One thing there isn’t a shortage of around the world is information and disinformation. In fact, our choices are often so overwhelming that we tend to freeze because of confusion or a fear of being suckered into something which won’t be in our best interest.
Welcome to the Decidophobia Penitentiary, a self-imposed jailhouse for fence-sitters, skeptics and ne’er-do-wellers.
I’m here to reveal to you a fool-proof escape route from D-Pen which is guaranteed to lead you to freedom and security at all levels of your existence. I’ll keep my voice down, but listen up…
Here is my checklist of 10 guidelines for whether or not you should reach for your wallet and sell your soul to the next slickest pitch artist is guaranteed to lessen information overload.
Keep these 10 guidelines posted by your computer ready for reference or folded into your billfold or purse:
1. Is this offer aligned with my goals? You do have goals, right? If it clearly isn’t aligned with your path, put the offer in your digital or real file cabinet and reevaluate it a few weeks later.
2. Do you need or just want such a product or service? Need means that it is or soon will become essential to the prosperity of your business or personal life. Want means it would be nice to have but is not essential in any level of my existence. The need item should then be compared with other similar products which can be uncovered using any number of search engines, review sites and online auction sites. The want items should be added to your goals list and a date for acquisition noted.
3. Do you trust this person or company? Is their identity masked or totally concealed? If so, the rule of thumb is to trash it. When the person or company is easy to determine, then contact them. Ask a reasonable question about the product/service that requires more than a rubber-stamp answer. If the response is wooden and plastic, then trash it. If the answer truly addresses and resolves your concern, then buy it.
4. If the marketer says that he or she is the only honest broker in a world of liars and thieves, then you will know that he or she is a liar him- or herself. This ploy which I call the “Savior Approach” is bound to weaken your psychic defenses. When you have been screwed by such linguistic gymnastics several times previously, you should know better than to jump. But it’s hard to resist. Put the offer in your digital or real file cabinet and reevaluate it a few weeks later.
5. Steer clear of any offer which is time sensitive. You know the takeaway-type offer I’m talking about: “This offer will only be available for the next 72 hours,” or “You will never see this offer again.” Both statements may even be true, but here is something to consider: Any product which finds success will be copied and offered at a more competitive cost down the pike. Put the offer in your digital or real file cabinet and reevaluate it a few weeks or months later.
6. Unsubscribe to any marketing publication which sends you three or four offerings per day(!) without giving one ounce of personal coaching or information for free. They somehow got you on their hook with a slick, initial offering; now it is time to wiggle your way out of their net and clean out your mailbox of such opt-in junk mailings.
7. Assuming you have a goal in mind when you turn on the computer, don’t let the newest and best marketers add you to their mailing list unless their information is definitively related to your goals. This is especially true for information junkies (such as myself) who are mesmerized by well-tailored copy and new ideas. I want to buy everything and read everything, but that is a formula for the poorhouse. Find your product or niche, and then run with it minus the information baggage.
8. Never buy an ebook or a software application which you don’t plan to read or use promptly. If you have tens or hundreds of such materials stored on your desktop in in the bowels of your PC, either trash them or read them first before you buy the newest hot item.
9. Listen to as many teleseminars or recordings of the people you want to buy products from. When you listened to these self-proclaimed gurus in more than sound bites, if they sound suspicious, seem arrogant and only seem to plug their latest launch…dump them. Your intuition is usually correct.
10. Your monthly self-training expense should be budgeted. If you are about to go over budget with this “must have” application or ebook proclaiming you’ll be making $3,000 in the next 30 days…go to your dream stealer or a negative person in your life. Explain to them that you want their opinion for what you plan to buy, and then, to the best of your knowledge, lay out what the ebook or application is supposed to do. If that neggie is neutral toward the idea or even wants to buy one too, go for it. Otherwise, sit on it until the next month. Don’t rob from Peter to pay Paul.
Noted motivational coach and multimillionaire marketer Anthony Robbins said:
“Stay committed to your decisions, but stay flexible in your approach.”
The easy way to avoid success is to spend, spend, spend and then read, read, read.
I just know you can show some discipline. And when you show discipline, you will become laser-focused and unstoppable. And when you become laser-focused, with absolutely certainty you can achieve what you want in life.
Be creative without always reaching for your wallet.
“Our treasure lies in the beehive of our knowledge. We are perpetually on the way thither, being by nature winged insects and honey gatherers of the mind.”
~ Friedrich Nietzsche~
There is nothing more precious than the mind on a mission. It puts into motion all the artistry of our life, in a way which only we can brush-paint it. Nourish your mind with good books to read, good people to share with, and good thoughts to inspire you. Your time of greatness has arrived.