DazzlinDonna » Motivation

Find Something To Learn

Donna — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 11:41:34 +0000

I was going to begin this post with a question, which was going to be: Would you like to be considered an expert in your field?

Then I changed my mind. Instead, I’m going to ask you this:

Do you even HAVE a “field” in which you might like to be considered an expert?

Before you can be an expert at something, you need to know what that something is. So the first step is to determine what field you’d like to be involved with. I especially want to emphasize the broad generic word “field”, rather than a narrow, specific title.

You see, the average person is perfectly capable of becoming an expert merely by engulfing themselves in the subject matter.

There are some limitations to this, however. For example, let’s say you decide to answer the above question too narrowly. You might say, for instance, that you want to be an expert saxophonist. There’s nothing wrong with having that as a goal, unless of course you have no musical talent whatsoever. Talent does play a part in our decision process. That doesn’t mean however, that you can’t extend the concept from a narrow one (saxophonist) to a broader one. What if you became the leading authority on the lives of the most talented saxophonists of all time? Or what if you were known as the expert in tracking the still unknown, but extremely talented saxophone artists of our time?

That’s the kind of thing I’d like to challenge you to think about. So many people have interests, but believe that they cannot pursue an education or a career within that interest, because their talents don’t extend far enough. I say baloney.

Consider the broad topics that interest you.
Determine your ability to become an expert of some part of that topic. Don’t limit yourself to the obvious aspects of the topic. Think as broadly as necessary – or as outside of the box as you can – to find a portion of the entire “field” in which you can contribute.
Once you’ve determined what your “field of expertise” will be, simply learn it.

Don’t run away screaming! Learning it is probably a lot less difficult than you imagine. The Internet gives each of us vast resources to pull from. You can get a free education from MIT, Berkeley, John Hopkins, Stanford, or any number of amazing universities around the world if you’d like. A formal atmosphere such a a university course may not be what’s needed at all, however. You may just need to immerse yourself in the many blogs, podcasts, videos, or articles that abound on the web. Whatever paths you take, if you spend an hour per day reading about the topic, you’ll be amazed at how much you learn. Once you’re sure that you really want to become the expert, then just immerse yourself in the topic. Participate in social networks or forums. Find mentors. Communicate with those who are involved. Become a part of the field.

Sure it will take some time. It won’t be instant. But think about this: Two years from now, you may wake up to see your name in an important journal or site that proclaims you to be the expert in the field of [you fill in the blank]. How cool would that be?

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Post tags: expert saxophonist, John Hopkins, MIT, saxophonist, social networks, Stanford
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Best Known For…

Donna — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 16:12:30 +0000

Just a really quick question today. If you could “pre-write” your obit (for far into the future, of course), how would you like the following statement to read? (being somewhat realistic, but still allowing for ultimate dreams).

[your name here] was best known for …

Now what would it take to make the first step towards making that statement true?

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My Life Motto in 25 Words

Donna — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 14:58:33 +0000

My motto, borrowed from Smashmouth’s All Star, is “You’ll never shine if you don’t glow”. Make the choice. Recognize and share your light with everyone.

The above was written for The 25 Words of Work / Life Wisdom Writing Project

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What Is Holding You Back?

Donna — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 10:21:02 +0000

This is a question I’d love to get answers to in the comments below. What is holding you back? What is preventing you from getting your online business off the ground?

Fear of the unknown?
Worried that you aren’t capable?
Not sure how to get it going?
Don’t have time?
Think you need more money?
Think you need more knowledge?
Something else?

I’ll always be grateful that one day I decided to jump into the online business bandwagon. I was just having a conversation today about the fact that it’s going to be raining all weekend. Back in the day, when I was still working in a cubicle “out there”, the weekends mattered…a lot! So a rainy weekend would have been a huge disappointment. But now that I work from home, I can make any group of days a weekend. I decide when I take time off, not some corporation. So the fact that this weekend will be rainy doesn’t affect me in the least. I’ll just move my weekend plans to mid-week instead.

Working from home, for one’s self, isn’t everyone’s cup of tea. But if that’s what you dream of…if that’s what you would LOVE to be able to do, but haven’t…. I want to know why.

Don’t get me wrong. I don’t want to tell people to quit your day jobs, right now, without any kind of plan or savings. That would be foolish. But the great thing about this business is that you can get started slowly – part-time. You can do a little work when you’re at home at night or on those cherished weekends, to “get things going”. You can slowly build up to the day when you don’t have to get up and go to some j-o-b “out there” in some stuffy office.

So why haven’t you? I’m not judging, I’m just curious. I truly want to know. Maybe if I know, then I can turn around and help a few people get past those problems and get started on their goals of not worrying about the weekend weather report.

So if the question applies to you, I’d love to hear your answer in the comments. Thanks!

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Post tags: ebusiness, Making Money Online, online, online business, online business bandwagon
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The Forbidden Book of Getting What You Want

Donna — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 08:15:36 +0000

A lot of what drives me, you, and this site is motivation. Without it, we can’t achieve our goals unless we just get lucky enough to tumble down a mountain and land in a steaming pool of molten luck. Assuming that doesn’t happen, we have to find ways to motivate ourselves so that we get what we want.

I pass along thoughts, ideas, sites, and information that can help motivate us whenever I can. Today is one of those days.

Have you been looking for a motivational book that isn’t like all the other motivational books out there? An acquaintance of mine, JK Ellis, wrote one and I wanted to let you know about it. This ISN’T your normal self-help kind of book. It’s called “The Forbidden Book of Getting What You Want” and it is designed to literally “trap” you into creating an unstoppable motivation. There are no punches pulled. Everything is laid out so that you are destined to absolutely and unwittingly GET WHAT YOU WANT.

It’s been described as “the most direct, irreverent and devious self-improvement book on the market” and “you will get an idiot proof process so devious, so well thought out, that the only way to NOT get what you want is to NOT read the book.”

It’s cheaper than most ebooks you see hyped, and the great thing is that it is NOT an ebook. It’s only $24.95, and what you get is an actual paperback book – you know – with real paper and stuff, that you can actually hold in your hand and flip the pages.

Oh, and if you order the book from Amazon before Friday, 2/29/08, be sure to email your amazon receipt to support@TheForbiddenBook.com. Why? Because you’ll be sent a thank you gift worth $327.89. How cool is that?

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Post tags: Amazon
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When Needed, Just Let It Go

Donna — Tue, 05 Feb 2008 08:12:52 +0000

As you know, I work from home, and I am self-employed. More often than not, that means I work harder and longer than I ever did at a 9 to 5 job, but it doesn’t feel like it because I enjoy what I do. I know that I can stop at 2 p.m., crawl into bed, and take a nap if I want. I know I can take a break any time I want. Knowing these things doesn’t necessarily mean I’ll do them, but I know I can. Still, I work hard. There are days, however, when I just cannot get motivated to work no matter how hard I try. Part of me feels guilty for that. But I know that if I really cannot get motivated, then I just need to let it go. We self-employed folks can’t afford to get lazy, but we do need to take some time now and then. If you truly can’t get motivated, then you probably need to let it go and take the time to relax and do something else. Don’t feel guity, just let it go for the day. There’s plenty of time during the next day to rev up your motor and work like a fiend again.

Just a little reminder from one workaholic to another.

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Your Reason For Failure May Be Your Ticket To Success

Donna — Mon, 31 Dec 2007 08:06:19 +0000

How many times have you said, “I can’t, because I ___” (fill in the blank with the reason for failure you use most often)?

What if the very reason you use to anticipate failure could be turned into your ticket to success?

Let’s take an example. Maybe you are shy, and are not a “people person”. You read a little about creating an online business and you hear that networking is important. You think, “Uh-oh, I can’t do that, because I’m shy and I’m not a people person”. Do you know what that really means? That means you are an expert on shyness and troubles associated with connecting with people.

What happens when you become an expert on something? You then have the ability to share your expertise with others.

What happens when you share your expertise? You have the makings of a successful online business, because guess what people want from their online experience? They want information. And whatever “failure” you are an expert at, you can be assured that there are likely millions of others who want information about that very topic, and they will be searching for your take on it. You don’t have to have a degree in your failure. You just need plenty of experience with it, and I’d bet you have lots to say about it. Anything you don’t know, you can find out and share.

So, from now on, any time you start to say, “I can’t, because I ____”, stop and think about that failure reason that you just uttered. Think about all the other people who might want more information about that “failure”. Then consider giving it to them.

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Post tags: excuse, failure, online, online experience, success
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What Motivates You?

Donna — Thu, 15 Nov 2007 16:57:02 +0000

Today, I blogged about motivation on my SEO blog, but that was directed towards a specific situation. Here, I’d like to discuss motivation in more general terms. Specifically, I’d like to ask you some questions. I’m interested in your thoughts and your processes. By sharing motivational strategies, I think we can all benefit from each other.

What motivates you? What gets you fired up?
Do you use any kind of motivational tools, and if so what are they?
Do you follow any motivational blogs or sites?

Now I leave this post in your hands. Talk to me about motivation.

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Post tags: Motivation, motivational tools
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