Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!
I hope this email finds you spending time with family and loved ones or at least smiling (perhaps for some of you this occurs when you are NOT spending time with family!). I felt the urge to write again and in this writing I hope to accomplish 3 simple things:
1. I want to give credit to the year 2008 where all others are just badmouthing it!
2. I want to have you walk away from this writing with the knowledge that you can accomplish anything you want to accomplish
3. I want you to share with you what I think will make the biggest impact in your business right now and for free!
First a riddle: What is almost Dead but will probably continue to take a beating for 20 years? Answer: The year 2008 of course! Almost every blog I read, every year-end update I see is a verbal beat-down on the year 2008! Why has 2008 become the red-headed ugly stepchild of the 21st century? Well, instead of answer that pretty easy to answer question, why not think and discuss the good things we got out of this year?
An expert is a person who has made all the mistakes that can be made in a very narrow field.
– Neils Bohr
Those of us who were playing in the real estate amusement park in 2004-2005 probably didn’t learn nearly as much as we did in 2008. As in investor in those years you could close your eyes, point out the window, paint it and carpet it and make $30,000.00…well, that isn’t really a learning environment is it? Yes, fast cash was the norm and we all got used to that lifestyle very quickly but anytime something is that easy, anytime someone can make big money while barely having any knowledge of the business category, it just cannot last can it?
Let us rise up and be thankful, for if we didn’t learn a lot today, at least we learned a little, and if we didn’t learn a little, at least we didn’t get sick, and if we got sick, at least we didn’t die; so, let us all be thankful.
– Buddha
It really doesn’t matter how bad the year 2008 was for you, it also doesn’t matter how much your childhood stunk either! Those things are in the past. Don’t waste time lamenting over yesterday’s losses or failures; spend time rejoicing over what you learned and what you have to be thankful for. No matter where you are at in your life, it could be worse. Be thankful that you have eyes to read this message. Be thankful that you have a voice to talk to others around you. Be thankful that there is air to breathe. Be thankful in the knowledge that you CAN get to where you want to go in life, regardless of where you are. The best way to know this is to se proof. This is a video that I found that really punches you in the face if you are a woe is me kind of person – Youtube Video (it is only 5 minutes long and I strongly encourage you to watch it and send it to anyone you know that is down and depressed)
How do you feel after watching that video? Don’t you understand that you can do, be, or have anything that you desire? If there was ever a person that could have cursed God and gave up on his life, it’s that guy. And you know what? The world would have totally accepted it. Know that the world will accept you giving up. Know that your friends will accept you giving up. Know that your family will accept you giving up. But for all the love in the world…why the hell should YOU accept YOU giving up?
Our doubts are traitors, and make us lose the good we oft might win, by fearing to attempt. ~William Shakespeare, Measure for Measure, 1604
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Now, as promised, here is the thing that I truly believe will make the biggest impact in your business life; Understanding and embracing the online social networking phenomenon. The world is getting faster and faster and if you are trying to grow a business, you need to keep up! Now is NOT the time to strip away the things you seem frivolous like blogging and spending time on social networking sites, these are things you really need to do and luckily we now have tools to make it easier!
Here are the three most powerful free resources I have found in regards to social networking. They are http://www.FaceBoook.com, https://twitter.com and http://www.ping.fm. Most of you have probably heard of the first two but the last one is pretty darn sweet. http://www.ping.fm gives you the ability to update all of your social networking sites at the same time from your phone! Pretty darn cool. Now, perhaps you wonder why that makes a difference? Well, when you update your different pages it floats your update around that social network and especially something like https://twitter.com, it puts you at the top of all your followers and friends websites. Two bits of advice when it comes to social networking: Don’t always be selling or simply talking about a website that you hope someone buys something from and also, NEVER BE BORING! If you are doing something interesting, tell people about it! Remember that these days people want to know people that have a personality, not some corporate stiff. One pretty cool thing about https://twitter.com is you can update your status via text message.
There you go! Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays and may your holidays be absolutely awesome!
Ray Higdon
PS: Wanna follow my adventures? Find me on Twitter at Ray’s Twitter
