What do you think is the single most important element to getting things done, living the life you want, and accomplishing goals? It’s ACTION. It’s getting off your ass and going for it!

You can dream, you can talk, and you can plan; but nothing is going to happen until you take that first step. It’s the difference between a sayer and a doer. It’s the difference between change and remaining the same. And most importantly it’s the difference between living your life the way you want and being forced to live it in another way.

Firstly, you need to throw out the many misconceptions that you’ve grown to believe over the years.

Secrets – There are absolutely no secrets that pertain to accomplishing goals, achieving success, or living the life you desire. You know that it takes persistence, patience, hard work, positivity, passion, and focus. Most people just want to deny this fact and rather pursue finding the easy way out.

Time – Time can be very discouraging and can create its own misconceptions. There’s always seemingly overnight success stories that make people believe they can take one step toward success and the next day they’ll be rich and famous. But these stories leave out the parts about all the frustrations and the hard work that went into the successful result. They leave it out because no one wants to read it.

The other common misconception relating to time is that accomplishing goals and change takes a long time. It may seem like a contradiction to what was just stated. It doesn’t happen over night but it needn’t take long either.

Money – I’ve said it a thousand times and I’ll keep saying it: you do not need a lot of money to turn your dreams into reality and become successful.

Now that you’ve relinquished yourself of the biggest misconceptions, let’s talk about you getting off your ass.

Questions to ask yourself and answer:

• What’s preventing me from taking action? Is it fear? Embarrassment?
• Is it physically holding me down?
• Who created these barriers?

After you’ve asked yourself these questions; you’ve probably come to an interesting conclusion. YOU are the one preventing yourself from getting off your behind. It’s the fear you’ve created and it’s the embarrassment you think you’ll have to endure. Almost none of these barriers are physically present; you’re just imagining them in your head.

You are your greatest enemy

You are the one who is your toughest critic; your biggest competition; and your greatest enemy. Right now this is preventing you from taking action but once you get going, it’ll beneficial for improving yourself.

Here are some tips that will help you get off your ass and onto your feet.

Figure out what you want to do now; not what you want to do forever

Young people are constantly asked what they want to do with the rest of their lives. Most of them don’t have a single clue; and that’s just fine. A lot of older people don’t either. Our passions and pursuits are always evolving. But to get yourself off your ass now; you need to know what you want to do now.

Perhaps you want to become healthier, go traveling, or become a social entrepreneur. You might not want to do it when your 80 years old but you’re willing and able to do it now.

Stop wishing you could go back in time

Each of us has wished we could go back in time so that we could either start over or strike while the iron was hot. I have wished this with Lyved. If I had started this blog back in 2004 when blogs were just taking off, this site would already be a full time business. I was too busy chasing the get-rich-quick ideas. Thankfully this thought didn’t cross my mind on launch day. It would have certainly have discouraged me and kept me wishing and wasting energy on the shoulda’s, coulda’s, and woulda’s.

You can’t go back in time, but the next best thing is now. To get ahead tomorrow, you need to start today. The clock is ticking.

Tick… tock…

Quit the moanin’, groanin’ and complainin’

You’re wasting so much time complaining that you don’t have any money, life’s unfair, and that you’re unlucky. If you took some of the effort it takes to complain and put it towards something good, you’d be amazed at the results.

I’m sorry to say it but no one really cares what you’re complaining about. If you want something done, you MUST do it yourself.

Tick… tock… The clock hands are still moving.

Turn your frustrations into something beneficial

If you’re complaining then something is frustrating you. The best thing to do is use that frustration to empower you. Difficult times and circumstances can either force someone to give up, if they’re weak; or for the strong, it’ll fuel their fire.

A few things to remember:

• No one is going to rescue you; not even the government.

• YOU are the one who is preventing you from success. And you hold the key to living the life you desire. You just have to unlock the door.

• The clock is ticking. Tick… tock…

The G.O.Y.A. (getting off your ass) Checklist

Before you can get off your ass and onto your feet, there are a few requirements necessary to do so. They aren’t difficult, and anyone can find them; no matter what age, race, or how much you have in your bank account.

[ ] Passion – If you don’t have passion for whatever it is you’re doing, you’re likely to fall right back on your butt.

[ ] Positivity & a sense of humor

[ ] Beneficial friends – You need to have friends who will help you rise when you fall; not ones who are sitting on their own asses.

[ ] A model – Not Tyra Banks or Kate Moss, but someone who has achieved what you want to. Read everything about them, listen to them, and model your mind like theirs. You must retain your own uniqueness as well, never steal ideas, or try to be someone else.

[ ] Knowledge & intrigued – You need to take the time to open yourself and open a book or two. You’re going to learn a lot along the way, but it doesn’t hurt to get your feet wet as well.

[ ] A smile – You’d be surprised at how far it’ll get you.

[ ] Focus

[ ] A strong will

[ ] A past failure – Why? To motivate your ass to never taste defeat like that again.

Photo by Izzard

They possess physical and mental abilities as well as strengths unlike any other human beings. They are Olympians; the greatest athletes in the world. They became so; not by luck, not by genes, but by hard work and determination. Much can be learned from these athletes to help us achieve greatness in both our personal and business lives.

Know what you want

Even before these athletes enter into an Olympic trial, they know what they want. They want to win a medal and stand on that podium with it around their neck. But not just any medal, the gold medal. Very few Olympians strive to win the bronze. Before you set out on your journey, figure out exactly what you want. Don’t be afraid to dream big. Make your goals harder to achieve and you’ll achieve amazing results.

Know how you’re going to get there

Olympians know that they’ll have to train everyday for months at a time to prepare. They also know this means they’ll have to get up before the sun does to stay one step ahead of their competitors. You’ll have to do the same. Write down a daily plan of action. Look at it every day to keep you moving towards your goals. Sometimes you’ll also want to be very specific with your plans. Olympians know how many laps in the pool they’ll have to do or how many baskets they’ll have to make before they can rest.

Self-discipline is crucial

When they aren’t exercising, Olympians still need to remain in training mode. They have to eat better and they can’t abuse their bodies in any way. This is where their self-discipline becomes so necessary. Their trainers can’t be with them all the time, nor should they. You are going to need every ounce of self-discipline you have. The road to success can be lonely at times with very few people encouraging you along the way.

Sacrifices are mandatory

Olympians sacrifice free time, family time, and even miss work for their training. You’re going to have to do the same. There will be times when you’ll lose a few hours of sleep or have to skip a meal or two. If you want to achieve your goals, it’ll be worth it.

Repetition = practice; practice makes nearly perfect

Nothing is perfect in life, but practice gets you almost to it. Olympic swimmers swim lap after lap, Olympic runners run lap after lap. You have to stick with it when chasing success; and that often means doing the same things over and over. Each time you get knocked down, you’ve got to get back up. And each time you do get up, you’ll be stronger than the last.

Be your toughest critic

Olympic athletes are rarely satisfied with their best times or best scores. They know they can do even better, despite their trainers and others praising them. You know yourself best, so why not be your toughest critic? You’re aware of your strengths and capabilities so you know when you can be doing more. However, be sure to never berate yourself, only use your criticism to encourage yourself.

Capitalize and diversify

Success breeds more success. Most of the famous Olympic athletes capitalize on their success and move into other projects. They do sponsorships, camps, TV shows, anything you can think of. Once you achieve one of your goals, try something new, it’ll challenge you and keep your life exciting.

Celebrate, and then get back to work

Olympic athletes celebrate in Olympic fashion, but it doesn’t last for long. These athletes begin preparing for their next competitions or for the next Olympics. You should celebrate and enjoy your successes both big and small; but you shouldn’t be totally content. Create new goals for you to begin tackling.

Photo from pingnews

It’s never good to quit on a goal but there are times when it is necessary to modify them. You can drastically change a goal or you can modify only certain aspects and keep the main objective intact.

So let’s begin with situations where modifying a goal is probably your best bet.

Your goal is too small

The worst goals you can make for yourself are ones that are way too small and too easily achievable. Say you have a goal of earning some extra money, perhaps $10,000. Now don’t be easy on yourself and say you want to achieve it in a year. Put a little positive pressure and make the goal within six months. Remember: small goals create small results.

Your goals are hurting someone

Whether mentally or physically, if your goal is hurting someone you know or even a stranger, you’ll want to modify your goal. You don’t want to burn bridges or cause pain in someone just for the sake of achieving something. If you did, it would be a very selfish act.

When you grow bored

If you become bored with a goal then you definitely need to modify it. They are your goals, how can you become bored of them? It might mean that you’re not that passionate about the goal. Without passion, there will be no success.

So if you’ve decided that you want to modify a goal or two, there are good ways and bad ways to go about doing so. Here are some good ways:

New approaches

Your main, big goal may not need any changes but the little goals along the way perhaps do. Each step is a goal in and of itself, right? So before giving up or changing a main goal, look at the plan and each baby step. Your problems may lie there. You can adjust time frames, remove steps, or add in some more.

More defined goals

You have to know where you want to go. If one of your goals consists of “earning a lot of money” then you should modify it. Think of the exact amount you want. Perhaps $1 million or $20 million. This keeps you focused and excited. Another way it to add time frames as I stated above. Put an exact date of when you want to have already achieved a goal by.

As you can see it is not always bad to modify your goals. So don’t worry as long as your main goal or goals stay in your mind and heart.

Some called it a fad, but the internet is here to stay. It has revolutionized the way we do everything and most can’t live without it. The first gold rush of the web has passed us by but there are still vast opportunities for people to achieve an amazing amount of success.

To give you an example of what can be achieved, here are ten amazing internet success stories.

1. YouTube

YouTube was started by Jawed Karim, Steve Chen, and Chad Hurley in February 2005. They found an opportunity when they realized uploading and sharing videos online was not easy. When the first video was uploaded a few months later in April 2005, YouTube was not an immediate success. They had to go back to the drawing board and came up with various ways to make the videos more viral. It worked. By summer 2006, videos were being watched hundreds of millions of times. Then in October 2006, Google acquired YouTube for $1.65 billion in stock.

2. Plentyoffish.com

Plentyoffish is one of the top dating sites on the internet and of those; it is one of the only free ones. It was launched in 2003 by Markus Frind as a project for him to learn how program with ASP.NET. Markus grew Plentyoffish from humble beginnings to a site that today makes around $10,000 a day or more. However, the greatest aspect of this success story is that Markus was the sole owner and employee just until recently.

3. Bebo

Bebo is a social network that was launched in January 2005 by Michael and Xochi Birch. The two attempted many times to achieve success online but “failed” until they created Bebo. Bebo has grow to 40 million members and has a strong presence in the United Kingdom. In March 2008, AOL agreed to acquire Bebo for $850 million, making Michael and Xochi two of the most successful entrepreneurs in the “new” wave of the internet.

4. Zenhabits.net

Zenhabits is one of the top personal development blogs on the internet. Leo Babauta launched it in January 2007 and with lots of hard work it has grown to over 50,000 subscribers in about a year. Today it reaches hundreds of thousands of other internet surfers each month. Leo has also been able to turn Zenhabits into a full time job and has recently announced he is writing a book.

5. BlueLithium

BlueLithium is an advertising network that was launched in 2004 and lead by serial entrepreneur Gurbaksh Chahal. It grew into one of the largest networks by offering different solutions to internet advertising. Gurbaksh is 25 years old and has had previous success with another ad network called ClickAgents which he sold for $40 million at age 18. BlueLithium was acquired by Yahoo for $300 million in October 2007. Gurbaksh is continuing to develop new projects including a book.

6. JohnChow.com

JohnChow.com is a blog covering the miscellaneous ramblings of a dotcom mogul. John Chow launched the blog in 2005 as a way to express his opinions on really anything. It wasn’t until later that he began to experiment with monetizing the site. As John learned about blogging and monetizing he shared the information with his readers. Unlike most bloggers, he also posted how much his site was earning each month. These updates became more popular and popular as his blog’s revenue grew and grew. Some months he earns as much as $30,000.

7. Last.fm

Last.fm was launched in 2002 as an internet radio station and music community. It was started in the United Kingdom but now reaches over 200 countries and has over 20 million active users. Last.fm offers surfers an interesting way to listen to their favorite music acts and a new way to find new groups and musicians. It also created a new avenue for music artists to sell their songs. Last.fm was acquired in May 2007 by CBS Interactive for $280 million.

8. Flickr

Flickr is the top photo sharing site that was launched in February 2004 by Ludicorp as a side project. Today it hosts over 2 billion pictures and is now moving into hosting videos. In March 2005 Flickr and its parent company were acquired by Yahoo for a rumored $40 million. Today it is still one of Yahoo’s top properties.

9. Weblogs, Inc.

Weblogs, Inc. may not be a familiar name but many of their blogs are. Weblogs, Inc. was launched in September 2003 by Jason Calacanis and Brian Alvey. It encompassed over 90 blogs covering a multitude of topics. Blogs were young when this network was established. It quickly grew and in October 2005 it was acquired by AOL for $25 million dollars.

10. Zappos.com

Despite lots of competition, Zappos.com was launched in 1999 by Nick Swinmurn as a place to buy shoes online. Nick was walking through the mall but couldn’t find a place that had the right shoe for him. So Nick decided to create Zappos. Nick got the help of another dotcom entrepreneur, Tony Hsieh who invested in the company. Since then Zappos has moved into other merchandise and has grown its revenues from “almost nothing” in 1999 to over $800 million in 2007. This year it is projected to generate sales of over $1 billion.

If you ever wanted to start an internet venture, NOW is the best time. With open source and less expensive technologies, it has become easier to launch a business on a shoestring budget but reach millions of people within just a few months.

Here are some lessons to be learned from these internet properties:

- Find what you and other people need.
- Create something simple.
- Start small, but aim big.
- Know when to return to the drawing board for plan b.
- Be different.
- Don’t let competition stop you, let it motivate you.
- Also don’t forget to have fun with your project. You’re not going to be successful if your web venture is boring.

We’ve all had those situations in which we wanted to hear someone say “yes” but we got a “no” instead. Most leave it at that but you shouldn’t, it’s not the end.

Here is what you can do to change a “no” into a “maybe,” “okay,” or a “yes.”

Prepare for a “no”

You should definitely be optimistic and expect a “yes” but also have a plan B ready if you do get a “no.” Sometimes there are small windows of opportunity seconds or minutes after a no is said that you don’t want to miss. Without a plan B, you most certainly will.

Keep the conversation alive

This also has to do with having a backup plan. You don’t want the conversation to go “cold,” and the person to quickly lose interest. It is best to respond to a “no” within anywhere from 30 seconds to a week. A longer than that and most people have already moved on.

Compromise

Find out why the person said “no” and see what they wanted you to say, do, or offer instead. Don’t give up what you want, but find a middle ground so that both of your needs are met.

Get the door slightly opened

With a compromise you’ll most likely turn a “no” into a “maybe” or an “I’ll think about it.” Once the door is slightly opened get your foot in there to keep it from closing. This is also a good time to keep the conversation alive. Ask a few more questions and some feedback from the person.

Indicate the pros for saying “yes”

Tell the no-sayer about all the positive things they will get from saying “yes” to you. In some instances there are selling points that people can’t see and you need to make them aware of those points.

Persist

Even if you’re trying to keep the conversation alive and the person isn’t responding to you, keep going. Write letters, send emails, or call her/him as often as you can without annoying or stalking them. Just like the rest of your journey to success you can’t give up. If you keep messaging them long enough, they are eventually going to respond to you. It may not be a positive response but at least you can know what you next step should be.
Once you get a “maybe,” “okay,” or a “yes” it still isn’t a done deal. You need to keep that “yes” from turning back into a “no.”

Reiterate the positives

Remind the person of all the great reasons why they said “yes” to you or your project.

Stay excited and enthusiastic

You can’t lose enthusiasm in yourself, the project, or whatever was given the yes. You will always be the one who is behind the project the most, so if you lose the excitement everyone else will follow.

Deliver

You must deliver on all the positives and promises you mentioned when it was still a no. If you can’t then that no could turn into something much angrier or it could turn into complete silence.

Be thankful

Be very thankful that the person gave you a “yes.” If this is a big deal, it could be the one chance that changes your life forever.