A Memoir - This Month Last Year - Aug 2017 www.thelifesway.com #TheLifesWay

Hi Friends,

It's been some days I have not written on my blog and it was like some long week of holidays where everything was put on hold. I didn't attend any events other than some Instagram Meets and posted a lot of pictures on the Instagram channel. It was an awesome feeling to take a short break from all the things and articles I was posting and to celebrate the 2 Million pageviews for The Life's Way. There is no new targets and nothing which I need to accomplish other than just loving the passion for writing and sharing my view and knowledge about the latest gadgets I come across. I am enjoying all the benefits that come to me via all my social media channels. 

1. A Memoir - This Month Last Year - Aug 2016 www.thelifesway.com #TheLifesWay - http://www.thelifesway.com/2017/08/a-memoir-this-month-last-year-aug-2016.html - The series has been my constant guide to check all the brands which were there with me last year vis-a-vis this year. I have been seeing that most of them have been giving me nothing in return for my efforts and I am stopping posting those brands unless I get something worthy of my time. I have my family and I can enjoy my time with them or watch some TV or play some games. There is always something better to do instead of wasting time with those brands who are not trustworthy or their PR company is.

2. #DoBiggerThings with the New @SamsungMobileSA Galaxy Note8 Android Smartphone - http://www.thelifesway.com/2017/08/dobiggerthings-with-new-samsungmobilesa.html - Note Phablet series from Samsung has been on my wishlist from the beginning since it's launch. All these years I waited and waited for some brand to give me their smartphone to use in my day to day life but nothing went as per my wishes. Finally, I went ahead and bought one when I got some coupons worth R1200 from my company for working there for more than 10 years and rest I paid via my credit card. I really love using the same but I have not used the S-Pen as much as I thought I will since my last 7 months of using the smartphone. The review will be posted soon on my channels.

3. @Discovery_SA @JacarandaFM #SpringWalk Promises a Fun Family Walk and Run #9Sep2017 - http://www.thelifesway.com/2017/08/discoverysa-jacarandafm-springwalk.html - I participated in the event last year as an invited guest and did 5 km and really enjoyed the same. This year I have bought the tickets to do 15kms Walk with one of my friends and looking forward to completing it and record my time as a benchmark to break the same in the next walk. Let's see how good this year's race is.

4. #Bollywood Hunks in Relationship Drama and Changing Society @SterKinekor #SouthAfrica - http://www.thelifesway.com/2017/08/bollywood-hunks-in-relationship-drama.html - Every Friday a new movie is released and some of them touches your heart and some are not to be seen at all. Bollywood is now undergoing some changes and a lot of new low-budget movies are taking the market by storm rather than big production houses mega-billion dollars projects. SterKinekor remains my choice of cinemas to watch the latest ones every Friday.

5. A Memoir - This Month Last Year - July 2016 www.thelifesway.com #TheLifesWay - http://www.thelifesway.com/2017/08/a-memoir-this-month-last-year-july-2016.html - July being my birthday month remains special to me and this year I turned 38 years old and soon I will be in my 40's. Let's create something which will earn me some living along the way. I will only post those articles which are written by me no matter how short or long they are. These can be only 5 in a month or 20 in a single month but every word will be mines and mines alone. Any brands want to collaborate with me has to come on board with their products or sponsored posts or goodies. Money is my utmost priority as I need to buy certain gadgets for myself and my family.

Cheers!!!

Contact me at editor@thelifesway.com to collaborate on paid/sponsored campaigns. #TheLifesWay #PhotoYatra!

A Memoir - This Month Last Year - July 2017 www.thelifesway.com #TheLifesWay #1550Post

Hi Friends, 

July being my birthday month has always been dear to my heart and mind. As I was born on 22nd July, I always thought it's the Life of Pi as you know 22/7=3.14 and it goes on and on and on so is my struggle to earn a living and getting what I want after a lot of effort and hard work. My life has never been easy, and I always had to fight back to get my share of living. But as in my 38th year of existence, I am thinking about the limitless power of Pi (22/7), it also gives me the infinite ability to create several infinite possibilities as I am endless human being. No one knows what I can think of and what I can achieve? What I can work on and what I can get?  

1. Hotel Review - All Seasons Boutique Bed and Breakfast #Pretoria @Bains_Lodges #SouthAfrica - http://www.thelifesway.com/2017/07/hotel-review-all-seasons-boutique-bed.html - It was a lovely overnight stay and enjoy the evening with some of the close friends and many thanks to Geniene Preston from UKSACommuter for the beautiful invitation to visit this impressive Boutique hotel. I really loved this unique property, and it was my first time staying for a night in Pretoria. My family too loved the same, and we had an excellent dinner and morning relaxed breakfast. 

2. @SonyXperiaZA Set Up #Xperiatial Mall Activation to Launch #ItsASony Devices - http://www.thelifesway.com/2017/07/sonyxperiaza-set-up-xperiatial-mall.html - I think this was the only time, Sony Mobiles gave a great goodies bag which has in it their impressive bass enabled headphones and I got the same in RED colour which is still unpacked as I wanted to review them but never got time to do so. Otherwise, if you attend Sony events, the goodies bag is always surprising as it will have a dairy or pen or keyring or vinegar etc. to create a DIY volcano. The people who promoted the Sony smartphone now are promoting another smartphone brands, and that's the irony of life. Everyone is an opportunist and if they have niche skill they can always migrate to other brands. I have been a Sony fan and still owns the maximum Sony products which are self-bought, and I remember my first earphones for which I saved money and bought them lasted me long.

Happy Birthday Aashish using the Huawei P20 smartphone (review unit)

3. #AcerForYou 2017 Blogger Road Trip – Making @AcerAfrica Your Partner in Life - http://www.thelifesway.com/2017/07/acerforyou-2017-blogger-road-trip.html - Acer is another brand for whom my blog is full of articles about their products. I am even getting press releases from India from them along with from PR company in South Africa. I really love their SWIFT series of notebooks and Predator Gaming series of laptops. It hurt me when they didn't invite me to their last event, but life goes on. In the blogging world, you have to make your heart little bit less sentimental, else you will always keep on crying, and no one will care too so if you in deep emotional shit already, stay away from blogging!

4. Will You be Supporting Admiral & Jahseed and Reggae? #RedBullCultureClash @RedBullZA - http://www.thelifesway.com/2017/07/will-you-be-supporting-admiral-jahseed.html - I love music, and this was my first time to Red Bull Culture Clash special media event. There only I predicted that DJ Tira's Durban Massacre will win the tournament. Their sound system was something that was missing in other DJ's. I totally fell in love with the vibes at this event, and also Red Bull is my favourite energy drink. 

5. #SouthAfrica Welcomes Sleek, New Compact #Nokia5 @NokiaMobile #Android Smartphone - http://www.thelifesway.com/2017/07/southafrica-welcomes-sleek-new-compact.html - Nokia smartphones were launched last year in South Africa, and I only got to review them around March this year brings me to a question that shall I close down my blog? Or the PR company doesn't know who is the right candidate for them or shall I neglect the brand entirely? There is no right or wrong answer to any of these questions. It's all situation based on the marketing strategy and budget by the brands. Now you remember I wrote about being thick-skinned and that's very much true.

I do believe in the Law of Attraction and Universe, and it's those moments of Co-creation where I just think and the same happen instantly is what makes life experimenting with. The more you can co-create the more fun you can bring in your life. Happy Birthday Aashish from The Life's Way for creating this unique platform to share all your feelings and insights and also to create beautiful opportunities for yourself!!! Keep on going, and you will fulfil your heart's desires sooner or later!

Cheers!!!

Contact me at editor@thelifesway.com to collaborate on paid/sponsored campaigns. #TheLifesWay #PhotoYatra!

A Memoir - This Month Last Year - Jun 2017 www.thelifesway.com #TheLifesWay

Hi Friends, 

June saw the maximum number of blog posts in 2017 which was 58 for a single month. It was kind of work done for 2 months in a single month and only in May 2018, I could do more than 58 posts in a single month. I generally think of doing 30 posts per month but sometimes I am able to meet that target and sometimes not. But now connecting the dots, I can see many brands who are now not a part of #TheLifesWay #PhotoYatra journey. So, I won't post about them in this blog post as whosoever is gone, let them be bygone and why to waste our more time on them. I will continue to do what I do and enjoy my life with brands that love me till the time I ask for sponsored posts and then they go on their own way. Everyone wants free stuff and doesn't offer the money but as this commercial world works is on the MONEY and not on free gifts and exposure.

1. @MarkexSA Celebrates 30 years of Promotional Strategy and Creativity #Markex2017 - https://www.thelifesway.com/2017/06/markexsa-celebrates-30-years-of.html - I was part of this event last year and really enjoyed and received a lot of goodies in the press pack. This year it was not the case and goodies were not so interesting and very very less. If Marketing is not done via the media guests then it's not going to work is my thinking process.

2. Top 30 of World's Most Photographed Landmarks #XperiaNewPerspectives @SonyXperiaZA - https://www.thelifesway.com/2017/06/top-30-of-worlds-most-photographed.html - https://www.thelifesway.com/2017/06/worlds-most-photographed-landmarks.html - Sony has been the only brand who has always been dear to my heart as I had so many products except TV, I bought in London that even Country Manager for Sony India wanted to come to visit my home to see them all. I had everything from iPod docking to Portable e-Reader to mobile and everything was self-bought. None of the same was sponsored as there was no #TheLifesWay at that time in my life. Their technology is top class and I love them and they love me back sometimes.

Aashish Rai - Editor and Founder #TheLifesWay #PhotoYatra

3. A Memoir - This Month Last Year - June 2016 www.thelifesway.com #1200BlogPost - https://www.thelifesway.com/2017/06/a-memoir-this-month-last-year-june-2016.html - I love starting blog post series which gives me writing space and continuity to do so again and again instead of thinking about topics to write about. The topic finding is the most difficult task I think for any blogger at least for me it is.  Once you have the topic identified, then its easier to research and assemble your thought process to create unique blog posts.

4. A Memoir - This Month Last Year - May 2016 www.thelifesway.com #TheLifesWay - https://www.thelifesway.com/2017/06/a-memoir-this-month-last-year-may-2016.html - This year I am thinking of crossing 2 Million Pageviews in the next month or so and also created a page for the same so that you can also be part of my journey of #TheLifesWay. Next on my list is to start posting on my YouTube channel asap. Once I start I will create some s

5. @OsmanSquare Now Owns Pretoria T20 Global League Franchise @T20GL_ @BluBloodSA #TheBluBloodWay - https://www.thelifesway.com/2017/06/osmansquare-now-owns-pretoria-t20.html - Indian Premier League (IPL) has taken the world of cricket by storm and South Africa too is launching their teams but have not seen any movement since then on the same. Let's see when it starts in South Africa.

Cheers!!!

Contact me at editor@thelifesway.com to collaborate on paid/sponsored campaigns. #TheLifesWay #PhotoYatra!

5 Years of www.TheLifesWay.com #TheLifesWay #Birthday #Blogpost #5YearsofTheLifesWay

Hi Friends, 

The year 2017 brought me closer to my dreams and I could do what I always wished to do for my blog www.thelifesway.com and that is getting some paid assignments. With the help of Webfluential, I could work on 4 paid assignments during the year and received my first cash in my bank accounts with which I bought a Canon 50mm Lens for my new Canon 100D. Till now I was doing everything for free or for some goodies or samples received from brands and PR companies.

The year 2017 is the 5th year of #TheLifesWay brought 565147 page views in 12 months from 357 blog posts and my Instagram channel too picked up its fast pace. This year the biggest event which fetched me the maximum gifts was rAge Expo from where I won the Maxnomic ESL Gaming Chair along with several other goodies from 1 TB hard disk from ADATA Technology to various Tshirts from promotors and bloggers. Silverstar Casino continues to be my top admirer to call me to all their events happening in their complex. Many thanks to them all the time.

This year was mostly good because of a lot of lucky draws and coupons received from Montecasino, Wellington's Tomato Sauce, Edger's, Acer, Woolworths, and Cubot. For the first time after 4 years, attending Canon Roadshows has become an integral part of me and this year, my daughter won the Canon Selphy Printer as a lucky draw prize. I felt great to receive the same and she was overjoyed too. Cubot made me a winner on the Instagram contest for their Fitness Band which I gifted to my dad. Check out all the images on my Instagram and Twitter channels.

For the first time ever in my relationship with Sony Mobiles, this year they gave their awesome Bass headphones to all the invitees at the Smartphone launch event in Mall of Africa. I have never received anything like that in a long time as all the brands are going on cost-cutting or calling certain people for some unique experiences around the globe or within South Africa and showered them with their smartphones and other goodies. Earphones continued to flow into my life with Astrum giving their ones in the goodies bag at rAge Expo and TechSmart's Robin gifting me Sony Xperia EAR on my birthday which is a really awesome device.

This year also marked my 10 years at the job with my employer after completing MBA in Finance and to celebrate the same, I went to Sangiro Lodge in Bloemfontein on their invite to stay for 3 nights. This trip gave me a chance to see Kimberley, Northern Cape which my daughter always wanted to visit. I was also part of All Seasons Boutique Hotel launch in Pretoria and stayed for a night too. Finally, on 31 December I also could reach the bottom floor in the video game called Pink Panther for the first time ever @ Montecasino to win my daughter 150 tickets to get the goodies of her choice.

Ster Kinekor invited me to many of their new movies and I saw a lot of the cartoon movies along with some Hollywood and Bollywood movies too. I bought some Acer goodies too from their online store when they launched the same this year including a 21 inch Acer monitor to better work on my blog and movies/photos at the same time. I also started using Canon 100D DSLR camera which I bought in a deal from the DionWired online shop during some weekend sale.

In the end Year, 2017 was a lot of luck and I felt great to be a part of this winning year. Looking forward to achieving in 2018 what I could not still achieve in 2017 in terms of sponsorships for Laptop and Smartphone. I contacted a lot of them with a lot of rejections from many but then life goes on and coming much stronger in 2018 to persevere and win! In 2018, the target will be to collect a lot of money so that I can buy the likes of Gaming Laptops or Apple MacBook Pro and Bose QC35 Bluetooth headphones, PS4 Pro, and a Full Frame DSLR camera. Thanking You Universe!

Cheers!!!

Contact me at editor@thelifesway.com to collaborate on paid/sponsored campaigns. #TheLifesWay #PhotoYatra!

1 Day To www.TheLifesWay.com 5th Birthday Celebrations #5YearsofTheLifesWay #27Dec2017 #AllTheBest

Hi Friends, 

It time to celebrate the fifth birthday post for The Life's Way and series to end. It was a great topic to write all the posts as now I can just link them all and launch a book out of the same. There might be some editing required but it will form a good book to read to start the blog and to carry on working for your blog.

Your mind is something that plays with you all the time and either you control the same or you let it go on its own route. Blogging is where I find peace and release my emotions towards a lot of things. It won't take away the need of a friend but it will always stay close as much as your feelings are to you. Expectations are huge for my blog by myself and it sometimes gives me a lot of pain as I am unable to achieve them. Either I live without any expectations or just make small ones after they get completed.

To live your life joyfully, you need to take control in your hands as you can't be at the mercy of anyone else. Your happiness is in your hands only and no one else can make you happy. They may make you smile but not happy. To me, my happiness comes from completing my pending tasks on my blog and to get it done with. I keep thinking of new ideas and posts topics to go for. Many are lost at idea phase only and only some become a reality. Time is of utmost importance in our lives and we only have a set number of hours to achieve what we set our eyes on. Hence, I try to balance my life between the real life and the blog life.

Thanks to each and everyone who has invested their time and money in myself or my blog. Thanks to all the PR companies for including me in your press releases else I wouldn't have done 1500 posts so far. Thanks to all the brands for spending their money on the launch events and blessing us with goodies bag and a great evening of networking. Thanks to all the fellow bloggers to always inspire me to carry on and working towards achieving what they have been able to do so in their lives. Thanks to all the paying collaborations which are not much in the last 5 years but looking forward to having it multiplied 1000 times in the next 5 years. Thanks to technology innovations and new smartphones which are made to desire a sense of expectations in you and make you work towards achieving them. I am looking forward to a lovely time on my blog in the next years to come!!!

Cheers!!!

Contact me at editor@thelifesway.com to collaborate on paid/sponsored campaigns. #TheLifesWay #PhotoYatra!

2 Days To www.TheLifesWay.com 5th Birthday Celebrations #5YearsofTheLifesWay #27Dec2017 #WhatNext

Hi Friends, 

5 Years is a big landmark for my blog as it gives me perspective as earlier there used to be the most popular questions in interviews - Where do you see yourself in next 5 years? If asked to The Life's Way where it sees itself in the next 5 years when it was started in 2012, it is the time to answer the same now.

In the first year of The Life's Way - the goal was to do some 15-20 posts so that I can become listed in the blogger list of Indiblogger and Blogadda directories and start participating in the blogger contests. It was also the year to showcase your writing to the bigger audience and capturing content written with heart. I got some great success with winning a notebook and some other goodies which I always wanted to have.

The second-year goal was to win the Samsung Bloggers challenge and also to increase the number of followers on twitter for the new handle I launched at that time. I won the community challenge and got an entry into the finals for Mission Samsung. Meanwhile, I also started reviewing movies too with the help of Sony Pictures to list me in the media invites.

The third-year goal was still to get into finals for Samsung Bloggers Challenge and then winning it after a lot of twists and turns. It was also the year the pageviews touched 123k in a single month. It was one of those WOW moments I talked about in my earlier post.

The fourth-year goal was lost in translation as I attended a lot of events and did a lot of posts to touch around 396 for the whole year. Followers were just growing and Instagram posts too increased from multifold but still, I didn't get what I wanted or requested from the brands. Many brands were lost and many new were targetted, people whom I knew changed PR agencies and many contacts were lost too.

The fifth year of The Life's Way was a lot of introspection and removal of all those posts which didn't bring me any benefits on Instagram from the brands and archived them. It was also stating the right that unless I get something in return I won't waste my time but still, the posts were around 357 for the whole year which translates to 1 per day. I started participating in the twitter and facebook contests and won some around rAge Expo 2017 which was the WOW moment of the year!

Looking backward I can recite the story but at the start of my blog, I could have not predicted any of it. I only had hoped to get a good life and passion to create my own corner of ART and Achievement. Indeed, the same has been the case as I created something unique where I love my writing and feel good to do blog posts and take photos and share them on Instagram/twitter etc. I will continue to do the same in future too, the same kind of passionate writing as in my first year without any expectation and let the universe decide to grant my due or what I deserve!

Cheers!!!

Contact me at editor@thelifesway.com to collaborate on paid/sponsored campaigns. #TheLifesWay #PhotoYatra!

3 Days To www.TheLifesWay.com 5th Birthday Celebrations #5YearsofTheLifesWay #27Dec2017 #Viral

Hi Friends, 

The Life's Way will be lost in history once I am gone as there will not be anyone to carry on the legacy. My daughter has no interest in this at the moment though she is too small and I shall wait for more 6-7 years before start expecting any inputs from her on this blog. Everything that gets started ends too but the creation which has been part of your life for so long can't be left without any strong emotions. 

Life is lived from moment to moment, from seconds to hours to days and years and if you live your life following the law of attraction and gratitude in your hearts and mind, the life you want will come to you. There is nothing which is due to you by life, will ever pass you by. You will always get what you deserve in life. But the question is who decides that? and can't we make any difference in those decision made by life. 

I think you can make a difference in whatever you are doing and create something which becomes viral. Every viral content has something which shows the true passion towards anything which can be dance, arts, and craft or just living your life joyfully. Similarly, your life, if lived with passion will sometime go viral and that when you will receive your due. For some, this time comes again and again and for some, it will once in a lifetime kind. 

I still have to receive my WOW moment but I am thankful to Universe, that I do have these little moments every year for a day or a week. It's not that big moments but it's enough for me to live my life for that year thinking that I have been lucky this year. It can be from meeting some movie star, to winning something which I always wanted but never really went and bought it or having some moments of life which I will always remember till the end of life. I do maintain a list of all the small to big moments which I do receive from all the brands be it memory stick or a chocolate. I am grateful to each and every one of them all the time while I still wait for my WOW moment!

Cheers!!!

Contact me at editor@thelifesway.com to collaborate on paid/sponsored campaigns. #TheLifesWay #PhotoYatra!

4 Days To www.TheLifesWay.com 5th Birthday Celebrations #5YearsofTheLifesWay #27Dec2017 #Reality #1505Post

Hi Friends, 

It's just 4 days away from my blog's 5th birthday but in reality, it's almost more than 6 months down the line when I am still working on this series of posts. Life is not always that easy and goes as per the plans you make. Also, you can't meet your deadlines when it's not paying you for the food on the table. You will complete all your tasks assigned to your job when you know that unless you do the same, you won't be able to pay your home EMI, car EMI and many another day to day expenses to carry your life and living and other responsibilities. 

The Life's Way started with the same kind of dedication as my job but as the time went by, I am getting sucked more out by the brands without any benefits. I don't want any memory sticks and pens but then if they are not offering anything, I have to take whatever they are offering in enough quantity so that I can donate the same to some kids or people. And some of the brands who offers me some stuff are getting missed out by these other big brands which take most of the time without any personal benefits. Now it's my wisdom and experience to understand which brands suit me and which doesn't. With whom I should work and with whom it's time to say Good Bye! 

The wisdom sometimes takes a lifetime to come and by that time, the PR companies change, the people change and brands strategy change too. Nothing is consistent as much as the change in this industry, so you have to have some solid information and sensors to attune them to your benefits. I too need to develop that kind of information channels and data analysis into my life or the life of this blog. It is a lot of effort to work out posts and align all your social media channels to your strategy. 

My Dell XPS L501X laptop is now its end of life. I bought the same long back in 2011 in London and it has been my only source of entertainment. The Life's Way was born on this laptop and now it's time to pass on the legacy to the next one. I miss the backlit keyboard on this one, DVD drive has stopped working since last 2-3 years, battery life is around 20 minutes on the replacement battery too which I bought from Fordsburg, Johannesburg and the hard disk can crash anytime. Though luckily it's been consistent and I am the only one who uses this laptop at my home so it is working till date but I am not able to work fast as the speed has been very very slow for my liking. 

I have asked several brands for the same but till this day no luck and no response I get also when I ask the PR companies the same. Suddenly, they go mute on the topic and when it's time they have to show the impressions etc they want me to post their releases where I was not invited too. Many of the events these days, I have to pay for my cold drink too as they are only offering wine or whiskey. That life of a blogger for you!

Cheers!!!

Contact me at editor@thelifesway.com to collaborate on paid/sponsored campaigns. #TheLifesWay #PhotoYatra!

5 Days To www.TheLifesWay.com 5th Birthday Celebrations #5YearsofTheLifesWay #27Dec2017 #SelfDoubt

Hi Friends, 

Self-Doubt is the biggest building block that can really be relentless and comes in everytime there is some change in your current situations or the future you want to achieve. There is always a lot of doubt in your own capabilities and of trying something new out. Your idea can fail or it can pass but it's always a struggle to overcome the same. It brings in enough fear in your minds that it makes you totally cripple until you just carry on going towards your goal.

Fear can be of many things - fear of failure, fear of rejection, fear of change, fear of so many things which can just make you go on your knees. But at that time, you need to follow your passion to create your own ART with which you are always Attached. I am so much attached to my blog and I carry on posting blog posts to make it work. If I go back and see my first posts and many posts - it's just not up to the mark but still, I love them as it kept me going at that period of time.

It takes time to write an article of your choice or the review of the products, you receive for the same. Even the press releases take a lot of time as you need to set labels, put some photos and backlinks to the brand's websites and social media handles and check the passage on Grammarly for any punctuation errors and spelling errors or some grammatical checks if you have the premium account. I don't have a premium one so I just can check the first two and secondly, press releases are not giving me any money to invest in the same too.

Self-doubt is one of the things that need to be tackled all the time and I have these moments from time to time. I fall into the trap of why I am doing it as it's such a waste of my time and effort. I can invest the same time in teaching my kids or play with my kids. That keeps running at the back of my mind - either there should be some money attached to the same or I need to decide on what's the best fit for me. I am not going to do stuff which is not getting me enough respect from the brand in terms of either their products sponsorships or money to write for them. There is definitely no self-doubt in the same.

Cheers!!!

Contact me at editor@thelifesway.com to collaborate on paid/sponsored campaigns. #TheLifesWay #PhotoYatra!