photo credit: tpuyol

Nothing teaches failure like success.

"If you're not failing every now and again, it's a sign you're not doing anything very innovative." - Woody Allen

It's the people who play it safe, stay on the shore and don't dance with the faeries who succeed all the time. They basically stand next to the target and thump their arrow into the target at point blank range. While this seems successful, it's not very challenging. It's also alluringly comfortable.

We mostly ignore the accomplishments of those people. They aren't doing anything amazing. These people are the ones who get jobs and show up every day. They've sought to climb to the towering heights of mediocrity. Mediocrity in everything is failure.

We pay attention to the people who stand a long way away from the target and hit bulls-eyes (or even miss occasionally). They are the ones pushing the edges of what is comfortable. People like Picasso and Bach. Timothy Ferriss and Terry Dean. Richard Branson and John Glenn. Donald Trump and Magellan. Adventurers each one. They pushed the boundaries in their respective fields. Pushing the boundaries of space travel, revolutions in art and music, transformations in living life.

In order to succeed in your online business, you're going to have to stand out from the crowd. You're going to have to stand away from the target and push the boundaries of 'what is making money today'. If you keep spewing out the same crap everyone else is promoting already, you're going to get lost in a mire of mediocrity. While there's some money in mediocrity, it has low returns and low turnover. It's the hard road to success.

You need to be remarkable. In the process of finding out what people find remarkable, you're going to fail. Sometimes you may lose your shirt. Donald Trump has several times.

Here's some ways to exercise your risk muscle:

1. Make a product based on intuition.
2. Make a product for your spouse/partner.
3. Test some "bad" sales copy.
4. Test some "really bad" sales copy.
5. Write a blog post in the voice of a literary great. (Proper English and all.)
6. Write a blog post using only text messaging jargon.
7. Take out an ad in a local newspaper advertising your online product.
8. Start advertising your off line product online.
9. Read a blog about a topic your best friend is passionate about but you aren't.
10. Write an article in 5 minutes. (stick to the time!)
11. Find and try a different way to do something you do consistently.
12. Outsource something you are convinced you can only do.
13. Perform a task you hate to do and have outsourced.
14. Change the audio/video settings in Camtasia Studio.
15. Try a different meal at your favorite restaurant.
16. Go out on a date with your spouse/partner to somewhere you've never been.
17. Work at night, sleep during the day.
18. Spend a few hours with the kids in the morning instead of the evening.
19. Walk/bike to work.
20. Change your workout routine.
21. Do 10 more of every exercise at a lower weight.
22. Do 10 less of every exercise at a higher weight.
23. Outsource your personal correspondence.
24. Hire a PA.
25. Hire another PA to find the better fit.

All of these things will start helping you move out of your comfort zone and into the realm where you will do remarkable things and truly succeed.

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