30 questions to make you think

1. What would you do differently if you could start your life from scratch?

2. What would you do differently if you knew nobody was judging you?

3. If you could make a statement to the entire world, what would you say?

4. When was the last time you did something new?

5. If you had no fear, what would you do?

6. What advice would you give the “5 year old you”?

7. What is the most amazing thing you have ever seen?

8. What is your number one priority?

9. How many hours a week do you spend in front of your computer?

10. When did you last judge someone you didn’t know?

11. What do you wish you had invented?

12. What does a perfect day look like to you?

13. What fascinates you?

14. When did you realize life is short?

15. What makes someone a hero?

16. What would you write a book about?

17. How do you define success?

18. What would you want someone to say at your funeral?

19. What do you plant to grow a seedless watermelon?

20. Can lying ever be the right thing to do?

21. What is the purpose of education?

22. If you had $1 million dollars, what would you do?

23. Who is the strongest person you know?

24. How do you tell when you are out of invisible ink?

25. What is missing from your life?

26. What came first, the hen or the egg?

27. What would a chair look like if your knees bent the other way?

28. What does it mean to be human?

29. What gives your life meaning?

30. If nothing is perfect, how come practice makes perfect?

How to read better

You probably think you are reading fast enough. You probably are, but reading fast is one thing. Reading well and fast is something else. Being able to understand the most important from a text without having to read it all. Without having to read it twice. There are quite a few things which will improve your reader skills. 

Titles

Assuming you are reading a well written text, the title is the most important line of the text. The author has to conclude all he/she has written in one sentence, so make sure to read the title well. Read it, think about it, analyze it, try to imagine what the text is about just from the title. You should also read the sub headers. By reading all the headers first you will get a better idea of what the text is about. This is actually scientifically true as well. When we read a couple of headers, our brain automatically starts associating and thinking about the subject. Bringing memories and knowledge you already know to the front of your head. So by reading the headers you will get a better idea of the text, and it will make your brain think.

Pictures

After you have read the titles you should observe the pictures. If the pictures are properly used they should give information regarding the same subject as the text, but give you some more information than the text. Observing the pictures and reading the image text will also help you to start thinking about the text.

When you have finished all the pre reading stuff, you should already have a good idea of what the text is about. Now it is time to actually start reading it. No matter what you are reading the first sentence is important. It gives you an idea about the text, just like the title. When you start reading the text itself, how to do it depends on your purpose of reading the text. It is often a good idea to skim the text first, at least if it is short, and you need to read it thoroughly. Skim the text, grabbing some information here and there. After skimming all the lines, you should read the text again. This time you will read it very closely, understanding everything you read. Thinking about what the sentence you are reading means. When you have come through the text, after reading it very closely. There is nothing more to do about the reading, unless you want to read it again of course.

After reading

After you have read the text, it is time to reflect. Think about what you just read, and what it means. If you are reading a text for educational purposes, for a test or something similar you should make notes of what you just read. Write down a title, and a few words on each subject of the text. If you read the text almost perfectly, you should be able to write down a summary of what you read. If you have to go back to the text to make a summary, you should follow the tips above again. The reflectional stage of the reading should make you remember the text. Here it is important to take time to think, and really understand the text.

I hope at least some of these tips helped you, good luck reading whatever it is you are reading. If you are a student and you are tied up with homework, this post may not be enough help to free you schedule. See my blog post about finishing your work here.

How to build muscle

These days most guys are wanting to get bigger. We all want those broad shoulders, the V-shape and the hard abs. How you can get the muscle you want depends on your current state. There are two different standard states: having to much fat wanting muscle instead and being skinny wanting more muscles.

How skinny guys can build muscle

When it comes to skinny guys, there are four important things to remember: 

Eat, Eat, Eat and Eat. That’s right, eating is the key here. If you are skinny, you don’t have a problem about eating too much. This is why you have to eat as much as you can. Think about it this way, working out will tear your muscles down, ripping the fibers apart. Eating will give them the fuel to rebuild themselves. If you eat the exact same amount of food when you are not working out, and when you are working out, how can you expect your muscles to grow? To get bigger, you have to eat more food. A lot more, try to eat literally as much food as you possibly can. Eating enough is more important than doing the right exercises. You can use protein powder, but i don’t recommend it. I think it is best to eat natural protein rich foods (chicken, meat, eggs). As you are going to eat as much as you possibly can, you can eat all the junk food you want. Eat hamburgers at Mcdonalds and Burger king, as long as you make sure to eat a lot(great or what?). Remember this, and if you stay persistent, work out and eat a lot for a long period of time, you will eventually add mass.

How large guys can build muscle

Large guys generally want to loose body fat, and build muscle. If you are a little fat, you already have more muscle on your body, which gives you a step ahead. It is important to eat right, eat healthy food. You have to consume the right things, enough protein to build muscles, but not to much carbs and fats making you fat again. You can use protein powder , but it is not necessary. So remember to eat a good amount of food, but not too much. And remember to always eat the right types of food, vegetables, fruits, meat, chicken and so on is mostly good. Try to avoid eating too much pasta, rice and white bread. Also stay away from fast food.

The workout

To add the most mass to your body, you should have an intense all around body workout + some cardio. Your workout should cover all major muscles in your body, however i will not talk about the specifics of the workout in this blog post. The important about your work out program is the rest in between your workouts. Your muscle needs 48 hours to rebuild themselves after a work out. Which means you should not be working the same muscle groups every day. It is ideal to have one day for resting between you workout days, but it is also possible to workout almost every day, making sure you are not hitting the same muscle groups day after day.

How to be a successful student

Most students struggle with motivation and not wanting to do their homework. This blog post will help you motivate your self, and how you can be a successful student.

Do what you are supposed to do

The first and most basic tip is to do what you are supposed to do. When you have homework, sit down and do it. If you have a hand in, hand it in. If you have a test, study for the test. Got it? This is where most people fail, so try to push your self to do what you have to do.

Do your homework

Except for your classes, your homework is where you will learn the most. Never thought about it that way? Your homework is not what your teacher forces you to do, it is a way to easily learn what you have to know for your test anyway. You should always do your homework, read what you have to read twice, and do your tasks properly. After each homework try to think through; what did i just read, and what did i learn from it. If you think about doing your homework as learning instead of a punishment, you will be able to motivate your self to do it.

Be on time

The time is very important in school, you always have a deadline. Your homework is always for a certain date, and you should do it in time. Don’t get behind the schedule, if you get behind you will have to do more homework anyway. Another important thing about being on time is to start working with a project in good time before you deadline. As soon as you know about a test or a presentation, you should start working on it (even though it is tough). If you are ill, and you can not do your homework, you should do it later. Doing all your homework on time will make it easier to focus on what you are learning in the moment, and not focusing on what you should have done two weeks ago.

Think of learning as fun

Learning something you did not know already is fun, right? This should be your spirit at school. Be open to what you learn, and try to enjoy the wisdom. You are getting an education, be grateful for it. Learning is fun, and we all know it. Remembering it when doing boring school work is the difficult task.

Motivate yourself with results

If you manage to work hard and doing good, you should get some results. Your grades should be good, and this is what should motivate you. Keeping your grades high, always working to improve yourself as well. If you get a good grade, be happy. If you get a bad grade, don’t be mad or sad. Instead, think about what you did wrong, and do it better the next time.

Work hard

Follow all the tips above, and work really hard. If you do, you will be successful in school, and you will be able to motivate yourself. Good luck.

How to make a good first impression

When meeting new people it is good to make a good first impression. The persons first impression is what they will think about you in the beginning of knowing. If you have a secret crush on somebody, and you are going to talk to that person for the first time, making a good first impression is the most important factor to whether he/she is going to want to meet you again.

The entrance

The first thing a person meeting you will see, is how you arrive. Your entrance is very important for the first impression. When arriving you should walk with your shoulders relaxed and your chest up. Remember to smile, showing a good side of yourself. 

A good handshake

The handshake is the first touch, and it is important to make it right. A good handshake can be crucial for the first impression, so it is important to have a good one. Grab the hand and shake it firmly, not too hard and not too soft. Look the person in the eye, and smile. Smile for real, and make the person feel good about meeting you.

Small talk

Most people will get nervous when meeting someone they like for the first time. It is easy to forget what you want to talk about, and may be handy to have some questions for the person already prepared. Some simple questions about the person, allowing him/her to talk about him/her -self. 

Be open and positive

If you ask the person if he plays golf, and he does, you should answer politely and positive. Even if you really hate what the person likes doing (Unless you really have to like the same thing). Also be open to different interest, maybe what they do is different from what you do, but it may be still interesting to talk about.

The picture of you

The person you are meeting for the first time will see you before you start talking. They will see how you look, how you walk and how you are dressed. A picture says more than a thousand words, so you should make the picture of yourself good. Wear appropriate clothes for the occasion. Be a little casual and relaxed, don’t rush, and be confident. Have confidence in what you do, how you walk and how you talk. 

If you are having a meeting, sit down. Lean back in your seat and cross your feet. Make sitting relaxed a muscular habit, after a while you will do it automatically. Smile wherever you go, make the person want to know you.

How to improve your memory

1. Exercise your brain. Do crossword puzzles, sudokus and scrabble. You can also do puzzles yourself, trying to remember stuff. Always try to expand your brain, think of everything you do as practicing your brain to remember.
2. Exercise daily. Work out, run or play soccer. Get that natural movement every day. This keeps your brain active, and your body healthy.
3. Reduce stress. Stress will make your body tense, and will not make your brain remember better. You can’t avoid stress completely, but you can control it. Don’t pack your schedule and try to do everything. Use some time to relax, and allow your body to feel comfortable.
4. Eat right. Don’t have a diet, try to eat healthy instead. Eat fish, fruits and vegetables. Take vitamins and drink milk. 
5. Sleep well. Make sure your body gets to rest so you are awake every day and are feeling good, having enough energy to go through the day.

It is important to have a good health in general to improve your memory. Eating, sleeping and exercising right are some of the most important things to keep in mind.

What is my google page rank?

Google indexes all website, and is the largest source of traffic for most website developers. But how does the indexing system work? And how can you check what rank your website has?

The google search engine indexes all large active websites, and supplies them with free traffic. If you own a website or a decent blog you probably know this. There are many ways to get your site indexed fast, and to get it higher rated, but i will not be speaking about that today. Today i will be focusing on simply checking the page rank of your website, and understanding it.

Google index

When your site gets indexed by google, it will be given a page rank, a number which indicates its importance on the world wide web. This page rank determines how high up on google your website will be ranked on certain keywords. The higher your rank, the more traffic. This is why Search Engine Optimization is so important.

However, if you want to find out what page rank your website has, you can go to this site:

http://www.prchecker.info/check_page_rank.php

This is a simple page rank checking website, where you enter your url and it will show your page rank. I don’t know if this website is telling the absolute truth, but i believe it does.

When you have entered your url, you will be told your pagerank. But if you get this:

Your site is probably not indexed yet. If your site is not indexed yet, you should keep publishing content (or keep on doing whatever your website does) until you get indexed. I hope this helped you. If you want to read more advanced info about the google page rank you can read about it on wikipedia.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PageRank

Learn html and css

If you want to make your own website, but you don’t want to spend too much money doing so, learning html and css may be a good idea. Html is programming language used to make websites, and css is the styling of the html. Html and css are programming languages, so they are a little difficult to learn. But it is possible, and you don’t need too be much of a technological person to learn it, if you stay persistent at it and don't give up you will be able to make your own website from scratch.

I know a good bit of html myself, not perfect, but i know some. I learned everything from free tutorials and videos online, i have not been patient enough to learn it all yet. I recommend you to learn html, as you will be able to make your own websites. But also because you will learn a lot about how browsers and the internet work.

The best free ways to learn html are online video tutorials or written tutorials. Here are the best tutorials on the entire internet in my opinion:

Video tutorials:

http://learncss.tutsplus.com/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mp0f0zTPLec&list=PLF4D56540ADAE1288&index=1

Written tutorials:

http://www.w3schools.com/html/default.asp

http://www.html.net/

https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/learn/html

If you need more tutorials you should try googling a bit, but i believe that you will find all you need from the links above. I recommend watching the tutsplus videos, and to go through the w3schools tutorials. The w3schools tutorials will give you a good introduction into html, but some of the data may be outdated. So you should grab the basics there, then use the tutsplus, and some of the other links to learn more. If you follow the courses and stay persistent at learning, you will be able to make your own websites. I hope this helped you, and if it did, remember to share it.

5 ways to make firework at home

If you are celebrating new years eve or 4th of july, unable to buy firework, you can perfectly fine make firework at home. Here are 5 different ways to do so.

1. Make you own blackpowder. Blackpowder is the what powers fireworks, and with just three ingredients you can make it on your own. All you need is saltpeter, sulphur and charcoal. You can find the exact recipe on wikipedia. And a good guide on making fireworks with your blackpowder can be found here.
2. Make firecrackers from cap guns. You know those noisy toy guns, they actually contain some pretty decent gunpowder. You can buy caps for cap guns at a local store. Then use something thin to get the powder out of the caps. Put the powder together and add a fuse, and you will have a powerful firecracker. Read a full guide here. Make you own fuse here.
3. Make rockets and more from safety matches. Matches are highly flammable, and they can be used to make some cool fireworks. They are cheap, but it takes some work to separate the powder from the stick. Make match rockets here. Make a firecracker from matches here.
4. Make explosives from lighter fuel. Lighter fuel is fun to play around with, but remember to be very careful, and think about what you do. You can make many different kinds of fireworks with lighter fuel.
5. Make a fireball from wax lights. This is a new method i have recently learned, and it is quite amazing. All you need is a couple of wax lights, and some water. Then you place four of the lights on a flat ground(outside), with a little spacing between them. Light all of them, then place a fifth light on top of the four to make a pyramid shape. Light the top light, and make sure all lights are burning at all times. This will make the top light very hot, and the stearine will melt. Once the stearine has melted, it will start boiling when it gets hot enough. Once it is boiling, spray some water at the light and keep your distance. When the water hits the wax light, a huge flame will shoot to the air almost 1 meter tall. You can spray water several times, until the light gets cold and runs out. This is very fun, but can take a while. Make sure to use safety goggles, and make sure you keep your distance from the lights. I do not know exactly what happens when the water hits the light, but i know that it is great fun for sure. 

I hope these tips will help you have fun on new years eve, or on 4th of july. Be careful, use safety goggles, and have fun.

Here are some more ways to make firework if you don't feel satisfied yet.

7 tips to save money

Everyone wants more money. We all want to earn more, but it is important to save money too. Saving money can be just as lucrative as making money. Here are 8 tips to help you save money today.

1. Eliminate your debts and bills

The first think you should do is to pay all the money you owe. Pay your bills, and eliminate your debts. Try not to lend out any more money as well.

2. Make saving goals

Write down how much you want to save. 

Figure out how much you have to save, whether you want to save 500$ or 100 000$ you should set goals for how much you want to save. 

3. Make a list of your expenses

Make a list where you write down your usual expenses. All the money you use on food, clothes, electricity, ect. This makes you realize how much money you are actually using, and how much you could save.

4. Cut down on your expenses

Choose some of your expenses from the list above, and think about how you can save money on that one. For example, if you want to save money on clothes. Try to buy less clothes, and buy cheaper clothes. You can also decide a sum which you will use on clothes every month. The sum should be lower than the one on your starting list.

5. Stop using credit cards

Credit cards are terrible. You should not use your credit cards unless you absolutely have to. Credit cards make you forget how much money you are spending, and how much you have spent.

6. Make a savings account

Try to put some money in a savings account. Put away your money instead of having it available. Get an account with rents, so you actually make money from having your money in the bank

7. Prioritize savings

You should put savings first. When you get paid, don’t spend all your money and save what is left. Start with your savings, put your money in a savings account as soon as you get them.

If you follow my tips, i hope you will be able to save some money. I will try to follow them myself, because i could really use some money myself. Good luck.

How to get it done

It does not matter if you are trying to finish your workout routine, homework, or book. These simple tips will help you finish it.

1. Having a plan
When you start something it is important to have a plan. Know exactly what you are going to do before you do it.
Lets say you are working out, then plan what your are going to do. Write down a list of your exercises in the right order. A list like this will help you to not think about whether you should continue, or give up. If you start working out, dont stop until you have finished the routine you planned.

Lets say your are doing homework, plan what to do. A little today, some tomorrow and some friday. Know what of your homework to do, make a table where you divide your homework for each week between the days.

2. Pushing yourself
No matter what you are doing, if you are struggling to finish it. You should simply try to push yourself more. Don't accept that you want to finish working out to watch tv. Be a little hard on yourself, and tell yourself to finish it. Scream to yourself if you have to, be the master of yourself.

3. Be consistant
You should make finishing what you start a habit. Don't just do your homework once, do it every time. Then you will get used to it, and it will no longer be difficult for you to get it done. You can also give yourself rewards when you actually get something done. Tell yourself that you have to finish this, in order to move on to what you want to do next.

4. Do the worst things first
If you have a list of several things you are going to do, it can be smart to do the worst thing first. Picking the most boring homework first makes it easier to do the rest of your homework. It fools our brain to think that we are doing less homework, and making it easier to get the job done.

Try to follow some of these tips, then you can see for your yourself if they work or not. I hope they do, and that you will finish whatever you are trying to finish.

Loving money

Happiness is complicated, and we humans don’t quite understand what it is. We think we are searching for happiness, although we might be happy just as we are. Everyone is trying to get happier, and to make more money. Does that mean money equals happiness?

What is happiness?

 We humans search for the perfect happiness, but we never actually find the happiness we are searching for. Real happiness is most often experienced when searching for what we think is happiness. Humans experience happiness differently and there is no right or wrong answer to what happiness is. Some people feel happiness when they score a goal on the soccer field, or when they have a child. Kids might feel very happy when they get a brand new PlayStation for Christmas or a new bicycle for their birthday. We don’t understand what happiness is because we are greedy, and always want more than what we have. There are many happy people, for instance in Norway. Here we are rich, and we have what we need. Still most of us think that if we raise our salary to 1 000 000 nok a year, we would be happier.

Does money mean happiness?

We definitely feel happiness from money, mostly when buying new things. When a child gets something for Christmas, or when a women buys an expensive new purse. But do we feel happy when buying something, just because of the money? Let’s say we have two persons, one with just enough money to buy a laptop he really wants and one who has won the lottery and has enough money to buy a car. If both of them were to buy the same computer, would they feel the same amount of happiness? Probably not, I think that if you had just enough money for the computer, you would be a lot happier than if you had loads more. Why? It has something to do with our greed. We don’t feel happy with what we have, we just want more. That is why money does make us happy, but only to a certain degree.

Work – Money or joy?

When youths think about work, and what they want to do when they grow,. Most of them think that they should get the highest salary possible, independent of what type of work it is. But would that make you happy? As already concluded, loads of money don’t make you happy. So if you have a boring job you are not happy with, and you make huge amounts of money,. Then maybe you won’t be happy at all.

“I was lucky – I found what I loved to do early in life” - Steve Jobs said in his inspirational speech at Stanford University. Everybody wants to be happy, but they have understood it wrong. Maybe if you had a way lower education and did what you enjoy doing,. You would have exactly the money you needed, and a job you enjoy. That may be the real happiness.

This article is mostly theoretical, and may not be 100% right. But we can be pretty sure that happiness is something we don’t quite understand. We can say that money is a part of it. And yes, money will make you happier, but only to a certain degree. Work is important for our happiness, and how much money you make may not be that important. Most of us feel happiness when searching for what we believe is happiness.

We would feel the absolute most happy if we had an okay paid job which we enjoy, just enough money to do what we want to do, but still believing that you are searching for the perfect happiness,. Which we don’t really know what is?

How to write touch

What is touch?

Writing touch is when you write on your computer without looking on your keyboard. You know where every letter is, or at least your fingers know. When you write, your hands are still, but your fingers move back and forth. You use the correct finger to hit each letter on your keyboard.

Learn to write using the touch method

Why to learn touch

Everybody should learn to write touch because it is so fast. The speed of writing touch is so much faster than not writing touch. Computers are being used more and more these days, everybody needs to learn to write touch. The touch method is especially useful for students, and people writing on computers in general. If you could use half as much time on writing on your computer, imagine what you could do with that time.

How to learn touch

The easiest way to learn to write touch is probably taking a course, but this is not the method i will be talking about. You could probably find a course, but it would take unnecessary time and money.

It is best to learn touch by yourself, simply writing on your keyboard. If you decide to learn touch, you need to be disciplined. It is not easy, and will not be fun until you actually succeed. 

The first method to learn touch is simply learning alone. Sitting at home on your computer typing. Forcing yourself not to look at your keyboard. Doing this could work, although it might be very difficult and take a lot of time. You should understand some of the basics to touch writing before doing this. Your index fingers should be placed at the f and the j. There should be knobs on both of the letters, allowing you to easily find them without looking. The rest of your fingers are placed on a letter each horizontally. Then when you want to write a letter, you move the finger closest to the letter to click it, using only that finger.

The basics of writing touch

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Touch_typing

If you understand these basic rules, you should be able to learn writing touch on your own. You should be persistent at it, spend a couple of weeks trying to learn. Don't give up.

Taking a free online course

The best method to learn writing touch is to take a free course online. There are plenty of courses available, and there will be links to many of them below. Online touch courses can vary, but they are a lot better than trying to learn touch on your own. You can often have different levels of writing, allowing you to practice certain letters at a time. When i learned touch, i used a website to learn it. I did not spend too much time on learning it, and i believe that any person can learn touch, even if you are old or young. Good luck on learning the touch method. I hope you succeed. 

Online touch courses:

http://sense-lang.org/

http://www.typeonline.co.uk/

http://www.microtype.com/LearnToType.html