. But you CAN rule the search engines for your niche keywords and content. All you have to do is make consistent, incremental improvements in your search engine marketing techniques.
Would you like to bring in more qualified e-mail leads? You can start today by learning how to create a Google AdWords ad and how to optimize your landing pages. Once you start applying this newfound knowledge, you can bring in dozens, if not hundreds or thousands, of names every day.
How are your copywriting skills? Are there new marketing techniques you’d like to try? Don’t let "being busy" prevent you from doing the things - even the unpleasant things - that will help you make progress toward your goal.
One of my early mentors, David Mousley (who became my best friend), had a great saying: "See the job. Do the job. Avoid the misery." That’s a good mantra for success, especially if you catch yourself putting off the more onerous tasks… though you know they need to be done. It could be phone calls you keep delaying, people you avoid meeting, or changes you just can’t force yourself to make.
If you do something each and every day to move your online business forward, you will see results. It may mean you need to develop new ideas or contacts. But you can do it gradually, one day at a time.
Adopting this habit can actually get you over some seemingly insurmountable hurdles.
In 1994, for example, I was having a really bad year. Some days were so awful, it took all the effort I could muster just to get out of bed in the morning. But, tough as it was, I stuck to my resolution… even when I wanted to give up. In fact, knowing that all I had to do was take one small step to move one of my personal or professional goals forward helped pull me through.
During this time, I was in the process of writing my first book, The Marketing Survival Handbook. And every day, the first thing I’d do was something to push ahead with that book. I didn’t always feel like it, but I’d do something. I’d do a little research, write a few pages, interview a marketer.
Every day, I asked myself "What is one thing I can do today on this book?" And I did it. It didn’t matter if I spent 10 minutes dashing off a few paragraphs… or if I sat in a meeting for two hours. All those minutes and hours and actions added up to a book I was proud of. By the end of the year, the book was at the printer. And it sold out the following year.
Adopt the habit of making a little progress toward your goals each day and you can accomplish practically anything… even when the going gets tough.
The past year was great for me. I enjoyed watching our four children start to grow up, and I fulfilled a longtime dream of owning a small farm. Professionally, a highlight was working with the team at ETR on the Internet Money Club.
2008 promises to be another great year. Once again, I’ll be moving toward the achievement of my goals, one day at a time.
How will you apply this resolution in 2008?
[Ed. Note: David Cross is Senior Internet Consultant to Agora Inc. in Baltimore. Discover more strategies for accomplishing all your goals with ETR’s Total Success Achievement Program. You’ll learn specific goal-setting techniques that can help you get out of debt… lose 10 pounds… start a profitable business… and blast through any obstacle along the way. Learn more about the Total Success Achievement Program by clicking here.]
On January 8, the Most Powerful Force in the Market Begins Again
On January 8, you will be presented with a monumental money-making opportunity as public companies begin to release reams of previously undisclosed information.
The last time this came around, sharp investors had a chance to pocket gains of 149% on Marriott… 85% on Costco… 160% on Qualcomm… 176% on Onyx Pharmaceuticals… and 90% on Hilton Hotels.
No other event results in more opportunities than what I have to share with you. Position yourself properly, before January 8, and you could make more money in the next six weeks than most investors make all year.
Click here to learn how you can turn this market-moving event into a string of triple-digit winners.
Your 11th Special Holiday Gift From ETR: Don’t Let Worries Get in the Way of Your Success
By Suzanne Richardson
David Cross’s advice today - to do something every day to make progress toward achieving your goals, even if that means doing tasks you’d rather avoid - reminded me of Brian Tracy’s suggestion to "consciously and deliberately do the things you fear, one step at a time."
Instead of letting your fear transform into an impenetrable wall, Brian says, "Treat it as a challenge and an opportunity to grow and become a better person. Face the fear, control the fear, master the fear, and continue to move forward regardless of the fear."
So now, as your 11th Special Holiday Gift from ETR, we’d like to give you a handbook for getting past your worries… for finding happiness in spite of adversity… and for making positive changes in your life. This special report will help you take the first step toward a better, happier, more successful life.
Click here to download your free gift.
The Number One Rule of Entrepreneurship
Of the major functions of business - product development, customer service, accounting, operations, and marketing - the one that should always be given top priority in an entrepreneurial venture is marketing.
The other functions are important, but without marketing you will not have sales and without sales you will not have cash flow and without cash flow you will not be able to pay for all the other functions (except by going into debt, which is simply borrowing against the cash flow of the future). Put differently, without sales it is very hard to sustain an ongoing business.
Consider this to be Rule Number One of Entrepreneurship.
Before your business makes its first sale, it is nothing more than a set of unproven ideas that you are spending money on. Some of those ideas may be good and feasible. Others may be bad and/or impractical.
You can’t know which are which until you test them by selling the product.
And that’s why, when I consult with entrepreneurs who are still in the planning stages, I try to get them to streamline their start-up process by eliminating most of the other things they are inclined to do - such as leasing office space and buying furniture - and focusing on effecting that first, real sales transaction.
[Ed. Note: The above is an excerpt from Michael Masterson’s brand-new book, Ready, Fire, Aim: Zero to $100 Million in No Time Flat, published with permission of John Wiley & Sons. In the book, Michael shows how veteran and rookie entrepreneurs alike can take their businesses to the next level. You’ll learn how to identify and solve the problems that crop up during each stage of a company’s growth… and how to take advantage of profit opportunities along the way. Ready, Fire, Aim will be released on January 8. Go to Amazon to pre-order your copy now.]
Reader Feedback: "Keep up the good work."
"I like the way you present your points for success. They are very practical, and most of them seem like they can be implemented immediately. Keep up the good work."
- O. B.
Dubai, United Arab Emirates
[Ed. Note: How has reading ETR helped you - maybe even changed your life? Send your comments to ReaderFeedback@gmail.com. Include your name and hometown… and we may print your e-mail in a future issue.]
A Mineral for Metabolic Syndrome
Metabolic syndrome - a cluster of health problems that puts you at risk for heart disease and diabetes - is on the rise. But new research shows that getting more magnesium in your diet can help prevent this dangerous condition.
A recent study published in the journal Circulation followed a group of adults for 15 years, assessing their intake of magnesium and the incidence of metabolic syndrome. Those who developed metabolic syndrome had the lowest intake of magnesium.
You can get more magnesium in your diet by munching on nuts (a two-ounce serving of almonds provides 40 percent of the recommended daily allowance for magnesium) and getting your fill of dark, leafy green vegetables.
[Ed. Note: Kelley Herring is the founder and CEO of Healing Gourmet (www.healinggourmet.com), and is editor-in-chief of the Healing Gourmet book series. Learn more about how simple lifestyle choices can improve your health by reading ETR’s free natural health e-letter.]
It’s Fun to Know: Holding Your Fingers and Crossing Your Thumbs?
By Charlie Byrne
"I’ll be holding my thumbs for you!"
The e-mail from Teresa was unexpected, welcome, but a bit puzzling. We’d met at an international business affair in Europe a month earlier.
"Good luck on the marathon," her e-mail continued.
I remembered boasting to Teresa that I was scheduled to run in the Marine Corps Marathon in Washington, D.C. I guess she remembered too.
But what’s this "I’ll be holding my thumbs for you" thing? I assumed it meant "good luck"… but I’d never heard it before.
A quick research expedition online revealed the answer. According to the Phrases.org.uk website, "The German equivalent of ‘crossing my fingers,’ i.e. wishing someone good fortune, is ‘Daumen drueken’ - holding thumbs."
Teresa is from South Africa, and South Africa was a German colony from 1884 to 1915 - so apparently the phrase stuck.
"Danke schoen," I wrote back to Teresa.
15 Minutes A Day To Personal Freedom in 2008…
Just think, reaching your goals this year could make the difference…
Between retiring with just enough to get by… or with a millionaire’s portfolio…
Between having a job you dread going to every day…. or the job you’ve always dreamed about…
- Charlie Byrne
Word to the Wise: Maudlin
"Maudlin" (MAWD-lin) means excessively tearful or sentimental. The word is derived from (Mary) Magdalene, who was often represented in paintings with eyes red and swollen from weeping.
Example (as used by Desson Howe in a Washington Post review of Proof ): "A film about blindness could easily get maudlin or, at the other extreme, cynically heartless."
[Ed. Note: Become a more persuasive writer and speaker … build your self-confidence and intellect … increase your attractiveness to others … just by spending 10 VERY enjoyable minutes a day with ETR’s new Words to the Wise CD Library.]
Michael Masterson
Copyright ETR, LLC, 2008