Do not pass go, do not collect $200...do a backup!

I am so glad I did a backup.

A colleague of mine told me this one day.  On a business trip to New York, his computer (a PC) crashed.  And this wasn't just a shut down error experience - all the data was gone!

He walked into a computer store and bought a new machine (a Mac).  A few hours later, in his hotel room, he had synchronized all of his files over the Internet.  Even though he was out a little bit of cash, and a couple of hours of time, he was back on track...

You see, he had slowed down in order to speed up.

Many times, in our speed-of-light life, we experience things that get in our way of doing what we know we need to do. Think about it, have you ever heard yourself say any of the following?

I do not have time to back up my computer.
I did not have time to meet with a lawyer to create a family trust.
I just can't find the time to take my family on vacation.
I wish I had the time to enjoy some of my old hobbies.

Any one of these comments could sound familiar to you?

The purpose of this entry is not to remind you of what you are not doing; it is to encourage you to find real-life examples of what you can do to move forward

What can you do, starting today, to clarify the outcomes you hope to experience and identify actions to get closer to your dreams and goals? 

Now at the beginning of this entry I told the story of backing up a computer.  That is just a piece of the story.  The underlying message is much more important to this discussion.  What does backing up the hard disk signify? 

Here is what I think: my friend stopped all of his work to take an objective picture of current reality at a particular (and historical) moment in time. It is important to note here that he understood the reality would change the very next time he opened an application on his computer. 

Every time you enter the spreadsheet information or draft a report, visit a web site, or save a document, your computer writes a new memory.  Think about this: What happens if every day you add more to the system? You can imagine that storage bank grows bigger and bigger.  And, the bigger the databank, the longer it will take to go find what you need, when you need it.

I could go on, but I hope you get the message...do a backup!