I'm In A Ninja State Of Mind

Have you ever heard of the reticular activating system (RAS)?  It’s the part of your brain that controls a lot of very important things in your body including what you pay attention to.  We all know that given the sheer volume of information thrown in our direction on a daily basis, there is just a small subset that actually makes it through to our consciousness.  When you do focus on one thing bringing to the forefront of your attention, suddenly that thing is everywhere.   So blame it on your RAS that as soon as you buy a blue Infiniti G35 you start to see blue Infiniti G35’s everywhere.  Once you are dialed into that thing, your perception changes so that you can’t help but see it.

I’ve been percolating on the idea of ninjas for several months.  The “why” of that isn’t important right now (that is a topic for another post) but ever since I began focusing on ninjas, I’m finding that ninjas are following me.

In true ninja fashion they flit in and out of my line of vision, but I am acutely aware that they are THERE.  At this point I can’t see it as anything but a call to action since it’s so blatantly smacking me in the face.  So that I can go back to focusing on the reason I started thinking about ninjas to begin with, I’m going to go ahead and download some of the ninjas I've uncovered from my consciousness to yours.

Time Management Ninja- This blog is exactly what it sounds like.  Smart tips, sound advice, and some wicked ninja moves all intended to help you maximize your most precious resource: your time.  I complain quite frequently that I don’t have enough time, but reading TMN makes me see that it is probably my own fault.  (But having self-improvement goals is good.)

The Blogging Ninja- I found this fellow in my Twitter stream after the dawn of Ninja consciousness came over me.  He tweets a lot of links to all things blogging info so if that’s up your alley you should definitely follow him.

Web Marketing Ninja- Faceless blogger who posted a rather awesome post about getting people to buy your eBook over on ProBlogger.  (ok, you can tell where I’ve been hanging out these days can’t you?  I promise I do think about things other than blogging.  Most days anyway.)

The Ittybiz Ninjas- I don’t know a lot about them other than it sounds like they keep the behind-the- scenes nuttiness of Naomi Dunford’s empire running smoothly along.   I would like to find some of these kinds of ninjas; if nothing else to pull me out when I try to explore yet another ninja rabbit hole.

Just for fun, Google “marketing ninjas”.  You’ll see that I’m not the only one with ninjas on the brain these days.

What’s your RAS been showing you?  Does that have any significance to you?

(photo credit by Radio Saigon)

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Beware the Saboteurs

(Photo credit jonathanb1989)

You are writing your latest web copy or sales letter.  You're feeling in the zone.  You can't wait to hit "Publish" on that blog post.  You just KNOW that people are going to be duking it out to buy your widget or comment on that awesome post.  You set your brainchild loose and then....crickets.  What happened?

Take a hard look back at your words, and you may realize that you've been sabotaged.  Ninjas crept into your writing when you aren’t looking.  t the time you thought they were friends helping you out.  In fact, their presence made your language fuzzy, and weakened your entire message. 

You must be on your guard at all times and beware the ninjas.

As a writer, I know that first I have to understand the purpose of my writing, and then I need to convey my message to you in a way that you'll care enough to read it.  If I’m passionate about something, I want you to be passionate about it too.  I choose my words carefully and deliberately.  The words I use are just as critical as the message I want to convey.

Here are some of the most common ninjas I've found I need to be on the lookout for:

"I think":  I can assume that if I've taken the time to craft a piece for public consumption, I’ve accomplished the goal of “thinking” about it.  Saying things like “I think that you will like this blue-green algae mop and find it useful” is yawn-worthy. You aren't reading because you want to know what I think.  You want to know what I KNOW.

"You could":  These two words preface some kind of recommendation. People like options, so it makes me feel good to tell you all the things you “could” do.  But if someone is playing the part of the expert,they need to tell us what we should do.  If I have a wealth of knowledge that you do not have, based on all of my experience, I should be able to tell you why that shiny widget in your hand is going to be the best thing I’ve ever seen since the invention of the iPhone.

Probably, Just, and every other adverb out there: I heart adverbs.  I really do.  I confess that they are my biggest weakness (aside from excessive comma use).  That’s why I find them littered all over the place in every first draft I put together.  Adverbs modify verbs, and 99% of the time, the adverb adds no value.  In fact, it makes the sentence anemic.  Tweak the sentence by removing the adverb, and you’ll find that you are still saying the same thing, only better.   Thank goodness for editing, otherwise you'd probably, really, never ever come back to see something I wrote ever again.

I'm ruthless in combating my word saboteurs.  I have to be.  The next time you write a piece of copy that doesn't resonate with your audience, take a closer look.  My guess is you'll find ninjas at work.

What are your worst saboteurs?

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