Aannnd on the same thread you’ll never accomplish what you want for the month….unless you write it down BEFORE the month starts.

So here’s my May 2013 goals:

Got your goals for the month yet?

People with goals succeed because they know where they’re going.
–Earl Nightingale

Here’s mine for April 2013:

Brief explanation of each:

1.) NevBox out:
From my Neville Letters experience I learned that a lot of people subscribing were at varying levels of life and business….and something that was worth $1,000 to one person, was worth maybe $40 to another.

But I still want to send out a physical box of stuff for anyone trying to learn copywriting better (even small improvements in your writing can result in ridiculous improvements in your business life….so it’s a pretty damn great deal).

I’ll be making about 200 of these letters (actually it’ll be a physical box with several letters),  and sending them out this month.

Dammit…..now my new apartment is gonna be covered in packing material :-/

2.) Make $ Vid on Kopy.tv
My latest kopy.tv video is one on how exactly I make money.  This is a common question I get from family and friends…..and even after I explain it, they have NO CLUE what the hell I actually do.

When I show people through a computer how everything works, they totally get it.  So for this reason I’m putting together a vid explaining it all (mainly so I can just say “uuhhhh…..just watch this YouTube video” when people ask what I do)  ;-)

3.) Kopy switch  
I’ve got 11 digital products out now….all of varying subjects.  They’re getting too damn un-related to each other.  So I’m making a shift based on a simple formula:

Does it relate to kopywriting? (If = no) = (“don’t do it”).  

So those are my April 2013 goals.
…..got yours yet??

This is Earl Nightingale.
by Earl Nightingale.

It was published in 1969, and I have an original copy I bought on Amazon for maybe $15.

I’ve obsessively read books since I was younger, and so many of them are phenomenal….but this is THE ONE BOOK I would grab out of my house if it was on fire.

I’m not a very religious person, and I consider this book, the closest thing I have to a Bible.

BUT NEVILLEEEEE….WHY IS THIS BOOK SO GOOD??
The book is just transcripts of a 5-minute radio spot Earl Nightingale used to do in the 1960’s.

He did over 5,000 of these small radio shows about various topics (he was like a blogger back in the day, but his medium was radio).

The book contains about 80 of these transcripts. Each being an average of 3 pages each.

Theoretically I can read each chapter in about 30 seconds. However every damn time I pick up this book, I read one or two chapters, and it literally takes me 10+ minutes or more.

The reason is each chapter is so incredibly thought-provoking, and mind-shifting, and new-idea-giving that they make me sit there and THINK.

THE WAY I USE THE BOOK:
It’s pretty damn simple:
If I’m confused, pissed off, sad, or lazy (or in some similar state that is not desirable)….I pick up this book and open a random chapter.

Within a few minutes of reading, I generally have a paper/pen out and am jotting out the quickest solution to my problems.

It’s almost like a sure-fire way to make me feel better since it gets me thinking RATIONALLY about an issue I may have, rather than just “oh poor me complain complain complain” shitty circular thinking that gets you no where.

I HOPE YOU ENJOY!
I have no affiliation with Earl Nightingale. Or am trying to get anyone to buy the book for any reason whatsoever.

Just thought I’d share what I consider to be one of the greatest investments in myself I’ve ever made.

Reading the book over tea in Kerala, India.

I refer to this book when I have a problem. It’s like a Bible, except without all the fiction.

I love this book. Such a tiny investment has yielded huge results.

A sampling of some of the chapters. I randomly open the book and start reading. Never fails.

Now this doesn’t seem like a big deal….but if 22 days into January I’m JUST noticing this, it clearly means something’s off.

And there has been.

The end of the year always gets a bit crazy….and in 2012 I totally embraced it by kind of “stopping work” for a while.

I was so busy going out of town, going to weddings (I was invited to NINE weddings in 2012!!), distracted by birthday festivities (including an unforgettable trip to Cuba), that I literally did nothing some days, and didn’t care.

But then 2013 finally swung around, and it was time to work again.

Unfortunately, “starting to use your brain again” is a lot like going back to the gym after taking 2 months off.  IT’S HARD TO GET BACK TO WHERE YOU WERE.

I believe it was Epictetus who said:

Books are like the training weights of the mind.

I vividly remember hearing that quote for the first time, and suddenly realize the brain is very much like a muscle….if you train it well (consistently), it will perform well.  If you don’t, it will rot away.

Well my brain kind of rotted during that time, and the result was lazy ass days.

You can probably relate…..I would wake up in my apartment, it’s cold outside, maybe a little gloomy…..and the draw off just “sleeping a little more” in my warm bed is WAY better than waking up.

When I would finally wake my lazy ass up:
I’d have some tea or a smoothie, go to the gym (conveniently inside my apt complex), do some household chores…..and then TAKE A NAP.  Take a nap?? From what effort?

It’s like laziness begets MORE laziness.  Here’s what a worthless lazy-ass looks like:

OK OK OK ….enough complaining about being lazy, and onto the solutions.

Clearly I was lacking something important: ACCOUNTABILITY.

I often use this blog as a way to keep accountable, but unfortunately there’s no consequences to NOT accomplishing goals.  So I did a little Googling, and quickly found an Accountability Coach.

Now this isn’t necessarily a life coach, or a business coach….this is someone who makes sure I accomplish major things each week.

The trick to this, is to NOT find someone who will simply yell at me for not doing something.  That kind of accountability fades when the person isn’t around….and after a while you just grow annoyed and resentful.

I wanted someone more like Adam of MyBodyTutor who changes your habits based on talking about why you want them, your goals….yadda yadda.  This method worked really well during my six-pack experiment, so I figure it’ll work again.

So now I have an accountability coach.  It’s already got me back on track….and gets me nervous when approaching a deadline I set, and haven’t done it.  GOOD!

……the second part of this is I hired a personal trainer.  

I’ve never felt I needed one, but an experience a friend had was pretty damn great, so I’m giving it a shot.

The reason is:
I (sort-of) know how to exercise, but in my head, I’ll only push hard as I “think” I can go.  The right trainer will push me WAY harder.  They’ll also take me out of the comfort of the same-old exercises I’m used to.

EXAMPLE:
The first time we met, he made me do all these weird poses and bends that were purposely designed to find where I’m weakest.  Turns out flexibility in my back is crappy, and some of my vertical shoulder movements are stiff.

I already knew I’m not very flexible in those areas (it becomes obvious when I do Bikram Yoga), so I always do exercises that don’t push on those areas too much.  BUT THE TRAINER DOESN’T CARE.

So the first time we actually did a full workout, he purposely had me doing “seemingly simple” exercises…..but when performed correctly, they directly focused on my weak areas.   They would get so tiring, I would’ve normally given up….but since there’s someone with a close eye on me and pushing me…..I kept doing them.

ANYHOW, so here were my January 2013 goals I wrote out in December 2012, and I’m finally posting them:

Here’s some goals for 2013 I plotted out on the 7 foot tall mirror in my living room with dry erase markers (didn’t feel like writing it on a small piece of paper):

On a closing note…..here’s a great interview with Conan O’brien (being serious) and Jack White talking about Jack White’s work habits.  When he finds himself too comfortable, he gets ZERO done…..so he sets up obligations that he must meet, so he actually gets his work done:

http://teamcoco.com/video/serious-jibber-jabber-04-jack-white

Hope your brain is off to a good start this year :-)
-Nev

…wait, that doesn’t rhyme at all unless you say it in a ghetto accent :-)

Well here’s my goals for December 2012:

If you don’t see progress, please bitch at me.

I always find December the most distracting year, so having goals set out is EXTRA helpful this month!

1.) I’ve been a little complacent in my eating habits for the last few months…..and I don’t really care from a physical point of view, but from a MENTAL point of view.  I can tell my stamina for work is lower because I’m eating crappy stuff.

Two years ago my “Getting A Six Pack Experiment” taught me that eating “clean” had a massive impact on my ability to do great work for long periods of time.  I want to make sure I’m cleaning up my diet (the simple act of adding smoothies and fruit helps immensely).

2.) ”Getting in writing mode” is kind of related to the above.  But this also means waking up early on a consistent basis and getting writing done in the mornings.

I’ll be taking on A LOT more writing than I usually do (with added AppSumo deals and book stuff this month)……so I’ve got to get back in this groove of “lotsa writing output.”

You know how they say, “To become world-class at something you gotta put in 10,000 hours?”

I feel like this is part of my 10,000 hours :-)

…….have you made YOUR monthly goals yet?

Can’t go into detail about either right now.

Have YOU got YOUR goals planned out for this month?

Well, first, here they are:

So I’m excited about this Ryan Deiss thing because it’ll actually help a lot of people.

But here’s the problem…..actually it’s not really a PROBLEM but more of a long-term thing I’ve been pondering.

I used to have this over-arching goal of making a lot of money and being able to do my work from wherever…..and if I DON’T WANNA DO WORK, I don’t have to.

Well this recent 2-week New York trip I took very much reminded me that I HAVE ALREADY ACHIEVED THAT!

For example (and excuse me because this sounds like bragging, but it’s not):

• I didn’t do ANY work for 2 weeks….yet still made money everyday.
• I didn’t have to worry about what I spent on anything.
• I uprooted from Austin and stayed in NYC for 2 weeks with virtually no impact on business.

Seems like I clearly accomplished the dream!  HOOOOOOOORAY!!!!   …right?

The queer thing about life is that once you HIT a goal….it no longer seems so great.  I guess since I was present for every single day that I slogged it out doing work…..this goal was almost “expected” to happen.

I’ve been back to Austin the last few days, and I’ve felt a bit apathetic about a lot of things.

I’ll set my alarm for 7am, but I won’t get out of bed, not because I’m lazy…..but because I’m thinking “I don’t NEED to wake up this early to do my work.”

It’s the weirdest damn thing that when you actually achieve something you’ve been working for…..you kind of don’t care anymore.

And I believe the reason is you must ALWAYS be working towards a goal.

“BUT NEVILLE….RIGHT ABOVE THIS YOU HAAAVE A GOAL!!”

Actually let’s modify that:

As Earl Nightingale says, “You must always be working towards a WORTHY goal.” 

Anyhow, it’s interesting to think if you have a goal set out….that YOU think is a WORTHY goal.

Here’s a FANTASTIC Earl Nightingale podcast recorded decades ago….but the advice is priceless.  This is from a rare collection of Earl Nightingale talks called “Lead The Field”. Enjoy & learn!

BAD NEVILLE.

Anyhow, here they are (well, it’s just one):

Normally I have a maximum of three goals for the month….but this time I really have just one main goal for July 2012.

I’ll write more about what I mean by “produce” a product….as it’s a bit different this time.

Anyhow, do YOU have your monthly goals set out yet?

Here’s mine for June 2012:

1.) I’m doing a KopywritingKourseKase Studies product where I’ll be re-writing copy for people across many different industries FOR FREE! ……so long as I get to use them as a case study.

If interested, you can signup here to be a case study and get your kopy re-written (I have a pretty good batting average at getting higher conversions).

2.) I had this one listed as a fun case study from last month (I’m going to validate a friends restaurant idea and see if they should add an additional taco truck).  This stemmed from a lot of requests where people wanted to see a brick-n-mortar business validated.

I was a bit busy getting the AutoresponderKourse out the door in May, so this one fell behind to this month.  Kind of appropriate for AppSumo to validate a TACO stand eh :-)