Don’t Think About Making Money and You’ll Make A Lot More Money
Last night I swear I died.
I was lying in the bed… exhausted, sweating from head to toe, and I kept feeling like I was floating away to my vacation home at 125 Heaven Blvd.
Seems like the seasonal flu is making its rounds early on this side of town. The school nurse called me on Monday to ask about my daughters symptoms. She had been running a fever all weekend, and I kept her home for the past three days. Almost a dozen other kids in her class were also absent. All with flu-like conditions.
In any case, that’s just the side note to tonight’s post. But I had to tell you cause it’s kind of essential to the overall message.
You see, the thing that I found really odd about these past five sick days is that I got a lot more orders than usual.
Don’t get me wrong, it’s not totally off-base to get a sudden surge of orders for one book. But a sudden surge for several books all at once is a bit more eyebrow raising – especially because I’ve barely had the energy to raise my head from the freaking pillow. (Meaning I haven’t done a lick of work since last week.)
Why does this happen?
Why do great things happen when you’re not concentrating on making great things happen?
And how can you use this secret to increase your business? (I had to throw that last part in!)
A Watched Pot Never Boils
You’ve heard that phrase before.
According to the folks over at The Free Dictionary it means, “Something you are waiting for will not happen while you are concentrating on it.”
I strongly believe my relationships are ruled by the Watched Pot theory. If I wanted a relationship, I’d never get what I wanted. I’d be as sweet as apple pie, but nothing would ever happen. As soon as I don’t give a shit anymore – BOOM – I’ll meet 5 guys who’ll swear I’m their soul mate and pledge undying love.
If it didn’t happen so often I’d be inclined to think it was a fluke. But it happens with such regularity that it’s really difficult to call it random. Maybe it’s some type of mental pheromone I’m kicking off.
But it’s the same thing with business. Sometimes you have to take your mind away from a project to-
#1… Allow the pot to boil. Testing is a necessary evil when it comes to successfully marketing online. But there comes a time when you have to take your hands off the keyboard.
I think we all know when that time comes. I mean have you ever felt the need to just turn the computer off, but then you just keep working because you’re so PRESSED to make something – anything – happen?
I’m guilty of this one. We often feel like we have to stay busy to make sales happen. But that’s not always the case. It’s often when you throw your hands up in total frustration and turn off the computer that the sales finally come in – not while you’re hitting refresh 100 times. (I know this from experience!)
#2… Gain insights that only time away from the computer can give you. People who tell me that they can’t get e-book ideas are usually the ones who are online 24-7. The Internet is fun. I make a living being online.
But the real world is color, sights, sounds, real people, dog, cows, greenery, cars, trains, buses, restaurants, bums, BMW’s and everything in between. It goes back to the title of this post… not thinking about money is usually the one thing that can help you make more money. Stepping away from the Internet and any projects that seem to be causing you grief can be just what you need to generate those winning ideas.
It doesn’t appear that way when you’re all in the mix. But it is that way.
Don’t Buy It – Just Try It
Not everything requires a $97 fix.
Not everything requires a fix at all.
Sometimes you just need to turn it all off, and let your mind NOT think. If you leave the kitchen, the pot will boil.
Filed under: Bullet Point
Like this post? Subscribe to my RSS feed and get loads more!
Thanks for the great post, Alexis.
Interestingly, I am currently reading some Law of Attraction (LOA) books and one point came to mind when I was reading your post: What you focus expands. To be honest, I am a bit skeptical about LOA. Until now I am not fully convinced with LOA and your story proved it irrelevant. What are your thoughts on this?
Hi Abel,
Don’t be skeptical about the LOA. I’ve been doing it long before The Secret came out… long before I even knew there was such a thing called the LOA, so I know that it works.
The LOA works when you keep your eyes on the end result AND clear away any mental baggage you might have as to why you won’t get the thing you desire AND be open to intuitive messages you receive.
Though the Watched Pot theory applies here as well.
Let’s say you want to make $1 million dollars this year. You keep that focus. As soon as you decide that’s what you want, you decide you’re going to make it happen by selling 20,000 widgets.
You’re watching the pot here.
When I decide I want something, I do what I want to do. I don’t say, “I’m going to sell 100 copies of this e-book, and that’s how I’m going to make this money.” I listen to my intuition and do what feels right.
Sometimes I get a bunch of book orders. Perhaps I’ll meet someone sitting at the table next me who’s looking for a ghostwriter. Maybe one of the parents at my daughters school has a juicy lead for me. Maybe my neighbor cuts out a notice in the newspaper that she thinks could make me some money.
I’ve had all of these things happen, and they’ve all proven profitable in the end.
It’s still using the LOA. Whatever I want is still coming to me. But I’m not dictating the way it’s coming. In other words, no pot watching.
Go to (http://www.ResponsibleCreators.com) for a free e-book I wrote on this topic.
Alexis
Love it. I used to call this the “desire/resist” concept – the term not orignal to me, but a former neighbors over in Banker’s Hill, near downtown San Diego.
Meaning, the more you desire an outcome, the more it resists you. There is another name for this concept (and I can’t actually share my source on this one…) namely, “lusting after results.” The idea being that doing so actually blocks your successful achievement of those results.
Whether it is purely a practical, logical “cause and effect” phenomenon, or something a bit more “esoteric” than that is hard to say (but I personally believe the latter.)
And I struggle with it, so your post was a nice reminder not to get caught up in trying so hard. Hmm, speaking of, there’s yet another version of this I just remembered, this one from Taoism, called “try without trying, do without doing…”
I guess Truth is Universal.
Doug you know the more I think about this topic the more I realize that it’s a real tough problem to deal with. I only didn’t pay attention because I was sick. But in reality, when you’re perfectly okay, it’s hard not to pay attention.
Especially when you’re being told to visualize and do affirmations and the such.
I guess it just comes down to knowing that everything’s going to be okay and moving forward regardless of what you experience or see on a minute by minute basis.
Alexis, thanks for the handbook.
It is one of the best books on LOA because it is written based on your experience and it’s very practical. In fact, this book brings you to the next level by prompting action while most of other books leave you in the dark as of what to do next. And you also link the two subjects together: LOA and intuition – which is to me startling.
I have some questions for you and hope you don’t mind:
1. How do you tell if the message you receive is from the Universe or just your imagination?
2. And when you receive a message, how do you know which request it is for?
3. Any books you recommend for further reading on LOA and intuition?
Thanks.