What is Your Definite Major Purpose?

There is one quality which one must possess to win, and that is definiteness of purpose, the knowledge of what one wants, and a burning desire to possess it. - Napoleon Hill Napoleon Hill first coined the term definiteness of purpose back when he was conducting a number of interviews with some of the greatest business minds in the world that would eventually form the structure of his book and subsequent audio book, Think And Grow Rich (aff link). I had read about having a definite major purpose a couple of times before and understand the basics of it. It is essentially all about defining your purpose in life. What is it you want to accomplish? What do you want to give to the world? In what do you truly believe?

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Brevity, Brevity, Brevity

For brevity I suppose I could have entitled this post, "Brevity" but I wanted to remind myself, and you, to be succinct at all times. As someone who likes to talk to a lot of people all the time, brevity is difficult for me. There is so much to talk about that I have to blurt it all out in verbal diarrhea fashion. But with more and more people going minimalist and rocking information diets, now more than ever is the time to just say what you mean.

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The Law of The Jungle AKA How to Take Less Crap

If you have a boss, customers, clients or anybody else that is paying you for a service that you are providing: then you have to take crap. Shit, as they say, travels downhill. Bosses are the worst type of crap givers. They usually delegate menial tasks that they can't be bothered to do themselves. And guess what? When you complete that task, they'll probably take credit for it too. Ever wonder how that guy or girl who seems to be ridiculously, incredibly and stupendously terrible at their job - yet they earn double the amount you do? Chances are they got there by passing more and more crap down to minions like you. Clients are just as bad as bosses though. "I need this by 5pm.", "How long is it going to take?", "Why can't you sort it out for me now?", "If you don't get me a better deal, I'll go elsewhere." This is the law of the jungle. Much crap will be taken, and many faces will be palmed (if only in your mind).

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Innovation: How to Stand Out in a Sea of Imitators

Attention. Everyone craves it. Especially online when the success or failure of your project depends on it. Even in the offline world you want the attention of other people. It could be anything from wanting respect from your boss for a job well done, to trying to catch the eye of the gorgeous girl at the bar. Our instinct is to do what others before us have done. You might try and pick up the hot girl by following the advice of the "pro" pickup artists. But if she's really that hot, chances are she gets hit on daily. Probably even hourly if she lives anywhere near me and I have no place better to be! If she's seen it and heard it all before, she won't care about what you have to say. Within seconds she will have decided that there is no way you're getting to spend time with her and nothing you can do will change that. And so it is online.

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Lessons in Life from Rocky Balboa

"Hey yo, Adrian.... I DID IT!" I relate quite strongly to Rocky Balboa. The personification of an underdog. A no skill, no talent bum from the wrong side of the tracks who became a winner through sheer determination and drive. He went the distance then went back to the streets. Just a man and his will to survive. For the most part, watching Rocky films and listening to the soundtrack inspires you to run, life weights or hit something (or someone) really hard. But more than that, it makes you feel like you can achieve anything. We love underdogs. We root for them whenever we can because we want to believe it is possible for the little guy, the guy who doesn't achieve the success he perhaps deserves. It's fascinating to me. One example of a real underdog story online would be Jeremy Schoemaker. The guy went from overweight, surgery bound and broke to an Adonis making millions in just five short years. He's the online Rocky Balboa, without the speech impediment. But what can Rocky teach us about life?

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Life Moves Pretty Fast (Don’t Miss It)

"Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around every once in a while, you could miss it." - Ferris Bueller The due date for the birth of my first child, a little girl, is March 8th 2010. It literally seems like only yesterday that I got the news that I was going to be a father. We spend so much time trying to achieve our hopes and dreams that quite often you forget about what is happening right now. We're all busy, we all know the feeling of not having enough time and trying to fit as much as we can into our day. But we're missing the big picture.

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How to Recapture Your Mojo

Have you lost your spark? Is every day just another monotonous routine? Get up. Go to work. Eat. Go home. Watch TV. Sleep. Wake up, and repeat. Sound familiar? If you're stuck in a rut, you literally cannot be bothered to do anything. Every moment of your life is wasted simply existing. Your mind feels heavy and clouded and there is a constant sinking feeling in your gut. You've lost the passion, the zest, the clarity and you're not living in the moment. The french call it a certain... I don't know what. I call it your mojo. And I'm here to help you get it back.

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Why Your Lack of Patience is Holding You Back

When you look at the personal development, lifestyle design, blogging, location independence and online business communities around the blogosphere, it all seems so easy. Everyone can articulate themselves eloquently (Naomi Dunford notwithstanding -

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You Complain Too Much

Everywhere I look, people are complaining. At work I hear people complaining about how management screwed them over on bonuses again this quarter. At the gym people are complaining that exercise is "too hard". In the supermarket people complain if their favourite brand of cereal is out of stock. I'm sick of this... I can't do that... Do you want some cheese with that whine? Here's the thing: the more time you spend complaining about your career, your health, your relationship and the selection of bagels available at the store, the less time you have available to actually fix your problems. This is why people get stuck in a holding pattern for big chunks of their life. I know because I'm still in mine. But instead of complaining about my problems I've learnt to deal with the things I can solve and forget the rest...

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