Having A Bad Day? You Can Beat It

Beat A Bad Day

Bad days fear this kid. He’s never lost.

 I was having a terrible day.

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  • Mini Habits went from selling 2,900 to 1,900 copies in back-to-back days to “only” selling 350 (on 2/24/13). I put “only” in quotes because the disappointment is completely relative to it’s ranking, promotional price, and prior days’ performance (many people, including me, would love to wrestle a wild boar in exchange for selling that many books per day).
  • Aweber’s site was attacked and went down, meaning new subscribers had no way to sign up. Frustrated people were emailing me because they couldn’t reach the archives.
  • Mini Habits, after mostly rave reviews, got its first one star rating on Goodreads, but it came from a competing author!
[/list]Sheesh. After two amazing days, this was like a brick to the face. But I beat it. If you ever have a bad day, here’s how to crush it in your hand, throw it on the ground, and spit on it (optional).Read More

Are You Confused By The Two Types Of Motivation?

freebird

Does the bird have a reason to fly away, feel like flying away… or both?

If you’re breathing, it’s likely you’re confused by motivation. That’s because we’ve all been taught that it’s one thing when it’s two very different things. I’ve never heard anyone else other than the dictionary point out the critical difference between this one word’s two meanings.

One is reliable. The other is not.

One is constant. The other fluctuates constantly.

One is the “real you.” The other is an unpredictable version of you.

For too long, I thought they were the same thing. 

They’re the two types of motivation. Read More

How I Succeeded With A Gradual Fitness Plan

Instead of thinking about your physical fitness as an all-or-nothing ordeal, what if you thought about it in levels?

The reason I’m in great shape right now is because I’ve taken my time to get to this point. I kept my requirements in sync with my physical ability and discipline level. 

If you’re out of shape and you commit to a 1-3 month killer workout regimen, you’ll burn out and end up hating exercise. Why? You’re not ready for it. Your body isn’t ready for it. Your mind is even less ready for it.

Also, what happens if you succeed? What happens if you complete the 90 days of exercise torture?Read More

Proof That Motivation Doesn’t Last—Look At The Difference Between October And November!

When I started tracking my mini habits on a giant calendar, I was motivated.

Just because I don’t rely on motivation doesn’t mean I don’t feel motivated. With any new venture to improve yourself, motivation almost always starts out strong (as you’ll see!). 

And because I wasn’t trying to “spark” my motivation during my mini habits journey, this fact serves as a reasonably effective control. In other words, by not trying to manipulate my motivation higher as most people do, I would theoretically have more “natural results.” That said, the following is clearly my anecdotal experience and not a scientifically-valid experiment.

Also, I use the term “proof” personally. It proves to me that motivation doesn’t last (along with the science and human history that suggest it doesn’t last). Nobody is able to prove without a doubt that motivation doesn’t last, because it’s an abstract concept. You can decide for yourself what you think this evidence means, if anything.Read More

An Open Letter To Authors: Please Play Fair

Dear Authors,

Manipulating reviews is NOT acceptable. It compromises the system that otherwise helps readers get a realistic view of a book. I know some authors are buying positive reviews for their books as I type this, but even worse than that is to purposefully bash your competition.

On the Amazon page of Mini Habits, I posted a guarantee that I will never manipulate the reviews of my books.

Author Guarantee

Unfortunately, that doesn’t mean others won’t manipulate MY reviews.

Mini Habits has been out for a little more for two months now, and it has never been rated below three stars…until yesterday. I’m not saying my book is above being disliked—we all have different tastes—but when the first one-star review comes in, as an author, you’re going to check it out. 

I clicked to see what the person had rated other books to try to figure out why they disliked my book so much. But then I saw this:Read More