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Never spend more than $1k on a website

2/12/2014

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My heart sank when Jaysen Booze said to me "I'm serious about growing my new business, I just spent $6,000 on a new website."  (Jaysen currently earns his money doing manual labor for a demolition contractor, so $6,000 is the result of a year's worth of very hard earned savings.)

"Can you get your money back?" I replied. "I made the same mistake you did about 4 years ago, except I blew a little over $20,000 on a custom website.  If I knew then what I know now, I would never have done such a foolish thing."
Picture
Jaysen is starting his own clothing company named "Give Me Dap".  The picture above is one of his first shirt designs.  Jaysen has a solid vision and good design taste.  There is no doubt in my mind he will make enough from his new venture to replace his current income by the end of the year.  They only problem is, he needs a little help to get focused on the right things.

Jaysen could build his website exactly how he wants it using the tools Inspired Vocation provides for only $65/month.  No matter what you need your website to do, it can be done for under $100/month.  If you have a vision for a company with special website and online marketing requirements, send me a message or comment below

For way under $6000 he will not only have his website complete, but he will have months of coaching to help solidify his vision and create an effective marketing plan.  He should spend his money on marketing and inventory, not a website.

If you like Jaysen's shirt, take a minute and let him know by messaging him on Facebook.  https://www.facebook.com/jaysen.booze
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Stay out of your head

1/31/2014

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Want to build a healthy thriving business that throws you lots of cash?  Then you better learn how to stay out of your head. 

Most people's heads are filled with constant noise: 
"What if I don't meet my deadline." 
"I'm going to be late for my meeting and I'll look bad in front of my boss, then he'll never give me that promotion."
"I can't wait until this week is finaly over."
"I hate doing my job."
"What if _______ and _______ happen and I have to ________."
"I'm horrified of my meeting tomorrow morning with __________, what ___________ happens?!?"
"I have to get ____________, _____________, and _____________ done by next week or I'm screwed.  What if I don't get it done?  How will I get it done?"
"What if I have to work this weekend?!?  I hate working weekends."

The internal dialogs in our heads are endless.  That's why you've got to get your ass out of there.  Stay out of your head for at least 90% of the day.  Sure you'll need to enter and re-enter occasionaly to make plans and think some things through, but after you get done, you need to litteraly RUN FOR YOUR LIFE back to the present moment.

The real reality is, you only have this one moment, right now.  The trick to living a meaningful, fullfilling, successful life is to spend as much time as possible in the current moment.  Unforetunately, most people spend over 90% of their day in their head.  They waste their time with worthless internal dialogs about anything and everything.

Do you ever wonder how some business owners and managers seem to deal so well with an unbelieveable amount of pressure and stress?  They do it by staying out of their heads.  They are living in their body in the present moment; seeing, feeling, and reacting to everything in the moment.  Their circumstances are irrelevant.  In that moment they are not worried about what might happen later. They are only doing the best they can experiencing the current moment to it's fullest.  The present moment is always calm.

When you live in your body in the current moment for 90% of the day, instead of 10% of the day, you can acheive 80% more.  You can meet unmeetable deadlines.  You can create uncreateable things.  Instead of wasting your time debating about what you can or can not do in your head, you can spend your time experiencing the act of actualy doing it.

Living in the present moment takes practice, much like exercising.  The more you do it, the better you get at it and the easier it is.  Meditation is the exercise of living in the present moment.  All it takes is 15 minutes every day to completely overhaul your frame of mind.  If you can stick with it for a week, you'll start to see your internal transformation.

When you're starting out, I reccomend you listen to a guided meditation audio track.  There are many smart phone apps available to help with guided meditation.  Spend the $2.99 and start creating the best habbit you can possibly have:  Meditation.

Because living in the present moment is so important to building a successfull business, we have an Inspired Vocation coach dedicated to helping subscribers with mindfulness.  Click here for a free trial subscription.
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Passion is the wrong word

1/16/2014

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Who cares what you are passionate about?  I sure don't, and you shouldn't either.  I constantly hear people talking about "finding their passion".  To start, let's look at definition of the word passion:

pas·sion   
[pash-uhn]
  noun 
1. any powerful or compelling emotion or feeling, as love or hate.
2. strong amorous feeling or desire; love; ardor.
3. strong sexual desire; lust.
4. an instance or experience of strong love or sexual desire.
5. a person toward whom one feels strong love or sexual desire.


Passion is an animal survival instinct.  You're not passionate about making a difference in the world, you're passionate about having sex, eating, surviving, etc.  I think Tony Robins may have been the first influential person to start misusing the word "Passion".  Unfortunately it caught on and now everyone is misusing the word.  

People think they are trying to "find their passion", when they are really trying to "figure out what inspires them".  I'm pointing it out, because it's much more than just semantics.  Passion implies lusting and satisfying an internal urge in the moment.  Finding your inspiration, or purpose, has nothing to do with passion.

When you are "living your purpose", or "living according to your highest values", or "doing what inspires you", it's not a spontaneous burst of extreme desire fleeting in the moment.  Instead it's a sustained feeling of contentment, certainty, and purpose.  It's a deep drive that is sustainable regardless of what life throws at you.  You'll forge on to accomplish your goal because you know it is what you are meant to do.  It's your deepest purpose for your current life.

Understanding the difference between inspiration and passion may help you approach the process of finding your purpose in a different light.  Next time you are inclined to say or write about your "passion", consider if you really mean "inspiration", or "purpose". 

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Creating a business to quit your job

1/9/2014

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Have you ever attempted to create a business for the purpose quiting your job?  Or better yet, have you ever created a business in an effort to help other people quit their job?  Do you dream of helping people start businesses so they can quit their job? 

I would love to help other people solve this huge problem of having to spend their time at a job they hate, and I want your help.  I want to start a business where I help other people start businesses doing what they love.  Do you want to do the same thing?  I have a hunch that crappy jobs are such a huge pain point for so many people that many people have a drive to fix this problem (and not just for themselves).


Unfulfilling jobs create large voids in people's lives. Helping people fill this void is a cause worthy of being my life's work. What about you? Is it a cause worthy of being your life's work?

Perhaps it's a problem that a group of people could come together to solve together. I think I have the solution to this problem, but before I spend a ton of time and money bringing it to fruition I want to make sure there is a huge demand.  I'll need help in this cause, so I want to be certain that it is something other people are inspired by to the point they are excited about spending their full time working hours on it.

The only way I can know for sure is to get out there and ask the question. So that's what I'm doing. I created a landing page and to see if it's something people care about.  Click here and check it out.  (If you like the landing page and want to know how to make one yourself, ask in the comments below and I'll share).  Make sure to enter your email if it's a cause you are genuinely inspired by. 

Next week I plan on starting an ad to drive traffic to the landing page and get some additional feedback.  I'll be sure to share the results.  Want to know how I plan on helping people quit their jobs to start businesses doing what they love?  Find out more when you fill out the form here. 

Please share your thoughts about the idea of helping people create businesses doing what they love so they can quit their crappy jobs in the comments below. 


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Everything you need is already in you.

1/2/2014

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Most people are constantly looking to others for the answers to their problems.  People flock to the "guru" who stands up and promises to solve your problems.  Have you bought a book or program from a "guru" who promised to solve some of your problems?  Most of us have at some time in our lives.

If you have, the book or program you purchased probably simply pointed out the steps you must take to solve your problem yourself.  You may have even already intuitively known what to do, but just needed to hear the answer from someone else.  There was nothing in that book or program besides the inspiration and information you needed to realized you had the answer in you all along.

You can spend years buying books and programs and soaking up information from other "experts", but the truth is, everything you need is already in you.  I'm not saying that books and seminars are not helpful, infact they are often very helpful....  But they should be viewed as sources of inspiration and information to help bring out the best in yourself.  NOT as an external answer to your problem.

At some point, you need to start the creation process along with your learning process.  The quicker you start to create by providing information, products and services to others, the quicker you can start to realize your potential.  Until you convince yourself that you can be helpful to others, there is no way you can start to bring in money doing what you love.   

If you want to be a ___________, you better start __________ing.  I suggest you start out providing your services for free (or products at production costs).  It will create a win-win situation for both yourself and your clients.  You'll get first hand proof that you have something valuable to offer others.  As a bonus, you'll get valuable feedback on how you can better serve your clients.   Your first clients will get your service for free, which will help to create a pool of fans to support your business.

As your confidence and abilities grow, you can start to charge for your services.  This way you can always feel like you have provided more than a fair value of exchange with your clients.

Everything you need is already in you, so why not start giving it to others?  You'll learn much more from the process of doing than you will in any book or seminar.  How could you start giving the thing you love to give tomorrow?  If nothing comes to mind, share what inspires you below and I'll give you my best suggestions.
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Success Story: Alex Mill

12/26/2013

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When you look back on your past and connect the dots to realize how you are meant to serve the world, the results are incredible.  I am going to share with you how this recently worked for one of my blog readers.  A few posts ago Alex Mill answered my three questions in the comments on how he uses his time.  Here were his answers:

1.  What three things do you spend the majority of your time on during an average week day?
Creating (blog posts, visual art, other writing) Learning (reading about career advice, podcasts on selling art, etc.) and the rest gets broken up into yoga/cooking/spiritual practice (meditating and exercises.)
2.  What three things do you currently spend the majority of your time doing during a typical weekend?
The weekends are no different for me than weekdays.
3.  When you are alone in your car driving (probably to or from work), what three things do you most often think about?
How I will generate income, where I should focus more of my energy, and practicing opening up to inspiration.

I studied his answers and read over his blog (http://kindnessville.com).  From an outsider's point of view, it seemed clear that Alex was uniquely qualified to write and illustrate children's books about mindfulness.  All it took was someone to point out this simple observation and Alex was ready to start creating children's books like this world has never seen before.  Now that Alex is completely aware of his current purpose, he'll create a fantastic line of books (kind of like how Dr. Suess did, or how Steve Jobs created Apple).  It's like being "on fire" in the Nintendo NBA jambs video game.  He's focused on what he loves and ready to accomplish great things.

If you have kids, Alex's books can help you figure out your own purpose.  Since children don't need help with mindfulness, the books Alex creates will be written to help teach the adults reading them to their children (while still entertaining and reinforcing what the children already intuitively know).  Alex is driven to help adults become more authentic in their daily lives through mindfulness.

If you have kids, I suggest you to go http://kindnessville.com and get on Alex's email list.  If you already take time to read your kids stories, why not learn more about yourself in the process?

Let's take a look at Alex's story so you can see why he is uniquely qualified to write and illustrate children's books on mindfulness.  While reading his story, try to see if you can find the underlining meaning to your own life story.  In comes Alex:

"...my world was rocked after I read the first few paragraphs from my teacher's book years ago.  I was in a new age bookstore (that I didn't want to be in) with my girlfriend at the time.  I saw a book and was intrigued by the cover.  I started reading and couldn't put it down....   

...What she was saying in the book spoke to my experience EXACTLY.  Word for word.  There was an inner resonance in her words that broke through the defences I carried around with me.  The void that she was able to touch I would describe as this:


Outwardly I had everything that should make me happy: 
 
  • the beautiful, kind, loving girlfriend
  • the good paying job that
    allowed me time to work on my artwork
  • a spacious apartment in a
    beautiful part of Philadelphia
  • all the possessions I ever
    wante
  • friends that cared about me and supported me


But none of this = happiness.  I felt separate from everything and everyone like there was an invisible wall between me and everything else.  Everything felt superficial and no one, including myself, seemed genuine.  I saw all of us as masks holding up "what we liked" "what we did" "what we thought" as though this WAS us.  It felt like a sad, lonely world in which I didn't understand what the point of living was.  What my (future) teacher was saying in the book shed light on how this was normal -- what the cause of it was -- and how to choose something else.

I bought that book I was reading at the behest of my girlfriend.  And I proceeded to purchase every other book my (future) teacher wrote. That was my habit and it made me smile to recognize it as such - since that was part of what I was learning from her books.)  Nothing would have made a difference for me had I not taken one small action from all I was learning in her books -- I bought a meditation cushion and began a practice of meditation. 

I can tell you that the rest paved the way to the monastery.  I noticed that the introspective work was creating more peace as well as more turmoil -- but "good turmoil."  I was looking at things that were hidden and was unwilling to look at previously.  I was also more daring and adventurous in my life than ever before with radical changes that directed me out of the blue.  At one point I sold all my belongings and traveled cross country with my girlfriend -- destination California. The plan was that I wanted to check out the monastery.  Well, it turned out that half-way into our trip I decided I wanted to spend a month there.  So my girlfriend dropped me off at the bus station in San Diego and I had hours of long travel toward Northern California where I began my monastic career.  I never left.  I had week long visits to see my family yearly and a couple visits to my girlfriend, but other than that I stayed in the monastery permanently."  -
Exit Alex

Think about the reality of this story.  Can you see yourself being so moved by mindfulness that you would leave everything in your life to study it permanently for many years?  Alex did, and he did it because that was his purpose at that time in his life.  More importantly, he knew it to be his purpose, and as a result he is now in a possition to bless the world with his mindfulness cartoon books. 

What is your purpose?  What do you uniquely have to give the world?  If you're unsure, please read my last few posts (maybe for the second time) and see what pops out at you.  Learning who you are is the most important work you will ever do, so stick with it and become a rockstar like Alex Mill.
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Disecting your (and my) highest value

12/19/2013

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The key to starting a wildly successful business is to start your business doing what you care most about.  The tricky part is knowing yourself well enough to know what drives you.  Read my last post to find out what actions you are subconsiously driven to.  In this post we'll disect these actions to determine your (and my) highest value.

My subconcious efforts focus on finding a way to quit my current day job and replace it with a side business.  Understanding why my subconcious focus is on this goal is the key to knowing my highest value, which will lead me to the topic I should start my business around.

If you don't yet know what your subconcious efforts focus on, please
click here to read and respond to my last post.  If you take the time to comment on that post, I'll take the time to do everything in my power to help you identify what your subconcious efforts focus on. 

All values come from voids.  So a good way to help identify your values is to look at your past voids.  Can you think of anything that happened to you in the past that would lead your subconcious mind to focus on what it currently is focused on? 

If nothing pops out at you right away, start writing a list of big challanges you faced throughout your life. 



For me, one of my biggest challenges was my first job out of college. I worked as a project engineer for a general contractor, building ground up commercial buildings. This contractor was great at turning and burning it's employees. I had 70 hour work weeks every week. The work load was more than any single human could ever manage in a normal work week.



Since I valued both being good at my job and the freedom to have my own life outside of work, I was stuck in a lose-lose situation. It was a horrible situation to be in. Luckily after 6 months of job hunting I found a similar job with a general contractor with much more reasonable expectations... but the damage had already been done.



I'll never forget how horrible it was to feel like a slave, having to bust my ass every day from the time I woke up until I went to bed, just to keep my job. It's a void I will always be inspired to fill. I want to help people who are stuck in a similar hell. I want to show them the real way (there are plenty of gimmicks out there that don't work) to start a success business on the side so they can give their crappy job the big middle finger.


I did move on to find a job with much more reasonable expectations and similar pay, but this void was so big in my life that it just won't go away. I'm deeply driven to help others in the same situation take control and get out.  I was lucky enough to find a better job, but that doesn't work out for everyone. The only permanent solution is to empower others to find their unique values and harness them to give their unique gift to the world through their own business.... but that's my thing.  What's yours?



What challenge created the void your subconscious actions are driving you to fill?  Share your list of the biggest challenges you have faced, along with the actions your subconscious drives you to take.   Share as much of your information as possible, and I'll do everything I can to try and help you connect the dots.  Let's try to identify the link between one of your challenges and the subconscious actions you are constantly driven towards!

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    My name is Eric Young.  I started this blog to share my ideas around helping people create success online businesses.

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