This website is made up of articles about a variety of topics, mainly along the lines of personal development.  The categories can be seen just over there to the right, in the sidebar, under the heading: Blog Categories.  All articles/blog entries on this site are written by me, Yvette Langmaid-Buttery.  I work alone, like the phantom.

A theme for the site seemed like a good idea - to give you an idea what it's about.  I chose the theme of the site, "A Better Life from Within", because it's becoming increasingly clear to me that in order to improve anything about our lives, our relationships, the world around us, we need to take responsibility for ourselves. 

The idea of total responsibility for our own thoughts, feelings, decisions and actions is one many people struggle with or don't accept.  It's so common to blame and think like a victim, be passive, and act out of habit, that it's one of the biggest obstacles to a better life for many people.  I catch myself out in this regard more easily these days, and it's a very good thing.

The state of the world we live in is affected by the ability or lack of it of each of us to look within and take responsibility for ourselves.  So sharing my thoughts and experiences with this quest, is something I believe can be a worthwhile contribution.  We can all of us have a positive influence on others and the world around us by looking within and becoming better ourselves.

In this blog, I'll be writing articles related to the theme of "A Better Life from Within".  To me, that means anything I think will be useful for improving happiness and quality of life by examining and understanding ourselves and learning to be in charge of our own behaviour, in ways that are for the highest good.  I might also talk about pizza, music, TV, potty training, and anything else that I'm thinking about at the time.  Rest assured though, that theme is always in my thoughts. 

The idea of "the highest good" is one I feel comfortable with as a guideline for making decisions.  It's sub-conscious friendly, unambiguous, and not inconsistent with any religious philosophy that I'm aware of.  If something is good for the universe and not good for me, is it really good for the universe?  This question has a lot to do with self esteem, and I think could be a topic for a few articles at least.  The reverse, "if something is good for me and not good for the universe, is it really good for me?" is easier to get my head around, because it's very clear and easy to see the logic in it.  Though not so easy to express it.  I will try to in my articles though.

Self-improvement, personal development, self-awareness.  These are some of the different ways of expressing the theme I want to focus on with this site.  There's psychology and philosophy involved too, spirituality, and even religion.  I'm interested in where it all ties in, how it all comes back to the same universal laws, the same ideas, the same functions.  I tend to be interested in the practical and logical aspects of things, and my writing will most certainly reflect this.

My goal

My goal is for this site to provide an income for my family, doing work which I enjoy, which is worthwhile and contributes something useful, and which I can do from home, working whatever hours suit me, doing something that I'm genuinely interested in, and which gives me quite a bit of freedom. 

The theme

The theme was easy to decide on.  I'll never get bored with writing about it, and I'll never run out of material, because I enjoy reading, thinking and writing about anything to do with this topic.  It provides the perfect opportunity for me to combine my interests and goals, and to expand my own knowledge, understanding and skills in many areas.  It can also help me keep my own life on the path I want it to travel, and allow me to contribute something worthwhile by providing material which will interest others and help them on the same quest - for a better life. 

The model I'm following

My inspiration for creating this site is, as may be obvious, Steve Pavlina's Personal Development for Smart People which his site states is currently the most popular personal development web site in the world.  A hard act to follow, but I hear modelling something which already works is a good business plan.

Why name it after myself

Well, Steve Pavlina did it.  I don't really know why, but I'm sure he knows what he's doing.  Also, my style is personal, heart on sleeve, cut to the chase and so on.  All content on the site is written by me.  The subject matter is very broad, and a more generic name, for example A Better Life, or Apple, is not only already taken, but I think in the long term perhaps not as memorable as the name of the one particular person writing all the articles on that site.

I'm unique, I'm me

My content will be unique because I'm me. I'm a woman, a mother, Australian, and have my own unique talents, interests, weaknesses, struggles, tastes,  experiences and way of expressing things.  I also don't have a computer or technical background, which is probably screamingly obvious to those that do, and any input of a technical nature to help with my skills as a webmaster is most welcome.

Better be careful

I can see that for me to really enjoy creating this blog, it's probably going to be kind of personal.  Thinking aloud, sharing my own experiences with the topics I'm talking about and so on.  I don't think I can happily write any other way.  And there's the scary part.  What if I offend someone?  What if I reveal too much of myself?  What if people disagree with my opinions?  What if I'm boring?  Can I write my way without it being overly personal or revealing too much? 

Well, I won't know if I don't do it.

How to use this site

The first thing to do is bookmark this site, so you can find it easily when you're in the mood to read a bit more, which I hope will be often.

You can also subscribe to it, either by email or by feed.  New articles will be added often.

Who is Yvette Langmaid-Buttery?

I'm someone who's dedicated to personal understanding and improvement, and enjoys writing about it.  As mentioned earlier, I reserve the right to also write about pizza, Eastenders, dog training, or anything else that's on my mind.  Hey, it's my website.

You can learn more about me on the about page.