Did you know you’re just one thought away from financial ruin?
It’s true. Your business is all in your head.
So guard your thoughts.
Artificial Intelligence Ain’t So Smart …
I heard about a guy once that built an envious ‘lifestyle’ business.
He was a tech wiz and a copywriting wiz. A killer combo when building an automated internet info business.
His company was fully automated and took advantage of tiny artificially intelligent robot slaves — digital tools. Money just showed up in his bank account 24-hours a day. He didn’t even require a virtual assistant.
This allowed him to travel. Paris, London, Berlin, New York, Denver, Madrid, Lima, Buenos Aires, Tokyo, Shanghai, you name it.
When he got bored or his tourist visa expired, he just picked a new spot on the map, locked in a chic AirBnB, and moved his ‘entire’ operations — his laptop.
Then something happened.
Maybe it was a nervous breakdown, maybe it was drugs.
Mentally he checked out.
And his automated empire came crashing down.
Turns out Artificially Intelligent computer programs need a smart human after all.
Question:
Did this tragedy happen because of drugs or a nervous breakdown or because of the thoughts that led to drug use or a nervous breakdown?
How about you?
What are the dark thoughts simmering in your head?
Psychological Business Warfare …
Many moons ago I worked with real estate investors and real estate professionals.
At the time, foreclosures, bank owned properties, and real estate auctions unloading abandoned homes were a never-ending supply of inventory for savvy investors.
Even though the pie was huge, competition for the good stuff was stiff.
Over cocktails, an investor revealed his strategy for getting the best properties at courthouse auctions and kicking the legs out from under his competitors.
I paraphrase: “I bid up the price of the houses I have no desire to buy just to make my competitors overpay for them. There are a couple of up and coming investors I’ve been noticing. I know they don’t have deep pockets. So at the last auction, I purposely got into a bidding war with one of them. I got him to overpay by at least $100,000. Now they don’t have enough cash left to compete with me for the rest of the year.”
His competitors screwed up, not because of his diabolical strategy, but because their thoughts were not aligned or focused.
What about you?
Are you making bad decisions because of bad thoughts?
Be careful because you could be one bad thought away from financial ruin.
Murphy’s Business Law of Grief …
Whether you’re a solopreneur or you have a large staff and executive management, you need a clear head to keep an eye on the store.
It’s not always easy.
You never know what will knock you off your mental and emotional rocker and send you falling into a tailspin.
Maybe it’s a divorce, your child dies, a lawsuit, the doctor gives you six months to live, the tax henchmen threaten to bankrupt you, the press plasters your face all over TV and calls you names, a disgruntled employee throws a wrench into your machine, a business partner steals all your money leaving you with the debts.
If you’re honest, you’ll see that a lot of these situations are caused by bad thoughts that preceded them. Just as important, these events will likely create a host of bad and dark thoughts during and after.
The faster you get over the grief the sooner you can get back into the game.
One way to do that is to understand that there are five stages of grief according to psychology.
They are:
- Denial – you don’t believe it’s happening.
- Anger – you’re mad that it’s happening.
- Bargaining – you feel helpless that it is happening and wish (bargain) that it wasn’t true.
- Depression – you feel sad and regret that it is happening.
- Acceptance – you accept that is happening, make peace with it, and get moving forward.
You don’t need to go through all the stages and you don’t need to go through them in any particular order.
Just remember that when Murphy hits the fan and you get knocked off your saddle, expect to go through the stages of grief… and do what you can to get through the mental and emotional wasteland as fast as possible and get back into the game.
What Else Can You Do To Beat Down The Dark Thoughts?
Think of bad thoughts like a virus or bacteria.
They exist.
And the best thing you can do is keep your immune system strong and avoid situations where you’ll get overrun by nasty bacteria or viruses.
In this case, raise the baseline operating level of your mental and emotional toughness.
Meditation – clear out the cobwebs and connect with your intuition. Ziva meditation is a good resource and aimed at high achievers.
Hang with mentally strong people – In Think And Grow Rich, Napoleon Hill describes the power of a Mastermind. Why not develop a Mastermind of people who have rolled with life’s punches and come out better?
Rest and recharge – So many bad and dark thoughts start because your physical body is tired and wearing down. There is a loop between your mind and body. A strong, rested, and vibrant body affects the mind, and vice-versa.
Exercise your mind and emotions – In the universe, entropy and chaos reign. Same for the mind. Leave a garden untended and it falls into disrepair, weeds overtake it. Tend to your mental garden. There is a never ending supply of personal development and self-help resources out there, which you can use to keep your mind sharp and clear… and beat down the dark toxic weeds twisting in your head.
Respect religion or a higher power – Our problems, no matter how heavy, really are small in the grand scheme of things. Compare your woes to the immense size of the universe or the eons of time that have past and you’ll notice that today’s problems are insignificant… and therefore something you can overcome.
Nothing Bad Ever Happens To A Copywriter …
I forgot who said that first. But even if you’re not a copywriter, you are an entrepreneur.
And you have the creative ability to turn any bad thought, tragedy, or moment of grief into something useful.
A reason to become stronger, more positive, and possibly even more profitable.
How about you? Do you have a story we can learn from where dark thoughts led to ruin, or dark thoughts were conquered and turned into a success?
Share it in the comments box below.
great article… just bought the email alchemist, however, do I desire that Daniel released more articles per month to read… I’ll just read the backdated blog post 😉
keep up the excellent materials
Hey Jew, thanks for your feedback. Glad you enjoyed today’s article. I think you’ll enjoy the book, too. Keep reading!
Thank you for your great insights I apologize for not being getting back with you I have a full plate, but I do follow you thank you
I think you’re a great mentor
I am always a huge fan of yours and what you write Daniel!
Hey Richard, glad to hear it. The kudos go to Rob for this particular article. Brilliant strategist. Keep reading!
Incredibly beautiful…I didn’t even know this is what I needed. I’ve just started my entrepreneurial journey. I’m 20 and getting into this world has aged me. I realized I don’t find anything useful. Mediation is something I really need to practice because I use to be very emotionally reponsive. Still kinda of an. Now I have to control my emotions or I’ll be a mess every time an opportunity or client doesn’t work out. Bookmarking for the moments I’m feeling dark.
Verdelle – Thanks for your comment and sharing what you’re going through. All the tips, tricks, techniques, and tools can be taught and learned. But they don’t amount for much if your head and heart aren’t straightened out. Keep up the good work.
Nice article.
Our thoughts have the power to drive us to financial ruin or create unlimited wealth for us. Either we plant good thoughts in our mind or the devil takes over. Nature hates a vacuum.
Pradeep, thanks for the comment. And you’re right about the vacuum. It’s up to us what gets filled in.
So true. My story is that I decided to commit suicide at age 25, then when my life was spared at the last moment, I committed my life to serving God and serving humanity for as long as I’m here on the Earth.
Today I’ve written 14 books on how to clear negative thoughts so you can have a greater impact, influence and income without losing who you are.
So I hope my story can serve to inspire others who may be facing dark thoughts, so they can know there is hope and a way out.
Thanks for sharing your story and how you turned things around and are now helping others.
I think dark thoughts are something that we love to waste time with. We love doing that shit. It gives some kind of pleasure. It is like an adolescent living inside us.
It is also a matter of time. For example, during my younger days, my mind was not mature enough. Things could easily knock me off balance. I learned many things through experience. By repeatedly getting hit.
But if it was just experience, I wouldn’t have learnt fast enough.
As you have rightly put, it is the baseline operating level of toughness that needs to be enhanced. For me the first point – meditation, has worked miracles.
Because getting knocked off is not a one time thing. There are mind traps everywhere. I think I get tripped everyday. But what I do in the beginning of the day and end of the day is meditate. The traps melt.
I also think if we do NOT have ways of flushing out old mind traps and we keep bumping into new ones, it all just accumulates. And then we experience regular explosions of a disadvantageous living. It shows up as substandard emotional and mental quality.
Experience does helps in upgrading baseline operating level. But only if your baseline is already upgraded to a certain level. What I have seen with myself is that during younger days the reasons and scenarios for getting knocked off were different – girlfriend, family, friends. After few years reasons changed – boss, subordinates, traffic, etc. But the emotional reactions were the same. Because the baseline operating levels really didn’t change.
And I didn’t realize all of this till I seriously started meditating. Today I do get knocked off, but I am observant. I am able to see where I am getting knocked off. Many times corrections don’t come fast enough.
These realizations help me cut off the time wasting dark thoughts. I am able to see what disadvantage such thoughts put me into. Then they are easy to cut.
Thanks for sharing the 5 points. I think they are just marvelous tools. They have to be practiced again and again.
Please keep sharing. I always look forward to your emails. Also finished reading your email on ” the #1 success habit of already-successful people”. Loved it!
Regards,
Sachin
Hi Sachin,
I really enjoyed reading your thoughtful comment. A lot of people get tremendous results in learning and using a good form of meditation. And it really is important to know where that baseline operating level is and how to strengthen and improve it. I happy to hear that you got value from the 5 points shared in the article.
Good quality material as usual. Both thoughtful and practical with excellent insight that opens the door
to self improvement in fairly simple terms. Keep it coming!