Just a Thought - 2 Oct 2012

Choices
 
Choices…they define us or they destroy us. 

• Give or take
• Love or hate
• Soda or Water
• Exercise or snooze bar
• Investing or spending
• Smile or frown
• Going for a walk or sitting on the couch
• Operating from a schedule or just winging it
• Clean my office and be organized or leave it messy and be unorganized.
• Return all of my calls and emails or blow them off and kid myself I will do it tomorrow
• Going above and beyond or just doing the minimum
• Do a business plan and set goals or hope and wish for success
• Working hard or doing the bare minimum
• Energy giver or energy sucker
• Embrace accountability or run from it.
• Embrace change or resist it
• Positive & optimistic attitude or a negative & pessimistic attitude
• Forgive or be mad and hold a grudge
• Dress professionally or dress like a slob
• Do my homework or don’t do my homework
• Practice or don’t practice
• Shoulders back or shoulders slumped
• Laugh or yell
• Hug or fight 

The most common difference between those who have an AWESOME life and those who don’t are simply the choices they make every day.  It’s usually not their circumstances, the way they were raised, or their education.  Most people who are not accomplishing their dreams in life are those that have chosen not to. These people just aren’t willing to do what is necessary to have a life that good.

Think about your life for a moment, what do you want and what does it take to get it?  So, why haven’t you been doing what it takes to get it?

Before you start with all of the excuses, ask yourself - if you really had to do it, could you?  Let me make it clear how this is a choice - I don’t even like to think these thoughts, but it will help you understand that you can do it, if you want it bad enough.  If the person or people you care about the most lives depended upon it (life or death), could you do it? We both know the answer. Of course you could and would.  Life is a series of choices - I call them the Y’s in the road.  In most cases if you take the easy path - the one most people take - you will experience short term gain and long term pain. On the other hand if you have the courage to take the other path - the one most will not take - you will have some short-term pain, but long-term gain. So, make the right choice and have a life of pure magic!

Start by making the choice every day to FEEL GOOD.  Because when you FEEL GOOD you are ATTRACTIVE. When you are ATTRACTIVE, you have AMAZING PRODUCTIVITY. When you have AMAZING PRODUCTIVITY, you have EXTRAORDINARY RESULTS. And when you have EXTRAORDINARY RESULT, you feel even better! It is the circle of success.

Cut It Off

By now most of us have heard the story or watched the movie created about it.  Aron Ralston was trapped.  As he was climbing alone over large boulders in Utah in a narrow canyon, he became hopelessly stuck when one of them that weighed about 800 pounds, shifted and pinned his right arm. Stuck in a 3-foot wide slot, he tried for days to move the huge rock, chip it away, whatever it took to get free, but nothing worked.

Finally, after three days of being trapped, food and water gone and out of ways to free himself, he realized he'd die if he didn't take drastic action.  So, he decided to cut off his right arm below the elbow with a dull pocketknife to save his life.  Yes, cut off his own arm... in the middle of nowhere… by himself… with a dull knife… to live.  It took him two days.  And when he was done, he crawled through a narrow, twisting canyon, rappelled down a 60-foot cliff, and hiked some six miles before he finally stumbled upon help... all with his forearm gone, the stump bleeding.

"I'm not sure how I handled it," he said. "I felt pain and I coped with it.  I moved on."  Because he knew there was no other way to live.

While most of our choices aren't nearly that dramatic, I couldn't help wondering what we are willing to cut off to live… to achieve our goals, to accomplish our dreams, to save our lives.  Because, when times get tough and we're stuck, we all get to choose.  Keep what we've got, keep doing what we are doing and die, or take “drastic action,” cut away what's holding us back and live.  It could be destructive relationships, it could be bad habits, it could be a failing business, it could be unhealthy living, it could be addictions to alcohol, smoking, food, money, power, etc. that control our life.

Drastic changes?  Yes, that is what is needed.  There comes a time when that's the only way out, and you are the only one who can cut yourself free.  Is your life worth it?  Ask Aron.



Rise with the Sun and Your Productivity Will Shine


A recent study in the American Psychological Association journal, Emotion, showed that early birds are generally happier than night owls.  While the reason behind this may be that our society works around a morning schedule, such as an 8-5 shift, the study points to the conclusion that those who rise early are the most productive. 

Being an early riser implies you are more productive in the earlier half of the day, and therefore there is quite a bit you could and should try to finish before noon.Here are 12 ways to get more done before your lunch:

1. Make a to-do list the night before.  This is not too much different to what the great coach Bill Walsh would do for the 49ers when he made famous the scripting out of the first 15 plays.  Doing so yourself will help you sleep better because you’ll have a set plan instead of having everything that needs to be done the next day whirling around in your head.  And while you sleep your plan will seep into your non-conscious mind.  Further, when you get started in the morning, you will be able to get going immediately, rather than lose time writing out your to-do list first and then starting the day.
2. Get a full night’s rest.  As more experts study sleep, we learn of the ever more important role it plays.  Lack of sleep leads to lack of concentration.  Lack of concentration leads to lack of productivity.  Meet your required amount of sleep every night.
3. Don’t hit the snooze.  Remember Zig Ziglar says your alarm clock is actually an “opportunity clock” to get up and go.  A whole day of possibilities is available to you once you hear your “opportunity clock.”  And if you don’t hear it ring, that means you’ve already gotten up and gone!  Changing may be painful at first, but you will soon find yourself getting to bed earlier, waking up more energized, and accomplishing more.  You will also have time to practice a morning routine, which brings us to our next point…
4. Practice a morning routine.  I discussed the power that lies within having a routine last week.  Keep in mind that a routine is more than just an exercise routine; it is quite time with just yourself that will energize you for the rest of the day.  Meditate on gratitude or read something positive for example––include something easy-going that will start your day right and…
5. Exercise.  Exercise is proven to improve your mood and energy level.  Working out before the workday will give you better time-management skills and an improved mental sharpness for the rest of the day.  Also, when you exercise, you create small wins!  Include it in your morning routine, along with…
6. Eat a hearty breakfast.  Breakfast is perhaps the most important meal of the day to eat since you have just fasted for an entire night and you have the whole day ahead of you.  Try eating something light, healthy, and filling so you stay energized throughout the day.  Quick and easy processed carbs will zap you of energy before you know it, and skipping breakfast entirely can impact your concentration.
7. Arrive at the office early.  This is easy if you don’t hit the snooze!  Showing up on time is a bad habit.  Arrive at work early to get all your social conversations out of the way, your personal email checked, and your coffee poured.  When the workday starts your mind will be relaxed and you will be ready to go… plus, you set an example for your colleagues to do the same.
8. Check in with your boss & co-workers.  Set priorities that align with the goals of those around you.  If a co-worker is slacking, try to motivate him or her to work better through check-ups and friendly, positive conversation about how you will both work toward your common deadlines.  After all, you are a team and anyone who isn’t productive will drag the whole team down, regardless of how productive any single person may be.
9. Tackle your biggest projects first.  When you are making your to-do list, start with the hardest tasks because when you start, you are working at your mental peak.  Work wears us out, so doing meaningless mini-projects at the beginning of the day is a waste of your precious productive energy that could be put to better use on harder jobs.
10. Schedule afternoon meetings.  Tommy Hopkins, legendary sales and success trainer, says to do appointments with yourself in the morning and everyone else in the afternoon.  If you are in sales then that is the best time to prospect.  This allows you to use your prime skills during the day.
11. Allot time to follow up on messages.  Juggling different tasks and duties is chalk-full of distractions.  Instead, focus on one task for extended periods of time.  In other words, reserve the top 10-15 minutes of each hour for email so you get back to people promptly, but it does not take away from important tasks.
12. Take a mid-morning break.   Get up from your seat, stretch your legs, your back, your arms, and get some fresh air!

What Successful People Do With The First Hour Of Their Work Day

BY KEVIN PURDY

 | 

AUGUST 22, 2012

How much does the first hour of every day matter? As it turns out, a lot. It can be the hour you see everything clearly, get one real thing done, and focus on the human side of work rather than your task list.

Remember when you used to have a period at the beginning of every day to think about your schedule, catch up with friends, maybe knock out a few tasks? It was called home room, and it went away after high school. But many successful people schedule themselves a kind of grown-up home room every day. You should too.

The first hour of the workday goes a bit differently for Craig Newmark of Craigslist, David Karp of Tumblr, motivational speaker Tony Robbins, career writer (and Fast Company blogger) Brian Tracy, and others, and they’ll tell you it makes a big difference. Here are the first items on their daily to-do list.

Don’t Check Your Email for the First Hour. Seriously. Stop That.

Tumblr founder David Karp will “try hard” not to check his email until 9:30 or 10 a.m., according to an Inc. profile of him. “Reading e-mails at home never feels good or productive,” Karp said. “If something urgently needs my attention, someone will call or text me.”

Not all of us can roll into the office whenever our Vespa happens to get us there, but most of us with jobs that don’t require constant on-call awareness can trade e-mail for organization and single-focus work. It’s an idea that serves as the title of Julie Morgenstern’s work management book Never Check Email In The Morning, and it’s a fine strategy for leaving the office with the feeling that, even on the most over-booked days, you got at least one real thing done.

If you need to make sure the most important messages from select people come through instantly, AwayFind can monitor your inbox and get your attention when something notable arrives. Otherwise, it’s a gradual but rewarding process of training interruptors and coworkers not to expect instantaneous morning response to anything they send in your off-hours.

Gain Awareness, Be Grateful

One smart, simple question on curated Q & A site Quora asked “How do the most successful people start their day?”. The most popular response came from a devotee of Tony Robbins, the self-help guru who pitched the power of mindful first-hour rituals long before we all had little computers next to our beds.

Robbins suggests setting up an “Hour of Power,” “30 Minutes to Thrive,” or at least “Fifteen Minutes to Fulfillment.” Part of it involves light exercise, part of it involves motivational incantations, but the most accessible piece involves 10 minutes of thinking of everything you’re grateful for: in yourself, among your family and friends, in your career, and the like. After that, visualize “everything you want in your life as if you had it today.”

Robbins offers the “Hour of Power” segment of his Ultimate Edge series as a free audio stream (here’s the direct MP3 download). Blogger Mike McGrath also wrote a concise summary of the Hour of Power). You can be sure that at least some of the more driven people you’ve met in your career are working on Robbins’ plan.

Do the Big, Shoulder-Sagging Stuff First

Brian Tracy’s classic time-management book Eat That Frog gets its title from a Mark Twain saying that, if you eat a live frog first thing in the morning, you’ve got it behind you for the rest of the day, and nothing else looks so bad. Gina Trapani explained it well in a video for her Work Smart series). Combine that with the concept of getting one thing done before you wade into email, and you’ve got a day-to-day system in place. Here’s how to force yourself to stick to it:

Choose Your Frog

"Choose your frog, and write it down on a piece of paper that you'll see when you arrive back at your desk in the morning, Tripani advises."If you can, gather together the material you'll need to get it done and have that out, too."

One benefit to tackling that terrible, weighty thing you don’t want to do first thing in the morning is that you get some space from the other people involved in that thing--the people who often make the thing more complicated and frustrating. Without their literal or figurative eyes over your shoulder, the terrible thing often feels less complex, and you can get more done.

Ask Yourself If You’re Doing What You Want to Do

Feeling unfulfilled at work shouldn’t be something you realize months too late, or even years. Consider making an earnest attempt every morning at what the late Apple CEO Steve Jobs told a graduating class at Stanford to do:

When I was 17, I read a quote that went something like: "If you live each day as if it was your last, someday you'll most certainly be right." It made an impression on me, and since then, for the past 33 years, I have looked in the mirror every morning and asked myself: "If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?" And whenever the answer has been "No" for too many days in a row, I know I need to change something.

“Customer Service” (or Your Own Equivalent)

Craigslist founder Craig Newmark answered the first hour question succinctly: “Customer service.” He went on to explain (or expand) that he also worked on current projects, services for military families and veterans, and protecting voting rights. But customer service is what Newmark does every single day at Craigslist, responding to user complaints and smiting scammers and spammers. He almost certainly has bigger fish he could pitch in on every day, but Newmark says customers service “anchors me to reality.”

Your own version of customer service might be keeping in touch with contacts from year-ago projects, checking in with coworkers you don’t regularly interact with, asking questions of mentors, and just generally handling the human side of work that quickly gets lost between task list items. But do your customer service on the regular, and you’ll have a more reliable roster of helpers when the time comes.