A Dozen Habits for Success

Leo Babuta of Zen Habits notes that success is the result of good habits.  Lately, I’ve been trying to develop some in myself and one of the best guiudes I’ve found is John Maxwell’s twelve daily disciplines (the Daily Dozen) from his book Today Matters.

 

Here’s the whole list, for reference:

 

1.)  Attitude: Choose and display the right attitudes daily.

            Is your attitude a plus or minus today?

 

2.)  Priorities: Determine and act on important priorities daily.

            Are your priorities keeping you focused daily?

 

3.)  Health:  Know and follow healthy guidelines daily.

            Is your health enabling you to succeed today?

 

4.)  Family: Communicate with and care for my family daily.

            Does your family situation provide support today?

 

5.)  Thinking:  Practice and develop good thinking daily.

            Is your thinking mature and productive today?

 

6.)  Commitment: Make and keep proper commitments daily.

            Have your commitments been kept today?

 

7.)  Finances:  Make and properly manage dollars daily.

            Have your financial decisions been solid today?

 

8.)  Faith:  Deepen and live out my faith daily.

            Has your faith been active today?

 

9.)  Relationships:  Initiate and invest in solid relationships daily.

            Are your relationships being strengthened today?

 

10.)  Generosity:  Plan for and model generosity daily.

            Has your generosity added value to others today?

 

11.)  Values:  Embrace and practice good values daily.

            Are your values giving you direction today?

 

12.)  Growth:  Seek and experience improvements daily.

            Is your growth making you better today?

 

You’re supposed to practice all twelve every day, but I figure at this point I’ll focus on one a day and see how it goes.  If I can do that over time hopefully all twelve will become habits!

Scott

Beating Procrastination: Thoughts

Recently I discovered this blog by Meg Hyatt, whose father is president of Thomas Nelson publishing.  I ran into her dad’s blog via Getting Things Done, and through twitter I discovered his daughter.

Her post is on running in the heat and humidity and I encourage you to read it.  It was one of the comments that caught my attention, and I’m excerpting it here because I think it’s really good:

 6  Bridget  on June 8, 2008 at 8:01 pm

A Few Observations

* The more we make excuses, the more we buy into them, the easier it is to make additional excuses to support our mind-created beliefs. These beliefs become our story, and our excuses become our reality.
* Delaying is addictive. Even if your intention is to put it off “just this one time”. The act of putting it off sets a chain of reactions that will make it easier to delay this task again. In fact, it becomes more likely that the task will be postponed again.
* What we repeat in our mind actually exaggerates the scale of the task involved. It snowballs larger and larger, until the task becomes so big that you will never get it done.
* Constantly thinking about doing something but avoiding the actual act of doing it takes energy. You end up spending more energy pondering about it and making excuses for it than just getting it done. You’ll actually save time and attention energy by just doing it.
* We can only move on with our lives when we can get past our internal conflict between our story of procrastination and our desire to get it done. You really start to be productive when you can change your attitude.
* When you break the cycle and start, you’ll be surprised at how quick and easy the task actually takes. You’ll be wondering why you didn’t just get it done in the first place.

What are your excuses?  How do you beat procrastination?

Scott

Guest Blog – James and the Urban Experience

Scott’s note:  James and I have been friends for almost two decades.  We were friends before it was “cool” to have an interracial friendship.  We’ve grown because of it, in many ways.  James grew up in Wilkinsburg, a distressed area of Pittsburgh, and worked his way out and is now the father of two awesome little boys.

James and I have had many conversations about God, and also on racism, what it’s like to be black, and so on.  Helped open up the eyes of a suburban white boy to the urban world of minorities.  I value his friendship! 

  I wanted to share some of his stuff here.  Check out his blog, too!

I drove into Wilkinsburg Memorial Day. I noticed the same garbage in the same place along the main street. Two women of the night plyed their trade in broad daylight.

Their pimp monitored them a block away. He moves swiftly for senior with a pronounced limp. I wonder if  they get holiday pay? The union steward in me I guess.

In my heart I judge the young men on bicycles, circling cars like carrion, expert eyes pick out the suburban white Guys looking for drugs. 

Why dont these brothas clean up their town? 

I consider making a statement by picking up the trash myself. But no, I really dont have the time. Truthfully I’m not comfortable with parking my car. What if it gets vandalized?

 I stop judging the people around me. I consider myself; Am I a coward? Am I a hypocrite? Am I just lazy?

 ——————————————————————————————————-

poem about religion in pittsburgh 

A knock on my door from an earnest Jehovah Witness 

a bean pie from an angry black Muslim 

a postcard from a zealous protestant conservative 

a bumper sticker praising libreral catholics 

Its great to be American!

What I’ve Read Lately

 

Thomas Mellon and His Times, by Thomas A Mellon

This man was really something.  He was the Irish patriarch of the Mellon banking clan.  I don’t agree with everything he says but he definitely believed in hard work.  He also was very active in raising his children.  He made his fortune by taking his earnings from the law profession and investing in real estate and construction of houses, as well as coal mines and the like.  Some railroads and stuff.  And then the bank.  Very conservative, thorough, and detail oriented was Mr. Mellon. 

Surprisingly, Thomas Mellon states that you don’t have to be a salesman to be successful in business.  He was however, apparently a master networker.  He knew he was going to be a lawyer and met most of his future clients working in the prothonotary’s office, though.  The legacy he left to his heirs is amazing in that it has lasted a long time. 

Spook Country, by William Gibson 

Not as good as Pattern Recognition, but interesting nevertheless.  Learned about some interesting concepts, such as Spatially Tagged Hypermedia, or Locative Art.  Some other interesting things: 

• “Music today is atemporal.” 
• “Intelligence is advertising turned inside out.”
• “The holding of knowledge in dignified privacy helps ensure desired results.” 

And oh yeah, about shipping containers, so I eventually want to read The Box: How the Shipping Container Made the World Smaller and the World Economy Bigger by Marc Levinson.  Anybody ever notice how in the first episode of Firefly the crew of Serenity is at the Eavesdown Docks on Persephone and surrounded by shipping containers? (See pic at top of post from stillflying.net) Cool! 

The Golden Ratio, by Mario Livio 

An interesting book describing Phi, which is a mathematical ratio that somehow shows up naturally in nature, in music, in math.  I’ve always been interested in the Knights Templar, who apparently were interested in so-called “Sacred Geometry.”  Livio debunks the use of the ratio in many architectural wonders such as the Great Pyramid as well as in Renaissance art.  It’s doubtful, I suppose, that the Templars knew of it since the ratio made an appearance in Europe in the Renaissance and after their time, although they may have learned of it from the Arabs (who learned it from the Greeks!) and then kept it secret.  If so, Livio doesn’t comment on it.

Virtual Light, by William Gibson 

Part of his Bridge Trilogy.  The scenes involving the security guard, Rydell, weren’t as interesting as those involving Chevette and Yamazaki.  His portrayal of the squatters’ community on the bridge was great.  I liked how it shows that a neighborhood tends to grow organically and not by top down control.  (Ahem – I’m looking at you, Pittsburgh Government!  Luke, are you listening?) 

Made to Stick, by Chip Heath and Dan Heath 

An interesting read on how to make messages more interesting.  There are six characteristics of “sticky” messages – Simple, unexpected, concrete, credible, emotional, stories – the acronym is SUCCES.  The idea is to incorporate as many of these characteristics into your message as possible.  A perfect example is how urban legends stick in your mind years later but corporate initiatives don’t.  There’s more on Wikipedia and their website, but I recommend reading the book for both the examples and for the summary in the back of the book.

Scott

Goals, Strategy and Rules for Renegades

Tim Ferris did a post that inspired me to buy Rules for Renegades by Christine Comaford-Lynch.

I’ve been going through a paradigm shift lately.  Hate to use such a clichéd term, but there it is.  All my reading, all my thinking, it’s all hammering home the same lesson:  I have to create the life I want.  No one is going to give it to me, and it’s not out there already waiting for me to find it.  It doesn’t exist yet, and it’s up to me to make it happen.

 

Some telling things:  What is my ideal lifestyle?  If I had all the money I ever needed in the bank, what would I do day to day?  I do not have answers to those questions right now.  And that is a serious freaking problem.

 

I’m pondering becoming a futurist, getting a degree in Strategic Foresight. 

 

From Christine Comaford-Lynch’s book, a couple of things:

 

1.)  Supreme Confidence, gigantic, absolute, quiet confidence has to come from within and it cannot be validated by others because it’s there no matter what others think.  How many times do I have to learn this lesson?

 

2.)  She talks about business plans.  So often, she says, people have this plan:

 

            a) Develop widget

            b) ?

            c) Make millions

 

     Where b is undefined but basically tells how you are going to pull this off and get from A to C.

     For me, in the past, it’s been like this:

 

            a) Get degree

            b) ?

            c) Go to Mars, become successful in business, become a pastor, or I dare say, a futurist.

 

Well, what’s B?  It was never defined.  And that’s why I’ve been in a series of jobs I don’t care about, why I’ve never gotten to do the things I want to do.  My plans are never complete.  I get a harebrained idea, launch into it with a big cool goal and never figure out what goes in between.  It’s like playing chess and moving your first pawn to D4 and ignoring the rest of the moves to checkmate.  Usually, you’re the one that gets checkmated as you react tactically to the other players moves.

 

In other words, strategy counts.  Where are you going, and how are you going to get there?  This doesn’t mean having a rigid plan.  Instead, you need to have options.  If this doesn’t work, what will you do?  If you end up here, how will you get to there?  Once you get the degree, then what?  What options do you have?  How will you act on those options?  More importantly, are you sure that those options will give you the lifestyle you want?  Is it possible that starting this path will lead you to something else you haven’t thought of, good or bad?

 

A lot to think about.  But key and critical to making the right decision for a change.

 

Don’t get me wrong, I’m a Christian and I believe in praying about it.  But two things:  First, God gave us a brain so we could use it, and with that brain came free will.  We can choose, whether it’s a good choice or poor choice, He lets us make it.  He’ll work out His plans no matter what we do.  Second, my track record on praying before has not worked that way – usually it’s after I make the decision and commit that I have an idea that I did the right or wrong thing.

 

Like I said, a lot to think about.

 

Scott

Setting Goals for 2008

Today I have put together my tentative list of 2008 goals, plus some 2 – 3 year, 5 year, and lifetime goals.  The list is of course subject to change, especially as I’m still a month and a half away from 2008.

 

This year I accomplished very few of my goals.  One major goal was finding a new job, which ironically did not appear on the list of goals that I published on my blog.  Worse, I didn’t even finish the list of books I said I was going to read (although I am on track for 52 books this year, and 8 of 16 of my original list).  This tells me that the self-help story about at least writing them down and they’ll end up getting done even if you never look at it again is a crock, just like the fabled Harvard study they always quote but that has been proven to have never happened.

 

Not to say I don’t believe in goals, though.  I never used them before, and I think that is part of the problem.  Using goal setting is a new habit for me, and how to set achievable, measurable (SMART) goals is a skill, like anything else.  Here are some thoughts.

 

First, some of my goals were habits, not goals.  For example, reading the Bible every day.  I was hit or miss on this one.  As a goal, I saw it as reading the Bible for 365 days and if I didn’t, I’d failed.  However, as a habit, I could have focused on it for 30 days until it was a routine, and if I missed a day here or there it was okay.  Same with many of my other goals.  So next year I’m going to try to differentiate between goals and habits.  Thank you, Zen Habits, for pointing out the difference!

 

Second, another thing I noticed is that my goals were often at the tactical level.  That is to say, they were short term, and I didn’t really see them as leading to anything long term.  No strategy.  It’s great to have a goal, but why do I have that goal?  What do I hope to get out of achieving it?  This could also be called motivation.

 

Third, I didn’t plan my goals into my days and weeks.  I set no next actions ala “Getting Things Done.”  It’s hard to achieve a goal if you have no plans for doing that.

 

Fourth, I had no regular reviews of my progress.  Every now and then I’d look and see, oops, haven’t done that or that or that…but that was about it.  Now I find myself a month and a half from the end of the year and realizing that I have little time left to accomplish a whole slew of goals.

 

Which brings me to the final point; namely, I think I had too many goals.  It was hard to focus on each one because there were so many others.  So, next year, I hope to cut down on the number and focus on doing a few things well.

 

For the rest of 2007, I have just two goals:

 

Open Roth IRA

Start 401K

 

I also have three habits:

 

Gym at least 4 times a week (October habit) – so far, I’ve done this.

Track spending (November habit)

Read Bible daily (December habit)

 

Each habit I’ll focus on for thirty days and then hopefully it will be automatic for me to do them.  I think habits can lead to goals, but aren’t really goals in themselves, except for the setting of said habits.

 

As for 2008, I have some as detailed below:

Financial:

-          Reduce my spending (via tracking my spending)

-          Give to church (regularly), symphony, college

-          Buy a house

-          Establish a will

 

Social:

-          Make at least one new friend

-          Have at least one dinner party

 

Spiritual:

-          Finally do married Bible study

 

Physical:

-          Get weight down to 170 (via gym habit and diet habit)

-          Bench 200 pounds at least 5 times (Same)

 

Family:

-          Practice kindness

-          Play games once a week (through spending time habit)

 

Misc:

-          Vacation to Glen Eyrie with my wife

-          Maybe do 30 Day Challenge

-          Blog twice a week

-          Explore finding my passion

 

Habits to set and maintain:

-          Track my spending (From November)

-          Read Bible daily (From December)

-          Better diet (January)

-          Use cash more often (February)

-          Spend more quality time with family (March)

-          Family devotions (May)

-          No complaining! Have a positive attitude! (Ongoing)

Implementing the 4 Hour Work Week

Well, actually, I’m a long way away from it, though hopefully getting closer through the Thirty Day Challenge.

Today I wanted to mention that I’ve begun the process of decluttering my life – which Tim does suggest in the book.  Here’s what I’ve done:

1.)  I went through all my papers that have built up over the years.  This includes multiple stacks of printouts, articles I cut out of the paper, etc.  Got rid of quite a few bags full.  Most of it was stuff that seemed important at the time, but years later, it isn’t.

2.)  I collected all the magazines I had, loaded most of them into bags, and dropped them off for my church’s magazine table.  They sell the used ones for a quarter apiece.  I made sure to cut the labels off!  For new ones, I evaluated my subscriptions and let them lapse if I didn’t really read them anymore.  I carefully think about buying new ones, and try just to tear out the articles I want if I do.

3.)  Went through all my clothes and got rid of a bunch that I never wear, or that don’t fit.  I’ve put on some muscle so even if I get back down to fighting weight they won’t fit anymore.  Seven bags to Goodwill or the Veterans.

4.)  Books.  This is the hardest.  First, deciding which ones I know I’ll never read or read again, and then finding a way to get rid of them.  I can:

a) Give them to the library

b) Sell them on Amazon.com

c) Sell them to a used bookstore

And I’m using all three methods.

This will all help when we move as well, since there will be less to pack.  I just keep remembering:

“The more you own, the more it owns you!”

Scott

Getting in shape for Spring

I go to the gym 3 -4 times a week.  What I’ve noticed is that once I get into the rhythm of going, it’s easy to maintain.  But miss a few days (Or, as when I’m traveling, a few weeks!) and it’s really hard to get back on the horse.

Worse, not only do you slack on exercise, but you start to slack on your diet, too.  Especially on business trips.  Combine lack of exercise with too many calories, and pretty soon you’re sliding into bad shape fast.

So, remember that spring is here.  The pool is opening over Memorial Day weekend. And I don’t know about you, but I want to live a long healthy life and enjoy bouncing my GREAT-grandkids on my knees!

So, all of you out there, what are your ways of motivating yourself to stick with diet and exercise?  And do they work?

Scott

It’s All Greek to Me

I don’t usually post “link posts,” but since I’m in North Carolina for training today, here’s some useful links for learning languages.  These will only take you a few minutes a day, so check ‘em out!

For Spanish:

The best one I’ve found to date, for maybe ten minute podcasts, is Coffee Break Spanish:

http://coffeebreakspanish.typepad.com/coffee_break_spanish/podcast/index.html

If you are more advanced, try Notes in Spanish:

http://www.notesinspanish.com/

For you Italians out there (and I’m tired of Italian-Americans saying how proud they are to be Italian but the only word they know is spaghetti!  Gotti fans, you know who you are!), try My Daily Phrase in Italian.  C’mon, one phrase a day, ANYone can do that!

http://www.mydailyphrase.com/italian/

And last but not least, German.  I took five years of it but this is helping me to remember it!  My Daily Phrase in German:

http://www.mydailyphrase.com/german/

One last resource, for when you think you’re ready for the next level, is a post at open culture.  They put news stories in slowly read German, French and even Latin, so you can follow along and learn more than just tourist speak.

http://www.oculture.com/weblog/2007/01/the_3_podcast_o.html

Have fun!

Scott

Bootcamp Pittsburgh Rocked!

This weekend I attended Bootcamp Pittsburgh at the Art Institute of Pittsburgh. I volunteered to be part of the setup crew which was cool because I got to start meeting people before the event got rolling. Food was provided by WearLocal.

The keynote was by Chris Brogan, Cindy Closkey, Mike Woycheck, and Justin Kownacki.

My first session was on how to do a podcast – seems simple really, but I’ll need to learn Audacity and/or MovieMaker.

Second was a Branding session by Kimberly Reed, Lindsey Patross of Spreadshirt (and I heart PGH, and various others!), iJustine, and Rachel Arnold. It was good stuff and I learned:

• People are loyal to people, not brands
• Be yourself and let that show through
• People want to do business with people they like
• Branding is a process and takes time
• Choosing the right name is critical
• Get a professional to do your logo – it will pay off in the long run
• Everyone should have a logo

Lunch was generously provided by Guru.com!

After lunch, I went to a panel on how to find your voice. It was interesting and the panel consisted of the cast of STBD and also iJustine. Things I learned:

• Be yourself, flaws and all
• Be energetic but not forced
• Get feedback from family / friends
• Authenticity is Key!
• Be Consistent
• Take care of your voice
• 2 people are more interesting than one (conversation)
• You can’t please everyone – pick your audience
• Don’t take feedback personally
• Be honest
• Know when to stop talking!
• Have a plan but don’t be restricted by it

The last session I attended focused on Monetization, and was hosted by Lindsey Patross and Gene Bromberg. Good stuff! Spreadshirt has a great model, and Gene showed how to take something you care about and blog about it, and an opportunity might just come along! They also reviewed things like Google AdSense and reviewing blogs.

We had lots of food left over so we donated it to a homeless shelter at 3rd and Wood, and then walked over the Smithfield Street Bridge to Station Square where we had the afterparty at Bar Louie’s

Cindy Closkey and Norm from AIP

iJustine chugs one down

Mike Woycheck learns a little about wrestling

I met a lot of neat people, too, like Dawn Papuga and Alex Landefeld, Sportsocracy, John Carman, the Wrestling Guys, and Brian (check out his new blog!)

All in all, it was fun, I learned a lot, and did some good networking! I’m looking forward to Podcamp Pittsburgh in the fall…

Scott