Been chasing this thought around in my dome for a bit…

How do you truly change your behavior, like some New Year’s resolution, or a diet, or anything?

I mean really change it.

I’ll tell you this much from my own experience: it takes more than “want to”, “good intentions”, or even “will power”.

From studying, I’ve come to understand that you must literally create and structure the environment around you so that the change you want is the natural outcome.

That’s right.

You have to build your surroundings so that the new behavior you want is… unavoidable.

It’s work. It takes planning, intention and effort.

But If you want real change, it’s the only way.

Gotta go… Need to get started… have to build my world for change.

Maybe you should too. Otherwise we’ll both be held hostage by the forces of our habits…

“If I find 10,000 ways something won’t work, I haven’t failed. I am not discouraged, because every wrong attempt discarded is another step forward.”

-Thomas Edison

Thomas Edison personally holds 1,093 US patents… not to mention foreign patents.

In my opinion his outlook on what most people consider “failure” is what made him so great.

For Edison, failure was nothing more than feedback; a course correction; an opportunity for learning and growth.

That attitude was a choice. A choice to continue in the face of that failure, or to learn from it and press on.

Unfortunately, too many people wilt under the feedback they receive in life, using perceived “failure” as an excuse to quit – I’ve been guilty of it myself, more times than I care to admit.

The reality is that no great accomplishment comes without the polishing, honing, shaping and feedback of failure. The old saying “the harder I practice, the luckier I get” is true.

Embrace the feedback; accept its message; make the necessary course corrections; push toward mastery.

Time management is one of the keys to success and keeping stress levels low…

So, if you’re looking to quickly take control of your time and be more productive, then check out these 3 simple tactics:

1.) Block Your Time

Set aside hour long blocks of time to concentrate on critical tasks.

Outline your day, identify what must be done, and then create the appropriate amount of time blocks.

One caveat  is that you must diligently guard your time against interruptions.

You must be firm on this.

Obviously calls, emails, meetings, emergencies, etc. will arise, but by building a block of time to specifically deal with the accumulation of those interrupters during the day, you can keep on track.

2.) Use a Timer

To stay focused within your daily time blocks, use a timer with an audible alarm.

Any digital timer works, you just need to be able input minutes and seconds into it.

Now, set it for 25 mins. and work on the task you’ve blocked out for. Once the timer goes off, set it for 5 mins. and do something – anything – else. Get up, take a break, grab some java.

You see, you’ll be focusing hard for 25 minutes straight and your mind needs that 5 minute break to stay fresh.

Try this tactic. It works. You’ll be amazed at how hard it is to stay focused for even 25 minutes, and you’ll begin to realize how little time you were actually spending on tasks without interruptions!

3.) A Good Filing System

Clutter is a time killer. To avoid it, develop a good filing system – one that you’ll actually use and that works for your personal style.

You need a place to put all your “stuff”, while being able to find it again with minimal effort on your part when you need it. This way, when you get to that time block in your day when you deal with emails, mail, “to-do lists”, etc. you will have a place to store what’s important for reference later.

That’s it!

Easy, huh?

Now, go implement these 3 simple time management tactics today… And when you’re successful, leave a comment below and let me know about it!

Would you rather have talent or skill?

Careful with this one – while on the surface it may seem that the words are interchangeable, that’s not reality…

I’ve been grappling with this question for awhile now… It’s interesting to think about.

So…

What is Talent?

Here’s my definition:

Talent is: latent potential

In truth, talent could be described as raw material, what you bring to the table naturally, potential.

How many times have you seen a talented person “not live up to their potential?”

Intuitively we seem to know that in a person like that, some collection of natural abilities reside, that if focused could do great things.

And Skill?

I think of skill, or someone’s skill level as:  a reference point

It’s developed by the act of honing your competencies, abilities (your talents) toward mastering a “craft.”

Your skill level is basically the reference point of where you are in the process toward mastery.

A quick recap:

Talent is your latent potential, your raw materials, the “hand you’re dealt” at birth.

Your skill is the measure of proficiency you have achieved in focusing your talent toward mastering a particular craft.

That brings us to…

Mastery

Simply put, Mastery is the highest skill level attainable with your given talents.

It’s the pinnacle of achievement – rarefied air.

Working consistently and consciously at your craft is the only way there.

Good luck.

Been awhile since I posted…usually I have some point, but tonight it’s more of a rambling.

It’s amazing how small and detached this big interconnected world gets if you let it. Email, texting, phonecalls, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn…it’s exhausting.

Sometimes it’s fun to just unplug and walk away. Even then, I find myself wondering what email or text I might be missing.

I have 2 screens on my PC. Why? Good question. I just stuff them full of icons. It’s like my own version of Farmville. I just plant documents and desktop icons.

Is there anything good on TV anymore?

I’ve been watching the oil spill from time to time…that’s a real pick me up. Everybody’s really on point with that one. Too bad the unions wouldn’t let the foreign skimmers in on day 2 of the spill citing a law from 1920s that the president has power to suspend – in fact it was suspended during Katrina – but I know George Bush somehow started the oil spill didn’t he? We only would’ve saved miles of ocean and countless animals – but why pay scabs when you can make prevailing wage? AND, don’t make campaign donors mad – whatever you do.

This one definitely is blather…Peace

I was standing in the security line at the airport waiting to be herded through the maze of checkpoints. Barefoot and minus anything metallic, I hoped to not be a randomly selected “winner” of a cavity search.

When it was my turn, I shoved my carry on through the x-ray machine and sauntered through the metal detector. I held up my boarding pass at the stoic TSA agent whose facial expression made clear how  much he hated his job.

While I waited for my belongings to make their way through the x-ray, they stopped the machine. “Uh oh” I thought, “Some poor schmuck is in trouble.” When I saw my backpack being pulled from the machine, I found out the schmuck was me. I couldn’t imagine what they wanted with my pack – it’s been filled with the same things for almost three years and has been on at least 50 planes without incident.

Maybe I dropped a pair of scissors in there? Did I slip a pocketknife in? I don’t really ever use it except for plane rides so I was dumbfounded.

The TSA agent escorted me to the metal table and explained that she was going to examine my bag. When I asked what the problem was…”You have a lot of loose change” was her response. I stared at her waiting for the punch line that never came as she started pulling my loose change from pack’s front pocket where I dump it.

“Just what do you think you’re going to find?” I asked as she continued to spread the change on the table. “You could hide things in here and we wouldn’t be able to see them.” I almost laughed out loud. “Ma’am this pack has been on 50 planes and never once have they searched my loose change!” I exclaimed. “Well some of us are more thorough than others” was all she could manage.

She started slowly putting my change back, satisfied I guess that I was not hiding a nuclear warhead amidst my nickels and dimes. She began to walk away with my change still laying out on the table, so I asked her if she wanted me to just finish the job since she obviously had other business to take care of. “I am busy” she said, and walked away.

Yes, I’m sure there’s a little old lady with an artificial hip that needs frisked, or maybe a single mother that needs to have her baby strip searched. “Please, by all means don’t let me hold you up…”

Rest assured fellow travelers that if I had developed the ability to flick a nickel with the precision and lethality of a ninja, TSA – The Air Travel Super Heroes have got your back…

Recently I took to writing a short story. The actual events are true, and I didn’t even change the names to protect the innocent…

To Read It…CLICK HERE

Enjoy…

Why in the world would anyone want to start a business in a recession?

There’s plenty of legitimate reasons, but for now we’ll talk about three:

• Lower Barriers to Entry
• Abundant Real Life Case Studies
• Moving Opposite of the Herd

Here we go…

Lower Barriers to Entry

During tight economic times it’s counter-intuitive to start investing precious resources in a new venture – but there’s rarely ever going to be a better time!

Tough economies produce downward pressure on prices for goods and services as competition stiffens and price slashing starts. A savvy business person (which obviously you are) will recognize that the things he wanted yesterday can be had cheaper today!

The consumer holds the cards during times like this. While it’s unfortunate to see businesses fail,  it can cause a window of price dropping, or better customer care and service as the fight to gain and retain a customer rages.

What does this mean for the person wanting to start a new business? Lower costs for start-up goods and services. The ability to fly under the radar. Quick gains in market share against entrenched competition too focused on putting a tourniquet on today’s massively hemorrhaging wound.

Abundant Real Life Case Studies

This may seem a bit simple, but it’s well worth noting. Most people look back at failures, etc. and see clearly what went wrong. The old “Hindsight’s 20/20″ thing.

As someone looking to start a business during a recession, you are still able to have an objective outsider’s view of what’s going on in the market you wish to stake a claim in.

By this I mean that you can see and dissect who’s winning and why, and consequently who’s losing and why. This sounds obvious, but is anyone really doing it?

Do you have a notebook at home or a file folder that you can cram with insights? Tidbits from the news, your friends or your own experiences, and the general public feel about what’s happening and why in your market? Get one.

Even if you never start a business, you can be an armchair CEO in no time. Once you see what is and isn’t working, as well as how the landscape is changing in your target market, you’ll be well armed for battle. And it’s all free, in real time, dished up daily.

The vulturous pundits love to sit and pontificate about the dying or dead as they feed their own egos – let ‘em. For the cost of a notebook and pen, you get a priceless education.

Okay – moving on…

Moving Opposite of the Herd

This is a no brainer.

If you look around and realize you don’t like the circumstances of the majority – then don’t do what the mainstream crowd is doing. That’s it.

Most people don’t commit much time or effort to things. “If it’s not easy, it must not be my thing…” That’s a pervasive attitude that many people have – and it’s also terribly destructive. People poo-poo work and the effort it takes to actually become highly skilled at something to their own ruin.

For example, I took keen interest watching my kids learn to walk. They didn’t just try for a few days, plop down on their butts and say “Man, this walking thing isn’t working for me, I guess it’s not my bag”. No! They fell down and got back up – over and over – days, weeks…then one day…A Step! Months later they were sprinting through the house!

It was a process, it took time to develop the skill set. Most people don’t bother. You need to bother, especially if you’re going to start a business… in any economy!

Scores of “the majority” will tell you that you’d be crazy to start a business in tough economic times, and they’d be right…IF you were going to go at it with the attitude and commitment level of the rest of the crowd.

But you won’t…because as we learned earlier…you’re savvy. Right?

Good.

A buddy and I were talking about a week ago…just about the strange and sometimes stupid things people say…

I finally settled on my favorite…here it is with some background…

…When I was a younger man I’d talk to people about lifting weights, exercise and things like that. One of the things I’d hear – mainly from guys, but a surprising amount from girls - about why they didn’t work  out went something like this:

“I don’t want to get THAT BIG, I think it’s gross, maybe toned, but not all huge and stuff…”

Now, I don’t know if you exercise, but I do from time to time and the reality is…

…you don’t pick up a 5 lb. dumbell and suddenly have shirt splitting, vein bulged biceps. 

The term “THAT big” will probably NEVER be used to describe you. Most people don’t work hard enough to push out a fart, let alone break a sweat when they do workout, so “getting big” is never their problem. 

That whole statement might as well be…”I need something to keep this guy off my back about this, since I know I should exercise, but I’m too lazy and don’t care so I’ll try to baffle him with bull”

That’s my favorite…

I have tried journaling many times – it hasn’t stuck so far.

The thing about journaling…I feel like “who cares?” and if I think it’s boring, why would I want to commemorate it in print?

Fret not, there’s hope! I have heard recently that you can write your life’s script…like a movie…that makes sense to me – I like movies.

At least it’s a shot at making things interesting right?