Screw Up Everyonce in Awhile

I'm not talking about Jackass style antics.

But test a few boundaries, get out of your comfort zone and check out these ideas from DLM:

Do You Make These 8 Personal Development Mistakes?

Posted: 09 Aug 2011 10:06 AM PDT

Most people suck at improving themselves. Even when they’re trying their hardest to become a better person, they wind up running on the dreaded personal development hamster wheel – hours of effort, zero results.

It’s not because they’re stupid. It’s not because they’re lazy. It’s definitely not because it’s not possible. It’s because they’re making the mistakes that most people make when they’re trying to change their life for the better. That’s why there’s so many people reading self-help blogs, self-help books, and taking self-help classes and yet so few people making a meaningful and lasting difference.

So here’s a list of the eight most common (and most damaging) mistakes that people make in personal development.

Are you guilty of any of these?

• Are You Fixing Your Weaknesses?
  Don’t you just hate being bad at things? It makes you feel dumb playing tennis when you’ve only ever played against Wii characters. You feel small when someone mentions James K. Polk and expects you to know he was the 11th American president (not that anyone would ever expect that).
  
  So it’s natural to focus the majority of your personal development time on fixing your weaknesses. That’s all well and good, but you get a much better return on that time if you focus on improving your strengths.
  
  Think of it like this. The vast majority of any successes you have in life will be because of your strengths. Your career security will be based on the strengths you bring to the table. You’ve probably heard of the 80/20 rule (80% of the results come from 20% of the efforts). That’s what I recommend here:
  
  Focus the majority of your personal development efforts on your top 20% of skills, strengths, and talents. For the rest of the 80% do what you can to avoid them, delegate them to someone else, or create a system to avoid doing them. If a weakness is preventing you from hitting your goals, then get just good enough so that you can continue to focus on becoming an expert at what you’re good at.
  


• Do You Want to Become “Better”?
  Why do you focus on personal development? Well, to be a “better” person. To have a “better” life. To have “better” skills.
  
  ...What does “better” mean?
  
  Every sane person on earth wants to be “better” in a bunch of ways. That’s a good thing – we’re ambitious. But “better” is a vague goal. We all know the thing about vague goals – vague goals produce vague results. Or in other words, vague goals don’t produce real results.
  
  Your personal development path must have a purpose. There has to be a reason you’re working on whatever it is you want to improve. That’s the only way anything will actually ever happen. Change “better” to something like “know how to build a website so I can share my advice.” That’s how personal development actually happens in the real world.
  


• Are You Learning Awesome Theories?
  Theories are awesome and a lot of them are amazing. Seriously.
  
  An investment strategy can sky rocket your wealth. A lifestyle design philosophy can get you out of the cubicle. A productivity system can help you get a whole heck of a lot more done.
  
  But theories are also like crack or girl scout cookies – they’re addictive.
  
  Once you’re exposed to a compelling theory or philosophy about something, it’s hard not to try to learn everything about it. Then it’s hard not to look for all the other competing theories or philosophies and learn everything about them. Then it’s hard to not look for comparisons to figure out which one’s best.
  
  Worst of all it’s hard to bring any of the theories into real action.
  
  It’s helpful to remember this simple concept – “everything that’s not stupid works.”
  
  For example, there is an infinite number of ways to lose weight – choose from a million diets, exercise programs, supplements, gyms, programs, etc. – but nothing works if you’re doing nothing but researching.
  
  It doesn’t matter if you have the #1 possible theory. It’s better to just find a path that’s not stupid and stick to it. (You can always improve it later). Learning theories isn’t personal development. Implementing them is.
  


• Have You Never Had a Major Failure?
  Avoiding failure makes you feel successful. After all, failure is bad. Right?
  
  Well, kind of. No one should try to fail. That would make you weird. But if you’ve never had a major failure, then you’ve never really tried to succeed. If you’ve got your skin in the game for long enough something will go wrong. Period.
  
  Don’t believe me? Name one successful person who’s never failed.
  
  The strange paradox of it is that you cannot learn much from successes, but the bigger the failure the more you learn. In most aspects of life, people tend to look at the successes and copy them so that they can avoid the failure. The first part is good – copying previous successes is just smart. But you should expect to fail eventually. The only possible way to avoid failing is to not try in the first place.
  
  Work hard for those failures, because that’s the best way possible for you to grow.
  


• Are You Crazy Busy?
  Everyone intends to improve themselves, but it’s just damn hard to find the time (see New Years resolutions).
  
  You got work, family, obligations, travel, chores, and sleep. Who has time to work on themselves?
  
  Yep, it’s tough.
  
  It’s really got to be a matter of priority. How much of a priority is it that you improve yourself, your skills, and your life? It may be obvious that that’s a top priority for you, but real world implementation may be a bit tricky. Time may only allow you to settle for reading advice, not implementing it.
  
  There’s two solutions:
  
  First, you can schedule time for whatever kind of personal development you want to focus on. Then you guard that time with your life.
  
  Second, if you can’t do that for whatever reason, you need to find ways to incorporate your improvement in other activities you have to do anyway.
  
  Truth be told, you should probably find a way to do both.
  


• Did You Choose The Newest and Shiniest Version?
  It’s easier to think that the newest thing out there is the best. The newest strategy, technique, tactic, idea, book, etc.
  
  It’s true with a lot of things – technology and medicine being two obvious examples. It’s not true with a lot of others.
  
  Want to get an amazing memory? The best current memory courses are variations on methods from ancient Greece. Want to calculate crazy math problems in your head? India had that figured out about 2,500 years ago.
  
  We like bells, whistles, and that new car smell, but sometimes we’re missing the old and tested approaches to things. Most personal development is about subjects that are timeless – the mind, the body, the spirit, selling, finances, communication, friendship, love, etc.
  
  I guess the point here is no matter what you want to improve about yourself many people have gone through the same thing. Don’t make it more complicated than it needs to be.
  


• Is Your Personal Development for Personal Development’s Sake?
  If “personal development” doesn’t have a result, then it doesn’t count.
  
  By “result” I mean a tangible, objective, other-people-can-see-change kind of result. That means you have to get something from your improvement efforts.
  
  What’s that something.
  
  Well, if you truly improve yourself then you should see some of the following things come into your life:
  
  • More money (gasp!) – Yep, if you’re more skilled then you should command a higher income whether your self employed or work for someone else
  • More confidence – You’re more confident when you’re good at something. The more you improve, the more that should happen.
  • More influence – The more you improve in a noticeable way, the more others will value your opinion on things
  If you’re not seeing those things, maybe your personal development path isn’t quite on track. Instead, focus your personal development efforts on things that will cause real world effects.


• Do You Love to Read?
  Loving to read is great, but dangerous.
  
  It’s dangerous because it takes you to another world. When you’re reading your imagination sparks and you are inspired by great possibilities. The world in your head is fantastic!
  
  ...then you go back to the real world.
  
  With your personal development, spend maximum 25% of your time reading, learning, and researching. The other 75% (or more) should be spent taking action.
  
  Let’s be honest, with most things we already know what we need to do, or at least where to start. Wanna be fit? Start with jogging before work and stop eating fast food. Wanna make friends? Start by joining a club or organization. Wanna be productive? Close your email.
  
  For something we just don’t know how to do, finding that information is simple – Google it.
  New information can inspire and motivate, but more often it can derail. So, maximum 25% reading and minimum 75% doing.

So Put Yourself Out There
Testing the quality of your personal development efforts can be one of the most powerful things that you can do today.

Making mistakes can be frustrating (especially when it comes to something personal), but identifying those mistakes allows us to improve. Most progress starts by noticing a mistake and deciding to do something differently in the future.

The worst personal development mistake didn’t make the list. The worst mistake is ignoring or refusing to do anything about failures. It’s turning a blind eye to potential learning opportunities. When that happens, people are doomed to continue running on that personal development hamster wheel.

I didn’t include it, because folks in that situation will always be stuck. On the other hand, if you’re passionately pursuing improvement and have an open mind to change, you’re almost guaranteed to succeed.

So go out there and become great.

Written on 8/9/2011 Joey Weber. Joey teaches people how to get paid to improve themselves (that sexy intersection of personal development and online business) over at www.FindYourDamnPurpose.com. If that sounds interesting, check it out by >>Clicking Here Now<<.

Photo Credit: m.gifford

5 Steps to The Finish Line

From the DLM Blog:

How to Turn Your Dream Into a Plan In Five Simple Steps

Posted: 20 May 2011 05:47 AM PDT

I’m sure you have plenty of dreams for your life. They might bubble away at the back of your mind. They might loom in your thoughts all day. They might even keep you awake at night.

Dreams can be powerful, encouraging and even a bit scary. A dream alone, though, isn’t going to get you far.

What you need is a plan.

And if that sounds too boring, think of it this way: if you want to actually have that dream, a plan is the map that gets you there.

Here are five steps for turning that vague dream into a concrete plan:

Step #1: Write Down Your Dream
How many of your dreams have you actually written down?

Perhaps the idea of committing your dreams to writing is a little frightening. Don’t resist doing it. The act of putting something into words on paper (or in a computer document) suggests that you’re committing to it – and this can be very powerful in helping you eventually achieve that dream.

Even better, when you write something down, you’re forced to think it through. That vague dream of “have lots of money” has to become something firmer – perhaps “make $100,000/year” or “have $200,000 in the bank”.

Step #2: Brainstorm Some Possibilities
Whatever your dream, there’s more than one way to reach it. For instance, if you want to make lots of money, you could:

• Change careers to something more lucrative
  
• Work harder in your current job to get a promotion
  
• Go back to college and study for a degree
  
• Start up your own business as an entrepreneur
  
• Save up money and put it into a high-interest account
  
• Marry someone rich
  
• Buy a winning lottery ticket
  

There are lots of possibilities (and I hope you can see that some of those ones are a bit more realistic than others!) When you’re brainstorming, include all the ideas that come to mind – even ones which seem silly or impractical. You might find that a “stupid” idea leads you on to a really good one.

Step #3: Pick One Clear Goal
Once you’ve figured out some possibilities, come up with one clear goal. You might decide, for instance, that your goal is to change to a particular career which will give you a $80,000/year paycheck.

Look for a goal which is perhaps challenging, but achievable. There’s no point in picking a goal which you’re convinced you can’t really manage – that’s just going to put you back in the world of dreams, where you constantly think about a better future without taking any action towards getting there.

Step #4: Give Yourself a Deadline
It’s much easier to hit your goals when you’re working towards a deadline.

Again, you want to be realistic here – but don’t be afraid to challenge yourself a little. If you’ve got a really big goal, you might want to look two – five years ahead. With smaller goals, you can probably achieve them within a year.

With the example of changing career, you might decide that three years is a realistic timeframe. It’s often helpful to tie your deadline to a particular event – perhaps your 40^th birthday or Christmas 2014.

Step #5: Write Down the Steps to Get You There
And now we’re onto the plan itself. This is where you really get into the nitty-gritty and start turning that dream into something real.

With big goals, it’s often helpful to work backwards. So:

• What are the job requirements of that new career?
  
• How can you achieve them (e.g. take night classes)?
  
• Are there any pre-requisites for that (e.g. you need some money to pay for the classes)?
  
• How can you do that?
  

You should be able to get to a clear step which lets you move forwards from where you are, such as “save $20/week for six months”.

If you have any steps which you don’t know how to complete, try breaking them down further. Figure out exactly what you need to do to achieve your dream – and you’ve got a plan which really can change your life.

So – what’s your dream? And what’s the first step on your plan? Let us know in the comments.

Written on 5/20/2011 by Ali Luke. Ali writes a blog, Aliventures, about leading a productive and purposeful life (get the RSS feed here). As well as blogging, she writes fiction, and is studying for an MA in Creative Writing.

Photo Credit: Drew Coffman

New Habits

Lot's of new things are coming.

Two months until a new year.

One day until election day in the United States.

Sometimes others determine when something new will start.

But usually, it's up to us as individuals to pick the date.

Check this advice out from the DLM Blog:

6 Steps To Getting Started With Something Totally New

Posted: 15 Oct 2010 03:56 PM PDT

Have you ever wanted to do something different but stopped yourself because you knew nothing about it and had no idea how to move forward? Of course! We all have.

Many people have dreams and aspirations to fulfill, but they are intimidated by their lack of knowledge. Because of that, they halt in their tracks and stick to the things they do know. Many of my clients and readers often approach me saying they would like to pursue a certain passion, such as being a writer, starting a business, becoming a chef, creating a clothing line, and so on, but they aren't doing it because they don't know what to do. That's a pity because it doesn't have to be that way. It's a matter of taking the right steps and actions to get started.

In this article, I'll share 6 things you can consider if you'd like to tackle something new but aren't sure how to get moving.

1. It doesn't matter if you know nothing
   This isn't a specific action but a belief to be addressed. It doesn't matter if you know something or nothing. If you have a goal, you set it and you go out there and get it. As simple as that. Knowing nothing should never be a reason for not pursuing a goal, unless you don't even want the goal to begin with. After all, all of us once started from a position of knowing nothing. Think when we were born and we were babies. None of us knew anything then. It was growing up that we acquired the skills and knowledge.
   
   2 years ago I wanted to pursue my passion to help others grow. At that time, I didn't know anything about the personal development industry. I didn't know anything about how to create a popular blog, or what life coaching is about, or what it takes to be a good trainer or speaker. Yet, it didn't stop me from pursuing my passion and creating a 11,000 subscriber blog today. It didn't stop me from coaching hundreds of smart, talented clients to success or speaking to thousands in workshops and seminars. Knowing nothing doesn't mean you don't do it. It simply means that you just need to learn it first.


2. Read up about the topic
   I did a lot of reading when I first started out in '08. I read Problogger and Entrepreneur's Journey on how to create a popular blog. I read Copyblogger to learn more about writing good content and articles. I also laid my hands on the best selling personal development books to learn more about the topic. I did this intensively for a couple of weeks, which equipped me with a whole wealth of knowledge on how to get started.
   
   I had a participant in a workshop tell me that he wants to be a better networker, but he doesn't know how to get more information on how to. That shouldn't be the case! There are so many books and websites out there today that you can easily read up about just anything you want to. Some places to start with - Google, Scribd (some great ebooks are listed here), blogs, your local library, workshops and seminars.


3. Create a plan to start off
   After I did the research, I created a plan on how I was going to move forward. My end goal to create a top quality personal development blog, with important resources to help people around the world achieve their highest potential and live their best lives. I had a 5, 3, 1 year outline, and a rough 6 month plan on what I was going to do and the milestones to achieve. My personal 5-step goal achievement framework, ESPER, was critical in bringing my goal to life.
   
   I found from experience that you should just plan whatever is necessary to move forward. The objective of a plan is to empower you, not to hold you back. Some people let themselves be paralyzed by the whole planning process. They keep planning, and tweaking, and planning, to the point where they never take action at all. That shouldn't be the case! Just plan to the extent where you're comfortable, then get started.


4. Study people who have already made it
   There are so many people around the world that there's bound to be someone who's already doing what you want to do. Look out there and identify the people who have already succeeded in this goal. Then, learn from them. Study what they are doing and how they are doing it. Because they've been doing this for longer than you have, there will be something valuable to learn from each and every one of them.
   
   When I first started out I spent a lot of time studying the bigger blogs, understanding . Even today I continue to do so for both the smaller and bigger blogs, since there's always something to learn from everyone. Everyone has incredible ideas to share; it's a matter of whether you're able to learn from them.


5. Consult people who have achieved the goal
   If possible, connect with the people in #4. With the internet, it's easy to reach out to such people. Drop them a friendly email to say hi and to express your intentions. If they don't reply, that's okay; if they do, then that's terrific. As a matter of practicality, A-list folks are usually busy and unavailable, so try the B-list or C-list folks, who are very knowledgeable and more approachable. (By A-list, I refer to the best people in their respective fields.) A great way is to arrange for a lunch meet-up (if they live in the same country as you), get to know them better, then treat them to lunch as a thank you. Some of them have services you can sign up for, which is a sure way to get to them. Of course, only engage their services if you find value in them, and not just to get air time.
   
   For myself, I find that doing steps 2-4 are more than sufficient to get me started (step #6). I see step 5 as a bonus step, but not the determining one, since you shouldn't depend on others to help you (after all, they have their own responsibilities and projects). When I first started, I connected with a few other personal development bloggers, whom I continue to stay in touch today as good friends. They have been very helpful to me, and in return I try to help them out where possible too.


6. Take the first, immediate step
   Read all you want and plan all you want, but if you don't take the step, nothing will ever happen. It's only when you take action that your goal will begin manifesting itself.
   
   Don't worry about getting it right. As long as you do something, you're making more progress than doing nothing. Even if you do it "wrongly", you still get to learn from the experience, so it's still a gain. For the goal you want to achieve, think about what's the immediate thing you can do that will move yourself forward. Do it. Then, repeat the process. If you keep doing this, you're going to be closer to the goal than before. It's a matter of time before you're living and breathing it. I know, because that's what happened to me. Through consistently taking steps every day, today I'm proud of what I've created - my blog, my highly supportive readers, my coaching and training business, with many more great things to come in the future.

How about you?
Which tips can you use to get started? Do you have any tips of your own on getting started on a new goal? Feel free to share in the comments area.

Written on 10/15/2010 by Celestine Chua. Celestine writes at The Personal Excellence Blog, where she shares her best advice on how to achieve personal excellence and live your best life. Get her RSS feed directly and add her on Twitter @celestinechua. If you like this article, you will enjoy one of her top articles: 101 Things To Do Before You Die.

Photo Credit: John_Marshall

9 Tips

because we don't always need 10 tips..?!?!

from the DLM blog:

9 Proven Ways To Charge Up Your Motivation

Posted: 13 May 2010 06:47 AM PDT

Ever felt unmotivated and simply not in the mood to do anything?

Yeah, me too. Even though I'm always motivated and all ready to take action on my goals, I have times when I feel disconnected with my inner muse. No matter whether you are Seth Godin or Robert Kiyosaki, all of us have our own down times where we don't feel like doing anything. It happens. Our productivity plummets to an all-time personal low as we drag our feet around on things we should be doing. It can be frustrating.

When left unchecked, this lack of motivation can get out of hand. Rather than let your productivity yo-yo based on your mood, you should learn to get in control of the situation and counteract with self-motivation strategies. Below are my 9 strategies to deal with situations of low motivation, and they have been proven to work wonders for myself, my readers and my clients.

1. Design your vision
   One of the biggest reasons why we are not motivated is because we are not connected with our vision. Specifically, the vision of what we are trying to achieve. What are you working so hard for every day? What do you want to get out of this? What is your dream outcome? What are your end goals? What will excite and spur you to move forward?
   
   While I'm busy writing and growing my blog, The Personal Excellence Blog, every day, I never lose sight of my end vision. My vision is to have a reader base of millions, travel around the world to speak to people, launch my books and touch the lives of people everywhere. I may not be there yet, but I know I'll reach there as long as I keep working hard. For example, after 1.5 years, The Personal Excellence Blog is now read by over 100,000 readers a month and I'm an established personal excellence coach and speaker in my country (Singapore). Even just typing about this now is making me feel very inspired by what's ahead. With a big vision, it spurs me to create endlessly, rather than settle for status quo.


2. Get clear on the 'WHY'
   Lack of motivation can come from losing sight of the "WHY" - why we do the things we do. We are so busy with work and managing different areas of our life that every day turns into a routine of activities. It becomes a race to get as much done, without consciously evaluating why we are doing all these things.
   
   Why do you live? Why do you do the things you do? Why do you slough away at work? What is it for? What do you want to get out of it? These are all important questions to ask ourselves, and important questions to have answers to. If you don't have the answers, perhaps it's time to seek them out.
   
   Discovering my life purpose in 2006 has given me endless drive in life. I discovered my passion in helping others to achieve excellence and live their best life. This realization has led me to make bold life decisions, such as quitting my regular, well paying job 2 years ago to pursue my passion in personal development. Since then, I have started The Personal Excellence Blog, coached hundreds to achieve excellence in their lives and started The School of Personal Excellence (my training school). This "WHY" drives me every day to reach greater heights and accomplish more.


3. Have deadlines
   Your goals should come with deadlines so that you will be spurred into action. After all, by Parkinson's Law, work takes as long as the amount of time we give to it. Not setting a date can cause us to slack off and dwindle on the task. If we set deadlines, we will be triggered to get things done by that date. Specifically when do you want to achieve this? What is your cut-off date? Subsequently, set the deadlines for your weekly and daily tasks too.
   
   Some of my clients told me they don't want to set deadlines as they don't want to stress themselves into achieving the goals. That's a cop-out. Stress from deadlines is only because you attach yourself to the outcome. The deadlines for your goals are meant to be reference points so you can achieve them. You should strive to achieve them, but not beat yourself to a pulp if you don't achieve it. Commit to your deadlines, but don't attach yourself to them.


4. Take a rest
   Sometimes when we feel unmotivated, it's cue for a rest. Just like a car with no fuel needs to be refueled, if we run out of energy, we need rest. I was in a slump before and it took me a couple of months to realize it was because I wasn't resting at all. I was just working day-after-day and my mind and soul rebelled by taking a hiatus. I couldn't get new ideas for my writing and some items on my task list became chores rather than enjoyments.
   
   So, stop doing whatever you are doing and take a breather. What are some of your hobbies? Spend some time doing them. Get away from your computer too. Engage yourself in things that interest you. Go take a walk in the park, hang out with friends, listen to music, rest, watch a movie, etc. Simply relax. It'll give you renewed focus and energy.


5. Do things you love
   Sometimes, lack of motivation is a sign from our subconscious that we're not doing things we love. Do you spend a good portion of your time doing things you don't like? This applies to anything, from hanging out with people you don't like, or doing work you are passionless towards.
   
   You don't need to do things you don't like to do. If you feel dead towards something, then stop doing it. There's no point doing things you don't love. Life is too short to be spending it that way. Create an action plan to get out of things you don't like and move towards things you love. As long as you keep yourself stuck with things you feel dead towards, you will forever be held back by them.
   
   For example, after working 2 years at my last job, I reached a state where I completely dreaded work. I was working in brand management and skincare, which was very different from my passion to help others grow. I loved weekends and hated Mondays. I would be hauling myself out of bed and dreading my feet to work during weekdays. Finally, I told myself - this was it. I submitted my resignation letter and left in Sep '08. I never looked back ever since.


6. Soak yourself in motivational materials
   Surround yourself in inspirational materials, such as self help books, podcasts, inspirational stories of people, inspirational speeches, motivational quotes and personal development blogs like Dumb Little Man, Zenhabits, Lifehack and Seth Godin's blog. Every morning, I set aside some time to read personal development blogs as well as people who inspire me. In my room, I have motivational quotes plastered on my noticeboard, and I have my vision board of my biggest dreams and goals in life. Just looking at them is a simple reminder why I do the things I do (tip #2).
   
   Here are some inspirational materials you can start off with:
   
   * The Way to Happiness
   * Steve Job's famous Standford Commencement Speech
   * Randy Pausch's Last Lecture
   * Philosopher's Notes is a great podcast resource - it condenses the wisdom of self help books into short podcasts
   * 101 Inspiring Quotes of All Time (free ebook with over 300+ quotes - Most Inspiring Quotes of All Time)


7. Surround yourself with competition
   One of the best ways to motivate yourself into action is through competition. When you are in lone man's island, it's easy to descend into a mode of stagnancy. However, when in the face of competition, you will push yourself to do better and better. Look at your goals, and see how you can spice things up with competition. Trying to lose weight? Get friends with similar goals to join in and see who can reach the goal the fastest. Want to grow your business? Benchmark yourself with some of the top people in the industry.


8. Hang out with motivated people
   As Jim Rohn says, you are the average of the 5 people you spend the most time with. Do you notice that when you are around positive people, you become more positive afterward, even when you are by yourself? Similarly, when you hang around motivated people, their vibes will rub off you naturally too. It's kind of like diffusion. You will get motivated and be triggered to take action.
   
   When I'm around higher consciousness people, I consequently get more ideas and feel more stirred than usual to act on my goals. This is why I make it a point to surround myself with positive friends. Even my browser favorites are filled up with blogs and writings of positive people. Reading them almost always give me added inspiration.


9. Remind yourself of things you are grateful for
   What are the things you are grateful for in your life? Your family? Your friends? Your health? Your life? What are the things that make you happy to be alive and motivate you to live? There are so many things I'm grateful for that the list is endless. I love being alive. I love living my passion, exercising, nightfall, the morning air, sunrises, my friends, my room, my elmo (a birthday gift when I was 15), living a vegan lifestyle, and many, many more. Being aware of these inspires me live life to the fullest.
   
   List down all the things that you feel grateful for in a document somewhere. Feel the gratitude and love for those things that you have. Chances are, there is at least someone in this world who wants this but is unable to get it. Whenever you feel unmotivated, look at this list. It'll remind you of things worth living for.

Written on 5/13/2010 by Celestine Chua. Celestine writes at The Personal Excellence Blog, where she shares her best advice on how to achieve personal excellence and live your best life. Get her RSS feed here and add her on Twitter @celestinechua.

Photo Credit: *Zara

I'll do it later

ever said those words?

Are you saying them more and more?

Then read this now from the DLM Blog:

Doing Battle With Procrastination? Here's How to Win – For Good

Posted: 05 Apr 2010 11:32 AM PDT

Sometimes I get emails from Dumb Little Man's readers – and it's always lovely to receive these! One problem that people often mention is procrastination. They know that this bad habit is holding them back, but they're not sure how to beat it.

All you procrastinators out there – even those of you who told me not to write about this because you'd no longer have an excuse! – listen up. Here's my four-step battle plan for beating procrastination right into the ground:

• Recognize the Enemy
  
• Get out the Big Guns
  
• Protect Your Flank
  
• Never Retreat!

1. Recognize the Enemy
   You're going to have a hard time beating procrastination if you don't recognize your enemy. Procrastination is a cunning creature and can sidle onto the daily battlefield in various guises:
   
   • Distractions (like web surfing)
     
   • "Urgent" tasks (emails / phone calls)
     
   • "I'll just..." tasks (tidy the desk, make a coffee, pop to the store...)
     
   Sometimes, you know you're faced with the enemy. You've just spent the last half-hour Twittering and looking at amusing pictures of cats online; procrastination's got you by the neck. Other times, procrastination wears the guise of productivity. Surely, getting your inbox cleared out is important? Well, maybe it is but are you just using that as an excuse not to get on with your really important work?
   
   Procrastination often wins by making small, incremental gains. Those five minutes of reading the newspaper turn into twenty. That coffee before making a start on work turns into a half-hour natter with your colleague.
   
   Recognize the enemy – and that's half the battle won.


2. Get Out the Big Guns
   If you're going to beat procrastination – especially if you've done battle and retreated wounded in the past – then you need the big guns.
   
   My favorite way to blast procrastination right back into oblivion is what I call the just make a start method. When that cloud of procrastination hovers over a task, the best way to banish it is to dive right in. Get your hands dirty. Don't stop to think too much. Just open up that Word document, find that file, or pick up that phone. Taking action is the fastest possible way to send procrastination running.
   
   Some of the other big guns that will obliterate procrastination are:
   
   • Firm Deadlines (tell your boss you'll have the report on his desk by Friday)
     
   • Music (something with a strong, energetic beat – I like thrash metal...)
     
   • "Chunking" Down (write a step by step plan when you're feeling overwhelmed by a project)
3. Protect Your Flank
   There's no point tackling procrastination head-on if you're not protecting your flank. Don't leave yourself open to attack. People do this all the time by working so much that they burn out, or by forgetting the physical aspect of procrastination.
   
   You need what the army calls R&R – rest and relaxation – if you're going to perform well. Trying to work long days, or working every weekend, is going to leave you wide open to procrastination's lure: when you're tired or stressed, it's hard to stay motivated. Learn to leave work at work.
   
   And, like any soldier, you need to stay fit. Getting regular exercise – just half an hour's brisk walking each day – is enough to really improve your focus. Stay well hydrated, and eat sensibly. You might have laughed in the face of procrastination in the morning, but huge lunch and a couple of beers aren't going to leave you in good shape for the afternoon.


4. Never Retreat!
   Finally, recognize that there will be times when procrastination gets the better of you. You'll have days when you don't accomplish any of the tasks on your to-do lists. You'll lose whole afternoons to web comics and Facebook. You'll spend whole weekends watching DVDs, even when you planned to finally give the house a spring-clean.
   
   Don't let one lost skirmish turn into surrendering the war. You're always stronger than procrastination, and you can bounce back. The more often you win, the easier it'll be. Never retreat – never give up! Pick yourself off the ground, and start the battle again.

Are you winning the war on procrastination? What are your tips from the trenches?

Written on 4/05/2010 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: somethingmarissa

Celebrate

A few years ago, the company I worked for set little goals and we achieved them more regularly than now.

One of the reasons why might be the fact that we received framed certificates each month, something to hang on our walls that we saw everyday.

Check this out from the DLM blog:

Do you Track Your Achievements?

Posted: 01 Mar 2010 06:42 AM PST

What did you achieve last year? What progress did you make towards your goals?

Those are questions that, a few years ago, I’d have had trouble answering. Perhaps I could point to some money saved up, or to the next step of a qualification earned, but it was hard to see whether I’d really made much progress. Often, I’d feel bad that I hadn’t achieved more – even when I’d actually done quite a lot.

If you don’t already have some way of tracking your achievements, I’d urge you to adopt this as a habit. I’ll take you through the way I do it, and explain why it’s important.

• Step 1: Get a Notebook
  Buy yourself a really nice notebook; don’t feel bad about spending a bit more money than you normally would. If you have something beautiful to record your achievements in, it’ll mean more to you than a scrappy $1.00 pad. Plus, you’ll want to keep this for years to come!


• Step 2: Write Your Goals (optional)
  It’s up to you whether you want to combine your record of achievements with your goals. I find that this is useful, so long as I don’t get hung up on making sure that what I achieve is an exact match to what I hoped for!
  
  On the first page of your notebook, write down “2010: Goals” and list no more than three or four key goals for the year. Make them specific (e.g. “Lose 50lbs”, “Get three articles published”, etc.).


• Step 3: Write Your Achievements, Monthly
  A month is a good length of time to look at what you’ve achieved: it’s long enough to have accomplished something meaningful, but not so long that you’ve forgotten everything you’ve done!
  
  Sit down somewhere quiet, at the end of each month, for just five or ten minutes. Write down in bullet points anything that you feel qualifies as an achievement. You might like to record:
  
  
  
  • Anything you’ve tried for the first time (skiing was on my list last year!)
  
  
  • Any large projects you’ve completed
  
  
  • Progress in a particular area – eg. steps taken towards your business
    
  It’s useful to think about your work life, your personal life, and your family life. Hopefully, you’ll find that writing down your achievements puts you in a positive frame of mind – you’ll be able to see what you’ve accomplished, and even in slow months, you’ll be surprised what you can find to celebrate.


• Step 4: Celebrate Your Achievements
  When you’ve accomplished something big – perhaps a milestone on your way towards a goal – take time to celebrate! That might mean going for a meal out, opening a nice bottle of wine, buying a new book or DVD that you wanted, or simply giving yourself some guilt-free time to relax.
  
  The act of recording and celebrating what you’ve achieved will encourage you towards further growth. Rather than dwelling on things which went wrong or didn’t work out the way you hoped, keep your focus on the areas where you’re developing and learning.


• Step 5: Review the Year
  When you come to the end of a year, look back over your achievements. It’s almost certain that you’ll see some great patterns across those twelve months. Perhaps your first try at public speaking in January led to your first competition speech in June and your first win in September. Or maybe your first piano lesson in February saw you pass an exam in October.

In the day to day of life, it’s so easy to get discouraged and lose sight of the big picture. Taking some time to look over what you’ve achieved is a great reminder of how everything starts with a small step.

What have you achieved over the past 12 months? What are you hoping to achieve over the next 12?

Written on 3/1/2010 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: lululemon athletica

Are You Movin & Shakin?

I've had some on going conversations with a couple of good friends about a distinct difference between us and others that we know.

And I've tried to come up with some common traits, but I find contradictions in the standard labels we often use.

There are certain people who simply do not take responsibility for themselves. Instead they try and "work the system".

The system might be government hand outs, welfare, unemployment, medicaid/medicare, etc.

The system might be homeless shelters, rescue missions, soup kitchens, etc.

The system might be a church or ministry but instead of giving, all you do is take.

The system may be disguised as a job where you put in your time, but you don't put in your real effort and heart.

These people do not understand that the world is not there to serve them, we are to serve the world.

Yet when I see people who are working the system simply for what they can get without giving back, it is irritating.

Most of the systems I mentioned are in place to help people temporarily until they get back on track are becoming "lifestyle systems".

Each one of us has so much potential, even those that have accomplished a lot, have tremendous potential for even more.

But all around me, I often see wasted lives, people who drink too much, party too much, spend too much, work too little, look for work too little, etc.

You need to stop where you are now and...

Stop the destructive behaviors now.

Stop playing Farmville and MafiaWars on Facebook for hours on end.

Stop watching hours and hours of stupid tv every day or night.

Start thinking better of yourself.

Start giving of yourself. Not just money but time too.

Become a Mover and Shaker in your world.

This is not limited to any particular political persuasion. I know Conservatives, Liberals, Democrats, Republicans and everything in between who are Movin & Shakin.

I know Atheists, Catholics, Baptists, Lutherans, Pentecostals, and others that are Movin' & Shakin'.

Pessimists, Optimists, Rich, Poor, it does not matter. I've seen it all, from all walks of life.

It's not easy. There are times when I feel lazy, so I may take a break. It could be an hour, or a day. But if you really love what you do, you want to continue your life mission.

Perhaps that is what this is about, a life mission. It might change as the years go by. Mine has.

But no matter what I did with my life, I have been driven toward a goal bigger than my next meal, bigger than just my selfish wants.

Will you join with me and start Movin' and Shakin?

The world needs us, our neighbors need us, our families need us.

Simplify

Now that the hustle and bustle of Christmas has passed, it's time to look forward to a few changes for the new year....

First, you can contact my wife, The Simplified Life Coach at her site: http://www.thesimplifiedlifecoach.com

And you can follow these steps from the DLM Blog:

How to Cut Down Your Commitments

Posted: 16 Dec 2009 06:57 AM PST

Do you feel constantly busy – and in demand? Are you the one person at work who everyone seems to ask when they need a favor? Do you have a host of family obligations – driving your kids all over town, helping your mom spring clean her house, cooking dinner for your household? And are you involved in voluntary groups who demand your time and attention?

None of these things are bad in themselves – but they can all add up to a frantic and hectic life where you never get time to enjoy each activity before you rush on to the next. They can sap your energy, and prevent you from going after your own goals.

If you need to cut down on your commitments, here’s how:

• Make a List
  I’m a big fan of lists – they help you to organize your thoughts and to get some clarity. We often lead complicated lives, with a lot of different commitments in different areas, some of which are temporary, some ongoing.


• Take ten minutes to jot down a list of all the major commitments which you have in different areas of your life.
  Make a note of any which are only for a definite fixed time period (e.g. chairing a committee).

Circle any commitments which make you feel tired, dispirited, anxious, or put upon. Ask yourself if I could drop some of these commitments, which would I give up? You might have a whole host of reasons why you simply can’t give up something (despite hating it). The truth is, though, that it’s always possible to quit. You aren’t really that indispensable.

(After all, sorry to have to say this, but if you died suddenly ... people would carry on without you!)

So how do you get out of the things which you’re already committed to? And how do you avoid making the same mistakes with the new commitments that you take on? There are three ways, from least to most drastic:



• Set a time limit
  
• Renegotiate
  
• Just quit!
  
If you’ve got a number of commitments which have no end in sight, can you set a limit on them? For example, if you’re the moderator of an online forum, you could explain that you’ll only do it for another six months, then you’ll stop.

In general, it’s a good idea to give an indication of how long you are prepared to do something for when you first take it on – especially if you aren’t sure how much you’ll enjoy it. If you agree to be secretary for the local gardening club, make it clear that you’ll only be doing it for a year. That sets people’s expectations from the start – and you can always agree to carry on if you do find that you love it.


• Renegotiate
  If you’ve taken on something which you don’t really have the time or energy for, can you renegotiate? That might mean that you talk to your partner and explain that you’d like her/him to take on more responsibility for the children. It could mean agreeing with your brother that he’ll take your mom and dad out every other weekend, so that you get a break.
  
  When you’re asked to take on something new, you might not have to agree to do the whole thing. For example, as secretary of the gardening club, you might be willing to take minutes and send out agendas, but you might not be prepared to handle publicity.


• Just Quit
  Finally ... it is perfectly possible to simply quit the things that you’re involved with. If something is becoming a big stress or time-consumer in your life, it might be best to simply bite the bullet and say “I quit.” People will almost certainly not be as shocked or upset by this as you might fear! You don’t even need to offer a reason – but if you feel that you do, you can say something like “I simply have too many other things going on in my life, and I’m not able to give this the time that it needs.”
  
  Don’t be afraid to quit something before starting, either! This is the “just say no” principle. Sure, perhaps Mrs Jones thinks you’d be the perfect person to host the block party ... that doesn’t mean that you need to agree.

Are you over-committed? What would you dearly love to give up? Can you quit it? If not, can you renegotiate and do less of it? Or can you at least set a time limit so that you’ve got an escape in sight?

Written on 12/16/2009 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: flik

Money without Guilt

from the DLM Blog:

How to Make Saving as Exciting as Spending

Posted: 18 Aug 2009 05:42 AM PDT

Saving. It’s never going to be the most thrilling word in the world, is it? Perhaps you’d like to start or increase your savings – but you somehow never have quite enough left at the end of the month. Plus, however great it would be to have a lump sum in the bank, the process of getting there is distinctly unsexy.

We’ve all heard of (and probably struggled with) impulse spending; don’t you just wish that there was such a thing as impulse saving? Alas, I doubt that anyone ever has the sudden urge to transfer a wad of cash into their savings account!

So how can you make saving a bit more exciting? How can you work towards getting the same thrill from saving money as you do from spending it?

Have a Goal in Mind
Firstly, I’m definitely more eager to save when there’s something I really want to use the money for. Most recently, this was my postgraduate creative writing course: I knew what it was going to cost, I had about eight months to set the money aside, and I was determined enough to do it.

Your goal could be a fun one or a serious one. Perhaps:

• You’re saving up to take a course that could launch you into the career of your dreams


• You’re saving for a foreign vacation


• You’re saving for a special occasion, like a wedding


• You’re saving for a new car or house


• You’re saving so that you have an emergency fund and peace of mind (this goal could actually bring you a lot more day-to-day happiness than the others)

Talk to other people about your goal, or write it down: this helps to make it real and concrete in your mind. Try imagining how you’ll feel when you’ve accomplished that goal – probably happy, proud of yourself, and maybe even relieved.

Set a Total and Track Your Progress
As well as having a clear goal for your savings in mind, give yourself a target to aim for – an actual figure in dollars (or whatever your currency is). Sometimes, this will arise naturally from your goal: you’ll know how much the course or holiday you want is. Other times, you might have to think a bit, perhaps establishing an appropriate amount for your emergency fund.

If you don’t really have an idea how much you want to save, start with a target of $1,000: challenging, but not unrealistic.

Now, you can track your progress towards your total amount. Each time you put a deposit into your savings account, enjoy that great feeling of getting a bit closer to your goal.

You might even want to make a visual tracker for yourself, like one of those fund-raising thermometers that charities and churches use. You could use something as simple as a piece of card divided into squares, with each square representing, say, $50 or $100. Keep the bit of card in your daily planner, on the fridge or even in your wallet – somewhere you’ll see it daily. This can really help to keep you motivated when you’re tempted to spend.

Give Yourself Mini-Challenges – And Rewards
If you’ve got a big target, like saving for the cost of a course, or for the deposit on a new home, it might seem like it’s taking forever to reach your goal. To stay motivated and disciplined along the way, give yourself mini-challenges.

These could just be specific targets (perhaps at $200 or $500 intervals). Alternatively, you could be more creative in challenging yourself:

• Take a packed lunch to work every day for two weeks, and save the money you’d otherwise have spent on buying lunch out


• Keep a spending log for a month and see if there are any big items there which you can cut down on


• Find a way to earn an extra $200 this month (perhaps spending a few evenings childminding, or a couple of Saturdays doing odd jobs)


• Sell things you no longer use (like DVDs, books, gadgets) and put the money into your savings account

I’m sure you can think of lots more! Try to make it a bit fun – turn saving into a game. And when you successfully accomplish one of your challenges, give yourself a reward. (Make it something that costs nothing or next to nothing, though!)

Are you saving for anything? Do you have a target that you’re trying to reach? How do you stay motivated along the way?

Written on 8/18/2009 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: voobie

Word of the Day...

is Balance. From the DLM Blog:

13 Things You Must Balance in Your Life!

Posted: 21 Feb 2009 04:35 PM PST

It’s not easy to stay balanced. In fact, we live in a very cluttered and unbalanced world and I'd contend that many of us can't even identify the areas of our life that need attention (let alone balance them!).

Admittedly, it's very easy to get into this state. A typical person goes through a very similar routine every day: wake up, eat, work, eat, sleep...do over. If you don't work in a little time to at least think about the varying aspects of your life, it's incredibly simple to lose balance.

Give these 13 points a little consideration. When was the last time you made a conscious effort to improve in these areas?

• Your Spending
  Spending too much? Most Americans do. Take a good look at your monthly outflow of cash and trim where you can. But, don’t be so cheap that you're cutting out birthday gifts or being rude at occasions. Remember, we are not taking our money with us!


• Your Time
  This is not always easy and even the best of us work too much and don’t stop and smell the roses. Unfortunately your time is a limited resource. Seek balance!
  


• Your Diet
  No breakfast and a big dinner - that’s the way a lot of people eat and the opposite is usually a lot better for you! Big Breakfast and small dinner is a better balance for most of us.
  


• Your Checkbook
  Little deliberate actions really add up (pardon the pun) when it comes to mastering your personal finances. Does your checkbook match what the bank says?
  


• Your Children
  Making certain that your children are balanced people and that they give and take, study and enjoy, watch TV and read.
  


• Your Meals
  Too many carbs and not enough healthy fats, or too much fat and not enough carbs. There is really nothing wrong with a little junk food once in a while, but there is definitely something wrong with junk food all the time.
  


• Your Net Worth
  This is a balance sheet: Your assets – Liabilities = Net Worth
  The formula always balances out, but it should be calculated from time to time. Ideally, you'd see an increase in your net worth each year.
  


• Your Relationships
  Do your friends drain you? Do you drain them? Good friendships are balanced, thought provoking, informative, enjoyable and a little challenging.
  


• The Tires on your Car!
  Too many people miss this one! It can save you thousands in gasoline over the course of your life and make you a little safer too.
  


• Your Goals
  They shouldn’t be too hard and impossible, but yet challenging enough to excite and stretch you.
  


• Education and Action
  Too much action without education can lead to major mistakes and pitfalls. Not enough action on things we learn can be lost education. You either use it, or lose it, when it comes to education.
  


• Positives and Negatives
  Too much positive feedback can kill us, we need some negative feedback too (constructive analysis/criticism). If you are not getting negative feedback, ask more people to critique your work.
  


• Your Portfolio
  A balance between stocks and bonds, and then rebalancing as you age is a must to meeting your life long financial goals.

As a veteran financial planner, reader and someone who cares about people very deeply. I have noticed the real value of balance over and over again, especially when it comes to your finances and investing. In the world of investing, there are complicated formulas that prove being balanced is the way to go, and yet you go through this list and you realize that it is really just common sense.

Written on 2/21/2009 by Bob O'Brien. Bob has been a financial advisor for 14 years and is a Sr. Instructor at Mywealth.com.

Photo Credit: NCinDC

VideoTime: No More Excuses

When I saw this over the weekend, I knew that I have no excuses for not living up to my potential. See if you agree:

Moving Forward

At church recently we did a study that prompted me to take action on some things I'd been contemplating.

Seth Godin wrote about this recently:

If you could meet one person...

Think about this for a moment. If a trusted friend could arrange a meeting between you and anyone of your choosing, who would you choose?

Not for entertainment or curiosity or bragging rights, but to help your business. Who could help? Someone who could actually aid your marketing or development...

Years ago, I want to the AOL partner's conference. I'm no runner (unless someone is chasing me) yet I signed up for the early morning run because I knew Steve Case, CEO of AOL, would be running. I ran with him for twenty minutes, almost killed myself. Didn't help. (But I'm glad I met him).

If you're an author, can Jeff Bezos at Amazon help you more than a motivated promotions manager far down the ladder? It's unlikely.

People in charge can rarely help you, because they are rarely (truly) in charge. Billionaires can't help you, either, because they have their defense force fields on full strength during meetings like this. In fact, the person who can help you the most is almost always someone who doesn't appear that powerful on the surface.

Remember, it's not just that they can help you. It's that they want to help you. Famous people qualify in neither category.

So, who is it? Hint, it's not the Wizard of Oz or the Pope or Barack Obama. It's someone not famous, someone who actually makes things happen and someone who actually cares. Think hard... Got it?

Great. Go meet them.

Prepare for 2009

With Christmas just a week away, you may not be able to implement these ideas until December 26th, but now is the time to prepare. From the DLM Blog recently:

Get Prepared to Streamline Your Life

Posted: 04 Dec 2008 06:56 AM PST

Let's face it, most of us have highly hectic lives. We juggle our work life, our home life, our family life, our personal life, etc. It's enough to make you feel like an actual juggler in the circus, however the balls aren't balls - they are blackberrys and iphones.

Before I learned to slow down fast, this was my life.

As a business owner, I've learned about several effective tools needed to run an efficient business. I utilize systems, strategies, and support, to keep my business running smoothly and profitably. And I've seen how if I apply some of these same tools to my personal life, I can streamline it as well.

So whether you have your own business, work for a company, or run a household, if you manage your life like a business, I can guarantee you'll be surprised at the results. Here are some tips taken from my experience that can be valuable for streamlining your life:

1. Keep a calendar
   I'm amazed at how many people don't keep calendars. You know the ones--they're always late for appointments! And when you ask them how they remember anything without a calendar, they say, "Oh, I have a great memory." Whether you use an old fashioned paper calendar you write in, or you use a computer based one like Outlook or Google, or you use a high-tech hand-held piece of equipment, you must calendar your life if you want to keep it streamlined.
   


2. Set goals
   Most of us have goals in all areas of our life. If you don't, you're just drifting through life, accepting whatever comes. With goals, you can measure every choice you make for how you want to spend your time and money against your goals. A streamlined life has room primarily for the activities and acquisitions that help support you in reaching your goals. This doesn't preclude an occasional diversion from the path, doing or buying something just for the fun of it, but don't clutter your life with too many diversions.
   


3. Learn to prioritize
   With so many choices being thrown our way on a daily basis, learning to prioritize is a skill that will keep your life streamlined. When you know your goals, you'll be able to prioritize the choices that move you toward your goals. Say you have a goal to improve your golf game so you sign up for a series of lessons. But on the day you have a lesson scheduled, a buddy calls with a last minute invitation to a football game. You love football almost as much as golf, however, if you have prioritized your goal to improve your golf game, you would choose your golf lessons.
   
   
4. Learn to say no
   Following along with the last scenario, you have to learn to say "no" to some things some times. If your life is full to overflowing, I'm sure a lot of choices come your way. The golf lessons, the football game, and your best friend's backyard BBQ all fall on the same day. In order to streamline your life, you have to master the art of when to say no. Of course, you can say it in a way not to hurt someone's feelings. I coach my clients that when they take responsibility for their choices, the other person will, in most cases, not take it personally.


5. Delegate
   Look around your life and see what you can delegate. You might think if you hire people to take over some chores, how is that streamlining of you have to manage them. Delegating doesn't have to be hiring a house cleaner, gardener, or personal assistant. Start by having family members share tasks. On child is responsible for pet care, another for watering the yard and mowing the grass. Split other tasks with your spouse and you won't find yourself doing more than your share and resenting it.


6. Set up systems
   Setting up systems for household activities would make delegating those chores go smoothly. Some of my coaching clients keep a chart on the refrigerator for family responsibilities that get checked off when done. As in running a business, you also want to set up systems to keep your important papers filed, for bill paying and record keeping, for family health check-ups, and anything else you can think of that is a recurring activity you can create a system for.


7. Clean out your space
   Make this a fun, family event. Put it on the calendar and once a month clean your car. Twice a year, clear out unused items from the garage, the closets, and other areas in the house. Donate your recycled items to a local charity.

If you'd like to get more tips on how to streamline your life, check out Streamlining Your Life: A 5-Point Plan for Uncomplicated Living.

Written on 12/04/2008 by David Bohl. David shares the viral message Slow Down FAST and helps people raise the roof on all facets of their lives without risking implosion. Get some must-haves here.

Photo Credit: notsogood

Make your own Luck

Seth Godin wrote this:

Is effort a myth?

People really want to believe effort is a myth, at least if we consider what we consume in the media:

• politicians and beauty queens who get by on a smile and a wink
• lottery winners who turn a lifetime of lousy jobs into one big payday
• sports stars who are born with skills we could never hope to acquire
• hollywood celebrities with the talent of being in the right place at the right time
• failed CEOs with $40 million buyouts

It really seems (at least if you read popular media) that who you know and whether you get 'picked' are the two keys to success. Luck.

The thing about luck is this: we're already lucky. We're insanely lucky that we weren't born during the black plague or in a country with no freedom. We're lucky that we've got access to highly-leveraged tools and terrific opportunities. If we set that luck aside, though, something interesting shows up.

Delete the outliers--the people who are hit by a bus or win the lottery, the people who luck out in a big way, and we're left with everyone else. And for everyone else, effort is directly related to success. Not all the time, but as much as you would expect. Smarter, harder working, better informed and better liked people do better than other people, most of the time.

Effort takes many forms. Showing up, certainly. Knowing stuff (being smart might be luck of the draw, but knowing stuff is the result of effort). Being kind when it's more fun not to. Paying forward when there's no hope of tangible reward. Doing the right thing. You've heard these things a hundred times before, of course, but I guess it's easier to bet on luck.

If people aren't betting on luck, then why do we make so many dumb choices? Why aren't useful books selling at fifty times the rate they sell now? Why does anyone, ever, watch reality TV shows? Why do people do such dumb stuff with their money?

I think we've been tricked by the veneer of lucky people on the top of the heap. We see the folks who manage to skate by, or who get so much more than we think they deserve, and it's easy to forget that:

a. these guys are the exceptions
and
b. there's nothing you can do about it anyway.

And that's the key to the paradox of effort: While luck may be more appealing than effort, you don't get to choose luck. Effort, on the other hand, is totally available, all the time.

This is a hard sell. Diet books that say, "eat less, exercise more," may work, but they don't sell many copies.

With that forewarning, here's a bootstrapper's/marketer's/entrepreneur's/fast-rising executive's effort diet. Go through the list and decide whether or not it's worth it. Or make up your own diet. Effort is a choice, at least make it on purpose:

1. Delete 120 minutes a day of 'spare time' from your life. This can include TV, reading the newspaper, commuting, wasting time in social networks and meetings. Up to you.

2. Spend the 120 minutes doing this instead:

• Exercise for thirty minutes.
• Read relevant non-fiction (trade magazines, journals, business books, blogs, etc.)
• Send three thank you notes.
• Learn new digital techniques (spreadsheet macros, Firefox shortcuts, productivity tools, graphic design, html coding)
• Volunteer.
• Blog for five minutes about something you learned.
• Give a speech once a month about something you don't currently know a lot about.

3. Spend at least one weekend day doing absolutely nothing but being with people you love.

4. Only spend money, for one year, on things you absolutely need to get by. Save the rest, relentlessly.

If you somehow pulled this off, then six months from now, you would be the fittest, best rested, most intelligent, best funded and motivated person in your office or your field. You would know how to do things other people don't, you'd have a wider network and you'd be more focused.

It's entirely possible that this won't be sufficient, and you will continue to need better luck. But it's a lot more likely you'll get lucky, I bet.