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Success Advice

Advice From A 30-Something-Year-Old Man & Blogger.

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Before we begin, this post will not be a success bloggers guide to being a millionaire and sitting on the beach with your laptop. These posts are designed to mislead you into the false reality that success is often portrayed to be.

People have got to know me online as being a pretty open guy that likes to talk about personal development and entrepreneurship. I talk about these two topics to help you get into action and because they’ve transformed my own life.

Reaching people online through any type of content is something many of you aspire to do. I thought I’d share with you how you can be a blogger – whether that be written words, video or podcasting.

How I got started as a blogger.

When I about 27 I met a dude named Joel Brown. He’s super chilled and also loves entrepreneurship and personal development. I still to this day have no idea why, but he asked me to write for his blog.

Given that I used to hate writing, I have no idea why I said yes. Must have been one of those gut decisions I read about on some random success blog that one of my distant friends who may or may not have driven a Ferrari told me to read (sounds cliche I know).

So, I wrote some articles. The first one had the word startup and one of those ugly stock photos with guys in suits sitting around a table. What the hell was I thinking?

A few blog posts in, one of them resonated. It went crazy!

“It was like for a brief moment, everything I touched turned to gold. Until it didn’t. About 3.5 weeks later”

At that time, blogging was therapeutic. I’d read a self-help book, demolish it and then apply the lessons. I’d then reshare the lessons from my own experience. Three years led to not much action.

By year four, people started to read these short blog posts I was writing. Then I began writing on lots of sites, doing a few interviews and sipping green tea (well I did this beforehand too, but it makes for a nice story by a warm fire, doesn’t it?).

A couple of viral blog posts in, and I’d reached the tipping point. What’s interesting is that no one taught me how to blog. I’ve never run out of ideas to write about either.

It takes time, but if you’re patient, anyone can be a blogger or content creator and achieve the same results.

My career (outside of blogging).

There are very few bloggers that just do blogging. I’m not saying it doesn’t happen, but it’s rare. What many people never tell you about their online success stories is that they have a day job or business.

That’s me. I’m not going to hide it. I have a side business which is social media consulting and I work in a bank. There’s something about being surrounded by entrepreneurs, by working at a bank, that I like. Never been able to figure that out.

“Many people tell me to quit my day job but if the truth be told, I like meeting people and my fellow colleagues are fun. You don’t have to quit anything if it makes you happy”

What are the habits I follow?

Word of warning before we begin: I don’t take cold showers, make my bed or do high-intensity interval training.

I’m just an average guy from Australia mate with an Aussie accent, a sense of optimism and who likes to lick the cheese off the packet once it’s open.

1. Exercise three times a week.

It can be anything. The other day it was hot so I went swimming. The week before that I did 1000 steps with my girlfriend because she wanted to do it. Today I hit the gym for thirty minutes. Exercise helps get the blood flowing which essential in my creative process.

I think good content requires energy and exercise helps to cultivate that.

2. My TV remains off.

It’s been about 6-months since I fired the old girl up. I just have no use for it anymore. Books bring me everything I need and it’s how I get ideas for content. Creating content around lessons you learn from a book seems to be highly shareable as well.

3. Content starts my day.

When I wake up, I write and format blog posts before doing anything else. This helps remind me it’s my number one priority. Also, when you start the day doing your biggest goal, you feel like you have achieved something which gives you extra momentum for the rest of the day.

4. There’s the occasional bit of cheese.

Why? Because after you’ve poured your heart and soul into your content, you deserve a small treat. These happy moments help to give you a bit of motivation while you’re going through the marathon that is intense creativity, and states of flow.

Tony Robbins did teach me to avoid dairy, but he’s not watching me 24/7. Or is he?

5. Reading content from other bloggers.

Sometimes I read something that sucks and say to myself “Hey, I can write about that same topic and perhaps do a slightly better job.”

There’s other times where reading articles written by my fellow bloggers inspires me. Just like music, you can take bits and pieces from other people’s styles and add it to your own tool belt. Art, creativity and content are all borrowed. We’re all influenced by someone and it’s unlikely we’ll replicate the exact same piece of work even if we are inspired by another blogger.

There are days where you’ll have zero ideas. Other people’s content will help give you the seed you need to begin creating on those days. There will be other days when you can come up with all the ideas yourself.

6. Just do.

It’s now a daily habit to just do and not overthink. Blogging happens no matter what, even if it’s just writing a message to a friend via an email. The key to successful art (content) is in the doing. I got where I am today by doing it every week.

Did you notice that there weren’t many habits?

That’s because I gave up the following:

– Notifications from websites like Facebook
– Having my phone next to me while I write
– Junk food that sucks my energy down the drain
– Friends who are toxic and ruin my mood
– Looking at the price of shares, cryptocurrency and my bank balance
– TV, Netflix and those annoying memes
– Activities I suck at which didn’t inspire me
– Being afraid of putting myself out there
– Being lonely and unlucky in love

Conclusion

This blog post is designed to help you see that you too can create content. It’s also a reminder that I’m not some superhuman and that actually, I’m pretty normal. So, if I can do it, so can you.

I’ve stripped away the fakery and the PR stories so you can be inspired to get to work and create your own content.

I hope to watch, read or listen to that content one day and know I played a very tiny part in your success. Because that’s what I’ve learned success is through my blogging and content.

That’s what you can learn from a 30-something-year-old blogger.

If you want to increase your productivity and learn some more valuable life hacks, then join my private mailing list on timdenning.net

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Success Advice

How to Alter Your Business Approach With Technological Advancements

Keeping up with technological trends has become a challenge for almost every business owner.

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altering business approach
Image Credit: Midjourney

Technology’s evolution has impacted everything, and business is no exception. Keeping up with technological trends has become a challenge for almost every business owner. Entrepreneurs unable to do so are being wiped out of the market.

There is no doubt that AI (Artificial Intelligence) and ML (Machine Learning) have taken over the business world. These technological advancements are impacting decision-making, success percentages, and other entrepreneurial aspects.

Adapting to these developments is integral to business success. Let’s explore how you can accomplish these milestones.

Embed the strength of AI and ML.

AI has modified business operations in major ways. For instance, companies have employed bots for customer support. These bots go through an effective learning process via Machine Learning before being able to answer like humans.  

Bots can also perform detailed data analytics and make business moves with high success percentages.

ML is used more for the analysis of data chunks and generating successful predictions. This simply means that business owners do not have to worry about large-scale financial losses. 

In terms of deployment and usage, a reputed company like Netflix employs machine learning for decision-making.

Blockchain is increasing the count of business opportunities

Tampering of financial transactions is quite common and causes severe monetary damage to customers. With the rise of digital payments, this risk has increased. 

Blockchain is used to elevate your experience for monetary transfers. It combats penetrating events to extract confidential customer information. 

Most business sectors are using block chain but finance and supply chain management sections have a higher count. These two corporate sections have several monetary deposits and withdrawals taking place. 

In terms of percentage, approximately 72% and 5% of finance and supply chain firms have implemented block chain successfully.

Dedicate Yourself to Continuous Learning and Individual Development

You invest in learning some of the very important skills, including digital marketing, financial management, and how to gain customers as an entrepreneur.

You need to set up your knowledge base about doing business on Coursera and Udemy with the basics that are necessary for the business, building further by networking with experts through webinars.

Besides, Agile methodology will introduce elasticity to your company: this review and feedback system with further correction regularly will allow for enhancing efficiency and promptly reacting to the market.

Developing key skills to achieve goals

Running a business successfully is not only about having niche/domain knowledge. Business owners need to have communication / soft skills as well in addition to niche information.

Here are some key technical/domain-related areas that business owners should have a strong grip on.

Data Storage on Cloud: These days, companies do not store their data on physical servers. Therefore business owners should know how data is stored/edited/removed/updated via AWS, Azure, Google Cloud, and other platforms.

Data Analysis/Interpretation Qualities: These days, data is as precious as gold. Business owners with data analysis abilities make correct predictions. As a result, their ventures grow in volume.

Development/Coding Knowledge

Programming knowledge gives business owners an edge whether the application is developed in-house or outsourced. It assists in getting updates deployed and handling application underperformance without getting professional support every time.

Hacking proof framework

There is no benefit of having an advanced automated system if can be penetrated. Successful business owners have above-average knowledge of cyber security and hacking attempts. They are able to choose top-notch anti-hacking software without much of an ambiguity.

Communication Abilities/Soft Skills

Here are some key communication qualities that business owners should have:

Communication/Conversation: Business owners should use to-the-point sentences in both written and oral communication.

Issue Resolution Abilities: Business owners should be able to drill down to problems and solve them. This is done successfully only if an entrepreneur has in-depth business domain knowledge.

Agile Implementations

It is mandatory for business owners to have knowledge of iterative/agile models. With such a competitive environment, it is impossible for business owners to succeed without adopting an agile framework.

Create a productive well-crafted Business Strategy

A productive business venture starts with a clear vision. The first factor making a business successful is the idea behind it. It helps with endless growth and combating competition successfully. Katherine Philips once mentioned that business goals are inevitable if goals are set concretely.

  • Goals should be based on smart achievements instead of complexity. Focus on the value that each one of them adds. 
  • Business objectives should not be vague. Key indicators should be constructed to measure the success/failure of each milestone.
  • Be realistic when setting goals. Do not aim at impossible milestones since they can be demotivating.
  • Milestones/goals need to be time-bound. Set a completion deadline for each one of them. 
  • Business goals should not be alien. Owners can think out of the box but not be obsolete / unrelated.

Create a productive well-crafted Business Strategy

Business owners cannot succeed without having a network. Some tips help in this case. Attend conferences and professional gatherings to connect with other entrepreneurs.
Here are some other related points business owners should pay attention to.

  • Attend meetings and conferences to stay updated with trends and meet business owners who already have well-set ventures. This helps in enhancing the learning curve of new / growing entrepreneurs.
  • Being a part of business communities/groups is very productive. When one shares opinions and discusses decision-making tactics, it helps in preventing errors and enhancing success rate.
  • Even the most experienced business owners have mentors as learning never stops. Take part in mentorship programs so there is an assurance that you are following the correct roadmap.

Conclusion

There is absolutely no doubt that business dimensions have evolved with technological advancements. Successful entrepreneurs have grabbed these changes in due course of time and continue to evolve. On the other hand, people following old paths and conventional steps fade out of competition. In a nutshell, keep an eye on the processes and practices you follow as these factors decide success rate.

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Success Advice

Understanding the Power of Yes and No: How to Create Boundaries For Success

These words have a significant impact on how our success unfolds

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Creating legal boundaries
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The two smallest yet most powerful words in life, “Yes” and “No,” have a big impact on our growth on both personal and professional levels. In addition to affecting the choices we make every day, these words have a significant impact on how our success unfolds. (more…)

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Motivation

From Couch Potato to Go-Getter: A Step-by-Step Motivation Plan for Everyone

By understanding what motivates you, you can turn your dreams into reality

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How to be motivated
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Are you tired of feeling like a couch potato? Do you want to transform your life and become a go-getter? You’re not alone! Many people struggle with motivation, but the good news is that change is possible. (more…)

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Success Advice

10 Micro Financial Habits for More Wealth and Peace of Mind

The World Economic Forum still reports that half of U.S. adults lack financial literacy

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micro financial habits
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You’ve heard about developing financial habits, but what about micro-financial habits? Micro habits are the tiny things you can do every day with minimal effort that, together, transform your future. (more…)

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