Archive for the ‘Motivation’ Category

By Seamus Anthony

Everything has an opposite. Every Yin has its Yang. Therefore it makes sense that if there is a Law of Attraction there must also be a Law of Repulsion.

Well a quick Google search revealed plenty of articles about this, but here’s my take, a little counter-intuitive mind game to motivate myself to do those things that will lead to great results, but which can be hard to do (or not do).

Attract What You Want By Focussing On What You Don’t Want

The seed of anything lies in it’s opposite. This is described nicely in the Yin Yang model: a spot of white in the black half and vice versa.

Therefore if you are having trouble motivating yourself to get things done, or if you don’t even know what you want out of life, try focussing on what you DON”T want.

But Wait … Isn’t That Back-To-Front?

OK Stop: First let’s digress, in order to clear something up. There’s a lot of superstitious hokey-pokey about how if you focus on what you don’t want you attract that very thing into your life. This is probably true on a level.

For example if you focus on how miserable your life is day-in day-out, then your life will probably be miserable.

But on the flip-side if you just go around fibbing to yourself and every body else that you are as happy as a lark, that doesn’t mean it’s true. I am sure you have known people who put on a happy face but you get the feeling they are perpetually and deeply bummed.

On another level that kind of thing is unscientific hogwash. If you have a phobia, say reoccurring nightmarish thoughts about being bitten and killed by a poisonous spider, the chances are you are going to make it through life without this happening the same as everybody else. And if it does happen, well, you lucked out, but your thoughts had nothing to do with it (unless they drove you to put yourself at risk).

Know What You Want By Knowing What You Don’t Want

Sometimes it is easier to define what you don’t want in your life than it is to define what you want. A classic example of this is if you hate your job, but have no idea what your true career calling is.

If this is a problem for you, in any area, ask yourself this: What is it you don’t want?

Now ask yourself: what is the opposite of that? Does it make sense that this, being the opposite of what you don;t want, is actually what you want?

Sometimes I find that this just instantly clears up any foggy thinking about my direction or desires in any area. For example, I am supposed to be losing weight this year, but in fact I have been slowly gaining it. A couple of weeks ago I decided to start exercising again every morning.

Now, the best time of day to exercise is early, before breakfast, so I set my alarm. When it goes off I groan and moan – it’s cold out there!

I find asking myself what I don’t want helps me get up. What don’t I want? To be an obese man who never exercises. So what is the opposite of this? To be a trim and terrific man who does exercise. (Ok I would rather be a skinny man who never needs to exercise but this is not an option.)

So I want to be the guy who jogs every morning and looks sweet in a t-shirt. Better get out of bed then.

“Attracting” What You Want Really Means Getting Off Your Butt And Making It Happen

The reason I am hard on the whole Law of Attraction trend is because I believe that the purveyors of this school of thought twist words to sell books, seminars and DVDs.

They write on the blurb “Attract wealth, happiness, sex, etc into your life” like they are going to teach you how to build a success-magnet. And then they spend ages going on about affirmations, focus and positive thinking, and then they add “oh yeah – and you gotta work your butt off too”.

Truth is you can skip the daily affirmations, just work out what you want, write it down once, refer back to it when you need to focus, and work your butt off and make it happen, without spending hours each day repeating “I am a walking God, I am a walking God” over and over.

So if you want money – go get some money. And if you don’t feel like picking up the phone and making a sales call or whatever, ask yourself “What don’t I want?”

I do this everyday, I look at the phone and think “Oh God, I can’t be bothered calling people I don’t even know to try and build my SEM business“.

Then I think “What don’t I want?” and the answer is I don’t want to be an impoverished Dad who can’t provide for my little girl.

“So what do I want?” I want to be the guy who gets on the phone and builds his business so that he has enough money to provide a safe and comfortable life for his family.

This is one way that I use to motivate myself. There are plenty more.

Click here to find out about a great ebook about motivation that I totally recommend and use all the time. Check it out and good luck getting what you want!

By Seamus Anthony

“Business is a good game, lots of competition and a minimum of rules. You keep score with money.” Bill Gates

The above quote moved me when I first read it because as a wanna-be entrepreneur of many years, I always struggled with bringing my ideas out and into the marketplace successfully – purely (I now know) because my definition of success was fuzzy.

You see, for me, money is not a great motivator. It is abstract and boring. You want to know what I think when I look at my bank account balance?

“Oh … some numbers … “

There are other currencies that I find way more exciting. For example – applause.

Sad, I know, but once you have stood on stage in front a crowd that’s wildly applauding and cheering what you just did – well, sorry to say, “some numbers” just doesn’t compare.

This is why I have always rolled my eyes when people say (about an aging, wealthy performer) “Oh he’s only in it for the money these days”. I bet that’s not the reason at all. Once you have a lot of money, it is pretty easy to stay rich by investing your money sensibly.

They do it for the buzz.

How I Motivate Myself To Earn Money

Of course, applause is all very well. But the fact is that unless you are getting a LOT of claps, you ain’t getting much money, and no money means a pain in the backside and then some.

So of course, like most people, I have to get up each day and earn my keep.

So I use the Bill Gates quote above to motivate me. I view business as a game and the score as money. I am not a businessman – I am a key player in the internationally televised…

World Series MoneyBall Grand Slam

This gets me way more excited and motivated because, as my friends will tell you, I am very competitive when it comes to games. Personally, while I keep it all in the spirit of fun, I can’t see the point of participating in a game without trying to win. Whether it’s a ball game in the backyard or a board game, you can be sure that if I am going to bother play at all – I play to win.

And yes, I get a bit pissed when I lose. It’s just how I’m wired up.

The Point Is To Get Points On The Board

I know that sounds horribly shallow. I know I should probably say: the point is to make the world a better place by helping others – and actually that is my other main motivational drive, but it is hard to think about the problems of the world all day. So instead I just focus on business being a game, and money being the points on the board.

In fact I do this quite literally: I have a whiteboard and on that I write up the name of the current month and a sales goal and then I write up each buck as it hits the bank – but ONLY when it hits the bank.

Because you haven’t scored a goal until the ball travels between the posts, you know what I mean? All money is speculative until it is in your hands.

One in the hand is worth two in the bush, dudes.

I don’t know why this motivates me to make money, but for some reason it does. I do have other motivations: things I want to buy or do which cost money – and most important of all – the welfare of my wife and child. Working from home is great because if the game isn’t going very well at any point, I can take a coffee break, walk into the house, clap eyes on my lovely ladies, and suddenly I am instantly amped to get back out on the field and score some quick-fire goals.

By the way, I am totally not (and never have been) a jock, so I have no idea why this whole game analogy works for me, but then Bill Gates wasn’t a jock either.

What fires you up to make money? Or do you just find the whole thing repulsive?

For more motivational goodness check out The Essential Motivation Handbook

By Seamus Anthony

How do you motivate yourself? Do you struggle with motivation? I sure do and it really is a bummer when you have great ideas but can’t seem to get on with it and make them work.

Well folks, roll up, roll up! I have the solution to your problem and then some – read on!

How I Get Off My Lazy Butt And Get Things Done

You see I love to dream but to act is another matter. I am just not a huge fan of ‘hard’ work (I am sure many of you can relate). But still I manage to get a lot done. I put this down to two factors.

1. If ‘work’ is ‘hard’ then I find it very, very difficult to get going on it. However (and I am aware this is not a revolutionary concept) if I find the ‘work’ fun, then I love doing it and things get done.
2. However even when you are working on a project that is fun to large extent, there are still usually moments when the Big Fun Project requires some not-so-fun hard work. For example when I was in a band, the concerts were so much fun as to be almost unbelievable, but the hanging around all day, sick in the stomach with nerves, grinding through another boring sound-check? That was just a hard slog. But it had to be done …

And here’s the Greatest Motivational Secret In The World (Hey, it made a good headline, OK?)…

FEAR IS A GREAT MOTIVATOR

Put a gun to my head and I will do pretty much anything you ask.

Plonk me in a strange land with three kids to feed and I will work like a dog to make it in my new country of residence.

Tell me that 500 tickets have sold for the next show and I will rehearse all week and stick through the sound-check until everything sounds perfect.

Why?

Fear – that’s why.

Fear of a bullet in the head. Fear of starvation. Fear of public humiliation.

Fear of whatever – it’s a kick up the pants every time for sure.

How I Got Out Of Cubicle Hell By Burning My Boats

Last year I was at the point where I just couldn’t handle it anymore – working for the man that is.

But the trouble was even though I was forever coming up with truly excellent business ideas, plans and even launches, I never seemed to make enough money to be able to let my depressing full or part time employment go.

Until I realized that I wasn’t making my own entrepreneurial exploits profitable because I just wasn’t concerned about money. I have reasonably low living expenses, and even with the family to support I could just work half or three-quarter time and scrape by comfortably enough. Therefore I would work on the 1% of business ideas, the creative, inspirational aspects of them, until it was time to crack into the 99% hard work part of the game, then I would just let it slide and move on to a new idea because I had enough money to get by on.

I am just not that motivated by money; I need stimulation. But the flip-side to this was the work-a-day jobs were eating away at my soul. I needed to do something to force the change…

Introducing – the Fear Factor

So what I did was I burned the boats – I quit my job and told myself that it was sink or swim time.

This scared the shit out of me because while I don’t care about money much I sure as hell can’t live without it – and I have a wife and daughter to support!

Well, now our business, SquareEyes, (which I run with Steve who also manages this blog with me) is starting to do really well and I put this down to the Fear Factor.

Every morning I sit down at my desk and I know that if I don’t hustle then there’s no money coming in next week. That makes me scared – and that fear motivates me.

There Are Many Ways To Motivate Yourself

The trick is finding which motivational technique works for you.

The reason I got to typing about this topic this morning is because I just got a copy of The Essential Motivation Handbook by Leo Babauta, of ZenHabits fame and my online mate, Eric Hamm of the excellent and popular Motivate Thyself blog.

I haven’t finished the book yet, as of writing, but it’s not the kind of book that you read straight through because after you read a page or two you get all revved up and ready to rock.

By this I mean this book is sure to make you want to get on with it; it will you motivate you to get out there and achieve your dreams and then some.

I know it certainly got me going this morning. It got me thinking about what inspires me to act; what gets me off my lazy butt and into top gear. It inspired me to write this post.

And hey – you may not agree with all of their techniques but some of them are sure to work for you.

For example Leo says that he likes to use public accountability to motivate himself, but for me this doesn’t work so well.

Don’t get me wrong – in my endeavors I find that a certain level of indirect public accountability comes into play: when you quit your job it suddenly becomes everybody’s business (I wouldn’t be surprised if my friends and family are secretly taking bets on whether or not SquareEyes succeeds or fails). But for the most part I have found that publicly announcing “I am going to do THIS” just leads to failure. I am not sure why but my guess is that I am just too secure in myself (and too used to public failure!) that I don’t really care what people think of me beyond being seen as a good-hearted, constructive and law-abiding father, partner, friend, relative and member of society.

What I am saying is I have an ego with skin as thick as a rhino! If I fail, I fail. So what? I won’t stay up at night caring what any one else thinks of that. It just doesn’t concern me.

So there you go – try out the Fear Factor – see if it works for you. And I heartily recommend you click our affiliate link and buy this awesome new eBook The Essential Motivation Handbook – it is sure to get you off your couch and pushing on towards success, especially on those days where you just. can’t. be. bothered.

In case you need further convincing here is a list of the chapters. I think you’ll find this fine tome is choc-a-block full of motivational goodness:

1. How To Motivate Yourself
2. The Only Two Secrets to Motivating Yourself You’ll Ever Need
3. A Guide to Beating the Fears That Are Holding You Back
4. Task Ninja: Form the Action Habit
5. Top 20 Motivation Hacks
6. The Ultimate Guide to Motivation – How to Achieve Any Goal
7. Progress, Progress, Progress! 5 Tips To Keep You Moving Forward
8. 7 Steps to Turn Your Self-Improvement Desires Into Reality
9. 25 Killer Actions to Boost Your Self-Confidence
10. 6 Small Things You Can Do When You Lack Discipline
11. 16 Ways to Motivate Yourself When You’re in a Slump
12. 5 Tips For Motivational Recovery
13. The Magical Power of Focus
14. 10 Ways to Beat the “Can’t Get No Satisfaction” Syndrome
15. 30 Incredible Places to Turn When You Need Inspiration
16. How To Deal With Negative Feedback
17. How to Doggedly Pursue Your Dreams in the Face of Naysayers
18. Achieve Your Dreams Despite Pressures of Work and Family
19. Why You Should Celebrate Your Mistakes
20. How to Actually Execute Your To-do List
21. The Yin And Yang Of Persistence
22. Enduring the Valley to Get to Success
23. How To Relax And Why It’s So Important
24. The Simple Guide To Single-Tasking Success
25. Stop Reading About It and Do It

Click here to view more details

Just wrote a post focusing on musicians and the issues I have faced on my journey as a musician.

It contains some pretty universal points so will be of help to any people who have struggled with things like self-worth, self-identity, growing older, lack of focus.

It also partially fills in a gap in the Special Theology of Relativity series (which I will finish shortly).

Musician 2.0 – Redefining Your Self-Identity

Enjoy!

Seamus Anthony

I usually steer clear of “woo-woo” superstitious stuff, but the truth of the matter is that years ago I was visited by the ghost of a recently deceased friend and he gave me some advice that I have never forgotten about pursuing your dreams.

Read the story here:

Never Gonna Be A DJ – A Ghost Story

Seamus Anthony

Reading multiple “how to” blogs and books is a complete waste of time and here’s why…

The secret to success in life is simple. It goes like this:

1. Decide what the One Thing you really want to do is.
2. Work relentlessly at being great at doing it.
3. After you’ve been working at it for a while honestly appraise whether you are talented enough in this area to succeed (believe me, I have seen enough live music to know that sometimes hard work just ain’t enough to cover for complete lack of talent).
4. Keep working at it.
5. Get it out there (don’t hide under a bushel).
6. Don’t get distracted.
7. Keep working at it until you succeed.

This is the conclusion I have come to after years and years of digesting just about all the self-help and “how to” literature that one man should ever read.

Of course everybody’s journey is different and I am generalizing, but my point is that at the end of any self-help journey this is where you end up if you are actually going to go on and succeed.

At one point in my life I needed to read all those books and blog posts, but it all lead me back to the conclusion that drove me onward and upward when I was younger adult (and was doing quite well for myself – before I got distracted). This conclusion is simple:

If you do things, things get done.

So if you are looking for a magic bullet, there it is. Put down the self-help book, unsubscribe from the How-to blogs and to quote one of the world’s more successful individuals, Jerry Seinfeld: “Just work.”

In case you simply aren’t ready to follow this advice, then here are links to two of the more to-the-point and useful “how to succeed” posts that I have come across (but you’d be better just to get to work right now and save the reading until their is no way you could be working, which is not very often).

How To Walk On Water

The 3 Secrets To Success (says it’s about online marketing success but the points apply across the board).

As for me – I am tired of reading self-help and how-to books (unless I need a specific piece of technical knowledge) and I am convinced that the only way forward is just to work hard towards what I want (and know I am good at). I am so convinced that this is true that I am as of 2009 – documenting my journey towards my goals to prove that I am right.

How’s that for a positive “personal development” message?

But it’s true; life on Earth is actually pretty fucked up.

We live on an insane planet full of misery, illness and evil. Right now millions of people are dying of horrible illness, injuries caused by accidents, crime and war or they are starving to death. They are starving to death because of “man’s inhumanity to man”, in other words they are dying because those in power are too evil and selfish to do the right thing.

People, often innocent women and children, are terrified, injured and/or dying because of war. Stop and think for a minute what war is, how truly insane and disgusting it is: Governments sending armed soldiers (usually under-educated, immature men who have been encouraged to act like savages) with high-tech weaponry to tear other people’s flesh, to smash heads and bodies in a splatter of gore, to put other people through massive, unbearable agony, burning, disfiguring, severing limbs – babies, children, women, men. The horror is so hard to face up to, so easy to ignore and yet so real for a great number of people.

“Disgusting”, you mutter – but ask yourself this: did you vote for a government that willingly sanctioned this kind of behaviour? Even Obama, while I am more than happy to give him the benefit of the doubt (God knows we could use a saviour) is, unfortunately, more than likely to give the green light to acts of barbarism and violence at some point in his reign.

You Were Never Asked If You Wanted To Be Here

Think about it. It’s one of the greatest tragedies of life, that we were squeezed out of our mother’s wombs only to discover sooner or later that we landed in a world of pain and suffering, some unnecessary, but ultimately unavoidable.

And for what purpose? Nobody knows. Some claim to know, but truly, nobody has a clue why we exist.

And we don’t exist for very long either. If you’re in your twenties, then I’ve got news for you: in the blink of an eye you’ll be in your mid-thirties and you’ll be wondering where the hell all that endless time went as life forces you to work and work and work and work…

So there it is, we all live pointless, doomed lives, and before you and your loved ones eventually die, you will no doubt experience suffering to some extent – most likely by painful, drawn-out illness.

So What Are You Going To Do About That?

That’s my point: Life is precious so what are you going to do with it?

And what are you going to do about all the extra, needless and easily avoidable suffering that evil people and corrupt systems add to the heap on top of the unavoidable sufferings of life? And this question goes for me too because – mark my words – I am as guilty of selfishness and inaction as the next guy.

What are you going to do? Fiddle with another wordpress widget while precious time slips away and while children watch their parents maimed and murdered? Write another top-ten-ways-to-hit-the-front-page-of-Digg while parents watch their children die of curable diseases because drug companies are too profit-driven to reach out and help? Watch another episode of Law and Order when you could be letting your light shine and inspiring people to build a better world?

These are the realities I am facing up to in 2009. What about you? Because soon my friend, you and I will be dead – and what if we ARE held accountable at the end? Will we hang our heads in shame? At this point I still believe that I would, and given the fact that death can come at any time, I know that I need to change this about myself and get moving.

It’s time to mobilize, people! Get busy!

By Seamus Anthony

By Seamus Anthony

I was just listening to a Jerry Seinfeld interview (as you do) and the interviewer asked him what advice he has for aspiring comedians to ‘make it easier’ for them.

Seinfeld just laughed and said “No, there is no way to make it easier” (I am paraphrasing).

He then told a story about some big “How-to” comedy industry festival (of workshops etc.) and what he would do if he was asked to run it.

He said he would get rid of all the workshops, all the industry bigwigs and just gather the comedians into a big room and then unfurl a banner that reads:

“JUST WORK”

And then he would send them all on their way.

So whether or not you want to be a comedian, I think there’s a lot of truth in this (although first I think you need to know what you want to work towards).

So that’s my big resolution for this year – to just work hard at my big dream and make it real. That’s it.

P.S. You can go check out my music now on Last.fm – please drop me a comment or rate the songs or whatever that would be great you can download them for free too, please do!

By Steve Mills

You can learn a lot about life from reading and listening to the life stories of others. I love biographies, to see how my personal hero’s have structured their lives. The struggles they have faced, strategies they have used and the way that they have structured their lives in order to do what they love every day. The insight gained from looking at the place where people have started their life journey, and the steps they have taken to get to their goals is extremely valuable, like the condensed experience of every year of their life, put into the few hours it takes to read the book.

While it is important to use biographies and stories of success to learn and motivate us, there is one thing to be wary of. That is using the circumstances of others as excuses for not taking action ourselves. In the past I have caught myself, after reading about another self made billionaire, thinking things like “If only I got that big break then my life would be different” OR “if I didn’t have all of these responsibilities then I would have time to plan for success.”

This has lead to periods of inaction, or for settling for life circumstances that are less then favourable because I didn’t feel that I had the resources or advantages that others may have earned or been given by fate. I am now the first to admit that when we compare our life circumstances with other people, and then use the differences as excuses, we are entirely missing the point.

It is not that important to get hung up on the facts, but more to take the broad lessons of another’s life experience, and then apply them to your current life and dreams. Sure, your hero may have been a millionaire by 25, and you are close to pushing 40. Does that mean that you are in any less of a position than them? No, it just means that you have walked a different path, a unique experience that is the most valuable thing that you could possibly possess.

Sure, some of your idols may have been overnight successes, or been given a massive “lucky break”, but in general they were people just like you, following an inner urge to do their own thing, and not be confined by the rules of others. Don’t get caught in the game of looking for reasons why your life structure is less than ideal and stopping you reaching your goals. Look to see the advantages and benefits that are unique to you and give you an advantage. Always look to make small gains every day, and utilise the resources at hand as fully as possible.

If an interest in deeper spirituality has taught me anything in my life, it is that each of us must walk their own path towards their own truth.
We are here in this life as individuals so that we can learn and explore a way of living and a path to fulfilment that is unique.

By Seamus Anthony Ennis

When I despair of and don’t know what to do about this crazy world we live in then I just try to do something positive. Help someone, give a little money to a cause, or if I feel the urge, just have fun making something cool. I believe it all counts.

It counts because every time you follow your creative urge, you are contributing to the great mission we have been charged with: to create a better world.

Creating cool stuff – be it a work of art, a healing practice, a cake, a blog, or just a nice vibe in a room – helps to add a little pebble of goodness to the slow growing tower of joy that (I believe) is the destiny of life on Earth.

Yes, that’s something I believe. I also believe that we all need to believe in something in order to function successfully – we need a purpose. So although I don’t know if it’s true, I choose to believe that our purpose is to make positive contributions to the evolution of Life and to eventually triumph over the unenlightened condition and become a spiritually advanced, peaceful, happy race living in harmony with all of nature.

I know, I know, that last sentence made you raise a cynical eyebrow right?But I don’t care – I have to believe this or else what’s the fucking point?

I like to think of humanity in the future being like one of those super-hip races of aliens that Captain Kirk and his motley lot used to come across sometimes – all synked-in together and totally chilled, in touch with our inherent enlightenment. Space-aged Buddhas in silver outfits. Perhaps no longer in need of a physical body or maybe just capable of living happily and healthily for a couple of hundred years before moving to a known and welcoming after-life.

We as a collective are, obviously, a long way from this yet. But like I said, I believe that every positive contribution, no matter how small,
helps us get closer to this eventuality.

So get up and do something, help someone or the planet or make something inherently “good” and you will be helping the cause.

It’s like the tortoise and the hare. Evil (the hare) raced ahead, but the slow fire of Love (err, the tortoise) will eventually win out through persistence and resilience. We must be unrelenting in our faith in this.

Anyway, that’s how I cope. I choose to believe that every little good creation or act of kindness helps towards the final positive result. Otherwise how could I get up and get to work? Why would I bother write an article or a song only to die and for all my efforts to mean nothing? That’s a dispiriting concept. We need meaning in order to be happy. I’ve tried believing in Meaningless and it left me cold and depressed, no matter how much I meditated or rationalised that this hypothesis makes the most sense.

Of course I could be wrong. Maybe I just need to get over my egotistical need to contribute. Maybe enlightenment, as I used to believe, means admitting that we are just ’straw dogs’ after all (as the Tao Te Ching tells us), that life is devoid of purpose and meaning. Certainly we risk being ‘trampled underfoot’ every day; so many lives lost early and cruelly…

But I have decided to believe something different: that it is worthwhile creating something good and that it does make a positive difference, however small. I don’t know it for a fact, nobody knows anything for certain in this bizarre and trippy dream we call life, but I choose to believe because it gives me the strength to help others somehow everyday (even if it is just by cracking a few lame jokes, although hopefully in more ways than just that).

So have faith and make something good, be it a masterpiece or a plate of slightly over-cooked muffins. Believe in the positive evolution of Life, help somehow, whether it be by saving a bug from getting washed down the drain, or by flying out to serve as a volunteer in a needy part of the world.

It all counts.