Mac/iPhone: We love the Pomodoro technique for productivity and while one of the big benefits is that you don’t need a ton of technology to use it, that doesn’t mean some tech is not useful. FocusList is a small, but useful set of apps of that helps you plan out your day with Pomodoro in mind.
Owning a car can be pretty expensive beyond the price of the vehicle itself. Taxes, title fees, gas, and other costs add up quite a bit, and those costs vary depending on where you live. In a recent study, GOBankingRates ranked the most and least expensive states for owning a car.
We can be especially judgmental when it comes to money. Your friend buys a house, you assume he can’t afford it and should just keep renting—like you do. Or your cousin spends $15,000 on a wedding, and you think that’s crazy—you only spent $5,000 on yours. Instead of judging other people’s habits, try learning the full story, which is more productive.
At our family reunion last year, my nephew did something he had never attempted before. By the time we had all sat down for brunch, my nephew had run a full marathon. Without any advanced planning, he had gotten up at 4:00 in the morning to run 26.2 miles. How was he able to accomplish this amazing feat of endurance? He had already been working on the disciplines he needed to complete that run.
My nephew is an athlete. He is a competitive weightlifter, fitness instructor and wellness coach. Without ever having the goal of running a marathon before, he was prepared to on that day because of his knowledge and experience.
You do not need to have a goal in mind to start working towards it. In fact, you’ll be in a much better position for reaching your goals, if you have already been working towards them. There are certain elements in goal attainment that are essential, both before and after you determine what you want.
In adapting James Allen’s classic book, As a Man Thinketh, I came to appreciate how this book provides a complete blueprint for success in any endeavor; whether worldly, spiritual, physical, or intellectual. And while many of this work’s tenets are familiar and have been expounded on in other writings since its original publication in 1902, a specifically unique aspect of As a Man Thinketh is how James Allen addresses what to do if you do not yet have a goal.
What Mr. Allen addresses is not the work of finding your passion and determining your goals. His recommendations are about taking action toward your goal, even if you are, “not prepared for the apprehension of a great purpose.”
5 Things You Can Work on Regardless of Your Goal
Like conditioning your body for fitness, the attributes for success can be developed through training; building strength upon strength until the day you reach the starting line. Continued development of these skills will then lead you toward anything you set your mind to accomplish. The following are based on James Allen’s original work that I had the joy of adapting in Think What You Want:
There Is No Time Like The Present
These disciplines aren’t just preparatory activities. They are foundation building and more importantly—momentum generating. The hardest law of physics to overcome is inertia; which is the principle that states, “Bodies at rest tend to stay at rest, bodies in motion stay in motion.”
An amazing thing happens when you start working on your goals. You discover more about them, about you and about what you need to do to get there. If you wait until you have your goals in mind or until you know your “why” or any other qualifier, you will only be missing opportunities. Renowned British musicologist Ernest Newman once said, “The great composer does not set to work because he is inspired, but becomes inspired because he is working. Beethoven, Wagner, Bach, and Mozart settled down day after day to the job in hand. They didn’t waste time waiting for inspiration.”
It is great to know what you want. But don’t let it stop you if you don’t. Get to work. You will find out what you need (and why) as you go.
Author, speaker, and entrepreneur Bruce Whitney (bruceleewhitney.com) draws from twenty years of experience in Change Management and the practice of Transformative Learning to help people improve their businesses and their lives. Mr. Whitney’s recent book, Think What You Want, is the first in the Champion Changeability series.
The post 5 Ways to Start Reaching Your Goal – Before You Even Have One appeared first on Pick the Brain | Motivation and Self Improvement.
At our family reunion last year, my nephew did something he had never attempted before. By the time we had all sat down for brunch, my nephew had run a full marathon. Without any advanced planning, he had gotten up at 4:00 in the morning to run 26.2 miles. How was he able to accomplish this amazing feat of endurance? He had already been working on the disciplines he needed to complete that run.
My nephew is an athlete. He is a competitive weightlifter, fitness instructor and wellness coach. Without ever having the goal of running a marathon before, he was prepared to on that day because of his knowledge and experience.
You do not need to have a goal in mind to start working towards it. In fact, you’ll be in a much better position for reaching your goals, if you have already been working towards them. There are certain elements in goal attainment that are essential, both before and after you determine what you want.
In adapting James Allen’s classic book, As a Man Thinketh, I came to appreciate how this book provides a complete blueprint for success in any endeavor; whether worldly, spiritual, physical, or intellectual. And while many of this work’s tenets are familiar and have been expounded on in other writings since its original publication in 1902, a specifically unique aspect of As a Man Thinketh is how James Allen addresses what to do if you do not yet have a goal.
What Mr. Allen addresses is not the work of finding your passion and determining your goals. His recommendations are about taking action toward your goal, even if you are, “not prepared for the apprehension of a great purpose.”
5 Things You Can Work on Regardless of Your Goal
Like conditioning your body for fitness, the attributes for success can be developed through training; building strength upon strength until the day you reach the starting line. Continued development of these skills will then lead you toward anything you set your mind to accomplish. The following are based on James Allen’s original work that I had the joy of adapting in Think What You Want:
There Is No Time Like The Present
These disciplines aren’t just preparatory activities. They are foundation building and more importantly—momentum generating. The hardest law of physics to overcome is inertia; which is the principle that states, “Bodies at rest tend to stay at rest, bodies in motion stay in motion.”
An amazing thing happens when you start working on your goals. You discover more about them, about you and about what you need to do to get there. If you wait until you have your goals in mind or until you know your “why” or any other qualifier, you will only be missing opportunities. Renowned British musicologist Ernest Newman once said, “The great composer does not set to work because he is inspired, but becomes inspired because he is working. Beethoven, Wagner, Bach, and Mozart settled down day after day to the job in hand. They didn’t waste time waiting for inspiration.”
It is great to know what you want. But don’t let it stop you if you don’t. Get to work. You will find out what you need (and why) as you go.
Author, speaker, and entrepreneur Bruce Whitney (bruceleewhitney.com) draws from twenty years of experience in Change Management and the practice of Transformative Learning to help people improve their businesses and their lives. Mr. Whitney’s recent book, Think What You Want, is the first in the Champion Changeability series.
The post 5 Ways to Start Reaching Your Goal – Before You Even Have One appeared first on Pick the Brain | Motivation and Self Improvement.
Friendly PSA: remember to consider the long-term cost of your purchases. There are some items that initially seem affordable enough, but over time, they’re actually quite costly. And Apartment Therapy offers some useful examples.
One of the most difficult decisions you will ever make in your professional life is deciding when to leave a company or even pursue a completely different career path. It can be both daunting and exciting at the same time. In my case, I spent 15 years at IBM working in Finance, Sales and Client […]
The post 3 Steps on How to Transition From Corporate to Being an Entrepreneur appeared first on Change your thoughts.
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Sig Nordal 