Here's a few tips for you to find ways to be more positive. Follow the link to lifehack.org for more detail:
You might be getting yourself all organised online, but what about offline? Here's a few tips to get your offline life easier.
Thanks to lifehack.
There's a lot of myths about introverts, and many introverts even start to believe those myths. Here's a few tips to help you get past the myths.
I met an old friend of mine the other day, for the first time in about 8 years, meeting him by accident in Woolworths where he works. He told me that he'd just quit his job on a Helpdesk because Woolworths paid him more. Apart from being highly sceptical about that, I asked him a few questions and ended up finding out that he just couldn't handle the IT life.
I know it can be pretty tough, and it's not for everyone. I've spent around a decade in IT, and I've learnt a few things over the years about how to get along in the office. Here's a few of them - if you work on a helpdesk or in systems administration then maybe these rules will help you too.
1: Don't be the user's friend!
Don't share any of your personal life with them, because if you do they'll start thinking you're their friend. This is bad, ok? Because what happens when someone who isn't actually a friend thinks that you're their friend? They call you personally, bypassing procedures, and ask for special favours to help fix their problems. Being their 'friend' just gives you more headaches and more work. So Rule 1 - don't be their friend.
2: Forget about being too polite.
Sure, be civil and all that, because you don't want to annoy them. But 'brown nosing' politeness can be perceived as a sign of insecurity or weakness. You're the one in control, not them. They need you - you don't need them. So don't be too polite, or you could end up being someone's 'bitch'.
3: Never be always available.
This is very important. If you always drop everything in order to help someone, then that's what they'll come to expect. This doesn't do you any good, because then they'll get annoyed at you for not always being there for them. You have a job too, and you have your own responsibilties and tasks. The less you're available, the more they'll respect that you're a busy man, and then when you DO make yourself available to them, the more they'll appreciate it. Give yourself some space.
4: Don't accept a job without the proper process being followed.
If someone bypasses the helpdesk and calls you to ask for something to be fixed, ask them to log it with the helpdesk first. You'll fix it when it comes to you through the system, and that's all. Don't accept or encourage shortcuts, as this only encourages them to take advantage of your 'friendship' (see Rule 1).
5: Document everything that you do.
Users don't always tell the truth, and some of them will lie or speak with ignorance. If you haven't documented what you've done or why, then it's your word against theirs. Electronic documentation about what you do with a job helps cover your arse.
6: Don't make eye contact with those you don't want as your 'friend'.
Making eye contact with someone is a great way to encourage them to talk to you. You don't want to do this, because what will they talk to the IT support guy about? That's right - the problems they're having with their computer. Or they'll chat with you for ages, preventing you from getting back to doing some real work. If you can't avoid making eye contact with people, try going a different route where others don't go.
7: You are your manager's equal.
You're all human beings, and they were once in the same situation as you - being on the lower end of the ladder. Don't let their egos take control. Treat them like you would any other workmate. Call them 'man', 'mate', or even 'dude'. Don't put them on any pedestals and encourage them to believe they're better than you. Don't take any crap either. If they want to be a power tripping Nazi all over your arse, tell them to back off. Of course, make sure you're doing a good job. Which leads me to....
8. Do a great job! You have to make sure you're doing a bit better than just 'average' with your work if you want the respect from your managers and colleagues that will allow you to follow the above tips. Use your initiative to see where things can be improved and try to improve them. Make sure all your work is done within deadlines, and offer to do the work of others, as long as you know you can do it easily. The more you do, and the more you're noticed doing it, the more respected you'll be. This leads to promotional opportunities, allowing you to get more money and move away from doing the stuff you really don't like to do.
9. If you don't like it, do something else. This is another golden rule. If you're not enjoying your work, quit before they fire you, because your lack of enjoyment or enthusiasm is only going to show up in the quality of your work - or, more likely, your lack of work. Find a different career, or a different department where you'll be doing different work. It'll save your mental health, and it can save your career too.
I hope you've found some value in these tips. They're things that have worked very well for me over the years. All the best with your own attempts to follow them.
Like many people you might be drifting through life, doing what you think you should be doing, but deep down inside you know you're not doing what you want to do. You're not even sure if you KNOW what you want to do!
Inside of you there’s like to be a state of confusion about what you want. The confusion goes something like this:
“I want A. But these other people think that B, C and D would probably be best for me. They know me pretty well, so maybe I should listen to them. And then my work wants me to do E... They know me pretty well too. But now I’m not so sure if I want A, B, C, D or E. And then there’s this whisper of F over here by another of my friends…”
And by the time you get to F you’ve forgotten about A.
Here's what you need to do to get past this confusion. You need to sit down with yourself, by yourself, and write down all the things that are important to you. Be honest with yourself - maybe for the first time in your life. Do it alone so that no one else can distract you or give you suggestions about what they think is good for you. Be honest with yourself in order to write down all the things that are important to YOU.
When you can work out what is important to you, you can then start working on a plan to bring those things into your life. And remember - you need to do this for yourself, not for anyone else. They're not the ones living your life. They're not the ones who are getting nowhere with their suggestions. You are. So start taking back control of your life.
You’ve been doing things other people want or suggest because you want to ‘fit in’ and be ‘liked’ or ‘appreciated’ or ‘respected’. But where has it gotten you? It’s gotten you nowhere, that’s where.
It’s time you started working on doing things differently. If the way you’ve been doing things – and the reasons why – hasn’t been working so far, then you need to start creating the discipline to do things differently.
Make the decision to start now.
1. Give people more than they expect, and do it cheerfully.
2. Marry a man or woman you love to talk to. As you get older, their conversational skills will be as important as any other.
3. Don't believe all you hear, spend all you have, or sleep all you want.
4. When you say "I love you," mean it.
5. When you say "I'm sorry," look the person in the eye.
6. Be engaged at least six months before you get married.
7. Believe in love at first sight.
8. Never laugh at anyone's dreams. People who don't have dreams don't have much.
9. Love deeply and passionately. You might get hurt, but it's the only way to live life completely.
10. In disagreements, fight fairly. No name calling.
11. Don't judge people by their relatives.
12, Talk slowly, but think quickly.
13. When someone asks you a question you don't want to answer, smile and ask, "Why do you want to know?"
14. Remember that great love and great achievemetns involve great risk.
15. Say "Bless you," when you hear someone sneeze.
16. When you lose, don't lose the lesson.
17. Remember the three R's: Respect for self, Respect for others, and Responsibility for all your actions.
18. Don't let a little dispute injure a great friendship.
19. When you realise you've made a mistake, take immediate steps to correct it.
20. Smile when picking up the phone. The caller will hear it in your voice.
21. Spend some time alone.
A true friend is somene who reaches for your hand and touches your heart. Share this message with your friends.
Everyone wants to be rich, but is everyone doing what they need to be doing to get there? What are the rich doing that you aren't? Well, here's a few reasons you aren't rich... if you start doing the opposite of these, then you'll start doing what the rich do, and you'll become one of them before you know it.
1. You care what your neighbours think. Keeping up with them wastes your money. Is it really that important to have better things than them? What could you save by putting it into the bank instead?
2. You aren't patient. Using credit cards to get today what you could save up for and get tomorrow costs you interest. This is money which you could have saved if you'd paid cash - or chose not to get it.
3. You have bad habits. Smoking, drinking, gambling... these cost money to maintain. Smoking increases your insurance rates, and causes other health risks which cost you money. Have a good hard look at what you're doing and see if you can work out how much money you'd save if you stopped doing it.
4. You have no goals. I once had someone say in a wealth building seminar, "If you fail to plan, then you're planning to fail." It's that simple folks. If you don't have anything to aim for, you're going to drift through life achieving nothing. You need goals to attain your wealth, with savings, investments, etc. And then you need to do what it takes to achieve those goals.
5. You haven't prepared. When you don't have any goals, you show that you're not thinking of your future. This is also reflected by not being prepared for bad things happening. If you don't have savings or an emergency fund in case of emergencies, what are you going to do when you actually have an emergency?
6. You try to make a quick buck. The desire to get rich quick will be the same as the desire you have to invest: if it doesn't give you instant rewards, you lose interest. Hello! This is the rest of your life we're talking about. If you don't think long term, you lose. Stop looking for quick bucks that don't work, and start looking for the slow millions that'll be there for you when you retire.
7. You rely on others to take care of your money. Because you have no money, you believe that those who do have money have more knowledge about it, so give it to them to invest for you. Unfortunately, the only reason they have money is because they take yours and use it for themselves. Listen to people's advice, by all means, but in the end you need to make your own decisions about your money and where it's going to be invested. It's your money - manage it wisely.
8. You invest in things you don't understand. You hear that Bob's made a lot of money from something, and you want to make some money too. If Bob can do it, so can you. Right? Wrong. Bob knew what he was doing, and researched it for months. He understood what he was getting into, and how to maximise his returns. You're not going to have a clue, and that's why you'll lose the money.
9. You're financially afraid. You're so afraid of losing your money that you avoid all possible scenarios where you might end up losing it. The result is that you don't lose what you have, but you don't make any more either. In order to make money, you have to risk losing it. Success comes from understanding what your risks are and minimising them so you benefit from the results.
10. You ignore your finances. You believe that if you make enough money, the finances will take care of themselves. If you currently have debt, you believe that making more than you spend will eventually resolve those debts in the future. By ignoring your finances, you have no control over them. How are you going to get anywhere? It takes planning to become wealthy, and when you plan, you need to be in control of all factors so that you can ensure your plan succeeds.
It's probably not just one of the above that's prevented you from becoming wealthy... it's more likely a combination of some of them. You need to take a long, hard look at the list and your own life, and see where you can improve what you're doing.
Being a millionaire requires you to start thinking like one now. How would a millionaire act? How would they manage their money? What would they be doing?
Start doing it.
Thanks to TheStreet.com.
I talk a lot about doing what you're passionate about, but you might have some concerns about how to find what it is you're passionate about. Maybe these tips will help you.
1. Is there something you already love doing?
A lot of people are already doing what they're passionate about, but they don't realise that it's something they could possibly turn into a money-making venture. I work in IT with computers and software, for example. I got into this field because I love playing with computers and software, so working with them is, as far as I'm concerned, working my hobby. I love what I do, and I do what I love.
If you can list all the things that you love doing, that you're passionate about, then you've just completed the first step in finding out how to make money from something you love doing. If you love reading comic books, for example, then maybe you could think about opening a comic book store. The possibilities are endless - but you have to start by looking at what you already love doing.
2. What do you spend hours reading about?
Whatever it is that you enjoy reading is something that you could possibly turn into careers. It's said that if you read a topic for half an hour a day, within a year you're an expert on that topic. Look at how you can turn your expert knowledge into something that can make you money.
3. Brainstorm.
If you're stuck working out what you're passionate about, then start writing down all the things that you do or have done in the past. Anything that comes to mind, write it down. And then, when you've finished that, write out another list of all the things that you would love to do but never had a chance to do. Look around you for inspirations in what you read, what you do as a hobby or your current career, or even what you enjoy on tv. Write everything down, and evaluate them later.
Once you've written down everything you can think of, go through the list and do the same as in #1. Start exploring how you can turn some of these things you enjoy into passions that you can make money from.
4. Ask around. Get some feedback from other people about what they think you'd enjoy doing. You can get some good ideas from how others perceive you and what they think your passions are.
5. Google is your friend.
Search Google for websites or topics related to your interests, your hobbies, even any of your money-making ideas. Once you start searching, you'll be amazed at the amount of information out there that can help you learn more about ways of turning your passion into your career.
6. Don't quit your job yet.
If you find your passion and you get excited about the possibilities and the opportunities, don't hand in your resignation straight away! It's always a good idea to stay in your job while you research the possibilities available to you. If you can do your passion as a side job and build up the income from it for a few months or a year, then that's what you should do.
7. Give it a try first.
A good plan is to try it for a while until your passion is consistently, month after month, earning you the same amount as your job. When that happens, you can choose to give up your day job and focus on your passion.
You might find that you'll be passionate about it for a few days or a few weeks, but then after a while, you'll find something else to do. This will show you whether or not it's a passion or just an exciting idea. So you can disregard it and continue looking. That's why you shouldn't quit your day job!
8. Do as much research as possible.
You'll need to know as much about your passion as you possibly can. If you've been doing it for a while, you might already know all that you need to. But still, do more research. Work out how you can turn it into a career, and discover everything you need to know to make that happen. Learn about others who already do it. How much do they make? What do they do to succeed at it? How did they get started? What skills have they needed to develop? What tips do they have for you? You'll often find people quite happy to give you information and advice about what they do and how you can do it too.
9. Practice, and practice, and then practice some more.
Don't go into it with an amateur skill level. You want to make sure you're one of the best - if not the best - at what it is you've chosen to do. If you want to maximise the amount of money you want from it, then the more you know and the more experience you have, the better. Practice for hours and hours. Do it every day, as much as you possibly can. If it's something you love, you shouldn't have a problem with this.
10. Never quit.
If you can't find what you're passionate about, just keep trying. You're passionate about something, or you have been - even if you have to remember back to what you used to do at school. Keep searching for your passion, and never give up, even for months if necessary.
If you think you found a passion but it turned out to be a dud, that's fine. Cross it off the list and move on to the next one! Keep trying to turn your passions into careers. The more you love what you do, the more you'll succeed at it, and the more you'll earn from it.
There's going to be more than one passion in your life and throughout your lifetime. Don't give up trying to find it and make something from it. You're possibly going to have to work hard to find your passion, but once you do, the 'hard work' will be over. The rest of it will be a breeze!
Do what you love, and you'll never be 'working' again.
Thanks to Lifehack.org.
I believe there are 3 important qualities men need to have, and these qualities form the underlying foundations of everything that makes us who we are. Developing these qualities, if you don't already have them, will bring you success in your dates and relationships with women.
Not only am I a procrastinator, but I'm also quite often very unproductive. They go hand in hand. If you're the same, and you'd like to be more productive but not really sure how to get started, then these tips will be useful for you. I know they're useful for me!
1. Do what you're passionate about. This usually goes without saying, of course. If you're not passionate about something, then you're just not going to have any interest in it. So if you want to start being more productive, find something that you love doing, whether that's with your work or at home.
2. Get off the internet as much as you can. The internet is a huge waste of time when you have things you want or need to do. Checking your email, browsing the latest news feeds, chatting with a friend on IM... these waste your time and prevent you from pulling your finger out and getting to work. Close down your email and IM programs if you have to work on the computer, otherwise just close the computer. You'll be amazed at how much work you get done without those distractions.
3. Get the tough things out of the way first. You know what they are, they're the ones you've been dreading, that you just can't bring yourself to do. But you know you have to do them eventually... so just do them now. Get them out of the way first thing in the morning and you don't have to worry about them later!
4. Avoid unnecessary work. You're only productive when you're working on things that move you towards a goal. Anything else is wasting your time. Get rid of the unimportant tasks from your to-do list, and start saying no to new requests that don't move you towards your goals.
5. Avoid ineffective meetings. Again, if a meeting isn't moving you forward on your goals, you don't need to be there. Read more about this here: 7 tips to avoid pointless meetings.
6. Get to work earlier. Getting there before everyone else starts allows you to get more work done before they all start providing you with distractions. In the peaceful quiet of the morning, you'll be amazed at how much you can get through before everyone else arrives.
7. Clean up your workplace. If you've got a clean and tidy workplace you can focus more on the tasks you need to work on, without worrying about finding something amidst the disorganised chaos of a messy desk. You can find more tips here: 4 tips to keep your desk clean.
8. Simplify the information that comes to you. Think about everything you read - email, blogs, newsletters, rss feeds, mailing lists, magazines, and more - and edit them brutally. How much is really necessary for you to achieve your goals? Keep them and get rid of the rest. You'll thank yourself for it later when you find yourself more productive than you've ever been!
9. Wake up early. Work out what you want to do in the morning before you head off to work, and build your morning routine around that. Exercise, eat breakfast, check email.... give yourself the time to do these things when you're without the distraction of phones and other people. If you can get the most important things done as early as you can, then the rest of the day's going to be a piece of cake.
10. Take care of the most important things first. These are the things that you HAVE to accomplish that day, which take priority over anything else. Do them first, so that 1) they're out of the way, and 2) you can get to the easier and less important things afterwards. If you leave them to the end of the day, you'll run out of time and not get them done. Change your habits, do them first!
Thanks to Zen Habits.
If you're feeling a little stuck in your current job, or if you're looking for a new job, or if you haven't even had a job yet, then you might find some value in these tips on how to get your dream job. Have a look at Essential Tips For Getting That Dream Job where you can get all the information on these tips:
1. Talk to your contacts.
2. Make some new contacts.
3. Make your resume clean, simple and error free.
4. Read, study and practice How to win friends and influence people.
5. Do your homework on the company.
6. Do your homework on the interviewer.
7. Dress appropriately for the interview.
8. Be clean, and value your personal appearance.
9. Look the interviewer in the eye when you meet them.
10. Shake hands firmly (but not a death grip).
11. Cut the profanity and slang out of your language.
12. It's not about you, it's about them.
12. Get the interviewer's business card - or the card of everyone who interviews you.
14. If you can, note something positive about each interviewer on the back of their business card.
15. Close positively.
16. Send an emailed thank you after the interview.
Good luck!
If you're just not getting anywhere at work then these 10 tips might help you out.
1. Refuse to accept conventional answers or comforting assumptions. If you want to develop then you need to sceptical of quick solutions without effort. They're usually 'band-aid solutions' that provide only temporary relief.
2. Take risks. Without risk there's no reward, so if you want the rewards, you've got to take the risks. What's the worst that can happen... you'll fail, right? Well, everyone fails at some point. You WILL fail at something, some time. So risk the failure so that you can get the reward? If you don't succeed, try again. The world loves someone who at least tries. The ones that don't, fade into obscurity, never having done what they really wanted to do.
3. Don't look for answers - look for questions. They help you discover more, and help you avoid getting comfortable. They inspire you to greatness.
4. Become a specialist in asking stupid questions. Lots of people are afraid of asking what they think is a stupid question, and they don't want to 'rock the boat'. As a result, however, they never get anywhere. If you can ask the questions that others can't, then you're going to discover what they never will - success.
5. Keep an open mind. You never know when an idea will come to you, or you'll meet someone with an opportunity that could change your life completely. Don't create boundaries by thinking you know what's good for you, and what you can ignore. Life doesn't throw neatly labelled opportunities at you, you have to look for them in the strangest places.
6. Be who you are. It's only the insecure that try to be like someone else. If you stick to your unique and authentic self, you're not going to stand out from the crowd. Learn from others, but don't try to be anything but the best you can be.
7. Make mistakes joyfully. The person who's afraid to make mistakes is the person who's afraid to do anything. You're not always going to get it right the first time, but if you never try, you'll never get it right at all. Learn to be happy, to experience joy, every time you make a mistake, because it's only helping you learn how to do it better, and eventually you will get it right.
8. Dare to let go. To become the best you an be it's important to let go of those things that you're holding on to, which are holding you back. Allow yourself to grow, to forgive the wrongs of your past, to break through your comfort zones. If you lack the courage to let go, you'll never make any breakthroughs. Don't hold on to your achievements. Let go of them and seek out new achievements. It's all part of the breakthrough cycle.
9. Ignore your inner critic. Your own negativity is your worst enemy. Listening to all those 'what if' statements won't help you achieve your breakthroughs. 'What if it goes wrong? What if I get embarrassed?' Anything that has a 'what if' attached is your inner critic trying to keep itself safe and avoid failure. But avoiding failure by listening to the 'what ifs' also avoids success.
Be successful. Achieve breakthroughs at work. Become the best you can be. You'll thank yourself for it!
Go to part 2.
Thanks to Lifehack.org.
Many people don't know how to manage their finances, and they're in debt or just have no money, living from payday to payday. If this is you, then you could probably start changing your life for the better by managing your finances better. The young adult's guide to personal finance is a good place to start, especially if you're young, with plenty of tips that will help you. Some of my favourites include:
General tips
1. Maintain a budget to monitor how much and on what you're spending.
2. Pay yourself first.
5. Pay your bills on time!
8. Set financial goals for yourself.
Shop wisely
14. Compare prices to get the best value.
15. Cut and use coupons.
17. Avoid eating out all the time!
Monitor your money
22. Use cash instead of credit cards.
23. Get the best deal!
28. Never bounce checks.
30. Be selfish - never co-sign loans for other people.
Maintain your car
39. Drive safely.
40. Take care of your car.
The importance of insurance
45. You need health insurance.
46. Insure your home.
Making the most of your Education and Career
52. Know your worth.
53. Love your job.
54. Use all the benefits offered by your employer.
The art of investing
59. Invest your spare cash.
61. Plan for your retirement.
Everyone loves a few freebies
62. Get money that's owed to you.
65. Ask merchants for coupons and discounts.
If you have a blog and you want to attract readers and keep them on your site, there's a few things you'll need to understand about blog readers. Here's 10 traits that are typical of blog readers. Understanding your readers will help you create a blog that attracts and keeps more of them.
1. They're always clicking, looking for something interesting. If they don't find it within 5 seconds, they're clicking somewhere else.
2. They don't like to be forced into doing things that they see no value in.
3. Their personalities are varied, and they don't fit into a common category of 'blog readers'. While they might enjoy reading blogs, they might also enjoy playing football, but that doesn't make them 'football players'.
4. Some of them are actually blog spammers. They're the ones that bring no value to your comments section, and are instead trying to advertise something. You don't need or want them, but they're there anyway.
5. They even have addictions. Maybe your blog could be something they can become addicted to... Finding out their favourite blogs can help you determine the content that they'll read more of.
6. They have to be hooked every time you write. Because they're always clicking (see #1) you have to keep their interest in every post. One post that's interesting doesn't make for an interesting blog, but if every post is, then you're going to have more readers hooked and addicted to each post.
7. They refuse to tolerate fakes. If you lose their trust, then you lose them. Be authentic with your posts.
8. They love lists, but not if they're unexplained or unresearched. Even if you get your lists from somewhere else, make sure you include an explanation of the list, maybe even a personal example of why the list is good for you and why you're sharing it. Make sure the list is worthwhile.
9. They have a voice too. Just like your blog is your voice, the comments they leave on your blog are their voice. Remember that they might know what they're talking about - since they do read a lot - and they might just be happy to correct you where you're wrong or mistaken on something. Listen to what they say, it'll only help you become better at what you're trying to do.
10. They'll be appreciative of your attempts to provide them value. If you show that you know what you're blogging about and the readers you're blogging for, they'll thank you for appreciating them, and hang around a bit more.
If you have any more tips of your own, please add them in a comment.
There's a lot of things you can do to improve your financial situation that's just common sense, but so many people are too caught up in the drama of their lives that they're unable to see what the common sense solution might be. When something feels incredibly complicated, then they believe that only incredibly complicated solutions will fix the problem. It's just not true though.
What is true is that some of these tips for improving your situation will take discipline, and that's probably the hardest thing about them.
If you're like me, then your desk is always cluttered with papers, bills, books and other miscellaneous items that you just haven't gotten around to dealing with yet. Some people call it 'organised chaos', 'cause it's certainly chaotic but at least you know where everything is, right?
But the problem is, you might know where things are, but how aware are you of the urgency some things have? If they're lying in a disorganised mess and you don't get around to looking at them for weeks, then you might miss the due date for a bill. Or you might miss the deadline for a project. Or you might miss the vet's appointment and your pet dog dies due to your neglect.
Sure, the last one's a bit of a stretch, but I'm sure you get my meaning. Sometimes you just need to keep on top of things, and leaving papers lying around for weeks or more is certainly not the right way to do it. So here's a few tips to help you get yourself organised.
1. Put everything on your desk into a single pile. Put it into an 'in tray', or in a big pile next to your desk. Make sure your desk is now spotless of all paperwork, etc.
2. Start dealing with each item in that pile. Now that you've got your life piled up into one big pile, start dealing with every item, one item at a time. Start at the top and work your way down. Don't change the order of them and don't put an item back. Do what needs to be done with that item, and then put it away somewhere. Your options are to trash it, delegate it, file it, do it, or put it onto a list to do later.
3. Do this every day. The end of the day is a good time, but it can also be good to start at the beginning of every day and keep the processes going throughout the day.
Once you've finished processing all of your items, your desk will be clean, your life will be organised, and you'll be on top of everything on a daily basis. No more unpaid bills, and no more unfinished projects, and your pet will still live! All of these are good things to aim for.
4. Your to-do list needs to be kept up to date. This is an important part of the process. Every item that can't be done immediately and gets put onto a to-do list needs to be done as soon as you're able to. Just like your desk and your in tray need to be kept clean, so does your to-do list. Those items which are on the to-do list also need to be in an 'action' tray, so that you know you have to action them. As you action them, cross them off the list.
Leaving things to do later is procrastination. Anything you put off is just going to pile up. Deal with them immediately, and take action.
It's going to take time to get yourself into the habit, but if you're sick of a messy desk and you want to get your life organised, you'll do it. It's only going to make things easier for you. And once you're used to your desk being clean and tidy, you won't want to break that habit.
In today's world, if you want to be understood and to have your ideas spread far and wide, using effective language is extremely important. George Orwell, author of '1984' and other works, had 5 rules for effective writing. If you follow these rules, you'll separate yourself from the multitude of others who use ineffective means of writing, and you'll stand out.
Visit Pick The Brain to get the information about each of these tips:
These rules are easy to memorize but difficult to apply. Although I’ve edited this piece a dozen times I’m sure it contains imperfections. But trust me, it’s much better now than it was initially. The key is effort. Good writing matters, probably more than you think.
I've been procrastinating a long time, in a multitude of different ways. It's usually based around having to do something I don't necessarily want to do. But if something greatly interests me, then I'm quick to get to it! We can't always do only the things we want to do, however. Often, we need to do the things that need doing. We need to stop procrastinating about them, and just do it.
Lifehack.org has a few tips on how you can break the procrastination habit, which I thought I'd use as a foundation to provide my own thoughts on it.
1. Do it now
Turn your habit into a 'do it now' habit instead of a more negative 'I'll get around to it' habit. This is something I've been working on myself. When I know something needs doing, do it immediately - where possible. It helps you avoid following the same patterns of doing it later. If you can, schedule everything you need to do, and do it when the reminder pops up.
2. Commit yourself
To help you change your habits, you really do have to be committed to changing them. Instead of saying to yourself, "I think I'll change tomorrow," or "I'd like to change but you can't teach old dogs new tricks," say instead "I WILL change! I WILL stop procrastinating, and I WILL start NOW!"
Then you have to write it down on paper. Write down the habits you want to change, and how you're going to change them. Write down the new habits that will replace the old ones.
Once you've written them down, commit to doing them for a month, no less. It takes a month of complete and absolute focus to change years of bad habits.
Finally, tell everyone you know that you're changing your habit. Make sure that it's not just you that you need to answer to, it's everyone else. When you are committing to changing something that everyone else knows about as well, it helps you stay motivated to achieving your goals. You don't want to look bad in the eyes of everyone you care about, do you?
3. Monitor your progress
Before you start your month of change, take a few days to monitor your current habit. See how you spend your time and how you engage in your procrastination. Write down those things that you decide to do instead of whatever you need to be doing. You can even keep a tally of how often they occur. Write down the activity and put a tick next to it. Becoming aware of how you engage in procrastination can help you eliminate or reduce those diversions from your life.
As you move forward with changing your habits, you can schedule your bad habits if you want to continue doing them, but make sure they come AFTER the good habit. For example, if you know there's something you need to do - at home or at work - but you get sidetracked by reading RSS feeds and blogs and you don't want to actually give that up, then schedule that in for a later part of the day, AFTER you've scheduled in your important tasks.
Prioritise your life and the activities within it, and do them when they need doing.
4. Practice. And keep practicing
Make sure you do your new habit - DO IT NOW. Don't make any exceptions. If you get into the habit of finding exceptions, then you're just continuing the procrastination. If you make mistakes, however, don't worry about it. Just keep doing it. You never get anything completely right the first times you do them. Practice makes you better at it.
5. Reward yourself
When you start out you should reward yourself for the successes you have, as these little rewards help inspire and motivate you and make it worthwhile to achieve your goals. Write down the rewards you'll give yourself when you get to a stage you're happy with. For example, you might treat yourself to a coffee in a cafe when you've completed your first task without allowing you to be distracted and you DO IT NOW. You might treat yourself to dinner out with a loved one when you've completed an entire week avoiding procrastination and you DO THINGS NOW. Make it fun and worthwhile for yourself.
6. Always think positive
When you start thinking negatively you're providing barriers to your own success. Positive thoughts are encouragements to your success. "I can do it just this time...." is a barrier. Don't let yourself be sidetracked by thoughts and doubts that take you away from you doing what you want to do. You CAN do it, you just have to be committed to doing it now, and letting nothing stop you.
The only way to change bad habits is to decide NOW that you are going to change, and let nothing stop you. Then you will avoid procrastination and achieve all the things that you want to achieve.
DO IT NOW.
How many of us would like to do something but find there's all these 'what ifs' to consider? Most of us. It's 'what if something bad happens' that prevents us fom ever finding out 'what if something good happens'.
We avoid risk because of the fear of failure, rejection and embarrassment. We would rather 'save face' than risk making a mistake. But everyone makes mistakes. What's important is not how we avoid the mistakes, but how we learn from them.
Think of all the successful or wealthy people that you know of or heard about. Do you think they've never made a mistake? Do you think that the fear of making mistakes held them back from their achievements? Obviously not.
So how is it that they're successful and you're not? Because they move forward on their desires, on their goals. If they fail then they just find a different way to get there!
If one path ends in a dead end, find a different path. That's all you need to do.
You can read about the 77 ways here.
If someone granted you one wish, what do you imagine you would want out of life that you haven't gotten yet? For many people, it would be self-improvement and knowledge... Your quest for knowledge... can be an important part of your life, leading to a new job, better pay, a new hobby, or simply knowledge for knowledge's sake - whatever is important to you as an end goal.
...it's been said that the average adult only uses 10% of his/her brain. Imagine what we may be capable of with more advanced learning techniques. Here are 77 tips related to knowledge and learning to help you on your quest. A few are specifically for students in traditional learning institutions; the rest for self-starters, or those learning on their own. Happy learning.
I've become quite interested recently in improving my financial situation (which has resulted in me doing this blog). I think that's because of how much money I've had to spend to move countries. If I hadn't moved then both my partner and I would instead be debt free, having paid all of our debts off and still having a bit of change (due to a redundancy package I was paid at my now previous place of work). However, if we did that, we wouldn't have improved our lifestyle and opportunities for greater income by moving to Australia. Already she has a job (as of last week) that is 25% higher than anything she's ever had in NZ, and I'm looking at jobs that are in excess of 50% more than what I was able to get in NZ as well. Using our money to improve our future earning opportunities has been a wise decision, and what we earn here will go to service the debts we left behind in NZ and get rid of them much faster.
I'm hoping to make use of a lot of knowledge that I've gained over the years, as well as what information I find on the internet and from other people, and present it to the readers of this blog. Everyone wants to know how to improve their financial situation, and a lot of people are out there looking for all the help they can get.
I hope that what I find of value will also be of value to others. Maybe even to you. Just remember, I'm not an expert. The articles that I post are simply what I think is good advice. I hope to provide information that will be applicable to everyone, in every situation, but I know that's not always going to succeed.
If you have any questions or comments on how something could relate specifically to your situation, please feel free to ask, and I'll do my best in assisting, even if it's by pointing you to someone or somewhere that can help you better than I can.
What activities and things don't you need? Get rid of those that aren't needed. This will free up a lot of your time and attention, allowing you to focus on the things that really matter.
You can find the 50 tools via this external link.
… You will become handy with these tools over time. You will begin to recognize their use in the stories you read. You will see chances to apply them when you revise your own work. Eventually, they will become part of your flow, natural and automatic …
Do you get angry or frustrated at other drivers on the road? More often than not, we are frustrated by other drivers and road conditions when we're not prepared for them. Did you know that you can actually avoid road rage and frustration by expecting everyone around you to be idiots? When you expect them to be this way, you'll drive defensively, because you never know when an idiot is going to come into your path.
Here's some tips that will help you prepare yourself, and as a result, will relieve your frustration and avoid you going into a 'road rage'. Remember, frustration is simply the result of feeling a lack of control, so by maintaining control of your driving experience you avoid the frustration.
1) Drive defensively
There's a reason this is the number 1 tip. When you drive defensively, you make sure that you're aware of everything else on - and off - the road. You're just waiting for the unexpected, so that when it happens... you're ready. Swerving cars and suicidal pedestrians will be of no concern to you in this state, because you're ready for it. If you hit someone or something, then you weren't driving defensively enough.
2) Slow down at traffic lights
When you come to a traffic light that is green for go, take your foot off the accelerator and let the car coast, having your foot 'at the ready' over the brake. This allows you to be prepared to brake if the lights change to orange. If the light is still green as you go beyond the 'point of no return', return your foot to the accelerator.
3) The point of no return
Most traffic lights (in Australia and NZ at least) have two white arrows on the road before you reach the lights. The first arrow is the 'point of no return'. If you're doing the speed limit and the lights change to orange when you're at or past this first arrow, then you have time to continue through the intersection before it turns red. If the lights turn orange before you reach this first arrow, then you will need to slow down and stop, as the lights will turn red before you reach the intersection.
4) When you see brake lights in front of you, put your own brakes on.
Start slowing down immediately when you see car/s in front of you put their brakes on. There's usually a reason for them braking, and you don't want to be going up their backside by not being prepared. You also need to do this so that the drivers behind you know that you're braking, so they can be prepared to slow down as well. You don't want them going up your backside!
5) Take the path of least resistance
Traffic in front of you is unpredictable. Always look out for the path of least resistance by choosing the lane with the least amount of traffic in front of you. It will help avoid the idiots, and provide you with satisfaction as you sail past all those other cars backed up in the one lane.
6) Remember the 'two second rule'
You should have a decent amount of space between you and the car in front, with two seconds being a safe distance. If you're unsure about how much space you have, do the following exercise while behind a car. As it travels past a post or other object by the side of the road, count to yourself: one-one thousand, two-one thousand.... If you can reach the end of 'two-one thousand' before you've reached that roadside landmark, then you're at the safe distance of two seconds. This is applicable for any speed.
In wet weather, increase the distance to 4 seconds. This is to help avoid sliding on water on the road and ending up ploughing into their backside because you've applied the brakes too hard because you were too close.... If you're too close to the car in front, and they brake suddenly to avoid a collision or for whatever reason, then you're not going to have time to maintain control of your own car. The distance and time is too small for you to brake and avoid colliding with their backside.
If another car cuts in front of you to take up the space between you and the one previously in front of you, simply remember this rule and drop back 2 seconds behind the one that just cut in front of you. They will invariably find themselves in trouble if they're forced to brake, while you stay out of trouble by remembering this rule.
If you want to improve your chances of success with your blog this year, then you might like to implement a few tips. There's plenty for you to have a look at over at 'How to market your blog in 2007'.
There's a fine line between being flexible, being wishy-washy and being rigid.
It's worth exploring that line.
Every time you 'take a stand' for something, or against something, ask yourself one thing.
Is it worth it?
There are a lot of stands worth taking, but there are also a lot of stands that have lost their significance.
If you're a Firefox user AND a blogger then you need this Firefox extension. It splits your page into two, with the new bottom frame allowing you to do all your blog posting while keeping the web page you're visiting in the top frame.
What I really like is the section in the bottom frame that allows you to choose which of your blogs you want to post to.
This saves a lot of time by not having to log into blogspot.com to do your posting. Visit the link above to find out more, and then install it. It's worth it.
There's a lot of stuff about the Law of Attraction and how it works, but there's not a lot on how to make it work for YOU. You don't need to know how electricity works in order to turn on the light; you just need to know that flicking the switch will result in the light going on. I hope that this article will do that for you too, where a switch is flicked and you see the light.
Unlike the light switch, however, the process of flicking your own switch to attract your desires into your life can be slightly more complicated. While this process involves understanding WHY it works, there's no need to understand HOW it works, as the 'how' is literally up to the universe.
When you decide to do something, the first thing that happens is that a thought comes into your head. You might think that you want to go for a coffee at your local Starbucks. What happens in your mind is that you see the experience in your head. You can see the people that will be there, hear the sounds, feel yourself sitting in the seat, and enjoying the taste of the coffee that you drink while reading a book you wanted to catch up on. You are living that experience in your mind!
The next thing that happens is that you'll head out of your house, jump into your car (or go for a walk) and end up at Starbucks. When you get there you'll buy yourself a coffee, sit down and enjoy it, while looking at the people around you or read that book.
What just happened? The thoughts and feelings in your mind became a reality! What happens in your mind is the precursor to those things happening in your life.
Now, you can create on purpose or you can let it be created for you by default. Most people let their reality be created by default, because they don't put any effort or control into it. They're on 'auto pilot', letting reality be whatever it wants to be, because they believe they have no control over it.
When you create by default you avoid understanding how the power of your mind determines your reality. In the example above, you've used your mind to create a reality where you went to Starbucks and enjoyed a coffee and read a book. You could have instead created a reality where you stayed home and read the book there.
Your experiences begin as imagination, before they become real.
When you consider that your life is a result of your IMAGINED experiences, by failing to take responsibility for your thoughts and imagination, you also fail to take responsibility for your life. This is how you create by default.
To create on purpose involves making good choices about the kind of life you want. This is achieved by making those choices in your MIND first. You'll need to understand the power that your thoughts have on how your reality is determined, and then you can purposefully create the experiences in your mind that you want in your life.
You can CHOOSE the experiences that you want to have.
As you see them in your mind, you also have to FEEL yourself experiencing them. You have to imagine what those experiences are going to be. The emotions, the pleasures, the wind rushing through your hair, and the feelings of enjoyment that you would have with those experiences.
When you can hold these things in your mind, these visions and feelings, then your life will move forward in a way that will make those experiences real.
That's how you make the Law of Attraction work for you, by creating on purpose - choosing the experiences in your mind to bring them into your life.
To see how it works, you need to look at what you're attracting to yourself right now. If you can only see hardship, suffering, anxiety, fear, anger, etc, then that's all that you're going to experience. When you are afraid of something, you'll see more of it in your life than if you weren't. It's because you're looking for it, and by looking for it, you're creating it.
This happens with everything that's on your mind. So to have different experiences, you just need to have different thoughts. That's all!
It's that simple. There's nothing else you need to do!
If you're like me, you have a lot of information to read on a daily basis. Wouldn't it be easier if you could save time by going to only one website that collects and displays the latest updated information from all those other websites you visit?
Of course it would.
That's why you need to go to www.bloglines.com and set up an account. Then you can 'subscribe' via Bloglines to your favourite news and information and blog sites, and instead of going back to them, you simply go to your Bloglines page and see what's been updated.
No need to browse all those websites any more. Now you have more time to do more important or pleasurable things. Enjoy.
...by not reacting to them the way they think you will. React differently. Thank them instead of chastising them. Be different.
Every now and again you need to shake things up and surprise everyone, including yourself.
A change is as good as a holiday, as they say. And you can never have too many holidays...
There's value in having a long term view of life, but there is also value in living in the moment.
Make time for the things you care about the most, whether that's daily exercise or 30 minutes with a good book.
Most of us find that every day is filled with various commitments that simply stress us out! We feel obliged to fulfil one obligation after another, whether it's to work, family or friends, and at the end of each day, there's nothing left for ourselves.
How do people do more, earn more, and get more, and enjoy it all? How do these people build more satisfying lives? How do they sort through all the 'stuff' and find meaning in it all?
This site attempts to answer those questionsby helping you do more, earn more, get more and ENJOY more.
It's not complicated. In fact, it's very simple. Every day (or every few days) some simple tips or hints will be placed on this site.
You will need to remember one thing, of course. Life doesn't become simple until you make it simple. If you are inspired by this website - or by anything - to do something to simply your life and make it more enjoyable, do it immediately! Don't hesitate, and don't procrastinate.
Life is simple. Make it that way. And enjoy.
