Where to Find Pick The Brain:
Blog URL: http://www.pickthebrain.com/blog/
Category: Self Improvement, Motivation, Personal Development

Pick The Brain

Pick the Brain is taking on self improvement and motivation on the blog’s own terms—which just happens to be something bigger than your average self improvement blog.

Pick The Brain – Why You Should Go

The foundation of Pick the brain is that we are more than just a single focused topic. Effective self improvement and personal motivation comes only through attending to the whole mind and body (in a very experiential and ‘common sense’ way). To that end, there is a great deal of information, strategies, and habits and actions that affect what we do and why; and so, there are a great many topics to be discussed as you continually strive to achieve your best life and maintain it through personal growth. It is for this reason that the blog takes a very broad, community approach to self improvement—because there is hardly ever only one ‘right’ answer, or one person who knows it.

From the site:

“PickTheBrain.com diverges from traditional “self-help” by taking a broader approach. Rather than sticking to a small set of topics, the site covers anything related to self improvement. Any information that people can use to live more prosperous, satisfying lives is a potential article…

“Rather than proposing a set of easy answers, PickTheBrain recognizes the challenges involved with sustainable self improvement. The advice we provide is rooted in personal experience and common sense. This site will help you use the strength of your own mind to create the environment you need to thrive.”

To broaden the perspective and information resources for readers, the blog, maintained by the parent site which is also named Pick the Brain, is attended to by a team of regular contributors led by editor Erin Falconer. Additionally, the blog welcomes guest bloggers with quality articles of interest. The end result is a truly community-oriented blog and support center aimed to help you personalize your path to a prosperous, fulfilling life.

Summing Up Pick The Brain

Pick The Brain has taken a slightly different approach to motivation and self improvement, and in so doing has created one of the most useful, comprehensive, and effective personal development blogs on the web.

Go here to check out Pick the Brain.

Mary Ward
Do You Digg It!
Blog Review Team
Do You Digg It! © 2012

Where to Find Positively Present:
Blog URL: http://positivelypresent.typepad.com/
Category: Self Improvement, Personal Development

Positively Present

Sometimes a blog just resonates with you, and for me, this blog did. It’s a blog about positivity and living your best life now. Or, as author Dani puts it, “living happily ever after now”.

Positively Present – Why You Should Go

The fact that this blog resonates so clearly with me after having reviewed so many great blogs about personal development and positivity should really say something. This is a blog worth reading.

It’s a bit tough to put your finger on it, but there is just something different enough about Dani’s approach to positive, present living that makes it so resonant. Maybe it’s her practical, real-world application and lessons learned from life; maybe it’s her dedication not only to positivity, but positivity in the PRESENT…not for some time put off and scheduled in the future; or maybe it’s her sincerity and honesty (I mean, are you willing to admit what a bitch you were in high school?). Whatever it is, it’s working, and it will captivate you, too.

…now, assuming you are still in a quandary as to how this post title fits in, here’s a bit in Dani’s own words…

“Positively Present is Dani, a twenty-something who, after years of living under a dark cloud of woe-is-me, has decided this will be the year she focuses on the positive. This will be the year she lives in the present, turning all of her attention toward making her life more positively aware. Dani is a former Eeyore learning to live positively in the present moment. Working hard to embrace the idea of “living happily ever after now,” Positively Present focuses on all things positive — quotes, books, stories, songs, situations, people, blogs, websites, ideas, images, notions, emotions. Anything and everything positive has a home here.”

Summing Up Positively Present

What more can I say? The energy and sincerity of this blog will turn any Eeyore’s tale into one of positive, good living in the here and now.

Go here to check out Positively Present.

Mary Ward
Do You Digg It!
Blog Review Team
Do You Digg It! © 2012

Where to Find Alphanista:
Blog URL: http://www.alphanista.com/
Category: Women, Personal Development, Self Improvement

Alphanista

Somehow being a strong person, particularly if you are a woman, has gotten a bad rap over the decades (centuries, millennia?). Not so anymore. Maryann Reid is going where few dare to tread—drawing out strong people and especially strong women, helping them to embrace that strength and capitalize it, and boldly saying that it’s okay to be a strong, independent person.

Alphanista – Why You Should Go

Alphanista is everything that I’ve just described above. It is a blog primarily focused on women and helping them achieve better life change by embracing the bold gifts that they’ve been given—or even developing the meek in the interest of self improvement and advancement. Is it an all-men barred, women’s lib type blog? No. Alphanistas have nothing against men, but they have everything for any person bettering themselves and making it in this life in confident and inspiring ways.

As Maryann says, the blog brings out the topics that no others dare to discuss.

“Alphanista™ focuses on provocative content that you won’t normally find on other blogs. Known as someone whose opinion differs from the masses, I wanted a site where people can come to and breathe. Understand that they are not alone, that it is okay not to be perfect, or follow a set of etiquette rules for achieving success. Topics covered include dating, relationships, sex, careers, food, news, and any little thing that can spark new thought or perspective. So many times, what we read is about how to be perfect, how to change ourselves, when in reality life will always be a continuous process of change. It won’t ever stop. You can come here for fresh ideas on how to keep moving your life forward from where you are right now by focusing on the “alpha” or stronger self inside you.”

Summing Up Alphanista

It stands to reason that this blog should target and support women, considering that historically being an “alpha” female has been much disdained; but Maryann’s topics are enlightening for all manner of people, personalities, and confidence types. In fact, she even has a post to help you determine if Alphanista is the right place for you. Regardless of who you are, there is no doubt that you will find inspiration and confidence in this blog.

Go here to check out Alphanista.

Mary Ward
Do You Digg It!
Blog Review Team
Do You Digg It! © 2012

Where to Find Joyful Days:
Blog URL: http://www.joyfuldays.com/
Category: Personal Development, Self Improvement, Success

Joyful Days

Having had more than enough of the corporate life and stress and struggle, blogger Daphne opted for more Joyful Days. It took a dedicated effort, but Daphne has achieved her dream life, and is using her blog to help others do the same.

Joyful Days – Why You Should Go

Joyful Days is an example of the life you can live if you put your mind to it and dedicate yourself to living a content, positive life. Daphne understands the gift that life is, and the fact that she deserves to live it well.

Daphne’s blog is a testament to that understanding and dedication. She set off with one primary goal:

“I wanted control over my life, doing work that I enjoyed, spending time with the people I love. I wanted to wake up happy and go to bed ready to die in my sleep because I’d lived a day worth living.”

Admirable, and not too much to ask of life, as Daphne has proven through her success. Her blog is poised to help you do the same by giving you resources and information on the major topics of life change, including

- Gaining control over personal cash flow and finance for financial freedom
- Developing fulfilling relationships
- Enjoying your working life by enjoying your work
- Developing a life with purpose and meaning

Summing Up Joyful Days

Joyful Days offers practical, achievable solutions for lives of discontent and a positive attitude to emulate. Join Daphne and her community of like-minded people sharing the determination to succeed and enjoy life.

Go here to check out Joyful Days.

Mary Ward
Do You Digg It!
Blog Review Team
Do You Digg It! © 2012

Where to Find The Positivity Blog:
Blog URL: http://www.positivityblog.com/
Category: Personal Development, Self Improvement, Positivity

The Positivity Blog

Henrik Edberg (who I believe bears the honor of first Swedish Blog reviewed at Digg It!) loves the subject of positivity and personal success. As he says, he “devours” everything he can read, watch, or hear on the subject. Then he brings it to his blog.

The Positivity Blog – Why You Should Go

Henrik describes his own life as a work in progress, one in which he is continually applying the best of success and positivity practices and principles. Recognizing that mankind is more alike than we are different, he has had the foresight to see that his approaches and applications, and his positive spirit in general, can be of good use to others, too, and so he shares his advice, tips, research, learning, and personal stories at The Positivity Blog. Some of the topics explored include:

- Creating new and better habits
- Self discipline
- Personal consciousness and responsibility
- Life and time management and resulting stress reduction
- Productivity, progress, and success

…and many more. Henrik offers very practical, sensible, workable solutions for you to choose from to create your own improved life of positivity and success.

Summing Up The Positivity Blog

Henrik Edberg has developed a blog with excellent information and resources, but more importantly he has infused it with his spirit of abundance and positivity. His outlook and attitude is contagious, and it’s something you definitely will want to catch.

Go here to check out The Positivity Blog.

Mary Ward
Do You Digg It!
Blog Review Team
Do You Digg It! © 2012

Speaking of New Year’s goals and resolutions, why not share a little of our own success (or not) here?

How Is Your New Year’s Resolve?

I have to say that New Year’s resolutions have never really stuck with me.  So there is no judgment here if you don’t have stellar results to report.  We hope you do, because we’re really all about success around here, but we understand how these things happen, too.

Personally, I kind of gave up on the whole resolution-setting deal, and opted to follow Christine Kane‘s lead and choose a word for the year rather than to commit to a bunch of overwhelming goals that I couldn’t even remember, much less follow through on.  The word I chose was “prosperity” because I felt that it represented the kind of lifestyle I’d hope to achieve.  I don’t mean just financial prosperity, either, this includes prosperity in all aspects of my life; in business, but also in family and spirit and more.  To help me remember I purchased one of those inspirational word stones carved with the word “prosperity” in gold.  I consider it my touchstone and keep it on my desk to keep me motivated when I’d rather not be.

So far I think it’s working, although there is a long way to go.  Quite likely I won’t even accomplish it all this year, but that’s okay.  As long as I’m progressing I consider myself a success.

As for our Digg It creator, Sean Rasmussen, well, he’s always a master goal-setter.  I seem to recall his goals being to focus more on new aspects of his internet marketing business, and to devote more time to the most interesting and promising projects.  His joint ventures with Shaun Stenning attest to the success of this goal.  The two of them are all over Australia and beyond presenting winning internet marketing seminars and bringing up a whole league of successful internet marketers.  That sounds like an accomplished goal!

Never Too Late

No matter where you are with your New Year’s Resolutiuons (or maybe you never set one, either), just rememebr that goal-setting and success is not limited to that one time of year.  It’s always a great time to resolve to live better.  Don’t get hung up on the calendar, just take the initiative and enjoy the excitement of new goals and new opportunity!

Mary Ward
Do You Digg It!
Blog Review Team
Do You Digg It! © 2012

I do like to go back every now and again and check up on past blogs just to see what they’re doing, and to see who has had the persistance and dedication to stick with their blog and who hasn’t.  Blogging is a tough act to commit to for the long term, and it isn’t for everyone, even for people who love to read and write and share.

How Well Did Your New Year’s Resolution Perform?

I feel an especial need to go back to those we’d reviewed as New Year’s Resolution Blogs and see how well they’ve maintained their resolve.  It’s seems Christine Kane, the blogger who brought us the concept of one word for improvement for the year, is going strong and learning a lot about what it really takes to persevere and succeed.  Christine is still mentoring, still working toward her personal goals, and still posting some hugely insightful and inspiring articles.  I know just visiting there this morning gave me a kick I very much needed!

Unfortunately, we can’t seem to say the same for the New Year’s Resolution blog.  It seems that there hasn’t been a post there since about January 15th.  That sounds about right given the record of success for the average person and their resolution.  This blog was to be a year-round site for support, largely a community effort.  That may have been its demise, relying heavily on reader activity.  It’s still a great blog premise and we’ve seen it revive before, so who knows, maybe this won’t be the last we’ll see of it.

I’m glad to see at least Christine Kane still going strong and living true to her word of the year.  Hers is an inspiring blog and good dose of success reality.  Be sure to go and take your daily dose of self development medicine!

Mary Ward
Do You Digg It!
Blog Review Team
Do You Digg It! © 2012

Where to Find EMBRACE Living:
Blog URL: http://embraceliving.net/blog/
Category: Personal Development, Self Improvement

EMBRACE Living

EMBRACE Living is the blogging arm of Celestine Chua’s personal development website (also named EMRBACE Living). Celes (as she’s happy to be called) is a young woman who has quickly come to a realization about what living your best life really means, and unlike most, has had the courage and taken the initiative to do something about it early on.

EMBRACE Living – Why You Should Go

By the time Celes Chua quit her lucrative Fortune 100 marketing job at the age of 24, she had come full-circle to a level of understanding about personal development and living life to its fullest potential that most people do not reach for decades later (and truthfully, most will never at all). Not content to let societal impositions bind her, Celes left her satisfactory corporate world for one far better—one based on her own passions and true self, one with infinite earning potential because it was a true and contented path.

Her next move was to turn those passions into her life coaching business, of which the blog and advice are part and parcel. Posts on the blog cover all aspects of conscious living, including such topics as (but not limited to) career and work, money and finance, stress management, goals, emotional mastery, mindset, relationships, and much, much more.

In her own words, Celes summarizes the growth and purpose of her blog as follows.

“EmbraceLiving.Net was launched in Dec 2008 to help you achieve your highest potential and live your best life. It has been growing phenomenally in readership and quality content ever since it was launched…Every week, the blog is updated with new, life-improving articles covering topics such as Conscious Living, Goal Achievement, Maximizing Productivity, People Skills, Emotional Mastery, and so on, which deal with all areas of your life including Career, Relationships, Health, Finance, Spirituality, etc. All my articles are inspired from real events and experiences in my life…My only objective here is to help you achieve your highest potential and embrace your best life.”

Summing Up This EMBRACE Living

Celetine Chua shows a maturity and enjoyment of life that most people are never able to accomplish. Her posts are both practical and spiritual (in an open-ended sort of way, suiting to all belief, or non-belief systems), insightful and inspiring. A visit to Celes’ blog will make you contemplate your life in terms you probably have not considered, and help you along as you find the best path to your best life.

Go here to check out EMBRACE Living.

Mary Ward
Do You Digg It!
Blog Review Team
Do You Digg It! © 2012

Where to Find New Year’s Resolution Blog:
Blog URL: http://www.newyearsresolutionsblog.com/
Category: Personal Development, Self Improvement

New Year’s Resolution Blog

Yesterday we took a look at a blog that has found a successful and sustainable alternative to traditional New Year’s Resolutions. Today we look at a blog that takes a more communal approach to those traditional resolutions at the New Year’s Resolution Blog.

New Year’s Resolution Blog – Why You Should Go

The New Year’s Resolution Blog was started by an admitted resolution breaker (but who isn’t?), Tracy. Understanding what it is that makes resolutions so hard to keep, Tracy decided to start up a site and a blog dedicated to helping herself and her community succeed in their resolve to improve—together, with support, the way the most successful resolutions are said to succeed.

To this end, Tracy has built in many posts and tools to help you from start to finish. There are posts to help you decide on a resolution, jumpstart your resolution, and others for “after the fact” to help you track and follow your resolution through. As an added bonus, you can go public by posting your resolution and adding that extra level of accountability. Tracy has also built up a team of six other writers to help her, and you, along the way, with articles and posts to inspire and motivate, as well as stories of their own success.

Summing Up New Year’s Resolution Blog

Last year this blog saw a break in the action, but came back bigger and better, with a new design, features, and determination to build a successful community of resolution-makers. Tracy and her crew have a great thing going here, and your continued participation can only help to keep it moving. Check out the New Year’s Resolution Blog and ready yourself for an even more successful year ahead!

Go here to check out New Year’s Resolution Blog and Have a Happy New Year!

Mary Ward
Do You Digg It!
Blog Review Team
Do You Digg It! © 2012

Where to Find Creative Juices Arts:
Blog URL: http://www.creativejuicesarts.blogs.com/
Category: Personal Development, Self Improvement

Creative Juices Arts & Painting From The Wild Heart

Chris Zydel’s Creative Juices Arts & Painting From The Wild Heart blog is an extension of the life and profession she has dedicated herself to. Summarized, this might be described as the facilitation of free-expression and creativity. This is the work that she does through her creative arts studio in Oakland, California (USA), which she continues through her website, and now her blog.

Creative Juices Arts – Why You Should Go

“We are all naturally creative, and we all have something inside of us that is authentically ours, wanting to be expressed.

Whether this “something” is written, sung, painted, spoken, danced, or manifested through cooking, growing a business, raising a child, designing a home, building a guitar, or bringing an idea into the world, our creativity is one of the most unique and precious aspects of who we are.”

This is the foundation upon which Chris Zydel has built her work and her blog. Chris realizes not only that are we all creative beings, but also that too many of us are stifling that creativity and suffering for it. To correct the problem, Chris works as a counselor, instructor, and facilitator, working through art, offering classes, workshops, and retreats (including 3-day weekend intensives for non-residents). Chris’s blog is an extension of this work. It is a place to capture many of the benefits of an in-person experience, to learn from Chris, and to extend that learning if you are lucky enough to be one of Chris’s students.

Summing Up Creative Juices Arts

Whether or not you are lucky enough to ever experience one of Chris Zydel’s classes or workshops, there is plenty that you will find of benefit at her blog. Chris’s blog serves as a renewal and awakening of your creative spirit, poised to help you break down the barriers that prohibit you from fully experiencing the benefit of maximizing your creative soul.

Go here to check out Creative Juices Arts.

Mary Ward
Do You Digg It!
Blog Review Team
Do You Digg It! © 2012