Why did Gangnam Style go viral? Follow the link to find out…
You ARE Creative
You think you’re not creative? Oh c’mon now, stop that. Humankind is inherently creative, but we don’t always open ourselves up to the creative flow – instead we commonly build constructs that limit and deny our creativity. Telling yourself you aren’t creative is a self-fulfilling prophecy. Once you realise that actually you have the power to be as creative as you want, you can break through your limits and awaken your natural creativity. Take back your creative power!
“Advice for entrepreneurs: Make a timeline and set goals – small goals that you can achieve. Build upon that success using the same method to achieve bigger goals. Be clear on what you want to accomplish. It also helps to surround yourself with mentors that have done it before and aspire to work with people as passionate as you are.”
Black Friday? Cyber Monday? You’ve never REALLY shopped until you have visited these websites. Follow the link to see the full top 100 list to shop it like it’s hot (get what you want and save big).
Check out this years best tech presents for those special nerds in your life this Christmas. Prepare to drool… follow the link for 95 more on DailyTekk’s visual gift guide.
Instagram, the iPhone (and soon Android) app that makes it easy to share photos will friends and family, is blowing up. In March of this year, Instagram had over 27 million users and over 100,000 weekly downloads. Whether you already love it or are just now getting into the craze, this roundup is all about helping you get the most out of your Instagram photo sharing and viewing experience. If you are already and Instagram user then you’ve probably heard of a few of these services before but I’m sure there’s plenty of new territory for you to discover. As always, let me know what I’ve missed–if it’s something good I’ll get it added!
Want To Be Successful? Do Something Hard
There is a reason why some people are more successful than others. Actually, there are many reasons, but I’m convinced that one of them is this: people don’t want to do hard things, as a general rule, so the few that are willing/able/unafraid to endure a bit of hardship are the ones who are going to come out looking like they accomplished something. Respect, money and even fame are most likely going to follow to some degree.
Take Bear Grylls for example. You don’t want to eat nasty insects and drink your own urine for the enjoyment of millions of viewers. You probably wouldn’t even want to go through the special forces training he had to endure before he ever made it on TV. But he did it and look what it got him.
Do you see what I mean? You’ve got to be willing to do something other people aren’t in order to get ahead. This could take many forms. The classic example is being an entrepreneur and trading in the safety of a steady job for the uncertainty of fledging a new company that may or may not make it in the end. It may look like taking more initiative with your boss or learning how to speak up. It could look like starting a blog that nobody reads for 6 months but being sticking with it till it finds an audience. Patience, persistence, the ability to envision the future, optimism and a higher pain tolerance are all hallmarks of successful people.
Many people have given up on doing something respectable to gain attention and they do something terrible that nobody else is willing to do (like give up their dignity by dressing skimpy to sell music). Some people aren’t willing to trample others underfoot to climb to the top. Either way, doing something that hurts you or someone else is not the way to go.
If you are tired of the same old routine in your life or if you have big dreams you want to accomplish, you can’t be afraid to give up a bit of comfort for the short term in order to gain something better for yourself in the long term. It’s not for everybody… that’s why some people are more successful than others.
What do you think?
The 100 Best, Most Interesting Blogs and Websites of 2012
I don’t know about you, but I’m constantly running into so many cool websites I want to remember or recommend to people but I don’t always have time to make a note of them, add them to Evernote, bookmark them in Delicious, etc. So this is a good example of a post I created as a personal (and completely unscientific) resource that other people will probably benefit from as well. Some of these sites are pretty new while others have been around for a while now, but they are all awesome right now in 2012.
I love a good infographic! After all, knowledge is power and the visualization of data makes absorbing information all the easier. Well-designed infographics have a way of pulling me into a subject I’d normally never care to know about. As a designer I can attest to the crazy amount of time it takes to make a compelling, useful infographic. I have to say I knew about many of the great links, resources and tools I’ve linked to here on this post before but I dug deep and found some new and exciting infographic tools that I’m willing to bet you haven’t seen before. Items 1-5 under the Data Visualization Tools and Software category are sufficiently capable of arming even a novice designer with the ability to produce a powerful infographic (though I’m sure experts will find them handy as well). In short, if you love infographics, data visualization and information design as much as I do, you’re going to love this post. As always, leave me a comment with your thoughts and suggestions!