I‘ve been doing some reading recently on the idea of self induced suffering.
I’m not talking about death or dying or extreme sickness.
I’m NOT talking about global issues like starvation, genocide or war either. I’m simply talking about suffering on a personal level.
Our own melodramatic dance with pomp, circumstance – grace, grit and greed and all of that fun stuff that keeps the infinte wheel of Samsara and Silliness spinning long enough for us each to get old, look back and know better.
- I of course have plenty of my own. I’m suffering in my own unique and self created ways – spending most of my days glued in front of my screen, always planning for tommorow, rarely truly enjoying the present moment and all of that happy and fun Eckhart Tolle sort of bestselling bullshit.
- But – I think today, I really recognized what suffering is. How bad it could really get. And to me, it looks like AJ Hammer.
- After 3 nights of having Showbiz Tonight quietly on in the background while doing work, it occured to me that I truly can’t imagine a worse job in the world than having to talk in hushed and melodramatic tones about the Jonas Brothers latest news, how Heather Locklear is doing after rehab, or what Lindsey Lohan’s new nose ring REALLY signifies about her relationship with Samantha Ronson.
- In my view, and I’m just not sure how to say this right, but if I could possibly care less I think I’d be getting somewhere into the comatose or catanonic state, and I’d prefer not to think of myself like that.
-But it didn’t really hit me until a few minutes ago, how much AJ must be suffering. Only after watching him do a 5 minute expose on Oprah’s apocolyptic admission that she is officially over 200 pounds now, complete with lots of special guest experts, lifestyle coaches for chubby people, and other peanut gallery conversation, did it occur to me how bad life must really be for AJ.
- I mean – he’s a good looking dude, a smart guy, and has to have a fair amount of career options, right? This one ain’t the right choice, my brother…..Of that I’m certain.
-I’ll also add that I can call AJ my brother with confidence, as his CNN bio reflects we are members and alumni of the same college fraternity, which means my opinion should count for something. Plus, I’m going to be honest – as a Jewish guy myself – I must say it troubles me to learn that his REAL name is AJ Goldberg, and he changed it for showbiz purposes to HAMMER. First of all – I’m not a big fan of changing what is obviously a Jewish sounding name for show biz reasons (even though it worked well for Bob Dylan and all) but if you’re GOING to do it, Hammer?
- That’s like me changing my last name to Asskicker or Cyclone or Canofasswhup or something.
I think AJ Goldberg has a much better ring to it, and doesn’t run the risk of sounding like he’s spent one day too many in a WWF chat forum.
– Anyway AJ – we’re all suffering along with you, so don’t worry too much about it. I had bigger plans myself years ago, so I DO understand. Just lighten up a bit on the gravitas and global import of Oprah’s weight issues, would you? (no pun intended..:-) I know Oprah’s getting a little meaty for the holidays, but the sun will rise again tommorow, I promise.
Great post man.
I may only be a few years into the “real world” but I already see WAY too many people in jobs and living lives that they hate.
Maybe its just my “young”, naive outlook, but I think we were put here for much more than chasing money for our entire lives while living in a mediocre world. Its about building something of quality and substance which you can truly enjoy.
It’s about achieving your dreams, not living a constant nightmare – again, probably a VERY naive outlook by a “kid” =)
I see way too many of my friends heading down “the path most traveled” and it breaks my heart.
By the way, I may have found one or two of your pen names man. I stumbled upon them more than anything, but I am going to keep them COMPLETELY to myself out of respect for your desire to have them remain anonymous.
Just want to be completely honest with you, in case you thought I was sneaking around!
Hey Shawn -
Thanks! And I agree with the above, as well..:-)
Don’t worry about the pen names – it’s really NOT a big deal – if it’s good enough for AJ, it’s good enough for me..;-)
(although we use more than 10 – and most of the ones associated/linking to sites registed to me are *not* written by me….especially the “sexier” markets)
If you have any specific questions as you mentioned last week – remember to submit them in that email you should have received from the other list..:-)
Okay, sounds awesome!
I am just trying to get through studying for a couple finals and then I am going to get some more articles written and such.
I am sure I will be able to think of some questions to submit (considering I always have tons for you here!)
All the best =)
Hey man,
Have you heard anything about Traffic Kahuna?
I’ve been hearing it’s really good for getting more traffic to articles, but its pretty expensive.
Just wondering if you’ve heard of it!
No – I’m really not familiar with it. I have no idea of course what it does, other than, at cursory glance ( It’s sold out – wink, wink..;-)
it looks to be an autopilot system of leveraging directories, social sites and maybe related topical authority sites as a way to build incoming links – which – is always a good idea of course.
But – it’s certainly not neccessary to buy a piece of automation software for that – and I would rather build my own networks using my own system to be perfectly honest. – I know Jason Potash has a good reputation in article marketing for years - so no disrespect intended – but you can build out a series of satellite feeder blogs, squidoo lenses, hub pages and social networking profile pages, (and too many other to list here) all pointing to the same primary target pages on your own – read Michael Cambells revenge of the mini net published years ago – the same basic theology still works well today for sure – I think though, as a rule, the LESS automated your links are, the better off you will be.
The best way of getting GREAT incoming links remains publishing GREAT on site content that other people want to link to naturally. In my view – the other solutions are simply shortcuts that invariably run their course in lieu of simply working on the former – which will never get old.
Thanks for your opinion!
I just wanted to see if you were very familiar with it or not. Your strategies and advice have made a WORLD of difference for me (thanks again, by the way), so I was only going to look into it further if it was something you knew about, and recommended.
To be honest, things are working great for me right now.
I am able to get a TON of traffic from my articles, and my lists are growing larger everyday. Once I learn how to properly monetize my lists, I will have my income goals achieved.
That’s just the next step on my journey. Happy to say I am getting closer though! =)
Good to hear!
Just keep building your list – even if you’re making nothing right now – there is no other approach that will make you money faster AND long term to boot than building – (and nurturing) a loyal list of readers.
(and one of the reasons I wish I hadn’t done so many re-directs when I first got started – easy money – but in some of my markets – I could have ASTRONOMICAL lists if I wasn’t greedy for quick cash from the get go..:-)
Yeah man, I am definitely happy that I am creating a list.
In my view (may not be totally correct), all I need to do is build relationships with as many people on my list as possible (through personal emails if they ask for help and stuff like that) while providing quality content to them.
After that, I think it will just come down to a numbers game when I do a promotion for a product.
After Monday I have entire month off from university, so I am going to work day and night to reach my income goals by the time I have to go back.
Considering all of the rapid success I’m having, I think my income goal is guaranteed for this target date – assuming I continue to put forth this same effort (which I will) =)
Hi Ian!
I’ve been lurking on your site for a few months and love your writing style! You should be writing for a living instead of doing this work. YUCK – I hate most of the marketing mails we get, butyours I look forward to!
My Husband and I are starting a home based business in January selling some crafts and high end specialty items that we create in our spare time. Do you think these approaches your talk about would work? Would you care to help?
Merry Christmas!
KT