This post is my contribution to the 7 links blog challenge http://www.tripbase.com/blog/my-7-links-the-rules/ organised by Katie Tripbase. The torch was passed onto me via Ileane Smith. http://basicblogtips.com/my-7-links.html#comments

What Is The 7 Links Challenge?

The purpose of the 7 link challenge is to:

“To unite bloggers (from all sectors) in a joint endeavour to share lessons learned and create a bank of long but not forgotten blog posts that deserve to see the light of day again.”

The seven categories are as follows:

The Most Beautiful Post

The Most Popular Post

The Most Controversial Post

The Most Helpful Post

The Post Whose Success Surprised Me

The Post That Didn’t Get The Attention It Deserved

The Post I’m Most Proud Of

As you know, we have over 150 posts on our site, so to choose seven links was a challenge, especially as I wanted to make sure the posts selected reflects the good work of all the Team.

So after a lot of reading, shifting and heart searching, here are the seven posts I would like to bring back to light.

Ntathu’s 7 Links

1. Most Beautiful Post – The Most Beautiful Thing You Will Never See, by Brandon Freund

http://thenextgoal.com/2011/10/the-most-beautiful-thing-you-will-never-see/

Brandon’s post, reminded me of the mad society we live in and how much beauty and grace we miss in the pursuit of “being busy, and rushing to A-B-Z to get things done”.

Brandon’s post highlighted the experiment by the Washington Post, whereby the talented, world renowned classical violinist, Joshua Bell gave an incognito 45 minute performance to rush-hour pedestrian commuters near a busy subway in Washington DC.

The performance was recorded and during the 45 minutes that Joshua played the results gave an insight into just how much beauty we, as adults filter out in our daily lives.

The Results

During the 45 minutes performance, 1, 070 commuters passed by, 7 people briefly paused to listen, 27 gave money ($32) and the rest of the 1,070 commuters just rushed on by, oblivious to the musical talent and performance before their eyes. The researcher noticed that children heard the music and wanted to stop and listen, yet time and time again; they were dragged away by their parents and not allowed to stop and listen.

NextGoal TakeAway Tip

To take time to slow down and breathe.

As adults, it is easy to get engrossed in the mundane daily routine of our life and miss the magnificence and wonder right underneath our eyes. So, next time you are out and about, remember to take a few minutes to stop and listen to street musicians, pause and be in awe of their creation. You never know who could be playing for your enjoyment and pleasure.

2. Most Popular Post – Help Us Reach Our Next Goal, by Larry Lourcey

http://thenextgoal.com/2011/10/help-us-reach-our-next-goal/

Larry is our outstanding in-house photographer. One of the rewarding things of being in the NextGoal team is the sense of commitment and willingness to work towards the common goal. This post, isn’t the most popular post in terms of comments but for me, it’s the most popular as it reminded me of the value of Team work, giving our best, being our best as we strive towards a common goal – in this case, winning week two of the We Survived The Blog Challenge (get link) by being the Team to write the most post and get at least seven comments on each post.

As an incentive to encourage our readers to comment we ran a competition, Larry kindly donated two signed art prints as prizes.

NextGoal TakeAway Tip

The power of a supportive team working towards a common goal.

For me, it was touching to witness the ripple effect of Larry’s gift and the goodwill and support from our readers. It was a generous display and exchange of energy and reminded me what can happen when we all work together.

3. Most Controversial Post – Goal Seekers-Do You Need To make A Decision, by Anthony Smits

http://thenextgoal.com/2011/11/goal-seekers-do-you-need-to-make-a-decision/

I chose this post as it was the first post written by Anthony, for our Team. Anthony joined our Team as the sole survivor from the “opposition” (Crimsonsoapbox.com). We (TheNextGoal) had worked hard to ensure we won every round and as a result when Anthony joined our Team I felt a bit precious and wondered whether he would contribute and create good content. Between you and me, I didn’t want him, or anyone else on “Our Team”. l realised I was getting too caught up and needed to take a step back, give Anthony a chance, be pleasant and see what Anthony would bring to the table.

I know it sounds silly, but I was happily surprised with Anthony’s mindset and contributions to the team! The experience reminded me of the need to rise above individual differences and fractions in life and seek the higher ground. Sometimes in life, it is easy to allow and personal ambitions and aspirations to get in the way of the common good, so I was touched by Anthony’s generosity and contributions.

NextGoal TakeAway Tip

To stay open to all lessons and, be willing to give others a chance.

Life is a journey and at each point of the journey you have a choice, to rest, retreat, change paths or carry on and take the next step towards your goal. Goal setting and making a decision isn’t, as Anthony pointed out a singular event but rather a series of choices you make along the way. Success and fulfilment comes at a price and that price is the decision you choose to make each step of the journey.

4. Most Helpful Post – Characteristics of a Winner – Brave, by Holly Jahangiri

http://thenextgoal.com/2011/12/character-of-a-winner-brave/

At the time of the Blog challenge I didn’t appreciate this post. Holly posted it during the middle of the night whilst Neeraj, myself and Holly were locked in a mad “who can churn out the most posts in ‘10 seconds’ battle!”

When I took the time to read it, the post reminded me of the value and necessity of facing our fears and often fear is worse in our minds. I know from personal experience, my fear (false evidence appearing real) prevents me stepping out of the box and doing certain activities which are new and unfamiliar.

In her post, Holly shares how she overcomes her fears, embraces them and has the most spectacular adventure in the process. For example, Holly faced her fear of needles and donates blood, which helps saves the lives of others and overcame her apprehensions re parasailing and in the process describes her joy and thrill found in parasailing and being dunk head first into Atlantic Ocean. Awesome!

NextGoal TakeAway Tip

To feel the fear and do it anyway!

Most times, your fears are unfounded. The pleasure and strength of character gained from facing your fears allows you to grow and experience parts of yourself which you previously denied.

5. Post Whose Success Surprised Me – Yoga for Bloggers – Simple Self Massage To Ease A Sore Neck And Stiff Shoulders, by Ntathu Allen

http://thenextgoal.com/2011/12/yoga-for-bloggers-simple-self-massage-to-ease-a-sore-neck-and-stiff-shoulders/

Yoga is my thing and I noticed how stiff and sore my neck feels after a long stint at the computer. So I wrote a series of Yoga for Bloggers posts to share simple stress relief tips with other bloggers.

I was touched and mega surprised when Ms Ileane Smith emailed and said she would like to create an audio podcast http://msileanespeaks.tumblr.com/post/14231477414/yoga and video –  http://basicblogtips.com/bloggers-yoga-break.html of this post. How cool is that!

NextGoal TakeAway Tip

Dreams do come true.

One of my dreams is to create a series of yoga based audios and videos so to see “a stranger” tune in and pick up on my dream and manifest these products, is magic. Ms Ileane showed me what is possible when I release my fears of IT and step forward (must reread Holly’s post!)

6. A Post That Didn’t Get The Attention It Deserved – Have You Made It Large? Gurbaksha Chahal Has, by Neeraj Sachdeva

http://thenextgoal.com/2011/12/have-you-made-it-large/

I was touched by this post on several levels. As a mum with three daughters I get a lot of pleasure from watching my girls and their friends step up and do their thing. I love seeing young people get up, work, travel and make the most of life and, still remember their roots and families.

In his post, Neeraj shares his views about success and failure and why some people “make it” and others spend their life just chasing the rainbow. As an example of a successful young entrepreneur, Neeraj introduces us to Gurbaksha Chahal, and shares a video of Gurbaksha being interviewed by Oprah.

I believe in fairies and rainbows and know when you roll up your sleeves and co-operate with the Universe, magic happens. Throughout the interview I am touched by Gurbaksh’s humbleness and sense of pride in being where he is. He acknowledges his family, his roots and shares how he used the negative attitudes of his fellow school peers to spur him and fuel his inner drive.

I know we all have our own paths to follow, yet you have to acknowledge Gurbaksh’s success and ability to sell his first company for $40M, aged 18! I also took from that post a deeper appreciation of life as Gurbaksh spoke about the role of being happy and his desire to achieve balance in the journey of success. As an added bonus, Gurbaksha took the time to comment on Neeraj’s post and share a few words of encouragement and wisdom. I feel this post got lost in the avalanche of posts written by the team during the challenge, so I am glad more people can get the chance to read and watch Gurbaksh interviewed by Oprah.

NextGoal TakeAway Tip

To celebrate your journey, to honour your mistakes and, share your success with friends and family.

7. Post Most Proud Of – Reach for your Greatness-What Even Girls Like Us, by Ntathu Allen

http://thenextgoal.com/2011/10/reach-for-your-greatness-what-even-girls-like-us-3/

As a mother, with three daughters I recognise how challenging it is for girls and young women to be confident, feel beautiful and worthy of love. This post shares my wonder at the strength and courage of women who have been abused, who don’t feel good about themselves and believe they don’t deserve the nice slice of pie.

The post was triggered by my experience of working in a Woman’s Refuge and also by events unfolding in my life. I was proud to write the post and prouder still of my courage to post it, as it is touches subjects dear to my heart which I felt a bit wary about making public.

NextGoal TakeAway Tip

Face your fears and follow your heart!

As mentioned before, in facing my fears and posting Reach for your Greatness, the post was well received and from the readers’ comments I could see others were touched by my words and recognised and shared my sentiments – all girls are princesses, are beautiful and worthy of love.

Final Thoughts

So, there you have it, my contribution, via TheNextGoal for the 7 Links Challenge…a chance for hidden posts to come to light and get a second reading. Now, the next goal is for me to pass the baton onto five other unsuspecting bloggers and offer them the space to share their memorable posts. I nominate

Donavon Grant – http://donovangrant.com/ https://twitter.com/#!/donovangrant

Harleena Singh https://twitter.com/#!/harleenas http://www.aha-now.com

Y is for Yogini http://www.yisforyogini.com/ https://twitter.com/#!/yisforyogini

Judith Morgan https://twitter.com/#!/JudithMorgan http://www.JudithMorgan.com

Frederique Murphy – https://twitter.com/#!/IrishSmiley http://www.mountainmovingmindset.com/blog

So, my dear friends, feel free to carry the torch and share your favourite posts. Thanks. If you need further details about this challenge visit http://www.tripbase.com/blog/mky-7-links-the-rules/