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.
Below is my list of 30 Simple Ways To Express Joy. Joy is a state of being so I titled the post accordingly. You can be joyful doing anything. My list is merely a collection of ideas I’d like to offer you. Feel free to add your own suggestions in the comments.
1. Be in The Moment – Become aware of your surroundings and accept the current circumstances. When you are fully present you will notice that there is nothing but “Now”.
2. Sing- Hum or sing along to any song that resonates with your truest self. Personally, I’m not the greatest singer but that doesn’t stop me from having some fun every now and then. Singing is a great way to tap into a more joyous state of being.
3. Laugh-”Laughter is the best medicine”, don’t forget to laugh every now and then. Not only does laughing feel good but it also has scientifically proven benefits such as relaxing the body and boosting the immune system.
4. Forgive- When you forgive someone you celebrate the unity and oneness of life. You let go of past hurt, allow another to be free, and acknowledge the present. Forgiveness is an act of love.
5. Give- There are many ways you can give. You can volunteer yourself by offering your time and effort. You could also donate money to a charity or in support of a cause. Sometimes the best gift you can give is your presence.
6. Smile- Along with laughter, smiling also has proven medical benefits. It can help you to change your mood and smiling is said to be contagious
7. Be Grateful- Express your care and appreciation for anything in your life, especially the things which you may normally under-appreciate. Feel the gratitude deep inside of yourself.
8. Feel Good About Yourself- It’s easy. Just decide that you want to feel great and then do it. I also enjoy working out in order to feel good. It keeps my body in shape as a reflection of my health.
9. Cry-Allow yourself to cry. Whether you cry tears of joy or sadness, it is okay to let out your emotions. Sometimes crying is the best remedy to feel joyful.
10. Write-Writing allows you to record and process your current thoughts and emotions. You get all your feelings down and are always able to refer back to your writing.
11. Listen- If you are not too keen on singing, you can still listen and enjoy the beauty of music. Another way to listen is to offer your ears to someone who wants to talk.
12. Teach- Provide your guidance, support, help, wisdom and experience to someone.
13. See the Perfection- Cherish your life. Even the things you may not appreciate are a part of the perfection. (How To See The Perfection of Everything)
14. Commune With Nature- Go on a walk by the beach. Take a hike up a mountain. Garden. Meditate under a tree. Celebrate and connect with the energy of life.
15. Dance- Learn a new dance or perform an old one with friends. Bodily movement can be a great expression of joy.
16. Sleep- Enjoy the refreshing feeling of a full night’s sleep. Know that you deserve it.
17. Cook or Clean- Cook a new recipe and make a nice meal for your family. Tidy up and organize your belongings. Clean with a friend and have a good time doing it.
18. Take Things One At a Time- Deal with things one at a time so you can fully appreciate them for what they are. Do not think ahead to the next thing until you have finished the first.
19. Take a Walk- Enjoy some fresh air outside. Consider walking alone, with friends and family members, or with the family pet.
20. Relax- Enjoy some time alone without any distractions. Take some time each and every day to relax.
21. Play- Enjoy a relaxed game or just play around.
22. Draw or paint- Artistically express your feelings through drawing or painting.
23. Breathe- Take a few deep breaths in and feel your diaphragm expand as you take in the air. Then let it all out, releasing any tension you may have.
24. Dream- Take some time to dream. When you dream you allow yourself to access a realm of limitless potential.
25. Explore- Explore a new subject or or go on an adventure of some sort. For you that may mean something as simple as taking a bicycle ride or venturing on a ride out of town.
26. Be Intimate- Have a warm and friendly interaction with someone.
27. Create and Re-create- Use your ability as a human to create and re-create whatever you may choose.
28. Be Friendly- Start a friendly conversation. Say “Hi” to everyone you meet one day.
29. Be Hopeful- Re-invest in hopefulness and positivity.
30. Be Fascinated- Find something that amazes you and learn about all its intricacies.
Comments? Please share.
Annabel Candy, along with Steve Pavlina, were two of my very first blogging role models when I began my own Personal Development blog. I first read one of Annabel’s guest posts on Problogger by Darren Rowse. It was something about Annabel’s appearance, perhaps that it was friendly and motherly, that drew me in. Her appearance, coupled with her dominant presence online, peaked my curiosity in her blog. I began to read, post comments and added her blog to my blogroll. We have since become blogging buddies and Annabel continues to amaze me with her kindness as I watch her blog take-off as a result of her hard work and daily activity. Little by little, Annabel is creating a blogging empire, hehe . Since she has me hooked, I know there are others who will grow to enjoy her site and all she has to offer. One of the great things about Annabel is that she never forgets the “little people”, the beginners and newbies that can be so easily forgotten online.
As you may know, one of the most effective strategies that Annabel implements for her blog is writing guest posts on other blogs. When I first discovered guest posting, I was amazed by its incredible magic. I immediately connected the process of guest posting to the power of giving.
When you guest post on another blog, you are giving some of your own work away for free. In turn, the other blog receives content and satisfied readers. You receive visitors from their blog and promotion for your site. You have the opportunity to convert new readers from their blog into subscribers and promote your work. Despite the mutually beneficial nature of guest posting, I view it as more than just merely symbiotic. I view it as an amazing display of the power of giving.
The great part about guest blogging and one of the reasons I love it so much is that it displays the truly remarkable power of generosity. When you unselfishly give, the benefits you receive will often amaze you. Giving is an expression of abundance. To give something away, you have to have it in the first place. Thus, when you give your writing away you are expressing the fact that you have plenty of more great writing to share.
Guest posting is a fabulous process because it displays giving as magical and powerful. Similarly with guest posting, the more you give, the more you will see the tremendous process in action. The first guest post I wrote was not my highest quality writing, not my best effort and I submitted it with eagerness. I just wanted to get my first guest post out there. It was only 500 words and received 0 comments. Readers could see through my selfishness. I would not advise to do what I did with my first guest post.I have compiled a list below for unlocking the true magic and greatness of guest posting.
10 TIps for Better Guest Blog Posts
1.) Be generous- Obviously the theme of this post is generosity so I encourage you to put your “all” into your guest posts. Spend the same amount of time and effort as you would on a normal post for your very own blog. Make it even better if you want to see even better results. Give it your total concentrated effort and don’t be selfish with it. Revise, revise, revise as with any other post.
2.) Pick the proper blog- I successfully picked the proper blog for my first guest post. It was in a related niche (Personal Development and Blog Tips) and I had plenty of content I could have shared with its readers. It had a large subscriber base and a thriving community. Unfortunately, I did not write the proper post or make it of the highest quality.
3.) Write the proper post- This was the mistake I made with my first guest post.I didn’t write the proper content for all those potentially interested readers. The point is not to change yourself for the audience but rather to choose the right part of you to display. Imagine that you have a collection of articles to write and you must be careful to pick the proper one for your audience.
4.) Be patient- In contrast to what I did, it is best to be patient when you are writing a guest post. Being patient will allow you to put as much time into the post as it truly deserves without becoming eager about submitting it. You might want to consider letting a draft of your post sit on your site for a day or so. This way you can work on revisiting it in your spare time. You don’t want to have to contact the guest blog to make changes to your content and often times they may be too busy to answer your requests. Make sure everything is the way you want it to be before you submit. Be patient for results to come back from your post and do not be overly anxious if no one comments or visits your blog. Learn from your mistakes and move on.
5.) Introduce yourself- At the beginning of this post, I made sure to introduce myself and my relationship with Annabel. This helped you guys, the readers, to understand my story and where I am on my own journey instead of just reading a post full of objective content. Also, it is more than likely that there will be others who are in the same situation as you who will read your post.
6.) Be you- This is also very important. As always, be yourself. Not only is it important to be yourself to maintain transparency but it is also important for consistency. When readers go back to check out your blog you want them to be able to find more posts written in the same style they fell in love with. Be sure to give them a real sample of what they will get from your blog, make sure your passion comes across through your writing. This should happen naturally as long as you are not trying to get too fancy or impress the readers too much.
7.) Encourage comments- At the end of your post be sure to ask for reader responses with a few sentences. Always include your background information and a few links to your site for further browsing.
8.) Make it readable but not too short- Pack the post with info. Err on the side of too much information as opposed to making it readable and lacking content. It sounds like it would be hard to make this mistake but believe me I would caution you against it. Even if you were not intentionally being selfish, you want to make sure you display your best self with your post.
9.) Support with links- Include links in the post to your top posts and other posts from the blog you’re posting to. This lets you give readers some further information to review and comment on. Remember to include a byline with links to your blog.
10.) Interact- If your post receives comments on the guest blog, be sure to answer them. This will help you to establish a presence and interact with readers. Also, you can answer any questions and potentially form new relationships.
Be generous like Annabel. You will create and discover doors to places you didn’t know existed. Guest posting is the best!
Comments? Please share them with me.
The Law of Least Effort is the fourth spiritual law listed in the book The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success: A Practical Guide to the Fulfillment of Your Dreams
In Deepak’s words, “This law is based on the fact that nature’s intelligence functions with effortless ease and abandoned carefreeness. This is the principle of least action, of no resistance. This is, therefore, the principle of harmony and love. When we learn this lesson from nature, we easily fulfill our desires.”
The Law of Least Effort is the idea that fulfillment is easy to achieve when we we act out of love and unity. This is because love creates the least resistance to the natural flow of things. On the other hand, when we act selfishly and attempt to satisfy the ego, it is much more difficult to feel fulfilled.
Why and How it Works
Part of the reason why this law works has to do with the way we are perceiving our reality. When we make changes to our interior reality (changing the way we are feeling) our exterior reality then shifts to reflect our inner reality. So when we act out of oneness and truth, instead of acting solely for satisfaction of the ego, we notice a shift. Things become easier to experience with less expended effort. At the same time, there are changes to the things that make us feel fulfilled as we change our awareness. We may find fulfillment in something as simple as stillness, where as before we may have sought exterior sources of happiness.
One of the easiest ways to observe The Law of Least Effort in our everyday life is to observe nature’s intelligence at work.Anything in nature is an example of the law in action. Think of how a tree grows, does the tree have to struggle to grow or does it happen naturally? Think of an animal breathing, does it need to think to breathe? The obvious answer is no. These events happen naturally without any effort. The tree grows and the animal breathes with no struggle. There is no resistance so the needs are met easily and with no effort required.
The Law of Least effort is truly amazing. Prior to writing this post, I had been noticing this law at work in my life in an increasing number of ways. The less I thought about a “problem”, the easier it was to come up with a solution.The less I perceived a situation as a “struggle” the easier it was to change it. Sometimes I would have a solution to another “problem” just through acceptance of the present moment.
The Law of Least Effort can be applied in your everyday life by using the three principles outlined by Deepak in his book
Acceptance
Acceptance comes with making a decision. It is your choice to decide that every occurrence is happening perfectly just the way it is happening. Accept the fact that the universe is flawless just the way it is. In your acceptance you reduce the resistance you are creating.
Responsibility
Responsibility is the next principle of the law. Responsibility means not looking for a reason to blame anyone or yourself for the current situation. When you are responsible you see the situation as an opportunity to display your truest self to the world and recreate in love. You know that every situation is part of the perfection of it all.
Defenseless
Defenseless is the third principle used to apply the law. Defenselessness is important because it allows you to free up energy that is wasted on defending your opinions and points of view. You will no longer argue to defend yourself. Instead you will be open and flexible to listen to other points of view. If you present your opinion and others disagree, you will not feel a need to defend yourself.
All in all, you can let your intentions out into the universe and know that they will eventually come to fruition, when and if the time is right. Your intentions will be one with nature’s intelligence.
Weight Loss and The Law Of Least Effort
Weight-Loss is one very practical application of the Law of Least Effort. When we are attempting to lose weight, we often put a lot of energy into a perceived struggle. We may view ourselves as battling against our desire to eat unhealthy or even in a battle against a false identity. We may feel that it is going to be a hard fight for us to “win”. What we may not realize is that when we do this we are actually making it harder for ourselves to lose weight. To quote Sonia Johnson, “What we resist persists”. As we view it as a fight, it then becomes a fight and the weight loss becomes difficult. We get caught up in the idea of the battle.
When we apply the Law of Least Effort in this situation, weight loss actually becomes easy and effortless. Instead of feeling as if we are struggling, we solely connect to our true self and know the wants and needs of our body. We know what’s going to be best for our self and we do it. Also, we feel the great energy that is inside of us and we feel healthy. Health can not be overpowered by our resistance anymore.It just may happen that you may lose a lot of weight using this law and you may not even realize it. In fact, you may not remember or feel that you lost a lot until someone comments and reminds you.
Money and The Law of Least Effort
It is also very easy to observe the Law of Least Effort in action with money. When you are not focused on how much money you can spend, you may notice that you more frequently have money to spend. Also,when you are not focused solely on making money, and instead focus on what’s important, you will make more money. For example, with your blog, if you solely focused on monetizing it and spent no time writing content, you wouldn’t have a very profitable blog. However, if you instead focus on the real purpose of your writing and what you would like to accomplish, the money will come.
To quote, “Don’t chase the money, chase the dream”.
In any case, I have found that when we act out of love and release our resistance through whatever means, what happens is truly remarkable.
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More examples of nature’s intelligence at work?
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