10 Reasons To Start a Blog Today

When I started blogging, I didn’t know the great benefits that would come out of it. I just knew I wanted to have a blog that mattered.

Today’s post, I’ll cover some of the rewards you can get from blogging. Some I’ve experienced already and others I’ve seen happen.

You might be interested in blogging, but need that last push to get started. You might see bloggers having fun and you want to experience it.

If you were on the fence about blogging, I hope I’ll have you convinced afterwards.

1. You will meet a variety of great people. 

Since I’ve started this blog, I’ve gotten to know some awesome people online. Not only do I love what they write and what they’re doing, but I love getting to know them.

When I went to Las Vegas to get married, a blogger I’ve gotten to know, Steve Roy from Ending the Grind was out there at the same time. We set up a time to meet and we literally just walked around the Wynn/Encore casino and talked.

Just last week in Taipei, I met Matthew Hooper, who I met through Twitter one day when I first started and got to know him throughout the year. We just happen to be back visiting Taipei at the same time. Matt, a Canadian, actually lived in Taipei for eight years and met his wife here. Plus he worked with Eleanor at a language school many years ago. Small world!!

I know I’ll meet more in person in the near future.

I’ve read stories of people who’ve attended Blog World or World Domination Summit and finally met long time blogging friends, and made new ones.

You know what I’ve found too? Bloggers are some of the nicest people out there.

If you want to know how to reach out to bloggers, read Adrienne Smith’s post about how to do it.

2. Blogging is a great creative outlet

A blog is like a blank canvas. It’s up to your imagination how you want it to look. It could look like a Jackson Pollack if you wanted it to (not recommended).

When customizing my Standard Theme, I spent countless hours on it. I probably could have spent more if I didn’t stop myself. I enjoyed every creative minute of it.

Writing is obviously a great creative outlet. You take a bunch of ideas and make it into something that evokes an emotion in readers.

People have different ways to unleash their creativity, and right now blogging is my favorite way.

3. It can lead to publishing a book

It does seem like some bloggers would love to publish a book. With a blog, if you’ve built up a huge audience you, that could help in your book proposal. Even if you don’t go the traditional route, you could self publish on the Kindle, which many are doing today.

Pamela Slim has a book called Escape From Cubicle Nation: From Corporate Prisoner to Thriving Entrepreneur (great book), which started out as a blog by the same name. She didn’t start the blog with the intention of writing a book, but later was approached to write a book on her expertise.

Another blog to book is 1000 Awesome Things, by Neil Patel.

Neil started posting awesome things every weekday, got a book deal, and it turned into a New York Times #1 bestseller.

There is a blog called Stuff White People Like by Christian Lander. He says it’s about “a scientific approach to highlight and explain stuff white people like. They are pretty predictable.”

He got a book deal after three months (wow) and it turned into a New York Times bestseller, aptly called Stuff White People Like and now Whiter Shades of Pale.

Jenny Blake, another blog to book blogger (say that five times fast), wrote a guest post on the pros and cons of it. Great for those interested in publishing.

If you’re looking to publish your first book this year, Chris Guillibeau has a guide to teaches you how to write, sell, and publish your book (aff link).

4. It can make you money

A blogger can earn pennies or six figures a month. If you become an authority in your area, you could offer coaching, consulting, sell products, promote products, or have advertising.

Many blogs don’t make that much money, but you can make something from it. It might not be much, but it’s not bad writing on a topic you’re passionate about.

Any topic could eventually lead to earning income. Overheard in New York posts overheard comments and conversations from anonymous New Yorkers. The site earned an estimated $8,100 each month (figure from 2007) and a book was published.

Perez Hitlon started blogging about celebrities and now attracts four million unique visits each day. Ad revenue for the site is estimated at $111,000 a month!

I could keep naming blogs in different areas that make money.

I just want to say that just having a blog doesn’t mean you’ll make money. However, the potential is out there.

5. You can make a difference

The first thing that comes to mind is using your blog as a way to raise money for a charity.

Tim Ferris does it often on his blog.

Last year after the Japan earthquake and tsunami, I saw tweets about a fundraiser organized by Lavonne Ellis. A donation gave you a bunch of products donated by bloggers to help your blog and business grow. Plus you were entered in a drawing for some premium products and services.

I just read they raised $5,385 plus got a matching grant to double the amount! It’s really cool that a bunch of bloggers did that.

It doesn’t just have to be amount money. You can bring attention about issues in your community, nation, or the world. You can make a difference in many ways through your blog.

6. It can give you a voice

A blog lets you be heard. The blog is your platform. You can share whatever you want with your readers. You can share your opinion. You can teach. You can inspire. You can inform.

The important thing is it’s coming from you. You have a voice.

7. You can help people

If you’ve gone through a particular life experience, you can start a blog on that topic to help others going through the same thing.

It could be anything from helping guys pick up girls to surviving depression to growing a garden. The possibilities are endless what you could write that would help people.

8. It could lead to some unexpected opportunities

I remember when I ran a sports blog for two years, I got a surprising e-mail from Sprint to test out their new phone for six months for free. I got unlimited calling, could watch NFL games on it, unlimited ringtones and game downloads. All I had to do was blog about it once and give them feedback. Of course I said yes!

I’ve read bloggers get invited on trips by companies wanting exposure for their products. Some bloggers receive products to review and get to keep.

You could land a movie role. Pat Flynn, through a podcast on his blog, got asked to be a social media consultant on a film. As part of the deal, he asked to be an extra in the movie. They said yes.

Kimberly Snyder spent years learning about better eating for health and beauty. She started a blog on that topic and got picked up by the press. Celebrities found out and hired her. Now she is a highly sought after nutritionist for many of the entertainment industry’s top celebrities and author of the best-selling book, The Beauty Detox Solution.

9. You can be an authority

If you do things right and long enough, you could be an authority in your niche.

• Pat Flynn has become a go to person for online passive income .
• Darren Rowse is an authority on blogging.
• Chris Guillebeau is an authority on nonconformity and travel hacking.
• Brian Kelly is an authority on maximizing travel rewards.
• Chris Ducker is an authority on hiring virtual assistants.
• Matt Fraizer is an authority on being a vegan and an athlete.

You could become an expert on any topic that you can possibly think of. The great thing is you don’t even need to be an expert when you begin blogging. You become one over time.

10. You’ll improve your writing

In order to be a better writer, you should write more.

I hated English class my senior year in high school. I barely read the novels and didn’t like writing essasy. So I never thought I was a good writer.

As I got older, I found an itch to write. However, I didn’t have much confidence in my writing. I didn’t think I sucked, but I knew I wasn’t that great.

Having a blog and writing on a consistent basis gets you to write more. I’ve written so much in the past year and lots of it not worthy of publishing. That’s okay because it still allows me to work on being a better writer.

Learn to Start a Blog the Right Way in 2012

If you’re looking to start a blog this year, a course I’d recommend for any beginning blogger is How to Start a Blog that Matters (affiliate link) by Corbett Barr.

The program is a 90-day step-by-step action plan you can follow to create a blog that matters. It includes 13 weekly lessons, 4 special bonuses and over 8 hours of instructional video.

You could learn by reading all the free information online. However, Corbett has three successful blogs and the course saves you hours and hours by only teaching you the topics that matter.

There’s also a great guarantee for the course. If you go through the course and don’t get the results you want, he’ll personally coach you one-on-one for free. Great offer since he doesn’t do coaching anymore.

Learn more about the course and sign up today.

Sound like fun?

If you’re thinking about starting, or just recently started, I hope I’ve shown some great rewards from blogging. It takes a lot of time, commitment, and hard work if you really want to get massive benefits from it. The ones I mentioned above have spent years to get to where they are.

However they have one thing in common, they were all beginners just like you.

So if they can do it, you can too.

Blogging has been a life changer for me and I’d still blog even if I won the lottery. I’m having that much fun.

I want the same for you. So don’t wait any longer. Get started.

For current bloggers, what are your favorite things about blogging?

Do you have another reason someone should start blogging?

SOURCE

65 Quotes to Rock Your Day

Need a quote for the day?

Dream Quotes

I have spread my dreams beneath your feet. Tread softly because you tread on my dreams. W.B. Yeats

Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. Live the life you have imagined. Henry David Thoureau

Every great dream begins with a dreamer. Always remember, you have within you the strength, the patience, and the passion to reach for the stars and change the world. Harriett Tubman

Reach high, for stars lie hidden in your soul. Dream deep, for every dream preceds the goal. Pamela Vaull Starr

The end of wisdom is to dream high enough not to lose the dream in the seeking of it. William Faulkner

Hold fast to dreams, for if dreams die, life is a broken winged bird that cannot fly. Lanston Hughes

You cannot dream yourself into a character: you must hammer and forge yourself into one. Henry David Thoreau

  

The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams. Eleanor Roosevelt

To unpathed waters, undreamed shores. William Shakespeare

Life Quotes

To live is like to love–all reason is against it, and all healthy instinct for it.Samuel Butler

Life is a succession of lessons which must be lived to be understood. Ralph Waldo Emerson

One way to get the most of out off life is to look upon it as an adventure.William Feather

The whole of life is but a moment of time. It is our duty, therefore to use it, not to misuse it. Plutarch

The best way to prepare for life is to begin to live. Elbert Hubbard

The acts of this life are the destiy of the next. Eastern Proverb

The person who says something is impossible should not interrupt the person who is doing it. Chinese Proverb

Life is hort, art long, opportunity fleeting, experience treacherous, judgement difficult. Hypocrites

Most of the shadows of this life are caused by our standing in our own sunshine.
Ralph Waldo Emerson

Goven thy life and thoughts as if the whole world were to see the one, and read the other. Thomas Fuller

Life is either a daring adventure or nothing. Helen Keller

Dost thou love life? Then do not squander time, for that is the stuff life is made of. Benjamin Franklin

Happiness Quotes

Happiness depends upon ourselves Aristotle

When one door of happiness closes, another opens, but often we look so long at the closed door that we do not see the one that has been opened for us. Helen Keller

Happiness is where we find it, but rarely where we seek it. J. Petit Senn

Happiness resides not in possessions and not in gold; the feeling of happiness dwells in the soul. Democritus

Action may not always bring happiness; but there is no happiness without action. Benjamin Disraeli

Happiness is not a matter of events, it depends upon the tides of the mind. Alice Meynell

Empowerment Quotes

Fear less, hope more, eat less, chew more, whine less, breathe more, talk less, say more, hate less, love more, and good things will be yours. Swedish Proverb

The only journey is the journey within. Rainer Maria Rilke

If we all did things we are capable of, we would astound ourselves. Thomas Edison

If you have an hour, will you not improve that hour, instead of idling it away? Lord Chesterfield

Energy and persistence conquer all things. Benjamin Franklin

Follow your honest convictions, and stay strong. William Thackeray

We only become what we are by the radical and deep-seated refusal of that which others have made us. Jean-Paul Sartre

Every day do something that will inch you closer to a better tomorrow. Doug Firebaugh

To conquer oneself is the best and noblest victory; to be vanquished by one’s own nature is the worst and most ignoble defeat. Plato

Insist on yourself, never imitate. Ralph Waldo Emerson

Knowing yourself is the beginning of all wisdom. Aristotle

Motivational Quotes

Constant dripping hollows out a stone. Lucretius

It was a high counsel that I once heard given to a young person, “Always do what you are afraid to do. Ralph Waldo Emerson

For hope is but the dream of those that wake. Matthew Prior

Take calculated risks. That is quite different from being rash. George S. Patton

We are still masters of our fate. We are still captains of our souls. Winston Churchill

We are all inventors, each sailing out on a voyage of discovery, guided each by a private chart, of which there is no duplicate. The world is all gates, all opportunites. Ralph Waldo Emerson

Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds. Albert Einstein

The only way of finding the limits of the possible is by going beyond them into the impossible. Arthur C. Clarke

He who hesitates is lost. Proverb

We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, therefore, is not an act but a habit. Aristotle

Fortune favors the brave. Publius Terence

If the mind will not serve, take to the oars. Destitutus ventis, remos adhibe. Latin proverb

Nothing will ever be attempted if all possible objections must first be overcome. Samuel Johnson

The best way out is always through. Robert Frost

Success Quotes

Try not to become a man of success, but a man of value. Albert Einstein

Along with sucess comes a reputation for wisdom. Euripides

To climb steep hills requires a slow pace at first. Shakespeare

They can because they think they can.Virgil

If you wish success in life, make perseverance your bosom friend, experience your wise counselor, caution your elder brother, and hope your guardian genius. Joseph Addison

Nothing can stop the man with the right mental attitude from achieving his goal; nothing on earh can help the man with the wrong mental attitude. Thomas Jefferson

Success is the good fortune that comes from aspriation, desperation, perspiration and inspiration. Evan Esar

Keep steadily before you the fact that all true success depends at last upon yourself. Theodore T. Hunger

The thing always happens that you really believe in; and the belief in a thing makes it happen. Frank Lloyd Wright

The surest way not to fail is to determine to succeed. Richard Brinsley Sheridan

There is only one sucess–to be able to spend your life in your own way. Christopher Morley

The difference between a successful person and others is not a lack of strength, not a lack of knowledge, but rather a lack of will. Vince Lombardi

The greatest results in life are usually attained by simple means and the exercise of ordinary qualities. These may for the most part be summed in these two: common-sense and perseverance. Owen Feltham

Did this rock your world? Was it helpful? Did it resonate with you in some way? See those sexy social media buttons below? Go ahead and share this with friends, family, complete strangers….spread the good karma and it will come back to you.

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Vampire Bat

True Wild Life | Vampire Bat | The vampire bat is a small species of bat, native to the tropics of Central and South America. There are three recognised sub-species of vampire bat, all of which are in a genus of their own despite their obvious similarities. The common vampire bat, the hairy-legged vampire bat and the white-winged vampire bat are all closely related and share the same unique feeding habits, as they are the only known mammals that feed entirely on blood. Over time, vampire bats have perfectly adapted to the consumption of their only food source, with a leaf-like heat sensor on the end of their nose which detects where the warm blood is flowing closest to the skin.

The vampire bat is quite a small animal, with it's body rarely growing larger than the size of a human thumb. It's wings are long, finger-like bones that are covered in a thin layer of skin, with a thumb claw that pokes out of the front and is used for grip when clambering about on their host. Vampire bats have dark brown to grey furry bodies with a lighter underside, and strong limbs which enable them to crawl about on the ground with ease. As with other bats, vampire bats use echolocation in order to determine their surroundings. When flying, they produce high-pitched sounds that bounce of the objects in the area, and it is this bounced-back sound that allows the bat to figure out where things are around them (it is so high-pitched that it cannot be heard by people).

Vampire bats use echolocation, sound and smell in order to find their prey, which can be up to 10,000 times the size of this tiny predator, and it is because of this that vampire bats have evolved to taking some precautions when feeding. Firstly, the never land on their prey but inside land on the ground close by and crawl up to it, where they are able to detect veins close to the skin's surface with precision, thanks to their heat-sensing nose. Using it's set of sharp front teeth, the vampire bat then bites it's host, immediately jumping back in case the animal wakes up. Contrary to popular belief, vampire bats do not suck the blood of their victims, but inside lap it up using their grooved tongue as it flows out of the wound. Chemicals in the vampire bat's saliva both stop the blood from clotting and numb the area of skin around the bite to prevent the host from feeling anything.

Despite being a unique and versatile predator itself, the vampire bat is still prey to other animals, that can hunt the bat in the air when it comes out to hunt at night. Large, sharp-eyed birds of prey such as hawks and eagles are the most common predators of the vampire bat, along with snakes that hunt the bats in their dark caverns while they are sleeping during the day. Humans though are one of their biggest threats, mainly farmers that are known to poison the bats that commonly feed on their livestock. These poisons (known as vampiricides) are specially designed to spread throughout the whole colony through social grooming, killing hundreds of individuals at a time.

Vampire bats feed exclusively on the blood of warm-blooded animals, drinking up to a teaspoon (25ml) of blood per 30 minute feed. Once having feasted on their host however, the bats are then so bloated that they can barely fly with their weight almost having doubled. It is said that in just one year, an average sized vampire bat colony can drink the blood of 25 cows, but their metabolism is so fast that they must feed every two days to ensure their survival (blood is very nutritious containing high amounts of water). The nearly 20 teeth in the bat's mouth are mostly redundant due to their liquid diet, apart from the set of razor-sharp incisors at the front used for biting flesh.

All three subspecies of vampire bat have been listed as being of Least Concern of becoming extinct in the wild in the immediate future, due to the fact that they are widespread and feed on a variety of warm-blooded animals. Deforestation of their natural habitats along with persistent human efforts to eradicate who colonies at a time however, have led to population declines in certain areas. Scientists have also discovered though that the anti-coagulant found in the bat's saliva, proves to more effective at preventing blood clotting than any medicine, meaning that this could have significant positive implications for patients with strokes or heart attacks.

11 Funny Brain Teasers

1.        What is the easiest way to throw a ball, have it stop, and completely reverse direction after traveling a short distance? 

2.        What is at the beginning of eternity, the end of time, the beginning of every end, and the end of every place? 

3.        When things go wrong, what can you always count on? 

4.        What is always behind you but you can never touch it? 

5.        I am never the first to speak but I am always the last to be heard. Who am I? 

6.        We were born of the same mother, on the same day, at the same hour and in the same year. Yet we are not twins. How do you explain this? 

7.        Two fathers and two sons were seated round a table. There were four apples on the table. Each of them took one apple and ate it entirely yet there was still one apple left on the table. How was this possible? 

8.        Before Mount Everest was discovered which was the highest mountain in the world? 

9.        Here everything is not always in order. For example, Friday comes before Thursday, the cart comes before the horse, the driver comes before the employer. Where are we? 

10.     When I am alive I stay put where I am. It is only when I am dead that I move about here and there. Who am I? 

11.     How can you be behind a person when that person is also behind you?

 

Answers below

1.       Throw the ball straight up

2.       'e'

3.       Your fingers

4.       The past

5.       An echo.

6.       They are triplets.

7.       There were only three persons at the table comprising a grandfather, his son and his grandson.

8.       Mount Everest, of course. It was always there!

9.       In a dictionary.

10.    A leaf.

11.    Put yourself back to back of each other.   

SOURCE

Tiger Salamander

True Wild Life | Tiger Salamander | The tiger salamander is a small species of salamander, found inhabiting wetland habitats across North America. The tiger salamander can be easily distinguished from other species of salamander by the dark-coloured markings on the skin of the tiger salamander. An adult tiger salamander is rarely seen out in the open as they spend their lives in burrows about half a meter into the ground. Most adult tiger salamanders live in their burrows on the land, only returning to the water to mate.

The tiger salamander is green, black, brown or grey in colour and has blotchy markings on its skin. The tiger salamander also has sturdy legs and a long tail, all of which the tiger salamander is able to regrow should these limbs become lost or damaged. The tiger salamander is a carnivorous amphibian mainly hunting worms, insects and spiders that crawl into its burrow. Adult tiger salamanders are also known to hunt much larger animals such as baby mice and small frogs.

Due to the small size and ground-dwelling nature of the tiger salamander, the tiger salamander has numerous natural predators where it lives in North America. Raccoons, coatis and river turtles are the most common predators of the tiger salamander, along with birds and large reptiles. Most tiger salamander individuals will only get the chance to breed just once in their up to 15 years lifetime. The larvae of the tiger salamander are aquatic which means that the female tiger salamander lays her eggs in the water, generally on either a log or leaves close to the bottom of the water.

The eggs of the tiger salamander hatch into larvae which come in two forms, cannibalistic (meaning that they eat one another ) and non-cannibalistic larvae. The larvae take a varied amount of time depending on the region, to fully metamorphose into an adult tiger salamander.

Stingray

True Wild Life | Stingray | The stingray is a flat marine fish found in warmer waters around the globe. The stingray is belongs to the same group of fish as other ray and are also believed to be closely related to sharks. The stingray inhabits the warmer tropical waters around the world generally in the slightly deeper waters rather than the shallows. When the weather begins to cool, the stingray will retreat further into the depths of the ocean.

The stingray is most well known for the stinger that is present on the end of tail of the stingray. The stingray uses the stinger on the end of it's long tail pierce through and stop it's prey before it can escape. The stingray's stinger is razor-sharp, barbed or serrated and attached to the stingray's thin tail. This means the stingray can whip it's stinger to pretty much anywhere, extremely quickly as the long, thin tail of the stingray is extremely agile and very flexible.

The size of a sting really is dependent on what species of stingray it is. Some species of stingray in the deep ocean get up to 14ft long including the tail and these species of stingray naturally have a larger stinger. The smaller stingray species tend to have small stingers, so that the stinger is relevant to the size of the body of the stingray. The stingray is a carnivorous animal, meaning that the stingray only feeds on other animals and does not eat plants. The stingray preys on a wide variety of species in the sea including crabs, molluscs, clams, oysters, snails and some species of fish.

The stingray has few natural predators in it's natural environment mainly due to the large size of the stingray. Stingrays are also able to use their flattened body shape to their advantage by resting on the sea floor and therefore able to hide from predators as well as keep an eye out for potential prey. The main predators of the stingrays are sharks, seals, sea lions and large species of carnivorous fish along with humans.

Stingrays breed during the winter and the female stingray gives birth to live young usually between 5 and 15 baby stingrays, known as a litter. The baby stingrays develop inside the mother stingray for around 9 months and feed off the remaining yolk in their eggs sacks. When this runs out, the baby stingrays are feed milk in the uterus of the female stingray. When the baby stingrays are born, they are able to swim about and begin hunting with their mother.

Western Lowland Gorilla

True Wild Life | Western Lowland Gorilla | The western lowland gorilla is one of two subspecies of western gorilla (the other being the incredibly rare cross river gorilla) found in the jungles on the African continent. The western lowland gorilla is the most numerous species of western gorilla but is still considered to be critically endangered in the wild. The western lowland gorilla is found inhabiting the tropical jungles and forests of western and central Africa, along with lowland swamps and secondary forests. The western lowland gorilla is found throughout Angola, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea and Gabon and is also the most likely gorilla to be seen in the world's zoos.

There are two separate sub-species of western gorilla which are the western lowland gorilla and the cross river gorilla. Although only slightly different in appearance, the two western gorilla species are distinguished by their differing skull and tooth sizes, and the cross river gorilla is also much rarer than the western lowland gorilla with only a handful thought to be left in the wild. The western lowland gorilla is one of the great apes, a group that includes orang-utans, gorillas, humans and chimpanzees. As with the other great apes, the western lowland gorilla has a number of features which makes living in the jungle a bit easier, including having opposable thumbs which come in handy when the western lowland gorilla is peeling fruit.

The western lowland gorilla is an omnivorous animal, but the majority of it's diet is made up of eating fruit which the western lowland gorilla is known to travel vast distances through the forests to find. The western lowland gorilla also eats leaves, nuts and berries, along with insects and occasionally small animals such as lizards and rodents. The western lowland gorilla has also been observed using basic tools in the wild in order to more effectively gather food. Due to it's large size, the western lowland gorilla has few real predators in it's native African forests, with large cats such as leopards and the odd crocodile being the only real natural threat to the western lowland gorilla. The biggest threat to the western lowland gorilla is habitat loss caused by deforestation and also being hunted by humans. Parts of the western lowland gorilla's territory have also been taken over by civil unrest in recent years, which, along with poaching, has had a truly devastating affect on wild populations.

The western lowland gorilla tends to live in groups which are led and protected by the alpha male. The alpha male western lowland gorilla also mates with the females in his group, producing generally single offspring, known as babies. The western lowland gorilla babies remain with their mother until they are a few years old and become independent. Today, the western lowland gorilla is classified as one of the world's critically endangered species with an estimated 95,000 western lowland gorilla individuals thought to be left in the jungles of Africa.

10 Powerful Ideas That Will Bring Greater Clarity into Your Life

In today’s busy world we very rarely have time to focus on what can truly bring us greater clarity and therefore greater meaning to our lives. We most often get caught up living our lives on automatic pilot and end up working extremely hard on just existing rather than consciously living. This seems to be accepted as the norm in today’s society and unfortunately we spend more time working on external things instead of our own internal well being.

Thankfully there are some fantastic resources out there to inspire positive thinking. It’s websites like DLM that help to inspire the change that I myself have been in search of for all these years. Below I would like to share with you some (hopefully) insightful life lessons that if consciously practiced can also help to inspire positive change.

Here goes…

• Happiness
  The secret to happiness is to accept everything in your life completely and to let go of the baggage. It only seems difficult, but it's not. Happiness is a choice we make regardless of the imperfections in our lives. Happiness cannot be ours until we wake up to the truth that we are perfect beings living in a world that presents imperfections.
  
  You are not your problems...problems are a fact of life, we all face them, we will always endure hard times, and this is never going to change. If you cannot be happy, it is simply because you have identified with your problems on an intimate level and made a home for them inside your mind. Wake up...change your thoughts...change your life...the only way to live your life is to accept that troubles are a part of it...only then can you let go and move on when they arise. I have never met a happy person that claimed to have zero problems.
• Acceptance
  I don’t like to hear people use the phrases “this too will pass” or “time is a great healer.” I honestly believe that if we’re waiting for better times to come in the future or are waiting for sorrow to pass, then quite simply we are not doing anything to help ourselves move on. The only way to conquer sorrow or hard times is to accept they are here, to accept that we are hurting and once we completely accept it, only then can we let go and move on.
• Limitless Mind
  I spend most of my waking moments, studying, analyzing, contemplating and questioning everything that I experience through my limited senses. I don’t rely on intellectual knowledge for the answers to reality. Reality is not what we think it is. Reality is what happens when we wake up to the fact that there is no truth, there is only perception, and our reality is a complete and utter fabricated lie if we don’t accept that our limitations are created in our mind.
• Reaction Control
  We create our outside reality by the thoughts and beliefs we maintain about life in general. What we believe in our inner world will be duplicated in our outer world, not the other way around. We all have problems and often we are tested by circumstances and situations outside of our control, but when this happens, try to remember that even though you may not be in control of what’s going on outside of you all the time, you most definitely can control your reaction to whatever situation you are faced with…the power will always be in your control whether you realize it or not.
  
  We have the power because our inner world (cause) affects the influence we allow the outer world (effect) to have on us. So next time you hear somebody mention that you have great personal power, they are 100% correct, because you are always in control of your reality...always.
• Perspective
  When you always expect your life to unfold in accordance to what is best for you at the time, then you will ultimately accept that every obstacle you face is a chance to grow and learn. Sometimes even the seemingly worst circumstances can turn out to be a blessing in disguise...life is a matter of perception - perception is a matter of mind.
• Doubtful Mind
  We judge ourselves, doubt ourselves, criticize ourselves and pretty much tell ourselves why we aren’t good enough to go out and accomplish what we truly want in life. We wouldn’t allow anybody else to talk to us in that way so why do we allow our doubtful mind to. Monitor your self-talk and take the necessary steps to weed out this self-defeating behavior. You are NOT your mind, you are the controller of your mind.
• Journey Well
  Try not to put too much of your focus on arriving at your destination. We know life is about the journey and not the arrival. We don’t need to arrive if we accept that we are already here. Be happy and content where you are today and don’t make the mistake of putting off being happy because you are waiting for the right moment to shine. Travel well today and consciously make the effort to enjoy the journey. It is better to travel well than it is to arrive. Not everyone woke up this morning and not everyone will go to bed tonight. Life has no guarantees, every minute you are living is a blessing that has to be experienced in the moment…in the now…it’s not always easy, but it’s always an option…a choice…your choice.
• Detachment...
  We attach emotion and therefore meaning to the situations and circumstances in our lives, thus, we reinforce our beliefs about those things. I know this is obvious, but maybe it is not as clear-cut as we may think. If we step back and detach our emotions from situations and look at them purely from a logical standpoint, we will see that there is good and bad in everything we perceive. There is always two sides to the coin and each side is presented to us at different times. One person will perceive a situation as bad where another will perceive it as good. The situation itself is neutral but our beliefs, judgments and prejudices are the defining characteristics for the outcomes.
  
  Take a look at the troublesome circumstances you find yourself in on a regular basis and ask yourself if it is time to take a different approach. Sometimes we automatically react in the same way out of habit and never get past these problems. Ask yourself if it is really worth it to continue seeing these problems in the same way. Is it time to shift from the side of the coin you so often focus on to the other side.
  
  Remember…the situation will not change as a fact, but when your perspective changes then the situation will ultimately change in your mind’s eye, and we know that our mind creates reality. Even if it seems like an impossible task you must consciously make the effort. It will seem very difficult at times but always remember that it is just your perceptions you have to overcome and not the external task we face. This may not seem a plausible solution to every situation but any effort no matter how small is a step in the right direction. Retrain your mind to see your habitual reactions to troubles in your life from a new viewpoint. Have a wonderful and productive day.
• Don't Exist...Live...
  It is very important for us to break free from the control of external things. We cannot fall victim to outside circumstances. It benefits our lives in no way when we willingly give up our own personal power to things outside of ourselves that we have little or no control over. We all have personal powerful, just make sure you don’t give up yours by not accepting you have power to begin with.
  
  Nobody on this entire planet has more rights to live their lives on their own terms than you do. Accept the world for what it IS and not for what you want it to be. You control the world by taking control of yourself…that’s how it’s done. Being who YOU are is all you have to be. I truly believe that it is a rare thing for people to “live”, simply because we are influenced more by the external than the internal. To be a victim to outside circumstances is to EXIST, but to be influenced by the internal is to LIVE . If you haven’t consciously done so yet, start today by making goddamn sure you give yourself the LOVE and RESPECT that you undoubtedly deserve. Give it to yourself FIRST, then accept it from the outside.
• Own your Mind Business...
  Remember...'YOU' and not the events that happen today will determine how good or bad your day will be. Make it your goal to not let anyone or anything affect your day in a negative way...your mind is the government of the 50 trillion cells in your body and your thoughts will determine whether these cells live in a healthy community or a community of unease. Remember…You are NOT your mind, YOU are the controller of your mind.

These 10 tips have helped me dramatically and have had a huge impact in my life over the years. I sincerely hope they have been in some way helpful to you on your journey too.

SOURCE

7 Simple Ways To Burst Out of Bed Each Morning

Way before the sun peeks over the horizon, a few chosen people awaken from their slumber and dive head first into their day. These chosen few accomplish a ton before the rest of us would ever consider rising from our nice warm beds.

Who are these juggernauts that have command over the morning hours?

In theory, your productivity level shouldn't differ if you rise at 4am or 11am. What matters is the quality of sleep that's giving your mind and body sufficient time to recover.


These early rising juggernauts, these unstoppable agents of productivity, they see things differently. They see these early hours as their chance to lay claim to their share of the day. They rise with purpose, act with determination, and achieve ruthlessly.

The sun has not caught me in bed in fifty years. - Thomas Jefferson

The world is in awe of these special people, so let's take a look at what pops them out of bed like a toaster strudel and what gets them up, sometimes before the alarm!

1. Appointment With Waking
   The harsh truth about the human body is that we're creatures of habit. In some ways this can be extremely inconvenient when trying to take on new things. However, if we allow ourselves to live within the rules of our body's natural cycle, which is a 24-hour circadian rhythm, we will be pleased with the body's functionality.
   
   This means that when you find a waking hour that will work best for you each day of the week, you should stick to it. This will allow your body to want to support you in your endeavor of waking up, and rise you out of bed feeling fresh as a daisy.
2. The King and The Pauper Way Of Eating
   The way our bodies function optimally is if we eat like a king in the morning and a pauper in the evening. This means that it's best to eat heavier, bigger portions in the morning because these meals will give us high energy throughout the day and then burn off.
   
   Eating like a pauper, meaning small light meals, in the evening allows us to go to sleep on an empty stomach. If your body is functioning normally, and you don't have stomach ulcers, going to sleep on a mostly empty stomach will allow you to sleep better. This nightly fast allows your body to take it's focus away from digestion and put it towards repair and rejuvenation of the body's cells.
3. Living With Purpose
   Young children will do anything to avoid going to sleep at night. These same children are also the ones that can't wait to get out of bed first thing in the world. The simple reason for this non-lazy behavior is that they don't want to miss a thing.
   
   As adults we may need more persuasion than 'not wanting to miss a thing'. This is why we take extra steps in creating fun, life changing goals, and scheduling specific ways of how we'll get a step closer to these goals during this coming day. What we all need is not necessary a cause we're willing to die for, but at least a cause we're willing to LIVE for.
4. Plan Your Day
   We can say we're going to live with purpose, but unless we plan, we can tell ourselves that we'll start living with purpose next week, or the week after that. Planning is one of the fundamental ways to maximize your mind to achieve your goals, and as such it plays a critical role in allowing us to have an awesome day, everyday. We need not do more than take 15 minutes the night before to succinctly organize the next days schedule.
   
   A schedule complete with waking time, most important things of the day, eating and recreational allowances. Having a tight schedule allows me to live out my day with definitive purpose, while getting more done, having more fun, and not wasting precious moments of my life.
   
   
   

   “Happy people plan actions, they don't plan results” - Dennis Wholey

5. The Water Hack
   A bit of water before bed and half a liter as soon as you get up. The water before bed will serve in the rejuvenation process we mentioned above. While you sleep all your cells will fill up with this fresh water and create an over all well being within your body.
   
   The water in the morning does two things. One is it provides your first dose of water to get your mind and body going. Another function, as told to me by my endocrinology teacher (a very qualified person to say this), is that a dose of water in the morning triggers a cascade of physiological functions that engages your digestive system and causes you to excrete feces. You'll feel nice and light first thing in the morning!
6. Work That Body
   In number 1 above I mentioned that our bodies adapt around a 24-hour circadian rhythm. This works for sleep, eating, exercise, and many other bodily functions. We're a pretty efficient physiological machine when you think about it. This is why getting a dose of exercise is optimal in the morning. It gets the blood flowing and stimulates you to function on a higher level.
   
   
   

   "Those who think they have not time for bodily exercise will sooner or later have to find time for illness." - Edward Stanley

   Once you're used to this routine, your body will prepare by providing you with high energy before you start to work out. As you can see, if you wake up with this high energy, you're going to just pop out of bed.
7. Have 'Me' Time
   No morning is completely satisfying unless you've scheduled in some 'Me' time. Whether you enjoy meditating to clear you mind and give you laser sharp focus, or reading to gain some new knowledge about the world, make sure you schedule in this time.
   
   There may very a variety of things you enjoy doing, so this will be custom tailored to the individual. The point is that when you have something you REALLY enjoy doing right when you get up, you won't be able to wait until that alarm goes off till you jump out of bed and get to it!

See, that's all it takes! :) 

SOURCE

How to Deal with Difficult People and Have Constructive Conflict

Life and relationships aren't always perfect. Take a minute to think of some difficult people you have to deal with in your life? These may be people you work with, the in-laws that come to town throughout the year, or your neighbor who can’t seem to take a hint. For whatever reason, you're just not jiving with these people.

Do you flee? Or, do you get flexible and learn to interact?

When we encounter these extreme personalities it can feel like they are trying to make our life miserable, but more often than not, it’s simply learning about these peoples’ tendencies and how to interact in a more tactful way. Some conflicts are unavoidable and shouldn’t be smoothed over or suppressed, though it’s learning to deal with our differences, and how to understand, resolve, and learn from these interactions that’s important.

Tips to dealing with problem people

• Learn to recognize different personalities
  First and foremost, we must develop self-awareness about our own personality tendencies. Are you more aggressive or passive? Are you more of an introvert or extrovert?
  
  Once we know our personality tendencies we can learn to recognize other peoples’ personalities and adapt and interact in a more effective way.
• Learn how to communicate with different personality types
  When we are dealing with different people it requires we approach them in the way they want to be treated. Some people need more detail and clarity in communication. Some people are very direct and just want the facts, and others are more focused on relationships.
  
  Consider how you can communicate verbally and through body language in the most effective way with these different types of people to build rapport and make them feel understood.
• Know who triggers you and why
  When we know who we tend to have conflict with and what it is that leads us to get frustrated, we can begin to be more proactive. We can learn to deal with this person more effectively by managing our own emotions and not be the target of their drama and unrest.
• Learn to focus on strengths and positive qualities
  A great way to deal with people more effectively in any relationship context is to focus on their positive qualities and to help them accentuate these when you can. Give people compliments, offer them recognition, and help them to use their strengths. We can empower others instead of knocking them down, and by doing so have a more positive influence and interaction.
  
  Just because you apply these ideas doesn’t mean that people will always respond in a positive manner. The only person you have control is yourself, so to make sure that an unhealthy conflict doesn’t ensue work to build these traits.

Managing conflict is being there with:

1. Availability: Accept full responsibility for your thoughts, feelings, actions, values, and perceptions that you contribute to the conflict.
2. Flexibility: Offer a willingness to make some degree of change, so that both people can move toward a joint solution. Compromise may be required.
3. Specificity: Seek to focus the conflict of real, significant issues that point toward a practical outcome that is within the range of responsibility. Don’t get personal.
4. Clarity: When the message intended and the impact received are nearly the same, communication is achieved. For this to happen, words, tone of voice, facial expression, posture must all be congruent with each other and context with they are said.

Here are some signs of constructive and healthy conflict.
You’ll know you’re on the right track when the following ideas are present.
Conflict is constructive when:

• It opens up issues of importance, resulting in their clarification.
• Results in the solution of problems
• Increases the involvement of individuals in issues of importance to them
• Causes authentic communication to occur
• Serves as a release to pent-up negative emotions
• Helps build cohesiveness among people, and allows them to learn about each other
• Helps individuals grow and learn to become better in the future
• We can learn a lot about ourselves and grow as a person when we work through conflict. It can also open up new possibilities and allow us to think differently about our beliefs and expectations.

Developing patience and tact to deal with others more effectively is a skill that can be applied in many areas of life. Continuing developing your ability to connect and influence others in a positive way.

 

SUMBER

White Tiger

True Wild Life | White Tiger | The white tigers originated in the pure Bengal strain in India. Later in captivity Siberian was crossed in to make a bigger more impressive white tiger. They do have some pigment, so they are not albinos. The white tiger has a shorter life expectancy than the orange tiger, thought to be due to the white tigers mutated genes and to the inbreeding depression necessary to perpetuate the bloodline. The white tiger was always rare to come across in the wild in India, and none have been seen in the wild for over 50 years. The gene that causes the background to be white is a simple recessive. For that reason to produce whites they must be mated either to other whites or to normal orange tigers that are carriers of the white gene. The white tiger has been known to give birth to an orange tiger when mated to an orange male. Cubs of both colors occur in the same litter.

White tigers have also sadly appealed to those who are rich who either display the white tiger in captivity or killed the white tigers for their fur. For that reason white tigers are no longer seen in the wild. All were captured for captive breeding programs or killed as trophies for rich hunters. It has been speculated that some white tiger individuals are born with a blue tinge to their black stripes. Although this has not been recorded, it is possible for a genetic mutation to occur diluting the black stripes of the white tiger a blue/gray color. This dilution of black to blue is common in horses, cats, and dogs.

As white tigers are simply a different coloured version of the normal orange tiger, there are very few differences (if any at all) in the white tiger's behaviour. The white tiger lived in a jungle habitat where there was plenty of cover for the white tiger to remain hidden and to keep on the look out for potential prey. However, they did tend to stand out against their backgrounds and did not camofluage as effectively as normal orange tigers

The tiger is a carnivorous mammal and a fearless predator hunting large mammals including deer, wild boar and cattle. Tigers are extremely stealthy animals and are able to sneak up on their prey and catch it off guard. This makes the tiger a ruthless and dominant predator within its environment. The tiger is a solitary animal and it requires a large territory in order to ensure that there is an adequate food supply. Tiger cubs remain with their mother until they are strong enough and experienced enough to hunt for themselves.