Doing What is Right For You

Someone sent me a question earlier this week that really irritated me, and I almost decided to answer it in today’s mailbag, but then I went for a nice bike ride yesterday afternoon, remembered my 12 rules, realized it wasn’t worth it, deleted it from my mental energy bank, and moved on.

One of the best decisions I made all week.

But I do have a couple of reader comments about that article that I want to share…

“This was excellent Craig. One of your best ever. I think almost no one ever stops to give serious consideration to what they actually believe. The vast majority of  sheeple either adopt a belief system that’s been handed to them by a religion or their society, or they just bumble through life without any compass whatsoever.

I admire someone who sits down to really analyze their life, and then sticks to the things that they say they believe. Without caring one way or the other how anyone judges that. I did a similar thing in my late 20’s when i first read Harry Browne, and I try to review that every few yrs to see if i’m still on track. Well done man. Great article.” – Ryan

Answer: Ryan, thanks for your feedback. Glad to see you also discovered Harry’s book.

For readers that haven’t read any Harry Browne, I highly recommend his book, “How I Found Freedom in an Unfree World”. I think you can get it as an ebook on Amazon.

Craig Ballantyne: “Inspiring to see someone lay it all out there! Thanks for the vision and courage with which you express it.” – Joe.

Answer: Thanks Joe, I appreciate it.

But I do have a couple of dirty little secrets about that article.

First, I wrote it because I was procrastinating on a big project.  And second, I have struggled big time with a lot of the rules on that list.

So of course, I’m far from perfect, but I’m going to do a lot better because I’ve aired that list publicly.

Sometimes, but not always, I agree with the folks who preach making your goals public.

I don’t think you have to make all of them public, but some goals have a better chance of success when you tell the world what you plan to do, because you know you’ll look like a fool if you get caught acting in opposition to those goals.

That’s one of the reasons why I shared those rules…because putting them out there publicly will help me stick to them more than the 80%-compliance I was doing up till last week.

Also, I’ve been working on many of these for years. For example, the “early to bed, early to rise, same time every day” has been on my “to do” list for over 8 years now, since I first heard the advice from one of my mentors.

By the way, I guarantee that if you can stick to the same bedtime and wake-up time, you’ll have more mental energy and feel less tired every day. It’s magical.

But again, I’ve struggled with this one since 2003, when I was training clients at 6am.

Each morning I would wake up, regretting my previous night’s bedtime, and promise myself that I’d go to sleep earlier that night. This went on for years.

Plus, on the weekend, my wake-up time became my go-to-bed time, and that went on for most of my 20’s, leaving me exhausted and playing catch-up from Monday to Wednesday. I’d finally get rested by Thursday, just in time to do it all again.

Fortunately, I never gave up on this goal. I continued to learn from my mistakes, and finally, I got the plan through my thick skull and have been reaping the benefits for years.

So bottom line: Identify what’s important for you. Realize the changes you’ll have to make, and then implement with confidence and clarity, knowing that you are doing what is right for you.

Question: Great email Craig and thanks for sharing your 12 rules. You mention that your goal is to help 1 Million men and women. I was wondering how are you tracking that goal?

How do you know that you have helped 1 Million men and women? I think is great, but was wondering, because I would like to do something similar. – Val

Answer: Hey Val, great to hear from you again.

I am using documented testimonials, including entries into my transformation contest.

So I still have a long way to go (unless I can just get them to double every day, ha), but it’s more than just the numbers, it’s about the vision and the mission.

And finally…

Question: Hey Rick, why did I buy this “Micro Niche Finder” keyword program again? – Me

Answer from Rick Porter: It’s for keyword research and checking out trends, but a new program launched that I’m testing called SEOcockpit.

It’s a monthly membership but has the most powerful capabilities of anything for finding niche keywords that will convert. I have my dad learning it for me inside and out so that I can just give him what I want and he comes back with a report on everything. It’s exactly what we needed.

Me: Cool, I’m not going to bother with the Niche Finder thing. I gotta stop buying things I’m not going to use.

Have a great weekend,

Craig Ballantyne

Focus on providing value and the business will come. Your income is directly proportional to the number of people you help. Help more. Think big…how can you help the world?