The Tangible Tangerine

One of the ways I've become so successful is due in part to the fact that I've been able to continuously master the art of self-discipline. While it's true that I don't always wake up at a certain time or achieve everything I set out to do on any particular day, life has taught me to plan ahead for unforeseen realities as follows: Preparation  The Application of Ongoing Education  Eating Healthy and Vigorous Exercise  Spending Time & Money Wisely Annoying isn't it?  Listen, I am far from perfection, and in all seriousness, I've never liked the word or any of its iterations. Perfection embraces complacency.  Embrace challenges. They exist to strengthen you.  Diet and exercise have a lot to do with an individual's state of well-being. Your brain requires it to function as best it can. There isn't some magic pill out there that can make you happy, or some gizmo for sale to get a better workout ... and much like money ... if you...

Sometimes we get so involved in our own workload, forgetting there are myriad aspiring authors who want to pursue the craft of professional storytelling. We get so caught up on having our own website or blog rank at the top of the Google search engine results page that we don’t create time to offer free advice to those who are less fortunate to get their work published. While it is important to learn from the masters of fiction who have gone before us, it is equally as impo rtant and rewarding to encourage and inspire others who dream of literary success. Social media can be a great forum to connect with other writers and exchange ideas on how to improve the quality of their prose. This is especially true for writers of fiction, as folks like us tend to be more introverted and often fearful of sharing our stories with people we don’t know. Keep in mind that life is a journey for everyone. No two paths are alike. Get out of your comfort zone by interacting with those you...

What is work?  In its simplest terms, it is a process or service performed by an individual for monetary compensation. But work isn’t always directly correlated to monetary income. In today’s society, it seems like any activity can be monetized, creating residual income streams. Sadly, hard work doesn’t always translate into financial reward. Take cleaning your home for instance. Just because someone spends an entire day doing laundry, sweeping and vacuuming, washing dishes, o r mowing the lawn might bring upon a sense of accomplishment or well-being, but more often than not, this type of work doesn’t yield much of anything in the way of livable income. It can be very discouraging for someone who has remained diligent and disciplined in pursuing a particular field of study since childhood — often sacrificing the fleeting pleasures of life, only to discover the road to financial success and stability didn’t turn out the way they had originally anticipated. It is important ...