Why Aren’t You Succeeding?

Facing our fears is one of the most important steps towards any successful endeavor. That may include undertaking new goals, fighting off misconceptions and finally to prove to ourselves it can be done. The strangest part is after battling the external forces, you need to also fight the internal ones as well. Here’s where most of us would fail. Thus, old habits are hard to break.

Understanding Change

Wooden Figure by Marcus74id

Let’s imagine for one moment, that it’s the final step before reaching your goal and then you hear that creepy voice telling you, ‘you’re going to fail’. Because you believed so much in yourself, even in the negative thoughts, you become affected. So as I thought about the obstacles that I’ve overcame, getting near to success seems scary. It absolutely is. Everything I have done, worked hard for is then to strip away that which I have had and now don’t want? That really sounds attractive. :)

It could be the jitters I’m getting much like that runaway bride syndrome. I’m glad that didn’t happen to me. However, as I thought about change, it become apparent – I won’t let things go. I’m holding on to unnecessary weight and have further grown attached to some habits that it has become hard to toss out. Thus, through these attachments, the fight to hold on is so strong that it’ll even convince me that I’m not ready. Furthermore, it’s telling me I’m not good enough.

So When Are You Ever Ready?

With many of the things in life, you’ll find you won’t be ready for much. If you think about it, we didn’t plan for them as well. We’ve followed a system that has molded, branded and even influenced us to think for ourselves. Sometimes with not very good results. However, those of you who have mastered the art of seeing through the clutter, good for you. Your success is something we all strive for. On the other hand, it depends on the eye of the beholder.

Now, that doesn’t mean we’re not special. We didn’t want to. Ah, now here comes passion. How much of something do you really want that you would work day and night, hour after hour and even sacrifice some of your social life for? That’s something a lot of us don’t plan for but it comes with our wants. Yet, we don’t want to work hard for it. We want it on a silver platter like welfare benefits and even employment with insurance.

Just step back for a moment and look at how making ideas can happen. It doesn’t stop with thinking. The hard work and consistent effort in feeding your ideas continuously is key to what will eventually become your success. That can go both ways, good and evil. For many of us, that’s pretty much in blogging now. So how hard are you working on driving feedback to your content?

Making Sense of Wants

Lately, with new projects under my belt it has become evident, leveraging different streams brings with it new experiences. When you have work, you don’t think so much of the irrational stuff. It’s when you start becoming comfortable and fall into the trap of thinking you’ve been there that you’ll resolve into your old ways.

Now I don’t know if anyone else has had this feeling. The support in my life is the best it has ever been both on a peer and social status. So screwing up is the last thing I want to do but somehow putting doubt behind doesn’t seem realistic. I’m not saying I like negative thinking. No, au contraire, I don’t like it. In fact, those of you who have followed me so far know that I’m a really optimistic person.

Furthermore, at every stage you’re going to encounter challenges. Without them, it just doesn’t seem real. Why?

The habit of instilling worries has been so ingrained in many of us, getting rid of them requires a totally new mindset. I think we’ve all heard of this before. It’s always the mindset but what in the whole wide world does that mean?

Well, let me tell you what it means. It means changing the way you’ve been thinking about success. Changing the way you’re talking about it as well. It also means changing the way you’ve been seeing yourself in terms of winning. Does that make sense now? Kind of simple but we all make it so complicated.

What Success Don’t Mean

Master and Pupil by Marcus74id

Success has always been seen in terms of monetary assets on a social status and around here, where I am, I’ve come to see money as the root of evil. Perhaps the jealousies of folks who have NOT had success has spoiled my thoughts. Furthermore, I have taken their thoughts and learned to believe that they are mine. Thus, I’ve followed a crowd that has turned off my mind.

Take that thinking and go way back now. All of us are one way or another affected by negative thinking through our peers, our relations and even our own adaptation to the noise. Through time, not only does it become our way of life but more or less our limits. So ask yourself right now, ‘Why aren’t you succeeding?’

Are you following, being stepped on or going against the grain to change?

For me, it’s simple. I’m just afraid of being on the other side. Never been there. Never done that but I’m sure whatever illusions are challenging me, I’m willing to challenge it back. With support, anything is possible. It’s time to stop the following, let whoever wants to step on me fall. Most importantly, go against the grain no matter how harsh those hairs can be.

Heck, I didn’t survive the horror up to now to give up. I think you should give yourself a chance too. Together, we can fight our illusions and achieve the wants which we’ve been working hard to see.

Share your thoughts on success – where you are now and what drives you forward?

IMAGES: Wooden Man and Man and Pupil by Marcus74id

Where This Blog Has Been – Sept 12 to 18, 2010

Influenced by Steve Scott’s Sunday Selections, Jennifer’s Live Richly Roundup, plus the 100 Blog Comments Gems, it seemed about right to continue the love of giving back. It has been mentioned already that there was going to be some type of project underway but unbeknown to me, it came so soon.

The only difference with this list is it’s going to be more selfish, more about where this blog has been. So you’ll see that not only am I going to link back but I’ve been linked to. Thus, there are no blank bullets sent here. Consider it my backlinking log. Furthermore, I’d like you to get a glimpse of where I’ve been, which is great for those who are into the specifics and analysis of sites online.

So follow along and blog hop with me, see whom and where I’ve build my relationships with and allow yourself to further connect with these bloggers by starting your own conversations with them.

Here’s where this blog has been this week:

Sunday September 12:

  • 27 Things You Probably Don’t Know About Me – Karen Ruby over at A Meaningful Existence reveals some personal things about her which she hasn’t done before. This is great because now, not only do I know more about Karen, I can also relate to what she’s talking about.
  • How to Use Permalinks For Blog SEO? – Permalinks are necessary for SEO and Adam helps you how you can set it up on WordPress so that you can get the most for your site in terms of search engine visibility.

Monday September 13:

  • Guest Post – How To Build Your Personal Brand Online Through Blogs – Nunzio Bruno is a long-time supporter of this blog and recently asked me to submit a guest post to his blog, Financially Digital, which is about small business financial planning and budgeting. Here is an attempt to tackle branding with blogs.
  • Help! How did this happen – Michelle Lyall has done what she could but getting back on track seems more tough than wanting to. So there seems to be a blockage here. So I lend some support. You can too.

Tuesday September 14:

  • All Sleazy Self-Help Gurus Must Die – Steve reveals how marketing has it’s bad sides and also how we must wake up in order to differentiate ourselves from the masses. Are you following the hype too?

Wednesday September 15:

Thursday September 16:

  • Guest Post – Remembering the 100 Blog Comments Challenge – I had to do something to show appreciation for what has spawned the 100 Blog Comments Gems. Furthermore, it gave me so many new ideas on building relationships online, it would be wrong to remain silent. See the lessons I’ve learned and shared back.
  • How Pinging Can Boost Your Blog Traffic – Tinh shows and even walks you how pinging, even though it has long been abandoned, should still be considered when you update your blog. With a list to copy and paste, you’ll be pinging in no time and getting yourself crawled over. Maybe it’s time for you to get up there too.
  • Ever Consider Blogging Without SEO? – Ileane doesn’t really like SEO much but she knows for any blog to be successful, it’s necessary. Here on her new site, she refers to bloggers whom you can follow to get the most on SEO.
  • How to Monetize Your Blog (Correctly) – A guest post on Blog Engage by John and his thoughts on how you can make money with your blog the right way. Here the basics are more stressed than the myths of fancy strategies.

Friday September 17:

Saturday September 18:

  • Don’t Talk to Me Unless Your Alexa is 50k Or Lower – Dan Lew wrote a very compelling article on the nature of connecting with blogs that has grown big in terms of popularity and also business. Furthermore, he gives some reasons why and how you can try to contact them if you want.

Since this is the first edition of the Where This Blog Has Been, I thought I’ll do some honorable mentions since there are many goodies I’ve had the honored to check out.

Honorable Mentions:

Murlu Musings: Things I’ve Got Going On – Murray Lunn reveals his current work online. You would think it’s easy blogging but no, it’s a real business and deserves much dedication as he shows, it’s not about the work but the passion. We’re both involved in a few projects so look out for more work from Murray here.

How to “rank higher on Alexa” – Dina has a marvelous site where she dissects and reveals tips and tricks on mastering wordpress. Hailing in from Germany, this awesome blogger shows how you can rank well in Alexa.

Mobile Lifestyle – Working where you want to when you want to is the new nomad dream and movement. Jennifer beautifully covers it among with sources to those who are doing it. I’ve learned something more about that here.

100+ Top FREE WordPress Themes – Peter over at Ideas Bubble really gives you some great themes to play with and best of all they’re all FREE.

Tips on How to Find a Perfect Niche to Blog About – Adam is someone you should look out for as not only is his writing compelling, the topics are revealing too. Here, learn about how you can find out what to write about for your blog.

Feedburner is Stealing Your CommentLuv Backlinks – Are you building backlinks with CommentLuv? Maybe you should take a look closer and see if it’s not being lost to Google.

How to Blog While on Vacation – Jessica Benton is someone you should be following soon as not only is her site awesome, she’s really techy, but her material is too. This article in particular shows you a clever way to blog when you’re not there.

Build a relationship with this blog too and you could be featured in the next edition!

Towards the Ranks, A Tale Up the Blogosphere

Today’s post is going to be on the lighter side as you’ll find there’s a narrative approach which instills some fantasy. However, don’t run away just yet. There’s a blogging element to it too so it’s not entirely irrelevant. Moreover, it’s about a journey towards guest posting, learning a new form of backlinking and finally … well, you’ll see. Enjoy!

Starting story …

I was swimming in the blogging pool and to my dismay, guest blogging was coming up. I can feel my hands sweat. So who do I choose to guest blog for?

Decisions.

Decisions.

My head must have been throbbing with process and practical concepts which I’ve read over and over again. The do’s. The don’ts. OK. I wasn’t going to step on any of those territories. But by the time I’ve overcame that obstacle I must have instilled so much fear inside, my action became weak.

I needed rest.

I wanted to regain some of the energy I had used absorbing in the myths, tall tales and dreadful suicides of the unknown in the blogosphere. Suddenly, I was the hobbit here treading through the mountain because I knew that the dark side was strong but I had faith.

Hobbit Panorama by David T. Wenzel

If I didn’t climb, I would be putting humanity against great risk.

How much longer will the ring overcome me?

With both my hands, I crawled the forums with strong winds scraping against my skin. The next journey says, enough with the information. Find partners to work with.

Paulie Ciara's Weekly PacketsFollowing the curving path around the overload of information, I fell upon Paulie Ciara’s free weekly backlink packets.

I can feel the light on my ring glow and I take hold to acknowledge I’m getting closer. I’m going to follow this journey and travel towards the ranks.

But to instill some justice into the overwhelming joy and not let the excitement disillusioned me, I searched on Google for some advice.

Is Paulie’s packets worth trying?

I’m confused as the force of Angela style links come into the picture.

Is Angela a code name?

Back when I mentioned that zombies make your fear look like child’s play, Resident Evil’s Code Veronica was a game which made a name subjective. Exploring who Paulie Ciara was and then learning about Angela, the world of blogging through backlinking just got deeper.

Typing in angela style links, I found an article entitled Angela and Paul Style Backlinks? WTF are they?

Excuse the tone but the breadth of the information was worth the time.

Not yet having a clue as to how backlinking works, the blogger, Babu conveyed the whole process in one sentence.

These backlinks are nothing other than forums and web 2.0 sites which allow you to register along with your website information in profile.

The article then goes on to explain how some businesses actually are paying for these types of backlinks. Thus, one of the service behind backlinking is magically opened in front of my eyes.

I felt a calling as well. I checked the ABOUT page which I have done so many times again and again and looked at the content of Babu’s site. I have no idea what SEO is but I was determined to learn.

The SEO course which David Jenyns presented with Gideon Shalwick was only a tip of the iceberg. Here, the blogger actually studied with him. I was impressed.

So I contacted Baba.

The rest as they say is history.

Moral of the Story

Blogging is an on-going journey. This hobbit hasn’t reached the top of the mountain yet. But with a few guest posts behind her, she continues to climb the ranks. Furthermore, the main idea is to take the initiative and build relationships online.

Finding a blog to communicate with and then making contact to write for is one of the most bravest, but also scariest thing you will ever do online. However, all great things come with courage. Just go out there and give it your best shot. The worse that can happen is you’ll fail.

Learn how to take it. Get it over with quick and then move on! It’s not about that moment in fear, it’s about those fears that are coming after it. Thus, long-term is where we’re all heading with blogging. If you’re afraid now, imagine how much more afraid you’ll be after.

And so, I’ve face my fears through taking action and wrote guest posts to:

So what did you think about today’s post? Would you like this to be a weekly weekend thing where a narrative is presented to inform and educate you on blogging or many of the other topics presented on this blog?

Share your thoughts below.

IMAGE: Hobbit Panaroma by David T. Wenzel

Biography Fridays: Steve Bryne on Identity

Welcome to another edition of Biography Fridays! This is the third of the series so far and you’re going to like it today as you’ll find out who Steve Bryne is. However, before we get into the meat of the content, if you want to catch up on who you missed, check out the first biography where Eric Gruber of Article Marketing Experts was introduced and last week, Scott Berkun.

Now, Steve BryneI recently caught Steve Bryne‘s latest show entitled The Bryne Identity on DVD. At first I didn’t know what to make of him. Is he Asian or what? There was definitely some type of mixture here. However, I have never heard of him before and needless to say, I don’t watch much television. So every chance I get to immerse myself in entertainment, I want to enjoy it for what it is.

Following in about a few minutes after the introduction, it was apparent that Steve was going to talk about the perception of identity. From his visit to China to the food he loves, the stereotypes among other ethnicity to personalities in music, the difference between women and men to finally a dream, I caught myself laughing out loud to the truths that were hard to hold back. Steve is a truly a brilliant comedian!

As he throws the chops of identity splicing up society, he has educated me on the trends of the minority and majority in America. There is no doubt that through the details in demographics and rising growths of different people, I saw the analyst in him emerge. The writing of the skits alone were also clever indeed. His take on a very personal matter shows that there’s nothing to hide when you’re out there and best of all, it’s OK to laugh at yourself.

Here’s a few you can enjoy from the show:

Who is Steve Byrne?

Steve is a half-bred of Korean and Irish descent. However, don’t ask him what he is. He’ll simply tell you that he’s American. Thus, the second Comedy Central special recently released entitled The Bryne Identity marks Steve’s coming of age work. Before that, in 2008 Happy Hour was based around observational humor on sex, popular culture on sex and more sex. What’s a young guy to talk about? :)

Coming in from Pittsburgh, PA, it was during college that Steve found himself goofing off.

“I had a lot of fun in college, let’s put it that way. I was definitely not the best student in the world.” – Still ‘Full-Tilt’

Over the years, as Steve worked on the craft of perfecting his standup, most notably on MySpace where his profile has over 37,000+ friends, he has grown to be one of the most funniest international comic around. His resume currently lists more than a dozen features, specials, theatrical appearances and collaborations. However, don’t let the numbers shrug off your thoughts, this guy really is into the art of making people laugh.

Here’s a clip I found of a trailer entitled ‘13 or Bust‘ which dates back to 2006. Steve Bryne tries to document the will to break the most shows in a night. Very worthy indeed of watching the Steve before now.

Kims of Comedy lineupSteve has also been part of the comedy troupe the ‘Kims of Comedy‘ which includes familiar Asian comedians such as Bobby Lee from Mad TV, Kevin Shea and Ken Jeong. Back when the Kings of Comedy, Queens of Comedy and Latin Kings of Comedy were making waves, this addition gave some light into another sector of the population. Furthermore, with the recent release of The Bryne Identity, support with special appearance by Bobby Lee was also contributed as the final segment features Bobby running out with his famous look in wearing only undies.

Overall, I’m always interested in how writers progress. Comedians, specifically can move you with words. Not only that, they are able to visually present to you a thought you would have otherwise not see. The ‘a-ha!’ moment are normally found this way. So if you’re interested in experiencing quirky observational thoughts on society, check out some of Steve Bryne‘s energetic work at a venue near you. You can also further explore some of the skits direct on his website.

Steve Bryne Store

A Research Template To Rock Your Vessel of Words

Words still constitute the majority of the traffic online. For that, text will be around for a long time despite video and pictures being more prominent nowadays. Furthermore, for each blog, the unique voice which shares their thoughts, values and features will use text much more than images to convey themselves. Let me demonstrate this example through the commenting form.

Comment or Contact FormWhen you comment everyday on your fellow blogger’s site, what options are you given? You have the fields which asks for your name, e-mail address, URL and comment. It doesn’t say, upload a picture to share your thoughts. Well that’s besides your avatar. Until the day text no longer is relevant, we’re pretty much stuck with it and that might be for a long time.

So when I thought about writing content today, in particular, regurgitating content, I took into account how words are important towards communicating effectively online. Especially now that the pursuit of writing at least 5+ articles a day is on the radar, it is crucial to learn how to break down concepts and weave them into your own voice.

Sure copying and pasting can be done but do you want to litter the internet with thoughts that has already been seen and heard over the blogosphere? Furthermore duplicate content? If you can’t convey to your audience what you mean without sounding like a copy cat, then it’s best to start practicing the art of researching productively. This will help you down the line when you’re attempting article marketing.

The recent training with Helium is a very good example of why this is necessary.

How To Put It All Together

Mikey on Content Marketing

Writing on the web isn’t like writing a school paper where you’re compiling your thoughts through the o’l essay form. The days of looking through an encyclopedia to copy facts to quote from and cite is reserved for grades. Therefore, the message you present on your blog, article or even comment has to be much more dynamic than that. Down the line, you have to build some type of working template to constantly crank out those valuable insights.

Good thing you’re here because I want to share with you how that can be done. Through 4 simple steps, anything you want to write about can be whipped up and reserved as a swipe file for later. This is especially effective if you want to build backlinks in the future because no content is worthy without at least one relevant point. So here are some ways which you can rock the information you find.

Taking Notes In Fragments

Oftentimes, what you read will have strong keywords stand out. Take note of this because here is where your starting point to build back the main idea of your new article begins. As you continue to collect information on that keyword, find action phrases to connect together more specific thoughts. Many will tell you that this is the long tail of niche marketing. Furthermore, consider the comment section to add more incentives to your research.

Readers will oftentimes give valuable feedback that can jump start the main idea into another direction or even reference a link to which you can follow. There’s a slew of articles waiting for you to write about here. Make the most of your research and highlight the commentators who make it a point to stand out. They will definitely give you some really good gems to work with.

Start Building Titles

Once you’ve collected your great notes, it’s time to add some buzz to it. Here’s part of the process where you get to be creative and imagine the wicked ways which you can provoke emotions. After all, who’s going to click through and read an article you wrote with a title like ‘A Research Template For You To Use’?

Implementing ‘rock’ and ‘vessel’, I instilled an action verb followed by a descriptive noun to provide the reader with something to ride on. I started off with ‘You Are A Vessel of Words So Rock It’. Then as the article fleshed out, it seemed necessary to insert more specifics. Point here is, would you read something with the title you came up with? If your answer is yes, then congratulations, you’ve confirmed the first step of reading a worthy article.

Flesh Out Your Thoughts

Now that you’ve created your awesome title, you want to think about the ways which you can position your article. Taking the fragment of notes you’ve collected are there any benefits, downsides, point which needs to be stressed on or described in depth? The possibilities here are endless but write first and foremost what would provoke you. As I find that the more interested in the information I find, the better I am to flow naturally in voice.

This is especially essential if your goal is to speak to the reader on a mono to mono tone. Nothing beats an article which puts to good use a great conversation. The best part is when you can instill a human aspect to which a complex concept needs to be taken apart, you’ll find the ‘friend‘ in you standing out. Furthermore, using less of I and more of you helps.

Don’t Over Revise

The first draft always contains the main element of surprise through which revision can strip away. In fact, if you’re not careful you can change the direction of your article. This is really daunting and much more time-consuming if you have to rewrite your content over. To prevent this from happening, sometimes you need to come back to the article at a later time. Take a short break to grab something to drink, cleanse the writing palate and look over your work again with a more critical eye.

Question the points you’ve made. Are you describing them effectively or are you still leaving something out? Add or take away any irrelevant thoughts which can distract the reader from focusing on the main idea of your article. Moreover, retaining the voice that makes the human part of conversing in humor or controversy eases the revision process. Think of it as talking to yourself. Did you enjoyed the way the article engaged you? Make it an effort to not become boring.

What’s your template for rocking your vessel of words? Share your thoughts.