With the year end approaching and thoughts turning to plans and goals for 2012, here’s a timely guest post from good friend and copywriting mentor Pete Godfrey.

Some valuable tips from the “School Of Hard Knocks” about success and what to really focus on in an age where there never seems to be  enough time.

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Turn Off The Noise And Make More Money!

Let’s face it. Many folks have attention spans of dyslexic penguins. Like teenagers on a high-sugar diet, their minds jump from one thought to another, pinging around inside their skulls like an out-of-control pin-ball.

Many are plugged into the grid 24/7. They are always and easily accessible. They have no “me-time” where they chill and think their own thoughts. It seems many are caught up with what everyone else is doing; ignoring the undeniable truth stated by Earl Nightingale that the masses are most always wrong, and if you want true success and do not have a model to follow, do the opposite of the masses. But most folks, the masses, get caught up with technology, and they are paying the price in loss of productivity, loss of clarity and loss of accurate thinking.

TAKE NOTE: Accurate Thinking is one of Napoleon Hill’s least understood laws of success. Separating fact from fiction is harder than it looks. Not only do you have to examine the information before you, but also “who” the information came from and what is their agenda (if any). The “who” is just as important, or even more important, than the information itself. So when sussing out an opportunity, or a piece of information, sure you’ve got to separate fact from fiction. Find out what’s important and what’s not. But you’ve also got to suss out the guy or gal giving you the info. What’s their agenda? Are they impartial? (Hint: They never are!)

The REAL secret to success is a bitter pill to swallow. It would be hard to do a seminar on the subject because it would be just you and the hotel staff. You see, focused discipline is the answer to many of life’s problems… especially money problems. The trouble is, most people don’t know how to focus for a minute, let alone an hour.

They want instant gratification without doing the work. They want the pay day without the work week. And this problem is only getting worse. We’re all wired into the grid… getting bombarded with information from TV, the Internet, emails, Social Media… it seems there is no time for ourselves… just a constant assault of information… you’ve got to be constantly checking to see what everyone else is doing… forever checking emails, surfing the net, flipping the channels on pay TV and text-ing your little heart out until your fingers bleed.

But get this… if you want SUCCESS, really WANT it, then you’ve gotta unplug, unwind and focus.

Basically, you’ve got to make the decision to be successful, whatever that means to you.

Make the decision right now to avoid at all cost being average… make the decision not to settle for second best. And believe in your heart you are worthy of the best. And then take disciplined action to get where you want to be.

This means you don’t get distracted by the 101 things that attract your attention… those bright shiny objects that’ll derail your goals.

No. It means you prioritise your days so that you are in control and how you spend your time is congruent to where you want to be.

This takes discipline. And most people these days haven’t got a shred of it. And that’s why when you discover the true liberating freedom of discipline you’ll soon rise above the rest. Because most never try a damn thing. You, however, are clearly focused on what you want and you are developing the discipline to get you there.

And sure, when starting out with this discipline gig you will get distracted. Your mind will fight you (mine still does)… it’ll do anything to avoid the discipline needed for focused concentration. Your mind will want to wander, to throw at you a myriad of thoughts that have nothing to do with the task at hand. When this happens just smile and then regroup your thoughts. Then force your mind to do what it’s told. In time it gets easier. And your sessions of focused concentration will get longer. This is when you’ll start to feel the sense of accomplishment, of certainty that you’re going to get what you want.

It’s a liberating feeling… knowing you can get what you want, when you want it… that all it takes is a bit of focused concentration (and the right information). It puts you back in control of your life where you get to call the shots.

No amount of money can buy this kind of freedom. But it takes work to get there. That’s why it will forever elude the masses; it takes too much effort.

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With more than a decade of experience in the marketing arena, Pete Godfrey, AKA “The Wizard of Words”, has developed a keen eye as to what it takes to succeed in business. As one of Australia’s most successful and highest paid copywriters/sale strategists, Pete’s client list contains many of the world’s savviest entrepreneurs. To get to know Pete better and see how you can profit from his hard-won advice go to http://www.petegodfrey.com/blueprint and grab his new FREE report “Business Profits Blueprint: How to Profit in The New Economy”. Valued at a very real $97, it’s yours FREE for a limited time.