Cody Staub

It’s no secret that having a hobby can be an important instrument in relieving stress…and what better instrument to use than a musical one. One of my goals for this coming year has been to learn to play the guitar. Growing up I learned to play the piano, clarinet, and saxophone….all mediocre. They were (are) all great stress-relievers…and can be used to impress a person or two as well…but I eventually lost interest in them all for one simple reason, they’re not that popular. What I mean is, when was the last time you heard a Billboard Top 100 song on the radio that was written for the clarinet? The piano is a little better, but it’s kind of hard lugging around a 600 pound piano. That’s why I chose the guitar, it’s portable and can play a HUGE variety of music. So the question is, how will I accomplish this? Here’s a breakdown:

1. Get a good-quality guitar. I was lucky and got one from my mother for Christmas :). It’s an Ibanez Sage acoustic guitar. It’s not a top of the line professional model, but a VERY good beginner/intermediate guitar. This is what my guitar looks like:
Ibanez Sage Series Spruce Top Acoustic Guitar

2. Have the tools. The next thing I did was to go out and buy some good picks, a quality tuner, and a guitar bag. I know from experience with other instruments that if you don’t have the tools you need, you lose interest really fast. Playing becomes frustrating and eventually you just put your instrument into storage. Make sure you get these items in the beginning.
3. Get some lessons. While you can certainly learn to play the guitar without lessons, it sure does make it a whole lot easier. I started looking around for lessons and they come out to be about $25 per lesson…roughly $100 per month. So, being the cheap-skate I am, I tried finding free stuff on the internet. There’s a ton of it out there, but nothing of really good quality for free, not that I could find anyway. I researched this out for about a week and decided to give JamPlay a try. You pay $20 a month to get unlimited access to their video lessons, chord charts, supplemental content, and forums. I’ve had it about 3 months now and am REALLY happy with it. This was actually an essential piece to me actually making progress on my guitar because it fits my weird schedule. I suggest taking the lessons from Jim Deeming if you’re a beginner.
4. Set aside some practice time. I started out with a small goal…just three hours per week. Eventually, as I started to get the hang of things, guitar got more fun to practice. Now I can practice for a couple of hours in a single sitting if I have the time. It just sucks you in! However, in the first month or two, practicing was painful. I felt like I was never going to get it, my fingers and wrist hurt, and the sound coming out was less-than-awesome. The simple key here is to practice regularly! It will get better, I promise.

That’s it…so far I can play a few basic songs (very basic), but I’m well on the way to my year-end goal. I encourage everyone to pick up a productive hobby to fulfill your spare time, and if you’re interested in learning the guitar, visit the links above….they’re some great resources!

The following is an excerpt from an article over at ZenHabits called ‘17 Fitness Truths To Get You In Great Shape‘. It inspired me the most to change my nutrition habits this coming year. Enjoy!

1. Small steps. That you get fitter in stages, as you exercise more, is pretty obvious I think. You might start out just walking, but as you get fitter, you might add some slow jogging to your routine. And then eventually you’re running three miles, several stages later. However, this really applies to everything, including diet, and many people don’t realize that. You shouldn’t try to change your entire diet overnight — do it in stages. Small steps, one thing at a time, and you’ll get there. Just start eating more fruits at first, for example. Then cut out sodas. Then eat more veggies for dinner. Then change your white bread for whole wheat bread. Then cut out candy at work. And so on. The thing is, you get used to each thing after awhile, and so the changes don’t seem drastic. A year later, and you’re eating extremely healthily (that word again), and you can’t imagine going back to your old diet. Small steps — this is extremely key, to both diet and exercise.
2. Find short-term rewards. Most people quit their diet or exercise program because they’re looking for immediate results. And they’re discouraged when they don’t get them. But you won’t get immediate results. One fitness trainer said something like, “After a month, you’ll start feeling some results. After two months, you’ll start noticing results. After three months, others will start noticing.” And that’s pretty true — it takes months before you start to see the results you want … but in the meantime, you have to look for other things to keep you going. Those shorter-term rewards could be simple things like the great feeling you get after a workout — that helps me stay motivated. Or you could give yourself a treat (something healthy, preferably) or buy a book or something like that.
3. Track your progress. The scale is probably the most popular way to see your progress, but other ways include measuring your waist, or taking photos of yourself each month. You could also track your performance — for example, do a 5K every month to see if you’re getting faster, or log your miles to see them increase. However you do it, you should have some kind of objective way to see your progress over the weeks and months. Otherwise, you might not really notice the difference — but the numbers or pictures will.
4. Enjoy yourself. Very very important. If you see your exercise as extremely difficult, or painful, you won’t be able to sustain it for long. You’ll quit. If you see your diet as very restrictive, or torture, you’ll go back to junk food in a short while. You must find exercise that you enjoy, and find healthy foods that taste good to you. Maybe not chocolate cake good, but good nonetheless. Experiment with new recipes until you find ones you absolutely love. (Try my soup and chili recipes for example.) Above all, enjoy the whole process. It’s what’s kept me doing it — I love my new life.
5. Never ever give up. Maybe the most important truth on this list. If you give up, you won’t get to your goal. Very obvious, I know, but the problem is that people don’t put this into action. Messing up by falling back into junk food or stopping exercise — that happens. Life gets in the way. No one is perfect. Just forget about that stuff, and move on. Learn from your failures, adjust your plan to prevent the same thing from happening again, and start again. If you stop, that’s OK — just start again. Always start again. If you do that, there’s no way you won’t eventually get to your goal.
6. Get a workout partner. I’ve mentioned this before, but it’s been the key to my most recent exercise success. I began running with my sister, Katrina (who btw is an incredible inspiration — she’s come a very long way in the last year), and even though we’re at different levels, we really enjoy our runs. When we agree to meet at 5 a.m. for a run, I have to be there, or I disappoint her. And sure, once in awhile we cancel appointments, but most of the time we’re there, and we run, and that’s the important thing. These months of running with her have really gotten me in much better shape. Now I’m also running with my wife, so having two workout partners is taking me to another level. Get a workout partner. Best move I’ve ever made.
7. Brush your teeth after dinner. This is such a simple thing, but it really helps. It makes you have that fresh, clean feeling in your mouth, and makes you not want to eat an after-dinner snack. For me, after-dinner snacks or desserts are what ruin my diet a lot of the time.
8. Vary your workouts. This helps keep things fresh and fun. For runners, for example, don’t just do 3 miles every day at the same pace. Vary the distance, the route, the speed. Do intervals. And do stuff other than running — go hiking, go biking, play basketball, do strength training, swim, paddle. Mixing it up will get you in even better shape, challenging your body in new ways, and making it an enjoyable process.
9. Focus. There are always a lot of things we want to accomplish, goals we want to focus on … but by spreading ourselves thin, we lose focus and energy. Focus on one thing at a time in order to really get it ingrained as a habit. For example, for one month, focus on adding healthier foods to your diet (and dropping some of the less healthy ones). After that month, it’ll be ingrained. The next month, add walking or jogging or something like that, and only focus on that. One goal at a time, one month at a time, and you’ll get healthy.
10. Rest is important. People who really get into exercise often forget this. Without rest, exercise just keeps breaking down our muscles, and they don’t have time to recover and grow. The exercise puts stress on our bodies, and the rest allows them to adapt and improve. Without the rest, they can’t really improve. You should always follow a day of hard workouts with a day of rest. If you’ve been exercising a long time (and then you probably don’t need this article), you can do hard-easy days, or rotate different types of exercises so that parts of your body are getting rest on different days, but even then always have at least one day of complete rest, or you’ll get burned out.
11. Shoot for a year or two, not a few weeks. There are no instant fitness fixes, no matter what that website or magazine promises. Don’t believe them. Getting fit and healthy takes time, and should be gradual. If you’ve got a long way to go, aim to be healthy after a year. Those with a very long way might shoot for two years. Those closer to the goal could try for 6 months. Main thing: gradual improvement.
12. Focus on your diet first. I’m a huge proponent of exercise for health and other benefits, but if you’re looking to lose weight and/or fat, the biggest factor is diet. You can cut out more calories from what you eat than you can burn with exercise. Of course, both should be vital components of your fitness regiment, but start on diet first, then add exercise. Don’t think that because you are exercising you can eat whatever you want (unless you’re a marathoner or triathlete or something like that) — you won’t reach your fitness goals that way, most likely.
13. Don’t compare yourself to magazine models. Seriously. I’m sure we’ve all done this, wishing we looked like that slim or cut or buff model on the cover of a magazine. It’s natural. However, it’s not healthy. First of all, genetics plays a key factor in how these models look — most of us don’t have body types like that. Second, these models don’t usually look like that — they go on special diets a couple weeks before a photo shoot, so they look perfect for that day. Third, most of these magazines do some pretty heavy photoshopping. And fourth, what’s important is getting a healthy body image, not trying to look like a perfect model. Focus on health, not appearance.
14. Find the exercise that works for you. I love running, but not everybody is born to be a runner. Many people enjoy swimming or water aerobics. Many like lifting weights. Many like cycling, or tae bo, or Pilates. Others like sports like basketball or soccer or rugby. It doesn’t really matter what you choose, as long as you’re moving and you enjoy what you’re doing. Also find the solution that works best: working at the gym, going on the road (running and cycling, for example), working out at home (which I do), etc. Choose the one that you’re most likely to stick to.
15. Learn to be present. Going back to one of the key principles above, “enjoy yourself”, one of the best ways to do that is to learn to really be present when you exercise and eat. For example, when you run, try to keep your mind in the moment, and feel your body and your breathing, and experience your surroundings as your run past them. As you eat, really taste the food and feel the textures, instead of gobbling it down mindlessly. It makes the entire experience much more enjoyable.
16. Don’t let your body adapt too much. Sometimes we hit plateaus, where we’re still doing the same exercise but not really improving. The reason is that you have to keep changing things, either taking your exercise to a slightly higher level (gradually), or giving it new angles or routines. Otherwise, your body adapts to doing the same exercise over and over, and it stops improving. Once you start hitting a plateau, take it to a new level by increasing intensity or length of time in some way.
17. Get inspired. Another key concept for me. I like to read blogs or websites that show me how others have been successful. One Zen Habits reader, for example, recently gave me some inspiration with his blog, Fat Man Unleashed. He’s doing a great job, making amazing progress, and it’s inspirational. Fitness magazines, for me, began to seem useless, because they just rehash the same articles over and over. But then I realized that I like to read these magazines for the inspiration, not the information. Find something to inspire you and it’ll keep you going.

EverybodyGoTo is the blog of a web designer/internet entrepreneur by the name of Hyder (it’s the only name I’ve ever been able to find). Hyder has his start in the fashion industry, but is a self-taught web designer and graphic artist as well. His posts are generally about making money online, blogging, and web design. Hyder’s latest project is called Weborithm, the wordpress design company that brought you the re-design of JohnCow. This is a great blog with a lot of good tips in a wide range of categories.

Vanessa Fox. Nude. Relax! This isn’t a porn site! Actually, this is the personal blog of one of the great internet marketing females right now. Vanessa Fox is an expert in search engines and search engine marketing, and perhaps if you’ve been to any sort of internet conference lately you’ve heard her speak. She writes for several blogs and publications including the Official Google Webmaster Central Blog and Search Engine Land. To see her LONG list of credentials, check out her About Me page. Her posts on her personal blog, however, tend to be less professional and mostly entertaining, but every once in a while there is a gem of a post on how something works or how to get better rankings. Go check it out, her blog is definitely one to have in your reader.

Next to election day in November, this Tuesday is the most important single day in the 2008 presidential elections. Super Tuesday is when the majority of states across the U.S. hold their respective caucuses and primaries to decide which candidate from both the Republican and Democratic parties will be on your ballot come November.

Now whether you’re Democrat or Republican or even Green party, you have to admit that the United States is in sad shape. We are not well-liked by a majority of the world right now, the value of our once all-mighty USD is now paling in contrast to other currencies, health care and social security are in crisis, and our personal liberties are becoming fewer and fewer. Which one of our candidates do you think is going to address all of these problems?

The few (or maybe many) of you who have heard of the man already know what I’m leading up to, and don’t click away before you read the rest of this article…but I’m talking of course about Congressman Ron Paul (M.D. by the way), who is one of four Republican hopefuls left in the race. Unlike the other candidates (including on the Democrat side), Dr. Paul has worked his entire career to end the ever-growing power of our federal government and restore our country to what the Founders envisioned, a nation conceived in personal liberty. Also, unlike the other candidates, Ron Paul is probably the most qualified presidential candidate to run for office when you review the facts:

1. Ron Paul has served (and is currently serving) in congress for 10 terms, leaving a legacy of arguably the most solid voting record in politics.
2. Ron Paul was raised in an average family and used his own money and grades to pay his way through medical school at Duke University. He is not the legacy of a wealthy American super-power family, but comes from average roots, just like the rest of us.
3. Ron Paul served as a Captain in the US Air Force as a flight surgeon. After the Air Force he specialized in obstetrics and gynecology, delivering over 4,000 babies in his 30 years of medical practice.
4. Ron Paul has taken a special interest in economics for several decades. Some of his writings on economics have been published by the Ludwig von Mises “Ultimate Foundation on Economics” as well as others.
5. Ron Paul has served on the House Banking committee, House Committee on Financial Services, and the House Committee on Foreign Affairs.

And from his very own website…

He has never voted to raise taxes.
He has never voted for an unbalanced budget.
He has never voted for a federal restriction on gun ownership.
He has never voted to raise congressional pay.
He has never taken a government-paid junket.
He has never voted to increase the power of the executive branch.

He voted against the Patriot Act.
He voted against regulating the Internet.
He voted against the Iraq war.

He does not participate in the lucrative congressional pension program.
He returns a portion of his annual congressional office budget to the U.S. treasury every year.

If you want to learn more about the President our country needs, then check out a few of these sites (only the first one is affiliated officially with his campaign):

• Ron Paul for President 2008
• Intro to Ron Paul
• The Ron Paul DVD
• YouTube
• MySpace
• Facebook

Whomever you support though, make sure you get out and vote on February 5th, 2008 at your local precinct!

In what appears to be the largest mass-prize giveaway in blogging history, David Airey is celebrating his blog’s one year anniversary by giving away over $4000 in goods and services. David is a great logo designer and blogger, but how he managed to get all these services and bloggers involved seems a small miracle in the making to me. You can check out how to enter for yourself Here. Now, take a look at this list of prizes!

• Professional logo from David Airey. Add a touch of professionalism to your business with one of my logo designs.
• Custom WordPress theme design from Nate Whitehill of Nate Whitehill dot Com. It’s vital to set yourself apart from the crowd, and Nate will help a great deal with your very own custom WordPress theme. By the way, Nate Whitehill is the one who recently redesigned both John Chow and Shoemoney’s blogs.
• Personal marketing / advertising plan from Maki of Dosh Dosh. Maki is an expert where blog advertising is concerned, and he is kindly donating his time to help you make the most of your new custom blog.
• One year’s hosting and blog setup from John Boardley of I Love Typography. John has kindly donated his time and will do everything you need to get your new custom blog hosted on one of Media Temple’s dedicated servers.
• Signed copy of Blogging Tips by Lorelle VanFossen of Lorelle on WordPress. David bought this book himself, and it contains excellent blogging tips for beginners to pros.
• A second logo design from Tara Roskell of Graphic Design Blog. You only need to visit Graphic Design Blog to realise that Tara really knows a lot about great design.
• Website critique from Randa Clay of Randa Clay Design. If you want some expert advice on how to improve your website design, you won’t be disappointed by this offering.
• One hour SEO consultation with Lyndon Antcliff of Cornwall SEO. Lyndon will conduct a Skype consultation with the winner of this prize, and he comes highly recommended for search engine optimisation and linkbaiting.
• $60 of books from Amazon courtesy of Darren Rowse of ProBlogger. Is there a book you’ve been meaning to buy on Amazon? How about getting it free? A great donation from a professional blogger.
• Logo / blog header design from Jonathan-C. Phillips of Smart Wealthy Rich. Jonathan has donated his expert skills to help your blog stand out from the crowd.
• One hour blog optimization consultation with Daniel Scocco of Daily Blog Tips. This consultation will cover design, SEO, monetization and blogging strategy, from the author of one of blogging’s most useful resources.
• Revolution Premium WordPress theme package (personal package) from Brian Gardner, WordPress designer and consultant. Brian’s WordPress skills are second to none.
• Blog review and email interview published on Make It Great! with Phil Gerbyshak. The man to ‘make it great’ will critique your blog and feature you on his very own PR5 blog.
• Behringer Podcastudio USB Podcasting Kit, kindly donated by Fraser’s Affiliate Marketing Blog. Looking for a new way to express yourself? Ever wanted to be a famous producer? Then podcasting is the answer and the BEHRINGER PODCASTUDIO USB bundle has all you need to make high-quality podcasts and home recordings.
• $25 via PayPal courtesy of Gayla McCord of Mom Gadget. Free money! Who doesn’t want free money? Very kind of you Gayla.
• 2GB USB storage key x 3 courtesy of Jamie Clague at Terinea Weblog. Three USB sticks will make up three separate prizes, with free worldwide postage. Jamie, Edinburgh Computer Services, has also kindly donated his valuable time to helping with the prize draw administration.
• Full blog review with deep links and images published on Blog-Op with Chris Lodge. Chris knows how to piece together an excellent blog review, giving you an added insight into the impression your website is giving.
• Blog review from Aaron Russell of miLienzo. Aaron has been coding WordPress themes for a while now and certainly knows his stuff where blog design is concerned.
• Expert WordPress blog help from Lakshmi Mareddy of Chilligavva. Have you ever had any ideas for your blog that you haven’t been able to incorporate? Lakshmi has kindly agreed to offer her WordPress skills, helping you out with either code or graphics.
• Blog review from Hock Ng of Marketing Tools Review. Hock will focus his review on your blog content, design, SEO and usability.
• Blog makeover from Charles Jordan of The Queer Chef. Charles is proficient with design for the Blogger platform, and can also design WordPress. He’ll tantalise your taste buds with one of his blog makeovers.
• Blog writing consultation with Ben Yoskovitz of Instigator Blog. Ben has offered his expertise to review 3–5 of your articles, providing tips and giving suggestions on writing, plus a quick guide to social media and how you can benefit from it.
• Two 45 minute coaching consultations with Mark McGuinness of Wishful Thinking. Mark specialises in coaching creative professionals, and is a real expert in his field. The first session will involve goal setting, with the second session reporting on progress and making adjustments.
• 4 hour business growth consultation with Rebecca Caroe, via telephone / Skype, or face-to-face in London / Cambridge. Rebecca is a business growth consultant for creative agencies, so if you’re looking to expand your company then this is the prize for you. If you want Rebecca to visit your offices simply pay her travel expenses.
• Tele-Coaching with Tammy Lenski. A one-hour, private telephone consult with professional mediator and conflict coach Tammy Lenski. Figure out how to deal with a challenging client, strengthen your contract negotiations, or confront difficult conversations with more confidence and success. Free call within the U.S., via Skype outside the U.S.
• One hour product launch consultation with Design Translator (DT) of Design Sojourn. Whether you’re launching a line of t-shirts, custom furniture, electronics, or any other product, DT will lend you his product launch expertise.
• Blog improvement or monetization advice with Easton Ellsworth of Business Blogwire. You choose, do you want to generally improve your blog or do you want help making money from it? Easton has kindly offered his help.
• Two premium quality books designed and produced by David Hyde of david the designer. John Hinchcliffe, internationally acclaimed designer-maker, is the subject of the richly illustrated first of two quality books. Crafts in the 20th Century is the second book kindly donated by David.
• Copy of Brand Aid by Brad VanAuken of The Blake Project. Brand Aid is a practical how-to guide on building winning brands. Derrick Daye was kind enough to offer this great prize.
• Watercolour print from Ed Roach Watercolours. Ed has quite a talent, and will graciously ship your favourite print from his watercolour studio.
• 728px by 90px banner ad for 30 days above the fold on The Blog Experiment, courtesy of Sara. This is quite a new forum for bloggers, but already there are approximately 5,000 posts! You must supply your own artwork.
• 125px by 125px image ad for 30 days on Smart Wealthy Rich. An excellent donation from top blogger, Jonathan.
• Ad icon located site-wide in the top left of Blog-Op, courtesy of Chris Lodge. Another kind gift from a fellow blogger in Scotland.
• 30 day text link ad shown site-wide on Contest Blogger. This is a great way to advertise your very own blog contest. Blogging is about giving something back, so get your contest featured.
• 125px by 125px image ad for 30 days on Freelance Folder. Another superb offering from Jonathan a.k.a Smart Wealthy Rich
• Lifetime membership to the paid membership site that Andy Beard, WordPress SEO and Niche Marketer, will launch on Andybeard.eu (eta and value yet to be determined). If the prize winner already qualifies for membership (some people will), then Andy will kindly come up with an alternative prize.

Do you ever get frustrated with how tied to your computer you are? Unless you tote your laptop around with you EVERYWHERE, more than likely you’re constantly in a state of wishing you had something from your home computer with you. Well, I think I’ve got just the solution for you. It’s called PortableApps. No this isn’t a paid post, nor is it sponsored in any way. I just tried this last week and really like it, so I’m spreading the word.

What is PortableApps? It’s a set of open-source software that installed onto a flash drive. Some you may have heard of, like Firefox, some you may not have, like Nvu or GIMP. All of these free softwares perform like software you’re already familiar with: Dreamweaver, Photoshop, Notepad, Outlook, and many more. All these apps run right from the flash drive, no need to install them on a computer. The best part of all, you can store all your personal information on the flash drive without leaving any behind on the host computer. That’s right, all your bookmarks, settings, and files are saved on the flash drive as well. All you do is plug in and have access to all your files and programs without leaving a thing behind on the host computer.

I did this last week just to try it out. I went to Wal-Mart and got a 2GB flash drive for $15. The whole PortableApps folder takes up about 325MB of space, so I have over 1.5GB of space left on the drive for files and settings to be saved. This is nice because I can carry this little drive around anywhere, it’s only about an inch long, and I have everything I need anywhere I go. The only downside, the PortableApps suite only works on Windows. Even so, I’d encourage you all to go out and give this a try.

I’ve always been a fan of the Linux distros, and am a die-hard Mac fan as well (Mac OSX is UNIX-based). I’ve used probably a dozen or so of the Linux distributions out there, but mainly I’ve stuck with Mandriva and openSUSE. It’s been a while since I’ve used either and after Dell announced they’d be using Ubuntu to ship with select Dell computers, I thought I’d give it a try. I have to hand it to the Ubuntu community, this is by far the easiest distro for Linux I have EVER seen. Upon installation and after doing the critical updates (which are automatic), everything on my computer is up and running smoothly. I haven’t had to hand code or even use a command line since installing it. Even my wireless card, which took up 3 days of troubleshooting on openSUSE, is working without a single hitch.

Anyone who is interested in using a Linux distro, especially if you’re new to the whole thing, give Ubuntu or Kubuntu (different desktop environment, closer to the “XP” feel). I’m using the Ubuntu 7.04 “Fiesty Fawn” Desktop version at this very moment. You can learn more/download it by Clicking Here. If you want to give Kubuntu a try, find out about it by Clicking Here.

There are a lot of “making money online” blogs and sites out there, but only a short list of them are ones worth the effort to read. One of the blogs I find myself reading fairly often is written by Kumiko Suzuki. In the past her blog was a blogger account with a signature “pretty pink” layout. She’s decided to take things a little more seriously and get her own domain (although she still uses Blogger).

Suzuki’s information isn’t always new and original, but it is very entertaining to say the least. She’s very opinionated and very motivated when it comes to making it in the online scene. While I haven’t found many tips from reading her site, I have found a great deal of motivation and new ways of thinking. Probably the best thing I can of her blog is that it is one of the truly “make money online” sites out there. A lot of sites, like John Chow, get pulled into a lot of different directions. Kumiko does an excellent job of staying on topic.

By the way, she’s having a contest to promote her new site here, so head on over and get your spot in the drawing for some cool prizes.

I’ll be the first to admit that I probably have more bookmarked sites than I really need, but then again who doesn’t? The real problem I have is organizing them and being able to use them on the go. I’ve tried using delicious but the whole tag system I just don’t like. Google homepage is awesome (especially for reading blogs), but doesn’t really allow you to add links, plus it clutters up too fast. This is where Xerpi steps in. I found this site reading John Chow’s blog. I’m in the process of setting it all up right now, which is a breeze. The only quirk I have is that it pauses and reloads the page for each link you add, kind of detracting from the whole AJAX feel.

Give it a try, and if you like it add me as a friend (nickname: cody): Xerpi