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10 Steps to Mastering Morning Rituals | Reach Altitude. Self Development Tools to Follow Your Dreams. Best of StevePavlina.com. A few days ago, I added a “Best of StevePavlina.com” section to the blog sidebar. Currently it includes links to 17 of the top articles since this blog began in October 2004. This list is subjective, including articles that have been the most popular among readers, articles that readers claimed have helped them the most, and my own personal favorites. If you’re relatively new to the site, this core group of articles should give you a good bang-per-buck for your reading time as well as provide a good overview of the blog’s content: For the complete list of blog entries, visit the StevePavlina.com blog archives. Steve RecommendsHere are my recommendations for products and services I've reviewed that can improve your results. This is a short list since it only includes my top picks. Feng Shui Fest (Free) - Alter your space to increase flow and peaceSite Build It!

Lessons. How to Write Great Blog Content. How to Blog: Blogging Tips for Beginners. Update: See our more recently published posts on the topic of starting a blog at How to Start a Blog in 5 Easy Steps and how to make money blogging. Welcome to my How to Blog – Blogging Tips for Beginners Guide. On the page below you’ll find links to a series of how to blog tips that I’ve written with blogging for beginners (and ‘Pre’ Bloggers) in mind. It unpacks the basics of blogging and a lot of the decisions and strategies that you’ll want to consider when setting up and starting a blog. How to Blog – My Ultimate Guide to Blogging for Beginners Since developing this series I’ve produced a book specifically for beginner bloggers.

Lastly- if you enjoy these posts and want to keep in touch with ProBlogger – subscribe via our RSS feed. Blogging Tips for Beginners Introductory Posts Blog Design Tips Tips for Writing Content for Blogs Tips on Making Money from Blogs Blog Networks Other Beginner Blogging Tips Want more Blogging Tips for Beginners? 1. Technorati.

How to Overcome Internet Boredom. As vast and seemingly limitless as the internet is, sometimes you just don’t know what URL to type into that bar up top. When you run out of Facebook/Myspace notifications to go through and you’ve already checked your email 17 times, what then? Well running this site has turned me into a very experienced internet browser.

So I want to pass along some of the tricks I’ve learned so that you can better use the World Wide Web. There is SO MUCH that you can learn and experience just from sitting in that computer chair so start now: Stumble Upon (SU) StumbleUpon is a social bookmarking site at the root, but it has infinity + 100 other tools at your disposal. You can also choose what kind of media you want to find: pictures, videos, news, wiki, blogs, music, etc. For every site that you go to, you can ‘thumbs up’ or ‘thumbs down’ the site so that SU gets a continually more accurate reading of your interests. Find Other Blogs That You Love Finding Blogs That Interest You: 1. 2. Example: The Cranking Widgets Blog | Productivity for Entrepreneurs, GTD. Steve Pavlina’s Personal Development Blog.

Open Loops. Wired Science presents an article on research by psychologists Daniele Marzoli and Luca Tommasi of the University G. d’Annunzio in Italy. In this study, done in dance clubs in Italy (Who says research can't be fun?) , 172 subjects were approached by a researcher and asked for a cigarette. Out of the 88 people who were asked in their left ear, only 17 gave her a cigarette.

Of the 88 people who were asked the same request in their right ear, 34 granted the request. In addition, researchers observed even more people interacting, noted similar requests, and observed the success or failure of the request. This large difference in the results led the psychologists to conclude that the result differences were due to which ear received the requests and not just chance.

When hypothesizing why the right ear yielded substantially more positive results it was noted, --via Wired Science: Requests to the Right Ear Are More Successful Than Those to the Left. Matt's Idea Blog | Matthew Cornell - Time Management, Productivity Expert. [Cross-posted to Quantified Self] We experiment on ourselves and track the results to improve the way we work, our health, and our personal lives.

This rational approach is essential because there are few guarantees that what works for others will work for us. Take the category of sleep, for example. Of the hundreds of tinctures and techniques available, clearly not all help everyone, or there would be exactly one title in the sleep section of your bookstore, called "Sleep," and no one could argue about its effectiveness. Treating these improvements experimentally, however, requires a major shift in thinking.

But being human isn't that simple. As I tried to say in Making citizen scientists, this is heralding a move from citizens-as-helpers to true citizen scientists - people who get genuinely curious about something and decide to test things out for themselves, rather than simply trusting what others say will work. What do you think? How to Live Life to the Fullest - Personal Growth at Life Optimizer.

GTD

50+ Personal Productivity Blogs You’ve Never Heard of Before (and about a dozen you probably have) - Stepcase Lifehack. The personal productivity niche on the Web has grown by leaps and bounds since Lifehack launched only a few years ago. While a few sites dominate the rankings, there are lots and lots of lesser-known sites that are as good or even better than the “A-list” productivity blogs. Most of them are solo operations — the GTD newbie documenting his or her quest for greater control over their life, the coach or consultant sharing his or her knowledge with the world, the writer adding to his or her published work with notes, errata, and new findings. Their voice is personal, intimate even — and deserves to be heard. So here I present a collection of productivity blogs that are less well-known, by writers I think you should get to know better. Of course, the big names are here too — after all, I owe some of them a tremendous debt for helping me get a grip on my own life.

Enjoy! 43 Folders: Merlin Mann started a lot of us on this journey, so now he has to pay. Read full content. Alternate Sleep Cycles. Most people only think that there is one way to sleep: Go to sleep at night for 6-8 hours, wake up in the morning, stay awake for 16-18 hours and then repeat. Actually, that is called a monophasic sleep cycle, which is only 1 of 5 major sleep cycles that have been used successfully throughout history. The other 4 are considered polyphasic sleep cycles due to the multiple number of naps they require each day. How is this possible? How is this healthy? Well the most important of every sleep cycle is the Stage 4 REM (Rapid Eye Movement) sleep, which has been shown to provide the benefits of sleep to the brain above all other stages of sleep. When changing over to a polyphasic cycle, the lack of sleep tricks the body into entering REM sleep immediately instead of 45 to 75 minutes into sleep like in the monophasic sleep.

This way, you still get the benefits of 8 hours of sleep without wasting all of the time it takes to get to REM cycles, resulting in a much more efficient sleep cycle. 50 Life Secrets and Tips. Memorize something everyday.Not only will this leave your brain sharp and your memory functioning, you will also have a huge library of quotes to bust out at any moment.

Poetry, sayings and philosophies are your best options.Constantly try to reduce your attachment to possessions.Those who are heavy-set with material desires will have a lot of trouble when their things are taken away from them or lost. Possessions do end up owning you, not the other way around. Become a person of minimal needs and you will be much more content.Develop an endless curiosity about this world.Become an explorer and view the world as your jungle. Stop and observe all of the little things as completely unique events. Try new things. Get out of your comfort zone and try to experience as many different environments and sensations as possible.

Read “Zen and the Art of Happiness” by Chris Prentiss.This book will give you the knowledge and instruction to be happy at all times regardless of the circumstances. 5 Benefits of Giving Up Gossip - PickTheBrain | Motivation and Self Improvement. Photo Credit: DeeMayGreaves I used to love gossiping – chewing on a juicy story about where someone’s boyfriend was seen after the party, or the story behind how that colleague really got fired.

It was a great way to bond with my friends and family, made for lively conversation, and even seemed to make me feel better about myself. Here’s how Random House Dictionary defines gossip: Idle talk or rumor, esp. about the personal or private affairs of others. Here’s the way I define it: Talking in negative ways about someone who is not in the room. It’s not always gossip to talk of others – you may need to work out a personnel issue, or figure out a problem in a friendship with the help of someone else. Here’s the truth: gossip is a huge distraction. Eventually, due to the hard look I took into my insecurities (a story for another day), I realized that gossip was only hurting me. A Few Suggestions for Breaking the Gossip Habit Don’t Forget To Follow PickTheBrain on Twitter!

Related Articles: Are You Waiting For Permission To Grow? - PickTheBrain | Motivation and Self Improvement. Photo Credit:Wikipedia Commons Hi. I’m Joey. Nice to meet you. Would you like me to write about the number one thing holding people back from growing their careers? An awkward way to start an article, yeah? Being Outside Focused Let me explain what I mean. Inside Focused The other option is to have an inside focus. Outside vs. The best way I know to illustrate the difference between an outside and an inside focus when it comes to careers, is to talk a bit about resumes. Now why did I “pretty up” my crappy job task? First of all, no career focus can be completely inside focused.

So here’s my call to action for you. That brutal self evaluation is the best way I know to start focusing inside for your career search so that you can move away from waiting for permission, and toward taking control of your own destiny. So think about your own life and career situation. Don’t Forget To Follow PickTheBrain on Twitter! Related Articles: Why You Shouldn’t Care What Others Think About You. Welcome « Phyt-ality. Placebo Buttons. The Misconception: All buttons placed around you do your bidding. The Truth: Many public buttons are only there to comfort you. You press the doorbell button, you hear the doorbell ring. You press the elevator button, it lights up. You press the button on the vending machine, a soft drink comes rattling down the chute.

Your whole life, you’ve pressed buttons and been rewarded. It’s conditioning at its simplest – just like a rat pressing a lever to get a pellet of food. The thing about buttons, though, is there seems to be some invisible magic taking place between the moment you press them down and when you get the expected result. Maybe there’s a man inside who pulls out the can of soda and puts it in the chute. You just don’t know, and that’s how conditioning works. The problem here is that some buttons in modern life don’t actually do anything at all. Non-functioning mechanisms like this that motivate you to fool yourself are called placebo buttons, and they’re everywhere. Sources: The 10 Top Productivity Blogs. A blog worth reading is one that offers consistently original content and is more concerned with having great posts than fulfilling a certain quota of posts. The following ten blogs offer something unique and can help improve your life. 1. Motivate Thy Self – Eric Hamm is a serial entrepreneur, and also the creator of Frugal Theme .

He’s down to earth, and his posts are filled with valuable nuggets of wisdom. He writes, “I’m dedicated to making the most out of each and every day of my life and I am passionate about helping others do the same.” His blog exudes a sincere desire to help those who read it. 2. 3. You’ll find loads of helpful information on this site to help you get your finances in order. 4. mnmalist – Where Zenhabits focuses on a wide range of subjects, Leo’s other blog focuses pretty much exclusively on minimalism. One of the great features of this blog is that most posts are very concise, yet filled with value. 5. I’ve found some excellent advice on this blog. 6. 8. 9. 10.

Fun Life Development — Making personal development fun. That is by far the most common question I get asked by readers. Over the past few years, I have narrowed the answer down to three main elements: The fundamentals of living with passionAligning with your core valuesFinding your life purpose They’re all related, but distinct. And only all three together will make you feel truly alive. But when you do get them handled… you will feel a deep sense of satisfaction, running like a thread throughout your days. Finding your passion – a metaphor Imagine for a second that your life is a sailing ship.

A ship that has found its passion is one that is gliding strongly through the waves, with wind in its sails, having a clear destination and steering towards it. But if one or more of the elements are missing, the ship will just rock in the waves in one spot, or even start to sink. The three elements break down as follows: The fundamentals for a ship are having a water-tight hull, a deck and a mast. How to find your passion in life. Creativity + Productivity = Success. 43 Folders | Time, Attention, and Creative Work. The Blog of Author Tim Ferriss.

“Everyone’s looking for rules to follow, and the sooner you realize there aren’t any, the better art can be.”– Jerrod Carmichael Jerrod Carmichael is pushing the boundaries of comedy with his groundbreaking work in stand-up, television, and film. Now just 29 years old, what this driven North Carolina native has accomplished is mind-boggling, and 2017 is going to be his biggest year yet.

Jerrod stars in the hit NBC series The Carmichael Show, which he also writes and executive produces. The third season of the show premieres in 2017. In March of 2017, Jerrod will star in his second stand-up comedy special on HBO, directed by Bo Burnham. He made his debut on HBO in 2014 with his critically acclaimed one-hour special, Love at the Store, directed by Spike Lee.

Love at the Store is the funniest standup special I’ve seen in many years, and it’s the reason I reached out to Jerrod. Jerrod recently announced his upcoming authorial debut with an as-yet-untitled memoir. Study Hacks. On Sam Harris and Stephen Fry’s Meditation Debate February 19th, 2019 · 44 comments A few weeks ago, on his podcast, Sam Harris interviewed the actor and comedian Stephen Fry. Early in the episode, the conversation took a long detour into the topic of mindfulness meditation. Harris, of course, is a longtime proponent of this practice. He discusses it at length in his book, Waking Up, and now offers an app to help new adherents train the skill (I’ve heard it’s good). What sparked the diversion in the first place is when, early in the conversation, Fry expressed skepticism about meditation. Roughly speaking, his argument was the following: Harris’s response was to compare meditation to reading.

Fry, who is currently using and enjoying Harris’s meditation app, conceded, and the discussion shifted toward a new direction. I wonder, however, whether Fry should have persisted. Read more » Minimalism Grows… February 8th, 2019 · 31 comments Before I do, two quick notes: On to the publicity updates: :mnmlist. Breathe. | zen habits.