I have a very interesting outlook on life due to my past career working as a paramedic. When thinking today about what to write for a motivational message, I came up with some interesting thoughts. I know I write a lot about making money and being successful, but this Monday Motivational Post is going to be a little different.

If you want the full effect of this message, click on the video on the right hand side of this blog and listen……then go back and watch.

Anyways, before I got into this fun business of internet marketing, I spent almost 10 years volunteering as a firefighter. I have done CPR on probably over 100 people in my life. Likewise I have been in several people’s homes while their loved ones were experiencing the worst days anyone could ever imagine.

This is where I get my drive and what has made me who I am today. During this time I was making awful money doing a noble job. But it made me realize that life is very short and you can’t wait to make things happen in life. You need to do it NOW!

Although you may not be where you want to be right now (none of us are), it doesn’t matter. Enjoy the fact that you are an entrepreneur and out there trying to make it happen. Take a step back for a moment and realize all the great things you have in the here and now.

How many of your buddies are making ANY money online? Probably none, keep in mind though, there is a lot more important things in this world than just money. You could be gone next week, and quite frankly, it won’t matter how you rank in the SERPS, or how many new players you are sending each month.

I was inspired to write this post because we had my oldest daughters birthday party today. I had all my family at my house and it really made me think about what is truly important. Likewise I have a friend right now who’s wife is going through the trials and tribulations of breast cancer.

So I ask everyone reading this to just step back for a minute and think about what you have today and how you never know what tomorrow brings. Personally, I don’t ever want to look back and say “I should have done that”. Fu** that, there is too much out there to be had!

You should make every day count both personally and professionally. Never forget that you only have one chance in this world to make BIG things happen. Why not shoot for the stars with your goals?
Enjoy life today and make the most out of every minute.

And most importantly, always remember the people who got you there, and that there’s way more to living a good life than collecting affiliate checks.

Make it a great week!

Ever since 2004 when I started writing and mentoring people, there has been a common theme people have heard me say; “Think outside the box”. I agree the term is very cliché in the business world. In my life and career though it has proved to be a very successful mindset.

Like anybody else, there have been times in my career when I have gotten frustrated, or busted my ass on something only to make no head way. When you find yourself in a situation like this, it is imperative that you change your way of thinking.

I remember when I first started in affiliate marketing, it was as simple as putting up a website, buying some PPC, and doing a little SEO. Next thing you know, you were making money. Unfortunately the internet marketing business has become much more competitive and difficult, regardless of what vertical you are in.

I’ll use the poker affiliate market as an example since many of the readers here are poker affiliates. If you are starting a new poker affiliate site in 2008, you are not going to be successful unless you do something that is “outside the box”. For example, you can build a pretty site, review all the rooms, buys some links, and do some SEO. Guess what though? 1000 other affiliates are going to do this exact same thing in the next 12 months.

When I say “outside the box”, I also don’t mean some crazy viral idea either (although that would help). However you have to do something original that no one else is doing. Whether it be something original within your SEO strategy, or you overall site idea, think originality.

Lately my favorite magazine has become Fast Company. I love this magazine because every month you can read about entrepreneurs who basically started with an original idea, and in many cases minimal funding. Many of these entrepreneurs have built multi-million dollar business empires from scratch inside of 24 months.

That brings me to the next point. Think Big, and get out of your comfort zone. If you want to make hundreds of thousands or millions of dollars; the odds are you are going to have to do more than just be a poker affiliate or one man affiliate marketer.

Life is to damn short to not go out and make big things happen. My suggesstion to anyone reading this that may be in a situation where things are not happening fast enough, or you feel like you have hit a wall is the following.

Take a day or two to relax, and most importantly forget about your frustrations. During this time reflect on where you’ve been and where you want to get to in the coming years. Get your thought process to an elevated level, and think with a clear head forgetting about anything negative in your life.

You surely know how to write a business plan, right? How about writing a “life plan” on where you want to be and what goals you want to accomplish. If you have a clear vision of these goals, it will make the business part much easier.

If you have a clear vision of your life’s goals and dreams, when you think outside the box, it’s not impossible to see the rest will magically fall into place. Make it a great week!

I have written on this topic before, however I feel it is very important so I will publish another post on this. Everyone knows that in order to be successful long term, you are going to have to take some risks and experience some failures along the way.

Every entrepreneur or millionaire I know can probably count on one hand the ultimate successes that got them to where they’re at. Yet each could probably fill a book with the stories on their failures. When I look back over the past 10 years of my professional life, I have to shake my head at some of the decisions I’ve made. I have failed at so many projects, sites, and ventures it is almost comical. The good news however is that the ones that worked out have put me exactly where I want to be in life.

I have a great home, a career that I always dreamed of, and most importantly a great family at the age of 31. The times I have failed or lost a ton of money in various endeavors sucks, I am not going to lie about that. The thing is though that I was able to put these failures behind me and keep moving forward to achieve my goals.

What I see far to often happen when people fail is that they give up. People get discouraged and just go back to their comfort zones. One of the other most important attributes you see in successful people is perseverance. It’s not that “failure is not an option” for these people, it’s that they NEVER GIVE UP when faced with failure.

So no matter what mistakes you have made, or what failures you have encountered, there are 3 things you need to do:

1. Accept the failure

2. Learn from the failure

3. Stay Positive and move on with your life’s goals.

The beauty about being an entrepreneur is that you get as many chances as you want to try new things in your path to success. The unfortunate thing however is when you look at the big picture, in life you only get one chance to “make it happen”. So stop procrastinating or feeling sorry for yourself about past failures. Right now is the time to get out of your comfort zone and take some risks. And always remember, there truly are a million ways to make a million dollars, you only have to find one. Make it a great week!

As many of you know, I am setting up a radio show for PAP. I am very excited about doing internet radio in general as it’s very 2.0 and something that is going to get even bigger in the next 5-10 years.

One of my best friends and guest writers on this blog is Karl Ericksen. Yesterday him and his MILF wife came over to hang out for the day. Karl agreed to help me test the new radio equipment by doing a podcast as well.

If you’ve ever wanted to meet someone who has literally started a business from scratch and now manages a multi-million dollar yearly business, meet Karl.

We both had so much fun doing this, we may just do a regular Karl & Jeremy radio show every Thursday night before we go out for beers. Click this link or image below to listen to the mp3.