365QOD- Day938

How does it feel to hold it?

"There is nothing like the feeling of seeing your child for the first time."- my words

I remember the birth of my two children, Stefani and Milan, as if it was yesterday.  Both births were special and both came early in the morning. Then the hard part of parenting begins.

The other day when my third book got published I felt like I had given birth to another child. Now the parenting begins.  If no one knows the book exists then does it truly matter that it was written?

Right after my third book was published I revised my ETF book and got a proof copy to review and correct.  My fourth book arrived yesterday and I could not but glow add a new parent.  But again,  the hard pats of editing, publishing, and nurturing are not done. 

Today's question is:
"Do you nurture your products or just sell them?"

365QOD- Day937

Not my Job

"All kids are born geniuses, none are born financially astute.  It is your job as a parent to teach them."- Ron Wheeler

Most parents if given a choice of having a child that is a genius vs. the child that grows up to be a successfull adult will choose the later.  The skill set is very different and we stay adults for a longer period of time.

Ron's words give one of the dimensions of success as an adult: financially astute.  But the problem is that most people will label themselves financially ignorant.  Ignorant does not mean stupid.  It simply means uneducated in those maters.

So how do you teach them if you are ignorant?  Well the best way is together.  Create a profit and loss statement for your family.  What comes in and what goes out.  Then start talking about saving and lastly investing.  It might actually be fun to learn it together.

Today's question is:
"Do you keep your genius children ignorant about financial maters?"

365QOD- Day936

Just a Fluke

"Coincidence is God's way of staying anonymous"- Emily Bear

When I read this line I laughed.  Immediately I saw the truth hidden inside it.  Just as fast I connected it to another belief.

The wisdom in the words is that the false belief that it is just a fluke is not correct.  It is just simply God using coincidence to drive us towards a desired direction.

The belief that I have is something I read in a book called sacred contacts.  In it the author Laura out the idea that before we are born a choose what we will experience in this life.  God agra to or plan but also asks of us to be in certain places at certain time and to influence certain people.  Outside of those moments we are free to choose the life that we lead.

But maybe it is not that simple?  Maybe a are guided all along by coincidences towards those moments.  Some might say pushed towards them.

Today's question is:
"Did you feel God's anonymity on your back?"

365QOD- Day935

Apple put the cult in culture

"Before I got to IBM I used to think that culture was important but now I see it as the most critical"-Lou Gersner

Consider these two statements and you should quickly realize that they are describing two different types of culture. One is internal and the other is external.

Gersner must have quickly realized that in order to save IBM from destroying itself he needed to change it from the inside.  He could not control what the customer chose to do but he can lead IBM towards a place where the company can thrive.  IBM got out of certain businesses that were not successful and focused on its core. 

Apple is the other extreme.  It built an internal culture on being so hip and cool that the world wanted to join.  They were not building computers for the masses but for the cool creative people.  If you bought a product you entered into that culture and you became a member of the Apple cult.  You drank the cool aid and bought the genius Tshirt.

I believe that Lou only managed to win half the battle.  Yes he managed to resurrect a bleeding giant but did not create the cult following.  To move to that level you need products that are remarkable.  Products worth remarking about.

Today's question is:
"Can you start a cult?"

365QOD- Day934

The Four Parts of Us

"The mind are the horses, the body is the chariot, the ego is the small child inside the chariot,  and the spirit is the charioteer.  Unfortunately most of the time the spirit is asleep and the horses are directing the chariot wherever they want to take it"-Naren Jauhal

The other day I had a conversation with Naren about our beliefs.  We discussed the trinity idea of mind, body, and soul.  But his idea was that there are four was new to me.  Let's talk about it. The visualization is easy to see clearly. 

I can see the little ego misleading the spirit into pursuing a self centered goal.  The kid is all about the need. Me, me and more me.  It takes us away from or mission and drives us towards the selfish pursuit.

The chariot is the body.  If it is strong it will follow whatever direction the spirit, the ego, or the mind sets for it.  It is the follower.  You ask it to run a mile it does.  If you believe it can run ten miles then that is what it gives us. If you believe you can not then it blocks you.

The horses are tied to the body.  If the ego or spirit do not lead it then the mind takes over to lead it where it makes sense to it.  Your body could be in great shape, but if your mind can tell you that there is something wrong with it the body believes it. 

The last part is the spirit.  If it is guiding the body-chariot, ignoring the ego-child, and raining in the mind-horses, it will lead them to the promised land-true destination.

Today's question is:
"Which one of the four leads you most often?"

365QOD- Day933

I will be damned...There is an app for that

"Currently there are over 1 million apps in the Google play store" - a fact as of end of July 2013

Recently I have been studying for PMP certification.  I am learning how much more I need to learn when it comes to the subject of project management.

Studying for the test had been a blend of trying to memorize a ton of information while thinking about how my company applies the knowledge.  Sometimes theory and practice do not even look like they have and similarities.

It is an exiting time for me.  But it has also been very difficult.  I do not memorize too well.  So after reading and reading and cramming I was getting burned out.  I decided to look for an app to help me. I was shocked by how many different apps existed to help me with pmp prep.

It made me wonder why I did not look for one or few before starting this process.  It would have helped me learn faster and made the memorization a game.

Today's question is:
"Do you look for an app first?"

365QOD- Day932

Go to school and then get a job.

Q: What is a life changing realization that you wish you'd had sooner?
"The traditional road to education and success is a trap.  But it is actually a road.  So if you do not take it, you'd better have a damn good alternative routes planned." -unknown

I am way over educated for what I do.  But I am educated and can choose to not use most of my education and still get by just fine.  So I did choose that road.

What about the roads I did not choose?  For me I did not even entertain them.  Mainly because I was told when I was young that I well go to college.  I had no choice or did I come up with alternatives.

I do believe that the price of education is dropping very quickly.  Many graduates are having a hard time finding a job and paying their loans back.  The road to success most traveled has a big pot hole.Watch out!

The reality is that kids need to learn how to learn outside of a traditional program and the world week be theirs.  If they then choose to go to school they will be better prepared.  This was not uncommon in the 50s when many adults who had worked went back to school in the evening.  Many older engineers that I worked with had practical experience before filling out their theoretical knowledge when they went back to school. This is what made those old guys great.

Today's question is:
"Do you always consider alternatives when it comes to life choices or do your go with the obvious choice?"

365QOD- Day931

No Pain...No Lesson

"A lot of epiphanies come at the end of an unpleasant process.  That process is not only necessary to achieve the epiphany, but part of the epiphany itself.  As such, distilling that process down to an axiom isn't as valuable as going through the process itself, however grueling it might be."- unknown

This is the answer to the question, "What is a life changing realization that you wish you'd had sooner?" on the suite Ask Metafilter.  I believe the advice offers a lot of wisdom.
We want the learning process to be easy.  Well, as I have said before,  if it is easy then it is worth
nothing. If I tell you a fact for which I paid dearly it does not mean the same to you.  It can not. 

If you are lucky them you will remember it in the short term add good advice but in the long run you will forget it.  Why?  Because add the quote teaches you did not go through the process where you discovered it. The process is a part of the discovery, the epiphany.  Without the process, your temporary gain us only temporary.

This is kind of sad when you think about it.  It means that others can teach us but we must still go through the process to ingrain the fact.  The best we will be able to do is to speed up our learning but not eliminate it.

Maybe this is why kids repeat the mistakes of their parents even though the parent truss to prevent the pain?

Today's question us:
"Have you had an epiphany without going though the process?"

365QOD- Day930

This for That

"The meeting requests that note jump to the top of my list are the few, very smart entrepreneur who say, 'I'd like to have coffee to bounce an idea off of you and in exchange I'll tell you all about what we learned about cc'."- Steve Blank's advice for those seeking his or other busy folks' time

Often times we want something that somebody has. The most priceless thing we can ask from another is to give us some of their time.  This might even be the reason why we tend to do things when people are taking with us.

Steve offers a suggestion of trading something for that time.  In his suggestion he offers a learning that the person might be interested in. Brilliant!

I think that this would work if the person is interested in the new information.  If you know the person of whom you are asking for time then you should be able to guess what is of interest to them.  Another thing that this strategy accomplishes is to place you on par with the person.  You are equal if you are trading.

Today's question is:
"Do you trade information?"

365QOD- Day929

Stop in the Middle

"When you hit your daily word goal, stop.  Stop even if you're in the middle of a sentence.  Especially if you're in the middle of a sentence.  That way , when you sit down at the keyboard the next day, your five or ten words are already ordained, so that you get a little push before you begin your work...."- Cory Doctorow

I printed out a bunch of articles to read this weekend and this one quite was on top.  I read it and immediately could see a couple examples where this works and does not work for me.  Let me share them with you.

Several years ago I worked in a refinery and had a large L shape desk.  At the beginning of the day I would start working and by the end of the day you could barely see my desk from the papers and prints.  Before I left for the day I used to pick up all of my papers, put them in folders, and get them off my desk.  Next day the cycle stated all over again.  My productivity was very high. 

This is an example where I left nothing undone and it worked for me.  I was very productive.  Interestingly, I never clear my desk any more on my new job.Because I do not, I do believe that I am less productive as a result if this.

The second example I would like to share deals with writing blog posts.  Often times I see something I like and enter the idea in a new post. I might even write a sentence our two.  This serves to get me going when I have time to finish writing the post. This is an example of stopping in the middle.  I just start without spending time planning my actions.

What I see, at least for me, is that the idea of stopping in the middle is good for creative work but not for repetitive tasks.  The clean slate allows me to take a few minutes to come up with the best plan before I execute.  The stop in the middle strategy helps me to continue the plan execution.

Today's question:
"Do you ever use the little push of the stop in the middle strategy.?"

365QOD- Day928

To lose is to gain

"One pound per week"- a rule

For three last few weeks I have been trying to lose some weight. This had been very interesting. Difficult might be a better descriptor.

In order to be honest with myself I stated recording everything I eat in an app called myfitnesspal.  I am almost addicted to it.  I enter everything in it religiously.  Apparently, I am not the only one.

An article in August 12th issue of UsaToday the apps are beginning to be the popular choice for losing weight. This phenomenon is affecting traditional programs such as weight watchers. 
Because of the ease, your friends can join and keep you honest. 

One of my coworkers, Carrie, did and she is giving me hell if I slip up or overestimate an exercise.  Nothing like an honest critic.

I believe that this is just a part of the quantified self movement that tries to capture as much information as possible. In the future this might be a bit more automatic through sensors. In the end this app makes it easier for me to track myself.

Today's question is:
"How do you keep yourself on track?"

365QOD- Day927

I'm Talking Here

"You can not not communicate" -Michael Bernoff persuasion CD

I just started  listening to a CD program whose name escapes me.  The quote is from the author.
It made me stop and think about it. The double negative makes it sound different. But when you re-read it it makes prefect sense.

What we say is the smallest part of communicating. Our body and tonality make up to 93 percent of the message. So as the quote advises you can not not communicate. Even if you say nothing, you are communicating.

If we are wise, we realize this fact and decide to control the message instead of it being misconstrued by our body posture.   I believe we have to adapt a confident posture and voice in order for us to be perceived as better communicators.  Once we can control the body and tonality, we can focus on the last seven percent.  This can be simply done by speaking a little slower.

Today's question is:
"Are you not not communicating with your posture and tonality?"

365QOD- Day926

There is a Reason

"The set up is just add important add the story. "- story telling advice

In post 925 I pasted the story called Lunch with God.  I want to tell you an interesting story.

Three weeks ago I hurt my right knee.  I went out for a short Sunday run and five minutes into the run my right knee just did not feel good.  So I stopped.  I thought it was my mind playing games so I tried again.  No luck.  Therefore I decided to give my knee a break and start using the elliptical machines in my building's fitness center.

For the last three Weeks, my new routine stated with getting up at 430 in the morning and working or on the machine for and hour or so.  Well, needless to say there is no one fighting you for these machines at 430.  So I stated going down each day and playing my music on my phone and reading books.

The other day I had a surprise.  I walked down to the center and there was a young guy about 12 looking at the machines.  He was dressed in shorts, t shirt, and slippers. Did not look like he was in running shape.
He choose the machine next to me.  We stated using the elliptically without saying a word.  He smiled.  I smiled.

A little later I turned my music playlist on. He just smiled. I also smiled. 

For 75 minutes we both used the machines without saying a word.

The whole experience reminded me of the Lunch with God story.  Mother Theresa used to say that she saw Jesus with his numerous disguises in all the faces she tended to during the day.

Who is to say that God just didn't want to work out that morning?

Today's question is:
"Have you ever worked out with God?"

365QOD- Day925

An Amazing Story

"This touched me."- my words

The other day I was going though and cleaning a bunch of old papers. I came across a story called Lunch with God.  It is shown below:

A little boy wanted to meet God. He knew it was a long trip to where God lived, so he packed his suitcase with a bag of potato chips and a six-pack of root beer and started his journey.

When he had gone about three blocks, he met an old woman. She was sitting in the park, just  staring at some pigeons. The boy sat down next to her and opened his suitcase. He was about to take a drink from his root beer when he noticed that the old lady looked hungry, so he offered  her some chips. She gratefully accepted it and smiled at him.

Her smile was so pretty that the boy wanted to see it again, so he offered her a root beer. Again,  she smiled at him. The boy was delighted! They sat there all afternoon eating and smiling, but they never said a word.

As twilight approached, the boy realized how tired he was and he got up to leave; but before he had gone more than a few steps, he turned around, ran back to the old woman, and gave her a  hug. She gave him her biggest smile ever.

When the boy opened the door to his own house a short time later, his mother was surprised by  the look of joy on his face. She asked him, "What did you do today that made you so happy?" He  replied, "I had lunch with God." But before his mother could respond, he added, "You know  what? She's got the most beautiful smile I've ever seen!"

Meanwhile, the old woman, also radiant with joy, returned to her home. Her son was stunned by the look of peace on her face and he asked, "Mother, what did you do today that made you so  happy?" She replied! "I ate potato chips in the park with God." However, before her son  responded, she added, "You know, he's much younger than I expected."

Too often we underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word, a listening ear, an honest compliment, or the smallest act of caring, all of which have the potential to turn a life around. People come into our lives for a reason, a season, or a lifetime! Embrace all equally!

Today's question is:

"Have you had lunch with God today?"

365QOD- Day924

It Depends

"There are no stupid questions, only stupid people"-Ernest Chan

Many years ago I was assigned to teach a followup class after another professor had crashed and burned.  The students hated him and I think he hated them equally.

So I walk in and the first question was, "do you believe there are stupid questions?"  I paused for a minute and taught about it.  My answer was, "it depends."

I explained to the students that often when learning a new subject we tend to not know enough, and our question might seem stupid to someone who had done it for a while.  But and this is the big but, the person has to be willing to allow the questioner to pass through this period.

Now if the person had been doing it for a while and still ask beginner level questions then maybe Ernest's quote is valid.  But I still give the person the benefit.  It might indicate that they were not trained properly. Or even that they have not taken the time to understand what they learned.

Today's question is:
"Do you always ask brilliant questions?"

365QOD- Day923

Did you get that?

"When a message is sent up from the lowest levels to senior management, the noise level doubles and the meaning of the message is cut in half as it passes through each level in the organization's corporate hierarchy"-Peter Drucker

Communication is difficult.  The message needs to be created in the senders mind, then translated into words that we feel the other person will understand. 

On the receiving end the person takes what they heard, recreates the message, and then translates it into words that they understood.  Lastly,  feedback is send back to the sender of what was understood.

Team communication stays at the same level so hopefully not much gets missed.  But as the quote suggests a lot gets lost as the message moves up to the next level. So my boss only gets half of my message.  My boss' boss gets half of that or one fourth of what I sent.  Quickly the meaning changes and the intent can be used against the originator. 

So what is the answer?  Stop sending information up?  No.  Have the means for the boss and their boss to have access to the same information so that they can review it for themselves.  Of course that takes time but if the decision is critical then the extra effort is worth it.

Today's question is:
"How do you know that your message got through to your leaders?"

365QOD- Day922

Say that again!

"..knowledge.."- Richard Perrin

I sat through an exam peep course this week that Richard instructed.  During the presentation he said something that caught my attention.  It was similar to something I say all of three time.

In the past I write how we are drowning in data.  Sometimes we take that data and convert it into information.  Lastly, rarely do we take that information and reach wisdom.  Pretty cool.

Well Richard said pretty much the same thing but after information inserted knowledge before reaching wisdom.  Immediately my mind started evaluating if this is a needed addition to the model.

So data is raw.  Information is processed data.  For example I get data and when I graph it I notice that the data is linear.  That is information.  Now taking that information I use math to determine a unique equation that fits that data.  The line is of the form y= mx +b where I get unique values for m and x.  Lastly, I get to wisdom by realizing that the two variables that are graphed are success and reading.  Since the line goes up it indicates that the more you read different sources the more successful you are.  So I decide that I should expand my reading selection.

In the end I see why Richard added knowledge as a step on the way to wisdom.

Today's question is:
"Do you see the stepping stones from data to information to knowledge to wisdom for your problem?"

365QOD- Day921

Timeless Advice

"Adapt what is useful, reject what is useless, and add what is specifically your own."-Bruce Lee

While flipping through a Men's Health magazine I came across this quote.  Although at first it seems to be specific to fitness, it is very applicable to many areas. Let me tell you a story.

I am currently sitting in a PMP(Project Management Professional) study course.  Its focus is on passing the exam but amazingly my coworkers and I are learning a lot about general project management theory.  So setting the whole is helping us connect it to what we do.

Our internal project management process is but a subset of the whole.  So while in class we have had discussions as to what we believe us useful to us in our improvement efforts. We can clearly see how some of the topics would be useful to add to our flow.

Just as easy it us to see what is useless.  The process is detailed that for the work that we do it is overkill.  We would be wasting time and money implementing all. Therefore we have to be strategic in determining what is useless as much as figuring out what is helpful.

The last part of quote is very insightful.  If says no matter what the system is you can benefit by adding something that is uniquely yours.  A great example of this is cooking a meal.  You have  things you add and things you do not add because they do not improve the meal. But the magic occurs when you add the seasonings.  Everyone flavors it differently and in differing amounts.  That adds the POW!

Today's question is:
"What is useful, useless, and your addition to your process?"

365QOD- Day920

Post it. They will come.

"From blog to a book."- Fast company article title

Sometimes I marvel at what I read.  Often times it justifies something that I thought about few years back.  This title is one example of this.

In February of 2011 I started this blog.  Almost immediately I stared sting the potential that this blog could become a book.  I thought about it and let it leave my mind.

A year later I did exactly that.  The thought became a book.  I recently finished the volume two of my blog books.  Guess what? I am not going to stop.  Next year volume the will come out.  So the title for this post should be from blog to books.

I do not advertise my blog or my books.  People find them organically.  That its by design.  I make very little money of the books and no money from the blog. 

In the last couple of days my third book came out.  It is the 365QOD Volume II.  The cover is shown below.

Today's question is:
"What could you blog about for 920 days?"
 

365QOD- Day919

What are you reading?

"Read irresponsibly?"-  t-shirt slogan

I often ask people around me what they are reading.  Sometimes a flood of book names comes out.  Most often the person says nothing.  Which always makes me wonder, "what is the difference between someone who does not read and someone who can't read?" Nothing.

I am constantly reading at least one book at a time.  My library allows me to borrow five magazine so I borrow five magazines.  My phone has at least one ebook loaded.

The quote above stopped me cold.  How does one read irresponsibly? I believe that I do.  I read from varied sources and that allows me to see ideas percolate from different fields.

Great ideas have application in more than one area.  You just have to look for it.  I believe that we have to have new information coming in from different sources in order to be able to generate great ideas. 
Today's question is:
"Do you read irresponsibly?

365QOD- Day918

Ding...

"When it rings, ask yourself if you spent your last hour productively."- the 18 minute ritual that will boost your productivity article in Entrepreneur magazine

For the last two weeks I have been running an experiment with myself.  I have downloaded an app called Mindfulness Bell and set it to ring every hour randomly.  The interval can be adjusted to more often or less often.

So during the last two weeks every time the mindfulness bell went off I would focus myself on my breathing for one minute.  At the end of the minute, I measured my pulse by using my watch.  The goal is to get my pulse to be in the low sixties. Ultimately my goal is to have my pulse in the low sixties for one whole day.

Since the bell is to randomly go off, it has gone off at some interesting times such as meetings.  I do not acknowledge the bell and quietly start my breathing.  Most people around me assume that it is an email alert or simply an alarm.  They do not notice the change in my breathing pattern.

My latest addition to this procedure is the idea from the quote above.  After the pulse check I ask myself if the last hour wad productive.  Did I wisely use the 3600 "presents" that I was given in the last hour?  Sometimes the answer is no and that is enough to raise my pulse.  I then realize that next hour is an opportunity to be more mindful.

Today's question is:
"Do you pause ever hour to breathe and reflect?"

365QOD- Day917

This Sucks!
"What sucks in your world?" - Miki Agrawal Do Cool Sh$t book

I  recently came across this author in the Entrepreneur magazine.  The title of the book pulled me into her universe.  So I had to look her up.

The question above was from a speech she delivered to the United Nations.  She posed three questions of how to figure out what problem to solve. If the problem is making you miserable them most likely it is bothering others.

What also amazed me about her was how natural she was during an interview about her new book.  She sat on a bed with so many offbeat patterns but she pulled you into listening to her.  Why? Because she was passionate about the topic.  Her eyes sparked with energy.  Her body could not sit still.

She wad so passionate about her product that I ordered it.  Her passion moved me towards action.  I want to be as passionate about my products as she is about hers.

Today's question is:
"How passionate are you about your solution to the problem that sucks?"

365QOD- Day916

"That is stupid focus" - a management lesson

Recently I talked about customer service. I also wrote about customer recognition as the next level.

So what about the opposite side of the customer experience?  Recently, I happen to be at an establishment where a manager thought that customer service was customer harassment.  It blew my mind.

This manager questioned the validity of the guests right to be there.  When the proof was presented he backed off but then questioned the display of it. On another day instead of remembering the customer he proceeded to question them again.

This is what I call stupid focus.  When you do not recognize the customer and create such a stressful experience that the customer chooses not to do business with you.  Instead of focusing on making the experience positive his only focus was on rigid rules.

Today's question is:
"How do you prevent stupid focus?"

365QOD- Day915

The Road not Traveled

"What if I was wrong?"-a great question

The other day I had a great conversation with a friend about choices. His point of view was that he made a choice in life many years ago and settled. Maybe we should not settle?

I believe that settling is very common.  For whatever reason we can come up with, at that time, we choose the less difficult road.  The road that does not lead to a great story.

Unfortunately we only have one life and choosing the safe road mostly makes that one life less memorable.  If every day we choose the safe road then we will end up living a life of settlement.

I am reading a book on habits that mentions a story from a book in which the main character uses dice therapy.  In this therapy the character chooses what to do amongst several choices by rolling a die. This takes one out of their normal pattern.  It definitely would push one to not settle and try different experiences.

In the story it mentions that most of the people around the character had a difficult time adjusting to this change.  I believe that such an experience can make us challenge our normal patterns and get out of or box. This will be uncomfortable for us and for those around us.  But in the end it might be just what we need.

Today's question is:
"Could you follow dice therapy for a month?"

365QOD- Day914

"14 posts....that is a long series"-my thought

The last couple of weeks we focused on Andrea Huspeni's article on EDP's dimensions of successful entrepreneurs:
1 independent
2 preference for little structure
3 nonconformist
4 risk taker
5 action oriented
6 passionate
7 high achiever
8 focused on the future
9 idea generator
10 ability to execute
11 self confident
12 optimistic
13 persistent
14 low interpersonal sensitivity

At this point I believe that the best thing we can do is to be brutally honest and self assign a score from 1(low level)to 10(high level).  The maximum score you can get is 140.  If you get that score or 14 you are lying to yourself.

I suspect that to be a successful as an entrepreneur a score of 8 to 10 in each dimension would place you add very likely.  More impotently take a look at which dimensions you score lower than 8 and consider how you can improve that dimension.

If you want to be successful as an entrepreneur then you can always get better. 

Today's question is:
"How happy are you with your entrepreneur score?"

365QOD- Day913

"You are so sensitive ."- supposedly a bad characteristic

According to EDP the fourteenth entrepreneur dimension is Low Interpersonal Sensitivity.

This one threw me for a loop.  Why low? Shouldn't an entrepreneur be sensitive to the people around them? Well it seems the opposite is true for most.

Most likely cause for this insensitivity is their drive towards results.  They are focused on results and not people unless those people help them get closer to their goal. Entrepreneurs are results driven.

Is this a bad thing?  In my mind you can always be nice to everyone.  You do not have to destroy people on your easy to the top.  Maybe I am wrong and would score low on this dimension.  Maybe this is limiting me?  It not something that I will change.

Today's question is:
"How insensitive are you to what others say and ask?"

365QOD- Day912

"I am persistent." -one of my power slogans I repeat during my runs

EDP's thirteenth dimension is being Persistent.

I am trying to lose some weight.  I let myself go and got up to 229.6 pounds.  Crazy!

So starting with July 16th I woke up and started paying attention to my weight.  The first week I added yoga in the morning and evening.  In the same time I started eating better and recording all the food I eat and exercises using the Myfitness app.  The result was 223 pounds by July 22. 

Not happy with this level I then added running up and down a hill for 36 minutes and eventually got up to 72 minutes.  How?  By repeating my power slogan sentences like the one above. 

July 29 I morning  weighted myself at 215.  Impressive!  But I am not done.  This week has been a week of plateau.  I have jumped up to 218 and down to 216.  Losing weight is not linear.  The body does not always respond immediately.

So what is my goal? 200 by end of August.  Crazy? Yes! But with persistence I will accomplish it.

Today's question is:
"How persistant can you be?"

365QOD- Day911

"While you were arguing if the glass is half full (Optimist) or half empty (Pessimist  ), I drank it"-the Opportunist

The twelfth entrepreneur dimension according to EDP is being an Optimist.

I believe that we have to be aware of the negative thoughts and ideas that entet our minds.  We have to be the guardians of our mind fortress. Always looking for bad intruders while being slightly paranoid.

Being an Optimist is important.  It helps to motivate us to push forward and to believe that tomorrow will be better than today.  We have to deal with what is in front of us but not allow it to drag us down by making false generalizations.  These generalizations tend to lady forever.  We need am expiration date for our beliefs.

I believe that the Optimist and.Opportunist combination is the best way to attack the future.  Be positive but push yourself to take advantage of what is in front of us.

Today's question is:
"Are you an optimistic opportunist?"

365QOD- Day910

"That is the opposite of what I believe."-my words

The eleventh EDP dimension is: Self Confident.

This morning I had a conversation with one of my friends.  It was an eye opener.

He spent considerable time talking about the choices he made throughout his career.  Most of the stories revolved around the idea of working hard for a boss who eventually gets promoted.  The boss then quickly forgets what you did to help them get there.

The thread was that he looked to his bosses as being more of leaders than he believed he was.  He would constantly step in and rescue the boss but never achieved the leader post.  My friend is a great leader who excels in being a great follower.

I am the opposite.  There had never been any doubt in my mind that I can be a great follower if I had a great leader to follow.  But unfortunately most of my bosses had a leadership level below me.  It is pretty difficult to follow a lesser leader. If you are an average leader, 7 out of 10, you will not follow someone who is a  6 on a leadership scale willingly.

Today's question is:
"How self confident are you?"

365QOD- Day909

"Think, execute, execute, execute, and execute" -a great ratio

The tenth EDP dimension is: Ability to Execute.

In last post I talked about how important it is to generate ideas and execute those ideas. In this post I want to focus more on the ability to execute.

Just because you can't do something now does not mean that you cannot obtain the skills necessary to be able to do it soon. I believe that this is a critical realization.  There will  always be a gap between what you can do what you want to do,  how you fill the gap is the magic.

We happen to live in a time when information is abundant. Take advantage of the resources that are available online and you can learn anything.  You just have to be willing and open to learn.

I believe that the ability to learn and ability to execute are very related. You must force yourself to create a time frame within which you will  learn and execute the idea.  You have to be gentle with yourself as you might not make all your time frames.  As long as you come close within the time frame in the long run it won't make a difference if you execute in three months or three and a half months.

Today's question is
"How good is your ability to execute the new idea?"

365QOD- Day908

"Eureka!" -words of excitement

The ninth dimension that EDP entrepreneurship test measures is: Idea Generator. 

I get ideas all of the time.  When I am aware I capture those in a word document in order to remember the idea.  This way I can pick up the idea and add to it.

So what?  Well just because I generate an idea it does not mean that I will execute it.  If I had executed every idea I got then I would have been a multi-millionaire by now. 

Good ideas are very cheap and easy to come up with. Having great ideas is better.If you're lacking an idea then simply read some magazines in the field of interest and you will find a lot of great new ideas or generate modifications to these great ideas.

However, I do not believe that idea generation is a problem for most people.  I believe that idea execution is the problem.  Once you have an idea or you borrowed an idea for creating, you must set a time frame when you will get that idea executed.

I love working in three month increments.  At this rate I can execute four ideas per year.  This may not seem like a lot but I believe it would be a challenge for most people to do better.

Today's question is:
"Which four ideas will you execute this year?"