Success Chronicle

“Why You Should Never Give Up A Dream (…Or Steal One)”

Tray Gamble — Sun, 04 May 2008 19:10:36 +0000

"Why You Should Never Give Up A Dream (...Or Steal One)"

Where would all the great wonders of the world be if the dreamers neglected the dreams? Today I have been totally mesmerized and encouraged by the unwavering dream of a very special person, and an even more remarkable young man.

If you are a person who has ever, ... and I mean EVER, had a dream, a goal, or an idea that you believed you could accomplish with your total being, then you absolutely must see this video.

Let it rebuild the confidence the "dream slayers" have tried to take from you. Use the message to encourage you when others tell you "no way can you do this" or to "give it up" and move on.

Meditate on the massive empowering energy as you view the video, knowing that within you, if your dream is big and strong enough, the ability to overcome anything is certain.

Pay the dream forward by sharing this video with others. May it become another building block towards a future where no one ever has to feel intimidated again because of what others feel they are not.

A Way To Accurately Measure Your Health And Happiness

Tray Gamble — Thu, 01 May 2008 05:34:43 +0000

How To Measure Your Health And Happiness

What if there were a way to measure how healthy and happy you are as compared to the rest of the population? Would you be interested in knowing how you rate? I've got to admit my curiosity was peaked by an article in Tuesday's Associated Press written by Kevin Freking.

Based on research data, at least half of Americans are fighting the battle to maintain their happiness and general state of health
Out of 100,000 people who agreed to interviews for a project called the Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index (wow, that's a mouthful), 47 percent stated they were managing but it was still a struggle, and 4 percent were feeling the pain and suffering side of life
Personal assessments taken reported 49 percent of respondents thrived, were content where they were right now in their lives, and were on track for where they would like to be five years into the future
Characteristics of the "active thrivers" included less time spent being sick, higher wages and they were better educated
Characteristics of the "struggling to thrives" included, obviously, the flip side of those things the "thrivers" had overcome. Things such as inability to meet basic needs and expenses, inadequate funds for proper medication, food or shelter.
To see who's happier and healthier than we are, we can look at Denmark with only 1 percent of respondents experiencing suffering
Wrap your mind around this, now researchers are attempting to measure health and happiness levels by using your zip code (with all the political implications), your occupation, how long it takes you to commute, and even how much or how little you are exercising
The project performed by Healthways also benefits employers showing which employees or industries are more likely to have workers unhappy with the work environment
Another area which can be measured is how performance is affected if an ill worker reports to work anyway. The research can even pinpoint how many days of work a person will most likely miss based on what's wrong with them and what they think about the environment they are working in
With a price tag of more than $20 million a year, Freking reports that the project interviews more than 1,000 individuals a day.
You can see the complete details by visiting the Gallup or Healthways websites

20 Steps To Out of The Box Success Thinking

Tray Gamble — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 18:42:14 +0000

20 Steps To Out Of The Box Success Thinking

Today was a day of self reflection and boy, was there a lot to look back on, including the many times I've judged myself harshly for not being further ahead in my online business career.

Sometimes because life challenges overwhelmed me and stopped me right in my tracks. Or situations where information overload, family stress and the pressure to keep fresh blog content led to frustrated action paralysis.

There were too many times spent reacting as the long distance swimmer who has forgotten to keep his or her eyes focused forward. Knowing that to look to the right, or to the left will allow doubt to creep in, and will cause a focus on the competitors rather than the victory ahead.

I decided to share with you some of the things that grew out of that introspection. My hope is that reading about them will prove beneficial to your own "out of the box success thinking." Innovation and not wanting to be spoon fed step-by-step while building my business, but taking good information and mixing it with my own spin adds to my self-value, instead of detracting from it.

Innovation and not wanting to be spoon fed step-by-step while building my business, but taking good information and mixing it with my own spin adds to my self-value, instead of detracting from it.
Originality, or finding the value in my own voice and sharing my individual uniqueness builds my confidence and reduces my fears.
The goal is to lead others more than I follow, but not to count it as a weakness when I need to lean on others occasionally for support.
No matter how much I learn about marketing online, my biggest growth comes when I see things the way my target visitors or customers do.
A far better strategic plan is over delivering where I can, rather than underachieving everywhere else.
Experiences which do not kill me, ultimately will make me stronger. I can then use those experiences to enrich the lives of others still involved in the struggle.
Enhanced living each day will allow me to not only lift myself up, it will help me reach out to lift up others.
Practicing gratitude rather than grouchiness will always take me further.
"Having it all," but losing everything else in the process will ultimately be a hollow victory.
I must decide what a balanced lifestyle is to me. If I have sacrificed my health, my integrity, my relationships or my self worth, then the price has been too high.
Experience more appreciation for what's been achieved, not despair for what has failed.
Continue to experiment and learn from my mistakes, not become stagnant and resistant to change.
Pat myself on the back with self-approval more often than I beat myself up with stress, anxiety and frustration.
A heightened awareness of limiting beliefs and childhood programmed actions allows me to change them to more productive ones, keeping me out of avoidance thinking.
Everyone has a different route, time and place for success. Measuring myself against the speed of growth of others is a negative energy drain.
The challenges I must overcome on my particular path to success, will vary from everyone else. Fairness has nothing to do with it. What is...simply is. I determine if I will let challenges stop me or not.
Mistakes can become steps to wisdom, or stumbling blocks to growth. I decide which will become which.
Realize the value of relationship building, yet practice gentleness with myself when life circumstances prevent a focus on social networking.
The one constant that I can be certain of is that things will change in time.
Learning to let go of the things which I cannot change, or have no control over is a sign of courage not cowardice.
The only life limitations that belong to me are the ones I choose to accept.

See Why It’s Fun To Play With Your Food

Tray Gamble — Fri, 18 Apr 2008 03:49:01 +0000

I'm an internet nomad I suppose, but here's a site I stumbled on that reminded me of the ice sculptures I so love looking at (only these are veggies). Take a look, be amazed, amused and inspired. Visit http://www.mosspink.com/veggies.html to see what I mean. Enjoy

Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes… Who Has It Easier As Entrepreneurs, Men or Women?

Tray Gamble — Fri, 18 Apr 2008 02:51:23 +0000

Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes... Who Has It Easier As Entrepreneurs, Men Or Women?

A hearty midwestern hello to visitors of my humble little blog. As indicated by my post title, there's a LOT going on! Can you believe it?! We had s.n.o.w. on the first day of Spring! Now the weather keeps changing so the poor robins, geese, rabbits and other critters in the field behind my back yard are totally confused. I think I saw a few of them packing to go back South.

I feel awful about not posting for a few weeks, but life will have its way. Last week I was feeling rather optimistic because finally I was able to complete a book on lead generation, start research on my personal book project, and locate new templates to try on the site since CSS is being very naughty with me right now. I even got a chance to play around with a few software programs that have been sitting impatiently on my hard drive for, probably like forever. Ah, good times...good times.

"Mix it up get it right, go for another try... run it back again;Replay, hit rewind...," ok, ok... it's true I'm also seeking refuge from "High School Musical mania, Zac Efron, Vanessa Hudgins, Ashley Tinsdale and Corbin Bleu." If those names don't ring a bell for you, you either don't have or live with kids, you've been on a deserted island for the past few years, or you have no television, which is just, well... plain sad. (Just kidding!)

Today I sat down to write to all of you and, "wham!" My computer keyboard shelf fell absolutely in my lap. With nothing but lovely words to my feline-child TK the cat, who had to make sure there was a thorough investigation, I scrounged around looking for the best hiding bolt in the world. So now I'm twisted under the desk trying to screw in this uncooperative bolt and, "Eureka!" It's finally in. Now to put the heavy desk shelf back. A few minutes of tussling revealed the replacement bolt that took me a half hour to locate, had a big round head (not a flat head) that blocked the side rail from fitting in so... I needed another bolt. As my son shouts when frustrated, "Oh, My Goooddness!"

As the drawer finally slides in properly, the doorbell rings. With a longing glance towards my cooling coffee, I enter a discussion on yard maintenance, why I need it, observations on the job our current provider is doing and yadda, yadda, yadda.

Loading the dishwasher on my way back to the PC, it's now almost 2:00 so quick food prep for the kids who descend on me at 3. Still, no coffee. There's practice for 6th grade performance of "McBeth" and tutoring at 5pm, signing up for football practice, telephone interruptions, lions and tigers and bears, oh, my!

So all this activity led me to what I think is a rather awesome question. Who has it easier, male entrepreneurs or females? If we switched roles for the day, who do you think would be able to accomplish more? Hmmm, just a thought.

Technorati High-Jinks: When The Cat’s Away, Mice Will Play

Tray Gamble — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 07:22:36 +0000

Something wicked this way came... at least in my Technorati faves! I've been under incredible personal stress as many of you know, so I've been off my game for a bit. I wondered why one of my Stumble friends had an undesirable word underneath as a tag. I corrected that. Then when looking at Technorati--- to say I was speechless would be an understatement. What I found was that many undesired posts showed up under my favs... and they are definitely not on any lists I'm a part of. How can this be possible? Why are negative sites showing up under my Technorati faves?! Have I been hacked somehow? It would appear so. For now, I'm working on getting this garbage deleted immediately, then I'll post to a few friends and Technorati support to see what's amiss. This really stinks.

“Life’s What You Make It”

Tray Gamble — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 02:47:57 +0000

Life's what you make it

That Hannah Montana song has been playing in my ear all week long, thanks to my kids. It's been resonating a lot with my personal life as well. What about for you? Are you living the high quality life you planned for yourself?

Who's making decisions about your lifestyle choices for you? How you're raising your children, or what situations in life you should, or should not remain in? Ultimately, the final decision is up to you. It takes courage to live one's convictions. It takes honesty enough to look at yourself and life for what's really there, not what we imagine, or hope for.

Live your best life possible. Do it now because time can be so short. None of us are promised tomorrow.

What’s A Life Worth?

Tray Gamble — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 14:56:02 +0000

A Life For Sale

"What's a life worth?" 5 years and a painful divorce later, one man has decided to find out. Ian Usher, from Perth, Australia has had enough, so logically he has listed his entire life for sale on ebay. That includes his home and all the contents including a spa, skydiving equipment, automobiles, personal introductions to his friends, a two week trial at his rug store job... everything that holds a memory of his former life.

Different, yet tastefully executed (except perhaps for the fee-based intimate detail sharing, letter since removed), Usher's sale manages to do an excellent job promoting Western Australia in the process. According to Usher, he wants the auction viewed as a "complete lifestyle package." Opening bids start June 22, 2008. When all the dust clears, Ian Usher wants nothing but the clothes on his back, his wallet and his passport. Where life takes him from the airport will be determined by fate. Interesting.

I tend to mentally put this auction next to the one selling the container for a well known meal of happiness. Surprisingly that throw-a-way child's meal container sold for almost $3,000. Amazing. No one was told the contents of the box because "happiness is defined differently by all of us." There was no solid price that could be attached because you "can't put a price on happiness." You get the general idea.

Usher states in his case, he's not "sure if its inspired madness, foolishness or a mid-life crisis." Most likely a mixture of all of them. And yet his creative way of turning pain into something better has to be commended on some level.

It's a big risk, but what's the worst that can happen? Nothing sells, or he becomes uber famous and writes a book about "How to sell your life on eBay," for others right?

I'm sure we all know people who have been broken by life. Whether the individuals went forward in denial or bitterness, acceptance or despair, all faced the similar need to move on to something better or to give up.

The quote, "When it becomes more difficult to stay where you are than to change, you'll change," comes to mind. Ian phrases it this way, "I believe that life is about experience and adventure. A job is merely a means to provide the money to enjoy the life you want to lead."

Let's hope things work out with the auction for Ian Usher. Meanwhile, I think I'll just embrace the lesson that a life half lived is really no life at all. What do you think?

8 Unusual Ways To Flood Your Site With High Quality Traffic

Tray Gamble — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 05:00:30 +0000

8 Unusual Ways To Flood Your Site With High Quality Traffic

A steady stream of high quality traffic can mean the difference between success or failure to your website or blog. However, many webmasters take this for granted. They live in the, “If you build it they will come” realm, which the rest of us have already figured out doesn’t exist. Others know they need quality traffic, they simply lack the knowledge of how to get it.

So how do those with more web finesse get truckloads of traffic consistently coming to their sites? What key secrets or strategies do they use that can help the bewildered?

Actually, there’s quite a bit they can teach you about finding your own streams of high quality traffic. Things such as how to use search engines more effectively, increasing your conversion rates, and how to diversify your source of traffic for starters. Take a look at the list below for ideas to drive targeted traffic to your sites right away.

Trade Events/ Booth Sponsoring – You’ll find these all over the place with a bit of research and certainly more than one will fit your area of interest. One great source to locate national and international business events is found at Biz TradeShows (http://www.biztradeshows.com). All the major cities are featured and the events listed are pretty comprehensive.

Related Interest Groups – You probably already know the benefits of forum posting a link to your site in your signature, answering questions or listing one of your articles if allowable.

What you might not be so familiar with are groups sharing a related interest to your site content. For example, Yahoo!, Google and Meetup.com all have unique groups which cover a wide variety of topics from mountain climbing to backpacking. Choose a few that fit your site and get involved.

Volunteering – I prefer to call it “community give back.” When you selflessly offer your time to others, it often naturally comes up that you have an internet business. As you participate, members want to learn more about you on a personal level. By donating items from your company to scouting groups, senior citizens or any number of charitable causes, you build community goodwill.

Don’t be content to let it stop there. When you do things that benefit the community, promote it via simple press releases. Public Service Directors are always on the look out for “feel good” news story fillers, and you can probably get a free public service mention on a few radio/television stations too.

Keyword Enhanced Content – Keywords strategically placed on your site may help your site pages rank higher. Think about adding these enhanced keywords in your title and meta tags, in your header, in the name of your page, or throughout the context of your article body. Paying attention to all of these can help increase your page rank overall.

Advertise In Your Community- Create a themed newsletter and offer it free to related or complimentary businesses in your area. Captured eyeballs waiting for appointments, guests or clients to arrive etc. will invariably read everything within reach. Don’t rule out places for fun and recreation, libraries, community bulletin boards and anywhere else people are “captured” for blocks of time.

Mentor A Student For A Week – High Schools and College vocational offices are usually receptive to pairing up their students with well respected business owners for “hands on” training. Do this from the heart and the added press coverage will be even sweeter.

Content Relevance - What’s your tendency when you find something that’s really noteworthy or useful? Usually you share that source of information with others, and it works the same way with top notch site content. Word of mouth has long been proven as an economic and powerful promotion tool, so let it work to your advantage.

Freebies – Reports, articles, e-books, audios and the list goes on. Google the word “free” and you will find it referenced more than three million times. That alone shows you the enormous potential for extra traffic.

There you have it! Keep your creative thinking caps on, your eyes open and your ears peeled. New opportunities to get traffic to your sites are almost around every corner.

If you enjoyed this article, I would appreciate you letting others know about it. I also welcome your personal comments.

What I Wish I Never Learned…

Tray Gamble — Fri, 07 Mar 2008 02:56:02 +0000

This post was inspired by Alex Blackwell at thenext45years with much appreciation. I found it to be such a great tool for self-discovery and acknowledgment of where I am within myself, I left a list at his site, and that made me want to open up the opportunity for you to add your thoughts. You can click here to see my post on Alex's site.
I wish I never learned:
~striving for excellence wasn’t the norm
~the end of joy filled moments
~that life is only temporary
~I wish I never learned how to stop believing
~to expect less from life than the absolute best
~how not to communicate
~to speak more than to listen
~any negative thoughts
~that love doesn't conquer all
~time does not heal all wounds
~some people are unable to experience or give love
~I wish I never learned to be untrue to myself
~to judge myself harshly rather than to forgive
~to beat myself up mentally instead of moving forward
~to see the world and others through inaccurate labels
~I wish I never learned all the things I wish I never learned
What are the things you are working on in your own personal development and self-actualization? What is it that you personally wish you had never learned, or realized sooner?

You Are That Light

Tray Gamble — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 00:46:23 +0000

Here's a bit of inspiration for everyone today!

Oprah and Eckhart Tolle Together For A New Earth

Tray Gamble — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 00:24:43 +0000

A New Earth! Prepare for the enlightenment, the site proclaimed! I was pumped, ready and counting down the last two minutes...along with 500,000 others seeking enlightenment too.

I thought Eckhart Tolle was too cute in a munch-kinish way... sort of like Paul Williams who sang among other favorites, the song "Evergreen," with Barbara Streisand.

Self-actualization...got it! Clarity and seeing the light of who you truly are...copy that. Stop wasting time on relationships, things that don't honor you and focus on the purpose of your being, with a capital "B!" This is really good stuff, I'm thinking to myself.

"Only the truth of who you are now will set you free." From Oprah's mouth to my eager ears! If only the connection would stop hiccuping! "Kids! Settle down I'm trying to hear this one thing...come on! Give me a break. "

Ok, what does life want from me? Got it. I'm writing a book... passages came to Tolle...set aside active time to honor your writing... maybe that's my problem! Got it, got it.

Tell life you're ready? Life, I was born ready! Trust life when your very strong impulses come. Ok, I can do that. Flowers?? What about flowers? Oh, for goodness sake! Come on connection...come on!

In a nutshell, that was my time with Oprah and Eckhart yesterday. All it took was one more hiccup and my kbp dropped between 0 to 471. I could never get back in darn it, so I'm happy they posted it today and the transmission is absolutely flawless. I'm downloading it all!

How was your connection to the Webinar? What hoops did you jump to be free to watch? This New Earth 10-week series is going to be a good one!

P.S. Thanks to Suzie from abundance highway for the heads up on this one.

Oprah’s Big Give

Tray Gamble — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 20:12:01 +0000

Oprah's Big Give is a hit! According to Reuter's estimates, almost 16 million tuned in Sunday. Wow! Wouldn't it be great if that many viewers were inspired to start or continue giving in their own lives? I could probably be called "a caregiver to the world" because I have a deep desire to help others and want to "write my name upon the sands of time" by making a difference wherever I can.

In itself that's a good thing. However, as I'm also extremely sensitive to people, I want to help the entire world and take away the pain so I may empathize too much, ending up not sleeping because my mind won't relax. Memories of things and events stay with me for long periods of time so I'm more careful about how much "information" or news I take in. Especially working on my mindset to financial freedom.

I like the thoughts of Andre Agassi as he reflected on "Oprah's Big Give." He said, "We all have a hundred chances a day to make a difference in somebody's lives, but if we actually proactively seek that, you can do some amazing things!"

That reminded me of a conversation Rel and I had with our daughters recently about Christmas, traditions etc. We were trying to impress on them the importance of giving back, not just the aspect of "expectation or obligation," which takes a lot of the fun out of the experience. At least for us anyway. Next holiday, we're carting everyone down to a soup kitchen to see what service to others less fortunate really means. In time we plan to get them involved with handing out blankets and sandwiches to the homeless, and starting a drive at their school to donate new toys to the boys and girls shelters here.

I can't get an image out of my head from college of a visit to one here in the Midwest. The boys in this particular shelter were so thrilled to have someone visit them. One kid only had an old bible that he carried around with him everywhere. It was the only thing he owned. The official there told our group that many of the kids don't have anything, not even toys or visitors. That broke my heart to see all their little excited, chattering faces. I've been an advocate for Toys For Tots volunteering (loving making deliveries wearing the reindeer ears and hat) since that time.

Talk about gratitude! Volunteer to do this even once and the kidsyou deliver gifts to will make you truly know the meaning of that word. We are rich beyond compare. How do you give back to others? Your ideas and suggestions are welcomed, encouraged and appreciated.

Make it a giving day!

Experiment Gone Wrong?

Tray Gamble — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 06:35:06 +0000

You've probably been wondering what on earth has been happening with me and this blog lately since it seems to be shaking, rattling and rolling with all the experimental changes I've been making. Yes, I'm in the midst of trying to find the right fit and feel for myself and my online baby. When I first started using this GreenWave theme by Romow , I enjoyed it. Now it's starting to feel a bit clunky to me, even though the overall design is great and I still like it. So, I'm in the market for a new, simplistic but pleasantly functional theme. Any suggestions? I'd appreciate hearing which ones you like and why. How do you decide what "fits" your personality and business image on your blogs?

Public Happiness

Tray Gamble — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 06:10:54 +0000

"I think the most revolutionary act a person can commit today is to be publicly happy." That comes from Patch Adams, M.D., and resonates with me today. I came across a new word called "Passionpreneur," and wanted to share it with you. I'm not sure who came up with the term first, but it sure fits in online marketing, my life and business in general. Happiness, true happiness I think comes from deep within. It blossoms from the things we value and believe in, and radiates from the obstacles to success we overcome. "Passionpreneur," doesn't it sum up what our journey to success and relationships are all about? If there's no passion behind the vision, why do it? I would love to know what this word inspires in you.

Support From The World’s Most Successful People

Tray Gamble — Fri, 22 Feb 2008 18:43:02 +0000

"The Science of Success" Review
"What would you dare to achieve if you knew you absolutely could not fail?" I'm sure that question has come across your view as often as it has my own. Would you finally move into your dream home? Return to school? Fall off the global map for a year to travel?
It's interesting to consider for sure, but fear is the great immobilizer isn't it? Even if you know all of the universal principles out there, they won't work if you can't get pass this action-blocker in your mind.
One proposed method for overcoming this challenge is presented by James Ray, international speaker and author. He calls this method "The Science of Success."
What I really like about the program is the clear roadmap presented that helps you examine every aspect of your life, thereby making changes last on a deeper level.
Wealthy or more successful people aren't any smarter than you or I. They just have a better system to follow. They're so good at it that their actions reach down into their subconscious to continually work for them. They've obtained what Ray considers, "Harmonic Wealth" status. Basically the integration of mind, body and spirit balance.
For example, if you have a terrible relationship, does it matter how smart you are? If you have all the wealth you could imagine, but are too ill to enjoy it, does it matter?
I like the clear way James Ray takes you through various growth steps with his "owner's manual" for life. "The Science of Success" is a great transformational product and is highly recommended.

Critical Health Resource

Tray Gamble — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 06:07:40 +0000

What's the harm in having a fresh lemon in your drink?
Are you putting your child's life in danger with lunch?
Why could you be jeopardizing your health by entertaining or eating out often?
I could go on but let's just cut to the chase. All of these situations and more are very real.
Stay safe. Be health aware. I just learned a few things here and all I can say is read it. Read it now!
Visit http://www.healthinspections.com before you put another bite of food in your mouth!