My Self-Improvement Website And A Special Letter To My Readers

by Howard Grant Platt 3rd on March 24, 2012 · 8 comments

in Enthusiasm and Attitude

Self-Improvement, Personal Development, Human Potential those are three things that I take very serious and they are the foundation for this website.

I have studied every aspect of all three of the above for more than half my life. Back in 2008 I choose to create this self-improvement website for three main reasons.

The first being that I honestly and sincerely wanted to help others by sharing the knowledge I’ve gained throughout my years of study in the field of personal development.

My second motivation for starting this website was that I wanted to share the struggles I have had to deal with and will always have, and use those stories to help others who may be dealing with their own challenges.

My desire was or is to help and inspire others to see the true power of the human spirit, a power that we all possess. My hope is that the information I share throughout this site helps others to realize and unleash their personal power.

By all accounts I shouldn’t even be here today but I am here because throughout my journey for self-improvement I found the personal power to fight, to never give up or give in. I used the knowledge I had gained to face my challenges with the belief that I held the power to defeat any challenge and to overcome any obstacle.

The third main reason for me starting this website was to help myself as I firmly believe that when you help others you are helping yourself as well.

As I mentioned I was dealing with some serious health issues that had changed the entire course of my life.

Despite all the knowledge and real life experience I had in dealing with self-improvement and personal development issues I found myself really struggling to hold on.

There I stood, I was in the prime of my life, I had worked hard, much harder than anyone could imagine to achieve all I had at that stage of my life.

I had specific goals for my life, they were not dreams or wishes they were benchmarks for where I wanted to be, to have and to do in my life. I was right at the edge of reaching a goal I had set for myself, it was a goal that most could only dream of, I was so close to achieving that goal I swear I could see, feel and taste the success but in the course of a single day it was all ripped out from under me.

I had done all I could, I gave it my all and I had fought so hard to reach the top and it was within my grasp but unfortunately, and due to no fault of my own, that was as close as I would ever get.

Based on the news I received that day, it was over, there were no second chances, everything would change and that was one of the most difficult times in my life.

After awhile and once the dust settled from that challenge I made the decision to launch this site and I wanted it to reflect on certain actions I had to take in my own life and that’s why it’s titled, “Positive Thinking For Personal Development Strategies For Living A Spectacular Life!”
I used this platform to not only help educate others, I used it to reignite my self-improvement journey that was now on a completely new path.

I guess some could say that my third reason might have been a bit selfish.

I don’t think of it as that but apparently some of my readers do and that is the primary cause for me writing this article to you, my readers and my friends.

The #1 Self-Improvement Site On The Net!

When I first started this self-improvement website I had no intentions to try and turn it into a business and although you will find products, programs or services offered on here the fact remains that I make no profit.

I do earn commissions on certain products or self-improvement programs that people purchase through this site but I have NEVER earned a profit.

I make very few sales from this site and there has never been a month where the commissions from those sales surpassed the expenses that are involved to maintain this site month to month.

Please don’t think for a moment that I am complaining, if you continue reading you will understand why I felt compelled to write this article to you.

If you were to read through some of the comments left by other visitors as well as all my replies you would notice that my main concern remains to be self-improvement and more importantly helping others.

My personal life is very restricted due to the disabilities caused from my progressing illness.

I’m at the hospital three times a week for my treatments and I have many other medical appointments on top of that.

I end up in the emergency room a few times each month and they almost always require extended stays.

Again I am not complaining about my situation and I have ZERO self-pity.

I know that God has his own plans for me and in a way I feel privileged to be able to serve my God and fulfill his purpose for my life.

I honestly believe that I was meant to start this self-improvement website, I have always enjoyed helping others and this just gives me another venue to do so.

Many of you (my regular subscribers) have asked me to share my personal story and for quite sometime I have been promising to do so.

However that is not my reason for writing to you today but if I have the time I will try to share a condensed version.

I have been writing a book about my life but I am nowhere near being finished.

My purpose for writing to you today has to do with some comments I have received over the past few months.

I encourage everyone to leave me their comments, thoughts, opinions, questions or if they just want to share their feelings that is welcome as well.

This is a self-improvement site so I enjoy reading the comments and responding to any and ALL questions.

Comments are held for moderation but that is only because I get dozens of SPAM comments on a daily basis and I don’t want those published automatically because they are typically offensive in nature.

Most SPAM comments are posted by automated programs and they contain promotional links to sites that have nothing to do with self-improvement or personal development.

Other than the outright SPAM comments I approve and reply to 99.99% of all the rest.

I don’t pick and choose only the favorable comments, if someone has a different opinion then mine I am more than happy to approve and respond to them.

However, I will not entertain any personal attacks. This site is based on Positivity and I owe it to all of you to keep it that way.

There has been an increase in the number of comments that question my integrity (to put it nicely) and my motives.

With this being a self-improvement website I fully understand that some people will disagree with my methods, suggestions or opinion and I respect that 110% and I welcome other people’s opinion.

Like I said in the beginning, I built this self-improvement site because I wanted to help people and that will always remain my primary goal.

When someone disagrees with something I have written I actually think that is a good thing because I certainly do not know it all and I am always in search of learning new things.

However, a difference in opinions is one thing but personal attacks launched against me, my character and my motives, well that is a whole new story.

This is getting rather long so before I lose some of you I would at least like to clear up one issue.

I really do care about each and everyone of you! I know that may seem odd to some but I am not afraid to share my feelings and those are my feelings.

When I recommend a particular self-improvement program I do so because I sincerely believe that it will be highly beneficial to you.

I do try to recommend specific programs with most of the articles I publish on here.

However, if you were to pay close attention you would note that each self-improvement program I do recommend it will always match the topic or subject matter of the article.

I’m having a difficult time communicating my thoughts today in basic terms I am trying to say that I do not try to shove products in your face like most other sites.

I have been accused of “Bragging” about how many self-improvement programs I personally own and worse yet I have been called a liar because I said that I own the programs and listen to them on a regular basis.

I know that I shouldn’t allow this to bother me but again being true to my feelings I have to admit that it does bother me for a number of reasons.

First and foremost I would never lie to or mislead anyone in any way, shape or form.

I can promise you that EVERY self-improvement program that I recommend to you I do personally own and I recommend them with the best of intentions.

I know how certain programs have positively affected my life and I sincerely believe that they would help you in terms of self-improvement and you would enjoy the programs as well.

I’m going to share the following with you because I want you to know how much I do care for all my readers and I would hope that you could see that this is not your average corporate sponsored self-improvement site.

Today is Thursday 3-22-2012 and I was just released from the hospital late last night.

By time I got home it was late and I was exhausted but I still checked the comment queue to see if there were any that had a sense of urgency to them and as it turned out there was.

My vision was weak and as I said I was completely exhausted but I still took the time to reply to the questions that seemed urgent.

One comment in particular took me nearly an hour to reply to. If you would like to read it for yourself you will find it posted below this article: The Power of Positive Thinking!

Again, I am not complaining I just want you all to know that my intentions for this self-improvement site have never changed.

God willing I will always be here to help when I can.

Aside from a couple of urgent comments there were four others that were very hurtful to me.

The comments in question again challenged my motives and each one of the four called me a liar because I had recommended a couple of self-improvement audio programs and I claimed that I owned them myself thus supporting my recommendations.

It was upsetting to me because I could track the IP addresses and all four were unique which means it was four separate people that again questioned my motives and came straight out and called me a liar.

I was really affected by this because it seems like I am receiving more comments like this than ever before.

Well this morning I did something that I never thought I would have to do but I figured if I could get it out of the way right now I will never have to feel like this again.

I took just a SMALL portion of my self-improvement audio programs (all the ones that I recommend on this site) and I spread them out as best as I could on a couch in my office and I photographed them.

My Self-Improvement Audio Programs The Best Available!

I know this may have been a bit extreme but again I was thinking that if I posted a photo of my collection the next time someone called me a liar or questioned my motives I could just refer them to this post and that would be that.

Collection of my Self-Improvement audio programs

A Small Portion of My Self-Improvement Audio Programs

As you can see that is quite a selection of self-improvement audio programs and those are just the physical CD’s that I have, each one of those programs consists of at least 6 full-length CDs and some contain as many as 15 to 20.

I believe in these self-improvement audio programs 100%, they have changed my life in many ways and I DO listen to them every-night and every morning, I play them in the car on the way to my doctor appointments and whenever else I have the opportunity.

I might also note that the commissions I receive from the sale of one program only amounts to a few dollars so I hope that you can that my intentions to help are real and not driven by greed, lies or deception.

Alright now that we have that out of the way I should also mention that I do stand behind every self-improvement program that you will find on this site and more importantly I will not advertise any self-improvement program, product or service on this website if I do not own it myself.

You will find a few contextual ads in the sidebar but those are Google advertisements and they are clearly marked as such and I have little control over what shows up every time the site opens.

I also promised to give you a brief rundown of my life and what ultimately lead me to building this self-improvement site.

Unfortunately I have to bring this to a close for now because my head is killing me and my eyes are giving out but I will continue the article at a later date and I will send you a notice to let you know it has been updated.

If this is your first time visiting my site and this is the first article you came to, please accept my apology. I can promise you that this is the only article of this type on my website.

When it comes to self-improvement sites this ranks among the best on the web so please don’t judge the site on this article alone.

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Hi, my name is Howard Grant Platt 3rd, and creating this website Positive Thinking For Personal Development has become one of my greatest passions! At the age of 35, I was diagnosed with a rare and incurable medical disorder. As a result of my medical issues, I struggle with various disabilities, which challenge me every day of my life. Positive Thinking has given me the confidence and inner strength to persevere through the most challenging times. I try to use my story to inspire and help others to live up to their full potential. I know my calling in life is to serve others compassionately and to help those in need. Thank you for visiting my site. God Bless!


Howard has written 89 articles on Positive-Thinking-For-You.com

Connect with Howard Grant Platt 111 » Twitter | Facebook | LinkedIn | YouTube

Leave a Comment

{ 8 comments… read them below or add one }

Howard Platt 1 September 8, 2013

Hi Bellaisa,

Thank you for stopping by and for leaving a comment. Helping others is my greatest passion and I spend hours each week answering emails and sending out resources but for some reason I have not been able to turn this into a business, I have been running this website since 2008 and in all that time my sales from multiple promotions are less than $500 and it has cost more than that to keep the site going.

I will be publishing a series of books on Amazon and hopefully that will be more profitable. Thanks for the sentiment.

Take Care and God Bless!
Howard

Bellaisa 2 September 5, 2013

I’m not sure when you wrote this because I don’t see a date, but I sure hope you are turning a profit now. There is nothing better than living your passion and making money while doing it, and there is nothing wrong with trying to encourage other people to live a happier and healthier life as a business. I wish you all the best.

Howard Platt 3 July 31, 2013

Thank you Julie, I appreciate you stopping by and the kind words!
Sincerely,
Howard

Julie 4 July 31, 2013

I really love this post. This is a great guideline of inspiration and self development.
For Daily Inspiration And Motivation For Everyday Life Challenges.

Howard Platt 5 May 25, 2013

Dear Linda,
You have just made my day : )

I treasure my readers and it just warms my heart when someone like you takes the time to leave me such a beautiful message. God Bless You!

I am so sorry it has taken me this long to reply, as I have mentioned to others I have been in the Albany Medical Center ICU for over 4 months and I am now just getting back to work.

I hope we get a chance to talk in the near future.

Sincerely,
Howard

Linda 6 November 19, 2012

OMG…. I just happened upon “YOU” for the first time….today. You are right…everything DOES happen for a reason.I was sitting here feeling sorry for myself because my husband has been out of work for nearly 6 weeks…I was thinking that i possibly needed to change my “attitude” to a more positive attitude…when I began my search…And here you are… Amazing person you are Howard. You are so self-less and completley honest. I am brand new to your web-site and I already feel much HOPE…I am so looking forward to putting your POSITIVE encouragement into practice in my life….and am eager to read and learn more…You are so precious and I am so grateful to know you. Until later…God bless you and keep you strong….Linda B.

Howard G. Platt 111 7 April 9, 2012

Thank you so much Tim! I love good-hearted people and it is very evident that you do indeed have a good heart.

I must agree with you in saying that I already won because in fact WE ALL were “Born To Win!” If I do happen lose the battle with my illness I can guarantee you it’s not because I gave up. When I was first diagnosed about 15 years ago I made a commitment to myself that I would fight this to the bitter end and I firmly believe that I am still here because of everything that I share on this website. What I write about is not just theory, I live and practice everything I speak of within these articles.

I appreciate you sharing your thoughts and feelings, and you to my friend are a WINNER!
Take Care!
Sincerely,
Howard

Tim waldo 8 April 9, 2012

Howard thank you so much.OUR GOD WILL FIGHT FOR YOU.And because you are a winner ,you already won the race.