I admire people who can take that moment to ponder and think about a reaction. I also admire the upbringing and environment that must allow such a sedate approach to life. I like it when I see someone hit with something and they don’t retaliate instantly, they calculate a response, to me that is special.

Me? I’m pure fire, a uncomplicated, simple guy who is motivated and a bit of a lit firework. I have lived a life in which decisions need to be made instantly and your gut feeling is the only feeling. No board meetings, no deliberating, just pure rapid fire.

• Tinder

I have lived my life on the edge, from a very early edge I have been pushing the boundaries, not to test the limits of authority or to be a rebel, but to see what life is all about. I suppose when I was a kid I didn’t know why I was so motivated to push myself to the limit, maybe it’s in my DNA.

I was described as a tinder box once, all it takes is one small spark and I’m off. Tinder is a fantastic thing to be made of, but you have to surrounded by long burning fuels too, which is the way I see this site.

• Grain

I’m not one of these non-conformist types, nor someone who disagrees with everything he reads or hears, I just do things the way I want to and the way I think is the best or right way to do it. By doing it my own way, it always seems to be against the grain. Thinking of a different way to do everything,  just to see if it can be done.

I did a 54 mile ultra-marathon in the dessert a few years ago, just to see if it could be done. I was sat around with a couple of lads one day and we got to talking about the half marathon we did the day before. We started bragging how easy it was, and before we knew it I suggested we do a Ultra-Marathon. Down the MSR (main supply route) and back. No competitions, no awards, no medals just personal pride.

• Energy

Hard work means different things to different people. Hard work for me was being in the military on operational tour constantly, 18 hour days 7 days a week for a long time. These days I have a full time job (60hrs a week) driving trucks, a young family and obviously work on the site.

Hard work and busy work are two different things in my mind, but I think by living my life the way I have and continue to do, means I can keep going at the rate I am. Energy can never be lost, it merely changes state.

But is being pure fire good?

Well, that’s what got me thinking about this post. I’m not every one’s cup of tea, I get that. To be honest if I came across someone who was like ‘just get on with it’ etc etc it would do my head in, so being pure fire isn’t always the best way to be. The ability to think things through and articulate yourself properly is a fantastic gift, which I find fascinating. Just look around the comments on this site, clever people contribute here, the thinkers.

I’m a hot head, I react instantly whether it’s needed or not. This also means I doing everything at full throttle, it works for me and this site, but it’s not for everyone.

photo credit: kdinuraj

What are you made of?

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Your website has a metabolism just like your body. You need to know how efficient that metabolism is in order to know if your site has a fast or slow burn rate, that way you can compensate to ensure your the fittest website out there;

• Fuel

Your content or posts are your fuel. The fuel feeding your website’s growth, if you don’t feed it, it will shrink in size and eventually die of starvation. There are two schools of thoughts about the amount of posts you should do. On one side some people say to only post 2-3 articles a week, and make them substantially long (1,000-1,500 words). I have a problem with that and here’s why; Your site’s metabolism will slow down and start to store fat if your don’t eat little and often just like an athlete. Keep your fires stoked with fuel to keep the fire large and hot rather than building it up and  the fire dying down all the time. I post 5-7 times a week at a minimum, keep your site fresh and hot to ensure people keep coming back.

• Sugar

Sweet posts are the ones that become your most popular instantly, the ones that give your site a rush in traffic. For instance How to Deal With Negative Comments became my most popular post within a day of it being published, its the sugar rush the body of the site needs, the quick adrenalin rush, But don’t let your site live off sugar, which leads me quite nicely onto ….

• Carbohydrates

You need slow burning fuel for your site too, its the slow burners that provide the real heat for your site, burning white hot at the core of the fire. Post’s like There are more than 24 Hours in the Day and The Importance of Pen and Paper are my big piece’s of oak wood at the centre of my bonfire, there the posts that are making the sugar posts burn quickly, without these solid necessity posts the site would shut down very quickly.

• Water

Your site needs 1 thing more than anything else and more regularly, Water. It’s your maintenance of the site, It helps keep your skin healthy your brain in full working order and your body supple. So keep on top of your spam, make sure you sort out the spelling and grammar (I spend most of my time doing this!), Answer your emails, follow up on great comments. If your readers start noticing dark circles and flaky skin around your site, or notice your always ill with the flu or a cough they will lose faith in everything your saying. The most important thing to remember with water is, Little and often!

• Exercise

Get out there and use your metabolism to burn off the fat. Don’t let your site get chubby, you need it to be lean and fit, the moment you start to say that’s enough promoting and social networking for today I’ll do double tomorrow your website is going to start suffering. Mix your exercise up to keep the body guessing, don’t always post the same things, venture into new things, which in turn will make your metabolism faster.

So, is your website on too much sugar or carbohydrate heavy? Do you need to take in more water or lacking in fuel? Do you need to hit the treadmill more? What ever your metabolic rate, everyone could improve on something.

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