12 Rules for success and how to achieve it

04/12/2026 by

If rules for success are what you seek, dear reader, this article is for you.

Let’s be real for a second: we all want that “next level” life. Don’t we?

We want the freedom, the confidence, and the feeling of waking up knowing we’re absolutely crushing it.

But if you look around, there is a massive gap between the people who talk about success and the people who live it.

Success isn’t a lottery win.

It’s not a lightning bolt that hits you while you’re sitting on the couch scrolling through someone else’s highlight reel.

It’s a craft.

It’s something you build, brick by brick, with your own two hands.

If you’re tired of spinning your wheels and you’re ready to move the needle, these 12 rules are your roadmap.

They’re not easy, of course. However, they are the honest truth about what it takes to win and succeed.

Let’s dive in.

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12 Rules for Success

1. You must do the work:

There is no “secret sauce.”

There is no “one weird trick.”

At the end of the day, success is a direct result of the hours you put in when nobody is watching.

We live in a world obsessed with “hacks,” but you cannot hack your way to mastery.

The universe doesn’t hand out participation trophies.

If you want the result, you must fall in love with the process.

That means showing up when you’re tired, staying late when you’d rather be out, and doing the boring, repetitive tasks that lead to greatness.

It won’t happen by accident; it happens by design, hard work, and sweat.

You climb the stairs to success one step at a time.

2. Procrastination is your enemy:

Procrastination is the thief of dreams. Simple!

It’s that little voice that whispers, “I’ll start Monday,” or “I just need to do more research first.”

It feels like safety, but it’s a trap.

While you’re “preparing” to start, someone else is out there actually doing it, and they’re learning twice as fast because they’re making real-world mistakes.

The best time to start was yesterday.

However, the good news is that the second-best time is right now.

Don’t wait for the “perfect moment,” because there isn’t one. The sooner you start, the sooner you’ll get to where you’d like to be.

Momentum is a superpower, but you can’t build momentum if you’re standing still.

So, get going now!

3. You can only rely on yourself:

This sounds harsh, but it’s incredibly liberating.

When you stop waiting for a mentor to find you, a boss to promote you, or a friend to “hook you up,” you take your power back.

Nobody is coming to save you.

Nobody cares about your success as much as you do.

When you accept full responsibility for your life, you stop being a victim of circumstance and start being the architect of your future.

If it’s meant to be, it’s up to you.

Rely on your own grit, your own intellect, and your own will to win.

4. Success is not a theory:

You can read every self-help book and attend every seminar, but if you don’t apply that knowledge, it’s just entertainment.

Success is not a philosophical debate; it’s a series of practical actions.

Be a practitioner, not a theorist.

Try things. Fail at things. Pivot. Adjust.

The world doesn’t pay you for what you know; it pays you for what you do with what you know.

Keep your feet on the ground and your eyes on the tangible results.

If what you’re doing isn’t working in the real world, change your approach.

5. Personal productivity matters:

Time is the only resource you can’t buy more of.

Billionaires and beginners both get the same 24 hours each day. The difference is how they use them.

If you’re spending four hours a day on “low-value” activities—mindless scrolling, arguing with strangers online, or over-analysing things that don’t matter—you are literally throwing your future away.

Protect your time like it’s gold.

Focus on the 20% of activities that drive 80% of your results.

Be ruthless with your schedule.

Remember, it’s your time!

When you respect your time, the world starts respecting it, too.

6. Accept that life is hard:

We’ve been sold a lie that life is supposed to be easy and comfortable all the time.

Well, I’m here to tell you, it’s not.

Life is messy, unfair, and exhausting. And that’s fine. It’s just the way it is.

Once you stop expecting things to be easy, you stop being frustrated when they’re hard.

Strength and character aren’t developed in easy times; they’re forged in the struggle.

When you hit a wall, don’t complain about the wall.

Figure out how to climb over it, break it down, or tunnel under it.

Accept the challenge and just get on with it.

Phil Sutton

7. Avoid idiots:

If you only remember one thing from reading this article, remember: you must avoid idiots.

You are the average of the five people you spend the most time with.

If your inner circle consists of people who complain, lack ambition, or bring constant drama into your life, you will eventually become just like them.

So, surround yourself with the type of people you want to be.

Find the people who challenge you, who are smarter than you, and who push you to be better.

Your environment dictates your “normal.”

If your “normal” is excellence, you’ll achieve excellence.

If your “normal” is mediocrity, you’re in trouble.

It matters who you mix with if you want your life to improve.

8. Don’t waste energy on stuff you can’t control:

The economy, the weather, what people think of you, or what happened five years ago—none of this is within your control.

Spending your mental energy worrying about these things is like trying to sail a boat by blowing on the sails yourself. It’s exhausting, and it gets you nowhere.

Focus 100% of your energy on your inputs: your attitude, your effort, and your reactions.

When you stop obsessing over the “out of bounds” stuff, you’ll be amazed at how much faster you can move in the areas that matter.

9. Don’t be a people pleaser:

Unless you’re an entertainer on stage, your job is not to make everyone like you.

Trying to please everyone is a one-way ticket to a boring, unfulfilling life.

It forces you to dilute your personality and compromise your values.

The most successful people in the world are often polarizing.

They stand for something.

If you have no critics, you probably aren’t doing anything significant.

Be kind, be professional, but don’t be a doormat.

Your time and your vision are too important to be sacrificed for the sake of making someone else feel comfortable.

If you don’t focus on your own interests, no one else will.

10. Stop making excuses:

Excuses are the nails used to build a house of failure.

We all have “reasons” why things didn’t go our way—we were tired, we didn’t have enough money, the timing was off.

However, here’s the truth: the world doesn’t care about your reasons; it only cares about your results.

Making excuses is embarrassing because everyone can see through them.

They are just a way to protect your ego from the reality of your performance.

So, own your mistakes. Own your failures.

When you stop making excuses, you finally give yourself permission to improve.

11. Look after your health:

Another no-brainer, in terms of something to remember.

Because, let’s face it, your body is the vehicle that carries you to your dreams.

If the engine is smoking and the tyres are flat, you aren’t going very far, are you?

You cannot maintain high-level success if you are constantly sick, tired, and burnt out.

So, eat wholesome food. Move your body every day. Get enough sleep.

Don’t put anything toxic in your body that clouds your judgment or saps your energy.

Mental clarity and physical stamina are competitive advantages.

Treat yourself like an elite athlete, even if your “sport” is business or art.

Without your health, you have nothing.

12. If nothing changes, nothing changes:

If there is a definition of insanity, it is doing the same thing repeatedly and expecting a different result.

If you’ve been following a certain path for years and you’re still not where you want to be, something must change.

Be honest with yourself.

Ask yourself this question: Is your current strategy working, or are you just attached to it because it’s familiar?

If you are to achieve the success you desire, you must have the courage to admit when you’re wrong and the flexibility to try a new way.

If the door is locked, stop banging your head against it and look for a window.

It is a fact that unless you change, nothing will change.

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Call to action:

You can read every self-help book and motivational blog post there is, but success won’t come just from reading.

Ultimately, success comes from doing.

Success can only be achieved by translating words into action. It requires physical movement in the real world.

You don’t need to overhaul your entire life by tomorrow morning, but you do need to move toward your dreams with determination and persistence. And you must keep moving until you get there.

Many desire success, but few achieve it.

And the few are those who are driven by the determination to get to where they want to be.

It can be done, and people do. So can you, my friend, if you work hard enough.

Remember, the clock is ticking. The world is waiting. It’s time to go do the work.

Good luck!

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Thank you for your support, dear reader.

Phil Sutton

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33 life lessons learned that are best learned early

03/22/2026 by

Life lessons learned for most of us are learned the hard way. Here are 33 of those lessons that are best learned as early as possible, ideally in your teens or early 20s.

LIFE LESSONS LEARNED
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Life lessons learned:

1. On experiencing life:

Wherever you are, be there. Be present and experience the moment. You’ll remember moments with friends and family all your life, whereas you’re unlikely to remember social media posts moments after you’ve read them. No experience beats having a good laugh with your friends and family.

2. On making choices:

As an adult, you’re free to make your own choices but you must accept any consequences that follow. A wise adult learns to make good choices because the choices you make will dictate the quality of the life you lead. Your choices matter. Make too many bad ones and your life experiences won’t be very good at all.

3. On the future (1):

Where you’re going is more important than where you’ve been. The past was a series of lessons to be learned. The future is where you’ll spend the rest of your life. You can’t change the past but your future has yet to be written, and you’ve got the pen.

4. On the future (2):

The future is an endless stream of opportunities that you can choose to seize, or not. However poor your past may have been, that doesn’t mean you can’t seize new opportunities and exploit them to your own advantage. You can, with determination and hard work. And, never let anyone discourage you from having a go. Better to try and fail than to spend your life wondering what might have been

Phil Sutton

5. On asking questions:

Intelligent people ask questions. So, never be afraid to ask questions when you don’t understand something, or when you need clarification. Better to appear a fool momentarily than remain a fool permanently.

6. On attitude:

The greatest disability in life is a bad attitude. If you’ve got one you’d better change it, if you want your life to improve. Attitude matters. An average person with a positive attitude makes a much better employee than a genius with a chip on his or her shoulder.

7. On fairness:

Life isn’t fair. It never has been and it never will be. We’re all dealt a set of cards in life, and all we can do is play that hand as best as we can. We could get angry about the unfairness of it all or we can just get on and make the best of what we have. The latter approach is much easier on our nerves, in my experience.

8. On bullying:

When you’re having fun at someone else’s expense, remember it may be fun to you, and you may not mean any harm, but for the other person the impact of such an experience can be humiliating, upsetting, and it can cause significant, lasting and often permanent psychological damage to that person. So remember, it isn’t fun at all if it isn’t fun for the other person. If it isn’t fun for them, it’s just bullying. And if you’re bullying, you’re not being cool, you’re being nasty.

Phil Sutton

9. On judging others (1):

You’re free to judge others if you’re sure that you’re perfect in every way. If you conclude that you’re not quite perfect then why would you expect others to be?

10. On judging others (2):

For everyone, life is a struggle. No one is without problems, despite any external signs to the contrary. We just have to keep going for it’s the only way. Life goes on and we must too. If you’ve not walked two miles in someone else’s shoes, you’re not in a position to judge them. So, don’t.

11. On authenticity:

Authenticity is simply being who you are and not trying to be who you think you should be or who you think you’re expected to be. People will respect you for being who you are. An original is always better than a fake.

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12. On trust:

Trust takes years to build and seconds to break. And once broken the way you’re seen by others will never be quite the same again. Trust is a valuable commodity. Protect it.

13. On reputation:

Never underestimate the importance of your reputation. And if you wouldn’t be happy to read something about yourself on the front pages, don’t do it.

14. On communication:

If you want to tell anyone anything, speak softly and you’ll find that they’re much more likely to listen to you.

15. On success:

No one can ever be a failure but everyone can be a success. Failure is not a person it’s just an outcome you didn’t want. It’s also an opportunity to try again with greater knowledge and experience. Everyone can achieve some degree of success if they believe in themselves, they’re determined and they’re willing to work hard.

16. On priorities:

We all have the same amount of time. 168 hours a week. It’s how we choose to use it that dictates whether we achieve anything significant or not. Time is a resource, pure and simple. So, decide on your priorities and allocate your time accordingly. And just because someone wants a piece of your time, doesn’t mean you’re obliged to give it to them. If it’s not a priority, nor an obligation, just say NO.

Phil Sutton

17. On watching television:

Few people seem to recognise this but there’s a significant cost to watching television. Not the cost of purchasing the television set or any cable or satellite subscriptions you may have. The real cost is the opportunity cost of your time. That is the time you spend watching television. Time is money and you could be doing something more profitable with your time. Learning something new perhaps or running your own little income-generating side hustle.

18. On qualifications (1):

Most of the work done by most people in life doesn’t require a college degree at all. If you have one that’s great but stay humble. A motivated individual with common sense and decent reading, writing and arithmetic skills can succeed in life without one.

19. On qualifications (2):

You may need a college degree to work for an employer but you don’t need one to work for yourself. If it’s your business, you make the rules.

20. On qualifications (3):

Plenty of people graduating from Harvard will end up working for people who didn’t. So, stay humble. Studying at a top university is no guarantee for career success, nor does it guarantee wealth. A Harvard, Oxford, or Cambridge degree may look good on your CV but five years after graduation the only thing that will matter is what you’ve achieved in the workplace since.

21. On experience:

Doing is by far the best way to learn. The classroom is useful, of course, but nothing beats doing and learning from your mistakes. Making mistakes will teach you lessons that you’ll never forget. And learning from your mistakes will give you that valuable commodity known as experience. Knowing the theory is useful, whereas having experience is essential.

22. On employability:

You don’t sell who you are. You sell what you can do and the value you can add. Every job is about doing stuff for other people and delivering results. What is it you can do and what can you confidently deliver? Before you go for any job interview, make sure you have answers to these questions and make sure you can give examples of stuff you’ve delivered on previous occasions.

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23. On work (1):

Employers can quickly replace you with someone just like you and you’ll be forgotten quickly. So be professional in carrying out your duties, of course, but not at the expense of your interests or those of your loved ones.

24. On work (2):

Make sure you take good care of yourself. Employers will take everything you give and a bit more besides but if you died tomorrow your job would be posted online before your obituary. You’ll be replaced within days and the memory of your presence won’t last long.

25. On making money:

To make money you have to be doing stuff for other people. To make a serious amount of money you have to be doing stuff for multiple people simultaneously, even when you’re asleep. Sounds impossible but it can be done. For instance, serving the many with your digital products, sold online, can lead to great wealth.

26. On sales:

Successful selling is not about tricking people into buying something they don’t need. The art of selling is in proactively finding customers who’ve got problems for which your products can provide the ideal solution. If you can offer solutions to problems, you’ll find customers in need of what you have to sell. Find the right customers and a good product will sell itself.

27. On change (1):

It’s easier to remain as you are than it is to change but unless you change your life will not improve. Embracing change is hard but it is well worth the effort.

28. On change (2):

For things to change, you have to change. For things to get better, you have to get better. You can become more than you are but it won’t happen by accident. It all starts with you saying, I can; I will; and I won’t stop until I get there. And you must make any changes necessary.

29. On finding a life partner:

You’ll find, as you go through life, that Mr or Miss Perfect doesn’t exist. If you’re looking for a life partner, find someone whose faults you can live with. Yes, you’ll need to enjoy each other’s company. And yes, you’ll need to have things in common. However, everyone you meet will have faults of their own, even if they’re not immediately apparent.

30. On children (1):

When you have young children they need your attention much more than your mobile phone does. Your children should be your priority, particularly in the early years. You’re their role model. Be a positive role model and give them all the attention they deserve. The years pass quickly and your children, good or bad, are your legacy to the world.  Social media can wait. Anything less is simply a disservice to your child.

31. On children (2):

Children need continuity and they need boundaries. They need to be brought up with a set of values too. Fail to give them those things and you fail as a parent. Materialism is no substitute for the things that matter most.

32. On your social life:

You’ll never fit into every social group, nor should you try. Just focus on finding a group of people that are right for you. In other words, find your tribe. People that are welcoming to you, with interests like yours and personalities that appeal to you. It’s better to be in the company of people that appreciate your company, rather than trying to fit into groups that don’t want you there at all.

Phil Sutton

33. On experts:

There are plenty of people referred to as experts whose ideas and recommendations can prove to be stupid beyond belief. Listen to experts by all means but then use your own judgement. Don’t be fooled by people, just because they’ve got an impressive job title. If your instinct says they’re wrong, have the courage of your convictions and act accordingly. Just because an ‘expert’ said it, doesn’t mean you have to accept it.

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And you’ll be helping your friends too. So you really can make a difference in the lives of others.

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How to get motivated and achieve big things

03/05/2026 by

How to get motivated and achieve big things is a common question I’m asked. Coming up with ideas is easy, but getting motivated can be much harder.

Do you have a problem getting motivated? You know what you’d like to do, but you just can’t seem to get going.

Many people feel this way, and, if I’m honest, I can be like that too. So whenever I struggle to get going, I like to watch a motivational video or listen to a motivational podcast or audiobook.

When I need a little push, I listen to people who inspire me. People like Jim Rohn, Tony Robbins, and Brian Tracy.

And here’s another inspiring speaker from TEDxVirginiaTech. In this video, Scott Geller talks about the psychology of self-motivation. I found this very useful, and I hope you will too. Certainly, it’s worth your time to listen to it.

How to get motivated

How to get motivated
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Please share this post with your friends:

Did you find this article interesting and useful, dear reader?

If so, then please share it on social media with your friends. When you share, everyone wins.

So please share it now. If you do, I’ll be ever so grateful, and you’ll be helping a keen blogger reach a wider audience.

Thank you.

Phil Sutton

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How to get motivated, How to get motivated, How to get motivated

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The advantages of work: Why you should take it seriously

03/01/2026 by

The advantages of work are many, but often people fail to appreciate the importance of their work. So my question to you today, dear reader, is, how do you regard your work?

Perhaps for you, work is just a source of income, but by no means your passion.

Maybe it’s something you must do simply because you desperately need an income, but it doesn’t leave you feeling energized and motivated to do the best job you possibly could do?

Perhaps mostly you’re just going through the motions, doing the minimum you can get away with each day and longing for the weekend and time off.

Maybe you’re the sort of person who prefers to spend your time in the office chatting and drinking coffee with your workmates.

Does any of this sound like you, dear reader, or possibly a slightly exaggerated version of you?

If that’s not you and your work is your passion, or at least you take it seriously, then this article is not really for you.

This article is for readers who feel less than energised by the work they’re currently doing and those who need a timely reminder that there are good reasons for taking work seriously.

The advantages of work:

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Work is your livelihood:

If you’re not pulling your weight in your current job, then you should know that it won’t have gone unnoticed. Just because your boss has yet to say anything doesn’t mean he or she hasn’t noticed.

And if you’re building a reputation for being a slacker, then it’s only a matter of time before the company will find a reason to get rid of you, if you’re not careful.

You must appreciate that a business cannot carry costs that add little or no value to that business. That is, it can’t if its aim is to survive, at least.

Commercial reality will very quickly kick any business in the butt should its management fail to keep tight control on costs.

Companies are not registered charities.

Any costs must be covered by the prices charged. If a business bears unnecessary costs for long then the result will be pricing that is simply uncompetitive. And if the business isn’t competitive, then it will lose out to the competition.

Think about that for a second. As a consumer, if Company A is selling a product at a lower price than Company B, where will you buy it? You’ll go for the best price every time. No customer loyalty will survive even a small saving in price. To believe otherwise would be naïve.

So if you’re not adding value, then potentially you’re at risk of losing your job.

Your work is your livelihood, so losing your job could actually hurt you. In fact, the best way to appreciate your job is to imagine your life without it.

Work provides you with a sense of purpose:

The very essence of what work is all about is simple. Work is just doing stuff for other people in return for money. It gives us an income, but it also gives us a sense of purpose.

Through work, we apply our skills and know-how to deliver an output or an outcome for someone else. That may be an individual or an organisation, but either way, we are paid for what we actually deliver.

Essentially, that’s the psychological contract we enter into when we agree to do work for someone else.

If we’re not delivering what we’re paid to deliver, then we’re not doing our job properly. We are not fulfilling the psychological contract that is work.

Taking pride in our work is important, too. Our sense of purpose should drive us to do the best we can with the skills we have, and we should be constantly seeking to improve.

If we don’t love what we do at any given time, then we should be looking for ways to change our mindset to take a more positive view.

If we view our work positively, then we’re more likely to be energised by it, and if we’re energised by it then we’re more likely to do it well.

Work is how we make a difference:

You must also recognise that there’s a big difference between being busy and delivering real results. Never confuse industry with effectiveness. The two are very different things.

If I’m paying you to paint houses, then the only measure I will use to judge you on is how well and how efficiently you paint houses. I don’t really care how helpful you might have been to the electrician or the refuse collector.

Being busy doesn’t count for anything unless you’re busy doing the right things. Doing the right things is how we make a real difference. And surely we’d all like to make a difference?

Other benefits:

Having a job actually provides us with many benefits.

For a start, the income it generates allows us to put a roof over our heads and food on our table.

Managed carefully, the money we earn will put clothes on our backs and allow us to heat our homes.

And of course, it provides so much more, too.

Having a job gives us status, and our own income gives us a degree of independence and freedom.

All these things together improve our self-esteem.

And of course, work gives us a reason to get you out of bed each day.

Work is how we contribute to the society around us. Not just in what we actually do, but also in the taxes we pay. That’s how we pull our weight and justify membership in the society in which we live.

However, let us not forget the camaraderie we enjoy with work colleagues. People are social animals, and we need the company of others.

Yes, some of them will drive us nuts at times, but mostly they’re good people just like us, with lives just like ours and with whom we can relate.

We share their laughs, and we share their tears, too, at times; the good times and the bad times; it all makes life worth living.

Work allows us to engage with other people, and that’s very important.

Your work can be your legacy too:

Work is what we do for other people, and what we’ve done for other people is how we’ll be remembered long after we’re gone. So potentially your work is your legacy.

On that basis, whatever you do, strive to do it well.

It might not seem much to you, but it will matter to other people.

Have a sense of pride in your work, whatever it is. It doesn’t matter whether you sweep roads or you’re a skilled heart surgeon; we all have our place in society, and we all have our contribution to make.

And whatever role you play, no one is better than anyone else.

Enjoy your work or keep looking:

It’s important you find a way to enjoy your work because you spend a third of each day doing it.

Sometimes it’s just a case of looking at your work differently in order to appreciate what you have. However, sometimes, even then, for whatever reason, you’ll feel unhappy.

If you can’t find a way to enjoy your work, then find another job. One more suited to your natural talent, perhaps. However, until you find the right thing, you must grit your teeth and do your current work to the best of your ability.

And never, ever just walk away from a job without having another one to go to.

It is ironic, perhaps, but it’s always much easier to find another job when you already have one.

Without a job, a potential employer might wonder whether you’re unlucky or just a loser. And usually, employers will be reluctant to take a chance on you if they’re unsure.

Conclusion:

The importance of work to our lives and our self-esteem should not be underestimated. So do the work you’re paid to do and do it well. Do that, and success can be yours.

Don’t do your job properly, and you’ll struggle to hold on to it for very long. Lose it, and almost certainly you’ll regret it.

That’s the nature of work, it always has been, and it always will be.

Phil Sutton

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9 truly inspirational quotes worthy of a moment’s reflection

02/25/2026 by

If something to inspire you is what you’re seeking today, then I have nine truly inspirational quotes just for you.

Four of them may be from the same author, but they’re all worthy of reflection. I found them inspirational, and I hope you do too.

Enjoy them all, and then please pass them on to your friends and colleagues.

9 Truly Inspirational Quotes
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Truly Inspirational Quotes:

  1. Time is a created thing. To say ‘I don’t have time’ is like saying, ‘I don’t want to.’ ~Lao-Tzu.
  2. Time is not something you FIND or MAKE. The clock and the calendar move on at their own pace, with or without you. Your choice is how you use it. ~Michael Josephson
  3. Sometimes life doesn’t turn out how you had expected or hoped. That doesn’t mean you can’t or won’t be happy. If you don’t limit yourself to your first version of your life there is always a bright future ahead. If you believe that the best is yet to come you will be right. ~Michael Josephson
  4. Doing what you like is FUN. Doing what you love is HAPPINESS. Doing what you want is FREEDOM. Doing what you say is INTEGRITY. Doing what you can is SERVICE. Doing what you must is DUTY. Doing what you should is CHARACTER. ~Michael Josephson
  5. It is not enough to exist, you must LIVE. It is not enough to survive, you must THRIVE. It is not enough to care, you must COMMIT. It is not enough to seek success, you must seek SIGNIFICANCE. It is not enough to live long, you must LIVE WELL. ~Michael Josephson
  6. Life is what you make it. You can be more than you are, but it won’t happen by accident. You need a “why,” and with a “why,” you’ll be able to bear any “how.” ~Lucius B. Wack
  7. Live every day as if it’s your last, because one day it will be. ~Anonymous
  8. Enjoy the life you have and make the most of every moment, because you’ll be dead for a long time. ~Anonymous
  9. Everyone has something to offer. If you can solve problems for other people, you’ll always earn a living. ~Joseph Crosby
Phil Sutton

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How to turn enterprise into money and riches

02/15/2026 by

Today, the question I am exploring is how to turn enterprise into money and riches. But let’s start with a quote.

Being poor is sh*t. ~Bob Geldof

The media personality and former rock star Bob Geldof’s communication style tends to be blunt and to the point. He’s not a man to sugarcoat his words, or so it seems. However, he does make an important point here.

People may tell you that money isn’t important, but next to oxygen, it’s essential for a life worth living. You couldn’t live long without it today.

Exactly how much money you need depends on your preferred lifestyle, of course. However, even for a fairly basic lifestyle, a reasonable income is necessary.

None of us wants to be poor, of course. Fortunately, we don’t have to be. It’s possible to turn enterprise into money and then money into wealth and riches.

And what do I mean by enterprise? I mean your energy, your resourcefulness, your imagination, your know-how and skills, your ambition, and your determination to make life better for you and your loved ones.

Essentially, you can make your life better simply by making it better for other people.

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What is work?

The key message today is that you don’t need to be employed by a commercial enterprise or corporation to earn money.

While being employed is one way to earn money, it’s also perfectly feasible to establish your own business and earn a living by being self-employed.

And in the age of the Internet, it’s never been easier to start a business, even if you have very little money to invest.

Remember also that you can start a business initially as a part-time side hustle while being employed until it’s generating enough income for that business to become your primary means of making a living.

And never forget, for most people, the only way you’ll ever get seriously rich is through your own business.

Certainly, unless you’re a Wall Street investment banker or a lawyer, you’re unlikely to get seriously rich being someone’s employee, trading your time for money.

The key to success in business

The key to success in your own business is to find a way to solve problems for people for profit. That’s the way to turn your enterprise into money. And it’s a lot easier than you might imagine.

Let’s face it, there’ll always be plenty of customers for products and services, some of which are yet to be invented.

People will always have problems, and they’ll always need solutions to those problems.

Remember, every product sold by a company is a solution to a problem, or at least it should be.

Turn enterprise into money

-If you continually educate yourself on skills and know-how, then you can create wealth by seeking out customers for whom you can deliver solutions to their problems and/or provide them with services for which they have a need.

If you can satisfy those customers, then you’ll make money, and quite possibly a lot of money, if you can scale up that business as your customer base grows.

Manage your money wisely, and you can build your wealth too.

Determination, hard work, and an eye for problems to be solved are the main ingredients for business success. Your enterprise really can lead you to great wealth.

You don’t have to be poor

You don’t have to be poor unless you’ve given up and you’re just accepting that being poor is your lot in life. It’s not, and nor should it be.

You’re perfectly capable of generating your income, dear reader.

You just need to do stuff for other people and find a way to add value to their lives. In this case, adding value means solving problems or making their lives easier and/or better in some way.

Help yourself by helping others get what they need

It all comes down to your willingness to find a way to serve others. Simple!

There are opportunities there for you to take every single day of the week if you’re enterprising and ready to solve problems for other people. However, you do need to be fleet-footed.

The best time to start a business might have been last year, but the next best time is right now.

And age is no barrier to starting a business either. Remember, Colonel Sanders was 65 years old when he started KFC, and Ray Kroc was 52 when he started building the business we know as McDonald’s.

It can be done, and people do. Why not you? Go on, just go for it! Real riches can be yours.

Good luck!

Phil Sutton

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How to know your life purpose in 5 minutes

02/09/2026 by

How to know your life purpose in 5 minutes? Now there’s an interesting question.

If you ask yourself five simple questions, you can identify your purpose, and with that knowledge, you can succeed.

If you speak with successful people, they’ll usually have a strong sense of their life purpose.

However, most people in life are unaware of their life purpose.

Far too many people in this world are unhappy with their lives because, for whatever reason, they feel they haven’t made the best use of their natural talent.

Too many people that I meet in their 40s and 50s seem to feel their lives have been mostly wasted so far.

Now, I’m not referring to complete losers here.

I’m talking about people who actually appear to have what we all crave, i.e. an affluent lifestyle and well-paid jobs.

However, just because they’ve made some money doesn’t mean they feel they’ve made the best of their lives.

Money’s important for living, of course, but having a sense of purpose and a feeling that we’re making a difference in other people’s lives is also very important if we want to be happy with our lives. And surely we all want to be happy?

Do you know your life purpose, dear reader?

Would you say you’re happy with your life?

I strongly believe that we’ve all been put on this earth for a reason.

We all have our part to play, and we all have a unique contribution to make.

Certainly, we all have a unique set of talents.

So surely, if we know what we have to offer, we’re closer to knowing our life purpose?

If what we do is congruent with our life purpose, then we can make a real difference to the world around us and to other people, too.

HOW TO KNOW YOUR LIFE PURPOSE
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How to know your life purpose:

The question is, where to start?

Well, if you have absolutely no idea what your life purpose is, then a little self-analysis is a good place to start. However, what questions should you be asking yourself?

In the video below from TEDx Talks Adam Leipzig offers some inspired thinking on how to find your life purpose.

In the video, Adam suggests some simple questions to ask yourself that will quickly lead you to a sense of what your life purpose should be.

I found this video inspirational and really useful, and I recommend it to you.

Recommended Reading:

Finally, as Adam Leipzig suggests in the video, Amazon offers an enormous range of books on this subject.

Hopefully, the video will have helped you without the need for further reading.

However, maybe you feel the need to explore the topic further. Perhaps you would like to purchase some books on the subject to add to your personal reference library.

If so, then here are two books you might consider:

  1. The Life Purpose Workbook: A 5-Step Guide to Find Your Purpose and Create the Life You Want by Avis J. Williams
  2. Life Purpose: How To Find Your Reason For Living by Claire H Perkins
Phil Sutton

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Your support is appreciated, dear reader. Thank you.

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Success Secrets: How your life can be better than it is now

02/02/2026 by

How is life for you? Perhaps you’re lucky, and you have a great job, a nice house, a fancy car, a loving family, and a lifestyle that is the envy of your neighbours. If that’s you, then well done, but there’s nothing for you here. If you’ve achieved all that, then you don’t need any success secrets from me.

Success Secrets
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Success Secrets

If it is you, then I must tell you, you’re in a minority. However, I’m guessing you’re not part of that minority. Am I right? Statistically, you’re much more likely to be a member of life’s majority. Those people with a desire for their lives to be better, but who, for whatever reason, cannot translate that desire into something that’s better.

Statistically, you’re more likely to be part of that group of people constantly on the lookout for success secrets. People searching for the ‘secret sauce,’ if you like. You’re not alone, of course, but I hope this post will help you.

Why is it that some people are successful and others are not?

What secrets do the successful know that the unsuccessful do not know?

Can anyone be successful? The simple answer is yes.

However, unsuccessful people tend to think it’s not possible, so they don’t try. They just accept what they’re given as if that’s all they can expect from life. It’s almost as if they say to themselves, this is all life has for me. It’s like they believe that there are no success secrets.

Well, I must tell you now, if it’s not obvious to you, life can be better. Life is what you make it. Within reason, you can be whatever you want to be. You can have more. Other people do, so why not you?

Right now, where you are is where you are. It doesn’t really matter. What matters is that you don’t have to remain where you are. You’re not a tree; you can move. You can change. You can decide that your life will be different. And you can work towards something that’s better.

Your life really can be better than it is, and you can be better than you are. However, for it to be better, you have to believe it can be better, and you have to believe that you can turn it around. In fact, you have to believe in success secrets.

One thing all successful people have in common is a belief that something different can happen, and they can make it happen. They don’t allow anyone to tell them it can’t be done. They know what they want, and they’re determined to get it.

Some might consider them delusional, but successful people see it as self-belief. They won’t accept that they cannot do something because, intuitively, they know that if they try hard enough, then anything is possible. If they decide what they want and strive for what they want, they just know that somehow they can get it. The price is determination and hard work, but they’re willing to pay that price.

Successful people know that when faced with an elephant, you cannot swallow it whole. However, it can be eaten one bite at a time.

If you’re building a wall, then you don’t start with the entire wall. You start with a single brick, and you get that right. Then once that’s securely in place, you move on to the next brick and then the next and the next and so on. Pretty soon, if you stick at it long enough, you’ll have the whole wall.

Successful people know that they can’t get to where they want to go in one single leap. They know you get there gradually, one step at a time. And if you want to be successful, it starts with taking the first step.

Readers familiar with Neuro-linguistic programming (NLP) will know that if you want to be successful, you look for successful people, identify what they do and then copy that model. The idea is that if it worked for them, then there’s a good chance it will work for you, too. Most successful people will have had role models they’ve copied at various times.

So if you want to be successful, look around for successful people and listen to what they have to say. Most people would accept that Will Smith is successful. In the video included here, he shares his thoughts on the secrets of success.

His observations are interesting and well worth a few minutes of your time. I can recommend them to you.

Further Reading:

An article of this type can only ever be a taster on the subject, but there are plenty of good books which will enlighten you further on the subject of success secrets. For instance, one I suggest you explore is:

The 21 Success Secrets of Self-Made Millionaires: How to Achieve Financial Independence Faster and Easier Than You Ever Thought Possible (The Laws of Success Series) by Brian Tracy

It all depends on how you define success, of course. If you see success as being all about achieving financial independence as fast and easy as possible, then this book could be for you.

Remember, it’s never easy. It requires hard work and determination. However, while it’s not easy, it can be easier, and this book will tell you how.

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So go on, please share it now.

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101 Quotes on self-improvement to inspire you

02/01/2026 by

In seeking quotes on self-improvement, perhaps you’re looking for a better life.

Well, life doesn’t have to be as it is now. It can be something much closer to what you’d like it to be. And with a little effort on your part, you can make it happen.

Remember you’re not defined by your past. That serves only as a series of lessons. The future is yours to create and it all starts with self-improvement.

Self-improvement is just a process whereby you decide what it is you want; you decide what skills you’ll need to develop in order to get what you want; you work out how you can get those skills, and then you set some goals and start improving the quality of your life and that of your loved ones.

It can be done. People do it all the time. And so can you.

Learn more and you’ll earn more.

You’ll need a little inspiration to motivate you and keep you going. Motivational quotes are useful because they help you acquire ideas on getting started and they’re beneficial in helping you realize your dreams and goals.

So here are 101 quotes on self-improvement to inspire you and propel you along the road to make your dreams a reality.

Enjoy them all and please share them with your friends.

Quotes on Self-Improvement
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Quotes on self-improvement (1-20):

  1. Let us cultivate our garden. ~Voltaire
  2. If you can dream it, you can do it. ~Walt Disney
  3. Good things happen to those who hustle. ~Chuck Noll
  4. You will never win if you never begin. ~Helen Rowland
  5. If opportunity doesn’t knock, build a door. ~Milton Berle
  6. If you aim at nothing, you’ll hit it every time. ~Zig Ziglar
  7. All things are difficult before they are easy. ~Thomas Fuller
  8. The secret of getting ahead is getting started. ~Mark Twain
  9. Work harder on yourself than you do on your job. ~Jim Rohn
  10. He who conquers himself is the mightiest warrior. ~Confucius
  11. You just can’t beat the person who never gives up. ~Babe Ruth
  12. Believe you can and you’re halfway there. ~Theodore Roosevelt
  13. Set your goals high, and don’t stop till you get there. ~Bo Jackson
  14. Only I can change my life. No one can do it for me. ~Carol Burnett
  15. It is never too late to be what you might have been. ~George Eliot
  16. You cannot have a positive life and a negative mind. ~Joyce Meyer
  17. My purpose: to lift your spirit and to motivate you. ~Mavis Staples
  18. The dreaming has to be backed up by the doing. ~Carrie Wilkerson
  19. Problems are not Stop Signs, they are guidelines. ~Robert H. Schuller
  20. The only thing that overcomes hard luck is hard work. ~Harry Golden

Quotes on self-improvement (21-40):

  1. Nothing will work unless you do. ~Maya Angelou
  2. The only journey is the one within. ~Rainer Maria Rilke
  3. Either you run the day or the day runs you. ~Jim Rohn
  4. You don’t have to get it right the first time. ~Barbara Sher
  5. Life has no limitations, except the ones you make. ~Les Brown
  6. Without hard work, nothing grows but weeds. ~Gordon B. Hinckley
  7. Aim for the moon. If you miss, you may hit a star. ~W. Clement Stone
  8. The few who do are the envy of the many who only watch. ~Jim Rohn
  9. If you’re not doing what you love, you’re wasting your time. ~Zig Ziglar
  10. There is no such thing as failure. There are only results. ~Tony Robbins
  11. If you don’t like how things are, change it! You’re not a tree. ~Jim Rohn
  12. Don’t let someone else’s opinion of you become your reality. ~Les Brown
  13. Start where you are. Use what you have. Do what you can. ~Arthur Ashe
  14. The time is now. Stop hitting the snooze button on your life. ~Mel Robbins
  15. We will always tend to fulfil our own expectations of ourselves. ~Brian Tracy
  16. In order to succeed, we must first believe that we can. ~Nikos Kazantzakis
  17. It does not matter how slowly you go as long as you don’t stop. ~Confucius
  18. Life is 10% what happens to you and 90% how you react to it. ~Charles R. Swindoll
  19. A barrier is a limitation only when you perceive it as one. ~Stephen Richards
  20. When you have a dream, you’ve got to grab it and never let go. ~Carol Burnett

Quotes on self-improvement (41-55):

  1. The first step in solving a problem is to recognize that it does exist. ~Zig Ziglar
  2. Getting in touch with your true self must be your first priority. ~Tom Hopkins
  3. Too many of us are not living our dreams because we are living our fears. ~Les Brown
  4. You don’t have to be great to start, but you have to start to be great. ~Zig Ziglar
  5. The best preparation for tomorrow is doing your best today. ~H. Jackson Brown, Jr.
  6. Success is nothing more than a few simple disciplines, practised every day. ~Jim Rohn
  7. Setting goals is the first step in turning the invisible into the visible. ~Tony Robbins
  8. I never see failure as failure, but only as the game I must play and win. ~Tom Hopkins
  9. Perseverance is not a long race; it is many short races one after the other. ~Walter Elliot
  10. The difference between being mediocre and achieving excellence is you. ~Stephen Richards
  11. Become addicted to constant and never-ending self-improvement. ~Anthony J. D’Angelo
  12. The will to succeed is important, but what’s more important is the will to prepare. ~Bobby Knight
  13. If you always do what you’ve always done, you’ll always be where you’ve always been. ~TD Jakes
  14. How dare you settle for less when the world has made it so easy for you to be remarkable? ~Seth Godin
  15. You are essentially who you create yourself to be, and all that occurs in your life is the result of your own making. ~Stephen Richards

Quotes on self-improvement (56-70):

  1. Opportunity does not knock it presents itself when you beat down the door. ~Kyle Chandler
  2. Don’t compare yourself to others. Compare yourself to the person you were yesterday. ~Anonymous
  3. When you play it too safe, you’re taking the biggest risk of your life. Time is the only wealth we’re given. ~Barbara Sher
  4. Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try Again. Fail again. Fail better. ~Samuel Beckett
  5. Decide what you want, decide what you are willing to exchange for it. Establish your priorities and go to work. ~H. L. Hunt
  6. You simply have to put one foot in front of the other and keep going. Put blinders on and plough right ahead. ~George Lucas
  7. Life is a gift, and it offers us the privilege, opportunity, and responsibility to give something back by becoming more. ~Tony Robbins
  8. I’ve found that luck is quite predictable. If you want more luck, take more chances. Be more active. Show up more often. ~Brian Tracy
  9. Knowing is not enough; we must apply. Willing is not enough; we must do. ~Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
  10. Change your life today. Don’t gamble on the future, act now, without delay. ~Simone de Beauvoir
  11. A strong, positive self-image is the best possible preparation for success. ~Joyce Brothers
  12. If you’re not making mistakes, then you’re not doing anything. I’m positive that a doer makes mistakes. ~John Wooden
  13. Believe that life is worth living and your belief will help create the fact. ~William James
  14. I can’t change the direction of the wind, but I can adjust my sails to always reach my destination. ~Jimmy Dean
  15. Perfection is not attainable, but if we chase perfection we can catch excellence. ~Vince Lombardi

Quotes on self-improvement (71-85):

  1. Don’t judge each day by the harvest you reap but by the seeds that you plant. ~Robert Louis Stevenson
  2. There’s only one corner of the universe you can be certain of improving, and that’s your own self. ~Aldous Huxley
  3. I hated every minute of training, but I said, ‘Don’t quit. Suffer now and live the rest of your life as a champion.’ ~Muhammad Ali
  4. Even if I knew that tomorrow the world would go to pieces, I would still plant my apple tree. ~Martin Luther
  5. Your present circumstances don’t determine where you can go; they merely determine where you start. ~Nido Qubein
  6. Put your heart, mind, and soul into even your smallest acts. This is the secret to success. ~Swami Sivananda
  7. Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work. ~Thomas A. Edison
  8. Opportunities are usually disguised as hard work, so most people don’t recognize them. ~Ann Landers
  9. Nothing ever comes to one that is worth having, except as a result of hard work. ~Booker T. Washington
  10. Formal education will make you a living; self-education will make you a fortune. ~Jim Rohn
  11. Become addicted to constant and never-ending self-improvement. ~Anthony J. D’Angelo
  12. The major value in life is not what you get. The major value in life is what you become. ~Jim Rohn
  13. Outstanding people have one thing in common: An absolute sense of mission. ~Zig Ziglar
  14. It doesn’t matter where you are coming from. All that matters is where you are going. ~Brian Tracy
  15. If there is one lesson I’ve learned from failure and success, it’s this. I am not the outcome. I am never the result. I am only the effort. ~Kamal Ravikant

Quotes on self-improvement (86-95):

  1. You cannot change your destination overnight, but you can change your direction overnight. ~Jim Rohn
  2. Just don’t give up trying to do what you really want to do. Where there is love and inspiration, I don’t think you can go wrong. ~Ella Fitzgerald
  3. If you want to succeed you should strike out on new paths, rather than travel the worn paths of accepted success. ~John D. Rockefeller
  4. Time is more valuable than money. You can get more money, but you cannot get more time. ~Jim Rohn
  5. It is not as much about who you used to be, as it is about who you choose to be. ~Sanhita Baruah
  6. If you don’t design your own life plan, chances are you’ll fall into someone else’s plan. And guess what they have planned for you? Not much. ~Jim Rohn
  7. If you believe in yourself and have dedication and pride – and never quit, you’ll be a winner. The price of victory is high but so are the rewards. ~Bear Bryant
  8. My mission in life is not merely to survive, but to thrive; and to do so with some passion, some compassion, some humour, and some style. ~Maya Angelou
  9. No matter who you are, no matter what you did, no matter where you’ve come from, you can always change, and become a better version of yourself. ~Madonna
  10. We must all suffer one of two things: the pain of discipline or the pain of regret or disappointment. ~Jim Rohn

Quotes on self-improvement (96-101):

  1. If you want to be successful, find someone who has achieved the results you want and copy what they do and you’ll achieve the same results. ~Tony Robbins
  2. Learning is the beginning of wealth. Learning is the beginning of health. Learning is the beginning of spirituality. Searching and learning are where the miracle process all begins. ~Jim Rohn
  3. Move out of your comfort zone. You can only grow if you are willing to feel awkward and uncomfortable when you try something new. ~Brian Tracy
  4. You don’t get paid for the hour. You get paid for the value you bring to the hour. ~Jim Rohn
  5. Move out of your comfort zone. You can only grow if you are willing to feel awkward and uncomfortable when you try something new. ~Brian Tracy
  6. You are your greatest asset. Put your time, effort and money into training, grooming, and encouraging your greatest asset. ~Tom Hopkins
Phil Sutton

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So dear reader, did you enjoy these quotes on self-improvement? I do hope so.

If you did enjoy this post, then please share it on social media.

When you share, everyone wins.

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The real cost of television? The answer will surprise you

02/01/2026 by
The real cost of television

Have you ever considered what the real cost of television is and the effect it has on your life?

When you’ve worked hard all day, I’m sure you find it so easy when you arrive home in the evening to have a bite to eat and then relax in front of the television. You just passively watch whatever’s on offer because it’s your time now, right?

If you’ve worked hard all day, you deserve a rest, surely?

Anyway, you’ve got a nice television, and it cost you a lot of money, right?

So, of course, you want to make the most of it, don’t you?

If you’ve spent all that money, why would you want to waste such a fine piece of technology by not using it? Surely that’s a reasonable argument?

The real cost of television?

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Opportunity cost:

Well, it’s an argument, of course, but have you ever given serious thought to the real cost of that television to you?

How much do you think it actually costs?

Now, I’m not referring to the price tag in the store when you purchased your television, though even that’s not insignificant.

I’m referring to the opportunity cost of the time wasted passively watching television.

Never forget, time is money.

And time wasted watching television could have been used doing something that would have been far more profitable for you, at least in the long term.

Deep down, I suspect, in your heart, you know that dear reader, don’t you? Nevertheless, knowing and acting on the knowledge you possess are two different things.

The importance of time:

How often do you hear people say things like, I’d love to earn more money; I’d love to have a better job; I’d love to learn another language; I’d love to learn to play the piano; and so on? Then you’ll hear them say, “If only I had the time.”

Do you recognise yourself anywhere there, dear reader?

The simple fact is that when it comes to time.

We all have the same amount, 168 hours each week. It all comes down to how you choose to use and prioritize your time.

Time is a resource, like any other:

Successful people recognise that time is their most precious resource, and they use it wisely.

People who succeed have a genuine sense of purpose, and they’re very focused on their goals. They know what they want, and they have a plan as to how they’ll get it.

Do you have a genuine sense of purpose, dear reader?

Have you got a clear idea in terms of where you’re going?

Do you know what it is you want out of life?

Life can be better:

Perhaps life is something that’s just happening to you, and you’re just going with the flow?

That’s an acceptable strategy if you’re willing to accept whatever life throws at you.

However, you must ask yourself: Are you really happy with your life and the share of life’s pie you’ve been given so far, or do you want more?

Well, let me tell you this, dear reader. For things to improve, you must first learn to use your time wisely.

Remember: Time is more important than money because you can always get more money, but you can’t get more time.

Secondly, you need a clear sense of direction and your own plan for how you’ll get to where you want to go. Without direction and a plan, you’ll be destined to be used as part of someone else’s plan.

However, that’ll only be for as long as you can serve some useful purpose for them.

Once you no longer serve any purpose for them you’ll cease to be part of their plan. And then you’ll be scratching around looking for another way to earn a living.

The world is an unforgiving place, that’s for sure.

Be a person of value:

Work is just doing stuff for other people in exchange for money.

However, we don’t just get paid for the hour. Our pay is dictated by the value we put into that hour.

The more value we can add the more we’ll earn.

And to add more value we must be increasing our knowledge and skills constantly.

We reap what we sow.

If we fail to reap, we cannot sow.

And how can you reap if you spend your life passively watching television? Time wasted cannot be recovered.

You’ll get out what you put it:

In my experience, we get out of life exactly what we put in. The more we put in the more we’ll get out.

The obvious question is, how can you get more out of life?

If you’re happy to go through life passively watching television but struggling to make a decent living then that’s fine, if that’s what you want. Just keep doing what you’re doing. Waste as much of your time as you like.

However, if you want more than that then it’s time to start designing the life you want and avoiding time-wasters like television.

It’s time to decide where you’re going; and what you want out of life. It’s time to develop your plan for success. And above all, it’s time to stop wasting your time.

You can be a winner. Anybody can.

However, it does require some effort on your part and a clear sense of direction though. That’s a given.

A great source of inspiration:

And if you’re going to be a winner, in addition to using your time wisely, you’ll also need a constant source of inspiration to keep you motivated.

One of my greatest sources of inspiration is the late, great business philosopher Jim Rohn.

You’ll find plenty of videos featuring Jim Rohn on YouTube.

However, you might also consider buying one of Jim Rohn’s books or even an audio recording to listen to in your car or on your smartphone or iPad.

One Jim Rohn book (also available as an audio recording) that I can highly recommend is:

The Art of Exceptional Living.

Check it out on Amazon while it’s fresh in your mind. You won’t regret it.

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Do that for me, and I’ll be forever grateful.

You’ll be helping a keen blogger reach a wider audience.

Thank you.

Phil Sutton

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