Sample Content Preview

Introduction

If you are reading this book, you are undoubtedly trying to become more productive by managing your time better. That’s a great goal. But you can’t really manage time. An hour will always consist of 60 minutes, and a day will have 24 hours. That can’t be changed. So, if you are lamenting, “I never have enough time!” keep in mind you have the exact amount of time as everyone else.

You can’t manage time, but you can manage yourself by making better choices every day. With each choice you make, you can improve your life or make it more difficult. Proper goal setting is a major part of managing your time. However, it’s critical not to confuse your end goal (the final result) with the steps designed to get you there.

For example, let’s say your boss has placed you in charge of finding new office space. That’s the end goal. But the steps you take to go about achieving that goal will make a huge difference.

You can do research and prepare a list of all available commercial space to present to the boss. This will probably take a few days. And you’re not even close to the end goal, which is finding a new office for your particular company. You’ve started the project, but you’ve wasted time, as well.

If you were to handle the assignment with an eye on better time management, you would start with a list of needed information. What neighborhood would be best? What is the monthly rent and utility budget? This information can be gathered in minutes (hopefully, from the boss himself) and it will narrow down your project and save you days of needless searching.

Keeping the end goal in mind always saves you time. Have the necessary information at hand before you begin the actual work. It will eliminate a lot of steps along the way.

Chapter 1 – Get to Know Yourself

Everyone Has Strengths and Weaknesses

No one is equally good or bad at everything. But if you don’t know what your weaknesses and strengths are, you could be blindsiding yourself. Becoming more self-aware is the first step to being more productive.

For example, you may be very analytical, which means you are good at thinking through a problem to the end and seeing solutions. But that same strength could turn you into a perfectionist. If you are a decisive person, you are great at making decisions, but you may not think a problem through entirely before taking action.

When you get to know yourself better, you can amplify your talents and minimize weaknesses. This will help you work at maximum efficiency without wasting time.

They say that we have three selves: how the world sees us, how we see ourselves, and how we really are. To work with and enhance your strengths, make an honest list of what you consider your strengths and weaknesses. Keep an open mind and remain honest.

We are all familiar with the favorite interview question, “What are your weaknesses?” The beaming interviewee, of course, answers, “Oh, I always seem to take on too much. I feel like I want to do everything.” Can you identify the weakness? Our interviewee is, in effect, stating that she is disorganized and unable to focus on one thing. She cannot manage her time (or, perhaps, her life), properly.

After creating your list of strengths and weaknesses, ask yourself about your general mindset. A mindset is how we view the world. This usually involves pessimism vs. optimism. These attitudes eventually shape our goals and determine how much we get done.

Optimistic people are open to learning and trying new things. That’s a critical element to better self-management. You need to believe that being more productive is possible. Optimism, the attitude that things can get done, will help increase your productivity in many ways. Think of it as a secret weapon or a powerful tool in managing your time. It really is true that if you think you can, you will.

Sample Content Preview

Your mind is one of the most significant contributors to your daily energy levels. The benefits of high levels of mental energy include confidence, happiness, focus, as well as increased motivation, willpower, and productivity.

Additionally, your brain has a significant effect on your level of physical energy. When you have increased willpower and motivation, it can lead to adopting healthier eating habits, less procrastination, less stress, and decreased levels of fatigue.

The way you think also has an astounding effect on the way those around you perceive you and how well you perform. When you feel confident, you look confident, leading to you performing more efficiently and increasing your chances of success.

If you want to improve your overall mental health, here are five ways that you can boost your mental energy today, to start leading a more prosperous life.

Do Things that You’re Passionate About

Spend time every week participating in activities that you’re passionate about. Head outside and enjoy a leisurely walk
through the woods or break out the art supplies and paint for a couple of hours.

Participating in activities that you enjoy, helps to foster creativity skills in your brain, which can contribute to a healthy mind. Getting involved in activities that you haven’t had the chance to enjoy but have always wanted to do, can do wonders for your mental energy.

Opening yourself up to new experiences will stimulate your brain in a way that can help it to adapt to new environments.

You can also help to sharpen your brainwave patterns by diversifying the activities that you engage in. Trying something new will boost your mental energy.

If you don't know where to start, head to your local community center to see what kinds of programs they have to offer, or check out Facebook to see if there is a group in your area. If you can't find something, take the initiative and start one in your community.

Participating in new activities that are outside will boost your energy even more because sunlight, provides your body with Vitamin D, which is essential for increasing your energy levels. If you start to feel tired at work, take a short break and head outside for a quick walk.

Meditate

A great way to boost your mental energy is to practice meditation on a regular basis. Meditation is nothing more than being present in the world around you and being conscious of your mind and breath.

Many people find meditation to be extremely helpful when they are dealing with real-world situations and remaining focused on difficult tasks throughout their day.
When engaging in meditation, it is important to not think about the future or past but to be present in the moment. Along with providing you with a boost of mental energy, mediation has a plethora of other benefits that will leave you feeling happy and healthy.

Meditation can help to reduce pain and enhance your immune system, will help to reduce feelings of anxiety, depression, confusion, and anger, as well as increasing blood flow, which can help alleviate fatigue.

Practicing meditation in the evenings, before you go to bed, can also help to eliminate insomnia and improve your sleep, which is essential for keeping your energy levels high. Meditation will help to retrain your brain, reducing your worries and bringing you into the moment.

Meditation has also been shown to naturally increase the production of melatonin in your body, which will lead you to sleep more deeply, more soundly, and more effectively, allowing you to feel more refreshed and revitalized the next day.

If you’re new to meditation, there are a ton of resources online and at your local library to help you get started.

Make Sure You’re Drinking Enough Water

Drinking water and brain function are integrally linked. When your brain doesn’t receive enough water, it can cause numerous symptoms including problems with focus, memory, brain fatigue, and brain fog, and can lead to depression, headaches, sleep issues, and anger.

Drinking enough water is the solution to almost every health issue.

Increasing your intake of water will keep you hydrated during the day, and rejuvenate a lethargic brain.

The cells of your brain require twice as much energy than the other cells in your body. Your mind is one of the most important organs in your body that needs to be fueled.

Sample Content Preview

Introduction

Author, William Arthur Ward, once said, “Gratitude can transform common days into thanksgivings, turn routine jobs into joy, and change ordinary opportunities into blessings.” Gratitude is the unique quality of being entirely thankful for what you have, as well as always being ready to appreciate and help others. Gratitude is one of the primary keys to living a happy and prosperous life. For when you show gratitude for what you have, you are content with your life and positive about all that it has to offer.

If you feel a lack of gratitude in your life and are afraid that it may be creating a void, it is time for you to take action and learn how you can develop gratitude to live a happier life. If you are currently in a difficult situation in your life and think that it is impossible for you to be thankful, then it's time you learned how to cultivate gratitude and achieve greatness. With your determination and effort, you can quickly develop a sense of gratitude and become content with yourself and your life.

You can learn about what gratitude is and all the benefits it can bring you in your life. If you’re ready to improve your overall wellbeing and live a happier life, then you can learn to cultivate gratitude and achieve greatness. Gratitude, like any skill, can be learned and you can develop habits of gratitude. With practice, gratitude can become a choice. You can learn how to bring gratitude into your life and improve your relationships.

Chapter 1 – Defining Gratitude

Almost every day, we say thanks. We absentmindedly tell it to the grocery store checkout clerk and to the barista at our local coffee shop but are these sincere expressions of gratitude, or merely a response we've been conditioned to give?

What exactly is gratitude?

Is it something different than saying "thanks," or is the "thanks" a component of gratitude?

As you will discover as you read through this guide, a simple "thanks" can have a powerful impact on both the person communicating their appreciation and the person receiving that appreciation. This is especially true when the genuine emotion of gratitude backs the word. The question then becomes, what exactly is gratitude?

The Roman philosopher, Cicero, described gratitude as the greatest of virtues and the parent of all others. It is the key that opens all doors and is the quality that makes us and keeps us young. This statement, spoken more than two thousand years ago, is quite compelling. It speaks of gratitude as a virtue or quality of being. Gratitude is just this and so much more. Gratitude is also an emotion. It is something that we feel deep in our hearts. We can feel it toward others, when people are grateful to us, or when we see a person express gratitude toward another. As a sentiment or as an exchange between people, there is simplicity to being grateful. And yet, when trying to understand this simplicity, we can find a more complex meaning. Gratitude is an emotion, it is an experience, and it is a conscious choice for awareness. Connections in your relationships are both strengthened and fostered with gratitude.

At its core, gratitude holds an experience of universal belonging. We can experience a real sense of overall well-being when you practice the intentional cultivation of gratitude in our lives.

Gratitude as a State of Being

Take a moment and shut your eyes and try to recall a time when you felt appreciated. Remember this event as if it were happening at this very moment.

What words did you hear?

What did your body feel like at that moment?

What triggered the experience?

What were you thinking at the moment?

What did you enjoy most about being appreciated?

What about this particular moment brought you to remember it today?

Write down your answers to these questions in a notebook that you can refer back to later.

There isn’t a single definition of gratitude. Gratitude has been conceptualized and defined in the context of attitudes, emotions, morals, traits, habits, and even coping techniques. Gratitude is without a doubt, an incredibly complex and dynamic emotion. It is a skill that contributes to the satisfaction in relationships and human excellence.

Gratitude as an Emotion

In this context, we need to be sure to distinguish emotion from the mood. Emotion is about something or someone. It is about a personally significant circumstance or experience. A mood, on the other hand, is not connected to any object and is not dependent on any one thing. By exploring gratitude in this way, we can see that it occurs in response to an action within the framework of a relationship. Something has been given by someone and received by someone else. This exchange helps to foster the emotion of gratitude.

Gratitude is an empathic emotion, which means that in order to experience the emotion in exchange, the receiver needs to place himself in the position of the giver. A feeling of gratitude in response to the gift requires the recipient of the gift to sense the giver's positive intention. It is this recognition and empathic connection that provides the foundation for the emotional experience of gratitude in the interaction.

We can express gratitude for any number of reasons. We can be grateful for receiving personal benefits, such as advice from a mentor, or we can be grateful for material items, like a gift, our home, or a car. Gratitude can also be fostered through interpersonal fulfillment, such as getting a hug from a friend. Or, we can experience gratitude for a monetary gain, like getting a raise at work.

Sample Content Preview

It’s a brave new Internet world, and search engine optimization changes almost daily.

In order to stay on top of the search rankings, you have to be prepared to adapt to the changes, employ new technology, find new tactics, and grow with the trends.

The days of “if it’s not broke,don’t fix it” no longer apply.

The fact is that when you look at a website now days, you have to evaluate it with the mindset that everything is broken, that it isn’t working, and apply new ideas to serve your customers better.

In this course, I’ll discuss some of these new trends, as well as glossing over trends that still work, for the moment.

This is only a brief guide in the world of search engine optimization.

These strategies will change.

The best tool for 2017 and beyond isn’t hiring IT gurus or tech professionals, it’s not some random website that promises results, is your mindset.

If you are willing to innovate, and continue to innovatyou will get the best results.

Those who take SEO tips at their face value will be left hopelessly behind the pack, always employing strategies after they’ve become outdated.

So, as you read over these strategies and tactics, refrain from the mindset of “I need to try that,” and instead ask yourself repeatedly, “How can I take this idea and make it better?”

Think about how much the world has changed to this point, from having the right URL to having the right keywords to using long-tail keyword loaded headlines.

The transition from static pages to blogs. The explosion of the Internet from AOL to cellphone apps. The Internet is still very much an infant, and as it grows quickly, many things will continue to change.

The idea that anything is stable in the current market is fiction.

Jumping right into it, we need to have a thorough look over your website from the perspective of anybody but, well… you.

For starters, pretend that you are a user or visitor of your site…

• What does the navigation look like?
• Would you want to stay on this page?
• Is there plenty of meaningful information linked that wets your appetite for information? Or are you simply looking at another business page?

If there isn’t anything of high value to your customers, then they aren’t going to stick around, and they aren’t likely to convert.

• If your site is a product page, do you have a short, useful blurb about each product paired with a picture?
• Is it easy to understand how to order products?
• Does it look like Amazon, or like Bob’s Bicycles?

Everything should be super easy. A four-year-old should be able to navigate your website on a touch screen. There shouldn’t be anything that is even slightly confusing. If there is, make a note of it.

• What kind of behind the scenes site architecture are you using?
• Are your pages well laid out and structured properly, or are individual pages buried in folder after folder?

If you are still using frames, just don’t.

Try to minimize the pagecount and content. Makeevery page look roughly the same so as not to disorient the reader.

Make your site architecture easy for spiders to navigate. This might be something to discuss with the IT guy rather than tackling yourself.

Sample Content Preview

Instagram presents a massive traffic opportunity for marketers. It is huge. How big is Instagram? Well, in June 2018, which is roughly a year prior to this training, Instagram reached the 1 billion user milestone.

Think about that for a second. A lot of other platforms like Facebook, Twitter and Snapchat are suffering from lagging growth rates. Instagram, on the other hand, continues to grow and shows no signs of slowing down

In fact, when it comes to actual daily usage, Instagram leaves other larger platforms in the dust. These other platforms may have a lot more users, but in terms of daily use, Instagram can boast of over 500 million users,

That's right, 500 million Instagram app users access Instagram every single day. That's a lot of content consumption. That's a lot of likes, comments, hashtags, and what have you. In fact, when measured in terms of per user engagement, it is easy to see that Instagram user behavior is more habitual.

For example, with Facebook, many people have a love-hate relationship with the platform. They would use it habitually for some time until they read some rough updates. They don't feel too good, and they swear off Facebook for a few days, a few weeks, or even a few months.

Not so with Instagram. People not only use it every single day, but they keep coming back. In fact, a lot of people check their Instagram feed every few hours. They don't feel like they're going out of their way when they use Instagram.

It's very easy to understand this dynamic because Instagram was programmed from the ground up as a mobile experience. This is a far cry from Facebook which, of course, was built primarily for the desktop.

Since Instagram is a mobile-focused platform, it’s very easy for people to have some sort of seamless perception of it.

It just becomes part of their daily routine. They treat Instagram the way many people used to read the newspaper first thing in the morning.

It shows no signs of saturation because there are so many niches that can be promoted on Instagram.

The bottom line is, as long as a niche is photo or video-friendly or graphically intensive, there is an audience on Instagram for that niche. This is extremely important if you have an e-commerce website to promote.

If you are selling any kind of merchandise, Instagram should be part of your marketing strategy. There are no two ways about it. You are leaving a lot of money on the table if you skip Instagram.

Sounds awesome so far, right? Well, here's the problem. Most people who try Instagram flat out fail. They really do. If you want to learn why this is the case, jump to Chapter 1.

itamroa'

^ 362«Kes

#n,odet»

#iWW9'arn

It's easy to get excited about Instagram's reach, user consumption patterns, and overall traffic volume. It's very easy to get pumped up when it comes to those facts. But the problem is, most people who try marketing on Instagram fail to get the results they are looking for.

common ways people slip up on Instagram

There are other ways, but chances are, if you don't know what you're doing, you have screwed up because of one of the following:
Reason #1: "One-time big time" paid marketing campaign

A lot of people who have access to marketing budgets are very impatient to promote their online store on Instagram. They just jump in with both feet. They're clueless as to what they're doing. All they know is that they have a lot of money to spend, so they pump out ad after ad after ad.

After all the money has been burned through, they have very little to show for it. The reason for this is because they believe that they can just throw money at the problem.

You can't just rely on the fact that you have a lot of money to spend. Believe it or not, even if you have a very modest or even small budget, you can still walk away with better results than a better financed marketing campaign.

The difference? It all boils down to how systematic and methodical you are in running your Instagram ad campaign
Reason #2: Promoting direct conversion links

A lot of people think that Instagram is just a traffic source. You can tell from their marketing campaigns because they would create a profile with a home page link that doesn't go to their home page. It goes directly to a sales page or an email recruitment page or squeeze page.

What do you think happens? That's right, a whole lot of nothing.

It doesn't really matter how engaging your content is. If you are not qualifying people or helping them overcome some serious structural questions regarding whatever it is you're trying to promote, you're probably not going to achieve much with the traffic.

I'm not disputing the fact that people do pull a lot of traffic from Instagram. But anybody who has ever tried online marketing knows that just because you get traffic, it doesn't mean you get conversions. Traffic, click-through, and conversions are totally different things.

By promoting directly to your conversion page, which is your sales page or squeeze page, you may not have qualified the traffic well enough for you to convert those people into paying customers. Your ROI tanks and you end up wasting a tremendous amount of time, effort and money on your Instagram campaign.

Sample Content Preview

Introduction

Everyone suffers from fatigue and exhaustion in their lives for many different reasons. Whether it’s because they work too hard or don’t get enough sleep at night, or because they have a lot of mental baggage that drains their energy, or they maintain an unhealthy diet.

For too long we’ve been living in a society that has trained us to focus outside ourselves for the answers and expend our precious energy creating things externally.

This kind of results-focused mindset causes us to neglect our inner strength and power, which results in us being chronically fatigued and drained of energy.

One thing that everyone needs to get through the daily grind is energy. Without it, we just can't do what we have to do. The most significant difference between people who understand what they want and people who don't is energy. Everything that we do uses up energy.

We expend energy every time we think, perform, or express ourselves. Often, we associate the term energy with the physical variant. However, the fact is that energy is also used for other aspects of daily living.

Both mental and emotional energy is used daily, and in order to keep yourself productive and functional, you have to keep all three aspects energized.

Unfortunately, energy is not something that you can hold onto forever.

With every single action that you take, you expend energy.

Every step that you walk, every moment you think, every ounce of emotion you use, cost you energy, and there will come a time when your energy will become depleted, and you'll become too exhausted to do anything.

If you don’t take care of yourself, there will become a time when you can’t go on physically, mentally, or emotionally. You’ll have exhausted yourself to the limit. This will result in what is known as burnout.

Burnout can have a devastating effect on your performance, including limiting the number of tasks you can complete in a day, the quality of those tasks you are able to complete, and you won’t be able to fulfill your commitments.

Chapter 1 – Understanding Fatigue

Before you can begin to overcome your fatigue, you need first to understand what fatigue is all about. Fatigue is often referred to as lethargy or exhaustion and is that feeling of tiredness and weakness, both physically and mentally.

You can experience temporary fatigue, which is a result of too much work or not getting enough rest. This kind of fatigue can be easily overcome. There is also chronic or medical fatigue, which is more long-term and requires more serious treatment to overcome.

According to research, 10 percent of the world population suffers from fatigue at any given time, with females being affected by fatigue more than males. Most cases of fatigue have underlying mental causes rather than physical causes and one out of five people who suffer fatigue in the United States, states that it affects their normal function and daily lives.

Two Types of Fatigue

There are two kinds of fatigue that you can suffer from, physical fatigue and mental fatigue. Physical fatigue is when you have a hard time doing the things that you usually do, like carrying grocery bags or climbing stairs. Physical exhaustion is just not having enough physical strength to complete daily tasks.

Mental, or psychological fatigue, on the other hand, is when you find it difficult to concentrate on things. In severe cases, you may find even the prospect of getting out of bed to be too much work.

You may feel tired all the time and may also suffer from a lower level of consciousness, which can be extremely dangerous, especially when driving or operating heavy machinery. If you suffer from mental fatigue, you may be mistaken for being drunk or intoxicated.

Weakness

Often times, when referring to fatigue, the words sleepiness and weakness are used to describe the condition. When the phrase

weakness is used, it refers to a situation where your muscles just don't have enough strength to complete even the simplest of physical tasks.

Sample Content Preview

Chapter 1: Get In The Right Mindset To Start A Side Hustle

Many people start off so excited when they see a side hustle opportunity they think will be a good fit for them. They make plans and think about how they’re going to spend their extra cash, or how they’re going to quit their jobs the moment their side hustle takes off.

But before they even get halfway to success, they give up all of a sudden. They make excuses as to why their side hustle isn’t working. They’ll tell themselves that their day job is easier because they get a steady paycheck every month. They’ll try to convince themselves that they’re happier at their day jobs anyway.

The right mindset

Many people have what it takes to succeed. They have the skills and the talent to do so. But the moment life throws curveballs their way, they give up and quit chasing their dreams.

Why is that? Did they not want their dreams badly enough? Do they really like their lives the way it is right now? Maybe, maybe not.

The answer actually lies in people’s mindsets. Not everyone’s cut out to hustle and take actual charge of their lives. When you hustle, you’re taking control of your life and you’re stepping out of your comfort zone.

The thing is some people are content with whatever they have going for them at the moment. They don’t have that drive, that burning passion to see their dreams come to life. And that’s okay, that’s their prerogative, their choice.

Perhaps they’ve become jaded and cynical. They’ve seen far too many people fail, and only a very small minority succeed, so they think they just don’t have what it takes to beat the odds. In their minds, they’ve already failed.

But you don’t have to follow in their footsteps. You don’t need to feel the same way. You don’t need to feel discouraged every time you hear about someone who’s failed at their side hustles.

You control your mind

The human mind is amazing. It can either push you to go after your dreams no matter what it takes or bury it long before you even do anything about it. But your mind and your thoughts aren’t independent of who you are as a person. The truth is, YOU control your mind. Your mind doesn’t control you!

With that said, if you want to change your life for the better, then you need to get out of your comfort zone. You’ll never see success if you keep on doing the same things over and over again.

When you enter the world of side hustling and entrepreneurship, you need to change the way you think. If you’ve got a negative mindset, then you absolutely must change it to a positive one.

If you don’t, then you’re never going to get anywhere, you’ll be stuck doing the same kind of jobs until you die. The same jobs that give you an uncomfortable, mediocre, and ultimately, unhappy life.

Know your “why”

If you want to succeed in your side hustle, then you need to, first of all, understand your “why.” Why do you want to succeed? Who are you doing it for? What are you hoping to achieve with your side hustle? More money? Freedom from the rat race?

Whatever the reason, you need to always remember your “why” because it’s going to be an uphill battle to success. There will be times

when you’ll feel so tired, when you’ll feel like the world is conspiring against you to fail. You’ll feel like your side hustle is not bringing you any closer to your goals. When that time comes, remember your “why” and you’ll feel your motivation come back.

Chase the right goals

Your mindset plays a critical role in your side hustle success. If you don’t want your dreams badly enough, then perhaps you’re chasing after the wrong goals?

You need to get your mindset right before you attempt to do anything. If you don’t, you’re going to be suffering for months and years, wondering why you can’t muster the motivation to do what needs to be done. You’ll only be delaying your success, and every step of the way, you’ll feel like your feet weigh a ton and is dragging you down!

However, if you’re chasing after goals that you’re passionate about and you’ve got the right mindset for it, then you can expect different results. This powerful combination is what separates successful side hustlers and entrepreneurs from failures and wannabes.

So, take the time to get to know yourself, prepare your mindset, and ask yourself if you’re ready to take on one of the biggest challenges in your life.

Chapter 2: Take Inventory Of Your Special Skills And Talents

You’ve probably got a lot of skills and talents that you can put to good use. But since you’ve got a limited number of free time (provided you work full time at your day job), then you need to choose a profitable side hustle that will help maximize your time.

How do you do that?

Well, for starters, you can take an inventory of your special skills and talents. You can start by writing down your work experiences (paid or not), and then write the skills you used to do those jobs. If you picked up any random skills along the way, write them down as well.

This process is important so you can identify which opportunities are going to be a good fit for you. You can then further analyze the marketability and demand of your skills because as you probably know, not all skills are created equal.

Low-level vs. high-level skills

General and low-level skills probably aren’t going to get you an extra thousand bucks right away. You’ll have a ton of competition since there is a relatively lower barrier to entry, meaning a lot of people can do these easy side jobs.

On the other hand, if you choose a side hustle which requires higher-level and more technical skills, then chances are, you’ll have less competition. Depending on the demand for those skills, you’ll be able to bring in more extra cash each month than a low-skill side hustle.

For instance, let’s say you’re pretty skilled at babysitting, copywriting and designing websites. Which of these side hustles do you think are going to be most profitable?

With babysitting, you don’t really need special skills. If you love babies and you’ve got a way with them, then you can easily become a babysitter. With this logic, anyone looking for a babysitter can theoretically find one quickly, provided, of course, they pay competitive rates.