Ideas

  • Some Thoughts for the New Year

    101230 YDTW-ebook-sm-complete-jpg You never know where a spark of inspiration will come from.  Sometimes you get it from a quote or a story; other times it might come from a question …

    The truth is that sources of inspiration are always there for you.  The question is whether you are looking for them or notice them when they show up.

    Here's a source that I value for its practical wisdom and insights. 

    "Today Is Your Day to Win" is a series of 99 daily lessons, delivered by e-mail. On more than a few occasions, it brought me a message right when I needed it.

    It is written by Mike Brescia of Think Right Now, and it doesn't cost a cent.  Of course, to get the benefit, you will have to invest some time and mental cycles to consider the content.

    Here is a sample from one of the messages.

    Good Things Will Come To Me When I 

    ——————————
     Today's Empowering Quote
    ——————————

    "The best preparation for good work tomorrow is good work today."
         –Elbert Hubbard

    ——————————
     Today's Empowering Question
    ——————————     

     "What can I do now that will prepare me for tomorrow?"

    ——————————  
     Today's Fast Session 
    ——————————

    Often the most frustrating thing that any of us feel on a regular basis is to want something really bad, and not be able to get it right away.

    Yes, it's frustrating.  But it's usually not realistic, is it? …

    It's getting so that it's increasingly rare to find people who are truly willing to put in the requisite time necessary to get the traits or items they want.  Our world today is trying to teach us that we must get what we want immediately; that it's our right.  And that's why so many of us are jealous, smoke or drink, are overweight, use drugs, etc. …

    Life is NOT like school.

    101231-CrammingIn school, you can trick yourself into thinking you're doing great if you cram for exams and get decent scores. It is possible to get fairly good grades for a while that way.

    But you don't learn it.  You're likely to just remember it until the exam is over… maybe.

    That's why new college graduates often find it difficult to find a decent paying job.  Companies like successful work experience.  In college, you can fool the system and yourself.  In the professional world and in most other areas of life, it's a lot tougher.  Almost impossible.

    Real life is truly like a farm.

    On the farm, you must move the rocks, buy seeds and all the other stuff, plant the seeds, buy and maintain the equipment, pull weeds, keep the pests away, water the crops, buy and sell the animals, feed them, nurse the sick ones back to health, fertilize, etc.  And you need to keep up with it all everyday…
    101231-Farmer

    Or you won't have a crop at the end of the season.

    Life is like this, too.  Just like a farm, you can't "cram" in life.  Don't be fooled.  Don't believe the lies that others want you to believe.  You want to believe it. I know you do.  But think.

    The people who have the things you want earned them.  And don't believe they just got lucky.  Luck takes work. 

    Put the effort in today and you'll get luckier and luckier.  Will it be immediately?  Probably not.  Beat this into your head… Anything worth having takes time to get it.

    When I'm tempted to believe that I should have something (before I've earned it), I think of my grandparents.

    They owned a farm.

    And I realize that life can be long and that I can't put tomorrow before today.

    Then I look at my goal, put my shoulder down and keep going…

    With a smile on my face.

    ——————————
    Today's Winning Beliefs
    ——————————

    I'm at peace with my responsibilities.
    I'm preparing myself for tomorrow today.

    Here is a link to the complete archive of lessons.

    Let me know if you found other sources of inspiration worth sharing.

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  • Some Thoughts for the New Year

    101230 YDTW-ebook-sm-complete-jpg You never know where a spark of inspiration will come from.  Sometimes you get it from a quote or a story; other times it might come from a question …

    The truth is that sources of inspiration are always there for you.  The question is whether you are looking for them or notice them when they show up.

    Here's a source that I value for its practical wisdom and insights. 

    "Today Is Your Day to Win" is a series of 99 daily lessons, delivered by e-mail. On more than a few occasions, it brought me a message right when I needed it.

    It is written by Mike Brescia of Think Right Now, and it doesn't cost a cent.  Of course, to get the benefit, you will have to invest some time and mental cycles to consider the content.

    Here is a sample from one of the messages.

    Good Things Will Come To Me When I 

    ——————————
     Today's Empowering Quote
    ——————————

    "The best preparation for good work tomorrow is good work today."
         –Elbert Hubbard

    ——————————
     Today's Empowering Question
    ——————————     

     "What can I do now that will prepare me for tomorrow?"

    ——————————  
     Today's Fast Session 
    ——————————

    Often the most frustrating thing that any of us feel on a regular basis is to want something really bad, and not be able to get it right away.

    Yes, it's frustrating.  But it's usually not realistic, is it? …

    It's getting so that it's increasingly rare to find people who are truly willing to put in the requisite time necessary to get the traits or items they want.  Our world today is trying to teach us that we must get what we want immediately; that it's our right.  And that's why so many of us are jealous, smoke or drink, are overweight, use drugs, etc. …

    Life is NOT like school.

    101231-CrammingIn school, you can trick yourself into thinking you're doing great if you cram for exams and get decent scores. It is possible to get fairly good grades for a while that way.

    But you don't learn it.  You're likely to just remember it until the exam is over… maybe.

    That's why new college graduates often find it difficult to find a decent paying job.  Companies like successful work experience.  In college, you can fool the system and yourself.  In the professional world and in most other areas of life, it's a lot tougher.  Almost impossible.

    Real life is truly like a farm.

    On the farm, you must move the rocks, buy seeds and all the other stuff, plant the seeds, buy and maintain the equipment, pull weeds, keep the pests away, water the crops, buy and sell the animals, feed them, nurse the sick ones back to health, fertilize, etc.  And you need to keep up with it all everyday…
    101231-Farmer

    Or you won't have a crop at the end of the season.

    Life is like this, too.  Just like a farm, you can't "cram" in life.  Don't be fooled.  Don't believe the lies that others want you to believe.  You want to believe it. I know you do.  But think.

    The people who have the things you want earned them.  And don't believe they just got lucky.  Luck takes work. 

    Put the effort in today and you'll get luckier and luckier.  Will it be immediately?  Probably not.  Beat this into your head… Anything worth having takes time to get it.

    When I'm tempted to believe that I should have something (before I've earned it), I think of my grandparents.

    They owned a farm.

    And I realize that life can be long and that I can't put tomorrow before today.

    Then I look at my goal, put my shoulder down and keep going…

    With a smile on my face.

    ——————————
    Today's Winning Beliefs
    ——————————

    I'm at peace with my responsibilities.
    I'm preparing myself for tomorrow today.

    Here is a link to the complete archive of lessons.

    Let me know if you found other sources of inspiration worth sharing.

    Enhanced by Zemanta

  • Communications 101 Reminders

    101124-Communication-Define It turns out that it only takes minor misunderstandings to radically affect progress.  Likewise, it only takes minor changes to put things back on the right track and "unlock" a situation.

    Here's an example from a recent strategic planning session in my company.

    On several occasions during the planning session, I said "I've already given you that", or "we agreed on that before".

    However, if we really were communicating, then there wouldn't still be an issue. Clearly, something was getting in the way of true communication.

    What Can Cause This?

    One of the issues was "bandwidth". If someone feels so overwhelmed that they can't take in anything more, then what would have been signal turns out to be noise. Another way to say that is even a reasonable request can seem unreasonable if the person is overwhelmed and doesn't feel like they have the resources to accomplish what they need.

    101124-Listening
    A related issue is understanding, but not agreeing. In other words, we can talk about an issue … but until someone says "yes" there isn't agreement. For example, in a car dealership there's a difference between saying "I really liked that car", or even "I really want to buy that car", versus "yes, I will buy this car."

    The same dynamic plays out in a business meeting, and the stakes are often higher.

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  • Communications 101 Reminders

    101124-Communication-Define It turns out that it only takes minor misunderstandings to radically affect progress.  Likewise, it only takes minor changes to put things back on the right track and "unlock" a situation.

    Here's an example from a recent strategic planning session in my company.

    On several occasions during the planning session, I said "I've already given you that", or "we agreed on that before".

    However, if we really were communicating, then there wouldn't still be an issue. Clearly, something was getting in the way of true communication.

    What Can Cause This?

    One of the issues was "bandwidth". If someone feels so overwhelmed that they can't take in anything more, then what would have been signal turns out to be noise. Another way to say that is even a reasonable request can seem unreasonable if the person is overwhelmed and doesn't feel like they have the resources to accomplish what they need.

    101124-Listening
    A related issue is understanding, but not agreeing. In other words, we can talk about an issue … but until someone says "yes" there isn't agreement. For example, in a car dealership there's a difference between saying "I really liked that car", or even "I really want to buy that car", versus "yes, I will buy this car."

    The same dynamic plays out in a business meeting, and the stakes are often higher.

    Enhanced by Zemanta

  • One of the Chilean Miners Ran the New York Marathon Today.

    Chilean miner Edison Peña, who ran constantly when he was trapped in the San José mine, ran the New York marathon today.

    101107 edison-pena-REUTERS_490733t
    In the mine he ran at least 10 kilometers a day, taking between 10 and 12 laps underground, with heavy rubber boots with steel tips.  Peña said: “I ran inside the mine … I wanted to give a message to everybody”.

    Peña was invited by the organizers of the marathon to be an honored guest, but he asked to participate instead.

    It reminds me of something Viktor Frankl said:

    "Our attitude towards what has happened to us in life is the important thing to recognize.
    Once hopeless, my life is now hope-full, but it did not happen overnight.
    The last of human freedoms, to choose one's attitude in any given set of circumstances, is to choose one's own way." 

       ~   Victor Frankl, "Man's Search for Meaning"

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  • One of the Chilean Miners Ran the New York Marathon Today.

    Chilean miner Edison Peña, who ran constantly when he was trapped in the San José mine, ran the New York marathon today.

    101107 edison-pena-REUTERS_490733t
    In the mine he ran at least 10 kilometers a day, taking between 10 and 12 laps underground, with heavy rubber boots with steel tips.  Peña said: “I ran inside the mine … I wanted to give a message to everybody”.

    Peña was invited by the organizers of the marathon to be an honored guest, but he asked to participate instead.

    It reminds me of something Viktor Frankl said:

    "Our attitude towards what has happened to us in life is the important thing to recognize.
    Once hopeless, my life is now hope-full, but it did not happen overnight.
    The last of human freedoms, to choose one's attitude in any given set of circumstances, is to choose one's own way." 

       ~   Victor Frankl, "Man's Search for Meaning"

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  • Ever Want to Monitor a Web-Page for Changes?

    101106 Diphur Logo Usually, bookmarks are static links. Diphur alerts you when content changes occur on the sites you choose.  For example, with Diphur you can?

    • Get real-time notification of specials, price-drops, or giveaways.
    • Receive an e-mail when a new file or update is available on a site you track.
    • Monitor breaking news or competitive information. 

    Here is an example of a message it sent alerting me when a web conference (I was waiting for) went live.

    101105 Diphur Example

    Similarly, here is a sample link showing how Diphur ChangeUps work; click here to see content changes occurring at Yahoo News right now.

    Diphur gives you a lot of control about how you specify what you want and when you want it. You can:

    • Set Diphur to monitor the website – hourly, daily, weekly, or monthly.
    • Filter changes by size.  Do you want all changes (or just about the big ones)?
    • Use Keywords to further filter changes that do not have certain words in them.

    There is even a browser bookmarklet that lets you add a bookmark to the page you are viewing without visiting Diphur.

    Try it here.

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  • Ever Want to Monitor a Web-Page for Changes?

    101106 Diphur Logo Usually, bookmarks are static links. Diphur alerts you when content changes occur on the sites you choose.  For example, with Diphur you can?

    • Get real-time notification of specials, price-drops, or giveaways.
    • Receive an e-mail when a new file or update is available on a site you track.
    • Monitor breaking news or competitive information. 

    Here is an example of a message it sent alerting me when a web conference (I was waiting for) went live.

    101105 Diphur Example

    Similarly, here is a sample link showing how Diphur ChangeUps work; click here to see content changes occurring at Yahoo News right now.

    Diphur gives you a lot of control about how you specify what you want and when you want it. You can:

    • Set Diphur to monitor the website – hourly, daily, weekly, or monthly.
    • Filter changes by size.  Do you want all changes (or just about the big ones)?
    • Use Keywords to further filter changes that do not have certain words in them.

    There is even a browser bookmarklet that lets you add a bookmark to the page you are viewing without visiting Diphur.

    Try it here.

    Enhanced by Zemanta

  • Another Cool Change Blindness Video: The Color Changing Card Trick

    This video shows how narrow your focus can be.  You'll have some fun, and what is revealed at the end is surprising. So pay attention as you watch the video. See what you notice.


     

    It was done by pychologist, magician, and author Prof Richard Wiseman. Click here for background information about this video and the psychology behind it.

    Professor Wiseman has more videos here.

    In part 1 of this post, we examined Change Blindness and how we can miss incredibly obvious things (right in front of us) if our attention is focused elsewhere.

    In an information-rich environment, attention is a scarce and essential resource.

    Think how often your focus blinds you to the obvious.

    Here are two books written by Professor Wiseman.  The first is called Quirkology, and it is about discoving big truths in small things.  The second is called 59 Seconds, and it is about little things that make big differences.

                      101030 Quirkology Book Cover       and       101030 59 Seconds Book

    Here is a link to a short video about 59 Seconds.

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  • Another Cool Change Blindness Video: The Color Changing Card Trick

    This video shows how narrow your focus can be.  You'll have some fun, and what is revealed at the end is surprising. So pay attention as you watch the video. See what you notice.


     

    It was done by pychologist, magician, and author Prof Richard Wiseman. Click here for background information about this video and the psychology behind it.

    Professor Wiseman has more videos here.

    In part 1 of this post, we examined Change Blindness and how we can miss incredibly obvious things (right in front of us) if our attention is focused elsewhere.

    In an information-rich environment, attention is a scarce and essential resource.

    Think how often your focus blinds you to the obvious.

    Here are two books written by Professor Wiseman.  The first is called Quirkology, and it is about discoving big truths in small things.  The second is called 59 Seconds, and it is about little things that make big differences.

                      101030 Quirkology Book Cover       and       101030 59 Seconds Book

    Here is a link to a short video about 59 Seconds.

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