Actualize Dreams

Photo by Ground Zero

The end of October is near, and as November approaches, I wanted to get the ball rolling and share with you what I have in store in the coming months.  Next month's 30-day challenge is to become a powerful negotiator, focusing on what you need to know to Negotiate yourself through anything.  That's right, I will be absorbing these concepts to enlighten you, as well as share my practical experiences using any techniques I learned.  Accompanying me on this journey, will be three of the most highly-touted negotiations books:  Bargaining for Advantage, Start with No and 3D Negotiation.   

What you can expect to look forward to and read in the coming months:

1. What you need to know to Negotiate yourself through anything
2. 10 things to do right now to get your Financial Life in order
3. How one hour each day can dramatically change your life
4. Why every leader needs to read "The Five Dysfunctions of a Team"
5. How to say what you mean, mean what you say and get what you want
6. A 30-day photojournalistic tour of the 17 Countries I visited in the last three years
7. What I wish my parents knew about money
8. 30-day commitment to actively learn something new each day
9. My experiment with facing fear - 10 fears in 30 days
10. My foray into the certified financial planning industry and what you need to know

Photo by The U.S. Army

Cheers to progress and results!  In a little over two weeks, ActualizeDreams.com has drawn in a daily average of over 40 unique visitors, with 50 page views.  Thank you for the support.  I will continue this momentum moving forward with small daily steps - that's really the key.  I'm also ecstatic to have received a few comments on my previous posts from readers, so that has been really encouraging and an added motivation to keep going.  On that note, I'd like to share a really inspirational quote to get us through the brick walls of progress: 

212 degree attitude - "the only thing that stands between a person and what they want in life is THE WILL TO TRY IT and the FAITH to believe it is possible".

My three mini goals for Week #3 are as follows:

1. Come up with 10 post ideas
2. Reach out to other bloggers in my niche, and provide insightful comments
3. Write a "Review Post"

Cheer me on...

Week #1 focused on the following:

1. "Write an Elevator Pitch for your blog"
2. "Write a List Post"
3. "Promote a Blog Post"

My three mini goals for Week #2 are as follows:

1. "Analyze a Top Blog in my Niche"
2. "Email a Blog Reader"
3. Read "27 Must Read Tips and Tutorials for Bloggers"

Good news, my StumbleUpon campaign has been off and running - I set a daily budget for $5, for a total of $25 this week, and have received over 200 page views in the last two days.  However, I realize that I have a lot of work and improvements to do.  I became cognizant of the fact that it may be confusing for readers to see step-by-step instructions within the content I am trying to promote.  In fact, stating my goal each time within my post is distracting, and could very well detract from the overall message of the post.  To rectify this, I will ensure that each 30-day challenge follow this formula:

30-Day Challenge Outline:

1. General Introduction:  at the beginning of the month, I will give a general introduction to my 30-day Goal, and why it is important.
2. Weekly road map:  each week, I will highlight three action items that I plan to tackle, so that by the end of the month, I will have done at least 12 things to move myself closer towards my Goal.
3. Recap & Results:  experience is not the best teacher in life - rather, it is "evaluated experience".  At the end of the month, I will summarize my journey, and what I accomplished at the end of the month.