Whenever I enter the kitchen I automatically switch on the radio so that the room is filled with up-tempo music which I can’t help but sing along to.

This got me thinking about other things that I couldn’t live without.  Obviously things like family, friends, a place to live and food are up there as the essentials but here are 3 other things that I would add to my list:

• My Radio
• My Books
• My Pen and Paper

I Couldn’t Live Without My Radio

I love listening to music and as long as the songs are the ones that I can sing along to I am happy.  I take every opportunity to crank up the volume and screech out to my heart’s content. No talk radio for me, it is all about the music.

I Couldn’t Live Without Books

Reading is a great passion and I can sometimes have two books on the go at once.  I tend to read before I go to sleep or if I am relaxing on a lazy Sunday afternoon.  Other times that I enjoy a good read is when I have to travel into London on the train.  The journey lasts around 30 minutes which results in a session of uninterrupted reading until I get to my destination.

I Couldn’t Live Without Pen and Paper

Whether I am recording my own thoughts, have been hired to write for a client or writing for my product review site, I absolutely love the act of turning to a fresh new page in my notebook and scribbling down word after word.

There are times when I create documents directly on my computer but there are many other times when I choose to write longhand.  In fact I put pen to paper in order to complete this little post today.

So these are 3 things that I couldn’t live without.  Although I love watching television, I am happy to discover that I could do without it if I had to.

What are the 3 things that you couldn’t live without? Leave a comment with your thoughts.

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For some this can also be the most fun because it doesn’t take much effort and you can pretty much write what you like then worry about how you are going to achieve them later on down the line.

One great way to ensure that you stay on point is to get support from others.  This can be from your family or friends or from an online community.

Support From Friends Can Help You Achieve Goals

A very good friend of mine reached out to me for support.  She wanted to create a simple website with WordPress in order to promote her jazz band but, just like me, she is a serial procrastinator.  We met up just after Christmas and she agreed that she would get on the case and get around to purchasing the domain and hosting for her website.

To make the commitment even clearer, she sent me an email stating that this task would be completed by Tuesday.  The act of publicly acknowledging the action she wanted to take spurred her on and she did exactly that.  I am so pleased for her.

We are now planning to set a monthly dinner date with a couple of other friends so what we can share our goals for the year and agree on the appropriate timeline to ensure we meet our targets.

Share Your Goals With Others

If you have set a few goals, or you are working on your New Years Resolutions, think about sharing your wishes with someone so that they become more than just words on a page.

Pick out a family member or good friend who you know will be supportive or look for bloggers who are doing the sort of thing that you wish to. Once you start looking, you will find that there is someone out in internet land writing a blog about almost every topic imaginable.

Start interacting with these blog owners by reading their posts and leaving comments. Some would even welcome an email if you can’t find the answer to what you are looking for from their posts. Sharing your aspirations makes them real and can give you the push you need to take action.

Have you shared your own hopes and dreams with others?  Do you think this is a helpful tactic? Leave a comment and let me know your thoughts.

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How many times have you said ‘I wish I could lose weight but I don’t have the time’ or ‘I did everything I was supposed to but nothing worked’?

Weight Watchers Here I Come!

Well this year I thought that I would take action and learn how to lose weight properly by signing up with Weight Watchers.

2012 is about learning how to create a system that works in order to achieve my goals.  One thing I am slowly starting to discover is that in order to achieve your goals you need to be able to answer the following three questions:

• What is My Goal?
• What Do I Need To Do To Achieve This Goal?
• When Do I want To Achieve This By?

This can be applied to almost any situation so I am going to see if this approach will work for me.

What is My Goal?

• My goal is to lose 12lbs

What Do I Need To Do To Achieve This Goal?

• I will join Weight Watchers program
• I will set up a regular exercise schedule that suits me so that I will stick to it.
• I will join a weight loss forum to provide and give support to like minded people.
• I will find a friend who is also motivated to lose weight too.

When Do I want To Achieve This By?

• By 31^st March

So I have signed up for Weight Watchers Online. Actually I registered via Topcashback.com.  It is a cashback site which pays you if you order products or services through their links.  This is therefore a no-brainer for me.  I get the opportunity to sign up to an internationally known weight loss program and gain all that knowledge and assistance for free.

Everyone Now Knows

This public declaration of my intent will hopefully help me to stay on track and focussed on the goal. Wish me luck.

So do you have your own goal that you hope to achieve?  Can you apply the three questions above to your own situation?  Does it work? Leave a comment and share your own experiences.

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The reason I created that website is so that people who are just starting out could find something to show them exactly how to get through the process of setting up a domain name and a hosting account. It may seem scary to begin with but with the right guidance, you shouldn’t have any problems at all.

My Journey From free Websites to Owning My Own Blog

I created my very first website using a very strange software program that was difficult to use. It took me ages to put the thing together and I think I only ended up writing about two or three articles before I lost patience and deleted the whole thing.

Then I moved on to using Blogger.com and WordPress.com.  These were both great but I kept reading about the benefits of owning your own domain.  There have been a few horror stories about people being locked out of their sites or having their content deleted without warning. This is fine if you have only just started, but imagine working diligently on a website for over a year, pouring your heart and soul into it and then logging in one morning to find the whole thing gone. Yikes.

Another reason I wanted my own website is so that the name didn’t end in mydomainname.blogspot.com or mydomainname.wordpress.com. These can make the name of your site really long and difficult to remember.  Also if you are using it to promote your business, it looks less professional and may send the message that you are not fully invested in your venture because you will not spring for the cost of your own hosting.

Hello WordPress My Old Friend

The day I was introduced to the WordPress platform I have never looked back. I have created lots of different sites in different niches. There is still plenty to learn which would help to make my websites look even better but the great thing is that you can make changes whenever you like and as often as you like with no problem at all. This site,  My Daily Cuppa, has changed in appearance two or three times already and it will no doubt change again very soon.

Give Up A Latte for A Hosting Account

It isn’t expensive to set up your own website.  You need to pay for the domain name which will cost $5 – $10 per year and then you need hosting which is available for as little as  $5 per month.

So for the cost of a latte or two per month, you could create a wonderful website on whatever topic you choose.

Build The Foundation of Your Business or Hobby Site Today

Whether you are creating a website for your business or as a place to write about your hobby, you should definitely consider investing in a website name and hosting sooner rather than later.

Click on the link How To Create A Simple Website with WordPress and you could have your own WordPress website up and running in no time at all.

So tell me, is setting up your own website worth giving up a latte? Over to you.

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