I’m working on a new project, and I’ve put together an easy 7-question survey. If you could take 2 minutes and fill it out, I’d really appreciate it!

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Also, just to let the everyone know I’m thinking about you, I have a new 60+ page, ebook coming out next week. Best of all, it’s going to be completely free. I’ve appreciated all the participation recently and wanted to say thanks.

I didn’t want to mention it on Tuesday because the details weren’t finalized, but now I can confirm it. Ramit Sethi and I will be conducting a live webcast on personal automation, for anyone who signs up for the bootcamp.

Speak with Ramit and Scott Live

Ramit and I use different strategies for automation, so he will cover his methods of using assistants and outside systems to save him time and money, and I’ll talk about habit automation so the important behaviors of your life don’t require self-discipline.

This is the first webcast I’ve done for the website, which means for almost all of you, this will be the first chance to chat with me live. I enjoy getting emails, but I’m hoping that this will allow Ramit and I to interact in a more personal way with some of the readers here. I have no idea when I’ll be doing another one of these, so if you’ve wanted to ask me questions, this is an opportunity you don’t want to miss.

However, as this offer is bundled with the bootcamp, it will expire Friday night. Sorry, I can’t make exceptions.

If you sign up for the bootcamp today (or have already signed up) you can forward me your receipt to get any ScottHYoung.com product of your choice for free (~$50 value). In addition, you will also be invited to an exclusive webcast where Ramit and I discuss personal automation strategies live and take your questions.

1. You can opt out of society and hide all your cash under your mattress.
2. Or, you can see the crisis as the kick in the ass you need to start taking action on your financial life.

Ramit Sethi is one of my personal idols. If you don’t already know and love Ramit, check out his wildly popular blog, or his New York Times’ bestselling book, I Will Teach You to Be Rich.

Ramit’s popularity in the realm of saving, investing and earning more money is well earned. He delivers commonsense, yet powerful, solutions, such as:

• How to negotiate your salary to earn thousands more per year, with little work.
• Where to invest your money (and why stock-pickers don’t have a clue).
• Spending money strategically to earn more money.
• Why cutting down on latte purchases doesn’t work, and how to focus on the big wins.
• How to create a credit history to save thousands on any future mortgage or loan.
• How to automate your income streams to earn more with less work.

Through his books and blog writing, Ramit has made an impact in my life. In addition to thinking strategically about my future financial life (which may be worth thousands in the years ahead), Ramit’s writing convinced me to organize my savings intelligently. Now I can earn hundreds of dollars risk-free when most banks are charging a fee just to give them your money.

I Will Teach You to Be Rich Bootcamp (Only Available for 3 Days!)

Ramit Sethi

Given my fanboy status for Ramit, when he asked me to partner with him to promote his upcoming bootcamp, I was excited. I knew that if the bootcamp was anything like his blog, books or videos, it would be a huge benefit to my readers. Ramit already has dozens of examples where readers have saved thousands in just 30-60 minutes of work by acting on a few of his suggestions.

This bootcamp is a six-week training program designed to help you take control of your financial life in a step-by-step process. It’s not an ebook you can download, skim through and forget the next day. It’s personal coaching that is for people who want to take action on their finances.

What Will You Learn in the Bootcamp?

Ramit isn’t about vague generalities. He isn’t going to tell you to “think rich” and sit back and smile at the mind-blowing advice he gave you. One of the reasons I love Ramit, is he is incredibly specific. Generalities make you feel good. Specifics change your life.

Here’s what different types of people can expect to achieve with the bootcamp:

• Twentysomethings – How to save and plan for specific life situations (getting married? buying a house or car?)
• Students – Handle student debt, set up financial systems before you enter the workforce.
• Entrepreneurs – How Ramit has started several companies, automated income streams, and guest speaking entrepreneurs answer any of your questions–live.
• In Debt? – How to escape your debt. Not only the technical answers, but also the psychological keys to overcoming debt.

Best of all, the bootcamp will bring like-minded people together. I believe the networking and peer-support benefits of the bootcamp could pay for the price alone.

Bootcamp Format (Why This Offer Will Expire Soon)

The bootcamp is conducted online, which means anyone from the world can participate. However, the bootcamp is run live, with Ramit and other entrepreneurs and experts providing live webcasts, emails and action steps. This means two things:

1. Sign-up for the bootcamp is only available until Friday.
2. The seating for the event is limited to 700 slots. Given the hundreds of thousands of people being made this same offer this week, I wouldn’t be surprised if they filled up before Friday.

The cost of the six-week program, with live webcasts and exclusive access to one of the best writers in personal finance is $199. You can sign up here.

Ramit has told me that, being his first bootcamp, this is strictly a testing price. Given that people who take action on this program can save thousands of dollars, $199 is incredibly cheap. The next bootcamp will probably be 3-5x as expensive.

Paying for Value

One of Ramit’s core ideas is that you don’t get rich by being cheap. Paying for value, where you invest in products and services that make you more money than their cost, is the difference between thinking entrepreneurially and penny-pinching.

I think this couldn’t be truer with this product. While the price isn’t expensive for the type of service offered, I can see why some readers here might be hesitant (isn’t $200 a lot of money?). But if a detailed course can help you earn or save thousands more within the next few years, even a price of $900 would be a good deal.

That being said, this product isn’t for passive types. Just by it’s design it forces you to take action on Ramit’s solutions for your financial life. But if you just want something to skim through and forget later, it won’t give you a return. Nothing can.

Sign Up Now, And Get My Products for Free

I believe in Ramit’s strategy and I’ve seen it work, both on myself and many others. As a result, I want to make the bootcamp even more attractive, so I’m going to offer anyone who signs up through this blog a special deal.

If you enroll in the bootcamp, and forward me your receipt, I will send you any product from ScottHYoung.com, completely free. That’s almost a $50 value I’m adding onto this product.

This offer includes all my books and audio programs: Think Outside the Cubicle; Learn More, Study Less; How to Change a Habit; and The Little Book of Productivity.

I’m actually worried that all the slots will be filled too quickly and some of my readers will miss out if they wait until Friday. Therefore, I’m expanding the offer: If you enroll in the program in the next 24 hours and email me your receipt I’ll not only send you the first product of your choice, but a second, completely free. That’s up to $90 in value for enrolling early.

30-Day Money-Back Guarantee

Ramit has also told me that the bootcamp comes with a 30-day period you can get a refund, no questions asked. He isn’t trying to scam you, to sell you watered-down moneymaking tips in a fancy package. We know this stuff works, so if you aren’t happy, you don’t pay.

Stop Reading, Start Taking Action

Ramit told me the initiating idea for this bootcamp was simple: too many people read blogs to feel good about themselves and accomplish nothing. But reading won’t make you more productive, happy or rich. You need to actually get up and do something. The bootcamp is a nice format because it makes people to stop reading and start taking action.

Sign up here. Send me your receipt and I’ll give you any product of your choice from this website. Sign up in before Wednesday and I’ll give you a second one, completely free.

How to Negotiate Like an Indian: How to Get an $8000 Salary Raise – Ramit is one of my favorite personal finance writers on the net. He epitomizes my belief of focusing on big wins, where you can take actions in precise areas of your life to have a huge impact. A couple hours carefully invested in the right area (such as salary negotiation) can make up for thousands of smaller wins.

From the Archives

Financial Freedom – One of my life goals is to earn/save enough money that I don’t need to work for money. Does that mean I don’t want to work? Of course not. I just want to decouple the money I need to live from the meaning I draw from my work. Material success can enable the pursuit of higher values.

Reader Question: What are Your Biggest Financial Concerns/Obstacles?

I have a special announcement coming out Tuesday related to finances/entrepreneurship/money. If you only check out the blog infrequently, I definitely suggest dropping by that day because the announcement will be time sensitive.

Before that, I’m curious to know what the readers here think about their personal finance situation? What do you feel are the biggest challenges you face with your financial success?

1. Saving more money.
2. Figuring out where to put the money once you’ve saved it. (Especially in economic times where many otherwise intelligent people are recommending cash-in-a-pillowcase as an investment strategy)
3. Earning more money. (either through part-time entrepreneurship or getting more from your job)
4. Avoiding student loans/debt.
5. Automating your finances so you don’t need to worry about them.
6. Entering (or re-entering) the job market, worrying about finding a position.

Please write your thoughts in the comments. I often only tackle monetary issues at an indirect angle (productivity, goal-setting, entrepreneurship) but I believe the important point is to be in control of your financial life so your energies can be devoted onto the things you care about.

I’m halfway through reading The Progress Paradox, by Gregg Easterbrook. The paradox is simply this: why do people feel worse, when life is actually getting better.

Easterbrook spends a long chapter arguing how, in almost every dimension, life for Western countries is not (as many exclaim) diving into an abyss, but getting better. And, it has been getting better for decades.

Some Benchmarks of Improvement

I won’t exhaust the plentiful research Easterbrook has done on global trends. If you’re interested in seeing the full scope of the argument, I suggest reading the book. However, I’ll highlight some of the most important benchmarks he uses as a case for optimism:

1. Income. The middle class today are wealthier (in terms of real dollars’ buying power) than the rich only a century ago.
2. Environment. Aside for greenhouse gases, Easterbrook shows that virtually all forms of pollution and environmental damage are in decline in the west. CFCs, industrial pollutants, lead in gasoline, just to name a few.
3. Crime. After peaking in the 1980s, violent crime is down significantly in the United States.
4. Class Divide. The richest may have more money, but the lifestyle they can buy (travel, home ownership, air conditioning, etc.) are no longer restricted to a minority of the population.
5. World Poverty. Although some pockets of the world continue to stagnate, the overall reduction in global poverty should be celebrated.
6. Education. More people are going to school than ever before, Easterbrook argues. And college degrees are now open to more people, rather than just the elite class.
7. Health Care. Sure, there may be flaws in any system, however people are living longer and healthier lives than before. Easterbrook claims that most diseases worldwide (AIDS is a notable exception) are in decline, and have been for years.
8. Prejudice. The leader of the United States is black. Even if prejudice still exists, keep in mind that over half a century ago, men like Obama hadn’t even secured voting rights. Gay marriage may be a hot political topic now, but if you compare that to a few decades earlier where homosexuality was illegal, and it is easier to see the march of progress.

Even if you disagree with a few of Easterbrook’s claims, or argue that a few of his his perceived improvements are actually regressions, it’s hard to deny the overall picture: the world is getting better.

“Won’t Optimism Create Complacency?”

I think a part of the rampant pessimism in society is because people worry that claiming everything is fine creates complacency. Even if the world has been improving, complacency won’t eliminate world poverty or prevent a potentially devastating greenhouse effect. We need action, the pundits claim, and the vehicle for getting action is often fear.

I agree that we need to focus on the problems of the world if we want to solve them. However, I believe that the way to do that isn’t by denying all of the progress we’ve made so far. We should congratulate ourselves for the previously intractable problems society has overcome, and act on these new problems knowing with confidence that we have overcome bigger obstacles before us.

“Even if We Have More Money, We’re Spiritually Poor”

I’m calling bullshit on this doomsayer’s argument. The idea that the past was a simpler time with truer ethical values just doesn’t bear scrutiny. Can we really uphold that a century ago were more ethical times when World Wars were being fought, minorities couldn’t vote, and women couldn’t work?

Money can’t buy happiness. And it definitely can’t buy meaning for life. But that doesn’t mean money itself is the enemy. Global prosperity means less people performing menial labor, starving and more access to education and new experiences.

“What About the Non-Western World?”

Global poverty, AIDS and the fates of those born into countries without the privileges of the west are concerning issues. Western society should be concerned that our global neighbors are suffering. However, that doesn’t mean we can’t be optimistic about the future, nor that we need to ignore the successes already achieved.

Poverty exists today. It also existed a century ago, however in far greater volumes. However instead of celebrating the raising of GDP in countries like China, it becomes a global threat to world democracy and western jobs. Even victories are spun into defeats.

The World is Getting Better

Life is improving. We still have problems around the world. But we have the opportunity to solve those problems, as we have with the problems of preceding generations. The case for optimism doesn’t argue that we should become complacent, and stop fighting for a better life. Just the opposite, we should keep fighting because we have a track record for winning those fights.

Am I Fluent?

I remember reading months ago that fluency was a myth. You can’t have fluency. You just have situations where you can communicate and those where you cannot. Fluency is impossibly vague because it works on a sliding scale. I’ve found it’s much better to focus on tangible goals in language learning than trying to become “fluent”.

For example, some of the milestones I’ve achieved:

• Understanding and speaking French in conversations.
• Self-reliance using French to deal with stores, requests and the bank.
• The ability to express myself with most things, albeit perhaps with more effort and less linguistic artfulness than many.

The point I’m at right now is at the understand/being understood level of fluency. The next level obviously is to be understood correctly, in more situations, with fewer mistakes.

Some Lessons Learned

As many of my readers are already bilingual (or even tri- and quadrilingual) the lessons from someone who can speak 1.5 languages may not seem terribly profound. However, I’ve always found it’s more important to share the journey than the destination when writing.

Speaking is Essential

This one definitely isn’t universal. Fellow Canadian, Steve Kaufmann who runs The Linguist speaks at least 11 languages. His method of learning is based highly on listening to the native language to passively absorb many of the words, phrases and sounds of a language.

While this method may work for Steve and others, I’ve personally noticed that speaking (especially with native speakers) is an essential step in improving my fluency. Something about speaking a word allows me to use it and remember it better than hearing it alone. Admittedly, hearing is still crucially important, but I don’t believe I would be able to develop my skills as rapidly if I relied on passive listening.

Accept Being Misunderstood

When I first started speaking, my goal was perfection. I recounted the words in my head multiple times before uttering them. I wanted to say what I was going to say without any errors, being completely understood. As someone who is proficient with English and grew up in an all-English environment, the possibility of being misunderstood was alien to me.

Now I realize that this approach doesn’t work. I succeed in communicating far more often when I just blurt out what I want to say, without the internal mental refinements. If I missed the mark and didn’t say it correctly, I’ll get some confusion. I’ve accepted that. But getting out and speaking is the best way to refine your skills.

Classroom Learning Helps

I think the mistake is made when people assume classroom learning is enough. It’s not. The improvements I’ve made with the language have all come from interacting with native speakers. Listening to them and responding in conversation.

However, that doesn’t mean classroom learning is useless. In a social environment, I don’t usually want a French lesson. I want to buy the baguette or make small talk with the person at a party, not discover the hidden truths of verb conjugation. Classroom environments can help because they provide a place where you can learn the subtleties of a language that nobody would correct you on in daily conversation.

Is classroom learning necessary? I don’t believe so. My sister became fluent in Danish and relied mostly on speaking with Danish friends. But I think it can help, if you put it in the right context.

Don’t Try to Remember Everything

When I first started learning, I’d try to remember every word and phrase I encountered. Now I realize this is almost impossible. Ask people what the words are for things, but accept that you may need to encounter a word 2-3 times before it sinks into memory. Considering the abundance of new vocabulary in any language, investing tons of energy into memorizing one word is a waste.

Once again, I’ve found usage helps solidify vocabulary. When I use a word, I’m more likely to remember it.

“Qu’est-ce que c’est?”

The biggest skill I’ve found in learning a new language is to always ask what new words are. If you encounter something unfamiliar, ask a person what the word is. If you hit a gap in a conversation, ask the person to help you find the word you’re looking for.

Set Reasonably Expectations

Learning French has greatly increased my appreciation of anyone learning English as a second language. The biggest learning point from this experience has been the realization of the sheer amount of learning effort that goes into learning words in a different language. It means remembering the translation for tens of thousands of words in your native vocabulary, along with different grammatical syntax and different connotations.

If I repeat this experiment in the future, I’d make sure to give myself at least 10-12 months to become good at a new language. I’m sure intermediate goals can be reached before then, but I’d say that’s a good estimate of how long it takes to become good with the language, assuming you’re spending a bulk of that time with native speakers.

What Next?

I’m still in France for at least another 8 months, that means plenty more time to practice my French. My current goal is to be understood in a wider range of situations, improve my usage of the language and soften my accent. Hopefully in several months I can offer another update.

It’s only life or death – Chris Guillebeau does a fantastic interview with John Unger about pulling yourself out from a personal crisis. Here’s the interview-inspiring article. Some of the best parts:

“The best thing that ever happened to [John] was nearly being killed in a diner by a crazed taxi driver who held a gun to his head. (It taught him perspective, he says.)

“See if there is some way to leverage the force of the disaster itself to provide a solution. I regard this as a form of Tai Chi. … the core concept of [Tai Chi] is redirecting an external force rather than meeting it with an attack. … Any real disaster has some momentum, and if you can find a way to leverage that force, or turn it to your benefit, you may be able to accomplish a solution more quickly or easily.

“Almost nothing is impossible but many things are less than obvious.

“Mere optimism doesn’t pay the rent. When you come to the point of desperation, you do more than just hope for something.

“Disasters suck. No one thinks the recession is good. But sometimes the best things arrive in disaster form, and it’s up to you to decide how to respond.”

Beast Skills: taking fitness to the next level – Recently I posted about my desire to be able to do a handstand pushup. (Update: I’m able to do 2-3 against a wall, but my balance is a long way from doing them freestanding.) This website goes a step further, with detailed tutorials to do such amazing physical feats as one-arm chin ups, handstand clap push-ups and flag levers.

From the Archives

Stop Checking Your Web Stats Every Day! – I’m on Day 2 of another 30-day internet diet, so this piece from the archives is especially timely for me.

Information addiction is a disease in the blogging community, and unfortunately I know a lot of good people who are users. I can imagine the mental rationale goes a bit like this:

1. Measuring is good.
2. Therefore, more measuring is better.
3. Therefore, I should check my Digg ranking, AdSense earnings and web traffic every five minutes!

Most of the time, quitting your job to start a new venture is a bad idea. Unfortunately, there’s a bad rumor going around that says the first step to entrepreneurship is crafting your letter of resignation. It’s not.

I started this business part-time. In fact, I still run it part-time along with university. And, I’m incredibly glad I didn’t drop out of school to pursue it full time.

It took me over a year before I was able to earn a respectable part-time income. And even after that, I’ve had major income fluctuations. That’s fine for a part-time business. But if I had expected full-time money, I’d probably have quit. Failed, broke and with unnecessary bitterness in my mouth about entrepreneurship.

Let’s Celebrate Part-Time Entrepreneurship

But don’t take my word for it. Most entrepreneurs I know didn’t start by spontaneously announcing their departure from regular employment. Leo Babauta continued writing at stable freelancing and full-time jobs long after Zen Habits kicked off. Same with J.D. Roth and Hugh MacLeod.

Even outside blogging, most of the entrepreneurs I know launched with one foot resting firmly on a stable paycheck.

We like to celebrate people who quit their jobs. I think, instead, we need to celebrate all the people who manage to launch a venture using just a few hours of their spare time every day. They are the better role-models, not only because they demonstrate dedication, work-ethic and patience. But also because they are often more successful.

Why Quitting Your Job is a Stupid Idea

In my opinion, there are only three reasons you should be quitting your job to start a business:

1. You inherited vast sums of wealth, and don’t need to support yourself financially.
2. You’re a serial entrepreneur with a Richard Bransonesque savvy for quickly launching profitable ventures.
3. You’re business, in it’s current stage, can support your financial needs.

For most people they can eliminate reasons #1 and #2. Which leaves reason #3: their business can actually support them.

Quitting your job to start a venture is stupid for two reasons:

First, quitting scares the hell out of most people. As a result, many people never start their dream venture because they feel resigning is a prerequisite. I think many great entrepreneurs are stuck in soul-sucking cubicle positions because they don’t have the guts to get started. But the truth is: they don’t need to be gutsy.

Second, quitting is scary as hell for a good reason. Most ventures are not immediately profitable. Hugh writes that 24 months is a good estimate for how long it takes a business to figure out its business model. If you add to that, the pressure of figuring out how you’re going to pay for rent and food, most people will buckle.

Entrepreneurship isn’t fundamentally about risk-taking. It’s about providing a product or service people will value enough to pay for.

Where to Find the Time for a New Venture

Starting a new business takes a lot of time. I imagine that I’ll get one or two snarky comments from people claiming that this advice is all great for single, childless university students who have tons of spare time, but what about the people who don’t have the free time to start a new business.

First, this is why I believe the best time to start a business is in your twenties. Not always the case, but finding time to start something is a lot easier when you’re used to living off microwave food and your biggest scheduling decision is picking which party to go to.

Second, yes, starting a new business takes a lot of time. Most people don’t have the drive or willpower to start a business. And those people probably shouldn’t.

A new venture is like having a new baby, you have to want to lose sleep over it, raise it and spend your waking moments thinking about it. If you don’t love it enough to do that, you won’t be able to see it grow up. That’s just reality.

Transition from Part-Time to Full-Time

As I mentioned in the introduction, I’m still part-time. So, I’m not going to hand down perfect advice for transitioning your part-time venture to full-time. But after watching many people eventually make the leap, I think there are a few tips you can use to make it easier:

Wait until you’re earning more than you need. Your paychecks won’t always be stable. Over one year ago, I was making several thousand dollars per month only to watch it crash down to several hundred, 6 months later. So, I believe the best time to quit is not when you’re hovering above the financial solvency line, but earning more than you spend, consistently.

Freelancing is often a good intermediate step. Freelance work can often fill in the gaps when you’re trying to get a more passive business going. I use freelancing gigs to help pick up my income during lower phases when I need more short-term income. I know Leo Babauta wrote freelance articles for multiple columns before going solo.

Have some savings prepared, just in case. If the business wobbles a bit the first time trying to stand on its own, make sure there’s a cushion to break its fall. A few months’ worth of income can give you flexibility if you face a sudden downturn.

Many of the entrepreneurs I’ve talked to after their transition wish they had done it sooner. But I think this attitude is a luxury of all the successful steps they made previously. Honestly, I’d rather be employed for an extra six months, unsure of whether I should break free, than struggling to pay rent because my business holy-grail was actually made of dust.

For 5% of People, Quitting is the Right Choice

For a small minority of people, quitting their job and going face-first into a new venture is the only way for them to succeed. But, I feel this is a minority. For most people, they will be more successful and avoid the feelings of being completely overwhelmed by starting part-time. Let your baby learn how to crawl before you force it to run.

image by WWarby

Becoming good at anything takes hard work. A lot of it. The people who are willing to sweat out their craft for years will win. The people who want quick money and fame after six months will not.

However, while success may require a lot of hard work, that doesn’t necessarily mean that work is hard to do. A book may contain 80,000 words of carefully edited content, that’s a lot of hard work. But writing 800 words almost every day for four months isn’t hard to do.

Lots of hard work, but on a daily level it isn’t too difficult.

Disclaimer: The distinction between hard work and hard to do work isn’t mine. I stole it ruthlessly from fantastic writer and friend Cal Newport. But, I simply love the idea so much that I had to spread the word.

The Marathon Myth

Some people believe mastery and self-improvement require marathons of work. Huge, epic sessions of writing, studying and learning. Massive goals that push their endurance and sanity to the breaking point.

After a few weeks of such grueling effort, they give up. The marathon can’t last forever, and they are too exhausted to run the next day.

This problem arises because the people confused hard work with hard to do work. They confused the thousands of hours of practice mastery requires over years and decades, with the dozens of hours of concentrated practice that exhausts most people. They had the right motivation, just the wrong timescale.

Patience and Showing Up

I believe patience in any self-improvement pursuit is worth more than motivation. Yes, you do need motivation to get your ass out of the couch. But, getting up is only the first step. There are a thousand more that follow it.

Patience allows you to show up every day. Patience allows you to ignore temporary setbacks, not because setbacks aren’t disappointing, but because you aren’t operating on a daily timescale. You’re thinking about the big picture of how your investment is going to pay itself back in 10 years, not 10 weeks.

Creating Skyscrapers Means Digging Down Before Building Up

Erecting a massive building requires creating a huge foundation first. Without the foundation, any added height will be unstable. I think this metaphor applies to any pursuit.

If a friend told me they were going to start exercising three hours daily, I would only look at one factor to estimate their chance of success: how much they exercise now. If the person doesn’t have the exercise habit at all, they are trying to build a skyscraper on quicksand.

However, if I know the person has exercised seriously for years and keeps a consistent schedule, the odds of success go way up. There is concrete under the new plan. Habits and attitude are the foundation, and if you don’t put any thought into how these will fit, you may collapse.

How to Channel Enthusiasm

Many people get very enthusiastic when starting something new. The idea of putting in a minimal, but still respectable, amount of effort in every day is boring. When I started blogging, I wrote at least once per day, and I probably spent another hour or two every day reading everything I could on how to be successful as a blogger. I wanted to do everything, not the minimum.

The problem with a blind enthusiasm approach is that you fail to build that foundation. As a result, when the enthusiasm goes from a raging boil down to a simmer, you don’t have anything to fall back on.

I’ve found there are two ways you can channel that early enthusiasm so it doesn’t scald you later:

First, invest some of your enthusiasm in forming habits. When you start exercising, for example, commit to doing some minimum daily amount. If you feel like doing a bit more, investing time in research or buying fancy equipment, go ahead. Just make sure you get your 30 minutes of running or 100 sit-ups in every day.

Second, start with a long-term attitude. When I started blogging, I set my sights on my first steps of success in two years. With a long-term attitude it is easier to stick to the pursuit after the honeymoon phase is over.

Work Hard. Not All at Once.

One hour of writing, every day, is hard work. Eight hours of writing, in one day, is hard, even grueling, to do. But if you repeat one hour of writing, every day, for a month, you have over 30 hours of writing. Five years and you have almost 2000 hours. The power of the one hour per day is that it can be multiplied. Try repeating the eight hour day beyond even a week or more and it fizzles out.

Work hard at levels that multiply. Other people may have more talent, connections or outwit you. But don’t let them outlast you.

How to Learn Without Memorizing – My new article for Think Simple Now has had a lot of attention through Twitter.

From the Archives

Don’t Burn Your Ships – The ship-burning attitude is stupid. While it may increase your motivation to continue, it reduces your motivation to get started. And, as Woody Allen said, “half of life is just showing up.”

From the Shelf

Ignore Everybody and 39 Other Keys to Creativity – Hugh McLeod’s book on creativity. Hugh is the writer of the successful blog, Gaping Void, and cartoonist on business cards. This book came at a great time for me as I’m thinking over many of my own questions relating to career, business and struggling to be creative in a world that rewards and punishes us so much for it.

Why Beautiful People Have More Daughters – A nice introduction to the topic of evolutionary psychology. The authors explore startling (and very often politically incorrect questions) such as why attractive men might make bad husbands, how a monogamous society benefits more men than women and why suicidal terrorists are often Islamic. Some of their more peculiar findings seemed to be stretching the facts, but as a whole it was a worthwhile read.