Steve Pavlina: How to Make Money From Your Blog

I have just spent the past half an hour reading the most amazing blog post.
Even though it was written seven years ago, this monster sized post had me glued right up until the end as if it was the latest bestseller from the New York Times list.

The title? How to Make Money From Your Blog.

Steve Pavlina calls his site Personal Development For Smart People and I really feel like this post has opened my eyes to the amazing possibilities which are out there. I'm sure I'll be going back to check out his other posts.

Why?

I don't know, I can't put my finger on it for the moment, but Steve has a particular style of no-nonsense straight-talking which seems to cut through the rest of the rubbish which is out there and bring you the information exactly as it is.

His underlying message seems to be, 'know what you want and be true to yourself'. He starts by asking, 'are you 100% satisfied with making money from your blog at all?' This makes sense because in case anyone has any sort of qualms about it, then they will subconsciously self-sabotage at every stage to set themselves up for a fall.

I'm sure I'm not the only one to have noticed this, and I feel a little like the cheerleader who arrives when the game is over but still insists on doing the whole routine, but I wanted to bring this new information to my readers.

It is very refreshing to find something like this.

I like that. Thanks Steve.

How to Stop Feeling Overwhelmed by the Internet

Twitter
Facebook
Pinterest
Instagram
LinkedIn
Plurk
Klout
StumbleUpon
Reddit
YouTube

It is so easy to feel completely overwhelmed by the internet. And everyday there seems to be a new website which 'everyone has known about for ages' but which you have never even heard of.

Social media has its own set of sites - if you ever visit a page which has all the social media icons, there can be twenty to thirty different little buttons. Then there are spin offs of the main sites which add value such as Tweetdeck.com, SocialOomph.com, Twitpic.com, Justunfollow.com for Twitter.

Today was the first time I visited Tweetdeck.

Yes, I know.

I've heard that it existed for a long time, but never went on it before. You can join and then allow your twitter account to have access and you see all the Twitter services laid out side by side. Very useful if you need to interact with a lot of people quickly.

Following on from there, SocialOomph.com promises a lot such as automated tweets and JustUnfollow.com lets you find out who follows you and who has unfollowed you.

It is so easy to get bogged down with the minutiae and to go off on a tangent and forget why you switched the computer on.

Facebook has its own timesucking properties with all the thousands of games and apps.

And for a blogger there is no end to what to do, blog, find links, write guest posts.

But the fact is, that these time wasters are excellent at making you think that you are extremely busy, spending a lot of time being productive. Hours can go by in the blink of an eye as computer time runs at a very different speed to real-world time. Einstein would have very quickly developed another theory about time and relativity in the real world compared to the virtual world.

The way to survive this, is to take it for what it is - a series of entertaining diversions which do not really mean as much as you think.

Although it feels like there is a vast mountain of information out there which needs sifting for the golden nuggets, hasn't there always been a huge tranche of knowledge? The big difference now is that it is possible to see exactly what you don't know. It is that ocean of the unknown which lurks just at the edge of your consciousness - or is a Google click away! Remember when they used to show you how many millions of pages of results they had?

The truth is, even if someone did nothing but read stuff online for their whole life, they would still not be able to get through a fraction of the everything there is.

Just understand that there will always be information and knowledge there that it will not be possible to examine in as great detail as you would like. Be careful to prioritise your time so that the real jobs get done and swimming in the information soup is minimised to downtime only.

While some people are very good at blinkering themselves so that they get on with their lives, others are pulled in so many directions that they eventually grind to a standstill.

If you are on a Mac, then Anti Social is an app which blocks off the social media parts of the internet for as long as you want.

Focus Writer is a great app for writers and allows them to focus on writing, with timers and to-do lists factored in to a familiar looking app.

However to do it, the main emphasis is on how well you can control yourself and how well you can narrow your focus down to what you want to achieve.

The people who can do this will be the successful ones in the unfocused years to come.

6 Ways to help you revise

It is that time of year again when the exams are looming and the books have been piled up, ready to study.

Here are a few tips to help all you hard working students make the most of the study time which is left.

Find out as much as you can about the test

Ask your teachers questions! It can only go one of two ways: Either they will tell you how many questions will be in the test and what type, or they won't.

If there will be many short answer or MCQ type questions, then a general knowledge of the whole subject is important, whereas if there will be more essay-type questions, then an in-depth knowledge of the topics will be better.

Other things to find out are:

• How long will each test last?
• How many questions?
• Will all the topics be covered equally?
• Will practicals be included in the test or simply theory?
• Are past papers available?

Plan your work

Armed with a list of topics for each subject, quickly skim over the notes to make sure that they are complete. If not, use text books, ask your teacher or get together with friends to compare notes.

Write a list of the main topics for each subject and order them into levels of difficulty. Write the one you find more difficult to master at the top. These are the topics that you will tackle first.

Plan your time

Next work out how much time you have to revise before the exams start. Don't forget to schedule in days between separate exams.

If you do not have much time left, then use your text books to skim over the main points. Write bullet point lists and learn the main facts. Your aim here is to cover a lot of material quickly so that you will be able to answer a large number of questions reasonably well.

For essay questions, use your time to answer specific questions. Time yourself writing out an answer to an essay question so that you get a feel for how long it takes.

If you have a reasonable amount of time left, then plan to cover all the topics a couple of times. Read through your notes, make bullet point lists or flash cards. On the next read through, ask questions as you read the text. Why did Henry VII do that? How would a person digest protein? What are the geographical features of coastal erosion?

Reading your notes critically will get you thinking differently about the text - not just some words to memorise, but information to know.

Finally, test yourself. It is good if you can do this with a study partner. Close the book and see how much you remember.

Spread the work out

Make a study timetable to help spread out the work. Don't learn the same information over and over again. Move forward. The point of studying the harder stuff first is so that your revision gets easier and you may even have things to look forward to towards the end.

Also don't spend too much time on one topic. If it is a general exam, then you should get a higher mark if you know a lot about most of the topics. Only learning one thing thoroughly is risky and if that topic is not even covered in the exam then you are stuck.

Plan some downtime

Do not forget to schedule in plenty of breaks and downtime. Don't forget meals and drink plenty of water while you study.

If your timetable is not too strict then you have more of a chance of sticking to it. Have lots of breaks, but make sure that you come back after the breaks are over.

Treat yourself after every study period. It can be anything: 5 minutes on your favourite game or website, a snack, a chat to a friend, anything to look forward to when you have finished the work.

Get some sleep!

Finally, relax!
Don't stress out too much
Sleep when you are supposed to.
You can only do so much, take it in short easy steps and keep a note of how much you have done to motivate yourself to do more.
You know, it could be an enjoyable experience if you do it right!

Don't do this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j5mqbKs1PoI

5 Ways To Survive With A Toddler At Home

Ah Toddlers, you've got to love them!

For anyone who does not know what a toddler is, they are a child who is just beginning to walk between 1 and 3 years old.

If you spend everyday at home with a little child then you know how rewarding, annoying, exhilarating and stressful it can be - all at the same time.


Their constant energy can be so tiring, and yet their ideas and questions and just plain unashamed curiosity about everything can open your eyes to a brand new world.



1.     TALK to your toddler. Whether you are washing up, doing household chores, or working from home, chat to your toddler and let them know how things are going. Praise them for their actions, let them know that you are proud. Keep an easy-going dialogue going. This way they are more inclined to talk to you. Which means that they are more likely to discuss it with you if they are planning to turn the living room into a swimming pool that day.

2.     Schedule, plan, timetable. Let your toddler know what is going to happen that day.
Tell them when they will have a snack, when they will sleep, when you will go to the park. Having a gaping void of time stretching out in front of you is not good for anyone, let them know that things are going to happen. Even better if you can plan a week: We always go shopping on Tuesdays, we always go to the library on Wednesdays. They learn about time, and days and weeks. But you have to be able to cope with constantly telling them which day it is or what time it is.

3.     Go Out At Least Once A Day. Take them to a park or a soft play area or a children's group. It breaks your day up and makes you get changed and get ready to go out too. You both get exercise and most importantly, all that energy finds a release outside rather than in your house, and on your walls and furniture.

4.    Let Your Toddler Help You. Your life can either be a relentless struggle against time, with you trying to get a stack of things done while  wrestling with your toddler's demands, or it can be more of an interaction. Most children love the vacuum cleaner, for example, once they get over the noise. So let them hoover. Let them join in with making their own lunch. Set out the separate things on the table and let them put everything together on their plate. There must be hundreds of ways that they can 'help' you. It makes them feel important and wanted and brings out that totally cute, sincere side of them which is so enchanting.

5.   Set Strict Boundaries. All children benefit from knowing what they can do and knowing what they can't. You know that they are constantly pushing to see if they can get things their way. If you say they can snack at 10am, they will try to get something at 9.30.
Interestingly, psychologists have shownt that once they know that pushing absolutely will not work, they move on. Don't be a pushover. If you say something, stick to it. No-one gets confused or gets mixed messages and everyone should be happy. Most of the time.

Dealing with a little child all day can be exhausting. You will not win every day. Somedays you will just end up crawling around on your hands and knees playing pirates, but keep good timetables and do what you say, when you say you will and hopefully, things should be fine.

Today's blog post is a look forward to the future by a visit to the past:

Children Chapter IV
by Khalil Gibran


And a woman who held a babe against her bosom said, "Speak to us of Children."

And he said:
Your children are not your children.
They are the sons and daughters of Life's longing for itself.
They come through you but not from you,
And though they are with you, yet they belong not to you.
You may give them your love but not your thoughts.
For they have their own thoughts.

You may house their bodies but not their souls,
For their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow, which you cannot visit, not even in your dreams.
You may strive to be like them, but seek not to make them like you.
For life goes not backward nor tarries with yesterday.

You are the bows from which your children as living arrows are sent forth.
The archer sees the mark upon the path of the infinite, and He bends you with His might that His arrows may go swift and far.

Let your bending in the archer's hand be for gladness;
For even as he loves the arrow that flies, so He loves also the bow that is stable.