Archive for December 22nd, 2009

This is part of the the book BLOGTASTIC! Growing and Making a Difference Through Blogging. You can read the table of contents and follow the book on this page:

See the table of contents for the book here: BLOGTASTIC project

Previous article: Watch what you say outside the blog

BLOGTASTIC: Blogging can be a serious addiction

I don’t have any personal experience with crack cocaine, but I can only imagine and state that blogging can be as addictive as crack.

If you don’t believe me, ask the family members of reasonably successful bloggers. Bloggers wake up early in the morning and stay up late at night typing their latest insights. Some bloggers will even interrupt dinner-table conversations and say to their families, “that would make a great blog post.” In those moments, family members might even wonder whether there’s a twelve-step program for bloggers.

Why can blogging become addictive?

There are many reasons but here are some of them:

1. Ease of Use: Blogging tools have matured so much, and the barrier to entry is very low. This makes it easy for anyone to blog.

2. Rapid Initial Growth: When you start blogging, your blog starts at zero. So every small gain seems huge. This initial experience sets the hook.

3. Recurring Successes: You start tracking every new link and mention. Each traffic milestone you achieve will enhance your love for the blog.

4. Side Benefits: A blog can influence your real job or business. There’s the possibility of a promotion, a new lead for your business, or a new speaking opportunity. Any event that comes about as a direct result of your blogging will cement your addiction to the blog.

Let me be clear. There’s a huge difference between being passionate about something and being addicted to something. You need to be careful to ensure that you are not confused about these two states. If you’re telling yourself that you’re just passionate about blogging but everyone sees you as addicted, then you probably need to look within yourself.

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Blogging Tip: Anything (even good things) in excess can cause a problem

Like everything in life, blogging must be about balance. Remember, if you spend all of your time blogging, then you will likely neglect your offline brand. It’s all about balance.

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Like anything you do in excess, blogging can lead to addiction. While you can always do more with your blog, think about what other opportunities you have neglected during your quest to dominate the blogosphere. Maybe you have a family member (spouse or child) who would like to share time with you. Maybe your business colleagues need your help on a project. Maybe friends would love to share lunch with you.

Rajesh Setty is an entrepreneur, author and speaker based in Silicon Valley. He maintains another blog called Life Beyond Code and tweets as @UpbeatNow

Tagged as: addiction, BLOGTASTIC!, Rajesh Setty

“The doctor of the future will give no medicine, but will interest his patients in the care of the human frame, in diet, and in the cause and prevention of disease.”

- Thomas Edision

Since the flu season is setting in, We need to take good care of our health and our family’s health. Good health is an opportunity to take care of things which we want to take care of like our startup. if we are sick, things don’t happen and just come to a screeching halt.

There are several ways to fight flu., but if we understand the fundamental knowledge, it is easier to find “solutions” to prevent and fight flu. we won’t be misguided by all the advice out there.

As many of you are aware, the most fundamental thing to know is  that the flu and common cold is caused by Viruses and there is no medicine for Viruses. (strange isn’t it!). These viruses continuously mutate i.e they keep changing their DNA Structure, so it is difficult to create any medicine for these types of viruses.  If there is no medicine, then the question arises on how to cure it. The answer is, Our amazing human body has the capacity to create the medicine by itself to destroy the virus if we let it do its work.

When a virus enters our body, our immune cells checks its memory  to see if it has destroyed this kind of virus before, if not, then it gets to work to find the right type of medicine, It keeps trying various combinations until it finds the right combination. When the body is actively working, it generates a lot of heat and this is what we commonly refer as “fever“. Once it finds the medicine, it starts killing the virus. After successfully killing the virus, it has to send the dead viruses out of the body. The body creates mucus and puts the destroyed viruses there and the mucus flows out of our body through the nose. This is what we call “Runny Nose“.  Anything we do to stop this natural flow, will inhibit our body to do its job. So, for example taking cold/fever medicines will inhibit the body too. So, unless it is absolutely needed, it is not recommended to take medications. In fact, if you ask the doctor, they will say “Take cold medicine only if required”, but we ignore the “if required” part and take them anyway. “if required” means we should take it only if the pain becomes unbearable.

Here are a few ways you can help your body fight the cold or flu when you see the starting symptoms.

1. Give good Rest to your digestive system: In our everyday life, When we focus our energy on the job at hand, we can complete it faster. If we have too many distracting tasks, we don’t do any of the things properly. In the same way, when a cold or flu virus enters our body, we have to let the body concentrate all its energy on eliminating the virus. If we take heavy food, then the body is “distracted” and has to perform both the digestion process and also has to prepare the medicine. The best option is to not eat any solid foods and take only liquids.

2. Take only liquids without any added sugars: Doctors advice to take plenty of liquids.  This means any liquid which is easy for digestion. Yes, this means Coffee and Tea are out. Some Juices have added sugars in them and need to be avoided as well. The best option is -  Take 200 or 250 ml warm water, mix four to five spoons of honey and Squeeze half a lime and drink it. This gives the needed energy for the body, The body needs about 800 calories per day when fasting  and taking the “warm honey water” about four to five times a day should be enough.

In the past three years, I had symptoms of a flu once and fought it back within a day by fasting with liquids.

Wishing you healthy holidays

Vijay Peduru is an entrepreneur in the bay area and is the co-founder of a bootstrapped startup. His interests are bootstrapping, leadership and spirituality.

Tagged as: cells, fever, flu, fundamental, health, immunity, knowledge, medicine, mucus, solutions, startup, thomas edison