Oct 31
Oct 31
“Deep into that darkness peering, long I stood there, wondering, fearing, doubting, dreaming dreams no mortal ever dared to dream before.”
and
“The ninety and nine are with dreams, content but the hope of the world made new, is the hundredth man who is grimly bent on making those dreams come true. ”
Oct 30
“Failing to plan is planning to fail.”
- Alan Lakein
“10/90 Rule – The 10 percent of time that you spend planning and organizing your work before you begin will save you as much as 90 percent of time in getting the job done once you get started.”
PLAN EVERYTHING IN ADVANCE!
This may be obvious to you but you’d be surprised how many people don’t do this. It is very important that you try and do this before you leave each day. Take 10 minutes to review and plan what you will do following day. According to Tracy, planning your day in advance will save you between 1-2 hours of inefficiency throughout the day. I believe it.
- Get out your pen and paper and make a list
- Write down all the stuff you didn’t get done today
- Then add all of the items need to do the following day
- Then sort it in order of importance
- Not sure what is important, ask your boss
By making the list the night before you free your conscious mind of thinking of what you need to do the next day and it also allows your subconscious mind will work on your list all night long while you sleep. You’ll probably wake up with great ideas and insights that you can use to get your job done faster and better than before. The more you do this and the more detailed you get, the more effective an efficient you will become.
There is a really nice side benefit you will get from doing this – you can visually see your progress. Who doesn’t like the feeling you get when you cross stuff off your list right? It’s progress, you achieved something that day. It will raise your emotional well being. Trust me. If you have one really big task to do, make sure to write down components on your daily plan. That way you have something to mark off as you make progress.
Want to take it a step further?
Make 3 different lists – daily, weekly and monthly. After you get good at the daily exercise, start trying to plan all 3 in advance. If you want to be less aggressive, move to weekly for a month or two and then graduate to the point you can add monthly lists. I’d recommend you review the lists with your boss during your 1-2-1 meetings.
Oct 30
“Almost always, the creative dedicated minority has made the world better.”
Oct 29
“Do not dwell in the past, do not dream of the future, concentrate the mind on the present moment.”
- Buddha
Oct 26
I was driving back from Ventura to LAX this week and while listening to KROQ they mentioned that Vanity Fair had released their list of the “Top 10 Movie Soundtracks of All Time“. They are as follows:
10 The Big Chill
09 American Graffiti
08 Saturday Night Fever
07 Trainspotting
06 Superfly
05 The Graduate
04 Pulp Fiction
03 The Harder They Come
02 A Hard Day’s Night
01 Purple Rain
As I listened to this list I cound not help but think they were missing several albums I think are critical to having a good Top 10. How about this alternative?
01 The Wall
02 A hard Day’s Night
03 O’ Brother Where Art Thou
04 Pulp Fiction
05 Grease
06 Saturday Night Fever
07 The Big Chill
08 American Graffiti
09 Grosse Pointe Blank
10 Purple Rain
Honorable Mention: This is Spinal Tap, Tenacious D (yea, I know this wasn’t really a movie but it should have been), Little Shop of Horrors and Rocky Horror Picture Show. And lets not forget the beautiful and noteworthy use of Wagner and the Doors in Apocalypse Now.
Oct 26
“If knowledge can create problems, it is not through ignorance that we can solve them.”
Oct 25
“Destiny is not a matter of chance, it is a matter of choice; it is not a thing to be waited for, it is a thing to be achieved.”
The #1 thing you can do to help ensure that you get more done is to put your goals on paper. Seriously, only 3 percent of adults have clear, written goals. When you compare these folks to their equally educated peers they accomplish 5 to 10 times more. Do you know what your goals are? Figure them out and try and get as much clarity around them as you can. Write them down, share them with others, etc . . .
I belong to a group in Nashville called Vistage and they have a “Probability of Completing a Goal” model they share with people to help them understand how important it is to write down your goals, share them and meet with someone to review them on an ongoing basis.
- 10% complete a goal when they simply hear it as an idea or suggestion from another.
- 25% complete a goal when they consciously decide to adopt and write it down
- 40% complete a goal when they decide when to do it – in other words, make it time bound
- 50% complete a goal when they plan how to do it – this means writing down specific tasks, tactics, milestones, etc . . .
- 65% complete a goal when they commit to someone else that you will do it
- 95% complete a goal when they have ongoing reviews, an accountability appointment if you will, with the person that they made the commitment with
Brian Tracy, in “Eat that Frog” suggests the following seven steps for dramatically increasing the likelihood of achieving your goals.
Step 1 – Decide exactly what you want. If you use this for work goals, discuss with your boss. What exactly is expected of you and in what order?
Step 2 – Write it Down on Paper. As indicated above, something happens when we write our goals down on paper. It’s as close to magic as you will find at work. Writing it down, will help make it more real. If you want to take it a step further, share you goals with others. That will further increase your likelihood of achieving them.
Step 3 – Set a deadline (or sub-deadlines). This is a key part of having S.M.A.R.T. goals. Set a deadline and hold your self accountable for the date. Without this, your goals and tasks will lack urgency.
Step 4 – Make a list of everything you can think of you are going to have to do to achieve your goal. Keep adding stuff to the list until it is complete. It is a living list that grows and shrinks as the project/goal moves forward.
Step 5 – Organize the list into a plan by priority and sequence.
Step 6 – Take action on your plan immediately. An average plan executed vigorously is far better than a brilliant plan that lacks action. Or as Guy Kawasaki said, “Don’t worry, be crappy!”.
Step 7 – Resolve to do something everyday that moves you toward you goal.
Clearly written goals have a stunning effect on your thinking, they motivate you, create energy, release creativity and stimulate action. What are your goals, both professional and personal? Who do you talk to about them? Do you discuss them regularly?
Oct 25
“What does it mean to pre-board? Do you get on before you get on?”
Oct 24
“Don’t worry, be crappy. Revolutionary means you ship and then test… Lots of things made the first Mac in 1984 a piece of crap – but it was a revolutionary piece of crap.”
Oct 23
A neat little book I have been reading called “Eat that Frog!”, has a list of 21 great ways to stop procrastinating and get more done in the same amount of time. Hey, who wouldn’t like that right? The premise is based on a quote from one my favorite people, one worth quoting for sure, Mark Twain. Twain once said, “If the first thing you had to do every morning was to eat a live frog, then you can go through the entire day with the satisfaction of knowing that was probably the worst thing that you were going to have to do that day”. That seemed to resonate a little.
The books suggests your biggest, most important task, the one you will probably avoid, is your own personal warty toad. If you are like most folks, you may have more than one frog on the menu. If you do, eat the ugliest one first and move on to the next one immediately. And, for goodness sake, if you have a frog to eat, just get on with it. It doesn’t get any easier sitting there staring at it for any length of time. Get it over with; the rest of the day will be much easier in comparison.
I’m going to try and post several of the other suggestions in the book on the blog. Hope you enjoy them. If you’d prefer to read the book just let me know and I’ll share it with you.
Oct 23
“Generally speaking, a howling wilderness does not howl: it is the imagination of the traveler that does the howling.”
Oct 22
“It is error alone which needs the support of government. Truth can stand by itself.”
Oct 19
“A subtle thought that is in error may yet give rise to fruitful inquiry that can establish truths of great value.”
Oct 18
We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is a habit.
– Socrates
Oct 17
A friend of mine who is really into wines was explaining to me that Bordeax wines are going to be released this year for the 2005 grapes. I thought I would share here because I know many of you enjoy a good bottle of wine. My friend basically said the value of these wines will essentially double overnight. His comments are below:
The best rated years for Bordeaux have been 2000 followed closely by 2005. In regards to which to pick, you should look for the following appellation/type i.e. Pomerol/St. Emilion. Also, Medoc for the same two years was rated slightly higher in quality, but I doubt anyone would know the difference e.g. Chateau Beychevelle 2003 Sain-Julien; $35…picked as the Best of the Best in 2006. Other notable Bordeaux comes from Haut Brion, Rothschild, etc. If you stay with 2005 and Bordeaux or Medoc, I believe that you will be very satisfied.
He also recommended other wines that you may want to try that are not well known are:
- Thomas Fogarty, 2004 Estate Grown Pinot Noir (Santa Cruz Mountains) $45…a very low yield wine that is drinkable now through 2010.
- Canyon Road, 2004 Merlot (California), $10…great for inexpensive entertaining.
- Bonterra 2002 The McNab (Mendocino) $45…this is a Bordeaux blend with some Petite Sirah…really versatile…will go with quite a wide range of foods.
- Vie Winery 2004 Last Leg Cuvee, $38…resembles Bordeaux but is a blend of Syrah, Zinfandel, and Petite Sirah.
- Floral Springs 2005 Barrel Fermented Chardonnay (Napa Valley) $25.
- Lachini 2004 “S” Pinot Noir (Willamette Valley), $40.
- Raymond 2005 R Collection Chardonnay (Monterrey) $13.
- Pepperwood Grove 2005 Chardonnay (California) $8
- Concannon 2005 Limited Release Pinot Noir (Central Coast) $14
Oct 17
“Fear doesn’t exist anywhere except in the mind.”
Oct 15
Bob and Sam were identical twins born in London in 1911. Bob was born before Sam but Sam was older than Bob. How come?
Oct 14
“Be curious, not judgmental.”
Oct 12
Laughter is America’s most important export.
