Getting Things Done While Maintaining Your Sanity

I know some people who are so organized that every piece of their life is planned, down to the last detail. To me that's a little overboard. But, a few tools to help you maintain balance and bring order can certainly be helpful. It has been for me...

Recently, I found a couple of tools that have really helped me keep my priorities in front of me and get things done.

1) Joe's Goals; www.joesgoals.com/:
This is a great, FREE easy to use resource. Not for your "To Do" List but instead for routine tasks or priorities, like:

• working out at the gym 6 times/week
• eating 6 meals a day at specified times
• going to the chiropractor twice per week
• date night

Joe's Goals allows you to check off the items you accomplished and those you did not, giving you a daily, weekly and monthly score to track your progress. And, its very easy to use.

2) Vitalist; www.vitalist.com:

Granted there are tons of tools out there that help you "Get Things Done" (GTD), but I found one that works well, with a minimum of headaches. Here's why I like Vitalist:

• IT'S FREE
• easy to use, intuitive interface
• allows you to drop your list onto your Google/Yahoo page, so its right in front of you
• integrates into your Google calendar
• many features like the ability to add notes, due dates, put off until "someday," ticklers, etc.
• separate lists by context for work projects, home tasks, biz stuff, etc.

If neither of these appeal to you, go to this website where you'll find tons of stuff to help you streamline your life:

3) "Big List of Online Productivity Tools:"

http://lifedev.net/big-list-of-online-productivity-tools/

Your Ideal Life: "You Can Do It!"

What is it that you want out of life? Here is a simple process to put you on the path to achieving your dreams. The key is imagination, repetition and perseverance.

1. Ask yourself these questions to help you figure it out:

• What are your passions, dreams and desires?
• What do you find yourself naturally doing, that people gravitate towards you for?
• What do your currently do that you love? (for work, play, fun)
• What would you do if you didn't get paid for it (ok, make that "not paid much")?
• How can you live "your ideal life," doing what you love to do, being who you were created to be?

2. Write out the answers to these questions, then think of what your "ideal" would be in each of the following areas of your life:

• career/work
• health
• financial
• spiritual
• relationships
• personal growth
  

3. Now, focus your vision a little bit more by writing out what your "ideal" would be in each area. When you are writing up your “ideals” or dreams, write a vivid,engaging description as if it has already happened. The more details the better. Make it something that gets you really excited and motivates you to move forward. Use present tense, for example: “I am a full-time entrepreneur, doing what I love daily…” Then add specifics.

4. Select the dream/area that is most meaningful to you, and read it every day out loud. Do it first thing in the morning & then in the evening, before you go to sleep. When you read it, do so with emotion and passion. Perhaps you can close your eyes and pause after each sentence, picturing yourself living your dream.

5. Commit to doing this 5 days of the week for a month. You will find that you’re naturally getting excited about your dreams and making them a reality in your life. I’ve done this several times and have had incredible results.

One example is when I put together my vision of my ideal client when I was working in the real estate field.

When I met with my potential client, I showed him what I had been envisioning/praying for (I typed it out) and compared it to the description of what he was looking for. He was both incredulous and excited. “Talk about synchronicity,” he said. And we decided to work together on the spot.

I encourage you to get started today, and then start expecting the miraculous to come your way each day!

“Goal Getting” breakthrough for those who are sick and tired of the same goal-setting crap on the market that never works for you anyway

If you’re anything like me, by now you’re long over your New Year’s resolutions. They’re probably long forgotten or embarrassingly shoved in the corner. After all, “out of sight is out of mind.”

Let’s face it: most people never fulfill their resolutions, much less put together a program for getting them where they want to go in life.

And for those that do (put together goals, that is), most of the time they fall far short. It’s been my experience that for those who never reach their goals (despite writing them down), it’s not their fault.

You can breathe a sigh of relief. Honestly, much of the achievement/goal setting stuff on the market is utterly worthless, in my opinion. That’s largely because these goal setting programs depend on willpower and sheer effort just to get something done, and this runs contrary to human nature.

Anytime you’ve got to force something, chances are, it’s not going that well for you. And that applies to reaching your goals.


What if I could turn you on to a system so radically different that it could literally change your mind about going after your dreams and believing that it’s possible for you to reach them?

Last year I discovered an incredible new system that felt so natural to me that I got really excited. And the funny thing? I’m actually using it on a weekly basis, and for the first time, I not only believe I’m achieving my dreams and goals, but I actually am!

Here’s the resource:

“Double your income doing what you love” by Raymond Aaron

It’s a book you can pick up on Amazon.com. Once you’ve finished the book, you can go to the author’s website and download, and then complete his intuitive, easy-to-complete forms.

Good luck and let me know what you think!

Free Success Resources

Over the last 15 years or so, I’ve found some particularly helpful resources on success.

The first is inspirational speaker Jack Canfield’s reading list, chalk-full of many fabulous books spanning several categories.

Next, you’ll find – in no particular order – many different inspirational classics on success, achievement, and wealth.

These are my gift to you.

Make sure you print out the ones you like, and save those you prefer to read later to your hard drive.

Enjoy!


Top Success Resources:

Jack Canfield’s reading list

“As a man thinketh”

“Acres of Diamonds”
(Dennis Waitley reading the book)




“Think and grow rich”
(The author, Napoleon Hill discussing the book's principles)

Don't Let the Bank Rob You: Success of a Different Sort

Here's a really great story I found regarding a biz owner on the "island" of England (U.K).
You know how banks charge you for everything these days? And, if you happen to be off when balancing your checkbook and you have a few checks that bounce, you get hit with $25 - $35 per check charges (even higher in England)?
Well, you don't get any grace or mercy from the bank when that happens. And it seems that both here in America as well as in England, the banks are going crazy with these charges, with little consideration for right or wrong, or even correcting their errors.

According to the Daily Mail article titled, "Customer sends bailiffs in to seize bank's computers" found at www.dailymail.co.uk, a man named Declan Purcell had a bunch of charges deducted from his account to the tune of 3,400 pounds that he thought were wrong, so he:

"decided to give one of the high street giants a taste of its own medicine. When Royal Bank of Scotland refused to refund £3,400 charges that Declan Purcell believed he was owed, he sent in the bailiffs.
Stunned customers at his branch of RBS watched as debt collectors seized four computers, two fax machines and a till filled with cash.
The branch manager was told that the items would be sold unless RBS came up with the money owed to Mr. Purcell.
Only when the manager gave an undertaking that the debt would be paid did the bailiffs leave.
Mr. Purcell said: ‘I think the bank was pretty shocked when the bailiffs went in. But my view is that this is exactly what they would have done to me.’”

Great story! Apparently, what happened was that Mr. Purcell went to court, got a judgment against the bank and then had the judgment enforced, according to the law. The Royal Bank of Scotland decided to not defend their interests and neglected to respond to any correspondence regarding settling the judgment. So, the law stepped in and the bailiffs went to collect the money owed.

Kudos to Mr. Purcell for stepping up and taking action in the face of extremely daunting odds—and prevailing! According to the article, Britain’s Office of Fair Trading is investigating the exorbitant charges that are leveled on customers for overdrafts and other practices.

Inspirational Videos on Success

Here are some of the most powerful videos I’ve found that deal with the topic of success.

As you may know, one of the most important characteristics of success is your attitude and belief in yourself, despite what’s going on around you.

Cheers—enjoy!

What drives you to succeed? 




Control your thoughts for success





Succeed with a positive attitude





How to remain positive even if…




Attitude makes all the difference

What does success mean to you?

For some, success may mean any of the following:

•    A high-paying job
•    Lots of money in the bank
•    Several nice cars in the garage
•    Annual vacation destinations, anywhere you want

If you thought long and hard about it, you’d probably realize that while money is nice (in fact you sure miss it when you don’t have any), it isn’t all that it’s cracked up to be. That pretty much covers the four bullets above.

Now, of course there’s nothing wrong with nice things. But the fact remains that you can’t take them with you to heaven, so what is it that really matters on this side?


Here’s my list of what “success” means to me:

•    Being who I was created to be doing what I’m called to do
•    A fulfilling high paying job that I love that impacts others
•    Time freedom; the ability to do what I want with whom I want
•    Spending quality time with family and friends
•    Financial freedom that enables me to serve and give to others
•    Traveling all over the world several times a year

My advice?

What ever success means to you, make sure that you’re clear on what it is, and that it has meaning beyond the 9 to 5 grind, then go after it with all your heart.

You’d be amazed when you’re clear on success and what you want, how everything falls into place so effortlessly.

May there be joy in your journey wherever your “travels” lead you!

Growing Pains: Not So Easy

Last week I came across this article about YouTube. In 2006 alone it grew by 1,972%. Pretty phenomenal, even unbelievable. Check the article out here. With social networking sites like MySpace, LinkedIn, FaceBook and others growing like wildfire, it caused me to examine my own life and my personal growth.

January has come and gone--which means that most peoples' New Year's Resolutions have largely done the same. I personally don't believe in resolutions, and never set any since by nature, they seem to be self-defeating.

But my bottom line is to challenge you today regarding where you're at and where you're growing (going).

Ask yourself these questions:

1. Are you safely entrenched in your comfort zone and determined to stay there? (That's ok if you are).
2. Or, are you doing new things, things you may not be comfortable with, including going after your dreams?
3. Are you at least taking daily "baby steps" that stretch you?
4. Have you set up a plan for 2007?
5. If so, how's that going for you? If not, are you stuck?
6. What are some things that you'd like to accomplish this year, realistically?

In a later post, I will address motivation and a way to accomplish your dreams that flies in the face of conventional wisdom. It's contrary to what most of the "self-help gurus" have been preaching for years.

But the wild thing is that it works--and it has absolutely nothing to do with goals!