By Vishnu Virtues

Do you have 50 great ideas a day? New business plans? New blogs to start? New books to write? New courses to create? New speeches to give? New inventions to launch?

You may even start on some of these projects but lose motivation very quickly. It seems like ideas come up and fly away without you taking action on them. You’re wondering why some people can start on projects and keep pushing forward while you tend to lose interest after you start something.

Well, here’s the thing. Motivation isn’t something you’re born with. It’s not that some people are naturally motivated and others aren’t motivated at all. The big secret is that motivation can be cultivated which means that you too can do something to improve the level of motivation in your life. When you feel like scrapping the idea because you’ve lost interest, have a look at your motivation tank.

Here are 7 unspoken rules of motivation that will help you move forward to achieving your dreams:

1. Starting small helps you get motivated
If you love to bite off more than you can chew, take note of this principle. If you go after big tasks and giant goals, without breaking them down, you won’t feel very motivated. Instead of going for the kill every day, take small steps to achieving your life goals. Small steps means taking the smallest of steps. What is the very smallest action step you can break down? Take that step today. Buy the domain name. Write your first hundred words. Get the running shoes out of the closet.


2. Having a reason “why” helps you stay motivated
​This is the biggest reason you don’t have the mojo to keep going. You start something but then suddenly feel like you have no reason to pursue it. If you’re going to go after something, get super clear on why this is important to your life. Come up with a list of reasons on why the dream is important or why the goal matters.  Keep this list at the top of your mind and look at it every day. Make sure you have emotional, psychological and purpose-filled reasons to go after whatever it is you want.

“A dream doesn’t become reality through magic; it takes sweat, determination and hard work.” – Colin Powell

3. Your vision of what’s possible helps you keep going
So often, we start and stop because we can’t see the end product. We can’t see what the promise land looks like. If you want to stay motivated, you have to keep the vision of what’s possible in front of you. Spend a couple minutes envisioning achieving your goal or dream. What does that feel like? How do you view yourself after you’ve achieved it? Taste the sweetness of having done what you’re setting out to do.


4. Habits are the fuel for motivation
Yes, you should take small steps but not occasionally and not when you feel like it. The way to make sure you remain motivated, especially in the beginning, is to turn your dreams into actionable steps that you do consistently. Write for five minutes a day. Run for five minutes a day. Work on your business plan for five minutes a day. It’s not how long you do something as  much as how consistently you do something. Use habits to keep you moving forward.  


5. Acknowledging your progress is critical
You may move ahead but feel more behind. When you don’t feel like you’re progressing forward, you begin to feel like you’ve lost. The way to help you stay motivated is to regularly remind yourself of how far you’ve come along. To do that, acknowledge your progress. Track your progress and celebrate milestones. Look back and show yourself how much farther along you are.


6. Your inner circle impacts your motivation
If you don’t think your friends, mentor and inner circle matters, you’re wrong. You’re going to do what your circle of influence does. If your inner circle is lazing around and slacking , you’re going to do the same. If you hang around go-getters who are going after their dreams, you’re going to do so likewise. The people around you can be the sun that helps you flourish or the weeds that will cripple your progress. Add more sun in your life and cut the weeds out. Be conscious and aware of who you’re surrounding yourself with because they have a direct effect on your motivation.

“Surround yourself with the dreamers and the doers, the believers and thinkers, but most of all, surround yourself with those who see the greatness within you, even when you don’t see it yourself.” – Edmund Lee

7. Failure can unleash your motivation
You might feel it’s over when you fail but that’s hardly the case. All success stories, world-changers and come-back stories share one thing in common, failure. All the greats have failed. You have to use the lessons of failure as an opportunity to spring forward. Use your failure to learn what didn’t work, then start over. Go stronger and bolder than you’ve gone before. Failure is a great motivator to get it right and to surpass previous attempts.

If you need help getting started on your new business venture  UPNIN can help in numerous ways.  From Incorporation, Graphic Designing, Website, Marketing or Raising Capital we can help you today!

​By  Dale Partridge

3 Critical Questions To Confirm Your Purpose

1. What are you most passionate about? If your passion is not your profession, you have a problem. We spend the majority of our lives working; and if you dislike your job, you often dislike your life. Sticking with the pattern of college, steady job, retirement, and death typically pulls purpose from the picture.
   
   So what drives you? What work makes you come alive? Maybe you have a dream to start a business, launch a profitable blog, or build a charity. Regardless of what chains you wore as a child, it’s time to break free. We live in a world filled with resources and support to help cut that rope and create that career. The question is, do you believe it?
2. Who’s most important to you? Life is only as meaningful as the people you experience it with. But too often our fears keep us from words to be said and commitments to be made. Instead, we live on as independent entities homesick for relationships we believe we can’t have.
   
   But not anymore. I don’t believe we are victims to life, I believe we are victors. We have choice and we have the ability to create the relationships we desire. So who is the one person most important to you? Who makes you better, loves you fully, and brings joy to your life? If you’re on a separate journey from this person, it might be time to reconsider the path you’re on.
3. Where is your favorite place on earth? It’s baffling to watch millions of people lay down their dreams for destination and settle for living vicariously through the social media feeds of those brave enough to live. It’s common to find comfort in familiarity. But if you have a desire to live on a farm (like our family does), yet you live in a city, it’s time change that. If you hate the cold of the Midwest and fill your home with images of tropical destinations, it’s time to chase that.
   
   Location determines the majority of our activity. And just because you were born one place, does not mean you must die there. Look, in maturity, we must come to the realization that someday isn’t a day and a dream without a plan is merely a wish. If your heart desires a destination in which you believe you can thrive, then it’s time to begin planning. Because even if you can’t move today, you can start making steps to move there in the future.

Bottom line, if you’re working on what you’re passionate about, with the person most important to you, in a place that brings adventure and excitement to your story, then you are living your purpose. Don’t let anyone make it seem more complicated than that. These people are merely individuals still struggling with the conditioning of their history’s chains.
Reality CheckThese are big goals that fill big spaces in our lives. It took our family almost 3 years to begin living within all three of these questions. Three years of difficult decisions, personal sacrifices, and brave moves.


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5 Hard, Challenging Steps To Becoming A Millionaire
By: Dale Partridge


I remember telling my Dad at a young age how I would become a millionaire by 30. He gave me the non-sarcastic, yet mostly skeptical “I bet you will son.”

But shockingly, I did.

And while money seemed to be the focus during my early pursuit, it became my furthest concern over the past several years. Interestingly, success has a way of prioritizing what drives us.
But let’s say you’re like me 12 years ago; broke (or at least not wealthy), living in an apartment, and having very little besides a full tank of ambition and a fierce dedication to win. How do you reach your goal? How do make it to the millionaire’s club?

More importantly, how do you do it while keeping a good name, not killing yourself with stress, and still creating a life full of relationships and joy?
Here’s what I’ve learned over the past several years. My advice is not easy or quick. But, it’s more likely to work than the sea of get-rich-quick programs that litter the internet.

1. Flip Your Money Motivation Upside DownBy age 25, I was nowhere near a net worth of $1 million. I still had some debt, still lived in an apartment, but I was at least taking a $48,000 salary from my own company. Progress was being made.

And then my heart changed. After asking myself the question, “If Jesus started a company, what would it look like?”. My motivation shifted from financial success to impact success.
I launched Sevenly, a company with a mission to give $7 to a worthy cause for every product we sold. My sights were set on feeding the hungry, rescuing girls caught in sex trafficking, caring for the orphan, and most importantly building a healthy business of love and respect.

BECOMING A MILLIONAIRE WASN’T EVEN ON MY RADAR.
In just three years, we had almost 50 employees, $6.5 million in revenue, and had given over $4 million to charities. I wrote a national bestselling book about it called People Over Profit. But the takeaway was this:

SEE MONEY NOT AS THE PRIMARY GOAL BUT AS A BY-PRODUCT OF HELPING A MILLION PEOPLE.

You’ll never become wealthy without helping people. It’s that simple. What massive problem can you get lost in? What human needs are begging for you to solve them?

2. Start Playing The 5x Generosity GameWharton professor, Adam Grant proves in his book Give And Take, that people who give and give often, are more financially successful than those who don’t. But it’s more complex than just being generous. In my experience, you must have something of value to be generous with.

If your goal is to become wealthy, you must surround yourself with wealthy people. The problem is, wealthy people don’t need much from anyone. And to be honest, they are on guard from everyone needing something from them.

I quickly learned what successful people truly needed was momentum. Their success was dependent upon their consistent growth, reach, and influence.

But how could I offer this? In 2009, I began acquiring large social media accounts from anyone who would sell them to me. I ran these accounts by posting inspirational content, quotes, and viral images. But it was my audience that many authors, influencers, and business owners needed to further their success. Later that year, I began having a variety of influential individuals offer to pay me to post their book or products or links.

But I didn’t take their money.

Instead, I gave it to them for free and often. Sometimes I would drive 10,000 visitors to an author’s website just because I loved their book. This naturally created the reciprocator effect. And as a result, these people felt slightly indebted to me. In return, they would make introductions to other successful leaders, set me up with companies who would purchase very expensive ad campaigns, and ultimately became close acquaintances of mine.

GENEROSITY IS LESS LIKE AN ARROW AND MORE LIKE A BOOMERANG, IT COMES BACK TO YOU.

So be generous. But first, create something of value to give. For me, it was an audience. What is it for you?

3. Shift From Making Money To Creating Awesome StuffI’ve met too many people who create businesses to make money. And then I’ve met people who create businesses to fuel their passion.
But there is a major difference here. One makes things because they want to make money; the more things they make, the more money they make. What they make doesn’t really matter that much to them – they’ll make anything as long as it pays.

The other wants to make money because it allows them to make more things. They want to improve their product. They want to build a movement. The want to create another book, another community, another film. They love what they make and they see making money as a way to do even more of what they love. They dream of building a company that creates the best products… and money just happens to be the way they can fuel their passions.

While it’s very possible to find a meaningless product that can generate a million dollars, most successful entrepreneurs learn that making money with what you love is more important than make money to make money. I think the great Walt Disney said it best:

WE DON’T MAKE MOVIES TO MAKE MONEY, WE MAKE MONEY TO MAKE MORE MOVIES.

4. Spotlight Your Talent And Become A MasterOne of my favorite quotes is, “Obsessed is the word lazy people use to describe the dedicated.” And the word obsessed and millionaires go quite well together. Almost like a disease you want to catch. An addiction at it’s purest form, yet manageable by its greatest victims.

If you know me well, you’ll learn I am fanatical. Everything I do is at a 10.
For example, earlier today I was walking with a friend who asked me if I had ever got into gaming. My wife quickly replied, “No. Dale was always afraid if he got into gaming it would take too much time
away from his life’s priorities.”

It’s true. My extreme dedication has left my 20’s riddled with the footprints of sacrifice and lost experiences. But it’s also the reason our family can enjoy our children, take vacations, and work only when we want to now in our 30’s.

But at the core, I have always been focused on one thing.

BECOME THE BEST MARKETING PERSON I KNOW.

It’s this vision that has forced me to read almost 100 books on the topic, to dive deep into design theory, to get beyond talking and generate results, and to understanding what truly makes the human mind work. I think Steve Jobs said it best:

BE SO GOOD THE WORLD CAN’T IGNORE YOU.

What can you become the best in the world at? What keeps you up at night? What part of your personality is primed to succeed?

If you can harness your ability to focus, fight off discouragement, and press into your gifting eventually you’ll be good. Then you’ll be great. And a few years down the road, you’ll be world-class. And then, probably without even noticing, you’ll also be a millionaire. At least that’s how it worked for me.

5. Most Importantly, Launch Your Dream & Kill The Employee MentalityIt’s very difficult to become a millionaire as an employee. Starting your own business is truly the path of least resistance.

​But I can hear your thoughts now, “I don’t know how to start a business.” But neither did I. In the fall of 2013, I shifted my heart from building to teaching. My mission was to share what I’ve learned and to help people create a business and life they love.

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