In my course of my work and social activities, I get to meet many people.

And it amazes me to see that many people are aimless. They just go through the motion. And have not much of a goal in life.

As long as their is a comfort and security of job, it’s all good. They tell me that they don’t see the need to excel.

They don’t want to get out of the comfort zone.

I find this very sad.

Is this what life should be all about? Being mediocre?

Even those that have goals are often vague about it.

It’s not good enough.

It has to be more specific.

What I found was that the very action of writing down your goals on paper can be very powerful in internalizing them into your subconscious.

Now you are doing something about it.

It’s no longer just pies in the sky.

Now you are willing to take some responsibility towards achieving what you want.

Writing it down on paper is the important first step.

But it doesn’t end there.

You have to constantly review your goals…review your progress…and make changes if necessary.

The constant review will keep your mind razor focused on your final destination. And will keep you on your toes.

Sometimes, I forget to do this.

And I find myself getting off the pace.

So now, I try to do a daily review. And plan my next course of action that will lead me to my goals.

I write them all my short term…medium term…and long term goals.

And nothing gives me greater satisfaction when I’m able to hit my milestone.

You might want to give this a try.

And you will find your life a lot more purposeful.

Jag Foo

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I’m a great believer of how you start your day will shape the rest of your day.

Start you day well…on a good positive, healthy note..and chances are…you will have a great day.

You will feel strong, fit and all ready to take on the world.

I’m very much influenced by the morning ritual of the late copywriting legend, Gary Halbert.

He wrote it in his newsletter, which you can find here:
http://www.thegaryhalbertletter.com/Newsletters/aslk_start_every_day.htm

Well…the morning routine obviously does a world of a good for him, seeing how successful he is.

I got the gist down here, as well as his rationale for his routine. I don’t follow his routine exactly…but it’s close. And I try to keep at it as much as I can on a daily basis.

Here’s the way he advocates on how to start your day (take it away, Gary!):

1. Set your alarm clock to go off 10 minutes earlier than usual.

2. The first thing, after you get up, is to immediately remake your bed.

3. Go to the kitchen, pour yourself a glass of water and drink it all.

4. Go to the bathroom, take care of "business," brush your teeth, wash the sleep out of  your face and eyes and brush and comb your hair.

5. Next, put on some exercise clothes like sweatpants, a sweatshirt and sneakers.

6. Leave the house immediately and take a 20-minute walk.

7. As soon as you get back, woof down a nutritionally-dense protein drink made by mixing the contents of a packet of Myoplex, Met-RX or Lean Body with eight ounces of fat-free milk and a banana.

8. Scarf down a packet of vitamins and minerals like Dr. Julian Whitaker’s "FORWARD PLUS."

9. Take a shower.

10. Dress in fresh, crisp clothes and go about your day.

Pretty simple stuff, isn’t it? But, I’ll tell you this: If you will do this every day in 1999, it will create a more positive change in your life than anything else you can do.

This regiment, although simple on the surface, has profound and somewhat complex and far-reaching psychological ramifications.

May I explain?

Thank you.

1. Set your alarm to go off 10 minutes earlier than usual. By getting a 10-minute earlier start, you tend to remove the "urgency" many of us experience as soon as we wake up. You’ll feel less harried, less hurried and a bit more peaceful.

2. The first thing, after you get up, is to immediately remake your bed. If you don’t do this, you will be starting your day… instantly… creating an "undone chore" which will nag at the back of your mind for the rest of the day. If you do do this, you will start the day without having added a single, niggling little thing to your "to do" list.

3. Go to the kitchen, pour yourself a glass of water and drink it all. You do NOT drink enough water. Nobody in America does. Water is the elixir of elixirs. It flushes toxins out of your body, provides an environment which lets your electrolytes and all other aspects of your biochemistry function at maximum efficiency.

4. Go to the bathroom, take care of "business," brush your teeth, wash the sleep out of your face and eyes and brush and comb your hair. You’re getting ready for battle: The battle to have a good day. Doing all the above will wake you up a little, freshen you up a bit and "set-you-up" to get going.

5. Next, put on some exercise clothes like sweatpants, a sweatshirt and sneakers. Make this a ritual. You are dressing for battle: An assault on the forces of negativism.

6. Leave the house immediately and take a 20-minute walk. You’re outside, you’re breathing fresh air, you’re getting your circulation going, you’re becoming more mentally alert. Some of the fog begins to lift from your mind. You begin to notice your environment, see the colors of the fall foliage, the bloom of a spring flower, the dew on the grass on a summer morning, the untrodden snow in mid-winter. NOTE: This is NOT exercise. This is a loosening up; a "defogging" of your mind and allowing your body to gently warm up for its daily tasks.

7. As soon as you get back, woof down a nutritionally-dense protein drink made by mixing the contents of a packet of Myoplex, Met-RX or Lean Body with eight ounces of fat-free milk and a banana. This will infuse your body with nearly all the vitamins, minerals, electrolytes, and other good stuff to help your body and mind function at peak throughout the day.

8. Scarf down a packet of vitamins and minerals like Dr. Julian Whitaker’s "FORWARD PLUS." More insurance you’re getting the minimum (at least) ingredients your body needs to run efficiently.

9. Take a shower. Part of the ritual of getting ready to battle the day.

10. Dress in fresh, crisp clothes and go about your day. Ritual completed. You’re loosened up, oxygenated, clean, crisp, nourished, starting your day with no added baggage.

Again, you can read his fabulous newsletter here: http://www.thegaryhalbertletter.com

It gives you a real education in marketing.

Jag Foo

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Here’s today quick quotable quote…  

“Applied Knowledge Is Power”   

Take Home Message:

You often hear “Knowledge is power”.

Not true.

If it’s not applied, it’s not power. It’s just latent information stored in your brain. You get no results. Because there’s no application of what you know. And that’s as good as not knowing at all.

If you know…and don’t do…then it’s not power.

If you apply your knowledge, then you will reach the potential you are capable of.

Jag Foo

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Words Of Wisdom To Success

There’s a saying…

If you love what you do…then you don’t have to work for life.

Quite true isn’t it?

Because everyday, work will be a joy to undertake. You put yourself in a position to excel.

Shouldn’t that be the right attitude to take towards life and work?

You know…I love business.

But more specifically…I love the sales and marketing side of business (hate the tedious time consuming administrative tasks though).

Everyday I wake up, I feel so privileged and happy to be doing what I’m doing.

This is what I love. And I can serve others and add value all round while at it. What a win-win.

Of course, I’ve to admit…work isn’t always a bed of roses. If you want that…go to the garden.

The truth is – if you want to reach success – you got to quit thinking so much…and just start doing it.

A wise man once said, "Everything in life worth doing is worth doing wrong – until you learn to do it right!"

How true!

Don’t think so much.

Just. Do. It.

We have to remember one thing:

In everything we do, we have a choice.

We choose to take the path we took. If you want to constantly bitch…whine…moan…and basically be a real cry baby (who is a royal pain in the ass)…then I suggest you take the action of doing something else.

Don’t throw toys out of the pram when things don’t go your way.

You have the freedom of choice remember?

Do something about it. Make it right.

If you aren’t waking up everyday, feeling intense motivation…the burning desire…the cast iron will…the fiery passion…and steely determination to work towards your goals…then I’m sad to say that you are…

Leading An Utterly Meaningless And Worthless Life!

It’s sounds brutal. But reality is harsh.

For me…I’ve an intense anger within me. Nothing negative about it though. But more of a overwhelming force within me that compels me to constantly surge ahead …to keep moving…and break down all obstacles that stand in my way of my goals.

That’s what I live for.

I wake up everyday…psyche myself up…pump iron…do push ups and go for a jog. When I’m out running, feeling the breeze brush past my hair, my mind is refreshed. And it allows me to reflect on the day ahead.

It’s very liberating and rejuvenating.

When I’m done, I bathe, have a good nutritious meal, and come back all pumped up…all ready to take on the world.

I really can’t stress how important it is to take care of your body and mind.

Your body is like a tool. You cannot imagine a good workman who doesn’t take care of his tools, right?

Likewise, if you want to be strong in your work…you have to first be strong physically and mentally.

Too often, I see lifeless zombies just going through the motions as if they had their life sucked out of their pathetic bodies.

And they still have the cheek to complain they are tired about this and that. And essentially every freaking thing in the world. But understand this. Most of it are…

Bullshit! Bullshit! Bullshit!

Do something about it.

Work hard. Work smart. Give a lot.

If anyone ever doubts you…keep in mind…the best answer is always to prove it to him. You don’t need to talk. Just show him by action and results.

That’s the best way to shut the naysayers up.

Keep going my friend. Cos the road ahead is sunny, and the future’s bright.

Your potential for greatness is within your grasp. You just need to have the courage to go for it, and break free from the shackles of mediocrity.

Move my friend. Keep going. Refuse to take shit from anyone (but embrace feedback). Don’t stop. Grab life’s forcefully by the horns and take control.

Just do it!

Jag Foo

P.S It’s been a long time I did a random rant. I look forward to hearing your thoughts

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Editor Note: I originally wrote this piece as a guest article to share with the readers from esteemed copywriter, John Forde’s Copywriter Roundtable’s newsletter.

I’m re-producing it here for your reading pleasure. I hope you enjoy reading it like I’ve writing it.

Here’s a question to think about.

How many of you read the email as virtually the first
thing you do when you turn on the computer?

Recent studies show that a whopping 65.3% of us do so.

For the longest time, that includes me as well.

And here’s the thing…

Don’t you find that once you are deep in your
reading and replying of emails,
you can be buried there for hours?

And you will soon find yourself wasting so much time that
you did not get much done?

If you are nodding your head in agreement, then
this is something you might want to address.

But first, just why are we often addicted to emails?

There’s a psychological reason for this.

And that’s our subconscious craving for attention.

You like the feeling of being communicated to.
You like the fact that others are reaching out to you.

There’s a sense of anticipation as you check your inbox.

And you feel good when you see new emails waiting for you.

There’s no doubt about it.

Email is a powerful communication tool.

We all need to use it.

The only question is how can you use email effectively
without it adversely affecting your productivity?

The simple answer lies in your ability to take control.

You have to take control of your emailing activities instead
of having emails consume you.

You see…when you start reading and replying your emails,
you are in reactive mode.

You become part of other people’s agenda.

And often, it become really easy for you to be embroiled in
"fire-fighting". You read and reply emails after emails.

And you become so used to it that you start the whole
loop again after you have finished a round of replying.

It can become so chronic that some people even develop an
obsessive-compulsive behavior towards the checking of emails.

That’s when you have a real BIG problem!

Now it’s fine being in a reactive state.

Just not at the beginning of your work day or your work time,
when it’s crucial to kick off on a productive note.

During these periods, you want to be in proactive mode if you
want to be optimal in your productiveness.

You have to start on your agenda instead of others.

Okay, you might say, "But I need emails to communicate.
It’s part of my work!"

Point taken.

Now ask yourself:

Will it have a negative impact on your results
if you just delay your checking of emails by half an hour to one hour
so that you can get some important work done first?

Chances are…for most parts…it’s OKAY to delay
your emailing activities for awhile.

It’s OKAY to wait.

Because most of your results will come from
doing really high value activities. Not by emailing.

If it’s really urgent, you can call.

Or the opposite party would have called you
if they really need you.

So try this. The next time you turn on your computer, immediately
get some work done first.

Resist the urge to open your emails, no matter how strong the
temptation is. Don’t even surf other non-related work sites
(e.g. Facebook, Gossip news etc).

Get some critical work done. Do it for half an hour. Or one hour.

Only when you have accomplished some useful tasks,
could you then "reward" yourself by starting on
your emailing.

And even then, you don’t want to continually
check your emails.

Do so a pre-determined periods.

I know this is highly counter-intuitive. But remember,
the path to success is often not obvious.

This will require you to be extremely disciplined.
But once you do it long enough, it will become an ingrained
ritual to you.

My point again is – don’t be a slave to emails.

Take control…on your terms.

And you will watch your productivity soar. Guaranteed.

Love to hear your thoughts.

To Your Success,

Jag Foo

P.S If you really must check your emails,
set a time limit to 10-15 minutes.

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Here’s the painful way to do things.

Do everything yourself…and make every mistakes yourself.

Here’s a better and more effective way to do things.

See what the bests are doing.

And model.

Your shortcut your way to what’s working. And you learn from other mistakes without all the pain and hassle.

They say success leaves clues. Just follow these clues.

Make sense?

Love to hear your thoughts.

Jag Foo

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Here’s something to think about:

Someone with decent knowledge and takes action will make more money than someone with fantastic knowledge but doesn’t moves his ass at all.

I always fascinate at people who are obsessed about learning all they can. But doing nothing about it at all.

They say knowledge is power. I agree – in part.

Application of knowledge is power.

Look. Education is important. I always support learning. It’s a lifelong process. But learning doesn’t end with just learning.

You learn a hell lot too when you actually do.

In fact, doing and applying what you learnt takes your learning to a whole new level.

You will meet with circumstances that you have never thought about before. You will meet unforeseen problems and obstacles no one has ever told you about.

You still have to get on with it…and deal with it, isn’t it?

There’s where a lot of real learning takes place.

Learning also comes when you review the process you have just done.

What mistakes did you do? How can you learn from it so that you will become much more efficient and effective?

Moral of the story:

Keep learning, always.

But take a lot more action with your acquired knowledge.

Agree?

Love to hear your thoughts.

Jag Foo

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Say what? Procrastination? Good?
Isn’t procrastination supposed to be THE big evil?

Didn’t all the gurus proclaimed that the key to success is speed of implementation?

So why procrastinate?

Here’s why…

If you remember, I used to talk about the Pareto’s rule.

And that is 80% of what you do will give you only 20% of your results.

While the other 20% will lead to 80% of your results.

So…procrastinating is good…if you do that to 80% of the stuff that gives you little results.

In another words, procrastinate on low value stuff.

Work fast, hard and smart on high value activities.

Make sense?

Love to hear your thoughts.

Jag Foo

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I see a lot of people holding up projects…delaying time…all because they want to be perfect.

But recognize this. There’s no such thing as perfect.

It’s always WIP. Work. In. Progress.

It’s a never-ending road when it comes to improvement.

What you want to do is just launch. And get it out there.

Get data. Get some results. And tweak from there.

If it works – scale. If not, dump.

Don’t let perfectionism get in the way of progress.

Do up a good chunk. And let rip.

If you keep obsessing about details…about getting everything in place…you will never get done. And time just ticks away. There goes your opportunity.

What do you think? I want to hear it.

To your success,

Jag Foo

P.S 

For more information on personal productivity specially for online marketers, go here:
=> http://www.getmoreproductivenow.com/

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Want to succeed?

Learn to be a little unrealistic.

Learn to take some risk.

Learn to go against the convention.

Learn to tell those who tell you that you can’t do it…to shove it.

Learn to be like Will Smith.

Jag Foo

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