LIFE EXPECTANCY

PARIS, France (AFP) — Healthier lifestyles and higher incomes have helped increase life expectancy in the 35 Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) nations by 10 years in the past half- century, according to a report published Friday. 

The OECD's Health at a Glance 2017 report said the average life expectancy throughout the group of countries — which includes the US, Canada, Australia, Japan, and most EU nations — now stands at 80.6 years, an increase of more than 10 years since 1970. 

“Healthier lifestyles, higher incomes and better education have all contributed to boost life expectancy in recent decades,” the report said. 

“Better health care has also helped.” 

The longest-living are the Japanese and the Swedish, according to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development report. Life expectancy at birth in those two countries was put at 83.9 years, with Spain and Switzerland not far off on 83 years. 

At the other end of the scale of the OECD countries is Latvia, with a much lower life expectancy of 74.6 and Mexico on 75 years. 

However, while some factors like a decline in smoking rates and higher health spending have helped achieve these figures, “there has been little success in tackling obesity and harmful alcohol use, and air pollution is often neglected”, the report warned. 

If the rates of smoking and consumption were halved, life expectancies would rise by a further 13 months, the research found. 

A main driver of the higher life expectancies has been steadily increased spending on health care, the OECD said, while pointing out that the growth has slowed since the financial crisis a decade ago. 

“Health spending per capita has grown [by] around 1.4 percent annually since 2009, compared to 3.6 per cent in the six years up to 2009,” the report's summary said. 

The US tops the list for health spending per capita — at US$9,862 (8,470 euros) per year, more than double the OECD average — but the report points out that the benefits are derived not just from how much money is pumped in but how effectively it is used. 

“Reducing wasteful spending is key to maximise the impact of public resources on health outcomes,” the report says, pointing to the increased use of cheaper generic drugs in some countries — including the US. 

Health spending per capita was also relatively high in Switzerland, Germany, Sweden and France, where it totalled 11 per cent or more of GDP. 

The report also warns against the overuse of antibiotics. 

Obesity remains a major problem with more than half, 54 per cent, of adults in the OECD countries overweight and nine per cent obese. “Obesity rates are higher than 30 per cent in Hungary, New Zealand, Mexico, and the United States,” said the report. 

On the plus side, fewer people are dying following heart attacks or strokes, and across the OECD countries, five-year survival rates for breast cancer are up to 85 per cent and just over 60 per cent for colon and rectal cancers.

SOURCE

Life (and Nutrition)

Another thought provoking video (Below) regarding the frailty of life. You might be wondering why I am discussing the matter of nutrition on this blog. Well. it is simply that in my own way I try to view life holistically and find that anything that affects the power of thought is not only of interest but is potentially critical (if ignored).

The outstanding comment from the talk that stuck in my mind was that the type of nutrition regarded as appropriate for a balanced healthy lifestyle is what your grandmother would have recommended, 

i.e. one with a minimal amount of processed food (containing additives). 

Little wonder that obesity rates are so high when 'junk food' is so readily available and cheap.

My dear wife, a superb cook herself, has long since bemoaned the demise of cooking in schools and that children are not having any experience of how to provide for themselves given basic ingredients. At the age of 70 I am convinced that her cooking has played a major role in my personal health/fitness/condition. Every day I walk anything from a minimum of two to eight miles. I cycle 2/3 times per week and I still enjoy a pint or two with my friends. 

However, enough about me, the main message from this talk is that it is the damage to the cerebral function which is the most 'depressing' outcome of poor nutrition. On the plus side, the economic savings achieved by providing nutritional 'boosters' are very persuasive in comparison to more conventional expensive psychological therapies. Thus there are strong arguments for the adoption of policies which promote the importance of nutrition earlier in the 'cycle of life' so that young children grow into adults who are more self sufficient in terms of providing for themselves.

The link to online marketing (which I took up as an antidote to boredom) is largely down to my examination of aspects of lifestyles which encourage making decisions to extend the human potential. I find the subject fascinating and eye-opening as I research various elements of human activity which are fundamental to well-being, both physical and mental. The process of growing old is inexorable but it can be affected positively if the issues which have a detrimental effect on 'survival' (without being too dramatic) are firstly identified and secondly acted upon. 

I hope to develop this argument over the coming few weeks/months/years and I would welcome any thoughts/experiences that you might have and wish to share.

To your health and prosperity

regards

Ray

How to know your life purpose in 5 minutes | Adam Leipzig | TEDxMalibu

What makes a good life?

The video below discusses the important part that relationships play in our pursuit of happiness. Having an achievable goal is a key part of this also. To have a shared objective, one that all participants have a stake in, gives a sense of purpose ultimately leading to a worthwhile achievement. As you get older it is critical that meaningful activities are built into your lifestyle which enable you to continue to grow. It has been said to me that if you believe you are going to live until you are 135 you will plan accordingly with optimism and even if you don't make it, the principle of having a sense of purpose is established, the result of which will be to make the best use of what time you have left. There are lots of opportunities to do things which are both mentally stimulating and potentially lucrative if you are prepared to try. All it takes is a bit of initiative and a willingness 'to give it a go', in the right hands the risk can be managed within safe limits and as the man said 'no pain, no gain', Its all in the mind...You are never too old!

What makes a good life? Lessons from the longest study on happiness | Ro...

6 MINS FOR THE NEXT 60 YEARS OF YOUR LIFE - A RANT

This fully endorses my mantra 'You are never too old', a no holds barred by view by Gary V of the potential of the 'Senior Citizens' who have given up. Often for no fault of their own having reached the age of retirement and feeling as though they are on the scrap heap they are just whiling the time away 'til they die.

Another of my 'mantras' is that 'you are born, you live, you die', the point is there is plenty of living left in you, all it needs is a 'spark' to ignite the desire.

Check out  https://tiny.cc/2y17ky for a glimpse of what the future could hold for you.

You are never too old!!!

https://tiny.cc/2y17ky

Best Ted Talks 2015 - Draw your future - Take control of your life

10 mile walk

10.00am Off along the banks of the Wansbeck, to the coast and up to Newbiggin thence through the Queen Elizabeth Country Park and back home. 10 miles, 2 1/2 hrs good stretch, beautiful country/seaside, minus calories, plus diminishing size 😇

Top 20 Genius & Simple Health Tips You Should Know

Some interesting 'facts' here. Trouble is whenever I am confronted by these so called gurus I cannot help but recall the words 'for every expert there's an equal and opposite expert' so ultimately you pretty much eat/drink what you like as long as you don't overdo it (and it is varied), My current weight loss routine involves expending more calories than I take in, i.e. brisk walking or cycling and low calorie (delicious) meals. There are plenty of them about.

It ain't rocket science.

What do you think?

The benefit of working from home

Enjoying a visit to the park with my Grandson in glorious May weather (flexibility is the key) 

to find out how

CLICK HERE

Simple Strategy Of Online Marketing 2

First, choose your niche. Health, finance and business, relationships, self-improvement... choose something you enjoy yourself that's filled with people who spend money. The hungrier your market, the better.   Either create a lead magnet or have one created for you. It should be an offer so enticing that visitors can't help but opt-in to get it. Put an upsell after that squeeze page to earn some up-front money.

Run solo ads or Facebook ads to send traffic to your squeeze page. Just spend a little bit here and there at first until you get your squeeze page and upsell page tweaked and optimized for best results. Then buy more traffic. Use the profits from the upsell to buy MORE traffic. Yes, you will be spending money.  But done right, you will also be making money. Worst case scenario, you spend $5,000 to build your list of 10,000 people. Best case scenario, you make that $5,000 or more on your upsell to pay for your list building.

It's a leap of faith to do this. Which is why most will never do it. But because most never will, that leaves plenty of room for YOU to do it.

Don't have money to invest in traffic? Then you'll have to use 'free' methods, which aren't free. They involve spending time and effort, but again, it's totally worth it. Now here's another 'secret' to getting this done - anything, and I mean ANY PART of this endeavour that you don't want to do yourself, you outsource. Get someone else to do it for you. Yes, outsourcing costs money.

You're building a business, aren't you? You are looking at earning a $5,000 a month income within 3-4 months, so just make the investment and do it.

Mail your list consistently as it grows. That means once you have your first subscriber, you start mailing 4-7 times per week. This is where you're going to put your real effort - into writing emails that make people WANT to open them and read them. You can't force people, but you sure can entice them. Whatever it is that your particular list wants, give it to them.

If you don't know what that is, hang out where they hang out, talk to them and ask them what they want, what they need, what one thing would make a big difference for them. "But all of that sounds like so much work!"

Guess what? If you want to build a business it's going to take work. It's going to take going through some bad stuff, some stuff that doesn't work, some stuff that costs you money to build your business. But once it's built, you have a perpetual fountain of money on your hands. You keep building the list, you keep emailing the list and you keep promoting to the list. Build, email and promote.

Imagine the lifestyle where you can be anyplace in the WORLD, send out an email and literally get money into your account that same day.  5 sales, 50 sales, 500 sales, all from one email. But to get to that point you've got to do the work first. And I don't care how many programs you buy. The fact is sooner or later you will finally come to the realization that regardless of what else you might be doing, you should also have a list.

Because a list is security. It's money in the bank. Now think about this: A year from now something happens and you need to make serious money FAST. Maybe you found the house of your dreams but you're short $20,000 for the down payment. Maybe your son needs an operation and your insurance won't cover $20,000 of it, and they won't do the operation until you get the money.

Maybe the IRS says you owe $20,000 in back taxes and they're about to take your home. Whatever it is, you need a substantial amount of cash in your hands NOW. But thankfully, a year ago you began building a list. Within 4 months your list was up to 10,000. Now it's over 30,000. You send out one email. And the next day you have $5,000 in cash. So you send another email the next day, and two more after that. And you have your $20,000. You get the house. Or your son gets the operation. Or the IRS leaves you the heck alone. Now that is security. That is power. That is freedom.

And it all starts with you, right here, right now, creating your funnel and building your list.

If this is the only piece of internet marketing advice you ever take, you will succeed and succeed big. Build. A. List. Starting now. Discover how to engage and excite new customers into taking action and spending money with you by using these simple free marketing tips from Nick James,

SOURCE

Simple Strategy Of Online Marketing 1

I don't know what day you're reading this. But I do know that today someone, somewhere, just launched a brand new Internet Marketing product or course that will finally teach you the secrets to building a successful Internet Marketing business in just months. How do I know this?  Because every single day of every single year, someone does exactly this. And here's the best part - many and even most of these products work. They truly do. That is, they work as long as you do the work.

Which bears repeating - Building an online business takes actual WORK. There is no magic button to making a million overnight.  If there were, no one would be waiting tables or working at dead end jobs because everyone, and I mean EVERYONE would be rich.

So just get thoughts of overnight wealth out of your pretty brain the next time someone tries to tell you they found the magic button and they'll share it with you for just $97. However, if you are willing to work, and you're willing to invest in your business, then I will tell you the secret to having an honest to goodness real business within 3-4 months that does indeed earn you a minimum of $5,000 per month.

The sad things is, most people who read this aren't going to actually DO it. And that's because it's not sexy and it takes WORK. Darn, there's that 4 letter word again. And one more thing - if you want to accomplish this in 3-4 months, it's probably going to take an investment as well.

Now, before you get unravelled because I suggested you have to WORK and INVEST, think about this...... what job can you get - with no formal training - that will pay you $5,000 a month to start, with monthly raises? And that calls for you to work from any darn place you choose, when you want, where you want and how you want?   Name me one job like that and I'm in.  But there's no such thing.

Imagine for a minute that you apply for a job. The interviewer says to you, "The only training you need will be on the job. You'll be making $5,000 a month by your third or fourth month. Each month that you want a raise, you can have one. There is no limit to what you can earn, it's up to you. You can work from home or anyplace you like. You can work whenever you like, as little or as much as you like. And if there is any part of the job you don't like doing, you can outsource it to someone else."

That, my friend, is a job applicant's wet dream. And it's exactly what you can have, if you want it bad enough.So what's THE big internet marketing secret I mentioned in the title?  If you haven't already guessed it, keep reading. If you have guessed it, are you doing it yet? If not, why not?

Okay, here we go, and I warn you - you have heard this before.

You may have heard this 100 times before. But what counts is the ONE time you hear it and actually starting DOING it. That, my friend, is LIFE-CHANGING. And it's why I'm taking so long to lead up to this - because I'm trying to help you make THIS the time you actually DO it and make it yours.

Here we go...What you need to succeed is a LIST. Yes, I told you that you heard this before. But if you really want total financial freedom, you need a list. You need a list. You need a list.

YOU NEED A @#$% LIST.

Whew. Sorry about that. I get a little keyed up when I see people buying every latest greatest newest product out there when all they need to do is get busy and build a list. Having a list gives you a ready market for any products you want to develop and create. It allows you to sell affiliate products whenever you want. It allows you to make money on demand.

Whoa - did a big bill just land in your lap? Send an email and get the money to pay it. Did you just find something in the store you MUST HAVE RIGHT NOW? Send out an email and in a few hours you can have it. Think about this... properly built and handled, a list of 10,000 people can give you an income of $5,000 a month if you promote the right affiliate offers. This doesn't even include promoting your own products.

Plus when you have a list of 10,000, you also have leverage. You can ask other marketers to promote your products to their lists in return for promoting their products to your list. And you can build your list from zero to 10,000 in a couple of months, especially if you're willing to invest in your list building effort

see Section 2 tomorrow for more information

SOURCE

The MOST DANGEROUS and EXTREME RAILWAYS in the World!! Compilation of In...

Eat your heart out Michael Portillo. Train rides for the adventurous (or Mad) traveller

Insight

Insight

The post below is a trifle long but it is so full of useful info that I decided to keep it in. There are many tips that I resonate with that are straight out of the bible of many a top level marketer, on mindset, time management and personal 'bad' habits. Well worth persisting with right to the end.
Ray

How To Start and Run a Successful Lifestyle Business Online

A Personal Insight

Congratulations! You have chosen a really rewarding option into how your business and life will coexist happily ever after." That was a little note to myself when I chose the lifestyle business option, quite a far cry from a traditional start-up that I was running in the entertainment and events industry after quitting my 9-5 job. The latter required me to be in a specific physical location of course so as to reach and serve my clients.

Today, I run a digital business model and all I need is a laptop handy and an Internet connection. I then choose when I want to do some work and where I want to get that work done. And that my friend is what I call a perfect match! My life meets my business everywhere I go, anywhere I am. The general business rules remain pretty similar and herein I will share my own golden rules that new entrepreneurs will particularly find informative... But first... if you are about to quit your job, you are probably wondering

Can Starting A Lifestyle Business Change Your Life?

No more dreadful Monday morning train commutes to work and staring into a stranger's face seated across from me wearing sunnies on a cold morning, perhaps a subtle attempt to numb the pain of the lifeless surrounding. They are having the same thoughts as me. "Friday cannot come quick enough". Then I start thinking about my email box and that Monday morning meeting that I have not prepared for. I have to fill in my boss on the current project status before he can go into another meeting with more important people than me to tell them what I just told him!

I remember having those thoughts and it just makes me queasy as I write this. I know you get the drift. I remember suffering temporary amnesia as I walked out of the house, holding car keys and looking for them all over the kitchen and lounge. I had spent a whole hour pre-occupied in thought on how I will handle the stress that was about to unfold for the next 5 days of my life.

The Road Ahead

As exciting as this new journey is about to be you want to get a few things in order straight away in your new 'house' to make this transition process as smooth as you possibly can. That business idea is looking great, you have done lots of research, consulted a few souls preferably smarter than you. You have also been making some new friends. I really hope none of them is still working where you just quit! I soon found out that these friendships only flourished over the years because of shared interests such as office politics that tended to specially thrive on Friday night at the bar when we didn't have to whisper about overwhelming love for senior management.

The reality now is, you are in an elevated consciousness phase of your life, one that these friendships cannot exist. Your mindset needs to be fed with new insights and nurtured with refreshing thoughts about living a fulfilled life. You have some money saved up in the bank and probably have an actionable step-by-step business plan. There is something of value that you have to share and a strategy to get customers lined up ready to give your 'something' a warm welcome into this new world order.

But that is the easy part. I shall be completely honest here; apart from some money that I had saved up at the point of quitting, I really didn't have much more than a rough idea of what I was going to do. I was risking it all. When I left my day job some years ago, I was at a point where it was either that or I lose my mind.

7 Golden Rules

A New MIND-set:

As with all things new, your mind is the first guy you want to put in check. Let him know there is a new sheriff in town. If you are like me, you have been spending the better part of the last 6 - 12 months buried deep in business books and ripping them apart in your spare time. At some point, you found personal development material captivating. Eventually, you started finding out why that constant nagging feeling of life and lack of fulfilment was. As an example, I had read books like Richdad Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki and listened to the audio version of the same in case something was lost in translation! I had also read Think & Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill and Dale Carnegie's How To Win Friends and Influence People among others.

This is an activity that you will not want to let slip into the overflowing 'good habits to continue when I get time bucket'. I had one like that and needed no motivation adding more stock completely in autopilot. Mind food is paramount in this journey. You want to stay inspired a good chunk of the time because this is where the sowing is happening. The thing is as abstract as some of the ideas in this material may seem at this point; I found that with time, it all starts to fall into place as the journey progresses. So do not sweat any concepts that are not clear yet. Keeping the reading habit going is all you need. These books are not really designed for reading cover to cover. Think of them like the SAT NAV system your car or as you own version of a personal SIRI.

It is a known fact that our minds don't like disruption. Whether that disruption is good for us or not, it is not very welcome without some whip cracking. The mind has got everything figured out. It is a very well trained machine with thoughts and habits that shape your life and works even when you are sleeping, doing the 'regular chores around the house'.

The 9-5 routine mindset is still at this point deeply wired into your system. It's advisable to start setting up ground rules so that YOU and the MIND are both on the same page. This takes a while and certainly took me the better part of 2 years. Don't stress just know there are changes you will need to work on consistently in this area. Oh, remember when I mentioned who your new friends cannot be a little earlier?

Breaking The Bad:

I made the mistake of trying to keep a regular 9-5-like routine when I first started my entrepreneurial journey. Big mistake. What tends to happen as a result is, the mind in these early days of business life, is still largely unaware of the 'new life in construction progress'. It actively runs the old familiar version of 'code' from its 9-5 days in the background in stealth mode. You might know what happens when you try to run a new version of Microsoft Windows on old PC hardware? Yes, exactly right!

All sorts of weird compatibility issues are not unheard of.

I did not understand this myself. The mindset driving my routine was still stuck in the old version. The correct term for this is the subconscious mind. So your poor conscious mind, which is pretty much what we operate on until new ways are 'learned' runs into a constant battle. It really wants to change the world for you, it's ready to work hard, promising to cut the Friday night binge that serves no purpose other than a regular headache which eats away the Saturday morning and pinky swears to cut down on addictive TV shows.

Someone, please explain why my favourite big screen stars are also hanging out in these TV shows... like really?

The Deal With Time Management:

As a new entrepreneur what quickly comes into awareness I would say is the time management beast and what seems to be like an endless stream of unmanageable distractions. In a lifestyle business that is run from home, the park, at the beach, the airport lounge or while on safari at The Mara, this can be a constant battle. Don't get too hung up on being perfect day one with this one. The more I tried to fight it the more I stressed about it. Stress did not improve my time management skills and only added to unfinished tasks that needed more worrying about... I thought! The time drama continued until I put measures to progressively learn how to improve time management.

Keep educating yourself on what works for your schedule and what sorts of distractions are overpowering you. I can tell you now it's going to be technology related!

It didn't matter that I was an early riser who wouldn't go to bed until my eyeballs were literally unlocking themselves from my sockets in protest. Occasionally I got the odd finger in this scuffle! And sometimes I still wouldn't give up. Now, this does not necessarily equate to being productive. The actual real result was a constant feeling of exhaustion, elevated stress levels, and anxiety.

Why You Need To Design A Routine That Works Around Your Lifestyle Business

I hadn't changed my routine so my mind would expect the usual treatment, 9 am we are active at work and then at 5 pm it expects that we are on the 'winding up for the day phase'. I, on the other hand, had with all good intent, added extra hours in front of the 9 and after the 5. Now you can see where the problem was once I kept this up for a while. Insane!!! Create a new routine and optimise around what works for you.

Decide When You Want To Work... Create A Routine... Then Follow It With Military Discipline

Perfecting this phase when you start a lifestyle business, which means your physical surroundings change constantly, it can feel daunting. However, with a well mapped out daily, and weekly routine that you have the discipline to stick with, you will start to see results. In no time, this will end up running on autopilot.

There's going to be a lot of 10 to 12 hour days, maybe longer but they don't and shouldn't be in your constant daily routine. After all, it's business around your lifestyle. I have 3-hour blocks and generally leave my 'heavy lifting work' for when I get into a state of flow, usually after midnight.

Understanding Your Personal Power and Peak Performance State:

This state starts becoming more regular with practice and awareness. Understand your highs (i.e. peak energy state), lows (this is no time to do the books and usually a good time to choose pizza toppings and make big decisions like thin or thick crust?) and my personal favourite flow state (this is creation mode and a good time to change the World). Pick a block of hours that works for you. Once new habits in your routine become solid you will have an easier time telling these states apart.

It's not unusual for me to get into flow while at the shops looking at apples and kiwi fruit fresh deals of the day. This state for me comes through an insightful thought or sometimes as a series of thoughts back to back, so please keep a hardcover notebook at all times for these moments. You might just stumble on your best business idea yet!

Time management and productivity is a continuous optimisation process. All you have to do is decide how many hours you want to work. Pay attention to your body clock and maximise for times when you are at peak energy states. Then learn to induce these states through rewarding practices like meditation.

Schedule Fun Times on Tuesdays:

Although it's not how I started off, I am lucky thus far to be working on businesses that allow me lots of flexibility as to when and where I actually work. If this tickles your fancy you are on the right track here. In my case, all I need is my mac book pro and decent wifi. Tip: When I am in a location where the menu has an under $10 dollar price tag frenzy going on, I move on swiftly.

About Tuesdays

Move all the things you used to do for fun on Saturday to this day. The Keyword here is FUN guys so if mowing the lawn is fun! Okay, you get my point. It doesn't matter what the activity is but I recommend you do it in the early days of your journey. The feeling is absolutely incredible. For me, it was reading the paper and a coffee down the road.

Do you guys wonder why we still print newspapers today?

So, usually, one or two local Moms will swing by the coffee shop and that is all the action there is. The rest of the 'real' world folks are at work. This is my opinion but what I found with being Mr Tuesday is that it gives me a boost of confidence and that sense of freedom where I feel, "yeah that's right, I can do what I want when I want".

I will point out here that this has nothing to do with money. I have done this even when the reality at that time was 'cash-flow challenges!'. I am not advocating that you should smile and be happy when you are broke, no no no. When you think about it, this is when you need your mind at a 100% and if all it takes is a series of 3-dollar coffees down the road, so be it. While on this topic, my ideal Tuesday day is on a yacht surrounded by endless views of blue seas at exactly 11 am and a safety vest in close proximity! Unwanted swimming lessons are not part of this plan.

What does your ideal Tuesday day look like?

Your Inner Circle... Your Players CLUB:

This is an interesting one because if you think about your ideal Tuesday above, how many people do you know today can do that? Initially, you will probably be alone or maybe with someone close to you like a partner, wife, girlfriend or somebody else who probably does what you do, or benefits directly from what you do. I found out that the friends I used to hang out with on Saturdays and Sundays in my previous life no longer fitted in the new life I was creating. It's a delicate balance but I had to make some changes. For the same reason, of course, the folks at your old job will probably not take Tuesday off to hang out at your newly found happy place to share happy coffee with you.

I could go on and on about this inner circle area of the new life but what I realised and accepted was, I needed to decide as part of the journey, to be alone for a little while as more new quality friendships developed. This is still an ongoing process. As an example, a couple of months ago I was in HongKong for a week just by myself. I had a blast but would it have been nicer to share that escapade with someone familiar?

I met new people on that trip and did things I had never done before. I love travelling and it is one of the reasons why starting a lifestyle business was a brilliant model. The thing is, if I can make friends who also have time to be lazy on Tuesdays for happy coffee and random sun baking escapades, that is probably a good 'new friend barometer' check right there! Oh and hopefully of course what they do for money is generally not frowned upon by law!

On the real, though, I personally don't have many of these friends but I found that this is a good time for me to reflect inwards and to focus on my personal growth. If you are new into this game, this could be a good time to spend with a business mentor, perhaps meet other like-minded people in your local community, go deep into nature or maybe just hang out on social media platforms and engage and find out the latest buzz like who got a cat! Seriously the point here is, have a lot of choices in your back pocket that you can go crazy with and if you have bucket list ideas all figured out, check them off weekly without fail.

Family:

Family is very dear to me and I would imagine it's the same for you too. Perhaps, much so that you are making this decision to escape the 9-5 and really start learning new ways to make money outside the voluntary solitary confinement space (also known as office cubicle). One of my reasons for choosing this journey was my family. To be more available to them and to enhance my own life experiences. To fill those experiences with what I really want anytime I wanted it. The one thing I encountered and you probably might as well, those we love and care for dearly may not understand the new you. These moments may not be as dramatic such as waving placards in protest but you will see it vividly.

Remember how our minds don't like change?

It's not their fault and they are probably coming from a place of love for you. Embrace the response you get with love and remember your bigger mission. I had lots of strange conversations with people I love and would have like to be speaking a foreign language at the time. That way being misunderstood would have been spot on. Then one day I realised, they weren't really saying they disliked my new outlook on life and crazy ideas like giving up a six-figure income.

They were just saying, "We don't understand how to process this new information". Please show us how. You might also take consolation in the fact that how well you manage this close relationship is a reflection of how you will do 'out there' where the World is short of people like you and me, people who are lost in self-indulgence and totally unconscious of their daily actions will not understand you either!

Remember, training takes time. That's what it took for me until they somewhat understood. If you are lucky enough to get the all in response from them, great, if not, give them time and if need be, add the space element to it as well. Be kind to yourself.

At the time, I was on a roller coaster going through a myriad of changes both personal and business that required me to be very present. My first business was in an industry I did not know at all, the physical surroundings were not very familiar (I will discuss this in a later post) and a pending divorce as a result of a strained long-distance relationship. Now, this was a lot of action in one headspace!

In Summary

Your circumstances may be a little different from mine for wanting to come this way and choosing this journey. As you go along, it's reasonable to expect moments where you will be tried and tested by fate. Things will happen that will be out of your comfort zone or out of your control and sometimes both.

In the end, I find that clarity on my why I do what I do sails me through choppy waters. I embrace whatever comes my way with love. Answers to what I don't know come in the right time. I keep the bigger mission clear in my mind. Creating a life where I can live on my own terms is not free, there's a price to be paid.

Another really important thing to have a solid business system. I found my answer with the six-figure mentors. They have a step-by-step business system that shows you how to leverage the Internet and start your very own online business. What's, even more, is that if your goal is to start your own business say around your passion, the business skills you will learn are second to none. From experience with my first 2 ventures as a newbie without a mentor, I would recommend every new entrepreneur make getting a mentor, their number one priority. Looking at how I started my entrepreneurial journey, this was my single most expensive mistake up until today as I write this.

Final Thought

Along the way somewhere, I realised that I needed to give up the idea of perfection and get cosy with uncertainty about what will be tomorrow and experience some discomfort today because of the things that I don't know yet. I experience more growth as I continue to operate in that mental space. All I have to do TODAY is take to take the next best action. This post is unusually long so if you are still reading, I sincerely thank you. I hope you found some value in there. Feel free to share this post with someone else who will enjoy reading through the ideas and insights I have shared.

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Working from home

At first glance the prospect of working from home, Social Media, emailing, tweeting, facebooking etc is daunting. The general impression is that it is a young persons world and 'out of bounds' for us 'oldies' but as I have found out for myself, there is plenty of opportunity for real engagement whether it be soley for fun or educational or even earning 'a bit on the side'. 

A recent survey shows that - 56 percent of the online adults use more than one of the five social platforms- Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram and Pinterest.

There is lots of advice available, on the one hand extremely helpful and creative but on the other potentially debilitating in terms of the amount of confusing material that can be thrown at you. How do you choose the best route to take and how can you avoid the complex issues that can take up an inordinate amount of time (and potentially, financial resource)? 

It is possible to enjoy many of the positive aspects of the Internet for no financial commitment whatever but equally there are sharks out there who will happily try to part you from your money with 'get rich quick schemes' which go from one level to another expanding the quantity of time and money required. The answer is that due diligence must be undertaken to ensure the validity of the proposed programme before parting with any cash. 

Our children take to the internet like 'ducks to water' and the risk is none existent (in their eyes) however the speed at which they work their mobile phones with apparently double jointed flexible thumbs is not within my level of capability and frankly it has made little or no difference, I have all the time in the world to develop my interests and, just like them, I become more efficient with practice. There are plenty of help programmes to enable you to do just that.

Put simply, Social Media is a term for sites that provide a range of different 'Social' activities, For example Twitter allows people to publish short 'tweets' about newsworthy items; personal events etc. with a wide audience of 'followers'. Facebook, by contrast is a much more comprehensive facility that allows users to post photos and videos as well as sharing status updates and events. Courses and advice for all of these features abound and it is usually best to approach the provider themselves for information on how best to proceed. Entry levels are low and you can be taken step by step through the pro's and con's until you reach the stage thats suits you best. There are other platforms such as Linkedin and Pinterest which are more specifically focused at Business / making contacts but IMO Facebook & Twitter are the easiest to access and use to begin with. 

In the course of my involvement I have found that ideas and opportunities arise in the process of learning and implementing the material freely on offer. As I said earlier it helps if you have an aim or specific interest and if so maybe joining a forum / group of some sort would be be a good start. If you want to earn money Affiliate Marketing is a good 'low risk' system in which to set up an Online business, however be aware of 'carrots' offering get rich quick schemes, an online business requires commitment and a lot of hard work. My personal experience, as I have mentioned earlier in this blog, has been that of gaining enjoyment from the challenge of doing something which stretches me intellectually and offers me a business opportunity as well as providing an interesting source of material for my blog. 

When starting up facilities such as aweber, Clickbank, Leadpages etc all have extensive 'Help' support and some even have accreditation for achievement on the programme. These are all bona fide 'worldwide' operations which have 

All in all, I guess it is pretty much the same as any venture you might embark on in that 'you get out what you put in'. The Internet is here to stay and its advantages are endless from online shopping to research to business. If approached sensibly it can considerably enhance the quality of life by increasing the amount of time you have available to do all the things you enjoy BUT if it is rushed into the consequences can be dire. There is plenty of advice about make sure you use it.
Happy surfing
Ray

For further information/advice and FREE gifts CLICK HERE

What does the Future hold?

THURSDAY, 13 APRIL 2017

What does the Future hold?

Are you looking to retire but still need something to challenge you? Do you worry about the future? Have you children/grandchildren? Does their potential future debt (University fees) concern you? Do you feel impotent in terms of resolving some/all of these issues? Is your pension adequate? Have you looked at the prospects for growth? Does the Internet frighten you? Does Social media baffle you? Is it something that you consider trivial or irrelevant? Are you aware you can make money online? Can you conquer your fears about the Internet and use it to run a business from home? 

Approaching the age of 70 I experienced all of these emotions and more. I was seriously worried about how my children and grandson were going to cope in a very uncertain world. In addition I felt that I needed something to satisfy my own requirements in terms of a challenge. 

After all I was ONLY 70 and I felt I had much more to offer. 

I have gone into what I did next in an earlier blog (see below) and I have begun to feel whole again. I am writing this in the hope that my ongoing experience will be of use to someone 'out there', it is the beginning of a journey and I feel confident that the destination I have chosen will be successfully reached with the support of the team at Left Click Right Click (aka Paul OMahony) If anyone is at all interested in sampling what is on offer try this link to visit his Facebook page and get a view of the future.The future is Online.

Additionally, I have compiled three free reports which are an introduction to Online Marketing and which offer advice on getting started. To claim these FREE reports click on 'the Tree' (above right) OR here. Hope you find them interesting and of use in making a decision which could change your life for the better

The Future

Are you looking to retire but still need something to challenge you? Do you worry about the future? Have you children/grandchildren? Does their potential future debt (University fees) concern you? Do you feel impotent in terms of resolving some/all of these issues? Is your pension adequate? Have you looked at the prospects for growth? Does the Internet frighten you? Does Social media baffle you? Is it something that you consider trivial or irrelevant? Are you aware you can make money online? Can you conquer your fears about the Internet and use it to run a business from home? 

Approaching the age of 70 I experienced all of these emotions and more. I was seriously worried about how my children and grandson were going to cope in a very uncertain world. In addition I felt that I needed something to satisfy my own requirements in terms of a challenge. 

After all I was ONLY 70 and I felt I had much more to offer. 

I have gone into what I did next in an earlier blog (see below) and I have begun to feel whole again. I am writing this in the hope that my ongoing experience will be of use to someone 'out there', it is the beginning of a journey and I feel confident that the destination I have chosen will be successfully reached with the support of the team at Left Click Right Click (aka Paul OMahony) If anyone is at all interested in sampling what is on offer try this link to visit his Facebook page and get a view of the future.The future is Online.

Additionally, I have compiled three free reports which are an introduction to Online Marketing and which offer advice on getting started. To claim these FREE reports click on 'the Tree' (above right) OR here. Hope you find them interesting and of use in making a decision which could change your life for the better

Niche Awareness - 5 Things You Need to Know

When you are first starting out in internet marketing one of the hardest things to do can be deciding which niche market you are going to target.

I know when I was first starting out I went from having no idea what area I would be targeting to being bombarded by so many different niche markets my head was spinning at the prospect of picking just one or two.

With that in mind I am going to look at some of the various kinds of niche markets available to you as well as a few other things you will need to consider, with the intention of casting a little light on the subject and hopefully as a result make the whole process of choosing a niche market that bit easier for you.

1. Try traditional niche markets

The traditional niche markets break down into three main categories

• Health and Fitness

• Wealth Creation

• Lifestyle

Each of these markets has existed for far longer than the internet has and will always be in demand. In fact, these markets have existed since before the beginning of marketing itself.

For example, people are always looking to improve their health, this could be health in general or dealing with a health condition that they have to live with such as diabetes, high blood pressure, back pain, asthma or IBS to name but a few.

Maybe you are more interested in the fitness side of things, again the scope for this market is huge and very much in demand. People are always looking for ways to work out at home or shorten their time at the gym with different ways to get the maximum results in the shortest amount of time. A lot of these gym goers are looking at ways to put on weight or build muscle.

Which brings me nicely onto what is probably the biggest area under the health and fitness banner, this is weight loss. The global weight loss market is estimated to be worth £220 million with an estimated 29 million Brits attempting to lose weight last year alone and with obesity on the rise this market is only going to get bigger. With that in mind there's always a marketplace out there that will be hungry for information in this area.

In the same way, people are always looking to make more money, maybe they have retired and want something to fill their time and top up their pension, or they could be looking for something to do as a hobby that can generate a little extra cash to supplement their wages. It could be, they have dreams of quitting the drudgery of the 9 to 5 and starting out on their own. As with health and fitness, wealth creation is a huge marketplace with numerous possibilities.

Similarly, lifestyle is an area that people want to improve constantly, this again covers a wide range of subjects, quitting smoking or drinking could also be covered by the health and fitness banner but tends to come under lifestyle as does improving sleep and stress management. You could also look at relaxation techniques and meditation as well as the very popular relationship niche. So as you can see a vast number of people will always be looking for solutions within this market.

In conclusion, the markets I've mentioned are a fantastic place to start if you're thinking of going into internet marketing, or even if you're already up and running and you want to explore a new niche then these are huge markets for you to tap into.

2. Solve peoples problems

Every single person who is in internet marketing brings a wealth of knowledge with them, and if you think that this is not true for you, then you are wrong. We all have things that we are passionate about, or are knowledgeable in, it could be a hobby that you have been doing for years or maybe you do a job in which you have gained knowledge that could be passed on to the less initiated - insider information, tricks of the trade etc. You can use what you know or love to help solve other peoples problems. Even if you don't have all the answers, with access to the internet you have all the experts in your chosen topic at your finger tips - just Google it! And if you're solving a problem, you're helping someone. If you're helping someone, then you can get paid for your time and effort.

Every single day people all over the world are looking for answers to problems they may have, in every single subject under the sun. Don't believe me? try googling 'how to get my bread to rise' and you get over 5.6 million results, or try 'How to improve my golf swing' and over 1.25 million results are returned, or try something more obscure like 'How to stop my dog barking' and you get over 770,000 results. What I'm trying to say here is that regardless of what you are knowledgeable about there is someone out there looking for answers to problems in that particular area.

If you can provide a solution to the people who are looking for answers, in a way that they can easily access, then you can get paid for doing it.

One of the easiest ways to do this is to produce an e-book and with websites such as Amazon kindle direct publishing; https://kdp.amazon.com it's now easier than ever to get your e-book out into the market place. If you add an audio or video version as well, then you will greatly improve your widespread appeal.

Do your research right and you can easily find the most common problems in your chosen niche. A very good way of finding what problems people need solving is to go direct to the market itself. One of the best places to look can be online forums dedicated to your chosen subject, you will find numerous people here looking for answers to an abundance of problems. Places like Yahoo Answers are also a great way of finding out what problems people are facing. If you want to you can always go and survey people in your chosen niche.

This is not only a great way to find out what problems people need solving, it's also very valuable to you because the people are basically telling you what product they need. All you have to do is give it to them.

3. Do your research

Research within your chosen niche is vital. It's important because it tells you what the market is thinking and more importantly what it wants. It also tells you if the demand is big enough to be worth your time and effort creating products that that particular market is asking for.

By going direct to the market you can discover what problems they face, what solutions they've tried, what has worked and what hasn't worked, you'll get a better insight into what people want and be better placed to provide a solution in a targeted way.

If you already have a list, that's great, send them a brief email questionnaire, ask them what they want to learn about, what problems they have (short term and long term), what kind of information they need.

One great way to find a niche market is to use the Google Keyword Tool https://adwords.google.com/select/KeywordToolExternal You can see how many people are searching for a specific word or phrase, this is an invaluable tool to ascertain if there is a demand for the niche you are considering. If there are 10,000 searches per month or more and very little competition from advertisers, you may well have found yourself a niche that's ready and waiting to be tapped into.

4. Keep looking

It's important as an internet marketer to constantly be on the lookout for new ideas and continue to search for new niches and markets that you can potentially tap into, this will not only increase the number of income streams you have but will also ensure that you are not putting all your eggs into one basket should one niche area start to wane. Having said that, don't give up on one niche just because you have had a successful product. If one product has worked, then the potential is there to sell more, keep going in that same niche until you have 4 or 5 good products all making you money.

Don't forget to keep a constant relationship with your existing buyers, send out emails at least once a month, send them offers, upsells and other products that you think they may be interested in. Remember it is easier and cheaper to sell to someone who has already been a customer than to sell to a complete stranger.

You are surrounded by places where you can gain inspiration for new niche markets. Try going to the magazine section of your local shop, look at the various magazines on sale and the subjects they cover, chances are that If there's a magazine for it, then it is likely to have enough potential buyers to be a worthwhile niche market.

As I mentioned earlier you can also find inspiration by playing around with the Google Ads Keyword Tool as well.

5. Go deeper

What I mean by this is quite simply finding more specific fields of interest within your chosen niche. For example, maybe your niche is the beauty market so then your more specific areas within this market could be hair, or nails, looking younger or even the make-up niche.

Taking the make-up niche as an example, you can narrow this down to things such as applying lipstick, foundations for different skin types, or applying eye make up.

Lets say you decide to create products about eye make-up, If you are somewhat of an expert on this subject then that's great, turn what you know into an e-book or a step by step video tutorial. If you are not then don't worry you could interview experts in this area and maybe record the interview and produce your product from this.

By going deeper and being more precise you could really get the most out of your chosen niche and because you're being very specific you can open up a whole world of possibilities to build on. Remember people love to learn from experts and so that attention to detail will pay off.

It's also a good idea to think laterally within your niche market and consider what other products or services people might be interested in. As I mentioned earlier, if people have already bought from you, then suggest other products you think they may be interested in or offer them an upsell of another higher priced product.

Finally, make sure that you take careful notes of what works and what doesn't work, then maybe look at how you can use what works in the future and whether you can fix the things that do not work or if you need to discard them and try a different approach.

SOURCE