Dear Friend,

I'm not sure if you've noticed but I start every blog post with the day and EXACT time I start typing my message to you.

Sometimes I wonder if that hurts my SEO results.

But I don't think so.

I mean… come one.

Google's artificial intelligence programs are smart enough to know where my actual content starts, right?

If not… Google's A.I. must be pretty damn stupid… and we know it's not.

I do a few other things on my blog SEO experts say are wrong.

Whatever.

There's a method to my madness… and we'll talk about that in more detail another day.

But I'll give you the short answer right now…

Basically, it's an affront to my creative integrity to write solely for SEO.

You see, I started writing and CONTINUE to write this blog exclusively for you, the end user, to use a very impersonal Google term.

And that "keep the end user happy" is the EXACT formula Google adheres to with all their various services, including the 800 lb. gorilla Google search engine.

If that philosophy hurts my SEO… so be it.

I didn't start doing this blog for SEO and I'm not going to compromise my beliefs just to get better search engine positioning.

Hell, I'm a frickin' marketing expert for crying out loud. I've generated MILLIONS of dollars with an initial investment of only $200.

If all I cared about was traffic, I could throw so much targeted PAID traffic at this humble little blog, it would make your head spin.

But that's not why I'm doing this.

My initial stated goal for DobermanDan.com was to make a difference in your life and share many of my "school of hard knocks" lessons with you… so you don't have to suffer like I did trying to figure out all this stuff.

I'm not going to compromise my goal, edit myself, choke off my creativity and restrict my muse to a certain number of words just to please the search engine gods.

Pardon my French… but…

To hell with that!

Look… I have enough life experience to know that any time I compromise myself… or edit myself in any way to please some external force… my message gets watered down… and YOU my dear reader, are the one who gets short changed.

Bottom line:

I will NOT compromise my message
for better search engine positioning!

(If my SEO sucks because I'm more concerned about helping you than pleasing Google… you could help a brother marketer out by passing my blog URL out to all your contacts along with your personal endorsement. That would be MUCH appreciated.)

Anyhoo… back to what we were talking about:

I start each blog post with the day and time for a couple reasons:

1. Historical reference… and…

2. I have the hope you're perceptive enough to notice the widely varying times at the top of each post… and… the smarts to learn a valuable lesson from it.

Here's the deal:

I recently made a new commitment to myself… and, indirectly, YOU.

I realized I've been investing most of my time in my cherished Marketing Camelot members and paper & ink newsletter… but I've been ignoring my blog.

So I committed to writing a blog post every day for a certain period of time.

I appreciate you following my blog and I sincerely want to provide value in your life.

From a purely financial standpoint, all this extra time invested in writing these daily blog posts is a piss-poor investment of my time. I could make a LOT of money investing this time in my various business ventures.

But money has never been my primary motivator. (I could make a LOT more money if I wanted to. I know EXACTLY what to do to make a SHITLOAD of cashola. I'm taking SCARY amounts of fungolas.)

Anyhoo… back to the "date & time thang" on my blog posts we originally started talking about.

If you'll take the time to notice, I start writing my blog posts at widely varying times. Sometimes 4:00 AM… sometimes 11:57 at night… other times 1:00 PM in the afternoon.

Basically, I write you at all times of the day and night.

For example, it's now 8:44 PM Sunday night. An hour has passed since I started writing to you.

I'm SUPPOSED to be taking the night off… and this evening was supposed to be spent relaxing with the Colombiana watching movies.

Instead, I'm spending the evening writing YOU… with the glimmer of hope something I say will help you avoid many of the mistakes and much of the misery I've experienced.

Why am I doing that?

Well, for one thing, I sincerely hope you'll follow my lead.

You see, the key to making positive and constructive things happen in your life is simply…

Doing the work!

No matter what challenges you face…

…No matter how you feel…

…No matter who or what opposes you…

…You discipline yourself to sit down EVERY DAY and do whatever it takes to complete the work you know you need to do…

…whether or not there is an immediate reward.

Maybe nobody has ever told you this before… but…

The completion of your work
is its own reward!

The financial reality is… I will probably make ZERO cashola from all the time I invested in this blog post.

And I'm OK with that.

I didn't invest my valuable and limited life in this post solely for money.

I did it for two reasons:

1. The sincere desire to help you discover a valuable lesson that will impact you for the rest of your life… and…

2. To experience the personal satisfaction of keeping my word to myself and completing my work.

THAT is my reward.

If I make a few bucks because you FINALLY wise up and subscribe to The Doberman Dan Letter… that's just gravy.

I've already received my reward in full… because I did the work.

Wanna feel good about yourself every single day?

It's simple…

Do the work, dammit!

Commit a minimum of 33 minutes and 33 seconds every single day to doing the work needed to reach your goals… and miracles will start to happen in your life.

I promise.

All the best,

P.S. It's now 10:53 PM Sunday night and I've finally finished writing and editing this post.

Three hours and 10 minutes invested in YOU… on my only "night off" this week.

Dear Friend,

I've recently discovered how to…

♦ Make more money doing what you're really passionate about…

♦ Do MORE of the things you love… and LESS of the things you DON'T like. (And in some cases… NEVER again have to do the things you don't like doing)…

♦ And… how to live in a "Camelot" of your own creation…

Sounds crazy, I know… but I really AM pulling it off.

And life is getting really exciting here in the DD household.

I plan on sharing EXACTLY how I'm accomplishing this new breakthrough very soon.

And this IS a big breakthrough.

I've made a lot of money the past few years… but I recently came to the realization that I have not been happy.

(It took a Google slap and the accompanying loss of about $300k to $400k over the next 12 months for me to FINALLY re-evaluate my life.)

If you've been struggling to choose a niche or market where you can make some really good money AND enjoy yourself, I'm going to start focusing more on helping you do that.

If you're stuck in a job you don't like and simply want to make enough money to replace that income… and get you free from your j-o-b so you can have the time, freedom and money to enjoy your REAL passions… I've had some recent epiphanies and breakthroughs that should really help you.

See, most people spend their entire lives being a slave to money, never really enjoying the kind of exciting and rewarding life they COULD enjoy.

And if that's not bad enough, after all that hard work, slave labor and letting other people control almost every single aspect of your life (cuz your time IS your life, brother)…

98% Die Broke!

Even though the U.S. ranks rather poorly amongst most other countries for personal freedom and civil rights… it is STILL one of the best places to make money.

So why are so many people spending their lives as slaves and then dying broke?

Because they've been lied to!

Almost EVERYTHING you've been told about how to make money… and how to KEEP money has been taught to you by broke people!

And NONE of it was true.

Dammit… I've had enough.

You CAN live a life most people can only DREAM about… and it ain't that hard.

And I'm going back to my "kitchen table entrepreneur roots" to show you how to do it.

It's great making millions… and that's what I've been teaching… but that's not what 98% of my subscribers need.

You need to make a hassle-free income that gives you the time freedom to do what you want, when you want to.

THEN… if you decide it's what you REALLY want… you can go and make MILLIONS.

The past couple years I've been chasing millions… and there are PLENTY of opportunities to do that if that's your thing.

But I feel like I've lost my way the past couple years. When I became a "kitchen table entrepreneur" my goal was never to get richer than Midas. It was just to get free of my dead end j-o-b to be free to pursue my REAL passions.

And that's what I'm getting back to.

If that's the kind of lifestyle and income you want for yourself, there's some really cool stuff on the way soon.

All the best,

P.S. Some of the BIGGEST lies you've been told by the public school system and other broke people is about money.

First of all, there are some very interesting (and somewhat shocking reasons) you're not making enough money… AND why you're only keeping very little of what you're making.

Even if you're making a higher than average income, you're probably keeping very little of it. WAY less than what you should be keeping. It will probably surprise you to find out why.

A few years ago, Gary Halbert said he would only share his highest of high level secrets with people he hand selected… and they would have to walk out into the ocean with him until they were neck-deep in the water. (That was to make sure they weren't wearing a "wire".)

In the next issue of The Doberman Dan Letter I'm going to reveal one of those secrets Halbert shared with me when we were neck-deep in the ocean. It's some shocking stuff about why many entrepreneurs are making MILLIONS… but are STILL broke.

HINT: The deck has been stacked against you since December 24, 1913… and most people have no idea how to "beat the house."

If you don't know these secrets, chances are you'll be one of those life-long slaves who will die broke… even if you make MILLIONS.

Dear Friend,

I've been feeling a little under the weather this week.

Actually I'm under-playing it for the camera.

The truth is I haven't even felt like getting out of bed.

When I finally do get out of bed, all I can do is lie on the couch in my office.

I've had to put almost everything on the back burner this week.

And I'm glad.

It's been a learning experience.

When I was finally able to do a little work, all I could do was prop myself up on the couch and work with a yellow legal pad and pen.

Being seated for longer than five minutes was not an option… and DEFINITELY not sitting in front of the computer.

Here's the amazing thing…

Even being sick and in quite a bit of pain, I've been more productive than usual… and have created things that will make me more money… by simply lying on the couch with a pen and yellow legal pad.

I've been more productive (in terms of creating things that generate income) than if I were healthy and in front of the computer for hours a day like usual.

Here's the most important thing I've discovered this week:

Wanna know what the biggest unproductive time suck of your entire day is?

Checking Your E-mail!

You know it's true.

And if that's how you START your day…

Tsk, tsk, tsk.

There is NOTHING worse you could do to set the tone for a successful day.

Even watching T.V. while sucking down a martini (BOTH kill brain cells, by the way) would be a better start to your day.

Look… of all the messages you get in your e-mail, how many are truly important?

How many truly contribute to your financial well-being, long term goals or happiness?

I'd be willing to bet only about 10%.

Probably less.

And those that you think are truly important could be dealt with just once or twice a week.

This business of checking your e-mail 3… 4… 5… or 10 or more times a day is RUINING your productivity… and keeping you from enjoying a REAL life.

And you guys and gals with smart phones surgically attached to your hand and/or hip…

You're REALLY screwing up!

You obviously place ZERO value on your time.

Look, I ran businesses in the "pre cell phone" era… and it worked perfectly.

Actually we were probably more productive back then.

Here's a little history lesson for the whippersnapper Internet generation…

See, we had this miraculous invention that worked with a cassette tape called an "answering machine." This ancient contraption would answer your phone when you couldn't. The caller could leave a message and would expect a return call within a few days.

Now with smart phones and e-mail the expectation has changed.

People expect you to get back to them within MINUTES. And if they don't get a response within 24 hours or less, they're REALLY pissed off… sending multiple messages wondering why you haven't answered.

Screw that!

The most important thing you could do right now for your productivity, wealth and happiness is…

Get away from your e-mail as much as possible…
and smash your smart phone with a SLEDGE HAMMER!

I know… I know.

You think e-mail is vital to your business… and YOU are different.

You have it under control.

(That's a common theme amongst addicts, by the way. They delude themselves into believing they have their addiction under control.)

You probably do NOT have it under control.

And you're DEFINITELY out of control if you have a smart phone that beeps every time you get a new e-mail.

Now you no longer have just a little time management problem…

You have a full-blown ADDICTION!

And it's going to be tough to break.

But if you're smart you'll do whatever it takes to break free.

I sincerely hope you don't have to get sick and bed ridden with a broken vertebra and multiple ruptured disks to discover this on your own. But if that's what it takes… then consider it a blessing.

E-mail on your computer or smart phone comes with a MILLION distractions.

Come on… you know I'm telling the truth.

Checking your e-mail turns into 90 minutes or more wasted on nonsense.

The yellow legal pad and pen… far away from your computer… and with your smart phone dying a slow painful death after being smashed with a hammer… comes with almost ZERO distractions.

Cross my heart and hope to die… swear to God (or Darwin for the atheists)… and with none of the typical guru B.S income exaggerations…. I have generated MILLIONS with nothing but a yellow legal pad and pen.

Even though I prefer to write on the computer, Gary Halbert FORCED me to use nothing but a yellow legal pad and pen the entire year and a half I worked with him.

I HATED it at first.

But now I totally get it.

Don't wait for a major injury or illness to discover this for yourself.

Try this for just a week:

• Turn off your cell phone and hide it in the garage…
• Turn off your home phone, too…
• Only check your e-mail twice a week. Three times at the MOST…
• Go to the library every day… or a nice park… or the lake… or any place that's quiet and makes you feel good… with nothing but a yellow legal pad and pen.

You'll be amazed what's going to happen.

Who knows… you might even come up with a sales letter that's gonna make you a million bucks.

When you're making that kind of money you can hire some poor schmuck to carry around your miserable smart phone and answer your time-sucking e-mails…. while you actually enjoy life for a change.

All the best,

P.S. Heck… you could even lie in the sun by your pool writing your weekly blog post on a yellow legal pad if you wanted. Then hand it off to your virtual assistant for transcribing and posting to your blog.

That would probably work, too.

Dear Friend,

I've got a special treat for you today.

My friend, A-list copywriter, Brad Petersen, is going to reveal his highly successful secrets for writing world class copy.

Enjoy!

Dear Friend,

On this post I asked for some ideas for new videos.

John Furst and I.A. (and a couple others via e-mail) wanted to see what my daily routine is like.

You'll really be underwhelmed!

BTW, the Colombiana was sooooo embarrassed I left the blanket on the couch. She says it looks tacky. I admit… it does. But it keeps Donner from scratching up the leather when he jumps up on the couch to sleep.

My office, my rules. I allow him up on the couch.

He knows better than to get up on the living room couch. That's the Colombiana's domain… and mommy doesn't allow dogs on HER couch.

I used to marvel at writers who are really prolific. I always wondered how they are able to constantly crank out a nonstop flow of new material.

But I've since discovered the secret. I discovered this little-known gem in a transcription from a speech by legendary copywriter Eugene Schwartz.

Here's the first secret… writers WRITE.

A lot of people tell me they want to be writers. That's simple… write!

Reading books about writing, listening to audio courses about writing and going to seminars does NOT make you a writer.

And you don't need to be anointed by some guru to become a writer. Just write and you're a writer.

That's easy enough, isn't it?

Onward.

Here's the second (and most valuable)
secret to becoming a prolific writer:

Set aside 30 minutes, six days a week, where you do nothing but write.

During this 30 minutes, shut off the phone and any other distractions and just write. Don't check your e-mail, shuffle through your swipe file, do research on the Internet… the ONLY thing you do is write.

You say you can't think of anything to write? That doesn't matter. You just need to start the MOTION of writing and get your pen moving or your fingers typing.

I'm not kidding… it really doesn't matter what you write. You just need to get going. Motion beats meditation, remember?

So write "blah blah blah yadda yadda yadda" and keep doing that until you do think of something to write.

Keep writing whatever comes to mind and if you run out of ideas, then go back to writing "blah blah blah yadda yadda yadda".

The point is, you will do nothing but write in those 30 minutes… even if all you end up writing is "blah blah blah yadda yadda yadda".

But don't worry. It's highly unlikely that you'll spend 30 minutes writing nothing but "blah blah blah yadda yadda yadda".

What usually happens is you might write "blah blah blah yadda yadda yadda" for a few minutes and then the seeds of an idea start flowing. So you follow that and write about whatever pops into your mind and follow that until it peters out.

Then when your mind goes blank again you go back to writing "blah blah blah yadda yadda yadda". A short time later you'll get another idea and you can write about that.

And I recommend you do this six days a week. (Hey… even God rested one day a week.)

What's that you say? My secret to being a prolific writer sounds too simple?

It is simple… that's the beauty of it. The hard part is being disciplined enough to actually do it.

Think about it… how consistent have you really been in your writing over the past six months?

My bet is you've been consistently inconsistent. You probably hit it hard for an hour or two here and there. But you haven't yet disciplined yourself to a daily writing habit. That is why you're not as prolific as you could be.

Here's another secret I learned from Gene Schwartz…

Gene used to set an egg timer for 33 minutes and 33 seconds. During that time, he would fully concentrate on the task at hand and would not get up from his desk or allow himself to be distracted by anything.

But the minute that timer went off, no matter what he was doing or how deeply he was engrossed in it, he would get up from his desk, walk away and take a break.

That was his secret of getting things done. He totally focused on the task at hand for 33 minutes and 33 seconds… and no longer.

As I recall, he said that helped keep him focused and also kept his mind fresh.

I've been using Gene's secret and I can tell you that it works. I have to admit, sometimes it's hard to get up and walk away from a project when the timer goes off and you're really getting into it… but just do it. You can always come back to it. Taking breaks every 33 minutes and 33 seconds will keep you from getting fatigued and will keep you fresh.

But since we're in the digital age you might want something a bit more high tech than an egg timer.

I use a nifty little free program called "Cool Timer". You can download it here.

The thing I like about Cool Timer (besides being FREE) is you can program "preset" periods like 33 minutes and 33 seconds. So just open the program, load your preset and click the "start" button. It will start counting down and will sound an alarm when your preset period is up.

You can select any sound you like as your alarm sound. I use the soundbyte on this popular website (from a Cheech and Chong movie) but I've got a warped sense of humor. Something more subtle might work better for you.

Here's what I suggest: Do your 30 minutes of writing at the same time every day… preferably in the morning.

For many people, shortly after awakening is when your subconscious mind is fresh with ideas. That's a great time to write.

Let me take a sidetrack for a minute…

It takes self-discipline to stick to your writing schedule. To be quite honest, there are a lot of sacrifices you have to make in order to enjoy success and progress in your personal and business life.

I’ve always said…

You’ll either endure the short term
pain of self-discipline… or…
suffer the long term pain of regret.

This “discipline” thing seems to be what holds a majority of people back from doing the things necessary to get closer to their goals.

Don’t feel bad. All of us suffer from a lack of discipline.

Not a week goes by that I don’t hear from one of my subscribers who is struggling and not getting the kind of results they want in their business. In a lot of cases the problem is caused by inconsistency with their daily habits and routine.

The question I always get is, “What can I do to stay motivated and disciplined with the things I need to do to increase my income?”

That seems to be the biggest problems most of us have… self-discipline and consistency. (Unless you're Dan Kennedy. That guy is my hero in that department.)

I wish I could wave a magic wand and solve all your self-discipline problems so you could achieve all your goals. But the truth is… any time you stick your head above the crowd and try to advance and achieve goals, all kinds of forces come out of nowhere to oppose your progress.

I don’t understand all the mystical and spiritual things happening in this universe, so I don’t understand why this happens. I only know it does happen.

Allow me to share a few secrets in this issue that I’ve learned that should help keep you disciplined and on track.

I recently came through a series of crises that had not only taken their toll on my mind but affected my health, too.

But I’m not lying around feeling sorry for myself. Well, at least not anymore. Ya know why?

Shit happens. Deal with it. It happens to all of us.

You can lie around wallowing in self pity… which I double-dog guarantee you will make things worse! Or you can decide to make a few very simple changes in your daily routine that will make a profound difference in your life and future.

Here’s a little secret that I started a few weeks ago that has made a big difference in my life.

A good friend of mine recently told me something very valuable he learned in federal prison:

“Take care of your routine and
your routine will take care of you.”

If you have no daily routine and you just fly by the seat of your pants, your life will be chaotic, to say the least.

So, on the advice of my friend, this is what I do every morning to set myself up for a successful day. (A bunch of consecutive successful days make a successful week… successful month… and successful year.)

But first let me tell you about what I used to do:

I would wake up every day (at varying times) and crawl out of bed.

Then I'd go into the kitchen and make coffee. Then I sat down at the computer and started checking my e-mail. That was usually enough to get things off on the wrong foot.

Checking your e-mail is the WORST possible way to start your day, in my most humble (but accurate) opinion.

Then I’d drink a couple cups of coffee while reading e-mail or putting out the “fires of the day”.

Next would usually be breakfast or a protein drink and I'd go back to handling whatever situation screamed the loudest.

Then there were phone calls, paying bills, and other assorted fun things.

Around 2:00 PM I would go to the gym because it was the least crowded at that time. That was actually a high point of my day.

Look, the point I’m trying to make is that I let my whole day just kind of drift along dealing with whatever cropped up. There was no plan or organization.

Here’s what I NOW do and
what I recommend YOU do:

I get out of bed at the same time every day, and… I get out of bed! I don’t hit the snooze alarm or lounge around an extra ten minutes. (Weekends are a different story though.)

I drink a little water while getting dressed, and I head out the door for a twenty to thirty minute walk. Donner the devil dog always walks with me.

The purpose of this walk is not for cardio, fat burning, or any kind of health reasons. This is my “start-of-the-day, clear my head” walk. I take a fairly leisurely walk to be alone with my thoughts.

Sometimes I think about the things I need to accomplish that day. Some times I think about my goals and dreams. Some times I recall fond memories. Other times I review my mental list of people to kill. (It grows longer every day.)

But most of the time I just walk and let my mind wander.

If you start your day off on the right foot and feel good about it, it affects every other facet of your life. You’ll stay more consistent with your other daily habits, too.

If you can keep this habit up for at least three weeks, I guarantee it will have a positive effect in all aspects of your life.

To be honest, I really don't know HOW it works… I only know that it does.

My guess is that setting this simple little habit into motion makes it easier to stay disciplined with the other positive habits in your life. It basically starts a “positive habits snowball effect.”

After my walk, I drink a very low carb protein drink with a little fish oil. Carbs usually make me feel lethargic but protein keeps the blood sugar levels steady for longer periods and that keeps your mind fresh.

Then I start Cool Timer and write for 33 minutes and 33 seconds.

When I hear Cheech's voice, I know it's time to quit.

I take a short break and then start doing the daily mundane stuff like checking e-mail, returning phone calls, etc.

And ya know what? I feel really good when I start my day this way.

Exceptionally good.

And I'm writing more than I have in years.

In fact, these newsletters are the direct result of my daily 33 minutes and 33 seconds writing habit.

I had been planning on doing this newsletter for the past couple years but it always got pushed to the back burner. I told myself I didn't have the time to do it.

Now that I've learned the secrets to being more prolific and managing my time better… well, you're reading some of the results.

And hopefully you're glad about it.

All the best,

Doberman Dan

P.S. I didn't realize how loose my time management had gotten until a couple months ago.

I visited my friend, Eddie De la Cruz in Costa Rica and saw that he got more done in the first two hours of his day than I did in my entire day.

The key is how he manages his time.

Eddie turned me on to a tool that has been the best thing I've ever used to get more done and accurately track my progress with projects and goals.

It's an online time management program called Time Jar and it's the best I've ever seen. I highly encourage you to check it out for a couple reasons:

1. Without a doubt, it will help you increase your income, get more accomplished and make faster, more consistent and measurable progress toward all your projects and goals.
2. The Time Jar website is a GREAT online marketing lesson. There's minimal copy on the site but there are a bunch of informational videos you can watch.And even though the videos are purely instructional videos on time management… they do all the selling without being a "sales pitch."It's a great example of how to sell a membership or service website by giving away high quality information without a "hypey" sales pitch.I haven't had the opportunity the meet the guy who developed Time Jarbut I think he's a genius. And it's made an enormous difference in my business and personal life.I think it will help you, too.

   P. P. S. If you have any burning questions or topics you'd like me to cover in the newsletter, please e-mail them to me at dan@dobermandan.com.

   IMPORTANT: To keep your e-mail from getting tossed out by my overzealous spam filter, please write DD Letter Topic in the subject line.

Hasta la proxima.

Bear with me if I get a little too "Tony Robbins" with you today. There's something I'm really passionate about and have to get off my chest.

I've had several conversations this week that have left me feeling pretty confused.

I definitely can understand being in a bad financial situation and being broke. Been there many times myself.

But I always knew that it was a temporary situation for me.

First of all, if you took away every dime I have and all my possessions, I can get it all back and more because of what's stored in my brain.

And on top of that, whenever there was something in my life I didn't like… I did whatever I needed to do to improve it.

That just makes SENSE to me. If there is something about my life I want to change, I start doing what I need to do to change it.

If I need information to accomplish that, I start seeking out that information. If I need to take certain actions, I start taking those actions.

Maybe I'm "wired" differently than most people… but that just makes sense to me. Apparently not to many others.

Most people seem to complain about their situation but never do anything to change it. They wait around expecting it to change while continuing to do what they've always done.

I just don't get that!

To me, it's rather simple…

If you want to make a change in your life,
YOU have to make it happen.

Wishing it will happen won't work.

Complaining about it won't make it any better.

Waiting for the government, your boss, your wife, God, your union or any other person, place or thing to improve your life won't work either.

The plain unequivocal truth most people don't want to hear is… YOU are the only one who can affect a change in your life.

And you do it by taking ACTION.

I'm amazed at how many people are broke in this country, living paycheck to paycheck.

That's a simple problem to solve. (I said simple, not easy.)

Live UNDER your means and don't go into debt for ANYTHING. If you can't pay cash, you can't afford it.

I may be extreme in my beliefs about this… but for me that includes real estate.

And there is no excuse for anybody not making enough money in this country. There is plenty of opportunity out there. What I've found is most people who complain they aren't making enough money are really only doing the minimum to get by. If they REALLY wanted to make more money, they could easily take the actions necessary to make more.

Heck, if they just invested the time they spend watching mindless TV every day into learning a new money making skill or starting a side business, they could increase their income pretty quickly.

(By the way, "TV" stands for "The Vacuum" because it sucks your brains out.)

Onward.

Forgive me for getting all worked up about this, but it really makes me angry to see reasonably intelligent human beings completely waste their potential and settle for so much less in life than they are capable of achieving.

Please don't take what I'm about to ask you lightly:

When is "some day" going to be today? When is "one of these days" going to be YOUR day?

It has taken me 40 years to learn this:

Your biggest regrets in life won't be the things you did… your biggest regrets will be the things you didn't do.

Read that again and take it to heart.

Your biggest regrets in life won't be the things you did…
your biggest regrets will be the things you didn't do.

Trust me. Those kind of regrets are "kicked in the gut" painful. They hurt down to your soul. They can suck the life right out of you.

Of all the pain I've experienced throughout my life, I can't think of one single thing more painful.

Many adults have lost the ability to dream. They give up after experiencing the normal disappointments and setbacks of life. It seems less painful to give up on your dreams and expect nothing than to hope for something and be disappointed.

But most kids haven't had the ability to dream beaten out of them yet. (Unless they were raised by parents with a "poverty mindset." That usually poisons the kids, too.)

Whenever I talk to some teenager with a dream… ANY kind of dream… I feel like grabbing them by the shoulders, shaking them and saying…

"Please… PLEASE! For the love of God… PLEASE just do it! It's a great dream! Get started NOW! Just put the blinders on and go for it! The worst that can happen is you lose a little time. At least you TRIED!"

My 16 year old niece likes theater and acting. I've seen some of her performances and she is pretty good. With some more experience and coaching she could probably make a living at it. Maybe even a VERY good living. Maybe even a life filled with fun and excitement doing something she loves. Sounds like the definition of "success" to me.

Or the worst case scenario… she could possibly spend a few years doing some acting gigs, having a lot of fun but not making a living at it.

No big deal. So she gets a day job to support herself and continues to audition for productions. At the very least, she is still involved in her passion and having fun. And that's the WORST case scenario.

She starts college next year and wants to study acting. Her parents and teachers are telling her, "You need to get a degree in something that has a future. Something you can support yourself with. It's not realistic to study acting and hope to make a living at it."

It's THAT kind of advice that will kill your dreams. It will leave you with regrets that will hurt the rest of your life.

Look, it's better to give it a shot for a few years so you can look back and say that you at least TRIED. It really hurts to know you had the talent, intelligence and determination (the most important of the three) to achieve your dream but you never even made the effort because you listened to the dream stealers.

And here's what doesn't make any sense at all. Those dream stealers will most likely be your family and friends. The very people you would think would most want your success and happiness!

I don't think they do it deliberately to hurt you. I think they do it for a couple reasons…

1. They really believe they are giving you sound practical advice to keep you from getting hurt or disappointed.
2. If you succeed (or even just start the process of pursuing a dream) it's just too hard for them to cope with because the implication is that they could do it, too. They too could be pursuing their dreams and improving their lives. But instead they choose to spend their free time watching TV or hanging out with their friends. They'd rather avoid you or bring you down than be faced with your silent accusation every day that they could have a successful life, too.

Wouldn't it be a shame if you died
not having achieved anything of note?
Not ever pursuing or accomplishing
any of your dreams and goals?

I guess I'm unusual. Downright weird even. In fact, I didn't know how unusual I was until recently.

A quick poll of ten friends and acquaintances revealed a grand total of… ZERO people who felt anything similar. When questioned, none of them had life plans any grander than the possibility of a new flat screen television or a vacation next year. No ambitions. No drive. No enthusiasm. Nothing. Are your friends the same?

Imagine a life just like billions of others before you – sleeping, eating, shopping, mowing the lawn, washing the car; until one day… you grab your chest, slump forward and check out of this earthly existence.

About ten billion humans have lived and died on this giant ball of mud hurtling through space. How many of those ten billion did anything of note during their lives? Maybe a tenth of one percent?

What about the rest?

Well, incredibly they were willing to piss away their irreplaceable, limited, precious life in dull, repetitive, mind-numbing boredom. And in many cases, this was their CHOICE – it wasn't imposed on them like previous generations.

These faceless, nameless millions left nothing behind except a new generation of the same. They're all gone now… their names forgotten. They didn't push humanity forward by even one inch. They were born… they consumed… they died.

It's sad to say but if the truth be told, 98% of gravestones… if they were to be honest, should simply state:

"Here lies John W. Doe.
He was born… he consumed… he died."

You think I'm kidding? Look around you. Talk to people. Do they have any burning ambitions? Any creative energy? Do they want to leave their mark? To accomplish ANYTHING with their life?

Do you know anybody who is actually taking action (as opposed to just talking about it) toward a dream, no matter how small? I doubt it. There are precious few.

Read what one of my favorite writers, Stuart Goldsmith, has to say about your dreams:

You probably had the glimmer of a dream when you were a youngster, but this was soon knocked out of you. Your parents undoubtedly called your dream unrealistic. Then, to the sound of a points-lever being pulled, they suggested to you that you get a 'practical' education in order that you might follow your dream at a later date.

I am not implying any malevolence here, you need to remember that your parents, and all preceding generations did not have the luxury of fancy life-planning. The name of their game was survival. To survive you needed money. To get money you needed a good job. To get a good job you needed a good education. They pulled those levers on you for the best of intentions, but the result was a disaster for your fledgling ambitions.

This message was reinforced by teachers, friends and career advisers, until by the time you left full-time education you were almost certainly way off the main line and heading fast down some insignificant branch line.

Throughout these years, you learned the trick of suppressing your dream. You simply could not maintain this dream in the face of such ordered opposition and so you buried it in a secret place within you.

Then the pace of life started really to heat up, and problems started to come at you like a pack of hungry jackals. No time for fancy, childish dreams now. All of your energies were involved, and probably still are involved, in fighting off the pack of slavering dogs. Dreams are… well, for dreamers. There is a life to be lived, food to put on the table, a mortgage to be paid and other people to worry about. If you even remember your dream, you probably fool yourself into thinking you'll pick it up later, when the family has grown up, when you are retired. Some time.

The tragedy here is that most people's dreams become so deeply buried they not only forget what they are, but even forget that they had a dream in the first place.

Certainly, few people can put a name to their dream. Instead, they sit in the sidings, rusting away, perhaps (if this is not pushing the railway analogy too far) hoping that some bright, gleaming locomotive will arrive one day to pull them to safety. Is it any wonder that they are depressed?

Here's something I've learned:

That bright gleaming locomotive isn't ever coming. You can hope, pray, cry… go through all the motions, rituals, ceremonies, recitations, chanting, etc. required by your religion…

Or you can read a million positive thinking books and look in the mirror every morning saying your affirmations…

It doesn't matter… that locomotive is not coming to magically pull you to success.

No magical, spiritual or celestial force or being is going to float out of the sky to pull you to the realization of your dreams. The sooner you accept that, the sooner you can do what you really need to do to realize your dreams.

YOU are the locomotive, my dear friend. The help you are waiting for is YOU. Only you can do the work needed to get the locomotive moving forward.

What does all this have to do with marketing? EVERYTHING!

You can read all the marketing books in the world and attend every seminar that comes down the pike… while sitting around talking about what you're going to do and projects you're going to start… but not until you actually DO something will you ever make any progress.

A wise man once told me…

Motion beats meditation!

I have a very important question to ask you:

Can you really stomach the thought of a life filled with gut-wrenching regrets? All because you kept putting off that dream until "tomorrow"?

When are you going to get started on those dreams you've been talking about? Days have turned into weeks, months and now years. And you know what? You really don't have a whole lot of time left.

Tomorrow is today, my friend. For God's sakes… set aside 30 minutes today to get started toward your dream. Just 30 short minutes! Do SOMETHING in those 30 minutes that will move you a little bit closer to that dream.

Then do it again tomorrow…. and the day after that.

And every day thereafter.

Please don't squander your time (your life) waiting for "some day" to arrive. Take action NOW.

Please don't look back at age 40, 50, 60… or whatever, with regret for the things you didn't do.

You have the power and ability to design whatever kind of life you want. I sincerely believe you can accomplish what you really are determined to accomplish.

But it doesn't really matter if I believe it. YOU have to believe it and start taking action.

Get started today, OK?

In fact, right now would be the perfect time.

All the best,

"Doberman" Dan Gallapoo

P.S. If you want to really "go deep" about how to break through the mental roadblocks that keep you from achieving your goals and dreams, here is where I share the really advanced "smash through the success barriers" secrets.

Peace, blessings and prosperity.