Do You Have a Google+ Profile Page?

The three things that matter most when readers are searching for you on Google are location, location, location.  My name, Michael Mulligan, comes up 16,500,000 times in the search results.  So, if there are so many people out there who share my name, why am I showing up on the first page in a sea of Mulligans?  And why did Google pre-approve me for the name +MichaelMulligan this morning when there millions of other choices?  I believe the reason I was selected has to do with my choice to set up a Google+ profile page early in my writing career and post blog stories there every day.  Google loves consistency. That's all it takes.

Click here to see my profile page.  And if you don't have a Google+ profile page yet, get started today.  It's free.  Click here to get started.  Leave a comment if you have questions.

When All Else Fails, Push the Reset Button

I'm a big fan of the reset button.  One of my business partners recommended it to me when I needed some parenting advice.  "Ask your son if he would like to move to Alaska," he said.

"Why Alaska?"  I responded.

"It's a reset button.  Your son will be in a new environment and he can figure out how he wants to move forward."

My son had the time of his life.  He made new friends.  He experienced one of the most beautiful places on earth.  His time in Alaska gave him an opportunity to reset his life.

I pushed the reset button in my personal life about two years ago.  My wife stood in front of me like Vanna White on Wheel of Fortune and did everything possible to get me to push the button.  I felt like a hypocrite.  Here I am telling my son how pushing the reset button can have a dramatic effect on his life and I'm refusing to take my own advice.

The lesson I learned is that the reset button helps you get unstuck.  Pushing the button means a fresh start.  Give it a try.  Let me know how it works out in your life. 

Climatize Your Attitude Before the Storm Hits

Climatize:  to acclimate to a new environment.

The photo you see above reminds me of my younger days growing up in Arizona.  Dust storms suddenly appeared out of nowhere without any warning.  It also resembles the walls of smoke that ravaged our California neighborhood when a wildfire burned out of control, destroying many homes, including our next-door neighbor's.

There are other types of storms that wreak havoc on our personal lives, such as recessions, unemployment or job transfers.  The biggest lesson I learned for coping with unexpected change in my life has to do with attitude.  It's like a setting on your thermostat that you control, even when everything else in your life appears out of control.  Once you climatize your attitude, you can weather the storm.  Here are some steps you can take to adjust the settings on your attitude thermostat:

1. Look for the silver lining in the clouds.  Your brain has the potential to see opportunity in every adversity.  For example, when you get the layoff notice, instead of thinking about how miserable your life is, think about all the new doors you can open.  Concentrate on the possibilities.  Visualize new parts of the country you can relocate to where your skills can be better utilized.
2. Recognize your attitude plays a role in your success or failure.  The temperature in a room won't change unless the thermostat is on.  Your problems won't go away unless you adjust the control setting on your attitude.  You bring the heat or the cold.  It's your choice.
3. Understand some people will be miserable because they refuse to climatize.  I prefer to be around people who are willing to make changes in their lives rather than complain about how hot or cold the weather is.  Negative people really don't want to change anything in their lives because they won't have anything to complain about if things actually improve.  Concentrate on climatizing your own world and stay away from the complainers.  Keep your attitude thermostat locked up and don't let them have the keys.

The weather outside is 14º degrees this morning.  We had our first snow storm last night.  Mother Nature did her best to warn me about her plans for the Winter.  My attitude is fully climatized.  My blood is getting thicker.  There is nothing like sitting in front of a warm fireplace to work on my writing projects during this time of year.  How about you?  Are you ready to climatize your attitude before the storm hits?  Let me know what you will do to get climatized.

What You Should Do When Success Knocks On Your Door

For most people, success dresses like a stranger.  They don't recognize him through the peep hole.  He wears many disguises.  I have a stack of his calling cards filed away from previous encounters.  Here are some of his aliases:

1. Job layoffs.
2. Illness.
3. Injuries.
4. Poor economic conditions.
5. Challenging bosses.
6. Unemployment.
7. Bad weather.
8. Accidents.
9. Poor forecasts for the future.
10. Uncertainty.

The easy thing to do when the stranger from the school of hard knocks calls on you is to pretend no one is home and hide.  You feel safe under your blankets.  The problem with this choice is that you will be haunted by what could have been if you opened the door and let success come in, take off his coat and stay a while.  Every successful person I know chose to spend time with the stranger.  They learned a lesson that helped them become successful.  It's really simple — Adapt.

Successful people embrace the pink slip.  They make a decision to change careers, start new businesses or go back to school and learn about new opportunities.  When they get sick, they don't give up.  They make lifestyle changes to get healthy again.  The same thing with injuries.  They go to rehab and do what it takes to make their bodies stronger.  Successful people find a way to embrace the stranger knocking on the front door.  They refuse to give up.

Success knocked on my door so many times that I decided to prepare a guest room for him in my home.  I'm not afraid to invite him in because I know the more I get to know him the better I can learn to adapt to all his offerings.  Maybe this year I'll send him a Christmas card and thank him for all he taught me.  What about you?  Are you going to answer the door the next time success knocks?  Please share your thoughts in the comments section below.

Why the Cyber-bistro Serves Serial Every Friday

Serial novels were the rage in the Victorian era.  Thanks to new technology, I believe they may be back on the menu for web readers with hungry appetites.  Here's how it works:

1. Serial novels are published in segments or installments.  
2. The author decides when to publish — weekly or monthly.
3. As the story unfolds, readers share their serial with others and help the writer get discovered.

My favorite reading material in high school was cereal boxes.  Now I'm writing a serial novel that appears on cell phones, tablets and notebooks.  If Dickens were around to see this, he would be wondering, what the hell? 

What do you think about serial novels?  Have you checked out my e-serial novel at the Cyber-bistro?  I serve a new chapter every Friday at 8:08 AM, Pacific Time.  Click here to read a new chapter every Friday.  If you like what you see, you may want to email me and insert yourself into a future chapter. 

When Writing is Like Playing With Tinker Toys

Did you ever play with Tinker Toys when you were a kid?  That's what writing is like for me.  It's spilling out a carton of assorted pieces all over the floor and then figuring out how to build something.  The inventor of the game withheld instructions for assembly.  What are you supposed to do?  If you're a writer, you do one thing — tinker.  And if you tinker long enough, someday you may find yourself creating something the world has never seen before.

With the exception of my cousin, Mark Mulligan, a singer who drifted through my new home state last summer on a music tour,  I haven't seen my side of the family in over 18 months.  Most of them have no idea what I've been doing with my Tinker Toys.  Here's what I'm developing:

1. Caveman Reflections... A Cyber-bistro.  This is a gathering place for readers, writers, publishers, editors, childhood friends, high school and college classmates, and friends from all over the world.  Every Friday I share a new chapter from my first novel, The Caveman in the Mirror.  Once I'm done tinkering, the novel will be available on Amazon.com.  Click here to check out the Cyber-bistro.
2. Free Lemonade Stories.  This is a collection of stories and interviews from people who inspire me.  Once my novel is complete, I plan to spend more time on this and turn this project into an E-book.  Click here to check it out.
3. The Caveman in the Mirror.  This is the ultimate Tinker Toy — an interactive novel filled with characters who literally jump in to become a part of the story.  Thomas is on journey to find something.  He is a little on the delusional side.  That doesn't stop him from seeking his destiny.  Just like Tinker Toys, there is a lot of writing, cropping, re-writing, editing and more writing before the final version will be released.  I believe sharing free chapters every Friday gives readers an opportunity to join the journey and become part of the story.

I hope you make some time in your life to enjoy building something.  Tinker Toys work for me.  Give it a try.  It's fun.  See you tomorrow at 8:08 AM, Pacific Time.  Thanks for stopping by today.

Does Your Creativity Need a Carburetor?

When was the last time you looked under your hood and checked your carburetor — that odd-looking device that mixes your fuel with air so your creativity doesn't stall or run too rich?  Creativity doesn't need much gasoline to get great results.  It does need the correct amount of pressure to get your work in motion.  For me, it means setting up daily and weekly deadlines.  When the right amount of pressure is applied to my creativity, I get steady output.  If you're not happy with your results, try these pointers:

1. Give your creativity some more air.  Maybe you're working trying too hard and you're forcing too much work through your pipes.  You need to breathe.  The key is to be efficient.  Take breaks.  Avoid burnout.
2. Apply enough pressure to your work to give you some spark.  No deadlines = no output.  You know best how much pressure to apply to your projects to move them forward.  Just make sure you are in motion.  Experiment with your deadlines to find out what works best for you.
3. Don't be afraid of the mountains.  I remember how I chugged along at some pretty slow speeds when climbing the mountains of California and Arizona in my rental truck while towing our family car.  The mountains were a part of the course, just like writing a novel is necessary if I'm ever going to master the art of writing.  Anyone attempting to create something eventually experiences a mountain climb that appears impossible.  All it takes is some adjusting when the outside air gets thin and the mountains are steep.
4. Don't worry about the other drivers.  Everyone has their own pace.  Even the best writers started out sputtering.  If they are racing past you while you are still searching for the right mixture of fuel and air for your work, let them pass.  Work within your own limits and go at your own speed.
5. Recognize your creativity is one-of-a-kind.  No one else in the world is capable of doing what you can do.  All you have to do is figure out how to maximize your output according to the specific gifts you have inside you.  Learn to be your own mechanic and experiment with your internal carburetor until you get it running properly.

What steps are you going to take to improve your creativity?  Please share your own ideas in the comments section below.  Thanks for making a pit stop today at my blog and for taking the time to help the other drivers by adding to the conversation.