5 Great Benefits to be one of the Money Crashers Top PF Bloggers

I have just joined Top Personal Finance Blogs at Money Crashers. The site is hosted by Andrew Schrage and Gyutae Park, the author of the famous eBook, (winningtheweb.com) The Winning Way. I am very happy and excited about it and I urge other personal finance and lifestyle bloggers to join as well. I have identified 5 superb benefits to be among the top personal finance bloggers: 

1.      Be a part of the community: To be successful you have to associate with those who are successful in your niche. This is the right place to learn, share and support each other in the world of personal finance.

2.      Assess the all-round strength of your site: There are 11 variables to assess the popularity of your blog at social networking sites, the usefulness of your articles, your site authority and traffic. It is a very comprehensive list and  like a complete health check of your blog:

·         FeedBurner Subscribers: The more useful your articles are, the more subscribers you will get.

·         Twitter Followers: Followers like what you tweet about your site.

·         Klout; This site measures your influence in the social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter.

·         Facebook: How many “Likes” have you got on your Facebook page? The more the merrier.

·         Alexa Rankings: It is about incoming traffic to your site. It is an important measurement of your site’s popularity.

·         Compete Rankings: Your ranking is determined by the number of unique visitors to your site.

·         Technorati Authority: It is about the current links to your site. To rank well there must be ongoing links to your site.

·         Google PageRank This is mainly about relevant and authoritative links to your site because of the values and importance of your web documents.

·         Majestic SEO (Extback Links): It tracks the number of sites linking to your blog.

·         SEOmoz mozRank MozRank represents a link popularity score. It reflects the importance of any given web page on the Internet. They calculate this score on a logarithmic scale between 1 and 10.

·         SEMRush (Organic Search Value): This is the estimated cost of purchasing the estimated number of visitors coming from the first 20 Google search results (per month).

 

According to the latest list, the top three blogs in personal finance are

A:  Daily Finance

B:  Savings.com
C:  FatWallet

3.      Take the challenge and improve: Taking challenges in life is to move away from your comfort zone and make progress. To be included in the list of personal finance blogs is a great way to motivate yourself to work hard and be better.

4.      Build trust and authority: Recognition is accorded when your blog is accepted into the list. It is a wonderful way to build trust and authority of your site in the blogosphere.

5.      Let others know who you are: By joining the group, it is an affirmation that you are a personal finance and lifestyle blogger. Develop your niche and build your brand. 

Come and join the elite group and be a more successful personal finance blogger.

10 Top Soft Skills for Career Success

According to Wikipedia Soft skills is a sociological term relating to a person's ”EQ” (Emotional Intelligence Quotient), the cluster of personality traits, social graces, communication, language, personal habits, friendliness, and optimism that characterize relationships with other people. Soft skills complement hard skills (part of a person's IQ), which are the occupational requirements of a job and many other activities.

Your technical skills will not guarantee success in the workplace. The most important things are your attitude, how you interact with others, the way you get things done, and how you react to events. What are the most important soft skills? Check out the following:

1.       Positive mindset: Your thinking is decisive in whatever you tell your mind and eventually do it like the way your thoughts dictate. A positive mindset is more likely to get things done and achieve success because you think you can and you will. You are also more inclined to look at things optimistically.

2.       Work with your heart: Do you enjoy what you do? Are you enthusiastic about your job? Do you take responsibility for your work and proud of it? Do you care about your reputation?  Can you make and keep promises? Do you possess a learning attitude so that you will be more competent and knowledgeable?

3.       Communicate effectively: Write often so that you can write clearly, precisely, and fully.  To talk less and listen more is the way to understand others better. Develop the ability to read unspoken words as shown by their body language.  

4.       Personal effectiveness: Do you plan ahead and get organized in advance so that you can manage your time effectively? Do you continue to develop yourself and upgrade your skills? Are you working efficiently so that you can be more productive? Do you dress smartly and project a clear and clean image? Do you always wear a smile and acknowledge people you meet?

5.       Be confident: Do you like yourself and feel good about yourself? Do you sit upright, walk straight and look ahead of you? Be composed, calm, and alert when you are with people. Look at people in the eyes. Speak clearly and loud enough to be heard.

6.       Willingness to learn: Do you accept criticism with an open mind? Are you adaptable and able to accept changes? Don’t be adamant but flexible.

7.       A sense of urgency: Do you possess the drive and self-initiation to take immediate action? Do you produce timely reports and go to work and meetings on time? Are you committed to meeting deadlines without fail?

8.       Manage your emotions: Are you able to keep your personal problems to yourself and avoid the outburst of anger and rage when you are working under stress? Are you not easily provoked and able to keep your cool? 

9.       Persistence, perseverance, patience, and resilience: Success is measured in the long term. Meeting challenges, overcoming obstacles, and rising from failures are crucial to ensure success.

10.    Creative: It is about your resourcefulness in solving problems and getting solutions to get things done. It is also about seeking improvement constantly and avoiding standing still.

The rules are simple. Take your work, but never yourself, seriously. Pour in the love and whatever skill you have, and it will come out. ~Chuck Jones

7 Effective Ways to Work Productively and Grow

Without continual growth and progress, such words as improvement, achievement, and success have no meaning. ~Benjamin Franklin

Strength and growth come only through continuous effort and struggle. ~Napoleon Hill

All growth depends upon activity. There is no development physically or intellectually without effort, and effort means work. ~Calvin Coolidge


Here are  the seven ways to grow your career:

1.      Harness your technical skills: To be competent and perform well at work, you have to be good at your technical skills. Others come to you because you are able to provide solutions and get things done. You need to upgrade your skills continuously to stay on top of things.  

2.      Solve problems: Solving problems is a great way to learn and grow your career. It is something new or else it is not a problem. It promotes your resourcefulness and creativity when you don’t dodge them but confront them. The more problems you are able to overcome, the wiser you will be and the more experience you will gain.  

3.      Never stop reading and learning: Reading enlightens you and makes you more knowledgeable. Continuous learning is a way to gain new insights. To seek new information constantly is to grow and make progress.   

The purpose of learning is growth, and our minds, unlike our bodies, can continue growing as we continue to live. ~ Mortimer Adler

4.      Seek Improvement: You can’t improve when you continue to do things the same old way. Think and implement changes in the workplace is the only way to get ahead. When you do not make changes yourself, you will be forced to change or left behind.   

5.      Be more productive: Are you able to create value efficiently and effectively? Working smart is the way to go. It is not about getting busy but doing the right thing the right way at the right time.  Focus on the few major issues which are important and getting the desired results. Productivity is doing less and less and getting more and more done.  

6.      Sharpen your communication skills: The more you write, the more capable you will be in expressing yourself clearly, concisely, fully, and precisely. At the same time be a good listener and listen with your heart. Understand the body language and get to know the unspoken words.

7.      Strengthen your soft skills

: Soft skills are important for your career growth and success. Your soft skills differentiate you from others when an employer looks for someone to do an important job or to be promoted.  Are you enthusiastic and motivated at work? Do you take responsibility for what you do and proud of your work? Are you optimistic and confident? Are you open to criticism, adaptable, and willing to accept changes? Are you good at time management to get things done in an orderly and unhurried fashion and meeting deadlines? Do you react to negative events positively?

Happiness is neither virtue nor pleasure nor this thing nor that but simply growth. We are happy when we are growing. ~William Butler Yeats

Related post:

 How to Grow Your Career

10 Effective Ways to Live a Peaceful, Simple, Happy and Healthy life

The best things in life are nearest:  Breath in your nostrils, light in your eyes, flowers at your feet, duties at your hand, the path of right just before you.  Then do not grasp at the stars, but do life's plain, common work as it comes, certain that daily duties and daily bread are the sweetest things in life.  ~Robert Louis Stevenson

Everyday life can be plain and without excitement, but it is the simplicity that you get to enjoy peace of mind and happiness in a healthy way of  life:

1.      Early riser: It is peace and quiet in the morning. Get up early to enjoy the fresh air and the calmness. To bring more tranquility into your life, do a round of Tai Chi. It is a kind of meditation in motion to give you inner peace, composure, alertness, and energy.

2.      Peaceful and positive thoughts: On a brand new day, think confidently and fill your heart with love, kindness and forgiveness. When you feel good, you will incline to do good and be happy.

3.      Breakfast: Breakfast is about breaking fast after 8 hours of sleep without food. When you get up early you have plenty of time to enjoy a simple yet nutritious meal leisurely.  This is the first meal in a day to provide energy to start a new day right. 

4.      An organized life: To get organized is to plan ahead and live an orderly and simple life.  An organized life is a disciplined, balanced, responsible, and successful life. You take care of those important things in your life such as your work and your family.  When you do the right things you get peace of mind and happiness.

5.      Do less but more productive: Do what is important in your life, forget the small stuff.  Do less to be less stressful and avoid overwhelm. A simple life is unhurried and only doing a few important but productive things every day. You focus on doing the right thing, the right way at the right time.

6.      Simple healthy habits: Be clean, take a bath, and drink water throughout the day. Make it a daily habit of drinking green tea. Walk more often and drive less. Exercise the body and avoid smoking and drinking. Consume more fruits and vegetables and avoid junk food. Be wise; reduce the intake of sugar, salt, and fat. Get away from air pollution and second-hand smoke and sleep well and sufficiently.

7.      Enjoy your life now: Loosen up, just relaxed and enjoy the moment, be here and now. Do what you like and believe in what you do so that you enjoy the process of doing it. Think of nothing else but the task at hand.

8.      Simple pleasures of life: There are  31 Ways to Enjoy the Simple Pleasures Every Day.

9.      Exercise the brain: Be mentally alert.  A simple life is a rich life when you develop a daily habit of reading. Your mind is constantly working, gaining new knowledge, and learning new things.  Take up a hobby that you like and enjoy to stimulate the mind like gardening and pottery. Life may be simple, but it is rewarding, fulfilling, and satisfying.

10.  Be yourself: Live your own life, don’t compare. Live within your means, do not be jealous, envious, or unhappy about things you do not have. There is peace and contentment when you are happy with what you are and what you have.

Be content with what you have, rejoice in the way things are.  When you realize there is nothing lacking, the whole world belongs to you.  ~Lao Tzu

Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.  ~Leonardo DaVinci

Related article:

10 Tips for a Simple and Peaceful Life

10 Keys to Live a Balanced and Happy Life

Happiness is not a matter of intensity but of balance, order, rhythm, and harmony. ~Thomas Merton 

A balanced life is an effective and productive way of life. You are able to strike a balance and take care of all the important things in life. These are the 10 keys to living a balanced life:

1.      A time to work: When it is time to work, be productive, and work within a time frame. 

Do what is important, pay attention and be mindful at work. Do the best you can with what you have and be responsible for the outcome.  When you work, you work with your heart and when you stop work for the day, you leave work at work.

2.      A time to be at home:  When it is time to spend with family members do nothing else. Watch less TV and get involved in household chores. Talk to your children about school and talk to your spouse about anything and everything.

3.      A time to exercise the body: Do not neglect to allocate time to do outdoor activities such as jogging and enjoy the sunshine and fresh air. Be active physically to sustain your energy and alertness 

4.      A time to be alone and ponder: There is a time for you to be alone and take stock of your situation.  Are you going where you are going? Do you need to make changes?  Always look at things from a bright  perspective and count your blessing

5.      A time to do personal development: Spending time to do continuous learning is crucial to be in touch with technology advancements and stay ahead. Be well-informed and knowledgeable to tip the balance in your favor.

6.      A time to take care of finance: You need to spend time regularly to budget your money. An effective budget allows you to spend wisely and save for the future. It is important to save and invest for your retirement and your children’s tertiary education as early as possible.  

7.      A time to connect: It is also necessary to connect and build relationships constantly. Do what you can for others and be happy to receive support from them.  To connect is to care for each other.   

8.      A time to rest: Taking breaks while at work and spending time to loosen up and relaxed are all essential parts of a balanced life. Sleep is necessary to repair damages done to your body after a stressful day. It is also to regain your energy and vitality for a new day ahead of you.

9.      A time to plan and organize: A balanced life needs to be planned and organized in advance. You will be able to see your various activities clearly when you write things down. Happiness is getting the correct balance of your daily activities.  

10.  A positive mindset to maintain balance: Life, like the weather, is not always sunny and bright. Be brave and react positively when you face problems and setbacks. When the time is tough, be tough and keep your balance.

A balanced life is a key to an effective and successful life.

Reader’s Top 30 Favorite Evergreen Posts in 2010 (Part 1)

1. 7 Soul-Searching Questions to Ask Yourself

Living with life is a balancing act, you need to manage yourself, look after the family, get along well with others and face reality all at the same time. The following questions will search your heart so that you are aware of the things that you have done well and some of the things that are missing in your life.


2. 7 Areas of Personal Development


Personal improvement is an on-going process in life. The most important thing is to keep making improvement and getting better in the following key areas of your life:


3. 30 Productive Things You Can Do at Home in the Evening When You Stop Watching TV (First of a two-part list series)


Do you know you have not only wasted precious time watching TV but you have missed doing so many important things in life? Here is the list: 


4. 10 Positive Attitudes at the Workplace

Your success in the workplace does not just depend on your qualifications and your technical skills. It is your ability and your effort in getting things done. Most important of all it is your attitude towards your work and other people 


5. 10 Tips for a Simple and Peaceful Life


A simple and peaceful life starts with a peaceful mind. A turbulent mind disturbs your peace of mind; there is a sense of urgency in trying to get something beyond your reach. The way to live is to allow your mind to be at peace or rather let your mind be “empty” but focus and enjoy what you do at the moment. Here are 10 ways to enjoy a simple and peaceful life:


6. Factors that Affect Your Decision Making

Every day you make decisions from a small one like which dress to wear for the day to a big one like buying a house. Decisions affect your life tremendously. When you wear an appropriate dress you impress others and when you chose the right location for your house you make a good investment. Your decision making is influenced by the following factors:


7. Your body’s First Line of Defense

In any country, there is a defence system in place to combat invasion from land, sea and air. They are the air force, the army and the navy to protect a country from intrusion. Likewise, your body is also equipped with a defence mechanism to protect you and look after your health and well-being. The defence mechanism consists of the skin, eyes, nose, ears and mouth. 


8. 7 Steps to Start a New Day on the Right Note

Do you often get up on the wrong side of the bed or do you always start a new day right? Starting a new day right means you have achieved 50% of a successful day. A new day does not start at dawn. It starts the night before. Here are the ways that you can begin a new day happily with zest and confidence.


9. 22 Things Money Can and Can’t Buy (Second of a two-part series in the list)

1. Money can buy you an expensive house,

Money can’t buy you home sweet home.

2. Money can buy you a comfortable bed,

Money can’t buy you a good night’s sleep.

3. Money can buy you a fast car,

Money can’t buy you safety on the road.

10. 5 Areas 25 Points to Improve Your Life

To improve yourself totally is to manage the five areas of your existence. They are:

Physical
Mental 
Spiritual 
Intellectual
Emotional 

Related posts:

Reader’s Top 30 favorite Posts in 2009 (Part 1)

Reader’s Top 30 favorite Posts in 2009 (Part 2)

Reader’s Top 30 favorite Posts in 2009 (Part 3)

 

My 3 Top Posts in 2007 and 10 Top Posts in 2008

Easy and Effective Way to Update Your Will

Have you ever taken a good look at your will? How long ago it was written? More likely than not, most of the items mentioned in your will are no longer relevant or applicable. It is time for you to rewrite your will to replace the previous one. Here is the way to go about it:


 1. Appoint your executor and trustee: It is prudent to appoint a reliable and trusted executor and trustee. My executor and the trustee is Amanah Raya Berhad. It is a public trust company established under the Public Trust Corporation Act 1995. It has branches all over Malaysia.

 2. Provide a list of all your assets with supporting documents and the persons to be distributed to for each item:

a. Immovable assets: land and buildings
b. Movable assets: motor vehicles, savings accounts, current accounts, share trading accounts, wealth management accounts, insurance policies, PayPal account, AdSense account, websites that attract passive income, retirement accounts such as your Employee Provident Fund in Malaysia.

3. Appoint a guardian and a substitute guardian (optional) for your minor children: Most likely it is your spouse.

4. Check the draft: A draft is sent to you by email. Go through the draft carefully and identify errors to be corrected.

 5. Execute: When the draft is accepted, you will be asked to sign the will at their office. A duplicate copy of the will be given to you for your safekeeping while the original copy is kept at their head office.

 6. Items not covered: Do not worry about items not mention in the will or assets subsequently acquire, because there is a clause stating that: I further direct all my residuary estate whatsoever and wheresoever situate, movable or immovable over which I may have any power of testamentary disposition and not specifically mentioned under this will to be distributed to….


 I have recently rewritten a new will free of charge because I am a customer of Amanah Raya Berhad. It is a good move to update your will to show your care and concern for your loved ones.