Fear & Loathing in Social Media - How Attitude Can Contribute To Your Success

I hear day in and day out from my clients (especially those just beginning their trek into the world of social media) that they feel overwhelmed, they don't see the point, they are frustrated, that social media and all it entails is scary. I can understand this to some extent. After all, it is new to them, and most people have an adverse reaction to change and all things new. I can't blame them, I myself am sometimes fearful of new things - there have been plenty of times when I just wanted to give up, throw in the towel and work a regular job where I could live on the surface, oblivious to change and just go with the flow. Somehow every time those feelings come up - something deeper comes rushing in immediately following the fear. There comes a knowing that I am meant for something bigger, something better - that I am here for a bigger purpose than simple customer service or administrative tasks.

It's that knowing - that inner voice that pushes me forward through the fear and onto stable ground. I think all of my clients have that same knowing. It's why they keep going past the fear and frustration and keep trying. All of us have a connection to something bigger - we know we are supposed to do something... No... BE SOMETHING that will change the world. We know that it isn't our ego that fuels our desire to BE THAT CHANGE as much as it is our ego that feeds the fear of that change we know is coming.

All that said, I wanted to take the time to write this post for the sole (or should I say SOUL) purpose of reminding you of the spiritual concept that exists in almost every path. We bring back to us the exact thing we put out. This doesn't mean if I give a sandwich to someone I'll get a sandwich back tomorrow - it means that if I give a sandwich to someone with fear in my heart that I may be giving up my last sandwich, I will sit tomorrow in fearful wonder of when I will eat again. We all know the motivational phrases that come through various spiritual teachings, but how often do we LIVE those phrases. How often do we focus directly on the how, rather than the energy, of the task no matter what that task may be? It is the energy we put forth in combination with our actions that really sets things in motion. Our energy in each action is like the Butterfly Effect creating energetic ripples that not only affect our own lives but the whole world. So my question to you is why fear? Why allow yourself to fear what social media brings? I would suggest instead that you focus on excitement and possibility or even better... on that knowing within you that pushes you forward in every other area. Focus on your divine purpose and use social media as simply an additional tool you use to change your world, so that you can change everyone else's world.

Fear breeds fear, loathing breeds loathing, frustration breeds frustration and so on and so on. Is that what you want to build as your foundation as you spread your purpose across the globe? I'd suggest that you let go of the fear and start with the things you know actually work to manifest what you want for yourself. If you put out the energy of fear in your marketing process, then you will become easily swayed from one thing to the next as you try to scrap for a piece of the pie. If you put out the energy of love & peace, it allows you to operate logically and enables you to see more clearly the steps that truly need to be taken in your process, so that you may assess what will and won't work without worry over whether or not you will waste your time. It is no surprise that the clients I mentioned who question and fear while working hard to accomplish things are just simply treading water in their business, while the ones who have taken the time to set their energies and attitudes in the beginning, as a part of the creation process for their marketing plan are moving forward at a steady pace. Which group would you rather be in? The success of the journey is entirely up to you!

The Art of Money Making With a Song in Your Heart and a Blog on the Web

Check out this article. It's about a "shaggy" looking 36 year old computer programmer who somehow convinced his wife to bless the idea of him quitting his job and becoming a full time singer and song-writer. Not an easy feat for her when you consider bills, the economy and the price of fuel. He made a rule for himself that he would write and record a song each week and then post it to his blog. He stuck to his goal through all the writer's block and difficulty. He had always had a dream of being a full-time musician and figured this huge challenge would be the way to do it. Those of you who are thinking "big deal" so the guy is a full time musician consider the fact that in order to be a full time anything you have to spend all of your time doing it. This means you can't spend any of your time with some other job which makes you any sort of money or compensation. Not because it's against the rules but simply because there isn't any time. So has he become successful? Who knows? I guess that would be based on what your definition of success is. He has however made a "reasonable middle class living" at it. He pulls in between $3000 and $5000 with the CD's and digital downloads of his music on iTunes. I don't know how that compares to being an average computer programmer but I do know how it compares to what I make. I make between $1500 and $3000 a month doing what I do and only parts of it are fun and none of it is what I have ever dreamed of doing. To me if you can make the minimum it takes you to just live while doing something you've dreamed of doing most of your life then you are successful. I plan to move to LA one day and become an actress or singer. Does that mean I will be famous and have paparazzi chasing me around on the streets? Likely no. It does mean however that little children all over the country will recognize my voice when I speak because I'm the voice of their favorite cartoon character. As long as I make between $3000 and $5000 a month then I'll be happy. So kudos to this guy (Jonathan Coulton) for doing his thing and more kudos for getting published in the New York Times and being the 3rd most linked article on blogs for just today. This means that he has in one day increased his blog traffic from more than 3,000 people daily on average to who knows how many. I have to say I'm a bit jealous that I haven't spent some of the money I blow on eating out every day on some recording equipment and a few guitar lessons. I had the voice lessons in middle school.

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