The 7 Habits of a Successful Home Based Entrepreneur Revealed

Although working at home may seem a real paradise, there is every chance you end up with lowered productivity and increased lethargy if you aren’t careful enough.

There is no argument about the fact working at home has a lot of its perks. You don’t have to waste hours commuting from home to office and back. You can ensure you are there at home for your kids; it is so much more stress-free, and the list goes on. All said, it is necessary to ensure you reap better productivity while working at home.

Take a look at seven simple habits that can be adopted to become an excellent home based entrepreneur.

The Early Morning Club: It is always best to start work early in the morning. World’s top entrepreneurs like Richard Branson, Hugh Culver, and others wake up early in the morning between 4-5 a.m. They belong to the early morning club, and it’s never too late to join that elite list!

Your energy levels, concentration, and productivity are all at high levels during the first half of the day. The best course would be to get up early in the morning, gulp a glass of pure water and have a healthy breakfast of oatmeal and fruits. Consider doing a good workout which lasts for at least 30 minutes. In time, you will notice the pleasant change this routine brings to reap excellent results.

Get out of Home: Although there is no need to go to your workplace, it is imperative you step out for at least an hour every day to refresh yourself and take a break from the routine of working tight with your eyes glued to the computer screen. No matter whether it’s just a short drive or stroll to meet one of your friends, ensure you get out of your house every day. This break is sure to boost your productivity.

Switch Off the Laptop: Yes, you read it right! Just because you have a work at home schedule, it doesn’t imply you need to keep your laptop on 24/7. You tend never to log off and keep checking your machine every hour for any new messages and this, in turn, becomes an addictive habit. It is high time you put an end to this and switch off your desktop or laptop once you finish working for the day. You need to have a LIFE other than work. Breaking from your non-stop working routine can make a big difference in balancing your life.

No More Sweat Pants: Most people who work at home do not even bother to change their sweat pants and tend to go along with it for the whole day. Even a video conferencing is done by throwing a formal shirt over their home attire. Remember the fact an extremely comfortable attire can make you quite lazy and even have you catching a nap unawares. The best solution would be to dress decently even while working at home as it makes you mentally prepared to begin work in earnest just like you would at an office.

Call or Chat with Someone: There is every chance you become totally isolated when you begin working from home if there's no one else to keep company. The best option would be to call some colleagues or acquaintances and chat for some time. It is ideal to ward off the loneliness that sometimes gets on your nerves and blocks your productivity.

Stock up on Nutritious Snacks: There is every chance you may reach out to your fridge loaded with sinful goodies when you are working from home. They become a temptation, which can increase your lethargy and even make you add unwanted pounds. The best option would be to keep within easy reach a box full of healthy veggies and fruits low in calories that give you the required boost to work better.

Sleep Well: It is necessary, you put in at least 8 hours of sleep if you are bothered by being healthy and fit in the long run. A person who has slept well can do their best at work to ensure overall productivity. Its best if you plan a routine and go to bed and get up at the set time every day.

The habits mentioned above can help working from home engaging and fruitful in every way. Remember, it is a real privilege with a lot of benefits so ensure you utilize it in the best way possible.

The Difference between Love, Want and Need

While there are great many similarities between love, need and want, there is also quite

some differences which demark them, when observed keenly. Here’s a treatise on ways

to identify the differences.

Want, Need and Love: Want and Need are two different things, however they can

transform as per the situation. Many who are in relationships, now a days are unable to

distinguish the difference between these terms.

Sometimes those who did not have a good childhood, with parents working or abusing

them in their childhood, find someone when they are in their youth and quickly enter into

a relationship, when a little attention is shown, thinking that is love. However, that

relationship might not last long, as the person is in need of some attention and has

actually found that through the other person. This is comparable to a person who is

hungry in a desert for many days, when sees a snake kills it and eats, though normally,

that person would never eat snakes and might even hate it to core. Once, that person

finds more options and comes to the senses the relationship ends.

Need and Want are interlinked

We humans don’t understand what we need until we miss that thing in our life. For

Example: Oxygen, which is very important component for our survival is something that

is available freely, hence we don’t really desire it. However, if you are drowning in the

water, your need will slowly transform into a want and you will notice that you will do

everything possible in order to get oxygen. We humans, do not really value things, when

they are with us. A relationship also can be compared with the above example. You

might not realize that you are actually are liking a person who is hanging out with you

now, till the time that person goes away from your life and you might be ignoring him or

her as well as getting attracted to another person when he or she was near you.

However, once the person who was with you through the times of sorrow and fun leaves

you, you will realize the vacuum that was created within you and the comfort zone that

was built around you vanished and soon you realize that you need that person and your

need becomes a very strong “want” and when you feel like you cannot live without that

person and you want him or her to be at your side always, the want starts to transform

into love

But, what’s Love?

Love is not a momentary feeling of wanting or needing a person at your side. However,

love exists as a result of appreciating the feelings of another person as well as

accepting the person as he or she is. You are in love when your needs do not become a

priority, but the need of the person whom you love becomes a priority. You are in love

when you are feeling concerned, when the person whom you are loving is sick and do

everything to help him or her in becoming better or find joy in serving him or her, if you

find yourself not so concerned about that person, when that person really needs you

and if you are only getting attracted sexually, that means you want that person only to

satisfy your desires or lust but, you actually are not in love, but you want that person

only to satisfy your needs.

The Google Panda and Penguin Strategy – How to Overcome It

In February 2011, Google introduced the Google Panda, a ranking algorithm. Basically Panda was introduced to prevent sites with bad content from the high ranking list and to provide good quality sites with what was rightly their ranking. As you can well imagine, this saw many websites being pushed back in the Google pages. The Google Panda has been updated more than 22 times. And Panda’s aim is steadfast in ensuring good content is ranked higher.

In April 2012 one more algorithm update that hit below the belt of the SEO expertise was Google’s Penguin. The idea behind this update was quite straight forward; it ordered the penalization and decrease of ranking of sites that did not follow the Webmaster Guidelines put forward by Google.

So what is the other way out to take care of and steer clear of the Panda and Penguin penalty? Are people actually aware of what quality content is? 

Change may be difficult and not much fun either, but there are times when it is imperative for us to get going to beat Google. Given below are some points that will give you an idea of what Panda and Penguin consider bad content.

• If user experience is poor: Content that is uninteresting and not informative and doesn’t succeed in offering any values are categorized as bad content.
• Replication: This is even today a harmful feature that Panda can penalize
• Filling content with too many keywords is yet another harmful feature
• Archaic content: When the content on a website has not been revised since ages and is therefore idle
• Providing fake links via link farms: According to Google’s policy, no individual or false means should interfere when building links. It should be a natural procedure. Here again content is vital and websites that have good, pertinent content should, as far as business goes, naturally create links that will turn out to be strong and more valuable than unnaturally created links. It may not be very easy to point out what a natural link is, however the fact is that by and large all of us, as visitors to websites, connect with matter that is real, genuine and strong. Exclusive content that provide better references will automatically create natural links.

This then leads us to what you will need to do to surmount and prevent the Panda resentment and the fury of the Penguin.

• Write unique content
• Be innovative when writing content or getting it written
• Make sure that whatever is written attracts visitors and links in the natural process
• Provide better quality material
• Ensure your content is up to date and relevant
• Prevent overdoing keywords; typically keywords should remain at 2 - 4% of the articles to attract traffic to your site
• Provide appropriate titles, sub-headings, paragraphs and bullet points
• Try offering longer articles; lengthy content is gaining popularity and significance. So increase matter in your content
• Remember to stick to matter on your site, do not stray; if you are writing about something to do with cooking, stick to ingredients, cooking instructions, cooking tips and recipes and the like.
• Content should be appealing as well as educative. The crux of the matter is that  users must enjoy reading your stuff
• It would be in your interest to do good research before you write content. It would help to be authentic and provide what visitors are looking for
• Utilize illustrations, examples and graphics lavishly
• Content should be on trendy current topics

Now elucidating a little more on what was mentioned above, the next question we should think about is how you can get more readers for blogs. The point is when you aim at attracting traffic the objective should be to convert that traffic into readers.

One way to attract traffic is through guest posting, meaning you publish content or articles for other blog sites. This can considerably increase followers for you. Via guest posting you can build a brand and back links. Today guest posting is quite well known. Other than just publishing blogs you also stand to make an income. Another point to consider is to create content that is always relevant. In fact, it is called evergreen content; some content never gets outdated or archaic, this is what you should write to top the search engine lists. Actually this is a very efficient and sensible strategy.

Now let’s see what factors constitute smart content strategy:

• References are one of the significant features of this sort of content
• You then have step-by-step instructions
• Frequently Asked Questions, more commonly known as FAQs
• Top tips

Armed with all the above points and strategies, go ahead and get ready to face Panda and Penguin, beating them at their own game!

Homeopathy: A Plausible Hallucination or a Hollow Hypothesis!

Hahnemann’s Homeopathy: The Inception of Homeopathy has originated more than 200 years ago by

Samuel Christian Friedrich Hahnemann. He conceived this method of treatment while translating a

medical treatise by William Cullen, a Scottish chemist and physician, into German language.  He began

testing about what effects substances produced in human beings when taken, which was later termed

as “homeopathic proving”.  The basic principle of homeopathy is commonly called as the “law of similar”

which is to “let like be cured by like”. This is a purely unproven assertion and is definitely not a real law

of nature as on terms with the popular scientific method. And it was totally out of proportion when

compared to the medical science and conventional medicine.

Delusion of Dilutions: These Homeopathic remedies are created by serial dilution with powerful shaking

and forceful striking on an elastic body which is called as Succussion. And, generally homeopaths use

minute quantities of remedies to treat people. This is called as the “law of infinitesimals” which is quite

opposite to the contemporary methods of scientific treatment. This method is performed because

homeopaths believe that larger quantities of doses could produce effects similar to that of the disease

being treated. Hence, they use small doses of medication which they think has powerful healing effects

because of rigorous and vigorous methodical shaking.

Substantial Science Vs Hollow Homeopathy: The complete weight of scientific research has found

homeopathy to be similar to that of a placebo ( a simulated medical intervention) which has far from the

effectiveness of universe of science and real world.  There have been a lot of experiments and

researches on the effectiveness of homeopathy and is found out to be just mere shaking of dilution and

it does not have a real effect on shaking out the disease from one’s body. The value of its effectiveness

is similar to that of its medicinal dilution, a fraction that cannot be reckoned upon for an effective

treatment to demonstrate its efficacy.

The theory of homeopathy has produced no reasonable or observable predictions in the procedure of

curing an individual and should be scrupulously considered by any patient who ignorantly gives in to

such forms of treatment. It tries to explain events by correlating it with super natural and unreasonable

forces and processes and is very obscure and flawed.

Tearing apart the Thinking Traps

 The course of the world was revolutionized and shaped by many great inventors and

astounding discoverers. They have called upon their flair with commendable courage in times

of problems and have solved it by thinking smartly. For instance, the man who

invented the printing press did not bring it out just out of nothing. He has constantly worked on

the root of the problems to yield the essential fruits.

Harnessing the Resources: During his times, there were carved wooden plates to do printing,

but they were highly laborious and time consuming as it requires a lot of carving and a great

pressure required to lay the paper against the inked wooden plate to create a good impression.

But, the great Gutenberg overcame these two problems which is placing the plates quickly and

then printing it more effectively. He solved the whole jigsaw puzzle with creative thinking and

with a burning desire to solve the issue. He harnessed the then present stamps and seals to

create efficient plates by developing chunks of metal with letters on it. And, regarding the

pressure issue he thought it simply out of the box!

Lucked out: He happened to go to a wedding and there he saw the wine press which gave him

the principles of quick pressure printing and he ultimately stumbled upon the idea of a modern

printing press, in the words of David Perkins, he lucked out! Though the wine press was a

sudden and chance encounter but his thoughts were always groping for such a high yielding

chance. It is the same with Newton, Darwin, Archimedes and many other such great people

who revolutionized the world with their thoughts and then thoroughly converted those

thoughts into desired actions and results.

Synchronizing Thoughts for Accelerated Actions: It just didn’t happen out of nothing,

Gutenberg and other great people like him have already had their thoughts and wills

synchronized for such a discovery or creative invention and that highly increased the chance of

encountering events which accelerated their thoughts into powerful actions. He also had the

breakthrough thinking by having sought through questions like: How could we generate good

pressure to print a page in a single moment? And, for Newton he asked the question, why does

an apple fall? Such curious questions are the threshold of changing the world for better.

Resistors of Reasoning: David Perkins explains wonderfully about what is resisting such

sequential reasoning and how to increase our chances of luck out to beat out the odds of the

common world. Perkins also talks about the gold rush in Klondike, Alaska. He greatly compares

its character with the resemblance of breakthrough problems. He discusses about the

difficulties of finding the gold as it does not leave any merciful tracks of where it is hiding. He

briefly and elegantly explains about the four challenges that are to be encountered while going

through breakthrough thinking.

The Logics of Luck – The Four Challenges: There is a wilderness of possibilities for finding gold

as there are a lot of places to be searched before one could have a glorious breakthrough. There

must be perseverance and persistence in such occasions. He calls it the “wilderness trap”.

Hence, there are many ways but few that provide the desired results.  Secondly, he talks about

the clueless plateau which implies that there are no signs showing where the gold is available.

Otherwise it is also called as the plateau trap where the lonely prospector is looking for a

mother lode of gold trapped in a plateau of low gold concentration without any direction

indicators for the huge sands of gold. This clearly resembles that in breakthrough problem

there is no mercy of apparent clues which lead to the solution.

Canyon of Nowhere: Now, the third challenge he discusses is about the narrow canyon of

exploration. The gold could even be present at a completely different place from where the

prospector is actually searching with so much trouble and pain. And, this poor prospector who

is heavily preoccupied with today’s pits or way of thinking can never realize the tremendous

possibilities available elsewhere. It is almost like journeying on a track which takes to another

city, being the irony that the desired destination could as well be on the side parallel track! He

terms this trouble as “the Canyon Trap”. The problem solver could be searching for solutions

without any clue that is completely unavailable within the realm of his search.

Oasis of Vacuum: Finally, the fourth challenge he talks is about the tempting and little

promising signs of gold which makes the prospector to be preoccupied with the little nuggets of

gold, whereas the mother lode of gold is just a few steps away. He calls this as the Oasis of false

promise or in other words the Oasis Trap. In the similar fashion a problem solver could be

attracted to the little oasis in the middle of their journey and mistaken them to be the final

destination and end up being stuck in that rut.

Example for Exploring Problems: So, the four traps are the wilderness trap, plateau trap,

Canyon trap and the Oasis trap. And, now he comes up with the best ways to tear these traps in

order to achieve the celestial glory of solving the problem. He gives a simple example of the

nine dots for exploring such breakthrough problems. It is all about drawing four straight lines

which pass through all the nine dots without lifting pencil from paper. Most of times we happen

ending up connecting all the dots except one and the way it can be solved is by drawing a line

just a little outside one dot. It perfectly resembles all the four thinking traps where we try

drawing different conclusions as we generally tend to think inside the box instead of taking a

little leap into the out of the world senses. It is all about extending your edges to explore and

annihilate the problem with a creative thinking. It just proves that near solutions are not real solutions!

Fuel for Breakthrough Thinking Vehicle: In order to have a breakthrough one must have a

consistent inquiring spirit combined with careful experience. David Perkins provides with four

solutions for the four traps. And, he terms them as Roving, Detecting, Reframing and Decentering.

Cognitive Snaps - Roving: It is all about exploring and having a constant flow of mind to crack

the possibilities in the wilderness trap. It is about trying everything you can lay your hands

upon. Just like the Thomas Edison’s 10,000 experiments leading to the light of the world, the

bulb. It is the intense spirit of extensive cruising and far range flying to catch the hunt in the

wilderness.  Such extensive search across all the symmetries shall compress the space of

possibilities and lead to the desired destination. It is all about not lingering long in just one

place but exploring actively in many different places. It is also vital to avoid any duplication of

earlier efforts and squeezing the actual area of possibilities.

Detecting:  It is all about being able to detect several hidden clues in a plateau of apparently no

clues. It is all about diligently searching for such clues which point a direction. A good and

creative thinker will detect the rules and find what doesn’t imply in the rule or what is absent in

the conditions of a problem and then use it to bring out the effective presence of the required result.

Reframing: Now consider the method of reframing after a mountain of fruitless work. It is not

about trying old things over and over but trying things in a new way of thought can heighten

the chances of crossing the dead sea of problem and achieving the immortality of success! One

must ask themselves what kind of constraints are being taken for granted and what must be

done to come out of that spoiling frame and seek out the absolute freedom for the fruits of

success. It is always good to challenge the existing assumptions to bring alive the extinct

features of solving a problem.

Decentering: A partial solution or a temporary solution can beguile and mask the actual

solution from the eyes of the problem solver and thus dissolving any further persistence

required to crack the problem. It is required from the part of the problem solver to leave the

oasis of pleasure and take the extra pain to take a new approach or an opposite path to acquire

the breakthrough. It is all about refreshing your approach and idea of fresh possibilities.

All of these operations or solutions can work as a team to bring about the best and desired

results. Each of these procedures complements and completes the solution for a breakthrough

problem. If a breakthrough problem is a jigsaw puzzle then your mind’s innovative way of

approach is the missing part!

                                 Synchronizing Our Thoughts For Site Dancing

Our collaboration group went for a site dancing which is a form of dance where a particular site

itself becomes the stage for dancing. It’s a form of dance which mainly focuses on making

people aware of the historic and aesthetic values of  the particular site where the dance is

performed. We as a group had our own traps and webs to overcome.

Roving and Reframing our Site dance: The first one being a myriad of possibilities for finding a

right site to perform our site dancing. We were all arguing about different sites to perform our

dance. And, we were in a wilderness of thoughts as everyone wants their voice to be heard.

Finally, we reached to a point where we were are all stuck in a clueless plateau. We definitely

wanted a breakthrough decision regarding this issue and finally we formed as groups and wrote

our choices on a piece of paper and this was after roving about our indifferences and the

different places available. We have decided to reframe the issue by detecting and diligently

searching all the places where we can perform a site dance.

Dissolving our Indifferences: We all of us then agreed on three possible places where we could

perform our site dance and wrote them on three pieces of paper and rolled them. One of us

cherry picked a roll of paper and finally we came up on a place where there was a big tree to

perform our dance. And, this was agreed by all of us because the chosen place was a simple

chance of luck through the breakthrough idea of rolling our choices on a piece of paper.

We did not rely on partial solutions where only a few were satisfied and the rest of them

weren’t nor did we depend on temporary solution but came up with a simple solution by

involving luck into our issue and decentered by taking a new approach to solve our issue. This

has dissoved all our indifferences regarding the location of the site and we performed a sizzling site dance!