“Set a goal to become a millionaire, but not just because of the money.
Set the goal for learning the disclipline, sacrifice, dedication, and acumen that it will teach you in order to achieve it.
Those lessons are worth much more that the million you will earn while learning them.
Set the kind of goals that will make something of you to achieve them."
Take another step. Get you footing. Build something real.
(Image borrowed from rockstar Megan O'Brien)
Today, I woke up to the death of Steve Jobs.
At the age of 56, he did what most entrepreneurs dream of doing - changing the world for the better.
Even though I didn't know him, I could help but feel saddened and tearful. Part out of respect - and part out of feeling that I'm so far from realizing my own change in the world and making the impact that I want to.
He's was 16 years older than me.
16 years.
When I think about that, and let it sink in, my head spins with the idea that every day must be important - it must matter. I can't spend my time getting caught in the thickness of thin things. One day, my life will be done here on earth, and what will matter are the gifts I've left behind, and the positive, lasting impact I've made on the world.
"Remembering that I'll be dead soon is the most important tool I've ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life,"
"Because almost everything — all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure — these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important."
"Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart."
- Steve Jobs, 2005
Today, I woke up to the death of Steve Jobs.
Today, I woke up with a deeper realization of my own mortality.
I'm always looking to improve my writing skills. Here's a list of 50 free writing resources to help you bring out your inner journal god (or goddess):
Steven’s note: The original post is from a great site called Zen Habits and is edited by Leo Babauta. This is a guest post from Greg Go, co-author of Wise Bread’s new book, 10,001 Ways to Live Large on a Small Budget.
If you’re tired all the time, a change in what you eat (diet) or what you do all day (activity pattern) may be all you need to turn things around 180°.
You won’t be able to do everything on this list all the time — you’d tire yourself out trying to get more energy — but do try them all to see which ones work for you and your schedule. Add a few of these tips to your regular routine. Or mix them up to keep things interesting.
1. Change your socks for refreshment.
It’s an amazing trick. Bring a change of socks to work, and change your socks midway through the day (say, after lunch). You’ll be amazed at how much fresher you’ll feel. This trick is especially handy on days with lots of walking — like during a hike or family outing to the amusement park.
2. Rock out loud.
Whether you work alone or in a room with coworkers, a quick one-song rock out loud session is an effective way to beat back exhaustion.
In a cube farm? Get everyone to sing along! The key is to choose a song that everyone can sing along with. (I like Kokomo.) The energy boosting effect comes from bobbing your head and singing out loud. One song, 3 minutes. That’s a quick boost of adrenaline that lasts for a bit. You’ll be singing to yourself the rest of the never ending project delivery night.
3. Get rid of the stuffy nose.
If allergies have your sinuses blocked, you may be feeling more tired and cranky. An over-the-counter allergy medication should clear up your sinuses (and your mind).
4. Work with your body’s clock.
There is a natural ebb and flow of energy throughout the day. We start off sluggish after waking up, even after a solid 8 hours of sleep. Our energy peaks mid-morning, and it’s natural to want a siesta in the afternoon. We get a second spike of energy in the early evening, followed by our lowest energy point just before bedtime. Once you understand this natural rhythm of energy throughout the day, you can work on the important tasks during your peak hours and avoid early afternoon snoozefests (meetings).
5. Have a piece of chocolate.
Not too much, but if you’re going to have some candy, it might as well be chocolate. We get an endorphin buzz from chocolate (not to mention the energy boost from the slight bit of caffeine chocolate contains). Dark chocolate has more caffeine than milk chocolate.
An afternoon snack of yogurt, berries, and nuts will provide the boost of energy to carry you through the day. Photo by lepiaf.geo / Flickr
6. Have an afternoon power snack.
A small healthy snack that is low in sugar and has protein and/or fiber a couple hours after lunch helps you finish off the day strong. Some suggestions:
7. Hit up the water cooler for inconsequential banter.
A little midday gossip and random banter is a great pick-me-up for your tired mind. It works because it gets your mind on zero-stress thoughts for a while. The mental break for just a few minutes will revitalize you.
Continue reading "55 Ways to Get More Energy Into Your Life" »
I'm a big goal-setter. My junior year of high school, I got sick of being fat, never going on dates, and being cut from the baseball team. So, I wrote down "10 things I want to do" on a piece of paper, made copies, and hung them up everywhere I could - in my bedroom, bathroom, in my locker, in my notebook.
A funny thing happened that year. My life changed.
Within six months of writing those goals, I had lost 50 pounds, make the all-state baseball team, and was dating the homecoming queen.
Over the years, I've developed a pretty sophisticated, yet simple, process for setting my goals and holding myself accountable for them.
First: Get in a state of possibility: I let myself get into a complete state of possibility - with no limits on my imagination. I write down all the things I want to do and accomplish, segmented into different areas of my life: personal growth, relationships, career, health, fun & things. I use a combination of Tony Robbins goal-setting MP3 found in his Personal Power book, and Wayne Dyer's 7 Habits books.
Second: Get clear on the time frame: I then divide the goals into 1 year, 3 year, 5 year, 10 year, and longer time frames. This lets me see the long term view, as well as what I need to do this year to stay on track for the long haul. From there, I pick the 10-12 most important goals that I am absolutely committed to accomplishing this year. I've found that when I get more than a dozen goals, I end up not being able to focus on any of them. (I used to do this quite a bit in my 20's, then feel like I failed when actually I was just trying to do too much to quickly).
Also, another tip is to make sure that you have a good balance in your goals. If all of your goals involve your work (yes, I'm talking to you Mr. Internet start-up guy), or farting around, or God, or money, then you're life is going to get lopsided, out of focus, and something is going to suffer. When I focused totally on work, I found that my personal life and health suffered, which in turn, decreased my effectiveness at work.
Third: Get committed: After I have my list of most significant goals, I write down why I'm absolutely committed to accomplishing each of them this year, and what it will cost me if I don't do it. This helps me truly visualize what I want, how I'll feel when I get it, and the pain I'll experience if I screw off and don't commit myself.
Here's an example of on of my goals and why I'm committed to it:
Fourth: Put it where you'll see it: I'll make a list of my goals and, just like when I was in high-school, I'll place my lists in areas where I know I'll see them on a daily basis. Since I use Outlook for my daily calendaring and task lists, I've set up a daily recurring task where I have all my goals listed.
Fifth: Break it down. I think this is the area where it's the easiest to fall off the wagon. It's not enough to write down your yearly goals and then tuck them away. You have to have a way to measure whether you're moving forward. What I do each Sunday is to take a look at my goals and see what I need to do THIS WEEK in order to move me closer to them.
For instance, another one of my goals is to read 18 books this year. So, I can break that goal down into micro-goals (many people call this "chunking" - referring to breaking a bigger goal into bite-sized chunks). Since I need to read 18 books for the year, this means I need to read 1.5 books a month. For me, this is about two hours a week. So my goal for the week is to read 2 hours. Simple and manageable!
Sixth: The Key - Measure it. How do you know if you're on track if you don't measure your results? Measuring results on a weekly basis is critical to your success because you can immediately see if you start falling behind. By measuring yourself, you'll always know where you stand.
Here's how I do it.
As I mentioned before, each Sunday I'll look at my goals and make a list of what I need to do this week in order to move me closer to them. with 10 main goals, your weekly list could contain 10-20 items. For my "18 books" goal, my weekly tasks are to a) read 2 hours and b) go to Borders and pick up a new book. I'll do this for each goal.
Then on the following Sunday, I'll look back over my list of tasks and give myself a score according to how I did. If I read for 90 minutes and went to Borders, I'll give myself a 75% on that task and a 100% on my second task. The blended accomplishment rate for that task is 88%. I'll continue this process for each set of goals.
At the end of this exercise I'll normally have 10 scores (for my 10 goals) and then I'll blend all ten to get an overall weekly accomplishment score. Note that some weeks you won't have 10 scores. Sometimes there is nothing to do for a particular goal. That is normal and completely cool.
This score should be between 75-85%. If you are always hitting 100% of your goals, then you need bigger goals. If you're at 50-60%, then you need to try harder.
Transfer this score into Excel and build a weekly graph to show how you're doing. Over time, you'll be able to see how you did vs. your goal list. Here is an example of my last year's accomplishment chart:
As you can see, sometimes I just have bad weeks. I screw up and fall short of my goals. Because I'm able to visualize my screw ups, it becomes easier to motivate myself to get back on track. It's better to know you're not on track than to think you might be, but find out later that you're way short of where you thought you'd be.
The Loop. This entire process creates a loop of accountability. You get focused on what you want, then you have a way of knowing if you're moving closer to your goals. I've found that the accountability portion really adds tremendous value. It is the edge over most goal setting programs.
How much time does this take? When I explain my goal system to people, some look at me like I'm a complete nerd. Well, actually they are right. I'm a nerd who likes to get stuff done. :-) I figure that I have one shot in life, so I need to know I'm working towards something. It's just the way I'm wired. Anyway, you can expect to spend 2-4 hours at the beginning of the year to get really clear on what you want. Then, on Sunday, I spend about 15-20 minutes measuring myself and setting my goals for the following week. Once a quarter, I'll write a review of where I am, what I need to change, and gut-check myself to make sure my goals are still valid for me (goals change over time - you need to remain flexible and be ready to change when your hear tells you to).
It just doesn't take that much time to do it right. It's really efficient, and the time you save during the week because you're working on your most important tasks make up for the time in spades.
So, that's it. That's my goal setting system. If you like it, feel free to use it. If you need help understanding something, email me or leave a comment and I'll do what I can to help out.
2009 Goals: Here are my main 2009 goals. Where are yours?
Carnegie Dale: How to Win Friends & Influence People [AUDIOBOOK] [UNABRIDGED]
One of my favorite classic books - now on my iPhone. (*****)
Michael Covel: Trend Following (Updated Edition): How to Make Millions in Up or Down Markets
The concept of catching market momentum in currencies, futures, and equities.
Chip Heath: Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die
This is an addictive, fun, and useful read for anyone who needs to get their point across. In the past, my investor presentations have always been too long. Using the tools in the book, I was able to cut it down in half. (*****)
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