Your best just got better

Happy Blog Day

What is BlogDay?

BlogDay was created with the belief that bloggers should have one day dedicated to getting to know other bloggers from other countries and areas of interest. On that day Bloggers will recommend other blogs to their blog visitors.

With the goal in mind, on this day every blogger will post a recommendation of 5 new blogs. This way, all blog readers will find themselves leaping around and discovering new, previously unknown blogs.

                               

Well, with a single-minded focus on encouraging a mentor of mine (ok, Dad, times up...let's get your blogging started!) to start a blog, I was inspired this morning to learn it is Blog Day!

Using yet "another" social-networking tool, Twitter, I learned from Chris Brogan that today is, indeed, a day to celebrate the blog.

So, I'm going to find my 5 blogs (that's my homework) and then see if I can encourage my Dad to get his blog up and running! It should be easier to start...just visit the How To Start Your Blog Site!

Creativity - what do people DO?

I'm on a mission this year. Well, several, actually. One topic that's grabbing my interest lately is "creativity." I wonder: who has it, how did they get it, why do they use it, and what - exactly - is it?

I figure, if I can understand how creative people do their job, their life, their work, I could use those tools in my own life. In what I do - speaking, writing, traveling - and how I spend my time - home-ownership, marriage, triathlon - I realize that the more I can create, the more I can give back.

I've come up with a few things lately:

-Creative people accept the gifts they have, and use them as much as they can;

-Creative people celebrate completion. They look at what they've done, no matter how big or small, as a stepping stone to their future;

-Creative people do something, every day, that uplifts their spirit; something that is meaningful, that they love, something that brings them delight;

and

-Creative people embrace possibility and create opportunity. They read an article, pick up a new book, introduce themselves to someone nearby.

I'm committed this year to enhancing my creativity. I am doing things, every day, that create more opportunity. Most of all, I am efficiently handling my agreements and celebrating completion.

Need a reason to train? www.CarpinteriaTriathlon.com

Well, one of my favorite events of the year (the Carpinteria Triathlon) has a brand new look on their website. If you are:

1. Interested in learning about triathlon
2. Looking for a little inspiration to visit the CA coast
3. Wanting to hear me talk about the why behind the racing...

Just click here for the Carp Tri Website

3 Ways to Work on the Most Important Things

Enhance your focus on the Most Important Things (MITs)

Just yesterday I was working with a client who'd seen our Time Management DVD, and asked, "How do make sure you work on the most important things every day?"

It's a great question, and before I share my own ideas, I ask you to think to yourself: "How can I work on something really important (professional OR personal) before the sun goes down today?"

Ok, here are some of the things I recommend:

1) Turn off your computer monitor, and set an alarm to work on one "file" for 15 minutes. Read, write or plan until the alarm tells you 15 minutes have passed. Before you go on to to something else, decide what "next" would be and write that down on your "to do" list.

2) At the end of the day, write 3 specific projects you want to work on the next day. Put that paper with your car keys or wallet - look at it before you leave for work, and decide: Yes or No! If YES: Set yourself up for success. Leave those materials on your desk, and image-in yourself working on them the next day. (If NO, then choose something else to fill out your "top 3" list!)

3) Ask someone to watch you work for an hour. Don't talk them, and don't do anything differently - just respond to e-mails, file papers, write notes...do what you normally do. At the end, ask them to tell you what they saw. How did you stay focused, and where did you lose focus? Having someone watch me work gives an insight into HOW I am getting things done; not simply what I do during any 8, 10, 15 hour time period.

A thank you to Chris Baker (Wired Mag) and Leland Chee (Lucasfilm)

Well, I was only a few years old (yes, dating myself here) when Star Wars, Episode IV made it to the theaters. A fan from day one, my mom bought me toys, models and all kinds of gear so my brother and I  could pre-tend to be saving the universe!

Well, the article in Wired Magazine this month (Wired-16.09, September 2008) by Chris Baker (after meeting with Leland Chee at Lucasfilm) is awesome! If you get the chance, pick it and read through it ... even if you're NOT interested in the Force or Wookies!

Just one excerpt from the article/website:

So Chee spends three-quarters of his typical workday consulting or updating the Holocron. He also approves packaging designs, scans novels for errors, and creates Talmudic charts and documents addressing such issues as which Jedi were still alive during the Clone Wars and how long it takes a spaceship to get from Dagobah, where Yoda trained Luke Skywalker, to Luke's homeworld of Tatooine. The Keeper of the Holocron takes this very seriously: "Someone has to be able to say, 'Luke Skywalker would not have that color of lightsaber.'"

I saw this online, as well: Leland Chee, Keeper of the Holocron.

What is the ROI on your productivity? [Return on Investment]

Jodi and I wrote an article recently for Mortgage Originator Magazine (online edition)! Please visit, read, pass it on, and even leave a comment...thanks!

What's your "what for?"

On a drive from Ojai to Los Angeles this morning, I took the "quiet time" to listen...not to the radio, not to my voicemail, not to a book on CD; instead, I decided to listen to my own mind.

Over the past few months, I've noticed a theme of over-promising (to myself and to others) and then scrambling through late(r) nights, and over weekend days to get those things done. Today, I went through a "thought experiment" I call

...so that...

with several of my projects.

I think of a project, and identify a successful, valuable, end result. Then, I say to myself, "I am going to achieve that outcome so that..." and I fill in the blank.

As soon as I fill in the blank with one so that, I do it again; this time with THAT as the prompt. "I am going to achieve _______________ so that..."

It sure takes a while, but some of the clarity I experience on the other side is well worth the exercise.

How do you do that "task thing" in Outlook 2007?

Someone wrote in last week asking about setting up a "new task" in Outlook 2007. So, I put together a one-minute video here.

Q&A TeleSeminar today, 10am (08/19/2008)

At 10am PST, I'll host a 15-minute Q&A session for anyone who has attended one of our seminars this summer!

Please call in about 5 minutes early, just to get entered into the call and to get ready for our TeleConference. How do you do it? Pretty simple:

Call  (712) 451-6000

Listen to the welcome message and prompts and then:

Enter Code - 951197#

What was that...that just happened?

Ok, if you're anything like me, from time to time you lose focus. Yeah, it happpens.

While reading a book, talking on the phone, out for a run, or even at dinner with my wife...my mind way wander.

QUESTION: When it wanders, where does your mind go? For years, I've practiced "living with pen and paper." You see, I can't help my fleeting thoughts from coming in (or going back out!), but I can stop them from coming in again and again...by writing them down!

Give it a try, for the next five days, do these two things:

1) Bring paper and pen with you EVERYWHERE.
2) Write more things down.