Keeping yourself focused on the most important things in life can be a difficult job when you’re trying to balance work, family responsibilities, and your personal life all at the same time. There may be times when you want instant rewards for your hard work, and when they don’t happen as expected, you feel like the world has conspired against you.

But the truth is that you’re not important enough for the cosmic forces to get in your way. Sometimes you don’t get the rewards you want and deserve simply because there’s something better in store for you, if only you wait a little longer.

The Kid At The Grocery

The scientific evidence in support of self-control has been established fairly recently, dating back to the marshmallow experiments of the psychologist Walter Mischel in the 1970s. But common knowledge about the power of self-control goes way beyond that. Everyday experiences teach us the importance of self-control and what it can do for our character.

Growing up in our families, our parents and other elders constantly teach us how to curb our appetites for various things like food, toys, TV and games. We don’t always get what we want because it’s bad for us, although we’re not always aware of this fact.

How many times have you seen a mother and child pair in the grocery arguing about a particular product that the latter wants to include in the shopping cart but the former doesn’t want? More often than not, the parent is trying hard to reason with the kid and convince him to put the cookie tin back on the shelf in favor of an apple, rich in quercetin and other antioxidants.

But the kid’s judgment (what little of it he has developed at his age) is clouded by his desire for the thing, so he does everything he can to get it to force his mother to buy it for him. He doesn’t know any better. He wants his cookie, and he wants it now. In the end, the mother can just give in and buy the cookies, but that’s not a good way to teach the child self-control.

Do you also feel like throwing tantrum when you don’t get want you want? Some of us do on a regular basis. However, as a mature and self-aware adult, it’s important for you to exercise a little more self-control.

Wait It Out

 There are many instances in life when your patience is tested. During these moments, you feel like every minutes stretches to forever. Young adults sit through their classes, boring or not, in order to finish their degree. They memorize words and sounds to master a new language. They take time to learn steps and instructions to learn a dance routine and perform it flawlessly.

All these activities require patience and fortitude in order to be finished, and unless you hold out until the end, you’re never going to see the results you wanted in the first place. To master your self-control and build your character for the better, here are three easy tips you can follow:

Stay calm when deciding about important matters. The easiest way to make a bad decision is to panic and act impulsively. Self-control is all about putting a lid on your runaway thoughts, especially during crucial moments. If you let panic or fear into your mind, you cannot make objective decisions.  Keep your emotions out of the way because they will only cloud your good judgment, leading you to make poor choices.

 When faced with a choice, ask yourself: “What is the best thing for me in the long run?” People who never learn to rein in their appetites usually make decisions based on present circumstances only, forgetting the fact that whatever they do now will have an impact on future happenings. Do you really need this expensive designer bag that costs as much as your pay check this month?  Will you have enough cash left over to pay for your other expenses such as food, rent and utilities? If you think that buying the bag will now ruin your budget, then you should not make the purchase.

Play the devil’s advocate and lay out alternative circumstances. What ifs and how abouts are a great way for you to examine your decisions from all angles. When you try to learn more about the consequences of your act, you buy yourself time enough to think whether you really want it or not. Sometimes self-control teaches us not just to wait for the fruit of our efforts but also to come up with alternative solutions to our problems, which may be even better than the first one we came up with.

Every blogger lives in dread of a high bounce rate. We all want to keep those readers on our site, perusing content throughout the pages, for as long as possible. After all, we know that the more they read from us the more they like us, and the more they like us the more they send their friends to like us.

Here are 7 blogging strategies that will keep your readers longer on your site and lower your bounce rate.

1. If your title is ambiguous, unclear, or ridiculously long, many readers will leave before they even begin reading! It’s fine to be witty and clever sometimes, but in the grand scheme of things, readers want to know what a post is about (and decide if it’s relevant for them) with those first few words.

2. The longer the sentence, paragraph, or section of written text, the more likely you are to lose someone’s attention.

Write brief sentences. Keep paragraphs short with one main idea. Use headings and subheadings to divide sections/main ideas. Look at what you’ve written and ask yourself, “Is this appealing to the eye?”

3. Remember those high school science textbooks? They were so boring that you’d catch yourself nodding off while studying! Chances are that it was not the content itself that bored you, but the tone and style of the writing.

Even on a technical or niche blog, sounding academic is just plain uninteresting. Readers want to hear from real people, who have thoughts, feelings, and opinions on the facts they present. Before you post, read over your own words to see if your personality comes through at all. If it doesn’t, re-write.

4. You’ll hear lots chatter about word counts. It should be more than 500 words. Definitely stay under 1200 words. You need enough time to really grab the readers’ attention, but be careful not to drone on so long that you lose them. While suggested word counts are a useful guideline, keep in mind that they are just that – a guideline.

What’s important is that you make your point effectively. Be clear. Be understandable. Use illustrations and examples, but not long, drawn-out stories.

5. While it may sound trite, “keep is simple” is probably the soundest advice a blogger will receive. Readers, no matter their level of education, expertise, or technical prowess want to be able to get the gist of what you’re saying by merely skimming the text.

Forcing your readers to slow down and re-read big words and technical jargon is as good as creating a pop-up box that says, “Don’t bother reading my blog; just go ahead and click that back button on your browser.”

6. Think of blogging as being the host(ess) of a party. When you’re having a party, you try to greet people at the door, make small talk with a variety of people, get into deeper conversations with a few, and bid guests farewell when they leave.

If you have a high-traffic blog, it’s impossible to reply to every comment or email you receive. But make an intentional effort to do so with several for each blog post you write. Pay attention to those who comment regularly, and engage in conversation with them in the comments. Even those you are unable to interact with are more likely to stick around for after-dinner coffee if they see you engaging others.

7. Obviously, you can’t follow everyone who follows you. Nor would you want to. But for those blogs you do read, read thoroughly and leave thoughtful and thought-provoking comments. Not only will you earn the writer’s loyalty, but you will attract loyal followers of that blog over to your own tribe as well.