I have noticed that the most successful bloggers online have all taken similar steps in becoming great bloggers. After lotsof research and study, I can also tell you that blogging is much more complex than it seems to be on the surface. However, with a bit of effort, I believe anyone can become a successful blogger.Here are 101 steps to becoming a better blogger…
1. First, I’m going to assume you’re using Wordpress. You are using Wordpress aren’t you? The built-in SEO and pinging functions make Wordpress a search engine machine.
2. Sign up for Feedburner.
3. Post at least once a day.
4. Optimize your blog for the search engines.
5. Make sure you have an “About Me” page.
6. Submit your blog to 9Rules.
7. Submit your blog to NewsNow
8. Let your readers see the REAL you. Blogging is more personal than conventional websites. Don’t be afraid to tell a fewstories from your own life. By being real and personal, you will build a relationship with your readers based on loyalty and trust.
9. Blog and ping.
10. Submit your blog to rss and blog directories.
11. Use trackbacks.
12. Get involved in the blogosphere. Being a blogger is about being part of a community. Leave comments on otherblogs and get to know your favorite bloggers.
13. Give your blog it’s own unique voice… You!
14. Spend 99% of your time focused on creating unique, quality content. Content is King; or as John Reese says, “content is King Kong”.
15. Add a large RSS subscription button to your site.
16. Place an RSS feed link at the bottom of every post.
17. Set up a MyBlogLog Widget.
18. Encourage social bookmarking after every post.
Install these plugins to optimize your blog:
19. Akismet - This plugin helps eliminate comment spam.
20. Optimal Title - This plugin allows you to optimize the title of your blog post in order to improve your search engine rankings.
21. Ultimate Tag Warrior - The best tag system for WordPress.
22. Google Sitemap Generator - This plugin will enable you to automatically generate a Google sitemap for your blog.
23. Show Top Commentators - This plugin encourages feedback and discussion by rewarding the top commentators with a link back to their site in the sidebar.
24. Related Posts - This plugin will find other blog posts that are related to the current post. This encourages extra page views and keeps readers at your blog for a longer period of time.
25. Super Archive - One of the best archives system
26. WP-Cache - This plugin is an extremely efficient caching system that will make your site much faster.
27. WP-ContactForm - This plugin allows your readers to easily email you. It also helps avoid spam.
28. Popularity Contest - This plugin determines which of your posts are most popular and then puts them in the sidebar.
29. Adsense Deluxe - This plugin makes it easy to implement Adsense into your blog.
30. Sociable - This plugin helps you spread your content through social bookmarking sites like Digg, del.icio.us,reddit, and others.
31. Feedburner Feed Replacement - This plugin directs all of your feed traffic to Feedburner, ensuring accurate readership stats. This plugin will also convert any existing subscribers from the old feed to the FeedBurnerone.
32. Create a custom blog design. Your blog is a symbol of your brand. Make it uniquely you.
33. Add photos to each of your posts.
34. Use tagging.
35. Share the link love.
36. Publish a full feed instead of a partial feed.
37. Consider approaching newspapers with a story about your blog. Remember, journalists are hungry for content and ifyou can come up with a unique twist, then you could get some great coverage
38. Persistence is the key. Give your blog at least 6 months before you start expecting great returns on all of your hard work. Believe me, it will pay off in the long run.
39. Submit exclusive content to high-profile sites.
40. Syndicate a press release. Take some time to craft a truly compelling and newsworthy press release and send it to some of the top journalists and bloggers. You can then submit it to the main press release sites, including PRWeb and PRLeap.
41. Turn your articles into podcasts.
42. Turn your articles into videos using PowerPoint to create an entertaining slideshow. Submit your video to all of thepopular video sites, including Google Video, YouTube, and others.
43. Submit to blog carnivals.
44. Participate in and submit to social web 2.0 sites, including Reddit, Digg, Delicious, Netscape, and Stumble Upon.
45. Turn your articles into downloadable reports/ebooks.
46. Join Blogburst.
47. Syndicate your articles to EzineArticles, GoArticles, iSnare,American Chronicle, and other high-profile article directories.
48. Exchange guest posts with other bloggers.
49. Participate in group writing projects and memes.
50. Create a Squidoo lens that links back to your blog and established you as an industry expert in your chosen field.
51. Interview industry experts. This is one of the best ways to create original, engaging content.
52. Offer an e-mail newsletter in addition to RSS. An email newsletter allows you to form a closer relationship withyour visitors and picks up those who still aren’t comfortable with RSS technology.
53. Ask your visitors for suggestions on how to improve your website’s content because in the end, it’s really all about your readers.
54. Create a customized 404 page.
55. Claim your blog on Technorati
56. Enable automatic trackback and ping functionality.
57. If someone mentions your website on their blog, thank that blogger in the comments of the post and send them a thank you note. You can monitor any mentions of your blog using Google Alerts, Technorati, and Blogpulse.
58. Make contact with related bloggers online as well as offline.
59. Build up the readership of your blog using StumbleUpon Ads.
60. Edit yourself ruthlessly.
61. Translate your site into multiple languages. This is one tactic that few sites are taking advantage of.
62. Have your blog reviewed by ReviewMe.
63. Become a Guest Blogger.
64. Use Google Analytics.
65. Validate your feeds.
66. Claim your blog at Feedster.
67. Interact with your readers. Blogging is a two-way communication tool The most successful bloggers interact with their readers. They answer reader emails and comments and ask for feedback and suggestions on a regular basis.
68. Write about something that you love. You will not succeed if you are working at something you don’t enjoy. As DaleCarnegie once said, “People rarely succeed unless they have fun in what they are doing.”
69. Attend blogging conferences.
70. Invite your readers to submit articles.
Top Ways to Monetize Your Blog:
71. Kontera ContentLink
72. Text Link Ads
73. BlogAds
74. Ad Brite
75. Direct Ad sales & Sponsorships
76. Affiliate Sales
77. Google Adsense
78. ReviewMe
79. Bidvertiser
80. AuctionAds
81. Some of the best ways to monetize your RSS feed include the FeedBurner Ad Network and Text Link Ads.
Blog Writing Tips:
82. Learn to write great headlines.
83. Make your articles scannable. People don’t read on the Internet. They scan.
84. Use numbers in your titles to attract attention.
85. Vary your content. Be unique. Create a quiz. Interview a fellow blogger. Poll your readers. Review a book. Shake itup a bit to keep your readers interested.
86. Edit your writing ruthlessly.
87. Write like you talk.
88. Write with passion. It will come through in your writing.
89. Say something worth reading.
90. Always write with your reader in mind. Imagine that you are chatting with them over lunch at a local cafe.
91. Make your important points up front.
92. Include bullet point lists.
93. Create a “top 10″ list.
94. Create a “How To” article.
95. Create a weekly or monthly roundup of great posts from around the blogosphere.
96. Watch for trends in your industry.
97. Read voraciously and bring your readers the golden nuggets of everything you learn.
98. If you ever find yourself with writer’s block, check out 101 Great Posting Ideas.
99. Leave your readers hungry for more. Give them a quick preview of what you’ll be posting the next day. Theyare much more likely to come back if they are already excited about the next days post. Anticipation isone of the greatest marketing tactic.
100. Have fun! Blogging doesn’t always have to be serious. Feel free to make your posts fun and entertaining.
101. If you’re still looking for blogging tips, then here are some great resources: ProBlogger, JohnChow, and Successful Blog
Wednesday, May 23, 2007
The Nine Biggest Myths of the Workplace
You'll be happier if you have a job you like.
The correlation between your happiness and your job is overrated. The most important factors, by far, are your optimism levels and your personal relationships. If you are a pessimist, a great job can't overcome that. (Think of the jerks at the top.) And if you have great friends and family, you can probably be happy even if you hate your job (imagine a garbage collector who's in love).
Job-hopping will hurt you.
Job hopping is one of the best ways to maintain passion and personal growth in your caeers. And here's some good news for hoppers: Most people will have eight jobs between the time they are eighteen and thirty. This means most young workers are job hopping. So hiring managers have no choice but to hire job hoppers. Ride this wave and try a lot of jobs out yourself.
The glass ceiling still exists.
The glass ceiling is over, not because people crashed through, but because people are not looking up. Life above the glass ceiling is 100-hour weeks, working for someone else, and no time for friends and family. And it's not only women who are saying no to the ladder up: Men are as well. People want to customize success for themselves, not climb someone else rungs. So if no one is climbing to the top, the glass ceiling isn't keeping anyone down.
Office politics is about backstabbing.
The people who are most effective at office politics are people who are genuinely nice. Office politics is about helping people to get what they want. This means you have to take the time to figure out what someone cares about, and then think about how you can help him or her to get it. You need to always have your ears open for when you can help. If you do this, you don't have to strong arm people or manipulate them. Your authentic caring will inspire people to help you when you need it.
Do good work, and you'll do fine.
For one thing, no one knows what the heck you're doing in your cube if you're not telling them. So when you do good work, let people know. It is not crazy to toot your own horn--it's crazy to think someone will do it for you. Also, if you do good work but you're a jerk, people will judge your work to be sub par. So you could say that good work really only matters if your co-workers enjoy hearing about it from you.
You need a good resume.
Only ten percent of jobs come from sending a blind resume. Most people get jobs by leveraging their network. Once you have a connection, the person looks at your resume to make sure there are no red flags. So you need a competent resume and an excellent network. This means you should stop stressing about which verb to use on the second line of your third job. Go talk to someone instead.
People with good networks are good at networking.
Just be nice, take genuine interest in the people you meet, and keep in touch with people you like. This will create a group of people who are invested in helping you because they know you and appreciate you. Use LinkedIn to leverage those peoples' networks, and you just got yourself a very strong network by simply hanging out with the people you like.
Work hard and good things will come.
Everyone can put in a seventy-hour week. It doesn't mean you're doing good work. So here's an idea: Make sure you're not the hardest worker. Take a long lunch. Get all your work done early. Grand thinking requires space, flexibility and time. So let people see you staring at the wall. They'll know you're a person with big ideas and taking time to think makes you more valuable.
Create the shiny brand of you!
There is no magic formula to having a great career except to be you. Really you. Know who you are and have the humility to understand that self-knowledge is a never-ending journey. Figure out how to do what you love, and you'll be great at it. Offer your true, good-natured self to other people and you'll have a great network. Those who stand out as leaders have a notable authenticity that enables them to make genuinely meaningful connections with a wide range of people. Authenticity is a tool for changing the world by doing good.
The correlation between your happiness and your job is overrated. The most important factors, by far, are your optimism levels and your personal relationships. If you are a pessimist, a great job can't overcome that. (Think of the jerks at the top.) And if you have great friends and family, you can probably be happy even if you hate your job (imagine a garbage collector who's in love).
Job-hopping will hurt you.
Job hopping is one of the best ways to maintain passion and personal growth in your caeers. And here's some good news for hoppers: Most people will have eight jobs between the time they are eighteen and thirty. This means most young workers are job hopping. So hiring managers have no choice but to hire job hoppers. Ride this wave and try a lot of jobs out yourself.
The glass ceiling still exists.
The glass ceiling is over, not because people crashed through, but because people are not looking up. Life above the glass ceiling is 100-hour weeks, working for someone else, and no time for friends and family. And it's not only women who are saying no to the ladder up: Men are as well. People want to customize success for themselves, not climb someone else rungs. So if no one is climbing to the top, the glass ceiling isn't keeping anyone down.
Office politics is about backstabbing.
The people who are most effective at office politics are people who are genuinely nice. Office politics is about helping people to get what they want. This means you have to take the time to figure out what someone cares about, and then think about how you can help him or her to get it. You need to always have your ears open for when you can help. If you do this, you don't have to strong arm people or manipulate them. Your authentic caring will inspire people to help you when you need it.
Do good work, and you'll do fine.
For one thing, no one knows what the heck you're doing in your cube if you're not telling them. So when you do good work, let people know. It is not crazy to toot your own horn--it's crazy to think someone will do it for you. Also, if you do good work but you're a jerk, people will judge your work to be sub par. So you could say that good work really only matters if your co-workers enjoy hearing about it from you.
You need a good resume.
Only ten percent of jobs come from sending a blind resume. Most people get jobs by leveraging their network. Once you have a connection, the person looks at your resume to make sure there are no red flags. So you need a competent resume and an excellent network. This means you should stop stressing about which verb to use on the second line of your third job. Go talk to someone instead.
People with good networks are good at networking.
Just be nice, take genuine interest in the people you meet, and keep in touch with people you like. This will create a group of people who are invested in helping you because they know you and appreciate you. Use LinkedIn to leverage those peoples' networks, and you just got yourself a very strong network by simply hanging out with the people you like.
Work hard and good things will come.
Everyone can put in a seventy-hour week. It doesn't mean you're doing good work. So here's an idea: Make sure you're not the hardest worker. Take a long lunch. Get all your work done early. Grand thinking requires space, flexibility and time. So let people see you staring at the wall. They'll know you're a person with big ideas and taking time to think makes you more valuable.
Create the shiny brand of you!
There is no magic formula to having a great career except to be you. Really you. Know who you are and have the humility to understand that self-knowledge is a never-ending journey. Figure out how to do what you love, and you'll be great at it. Offer your true, good-natured self to other people and you'll have a great network. Those who stand out as leaders have a notable authenticity that enables them to make genuinely meaningful connections with a wide range of people. Authenticity is a tool for changing the world by doing good.
Little Johny's Maths Homework!
Little Johnny was busy doing his homework. As his mother approached she heard:
"One and one, the son-of-a-bitch is two."
"Two and two, the son-of-a-bitch is four."
"Three and three... "
His mother interrupted, asking where he had learned this way of doing math. Little Johnny remarked that his teacher Ms. Margo taught him.
His mother was rather upset and told him to stop the homework. The next day she stormed into Little Johnny's classroom and confronted Ms. Margo. Little Johnny's mother told Ms. Margo about Little Johnny's different way of doing math, and his claims that Ms. Margo taught it that way to the class.
The teacher was flabbergasted. She said that she couldn't understand why Little Johnny had said what he did. Then suddenly, Ms Margo exclaimed, "Oh, I know, here in school we say, one and one, the sum-of-which is two."
"One and one, the son-of-a-bitch is two."
"Two and two, the son-of-a-bitch is four."
"Three and three... "
His mother interrupted, asking where he had learned this way of doing math. Little Johnny remarked that his teacher Ms. Margo taught him.
His mother was rather upset and told him to stop the homework. The next day she stormed into Little Johnny's classroom and confronted Ms. Margo. Little Johnny's mother told Ms. Margo about Little Johnny's different way of doing math, and his claims that Ms. Margo taught it that way to the class.
The teacher was flabbergasted. She said that she couldn't understand why Little Johnny had said what he did. Then suddenly, Ms Margo exclaimed, "Oh, I know, here in school we say, one and one, the sum-of-which is two."
Saturday, May 19, 2007
10 advantages of growing old
1. Your joints are more accurate than the National Weather Service.
2. Kidnappers ignore you.
3. Sexual harassment charges against you just don't stick.
4. People no longer think you're a hypochondriac.
5. Your secrets are now safe with your friends because they can't remember them either.
6. Your eyes won't get much worse.
7. You're no longer expected to run into a burning building.
8. Whatever you buy now won't wear out.
9. In a hostage situation, you're likely to be released first.
10. There's nothing left to learn the hard way
2. Kidnappers ignore you.
3. Sexual harassment charges against you just don't stick.
4. People no longer think you're a hypochondriac.
5. Your secrets are now safe with your friends because they can't remember them either.
6. Your eyes won't get much worse.
7. You're no longer expected to run into a burning building.
8. Whatever you buy now won't wear out.
9. In a hostage situation, you're likely to be released first.
10. There's nothing left to learn the hard way
Airline Humour!
Lufthansa Airlines
Passengers on a Lufthansa flight heard this announcement from thecaptain:"Ladies and Gentlemen, I am sorry to inform you that we havelost power to all of our engines and will shortly crash into the ocean".
The passengers were obviously very worried about this situation but weresomewhat comforted by the captain's next announcement.
"Ladies and Gentlemen, we at Lufthansa have prepared for such anemergency and we would now like you to rearrange your seating so thatall the non-swimmers are on the left side of the plane and all theswimmers are on the right side of the plane.
After this announcement all the passengers rearranged their seating tocomply with the captain's request.
Two minutes later the captain made a belly landing in the ocean. Thecaptain once again made an announcement:
"Ladies and Gentlemen we have crashed into the ocean. All of theswimmers on the right side of the plane open your emergency exits andquickly swim away from the plane.
For all of the non-swimmers on the left side of plane... -Thank You forFlying Lufthansa- ".
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Delta Airlines
At the airport for a trip, I settled down to wait for the boardingannouncement at Gate 35. Then I heard the voice on the public addresssystem saying,
"We apologize for the inconvenience, but Delta Flight 570 will boardfrom Gate 41."
So my family picked up our luggage and carried it over to Gate 41.
Not ten minutes later the public address voice told us that Flight 570would in fact be boarding from Gate 35. So again we gathered ourcarry-on luggage and returned to the original gate.
Just as we were settling down, the public address voice spoke "Thank Youfor participating in Delta's physical fitness program."
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
British Airways
"This is Captain Sinclair speaking. On behalf of my crew I'd like towelcome you aboard British Airways flight 602 from New York to London .
We are currently flying at a height of 35,000 feet midway across theAtlantic."
"If you look out of the windows on the starboard side of the aircraft,you will observe that both the starboard engines are on fire.
"If you look out of the windows on the port side, you will observe thatthe port wing has fallen off."
"If you look down towards the Atlantic Ocean , you will see a littleyellow life raft with three people in it waving at you. That's me yourcaptain, the co-pilot, and one of the air stewardesses. This is arecorded message."
Passengers on a Lufthansa flight heard this announcement from thecaptain:"Ladies and Gentlemen, I am sorry to inform you that we havelost power to all of our engines and will shortly crash into the ocean".
The passengers were obviously very worried about this situation but weresomewhat comforted by the captain's next announcement.
"Ladies and Gentlemen, we at Lufthansa have prepared for such anemergency and we would now like you to rearrange your seating so thatall the non-swimmers are on the left side of the plane and all theswimmers are on the right side of the plane.
After this announcement all the passengers rearranged their seating tocomply with the captain's request.
Two minutes later the captain made a belly landing in the ocean. Thecaptain once again made an announcement:
"Ladies and Gentlemen we have crashed into the ocean. All of theswimmers on the right side of the plane open your emergency exits andquickly swim away from the plane.
For all of the non-swimmers on the left side of plane... -Thank You forFlying Lufthansa- ".
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Delta Airlines
At the airport for a trip, I settled down to wait for the boardingannouncement at Gate 35. Then I heard the voice on the public addresssystem saying,
"We apologize for the inconvenience, but Delta Flight 570 will boardfrom Gate 41."
So my family picked up our luggage and carried it over to Gate 41.
Not ten minutes later the public address voice told us that Flight 570would in fact be boarding from Gate 35. So again we gathered ourcarry-on luggage and returned to the original gate.
Just as we were settling down, the public address voice spoke "Thank Youfor participating in Delta's physical fitness program."
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
British Airways
"This is Captain Sinclair speaking. On behalf of my crew I'd like towelcome you aboard British Airways flight 602 from New York to London .
We are currently flying at a height of 35,000 feet midway across theAtlantic."
"If you look out of the windows on the starboard side of the aircraft,you will observe that both the starboard engines are on fire.
"If you look out of the windows on the port side, you will observe thatthe port wing has fallen off."
"If you look down towards the Atlantic Ocean , you will see a littleyellow life raft with three people in it waving at you. That's me yourcaptain, the co-pilot, and one of the air stewardesses. This is arecorded message."
That's life. Isn't it?
God created the donkey
and said to him. "You will be a donkey. You will work un-tiringly from sunrise to sunset carrying burdens on your back. You will eat grass, you will have no intelligence and you will live 50 years."
The donkey answered: "I will be a donkey, but to live 50 years is much. Give me only 20 years"God granted his wish.
..........................................................................................
God created the dog
and said to him: "You will guard the house of man. You will be his best Friend. You will eat the scraps that he gives you and you will live 30 years.You will be a dog. "
The dog answered: "Sir, to live 30 years is too much,give me only 15 years. " God granted his wish.
..........................................................................................
God created the monkey
and said to him: "You will be a monkey. You will swing from branch to branch doing tricks. You will be amusing and you will live
20 years. "
The monkey answered: "To live 20 years is too much, give me only 10 years." God granted his wish.
..........................................................................................
Finally God created man ...
and said to him: "You will be man, the only rational creature on the face of the earth. You will use your intelligence to become master over all the animals.. You will dominate the world and you will live 20 years."
Man responded: "Sir, I will be a man but to live only
20 years is very little, give me the 30 years that the donkey refused, the 15 years that the dog did not want and the 10 years the monkey refused." God granted man's wish
.........................................................................................
And since then, man lives
20 years as a man ,
marries and spends
30 years like a donkey, working and carrying all the burdens on his back.
Then when his children are grown, he lives 15 years like a dog taking care of the house and eating whatever is given to him,
so that when he is old, he can retire and live 10 years like a monkey, going from house to house and from one son or daughter to another doing tricks to amuse his grandchildren.
That's Life.
Is'nt it ??????????
and said to him. "You will be a donkey. You will work un-tiringly from sunrise to sunset carrying burdens on your back. You will eat grass, you will have no intelligence and you will live 50 years."
The donkey answered: "I will be a donkey, but to live 50 years is much. Give me only 20 years"God granted his wish.
..........................................................................................
God created the dog
and said to him: "You will guard the house of man. You will be his best Friend. You will eat the scraps that he gives you and you will live 30 years.You will be a dog. "
The dog answered: "Sir, to live 30 years is too much,give me only 15 years. " God granted his wish.
..........................................................................................
God created the monkey
and said to him: "You will be a monkey. You will swing from branch to branch doing tricks. You will be amusing and you will live
20 years. "
The monkey answered: "To live 20 years is too much, give me only 10 years." God granted his wish.
..........................................................................................
Finally God created man ...
and said to him: "You will be man, the only rational creature on the face of the earth. You will use your intelligence to become master over all the animals.. You will dominate the world and you will live 20 years."
Man responded: "Sir, I will be a man but to live only
20 years is very little, give me the 30 years that the donkey refused, the 15 years that the dog did not want and the 10 years the monkey refused." God granted man's wish
.........................................................................................
And since then, man lives
20 years as a man ,
marries and spends
30 years like a donkey, working and carrying all the burdens on his back.
Then when his children are grown, he lives 15 years like a dog taking care of the house and eating whatever is given to him,
so that when he is old, he can retire and live 10 years like a monkey, going from house to house and from one son or daughter to another doing tricks to amuse his grandchildren.
That's Life.
Is'nt it ??????????
Friday, May 18, 2007
Danger caused by Carcinogens
Did you know chemical released by plastic water bottles can cause cancer (It is not the water that affecting you but the chemical releasing from the bottle)
How to avoid:Check on the bottom of the bottle there is a triangle sign and there willbe a number on it. If the number is higher than or equal to 5 --> then this bottle is safe to use.
Whatever number under 5 will release the chemical. For most bottle water, the number is 1.
Stress is like a glass of water
Most stress is caused by hanging on to problems and difficulties longer than is good for you. Letting go and taking a rest from time to time isn't the mark of a wimp, it's a sign of practicality and common sense. Sadly, many of us keep clutching at our problems and burdens until we damage ourselves, sometimes permanently.
I wish I could claim to have thought this up, but I didn't. I don't even know who did. It's based on one of those pieces that go around the Internet, passed from person to person. A friend sent it to me and I couldn't resist adapting and using it here.
A famous speaker was asked to talk about stress and stress management. Wanting to give the group a practical demonstration of what was being discussed, the speaker poured out a glass of water, held it up above her head for the audience to see, and asked: "How heavy is this?"
There were many guesses, ranging from an ounce or two to almost a pound. After a while, the speaker asked another question: "How long do you think I can hold it like this?"
Again, there were lots of guesses. Some said maybe five minutes, others fifteen. One suggested an hour.
"The actual weight of the glass of water doesn't matter much," the speaker said. "I'm not very sure how long I can hold it as I'm doing now, but I can be pretty certain that holding it for a minute or less wouldn't be a real problem. If I hold it for half an hour, I'll definitely have a bad ache in my arm. If I hold it for many hours, you'll have to call an ambulance. In each case, it's the same weight, but the longer I hold it, the heavier it will feel and the more damage I will do to myself. Right?"
Everyone nodded their agreement.
"That's the way it is with stress too," she went on. "If you try to carry your workplace burdens all the time, even if they're quite light, sooner or later they're going to feel heavier and heavier. Soon, you won't be able to carry on without doing yourself damage. Like this glass of water, you must put them down for a while and rest before going back to holding them up again. When you're refreshed, you can carry on, if you must."
There was the kind of silence you get when a roomful of people suddenly realize a truth that ought to have been staring them in the face. A mixture of enlightenment and embarrassment.
"So," the speaker concluded. "Before you go home tonight, put the burden of work down. Don't carry it home. Take some rest. Don't pick it up again until tomorrow. In fact, whatever burdens you're carrying, let them go whenever you can. Don't risk hanging on until you need that ambulance."
Life is short and uncertain. There will always be troubles to be carried. Why spend more time than you must carrying them? Why raise them above your head, if you can carry them some other way? Most stress isn't caused by some sudden, overwhelming pressure. It comes from holding on to fairly minor problems —often in an awkward or demanding way—until your mind and body have become twisted and distorted with the effort.
Wouldn't now be a suitable time to let go for a while?
I wish I could claim to have thought this up, but I didn't. I don't even know who did. It's based on one of those pieces that go around the Internet, passed from person to person. A friend sent it to me and I couldn't resist adapting and using it here.
A famous speaker was asked to talk about stress and stress management. Wanting to give the group a practical demonstration of what was being discussed, the speaker poured out a glass of water, held it up above her head for the audience to see, and asked: "How heavy is this?"
There were many guesses, ranging from an ounce or two to almost a pound. After a while, the speaker asked another question: "How long do you think I can hold it like this?"
Again, there were lots of guesses. Some said maybe five minutes, others fifteen. One suggested an hour.
"The actual weight of the glass of water doesn't matter much," the speaker said. "I'm not very sure how long I can hold it as I'm doing now, but I can be pretty certain that holding it for a minute or less wouldn't be a real problem. If I hold it for half an hour, I'll definitely have a bad ache in my arm. If I hold it for many hours, you'll have to call an ambulance. In each case, it's the same weight, but the longer I hold it, the heavier it will feel and the more damage I will do to myself. Right?"
Everyone nodded their agreement.
"That's the way it is with stress too," she went on. "If you try to carry your workplace burdens all the time, even if they're quite light, sooner or later they're going to feel heavier and heavier. Soon, you won't be able to carry on without doing yourself damage. Like this glass of water, you must put them down for a while and rest before going back to holding them up again. When you're refreshed, you can carry on, if you must."
There was the kind of silence you get when a roomful of people suddenly realize a truth that ought to have been staring them in the face. A mixture of enlightenment and embarrassment.
"So," the speaker concluded. "Before you go home tonight, put the burden of work down. Don't carry it home. Take some rest. Don't pick it up again until tomorrow. In fact, whatever burdens you're carrying, let them go whenever you can. Don't risk hanging on until you need that ambulance."
Life is short and uncertain. There will always be troubles to be carried. Why spend more time than you must carrying them? Why raise them above your head, if you can carry them some other way? Most stress isn't caused by some sudden, overwhelming pressure. It comes from holding on to fairly minor problems —often in an awkward or demanding way—until your mind and body have become twisted and distorted with the effort.
Wouldn't now be a suitable time to let go for a while?
Thursday, May 17, 2007
Life's Coffee
A group of alumni, highly established in their careers, got together to visit their old university professor. The conversation soon turned into complaints about stress in work and life.
Offering his guests coffee, the professor went to the kitchen and returnedwith a large pot of coffee and an assortment of cups - porcelain, plastic, glass, crystal, some plain-looking, some expensive and some exquisite, telling them to help themselves to the coffee.
After all the students had a cup of coffee in hand, the professor said: "If you noticed, all the nice looking expensive cups were taken up, leaving behind the plain and cheap ones. While it is but normal for you to want only the best for yourselves, that is the source of your problems and stress."
"Be assured that the cup itself adds no quality to the coffee. In most
cases, it's just more expensive and in some cases even hides what we drink.
What all of you really wanted was coffee, not the cup, but you consciously
went for the best cups... ...and then began eyeing each other's cups.
Now consider this: Life is the coffee, and the jobs, houses, cars, things, money and position in society are the cups. They are just tools to hold and contain life, and the type of cup we have does not define nor change the quality of life we live. Sometimes, by concentrating only on the cup, we fail to enjoy the coffee God has provided us. God brews the coffee, not the
cups... ...enjoy your coffee.
Offering his guests coffee, the professor went to the kitchen and returnedwith a large pot of coffee and an assortment of cups - porcelain, plastic, glass, crystal, some plain-looking, some expensive and some exquisite, telling them to help themselves to the coffee.
After all the students had a cup of coffee in hand, the professor said: "If you noticed, all the nice looking expensive cups were taken up, leaving behind the plain and cheap ones. While it is but normal for you to want only the best for yourselves, that is the source of your problems and stress."
"Be assured that the cup itself adds no quality to the coffee. In most
cases, it's just more expensive and in some cases even hides what we drink.
What all of you really wanted was coffee, not the cup, but you consciously
went for the best cups... ...and then began eyeing each other's cups.
Now consider this: Life is the coffee, and the jobs, houses, cars, things, money and position in society are the cups. They are just tools to hold and contain life, and the type of cup we have does not define nor change the quality of life we live. Sometimes, by concentrating only on the cup, we fail to enjoy the coffee God has provided us. God brews the coffee, not the
cups... ...enjoy your coffee.
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