Thank you, Walter White


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breaking badFor the past month or so, I’ve been addicted to perhaps one of the best television dramas ever created: Breaking Bad. I’ve read about the show’s well-deserved high praises since it started a couple of years ago but I never bought into the hype. In case you don’t know about the premise or maybe you’ve never even heard about the show, it’s about a borish, middle-aged high school chemistry teacher, Walter White (played perfectly by Bryan Cranston who played the dad in Malcolm in the Middle), who after learning he has lung cancer turns to a life of crime by cooking meth in order to help support his family and pay for his very expensive cancer treatment. I finally cracked and decided to watch the first episode to see what it’s like. Since then, I’ve watched the first two seasons in a matter of a week!

It was mid-way through the first season when I began to realize how similar this blog was to Walter White. Both were going through their boring, routine lives when a life-changing situation forced them to go down a different path in life. Overly dramatic comparison for a blog, I know. But it is true nevertheless.

Like Walter White, I decided to take MAT down a different path. One which I am more comfortable with. Being a writer, MAT will be more about my writing career and work. I felt a sense of relief after making this decision. While I do enjoy writing about personal development, goal setting and such, it felt like I was banging my head against the wall. I was banging out what I thought were pretty good articles yet they were not getting the visits I felt they warranted.

So instead of continuing down that path, watching Breaking Bad showed me there was a choice. So thank you, Walter White, for being the inspiration behind this new and better direction. One which I assume will not put me in the position of being stuck in some isolated shack with a crazed drug lord who is prone to bloody violence when high on meth.

By the way, you owe it to yourself to watching Breaking Bad. Who knows what it may change in your life.

Creating Your Action Plan Part One


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This entry is part 1 of 1 in the series Create Your Action Plan!

Create your Action Plan!There’s an old, wise saying which goes something like this:

Those who fail to plan, plan to fail.

I’ve written some articles about how important it is to plan and to set goals (you can check some of those by clicking here, here, and here). Based on the response I’ve received over these articles, I have put together a series of articles on how to create something I call an Action Plan which will help you not only set and achieve your goals but also help you design the life you dream about having.

Friday Food For Thought: Do You Set Goals?


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Something new I’m going to try here at My Adventure Today is post a question on Fridays which anyone can answer. The question will deal with either personal development, blogging, internet marketing, or anything I feel will be of interest to myself and readers of MAT. You can post your answer in the Comments section along with a link to your blog’s latest post, if you wish.

Today’s question is: Do you set goals? If so, how successful are you in reaching them and what helps you achieve them?

Remember, you can post your answer in the Comments below along with a URL to your latest blog post. Thanks, and I look forward to reading your answers!

The Only Blog Directories List You’ll Ever Need!


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web directory listingWhen you are new and trying to establish yourself and your blog, you have to rely on every trick in the book to stand out. Today I’m going to talk about one method of bringing traffic to your blog which is, I guess, old school and that is web directories.

Web directories are web sites which lists blogs. The typical web directory will have different sections such as automobiles, education, internet, etc. Then under each section will be a listing of both web sites and blogs which pertain to that section. These web sites and blogs are either submitted by their owners or they have been indexed by the people behind the web directory. While the majority of web directories are like this, there are some which focus on one thing such as automobiles or computers.

By having your blog or web site listed in a directory you increase the likely hood of traffic coming your way in two ways: one way will be the fact your blog is listed in the directory for people to find. And the other way is the backlink juice your blog listing creates which helps when it comes to SEO. If you are wanting to drive traffic to your blog and also want to improve your SEO, then listing your blog with web directories is a great way to do it.

What Is Your Social Networking Plan?


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social networking planDo you find yourself overwhelmed by all the different social networking options now available? Do you find yourself spending precious time trying to maintain a presence on a variety of social networking sites? Are you getting frustrated because of the results you are getting from social networking?

If you find yourself experiencing any of the above, then perhaps you need to do what I did and put together a social networking plan!

Simply put, a social networking plan is a plan used to get the results you want from your social networking actions. Whether you use social media to meet new people, market yourself or your business, or to build your brand’s awareness- you need some kind of plan to ensure you’re in control of your social media efforts instead of it controlling you and driving you crazy. This plan is broken down into the following three steps:

Five Twitter Tips To Increase Your Followers And Build Your Brand


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twitter tipsIf you are involved in blogging or internet marketing on any level, then you are probably (and should be) active in social media. My favorite social media tool is Twitter. It’s an easy way to meet people, strike up conversations, extend and build your brand, and promote yourself and your blog. While knowing the basics of using Twitter will work for most, there some things you can start doing today which will take your Twittering to the next level.

Why You Need To Keep A Work Journal


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Keeping a personal journal or a diary has been a staple of some people’s lives. They are a great way to not only chronicle your life but they can also be a great way to measure how you have grown and (hopefully) changed as a person. So why not keep a journal about your professional life or business?

For the past couple of years, I`ve been keeping track of my daily work in a work journal. My “work journal” is nothing more than a Word document which I keep open throughout the day for easy access. I use it to write down when I complete a task or come up with an idea or anything else which I feel relates to my professional life.

How To Setup A WordPress Blog Part Three


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This entry is part 3 of 3 in the series How To Setup A WordPress Blog

wordpress logoThis is the third and final part of my How To Setup A WordPress Blog series. In How To Setup A WordPress Blog Part One, I covered why you should consider using WordPress if you are considering starting a blog for professional reasons or if you thinking about switching blog platforms. Then in Part Two, I talked about how you need a hosting plan and domain name before you setup a WordPress blog. I also covered the steps you have to take to install WordPress using the Fantastico program which most hosting companies offer.

Now I’m going to go over some of the steps you should take in order to setup your newly installed WordPress blog. The instructions here in this part apply to WordPress 2.9.2. If you have an earlier version, then some of these instructions may not coincide with the WordPress version you have. These steps will help make your WordPress blog easier for you to manage and maintain along with making your blog more SEO friendly which is vital if you plan on blogging for professional or business reasons. I’ll end this last part with some plugins which I heartily recommend you to try. There’s a lot to this last part so let’s get started!

How To Setup A WordPress Blog Part Two


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This entry is part 2 of 3 in the series How To Setup A WordPress Blog

wordpress logoHopefully you have read How To Setup A WordPress Blog Part 1 where I discussed why you should use WordPress as your blogging platform. I have been using WordPress for every blog I’ve ever been involved with. Besides being free, WordPress offers users numerous plugins which give WordPress blogs different capabilities, it allows you to customize themes so you can design how your WP blog looks, and so much more!

In this second part, I’m going to explain how easy it is to install Wordpress along with what to look for when shopping for a hosting plan and how to buy a domain name.

How To Setup A WordPress Blog Part One


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This entry is part 1 of 3 in the series How To Setup A WordPress Blog

wordpressAre you wanting to start blogging but you are having a hard time deciding which blogging service to use? Do you want to get started blogging using WordPress but you don’t know where to start? Or have you setup a WordPress blog in the past but you want to find an easier and quicker way of doing it? Then this series of articles will help you find the answer to any of these problems.

This How To Setup A WordPress Blog three-part series will cover how I setup the My Adventure Today blog using WordPress. It is the same trouble-free process I have used in the past when setting up other WordPress blogs.

I will lead you step-by-step on how I do it beginning with the installation of the WordPress application to setting up various Dashboard options which will help you manage your WordPress blog, and wrapping things up with where you can download different themes and plug-ins for your WordPress blog.

But I’m going to start things off by talking about why you should consider using WordPress if you are considering jumping into blogging or if you are currently using another blogging platform / service but want to make a change.