Kimanzi Constable's Blog, page 59

House Keeping

Well it’s been a busy six weeks. I had the honor of speaking in Manila, Philippines and Nairobi, Kenya and it was a life-changing experience. I’ll be talking about it more in the coming posts

When I landed back in the United States and turned my phone on I was overwhelmed to see that I had 264 emails, where to start??? It’s going to take my a little while to catch up so if you reached out to me I will get back to you!

While I was gone some great things happened that I want to share with you:

I have the honor to write for ReCharge 365 magazine, I have a monthly column called “Tales of Life” and two articles that I have written have come out. I would love it if you read them and shared them: Issue #12 on page 66 and Issue #11 I made the cover!
I have gotten several emails and messages asking about my second book and where it’s at. The book was revamped and is being released with my publisher, Sound Wisdom Books in May. As a result I had to stop selling the book in anticipation of the release of the new version and I’m extremely happy with the changes that we made. I will keep you up to date about some great gifts I’m giving away with the release and I will also be forming a launch team to release the book. If you are interest stay tuned!
I had the honor to interview with some amazing people: Laura Pepper Wu and Little Conversations please listen and share these with your networks, I want these amazing people to get incredible exposure for the great work they do.

I need your help!!

While my second book is away I want to focus on my first book. I need your help to spread the message that you don’t have to be miserable for 40 plus hours of the week, that you can find or create work that you love. This is how I need your help:

If you read my first book can you please post a short review on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and Smashwords?
If you have not read the book I’d be super honored to send you a FREE copy in exchange for a review on the above mentioned places.
I will also send a free copy and two free copies (to give away to your readers) for any blogger willing to review the book in a blog post on their website. I will also link to the post on all my social networks

If you can help in any way I would be super grateful and humbled! After what I have seen in other parts of the world, it’s more important then ever to start this movement of people who don’t settle, who stop making excuses so that they can live the life of their dreams!

So what’s new in your world?

How I Sold Over 70,000 Ebooks (and How You Can Too)

Note from me: I will be away this week speaking in Kenya, Africa. My good friend Dan Black will be moderating my comments. Thank you Dan! Be WARNED! This is a long post and as a result it will be my only post this week.

On a daily basis I get at least ten emails asking me how I sold my ebooks and how someone can sell an ebook they just released. I understand wanting to know how to sell because self-publishing is VERY HARD! You would think there would be people out there willing to get the valuable information we write and put out to the world, but it’s not easy to get their attention. This post is meant to be a help with that.

I have spoken literally all over the world about the two main components of successfully self-publishing: using the power of your story and making REAL connections with people. Unfortunately I had to learn this lesson the hard way when I first started out.

I wanted so badly to sell my ebook so that I could get away from a job that I absolutely hated and live a life I only dreamed about. So instead of making connections and spreading a message, I became a spammer. I flooded social media and even my real life relationships with my book, I told everybody that would listen that I had a book and why they should buy it.

If you have followed me for anytime then you know my story, if not you can go to my about page and read my story or listen to the many interviews I’ve done and get the full story :) for the sake of time I will move on.

After the first two months of my book being released I sold five (eight total but three were from friends) copies and not only was I crushed, I couldn’t figure out why. It took me two weeks before I even looked at a computer again and got back to trying to make my dream a reality. I did some research and this is what I found:

What I did wrong

I was a spammer.  I mentioned this a little but I really tried to cram my book down people’s throat. I would post once every hour on Facebook and twice an hour on Twitter. I called people I hadn’t talked to in ten years and told them about the book. I told anybody I saw at work or anywhere I went about the book, everybody in the world knew about my book
I only focused on the money. I had to get away from this miserable job and I needed income ASAP! The money was all I could think about and it motivated what I did. Every post I wrote on my blog led to buying the book. Every post I had on social media led to a link about the book. In the end I lost most of my readers and most of my friends and fans on social media. When the money didn’t come I was crushed and wanted to give up, I lost faith in my dream.
I was impatient and took shortcuts. The process of successfully self-publishing requires a lot of patience and time, it’s just not going to happen over-night. I read so much information on how to do this so I thought I could speed up the process. It really made everything I did very sloppy and it wasn’t even close to my best work. When the sales didn’t come right away, I would go back to my default move: spamming.
The 20 reasons posts. I’m a writer so I was convinced that I could write my way into some books sales. I would write posts like “20 reasons to buy my book” or “1o reasons you can’t live without my book”. These posts were a completely FAIL! I know you want to sell your book and you want to write to show people the benefits of your book but this kind of writing completely turns people off!
I lost sight of the message. I originally started writing to help people and show them that there is hope. I wanted to be a voice for the little guy and give them options. When my book came out I lost sight of that message and just focused on selling the book. The message was lost for a long time and it makes me wonder how many people I missed out on helping.
I didn’t have a real campaign. When the book first came out I would promote it hard-core, two weeks later I didn’t bring it up at all. Then I would read a story that inspired me and I would be back to promotion mode. I continued this see-saw ride and promoting and forgetting, there was absolutely no consistency. If your book is going to be successful you must have a consistent way to promote the book even going forward.

What I did right (after I learned)

“People don’t buy with their minds they buy with their hearts” Peter Drucker

The main thing that I finally figured out that made the books start selling was the power of real connection and a good strategy. For too long I talked above people and they couldn’t identify with me or what I was writing about. This turned people away from my website and away from my books.

As far as my strategy? I had none! I didn’t have any traffic to this website and a small following on social media, no one shared my message. No one knew I was alive and that I wrote any books, so how could anybody buy them?

When I researched strategy I knew that the best way to get traffic was to guest post. I started sending out guest posts to anyone and everyone. The very first guest post I landed was on Dan Black’s blog (thank you Dan Since then I have guest posted for blogs like: Michael Hyatt, Dan Miller, Jeff Goins, Jon Acuff and many, many more! A BIG thank you to everyone who has let me guest post, I owe you BIG time!

After all the guest posting I finally got the traffic, then it was about giving people more once they visited my website. I had to give people more than they got everywhere else, it had to be an experience. I stopped focusing on the money and started spreading a message, a message of hope. Even though I hadn’t arrived where I wanted too, I still wanted to help people who were in the same situation as me.

I started writing about what I was going through, the good times and the really bad times, I started sharing my story. I told myself I was a writer so I wrote, wrote and wrote! I didn’t bring up the book at ALL! I had the traffic and I figured if people were interested, they could find out about the book on their own.

I didn’t check my stats or book sales for two months and just helped people, after two months I was surprised to see that I had sold thousands of copies, what?? I started hitting things harder, guest posting more and doing interviews all over the place, I really got the word out.

Once people identified with my story and I made that real connection (an emotional connection), they started to help spread the message. People would share my posts and books on social media and write reviews on their blogs, it was unbelievable!

The rest is history as they say. More people started buying the book and I self-published a second book. By this time I figured out the power of networking and I meet some amazing people online. We hit it off because we were spreading a similar message. When the second book came out I asked them to review and share a link to the book on their blog and social media.

I even gave away free copies for their audience, asking the winners to share on social media, the whole point being the exposure. More people were exposed and shared and bought, before I knew it the sales started to add up into some pretty big numbers.

After selling over 30,000 copies I got offers from several publishers and ended up signing a book deal with an amazing publisher. So that’s what I did, it isn’t some magical secret it just takes hard work and time.

If you are on or going down this journey I want you to brace yourself for a long and sometimes frustrating ride. However, I want to give you the strategy I would use if I could go back in time:

Find your audience and connect with them ASAP. Way before your book comes out, when the book is a thought in your mind, you should start working on building your following. The key here isn’t building the biggest audience in the world that includes anybody, the key is a targeted audience of people that identifies with your message. When you reach out to people who aren’t really interested and convince them to check out your work, you’ll get a response from them like “your prices are too high” or “you write too long”. Your goal is to connect with your audience and go over the top for them and not waste your valuable time trying to convert everybody else. If you don’t have a blog or website, get one ASAP. You need a place to start spreading your message and letting people see what your work is all about. You need to make REAL connections, when someone comments on a post: respond. When someone shares a link to your latest post on social media: thank them. When someone takes the time to send you an email: write back. This may take time but it’s worth it and you’ll help people and inspire them in their journey. If you can do this people will see that you’re real and that you care, when they have a way to support you and your work (like by buying a book) they will. You can even get feed back for your book as you write it and see if you’re on tack with the message by posting it on your blog, people will feel like they wrote the book with you and they’ll be excited for it!
Network with other like-minded people. There are awesome people online that would make great friends and promotional partners. Brendon Burchard has said he wouldn’t be as successful as he is without his promotional partners. As you’re writing and read other great blogs take note of the ones that talk about the same message as yours, reach out to those bloggers and share your story and start that connection. Just remember that it works both ways and real networking is about helping each other out, promoting each other (as long as the material is good and you agree with the message). Before your book comes out you should be making these networking connections and organizing things WAY ahead of time.
Drop little teasers and build buzz. Two months before the book comes out you should drop lines from your book, quotes, pictures, whatever. The point is for people to know the book is coming and that it’s going to be awesome. Tap into your friendships and ask friends to share some of the teasers on their social media pages, you’re trying to create a viral effect.
Build a launch team. This is an idea that’s becoming standard for releasing books and it works. I myself have had the privilege to be on the launch teams for Chris Guillebeau, Michael Hyatt and Jeff Goins. If you don’t know what a launch team is all about, read about it here. The point is to form a team, usually 50 to 100 people who will help tell the world about your book. This group will also help with a very valuable part of the process, getting reviews for your book. When your book comes out and there’s a bunch of reviews, people will read them and are more likely to buy. This team can help not only help on their blogs but also create a huge buzz on social media. Put a call out on your blog and social media pages, ask what creative ways they will help you launch the book.
Give away FREE bonuses. In our society today we love to get free stuff. If you want to give your book the best chance for success, give something away when someone purchases it. It doesn’t have to be something big and elaborate, you can create an information product that’s along the same lines as the book. It can be a little work-book, it can be an audi0 guide, it can be a series of interviews. You can take the 10 most frequently asked questions about your topic and answer them and give that away as a bonus, don’t be afraid to give away multiple bonuses.  Mix and match the book with bonuses and services and whatever else you have on your site. People will love it and they tell others!
Get the word out everywhere. There are a wealth of opportunities out there to guest post, do podcasts and interviews. There is a lot of content that has to be created for all these places so they’re glad when they see great content that they can feature. The key is you can’t be shy, don’t be afraid to email someone, share your story and ask if they’re interested in having you. If you do land interviews and podcast, don’t turn them into a commercial for your book, make the interview about the message. Don’t know where to find places to interview? Check out the H.A.R.O. reporter there are thousands of places looking for great content. Get at least one link back to your book
Have an official launch date and make a big deal about it. For most of us writing and releasing a book is a dream come true, so why not go over the top. With my second book I gave away a Kindle Fire to one person who bought the book the week the book launched. You might not want to go that far but make it fun, create a little buzz. If you can even have a little dinner or something, take video and share it on your website. Make the launch that whole week and come up with something fun everyday.
Use video more. One thing that is really popular right now is video. Make a video about your story and how that led to writing the book. Video will help you get that emotional connection you need and it’s another way to get the message out, if you can why not make a book trailer?
Have some patience. The truth is even with the best strategy you’re probably not going to be an over-night success. It’s going to take time for the word to spread and the message to get out, the sales will come just at a slower place. Have the best, most positive attitude, you’re chasing your dream but just give that dream time to develop.

Wow, that’s a mouthful! I hope you can learn from my failure and successes and use these tips to help your book become a best-seller and a good source of income. If your dream is to become a writer then I pray that you reach that goal!

So this is what I did and what I’m continuing to do to sell my books and spread a message. At the end of the day my goal is to start a movement of people who don’t settle, who don’t make excuses but chase after the life they truly deserve! I pray you are one of those people

 

My Dreams Are Better Then Yours

Note from me: I will be away the rest of this week speaking in Kenya, Africa. My good friend Dan Black will be moderating my comments. Thank you Dan!

It’s just human nature to want to compare what you’re doing to what someone else is doing.

Growing up with three brothers I’m sure you can imagine there was a lot of comparing going on. When my older brother got a B in school, I made sure I got an A. When my younger brother excelled at sports, my older brother would play until he dropped to be better than our younger brother.

You would think that when you grow up we would be over silly things like this but let’s be honest, we’re not!

As I started writing and speaking, the way that I measured my progress was to look at friends that had were on the same level as me. If they booked three events, I wasn’t happy unless I booked four. If someone sold X number of books, I did everything I could to sell Y.

I know it sounds bad but I made a promise to always be honest and the honest truth is no matter how hard I try, I get caught up in comparing myself to others.

So now you have to be honest with me (and yourself), do you compare yourself to other people?

Even though it seems logical and a good barometer, comparing yourself to others is toxic and doesn’t really make sense. First, everyone’s dream is different and specific to them.

What you’re doing is different than what I’m doing and that’s good. If our dreams are going to succeed they have to be our dreams, not anyone else’s. If I compare and model my dreams after yours then I’m going to fail and so will you if you do the same.

If you want a good barometer of where your progress is at, then you need to set specific goals. If you want to lose fifty pounds this year then set realistic goals every month, when you hit those goals or miss those goals is how you really should measure your progress.

None of this is a competition, we’re trying to change our lives and leave a legacy, and this is a road we have to fight alone, on our terms not chasing after someone else’s.

It’s still tempting for me to get jealous when I hear of someone who booked an amazing event or did this and that but I know better. Now I make every effort to congratulate them and be genuinely excited for them, it’s my mission in life to see people succeed at their dreams. I’m over the top happy when someone does that!

If you have been guilty of comparing yourself or your progress to others then STOP! I know you know that it won’t help and only discourage you or give you false pride.

Let’s be there as cheerleaders for those that are succeeding in their progress, let’s be one giant support team for each other, the world needs a lot more of this.

Starting right now, set realistic goals for where you want to be with your progress and you make changes and chase your dreams. Let that be what you compare yourself too, you’ll avoid the stress and add years to your life J

Have you been guilty of comparing yourself to other people?

The Airplane Seat Reality Check

Note from me: I will be away this week speaking in Kenya, Africa. My good friend Dan Black will be moderating my comments. Thank you Dan!

Look, I already know that I’m over weight and I’m doing something about it. So I don’t need the extra motivation, right?

I still get that motivation and much more every time I fly. I’m writing this post right now in Nagoya,Japan. I’m heading home from speaking in Manila,Philippines. I was convinced with this being an international flight that they would have wider seats, makes sense for 18 hours of flying, right? I guess not every airline can be as good as Virgin Airlines!

I got on the plane in Chicago and was disappointed to see the same size seats as in a domestic flight; I knew it was going to be a long trip.

Sitting in that tiny seat for an 11 hour flight from Seattle to Tokyo really got me thinking about motivation and the need to push harder. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve been eating pretty good and hitting the gym, the weight is coming off slowly but surely. However, those seats were like being poked with a hot poker while you’re running, how fast would you run to get away from that?

Now I’m thinking about going back home and right away starting to push even harder. When there’s a temptation to justify something that’s “not that bad” I’m going to scream NOOOOO! When I’m at the gym and I’m tempted to have an easier work out, I’m going to remember how red my sides were from the arm rests digging in. It’s been long enough; it’s time to take this finally journey home.

So now I’ll stop rambling on about me, are you motivated? Do you need a little more motivation?

If you’re making changes in your life right now moments like these will either make you or break you. Most of the time we lean more towards the “break you” side, it’s easier, I know because I have been there all too often.

To be completely honest with you I’m tired of leaning towards that side, I’m committed to seeing not only change in my life but changes that others would call “radical”.

When you run into these little roadblocks that will tempt your resolve look at them from a different and better perspective.

I’m sitting here right now on a flight from Japan to Detroit, I’m in the exact same seat but I don’t have the same attitude, the seat feels a little more comfortable J I’m excited for the opportunity everyday I have to change my life, after visiting another country and seeing how some live, I know I’m blessed and have no right to complain.

What I really want you to take away from this post is to view little challenges on your journey as the motivation you need to finally do those amazing things you have always dreamed about doing.

Do you think you can try?

What’s one “trial” that has happened to you that you can view as motivation?

My Time in Japan and the Philippines

All I can say WOW, it was an unbelievably amazing experience! First, if you ever plan on traveling to Asia prepare yourself for the super long flight.

I thought I was a big shot because I flew to Australia earlier this year and that was a 14 hour flight there and 15 hours on the way back. Travel time to the Philippines was 18 hours total and I felt every second!

The weird thing was that my ankle was the size of a grapefruit with all the sitting, when I got to the Philippines I could barely walk.

When I did arrive I was speechless because there was a level 1 Tsunami in Manila, it was raining super hard and all the streets were completely flooded. Right when you get through customs and leave the airport, you’re swarmed by people wanting to drive you to your hotel or give you a tour.

One thing that stands out is how far the dollar goes there. One dollar is around 41 Philippine Peso’s. When you go to an average restaurant you can get a HUGE meal for a low-cost. You can find cheap hotels and a lot of other things that would cost money more here.

As you drive through some of the cities you’re struck by the poverty. It broke my heart to see beautiful little children running around without even a full set of clothes. I was in tears to see whole families begging for money or having little stands selling homemade crafts so that their family can survive.

The really sad thing is that many westerners go there to take advantage of their misfortune and do things that make me sick to even think about; out of respect for you I’ll leave it at that. To be honest I was so upset writing this that I had to walk away from continuing to write the post.

Missionaries from our church have been in the Philippines since 2005 so it was nice to visit with them and have them take me around Manila. There are very modern parts with high rises but right next to them are shanty towns built of what ever metal and wood they can find.

If you own a house you must have high walls so that someone doesn’t come in and build a make shift house on your property, then they get rights (crazy). They are just trying anything they can to have a decent place for them and their family, really sad to see.

As far as the conference went, WOW! I have never had an audience listen so well and the reception afterwards made me cry. I talk about work and wanting more but to them that concept never even crossed some minds there.

I was swarmed and felt like a celebrity with all the people just wanting to take pictures with me, ME (crazy!)!

I got a crazy good reception on Twitter and Facebook, people have been emailing me constantly since asking questions about their situations. This is my dream realized; being able to actually help people is such a blessing

My time in Japan there and back was brief but it was very interesting to see how they live in the east. I got some great gifts and really great authentic Japanese food (Yummy!). I was eating at a restaurant and they only give you chop sticks, I’m one of those people who don’t know how to use them. So there I was trying to make this work and they thought this was the funniest thing in the world

So now I’ll be here for a week and then head off to the last conference I speak at this year, Kenya.

In my mind I keep going back to the question of is it possible to chase your dreams? Yes and YES! I’m living proof that you can do this too, it won’t be easy but it will be worth it!

 

 

 

 

Have you ever had an interesting experience in your travels?

“Six Minutes Until Boarding”

Note from me: I will be away the rest of this week speaking in Manila, Philippines. My good friend Dan Black will be moderating my comments. Thank you Dan!

So it was Friday and time to go home, our Hawaii trip was over We got on the plane from Hawaii and we were a little bummed (but excited to see our kids).

The flight from Hawaii went off without a hitch and it’s actually getting fun because I have Gold status with Delta and have a lot more options on flights.

The problem came in Seattle. We were going to be on the same plane that we took from Hawaii, still no problem. We got on the plane, pulled away from the terminal, then……. nothing.

We waited and waited, twenty minutes later we were told there was a mechanical problem. In the end we were on the runway for one hour. Our concern was making our flight from Minnesota to Milwaukee.

We were convinced there was no way we’d make it and so was Delta, they emailed me a new itinerary but we had to make it home that day (our kids and the sanity of my parents needed us too).

The flight landed and they asked those that didn’t have to catch another flight to stay seated for those that do, so you know no one sat down.

We finally got off the plane and heard our names over the loud-speaker at the airport, it said we only had “six minutes before the boarding door closes”, what were we going to do?

We looked at each other and RAN! We didn’t have our carry on’s, they were checked but we did have our “under the seat bags”. We ran through two terminals and got to the door with one minute left, we MADE IT!

What are you going to do during those last six minutes?

This blog is about changing your life and chasing your dreams, so when it comes to those things, what are you going to do, push forward or give up?

When things aren’t working out and it seems like your dreams will never become a reality, what are you going to do?

When everyone tells you your dreams are stupid and you have no real support, are you going to give up?

Giving up is a lot easier than pushing through the pain and frustration, we were stressed and angry and were ready to sit down and catch another flight but something inside us said to PUSH!

You need to listen to that inner voice that tells you to push forward and not give up like you have in the past, that voice is right. You have the strength in you, you have everything it takes to make your dreams a reality. They’ll never happen if you decide to sit down instead of running.

What will you do? Sit down or run until it hurts?

 

Take Care of Your Customers and Audience, Ignore Everyone Else

Note from me: I will be away the rest of this week speaking in Manila, Philippines. My good friend Dan Black will be moderating my comments. Thank you Dan!

When I updated WordPress I lost those that were subscribing to comments and the WordPress updates. If you were one of those people I’d like to invite to subscribe to my email list below, you’ll get a free gift

Join the movement and get an inspirational manifesto as a bonus:

Ok, “ignore everyone else” is pretty harsh but I had to get your attention, right?

While in Hawaii last week my wife and I decided to go to a restaurant recommended by some friends and people on the island, it’s called “Eggs N Things”.

Right when we got there we could see it was a local favorite, there were already four couples waiting to get in, we were told it would be a fifteen minute wait. Normally we don’t wait, we just move on to another restaurant but we heard so many good things that we waited.

I’m really glad we did because the food was to die for and the service was top-notch. It was late at night and as soon as someone left, someone new came in. Even though there focus was eggs, they still crushed other restaurants.

It got me thinking about business and knowing your customers, they could have thrown on a few more items, especially dinner items but their whole menu was breakfast items. Were they missing out on more business?

How things are normally done

Whether it’s a business we have or even writing books or a blog, we normally try to get the biggest audience we can get. We do things like have specials, guest posts on larger blogs, anything to get more exposure, I do it too.

It really got me thinking about my efforts and I realized something, I don’t need the largest audience or customers, I need the right audience and customers. Not everyone is going to like my writing or yours.

Not everyone is going to like your products or services, some people may not agree with your prices, those aren’t the people you should be going after.

Eggs N Things isn’t trying to get people who love dinner or convert people who don’t like breakfast, they focus on their REAL customers, the ones that love breakfast and they go over the top for those people. The result is those people keeping coming back and they bring other breakfast lovers.

This is what we should be doing, looking for those people who agree with our message or business and go over the top for them, stop wasting time trying to convert someone who will never really agree with what we’re doing.

Being intentional with our time

We have busy lives and little time that we can spend pursuing our dreams or taking them to the next level. We have to be intentional with how we use that time and focus it where it will get the most bang for our buck.

When you go over the top for your audience, they will respond and attract other like-minded people, they’re all we need. Working on those that are on the fence uses valuable time that we just don’t have and usually doesn’t pan out anyways.

I’m glad we waited because I LOVE breakfast and I learned a lot about truly connect. It’s not about the numbers, it’s all about the quality of the connection.

So this week and in the coming weeks as you work on growing your following, stop going after the masses and focus on real connection with people who believe in what you’re doing.

Have you been focusing on the right following or going after the masses?

How To Deal With Stress

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Join the movement and get an inspirational manifesto as a bonus:

It’s funny sometimes how and where we learn lessons that change our life.

 I had the privilege to speak in Oahu, Hawaii last week. It was special because I got to bring my wife and we got to tour the area where we’re moving to next year. You would think under those circumstances that it would be happy all the time, right?

No matter what there’s always going to be things that stress you out, for us it was delayed and problem flights. The prices in Hawaii (as you can imagine) are crazy high, even higher than when we went to Maui a few years ago.

We’ve done well with the speaking and books this year but we’re not debt free yet, so we watch every penny like a hawk. The cab ride alone would have been $40 so we found a cheap shuttle. Then there’s the stress of getting ready to speak in front of a large audience, it still gives me butterflies.

We only had a week on the island and we wanted to cram as much as possible, so on one of our rides we met a nice shuttle driver.

He talked about how he came to Hawaii and started his own shuttle business. All of the other shuttle services didn’t like him because he charged less (a lot less) and didn’t chase after every dollar. His attitude was that  he lived in paradise, had good health and a wonderful family, that’s what was important to him.

He said over and over again “what is there to stress about, life is too short”. He was the most laid back person I ever met, from the short time I spent with him I could tell that nothing would phase him. He had one of the best perspectives on life I have ever seen.

Waikiki Beach

It was a rebuke to me as a Christian. I have been given the greatest gift, salvation through Jesus Christ. This doesn’t mean that things will always be peaches and cream but it does mean that I shouldn’t be getting stressed out by some of the things that I do, these things are only temporal.The right focusMy eyes have been opened by a happy, stress-free shuttle driver and I hope to open yours as well. Life is SO SHORT, the Bible describes it as a vapor. How much of our lives have we wasted focusing on things that are out of our control or things that aren’t as bad as we think?

Our view every night

I know a lot of people who read this blog want to change this world for good, you want the life you truly deserve to lead. Stress will take you away from those goals, stress will lead to anger and depression and emotions that you might not be able to escape.

Pearl Harbor

How do you deal with stress? Have the right attitude and focus, ignore it, realize it’s stupid and pointless. Take a deep breath and realize the incredible gift and privilege you have been given if you have accepted Jesus Christ as your Lord and Saviour. Those are reasons enough to not let stress over take you anymore but there are so many more. If you are like me and struggle with stress, then let’s work on this together, let’s keep each other accountable. I want you to take one action step right away:In the comments write down one thing that you have stressed over that wasn’t serious enough to stress about? It will be an encouragement and help to others. I’ll even start:If you see victory dealing with stress, share it with the world here

 

It’s All About The Little Things

Note from me: I will be away all week speaking at The Hawaii Social Media Summit. My friend Dan Black has graciously agreed to moderate my comments.

When my wife and I first started talking to each other, I was head over heels in love. I wanted to completely impress her so I went over the top with everything I did.

When she was at work I would sneak up to her job and get her car to fill up her gas tank. Once a week I would buy flowers and surprise her. I would open doors, I would pay attention to every word she said, I would do her laundry. I did all of the little things but they made all the difference.

You know what? The small things won her over and are the reason why we’re still married 14 years later.

The little things separate you from everybody else

So how do you stand out from all your co-workers at work? What separates your business from every other business that does the same thing as yours ? What’s going to make your blog stand out from the over 200 million other blogs online?

There are people out there killing it right now with some of the things they’re doing, you might be one of those people. Want to separate yourself? You’re going to have to go over the top.

Is there a bonus you could give your customers? If you’re a blogger, is there an information product you can give your readers? To stand out you could give your readers all the knowledge you have, hold nothing back and be completely real. That’s what will take your blog and your writing to the next level.

If you work at a traditional job, then what little thing could you do at the “office’ that would get you that raise or promotion? What would make you a valuable member of the team?

A lot of these questions are specific and only you can answer them. You are the one who knows what little things you can do that would make you stand out. My job in this post is to show you that even though doing the little things might be more work, they will help you more than you’ll ever know.

A real life example

I flew to speak at a conference in Sydney, Australia in July of this year and Delta airlines put me on Virgin Australia. I was excited because I heard good things about Virgin but it was the little things they did that put them over the top for me.

Every international flight has meals but their meals looked like a five-star chef made them. Their flight attendants were over the top friendly and met every need. The things that other airlines charge for were FREE with Virgin.

The little things they did were so incredible that I tell everybody who listens that they’re the best, they gave me the WOW factor. This is what we need to strive for in all we do and this is how we will stand out.

What is one “little’ thing that you could do to stand out?

 

 

Don’t Follow Your Passion

Note from me: I will be away all week speaking at The Hawaii Social Media Summit. My friend Dan Black has graciously agreed to moderate my comments.

This is a guest post from Drew Tewell who is the author of the book, The Dream Job Program: Get the job you want. He helps young professionals land their dream job. You can read his blog and connect with him on Twitter and Facebook

The other day, while at Barnes & Noble, I was flipping through the book, So Good They Can’t Ignore You, by Cal Newport. In it he talks about how “follow your passion” is not good advice. Later that day I read two articles that he wrote, one in The Harvard Business Review and one in The New York Times.

I think we’ve all heard the advice, “follow your passion” before. After flipping through Cal’s book, I began to think about it.

Say you have a passion for something that is not very desirable to an employer. And, at the same time, is not very marketable as a business either. It is just a hobby and the likelihood of it ever being more than that is not very high (although, Gary Vaynerchuk, in his book, Crush It, argues otherwise).

On the other hand, say you have a strength that you are really good at. It is something that is very desirable to an employer. In addition, it is very marketable as a business. But, unlike your “hobby”, you don’t enjoy doing it.

So, should you keep doing what you are really good at, your strength, hoping that someday you’ll enjoy it more. Or, should you “follow your passion” hoping that someday something of value will come out of it.

 In one of my favorite books, Built to Last, Jim Collins and Jerry I. Porras talks about the genius of the “and”. Basically, the genius of the “and” means that you don’t have to choose between one or the other when it comes to two positive ideas or outcomes. You can have your cake and eat it too, as the saying goes. You can make a profit and do good. As for what we are discussing, you can do work that you enjoy, a passion, and get paid well because you are good at it, a strength.

Whatever your situation, if you happen to be thinking about making a career change, if you are currently looking for work, or if you are just trying to figure out what it is that you want to do with your life professionally, my advice would be start with your strengths and your passions. This is even where I start readers in my book, The Dream Job Program, helping them discover their strengths and passions.

It turns out, “follow your passion” isn’t half bad advice after all. It’s just half.

What do you think about the advice, “follow your passion?”