Category: motivation

Warning: This is Blocking You from Thinking Creatively

~ Cristian Mihai ~ 9 Comments

Whether you’re trying to fix a certain issue, start a business, market that business, or write an interesting article, creative thinking is crucial. The process boils down to changing your perspective and seeing things differently than you currently do.

People like to call this “thinking outside of the box,” which is the wrong way to look at it.

You create your own imaginary boxes just by living life and accepting certain things as “real” when they are just as illusory as the beliefs of a paranoid delusional. The only difference is that there are enough other people who believe in the same concepts, so you’re viewed as “normal.” This is good for society overall, but it’s that sort of unquestioning consensus that inhibits your natural creative abilities.

So, rather than looking for ways to inspire creativity, you should just realize the truth: you’ve always been creative, but certain imaginary mental blocks (or boxes) that you’ve picked up along the way are inhibiting you.

There are about 10 common ways we suppress our natural creative abilities.

Read on to find out more… Continue reading “Warning: This is Blocking You from Thinking Creatively” →

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How to Blog like a Boss

~ Cristian Mihai ~ 38 Comments

The Internet has revolutionized the way we think. As a matter of fact, I believe that it’s going to change the way we operate and perceive the world around us a lot more than we can even imagine right now.

In other words, there’s never been a better time to be a creator instead of a consumer, to be exposed to so many different points of views and beliefs, absorb them, and then offer your own thoughts to almost everyone who can find your words and read them.

What does this mean for you?

Well, for one, it means that your words, if carefully crafted, can nudge the world a bit.

If that isn’t something to get excited about, I don’t know what is.

But in order to put a dent in the universe, you must make sure you are putting out high-quality content.

You must blog like a boss. Continue reading “How to Blog like a Boss” →

[Blogging Mindset] Emotional Immunity

~ Cristian Mihai ~ 18 Comments

Jim Rohn used to say that if someone gives you a million dollars, you’d better become a millionaire real quick. That way you get to keep the money.

The thing is, most people would say yes if offered the opportunity to get all that they ever wanted. By magic.

But that’s not the right answer. Because if you’d be honest with yourself, you’d have to say not yet.

Not yet.

Because this is one of the trickiest parts when it comes to developing a proper mindset when it comes to blogging. Continue reading “[Blogging Mindset] Emotional Immunity” →

[Blogging Mindset] One Man’s Ceiling is Another Man’s Floor

~ Cristian Mihai ~ 21 Comments

It was a struggle. Crazy Romanian kid, doing his best to write in a foreign language. A post every two or so days, maybe it wasn’t a lot, but it was taking me hours and hours of work, of editing, of doing my best and yet still feeling as if there was more.

I could do more, I could do better.

A few months later, I was blogging on a daily basis. This was the dream; what I thought of as the pinnacle of blogging: one new blog post every single day. No days off. No time to celebrate, to act lazy, to grow complacent.

But then I decided that I wanted to do more. I wanted to start a new blog, an online magazine dedicated to promoting aspiring artists.

I raised money, started a new website, learned all sorts of new things, wrote a few blog posts, said this was impossible, and quit. Continue reading “[Blogging Mindset] One Man’s Ceiling is Another Man’s Floor” →

This Long-Forgotten Technique Will Vastly Improve Your Blog

~ Jordan Peters ~ 36 Comments

If you’ve been blogging for at least a few months, you’ve probably noticed by now that most of your success as a blogger comes from being able to sit down and punch those damn keys.

That is it.

Writing blog posts, editing them, selecting images, pitching guest posts, answering comments, and all the other tasks that require you to punch some keys on a keyboard or tap your fingers on a touchscreen.

And this thing does not change. In fact, the most successful bloggers just want it a bit more than just about everyone else, so they put a bit more time and effort into punching the damn keys.

But there’s another element to your success that you may have be neglecting with all that work and focus.

Every once in awhile, you might consider stepping out of the house and doing your best to find another human being.

I know this is a bizarre, arcane practice, but bear with me. Continue reading “This Long-Forgotten Technique Will Vastly Improve Your Blog” →

How to Find The Right Words

~ Jordan Peters ~ 32 Comments

Have you ever struggled to find the right words? As if you knew in your heart what you wanted to write, but just couldn’t translate all that you felt into words? As if something always got lost between your head and your fingers?

And this is even more frustrating because how you write determines what your readers understand.

If you ever struggled to find just the right words, arrange them in the right order, and get your point across to your readers, here are a few tips for producing great content even when it feels like your brain is against you. Continue reading “How to Find The Right Words” →

Are You a Gutless Blogger?

~ Cristian Mihai ~ 32 Comments

Let me know if this has ever happened to you: after sitting at your desk for what seems like hours, writing and rewriting, trying to communicate an idea, it downs on you that you’re feeling a bit… lost.

You write a paragraph, only to decide that’s not what you really want to say. So then you rewrite it to something you’re reasonably happy with, but then you can’t figure out what comes next.

You sit there thinking about it for a while, becoming increasingly frustrated with yourself. Finally, you just walk away, trying to find some perspective, but when you come back, instead of gaining some clarity, it seems like your ideas are even more muddled than before.

Every writer has been there. Some call it writer’s block. Others say they’ve lost their “creative direction.”

Personally, I think they’ve become gutless. Continue reading “Are You a Gutless Blogger?” →

[Blogging Mindset] Persistence

~ Cristian Mihai ~ 10 Comments

“My great concern is not whether you have failed, but whether you are content with your failure.” — Abraham Lincoln

Odds are that every new endeavor you are thinking of trying, all the shoulds, all the things you wish you could do, all of those are clouded in fear. You do not know what’s going to happen, whether or not you’re going to be successful, or how long will it take to become successful.

Maybe you’re trying to justify that fear by researching the best strategy. Maybe you’re telling yourself it’s not worth it, you’re not good enough, or that there’s too much competition. Continue reading “[Blogging Mindset] Persistence” →

How to Be a Blogger Everyone Listens To

~ Cristian Mihai ~ 20 Comments

Although I’m a big fan of original content, I also recognize that joining the conversation that other bloggers have started is one of the most important aspects of blogging.

But that requires one skill: the ability to add to the conversation.

While you may not be a rhetorical master, there’s an easy way for anyone to become a persuasive conversational blogger. The key is to offer more than just your opinion, since everyone seems to have one of those. You’ll get better results if you give people something they can relate to at a personal level.

How? Continue reading “How to Be a Blogger Everyone Listens To” →

Are You Sabotaging Your Blog?

~ Cristian Mihai ~ 34 Comments

Correct me if I’m wrong: you know you should write a blog post. After all, it’s been a while since you last hit that publish button. Yet, somehow, without you realizing it, you spend hours on Twitter and Facebook “working,” only to wonder later what happened…

You comment on other blogs, telling yourself you’re “networking,” never mind that none of those comments actually lead to anything.

You have a growing collection of books and courses promising to teach you all the secrets in the universe, but they have been labeled “to be read” indefinitely.

In the back of your mind, you know you can do better. Technically, you even know what to do.

But something inside you refuses to let you, and every day you struggle with whether or not you should just give up or find some other shortcut.

You know how I know this?

Because I’m just like you. Continue reading “Are You Sabotaging Your Blog?” →