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[A32]A Four Letter Lie

by Knight Pierce Hirst, Kni

To me camp is a four-letter word. To my husband and older son it's a secluded site nestled into scenic mountains. It's invigorating, fresh air and a gurgling, fish-laden stream. It's food that tastes better because it's cooked outside and it's camaraderie sitting around a blazing fire. It's not that for me. I wouldn't expect that kind of experience unless I was camping with Smokey the Bear.

When I was six or seven, I asked for a tent for my birthday. I can still see it - a yellow, four-person tent, which was pitched between the garage and the swing set. I begged to sleep in it the first night, but I didn't sleep. In stead, I thought about bugs and spiders and other creepy crawlies - possibly poisonous creepy crawlies. My salvation was my mother, who brought me inside. The tent's salvation was - the Salvation Army.

Since then my camping experiences have been inside. There was the winter my husband and I almost froze to death sleeping in the top of an A-frame cabin. Our friends, who were sleeping below, assured us heat rises. They were wrapped in an electric blanket. There was no heat to rise.

Then there was the time we were traveling in Northern California. Because we had our dog with us, we had to stay in a "less fancy" motel. After settling into its "rustic setting", I realized what I thought was a pattern on the wall was actually squashed bugs.

I got so tired of bugs when we were traveling in rural Africa I finally complained. The man who had carried our luggage into the "lodge" tried to solve the problem by offering to leave a very large lizard in our room.

It wasn't bugs that bugged me in Mexico. My problem at a seaside resort there was a crab that crawled up through the shower drain.

Friends have suggested RV camping would solve my problems. No. An RV is a house on wheels. I'd be bringing household problems with me.

I didn't think camping was problem-free until my sons were old enough to go and my husband and I were free to travel. The boys started in day camp and grew into overnight camp. My older son grew into a camp counselor. My younger son didn't. Because I felt genetically responsible for his thinking camp was a four-letter word, he took the "am" out of camp.

It's not necessarily because we don't know what to do, it's often more a matter of getting distracted or letting little actions that seem important but don't bring in results consume too much time.

How many times have you turned on the computer and logged onto the Internet to check your email? An hour later, you're still on the Internet -- answering email, solving customer service issues, reading interesting articles...the list goes on and on...

Each day, you have a limited amount of time to spend on your business. Whether it's two hours, eight hours or ten, what you accomplish is directly linked to how you spend your time.

Here's a suggestion and I challenge you to give it a try. Even if it's only for one day, just try it and see if your results at the end of the day are better than the day before.

Today, before you end your work day, take five minutes to write a To Do List for tomorrow. (Yes, there's your four-letter list). Don't put more than five things on the list and be reasonable. Make them things you can reasonably accomplish during the time you have to get them
done. And make them action oriented.

For example, your list might look like:

1. Add one page of content to yourdomain.com
2. Finish article about "....."
3. Submit article to at least three article directories.
4. Find one new affiliate product to peomote.
5. Add one new autoresponder message that promotes the new affiliate product.

Five action oriented tasks that can be accomplished in one day.

If your primary goal is to increase your revenue, your To Do list should have five action tasks that will help to increase your revenue. If you want to find more prospects, the tasks should be ones that will help you find more prospects.

If you don't know where you're going, it doesn't matter how you get there. So it doesn't matter what you do.

Your action-oriented To Do list is like a road map. It helps you focus on where you want to go and then tells you exactly what you need to do to get there.

When you get to work tomorrow, read the list and get started. Focus on the tasks on your list and do them...one at a time until you are done or you've run out of worktime.

Cross off each item as you finish it. If something is left at the end of the day, just add it to your list for the next day.

See how simple it is? There's something about writing down what you need to do...

It keeps you focused.

It tells you exactly what you need to do.

And you get a real sense of satisfaction and
accomplishment each time you finish an item and cross it off your list.

Give it a try. Before you stop for the day, write down up to five action-oriented things you need to do tomorrow.

What have you got to lose? And just think how much you'll gain when those five things are done and you've moved on to the next five.

I challenge you to use this simple four-letter list everyday for one week. See if it makes as big of a difference in your business as it makes in mine.

Article Source : Pg. 3

About Author

Both Knight Pierce Hirst & Cindy Kappler are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.

Knight Pierce Hirst has sinced written about articles on various topics from Web Development, Humour and Internet Marketing. KNIGHT PIERCE HIRST takes humorous looks at life. at. Knight Pierce Hirst's top article generates over 135000 views. to your Favourites.

Cindy Kappler has sinced written about articles on various topics from Humour, Marketing Tips. . Cindy Kappler's top article generates over 4400 views. to your Favourites.