My favourite blogs, entrepreneurship, personal development & more

I love reading. I love the Internet. Cue the entrance of blogs and bam! Every spare second I didn't have, gone. But that's okay because I derive massive value from my favourite blogs and now I want to share that with you. Hence this entry.

I mentioned this to a friend who said, "Favourite blog posts are good, because they'll boost your Google Pagerank. All those famous blogs with pingbacks to your site." Heh, not quite was thinking (well, okay, who am I kidding?! Of course that's part of it). My main motivation is to share these brilliant resources because I'm always raving about them. I'm also interested to make a note of my favourites so I can see if/how that changes over time. I'm also including links to my top three favourite posts from each of them to give you a taster.

Faves

• Steve Pavlina: Personal Development for Smart People
  Not all of his posts are '10 such-and-such' and it was really difficult to pick just three amazing entries to showcase here, because pretty much everything he says is gold dust. Which is why I find myself recommending him to people offline too. Ooh, got to mention 10 reasons to develop your technical skills too. Oh, and visit the new forums.
  • 10 reasons you should never get a job
    "Have you noticed that employed people have an almost endless capacity to whine about problems at their companies? But they don't really want solutions – they just want to vent and make excuses why it's all someone else's fault."
  • 10 myths about self-employment
    "Self-employment is much riskier than getting a job… Employees take the biggest risk of all. You learn how risky it is when you unexpectedly hear the words, 'we're letting you go'."
  • 10 ways to become more conscious
    "What does it mean to become more conscious? It is the progressive realisation of conscious mastery over your mind." Here's how to attain it.
• Trizoko
  Much advice for management, general well-being and more. What distinguishes this blog for me, is the style in which it's written. Each post starts off with a popularly-held myth or similar, continues with evidence to show why the myth is false and ends with a one-sentence summary of action to take. Brilliant.
  • How to rock your customer service: "Most businesses think their customer service rocks; but, the reality: they suck, and don't-even-know-it." Another thing I like about this post: Published it on my birthday. I'm recognised as providing the best customer service at work (I even won an award!) How did Andrew know?! :)
  • Why most politicians suck as leaders: "The best politicians are nothing but the most 'charismatic' bastard sitting on his/her ivory tower hawking their ideas like they mean something."
  • 2 rules to stop procrastinating: "Fear drives us to procrastinate by viciously trapping us from taking action." How true this is! I'm still struggling with my fears, but I overcame them enough to write my essays.
• Copyblogger
  Brian is truly brilliant. One thing that distinguishes his posts is how much he draws upon different areas of life, for example, he looks at history to find guidelines for writing for the Web. Ingenious. He's also a very good writer himself, which helps when you're writing about writing… :)
  • Don't take this advice about online marketing!
    "Advice is a tricky thing, especially when dispensed en masse. The answer to most things, if we're being honest, is it depends…" Includes links to some of his other excellent posts. Go, read!
  • Don't sell… teach
    "Using educational copywriting to begin relationships that lead to sales… Tutorial Marketing"
  • Pez Dispensers and Living the Big Lie
    "Origin stories are hugely important… Lying is easy, it's living the lie that's hard… revealing that the story is not true… blows it."

See also:

• Escape From Cubicle Nation
  Pamela Slim is passionate about helping entrepreneurs start businesses. She's really supportive and also does a podcast, which I'm listening to as I write this.
• ProBlogger Blog Tips
  Darren, ProBlogger, has a finger on the pulse of pretty much everything happening in the blogging world, so he's great for news on things like AdSense, Amazon Affiliates etc. Saves tonnes of time for me research all these things directly, then I can just drill down on the stuff that's most relevant to me. Yay!
• SEO
  I prefer Darren's lite SEO posts, which includes the most important SEO information without the extra really advanced stuff you find in SEO blogs. For that, see SEOmoz Daily SEO Blog: 21 tactics to increase blog traffic & SEO BlackHat: One trackback mistake you can't afford to make, which I also enjoy.
• Creating Passionate Users
  Ostensibly, how the brain works and how to exploit it for better learning and memory; but that stuff is presented in a really accessible and interesting way. Plus, they talk about other stuff too, like how to get your users to love you.
• Art of Money
  Robert Kiyosaki [aka Rich Dad] appreciator, Jon, shares the ways in which he's stretching his financial mindset. I particularly love this post on Internet Marketing
• Paul Graham
  Brilliant essayist, amongst other things; he's also the author of one of my favourite books, Hackers & Painters
• Publishing 2.0
  What you get when you mix media & technology, which is enabling ordinary people to control, participate in, and become media.

I hope you enjoy these recommendations and find them really useful. In my new capacity on the committee of King's College London Entrepreneurs I'll be sourcing lots of helpful information about entrepreneurship, so do let me know what direction would be most beneficial for you.

Expensive, massive portions of deliciousness! Review of Spaghetti House (restaurant)

Spaghetti House has an extensive menu (more choices than on their website), which is terrible if you're indecisive like I am! I did manage to choose eventually though.

It's really quite expensive, I think the main courses average at £10; but well worth it. You won't need a starter; really – the main course servings are absolutely massive.

I ordered the most amazing penne dish, with chillies, buffalo mozzarella and parmesan; which was a bit like a pasta bake – the best quality bake ever. I was so full I didn't even have dessert or coffee; anyone who knows me will see this, as rightly they should, as unequivocal proof that the helpings are huge.

There's a wide variety of dishes also, as I alluded to with the menu options, including pasta, pizza and salads as you'd expect, as well as some less traditional / more eclectic fish and meat options you might not.

The only bugbear was that service was a little slow. Quite possibly this was revenge for taking so long perusing the menu! :)

Highly recommended!

How to change my life for the better! You can do it too.

On Saturday, I mentioned a method, which I thought might help me to achieve my goals – CVS to BVS (Current View of Situation to Better View of Situation); I want to be:

• Independently wealthy, successful businesswoman (EthicalBeads.com)
• Seamlessly & effortlessly balancing my work, study & social lives
• Happy & healthy
• FREE (i.e. no longer living with my parents)

CVS to BVS (Current View of Situation to Better View of Situation)

The main thrust of this method is instead of thinking about how to make your life (or specific 'problem' areas of it) a bit better than it is, think about how to make it lots better: Imagine your life ten times better than it is now, then work backwards to figure out how to get there. It's also a good way of thinking outside the box.

Areas marked for improvement

Living arrangements

25% better: Cadging whatever freedom I can, rejoicing in small victories like being allowed to stay out later.
10x better: Moving out.

Independently wealth

25% better: Getting promoted at Next, doing some work for Night Island, pay off debts
10x better: Leaving Next to focus on my own projects, earning tonnes for Night Island with bigger & better contracts, have someone else pay off my debts

Career / Entrepreneurship

25% better: Spending a bit more time on EthicalBeads.com, getting the word out amongst King's Entrepreneurs
10x better: Investing serious time & money in EthicalBeads.com, actively marketing to King's students generally.

Life: Work-study-play balance

25% better: Fiddling with iCal & Google Calendar
10x better: Dying of exhaustion. Well, okay, that one was a bit tongue-in-cheek, admittedly. :)

My take on 'CVS to BVS' (Current View of Situation to Better View of Situation)

How I see it, the 25% better plans are like the short-term, urgent solutions, the 10x better ideas are the long-term, important solutions. The key point is that it's the important goals that give meaning to a life, they're the things about which you're so passionate. Think about it, what makes you more excited, thinking about paying the bill that's due at the end of the month or going on that trekking holiday you've got on your 'things to do before I die' or 43things list?

What is of value in this CVS to BVS document is the motivation and inspiration to focus on your important goals and concrete ways to achieve them. Procrastinating on my goals only hurts me, so I need to step up!

First step, start working on the steps leading to my 10x better goals.

Second step, work on the business plan for EthicalBeads.com.

Third step, review living arrangements!

Tasty *and* healthy! Review of the Mongolian Barbeque (restuarant)

The Mongolian Barbeque is an excellent place for fussy eaters like myself, as you get to choose exactly what you're eating, in what quantities and with what seasonings. Of course, vegetarian/vegan options too.

It was extraordinairily quiet there today (nobody else there!)

It's very reasonably priced too – £6-7 for large main dish. There's also an all you can eat buffet option, range of desserts and sides, in case you want more variety or want to spend more money.

Highly recommended!