Tag: dailypost

How a “Muse” business can change your life

Muse – Daily writing prompt

When I first heard about The 4-Hour Workweek, I definitely had my reservations. The title definitely sounds like a scam.

However, it was on many top reading lists so I decided to have an open mind going in.

I was blown away when I got to the part about building a “muse” business. These are basically businesses that once properly structured, will generate automated income without any, or hardly any, management on your end.

The automatic marketing, manufacturing, shipping, payment processing, and customer service made available by today’s technology allows someone to essentially generate income that allows a person to spend a few hours a week checking in, but essentially unplugged from the business. This removes the need to make money, and allows the owner to have time, money, and location freedom. By doing so, they are able to travel or pursue other interests.

The reason these businesses are called “muse businesses” is that they aren’t the end-all-be-all of a persons life. It’s mainly used to take money off of the table.

I’m currently taking an online course by best-selling author and entrepreneur Ramit Sethi called Zero to Launch, which teaches aspiring entrepreneurs like myself how to turn your passion into a fully operational and profitable online business.

To be honest, I’m so stoked to be on this path to learning and creating a system that will generate income on something I am passionate about. So I guess this won’t technically be a muse business, but I imagine it’ll work the same way.

I’ll definitely be updating my progress on my blog, so be sure to follow to be a part of my journey! 🙂

 

The most “Profound” piece of advice

Profound – Daily writing prompt

One of the best pieces of advice I’ve received drastically changed the way I looked at life.

A few years ago, I had just graduated college and didn’t know what I wanted to do with my life. I was thousands of dollars in debt, I was living on my parents’ couch after moving back home, and I didn’t know where my life was headed.

I thought I had wanted to work for the government and that the best way to do so would be to serve in the armed forces.

Long story short, that didn’t work out, haha.

Fortunately, I soon met up with a college friend who introduced me to the world of entrepreneurship. Several more meetings within the course of a year, I had met a bunch of very high-level, successful entrepreneurs who kept giving the same advice:

Always keep learning and growing.

There’s a quote by Ray Croc that goes, “If you’re green you’re growing, if you’re ripe you’re rotting”

Jack Canfield mentions in The Success Principles the idea of C.A.N.I. = Constant and Never-ending Improvement.

In Japanese, this idea of constant improvement is called kaizen.

I learned from one of my mentors that the key to obtaining your goals is to grow and expand your comfort zone.

Instead of shrinking our goals to match our reality, we gave to grow ourselves to encompass everything we want to achieve.

It was empowering to learn that I had the potential to achieve anything, as long as commit long term to grow myself on a daily basis and constantly pushing the boundaries of my comfort zone.

I work out 5-6 times a week to keep expanding my physical comfort zone. I read almost 1 book a week to expand my knowledge. I attend church weekly in order to expand my spiritual knowledge. I am constantly setting goals and deadlines on when to achieve them to see if I’m on track. I visit my long term goals everyday so I’m always in tuned with my life vision.

Today, I can honestly say I’m happy because I always feel like I’m growing. I’m also pumped to know I’m making steady progress instead of being stuck or feeling stagnant.

Whats your most profound piece of advice? I’d love to hear about it in the comments! I respond to all comments so feel free 🙂

Why it’s hard to “Apologize”

Apology – daily writing prompt

Whenever I find myself in the wrong in a despite between myself and someone else, I always find it hard to say sorry. Even though I know it’s the right thing to do, its not always an easy task.

Obviously depending on the context, it can be easier or harder. But generally, the more emotions put into it, the harder it is to admit fault.

We all believe we’re the good guys, by the way.

So why is it so hard to say sorry? It’s pretty simple.

Ego.

Our ego is what makes us selfish. It’s what gives us our pride and makes us stubborn to admit fault. Our ego is what pushes others away instead of trying to understand them.

Truthfully, if we all had a bit more humility and a lot less ego, conflicts wouldn’t arise so easily. And when conflicts do occur, it would be substantially easier to resolve.

Next time you’re in a conflict with someone, try to put your ego aside and empathize with the other person. Recognize that you’re wrong and apologize from the heart.

In every conflict where there’s a winner and a loser, both will end up losers in the long run from the strained relationship.

On the flip side, those who can apologize, will spur forgiveness on the other side. That way, both sides will win.

 

3 Ways to Live a “Dramatic” Life

Dramatic – Daily writing prompt

Monday mornings at work, we have a meeting usually about an hour long. The first half of the meeting we usually tell fun stories about our weekend on a volunteer basis. It’s a fun little exercise to get the week started as some stories can be pretty entertaining.

Over the past year, I’ve developed a bit of a reputation of having funny or at least mildly interesting stories. It’s now at the point where people occasionally request a story from me because they know I’ll have something interesting to say!

Honestly, I don’t believe my life is anymore interesting than the next person. However, I can tell you for a fact that I do go into the weekend with a mindset of having a fun experience or finding an interesting story to share with the group on Monday.

Here are some tips I have to living a more exciting life:

1. Seek out new experiences

Sometimes my girlfriend and I will look on Groupon or any other website for discounted deals on local activities. This is how we found ourselves taking archery classes, or how I went Flyboarding in Miami. One time, we just rented bikes to go cruising near the ocean at Huntington Beach for an afternoon. Another time we took yoga classes for two months for $30 each. We try to find new things to do at least once or twice a month. With sites like groupon, there’s usually a large number of activities to choose from.

2. Be proactive with your weekends

Instead of going into the weekend thinking, “I’m just going to relax. I’m too tired to do anything,” look to the weekend as a time to have fun and something to look forward to. Don’t be reactive and wait for something to happen to you. Before you know it, you’ll be sitting on your couch watching Netflix again, binge watching some series for 20 hours straight and wonder where the weekend went. If you want your life experience to consist of hours of Netflix, then go for it. But I would hardly consider that a great experience to look back on.

3. Say “Yes” more often

I found some of the most fun things I’ve done were usually things I didn’t want to do at first. But once I got out of my own mental comfort zone, the experience turned out to be more fun. For example, I was never big on outdoor activities like hiking. Now, however, my girlfriend and I have been on several trails because she’s always push for going. Overall, it’s a fun activity and great exercise as well. The views can be worth it alone, and being away from technology is a great feeling.

Any other tips for living a more fun and interesting life? Please let me know in the comments!

Becoming someone you “Admire”

Admire – Daily writing prompt

We all have someone we admire, whether it’s a parent, a teacher, professionals, successful business people, a friend, or even a sibling. There’s something about who they are and what they’ve accomplished that we really appreciate.

For some people, they strive to be someone that others can admire for their own achievements. It’s very rewarding to hear when someone says you’ve inspired them and your example changed their lives.

So how do you become someone that others admire? I think there are many ways:

-Do something that inspires you. Commit and do it fully. Despite what people may say and how they might discourage you, it’s more fulfilling do to it than to regret not having even tried.

-Do what you love, which will make it easier to do. As Gary Vaynercuk says, he hardly ever gets burned out because he’s constantly energized by following his passion.

-Love what you do. This stems from gratitude and seeing the bright side of things. Your optimism and appreciative mindset is what will make you happy in whatever you do.

-Overcome your challenges. Don’t wish things were easier, wish that you were better and then constantly work to improve yourself daily. When you reach the point where others give up, keep pushing until you succeed. Your story will inspire others that it CAN be done despite your challenges.

-Be consistent and persistent. When the rock and the stream meet, the stream wins every time. Case in point: the Grand Canyon.

-Focus. Most people have a deficit of attention. You’ll be surprised how far ahead of the pack you’ll be if you can F.O.C.U.S. (Follow One Course Until Successful).

Along your path to doing what inspires you, committing to something, following your passion, being happy and loving what you do,overcoming your personal obstacles, and focusing, you’ll no doubt inspire others along the way 🙂

Any other ways to become someone you’d admire? Leave a comment below!

“Wind” vs Rock

Wind – Daily writing prompt

If you had the choice, would you rather be the wind or the rock?

Reminds me of the animated show Avatar: The Last Airbender. There are 4 elements, water, earth, fire, and air.

The main character is a natural Airbender, meaning he can manipulate air. The opposite element of air is earth.

Wind is elusive while also powerful. A gust of wind can blow off someone’s hat, but a storm or hurricane can blow off the roof of a house. Even though airbenders are known to be more peaceful and elusive in combat, they have the full utilization of an unlimited element all around them and can use that in creative ways.

Earth is steady and strong. The fighting style of an earth bender is more grounded and heavy. They tend to have a more rooted and stubborn personality, but are consistent and reliable. Since there are environments where earth may not be available (underwater, on and island, or in the sky), they are limited to the amount of the element that nearby.

Both elements have their advantages and disadvantages. Personality wise, I feel like I resonate more as an earth type since I see myself as more consistent, reliable, and steady. In truth, we all have a little each personality type. I don’t think anyone is completely one or the other. There’s also fire and water types which I haven’t mentioned either.

I think the value of understanding what you own personality type is how you can use and develop your strengths and understanding your weaknesses.

One might opt for working on their weaknesses so they can be more well rounded. In my opinion, I think it’s more effective to hone what you’re good at and surround yourself with a team that compliments your skill sets.

Think of a team of fire, water, air, and earth benders, each one a master, versus a team of 4 others who can bend all the elements individual by are only average.

Back to my original question. Who would you choose: air or earth?

How to be “Unstoppable”

Unstoppable – Daily writing prompt

Sometimes we go through life and feel like nothing is in our control. Why does it seem like everything we want to do is so hard?

At times, I wish I were unstoppable like Juggernaut from X-Men. Metaphorically, I could plow through anything in my path and be an incredible force.

Quick tangent: “What happens when an unstoppable force meets an immovable object?” Apparently this is called the irresistible force paradox. Read the wiki page if you wanna make your brain hurt, haha.

Back to the main subject: how do we make ourselves unstoppable so we can accomplish the things we want?

One answer I think of comes from another favorite book of mine Relentless: From Good to Great to Unstoppable, by Tim Grover.

He discusses the concept of a “cleaner,” which is the highest caliber of performer. Michael Jordan, for example, was a cleaner.

A cleaner doesn’t study the competition, he/she works so hard that the competition studies THEM.

Here are some other key ideas about becoming unstoppable from the book:

-constantly striving to become better than who you were yesterday

-training physical strength as well as mental

-being comfortable with being outside your comfort zone

-knowing who you truly are and not making excuses

-we’re all born bad and taught to be good. Harnessing our “dark side” is what helps you get into the zone of complete focus

-working hard, making decisions, and obsessed with the results

-being feared over being liked

-trusting very few people, and those you do trust better not let you down

-never being complacent, always focusing on achieving the next goal.

Overall, it’s a phenomenal read, highly recommend it. I get pumped up from hearing about the concept of a cleaner.

Comment if you have any other tips to become unstoppable!

What to do in a “Crisis”

Crisis – daily writing prompt

So imagine everything in your world is falling apart (or maybe for some of us, this is a sad reality 😢).

Let’s say a crisis could be losing your job, an unexpected breakup, or a mega-earthquake like in the movie San Andreas with Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson (I loved that movie btw. Ratings weren’t amazing but who cares, the Rock is a #boss)

I asked my coworker for some nuggets of wisdom in these scenarios, and here’s what he would advise:

-Try not to handle everything at once, take it one step at a time.

-Handle the issues in a queue, you’ll stress out if you try to do it all at once.

-Think objectively, focus on the goal rather than the means. Easier said than done since these problems are subjective, but stepping back can help provide some clarity.

-Focus on the things that make you happy. Be around friends and reconnect with people.

-Redirect your energy and use your time constructively. Find new hobbies, stay active, keep your mind occupied. In a crisis, the worst place to be is alone with your thoughts.

Any other good pieces of advice for people dealing with a crisis? Let us know in the comments! 🙂