And What Makes Me Think These Are The Top Three Posts for 2013?

Hi. I'm so glad you decided to stop by.

I thought the best way to end the year would be to review my top three posts. 

There are two reasons. One, I have a reason to share my posts again. :)  And two, we can figure out what I may have done right so we replicate it.

Well, I looked at my post stats and got confused. I had to stop and ask myself, what makes me think these are the top three posts of 2013?

1.) You Can't Live a Positive Life With a Negative Mind

2.) 8 Reason Someone Envies You

3.) How Random Acts of Kindness Improve Your Life

How do I determine which posts are the most popular - the most successful?

Pageviews

If this is the determining factor, then yes the three posts shown above would be considered the most popular posts.

Comments

1.) You Can't Live a Positive Life With a Negative Mind

• 57 comments including my responses

2.) 8 Reason Someone Envies You

• 61 comments including my responses

3.) How Random Acts of Kindness Improve Your Life

• 60 comments including my responses

These three pretty much seem tied when it comes to comments.

Featured

1.) You Can't Live a Positive Life With a Negative Mind

• Twice

2.) 8 Reason Someone Envies You

• Twice

3.) How Random Acts of Kindness Improve Your Life

• Once

The top two are tied. Unless I missed being featured somewhere which is quite possible. It's rare for a party host to send an email announcing that you have been featured.

Pinned

1.) You Can't Live a Positive Life With a Negative Mind

• RePinned 99

2.) 8 Reason Someone Envies You

• RePinned 4

3.) How Random Acts of Kindness Improve Your Life

• RePinned 67

Well those are pretty sad numbers. Especially number two which would probably put this post way back to tenth place or worse.

It's probably because it doesn't have a pinnable image. I'll have to work on that.

Number one does have the prettiest image.

Shares

1.) You Can't Live a Positive Life With a Negative Mind

• Google Plus 15 Times
• 6 Tweets
• 31 Facebook Shares
• 1 Stumble

2.) 8 Reason Someone Envies You

• Google Plus 13 Times
• 9 Tweets
• 19 Facebook Shares
• 1 Stumble

3.) How Random Acts of Kindness Improve Your Life

• Google Plus 9 Times
• 7 Tweets
• 9 Facebook Shares
• 1 Stumble

These numbers fall in line properly for Google+ and Facebook shares but the Tweets are out of whack. 

So what is the answer? How do I figure out which of my posts are most popular? That is if I am comparing my posts to each other as apposed to other bloggers.

These blog posts were from March, April and May of this year. Maybe they are more popular right now because they are older and time is on their side?

Sorry. I'm not suppose to be figuring out why they are popular but how their popularity is determined.

Ahhh! I could make myself crazy.

********************************

Well thanks for stopping by. I hope you enjoyed reading this post. 

And don't forget to stop by my Etsy Shop, Little Shop of Treasures or check out a few other posts.

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Have a Fantastic Day!

You are Successful!

Happiness

I was sitting here brain storming, in search of something to write about.The first word to come to mind was happiness which lead to gratitude. Gratitude equal happiness. 

But what else makes me happy? My family, my home, my job, my friends. Manifesting my dreams. Success. 

What does success mean to me - or you?

What is my answer? Success means happiness to me. The opposite is true too. In simple terms, failure makes me sad.

Society's Standards for Success

But how do I recognize when I am successful? 

I know some people pass judgment on themselves because they do not measure up to the society's standards. 

Let's look at the average teenager who compares themselves to their peers. Being successful in high school may mean you have great grades, have a part-time job, get involved in extra curriculum activities, dress in popular brand name clothes. or hang with the cool kids. And let's face it, if we aren't one of the cool kids we are losers.

What about after high school? Does success mean college or university? Maybe it's that fantastic job, big house and nice shiny car? 


Maybe you measure your success by the  accomplishments of your children? Or keeping up with your neighbors.

Society may judge us by these standards but I hope we don't. As I get older it has become easier to stop comparing myself society's standards but I don't think it is determined by the number of years on this planet so much as it has to do with self esteem and gratitude for ones self.

Defining Success

If we aren't suppose to compare ourselves to society's standards, how do we gauge our success? Maybe we need to review the definition of success.

1. Success may refer to: (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Success)

• a level of social status
• achievement of a goal
• the opposite of failure

2. Success. [suhk-ses]  (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/success)

• the favorable or prosperous termination of attempts or endeavors; the accomplishment of one's goals. 
• the attainment of wealth, position, honors, or the like. 
• a performance or achievement that is marked by success, as by the attainment of honors: The play was an instant success. 
• a person or thing that has had success, as measured by attainment of goals, wealth, etc.: She was a great success on the talk show.

Success Is . . .

To me, I am successful when . . . I happily complete a goal that I have created. This could be buying a house, a car, nice furniture. But it isn't because my neighbors have it.

I am successful when I finish crocheting a blanket, or paint the hallway. I am successful because I set a goal for myself, I worked to complete that goal and I did it. 

(All this talk about the word success. It sounds weird now, doesn't it? Success. Yep it is a weird word.)

Defining Success for Yourself

Is it how we judge ourselves as human beings that determines our success? Do the successes through out our lives give us value? What does success mean to you?

I can't answer any of those questions for you. All I know is you need to figure out what success means to you, for you. And we shouldn't compare ourselves to others when determining our success.

Why Success?

I wanted to write about success today because it has a lot to do with your self worth and in the end, your happiness. 

Let's face it, if we become very sad and depressed when we feel unsuccessful. And that has to do with the means that you determine how successful you are.

We can't compare ourselves to any one else. We don't do it with our kids. We don't do it with our family. And we don't do it with our friends. So why are we so hard on ourselves?

We have to set our goals then celebrate when we reach them. Yes! Let's CELEBRATE! YOU ARE SUCCESSFUL!

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