New Year's Resolutions

I certainly don't agree with all of these.  And I highly resent that the wardrobe suggestions are all for men. (Hello?  What century are we in?)  But some of them I liked.  The reading and taking online courses.  Of course I do that anyway.  Also, to suggest that it's okay to drink until you black out is insane.
http://www.businessinsider.com/gselevator-guide-to-new-years-resolutions-2013-12

Time Management (again)

This post was a good reminder of many of the time management skills that have been helpful to me.  If only I would do them...  Since I never have to have meetings, those posts were ignored.  The graphic is odd, but information good.
http://www.businessinsider.com/time-management-and-productivity-hacks-2013-4?utm_source=alerts&nr_email_referer=1#-27

Do Less to Get More Done

This is a rehash of things I've read in other places, and bears emphasizing.  It's similar to the concept of lions on the hunt.  They don't waste their energy on small prey, they wait for the large prey.  But it can be harder for those of us who employ ourselves, when sometimes it can be a guess of what activity may or may not have the most impact.

"In a time of constant movement, constant communication, continual achievement and an ongoing list of to-dos, at the end of the day, we feel we’ll never get ahead. It seems like our days are controlling us, rather than us controlling them.

This constant busyness can actually take you off course from your high-value goals; hurt your physical, psychological and emotional system; and even damage or destroy relationships.
I’ve been studying some of the top executives, CEOs, authors and millionaires over the past couple of years, and I’d like to share some things I’ve observed that might help you work at your productive best:

1. 80/20 everything.

This is called Pareto’s Law. It can be summarized as follows: 80% of your output results from 20% of your input. Out of 10 tasks and activities you want to accomplish, two of them will produce more results than the other eight combined.
Sometimes when we get busy, we feel we must get more done rather than focus on the tasks that create bigger results. Challenge yourself to really think intelligently about what 20% of your work you can do with absolute focus that will yield huge results.

2. Most things don’t matter.

I remember Tim Ferris stating that “most things make no difference.” Being busy is a form of laziness, lazy thinking and indiscriminate action. Being overwhelmed is often as unproductive as doing nothing, and is far more unpleasant.
Being selective and taking more intelligent action is really the path to high productivity. Focus on the important few and ignore or delegate the rest.

3. Doing something unimportant well doesn’t make it any more important.

Activities that aren’t connected to an outcome or purpose are the drain of all fortune. Understand that what you do is a lot more important than how you do it. Effectiveness is still important, but it’s useless unless applied to the right things.
There are a handful of things you could be focusing on that will create exceptional outcomes for your goals. It’s easy to get caught in a flood of trivial matters.
The key to not feeling rushed is remembering that lack of time actually means lack of priorities. Take time to stop and refocus your priorities as often as needed. Intelligent thinking combined with the right action will get your productivity to a level few attain. Remember what Jim Collins stated in his bestseller Good To Great: “If you have more than three priorities, you don’t have any.”

4. Obey Parkinson’s Law.

Parkinson’s Law dictates that a task will become of larger importance and complexity in relation to the time allotted for its completion. I have personally found high value in deadlines. If I give you 12 hours to complete a project, the time pressure forces you to focus on execution, and you have no choice but to do only the essentials. If I give you a week to complete the same task, it will most likely be six days of validation, excuses and procrastination and one day of rushed work. If I give you a month, it usually becomes a mental monster.
The result of deadlines is often higher quality due to greater focus.
Identify the few critical tasks that contribute most to your income, and schedule them with very short and clear deadlines. If you haven’t identified your critical tasks and set aggressive start and end times for their completion, the unimportant becomes important. Even if you know what’s critical, without deadlines that create focus, the minor tasks forced upon you will rise to consume time until another minuscule task jumps in to replace it, leaving you at the end of the day with nothing accomplished.
I’ve spent months jumping from one interruption to the next, feeling run by my business instead of the other way around. Don’t make the same mistake — instead, adopt these four strategies in your life and business today."


Read more: http://blog.brazencareerist.com/2013/11/13/4-strategies-for-cranking-up-your-productivity/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=4-strategies-for-cranking-up-your-productivity#ixzz2kokXIqEe

5 things to consider doing in the a.m.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/jennifercohen/2013/10/02/5-things-super-successful-people-do-before-8-am/

Work Spaces

Curiosity about other people's work spaces is a sort of sub theme of this blog. This guy's work space is truly awe inspiring.  Click through to see the rest of his photos. Catnip to someone like me.

Die Empty

Tricks to stay motivated and focused?

Not sure if I like that title so much, but it harkens back to Buddhist thought and even Carlos Castenada, to keep death at your shoulder.  But it this context, it's to be more focused and fearless and motivated to do work that is crying out from your inner self.

“Did the work I did today really matter?”  

Others I’ve met are incredibly successful at, vested in, and highly compensated for their work, but over time they’ve grown stagnant. They sense they have something more to give, but they can’t quite put their finger on why they’re stuck in first gear.  

This begs the obvious question: How do you set in motion a course of action that will allow you to unleash your best, most valuable work while you still can?  

The marketplace is filled with (often simplistic and unhelpful) platitudes about living a life of fulfillment, landing your dream job, and discovering your purpose, but when you are in the midst of the fray it can feel futile to think about anything other than hitting your deadlines and chasing the next promotion. It’s easy to get lost, and wake up many years later asking yourself, “Who am I, how did I get here, and how do I go back?” 

In my first book, “The Accidental Creative,” I recounted a meeting in which a friend asked a strange and unexpected question: “What do you think is the most valuable land in the world?” 

Several people threw out guesses, such as Manhattan, the oil fields of the Middle East, and the gold mines of South Africa, before our friend indicated that we were way off track. He paused for a moment, and said, “You’re all wrong. The most valuable land in the world is the graveyard. In the graveyard are buried all of the unwritten novels, never-launched businesses, unreconciled relationships, and all of the other things that people thought, ‘I’ll get around to that tomorrow.’ One day, however, their tomorrows ran out.” 

That day I went back to my office and I wrote down two words that have been my primary operating ethic for the last several years: Die Empty.  

I want to know that if I lay my head down tonight and don’t wake up tomorrow, I have emptied myself of whatever creativity is lingering inside, with minimal regrets about how I spent my focus, time, and energy. This doesn’t happen by accident; it takes intentional and sustained effort. 

My new book, “Die Empty,” is about cultivating the mind-set and the methods you need to unleash your best work each day, and to increase the odds that, at the end of your life, you will not regret how you spent your days. It lays out a set of core beliefs that will help you be more purposeful in how you approach your work. They are: 

You have a unique contribution to make to the world. 

This is not self-help mumbo jumbo; it’s the truth. You possess a one-of-a-kind combination of passions, skills, and experiences. There is something you bring to your work that no one else could. If you relinquish that power, then it will never see the light of day, and you will always wonder “what if?”  

No one else can make your contribution for you.

Waiting for permission to act is the easy way out. Everyone has to play the hand they’re dealt. This means that you can’t make a habit of pointing fingers, blaming others, or complaining. As painful as it can be, unfairness is baked into every aspect of life, and to make a contribution and empty yourself of your potential, you have to come to terms with it and refuse to be a victim. 

Your contribution is not about you. 

You cannot function solely out of a desire to be recognized for what you do. You may be rewarded with accolades and riches for your work. You may also labor in obscurity doing brilliant work your entire life. More likely, you’ll fall somewhere in the middle. Cultivating a love of the process is the key to making a lasting contribution. 

Avoid comfort. It is dangerous. 

If making a significant impact were easy, it would be commonplace. It’s not common because there are many forces that lead to stagnancy and mediocrity. Organizations often make it easy to settle in, providing you with a good salary, a nice title, or a sense of stability. But the love of comfort is often the enemy of greatness. Greatness emerges when you consistently choose to do what’s right, even when it’s uncomfortable. 

Take a stand. Don’t shape-shift. 

You are better positioned to make a contribution if you align your work around your values. Don’t be a mirror, passively reflecting the priorities of others. You must dig through the rubble to the core principles that guide your life. Then commit to engaging your work with a clean conscience. If you don’t stand for what you believe in, you will eventually lose yourself in your work. 

Your understanding of your “sweet spot” develops over time like film in a darkroom. 

Too many people want to come out of the gate with a clear understanding of their life’s mission. There is no one thing that you are wired to do, and there are many ways you can add value to the world. However, these opportunities will only become clear over time as you act, giving you clues as you experiment, fail, and succeed. You have to try different things before you will begin to see noticeable patterns. 

You must plant seeds today for a harvest later. 

What you plant today you reap tomorrow, or farther down the road. You must structure your life around daily progress based on what matters to you, building practices and activities that allow you to plant new seeds each day, with the knowledge that you will eventually see the fruits of your labor.

Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/unleash-your-best-work-to-die-empty-2013-10#ixzz2hW4UnIPD

Kill the Quitter Inside

http://the365effect.com/2013/02/28/no-excuses-ever-3-simple-steps-to-kill-the-quitter-inside/

Step 2 -

Try! – Get out there and do it.  I don’t care what it is that you’re trying to do but you have to put yourself out there and TRY, TRY, TRY.  No one else is going to do this for you.  Let me repeat that:

NO ONE ELSE IS GOING TO DO THIS FOR YOU

You’re the only one that can take the first steps and try.

You must be willing to look foolish, to get dirty, to make a mistake, to get up after being knocked down, to bleed and to fail.

If you want it, you are going to have to get it. You can have results or your excuses, but you can’t have both.  The Quitter Inside likes to tell you that “other people have tried and failed” or that “Its been done before” or the ever popular “I don’t think I can”.  The truth of the matter though, is that The Quitter has never tried.  The Quitter has never taken that leap of faith or tapped into the intestinal fortitude that truly makes life great. “Look before you leap, but leap you must”.

Lists, lists, and lists of lists

p 5 daily priorities. The mother of all lists is your daily to-do list. Remember, it has to be realistic and achievable, otherwise, you'll never get through it and it will transfer into a new day. Unforeseen emergencies are the most common reason for not completing task items. Set a reasonable time frame and know that your chances of completing your to-do item are greatest if you set a deadline date sooner rather than later. Most importantly, when you prioritize your top five items and actually get them done, there is a feeling of accomplishment. Did you know you are most productive at 10:26 a.m., according to a LondonOffices.com study? Plan your activities accordingly.

Productivity Pointers

Never confuse activity with accomplishment. Checking items off your list doesn't mean you are actually accomplishing anything. Stay focused on how these items will benefit you in the short- and long-term. To help add value to your list-building efforts, keep these top productivity tips, adapted from Forbes, in mind:

    Get more done by adding more hours to your week. Wake up an hour earlier.
    Maximize your time at work and use Sunday evening for planning the week.
    Learn how to say no. Focus first on what you need to achieve and stick to your guns.
    Work in 30-minute intervals focusing on one activity, then take a one-minute break to refocus.
http://money.usnews.com/money/blogs/outside-voices-careers/2013/07/31/4-lists-that-cement-your-future?s_cid=rss:outside-voices-careers:4-lists-that-cement-your-future

Orwell and Writing

“Writing a book is a horrible, exhausting struggle, like a long bout with some painful illness. One would never undertake such a thing if one were not driven on by some demon whom one can neither resist nor understand.”

― George Orwell

I don't pretend to be Orwell, but working on this poster presentation for the ISAMS, I must say, it does NOT feel good.  This quote gives me perspective as does the "War of Art."  It is a struggle against the sniper voices that come from inside telling you that you're full of it for even trying.

Make great stuff

Needs repeating.
Lesson learned: The BEST way to get famous is make amazing stuff. That’s it. Not blogging, networking, etc.

Read more: http://blog.bufferapp.com/failure-entrepreneur-12-successful-entrepreneurs-tell-us-the-biggest-lessons-theyve-learned#more-6321#ixzz2e9dERT2u

From Secret of the Ages

Much of this is echoed in today's productivity press, yet this book was written many decades ago.
From Secret of the Ages by Robert Collier, a classic.   (You just have to ignore is constant use of "men" and "man.")
1. Know what you want
2. Analyze what you must do to get it.
3. Plan ahead
4. Do one thing at a time
5. Finish and send that thing on its way
6. Once started KEEP GOING
7. If meet with a tough problem, sleep on it.

More Productivity Hacks

I especially like the "Airplane Days."  I have also found that I really look forward to time in the air and at the airport.  I read magazines I wouldn't normally read, get a different perspective, and find myself to be more creative and able to plan.  That's not productive in the "work" sense of the word, but it is quite valuable.
From Business Insider, as usual.

10 Habits and Books to go with them

List of attributes and books

The Seinfeld strategy for procrastination

I like this idea a lot.  His system charts progess instead of the interminable list of topics to research and write about (my usual tracking system.)

Lab/Work space

I, obviously, am super interested in work spaces.
Not sure why I'm captivated by this one..  It has none of the zen quality that I tend to like. Maybe it's because it looks like a lot might get done in here.

and just LOVE the floors and gym rings. sigh.

 

No excuses

My way of keeping track of a recent project

Really liked this whole rant

Damn it, you have to kill those excuses. Or they will kill you.

Interval Training for the Work Day

http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2013/07/19/how-interval-training-can-make-you-incredibly-efficient-at-work/?src=recg

More books

http://www.businessinsider.com/best-business-books-for-entrepreneurs-2013-5?op=1

Defining your own work

Michael Coté, Dell

Dell

Title: Director of cloud strategy and special programs 

Twitter: @cote

# Of Followers: 6,629

Profound Recent Tweet: “When you’re a kid, you have to work within the constraints given. “Being an adult” means you redefine them.”

Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/23-enterprise-it-people-you-should-follow-2013-5?op=1#ixzz2UaqmhDRv

Distractions: Lethal

I think this says it all.  She echoes Pressfield, who calls fighting the resistance, "a fight to the death."
Twitter: @VanessaAlvarez1

Profound Recent Tweet: "Distractions, no matter how pleasurable, can be lethal. The faster you eliminate them, the better."

Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/23-enterprise-it-people-you-should-follow-2013-5?op=1#ixzz2UapWLJgi

Priorities and Living by Design

(I knew it had been awhile since I last posted, but, wow, didn't realize it had been this long. Not that I haven't picked up lots of ideas during recent travels and writing. Time, time, time...)
Focus on Time Efficiency
Prioritization is a key component of success. You can't reach your pinnacle if you are wasting time on distractions. Integration of activities frees up time for greater achievement. Spend your time on activities that are fun, enlightening and productive and soon you'll have gained hours to reap the benefits of success.
Ultimately, really successful people live their lives by design instead of default, so if you want to be one of them, dedicate time and effort to determining the plan for your preferred future and execute that plan in a focused and consistent manner.

Read more: http://www.inc.com/kevin-daum/8-things-really-successful-people-do.html?nav=pop#ixzz2StVkxlIM

How to Make Better Choices

 their book, Decisive: How to Make Better Choices in Life and Work, Chip and Dan Heath lay out the four key problems that lead us astray when making decisions:

• Narrow framing: Exploring few options. Seeing issues as a binary (Yes/No.)
• Confirmation bias: Only seeking information that supports your beliefs and discounting what disagrees with them.
• Short-term emotion: Letting a temporary mood affect a longer term choice.
• Overconfidence: Being way too sure you know how things will turn out.

How can we overcome each of these?
Narrow Framing:

Widen your options: What would you do if your current options disappeared? How else could you resolve the issue? Another solution is to look for others who have solved your problem and imitate them.

Confirmation bias:

Reality test your assumptions: Consider the alternative. Play devil’s advocate. Better yet, run a small test to see if your theory really works in a controlled fashion before you take big steps.

Short-term emotion:

Get some distance: Ask yourself how you’d feel about this decision 10 minutes from now, 10 months from now and 10 years from now. The long view will help you realize if you’re too caught in the moment. Another tip is to ask yourself “What would I tell my best friend to do in this situation?“

Overconfidence:

Prepare to be wrong: Take the time to sit down and really think about what could go wrong to make sure you’re ready for it.

Read more: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/bakadesuyo/~3/JJ3rEZZw4Zo/#ixzz2PUsnZ5O5

Time Hacks

Really like this one a lot.  One of the hardest strategies to learn and implement (for me) is to go with the momentum when working on something.  There is always a voice somewhere telling me to modulate, to be "well rounded," to keep perspective.  Turns out, that's the voice of the Resistance. Better to learn it late than never.

managing yourself

 “Effective executives know where their time goes. They work systematically at managing the little of their time that can be brought under their control.”
Record how you spend your time. Cut the things that steal it. Then consolidate your time into chunks big enough to accomplish good work.
Via The Effective Executive: The Definitive Guide to Getting the Right Things Done:

Effective executives, in my observation, do not start with their tasks. They start with their time. And they do not start out with planning. They start by finding out where their time actually goes. Then they attempt to manage their time and to cut back unproductive demands on their time. Finally they consolidate their “discretionary” time into the largest possible continuing units. This three-step process: recording time, managing time, and consolidating time…

2. “Effective executives focus on outward contribution. They gear their efforts to results rather than to work. They start out with the question, “What results are expected of me?” rather than with the work to be done, let alone with its techniques and tools.”

Don’t focus on the work in front of you, focus on results. If you’re just doing what comes in, you’re on the treadmill, not making a difference.
Via The Effective Executive: The Definitive Guide to Getting the Right Things Done:

If the executive lets the flow of events determine what he does, what he works on, and what he takes seriously, he will fritter himself away “operating.” He may be an excellent man. But he is certain to waste his knowledge and ability and to throw away what little effectiveness he might have achieved. What the executive needs are criteria which enable him to work on the truly important, that is, on contributions and results, even though the criteria are not found in the flow of events.

3. “Effective executives build on strengths—their own strengths, the strengths of their superiors, colleagues, and subordinates; and on the strengths in the situation, that is, on what they can do. They do not build on weakness. They do not start out with the things they cannot do.”

Judge people by what they’re good at. If you want people who are competent at everything you’ll end up with a team of mediocrities.
Via The Effective Executive: The Definitive Guide to Getting the Right Things Done:

The task is not to breed generalists. It is to enable the specialist to make himself and his specialty effective. This means that he must think through who is to use his output and what the user needs to know and to understand to be able to make productive the fragment the specialist produces… We can so structure as to make the strength relevant. A good tax accountant in private practice might be greatly hampered by his inability to get along with people. But in an organization such a man can be set up in an office of his own and shielded from direct contact with other people. In an organization one can make his strength effective and his weakness irrelevant.

Want to get ahead? You must do this for your boss as well. Stop bitching about what they’re bad at and do the work necessary to allow them to focus on what they are good at.
Via The Effective Executive: The Definitive Guide to Getting the Right Things Done:

Conversely, there is nothing quite as conducive to success, as a successful and rapidly promoted superior… The effective executive, therefore, asks: “What can my boss do really well?” “What has he done really well?” “What does he need to know to use his strength?” “What does he need to get from me to perform?” He does not worry too much over what the boss cannot do… Subordinates typically want to “reform” the boss. The able senior civil servant is inclined to see himself as the tutor to the newly appointed political head of his agency. He tries to get his boss to overcome his limitations. The effective ones ask instead: “What can the new boss do?” And if the answer is: “He is good at relationships with Congress, the White House, and the public,” then the civil servant works at making it possible for his minister to use these abilities.

Same goes for yourself. Do not turn yourself into a mediocre generalist. Delegate what you’re not good at and spend your time on what you are.

4. “Effective executives concentrate on the few major areas where superior performance will produce outstanding results. They force themselves to set priorities and stay with their priority decisions. They know that they have no choice but to do first things first—and second things not at all. The alternative is to get nothing done.”

Getting things done is not enough. You must get the right things done. What is most important? Focus on that.
Via The Effective Executive: The Definitive Guide to Getting the Right Things Done:

To be effective is the job of the executive. “To effect” and “to execute” are, after all, near-synonyms. Whether he works in a business or in a hospital, in a government agency or in a labor union, in a university or in the army, the executive is, first of all, expected to get the right things done. And this is simply that he is expected to be effective… All in all, the effective executive tries to be himself; he does not pretend to be someone else. He looks at his own performance and at his own results and tries to discern a pattern. “What are the things,” he asks, “that I seem to be able to do with relative ease, while they come rather hard to other people?”

5. “Effective executives, finally, make effective decisions. They know that this is, above all, a matter of system—of the right steps in the right sequence. They know that an effective decision is always a judgment based on “dissenting opinions” rather than on “consensus on the facts.” And they know that to make many decisions fast means to make the wrong decisions. What is needed are few, but fundamental, decisions. What is needed is the right strategy rather than razzle-dazzle tactics.”

The best decision makers don’t make many decisions. They focus on the ones that are important and the ones only they can solve. How can they do this?
Most situations are generic and have a standard solution. Once you understand this and know the standard solutions you can cut through the easy problems and focus on the few unique problems that really require effort.
Via The Effective Executive: The Definitive Guide to Getting the Right Things Done:

The effective executive does not need to make many decisions. Because he solves generic situations through a rule and policy, he can handle most events as cases under the rule; that is, by adaptation. “A country with many laws is a country of incompetent lawyers,” says an old legal proverb. It is a country which attempts to solve every problem as a unique phenomenon, rather than as a special case under general rules of law. Similarly, an executive who makes many decisions is both lazy and ineffectual. The decision-maker also always tests for signs that something atypical, something unusual, is happening; he always asks: “Does the explanation explain the observed events and does it explain all of them?; he always writes out what the solution is expected to make happen—make automobile accidents disappear, for instance—and then tests regularly to see if this really happens; and finally, he goes back and thinks the problem through again when he sees something atypical, when he finds phenomena his explanation does not really explain, or when the course of events deviates, even in details, from his expectations.

Read more: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/bakadesuyo/~3/wqoW3GEK0-8/#ixzz2Owdib9As

Going Pro

"The Professional cannot allow the actions of others to define his reality.  Tomorrow morning the critic will be gone, but the writer will still be there facing the blank page. Nothing matters but that he keep working. Short of a family crisis or the outbreak of Work War III, the professional shows up, ready to serve the gods.
Remember, Resistance wants us to cede sovereignty to others.  It wants us to stake our self-worth, our identity, our reason-for -being on the the response of others to our work.  Resistance knows we can't take this. No one can.
The professional blows critics off.  He doesn't even hear them.  Critics, he reminds himself, are the unwitting mouth-pieces of Resistance and as such can be truly cunning and pernicious.  They can articulate in their reviews the same toxic venom that Resistance itself concocts inside our heads.  That is their real evil.  Not that we believe them, but that we believe the Resistance in our own minds, for which critics serve as unconscious spokespersons.
The professional learns to recognize envy-driven criticism and to take it for what it is: the supreme compliment. The critic hates most that which he would have done himself if he had had the guts."

10 minute Increments:Parkinson's Law

Ikea Green Room. Gotta Love It.

I have been unwittingly been aware of Parkinson's law, though I always thought of it like a law of physics, that gas will fill a whatever space you give it.  Turns out some management theorist made the same case for a task. "Works expands so as to fill the time available for its completion.".
Sometimes that is true, and sometimes it isn't . Working on some online assignments today, I would have loved to complete them in 10 minutes, but that was not going to happen.
Ingvar Kamprad, founder of Ikea, one said, "if you split your day into ten-minute increcments, and tyou tryh to waste as few of those 10 minute increments as possible, you'll be amazed at what you can get done."
Author Josh Kaufman says to try work "counterfactually."  Your project will be done in 1 hour.  What would it take to get it done in that amount of time?

Going All In

I saw this post and recognized the "death" strategy from Buddhism and from Carlos Castenada.  Coincidentally, I used this approach on my last meditation retreat.  If you stay mindful and try to see each moment as your last, not only does it concentrate the mind, but gives you sense of tenderness towards the moment and life.  It also imbues a sense of fragility that is instructive and, let's face it, true.  The wording and sense of urgency in this post is similar to that in "War of Art."  A sort of "fight to the death" against the Resistance is Pressfield's mindset.

There’s something inspiring about knowing that you are going to die. That you are dying right now. It’s scary. But it inspires focus. It demands action, priority, and extreme behavior.

You’re suddenly "all in."

Because you have to be. Life demands it. You die if you don’t fight with every fiber of your soul.

You can’t be kinda “in.”  Or kinda sorta “in.”  You are “in” or you are “out”.

That’s it. The only choice.

Everything else appears to be a choice. But it’s just your brain’s way of protecting you — by lying to you.

If you want to be “in” all you need to do is act like it:

    Show up even when it hurts.

    Focus fiercely on the only thing that matters.

    Take extreme measures to make change happen

The difference is you.

Your intensity. Your relentlessness. Your unapologetic quest for answers and better results.

When you act that way, you’re guaranteed to do something incredible.

Because you’re “all in.

Fight Resistance Anew Every Day

This is a tough one.  One would hope that, with practice, you get used producing and the Resistance would back off.  But I guess not.  Yikes.

"Fear doesn't go away. The warrior and the artist live by the same code of necessity, which dictates that the battle must be fought anew everyday."

War of Art

Head of BP Petrobas Grew up in the favelas. Self mastery much?

From Steven Pressfield's book
"The paradox seems to be, as Socrates demonstrated long ago, that the truly free individual is free only to the extent of his own self mastery.  while those who will not govern themselves are condemned to find masters to govern over them."

I read the above excerpt after reading this today from Business Insider. If you click through there is a link to a video also.  This message is similar, that it all comes down to self mastery.  So easy! (NOT!!) (I know the photo of the head of Petrobas may not be the greatest example of "Art" but she definitely overcame obstacles and without a doubt has mastered herself.


The Art of Doing: How Superachievers Do What They Do And How They Do It So Well, is that they have found a way to overcome failure. 
"Every successful person, just like everyone else on the planet, is going to meet with failure," says her husband and co-author Josh Gosfield. "Instead of blaming everything on employees, the weather, the state of the economy, they take a merciless clear look at their own assumptions and biases [which allows] them to revinvent themselves."
We sat down with Sweeney and Gosfield to discuss what they learned from dozens of superachievers — from Momofuku Founder David Chang to Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh — including how to manage emotions like fear and self doubt. Watch our conversation here:

Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/the-art-of-doing-how-superachivers-do-what-they-do-2013-2#ixzz2M4VmWi6k

intuition

I don't know this author, but I am familiar with these concepts and do think they can be truly instructive.

Judith Orloff
 This gut-centered voice committed to your happiness, health, and survival is, with practice, accessible to everyone. But when you deviate even a nano-fraction from your inner voice, energy wanes, whether a subtle seepage or radical bottoming-out. The more ferociously faithful you are to this truth, the more energized you'll be.

Intuition offers a direct line to your life force, and also, as I experience it, to a divine intelligence. We can't afford to remain deaf to intuition's messages. Its expertise is energy; its job is to know every nuance of what makes you tick. A master at reading vibes, intuition is constantly tallying: what gives positive energy, what dissipates it. Who you meet, where you go, your job, your family, current events, are all evaluated -- crucial data that you can learn to interpret and apply.

Expect Fear

Gracas Foster. Head of Petrobas. Brought up in Favelas.

Am reading "Wild" by Cheryl Strayed, and she refers to the challenges she faced while hiking the Pacific Coast Trail alone and said that she was constantly having to do things she didn't want to do or feared doing.  This is also expressed by Seth Godin here.
But expecting, or counting on fear, obviously a powerful attitude.  At a recent silent meditation retreat, the teacher said to expect 20% criticism at least in whatever undertaking you do. 
From Business Insider

Some people get more done than others--a lot more.

Sure, they work hard. And they work smart. But they possess other qualities that make a major impact on their performance.

They do the work in spite of disapproval or ridicule.

Work too hard, strive too hard, appear to be too ambitious, try to stand out from the crowd. It's a lot easier and much more comfortable to reel it in to ensure you fit in.

Pleasing the (average-performing) crowd is something remarkably productive people don't worry about. (They may think about it, but then they keep pushing on.)

They hear the criticism, they take the potshots, they endure the laughter or derision or even hostility--and they keep on measuring themselves and their efforts by their own standards.

And, in the process, they achieve what they want to achieve.

They see fear the same way other people view lunch.

One of my clients is an outstanding--and outstandingly successful--comic. Audiences love him. He's crazy good.

Yet he still has panic attacks before he walks onstage. He knows he'll melt down, sweat through his shirt, feel sick to his stomach, and all the rest. It's just the way he is.

So, just before he goes onstage, he takes a quick shower, puts on fresh clothes, drinks a bottle of water, jumps up and down and does a little shadowboxing, and out he goes.

He's still scared. He knows he'll always be scared. He accepts it as part of the process. Pre-show fear is like lunch: It's going to happen.

Anyone hoping to achieve great things gets nervous. Anyone trying to achieve great things gets scared.

Productive people aren't braver than others; they just find the strength to keep moving forward. They realize fear is paralyzing while action creates confidence and self-assurance.

They can still do their best on their worst day.

Norman Mailer said, "Being a real writer means being able to do the work on a bad day."

Remarkably successful people don't make excuses. They forge ahead, because they know establishing great habits takes considerable time and effort. They know how easy it is to instantly create a bad habit by giving in--even just this one time.

They see creativity as the result of effort, not inspiration.

Most people wait for an idea. Most people think creativity happens. They expect a divine muse will someday show them a new way, a new approach, a new concept.

And they wait and wait and wait.

Occasionally, great ideas do just come to people. Mostly, though, creativity is the result of effort: toiling, striving, refining, testing, experimenting... The work itself results in inspiration.

Remarkably productive people don't wait for ideas. They don't wait for inspiration. They know that big ideas most often come from people who do, not people who dream.

They see help as essential, not weakness.

Pretend you travel to an unfamiliar country, you know only a few words of the language, and you're lost and a little scared.

Would you ask for help? Of course. No one knows everything. No one is great at everything.

Productive people soldier on and hope effort will overcome a lack of knowledge or skill. And it does, but only to a point.

Remarkably productive people also ask for help. They know asking for help is a sign of strength--and the key to achieving more.

They start...

At times, you will lack motivation and self-discipline. At times, you'll be easily distracted. At times, you'll fear failure or success.

Procrastination is a part of what makes people human; it's not possible to completely overcome any of those shortcomings.

Wanting to put off a difficult task is normal. Avoiding a challenge is normal.

But think about a time you put off a task, finally got started, and then, once into it, thought, "I don't know why I kept putting this off--it's going really well. And it didn't turn out to be nearly as hard as I imagined."

It never is.

Highly productive people try not to think about the pain they'll feel in the beginning; they focus on how good they will feel once they're engaged and involved.

And they get started. And then they don't stop.

...And they finish.

Unless there's a really, really good reason not to finish--which, of course, there almost never is.

Read more from Inc.

Read more: http://www.inc.com/jeff-haden/7-qualities-of-uber-productive-people.html#ixzz2Kn9Qhdlp

Tricks to Finishing To Do Lists

I wasn't going to post this because it seemed, well, a re-hash.  But I found myself going back to the 1-3-5 concept over and over, so I'll share.

Now that you have a comprehensive list of everything you have to do for work ever, you should define a daily to-do list. On any given day, assume that you can only accomplish one big thing, three medium things, and five small things. (Note: if you spend much of your day in meetings, you might need to revise this down a bit.) Before leaving work, take a few minutes to define your 1-3-5 for the next day, so you’re ready to hit the ground running in the morning. If your position is one where each day brings lots of unexpected tasks, try leaving one medium and two small tasks blank, in preparation for the last-minute requests from your boss.
Yes, I know it can be tough to narrow your list of to-dos down to 1-3-5—but it’s important to prioritize. Like it or not, you only have so many hours in the day and you’re only going to get a finite number of things done. Forcing yourself to choose a 1-3-5 list means the things you get done will be the things you chose to do—rather than what just happened to get done.

Read more: http://www.thedailymuse.com/career/why-you-never-finish-your-to-do-lists-at-work-and-how-to-change-that/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+daily-muse%2FWQfD+%28The+Daily+Mu.se%29#ixzz2KKLs9fYg

Being Willing to Make Mistakes TED talk Creativity

Robinson
This TED talk has been viewed over 4 million times
It is thought that this willingness to fail and make mistakes is what makes Israel such a locus of startups.  They see no shame in failing as long as it was a well reasoned endeavor.

Time Wasters

Not exactly an attitude tweak, but I thought a lot of these suggestions were worthwhile.  From Business Insider (the emphases are mine.)  I really liked the part about your "personal brand."  So true.
 If you want to be a successful entrepreneur, then you only need to do one thing: Invent, develop, and market a product or service that customers really need or want. There are, however, a few caveats:
It has to be an innovative solution to an important problem and far better, cheaper, or easier to use than competitive solutions.
You must be able to make enough money doing it to justify the investment in time and capital.
You have to have a laser-like focus on making all that happen.
That's all way easier said than done, I know. One of the reasons for that, and a big issue that holds most people back, is that last part, the need to have a "laser-like focus." The good news is it also happens to be the easiest hurdle to overcome because it's entirely within your control.
To that end, here are 10 things you absolutely need to quit doing right now if you want to make it as an entrepreneur:
You live online. Wasting time on Facebook. Playing with apps. Emailing and texting. Buying every stupid little gadget ever imagined. You quit doing all that, you'll have more time to actually get things done than you know what to do with.
You look for a lottery ticket. If you're after an easy way out, a quick fix, a silver bullet, an overnight viral success, I can tell you one thing for sure. You won't find it. Ever. That's just not how this sort of thing works.
You're building your "personal brand." If you're in the self-help genre and you want to be the next Tony Robbins or Tim Ferris, then promote yourself. Be my guest. Unless you are the product, focus on the product and its customers, not you.
You play small ball. Successful entrepreneurs don't do things halfway or half-assed. Focus on one thing, go all in, get it done, and do it right. What about serial entrepreneurs? Most people who call themselves that aren't. Also, the key word is serial, not parallel.
You network randomly. Relationships are critical to business success. Networking and schmoozing are key to forming relationships. But randomly connecting with thousands of strangers online won't help one bit. Be focused about it. And remember: one real, reliable relationship in the real world is worth a thousand online connections.
You troll for Twitter followers. If you're Ashton Kutcher or Kim Kardashian, that's great. Otherwise, it's nothing but a distraction--a complete and total waste of time.
You want stuff. Hopes and dreams are great, but one thing that successful entrepreneurs have in common is that they're lean and mean. They're willing to sacrifice. That's what helps to keep them focused. Necessity is the mother of invention. Wanting and owning lots of stuff is not.
You ask people how they can help you. Instead, ask them how you can help them. Believe it or not, that's the door opener for opportunity. WIIFM (What's In It For Me) isn't really about you, it's about understanding the motivation of the other person.
You have useless ideas. Yes, I know the story of 3M's Post-It Notes. It was an accident. Whatever. If you're paid to do pure research, that's great. Otherwise, start with a problem or a need, not a solution or an invention. Mark Zuckerberg wanted to rate the looks of female classmates. Shallow as that may be, it had a purpose.
You search for inspiration and positive reinforcement. If you're lost, that's fine. That's a very good way to find something. When you do, just make sure you're passionate about it. If not, keep looking. But if you have a low tolerance for obstacles and challenges, that's not a good sign. It helps if you're a self-driven problem solver, as opposed to a whiner who needs a lot of handholding.
One more thing. Stop trying to be more productive. Our obsession with personal productivity is, ironically, one of the biggest timewasters ever. The only productivity tips you need are on this page. If doing away with any of that stuff amounts to a big sacrifice, join the club. That's just how being an entrepreneur works.

 This post originally appeared at Inc.

Read more: http://www.inc.com/steve-tobak/10-things-you-need-to-quit-doing-right-now.html#ixzz2IvBVETDM

Questioning Assumptions

From the NYTimes

LESS common but vastly more effective is the cognitive approach that Professor Argyris called double-loop learning. In this mode we — like Mr. Chang — question every aspect of our approach, including our methodology, biases and deeply held assumptions. This more psychologically nuanced self-examination requires that we honestly challenge our beliefs and summon the courage to act on that information, which may lead to fresh ways of thinking about our lives and our goals.

Right Person Wrong Means

From the Bhagavad Gita:

Wise (wo)man doesn't lightly assume responsibility until he is satisfied that it is rightly his. If the right (wo)man uses the the wrong means, he will be wasting power and possibly producing troublesome consequences. There is a tide in the affairs of men which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune.

Welcoming Criticism

Yesterday my manuscript was rejected by the Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine.  I kicked myself that I let it go so long, since I had vowed not to work any further on the project until I received some sort of feedback. My bad.  Dealing with setbacks is a huge issue and one that this blog deals with. So now I need to heed all that advice and forge ahead.

One additional quote from Robert Greene.  It's from his book "Mastery" speaking about an academic named Everett who was being harassed by other academics.

"When Everett published his first book, Don't sleep, There are Snakes, some of these linguists wrote letter to critics who were going to review it, tryint to dissuade them from even discussing his material--it was too far below academic standards, they clamed.  They went to far as to put pressure on NPR, which awas about todo a large segment on Everett.  The show was canceled.
At first Everett could not help but become emotional.  What his detractors were bringing up in their arguemnts did not discredit his theory , but merely re ealed some possible weak points.  They seemed less interested in the truth and more concernted with making him look bad.  Quieckly, however, he moved past this emotional stage and began to use these attacks for his own purpose--they forc ed him to make sure everything he wrote was airtight;they make him rethink and strenghthen his arguments.  He could hear their possible criticisms in his head, and he addressed then one by one in his subsequent writing.  This make him a better wrtiher and thinker, and the controversy they stirred up only increased the sales of "Don't Sleep, There are Snakes, winning many converts to his argument in the process.  In the end, he came to welcome the attacks of his enemies for how much they had improved his work and toughened him up...
When it comes to practical life, what should matter is getting long-term results, and getting the work done in as efficient and creative a manner as possible.  That should be the supreme value that guides people's actions.

Do your ideas

Develop your ideas secure in the knowledge that money is always looking for an outlet.
First, have something the world needs. Find that need and how could it be filled or improved.

Be balsy

The majority of people don’t go after their wildest dreams because they think they’re unrealistic. Tim says it well: “Ninety-nine percent of people believe they can’t do great things, so they aim for mediocrity.” The level of competition is highest for realistic goals because most people don’t set high enough goals for themselves. But not only do you statistically have a better chance of achieving what may seem like an unrealistic goal, doing so fuels you. Once you feel the first high of accomplishing something major and seemingly unattainable, you want to go bigger and badder, and you force yourself to fulfill the need all the more. Even better, the technically smaller goals suddenly seem less daunting. 
George Elliot said, “It’s never too late to be what you might have been.” Don’t wait. Why not start now? Post one thing you want to do before you die in the comments below.

Boldness

“Concerning all acts of initiative (and creation), there is one elementary truth, the ignorance of which kills countless ideas and splendid plans: that the moment one definitely commits oneself, then Providence moves too. All sorts of things occur to help one that would never otherwise have occurred. A whole stream of events issues from the decision, raising in one’s favor all manner of unforeseen incidents and meetings and material assistance, which no man could have dreamed would have come his way. Whatever you can do, or dream you can do, begin it. Boldness has genius, power, and magic in it. Begin it now.”
- William Hutchinson Murray, The Scottish Himalayan Expedition (1951)

Resistance Practice: Robert Greene

This is the path of amateurs. To attain mastery, you must adopt what we shall call Resistance Practice. The principle is simple—you go in the opposite direction of all of your natural tendencies when it comes to practice. First, you resist the temptation to be nice to yourself. You become your own worst critic; you see your work as if through the eyes of others. You recognize your weaknesses, precisely the elements you are not good at. Those are the aspects you give precedence to in your practice. You find a kind of perverse pleasure in moving past the pain this might bring. Second, you resist the lure of easing up on your focus. You train yourself to concentrate in practice with double the intensity, as if it were the real thing times two. In devising your own routines, you become as creative as possible. You invent exercises that work upon your weaknesses. You give yourself arbitrary deadlines to meet certain standards, constantly pushing yourself past perceived limits. In this way you develop your own standards for excellence, generally higher than those of others.
In the end, your five hours of intense, focused work are the equivalent of ten for most people. Soon enough you will see the results of such practice, and others will marvel at the apparent ease in which you accomplish your deeds.

Becoming an Expert

10,000 hours
But a lot more than that, too.  Great stuff.
This blog has a tons of tips.

10,000 Hours of Deliberate Practice

It’s quantity and quality. You need tons of time spent training but it has to be the right kind of practice. Just showing up is not enough, you need to continually challenge yourself with the right kind of effort. “Deliberate Practice” is a specifically defined term. It involves goal setting, quick feedback, and countless drills to improve skills with an eye on mastery. It is not “just showing up” and, plain and simple, it’s not fun. What are the key elements?

Death Ground Strategy

From Robert Greene's book on War, this strategy is in alignment with Buddhist principles of mindfulness and staying in the moment.

You are your own worst enemy. You waste previous time dreaming of the future instead of engaging in the present. Cut your ties to the past — enter unknown territory. Place yourself on "death ground", where your back is against the wall and you have to fight like hell to get out alive.

Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/33-strategies-of-war-you-should-apply-to-everyday-life-2012-12?op=1#ixzz2GvWgY4mS

Effort Creates Ability

The findings of this research line up so exactly with the Lauren Resnick passage I wrote about the other day—the one in which she writes that “effort creates ability.” Factors like students’ motivation and study skills must be “nurtured by education” if all students are to succeed.

Read more: http://anniemurphypaul.com/2012/12/study-skills-and-motivation-matter-more-than-iq/#ixzz2GvUkTdWR