How to Avoid False Starts and Progress Fast: Part 1

This guest post is written by InspireRobin. This is the part 2 of this series. If you haven't already please read How to Avoid False Starts and Progress Fast: Part 1.  

The primary lesson you will learn from any personal development program, tape, seminar, or any other such medium is that we all need to take responsibility. What do we need to take responsibility for? In short, everything! We need to take responsibility for where we are today, what we have today, our health, our mental wellness, and we most certainly need to take responsibility for our future. In five years, you're going to arrive. The question is where? Your job is to plot that journey, and it is a job that only you can do.

After you've taken responsibility you will find that you now have a mission. It is a logical step, and one that you must take to continue onto the next step. And the next step is to actually start improving yourself. That's what your goal is after all.

Now you'll need to get a program, book, audio tape, or take a class on some area or aspect of your life that you want to change or improve. The beautiful part is that it doesn't matter what it is, and it doesn't matter who teaches it. If you're looking to improve in an area then you will find value in just about any resource you sincerely apply to your life. You can seek to improve your personal, religious, educational, professional, or relationship skills. Starting this program is going to get the ball rolling, and it's going to have you firmly placed onto the track you desire. Momentum is an important part of our lives beyond just physics. As humans, we have a tendency to develop patterns and keep doing the "usual" but starting with personal development we're changing the usual into something far better.

You've taken responsibility. You've started a program. But now what? How do you avoid becoming one of the millions of people who start and never finish? Now that you've put together your desired program and built a little momentum our aim is to see it through. Starting and starting will not get us on the fast track to personal success. We need to become finishers.

We can help see our program through by being very real with ourselves. Our expectations are going to play a major part in our success. Furthermore, we're going to need to examine how we are doing. Just like in school, you take test after test and go through exams as you pass onto the next grade. It's very unreasonable for us to think that we can start with being a painfully shy introvert one day and wake up in a month and be the top salesman performing flawless cold calls all day long. Eventually we can get to that point, but we've got to set ourselves up for success and monitor ourselves along the way. Our teachers did that job in school, but now that we're all grown up we must carry this heavyweight, serious responsibility on our own.

Seeing Is Believing

To help you review your progress and stay on course you simply take a little time at the end of each week and put pen to paper. First, write down the positive things you did during the week towards reaching your goal and completing your self improvement program. Next, write a couple lines on areas you can improve upon in the coming week. Give yourself a realistic grade on a scale of one to ten. Once the next week concludes, do this process again but also compare notes. If you see the same problems popping up over and over then you need to kick it up a notch and change something immediately. The key to making this procedure work is to simply make sure you are doing the review session regularly. It's more than a simple writing exercise. It's a tool you use to analyze yourself, in addition to being a major player in your future success.

Welcome to the Party

Undoubtedly, if you start your program and review your progress you are now in the top 5-10% of the population. It didn't take a six-figure income and it didn't require a 140 I.Q. score. It's quite incredible, and the formula is so simple that many people simply dismiss it. Apply it to your life and you'll move from being a starter to becoming a finisher.

You too can be in the top 5%. Even better than that, you can be on this track tonight! You've got to recognize the areas in your life you want to change. Then you need to find a program to help you improve it. Remember, finding any program is the key. Avoid looking for the super-perfect-end-all program that you've never been able to find yet. Once you start the program, help yourself finish it by consciously monitoring your progress and rewarding yourself for taking these necessary, albeit completely voluntary steps toward your better self. Your contribution to your own personal development will reward everyone you associate with, and it will grant you incredible personal rewards that can only be earned by living the superior life you know you deserve.

How to Avoid False Starts and Progress Fast: Part 1

This guest post has been written by InspiredRobin.

Some people begin something but never really get started. Confused? The chances are high that you've already started your journey on a road of personal development and self improvement. That's the good news. The not-so-good news is that many people begin personal development and, well, become professional starters. You know the type. They're just "getting back into it."

You know that really great, life changing book? The professional starter knows about it too. Actually, they even started reading it. Unfortunately, they never quite finished... but they'll be quick to point out that "Oh, it's a good book!"

It can be a sad view from the outside. But from the afflicted person's viewpoint they might not know there is a problem at hand. Or if they do know there is a problem they might not know how to overcome it. That's why it's important that you learn how to start personal development sooner than later, even if you've already "started."

What's The Problem?

So, you've either started a self improvement trek or you're thinking about it. Essentially, everyone falls into needing to know how to start. Some people get right into it. Then there are those who are about to start. But it's come to me from being involved in personal development for about two years now that many, if not most people never even get started. What's the problem?

People don't start their journey and "just do it" for a number of reasons. Fear is a really, really big reason. With that said, we all have feelings of fear. But a fearless person is simply a person who feels their fear and moves through it anyways.

Another reason people don't start their personal development program is because of uncertainty. The need for certainty is probably just a form of procrastination, but dissecting it down to the core is unnecessary and a distraction. What's important is to recognize that the entire idea of certainty is an illusion. If we really looked at certainty in our lives, we would see that it is nearly nonexistent. From the food we eat to the next breath we take, all of us exhibit an incredible amount of faith that things in life just go on without being certain that they will continue to do so.

Finally, I would say that the third and last major reason that people fail to start a successful journey toward reaching the best version of themselves is because they lack necessary information. This one is pretty simple. If you don't know you can improve yourself, will you ever try? I used to think I just wasn't good at remembering names. It seemed harmless enough to live with that negative trait. But it wasn't necessary, and I learned that I could change it. I'd guess over 95% of the people today live with the disempowering attitude that they really can't change much about themselves. Fortunately for you, a lack of information will definitely not be your problem after reading this article!

Making Personal Development Happen

Now that we've established what holds people back, let's shift our focus to what you can do to use personal development resources to change your life in the shortest amount of time possible.

Accept uncertainty and accept making mistakes. One of the great quotes I've ever heard was from Tom Watson who said, "If you want to increase your success rate, double your failure rate." This sentiment is so fundamentally true and obvious that most people discount it. Some people just discount it because they hate the idea of failure. The reality is, your future has a lot of failures in it, just like everyone else. The difference is, however, how many successes you can parlay those failures into.

Going along with Watson's failure quote, there is another maxim I like to apply. It goes, "If something is worth doing, it's worth doing badly at first." If you can really buy into this then you'll find it has incredible power to move you toward action. After all, it just helps to demonstrate the idea that making mistakes is acceptable, and it unequivocally shows that one is taking action.

I Worked Hard to Achieve... What?

This guest post is written by Hugh DeBurgh. Author biography is at the bottom of this post. 

You must first be who you really are, then do what you need to do, in order to have what you want. ~ Margaret Young

Dear Friend,

Many years ago, when I was a "kid" in college, I knew what I had to do. I was determined to be a success. And in the go-go eighties, that meant earning big bucks. But I was never foolish enough to think that I would get rich quick. And neither did I buy into the eighties culture of flashy bling and drugs that destroyed so many fortunes as fast as they formed. I knew that to be a success, I had to find a plausible path to good money, live frugally, save and invest conservatively but intelligently, and work hard.

I was focused. I worked long hours. Longer than the average person did. I "knew" that successful people lived this way. They put off pleasure, in exchange for progress. I was proud of the fact that I would be well off and comfortable in my later years, while most of those fun-loving lazy types around me would see little progress in their lives. I would be at ease while the partiers would still be grinding away.

Those thoughts kept me working while others had fun.

I did save some money. I built a nice house - no small thing for a single guy under 30. And I poured every last dime I could into paying off my mortgage. And I got married. Had four kids. And built a nice business for myself.

Only one problem, though.

I had absolutely no interest in what I did for a living. None. I did it to advance my financial position. My choices were based on anticipated financial gain. My life was the result of a mathematical formula. And it was as cold as one, too. You see, I never understood the Margaret Young quote at the beginning of this piece. I never recall ever reading it. And if I did, perhaps I just ignored it. Because it did not fit into my world view.

My life is different now.

I live on the road. My family of six travels the world in search of new adventures and experiences. Money is a means to an end, not an end in itself. I learned the hard way that saving money is no guarantee that you can keep money. The recent series of stock market crashes proved that. And the price we all pay for living a life focused on the accumulation of wealth (which never does seem to accumulate) is to sacrifice the best years of our lives.

Know who you are. Know what really matters to you. Know how you really want to spend the rest of your days. Then, focus your attention on how you will accomplish that task. That is life in a nutshell. But so few approach it in this way. Most follow the model that I followed. And, as a result, spend countless years on the wrong path.

Time is life

Time is the one resource that we cannot recover. Therefore, it should be your most jealously guarded asset. Your next best asset is knowledge. The ability to leverage what is available to you to make the best use of your time. And the best use of your time is to live the life you love. That means spending the vast majority of your life actually living, instead of preparing to live. Young people often take time for granted. They imagine that they have a limitless supply. So it is no wonder that I thought I was following a wise road back then. I was the hard working ant, storing away food while the lazy grasshopper just hung around. I knew that the grasshopper would be begging at my door in the cold wintertime, but that I would be safe and warm. But life isn't as simple as a child's fairy tale. And life isn't a series of regular, predictable summers and winters. Life is unpredictable. You may only live another week. Or you may live 200 years. You simply do not know. And until science can tell us exactly how long we have left on this Earth, we cannot afford to take any of it for granted.

So, don't make the same mistake I did. And if you already have, it's not too late to change. I have. You can change your life's direction. You can start today. Wherever you are in your life, I wish you the best possible future, doing what you love most. And simply being you.

All the best,

Hugh

Hugh DeBurgh, the passionate warrior, has dedicated his life to the achievement of the ultimate family lifestyle. You can find him writing about Creative Family Lifestyle Design over at his blog, The Way of the Passionate Warrior. Currently he is on the second leg of a worldwide travel adventure with his wife and four young children. Follow Hugh on Twitter or visit his blog to catch all the action. 

How to Ruin Your Life in 10 Easy Steps

Do you want to ruin your life? But don’t know how to do that? Well, you have come to the right place. Below there are 10 tips for you which will help you to successfully ruin your life. By following these tips in no time your life will be upside down. Family bonding will loosen, friends will hate you, and your grades will drop, might as well get kicked out of the job. You might also find yourself awake during the night and you will be sleeping all through the day.

So here are the 10 easy steps to successfully ruin your life:

 

1. Never finish what you’ve started. Always quit. Always jump from one job to another. This will definitely help you to not find success in anything that you do. This will increase restlessness in you. You might as well find yourself in deep depression after a few quick failures.

2. Be passive. Do nothing. Be spineless. Always wait for others to act. This will help you to hide your individuality and reduce the charm of your personality, preventing you from being liked by anyone.

3. Be ignorant. Never care about what is happening in your locality let alone the world. Who cares about the poor unfed kids in Zimbabwe or Somalia? or the massive innocent death toll in Afghanistan, Iraq or Gaza? Who cares if the number of endangered species on earth is increasing each year? You are alive, right?

4. Forget your priorities. Spend more time on doing less important things and less time on doing the important ones. For example, if you are a student, don’t do your homework, don’t submit research papers, just watch the television and surf the net for “who bitches about who” all day.

5. Do drugs. No explanation needed. We all know how devastating drugs can be for your life and the lives of your loved ones.

6. Don’t eat with your parents or your spouse. Eat alone in front of the TV. Always lock the door to your room to maintain your valuable “privacy”.

7. Turn your back on the friends who trusted you. Don’t be there for them when they need you the most.

8. Blame others for your misfortune. Always complain. Complain about your poor grades, poor financial condition, and declining number of friends. You can also blame your parents, friends, spouse or coworkers for not finding success in anything that you do. I think you will be good at complaining and blaming as you will be too passive to go and actually do and change something.

9. Break the law. Don't pay taxes, parking tickets etc. Soon you will find yourself broke or in a jail.

10. Spread negativity. As you don’t see any hope or future for yourself, try to destroy other people’s hopes too. Always say that “You can’t”, “You are good for nothing” and stuffs like that. Because it’s only the nature of human to tell others that they (others) can’t do something, because they are a failure themselves.

Well, that’s all from me now. Now you know what NOT to do if you DON’T want to ruin your life. Have a happy life and don’t repeat the mistakes I made in my life. Always be positive. Never let the hope die.

Best wishes

irtiza104

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Creating Yourself a Medium Term Life Plan

Not many people plan their life out, but I am one of those people, it all started from years of depression – some how life hadn’t turned out the way I wanted it to, and nothing seemed to be going my way, so I bought a book that had a number of things in it, but one of the things was how to create a life plan. Basically you go through your life in sections, write down where you are now and where you would like to be, then you prioritize these and create a plan to achieve them – I normally do one of these every 3 months, and they really work!

Since I’ve started doing these I have managed to do the following:

• Beaten a depression of 8 years
• Significantly reduced the amount of physical pain I’ve been in due to trapped nerves etc.
• Managed to get into a good job with excellent career prospects
• Met a very beautiful woman who I am soon to marry (go me!)
• Written a book
• Doubled my income

And I still have lots of improvements to make. Here is the general format of how it goes:
1. Go through all the sections below, write down where you would like to be, literally picture in your mind what you want to achieve. So for example you may imagine yourself in a nice apartment with lots of money and a high powered job.

Family
e.g. I want to get on well with my mother or I want to keep in contact with my sister

Friendship/Social
e.g. I want to see my friends more often, I’d like to join an art club

Romance
e.g. I’d like to meet a girl, I’d like to re-kindle the spark in our relationship

Money
e.g. I’d like to save x amount or I’d like to reduce my debt by y

Career
e.g. I’d like a promotion or perhaps I’d like to get a job in marketing

Mental Health
e.g. I want to get rid of my depression or I want to be less stressed

Physical Health
e.g. I want to get fit or perhaps lose weight

Learning and Education
e.g. I’d like to learn how to manage people better or perhaps how to arrange flowers

2. Now go through all of those points again and write down your current position.
3. Next go through each point and write out specifically what things you need to do in order to get from where you are now to where you want to be.
4. Prioritise, ideally prioritise the things that will make a big difference to your happiness and also won’t take you too long to achieve.
5. It is important that you start to work towards your long-term goals too, so make sure you take that into consideration, but remember that it is a long-term goal and that there is no rush - it will happen with time.

Now what you need to do is try and work towards these goals by adding those tasks to a to do list. Then three months down the line, check how you are doing against your goals - you may be surprised at how many you have achieved!!!

Once you have finished reviewing your improvements, your life will have changed, so make yourself another life plan - I tend to do this around every 3 months, usually this is the point where I lose direction as I have achieved everything I set out to do.

I hope this works for you guys, it certainly works for me! Best of luck and don’t ever give up!

This is a guest post from David Whitehouse, a 27 year old marketing consultant, from the UK who doesn’t give up!

Feels Good to Finally Do Something

For so long, I have talked about doing something. I have talked about change and tried to motivate others. It feels great finally to do something apart from motivating through writing. Recently we have been engaged in two voluntary works which we are proud of. We have done our best (still some work left) to raise fund for a 15 year old dying young man. We have also launched a campus cleanup project. Thankfully we are getting huge response in both cases.

One of our friends’ younger brother is suffering from Compressive Myelopathy for over 2 years now. Doctors have suggested taking him to Singapore for better treatment. It will be near impossible for his family to bear the cost of Tk 3.5 million (50,000 USD) which is required for the treatment. So we decided to help them as much as we reasonably can. From the beginning of this month we have literally worked all day to help this cause. Our goal is to raise Tk 40,000 by mid December; we have raised 45% of that so far. We know that our efforts are not nearly close to their requirement. But every contribution counts, right? These small contributions will develop courage and shed some light of hope to that family; and hope is what we live for. I pray for the boy to get better soon.

Thanks to Imon for taking the initiative

The second voluntary work I was talking about is the campus cleanup project. This was the month of admission tests in our beautiful university campus. Thousands came to sit on the exams and fought for a seat in our university. The number of candidates was a record 40,000+. Great to see the popularity of Jahangirnagar University rising. But the sad thing is, the candidates come and go, and leave a load of trash and litter lying all around. We can not blame them for that, as there are just a few trash cans in our campus, maybe 3 or 4. So to notify the authority – to do something about it - we have cleaned up the trash of some “hot-places” and gladly our work was not unnoticed by them or the students & teachers. Our effort was featured in two national newspapers which was a huge bonus for us. I hope authority will act soon to clean the trash up and set up some “much awaited trash cans” to maintain the beauty of this great campus.

Thanks to Toma, Shakilah & Hridi for taking the initiative

You are welcome to share your views on this. I’d love to hear about any charity/voluntary work you have personally engaged yourself with.

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10 Tips for an Effective Presentation

In some point of your professional life, you probably will have to make a presentation, which you would want to be effective. This post contains information about how to prepare you for a presentation and make the presentation effective.

As a business student, I am making a lot of presentations lately. At first I faced some problems- which were common but not forgiving. Some lucky people can make presentations without any effort, they are naturally gifted speakers. But most of us have to practice and prepare preparations before moving to the actual thing. When it comes to presentations you will have to keep in mind the following things:

K.I.S.S.

To make a good presentation you will have to KISS (Keep It Short & Simple). Keeping short and simple is the best way to retain audience’s attention and deliver the massage.

Keep it short and simple.

Do Your Homework

This is very important. Gather all the necessary information required for the presentation. You should also gather information which is related to the topic, but which you are not going to present in the actual presentation. This helps to have a better understanding of what you are going to talk about. But most importantly, it helps you to prepare yourself for the upcoming “question & answer” session.

Speak about something which you have earned the right to talk about through experience or study.

Don’t be Shallow

Your speech should be short, but it must have adequate information. Remember that, presentations are to inform others or persuade others. You will not be able to do that if your presentations can not exceed the audience’s knowledge.

Reduce, Reduce & Reduce

After you collect the data and categorize it, it is normal to be a little broader than you would want it to be. Read out the script and cut out the unnecessary parts. Keep it to-the-point.

Know Your Audience

Before preparing the script you should try to know your audience. You should know who you will be talking to. You will have to modify your speech according to your audience. For example, if you are going to talk about some medical issues to some business students, you will have to make it really simple, as your audience doesn’t know anything about it.

Make Notes

After you have gathered data, drafted and revised it, you will have to make notes of the presentation. Notes will help you to remember the key terms of the presentation so that you don’t get lost during the presentation. Some might consider keeping notes in hand a bad practice, but I say it is better to look at the notes occasionally than getting stuck in a place.

* Notes can be of just the key points
* Or the whole speech, cut out in several smaller pieces of paper (one sixth of an A4 sized paper )
* Pages must be numbered, so that you don’t break the serial.
* If you decide to write the whole speech in pieces, make sure that you use bold format for the keywords.
* Don’t read out from the notes. Look at them to keep track of your speech.

Make a Good First Impression

Some say that first impression is the last impression. Make sure that you look confident when you enter the stage and deliver the first paragraph of your presentation. It is better not to look at your notes during the first 30 seconds or more.

Be Confident

Confident is the most essential key for any form of public speaking. But I am writing it down as the 8th point because I think that you will be confident if you follow the 7 things mentioned above.

Say What You are Going to Say

At the start of your speech, state the topic clearly. State what your are going to discuss and mention it when you are discussing it. after you are done talking about it, say that you have discussed it. It makes easier to understand the lecture.

Say what you are going to say...
Say it...
Say that you have said it...

Slideshows and PowerPoint
Slideshows and PowerPoint have become an inseparable part of presentations. I’ll talk about them in my upcoming post:

Making Presentations: Slideshows

Related posts from the web:
How to make a good presentation
How to make effective presentation


Next pot in this series:
Making Presentations: Slideshows
Presentations: Answering Questions

Small Changes to Make You Happy

If you haven’t already noticed, you’ll be amazed to see how small changes in the routine and around the house can have a huge impact on your mood. I’m writing about 3 such changes which can easily uplift your mood.

Rearrange/Clean up your room
This little trick can do wonders when it comes to feeling good. Many often keep their rooms untidy- clothes, shoes everywhere, books on the floor etc. just take one hour of your time and sort things out- put everything in its right place. You can also rearrange the furniture in your room but I’m too lazy to do that.

Get up a little early
Most of the people have very little time in the morning to do something other than getting ready and dashing to work or school. As a result morning becomes very boring and somewhat “forced”. This is one of the main reasons of having a spoilt mood right from the start of a day. Try getting up at least half an hour earlier than you normally do. In that time do something which is not in your routine. Morning is a beautiful part of the day. Don’t dedicate this part just to being busy.

Finish something which you started
This is a very important tool for feeling good. Get something done, no matter how small it is. It might be repairing the car or changing the light bulb of the basement that you thought you will replace last weekend. You can also work on the unfinished blog post and queue it to be published. the main thing is, crossing off something from your to-do list feels great and you’ll do just that in order to uplift your mood.

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Ethical Dilemma: Part 1

This is the part one of a new series Ethical Dilemma. In this series you’ll find some common situations which will make you think. You’ll have to make some ethical decisions in this series which will help you to have a better understanding of the ethics you believe in. I hope you will also develop your reasoning skill through this.

Your ethics depends on YOU

Here is your first ethical dilemma:

Suppose you are doing a project outside of your work. The project will need paper, pens and other materials available at work. You have noticed other employees taking home such materials. You are thinking about doing the same. What is the problem in this situation? What are your alternatives? What are the consequences of each alternative? Which alternative will you choose? Is your choice ethical?

Related Post: Ethics of Justice or ethics of care

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Ethics of justice or ethics of care

This is a small personality quiz called "Ethics of justice or ethics of care"


First please take this small quiz:

1. Which is worse?

A. Hurting someone’s feelings by telling the truth.
B. Telling a lie and protecting someone’s feelings.

2. Which is the worse mistake?

A. To make exceptions too freely.
B. To apply rules too rigidly.

3. Which is it worse to be?

A. Unmerciful.
B. Unfair.

4. Which is worse?

A. Stealing something valuable from someone for no good reason.
B. Breaking a promise to a friend for no good reason.

5. Which is it better to be?

A. Just and fair.
B. Sympathetic and feeling.

6. Which is worse?

A. Not helping someone in trouble.
B. Being unfair to someone by playing favorites.

7. In making a decision you rely more on…

A. Hard facts.
B. Personal feelings and intuition.

8. Your boss orders you to do something that will hurt someone. If you carry out the order, have you done anything wrong?

A. Yes.
B. No.

9. Which is more important in determining whether an action is right or wrong?

A. Whether anyone actually gets hurt.
B. Whether a rule, law, commandment or moral principle is broken.

The answers fall in two categories, J or C. Count your number of J and C answers using this key:

1. A=C, B=J 2. A=J, B=C 3. A=C, B=J 4. A=J, B= C 5. A=J, B=C
6. A=C, B=J 7. A=J, B=C 8. A=C, B=J 9. A=C, B=J

The higher your J score, the more you rely on ethics of justice. The higher your C score, the more you rely on ethics of care.


Ethics of care and ethics of justice are two ways of differentiating right from wrong and making moral and ethical decisions. None of these two is better than the other. Even though ethics of justice and ethics of care may seem very different from one another, actually they are connected. People generally depend on both to making ethical decision. The more you are able to mix these two ethics, the better you are in making the right decisions. Actually, very few people score 9 Js or 9 Cs. Most of the people have a combined result.

Ethics of justice relies on principles like justice, fairness, equality or authority. The advantages if this approach is that it looks at a problem logically and impartially. People who follow this style hope to make a decision based on certain principles which are higher than any individual’s interests. Disadvantages of this approach are that people who rely on it might lose sight of the immediate interests of particular individuals. This style is more common for men than women.

Ethics of care is based on sense of responsibility to reduce actual harm or suffering. The advantages of this approach are that it is responsive to immediate suffering and harm. The disadvantage is that, when carried to an extreme, this style can produce decisions that seem not simply subjective, but arbitrary. This style is more common in women than men.

So, what is your style of making ethical decisions? Do you rely more on ethics of care or ethics of justice? What was your score? How do you feel about your score?

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Source of the quiz: Discovering Philosophy by Thomas I. White

Communicate through Blogs Effectively

Communication is the process of sharing of information between two or more individuals or groups to reach a common understanding. Oral communication is much spontaneous and most of the time easier to understand as it includes facial expressions, body language and emotion. But when it comes to written communication such as blogs, you will not be able to convey the desired message to the readers effectively if you don’t be careful. In that case you’ll fail to reach a common understanding and thus fail to communicate with your readers.

Simplicity in writing is the key to effective communication through blogs. You’ll have to maintain certain rules to keep the simplicity in writing and to keep the readers hooked.

Use familiar words
Selection of words is very important when it comes to writing. Many people believe that using difficult words in their writings enhance the beauty of their posts and reflect their intelligence. But that’s not the case at all. By using too much difficult words the writer actually kills the appeal of reading the post. In some cases difficult words challenge the intelligence of the reader, by which the reader might feel offended. Same goes for using too much technical words (words specialized for certain fields) and abbreviation. When using abbreviations, make sure that you have mentioned the full form of that at least once.

Remember, the readers of your blog might be coming from different countries, where English is not used as the primary mode of communication.

Choose short words
Short words often communicate better than longer words. If it doesn’t harm the meaning of the sentence, try to use short words instead of longer words. Between these two, which one is easier to understand:

1. The decision was based on the assumption that an abundance of readers is forthcoming.
2. The decision was based on the belief that there would be more readers.

Use concrete language
By concrete words I am referring to the words which form sharp, clear and specific meanings in our minds. Abstract words like “the majority” and “substantial amount”, has more generalized meaning which might not always be perfect to use.

A very large amount of profit has completely two meanings for a small retail shop and the Microsoft.

Try to avoid passive verbs and voice
Using passive verbs and voices too much takes away the strength of the language. So use more active verbs if it is possible.

Use examples
Try to give examples to make yourself clear. But the overuse of examples is not a good thing to do.

Never do stereotyping (must follow)
This is a fatal mistake that many bloggers and writers do. This has a very critical effect on readership. Stereotyping is the act of classifying or treating all the people of a society or community in the same way (especially in a negative way). Never ever make this mistake. When I say that “Bangladeshi’s are poor”, I am stereotyping. Because even though more than 50% people here live below the poverty line, there are hundreds of billionaires in this country. It’s just an example.

Avoid discriminating words (must follow)
Be very careful about words which can easily offend someone by its discriminating behavior. Never discriminate based on race, color, religion and gender. Be very careful when writing about “social status”.

I hope this helps you in writing better blog posts and increase readership.

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A Little Comparison: Part 2

These are pictures of some of the many street children of Bangladesh. Observe this pictures and compare it with your childhood. This might help you to be grateful for what you have.

Picture courtesy by Hasibul Sakib Haque. The photographer's contact id: insane_capture@yahoo.com

I often brag about my childhood and cry out loud about how miserable it was. But really it is not such a big deal. It could have been much worse. There are more than 674,000 street children in Bangladesh. 75% of them are from the capital Dhaka, the city where I am from. I easily could have been one of them.

85% of these street children never receive any assistance form the government or different NGOs. They have to fight to survive when my little brother can easily watch cartoon network. They are deprived from education, so it is really hard for them to turn their fortune around. And it is more likely that their children will also belong to the streets. In 2001 their average daily income was 0.55 us dollars. With this money they have to eat and sometimes have to support their family.

What should be the initiative to change this dirty fact? What can we do? I don’t know. But I’d like to help.

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What not to do to Fall Asleep

I am facing another old problem of mine (again), which is sleep disorder. No matter what I do (sorry, but I am against sleeping pills), it seems like I can not sleep for more than 4 hours a day. And that gets really tiring if it continues for 10 days straight.

The things which I’m doing (or have done) to fall asleep are probably the wrong thing to do as they are not working at all. In fact they are working in the opposite direction. So, I’m pointing out those things, so that you don’t make the same mistake…

5 not-to-do-things to fall asleep:

1. If you are suddenly awake at the middle of the night, never ever play games or use net on your phone to pass time until you fall back asleep. This will never work. The bright light of the phone near your eyes will devastate whatever sleep you have left in you.

2. Don’t think about what your next blog post is going to be about. This might be beneficial to your blog, but I don’t think this will be any help to fall asleep. I read in some book that if you concentrate on a matter your brain gets tired and you fall asleep. But I don’t know why, but concentrating on a serious matter at night, evaporates my sleep completely.

3. Don’t change your position too quickly and too fast.

4. Don’t watch too much television before going to bed. This will definitely hamper your sleep.

5. I did this thing for a few days which didn’t work. I tried to work out before going to bed so that my body gets tired enough to fall asleep. But later I came to know that you are not supposed to work out in atleast 3 hours before bed time. If you get too tired it’s often hard to sleep.

I want to sleep so badly, but I am not sleepy… oh! :’(

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Fight Blogger's Block and Depression

We know that blogging reduces stress and depression. It is also cool to have a web address of our own. Starting a new blog is easy, but carrying it out might be a little difficult sometimes. After posting a few blog posts, it is very natural to face writer’s block (more appropriately blogger’s block) when you will not be able to think of a subject to blog on. Being stuck in blogger’s block is a very depressing state. But with a little help you can snap out of your blogger’s block as well as blogging depression.

I am pointing out some things which will help you to fight blogger's block.

Keep a blogging diary
This has proven really helpful for me. I keep a diary/notepad beside my bed all the time and whenever a thought crosses my mind, which might be worth sharing, I point it out. Later I research about that point and before you know it, a post is ready to be published.

Don’t cross out a point without giving it a fair chance.

Read newspaper daily
This is also a great idea to get an “idea” to blog about. Read the paper and if any news strikes to you as interesting, you can do a little research about it and see if you can turn it into a blog post. One of my previous posts- Cyclone Aila: Bangladesh Takes Another Blow was influenced by a news about the cyclone which devastated Bangladesh on May 25, 2009. 7 Tied Up Deer Rescued was also influenced by the newspaper. Reading more blogs is also a good idea.

Don’t copy from newspaper or anywhere else; just get the idea and then research.

Go through the events of BlogersUnite
This is a great way to come up with an idea to blog about. Bloggers Unite is a non-profit organization which units bloggers to raise social awareness. There are hundreds of events at their site which you can join. To join an event you'll have to register which will take 1-2 minutes. After registering you will find out events which interest you and blog about those. This way not only you are overcoming writer's block, but also you are doing a noble thing by raising public awareness.

Write a review
Even though I don’t do this kind of things, I see thousands of bloggers doing it. So I guess it has some reader value. If you are stuck with your blog you can write a review about a book or upcoming movie or a new product. But personally speaking, I’d be more interested in reading a blog review from your niche rather than any product review.

Publish guest posts
This process actually doesn’t break your blogger’s block, but it will buy you some valuable time to think about a post, without making your readers wait. You can publish a post like “Do you want to guest post on this blog?” to find out guest bloggers. You can also get the help of twitter. But the best way to find a good guest blogger is by reading good blogs of your niche and contacting the bloggers one by one. But the hard work will pay off when someone will write a guest post like Admitting is the first step.

Before publishing, do a little research to find out whether the post is duplicate or not.

Interview interesting bloggers
You can publish interviews of different bloggers who belong to your niche but don’t have much exposure. In this way both of you will be benefited.

Be sure to ask questions in your first email. It will increase your chance of getting an affirmative reply.

Blog about blog improvements
You can blog about the changes you made since you first started blogging. Or you can blog about how your writing style and patterns have evolved since the beginning. You can also sneak in a post about why you picked up this niche at the first place.

Look for PLR articles
This might be a little desperate move. PLR articles and products are an inexpen$ive way to find and publish posts in your blog. For more details about PLR you can visit timethief’s “Blogging and Private label rights products”.

Make sure you rewrite the plr article. If you don’t it might be considered as a duplicate post.

Keep some posts ready
Prevention is better than cure. When you are feeling like blogging it’s better to write more than one post and preserve it for future. So, whenever you feel like you are approaching the wall (blogger’s block) use that reserved article as a ladder to overcome the obstacle.

Take a blogging break
Sometimes it is just for the best that you take a break from the blogging world and concentrate on something else. I also took a break for almost four months, but now I’m up and blogging. And I’m very happy (and a bit proud) to say that I am doing much better than before.

Consider this as your last option

We don’t just blog for ourselves; we have some obligations to our readers and subscribers. So it is best to deal with blogger’s block as fast as possible. Have you ever been through a blogger’s block? How did you manage to overcome it? You know how I deal with this problem, now how about you share your secrets?

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Self Improvement Through Journaling

Posted by guest author Chris Lloyd

I have tried almost every form self improvement there is… meditation, NLP, hypnosis, goal setting... you name it! All of them can be helpful, but if I could only recommend one thing to someone beginning an earnest self-improvement program- I would definitely go with keeping a journal.

If you are interested in self-improvement it is because you are not happy with some part of your life (maybe every part of your life). In many cases it is safe to assume that your current situation is a result of your thoughts and behavior patterns. Self reflection helps a lot to get to know those patters and make modifications where necessary.

A journal encourages self-reflection and introspection. The act of writing about yourself and your actions forces you to examine exactly what you are feeling and doing. It is extremely difficult to write about your day without examining your actions more objectively. Journaling on a regular basis helps you to start learning the patterns that are affecting your life. It is an excellent medium for self discovery.

There are many ways for you to reflect on your patterns. Journaling, however, is the simplest and most flexible way. It can take as much or as little time as you want. It can be very formal or very casual. You can use an old-fashioned journal or use something digital (like blogging). And almost any way you maintain a journal, it is essentially free.

How to start

The only problem for some people is getting started. I have been a fan of journaling for several years now and I have helped several friends to get started. Some people don’t know where to start. I tell them to just write one sentence. It starts the ball rolling and most people won’t stop at one sentence. Some people need a little more structure to get started. I give these people some questions to answer when they write. Talk about the best or worst thing you did in a day. Write about what you are grateful for or what you could improve on in the future.

Self discovery or more specifically, self improvement might be the best thing about keeping a journal. As long as you start reflecting, there really is no wrong way to do it. So, try it now.

Discussion Questions:

1. Do you keep a journal? Is it on paper or in the form of an online blog (personal diary)?
2. How much has it helped you in your path of self discovery?
3. If the answer of the first question is “no” then will you consider starting a journal?

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All About Self Hypnosis

Self hypnosis or auto hypnosis is a powerful tool for self improvement. You might not be able to be around a professional therapist whenever you need some assistance. In that case you can easily assist yourself and be your own therapist by performing self hypnosis. But many people don’t know much about this self improvement tool. So I have decided to write a post about it. In this post you will find almost everything you need to know about self-hypnosis, auto-hypnosis or auto suggestion. The aim of this post is not to convince you but to inform you.

What is Self Hypnosis?
Most people take hypnotism as a mysterious (if not dangerous) act which is performed mostly by entertainers on stage. Actually hypnotism is an altered state of consciousness tweaked by a feeling of peaceful relaxation and "letting go". And hypnosis which is self-inducted is called self-hypnosis. Further reading: Wikipedia

Benefits of Self Hypnosis
Self hypnosis can be a great tool for relieving stress. It helps an individual to feel physically and mentally relaxed if properly performed. Self hypnosis promotes your self-control, confidence, focus, and self-efficiency. It can also help when dealing with quitting smoking or losing weight. In a hypnotic stage your mind and body is suggestible and you can rip benefit out of it by suggesting yourself about what to do or what not to do. Self hypnosis is much safer (beneficial) then being hypnotized/suggested by a therapist, as you are in control of what you suggest yourself.

Drawbacks of Self Hypnosis
Self hypnosis requires much time and practice. Many people can not manage the time to master this art. Moreover, there are many people who start to perform this art without eliminating the doubt of its effectiveness. For these reasons many people complain about self-hypnosis not working for them. Many people are afraid of the dangers of self hypnosis. The worst thing that can happen to you during a session is that you can fall asleep. Further reading: Ezine Articles

How to perform Self Hypnosis
Performing it effectively takes much time. If you think that you are ready to start practicing this art you have to make sure certain things.

*Make sure that you will not be disturbed during your hypnotic session.
*Make sure that you are comfortable
*Make sure that you have your aim/goals for the session ready and memorized.

You can listen to calm and soothing music during the session. Further reading about how to perform self hypnosis: Urban Monk

Discussion question:
1. Have you ever tried self hypnosis?
2. How was the experience?
3. Do you think that being hypnotized by a therapist is better than self-hypnotism?

Note: If you decide to go to a therapist, make sure he is well trained and experienced.

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Reduce Stress and Depression by Blogging

Reduce stress by blogging
When I first started blogging some 10 months ago, I had very little knowledge about its effects, side-effects or what it’s capable of. But as I continued, read different blogs and started to think, I soon realized that blogging is much more than keeping an online diary; it is a power. It is a power which helps us to reach out to people and share our views and opinions. It helps us to try and bring a change to the world we know. It helps us to be heard and to feel accepted. And this, my friend, feels great.

I didn’t believe it before that blogging can reduce stress. But now I know that it is a fact. By keeping myself busy with writing new blog posts I can have the sweet taste of creating something unique. By sharing that and receiving feedbacks I feel assured that I am affecting people’s lives at least a little bit in a positive way. And that feeling of doing something good fades away stress and depression to some extend.

My friend Mtyler77, the author of The Melindaville Blog, explains this issue with a little scientific touch.

I do believe that blogging can help alleviate both stress and depression. Stress is often caused when we have inner turmoil that we feel unable to cope with. When you write a blog, you are often able to express things in written form that you are unable to articulate. When you write about turmoil- even things that are not major, it can most definitely alleviate stress. Stress is also closely related to depression. We know today that hormones that are released during the stress response actually affect the neurotransmitters in our brain, which plays a big role in depression. This is a fairly recent scientific breakthrough- to understand how much stress influences depression. And blogging can also help depression- it has certainly helped me at times. I think writing about things is a way for us to view our situations and even our entire lives more objectively, which can help us put things into perspective.

Author of My Envision, MindWriter, is a friend from Bangladesh. Her take on this issue,

Well, there are many times when we have so many things to say but there’s no one to listen to. We want to express our anger, anxiety, disability and all the suppressed feelings which we can’t express towards someone or towards something. All these unexpressed thoughts keep boggling our head, exposing toxic elements inside. At least blogging helps me to clean up my head, clear my confusions, and when the suppressed feelings and fears come out, I actually am “stress free”. All we need is to learn how to “let go”. Blogging helped me letting go.

So blog to reduce your stress and live a better life.

I thank my friends for explaining this issue. It would be quite hard for me to explain this without their help. I invite my readers to share their views on “blogging reducing stress”.

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Never Say “Never”, Dude!

This line is from one of my favorite TV series “Lost”. Thinking about it has made me realize its depth and the truth behind this little sentence.

This line represents the power of persistence, the power of not giving up. I honestly don’t believe that just “hard work” brings success to anyone. To enjoy the sweet taste of success one must be persistent and try to be better and better. Life doesn’t forgive those who give up. I know this because I am now far away from my desired lifestyle, from my dreams, just because I said “Sir, I can’t do it”, just because I gave up. But I know now that if I had tried a little longer I could have overcome the obstacle and could have been on my way to “living my dreams”.

Nothing on this life comes without a price. To achieve something good you have to put a little planned effort. So don’t get disheartened if you don’t get the desired result at the first go. Try, try and try again until you make it right. You should never think that “you can not do something”. You should think that the way you are doing it is wrong and if you could (and you will) find the right way, you will be successful. So try to find the best possible solution rather than finding excuses to give up.

Impossible is Nothing

I strongly believe that each failure brings us closer to success. Failure teaches us lots of valuable lessons which enrich our bag of experience. But all that experience will never help us if we tend to give up every now and then. So try to use that knowledge you gathered from your failure to get a little closer to success the next time you try.

I’d like to end this post with a quotation from John Wooden,

Success is peace of mind which is a direct result of self-satisfaction in knowing you made the effort to become the best of which you are capable.

I hope this post was helpful. You are welcomed to share your own experiences regarding this matter.

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Working in Groups Effectively

Working in groups is totally different from working alone. Even an adept worker may face many difficulties while working in a group. And that’s why many people don’t like to work with others. I know this because I also used to face this same problem. But I think now I am over this and now I can perform more or less well (at least better than before) in groups.

Let’s face it; there is no escaping working in groups. Today in schools, colleges or in workplaces people are required to work with others as a team. So to make the group-work experience an enjoyable one you have to pay attention to certain things. Otherwise you will not only fail to perform well, but also drag your group mates down.

Get acquainted
The most primary base of working in any group is to know the group members. Before jumping to the job, it is wise to get introduced to one another. In order to getting used to the working environment one must get familiar with the group members. It will help to have a rough idea about how they work.

Distribute the work
It is a good idea to distribute the work to the group members according to their field of expertise. By this way, you will be able to make the most out of the group.

Be a good listener
Hear out what others have to say about approaching and solving the problem. Put their thoughts under serious consideration.

Respect others views
One has to learn to respect the views of other group members. You must understand that opinion differs from person to person. If you don’t agree with something, you will notify him in a nice way, not in an aggressive way. During the process of preparing myself for the ISSB test, I’ve seen many groups with qualified individuals, crashing down just because they don’t have the minimum respect for the opinions of the group members.

Put it all together
After hearing everyone’s views, you’ll have to put it all together and find out a way to overcome the obstacle. Remember, majority must be granted. If most of the group members want to approach the obstacle in a certain way, even if you don’t agree it, you’ll have to go with the plan of the group.

Inspire others
A little tap in the back or word of appreciation never hurt anyone. It helps to uplift the moral of the group and work better.

Deal with problems wisely
Problems might come while working in a group. In that case you must remain calm and observe the situation before taking any further steps.

By working in groups you have very less (if not nothing) to lose but everything to gain. You can share each other’s experiences and enrich your own. Working in groups also develops one’s leadership quality which has thousands of benefits. So go ahead, have a blast.

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To a Stronger Personality

Who doesn’t like to get a little attention? Will you feel good if you are ignored all the time? I know I won’t. Everybody likes a person with a pleasant yet strong personality. Having a great figure won’t help you in the long run if the personality doesn’t match you.

A set of qualities which makes a person different from another is called personality. Personality is a person’s own identity. It is the mixture of his behavior, temperament, emotions and all the other stuff. So there is no point in trying to fake it as it will reflect a weak personality. Being true and honest to own self and others is the key to a strong personality and being a “tolerable” person.

Personality can not be re-built, but it can be modified over time. Everybody has a strong personality- you just have to bring it out. I’m writing some points below which helped me to bring out the real ME. I think it might help you also.

First of all you’ll have to know yourself. You can not expect to get the respect from others if you don’t know and respect yourself. Study your behaviors and find out your strong sides and weak sides. Work on these things. As for example, if you are a liar, try to reduce the number of lies each day; if you are an artist, try to work on it and increase your creativity. I think this is the most important thing for having a strong personality.

Don’t try to impress others directly. Get away from one sided relations. If someone doesn’t pay a head to you at all, there’s no need to help him in each step of his life. But if someone shows you good will, give him double in return. Be supportive.

Don’t do the things you don’t like. And when you do something try to do it with all you heart.

From my own experience I can tell that people hate those who are not independent. If you can dare to help yourself, you will get help from others. But if you basically want others to help you, you will get no one.

Listen rather than talk. Those who talk too much are considered “persons with poor personality”. But don’t be afraid to give your opinion/feedback. Opinions must be constructive. NEVER interrupt others while they are talking. Look at the speaker’s eyes and pay attention while he is saying something. Do the same when you are the speaker.

A little sense of humor is a personality booster. You should know when to laugh and most importantly when not to laugh. You should never joke in a serious meeting/conversation.

Be yourself. You have all the tools needed for a stronger personality. Believe it.

If you find this post helpful please let me know. If you want to add a few points of your own which worked for you; I welcome you whole heartedly.

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