10 Morning Routine Habits Of Successful People

By Guest Blogger Mark Williams

“How you greet your morning is like a boomerang. It always comes back to you. Remember this.” ― Stan Jacobs

Dwayne Johnson, also known by his wrestling show name “The Rock”, is one of the most recognized and highest-paid entertainers in the world.

Even if you don’t follow his career or haven’t seen most of his movies, you KNOW who he is.

Chances are you’ve seen him in something over the last couple of decades.

His towering stature and chiseled physique make him instantly recognizable, and everything about him says “International Superstar.”

Acting, wrestling, producing – you name it, he’s done it all.

If he’s not in the latest summer blockbuster, he’s knee-deep in another project that’s raking in millions easy.

And he’s showing no signs of slowing down.

The man is a BEAST.

And one thing he’s also famous for is his notorious habit of getting up at 4 AM every morning. When I first learned about this, I thought to myself, “Is he crazy or what? I know getting up early is important, but that’s borderline masochistic.”

But considering Dwayne’s net worth and his incredible string of successful movies and other ventures…

…not to mention being number 25 on Forbes’ list of Top 100 Most Powerful Celebrities AND the highest-paid actor in 2016…

… clearly he knows something we don’t.

As soon as his alarm goes off, he doesn’t waste any time hitting the weights. Once he’s done with working out, he launches straight into planning mode while having a high-powered breakfast.

It’s during this time when he catches up on projects he’s working on, along with the others he’s got in the pipeline.

And it turns out that a lot of other successful people who’ve established themselves in their respective fields also have morning habits that have served them well.

So if you want to maximize your hustle, you’d better starting building a set of your own morning habits.

Is it worth being an early bird?

In a word, YES.

Getting into the habit of waking up ahead of everyone is, in fact, one of the best things you could do for yourself.

More than that however, having a whole series of morning rituals is a solid building block on your path to success.

Productivity equals success – there’s no way around that.

And having a reliable routine in the morning sets the stage for everything else you’ll do later on.

In the book “Deep Work”, Cal Newport stresses the importance of building habits in your life.

He says that “you get better at a skill as you develop more myelin around the relevant neurons, allowing the corresponding circuit to fire more effortlessly and effectively. To be great at something is to be well myelinated.”

So the more your brain gets used to doing something repeatedly, the better you’ll be at producing consistently high results.

That’s why it’s important to set these foundations now, so that the rest of your day runs like clockwork.

Without further ado, let’s count down the Top Morning 10 habits To Flip Your Brain’s Productivity Switch:

#10: Let the day wash over you

Ok, so the first thing you need to know is that your morning routine should start off low-pressure, then gradually crank up the speed as you go along.

Unless you’re in the military, you don’t need to hit the ground running the moment you open your eyes.

One of the reasons Dwayne Johnson gets up so early is to he can beat the sun to it. That way, he has a couple of hours of quiet alone time while everyone else is sleeping.

Now, you don’t have to watch the sun rise, but if you can manage to do so, it’s a wonderful experience.

It sets the tone for everything else to come, and you can gradually build up your momentum from this point on.

Even if you can’t wake up that early, it’s still nice to spend at least 30 minutes (or longer) after getting out of bed to simply gather your wits and reflect on the day ahead.

Just remember that in the later part of the day, you’ll be faced with a million decisions to make. So use this brief opportunity to savor the start of a new day.

#9: Get your mind right

Tony Robbins, a well-known life coach and philanthropist, sets aside time for what he calls the “Hour of Power”. This is when he does breathing exercises, sets goals and gets into affirmations.

It’s important to get in the right headspace to take on your day. Thus, meditation and inner reflection gives you the mental leverage to tackle the most difficult tasks weighing heavily on your mind.

Jack Dorsey, the founder of Twitter does this as well (along with exercising), which helps him clear his mind and get ready to handle the day ahead.

Getting started is as easy as sitting down with your eyes closed so you can focus on the rhythm of your breath. You’ll then enter a state of mindfulness, which is paying attention to the present moment and nothing else.

After that, you can start doing affirmations, which are basically statements of kindness and encouragement that you repeat to yourself. They bring attention to your positive qualities and strengths, as well as things you want to accomplish.

Here are a few examples:

“I am loved by the people around me.”
“I am stronger than I think.”
“I am productive and provide value to the world.”
“I have what it takes to close that sale today.”
“Getting that big task done is easier than it looks.”
By encouraging yourself, you’ll get used to the fact that you’re enough.

Everything you do and everything you are serves the exact purpose you were meant to fulfill today – and in the weeks to come.

#8: Plan Your Success!

Now that you’ve taken some time to get your bearings, you can move on to tackling your goals for the day.

It’s easy to feel overwhelmed as the day goes by. So, the earlier you sort out and prioritize your to-do’s, the more you’ll feel on top of things.

Furthermore, it’s crucial you have an overall sense of purpose so you don’t stumble through the day without a clear idea of what to accomplish.

Get specific with what you want to do, and put a certain quantity and deadline along with it (e.g. run 2 miles by 8:00 AM).

Once you cross that off your list, you’ll have a greater sense of accomplishment. Then, you’re motivated to get even more done.

#7: Do something you hate

Speaking of your to-do list, everyone has that ONE item that they don’t look forward to doing.

And it’s exactly why you should get it out of the way as soon as you can.

Look, willpower is a finite resource. So it makes sense to expend your energy on that unpleasant task while you’re still in a better position to do so.

Brian Tracy, a motivational coach, author and public speaker, calls this “eating the frog”.

He recommends you wolf down that slimy amphibian as early as possible. After that, everything else will seem like a cakewalk.

It won’t be fun, but your future self will thank you for gritting your teeth and powering through it.

#6: Get your endorphin fix

Barack Obama once said, “I’m trying to pare down decisions. I don’t want to make decisions about what I’m eating or wearing. Because I have too many other decisions to make.”

It’s this kind of efficiency we should all strive for in the morning. As you learn to put some basic things on autopilot, you can better focus your energy on the big things instead.

And one of the things the former leader of the free world can’t do without is exercise. His regimen consists of both strength and cardio training, but you should do what works best for your lifestyle.

The important thing is that you put in the time to sweat it out every morning. This is part of kicking your mind and body into high gear, and leads to greater productivity during the day.

#5: Build your positivity muscles

Most people don’t realize that their state of mind is a matter of choice.

They do this unconsciously, whether they focus on the brighter side of things…

…or choose to assume the worst in everyone and everything around them.

So, your mornings are an excellent time for you to practice a little self-awareness.

Be honest and ask yourself, “Do I have a ton of complaints running in my head as I get ready for my day?”

If you’re learning towards “Um, yeah”, then this is your chance to reverse that mindset and replace it with GRATITUDE.

Find the time to really think about the things you often take for granted, no matter how small they are.

It could be the fact that you have hot running water in the dead of winter, a hearty breakfast to look forward to…

…a partner who loves you, having high-speed internet, wearing your favorite pair of sneakers…

…or being able to get out of bed and walk upright.

This attitude sends the right energy to the Universe, which then finds its way back to you.

And when you turn this into a lifelong mental habit, it’ll keep you strong even when things suck. You can list them down on paper every day, or you can do it mentally as you’re meditating.

#4: Set it up the night before

Ok, so technically this isn’t a morning habit. But your mornings will run more efficiently if you put in a little prep time before hitting the sack.

For example, you can pick out your work and exercise clothes, clean up your desk, declutter your room, and so on. There’s something about resetting your work and living space that sets the right tone for the day.

But if you pulled an all-nighter (which is hopefully not too often), try to do it early in the day the following morning instead. Besides, your brain shouldn’t be swarming with crucial decisions at this time of the day.

So, use this time to think about what you need to do while doing the dishes, sweeping the floor or taking out the trash.

#3: Reconnect with your “why”

In one of the most iconic speeches in recent history, Steve Jobs shared the one thing he always did in the morning.

He told the 2005 graduates of Stanford University, “…for the past 33 years I have looked in the mirror every morning and asked myself, ‘If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I’m about to do today?’”

This kind of question might sound scary at first, but it crystalizes your life’s mission.

It’s a daily reminder to make the most of the time you have on earth.

In the greater scheme of things, it’s pointless to hold on to petty grudges, get caught up in selfish agendas or let the fear of trying hold you back.

So if you don’t have a mission-vision yet, you’d better get on that ASAP.

Get to the core essence of what you want to do in life, whether it’s sending your kids to college, finding the cure to cancer, or opening your own coffee shop.

Then use your early waking hours to reacquaint yourself with your ultimate goals. Read that mission statement to yourself in the morning, or make it part of your mantra during your reflection time.

#2: Eat Breakfast

Your body needs fuel to run, simple as that. You can’t expect to operate at full mental and physical capacity if you’re running on fumes.

For one thing, having enough food to burn in the morning helps stabilize your blood sugar levels.

If you skip breakfast, it’ll make you hungrier and cause you eat more than usual. This forces your body to produce more insulin than normal to handle fluctuations in your blood sugar.

Eventually, this could develop into diabetes – and that’s going seriously hamper your productivity.

Plus, there are other risks involved, like weight gain, heart disease, elevated cholesterol levels and higher blood pressure.

In other words, you can’t afford to gloss over your first meal of the day if you want to keep playing the success game.

Of course, that also means your breakfast needs to be healthy and well-balanced.

Going for that sugar-laden, fat-filled muffin might not be the best choice. Instead, go for something more sensible, like protein-rich food and a good serving of whole grains while you’re at it.

Cereals, yogurt and juice are ok, but proceed with caution. Your typical grocery aisle is filled with brands that are loaded with sugar and other processed ingredients that does more harm than good.

Do some research and pick the ones that won’t send your sugar levels through the roof.

#1: Get enough sleep, wake up early

Like breakfast, having a decent amount of shut-eye is essential. The National Sleep Foundation says adults need anywhere between 6-9 hours to recharge at night.

Skipping on this one also poses a bunch of health risks, like cardiovascular disease, diabetes, obesity…

…not to mention lowered cognitive abilities, bad memory and shortened life expectancy.

Here are a few tips for better sleep:

NO laptops or mobile devices in bed. Their screen emits blue light which tell your brain to stay awake instead of following your natural circadian rhythm.

Stick to a consistent bedtime. Decide what time you want to get up, and work your way back to find out what time you should be in bed.

Make your room conducive for sleep. Draw the curtains, keep the temperature between 60-70 degrees Fahrenheit, and make sure your mattress and pillows support your neck and back.

It’s in your best interest to get this squared away so you can keep being awesome at what you do.

Remember, success isn’t an accident. It’s a deliberate set of choices that you make every day.

Habits aren’t always hip, cool or easy. Sometimes, those decisions aren’t any fun, either.

Muhammad Ali said that he hated every minute of his training, but the results speak for themselves. So when it comes to being successful, these morning rituals will be your best friends.

Speaking of success, there is one quality I’ve discovered which can help you naturally attract the things most of us only dream about.

A lot of folks struggle to find happiness, create wealth, and have fulfilling relationships.

But as it turns out, anyone can develop a specific trait that allows them to have all of this without wasting years of their life chasing it.

By the way, if, by chance, you’re open to looking at a profitable income stream, here’s something I’m excited about. I think it’s worth taking a look at. Check HERE and Check it Out Now!

Don’t Upsell Your Customers To Death

Guaranteed, you’ve been on the customer side of this equation. You buy a product and you think you’re going to be directed to the download page. Instead, you find yourself on an upsell page trying to sell you another product.

No problem, you scroll to the bottom and click the ‘no thanks’ link, thinking you’re about to get to the download page.

No such luck. You’re on another upsell page. You scroll down and click ‘no thanks’ again, and you’re taken to…

… yet another upsell page. Now you’re getting irritated. You scroll down, click the ‘no thanks’ button, and you’re finally taken to…

… another upsell page! @#$%&

You’re no longer just irritated, you’re annoyed, mad and even downright ANGRY. Odds are you are talking to your computer and what you’re saying is not very nice.

Who can blame you?

Now then, let’s look at this from the marketer’s standpoint: The more offers you as the marketer can make, the more money you will make.

Today, that is.

But when you make your customers angry, what happens? They remember how you made them feel. In fact, they will remember how you made them feel long, long after they’ve forgotten your product. And the next time you try to sell them something, they’ll decide they’re going to stay far away from your offers because they do NOT want to get caught in upsell hell ever again.

So what’s the solution? Offer ONE upsell. Just one. Then take your buyers straight to the download page.

On the download page, you can offer them another product with a nice discount. You’re not holding their purchase hostage at this point because they’re able to download it. So they’re not going to resent you for making them another offer, especially if they get it at a reduced price.

Then in your autoresponder sequence, you can offer them all the upsells, down sells and cross sells you like interspersed with helpful info, news and so forth.

The bottom line comes down to this: If you want to be a flash in the pan and make all of your money today, use a ton of upsells. No one will buy from you again, but it won’t matter because you’ll be living on the beach somewhere carving coconuts.

But if you want to build a long term business, then respect your customers and never, ever put them through upsell hell again.

Make More By Giving Away Your Product

Let’s say you write and sell a fairly successful monthly newsletter. How can you get your subscribers to bring you, new subscribers? Or maybe you have a growing membership. How do you get your current members to bring you more paying members? The answer might be as simple as giving your existing members certificates to GIVE to their friends…

In the case of the newsletter, let your subscribers give away 1-6 months for free. Limit the number of gift subscriptions they can give away to keep the perceived value high. Make the gift certificates look like they were paid for by your current subscribers so that when they give them out, it appears they’re giving a valuable gift (which they are.) This also makes it more likely your subscribers will give the certificates out because there is a sense of pride in the giving of the gift.

When the gift recipients sign up to get their free subscriptions, you can offer them the chance to subscribe for a longer period of time at a reduced rate. Some will accept your offer, others won’t. Those who opt only for the free subscription will receive your offers to renew before their subscription ends. If you’ve provided a great value to them, some will subscribe. And when they do, you can then offer them certificates to give to their friends as well.

Remember, since your newsletter is delivered electronically, it costs almost nothing to give out gift subscriptions. And even if your newsletter is printed and mailed, the cost is still low compared to the number of new subscribers you are likely to get using this simple method. Of course, you’ll want to track your numbers to be sure it’s profitable.

Memberships can work the same way. Let your current members give away limited-time memberships to a small handful of the people they think will appreciate it the most.

You might even do special promotions using this method. For example, you give out certificates in late April for Mother’s Day with instructions to give them to moms who would enjoy the subscription or membership. Or prior to Christmas as gifts, and so forth.

If your membership or newsletter delivers high value, using your current customers to bring in more customers can be the easiest, fastest, and most cost-effective way to get a continuous stream of new, happy customers into your business.

Therefore, instead of only thinking about how many of your paid newsletter subscriptions or memberships you can sell, start directing your creative juices to find ways you can leverage your existing subscriber and customer base’s enthusiasm for your services to start GIVING AWAY everything you have to offer. As you do this, your business and influence can start growing exponentially, and with less overall effort and advertising investment on your part.

By the way, if, by chance, you’re open to looking at a profitable income stream, here’s something I’m excited about. I think it’s worth taking a look at. Check HERE and Check it Out Now!

How to Grow Your Email List in 7 Days

Can you pick a topic, build a list of 1,000 and even promote your first product in just 7 days? Yes! Here’s how…

First of course is to choose your topic or niche. If you want a head start, pick something that will interest your friends – preferably both your friends in real life and your social media friends. Let’s say you’re interested in marketing, and you’ve got some business friends in your hometown as well as more business friends online. This is a good topic choice to hit the ground running.

Next, reach out to those friends you already have a relationship with. Let them know about your new endeavor. In our example case, you might write the following:

Hey George,

Quick question for you: I’m starting a new project where I give out the latest marketing tips for small businesses like yours on how to cheaply get more customers.

Traditional advertising just isn’t cutting it anymore, and we need alternatives that don’t cost a lot and flat out work.

Anyway, thought you might be interested.

I’ll be emailing the latest ‘how-to’ info as I find it.

Want me to include you?

Jill

When they reply back, manually add them to your list. Yes, this takes a little effort, but it’s an excellent way to get started. Go through your phone, email and social media contacts and get as many people as you can this way. Don’t stop until you have a bare minimum of 50. 100 is better.

Next step – create a contest for your new subscribers.

Brainstorm a list of 3 to 5 things you could give to the winner of your contest.

Do a quick poll of your list to see which of those 3 to 5 items they would most like.

Put up a giveaway page and announce it to your list. Use one of the contest sites to make this easy. Your goal is to get them to share it with everyone.

In our example, you might write something like:

Thanks for joining me in my new project!

To kick things off, I’m giving away the book, “How to Get More Customers Than You Need.”

In fact, I’m giving away 5 of them!

And since this email is only going out to 100 people, your odds of winning are pretty darn good.

Here’s what you need to do:

Enter the giveaway by clicking here to leave your email address.

Take the special link you get when you register and share it with your friends to improve your own odds of winning.

For every friend of yours that joins, you get another entry. Good?

Great! Here’s the link.

Jill

You might be concerned about the cost of the prize(s). You can either give away something you own or have rights to, or you can get a sponsor who gives their products away in exchange for you promoting them to your growing list. Or you can simply buy them yourself.

The point is, don’t let obstacles get in your way. There’s always going to be something – web hosting, web design, copywriting, etc., that tries to throw up a roadblock to slow you down or even stop you in your tracks. Don’t let it. Just keep moving forward and tackle each bump in the road as you get to it.

The main thing is to always stay focused on your objective. In this case, it’s 1,000 subscribers in 7 days, followed by the immediate promotion of your first product. (And don’t sweat this part, either. If you don’t have a product, I have two work-around’s for you coming up.)

Continue to promote your contest. Let other list owners know, let blogs know, let the world know about your contest. If you get one good list owner to tell their list about your contest, that alone can snowball into a 1,000 subscribers. Remember, those who enter the contest can then promote their own link for more entries, thus further increasing your list size.

The next step is key: Immediately start building rapport and delivering great content to your list. Give them exactly what you promised and a whole lot more. What you send them is of course going to depend on your niche. Just make sure it is info they can use to solve problems and you will do well.

Also inject humor when you can, write like you’re having a conversation with your best friend and enjoy yourself. If you’re having fun creating content, your list is having fun reading or watching it. That’s right – recording videos for your list is a great idea and can work to build rapport far faster than simply sending emails.

Finally it’s time to promote your first product. If you don’t already have a product of your own that fits this list, don’t worry about it. Choose something that your list wants and be an affiliate for that product. If you don’t know what your list wants, take a poll.

And here’s an even better technique than promoting an affiliate product – sell a product you haven’t even created yet. That’s right. Take a poll to find out exactly what they want. Then sell it to them. Let them know if it’s a book or video series or what. Let them know exactly what’s in it for them. Let them know that if you don’t get “x” amount of orders, you won’t make it. And lastly, let them know that because they are preordering before it’s even made, they get special bonuses and / or a special discount. Make it an offer they cannot refuse.

Just think: If you get 50 sales from your new list for $30 each, that’s $1,500 for a product you haven’t even created yet. Your results will vary.

Things to remember:

Your friends want to help you. Sometimes it’s easier to ask strangers for help than it is your friends and family. But the people who know you are the ones who will join your list first and promote your contest first. They get the ball rolling for you because they want to see you succeed.

Don’t hide. Yes, you can email until you’re blue in the face, and you will get results. You can also pick up the phone and call people to let them know about your new endeavor. Guaranteed, those you call will be far more likely to promote your contest and buy your product.

You might even randomly call people from your list just to thank them for joining. They will be blown away. In fact, send out an email to your list telling them you will call them on Skype for a 2 minute chat if they like – just reply with their Skype ID and you’ll call. Even those who don’t answer will be intrigued that you would do something like that. It shows you are a real person who wants to make real connections. And that counts for a lot.

You can also send private messages to people on your list through Facebook and Gmail if they have a Gmail address. Ask what kind of help they might need and what they want to accomplish.

If you want to make more sales of your first product, wait another week or two before promoting to build more trust with your list. Build rapport. Build a relationship. THEN promote your new product or future new product. Sales will likely double the amount you would make by promoting after just the first week.

Continue to build your list. 1,000 subscribers is a good start. Now go for 3,000. You can do it. In fact, it gets easier and easier as you go. Do lots of guest blogging – it’s a great way to list build.

Create a list-building incentive that drives people wild. This will take some brainstorming, but the perfect incentive is one that people would gladly and eagerly pay for with real money. When you figure out what this is for your niche, your list building will skyrocket.

Don’t get lazy. Building a good list quickly takes effort. Building rapport with that list takes even more effort. But in the end it can pay off big. VERY big.

By the way, if, by chance, you’re open to looking at a profitable income stream, here’s something I’m excited about. I think it’s worth taking a look at. Check HERE and Check it Out Now!

Build Your Website like a Supermarket

You might be thinking, “Why would I want my website to be like a supermarket? I don’t sell meats and produce, I sell information and opportunity.” Good question. But if you’re a fan of all things marketing, this is one article you do not want to miss.

Case in point: Did you know that nothing is left to chance in a supermarket? Everything in a grocery store is orchestrated to increase sales. In the same way, we want to be 100% intentional about how we guide people to the right place on our websites so they do what we want them to do (subscribe, buy, etc.)

Yes, it’s manipulative. But it comes down to a choice – are you going to be smart about your website, or are you going to leave it to chance and hope for the best? Being smart builds a real business, while hoping you accidentally get it right is a hobby. BIG difference.

Here’s a prime supermarket lesson we can use on our websites: When one very successful store cut their product line by 40% their sales went up 20%. Why is this? Because before people had too many choices, resulting in confusion and loss of sales. Reduce the choices and you reduce the confusion. This is why UK supermarket giant Tesco cut their range of products by 30% to simplify the experience for shoppers. After all, who needs 98 different extra virgin olive oils?

If you have too many products, pull the ones that aren’t selling well and focus just on your best sellers. This will benefit you in that you’re more focused on promoting your best sellers only. And it will benefit your customers because it’ll be easier for them to make a buying decision.

Here’s another juicy marketing morsel: When a four-foot cardboard cutout of a glass of beer was placed at either end of the beer shelves, sales increased 23% overnight. Crazy, right? The big beer glasses acted as sign posts, directing customers towards purchasing beer.

So how can you guide people on your website into making purchases? Good question. Give them a clear path from start to finish – a path they cannot easily deviate from. Guide them. Make it clear what their choice should be (to buy, versus to leave without buying.) Make it as simple as seeing a signpost and making the appropriate turn to get to the destination.

And speaking of making things easy – for years supermarkets hid things like bread and milk at the back of the store, with the theory this would increase sales. After all, if you make people walk past all the other items, they’re bound to buy some, right?

It turns out that was a bad theory. Instead of increasing sales, it had the long term effect of making people mad enough to not return to the store. Ouch. Now they know that by placing essentials at the front of the store, they are more likely to get repeat business from the goodwill they have built.

By the way, if, by chance, you’re open to looking at a profitable income stream, here’s something I’m excited about. I think it’s worth taking a look at. Check HERE and Check it Out Now!

21 Strategies To Generate Blog Post Ideas

Stuck for ideas on what to write in your next blog post, article, or email? I’ve made a list of what readers want most to see from you. In fact, this is exactly the content that people crave, so get ready to make your next content a smash hit with your audience.

Your readers want content that:

– Reminds them that they matter
– Reminds them that they are one of a kind
– Tells a story
– Takes them on a journey
– Surprises them
– Shows them that dreams can come true
– Has unexpected twists and unforeseeable turns
– Reveals awesome secrets
– Shows little Davids beating big Goliaths
– Confirms their thoughts and beliefs
– Challenges their assumptions in a respectful manner
– Gives a fresh point of view
– Takes a stand
– Reminds them that life is short – really short
– Gives them faith to believe in something BIG
– Reminds them to get back to the “basics”
– Makes them smile and laugh
– Makes them cry
– Educates while entertaining
– Inspires them to take action
– Encourages them to never, ever give up

This is the sort of content your readers never get tired of and always have time to read. If it’s really good, they remember it long after they’ve read it. And even if it’s only somewhat good, if it meets any of the above criteria, they are very likely to share it with others.

In other words, this is the kind of content that has the power to inspire, influence, and move your readers to ACTION.

By the way, if, by chance, you’re open to looking at a profitable income stream, here’s something I’m excited about. I think it’s worth taking a look at. Check HERE and Check it Out Now!

How to Run a Successful Email Marketing Campaign

This is an email launch sequence that anyone can do and enjoy success with, whether you’re launching your next $10 product or $1,000 product.

I’m going to assume you have a list, whether it’s one you’ve warmed up for a while or a new list compiled from affiliate promotions for your new launch. Either way, the email sequence will be the same.

And we’ll assume you’re selling some type of information product that teaches something. For our example, let’s say you’re selling a product on how to make great videos for marketing purposes.

Here is the sequence:

Email #1: The first lesson on making great videos that sell products. You’re going to be delivering 3 lessons in all on making great videos. But you’re only going to teach about 5 – 10% of what you know. This way they’ll have to buy the paid course to discover the other 90%.

Email #2: A survey question. In this case, ask them what their biggest challenge is in creating great videos that sell.

Email #3: The second lesson. Take the results from the survey question and find their 3 biggest challenges. Then tell them what to do to overcome these challenges, but not how to do it. You’re delivering great info, but not complete info.

Email #4: The third and final lesson in this series. Here is where you create open loops – Telling them more of what they need to do but not how to do it. Again, you’re giving great info but they will need more to get the results you get.

Email #5: This is your introduction to the paid course. Here is where you raise a good deal of curiosity of what’s inside the course. You build the anticipation and desire of the prospects. Think of it as teasing the customer and you’ll be on the right track.

Email #6: Details of the course. Time to lay out the bullet points and really hit the benefits in an impactful way. You’re getting them primed to hit the buy button when your course goes live. Let them know what the first buyers get that later buyers don’t get. And tell them when to be ready. For example, Monday, 9am EST.

Email #7: Let them know the product is live right NOW, and due to high interest the fast action bonuses will go quickly.

Email #8: Remind them that now is the time to order, before it’s too late. Show that the product is selling quickly and time is of the essence. Remind them of the deadline.

Email #9: At the last minute, extend the deadline by one or two days.

Email #10: Remind them that it all ends today. There will be no more extensions and no more opportunities to buy after the time you designate.

As you can see, this sequence is for a product you are going to sell for a short time and then pull from the market. If you want to continue selling the product, you still can by altering this sequence like this:

Emails 1-5 are the same.

Email #6: Tell them about the limited time bonus. Make this bonus BIG and VALUABLE.

Email #7: The product is live and the limited time bonus is only available for the next “x” days.

Email #8: Same as before, but with emphasis on the limited time bonus.

Email #9: Same as before.

Email #10: After your deadline, they can still buy the product, but they will NOT get the bonus. No extensions and no exceptions.

If you don’t want to do a limited time bonus, you can also do introductory pricing to create urgency.

This is the exact email sequence used by 6 and 7 figure Internet Marketers to sell their products. And there’s a reason they continue to use it – it flat out works. Try it for yourself and see what results you get. You won’t be disappointed.

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Why We Like Music

By Guest Blogger Philip Ball

Why do we like music? Like most good questions, this one works on many levels. We have answers on some levels, but not all.

We like music because it makes us feel good. Why does it make us feel good? In 2001, neuroscientists Anne Blood and Robert Zatorre at McGill University in Montreal provided an answer. Using magnetic resonance imaging they showed that people listening to pleasurable music had activated brain regions called the limbic and paralimbic areas, which are connected to euphoric reward responses, like those we experience from sex, good food and addictive drugs. Those rewards come from a gush of a neurotransmitter called dopamine. As DJ Lee Haslam told us, music is the drug.

But why? It’s easy enough to understand why sex and food are rewarded with a dopamine rush: this makes us want more, and so contributes to our survival and propagation. (Some drugs subvert that survival instinct by stimulating dopamine release on false pretences.) But why would a sequence of sounds with no obvious survival value do the same thing?

The truth is no one knows. However, we now have many clues to why music provokes intense emotions. The current favourite theory among scientists who study the cognition of music – how we process it mentally – dates back to 1956, when the philosopher and composer Leonard Meyer suggested that emotion in music is all about what we expect, and whether or not we get it. Meyer drew on earlier psychological theories of emotion, which proposed that it arises when we’re unable to satisfy some desire. That, as you might imagine, creates frustration or anger – but if we then find what we’re looking for, be it love or a cigarette, the payoff is all the sweeter.

This, Meyer argued, is what music does too. It sets up sonic patterns and regularities that tempt us to make unconscious predictions about what’s coming next. If we’re right, the brain gives itself a little reward – as we’d now see it, a surge of dopamine. The constant dance between expectation and outcome thus enlivens the brain with a pleasurable play of emotions.

Why should we care, though, whether our musical expectations are right or not? It’s not as if our life depended on them. Ah, says musicologist David Huron of Ohio State University, but perhaps once it did. Making predictions about our environment – interpreting what we see and hear, say, on the basis of only partial information – could once have been essential to our survival, and indeed still often is, for example when crossing the road. And involving the emotions in these anticipations could have been a smart idea. On the African savannah, our ancestors did not have the luxury of mulling over whether that screech was made by a harmless monkey or a predatory lion. By bypassing the “logical brain” and taking a shortcut to the primitive limbic circuits that control our emotions, the mental processing of sound could prompt a rush of adrenalin – a gut reaction – that prepares us to get out of there anyway.

We all know that music has this direct line to the emotions: who hasn’t been embarrassed by the tears that well up as the strings swell in a sentimental film, even while the logical brain protests that this is just cynical manipulation? We can’t turn off this anticipatory instinct, nor its link to the emotions – even when we know that there’s nothing life-threatening in a Mozart sonata. “Nature’s tendency to overreact provides a golden opportunity for musicians”, says Huron. “Composers can fashion passages that manage to provoke remarkably strong emotions using the most innocuous stimuli imaginable.”

Sound Check

The idea that musical emotion arises from little violations and manipulations of our expectations seems the most promising candidate theory, but it is very hard to test. One reason for this is that music simply offers so much opportunity for creating and violating expectations that it’s not clear what we should measure and compare. We expect rising melodies to continue to rise – but perhaps not indefinitely, as they never do. We expect pleasing harmonies rather than jarring dissonance – but what sounds pleasing today may have seemed dissonant two hundred years ago. We expect rhythms to be regular, but are surprised if the jumpy syncopation of rock’n’roll suddenly switches to four-square oompah time. Expectation is a complicated, ever-changing interplay of how the piece we’re hearing has gone so far, how it compares with similar pieces and styles, and how it compares with all we’ve ever heard.

So, one corollary of Meyer’s theory is that emotion in music will be primarily culturally specific. In order to have any expectations about where the music will go in the first place, you need to know the rules – to appreciate what is normal. This varies from one culture to another. Western Europeans think simple rhythms like waltz time are “natural”, but Eastern Europeans dance happily to metres that sound extraordinarily complicated to others. All of us develop a strong, subconscious sense of which notes sound “right”, whether in sequence in a melody, or sounding together in harmonies. But because different cultures use different scales and tunings – the scales of India and Indonesia, for example, don’t respect the tunings of a piano – there is nothing universal about these expectations. A jolly piece of Indonesian music may be interpreted as “sad” by Westerners simply because it sounds close to being in the traditionally “sad” minor scale.

This picture also implies that music isn’t just about good vibrations – it can provoke other feelings too, such as anxiety, boredom and even anger. Composers and performers walk a delicate tightrope, needing to tweak expectations to just the right degree. Not enough, and the music is dully predictable, as nursery tunes seem to adults. Too much, and we can’t develop any expectations at all – which is why many people struggle with modernist atonal music.

All this can rationalize a great deal about why we feel emotions from particular musical phrases and performances. Meyer’s ideas have received further support very recently from a brain-scanning study by Zatorre and colleagues, which showed that the rewards stimulated by music heard for the first time are particularly dependent on communication between “emotion” and “logic” circuits in the brain.

But it’s not the whole story. Our emotional response to music may be conditioned by so many other factors too – if we are hearing it alone or in a crowd, for example, or if we associate a particular piece with a past experience, good or bad (dubbed the “Darling they’re playing our tune” theory).

Underneath all these ideas is the fact that we’re not even sure what kind of emotion we’re talking about. We can recognise sad music without feeling sad. And even if we do feel sad, it’s not like the sadness of bereavement – it can be enjoyable even if it provokes tears. Some music, like some of Bach’s, can create intense emotion even though we can’t quite put into words what the emotion is. So we’ll surely never understand why music stimulates emotions at least until we have a better picture of what our emotional world is really like.

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How To Get What You Want In Life

By Guest Blogger Heather Matthews

There is no end to things that worry us these days and the things that we would like to have. The question is, how fast can we get those things by putting aside unnecessary hurdles?

You might be worried about getting your dream job, a better house, a new car, or maybe just be at peace. Now, we do not want to go into a lecture about how you can get those things, just like most self-help articles do.

What we will do is to make you aware of what the law of attraction is all about. If you have not already heard of this new age theory, then do not worry about it.

We will tell you. The law of attraction, simply put, is basically the idea that you attract what you want. This also means that you get what you give out. Without going into much detail, we will just tell you how you can get what you want in life with the help of the law of attraction in the steps given below:

Have immovable faith

This is the single most important point that anyone who believes in the law of attraction will tell you.

If you know it, then you will do it. You are the first person who needs to believe in your capabilities and therefore, have faith that you deserve to get what you dream for.

Allow the universe to work its way

At times you should just know how to let go. This does not mean that you will get lazy and not work towards your goals.

This just means that you have to stop fretting and upsetting yourself over things that you cannot control and instead, just work towards things that are within your control. By doing this, you are increasing your chances of getting what you want faster.

The universe is powerful and it recognizes your effort, hard work, passion, and love for what you ask. So, the key is to be patient and not try to be a control freak.

Good things take time and believe that things will come around, you will get what you have always wanted. Losing heart is only going to delay the process. The universe functions in ways that are not always very apparent so let it take its own course.

Keep an open mind

The person who knows how to stay receptive to new things always opens up more possibilities for themselves. You might have been quite accepting of learning new things, trying out experiences, etc, but have you consciously kept your mind open every day?

Even when you are going through difficult times, try and focus, and think that maybe something good will come out of it.

The moment you close yourself, you become stagnant and resistant to change. And if no change occurs in your life, how is it possible for you to grow from your current position to where you want to be?

Seek out signs that the universe will send your way. You will then know that you are on the right path. Be alert because those signs can be as little as seeing the car you want, parked in the parking lot of your office. The universe is trying to remind you of your goals.

Visualization is the key

If you are not one of those people who has been blessed with an active imagination, even then you can practice how to visualize. In the law of attraction, visualization can have tremendous effects. You can take baby steps towards doing this.

For instance, you can choose something simple like one of your favorite books. Close your eyes, imagine the cover of the book, the color, texture, how you feel when you touch it, etc.

Imagine yourself opening the book and inhaling the familiar smell of its pages. Imagine reading the first line of the book and recreating the image of the page in your mind.

This exercise is really helpful both for your concentration and to help you visualize. You will have almost a real experience through the eye of your mind. Once you get used to this, try doing this with what you want, like your goals.

If you want to get an award, then imagine yourself on the stage, imagine the award in your hands, repeat the speech you will say when you get the award, etc. By doing this, you are asserting the fact that you want your goals to be achieved immediately.

Be thankful

Being aware of the things that you have and being grateful for them is very important for you to take further steps towards success and in achieving what you want. If you do not value what you already have, this shows carelessness on your part and you give out negative signs to the universe.

If you are thankful and treasure what you have, it is more likely for the universe to reward you with anything else that you desire.

A good way to do this is to make a hand-written note of all those things that you have been given, irrespective of how small or big it is. It may include your friends who give you so much happiness, your economic status, an education, a good house, good health, some talent, whatever it might be.

You can try to be thankful for things that are happening right now. For example, you have got good marks at the class test, you have bought your favorite lipstick, you took that pending trip, you ate a great pizza, etc. This will give you something to feel happy about every day and heighten your spirits.

Keep your intention awake

How many of you actually think about your daily actions before doing them? We know what the answer will be. When we do even the simplest of actions without thinking about them beforehand, we often get distracted in the middle of a task, forget other little jobs, or we even make a mess out of what we are doing, however simple it might be.

Stop this from now on and make a conscious effort of thinking and reflecting upon your actions. This will help you plan your tasks, do them accurately, and organize your entire schedule. Also, the quality of the work that you will get, will be very superior.

In the beginning, this effort might just feel very exhausting but as you get used to it, it will become a sort of second nature. You will then never do anything without thinking about it beforehand.

Having said all of this, we would like to tell you something.

Think of it as a chant that you should always remember. Some wise man once said that magic happens only to those who believe in it. It is the same in the case of the law of attraction. It will happen to you, from the moment you start believing in it.

And trust the whole process of growth, not superficially but in your heart of hearts. Once you do this, positive results will start showing themselves and soon you will see how adversely your life has changed. Achieving what you want will not be very far away then.

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Why You’re Not Getting What You Want In Life

By Guest Blogger Heather Matthews

“How am I going to live today in order to create the tomorrow I’m committed to?” ― Anthony Robbins

Have you ever caught yourself making a bunch of excuses?

It’s always the same cycle: you come up with a life-changing idea…

…imagine what it would be like when you make it happen…

…then put up a wall of reasons why it can’t be done.

Tell me if the following sounds familiar:

“If I only had more time, I could learn how to speak Italian.”

“I’d get off the couch and go to the gym, but I’m just not feeling it today.”

“I’ll get around to writing that book after my schedule clears up. I’ve just been so busy lately!”

Mel Robbins, a motivational speaker, author and CNN commentator, knows this habit all too well.

After her husband’s restaurant business failed, her career floundered, and their savings dried up, she was stuck in a bad place.

And as she tried to take action and do something about her situation, that voice inside her wanted to stop her every step of the way.

But she realized that she couldn’t make those changes because a part of her brain refused to.

Mel has done some research on this phenomenon, and science shows that the human mind protects a person from anything unfamiliar or uncomfortable.

That includes any attempt to break out of your situation. To your brain, any kind of change is threatening.

So if you’ve ever felt stuck in your life, or find yourself firing off a bunch of excuses to “protect” yourself from trying something new – you have your mind to thank for that.

And it manifests in ways that you don’t realize. We’re so ingrained in our mental habits sometimes that we don’t notice how we’re silently undermining ourselves.

So a little self-awareness is in order, don’t you think?

I want to bring to light some of the biggest reasons why you’re not pushing things to the next level.

I hope that once you can see these self-sabotaging habits for what they are, you’ll step up and do something about it.

Here are the 5 Reasons Why You’re Getting in the Way of Your Own Success:

#1: You’re Running Away From Your Goals

It’s a common problem for people not to have a clear course of action in their lives. They might have some big, nebulous goal in their head, but they’re not breaking it down enough to make it doable.

They have this tendency to talk themselves out of trying because “it can’t be done.” They see their dreams as this mountain of a task they can’t even begin to take on.

To them, it’s just so massive and intimidating that it’s not even worth putting any energy into it. They content themselves with just thinking about the what-ifs instead of spending time on the how-tos.

But if they made the first step to break down those goals into smaller, manageable chunks…

…they’ll find that working on their dreams isn’t as hard as they thought.

At the heart of it, your goals are nothing more than a bunch of smaller tasks that you need to do every day, every week, and every month.

And most of them are pretty boring when you think about it. But put together, they add up to something huge.

So write down your goals, and keep it somewhere you can go through every day. Start with the major ones first, then break them down into smaller sub-goals underneath each of those.

Remember, unless you face the reality of making your dreams happen…

…you’ll be no closer to your goals than when you first thought of them.

#2: You Lack Vision

Aside from a lot of folks not having a clear set of goals, they don’t even have a sense of purpose to begin with. They’re drifting aimlessly in life, not really sure which direction they should take.

In the back of their minds, they’re thinking, “Me? Accomplish that big, scary thing and make a ton of money?”

“I’m fine making $25,000 a year, thanks. I don’t want to disappoint myself if I end up not doing it.”

But like I said, that’s just the fear talking. If you want to lose that feeling, you need to replace it with a positive one instead – like excitement for instance.

And to do that, why not get EXCITED about your dream scenario?

Visualization is helpful, but you need to paint a crystal-clear picture to get the FULL effect.

The first step is to think about what you want to happen, like putting up an Internet café or a yoga studio.

Ask yourself, “Why is this goal important to me, anyway? How do my values tie into all of this?”

Get to the core of it: Maybe you want to create more jobs in your community or teach people how to clear their minds and relax.

And what would it be like when you’ve accomplished your goals? Who would be the people around you, and what would they say?

How would it feel making those dreams happen?

Get as specific as you can and add as many details as you want. Once you’ve painted this vivid image in your head, you’re already bridging the gap between thought and reality.

By setting your mental goalposts, it can give you the drive to take ACTION and start manifesting those desires into the real world.

#3: You Don’t Believe

Most people make the mistake of believing in something AFTER the fact. But the most successful people in the world do it the other way around.

As you’ve learned from the last point, you need to get excited about a vision before you can start working on it.

And the reason for doing this is to plant the BELIEF that it can happen in the first place.

Without it, you can’t create the space for that desired reality to exist.

So as counterintuitive as it sounds, you’ll have to believe in something before it can manifest itself in the real world.

But it’s not just a matter of telling yourself, “Ok, I believe I can earn enough from my side hustle to quit my full-time job.” The Universe won’t hear weak statements like that.

Instead, try using affirmations to empower yourself. These are declarations you can say out loud (or in your mind) to reinforce the reality you want.

When you repeat it enough times, you’ll cement those things you want to be in your subconscious.

Then you can start working on those goals you wrote down with a newfound sense of rock-solid confidence.

However, it’s crucial that you phrase these affirmations correctly. Pick a bunch of goals you want to accomplish, and act as if it’s happening in the PRESENT.

That way, you can start moving in that direction and make it happen.

For example, it’s not really useful to say, “One day, I’ll become rich and be able to provide for my family.”

Instead, you can rephrase that into a more powerful statement such as this:

“I am wealthy, and my life is filled with abundance every day. I use my wealth to provide for my family.”

By acting like it’s happening now, you’re giving yourself something to aim for. As I said, belief comes before reality.

To get started, try spending 5-10 minutes on this every day (e.g., first thing in the morning or before bedtime work best). Soon enough, you’ll feel a change in how you go about your day.

#4: You Don’t Have a Plan B

As much as we’d like to live in a perfect world, the best plans can take a wrong turn.

Sometimes, the outcome you had in mind doesn’t align with reality. In cases like those, you need to know how to respond.

People often blame others or hit the panic button as a knee-jerk reaction. The better approach is to take control of at least some part of the situation, so it doesn’t completely go down the drain.

I’ve found that you’ll end up avoiding a disaster altogether with this one step.

It helps to have a contingency in place on the off-chance that something goes off the rails. You can plan ahead for potential problems, so you know what to do when the moment calls for it.

More importantly, you need to find the opportunity to grow even in the most challenging situations.

Ask yourself, “What part of this problem can I use to my advantage? How can I build on this situation, so I don’t fall flat on my face?”

The more you embrace adversity, the better you can turn it on itself and come out on top.

As the Marines say, “Improvise, adapt and overcome.”

#5: You Lack Discipline

Jocko Willink, a former Navy SEAL and author, talks a great deal about this core value.

He says, “(Self-discipline) will take care of you like nothing else can… it’ll put you on that path to strength, health, intelligence, and happiness. And most importantly, it’ll put you on that path to freedom.”

To cultivate discipline, it starts by making the decision to stay FOCUSED on your end goals. That’s going to take some sacrifices, such as staying up late, giving up unhealthy habits and resisting the desire to procrastinate.

The moment you get distracted from your goals, you’ll erode your foundation of self-discipline.

Studies show that people who can map out a clear daily routine are more likely to stick to it. And in effect, that makes them more productive than others.

Like what you did with your goals, write down a schedule you can work with, and do your best to follow it.

FACT: Humans are wired to crave structure and routine.

It’s an anchor for our minds, so we don’t drift off into a limbo of wasted potential and mediocrity.

And when you get down to it, the reasons you’re not making it happen all boil down to one thing.

It’s the voice inside you that says, “Why are you trying to change? Don’t you know how terrifying the great unknown is? Just stay here where it’s safe…”

I’ve dealt with that voice ALL my life, but I’ve found a way to shut it down so it doesn’t get a vote.

By the way, if, by chance, you’re open to looking at a profitable income stream, here’s something I’m excited about. I think it’s worth taking a look at. Check HERE and Check it Out Now!