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How to Live Well Instead of Just Doing Well

August 24, 2011 in Happiness, Simplicity with 0 Comments

In the process of cleaning up my blog from my comment spam attack, I came across a post from Tim Ferriss that I wanted to reshare with you… The Difference: Living Well vs. Doing Well

A lot has been going on in my life and I’ve been taking it easy mentally, trying to focus on the core things that are ahead of me.   Sometimes we get so wrapped up in the day-to-day that we don’t take a step back and evaluate where we’re going…ever.

If you’ve been in a rut or feel like you’ve been just slogging away at your work with no results, you might want to check out this post.

The post is a short, inspiring read. The focus is on vagabonding, but in the intro to Ferriss gets at the key takeaway for me:

“Living well is quite different from ‘doing well.’ In the quest to get ahead — destination often unknown — it’s easy to have life pass you by while you’re focused on other things. This post is intended as a reminder and a manifesto: keep it simple.”

Another excerpt from the post that hit me over the head:

Vagabonding sage Ed Buryn knew as much: “By switching to a new game, which in this case involves vagabonding, time becomes the only possession and everyone is equally rich in it by biological inheritance. Money, of course, is still needed to survive, but time is what you need to live. So, save what little money you possess to meet basic survival requirements, but spend your time lavishly in order to create the life values that make the fire worth the candle. Dig?”

The key takeaway for me is to invest your time wisely for things with big payoffs for you and forget the trivial things that are big time sucks.  Do more things that make you feel great and cut out the rest of the bs.

Simplify your life down to the core elements and focus on getting more out of life.   Invest your precious time in collecting experiences, not STUFF.

Photo courtesy of h.koppdelaney

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Go Ahead and Splurge (a little)

June 1, 2011 in Financial Freedom, Happiness with 0 Comments

If you’re on the savings track, it can be hard to spend your hard-earned money on something fun that’s not in your budget.  Stop agonizing over it.  Sometimes, you just have to splurge on yourself.  Go to the mall with your friend and buy something you’ve been eyeing up for a while.

Having your Financial Freedom plan in place doesn’t mean that you have to be all business and no fun.  Allocating each and every penny you earn to a goal can be tedious and overwhelming.  You’re going to crack under the pressure.

Have fun once in a while and don’t worry about the money part too much.  If you live below your means and you max out your 401k and you have a fully funded Emergecy Fund, you can live a little more.  Go ahead and do it. 

In short, don’t stress so much over your hard-earned money that you become cheap.  Frugal, yes, but cheap and a penny-pincher, not so great.

If you’re worried about self-control, then do yourself a favor and automatically set aside a set percentage of your take home pay for fun, guilt-free spending and did I mention fun?

By the way, the best thing to spend your “fun money” on are experiences and not things.  Experiences last a lifetime and they’re the things you’re going to remember years from now, not the pair of jeans you bought, regardless of what the marketers and advertisers tell you.

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The Three Step Solution for Problems

May 17, 2011 in Great Work, Performance with 0 Comments

When we seek out the reason behind someone’s grumpy mood or why it takes them so long to process a request, we can work better with them. It’s not about solving the problem for them, but understanding what they’ve got going on in their world.

People generally want to do great work, but there are too many barriers – real and imagined – that can get in the way.  If we elminate as many of these barriers as possible, there will be less “stuff” to get in the way of doing great work and leaving a far superior legacy behind.

Superior to what?  Superior to the shell of a legacy that you’ll leave behind if you keep focusing on being busy and not focusing on getting real work done.

How to Solve Your Problems – Quickly
Quick question for you.  How well are you handling your workload?  Are you going above and beyond your peers?  What are you failing to get done (or done well) because of ?

Do you know what the reason is, the reason(s) why you’re not able to get your best work done, more often?  If you do, then  you’re one step closer to a solution and by the way, solutions are easy to find.

If you’re tired, there’s an easy solution.  Regardless of your current situation or lifestyle, you can cut back on TV, go to bed earlier, reduce your stimulants and get the rest you need.

If you’re not motivated, you can solve that issue to.  You can read inspiring biographies, find a mentor at work, hang around more motivated people and get on a career path that’s aligned with your passion to name a few solutions.

Are you overworked?  You can delegate work, re-align your scope of work with your boss, put in a few extra hours or a number of different solutions.

The Three Step Solution for Problems
I’m not here to give you that exact solution.  That’s the easy part. The hard part is identifying the ROOT ISSUE that is causing the problem. 

1. List Out Your Problems: Take a moment to list out your current problems or things that are keeping you up at night.  What are the major sources of stress in your life?  Write it all down.  Keep a list handy throughout the day to jot down the everyday problems you encounter.

2. Find Quick, Proven Solutions: Next, list out the potential solutions for your problems.  Can’t think of one?  Go ask someone for help, Google for an answer or go read a book on the topic.  Again, solutions to problems are the easy part of the process.  The hard part is #3…

3. Take Action to Eliminate Your Problems for Good: This step sounds like it’s the easiest, but it’s the hardest to implement.  It requires willpower and consistency, not to mention determination and a real desire to change.

In short, do something about the problem and eliminate it from your daily life.  With this problem solved through a new way of working or a workaround, life will be that much easier.  Pile enough of these quick-win solutions back-to-back and soon you’ll have more time to spend on the stuff that really matters.

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Becoming an Expert: Push Past the “OK Plateau”

May 16, 2011 in Career Advice, Unstoppable with 0 Comments

Your current comfort zone is what’s limiting your progress in life.  If you’re waiting for something better to come along, you’re going to be waiting a long, long time.  I wrote about this idea late last year and it just struck me as something I wanted to re-share with you:

“If you’re waiting for better, know it never comes.  You have to go after it…with determination, energy and passion.  Only you can determine how good it’s going to get for you in life.  Never forget that.”

I was reading a recap of the 99 Percent Conference and came across an idea about pushing past the “OK Plateau” in life.  This idea comes from JOSHUA FOER, the author of Moonwalking with Einstein who presented it recently at the 99 Percent Conference.

“The ‘Ok Plateau’ is the point when we turn on autopilot and stop getting better at a certain thing.” It is possible to continue to improve at most tasks, but not if we expect it to happen automatically. Always be engaged in what you’re doing, and push yourself to improve.”

That’s great advice from Joshua and if you follow it, it just might help you turbocharge the rest of your career.  Yes, even if you’re at the midway point in your career, it’s never too late to turbocharge the second half of your career.

Start today by evaluating what you’re doing on a daily basis on the job.  What can you optimize? What can you steal from a coworker in terms of how they do their work?  Is there an expert in your field you can reach out to?

Find a Mentor – Get someone in your corner that can help and guide you.

Get a Coach – Find someone who is going to poke and prod you to greatness.

Get Motivated - You’re going to need to be motivated on a consistent basis to make a change in your behaviors.  The gravitational pull of “comfortable” is very strong.  To resist it and break free is going to require a lot of willpower and daily action.

Take Action Daily – To become an expert in your niche, you’re going to have to focus on working on your project every day.

Invest in Yourself - Use your free time wisely.  Invest in yourself by reading books within your industry or listening to interviews or audiobooks.  According to Earl Nightingale: One hour per day of study will put you at the top of your field within three years. Within five years, you’ll be a national authority. In seven years, you can be one of the best people in the world at what you do.

That’s sound advice and I’ll leave it at that for you.  Push yourself right now to take actions against your goals.  Email a potential mentor, find a coach, turn off the internet and/or TV and pick up a book that’s been gathering dust on your bookshelf.  It doesn’t have to be something monumental or earth-shattering, but it does have to be something you can do right NOW.  Get moving.  Today starts your climb toward greatness.

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Your Attitude Determines Your Altitude

May 11, 2011 in Career Advice, Happiness, Unstoppable with 0 Comments

I’ve had hundreds of career discussions with people in-person and online and regardless of the person, their skill set or the organization, there was one factor in common the successful ones always had: the right attitude.  Sure, they had determination/persistence and passion for their careers, but these two things are a given.

Once you have your career track figured out (passion), it’s time to do the work at hand (determination & persistence) and you’re on your way down the path to a great career.

But if you don’t have the right attitude, you’ll find it hard to stay on the track you’ve set for yourself.  Every little stress in life or on the job is going to have a more negative effect on you than necessary.  Every little obstacle you face will be easier to tackle if you have the right attitude.

“If you have a positive attitude and constantly strive to give your best effort, eventually you will overcome your immediate problems and find you are ready for greater challenges.” – Pat Riley

If you have a bad attitude – regardless of why or what that attitude is based on (your upbringing, company culture, your boss, your peers, your experiences to date) you’re never going to get to the top.  Every little bump in the road encountered on that career track you set for yourself will be viewed in a negative light.  You’ll instantly replay those negative scripts in your mind.

In short, your attitude determines your altitude in your career…and your life in general.

Bad Attitude = Sucky Career Guaranteed!
Lastly, if your attitude sucks, your career will suck too.  It’s just plain inevitable.  Well, that’s at least what TJ thought and I think the careers of every successful person has proved him right.

“Nothing can stop the man with the right mental attitude from achieving his goal; nothing on earth can help with man with the wrong mental attitude.” – Thomas Jefferson

How about you?  What are your thoughts like?  Do you have the right positive attitude right now to attack your days and get your work done in a manner that will take you to the NEXT LEVEL?

If not, what are you waiting for?

How to Have a Positive Attitude
I’m not going to create a laundry list of ideas with explanations because of two reasons:

1) They’re self-explanatory
2) I want you to stop reading and take action on one of them….as in right NOW…

(Okay, so I couldn’t resist adding a little commentary for clarification purposes).

Eliminate Your Negative Thoughts - Listen to your inner dialogue and stop yourself when you start thinking negatively.  Replace those negative thoughts with positive ones.

Read Motivational Books - One of my favorites that always seems to work

Read Motivational Blogs - Similar to books, great bloggers who have a positive message to share will inspire you to control your destiny

Hang Around More Positive People

Turn Off the News (it’s always negative anyway)

Put Your Positive Goggles On - Start seeing the positive in every situation

Laugh More Often - Rent a comedy, watch a sitcom

Get Active – Any form of exercise is a natural stress reliever

Listen to Self-Help Audios - Anthony Robbins got me through a tough time in my life, so have Napoleon Hill, Zig Ziglar, Les Brown and even people like Gary V and Tim Ferris.  Plug in, listen and feed off their energy and ideas.

Be More Grateful, More Often – You’ve got it better than you think.  Just take a step back and think about it for a second and be grateful for what you have.  Millions of people in this world have it worse than you.

Recharge From Time to Time – Take a day off and do nothing.  Sometimes all we need is a little rest and relaxation to help us stay focused on the important things in life.

Those are some of my top ideas for developing a positive attitude.  What would you add?

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