We’ve got a lot to talk about today.

When I started out in IM I was in school, didn’t have any job prospects, and I absolutely HATED the idea of working for somebody else. The fear that the average person has of not having a job and having no control over what happens to them, that’s what I have of going in to a gig every day and knowing I have to appease some guy every day or get thrown out on my ass.

“LOOK OUTSIDE OF YOURSELF.”

But when you’re in a bad situation it’s god damn close to impossible to push yourself up. You will really need to look outside of yourself for the intial push of focus and motivation. And that’s okay.

Thanks to the internet, there are plenty of new experiences you can have for free or for cheap. This isn’t exactly a plan for when your situation is desperate – here’s what you can do when your entire life is desperate and you need to give yourself a “mental reboot”.

If you can afford to take the week away from your business, do it. If you can take two or three days away from it, do it. You know when we were kids in school, we would get a couple days to take a break. And if you’re working a 9 to 5 gig, you usually get a couple of days off.

When you’ve decided to become self-employed, there’s a positive in that hey, you’re the person responsible for your financial outcomes and your financial future. But there’s a problem lurking underneath this freedom, which is that you’re basically working all the time. So, measure your hours and also give yourself some time and some room to rest and relax.

Take some time and don’t think about money at all. And when you’re doing this, rest in an active way – go see a free show, go for a walk, volunteer, work out – don’t just sit and watch TV or play video games. There’s nothing evil or wrong with this, but it kind of switches your brain off and runs through time. You’ll look up, those two days will be over, and you’ll be in the same place emotionally. You don’t want that.

You know, the fastest way to learn a language is to immerse yourself in it – now, maybe you can’t afford to pay a zillion dollars to go to a motivational seminar in person, but you can – you CAN immerse yourself in positive energy and motivation. So, here’s the stuff that really saved my ass when I was in the depths of hopelessness and depression.

I was so angry and upset at myself because I was “smart” but couldn’t seem to get anything done. I’d get up and WANT to achieve and slowly get seduced by distractions, frustrations, exhaustion, the demands of friends and family members. And at the end of the day, I’d have nothing to show for it, I’d be broker and angrier than I was before.

This is the book that explained a lot of stuff that I suspected about my life and the people around me and just never clicked together.

This is more of a pep rally than an instructional course, but Zig Ziglar is an inspiring storyteller and somebody with the power to just cheer you up no matter how you feel at the time, and give you hope that anything’s possible. If you’ve got a $20 to drop, this course will keep you in a positive state for almost a full day – and you can re-listen as often as you want!

Another problem I had was that I was kind of shellshocked. I was living in crowded, unhappy living conditions, getting irritated at every little thing around me. Even when I got out of the house, coming back would drain my energy and my faith in myself. If you’re feeling like you’re at the very bottom,  you can get yourself on that first rung  by using some hypnosis MP3s. Brain Sync does some AMAZING things and they usually have some awesome sales. Pick out the stuff you need and use it.

Get off your butt.

If you’re feeling like you’re “in a haze” physically, you can get a lot of that out of the way by becoming more physically active.

You’re going to breathe more deeply, you’re going to improve your tactile senses and shake off that “dull” feeling like you’re running through molasses or something.

Go jog for fifteen minutes, do situps, pushups, crunches. Something with some intensity and do it 2 times a day, every day over the course of the week.

Push your limits and use the pride you get from getting something done. With all that put together, you’ll establish some positive momentum and give yourself a “reboot” BEFORE you embark on another system, plan or program.