20 habits people unintentionally pick up, that successful people make it a point to consciously avoid, always!

 

Good reminder to let go with bad habits and embrace new good ones!

 

photo by ronneb.com

20 Simple Habits to Learn From Successful Entrepreneurs To Boost Your Productivity by Amber Kapoor

 

Successful people lead their lives on purpose with uplifting truths, empowering habits, and strong principles. Their life of success is a direct result of their conscious choices and healthy habits.

Here are 20 habits people unintentionally pick up, that successful people make it a point to consciously avoid, always.
 
1. They Don’t Define Success With Money.
 
2. They Don’t Start Their Day Without a Purpose or a Plan.
 
3. They Don’t Set Perfection as a Goal.
 
4. They Don’t Surround Themselves With Negative People.
 
5. They Don’t Focus on the Negatives.
 
6. They Don’t Dwell on Failures.
 
7. They Don’t Dwell in Problems
 
8. They Don’t Concern Themselves With How Others Judge Them.
 
9. They Don’t Make Excuses.
 
10. They Don’t Get Jealous Over Other People’s Victories.
 
11. They Don’t Take Their Loved Ones for Granted.
 
12. They Don’t Underestimate the Power of Fun.
 
13. They Don’t Neglect Their Health.
 
14. They Don’t Set Blurry Goals
 
15. They Don’t Make Flimsy Decisions
 
16. They Don’t Allow Themselves To Be Victimized
 
17. They Don’t Live in the Past
 
18. They Don’t Resist Change
 
19. They Don’t Stop Learning
 
20. They Don’t End The Day Without Giving Thanks.

read article: http://read.plash.in/2014/12/02/20-simple-habbits-learn-successful-entrepreneurs-boost-productivity/

My Bookworm - reading in the book basket

 

 

Reading My First Book Shapes by Sophie Helenek

http://nurserybooks.net/online-store.html

 

 

Early Chilhood Education matter - SUMMIT -

Early childhood education matter.

It is source of growth and a healthy investment in our future from a local to a global stand point.

 

 

White House Summit on Early Childhood Education

12/10/2014 - http://www.whitehouse.gov/live/white-house-summit-early-childhood-education

 

President Obama hosts the White House Summit on Early Education, a convening of prominent business leaders, philanthropists, advocates, elected officials and members of the public committed to the expansion of  high-quality early education opportunities for children across the country from birth through school entry.

Speaking Program:

8:25 AM         Opening Remarks: Valerie Jarrett and Cecilia Muñoz
8:40 AM         Panel 1: Public Investment Leadership to Expand Early Education
11:05 AM       Panel 2: Challenging Leaders to Invest in Early Education
11:50 AM       President Obama Delivers Remarks
1:40 PM         Panel 3: Promoting Quality in Early Education
2:40 PM         Vice President Biden Delivers Closing Remarks

#earlychildhoodeducation #kids #babies #parenting

I'm productive, am I?

Bringing all the ideas about productivity together, we may come up with a definition that goes a little something like this: Productivity means getting more done in less time by working smarter not harder.
This is all well and good, but how do we go about getting more done in less time by Working Smarter, Not Harder? Well, it’s a process. And Adam Sicinski explains it to us in his article The Productivity Process

 

The Productivity Process
by Adam Sicinski from IQ Matrix

 

http://blog.iqmatrix.com/productivity-process

Enjoy your weekend

Courtesy: Artfolds READ Jane Austen

4 Reasons Why Amazon and Facebook Are Gaining on Google

Interesting article and good reminder of the strongest entities in their respective zones of dominance : Facebook with social, Amazon with retail, Google with information and how they are gaining on each other.

 

"4 Reasons Why Amazon and Facebook Are Gaining on Google"

by Ellen Gipko from Search Engine Journal

Photo from Search Engine Journal

 

Google beat Yahoo and everyone else in its path. In fact, Google is now the most used search engine on the web and owns at least 67 percent of search traffic.
Over time, Google faced competition, if you can call it that, from Yahoo and Microsoft (which later became Bing), and that was mostly a battle for PPC dollars. Now, Google faces inspired competition from Amazon and Facebook. Neither is trying to simply copy Google. The battle is much bigger than that.
Here’s why Amazon and Facebook are about to make things more interesting.

Read article: http://www.searchenginejournal.com/4-reasons-amazon-facebook-gaining-google/120324/

From being a small fish to a big fish in the pond, is it even possible?

As a self-published author and NEW in the publishing, marketing, selling... world, I NEED TO CATCH UP! which is not so easy as there is a lot, and a lot of ground to cover.

I'm regularly getting lost in this giant maze of information, getting lost roaming around the web, clicking on links, and more links that I think they could be interesting ; following an idea then another and so forth ... but I definitely get lost in this data flow, and often get discouraged by its "complexity".

My goals are simple but it seems that there is no simple ways to get reach them!

Everyone wants more exposure so everyone uses the same avenues, unless you are an expert and you outrun the rest of us. But for the ones like me, stuck in the mass, it is fun to be out there, but that's it! You are just a fish in the water, amongst other fishes like you stuck between waters.

Everything is simplified but so specialized, which is making it as hard to grasp.

So if I want to be seen above the surface, I need to think out of the box, refocus my reading and deepen my understanding on what's matter to me to reach out my goals = read about

• publishing industry (selling platforms, traditional and new media exposure, players ... ),
• marketing (traditional to e-marketing, strategy, entrepreneurship, small business ... )
• find more efficient ways to reach out my customers target.

First steps for baby fish: writing a blog and keep writing it!!! that would be the challenge. But I hope to keep being inspired, sharing up and down, writing about new cool stuff that I've discovered along the way.


Let's do it!

https://play.google.com/store/books/details?id=sWeVBQAAQBAJ

Extract of "Five Digital Publishing Questions for Rick Chapman"

Self-published author here below, an extract of the article "Five Digital Publishing Questions for Rick Chapman" by Rick Chapman from Digital Book world

What are you anticipating as the big change we will see in 2015?
Amazon will continue to aggressively grow out the Kindle infrastructure and build more service layers on top of it. They already control what I call the “data layer” of the business. Amazon, via its channel and Kindle infrastructure, knows far more than publishers about what their customers buy and why; knowledge is power.
The Kindle Scout program is designed to replace traditional agents with a crowdsourced model. The Goodreads acquisition enables Amazon to build a community around book reading and information sharing. Their house imprints move them into the content layer of the book creation model. Amazon also has a dominant position in ebook reselling and will of course try to increase its market share.

Will Amazon’s ebook market share grow in 2015 or will this be the year that Apple, Kobo, Google and Nook (or someone else) push them back?

Another thing I’ve learned from my years in high-tech and the software industry is that once a technology platform is established, it’s very hard to overturn it. I think Amazon’s Kindle platform is very powerful. Its reader technology and the Mobi format are ubiquitous and widely distributed. I think Kindle/Mobi is going to be the standard for years to come, and the industry should prepare to accept this and learn how to leverage this platform on their own behalf. From the buyer’s standpoint, a standard makes sense. Who wants to manage multiple copies of the same thing?
From writers’ and publishers’ standpoints, who wants to produce and maintain multiple file formats? The only company I can think of that might challenge Amazon is Apple, but after the collusion case, I don’t think it’s high on their agenda.
Related: How Many New iBooks Customers Will Apple Get from iOS8?

I love my library

I love my library. It is a great place to read and find books indeed but it is as well a great living space where I enjoy bringing my daughter, letting her explore, having playdates with other toddlers, participating to baby classes...

My library is part of my community and part of my weekly routine. The social values of a library can't be undermine. I understand the shift to internet and e-books .... but libraries play important roles in communities including offering great quality time, social interactions and community bonds
I go there between 2-3times a week, and I love it! 





I love this quote:

"Being a librarian means continuing to learn new skills for the rest of your life." 

extract from this survey coauthored by Brianna Marshall from Hack Library School.  

Happy WOW day! The 3 P's to success

 

The 3 P's: What We Can All Learn From Top Female Entrepreneurs

by Maria Pinelli from Forbes

These exceptional businesswomen can teach us some powerful lessons.
And as today is Women on Wednesday (#WomenWOW), which aims to identify and support women-owned or women-led businesses, I am excited to share three common qualities of the world’s most successful female entrepreneurs.

 

Lesson 1: Purpose

Lesson 2: Persistence

Lesson 3: Passion

           
Read article: http://www.forbes.com/sites/ey/2014/12/03/the-3-ps-what-we-can-all-learn-from-top-female-entrepreneurs/

Important skill to have for a book author: PUBLIC SPEAKING

I truly enjoy reading this article. As book author, I need to be able to deliver a clear and cohesive message, as well as be able to give exciting and interesting book talks.

 

"We write in sentences but we think in ideas"

Debunking 7 Common Public Speaking Tips That Do More Harm Than Good

by Gary Genard from Fast Company

  

Here, in ascending order concerning the harm they cause, are seven platitudes you should ignore. In each case, you’d be better off paying attention to your knowledge on the subject, your audience’s needs, and your own intuition instead.

7. PowerPoint Prescriptions

You’ve probably heard this advice before: Use no more than 10 slides in a PowerPoint presentation. Don’t go longer than 20 minutes. No slide should have more than six bullet points. Use only six words per bullet point.
Dizzy yet?
... read article : http://www.fastcompany.com/3038657/debunking-7-common-public-speaking-tips-that-do-more-harm-than-good

My first INDIES FIRST

 

 

 

Last Saturday I've participated to my first INDIES FIRST event at Bank Square Books (Mystic, CT). I had a blast!

 

Firstly, I was invited to this event. They reach out to me! which indeed did make me very happy as it is another validation for me that I'm recognized as an author.

 

Then, I had the absolute pleasure to be officially welcomed as an author with my name on their promotional poster. I know it is a small thing, but for me it means a lot.

 

At the event, I had my own stand next to the entrance door. I was welcoming people with boundless energy. It was just an amazing experience!

 

Icing on the cake, I was able to have a face-to-face discussion with customers, explaining what I tried to achieve, how, .... as my books are everything but simplistic, it was a great opportunity to help people to see beyond their simplistic first glance to reveal My First Book series full potential. Which make me think that I should/need to work on improving me outreach by offering a better and easy way to grasp the "philosophy" behind My First Book series.

My First Book Series review by June of the Moon

My First Book Series

by June of the Moon

 

 

 

These books are a great teaching tool for both my six month old and my three year old.

 

Next Generation Stay At Home Mom highly recommends and gives it 5 stars to My First Book Series by Sophie Helenek!

Book Review: My First Book Series

by Next Generation Stay At Home Mom

 

My 2years old loves the books! I also took the liberty of testing these books out on a friends' infant and they were a hit there as well!

I certainly applaud Sophie Helenek on her children's series as these are fantastic first books to give to someone you know!

 

Next Generation Stay At Home Mom highly recommends
My First Book Series by Sophie Helenek and gives it 5 stars!

 

 

Story time at the Clinton Library: "BABY & ME" class

I did my first STORY TIME

at the Henry Carter Hull Children’s Library yesterday morning

" BABY & ME" For infants – 24 months

 http://www.hchlibrary.org/childrens

I was a bit nervous, but everything went well.

It was a terrific experience that I'm looking forward to redoing!!!

Baby Books review by The Fisk Files

Baby Books

My First Book Series Review by The Fisk Files

 

 

All of my kids love My First Book your (ages 0-4)!

Succesful library run ...

Last Friday, I've introduced myself to several libraries in the towns next to me. I'm a new author so it is always a little intimidating to pitch your own work. I am working on that ;-) telling to myself that who is better than me to explain my work! Catchy sentence but I still need lots of courage to actually do it!

My First Book Series Review by Elefantitas Alegres

My First Book Series Review by Sophie Helenek

by Elefantitas Alegres

 

I think these books would be the perfect addition to your

infant's library or a wonderful gift for a new mom!  

You've officially earned yourself four new fans!  

'My First Book' Series Review | Best Baby Gift! by Becoming The Barr's

'My First Book' Series Review | Best Baby Gift!

by Becoming The Barr's

 

Looking at the books has helped her recognize so many items and she's already increased her ever-growing vocabulary just from flipping through them.

[Review] Fabulous little books for my fabulous littles! by A Lovely Little Life

Fabulous little books
for my fabulous little ones!
Review: My First Book Series
by A Lovely Little Life

My girls love them and I love seeing their little eyes full of fun whilst "reading" them!

Breaking News: Sophie's baby books are winner of the Mom's Choice Award Gold Seal

Mom’s Choice Awards® Gold Recipient

Press Release

My First Book Fruits, My First Book Musical Instruments, and My First Book Shapes is a recipient of the prestigious The Mom’s Choice Awards® Gold medal.   The Mom’s Choice Awards® (MCA) is an international awards program that honors excellence in family-friendly media, products and services. An esteemed panel of judges including educators, Emmy-winning media members, business experts, parents, children, New York Times Best-Selling authors, librarians, artists and others determines the winners. Parents, educators, librarians and retailers look for the Mom’s Choice Awards Honoring Excellence seal of approval when selecting quality materials for children and families.

My First Book series FEATURE: Infants' eye Stimulation

My First Book series FEATURE:

Infants' eye Stimulation

Very nearsighted, newborns can only see blurry shapes. As the nervous system matures, babies' acuity improves.

Your baby's color vision is also developing, so brightly colored books like MY FIRST BOOK will help develop this ability to distinguish color and form. Soft pastel colors, though, are difficult for a baby to appreciate. Therefore, babies reflexively prefer to look at high-contrast edges and patterns. Large black and white patterns present the highest possible contrast (100%) to the eye and thus are the most visible and attractive to babies.


"My first book" features baby's eye catching black-and-white and high-contrast patterns specially designed for the very young to focus on. As babies gets older, their brain's at work learn to distinguish bright primary colors

My First Book series by Sophie Helenek is EVERYTHING BUT SIMPLISTIC

My First Book series by Sophie Helenek is
EVERYTHING BUT SIMPLISTIC

 
 

Here an example of interaction layers that parents could entertain with their baby with MY FIRST BOOK MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS. It is only an example:

- Put the open book front of the newborn to let her stare at the illustrations - Babies are nearsighted at birth, so they will appreciate the bold black and white illustrations. I framed each page as well to help babies' eye to focus on them.

- Promote bonding, enjoy cuddling time with baby while reading the book, sharing stories and feeling (e.g. I love music, it is very soothing)

- Encourage your baby to explore and promote self-awareness by displaying My First Book series amongst other toys. They are sturdy board books with extra thick, perfect for little fingers to grab and turn pages.

- Ask baby to show you the Piano: this question promotes word recognition and pointing. As there is only Pianos on the page, it is less confusing for baby to understand the question, help baby to associate the Piano illustration to the word Piano, and increase her chance of success to show you a Piano. Baby starts associating words as well as understanding the concept of pointing, and how to respond to the question “show me”.

- Ask baby to show you the green Piano: this type of question supports baby in his basic concepts understanding such as shape, sizes, color and counting.

- As baby grows older, deepen babies' understanding by asking specific questions such as “Show me the upside down Piano”, which reinforce his spatial dimension understanding, or “Show me the dark green Piano touches”, which enrich babies vocabulary, imagination, and encourage baby to pay attention to details.

- Read aloud each words then break them down by letters: each letters have different colors to encourage baby letters recognition, which later on would support her spelling skills.

- Encourage your toddler to color, draw, and write on the book to foster his fine motor skills.