Successful Blog

Here is a good place for a call to action.

  • Home
  • Community
  • About
  • Author Guidelines
  • Liz’s Book
  • Stay Tuned

Dots resolving to change

December 23, 2007 by Liz

Connecting dots with The Idea Dude

Connecting Dots logo

December for me is a great time to take stock of what I managed to achieve during this year and then look at all the things that perhaps fell through the cracks or activities I could have managed better. New Year Resolutions for me aren’t radical changes but adjustments that I remind myself to make over time.

Resolving to succeed

dotdoticon-tiny

Ben’s right about most of the resolutions we make each year. They never seem to last, fading as fast as the winter sun. Most resolutions are about ourselves and how we think we should be or could be better. I think we often look at ourselves and find the things we dislike the most. Then by uttering a few magic words wrapped in a bow called a New Year resolution, we hope they will go away. Of course they don’t.

Resolving to choose wisely

dotdoticon-tiny

Choosing resolutions that have some hope of making a making difference to us must have all of the following ingredients.

  • It must matter to us. It can’t be something copied from someone because it sounded good and altruistic.
  • It must be measurable. Anything that isn’t measurable in a tangible or meaningful has no hope of succeeding like starting a journey without knowing where it will end.
  • We must enjoy doing it. Motivation is generally fueled by the emotion that something we do makes us feel so good, we want to keep doing it.
  • The changes we make should impact those around us. Because our momentum is increased by their feedback and their well-being.

Resolving to change positively

dotdoticon-tiny

What is a resolution really but a commitment to change oneself and all around us in a positive way. Liz has the best advice about how to make positive changes stick. She’s right of course when she says, When you make a positive change that sticks, other positive things will happen too.

Resolving to be kinder to ourselves

dotdoticon-tiny

Angela reminds us to be kinder to ourselves. What a wonderful idea. We do tend to beat ourselves up for not doing something or not doing enough of other things. At the end of the day, we are all human with frailties and failings. But we are also endowed with character that helps we look forward to just being a little better than the day before.

Being kinder to ourselves makes us kinder to others too!
This is my wish for all of us.

May the dots be with you!

Vern, The Idea Dude

Click here to see more dots we connected

Filed Under: Motivation, Successful Blog Tagged With: bc, Connecting Dots, Connnecting-Dots, Liz-Strauss, the-Idea-Dude, Vernon-Lun

In the Company of Dots

December 2, 2007 by Liz

Connecting dots with The Idea Dude

Connecting Dots logo

I overheard the following conversation…

dotdoticon-tiny

Liz: Whoa! Look around us! Everyone is so . . . busy. We almost can’t see each other. What’s wrong with enjoying the folks we care about as we move through our lives?

dotdoticon-tiny

Phil: Surely, we can draw on others to help us make it great. Albert Schweitzer said…At times our own light goes out and is rekindled by a spark from another person. Each of us has cause to think with deep gratitude of those who have lighted the flame within us.

dotdoticon-tiny

Lisa: I agree. As you wander around the blogiverse you find remarkable and passionate people expressing their deepest values as an offer to you. They intrinsically link their core values to every post, every action, every gesture.

dotdoticon-tiny

Glenda: Iteraction is where the magic of blogging occurs and, sometimes, it can be quite amazing. That is why I blog the way I do.

dotdoticon-tiny

Mike: Every new interaction is a gift. People who believe in this model of universal reflection of gifts are setting themselves up to be delighted again and again! Doesn’t that sound like a good life investment strategy?

dotdoticon-tiny

Rick: If we have felt something, if we have thought something, there is at least one other person in the world who has felt or thought something similar, if not the same thing. We are their voice, as well as our own. We are never alone.

dotdoticon-tiny

Liz: A truly successful and outstanding blog also has meaning. Somehow, in some way to each individual, it makes a difference by adding something of value to being one who visits. You might call that spirit. You might call that direction or focus. I call that soul.

So what was unique about this conversation? It didn’t happen over the dinner table. It didn’t even happen in the same point in time.

Instead it was a synergy of thinking stretching across time and space.
Spanning months of blogging, the thoughts flocked here to Toronto from different states and different cities. From Chicago, Virginia, Arizona, British Columbia, California, Wisconsin.

That is way cool to be in the company of greatness!
May the dots be with you!

Vern, The Idea Dude

Click here to see more dots we connected

Filed Under: Motivation, Successful Blog Tagged With: bc, Connecting Dots, Connnecting-Dots, Liz-Strauss, the-Idea-Dude, Vernon-Lun

Dots that Dream

November 4, 2007 by Liz

Connecting dots with The Idea Dude

Connecting Dots logo

My intent this week was to talk about thinking and finding new thinkers. I asked myself what do thinkers do when they think? Sure, they assimilate a lot of new information from around them and they come up with new ideas. But how do they do that?

I believe a lot starts with a keen sense of possibility. They ask themselves what if? and why not? and in the process a new thought is born. That idea emerges from imagining, not the impossible, but the possible. Watch a child play with Lego blocks and see how things are built as they see it. No-one told them it was impossible so they did it.

To dream is to imagine our own possibilities

So what is dream but an imagination of our future sparked by our sense of possibility. Yet so often, we are stereotyped by those around us, telling us it is foolish to dream and to survive in the real world it is all about execution. But without the dream, there is no vision and without vision, how will your execution get you there?

Dreaming other people’s dreams

dotdoticon-tiny

Liz asks Why is it so hard for us to believe?We can believe that the other guy will win, but not us. He will be the President, the rock star, the artist. She will be the CEO, the actor, the international lawyer. But it never crosses our mind to aspire to that path.

Are you afraid to dream?

dotdoticon-tiny

Joel says…what if we started to dream our own dreams? You and I might change beyond all recognition.

Empowered by our imagination

dotdoticon-tiny

Jennifer asks us if we have a dream within and reminds us that Everything that was ever created by humans was first imagined. What can we imagine?

Keeping the strength to dream

dotdoticon-tiny

Terry was inspired by a line from an Elvis song. But as long as a man has the strength to dream, he can redeem his soul and fly

Need I say more?

Dream on.

May the dots be with you!

Vern, The Idea Dude

Click here to see more dots we connected

Filed Under: Motivation, Successful Blog Tagged With: bc, Connecting Dots, Connnecting-Dots, Liz-Strauss, the-Idea-Dude, Vernon-Lun

Dots that Change the World

October 28, 2007 by Liz

Connecting Dots logo

On this very blog, Liz’s open invitation is for you to join her to Change the World. We often think we have to be presidents, rich or influential to do that. We somehow believe that often we’re too ordinary or too insignificant to be agents of changes.

Consider this… if the net effect of one man donating $5 million dollars is the same as 5 million people donating a single dollar, why should we feel our donation of a dollar be worth any less in thought or deed?

We can be everyday heroes.

All it takes is an act of kindness…

Is it a coincidence that two of Liz’s call to actions are together we can change the world and be nice? I think not!

Make it personal.

dotdoticon-tiny

Mary says it’s the little things that make a difference. Perhaps, in this hustle-bustle world filled with impersonal information, it is the personal attention, the personal contact, the personal encouragement that means the most.

Make time to acknowledge and encourage.

dotdoticon-tiny

Robyn relates an inspiring story of choice and explains why …naming specifics makes a difference when you recognize brilliance in action… and ..helps people to become more of who they’re meant to be.

The best place to start is within.

dotdoticon-tiny

Bob shares with us that any change, planned or random, involves a few key elements among them questions, fear and risk.. Those questions, fear and risk often leads to procrastination. I often have to remind myself, the question is not “what if I did”, but “what if I didn’t”… There is no change without action.

We are the ones we have been waiting for.

dotdoticon-tiny

Matthew shared with us a speech from Queen Rania of Jordan. There is no better call to action for us to change the world. In a shrinking world, we cannot afford to ration our compassion. More than ever, our fates are intertwined – and our friendship must know no boundaries…we are the ones we have been waiting for

May the dots be with you!

Vern, The Idea Dude
Click here to see more dots we connected

Filed Under: Motivation, Successful Blog Tagged With: bc, Connecting Dots, Connnecting-Dots, Liz-Strauss, the-Idea-Dude, Vernon-Lun

Time and Dots

October 21, 2007 by Liz

Connecting dots with The Idea Dude

Connecting Dots logo

This week marks the 2nd birthday of Successful Blog. So this post is about one very special dot, Liz. You can always tell if something is said from heart, like a fundamental truth, it usually stands the test of time. So I went on a time travel. Two years ago as she took over successful-blog, Liz asked, What do you think I should know about you? It was her way of making space for a conversation. Today, the tagline may have changed a little, You’re only a stranger once, but the fundamental nature of Liz remains the same… her perpetual curiosity about the world and all of us who live within it.

dotdoticon-tiny

It’s no wonder, one of her all-time favorite posts would be her invitation to all of us to please take the keys. Ask her why?because the conversation in the comments is a naked education in blogging and the beauty of community. In her own inimitable way, Liz has forever changed the way we blog and the way we read and interact with blogs.

dotdoticon-tiny

Pam tells us it’s important to celebrate, just take some time to celebrate you and all the wonderful things you bring to the table. Oh, and the nice thing, celebrating does not have to cost money, it does not have to take up too much time…. I think Liz would view this celebration as a celebration not of just Liz, nor just you, nor just me but of US. We should all celebrate successful-blog because we all helped define it in some small way. We were all part of the conversation and continue to be.

dotdoticon-tiny

Gidge received the most beautiful birthday note ever. It said I just can’t wait to see what you are going to look like tomorrow, next week, next year, in 50 years. But I’m pretty sure I already know. I can’t wait to see what this blog will look like tomorrow, next week and next year. I’d bet the farm that many of you feel the same way too.

Gidge also shared a wonderful quote from a silly ole bear

If you live to be 100, I hope I live to be 100 minus 1 day, so I never have to live without you – Winnie the Pooh

May the dots be with you!

Vern, The Idea Dude

Click here to see more dots we connected

Filed Under: Motivation, Successful Blog Tagged With: bc, Connecting Dots, Liz-Strauss, the-Idea-Dude, Vernon-Lun

Wise Dots

October 14, 2007 by Liz

Connecting dots with The Idea Dude

Connecting Dots logo

It has very little to do with intelligence and everything to do with humanity…

Liz said this when she was wondering a week ago about what it meant to be wise. I thought about how I viewed others as wise. It wasn’t because they knew 1+1=2. That’s because they were smart. It was when they took my problem and helped me look at it in a different way and in so doing showed me the path that was obscured because of me. They didn’t have to have a solution already or have lived that problem before. They simply knew how to look at things a little differently and in doing so taught me more than I could learn alone. They were wise. Liz also said…

Maybe wisdom defined is unconditional love and understanding. . . .

dotdoticon-tiny

Chris talked about trust and seeking advice. Mike nailed it in his comment to Chris …to lead us either out of our current situation, or into a better one – they must first come to where we are and take our hand.

Perhaps wisdom is seeking the unknown rather than the known. . . .

dotdoticon-tiny

Phil reminds us that wise men ask great questions. The conversations I’ve had with great friends/mentors/advisors were always those where they never stopped asking me questions even though they were uncomfortable ones but always done with heart. They somehow knew that until they understood how I got to where I was and where I wanted to go, they could not help me. But in doing so, we travelled down the path together.

Wisdom comes from unexpected quarters. . . .

Mathew has been a long-time proponent for comments on blogs. He says, . . . I think the “conversation” is part of what makes blogs so powerful (even if it’s more of an argument!) . . . Just as no meal is complete without dessert, no blog entry should be read without the accompanying comments. They add dimension, flavor and dare I say, wisdom.

Wisdom is accumulated over time. . . .

dotdoticon-tiny

Jules said it best when she reminisced on when we believed we could fly and we grow wiser over the years. I don’t remember changing, it must have happened when I was asleep.

Since Liz inspired this post, it’s fitting she has the last words. . . .

We can change the world — just like that!

May the dots be with you!

Vern, The Idea Dude

Click here to see more dots we connected

Filed Under: Motivation, Successful Blog Tagged With: bc, Connecting Dots, Liz-Strauss, the-Idea-Dude, Vernon-Lun

  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • Next Page »

Recently Updated Posts

How to Become a Better Storyteller

SEO and Content Marketing

How to Use Both Content Marketing and SEO to Amplify Your Blog

9 Practical Work-at-Home Ideas For Moms

How to Monetize Your Hobby

How To Get Paid For Sharing Your Travel Stories

7 reasons why visitors leave websites for ever



From Liz Strauss & GeniusShared Press

  • What IS an SOB?!
  • SOB A-Z Directory
  • Letting Liz Be

© 2025 ME Strauss & GeniusShared