Upgrade Reality | Personal Development » positivity

Inspiring Thousands Through The Power of Positive Thinking

Diggy - Upgrade Reality — Wed, 09 Mar 2011 07:26:52 +0000

This is an interview with Henrik Edberg – the founder and author of the 40 000+ reader blog, the Positivityblog – focused on positivity and opening up new possibilities for happiness and awesomeness through motivating and practical articles on how to improve your life.

Henrik is a huge inspiration to me personally and I’m super excited to share his answers with you today.

Could you tell us a little bit about yourself, where did you grow up and what did you think as a young child that you were going to become or what did you think you were going to do after high-school?

Well, I grew up in the south of Sweden, in city called Vaxjo. When I was a kid I loved to read and sometimes wrote and drew my own comic books. The interest in reading and writing was something that that stuck with me as I got older.

I wrote about movies and music in various online magazines when I was a teenager, created one popular website about Bruce Springsteen and one about the music group New Order about 10 years ago and by the time I had spent a few semesters with film studies at the Gothenburg University I decided that I was going to be a journalist. So I studied journalism for a few years at the University and at the end of that period I also started up The Positivity Blog as a way to express myself and write about my new big interest: personal development.

Credit: Unknown

What did you do after high-school, and in retrospect would you have made the same choice now as you did back then?

Before I went off to Gothenburg in 2001 I did my 10 months of mandatory military service and also worked as a computer salesman for about 10 months. The military service quickly became quite boring but it grew my patience which is something I have had much use of during these last few years as a blogger. So that is one experience I would have wanted to have even if I could choose again.

If I knew what I know now I probably would have done most of the rest of the things I did too (although I would have studied for a semester or two less, at times I was pretty aimless). I would have also pursued personal development earlier, I didn’t get into that until I was about 24 years old.

What led you to start Positivityblog.com and did you ever think that it was going to grow as big and successful as it is now?

No, I could never have imagined that so many people would read it each day. I was pretty surprised at the beginning that people actually started to read it, commenting and recommending it to their friends. It was fun but quite surprising to me that people seemed to like it that much. The blog was just a small and fun hobby at first but it pretty quickly got thousands of readers so I realized that this may be something I could make into my own small business instead of just a hobby.

You started Positivityblog.com back in 2006, and today it has 41000 subscribed readers. How long did it take you to make a decent income from your blog?

Well, it probably took me two years to make about 500 dollars per month. Which is kinda slow, but I had some odd and misguided idea that all I needed to do to earn more was basically to write more and better. While that was a very important part it was also important to look at this as a business and to figure out how I could make money besides from advertising (like from selling my own products and affiliate sales). Also, during the first two years the work I put in was at times pretty sporadic and unfocused so that did not exactly maximize the flow of readers or income.

Can you share some tips that were a key part of the growth of your online business/blog?

Hmm. The first tip is to write really helpful articles. The stuff people really want to know so they can improve their lives. This is not always easy, but if you do that and put in the hard work then you tend to get more and more readers. So spend a lot of time on actually taking action and on creating. Not on thinking about doing those things.

The second tip is to learn about how things work. I read a lot of the archives of problogger.net when I started so I knew how many things about blogging worked. And over the years I have learned more as new social media has popped up like Twitter and Facebook. Understanding how to use these tools makes it a lot easier to attract more readers and to grow your blog.

A third tip is to not stop at writing articles. I wrote a free 47 page e-book about happiness and anyone that subscribes to my newsletter gets the book. This has helped me gain a lot of loyal readers from all the people that pass by the blog for the first time each week. I have written two larger e-books with workbooks and audio guides and now they are my biggest income stream from the blog. Doing things like these is harder work than just writing a blog post but the rewards for all that work is also larger.

Negativity and limiting beliefs are the biggest obstacles that hold us back from living a happy life and from taking action to change the things we aren’t happy with (e.g. our job, relationship or social circle). What is your advice to overcoming negativity, where do you start?

One place to start to look the biggest influences in your life right now. Take a look at the people you socialize with, the newspapers you read, the music you listen to and the books you read. Are they supportive and positive for you? Or are they holding your back and dragging you down?

If these influences are negative then find ways to minimize your time with those influences or cut them out completely. Then replace the time you spend with those sources with more time with the positive and optimistic sources you already have in your life and new ones you can find. You can do this little by little. And you can take small steps to try other new things too. The important thing is that you get started and get some new experiences. With some new experiences and better influences your beliefs about things and your results will start to change.

What advice would you give to someone who wants to quit their 9 to 5 job and start a business of their own?

Stick with your 9-5 job and work on your business on evenings and weekends. It usually takes time – longer time than you want it to – to make enough money through your business to quit your regular job. At least I think that is the case here online. It takes a couple of years to start making a decent income.

Also, make sure that you develop a schedule and routines so you make the most of the time you can spend on your business. I and many others have wasted too much time online without having gotten that much done.

Do you recommend building an online business?

I would recommend it if you are the right person for it. There are many kinds of online businesses of course but a few things you usually have to have or develop to make this work I think are: patience and persistence, good work habits, being able to work alone and being able to make decisions and take full responsibility.

This is not easy. I quickly grew a pretty popular blog, it had almost 4000 subscribers after the first year. But I fumbled around with the business side and it took me a long time to make a good income from it all.

But it is also a lot of fun. I make all the decisions. I can write about anything I want and tens of thousands of people will read what I wrote. I can sleep in every day. I get thank you emails every day from people who have been helped through small and very large problems thanks to my blog.

I have certainly have had times when I just wanted to give up and go home. But somehow I always continued. I’m very glad I did because I really love doing this. It is a very good fit for me.

Any last words of advice or wisdom you want to leave the readers with?

That things can change for the better even if you don’t think it can right now. Back in 2004 I was pretty lost. I was overweight, I was one of the most unproductive persons you’d ever encounter, I was really shy and socially not very good at all. I hadn’t had a date in ages. My confidence was low and I was pretty pessimistic about most things.

Today things are very different. I’m in shape. I have meaningful and fun work to do. I work harder and smarter than I ever have before. I am confident in myself and my abilities. I am much more open socially and have an awesome girlfriend. And there are so many more things to explore, so many more things to do and experience in life.

So there is hope. You really can change your life in a dramatic way. And that’s a wonderful thing.

Thank you for the opportunity, Diggy! I hope your readers will get something good out this interview.

Henrik Edberg is the Author and Creator of the Positivityblog and an incredibly inspiring and remarkable guy.

The Positivity Blog is focused on positivity and opening up new possibilities for happiness and awesomeness through motivating and practical articles on how to improve your life.

Have a look at his blog and if you want to spread the word, click ‘Like‘ or ‘Tweet‘ below.

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10 Awesome Blogs To Add To Your Feed

Diggy - Upgrade Reality — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 05:26:55 +0000

It has been a while since I have shared my love for some of my favourite blogs and today I thought I would catch up. Here are ten of my favourite blogs (mostly related to self improvement) that are worth checking out and even adding to your feed readers or email subscriptions!

Viperchill

Blogger: Glen Allsopp

Viperchill is a blog about internet marketing and blogging but it is unlike any other blog in its field. It is run by Glen Allsopp (you may know him as the guy who started PluginID and grew it to over 4000 subscribers in a year). Besides the fact that I know him personally, all his posts contain incredibly useful info related to blogging and internet marketing and I use many of his hints and tips in my own blogs and projects.

Wakeup Cloud

Blogger: Henri Junttilla

The Wakeup Cloud is a fairly new but already booming blog about self improvement. I got to know Henri just a few months ago and already love his work. His articles are fantastic and he has a unique and very interesting style that incorporates many of his experiences in the internet marketing world as well as life wisdom. Watch his blog grow very big this year!

Dragos Roua

Blogger: Dragos Roua

DragosRoua.com is one of my favorite personal development sites. Dragos is a successful entrepreneur who started his blog after the successful sale of his other big project. He is a really talented writer and I think I can compliment him for his great list posts that he writes (x ways to do something). If you are looking for regular motivation the Dragos’s blog is it.

PluginID

Blogger: Bud Hennekes

PluginID was my inspiration to start my own blog Upgradereality. I have seen it grow into a successful personal development blog with currently over 6000 readers and a thriving community. Bud is a talented and wise young guy who writes really passionately about many different areas of life and improvement.

Good Life Zen

Blogger: Mary Jaksch

Mary really has a way with words and I love her articles about achieving the best and happiest life possible. The design of Good Life Zen is one that I find very pretty and appealing which just adds to the awesomeness of her content. Read her latest article to see what I mean.

Almost Fearless

Blogger: Christine Gilbert

I have been following Christine’s blog for a good few months since we became part of the same “blogging group”. Christine was tired of the corporate life and her 9-5 so she quit her job, sold her stuff and travels the world while making a living from her writing and internet marketing. I really admire her for that and she is a massive inspiration to me and many others. Her posts are full of interesting travel tips and quitting your job to take control of your life.

Change your Thoughts

Blogger: Steven Aitchinson

I only found Steven’s blog very recently but as soon as I came to his homepage and read 2 of his articles I was hooked. A beautiful design and great content are a winning combination. Steven has a long and interesting history where he overcame many difficulties in his life. Because of the fact that he never quit and kept going, he is living a really happy life and he loves to share his experience and wisdom through his articles.

Positively Present

Blogger: Dani

Dani is an interesting blogger. I don’t think that many people who read her blog know what she looks like or what her last name is. Although she is rather anonymous, her posts are always filled with positivity and enthusiasm. No preachiness or boring stuff, just fun, inspirational articles how to live a life full of positivity and happiness.

Marc and Angel

Blogger: Marc and Angel

Marc and Angel are an awesome team that have a wonderful blog about lifehacking and productivity. Their articles contain many useful tips and very interesting stories (that I love reading). I think the have a very unique style of writing and that alone is worth taking some time to read a few of their articles.

Freestyle Mind

Blogger: Oscar Del Ben

I have watched Freestyle mind grow from a tiny little blog into currently having over 500 subscribed readers. Although Oscar is Italian and not a native English-speaker, his articles are very unique and productivity-orientated with a dash of his programming skills being thrown in there every now and then. He is on track to become a big blogger within the next year

Take your time and visit some of these great blogs that I have mentioned above. They are the ones that I follow the most and really enjoy reading.

For all you bloggers and website owners out there, my friend Danny Cooper has started a mission to bring back links in posts. Everyone seems to tweet and Stumble things these days, but normal links in posts are far less common, and we want to change that.

Have a beautiful day!!

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Create your own Happiness!

Diggy - Upgrade Reality — Thu, 14 May 2009 07:17:16 +0000

Good morning:)

Did you wake up this morning with a smile on your face?
Just because you were truly excited that you are fortunate to experience another day of life?

Most people don’t, and its just another Wednesday, in another week, in another month, where every day is the same. There are so many people in the world who are not happy, who are frowning, or angry or depressed. A smile is contagious, haven’t you ever had a total stranger look at you and smile, and that totally made your day? How much effort did it cost the stranger to smile?

Being happy is so much more fun and actually takes less effort once you get into the habit of it.
Its the being sad, or angry, or depressed on unhappy that takes effort to maintain.

Do you know that happiness is just a state of being?
And did you know that happiness is totally dependent on your thoughts, and on nothing else.

Happiness is not the car you drive, not how much money you have, not how many girls you are dating or the job you have. Happiness is totally independent from all those things.
You can have totally nothing and live off minimum wage and still be incredibly happy.
In his book,’The power of now’, Eckhart Tolle describes how for two years he gave up everything he owned and pretty much lived on a park bench for that time, and he says those two years were the happiest, most troublefree times of his life.

Now I’m not saying you have to live on a park bench to be happy, but what I’m saying is don’t be unhappy due to external events. Once you realise that happiness is dependent on you, and not others, you will see that external things do not have such a hold over you anymore. You will have so much happiness, that you are able to give it to others, and share it with them, and you will notice good things start to happen. People are attracted to other people who are happy and in a good state.

What I mean by external events is placing your happiness outside of yourself.
Meaning you are placing your happiness in the hands of the unknown. Only being happy when you have a girlfriend, or only being happy if you make a lot of money on that day, or if you win the sports game, or if you don’t have a lot of work that day. But then what happens when your girlfriend breaks up with you, and you lose money, and you lose the game, and you have a pile of work. Then you become unhappy and your moods swing dependent on the day and the external events it brings.

A glass is half-empty of half-full, and you can see everything in life that way. There are two sides to everything, and in every good there is bad, and in every bad there is good. Yin and Yang, one cannot be present without the other. It is totally up to you whether you want to see the bad in things, or the good in things.

So instead of waking up tomorow morning and thinking “oh another day, I don’t feel like all the work” or something along those lines, just smile. Be happy. Be aware that your problems probably are minor compared to many people in this world, and be happy that you are breathing and allowed to experience another day in this beautiful world.

I guess acceptance plays a big part in being happy.
As a small fish there is no sense to fight the current and try and swim upstream.So many of us do that, we are unhappy with our situations, and mentally keep wishing things were different, but unless you take action, things will not change (except rare occasions).

“Gives us the serenity to accept what we cannot change, and the courage to change what we cannot accept”

I like this saying a lot, because it gives a sense of peace and purpose to life. Things that you cannot change will be things like your face or skin color, or who your parents are , or even your past. There is no sense in spending energy and effort wishing those things could change, because they will not. Accept it and you can be happy about it. Things we cannot accept but can change are things like your career, your bank balance or lifestyle, the friends that you have and the girls you want to date, the languages you want to speak or the countries we want to see. Are you not satisfied with your results in one of these areas? Then you can start your journey towards the goal you want to achieve. This is taking action so that you do not accept what you are not satisfied with, so that you can get to the point where you reach satisfaction. Notice that I use the word satisfaction instead of happiness, because even though you may not have acieved your goals yet, you can still be happy, and your can be really happy in working towards them, no matter how long that will take or how hard the struggle will be.

Take responsibility of your own happiness.
Don’t place your happiness in the hands of the unknown…YOU and YOU alone are in charge for your happiness, and I promise you, once you realise this, life becomes a lot more pleasant:)

Have a Rockin’ day
Diggy

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