Don’t stop moving…

Success.

What is success?  How can we define it?

Some people say it’s when you have a large bank account.  Others claim it comes around when we achieve true happiness.  And I’m sure some folks only think that when their boss tells them they did a good job, they are successful.

For me, success comes from my thinking and my continuing actions.

If you make any kind of upward progress toward a goal, you are immediately successful.  Creating some wish, some goal and then actively working to achieve, makes you a success.

Whether you get there or not, that’s not the ultimate definition.  The trip is more important than the destination.

And guess what?

You will find satisfying things to see along the journey.  So don’t worry.

Now…think about this:

ESL students are predominantly more successful than ESL teachers.

Why?

If you meet a student who has been studying English for many years, the fact they can talk and understand you is evidence they’ve been progressively working toward a goal for a long time.

Yet they don’t speak perfect English like the teacher, so the trip isn’t over yet.  They are still walking on their path.  And if they are seeking an ESL teacher LIKE YOU, this is further evidence that they are acting in a successful way.

Now when it comes to most online ESL teachers, how many are consistently working to improve themselves everyday or every week in the “English learning world” AND the business of it therein?

Is the ESL teacher learning more about their craft and/or their business of making money?

As a teacher, what are YOU doing everyday to make your online English school better?  How are you progressively working to find more students?  Are you learning how to sell more lessons?  Do you want to make yourself a better person so as to help your life and thus the student?

If you create an online English school and just sit and wait for the ESL student to arrive, you will fail.

Creating a website once and not touching it again will make you fail.

Giving a sales pitch on Skype without understanding the mechanics of what’s happening won’t allow growth.  YOU WON’T BE SUCCESSFUL.

I’ve said this before, and I’ll say it again: you must be proactive.  Progress makes perfect.

Progress MAKES perfect!

The secret in creating a thriving online English school is movement.  Don’t sit and wait for students to come to you.  YOU must dance and jive to get noticed.

Do something everyday and the world will do something for you everyday as well.

If you read this post, please watch this video, understand it, set a goal, and then start walking toward it, and you will instantly be a success.  That’s all it takes.

Do you want to be an online English teacher who makes money from home?  I know you have what it takes to succeed.  Let me help you!  If you subscribe to my free email newsletter, you will get a DEEP discount on the e-book.  Click here after you watch the video:

Were you born in one those 5 countries?

These countries are widely known across the world as English speaking countries where English is the dominant language.  Sure, there are many other countries that say English is part of their official language, but ESL students would never think of them that way.  Check out Wikipedia for the list of countries where English is an official language.

Anyway, if you were born in one of the Big 5 countries, all you need is your mother tongue to attract online ESL students.  How easy is that?  If you can speak…they will listen…and pay.

I’m not trying to dilute the importance of teaching English by saying anyone with a pulse can do it.  Everyone with a functioning arm can swing a hammer, but many will miss the nail.

Teaching English online can be as simple as offering conversations.  Just conversations.  Only talking about anything and everything.

This might sound like a breeze to some, but if you can’t maintain a conversation, if you can’t think of what to say next, if you’re not a good listener because you’re mind wanders, then this gig probably isn’t for you.

• Have to seem fun
• Need to be quick on your feet
• Should ask interesting questions without missing a beat
• Should acknowledge the students’ feelings and needs
• Must listen for mistakes and correct them (but you don’t necessarily have to give grammatical reasons why they made a slip)

Many ESL students don’t have ANY opportunities to speak with anyone from the Big 5.  Their ultimate goal is to understand these Big 5 countries because it will grow their careers, help in their movie watching experiences, and if they ever meet a tourist in their country they will feel more comfortable to talk.

Students want to feel confident about their English
…want to improve their comprehension
…want to speak faster
…want to learn more vocab and slang
…and they want to have fun with you too!

If you can provide the above, you’ll do great!  So being on online English teacher (like with Skype) will make it possible for the student to speak with the folks they want…like you!

You can be quite successful if you only sell conversations for $20 or $25 per one hour session.  So for this…no experience is necessary.  BTW, if you need over 1,300 questions, 500 quotations, and 200 proverbs for your online ESL students that you teach on Skype, grab’em here.

So now what about offline teachers?  Can they start teaching online ASAP?

For those teachers who already have some offline teaching experience, you’ll do fantastic within the online world.

Think about what you want to specialize in.  Vocab?  Grammar?  Listening?  Slang?

Imagine this: you’re driving down a country road.  You’re sitting shotgun, and your friend driving suddenly slams on the breaks and points at a cow.  She screams, “Wow!  It’s a cow!  How interesting!”

You might look at the cow, see that it’s just a cow, look at your friend, look back at the cow, and them back again at your friend and say, “So what?  It’s just a cow.”

Cows are pretty ordinary.  They are not remarkable.  No one every stops the car to remark on a cow we’ve seen a million times.

But what if the cow were purple?

“Wow!  It’s a purple cow!  How interesting!”

My point is that you need to become the purple cow.  Be remarkable.  Be different.  Put a new and creative spin on whatever it is your offering to sell.

How can you stand out?  Try to make your vocab, grammar, listening and slang lessons unique.  Flip on the purple neon sign and grab their attention so they will buy big $500 package deals from you.

Teach what you know, but do it with a NEW style.

Check out this YouTube video.  Seth Godin is a marketing god.  If you like the video, consider his book.  He talks about YOU becoming the purple cow.

	If you see it, it will come!

Let’s get the Wikipedia definition out of the way first:

…the Law of Attraction says people’s thoughts (both conscious and unconscious) dictate the reality of their lives, whether or not they’re aware of it. Essentially “if you really want something and truly believe it’s possible, you’ll get it”, but putting a lot of attention and thought onto something you don’t want means you’ll probably get that too.

It all comes down to the power of positive thinking and the destructive potential of negative thoughts.

The Law of Attraction can be a good or bad source of energy in your life.

So can I ask you a question?

Are you…

…a positive or a negative person?

If you had to come up with a percentage for each, what would it be?  80% positive and 20% negative?  Something like that?  Really think about it and trust your intuition.  What were the first set of numbers to pop in your head?

Got it?

Unless that negative percentage is currently ZERO, then your future self deserves that you start considering the Law of Attraction in your life.

When I was in university, I watched TV news a lot.  I would start my day and finish it by checking out the latest scandals, robberies, murders, and financial meltdowns.

I would get so angry at the tube because of the craziness of the world, AND the news reporters would erk me too because I saw them ask loaded questions, give opinions, and try to sway my thoughts that in some way might benefit them or their friends or their philosophy.

To say the least, I no longer trust the mainstream media.  I don’t like how news stations are more concerned with profits and getting rich than presenting useful news in an unbiased way.

Also, I don’t like to hear about how awful the world is.  It’s just too much to listen to how everyone has no money, no jobs, no friends, no cats, no food, no sex, no, no, no.

So…I don’t watch the news.  Don’t get me wrong, I care about the problems of the world, but I need to focus my positive energy in a direction I’m most qualified in.  I can’t save the world (and really, I don’t think it’s going to go belly-up).

I have to trust that others will step up and do their part in their own unique ways.  And since we live in a society like workers bees, we will get the job done as a whole.

Things will work itself out.

And I know my life is going in the right direction because I can see the outcome of my labor.  No…I’m not psychic, nor do I chat with the dead.  What I see and hear are the images and thoughts phantasmagorically passing through my head.

Visualize your future and it will come.

If you see negative images (on TV or in your mind), your day struggles to achieve true happiness for you.  But if you surround yourself with positive messages be it from the TV, the radio, your friends, family and co-workers, your sense of wellbeing will easily plant a long lasting smile upon your face.

As I write this, I feel energized.

I love how thoughts create form.  My thoughts travel through my fingers, to my computer, to the Internet, to your eyes, to your mind, and I know you will act out in a more positive way.

That is the power of living in a constructive society.  We all “feed” each other good feelings.

And these feelings help manifest physical things in our lives if we want them.  Seek money, and it will come.  Seek ESL students for your online English school, and they will come.  Seek love and happiness and significance, and it will ALL come.

Patience.

Give it time.

Trust that the universe will spin in YOUR TRUE direction.

Visualize the outcome you desire, not the one you fear.

Here’s a trick: anytime you have a bad thought, replace it with the face of your favorite loved one.  Think of how cute your cat is as well.  Imagine buckets of cash at your feet as you eat sushi with your friends and burp out the alphabet after taking a swig of Sam Adams.

Be creative and try to imagine the most far-out scenarios of success.  So the next time you belittle yourself or have fear, think about a future filled will [insert your wildest fantasy here].

And remember to smile…even force yourself if you have to.

Anyway, today I can across some software in regard to the Law of Attraction, and it really got me inspired to share with you today.  I just found it a few hours ago, and it sounds interesting.  I’m going to try the 7 day trial for $5.00 and see how it goes.

So you can expect an update shortly after it’s been on my computer for a few days.  If I like it, I’ll buy it at its full price.  You are more than welcome to check it out before I’ve had time to review it.

So there we go.  Imagine a good day, avoid negative people and inner thoughts of pessimism, and I guarantee your day will be fantastic.

If you would like to talk more with me about the Law of Attraction, chat with me on Skype.  I’m such a happy workaholic that I’m usually at or near my computer.  I joyfully swear, I think Dell and Microsoft put some kind of glorious drug in their product!

I love it, and I can’t stop…nor do I want to!

Enjoy your day because you are unique on this planet.  Only you can see your thoughts.  Only you can decide to be happy or not.  Only you!

Peace be with you.

	How many different ways can you make money for yourself?

My high school education really let me down.  Sure, they taught me reading, writing, and arithmetic, but what did they forget to include?  What’s more important AND more practical?

Well…it’s money!  Learning how to make, save, and spend money was never a topic.

I’m not a big conspiracy nut, but don’t you find it highly suspicious that most high schools across America (and I’m guessing the world too) avoid specific courses that teach this valuable knowledge semester after semester?

This should be required study starting in elementary school!  REQUIRED…NOT OPTIONAL!

Think about it: why would the rich and powerful want you and I to compete with their rich children?  If you know anything about Rich Dad, Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki, you’ll know that rich dads teach their children about the money world, and poor dads do not.

But the burden of financial education shouldn’t completely rest on the parents’ shoulders.  Public and private schools need to step up since most parents don’t have the proper knowledge anymore.

It’s no wonder that almost everyone I know is in debt.  Credit cards are dangerous in the ignorant minds of consumers (especially the young).  And most people are grossly incompetent when it comes to responsible spending.  I learned this lesson the hard way!

But why did I have to?

No one taught me the wise ways of Wall Street, buying a house, taking out a business loan, dealing with credit card finance charges, investing in a money market account, getting business licenses, creating a simple budget, filling out different tax forms, marketing strategies, writing a simple business plan, customer service, saving for retirement, and as you can see, the list can keep going on and on.

What the hell!

This is America!  The land of opportunity that implies anyone can start a business and get rich.  What are your thoughts?  Do you feel like they (I’m not exactly sure who “they” are) pulled a fast one?  What’s the situation like in other countries?

Any way, I want to talk about diversifying your income:

Since you might not have a 100% understanding of what I’m talking about, this simply means to create more than a single stream of income.  Having 2 or more ways to make money from different sources at the same time is safer because if one of those dries up, you still have other streams to protect you.

You need to have money coming in from multiple angles.

This is pretty important in these crazy economic times.  So many people have been conditioned (brainwashed?) to have ONE job.  Having only one job, one stream of income is so dangerous considering the rise of outsourcing and CEO’s laying people off left and right.

So, here are some of my ideas on diversifying your income as an online English teacher in an ESL world:

Idea One:  Sell English lessons online by using Skype as a way to connect you with the student wherever he or she might live.  My e-book will give you on a step-by-step plan on how to start, operate, find students, and keep them paying again and again.  Sorry for the shameless self-promotion, but this site was created to make me money in a rewarding way that I could be proud of :-)

Idea Two:  Write an e-book.  Create an e-book that teaches them something.  Make your own creative and exciting lessons and throw it all together in the form of a .PDF file (and there’s your e-book). Make another website (or blog) just for your e-book, and market it the same way you would as your Skype lessons.

After you make a sale to a student, you’re in a better position to sell them more products.  Your student trusts you, they were satisfied with one buying experience, so logic dictates you can repeat this with other products.

Idea Three:  Suggest Amazon.com products that the student might like.  Sign-up for Amazon’s affiliate program, find some good English learning products, and do the following:

• Create a separate website/blog that focuses primarily on these Amazon products.
• Add a shop (an extra page) to your website (the one that sells your Skype lessons).
• After everyone of your student’s paid lessons, suggest a new product to them.  Or bring up the product during the lesson at some point in which it smoothly fits and then send them the Amazon affiliate link in the Skype chat box.

Idea Four:  Create a membership site that students only pay a few bucks a month to join.  Once in the membership site, the students will have access to special text, audio, and video lessons that you’ve created or acquired.  You could have a forum and a live chat page for students to interact together and thus increase the site’s sense of community.  I’ve never done this, but I really want to.  Does anyone know the best way to create a membership site that could do this?  I’m not a big programmer, but if there’s an workable solution, let me know!

Idea Five:  Write a paperback book and sell it through Lulu.com.  This site is a publishing-on-demand company.  All you do is upload your correctly formatted file to the site, and anytime someone buys it, Lulu will print off the book and mail it to the customer, and you’ll get a commission.  They take care of all the sales and customer service!  And you don’t have to pay any upfront costs!

Idea Six:  Sell your own created t-shirts or other merchandise with catchy expressions.  Gear them towards the love of English learning.  Check out CafePress.com or Zazzle.com to get started (it’s free).  One cool thing about Zazzle is that you can promote products that other people have made and get at least 15% commission.

Idea Seven:  Create a blog just for English learners and put Google Adsense ads on them.  And if you include Google Adsense to any of your other sites (like the one selling your Skype lessons), be careful.  You don’t want a prospective student to click on the Google link thus only making you a few cents when the student might have bought a big package deal of lessons from you otherwise (you could miss out on $100 to $500 if they never come back to you).  I would only put these ads on your site if you’re getting over 1,000 unique visitors a day.

Idea Eight:  Make DVD video lessons.  Sell these DVD or CD’s through Lulu.com or just CD’s through Zazzle.com.

Idea Nine:  Create an affiliate account at ClickBank.com and refer English learning related e-products that other authors have created.  You can always try to suggest other products to non-ESL people in the same way.  If you’ve never heard of affiliate marketing, discover more at Wikipedia.

Idea Ten:  Create interesting podcasts and give away half of each podcast for free.  And if the student wants to hear the rest, they should pay you a few bucks or so.  Here’s some free software to create nice podcasts.

Time to get serious!

Some of these ideas I’ve never experimented with, but I assure you, I will!  We all need to buckle down and create multiple streams of income in this day and age!

If you’re ready to buy a domain name or two for your various websites and get some hosting for it, use the same guys that I currently use.

I’ve been happy with them and have been using them since 2003, and their prices are right, and their customer service is outstanding…no complaints!  See what you think of the hosting plans.  At least secure a domain name before someone else gets it first!  Go here to buy your next domain name.

And yes, the above links are my affiliate links, but I really do use this company, and I’m proud to be their customer.  I’m confident you’ll like their services too for your URL and website hosting needs.

Another good reason to go with them is that I can help you if you have trouble publishing your site.  I’m familiar with their control panel that customers get.

I can easily walk you through any problems.  I’ve used the control panel so much, it’s like riding a bike for me.

I could really help lower your learving curve.  Time is money!

Contact me on Skype, and I will do my best to assist you with your newest website.  If you have Skype, click here to chat with me, or click here to call me (if you have a microphone) or click here to add me to your list of Skype contacts.

And if anyone has any more ideas on creating multiple streams of income for online English teachers, please let us know!  We’re all in this together, and we will be more successful if we share.  The universe will reward us because of our good karma :)

	What a feeling to be an online English teacher!

1.  WORKING ANYPLACE YOU WANT IS SOOOO LIBERATING!

True freedom is when you can get up and travel without having to worry about your job.  Becoming a self-employed online English teacher will allow you to go, go, go anyplace you want and still have the ability to work.

We live in exciting times.  Internet is KING!

You can literally teach from a Starbucks.  Teach from a relative’s home if it has a decent connection.  Teach from the beach if you know how to use your cell phone to give your laptop an Internet connection.  Imagine the possible places you can teach English.

What freedom!

2.  MEETING INTERESTING PEOPLE FROM AROUND THE WORLD

Even before I started teaching English online, I loved to travel the world and meet new people.  It’s so amazing how people are so different yet so similar from one country to the next.  The world is huge, but it’s “small” at the same time.

Do you know what I mean?

Teaching online with Skype really allowed me to meet people from countries I’ve never stepped foot on.  I was able to form new, exciting relationships with people from Poland, Switzerland, Turkey, and Russia to name a few.

Thank you everyone!

3.  A GOOD CHALLENGE IS EXCITING AND ENHANCES PERSONAL GROWTH

I’ll be honest, it wasn’t easy for me to start my own online English school.  Check out how I felt when I first started out.  But this challenge only made me stronger.

What doesn’t kill us only makes us grow if we allow it to.

I thrive on solving problems.  Being creative is one of my defining characteristics.  I love applying logic, intuition, skill, luck, and optimism toward a mystery that needs a fixin’.

You will honestly feel like a bigger, stronger person once you make your fist sale…and that leads us to the next one:

4.  MAKING MONTHLY SALES AGAIN AND AGAIN FEELS SA-WEET

With any product or service, the first sale is always the hardest, but it’s the sweetest.  My first sale was to a student in Korea, and I will never forget her.

The feeling of her saying, yes and then getting that email from PayPal stating, “Payment received” was great.  I did it!

And soon thereafter more and more students starting saying…YES.

Getting over the initial hurdle took some time, but it got a lot easier after that.  Using momentum is a great thing…never forget that!

5.  HELPING FOLKS IMPROVE THEIR ALREADY LEARNED ENGLISH IS REWARDING

The reason I like teaching is because it’s like giving people little nuggets of gold.  They are always so excited to get something new and shiny.  It puts a smile on their face to learn, and in-turn it does the same for me.

One of the secrets to happiness that I’ve learned is to make others happy because it’s reciprocal.

I love this truth.

6.  DEVELOPING PERSONAL CONNECTIONS WITH STUDENTS IS NICE

Spending week after week with a student is interesting.  You’re bound to discover new bits of their history.  It’s nice to share similarities and differences.

Ask your students lots of questions, and you’ll not only discover things about them, but yourself as well.  A good conversation is a process of discovery that benefits both parties.

7.  LEARNING ABOUT DIFFERENT CULTURES OPENS THE MIND EVEN MORE

The only way the world will end prejudice and craziness is to know how others are different and accept it as normal.

“Normal” is relative though.  Nothing is really distinct.  Embrace people who are “other” than you.

I like being different…yet the same!

8.  SPENDING MORE TIME WITH LOVED ONES IS PERFECT

Being able to work at home gives me more time with loved ones.  Whether I’m working in the same room as my fiancée or in the next room, just being “near by” is enough to make me feel more comfortable.

And since I can travel and visit family and work at the same time, it’s a perfect situation to be with everyone and not lose out on making money.

Doing all of this at the same time is ideal!  Who wants to spend half of their waking life away from the ones who matter?

9.  NOT RELYING ON A CORPORATION TO FEED US IS ESSENTIAL

When I worked in Japan, I thought I had job security because I was working for the largest English conversation school in the country.  But in the end, the ship sank, and I didn’t get paid.  I missed out on around $5,000 worth of earned wages.

And in this new world economy, working for a corporation is no guarantee of lifelong job security.  CEO’s are only concerned with increasing profits for the next quarter, and if that means that have to outsource and lay people off, they will do it.

They will do whatever it takes to make the shareholders happy…NOT the employees who got them there (just look at Wal-Mart).

So it’s best to work for yourself.  If you can trust yourself to work hard and put you as #1 then you’ll do fine.  And if you can figure out other ways to diversify your income, you’ll be even more secure.

Teaching online can free you up to find other online gigs or other business opportunities to find in your community to make money.  Throw enough stuff up on the wall and eventually something will stick!

10.  FEELING SIGNIFICANT TO THE WORLD COMMUNITY ROCKS

Feeling wanted and important is essential  to our well-being.  When students come to you and ask for help feels great when we can give them what they want.

You have English as your mother-tongue.  This is a gift to the world.  We are lucky.  Let’s not waste it.  Share what you know.  Teach.  Get respect.  Help others grow and you will grow too.

You are significant.  We all are when we work together.

Thank you Internet!

Thank you Skype!

Thank you World!

	Got clarity?

Like 99% of the people I know, those who happen to ask themselves and think about the following questions will see things in the whole new light.  This illumination requires prescription grade sunglasses my friend…I hope you don’t do blind :)

WARNING: the following requires an SPF of 30 or higher!

The truth is always good, but many don’t welcome it.  Read as much as your comfort level can handle.

MAIN Question Number One:

Imagine your perfect life and how it would be, so how would it look and feel and taste?

Close your eyes for a second after each question and think about where you ultimately want your future self to go…and the great outcome that you most desire!  Reward yourself now with “happy thoughts.”

• Would you have a job or not in your desired future?
• If so, what kind of job would it take to make you feel fulfilled?
• Who are your friends?
• How would you spend the time with your family?
• What kind of restaurants would you frequent?
• Where would you fly to most often?
• Would your overall eating habits change?
• Would you get a new cell phone or a new dog?
• Would you sleep more or less?
• How would people see you differently?
• Would you contribute more to your community?

Really try to feel this future possibility…

Imagine the new gizmos and gadgets you would hold.

See the smiling faces in your new life.

Taste the exotic foods you would eat on the beach.

Focus in on the best possible vacation of your life.

Don’t underestimate the power of imagination.  Take a moment…stop reading, go get a drink, and while you’re walking away from your computer, think about the above questions.

Okay?

Did you get a drink?  I hope so, because you’ll want to feel refreshed in order to read on…

MAIN Question Number Two:

How much money would you need to generate each month to achieve your dreams?

Try to be realistic.  Keep in mind that things usually cost more than we can predict.  I like to add at least 20% to any logical budget I create.  There are always unforeseen expenses that’ll pop up.

Got the figure?

Try not to read on until you’ve thought of that minimum monthly income that you’ll need to maintain that dream lifestyle.

Okay…now here’s the big one…here we go!

MAIN Question Number Three:

If you’re doing what you’re doing right now during these current days, will you EVER achieve enough money to grant you YOUR future?

To rephrase it, if you’re going as you are now, will you EVER achieve ALL those goals?

Now if you’re like most, the answer is NO.

Reason?

Most folks are caught up in the day-to-day grind.  “Please let me just finish this day!”  Most don’t have the energy to imagine a better future AND to fully construct a plan.

Lots of worker bees can only see a few weeks ahead AT MOST.  “I can’t wait until this month is over!  Next month will be better…I HOPE.”

So 99% of people are so caught up in the moment and the very near future that they unconsciously block out the potentially bright and shinny future.  And when they do dream a little dream it’s fleeting and put together in bits and pieces along the way.  Most thoughts of a better life only come when life is going badly RIGHT NOW.  And then the future quickly fades and is forgotten for the time-being because the desire to just get through the present is too much of a dominant force.

The NOW is too dark that it eclipses the light of next year, next decade.

It’s time to focus with the light of imagination and planning.

Having a crystal clear image of what you want and how you’re going to get there is KEY.  It’s the most important group of thoughts you can have to secure a future YOU TRULY NEED.

You must, must, must write down your plan of action.  AND remind yourself WHY, WHY, WHY you want those goals.

Light brings clarity.  And your imagination and you physically recording your plan on paper or your computer is crucial to bring your future into focus and ultimately into your NEW present reality.

Make sure to review your plan often to keep the energy flowing.

Ponder this: how can you get anywhere without directions, a map, and a destination?  Please don’t aimlessly drive the dark alleys with broken headlights.

Watch this YouTube video of Tony Robbins who helped shine some rays my way:

	What do 80% of your worries consist of?

As some of you might know, I lived in Osaka, Japan from early 2005 to late 2007.  I was employed with Japan’s largest conversational school, Nova.  At the time, they had over 4,000 teachers and over half a million students!

They were huge!  They had lots of money!  And they were on the cutting edge of technology.

I worked in the multimedia department.  So I taught English lessons from a computer in Osaka to students scattered all through out Japan via the Internet, a web camera, a microphone, and a cool software program.

Since I love computers, this was great.

After several months of working, I discovered that Yahoo Messenger was offering video chat similar to Nova’s.  This was the first time that I heard about the ability to call other peoples’ instant messaging accounts and speak with live video using a web camera…and it was free.

My first thought was, “Wow!  I could do the same job I was doing at Nova, but I could do it myself at home!  I could teach Japanese folks English with Yahoo Messenger.”

Since I knew a little bit about website design and Internet marketing, I felt like this was a perfect fit for me (but later I realized these skills weren’t crucial for starting up).

Any way, I bought the domain EnglishKitty.com and started contributing to various forums and whatnot.

Eventually I discovered Skype and quickly realized it was better than Yahoo.  I had only used Yahoo’s video chat once with my brother, and I didn’t like the quality.

Any way, about a month after launching my site and doing various things to get the word out, I got an email from a gal in Korea.

Korea!  I thought I was trying to attract Japanese, but no problem.  It was a happy surprise.

And then the time came for our free trial lesson, and I was scared out of my mind.

Not because I wasn’t prepared.  Not because I didn’t have the experience behind a web camera.

I was scared with sweaty palms because this was my first real business-like experience.  This was my first time at trying to achieve my own self-employed business that could actually bring me money very soon.

Would I fail?

Would she like me enough to become my paying student?

And what would happen if I actually succeeded?  Was I even ready for that?!

I also kind of felt like I didn’t know what I was doing to make this business work.  And she would see it!

To make a long story short, my anxiety quickly subsided after we connected together on Skype.  I was calm, relaxed, and charming.

I smiled a lot too.  I believe this was the main thing that quieted my nerves.

And so thankfully at the closing of our free trial lesson, she was ready to buy.

She bought one English conversation with me for $20.00.  And for several weeks after that, she would dutifully pay $20.00 before each 60 minute conversation.

I learned a lot about her and her culture, and she was able to practice her already learned English with me.  It was win-win.

Soon after, I started meeting more and more prospective students from other countries.  Some would buy, some only wanted the free one-time meeting, but in the end, I was making money.

And I continued to smile!

My fear of failure and warped fear of success was unfounded.

I’ve heard that about 80% of the things we worry about don’t even come close to coming true.  So why is it we as humans waste so much time and energy worrying about unrealistic things?

I believe it’s because most of us never think about this psychological phenomenon.  But once we have clarity.  Once we understand how things actually work, we can slowly change our thoughts that ultimately benefit our actions.

Positive actions lead toward success.

Positive thoughts lead toward success too!

What do you think?  Do you agree that almost 80% of the things we worry about never come to pass?  Do you have any specific examples from your life?

Please leave a comment and share your thoughts with the rest of us.  Thanks!