How to Use Content to Build Your Online Business by Greg Land

To build a successful online business takes a number of important factors:

1) You need to identify your target market.

2) You need to identify a problem or 0pportunity within that target market group of prospective customers that they Want or need a solution for.

3) You need to find or develop the product.

4) You need to market it to your target prospect group.

5) You need to get your prospects to want to do business with you and keep them coming back to you and your site for the product, information, etc.

So how does 'content' help you?

'Content' can fulfill many of the above needs:

1) 'Content' - could be the product or service itself that you are providing to the prospect or customer. For example, you could be selling pure information in the f0rm of ebooks, reports, articles, guides, white papers, etc. or you could be selling a product, either physical, digital or software. This is normally done through a single-page sales letter website.

2) 'Content' - could be the information you offer your prospects in addition to your sales copy, educating your prospect as to what and how big their problem or need is, and how or why your product is the solution.

3) 'Content' - could be part of what you use to market your product. This becomes your prospecting tool in the form of an ebook, report, white paper, etc. that you give away to build your prospect list and to 'ethically bribe' them to build a relationship with you.

4) 'Content' - on your website can be used to build a relationship with your prospect and customers, setting you up as their advisor and as the 'go to' expert on your topic. Good, fresh content can give your site the 'stickiness' to keep prospects coming back again and again. Over time, you should be able to convert a lot of them into profitable customers for your business.

5) 'Content' - an additional big advantage of having lots of fresh, updated content on your website is that the search engines (SE's) love this stuff. If the SE's love your site, they will be back often to see what good new stuff you have for them to index. This will translate into your site being more highly ranked on the SE's for certain keywords. This will then convert into lots of additional juicy targeted traff1c that you don't have to pay a cent for. How great is that?

Where or how do you get 'Content'?

1) Develop, write or compile your own.
2) Pay someone else to do this for you.
3) Find online sources of fr'ee 'content' on the web or public domain libraries.
4) Join a service or membership site that will provide you with 'content' or allow you access to their library of 'content'.
5) Buy one of the 'Resale' or 'Private Label' packages offered on the web.

How to use the 'Content' resources to build your online business.

1) Add relevant articles, ebooks, reports, etc. to your site to offer your visitors new, fresh content and information. If you do this regularly, you can increase the 'stickiness' of your site as well as your ranking with the SE's.

2) If you have 'resale rights' to the content, you can put up a one-page $ales letter type site, drive traff1c to it and you have a new business. Many of the resale rights packages come with 'ready to go' $ales letters and sites. I would advise you to customize your offer to differentiate yourself from your competition who also bought the package, but that will be a covered in another article.

3) Create your own paid membership site offering 'content' relevant to your target market.

4) Bundle 'content' with your existing products as a premium product or as bonuses to enhance the perceived value of your product.

5) Use as an 'upsell', 'cross sell' or 'back end' product. This means that you n0w have a whole range of additional relevant products to sell to your prospective customers and site visitors.

6) Special offers and 'Fire $ales'. Offer your prospect and customer list special limited-time offers of these products or product bundles.

7) 'Private Label Rights', offer a whole range of additional opportunities. Rename, rewrite, change as you like, add to
or change media type (i.e. from ebook to audio CD product or ebook to multi-day ecourse). These rights pretty much allow
you to do what you like with the product. It offers you the opportunity to customize a product to your target market and their needs and wants. You become the named creator or author, which helps you develop credibility as the expert in your field.

As you can see from the few basic ideas above, the options and opportunities are many. You are only limited by your own thinking.

..................................................................................................................................................................................................................

Greg Land and his partner Gail Buckley have created the ultimate no brainer. The WOW Content Club is absolutely the # ONE BEST CONTENT resource site on the web today--bar none. If you are looking for first-rate resale content, whether it be
Niche, Public Domain or Online Marketing related, you need look no further than this remarkable site. If Info-Products are the Ultimate Marketing Tool, the WOW Content Club is the Ultimate Marketers' Website! Go see for yourself!

A look at Windows Vista's casual games

It looks like the new Vista operating system from Microsoft has Chess Titans for chess fans. But only in the Deluxe version of Vista. Home version users of Vista only has access to :

• Solitaire
• FreeCell
• Spider Solitaire
• Hearts
• Minesweeper
• Purble Place

The Deluxe Vista users have in addition :

• Mahjong
• Chess
• Inkball

Read more about this at : http://www.joystiq.com/2006/07/25/a-look-at-windows-vistas-casual-games/

Light Jokes

                                                                    
       My husband and I divorced over religious differences.                
       He thought he was God, and I didn't.                                 
                                                                            
       
------------------------------------------------------------------   
                                                                            
       Marriage is a three-ring circus:                                     
       Engagement ring, wedding ring, and suffering.                        
                                                                            
       
------------------------------------------------------------------   
                                                                            
       For Sale:                                                            
       Wedding dress, size 8.                                               
       Worn once by mistake.                                                
                                                                            
       
------------------------------------------------------------------   
                                                                            
       There are two times when a man doesn't understand a woman:           
       Before marriage and after marriage.                                  
                                                                            
       
------------------------------------------------------------------   
                                                                            
       Why were hurricanes usually named after women?                       
       Because when they arrive, they're wet and wild, but when they go, they take your house and car.                                        
                                                                            
       
------------------------------------------------------------------   
                                                                            
       The woman applying for a job in a Florida lemon grove seemed way too qualified for the job.                                               
                                                                            
       "Look Miss," said the foreman, "have you any actual experience in picking lemons?"                                                     
                                                                            
       "Well, as a matter if fact, yes!" she replied.? "I've been divorced three times."                                                        
                                                                            
       
------------------------------------------------------------------   
                                                                            
       An old man goes to the Wizard to ask him if he can remove a curse he has been living with for the last 40 years.                          
                                                                            
       The Wizard says, "Maybe, but you will have to tell me the exact words that were used to put the curse on you."                       
                                                                            
       The old man says without hesitation,                                 
       "I now pronounce you man and wife."                                  
                                                                            
       
------------------------------------------------------------------   
                                                                            
       I was in the express lane at the store quietly fuming.

   Completely ignoring the sign, the woman ahead of me had slipped into the check-out line pushing a cart piled high
with groceries. Imagine my  delight when the cashier beckoned the woman to come forward looked into the cart and asked sweetly,

"So which six items would you like to buy?"                                                            

  Wouldn't it be great if that happened more often?                    
                                                                            
       
------------------------------------------------------------------   
                                                                            
       Because they had no reservations at a busy restaurant, my elderly    
       neighbor and his wife were told there would be a 45-minute wait for  
       a table.

       "Young man, we're both 90 years old," the husband said. "We
       may not have 45 minutes."
    
      They were seated immediately.              
                                                                            
       
------------------------------------------------------------------   
                                                                            
       The reason congressmen try so hard to get re-elected is that they    
       would hate to have to make a living under the laws they've passed.   
                                                                            
       
------------------------------------------------------------------   
                                                                            
       All eyes were on the radiant bride as her father escorted her down   
       the aisle. They reached the altar and the waiting groom; the bride   
       kissed her father and placed something in his hand. The guests in    
       the front pews responded with ripples of laughter.

       Even the priest smiled broadly. As her father gave her
       away in marriage, the bride gave him back his credit card.                                       
                                                                            
       
------------------------------------------------------------------   
                                                                            
       Women and cats will do as they please, and
      men and dogs should relax
       and get used to the idea.                                            
                                                                            
       
------------------------------------------------------------------   
                                                                            
       Three friends from the local congregation
were asked, "When you're in your casket, and friends and
congregation members are mourning over you,
what would you like them to say?"                          
                                                                            
       Artie said: "I would like them to say I
   was a wonderful husband, a fine spiritual leader, and a great family man."                      
                                                                            
       Eugene commented: "I would like them to
  say I was a wonderful teacher and servant of God who made a huge
difference in people's lives."                                                              
                                                                            
       Al said: "I'd like them to say,
  "Look, he's moving!"                 
                                                                            
       
------------------------------------------------------------------   
                                                                            
       Smith climbs to the top of Mt. Sinai to
get close enough to talk to  
       God. Looking up, he asks the Lord... "God,
what does a million years mean to you?"                                                        
                                                                            
       The Lord replies, "A minute."                                        
                                                                            
       Smith asks, "And what does a million
dollars mean to you?"           
       The Lord replies, "A penny."                                         
                                                                            
       Smith asks, "Can I have a penny?"                                    
                                                                            
       The Lord replies, "In a minute."                                     
                                                                            
       
------------------------------------------------------------------   
                                                                            
       A man goes to a shrink and says, "Doctor,
my wife is unfaithful to me.
Every evening, she goes to Larry's bar and picks up men.
In fact, she sleeps with anybody who asks
her! I'm going crazy. What do you think I should do?"                                              
                                                                            
       "Relax," says the Doctor, "take a deep breath and calm down.
Now, tell me, exactly where is Larry's bar?"                              
                                                                            
       
------------------------------------------------------------------   
                                                                            
       John was on his deathbed and gasped
pitifully.                       
                                                                            
       "Give me one last request, dear," he said.                           
                                                                            
       "Of course, John," his wife said softly.                             
                                                                            
       "Six months after I die," he said, "I want you to marry Bob."        
                                                                            
       "But I thought you hated Bob," she said.                             
                                                                            
       With his last breath John said, "I do!"                              
                                                                            
       
------------------------------------------------------------------   
                                                                            
       A man goes to see the Rabbi. "Rabbi,
something terrible is happening and I have to talk to you about it."                                 
                                                                            
       The Rabbi asked, "What's wrong?"                                     
                                                                            
       The man replied, "My wife is poisoning me."                          
                                                                            
       The Rabbi, very surprised by this, asks, "How can that be?"          
                                                                            
       The man then pleads, "I'm telling you, I'm certain she's poisoning me, what should I do?"                                               
                                                                            
       The Rabbi then offers, "Tell you what. Let me talk to her, I'll see  
       what I can find out and I'll let you know."                          
                                                                            
       A week later the Rabbi calls the man and says, "Well, I spoke to     
       your wife. I spoke to her on the phone for three hours. You want my  
       advice?" The man said yes and the Rabbi replied,                    
                                                                            
       "Take the poison." 

Why Malaysian Companies Arent Investing In Simulation?

When we speak of computer simulation, the thought that comes into most people's mind is some kind of 3D graphic animation and they wonder if this can actually help them in their business.

I started my career in computer simulation, specifically Finite Element Analysis (FEA) in Malaysia in 1999 with a company that resells Ansys, a general purpose finite element software. Only the foreign owned MNC's were using engineering simulation tools like ANSYS, MSC.Software, LMS and Abaqus. In fact, it was the MNC's that were driving the business for the local FEA vendors. The only local Malaysian company using simulation was Proton, but that was only limited to components and not the whole assembly.

That was in 1999. What about 2006? We can add Petronas to the list, but who else?

So the question begs, why arent Malaysian companies using simulation to help push their business onto the next level?

To the contary to what most people would think, money is not the main issue. Money is a close second but its not the stumbling block. The stumbling block seems to be the perception that simulation is only a toy, it's not 100% accurate and the ROI (Return on Investment) is too long. SMI's (Small & Medium Industries) do not want to invest the money, time and effort if they cant recoup their investment within a few months.

SMI's always cite that when investing RM200k into a machine, they can see the ROI immediately. But RM200k into a software will only yield a proper ROI after several years, the least. Within money being scarce, a CEO or MD weighing the option of spending a considerably large sum of money into something concrete and well accepted (machinary) or simulation, will always put his money down on hardware. His job is same, the company sees a return on investment immediately; everyone is happy.

And what happens when products fail?

Read more here....

Is SETI Barking up the Wrong Tree?

Our search for aliens -- are they really out there?

Is SETI searching in the wrong direction?

This is a very interesting article since no blood vessel is in the cornea, if they were, we wouldnt be able to see, but yet the eye remains fresh and fed vitamins and minerals by the body.

How?

Read the article :

The Reason Eyes are Transparent Finally Becomes Clear

Crabby Old Lady

When an old lady died in the geriatric ward of a small hospital near Dundee, Scotland, it was believed that she had nothing left of any value.

Later, when the nurses were going through her meager possessions, they found this poem. Its quality and content so impressed the staff that copies were made and distributed to every nurse in the hospital. One  nurse
took her copy to Ireland. The old lady's sole bequest to posterity has
since appeared in the Christmas edition of the NewsMagazine of the North Ireland Association for Mental Health. A slide presentation has also been made based on her simple, but eloquent, poem. And this little old Scottish lady, with nothing left to give to the world, is now the author of this "anonymous" poem winging across the Internet:

CRABBY OLD WOMAN

What do you see, Nurses?
What do you see?

What are you thinking

When you're looking at me?

A crabby old woman,
Not very wise,
Uncertain of habit,
With faraway eyes?

Who dribbles her food
And makes no reply
When you say in a loud voice,
"I do wish you'd try!"


Who seems not to notice
The things that you do,
And forever is losing
A stocking or shoe?

Who, resisting or not,
Lets you do as you will,
With bathing and feeding,
The long day to fill?

Is that what you're thinking?
Is that what you see?
Then open your eyes, nurse,
You're not looking at me.

I'll tell you who I am
As I sit here so still,
As I do at your bidding,
As I eat at your will.


I'm a small child of ten
With a father and mother,
Brothers and sisters,
Who love one another.

A young girl of sixteen
With wings on her feet
Dreaming that soon now
A lover she'll meet.


A bride soon at twenty,
My heart gives a leap,
Remembering the vows
That I promised to keep.

At twenty-five now,
I have young of my own,
Who need me to guide
And a secure happy home.

A woman of thirty,

My young now grown fast,
Bound to each other
With ties that should last.

At forty, my young sons
Have grown and are gone,
But my man's beside me
To see I don't mourn.

At fifty once more,

Babies play round my knee,
Again we know children,
My loved one and me.

Dark days are upon me,
My husband is dead,
I look at the future,
I shudder with dread.

For my young are all rearing
Young of their own,

And I think of the years
And the love that I've known.

I'm now an old woman
And nature is cruel;
'Tis jest to make old age
Look like a fool.

The body, it crumbles,
Grace and vigor depart,

There is now a stone
Where I once had a heart.

But inside this old carcass
A young girl still dwells,
And now and again,
My battered heart swells.

I remember the joys,
I remember the pain,

And I'm loving and living
Life over again.

I think of the years
All too few, gone too fast,
And accept the stark fact
That nothing can last.

So open your eyes, people,
Open and see,
Not a crabby old woman;

Look closer . . . see ME!!

Remember this when you next meet an elderly person who you might brush aside without looking at the young soul within . .. If we live long  enough we will all be there someday.

Joke : Timbuktu

The National Poetry Contest had come down to two finalists, an Oxford graduate and a high school dropout.  They were given a word,  then allowed two minutes to study the word and come up with a poem

that contained the word.

The word they were given was "Timbuktu".


First to recite his poem was the Oxford graduate.  He stepped to the  microphone and said:
Slowly across the desert
sand
Trekked a lonely caravan;
Men on camels, two by two
Destination Timbuktu.

The crowd went crazy! No way could the high school dropout top that, they thought.

He calmly made his way to the microphone and recited:


Me and Tim a huntin' went.
Met three whores in a pop up tent.
They was three, and we was two,
So I bucked one, and Timbuktu.

And we have a winner!

Joke :Dont Mess with the Old Farts!

A farmer went out one day and bought a brand new stud rooster for his chicken coop. The new rooster struts over to the old rooster and says,

"OK old fart, time for you to retire."

The old rooster replies, "Come on, surely you cannot handle ALL of 
these chickens. Look what it has done to me. Can't you just let me have the two old hens over in the corner?"

The young rooster says, "Beat it: You are washed up and I am taking  over.." The old rooster says, "I tell you what, young stud. I will
race you around the farmhouse. Whoever wins gets the exclusive domain over the entire chicken coop." The young rooster laughs.

"You know you don't stand a chance, old man. So, just to be fair, I will give you a head start."

The old rooster takes off running. About 15 seconds later the young rooster takes off running after him. They round the front porch of the farmhouse and the young rooster has closed the gap.


He is only about 5 feet behind the old rooster and gaining fast.

The farmer, meanwhile, is sitting in his usual spot on the front porch when he sees the roosters running by. He grabs his shotgun and - BOOM 
- he blows the young rooster to bits. The farmer sadly shakes his head and says, "Darn.....third gay rooster I bought this month."

Moral of this story? ...

Don't mess with the OLD FARTS - age, skill, and treachery will always
overcome youth and arrogance!

DID I MARRY THE RIGHT PERSON?

     During one of our seminars, a woman asked a common question.

       She said, "How do I know if I married the right person?"

 I noticed  that there was a large man sitting next to her so I said,
                 "It depends. Is  that your husband?"

         In all seriousness, she answered "How do you  know?"

          Let me answer this question because the chances are
                good that  it's weighing on your mind.

                          Here's the answer.

EVERY  relationship has a cycle. In the beginning, you fell in love with
your  spouse. You anticipated their call, wanted their touch, and liked
                        their  idiosyncrasies.

   Falling in love with your spouse wasn't hard. In fact,  it was a
            completely natural and spontaneous experience.
 You didn't have  to DO anything. That's why it's called "falling" in love...

                   Because it's happening TO YOU.

People in love sometimes say, "I was  swept of my feet." Think about the
 imagery of that _expression. It implies that you were just standing
there; doing nothing, and then something came  along and happened TO YOU.

 Falling is love is easy. It's a passive and  spontaneous experience.

But after a few years of marriage, the euphoria  of  love fades. It's the
 natural cycle of EVERY relationship. Slowly  but surely, phone calls
become a bother (if they come at all), touch is not  always welcome (when
it happens), and your spouse's idiosyncrasies, instead  of being cute, drive you nuts.

 The symptoms of this stage vary with  every relationship, but if you
think about your marriage, you will notice a  dramatic difference between
the initial stage when you were in love and a  much duller or even angry subsequent stage.

At this point, you  and/or your spouse might start asking, "Did I marry
the right person?" And  as you and your spouse reflect on the euphoria of
 the love you once had,  you may begin to desire that experience with
  someone else. This is when  marriages breakdown. People blame their
   spouse for their unhappiness and  look outside their marriage for fulfillment.

Extramarital  fulfillment comes in all shapes and sizes. Infidelity is
    the most obvious.  But sometimes people turn to work,a hobby, a
           friendship, excessive TV, or  abusive substances.

  But the answer to this dilemma does NOT lie outside  your marriage.

                          It lies within it.

 I'm not saying that you couldn't  fall in love with someone else. You could.

And TEMPORARILY you'd  feel better. But you'd be in the same situation a
         few years later. Because  (listen carefully to this):

      THE KEY TO SUCCEEDING IN MARRIAGE IS  NOT FINDING THE
      RIGHT PERSON; IT'S LEARNING TO LOVE THE PERSON YOU  FOUND.

SUSTAINING love is not a passive or spontaneous experience.  It'll NEVER
just happen to you. You can't "find" LASTING love. You have to  "make" it
 day in and day out. That's why we have the _expression "the labor of love."

 Because it takes time, effort, and energy. And most  importantly, it
takes WISDOM. You have to know WHAT TO DO to make your  marriage work.

 Make no mistake about it. Love is NOT a mystery. There  are specific
 things you can do (with or without your spouse) to succeed  with your marriage.

Just as there are physical laws of the universe  (such as gravity), there
 are also laws for relationships. Just as the right  diet and exercise
    program makes you physically stronger, certain   habits in your
relationship WILL make your marriage stronger. It's a  direct cause and
effect. If you know and apply the laws, the results are  predictable...you can "make" love.

   Love in marriage is indeed a  "decision"... Not just a  feeling.

Joke : Kids in school think quickly

TEACHER    :    Maria, go to the map and find North America.
MARIA         :    Here it is!
TEACHER    :    Correct. Now class, who discovered America?
CLASS          :   Maria!
___________________________________________________________
TEACHER     :    Why are you late, Frank?
FRANK          :    Because of the sign.
TEACHER     :    What sign?
FRANK    :    The one that says, "School Ahead, Go Slow.."
___________________________________________________________
TEACHER:   John, why are you doing your math multiplication on the floor?
JOHN       :   You told me to do it without using tables!
___________________________________________________________
TEACHER    :   Glenn, how do you spell "crocodile?"
GLENN         :   K-R-O-K-O-D-A-I-L"
TEACHER    :    No, that's wrong
GLENN         :   Maybe it s wrong, but you asked me how I spell it!
___________________________________________________________
TEACHER    :   Donald, what is the chemical formula for water?
DONALD      :    H I J K L M N O!!
TEACHER    :    What are you talking about?
DONALD      :   Yesterday you said it's H to O!
___________________________________________________________
TEACHER      : Winnie, name one important thing we have today that we didn't  have ten years ago.
WINNIE        :   Me!
___________________________________________________________
TEACHER    :   Goss, why do you always get so dirty?
GOSS          :    Well, I'm a lot closer to the ground than you are.
__________________________________________________________
TEACHER   :    Millie, give me a sentence starting with "I."
MILLIE    :    I is...
TEACHER    :    No, Millie..... Always say, "I am."
MILLIE     :   All right... "I am the ninth letter of the alphabet."
___________________________________________________________
TEACHER    :    Can anybody give an example of COINCIDENCE?
TINO: Sir, my Mother and Father got married on the same day, same time."
___________________________________________________________
TEACHER: George Washington not only chopped down his father's cherry tree, but also admitted doing it. Now, Louie, do you know why his father didn't punish  him?"
LOUIS   : Because George still had the ax in his hand.
___________________________________________________________
TEACHER      :  Now, Simon, tell me frankly, do you say prayers before eating?
SIMON          :    No sir, I don't have to, my Mom is a good cook.
___________________________________________________________
TEACHER      : Clyde, your composition on "My Dog" is exactly the same as your brother's. Did you copy his?
CLYDE           :    No, teacher, it's the same dog!;
__________________________________________________________
TEACHER : Harold, what do you call a person who keeps on talking when people  are no longer interested?
HAROLD   :     A teacher

GOALS - The Power Line to Success and Achievement

 
WHY DO WE NEED GOALS?

• Goals give you direction in all areas of your life - Personal, Career, Spiritual, Material, and Contribution
• Goals give you a purpose in life.  A reason to get up early in the morning and go to bed late at night
• Goals will put drive and passion into your life
• Not having goals is similar to sailing a ship across the Atlantic without a map.  Goals, like maps, help you get to your destination much faster than sailing though life aimlessly

HOW DO I SET GOALS?

• First you must dream! Dream of everything you want, and have always wanted in every facet of your life.
• There are no limits. Ask yourself, "What would I attempt to do, if I knew I could not fail?"  "What would I want for my life if I knew I could have it?"
• Allow yourself to dream like you did as a child. Let your imagination run wild!
• Brainstorm
• Write your ideas down on paper and decide which ones are the most important to you.
• Review what you have written down on paper.
• Now its is time to define your dream precisely.  Which of these goals are most important to you, and
  why?
• On a fresh piece of paper, write down one goal at a time. Beside the heading, write down a deadline for achieving that goal. Be sure that the deadline is realistic.
• To help achieve the long term goal, set a timeline using short term goals. For example, if your long term personal goal is to loose 60 lbs. in one year, set short term goals leading up to the long term goal.  In this example you might set short term goal to loose 5 lbs. per month.  This is an effective way to evaluating your progress helping you to determine if you have to make changes to your action plan.

THE SECRETS OF ACHIEVING YOUR GOALS 

 

1.  Make your goals Inspirational

• You need to set goals grand enough to challenge yourself.  Remember that if you don't have to push yourself beyond your current limits to reach your goals, you're not really achieving anything.  To truly be successful, and reach your true potential, you must constantly push yourself to move outside of your "comfort zone".

 

2.  Define your goals with Clarity

• Be precise in what you want.  The more clearly defined your goal is, the easier it will be to attain.  For example, let's say you want to buy a house. To say you want to buy a house is not enough.  To find a house you'll really be happy with, you have to specify exactly what you want.  Do you want to live in the country or the city?  Do you want a two storey or a bungalow?  Do you want a brick house or a wood house?  How many square feet do you want?  Do you want a pool?  How much can you afford?  As you can see there are many questions to ask.
• The more questions you ask yourself, and are able to answer, the clearer your goal will be.
• Once you know the exact outcome you want, you will be able to create an action plan that will ensure your success.

3.  Write a Paragraph

• Write a paragraph or two describing exactly why you absolutely must attain your goal.  Write down all the reasons why you are committed to attain your goal.  Feel the emotion stir up inside of you.  Feel the passion and drive.  This will bring the goal to life!
• How would you feel one year from now if you were to attain all your goals?  How would that make you feel about yourself?  Would your feel proud?  Would your self-esteem be increased?  Would you feel unstoppable?  Would you feel more confident in your ability?  What results would you get from reaching your goals?  Would you have greater job security?  Would you be up for a promotion?  Would you be earning more money?  Would your family and friends be proud of you?   How would that make you feel?

4. Write Another Paragraph!

• This paragraph or two should explain what will happen if you don't attain your goal.  How will you feel?  What will happen to your lifestyle?  Will you be embarrassed?  Will you loose self-esteem?  Will you loose your job?  The more emotion you can put behind the reasons why you must succeed and why you must not fail, the more committed to attaining your goals you will become.

5. Constantly Evaluate Your Progress

• Having an action plan is not enough.  The captain in the previous example will have to constantly evaluate his progress in order to be sure he is on target.  Unforeseen obstacles are sure to arise, such as a hailstorm, or increased southerly winds.  As a result, he may have to increase his speed or guide the boat in a more westerly direction.  In other words, notice what is working and what is not.  If an approach is not working, don't waste your time with it.  Change your approach.

6. Never Lose Sight of Your Goal

• Take the time to review your goals every morning when you get up and every night before you go to bed.  This will keep them fresh in your mind.  If you think reviewing your goals twice a day is too much to ask, maybe you should reevaluate what it is you want.  Ask yourself, "How important is it to me that I attain my goals?"

7. Don't Procrastinate

• Procrastination is a "silent killer".  Understand that the only way to achieve your goals is to take action!  Knowledge means nothing if you don't apply it.  How many people have you come across with an unbelievable amount of education working a mediocre job?  The world is full of people who don't apply their knowledge.  On the other hand, chances are you know of people with less educational background who apply everything they learn.  These people are usually the ones who are most successful in all areas of their lives.
• Do something right now that will help you to achieve your goals.  There is no time like the present!  Get the ball rolling.  Each step you take brings you one step closer to the life you want.
• Remember the motto, "The road to Someday, leads to the town of Nowhere".  Someday is today!

THE BENEFITS OF GOAL SETTING

• You will notice an increase in your energy level as you begin to live your life with passion - the passion that having a meaningful goal will give you.
• You will be in control of your life and the direction you are heading.  Your life does not have to be determined by fate alone.  With goals, you create your destiny.
• Goals give you a purpose in life.  A reason to get up early and go to bed late.

EVIDENCE 

 

The following are examples of individuals who have achieved their goals.  How has it changed their lives and possibly the lives of others?

• Mother Teresa
• Nelson Mandella
• Michael Jordan
• Mark McGwire

What goals have you achieved that have changed your life, and possibly the lives of others? Maybe it was,

• Education
• Relationship
• New car
• Job interview
• Weight loss
• Exercise program 
• Everything you do is a cause set in motion.  No matter how small the act may seem, it will ultimately have an effect on your life.

OBSERVATIONS

• You will soon notice your mind will become a magnet for attracting any information or opportunity that can help you achieve your goals more rapidly.
• For example, have you ever played the game, "Punch Buggy?"  If not, if goes something like this.  When driving in a car with a friend, the first person to see a Volkswagen "Bug" gets to punch the other person in the shoulder while exclaiming the color of the car "Punch Buggy Red"!
• Once you begin playing this game, you will be surprised to find how quickly your arm becomes sore!  That's right, all of a sudden you will become a magnet for Volkswagen "Bugs"!  Everywhere you look, you will see one.  The same thing is true of your goals.  When you know exactly what you are looking for, it will mysteriously present itself.
• This is based on the phenomenon that You Get What You Focus On.
• Remember to "enjoy the ride'.  This is the key to a successful life.  There is little point in only allowing yourself to enjoy life at the point of achieving a goal.  If that were the case, think of all the time that would be spent not fully enjoying your life.  Learn to happily achieve rather than achieving to be happy.  After all, whether you are conscious of it or not, the majority of your time is spent striving to achieve goals.  Such as, getting up in the morning, getting to work on time, making time to see a friend of loved one, and so on.
• Although these "goals" are pretty exciting, let's not forget the big ones.  The ones we create with passion and drive.  The goals that can truly change our lives if we commit to pursuing them.

 SUMMARY

• If you are dissatisfied with some aspect of your life, get excited.  All it means is you now what you don't want.  Now its is time to determine exactly what you do want.
• Clarify exactly what it is you want and create a time frame for getting it.
• Write one or two paragraphs why you must attain your goals and one or two paragraphs why you must not fail to attain your goals.
• Keep a close eye on your progress.  If what you are doing is not working, change your approach.
• Review your goals twice daily.  This will keep you focused.
• The time to change your life is now. Not tomorrow, not the next day.
• Take time to invest in the future you want.  You have the power to create your own destiny!

Copyright (c) 1999 Glen Hopkins

Something to Think About..