Monica Bruno's Blog, page 2

5 Quick Tips to Help Make Running Easier

I’m reading a book called Better Than Before, by Gretchen Rubin. It’s a great book about how to form better habits. What sets it apart from other books I’ve read on this topic is that Rubin digs into what actually motivates us to do what we do. And, as it turns out, we’re all motivated by different things. What is motivating for me, can actually be demotivating for someone else. That’s why there really is no one way to do things. She’s created four different tendencies, or categories, where most of us fall into: Upholders (primarily self-motivators, meet outer and inner expectations) Obligers (meet outer expectations, but resist inner expectations) Questioners (resist outer expectations, but meet inner expectations) Rebels (resist outer and inner expectations) It turns out I’m an Upholder. The book has helped me understand why I do things, what helps me get things done, and the best way for me to instill new habits (and break bad ones). Regardless of which tendency you fall into, when trying to establish a new habit, Rubin emphasises how important it is …

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Think it’s Too Late to Start Running? Meet Sue!

Are you worried it’s too late to start running? Well you shouldn’t be, because the truth is it’s never too late. It’s not uncommon now to see older runners on the trails or running marathons anymore. And they’re not only running, they’re thriving. I get passed by older runners all the time, sometimes I pass younger ones, too. I was actually inspired to start running fifteen years ago, by my 68 year old neighbor who ran by my house every morning. And older runners are not all long time runners, either. More and more people are starting to run later in life. That’s because the benefits of running, like reversing the aging process, lowering blood pressure, reducing anxiety and depression, are especially helpful the older we get. As long as you’ve been cleared by your doctor, and build up slowly, you can start running today. One of the great things about social media is being able to connect with other runners from all over the world. A few months ago, I met an amazing woman through my blogging mastermind group, Have Your Cupcake. Her …

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How to Make the Most of Your BookBub Promotion

Last month, my debut novel, Rachel’s Folly, was featured on BookBub and became the #1 downloaded free eBook on Amazon for 24 hours. Not for just my genre, but for the entire Kindle store. It received nearly 49,000 downloads during the total promotional period. I say this not to brag (well maybe a humble brag, I still can’t believe it), but more so to share with you what I did. So hopefully, you can get similar results. To be clear, the success from being ranked number #1 on Amazon and getting all those downloads have not made me rich, nor did they put me on any NY Times Bestsellers Lists. The promotion has more than paid for itself, though. And what it really did was bring me more exposure than anything else I had done before. It’s brought me new fans, lots of new reviews and given me a little boost to keep writing. So if getting on BookBub isn’t part of your book marketing strategy, it should be. It is a book marketing giant, no other book marketing company comes …

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30 Inspiring Runners on Twitter Who Rock!

Last week I published a blog post about happiness and how if we want to be happier we should surround ourselves with happy people, this applies for people in our psychical presence as well as the people we engage with on social media. And if you like to run and are looking for a little motivation to help keep running, I listed some terrific runners who can do just that. If you want to meet 25 amazing runners who will brighten your day, check out these 25 Runners on Twitter Who Will Make You Smile. Making a list like this is hard, because I know so many wonderful runners on Twitter who inspire me to keep running everyday. Of course, I ran for many years before I knew any of them, but now I can’t imagine running without sharing my love for running and getting my happy fix from these runners from all over the world. 25 weren’t nearly enough to feature everyone who should have been on the first list. And honestly, even 30 more isn’t enough. But let’s consider this a follow-up post to …

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25 Runners on Twitter Who Will Make You Smile

As the saying goes … if you want to be happy, you should surround yourself with happy people. It’s contagious. And this goes for social media, too. Our feelings can be influenced by what we read in our news feeds. So if you want to be inspired, smile and enjoy your time on Facebook, Twitter, or whatever you crazy kids are into these days, you should unfollow the people who bring you down and follow the people who lift you up. It’s that simple. If you like to run and want to meet some cool runners that’ll motivate you and make you smile, then I can hook you up. These people not only talk the talk, they walk the walk (or run the run). Before I get to the list, let me first point out, this list could have easily been 100 Runners on Twitter Who Will Make You Smile, since I follow so many AMAZING and supportive people. But because of time constraints, I had to narrow the list down to 25. Whaaah! These are the people I interact with the most, so they were …

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How Running Helps You Become a Better Writer

We all know running is good for you, but did you know running can help you become a better writer, too? It’s true. As writers, we spend a lot of time, well … writing, or thinking about writing, or thinking about how much writing we should be doing. Plus, there’s so much more that goes into “writing” than just cranking out the words. There’s the initial writing of the shitty first draft, and then the revisions, and then the edits, and more edits. And if we’re promoting our work, we’re also tending to and trying to grow our social media platform. We’re working on building our author brand (and if we’re not, we should be). If we have a blog, we’re blogging, which is also a lot of writing and almost another animal when it comes to promoting our content. We’re at our desks hours at a time, typing away, getting lost, hopefully in our creative endeavors, but also getting sucked down the social media rabbit hole when we should be … writing. It’s both …

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7 Steps to Reach Your Goals

  Can you believe another year has gone by? Just like that *snaps fingers* Many of us will spend the next few days reflecting on the past year, while making new goals for our New Year’s Resolutions. Everybody has dreams. A lot of people make goals. And many give up after just a few weeks. People give up because they don’t have a clear path. They begin working towards their goals with great enthusiasm, get discouraged, and eventually fall back into their old habits. The key is to change our mindsets, form good habits and stay on course. We all have the power to achieve whatever we set our minds to. Here are 7 steps to reach your goals … It’s not enough to say: I want to lose weight, I want to run a marathon, I want to write a book, I want a new job. Those are all great goals to have, but unless you zero in on exactly what you want, how you plan to get there and set a date for completion, they’re too vague …

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10 Awesome Christmas Gifts for Runners

Do you have any runners on your Christmas list? Are you still looking for a gift? You are? Well, you’re in luck. I’ve put together a list of 10 awesome Christmas gifts for runners. They range in price from $150 bucks to just $10 (or even less if you’d like). This is not a sponsored post, I don’t make a dime from these products if you happen to buy one. I just want to share my gift list with you in the hopes you will buy something for me … just kidding! No really, I just want to share some ideas with you in case you’re looking for a last-minute gift for that special runner in your life. Here is my list of 10 awesome Christmas gifts for runners: I know, I know, it’s not safe to run while wearing earphones, but I just can’t run without music. I do keep the volume turned way down and stay off the road as much as possible. iPod’s are great for keeping track of your miles while listening to your favorite tunes. They go …

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3 Things to do Now for Your New Year’s Resolutions

So, we’re just a few weeks away from the New Year and you know what that means … it’s time to make New Year Resolutions! Most of us will resolve to get in better shape, eat better, and maybe find a better job. It’s all for the better, better, better. Personally, I’m resolving to manage my time better, finish my novel, and stop biting my nails (among other things). And although these are great goals to have, unfortunately the truth is most of us will fall back into our old habits after just a few months. But did you know there are things you can do right now to prepare yourself for the New Year and increase the chances of succeeding? Here are the 3 things to do now for your New Year’s resolutions: Even with the best intentions, if you work or live with a lot of clutter around you, you’re setting yourself up for an uphill battle if you’re trying to achieve a new goal. Why? Because clutter is a visual reminder of too much stuff, …

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Need a Little Motivation to Run? Meet Jeanne

  Lately I’ve been feeling my age a little more than I’d like to admit. The truth is, I struggle to run as much and as fast as I used to. It was not so long ago, only a few years back in fact, when I had a lot of energy, ran over 45 miles a week, and I was pretty fast, too. I still get in a decent amount of running, but those miles are harder to pump out. I love running, but now in my mid-forties, it’s more challenging and my body doesn’t seem to respond to it as well as it did before. So I was surprised a few weeks ago, while at my friend’s wedding, when I ran into a mutual friend, named Jeanne. I first met Jeanne in 2011 at a dinner in Washington D.C. I was there for Jon Stewart’s Rally to Restore Sanity and Jeanne was there for the Marine Corps Marathon. I remember thinking she was so pretty, with her big warm smile. I was surprised to learn we …

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