Destination Weddings

The Importance Of Keywords In Your Online Business

There is no denying the importance of keywords used in any content that is placed on the Web. Keywords allow you and everyone else who uses the Web the ability to find what you are looking for. If you need just one bit of information, you likely would spend countless hours in research trying to find it if it was not for keywords.

As an Internet marketing professional, how do keywords relate to your own business? Usually, if you are using the Web as a marketing tool in any way, keywords are an important component.

We also compare it to the importance of quality content. Is it possible to have great content and still have great keywords in your final copy? It is possible, and in fact, it is necessary to do this if you wish to have a successful website or blog. Before getting into these details, let’s start at the beginning.

WHAT ARE KEYWORDS AND WHERE TO USE THEM-

What are keywords? These are words individuals will type into a search box when they are looking for something online. For example, let us say you are looking to purchase a table. You get online, go to the search box, and type in the word “table” into the search box. The search engines start looking for websites that relate to your search. Within seconds, there is a long list or results in front of you (called the search engine results page) that you can choose from.

Now, on the flip side of the coin, if you owned a website selling tables, you would want to attract this person to your website. To do so, you need to have your website displayed on the search engine results page. To do this, you need to have the most appropriate keywords on your website. So, for example, you need to have the world “table” used properly on your website for the search engine results to actually see your website as valuable to this search.

SEO-

Using keywords will help you prove your value to the search engines. The key is to know what helps you to rank well and what may not help you. Less than a decade ago, people took advantage of the keywords. Pages and pages of websites had virtually nothing but keywords on them. The problem is, when a website is packed with just keywords, it is likely not to be packed with information.

Here is an example to consider: John designs a website to attract visitors who he hopes will visit the affiliate pages he is linking to. So, he plans to put lots of keywords on his page. That way, his website will rank well, right?

There are two problems with this process. First, there is little chance that anyone who comes to such a page will feel it valuable enough to stick around and click onto affiliate links.

Second, Google and other search engines have made significant changes to their complex algorithms. Websites that have too many keywords on them will be ranked lower in the search engine results pages.

The key is to know what the actual best percentages are. Of course, Google is not going to tell you just how many keywords to use. They do offer a lot of in-depth information that you can use, though. It is this information that you want to rely on to get the results you are looking for. Google is not the bad guy: They want to provide individuals who use their search engines with the best websites online to solve their inquiries.

WHERE TO USE KEYWORDS -

Where should you use keywords? Keywords should be found in virtually anything you place online. Here are some places to use them.

 Place them into each article on your website.  Place them on your home page and sales pages.  Place keywords in your blog posts.  Use keywords in your product descriptions.  Use keywords on your website and in your blog tags and headings.  Use them on contact pages, FAQ pages, and just about any page on your website.

Doing this is essential to getting a high page ranking in the search engine result pages. Yet, you do not have to make this a complex process. In fact, it is often best to put keywords in the back of your mind while writing content for your website. Write what really matters and then come back to keywords later.

CONTENT IS KING -

One of the earliest phrases used still stands true. “Content is king” when it comes to Internet marketing. If you are putting up a page on your website, you want the person who visits your website to say, “Wow, this is great. I’m bookmarking this page to come back here often.”

The best way to do this is to include quality information on each of the pages of content you provide to your readers. In a few minutes, we will go through the process of providing quality content. Before doing so, consider what would happen if you did not have good information on your website.

1. You use keywords on your pages, but fill them with fluff content. Your reader gets to your page and thinks, “this does not help me,” and moves on.

2. The reader gets to your website and finds errors. You can no longer be trusted and they leave your site.

3. The affiliate programs you are working to earn money from visit your website. They find it poorly designed with little information. They decide that you are not a good fit for their company. They no longer offer you membership in the affiliate program.

4. You get no inbound links to your website. Inbound links are those which are pointing to your website. Google finds these to be valuable when ranking websites. If another website (or several of them) find your website to be a good resource, they definitely will rank your website higher. But, other websites will not do this if your content is poor in quality.

5. You make little to no money at your website since it is poorly ranked and is not attracting any repeat visitors.

Content for your website needs to be well-written and organized. It needs to be informative and useful to anyone who will visit and read it.

BEST STRATEGIES KEYWORDS AND CONTENT

Now that you have the basics about keyword usage and the importance of content, how do you bring the two things together so that your website will prosper?

There is no direct formula for doing so, but you can find some real results if you implement a number of known methods to help you. Google itself often provides a great deal of suggestions in terms of keyword usage. In your balancing act for quality content and keyword ranking, keep the following strategies in mind.

GO WITH QUALITY CONTENT FIRST

First things first, write quality content for your website. Nothing else will be as important to the success of your business has having quality content on it. There are several ways you can do this successfully.

1. Use factual information You want individuals to come to your website knowing that what you have to say is real and valuable to them. Therefore, each page should contain factual information. Before you post a blog post or an article, verify the information you are going to present. For example, going back to the example about the table search, be sure that you are providing factual information on the wood type, size, history or other topic.

2. Make it interesting Coming to a website filled with lines and lines of information that is boring is going to be so dull people will leave. Without spending too much time in the process, add some statistics. Use descriptive language that paints the picture for the reader, “these mahogany tables are designed in the style used by Ancient Romans… ”

3. Become a resource One of the best ways to ensure you have quality information on your website is to make your website the one-stop shop for all information on that niche. For the reader, a website that contains all of the information they need is going to be highly valuable. You may provide information about the history of tables, how to use tables… tips for staining them… and so on, for example. These items help you to become the resource these individuals need to have.

4. Be the expert For those who play a role in your website (and this is a very good thing) be sure that people who visit your website know that you are the expert in the field. You should stand out as being the authority. You do this when you provide valuable content to them. Do the hard research and find those interesting subjects to talk about. Answer questions. Relate to your customer base.

When you put these items together, the end result is very simple. You have a website that is packed with great content that people can naturally benefit from reading.

Chances are also good that you also have a website that is filled with quality keywords. After all, if you are writing about your topic and exploring all areas of it, you likely are using the most important words related to it. Still, you should still do some research and get better quality keywords into your work.

USING KEYWORDS PROPERLY -

There is no better way to rank your quality content in the search engines than to use keywords properly. It is often the case that website owners see this as a step they can skip. Instead of doing the research to find the right keywords for their websites, they think they already know what they are. This is often not the case.

FINDING THE RIGHT KEYWORDS -

Finding the right keywords is a process that often involves researching using any of the free keyword search tools available. You can also use Google’s service to help you to do this.

BUILD YOUR OWN EMPIRE-

Nothing is more inspiring than the person building his or her own fortune. You don’t get lucky just by sitting at home; everyone needs to step outside their comfort zone in order to achieve extraordinary things. In this age of technology, thousands of options are available at your doorstep, but you need to make a wise decision regarding your career choice. Don’t follow the herd, follow your passion and it will pay you back.

SELECT YOUR GENRE-

It is important to select your niche because getting specialization in a particular field is important to attract clients. Freelancing is not about doing any work, just for getting paid. If you want a stable career in freelancing field, you need to be an expert in the particular field of your interest, which obviously will take time but provide you with a promising career with higher income.

BRAND YOUR SERVICES-

In order to build a rapport in the market, you need to be very specific about the services you are going to offer. It sets up the frame for your business and how your clients are going to perceive it. Keep it simple and approachable. Stick to your niche, because when you start working as a freelancer, you will get many opportunities in different fields which could be tempting, but in long run, it is just defocusing you from your niche.

DEVELOP YOUR OWN WEBSITE-

A separate website of your work is one of the strategies to attract clients from different areas. At your website, you can show off your expertise and experience. For being a successful freelancer, you need to have the most attracting portfolios and what else could be a better option than having your own website. Mention your details like your degrees, diplomas, certificates, contact number and email address to become more approachable for orders, collaborations, etc. You can bid for higher prices for your work if you maintain consistency in providing quality content to your clients. It is often quoted in the business world that one satisfied customer brings ten new customers with him or her.

HOW CAN A FREELANCING WEBSITE BE YOUR SAVIOUR?

These websites are basically designed to provide a platform for artists to present their work to the world and bridging the gap between them. Once you register yourself with them and mention your niche, they help in getting the work related to your niche with satisfactory payment. Some of the freelancing websites provide you with a built-in security feature.

GOLDMINE FOR OUTSOURCERS-

These freelancing websites are gold mines for finding a suitable client for their work. A large number of service providers are available, you can select the best on the basis of his or her expertise. For outsourcing work you need to have trust on your client and on the basis of ratings and reviews which are available on these freelancing websites, you may choose the one you find most suitable for the job.

You have to spend money to make money, but you don’t have to go broke to get your SEO in place. This is a huge stressor for many businesses because on one hand, they realize they must have it in motion. On the other hand, they also know they can’t make their business as successful as it should be without those services. It doesn’t have to be a financial drain on the business.

Finding affordable SEO services is a wise decision, as it will get you on the path to where you need to be with it. Don’t fool yourself into thinking you can handle it all in house. While you may have a good understanding of the basics, you need an expert who can create a customized strategy for you to benefit from. There are many elements involved and they are all intertwined.

Types of Services

Take your time to talk to providers and find out what they offer. There are many types of services, and you need to find out what that umbrella will cover for your needs. Many of the best affordable SEO services have various packages you can choose from. Don’t be intimidated to share with them you are concerned about cost. They need to know this information.

How much the incorporate at once and how they branch out will depend on your budget. Social media is a great place to start. The outreach is very good and affordable SEO services can get your noticed on them. As you start to generate more income due to the exposure though, consider increasing your budget for those services to grow.

Flexibility

This is why you also need to seek out affordable SEO services which are flexible. You budget and your needs can drastically change over the span of time. Avoid getting locked into something that will hinder your progress or cost you money you shouldn’t be spending. Knowing you can talk to them when changes need to be made should be important to you.

Yet the communication should be a two-way street. They should share data with you and engage you in long term solutions. Some of them will need to be broken down into several steps, but you should always be in aware of what is taking place and why it is necessary. Make sure you are able to identify how they are working for you all the time rather than being stagnant.

Compare Providers

Spend time identifying the best affordable SEO services and what you can expect. Read information from other customers to find out what they were pleased with and what they felt was lacking. The goal should be to generate some leads and then follow up on them. Most will offer you a free consultation so you have nothing to lose by taking to them.

Make sure your provider of affordable SEO services has integrity, creativity, and qualified individuals to deliver those services. The money you spend needs to be able to help you grow your business and keep it moving forward. You need to continue to be seen by your previous customers as well as drawing in new customers.

SEO can be complicated, but it is essential, so you can’t cut corners with it. However, you need to find your provider carefully so you can forget a long-term relationship with them. You don’t want to have regrets about who you hired or how you spent that money. You need results you can count on every step of the way. Your business is too important to settle for less!

We have entered an era where business is no longer limited to where you are established. That’s right! With the power of the internet at hand, anyone and everyone can start a business online and help one’s business go global instantaneously. Of course you’ll first need to get your website designed by a web designer and most importantly have a professional SEO company by your side.

However, one of the many mistake business owners tend to make is underestimate the importance of Search Engine Optimization (SEO). And because of this they fail to reach out to their target audience.

The reason as to why this happens is really simple. When you search for a product online, a search engine will provide you with multiple websites on each page, however the need to search is quickly erased with links on the first page. So, if your website isn’t on the first page… your business can’t boom online. So what does an SEO company do? A good SEO company helps your website rank among the top 5.

Even if you happen to have a great domain name or for the matter have a great web designer working for your website design, if you don’t have someone for SEO… the end result would be that your site will never reach your target audience.

Which is why, a business owner needs to understand that when he goes online he won’t be the only person that’s selling that particular product to the masses. There’ll be millions of small and big business that are there to deliver the same.

If by now you are curious as to how a three letter word could be so useful for your business. Here’s how it works. SEO works on the principle of words and phrases that your target group uses while searching for a product.

Let’s suppose you are an online retailer of multiple items. And your customer types in his search engine-
- Vendetta masks

Now here’s where the magic happens, if you have ‘Vendetta’, ‘masks’ and ‘Vendetta masks’ as keywords set to your website. Your site will not only be at page 1 but will be above the Wikipedia article of the mask’s history.

So you see having an SEO company working for you can help you beat your competition as well as help you stay at the top. If you are planning to take your business online it’s crucial that you find yourself a good company that delivers amazing SEO services.

Our businesses also differ in terms of interface with clients. If you do “business to business” transactions, the number of people you interact with on a daily basis may differ from someone whose business relies on interacting with consumers. Appointments may be more practical in some instances than others. You have to tailor-make how you manage access to your particular situation if you are to eliminate distractions. Having said that it is important to note that some people do not mind spending the whole day at the office entertaining friends, visitors, and casual acquaintances dropping into the office whenever they feel like it. Do not be that kind of person. It sets the wrong kind of example to junior staff and can harm one’s productivity because these people take up time that you do not have and besides you want to cultivate a professional environment.

The demands of the day are enough to fill the eight working hours available unless if you tend to stay back and play catch up. How do you stay competitive in the market if there is no separation between work and play? Anybody serious about success and achieving effective results will put boundaries that are clear so that there is no confusion. Entrepreneurs are more susceptible to this especially when the workplace is easily accessible. The fact that you are your own boss even puts more responsibility on you to maintain self-discipline and self – management. I have written a whole book called, “Achieve More through Self – Leadership. In it I walk you through the practicalities of how you can get better results through managing self.

Appointments are an important way of not only managing time but managing life. They help you become more structured and productive. Some people seem not to be able to honour their appointments. I once attended a job interview that was supposed to start at 10:30am. By 11:30am there had been no communication about what was happening or when the supposed job interview was going to take place. I decided at the point that this company was probably not good enough for me to join because if you don’t respect people’s time you probably do not respect them.

You may be saying appointments are just not for me yet you never rock up at the doctor, dentist, lawyer or hairstylist without an appointment. Why is that the case? Because you simply won’t see the dentist without an appointment. They have given you conditions acceptable to them. We tell the world around us how to treat us by what we allow.

Some people are always available when you want to see them. If you are always free to see people at short notice, you are probably not that organized. The one who owns a diary will manage the one who doesn’t own one. Why? Because the one without the diary is always available, even though he is very likely to forget important meetings, dates and engagements because of a lack of organization. I used to have a boss who kept a diary and whatever you promised to do in the line of work, he would write down, including the day and time you said he would have it by. You would of-course forget because you didn’t record it like he did and when the time to deliver comes, guess who would be found wanting. It was then that I decided that I do not commit to an action that I am not willing to write down because, what’s written gets done!

You may be saying, “what if my business feeds off the “walk-ins? The fact that your business relies on walk – in customers should not be an excuse for disorder. Sometimes those who drop in unannounced may indeed be potential customers, suppliers, cold-calling salespeople, and even worthwhile business contacts. There is nothing wrong if the call is beneficial to you and your business but I believe there must be a structure and way of doing things that follows certain pre-set principles. I remember seeing a poster in an office that said “if you don’t have anything to do please don’t do it here”. It’s humorous yes, but true. Appointments help to structure your day and helps you allocate time to what’s important. This means you can focus on your most important asset: the paying customer. There is nothing as bad as walking into a place wanting to do business and staff are inattentive because there is just a demand on their time. I am more understanding if the personnel are not busy entertaining social visits at work.

In conclusion, you know your business situation better than any of us. All we can do is make recommendations that will enable efficiency that leads to growth. Some of you may actually need a personal assistant who will put order in your office and focus on the things you are not willing to do that will enable to focus on the highly value things you ought to do such as running a business.

Do you think successful people are just plain lucky?

Successful people did not become successful because they were lucky.

They did not achieve success by accident. Being at the right place at the right time, meeting relevant people, reading the appropriate book, did not come about accidentally or by luck.

Luck is brought about by Labour Under Correct Knowledge.

Successful people prepared themselves. Instead of giving up on anything they started and wanted to achieve they got stronger by learning more.

Success is a methodical, orderly and deliberate process of deciding what you want to do with your life, what are the steps that you need to undertake to get you there, and lastly what you will do once you get there.

One of the most important aspects, if not the most important aspect to success, is the ability to visualise your successful outcome and stay focused on it until you achieve it.

“Imagination is more important than knowledge, knowledge is limited.” – Albert Einstein

Successful people understood the potential power behind knowledge, yet they also understood that, for them to close the gap between where they are and where they wanted to be, they would have to piece together the enigma that is most often referred to as “life”.

They had to build a picture, a vision, of success in their mind, and then go about taking action on creating that envisioned life.

In much the same way, you have to be serious about your present and future, you need to have the knowledge that is required so you, too, may close the gap: you need to be and remain determined to devote yourself to taking massive action to build your business of succeeding in life.

You, too, will need to see the end, your dream and destiny that you desire in your mind’s eye. It is up to you to take the necessary and relevant action to make it all happen. It’s just like going to the doctor with a particular health problem.

The doctor may prescribe a medication for you to take four times a day, yet he cannot be there with you to ensure that you are taking the medication.

It comes back to deciding to be responsible for your life.

Have you noticed how it all stems from that one attitude? Being responsible for your own life.

Your success, your being responsible 100% for you to live your dream life starts here.

When you accept 100% responsibility for yourself and your current life situation, you will have the power to move towards those things you truly desire in life: which is success in all areas of your life.

This life-changing article is about possibilities and opportunities, knowledge and tools. It will help expose your unique course in life.

It will inspire, support and motivate you to excel, to do what successful people do, to have all that successful people have, and to become a shining example of a successful person.

Here, you’re not being told what you couldn’t do, instead you are being told to shoot for the stars. And above all, you are being shown how to shoot for those stars.

“A person is what he thinks about all day long.” – Emerson

Interesting thought, wouldn’t you think? So much so, it’s worth repeating: “A person is what he thinks about all day long.”

Success and happiness cannot happen if you possess the same old thoughts and beliefs.

If you do not change your mind, if you do not get rid of the unsupportive thoughts and beliefs, you will inevitably remain stuck in your old ways. Not much, if anything, will change.

Let’s give you a quick overview on how change comes about:

Your BEHAVIOUR, how you act (or perhaps do not act), controls your success or failure. Your ability to attain high levels of success is dependent upon your actions and behaviours. Your results are the outcome of your behaviour. Now let’s consider where your behaviours come from and what controls them?

Your FEELINGS command your behaviour. Every action that you take is first filtered through your feelings that reside in your subconscious mind. How you feel about something determines what you do and how well you do it. So where do your feelings come from?

Your ATTITUDES create and influence your feelings. Your attitude is your perspective from which you view life. Whatever attitude you have about anything will affect how you feel, which, in turn, affects how you act. Where do your attitudes come from?

Your BELIEFS create, control and influence your attitudes. What you believe about anything will determine your attitude about it, which will create your feelings, and then which will direct your behaviour and action. Belief patterns are so powerful that two people who are in the same situation could perceive things completely differently. It only requires us to believe what we see and how we see it. We all have thousands of beliefs – big and small. And where do your beliefs come from?

Your THOUGHTS create, control and influence your beliefs. Your thoughts are real and are immensely powerful. Everything you accept from the outside world and everything you feed yourself from within is a product of your thoughts. Everything starts as a thought.

So, it goes without saying you need to learn to control your thoughts. And when you do, you will automatically control your beliefs, your attitudes, your feelings and, consequently, your behaviour and actions.

The big secret to success:

Learn to control your thoughts and you will influence your behaviours and actions. It’s all a mind-set. That’s what we’ve been saying all along.

Success is predictable and is not achieved by accident.

Have the mind-set of the successful people and you will achieve success. Believe and it is yours!

“There is a great future in front of you, you can leave your past behind.” – Joel Osteen

Science of success experts have concluded that the brain is a goal-setting organism.

That is fantastic news for us: for whatever goal we give to our subconscious mind, it will work for us day and night, 24/7, to achieve it for us; to make it a reality.

The principal breakthrough that scientists made was that we do not need to waste our precious time and effort trying to change old thoughts and behaviours: we just simply create new ones.

And the other discovery they made was that we can continue to create new thoughts, new memories, new behaviours, new skills, and learn new things for as long as we are alive on this earth.

Now, with the new discoveries in recent years, it has been scientifically proven that our capacity to achieve and succeed literally has no limits.

Our brain has the capacity to continually learn during our entire lifetime.

Our brain can form new thoughts, can have new memories, and can learn new things by the millions, no matter what your age is. By the millions.

That’s how many new things we can learn, that’s how many new skills we can learn, that’s how many new thoughts we can have, that’s how many new behaviours we can adopt.

This is encouraging because there is no limit on your capacity to achieve new things.

No limits whatsoever for the human brain to learn, memorise, develop, achieve and perform at higher levels than ever imagined. It makes no difference what your age is: you are capable of learning anything new that you want to learn.

That adds to what we spoke of earlier: no more excuses.

“The future belongs to those who prepare for it today.” – Malcolm X

Your brain has the capacity to achieve way beyond what was ever thought possible. So now is the time to break out of your limited thinking and start dreaming big and imagining unlimited possibilities.

Becoming successful is not impossible.

It is a choice you make through a decision. Every day, step-by-step, you may climb the mountain of success if you’ve decided to do so, if you’re committed to accomplish what the others think impossible.

Design your future now.

Prepare to receive what you desire.

Thanks to the phenomenal advances made in cognitive science and the development of NLP (Neuro-Linguistic Programming), personal change, personal transformation, has come a very long way.

In fact, personal growth is no longer a mystery.

NLP has brought to light that change, transformation and growth can be fast, reliable, and even fun. It has shown us that we do not need to spend thousands of hours slaving away to increase our creative-thinking abilities.

By practicing a few simple exercises and applications, you can start your creative juices flowing, and you may even amaze yourself at the quality and quantity of good ideas that you can come up with to expedite your success.

It can allow you to achieve something you seek within days and months as opposed to years and decades. That’s the power of the progress science has made on how the brain works, and also how you can have your mind to be your best ally in achieving anything you want.

Learn to live as you like by no longer living as you dislike.

Are you ready to get on the road to success and fulfilment?

Bear in mind, much like everything else in life, success requires practice and massive, consistent action.

“Success doesn’t mean the absence of failures; it means the attainment of ultimate objectives. It means winning the war, not every battle.” – Edwin C Bliss

Do you feel as if you’ve outgrown your circle of friends? Perhaps you do not feel safe or understood any longer. There may be fewer and fewer things you can share with people in your habitual circle, and it leaves you feeling lonely or isolated. If so, you are not alone. Welcome to one of the core dynamics of continuous growth!

As we continue to evolve, many of us struggle with a sense of not quite fitting in with our traditional community or tribe: we may have expanded or changed beyond the borders of tribal norms, and no longer find the same sense of belonging there. Other members may have tightened the tribal rules to foster a sense of security. As a result, we may feel a sense of disconnection or alienation.

In truth, each one of us belongs to many tribes simultaneously: there is your original tribe – the family you were born into – and then there are all the communities of choice you have joined: your work tribe, your social circles, your faith-based community, your neighborhood, and more. These communities are not static; they are in continuous flux because they consist of individuals who are in continuous states of change. When there is a lot of change happening in either the individual or the community, a sense of dissonance results.

How are we to deal with this? First, it is important to recognize that tribal allegiances were historically forged for survival. They were adapted over the course of centuries to ensure the safety and survival of the group. Survival required that individuation be sacrificed for the trade-off of security.

In modern society, the tables are flipped. Whether we enjoy it or not, change is essential for survival at every level of being. The pace of change is driven by technological advances and happens with increasing rapidity: sociologists estimate that more change has taken place in society over the course of the past 100 years, than in the totality of the previous 6,000 years. Individual adaptation now is a requirement for survival, and the pace of individual change does not always match the pace at which our various tribal communities evolve. The resulting dissonance can cause intense friction and pain.

Dissonance also results from confusion between the concepts of ‘connection’ and ‘community.’ We tend to equate one with the other, when they really relate to different qualities. Connection relates to connectivity: the objective physical technology or media that enables us to build community, but which does not represent the quality of that community. Connectivity simply offers the opportunity to connect with others through internet, texting, phone calls, or any other social networking options.

Community is the result of building relationship through meaningful interaction over time. There is no shortcut; it is a process that develops when bonds of trust and intimacy are nurtured and honored.

And here lies a caveat: When we confuse connectivity with community, we depersonalize the sacred nature of true community and start relating to people as objects. Instead of developing intimacy over time, we collect friends on social network sites or try to buy people’s allegiance. Yet friending is simply an act of connecting; it does not create intimacy.

In fact, social experiments indicate that technologically dominated connectivity results in alienation and social collapse over time. In a groundbreaking social experiment conducted by Josh Harris, one of the founders of social networking on the internet, he found that the more people’s private lives were exposed by 24/7 technology, the more their sense of intimacy and relationship deteriorated until the community collapsed in violence and self-destructive behavior.

It is time to revisit our concepts of community so we can create tribes that offer a true sense of intimacy and belonging.

In his 1987 book, The Different Drum: Community Making and Peace, psychologist M. Scott Peck described several core characteristics of true community. Beyond the obvious components of inclusivity, commitment and participatory consensus, Peck pointed out the quality of embracing diversity through realism. When each member contributes their unique viewpoint from a place of humility and goodwill, the community benefits from a broader perspective in which to better grasp the full context of a situation. In other words, mutual tolerance helps members to embrace one another’s different viewpoints as an integral part of the whole, instead of imposing a forced compliance to groupthink or cohesion.

In an environment like this, members experience and express compassion and respect for one another. They allow others to share their vulnerability, to learn and grow, and to express who they truly are. When conflict arises, they learn to resolve it with wisdom and grace. Members listen to and respect each others’ gifts, accept each others’ limitations, celebrate their differences, and commit to find solutions together rather than to fight against each other. Indeed, the true spirit of community is the spirit of peace, love, wisdom and power. The source of this spirit may be seen as an outgrowth of the collective self or as the manifestation of a Higher Will.

Does this description of community sound spiritual to you? It is indeed, because Spirit is the common denominator among all of us, regardless of how separate we feel from others.

As human beings, we often experience a socio-economic sense of separation from others because of different opinions, beliefs, expectations, language, culture, or interests, since each one of us expresses these in a way uniquely different from anyone else. And still, we continue to differentiate! In this ongoing process, we continue to evolve or devolve in response to life. A community that felt like a good fit last year may no longer work today; the places where we felt embraced, now may suffocate us. Over the course of a lifetime, we can expect to outgrow and change allegiances to many of the tribal communities we once belonged to.

And yet, when we transcend the layers of physical appearance, mental beliefs and socio-economic conditioning, we find in the presence of Spirit a common denominator in everyone around us. Perhaps it is time to expand our tribal definitions to embrace a spiritual community that includes all of mankind as children of God.

Mother Teresa admonished her nuns to see Jesus in every leper they encountered, to find His presence as they looked into the eyes of the homeless. When we can look past the issues that divide us to find omnipresent Divinity in each other, we will uncover the foundations of true community.

Spiritual community transcends all socio-economic borders, beliefs and backgrounds. It is inclusive because it operates on voluntary self-responsibility and mutual compassion, and its doors are open to everyone.

Building this type of community takes time: time to listen, to hear, to respond and to participate. Take a few moments to read the description of spiritual community again. Then, make time in your life to foster that type of connection with people who matter to you. You are one of the architects of community in your life, and you can participate in building a tribe where you belong.

What would happen to you if your home life was more organized than it is right now? Can work-life balance be achieved? What are the tools at our disposal? Could scheduling appointments and keeping them at home help us save time and prioritize?

What is the challenge we face? I sometimes find that time spent at home can be the busiest time, especially in the times we live in. Imagine someone working from home, home-schooling children, and sometimes even doing a side hustle. Imagine also the full-time home-based entrepreneur. How do they manage to do all they need to do in a day?. We are living in a time when many entrepreneurs and even company employees have adopted work- at – home culture. This comes with its challenges as the lines become blurred between home and work. These blurred lines and constraints on the limited resource called time result in over-worked, under-rested, burnt-out individuals. Whilst good time management has been encouraged and indeed, embraced in the workplace, I believe more needs to be done in changing the mindset for the elusive work-life balance to be achieved.

What are the tools at our disposal? To manage time effectively at home, there are many interventions one can employ including setting goals for the day, prioritizing wisely, setting a time limit for every task, organizing oneself, and instituting the discipline of appointments. Yes, an appointment at home! We can spend time pontificating on the pros and cons of each intervention, however, I believe we need to focus on appointments and see how this can powerfully change the course of one’s day regardless of whether it’s a workday or weekend. Life is busy as it is without any intrusions. The question is how do you handle the one who announces that they are at the gate. These can be friends, neighbors, a salesman of some product you do not even need. I am not promoting regimentation here but rather a culture of filling your day with what’s important. Everything that we succeed at is because we carefully plan and execute it. I am a firm believer that you cannot manage time if you do not manage yourself thus I implore you to incorporate planning and appointments into your repertoire. I am not talking about something I do not do. I have to achieve many things in a day therefore I set appointments with my work, others, and myself.

Could scheduling appointments and keeping them on the home front help us save time and prioritize? Whereas we have established that it is a normal business practice to set appointments and keep them, we need to abandon the liberal open-door policy of allowing all and sundry to have access to us as and when they please on the home front. Please understand where I am coming from. We each have greatness within us but for us to achieve it we need to culture great habits. Employing the use of appointments at home and seeing only those people you had agreed to see removes non-essential encounters especially during the most productive hours. I know this will vary with culture, geographical region, or even level of affluence, whether you live in a low density or high-density residential area, but doesn’t negate the need to be organized and effective. Controlling access determines how organized you are and how well you will work and rest when the time for scheduled rest comes.

What do we need to do differently? We need to be disciplined and diligent, learn to say no, now is not a good time, let’s make an appointment for next week. What are the benefits of this approach? You are not always fire-fighting to meet deadlines, You are not always tired because you have not taken time out to rest. You have set aside enough time to spend with your loved ones or a loved one. If you are a busy person, I am sure you appreciate what I am saying. Whether it’s time to work uninterrupted, family time, or “me-time”, it takes some kind of order to enjoy it.

I am not saying that those that come unannounced are bad people. No, not at all, they probably are people you enjoy spending time with. Nevertheless, there must be prior communication so that you can attend to your visitor(s) when it is convenient for both you and them. It can be quite disrupting and a whole day can just pass by without achieving anything that you had planned to do.

As we grow older we begin to appreciate that rest and recovery need to be scheduled. The fact that I am relaxing doesn’t mean that I don’t have anything to do. One therefore cannot assume that just because you are at home you are available. Maybe you have scheduled that time to rest. That is important. You need to make an appointment with yourself, spouses need to also set aside time for each other. Parents need to schedule a time to spend with their children. When you have some sort of order in your life you determine who sees you and who you see. It also means that your relationships will be healthy and that makes you a happier person.

In conclusion, I believe that the work-life balance can be achieved. There are many tools at our disposal just like it is in the workplace.I believe we could do more and be happier if we are disciplined enough to make only the commitments we can keep.I am certain that setting appointments and keeping them at home help us save time and prioritize.