What a 600 Pound Person Can Teach Us About Change

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Recently wife and I were watching a show about a 625 pound woman (sneak peak in the video). She was a single mother of six who’s bad eating habits over many years led her to that weight.

She lives in Haiti and has been a prisoner in her own home for nearly twenty years. Her daughters do everything for her since she obviously can’t move.

She felt that gastric bypass surgery would save her, but it wasn’t that simple.

The show followed her journey as she tried to lose enough weight so a doctor would be comfortable enough to the surgery. He needed her at 500 pounds because at her current weight, too many risks were involved.

Another doctor worked with her to come up with a weight loss program. He really wanted her to succeed. He periodically came to the house to check up on her. He told her daughters to take turns preparing meals for her.

I thought she had everything she needed to succeed. She had cameras documenting her. I thought it would keep her accountable for her actions. She had a doctor checking up on her. She had another doctor waiting for her so he could do the surgery. I am assuming they were doing it for free or the show was paying for it.

Despite all these resources available to her, it was a struggle to lose the weight.

As I was watching the show I felt her journey was the same as many of us who are or have felt stuck in life. We aren’t 600 pounds and trapped at home on the outside, but we do feel like that on the inside. So many years of doubt, failures, poor choices, and lack of inaction have made us feel like we’re stuck in life and don’t know how to change.

We want a new life. We want freedom. Her freedom was to just be able to walk and feel human again.

Because she eventually ballooned to 689 pounds and her life was in danger, her doctor found a surgeon who would perform the surgery. It was the last hope. The clock was ticking on her life.

She had the surgery and all was good right? Nope she didn’t want to stay in rehab after the surgery. She actually called an ambulance one night to pick her up from rehab. She got transported to the hospital where clearly nothing was wrong. She just didn’t want to be at rehab. They took her back to rehab anyways.

Sadly she passed away not too long after the surgery. The surgery came too late. Who knows if she got to 500 pounds and had the surgery if she would still be alive. The chances would be much higher though.

We were shocked that she died. Usually shows like this have a happy ending.

While watching it, I could see the old me making the same mistakes she was making. I wasn’t obese, but I tried for many years to turn my life around.

The reason I didn’t find change and always failed was why she couldn’t lose the weight.

She wanted a quick fix

She felt like if she had the gastric bypass surgery, her life would change. She wanted the surgery right away. I don’t know too much about it, but I know it does shrink your stomach, making you feel fuller with less food.

However I do know that the surgery does not fix everything. To lose the weight after the surgery it still takes eating healthy and exercise. You can’t eat a large pizza, watch TV and expect the weight to melt off.

It takes time and effort. A lifetime of gaining weight doesn’t just all come off in months.

She needed to lose about 125 pounds just to qualify for the surgery. There was no quick fix to get there and for her it was a struggle.

At one point she actually gained weight over a four month period! The doctor wanted to know how that was possible if she was suppose to follow his diet program.

She said she used this powder she saw on TV and sprinkled it on her food. It was suppose to burn more calories or suppress your appetite. So she often ate her favorite Haitian food, sprinkled lots of that stuff, thinking she would be fine.

It’s a shame she fell for a product that sounded too good to be true, but it fit with her mindset of wanting instant results.

Instant gratification won

*It wasn’t a one time slip-up it was a systematic assassination of her weight loss program.*

That’s what her doctor said was the reason she couldn’t lose weight.

There were times when she ate only a bowl of oatmeal or whatever one of her daughters prepared. That’s great.

But there were also many times when the doctor came over to check on her when he would find a bottle of soda or some food item clearly not allowed. She would make some excuse why she had it. She told the cameras she was hungry and tired of eating bland food. At times she’d make her daughters feel guilty and they’d get her food she shouldn’t be eating.

One time she wanted fried foods and the daughters said no. She called the police to have her daughters kicked out of the house.

Also the daughters told the doctor when they weren’t home the mom would get neighbors to go buy her food. How did the neighbors get into the house? From her bedroom she would throw the key out the window and the neighbor would let themselves in.

I’m sure it felt good to eat her favorite foods, but it moved her further and further away from her goal.

She didn’t want it badly enough

We think we just need enough willpower and we can achieve anything. Willpower is not enough.

It about digging deeper and finding why you want to do something.

She wanted to walk again and be able to be free. I felt that was enough motivation to lose weight. Her actions didn’t show it.

Even when she did have the gastric bypass surgery, she didn’t want to be in rehab where they were monitoring her diet and doing daily exercises in bed. She called an ambulance to take her out!

She would have rather satisfied her food cravings instead of imagining one day walking freely again with her daughters.

That’s just not trying hard enough to turn her life around. Wouldn’t the high risk of dying be enough to make a change? I guess not.

She didn’t believe she could

She never said she didn’t believe it, but I’m willing to guess she doubted herself because all the results we get in life start from our beliefs.

If we believe we will succeed, we will act in a way that aligns with our beliefs. If we believe we will fail, we’re going to not try hard, and have no confidence that it’s possible to succeed.

In that case, why bother right? Why even try if we will just fail? If we do try, we just barely try.

If our results come from our beliefs, her beliefs must have been it wasn’t possible to lose over 100 pounds. She believed she just needed gastric bypass surgery, yet didn’t realize she wasn’t going to get it unless she could get to 500 pounds.

Despite having resources around her to help, I think her belief that change was not possibly contributed to her not losing weight.

Don’t make the same mistakes

I’ve made these same mistakes. I know many others have as well. Making the same mistakes should be avoided when wanting to go from where you are now to where you want to be.

Her actions to create positive change didn’t work and it won’t for you. Here’s what you should do instead.

Change takes time

There are no quick fixes for the big aspirations you have. Money doesn’t grow on trees. Pigs don’t fly. There is no overnight success.

When you see others making a lot of money, losing a lot of weight, or in a place where they are finally happy in life, it took a lot work behind the scenes.

We live in a time when things get faster and faster like our computers, cars, planes, and fast food. We expect the same to happen with our results.

There is no quick fix. Yes you can do some hacking like Tim Ferris and get results quicker like being fluent in Spanish in three months, or increase your productivity by following the 80/20 rule, but you still have to do the work.

Enjoy the process and just focus on taking one step at a time. I know it’s cliched, but that’s what it takes to succeed.

You can’t hire people to do your pushups

Creating the change you want in life isn’t going to happen unless you do the work. Ask anyone who has had success. You can outsource the work, like I do with my iPhone apps, but you need to do the work to get it started.

You can hire the best performance coaches to help you on a weekly basis, but it’s up to you to take massive action.

Consistency will get you what you want

The doctor said it wasn’t one slip up, but a bunch of them that caused her to gain weight. It makes total sense. Consistent behavior over time will always give you the results you’ve created. It can be good or bad.

It’s not one large pizza that’s going to make you gain weight. You’ll hardly notice the next day. Instead it’s two pizzas a week for a year that makes your clothes feel a bit tighter.

So whatever you’re trying to achieve whether it’s losing weight, starting an online business, creating an app, or finding love, one screw up isn’t the end of the world.

You can still recover from it. It’s what you do the majority of the time that will determine your results.

When I trained for my first half marathon, I had to skip two or three running days. I just picked up with where I left off the next day. In the end missing a few days didn’t affect me finishing the race. I felt great when I finished.

Had I went from running six days a week, to four days a week, to only running two days a week, I would have been poorly prepared for the race.

I know the approach of slow and steady is hard because the actions we take won’t give us any visible results. Without seeing results, we believe what we’re doing isn’t working.

Believe in the power of compounding. One day all those little steps you take is going to turn into a huge leap in life.

Find your why

When we were a baby and we were just learning to walk, we fell a bunch. Yet we got up every time and kept on trying. With each passing day we got better and better.

Why didn’t we just give up and cry forever?

I bet our reason why we wanted to walk was so strong. We wanted to be able to run around the house. We wanted to move freely and not depend on our parents. We wanted to be like everyone else who could walk.

Of course we don’t remember that, but the same determination that we had to learn to walk is the same that can get you to achieve anything you want. We fell down and we got up.

If you want it badly enough, you will do whatever it takes. If it means eating peanut butter and jelly sandwiches to save money, not taking a vacation for five years to grow your business, skipping a nights out with friends to stay home and work, or whatever it is, you’re willing to make those sacrifices.

I’ll be honest at times I get frustrated with my progress. I push myself, but sometimes not hard enough. I feel like I’m not where I wanted to be by now. Sure I get thoughts of quitting when I get frustrated, but I remember my reasons why I’m doing what I’m doing. It reminds me to keep putting one foot in front of the other even though I don’t see any progress.

I know it’ll all pay off sooner than later.

Asking You

What mistakes have you made in the past that you’ve learned from?

If you’ve been able to create positive change, what helped you?

Please share in the comments below cause it’ll be helpful for others who seek guidance and advice!

 

 

In Positive thinking
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10 of Bruce Lee’s Best Quotes for a Successful Life

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Bruce Lee

(My newest app is available for FREE in the App Store. More details at the end of this post.)

Bruce Lee is a idol of mine.

Not because of his insane martial arts skills, but because he did more in his short life than others do in a lifetime.

I’ve never forgotten about the letter he wrote to himself when he was a minor struggling TV actor. He just had his second child and no financial security when he wrote his “definite chief aim” on paper.

My Definite Chief Aim

I, Bruce Lee, will be the first highest paid Oriental super star in the United States. In return I will give the most exciting performances and render the best of quality in the capacity of an actor. Starting 1970 I will achieve world fame and from then onward till the end of 1980 I will have in my possession $10,000,000. I will live the way I please and achieve inner harmony and happiness.

Bruce Lee

Jan. 1969

Sadly his life was cut short just four years later, but in the early 1970′s, he became an international superstar and no doubt was the highest paid Oriental super star in the United States. If he would have lived, he definitely would have earned more than $10,000,000 in his lifetime.

He approached life with the same intensity and focus like his martial arts training.

And his philosophy on life is still being shared to this day and will be for many more generations.

His collection of quotes inspired me to create my next iPhone app. At the end of the post, I’ll tell you more about the app.

First I wanted to share ten of my favorite Bruce Lee quotes and how it can be applied to your life.

1. The power of positive thinking

“Choose the positive. You have a choice. You are the master of your attitude. Choose the positive, the constructive. Optimism is a faith that leads to success.”

You can’t control everything in your life, but you can control what thoughts you hold in your head. No matter what happens to you on the outside, you control your response to the event.

When you are an optimist you see the opportunities that are available for you. You will find a way around roadblocks. You have a belief that what you’re doing will work and that keeps you motivated to keep on pushing.

Do you know what is the secret trait all entrepreneurs posses? It’s optimism.

2. Shoot for the stars

“A goal is not always meant to be reached. It often serves simply as something to aim at.”

Without aiming for something, you have no direction in life. You’re like a boat floating in the ocean and letting the currents take you wherever it goes. It’ll probably take you to somewhere you don’t want to go.

The old me never set goals. I just had a bunch of wishes floating in my head.

My life changed when I became serious about setting goals in 2011. I wrote them down. I tracked them. I reviewed them weekly. I didn’t achieve all the goals I set, but I did more that year than the past five years combined.

I doubt I would have achieved so much that year without aiming for something.

3. You life is in your hands

“To hell with circumstances; I create opportunities.”

Ask anyone who’s had success and you’ll hear how they created their opportunities. They put in the work every day. They sacrificed.

It wasn’t pure luck. They may have had some luck, but it was cause they created the possibility of luck by doing the work.

If you want to improve your life, don’t wait for miracles to happen.

4. You are what you think

“As you think, so shall you become.”

Your thoughts dictate who you are. If you think you’re worthless, overweight, poor, and dumb, that’s the type of person you’ll be.

It’s like the universe is listening to your thoughts and saying, “Your wish is my command!”

You’ll just bring yourself to a level that you can’t go higher than. If you think of yourself as a 5 out of 10, you’re going to talk like a 5. You’ll walk like you’re a 5. People will see you as a 5.

Instead raise your standards. What’s the type of person you want to be? How would that person think, walk, and talk?

Visualize the person you want to be in your mind consistently.

5. Ready, fire, aim

“If you spend too much time thinking about a thing, you’ll never get it done.”

Too much thinking about what you want to do will cause you to probably not do it. You will think about all the possible scenarios on your head. You will wonder “what if”.

Then you’ll decide to not even bother doing it.

When shooting a gun we always hear ready, aim, fire, but people spend way too long aiming trying to get it perfect. It’s better to fire, see where it hit, adjust, then fire again.

If you’re stuck on deciding something, try the three second rule to make a decision. If you think about it too long, you’ll talk yourself out of it.

6. Cut away the fat

“It’s not the daily increase but daily decrease. Hack away at the unessential.”

Making changes in life isn’t always about adding more to your life, but subtracting what you don’t need.

Buying more stuff to fill your house that already has a ton of stuff isn’t going to make you happy. Instead trying being a minimalist and owning less.

If you say you need more money to be happier, maybe cutting back on unnecessary spending might be better.

If you feel like you don’t have enough time in the day, you need to remove the activities that aren’t productive.

To feel less stressed and be more positive, stop watching the local news. Since I’ve cut that out of my life, I feel so much better.

Removing what is holding you back in your life might be a way to improve it.

7. Stop living life to please others

“I’m not in this world to live up to your expectations and you’re not in this world to live up to mine.”

It’s very easy to make decision based on what other people expect you to do.

Parents want to go to this certain college. They want you to get a real job. You don’t want to disappoint them.

People around you think they know what is best for you.

Then when you want to make changes in your life, you worry about what others will think.

Why do you care about what others think? Your job isn’t to make other people happy. It’s up to you to make yourself happy.

Don’t let other people tell you how to live your life. Don’t do something to please others, but will make you miserable. You’ll go to your deathbed with a ton of regret.

8. Bend but don’t break

“Notice that the stiffest tree is most easily cracked, while the bamboo or willow survives by bending with the wind.”

Bruce felt like a martial artist needed to have flexibility during combat. Since combat is unpredictable like life, he felt one must be adaptable to change with change.

Making change to get from where you are now to where you want to be isn’t going to be easy. Learn to bend, but not break.

When you face something difficult, it’s not the end of the world. Sometimes when one door closes another one opens.

9. Action speaks louder than words

“Knowing is not enough, we must apply. Willing is not enough, we must do.”

You don’t get results just by knowing a bunch of information.

Knowing is the easy part. Go to Google and type in whatever you want to know how to do.

Apply what you have learned, see the results, and adjust accordingly.

Thinking about wanting to do it is not enough. Knowing you have to do it isn’t enough either.

Forget listening to your inner voice to do it. Force yourself to just do it.

10. Keep it simple stupid = KISS

“Simplicity is the key to brilliance.”

When I read this quote what comes to mind is trying to multitask. We think if we can do a bunch of things at one time we can get more done.

Juggling multiple tasks actually takes you longer than if you were to just focus on one task at a time.

Keep things more simple in life. You’ll feel much better.

My new iPhone app is called Life Quotes 

It’s a collection of Bruce Lee quotes all in one app. There are many quotes apps in the App store, but none just focus on him.

Why is it called Life Quotes if it’s all about Bruce Lee? Well I wanted to call it Bruce Lee Quotes, but I didn’t want any problems with his estate using his name so I felt it was safer to leave his name out.

I also had a different icon all ready to go and submitted my app to Apple but it got stopped during the review because I was using his image. They wanted to make sure I had authorization to use it. I wasn’t aware I needed it since it’s a drawing.

Bruce Lee
So to be safe again, I quickly had my designer create a different icon for me.
Life Quotes Icon

The new icon for the app. Homage to his yellow tracksuit from “The Game of Death”.

And even after the app was finally approved, I still ran into another problem I just found out about!

In the App store the app shows the new icon, but when you download the app, it shows the old icon. I made the proper changes and just submitted an update to it to Apple, but will have to wait for them to approve it again.

Other than that, the app is ready to be downloaded!

Okay so what’s the app all about.

Features of the app

  • Optimized for the iPhone 5 screen
  • 141 of Bruce Lee’s best quotes
  • 35 hand selected Youtube videos featuring the best of Bruce Lee
  • Share quotes to Facebook, Twitter or email them.
  • Save your favorite quotes or videos

It’s a free app which you can download right now. I do have a paid version without ads as well if that’s what you prefer.

Download it, share it, and tell me what you think!

Thanks for always supporting my apps and helping spread the word. I’m so thankful for that.

In Epic Living, iPhone App
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8 Common Roadblocks Preventing You from Reaching Your Potential

24 Awesome Comments

Roadblock

You want to reach your potential in life. I know because you’re reading this blog. You wouldn’t be if you didn’t want to.

So we’re both alike in that we want to be more and do more in life.

That outcome doesn’t appear from thin air. Just hoping you’ll achieve it one day isn’t going to work. It’s an ongoing process of taking deliberate action and being aware of what you need to do and do it.

I was reading my monthly issue of Success magazine, which is one of my favorites, and there was a story about John C. Maxwell. You may or may not know him, but if you don’t, he’s a author, speaker, entrepreneur and leadership consultant. He’s sold 19 million copies of his books.

So the man know something about his area of expertise.

He mentioned these eight growth gaps that prevent people from reaching their potential. I related to all of them because I faced each one at one point in my life. I knew many of you could benefit from being aware of them.

If you’re not living up to your potential, see how many of these are holding you back.

If you’re feeling stuck and lost in life, it might be because of these reasons.

The Assumption Gap – “I assume that I will automatically grow.”

I nodded my head when I read that one because that’s what I used to believe.

I figured I could just keep on living my life the way I was, which was doing nothing, watching television, playing video games, eating anything I wanted, wasting hours on the internet, and wishing my life would change.

I thought growth would come automatically. Older and wiser right? With each year, I’d be closer to being the type of person I wanted to be. I just needed to be patient.

I’m sure that’s why it took till I was 32 to finally start to grow! I wish someone would have knocked some sense into me at an earlier age.

My wife tells me I’m such a different person than when I met her four years ago. (I’m not just talking about a little big heavier either.)

After we started dating, she got to really know me and understood a lot of the frustrations I had in life.

My wife has noticed I’ve grown up a lot and in a good way.

That growth finally came from being deliberate about wanting to make changes. I looked at the areas in my life I wanted to change and made the decision to take action.

Growth didn’t happen overnight. It’s been small changes consistently over time.

Have I slipped up along the way? Of course, I’m not perfect. Some bad habits went away, but now have come back. Overall, I’m still much better off than I was just two years ago.

So don’t assume change will automatically happen. You don’t grow by simply living. No one improves by accident.

If your life isn’t the way you want it to be, don’t believe for a second that by thinking the same thoughts and doing the same things will bring change in the future.

You must be 100% responsible for everything in your life. All your thoughts, choices, behaviors and actions. No pointing fingers or placing blame.

When you have that attitude, growth is in your control. You are not living life on auto-pilot like some people people do.

Continue Reading…

In Epic Living, Mindset, Positive thinking
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Failure Helped Me Figure Out What I Enjoy Doing

46 Awesome Comments

“What is defeat? Nothing but education; nothing but the first step to something better.” – Bruce Lee

What should you do if you have no idea what to do in life.

You may be in a job you hate, or out of a job and now wondering what’s next.

You want to do something that you’ll love and make money from. You want to find something that excites you every day.

The biggest problem is you have no idea what to do! Where should you begin?

That’s how I felt for the better part of the last 10 years.

Took me until I was 34 to find something that I enjoy doing, make money from it, and willing to work hard for.

It hasn’t been a smooth road to get to this point. Lots of rough times. Lots of self doubt. Many sad nights.

I always felt like there was something that I could do that’d make me happy. Making money is important to me also. I don’t want a job just for the paycheck. If I’m going to be working, I want to enjoy it. No amount of money will make me happy at a miserable job.

I was always envious at the people who knew what they wanted. Maybe they realized at an early age, during college, or got a great first job out of college.

They could spend more time doing what they enjoy, instead of wondering.

Not me and not many others as well.

If I could go back and talk to my younger self who had no idea what he wanted to do in life, I’d tell him to take more risks. Try different things. Don’t worry about getting it wrong. Doing something is better than doing nothing.

Don’t be afraid to fail.

Trying something and realizing I didn’t like it eliminated that from my mind so I could focus on the next thing I was interested in.

But I thought I knew what I was going to do after college.

My Unused College Major

Raise your hand if you majored in something that is completely unrelated to what you’re doing now? I bet the majority of you.

I majored in sports management in college. Yeah I know you might be thinking, “What?”

I had no idea what I wanted to major in. I was a sophomore and finally had to decide. I figured I love sports so I’ll pick that. Maybe I can do something with sports after college.

My last year of college, I did a summer internship with the Tampa Bay Mutiny of Major League Soccer. I love soccer so I enjoyed that summer. But no permanent job was available afterwards.

Living in Jacksonville, Florida, opportunities were limited if I wanted to do something related to professional sports.

I kept trying to get an internship with the NFL Jacksonville Jaguars. During college and after college. No luck.

So I started to work at the family restaurant. I thought I would work there temporarily while I figured out what I wanted to do.

I enjoyed it at the beginning. I was making money.

I ended up buying a car and a house because that was the typical next stage in life after getting a job.

Needed a change in life, but to what?

After about five years on the job, I started to hate it. I dreaded going to work. I’d feel sick. But what else could I do?

I looked online, but all the jobs sounded so boring to me. I didn’t want to work in some office answering phones. I didn’t want to be selling cell phones. I didn’t want to work at a local sporting goods store where I could work my way up to manager.

What about making money online? I read success stories (not sure how many were true or fake now), but it sounded great to me.

I tried though, but failed at any online efforts.

It took another five years of trial and error to finally figure out what it was that I was good at that I enjoyed.

Five years of being lost, stuck, and miserable feels so much longer! It makes life feel like it’s not worth living at times.

But here I am a survivor of that time in my life and optimistic about my future.

It wasn’t all pretty though. It was like dating a bunch of girls. At first they seemed interesting, but turned out weird and lost my interest. I had to keep trying until I found a great one.

My attempts at a career change

– Sometime around five years ago, I can’t remember exactly, I responded to an ad on Monster.com about a marketing position. I remember it mentioned I could be my own boss in a couple years. I forgot what else it said, but intrigued me enough to apply.

And not much online ever caught my attention. I think I was pretty desperate for something different.

I showed up for an interview in a temporary looking office. There were a couple other people interviewing. I guessed my interview went well because they told me to come back the next day to go into the field.

The next day I went out with two guys about the same age as me. I had to dress up, which meant wearing a tie.

We were going to go door to door selling phone and cable packages. They would ask them what they were paying and offer to help them save money. It was a commission based job.

By lunch time, I already hated it. I had never sold door to door before, but quickly realized I’d rather kick my own ass than do this. But I still had to survive the afternoon. One of the longest days ever.

They liked me enough to offer me a job the next day. I declined of course.

What I learned: I hate door to door selling and don’t like forcing people to buy stuff. I don’t like doing the same thing every day at work. 

– A couple years ago I got a part time job that sounded pretty cool at first. I found it online of course. I worked for a company that helped Canon check their printers in all the Best Buys in my area. I had to make sure they were displayed correctly, working correctly, check the stock, and compare competitors’ prices. It seemed cool at first. It was just part time and only took one or two days every two weeks.

So every two weeks I would have to drive to five of the local Best Buys to do this check. At home, I’d submit the info online.

It wasn’t hard at all. At the beginning, I liked it. It was fun to hang out at Best Buy. They sent a free wireless printer with lots of supplies for me to use. I also got a digital camera to take pictures during my visits.

After a few months of it, I started to dread the week I needed to go into Best Buy. That initial excitement quickly wore off. It got to be monotonous. I’d go in, do the same thing and then leave as soon as possible.

Around this time, the company was planning a conference in Los Angeles to talk about all the upcoming new Canon products. It’d be only for representatives around the country like me.

It would be an all expenses paid trip to Los Angeles. Sounded awesome, but I didn’t want to go. I knew already i wasn’t going to be at this job for much longer.

I finally decided to quit when I was told they wanted reps in this area to start going to Best Buy before it opened and train their employees how to use Canon products. That would have been even worse.

At the beginning, talking electronics and getting paid for it sounded great to me. But I had enough of it. It wasn’t for me.

So I quit.

Unfortunately, I had to return the printer and digital camera.

What I learned: I don’t like doing a job where I feel like a robot. Just like above, I don’t like doing the same thing every time. 

– I applied for another job a long time ago I found online to organize semi-truck shipments. I don’t remember what drew me in. Whatever it was, I sent in my resume and even had a telephone interview.

I didn’t get the job, but now I’m glad I didn’t. I probably would have grew tired of it very quickly.

What I learned: I was really desperate and therefore blocked all rational thinking. 

Making Money Online

I’ve always been interested in making money online.

Back in 2005, I created a sports blog where I wrote about my opinion on different sports topics. It was something I loved to do. I didn’t create it to make money, but I did get advertisers, like gambling and ticket companies, wanting to put text links on my blog.

That more than paid for my web hosting and then some. I ran that for a couple years, but grew bored it of it.

That’s where I got my first taste of making money online.

Around 2007, when I read “The 4 Hour Work” week, I got the desire again to make money online again so I could have the financial freedom I wanted with a location independent business.

I probably looked through all the get rich quick schemes online.

Here are some of my embarrassing attempts:

– I tried buying Google ads to drive traffic to my websites. What kind of websites? One was basic website where users answered a poll question. Either answer would send them to a page where it asked for their email address to enter them in a contest for a gift card. I got paid for each email submitted.

I created a bunch of these websites because there was a guy online who was teaching this. Create a bunch poll questions, buy traffic, get email addresses, and be rich.

One website asked a question about Twilight. The movie just came out and I tried to capitalize on the popularity. Another website asked a question about football and one was about Jennifer Aniston. I don’t remember why I chose her. I think she was in the news a lot that time.

I ended up spending as much money in Google ads as I was making or maybe I was slowly losing money. Either way, it ended up not being interesting enough to keep trying.

What I learned: Doing something just to make money isn’t for me. It wouldn’t motivate me enough to work hard. 

– My next great money making idea was creating niche websites. I would create a website around one type of product and make a commission when someone bought using my referral link.

One was to promote a way for Nintendo DS users to download unlimited free games. I created a website talking about the product, despite never using it. I got traffic by buying Google ads.

I wasn’t doing too bad, but that just means making a couple hundred dollars a month in profit.

I had competition cause there was another website promoting the product and I believe it was converting well.

After awhile, it was harder and harder to get my Google ad to be seen. I also felt sleazy promoting this product. I had never even used it. I didn’t even own a DS.

Finally the offer got pulled, or my traffic died cause my ads weren’t showing anymore. My memory is kinda hazy.

What was even worse about this was I had no idea how the product worked. I just wanted to promote it to make money. I wrote as if it were a great product, but that was a lie.

Later on when the iPad first came out, I remember seeing a product very similar to the DS one. It promised unlimited books and movies. I bought it and it was a rip off! It just gave links to a bunch of websites, which can be easily found in Google.

I imagined that’s what this DS product was like.

What I learned: If I’m promoting or selling, I have to believe in the product. Selling something just to make money doesn’t make me feel good. Again, I was just focused on making money. 

- I created a website about baby strollers. Definitely not one of my better ideas. I thought every family needs a baby stroller so parents would go online to read reviews. They would find my site and buy a stroller though my link. Cha-ching!

I knew nothing about baby strollers. I just thought it was a great idea. I spent time creating a website that looked good. For traffic, I bought Google Ads.

One day, I noticed my first sale! I forgot how much I made, but it was less than $50 for sure. Still I was happy about it.

I kept waiting and waiting for that next sale. It never came.

After a month or two, it wasn’t worth the money nor the effort and I stopped. It was stupid to pick baby strollers, but I guess I didn’t learn.

Other websites I tried selling one type of products were eye creams (don’t know what I was thinking) and identity theft protection.

What I learned: Again too focused on making money. Didn’t do market research. Maybe parents don’t like to buy strollers online. 

– In early 2011, I decided to try niche sites. Websites around one particular topic. This time I would be making money from users clicking on Google Adsense ads.

I joined a course that would teach me how to make a bunch of these niche websites quickly, automatically update with content every day, send easy Google traffic, and make me lots of passive income!

Of course it sounded great.

I went through the course and created one site.

Like everything else I had tried, I soon lost interest in this one. After I made the first one, I didn’t want to do the work to make another one.

It wouldn’t be satisfying to me to be making money this way.

What I learned: I shouldn’t fall for get rich quick products. 

Just wasn’t for me

I sucked at making money online these ways, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t people out there doing very well in the examples above.

It just wasn’t right for me. I wasn’t willing enough to learn more about it and keep trying. I couldn’t imagine being excited putting in the time and effort needed.

I don’t see them as failures now. At the time, I really wanted do it so I did. I tried it out and found out first hand, that I didn’t like it.

Since I had no idea what I wanted to do, trying different things was the best for me. Looking back now, I would have tried even more things.

There is no success without failure

Even when I started this blog and developing my first iPhone app, I wasn’t sure how it would turn out.

As you can see, I’ve tried and stopped so many different times. So this was just another attempt, but this time I felt different. Maybe cause I was determined to not stop taking action until I reached my goals.

It turned out to be beyond my wildest dreams. Photo 365 made a little over $30,000 in its first month. The blog has grown and has a really great community of readers.

What if I didn’t even try? What if I thought about my failures before?

I wouldn’t be here right now writing you this.

It took long time to get to this point. It sucks to feel lost and without a purpose.

Finally I found work I enjoy doing, but it took a long road of trying different things.

Knowing me, my interests will change. I will want to keep challenging myself and work on interesting projects. I’ll probably screw up along the way too. There’s no shame in failing. It’s worse to do nothing.

But for now, I’m loving what I’m doing.

If you’re stuck right now, and you want to make a change but don’t know where to start, I’d say start with what interests you. Just pick something.

Don’t try and do everything at once though. You’ll spread yourself too thin and feel overwhelmed. Give your attention to one thing that could have the most potential impact at this moment.

If you want to start your own business or make money online, but don’t know where to begin, just pick something.

You may end up not liking it, but you won’t be wasting your time.

You’ll waste more time sitting around thinking about what you want to do, then actually doing something.

In Epic Living
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A Flowchart to Get Things Done

39 Awesome Comments

Do it

Is that flowchart talking to you?

Is there something you should be doing? Yes. Do it. No? Don’t f****** lie. <—-Click to tweet

You know there is something you should be doing, but you’re not. Or you are just kind of doing it.

Yes it’s easier to go to your favorite time wasting websites. It’s easier to eat out instead of cook at home. It’s easier to snooze instead of waking up an hour early. It’s easier to not exercise. It’s easier to avoid doing the thing you should be doing.

It’s easier to be in your comfort zone instead of doing something outside of it.

What should you be doing, but you’re not?

In my younger days, guess when my house would be the cleanest? When I had something I should be doing! That was my way to procrastinate.

This flowchart has been in my head because I get tempted to do nothing. It’s just easier! However, doing the easy thing will get me nowhere.

I need that reminder because I’ve been working on a project. Probably the biggest project I’ve ever worked on so far. I want to deliver tons of value and help others achieve a goal that I’ve been able to accomplish.

I’ve spent weekends and any free moment working on it. I’ve had to be slower to reply to emails. I know I haven’t given as much attention to the blog as I would like. I have lots of cool projects I want to do, but it’s not a priority for me right now. I’ve had to tell myself not now.

Sure I’d love to have a lazy day, watch a movie, and be a couch potato, but I can’t afford to waste time now. That flowchart is reminds me when I need it.

What group are you in?

It’s October. There are two groups of people at this moment.. One group that realizes it’s October and only three months left in the year. They should be starting something, but they’ll start in January. That’s what January is for. Next year will be their best year yet!

Another group should be doing something and does it. They want to start something now. Maybe it’s a goal. A goal that could change their life. They don’t want to wait till next year. They’ll get a three month head start on that first group.

The first group has lots of people who will live same old comfortable life the rest of the year. January always signals a fresh start, but every January seems to be like a broken record. The same resolutions and the same goals. This time next year, they’ll be in the same situation waiting another three months to start over again.

The other group is much smaller, but has the ones who want it real bad. They know now is the best time to start. They may have been in that first group before, but now are wiser and smarter. When January comes, they’ve already built some momentum while the first group is just getting ready to start. They also want next year to be their best year yet, but know there’s still time to do something this year.

What group are you in? What group do you want to be in?

Three months left in 2012

That is a lot of time to start something or do something life changing. Don’t waste time doing nothing. You could develop an iPhone app. Start your blog. Write your first book. Lose weight and look great. Do three 30 day challenges. Start new habits. Eliminate bad ones.

If you read 10 pages a day, that’d be 900 pages. That’s 4-6 really great books. Books that could teach you a new skill or inspire you. I’m talking non-fiction books. Sorry no Fifty Shades of Gray.

In 2010, I trained for my first half marathon in three months. I went from overweight and out of shape to the best shape of my life and achieving something I always thought wasn’t possible for me.

I’ll finish this big project in about three months at this rate.

There’s so much you can do in three months! Don’t underestimate what you can achieve in three months.

Is there something you should be doing? If it’s no, you know what the answer likely is. Don’t lie to yourself. Use that flowchart to guide you.

What do you want to achieve before the end of the year? Share with us in the comments and let us help you stay accountable.

 

P.S. You may be wondering what the big project I’m working on. 

It’s a full course on how to develop an iPhone app through outsourcing. I get so many emails about it, I figure it was time to create a course about it. I’m going to share everything I know about it. For me, outsourcing apps has changed my life and I want to help you develop your first iPhone/iPad app. 

If you want to be in the first class and get started now and not next year, head to App Academy and sign up. It’ll be launching soon!

P.P.S Thanks to everyone who’s downloaded and supported Gratitude Journal 365. The reviews have been amazing.

Now there is a lite version, which is free to download! If anyone wants to try it out, now they can. 

Can you help me spread the word? Takes a few seconds. Just click to tweet below. 

Gratitude Journal 365 Lite is now free to download. Try it out and see why so many are loving this app. <—-Click to tweet

 

(Photo credit: Found it on Reddit)

In Productivity
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How to Start Anything and Get Unstuck in Life? Use the Force

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Darth Vader

Some of you are still stuck in life. You feel hopeless. You don’t have the motivation to start anything. You have the same routine every single day. It’s predictable. Life isn’t exciting.

You feel lazy or unmotivated cause you’re stuck. You have dreams, but you always fail to take action to make them come true. What will it take for you to finally get started?

I know what it took for me to get unstuck. It wasn’t hope. It wasn’t an inspirational quote. It wasn’t a miracle. It’s something that I possessed, but rarely used.

After years of getting no results, I realized one night I needed to do something about my life.

Like Obi-Wan Kenobi would say to me, “Use the Force, Benny”.

Let’s first talk about why you might feel stuck in life or not getting anything done.

Why do you feel stuck? 

Feeling stuck doesn’t mean your life sucks. You have many things to be thankful for in your life, but the part that’s missing completely makes us forget what’s good.

Everyone’s life has the potential to be how they want it. As humans, we’re the only species on earth that can change the course of our lives.

Yes, you are human! If you’re not and you’re reading this then that’s pretty eerie. But since you’re human that means you can change your life.

Feeling stuck means that you’re not being fulfilled in a way that excites you. Where you are now is so far from where want to be. In that gap lies frustration and hopelessness.

I thought my life really sucked when I felt stuck, but when I looked around me at the time, I had lots to be thankful for. Simple things like good health, a house, a working car, food everyday and running hot water.

But the part that was missing from my life overshadowed all the good things I had.

If you feel stuck in life, I’m here to tell you there is hope. I’ve been there.

Continue Reading…

In Epic Living
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