Confessions of a Morning Person

Link

j

Busy as you are, just thought you might find this liberating. - Manny

Confessions of a Morning Person

By Mimi Greenwood Knight

It happened again today. I found myself apologizing to someone for being too perky in the morning. It wasn't even that early. I called a client at 9:00 A.M. -- after watching the clock until precisely 8:59 and 59 seconds, which I figured was late enough to make a business call. I jumped into the conversation with a bit too much enthusiasm, I suppose, because my client responded with, "Whoa, you are WAY too awake for this time of morning."

I didn't tell her I'd been up for five hours and had already run two miles, answered a bunch of e-mail, studied my Bible, got four kids up, fed, dressed and off to school, done a batch of wash and weeded my herb garden. I especially didn't tell her I got up that early because I wanted to.

That hasn't always been the case. Motherhood did this to me. When my husband and I were first married, he was much more coherent in the wee hours. I'd force myself out of bed after the fifth assault of the alarm clock and relocate to the cold, hard bathroom floor desperate for a few seconds more sleep but knowing I'd be miserable enough on the floor to relent and stagger toward the shower.

Then we brought home that first little squalling bundle and my sleep habits were rearranged. We'd wanted a baby for so long that, each time I heard the glorious sound of Haley O'Hara crying for another feeding, I was determined to respond with an eager, happy face no matter how sleep deprived I was.

I never wanted her or the three babies who followed to feel that they were disturbing me or were a burden at whatever hour they decided was morning. I determined I'd be 100% Mom as soon as they called me into action.

But the real metamorphosis didn't occur until I stumbled upon a secret.

Because I was lucky enough to make raising my kids a full-time gig, our routine tended to be pretty loosey goosey. We got up when we felt like it (okay, when they felt like it) and went to bed when we were tired of being awake.

We woke up together. We went to bed together. We grocery-shopped, ran errands, ate, played and bathed together. We did everything together. Life was grand.

Then one day I realized that, if I could only make myself get up an hour before my kids, I could have sixty minutes alone in my own home -- something I hadn't experienced in years.

The first day was intoxicating. I could serve myself a cup of coffee and drink it while it was still hot. I could write a letter and keep my mind on what I wanted to say. Most of my letters at that time consisted of disconnected thoughts written with two or three different pens whenever I could grab a minute, usually perched on the edge of the sandbox or sitting on the floor beside the bathtub where the kids were temporarily distracted by bubbles.

But in my stolen hour, I could read a book, exercise, listen to grown-up music and eat a leisurely breakfast. I could coax one of the cats to snuggle in my lap rather than hunker by the food bowl with one eye on whichever preschooler might decide he'd enjoy some dress-up clothes.

Even if I used my time to do laundry or wash dishes, it felt indulgent to be doing it in complete solitude. I could begin a task and see it through to completion without stopping and starting it fifteen times. I could sneak in a bath all by myself without an audience or running commentary. I bought myself grown-up bath products and adult breakfast foods -- aromatherapy and English muffins, hot oil treatments and lemon curd.

I had no idea how starved I'd become for my own company and quickly honed skills that will serve me well if I ever decide to become a cat burglar. I can do anything soundlessly if it means I get to do it alone. Of course, before long, an hour wasn't enough, so I got up two hours earlier, then three and sometimes four.

More than a decade has passed since that epiphany. The kids are teenagers now and having their own morning wrangle with the snooze alarm. But I've kept my early hours to myself. I've changed my title from stay-at-home mom to work-at-home mom (from SAHM to WAHM) but that first hour or two of the morning is still my favorite time. Most days I accomplish more between 4:00 A.M. and 6:00 A.M. -- when the kids wake up to sing a few bars of Mom, I need... Mom, I want... and Mom, I gotta' have... -- then I do between 6:00 and bedtime.

Even though they're taller than I am, I still like the idea of my kids waking up to a pleasant mama. And after a brisk run with the dogs, some quality time with the cats, my daily Bible study, a little e-mail interaction and as much coffee as I care to drink, I'm far more chipper than my husband or kids -- or my clients -- would like me to be.

So that's it. That's my dirty little secret. I get up early and my life took off.

Prepare Thoroughly Before You Begin

Have Everything At Hand
One of the best ways for you to overcome procrastination and get more things done faster is for you to have everything you need at hand before you begin. When you are fully prepared, you are like a cocked gun or an archer with an arrow pulled back taut in the bow. You just need one small mental push to get started on your highest value tasks.

Clear Your Workspace
Begin by clearing off your desk or workspace so that you only have one task in front of you. If necessary, put everything on the floor or on the table behind you. Gather all the information, reports, details, papers, and work materials that you will require to complete the job. Have them at hand so you can reach them without getting up or moving. Be sure that you have all writing materials, computer disks, access codes, email addresses and everything else you need to start and continue working until the job is done.

Make It Comfortable
Set up your work area so that it is comfortable, attractive and conducive to working for long periods. Especially, make sure that you have a comfortable chair that supports your back and allows your feet to sit flat on the floor.

The most productive people take the time to create a work area where they enjoy spending time. The cleaner and neater your work area before you begin, the easier it is for you to get started and keep going.

Assume The Position
When you sit down, with everything in front of you, ready to go, assume the body language of high performance. Sit up straight, sit forward and away from the back of the chair. Carry yourself as though you were an efficient, effective high performing personality. Then, pick up the first item and say to yourself, "Let's get to work!" and plunge in. And once you've started, keep going until the job is finished.

Action Exercises
Here are two things you can do immediately to put these ideas into action.

First, take a good look at your desk or office, both at home and at the office. Ask yourself, "What kind of a person works in an environment like that?"

Second, resolve today to clean up your desk and office completely so that you feel effective, efficient and ready to get going each time you sit down to work.

By: Brian Tracy

Saturdays and Memories

This is a blast from the past. I was browsing my old files and chanced upon this in my old old blog account. This was one Saturday morning not too long ago. It sort of described how I was feeling at that moment.

How time flies.

Now, it's also a Saturday on a warm August, 2011 morning. And I am on an upbeat mood, though not enough to make another poem. Things have been turning out pretty great for me lately. Thank you Lord.

Indeed, if it is to be, it is up to me.

Saturday Reverie

Jan 31, '09 10:59 PM for everyone

My dogs are barking.
On this early Saturday morning.

Gosh, February is near!
And I still haven't written here.

January entries, too personal
To be seen in this OPEN journal.

So let me start,
By NOT trying to be smart.

Oh, words, please come out from your cage.
And help me fill this empty page.

Hahaha. I'm having fun now.
In making lines rhyme somehow.

The birds are chirping;
And I'm just typing.

I hear thunder.
Will there be rain? I wonder.

Now, I'm really having fun
Even if there's no SUN.

My stomach is grumbling.
But it's too early to be feasting.

Pandesal... pandedal, shouts a passing boy.
Not too loud, boy, or my wife you will annoy.












Gem is still asleep,
So I'll set my text TONE to a beep.

Oh, what a hectic week!
Glad I was not sick.

Damn, why the need
To be on lightning speed?

Is it a must,
To always run fast?

Or is going out of town
Wearing me down?












I guess, The hardest part
Would be not to take part.

Because if I just stand still
There wouldn't be any thrill.

So the biggest question to ask today:
Will there be an American Idol replay?

And our dogs are barking.
On this wonderful Saturday morning.

The Law of Competence

You can increase your efficiency and your effectiveness by becoming better and better at your key tasks. One of the most powerful of all time management techniques is for you to get better at the most important things you do. Your core competencies, your key skill areas, the places where you are absolutely excellent at what you do, are the key determinants of your productivity, your standard of living, and the level of achievement you reach in your field.

Work Excellence
The market pays excellent rewards only for excellent work. You are therefore successful to the degree to which you do more things better than the average person. Your great responsibility in life is to determine what things you can and should do very well and then develop a plan to become very, very good in those vital areas.

Key Question
Here is the key question: What one skill, if you developed and did it in an excellent fashion, would have the greatest positive impact on your career? Your weakest important skill sets the height at which you can use all your other skills. Be honest with yourself. What is your limiting skill? What is the one skill that determines the speed at which you complete your major tasks and achieve your goals? What is the one skill, the lack of which may be holding you back?

Pareto Principle
The Pareto Principle, the 80/20 Rule, applies to those skills that are limiting to your success. Eighty percent of the reasons you are not moving ahead as fast as you want is explained by the 20 percent of skills and abilities that you lack. This rule also says that 80 percent of your limits in life are contained within yourself. Eighty percent of the reasons you are not achieving your goals as quickly as you want is because of the lack of a particular skill, ability, or quality within yourself.

Look Within Yourself
The underachiever always looks for the reasons for his or her problems in the outer world. The high achiever looks within. The high-achieving person always asks, what is it in me that is holding me back? Successful people look into themselves for the answers to their questions and for the solutions to their problems. Unsuccessful people always look outside. Who do you think finds the solutions first?

Ask Others to Evaluate
Ask people around you to evaluate you in your critical skill areas on a scale of one to ten. The more accurate you can be about this exercise, the easier it will be for you to focus on the one or two skill areas that help you the most.

Action Exercise
Identify the one skill, the most important skill, the one that, if you developed and did it in an excellent fashion, would have the greatest positive impact on your career. Whatever it is, set a goal, make a plan, and go to work to become excellent in that area. You will be absolutely amazed at the difference it will make in your career.

by Brian Tracy

It Doesn't Take A Hero

"It Doesn't Take A Hero" is the remarkable autobiography of H. Norman Schwarzkopf, commander of US and Allied forces during the 1st gulf war .

This is probably one of the longest books I've ever read, almost 600 pages long and in fine print. Not sure why I got hooked. Did it felt like I was reading a novel? I don't know.

I've never been a history buff but this gave me a direct, first hand look at major events: Vietnam War, Invasion of Grenada to free captive American students, Dessert Storm and, to some extent, the Korean War, Fall of the Berlin Wall, Cold War, and other smaller conflicts but with major world repercussions; and seeing it through the eyes of someone who was actually in the middle of it.

He truly lived and is still living (I'm sure) an interesting and fulfilling life. His ideals are so defined: taking care of family, honor, duty, honesty, service to country, loyalty and his rules on leadership. I'm starting to wonder, what are my mine? What are some of the unbreakable life principles that should be governing my life? What are the standards by which I should be measuring myself? At the end of my days, will I be wallowing in regret and self-pity? Or will I be triumphant in my victories?

One thing is so crystal-clear: My history will be defined by what I do and fail to do now.

So many thoughts about this book.

"It doesn't take a hero to order men into battle. It takes a hero to be one of those men who goes into battle." - General Norman Schwarzkopf

It Doesn't Take A Hero

"It Doesn't Take A Hero" is the remarkable autobiography of H. Norman Schwarzkopf, commander of US and Allied forces during the 1st gulf war .

This is probably one of the longest books I've ever read, almost 600 pages long and in fine print. Not sure why I got hooked. Maybe because it felt like I was reading a novel, I don't know.

I've never been a history buff but this gave me a direct, first hand look at major events: Vietnam War, Invasion of Grenada, Dessert Storm and to some extent the Korean War, Fall of the Berlin Wall, Cold War, and other smaller conflicts but with major world repercussions, and seeing it from the eyes of someone who was actually in the middle of it.

He truly lived and is still living (I'm sure) an interesting and fulfilling life. His ideals are so defined: family, honor, duty, honesty, service to country, loyalty and leadership. I'm starting to wonder, what are my mine? What are some of the unbreakable life principles that should be governing my life? What are the standards by which I should be measuring myself?

So many thoughts about this book.

"It doesn't take a hero to order men into battle. It takes a hero to be one of those men who goes into battle." - General Norman Schwarzkopf

It Doesn't Take A Hero

It Doesn't Take A Hero" is the remarkable autobiography of H. Norman Schwarzkopf, commander of US and Allied forces during the 1st gulf war .

This is probably one of the longest books I've ever read, almost 600 pages long and in fine print. I'm not really sure why I got hooked. Maybe because it felt like I was reading a novel, I don't know.

I've never been a history buff but this gave me a direct, first hand look of someone who was actually in the middle of great events: Vietnam War, Invasion of Grenada, Dessert Storm and to some extent the Korean War, Fall of the Berlin Wall, Cold War, and other smaller conflicts but with major world repercussions.

He truly lived and is still living (I'm sure) an interesting and fulfilled life. His ideals are so defined: honor, duty, honesty, service to country, loyalty and leadership. I'm starting to wonder, what are my mine? What are some of the unbreakable life principles that should be governing my life?

So many thoughts on this book.

"It doesn't take a hero to order men into battle. It takes a hero to be one of those men who goes into battle." - General Norman Schwarzcopf

Make Your Life a Masterpiece

This is the age of achievement. Never have more people accomplished more things in more different fields than they are accomplishing today. More people are becoming successful at a faster rate than at any other time in history. There have never been more opportunities for you to turn your dreams into realities than there are right now.

The Seven Ingredients of Success
Your ideal life is a blending these seven ingredients in exactly the combination that makes you the happiest at any particular moment. By defining your success and happiness in terms of one or more of these seven ingredients, you create a clear target to aim it. You can then measure how well you're doing. You can identify the areas where you need to make changes if you want your life to improve.

Peace of Mind
The first of these seven ingredients of success, and easily the most important, is peace of mind. It is the highest human good. Without it, nothing else has much value. In corporations, peace of mind can be measured in terms of the amount of harmony that exists among coworkers. The wonderful truth about peace of mind is that it is your normal natural condition. It is the basic precondition for enjoying everything else.

Health and Energy
The second ingredient of success is health and energy. Just as peace of mind is your normal and natural mental state, health and energy is your normal and natural physical state. If you achieve all kinds of things in the material world, but lose your health then you will get little or no pleasure from your other accomplishments. So imagine yourself enjoying perfect health, and think of how you would be if you were your ideal image of physical fitness. Then strive for your mental goal of fitness and health.


Loving Relationships
The third ingredient of success is loving relationships. These are relationships with the people you love and care about, and the people who love and care about you. They are the real measure of how well you are doing as a human being. At almost any time, you can measure how well you are doing in your relationship by one simple test: laughter. This is true for companies as well. High-performance, high profit organizations are those in which people laugh and joke together. Examine your relationships, one by one, and develop a plan to make each of them enjoyable and satisfying.

Financial Freedom
The fourth ingredient of success is financial freedom. Achieving your financial freedom is one of the most important goals and responsibilities of your life. A feeling of freedom is essential to the achievement of any other important goal, and you cannot be free until and unless you have enough money so that you are no longer preoccupied with it. When you decide exactly what you want your financial picture to look like, you will be able to use this system to achieve your goals faster than you might have imagined possible.

Worthy Goals and Ideals
The fifth ingredient of success is worthy goals and ideals. To be truly happy, you need a clear sense of direction. You need to feel that your life stands for something, that you are somehow making a valuable contribution to your world.

Self Knowledge and Self-Awareness
The sixth ingredient of success is self-knowledge and self-awareness. To perform at your best you need to know who you are and why you think and feel the way you do. It is only when you understand and accept yourself that you can begin moving forward in other areas of your life.

Personal Fulfillment
The seventh ingredient of success is personal fulfillment. This is the feeling that you are becoming everything that you are capable of becoming. It is the sure knowledge that you are moving toward the realization of your full potential as a human being.

Action Exercise
Take the brush of your imagination and begin painting a masterpiece on the canvas of your life. It is for you to decide clearly what would make you the happiest in everything you are doing.

By Brian Tracy

Relax and Recharge Completely

Regular relaxation is essential for a long life and personal effectiveness. Here are some techniques for relaxing physically that are used by the most successful and highest paid people in America.

Take Time Off Every Week
First of all, work only five or six days per week, and rest completely on the seventh day. Every single study in this area shows that you will be far more productive in the five or six days that you work if you take one or two days off completely than you ever would be if you worked straight through for seven days.

Get Your Mind Busy Elsewhere
During this time off, do not catch up on reports, organize your desk, prepare proposals, or do anything else that requires mental effort. Simply let your mind relax completely, and get busy doing things with your family and friends. Maybe work around the house, go for a walk, engage in physical exercise, watch television, go to a movie, or play with your children. Whatever you do, discipline yourself to shut your mental gears off completely for at least one 24-hour period every seven days.

Get Away on Mini-Vacations
Second, take one three-day vacation every three months, and during that time, refrain from doing any work. Do not attempt to catch up on even a few small things. If you do, you keep your mental gears in motion, and you end up neither resting nor properly doing work of any quality.

Take Big Chunks of Down Time
Third, take at least two full weeks off each year during which you do nothing that is work-related. You can either work or relax; you cannot do both. If you attempt to do a little work while you are on vacation, you never give your mental and emotional batteries a chance to recharge. You'll come back from your vacation just as tired as you were when you left.

Give Yourself a Break Today
If you are involved in a difficult relationship, or situation at work that is emotionally draining, discipline yourself to take a complete break from it at least one day per week. Put the concern out of your mind. Refuse to think about it. Don't continually discuss it, make telephone calls about it or mull it over in your mind. You cannot perform at your best mentally if you are emotionally preoccupied with a person or situation. You have to give yourself a break.

Go For a Walk in Nature
Since a change is as good as a rest, going for a nice long walk is a wonderful way to relax emotionally and mentally. As you put your physical body into motion, your thoughts and feelings seem to relax all by themselves.

Eat Lighter Foods
Also, remember that the process of digestion consumes an enormous amount of physical energy. Therefore, if you eat lighter foods, you will feel better and more refreshed afterward. If you eat more fruits, vegetables, and whole-grain products, your digestive system will require far less energy to process them.

Be Good to Yourself
Since your diet has such an impact on your level of physical energy, and through it your levels of mental and emotional energy, the more fastidious you are about what you put into your mouth, the better you will feel and the more productive you will be. We know now that foods high in fat, sugar, or salt are not good for your body. The lighter the foods you eat, the more energy you have.

Action Exercises
Here are three things you can do immediately to put these ideas into action:

First, plan your weeks in advance and build in at least one day when you will relax from work completely. Discipline yourself to keep this date.

Second, reserve, book and pay for your three day vacations several months in advance. Once you've paid the money, you are much more likely to go rather than put it off.

Third, decide that you will not work at all during your vacations. When you work, work. And when you rest, rest 100% of the time. This is very important.

The Efficiency Curve

The more you discipline yourself to working non-stop on a single task, the more you move down the "Efficiency Curve." You get more and more high quality work done in less and less time.

Each time you stop working however, you break this cycle and move back up the curve to where every part of the task is more difficult and time consuming.

Self-Discipline Is the Key
Elbert Hubbard defined self-discipline as, "The ability to make yourself do what you should do, when you should do it, whether you feel like it or not."

In the final analysis, success in any area requires tons of discipline. Self-discipline, self-mastery and self-control are the basic building blocks of character and high performance.

The True Test of Willpower
Starting a high-priority task and persisting with that task until it is 100% complete is the true test of your character, your willpower and your resolve.

Persistence is actually self-discipline in action. The good news is that the more you discipline yourself to persist on a major task, the more you like and respect yourself, and the higher is your self-esteem.

And the more you like and respect yourself, the easier it is for you to discipline yourself to persist even more.

Focus Clearly on Your Number One Task
By focusing clearly on your most valuable task and concentrating single-mindedly until it is 100% complete, you actually shape and mold your own character. You become a superior person.

You become a stronger, more competent, confident and happier person. You feel more powerful and productive.

Build Your Self-Confidence
You eventually feel capable of setting and achieving any goal. You become the master of your own destiny. You place yourself on an ascending spiral of personal effectiveness on which your future is absolutely guaranteed.

And the key to all of this is for you to determine the most valuable and important thing you could possibly do at every single moment and then, "Eat That Frog!"

Action Exercises
Once you start your most important task, discipline yourself to persevere without diversion or distraction until it is 100% complete. See it as a "test" to determine whether you are the kind of person who can make a decision to complete something and then carry it out. Once you begin, refuse to stop until the job is finished.

By: Brian Tracy

See Yourself as Self-Employed

Accept complete, 100% responsibility for everything you are and everything you will ever be. Refuse to make excuses or to blame other people for your problems or shortcomings. Stop complaining about things in your life that you're not happy about. Refuse to criticize other people for anything. You are responsible. If there's something in your life that you don't like, it's up to you to do something about it. But you are in charge.

The top three percent of Americans see themselves as self-employed, no matter who signs their pay cheque. The biggest mistake you can ever make is to ever think that you work for anyone else other than yourself. You are always self-employed. You are always the president of your own personal services corporation, no matter where you might be working at the moment. When you see yourself as self-employed, you develop the entrepreneur mentality. The mentality of the highly independent, self-responsible, self-starting individual. Instead of waiting for things to happen, you make things happen. You see yourself as the boss of your own life. You see yourself as completely in charge of your physical health, your financial well-being, your career, your relationships, your home, your car, and every element of your existence. This is the mindset of the truly excellent person.

Self-responsible people are intensely result-oriented. They take high levels of initiative. They volunteer for assignments and they're always asking for more responsibility. As a result, they become the most valuable and respected people in their organizations. They continually prepare themselves for positions of higher authority and positions in the future. And you should do the same.

Here's a question for you: if you were president for a day in your company, or were completely responsible for results where you work, what one change would you enact immediately? Whatever it is, write it down, make a plan, and begin on it today. This decision alone could change your life.

by Brian Tracy

Commit to Excellence

Resolve today to be the very best at what you do. Set a goal for yourself to join the top 10% in your field, whatever it is. This decision to become very, very good at what you do, can be the turning point in your life. There are no successful people who are not recognized as being extremely competent in their chosen fields. Remember, no one is better than you and no one is smarter than you. And everyone who is at the top 10% today started off in the bottom 10%. Everyone who is doing well was once doing poorly. Everyone who is leading their field was at one time in another field altogether. And what someone else has done, you can do as well.

Here's a great rule for success: your life only gets better when you get better. And, since there's no limit on how much better you can become, there is no limit to how much better you can make your life. Your decision to become excellent at what you do, to join the top 10% in your field, can be the turning point in your life. It can be the key to great success. This decision is also the foundation of high levels of self-esteem, self-respect, and personal pride. When you are really good at what you do, you feel wonderful about yourself. The quality of your work affects your entire personality and all your relationships with other people. You feel terrific when you know that you are at the top of your field.

Here is one of the most important questions you will ever ask and answer for the rest of your career: what one skill, if you developed and did it in an excellent fashion, would have the greatest positive impact on your life? You see, you can't become good at everything overnight, but you can identify the one skill that can help you the most right now, and then throw your whole heart into developing that skill. Set it as a goal. Write it down. Set a deadline. Make a plan and work on becoming better in that area every single day. You will be absolutely amazed at the difference this commitment to excellence will make in your life.

by Brian Tracy

Pay yourself first

Save and invest 10% of your income throughout your working life. Take 10% of your income off the top of your paycheck each time you receive it and put it away into a special account for financial accumulation. If you just saved 100 dollars per month throughout your working lifetime and you invested that money in an average mutual fund that grew at 10% per annum, you would accumulate a fortune of more than one million dollars by the time you retire. What this means is that anyone, even a minimum wage earner, if they start early enough and save long enough, can become a millionaire in the course of time.

It was once said that if you cannot save money, then the seeds of greatness are not in you. Developing the lifelong habit of saving and investing your money is not easy. It requires tremendous determination and willpower. You have to set it as a goal. Write it down. Make a plan. Work on it all the time. But once it locks in and becomes automatic, your financial success is virtually guaranteed.

Practice frugality, frugality, frugality in all things. Be very careful with every penny. Question every expenditure. Delay or defer every important buying decision for at least a week, if not a month. The longer you put off making a buying decision, the better will be your decision, and the better a price you will get at that time.

The major reason that people retire poor is because of impluse purchases. They see something and they buy it, with very little thought. They become victims of what is called Parkinson's law. This law says that expenses rise to meet income. No matter how much you earn, you spend that much and a little bit more besides. You never get ahead and you never get out of debt if you fall prey to Parkinson's law.

But this is not for you. If you cannot save 10% of your income, start today by saving 1% of your income in the special savings and investment account. Put it away at the beginning of each month, even before you begin paying your debts. Learn to live on the other 99% of your income. As you become comfortable living on 99% of your income, raise your savings level to 2% of your income, then 3% and 4% and so on. Within one year, you'll find yourself saving 10% and maybe even 15% or 20% of your income and living comfortably on the balance. At the same time, your savings and investment account will start to grow. You'll start to become more careful about your expenditures and you'll start paying off your debts. Within a year or two, your entire financial life will be under your control and you'll be on your way to becoming a self-made millionaire. This process has worked for everyone who has ever tried it and it will work for you.

by Brian Tracy

I see you

"I see you." A greeting I heard from the movie Avatar. What a way to acknowledge the presence of a person! It's taking time to know and discover that in front of you is a human being with his own worries, struggles, and successes.

I have been attempting, to some degree, to have this kind of mind set when I meet an old friend. Of course, I will not say, I see you. This would be weird. But I simply ask how they are doing. Almost always they would narrate about where they work, their business, their kids, where they have been, where they are living right now, some gossips about our common friends, etc. And when the bubbling goes on for quite sometime, I gently interrupt and state it clearly again, "No, I want to find out about you. How are YOU doing? And when they realize that my sincerity in asking how they really are doing, the mood sort of changes, and the conversation shifts gear into a deeper, more meaningful one.

I was at a mall early today. I chanced upon an old friend and we chatted for about maybe five to ten minutes. After the initial pleasantries, I asked him again how he really was doing, I think he sensed that I was genuinely interested because, wow, in so short a time he talked about his struggles: client troubles; relationship problems with in laws and later, his wife; financial burdens with his failing business, etc.

I really had no more time to hear his woes because I was now late for an appointment, so I asked, "In all your problems was there anybody who wass always present at the scene of the crime? I suggested maybe that person needed to change first. This got him thinking. And I had to leave.

Later, I got a text message from him. His answer, "My wife." Hahaha.. But I know he got my point, loud and clear.

Clarity of Purpose

The Law of Clarity


Clarity accounts for probably 80% of success and happiness. Lack of clarity is probably more responsible for frustration and underachievement than any other single factor. That's why we say that "Success is goals, and all else is commentary." People with clear, written goals, accomplish far more in a shorter period of time than people without them could ever imagine. This is true everywhere and under all circumstances.

The Three Keys to High Achievement
You could even say that the three keys to high achievement are, "Clarity, Clarity, Clarity," with regard to your goals. Your success in life will be largely determined by how clear you are about what it is you really, really want.

Write and Rewrite Your Goals
The more you write and rewrite your goals and the more you think about them, the clearer you will become about them. The clearer you are about what you want, the more likely you are to do more and more of the things that are consistent with achieving them. Meanwhile, you will do fewer and fewer of the things that don't help to get the things you really want.

The Seven Step Process for Achieving Goals
Here, once more, is the simple, seven-step process that you can use to achieve your goals faster and easier than ever before.

First, decide exactly what you want in each area of your life. Be specific!

Second, write it down, clearly and in detail;

Third, set a specific deadline. If it is a large goal, break it down into sub-deadlines and write them down in order;

Fourth, make a list of everything you can think of that you are going to have to do to achieve your goal. As you think of new items, add them to your list;

Fifth, organize the items on your list into a plan by placing them in the proper sequence and priority;

Sixth, take action immediately on the most important thing you can do on your plan. This is very important!

Seventh, do something every day that moves you toward the attainment of one or more of your important goals. Maintain the momentum!

Join the Top 3%
Fewer than three percent of adults have written goals and plans that they work on every single day. When you sit down and write out your goals, you move yourself into the top 3% of people in our society. And you will soon start to get the same results that they do.

Review Your Goals Daily
Study and review your goals every day to be sure they are still your most important goals. You will find yourself adding goals to your list as time passes. You will also find yourself deleting goals that are no longer as important as you once thought. Whatever your goals are, plan them out thoroughly, on paper, and work on them every single day. This is the key to peak performance and maximum achievement.

Action Exercises
Here is how you can apply this law immediately:

First, make a list of ten goals that you would like to achieve in the coming year. Write them down in the present tense, as though a year has passed and you have already accomplished them.

Second, from your list of ten goals, ask yourself, "What one goal, if I were to accomplish it, would have the greatest positive impact on my life?" Whatever it is, put a circle around this goal and move it to a separate sheet of paper.

Third, practice the seven-step method described above on this goal. Set a deadline, make a plan, and put it into action and work on it every day. Make this goal your major definite purpose for the weeks and months ahead.

Get ready for some amazing changes in your life.

- Brian Tracy

Growing inside.

Just heard this awhile ago: "My compensation plan is tied to my personal growth."

Wow. What a revealing statement. You start to earn when you start to grow, in any career, in any field. When you develop the character, learn and practice the necessary skills, develop the important habits and attitudes -- your financial freedom begins. It also means, when you grow exponentially as a person, inside, all others areas of your visible life grows exponentially, too.

This is just the greatest day of my life!

Why You Procrastinate?

Slice and Dice the Task
By: Brian Tracy

Why You Procrastinate
A major reason for procrastinating on big, important tasks is that they appear so large and formidable when you first approach them. One technique that you can use to cut a big task down to size is the "Salami slice" method of getting work done. With this method, you lay out the task in detail and then resolve to do just one slice of the job for the time being, like eating a roll of salami, one slice at a time. Or like eating one piece of a frog at a time.

Do One Small Part to Start
Psychologically, you will find it easier to do a single, small piece of a large project than to start on the whole job. Often, once you have started and completed a single part of the job, you will feel like doing just one more "slice." Soon, you will find yourself working through the job one part at a time, and before you know it, the job will be completed.

Just Get Started
Once you start working, you develop a sense of forward momentum and a feeling of accomplishment. You become energized and excited. You feel yourself internally motivated and propelled to keep going until the task is complete.

Action Exercises
Now, here are two actions you can take immediately to put these ideas into action.

First, select one big important task and lay it out in front of you.

Second, select one part of the task and do it immediately.

Kick Open the Doors

Anyone who does a great job consistently, over and over, kicks open the doors of opportunity in all directions. Such a person will be hired, paid well, promoted, advanced and given additional responsibilities because there are so few of them.

Make a Decision Today
You can put your life and career into an upward trajectory by making the decision, today, that you are going to become one of the best time managers in your field. And in this session, you will learn how to do it.

Benjamin Franklin once wrote, "Dost thou love life? Then do not squander time, for that's the stuff life is made of."


Exploit Your Most Precious Resource
Time is your most precious resource. It is all you really have. It is your life. As long as you have lots of time, you can do almost anything. But if your time is cut off for any reason, all of your possibilities are cut off as well.

Queen Elizabeth I of England was one of the richest women in the world. She owned half the country. Yet, when she was on her deathbed, she turned to her doctor and said, "I would give all I have for a few more minutes of time."

Start This Very Minute
The time for you and I to begin to appreciate how valuable and precious each minute is, is right now, not a later time when our minutes and hours are draining away.

Action Exercises
Here are two things you can do immediately to put these ideas into action.

First, resolve to become an expert at time management. Work on becoming more efficient every day.

Second, ask "Why am I on the payroll?" Whatever your answer to this question, work on it all day long.

By: Brian Tracy

Two Key Questions for Maximum Effectiveness

There are two questions that you can ask on a regular basis to keep yourself focused on getting your most important tasks completed on schedule. The first question is "What are my highest value activities?"

Put another way, what are the most important tasks you have to complete to make the greatest contribution to your organization? To your family? To your life in general?

Think it Through Carefully

This is one of the most important questions you can ask and answer. What are your highest value activities? First, think this through for yourself. Then, ask your boss. Ask your coworkers and subordinates. Ask your friends and family. Like focusing the lens of a camera, you must be crystal clear about your highest value activities before you begin work.

Keep Yourself Focused

The second question you can ask continually is, "What can I and only I do, that if done well, will make a real difference?"

This question comes from Peter Drucker, the management guru. It is one of the best of all questions for achieving personal effectiveness. What can you, and only you do, that if done well, can make a real difference?

This is something that only you can do. If you don't do it, it won't be done by someone else. But if you do it, and you do it well, it can really make a difference to your life and your career. What is your answer to this question?

Every hour of every day, you can ask yourself this question and there will be a specific answer. Your job is to be clear about the answer and then to start and work on this task before anything else.

Action Exercises

Here are two things you can do immediately to put these ideas into action.

First, make a list of everything you do at work and then select your most valuable tasks from that list.

Second, resolve to start in on your highest value task and stay at it until it is 100% complete.

by Brian Tracy