Oh and I should mention that it’s free if you click here to claim your tickets (blatant affiliate link… explained at the end).

But even though you won’t get the chance to meet me (shame I know) I still highly recommend you go. It’ll be a great experience and you’ll be surprised at all the crap that you dig out of your brain. While it’s not a one weekend fix everything seminar (that’s simply impossible) it’ll give you a much better understanding on what might be holding you back and tools to eliminate it (plus you’ll be taken through group exercises to get rid of your biggest hurdles right there).

I wrote my Chris Howard - Breakthrough to Success review back in September so I won’t harp on about it again. The only thing I’d change about my review is beware of purchasing too many seminars. I’ve just found that it’s a lot of money and you have to wait a while for your events to occur (I’m still waiting for one of mine).

However the monthly (or more regular) coaching has been great. My coach is awesome and we seem to breakthrough more crap every time we get on the phone. Doing it again I would consider getting more frequent coaching and hold off on the seminars for a while.

Not that the seminars  aren’t great but for the price you’d probably be better served going out and finding a qualified NLP practitioner to work one-on-one with. This is something that’s been brought to my attention again recently and will have to follow through on this time! Either way Breakthrough to Success will definitely give you a breakthrough… I’m even willing to bet imaginary cookies on that one as long as you fully engage with the experience (no point going if you’re going to say “This is stupid” and sit there with your arms folded the whole time).

Anyway… you can read my Chris Howard - Breakthrough to Success review for more info.

If you decide to go click here to get 2 free tickets (or really as many as you want). Note that this is my affiliate link and the deal is you get free tickets and I get a commission if you buy anything. However I think you can tell I’m not in this for the money since I just recommended you didn’t go overboard on the seminars!

I’d also be keen to hear from those who are going on their experience and how you feel about the personal development stuff I share. I think it’s important but do you?

Final Magic Free Ticket Link

Tip #1 - Get their attention with a headline

I’m not sure why most websites don’t use effective headlines. We’re surrounded by them all day in newspapers and on magazine covers yet few business owners apply the same principles to their websites. By simply adding a good headline you can increase the rate at which visitors stay on your website.

Various studies show you have about 3 - 7 seconds to grab your visitors attention and that’s where your headline comes in. It needs to both catch their eye and explain in one short statement why they should stay on your website. That’s their one job… to explain the biggest benefit of reading what you have to say.

Tip #2 - Explain the benefits

Most business websites don’t explain why the visitor should do business with them over their competitors. They vaguely promise the best service, quality and prices (like everyone does) but give no reasons why their business is unique. If you want to have a successful website you need to have a unique reason for visitors doing business with you.

I like to ask the classic Dan Kennedy question “Why should I - a potential prospect - do business with you over all other alternatives including doing nothing at all?” If you’re reading this I’ll put money on the fact you don’t have a really good answer to this question (feel free to challenge me in the comments). But once you get your answer clear and succinct your website’s conversion will go up dramatically.

Tip #3 - Back up everything with proof

Going back to our example above about the best service… how do you prove you have the best service? Maybe you really do but because everyone else claims the same thing your voice is lost in the crowd. So how can you show that you have hands down the best service in town?

You might have really amazing testimonials presented in an interesting way. You might have an incredible guarantee (which we’ll talk more about in a second). You might have stories about how you bent over backwards to exceed your clients expectations.

The important thing is that you must back up all your claims with proof or no one will believe you.

Tip #4 - Create an irresistible offer

I’m constantly amazed how many businesses fail to make offers and they lose a lot of sales because of it. You need to clearly state what you’re going to give the prospect in return for their hard earned money (or even their contact details). You must show them they’re going to get an incredible amount of value for money.

Now this doesn’t mean you lose money on the deal but you do need to increase the perceived value of your offer. Maybe you can add in items that cost you very little but have a high perceived value. Get started by at least offering something and improve it as you go.

Tip #5 - Take away the risk

When people buy from you (especially online) they fear getting ripped off. Maybe your offer won’t live up to it’s promises or your product will break in a few weeks. To sell effectively and improve website conversion you have to remove as much of this risk as possible.

This starts with an amazing guarantee that ensures your clients are always amazed. But there are also many other risk reversal techniques to use such as free trials or buy now and pay later approaches. You probably already have a guarantee that’s required by law hiding away somewhere and all you have to do is jazz it up a little and put it on display.

Tip #6 - Have a call to action

Nearly all of us are serial procrastinators whether we like to admit it or not. We hold back from taking action because we’re afraid of making a mistake or a bad decision. This is no different when someone is looking to buy your products and services.

Therefore you can increase your website conversion rate by having a solid call to action that helps the prospect commit to the decision right now. It isn’t about having some strong arm sales tactic but rather helping your visitor over that hump to making a purchase. Your prospects are much more likely to buy if they realize they might miss out on something if they don’t act now.

Tip #7 - Have a personality

I find many (if not all) business websites are incredibly boring and business like. They look the same, sound the same… and put their visitors to sleep the same. Sometimes all it takes to have  a successful website is to take what other people are selling and add some personality.

Now it doesn’t have to be some big dramatic performance where you where an eye patch and talk like a pirate. But you should at least appear as a real person and not get hung up pretending to be a big company. At the end of the day people buy from people - not companies - so use this to your advantage.

What you do next to improve website conversion

Well there you have 7 tips that should increase website conversion very effectively and they don’t take much time to implement. However reading about them won’t do much for your sales… you have to take action. So go and pick one tip above and start by implementing it… then once you see your website sales rise I’m sure you’ll want to come back and use the other tips as well.

There are a number of commonly used methods and a quick list would include Search Engine Optimization (SEO), Pay-Per-Click (PPC) advertising, article marketing, video marketing and social media (including websites like Facebook and Twitter). However not all methods are created equal and choosing the right one (and the right advice) to start with will help your website grow faster.

Search engine lies

SEO is often a popular way to get traffic as the website owners believes they can pay some expert to get their website to the top of the rankings. While this can be true there’s a lot of risk involved in this approach. What’s most important is that the expert you listen to be able to show you measurable results to your website traffic and sales.

In my website travels I have seen countless search engine experts claiming how they can get you to the top of the search engine rankings in no time flat. They list examples of other clients that sound great and sure enough they’re at the top of the search engine results for keywords like “quick plumbing repair” or “choose tiles for my roof.”

But with some quick research I find out no one is actually searching for those terms. And if no one is searching for your keywords then your traffic isn’t going to increase and neither will your sales. So that’s just hard earned cash handed over to some dodgy so-called “expert” and unfortunately very common.

Look for a SEO expert who explains what keywords are best for your business and why. They should be supporting this with traffic numbers and the results you can expert. While no one can really guarantee you a top ten ranking the true experts will get you there if you’re committed to helping them as well.

Pay-Per-Click (PPC) disasters

The biggest mistake I see with PPC is the business owner trying to do it themselves. If you’re going to pay money for every visitor then you have to be very sure you’re making that money back. If you don’t have the expertise to do this then make sure you find someone who does.

For example most people think Google Adwords operates solely on a bidding system i.e. the more money you pay the higher up in the rankings your ad appears. It shocks clients when they discover that you can actually pay less for your ads and still outrank your competitors. And you can achieve this by writing a better and well targeted ad that more people click on.

Article and video marketing mistakes

While filling the internet with your content can be great for your business you definitely have to have a clear strategy behind this process. Creating and submitting articles or videos can give you a huge amount of credibility in your market. But again this only works if people are actually going to find them.

You can put millions of videos onto YouTube but if no one is watching them how does it help you? Do you know how to get people to watch your videos or rank them in the search engines? You’ll want to find someone who’s done what you want and then use their expertise as well.

The same goes for articles and putting them on article sharing websites. Are people reading your articles and – perhaps more importantly – are other publishers taking your articles and using them for their websites and newsletters. This is where the real benefits of article marketing start to pay off.

Social media mistruths

The latest craze to sweep internet marketing is the social media phenomenon. Don’t be swayed with impressive figures of how many millions of people use services like Facebook or Twitter. Only be concerned with how many quality visitors they can bring to your website.

Lately many people who just learned how to use these programs are now turning around and declaring guru status. Again you want to see examples of how much traffic they’ve attracted to websites (consistently and not with a one hit wonder) and how that led to sales. Anyone can get an impressive number of followers just by going out and adding random people so make sure you see cold hard data before you go down the social media track.

So how do you avoid being ripped off?

If you want to increase your website traffic you need to find an experienced expert to help you or teach you what to do. You want to see a proven track record of what traffic and sales looked like before they started with a client and how they’re doing now. The good news is once you find someone like this you’ll be able to work with them for a long time thanks to the money they’ll make you.

The key to ensuring that you aren’t taken advantage of is that you have to get involved. If you take the time to learn how to increase traffic to your website and what your web marketer is doing for you then you’ll start to recognize the difference between good and bad work. Plus your expert will only be keener to work with you if you provide the support and attention they need.

Your website is not some isolated part of your business that you build and forget about. Sure it can be a great automated system for bringing clients into your business but it still needs care and attention. Just like any marketing you do for your business you have to put in the time and money in order to get the best results.

What you do next

Investigate a few ways to getting traffic to your website and then pick one. Learn how to increase traffic to your website using this method, draw up a plan to implement it and then keep doing it on a consistent basis. I find once you have the right strategy the biggest difference between success and failure online is just doing the work required!

1. Awareness of need and/or desire
2. Picking the “thing” that fulfills the need/desire
3. Picking the source of the thing
4. Accepting the source’s price/value argument
5. Finding a reason to act now

Now all of these steps are important but I want to hone in on steps 2 and 3 as it applies to a client that I’m currently working with.

What are you really selling?

While I can’t get specific with client details this is an interesting dilemma that I find many businesses face. It involves different levels of what they’re selling and how we break those down. It’s also about answering all of the questions in a buyers mind.

To explain better I’ve made up example to substitute for my real client.

The different levels of car buying

If you want to buy a car then there are a few different levels of decisions to make. I would say the first one is if you want to buy a new or used car. So if you own a used car lot you want to first sell the benefits of buying a used car over a new one.

On the next level you realize there are also a number of other used car businesses in the world so you’ll need to sell the benefits of buying from your particular used car lot over all other competitors.

When all this is done you can finally start trying to sell the actual product to the prospect (in this example one particular car). You’ll also notice that there might be other levels such as a particular brand or type of car the person wants.

Why is this important?

Consumers are surrounded by choices. They are pulverized with marketing messages every second of every day. This makes their buying decisions very hard.

I believe our main job as business owners is to provide our prospects with the best possible solution to their need or desire. This involves making them aware of the possibilities but then guiding them towards the best choice for them. The sale doesn’t come from railroading someone into buying your product (at least not if you want a repeat sale) but from helping them make the right choice for them.

By stepping through the various levels we clarify why they should buy what we suggest. We back up their emotional feelings with logical reasons. So when the time comes all they have to do is hand over the money.

The dangers of not following this process

I find many clients who only compete on a 2 dimensional level rather than the 3 (or more) dimensional levels we discussed above. Why this may seem like a silly example imagine a car dealer who has marketing that only states “We have used cars!” And then stop laughing because many businesses do this on a daily basis without realizing.

While you may not spell out every level in the process completely (or let people skip levels as required) you still need to be aware of the levels and be ready to guide people through them. At the end of the day it’s important to ensure your prospects turn into buyers.

What you do next

It’s time to go back and step through the process like someone who has never even heard of you before. Ask yourself if you’re answering all the questions and giving enough justification to purchase what you’re offering. I think  you’ll find you aren’t and if you really want to challenge me on this then feel free to post in the comments.

And of course you can also post if you want help breaking down the levels in your own business or industry based on a complete outsiders ignorance. This is usually the best way to go as it gives us a fresh perspective and allows us to see how other people view our business.

If you’re like most companies you send out email with pretty formatting that displays your company logo and looks similar to a brochure or your website. What if I told you I thought this was the worst possible way you could send your email? Unfortunately it’s hard to have exact figures to back this up due to its nature but allow me to explain my logic.

Why do most people use email?

What is the first thing you do when you check your emails? If you’re anything like me when you check your emails you first do a quick scan to see what personal emails have arrived. You want to see the emails from your friends or family.

You read those emails and reply to them first every time don’t you? I’ve never heard of anyone checking their email and going straight to their email newsletters to see what some company had to say about itself today. It just doesn’t happen.

Problem #1 - The subject line

The subject line of your email is what gets it opened. You need to think of it just like a headline that would get your newspaper story read. If you’re sending emails that have subject lines that include the word “newsletter” it gives permission for the reader to skip over it. How many times have you told yourself you’ll come back and read all the newsletters one day but not right now?

So the first key is getting your email opened with a great subject line. You need to show the benefit of reading this email right away. It can also help if you can invoke some curiosity of what’s inside.

Problem #2 - The content

Most company emails read like a company wrote them. They’re impersonal and - quite frankly - boring. I’m sorry but no one has the time to slog through your boring emails anymore.

First you need to offer something of value to the reader. Basically you deliver on the benefit you promised in the subject line. If you provide lots of value to your readers then they’re much more likely to ensure they read every single one of your emails.

Second I always recommend writing in a personal style. Many small businesses try to make themselves look bigger and appear like faceless corporations. My experience has shown if you take a personal approach and write like a real person you’ll get much better results.

Problem #3 - The purpose of your email

Have you ever stopped to wonder why you’re sending a weekly/fortnightly/monthly email to your clients? Are you doing it just because some marketing guy said you should do it? Ask yourself what you really want to happen from the emails you send.

The job of most of my emails is to provide value. So the purpose is to get the reader to click the link inside and then visit my blog or wherever I’ve posted my valuable content. It’s also important to have them click through to a website as no one wants to slog through pages and pages of email.

Problem #4 - No clear offers made

When I do have an offer for my subscribers I make sure I’m very clear with what I want them to do as well. I’ll also link to the offer as I don’t want to try and sell something in the body of the email either. So my purpose becomes to have them click the link, then read the sales letter and finally make a purchase.

The point is I always have a reason for writing my emails and I know what that reason is. I don’t pack them full of a million different things and wonder why no one did what I wanted. I make my purpose of emailing very clear at all times.

Hopefully you’ve learned something valuable from my views on email marketing. The biggest takeaway you should have is start writing like a human and not a faceless corporation.  That’s the only way you’re going to create a strong bond with your audience that just can’t wait for what you have to say next.

Note - Feedback about my sexy voice is also appreciated…

Why Your Website Sales Suck Video

So here we have what I hope to become a regular event in NZ. A kiwi created, hosted and delivered internet marketing event that isn’t one company selling you their point of view and services. Here you get a range of views from kiwis making money online.

Unfortunately I won’t be speaking at this event (found out about it too late) but I’m organised to present at a workshop and the next event like this. But I will be attending so track me down and say hi… plus feel free to interrogate me on how to get your website selling.

As a personal suggestion I obviously think it’s worth going. Being a business owner and marketing online is a lonely business and you should network with other like-minded people as much as possible. The connections you make with others should be well worth your investment.

The Speakers

Ann Andrews of www.thecorporatetoolbox.com

Ann’s one of five certified professional speakers in NZ so it’s worth coming to see her just for the experience. I’m currently working on a few projects with Ann so you’ll be hearing more about her in the future.

• Why you need to have an Online presence
• How to get started without having to take out a 2nd mortgage
• The Power of your Database
• Filling the ‘Funnel’ and creating leverage
• 3 case studies of people who turned a simple idea into many millions of dollars worth of income

Paul Easton of www.InternetMarketingNZ.com

Those that caught my interview with Paul or have attended one of his events know he’s the real deal. He breaks down ranking in the search engines into small and easily understandable steps that you can follow for your business. I’ve seen his results and he’s definitely worth listening to.

• What used to work but doesn’t any more
• What web designers don’t do (but claim they do)
• The first steps - miss this and you are sure to fail…
• The 2 sides of what makes a website rank high in Google

Justin Cunningham of www.self-develop.co.nz

Justin’s organising the event so we’ve been in touch a bit lately. Seems like a good guy who’s going to help out internet marketing in NZ a lot. He’s also experienced in putting events on so it should be a good one.

• The 5 vital steps to structure your Online business for success
• The Secret Tools of Internet gurus use that move you to the front of the line!
• How to avoid the 1 thing that keeps you starting over and over
• How to create a 2 page website that accelerates your database growth and much, much more…

Kath Dewar of www.kdconsulting.co.nz

To be honest don’t know anything about Kath except what appears on her website. I’m looking forward to seeing what she has to say though as it sounds right down my alley.

• How ‘Metric’s will save your Life Online
• How to write ‘Persuasive Copy’ that $ells
• Using future Internet marketing trends to profit Online
• How Online business ‘Process Maps’ can free you to enjoy your life today!

Date and time

Saturday February 27th 2010
9am to 1pm

Location

St Columba Centre
40 Vermont Street
Ponsonby
Auckland

Cost

$97 - However if you drop me an email before midnight on Thursday 4th of February I can get you in for free (first 20 only).

Website

They’re giving away some free training videos before the event so sign up for them here:

www.1point7billioncustomers.com

There’s so much pressure of us from society now to be “successful…” whatever that means. We need to all makes tons of money, drive fancy cars and be beautiful just like in the magazines. Well what if that’s really too much work?

What if we’re happy with being ineffective?

So in case you’ve got swept up in the social craze of high achievement here are 7 habits to get you back to your old ineffective self.

Habit 1: Be Reactive

We all know there’s tons of stuff we could be doing to make our lives better. But let’s be honest… most of that stuff is scary and really, really hard! Whether it’s going to the gym every day or finding ways to make more money… sometimes it’s best just to sit back and let stuff happen to us.

After all if we never go out and try to accomplish anything then there’s no chance of failure - or success - so we eliminate those two big fears right out of the box. Plus when we’re reactive we can blame our circumstances for what happens to us. Everyone knows that if we’re poor it’s the governments fault and if we’re fat it’s all because of those evil fast food companies.

Habit 2: Begin with Nothing in Mind

Think about all those plans you’ve made in your life and how none of them really seem to work out. After all you’ve been planning to be a millionaire and sleep with movie stars your entire life and what has it gotten you? It’s much better if you have no plan or direction in your life at all.

When we focus on goals we end up trying to achieve them and develop as people. This is obviously a lot less fun than meandering hopelessly through life in a haze brought on by excessive drugs and alcohol. Plus this method works for the rock stars so why can’t it work for you?

Habit 3: Put First Things Last

We all have really important things we know we should do. But those things are often a lot more boring than the really fun stuff we can do instead. So it’s a lot healthier if we focus on those fun things and put off the big scary important things till later.

If you’re really creative you can probably find enough fun stuff to do so that you never even have to worry about the scary stuff. After all… look how many TV channels we have today filled with exciting and dynamic programming. With a bit of practice it’s easy to find new distractions to occupy our time.

Habit 4: Think Lose/Lose

Let’s face it… to get ahead in life you have to take advantage of other people and generally be an evil person. There is definitely no way to create a win/win situation for anyone so why even bother? You also don’t want to let others get the best of you so it’s always better to focus on getting lose/lose outcome for every situation you face.

If you really want to go to a movie but your friend really wants to go to a different (read: bad) movie then make sure you both come out of this situation both as miserable as each other. This is easily achieved by picking another movie that you’ll both hate equally as much.

Habit 5: Seek First to Be Understood, Then to Understand

If you’re reading this then you probably realize you’re smarter than 99% of the population… if not everyone. That’s why whenever you have an opinion or idea you should always try to carefully explain (using small words helps) why you’re right to others who are less intelligent than you. And if that doesn’t work you might as well mock and ridicule them.

We both know that if more people were like us the world would be a much better place. So it’s our responsibility to try and change as many people as possible. In fact it’s likely that you’re wasting your precious time even trying to understand other people’s inferior point of view.

Habit 6: Antagonize

People are much more productive when they work alone in competition with each other. Therefore you should try to foster an air of no holds barred competitive brutality with any team or organisation you come into contact with. If you celebrate your star performers achievements while berating the losers sooner or later everyone will lift their game to your high standards.

But don’t forget that this habit also applies to other organizations like your church or even your own family. If your children are constantly pitted against each other in competition for your love then they’ll soon realize winning is everything.  Once you’ve created this competitive environment you can then shape and mold them to fulfil your own childhood dreams.

Habit 7: Dull the Saw

Since the dawn of the self-help movement people have been mislead into thinking that in order to have a fulfilling life we have to constantly be improving and evolving. However the proponents of this new philosophy obviously never met us and realized that there are some people who are simply already perfect. After all it helps everyone else to have role models to aspire to and although it’s a big burden it’s one we’re more than happy to take on.

If they want to waste time reflecting on life and meditating then good luck to them. While they’re out there singing songs and holding hands trying to rejuvenate their lives we’ve already got it mastered. After all what kind of rest is better than sitting in front of the TV eating anyway?

A call to inaction

Too long have we been told that we have to “make” something or ourselves or lead a good life. What’s wrong with just getting by and taking up space? At the end of the day we all end up in the same box under the ground anyway.

Just face the fact that life is life and there’s nothing we can ever do to change our circumstances. Accept that if we’re fat, poor, lonely and miserable there’s nothing we could ever do to change this. Just remember to plaster on fake smile and stumble through the mindless boredom of another day.

¡Viva la Revolución!

[We will return after this short musical interlude]

Sorry… I was getting feedback that this blog didn’t contain enough musical numbers. Back to the point… if I had one.

Being a business owner means a huge responsibility. Not only do we need to ensure our business is successful to support ourselves and our families but we have countless other people relying on us from clients to suppliers and all the stakeholders in between. This can create a little pressure to get things right all the time.

The problem with being the best

We get into trouble when our business starts growing and suddenly we’re overwhelmed with more and more work. So we hire people to help us out but we don’t make (notice I didn’t say “have”) the time to train them properly. The new employees make mistakes… we take back the work and say “if you want it done right you have to do it yourself!”

And so our business reaches a level where we’re constantly stressed out and working ridiculous hours. Luckily growth stops because we definitely don’t have time for (or need) marketing. But we’re now trapped in a prison of our own creation.

Systems are the answer

We’ve all been told that to have a successful business we need systems. These systems allow us to hand over work to other people and focus on the really important work in the business. But the hard part is making the time to create the systems.

But we choose how we spend our time so we need to put aside that time for systematizing our business. We have to decide that training our staff is more important than fighting the latest fire. And we have to embrace the fact that time spent well now will lead to greater productivity down the line.

How to systematize your business

Take some time to write down everything you do in your business. First take some time to eliminate things you’re doing that aren’t really helping your business at all (there are usually a few) and then divide the task into things you must do and what staff could handle. You need to be ruthless here as you’ll probably try to hold onto tasks that aren’t mission critical in the process.

The important thing is to take the first step and start entrusting tasks to other people. Personally I think you’ll be amazed at what they can do… I know I have been for my business. An added tip is to put your ego aside and try to hire people who are better than you!

What you do next

If you’re like most business owners you probably feel overworked and underpaid for what you’re doing. So follow the steps above to systematize your business and start to remove yourself from as much as possible. This way you can focus on the bigger picture items and get a lot more leverage… which means more income at the end of the day.

Before I start a lot has to be credited to Simpleology and how it’s helped organise my life. I started using it about 6 months ago and haven’t looked back. You can read my previous Simpleology review here if you want to find out more.

The new technique that sounds stupid till you try it

I got this nugget from Eben Pagan of Get Altitude and Wake Up Productive fame. If anyone knows about productivity it’s a guy who built a 20+ million a year company starting in his bedroom on a laptop. He surprisingly also has some good ideas about making money as well but we won’t go into that.

Anyway… the technique. It’s based on working within what’s called your ultradian rhythm. This is a natural rhythm that determines how long your brain can stay active without rest (at least in my layman’s understanding).

Basically it insists you have to take regular breaks from your work to be more productive. Now it may sound stupid… work less to achieve more? But after trying it this week (and then not doing it properly) I’ve found it’s incredibly powerful.

Here’s how you do it

You work for 2 hours and then take a 30 minute break. In that break you eat a small meal and totally switch off from work. That means no checking email, reading, studying marketing materials or anything.

This gives your body and mind time to recharge so you’re much more productive during those 2 hours. Of course you also have to choose the right tasks to complete during the 2 hours and ensure you stay focused on them (turn your email and phones off!). This is where I find Simpleology comes in useful and these systems work well together.

Get hydrated

Something Eben also talks about is how dehydrated most people are. He suggests drinking 2 glasses of water immediately after you wake up to rehydrate yourself and start the day off well. I’ve found this has got me through the “OMG I want to go back to bed I’m so tired!” phase and I assure you I’m not a morning person.

I’ve also been drinking a glass of water at every break and sometimes more in between. I kept notes in my diary to make sure I got up to 8 glasses of water a day which is the suggested amount (generally). It’ll send you to the bathroom a lot in the beginning but your body will adjust quickly.

Ensure you’re in a peak physical state

At the end of the day our businesses rely on one person for their results… us! If we’re not performing at our peak then no one else is going to either. So we need to focus on increasing our effectiveness.

I’ve heard for years I should exercise in the morning and have done it in little spurts. However I’ve never really committed to it… until now (at least exercising every day at this point). By exercising in the morning we let out those natural happy drugs and ensure we can reach our peak state.

It doesn’t have to be hard exercise either… a simple walk around block is a good start. My goal has been to go to the gym in my building every day. Note I didn’t say work out every day… I said go to it

Because I know once I put my foot inside the door I’ll at least do something. And if I start doing something then I’ll probably do more. Just take it in baby steps and you’ll naturally grow to love your exercise time (take your iPod and make it fun).

The results

On Monday and Tuesday I followed my schedule exactly and felt great. On Tuesday I actually ticked every single thing off my todo list which never EVER happens. I so greatly improved productivity and was sold on the system.

On Wednesday and Thursday I had some phone calls I needed to make in the morning to the US which threw me off my schedule. I also didn’t go to the gym in the morning and decided to go later while also skipping breaks. The results showed in my todo list at the end of the day.

Late on Thursday afternoon I realised what had happened and how I’d been skipping my breaks. Feeling fatigued I made myself take a 30 minute break. After 10 minutes I was feeling much better but held out for the full 30. I ended up leaping back into work and getting a lot more tasks ticked off.

But don’t take my results for it. Try it for yourself and see what happens. I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised.

What you do next

Break your work day into 3 or 4 blocks of 2 hours each with a 30 minute rest in between. Spend your rest period relaxing, eat a little bit and drink some water. Also start your day with 2 glasses of water and see how you feel.

Once you’ve set this part up consider adding exercise. But the important thing is to make some positive changes and not to overwhelm yourself. Also don’t beat yourself up if you miss a break… just try to remember next time.