Archive for Attitude
Visualize to Succeed
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If you’ve been reading my blog for a while you probably understand that the most important factor in achieving success is your mindset. While I also discuss the specific strategies that should be used in consulting, it’s your attitude and beliefs that will determine whether you will implement these strategies. In other words, beliefs come before actions. You will only take actions that you believe to be worthwhile. As further proof to the importance of mindset in your success, check out this book: Secrets of the Millionaire Mind: Mastering the Inner Game of Wealth
Making more money, working from home, having more time off and other goals can put more obstacles in front of you as you try to achieve them, testing your will to persist and succeed. There is also a ton of negativity out there, not just in today’s tough economy but often with friends and family. You might also experience setbacks in your attempts to succeed which you brain conjures up to remind you of, in order to keep you where you are.
The energy we need to persist during the rough times comes from setting goals. One of the main benefits to setting goals is that we then become proactive in designing our life, rather than reactive.
If you’re familiar with ‘The Secret’ you will know that the main premise is that there is a ‘Law of Attraction’. While many unsuccessful people dismiss this as BS, successful people know that when you focus on what you want, it tends to materialize. This is not wishful thinking, but a visualization technique that is followed by ACTION. Many successful sport figures use visualization improve their game. It’s this visualization of success that gives you the ‘juice’ to keep taking action during difficult times. In other words, the thinking that got you where you are won’t get you where you want to be.
To help with this visualization technique, and to make it more fun and truly visual, Ryan Higgins has come up with the concept of ‘Mind Movies‘. Using his program you can create your own movie, filling it with images and sounds of things you want, things you are currently grateful for and so on. These images and sounds create and feed the desire, which will in turn keep you taking action to achieve your dreams. While you should watch your movie on a regular basis, it can really be helpful to watch it when the fear and doubt start to creep back in.
New, Bigger Goals for 2009 and Beyond
Posted by: | CommentsMany people who are working as employees expect that they will get cost of living raises (based on inflation) and possibly some larger raises if they move into higher positions. So that is exactly what they get.
I learned a lesson early on in my career. As I mentioned in my IT consulting e-book, I got laid off after 14 months on my first job. The company got bought out. Two months before, I got a raise of about 30 cents per hour which was almost insulting. They gave me four weeks notice, and during that time I managed to find another job. The funny thing was I got a 30% raise. My first lesson was ‘You make more money jumping between companies than staying in one company’. That may have been short-sighted but it kept working. I jumped again a couple years later and got an even bigger raise (plus I went contract). I was getting $35/hour which at the time felt huge!
I eventually ended up in IT in a couple start-ups, but got exposed to webMethods software which is used in the integration space. I started to get my head around consulting rates in the $100/hr range. This is because I was talking to sales people from the company and discovered what they (and others like IBM) charge for professional services – from $150/hour to over $200/hour. At the time those numbers were unimaginable as I wasn’t even making six figures as an employee. My general view was that I would make cost of living increases or possibly up to 20-30% more if I jumped to another position.
I’ve been making the same amount of money for years, and recently realized that it was because I hadn’t set a larger target since the early days as an IT consultant. So I was getting was I was envisioning. I needed to think big, to set bigger goals. We all need to create challenges and strive to meet them. This is what gives us excitement in life, not the money but what money can enable. I believe that we are mostly seeking freedom in life. Freedom to make our own choices, and live the life we choose. This usually requires money!
So I recently set some new, bigger business goals. This has re-energized and refocused me. I’ve started to take action already, I’ve tried a few things so far that haven’t had much success online, but I will persist! I’d like to share the path that I’ve taken and the new goals I am setting and hope you will do the same:
- find a niche market to target (Done!)
- start a corporation and start consulting at $90+/hour range (Done!)
- start working remotely so I can avoid commuting, meetings, get more accomplished during the day and have more freedom (Done!)
- find more contracts that allow remote work and diversify my client base globally
- reduce time-based pay (getting paid by the hour) by finding and creating products to sell online
- obtain recurring revenue by creating membership sites
- move out of the big city and work remotely from a home in the country
- generate $1 million dollars per year of revenue
- give more to animal charities (up to 10%)
I’ll be talking more about working remotely (ie. working from home) and generating online revenues via internet ventures in future posts. So set your new, bigger goals for 2009 and beyond now! Remember, what you focus on expands.
Create Your Own Reality
Posted by: | CommentsA few years ago I was trying to find a good book on dealing with stress. One day I was chatting with a friend at a coffee shop and noticed a book called The Power of Now: A Guide to Spiritual Enlightenment
Although it wasn’t written to directly help reduce stress, it made me realize that the majority of my problems were due to the way I interpreted what was happening. Instead of accepting what was happening, I was resisting it. It also made me realize that I had a ‘future focused’ mindset. In IT (or my previous engineering career) I had enough experience to know that the current project was going to go ‘off the rails’. This used to give me a lot of stress.
Another ‘a-ha’ moment was the idea of creating drama in our lives. Not only does something happen on a daily basis that appears to be negative, but then we re-live the moment over and over again in our minds. We also discuss it with others. What we are essentially doing, is trying to prove to ourselves and others that we are right and ‘they’ are wrong.
At the core of every problem is the ego. Whenever someone tells me about how horrible their workplace is, I try to find out how they are contributing to the problem. Most people can’t see their own contribution to the grief and tend to point the finger outwards.
On my last project I decided to focus on the work I had to get done, and avoid complaining about what the client was doing or not doing. In other words I avoid creating or exposing myself to ‘drama’. I avoided all meetings and asked my project manager to contact me if anyone had a question or issue. I worked remotely from home during this time. It was amazingly peaceful and productive.
Related to this concept is the idea of ‘The Now’. If you think about it, everything happens now. When you relive the past or focus on the future you are doing it now. Most stress and other issues can be reduced or eliminated by being in the present moment. Sometimes future moments that are anticipated don’t actually happen!
When you’re freaking out about work, the commute, the low pay or whatever else is bothering you, be aware that reality is negotiable
Don’t Contact People Just When You Need Them
Posted by: | CommentsThe other day a colleague I had worked with emailed me out of the blue. I hadn’t spoken with him since we worked together a few years ago. Turns out he was working out of town and wanted to return to Calgary. He asked me about a specific opportunity that he had heard about. Come to think of it, two different people contacted me around the same time about this opportunity, even though they hadn’t contacted me since we parted ways.
I helped them out as much as I could, but it reminded me that as employees or contractors, we need to keep in touch with our network on a regular basis, not just when we need something. Perhaps forward a bit of interesting news, a relevant opportunity or just say hello. In other words, make it a two-way relationship. Don’t always be taking and asking from others.
So if there’s anyone you haven’t talked to in a while, drop them a line for no real reason at all!
Face your Fears
Posted by: | CommentsAre you afraid to go from employee to contractor, especially in these ‘uncertain times’? If you’ve been freaking out about the economy you need to realize that there are many people who are stressed out in the least. Take yours truly for example. With money in the bank, I’ve even been ‘between contracts’ and enjoying it tremendously. It’s been hard for me to understand why employees are so resistant to taking the plunge. But lately I’ve been more understanding because I’ve had some fear myself.
I recently started to work on a new business and realized how afraid I was to start it. Fear of failure, not sure what to do next, etc. And recently I was offered an architect role which is a bit higher level than I’m used to. One thing you can do is to keep reminding yourself that everything will work out fine. It’s worked out fine in the past and it will work out fine in the future. You really can’t know exactly what will happen but you need to have faith that it will be okay. Another thing you can do is remind yourself that you will find the help you need to be successful. In other words, don’t think you have to do it alone. Also focus on the possible rewards rather than the possible problems.
Nothing makes me happier than seeing people like you take the plunge and go for it.
What You Can Learn From the Olympics
Posted by: | CommentsDid you watch any of the Olympics this year in Beijing? It was very inspiring and a couple of things struck me after watching it above any beyond the amazing talent of the athletes.
First, many of the Olympians had persevered through adversity whether it be death of a close family member, injuries, or sickness of their coach to name a few. In our careers and businesses we need to break through our challenges and mental barriers to achieve a new level of success.
Second, the Olympians had worked for 4 years (since the last Olympics) to get to the Olympics and win a medal. Some, like Michael Phelps set a goal of winning 8 goal medals. Many doubted it could be done. We need to set short and long term goals and truly believe they can be achieved in order to know where we are headed and to make them a reality.