This is going out to everyone who is constantly finding themselves distracted, not making enough money online or simply not getting anywhere online.

Often times we start off and really get going and we win the fight.  The first fight when in getting started earning an income online is to actually take the initiative to do things that will make money.  Things might go well in fact, you might have a few sites built and then…. life interferes.  Even the little things in life could interfere.

Interferences can cause distractions that can make us become tired, bored, lazy, overwhelmed or frustrated.

It’s at this point that you cannot forget your war.

So what exactly do I mean?  I like to relate what I do as a war and all the obstacles within are part of the fight that make up the war.  When I first started online I was working a day job and always away from home.  I was stressed out and I was sick all the time.  In fact I was so sick and stressed out all the time that I developed shingles at the age of 27 which is very rare.  If you’ve never had it – it’s extremely painful and can actually cause permanent damage – Google it if you have no clue what it is.  I remember every morning driving to work stressed out because I knew any day I could get fired.  Sure I was good at my job but in the field I was in one bad month could be your last with the company.  In fact, I watched several managers get fired in a short time span for things that would shock many of you.  I knew life could not continue like this.

It was then I realized my war…..  I wanted out of my job and I needed out for my health and for the sake of my family.  So I started to FIGHT and learn this online stuff.  I spent countless hours working online and offline with my day job.  But, I saw that there was money to be made online and wanted it.

I wanted a way to be able to see my wife everyday, a way to spend time with my son who at the time we were expecting.  I wanted my freedom.  I started my war with a several fights.

My early fights were:

#1.  Finding time to learn.

#2.  Getting up the strength to break away from the day to day routines of a day job.  It’s sounds funny but we are trained to work for other people and feel secure.  Sadly, there is no security working for someone else.  You are dependent on them and at any moment they can fire you, demote you, they could go out of business, or simply lay you off.

#3.  Balancing a day job.

#4.  Balancing family and life instances.

#5.  Staying healthy.

I just got married a year before that point in my life and was never home and always working… there still had to be time to spend with my wife.  At this point I had to give quality time over quantity.

There were several other fights throughout but my overall goal was to quit my job – that was MY WAR.

You may be in the same place I was.  You may have bigger trials, your fights may be more difficult or less difficult and you might have an easier time or even a harder time than I did.

But, we all have our fights in OUR overall war.  But, losing sight of the war and getting discouraged from the fights along the way can be a dream crusher.  Given the current fail rate from people trying to make money online I’d say most people lose sight of their war and get lost in the fights – only to give up.  In fact, it’s been reported that 97-98% of all people fail when going full forward into it.

Does that discourage you?  It shouldn’t.  Because it’s far more difficult to start an offline business and have it succeed (and a lot more expensive).

I am not bringing this up to depress you but rather give you a mindset that will set you apart and help prevent this from happening to you.

So if you find yourself getting lost, distracted, depressed, frustrated, confused or overwhelmed I want you to read on.

The start – Your mindset must be right.  Too often people come into a business idea or start working with affiliate marketing with the mindset that they are going to fail.  If you cannot shape your mind to believe you’re going to succeed – you’re going to fail.  So believe in yourself, believe in what you can do before you even start.

#1.  Write down your goals.  What do you hope to accomplish by making money online?  Do you want to quit your job?  Do you want to just supplement your income with this?  No one can make up your mind for you, but your intentions must be clear to yourself.

#2.  Start small.  I know by now you’re used to seeing those sales pages telling you how you’re going to make millions.  Making millions isn’t possible if you can’t even grasp the fundamentals.  So start small, start with the fundamentals of small site building, research, traffic and marketing and do just ONE thing at a time.

#3.  Stay with one thing – do it well.  One of the biggest dream killers is the fact that there are some many ways to make money and a whole lot of people telling you about a new product every single day.  So whatever you start with stick with it.  If you’re into affiliate marketing stick with it and keep growing – then do it well.  The same thing goes for info product creators.  Learn, do , do better.  Think of everything you do as a growth in your abilities.  Each website you create gains you experience, each e-book your write builds your skills and so on.  Too many people jump from one idea to the next and never focus on one thing.  You’ve heard the expression "Jack of all trades – master of nothing", right?  Master something and watch what happens to your income.  Hone yourself into a fine tuned machine.  Branch out only once you’re making enough money with something and then use that money to pay for a course that will help you learn a new skill.

#4.  Never give up.  So if you start the fight, fight to win the war.  The hardest part is starting.  You must have a warrior mentality, a desire, a will that says "I will stop at nothing".  Stay strong.

#5.  Don’t fuel the fire.  This whole post talks about how distractions can take us away from the war – the game plan.  Don’t throw more logs on the fire by adding to the distractions.  Turn off Skype, your cell phone, get off Facebook and Twitter and focus.  Those things are cool to own and use but not when you’re learning or trying to stay focused.  Make focus time all about yourself, your family and your future but center your thoughts on the task you’re learning.  I often turn off my cell phone and I turn Skype on do not disturb when I am deep in a project or an idea.  Keep as much Jerry Springer like drama out of your life if possible.  I know sometimes drama isn’t fault of our own but if you can prevent it – do so.

Use the above list and use it to help you stay focused daily.  Remind yourself daily of the goals you want to achieve and remind yourself that you CAN do this.  You must be accountable for yourself and your own success.

Repeat this line. "I am accountable for my own success."  Say it out loud if you need to.  Often, I see people blaming everyone else for the fact that they are not making money.  Take accountability….. If you are taking a course but only spending an hour a week learning or even putting it into practice it’s going to be a hard road.  Sadly, I got an email not to long ago with a guy who was mad at me.

The guy was upset because he hadn’t made money with one of my courses.  He claimed he followed my advice to a "T" and still nothing.  But, yet when I asked him some basic questions he’d in fact, not followed my advice.  He had a website built but was getting no traffic at all.  It turned out he had done nothing to work on traffic.  Now, I am sure the guy had good intentions when he sent me the email – but it’s this mindset that is the most damaging.  Instead of asking for help – he instead blamed me for his lack of success.  This mentality will lead to failure every time.

If you expect things to happen by doing nothing – you will not succeed.  So all doubts of blame need to get out of your mind to be successful.  Do you think Richard Branson ever blamed anyone for his early lack of success?  No he buckled down and became a billionaire by taking action and being accountable.  It’s a trait all successful people MUST have.

I hope you’ve enjoyed the post and more importantly start using it.  After you start winning the fights – Go Win Your WAR.  Never forget your war.