Ryan Battles

A Mindful Cup of Coffee

By Ryan Battles

In Mindfulness

6 Min Read

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I’m trying to live a more intentional life. One component of this goal is to practice mindfulness and meditation. I used to think those two things were synonymous, but the more I’m learning the more I realize they are actually opposites (or at least, in the forms I tend to gain the most value from). Let’s start with meditation. I’ve tried apps like Waking Up, Calm, and...

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Embedding Salesforce Forms And Ad-Blockers

By Ryan Battles

In Marketing

6 Min Read

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At Wastebits, we’ve utilized a number of lead-generation tools over the years, and we are currently utilizing Salesforce Account Engagement (formerly Pardot) to capture & nurture leads. One thing that surprised me with Salesforce was that the form embeds are iframes instead of loaded via JavaScript. This poses a number of problems: Iframes have to be given dimensions of height and...

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365 Days Sober: Now What?

By Ryan Battles

In Personal Growth, Productivity

11 Min Read

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Today is my birthday. Last year on this day, I made a semi-unplanned declaration to myself: This year I will give myself the gift of sobriety. I didn’t expect it to last. I didn’t really even believe that I was doing it. I have tried to give up alcohol dozens of times in the past, only to continue drinking later that day or the next. At most I would go about a week due to being at a...

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Body Transformation, Part 1

By Ryan Battles

In Personal Growth

31 Min Read

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Three years ago, I was in the worst shape of my life. I was approaching 300lbs, grabbing fast food at least once a day, and avoiding exercise at all costs. Though I’ve always enjoyed a nice, leisurely hike outdoors, I’ve never been athletic. The only sport in which I participated in high school was track, as a shotput and discus thrower. I did this because everybody who wanted to be...

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On Being Vulnerable

By Ryan Battles

In Personal Growth

3 Min Read

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We are social creatures, and relying on the expertise of others—even when it is to learn something for ourselves—is a part of being human. Just as we can grow by leaning on others, others can thrive when they lean on us.

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Amor Fati: Love Your Fate

By Ryan Battles

In Personal Growth, Philosophy

10 Min Read

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"God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change..." So the famous Serenity Prayer begins. Most of us acknowledge the wisdom of accepting the things that are out of our control, that life throws us curve balls and we must learn to accept them. However, German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche takes this a step further (as do other stoic philosophers), and claims that we would do our...

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How to Read More Books in 2023

By Ryan Battles

In Books, Personal Growth

10 Min Read

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Would you like to read more? There are simple tips and tools to make reading more books both painless and enjoyable. Read on to find out!

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Becoming a Faster Reader

By Ryan Battles

In Books, Personal Growth, Productivity

5 Min Read

B

Everybody wants to read more. Whether it is for pleasure or learning (or for the crazy few, the two go hand-in-hand), we would all benefit from the ability to read a little faster and improve our comprehension of what we are reading.

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PR Strategy for Startups

By Ryan Battles

In Entrepreneurship, Marketing

15 Min Read

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You don’t have to hire an expensive firm to have a Public Relations (PR) strategy as a startup. The beauty of today’s internet is that anybody has the power to reach tens of thousands, even millions, with a properly timed tweet, hacker news mention, or mention on an influential blog. You don’t have to make it onto a cover story in Inc. or Entrepreneur in order to achieve your PR goals, in fact...

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Knowing Your Audience: The Tools You Need to Gather Everything You’d Ever Want to Know

By Ryan Battles

In Entrepreneurship, Marketing

13 Min Read

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The first step in developing a marketing plan is to become obsessed with knowing your audience. That’s right, obsessed. It doesn’t matter how much money you spend on Google Adwords, or how many conference booths you rent out if you are off-course with knowing who your audience is.

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