The Power of Words
Starting Each Day With A Little Thinking...Blog Challenge – Day 7
For day seven, Natalie’s got us way down in the weeds. Not surprisingly, as an engineer by training, I’m like a pig in shit today! The prompt for today is:
- Which key tools will you turn to regularly to maintain your mindset and how will you use them effectively?
There’s three things that come to mind when I think of the tools that either help me or would help me the most:
- First, is a time management system. Time’s a scarce commodity and if you intend to use it to its fullest, you need a system that will help you manage it. Whether it’s a “to do list”, a Franklin planner, a series of post it notes, is not important. What is important is (i) it makes sense to you, (ii) you utilize it, and (iii) it helps you get things done daily, weekly, monthly, and yearly.
- Second, is a content management system. With the explosion of the internet there is so much information available. In order to take advantage of all of this content, you need a system. I’ve started using Evernote and Dropbox to help me stay a bit more organized. I also use a structured folder system on my PC and keep a series of file folders for content that I like to view in the “hard” versus digital format.
- Third, is a contact management system. Ultimately it’s not about you, it’s about everyone else. That being the case, you need to make sure you stay in touch with all of those “everyone elses”. A good address/contact book is a fine place to start. However, you really need some sort of system to stay in touch with folks. In sales they talk about CRM’s (customer relationship management systems). I hate to think of my personal contact management system as a CRM as it feels a bit sleazy. However, at the end of the day, the concept is the same — you need a method to stay in touch with all of those folks you interact with.
While these three are not comprehensive, they do serve as a good set of foundational tools that — in my mind — will improve your productivity dramatically.
If you want some more information on the challenge, check out the post on day seven at:
http://suitcaseentrepreneur.com/blogchallenge/blog-challenge-day7
Blog Challenge – Day 6
Yesterday Natalie asked us to paint a picture in our mind of our ideal day. Today, she challenges us to identify the most important steps to move that picture from our mind to reality:
- What are my three priorities for the next 30 days that will move me closer towards living life on my own terms?
This one’s tough as well. However, not because of figuring out what the top three priorities are. This one’s tough because if forces you to face the reality that you control you, and you alone, are all that is standing between you and your ideal world. After all, it’s much easier to come up with excuses on “why I can’t”. For me it’s really frustrating to face this challenge as my pet peeve is excuses — and here I face the reality that I’m making too many excuses versus getting on with what is important. With that in mind:
- While the exact title, topic, and audience for my long term business venture is not totally locked down, the general concept is. I’ve spent a ton of time identifying content that needs to be produced. The first thing that I need to do is (i) formalize the content to be produced, (ii) produce it, and (iii) arrange it in to a systematic manner.
- Over the past few weeks I’ve started reaching out to folks and asking them for help and insight. This blog challenge is a great example. As I wrote recently on my post about leverage, it’s critical to make sure you have the right connections in place. Priority number two will be to identify at least twenty individuals that I want to build relationships with (related to my plan), reach out to each of them, and find some way to help each of them.
- I need to focus on execution. I’ve had a fairly reasonable plan in place to date. Focusing on the first priority is a critical part of that plan. I need to avoid “seeking perfection” and move on with the plan that I have. Execution is critical.
When (not if!) I accomplish these three goals, I’ll be a step closer to that ideal day I envisioned yesterday.
If you want some more information on the challenge, check out the post on day six at:
http://suitcaseentrepreneur.com/blogchallenge/blog-challenge-day6
Blog Challenge – Day 5
Today’s challenge is focused on defining your target. As the old adage, states “If you don’t know where you’re going, any road will get you there”. Natalie’s prompt is:
- What’s does your perfect day look like?
This one’s tough as I don’t have a perfect day, but rather perfect days… I’d go crazy living the same “perfect day” over and over. That said, there are some elements of the perfect day that are always there. So..
- I wake up around 5:00 to get things going. Early AM is the best time for me as my mind is sharp and crisp. The ideas flow freely and I’m able to make connections between different concepts quickly and easily.
- I review my aspirations in light of how the previous day went and how I want today to go. The aspirations serve as reference point for the me I want to be.
- Next my attention turns to my “intellectual” plan. The plan has short, middle, and long term goals on it. It outlines things I want to do from an intellectual growth and business perspective. I reflect on where I’m at with the goals and then move right on to today’s tasks. As things are aligned and I’m fresh, the tasks come easily. Before I know it two hours have gone by and I’ve completed the days tasks and it’s only 7:00.
- I grab a quick bite to eat (orange juice, banana, peanut butter) and then pop back in the bedroom to find Sonya waking up. We talk a bit about what we’ll do today. I listen actively and together we decide what we’ll do.
- I turn my attention to exercise. For the next couple of hours I work on my physical well being. Whether it’s swimming, biking, running, resistance training or something else my focus is on my health. I end the time stretching and taking a nice hot shower. 9:00 and I’ve exercised my mind and body?
- The next couple of hours are spent consuming information. Books, magazines, papers, internet, podcasts, and so on. As I digest the material, I take notes and log all of the information in a systematic manner so that I can access it easily. 11:00 and I’ve refueled my brain with new material.
- The next two hours are spent reaching out to others. It could be socially, it could be business wise — although even here it’s only working with people who share my love of learning growing, and living. One PM and I’ve reached out to my extended family.
- For the next three hours Sonya and I spend time together exploring. It’s her call on where this time takes us. Four PM and I’ve spent time with my partner
- From four until six, I’m back in touch with the external world. This could be actual calls, meetings, or conversations. It could also be working on things for them — be it specific tasks or new content for them. The key here is that the focus is on helping them grow during this time.
- Six until eight is dinner with friends. A chance to see what’s going on with those I care about.
- Finally, from eight until ten it’s another dose of information consumption.
What’s the insights here:
- While the structure of the day is repetitive, the exact tasks are not. I get bored with doing the same thing over and over and my ideal day reflects the opportunity to change things up a bit.
- The day needs to be organized. I need to have the goals and aspirations outlined so that I can keep the focus.
- Consuming new information is critical. Probably my most basic “need” is to learn which feeds my desire to grow.
- The day is incomplete unless I involve others. They feed me. And they give me the opportunity to create things for them. The opportunity to help others grow.
The above insights are all more “tactical” in nature. There’s an even bigger insight that’s more “strategic” in nature:
- My choice of “learning, growing, living” as a blog/website/focus/whatever you want to call it, is aligned with how I want to live my life. That’s great and why it’s been such a fun few months!
The biggest challenge I face right now is in figuring out how to combine the above vision of the perfect day in to a business. While I’m not worried, I am frustrated that the solution is not coming more quickly. However, that’s a good thing as I’ve always taken the next “easy”, short term step versus focusing on what makes sense over the long term. I need to take my time, continue to write, continue to work with others, and focus on where I can help folks live a better life. Eventually the solution on a business will become clear. I just need the patience to stay the course through the journey.
If you want some more information on the challenge, check out the post on day five at:
http://suitcaseentrepreneur.com/blogchallenge/blog-challenge-day5
Blog Challenge – Day 4
Today’s challenge from Natalie is:
- What is your definition of location independence?
This one had me stumped all yesterday afternoon and all this morning. Then I realized I was missing the key word: “your”. When I read the prompt, I was thinking about wanting to travel all over the world on a moments notice. About having no home base. About being 100% care free. And I couldn’t relate, because that definition of location independence does not resonate with me!!!
For me the concept of location independence doesn’t resonate. That’s probably because I’ve lived in over 20 place during my life — including twice overseas, traveled extensively, and never feel tied down to a particular location. However, the question Natalie asked still bothered me — how do I define location independence?
Then it clicked. For me it’s not about location independence, it’s about time independence. With that in mind, I define location independence as:
- Having the ability to choose when and where you live and work.
While I’m not trained as a physicist, I think these guys got it right when they talked about combining time and space in to a single continuum. Because in my mind, the two are absolutely intertwined. Being free to go wherever, without the freedom to enjoy my time there is not really freedom. Similarly, having the time to do what I want, but not the ability to go where I want is not really freedom either.
If you read my definition carefully, there’s a third key word in my definition: work. The implication in my definition is that the “work” you are doing is something that you want to do and not something that you have to do.
So there you have it. Time. Location. Work. The ability to choose all three is what makes up location independence in my mind.
If you want some more information on the challenge, check out the post on day four at:
http://suitcaseentrepreneur.com/blogchallenge/blog-challenge-day4
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