Some of these common blog mistakes are no brainers, while others are actually quite informative and useful for people interested in social media and how to write blogs well.
Click the link or picture above to read the article.
This last week I went on a retreat to the Black Mountain Preserve & Retreat Center to learn buddhist meditation and other practices from Ven. Sogan Rinpoche.
All this talk about Twitter and Facebook engagement, how you need to be authentic and transparent, let people behind the scenes, tell stories. This is all well and good, and enough (some might say too much) has been written about the what and the how.
We should talk more about the why. Not the why in the “so we can help you meet your business goals” sense (I would file that squarely in the ‘results of efforts’ column, on the other side of the equals sign). The why in the “what are the bigger forces we are aligning ourselves with by taking your advice on communications” sense.
Here’s why (I think). We are all working to dissolve adversarial relationships between people.
We realize that working together toward a common goal is more powerful than any positioning based on “what do I have to give you so that you do what I want”.
We notice this every day in our lives, when we reach out for help, or give a hug to a friend or a smile on the street or put a dollar in a homeless person’s hand, or tell our kids that we love them.
Many of us don’t think that this kind of interaction doesn’t scale to the world of business, where people inside the company are responsible for doing whatever is necessary to get people outside of the company to part with their money.
This is crap. Not only is it adversarial, but it’s bad business. People know when your intent is not pure, even subconsciously. The more strategic you come off, the more adversarial the relationship between you and not-you becomes.
This is right on in my opinion
Attitude and experience
By Anne Liu
Perhaps you think that your attitude on any particular day depends
on the things you experience that day. But actually it is the other
way around.
The things you experience do not cause you to have a particular
attitude. Instead , the quality and substance of your experiences
are what reveal your attitude.
Your attitude is yours to choose. And by choosing your attitude, you
can choose the kind of life you live.
Yes, there will be plenty of events coming along that are completely
beyond the control of you or your attitude. Yet your attitude will
most definitely determine how you experience each of those events.
If your attitude is negative and destructive, you’ll find pain,
disappointment and dismay in even the most wonderful circumstances.
Yet when your attitude is positive, creative, thankful and joyful,
you’ll find real hope and valuable possibilities in even the most
unfortunate events.
Rather than assuming that your attitude is dictated by events,
choose to maintain a positive attitude no matter what may come
along. By so doing, you’ll be choosing a life of real value and
meaning.
Laughing at Demons
By Jen Livingston
Laughter trickling
Then noticing
Crazy and tumbling
Roaring out demons
on invisible wings
Burning red eyes
Seeking the insides
Laughing at Demons
Dissolved on the tide
Nevermore to find
a place to hide.
The best way to convince people that you will do something is to do
it. Promises can be broken, but actions and results cannot be denied.
The best way to sell yourself is to be yourself, without pretense,
with sincerity and enthusiasm. Your actions are more powerful and
more genuinely compelling than any words or mere appearances could
be.
The best way to make a good impression is to accomplish something
truly impressive. Focus on creating real value and you won’t have to
be concerned with what others think.
It’s great when you do what you say you’re going to do. It’s even
better when you don’t need to say what you’re going to do because it
has already been done.
You don’t need permission or approval to move forward on your own
initiative. See a need and fill it, or find a problem and solve it.
Success is more than being able to wish, plan, talk, convince,
promise and persuade. Success belongs to those who take action.
By Anne Liu
Perhaps you think that your attitude on any particular day depends
on the things you experience that day. But actually it is the other
way around.
The things you experience do not cause you to have a particular
attitude. Instead , the quality and substance of your experiences
are what reveal your attitude.
Your attitude is yours to choose. And by choosing your attitude, you
can choose the kind of life you live.
Yes, there will be plenty of events coming along that are completely
beyond the control of you or your attitude. Yet your attitude will
most definitely determine how you experience each of those events.
If your attitude is negative and destructive, you’ll find pain,
disappointment and dismay in even the most wonderful circumstances.
Yet when your attitude is positive, creative, thankful and joyful,
you’ll find real hope and valuable possibilities in even the most
unfortunate events.
Rather than assuming that your attitude is dictated by events,
choose to maintain a positive attitude no matter what may come
along. By so doing, you’ll be choosing a life of real value and
meaning.
By Anne Liu
When you can clearly see where you’re going, you greatly improve
your chances of getting there. The more clearly you can visualize
your goals, the more likely you are to reach them.
Pursuing a vaguely defined objective is like traveling through a
thick fog. It’s slow and difficult to make any progress, and even
when you arrive you may not know you’re there.
Yet when your goals are clear, specific, and filled with rich
detail, all kinds of great opportunities for moving toward them will
continue to come into view. Your progress will be swift and sure,
and you’ll enjoy increasingly abundant rewards as you draw closer to
them.
If you’re putting forth the effort to get somewhere, take the time
to determine exactly where it is, what it will look like, and how it
will be. Get clear on your goals, and you’ll find plenty of ways to
achieve them.
Keep your goals clearly in sight by reminding yourself of them on a
continuing basis. Experience them often in your own mind, and you’ll
soon be experiencing them in the reality of the outer world.
Rise above the fog of fuzzy wishes, and make your intentions clear
and specific. That will point you solidly toward wherever you want
to go.
By Anne Liu
From time to time many things will go wrong. And yet very few of
them continue to stay wrong. Most wounds begin to heal almost from
the moment they occur. Even the most unbearable grief will start to
subside as life continues to move along.
Things that are broken get repaired or replaced. Strategies that
don’t work become lessons that help you to discover and develop what
will work.
When things go wrong it is not the end of the world. It is, instead,
the beginning of progress and improvement, learning and growth. When
things go wrong you get to find out where your efforts will truly be
most effective. You get the opportunity to build and to strengthen
your character, your skills, your persistence and your confidence.
Don’t wait or wish for things to go wrong. But when they do, move
on, move up and move forward.
By Anne Liu
You have left me drowning
in a darken sea
Love is lost forever
nothing left for me
My heart is truly broken
there will be no other key
Letting go of my hand
how could you let this be
I slide into darkness
by myself only me
So confused and blinded
by a salty sea of tears
I cannot escape the rushing
of all those splashing fears
There is no one there to save me
my mother is far gone
My sister is not beside me
she has traveled far beyond
I am alone and drowning
in a sea of love
There must be someone watching
someone from above
The sky is thick with fog
no light can show the way
I will have to search within
and hope for another day
A rescue must be there
somewhere for me to find
Somehow I can breath again
and there is a distant light
Each breath feels so full
and there seems to be no fright
Waves of calm lift me
like floating upon the sea
Life swells up within my heart
shinning rays of hope out there for me
By Renee Suzanne Reinero
