Ups and Downs

In the beginning stages of anything there is the learning curve. I like learning, but it gets a little harried when you need results rather than learning for the sake of learning. I have been encouraged be a few quotes lately...

• All things are difficult before they are easy.
  Dr. Thomas Fuller
  



• Success requires first expending ten units of effort to produce one unit of results. Your momentum will then produce ten units of results with each unit of effort.
  Charles J. Givens
  




• Use the losses and failures of the past as a reason for action, not inaction.
  Charles J. Givens
  



• If your position is everywhere, your momentum is zero.
  William N. Lipscomb, Jr.
  



• 2 Then the Lord answered me and said: "Write the vision And make it plain on tablets, That he may run who reads it.
  3 For the vision is yet for an appointed time; But at the end it will speak, and it will not lie. Though it tarries, wait for it; Because it will surely come, It will not tarry.
  Habakkuk 2:2-3 New King James Version
  
  
  
  Here's to your Journey,
  Deborah

Get Out of My Inbox!

As I wrote about earlier, I like to hold on to things that are interesting to me. I don't see this as bad, just as a characteristic that needs some discipline.

Since my last blog, I have seen the fruit of opting out of those unread email lists.
I cleaned out my inbox of 7600+ emails.

If you think that is bad, that is with my deleting email almost every day

AND...
That was only about 6 months of email.

AND...
My deleted items were 11,000+ for fewer months than that.

AND...
That does not include the email that is filtered into the folders I've set up.


It took me quite a while to opt out of all of them, but I cut them out with a vengance.

I guess it was writing down my frustration in the earlier blog that gave me whatever I needed to realize that I wasn't going to miss out on something special if I closed communication with some of these people. (I know that sentence is too long, but I'm not going to change it)

I don't need Target sending me an emails every week telling me I can get 10% off my online order.

Even in the realm of learning things for business, I was receiving so many emails that I wasn't reading any of them You can never really catch up when things get like that.

Some of these internet marketers are sending emails on a near daily basis. One of them said they sent out there newsletters 15 times a month. Good Grief!

The whole delete button idea didn't work either. I used to spend so much time deleting the bad stuff that I couldn't get a chance to read the good stuff (hence the full inbox). Having a toddler doesn't give you big blocks of time to check your email, either.

It has been very freeing to have control over my email. It gives me motivation to get other information sources under control, and I believe it has been a factor in the successes I have seen this week.

I must say that I am on a roll.

What else can I delete out of my life?

I'm feeling bold so I will attempt the greatest of the dejunking feats.. PAPER (OOH! GASP!!)

Can I be so brazen to attempt this?!

Stay tuned...

Here's to your Journey,

Deborah

Get It Going

I recently read an article from Stu "My Idea Guy" McClaren. I like what Stu has to say and how he presents it.

His article really hit the nail on the head for me. It's basically about getting unstuck. So many times I seem to be so busy, but I never seem to accomplish anything.

I easily fall victim to information overload and "analysis paralysis." You see, I like thinking about things. I could almost classify it as a hobby. It's really fun for me to develop my mind.

Of course, this is the reason I get stuck. Thinking is great, but it is usually best to follow it with action. I find myself in the pattern...

THINK>RESEARCH>PLAN>REPEAT
The action part gets put on the back burner.

I first became consciously aware of this problem in myself at a Shaklee meeting. The speaker talked about fledgling business builders who were "GET READY -> GET SET......GET READY -> GET SET......" but never getting to "GO". I just sat there and said "That's Me!".

They say that awareness of the problem is the first step in overcoming it. What the infamous "they" never tell you is that there is usually a long process following the awareness phase.

I am very excited because I am starting to see some of the fruit that comes after that awareness. Taking action is becoming easier. Even when things are difficult, I can see that what I am learning is truly bringing change in my life. It's pretty awesome.

Stu talks about some of these things and other hindrances to our motivation and ability to get things done. Check out his article at the link below. It's a good read.

Here's to the Journey,

Deborah


Momentum: The Unknown Secrets of High Level Players by Stu McClaren

Sign up for his free newsletter at http://www.myideaguy.com

Freebie Info Overload

Ok, I love free things. Who doesn't, but there comes a point where free stuff can be a curse and not a blessing.

I experienced that in titanic proportions over the holidays. I received an email from a list that I WAS on saying that he had 117 Christmas gifts for me. "Wow, that's awesome!" and "What's the catch!" fought for the right to be first place in my mind.

It was awesome because there was a lot of great info being offered buy 117 internet marketers. They were in the form or articles, email courses, audio recordings, ebooks, etc. Some had give away and resell rights. I needed these types of things to give away for my projects.

HERE IS THE CATCH...
In order to get the free gifts from each marketer, you had to opt-in to their mail list. You didn't have to get every gift. You could pick and choose, but that was very difficult. Almost all of them were business related and all of them had information I was looking for.

I was afraid to pick one from each topic, because I might miss the one that was a better fit for me. I wanted to compare them.

Guess what happened. I spent a horrible amount of time opting in to these lists. Some were kind enough to let me have an instant download, but most required me to go back to my email confirm my subscription and download the item through their special page where they were trying to upsell me something else. A lot of times the download link was so tiny you couldn't find it.

I don't mind people upselling me stuff. If there are products out there that will help me, I want to know about them even if it is for future reference. The problem was the quantity of info and the amount of work it took to get it.

On top of that, the website was only going to be open for two weeks, so I had to get it all done during Christmas. What's up with that?

I opted in to most of the lists and I downloaded a bunch of the freebies, then I dropped my laptop before back-up and lost all of it.

Now I am opting out of lists and downloading the freebies that I want and deciding which marketer is worth my time.

Don't get me wrong. I'm not playing the victim here. They didn't force me to do all of this. It actually taught me that I need to develop discipline in my acquisition processes - in all areas. I am a pack rat, I hate to see things thrown away, and I hate to miss a good opportunity. More than that, I like to make comparisons before I make my final decisions about anything. I am going to have to make changes in those areas of my mindset.

So many of my struggles have centered around having too many ideas filling my head and having to much information from all I am hearing and reading. I think this is why this frustrated me so much. I feel like I need to know these things, so I reach for more info.

I have a lot of things that I haven't even read or listened to yet. I had done so well in setting boundaries for myself.

1. I stopped buying any new information until I have read and processed what I've got.
2. I began opting out of email lists that I wasn't reading - even if they seemed interesting to me. After all, I WASN'T reading them.
3. I choose a few pieces on info that applied to my current projects and put all of the others on hold.

Then the freebie wave hit. Shortly after the 117 Christmas Gifts event was launched, I received notice from a trusted list owner about another freebie wave of 207 items.

However, this one didn't hit me the same way. There were no opt-in requirements and the products were about a lot of different subjects rather than exclusively internet marketing. Plus, there was no time limit pushing me to do it now and the downloads were very straightforward.

The 207 promo was a much better experience. The result of the 117 Christmas gifts promo was that I opted out of the list of the guy who sent me the offer. He sends a lot of emails and every time I saw it I thought about needing to opt out of 100+ email lists. At least for me, his participation in the promotion backfired.

I had recently opted out of the list of the guy who was doing the 207 gifts, but he has gained more credibility in my mind. I might reconsider joining after I here him speak at a conference in August.

So, what's my point? Be careful what you let into your life while you are making changes in habits and thinking. If you see something sabotaging you, get to the crux of it right away and keep moving forward as much as you can. There's a reason the term "Three steps forward, two steps back" has been around so long.

Through this experience I got a clearer picture of how clutter doesn't have to be paper and things. It can be a thought, an email or a digital file that can keep me from thinking clearly, drain my energy and prevent me from reaching my goals.

I also became more deeply aware of my fear that I might be missing something out of life if I passed on information or events that are around me. I really need to delve deeply into that one. It has been a pattern in my life and I need to find out why. I'm sure there will be more to come on that topic.

Here's to the Journey,

Deborah

Blog Changes

It's a new year and a I have realized I need to make some changes in this blog. I have been too busy trying to write article type posts and have neglected the stream of conciousness method that most blogs follow. I created this blog to teach, but I also created it to share my experiences as a fledgling internet entrepreneur.

I do have a lot to say about a lot of things, but I need to get back to the real me. I will still post article type info(concepts, tools, product reviews, etc) from time to time, but expect a lot more of the random flow which is Deborah.

Please feel free to comment - good or bad. I can take constructive criticism. (I have a music degree - it's part of the training.) I like good debate and I'm not afraid to admit that I am wrong.

If you comment, I can learn from you and so can others who are reading. It's a pretty safe way to have a voice.

Here's to the Journey,

Deborah