Why Wait?

I had a conversation at the airport with someone about the big lottery a few weeks ago. He was reflecting on what he would do with the money, and then he said something that struck me.
“That’s really why we play the lottery. It lets us dream.”

Wait. Why do we need a piece of paper with numbers to dream?

I say keep buying your dream numbers if that’s what it takes to get your creative brain to think about what you truly want out of life.
But why wait? Do it now.
Challenge yourself. What would you buy? Why? What would you do if you were not required to be at a J.O.B. daily?

Get creative, have fun, and really put yourself there.

Now, what’s holding you back? If what you wake up to daily is not what you love, change it. If you would buy a big plot of land and have five buildings, bust your ass and find a way. Maybe you don’t do it all in one shot, but you could get the land first, pay it off, and build your dream place one building at a time.

If your heart, your passion, your love, and your values are not what you do for work, find a new one or do your own thing.

We get stuck in the rut of what society says is normal. Job, car, mortgage.

“I won’t be conforming to the working man’s monotony” From Rain by Ben Badger

Ben BadgerIf you’re into traveling but your job only lets you travel on vacations the one or two weeks a year that you have vacation days, get a job that requires you to travel. Save your points and go where the road and your heart lead on your days off or build in days while you are already there. Here’s an idea: skip the house, get an RV, and take off on a journey working as you go or create a way to earn your money while you travel.

Don’t get me wrong. I’m not suggesting that you walk into work tomorrow and tell your boss what you really think. I’m not gonna lie, this road is not an easy one. You’ll have people tell you that you are crazy and to get your head out of the sky. You may have to work that job you hate five days a week and another job at night and on the weekends. You may have to be a mom, balancing your time between work and family and friends while you go to school online or at night. *SIDE NOTE: This one section here is another whole blog on its own. I really feel the need to give more disclaimers about making sacrifices and going for it. In the entrepreneurial community, I think there is a lack of thought toward being okay with not making it before you try and make it.

You jump when you can afford to drown” Gary Vaynerchuck (look for that blog soon!)

When you’re in the “I’m doing this, digging in the trenches” mode, you are going to get tired. You are going to hit walls. You will face things that will make you question what the hell you’re doing.

Don’t quit. Don’t give in. Plant your feet. Ground your emotions. Pull out your dream paper. Remind yourself what you want, why you want it, and get back to work, busting your ass and making it happen.

Look at your bigger picture and look how far you have come. Don’t let a minor setback derail your whole dream.

One last thought. You can’t do this alone.

A single warrior doesn’t win a battle. Surround yourself with people. The kind of people who breathe life into your soul, not the kind the suck the life out of you. Diversify your personal circle. Find people who are smarter than you, people who are talented in different ways than you. People who will inspire, not tear down. People who will ask you the toughest questions and hold you accountable.

If you don’t know those people, find them. We live in a digitally connected world. Find inspiration and strength in the books you read, the podcasts you listen to, the people you follow on social media. (On that last one. Don’t just follow. Engage and connect. Reach out to the author you just read or the speaker you just heard and let them know they inspired you. Ask them questions, talk to the unreachable. They might surprise you.)

Feed your soul

Read books! In your field, about business, about social media, and throw in a nonfiction every now and then.

Listen!

Podcasts! Man, they are everywhere on every subject. Listen when you wait, listen when you drive, listen while you’re working that gotta do job until you get to your wanna do life.

Music! Music feeds your mood and your soul. Have a variety of playlists. Work, workout, dream, inspiration, have one for all your moods.

Write! Maybe you’re not a writer. Many people find journaling to be healing. Recording thoughts, ideas, feelings, emotions, and lessons learned. There are also people who have to physically write. Use a google doc, use evernote, heck just use your word processor. As digitally connected as I am, I still use a paper journal.

You be you. Dream big, reach high,
and go get what you want from life.

#SocialSuccess – Facebook Video Upload vs YouTube

Today on 44 News This Morning I talk with Melissa Schroeder about which is better: Posting a link to YouTube

or

Uploading your video Directly to Facebook.

Watch to find out how to get the maximum impact from your videos!

Facebook Video Posting – 44News This MorningSocial Success: Talking about the value of posting videos directly to Facebook for maximum impact on 44News This Morning.

Thanks to @DanaMNelson and St. Mary’s Hospital and Medical Center: Evansville, IN.

Posted by 44News This Morning on Thursday, January 28, 2016

Facebook’s New “Pick Friends” Feature

Have you seen Facebook’s new “Pick Friends” feature? Facebook is messing with the algorithms again and rolling out a number of new features that will help them better understand what you want in your newsfeed. One of these changes is simple; you should see a box like the one below pop-up in your news feed. Simply pick your top 30 people, and Facebook will make sure next time you look at Facebook, the first posts you see are anything posted by one of those 30 people.

Pick Friends

It appears to be different than the “get notifications” feature, which is still active. So, if you’re stalking someone and get notifications for every post, no need to add them to the top of the feed. (Or if you were using the notifications feature to make sure you saw most of your boss’s or best friend’s posts, you can turn off notifications and add them to your ‘prioritize who you see first’ list.  This will save you some notification headaches.

If you don’t see this in your timeline, or you want to change your top 30 people, simply go to the top right of your Facebook page in the blue bar, and click the lock icon with the 3 bars – this will give you a drop down menu. Choose the “News Feed Preferences” item and you’ll see the pop-up below. Click to select or unselect people or pages.

Untitled image (1)FB menu w arrow

Endorphins & Feeling Better

About a year ago I had my second child. Parenting and a new baby can sure increase stress and put you in a self neglect rut. I am the proof! I’m just now coming up for air and taking stock of things, 11 months later.

Stress and overexertion has been the name of the game for me since my first child was born. I’ve hardly left my children to do solo things and I’m finally beginning to feel the wear and tear on my wellbeing. I’m stressed way too often and one thing that is missing for me (big time!) is endorphins. I know anyone experiencing lots of stress is in the same boat where endorphins are concerned.

Endorphins combat stress

It is common knowledge that excercise and physical activity helps manage stress, this is because of endorphins. Going to the gym, jogging around the block or doing a yoga class can have a major positive impact on lowering stress levels which in turn impact overall health.

However, if you are like me the effort and planning it takes to secure time and energy for exercise time just doen’t seem all that appealing and isn’t a high priority. Sometimes it even adds to the stress factor, which is counter intuitive.

Sometimes committing to fitness time with a buddy can help motivate you to follow though. Also, making financial commitments to fitness time may also help you follow through if that is the direction you’d like to go.

The point is, exercise isn’t the sticking point here, it is endorphins!

Making “personal time” a priority is important for overall mental & physical health but increasing endorphins doesn’t necessarily have to translate as hard core exercise.

If you can’t carve out some outside the home, endorphin increasing time that doesn’t mean you have to suffer the burdens of stress. Plenty of other things generate endorphins that you can do right at home.

Belt a tune and shake that rump!

Singing is a perfect, stationary way to release endorphins. My many years of music education classes and years of professional performance really showed me how good singing a tune can make you feel. Think you are a terrible singer and that you shouldn’t sing?

Singing isn’t just reserved for those that can do it well! You can sing even if you’re a poor singer. If you are shy, do it privately in the shower or in the car. If you aren’t that shy, you can own your less-than-stellar singing skills and make a funny situation out of singing time. Better yet combine some “just for fun” singing with some silly body shaking for a seriously fun physical activity (give this silly song a try complete with the “Ugh!” part, you’ll be laughing in no time).

Laughter is another wonderful stress combatant that can be done anytime, anywhere. You can sing, laugh and shake your booty while cleaning house, cooking dinner or taking a shower. You can even do it to commercials while watching TV… or while waiting at a stoplight in your car (not while driving!).

Once, while cruising along with a few buddies in the car, we cranked up the stereo at a stoplight and set out to make the people around us laugh.

We rolled the windows down, started swinging our hands, dancing around in our seats, making silly faces and singing VERY badly (and loudly) to the song on the radio. We looked like lunatics but it worked, others were looking at us and giggling and that made us crack up and sing even louder. We felt great, it was a great time and a fun memory.

When stress runs our lives we seldom have time to laugh-until-we-cry or to act silly and let loose. This lack of an outlet for stress relief just snowballs the stress levels. Stress breeds stress.

However, with a bit of intent you can stop the stress snowball cycle and get to feeling better.

Some endorphin releasing activities include:

  • Letting loose (laughter, silliness, charades, etc)
  • Deep relaxation (yoga, massage, meditation, etc)
  • Self expression (journaling, singing, heart-to-heart conversations, art, painting, etc)
  • Physical activity (exercise, sex, gardening, sports, etc)

They types of endorphin increasing activity you do will of course depend on your nature and interests but don’t limit yourself too much.

For me, my plan of action included some intervention of fate. My husband has been hounding me for a few months about getting out for some “me time” which I’ve not been particulary motivated to do. Frankly, I’d just rather lounge around in my bed for my “me time” but being home hardly removes me from my stress.

Anyway,  I saw some yoga classes online one day and I knew they were a sign for me… so I consulted my husband, then I made the commitment to 20 yoga classes between now and the new year. Can you believe I am just now breaking away from 24/7 mommyhood with a solo yoga class? I just completed my first class and it was so nice and relaxing. So relaxing I leaked breastmilk all over myself at the end!

If you aren’t already making some “me time” for endorphins & happiness you simply MUST! Seriously, your mental health and your body’s wellness depends on it.

Chime in & discuss:

What new ways will you to combat stress? How will you work happiness building endorphin activities in your day? Tell us in the comments below or use the social media share icons below to share your favorite ways with your own followers!

 

Endorphins & Feeling Better

About a year ago I had my second child. Parenting and a new baby can sure increase stress and put you in a self neglect rut. I am the proof! I’m just now coming up for air and taking stock of things, 11 months later.

Stress and overexertion has been the name of the game for me since my first child was born. I’ve hardly left my children to do solo things and I’m finally beginning to feel the wear and tear on my wellbeing. I’m stressed way too often and one thing that is missing for me (big time!) is endorphins. I know anyone experiencing lots of stress is in the same boat where endorphins are concerned.

Endorphins combat stress

It is common knowledge that excercise and physical activity helps manage stress, this is because of endorphins. Going to the gym, jogging around the block or doing a yoga class can have a major positive impact on lowering stress levels which in turn impact overall health.

However, if you are like me the effort and planning it takes to secure time and energy for exercise time just doen’t seem all that appealing and isn’t a high priority. Sometimes it even adds to the stress factor, which is counter intuitive.

Sometimes committing to fitness time with a buddy can help motivate you to follow though. Also, making financial commitments to fitness time may also help you follow through if that is the direction you’d like to go.

The point is, exercise isn’t the sticking point here, it is endorphins!

Making “personal time” a priority is important for overall mental & physical health but increasing endorphins doesn’t necessarily have to translate as hard core exercise.

If you can’t carve out some outside the home, endorphin increasing time that doesn’t mean you have to suffer the burdens of stress. Plenty of other things generate endorphins that you can do right at home.

Belt a tune and shake that rump!

Singing is a perfect, stationary way to release endorphins. My many years of music education classes and years of professional performance really showed me how good singing a tune can make you feel. Think you are a terrible singer and that you shouldn’t sing?

Singing isn’t just reserved for those that can do it well! You can sing even if you’re a poor singer. If you are shy, do it privately in the shower or in the car. If you aren’t that shy, you can own your less-than-stellar singing skills and make a funny situation out of singing time. Better yet combine some “just for fun” singing with some silly body shaking for a seriously fun physical activity (give this silly song a try complete with the “Ugh!” part, you’ll be laughing in no time).

Laughter is another wonderful stress combatant that can be done anytime, anywhere. You can sing, laugh and shake your booty while cleaning house, cooking dinner or taking a shower. You can even do it to commercials while watching TV… or while waiting at a stoplight in your car (not while driving!).

Once, while cruising along with a few buddies in the car, we cranked up the stereo at a stoplight and set out to make the people around us laugh.

We rolled the windows down, started swinging our hands, dancing around in our seats, making silly faces and singing VERY badly (and loudly) to the song on the radio. We looked like lunatics but it worked, others were looking at us and giggling and that made us crack up and sing even louder. We felt great, it was a great time and a fun memory.

When stress runs our lives we seldom have time to laugh-until-we-cry or to act silly and let loose. This lack of an outlet for stress relief just snowballs the stress levels. Stress breeds stress.

However, with a bit of intent you can stop the stress snowball cycle and get to feeling better.

Some endorphin releasing activities include:

  • Letting loose (laughter, silliness, charades, etc)
  • Deep relaxation (yoga, massage, meditation, etc)
  • Self expression (journaling, singing, heart-to-heart conversations, art, painting, etc)
  • Physical activity (exercise, sex, gardening, sports, etc)

They types of endorphin increasing activity you do will of course depend on your nature and interests but don’t limit yourself too much.

For me, my plan of action included some intervention of fate. My husband has been hounding me for a few months about getting out for some “me time” which I’ve not been particulary motivated to do. Frankly, I’d just rather lounge around in my bed for my “me time” but being home hardly removes me from my stress.

Anyway,  I saw some yoga classes online one day and I knew they were a sign for me… so I consulted my husband, then I made the commitment to 20 yoga classes between now and the new year. Can you believe I am just now breaking away from 24/7 mommyhood with a solo yoga class? I just completed my first class and it was so nice and relaxing. So relaxing I leaked breastmilk all over myself at the end!

If you aren’t already making some “me time” for endorphins & happiness you simply MUST! Seriously, your mental health and your body’s wellness depends on it.

Chime in & discuss:

What new ways will you to combat stress? How will you work happiness building endorphin activities in your day? Tell us in the comments below or use the social media share icons below to share your favorite ways with your own followers!

 

And the Facebook changes start…

Yesterday Mashable warned us about the major changes facebook will be rolling out at the f8 conference later this week.

 

Today we’re hit with two new changes. 

First, your posts can be 5000 characters long? Ok at that point, just write a blog post and share it on fb. Think about it, if what you have to say is so important, and takes that long to get your idea across, you will most likely want people to share this thought. I know a few people who post every bit of the previous post limit, what they will do with this new limit scares me.  I’m just not a fan of this first big change. 

 

And now, late this evening, there is a new message about how users will be consuming their news. What do you think about this first wave of changes? There will be more, so fasten your seat belts facebook friends, this might be a bumpy week.

 

First Impressions – Changes in FB Policy, Again

Yesterday, Facebook abruptly changed its Facebook fan page policy. In summary, you will not be able to have a custom landing tab for your fan page, unless you have 10k fans or the page administrator works with their ads, account manager. If you suspect that that means you will have to pay to have a custom landing page if you have less than 10,000 followers, you are probably correct.

This change was announced, quietly by Facebook with an apology that no mention was made of it sooner. If you do not already have an ads account representative, you can submit a form which looks like this:

 
 

Notice the budget amounts listed. It does appear that Facebook is looking to monetize the growing trend of businesses using fan pages.

A lot of people are really upset about this change, in particular Twitter chatter and blogs from businesses that sell the service of making customized Facebook tabs.  My perspective is different.

When asked, I would provide custom landing pages.  However, it is not my sole business model.  I did not actively promote custom landing pages as a way to gain fans.

So I am responding, not out of fear for the future of my business, and not out of the stress of dealing with past clients who may now be upset.

Personally, I’m not really upset by this change. Actually, I’m still very grateful for Facebook and what it has done to change the way that we as businesses communicate with our peers, our vendors and our clients. That has not changed.

If you have strong, engaging content on a regular basis, that shows people that you are listening, are responding, and that you care. Your business page will then get you more fans overall than a flashy well-done graphic that you paid a lot of money for people to see as their first impression.

So to you, small businesses, medium businesses, and large companies that are new to Facebook., not yet at your 10k mark: Remember that every post you make is potentially now a first impression.

Make sure you approach your Facebook strategy with this in mind. 

Hint: if you post content that is informative, educational and engaging, people will willingly share this information on their own . They will be a brand advocate for you as they share your content on their pages.

Which is your ultimate goal: to have the most fans? Or is it to have the most fans who love and are actively involved in sharing your content?