If you don’t want your perspective on addiction challenged, don’t read any further.

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Addiction

We are all addicted to something.
 Some are prettier than others.

A challenge to your perspective on addiction can be uncomfortable. After all, you and I know where we sit!

Society has a way of dealing with addicts that draws a very thick line in the sand between them and us. We label them as hopeless appendages to society and stigmatise them with shame, selfishness and weak mindedness.  Drugs, alcohol, gambling, sex, mobile phones, social media – wait – everyone has mobile phones and engaged in social media. How else can you be noticed and have so many friends?

Johann Hari[i] in his talk to a TED[ii] audience in London challenges society’s perspective on addiction.  The world has never been so connected as it presently is with such great technology enabling multi-media and telecommunications instantly. Yet, the evidence is mounting that we are one of the most socially disconnected generations. Friends are counted as a number on social media, and communication amounts to comments in a small box or the easy tick of the ‘like’ box.

Of course that is not addiction – that is being social as everyone knows. Right?

Are you sure about that?

How many times have you seen families at a restaurant and all busy on their mobile phones rather than seizing the moment of opportunity and chatting? How many relationship difficulties have you heard of that identify mobile phone use as the problem?

Addiction is touching all of us in some way.

Some addictions are more socially acceptable than others, and some are more destructive than others, but all are compulsive disorders of our personality that we fail to control.

American research[iii] published in 2012 found that people’s biggest self-control failures related to media and work and not alcohol and tobacco. Social media addiction is real and when a basic fabric of society such as communication is disrupted, there is a dislocation of basic human needs as in line with Maslow’s Hierarchy[iv]. The Australian Gambling Research Centre[v] found a relationship between family communication, addiction and mental health and went further to say that gambling develops as an escape or an effort to seek that feeling of ‘control’.

Hari feels that disconnection in society is a major driver for persons with addiction issues. Dislocating ourselves from society, our families and cultural norms is a powerful force in forming an addiction to a certain product especially when there may be personality and gene factors already present in our DNA[vi].

It is difficult for families to live with an addicted person. Many families disintegrate and the rippling effect on the extended family is dramatic and sometimes catastrophic. Loving and supporting an addict is beyond the boundaries of unconditional love as multiple rehabilitation failures accumulate.

A new approach to addiction

A new approach to addiction and rehabilitation seems to be on the horizon. Hari says we should be investing more into supporting addictive persons to rehabilitate back into society.  He feels that the present society approach further cuts addicts off from any reasonable success with rehabilitation. It may be more useful to concentrate on building basic connections within society and reconnecting addicts back into their life, employment and social connections.

Whatever your view, Hari’s talk on Everything you think you know about addiction is wrong is conversation provoking.

[i] TED. Hari J. Bio http://www.ted.com/speakers/johann_hari

 

[ii] TED. Hari J. Everything you think you know about addition is wrong. June 2015.   http://www.ted.com/talks/johann_hari_everything_you_think_you_know_about_addiction_is_wrong/transcript?language=en

 

[iii] Psychological Science, Hofman, W., Vohs K., Baumeister R. What People Desire, Feel Conflicted About, and Try to Resist in Everyday Life. June 2012; vol. 23, 6: pp. 582-588., first published on April 30, 2012. http://www.drugabuse.gov/publications/drugfacts/understanding-drug-abuse-addiction

 

[iv] Mcleod S. 2007. Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs. http://www.simplypsychology.org/maslow.html

 

[v] Australian Institute of Family Studies. Australian Gambling Research Centre. https://aifs.gov.au/projects/australian-gambling-research-centre

 

[vi] Alexander, Bruce K.  Globalization of Addiction  http://www.brucekalexander.com/

 

Bad blog converts to great blog

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A bad blog is boring – let’s face it. A bad blog post loses readers within seconds. A great catchy title will motivate readers to click on that post, but if you don’t deliver – they will be annoyed. A bad blog may equate to a bad business in your

A bad blog feels like this to a reader

A bad blog probably feels like this to a reader – prickly

reader’s eyes, after all it is about offering quality products and customer satisfaction.

Bad blog and great blog

Here are some ways to get a bad blog and then my tips on making a great blog.

1. Visual appeal is zero. Blocks of tight text with small font or even worse a decorative fussy typeface that belongs on a Christmas card are a great start to turning your reader off. Recently I had almost decided to contact a graphic designer to do some work for me. Luckily their newsletter arrived in my Inbox and I quickly changed my mind when the bold no-paragraph content caused my eyes to squint and water. Why waste room on white space I could hear them saying.

  • Well actually, I like calming white space on my documents, it allows my mind to dwell on the well-written content and beautifully presented words.

2. No logic to the content.  A bad blog reads like a three year old telling a story. It will jump around, turn back on itself, repeat information, include irrelevant information and end no-where – which is why a

three year old may then throw a tantrum because they haven’t communicated their need. But of course, you are a business and you can’t throw a tantrum at your potential customers.

  • Organise your content and thoughts by simple brainstorming. Write your outline with enough detail that your written blog will be cohesive and logical and take your reader from your clever title through relevant information and to a conclusion. There. Bet you are feeling better already.

3. Absolutely pointless. Ever persevere with a blog because you desperately want the information that the title suggested could be in this bad blog? A bad blog never gives readers a clear take-away – after all, your knowledge is golden and that is what makes you the expert in the field. If you educated everyone in your subject matter, what sort of business would you have.

  • Educating customers through blogs actually will create more loyal long-term customers that will look to you as the leading expert in the field. Sometimes you need to give before you receive.
  • Know what it is you want your readers to know when they finish reading your blog. See if you can group these points together and give them a heading. With two to four of these group points depending on the length of your blog, you will have your paragraphs.
  • Ensure each paragraph logically follows its preceding paragraph so your information builds and flows. An easy way to do this is to end each paragraph with the first words of the next paragraph.
  • Finish off where you started – recap your title information and opening information so your reader knows you have taken them on a journey and fulfilled your promise.

4.  Don’t edit your bad blog. Why should you edit when we all know that every word that we write is gospel? Editing takes time and people will sort it out themselves. Wrong. People will judge your business and your products by your attention to detail and care you take with your blog – right or wrong, that is how it will be. A bad blog will say much more than you want it to say, so take time.

  • Put your blog away for as long as possible – overnight is good.
  • Print it out and read it aloud – quickly.
  • Take a red pen and instinctively cross out anything that doesn’t make sense, isn’t true, not logical or uses too many words to get to the point.
  • Get a ruler and go through each word looking for poor grammar, spelling errors or incorrect punctuation.
  • Go back to your blog and make your corrections. If it was too bad, throw it out and write it all again. Many great writers do this automatically – and guess what, the second write is always better than the first.

5. Obviously no final check done. You have already spent more time than you have on this bad blog so no need to do a final check for formatting, visual appearance, links working and obvious issues.  Wrong again.

  • Always check and then check again that your formatting hasn’t moved, there is plenty of white space to allow your reader to see your messages clearly.
  • Read your blog again to ensure your words are consistent throughout, your argument is logical and you actually deliver what you set out to achieve.
  • Check your hyperlinks, images and anything else you inserted in your blog.

Bad blog no more

Finally, maybe your bad blog post is no more. Maybe your blog is now worthy of its readers. It may even convince your readers enough to make them pick up the phone or email you (if you have left those details on every page)

One last word – don’t forget to get your great blog out there on social media. No point having a great blog if no-one reads it.

Keep an eye on my Facebook https://www.facebook.com/thewritingshed.  Hopefully not  a bad blog in sight.