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4 Tips for Living Your Dream

Think about a major goal you have.

It may be a monetary goal like achieving a six-figure income at the end of the next five years.

It may be to reach international trading status or become an industry expert.

Whatever it is, hold it in your mind, think about it and put all of your focus into it.

Can you truly see yourself in that position, whatever it may be? If you can’t, you need to analyze why that is.

Believe me when I say this: Anything is possible in business. When you hold that as a strong belief, then you’ll always have a base point to fall back to. You can always reassure yourself that you are heading in the right direction and that what you want is possible.

A lot of the time people base their beliefs off what is possible, because of what others have done before them. If you do this, understand that this limits what is possible for you because you will always be striving for what other people have done.

There is greater stuff inside you.

1. Learn How to Train Fleas

You have to become a flea trainer. This was best illustrated by Zig Ziglar in his most famous seminar that he ran for more than 30 years. It’s called Born to Win, and it’s something I highly recommend.

So what is a flea trainer? If you trap some fleas in a jar and put that lid on tight, the fleas will keep on jumping and hitting the top of the jar — you wouldn’t believe how many times they hit it.

But eventually they jump a bit less high. Why is this? They have become conditioned to jump only as high as the environment allows them to.

Human beings are exactly the same. The environment we grow up in, and the people we grow up with directly affect our beliefs. We quickly become conditioned to believe that we can only earn so much, achieve so much, etc.

A flea trainer is someone who jumps out of the jar — someone who has the belief and the confidence to say, “What’s next? I know there is more to life than just working the daily grind for a bit of money.”

Because let’s face it: Most people spend their lives not chasing their dreams because they are scared. They are scared that they will fail, and people will see their weaknesses.

2. Put in the Hours

The thing to understand is in order to succeed, you need to fail again and again and again. Michael Jordan, the famous basketball player, missed more shots than any other player on the team. Why?

Because he knew that with each shot he could refine his technique. He knew that each shot presented a chance for him to score, and the more shots he took, the higher the chance of succeeding.

Not only was he getting better with each shot, but he looked at it with the attitude that if he threw enough muck at the wall, some would stick.

In many cases, you just have to put in the hours.

• Stay late at your business
• Get up early and send those emails
• Write that blog post
• Make that connection with that decision maker

If you are giving more than everyone else — if you’re applying the effort when everyone else has gone home and finished for the day — that’s the sign of a successful person. You have broken the mold, and sometimes that’s all it takes to become greater than you ever thought you could be.

3. Follow Through

Don’t ever think it’s going to be that easy though. To think that is naive. Don’t think that because you put the effort in all the time that you’ll get the reward. It often doesn’t work that way.

This is the cold truth, but it comes down how you handle it — how you see it. You can quite easily become discouraged by it, and give up when it gets hard, like so many people choose to do.

But if you shoulder your weaknesses and your failures, create something out of the hard work applied, if you stick with it, you will feel an even greater sense of pride and achievement. You just need to realize that your greatest hour will come right after your worst hour — you just need to ride the waves.

A lot of people are unhappy, but they don’t do anything about it. So just ask the question: Are you all you can be? Are you getting exactly what you want out of life?

Because there is no reason you can’t have everything that you want. Don’t lead with the talk of intent with no action to back it up. All that does is reinforce a habit of not following through on your endeavors.

If you make a claim that you are going to do something, tell as many people as you can. It’s easy to give up on yourself, but the risk of being humiliated in front of a lot of people can trigger the fear to get going!

Behind every fear there is something worthwhile, so face those fears, and don’t let them control you!

4. Never Say “Enough”

Don’t be satisfied with “good enough.” Good enough may not always mean enough. There are people out there who are striving for something beyond that. They are willing to make it great.

Go into any endeavor with the attitude of “never enough,” and I promise you, from that moment on you will always have enough.

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Your goals and passions are worth pursuing. Don’t say no to yourself. Follow these tips to help you live your dream.

(Photo by Jill Wellington / CC BY)

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How Freelancers Can Make More Money

Being self-employed brings with it a host of exciting perks.

Like the freedom to manage your workload your way.

Or take on a diverse range of projects based purely on what takes your fancy.

Unfortunately, though, the perks of contracting can come at a price.

Contracting is, by nature, much less predictable than permanent employment, and making a profit isn’t as simple as doing your work on time.

So the question is: How can you level up your contractor’s income and make your company more profitable than ever?

We have a few ideas to help you maximise your take home pay, starting today.

There’s an App for That

The App Store is every contractor’s lifeline, offering a multitude of innovative apps designed to make contract work more efficient, rewarding and lucrative.

From streamlining your processes to tracking your time spent, all aspects of your career in contracting can be reduced to the lowest common denominator with just one trip to this haven of handy mobile applications.

Apps for your contractor toolkit:

• Evernote: Take your efficiency up a notch with Evernote, the ultimate workspace. Scrapbook ideas, collect thoughts and collaborate in real-time using this life-saving mobile app.
• Dropbox: Share content more quickly and easily than ever using Dropbox — streamline briefs, submissions and collaborations in one fell swoop.
• Toggl: Never waste a minute again with the help of the ultimate time-tracking tool. Every second is billable, and Toggl makes measuring your time spends a piece of cake.
• CamCard: Take the hassle out of gathering and organizing leads thanks to this nifty app, which allows you to scan business cards instantaneously for quick, uncomplicated contact collection.

Knowledge is Power

As a contractor, the most powerful weapon in your arsenal is your unique skill set, and using this to your advantage can have great financial benefits in the long term.

Many clients will seek out your services to reduce the pressure on permanent employees, while others will be looking to benefit from your expert insight, and this is where running your own specialist training courses can mean a win-win situation for all involved.

In some cases, a client will need to pay tens of thousands of dollars so that a small number of their employees can be trained on a given topic, meaning you’re in an advantaged position when it comes to putting a price on your expert training.

These courses give contractors a chance to strengthen working relationships, develop their clients’ teams and make a tidy profit from their sector-specific knowledge.

Relationships Build Reputations

The key to making your work as profitable as possible is to ensure that each client relationship is lucrative in the long term.

Building a reputation for quality work, dependability and an accommodating approach helps contractors to broaden their client base, make more from each job and maximise their workload.

This means increased profits as a result of strong client connections.

Top tips for rewarding client relationships:

• Go direct rather than via an agency. This gives you an opportunity not only to potentially earn more for your time (having cut out the middle man), but also to secure ongoing work as a result of this direct and informal contact.
• Respect work deadlines in the same way clients should respect your invoices. Etiquette is crucial in contracting, and reciprocating respect will tell your clients you’re reliable and well worth the fee.
• Pursue other projects. If you have a good existing relationship with a client, make it known to them that you’re available for a number and variety of projects, should they require your expertise in future. That way, you can increase your workload and make each client relationship more profitable.

Time is Money

A timely approach to all aspects of your work is key to profitable contracting. Guaranteeing that clients are billed for every minute you give them means you won’t miss out on the financial rewards of your hard work.

Whether you utilize one of the many dedicated time-tracking apps or take matters into your own hands, being strict with yourself will help you to take home everything you’re owed.

The flexible and impermanent nature of contract work makes a proactive approach to invoicing more important than ever, so chase clients on time to reap the benefits.

Thanks to nifty email extensions like Boomerang for Gmail, you can schedule your most important emails to be delivered when the time is right, meaning you aren’t at the mercy of office hours.

Outsource Your Accounting

On top of time-tracking, client contact and unpredictable workloads, accounting can often be the straw that breaks the contractor’s back, so why not outsource the aggravation?

Contractor accountants are dedicated to making the contract workforce’s accounting worries a thing of the past, taking the hassle out of many crucial responsibilities, such as:

• Tax registration and returns
• Year-end accounts
• Self-assessment tax returns
• Tax liability calculations

With the support of a dedicated adviser, a specialist accountancy service gives contractors the peace of mind that their finances are in the hands of professionals.

Some contractor accountants offer customers access to exclusive cloud-based portals, so account tracking can be simpler and more satisfying.

By investing in your client relationships and making a commitment to efficient operations and knowledge sharing, you can propel your profits and make contracting the rewarding experience it has the potential to be.

(Photo by Heather Paque / CC BY)