#0165: Knowing How to Calm Down a Crying Child

For someone who never plans on having children of his own, I have become very, very good at getting kids to stop crying or yelling.

For example: last night I was in my room surfing the internet when I started hearing this loud crying/screaming combination going on in some other room in the apartment. Turns out, it was my 2-year old godson, who was upset that my friend – i.e. his Mom – had taken away a spray water bottle and told him it was bed time. The way he was crying, you would have thought he had been punched in the stomach or something!

At any rate, I was able to hear his screaming through my closed bedroom door; after about 5 minutes, I decided enough was enough. I walked out my room, across the hallway, and into the room where my godson was crying. I walked up to the bed and…

—

Okay, before I finish the story, a bit of back story: when I was young, there were times where I’d get upset or angry and start crying. Rarely do I remember my parents yelling at me when this happen. This doesn’t necessarily mean that they NEVER yelled; however, my parents were generally of the belief that it was more beneficial to talk to us in a calm voice and give us some kind of explanation as to what was going on, or why a certain decision was being made.

The main reasons kids cry, I’ve discovered over the years, are because they either don’t feel like they’re being treated fairly, or they don’t have the full picture of what’s going on. Unfortunately, a lot of grown ups feel like kids shouldn’t have to get an explanation of what’s going on; that they should just listen because “I’m the adult, they’re the kid, and I make the rules!”

Maybe it’s because I don’t have kids, but I don’t like dealing with them in this way. I like to let them know exactly what’s going on so they won’t be as difficult to deal with. I also don’t like to yell at kids either. If a kid is yelling and screaming, they’re already in a chaotic state. Me yelling at them is only going to add to that chaos, which will only make them want to cry more. Instead, I like to talk to them in a calm voice while holding them someplace (the arms, shoulders) so that they can feel the peaceful energy I’m bringing to the situation.

When I do this, the kid is usually able to stop crying, listen to what I’m saying, and chill out a bit. And I’ve done it enough times now to where I don’t even get all that bothered when I’m with a kid and they start crying, ’cause I know how to calm them down when they do!

—

So, where was I? Oh yeah – so, I walked up to the bed where my godson was sitting up crying.  I sat on the bed, bent down to his level, and said:

“Hi. So, look, I know you’re upset, but right now it’s time to go to bed, alright? I know you want to spray the water bottle, but it’s night time now. So you need to go to sleep. Now, you can sit up and keep crying and eventually go to sleep, or you can save time and just go to sleep now. Either way, you need to go to sleep. It’s your choice.”

At that point, he looked at me and stopped crying. Then, he looked at the pillow I had placed next to him, placed his head on it, and went to sleep. Mission accomplished.

Ah, knowing how to calm down a crying child… now THAT’S something to be thankful for!

– Aaron P. Taylor

#0164: Having a Voice… Like, an ACTUAL Voice

You never realize how useful your voice is until you don’t have the ability to use it.

That’s what I’m going through at the moment. This past weekend it rained cats and dogs, and I was stuck outside someplace at 6 A.M. waiting to do a video gig for people that never showed up. I waited outside in front of their establishment’s door for a whole hour while the rain came pouring down.

By the end of the day I was sick; by Saturday I had developed a cough; by Sunday night I noticed my voice was starting to sound a bit raspy; and by Monday morning, I sounded like that lady from the “Stop Smoking” commercial with the robotic voice thingy next to her neck.

It’s on days like this that I realize how wonderful it is to have a voice that works. Y’know, being able to use your vocal cords to project various layers of sound and enunciation, whether it be in a whispered tone or a loud boisterous yell. Oh, and not having your throat hurt every time you try to say something to someone.

By the way, has anyone ever noticed how, when your regular voice goes away, you can still manage to talk perfectly, without a coughing interruption, in your falsetto voice? If I really need someone to hear me I can do it, but I have to end up sounding like Mickey Mouse when I do. It’s kind of cool on one hand – I can hit a bunch of high notes I normally can’t with my regular voice – but I send up sounding like some kind of effeminate man-child when I do.

Ah, having a voice – like, an ACTUAL voice… now THAT’S something to be thankful for!

-Aaron P. Taylor

#0163 Spending Quality Time with Family and/or Friends

Today is Thanksgiving, the time of year where we take a day to stop and give thanks for the wonderful things that have happened in our lives. Families typically gather together to celebrate by eating food, watching sports or holiday specials, and catching up with their loved ones.

Yesterday, I got a reminder of just how thankful one should be to be able to do these things with those they care about. After writing yesterday’s “Thankful” post, I noticed someone had pressed the “like” button for it on my page. I clicked on the screen name of the person who had liked the post, and was taken to another site for the Bella Grove Plantation Bed and Breakfast, located in my home state of Virginia.

I read a couple of the blogs they had on their page, and the 3rd one mentioned that the owner’s mother had passed away this week.  It’s always hard to lose someone close to you, especially during the holidays when everything is supposed to feel festive and happy.

Reading her dedication to her mother, as well as the thanks and love she showed to her friends and family who were there in their time of need, really got me thinking about my own set of family and friends.  I think sometimes as we get busy and move along in life, we forget that those closest to us won’t be around forever. It’s really important that we cherish people while they’re still here, and create memories with them that will allow us to look back and smile.

I was fortunate enough to have 2 parents that both came from big families. My Dad’s Mom was one of 15 kids, so on his side I have lots of uncles, aunts, and great-versions of both, not to mention the extensive amount of cousins, 2nd cousins and 3rd cousins. Family reunions on Dad’s side of the family were always huge affairs, and I remember always looking forward to them so I could hang out with my cousins, joke around with some of my elders, and hear stories about how things used to be while they were growing up. (Yes, if any of you are reading this, I LIKE learning about family history, okay?!?)

As for my Mom, she herself was one of six children – 3 sisters, 2 brothers. Unlike my Dad’s side of the family who reside mostly in one state (Virginia), my Mom’s siblings spread out throughout the country – Pennsylvania, Alabama, Louisiana, California, Nevada (Las Vegas, baby!).  Getting the chance to visit them always meant being able to travel to another state, and I LOVE road trips and plane rides!

What I always liked about my Mom’s side of the family was they’ve always been straight talkers, and a little bit sarcastic. We’d spend hours talking, cracking jokes on each other, and the stories they told about their childhood, especially the ones involving my grandmother, were always shocking (to say the least), yet insightful and entertaining.

When I was a kid, I got to have these kinds of moments with my families more often than I do now. Most of my Dad’s family is in Virginia and I’m out in Los Angeles, so I don’t get home to see them nearly as much as I’d like to. I have 2 of my aunts on my Mom’s side here out west that I can visit more frequently, but I still miss being able to get to see the other ones more than once or twice a year.

Because of this, I’m also very grateful for the set of friends I’ve made that feel like close family. These are my “ride or die” friends; the ones who helped me transition when I first moved to California, and even managed to help keep me out here at times when I ran out of money and didn’t know what my next step was going to be. We’re able to be honest with each other, have fun together, be there for each other during the hard times, and are willing to do things for each other even when we don’t always feel like it.

Most importantly, we cherish the time we spend with each other. All of us have different things going on in our lives, so we’re always aware that the way we interact with each other today will change at some point, whether it be due to having kids, getting married, or moving someplace else.  For now, though, we’re in each others lives, and as such we do our best to make these moments count.

So, regardless of where you’re at on this day, be it with family, friends, or both, be sure to create moments that are enjoyable and filled with laughs, love, bonding… and good ol’ fashioned turkey!

Ah, spending quality time with family and/or friends… now THAT’S something to be thankful for!

– Aaron P. Taylor

Get the book, “Be Thankful: 1001 Things to be Thankful For” today! Click HERE for more information!

#0162: Having Trustworthy People In Your Life

Nothing puts more bad vibes in me than being around a person I don’t trust.

Granted, it can take years of knowing someone long enough before you can trust them. You have to start out with trusting them with simple things, like small secrets here and there that you don’t want told, or asking them to watch your food for 5 minutes while you go to the bathroom, praying to God the whole time that they don’t spit in your food or try to poison you.

However, once that trust is gained, any major violations of that trust is liable to put a HUGE alarm system in your head that says “don’t trust this person with ANYTHING whenever they’re around you from now on.”

You can be around someone for YEARS and think you know them, only to find out one day that they’ve been doing things behind your back you never thought possible. They could have been stealing money from you, cheating on you  (or using you to cheat on someone else), telling lies behind your back, and much, much worse. And when that happens it stinks because it makes you question just how well your judgement is in relation to the people you choose to let in your life.

That’s why it feels so good when you ARE able to have people in your life that you really CAN trust. I’m talking about the type of people that you can have sitting in your home all day while you’re our running errands and they won’t even try touching any of your food until you get back. The type of people who know all of your vulnerabilities and pet peeves and do their best to NOT use them against you. The type of people who won’t go blab to others when something embarrassing happens to you.

These types of people – the ones that are 100% trustworthy in every way – can be few and far between to find in life. So, when you find them, make sure you hold on to them – they are the people you will have the least amount of drama with, and you never have to look behind your shoulder when they’re around.

Ah, having trustworthy people in your life… now THAT’S something to be thankful for!

– Aaron P. Taylor

Get the book, “Be Thankful: 1001 Things to Be Thankful For, Volume 1” today! Available in PDF form and on Kindle! Click HERE for more info!

#0161: Learning To Earn More Money Working Less Time

What would you rather do: work 80 hours a week, every week, to earn $100,000 a year, or work 10 hours a week, every week, to earn the same amount of money?

Unless you just enjoy doing hours of labor for the heck of it, most people would choose the latter. Yet, many people will usually end up doing the former because… well, that’s all they’ve been taught.

Back in school, our teachers and parents taught us that, in order to make lots of money, all you had to do was get a job and work a lot of hours. The more hours you worked, the more money you would make. And so, most of us grow up doing the same thing our parents did – go out, get a job, work long hours – in hopes of earning more money… despite the evidence in front of our faces that working these long hours didn’t always equate with having a higher income. (And even if it did, bills would usually end up taking most of that, so we ended up breaking even, IF we were lucky).

Part of the reason people aren’t willing to change this habit is because they don’t want to feel lazy. For example, let’s say they have a goal of making $100,000 in a year. That number can sound daunting, but most people can figure out an equation in their head of how many hours of labor at x-job they would need to do in order to make that amount.  And they’re willing to do what it takes to get those kinds of hours because it will make them feel like they’re earning that money in a fair and balanced way.

On the other hand, when these people hear about others who make the same amount of money, in either (a) less amount of time or (b) while working a significantly reduced amount of hours, they get mad and/or jealous. “It’s not fair,” these people might say, “I worked my butt off all year, and this guy made the same amount working 10 times less hours than I did! He must be doing something unethical or immoral!”

Oh, if only they would change their thinking and open their eyes!

Tim Ferriss, author of the classic book “The 4-Hour Work Week” and other books in his 4-hour series of books (the newest one being “The 4-Hour Chef,” which comes out today), discusses this conundrum on a regular basis.  In short, he helps people to see how they can shorten the amount of hours they personally spend on doing something – while earning a high income – with a few simple changes in thought and pattern of thinking about what “work” should mean.

For example: people think one needs to work hard to earn money; in actuality, a person should work smarter to find ways to cut down the amount of time it takes to do something.

When I’m not blogging on here or creating music, I’m a video editor. One of the clients I work for has me film and edit the comedy routines of stand-up comedians in his club on Fridays and Saturdays, then put together a mini-reel of the night’s acts.

When I started the job, I would make a completely new video each and every time I worked there, and it was taking up 5 hours of my time to make each one. Then, one day it hit me: there were elements of each video that stayed the same – video intro, the way the comics’ names flashed on screen, the website name on the corner of the video, and the outro.

I realized that if I just created a template that kept these elements already rendered in, all I would have to do is fill in the parts where each comedian’s segment would go, and BOOM! The videos could be completed in less than an hour! I get paid the same amount of money (all they care about is the end result, not how many hours I work), and it takes less time!

Another example: I have a gig over at www.Fiverr.com where, for $5, I will make a video wishing a Happy Birthday to the loved one of your choice. My first plan was to, once again, record a new greeting for each person that placed an order.

Above: My Mario Video e-Card! You can order it
 at www.Fiverr.com/apt1982

However, my brain couldn’t rationalize spending all that time dressing up in a Mario costume, saying the lines people sent in for me to say, then sitting down and editing it, each and every time, for just $5. It would end up taking hours out of my day for what would end up being a simple 1-minute “Happy Birthday” video.

But then, it hit me: I could create just ONE video that would be so entertaining that LOTS of people would want to order it, and all I’d have to do is type in the birthday person’s name and record ONE line of new dialog each time saying “Oh boy, it’s (person’s) birthday – wah-hoo!”

So that’s what I did: I created a generic script that would fit all birthday scenarios, then used my green screen to film myself running through a mock-up level of Super Mario Bros. that ended with me showing up at the birthday castle. After I walked in the castle, fireworks would show up displaying the person’s name, followed by another screen with a personal message to the birthday person supplied by the person who ordered it.

The video itself, from concept to editing, took about 12 hours. However, once the video was done, that was IT. I could finish any new videos in less than 10 minutes because, aside from plugging in the person’s name, the video wouldn’t have to be re-created for each order.

In both these instances, I’ve been able to cut back the time it takes me to make money from these ventures, all because I figured out how to work smarter, not harder. There’s so many other things you could be doing besides work, so it makes sense to find ways to complete your responsibilities AND make decent money, in ways that will give you more time to do the things you REALLY want to do!

Ah, learning to earn more money working less time… now THAT’S something to be thankful for!

– Aaron P. Taylor

Get my NEW book, “Be Thankful: 1001 Things to Be Thankful For, Volume 1” Today! Click HERE for details!

#0160: eBooks! (Get the “1001 Things” eBook Today!)

Along with the development of technology has come the realization that the things we humans used to destroy and/or put to waste in order to create other things can now be made in ways where said previous destruction is no longer necessary.

Take, for instance, books.

Back in the days of old, loggers would have to go out and kill thousands, or even millions, of trees in order to supply publishers with enough paper to create the large catalog of books necessary to satisfy their readers’ thirst. Great for people who like to read books, bad for the animals who no longer could use those trees as their home, and bad for humans who like breathing in this thing called “oxygen” trees help produce so we can continue living. (It’s called “photosynthesis,” people!)

But then, somewhere around the late 90s/early ’00s when computers started gaining in popularity, someone somewhere realized that people would probably be just as willing to read books off something other than paper. Heck, they might even be willing to read them electronically – after all, if people are surfing websites all the time reading article after article, it stands to reason they could use that reading time to devour a story with a beginning, middle and end to it!

Soon, electronic devices came out, built specifically so that people could download something on them that had the same stories as those found in books, but in electronic form. And thus, was born one of the greatest creations of the 21st century…

The eBook! (i.e. electronic book)

Upon its creation, millions of trees were instantly saved from the chopping block (pun intended). No longer would you have to flip through bent up pages that were worn and torn, or open up a book from the 1930s that smelled like mold and spiderwebs. Now, people could either download a book onto their computers or buy an electronic reading device (like a Kindle or Nook) to get their reading on.

Best of all, a person can collect a huge library of eBooks and fit them all in ONE place – a much better idea than having a bunch of books sitting around one’s house collecting dust and making the place smell like old paper!

Ah, eBooks… now THAT’S something to be thankful for!

– Aaron P. Taylor

By the way, the first set of 100 blogs from this website can now be found in eBook form! Get my NEW book, “Be Thankful: 1001 Things to Be Thankful For, Volume 1” today!

#0159: Water! (Suggested by Milen Alem)

It’s the most abundant resource on the entire planet next to oxygen. It is used in a wide variety of different ways. And, without it, there would be no way for any living organization to survive…

That’s right, I’m talking about WATER!!

So, what do we know about water? Well, it’s a clear liquid; it’s a combination of two parts hydrogen and one part oxygen; and it has no real taste or odor (unless you live in California, New York or New Jersey, where it ends up tasting like metal pipe and ocean sewage – am I right? Am I right??)

Water has a lot of uses – so many, in fact, that without it this planet wouldn’t survive more than ONE day, if that! Here are just a few things water’s used for:

• Drinking
• Plant food
• Washing things
• Growing things
• Fighting fires
• Cleaning
• Cooking
• Balloon fights
• Ice/Freezing things
• Clearing up the atmosphere from dust via rain
• Making it possible for fish and other water creatures to live
• Generating electricity
• A prime ingredient in every beverage on earth
• Flushing human waste away from our living places
• Filling in swimming pools (what else could they be filled with? Anyone wanna try swimming around in dirt? Rock beds? Wood?)
• Turning sand into clay
• Farming
• Cooling metals when turning them into steel
• Important element in many daily items (shampoo, lotions, chemicals, drugs, etc.)
• Transportation (i.e. boats, ferry’s)
• Helping the body produce saliva & prevent lip chapping

And this is just the tip of the iceberg – which, ironically enough, you also need water for to produce!

Ah, water… now THAT’S something to be thankful for!

– Aaron P. Taylor

#0158: The Willingness of People to Donate Money to Fund… Well, Anything

Some friends of mine wanted to shoot a web series pilot for a show called “Very Smart Brothas,” based off the very popular internet blog of the same name. In order to make it look professional like a TV show, they needed $20,000.

Another friend of mine is a playwright who wanted to produce a play, “Blackula: Dead and Loving it,” and needed $2000 to see his vision come to life.

In both these instances, neither of these entities had the money on hand they needed to get their projects completed. So, what did they do? They started fund-raising campaigns online in hopes that other people would donate money to them so they could pay for the stuff they needed.

Thanks to the internet, it’s getting easier and easier to raise money for your passion projects. Websites like Kickstarter and Indiegogo allow people to post up the details of their projects and ask that people donate money. What’s also nice is people are given certain intensives (set by you) for donating different amounts – for example, you can set it up where everyone who donates $20 can get a credit on your film project, or receive a signed copy of your new CD for donating $80… whatever you decide to give as incentives is totally up to you.

But what makes fundraising thankful-worthy is the fact that people are actually willing to give out money to others (whom they may or may not know) in the first place!

People are always complaining about how people are only out to help themselves, or are selfish; and yet, we forget that part of what makes us feel good about ourselves is being able to feel like we’re contributing to society in some way, no matter how big or small.

I think part of it is that people are persuaded by seeing how passionate others are about wanting to reach their goal. Whether it’s an indie artist wanting to make their first professional-sounding album, or the Red Cross wanting to raise money to help victims of a hurricane, that passion exudes so forcefully that it moves people to give.

Another factor is that many people secretly have their own goals and desires they wish they could succeed at. Due to life circumstances – work, kids, other responsibilities – they don’t feel able to do the thing they truly WANT to do. Therefore, when they see someone else going for what they want, they realize that their donations acts as an encouragement for them to reach their goal. They figure, “If I can’t do what I want to do, I can at LEAST help someone else achieve their dream.”

Regardless of the reason, the willingness people have to donate can have a HUGE impact on whether or not a project gets completed. This was the case with the two examples mentioned above: in both instances, they were able to raise ALL the money they needed to pay for their projects – and they couldn’t have done it without the help of many people who viewed what they wanted to do and said: “Eh, sure, I’ll donate to that!”

Ah, the willingness of people to donate money to fund… well, anything – now THAT’S something to be thankful for!

– Aaron P. Taylor

*NOTE* The very first volume of “1001 Things to Be Thankful For” will be coming out on Monday, November 19th! Available in eBook and paperback form, it will make for the PERFECT holiday gift!

#0157: Finding Ways to Make Smart Passive Income

Don’t you love going to work everyday? Working 8  to 16 hour days at a desk or out in the fields so that you can help someone else make millions of dollars while you get to feed off the table scraps they give you in the form of a salary?

Doesn’t the idea of having to over-exude yourself for years and years, day in and day out, just to get some spare change excite you?

Yeah… me neither.

Which is why it’s a good idea to set things up that allow you to make SMART PASSIVE INCOME!

For those not familiar with the lingo, passive income is money that you make even when you’re not physically there to do anything to earn it.  It could come from a variety of different things, from investments in stocks and real estate, to products you’ve made that people can buy from you.

The hardest part about smart passive income is the set-up. You have to either create and/or do in-depth research on the thing that you’re going to be earning this passive income from. However, once you’ve figured out a way to make a profit at something, you will find that, once everything is set up, the right investment/product/idea can produce a MASSIVE amount of cash for you, more than you earn at your job.

Right now, I have a few things set up to make me income while I’m asleep. For example, I sell music on iTunes. People buy my songs/albums in the store, and I get a check from them each month. The hard part was actually creating the music; however, once it’s recorded and sent off to iTunes that’s all the work that’s required. Aside from me advertising my stuff, I don’t have to physically be anywhere selling my music because it’s already set up for me.

An easy way to make smart passive income is to set up a blog site where you can sell information via eBooks, podcasts, or affiliate marketing. I’m just now figuring out how to do all this stuff, and there are websites online that can help YOU find your passive income niche.

The best site I’ve found for this so far is www.SmartPassiveIncome.com.  The owner of the site, Pat Flynn, provides blog after blog of FREE material on how to set up a blog, make podcasts, set up affiliates, and tells you all the tools he’s used to make websites that help him rake in TENS OF THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS each month. (He also does a blog at the beginning of each month telling you how he made these tens of thousands of dollars from the previous month – how cool is THAT?!?)

Regardless of how you get it done, it’s definitely worth your while to set up a way to get in some smart passive income. Why waste the next 30 or 40 years slaving away for someone else when you could be vacationing AND making money at the same time?!?

Ah, finding ways to make smart passive income… now THAT’S something to be thankful for!

– Aaron P. Taylor

*NOTE* The very first volume of “1001 Things to Be Thankful For” will be coming out on Monday, November 19th! Available in eBook and paperback form, it will make for the PERFECT holiday gift!

#0156: Grandparents!

And now, the top 5 reasons why grandparents rock:

1. THEY CAN COOK.

I don’t know how or why, but it seems to be a rule that any adult that becomes a grandparent has tons of good recipes they can whip up. They can make just about EVERYTHING, from Thanksgiving dinner to desserts, popular drink choices, biscuits, etc. You name it, they can usually cook it.

And they rarely ever have to use things like measuring cups to figure out the right amounts of ingredients to put in. Somehow, they just know – but regardless, it still comes out tasting like heaven!

2. THEY’RE NICER THAN YOUR PARENTS.

Let’s face it: if you’re a kid, there comes a point where your parents just seem plain ol’ MEAN. They’re always yelling at you to clean up your room, or to stop yelling inside the house… and yet, your grandparents don’t seem to do any of that.

In fact, it feels like they let you get away with just about anything! You could be jumping up and down on the bed while body-slamming your brother into the sheets, and grandma and granddad will be right there laughing along side you! They let you stay up a little bit later, eat a bit more junk food, and play around more than your “stern” parents do!

3. THEY GIVE YOU A MUCH NEEDED PARENTING BREAK.

And if you’re an adult, your kids’ grandparents – i.e. your mom and dad – are great babysitters to have on call whenever you need a break from your rugrats. You trust them because… well, they raised you, and you’re still alive and (relatively) unscathed, right? And rarely do you have to bribe them to watch after their own grand kids – the “love” factor is already built in, and since they’ve already been through the parenting phase they usually understand the importance of needing time away from your kids.

4. THEY HAVE PRETTY COOL STORIES TO TELL.

Most kids will hear their grandparents tell stories and… well, be bored out of their minds. However, every so often they’ll be told a story about something that’s actually pretty cool – and surprising. For me, anytime my grandparents would tell me some story that involved them doing things I wouldn’t imagine an old person doing (even though they weren’t old when they did it) got me interested.

For example: my Mom’s dad used to work at a car factory. One time, while he was fixing up a car, the chains broke and the car landed right on his foot. However, he didn’t feel any pain from it until hours later, after he had been in the hospital for sometime. Can you imagine a car landing on you and NOT screaming right away?? Pretty cool story, huh?

5. IF YOU LISTEN, THEY’LL GIVE YOU VALUABLE LESSONS YOU CAN APPLY TO YOUR LIFE.

They’ve lived a long life and have had many experiences, so you have much to gain from listening to them. Yes, they may talk slower than you care to listen to, and yes, they may seem out of touch with lessons that, at first, don’t seem to connect with today’s world…

But if you take the time to listen and let the things they’re telling you simmer, you’ll find that much of what they’re trying to teach you is true and relevant. Even something as simple as telling you to be nice to your neighbor, or to go after what you want, can have much more meaning coming from people who are old enough to know how important what they’re telling you really is.

Ah, Grandparents… now THAT’S something to be thankful for!

– Aaron P. Taylor