For this Sunday Selection I have decided to highlight inspiration, motivation and use the great story of the Wizard of Oz to try to emphasize these points. For much of this month, I have been trying to write as many actionable posts as possible; very little theory and a whole lot of “how to!”
But knowing, “how to” is only a small part of the battle. If you do not have the personal drive to get it done, nothing will be accomplished. It is like spitting in the wind, it feels like you accomplish something for a second until it all flies back into your face.
All this got me thinking about “the Wizard of Oz.” Dorothy, The Lion, The Tin Woodsman and the Scarecrow had to face a lot of obstacles in this classic tale. Many people thought they could not do it. The biggest secret was that each of them had everything it took for success already inside them. They just had to realize it. I think this is 100% true for success online. You have all the tools. You just need to follow a path, overcome obstacles and persevere to succeed.
The Cowardly Lion: Never Bow to Fear
I will admit I got part of my idea for this article from thinking about this article. Because of that the ONLY article I will mention for the Lion (and courage) is this great article from Jonathon about the Cowardly Entrepreneur and battling fear.
The Tin Man: Have the “Heart” To Succeed
Dia talks about “limiting beliefs” and how to fight to overcome them. Achieving your goals can be as simple as having “faith” and “heart” and believing in yourself.
Inspiration in the form of ideas comes from the brain, but inspiration in the form of respecting and being inspired by the achievements of others is goes straight to bolstering your, ”Heart.” Marcus gives us a very inspirational post about tragedies and triumphs of a small business. Usually talk about ways to make money with affiliate marketing and using internet marketing for things like businesses is overlooked. This is a heck of an inspirational story.
Jack La Lane died this week. This is a man who lived his life as an inspirational icon. Seth gives us Eight Lessons of Jack La Lane . Here is a post by Susan about the life of Jack, the godfather of fitness, with some quotes from the man as well as an interview he did a few years ago. Quite inspirational!
The Scarecrow: Sometimes Success is all in your Head
The brain is a powerful thing. I am firmly convinced a positive mindset can “will” you to success and that a “negative” one can doom you to failure. Now, there is a lot more to it than that. Hard Work, experience, assistance, resources, time and, quite frankly, luck all play roles too, but without the proper mindset, it is easy to, “spin your wheels.”
Ryan has a post of things to consider for the future. But reading through the entries I think that most of the points are parts of a MINDSET you need to adopt today. Get your head strait, put your feet firmly on the path and do not waver or stop and you will reach your destination, somehow and someway.
Motivation is the key thing your brain does outside of analytical thinking. If you are motivated you always want to work on your tasks. You are sad and can’t wait to get back to it. This not only increases productivity, but it increases quality too. Jimi discusses some essential ways to motivate yourself.
Adam asks a question in his post that could be asked of any of Dorothy’s friends. What is stopping you from taking action? Is it Fear? Is it not having the inspiration and motivation of “heart?” Is it not having your head in the right place or lacking goals? Is there not a “yellow brick road” for you to follow? It is a good question for us all to think about.
Reading Irving’s Post I kept thinking of Rocky III and “Eye of the Tiger, “ even though he brought up the movie Galaxy Quest where the headline, Never Give Up Never Surrender! was cribbed from. Regardless this is another post that could be the answer to all of Dorothy’s friends. It is certainly important for both the perseverance of Heart and understanding of the need to stay the course to reach your goal.
The Great Oz:
The Great Oz starts out as every bad product out there. He promises the sun and the moon, but he is a con man. He props people up with false hope and send them out to complete tasks he thinks they will fail. Only when he comes out from behind the screen shows that he is a real person does the “great Oz” show any real greatness!
The Great Oz shows us both the good and bad side of affiliate marketing. At first he is all hype and BS. Later he becomes a real person and it actually able to help by giving Dorothy, Scarecrow, Lion and the Tin Woodsman what they need to realize they already have what they are searching for. It is only when he becomes a “real” person and offers “real” advice that he finally really succeeds.
The Yellow Brick Road: Stay on the Path and Don’t Try Shortcuts
Whenever Dorothy strayed from the “Yellow Brick Road” there was trouble. Issues like living trees throwing apples at her. But the biggest danger to Dorothy came when she left the path entirely and tried to take a shortcut to the Golden City of Oz. This is where she nearly failed. Maybe they are saying that the road to success is only by following the one path. There is a problem with this.
It is a Lie!
There is no Yellow Brick road. There is no single path to success. What might guide me there, might not work for you. Sure, there are suggestions, I think things like my Income Trilogy Report or my Blogging Traffic Series can be good guides. They can show some signposts. But they are not absolute surefire paths to success for you. Anyone who tells you they do have a guaranteed method to success is simply lying. All they can do is give you things that are “likely” to work.
Does this mean that there is no Yellow Brick road?
Actually no! There is a Yellow Brick road. It is just that it cannot be created by OTHERS. You have to make your very own Yellow Brick road. This should be your goals for success. If you do not have a plan that includes multiple goals and milestones you are not doing it right. You need to have a big plan. The big plan needs to be broken down. What those steps are, is up to you and you alone.
Now with our revised, “Yellow Brick Road,” (made by YOU) we can get back to the story of Dorothy. Now everything makes sense. Along your path you may meet people that can help you out as you help them. Your own personal, Lion, Scarecrow and Tin Man. This can be done through networking and connecting with others.
Here is where leaving the path is also dangerous. When you wrote your goals it is unlikely you included, “I am going to find a way to cheat the system”. But when someone comes out with products that offer, “Instant Teleportation to Oz” or “guide to cutting through the field- Reach Oz Now!” people fall for it. Don’t do it. Be firm and stick to the plan. Adjust your plan according to new information, but outside of that…stick to it.
Remember, having a can-do attitude and a “get-it-done” spirit is worth 100 “systems for success” If Dorothy didn’t want to get to OZ even the Yellow Brick road showing her the exact path wouldn’t have helped. Dorothy faced obstacles and overcame them. Can you do the same?
Melting the Witch
I promised you in the title there would be some witch melting. Everyone loves a good witch melting after all. Unfortunately this witch melting is more metaphorical. You task for this week is to find the “Evil Witch” within you. Locate the thing inside you that runs counter to success. The part of you that hold you back, realize it is there and think about it. That is it. You see “those Witches” thrive on darkness, once you bring that part to light and try to consciously beat it down, it will melt away, just like the Wicked Witch of the North. So go on and melt your inner witch.
Take Action. Get Results.
Beautiful analogies!
The most insightful part of your post is that everyone has their own specific Yellow Brick Road – you cannot walk on another’s and hope to generate the same kind of return.
‘course, that requires you to believe in yourself enough to forge your own path! Which is ultimately a good thing…but truly, something very scary to consider as well.
Thanks barbara,
For sure it does take a certain amount of self-confidence to forge your own path. But in the long run is something you have to do. Sometimes they get to make it can really help with that self-confidence. We start doing things and getting successes to bolster the flagging confidence.
Hi Steve,
Lovely inspirational post you have here. I enjoy your use of Wizard of Oz to illustrate the points you make. It has definitely helped to remind me that I too can succeed online if I follow the yellow brick road and persevere.
Jonathan’s Cowardly Entrepreneur is a lovely piece on dealing with entreprenuerial fears. I especially like the bit where he reminds us that fear never really goes away. We have to learn to deal with it and pay the price. This is the message that I enjoyed the most because it is true and a timely reminder.
I also enjoyed Marcus’s inspirational post about tragedies and triumphs of a small business. It kind of turns things around to give us a much needed reminder of the big picture when the going gets tough. That no matter how tough things will be, day will always follow night.
Naturally whether we can tough it out to the very end depends on mindset as you say. Having the right attitude can make or break you. When you add that to your own custom made yellow brick road, with milestones along the way success is indeed likely to come sooner or later. I like your strong emphasis on gradual development and sticking to the plan. When we try short cuts, we only end up having to double back to correct our mistakes and strengthen shaky foundations.
Thanks for the lovely mention. Rocky III has always been one of my favourites and it is a very inspirational movie to me. Stallone always knew how to tell a good story that could pick us up when we need it the most. 🙂
Irving the Vizier
Thanks Irving,
you picked out two of the best I think. in a lot of ways those were the two that inspired me to make this post a, “inspiration/ Wizard of Oz” post. Although I have been thinking about it as far back as last week’s Sunday post, which I was vaguely already thinking about something like this post. as you can probably tell from the title.
with success many mistakes recoverable, but there are some that really aren’t. If you’re business model success relies in large part on Google AdSense, and then for one reason or another you try a shortcut, and Google eventually catches you, they may ban you for life from the AdSense program for whatever reason they want (or none)
In those situations it is quite hard to recover from a single attempt at a shortcut. Best just to play it straight and honest from the first.
It may kinda be sappy and Stallone himself may look like some sort of a musclebound aging lizard, but I still find his movies to be quite exhilarating. The newest Rocky and Rambo both still kind of brought a tear to my eye. they are no stretch of the imagination, but he does not play on your motions
Hey Irving, those were some very kind words regarding my article. Thanks a bunch man. 🙂
Marcus
Great post Steve!
The Wizard of Oz has always been my favorite movie, and you did a great job drawing out some of the many lessons. I have been planning on writing a post about the many business and life lessons in the movie for a while. Now I guess I need to wait a sufficient time longer to no seem like a copy cat. 🙂
On another note, because of a previous post of your about setting up a landing page, I finally set one up. I am proud to report my conversions on that page for sign-up percentages are TRIPLE that of any of my other web forms. Thanks for the great advice, and keep it coming!
haha,
Do the post whenever, I know yours would be your own. I would actually be a little interested to see your take on it to.
I’m really glad to hear that your landing page conversions is rocking it! A well done landing page really is a gem. chances are with little bit of tweaking over time you can get your CTR and sign-ups to go up even higher.
They can be a lot of extra effort to get it right, but they’re worth it. Let me know how goes and thank you for the positive feedback.
Steve,
What a great selection – truly a guide to inspiration and I have to say you did an awesome job with the title.
Really appreciate the mention among other great bloggers. Now it is time to bring those witches to light and consciously beat them down and melt them (O: I love the metaphor.
Later brother.
Adam,
Thanks for the kind words. Sometimes these Sunday poster quite fun. Because within the framework of linking out I allow myself latitude to almost write about whatever the heck I want. I certainly can’t come up with original idea every Sunday, but when I’m inspired by others posts, they’re a lot of fun.
Thanks for being an inspirer! 🙂 have a great day!
Brilliantly woven story, Steve.
Using the storyline from that classic movie is, well, classic. One of the reasons for the success of The Wizard of Oz when it was out was it’s relationship to real life circumstances that tapped into the very emotions we all experience. It was presented in a dream-like fashion but the message was quite clear.
You did a great job with this inspirational and motivating post. I could think of no better way to illustrate your points about the online business world. As you’ve stated, we all have the necessary tools within us.
Thank you so much for the mention. Much appreciated.
Glad you liked it Jimi,
I know I have a lot of fun writing it and hopefully people do find it amusing and enjoy the references to a classic movie.
Hi Steve,
I’m loving the inspiration here, thanks for sharing.
I like Dia’s post about overcoming limiting beliefs. Once we release these beliefs we release our limits. Sounds like a good deal to me 😉
Enjoy your Sunday 🙂
RB
Thanks Ryan,
I too liked Dia’s post, as I liked all the posts. Very inspirational stuff. Often it is more important to actually do things than to talk about them. But to occasionally try to get inspired and psyched up for success, getting your head and your heart straight, can do a lot to keep you motivated. Hopefully at least a small way this post will motivate a few people.
Nice sunday selection with a twist steve i echo the sentiments of Barbara it is true that we need to believe in ourselves when walking the yellow brick Road Nice write up Thanks for sharing Steve
Thanks Gary,
NIce to see you back! been a while!
I started following you Steve pretty recently so I’ve mainly been learning from all your ‘how to’ stuff. Honestly, I had no idea you were such an inspiring writer, and as metaphorical (in a good way) as they come. Tons of lessons here, incredibly applicable to the goals we’re all striving for, from maybe the most well known movie of all time. Wow….
On a side note, the fact that you took the time to mention so many other bloggers here really impressed me as well Steve. Obviously I’m incredibly grateful for the mention but I’m even more enlightened with how you integrated ‘teaching’ and ‘sharing’ at the same time. So few online really ‘get it’ when it comes to focusing on others and giving value. That’s why this article is easily (and I’m not exaggerating) one of the best I’ve ever seen that encapsulates all the qualities of a successful internet marketer. Well done my friend.
Thanks for all you do Steve, day in and day out.
Marcus
Marcus,
Thanks for your words, they mean a lot. Particularly since I think you are also someone who really, “gets it”. I really do believe that no man is an island and that success is only won as a community. I do not spend enough time sharing what others do, but I try to set aside every Sunday to show some love and show articles I really appreciate.
I also hate simple “roundups” so when I am inspired I try to make it a lot more. (though sometimes it is a simple, “roundup”) I am really glad you liked it, since i have a lot of respect for you and your site too, now that I have found it!
Hello Steve,
Great article, great analogies and an excellent Sunday Selection ! A very inspirational article you made here, it personally inspired me very much, I enjoyed taking time reading your creative article! Keep up the good work!
Best regards,
Maria
Thanks for the comment Maria!
I am glad you liked the article and thanks for taking the time to write a comment, It is always appreciated.
Have a great day!
Awesome Steve, Follow the Yellow Brick Road & analogy’s of the Wizard of Oz. This article is a wonderful inspiration!
Steve,
This is by far one of the best Sunday Selections roundup on your site! (Not that I remember all of them). I read this post the other day and loved the way you weaved the various posts together. I am yet to read all those posts and will probably never find the time to read them, but I think that’s OK.
I agree with you that a “get-it-done” spirit can work wonders.
I’ve always worked on melting the witches in my life, and I think I am getting better and better at it. There’s always scope to improve 🙂
Cheers,
Mark
Thanks Mark, I appreciate that. I felt fairly inspired for this one and had a lot of fun writing it. About to get to todays (as soon as I am done with comment replys) but not feeling inspired yet. Maybe it will come. 🙂
Isn’t it strange how many great life lessons are in that movie? Like a great parable, the themes in the Wizard of Oz can apply to situations in all our lives. Personally, I find the most powerful message to be the one about facing down your fears. Fears are like school bullies – when you stand up to them, oftentimes they just back down. May we all find the strength of mind to melt our personal witches!