365QOD- Day1029

Visualize Your Goals with Storyboards

"Storyboards show you things that words can not, and they help bridge words to experience"- Joe Gebbia, AinBnB

Write down an idea on a storyboard, envision it, and draw that snapshot moment where the idea enters the world.  What is one thing you can do next to move your idea forward?

My answer is storyboard.  I am a great believer in storyboards.  Most of us think visually.  58 percent of all communication is visual.  38 percent is tonality. Only 7 percent is the actual words we say.  So if we want to communicate to ourselves the best way is through visual means.

Many years ago I thought that creating a storyboard business was a wonderful business idea.  I though of creating a website that would allow one to insert pictures on a storyboard along different themes and then to have the final color version sent to you as a printed poster.  This would be cool to create and even cooler to have a poster of the idea.

I might just have to execute this.

Today's question is:
"Have you ever used a storyboard to visualize your future?"

365QOD- Day1028

Anti-Business Plan

"The One Paragraph Start-Up Plan"- section heading in Scott Gerber's book Never Get a Real Job

I am currently reading this book.  The first eighty pages were all about what not to do. Even though I agreed with most things I could care less about what not to do.  But when I saw this section immediately I started to enjoy the book.

Most business plans are not worth the paper that they are written on.  People over predict a rosy picture that is not realistic.  But just because someone writes it down it must be important.  Some plans are so full of pages that they require a book binding.

Scott suggestion is brilliant.  Write a very tight one paragraph business plan.  That by itself is brilliant but what I really was impressed with is that he tells you to convert it into an action step and to test it as if it is a hypothesis(belief that could be true or false). He suggests that you test each sentence by doing it and using these eight questions: "
1. What is the service your business performs or the product it provides today?
2. How does your business produce or provide the product or service right now?
3. How will customers use your product or service as it exists right now?
4. How will your business generate immediate revenue?
5. Who are the primary clients your business will target immediately?
6. How will you market your start-up to prospective clients with the resources you have at your direct disposal?
7. How are you different than your competitors right now?
8. What are the secondary and tertiary client bases you will target once you've attains success with your primary base?"

This idea lines up well with the Lean Start-Up idea of producing a minimum product and testing it. Once each step has been completed he suggest that you evaluate your overall findings by asking yourself these six questions:"
1. What worked and what didn't?
2.  What was the result of each action step?
3. Was the overall experience positive or negative? Why?
4. What did you learn during the process?
5. Which steps can be modified or improved for better results? How?
6. Which steps need to be deleted all together?"

Pretty cool!

Today's question is:
"Can you narrow your start-up idea to one paragraph and break it apart into actionable steps?"

365QOD- Day1027

Power Networking

"INTRODUCE YOURSELF & I'LL GIVE YOU A $1"- Scott Gerber t-shirt slogan

Imagine walking around a networking event with a t-shirt that has this slogan on it.  What would you predict would be the outcome? Scott Gerber did it and turned a $62 dollar investment into five clients and thousands of dollars in revenue.  

This idea is similar to that of Scott Ginberg I wrote about in Post997.  Scott walks around with a name tag with his name on it.  He has done it for four years and it has resulted in multiple books.  Again, a very successful result.

What these two stories have in common is the ability to pull people in.  One does it with money and the other one by letting people know his name.  Maybe the rest of us are too guarded and shy?

I believe that these two guys are onto something.  Maybe combining them into a single t-shirt with your name on it with the slogan that if people introduce themselves to you you would pay them $1 is the best.  I believe that people are scared of the paying one dollar per introduction.  

Suppose you went to a function and tested the idea by getting 100 singles and actually doing it.  That is the extreme of your loss.  Noting that Scott only gave away $62 dollars he most likely spoke to most people 2-5 minutes per person.  So 100 singles would give you anywhere from 3 hours and 20 minutes to 8 hours and 20 minutes talk marathon.  Consider that his return at minimum was more than 200+ times the investment. 

The magic would be to make the 2-5 minutes meaningful for both you and the person that is introducing themselves.  You want their info and contact information but you also want to hook them into what you are doing that would resonate with them.  If they are willing to continue talking and take action by purchasing your product then the $1 is peanuts if you could get 200+ times the return.

Today's question is:

"Would you pay $1 for an introduction?"

365QOD- Day1026

Nonlinear Life

“Step A then Step B then Step C…”- - the linear plan

As humans we like to plan our lives.  We even like to plan the lives of our children.  If little Johnny goes to this school, followed by this high school, followed by this college, and then gets a job with a great company he will be set for life.  This is an example of linear thinking.

Unfortunately, life is rarely linear.  It often forces us to do multiple things at the same time and it feels like our lives are chaotic.  This is an example of nonlinear life.  In this type of a life, step A does not lead into step B, step B might have to be done in parallel with C, next going for E before backing up to do step D.  Most of us fit this type of a life.

So is it wrong to think linearly?  Nope.  Even in the most chaotic nonlinear life there are linear subsystems.  As a matter of fact, while doing my masters level work, I learned that often science tries to treat nonlinear problems by linearizing them.  In other words, for a certain range the system is linear.  Once that assumption is made and verified then it is easy to use many linear techniques to solve the problem.  (The way to visualize this is to think of a curve which on a certain range looks like a line.)

Why is this important?  Well, often we feel overwhelmed and in the midst of chaos.  Stopping for a moment to ask if some linearity can be found in the chaos might make it more obvious on how to find the right solution.  Maybe doing things in parallel, multitasking, seems like a great idea but determining if those two steps could be done sequentially might eliminate the stress while not extending the timeframe by too much.

Today’s question is:

“Do you look for opportunities to linearize your nonlinear life?”

365QOD- Day1025

Making a Dent in the Universe

“We’re here to put a dent in the universe. Otherwise, why else even be here?”- Steve Jobs

Have you ever wondered why you are here?  What is the meaning of your life?  When the life candle burns out, what will the people left behind think was your purpose?  What dents did you make?

I believe that my mission is to influence others to do better.  When I was a teacher for 18 years I influenced several thousand students in seven institutions.    I believe that most if not all were better off for having me as a teacher.  Most would probably say that I was very different than most of their teachers in getting them to think outside the box.

Today, I influence through my work in industry and my creative writings.  Every day I write about a topic that peaks my interest.  I hope that it resonates with others.  Again, I am trying to think outside their comfort box.

I also believe that having a higher purpose doesn’t just help you find success. But finding it, it helps redefine the meaning of the word.  My highest value is to creativity.  My mission and highest value match up pretty well.

Today's question is:

"How will you make a dent?"

365QOD- Day1024

The Obliger

"I feel obligated to..."- a common expression

In this last post on rules I want to review and discuss what Gretchen defines as the last of four personality types when it comes to habits.  In today's post I want to review and discuss the forth type: The Obliger.

Ms. Rubin defines The Obliger as someone who is
1. horrible at adhering to inner rules
but
2. great at following all outer rules.

The way I would define this person is someone who has no confidence in themselves.  They never set up rules for themselves.  They feel that they are not worthy to create rules.  An Obliger cares more about what others want than what they need.

An Obliger follows all outer rules.  They tend to believe that rules made by others are better than what they could come up with and they do not challenge any of them.  They are the ultimate follower.  Unfortunately, many companies love to reward these followers with leadership roles.  Why?  Because they will not question rules and follow orders.  They are the perfect little soldiers.  In the example I used with all of the types, if they are the team leader and their boss tells them to execute X they simply do it.

A obliger can not create a future for themselves.  They can only survive in someone else's world.

Today's question is:
"Are you an Obliger?" 

365QOD- Day1023

The Rebel

"Rebel without a cause."- a movie title

In this third of four posts I want to review and discuss what Gretchen defines as the third of four personality types when it comes to habits.  In today's post I want to review and discuss the third type: The Rebel.

Ms. Rubin defines The Rebel as someone who is horrible at
1. adhering to inner rules
and
2. all outer rules.

The way I would define this person is someone who has great confidence in themselves.  They are out of control when it comes to setting up inner rules.  They feel that they need to live in the moment and not create rules of what can and can not be done.  A rebel just does not care if their rules make sense to anyone.  Hell, they do not even follow them themselves.

A Rebel can not follow any outer rules.  They tend to believe that they are outside of the hold of any rules set up by someone else.  This leads to making many transitions in relationships and jobs.  A Rebel is driven by a constant need for a new challenge.  In the example I used with the first two types, if they are the team leader and their boss tells them to execute X they ignore it and will simply not execute it.

A rebel has to create their future by working for themselves.  They can not survive in someone else's world.

Today's question is:
"Are you a Rebel?" 

365QOD- Day1022

The Questioner

"And why are we doing this?"- something I often ask

In this second of four posts I want to review and discuss what Gretchen defines as the second of four personality types when it comes to habits.  In today's post I want to review and discuss the second type: The Questioner.

Ms. Rubin defines The Questioner as someone who is great at
1. adhering to inner rules
and
2. questions outer rules.

The way I would define this person is someone who has great control of themselves.  They are able to self-correct their behavior by setting up inner rules.  As an example, it might be a person who chooses to take up marathon running.  They just start small by running a eating dinner.

They are great at creating and following their own self rules but they question outer rules equally.  In other words, if they are the team leader and their boss tells them to execute X they challenge it and will not simply execute it until the reason for the rule is clearly communicated.  This often has to be communicated face to face and not through email- an informal form of communication.

The way I would term The Questioner is someone who will make an idea better by questioning its need.  Once the reasoning is clear, I believe that the Questioner will follow the outer rule as if they set it up themselves.


Today's question is:
"Are you a Questioner?"  

365QOD- Day1021

The Upholder

"Making a habit= Following rules.  Some personality types thrive when given rules and some rebel against them.  To successfuly adapt our habits, we need to be aware of how we deal with rules we impose on ourselves("inner rules") and rules imposed on us by others ("outer rules")."- Gretchen Rubin Ted speech ideas and author of The Happiness Project and Happier at Home

In next four posts I want to review and discuss what Gretchen defines as four personality types when it comes to habits.  In today's post I want to review and discuss the first type: The Upholder.

Ms. Rubin defines The Upholder as someone who is great at
1. adhering to inner rules
and
2. outer rules.

The way I would define this person is someone who has great control of themselves.  They are able to self-correct their behavior by setting up inner rules.  As an example, it might be a person who chooses to lose weight and they simply decide to not eat dinner.  They just stop eating dinner.

But not only are they great at creating their own self rules they follow outer rules equally.  In other words, if they are the team leader and their boss tells them to execute X they do not challenge it and simply execute it. This is OK for most unimportant decisions but for critical path changing decisions that is dangerous.

The way I would term the Upholder is someone who is a great follower.  Once rules are set up, inner or outer, they just follow.


Today's question is:
"Are you an Upholder?"  

365QOD- Day1020

Assumptions

“If I’m not getting the result I want, what are my assumptions?”- Tim Ferriss

In past post I told a story of being stressed out about a change and asking myself a powerful question, ”What is that I would have to believe for this to be true?”  It immediately took me out of the mindset that I had of, “Ohh no this is happening to me” into examining what needed to change.  Once I identified the base of my fear I was able to challenge it and find a way to resolve my issue.

Tim’s advice is for getting yourself to overcome a limitation.  In my opinion and Tim’s quote most of the time the limitation in the result that we are getting or not getting is in the assumptions that we make.    For example, if my assumption is that I can not touch a basketball rim then my result is always going to be less than touching the rim.

The key is to stop at the result and to ask yourself to identify what are those assumptions.  If I realize that that is my assumption that I might need a training program that improves my vertical jump until I comfortably reach the rim. After all if a 5 foot 3” inch former basketball star Spud Webb could reverse dunk a basketball then clearly my assumptions are holding me back.

Assumptions are not always physical but they are always mental.  If I do not believe I can, then no matter how easy the task is I will not accomplish it.  It is mind over matter. 

Today’s question is:

“Do you ever question your assumptions or do you just blindly accept them?”

365QOD- Day1019

A Better Mousetrap

“Of all the myths of creativity, the Mousetrap Myth is perhaps the most stifling to innovation because it doesn't concern generating ideas. Rather, it affects how ideas are implemented. It’s not enough for an organization to have creative people; it has to develop a culture that doesn't reject great ideas. It’s not enough for people to learn how to be more creative; they also need to be persistent through the rejection they might face. . .

We don’t just need more great ideas; we need to spread the great ideas we already have.” - David Burkus, The Myths of Creativity

The idea that if you come up with a better idea to do something that the world will immediately adapt is ludicrous.  It just does not happen.  The lone inventor developing a super complex idea is not unheard of but is rare.

I believe that most of us have great many million, if not billion, dollar ideas in our lifetimes.  The problem is that these ideas  only stay as ideas.  They are just mental flossing and they never see the intended customer as a product. 

In industry it is even tougher to get an idea to get accepted and executed.  This is where ideas need to be pushed through every layer of the organization.  This is not an easy process and the pusher most often gets tired and gives up.  The organizational culture has to be such to nurture those ideas(not reject them immediately) and give them nourishment to survive(funding). 

As I mentioned in recent weeks I have become fascinated with the show Shark Tank.  It seems kind of harsh when folks get rejected.  But at least these are folks that took an idea and executed it.  Some creations are more profitable than others and some people can sell the idea better to the venture capitalists(VCs).  In the end they have a mousetrap that someone buys into.

There are many who get rejected by all of the VCs but immediately after walking out say that they still believe in their idea and that they will prove the VCs wrong.  Some presenters even get contacted by other VCs who believe that they can help them. The key is the “they also need to be persistent through the rejection(s) they face…”

Today’s question is:

“What better mousetrap will you persist though many rejections in order to execute?”

365QOD- Day1018

One and Done

“I do not want to do this again.”- My thought during my PMP exam

Yesterday I took my PMP exam.  PMP exam consists of 200 questions that you must answer in four hours.  It was probably the second hardest test I have taken in my life.  The hardest being the qualifying exams for Ph.D.

The knowledge behind the test is something that I do every day.  I manage people and projects.  So getting a Project Management Professional certification is not too far of a stretch.  It makes sense to understand the framework of how to manage large projects and certify that you understand it.

What makes the PMP test so hard then?  Well, it is a multiple choice test so you are guaranteed the monkey score of 25% even if you do not know anything.  The problem with the test is that most of the choices were in the “gray area”.  To answer the questions not only did you have to understand what they wanted but most likely have applied it.  Book smart folks could pass the test but it is very unlikely in my opinion that without experience you can pass it.

The benefit of taking the test was the preparation for it.  It immersed me into the framework for doing projects and I started noticing the knowledge creeping into my every day conversations.  It is good to stretch ones knowledge and then test yourself to see if you mastered it.

I did pass the exam.

Today’s question is:

“What is a learning challenge you are trying to overcome?”

365QOD- Day1017

Predicting the Future

“I wish that I was more productive”- a common desire

This weekend I read a story called A smartphone app that predicts future to-do list tasks.  The company which produces the app is 24me.  It is one of the highest reviewed and popular apps at iTunes.  I checked immediately and there is not an android equivalent.

What attracted me to the app is that “its creators say can predict future items on a user’s daily to do list.”  It is in a sense according to them a “long-term personal assistant”.  This is all done through Artificial intelligence and access to your calendar and social accounts.

So why did I think this is cool?  I am eventually going to publish a book that teaches how to manage time and energy.  Managing time is just one aspect.  Managing time and energy together now that is where the magic occurs.  To me, creating an app that teaches my system is a future goal.  I never thought about adding the complexity of AI to improve the time management. 

I believe that this idea will improve the calendar feature by collecting information from different social accounts but it will not help one get a balance.  For that you need my app.  LOL!

Today’s question is:

“Is having a way of pulling information from social sites into your calendar desirable to you?”

365QOD- Day1016

Eliminating or Adding Steps

“Toyota is known for eliminating any steps that are intermediary or unimportant”- Tim Ferriss

Many times we tend to make things for complex by adding steps.  Companies are very good at adding hurdles on the path to execution.  They do not tolerate risk and by including extra steps they feel that they have better control of the system.  However, this often creates frustration because it lacks common sense of what needs to be done in order to execute a job.   

The quote illustrates that some of the most efficient companies do the opposite.  They want to eliminate the 

unnecessary work and steps in order to get better quality.  To most American companies the extra steps are needed to guarantee quality. 

I believe that intermediate steps are needed in order to assure people know why a particular step is needed. This is very obvious when one watches a martial artist perform a kata form.  Most forms consist of anywhere from 10+ to 100 individual steps.  Just remembering the steps for some of the complex ones requires months and years of learning.  The level of knowing how to do one without thought takes even more time.  

Eventually, you learn the pattern and you can perform it without mistakes. This is just information that has become knowledge.  It is not mastery.

Mastery requires one to go back and look at the intermediate steps that are missing.  As an example consider that the transition from one position to another requires the turning of the head from current position to the new position without turning the body.  This is awkward for most students.  However, would you ever turn the body into danger before you have to by simply rotating the head to see what is coming at you from that direction? Most students do so because they do not know the intermediate steps.

Today’s question is:

“Do you know the purpose of the intermediate steps of your job?”

365QOD- Day1015

Plan the Journey NOT the Goal

“Is the goal more important than the journey?”- A philosophical question

I tend to be a goal oriented person.  When a goal is important to me, I identify what the goal(G) is and then break it down into objectives(O), consider multiple strategies(S) to achieve each objective, plan(P) the proper sequence through the objectives and which strategies to use, while assigning a daily action(A) while paying attention to the learnings(L).  This is my version GOSPAL version of Bryan Tracy’s GOSPA technique.

While reading 99U posts I notices this blurb by James Clear from iDoneThis:

“Instead of giving yourself a deadline to accomplish a goal and then feeling like a failure if you don’t achieve it, you should choose a goal that is important to you and then set a schedule to work towards it consistently.  That might not sound like a big shift, but it is.”

The L in gospaL is intended to make one realize to pay attention to the progress and to be wise enough to make adjustments.  The P in gosPal is the planning of the sequence and scheduling of the tasks.  I often use a 3 month window to fight through a worthwhile goal.  The A in gospAl is where the schedule is broken down on the individual tasks that need to get done in order to reach the ultimate G.

With this bit of breakdown, I conclude that James is correct and that my goal achieving procedure contains his idea of focusing on the schedule and the journey not the big goal.  This allows me to focus on the tasks instead of feeling overwhelmed at the size of the goal.

Today’s question is:

“Do you focus on the journey schedule or on the goal?”

365QOD- Day1014

Parkinson’s Pareto

“Combining two ideas makes it orders of magnitude more powerful”- my thought

Recently I read an interview of Time Ferriss by Derek Sivers that was done back in 2008.  The post I wrote about Parkinson’s Law was inspired by that interview.  Today’s post is no different.

In many past posts I have talked about the 80/20 principle that Vilfredo Pareto originated. 20% of my activities contribute to 80% of my success.  The vital few are hard to identify while moving through the noise.

Tim Ferriss offers advice on how to combine these two ideas, “With the 80/20 principle, you’re limiting your tasks to the critical few versus the trivial many to decrease the amount of time required.  Then with Parkinson’s Law, you’re constraining the time allocated to force yourself to focus on the critical few”

Brilliant strategy! Limit yourself to the vital 20% of the tasks and give yourself a time limit to get them done.  Simple idea on paper but I think that the challenge is the getting clear as to what is the 20% and what is not critically important.  But once you are clear then the combination become like adding 1+1 and getting 3 as the result.

Today’s question is:

“Can you limit yourself to the vital 20% of your tasks and give yourself a time limit?”

365QOD- Day1013

Parkinson’s Law

“Work expands as to fill the time available for its completion”- Cyril Parkinson

I agree that a task will swell to fill the time.  I also believe that this is true mostly because of believed complexity and perceived difficulty depending and upon the amount of time that you allocate to the task.  Let’s drill down into these.

Complexity is interesting.  When I say complexity what I am saying is something that might not be very difficult but require many steps to complete.  If it requires you to do 20 steps to get to the end, the goal is complex because you have to go through 20 hurdles to get it done.  Each one of the steps might be quick and easy but without all 20 the task does not get completed.

Similarly, perceived difficulty is in the eye of the beholder.  If I believe that something is difficult for me to accomplish then I have already created a wall I have to really want to jump over.  However, just because I believe it to be difficult does not make it difficult for others.  There are adults that do not know how to ride a bike. 

I can see the wisdom in Parkinson’s statement.  Work will expand to fill the time available.  Sometimes complexity or level of difficulty is not even an issue.  If I get up early and have three hours to kill before I have to leave home then guess what?  I will find something to fill those three hours.  It might not be very productive but it will fill the time available.

Today’s question is:

“What can you do not to fall into Parkinson’s trap?”

365QOD- Day1012

What is Next

"If all of the wealth is taken away from the 1% within 10 years they would be back in the 1%"- Anonymous

The quote is something that I had heard before and it makes sense to me.  If you know how to do something, and you did not just get lucky, you should be able to recreate your path to success.  In theory it should be no harder to do it a second time.

Today I was having a conversation with a friend, Tommy, when this topic came up.  He shared his business success story and his eventual failure.  However, he has not been able to repeat the success.

 As we decomposed his story it it quickly became obvious that many years ago he noticed an opportunity.  He quickly saw the next step in the opportunity and jumped on it.  Next he grew it.  According to him, his demise was due to lack of certain management skills.

He pointed out that he has never seen another opportunity like the one he exploited.  I quickly reminded him that in his current role he comes across many people that are very successful. All he has to do is ask them.

I suggested that he ask them, "What opportunity are you excited about now?"  Once, he gets pulled into their world then I suggested for him to ask himself, "What is next?" This is in order to allow his brain to explore the next step needed to exploit that opportunity or come up with a new original opportunity that is loosely based on the one given to him.

We both agreed that one thing that has to be true is that a person has to be "present" in the now in order to recognize opportunities.  Let yourself be quiet enough to hear and understand the opportunity.

Today's question is:
"What is next in your opportunity?"

365QOD- Day1011

Unloved Products

“First, find the most annoying, obvious problem that millions of people deal with every day.  Then ask if things really have to be that way.”- Andy Rooney’s business plan according to Farhad Manjoo

While reading a Wall Street Article on Big Innovations from Small Annoyances by Farhad Manjoo, I read this line by Tony Fadell, “There are products that have been unloved, that are basically the same as when we were growing up”.  It immediately pulled me in and got me thinking.

What pulled me in was the unloved products part.  By his definition these are products that have not changed since we were little.  In other words,  what products that function and most likely look the same for the last 30+ years that you use every day?

What product fits this mold?  The thermostat that Nest redesigned certainly fits this mold.  It took the thermostat and made it cool and sold it at $250. 

Any ideas? How about the toaster?  The microwave?  The can opener?  Can these be redesigned to become cool once again.  There are many unloved products to which we can apply Andy Rooney’s business plan idea and come up with newer and better cooler versions.

Today’s question is:

“What is an unloved product that you use every day?”

365QOD- Day1010

Passion Retirement

“I refuse to be old, I don’t mind aging, but I will never be old.”- Dwan Smith-Fortier

Most people do not live very long after they retire.  Unless they have a physical goal and a mental goal, they wither and die.  This is because their social network typically consists of co-workers and their mental stretches are only due to the type of work that they perform. 

Recently while reading Oct 29^th 2013 USA Today I came across a story about a different type of colonies that let seniors color outside lines.  It was built on the idea of people there becoming involved in different types of art and creativity projects. Some got involved in acting course, photography,  some in painting courses, zumba,  etc.

About a year ago I read a book about thriving in retirement.  It seems that people that do well in retirement, according to the book, are people who go back to their passions before life got in the way and exploring them.  This community idea seems like a perfect match for that passion pursuit.

The idea of having a retirement community built around a particular passion is wonderful.  I believe it will extend most people’s lives because it will give them a reason to get up in the morning.  This is one of the four requirements to living to an age of 100.

Today’s question is:

“If you were to retire today, what type of community would help fulfill your passion?”

365QOD- Day1009

Recording Your World

"GoPro"- name for a camera

Many years ago I wondered what it would be like to record my life.  Immediately I concluded that a pair of glasses with tiny cameras mounted on the side would serve the purpose.  At that point I knew that all it would take is time for those cameras to come onto the market.  As I said this was a thought I had many years ago.

In the mean time I read of a Microsoft scientist who caries around a camera around his neck.  The camera with many sensors records his life.  Wonderful idea.  He can reduce a day into fifteen minutes and review. So if you take 365*.25=91.25 hours to review a year.  What would you do with that review?

Google glasses is another version of is idea.  It however adds the ability see a computer screen in front of you.  So not only do you record your life but you can also surf.

Tonight on 60 minutes I watched a segment on the GoPro cameras and what people are doing with them.  There is a whole movement to record cool and crazy things that people are doing.  Mostly athletic endeavors but also some silly and fun life happenings.  It made the inventor one of the newest billionaires in the USA.

I still believe that what I envisioned is a great idea.  Someone will eventually produce it.

Today's question is:
"Would you record your world?"

365QOD- Day1008

Delayed Life Plan

"If I could just have X then I would get Y."-my version

We always think in terms of this equation. For example, have you ever said," if I only had time I would finish my project." Or, "if I had money I would build my project." Substitute whatever word is relevant for you instead of project. This statement crates a life delay.

The biggest delay in our life that we fool ourselves with is that we can work a whole life unhappy in jobs and relationships and at the end we will live out Nirvana.  Nirvana being retiring and traveling the world. 

Foolish!

In an old post I shared some wisdom given to Jim Rohn. When he said that if he had money he would have a plan. His adviser, Earl, reversed it by advising that "if he had a plan he would get the money."  Great wisdom.

Maybe by doing the project you will get excited and squeeze in the time? Maybe if you do the project money will show up? Maybe if you travel and enjoy life you will find Nirvana now?
The answer is if you do the Y then X will come.

Today's question is:
"What are your Y and X?"

365QOD- Day1007

Seven Days of Hell

"A phone for me is a tool, not a toy."-my words

My phone battery started not to charge fully about two weeks. So I starred charging it more often.  I even decided to buy a replacement battery.  Hell, I bought three batteries and an external charger since I do not plan to change my phone for a few years.

Almost immediately after I had ordered the new batteries my phone went completely dead.  I mean completely dead.  It put me in a serious bind.

Currently I an using my phone a lot to practice for the PMP test.  Also, while I drive to work and back I have been listening to past episodes of Shark Tank.  So not only did my studying get distributed but my drive lost its purpose.  It sucked!

I do not know about you, but this experience taught me how integral my phone is to my new routines.  Without it my routines suffer and my productivity gets worse. 
Interestingly, when I went on my month long hiatus last year and this year I do not miss my phone. 

Maybe my exportation is that I would not use it much.  So if I had to do without it during vacation it would not bother me much.

Today's question is:
"Which routines would get interrupted if you did not have a working phone for a week?"

365QOD- Day1006

Restarting a Habit

"Why did I stop?"- my question to myself

Couple of weeks ago I created a weekly plan on Sunday.  I then created daily time and energy plans.  At the end of the day I marked off the items I accomplished.  Amazingly, most of my items got done and I felt very productive.I felt like my days flowed better.

Which brings me to my question to myself.  I know how well my system worked for me in the past.  So why did I stop?

Why?

I kept asking myself this last weekend and the only reason I can come up with is that I focused on new things in my life instead.   I know that since I did my time energy planning routine for an extended time it had created a habit. BUT just like I was able to create a habit I broke the habit.

What this experience taught me is that maybe I need to go back to some of the habits that were effective for me that I have stopped doing.  I need to review what worked for me before, test it if it is still effective, and if it is then re-teach myself the habit.

Today's question is:
"What old habit do you need to restart?"

365QOD- Day1005

More Expensive than Gold

"The processed venom can fetch as much as $7000 per ounce"- Men's Journal article on venom collecting

The other morning I was reading a story about a man who nurtures 280 diamondback rattlesnakes.  Every two weeks he milks his 280 snakes and each one gives him 3/4 of a gram of venom.  In other words the 280 snakes give him a total of 210 grams of venom.  Since there are 28 grams per ounce this results in 7.5 ounces.  In other words $7000*7.5= $52,500 every two weeks.

Wow!  This is a serious business since the venom is used by pharmaceutical companies to make medications. 

I do not like snakes but this is an impressive business.  At over a million, the person running it is earning over a million.  His costs would be feeding the snakes two mice per month which is about $1 and the healthy maintenance of these animals. In other words minimal cost high maintenance.

So why do I care?  Most of us would not believe the profitability of this dangerous business.  Yes it is dangerous BUT once you master the handling of these snakes the rest is pure business.  It is scary to those of us who do not like to handle snakes but I believe a viable business for many who are not so squeamish.

Today's question is:
"Could you handle running a snake venom business if it means $1 million dollar profit?"

365QOD- Day1004

Leading From the Side

"Don't lead me, I'll wonder off. Don't follow me, I'll get you lost.  Walk beside me and help me cause trouble."- unknown

I found this quote while checking my Facebook page.  Immediately I noticed the uniqueness.  Is this a way to lead?

You often are taught that we should lead from a front position.  We have to have vision and hopefully the team will follow us on the journey.  Unfortunately, many leaders that lead from the front do not bother to look behind to see if they are followed.  They assume because of their positional leadership that people should just follow them.  That is not always the case.  As I always say, "If you are leader without followers, then you are just taking a walk."

Leading from behind is another way that people believe that one should lead a team.  BUT I have never found this to be effective.  It is better to lead from up front than to lead from behind.  People believe that they are pulling you along and since you are the leader than they lose faith in you.  No one will follow people that hide in the back of the pack.

The wisdom in this quote is the leading from the side.  Walk beside me and help me cause trouble.  I love it!  This fits my style.  I lead by allowing myself to stray off the beaten path and getting people to follow their instincts that the journey off the path is truly the best path.  I don't have to convince them because they convince themselves.

Do you know what is a another word for trouble? Change.

Today's question is:
"Do you ever lead from the side?"

365QOD- Day1003

A Wasted Experience

"Waterfall, river, and lake"- the authors visualization of the ten days of meditation

This morning I was reading Men's Journal and came across an article about a guy who spent ten days in an ashram in India.  It caught my interest because I felt I could learn from author's spiritual journey.

What I learned was how uncomfortable he was and how he tried to break the rules.  In the end he says that he is a changed person.  This did note seem real to me.

He choose to go there to be changed, to learn how to meditate, and get closer to the source.  Instead of choosing to embrace the experience he fought it and then claimed that it changed him.  Maybe I am judging him?

I just feel sorry for him that he wasted such an opportunity.  How many of us would have an opportunity to spend ten days learning to pray and getting closer to God.  Probably not many.

Today's question is:
"Do you embrace the change that you want to happen or do you fight it?"

365QOD- Day1002

Belief and Action

"You are what you believe yourself to be."- Paulo Coelho

Many blogs ago I shared a quote by Henry Ford , "If you think you can or you can't, you are right."  I love that quote because it teaches us how important is having a belief of whether we can do something or not.  It teaches us that we place artificial limits on ourselbed.

The quote by Paulo extends this to our belief of what we are.  If we believe we are good then we must be good, if we believe that we are smart then we must be smart, etc.  it is a belief.

The interesting part is to combines these two ideas into one:  We are what we believe ourselves to be and we will do what we are capable of. 

So if we want to be something different then we must start believing that we are different.  That is a start but we must combine it with belief that what we want to do  we are capable of.  Paulo's quote is a prerequisite for Ford's.

Today's question is:
"What do you believe yourself to be?"

365QOD- Day1001

Out of Curiosity

"Just out of curiosity, what do you like best about your job?"- Geoffrey James

I could not sleep this morning so I started reading articles on Inc. on line. An article about asking yourself a great question came up.

The question above is a great conversation starter.  It allows the other person to talk about positive aspects of their job.  The opposite could be achieved if you ask about what they hate about their job.

What made me focus on this article is its focus on asking this great question of yourself.  I do believe that it will lift your mood and remind you why you like your job.  But to me that is limiting.

Most people self identify with a job title.  I do not.  As I have written before, I identify with the word cREATOR with a small c.  That word could fit whether I am working as an engineer, manager, blogger, writer, teacher, etc.

I do believe that this is a great question to ask ourself but ask it of different aspects and people that make up your life.  Do not limit its power to just work or encouraging others. Ask it of your relationships, interests, friends, things and if possible let people know why you like what you like.

Today's question is:
"Just out of curiosity, what do you like about your life?"

Day 1148 out of 21000(Refer to post 12 for the meaning)

365QOD- Day1000

Today marks an important milestone. To me to do something for 1000 days continuously is impressive.  I believe that it had taught me to think and do differently.
I just want to say THANKS for visiting and following the blog.  Hopefully your journey leads you to your desired destination.  Now let's turn to something related.

Millionaire at 15

"Is it what she thinks or how she thinks?"-Tommy Hendricks

The inspiration for today's post came from season the of Shark Tank.  A mom and two girls walk in and the oldest of the the tag colds about the business she came up with when she was 10 to sell trinkets made from bottle caps.  Her contribution to the "economy of stupid" lead to her at 1.6 million in sales of which profit was 1 million.

I told Tommy this story and we both were impressed and wondered about her thinking process.  Immediately, Tommy wondered what made get think the way she does our even better how she thinks.

My thoughts were more on the execution side. What made her execute her ideas and lead to her success.  I am sure many young kids have ideas but their ideas are usually in their head and if they are lucky they make it to paper.  But usually that is as far as they go.
To execute something, like she her sister and mom have, great requires the willingness to pay the price. You have to be willing to go from thinking to doing and move to doing it every day even when you don't feel like it.

I believe that that is the lesson of writing a big for a thousand days: become disciplined to do something for an extended amount of time and not quit. I do not believe that I am the same person that stated this journey a thousand days ago.

Thanks for your support..

Today's question is:
"What would you become after doing something for a thousand days?"