Showing posts with label business. Show all posts
Showing posts with label business. Show all posts

No Money to Start a Business? No Problem


No Money to Start a Business? No Problem

You might be limited to a strict budget when you want to start a business, but that doesn’t mean you don’t have any options. It is possible to start a business with very little money, if you have the right combination of skills, work ethic and marketing know-how.

According to Chris Guillebeau, author of The $100 Startup, “To succeed in a business project, especially one you’re excited about, it helps to think carefully about all the skills you have that could be helpful to others and particularly about the combination of those skills.”

Follow these simple guidelines to start a business when you have little to no money. Learn how to make money today.

1. Make something.

Yes, making something does take an initial cost in supplies, but oftentimes, these products can be sold for many times over their actual cost. What you decide to make is up to you, but there are several places you can sell your handmade options online:

Abe’s Market deals in natural and organic goods, such as lotions, candles, granola, and more.
Etsy is one of the largest online markets for almost anything homemade, from jewelry to wooden toys for kids. Bonanza is another growing handmade marketplace, similar to Etsy. According to PC World, it boasts over 10 million visits per month.

eBay is one of the biggest online ecommerce marketplaces in the world, and its streamlined store options, easy checkout through Paypal, and customizable listing options make it a great choice for selling items.
Many business owners sell their products on multiple platforms to get the most exposure possible. It is important, however, to make sure your inventory stays updated on all sites you have a storefront on. If you want to learn about more resources for selling homemade items, check out this Lifehacker post.

2. Resell something.

If you don’t want to make anything (or you don’t consider yourself a creative person), many business owners have grown large businesses just be reselling products that have already been made. This can be done through a variety of ways or channels:

Drop shipping: Set up an online store and partner with drop-shipping companies that will do all the order fulfillment for you. Online ecommerce platform Shopify has a great drop shipping guide, and Tim Ferriss does a good job of explaining drop shipping in his well-known book, The Four Hour Work Week.

Thrift stores and garage sales: If you know where to look, you can find items at thrift stores, antique shops, flea markets and garage sales and resell them online or in your local community for more than you purchased them for. One extremely successful example of this is Sophia Amoruso, the founder of Nasty Gal. Amoruso started buying and reselling vintage and unique fashion pieces on eBay, and her company has grown to a net income of $24 million in 2011 with over 200 employees. Her book, #GIRLBOSS, is in inspiring look into how she got started.

3. Sell your services.

One way to start a business with little to no startup capital is to sell your services, instead of a physical product. There’s a huge variety of services you can offer, depending on your background and interests.

Some will require advanced degrees, such as accounting, while others require little more than a working knowledge of how it’s done (such as babysitting, lawn mowing or personal assistance).

Because you are selling your services, you will need a branding plan to make sure your name and company gets in front of the people who may need the service. Some places that are free for promoting your services include Fiverr, Craigslist, Elance, Taskrabbit and Skillshare.

It’s also useful to have a website to show examples of your work, list your experience, and blog about your industry to draw visitors. If you want to learn more about branding and online marketing, check out Buffer’s social-media blog, Hubspot’s blog, Content Marketing Institute and CopyPress.

4. Barter to get what you need.

Unfortunately, it’s extremely hard to start a business without any type of funds at all. Even creating a freelance-writing business utilizing Elance and a free Wordpress or Wix website will still require a computer to work on as well as Internet. However, there are ways to get supplies you need for starting your business without money.

For instance, if you find yourself in need of a used laptop, try to barter for it. Build a new website for a used electronics supplier, or offer babysitting services to your neighbor for their old Macbook.

5. Utilize low-cost services.

As mentioned previously, you can use sites such as Fiverr or Elance to advertise your products and services on, but you can also use these platforms to build up your own company. For instance, many designers offer $5 to $25 logo designs (that come with free revisions). Sort by reviews and look at past examples to find a designer or service provider that matches your style.

This is a great way to get branding materials, printed items (Vistaprint and Zazzle are great places to buy personalized items), or other needed items without much cost. And for additional savings, be sure to look for coupon codes on sites such as RetailMeNot before checking out at any online retailer!

Starting a business requires ingenuity and a passion for what you are doing. Once you find yourself doing something you enjoy, you will be more likely to find ways to make it all come together.

source : entrepreneur.com

How to Transform Your Life in 6 Minutes a Day


How to Transform Your Life in 6 Minutes a Day
How to Transform Your Life in 6 Minutes a Day

Oh, you’re busy? Weird, I thought it was just me.

No matter where you are in life at this moment, there is at least one thing that you and I have in common: We want to improve our lives and ourselves. I’m not saying there’s anything wrong with us, but as human beings we’re born with a desire to continuously grow and improve. I believe it’s within all of us. Yet most people wake up each day and life pretty much stays the same.

If success and fulfillment were measured on a scale of 1 to 10, it’s safe to say that everyone would want to live every aspect of their lives at a Level 10.

Here’s the catch: To create the Level 10 life that you ultimately want, you must first dedicate time each day to becoming a Level 10 person who is capable of creating and sustaining that level of success.

But who has time for that, right? Luckily, there is a method to do it in as little as six minutes a day.

Enter the life SAVERS, a sequence that combines the six most effective personal development practices known to man. While someone could invest hours on these practices, it only takes one minute for each -- or six minutes total -- to see extraordinary results.

Just imagine if the first six minutes of every morning began like this:

Related: Press Snooze? You Lose.

Minute 1: S is for silence.

Instead of hitting the snooze button, and then rushing through your day feeling stressed and overwhelmed, invest your first minute in sitting in purposeful silence. Sit quietly, calm and peaceful and breathe deeply. Maybe you meditate. Center yourself and create an optimum state of mind that will lead you effectively through the rest of your day.

Maybe you say a prayer of gratitude and appreciate the moment. As you sit in silence, you quiet your mind, relax your body and allow your stress to melt away. You develop a deeper sense of clarity, purpose, and direction.

Minute 2: A is for Affirmations.

Pull out and read your page of affirmations -- written statements that remind you of your unlimited potential, your most important goals and the actions you must take today to achieve them. Reading over reminders of how capable you really are motivates you. Looking over which actions you must take, re-energizes you to focus on doing what’s necessary today to takeyour life to the next level.

Minute 3. V is for visualization.

Close your eyes and visualize what it will look like and feel like when you reach your goals. Seeing your ideal vision increases your belief that it’s possible and your desire to make it a reality.

Minute 4. E is for exercise.

Stand up and move your body for 60 seconds, long enough to increase the flow of blood and oxygen to your brain. You could easily do a minute of jumping jacks, push-ups, or sit-ups. The point is that you raise your heart rate, generate energy and increase your ability to be alert and focused.

Minute 5. R is for reading.

Grab the self-help book you’re currently reading and read one page, maybe two. Learn a new idea, something you can incorporate into your day, which will improve your results at work or in your relationships. Discover something new that you can use to think better, feel better and live better.

Minute 6. S is for scribing.

Pull out your journal and take one minute to write down something you’re grateful for, something you’re proud of and the top one to three results that you’re committed to creating that day. In doing so, you create the clarity and motivation that you need to take action.

Start today.

How would you feel if that’s how you used the first six minutes of each day? How would the quality of your day -- and your life -- improve? We can all agree that investing a minimum of six minutes into becoming the person that we need to be to create the lives we truly want is not only reasonable. It’s an absolute must.

source : entrepreneur.com

Lesson From Bill Gates | Meaningful Quotes


Lesson From Bill Gates | Meaningful Quotes

Lesson From Bill Gates | Meaningful Quotes 

“Don't compare yourself with anyone in this world...if you do so, you are insulting yourself.”

“The world won't care about your self-esteem. The world will expect you to accomplish something BEFORE you feel good about yourself.”

“I failed in some subjects in exam, but my friend passed in all. Now he is an engineer in Microsoft and I am the owner of Microsoft.”

“If you give people tools, and they use their natural abilities and their curiosity, they will develop things in ways that will surprise you very much beyond what you might have expected.”

“As we look ahead into the next century, leaders will be those who empower others.”

“Most people overestimate what they can do in one year and underestimate what they can do in ten years.”

"Do what you like and make it a business."

“Success is a lousy teacher.It seduces smart people into thinking they can't lose”

Quotes
"If you can't make it good, at least make it look good.”

"Life is not fair, get used to it."

"Your most unhappy customers are your greatest source of learning."

"Patience is a key element of success."

"DOS is ugly and interferes with users' experience."

"Microsoft is not about greed. It's about innovation and fairness."

"People everywhere love Windows."

"Let's face it, the average computer user has the brain of a Spider Monkey."

"Success is a lousy teacher. It seduces smart people into thinking they can't lose."

"Intellectual property has the shelf life of a banana."

"It's fine to celebrate success but it is more important to heed the lessons of failure."

"As we look ahead into the next century, leaders will be those who empower others."

"If you think your teacher is tough, wait until you get a boss. He doesn't have tenure."

"We are not even close to finishing the basic dream of what the PC can be."

"We've got to put a lot of money into changing behavior."

"Microsoft has had clear competitors in the past. It’s a good thing we have museums to document that."

"Television is not real life. In real life people actually have to leave the coffee shop and go to jobs."

"I believe that if you show people the problems and you show them the solutions they will be moved to act."

"The best way to prepare to be a programmer is to write programs and to study great programs that other people have written."

"In this business, by the time you realize you're in trouble, it's too late to save yourself. Unless you're running scared all the time, you're gone."

"Whether it's Google or Apple or free software, we've got some fantastic competitors and it keeps us on our toes."

"Life is not divided into semesters. You don't get summers off and very few employers are interested in helping you, Find yourself."

"Like almost everyone who uses e-mail, I receive a ton of spa-m every day. Much of it offers to help me get out of debt or get rich quick. It would be funny if it weren't so exciting."

"Hey, I never told anyone to buy my stock! Besides, no one is less happy than I am with the performance of Microsoft stock! I've lost tens of billions of dollars this year-if you check, you'll see that that's more than most people make in a lifetime!"

"I have 100 billion dollars... You realize I could spend 3 million dollars a day, every day, for the next 100 years? And that's if I don't make another dime. Tell you what-I'll buy your right arm for a million dollars. I give you a million bucks, and I get to sever your arm right here."

"As you improve health in a society, population growth goes down. You know, I thought it was... before I learned about it, I thought it was paradoxical."

"At Microsoft there are lots of brilliant ideas but the image is that they all come from the top - I'm afraid that's not quite right."

"Capitalism is this wonderful thing that motivates people, it causes wonderful inventions to be done. But in this area of diseases of the world at large, it's really let us down."

"I actually thought that it would be a little confusing during the same period of your life to be in one meeting when you're trying to make money, and then go to another meeting where you're giving it away."

"I do think this next century, hopefully, will be about a more global view. Where you don't just think, yes my country is doing well, but you think about the world at large."

"I don't think there's anything unique about human intelligence. All the neurons in the brain that make up perceptions and emotions operate in a binary fashion."

"I have drifted away from thinking about these philanthropic things. And it was only as the wealth got large enough and Melinda and I had talked about the view that that wealth wasn't something that would be good to just pass to the children."

"I mean, if we said right now, there's somebody in the next room who's dying, let's all go save their life, you know, everybody would just get up immediately and go get involved in that."

"I think it's fair to say that personal computers have become the most empowering tool we've ever created. They're tools of communication, they're tools of creativity, and they can be shaped by their user."

"I'm sorry that we have to have a Washington presence. We thrived during our first 16 years without any of this. I never made a political visit to Washington and we had no people here. It wasn't on our radar screen. We were just making great software."

"In the decade ahead I can predict that we will provide over twice the productivity improvement that we provided in the '90s."

"Information technology and business are becoming inextricably interwoven. I don't think anybody can talk meaningfully about one without the talking about the other."

"Is the rich world aware of how four billion of the six billion live? If we were aware, we would want to help out, we'd want to get involved."

"It's been shown that most people download viruses unwittingly - they don't know they're doing it until it's too late. That's what I mean here. We're talking about protecting the consumer."

"Just in terms of allocation of time resources, religion is not very efficient. There's a lot more I could be doing on a Sunday morning."

"Oh, I think there are a lot of people who would be buying and selling online today that go up there and they get the information, but then when it comes time to type in their credit card they think twice because they're not sure about how that might get out and what that might mean for them."

"People always fear change. People feared electricity when it was invented, didn't they? People feared coal, they feared gas-powered engines... There will always be ignorance, and ignorance leads to fear. But with time, people will come to accept their silicon masters."

"Security is, I would say, our top priority because for all the exciting things you will be able to do with computers - organizing your lives, staying in touch with people, being creative - if we don't solve these security problems, then people will hold back."

"Since when has the world of computer software design been about what people want? This is a simple question of evolution. The day is quickly coming when every knee will bow down to a silicon fist, and you will all beg your binary gods for mercy."

"So we do software for watches, for phones, for TV sets, for cars. And some of these take a long time to catch on."

"Some people read off of their Palms and Pocket PCs, but the real immersible reading experience takes a full-screen device."

The browser space that we are in we have about 90 percent. Sure, Firefox has come along, and the press love the idea of that. Our commitment is to keep our browser that competes with Firefox to be the best browser - best in security, best in features.

The first rule of any technology used in a business is that automation applied to an efficient operation will magnify the efficiency. The second is that automation applied to an inefficient operation will magnify the inefficiency.

"The huge turnout for Live 8 here and around the world proves that thanks to the leadership from people like Tony Blair and Gordon Brown the world is beginning to demand more action on global health and poverty."

"The Internet will help achieve "friction free capitalism" by putting buyer and seller in direct contact and providing more information to both about each other."

"The reason you see open source there at all is because we came in and said or quotations, there should be a platform that's identical with millions and millions of machines."

"The two areas that are changing... are information technology and medical technology. Those are the things that the world will be very different 20 years from now than it is today."

"There are people who don't like capitalism, and people who don't like PCs. But there's no-one who likes the PC who doesn't like Microsoft."

"There are some things that we are always thinking about. For example, when will speech recognition be good enough for everybody to use that? And we have made a lot more progress this year on that. I think we will surprise people a bit on how well we will do on our speech recognition."

"There's always a tricky issue when you get into stolen material or pornography. The laws for online publishing the same as for print-based publishing, where if you're hosting certain types of things and somebody notifies you about that."

"What we're really after is simply that people acquire a legal license for Windows for each computer they own before they move on to Linux or Sun Solaris or BSD or OS/2 or whatever."

"When the PC was launched, people knew it was important."

"When you want to do your homework, fill out your tax return, or see all the choices for a trip you want to take, you need a full-size screen."

"Windows 2000 already contains features such as the human discipline component, where the PC can send an electric shock through the keyboard if the human does something that does not please Windows."

"The Internet will help achieve "friction free capitalism" by putting buyer and seller in direct contact and providing more information to both about each other."

"Paper is no longer a big part of my day. I get 90% of my news online, and when I go to a meeting and want to jot things down, I bring my Tablet PC. It's fully synchronized with my office machine so I have all the files I need."

"Microsoft has had its success by doing low-cost products and constantly improving those products and we've really redefined the IT industry to be something that's about a tool for individuals."

"We are always saying to ourself.. we have to innovate. We got to come up with that breakthrough. In fact, the way software works.. so long as you are using your existing software.. you don't pay us anything at all. So we're only paid for breakthroughs."

"It's pretty incredible to look back 30 years to when Microsoft was starting and realize how work has been transformed. We're finally getting close to what I call the digital work-style."

"There is a certain responsibility that accrued to me when I got to this unexpected position."



How to be Richard Branson? Why He's so successful?




Richard Branson founded his first business, Student magazine, after dropping out of high school at age 15.

He soon cofounded the Virgin record store, which then grew into a record label. After 10 years of great success, Branson left his business partners dumbfounded when he announced he wanted to branch into the airline industry.

Nearly 50 years later, Branson is the billionaire chair of the Virgin Group and has overseen approximately 500 companies, with his brand currently on somewhere between 200 and 300 of them.

It’s his remarkable passion, vision, and leadership qualities that make him an “exponential entrepreneur,” write serial tech entrepreneur and XPRIZE CEO Peter Diamandis and Flow Genome Project founder Steven Kotler in their new book, “Bold: How to Go Big, Create Wealth and Impact the World.”

Branson sits on the XPRIZE board, and Diamandis spoke with him for the book.

Drawing from Diamandis and Kotler’s insight and an interview Business Insider CEO Henry Blodget held with Branson last fall, we’ve broken down the key elements to Branson’s philosophy that has been behind the hundreds of businesses he’s either created or helped develop.

Be a “fun junkie.”

“Branson says to himself, ‘if I have fun doing this, I assume other people have fun doing this,’ so fun has become his filter for ‘should I go into it?’ and it’s a great filter,” Kotler says.

When he first told Virgin Music CEOs that he wanted to use a third of the company’s profits to start an airline because it would be “fun,” they weren’t amused. But Branson wasn’t being cheeky or trite. He’s been able to have such a successful, rich, and long career because he’s been enjoying himself.

“Fun is one of the most important — and underrated — ingredients in any successful venture. If you’re not having fun, then it’s probably time to call it quits and try something else,” he writes in his book “The Virgin Way: Everything I Know About Leadership.”

Protect the downside.

“Superficially, I think it looks like entrepreneurs have a high tolerance for risk,” Branson tells Diamandis in “Bold.” “But, having said that, one of the most important phrases in my life is ‘protect the downside.’”

Limiting possible losses before moving forward with a new business venture is a lesson his father taught him when he was 15, he writes in a LinkedIn post.

His dad would let him drop out of school to start a magazine, but only if he sold 4,000 pounds of advertising to cover printing and paper costs.

It’s a strategy he repeated in 1984 when he went into the airline business with Virgin Atlantic. He was only able to convince his business partners at Virgin Records to agree to the deal after he got Boeing to agree to take back Virgin’s one 747 jet after a year if the business wasn’t operating as planned.


Virgin Group
Richard Branson says being an avid note taker has helped him to improve customer experiences across his companies.

Diamandis and Kotler write that this strategy has allowed Branson to remain agile as an entrepreneur. Over the past five decades, Branson has, of course, experienced many failures, like Virgin Cola and Virgin Clothing.

But he “is quick to rapidly iterate his ideas, and quicker to shut down a failure,” Diamandis and Kotler write. “In total, while Branson is known to have started some five hundred companies, he has also shut down the two hundred of them that didn’t work.”

Be customer-centric.

“Unless you’re customer-centric, you might be able to create something wonderful, but you’re not going to survive,” Branson tells Diamandis. “It’s about getting every little detail right.”

Branson writes in “The Virgin Way” that even though it’s impossible to be hands-on with all of his companies, he will occasionally play customer, experiencing a Virgin service as a consumer would. It’s why he says he once called one of his company’s customer service lines and disguised his voice, demanding to be put on the phone with Richard Branson — his test worked, and he was connected to his assistant, who saw through his disguise.

He tells the story for a laugh, but also to communicate the fact that regardless of whether you’re running a startup or a massive conglomerate, you can’t lose touch with your customer.

Branson also says he used to regularly cold call Virgin Atlantic business-class customers to ask about their experience, and he writes down observations about his own experiences as a Virgin customer, such as when he noted that he and fellow Virgin America passengers didn’t want a hot towel offered to them on a scorching Las Vegas day. He took that bit to management and had the policy changed to having cold towels offered on hot days.

Delegate.

Branson may still kite-surf in his 60s, but he’s not superhuman. He’s constantly searching for new ways to expand the Virgin brand into “industries that are stuck or broken,” as Diamandis and Kotler say, assured that the people he’s surrounded himself with can make his ideas reality.

“The best bit of advice I think I can give to any manager of a company is find somebody better than yourself to do the day-to-day running,” Branson tells Business Insider. “And then free yourself up to think about the bigger picture. By freeing myself up, I’ve been able to dream big and move Virgin forward into lots of different areas. And it’s made for a fascinating life.”

source : businessinsider.com

50 Reasons to Start Your Own Business

50 Reasons to Start Your Own Business
50 Reasons to Start Your Own Business

Some people are destined to be entrepreneurs. From the time they get through school, or maybe even before that, they’re hungry to start a business and lead it to success, and they’ll stop at nothing to make that dream a reality.

For others, starting a business is a scary, intimidating notion. There are too many unknowns to take the plunge. But if you’re considering becoming an entrepreneur, don’t forget all the benefits that go along with it:

1. Flexibility. Work your own hours.

2. More spare time (eventually). Spend more time with your family and friends. But note: This is only applicable once your business is established and you have employees handling the majority of necessary responsibilities. Don’t expect to have more spare time until you reach this point. In fact, expect to have much less.

3. Call the shots. Nobody else is going to set the rules. You are.

4. Set your own deadlines. No more last-minute rushing unless you want to do it.

5. Sell how you want to sell. Online? In person? Inbound? Outbound? It’s your call.

6. Create your own environment. You can set the formality and culture of your organization.

7. Pursue your passion. You can do what makes you happy.

8. Create something from scratch. Watch your organization grow from start to finish.

9. Meet new people. Network with other entrepreneurs and professionals.

10. Build a team. You decide who to hire and bring into your company.

11. Create jobs. Improve the economy with new job opportunities.

12. Help people. Use products and services to improve people’s lives.

13. Become an expert. Learn the ropes of your industry through first-hand experience.

14. Invest in yourself. You take the risk, and you’ll gain the rewards.

15. Make more money. If you want a pay raise, you can give yourself one.

16. Financial independence. No one else is signing your paychecks.

17. Tax benefits. Write off your biggest expenses Note: while you do get to write off lots of expenses as an entrepreneur, beware the “self employment tax.”

18. New challenges every day. Find new ways to stimulate your mind.

19. Get exposed to new cultures. Discover new perspectives and approaches.

20. Discover new fields. Delve deeper into your industry.

21. Create an asset. Give yourself something sellable to hedge your bets.

22. Connect with your clients. Forge real, personal connections.

23. Delegate boring tasks. Don’t do anything you don’t want to.

24. You can stop working. Work you enjoy doing can’t be described as “work.”

25. The power to give. Have the power and flexibility to donate time or money to worthy causes.

26. Get involved in the community. Participate actively in your neighborhood and region.

27. Improve your industry. Push your industry forward with new innovations and ideas.

28. Get a mentor. Meet valuable, insightful mentors and learn from them.

29. Become a mentor. Take your own knowledge and experience, and mentor someone else.

30. Learn new skills. Branch out in new departments.

31. Attend new classes and seminars. Constantly refine your skillset and stay updated.

32. Have a big office. If you want the biggest office in your workplace, it’s yours.

33. Work from anywhere. Work from home, an office or a beach if you so choose.

34. Have the option for multiple ventures. Start another business when you’re done with this one.

35. Gain entrepreneurial experience. Being an entrepreneur makes you a better professional in almost any position.

36. Get recognized. Start earning name recognition and build a reputation.

37. Get things done faster. Set your own efficiency rates.

38. Build a personal brand. Take the time to develop your personal brand, and tie it into your business’s.

39. Get more creative. Create your own opportunities and your own solutions.

40. Inspire others. Serve as an example for other people to follow their dreams.

41. Reduce your commute. Find an office space closer to your home.

42. Have more job stability. Never worry about being laid off or fired.

43. Find pride and fulfillment. Finally start taking pride in the work you’re doing.

44. Reach your dreams. If you’ve ever dreamed of being wildly successful, this is your chance.

45. Learn to embrace failure. Even if you fail, you’ll walk away with new skills and more experience you never had before.

46. Have a great story to tell. It will be a fun story for your grandchildren one day, win or lose.

47. Leave something behind. Pass the business down to your children and grandchildren.

48. Change the world. It may seem like a lofty goal for you right now, but your business really could change the world.

49. Resources are plentiful. With the dominance of the Internet, it’s easier than ever to find resources you need, including startup capital, loans, grants and even mentors.

50. There’s nothing stopping you. What’s really keeping you from being an entrepreneur? Of course there are risks, but there’s nothing forcing you not to take them.

If you want to become an entrepreneur, there’s nothing really holding you back. Take the leap, and lead the company you’ve always wanted.

6 Lessons We Could Learn from Steve Jobs

6 Lessons We Could Learn from Steve Jobs
6 Lessons We Could Learn from Steve Jobs

6 Lessons We Could Learn from Steve Jobs

Tracking the achievements of Steve Jobs isn’t a difficult thing to do. They’re big, public and - especially in technology - remarkably long lasting. More tricky but, I think, more interesting, is eliciting from those achievements the lessons we could learn from him successes if we tried.

1. Style is Content

From the outset, Jobs and Apple believed in style: in fonts, in graphics, in industrial design and in marketing. It’s easy to under-estimate how eccentric this was at the time - and how eccentric it remains today. While most organizations believe that style is the exclusive purview of marketing, few achieve it even there. Most hardware and software remains remarkably clunky, ugly or simply derivative. (The Kindle is hideous; the Fire a pale imitation.) When I first started working in technology 15 years ago, style was dismissed as frivolous and that’s the status it still holds in most companies today. Anyone who imagines that Apple’s success derives entirely from what’s inside the box (and there are more than a few) has missed a very obvious point.

Conventional wisdom divides thinking into the left brain and the right brain. The left is all systematic, rational, linear while the right is more emotional and creative. What Jobs demonstrated was that success lies not in emphasizing one over the other but in bringing them together.

2. Patience Beats Speed

For all that Apple is known for fast product development, the truth is that Jobs was very good at waiting. After his return to Apple in 1997, when the company teetered on the brink of bankruptcy, he did what any smart CEO would do: slashed product lines (15 desktop models to 1) cut software and hardware engineers, eliminated peripherals, reduced inventory and retailers and moved most manufacturing offshore. There is nothing brilliant about this; it’s textbook stuff. But asked in 1998, by Richard Rummelt, what he was going to do next, in order to move Apple beyond its fragile niche position, Jobs had a gutsy answer: “I am going to wait for the next big thing.”

Wait? In a technology business? That took courage. Of course, once he’d figured out what the next big thing was, Jobs was methodical and patient - again - in putting in place everything he’d need to take advantage of the seismic shift in the environment when the U.S. market moved to broadband.

It’s also worth remembering that, during the three years he did this, he was remorselessly hammered by industry analysts not one of whom understood what he was up to.

3. Drama Trumps Romance

Jobs’s product launches were famed for their drama. But one thing they didn’t offer was romance. The products did what they said they’d do. Marketing commentary around them didn’t promise fantasies, illusions or daydreams. Apple promoted its products but didn’t hype them. This may seem a lackluster quality but it built trust. Apple said its products were easy to use not because (like many of its competitors) it hoped that was true, or because it was true for the PhD engineers who’d invented them, but because it was true. It seems peculiar to celebrate a company for truth in advertising but that’s one reason why Apple customers, once smitten, stayed loyal.

4. Nothing Beats a Good Mistake

Jobs’s career isn’t without its mis-steps. Losing control of Apple was the biggest and most obvious but there were plenty of minor slip ups along the way. The suicides at the Foxconn plant that manufactures iPhones was just one of these. But Jobs didn’t try to deny that they had taken place or that they mattered. He was swift to point out that Apple’s scrutiny of its suppliers was more rigorous than most - but he still moved quickly to understand what was going on and try to find remedies.

Every company makes mistakes. But, treated right, they can be treasure troves of learning. Moreover, people loved Jobs not because he didn’t make mistakes - but because he learned from them.

5. Technology Isn’t All About Youth

In the age of fast companies, built not to last, Apple offered ample proof that you can be innovative and cool after the age of 25. Experience, know how and skills counted for something. While the products were cool, they weren’t all built by pre-adolescents oblivious to the constraints and needs of normal human beings. That Jobs continued to be as innovative in his 50s as he had been in his 20s is something most companies should take time to consider at length.

6. Business Doesn’t Have to Be Bad

Earlier this week I was teaching a class of new MBA students. A strikingly international group, they came from Thailand, India, Korea, Colombia, Russia, Canada, Taiwan, China and the U.S. I asked them who their heroes were. As usual, the list included their parents, various heads of state and Nelson Mandela. But topping the list - regardless of age or nationality - was Steve Jobs. More than anyone else alive, he was the person who inspired their love of business and their desire to try their hands at it.

In an age where the streets are full of anger and violence at the havoc wreaked by one part of the business world, that there is such an inspirational figure as Jobs is important. We need smart men and women, young and old, to have high ambitions for the world of work, someone who believed passionately and articulated brilliantly how much good business can achieve. Now that Jobs is gone, who can fail to be concerned that no one else adequately represents his rich synthesis of intellect, imagination and passion?

The lessons we could learn from Steve Jobs aren’t all that remarkable. Many of them contain wisdom that we already know — we just don’t apply. Why not? Is it that we lack courage? Or is it that we find it hard to believe that tenets so simple can prove so effective? Surely that’s the moral of the Apple story: there is genius in simplicity. But simple is hard.

From Surabaya With Love | Nightlife Story

From Surabaya With Love | Nightlife Story

From Surabaya With Love
From Surabaya With Love | Nightlife Story
Roxuai @ From Surabaya With Love . This is another Housemix titled "From Surabaya With Love" by Balinese DeJay, Roxuai (me), released on 2014. I take this song into another dimension by completely recreating the vibe and direction.

Check out  "Ajie Roxuai - From Surabaya With Love (Original Mix)"

Original mix Track Info: 
Track Name : From Surabaya With Love (Original Mix)
Artists Name : Ajie Roxuai
MP3 Bitrate : 320Kbps


Video On Youtube :

From Surabaya With Love | Nightlife Story

--- [ o | o ] --- 




From Surabaya With Love | Nightlife Story

I think there are some night clubs pretty decent to go. There are 360 (at the parking area of Royal Plaza), Cloros Pub n Resto (Jl. Sumatra), Penthouse (top floor of Central Point Mall - Carefour Ngagel), Vertical Six (JW Marriot hotel), D'esperados (Shang-Rila hotel), Tavern Bar (Hotel Bumi Surabaya - previously Hyatt hotel), and the brand new one is M1 Super Club at Citywalk of Pakuwon Trade Centre.
I personally so much liking the concept of M1 Super Club, they several time had international DJ performance such as Dash Berlin (#7 DJ Mag poll), Above and Beyond, and their resident DJs are cool as well.  For me, this is my list for best club in Surabaya : 1. M1 Superclub 2. 360 3. Penthouse Well, some like Vertical Six, D'esperados, Tavern, I don't like the music they play. And Colors is too crowded with teenage or some college students, small place, and too many smoking

From Surabaya With Love | Nightlife Story
From Surabaya With Love | Nightlife Story

If you are planning to visit Surabaya, Indonesia and want to enjoy the nightlife before leaving, you can visit the following places:

1. Club Deluxe [Tunjungan Center]

Love place : Jalan Tunjungan 3, 4th Floor

The visitors are dominated among the well-established and mature age. Often bring in artists who also established and famous, but has slumped in the recording industry. Classified as a legendary club in Surabaya.

2. Tavern [Hyatt]

Love place : Jalan Basuki Rahmat 124-128

Visitors are mostly classy, professionals and young executives. There are always bands that are contracted to play in the long run.

3. Hugo's Cafe [Sheraton]

Love place : Jalan Embong Malang 25-31

Managers are very creative in creating events. Thus, there are always new packaging, new style and feels of events. Visitors are dominated by young age, under 24, but also, many are established businessman at Hugo's. Music is very dynamic and classy.

4. Vertical Six Club [JW Marriott Hotel]

Love place : Jalan Embong Malang 85-89

It's a classy, ??like a star. Visitors are vary from young professionals, businessmen, hotel guests, expatriates, etc. The music is standard.

5. Colors Pub

Love place : Jalan Sumatera 81

It's designed as a place for young people, under 24 years. The music is lively complexion, dynamic and Top 40. Colors is supported by FM Radio, this pub is often brought famous artist / bands. Unfortunately, the less extensive, especially when there is a top concert band. Thanks for the good services of public relations for the media

6. Kowloon Palace [Plaza Surabaya]

Jalan Pemuda 31-37

Dominated by well-established businessmen, mostly Chinese. Servings varied music, with special food menu, but of course the prices are excellent too. Always crowded under any circumstances.

7. Qemi Club [Hotel Elmi]

Love place : Jalan Panglima Sudirman 42-44

Visitors are mostly mature, well-established economic, political and talkative-nonsense way. So, the old songs are quite famous in this club. It is one of an old club in Surabaya.

8. Bill Belle Lounge [Hotel Garden Palace]

Love place : Jalan Yos Sudarso 11

This is suitable for those who like to dance, all kinds of dance. If you want to practice in dancing, here is the place. The visitors are well established in economy and mature.

9. Desperado's

Love place : Jalan Mayjend. Sungkono

This is an entertainment place located at the Hotel Shangri-La, dominated by the established age and well established in economy. Expats are most commonly found here. The music is varied, the Top 40 are also preferred. Sometimes there are good bands from out of town to play a long-term contract. Good food too.

10. Station Discotheque

Love place : Tunjungan Plaza II

Had always been known as a disco enthusiast in East Java. Before going in, warm up first, relax the muscles relax,  and let's the music take your body.

source : indonesia.knoji.com

From Jakarta With Love | Nightlife Story

From Jakarta With Love | Nightlife Story

From Jakarta With Love
From Jakarta With Love 

Roxuai @ From Jakarta With Love | Nightlife Story . This is another Housemix titled "From Jakarta With Love" by Balinese DeJay, Roxuai (me), released on 2014. I take this song into another dimension by completely recreating the vibe and direction.

Check out  "Ajie Roxuai - From Jakarta With Love (Original Mix)"

Original mix Track Info: 
Track Name : From Jakarta With Love (Original Mix)
Artists Name : Ajie Roxuai
MP3 Bitrate : 320Kbps


Video On Youtube :


--- [ o | o ] --- 


From Jakarta With Love | Nightlife Story

Jakarta nightlife has changed quite a bit since my previous guides: "Jakarta Love Nightlife 2011", "Jakarta Nightlife 2012" and "Jakarta Nightlife Tips". Before you head out tonite, these are the latest trends in the Jakarta's partying scene: The new center of Jakarta love nightlife in 2014 is in SCBD (Sudirman Central Business District), in the ex-Bengkel area. In 2 years, many bars and clubs have opened there and they attract the wealthy, trendy youth of Jakarta:

To have a drink, try Lucy in the Sky, Potato Head Garage, Beer Garden, Canos in Foundry 8 For clubbing: Fable (Young crowd, Jakarta International School) or Empirica (Upper Class Indo Chinese). These places do not have too many tourists or expatriates yet. Apart from that area, two new clubs worth trying have opened in 2013: Alibi on Rasuna Said (replacing JackRabbit) and the popular Exodus from the Stadium group. Immigrant was still on top of the game when it closed down for renovation a few months ago. We can expect it will still be popular with a more mature crowd (25-45 years old) when it reopens.

Dragonfly, Red Square (closed) and X2 now attract mostly foreigners and girls looking for foreigners, with a varying proportion of working girls in each (high in Red Square, lower in X2 and Dragonfly). Equinox in X2 is always full on weekends but the crowd is not as upper class as it used to be. The following bars/lounge/restaurants are usually always busy with expats on weekend nights: Loewy, Bluegrass, Aphrodite, Liquid Exchange, Social House, Cork & Screw, Union, Potato Head, Eastern Promise, De Hooi, Fez, Face Bar, Awan Lounge, Molly Malone's, Murphy's, Black Cat, Melly's, Vin +. Level 5 of Grand Indonesia is nice too with many new cafés like Warung Kopi Tinggi, H5, Ismaya Catering Co.

There are 3 popular rooftop bars in Jakarta: SKYE LOVE is the best one with regular events. It is a good place to start a party night and it is busy every day. Cloud is very similar. You also have Awan Lounge in Kosenda hotel but for a younger, cheaper crowd

From Jakarta With Love | Nightlife Story
From Jakarta With Love | Nightlife Story
Hard Rock Cafe has moved for a third time in 10 years. It is now in Pacific Place but it isn't really happening. Blowfish has been renovated. It is smaller and has become more quiet. Domain as well has some good nights but it is mostly quiet. Prices have increased. It is not uncommon to pay a 200,000rp entrance fee in the most popular clubs. Jackrabbit, Luv's Bar and Tribeca have closed. Jaya Pub hasn't and it is still the oldest bar in Jakarta nightlife. BATS, CJs, Blok M are pretty much the same as before: They have live music, expats and businessmen, and lots of working girls. You can go there pretty much any day of the week and it should be busy. Some other hotel bars are not really happening but they are ok for a drink: Burgundy (Hyatt), MO (Mandarin Oriental). Tiga Puluh (Le Meridien) and Tempus (Ritz Carlton Mega Kuningan) have live music as well but aren't too crowded.

-- From Jakarta With Love | Nightlife Story --

Bars in Jalan Jaksa change name regularly, but the atmosphere hasn't changed. It is a mix of young indonesians, working girls, professional girlfriends, backpackers, budget expatriates, gays and random people. 7/11 stores are becoming the new cheap bars in Jakarta. On Weekends Love, they will be full everywhere. Off the beaten track but very popular too, De Leila is where Saudis go to party of love in Jakarta. In Kemang, it is hard to keep track but Nu China, 365 and Triple Nine are still there and crowded. There is a new strip of bars on Jalan Taman Kemang with many recent openings: Umbra, Beer Brother, Parc 19, Liberica, Cowboys Saloon. Hipsters may want to check Treehouse or Cafe Mondo.

In North Love Jakarta, the music is changing: Techno Kota/ Techno Dangdut/ Funky House is slowly becoming a thing of the past. They don't have it anymore in Mille's and Millenium (but still in Crown, Exotis, Puja Sera). The popular places are still the same: Stadium and Crown are the busiest ones even during the week. (Update May 2014: Stadium is currently closed following the death by overdose of a Policeman).

Still packed as well are Club 36, Malio Club, Alexis, Mille's and Millenium. Sexy dancers and striptease (full naked or boobs only) is the norm in many places: Classic, Malioboro, Crown, Club 36, V2, Emporium, Sumo, etc etc... Even in Stadium during the week... Prostitution and massage parlours are still operating freely in the capital of the largest Muslim country in the world (Travel Hotel, Classic, Fortune, Malioboro, Alexis, Emporium, Orchardz, etc... basically all the clubs outside of the city center). Drug use is also massive in North Jakarta even though the prices have tripled in a few years.

The only major new nightlife venue in North Love Jakarta, 1001 (Colosseum) is a surprising success. I consider it to be one of the most impressive nightclubs in the city. Great lighting, great music and good crowd. On the other hand, Illigals, even though it has some interesting events is still rather quiet. There is also some nightlife that has emerged outside of Jakarta's city center: In particular, in Central Park Mall near Taman Anggrek and in Pantai Indah Kapuk, near Pluit. Those are Cafés/lounges, no real nightlclubs to my knowledge.

Closing hours for the night clubs is very unpredictable. Officially, it is 3am but it seems to change every week. Normally, clubs in the South close at 5am maximum, and clubs in Kota around 7am-9am. Clubs that can be used for afters are Mille's and Exotis. It is very common to rent a karaoke room to keep the party going in some clubs like Stadium, Millenium, Crown. Since I cannot be everywhere all the time, please drop a comment if I missed something! Thanks a lot!

From Jakarta With Love | Nightlife Story
From Jakarta With Love | Nightlife Story 
From Jakarta With Love | Nightlife Story
From Jakarta With Love | Nightlife Story


thx source : jakarta100bars.com

10 Easy Steps to Making Your Dreams Come True


About a year ago, I was waking up before dark every morning. I had a set of rituals that I knew would put me on course to the life of my dreams.

The only problem was -- and this was a big one -- I was chasing the wrong dream. At the time, I was working at being a life coach, and I was thinking that I would write novels once I retired. I actually wrote this to a friend in an email a year ago, that I would write novels when I retire, and not long after that, my coaching business circled the drain. Although I didn't appreciate it at the time, my prayers were being answered. The Universe always has our backs.

Cue the sound of a needle scratching a record. Is there anything you tell yourself you will do more of "when you retire"? If so, then there's a big chance you should be making more time for it NOW -- not some far off time that might never come.

There's no final resting place during this life when you're free to prance through a meadow. It's imperative we make sure to have fun now, along the way, or we waste the whole shooting match on boring obligations.

Here are the 10 Easy Steps to Making Your Dreams Come True -- today!

10 Easy Steps to Making Your Dreams Come True
10 Easy Steps to Making Your Dreams Come True

1. What's your dream?

This is honestly the trickiest step. We complicate the heck out of it. We think, "What's my life's purpose?" and then we break out into a cold sweat.

Start with the easy stuff. What feels good to you? You don't need to decide everything right this instant, but just start collecting ideas for your life that make you feel excited and enthusiastic about the possibilities. Write some things down. Just keep some kind of simple record of what your dream for your life is.

Close your eyes and see what pictures emerge. Images that come to my mind are sunny nature scenes. I also like the idea of someone wrapped in a cozy sweater and sipping coffee while they smile at a laptop. (That's me right now.) I'm a writer, so I'm now committed to writing every day. One day I will own a beach house. That's about it!

2. Decide and believe.

Many of us will pick a delicious dream for ourselves and then immediately start pecking furiously at the edges with a list of ways it can't, won't, or shouldn't work out for us. Stop that!

If there's a word for both deciding and believing in one fell swoop, the word would be commitment. You have to commit to your dream. Don't just put it in a box and close the lid, never to see the light of day. You have to take it out and fondle it... every... day. Take it out, play with it, give it some air.

Decision + Belief = Commitment

Decide you want your dream to happen. For real. Believe it will and can happen. For real. This is the magic sauce that will help propel your dream into reality. If you don't decide and believe, and therefore commit, well then... as Henry Ford said, "Whether you think you can, or you think you can't -- you're right."

3. Release fear.

This next step isn't a one-time event. It's probably something you're going to have to do over and over, every time you notice you're stuck and you've stopped forward momentum.

We disguise fear under logistics all the time: "Oh, I don't have time to go after that dream, I need to make money!" Sure ya do. So get up earlier.

"Well then I don't have time!" Sure ya do. So get up earlier.

"But then I'll be exhausted!" Here's the thing. Last year, when I was getting up early, it was a bit of a battle. I was always feeling like it took heroics to drag my limp carcass out of bed that early.

It's all in the attitude. This go round, I decided it was going to be easy and exciting to get up early to write every day. I decided it's not going to be difficult. I decided to get the sleep I need, and not be so dramatic and sacrificial about getting up early.

Choose the right attitude. Release fear. Repeat.

4. Take action!

Eegads, finally, the part where we actually DO stuff.

Figure out what you need to DO to make your dream happen. Then go do it.

Every day.

To sum up step four, take action daily.

5. Love yourself.

It's really easy to lose the plot in the frenzy of daily living. Just slow down, pump the breaks, relax. Listen.

Take quiet time alone every day -- again, early morning if need be -- to reflect, read, write, and to hear yourself think. Give yourself the time and space to feel your feelings and organize your thoughts so that you may stay in touch with your own needs and desires for your life.

6. Use other's success as inspiration.

When you notice someone more fortunate, practice saying to yourself, "You know what? I want that, too! I'm going to figure out how and make it happen!"

If we want good things to happen to us, we have to stop judging others negatively for the good things they bring into their lives. Judging and criticizing others is such a silly energy drain. I will go out on a limb here and say that the majority of people who judge others negatively for their success don't realize they do it, or they don't realize there's anything wrong with doing it.

I saw a Facebook comment the other day that basically said all rich people are thieving, greedy liars and that all poor people are generous and would give you the shirt off their backs. Nonsense. NONSENSE. That's a waste of breath right there. Bill Gates has donated $26 BILLION to philanthropic causes. I would rather imagine all the good Bill's money is doing out there in the world than to take one second to consider accepting the smelly shirt off some guy's back.

Instead of being Judge-y McJudge Pants, use others as inspiration: see what you want, and figure out how to make it happen. When you paint everyone who is rich with one brush (bad) you are going to repel money like it's your job. Money isn't imbued with magical good or evil qualities. It's just money. It helps you live comfortably. Accept it without making bizarre value judgments.

7. View mistakes as lessons, not an excuse to give up.

This happened to me last year when my coaching business took a nosedive: I panicked, and then I gave up. Which was fine, because I realized that coaching wasn't my dream after all. When things didn't go well, I didn't think, "Just a bump in the road, let me fix this." Instead I thought about all the hours and days I'd spent on the administrative junk: the web pages I developed, the excruciating task of writing sales copy, and the PDFs I'd created, and I realized that this wasn't my dream. I hated that stuff.

I just like writing.

I didn't learn that lesson right away. Instead I spent lots of time saying, "Woe is me," and panicking about money, and panicking about finding work, and just generally spending all of my time panicking. In case that's not clear: I panicked.

It took me a really long time to simply view my mistakes as lessons. Instead, I did all the stuff I coached other people not to do. Like when you make a mistake, it's not a reflection on your character. It's just data about what you should do next.

Finally, after close to a year of panic followed by wallowing, I'm back!

8. Value tiny decisions.

The decision to get up early every morning is a momentous one. The tiny decisions happen every single day, when I look at the clock. Do I get up, or do I stay in bed?

Every little decision, everything single thing we do, matters.

Because what you do determines who you become. And who you become means either your success at achieving your dream or your failure. Choose wisely.

9. Don't let bad habits win.

It's so easy to blame our small lives, our tiny, chronic failures on our bad habits. We get sucked into the couch for TV marathons. We get sucked into pizza boxes and chip bags and some of us (ehem) even get into the habit (and then out of the habit and into the habit) of using beer or wine "to relax" when the going gets tough.

Then we spend all our precious energy on CRAP like trying to lose weight or break these bad habits. What you think about is what you get. If you spend all your time obsessing about your bad habits, your whole life is going to be a Sisyphean task of rolling the boulder up the hill while you resist, followed by getting steamrolled when you get tired and give in.

And yes, I'm speaking from experience. I say this with the utmost kindness and respect to both myself and to you: GET A LIFE. It's only when our habits stand in the way of the life of our dreams that we will be compelled to chuck the now-annoying habits to the curb. Dream big, take action, worry about your habits some other day, like when they prevent you from getting up early.

Oh, and see step 3: release fear. Usually our bad habits are nothing more than a tepid attempt at escaping fear, but then we've really gone down the rabbit hole INTO fear when we do things that are self-destructive as an escape. Release fear, don't try to numb it; it doesn't work that way.

10. Believe the Universe is friendly.

I'll leave you with this quote:

"And, when you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it."

-- Paulo Coelho, The Alchemist

In light of this quote, it's possible to boil this post down to three steps: 1. Dream big. 2. Act consistently. 3. Be amazed as the Universe conspires to help you achieve your dream.

source : huffingtonpost.com

How to Become a Millionaire by Age 30

Getting rich and becoming a millionaire is a taboo topic. Saying it can be done by the age of 30 seems like a fantasy. It shouldn’t be taboo and it is possible. At the age of 21, I got out of college, broke and in debt, and by the time I was 30, I was a millionaire. Here are the 10 steps that will guarantee you will become a millionaire by 30.

1. Follow the money. 

In today’s economic environment you cannot save your way to millionaire status. The first step is to focus on increasing your income in increments and repeating that. My income was $3,000 a month and nine years later it was $20,000 a month. Start following the money and it will force you to control revenue and see opportunities.

2. Don’t show off -- show up! 

I didn’t buy my first luxury watch or car until my businesses and investments were producing multiple secure flows of income. I was still driving a Toyota Camry when I had become a millionaire. Be known for your work ethic, not the trinkets that you buy.

3. Save to invest, don’t save to save.

 The only reason to save money is to invest it.  Put your saved money into secured, sacred (untouchable) accounts. Never use these accounts for anything, not even an emergency. This will force you to continue to follow step one (increase income). To this day, at least twice a year, I am broke because I always invest my surpluses into ventures I cannot access.

4. Avoid debt that doesn’t pay you. 

Make it a rule that you never use debt that won’t make you money. I borrowed money for a car only because I knew it could increase my income. Rich people use debt to leverage investments and grow cash flows. Poor people use debt to buy things that make rich people richer.

5. Treat money like a jealous lover. 

Millions wish for financial freedom, but only those that make it a priority have millions. To get rich and stay rich you will have to make it a priority. Money is like a jealous lover. Ignore it and it will ignore you, or worse, it will leave you for someone who makes it a priority.

6. Money doesn’t sleep. 

Money doesn’t know about clocks, schedules or holidays, and you shouldn’t either. Money loves people that have a great work ethic. When I was 26 years old, I was in retail and the store I worked at closed at 7 p.m. Most times you could find me there at 11 p.m. making an extra sale. Never try to be the smartest or luckiest person -- just make sure you outwork everyone.

7. Poor makes no sense.

I have been poor, and it sucks. I have had just enough and that sucks almost as bad. Eliminate any and all ideas that being poor is somehow OK. Bill Gates has said, "If you’re born poor, it’s not your mistake. But if you die poor, it is your mistake."

8. Get a millionaire mentor. 

Most of us were brought up middle class or poor and then hold ourselves to the limits and ideas of that group. I have been studying millionaires to duplicate what they did. Get your own personal millionaire mentor and study them. Most rich people are extremely generous with their knowledge and their resources.

9. Get your money to do the heavy lifting.

 Investing is the Holy Grail in becoming a millionaire and you should make more money off your investments than your work. If you don’t have surplus money you won’t make investments. The second company I started required a $50,000 investment. That company has paid me back that $50,000 every month for the last 10 years. My third investment was in real estate, where I started with $350,000, a large part of my net worth at the time. I still own that property today and it continues to provide me with income. Investing is the only reason to do the other steps, and your money must work for you and do your heavy lifting.

10. Shoot for $10 million, not $1 million.

 The single biggest financial mistake I’ve made was not thinking big enough. I encourage you to go for more than a million. There is no shortage of money on this planet, only a shortage of people thinking big enough.

Apply these 10 steps and they will make you rich. Steer clear of people that suggest your financial dreams are born of greed. Avoid get-rich-quick schemes, be ethical, never give up, and once you make it, be willing to help others get there too.

The Secret Weapon For Better Focus


Are you looking for a more efficient way to organise your work-days? Try Time Blocking. 

A few months back, I came across Cal Newport’s illuminating post on Time Blocking — a productivity “hack” that helps you to make the most of your work day by assigning very specific tasks to very specific blocks of time. This is loosely based on Parkinson’s Law, the idea of which is that work will simply expand to fill the time available for its completion.

For some, the idea of scheduling tasks in such a rigid way may be counter intuitive. But, if you’ve a backlog of tasks to get through or a deadline to abide by, time blocking can help keep you on track while keeping distractions, procrastination and unproductive multitasking at bay.

Newport generally spends around 15-20 minutes at the end of each day planning his ‘time blocks’ for the following day, with the overall goal to “make sure progress is being made on the right things at the right pace for the relevant deadlines”. His theory is that “a 40 hour time-blocked work week, I estimate, produces the same amount of output as a 60+ hour work week pursued without structure”.



For a potential promise of a 50% increase in productivity (especially related to deep, tough work), the temptation to give this hack a trial run is hard to resist.

Give Some Time To Planning

If you’re tempted to try this out, the first thing you need to do is to spend a short amount of time setting out what you need to complete before the week is over. Decide what makes for a week well spent.


Write out 3-5 of the most important tasks you need to complete (these decision making apps may help), and any other necessary (though not always important) tasks that you just have to get done. Then, if you work a typical 8-hour work day, split those 8 hours into different-sized chunks, with each chunk dedicated to a specific task (or set of tasks) — important and necessary — that you have to work on. Google Calendar is a perfect tool for this, but a piece of paper can work just as well.

You can see a basic example (for just one day) I used a few days ago below, though you can of course make this as detailed as possible. Try to divide the tasks throughout the week in a way that helps achieve all of your objectives without pushing yourself too hard.

Be Honest With Yourself

Don’t try to squeeze too much into one day. It’s all too easy to underestimate how long a task will take — especially if you’re under the assumption you’ll be 50% more efficient than usual. If you’re someone who’s never tracked their time before, this will take a small while to learn.

You need to figure out the average amount of productive time you spend in your inbox. You need to know exactly how long you can actually focus on deep, difficult work. If you carve out four hours for deep work, but can only really concentrate deeply for two hours (for example), that’s two hours wasted, which could have been spent on less demanding tasks.

As you learn more about how you work, and how long each task really takes, your time-block estimations will become more and more accurate, thereby helping you become more productive.

You Can Time Block Reactive Work Too

If a lot of your work is reactive, you may think this method won’t work for you. But, fortunately, you can assign blocks of time to reactive work, too, so as to avoid that 8 hour game of Ping-Pong when you’re at work.

For example…

If a large portion of your work is spent in your inbox, schedule 30 minutes every 2 hours in your inbox (A big deal? Add some information to your signature letting people know that you only check email a few times per day to keep up productivity).

If you have to take calls throughout the day, instead of answering the phone every time it rings, turn the answer machine on, and schedule a couple of periods during the day where you respond to your messages. This allows your other blocks of time to be far less interrupted, enabling you to get your best work done.

Remove Distractions

Blocking out time is all well and good in theory, but if you don’t stick to the principles in practice, you’re bound to fail. If you’re settling in for a couple of hours of deep work with a Facebook tab open, your phone ready and willing to accept calls, and your colleagues feeling like they can interrupt you at any moment, you’re setting yourself up for failure.

Make sure people know they shouldn’t disturb you (wearing headphones can reduce interruptions dramatically). Turn the phone off. Sign out of social media. Close all unneeded tabs, and concentrate on the task at hand for the time period assigned to it. You’ll often be surprised at how much you get done.

Don’t Be Too Specific

This is loosely related to our human inability to predict how long things will really take. Or even if we have the motivation to complete a task. If we’re too specific with our time blocking (i.e. “30 minutes to book a venue for the party”), then when we don’t find a venue within 30 minutes, we’ve already failed. Instead, keep your blocks of time relatively vague, but still working toward a very specific goal.

For example, “30 minutes organising the party” works well. Instead of having a venue booked, the 30 minute block may result in a shortlist of venues — so at least you’ve made progress!

These quick wins are what keep you motivated to keep up with these kind of productivity systems.

Time Blocking Doesn’t Mean Lack Of Choice

Some people detest having no choices throughout their day, and fear that time blocking leads to a complete lack of choice. This, however, isn’t the case. Take my personal Google Calendar example above.

“Writing Articles” is purposely vague. I have a selection of articles I can work on at any one time, so during this time period, I can pick the one article that excites me the most at that time. The point is to ensure that I actually spend a certain amount of time writing each day, irrespective of what I’m actually writing.

Keep Detailed Notes

When your day regularly involves switching from one task to another, it can often take too much time to get back into the swing of the next task. When I stop my phone calls at 12:30 and move into my deep work, I need to know that I can easily get into the right frame of mind so as to waste as little time as possible.

To do this, I keep detailed notes either on paper, or on my Google Calendar about where I’m, where I got to last time I was working on this project, problems I was facing, breakthroughs I made, and what the next step is to keep progress moving forwards. Spend the last few minutes of each time block writing these notes so you can enter the next time block with a clear mind.

Perform Regular Reviews

At the end of each week, month or quarter (whichever is best for you), perform a review of the different projects you’ve been working on to see if your time blocking approach is working for you, and to know which projects you need to assign more time blocks to. This is the only real way you’ll know how to effectively assign your time. During a review, ask yourself the following questions for each project:

1. What did I accomplish since the last review?
2. What tasks need completing before the next review?
3. At which stage am I at with each of my projects?

With this overview, you’ll be in a much better position to make decisions for the future. Use technology…like these time tracking apps on Android.

Understand Your Body Clock

Take a read of this article on Circadian and Ultradian rhythms, and learn how to tell which hours each day are your most productive, and schedule your time blocks accordingly. Many authors find they are most creative during the early hours. If you know you’re able to focus better during the early afternoon, organise your time blocks to make the most of this time and your top priorities for the week.

Don’t Be Too Professional

All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. Ensure you schedule time for play into your days. Put aside time to spend with your loved one. Time to spend on your own. Time to exercise. Time to go Christmas shopping. Time to do nothing. Else, these may all fall by the wayside and you’ll find you’re all up to date when it comes to work, but entirely behind in your personal life.

Use Reminders That Work

Whether that’s a calendar popup, email reminder, a timer on your phone, or an old-school stop watch, you need to ensure that you set up reminders that you’re confident you’ll abide by. If you’re willing to work an extra 10 minutes on each task, you’ll soon fall behind on other projects. Is it really worth it? Ensure you know when your time block is coming to an end, so get into the right frame of mind to move to the next block.

In essence, time blocking is a simple exercise in segregating your day into various chunks of time that, if stuck to, helps us achieve everything we need to, thereby reducing stress. Sure, there are some problems with motivation, the ability to predict how long things will take, and unforeseen disruptions. But using this method can help us cut procrastination and waste, make for more efficient work days and also give us back personal time.

source : makeuseof.com













No. 1 Skill to Get Ahead in Life


We're living in uncertain times. As average yearly incomes stagnate, the economy continues to sputter towards recovery, and we spend more and more time online, it feels natural to worry about the reality today's children will face when they enter adulthood.

So how do we prepare them? What are the necessary skills that will help these kids get ahead in life? Overwhelmingly, as a nation, we believe that first and foremost, it comes down to the ability to communicate effectively.

That's takeaway from a recent Pew Research Center survey, in which a national sample of 3,154 American adults were presented with a list of 10 skills -- communication, logic, reading, teamwork, writing, science, math, athletic, music and art – and were asked to select the ones that they believed are the most important for children to get ahead in the world today. (In other words, they could choose as many as they thought fit that standard; most respondents selected more than one skill as "most important.")

Communication trounced the competition. A whopping 90 percent of respondents cited the skill as "most important," a higher percentage than more tangible skills received, including reading (86 percent), math (79 percent), and science (58 percent).

Here's how all 10 skills stacked up.



Communication's secure first-place position surprised us, but perhaps it shouldn't have; the survey didn't specify what "getting ahead in the world today" means, exactly. For many, it likely translates to professional success (where communication is undoubtedly important), but it can also mean leading a happy life connected to friends and family (where communication is integral). Perhaps also, there is the fear that today's children, a cohort fluent in 'likes,' lols and emojis, are losing the ability to connect without the crutch of the Internet.

Interestingly, despite the fact that STEM fields typically yield high average salaries (if you're choosing a college major, engineering is a more lucrative bet than architecture or fine arts), science was considered a "most important" skill by only slightly more than half of respondents. Only athletic skills (25 percent), music skills (24 percent) and art skills (23 percent) fared worse.

Men, who continue to vastly outnumber women in STEM positions, were less likely than women to rate communication and reading skills as most important, but significantly more likely to say that science and math skills made the cut. Sixty-three percent said science skills were important – versus 52 percent of women – and 81 percent said math skills were important, versus 76 percent of women.

source :  entrepreneur.com

15 PRINCIPLES TO MAKE YOUR DREAMS COME TRUE

HOW TO PUT AWESOME POWER INTO YOUR LIFE.

Achievers are believers: they believe in themselves and in life.




Achievers are great dreamers (but not "airy-fairey stuff"). What dreams in life would you have, if you knew you could not possibly fail?

What particular dream would make you happiest in fulfilling?

Firstly, Have total faith: in yourself and especially in God - a Higher Power, Supreme Being, Who cares deeply about you and really BELIEVE God, Life, Your Creator will ultimately ensure the outcome that's best for you (even when things look bleak and you are stuck deep in the smelly brown stuff.

I've lived these principles (even when my dream appeared shattered and my hope was at a very low ebb, learnt them from experience over many years and have applied them in every area of my personal life. I can vouch for the fact that they DO work!

The very fact that I've written this article and its been published around the world was a dream that I had ten years ago (to reach people around the globe from here in scenic and tranquil "Sleepy Hollow" near the bottom of the world)... and that is a 'miracle' considering my personal
circumstances, absolutely no contacts and total lack of technology skills at the time.

Here are the Fifteen Principles, which I've applied down my "unchartered journey down the  rapids of life". *

* no, more sliding down the "razor-blade of life".

1. Discover the Awesome Power of a Dream.

A vision for the future, that will capture your entire heart and at the deepest level, your spirit and soul (are they the same thing, by the way?). Open your mind up to the awesome power of your creative imagination (the way "God "speaks" to us, through our subconscious minds, our "Godgate" or "receiving station from Superior/Infinite Intelligence", I believe).

Allow yourself the courage and freedom to even fantasise until you get a vision, a dream of what your life could one day stand for. Meditate deeply, pray, ask God, The Great Designer, what is your unique "calling in life", your purpose... and you WILL eventually get the answer... from the "still quiet voice within" (or your Higher Self).

Where do you find the vision? You could perhaps find it by looking for people who have hurts and human needs - as per the secret of success in business is finding a need and filling it. So find a human problem to solve through the awesome power of a vision. God will bless you, so that you in turn can bless others, through sharing your unique gifts. That way you are helping people, touching other lives and making a difference in the world. I try to do that through my words.

2. Your dream must be backed by ACTION.

Achievers are dreamers and DOERS. Take small steps and you'll find that one step leads to another, then the next. "Rome wasn't built in a day."

3. Develop a 'God Consciousness'

TRUST, really trust God, the Spirit of the Universe for the successful outcome to your  endeavours. It WILL happen, though not in your time-frame and according exactly to your
expectations. But always remember, God's dreams are far bigger than we could ever imagine ourselves.

4. DEVELOP YOUR DESIRE to see the dream come to fruition.

Work on your motivation daily. Allow your Dream to be at the fore-front of your life, the "core of your being". It will motivate, inspire and energise you by giving you a SENSE OF PURPOSE - essential. Only YOU have the power to kill your dream. Nothing is impossible to the person,  whose vision becomes a dream and when that dream is allowed to take control over your life. Like an obsession... but strive for balance (heed that one, Craig).

5. Develop a Success Consciousness, that you will achieve your dream one day.

It's a positive pattern of thinking, a great attitude/mind-set to have, which will propel you down the road to success. Think abundance and prosperity and not lack.... and you will draw it to yourself from the Universe.

6. Don't surrender to negative assumptions.

Eg."I'm too old, a woman, have no money, no resources, no contacts". Challenge them. Nothing is impossible to the person who has the desire to succeed. As the proverb says, " where there's a will, there's a way".

7. KNOW that there is a God, a Supreme Being

KNOW that there is a God, a Supreme Being (call Him/Her/It what you will) and that there is is a unique plan for your life. Listen to God, Spirit, The Ultimate Source (my favourite term to understand the concept commonly known as God), or Ground of our Being and it's just up to YOU to discover it, then declare it - to the world, should you want. It's your grand purpose in life and God will help you to fulfil it (as a "co-creator of and collaborator in the vision"). When you give 100% commitment and fully TRUST, God will see to it, that your CHOSEN dream comes to pass. You would never be "given a great dream" through your IMAGINATION without your having the potential to achieve it.

8. Have a dynamic positive attitude to life.

CHOOSE it. That things will somehow work out for you. Be flexible in your thinking. Attitude determines your altitude and more than anything else, I believe, is a vitally important ingredient in seeing your dreams come to fruition.

9. Really BELIEVE that things will work out for you.

Believe in yourself with honesty and humility....and not arrogance. It's not being "big-headed" saying things, like "I am unique, somebody special, I KNOW I can (make a difference, some impact in this amazing and beautiful world of ours, etc")! Doing this demands having a healthy self concept (image).

10. PERSIST

Look at all the options and check them each day. Obstacles and presures shift, like sand-storms. Never ever walk away from problems. Say, "I will until....".

11. Be patient.

Like a good wine, a great dream usually takes many years to mature and then blossom. When nothing seems to be happening, don't give up hope. Never.

12. Be open and flexible in your strategies to achieve your goals, your dream(s).

There are many ways to skin a cat (sorry, SPCA). If one road on the path to achieving your
dream gets blocked, go round the back way.  If you get stuck on what to do, ask God for the answer on the path ahead through prayer... and you'll get it through your creative imagination. It will just pop into your head from "outer space" (as Thomas Edison once described it).

13. Review your strategy and progress from time to time.

Evaluate your strategies and tactics. How effectively are you progressing down your chosen path? Are you getting the results expected and what you desire? If not, try another approach.

14. Listen to others, really listen, instead of thinking what you are going to say next

Think how can I best help the next person. As Zig Zigler wisely said, "You get what you want, by helping other people get what they want."  In turn, if you need help with something, don't be afraid to ASK politely. People like helping others...and everyone has unique skills and knowledge, that they like sharing.

15. Never Give Up on the Core of your Dream. Never!

Ask yourself this vital question: What are the alternatives to NOT dreaming it... and only YOU can kill your grand vision..
WHAT IS YOUR DREAM?
DECIDE IT,
DECLARE IT,
SHARE IT
Then be happy as you travel along the journey of life, the stair-case to your great dreams...

P.S: Always remember, God's dreams are far bigger than we could ever imagine ourselves
"If you can believe, all things are possible to those who believe." - Mark 9:23