How to Get the Most out of This Website
My name is John Place. Welcome to my site.
This isn’t really an article — it’s a response to the many emails I receive every week. What you’ll find below is a quick list of tips to help you get the most out of your experience here: Mostly, it’s about how to find the information you want.
Use the Archives
Use the archives page (new as of 07-12-2007) to quickly access every article that’s ever been published here. You’ll find articles on a variety of personal development topics designed to help you study smarter, deal with people more confidently, manage your time, overcome emotional obstacles, focus on what’s important, and reach your ultimate potential.
Check out the Most Popular Articles
The articles listed under the Popular Articles heading in the righthand navigation menu are the ones your fellow readers have read the most. That doesn’t mean they’re the best, but they certainly are the most read, most e-mailed, most bookmarked, most linked-to, most commented articles on this site. If you want to see what other people are talking about, check out those articles.
Get Free Updates
If you enjoy the articles on this Website and don’t like having to keep checking in to see if anything new has been added (a common situation, it seems), subscribe to my feed via RSS or Email. RSS (really simple syndication) is an easy way for me to let you know when new content is available. It’s free, and I promise you’ll never receive any spam from me — just the latest personal development information delivered directly to you.
Lots of people join every single day. But there’s always room for one more!
Share with Your Friends
Believe it or not, every week I receive very kind emails from people just like you asking how they can help support this site. The answer is simple: If you like an article, share it with other people who you think would enjoy it too.
My goal is to positively contribute to as many lives as possible.
As a side note, if you haven’t joined StumbleUpon (www.stumbleupon.com), I highly recommend it. I’m a regular stumbler — it’s very addictive! As an ancillary benefit, joining StumbleUpon enables you to click the “Stumble Upon It!” button at the bottom of my articles, a favor reserved only for articles you deem worthy of sharing.
If you liked this article, make sure you subscribe to my feed via RSS or email.
Learn More About John Place
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Posted
on
Thursday, July 12th, 2007 at 11:16 am under
Okay John. Here’s my answers to the three questions.
1) My fave article is American Zombie. I guess I just could relate to the message there.
2) While I enjoy your think pieces I think I’d like to seeh more study articles. Your experience as a professional tutor shines through in the articles in your “Study Smarter” section, but you don’t post articles to that section very much. What you have there is golden. I’d like to see more.
3) I don’t know, I guess I pretty much like most of the stuff you put out. That’s why I’m already subscribed to your feed. :)
July 12th, 2007 at 1:47 pmThanks for the archive feature, John. I was having a hard time sorting through all the great stuff around here. That helps.
I guess I’m one of those people who keeps checking back in to see if you have updated content. I don’t really understand how to use the RSS thingy. I usually don’t give out my email, but I trust you John. So I’ll sign up! :)
Just don’t send me any Viagra ads! :)
To answer your questions I think the best article here is your horsefly story. And unlike the previous poster, I’m not in college or anything so I don’t really read the study tips.
Keep up the good work.
July 12th, 2007 at 9:51 pmGumbo,
Just for you: 10 Simple Ways to Ace Your Next Test.
Jess,
Thanks for signing up. As always, I promise: no spam. Regarding your struggles with RSS, I’m wondering if I should post a primer.
Thanks for the feedback so far. Let’s keep it coming.
July 13th, 2007 at 12:47 amFirst another huge thanks for creating and maintaining this site! I love it! You articles are most inspiring and I should know - I just took a BMTI personality test and I am, tada, “the Inspirer” type.
Thanks for the archives John. I am new here so was really stumbling around to see what articles there were.
1) My fave is the whole Synergy series (full glass for me).
2) More on finding one’s mission statement. I am struggling with that one.
3) I can’t answer this until I have read them all but so far I haven’t found any.
Please tell your readership here how we can help promote your site.
July 13th, 2007 at 10:56 amThanks Lyndee,
I’m glad someone is enjoying the synergy series of articles. As you may know, I’m working on an eBook on the subject. I submitted my first draft to a group of 50 test-readers and discovered there were a few big concepts that needed to be refined, re-explained, and re-enforced.
I think people will be very excited about the book when it’s done; I truly do. It’s going to end up being a feature length book — not just a mini-book. And every word will count — this I promise.
Lyndee, per your question about promoting this site, I’m going to update the post (above) to include things that readers can do to promote the site. Stay tuned.
And thanks again.
–John
July 13th, 2007 at 11:19 amTo Everyone:
Well, so far we have 2 votes for my longer, more creative articles (American Zombie, Horsefly Attack), one vote for my quick study tips, and one vote for my “meaningful career” material.
I think we’re going to need a few more votes to sort this out. Come on, everyone. Speak up! :)
What *do* you want to see more of?
July 13th, 2007 at 11:36 amI really enjoyed your “13 words” article. But I like the quick bits too.
July 14th, 2007 at 11:59 amThanks Smithy.
I’m hoping I get many more responses to these questions because I want to make sure that my readers agree the site doesn’t have an identity crises.
Nothing will chase away subscribers faster than content they didn’t sign up for.
July 14th, 2007 at 12:24 pmHere’s my position
1) My favorite article would be the “how to memorize something” article. I haven’t tried it as of yet because vacations are on, but someday when school starts I’d like to do that for my SAT’s
2) I believe you should write more life-meaning posts. I love reading those, i write those myself. I find them though provoking and would like if you published some of them.
3) there really isn’t a particular kind of article I don’t want to see. All the one’s I’ve read are great and I’d like to see more of them.
July 16th, 2007 at 6:04 pmThanks for the comment, King. Much appreciated.
July 18th, 2007 at 12:19 pmWell, I haven’t had a chance to read much here–I saw a headline for your article titled “Have You Fallen for these 7 Negative Attitudes Pushed by the Media?” and that’s what drew me here. That was a very good article, so for now that one is my favorite. I’ve briefly browsed your other headlines, but I’m limited on time right so I can’t read anything else in depth until later. Your site looks intriguing, though. And because I don’t know your site very well, I can’t really answer questions regarding what types of articles I’d like to see more or less of.
One thing, though. In your article about media influences, you say:
“Television gives everyone (men in particular) the idea that the world is overflowing with beautiful, willing sex partners; even if it’s true (which depends largely upon your own skills with the opposite sex),….”
I just have one complaint about that. Whether or not the world is “overflowing with beautiful, willing sex partners” does not necessarily depend upon one’s skills with the opposite sex–for many people it depends largely upon their skills with the SAME sex. Your language in that sentence was heterosexual-centric, and if your website caters to only heterosexuals, and/or if you have a problem with gays, that’s just the way you should word things. Obviously, that’s your choice. But on the chance that you only used that language out of habit, or, ironically, because you unthinkingly mirror the language used by the media, (something we are all guilty of at times), then you might want to think about changing your choice of words next time. One (perhaps small, but important) part of changing people’s attitudes about homosexuals is the language we use. Accepting and open-minded people should acknowledge that some people interested in relationships are not pursuing “the opposite sex”.
If you don’t wish to acknowledge/welcome gays (once again, that’s fully your right), please ignore my suggestion. It’s geared toward people who are sick of the anti-gay attitudes (or “heterocentricity”, if that’s even a word!) in our culture. People who may not even realize that their language is, in a way, discriminatory, and who would be grateful to have it pointed out to them so they can change it. I wouldn’t normally write to someone if I was sure that they used that language intentionally, or that they had a problem with gays. But I tried to figure out your stance on this matter from my brief browsing of your site, and I couldn’t find anything either way. I very well could have missed an obvious message that you’re anti-gay, and if that’s the case, I apologize. I’m not in the habit of going to people’s websites and asking them to cater to my POV when it violates their values. I fight discrimination on a daily basis, but that’s not how I do it.
August 12th, 2007 at 7:43 amEveryone is welcome here, Joey. I apologize if my wording of that sentence offended: the language in my posts tends to cater to the masses, but the messages themselves are universal and without prejudice (at least, insofar as I am able to produce such content).
Believe me, these are merely writing conventions, not political statements. It’s the same reason that I use gendered language when I write (for example, I might say “his” instead of “theirs”): it’s grammatically correct and easier to read.
Thanks for leaving your comments, joey. I’ll give them some more thought as I’m penning articles in the coming days.
And I value you as a reader.
–John
August 12th, 2007 at 11:03 am