5 Must Haves for Success

You can read any success or motivational book and most will tell you that same things such as set goals, read everyday, have passion… etc. The problem is that sometimes its hard to find the time or to put what you’re learning into practice or make it a habit. Fortunately there are some great web and tech-based gadgets that can help.

1) 43Things.com: This is a social network for goal setting. It doesn’t have the nitty gritty details that goals require such as action plans, but it does allow you to make a list, set a date, and get it done. You can even post updates on your progress. Even better though is that you can have others cheering you on. You can even meet people who have similar goals. Sometimes by sharing a goal with others, you put a little extra pressure on yourself to get it done because people will be asking you about it and you don’t want to admit it wasn’t done or that you quit.

2) Consolidate email: I use Gmail to manage all but one of my email accounts. This allows me to use just one application to read, send, and organize email. Further Gmail uses tags as opposed to folders to organize email thus allowing you to give emails more than one “place” and easier to find.

3) MP3 Player: If you can afford it, spring for one that plays video, not so you can watch your favorite movies or t.v. shows (although you can if you want to), but because there are so many great video podcasts and tutorials online. If you can’t afford a video player, just get a regular one that can allow you to download podcasts and other great audio that you can use to educate and inspire you while on the go.

4) News reader: Istead of typing in the URL of every news and blog site or even using a bookmarking system, sign up for a feedreader service that will go out and grab all the latest posts from your favorite sites and have them ready for you in one place. I use Google’s reader but there are many others such as Yahoo, NewsGator and more.

5) Mastermind group or mentor: While it can be an adventure to pave your own path, if somebody has paved it before you, it can be faster to take their road instead of forging on your own. Having a mentor, coach or mastermind group can give you support, feedback, training, and more the avoid pitfalls and thereby reach your goals much faster.  You don’t even have to leave your home. With a phone, computer and internet connection, you can have access to the successful people who’ve achieved the goals you’re shooting for.

View 2 docs or screens at once

Recently I was having to modify a Word document into a new format. This required me to switch between the old document and the new one which was a hassle. Fortunately I was able to set both docs up side by side so that I could work on them simultanesouly. You can set up other screens to view side by side or one over the other very easily.

Word Documents: If you use MS Word and need to view two word docs at the same time:

1. Open both documents.
2. Click on “View”
3. Click on “View Side by Side”

To view any other combination of screens whether its a document and spreadsheet, or a document and website:

1. Open the document or application you need.
2. Highlight the two applications you want to view by holding down the CTRL button and clicking on the application tabs.
3. Right click your mouse button and select “Show windows side by side” in Vista or “Tile Horizontally” in XP. YOu can choose to “Show windows Stacked” or “Tile vertically” as well.

You can also select to have three or documents on the screen but if your computer screen is small, it may not be worth the effort as the screens will be narrow particularly if side-by-side.

Web 2.0 Balance

I really like Web 2.0. As a work-at-home mom, sitting in a quiet house can be great for productivity but lonely too. Web 2.0 gives me the camraderie as well as support, encouragement and even recognition I need. But Web 2.0 applications can do much more. They offer ways to market your business, network with others, get advice, find resources and much more.

The problem of course is that its too easy to get swept up in Web 2.0 overload and end up wasting time. Part of the problem is that so many applications are “recommended”,  others are just cool, some are designed to support others … and so on and so on until you belong to more programs than you can effectively use.

To be honest, I’m still trying to find Web 2.0 balance. Right now I belong to MySpace, Facebook, LinkedIn, WorkItMom, and Self Growth (I also have a Ryze acccount but I don’t use it and can’t seem to get it cancelled). I visit MySpace every week day to post the blog there. I don’t visit Facebook daily, but much of what I do online (blog, Twit, etc) shows up there through its feed service and FriendFeed. The other three, I don’t visit very much at all and end up feeling guilty about it. I also use Twitter to which my blog and Squidoo lens send updates. I use Del.icio.us to save sites I want to view later, but I also have ClipMarks and LaterThis accounts both of which allow me to share information that I save, but I don’t use them for that. I use them for productivity not socializing.

Even though I’m overwhelmed with Web 2.0, I’m easily enticed to check out more applications. I visit Biznik today and although I decided to pass on it for now, it does look like an interesting site. Then there is YouTube, Flickr and many more.

Here are some tips and tricks that I’m using that do seem to help in managing my Web 2.0 life:

1) Don’t overdo the social networks. Most people recommend the main three (Myspace, Facebook, LinkedIn), but if none of them fit your goals, then its a waste of time. Choose social networks that are in your niche, focus on your goals (ie networking, finding a job, etc), and have the audience you want to reach or get to know.

2) Automate what you can. FriendFeed will gather all the posts and feeds from your Web 2.0 efforts into one place. I use it on Facebook. My Facebook is updated several times a day even though I don’t go to Facebook hardly at all. (Of course, by not visiting my page I miss on what others are doing…sort of the point to social networking). I use a Twitter plug-in on my blog and Squidoo page that automatically sends a Tweet to my Twitter account. I even make it easy for people to Tweet about my blog posts with a plug-in called “Twit This”. Anytime you can make multiple posts with a single entry can save you time and keep your Web 2.0 projects fresh and current.

3) Make sure your settings are set to send you an email whenever someone does something on your network sites. If someone wants to be a friend, sent you a private message, or posted a comment, you want to know about it so you can respond to it in a timely manner.

4) Set up time each day or week to focus on your Web 2.0. Most people who blog have a schedule for posting, but not usually for when they visit their social networks to make friends and network. Its easy to forget to do it AND its easy to waste too much time doing it. So schedule it in. That way it will get done, but you’ll have a time limit.

Translate Website Content into a Different Language

The world wide web has made interacting with other cultures so much easier. Even so, many websites are in languages that I don’t speak. And I know that English isn’t the first language of many people who visit my sites. But there is help. Babel Fish from Yahoo can translate a bit of text or an entire web page for you.

If you’re on a website written in a language you don’t know, you can visit Babel Fish and type in the URL of the page you want to translate and the ‘from’ and ‘to’ language. Here is a screen shot of Better Living On the Web from English to French.

Better Living On the Web Translated into French

If you own a website and would like to make it easy for people to translate it into their native language, you can add the Babel Fish translation service to your site. You can test it using the one here at Better Living on the Web (scroll down the right side navigation to find it).

The translation may not be perfect, but hopefully it will be enough to get the meaning of the website.

Grocery Shopping Made Easier

It is possible to much of your grocery shopping online. But if you don’t live in a delivery area for one of the grocery stores that deliver, you still need to go to the market to get fresh items.

I hate grocery shopping. The very worst part is the unloading and putting the items away. But I also don’t like the actual shopping. I can’t find thing I need and almost always forget something.

Dave Cheong had a similar problem and he found a way to fix it. He created at the grocery shopping helper which is an online program that can help you organize your shopping trip by providing you with a list of all the items you buy sorted by the isles they are found in. No more back tracking or hunting. Simply take the list, mark the items you want to buy, and head straight to the store and isle.

You do need to do a little leg work before using the program by creating the list of items and visiting the store to find out what isle they are in. But once done, it could save you loads of time in the grocery store.

Check out the Grocery Shopping Helper here.