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Thursday, July 22, 2010

The 2 Keys To Defeating Frustration - Instantly

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 Is there a more pointless emotion than frustration? It serves no useful purpose other than emotional feedback that something in our status quo needs to change. More than likely that change is one of perception.


A long and mentally challenging day at work is rarely a factor of the actual activities we’ve engaged in, but rather the sense of impotence in achieving our goals.

There are many ways to define frustration; I like to define it as:

the gap between what we want and what we’ve got.

To eliminate this debilitating emotion we need to do one of two things: 

change our focus on what we want or accept that something’s are not in our control and move in the direction of that which we can control.

If the kids are doing your head in, or the boss, or your spouse, you do have a choice. Regression is the response of what I call the spoilt brat! Throw a tantrum, sulk, cry and any number of other manipulative performances.

However whilst this may provide temporary respite from our feelings of helplessness as we hook others into our ‘poor me drama,’ the long-term consequences are that people start to treat us like kids and become immune to our cravings.

Sadly, frustration is no laughing matter and there are many unstable individuals locked up due to letting emotions such as disappointment gradually escalate into despair, anger and eventually into irrational out pourings of anger and sometimes violence.

We are all calibrated differently with different trigger points and coping abilities. However once we become self aware of what’s actually going on emotionally then we start to become empowered with regard to our calculated response as opposed to the more typical knee jerk reaction.

Impulse control is mostly a factor of being tuned in to the moment and being aware of the bigger picture and consequences of our actions. Many regrets in life are the result of acting on impulse, when in the clear light of day we wonder why we acted so irrationally.

Alcohol for example is a well-known inhibitor of rational thought and the consequences of impulsive drunken behavior are well documented.

The message? Be aware of your ability to handle frustration before it consumes you. If you feel you can’t, then make some changes. Change job, relationship, or whatever is creating the most stress OR adapt and start to care less.

As the line in Desiderata (click for free download) states: perhaps “the universe is unfolding as it should”

Below is a recent Video I did on the subject of dealing with frustration and a few personal experiences i had along the way. Its about 4 mins- if it resonates -then your comments would be appreciated

Cheers Kiaran





Tuesday, July 20, 2010

Why Exactly Are You Online?

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Do you ever feel completely overwhelmed by the smorgasbord of choice available in this realm of infinite distraction?
I could have entitled this Blog  ‘The Focus Factor’
Unless your primary reason is to kill time it’s unlikely you’ll achieve your online objectives without some disciplined focus.
I’m online for 3 main reasons: 




 



  • To have fun - My life Philosophy
  • To Connect with like minded people -  
  • To make money – to fund my passion for travel!

The first reason - To have Fun is easy. Browsing sporting websites, interacting with friends and family, listening to music, and tuning in to the noise that interests me. But of itself doesn’t lead to any long term fulfillment.
To connect with like-minded people requires some effort. So who are these people?  These are the people I have connected with on social networking sites, who as a cross section share similar interests, philosophy, humor, business and are upbeat, motivated and inspiring.
Connecting with a million random tweeters is not my strategy of attracting these connections but there is a loose filtering method required.  Attracting like-minded people requires sharing personal insights. This can be via blogging, forum postings and promoting your profile. I find it baffling that so many online networkers do not share their profile. Engagement requires some motivation and solicitation. Give me a reason to invest my energy connecting with you!
To make money! This sounds crass but lets call it as it is. There is one social networking site that I’ve recently vacated where the whole reason that 90% of the participants are involved is to GRQ. Get Rich Quick! I have no problem with that within a certain context. Given a choice between GRQ or Get rich Slow, or even Stay Poor! – GRQ sounds good BUT the distaste I have for it as a one-dimensional strategy on this networking forum, is the self-centered spammy style of interaction. It’s all about Me, Me, Me. There is no sense of genuine leadership and reciprocation.
If you can fund your aspirations by doing that which you enjoy whilst helping others along the way, then that seems infinitely more rewarding than praying to win Lotto or selling empty dreams to the naïve.
The power of focus is profound. Sometimes the rewards can appear to take longer, but modest progress in the direction of a passionate goal makes a lot more sense than warp speed movement toward someone else’s goal.
Sharing your real reasons for being online will rapidly attract like- minded people toward you. Be wary though of the compound impact of attracting like-minded people to you if you are miserable, negative, mean spirited and scarred (only kidding I know that's not you!)–because there is a massive audience willing to engage-just pop on some online forums and notice how long and vitriolic some of the threads are that these people spend their lives contributing to.


Thursday, July 15, 2010

Rich Dad Poor Dad Secrets Revealed

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Robert Kiyosaki has built an impressive career around the principles he teaches in this short easy to read book. A best seller on the new York Times Best Seller List for over 6 years the financial lessons are compelling.
It is written in the manner of a parable, and Kiyosaki has been evasive when questioned about the actual existence in real life of the two central characters.  The folksy story telling style that he uses is a lot more palatable and digestible than any dreary economics manifesto I’ve ever read.
What are the key points in the book?
The Rich Don’t Work For Money.  
Instead of working for a pay cheque and living in fear and ignorance, they harness the power of money and have it work for them. The rich understand that money is an illusion. If everyone cashed in their assets tomorrow there just wouldn’t be enough to go around.
Financial Literacy.
You need to understand the difference between an asset and a liability. An asset is something that puts money in your pocket, and a liability is what takes money out of your pocket. Ask this question with regard to your current possessions. Is your car, your home, your computer, income producing or not?
Interestingly Kiyosaki notes that a business is only an asset, if someone else manages it. Otherwise it is simply a job.
Inability to Overcome 5 Obstacles.
·      Fear
·      Cynicism
·      Laziness
·      Bad habits
·      Arrogance

Getting Started.
·      Find a compelling ambition
·      Choose carefully how you invest. Start with financial education.
·      Pick your associates and peer groups carefully
·      Master a strategy and then find a new one
·      Create discipline and pay your self first
·      Pay your advisors well
·      Pay for your luxuries out of your asset column
·      Find heroes or role models to inspire you
·      Become a teacher of what you learn


Kiyosaki confronts conventional wisdom. He suggests that most people are blinkered and imprisoned by a financial slave mentality that people have in the pursuit of the paycheque. Opportunities abound and are missed by most people, because they haven’t been taught how to master their twin emotions of fear and greed.
The underlying theme is that knowledge is power and money is something to be mastered and not feared.
Kiyosaki ha s recently co-authored a book with the King of Capitalism, Donald Trump, suggesting his philosophies have the seal of approval from even the biggest of financial investors.





All Comments Welcome - even non English - Will moderate through Babel Fish!!

Saturday, July 10, 2010

The Free Lunch Economy

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This is a must read book if you are dabbling the black arts of online or offline marketing-in other words if you are engaged in business in a rapidly changing economic landscape. In a world where the cost of a transistor has dropped from $10 in 1961 to today when you can purchase 20000 for a dollar, how can a business survive and even thrive?


The following is my brief review of a fascinating book. All comments appreciated

Actually the title of the book is simply FREE-The Future of a Radical Price.

Frustrated by the piracy of their comedic satirical works, the Monty Python team conducted a real life skit. They created their own Youtube channel and proceeded to under cut the pirates by offering full television quality sketches for FREE! The result? An increase in sales of CD’s books etc to the tune of over 20000%.

In a similar vein. The band Radiohead offered their album ‘In Rainbow’ as a free download. They subsequently sold 3 million copies, surpassing their previous best album sales and perhaps the greater financial pay off was the 1 million plus concert tickets sold.

Chris Anderson, best known within the Internet Community as the editor of Wired magazine and the author of the best selling book ‘The Long Tail’ has written an easy to read and quite fascinating book that falls loosely between the categories of Economics, Social Commentary and on the fringes of prophetic philosophy.

Anderson makes some interesting observations that seem paradoxical in the extreme and seem to defy the rules of traditional economics. We live in an age dominated by all things digital. Information has never been more abundant and accessible. Yet, none of us have any additional time to process this tidal wave of sensory bits and bytes. Hence, like a child that’s had too much sugar or an adult drowning in caffeine the attention span and craving for instant gratification borders on the manic.

To compete for the attention of this audience, the purveyors of this content are increasingly embracing Freeconomics. Anderson notes that in 1961 the cost of a transistor was $10, by 1968 the cost had dropped to $1 dollar and today you can purchase 20 000 for that same 1 dollar. As marginal costs of a copy become so low, the price approaches zero. How can this apparent nonsense work?

Storage, processing and bandwidth, the essence of the digital world are increasing in capacity exponentially, so it would appear that the key to monetization is all in the ancillary add-on. The secret to the Freemium business model is simply to attract attention, build relationships, desire, trust and then by default the ever time poor freeloader will upgrade to the Premium service. If that service is Google then the upgrade can be significant. The initial free search and free email account is parlayed into paid Google Adwords clicks, purchases, and any number of monetary transactions.

In summary Anderson states that ‘people are making a lot of money charging nothing’

Each chapter is written in an engaging and entertaining manner. At times you feel that you’re being teased by the outrageous premise. Yet most of the arguments presented seem to validate his contention that perhaps despite the sage lectures from our elders that there’s no such thing as a free lunch, perhaps there really is! 



For more reviews visit this page:

Sunday, July 4, 2010

Book Review 'Know me, like me, follow me" Penny Power

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If you’ve been asleep for half a decade, you may have missed the proliferation of social networking sites across every imaginable spectrum of society.
Not so long ago it was kinda quaint to hear the elders in our society feign complete ignorance and befuddlement when introduced to the mobile phone. These late adopters are now texting their fingers down to the bone.
It is interesting to compare the attitudes of society, from our reaction to mobile phones (anyone with a mobile phone back in the early 90’s was obviously a pompous YUPPIE!) to the current ubiquity of social networking.
Like it or not this form of engagement is not going away anytime soon, and more and more previously disinterested movers and shakers are jumping onboard. There is a tangible realization that failing to engage may be counter productive to both their social and business goals.
Penny Power, the founder of Ecademy back in the late 1990’s, was one of the earliest facilitators of business to business networking. Her recent book ‘Know me, like me, follow me’ is an engaging introduction to social networking.
Written in a conversational style akin to a series of Blogs it is more accessible than some of the more academic books on the same subject.
One of the questions posited: are social networks enabling the world to be more humane-by creating connections and a new thinking?
A common theme running through the book is that success is the by-product of contribution and that commerce follows the building of relationships, not vice versa.
One of the most interesting questions among social networkers is whether to focus on building depth or width. In other words, should you build smaller more targeted connections that you can engage with regularly or randomly collect large numbers of tenuous anonymous connections?
This debate will rage forever, but Penny Power surprisingly is an ardent supporter of the latter approach. Her philosophy is that the name of the game is involvement. Personal branding is the new buzz term of e-commerce, and those that succeed need to be found. Search engines are impersonal they find those who are ubiquitous.  Relationships begin after a random interaction has occurred, and those who can leverage these relationships with like-minded people and businesses have the greatest chance of success.
You may not learn anything new by reading this book, but you may alter your perspective of where this social media phenomenon is heading and the power it may have in defining your online and offline outcomes.
I was suitably motivated to join the Ecademy network and to re evaluate my thoughts about building random connections. If you appreciate the power of serendipity then you may well embrace the message of this book.
I believe all social media networkers would benefit from reading this book and those who have not yet ventured into the world of Blogging, Facebooking, Tweeting and Networking with strangers may be motivated to dip their toe in the ocean.


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