Focused Energy == Better Results!

Focusing your energy will help you get more out of life.

Coming from me, you must know that it's really true because I used to be a person who scattered his energy every where. I used to do one thing for about 5 minutes and then get distracted by something else.

What type of results did that get me? Scattered results. I'd do some great work for a few hours (maybe even a few days) and then fall into a lull of almost doing nothing. Don't take me wrong, I'd do stuff but nothing that was aligned with my goals and vision.

Now that I'm focusing my energy, each day, on just 1 objective -- things are getting done and I'm making more money!

As an example, I have a site, FreeArticles.co.za, that makes me some AdSense cash. I never used to make much from AdSense -- maybe $1-$2 a day. Now I'm making upwards of $20 a day and it's all because of this one secret:

Focus your energy for better results!

Now, with that extra "passive income", I can spend more time working on the things I enjoy and I can spend less time doing the stuff that irritates me.

I'm about to launch a new, international website that will match the AdSense income I'm currently making in the beginning and then it will probably overtake it. By focusing my energy on AdSense and making great sites, I soon won't have to work.

How can you get the same sort of results? I'd recommend visiting www.simpleology.com. It's free and you'll learn everything I've learned to get to where I am now (and more!)

Good luck :)

Success = Quality + Persistence

Look at Google, YouTube, Digg and others. They started off with an idea and then they attacked that idea with quality people & technology and then followed through by being persistent in their quests.

If you made a site or service that offers the same sort of service as any market-leader but did it much better, you'd eventually overtake them as long as you stuck with your idea (persistence) and put more quality than your competitor into your service.

How? People would start talking about your service. Once people start talking about something, it starts growing.

If you keep at it, eventually 2 people talking about your service becomes 4, then 8, then 16 -- you get the pattern.

It's not theory, it's the inevitable result of mixing quality with persistence. It's how the universe works.

Now take this idea and see how many other things it applies to. What else works in your life? Is it because of Quality + Persistence?

You'll quickly begin to see the patterns and then, the only question left is, how can I apply this to my business?

Google Organised My Desktop

Computers are great but I've always found it difficult to use them to their full potential. Most tools are either too simple or too complex.

Heck, for most people, the time is a digital clock on the lower-right part of your screen. That doesn't help too much for humans who tend to think visually (despite what others might've told you ;))

Enter Google Desktop. It's a nifty tool that you can get from www.google.com/desktop and it allows you to put all sorts of quick and easy-to-use tools right on your desktop -- where you need it.

I use it to ...

• Keep track of the time (using an analog display)
• Organise my To-Do list
• Keep Google Talk and Skype handy and open in case I need to speak to someone or someone needs to speak to me
• Make quick notes in Scratch Pad
• Keep an eye on my AdSense earnings
• Calculate things quickly without having to hunt for the Windows calculator
• And show me pretty photos of things I like to look at to keep my day going well

And that's just a small selection of what you can do with it! I've seen gadgets to keep track of Cricket scores, news headlines, comic strips and so much more.

I don't think I'd trade it for anything in the world :) Google rocks!

Photographing The Cousin

Tanya had an assignment to photograph a well-known person and she really didn't know what she was going to do. After all, she doesn't personally know any famous people and she generally doesn't like asking people for stuff.

So I came to the rescue. Off we went to barryhilton.co.za to get some contact details. I helped write a few emails and, eventually, she photographed Barry Hilton.

Not bad.

He was quite helpful and the shoot went really well. We did it in and around the Intercontinental Hotel at the OR Tambo airport.

Not the most ideal spot for a photo-shoot but Tanya's a pro, so the photos came out great anyway :)

Barry's a natural at pulling silly faces so all she had to do was click -- really, really fast!

One minute he's turning serviettes into the Sydney Opera House, the next he's knocking lamps by mistake and trying to convince us that nothing happened.

Barry's son (I think his name is Brad -- I feel so bad for not remembering!) joined us as well. You could see that they don't generally see each other so they had to take this opportunity, at the airport, to get some time together to chat for a bit.

All in all, it was a good experience and I look forward to watching Barry again at the Barnyard Theater here in Pretoria.

Yummy!

So here it is!

The verdict? Divine! Tanya (my fiance) has insisted that I make this again in the future. She's even protecting from our visitors later today so she can eat more of it :P

By the way, she took this photo for me. She's studying photography at TUT so even when she takes a quick photo (like this) it's still pretty.

That's it for now. It's my sister's birthday today so I'm going to go spend time with her now. (She slept over last night and she doesn't yet know that we're planning a surprise braai (barbeque) for her with the whole family. Hehe :)

Cooking is Fun

Cooking can be fun when you're feeling inspired. I like too cook by throwing a bunch of things together and waiting for the result.

We had some left over steamed butternut, cauliflower and broccoli. I mashed it all together to form an interesting orangish concoction.

I added left over crumpet mix to that and mixed it in real good.

Then I stir fried some soya strips with some Pesto & Parmesan spice and some chutney. That's delicious by itself!

After that, I mixed it into the orange concoction stuff, put on a thick layer of cheese and sprinkled cinnamon sugar (very generously) all over the top.

I've just put it in to bake on 180 and I can't wait to eat the result.

I'll post a picture here when it's done so you can all be jealous of our lunch ;)

Use the Right Tool

I like designing things. Mostly web sites but, in general, it's fun to make pretty things.

Gimp used to be my tool of choice but then I "discovered" Photoshop. It makes designing SO much easier. I used to be one of those Gimp die-hard fans but no more. I respect what they've done but they simply can't match Adobe and the money they've put behind Photoshop.

Now that I'm using Photoshop, I can focus more of my time on the desired result and less on how I'm going to get there.

Take this header I just did for Tanya, my fiance.



It was so easy to do and, in The Gimp, it would've taken me forever and I still probably wouldn't have achieved the same quality result.

What I'm trying to say is that you should always use the best tool for whatever you want to do. If you're a programmer, use the best IDE, if you're a designer, use the best design-tool, if you're a plumber, use the best wrench, etc.

The best part of it all is that you're left with a feeling of achievement, satisfaction and some time to go do something that has nothing to do with work.

I reckon it's my job to find the best tools to do my job really well because then I can spend more time playing guitar and less time paying for guitar :P

Beautiful Centurion

I just realised that we live in a beautiful place. Yup, I took a walk outside and it was really beautiful.

We live in Centurion. At first glance, it's not the prettiest place you'll ever see but if you take a moment to walk around in the "back-roads", you'll discover some classic beauty.

First off, it used to be a farmland so there are still a few plots here and there with their old wire fences and dirt driveways. It's kinda cute and a wonderful reminder to how it used to look.

Then, you've got these nice-sized houses with big trees hovering over them and over the roads they're on. These are the types of houses you used to walk past as a kid and say, "One day, I'll live there!"

The smells are the best. I love the smell of pine trees and other trees I never learned the names of ;)

Nature is a beautiful thing and, when I say that, I don't just mean raw nature. Walking around a suburb still gives you a taste of nature. The nature of the people that live there, the nature of the people who built those houses, the nature of that suburb.

Centurion has quite a calming nature about it. OK, in some parts, it's a bit like any other city but, in others, you can really lose yourself in the peacefulness of it all.

As it turns out, taking a walk is really good for you -- and not just for physical reasons.