I jumped off of a bridge today.

Heck YEAH!

A 6-meter (22ft) fall straight into the Roanoake Island waters!

To the astonishment of a suddenly-quiet wife, and the curious audience of a nearby waterfront restaurant, I jumped.

Roanoke Island Bridge, Manteo NC

Completely unplanned, coming back from an afternoon stroller ride, I took off my shirt, and despite wearing white cotton shorts, IT FELT GREAT!

I had written before about facing challenges with confidence, but this is something new.

Adrenaline Rush & Internet Marketing?

To be honest, I hadn’t experienced anything this exciting since my son was born, and his birth still was more of a mental rush than straight up adrenaline.

It’s not like sitting on the computer trying to get people to buy my stuff isn’t fun. Trust me, it’s a LOT of fun.

But routine kills people. Daily repetition is what drives Post Office employees nuts.

Routine is so bad that makes you come online every evening trying to find a way out of it.

Non-Linear Pattern (NLP)

I first heard about NLP from Frank Kern, and I’ve been reading about it ever since. NLP, in regards to customer behavior, means shocking a customer out of his/hers expected pattern of action in order to increase conversions.

A good example of this in internet marketing is the recent utilization of video sales letters, which are customary on TV (infomercials), but relatively new in our favorite media.

But what has NLP to do with me jumping off of a bridge?

Well, screwing the “routine” is a major shock to anybody’s expected  behavior, and it gives you opportunities:

• The sudden pattern break “resets” your brain, which has to scramble to catch up with the new situation. This is a major opportunity to see things from a new perspective, or to come up with new ideas.

• When there’s adrenaline involved, the hormonal discharge makes you feel like Superman; increased confidence leads to bold moves, which often result in … greater rewards.

• It’s just as good as a break - but with a complete shift in mindset.

How do you plan on Breaking the Pattern?

Whether jumping off of a bridge or offering your customers a revolutionary experience, what are your plans to break the routine?

Post your comments, and be sure to specify if indeed it RESETTED your brain…!

At least, not like I do. Not like any Brazilian knows.

In a recent (surprising) post, Eben shared how he introduced Frank Kern to the world of Funk music.

First off, wow! Eben Pagan likes funk! He is one of my “when-I-grow-up” heroes, revolutionary marketer/copywriter, generous phylantropist, and now, COOL! Really, I shouldn’t assume a professional I never met would be uncool just because of his work ethics and posture. Read the rest of this entry »

Shamelessly taken from Valeria Maltoni, of the Conversation Agent

“Make everything simpler.

You may feel overwhelmed by all the promises of this brand new year. How to keep them all? The answer is right in front of you: simplify. Complexity slows you down.

Do more of less. Focus on what you know is important. Resist the temptation to fill your schedule to the brim. Instead, sip the sweet moments of chance and rest. Read the rest of this entry »

My 7-month-old son Leonardo went swimming for the very first time on Christmas!

Not without surprise, it took him a few moments to acknowledge he was surrounded by water, that he had to keep his head out of it, and he did not have any support for his feet: he was actually floating!

The expression on his face as I entered the pool with him on my arms was amazingly revealing: he was in a brand new situation,  and as water started to cover his body, he had to deal with it. I could see in his eyes how much he was learning from the experience; for about a minute, as I moved around, playing with him, he was quiet, almost static.

It was when I held him on my hands, giving him freedom to move his legs, that he accepted whatever all that water was, and started enjoying it. From then on, he got more and more comfortable, laughing, splashing  and kicking the water.

Now, I could easily start the beaten analogy between a baby’s discoveries and an adult facing a new enterprise; how both, in different levels, take their time to accept a new environment, adjust, and act on it. But I won’t. I refuse to start yet another discussion on this subject.

Instead, what I enjoyed the most was his readiness to face a new challenge. Without the pre-accepted notions that we acquire over the years, without even knowing what fear or danger is, my son faced the pool with his eyes wide open.

As a business owner, I find myself struggling to start on anything new. I tend to stick to what I know, to what it’s working, to the technicians I trust, to the pre-judgment I formulate without knowledge, to the media I know more about. And when I do try to start a new enterprise, I tend to hold so much control over it, that I never get to experience it in full.

So I declare my first resolution for 2009: I’ll embrace change and fears, enjoy the ride, and stop listening to my pre-conceived notions.

I’ll be a brand new baby, and re-start my life path, filling it with discovery.

Here’s a quick video my wife shot of us; notice how he reacts when he first hits the water – how he adapts, and seconds later he’s already laughing! That will be me from now on, just adapting and laughing about it.

Yeap, it’s my birthday. I’m turning 23 in about one hour.

I’d like to take the time to list some of my most recent accomplishments, which have changed my life from a 20 years old teenager, getting drunk and trying to get lucky, to a proud father, passionate husband, and uprising marketer.

I came to this country in April of 2006 to work as a waiter for the Sanderling Resort, in the Outer Banks of NC. I start 2009 as a business owner, with a 2nd degree on its way, and an increasing revenue stream.

So, from the time I turned 22, to today, these are the things that marked me the most:

• 5 days before I turned 22, I got married to Anastasiya Bezugla, my beautiful Ukrainian bride.
• On May 20th, my son Leonardo Bezugla Saraceni was born!

And the thought of a family of my own triggered the $ sign on my head. I want to give them the best; I want to take them to Brazil, to Ukraine, and my son to go to the best schools, have the nicest toys…

And I’d not accomplish that by bartending or bookkeeping. Not a chance!

• I started my own importing business: I had everything set up, contacts, vendors, business plan: the US customs pratically shut me down I did not have enough knowledge or capital to face the US Customs.

But I realized I had become psychologically unemployable, and began my search for my own business.

Without much research (I knew nothing about the industry),

• I jumped into an amazing direct sales opportunity with a personal development company. That was 3 months ago.

My learning curve has grown exponentially. I’ve come to “know” amazing marketers,  and their inspirational stories. And even though my sleep time has reduced drastically, I feel more alive than ever by the amount of knowledge I am just going to DEVOUR to succeed in this business.

Finally, something I can control: my success (or lack of) is my responsibility. Nobody else’s. No bosses, no schedules, no limitations. Only me and what I can learn and do.

By the time I turn 24, I’ll be enjoying my family more than ever.

Here are the reasons why:

• I’ll have my second degree (the first on a non-native language)
• I’ll dominate my niche and position myself as a leader, which will guarantee me a place amongst the top earners.
• My Social Media (facebook / twitter) participation will bring a steady stream of business partners and generate enough passive income to allow me to focus on what interests me only:

Family, Learning, Cooking, Jiu-Jitsu, and Wines.

Keep close attention, this year-to-come, I’ll become a major part of your business plan.

Don’t believe me? Leave your opinion below, I’ll make sure to reply.

Personal development includes any learning, change, action, or anything that actually makes you feel better, or more comfortable with yourself.

As a recent discovery, my studies of personal development have changed the way I look at every little aspect of my life: work, family, business, social networks…

And it was enjoying the effects of the Law of Attraction that I found Manifest Mastermind on Twitter. As of yet, they don’t have an official website; their tweets, though, summarize most of the concepts studied in Personal Development. Manifestmmind is a refreshment amongst tweets, with great quick lines that just freeze your stress and allows you to breath for a couple seconds – a powerful accomplishment!

If you’ve enjoyed the movie The Secret, this takes everything to a second step. It amplifies thoughts, ideas, and atitudes through the Law of Attraction.

Go follow him on Twitter. And join their group on Facebook. You won’t regret!

P.S – As you send strong positive vibration to the universe, because you just loved this new group the Law of Attraction directed you to (through this blog), COMMENT. Let me know, I’m grateful for each comment.

“The real voyage to discovery consists not in seeking out new land, but in seeing with new eyes” Marcel Proust.

It all comes down to Passion and Purpose.

Find your market. Understand your market. Profile, personalize, customize, and embrace your market. Address all of its particular pains, find that pleasure spot, offer them a solution, and you’re rich. Simple, right?

The fact is, you don’t know who your market is, or how to offer them a solution, until you determine two things: your Passion and your Purpose.

Passion unlocks the door to your destiny, and widens your opportunities. When you’re aligned with a passion, you wake up in the morning feeling exhilarated, ready to take on Google, Facebook, and even your neighbors with one hand tied behind your back.

That sounds too good. Now how do I start?

When thinking about Passion, you should ask yourself “What do I like the most?” “What do I care about?” Write all your answers down. Keep them close.

Once you have the answers written, answer another set of questions, starting with “What are my gifts?” Nature has made you the perfect example for some unique characteristic only you will ever have. Through the six degrees of separation, your body has very small percentages of Shakespeare’s, Lincoln’s, Ford’s, and Iacocca’s atoms. Your gifts, however, come from a combination that is truly, universally, uniquely yours. Find them, and write them down on another piece of paper.

Now compare both lists. You’ll see most of what you’re passionate about intersects with something you’re talented at.

Your results should necessarily relate to your daily activities. Of course, for most people, employees, business owners, and marketers alike, the list represents a dream life; one to be obtained in retirement, if ever.

This simple exercise helps determine your Purpose. Your Purpose is the universal component binding all your actions towards a greater destiny.

When the answer is not yet clear, you can apply the same exercise to determine your Purpose. Just simply follow “What are my gifts?” with “How do I apply them?”

The Rubber Band Effect – Transition Period

The main difficulty to be faced in your path to Purpose is your own comfort zone. In a natural act of self-defense, individuals retract, adapt, absorb, and allow their minds to believe their environment is “safe”, their paycheck offers them enough to get by, or that dreams don’t pay the bills.

If you were to draw a circle of your comfort zone, with you in the middle, where would your Passion be? Which one of the items you listed is included inside your circle?

When reaching for your true calling, you have to be prepared to get out of your comfort zone. Accepting the fact that your current environment is not going to deliver any dreams is the beginning of your path.

In transitioning to a Purposeful life, getting past the barrier of your comfort zone, imagine a rubber band: when you stretch a rubber band, one end wants desperately to break free so it can come back to its relaxed stage. However, once you held that rubber band stretched to its maximum for a couple of minutes, it will never get back to its original form.

Heart Attack Monday

It is a medical statistic that heart attacks happen 4 times more often on Mondays, from 7am to 8pm, than anytime during the week. It is exactly like the bumper sticker says: “I ran out of sick days, so I called in DEAD”.

There are many examples of highly successful individuals who answered their Purpose’s calling, and by doing so, contributed immensely to their fields: Bill Gates quit Harvard to go play with computers on his mother’s basement. In our own field, inside our own community, it starts with Mike Dillard – what if he had decided to stay at PF Chang’s and waited for a promotion? Ferny Ceballos and Raymond Fong were both well paid engineers; they could have settled and waited for a promotion as well.

What are you afraid of?

Fear is the only thing that can stop you from living your dreams.

Be courageous, get out of your comfort zone, and conquer your fear.

People with purpose and passion live a different kind of life; while others just make a living, they make a difference!

Are you making a living or making a LIFE??

It is that special time of the year again. Family meals worth months in the gym, all the relatives we thought we missed but we really don’t, and vacation! Oh, sweet time off, away from everything…

Before we get in line at the airport, or in the mall, or anywhere in our upcoming vacation, let’s all be proud of adopting a lifestyle where vacations are UNNECESSARY.

Taking my chances here, bordering arse-kissing, I’d like to tell you about Raymond Fong. Of course we are all familiar with Raymond, his contributions to the Better Networker, his AMF Empire, and probably from SeduceAdwords.com; the reason I’m mentioning him on this article is that – for those who haven’t noticed it yet – Raymond is vacationing in Australia, or so he says.

I highly suspect of his “vacation” because this talented marketer just won’t stop posting interesting discussions to our forums, writing articles in between boxing matches with Kangaroos. The terrifying idea of actually letting “business” actions take place during our vacation sends shivers down our spines, and we refuse to even think what is going on at office? But not Raymond. And why is that?

What Does Vacation Mean To You?

To most of us, a vacation is a luxury, which allows us a break from stressful realities, suits, rush hours, bosses, and so forth. It is carefully planned, anxiously awaited, and often goes by faster than it should. Who in plain sanity would waste precious vacation time to write business articles, review peer work or even communicate with the “real world”?

This definition of vacation is only true when you’re living an undesired reality. Your daily reality is so wrong, in so many ways, or so exhausting, in many other ways, that you just have to get away.

What if your reality was one of joys, accomplishments, fulfillment, and fun? What if your daily activities reflected your daily mood, your personal goals, within whatever hours you decided?

How would a vacation fit into that reality? Why would you even want a break?

Introducing: Vacationing to Your Second (or Third, or Fourth) Office

All right, if your reality is that good, you do not need a break; your vacation is nothing more than an office expansion, or a mindset expansion, to be more accurate. You truly enjoy your profession; you carry it anywhere and let everything be touched by it.

Getting back to Raymond, I bet when he meets crocodile Dundee down there, he’ll adapt his experience into a new training email, which will turn into another great article in the Better Networker, and generate a couple hundreds of fans (or customers, I don’t know the difference anymore).

Raymond doesn’t mind writing articles, and contributing to our community during his vacation because it is an extremely rewarding activity for him; he thrives on sharing knowledge, experience, and opportunity with fellow marketers. His writing, as profitable as it is, as important as it is, can be qualified as hobby, because it is easy to notice an underlying passion inexistent in a regular J-O-B. And who takes vacations from hobbies?

My message for these holiday season is to turn your everyday activities into a hobby. Let your routine be fulfilled by a greater purpose, beyond making money, and develop a strong passion to be the background of your success. Let Fun be part of your day, and soon it will dominate your every move; you’ll even “work” from behind a Fosters pint in Australia.

So, happy holidays, everybody. Have a wonderful vacation, and remember to take your hobby with you.

Mike Dillard’s last newsletter hit the spot on successful mindsets. He is absolutely right when he states that we’re conditioned to be successful – or not. We create the reality we live in, with whatever boundaries we decide to obey. Obeying the reality of a $20,000/year earner, you will never allow yourself to earn $600,000. Or even $100,000.

It is necessary that the reality we live on truly embraces our goals. When your goals are, according to your own reality, unachievable, they will surely be unachievable. Like the Matrix, bend the reality to incorporate paths toward your goals: meet the right people, attract the right people, be opened to new experiences/contacts, and stop living like worker bees.

When I first read it, I felt frustrated, because it made me aware that I was sabotaging my own success by not accepting how successful I am already. Yeap, I have a beautiful family, I eat very well, my wife and I drive brand new cars, we are attending college with an excellent GPA in a non-birth language, and we are raising the most beautiful baby ever!

Sometimes it is very easy to let your sucesses be overshadowed by the regular bumps on the road. The fact that I started MLM about a month ago, and I’m still not a millionaire, should not bum me down. Or bum anybody down, for that matter. I will be a millionaire, soon, because I have everything necessary to attract the right people. Nobody gets filthy rich in a month.

The message Mike delivered is inspiring, but also a warning: we all have to be the masters of our reality. It is within ourselves to do so.

I’ve completely changed my life-style by stretching my reality and becoming my own boss. I’ve found a company that destroyed my believes and offered me a path to success.

Leonardo Saraceni
Personal Development Agent
leosaraceni@yourincomepotential.com

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I’ve been putting this topic away due to a variety of reasons, and procrastination is not one of them. I did not feel qualified, first of all, to write about managing my online network marketing business while attending college; I have been doing it for a while now, and it never feels easy. I understood that as long as I’m not sailing through supervising marketing, sponsonring, accounting, and training, along with homework, I was not qualified to write about it.

I gotta state for the records my GPA is averaging 3.7, and my company is well-engaged. But the fact that I had to work hard for my conquests actually struck me as a failure! I could not believe how naive I was being, thinking there should be an easy way of administrating home work and network marketing.

The fact is that there is no easy way of accomplishing anything. There are smarter ways, and that is exactly what pushed me so far in this industry and guided my studies in college. I understood I was very successful at managing school and business, when I noticed my own success. The hectic schedule had covered my eyes to my accomplishments.

I realized I am smarter than most of my classmates, because I already have a purpose, a career, and I’m established in my market. Even though it is not an easy-breezy “party-drunk” college life, it rewards me with a comfortable life-style, and allows me the opportunity to invest in myself, always, instead of giving my best to some boss, loaning somebody else my training and time.

My company has paid for my studies, I never took a loan for college. Network marketing is giving me a jump start on my financial freedom right now, without having to climb the corporate ladder, what would take my fellow classmates at least 10 years to reach a decent income.

My schedule is filled with income producing activities, and I get to apply every piece of knowledge towards those activities. Accepting that my work is being rewarded, now and in the future, is the best way to manage studies and business.

I sincerely recommend it. And I believe all career-motivated college student can run a successful online enterprise. All it takes is the right motivation.

See you at the top!

P.S – On your right side there are links to some very helpful content. Explore them and start your research.