Things are starting to fly fast and furious here at the Today is that Day blog, and I couldn't be happier!

The reach of this blog has expanded by leaps and bounds in recent months, and that is just the beginning. There are several on-going projects, as well as some new things that are coming up that will continue to make this blog a great community where everyone gets to have fun, learn, and be empowered!

Here is a brief (although not all-encompassing) list of the latest news:

1) Although I am still getting frequent new participants in the Simply Successful Secrets project, I am going to go ahead and put a cap on that project so that I can finalize the results, share them with everyone, and get the Link Love out to the over 150 people who participated!

I think I did a good job of scouring the 'net and grabbing the URL's of everyone who came on board. For most of you, I also got the chance to drop a comment on your site, although if I haven't done that yet, rest assured that I will soon.

I am going to call the ball on Simply Successful Secrets and say that everyone who wants to participate needs to do so by May 10, 2007. That will give me 5 days to gather and analyze all of the data, put together the master list of Success Secrets, and also compose a post that includes that list, as well as links to the websites of everyone who participated.

To see if I have your entry, you can click right here to download the present list of URL's I have of people who came on board. That is a simple text file that anyone with a computer can open. Search it for your domain or URL (Ctrl +F for Windows users) and make sure that I have your entry.

If your URL is not in that list, please send me an email and let me know the URL of your list of Success Secrets. I want to make sure that everyone gets credit for participating in such a great project!

2) For my fellow search engine optimization junkies and Internet technofiles, you will all be well aware that Google is doing a Page Rank update right now.

Although it has yet to hit all of the data centers (44 out of 70 or so at last count), I am proud to announce that the Today is that Day blog now has a Google Page Rank of 4!

What that means in laymen's terms is that this blog will continue to grow in traffic as well as community members, which means more interaction for everyone, more points of view, and more Link Love to go around!

p.s. - 3 months ago this site was a PR 2, so to double your Page Rank in 3 months is worth celebrating!

3) As I announced about a week ago, I have launched a new blog that is geared specifically towards teaching people about health, fitness, weight loss, etc.

In order to commemorate (how often do you get to use THAT in a sentence?) the launch of that site, I have decided to put together a very cool new health and fitness product. 

The product won't "officially" launch until May 15th, but if you are interested in cleaning up your health a bit or dropping a few pounds, you can head over to Fitness Destinations and take a gander at the post that has all of the details, or just cruise on over to the Today is that Day product page.

4) The details are not written in stone yet, but as of this writing, the Today is that Day blog has been extended an official invitation to participate in a "Book Blog Tour" for what looks to be a very cool book about living an inspired life.

Assuming that the scheduling goes as expected, I will be given a copy of the book in order to read it, quiz the author about the contents, and then present a very informed book review to all of you.

I get good vibes from the people who have approached me about this, so I think the book will be worth at least checking out my review, if not actually picking it up for yourself.

5) And finally, in the midst of all of this wonderfullness (and no, that is not a word, but I don't care!) I am also going to take a few well-deserved days off.

May 3rd of this year is a very special date for me because it is the 4th anniversary of the day my lovely wife Amy and I got married, and - in a very cool twist of fate - we are leaving town to attend the wedding of the minister who performed our ceremony! No, he is not a man of the cloth, but he is an ordained minister in the State of Florida, so he legally performed our ceremony 4 years ago.

His name is Michael and he is one my best friends in all the world. He is marrying his sweetheart of many years, Ms. Lisa, and we are heading over to Panama City, FL to attend the festivities during the few days before the wedding, and I am also standing up in the ceremony itself.

I couldn't be happier for my friend and Ms. Lisa, and I'm also happy to say that my wife and I have made it through 4 years of marriage and we're both still here to speak of it! :)

I will have very limited Internet access during our 4-day trip, so I am setting up several blog posts in advance to go out automatically (I love WordPress!). However, comment moderation and responding to email will both probably be slower than normal (is that even possible?), so I'll thank you in advance for your patience.

Well, I think that about wraps it up for now. My spirits are high as both my personal and my professional life are cruising along in a wonderful manner, and I would like to thank each and every one of you for playing your part in that process!

p.s. - If you have ever doubted whether or not I am as much of a goofball as I sometimes seem to be in my writing, check out this picture taken after my wedding ceremony 4 years ago. If you've ever seen 'The Matrix' you'll recognize the pose!

That's my wife and I in the middle, and Michael, the Groom-to-Be for this weekend's upcoming nuptials on the far right. I'm just glad that during HIS ceremony, all I have to do is stand there and look dashing in a tuxedo…. :)

Okay, so that headline was a little over the top - but you're here reading now, so why not make the best of it!

Apparently there is another group writing project going around the blogosphere that actually has some value, and after having been tagged by the MomGadget herself, as well as by Dawud at HealthyWebDesign, I thought it was worth my time and yours, so I've agreed to share some insight!

The idea was originally started by Ben at the Instigator Blog and he called it The Ultimate Guide to Productivity Group Writing Project. As good a name for a series about getting things done if ever there was one, and the concept is pretty basic.

Just list your best productivity habits, highlight your most effective one if you want to, and link back to Ben's site, as well as to the people who tagged you for the project. In fact, if you email Ben after putting up your post, he'll pop over 2 links back to your site. YAY - double the fun!

So, without further discussion, here we go with

In a word (or a phrase, in this case), I keep my eyes on the prize!

There are more websites and blog posts dedicated to productivity systems and concepts than you can shake a stick at. I regularly read Lifehack.org, The Ririan Project, and similar sites, however, in truth, I rarely implement most of those systems simply because I don't believe that life should be systematized like that.

And yes, apparently systematized is a real word because my spell checker did not underline it in red just now when I typed it! :)

However, despite my "anti-systems" mentality, I am ALL about successful habits, and I believe that those habits start - and end - with remembering on a constant basis - why you are doing whatever it is that you are doing.

By keeping your eyes on the prize, you automatically stay focused on the "big picture" which keeps you from straying too far off the path of productivity. 

For example, in my case, my long-term goal is complete time and financial freedom so that I can spend a ridiculous amount of time visiting my friends and family members. In order to accomplish that goal, I want to build up my Internet business to the point where most of my income is residual, and does not require me to work 12-hour days.

If I start to get off-track during the day by wanting to read less-than productive blogs or websites (even though they are fun!), or if I start to realize that I am not fully focused on my writing or my marketing efforts, all I have to do is remember that in order to accomplish my long-term goal, I have to work my butt off now so that I can play later.

Doing so always yanks me right back onto the path of productivity and focus!

So, keeping my eyes on the prize is the most important productivity secret that I have, although I do also have a close runner-up for 2nd place, and that is:

I always do the mission-critical tasks first!

My primary job is to write content - period. Yes, being a professional blogger also entails many marketing efforts such as reading and commenting on other people's blogs, participating in community sites like MyBlogLog, Stumbleupon, Digg, and message boards, but Mission Task #1 every day is the writing.

Marketing does very little good if you are sending people to a site that has nothing for them when they get there!

So, my second most important productivity secret is to always do the most important things first.

Third, although I am not a big fan of multi-tasking, my personal computer and Internet set up at home is not as fast as I would like it to be, so I fill in potentially wasted time by doing "quick tasks" while waiting for web pages to load, large files to download, etc.

I keep my Google RSS reader open at all times in a Firefox Tab, and whenever I have 5 seconds to kill, I will pop over to that tab and skim a headline or two to see if I need to give that blog post more of my time later on.

When you subscribe to several hundred blogs like I do, skimming is the only way to even remotely stay up to date!

And finally, my last productivity secret is that I do work in "task blocks". Several people have recommended the use of time blocks, which I also think is a good idea, but I have modified that concept to be what I call "task blocks".

Since I am the most productive whenever I am 100% focused on any given task, I break down my entire day into task blocks. When I am working on any particular task block, that is ALL I am working on.

I can border on being supernaturally productive whenever I truly put my mind to something, so by doing my work in task blocks, I knock out the most possible amount of work in any given amount of time.

I do not limit the amount of time that I work on any task block because I feel that would stifle my creativity or my level of genuine interest in whatever I am doing. Rather than giving myself a time limit, I just refer back to my second productivity secret - doing mission-critical tasks first - and I simply prioritize which tasks are worthy of me spending my time on.

There are many potential things that a professional blogger needs to focus on, but here are the things that stand out the most in any given "work" day for me:

• Writing (and research, as needed)
• Reading & Commenting (done together)
• Email & Comment moderation
• Blog technical work (coding, graphics, advertisers, pulling my hair out)
• Personal time (exercise, meditation/nap, food breaks, etc.)
• Social Networking (Digg, Stumbleupon, message boards, etc.) 

So, there you have it! Being the goal-oriented person that I am, I follow this pattern 5 solid days each week, most Saturdays, and also on Sunday when I don't have actual social or family plans.

Does that make me a productivity junkie, a workaholic, or just a slightly insane person? Maybe.

However, when all is said and done I can:

• Visit my friend Gayla way out in the (sticks?)
• Spend a week in Key West with Andrea
• Camp out in Panama City with Michael and Lisa
• See the back hills of Texas with Craiger
• Get back to my roots in New York, and
• Honor my legacy in the Pacific Northwest

- all without affecting my paycheck - we'll see who is crazy then, won't we??? ;)~

OH - I almost forgot. TAG - you're it! Everyone benefits from learning new and exciting (or insane) ways to be productive, so c'mon and share your ideas!

If you are reading this, you may consider yourself officially tagged to participate. Be sure to show the link love back to Ben, include a link back to this post as your inspiration, and then share your own productivity secrets with your readers.

C'mon - ya know you wanna!

This is Volume 12 of the Self Improvement and Law of Attraction Link Love series.

This series will be published weekly and will be comprised of links to quality blog posts that have proven to be extraordinary in their ability to assist, inform, or empower the reader. Enjoy!

1) Intensive Care for the Nurturer's Soul - In the very appropriate context of "keeping it simple," Hueina Su brings on guest blogger Kevin Gianni who teaches us the 10 Commandments of the Best Exercise and Weight Loss Programs.

2) LifeHack - Adrian Savage has a great post called Has Your Fire Burned Low? which includes some great tips on bringing our desires back to a roaring flame, as well as a great bit at the end of the post that you don't want to miss about what happens with fire.

3) Abundance Journal - Still having trouble deciding if the whole Law of Attraction thing works? Belle's great post "It's Not Working!" does a very effective job of addressing the common pitfalls that people experience, and what to do about them.

4) Optimist Lab - Cardin Routh has an incredible post called Keeping Your Precious Things Precious. She discusses how our feelings always tell us if we are on the right track or not, and also how we can achieve maximum success by listening to our own inner voice, rather than what other people tell us. Great wisdom!

5) Life Optimizer - Having trouble getting the job done? Donald Latumahina's post What is the Key to Productivity? brings up the very real fact that many of us are too focused on things that are not mission critical - thus causing us to not always accomplish the mission!

6) Inspiring and Empowering Lives - Do you find yourself thinking that the grass is always greener on the other side? Take a peek at Jacklyn's post Why Is It Important To Improve Your Self? and follow her great advice to stop saying, "If only…"

7) Coffee2Code - Not a personal development site, but if you use WordPress for your blog, make sure to grab the Customizable Post Listings plug-in. See that section down below that says "Random Great Posts from the Past"? That is the Customizable Post Listings plug-in in action!

 Blogs that have recently featured Today is that Day

MUCH gratitude to all of the following bloggers who shared the Link Love by telling others about posts here at Today is that Day!

Christy's Coffee Break - I am truly grateful to Christy for picking Today is that Day for this edition of her Best of the Blogs positive blog review series. You rock, Christy!

Something Good - Lorna referenced the Today is that Day blog in a GREAT post that she put together called Creating and Using Affirmations. Awesome stuff, Lorna - and thanks!

Debra Moorehead - In her post Your Magic Wand, Debra packs a lot of information into a small space, including a list of motivational, educational, and inspirational sites that includes the Today is that Day blog. Thanks, Debra!

Abundance Tips - The web links section of the Abundance Tips site is a great (and growing) list of powerful places to visit on the web, and they were kind enough to list Today is that Day among the other click-worthy entries. Thanks a bunch for the Link Love as well as the great format of the list! 

Live the Power - Karen has put together a very cool feature called Joy Links, and she referenced the recent Today is that Day post about affirmations. Ironically, I also mentioned her site in that post. Reciprocation of reciprocation? I love the blogosphere! Thanks a million, Karen! Love the Joy Links concept!  

Blog Carnivals that have recently included Today is that Day posts:

Personal Development Carnivals - The Urban Monk showed the post 'The Agony of Victory: Personal Development Breaking Point', and Balanced Life Center included 'Personal Development Roadblock: Are you Specializing too Soon?'.

Law of Attraction Carnival - Edward at Evolving Times put out another great edition, and he featured the Today is that Day post 'The Death of the Law of Attraction'.

Carnival of Powerful Living - Another information-packed edition hosted over at Verve Coaching which featured the post 'You're about to get hit.'.

Positive Mindset and Wealth Creation - The Women Internet Marketers site put together a huge list of posts about staying positive, making money, and achieving success! The Today is that Day post 'No Rocket Science Required: Self Improvement Starts Now!' was piled in with the rest of the quality knowledge included in that blog carnival.

That's it for this week, and if that list doesn't keep you busy learning and growing, then I don't know what will! Thanks as always to the many bloggers who contributed their time, knowledge, and their generosity!

Insert Your Mental Reprogramming System of Choice Here: Affirmations, Visualization, Hypnosis, Meditation, Self-talk, Brain-wave Synchronization, and on and on the list goes…

There are so many ways to reprogram your mind these days that I'm beginning to wonder if we're all just running around in a brain-wash induced state of self-imposed denial.

OUCH! That came out a bit more harshly than I had intended! However, in truth, there is a slight grain of irritation here, because, much like the Law of Attraction, there is so much confusion about how to use some of these tools that their meaning is starting to get lost in the shuffle. This post is my attempt at setting the record straight on one of the most popular systems: Affirmations.

To cut right to the heart of the matter, the question on the table is "Do affirmations work"? The answer to the question is "Yes, if your affirmations really work". Confused yet? Allow me to clear the fog a bit.

As Karen Lynch points out in her post "Words," the end result that you are after with an affirmation is a feeling. That's it. That's all you get.

You can't manifest a new house or a new car with affirmations. You can't bring forth a huge pile of money with affirmations. You can't conjure up a rewarding career, nor magically create a loving and loyal romantic interest.

Affirmations, do not do any of those things. In fact, affirmations don't "do" anything - not in the 3-dimensional world anyway. The job of an affirmation is not to conjure up the things that we want to have in our lives, but rather to conjure up the feeling that having those things will create in our lives.

Then, once you have that feeling, you Law of Attraction junkies will recognize that the feeling will then create the vibrations which will speed the house, the car, the job, the money, the mate - whatever - directly to you at a rate that is proportionate to your level of allowing and belief.

However, for those of you who aren't so sure about the whole LOA thing, don't despair! You can use affirmations just as effectively to generate feelings of happiness and success.

You see, by feeling what it will be like to attain your goal, what you are doing is building something.

Oh yes, Grasshopper, you are building something truly wonderful. You are building something as large as the tallest building, as far-reaching as the infinite dreamscape, and as real to you as anything ever possibly could be.

You are building Belief.

By constantly creating the feeling of having something that is not (yet) physically in your life, you are creating a new belief system from scratch. This belief system will allow you to "know" what it is like to have the things that you desire because - in your mind - you already have them.

By continually reaffirming the feeling of having the things that you want, you will find ways to bring those things into your 3-dimensional existence. This may be through a burst of inspiration, a sustained motivation to take action, or it may happen by you actually coming across the method needed to bring you what you want.

So, the question of whether or not affirmations actually work, and if so, how to create affirmations that really work for you, is answered simply by asking yourself the following question:

"What can I tell myself that will create the feeling of having {insert the thing that you are affirming for here}?" 

Here are a few examples from my own life, and I use them to reaffirm whenever something actually happens, so that the feeling that the thing generates is clear and present in that moment in time:

"Money comes to me easily and frequently." - Stolen from 'The Secret', I say this every single time I get money in any amount. Since I "work" on the Internet, I receive revenue from many different sources, and every time I get a check or a deposit into my PayPal account, I say this affirmation - no matter what the sum of money is.

"I am so grateful for…" - Gratitude is one the keys to success, and I practice it all day, everyday. From saying "I am so grateful that I don't have to get out of bed yet" to saying "I am so grateful that today was a good day with my family," not a day goes by that I don't actually say some rendition of a gratitude affirmation several times throughout the day.

"Since I live …" - One of my primary life goals is to own a house on the beach in St. Augustine, FL. I live in northeast Florida already, so anytime anything "beach-like" crosses my mind - even in a visualization - I reaffirm it. "Since I live on the beach, I can spend my upcoming day off there." "Since I live on the beach, I can run along the shore as the sun is rising." "Since I live on the beach, I can hear the surf from my window as I am working in my home office".

These are just examples, and are obviously specific to my lifestyle, but that is also why they work! If I ran around all day affirming things that had nothing to do with me, or that were so far out of my belief system that it would not be possible for me to take my affirmations seriously, then those affirmations wouldn't do me much good.

If you try to affirm "wild and crazy" success into your life with off the wall affirmations, the only feeling that you will be creating is one of disbelief, and that will get you nowhere. 

So, if you want affirmations that really work, think of affirmations that work for you. Once you have done that, it is just a matter of repeating them as often as you want to feel that feeling of success!

Are your plans for the future so much a part of your conscious awareness that they cause you to lose sleep staying up late at night working towards them?

If not, why not?

Now, don't get me wrong. I am not endorsing the concept of working around the clock and not getting enough rest, or about not enjoying your life while you are on the road to goal attainment. However, if you are "punching out" at 5:00pm and not putting in the extra effort needed to bring your dreams to reality, are you sure that you are really all that excited about them to begin with?

If you can shut down your desire to work towards your goals just because a standard work day has already elapsed, then you may not be as in tune with your long-term desires as you think you are.

The "extra effort" to capture your dreams may come in many forms, and include any or all of the following:

1) Putting in actual additional hours building your business or laying the groundwork for your future planes.

2) Spending time with your friends and family talking about the beautiful future that you have envisioned, thus continually keeping your excitement level maxed out.

3)  Meditating, visualizing, or practicing daily affirmations that keep both your conscious as well as your subconcious mind focused on your most heart-felt desires.

4) Researching or brain-storming new avenues of approach that will either grow your dreams to even larger proportions, or help you find a way to make it all happen sooner, rather than later.

5) Practicing conscious enjoyment of your "off-duty" hours since you have earned them after working diligently towards your dreams. Conscious enjoyment means that you recognize your down time as a well-deserved break, but only a brief respite before tackling the next task on your goal to-do list. It does not mean putting your dreams on a mental shelf.

In the Simply Successful Secrets project, I am asking people to share their daily success habits, and getting enough rest as well as enjoying down-time are part of many people's lists, including mine.

However, when you are truly excited about your future, working towards that future is part of the fun! I remember shortly after telling my wife that I was going to take every Sunday afternoon off, it wasn't long before I found myself working on a Sunday afternoon.

Was it because I am an incurable workaholic? Hardly. Although I do have my workaholic tendencies, the reason why I work most nights and weekends is because I want to.

My dreams for the future are vast, and they include spending A LOT of time not working. However, in order to get to that point, I work my butt off because I choose to, not because I have to. Those are two entirely different concepts.

So, should you donate your pillow to some other needy family member and just give up on getting any sleep or having any fun until you have achieved your dreams? Absolutely not!

However, if your dreams are not filling you with a level of excitement that is so great that you have to keep reminding yourself to live in the now, then you might want to step back and ask yourself if you are really all that excited about your plans.

If you are not, then find out why. Do some soul searching, and don't stop the search until you are so excited about what you find that you, well… you can't sleep at night!

p.s. - As any good self improvement or personal development writer should do, I am writing from my own experience. I stayed up until 3:00am last night, and then spent another 10 hours straight working after sleeping for less than 5 hours.

Want to know what I am so excited about? My latest chance to share my knowledge with the world via the wonderful blogosphere! Check it out at the link below, be sure to leave comments, subscribe to the RSS feed, and be the same wonderful community member that you have been here at Today is that Day!

Fitness Destinations

Enjoy!