Taking Self Improvement and Personal Development to the Next Level

It's time to crank up the "Let's make this HAPPEN!" machine and start putting our collective money where our mouth is.

Anyone who read my post about successful blogging, or who is a member of Personal Development Partners, or who joined the 10,000 Fists to Freedom Challenge is aware of the fact that I am on a mission to start effecting some actual positive changes in people's lives – including my own.

In fact, as I type this, the PDP site has been temporarily taken down because, well, it just wasn't good enough!

Even though I coded that site until I felt like pulling my hair out, now that it has been up for a few weeks, I just don't feel like it is getting the job done. As a result, I took the site offline while I take some necessary steps – not the least of which being this blog post about upcoming possibilities.

What am I babbling about?

• Interaction
• Community Building
• Offline Events
• Online Networking (that works!)
• Business Success
• Small and large goal-oriented Teams
• Finding Friends/Partners in your Local Area
• Joint Ventures and Group Efforts

In short, making a difference!

Right now there are some other communities on the 'net that are making a difference, and I will not downplay their positive influence in the least. In fact, since I don't believe in competition (it is SO over-rated!), I will even point you directly to my 2 favorites: Steve Pavlina's Forums and Tut's Adventure Club.

However, I want more than even those great sites can offer, and I believe that the personal growth and development community needs more than that. So, since I'm the one with a rocket full of motivation behind me, I'm going to spearhead the process, and I'll grab all of the help and participation that I can get along the way!

I have been thinking of starting a forum much like Steve Pavlina's for the Today is that Day community, and at the same time I also want the unique functionality that is allowed by an interface such as that which I built for Personal Development Partners.

Then it hit me one day in the form of one of those questions that makes you feel stupid and excited at the same time:

"Why are you trying to run a blog, a message board, and a separate online community all at the same time, when you could run one community that covers it all?"

I thought about it for a minute and said to myself, "I don't know. That's a good question!"

So, using the same software that Steve Pavlina uses on his message board, called VBulletin, I will inject that same type of interface with some very unique functionality. Most people who use VBulletin don't know that it can be seriously pumped up to the point where it could put MySpace to shame if the site owner really wanted it to.

Some of the additional functionality will simply come in the form of specialized user groups or discussions that are geared towards a very specific task (as opposed to just chatting), while some of the other functionality will be more what I had in mind when I built PDP. Things such as:

• The ability to find and network with people locally, rather than just online or over great distances.
• Buddy lists or other systems of exchanging messages and information with just a certain group of people, rather than all of the members.
• A fully functional calendar that can be used to post both small and large online as well as offline events, seminars, teleconferences, meet-ups, etc. Calendars can be public or private and can also be set up for specific user-groups.
• Full integration with blog posts here at Today is that Day and possibly also other blogs as well so that a conversation can be started about the concepts that are discussed, rather than just comments.
• Real-time chat options, including potentially being able to set up user-group level chat rooms so only people interested in a certain subject will be chatting. Site-wide chat will also be available.

Truth is, there really isn't much that can't be done with this software, so the list above is just a start. I have no doubt that on a community as well as an individual level, modifications will be made along the way in order to make the experience enjoyable and productive for everyone.

Sounds great! What's the next step?

The next step is me getting my hands on a licensed copy of VBulletin so I can start customizing it. In order to raise the funds to do that, I have decided to have a 50% off sale for my 3 most popular products:

You can click each of the graphics to learn more about any of the products, or just click below if you want to be taken directly to the shopping cart:

Mental Meltdown – Normal Price: $15 Sale Price: $7.50

Energy Harmonics – Normal Price: $37 Sale Price: $18.50

How to Invoke the Law of Attraction – Normal Price: $15 Sale Price: $7.50 

Or, if you just want to support the cause (and benefit yourself in the process), you can always just make a donation. All amounts are welcome!

The bottom line is that as I stated in the title of this post, it's time to take it to the next level. Yes, there will always be a place for blogs like this one and many others that I have mentioned in the past, as well as other useful websites.

However, if people aren't truly taking action in order to improve their lives, then this
whole business is just academic, isn't it? 

I'm offering a no-brainer way for everyone – writers and readers alike – to prove that we are all hanging around the blogosphere for some purpose other than just to kill time.

Are you game to start upping the stakes?