Tag Archives | personal development
English: Quads Aces, to represent poker games.

BUSINESS IS A GAME

By on January 6, 2012 in Success
English: Quads Aces, to represent poker games.

Image via Wikipedia

I loved this concept from Tony Hsieh.

BUSINESS IS A GAME

Everything I know about business I learned from poker: financials, strategy, education, and culture.

FINANCIALS

  • The guy who wins the most hands is not the guy who makes the most money in the long run.
  • The guy who never loses a hand is nor the guy who makes the most money in the long run.
  • Go for positive expected value, not what’s least risky.
  • You will win or lose individual hands, but it’s what happens in the long term that matters.

STRATEGY

  • Learn to adapt. Adjust your style of play as the dynamics of the game change.
  • The players with the most stamina and focus usually win.
  • Hope is not a good plan.
  • Stick to your principles.

EDUCATION

  • Never stop learning. Read books. Learn from others who have done it before.
  • Learn by doing. Theory is nice, but nothing replaces actual experience.
  • Just because you win a hand doesn’t mean you’re good and you don’t have more learning to do. You might have just gotten lucky

CULTURE

  • To become really good, you need to live it, breathe it, and  sleep it.
  • Be nice and make friends. It’s a small community.
  • Have fun. The game is a lot more enjoyable when you’re trying to do more than just make money.

Tony Hsieh is the CEO of Zappos.com and the author of Delivering Happiness. Tony’s (longer) blog post is Everything l Know About Business I Learned from Poker.

What are your thoughts? Do you agree? Disagree?

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Create a Life Plan in 30 Minutes or Less…and Why You Need to

By on January 2, 2012 in Happiness, Life Balance, Personal Growth, Questions

Do you have a life plan? If not, it’s time to think about creating one. We are not talking about some 20 page research paper with charts and graphs and maps. Just a general snapshot of where you are right now in all the areas that matter and where you’d like to go in the future.

This should take no more than 30 minutes. This is your life we’re talking about…you can find 30 minutes. And if you can’t …we need to talk, you and I.

How would you rate your life on a scale of 1 – 10? – Are you satisfied with that rating? What would you be satisfied with?

Write a brief description of the current state of your life. – Health, relationships, work, finances, spiritual or emotional well-being, community, etc. Whatever is going on. Just briefly jot it down.

What makes you happy? – There must be some good things, some things that bring you joy and make you laugh.

What are the drains on your energy and happiness? – What people, situations or behaviors are your kryptonite? We all have these things (or someones) that suck the life out of us like vampires draining our life force.

What isn’t working in your life? - These are the obstacles to living a satisfied life of fulfillment…Do you need to lose weight, be more organized, find a different job, end or change a relationship, manage your stress better or maybe just learn to laugh again.

Now describe your ideal life. - I’m not talking about a commercial for the “Rich and Famous,” some Hollywood fairy tale. I’m talking about what kind of life would truly make you happy to get out of bed in the morning. What would you be doing? Who would you be with? How would you be feeling?

What do you need to do to get that life?  – What needs to happen for you to get from point A to point B? Again, not a detailed outline of actions for the next 20 years, just some general goals to work toward, a few habits to adopt or a change in attitude or surroundings to adopt.

Something to think about…Why? Why do you want whatever it is that you want? What do you really want to accomplish in this life? What kind of person do you want to be? What do you want to be remembered for?

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Emergency (Philippine TV program)

Life Isn’t An EMERGENCY!

By on July 20, 2011 in Personal Growth
Emergency (Philippine TV program)

Image via Wikipedia

So many of us live from one crisis to the next! We have become so accustomed to crises and deadlines that we feel lost and lazy if we are not putting out some kind of fire. In fact if we are really honest, there’s something intense and thrilling about handling a crisis.

But we take life, ourselves and our goals so seriously that we forget to have fun along the way, and we forget to cut ourselves some slack. We beat ourselves up we can’t meet our self- created targets.

The first step to adopting a less anxious mindset is in the willingness to admit that in most cases we are creating our own emergencies. Life will usually go on if things don’t go according to plan.

I have often wondered if there is another way to live life that might be a little less exhausting. Even though we are invigorated by handling these crises, they often do leave us feeling drained and exhausted. Could it be that these things don’t simply happen to us? Perhaps we need to consider if we have a hand in their creation?

It’s helpful to keep reminding ourselves that life isn’t usually an emergency.

 

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Ramping up Facebook – Have You Looked Lately?

By on June 13, 2011 in Personal Growth, Success

Do you have ideas, projects or tools that you really know you could be pursuing, but can’t seem to squeeze out the time?

Absolutely! We all do.  Our Facebook page is one of mine. I love it, want to spend more time there, grow it, make it a valuable resource for information and discussion, but have only managed a half-hearted, somewhat inconsistent effort. I have not made it a prioritized focus until now.

I will be playing with options and scheduling over the coming weeks, but for now you will be able to find:

  • Daily inspiration
  • Daily tips for living your most productive, fulfilling, successful and joyous life
  • Weekly questions, polls and discussions to help us all share, discuss and grow; personally, professionally – hopefully both
  • Frequently I will be adding music, photos, videos and links to motivate, inform, entertain, inspire and expand

Thanks to all those who already “Like” our Facebook page. If you haven’t already, please come take a look and join in the discussion!

Now it’s your turn!

What have you toyed with, pushed aside or put on hold that you’d really like to explore? Choose one thing that you want to bring to the forefront and give it a nudge.

  • Choose your project – work, home, community, whatever
  • Decide what you’d like to accomplish with it – What will the outcome be or what will it give you
  • Make a plan – at least a loose outline of action steps
  • Revise as necessary – ask for feedback and shift directions accordingly

Please share with us. What project you’re choosing to dust off? Better yet, stop over to our Facebook page and tell us all!

 

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Productivity & Purpose from Life After College by @jenny_blake

By on June 8, 2011 in Productivity

Photo by Galo Delgado at The Photobooth Project

Today’s post is a guest post contributed by Judi Huck.

Life After College, a new book by Jenny Blake, has been full of productive inspiration for me. In fact, I had the pleasure of attending the book launch in New York City, where I got to meet Jenny. I was truly blown away by her charisma.

The major themes of Life After College are: seizing the day, as well as the counterpart to that, which is instilling balance. The race to success, especially wealth and prestige, are so ingrained in the American lifestyle that it’s sometimes hard to remember to pause and recharge for your longterm wellbeing.

However, Jenny’s book helps with that and offers practical advice, workbook-like exercises and even recommended reading. The format also includes quotes from both famous people and everyday people on twitter. Divided into several sections, Life After College delves into: an overview on life, work, finances, the home, organization, friends & family, relationships, health, fun, and my favorite — personal growth.

To paraphrase the chapter on personal growth, the takeaways include: embracing the moment, as well as choosing when not to work, and instead doing the things that make you happy. Often underestimated, they’re actually fundamental to personal productivity.

According to Jenny, personal growth also entails treating yourself well — on a psychological level. She gives advice on friending your inner voice.

The most valuable lesson from Life After College is the inspirational aspect and somehow mustering the courage and audacity to dream. After reading, the work has prompted me to write my major life goals, a sort of bucket list, if you will. Though somewhere in my mental repository, I had procrastinated writing them down out of fear. The change starts now.

In her book launch speech, Jenny told the story of how her book was turned down numerous times by the publisher, but she refused to give up on a project she believed in. Any book, whether about Life After College, a different period of life or other self-help issue, that encourages grand actions and provides tools for achieving them, is a book you won’t want to miss. Consider it my summer reading recommendation for you, regardless if you’re a part of the recent grad demographic.

About me: Judi Huck is a social media and community manager for the task management application Producteev. She enjoys exploring New York City, yoga and meditation.

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Don’t Give Up on Your Dreams

By on June 3, 2011 in Personal Growth

If we have not achieved our early dreams, we must either find new ones or see what we can salvage from the old. If we have accomplished what we set out to do in our youth, we need not weep like Alexander the Great that we have no more worlds to conquer. There is clearly much left to be done, and whatever else we are going to do, we had better get on with it. – Rosalynn Carter

Take a look at your dreams and accomplishments. Do you need to revise and adjust based on where you are in life and the experiences you’ve had? This doesn’t mean give up, just regroup. And as Rosalynn so clearly says, “we had better get on with it.”

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Sharpening Clay Blade

How Do You Stay Sharp?

By on May 25, 2011 in Success
Sharpening Clay Blade

Image by CraftyGoat via Flickr

 

There’s an old fable about a couple of lumberjacks in a tree-cutting contest. The first picked up a rusty axe and ran into the woods immediately to start chopping trees. The second spent almost until the end of the contest sharpening his axe. After which he walked up and quickly felled the biggest tree.

What’s the moral of the story? Don’t use dull, rusty tools.

Don’t waste your time doing things you don’t intend to be excellent at. Delegate them to someone who does have a sharper tool. And for the skills you do want to master, make it a priority to sharpen your tool beyond what is necessary to cut. Skill saves time.

What do you need to sharpen?

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Becoming Wise

By on May 20, 2011 in Personal Growth

The great thing about getting older is that you don’t lose all the other ages is you’ve been. –  Madelyn L’Engle

Life is a progression.  We are a work in progress and an accumulation of experiences.  Everything that has previously occurred in our lives has happened for a reason and is an essential part of our development.  One of the challenges of our lives is to integrate and absorb the pieces of our lives as we experience them.  It is sometimes tempting to try to deny difficult periods of our lives or put out of our minds significant events, especially if they have been painful or unflattering.  When we try to erase or re-write our past we deprive ourselves of our own hard-earned wisdom.

When we realize that some of our most valuable strengths have developed not in spite of, but because of the life experiences we have had; then we can begin to fully appreciate the depth and breadth of the wise person we have become.

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Have You Discovered Your Passion?

By on May 18, 2011 in Personal Growth, Success

Some people ask. “What if I haven’t found my true passion?”

It’s dangerous to think in terms of “passion” and “purpose” because they sound like such huge overwhelming ideas. If you think love needs to look like “Romeo and Juliet”, you’ll overlook a great relationship that grows slowly. If you think you haven’t found your passion yet, you’re probably expecting it to be overwhelming.

If you find yourself glued to Photoshop, playing around for hours, dive in deeper. Maybe that’s your new calling. If you keep thinking about putting on a conference or being a Hollywood screenwriter and you find the idea terrifies but intrigues you, it’s probably a worthy endeavor for you. You grow (and thrive!) by doing what excites you and what scares you every day, not by trying to find your passion.

Instead, just notice what excites you and what scares you on a small moment-to-moment level.

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Are you Super Woman? (Or Superman)

By on May 4, 2011 in Personal Growth

I saw a bumper sticker awhile back that said, “I am woman. I am invincible. I am tired.” That sure sums up the way most of us live our lives. Who says we have to be perfect and do it all? Just because we can have and do anything we want does not mean that we must do everything! We especially can’t do it all at once. Cut yourself and your fellow man/woman some slack. Just stop the madness!

THE INBOX WILL NEVER BE EMPTY and THE TO-DO LIST WILL NEVER BE FINISHED!

But wait, aren’t we supposed to be trying to be more efficient, to get more done each day, to reach all of our goals. Well, yes, but… and it’s a huge but… We are not supposed to be working ourselves into a frenzied existence of poor health, unbearable stress, self-flagellation and discontent. THAT IS NOT A PRODUCTIVE LIFE.

Pace yourself. Take a breath. Have some fun along the way.

Kiss Super Woman goodbye! Let’s shoot for “Efficient, reliable, creative, hard working and fun, but not perfect” instead. Yeah, that’s what I’m shooting for. The cape was never really a flattering accessory anyway.

To get us started down the path here are some strategies we can use to make the shift:

  • Let go of the idea that you can do it all.
  • Ask for help! (Or delegate if you must.)
  • Be flexible – things come up, priorities change, plans fall apart.
  • Laugh at yourself – it’s a must.
  • Repeat after me – “I’m sorry, but no.” It gets easier with practice…lots of practice.

Come on, give it a try. What have you got to lose? Perhaps a little stress!

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