Start Being Your Best » Site Metanews

Happy New Year, From Start Being Your Best

Jason — Thu, 31 Dec 2009 18:30:13 +0000

Ladies and gentlemen, here’s a hearty wish for a prosperous, healthy, and fulfilling 2010 from me. Additionally, I’d like to take a moment to again thank all of you for making 2009 such a great year for Start Being Your Best. It’s been enjoyable, to say the very least. I hope that you’ve gotten half the benefit from what happens here as I have from all your comments, questions, and discussion.

Although things have been a little sparse here lately (new responsibilities at the day job, you know how it goes), I’ll continue updating on a more regular basis here in the very near future. So stay tuned, and we’ll see you around.

Jason

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Site Wrap Up – October 2009 Edition

Jason — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 12:00:06 +0000

Here we are at the end of October. I have to say that this is probably my favorite time of year. I love that the weather’s getting colder and the days are shorter. Does that mean I’m emo?

Anyway, here’s what we covered this month on Start Being Your Best:

Develop Your Reputation: Wrote this as a piece or two of advice to some of my readers who may be a little younger than I. There are certainly plenty of things I need to work on in my own life, so I hate to come off as condescending or anything. I just have noticed that a lot of folks in the younger generation make some mistakes, and this was my attempt to point them out.

What’s the Problem with Goals?: I’m getting more and more frustrated with people who say that “goals cause us too much stress, so don’t even bother”. Honestly, I think it’s a cop out. Keep setting goals. You need them to succeed.

How to Be Rich and Happy: A book review for a book that I was provided by Tim Brownson. I really enjoyed it and will be reading it again soon. I encourage you, if you haven’t already, to hit the ad over on the right sidebar and download the free chapters that Tim is offering. I honestly believe it’ll be worth your time.

Reader Spotlight: Standstrong.tv: This is a project that one of our readers here is getting started, and it’s going to be AWESOME. Some really good stuff lined up there for launch (including a short conversation with your’s truly). Make sure to subscribe to the site so you’ll hear when it launches. Oh, and if you know of a project that SBYB should shine a light on (or if you have one yourself), let me know about it, will you?

5 Reasons to Learn a Foreign Language: I’m in the process of trying to get my proficiency back up to snuff in Mandarin, which is what inspired this post. I believe that one of the best things you can do from a personal development standpoint is to learn a new language. If you haven’t in the past, give it a shot.

Obligation: How much do we really owe to people around us? How far does our obligation to our fellow human beings? I’m still trying to figure out exactly how altruistic I need to be, and I’m sure that it’s somewhat different for everyone. I’d be curious to hear your responses.

4 Ways to Make Your Own Luck: I read a really interesting article that inspired this post. I’d always had a feeling that luck comes down to more than.. well, luck. Finally someone’s studied exactly what lucky people do differently from unlucky ones.

Taking a Sagmeister: Sabbaticals are an interesting topic that’s becoming more and more popular to discuss in our current economic client. Not everyone is in a position to take a lot of time off, but everyone needs to pay attention to their level of burnout. It’s important to recognize when our creativity starts to wane, and to take steps to counteract this.

I’m heading out on another trip this month; for work this time. I’ll be gone in Asia, so I might not respond as promptly to email and comments as I normally would. Keep leaving them, though. Thanks again for all you do around here!

Photo courtesy: foxtongue

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Site Wrap Up – September 2009 Edition

Jason — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 12:00:06 +0000

Good grief, it’s supposed to be 90 here today. I don’t know what the weather’s like where you are, but here in the great state of Idaho, it’s been officially autumn for a week and it’s still hotter than blazes. I’m ready for fall to be here. Who’s with me?

This month has been a bit slower around here compared to the past few. I was out of the country for a week and didn’t get a lot done in the way of guest posts or what-have-you; just posting twice a week. It was a nice little break for me. I hope the posts and discussion that occurred here were still interesting and informative, though.

How Do We Decide What Success Is? – We’re talking about charting your own course for success, and not allowing others to determine what it means for you. Again, I always say “quit lying to yourself”, and that includes allowing someone else to tell you what life circumstances should make you content.

Don’t Act Fast, Act Right – All too often, we think that making snap decisions is indicative of being decisive and in control. However, I would maintain that if we spent more time thinking about what we were going to do, we’d make better choices.

Expect the Unexpected – Planning for what’s unexpected may sound like the impossible, but with some common sense, anyone can be better prepared for what life throws at us.

Five Ways to Develop Yourself While Traveling – Travel is one of the single greatest things you can do for your personal development journey, especially if you follow these five suggestions.

Who Are You, Really? – It’s often difficult to share some of who you really are with the people around you, especially if you feel like it’s not going to put you in a very good light. I’m not saying we need to share every, single thing we think and feel, but the only way to make genuine connections is to open up to the people you come in contact with.

When is “Good Enough” good enough? – Final result of this discussion is “it depends”. You need to determine for yourself what you’re willing to accept, and always challenge yourself.

The Head vs. The Heart – It’s one thing to know what to do, but something totally different to internalize it and act on what you know. I have a really tough time with this one.

Thanks again for your continued attention, and for all the feedback you provide through comments and email. None of this would happen without you.

Photo courtesy: foxtongue

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Site Wrap Up – August 2009 Edition

Jason — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 12:00:24 +0000

So, here we are, at the unofficial end of summer. Next week is Labor Day, the kids are back in school, and football season is revving up. Why is it still 90-100 degrees every day? I know I’m in the minority, but summer must be my least favorite season of the year. If it wasn’t for baseball, I don’t know how I’d get through it.

Anyway, on with the site wrap! We added quite a few new subscribers this past month, and had some really great comments. I had a blast with everything that went on here this past month; I hope you did, as well. We talked about:

Serendipity – By definition, it’s not something you can plan for. But, you can make yourself more open to having good things happen to you.

Excusitis – I was re-reading one of my favorite personal development books, and the chapter on Excusitis was always one that spoke to me. Do you have one of the four strains of this paralyzing disease?

When Your Dream Becomes a Nightmare – An email from a reader prompted this post. We talk so much about achieving your goals, but it’s possible that they turn out to not work out the way you’d like them to. How do you handle these kinds of situations?

What Really Matters – Talking about philanthropy, and how I oftentimes take for granted how blessed I really am. Some great causes you can support in the comments.

Your Situation Isn’t Your Problem – Living in the past or living for the future isn’t a solution to the issues we face every day. Focus on finding contentment with where you are and where you’re going, rather than seeking temporary happiness.

Fakin’ It – This one seemed to strike a chord with a few people. It’s important to act genuinely, but it seems like everyone feels like they’re in over their heads at some point. It’s not faking if you’re trying to become who you want to be.

Leading Without Being a Leader – Finding yourself in positions of leadership aren’t the only time for you to demonstrate the qualities of a leader.

Credit Where It’s Due – Here was another time where my dumb reactions to situations are bared for all to see. Don’t seeking affirmation outside yourself for things you do. If it comes, that’s great. If not, take pride in what you do for it’s own sake.

In addition, I posted a couple of articles on Get Rich Slowly as part of an audition for a position as a staff blogger over there. Still haven’t heard whether or not I made it, but I should hear fairly soon. Just found out that I didn’t get that position, but I still had a lot of fun trying out. Thanks to J.D. Roth for the opportunity! And, I posted an article on Dumb Little Man about 8 Ways To Motivate Yourself.

On a personal note, I’m headed out at the end of the week for a vacation. I’ve got some posts lined up, so nothing’s going to change from a schedule standpoint. Comment approval and responses to email may be a bit delayed, but I’ll still get around to it eventually, so never fear.

Thanks again for reading, folks! I really appreciate everything you do around here.

Photo courtesy: foxtongue

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Guest Post at Get Rich Slowly

Jason — Sun, 09 Aug 2009 13:27:57 +0000

Just wanted to take a minute to let everyone know that the first of the guest posts I wrote for the staff blogger audition is up this morning. If you’re interested in personal finance (or even if you’re not), you should go check it out here.

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Exciting Announcement! (At least for me)

Jason — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 03:47:56 +0000

Well, folks, as I stated in the July site wrap, I have some interesting things in the hopper. I’m happy to be able to announce today that I will be auditioning for a position as a staff blogger over at Get Rich Slowly. You can read about the “competition” here.

If you’ve got any interest at all in personal finance, and you aren’t reading GRS, you’re really missing out. J.D. has been doing what he’s doing for many years now, and he’s developed an outstanding, intelligent readership.

I could use your support. If you find the articles and concepts I discuss at GRS interesting, it’d be awesome if you could read and comment there. I’d be very gratified for the assistance. I’ll post a link on this site once my posts go up over at GRS in the next couple of weeks.

By the way, this won’t impact what’s going on here at Start Being Your Best whatsoever. I’ll still be posting twice a week (Mondays and Thursdays) on the normal personal development topics that you’ve come to know and love. I can’t say “Thank You” enough to all of you for your continued support of SBYB. You’re the reason why I’ve gotten this opportunity to expand my reach in the first place! Thanks again.

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Site Wrap Up – July 2009 Edition

Jason — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 12:00:12 +0000

Hope you’re all having a good summer so far. It’s going by pretty quickly, isn’t it? When I was growing up, I never believed those old people that told me “time flies”, but now I am one. It seems like I was just writing up the site review for June. Good grief, I sound like I’m 85, don’t I?

I put up 7 new posts on Start Being Your Best during the month:

Me Time: I’ve always said that the stuff I write about here at SBYB is very personal. It’s usually going to be stuff that I’m struggling with myself. I certainly don’t think I’ve got it all together. If I come across something that I think is going to be helpful to folks that are going along the same path that I am, I’m going to share it. This is one of those key issues that I’ve dealt with in the past. You need to be sure you’re taking the time alone that you need. And, if you don’t think you need alone time, you’re probably wrong.

Procrastination: As soon as I’ve said something like “I write about stuff I struggle with”, I go and make a liar out of myself. As I mentioned in this article, I don’t really have a problem with procrastination. Consequently, I don’t really have any tricks to deal with it. I think you just need to do whatever it is that you’re putting off.

Three Keys to Personal Growth: This was kind of an interesting post to write, as I drew some connections between farming and personal development. Personal growth stems from bad situations that we encounter. It’s often been said that the only thing in life that you can control is your response to your circumstances. I agree with that wholeheartedly.

Find Your Tribe: I had just finished reading Seth Godin’s incredible book Tribes: We Need You to Lead Us when I wrote this post. I’m so motivated to find a group of people who care as much about becoming a great person as I do. This blog is my poor attempt, like a flickering neon sign in the night, to attract a tribe of people like that. You can do it, too. More than anything else, I hope to be able to inspire folks to find what motivates them, and take steps to accomplish it. That’s what being in a tribe is all about.

For My Cousin: This one didn’t have much to do with personal development. I lost my 22 year old cousin a couple of weeks ago; he took his own life. He had a lot of emotional issues that he was dealing with, and they eventually got the best of him. Please, if you know of someone in similar circumstances, please make sure you’re paying attention to them, and do your best to help them out.

How to Quit Worrying: In this article, I shared a trick that someone showed me a little while ago to deal with anxiety. I used to lose sleep on a regular basis because I was worrying all the time. I just couldn’t relax enough to catch some Zs. Once I started practicing this routine on a regular basis, I didn’t really have any problem dropping off to sleep.

10 Things I Wish I Knew Sooner: I think we’ve all had regrets during our lives about the way things turned out at one time or another. I know I’ve often wished for a rewind button on Life. This post, along with A Letter To My Son, is an attempt to pass along some of that accumulated “wisdom” to folks who may need it.

In addition to these articles here on Start Being Your Best, I had a guest post published over at LifeDev.net. I really enjoyed writing about three phrases you can say to ensure you fail. You should check that one out, too.

So, that’s what’s been happening around these parts the past month. I’ll be trying out some new things during the next month, and I’ll let you know more about it once that stuff goes live. I’m pretty excited about it, and I could definitely use your help in spreading the word about it. Thanks again for taking the time to read, comment, and send emails to me. All that attention is much appreciated! Let me know if you’ve got any suggestions, concerns, questions, or comments by using the contact form or down below in the comments section. Thanks again.

Photo courtesy: foxtongue

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Site Wrap – June 2009

Jason — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 12:00:33 +0000

I thought I’d start taking the opportunity once a month to rehash all the information that has been posted here at Start Being Your Best during the previous month. I want to make sure that, since we’ve got new folks coming on board all the time, everyone knows what’s been going on around the site.

I put up 9 new posts on Start Being Your Best during the month:

Getting Off Track: This post was about a hike that I took with my wife and son that ended up being quite a bit longer than we all had bargained for. The main point I wanted to get across was that sometimes we all need to take the time to evaluate exactly where we think we’re going, and why we’re not getting the results we’d hoped for.

A Plea For a Return to Decency: My “grumpy old man rant” post for the month. I don’t plan on doing this too often, but I’m really concerned about the sense of entitlement that I see in society today among the young folks, especially as I have a young son. I don’t want him to emulate this, and I’m really trying to find a way to “swim upstream”, so to speak. The comments I received on this one were (somewhat surprisingly) very supportive.

Do Something Awesome: I’m really proud of this post. I want my blog first and foremost to inspire people to go out and find their own voice. Doing something awesome isn’t really about looking for ways to gain acclaim or money, it’s about finding a way to help people out. You have a story that only you can tell, and it can help someone.

The Working Mom’s Dilemma: A great guest post from my friend, Karianne Wilkins. She’s the proprietor of earlytolearn.com, and she told us all about her struggle to find a balance between raising a family and doing something awesome. Having this kind of perspective that I can’t provide is great, and I’m very grateful to her for providing it.

Quitting the Right Way: This post was spawned out of some issues I’ve had in the past with being hesitant to try things because I’m afraid of committing to something I can’t finish. I think there are certain times when it’s justifiable to quit, but those are few and far between. The key to this, like many other things, is to quit lying to yourself. I wrote about my Dad in this post, and he came over and chimed in in the comments. That was fun.

Make Real Connections: I’ve been struggling with how necessary it is for me to be connected to all of these new sources of information that the internet and social media have spawned. Although I think the “real-time” aspect of the updates can be great, I see the negative, as well. I think that a lot of us are losing time and expending energy that would be better spent with our friends IRL (“in real life”, for those who didn’t know that acronym). The point here is balance. Don’t throw out the baby with the bathwater at either extreme.

Collaborative Storytelling: I tested out an “out of right field” connection between personal development and role-playing games in this post. I wrote that your life is a story, and you have the power to control the characters involved. If the folks around you are helpful, let them continue on in the story. If not, write them out of it. Life is too short and time is too precious to put up with people who bring you down. Additionally, I tried out a companion video with this post, which I’ve been told is very soothing (my wife compared it to a subliminal programming CD that you play while you’re trying to sleep, so give that a shot).

The Life Design Series: I finished up this series with a couple of posts, Staying On Track With Your Goals and Putting It All Together. This series is designed to help you develop a process for creating actionable goals that align with your core values. If you feel like you’ve been floating through life aimlessly, rather than living purposefully, I’d encourage you to check it out.

I also wrote a couple of guest posts on different sites this past month:

Five Rules For Life: Jon Andre asked me to share what I believe to be the five most important rules for a happy, successful, and fulfilling life. I had some fun with this one, as it caused me to crystallize my thinking.

Early to Learn: Karianne and I swapped posts. While she was here writing about balance, I wrote about my role as a father’ in educating my son when I can’t always be around as much as I’d like.

I’d like to take a moment to ask you what you’d like to hear from me. Are there any topics you’re particularly interested in discussing? Any thoughts for new series I could start on? I have some ideas of my own that I’m working on, but I want to make sure I’m talking about things that are relevant and interesting to you, the readers.

If you have any thoughts, please feel free to contact me in the comments (probably best, since other people can chime in and discuss, as well), or via email at jason[at]startbeingyourbest.com. I read everything I get, and try to respond in a timely manner.

So, that’s what’s been going on around here. Thanks so much for your continued participation in the site, by reading, commenting and sending emails. It’s all greatly appreciated. We’ll see you around.

Photo courtesy: foxtongue

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Guest Post on LifeDev.net

Jason — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 19:45:29 +0000

Hey, everyone. Just wanted to let you all know I have a guest post up on the awesome site, LifeDev.net. Thanks a ton to Glen Stansberry for running it. So head on over here and enjoy! Talk to you soon.

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Start Being Your Best » Site Metanews

Happy New Year, From Start Being Your Best

Site Wrap Up – October 2009 Edition

Site Wrap Up – September 2009 Edition

Site Wrap Up – August 2009 Edition

More Guest Posts!

Guest Post at Get Rich Slowly

Exciting Announcement! (At least for me)

Site Wrap Up – July 2009 Edition

Site Wrap – June 2009

Guest Post on LifeDev.net