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Let's face it, most people play a losing game. To quote from Tyler Durden from the cult classic movie "Fight Club": We buy the stuff we don't need with money we don't have to impress people we don't even like.

That's the kind of life we're living. I know it sounds harsh. I know it sounds judgmental, but it's also the truth. Unfortunately, for far too many of us, we equate having stuff with living worthy lives.

We equate the stuff that we wear, the stuff that we own, and the things we focus on with the quality of our lives. In fact, for far too many people, stuff or possessions are one and the same as self and self-worth.

This should not be a surprise because far too many people confuse price with value. We think that the more expensive something is, the more value it has, and we allow
ourselves to feel worthwhile, appreciated, and acknowledged depending on the price of the stuff we have access to.

What is wrong with this picture? We live our lives based on what is expected of us instead of what we actually want for ourselves. Too many people live their lives based on values they uncritically and unthinkingly "copy and pasted" from others.

In fact, a lot of adult children are simply living their lives based on a script that they automatically imported from their parents. They did not stop to challenge the script.

In fact, a lot of people didn't even bother to read it at all. They feel that since their parents live a certain way and thought about things a certain way that they should do the same thing.

There is no attempt at any kind of analysis as to whether that script makes any sense as far as their lives are concerned. They don't think about a better fit between the script and the lives they are living out.

They don't consider whether the script has a specific historical or emotional context that may or may not be relevant today. They just automatically assume that since somebody they love and respect chose to live their life a certain way, then this path is the way forward.

It is no surprise that Americans, by and large, are not happy. The end result of everything I have described above is not pretty. We Americans are overmedicated. We are maxed out on our credit cards and are overstressed.

In spite of all the money, time, effort, and mental energy we spend on getting more and more stuff, we are nowhere close to being content.

We are actually nowhere near to living the kind of joyful life we initially sought out to achieve. The reason for this is actually quite obvious - we live cluttered lives. What makes this tragic is that we are not even aware of Most people are so stressed out that they are not as effective as they could be. Their relationships suffer. They don't do a good job at work, they break down easily, and can barely handle challenges that life throws their way.

You have to understand that life is not smooth nor easy. Life, after all, is made up of one unpleasant surprise after another. Some of these surprises can turn out to be positive if you prepare yourself properly.

Sadly, too many people choose not to do this because, at some level or other, they feel that they are entitled for things to be smooth, quick, easy, and convenient. It's no surprise that so many people are stressed out. Most people are so stressed that they are not as happy and content as they could be.

They focus on what they can get not just today, but tomorrow. They are focused on things that have already happened. They obsess about past failures, disappointments,
and missed opportunities. They often engage in finding people and situations to blame for things that are going on in their lives in the here and now.

This is mental clutter. Unfortunately, a lot of people think that not only is this perfectly natural, but it actually defines who they are as individuals. That's right; you heard that correctly.

They believe that this is an integral part of their identity as human beings. Talk about missing the point. Talk about misreading the total picture.

Mental clutter, unfortunately, doesn't fall out of the sky. It doesn't appear at random. It is not something that you luck into. Instead, it is part of a larger equation. Believe it or not, physical clutter leads to mental clutter, and this produces a self-enforcing mechanism.

The more mental clutter you suffer from, the more you tend to create physical clutter around you. And when you see this in your physical surroundings, you stress out and create even more mental clutter. The process repeats itself over and over again.

It is a negative feedback loop that way too many of us are simply clueless about. If you are in any way, shape, or form unhappy with any aspect of your life, chances are quite high that you can trace that unhappiness and discontentment to mental clutter.

This toxic feedback loop holds people back from the life of victory, success, and happiness they could otherwise be living.

The worst part of this is that it's invisible. In fact, a lot of us justify this or make excuses for this to the point that this is what defines us. If somebody were to come into our lives to try to simplify things, don't be surprised if you put up a fight.

If somebody told you that a lot of the things that you're holding on to are unnecessary or even downright toxic, you would not be alone if you were to push back. You might even be thinking, "How dare you question me?", "How dare you insult me? This is part of who I am."

This is how people instinctively respond to any kind of decluttering maneuver imposed from the outside. I raised this issue because if you want to change, you have to want to change. It's one thing to mentally accept that you have to change, but it's another to let that mental awareness sink into the level of your emotions.

That is crucial because unfortunately, until and unless you develop a sense of emotional urgency regarding what you need to do, nothing will get done. Somewhere along the way, you would put up some sort of justification.

At some point in time, you would come up with a range of excuses. Now, a lot of this is not obvious. In fact, in many cases, it seems like you're saying or thinking about the most natural things in the world.

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Easy Kindle Publishing: Profiting From Children’s Kindle Books A really great way to get into Kindle Publishing is by creating children’s Kindle books. Children’s book publishing is very popular and there are lots of tips for quickly creating books. Your kids’ books can be fiction, but it’s often best to focus non-fiction informational books, because the text is simple. As long as you have a lot of eye-catching images, and write a book about a topic that both kids and parents will like, it is a satisfying read. A lot goes into writing a children’s book, though. You’ll need to understand how to research the books, where to get images, how to hire people to help you inexpensively and more. Read on for tips to help make your experience publishing a kid’s Kindle book easy and profitable. About KDP Kids KDP Kids is a children focused category for illustrated and chapter books designed just for kids. It includes a set of tools that help authors create and produce digital books in Kindle format that are designed just for kids. They make it simple for authors to use so that they don’t have to feel as if they need to be programmers to design a beautifully illustrated kid’s book. Like most Kindle books, KDP Kids authors can earn up to 70 % royalties. To help, KDP Kids offers authors tools to help such as the Kindle Kids’ Book Creator, Age and Grade Tools, and even marketing tools. You’ll be able to create a professional book for Kids easily and quickly with all the tools they provide. But, first, you need to get your book written.

Writing for Kids To write a book for kids, you need to understand your audience. This is the same advice you’ll get if you write for adults. As you discover the audience you’re creating for, you’ll be able to write even more interesting stories in such a way that your audience likes it even more. Plus, you’ll need to know what message you’re trying to convey in your book. It’s important to be original, but you do want to address popular subjects for your audience. Plus, never talk down to your readers. They don’t need or like that. Book Formats – Creating a children’s Kindle book will enable you to create a picture book or a chapter book. You can also combine the two and create a picture storybook. After all, children love looking at beautiful pictures while their parents read to them. About Creating Characters – Creating the characters in your children’s books can be super fun. You can be more creative with the names, based on the character. When naming the characters in your books, think about their ages and their part in the book. Try outlining each character's personality and looks before writing the book. That way you know the backstory of your characters and can pull from that as you write their lines. Entertain & Delight – Your kids’ book should be entertaining. They should delight the audience and make them laugh, cry, or feel some sort of emotion that makes them feel good about themselves at the end. Don’t Talk Down – A huge mistake a lot of new authors make is to talk down to their audience. Instead, put yourself on their level so that you can explain concepts in the way your audience thinks about them. For example, adults may think farting is gross but kids really just think it’s funny. Remember the Plot – Before putting pen to paper, you should totally understand the entire point of your book. The main events that get your message across should not be lost in everything else that is going on in your book. Each chapter should work to further the plot. Get Serious but Be Funny – Even the most serious subjects can sometimes go down better with a dose of humor. Books about death, aging, and illness often use humor to lighten the mood while explaining seriously difficult topics to kids.

A children’s book doesn’t have to be super long or in-depth to be interesting and funny to a child. For example, in the book “Toot” by Leslie Patricelli she covers the fun topic of farting in 24 pages. What to Write About Probably one of the most daunting parts of writing a children’s book is deciding what to write about. The first thing you should do when writing a children’s book is to get to know your audience. If you want to write for four-year-olds, spend some time with four-year-olds so that you know what they find interesting. Research – Volunteer at a child care center or in the classroom, depending on the age of your audience. This is a good way to get to spend time with your audience and learn what they like. You can also conduct some research online, such as locations that you may want to include in your book. Images – Most children’s books will be better received with images. You don’t have to be an illustrator to get great images for your books. You can get licensed photography online to use in your books, or you can hire someone to help you. The important fact about images is to ensure that you can legally use them before using them. Outsourcing – A really great way to handle some aspects of your children’s book is to outsource. You can find people on Upwork.com and Fiverr.com to help you with editing, illustrations, and formatting of your Kindle Kids’ book. If you see a book with illustrations you like, don’t hesitate to contact the illustrator. Ideas – The hardest part of your book is to come up with ideas. There are tried and true topics that work well with most kids. A few ideas are picture books for little ones, short stories for elementary age children, and fantasy for middle schoolers work well. The best and most easy way to come up with an idea is to solve a problem for your audience such as bullying, using the potty, washing hands, taking care of a pet and so on. Any information you can impart will be helpful. For example, maybe you want to write a book about dinosaurs. You could easily do a picture book about the top 20 Biggest Dinosaurs. Then the book would simply include a picture of the dinosaur and a description of what that one eats and when, where and how it lived.

Popular Kids’ Books on Kindle One way to decide on a topic for your Kindle Kid’s book is to look at what is already popular. If you can find a topic that is popular and fill in the gaps you can have a best seller on your hands in no time. My Monster Farts, by Kate Clary – This delightful book will make kids and parents laugh as they try to read the word “fart” repeatedly. It’s only 12 pages long, and kids and parents both love it and kids ages 4 to 7 want to hear it again and again. It’s a great example of taking a topic that kids of a certain age find hysterically funny and making a book from it. How to Catch a Monster by Michael Yu, Rachel Yu, June Yu and Eric Yu – Little kids are often scared of monsters hiding under their bed or in a closet. This is a common problem for children around the ages of 3 to 5. The authors cover it nicely in only 46 pages. This book relies on amazing illustrations to tell the story for the young audience. Minecraft: Diary of a Minecraft Zombie Book 1: A Scare of a Dare (An Unofficial Minecraft Book) by Zack Zombie – This is a great example of taking a popular game and making a story from it. This book is written in diary format and gets into the mind of a young gamer. If you want your gamer to read a little more this might help. Find a topic your audience likes, in this case, gaming – with a specific game, and then make up a story around it. What If Everybody Did That? By Ellen Javernick and Colleen M. Madden – This clever book about breaking rules brings to light to the audience of pre-k and kindergarten kids the idea that breaking rules has consequences that compound the more people do it in only 32 pages from start to finish. Wonderfully illustrated with clever prose, this is a good book to learn from. Hopefully, those books give you some ideas. You can search the best-selling Kindle Kid’s books on Amazon for more ideas. But, as you can see for little kids topics are very specific such as monsters, using the potty, understanding bodily functions, nature, and more.

How to Promote Your Kid’s Book Once you’ve written and published your Kindle Kid’s book, the next thing you need to do is start promoting it. The honest truth is that, even if you never do any promoting, if you’ve worked hard on the cover, the description, and the title you will sell some books on Kindle. But, if you want to become a best seller you’ll need to promote your book. Throw a Book Party – You can throw a book party online. Invite everyone you know who has a child, or knows a child in the right age group to a Facebook Live Reading Event. Set up the scene by putting a chair in front of a good backdrop such as in front of a fireplace or you could even sit on your bed with your own child and read to them live. Ask everyone to share. Release Early For Reviews – Release the book early to friends and people who can write reviews for you. Amazon will frown on your mother writing you a review, so ensure that the people who you choose really buy the book, and aren’t related to you. There are groups on Facebook that you can locate to help you find book reviewers. Join Forums & Groups – Find groups of parents with children in the right age group, and following the terms of service of the groups, tell them about your book. Remember, in the case of most children’s books, you’ll have to get the parents interested first. Create a Book Trailer – YouTube is a great place to put a book trailer for your book. You can hire someone on Fiverr.com to make a video for you, or you can use PowerPoint or KeyNote to do it for you, add some music and some words and upload to YouTube. Be sure to link back to your book. Attend Public Events – Even though your book is an eBook, you can still attend public events, and readings, in order to attract more buyers. Remember, if no one knows about your book, it can be hard to get enough readers to make a difference. Blog & Write Articles – Get published where parents will read about you, and then they’ll use your bio to find your books that you’ve written for children. The more parents like you, the more they’ll trust you enough that they’ll buy and read your books to their kids. If you write for older kids, even though parents won’t be reading them to their children, they need to know your values and morals in order to trust you, too. The key thing to remember when promoting a children’s book is to promote where your audience is. Consider blogging, creating YouTube videos, and also using social media like Pinterest to get the word out about your book.