PJ Ponders?

Website Article writing can be an effective way to earn some extra money, get traffic to your  website or to build a greater on-line presence.

Below are some tips to get you motivated for Article Writing success:

1. Write like you speak. Think of a topic you experience a lot about. Animals, pets, parenting, anything. Write a paragraph about your chosen topic. Talk to your readers like you would talk to a close friend or family member. Repeat this procedure and soon you’ll feel more comfortable about writing.
2. Set a timer (a small kitchen timer works cracking) for 10 minutes and write everything you can think of about your chosen topic. Write as fast as you can so you can get as much information down as likely before the timer goes off. You don’t have to write full sentences. You can achieve a list instead. Use this list in creating content.
3. Learn to use the spell checker on your word processing system. The check spelling command is usually shown by an icon that has “abc” with a checkmark on it or beneath it. Using spell check will reduce spelling errors, One of the biggest distractions in reading copy.
4. When you must write thoughts about a topic you aren’t familiar with, One of the quickest ways to learn about a topic is to visit the children’s section of the local library. Books meant for kids sometimes condense the the majority fundamental parts of a topic into easily readable sections.
5. Just do it. Each Website Article begins with a blank sheet of paper or a blank screen. You can ever erase or delete after you have something on the paper.

The main thing is that you get started NOW! Don’t delay it or let your own ‘justifying’ excuses put you off. If you can take some time out to read my blog, then you can also take some time out to write. Just do it!

I don’t like making excuses, but I have been busy getting caught up in the day to day running of my core businesses, thus neglecting this blog. However, today, it’s time to move on and break the pattern!

Talking of Breaking The Pattern, do you make excuses and sabotage your best intentions and plans? I know that I am guilty of these actions sometimes. So, I thought I would give you my top tips to breaking procrastinating/negative patterns:

1) Interrupt the pattern – Yes, whatever your habitual pattern is, you can interrupt it. Give it a jolt by doing something completely random when you feel yourself going down that route.

2) Replace a habit/action with a more positive/productive one. Instead of just stopping or withdrawing something from from life, replace it with another more positive / productive/ fulfilling one.

3) Visualize a positive end result – Visualize, going through the motions in your mind, seeing your self succeed as a result breaking your procrastinating / negative pattern with a more beneficial positive pattern / action.

Above all, just like I have done here today, take action! Once you get the ball rolling for change, you will feel the power of momentum!

Today I am briefly going to talk about a taboo subject that many people try to avoid. This doesn’t have anything to do with making money and pertains more to the ‘spiritual’ side of this blog. This subject has been at the back of mind for a few days now, ever since I heard some bad news.

A few years back, I was asked to attend the wedding of a family friend and as they wanted to save money, I was also asked if I could supply and drive the wedding car (due to the brand/ model), which I was very happy to do. The groom, whom I had only met briefly once before (at a funeral strangely enough), was a very nice fellow, but appeared awkward in public, a little shy and withdrawn, some might say troubled.

On Tuesday of last week, I heard that this gentleman had decided to end his life by jumping in front of a high speed train. The news shocked me and I am not easily shocked or disturbed. I was also informed that this gentleman had tried unsuccessfully to end his life on two previous occasions in the last six months. Since his death, some people have asked his wife, why he was not supervised 24/7 and was able to commit the final act, considering his state of mind. However, the conclusion of this story and the reason why I am telling it to you is that we cannot stop or be responsible for those who have a death wish. We can try to persuade, support and be there for them, but ultimately, it is their choice whether they wish to live or jump ship early.  Although we may feel sad, those of us left behind should feel no guilt. RIP

Yes, we are at the end of January and how many of us have already forgotten our New Year’s Resolution? Statistics show that by this time of the year, a high percentage of those who made resolutions less than a month earlier have already abandon them. Therefore, what can we do and what actions can we take to make sure that we stay on track, throughout the year? Here are some suggestions:

1) Break you resolution down in to manageable chunks – Yes, one of my favorite subjects and life changing techniques, Kaisen.  Those who are familiar with Kaisen, know that small steps lead to big success. For example, if you want to lose weight, don’t suddenly put yourself on a restricted 1200 calorie a day diet or go for a 10 mile run, if you run out of breath walking around the block. Instead, create  a healthy balanced diet, where you reduce you calories slowly. Cut out most of your bad food habits, but do allow yourself a small treat as a reward. For example, if you normally eat half a pack of biscuits a day, cut this down to a few biscuits. Eventually the aim is to cut it down to one biscuit and then none (optional). Similarly, when exercising, walk at a steady pace for 15 mins every day for one week, then increase this to 30 minutes and so on. These are just examples of what you can do, but you get the idea in general and can apply it to anything. Slowly cut down the bad habits and slowly increase the good habits.

2) Choose one resolution/goal – Do not complicate things, by taking on too much. Give yourself one clear resolution/goal to complete, so you can fully concentrate on it without spreading yourself too thinly.

3) Write things down – Yes, record your progress in a journal and you will see how much you improve as your will power becomes stronger and you get closer your goal (i.e. Sticking to your resolution). Also, as you write, you will be imprinting your goal in to sub-concious mind.

4) Define what you really want to change – Be individual and do not feel obliged to follow the usual ‘routine’ resolutions that are in the media at the end of each year.

5)  Get some support – Ask you family and friends to hold you accountable and to help keep you on track. Every week, discuss about your progress.

I purposely went to bed at a reasonable time last night to get plently of rest because I wanted to get so much done today. Alas, I did not get a good night sleep and woke up around 4am. I shuffled around in bed for an hour, still awake, so I got up at 5am and went downstairs for some water. I decided to go back to bed around 6.15am for a power nap before my kids got up for school, thinking that it would put me straight.

After I had taken my kids to school, I was still fatigued and I knew that I would not be able to work on full power, so I went to bed again at 9am to chill out for a couple of hours. However, by the time I got up again and had a shower/coffee etc., half the day had gone down the pan! I thought about all the things that I needed to do and how little time I had left to do them in and felt myself getting more and more frustrated. Just the thought of wasting all that time was winding me up.

Needless to say the rest of the day did not go well, and in the end I got very little done. I missed a couple of time sensitive work deadlines too.

So, what is the moral of this story and why I am telling it to you? Well, I am not going to go in a lecture about time management and day planning (not on this occassion at least ; ). Some days, we just have to write off and live to fight another day. It is better to go with the flow, than try to swim up stream on occasions like these. As long a ‘challenging’ day does not become a daily event, you can afford to be a little blaze now and then.

So, when you get ‘one of those days’, sit back and take a look at the bigger picture. View things from a distance and don’t beat yourself up about it. We are only human and not machines, although we often forget this as we go through our frantic lives. Above all, take something positive from the situation and end the day on a high note. Tomorrow is a new day and we can get back on track in an instant.

Blue Monday (no, not the song by New Order) is cited by the media as the most depressing day of year. It all stems from the winter blues, post Xmas debt, utility bills piling up, etc.etc. However, is it a self fulfilling prophecy that manifests itself on the back of all the negative publicity given to it?

If you are feeling the winter blues on Blue Monday, here are somethings that you can do:

1) Move it – I know you may be fed up of me bleating on about it, but exercise and physical activity can really make a difference to how you feel. You will get your endorphins  flowing, which will them lead you to feel more positive about life.

2) Try something new and challenging – Divert your mind from dwelling on negative emotions. When you are challenged and concentrating on something unfamiliar, you won’t have time to be blue.

3) Be good to yourself – Don’t beat your self up and a little indulgence will not hurt you now and again.

4) Talk to someone – Don’t sit there and brood alone. Open up to a loved one or good friend. Tell them how you feel. Anyone who is a true friend will be glad to help you through.

5) Ditch the junk food – A wholesome nutritious balanced diet packed full of vitamins and minerals will perk you up.

In case you have never heard of it, here is a definition of the term:

affluenza, n. 1. The bloated, sluggish and unfulfilled feeling that results from efforts to keep up with the Joneses. 2. An epidemic of stress, overwork, waste and indebtedness caused by the pursuit of the American Dream.

After the usual holiday season over-consumption of material goods, food and drink, do you feel unwell? Are you suffering from Affluenza? You may not even know that you are suffering from it or you may  get a credit card bill or bank statement at the end of the month that will put you in to a state of Affluenza. You may have had Affluenza for many years, but have lived with it in your pursuit of the American Dream, even if you are not American. Bigger, better faster, more, I want it all and I want it now, the cliche list goes on.

We feel pressure all around us from the media, our peers and  loved ones  to consume more and show that we have achieved through material wealth. Even when the chips are down and recession is all around, it is very easy to get that little piece of rectangular plastic out to make us feel better and give us an instant hit! It beats any clinical drug and sends us in to an immediate state of endorphin ecstasy.

So, in conclusion,  if you are feeling the affects of Affluenza, take a closer look at your life and define what you really value, not what your monthly glossy lifestyle magazine or neibour values. If your consumer lifestyle has finally worn you down, change your direction. There is nothing wrong with having some nice things, but measure your need before you buy or commit to a purchase for that instant endorphin hit.  Finally, define your purpose in life. When you have an ultimate goal/purpose, other distractions will melt away.

Continuing on the New Year New You theme, here are some tips  to help move you closer to your goals. If you do not have any goals, take some time out to think about what you really want to do or achieve in your life. It doesn’t have to be a mammoth goal or project and it can related to any subject, not just finance and career. Just take a few ‘Kaisen’ steps towards your goal every day and you will achieve

• Focus on what you really want – Think about what you would like to change or achieve in your life right now. Write a list of everything and choose the two most important goals. Be honest and visualize what your life would be like this time next year if you do not take action to change your life immediately. Now visualize what your life will be like if you do take action to change your life and what it will feel like to achieve your most important goals. Even write down the positive benefits, so that your sub-concious mind gets the message about where you want to go.

• Play by your own rules, not another persons – Many of us worry about what other people think and will stop short of trying to change because of these limiting thoughts. Be good to yourself and focus on what you really want, even if it means having to change the dynamics of a relationship with a loved one or friend. This is your life, not theirs.
• Be honest with yourself – Self denial is one of the biggest killers of the human spirit and leads many people never to achieve their life’s desires or make even the most basic of changes. Take yourself out of the comfort zone if you are stuck in a rut. Remember, short term pain will lead to long term gain in this instance.  For example, if smoking is slowly killing you and you are coughing your guts up everyday, make a slow ‘Kaisen’ step to eliminating this habit, such as buying one less pack of cigarettes a week. At the same time, reward yourself with a positive action to balance your sacrifice (e.g. Put the money saved towards a family day out and imagine how great the day will be).

The main message is that you can and you will achieve, if you set you mind to it. Do it now!

I hope that you had a great holiday season and are ready to get back on the ball in 2010, whatever you do in life.

Many of us, especially in the western world, get overloaded at this time of year, leading up to the holidays. So, when we actually stop to rest, we are physically and mentally exhausted. This can lead to minor illnesses, such as colds and flu related symptoms. It can also leave us pretty run down in general. Therefore, we do not always enjoy the holiday season and can spend most of it in bed.

The New Year can be a great time for new beginnings and is also a great time to concentrate on you. Yes you! I do not mean at a vanity level, but at a mental, physical and spiritual level. You have to focus on yourself first, before you can help or be of use to anyone else. If you feel good, you can take on the world!

Here are my top tips to focus on for creating a new improved you:

1) Do more exercise! Yes the old cliché, but it is singularly the most important thing you can do for yourself. Improved health leads to better mental stability and outlook. This does not mean that you run a marathon by April this year. However, just taking small ‘kaisen’ steps (see one my previous posts) in an activity that you love, will benefit you greatly. Just start walking for 15 minutes, 3 times a week. Then build up the walking time as you get more confident, week after week. If walking isn’t your thing, try swimming or light cycling. If you are more of a social animal, join an exercise class (yoga, pilates, step etc), choosing the level that is appropriate for you. Remember, start small and increase your workload as you get fitter and more confident. Seek your doctor’s approval, if you haven’t exercised for a while.

2) Feel gratitude for what you have in life and what you have achieved. You may be reading this and thinking, what the hell is this guy talking about, I have nothing to be grateful for, my life sucks! However, we all can be grateful for the gift of life, the air we breathe, the beautiful world that we live in and the food that we eat. By the very fact that you are reading this blog means that you can read, you have had an education of some kind and that you have access to the Internet, so cannot be that bad off (on a relative worldwide level), even if you have to access the Internet via a public facility. You see, what I am getting at is that we all can be grateful for something and probably many things, if we contemplate a little bit. You do not have to be the richest person in the graveyard to have felt gratitude. Being grateful has nothing to do with material wealth. Try to view your life from a ‘glass half full’ position than from a ‘glass half empty’ position. Be grateful for what you have now, your family, spouse, children friends, health, mind, body. The list goes on. We all have something to be grateful for.

3) Do some mental puzzles to keep the mind active! Many people often forget about the brain when they think of exercise. They generally focus on the external, physically body. However, just like the physical body, the brain needs to be exercised and stimulated on a regular basis. Therefore, try doing some mental puzzles or  a crossword. If you can stretch to purchasing a nintendo ds, there are some great games that go under the title of ‘Brain Training’. These are fantastic programmes, especially designed to give your mind a work out, stimulating all areas, logic and creative. If you have children, you can always borrow their ds and just buy the software. Finally, there are also some great memory improvement books around. The processes used to improve your memory also stimulate and exercise the brain, so you can get two benefits in one action.

Bye for now. Chat with you again, soon!

This time of year is a good time to begin the process of change. Out with the old and in with the new. Consequently, many of us make New Year Resolutions. Unfortunately, by the end of January, a high percentage of us have already returned to our old ways and simply can’t be bothered to continue with the resolutions that we made less than 1 month earlier.  Here is a list of practical ways that will help you to plan your route to successfully accomplishing your New Years Resolutions:

1) Keep you resolution list low. Concentrate on ‘quality’ not ‘quantity’, when you are compiling your New Years Resolutions list. Instead of list of 20 things, for example, concentrate on a handful, maybe 2 or 3 at the most that are achievable. This way, you are more likely to accomplish or stick with your resolutions.plish, focused

2) Funnel you resolution list. Out of your total sum of resolutions, prioritize them in numerical order, 1, 2, 3 etc. Number 1 on your list should be the resolution that you most want to achieve and so on.

3) Mind map each resolution. Create a Mind Map of each resolution to come up with create ways to stay on track and to help you accomplish your goals/resolutions.

4) Reward yourself. As you complete each stage of your journey towards achieving your resolution, reward yourself with a small action. This small action should not be detrimental to the completion of your goal/resolution, such as eating a donut, if you have just lost a few pounds, for example. However, your reward must be mean something to you.

5) Get your family, friends and loved ones on-board. If possible, get some kind of support system in place via your family, friends, loved ones or even a social network website. It will make accomplishing your resolution/goal much easier.

Stay focused and go for it. You can do it!