Tag Archives: inspiration

Three new books incoming

Placed an order yesterday for some new insights:

Daniel Kahneman – Thinking, Fast and Slow: I’m aware of economic theory but it’s a long time since I took steps to go a little deeper. This will be my jumping off point on that one.

Scott Galloway – The Algebra of Wealth: Personal finance strategy affects us all but most of us spend hardly any time thinking about what we are doing, let alone taking action.

The First 90 Days – Michael Watkins: I’m starting a new job in a couple of weeks. I like to go into anything with some kind of plan, however rudimentary. Similar books of this kind are on my shelves and this one could add a new angle.

(I don’t do affiliate marketing and don’t want to automatically send anyone to Amazon so this is why there are no links.)

Be promiscuous with your positive emotions

Tell people what you like about them.

Let people know how you feel about the positive things they do.

People don’t know this about themselves unless we tell them. So tell them. Be open about it.

And it’ll probably come back. Your friends will reciprocate.

The good vibes will spread.

What’s not to like about that?

Better conversations

When I walk side-by-side with someone, or drive with them in a car, the conversation tends to flow better.

I’m not certain why. Maybe because it feels less confrontational, not looking straight at the other person.

Some great ideas have come this way. It could be that there’s the element of an added ‘journey’ you’re both sharing.

There’s also a clear start and finish. The conversation can’t be the same once the journey is over. You’re in a different time and space.

Are you better today than yesterday?

Jacaranda trees in blossom.

Use a simple metric such as the one in the title above to review your day.

Think in terms of what you did and give it a ‘yes’ or ‘no’.

No need for fancy spreadsheets or other tools for this. Not even a notebook. Do it in your head if that’s all you’ve got to work with.

But don’t avoid it. Making notes and tracking your progress every day will be useful.

Over time, you can add categories. Maybe you did a run which boosts your health but you didn’t read that chapter you committed to.

Taking action is what this is all about. It’s a simple and effective process when it’s done over time.

Yes or no, every day, over and over.

You’ll get a feel for what’s working, what’s a success or what might need to change.

Track things that mean the most to you and you won’t go too far wrong.

Your habits define you.

This is a strong one to build.

The trick to laying those solid foundations for a big future

Centennial Park, Sydney

The groundwork for a future focussed on achievement of any kind is built on one thing.

Discipline.

It’s about creating daily habits that develop into strengths over time.

The task is usually something that doesn’t come easy. That you have to work hard at.

Mine’s writing. No doubt about that at all.

For others it’s maybe reading. Or lifting weights. It can be anything.

What’s yours?

Believe in yourself

You’re stronger than you think.

Dig in.

If you want to quit, go again.

Don’t stop believing. You’ll find the power you need.

Make the most of your weekend

Weekends are precious. They are the time to relax, recharge and have some fun. But they can also be the time to get things done and learn some new skills.

How can you have a productive weekend without feeling overwhelmed or stressed?

Here are some tips:

Plan ahead. Decide what you want to accomplish and prioritise your tasks. Write them down. Schedule them in your calendar.
Set boundaries. Limit your work-related activities and avoid distractions. Turn off your notifications, email and social media (ever tried the Freedom app?). Say no to anything that isn’t aligned with your goals.
Balance work and play. Don’t forget to enjoy yourself and do something that makes you happy. Reward yourself for completing your tasks. Even do some celebrating when you knock over a big task.
Reflect and review. At the end of the weekend, take some time to reflect on what you did, what you learned and what you can improve. Review your progress. Would you change anything to make it better?

Give these tips a try. New skills take some effort but the payoff is real.

How to overcome fear and take action

Fear is an illusion that stops us from pursuing our dreams.

The only way to overcome fear is to take action. Action creates momentum, confidence, and results.

Here are some tips to take action despite fear:

Start small. Focus on the next step, not the final outcome.
Use positive affirmations. Replace negative thoughts with positive ones.
Seek support. Surround yourself with positive people.
Celebrate your progress. Reward yourself for every step.

Remember that fear is normal and natural. It’s a sign that you’re stepping out of your comfort zone, growing as a person.

Don’t let fear stop your progress.

Act today. Watch your dreams come true.

Move the ball

Each day, we all show up for work. The job is the constant, whether we like it or not.

Move the ball forwards. Even a small amount, just move the ball.

There are two balls here – mine and the one belonging to my employer. Whoever pays my cheques.

Each one needs that daily movement.

This is how you stay employed and employable. Both balls moving means you are learning. You are doing your job and devloping your skills.

Move each ball. Apply effort and time to it. It doesn’t fail as a long term strategy.

Break out of the pack

Here are six ways you can increase your personal impact, no matter what you do.

They’re taken from a 2014 Tom Peters slide deck I printed and bound because it was so useful. I pick it up and walk through it periodically. Even time I open the pages, the words pop off the page. They never get old.

Outwork ’em
Outread ’em
Outlast ’em
Show up
Listen
Keep an open mind

I’ll also add another one – master politics. If you can understand how politics works and the role it plays in all aspects of our lives, you’ll have an advantage over the majority of people you work and play with.

Which one are you going to start working on first?

The Three Capes Walk, Tasmania

A beautiful spot.

Tackle your problems head-on

It takes guts to stand up to bad people. The same applies to problems of any kind.

The insecurity we feel when we realise what’s going on, the nerves about what will happen, begin to build. We go through every “what if…?” scenario at 100 mph.

Some people in this spot decide to hide away, playing in the shadows. It gives them a chance to cover their tracks, hoping this is enough to kill the scent.

But it never is.

You’ve gotta own up and face the problem head on. Your weaknesses are obvious to all at this point. Vulnerability here is the path to strength.

Be humble. Admit you’ve made a mistake if that’s the case. Admit you don’t know what to do. Ask for help and listen when the feedback arrives, no matter how tough that might be under the circumstances.

Get the job done. Then go find another one. Use the improvements from this episode to reach new levels.

Onwards, always to better things, with a chunk of learning about yourself in your pocket.

From tired to inspired: revive your energy levels

I just checked out the caffeine in a pack of Berocca Boost. Wow, it’s wild. That 75mg shot will jack you up for a few hours, no doubt. But how can you imporve your energy levels and not have to resort to the artificial approach?

Sleep

Making sure you get enough is massive. Your body can go for days on end with no food and little water but take away sleep and you’ll stop functioning.

Get to bed at a smart hour, say 10pm, for a week. Keep your devices out of the bedroom so there’s no temptation to check them. Set a challenge to wake up at the same time every day for a week, aiming to make it stick. That’s a great start to forming good sleep habits.

Diet

Caffeine stays in your system for as much as eight hours. That cappuccino after dinner, or the piccolo to get you through the afternoon, makes it impossible for your sleep schedule to work.

Processed foods are a big negative factor, too. The hidden fats and sugars they contain make it harder for your body to digest them, using up additional energy. Hit the fruit and veg hard for a week. Maybe start the day with a smoothie. Your brain and body will feel the benefits instantly.

Screen time

Staring at screens increases stress levels and stops you from interacting with the world. It kills your efficiency stone dead. Can you cut it down?

Less focus on screens improves your sleep for starters, giving your better quality rest. If you can shut screens down for an hour before you get into bed, you’ll also decrease stimulation sources and naturally relax before you hit the sack.

I’m no doctor and this is generic advice. Please consult the pros if this is something you have big problems with. Your energy supplies are limited so do what you can to support yourself each day. A small change or two can go a long way.

Scrolling away productivity: how social media is eating away your day

Scrolling is a death spiral. Anything you’re working on disappears from your mind. The plot gets lost.

All that replaces the work is someone else’s life or a product you don’t need. Those best bits of the lives of others, served up in that never-ending fire hose of content.

We all get blasted by it. Anyone who says they haven’t – they can deal with it, it’s under control – is not being truthful. It’s like being on a water slide. All that can stop you once you take off is the smash into the pool at the bottom.

The remorse after any amount of time spent scrolling is hard to take. I put Instagram back on my phone about one month ago. Already I can feel its hooks are firmly embedded. I’m in, posting a little and consuming a lot, just they way they like it.

And, boy, do those five minute blocks add up. Between YouTube and Instagram I’m averaging nine hours a week. The waste of that amount of time is tangible. It’s painful to see the facts, whatever level of control I imagine I have.

The challenge is to now do something about it.

Take your own audit of how the scroll affects you. The results might spur you on to some positive changes. If you can go from consuming to producing content, for example, putting those scrolling hours to good use, things could be different.

Negativity spreads quickly and will take us all down

I was chatting to someone at the office the other day. We got deep quickly on the topic of a mutual coworker – someone with a few issues in their life.

They are bleeding all over the rest of us with their sighs and “it’s all too hard…” comments about the job, leading to some poor performance. The slack created has to be picked up, of course, so no-one’s happy about it.

The chat goes downhill fast. It becomes a pile-on. Within minutes, we’ve gone way beyond anything uplifting or light and down into the murky waters.

By the end of it, we’re all stirred up. Our own productivity levels drop through the floor. The blame for this is clear, too – definitely nothing to do with us… we’re perfect!

But we are to blame.

The chat is gossip that takes us downhill faster than a black run. The decision to avoid the idle banter and stay focussed on the job sets those who get stuff done apart.

Step away. Do something else. Don’t take the bait. Stay in a positive frame of mind rather than taking the easy path and teeing off on someone who could be in real trouble.

It never ends well for those who love this kind of behaviour. The gossip kings and queens are not the ones to hang out with. Build a relationship with them, as with everyone at work, but don’t join them when the sourness takes over.

Rise above it. Be the one who leads the team in the right direction.

Don’t add fuel to the fire. Let it burn out.

Digging deeper: why an easy career is not always the best choice

Just because something’s easy doesn’t make it right. A career you find easy might not be the ideal path over the long term.

One of my big mistakes from the last 35 years is not getting stuck into a career I enjoyed. I didn’t have a trade, a skill I could develop over time. I could get by without certifications and additional study. I made good money but the ceiling was low. Once I hit it, all I could see was 30 more years of the same. No thanks.

When the pressure is off, motivation is hard to come by. Skills get stale. Money flows but the drive to improve disappears (or at least it did for me).

I’ve now gone deep rather than wide in the area I work in – cyber security. It involves study to improve and the bar keeps getting higher. I wanted a career where some study effort would pay off. There are endless study paths, and it can take a while to find the right path for your own interests, but I’ve found it now. Doors are starting to open.

My purpose for this effort is to grow skills and rise through the ranks. As always, studying on your own time is a pain, but if the purpose is clear and you’ve got that motivation, good things happen.

When you’re making plans for the long term, keep this in mind. Economic security and a skill you’ve developed over the years will keep you on the up.

Where change begins: a starter kit for real life transformation

How do you build a life from a place where you think nothing will work?

There’s a starting point from which you can measure progress. An attitude shift and some changes to the way we use time are also required. If you stick with it, it’ll change your life. It revolves around the things we do in these three main areas and the time we spend on them:

Health and fitness

Money and income

Participation in society

We all sink time into things that take away from our lives rather than add to them. One of them is the time we spend on our phones or online. Using some of this time to build skills or habits in these areas is how you guarantee that your future will be better than your past.

Confidence grows. You’ll meet people. A way forwards will become clear. Goals will be set. Milestones achieved.

Gains are possible from a standing start. The first step is on you. It’s easy to avoid action, or add plans to a list. They’ll keep staring back at you but there won’t be any change. Action makes change happen. It’s gotta come from you.

It all begins with a simple plan. Small commitments lead to bigger commitments. Before you know it, you’ll have formed habits. People will notice your positivity. The dark clouds that were following you around will disappear.

But you’ve got to take that first step. Can you do it?

If you need a hand, let me know.

The new wing of the Art Gallery of NSW

It’s a superb new place to see art in Sydney. Be sure to add it to your list.

Robert A. Caro

Ever heard of Robert Caro? I thought not. Look him up and get your hands on his work. If you have, you’ll know why I reckon he’s The Man in terms of writing and journalism. He’s still working, well into his 80’s. It’s a job that he’s filled full of passion through the years.

His life’s work has been telling the stories of only a couple of men who changed society in their own ways. His first book, The Power Broker, describes the rise and fall of the most powerful unelected official ever to hold office inside a democracy, Robert Moses. The guy built the infrastructure of modern New York City – parkways, public parks, bridges, beaches, and tunnels – but ruined numerous lives – those of everyday politicians brave enough to vote against his projects, anyone in a property on a route he wanted to develop, and anyone else who got under his feet – along the way.

The Power Broker won the Pulitzer Prize in the 70s when it came out after a few years in the making. The title sums it up but the combination of great investigative journalism, sound non-fiction wordsmithing and a killer story underpin why Obama credits it as the book that got him into politics.

I’m biased – I admire the man. His work shines as a beacon of hope in today’s world of influencers and fakery. He’s a brilliant writer. He calls in his lunch order to the same cafe, the Cosmic Diner, at the same time every day. Talk about consistency. Give his work a try if you’re into biographies and non-fiction.

Learnings from the last couple of years

A long time has gone by since I last wrote here, and a few things in life have changed, so here we are…

We are living in Australia as permanent residents and we are striving to build a solid foundation for ourselves. My business is growing and there are now three of us in the team, and as I continue to drive this business growth I’ve had a few things in the back of my mind, helping with the steering.

I’ll share them below in no particular order. Some are attributed to a couple the people that I read and follow for guidance and inspiration, but not all:

The more genuine your interest in other people, the more people trust you.
The better you are at listening, the more people want to spend time with you.
Be precise in what you say (Jordan Peterson).
Be very careful what you wish for as it will come to you in time.
Remember people’s names if you can and use them.
Let others save face. Don’t drop them off the cliff unless you have no choice.
Be somebody by doing something.
Become an expert and work harder at this than anything else in your life.
Our minds control everything we do.
Our attitudes will always define our results and outcomes in life.
Do things that are hard, often.
Save money and build a stack before making investments.
Think like the seasons (from Jim Rohn) – be ready for them, plant seeds and work hard to grow them.
Stay cool and shut up.
Struggle teaches us who we really are. Accept the struggle that is life.
Improve what you’re not happy with. Obsess on the things you have to improve.
The easy option = bad results.
Honesty is the way to progress.
Get people on payroll doing things they are great at and that you can’t do.
Negativity will bring you down in the end. It repels all things.
Build self confidence through small daily actions done well to then rise above your circumstances and achieve more.
If you think you’re the smartest person in the room, you’re likely to be the opposite.
Massive action taken towards a goal gets results.
Patience, passivity and caution are killers for anyone entrepreneurial.
Find your why. It will drive you through bad times and keep you focused.
Know the way broadly and achieve in many things (Musashi).