Monthly Archives: April, 2012

My Thoughts On Religion

By Roger on | 75 Comments

What are my thoughts on religion?  What about Spirituality vs Religion?  In a world where there is a huge debate over Spirituality vs Religion, sometimes sharing your thoughts helps to spread light on why you do what you do.

So, what is Spirituality?  Spirituality has several different meanings, but the definition I go by is this, an inner path enabling a person to discover the essence of his/her being; or the “deepest values and meanings by which people live.”  This is why I love Spirituality, it allows you to discover yourself without the rules and regulations of Religion.

Why is this important to me?  Why not follow a set of rules guided by a Religion?  While it’s nice to have a set of rules to go by, one may not always agree with a certain aspect of their own Religions standpoint.  How many times have you found something in your “Holy Bible” that you didn’t agree with.  In fact, how many other people don’t agree with that, or at least debate over it frequently?  Seriously?  If you can’t come to a conclusion about what something means, then what’s the point?

With Spirituality I get to set my own rules to follow.  Which is great, as long as I don’t break those rules.  If I break those rules, then I’m no better than anyone else.  That and that alone is what keeps Spiritual people in check, but why?  Simple, we don’t want to be like everyone else.  We choose to be our own person.

You see the other problem with Religion don’t you?  Religion teaches you to be someone you’re not, while Spirituality encourages self discovery.

What about Religion?  My thoughts are that Religion was created to control those who can’t control themselves.  Have you ever wanted to go run that reckless driver off the road, that cut in front of you and nearly rand you off the road?  Yeah, we’ve all been there, but here’s the thing, we don’t act upon our thoughts.  Why?  Fear.  We fear the consequences of getting caught, going to prison, etc.

We’re better than that right?  We’ve learned through lives own experience that if we do something wrong, then there are consequences.

I love how Religious people use the argument, “If there isn’t a God, then where do you get your Moral values from?”  Let me ask you a question, If you’re wrong, then you’ll be the one going to “Hell” right?  Fact, Life gives us Moral Values and a set of Guidelines to follow, not some “Holy Text,” which may or may not be the “Word of God.”

Again, Religious people use the phrase, “But it’s in the Bible and the Bible is the “Word of God.”  My thoughts?  Word of God?  No!  Inspired by God?  Perhaps!  More like, inspired by events that happened.  Don’t get me wrong, there are things that you can learn from the Bible, but I don’t think one should take it literally.

But hey, who am I right?  Just some random guy writing on his blog.  Who knows, I could be wrong, you could be wrong, we could all be wrong.  The answer might be much more simpler than we’re making it.  Often times, it is.  Food for Thought.

Now, before you start flaming me about not believing in a “God,” let me say something first.  I’m not saying that there isn’t a God and I’m not saying that you’re wrong either.  I won’t go that far.  What is a fact though, is that we don’t know.  We think we know, but in reality we don’t know.  Now that’s food for thought.

While I will take the time and effort to at least listen to you and your thoughts, I think it’s important that we develop our own belief and realize that we’re all different.  Only through understanding others, can we really begin to understand ourselves.  Only then, will we be right.

Care to do your own blog post?  Feel free to share your thoughts with us.

Posted in: Changes, Life | Tagged: , , ,

Social Media and My Experience

By Roger on | 15 Comments

I’ll be going over my thoughts on Social Media and My Experiences with it.  Social Media is a great way to keep in touch with friends, colleagues, net workers, and even your favorite celebrities.

If you’re using Facebook, Twitter, or have used MySpace, then you’ve used Social Media.  Even Youtube is considered to be a Social Media Network.  If you want to increase your presence on the web, you’re going to have to do some Social Networking.

My Experience takes me on a long journey from the days of first signing on with MySpace.  This was something that my friends were doing at the time and I thought it was a great way to meet people.  I didn’t really have a purpose on MySpace, other than just having a profile and having fun.

Skip forward to Facebook.  At first, I neglected Facebook, but at the same time I was angry at MySpace for making all those profile changes that ended up making it slow and eventually killed it.  I eventually logged into Facebook for the first time and started doing Networking on there.  Not too long after that, I made the complete move over to Facebook.  I was actually surprised to learn not too long ago, that MySpace was still actually getting roughly one million new people a month.

Facebook so far has made some changes and people thought it would be the next MySpace with all the changes it was making.  So far, Facebook has stood the test of time.

When Facebook released the gaming aspect of the Network, I was all over that.  I actually added friends just play the game, which ended up being a huge waste of time for me.  I spent I don’t know how many hours on Farmville.

I eventually tried out Twitter for a little.  I never really stuck with it though, that is until I joined Empire Avenue.  It’s a virtual Stock Market game where you invest in others, meet new people, and connect via your networks.  It’s a great way to measure your performance, meet people that you wouldn’t have met otherwise,  all the while, growing you and your business.  You can find me on Empire Avenue at my ticker name, which is e(TFLAT).

Nowadays, I’m all over the place on Facebook, Twitter, Youtube, Google+, LinkedIn, Flickr, and here on WordPress.  Via Empire Avenue, I’ve met people who have taught me how to use Social Media to grow my Network.  I’ve also learned that if you want to grow as an Individual or a Company and actually be something of value, then you have to have a purpose.

What’s my purpose?  Inspiring others to do things that they have always wanted to do.  How do I accomplish this?  By talking with them and encouraging them to take the first step, because the world isn’t going to come to you.  You could have a thousand opportunities, but if you don’t open one of the doors, you’ll get nowhere.  I’m hoping that my stories of inspiration and success, will inspire others to follow their dream.  After all, that’s why we’re here right?  To help one another?

So, that brings me to what I want to achieve on Social Media.  That happens to be find those in need and help them achieve their dreams.

“A Dream is like a flame, if you don’t have the cover to protect it during the turmoil of the storm, it will surely flicker and die.”

Even though we all have dreams, we all have areas that we lack in.  One of my biggest problems is that I’m not very consistent with my Social Media.  That may explain why I’m not growing as much as I should be.  If I’m going to do a daily blog post, then I need to do just that.  Perhaps I’ll only do it for five days a week?  Either way, I need to be consistent.

When it comes to Social Media and My Experience with it, it’s probably an average tale.  You won’t hear me complaining though, because I’m going to make it beyond average.  Are you with me?  Are you going to take that leap of faith and together we will achieve our Dreams?

“I believe that we can be extraordinary together, rather than ordinary apart.”

Posted in: Changes, Life | Tagged: , , , , ,

Blog Content – 4 Reasons Why Your Blog Sucks!

By Roger on | 6 Comments

When it comes to Blog Content, there are tons of blogs out there.  Today’s post is 3 Reasons Why Your Blog Sucks!  Perhaps you’re not getting any readers to your Blog Content and you want to attract more of them, but where do you start?

It’s Not Personal
Contrary to popular belief, blogging IS personal.  Some so called “Gurus” make the claim that you don’t want to be Personal, or at the least too Personal.  Why is this a lie?  The average person comes to your blog to read your insights, your thoughts on a particular subject.  They like how you write and enjoy your thoughts.  They might even share in the same thought process as you.

If you’re trying to write a blog based on Entrepreneurship and you’re afraid to share your current income, let alone your income goals, people won’t listen to you.  At least not very many.  What about Debt?  Should you share your debt with others?  Sure, why not, especially if you have a monetary goal that you want to obtain.  This gives people a clear view of your success in the market.  Have you succeeded in getting rid of that debt?  Have you succeeded in achieving that dream of traveling all over the world?

There Is No Call To Action
How many blog post have you read that never asked you any questions?  How many blog post have you read that never asked you to “Leave a Comment?”  If you don’t ask, then they won’t know what’s expected.  When it comes to Blog Content, you’ve got to create that opportunity for your readers to leave their opinion.  This is yet another way to make it Personal.

You Never Edit
I don’t know about you, but the last thing I want to read, is a blog post that has a lot of errors in it.  I certainly don’t want to read a blog that has a bunch of abbreviations associated with it, such as the ones you’d use during an online chat session with a friend.  Blog Content is meant to be personal, but it’s also meant to be professional.  If you’re not going to at least make a small attempt to stand out from the crowd, then why should we bother reading your blog?

You Never Optimize
Blog Content should always be optimized.  What do I mean by Optimized?  I mean SEO (Search Engine Optimization.)  I’ll share with you a few tips you can start implementing today to help boost your rankings.  1) Add video and images that relate to your Blog Content.  Google loves video and images.  2) Link to your other blog post if there is a related post to what you talked about within that post.  It helps to tell Google what’s important on your blog.  3) Always base your post on particular Keywords, use the Google Keyword Tool to help with that.  4) Don’t forget Backlinks.  The simple act of sharing this post to Facebook, or Twitter, creates a Backlink.  If your Blog Content is being shared, Google will notice that.

So there you have it, Blog Content and 4 Reasons Why Your Blog Sucks.  If you only take one thing away from this article today, always remember to edit.  Do you think that J. K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series would have been as successful as it was if she hadn’t edited?  Even then, there are a few mistakes she or the editors missed.  No one is perfect, but at least make an attempt.

I suggest checking out Blog Success for some great article s on getting started with blogging.  They also have SEO blogging tips and many other topics.

20 Things You Can Do To Offer Your Readers A Great Experience

Posted in: Life | Tagged: , , , , , , , , ,
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