Twitter Weekly Updates for 2009-11-29

November 29, 2009 by JD · Comments Off
Filed under: Twitter 
  • I just updated my Squidoo page: Site Build It, a revolution in website design, hosting, and promotion / http://tinyurl.com/4324sx #
  • Saturday night feature at ShoeBooties Cafe – Garlic-Encrusted Prime Rib slow roasted to please your taste buds! Hungry yet? #MurphyNC #

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I am very grateful for all that I have – even in a bad year

November 28, 2009 by JD · 3 Comments
Filed under: Family, Friends, Holidays, Murphy NC 28906, Murphy North Carolina, Musings, Personal 

I’m not going to lie about it.

2009 has been a very difficult year for me, but it could have been much worse.

My home is not the home of my dreams, but it gives me a place to live until I can earn enough to buy or build the home I dream of.

This old house is where my parents retired in the early 1970s. They left Atlanta and moved to Murphy, NC. They loved living here, even when times were tough.

Pop died in the summer of 1991 and Mom died last year, just before Thanksgiving.

Both of them have been on my mind a lot this month.

Mom’s birthday was November 6; their anniversary was November 25; Thanksgiving was a couple of days ago. It’s been a month of memories and being thoughtful about what is important in life.

Both of them worked hard all their lives and were quite a bit healthier and stronger in their latter years than I am now. It gives me something to work towards – better health.

Both of them had serious health problems earlier in their lives and they still managed to mostly overcome them over time.

Pop broke his back when he fell off a crane onto a truck’s roof. For years he could do very little. Still, many years later, he could easily outwork me.

Mom had trouble with her legs for most of her life, but that didn’t stop her from doing what she wanted, until her cancer surgery caused nerve damage and she was no longer able to walk unassisted.

So, I can look back on my illness earlier this year and think “poor me” all I want, or I can continue to do what I can to get around and rebuild my strength.

Sometimes life just isn’t easy. It’s the challenges that make us stronger and help us develop real character.

So, maybe that’s what I’m working on now – character.

Money is tight, but I’ve managed to find something to eat for over 57 years while fending off everything that tried to eat me, so I guess that’s some measure of success.

(I’m not sure who said that originally, but I read it some time back and liked it enough to paraphrase it for myself.)

I love living here in Murphy. Sometimes it’s hard to earn a living here, but other people in other areas have had it tough, too. We do what we have to do to survive.

I’ve decided that I want to help others as I help myself and that’s why I’ve dedicated myself to building the best marketing system for locally-owned small businesses in Murphy, NC. You can see the start of it at Murphy Gold and Murphy Connections. Over time, it will get better and better and I look forward to helping small business owners in our little mountain town market their businesses to a wider audience.

While I may not have all I need right now, I do have a plan and I’m working on that plan every day. It gives me something to work towards and that’s important.

Thanksgiving was an interesting day. I spent the day alone, but I still had contact with family and friends online and over the phone.

Several friends called to see how I was doing and to wish me a happy holiday.

I was in touch with family even though I didn’t see them in person.

I was alone, but not lonely. Memories of past holidays gave me good feelings and I smiled quite a bit during the day.

Even though I may not be able to visit my brother and his family this year, I’ll think of them often.

I’m looking forward to Christmas breakfast at my daughter’s house and spending time with that branch of my family. Christmas will be here before we have a chance to turn around a few times.

Would I have enjoyed a house full of people and a table loaded with traditional Thanksgiving food this year? Of course, I would.

But, I’ve done that many times over the last few decades, so missing it now and then really isn’t such a big deal.

I’m grateful for all I have and I intend to redouble my efforts to rebuild my marketing business to where I’ll be enjoying prosperity instead of mere survival.

As we enter into this major winter holiday season, I hope you’ll reflect on all that you have and all the good memories of times and people who have helped shape your life.

We all have a lot to be thankful for.

All the best,

JD

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Think and Grow Rich test: What habits in others annoy you the most?

November 28, 2009 by JD · 4 Comments
Filed under: Books, Self-Improvement, Success and Failure 

My answers to the Think and Grow Rich Self-Assessment Test

Recently, I was reminded of the self-assessment test in Napoleon Hill’s best-selling book, Think and Grow Rich.

There are fifty-four questions in that test, and I’m going to be giving my answers and thoughts on one or two of them as close to daily as I can manage. I may miss a day here or there, but I’m going to follow through until I reach the end of the test.

I’ve started the series of posts with:

Think and Grow Rich self-assessment test

Question Number 34. What habits in others annoy you the most?

I think the habit that annoys me most is when someone says that they’ll do something and then they never follow-up and do it.

I’d much rather someone told me no and stuck to it rather than telling me yes or maybe and then never doing whatever it is.

That really gets under my skin.

Another thing that bothers me is when people have an opinion about something, even though they have no experience with it.

Where does this come from?

What may bother me the most, however, may be people who are “smart asses” and cynics. Yes, I know these are two different things, but they’re related.

No matter how serious the conversation or circumstance, the smart ass has a way of deflecting everything without resolving anything. It’s easy, but what does it accomplish?

Sometimes it can lighten the mood if it’s humorous, but frequently, probably most of the time, it’s not funny, it’s just distracting and bothersome.

Cynics have convinced themselves that everything is a lie and nothing works as described – among other traits that they develop.

Frequently, a cynic will believe that he is a skeptic. There is a big difference.

Someone who is skeptical will generally not believe what they read or hear, but they usually have enough of an open mind to look into it a bit more before making their final decision.

Cynics, however, make their final decision based on something other than facts and experience and that bothers me.

I can deal with a skeptic, but I do my best to avoid cynics.

The final habit that really annoys me is the habit of lying.

This is related to the first one I mentioned, but I don’t think the people in that first group are actually meaning to lie. They just don’t follow-up. They get busy and distracted and go in another direction.

Liars, however, are never to be trusted. When I realize that someone is an habitual liar, I move them out of my life as quickly as possible. Who needs that?

What about you?

What habits in others annoy you the most?

All the best,

JD

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Think and Grow Rich test: Does your presence have a negative influence on others?

November 28, 2009 by JD · 5 Comments
Filed under: Books, Self-Improvement, Success and Failure 

My answers to the Think and Grow Rich Self-Assessment Test

Recently, I was reminded of the self-assessment test in Napoleon Hill’s best-selling book, Think and Grow Rich.

There are fifty-four questions in that test, and I’m going to be giving my answers and thoughts on one or two of them as close to daily as I can manage. I may miss a day here or there, but I’m going to follow through until I reach the end of the test.

I’ve started the series of posts with:

Think and Grow Rich self-assessment test

Question Number 33. Does your presence have a negative influence on others?

I was tempted to just say “No” and move on to the next question.

I try not to be a negative influence on others, but this may not be true for part of this year.

When I was very sick earlier this year, I’m sure it worried my family and friends, but I don’t think that qualifies as being a negative influence. Do you?

When my affiliate marketing business took a dive this year, I lost my direction for that part of my business and I’m still looking for a viable new approach that will rebuild it to where it was previously – and grow much higher in the future.

During the last few months, I was rather negative about some things related to my business, but I still don’t think that makes me a negative influence. Perhaps it does for people reading my affiliate marketing blog. I don’t know.

Do you think I’ve been a negative influence?

I try to be a positive influence and do my best to help others achieve their dreams. In fact, that’s the entire focus of my Act On Your Dream! website, which gets many more viewers and page views every month than my blogs do.

What about you?

Does your presence have a negative influence on others?

All the best,

JD

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Twitter Weekly Updates for 2009-11-22

November 22, 2009 by JD · Comments Off
Filed under: Twitter 

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Think and Grow Rich test: Do you encourage others to bring their troubles to you for sympathy?

November 16, 2009 by JD · 2 Comments
Filed under: Books, Self-Improvement, Success and Failure 

My answers to the Think and Grow Rich Self-Assessment Test

Recently, I was reminded of the self-assessment test in Napoleon Hill’s best-selling book, Think and Grow Rich.

There are fifty-four questions in that test, and I’m going to be giving my answers and thoughts on one or two of them as close to daily as I can manage. I may miss a day here or there, but I’m going to follow through until I reach the end of the test.

I’ve started the series of posts with:

Think and Grow Rich self-assessment test

Question Number 32. Do you encourage others to bring their troubles to you for sympathy?

No, in general, I do not.

For my family and close friends, I always try to be available to listen when they have problems or other trouble. I’m a good listener.

But, like many men, I try to find a solution to the problem, rather than just give sympathy or even empathy.

Once it gets out of my very small circle of family and close friends, however, I’m not as easy to approach. At least, I don’t think I am.

I have to wonder about that a bit, as I think of all the blogging and social networking that I do. Perhaps I’m a bit easier to approach than I originally thought. In fact, I’m much easier to approach online than I am offline.

I hadn’t really thought much about that until just now.

The problem arises, however, when the same person keeps coming back to me with the same trouble. Over time, I tend to lose any empathy I have unless they are seriously trying to find a way to solve the situation.

Some situations aren’t solvable.

Many are.

I’m going to have to think about this question some more.

What about you?

Do you encourage others to bring their troubles to you for sympathy?

All the best,

JD

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Think and Grow Rich test: What are your three most damaging weaknesses?

November 16, 2009 by JD · 1 Comment
Filed under: Books, Self-Improvement, Success and Failure 

My answers to the Think and Grow Rich Self-Assessment Test

Recently, I was reminded of the self-assessment test in Napoleon Hill’s best-selling book, Think and Grow Rich.

There are fifty-four questions in that test, and I’m going to be giving my answers and thoughts on one or two of them as close to daily as I can manage. I may miss a day here or there, but I’m going to follow through until I reach the end of the test.

I’ve started the series of posts with:

Think and Grow Rich self-assessment test

Question Number 31. Can you name your three most damaging weaknesses and explain what you are doing to control them?

I hate this type of question! I don’t like it in interviews and I don’t like it here.

OK. I feel better now that I have that out of my system.

I don’t like to admit that I have any weaknesses and I believe it is much more productive to identify your strengths and make the best use of them that you can than it is to spend too much time looking at your weaknesses.

Still, I understand that there is some value in this, especially if those weaknesses are interfering with being able to exercise your strengths effectively.

So, enough beating around the bush, JD. What are your three most damaging weaknesses and what are you doing to control them?

1. Procrastination.

This is not as much of a problem as it used to be. Still, there are times when I know I have to do something that I don’t want to do and I’m really good at finding other things to do, instead.

Most days, I try to tackle something as it comes up, unless I have other, more important things that have to get done first.

Prioritizing and scheduling have helped lessen my tendency to procrastinate, but I still have to be aware of this tendency and keep it in check.

2. I’m a slob.

I have a very high tolerance for disorder in my life and I’m not good at organizing things in the real 3-D world and putting them in their place.

In fact, I frequently don’t even see the problem until it is pointed out to me.

While I can organize just about anything on a computer, it gets much more difficult out there in the real world. When this is coupled with my tendency to procrastinate, it can result in things looking like a tornado went through my office.

I’m a piler, not a filer.

I’m trying to control this and to get things back under control, but it is very difficult for me. One of my main goals is to declutter my life and I’ve been doing that in my business by dropping things that are unproductive, but I haven’t been as successful in my real-world life.

That’s tied in with my tendency to be a…

3. I’m a packrat.

I hang on to everything because I might need it “one of these days.”

I know that is a symptom of poverty-consciousness, but it’s a fact of life for me.

I could blame Mom for this, because she was a world-class packrat, but I won’t. I do it to myself and it’s my problem.

I remember 30 years ago when I could put everything I owned into my pickup and tie my canoe on top and I could go anywhere I wanted.

Now, I couldn’t do that with an 18-wheeler, maybe two of them.

There’s no excuse for it. I know.

Still, it’s a very difficult thing to overcome and I don’t know how I’m going to come to terms with this and get things back under control.

I’ll continue working on it.

I hate talking about this. I hate telling you my weaknesses. It’s something I need to deal with.

What about you?

Can you name your three most damaging weaknesses and explain what you are doing to control them?

All the best,

JD

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Twitter Weekly Updates for 2009-11-15

November 15, 2009 by JD · Comments Off
Filed under: Twitter 
  • @julieannevanzyl Hi Julieanne. How do you evaluate a speech before it’s given? #
  • Please disregard this tweet. I’m still trying to determine why my blog isn’t automatically tweeting when I publish a new post. #
  • @julieannevanzyl Hi Julieanne. That Toastmasters backwards meeting does sound like fun. #
  • @JuliaChicken Hi Lora. Thanks for the retweet! #
  • I’m starting my day with a big cup of coffee and listening to Celtic Woman’s A New Journey concert at Slone Castle in Ireland. A great start #
  • Mountain Office Systems – Copiers, Printers, and Fax in Murphy, NC – #MurphyNC – http://bit.ly/1gjkLn #
  • Murphy Gold News: Nov 15, Mountain Office Systems – Copiers, Printers, Fax and Servi.. http://bit.ly/21Ordc
    #MurphyNC #
  • I just updated my Squidoo page: Site Build It, a revolution in website design, hosting, and promotion – http://tinyurl.com/4324sx #

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Think and Grow Rich test: Do you analyze mistakes and try to learn from them?

November 11, 2009 by JD · 4 Comments
Filed under: Books, Self-Improvement, Success and Failure 

My answers to the Think and Grow Rich Self-Assessment Test

Recently, I was reminded of the self-assessment test in Napoleon Hill’s best-selling book, Think and Grow Rich.

There are fifty-four questions in that test, and I’m going to be giving my answers and thoughts on one or two of them as close to daily as I can manage. I may miss a day here or there, but I’m going to follow through until I reach the end of the test.

I’ve started the series of posts with:

Think and Grow Rich self-assessment test

Question Number 30. Do you analyze mistakes and try to learn from them?

Yes, I do.

As some have pointed out, I tend more towards over analyzing than under analyzing a situation.

I don’t like repeating mistakes and I try hard to learn from my own mistakes as well as those I see others making.

Perhaps it would not be a real mistake for them, but it would be for me.

As I get older, I feel more strongly about being true to myself and acting with as much character as I can muster.

Sometimes it places some limits on what I’ll do that others feel are too self-limiting, but that’s okay. When I look in the mirror, I want to see someone who is comfortable with himself and true to his word.

Some mistakes I’ve made in the past include…

…too much credit card debt. I solved that one and have no debt, now. I still use a couple of debit cards, but no credit cards.

…promoting something for the money, even if I didn’t believe in it. For example, for a year or so, I promoted a variety of credit cards on my sites. They offered good commissions, but it never felt right. Eventually, I stopped doing it. The money I lost was not worth the self-respect it was costing me. Now, I feel better.

…buying someone else’s content and putting my name on it. When I first got started with affiliate marketing, I subscribed to a service and received a year’s worth of mailing list articles. They were well-written and informative, but I knew what I was doing was wrong, even though I had a license to use them. I was misrepresenting something as my work, and it wasn’t. That is clearly wrong, even though many people would disagree with me. So, I stopped doing it. Now, I write all my own content and feel good about putting my name on it. It’s a lot more work, but I think it’s more effective and certainly more honest.

…fighting with my brother. Arguing with a sibling is a part of growing up, but it can be carried to extremes. I remember the exact moment when I realized that my brother and I were too grown up and too strong to fight any more. It was about a second after I dodged a four-speed transmission that the threw across the room at me. We stopped fighting that day, but not the arguing. For years, we had little to say to each other. Now, decades later, he’s one of my best friends.

I’m sure I’ve made lots of other mistakes, but, when I realize it, I try to learn from it, correct it, and not repeat it.

What about you?

Do you analyze mistakes and try to learn from them?

All the best,

JD

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Think and Grow Rich test: Do you accept responsibility for problems?

November 10, 2009 by JD · 6 Comments
Filed under: Books, Self-Improvement, Success and Failure 

My answers to the Think and Grow Rich Self-Assessment Test

Recently, I was reminded of the self-assessment test in Napoleon Hill’s best-selling book, Think and Grow Rich.

There are fifty-four questions in that test, and I’m going to be giving my answers and thoughts on one or two of them as close to daily as I can manage. I may miss a day here or there, but I’m going to follow through until I reach the end of the test.

I’ve started the series of posts with:

Think and Grow Rich self-assessment test

Question Number 29. Do you accept responsibility for problems?

I can interpret this question in at least a couple of ways and each interpretation demands a different answer.

For example, perhaps it means that I’m the cause of the problems.

In that case, yes, I accept responsibility and I look for ways not to cause the same or similar problems in the future.

On the other hand, perhaps it means that I find myself in a situation not of my making. Do I accept responsibility for those types of problems.

Of course, I do.

If I’m involved in a situation or other problem, even if it’s not of my own making, then I still accept responsibility for finding a solution.

Who else can I depend upon to solve these problems?

Sure, I could bellyache and whine about it, but that would not do anything constructive to eliminating the problem.

I could get mad at someone and harangue them, but what’s the sense of that?

If I find myself in the middle of a problem or situation, I have to take responsibility, look for solutions, and then implement them the best I can.

I can directly apply that to my affiliate marketing business and the situation I find myself in regarding Mom’s estate.

I don’t think I caused those problems, but I’m certainly involved and therefore I have to accept responsibility for them and try to find a solution.

What about you?

Do you accept responsibility for problems?

All the best,

JD

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