Here’s what I’ve seen, over and over again. Someone gets involved with affiliate/internet marketing. They start noticing a lot of people doing unethical things, some are borderline, some are flat stealing from and cheating people.

At first they’re disgusted by it, and they vow they’re gonna do it the right way, honestly.

Then they start going to internet marketing conference, start hanging out with people in the industry.

Slowly, they’re standards start falling. What they thought was unethical a year ago, is suddenly OK to do. (Deep down they feel guilty, but they just bury the guilt in all the money they’re making.)

A year later they’re running acai berry flogs, openly spamming, and snorting cocaine with a room full of hookers.

And there you go, from upstanding citizen to bonified white colar criminal in 2 years.

(Now, I should say, NOT everyone in IM turns into crook or crackhead! But almost everyone has their standards LOWERED.)

So what happened?

If you don’t work hard to maintain high ethical standards, associate with most people in the IM/affiliate crowd will drag you DOWN.

And if you let your standards drop a little bit, and then a little bit more, and then a little bit more again, then before you know it, you’ll be pushing fake new articles and fake blogs promoting bogus diet offers too.

I’m not just talking about standards and ethics because it the right thing to do, but also if you want a long term business you need a build your foundation on integrity.

Here’s what you’ll get in life: EXACTLY what you SETTLE FOR!

I want you to think about that. Really think about it.

When have you said “this is good enough” or “I’m comfortable where I’m at”??

I see a lot of people get their businesses to $10k to $20k a month and they’re happy with that.

If that’s what you settle for that’s ALL YOU’LL EVER MAKE.

I’m not just talking about making money here, if you settle for less in any area of your life than YOUR CHEATING YOURSELF OF YOUR TRUE POTENTIAL.

You should NOT be thinking about “how can I get comfortable”, you need to be thinking “how can I get UNcomfortable, so I can learn and grow and reach my FULL potential.”

If you keep pushing yourself and get uncomfortable, I promise you, you will have a very comfortable life.

In light of that I wanted to do a follow up post on what I’ve learned through this whole experience.

In a nutshell here’s the TOP 5 things I learned :

#1 NOTHING LAST FOREVER

No product, or traffic source lasts forever. In particular, if your business is dependent of ONE traffic source for 90% of your sales you’re treading on thin ice.

Whether it’s PPC, SEO, mail order or whatever, it can dry up FAST.

You NEED to have several SOLID traffic sources that are making you money.

As far as products, every product has a life cycle and unless your coming out with (or promoting) new product on a regular basis your business is on it’s way to a slow death.

#2 SAVE MONEY FOR A RAINY DAY

I had a good chunk of change saved up in the form of liquid assets that got me through these last 6 months, and paid for my investment costs.

#3 FOCUS ON THE POSITIVE & DON’T LET FEAR TAKE HOLD

Fear is the only thing that will cause you pain, keep focusing on what you’re trying to accomplish and get busy working towards it.

The more you focus on the past and what you could have done differently OR on what will happen if you were to fail, the more pain you cause yourself.

EXPECT to WIN. And keep working towards building (or re-building) your business.

I know the feeling of FEAR. Fear so bad that your stomach and back starts hurting.

When you push forward in spite of that level of fear, NOTHING WILL STOP YOU.

#4 YOU HAVE NO IDEA WHAT YOU’RE CAPABLE OF

Until you’re pushed WAY out of your confort zone, you have no idea how POWERFUL YOU REALLY ARE.

There’s a power within you that is GREATER than any obstacle you’ll ever face.

#5 BURN YOUR BRIDGES

My mindset has always been : “I will succeed or die trying!”

If you don’t burn your bridges, you’re NOT a 100% committed.

If you’re not 100% committed, you’re dead in the water.

That’s a question I’ve been asked before, and I never really knew how to answer it until this year.

Because this year I had to START AGAIN FROM SCRATCH.

Anik and I parted our ways, I’m no longer doing PPC Classroom (was great while it lastest! )

Google had shut down my Adwords account because I was an affiliate.

So everything I have talked about this on this blog was suddenly being put to the test.

Do you get rich by luck, being at the right time at the right place, or is it really a combination of mindset and having the right (easily learnable) skills?

If market conditions drastically changed (as they did), could I get it all back?

Does you success depend on the inside, or the outside conditions?

Before I tell you what I discovered, let me tell you a little about my journey….

Now over the last 9 months I’ve tried many different strategies and approaches to building a new business and getting my 7-figure income back.

Many of the approaches FAILED. But I kept pushing forward – NO MATTER WHAT.

I was a 100% committed to success.

And NO it wasn’t easy. Starting from scratch will never be easy. In fact the experience shook me to my CORE.

And YES, I now have a new business (outside of IM) that’s booming and I’m on track to hit my old income level in a few months.

ONCE YOU HAVE THE MINDSET AND SKILLSET YOUR CAN DUPLICATE YOUR SUCCESS OVER AND OVER AGAIN.

Once you have your wealth thermostat set at being a millionaire, you can lose it all, and come right back.

Another thing I’ve learned is that being a 100% committed and taking MASSIVE ACTION in the face of failure is the #1 KEY to SUCCESS.

No matter what the results, you have to keep CHANGING your STRATEGY until you ACHIEVE YOUR GOAL.

There’s an important lesson in that. I hear so many people say “I’ll try.” or “I’ll give it a shot.”

Let me be blunt: IF YOU’RE GONNA “TRY” DON’T FREAKING BOTHER.

If you’re goal is to build your own business and get free from you job, it’s gonna take EVERYTHING you’ve got.

Either commit to it 100% or don’t waste your time. If you’re not gonna give it your 100% your better off working harder at your job so you can get that mickey mouse promotion and make an extra whopping $20k/year.

SERIOUSLY, if your goal is to TRY then PLEASE don’t waste your time.

When I started my business I committed 100% and told myself “THIS is it, I’m either gonna make this work, or I’m gonna die. PERIOD.”

DO YOU HAVE THAT LEVEL OF COMMITMENT?

If you don’t you gotta find something that you’re willing to fight and die for.

Is it your family?

Is it your freedom?

It’s probably not money, you gotta find something BIGGER.

When you find THAT, and you make a do or die commitment to make your success a reality, then NOTHING ON THIS EARTH WILL STOP YOU.

I was talking with my business partner today and he made an EXCELLENT POINT : “Hardest part about taking action is getting started, once I get started it’s much easier to keep going.”

And it’s SO TRUE.

There’s a saying : Motion creates emotion.

Once you just get started-REGARDLESS of how you feel-your level of motivation will go UP and help you push through whatever task you’re doing.

Once you get started, you start building momentum. Staying persistent and consistent will keep that momentum going.

SO JUST GET STARTED ALREADY.

And don’t look back!

I’ve compiled all the posts from my “How to Get Anything You Want in Life” Series into this post.

I HIGHLY recommend you read through each and every post. I actually just re-read them myself!

Enjoy!

HOW TO GET ANYTHING YOU WANT IN LIFE

Part 1: The 3 Critical KEYS to Success

Part 2 : Write out Your Vision

Part 3 : Create Your Vision Board

Part 4: Experience Your Vision

Part 5: Your Belief Level & The Catalyst to Success

Part 6 : Programming Your Subconscious

Part 7 : The 4 Letter Word

Part 8 : Free Report on Time Management & Productivity

Part 9 : Free Report on How to Make More & Work Less

Anyways…

I was talking to my wife yesterday and she brought up a GREAT point regarding the ability to focus and success in life.

That is, the MORE you can focus in, and get in the zone, in your business, in your marriage, with your health, or just about anything else in life the more likely you are to succeed.

I’m NOT talking about self-discipline here, I’m actually talking about the ability to get so FOCUSED on the task at hand and let the whole world around you just become a blur.

The MORE you can focus :

1. The MORE productive you’ll be
2. What you produce will be of MUCH higher quality
3. Dramatically increases your ability to absorb information and learn
4. You’ll build MOMENTUM and come up with breakthroughs and ideas you never would have otherwise

Now here’s the PROBLEM: a lot of you (and you KNOW WHO YOU ARE) can’t focus for more than 30 seconds without getting distracted.

Why is this?

Well, let me see, you’ve:

1. 2 chat boxes open
2. the TV running in the background
3. been trying to do 3 things at once
4. a baby’s crying and spousing calling you
5. people texting you on your iphone
6. new updates on twitter and facebook

We live in a world where we are constantly bombarded with information and distractions 24/7. All of these distractions and non-stop multi-tasking are killing our ability to focus 100% on ONE THING and do it REALLY well.

“So Amit, this all sound great, but how the heck do I get in focus?”

Listen up…

Focus is mental muscle that you’re gonna have to build. Here’s a few steps I suggest you follow to get started:

#1 ISOLATION

Find a place and time to work for at least 2 hours a day where you can COMPLETELY ELIMINATE DISTRACTIONS. That means, no TV, no chat, no email, no SMS, NOTHING except whatever specific important task you need to get done.

#2 MEDITATION

The best way to improve your mental focus is to start meditating on a daily basis. You’ll see a big difference with just 20-30 minutes a day. You won’t believe how hard it is to sit still and think about nothing for just 20-30 minutes!

#3 LIMIT MULTITASKING

Find 2 1-hour blocks of time each day to do all your multitasking (ie chatting with 4 people while checking email, and twittering or whatever!) You’re goal is to eventually reduce this to just 1 hour per day.

Make a commitment to do this for 30 days straight and you’ll be AMAZED at what you accomplish!

Liston to Tony Robbins tell the Sylvester Stallone (aka Rocky) Story…

I’ve grown so much over the years, and I didn’t do it overnight as some people will tell you you can. It’s was a gradually incremental process.

It’s not the big deals, or “lucky” breaks, but the little thing you do everyday that are REALLY the key to massive success.

Watch this video to see what I mean…(comment and tell me what you think):