Sometimes inspiration comes when it’s least expected. Like when a stranger in a bookstore asks you a question and it strikes your core. In fact, that’s the story behind this post.
As an attempt to confront social anxiety and reach out to others, I approached a stranger and asked a blogging related question.
My question: “What do you like to read on blogs? I’m a blogger and I’m considering different topics to write about.”
Reply: “What brings fire to your blood? Write about that.”
That response hit me hard. I began to wonder about not only my answer, but also others’ answers.
And so I contacted some of my fellow bloggers and asked,
Here are their answers. I’ll leave you to ponder the question as you read on.
Dave Ursillo of daveursillo.com
“Living with purpose and passion brings fire to my blood. I harness these strengths through my writing, and more specifically, through writing for others. I strive to share positive messages that blow-minds and inspire people to live happy, grateful and driven lives–and that really makes me feel alive, too.
Contributing to the lives of others’ in these ways makes me feel calmed but highly motivated, peaceful but fired up, strong but humble. In short, living “for others” provides me with a very humble and purposeful sense of Being.”
Ben Lang of epiclaunch.com
“I’m passionate about running an online community. I love hearing people’s feedback and ideas which always brings fire to my blood.”
Alan Perlman of the9to5alternative.com
“Stepping outside of my comfort zone. Whether that’s intellectual, cultural, physical, etc. — anytime I’m exposed to something new, something hard and challenging, something that forces me to grow, to develop, to adapt, that’s what brings fire to my blood. It can be training for a marathon, or traveling to a new country, or something as simple as a new relationship, a new food or an interesting book that tweaks the way I think about a subject. Embracing the uncomfortable, that’s fire.”
Christian Hollingsworth of smartboydesigns.com
“The things that bring fire to my blood are opportunities where I am able to produce, promote and/or design change. In whatever capacity or venture that might be. Some examples in my life have been the participation in music productions, blogging, writing, drawing, public speaking & my own personal growth and development. All these things, and more, are receptacles of change. I believe these thoughts go right along with your original question. Fire. Fire is medium by which change is produced. Tremendous heat from a fire has the power to mold and manipulate even the strongest of materials: metal. By which beautiful pieces of artwork are created, bridges built and homes strengthened. I seek always, to have a degree of “fire” within in my soul for all things I dedicate my time to.”
David of almostbohemian.com
“One day when I’m long and gone, I’d like my legacy to be one that incites excitement in people. That’s pretty much it. I’d like to be the type of envy that inspires others. I’ve already discovered that by living a life that excites me, I always feel good. So what brings fire to my blood? Doing what I love in that moment. It could be surfing, rebuilding old motorcycles, traveling, reading Twain, or learning Italian. However my mood strikes, I run with it. Feed that passion. It’s what makes me come alive.”
JK Allen of hustlersnotebook.com
“Helping others brings fire to my blood. One way I do that is through blogging, which offers me another venue to serve others. Through The Hustler’s Notebook I’m able to share lessons, in hopes to positively impact others. ”
Jacob Sokol of sensophy.com
“Anytime that I step outta my comfort zone and shut that “don’t do it” part of my monkey-mind up, I become fully alive. Whether its starting a conversation with a beautiful women, being radically transparent about my struggles on Sensophy, reaching out to my heroes, or jumping outta an airplane 13,000 feet above ground – I’m all about it.
Our lives expand or shrink in direct proportion to our comfort zones. So if you’re looking for a fail-proof way to be bored and miserable in life – value comfort. However if you’re looking to be fully alive with blood boiling like volcanic lava liquid, BECOME COMFORTABLE BEING UNCOMFORTABLE!”
Oni of youngprepro.com
“The one major thing that brings fire to my blood is results – it doesn’t matter if the result is directly from me or from someone I so much respect I feel more inspired to do more. When I put some efforts into optimizing my blog posts for the search engine and I see a 30% increase in traffic I become motivated to achieve more. When I income increases by 40% in one month I become inspired to achieve more. When I see the earnings/traffic of my favorite blogger double in one month I see the possibilities of me achieving similar results and I do my best to make sure I succeed.”
This is a great question because it can help you prioritize.
Are you pursuing your passions or letting time slip away?
Note: If you’d like to be included in this interview series and did not receive an invite, you can send your reply via the contact form on this blog or email sean{at}vunty.com Please keep your response under 300 words.
Looking for a job? I’ve been there. The first month of last summer, I was unemployed after my high school graduation. I searched job board websites day-in and day-out. Admittedly, I started getting into a bad habit of laziness. I would think to myself, “No luck today, maybe I’ll have better luck tomorrow”. I would wait day after day without finding anything.
I had a very short term mindset at the time. I was solely thinking about finding summer work. I wanted to make money so I could add to my college savings. My attitude became very problematic; since I was only thinking about the short term, I completely ignored any long-term opportunities. I was not willing to make any kind of an effort on a long-term project.
I continued searching the job boards and my productivity hit an all-time low. Finally, towards the end of the summer, I began to realize that if I couldn’t find a job, I could always create one. Since I couldn’t find an opening on the market for the summer, I decided to make myself a job. That’s right, I produced a job out of thin air. I freelanced to clients and ended up earning over $1000 that summer.
Lesson: Don’t just do what’s easy. It’s easy to search the job boards and complain. The truth is, there are plenty of moneymaking opportunities available, as long as your head’s in the right place.
Tip: Think about doing something purposeful.
Once I changed my mindset, I started working on an ebook(to be released soon) and freelanced. Working for myself was actually very rewarding. I was able to decide a lot on my own: my hours, my pay, and my tasks. But most importantly, I allowed myself room to develop in whatever way I saw fit. Instead of following outside guidelines, I followed my own.
My Suggestion: Can’t find a job? Create one.
Time to Stop Talking and Start Doing
Recently, with the help of many people around me, I honestly admitted to myself that it’s time for me to stop talking and start doing. Let me explain.
Just the other day, my friend Rakeen and I made a trip to the bookstore in order to brainstorm ideas for Vunty and the direction of the blog. As I was suggesting ideas in one of the book aisles, Rakeen slowed me down, and asked, “Wait a minute, are you actually going to do any of the things you’re mentioning?” It was a great question. I then started asking myself, among the numerous ideas I had, which of these would I actually attempt? I began to realize that there were many I probably would not even try. Some of them seemed too fantastical or required a skill I did not possess. But the main obstacle to my development was the discomfort of not knowing where an idea could lead me. I felt too attached to my present state, and I feared for what could happen if I took a leap into the unknown.
Leaving My Comfort Zone
Rakeen then challenged me further saying, “If you really want to change, you have to do something that will make you uncomfortable.” Rakeen is right. The most uncomfortable area is where I have the most room to grow. The validity and value of the point closely resonated with me. I knew it on an intellectual level, but reminders are helpful. I then started to really ask myself, am I making attempts to leave my comfort zone on a consistent basis? Because where I am too afraid to venture is where I have the most room to grow. For example, I have always struggled with being social. Making conversation does not come easy to me. Upon meeting new people I seem to shy away, hiding my personality, afraid of God knows what. I would certainly like to work on developing a level of comfort in social situations, but I can no longer continue just talking about it. Now it is time for me to start “doing”. I will not delay this leap into the uncomfortable, not only for personal reasons but also for the growth of this blog. What would a personal development blog be without my being proactive about my development, despite feeling discomfort? I mean, that is the purpose of a personal development blog, right? To change yourself in a drastic way, actually do something, and then share how you did it with your readers? So at the very least, this is motivated by my blogging pursuits.
But of course, I’m doing this for personal reasons too. Thinking back on my personal journey with social anxiety, it is as if I had been a caterpillar who formed a cocoon. As other caterpillars around me started to come out of their cocoons, I remained complacent and tried to find new ways of improving my habitat from the inside. However, in time, other butterflies noticed I was staying behind and they wanted me to join them outside. Instead of waiting any longer, they decided to help me depart from my cozy environment. As I felt the effects of their actions on my cocoon, it began to hit me; there had been numerous occurrences in which other butterflies had also tried to help me leave my comfortable cocoon. Eventually, in spite of the great strength of my efforts, the numerous bumps catalyzed the natural process that my fear had been delaying. And so, with this post, I encourage myself to stop talking about improving, and start actually doing it. Even if that means I will be forced out of my comfort zone. Because when I choose to leave behind my comfy little cocoon, I will be able to join the other butterflies, floating happily along and confidently communicating my unique nature.
But this post would not be complete without an anecdote about my leap into the unknown. Without an anecdote, this post would just be more talk and no walk. And so, my friend Rakeen and I made a trip back to the bookstore. And again, he challenged me to push myself out of my comfort zone. That day, right then and there. No more excuses or maybe laters. He nudged me along saying, “I want you to go find someone in this store right now and talk to them.” He even gave me a line I could use to start a conversation. As he stood there suggesting what I was to say, my feelings of anxiety began to build in my stomach. I began to run through the future scenario in my mind, already predicting how the conversation would go. The interesting part was that I began making excuses for why I couldn’t go and talk to someone. I reasoned with myself, saying, “they don’t want to talk to you; people at the bookstore don’t want to be bothered, they’re here to find information and you shouldn’t interrupt them.” Looking back on this experience, it now seems as though I was justifying my anxiety. Maybe there was a small bit of truth to the statement that these people didn’t want to be bothered, but if that was the case, they could just tell me.
The feelings of dread in my stomach only got worse and worse (as you may know, social anxiety often arouses physiological reactions). I continued to relent and resist, saying “No. I won’t go talk to strangers, that would be weird.” But with Rakeen’s help and with some thought, I was able to more and more clearly perceive that I was merely labeling the situation as weird, when it really wasn’t. How could an action be weird, in and of itself? It cannot. As with many other things in life, it was my mindset or belief about the action that was determining how I perceived it. Now that I could reason that the action itself wasn’t weird, I felt a little more comfortable with the idea of talking to strangers, but still not completely. Let me assure you, social anxiety is not so simple that it may be conquered on the first attempt.
Baby Steps in the Right Direction
After ten minutes or so of thinking it over in my mind some more, my friend and I made an agreement. He would go with me to approach and talk to a stranger. We picked out someone in the store, and went to ask the man a question. We agreed upon asking a neutral question and something we were authentically interested in knowing. My friend and I approached the gentleman and Rakeen started off by asking, “Of the material you read in the store, how would you feel about reading it on a blog?” He then created some space for me to join in on the conversation and I asked a question. The deed was done. My first baby step (saying a few words to a stranger at a bookstore) was completed. I still didn’t feel so good about the idea of talking to strangers though. After another ten minutes or so, my friend and I then decided that we must try again, and this time I must be the one who starts the conversation. So after much struggling, I agreed. We approached another stranger, person number two, and asked him the same question. Except this time, I was the one who initiated the conversation. Even after this second attempt, I didn’t feel excellent. I felt as though I was still too dependent, and that truly I should be able to speak for myself. And yet, I was too frightened to approach a stranger entirely on my own. Was this a rational thought process? No. But this was honestly how I felt. So we left the bookstore, and as we walked out into the parking lot to leave, I became upset with myself for my inability to approach a stranger.
Accepting my feelings of regret, I came to realize that I should be proud of myself for making the first few steps in the right direction. The negative feelings I had were a benevolent part of the growth process. They were proof that I truly wanted to overcome my anxiety. I decided it was better that I felt upset rather than being merely apathetic towards the process. Then I acknowledged the two steps I had made and felt proud. Proud that I was working toward something, and made some steps in the right direction. Proud that I set my priorities and put first things first. Because I know that if I continue doing this on a consistent basis, I will be able to develop a habit of being more social.
1. A Blog is for The Long Term
Vunty has now been live on the Internet for over a year. One of the most important lessons I have learned over the past year is the importance of having a long term view for your blog. Knowing that you may not see results immediately, it will be easier for you to put more work and dedication into it. Be confident that you will see results in the long run, even though your posts may take a lot of time and effort to write. This paradigm shift will greatly affect your blogging attitude and consequently, the way your blog will develop. For example, you may be willing to write more guest posts, knowing that you will have plenty of post ideas for your own blog in the future.
Blogging takes patience and practice. When I first started Vunty, I was very excited and hoped to see results quickly. Now I realize how important it is to remain patient and continue with my own plan of action, regardless of what may appear to be the case over the short term. Be patient with the results you are seeing. Do not expect success overnight. This is perhaps one of the most crucial points that I wish I had fully realized when I began this blog. Blogging takes time and effort. It takes time to gain knowledge of what works and what doesn’t work. It takes time to increase your following. It takes time to become a better blogger. It is true that in one summer, I was able to successfully earn over $1000 by launching my services to clients through this blog. At the same time, blogging takes a continuous and concentrated effort. If you let your blog sit and do not work on it, you will not see the results that you would like. Also, writing each and every post takes more time than you might think. A good post will likely require a few hours of research, brainstorming, writing and editing. In a way, a blog is like a long term investment. Each and every hour that you commit to your blog, the more you can expect to improve; at least that’s how I like to think of it. With this in mind, I am able to remain focused and on track with how I spend my time working on Vunty. Try not to become too focused on short term gains or monetary incentives; blog about what’s important to you and let your passion shine through in each post. As I look back on this blog, I hope to stay true to my values. If I can achieve this while developing and sharing my findings, I am confident it will be worth all the hard work and effort.
Little by little, I improve upon this blog and add posts. Day-by-day improvement is the key to long term success. I must continue reading other blogs, and increasing my knowledge of the blogosphere. Along with this, I must continue working diligently to achieve my goals. At the very least, I will be able to share my progress as I continue learning. I hope my readers will stick with me on my journey, as I help them grow along with me. This is part of the fun of blogging: watching yourself grow into a better writer, thinker, planner, designer, entrepreneur etc. It is part of your development as a person too, which is why blog tips and personal development fit together well as the theme of this blog 
2. The Importance of Planning Your Blog
My next point results from the first. Since your blog is for the long term, you want to plan it out. Before you put your blog out there on the Internet, it is a good idea to have at least twenty-five posts already written. With posts already written, you can plan a post release schedule as you continue working on new ones. That way, you’ll continuously have posts being added to your blog and it will never go stagnant. Make sure you have ideas for twenty-five pillar articles at the minimum.
Also, it would be wise to plan out twenty-five guest posts to send to other reputable blogs in your niche. You’ll be able to start building your name and reputation with this approach. And from the start, you can hope to have a decent amount of traffic for your new blog. Continue sending guest posts to other blogs as your blog develops. Keep in mind, ads are not the best source of income in today’s blogging world. Starting off with Vunty, I knew about different monetization methods, but I hadn’t fully planned out my strategy. Over time, as I read more and more, I realized that relying on ads as a major source of income from this blog was not a good idea. I then realized that it would be much more effective to offer a product or a service. At the same time, I came to realize the services I could offer my readers and also began developing a product. Refer to my post How to Make One Million Dollars From Your Blog for more ideas on how you can monetize your blog.
3. The Importance of Making Connections
When you first start your blog, it is crucial that you seek other bloggers in your niche in order to make connections with them. Comment on their blog, connect on social media platforms, send them guest posts, write about their posts on your blog, email them, etc. The important thing is that you develop lasting relationships with other bloggers in your niche. As time goes on, you can share each other’s posts to your readers. Since those readers are subscribed to a blog in the same area, they will likely be interested in your content! And the same is true vice versa. As you can see, making connections is very important. It will help you to create a buzz, build authority, and gain a lasting following. So I encourage you to reach out and establish your place in your niche. Similarly, I have found that guest posts are one of the most effective ways to get traffic to a new blog. That is why guest posting is second on my blogging priority list (second only to writing posts for Vunty).
If you truly wish to have success with your blog, then take it seriously. Maybe ask yourself: If this blog was a business, what would I do to improve its performance? Am I providing excellent content or service to my customers (audience)? How can I improve this?
Don’t get me wrong. After all is said and done, blogging is a very rewarding activity. It’s great to be able to look back on your progress and watch it grow. As a student, it is fun for me to watch Vunty progress, as I simultaneously develop in my studies. Vunty is almost like an experiment, I can make minor tweaks and changes while observing the effects of those tweaks on its success.
And of course, I’m still learning a lot about blogging. I’m sure there will be more for me to add to this list, and I’ll continue writing posts with tips as I learn more and more.I hope this post encourages you to stick with blogging for the long term and that my insights are helpful.
It’s about time for a new post on this blog, or perhaps a series of posts that will chronicle my spiritual growth over the past few months. Spiritual growth is always an interesting topic. I feel that I have gone through a process of taking in new ideas and sorting them out, almost like sifting sand through a sifter; letting only the big pieces remain. There was one monumental shift that I experienced. It was an epiphany, or perhaps a spiritual realization, that I had been in a place where I was trying to control my destiny in life. I had acted like I was a god, able to determine my own future. A being, capable of anything of which he deemed desirable. I had presupposed all power. I had gone beyond my means. My assumptions? False. My beliefs were sponsored by a fear. A fear that I could not control my own destiny.
So I acted, pretended, tricked myself into believing that I could control my future. It is important to realize the limits of our abilities. This is not to say that we are not always improving and growing. But there are some things that we have no control over in our lives; there are some things we must leave up to Divinity. And this is one of the main realizations I had during my Freshman year at college. Whether we like it or not, we cannot have complete control over everything aspect of our lives. Also during Freshman year, I became more reflective on what is real in this world. We live in a very technologically oriented society. Each and every day, there are new websites built, games made, Facebook profiles updated, tweets, technological products manufactured etc. This is not to say that technology is inherently a bad thing. However, it is important that we caution ourselves against living an illusion. In other words, to caution against becoming so consumed by technology that we lose track of what is revealed to us by nature as the nature of our reality. We are truly forced to live a balance between technology and our reality as humans. Perhaps this is what Heidegger wanted to remind us in “Being and Time”. “Being and Time” is Heidegger’s plea to return to the question of the nature of Being. In a very basic summary, Heidegger cautions philosophers against oversimplifying the definition of Being. One way to think of it, is that to be able to ask a question, shows that Being is. Heidegger explains that Being is not an entity, but allows for entities to exist. Heidegger had an amazement with the nature of reality and did not take reality itself for granted. When we return to this question, we are able to return to the wonder and awe of the nature of reality. We develop an awareness that we are not in control of Being, but comprehend its power in our lives.
I have acquired a simple calming practice that works very well so I’d like to share it.
To begin, close your eyes and be still. Take a few moments to let your thoughts subside and let go of any tension in your body. Start to take a few breaths in through your nose and feel your diaphragm expand with air each time you breath in. It is not necessary to take real deep breaths, just focus on your breathing. Each time you exhale, be aware of your breath as it slowly leaves your body. Imagine any stress leaving you as the air escapes.
It’s as easy as that.
Repeat this process until you feel fully calmed.
Some of my favorite quotes on breathing…
“When the breath wanders the mind also is unsteady. But when the breath is calmed the mind too will be still, and the yogi achieves long life. Therefore, one should learn to control the breath.” ~Svatmarama, Hatha Yoga Pradipika
“Focusing on the act of breathing clears the mind of all daily distractions and clears our energy enabling us to better connect with the Spirit within.” ~Author Unknown
“I took a deep breath and listened to the old bray of my heart: I am, I am, I am.” ~Sylvia Plath
This is a follow-up to a question about how to get your blog listed on Google Trends. You may also want to read my post How to Make Money Using Google Trends.
Where do the Google Trends Blog Results Come From?
When you do a search on Google Trends, the blogs listed under “Blog Posts” are the most relevant blogs for the search terms found in the Google Blog Search Engine. The Google Blog Search Engine is a search engine specifically for blogs and is separate from Google Web Search.
Thus, your blog could be indexed and visible on Google Web Search regardless of whether or not it is picked up by as a blog and included in the Blog Search Engine.
How To Get Your Blog Included in The Google Blog Search Index
Manually Ping It
If your blog is not appearing in the Google Blog Search Index you can manually ping it here.
Automatically Ping It
If you’re using WordPress and you want to automatically ping Google Blog Search Engine every time you update your blog, you can simply add http://blogsearch.google.com/ping/RPC2 to the “Update Services” area in WordPress. To find the “Update Services” area in your WordPress Dashboard, go to Settings>>Writing and scroll down to “Update Services”. You should see http://rpc.pingomatic.com already listed there.
If you’re not using WordPress, read more about Google Blog Search Pinging Service API.
Other Tips For Good Indexing
Add content to your blog on a regular basis
Also, keep in mind Google Trends will display the most relevant blog results. Your blog could be included in the blog search index but not appear as a top result.
In middle school, I thought that the transition to high school would be something I wasn’t really prepared to handle. I would be taking five Honors level classes so I anticipated that the amount of work for all these classes would be unbearable. When freshman year came around, the ideas I held about what the year would be like came true. I overstressed all of my classes and studied for many hours. I got into bad habits that year. I would come home from school at 2:30PM and sleep until about 4:30PM. At the same time, I wasn’t finding a good balance. I had unhealthy eating habits, worried far too much about the future and didn’t put my own health first.
My fears and concerns were produced from an insecurity about what would happen if I didn’t do well in school. I got caught up in the future and neglected the now. I was totally living for a fantasy future.
Luckily, as the years went on I began to raise in my awareness of what I was doing. I noticed my habits and I wanted to change them. I was able to change the way I was doing things so that eventually each and every year became easier. I began to enjoy school, assignments, and started to cherish the process instead of viewing it as work.
My change in awareness may be attributed to personal development as well as new views I held about my identity in the world.
1. Take Care of Yourself First- by far the most important thing to realize is that YOU are most important. Stay connected with your self and be healthy. Do not take any demands so seriously that they begin to overshadow your own personal well-being. If you are not healthy and well, how can you expect to produce your highest quality work or learn the material you are studying? As I explained, during my freshman year I did not put my personal needs first. Ultimately, I was making it harder on myself. Even taking a day to organize your schedule and plan time for yourself is a really good idea.
2. Find a Balance- Add time into your schedule where you focus on doing something for you. Here are some suggestions: meditate, exercise or just relax. Find something that will help you to stay in a balanced routine.
3. Ask For Help – you will be able to learn something better if you ask for help. Also, if you don’t ask for help, it could prevent you from learning future concepts, especially if it is in a math or science class that builds upon previous material. It will not always be possible for you to teach yourself. Sometimes you will need the teacher to provide further explanation.
4. Use Your Resources- If you don’t know something, look it up. This seems like the obvious action to take, however sometimes we can become dependent on the teacher. We expect them to teach us every part of the material we are learning in its entirety. Learning to teach yourself is a valuable technique that you can work on in high school and use in college.
5. Focus and Take Good Notes – focusing in class is a very important part of being able to learn the material. When you fully focus and learn something the first time around it will commit to your memory and you won’t have to review as much. In addition, be sure to take good notes in class so that you can refer to them at a later time if necessary. Take notes in short hand and record the main points of the discussion or lecture. Use stars and exclamation points for the most important parts.
6. Study-studying helps you to review and practice. Review any material that you may have forgotten. Studying encompasses many things; doing your homework, practicing for tests, reviewing notes, making study guides, reviewing flash cards and any other helpful strategies. Choose what works best for you.
7. Don’t Compare Yourself To Others- Comparing yourself to others can be a waste of time and energy. It is common for students to become overly concerned with their performance in comparison to someone else. Instead I recommend you focus on doing your best and helping your classmates.
8. Get Enough Sleep – Personally I like to get at least eight hours of sleep a night. Sometimes I felt tired in class even if I got eight hours of sleep. The important thing is to get on a schedule where you go to bed at the same time every night and wake up at the same time every morning. Avoid long mid-afternoon naps and staying up late to finish homework.
9. Be Organized and Set Goals – Organization is crucial to helping yourself with your classes. Keep track of all your assignments (due dates for projects, tests, and homework). I used an agenda throughout all four years of high school to help stay organized. Set goals for when you’d like to finish your projects. Each night, set aside blocks of time to do homework for each class. Set small attainable goals inside of the larger ones.
10. Don’t Stress- Stressing and worrying will only make it harder for you to stay focused, stay on task, and ultimately perform well in school. One of the most important things to keep in mind is that there is always time to improve. Do your best and work hard, but don’t stress. Remember there is nothing to worry about.
Your imagination is the ability to visualize, think of or feel a sense of something that isn’t currently perceived through the senses.
We all use our imagination as children, but it seems that as time goes on we begin to use our imagination less and less. For some of us we become too busy with other things and we don’t find time for ourselves. The good thing is that using our imagination can be easy and enjoyable when we do not perceive it as hard work. When was the last time you took some time to sit and imagine?
Maybe now is a good time to put this practice in use again. You may even have a few images or scenes that you’d like to imagine right to begin with. You might want to imagine a beautiful day, a loved-one smiling, a vacation destination etc. etc. No matter what it is that you would like to imagine, I would like to help you more fully access your power to visualize it, make it seem real, and create it. It’s truly amazing the extent to which we can create our own imaginings and the depth of these imaginings. Not only can we visualize scenes and stories but we can create them in detail, in amazing and elaborate depth, and in color. We can imagine fictitious dramas, technical plans, or escapes to another realm all within our own determination. When you think about it, many of the great works we take in on various mediums such as television, the radio, the cinema, books, etc. were created by the collective human imagination. So the question remains, how do we put our imagination to use?
1. Decide – the first step to take is to decide. You and only you have the power to unlock your ability.
2. Stop – the next step is to stop. Stop taking in content on various mediums and just let yourself “Be”. It is when we stop taking in content that we are most able to produce our own.
3. Create – you may now create whatever you would like. You could create anything or nothing (no-thing). While you are imagining, be sure to feel good. After all, life is perfect just the way it is.
4. Enjoy – using your imagination is fun. Rejoice in your ability.
5. Repeat – repeat, repeat, and repeat some more. Continue to use your imagination as much as you’d like and whenever you’d like.
Creative visualization is a practice of using our imaginings to consciously create change. Creative visualization is a powerful practice. More and more I have been using the power of creative visualization consciously. I say consciously because we create all the time even when we are not aware of it. When I consciously create there are often changes that take place in many different ways. When I notice these changes, I cherish and acknowledge them. My ability excites me so I would like to share my practice with you.
Feel Good
You have the power to use creative visualization to consciously create. It is as easy as deciding how you would like to feel and visualizing whatever you’d like. You can use my five steps for using your imagination, but I would like to highlight a very important part. Be sure to feel good about what you would like to create. When you incorporate your feelings, you are more fully accessing your power by aligning Body, Mind, and Spirit.
Practice
Practice creative visualization a few times a day. Your ability to create will astonish you. You will likely notice small changes at first but the big ones will come too.
Be Brave
Often times there will be an opportunity to create the change you seek and it will be difficult to do. The opportunity will arise from your newly created reality through your imaginings. For example, perhaps in the past you were someone who frequently resisted many things in your life. Then through creative visualization you decided to make a change. You decided to acknowledge and cherish the many positive things in your life, feeling good about them. Over time, you begin to have new opportunities come into your life. These opportunities will come as a result in the shift in the way you are choosing to be. At first you may not know how to handle all these new and great things as they come into your reality. This is okay and is to be expected. Remember, to effectively create the change you seek, it will often require bravery. Bravery will be required because you are moving out of your old habits and into a new choice about who you are.
I will be compiling a stats report for Vunty every couple of months. Here is my very first issue. I decided to post it early after having my first affiliate commission through the Amazon Affiliate
Popularity
Twitter Followers 169
FeedBurner Subscriber Max – 15
Feed Reach Max- 46
Facebook Fans – 4
Average Daily Unique Visits- 10
Google PageRank- 2
# of Backlinks- 37
Affiliate Sale Stats
Amazon Referral Stats- 2 items referred $6.03
Share A Sale Referral- 0 Referrals
Commission Junction- 0 Referrals
Clickbank- 0 Referrals
Ad Stats
Google Adsense- $0 (just started running ads again)
Post Stats
Total Posts Published- 23
Top 5 Most Popular Posts
1.) Message To The 6.8 Billion People Of The World
2.) BlogEngine.NET vs. WordPress
3.) How to Build a Successful YouTube Channel
4.) Why There Are So Many Personal Development Blogs
5.) How To Get 91 visits To Your Blog in 3 Hours
Guest Posts
1 Featured on theskooloflife.com Be Happy: Go Within
Blog Carnivals
1 Entry to the July 30th issue of this Blogging Carnival
Blog Design
Theme- Changed Theme to CheckMate Theme. A free theme with premium options.
Font Style- Change font style to Verdana.
Background-Changed from gray to white background.
Expense Summary
$50 for a Professional Blog Banner. Got a great design that matches the aim of the blog.
$16 for hosting, months of June and July.
Total Expenses $66
Income Summary
$1122.20 Used my blog to launch my services to my clients. I can’t say my blog was the sole determining factor in getting these gigs but it certainly helped. I plan to write an e-Book that outlines my service specifically and also how I used my blog to launch them.
$6.03 through Amazon Affiliate program.
Total Income $1128.23
Total Net Profit $1062.23
Goals for Vunty
1.) 1,000 FeedBurner Subscribers
2.) Write 1-2 Valuable, Informative Posts per Week (during college I may only be able to post once a week)
3.) Write 1 Guest Post a Month (also due to my busy college schedule)
4.) Write Comments on Related Blogs
5.) Finish my e-Book which outlines the process of getting hired online using a blog and my strategy.
After about 2 solid months of blogging and networking, Vunty is off to a great start. I’ve been able to produce 23 valuable, solid posts. A few of them are already bringing in a few hits a day on their own. I’ve also been able to use my blog to launch my services as a freelance consultant and land some gigs. More on this in the future.
