Last Sunday as I wrote my plans for the week ahead I wondered how many people do this.
 
I don’t do it every Sunday and when I don’t, my week is not productive at all, I feel as though I am wondering about aimlessly productivity-wise.
 
Conversely, when I plan I’m so much more focused that I can just let emails pile up as I try to meet personal deadlines before close of business on Friday. I used to plan work during the weekend but I don’t tend to anymore.
 
So, I sat down and thought about why I like planning on Sundays.
 
Mental Preparation
 
As with most people, my productive/working week starts on Monday. If I make plans on Sunday it means that I am ready to go by the time Monday starts.
 
For me, it doesn’t work to do this planning on any other day because it makes Mondays feel like they’ve started on the wrong path.
 
Reviewing The Week
 
The planning process doesn’t take much time, perhaps 20 minutes, but it also allows me to review what didn’t work or happen the week before.
 
Most people don’t finish everything they tasked themselves to do because, by nature, we all think things take less time than they actually do.
 
It’s Saturday morning as I write this and when I woke up at 4 a.m. I planned to write, post and schedule emails for three blogs. I’m only on my second blog and the third will not happen. This is what happens, it’s life.
 
It’s okay though, because it’s Saturday, and I don’t work on Saturdays but my body clock forgot that so here we are, essentially in “bonus time”, doing some extra work.
 
Creating Focus & Clarity
 
Unlike New Years’ Resolutions weekly reviews tend to be more specific and generally much more achievable.
 
Having a focus for the week gives each day a sense of direction it doesn’t have when you just wake up and start making things up as you go along.
 
Taking Time To Think
 
Normally, when the week starts we go into autopilot and don’t pause to think even when we know we need to. Sundays are a good time to have this very necessary pause so that we don’t go into overdrive doing things week-in week-out that are not working.
 
Sundays are an opportunity to change tack, to refocus, to energize.
 
My big question to you is: do you sit down and plan your week? How do you plan? How could you plan better?

Have a business or life question you want me to answer? Please email it to me with the subject “Question”. Note that all such questions will be answered as a blog post and will be sent to my full email list. 

Want to start a business? Check out The Money Spot Program.

Thank God I’m alive.
Thank God I live in a safe neighbourhood.
Thank God I live in a cul-de-sac.
Thank God I wake up at freaking 4 a.m.
 
So, I wake up at 4 a.m., as usual, I think I should lie-in today but I don’t, I start walking downstairs for my daily two glasses of warm water with lemon – I’ve been doing that for years.
 
After the first step down I realise something is not right; wait, is the front door open? Like wide open? What the hell?
 
“Harry, our front door is open!” I shout, my heart already racing, flight or flee hormones already on overdrive.
 
“What?” Harry jumps out of bed and we check the house.
 
We know our most precious cargo, the baby, is safe because his cot is in our room.
 
I switch the living room light on and we take stock.
 
Wallet? Check.
Keys to Mercedes 1? Check.
Keys to Mercedes 2? Check.
Computer? Laptop? Check and check.
 
We check that there are no intruders in the house. There aren’t.
 
I obviously tell Harry off for not checking the front door was closed properly before I proceed to drink my water.
 
My heart is still racing.
 
If this had been Malawi, we would have been done for.
 
Indeed, even in England most thieves are opportunists, they see an open door, they go for it. I bet most rapists are opportunists too, the sick b*stards.
 
Anyhow, as I’m sitting in my morning spot chomping on my Caesar salad I decide today is the day I’ll write the blog about why I wake up at 4 a.m. and when it started. 

​Back in high school you could not have paid me enough to wake up before 6 a.m.
 
I tried the whole wake up at 5 a.m. and go to a classroom to study fad that was going on back then and I couldn’t hack it. It wasn’t for me.
 
I slept superbly well back then. Once I hit the pillow, I was gone until morning – no toilet visits.
 
Things changed at some point in my mid-twenties.
 
Once I get up to use the loo, at 4 a.m.–ish, I frequently just lie there and can’t go back to sleep. Sometimes I’m up at 4 even when I don’t need to visit the loo.
 
The real turning point was when I was pregnant with Chester.
 
When I woke up at 4 a.m. I was so solidly awake that I definitely wouldn’t be able to return to bed. I decided to just embrace it and work. By 8/9 a.m. I’d be tired enough to sleep again.
 
I got so much done during my pregnancy that everyone on a business program I was going through kept asking, how do you do it?
 
I got so many questions and remarks that I wrote this blog: Productivity - How To Do More In One Day Than Most People Do In A Week!
 
Giving birth put paid to that productivity.
 
My sleep cycle then became dictated by Chester and I forgot all about it.
 
He started sleeping through the night at about 12 months but I remained perpetually exhausted because breastfeeding really saps the energy out of you.
 
It wasn’t until two months after he quit breastfeeding that I realized I keep on waking up at 4 a.m. (again) regardless of what time I go to bed.
 
You know what I’ve been doing each time I wake up?
 
I peruse Facebook – only clicking away when I scroll past an interesting news headline.
 
I didn’t feel good about it; not at all.
 
As far as I’m concerned excessive news reading is not only a waste of time, it’s how people shy away from work nowadays. They convince themselves they’re keeping up with current affairs. Meh.
 
Most of the news you read won’t affect your life in any way shape or form. It’s not productive at all.
 
Most days I don’t pick up a newspaper or visit a news site but a cursory scroll down my Facebook page tells me everything I need to know about world events and most of my friends’ lives. BBC Radio 4 and LBC (the only non-Music radio stations I listen to in my car) simply flesh out what I already learnt on Facebook.
 
I digress…
 
One Sunday evening I made a decision to stop complaining about my “insomnia” and just wake up at 4 a.m.
 
I needed to turn what seemed like a curse into a blessing.
 
I now go to bed at 9 p.m. and I rise at 4 a.m. I also have a 30 to 45 minute nap in the afternoon.
 
Once I’ve done it 3 or 4 times in a week it’s easier to have a lie-in without involuntarily waking up at that time.
 
Don’t get me wrong: If I had a job that required me to be up at 4 a.m. I’d hate it. The only reason 4 a.m. feels so good is because it’s my choice to rise at that time and not someone else’s.
 
It was awful when I had a regular job because I’d wake up at 4 a.m., toss and turn for two hours then my alarm clock would go off just as I was nodding off. I often went to work absolutely exhausted because of my weird circadian rhythm.
 
It’s much easier to embrace when you have a flexible work pattern as I do now.
 
Waking up well before everyone else gives me a sense of such peace and control.
 
As it’s summer, as soon as I done drinking my warm water I walk up to our loft room, set the French doors wide open and let the world outside in: the air, the sounds and the breeze.
 
I see the sun rise. I think. I write. I work.
 
Mornings allow one proper “me time”.
 
Before the kids rise and the whatsapps start coming through I get to do exactly what I want.
 
I used to think 4 a.m. was a super weird time to wake up but when Grant Cardone said he does it too, it normalized it for me and today it may well have saved my life!

Fact: you are capable of a lot more than you think you are capable of.

I was driving around with my husband one weekend looking at plots of land and various properties.In addition, we drove to a few car dealerships and asked for quotes on cars. Whenever I liked something I said, I want that orI’m going to get that.

Finally, after two days of hearing me say this so many times, my husband asks: with what money!

I smiled and said, “You don’t ever need to worry about that. First, you decide what you want and then the money somehow finds you!” It sounds crazy, I know, but if I limited my heart’s desires based on the funds currently available I’d probably be nowhere right now.

I’m sure I’ve written about this before but the first time I ever wanted something crazy, I wanted to go to The University of Cambridge. I told my friends what I wanted and only after I got in and got a scholarship to attend did some admit that they thought I was insane for wanting to go to this Cambridge place that many thought was unreachable.

Solution 2:just focus ononestep at a time and hope that I’ll save enough by the time I was ready to hire a manufacturer. So…I hired a formulating company. 

Do you know how silly I felt walking into a meeting I’d arranged at an established factory as the 30-year-old CEO of Neno Natural to an audience of 3 people ALL over the age of 50 with a long career in formulating and producing beauty products? Very! To boost my confidence I was dressed well and I looked good in my makeup.

I came out shining.

They thought I was smart and they said the business I was proposing excited them above and beyond many other clients they were doing things for.

Over the course of 12 months I paid for the formulation and as we approached the 15th month enough money appeared to enable an order. Some of my earlier investments paid off and I was able to pursue the dream. That’s life.

If you set your mind on something, you will get it, I promise you. That stuff they tell you about self-belief making things happen? It isn’t just “stuff”, it’s for real!

Anyhow, I’d love to carry on this discussion with you and help you realise your dreams, if you want to start a product business sign up to The Money Spot program. You can join for as little as £49.99/month or come to my upcoming workshop on How To Build A 6-Figure Product Business.

Want to Build a 6-Figure Beauty Business from the comfort of your sofa? Then my course is designed for YOU! 

"Beauty" includes a WIDE range of products from the not so obvious non-perishable foods and crafts to the more obvious hair, makeup, fashion, health & fitness.

Too many people try to solve every problem they encounter by themselves. This is not only a waste of time but it’s completely unnecessary. I came up with this insight as I watched my 8-month old son trying to solve his problems.

I noticed that every time he wanted to get to something, if there was an obstacle in his way he continually tried to climb over the obstacle or push through it when he could simply walk around the obstacle and avoid it entirely.

One time, there was a ball behind me and he kept trying to squeeze through my legs when there was ample space to crawl on one side of me. Another time there were some cushions in his way, and yet, another time his little girlfriend Maya was in his way; she really didn’t appreciate having a 9 kg boy trying to climb over her.

His problem solving skills are still in development, of course, but some people do exactly what he was doing throughout their lives.

Today’s tip is simple: Think about how you can avoid your problems. Instead of climbing over them, can you work around them? I’m not suggesting you take short cuts, no, I’m just saying the solution is sometimes a lot simpler than you think.

If I’m struggling with an issue I refer it to my mastermind group. I have weekly mastermind calls with my entrepreneur friends and often, we problem solve together. There’s nothing like a fresh pair of eyes.

Note that I don’t go to non-business friends to solve business problems; I only go to those of my friends that are in business because they are better equipped to give good business advice.

I started my business in 2012 and it took about two years to build a good quality, credible network of friends.

If you wanting to accelerate the growth of your product business with my coaching program, you can either join the online solution or come to my upcoming live workshop. Alternatively, call to discuss the best solution for you.

Your spending will always expand to match your income unless you specifically plan to live beneath your means. You can do this as a lifestyle choice or for short periods of time to save for something you really want.

Shop around to save money on the things that you buy regularly – buy in bulk, get products where they are cheapest instead of just going to your favourite shop, use coupons and take advantage of discount days at local stores.

However, there are some things that you can live without completely;that is the topic this blog.

We get so used to buying what we always buy that we don’t usually stop to contemplate what’s necessary and what isn’t. To help you think through your own shopping list I’ll go through some things my friends and I cut back on to save:

Rent

You could live in a cheaper area and save thousands immediately. I did this when I first started work. I was spending almost half what my peers were on rent just by living a little further out of the city. Of course, many of us are unwilling to compromise here so we have to look at the small stuff.

Juice!

For what you get, it’s not cheap at all. I was having a chat with one of my best friends about cutting back and she said, “Can you believe it, we’ve even had to stop buying juice!”

I was like, “You were still buying juice? I stopped buying juice ages ago because it contains way too many calories. I’ll only buy it if I have guests coming.” I also find juice to be poor value for money besides being completely unnecessary for the weight conscious. Juice packs in a lot more calories than one might suspect.

Restaurants

We spend A LOT of money on eating out every month. I personally find it very hard to cut back because I think of it as a “treat” after a week of hard work. However, right now my husband and I have just spent a small fortune renovating a flat that we just bought so we’ll use that thought to spur us on during our financial fast in September.

To stick to our resolve we add“treat foods” to our shopping list to encourage us to eat at home. For example, buying a frozen pizza that you just stick in the oven when you feel lazy is a lot cheaper than going out for pizza. We wouldn’t normally buy this type of food because it’s not healthy but it does the job of keeping us at home when we want to eat out.

Meat

News flash: you don’t have to eat meat every day. Some people would think this is unthinkable and perhaps an utterly ridiculous suggestion but it’s true. If your partner is against this suggestion remind them that desperate times call for desperate measures.

You can also cut back by eating less meat rather than cutting it out completely. For instance, unless it’s a very small chicken I only ever eat one chicken piece, I find two to be excessive. If everyone in your home has two pieces your chicken will immediately last twice as long by enforcing a one-piece rule. The same goes for sausages and other meats. I normally cook minced meat with beans to bulk it up. Less meat means a heavier wallet and a more attractive waist line!

You could go for offal aswell. Liver, oxtail and tongue are delicious.

Body Products & Makeup

There are so many options here. If you use a range of upmarket brands explore supermarket “equivalents” to see if they work just as well. You could save a tidy fortune here.

Take a close look at what you tend to spend money and see what else you could do without. Magazines? New shoes or clothes? And so on.

“Cut back on your rent or cut back on what you spend on food but never worry about investing money in a good book.” Robin S. Sharma 

How often do you think about how you're going to live life in your 60s? Here are alternative outcomes.

Living Off The Kiddies

Some will reach the age of 60 without a single saving. You will depend on your kids for money, for food and perhaps even need them to house you somehow – if they are willing. For many this will not happen because life has been unkind to you, it will be the result of a series of bad choices such as having more children than you can afford to support and not saving enough.

Be in no doubt that if you find yourself in this situation you will be a burden to your children. In the ideal world children don’t want to have to look after their parents financially and if they just earn enough to support their family will resent having to look after you because you didn’t plan for old age.

Could this be you?

POSSIBLE SCENARIOS

Oh, This Isn't My House?

Some will reach retirement age and realise that the bank or the company they work for owns “their” house and “their” car. It’s easy to forget such things when you are enjoying life but at this point you will be forced to either live off your children or invest your savings in a business.

If you’re lucky you’ll find jobs in retirement or positions on boards of directors that provide an income whilst you make up for lost time on the investment front.

Living Off The Rentals

Some will reach the age of 60 with a tidy property portfolio. You will own the house you live in outright and you will have at least two rental properties.

Your rental properties will produce enough money to cover all necessities, bills and wants such as holidays. When your children come to visit you, they will come with pride. Pride that they have forward-thinking parents that had the wisdom to cover their own retirement. You will have no unnecessary worries and will be safe in the knowledge that you never have to go to bed hungry or cold.

The Art of Visualisation

Visualising is like fantasising. You visualise a specific event in the future in very specific and detailed terms and think about how much you will enjoy it. Scientists have confirmed that visualising can lead to the achievement of real results.

In a well-known study on creative visualisation in sports, Russian scientists compared three groups of Olympic athletes:

• Group 1 received 100% physical training;
• Group 2 received 75% physical training with 25% mental training;
• Group 3 received 50% mental training with 50% physical training;
  

Group 3 had the best performance results. This indicates that some types of mental training, such as consciously invoking specific subjective states, can have significant measurable effects on biological performance.

Further to this, some celebrities have argued that they have achieved certain results in their life by visualising them first. These include Oprah, Will Smith and Jim Carrey.

Visualising helps you to focus on a goal. If you can find just ten minutes a day to meditate and visualise the things you want to achieve you will increase your chances of achieving them.

Most people don't think too far beyond the next couple of years, if that. Those that do are at an advantage. Of course you shouldn't live so far in the future that you cannotenjoy the present. That said, thinking about and planning for the future is enjoyable in itself –just do it!

"Ordinary people believe only in the possible. Extraordinary people visualize not what is possible or probable, but rather what is impossible. And by visualizing the impossible, they begin to see it as possible." Cherie Carter-Scott

A series of good habits is pretty much all it takes to foster a culture of success in all areas of your life.

To form a set of good habits all you need to do is adopt a couple of good habits at a time through repeated action. Don’t commit to adopting too many habits all in one go.That is more than the average person’s will power can handle. However, once a good habit is formed it gets easier and easier to build on that base to form more good habits.

Now, a lot of literature out there talks about how will power is limited, however, what you don’t often hear being discussed is that “the will power muscle” can be grown. The more you exercise your will power the more will power you gain.

In this article I aim to help you understand will power a little better so that you can use it to your advantage.My writing on will power is informed by several books that I have read including The One Thing by Gary Keller and Jay Papasan as well as The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg.

Will Power Is Limited – What Does That Mean?

When you wake up in the morning you have a full tank of will power. Over the course of the day, every time you encounter a situationthat requires you to exercise control, that will power is used up. This means every time you encounter a situation you have less and less will power to deal with that situation.

Once you form certain habits or standard responses, those challenging circumstances cease to tax your will power. I’ll give you some examples that are very common in every day life.

Examples of Instances Where Exercise Will Power Is Used Up

Food

You wake up in the morning and face the first challenge:Crunchy Nut Cornflakes or Oats

If you don’t particularly like oats but choose to eat them anyway because they are good for you then that decision uses up a bit of your limited will power for that day.

If you set a given standard that you’ll eat oats for breakfast everyday except Saturday you cease to use up any will power at breakfast because the decision of what to eat has been decided beforehand;you’ll eat oats at breakfast out of habit and you might even start to like them.

Challenge 2: Around 10 a.m. you feel hungry. 

If someone offers you a biscuit or slice of cake you will take it. If you’ve developed the habit of always carrying fruit with you to snack on when mid-morning hunger hits then you’re equipped not to give in to sugary treats. Carrying fruit around with you is a good standard habit.

Temper

Every time you get annoyed or upset but manage to handle a situation without letting emotions get the better of you, you use up some will power.

In The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg he recounts a very interesting experiment. Two groups were invited to take part in a study: 

• Group 1 were treated nicely by the experimenters and at the end were asked to give suggestions on improving the experiment etc. 
• Group 2 were just told to do it; they were not told why they were doing the study nor were they welcomed to suggest improvements 

After that, each group was asked to do a boring task. A series of numbers popped up on a computer and every time a 6 was followed by a 4 the participants were told to press a certain button. Interestingly, group 1 did well and managed to continue doing this rather mundane task for the entire 12 minutes whilst group 2 kept making errors and for the most part couldn’t do the experiment for the full 12 minutes.

The conclusion was group 2 had used up their will power in the first part of the experiment. However, because group 1 were made to feel like they were helping and were an integral part of the initial phase of the experiment their will power wasn’t used up by the time they were set in front of the computer.

To the extent that we feel in control of a situation(as group 1 were made to feel) we don’t use up will power.

Money

Most people purchase whatever they want to buy if they have the money (or credit) and every time they stop themself from purchasing something their heart desiresthey use up some will power. If you adopt the standardthat you only go shopping for, say makeup and clothes, on a Sunday then every other time you see something nice in a street window you don’t purchase it on impulse because it’s not Sunday. By the time Sunday arrives you might decide you don’t want whatever it is that looked amazing in the week.

In conclusion, any situation that requires you to exercise self-control uses up your limited will power. If you set up some rules for dealing with these situations then you don’t have to think up a reaction every time; this will result in less usage of your will power. The better you get at managing your will power using a bank of good habits and pre-set standard responses, the less of it you will use up unnecessarily

To your success.

When I got downstairs this morning I opened the cereal drawer and remembered it was my first day off healthy eating and tracking every morsel I eat on the myfitnesspal app to congratulate myself for losing 5 kg in a month. I did the funky chicken, I high-fived my husband but then after those first few happy moments I couldn’t do it. Yes, I was going to eat more liberally than usual but I couldn’t not track my food and I decided I still wasn’t going to eat cake or any dessert because I want to lose more weight before I do that.

I have formed the habit of eating smaller portions and even when I have a scheduled day allowing crazy eating, I don’t want to do it.

This reminded me how so many good things are accountable to good habits. Habits, both good and bad, are very easy to form.

According to The One Thing - The Surprisingly Simple Truth Behind Extraordinary Results By Gary Keller And Jay Papasan, habits have been empirically shown to take an average of 66 days to form but can take as little as 18 days and as many as 200 days depending on the complexity of the habit one is trying to form.

This sentiment is reinforced in the book I am currently reading The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg. He reminds us that  “habits are not born, but created. Every bad, good or insignificant habit starts with a psychological pattern called a “habit loop.”

Okay, so, what sort of habits build wealth?

I’ll give you a few that you can easily implement. Some good habits I’ve had since before I was a teenager like the habit of enjoying work; however, I continually work on adopting more and more new good habits.

Eating healthily is a habit I struggle with and I always seem to slip back after a life change like getting pregnant or moving house; I revert to eating huge portions and too much unhealthy food then I decide enough is enough so I start working on reforming good eating habits again. I call these lifestyle changes. Since 2005 I have had 3 or 4 lifestyle changes.

On the plus side, each time I slip back I don’t lose every good habit, just a few of my old habits creep into my life again. Anyhow, what can you start working on today?

1. Wake up early and go to bed early. Sleeping well is key to productivity and eating healthily.10 p.m. to 6 a.m. is a good target; 9 p.m. to 5 a.m. works for some.
   
2. Read a business or life-enrichingbook for 30 minutes daily on your commute to work. I have reviews on manyfantastic business books. If you struggle to find time for reading pay for a subscription with audible.com. I pay for their annual 12-book deal so I can listen as I walk the baby or jog.
   
3. Instead of watching 3 hours of TV in the evening watch just one pre-selected hour then work on a personal project the rest of the time. The habit of watching excessive TV is much easier to kick than you might think.
   
4. Work out at least 3 times a week for 30 minutes each time.  You don’t need to go to the gym for this. Do strength training – squats, lunges, push-ups, sit up, planks etc. Even if you can’t do them now within a short space of time you will get better and better.
   
5. Every week spend time with one of your intelligent friends; you know, those girls or guys that always leave you a little inspired to be better. Don’t have any of those? Well then maybe it’s time to find new friends.
   
6. Set a weekly budget then get that amount of cash in your wallet and leave ALL your cards at home. You will get into the habit of spending better so fast. It’s so much harder to spend cash than to swipe a card.
   
7. Only check your emails and social media at specific pre-set times each day.
   
8. Turn off all notifications – yes, even email notifications. EVERYTHING. My phone only alerts me when I have a text or when someone is calling. All my other apps: Facebook, whatsapp, instagram, mail etc. are off.
   
9. Give yourself a treat only when you have succeeded with your goals. It gives you something to look forward to and focuses the mind.
   
10. Review your life periodically. Say, on the last day of every month. Is everything working as you planned? If you fail to plan, you plan to fail.

Finally, note that everyone has a limited amount of will power. If you stop yourself from doing something that you want to do, you use up a bit of that limited will power such that by then of each day your stock of will power is almost depleted. Consequently, don’t try to implement too many things at once. Work on one or two habits at a time. Once you form the required habit introduce a new one.If you take this approach it will feel less taxing because once a habit is formed it’s automatic, you don’t have to think about it

Forming good habits is one of the elements we focus on in the Success portion of The Money Spot Program on how to build a 6-figure product business.

If you would like to build a product business and if you want to maximize the chance of building it into a 6-figure annual income then you should do The Money Spot Program. Live the life you want. This year the workshop is at New Hall Spa Hotel in Birmingham, UK on 17 & 18 October. A night’s accommodation is included. Join us. If you’re based in London the train out there is less than 1.5 hours and if you’re in Europe you can fly into Birmingham International Airport.

If you can’t make the workshop then the online-only course is waiting for you.

Want to Build a 6-Figure Beauty Business from the comfort of your sofa? Then my course is designed for YOU! 

"Beauty" includes a WIDE range of products from the not so obvious non-perishable foods and crafts to the more obvious hair, makeup, fashion, health & fitness.

We’ve all done it before. You’ve looked at someone who is successful at something and thought, “if only”!

The thing is, whilst some things seem to happen just by chance, good luck or bad luck, a huge percentage of the time people put themselves in the situation that creates that luck. Nothing just happens. As someone who comes from a VERY strong Christian family I have my fair share of aunties and uncles that put it all in God’s hands and then proceed to do nothing to help things along.

Fact: the Lord only helps those who help themselves is not just a statement. If you’re in a room sat in prayer the whole time, you are NOT going to find a job. Who will make the job applications? Who will practice for the interviews on your behalf?

This is not a post on religion but a post on ACTION.

Those that take action just seem to have a little more luck than those that don’t. For every single person you admire for their skill at something you best believe that the basis of that skill is a set of actions. Indeed, research backs this up: How To Attract Good Luck: 4 Secrets Backed By Research.

One of the skills I am currently trying to learn is makeup. I make it habit to learn something new every year either for fun or for my business and this year it’s makeup. I keep wishing I could wear makeup as well as the YouTubers I’m watching forgetting that these gals (and guys) have been doing it for ages. They didn’t become that good overnight.

I normally take professional courses when I want to learn a new skill but for now I am watching YouTube videos and dropping strong hints that I want a makeup course for my birthday. I hope the Good Husband is saving up because the course I want to do is £1,000 ($1,600).Eeeek, I here some of you say. Yes, I know it sounds like a lot but once I master the skill and do my own makeup tutorials on YouTube I’ll probably get some makeup gigs for weddings or events that will pay me £200-£250 each so it’s an investment.

I’ve wanted to learn makeup for a long time now because it fascinates me.Indeed, many of the things I do for fun frequently end up earning me some dosh.

Back in 2006 or so I did a course in therapeutic massage. Fast forward to 2008 and bonuses in investment banking were VERY BAD. I wasn’t broke but I needed more cash to fund one of my property renovation projects, so what did I do?

I printed off simple flyers advertising massage for women and put them through a few doors in my neighbourhood; before that day I had two clients. I wanted women only because I didn’t want to put my safety at risk. Sometimes making money is that simple. I already had essentials oils and base oils so two massages later I had another £100 (=$160) in the bank.

When I did the massage course I never planned on using it to earn but in the end it was another skill I could use to better my financial self. I didn’t do the massage thing for long because I was too lazy but I could have easily had two clients a week with minimal effort and without changing my lifestyle at all. Just to be clear that would have been £5,200 for the year or $8,320. Not bad for a hobby business that has almost zero costs.

My point is, what do you want in life?Importantly, what are you doing to get that thing? If you’re doing research and planning how long have you been doing that for? Sometimes you just need to start. You will figure things out along the way. That’s how life works.

Most people, even the billionaires you see today, don’t always know the final outcome that certain actions will have but they know that if they take no action then they can be 100% certain that nothing will happen.

If you would like to build a product business and if you want to maximize the chance of building it into a 6-figure annual income then you should do The Money Spot Program. Live the life you want. This year the workshop is at New Hall Spa Hotel in Birmingham, UK on 17 & 18 October. A night’s accommodation is included. Join us. If you’re based in London the train out there is less than 1.5 hours and if you’re in Europe you can fly into Birmingham International Airport.

If you can’t make the workshop then the online-only course is waiting for you.

I’m glad I have indulged myself for the last six months because let’s face it, I grew a baby in my tummy and that in itself should allow one to enjoy some pampering. However, at the back of my mind I knew that the daily cakes and lattes would need to come to an end. If not for mywaist line, then perhaps for my now acne-ridden face.

A mere week into eating better and exercising I already feel brand new and have seen an energy boost – I’m much more productive when I work. It’s reminded me of how important it is to look after the body we have. I love cakes and desserts more than the next person but I also like waking up and feeling like I can defeat the world.

When your body gets to a stage where you think“uuurrgggh, I’m not happy with this”, bite the bullet and start transforming yourself. Within a short space of time you will see that other parts of your life just seem to start working better too;you think better and you work better.

This is how I’ve changed.

Since 5 July (Day After I got back from holiday)

Until I fit into my favourite yellow trousers, cakes and desserts are OUT. This will probably take about two months. At the moment there is at least an inch before I can claspthe button on the trousers.

Having a clothes goal works well for me because it’s more real than standing on a scale.

I consider things like bread and butter treats. I am allowed both but I am trying not to eat more than one slice of bread 3 or 4 times a week. When I was out of control I started having 2 slices of bread a day thicklycoated in my favourite whey butter, yum.

I still use full fat milk but I now dilute it with water when I make my oats. The full fat milk is fine; my personal trainer says my diet is currently too low in fats (and protein) anyway. Oh, yeah, I’ve recently got a personal trainer too.

Besides cakes, chocolates and desserts I can have small quantities of everything. Instead of having a whole tub of my favourite rice pudding I might just have half and give the rest to The Good Husband.

Exercise

I have started strength training to increase my muscle mass so that I burn more calories during rest. I am currently so, so weak; I was told 60-seconds is the amount of time you should do a plank for if you are of average fitness, I could only do 5 seconds before I collapsed. I am currently physically weak but within 4 weeks I know I will have made leaps and bounds in physical fitness.

I would love to start running 5km twice a week again as I did for ages before I had my baby but at the moment time is a little scarce.

Personal Trainer

This time around I realizedI need help to get fitter because I just got so lazy with my habits so I’ve forked out £500 ($800) on a personal trainer. It’s pricey and I was very hesitant but at the end of the day I remembered that good health is my top priority in life.

No amount of money can makeup for bad health. If I got a bad illness today I would probably give everything I own away to get my health back so with that mindset I closed my eyes and handed the cash over. I’m quite glad I did now.

Immediate Results

I feel fitter and more energetic and I’ve already lost 5lbs. That’s about a quarter of the weight I want to lose so I am already 25% there. The fact that it’s come off in just one week shows just how badly I was eating before. The more overweight you are,the bigger the impact of small changes.

Are You Physically Where You Want To Be?

Eating well and keeping fit is hard and frankly every once in while we all fall off the wagon.

If I facilitated a New Year’s 30-day detox would you be interested in joining me?  

It would involve a small group of women encouraging each other via a closed Facebook page and friending each other via “myfitnesspal” to keep motivated. You would also get some nutrition-expert approved menus to help guide your meals. A small fee would be applicable. Take the below survey and let me know.