Saturday Night Classic Music Video

I remember playing this song as a disc jockey on the radio and in clubs when it first came out..

Fort Wayne Site-of-the-Day

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What to do on a Day Off...

My wife is a personal life coach.

Her mantra is to simplify your life.

I'm sure she would echo these words from the DLM Blog:

How To Really Take a Day Off from the Madness of Life

Posted: 02 Oct 2009 11:49 AM PDT

I consider myself to be somewhat of a vagabond. After being lucky enough to have the ability to unplug and spend several months traveling, I have realized how important it is to take some time off.

Many people are not able to take several months off from their worldly obligations; I understand that. However, most of us can and should take a day off every couple of weeks (if not more). If you can’t do that then at least dedicate a few hours of “me time”. The point is that we need time to slow down, leave the constant race, and recharge our brains, our bodies, and, well, everything!

So choose a day. Dedicate yourself to making it your day: turn off your cell phone, let your family know this is your special time, and to only interrupt if it’s absolutely necessary, etc.

Use Your Day Off To:

• Read a Book
  Read something that will inspire, expand, inform, and motivate you. I don't know that I'd recommend reading a book about your job. Read something that releases you from your reality - even temporarily.
  


• Do some research
  If you have an idea or project use this day to do high leverage activities that will increase your progress. During the week when you have spare time make a list of high priority tasks. Get organized so when your free day rolls around, you can get down to business.
  


• Plan a trip/ retreat
  Identify some areas in which you would like to grow as a person. If you have always wanted to meditate, make plans to go on a meditation retreat. Deeply immerse yourself in your get away. This is a great way to meet new people, try something new, and grow as a person.


• Volunteer
  Helping others is one of the most fulfilling experiences you will ever have. Many communities post volunteer opportunities in local newspapers and on their websites. Look around and find something of interest.
  


• Listen to Music
  Get in a comfy chair and pop in a new CD or one of your old favorites. Just hit play and listen to the whole thing uninterrupted, don’t skip any songs. Try and look for new things you have never heard. The reason I say CD and now iPod is because you hand selected the songs on your iPod and the goal here is to introduce you to new things.
  


• Contemplation
  What deep personal questions have you been postponing or putting off? This is a great opportunity to ask yourself some tough questions. Penetrate them; look at them from several perspectives. How do they relate or impact your life? What’s your purpose? What do you want to contribute? How do you want to grow? What would you like to learn? What would you like to be doing in 5 years. How do you get there?
  


• Meditation
  To me, this is the most valuable thing you can do on your day off. Many people have misconceptions on what meditation really is. Many believe it is just simply learning to concentrate; this is false “meditation”. Meditation that leads you to deep concentration will just make you more closed. Your aspiration in mediation is to become more open, open to existence. Meditation is beyond the scope of this article, I suggest you go to your local bookstore or library and get acquainted with the subject.
  
  Benefits of Meditation:
  
  
  • You will develop a calm mind.
  • You will progressively go from reactive to proactive.
  • You will begin to understand and become aware of your internal decision making process.
  • You will come to understand many of the subtle levels in which your mind operates.
  • You will realize that you are not separate but are one with the whole. This will not be a logical understanding but an inner knowingness.
  • You will come to understand and not be dominated by your ego. Your ego serves its purpose in society; you need some reference point to be able to participate in it. But, your true identity is beyond your name, gender, ethnicity, nationality, and your body. Meditation will undo all the negative damage that society has imposed on you.
  • You will develop trust and not just believe in something. When you believe something that is just in the mind, when you trust that is a deep knowing in your entire being. Trust to go into the unknown.
• Write
  Put any ideas or things that you are feeling down on paper. Don’t worry about making complete or coherent sentences. Just let it flow out of you. Practice writing for 10 minutes without stopping or censoring what you write. After it’s down on paper analyze it, what does it reveal?


• Go To a Park and People Watch
  Practice going to a park and just observing your environment without verbalization. Pay attention to the little things, become open, many things will reveal themselves to you. You might gain a new insight or idea from just watching and observing pigeons looking for food. (My observation: Pigeons are super focused; they have a target, and keep pushing and adjusting their vision until they reach their goal.)


• Practice a language
  If you are going to Italy next year, make sure you know how to order some gelato before you go.


• Paint
  Become immersed in the experience, don’t think, just feel. Put your beliefs aside, your beliefs make you closed, because they make you think you already know something. To create something unique and new you will need to suspend your beliefs. Who cares if you are not a professional, this is for you not others; don’t worry about how others will perceive you work. As soon as you do your ego (mind) will get involved and simply create something average, because you will be molding it to the expectations of others.

Remember this is your life to explore, to make known the unknown. Make sure you take some time to stop and smell the roses. I know many of us have forgotten that beautiful fragrance.

I hope this serves as a friendly reminder on the importance of taking some time to just enjoy being with oneself. I would just like to thank Jay for allowing me to share on his fantastic site. I wish everyone the best, keep growing, keep evolving, and keep shining.

Written on 10/02/2009 Ivan Campuzano. Ivan is a self proclaimed vagabond, visionary, personal development blogger, student of life, and ordinary person living an extraordinary life. He wants to help you GROW! and you can follow him at ivancampuzano.com.

Photo Credit: phunkstarr

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Video Time: College Musical

So this is how they are spending their time/your money:

Fort Wayne Site-of-the-Day

Click here to go there, (and watch the home page for a moment before you explore the rest of the site....ouch)

Santa's not the Only One

That should be making a list and checking it twice. From the DLM Blog:

How to Prioritize by Importance – And Stick to It

Posted: 04 Aug 2009 07:31 AM PDT

Is your to-do list overflowing with tasks? Do you end up rushing from one thing to the next, dealing with whatever’s most on your mind at the time – and shoving everything else aside for another day? This can be an effective way to work at times, such as when clearing the decks before vacation, but both your work and your health are likely to suffer if you’re constantly in “firefighting” mode.

So how can you start concentration on what really matters, instead of on what seems most pressing?

The Four Quadrants
There’s a useful technique in time-management that involves dividing your tasks into a grid with four “quadrants”, which are:

• Urgent and Important (eg. “My big report is due in three hours”)


• Important but Not Urgent (eg. “I’m delivering a presentation next month”)


• Urgent but Not Important (eg. “My library books are due back today”)


• Not Important and Not Urgent (eg. “I’m watching YouTube clips”)

What Goes Where?
Generally, it’s not too hard to decide where a particular task or activity fits. The key is not to confuse a task’s urgency with its importance. For example, it might be annoying to be fined $2 for your library books being overdue, but it’s not really an important consequence in the grand scheme of things. On the other hand, missing the deadline with your big report might have huge negative consequences on your career.

“Important but Not Urgent” – The Crucial Things We Put Off
The category that time management experts recommend you concentrate on is the “Important but Not Urgent” tasks. Usually, items in this quadrant will become urgent if you leave them too long. For example:

• That presentation due in three months will be looking pretty urgent in two months and twenty nine days...


• Taking care of your health (eg. with exercise and good diet) might become urgent ten years down the line, when you get sick


• Sorting out your taxes will become urgent once the deadline’s imminent

Have a think about your own life. I’m willing to bet that there’s been a time when you put off something “Important but Not Urgent” ... and ended up under a lot of stress because it did become urgent. This might have been anything from a term paper in college to an overdue trip to the dentist.

Why We React to “Urgent”
Most of us have a tendency to react, in almost a knee-jerk way, to things that are urgent. This is a good survival technique (after all, if a saber-tooth tiger is about to eat you, you’d want to leave off inventing the wheel and run away...) Often, though, it leads to a very ineffective way of working: we deal with things in a panic, procrastinate over anything that isn’t urgent, and end up creating a lot of stress for ourselves whilst not really accomplishing much.

Focusing on “Important”
So how can you draw your focus back to the stuff that matters? How can you make sure you’re working on what’s truly important before it becomes urgent?

I’d suggest a few simple things:

• Get rid of your “not urgent and not important” activities. (Note – that doesn’t mean get rid of things that relax and recharge you: they are important.)


• Make sure that “urgent and not important” activities never get in the way of “important and not urgent” ones. Frankly, it’s probably better for you to work on your dissertation for two hours, instead of spending that time racing across town with your soon-to-be-overdue library books.


• Remember that “important” is a matter of perspective. Be honest with yourself about what’s important to you. Important tasks are ones which enrich your life: they don’t have to be ones that involve making money or advancing your career.


• Start off your day with an “important and not urgent” task. This might be writing a chapter of your novel, getting some exercise, sorting out your tax return, learning a new language... as per the previous point, you define what’s important to you.

Do you find that you end up spending most of your day on “urgent” – or on time wasters? How do you keep your focus on what really matters in your work and your life?

Written on 8/04/2009 by Ali Hale. Ali is a professional writer and blogger, and a part-time postgraduate student of creative writing. If you need a hand with any sort of written project, drop her a line (ali@aliventures.com) or check out her website at Aliventures.

Photo Credit: ➨ Redvers

Fort Wayne Site-of-the-Day

It's this Saturday and I'll be there in the afternoon with ROCK 104. Click here for the details.

Not a Techie... But

Nope, not me.

I'm mostly self-taught when it comes to computers and software and the internet.

And I proved it to myself in the past 24 hours.

Around 3:something Monday afternoon, I'm noticing problems with my Microsoft Outlook not sending emails. So, I searched online for a solution and ended up with a computer that would not connect to the internet.

I spent at least 6 hours on Monday night and another couple hours this morning trying different things until I found the solution. It wasn't found directly online, but I figured it out anyway.

Oh, and I lost my cellphone yesterday afternoon too, but found it this morning.

Fortunately you don't have to be a techie to do social media and marketing. Friday morning in Fort Wayne, I am presenting a seminar:

Join the Conversation! Social Media & Marketing

Friday, October 9, 2009 - 7:30 AM to 9:00 AM

Find out what the Social Media Craze is all about, where it came from, what’s going on, and where it’s going!

So, you’ve heard about words like
Social Media, Social Marketing, Facebook, Twitter, Blogs, and you’re wondering,
“ What’s this all about?” “Is this just a fad?” “It’s just for kids?” or perhaps, “It all sounds pretty stupid and a waste of time!”

No matter what you are thinking, people are talking about you, your business, your competitors, and you need to join the conversation.

Find out what the Social Media Craze is all about, where it came from, what’s going on, and where it’s going.

You’ll discover the power of communication that can keep you in touch with your current, former, and prospective customers.

About Our Speaker

Scott Howard is the founder of ScLoHo Marketing Solutions based in Fort Wayne, Indiana. Since 1986, he has created advertising and marketing campaigns using radio, print, direct mail, and a multitude of internet based media and marketing options.

Since 2003, he has been with Summit City Radio as a Senior Sales Executive, Station Manager, Teacher, Trainer and Mentor.

Scott writes, edits and publishes 5 blogs including 2 on Marketing, Advertising and Sales:

ScLoHo’s Collective Wisdom (http://sclohonet.blogspot.com/) is updated 25 to 30 times each week with sales training tips, marketing and advertising news and social media information.

The Not-So-Secret Writings of ScLoHo (http://sclohonet-thebook.blogspot.com/) is updated weekly. If Scott were to take the time to write a book on marketing, these would be the chapters!

Scott was recently asked to write a piece on Marketing and Advertising for the Fort Wayne Chamber of Commerce Emphasis newsletter, which was published and distributed in the Greater Fort Wayne Business Weekly August 21, 2009.

Services provided by ScLoHo Marketing Solutions include:
-Internet and Social Media Services
-Marketing Plan Consulting and Implementation
-Radio and Specialized Print Advertising Options
-Personalized Sales Training and Coaching

Scott serves on the Board of Directors of the American Advertising Federation of Fort Wayne as the Vice President of Membership.

Specifics

Who Should Attend:		Anyone wondering what Social Media is... if it can help your business ... and why you might want to participate in it!
Where:		TQM Network Learning Center - Leadership & Learning Center
Directions:		The TQM Network Learning Center is located 825 Barr Street. Parking is available at meters surrounding the building or the parking garage on the corner of Wayne & Barr. Some limited free parking is available on the side of the building. The event will be held in the Lower Level Conference Room.
Speaker/Instructor		Scott Howard, ScLoHo
Cost:		$100 for non-members. No cost for members.
Registration:		You may register online at www.tqmnet.com. Click on the 'Register Now!' button. You may also send an email to register@tqmnet.com, or call Jamie at 260-557-7665.
Deadline:		Please register as early as possible, but not later than 10/8/2009.

I have a limited number of guest passes. Email me at Scott @ ScLoHo.net with the subject line Seminar and I'll tell you how to get in free, if I have any left.

Fort Wayne Site-of-the-Day

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A better way to Google It

Last week I featured some G-mail Tips.

Today, let's learn how to Google and get better search results.

From the DLM Blog:

20 Tips for More Efficient Google Searches

Posted: 03 Oct 2009 08:35 AM PDT

For millions of people Google is an indispensable search tool that they use every day, in all facets of their lives. From work or school, research, to looking up movies and celebrities to news and gossip, Google is the go-to search engine.

But instead of just typing in a phrase and wading through page after page of results, there are a number of ways to make your searches more efficient.

Some of these are obvious ones, that you probably know about. But others are lesser-known, and others are known but not often used. Use this guide to learn more about, or be reminded of, some of the best ways to get exactly what you're looking for, and quickly.

1. Either/or
   Google normally searches for pages that contain all the words you type in the search box, but if you want pages that have one term or another (or both), use the OR operator -- or use the "|" symbol (pipe symbol) to save you a keystroke. [dumb | little | man]


2. Quotes
   If you want to search for an exact phrase, use quotes. ["dumb little man"] will only find that exact phrase. [dumb "little man"] will find pages that contain the word dumb and the exact phrase "little man".


3. Not
   If you don't want a term or phrase, use the "-" symbol. [-dumb little man] will return pages that contain "little" and "man" but that don't contain "dumb".


4. Similar terms
   Use the "~" symbol to return similar terms. [~dumb little man -dumb] will get you pages that contain "funny little man" and "stupid little man" but not "dumb little man".


5. Wildcard
   The "*" symbol is a wildcard. This is useful if you're trying to find the lyrics to a song, but can't remember the exact lyrics. [can't * me love lyrics] will return the Beatles song you're looking for. It's also useful for finding stuff only in certain domains, such as
   educational information: ["dumb little man" research *.edu].


6. Advanced search
   If you can't remember any of these operators, you can always use Google's advanced search.


7. Definitions
   Use the "define:" operator to get a quick definition. [define:dumb] will give you a whole host of definitions from different sources, with links.


8. Calculator
   One of the handiest uses of Google, type in a quick calculation in the search box and get an answer. It's faster than calling up your computer's calculator in most cases. Use the +, -, *, / symbols and parentheses to do a simple equation.


9. Numrange
   This little-known feature searches for a range of numbers. For example, ["best books 2002..2007] will return lists of best books for each of the years from 2002 to 2007 (note the two periods between the two numbers).


10. Site-specific
    Use the "site:" operator to search only within a certain website. [site:dumblittleman.com leo] will search for the term "leo" only within this blog.


11. Backlinks
    The "link:" operator will find pages that link to a specific URL. You can use this not only for a main URL but even to a specific page. Not all links to an URL are listed, however.


12. Vertical search
    Instead of searching for a term across all pages on the web, search within a specialized field. Google has a number of specific searches, allowing you to search within blogs, news, books, and much more:
    
    • Blog Search
      
    • Book Search
      
    • Scholar
      
    • Catalogs
      
    • Code Search
      
    • Directory
      
    • Finance
      
    • Images
      
    • Local/Maps
      
    • News
      
    • Patent Search
      
    • Product Search
      
    • Video
      
13. Movies
    Use the "movie:" operator to search for a movie title along with either a zip code or U.S. city and state to get a list of movie theaters in the area and show times.


14. Music
    The "music:" operator returns content related to music only.


15. Unit converter
    Use Google for a quick conversion, from yards to meters for example, or different currency: [12 meters in yards]


16. Types of numbers
    Google algorithms can recognize patterns in numbers you enter, so you can search for:
    
    
    
    • Telephone area codes
      
    • Vehicle ID number (US only)
      
    • Federal Communications Commission (FCC) equipment numbers (US only)
      
    • UPC codes
      
    • Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) airplane registration number (US only)
      
    • Patent numbers (US only)
      
    • Even stock quotes (using the stock symbol) or a weather forecast regarding the next five days
      
17. File types
    If you just want to search for .PDF files, or Word documents, or Excel spreadsheets, for example, use the "filetype:" operator.


18. Location of term
    By default, Google searches for your term throughout a web page. But if you just want it to search certain locations, you can use operators such as "inurl:", "intitle:", "intext:", and "inanchor:". Those search for a term only within the URL, the title,
    the body text, and the anchor text (the text used to describe a link).


19. Cached pages
    Looking for a version of a page the Google stores on its own servers? This can help with outdated or update pages. Use the "cached:" operator.


20. Answer to life, the universe, and everything
    Search for that phrase, in lower case, and Google will give you the answer.

For more on Google's search syntax, see this guide, and this one.

Written for Dumblittleman.com on 06/07/2007 by Leo Babauta and republished on 10/3/09. Leo offers advice on living life productively simple at his famous Zen Habits blog.

Photo Credit: manfrys

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Make a Plan

Feeling lost and wondering what to do next?

5 Practical Keys to Living The Life of Your Dreams

Posted: 21 Sep 2009 08:56 AM PDT

I’ve spent most of my life studying success. I’ve always been intrigued by what causes one person to succeed and another to fail. Why does one person become rich, while another person seems doomed to a life of poverty? Is it due to where they were born, or the social status of their parents, or the academic education they received?

Yes, these external situations are indeed factors, but they are not the cause of success. The real source of success comes from following the principles of success; principles that work for all alike. If you follow the principles, your bettering your odds of success!

I’ve studied these principles over the last 15 years. From this study I’ve come up with five keys that are necessary for you to live the life of your dreams. This article recaps those five keys. Read them, study them, and then put them into action; soon you to will be living the life of your dreams:

Key Number 1: A Plan

“Have a plan. Follow the plan, and you will be surprised how successful you can be. Most people don't have a plan. That's why it's easy to beat most folks.” - Paul "Bear" Bryant, University of Alabama's Crimson Tide Football Coach

In order to live the life of your dreams you must have a written plan as to how you will get from where you are to where you want to be. If you have no plan, you will fail, and you can quote me.

A plan is a map which will guide you to your destination, without one, you’re lost, and you’ll never find your dream. Thane Yost said, the will to win is worthless if you do not have the will to prepare.

So develop a plan today.

Key Number 2: Passion

“Nothing great in the world has ever been accomplished without passion.” - Hebbel, German Poet and Dramatist

If reaching your dream is a road trip, then passion is the fuel that will get you there. You must determine what your passion is, and you must dedicate your life to living your passion, if you want to live your dream. You will never be truly happy if you’re not doing what you’re most passionate about. If you love to sing, then you must sing, if you love to dance, then you must dance, and if you love to paint, then you must paint.

Your passion will give you the ability to overcome the obstacles associated with achieving your dreams. Nothing worth achieving is going to be easy; passion gives you the strength to go through the pain of failure until you arrive at your dream.

So if you’re planning on doing the impossible, make sure your plan includes your passion. One of my favorite quotes is by an unknown author and it goes, “Above all, be true to yourself, and if you cannot put your heart in it, take yourself out of it.”

Key Number 3: Action

Great it is, to dream a dream,
when you stand at youth, by a starry stream,
but a greater thing, is to fight life through,
and say at the end, the dream is true. - Poet Unknown

For every dream accomplished, there is a story. A story of sweat, blood and tears; if you’re going to achieve your dreams, you’re going to have to give your all.

You must become consumed by the dream. You must see it, think it and do it. I like what Mario Andretti the race car driver said, he said, “If things seem under control, you’re just not going fast enough.” That’s what I’m saying to you, if things aren’t just a little chaotic, you’re not moving fast enough toward your dreams. As the saying goes, you can’t stroll to a goal.

Glade Byron Adams said, “Chase down your passion like it’s the last bus of the night.” That’s the determination and persistence that’s necessary for you to live your dream.

Remember there are no short cuts to success; we must all take the same road.

Key Number 4: Faith

“Whether you believe you can do a thing or not, you are right.” - Henry Ford, Founder of the Ford Motor Company

Your beliefs determine your actions. If you don’t believe you can succeed, then you won’t take the actions necessary to succeed. If you believe you can succeed, then you will take the actions to succeed, and you will succeed; it’s that simple.

Faith in your limitless ability is required for you to live the life of your dreams. I think if anyone can succeed, then everyone can succeed. You were born to be a success, as cliché as that sounds, it’s the absolute truth. Walt Disney said if you can dream it, you can do it.

Key Number 5: Teamwork

“Teamwork is the fuel that allows common people to attain uncommon results.” - Author Unknown

The song is true, “Everybody needs somebody.” In order to live the life of your dreams you need a team. It may be your spouse, it may be your business partners, it may be your mentors, it may be your family, but everyone needs someone to support them and help them along the way.

Don’t try to do it alone, because you can’t. Learn to lean on others for wisdom, advice, counseling and support, and be sure to reciprocate the same.

We’re all connected and we need each other, if I write, then I need you to read. If you sing, then you need me to listen.

In closing, go after your dreams, not because they’re easy to attain, go after your dreams because you deserve to live the life of your dreams.

Written on 9/21/2009 by Mr. Self Development who is a motivational author that offers a practical guide to success and wealth; support him by visiting his blog at mrselfdevelopment.com. .

Photo Credit: Y

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