Deserving, intelligent and some general thoughts.

I just got this comment here on this blog. It lead to some interesting thoughts.

If you are that intelligent, you should be able to come up with a better way to make the money to get to CGW. If roughly 1500 dollars is a stretch for you, you certainly are not providing enough value yet to earn a trip to CGW. No offense.

First thing that came to my mind was: What is the objective to leave such a comment on a blog? Is it to make me think? To try and offend me? Is this truly this persons opinion and he wants to share this with me?

Since I do not know this persons reason, I’m assuming that he means to honestly share his opinion with me and maybe try to make me think… If it was to offend me… mission not succeeded If it happens to be otherwise, hereby I invite this person to share the reason with me in a next comment.

First part of the comment; if I am this intelligent I should be able to come up with a better way to earn the money. Should I? Is there a better way? I’m sure there are different ways, but is there a better one? What is wrong with offering free value to people, and if they feel they received their value, asking for a donation in return? Not even needed, but completely voluntary.
I can come up with a better way to get money, of course I can. I could even just get it out of my savings. But would that be even half as entertaining?

One thing I am good at and I enjoy doing is brainstorming and coming up with ideas that are outside of the box. That is where my strong side is. Thinking up solutions for real or perceived problems. Implementing them, sure, I can do that, but it doesn’t give me half as much enjoyment as thinking of them.

Then the second part.. if 1500 dollars is a stretch, I’m not yet providing enough value to earn going to CGW.

First of all.. I understand that in order to get any worth from CGW I’m supposed to be already willing to take responsibility for my own life and not blaming external circumstances for my situation. And I also understand that there is a reason the price is in the range it is, and not for free or extremely cheap. I do understand that.

I’m not sure what is meant by the earning part. Does that mean that if I do not have 1500 dollars lying around to use as I please, I am not worthy of going to CGW? Or does it mean that I am only worthy to go if I do have these 1500 dollars? So, if I would earn them here, by prostituting myself (or at least my brain), would that make me worthy enough?

I happen to believe that everybody is worthy Some will get more worth out of the workshop then others, and people who do not want to take personal responsibility for not having the money, would probably not get any worth from it, even if somebody would give them the workshop for free. But that doesn’t make them any less worthy as a person. It doesn’t mean to me that they don’t earn to go there.

It is very entertaining for me to see what a long way I have come since a few months ago. At that time a comment like this would have probably hurt me and left me feeling worthless, incapable of change, and indeed unworthy of earning money or going to CGW.

As it is now, this serves to remind me how far I’ve come, I find it entertaining that somebody is actually putting time into giving a comment like this on my blog… But I thank you anyway. It has been extremely rewarding for me to compare my reaction now to the one I would have had some time ago.

My target and what I would need it for:

For those who are curious what amount I am aiming for, here is a small breakdown of the costs involved.

Since I like aiming high, I have several other options besides the basic.

I’ll also post regular updates on where I stand on my target.

Scenario 1: Just Las Vegas and the CGW

Total: 1227.00 USD

Fly in Thursday – Fly out Monday

CGW:   497.00 USD

Flight: 300.00 USD

Hotel: 280.00 USD

Food: 150 USD

Scenario 2: Las Vegas, CGW + travel to San Francisco and Los Angeles

Total: 1657.00 USD

Las Vegas 4 days, San Francisco 3 days, Los Angeles 3 days

CGW:   497.00 USD

Flights (MX – LV – SF – LA – MX): 500.00 USD

Las Vegas to L.A. (Bus): 30.00 USD

Hotel Las Vegas: 280.00 USD

Hotel / Hostels SF and LA: 150 USD

Food: 200 USD

Scenario 3: Various options to explore depending on the budget available.

Options in order of really really wanting them :)

1. Breakthrough Session with Angela
2. Book a tour / go with some people to see the Grand Canyon
3. See a nice show (pref. Circe du Soleil) in Las Vegas
4. Go everywhere a few days longer!
5. Eating a bit better and a bit more luxurious
6. Sleeping a bit better and a bit more luxurious
7. Buying some books J
8. Book a reading with Erin
9. Generally upgrading any experience I might be having

Other budget options:

For those of you who would suggest couch surfing; I have been thinking about it, but I’m not sure still about the safety aspect of it. I have no trouble sleeping in dorms in a hostel, but in somebody else’s home..? Not sure about it. If you have some information, I would love it if you could share!

I’ve also been thinking about taking the bus between Las Vegas and San Francisco, but the difference in air fare is only 50 dollars, so I’m pretty sure it is not worth the extra travel time.

If you have any good ideas on how I could save some money here or there, please leave a comment or drop me an email!

Why San Francisco and Los Angeles?

These are the 2 cities in the US that are close (sort of) to Las Vegas and I’ve always wanted to see them! Other cities on my list to see are New York, Washington, Miami and New Orleans. But, I’m thinking that for this trip they would be just a tiny little bit out of the way

What will I do in SF and LA?

Well… In LA I would visit wonderful Angela J Other then that, I would do the normal tourist stuff. Walk the city, getting to know the atmosphere, meeting new people.

Generally, I love traveling, and I haven’t done it nearly enough in the last few years. So that is what I would do. Be somewhere new. Do something new. Meet someone new No, don’t worry, I’m perfectly happy with my husband, but it will be great meeting new people and making new friends!

A question about online product sales

Question by Jeremy Johnson

That’s very kind of you to respond for free. Sure, I’ll ask a question, “What should be the first product I release on my website for public use?”
My answer:

Hi Jeremy,

First off, I really like your website. It is well written and nicely structured. The issues and problems you describe on your website are very common and will most likely attract lots of people who are looking for solutions.

This is a good thing. People who are looking for solutions are most of the time willing to invest in those solutions as well. This means that you already have an audience ready to buy.

As for which product… your website is about productivity and general improvement (personal development). Although you could release a product that caters to all these different areas, it might be a good idea to just start with one.

There are several approaches that you could take

The first one, and probably the easiest one, is to write or release a product about the topic that you, yourself, are most enthusiastic about. It might not be the way to make the most money, but it will be easier to learn new things writing and thinking about something that you enjoy the most.

Another way to go at it is to have a look at your statistics and see where people click the most and on which page they stay the most. It means that this type of topic is extremely interesting for your readers. Also, if you know what type of search words people use when they come to your website and on which page they land, it might give you a good indication of what is most interesting for your audience. It might be more complicated to write or find a product to release when it is not your personal favorite topic, but since the interest of the visitors is already there, the chances are that you will make more money this way.

The last way to go about it (that I can think of anyway ) is to look where you receive most comments and what type of comments. Comments mean that people are actively involved with the topic. It means that they really care. This, in turn, means that they are more susceptible for sales techniques and more likely to actually buy.

Personally… I would look at all 3 options and see which topic comes close to the top with all 3. That would be my starting point. If they all come out extremely different… ? Well, you can always put all the topics in a big hat and let Lady Luck give you a hand in choosing.

Are you going to create your own products or are you planning to find products of other people to sell on your website?

Own products:

A benefit of creating your own products is that you can guarantee the quality. You know that what you have written is worth reading.

It also means that you are in absolute and total control. You do not depend on other people for answering questions or giving solutions. If they do bad, it will reflect bad on your website.

Of course, creating your own product will take more time. Time that otherwise could be spend on marketing or writing more free advice.

Other products:

One of the major benefits of selling products that other people have made, is time and energy saving. You do not have to invest (in time and energy) in writing your own product, so you can start directly on marketing and making money.

If you do decide to go with other peoples products, be aware what you are selling. It is always a good thing to first look and evaluate the product for yourself, so you are sure that the quality is up to standard of what you want for your website.

My advice:

On the one hand it makes sense to write your own products, but on the other hand there is also no need to invent the wheel twice.

The quality of your website is very high and I like your writing style. I would create my own products combined with selling or having affiliate links with other well-known products.

Write your own products on those topics that you have something to say about that is original. Use affiliate links and sell other peoples products that you yourself have used and found useful. Do make a clear distinction on your website which is which, as to not confuse your clients. After a while you can see which products earn most, and focus on that area of the business.

I believe with this balance between time / energy / originality you are going to benefit most.

A Question on Procrastination

Question by Karanime
I’m all for prostitution, but that’s a different topic altogether.

So, how about… What are some ways to motivate myself to do something out of this world, ambitious to the point of insanity?

I know exactly what to do, I just can’t get myself to do it. A lot of it is that I don’t believe it’ll get me where I want to be. Do you have any advice, or any step-by-step for this? Motivation’s always been a real problem for me.

My answer:

Hi Erica,

I know exactly what you mean. I’ve been having similar problems!

I cannot say that I have a perfect answer because if that were true, I wouldn’t have this website, but I would be swimming in money already

But, I can share with you some of the things that have been working for me, and some of the things that haven’t.

What doesn’t work:

Most people seem to be of the idea that as long as you are passionate about something, the motivation will come by itself. This may be true for some people, but it sure doesn’t work like that for me!

So, just because you cannot motivate yourself doesn’t mean that you are not passionate about your goal or should look for another goal or life purpose.

Another thing that doesn’t work for me, is setting goals. For example, saying that I want to make x amount of money per week in 5 months. Doesn’t do anything for me. Doesn’t make me work, doesn’t motivate me. All it does is to make me feel bad about not reaching that goal.

Putting post its all over the house with my end goal on it doesn’t work either. For some reason it just makes me do even less and feel guilty about it at the same time.

What does work for me:

Baby steps.

Instead of goals I think of actions that I need to do. Not 100 actions before I get to my main goal, but 1 action I need to do before I can get to action number 2. I do have a vague idea in my mind about the main goal I want to reach, but it is more a fantasy that a realistic  goal. It works for me, because if it is just fantasy, I don’t have to stress about it or worry about it.

I do not allow myself to think about action nr. 2 until I have completed action nr. 1. Once I have completed action nr. 1, I move on to action nr. 2, without thinking ahead about action nr. 3, 4, 5 etc.

This works for me, because when broken down into small action points it doesn’t seem as daunting. For example this website. I’ve had the idea in my head for a while of starting a website similar like this.
Then, the opportunity comes along where I have a good reason to start it. So, instead of thinking about everything, writing down goals in terms of visitors, money to make per month or week… I start with actions. First action: Sign up for WordPress. Done. Only now I think of action nr. 2. Pick out a template. Then I think of action nr. 3. Start writing the first page etc.

I make the action on purpose very small. For example, not “Write the first page” or even “Write all pages”, but simply “Start writing the first page”. I can do that. I may not finish, but I can start!
Once I’ve started, it is easier to make the next action: “continue writing the first page”. Etc. etc. until it is finished.

I almost never make an action that says “finish this” or “complete that”. For some reason the words I use in my actions help a lot, or harm a lot. When I put pressure on myself by using words like Finish or Complete, it doesn’t work. When I simply can “continue” without any pressure, I actually do finish things.

Celebrate!

Celebrate each and every small victory, no matter how small!! Even if you do only 1 action a day (even if it is simply turning on the computer, it is a start!) celebrate what you DID do, instead of feeling bad about what you didn’t do.

Some people get motivated by guiltying themselves into doing stuff… they feel so bad that they didn’t do anything the day before that this day, they do everything.
I’m not like that. If I feel guilty about something, it is more likely that I will never do it.
However, if I celebrate the small things that I do do, more often then not I will want to continue that flow of good feelings and will continue action by action until I am where I want to be.

A good example for this from my life is exercise. Eventually I want to get fit. If I don’t go  to the gym and feel bad about it, I will  do absolutely nothing about it. So, instead, I feel good because although I didn’t go to the gym, I did go for a walk today. And tomorrow, remembering how good it felt to go for a walk, I will go for another walk. Maybe a bit longer. And maybe in a few days I will go to the gym

Momentum

However weird it may sounds, the more I have to do, the more I get done. Most people feel overwhelmed when they have a busy schedule and use that as reasons to not do stuff. For me it is the other way around. When I have nothing to do, I do nothing When I have 50 things to do and am very busy, I do 100 things and feel very  good about it.

Right now, I am creating things to do, such as scheduling my meals and cooking elaborately, in order to have a full schedule. This works very well for me, because action creates more action.

Those are some of the things that work for me. Maybe the things that don’t work for me, will be great for you. Or maybe not.

The main thing is to think about what you have done so far, think about the things that you have done that have been successful. What has been the common factor in those things?

Did you do them for somebody else? Start a mastermind group, or work together with some friends where you have accountability.
Did you do it because you just liked doing it? Find the actions that you can take towards your main goal that are fun to do!

Think about what has worked for you in the past and copy that into the present!

Good luck and I hope this has helped for you!!

Lots of love,

I am prostituting myself to go to CGW!!

Well.. got your attention there, didn’t I?

Actually it is true. If you consider prostitution selling your body or part of your body for money, and I consider my brain part of my body

I will rent out my intelligence and capacity for out of the box thinking for your benefit!! Best of all.. it won’t cost you anything! Free use of my brain, there is no better offer out there today!

How does this work

The page About This Project explains it all!!

Email me at ssandrasproject (at) gmail (dot) com for private advice or post a comment for public advice.

You have no questions / problems / Money but want to help anyway?

First of all, if you have no questions and/or problems… WAY TO GO!!! Congratulations!! Keep it up, and tell me your secret please!

If you still want  to help you can always make a donation without me using my brain.  Be sure to let me know you did so, so I can properly thank you on this blog!

If you don’t have any money at the moment, but still would like to contribute, post a link to this blog on your twitter, facebook, forums, website etc. Help me get the word out!