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Do you have some time on your hands that you are willing to invest in self improvement?

Personally, I always have a million little projects on the go, and because of that I rarely find the time to focus on me, and my goals as an individual beyond making money online. (Although this is related to money, I assure you!)

Lately I have gotten to thinking, I only know HTML, and even in that area I am certainly not gifted – I just have the ability to make very basic websites; something I enjoy, but that takes me quite a long time. Maybe it is time to work on that – I work from home using the internet, so really I should have some knowledge of the technical side of my chosen field, right?

In my spare time I am often on Facebook, or reading articles about mobile phones – these two things have set my mind going in a new direction.

Firstly, and something I am not currently planning to pursue until at least mid next year, is iPhone applications. In 14 months two billion iPhone apps were downloaded – that is just a massive, massive number. As such, I think I am going to take some time next year to learn Objective C – the programming language used to create applications for the iPhone. Can you imagine the money to be had if your app cost $2.00? Apple takes a 20% or 30% cut but still – even if your profit was only $1 per download, 50,000 is not unattainable – and $50,000 would go a long way for a lot you.

Secondly – Facebook applications – this is where my interest really lies. It seems I will have to learn PHP to start with, which I am gradually starting to do now, although not well or fast, mind you. Facebook applications seem like a great way to make money online if you are someone with ideas; and I have plenty of those.

Rather than spending 20 plus hours a week watching TV or playing video games, consider taking some time out to invest in personal improvement. A large parting of being able to work from home and make money online and actually be successful is how you view yourself. Right now I see myself as an entrepreneur who is less than skilled technically; when I learn at least basic PHP, one of the easier programming languages, I will feel successful and this will show through in my work and all future projects.

You don’t have to be a genius, you just have to be willing to sit here and read some tutorials, practice a bit and get stuck into it.

Making money online is a reachable goal, you just have to be willing to grab every opportunity – and for many of us that will include taking the time to learn valuable skills for the future.

As a side bar, you could also consider learning Flash if PHP doesn’t appeal to you, as some next year Adobe CS5 will be released, which will allow you to create iPhone apps with Flash rather than Objective C – which by all accounts is one of the hardest programming languages to learn.

Good luck everyone – stay devoted to your goals.