Today was a big day for the whole family. You see, today was the day that Roselyn decided to get rid of a lot of our junk by having a garage sale. A garage sale is where you get all the stuff you’ve collected over the years, dump it in the driveway. You then hope that passers-by want to part with some cash and take it off your hands.

I slept fitfully the night before the grand event so when the alarm went off at 7am this morning two things happened. My wife got up and I thought it was the end of the world. Seriously, I doubt that even God’s awake at 7am on a Saturday morning…..but I was wrong about that. You see, God had arranged for a host of buyers to be waiting out the front of the house at 8am, even though we’d explicitly said that the grand bazaar would commence at 9am.

So after emptying the contents of our garage into the driveway, the “fun” of haggling with buyers over a couple of dollars for something that I would just as happily given to them commenced.

The problem was that my honour was at stake. Why give something away when you can have so much more fun negotiating with a complete stranger. There’s nothing quite like honing your bargaining skills over an old packet of light bulbs to see if you still have what it takes to get a good deal.

At one stage, I found myself in the odd predicament of digging in my heels by refusing to come down from $17 to $16 for something that I was actually prepared to put in the garbage can. In the heat of the tussle between the buyer and myself that $1 seemed so important. In hindsight, what amazed me was that the buyer was willing to pay anything for the items!

Over the years I’ve come across two groups of people. Those that are thankful and appreciative of others and those that aren’t. Having an attitude of gratitude is one of the keys to business as well as life.

There is nothing more sickening then a person that believes the world revolves around them, their needs and their desires. This self-centred approach to life is anything but gracious and loving. They are the true consumers of society. Rather than bringing joy, like a blackhole, they consume the life out of those around them. We all know people like this and I can only pity them as they search in vain for fulfillment in their life.

I was talking to a person the other day and they were moaning and groaning about how they hated their job. To cut a long story short, I politely listened and then said, “Is this the same job that puts food on your table?” They went quiet and then said, “I suppose so.” I then suggested that they be grateful for their job as there are many people that don’t have one.

I saw the same person the next week and they had a smile on their face. I asked them what had changed and they said, “Their attitude.” After talking to each other the previous week they decided to be positive about their job and bring a good attitude to work. Amazingly, the job magically improved and they had a great time each day. They learned to be thankful for what they have.

Not everyone is suited for every job but it’s incredible how a task can become more enjoyable if you stop grumbling and starting thanking those around you for the opportunity. If you’re in a job that you really don’t like then move on or take another approach.

It really does my head in when I hear people tell me that they love their job but can’t stand their boss. They then plan on quitting their job and moving on. Why not stay in your job and pass your boss’s resumé onto a headhunter. With any luck your boss will get a great job and you’ll continue to love your work…..it’s win/win for everyone. Just be creative about thinking how you can help your boss (and you) out.

Over the past few weeks I’ve been discussing how I’ve been marketing my book with no money. In my case, I’m finding out how I can help other authors. I’m trying to contribute to the idenpendent author community and assist those around me in promoting their books. I’m a firm believer in, “What goes around, comes around.”

Taking an attitude like this into a community means that I’m not trying to push my product but I am trying to promote theirs. What’s amazing is that many people respond much better to this approach and help you out as well.

I love the domain industry and each and every day I’m grateful to be a part of it. Domainers are incredible people, they saw an opportunity, seized it with both hands and on the whole do what they can to help those around them. They are very special people and many of them do incredible work for no pay to help those that can't help themselves.

When I recently released my debut scifi book, Battleframe, I let the domain community know about it and they supported me in droves. I received so many well wishes from my friends in the industry (and outside the industry) that it was almost impossible to respond to them all. It was a truly humbling experience and I want to once again say thank you to you for your support.

When my wife and I sit at the breakfast table we try and say something that we’re grateful for. Yes, I know that it’s really corny but you’d be amazed at how life suddenly becomes a little bit better for forcing yourself to be grateful for something, anything! It could be the weather, our kids, the fact that our parents are still alive after both our fathers had heart bypass operations. There’s just so much to be grateful for…..I wonder what life would be like if you tried doing this.

All the best, Michael.

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Michael Gilmour has been in business for over 32 years and has both a BSC in Electronics and Computer Science and an MBA. He was the former vice-chairman of the Internet Industry Association in Australia and is in demand as a speaker at Internet conferences the world over. Michael is passionate about working with online entrepreneurs to help them navigate their new ventures around the many pitfalls that all businesses face. He also recently published his first scifi book Battleframe.

For the past few days I’ve been watching my UPS package traverse the world with the first copies of my book, Battleframe. As I tracked the package I’d say to my wife Roselyn, “It’s in Honolulu!” This was then followed up by, “It’s now in Australia!” and then finally, there was a knock at the door…..

With our son Timothy taking photos and Roselyn on a video camera I slowly opened the box with the order of five books. Seriously, my heart was racing and I felt like I could barely hold the knife to cut the tape!

Seeing the first copy through the packaging on top was nothing short of one of the best moments in my life. Don’t get me wrong, I love ebooks but seeing a physical copy of something that you’ve worked on for so long was awesome! I think that the above photo captured the moment for me when I held Battleframe in my hands for the very first time. I was deliriously happy!

After enjoying the moment with my family I called my Mum and Dad who have both been such a great support in the writing of the book. They were around in about 10 minutes! I kept book number one but I presented my father with his own copy of Battleframe. The first thing that he asked was how far I was through book number two……Dads! LOL!

I couldn’t resist screen capturing the UPS delivery docket (see below).

If you’ve ever wanted to write a book, I hope that the happiness in my photo inspires you. It’s a magical experience seeing your writing in print and one that you’ll never forget.

I also want to take this time to thank all those people that have purchased their own copies of Battleframe. I hope that you enjoy reading it as much as I did writing it. Don’t forget that after registering at michaelgilmour.com you can get access to maps of key locations, discussion forums and more content over the weeks ahead.

I can’t resist…..if you want to buy your own copy of Battleframe then it’s available on Amazon by clicking here or the image below.

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Michael Gilmour has been in business for over 32 years and has both a BSC in Electronics and Computer Science and an MBA. He was the former vice-chairman of the Internet Industry Association in Australia and is in demand as a speaker at Internet conferences the world over. Michael is passionate about working with online entrepreneurs to help them navigate their new ventures around the many pitfalls that all businesses face.

My wife Roselyn, videoed me opening my box of books and seeing Battleframe for the very first time. If you every want to see raw emotional joy then check out the video. I hope that it puts a smile on your face....you'll see that it did for me.

If you want to pick up your copy in either ebook or paperback formats then go to my authors page at amazon.com/author/michaelgilmour.com

Do you want to be successful in business? Do you really? If I could tell you one characteristic that will almost guarantee your success would you listen? More than that, would you follow through with it in your own life?

OK, here it goes….over the years I’ve found that “self-control” is the one character trait that underpins all of the businesses that I’ve founded. Self-control is largely frowned on as a concept that is outdated with the “If it feels good then just do it” mentality that now permeates society. Here’s the thing….I’ve found that it works.

So what is self-control? Obviously, self-control is being in control of yourself and at its heart is another word many people don’t like to hear, discipline. Self-control means that you have learned how you best work and take advantage of that.

For example, I’m typically at my desk at around 7:30am and finish work at 6pm. Due to time zones, I try and limit my late night calls. I’ve learned that I need to rest on the weekend so unless it’s an emergency I don’t do any work at all then.

I’ve seen many people behave in manic ways. They work 48 hours straight and then take the next 5 days off. Or they get so excited because they are working 7 days a week and after 2 months they fall to pieces.

What I’ve discovered is that clients don’t like this type of behaviour. They want to know that you are stable and that the business between you and them is being looked after. What’s the point in providing excellent service for 20% of the time and then abandoning your clients for the 80% because you’re burned out?

I’ve been asked a number of times about what is the difference between my business and another. When I was first asked this question I pondered it for a few seconds and answered by saying, “We like to see ourselves as the domain investor’s banker. We are measured, considerate and take managing your domain assets very seriously. Some other business may have all the glitz and the glamour but you may wake up one day to discover your assets have been trashed.”

What I was really describing was the heart of self-control.

I was speaking to one of my kids the other day and I said to them, “You don’t go from school to the CEO’s job in one step…..there are many, many steps along the path.” I don’t know what it is about the current instant (give me faster, better for no cost) generation but I’m not sure if my kids heard what I was saying.

For example, how did I build whizzbangsblog.com? One article at a time. Writing articles when you don’t want to is really difficult but I know that if I keep on writing quality content then people will want to read it and Google will want to index it. It’s the slow and steady that wins the race. Overnight successes are rare……most of the time things that last are just hard work!

Self-control also reflects in what you say and to whom do you say it. I was speaking to a person recently who works in the IT (information trading) industry. What’s IT you may ask? They are the people that try and gain your confidence by sharing with you things that they should never share about their employer, other companies or individuals.

When you tell these sort of people anything about your own business assume that they will share it with everyone (in confidence of course). To be blunt they have not learned to keep their mouths shut – they are not self-controlled. My advice, be very careful about what you say around information traders!

Being self-controlled also means that you don’t get angry quickly. One of my daughters recently said something to me that was completely disrespectful. It would have been really easy to blow up, yell and scream etc. Instead I went for a bike ride with my wife and we discussed the issue.

After getting back I calmly explained that we had cut off her Internet access for as long as she continued to be disrespectful. Within two hours I had an apology. She asked if she could now get back online…..I said no but I would allow her access the following day. There needed to be some consequences to her action and a time where the apology was worked out.

There was no yelling or shouting and my daughter realised that her father had a right to be treated with respect. Likewise, I need to treat her in a similar manner.

I wished that I got it right all the time…..let me be the first to say that I don’t. What I have realised is that being self-controlled is one of the most important and difficult things that a person can tackle about themselves……it also leads to a great amount of success in life. So, are you self-controlled or out of control?

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Michael Gilmour has been in business for over 32 years and has both a BSC in Electronics and Computer Science and an MBA. He was the former vice-chairman of the Internet Industry Association in Australia and is in demand as a speaker at Internet conferences the world over. Michael is passionate about working with online entrepreneurs to help them navigate their new ventures around the many pitfalls that all businesses face.