A lot of blogs and online articles these days simplify their messages by providing a handful of tips to help their audiences accomplish a certain task or objective.
One article may headline with, “7 Tips to Financial Freedom.” A blog post may focus on, “4 Key Features of Quality Blog Posts.”
While these types of posts are typically succinct and clear, they can actually oversimplify the message or information they are trying to convey.
Here are “5 Tips to Effectively Leveraging ‘# Tips to XYZ’ blogs and articles:”
1) Upon reading the post, review the singular phrase associated with each “tip” at least 3-5 times.
Reviewing the tips themselves will effectively summarize what you just digested. Reviewing the tips multiple times will reinforce their meaning.
2) Reflect on the tips by internalizing them.
Envision how you can use these tips to improve your relevant thoughts, behaviors, and actions.
3) Reflect on the tips by externalizing them.
Discuss the tips, and your internal reflections, with others so that you can garner their perspective and further articulate the meaning that these tips may hold for your thoughts, behaviors, and actions.
4) Apply the tips to your life, immediately.
This is the most important tip of the blog post. Many posts provide you with information on how to do something better, but they fall short in actually inspiring action on your end. Every time you read a tip-oriented post, you’re wasting your own time if you don’t actually apply the tips. The inspiration to integrate and execute these tips in your life resides within you, not the post. As a byproduct of your internalized and externalized reflections, you’ve indicated areas in your life (whether your thoughts, behaviors, or actions) where you can apply the tips. Actually applying tips to your life is the tip of all tips – it will ensure that you tangibly receive the value-add of the tips you’re reading.
5) Remember that common sense is not common practice.
Life is simple. It’s not easy, but it’s simple. Don’t get caught up in get-rich-quick schemes or in the glamorization of trendy practices. Most tips you’ll read are super simple, almost to the point that we ignore them because of their simplicity and lack of pizzazz. However, if we stick to the basics, discipline ourselves to apply new tips to our daily livelihood, and maintain a long-term perspective on the fulfillment of our goals, we can properly integrate simple, yet value-adding, tips into all aspects of our lives. Our tips can add to our toolkit to construct the mansions of our dreams. Be the tortoise of a lifetime – not the hare of today’s whims and fads.
If you use the five tips in this article, and actually apply them, you can derive inspiration and eventual action from any tip-oriented article you digest. Take the tips in this article and apply them to this article, as a form of practice before venturing to other posts you come across.
Review. Reflect, both internally and externally. Apply. And remember that common sense is not common practice. This methodology allows you to truly adopt, adapt to, and adjust any tips you digest, from the inside out. When you allow something to take root from the inside out, you’re truly embracing change and connecting your thoughts with your actions, which will deliver real, significant results. The alignment of your “inside” with your “outside” will facilitate the completion of your goals; this alignment is powerful, necessary, and transformative. Take advantage of this alignment by allowing the methodology, identified in this article, to take root within you by absorbing the outlined tips from the inside out.
The review and reflect stages allow the tips to take root inside you, as you consume and process the information. Externalized reflection allows the tips to grow branches and leaves, as you connect with others and further develop your reflections. The apply stage allows the tips to continually water and develop your tree, as you engage in daily disciplines that hold you accountable in realizing the fruits of your adopted tips. And remembering that common sense is not common practice will keep you honest in watering and shaping your tree on a daily basis.
Happy tipping and applying!
