Reinvent Yourself: LISTEN TO A PODCAST

I was a guest on this podcast! Come listen! You like Star Wars, don't you?

I drive for a living. So I spend a lot of time alone in vehicles. One of the benefits of working alone is that you can listen to whatever you want. Top-40. Talk. Sports. Politics. Satellite radio. 

And podcasts.

I've been a fan of podcasts for years, but most people still don't know what they are. I like to think of them as Internet radio shows. 

The vast majority of podcast are free, and they cover a variety of topics. Have you ever seen the many racks of magazines and periodicals at Barnes & Noble. There's a publication for nearly any subject under the sun. This is the same with podcasts. There's a show for nearly any taste & any interest.

Some of my favorite podcasts are (in no special order):

Smart Passive Income - 

Teaches you about starting your own business. (SPI has inspired me in so many ways.)

Ask Pat -

The founder of Smart Passive Income, Pat Flynn, answers questions from his audience.

Niche Pursuits -

A very informative"Starting Your Own Internet Business" podcast.

The Dave Ramsey Show -

A tough love approach to making better financial decisions. (Dave's show is also responsible for my getting out of debt.)

The Dan Patrick Show -

The only sports show I listen to now. A great balance of sports information & entertainment.

The ProBlogger Podcast -

Darren Rowse is a gentle, informative Aussie, who guides you to building a better blog. 

(I haven't applied his excellent tips to my blog yet - so don't blame him for this mess!)  ;)

Never Not Funny -

Hosted by Jimmy Pardo & Matt Belknap, NNF is one of the funniest shows I've ever heard.

Improv 4 Humans -

Matt Besser leads a cast of rotating comedians as they improvise scenes out of thin air. It's like comedy-jazz. All improv. No scripts. (I envy their comedic abilities; I want to be like them.)

The Confabulated Podcast -

A show about pretty much anything, from crazy scientific facts to strange jobs, from adult beverages & food to the host (Grant) & his wife (Kristi) having deep conversations about life, career & babymaking. (I've been a guest on this show a few times!)

The GuestRoom Podcast -

A show about music, pop culture, movies, drums & Star Trek. Star Wars too. Larry, the host, has a rotating cast of guests, and they have a good time discussing/arguing about all such topics. (I've been a guest on this show also!)

So - what do YOU want to learn about? 

Or maybe you just want a laugh?

Click any of the links above to get started!  or, 

Try Google and search: "funny podcast", "money podcast", "sports podcast" etc.  

or, try iTunes & search for podcasts there. 

You can stream them to your devices and/or download them for later.

If you're anything like me, you may find that listening is a better way to absorb information than reading. (As I get older, I don't enjoy reading like I used to. Not sure why. But I can listen to an entire book or podcast multiple times.) 

Podcasts have changed my life. 

I admit, I haven't put into practice everything they've taught me - and that isn't their fault. I have the knowledge and the information. I've learned a ton. (And laughed a ton.) And I hope to start utilizing this knowledge on a deeper level in 2016. 

Maybe you can too!

Start listening to podcasts!

Here's to a great new year!

GTO

Reinvent Yourself: Look at Life with a New Perspective

GTO's Thoughts:

Ran across a series of illustrations by artist John Holcroft (via Wired Magazine (Facebook) via Good).

Holcroft takes mundane nuances of modern life and juxtaposes them against the larger societal message.

Holcroft has his detractors (many on Facebook said his work was too focused on the negatives in life, others said his work was childish or too "grumpy old man"-ish), but these illustrations spoke to me & felt like a good fit for my blog's theme of making small, positive changes in one's life.

Especially this one:  --------------------------------------->

I WANT A HAPPINESS KIT!

Friendship, laughter, ethnic cuisines, personal freedom, quiet moments, pinball - these are just some of the things that would make up my Happiness Kit.

What would be in yours?

Check out John Holcroft's work here.

Peace out,
GTO

Reinvent Yourself: Learn About Favicons & Free Graphics Sites, Pablo & Canva.

GTO's Thoughts:

I've been exploring ways to make my blog more interesting, visually.

So I've downloaded some free tools from SumoMe & they've immediately added some eye-catching functionality to this old dinosaur of a blogspot blog. I'm very happy with the results.

I've also been exploring free graphic-creation websites. Two of my favorites are Pablo and Canva.

Both have been instrumental in helping me define my brand. Not that I have much of a "brand" at this point. But working on it.

While tinkering around in my blog, I discovered an area where I could upload a favicon.

A favicon is a tiny graphic that loads into the URL of a webpage. Some people call them website icons or bookmark icons (you'll find out why below), and they can look very professional and quite snazzy.

Here's an example:





Notice the blue "F" logo there? That's Facebook's favicon.

Here's another:





Notice the little sumo wrestler dude? That's AppSumo's favicon.

When you save bookmarks to your favorites list, you'll see favicons there also. (Hence the name "bookmark icon".)

They're a really nice way to let your readers know that they're in the right place. They're like your little sign post on the web: "This is where '25 Ways to Reinvent Yourself' lives!"

I finally created my own favicon & it was very fast & easy (enlarged to show texture).

created with canva

You should also see it in the URL of your web browser above. What do you think?

If you want to create your own favicon for Blogger (or any other site), sign into Canva.com, choose a template (I like using the Instagram template for nice, square-shaped graphics), choose a layout, add some text, and click "Download".

Can't get much easier.

If you have a Blogger blog (like me) you know that Blogger limits the size of your favicon to 100kbs. So what you'll have to do (what I did) is import your Canva graphic into a photo-editing program, reduce its size until it is below 100kb (obviously), and save it with a new name (to prevent writing over the original).

Then in your Blogger blog, go to Design/Layout/Favicon/Edit and upload your favicon there. (Other platforms allow you to update your favicon as well in a very similar fashion.) (I'll be learning WordPress next week, so expect an update on this post.)

Even if you don't want to make a favicon, definitely explore making some nice graphics for your blog, Facebook page or Instagram account. Attractive photos with inspiring quotes and sayings are easily shared - and a great way to spread a bit of sunshine or inspiration. You can also share a laugh, or even make announcements. Sky's the limit.

So explore Pablo, Canva and the tools at SumoMe. They're free! (I may not have mentioned that.) :)

See ya soon.  GTO

Reinvent Yourself: Bob Goff quote

made with buffer.com/pablo - #madebypablo

Reinvent Yourself: Try Pablo

Created with http://www.buffer.com/pablo - great tool!

Here's a graphic I wanted to share. (Looks pretty good, right?)

I'm blowing the dust off the blog, and wanted to try a few free graphic resources.

This graphic was created with Pablo (#madebypablo).

Use Pablo to spruce up your blog, Facebook page, Twitter account - anywhere!

(It especially looks good on Facebook! - the place where photos usually go to DIE!)

Feel free to share the love. :)

GTO

Reinvent Yourself: FLOSS IN THE SHOWER

GTO'S Thoughts:

Yeah, I do this! What of it?!

Yeah, I admit it... 

I floss in the shower. 

Not all the time. 

(Just most of the time.)

I have 3 reasons for doing this:

(1) At the bathroom sink, the tiny container of floss gets lost amongst the bottles of pain relievers, toothbrushes, toothpastes, combs, hairsprays, colognes, handsoaps, razors, hand lotions, medicated powders, etc.

If I don't see it, I won't use it.

But in the shower, I actually see the tiny container of floss. 

It's sitting there by itself, right on that handy little shelf that's supposed to hold a bar of soap. 

(The soap always slips off! - but that little container of floss stays right where I can see it.)

And if I can see it, I have a better chance of using it. Score!

(2) Flossing in the shower protects your mirror -- from FLYING DEBRIS.

I pride myself on not flinging food particles out of my mouth at high rates of speed. 

But you do! (Admit it.) I'm just trying to save you from yourself here! okay? 

Also, cleaning a food-spattered mirror is kinda disgusting if you think about it.

Yet - getting food from our teeth isn't the main point of flossing... 

We floss. To remove plaque. And to strengthen our gums. 

(And for some to fling food from their teeth at high rates of speed!) (Not naming names. Y-O-U.)

 

If your gums bleed after flossing, it's because you attacked them like a maniac with that razor-sharp floss! Try using dental tape instead! - like my buddy Bob prefers. It's more gentle.

Another reason our gums bleed is because they're not healthy. The more you floss, the stronger your gums become and the less they'll bleed. Win!

And finally, (3) - When you floss in your tub, the shower head offers an immediate, powerful cleansing rinse. It takes some getting used to [see: avoid drowning in the shower] - but once you get the hang of it, the rinsing action of the shower really helps your mouth feel clean. 

Sure, you could use a Waterpik. I almost bought one. My dentist, Dr Spatz, said water flossers don't do a good-enough job of removing plaque. (My buddy, Bob, agrees.) Doctor said there is no substitute for flossing.

My dental hygienist told me that flossing is actually more important than brushing. A lot of research backs this up. Dentists don't tell us this because if they do, we'll stop brushing and flossing!) (Admit it!)

Flossing is important. We all need to do it more often. We know this.

(Yes, we still need to brush too.)

When you floss and brush on a regular basis it makes having a laugh an even more enjoyable experience!

SO LET'S DO THIS, PEOPLE! 

FLOSS! FLOSS! FLOSS!

Thanks for listening.

Sincerely, GTO

Reinvent Yourself: FIND A SHORTCUT

Subtitled: But Stay In the Game

GTO's Thoughts:

I was having a pretty rough night.

The weather in Pennsylvana has not been conducive to safe driving. A serious issue for me since I drive for a living.

Suffice it to say, everything that could've gone wrong *did* go wrong.

Until I discovered...

A SHORTCUT!

I've been doing my route for over a year. I was absolutely certain that I was running it as efficiently as possible. I was wrong.

Tonight I found out that the first two east-bound exits on the Pennsylvania Turnpike (from the Ohio border to the Cranberry exit) are FREE!

After a year of being locked in my own mindset, of being stuck in what I thought was the ONLY way to get from here-to-there, I found a SHORTCUT.

Utilizing the PA Turnpike's 65mph speed limit (& reliably safe road conditions) may shave 10-15 minutes off my normal running time(!).

And now I ask:

Are you locked in a particular way of thinking?

Are you absolutely sure you're doing something as well as you could be?

Are you convinced there's no way to make life better?!

Perhaps you're overlooking a shortcut that will help!

It could be as simple as:

Chilling your beverage in record time.

But - it doesn't have to be a physical shortcut!

It could even be as important as:

Asking someone for help.

If you think life is hard, you're not alone.

I think life is hard. Much harder than I was expecting.

My best friends think life is hard.

(So, trust me, you're not alone.)

Find a shortcut. It may help you get through the day.

But also - keep looking for little ways to make life better, one step at a time, one day at a time.

(Wow. This is not the way I was expecting this blog post to go. But there you are.)

These are my thoughts for today.

I'd like to hear your thoughts.

Thanks a lot.  GTO