Fear and fearfulness can be a real disabler, stopping you dead in your tracks and keeping you from pursuing your dreams and goals.
Fear manifests in the form of…
Procrastination,
Overwhelm,
Making up excuses,
Doubt in own ability,
Anxiety, where there is an imbalance in perceived ability and requirements,
Denial,
Avoidance
These behaviours come from some underlying fear, it could be fear of failure, fear of… coming to harm, even death, embarrassment, vulnerability, loss, poverty, change, uncertainty, discomfort, rejection… the list goes on.
Fear is a mind-construct and comes from working through scenarios of what might happen in the future, but because it’s thought-based it inevitably will be biased towards self-preservation and minimising risk and uncertainty where possible, because that’s what thoughts are conditioned to do.
Doing anything new, moving away from your comfort zone, will cause a fear reaction. It does so for everybody to some degree. The difference between those that act and those that don’t is confidence and risk-tolerance.
Some people naturally believe more in themselves or have been brought up to have confidence in themselves and are prepared to tackle uncertainty and risk, because they feel they will find a way through to a successful conclusion, no matter what.
Others have been conditioned to believe risk is dangerous and to play safe and/or have been brought up in such a way as to have their confidence eroded to the point that they just don’t want to take a chance.
Confidence is often built-up or demolished in childhood years, and the beliefs about ourselves, that are subsequently formed, follow us into adulthood.
We should increase self-awareness and truly challenge any limiting-beliefs, because often they are more likely to be reflection of the self-doubt of the very people who discouraged us from taking risks, dealing with uncertainty and change, rather than of us, as individuals.
Discouragement and warnings of what might go wrong, may have been made with the best intentions of keeping us safe, but result in a self-imposed prison.
Because they may be long-standing beliefs, it may take some time to break out of the groove they have imprinted on our minds and patterns of thinking, but bringing them into AWARENESS and challenging them is often the all important first step.
Repetition of a new empowering belief will form a new neural pathway through the power of habit. Put simply, replace bad habitual thinking patterns with good ones.
We would all like to be more successful in one way or another. Success is not just about having a profitable business, or achieving great wealth, but comes in the form of successfully achieving good health, having great relationships and being more fulfilled spiritually.
I’ve listed 10 great secrets for improving your chances of success, there are others and you can find more ideas throughout this website, so check them out at your leisure, there’s lots to read and watch on the site. Also please consider signing up to our newsletter to get content updates and exclusive material, not available on the website.
So let’s get on with it…
Embrace CHANGE and RISK
There are winners and losers in every situation. You can focus on blaming and complaining, or you can look to position yourself to win. Be a predator of chance, rather than a victim of circumstance.
We resist CHANGE because it brings uncertainty and risk, but it also brings opportunity. Changing your mindset, changes your results.
For example during the financial crisis of 2007-2008, which brought down most of the major economies, some financial institutions were quick to identify the problem and take positions to benefit from it, by shorting stocks.
Every crisis opens up opportunities, you just have to be clear minded enough to be able to take advantage, often in the face of fear and imminent disaster.
Change your PERSPECTIVE
Challenge your perceptions, expectations, assumptions and interpretations.
Accepting the possibility of being wrong takes courage, and self-confidence
The aim is to have a more rounded perspective of the world and to be open to alternative ideas, views and methods of doing things.
Stop EXCUSING failure
Procrastination, blaming and complaining are clever psychological tricks aimed at making yourself feel better for not trying, or failing.
For instance procrastination allows you to delay the necessity to take action, you say, “I’ll start my diet tomorrow or at the beginning of next week or I’ll make it a new year resolution”. They are excuses that allow you to remain unchanged.
Blaming and complaining passes responsibility to others so you can feel better and free yourself from guilt, but passing responsibility passes power, the very power you need to make progress.
Fix MISPERCEPTIONS
Be wary of what you choose to believe. Many belief systems are based on little more than assumptions. Assumptions about what we are being told and assumptions about the people who are telling us, assumptions about what is true and what is not.
You might see your Facebook feed taken up by people commenting on social and political issues, and if you’re like me you wonder how many of these opinions are nothing other than unresearched re-parroting of mis-truths.
In his book “Think and grow rich”, Napoleon Hill advises to always ask “How do you know?” when somebody tells you something, and if their answer happens to be anything other than “from first hand experience”, take it with a pinch of salt.
Be COMMITTED
Going all-in, burning bridges, reaching the point of no return. However you want to term it, making sure you are committed means you have to make it work or else…
When you do anything half heartedly, with one foot in and one foot out, things seem to take much more time to reach a successful conclusion, if at all.
Success needs determination and perseverance, particularly when the going gets tough, and commitment means you’re more likely to push on rather than give up and throw in the towel. Road blocks and obstructions will inevitably halt your progress, to test your resolve. If you are to get past them you have to be resolute, or don’t even bother starting.
Set GOALS
Make your goals dynamic rather than static. What I mean by this is, don’t focus on being a millionaire, instead make goals more action oriented such as… helping a million people get out of poverty by using [your solution]. This helps you link your GOAL back to where you are starting out from.
Start by focusing on helping one person then get better and more effective at doing it. The aim from there is to leverage your results to help more and more people. Ask “How can I help one person?” and progress from there.
Once you start on this defined path, progress is easy to measure and you are in a groove from the word go.
Narrow your FOCUS
Have you ever used a magnifying glass to concentrate the sun’s rays and burn grass, insects or even a friend’s hand for a bit of, so called fun? Then you’ll appreciate the power of focused energy.
In the same way the sun’s energy is intensified into a small beam of heat, when you concentrate your energy onto a single thing, the power of that energy, of effort, in this case, is greatly intensified to much greater effect than would be the case if you were covering a wide number of different things.
When you spread yourself thin, your energy dissipates to a large extent. You are bound to get a drop in consequences and outcomes. Focus will maximise the return on energy invested, otherwise known as energy return on investment.
Put in the HARD WORK
If you believe you can be an overnight success, make a website and earn thousands of pounds in passive income, you’re deluded.
There are many sharks hoping to sell you the next money making system for just $49. Forget it, the only person you’re going to make rich is the person selling you the system.
Success takes work, don’t be persuaded otherwise. Knuckle down and do something you love, and “GRAFT AT YOUR CRAFT“. Get into a virtuous cycle of continual improvement based on action and feedback, and learn as you practice.
LEVERAGE resources
The ability to leverage resources is the key to riches. Leverage requires employing a system to grow from one to many.
Think of opening a shop, and then two, three and more. You find a method that can deliver value to customers in one area. When you have it cracked you open in a new area and repeat.. If you drive a taxi for a living, you get a second car, pay someone to drive it for you, pocket any profit, repeat and rinse.
You can personally only work so many hours, there is a ceiling to your earning power. Businesses leverage the power of the many, for a common cause, and the owner makes a killing in the process.
Manage STRESS
The ability to manage thoughts and emotions is often the difference between achieving greatness or failing.
Think of the football player stepping up to take a penalty in a big match, with the world on the edge of their seats watching, half the people wishing for a miss, and the other half completely emotionally invested in a successful outcome. A place in history or abject failure, the consequences couldn’t be more stark.
If you’re not a football fan you might not appreciate this scenario fully, so instead think of a situation where success and failure hang on the outcome of one thing, one action, and try to imagine the pressure that builds, the self-doubt that surge’s through your mind and the impact on physiology. The stomach churns, the legs go weak, the mouth is as dry as a bone, the flight or fight mechanism kicks in.
Managing your thoughts is key to managing your emotions. Gain some perspective: if it’s not truly life and death, don’t build it up to be. Don’t believe your whole future happiness depends on this one break, because it doesn’t. Stop manifesting pressure that doesn’t need to be there. Improve your EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE because it will improve your performance.
BE HONEST with yourself
The ability to look in the mirror and admit your shortcomings, your weakness and know what you would prefer to be doing is all important when crafting a life you love, but it’s not easy.
You have to let go of the image of yourself you HOPE TO BE or would like to see yourself being, and embrace the reality. If you suffer from low self esteem, this can be painful, but it is for the best, because it will allow you to move forward in a more realistic way.
There is no point in fooling yourself and wasting precious time. Bite the bullet, be honest with yourself and start moving down the right path, armed with a strong sense of self awareness.
The building blocks to success can be accessed through the following links, covering MOTIVATION, PRODUCTIVITY and KNOWLEDGE.
The old saying, “NEWS SELLS” isn’t exactly accurate, rather fear and drama sell.
This is important to understand when thinking about the mainstream media (companies such as BBC, ITV, Sky), because they all need to justify their very existence by achieving high viewing stats, without which, they would lose funding such as sponsorships, advertising spend, TV licence and subscriber fees etc.
You could also include the tabloid press, who additionally, are also heavily biased towards their owners political agendas, are biased in their reporting and don’t try to pretend to be impartial or true to the full facts. However when writing this post I was mainly thinking about TV based mainstream media, however newspapers have the same commercial needs and employ many of the same tactics for keeping readers interested.
Keeping attention
So, how do they ensure they get these all important viewing figures? Well, simply presenting the news, the facts, just isn’t going to cut it. Facts are boring, they can be communicated in a matter of minutes. That won’t do, that won’t keep people viewing. The news, containing just the facts is a commodity after all, it is the same wherever it is communicated.
Sure there is some merit in uncovering a buried story and shining a light on it. But that’s hard, requires talented journalism, it takes work, time and detection skills, and such stories are hard to come by, at least sufficiently enough to fill the necessary air time.
On the other hand, drama and fear is easy, a emotive narrative can extend a news piece indefinitely. You have the facts, but you present them in such a way as to keep viewers attention. If you can tell the story more dramatically than anyone else, you’re onto a winner, you’ve differentiated yourself from the competition, the news is no longer a commodity.
How do you keep attention? You take a event, and you create a narrative around it, making it into a dramatic story. For this to work and for it to be dramatic enough you have add fear and uncertainty, that’s what make stories interesting.
Let’s use something current to illustrate the point, the recent general election;
The facts
Conservative party with leader Theresa May won the election,
Conservative party won with a greater share of votes than since Margaret Thatcher won power,
Conservative Party got almost as many seats as all the other parties combined,
But not quite as much as all the other parties combined, which means the Conservatives are a minority government (8 seats short of an overall majority), which could make it difficult getting policies passed in the house of commons,
If they could get agreement from another party (who hold more than 8 seats), this would allow them to have a combined majority, and make it much easier to get policies through the house of commons,
Labour party came second with less votes and less seats than the Conservatives. They could in theory hold office, if the Conservatives decided they could not, and relinquished power, but Labours situation would be even worse than that of the Conservatives , so would be very unlikely.
Conservative Party
Votes – 13,667,213
Seats – 318 (326 needed for overall majority)
Vote Share – 42.4%
Labour Party
Votes – 12,874,985
Seats – 262
Vote Share – 40.0%
The narrative
Now you create a narrative. Okay the Tory party won, but they were hoping for a majority and they didn’t get it, expectations weren’t met, so this can be characterised as a defeat, no, a disaster of epic proportions.
You then get the other parties to give their view of the result, and because they lost, they will naturally want to deflect any attention and criticism away from their shortcomings, and will inevitably play along with the Tory’s election disaster narrative.
How can we develop the narrative to maximise fear, uncertainty and drama? We can speculate about the inevitable P.M.s resignation. Wow this could go on for weeks, and so it goes on.
Let’s just look at a couple of different possible narratives..
Theresa May and the Conservatives were hoping for a greater majority than they originally had, but it didn’t work out. She’s now going to find it more difficult getting policies through parliament and will need to recruit help from other parties. This is going to be much more difficult particularly if the other parties don’t agree with those policies.
This keeps true to the Facts, it doesn’t add emotive language, it doesn’t particular fire up emotion.
Mays plan to steamroller the opposition has failed disastrously. Her intention to force through a hard Brexit and get mandate to run the country have been firmly rejected. She has lost all credibility and can’t possibly survive the growing division within her own party. And with the Labour party ready to step in and form a government should a new election be necessary, it is only a matter of time before she is forced out.
This narrative is designed to evoke emotion and moves away from the facts and adds speculation into the mix (increases uncertainty and fear). If anything, this is rather underplaying the media narrative, but you can see the difference between these two possible narratives.
Protect yourself
Well it’s creative, it’s clever but it’s also manipulative, it’s fear mongering. It upsets, divides and causes pain and suffering in viewers who believe the BS. More scary than that, it also influences the actual events themselves. Political parties often react to what the media is saying, and position themselves to restrict the publicity damage.
Mainstream TV channels such as the BBC aren’t as obviously biased as the tabloid press, although I’m sure they are at times, when it serves them. They will more generally take any position that provides the greatest dramatic effect. They have done it to the Labour party and Corbyn in particular. They don’t discriminate in that way, their main agenda is simply to keep eyeballs on their channel, fear and drama works.
Don’t let the media fool you. To protect against this callous media manipulation….
Understand the underlying facts. Make your own informed judgments based on these only,
Screen out the media noise based on assumptions, speculation and prediction,
Be aware of the emotive language used (designed to maximise viewer fear),
Understand the motivations of all the characters employed, such as the interviewees (opponents, and allies) and of course that of the actual media channel you are watching and their representatives. After all they are the ones with the most to benefit from your fear.
Get Results: success is getting what you want, happiness is wanting what you get
Quotes can be a great motivator. Good ones can help to inspire us to take action, and change perspective on how we look at upcoming challenges.
Words really matter, because they can unlock something in our psyche. Use quotes to move you towards your goal, towards your SUCCESS.
Here are some of my favourite success / get results quotes…
“If you focus on success, you will never change. If you focus on change, you will get success”.
“Tears will get you sympathy, taking focused action will get you results”. – M. Turner
“If you want something you’ve never had, then you’ve got to do something you’ve never done”.
“Don’t be upset by the results you didn’t get, with the work you didn’t do”.
“You don’t always get what you wish for, you get what you work for”.
“Forget strategy, get results”.
“Success just beyond fear and underestimation of goals, use motivation and prioritised productivity to get you there”. – M. Turner
“Don’t make excuses, make results.”
“Excuses are useless, results are priceless”.
“If you tell people where to go, but not how to get there, you’ll be amazed at the results”. George S. Patton
“Accept the challenges, so that you feel the exhilaration of victory”. – General George Patton
“Effectiveness is best measured by results over time”. – Richard Tyler
“Live for something rather than die for nothing”.
“Courage is simply the willingness to be afraid and act anyway”. Dr Robert Anthony
“Never tell people how to do things. Tell them what to do and they will surprise you with their ingenuity”. George S. Patton
“Success is how high you bounce when you hit bottom” – George S. Patton
“Don’t be afraid to take a big step if one is indicated. You can’t cross a chasm in two small jumps”. – David Lloyd George
“Do something today that your future self will thank you for”.
“Creativity is allowing yourself to make mistakes. Art is knowing which ones to keep”. – Scott Adams
“I have not failed, I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work”
“You’ll never find the right person, if you never let go of the wrong one”.
“Every accomplishment starts with the decision to try”.
“No matter how you feel… Get up, dress up, show up and never give up”.
“If you really want to do something, you will find a way. If you don’t you’ll find an excuse”.
“Don’t be ashamed of your story, it will inspire others”.
“Limit only exists in the mind”.
“If you want to feel rich, just count all the things you have that money cant’ buy”.
“You can have success or excuses, not both”.
“Get out of your own way”.
“No risk is too great to prevent the necessary job from getting done”.
“Nothing worth having comes easily”.
“Children usually do not blame themselves for getting lost”. – Anna Freud
“The only bad workout is the one that didn’t happen”.
“When you feel like quitting, think about why you started”.
“Small changes can make a big difference”.
“We reap what we sow…choose what you nourish carefully”.
“While you are still waiting to find an easy way (or perfect time), someone esle is already getting results, because they decided making progress is more important than making excuses. ”
“Make big changes in small steps”.
“It’s not the load that break you down, it’s the way you carry it.” Lou Holtz
“I feel like i’m too busy writing history to read it.”
“Purpose is the reason you journey. Passion is the fire that lights your way”.
“Some people dream of success, while other people get up every morning and make it happen.” – Wayne Huizenga.
“Success isn’t always about greatness. It’s about consistency. Consistent hard work leads to success. Greatness will come.” – Dwayne Johnson
“Ambition is the path to success. Persistence is the vehicle you arrive in.” – Bill Bradley
“There is simply no substitute for hard work when it comes to achieving success.” – Heather Bresch
“Success is a journey, not a destination.” – Ben Sweetland
“Success is nothing more than a few simple disciplines, practiced every day.” – Jim Rohn
“If you believe it will work out, you’ll see opportunities. If you believe it won’t you will see obstacles.” – Wayne Dyer
“Change the way you look at things and the things you look at change.” – Wayne Dyer
“Success is no accident. It is hard work, perseverance, learning, studying, sacrifice and most of all, love of what you are doing or learning to do.” – Pele
“Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.” – Winston Churchill
“Success comes from over-delivering on customers expectations. There are more than 50 quotes in this article.” – M. Turner
Self-improvement or self-development as it’s often referred to is a major driver of mankind. We all strive to be better, smarter, more successful, fitter, slimmer etc.
Society pushes us to be “more than we are“, and we do our best to follow that recommendation. We read books, take classes, follow role models, try to find mentors, all with the goal of being better tomorrow than we are today.
As a results self-improvement and self-development is big business, the net worth of this industry is estimated to be around $11 billion and growing at over 5% per year.
I’m a firm believer in education, because it allows us to have a greater appreciation of the world around us, and to operate more knowledgeably in the niches we choose to make a living.
Reading books or articles is only the first step, putting what we’ve learned into action is the next, and without doubt the most important part of the success equation. Without taking action, the knowledge acquisition stage is wasted, and with it our greatest resource, time.
This website is here to provide resources for getting results, covering:
All of these are key components in GETTING RESULTS in all aspects of life. So take some time to check through the articles provided on this site. There are lots of self-development focused articles, check them out here, even better than that, sign up for our newsletter for unique content, not available on the site, as email allows us to provide more tailor-made information and solutions.
Also check out the books and links below. I have personally read all of the books listed here, and would recommend them as good sources of information, you can check out the reviews at Amazon for a second, third and forth opinion if you like, but they all provide a good read, or a good listening experience, if you prefer audio books.
Rich Dad Poor Dad, the #1 Personal Finance book of all time, tells the story of Robert Kiyosaki and his two dads–his real father and the father of his best friend, his rich dad–and the ways in which both men shaped his thoughts about money and investing. The book explodes the myth that you need to earn a high income to be rich and explains the difference between working for money and having your money work for you.
Get Results: richest man in babylon
The Richest Man in Babylon by George S. Clason.
THE SUCCESS SECRETS OF THE ANCIENTS–AN ASSURED ROAD TO HAPPINESS AND PROSPERITY
Countless readers have been helped by the famous -Babylonian parables, – hailed as the greatest of all inspirational works on the subject of thrift, financial planning, and personal wealth. In language as simple as that found in the Bible, these fascinating and informative stories set you on a sure path to prosperity and its accompanying joys. Acclaimed as a modern-day classic, this celebrated bestseller offers an understanding of–and a solution to–your personal financial problems that will guide you through a lifetime.
Get Results: unshakeable
Unshakeable by Tony Robbins.
Market corrections are as constant as seasons are in nature. There have been 30 such corrections in the past 30 years, yet there’s never been an action plan for how not only to survive, but thrive through each change in the stock market.
Building upon the principles in Money: Master the Game, Robbins offers the reader specific steps they can implement to protect their investments while maximizing their wealth. It’s a detailed guide designed for investors, articulated in the common-sense, practical manner that the millions of loyal Robbins fans and students have come to expect and rely upon.
Few have navigated the turbulence of the stock market as adeptly and successfully as Tony Robbins. His proven, consistent success over decades makes him singularly qualified to help investors (both seasoned and first-timers alike) preserve and add to their investments.
Get Results: think and grow rich
The Success Classics Collection: Think and Grow Rich and the Science of Getting Rich (Capstone Classics)
Looking for wealth and success? Discover the money–making secrets of Americas millionaires of the 1930s as compiled by Napoleon Hill and distilled into a thirteen step programme to personal success in the 1937 classic Think and Grow Rich. To further prove that the formula for making money is ageless, The Success Classics Collection also includes the 100–year edition of The Science of Getting Rich by Wallace Wattles which explains how to attract wealth, overcome emotional barriers, and apply foolproof methods to bring financial success into your life.
In The ONE Thing, you’ll learn to cut through the clutter, achieve better results in less time
build momentum toward your goal, dial down the stress, overcome that overwhelmed feeling
revive your energy, stay on track, master what matters to you
The ONE Thing is the New York Times bestseller which delivers extraordinary results in every area of your life-work, personal, family, and spiritual.
It is one of the best books I’ve had the pleasure of reading. It focuses you on the important business priorities, and is a real practical business essential.
Get Results: 4 hour work week
The 4 Hour Work Week by Tim Ferriss
Improve Marketing: Recommended Information Sources
You’re either a Purple Cow or you’re not. You’re either remarkable or invisible. Make your choice.
What do Apple, Starbucks, Dyson and Pret a Manger have in common? How do they achieve spectacular growth, leaving behind former tried-and-true brands to gasp their last? The old checklist of P’s used by marketers – Pricing, Promotion, Publicity – aren’t working anymore. The golden age of advertising is over. It’s time to add a new P – the Purple Cow.
Purple Cow is a great thought provoker. Seth is a firm believer that future business success depends on businesses moving from ordinary and becoming extraordinary. Buy the book or audio versions below.
Get Results: made to stick
Made to Stick by Chip Heath & Dan Heath
Improve Spirituality: Recommended Information Sources
Eckhart Tolle’s A New Earth will be a cornerstone for personal spirituality and self-improvement for years to come, leading readers to a new levels of consciousness and inner peace. Taking off from the introspective work The Power of Now, which is a number one bestseller and has sold millions of copies worldwide, Tolle provides the spiritual framework for people to move beyond themselves in order to make this world a better, more spiritually evolved place to live. Shattering modern ideas of ego and entitlement, self and society, Tolle lifts the veil of fear that has hung over humanity during this new millennium, and shines an illuminating light that leads to happiness and health that every reader can follow.
Get Results: the power of now
The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle
Eckhart Tolle’s book describes the experience of heightened consciousness that radically transformed his life – and shows how by living in the moment we can also reach a higher state of being where we can find joy and peace and where problems do not exist.
Get Results: Motivation requires…being tuned into intuition
What is intuition?
Intuition, otherwise known as gut feeling, or sixth sense, is a feeling either of unease, or alignment, about someone or something. It is a method of communicate for the subconscious, which is in possession of much more information and memory than is available at a conscious level.
Why is it important?
The subconscious, absorbs much more data than the conscious, holding much of that information in store, until it’s needed. So having a way to access this information is very useful and intuition is a direct link to it.
What can go wrong?
It’s easy to mistake the noise created from THOUGHT and THINKING to be INTUITION, it is not. THOUGHTS are largely driven from a FEAR based perspective. If we were coming at this from a spirituality point of view, we would say thinking is EGO based.
So the feeling of unease you might sense, in taking a particular action, might actually be due to fearful THOUGHT, rather than a more enlightened warning from INTUITION.
The difficulty comes from distinguishing the two, from one another.
Telling the difference between INTUITION and FEAR
Fear is the default perspective of the Ego, of THOUGHT and THINKING. It’s all about self preservation from this view point. Most of negative feelings you experience will come from this type of fear. Many irrational fears can be found here, such as the fear of public speaking, or the fear of venturing out of your comfort zone. These fears are not life threatening as such, but they might result in a negative physiological reaction, when you start to think about actually doing them, in the same way as if your very life were under threat.
Intuition on the other hand, is not driven by fear, but is more of an awareness of something feeling right or feeling wrong. It’s noticing the expression on someone’s face, not being completely in sync with what is coming out of their mouth for instance. It’s a sense that something is out of place, or, on the flip side, is safe to pursue.
Intuition comes from the accumulation of years of the subconscious absorbing many subtle and not so subtle things that the conscious filters out, so that we can function more efficiently on our day to day activities. But these things are noticed by the subconscious and this noticing builds up over time. It is only when something is out of place that many of us become aware of intuition, operating in the background of our consciousness.
Intuition also works in a positive way too, when things just feel right and everything seems to be in alignment.
Malcolm Gladwell in his book, “Blink”, says intuition is easy to ignore, due to its subtlety, which is why people often fail to recognize it. On the other hand, fear is much more effective at attracting our attention, by screaming what it wants us to do or not do.
Intuition is a feeling that comes from life experience via sense perceptions, using all of the senses (sight, smell, taste, touch, hearing), and subsequently utilises much more of the brain. On the other hand, fear simply activates the Amygdala as a neural shortcut, and that leads to a racing heart, energised by fearful thoughts.
Fear is activated for many levels of importance, it’s energised by imagination and self story-telling. Intuition on the other hand, generally only comes into consciousness for the important moments of life and is much more experience based in nature, and certainly not prone to such imagination and story-telling fantasies.
The feeling you get from intuition is usually a sense of peace and alignment, whereas fear can keep nagging at you, even when you know you’ve made the right decision, playing the devils advocate, continually questioning your choices.
Intuition can be for and against taking action. Fear is usually only against action in preference to maintaining the status quo, resisting change and uncertainty, and doing nothing new or challenging.
What is the best way forward?
Learn to quieten the mind, to think less intensely and be less driven by irrational fears.
Back feelings up with rational decision-making techniques and tools like the decision matrix to add a second check to your decision making process.
Improve your self-awareness, by observing your own behaviour and habitual thought patterns, so that you can spot how and when your fears are activated.
Improve your clarity of purpose to help intuition. By knowing where you want to go, and having clear goals, you will better navigate your journey.
I recently stumbled on the article below, by Erick Diaz, about using a shift of perspective to improve motivation and subsequently productivity.
Eric imagines being his 80 year old self observing his present day self and what he might think about how he is making use of his time today, from the perspective of someone with less TIME available to him.
This highlights how precious time is, but is only truly treasured when we have less of it available to us, when it is too late. Time is precious, we should make the most of it while we have it, because it’s a finite resource, that once used up, can’t be recouped.
I think it’s a great strategy for SHIFTING PERSPECTIVE, which is one of the building blocks for increasing motivation, you can check out the full article below. by following the link.
How do you feel about the possibility of being wrong?
It is considered to be a very bad thing by most people, resulting in feelings of dread, embarrassment, emptiness, sadness and a sense of loss for time and effort, which may have been wasted. We really don’t want to be proven wrong, do we?
We’re right until we know we’re wrong
The trouble is we feel we are right (even though we might actually be wrong) until the point we REALISE we’re wrong. A good analogy for this is the Looney tunes cartoon where the coyote chases the road runner off the end of a cliff, and is okay, even though he’s running in mid air, until he realises there’s nothing under his feet, only then does he fall.
We misunderstand the signs around us more than we care to admit, yet we do what we can to avoid thinking about the possibility of being wrong.
We grow to believe we see the world as it really is, we are certain it is so, but this is dangerous. When we ATTACH to the idea of needing to be right, this prevents us accepting any possibility of being wrong.
Dealing with disagreement
In the face of disagreement, we are convinced that those who disagree are ignorant of the full facts, and when they are furnished with them, they will agree with our view.
If others have the same facts as us, but still disagree, then we resort to thinking them to be morons and idiots, who lack the necessary education to grasp the true reality.
When we know others to be smart and they still disagree with us, we think they may be withholding something from us, for their own gain.
All these are psychological coping strategies, to keep us from admitting we might actually be the ones who are wrong.
Culture teaches us to be right
Culture has conditioned us into thinking that people who failed when we were growing up in school, were the class dim-wits and drop outs, we have learned that lesson so well that we carry the fear of being wrong with us into our adult lives and subsequently spend all our time avoiding the possibility. We believe getting something wrong means there’s something wrong with us.
We’re missing something
We overlook the role INTERPRETATION plays in shaping our perceptions, which explains why different people might take different meanings from the same event.
This however is what feeds creativity and makes mankind so interesting and diverse. If we all saw the world in the same way, we would lose much of what makes us, us.
Be prepared to stand outside the need to be right all the time, accept we are probably wrong a lot of the time and that’s okay. For instance, we might have thought in our school days that we would marry our childhood sweetheart or be flying around with jet packs strapped to our backs as adults, but life just doesn’t turn out the way we thought it would.
Check out this Ted Talk lecture by Kathryn Schulz, it’s the inspiration for this article and well worth a watch.
Get Results: Awakening: free from identification with htought
Do you believe that spirituality is nothing to do with REAL LIFE?
Well, let me ask, what do you think are the important aspects of real life?
Maybe you would reply that having a good job, earning enough money to pay your mortgage and bills, having good relationships with friends and family, doing things you enjoy and dealing with problems, are what constitute real life.
Would you agree, that all these important aspects of life are determined and affected by the DECISIONS you make?
For instance decisions determine where you live, what career or job you choose to do, where you travel to, who you choose as your friends and how you deal with problems. And is it not the case that these decisions are influenced, largely, by your BELIEFS and VALUES?
So where do your beliefs and values come from?
They are generally LEARNED through SOCIAL CONDITIONING: life experiences, upbringing, culture, religion, society, media, government, friends and family.
Beliefs and values are nothing more than rigid THOUGHT PATTERNS that you hold to be THE TRUTH, or at least your truth.
THOUGHTS are notoriously fear based, because we see ourselves as fragile, fleeting, and isolated from the world around us. Many people believe they have one life and when that life ends, it’s over. We believe we come into this world alone and leave it alone. This makes us cling onto life with fearful desperation. This fear and feeling of isolation forces us to be self-seeking, and driven by self-preservation and self-gain.
We psychologically ATTACH to things to make us feel WE ARE MORE, we believe the more we HAVE, the more we ARE. The more we are the further from BEING NOTHING we are.
Spirituality points to the fact that this feeling of isolation is a lie. That over indulging in THINKING, forces us out of the moment that life unfolds and into the abstraction of past and future and into the arms of fear.
Let me ask you a question, if you weren’t full of fear, what would you be doing? or put another way, if it were guaranteed that you could not fail, what would you do?
If the answer to this question is different from your current reality, than you can be sure fear is holding you back. The only way out of this fear is to seek a spiritual path.
Spirituality is about understanding we are not just part of the whole, WE ARE THE WHOLE, form and the formless that allows form to be.
So to answer the original question…
What does spirituality have to do with real life?
The answer is that spirituality is the path to a less fearful real life.
I thought I’d cover a subject that isn’t discussed openly and honestly much, but which needs careful consideration when working out a marketing strategy particularly with regards to Pay Per Click (PPC) marketing where getting it wrong is going to cost you big time, and that’s the subject of matching visitor intent with your sales funnel. We’re talking here about delivering the right message at the right time.
When I first got started with running an internet business I found it difficult to script a focused message, mainly because I didn’t consider the visitor’s journey. What I mean by journey is the state of mind the visitor is in when they arrive on a website. Are they just browsing, researching, or looking to make a purchase? I figured if I could understand where the visitor was psychologically at that very moment, I could fashion a message just for them, and encourage them through the sales funnel without them needing to leave my site. I identified a number of stages, which I found very useful in building a marketing strategy around, and I still use it to this day. These stages include
#1 – Goal orientated search – better to optimise for SEO rather than driving traffic via PPC for this type of search
#2- Category orientated search – better to optimise for SEO rather than driving traffic via PPC for this type of search
#3- Product orientated search – perfect for PPC campaigns
#4- Brand orientated search – perfect for PPC campaigns
#5- Browsing – better to optimise for SEO rather than driving traffic via PPC for this type of search
Lets look at each of these stages in more detail:
#1 – Goal orientated search
An example of a goal orientated search would be “losing weight”, or “Getting fit”, or “making money online”
This is the broadest type of search and is designed to get general knowledge about a particular subject. For instance losing weight could be achieved by going on a diet or exercising, so “losing weight” is a more general search type then a “diet” based search would be.
A person that already knows what they would have to do to lose weight wouldn’t need to carry out a goal search in this instance, instead moving to #2 category search. So although each stage is sequential, not everyone needs to go through every stage, it all depends on their existing knowledge about the subject.
However as a marketer, it might be advisable to cater for each and every one of the stages so that you capture all knowledge levels and potential searches, and move them through the learning process. This will help position you to appear as an expert in the subject and allow the visitor to get to know your brand and build some trust in you because you are providing helpful information.
At this point I’d like to talk about “seeker behaviour” (seeker in this instance is the person carrying out the search)” and promiser behaviour”, which refers to you, the marketer.
Seeker behaviour
The seeker/searcher is researching all possible broad options, with little prior knowledge going into this phase and acting on the data gathered to focus on preferred options thereafter. It is the first stage of their research and data gathering and can vary in length depending on complexity of the subject.
Promiser behaviour
Content
In your role as promiser’s (marketer) you should look to show them a path they can follow (at least 4 steps) and take them through the steps to succeed in their goal.
You should show them the end result and make it believable, so make sure it’s not too fantastic and unbelievable. If the visitor doesn’t believe they can achieve it they will likely leave without trying.
Monetising
You can look to offer them a shortcut alternative that will save them time or effort either through an affiliate product or your own solution.
Traffic source
When acquiring traffic for this type of search you should look to optimise for SEO rather than driving traffic via PPC because this is an early search and is unlikely to yield a paying customer, until they have gathered more information.
#2 – Category orientated search
An example of a category search (if we stay with the “losing weight” example used previously) would be say “diets” or “exercise”. This is a deeper level of research than the “goal search” and uses the findings from that search as its basis.
Seeker behaviour
The seeker performs a broad category search focused on preferred course of action. Has knowledge of other options outside of the category but is more interested in this option i.e. diet preferred to exercise.
Promiser behaviour
Content
Offer the visitor a review article showing them the options and alternatives within category i.e. different types of diet available to the seeker.
Monetise
Have affiliate links to each of the options websites
Traffic source
When acquiring traffic for this type of search you should look to optimise for SEO rather than driving traffic via PPC because this is an early search and is unlikely to yield a paying customer, until they have gathered more information.
#3 – Product orientated search
For example this would be a particular diet such as X plan diet (I made the name up, I think!), or in the case of an exercise, yoga (specific products/actions to carry out the plan)
Seeker behaviour
Very focused search to find more about a single product i.e. X plan diet, and wants reassurance this is best for them
Promiser behaviour
Content
You can provide:
In-depth single product review
how to product guide
demo of products
opening the box demo video or inner workings demos
Show them why they should listen to what you have to say. Why you’re qualified (you have used and benefited from it, or you’re experienced in that field)
Give them the other options and alternatives open to them and why your solution is better than them. Include free or cheap alternative etc
Monetise
Have affiliate links within the articles taking them to sales page
Traffic source
Using PPC for this type of search is likely to provide a better return on investment than the previous two, simply because the initial research has been carried out and the visitor is closer to making a buying decision.
#4 – brand orientated search
For example with would be the actual product search
Seeker behaviour
The seeker has done enough research and is ready to buy a particular product of their choosing.
Promiser behaviour
Content and monetise
Use a direct link to products sales page. Make the sales process as easy as possible and remove friction and risk.
Traffic source
PPC is a good source of traffic for this type of search simply because there is likely to be less resistance at this point of the buying cycle, get in while the irons hots. You could have a jump page in between the advert the final sales page, but think about reducing the amount of friction (obsticles) you put in front of the visitor, as this will only act to discourage them.
#5 – Browsers
Seeker behaviour
The browsing stage isn’t really a final stage, it’s more likely a first stage in reality but in my mind I see it as separated from the other four stages which is why I’ve put it at the end. The seeker is not searching for anything, just killing time or being entertained moving aimlessly through the web.
Promiser behaviour
For this type of search you as a marketer need to grab attention, distract the seeker from there aimless time-wasting, and pull them into your sales funnel. The other 4 stages are about supplying a demand, however this stage is about creating one, so you have to align your message accordingly. Assuming you need to start from the basics, conveying a “lose weight live longer” message over a “enjoy the X plan diet” is more likely to capture their interest.
Final thoughts
Hopefully reading this article has helped you appreciate the value of understanding how aligning your message and content with that of the visitors journey and communicating the right message at the right time to add structure to your marketing strategy. Always look to help the visitor not manipulate them, add value and make the internet a better place for us all.
P.S. Make sure you do your own research before embarking on any paid traffic activities. If you found the content useful and interesting please sign up for our newsletter and get notification of all our latest posts, as well as exclusive content.
