365QOD- Day816

" But how?" - my former belief

Many years ago I sat at the end of the year on a beach in Florida writing out my goals for next year.  One of the goals was how much I was going to make next year.  This happened every year for three years I a row.

Looking back on those the years I made exactly what I wrote down.  Did I do anything special?
I am ashamed to say that I can not remember specifically what I did to earn the extra but I did earn it.

Today I was listening to an audio book in which Brian Tracy described the same technique.  He also said that he did not directly attribute it to anything the person does directly.

He recommended that each day we should write out our ten goals on a new page and ask ourselves what one action we could take towards the most important goal.

Today's question is:
" What ten goals would change your life completely if they came true this year?"

365QOD-Day815

" Be curious" - Ernest Chan

This morning our class discussed a technique for establishing relationships between several inputs and a single output. It was interesting.

Besides bring interesting, it was also somewhat trial and error.  You had to follow the
P-consider practical
G-graph relationships
A-analyze the data
technique.

But more than a single technique, you had to remain open and curious to the underlying relationships.  Without being open you could not find the relationship between variables.

Today's question is:
" How do you stay curious?"

365QOD- Day814

" I am the old dog" - my thought
Today begins the second week of lean six sigma green belt training course.  I am loving every minute of it.

Around year 2000 I was a mid level Engineering Manager in a steel mill.  Six sigma was being introduced in the steel industry and I was asked if I wanted to become a black belt.  I turned it down because I did not expect to be there very long.

Turning down the training was a mistake.  I have regretted that choice twice in my life.  Recently my company offered the training and my team and I decided to take advantage of it.  It is another problem solving tool in our toolbox.

Today's question is:
"Have you ever turned down training and lived to regret it? "

365QOD- Day813

"Can't teach an old dog new tricks " - outdated wisdom

This morning I read the April issue of Men's Health.  In it I found a sorry article about Mark Peterson.

Mark Peterson is a professor at University of Michigan.  His areas of focus are physical medicine and rehabilitation.

What made the story interesting is that even though he had a PhD he is working on a masters in clinical research.

To me this is impressive. Here is a guy who can easily rest in his education but instead he has decided to close a gap.

I believe that in the future Mark's reality will be everyone reality.  We will spend most of our lives learning new tricks. Without these new tricks we will limit ourselves and future opportunities.

Today's question is:
" How do you learn new tricks?"

365QOD- Day812

"Build it, they will remain" - bad networking advice

I have been thinking about network building lately.  There are people that constantly meet new people as a part of their job.

As an example, consider real estate agents.  They tend to specialize in an area of a city and get to meet people looking for a place in that area.  The looking process might expose them to the same people several times.  Enough to potentially bulls a friendship.

So what?

Just because you build a network of good people it does not mean that it is very strong.  If you sell these folks a house you have a temporarily gain but might never turn that into a future gain. 

I believe that the network has to be nurtured once it had been created.  To do this a person would have to periodically maintain contact with the network by carrying enough to call and inquire about people's lives outside of the work relationship.  In my opinion 10 percent of one's time needs to be spent on nurturing.

Today's question is:
"How do you nurture your network? "

365QOD- Day811

" Good habits are hard to form but easy to live with, bad habits are easy to form but hard to live with" - Brian Tracy

I was listening to a marketing CD when this little gem was stayed by Brian.  I immediately saw the wisdom in the statement.

I am a firm believer of having or developing great routines.  These routines eventually become so ingrained that they reach the habit level. 

So I asked myself how does one create a habit?  Well, in my opinion start with a low expectation and design a routine.  Since your expectation is low you give yourself the room to fail. 

Every day presents the opportunity to follow your new routine.  Make sure you monitor whether you follow it or you run the other way.  By placing your focus on the routine and recording the success or failure of it you will be more likely to succeed.  Keep track of how often you fail and work on reducing the failure rate until you have a habit.

Today's question is:
" How do you create a good habit?"

365QOD- Day810

"Accountability buddy" - new idea to me

I recently ran across this label in a couple of places.  This morning while getting rid of some old articles and looking for a source of inspiration for a post I ran into it again.

The Psychology article offered a suggestion by Stephanie Sarkis titled To Do 2.0
" Every morning, a friend and I text each other a list of tasks we need to get done that day.  As e accomplish each task, we text to check in"

I immediately started thinking through my friend Rolodex in my mind as to who can be my accountability text buddy.  Maybe try different people got a week?  Maybe text each other the 1-3-5 daily list I wrote about in an earlier post?

Today's question is:
"Who is your accountability buddy? "

365QOD- Day809

"Most businesses fail because owners work in their business instead of on their business"- Michael Gerber

I was listening to an audio book today and the author if Emyth stated a version of this quote.  I immediately agreed with him.

I have been around many CEOs and many do not have business that they can sell.  They have no systems.  They just show up for work and without them the business lows down or stops/

If you do not have training manuals for each position and training for new people in each role then you are not running a true business.  You are running lean and if any one decides to quit then you will feel immense pain.  The more systems you have the easier it is for you to convince an outsider that you are not needed for day to day operations and the business could be bought if profitable.

Today's question is:
"Do you believe in systems or are you just n business?"

365QOD- Day 808

" Inspiration is useless without perspiration" - Anonymous

I recently spent some time getting rid of old papers  While re-reading some articles I came across an old HBR article  by John Baldoni with this quote. 

I believe that I get inspired by many things that I read.  At times I might even get a piece of paper and start sketching my new derived idea down.

But, as the quote advises, it is useless without the perspiration.  I must be willing to work with and on the idea in order to make something of it.  Spending a little bit of time thinking and sketching is not enough.  The gods require sweat.

Today's question is:
" Are you sweating or are you simply thinking?"

365QOD- Day807

"Put the action step you want taken in the subject line of your email" - Jason Womack

I watched a video today in which Jason purposes this idea.  In my world this advice is worth gold.

I send and get a ton of emails each day and can not effectively answer most of them.  If I get 200 emails and choose to just open and read the emails might take anywhere from one to five minutes.  With 100 you are looking at 100 to 500 minutes.  When you have 200 then you have 200- 1000 minutes per day.  There are only 480 minutes in a working day.

The idea of what action need taking would save a lot of time.  This will be more and more important as more and more people read their email on mobile devices.  It might result in taking more actions in a day.

Today's question is:
" Would having an action listed in the subject line save you time reading?"

365QOD- Day806

" So the Muse( daughter of Zeus and Mnemosyne) whispered in Beethoven's ear. Maybe she hummed a few dah-dah-dah-DUM bars into a million other ears.  But no one else heard her.  Only Beethoven got it." - my paraphrase of War of Art by Steven Pressfield

Many of times I have said that when God gives us an idea he takes out an insurance against us by giving it to many others.  God does not care who executes the idea but that the idea gets executed.

The quote above is another way of saying the same. I love his version.

I spent the day reading this book and thinking about the concept of Resistance.  Maybe we do not hear the sounds because we are resisting.  We have to be open to hearing God's voice and see his fingerprints in our lives.

The resistance leads us to live two lives. As Steven says, " The life that we live, and the unlived life within us.  Between the two stands Resistance"

Todays question is:
" Are you hearing the dah-dah-dah-DUM bars or are you Resisting?"

365QOD- Day 805

" Making the simple complicated is commonplace; making the complicated simple, really simple, that is creativity" - Charles Mingus

While looking through a book called Red Thread Thinking I spotted this little gem. It immediately resonated with me.

For the last year I have been working on a product.  The product could potentially result in a mass appeal product.

Well having a billion dollar idea means nothing until you execute it elegantly.  Most of my solutions have been good but not simple.

The quote educated me that maybe I was stuck in a box.  I needed to jump out of the box and stretch my creativity. This creativity stretch resulted in making the product simpler.

Today's question is:
"Do you always choose simplicity? "

365QOD- Day 804

"Could have been me"  my thought

I watched the TV got the last couple of days and could not believe what was happening. It pulled me in.

When I moved to Texas I started running local races.  I ran in a couple of 10k and half marathons.  My goal was to run the Chicago and New York marathons in 2012.  Those were my training wheels before I attempted the most difficult Boston race.

If these events would have played out I would have been on Boston last Monday.  Wow!  What prevented me was the injuries along the way.  Maybe they were blessings in disguise.

Today's question is:
"Do you understand how fortunate you are?"

365QOD- Day 803

"Talent is like a sundial in the shade"- Ben Franklin

The other day while driving when I heard this quote.  How useful is a sundial in a shade? Not useful at all.

We all possess talents that make doing certain things easier.  We look magical to others when we are doing those things, because they might not have the same talent.  Their talent might impress us just like our impress them.

The message to me is that the talents have to be displayed in the right setting for them to be useful.  If they are, then they make us look like we are doing something magical.

Today's question is:
"How do you align your talents in your life?"

365QOD- Day802

"How do I explain it to you?" - my question

Recently a gentlemen walked in my office and asked me to explain the capital project flow.  So I started explaining it from start to end.

He said that he wanted to learn it from end to start.  The process consists of over 25 steps.
This exchange made me think.  I was presenting the ideal process to him.  He was interested in understanding the real process flow with all of the problems along the steps.

I believe that in order to understand a process I tend to want to understand the ideal flow.  This takes away the noise of reality.  But once the ideal has been learned then the real flew can be studied and optimized.

Today's question is:
"Would you prefer to learn the ideal or real flow of a system?"

365QOD- Day 801

"I would rather have a life full of 'oh wells' rather than a life full of 'what ifs'" unknown

I was looking through a few hundred photos that I recently downloaded and came across this quote.  It immediately got me to think.

I believe that most of us tend to live lives full of what ifs with some oh wells.  I do not think that it is all or nothing. 

The secret is to switch the two.  Live a life with mostly oh wells and almost no what ifs. How?
By confronting every fear that we have until the fog of fear is eliminated. In the end, by facing them we become more fulfilled.

Todays question is:
"What oh well will you face today?"

365QOD- Day 800

"The mundane is to be cherished" - sign on The School of Life

While reading the February issue of Psychology I saw this sign on a building window.  The article talked about how the school teaches life philosophy. It is idea of Alain Dr Button.

I do believe that or lives are full of mundane tasks.  These chores suck our energy dry.
That is only true if we let them. 

If we take on the mundane by cherishing it then I believe we would see the beauty of the quote.  If we can cherish it then it changes it into pleasurable.

Today's question is:
"Can you cherish the mundane?"

365QOD- Day799

"If you see different things, you will see differently" - Robert Trajkovski

Every day you brush your teeth with your dominant hand. Have you ever tried to brush them with the other hand? Probably it did not feel natural and you switched back.

When I write the posts for this blog I typically write them on a computer.  But lately I have been writing them on my phone.  It had been a change that I now welcome.  It forces me to read the posts more closely.

No it did not feel as natural as sitting in front of a computer.  I could not figure out how to do certain things but with time and effort I believe that it will become a true alternative.

Todays question is:
"What feels totally unnatural to you but might be a great alternative if mastered?"

365QOD- Day798

"A true measure of your life is how much you would be worth if you lost everything"- Robert Trajkovski

I read a quite today which stated that a true measure of your wealth is what you would be worth if you lost everything.  It seemed to me that it was missing something.

Wealth is but one dimension on which to measure life.  Recently I worked on a workbook of 26 power virtues that one would evaluate along physical, emotional, mental, spiritual, interpersonal, and financial dimensions.

Wealth is simply the financial dimension.  I thought of a complete loss of everything: wealth, family, career , friends, etc. would be more drastic.

Where would you begin to rebuild? Would you have the courage to even start?  Kind of a dark chain of thoughts.  In the end I concluded that any loss in a singular dimension should not stop you for too long, unless you let it.

Todays question is:
"Where would you begin the rebuilding process after a devastating loss in any one of the six dimensions?"

365QOD - Day797

"Big ideas are just that- ideas- until you execute"- Kristina "Z" Holly

It is amazing how many ideas I can get by just reading a magazine.  Let just say I can get 2-3 ideas from each magazine I read.  If I want more ideas then I simply just need to read more magazines or books.

The ideas that I get are how to apply an existing idea to another field, modification of an existing idea, or something new that was inspired from the story.  In the end the idea is like a dot on a paper.  If it is not connected to anything else, it looses any meaning and with time it fades.

It all boils to the execution of a subset of meaningful ideas to the best of your abilities.  Some are quick hits and others take a long time to nurture.  Until they bear fruit they are just ideas.

Today's question is:
"What subset of ideas are you going to execute?"

365QOD - Day796

"When life gives you lemons, make lemonade"- an old saying

IN March 2013 issue of Entrepreneur I read the story Shine on about Josh Opperman.  In the story Josh had given a $10,000 ring to his fiancee.  One day when he returned home he found out that she had left him and left the ring behind.

I am sure this was a hard experience to go through but Josh did something unusual about it.  He took the ring and tried to get his money back.  He was offered 35% of its true value.  This was not acceptable to Josh so he started a business online to re-sell engagement rings.

Why did I think this was interesting?  Well, it made me wonder how many businesses can be created off the idea of re-selling something of value for which the original seller will not offer close to true value for.  I always thought that driving a car off the lot and it being worth $2000 less is pretty sick.

A business could be very successful if they would just split the difference with the seller.  If an item is bought for 10000 and they can only get 4000 for it then if you split the difference (10000-4000=6000 then 6000/2=3000) and can offer that person 7000 they would purchase from you.  Even if you offered them 6000 and you pocketed the 1000 they would sell to you instead of the original seller. You can then re-sell it for 7000.

I think the idea is powerful.  Now the trick is to figure out a business to use it.

Today's question is:
"What can you re-sell for others?"

365QOD - Day795

"Now I got something to test it with"- my words

Recently I started reading a book called Laptop Millionaire.  While I was reading it I had an idea.  Instead of just reading the book and saying what a great book full of ideas it is, I decided to stop reading it until I can just apply it.

Well most of the products that I am working on did not fit so I decided to create a new product.  What!

I wrote a workbook in two days that is about 175 pages long. Yup! In two days. If you want
something bad enough then just do it instead of looking for excuses.  Now I can simply test the concept instead of just reading and wondering if the ideas actually work.

Today's question is:
"What price are you willing to pay to test an idea?"

365QOD- Day794

"If you play a good team then momentum will swing 3-5 times, with a great team it might only happen once"- paraphrase of Rick Patino

This weekend I found myself glued to the NCAA final four.  It had two very good games: Louisville vs. Wichita State and Michigan vs. Syracuse. 

I usually do not care who wins but I wanted Wichita to beat Louisville.  They got ahead by up to 10 points but in the end they lost.  Similarly, Michigan got ahead by 10 points but held on to win.

Observing this made me wonder why one team won and the other lost.  Was it talent?  Based on play I would say Wichita was the best of the four and should have won it all.  Athletically, all four teams had gifted players.

I believe that it all boiled down to belief.  Somewhere in the back of the minds of the WS player's was a belief that they did not belong in the championship game. 

Interestingly, the same thing happened Monday in the final between Michigan and Louisville.  Michigan came out and was smoking Louisville.  There was player on Michigan's team that scored six out of six three points in the first half but scored nothing in the second half.  Louisville believed and won the game.

Today's question is:
"What beliefs that you hold prevent you from reaching your next level?"

365QOD- Day793

"...Assume that on any given day you can accomplish one big mission, the medium tasks, and five small things.  Get those done a best as you can. Then, as your workday concludes make the next day's 1-3-5" Alex Cavaulacos, Muse

This advice is perfect four a crazy busy culture that we live in.  Place the big mission in front of you, THEN tackle the tasks AND lastly the things.

I remember seeing this done a an experiment with a big vase with big, medium, and small balls.  The same idea as the quote but then we were asked if anything else would fit.  We added sand. Lastly we added water.

It is amazing what you can squeeze in a day when the big pieces go in first, followed by medium, etc.

Todays question is:
"How do you squeeze in your 1-3-5?"

365QOD- Day792

"My gut feeling tells me to do X" - often heard expression

Recently I read an article that talked about the difference between analytical and intuitive decision making.  One is based on facts and other is based on feelings.

A lot of people make decisions intuitively. They can sense what they believe is the right thing to do it and just want to get to the doing stage quickly. The problem with this approach is that often opinions are based on a single past experience.

Other people need a lot of facts and figures. They live to analyze these until they feel 100 percent that they know what the right answer is to the problem. The problem is that you can never get to complete certainty.

In my opinion a blend is the best way to make decisions.  It is the 80/20 rule again.  I think that once you have 80% knowledge of the facts and figures you have spent enough time analyzing and should stop.  Now take a look at the numbers and ask yourself do you feel(20%) that what the numbers are telling you is the right thing to do. 

If the answer is yes then pull the trigger and go for it.  If you still feel discomfort then search for more data or another approach to solving the problem.

Todays question is:
"Do you know or feel your decisions are correct?"

365QOD- Day791

"How can they stay in business?"- my thought

I am reading a book called laptop Millionaire.  It is in an ebook format.  Easy to read but I decided that I want to purchase it on order to work with it.

I looked on Amazon and it was 13 plus shipping. Abebooks had it for 8 plus shipping.  When I called BN in Houston they told me that they have it in stock and that it is 22 but 13 online.
I immediately thought that there is no way Barnes and Noble can continue operating that way. 

I love bookstores.  I can easily spend hours looking through books and generate new ideas.  In a post before I even cried about Boarders on Michigan avenue in Chicago closing.  It broke my heart.

The bookstore business must be a very tough business. But when the discrepancy between online and brick and mortar store is so great then people will choose online.  Unfortunately online does not fill my other need of browsing the same way.

Bookstores, like coffee places, are places, like home and office, where one can spend time talking with people about ideas.  They feel like a nurturing space.  However, I am not convinced that their future is very bright.

Today's question is:
"What will be the next third place where people can just hang out?"

365QOD- Day790

"Fasting...I hate that"- my belief

As an Eastern Orthodox we tend to fast during lent.  I have never been given a great reason to fast.  I do not think God cares whether we do or do not fast.

But maybe I am wrong.

The other day I watched a PBS show in which a reporter showed the effects that fasting had on a person's health.  The  hour long show discussed the benefits of four different types of fasts.

The four types were:
1. reduced intake,
2.three day fast of only water, black tea, and fifty calorie soup each day,
3. One day 25 percent of normal intake followed by a eat anything day
4. Five day normal intake followed by two day fast.

The reporter choose the five and two and lost fourteen pounds and all his health screens were incredibly great.

I personally liked the one day on, one day off.  You would think that a person would stuff themselves the second day.  Reality was that typically people ate only 110 percent the second day.  In other words 110+25=135 or 62.5 percent of normal. This is a reduction of a little more than a third of normal intake.

This show completely changed my opinion because it clearly showed me the benefits of farting on health.

Today's question is:
"Could you be wrong about a practice?"

365QOD- Day789

"We asked everyday people to share with us the age of the oldest person they've known by placing a sticker on or chart" - Prudential ad

Of you see this ad you will quickly be pulled in.  The as displays a large canvas on which people place dots.  It quickly demonstrate that we all know someone who has lived in the 80-100 age group. 

The ad asks two questions as to why we are living longer but yet the retirement age has not changed and whether we will have enough.

Retirement requires long term planning.  Our society trends to reward short term thinking.  I believe that we must do both well in order to be successful. Some of my earlier posts offer formulas for you to check your level of readiness.

Today's question is:
"Will you have enough resources to retire well"

365QOD- Day788

"Two guys quit"-a surprise announcement

Recently a company I work with lost two key employees.  It was a shock to the leadership.

My question was to what their strategy is for keeping them or replacing them.  Both strategies seemed reasonable.

This event made me think how replaceable any of us are to an employer everyone is important to a team.  Some might even argue that some are more important than others.

I tend to think in terms of all of us being links in a chain.  So yes some are more important and missed longer but in the end the hole is filled by someone else.

Today's question is:
"How replaceable are you?"

365QOD- Day787

"Fear is a liar" - words on a wall

A couple of weeks ago I offered this quote to Maria, my co-worker.  This morning she came back at me with her own version, "Fear is expensive".

Wow!  I love her version.  It made me think how it is so true.  Fearing can reduce the number of opportunities that we pursue and ultimately it costs.

Today's question is:
"What else is fear?"

365QOD- Day786

"why did I stop" -my question to myself

While reading the book The Tools I learned that people that were helped with the tools will eventually go back to not using them.  This immediately resonated with me.

I am always learning something new.  But maybe it its too much.  I do not take the time to integrate it into my own system.

The only thing I can do is pause and capture my thoughts.  It might jar me into using the tool.
 
Todays question is:
"how do you make yourself use helpful tools?"