More than just the polar race, this mini-movie asks the question, "How much can one person do, if they put their mind to it?"

Throughout history, individuals have continued to amaze people and Raymond Aaron's case is no different. Check out part 2 of this mini-movie and see for yourself:

Click here to view the embedded video.

After watching this, I've got one question for you:

If you could be known for just one thing in your life, what would it be?

Let your imagination run wild. It could be anything from being the best parent in the world to climbing Mount Everest in record time. Drop a comment below and share your thoughts with us.

P.S. Stay tuned for part 3 of the movie to find out what happened to Raymond Aaron on this frosty goal.

I'm sure most of us have been through a similar scenario. Maybe you've set a new year's resolution for yourself or to accomplish a new goal you needed to create a new habit. Yet, try as we might, we often fall prey to laziness, procrastination, negative self-talk, or disorganization.

You get the idea.

But with a little help (and a few tips and tricks), ingraining new good behavior can become just as easy. Check out this article below from ZenHabits on 29 ways to create a new GOOD habit.

The Habit Change Cheatsheet: 29 Ways to Successfully Ingrain a Behavior

From ZenHabits.net

We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit. - Aristotle

Our daily lives are often a series of habits played out through the day, a trammeled existence fettered by the slow accretion of our previous actions.

But habits can be changed, as difficult as that may seem sometimes.

I’m a living example: in tiny, almost infinitesimal steps, I’ve changed a laundry list of habits. Quit smoking, stopped impulse spending, got out of debt, began running and waking early and eating healthier and becoming frugal and simplifying my life and becoming organized and focused and productive, ran three marathons and a couple of triathlons, started a few successful blogs, eliminated my debt … you get the picture.

It’s possible.

And while I’ve written about habit change many times over the course of the life of Zen Habits, today I thought I’d put the best tips all together in one cheatsheet, for those new to the blog and for those who could use the reminders.

Keep it simple
Habit change is not that complicated. While the tips below will seem overwhelming, there’s really only a few things you need to know. Everything else is just helping these to become reality.

The simple steps of habit change:

1. Write down your plan.

2. Identify your triggers and replacement habits.

3. Focus on doing the replacement habits every single time the triggers happen, for about 30 days.

That’s it. We’ll talk more about each of these steps, and much more, in the cheatsheet below.

The Habit Change Cheatsheet
The following is a compilation of tips to help you change a habit. Don’t be overwhelmed — always remember the simple steps above. The rest are different ways to help you become more successful in your habit change.

1. Do just one habit at a time. Extremely important. Habit change is difficult, even with just one habit. If you do more than one habit at a time, you’re setting yourself up for failure. Keep it simple, allow yourself to focus, and give yourself the best chance for success. Btw, this is why New Year’s resolutions often fail — people try to tackle more than one change at a time.

2. Start small. The smaller the better, because habit change is difficult, and trying to take on too much is a recipe for disaster. Want to exercise? Start with just 5-10 minutes. Want to wake up earlier? Try just 10 minutes earlier for now. Or consider half habits.

3. Do a 30-day Challenge. In my experience, it takes about 30 days to change a habit, if you’re focused and consistent. This is a round number and will vary from person to person and habit to habit. Often you’ll read a magical “21 days” to change a habit, but this is a myth with no evidence. Seriously — try to find the evidence from a scientific study for this. A more recent study shows that 66 days is a better number (read more). But 30 days is a good number to get you started. Your challenge: stick with a habit every day for 30 days, and post your daily progress updates to a forum.

Click here to continue reading >>

But it doesn't end there. He's about to do something that 99% of all people would call extraordinary and highly dangerous: a polar race to the North Pole. He does some pretty crazy things (one of them involves a meat freezer and a rather interesting story about a shovel) just to complete his goal.

Check out the first part of this mini-movie on the story of Raymond Aaron and how one man could accomplish so much, jump all these hurdles, and bring so much positive change to the world.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Whether it's a polar race, a new business venture, a drastic life change, our lives are filled with adventure. But after watching this video, I want to know what you think:

Do you think what Raymond is doing is inspirational or just plain risky?

P.S. Stay tuned for part 2 of the movie to find out what happened to Raymond Aaron and this icy adventure.

There is good news, actually GREAT news. FinerMinds is excited to bring you the world expert on busting procrastination, RAYMOND AARON so that it won't ever hurt you again. And, the way to destroy procrastination is presented in this brief video below.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Raymond's got another secret prepared for you. In this 2nd video, you'll discover the 3 steps to make every goal an instant success >>

Tons of you checked out that new videos from Gary Ryan Blair on goal setting and more importantly goal getting that we were sending you last week and if you're like me, then you were probably a little shocked (but in a good way).

The idea of the elusive connection that forms successes in our brain is amazing and I love the implications of what that means from a personal development point of view.

The video definitely opened up my eyes to a whole new perspective. From the idea of creating that connection between goal setting and goal getting to the pattern of successes or failures we end up in, Gary Ryan Blair made a really good point.

If you remember, there was a question posed after the video that asked: What you would like to accomplish in 30 days?. The replies were overwhelming. I thought I'd share some of the most touching ones here:

"Dear Gary, I have the hardest time in creating any goals. I feel like a dandelion seed and just travel where the prevailing winds take me. I've tried many systems, but have not found anything that helps me with goals. I'm 60, have raised 3 kids, been married for 35 years, but have an aversion (I guess ) to goal setting and achieving. It may have to do with my Dad who died before he could retire and enjoy the 'Good Life'. Your video is very good, but more help is needed for me to set and go for the goals I want.
Namaste"
- Fran

"Hi Gary,

Just like Fran above I've hit the 60+ years and have a hard time creating goals. I feel like a leaf on a river's surface floating where the waters take me.

Settings goals is difficut for me and even if I have mornings are a terribly unproductive for me. I have trouble getting started and keeping foccussed

Love to hear any positive suggestions.

Kind regards"
- Peter

"I have never achieved a goal that I wrote on paper, looked at everyday and psyched myself up on. I guess I was always waiting for the genie to appear. I guess the biggest goal I have in my life would be to find out what my true goal is."

"I agree. I am so overwhelmed with the many goals I have that I feel totally lost in even starting. Too many directions - to many choices - leaves me with stagnating procrastination. For the past 22 years I have been very successful (by doing what people told me was difficult to achieve). That gave me pupose and as soon as I reached the top, I resigned, to look for the next challenge. In 2006 my life changed completely, I stopped working and now I am really stuck in too many directions of options. Can anybody assist out there with some wise words?"
- Hannelie

"Great video and I agree setting goals is the easy part achieving them can be elusive. I have set goals and fallen short of achieving them. It is much harder to set a goal when you have failed and the more times you fail the harder it is to dream."

I can't help but notice that most of these comments have to do with following through on a goal and how to even choose a goal to start with. And it doesn't matter where you come from. Everyone's got problems with goal setting and goal getting, be it with your finances, your love life, your health, or your career.

Gary Ryan Blair

I'm really glad this was brought up in the comments because Gary is hosting a teleseminar with Alex Mandossian, nonetheless, on how to pinpoint your goals, position yourself for success (he's got a cool 10-step method for this), and how to inject a lil' discipline into your life.

You guys may have realized already how much of a goal setting nerd I am. I've even done some blog posts on it and a few presentations for my team too. I've already signed myself up for the teleseminar but from what I hear there's still some spots open so if you're serious about changing your life and achieving your dreams, then check out this teleseminar.

Click here to sign up for Gary Ryan Blair and Alex Mandossian's exclusive teleseminar on goal getting >>

Cheers,

Vishen

P.S. Gary even reveals the "cook book technique" on getting discipline under your belt. It's helped over 80,000 organizations and 4 million people get their dreams on the right track.

To be honest, I just woke up and feel like going back to bed but what's a better time than now to write about having a great morning?

So I did some research, looked at the hardest parts of anyone's morning, and came up with this quick 5-step guide to getting the best out of every morning so that the rest of your day is absolutely amazing.

Step 1: Get A Good Night's Sleep

Probably the most important. You can do all the morning rituals you want but if you didn't get enough quality sleep, then you'll still be missing out on your full morning potential.

Now not everyone's the same. Some people only need 6 whereas I need a good 9 hours. Figure out where you stand and make it your target to get that amount of sleep every night. Of course, a little late night partying is allowed every now and then, just don't over do it.

Here are some quick tips on getting a better night's sleep:

• Meditate - clearing your mind can do wonders for getting you into deep sleep right away instead of staring at the ceiling for hours.
• Avoid caffeine and alcohol in the evenings.
• Make going your bed a place of sleep. This means no eating or working in bed. You want to identify sleep with your bed and nothing more. Except maybe for some fun in the sheets
• If you're the type of person who can't shut off their minds, write a list of all the things you need to do tomorrow. This gets them out of your head and organized so you won't lose sleep over tasks.
• If you suffer from a sleeping disorder or sleep apnea, be sure to consult your physician about it.

Step 2: Spend Some Alone Me-Time

Set aside a block of time just for yourself. Even if it's just for 20 minutes. We live in such a connected and busy world it's often hard to remember to focus on just you. Not your family, not your pets, not your boss, your mortgage, etc. Just you.

If you ever get the feeling you don't know yourself anymore then it's time to take a break, do something you love alone, and take the time to focus on who you are. If you're only always surrounded by people your personal growth may stagnate.

So here are some ideas to get you on that road of self-discovery and enjoy your own company:

• Pray
• Meditate
• Exercise
• Write in your journal
• Read that book you've been meaning to but can't seem to find enough time
• Do something creative, such as painting or drawing

You get the idea. The point is to do something you love, do it alone, and focus on just you.

Step 3: Drink Plenty Of Water And Eat A Healthy Breakfast

Breakfast is the foundation of any nutritional diet. So eat up. Just make sure it's healthy. Eating breakfast will energize you get your brain going faster. Don't underestimate the importance of this meal.

Most people don't get enough water. So make it part of your daily morning routine to drink one big glass of water. We often wake up dehydrated and don't know it. So before you go for your coffee, have some water first.

Step 4: Be Productive From The Get-Go

When you get to work, don't spend time procrastinating. We all do this at one point or another. We know we have Task A, B, and C to do but instead we check Twitter, Facebook, our emails, or surf the net.

This is extremely unproductive and will get you into a bad routine. Instead go straight into what you need to do. This'll create momentum and encouragement for you to finish everything else on your To-Do list. But of course, we all need breaks.

So schedule 10 to 15 minute breaks in between tasks for you to relax and entertain your distractions for a while. But be disciplined. Once your scheduled break is up, go back to your goals for the day.

Step 5: Outline Your Top 3 Most Important Tasks (M.I.T.s) And Do These First

These are the tasks that you absolutely need to get done. And often they're the ones that you want to do the least. Well, suck it up and do them. This gives you a great boost of accomplishment each morning and will make the rest of your day easier, happier, and smoother.

This also ingrains good habits within you. The next time you set out a huge goal for yourself you'll be more likely to finish it as your mind is conditioned to take challenges straight on and finish them. You'll end up with that "Yes, I can" attitude.

Thanks for reading guys,

Gabrielle Lim

P.S. I'd love to know more about how you get yourself pumped up everyday, so drop me a comment and share some of your insights.

But I thought, that's ok, because that's how creative people are! Only serious, business type people were disciplined and organized. So I ignored brother Stuie's sound advice and went on my bumbling way. At some point of my journey, as I grew, I realized that being a scatter brain wasn't so cool anymore, especially since I hardly had any time to myself. I would organize so many things for my "creative, free spirited" self that I would have to rush around with hardly a moment to myself.

I could hardly breathe, much less meditate, take a walk or do anything creative! So I decided to stop telling that story! If you read my last post Stop Telling Stories, Start Talking Visions, I write about how people keep telling their 'stories' even if it doesn't serve them, and that's exactly what I was doing. Discipline had been ingrained in my belief system as something negative, something that happened in schools and by becoming disciplined it would mean I was doing something against my belief.

Bullshit.

How could I be going against my belief if I was trying to do something that would better myself? Some of the most creative people I know are also the most disciplined! People forget that being disciplined is just taming the mind or the ego. When you are undisciplined you have allowed the ego to have it's way with you. It controls you, not the other way around.

Right about now, those of you who think I'm just taking out of my behind (much like I thought of Stuie Wilde a few years back), are going, "Phooee! Discipline is for losers. I can make it without discipline!"

Beware the Ego

Well, let me tell you, the ego loves to tell you how you can be the exception. How your Higher Self does not like rigidity and pattern. But I'm not talking rigidness here, I'm talking about making your life easier and more productive so that you have the time and discipline to change for the better! So that you can spend your days doing what makes you happy, passionate and joyful. So that you can meditate, take walks and go for workshops and courses. So you can travel, create art, write, play sports, spend time with your family, love and live free.

What you can do

The number one thing you can do to help you become more organized and discipline is to change your belief pattern. This paves the way for everything else.

As soon as I realized that my belief pattern was stopping me from being more disciplined and organized, I did everything I could to change it. Here are a few things I did (and when I make up my mind, I go all out!):

• Affirmations
• Age Regressions
• Conscious Decision Making
• Meditations
• Had a friend coach me and be there for me

I also grabbed the most productive person I know, my friend Juan, and got him to teach me his ways. I read books on being more organized and productive, I created plans and basically sorted my shit out.

What you will get

You know sometimes when you're reading about how amazing a person is, with his or her life so perfect with time for family, friends, travel, spirit, love and work? And you think to yourself, "I could never be like that." Well, that's exactly what you will get in end. A life that you gently direct and control with enough time for everything that you really want to do.

The Blisscipline

If you do something enough then from a discipline it slowly becomes a blisscipline! You don't consciously think about doing something, you just do it because now it is habit and when someone asks you how you can have such a 'perfect' life it will be difficult to answer because you won't be able to remember when you didn't do this effortlessly. You just know that this is bringing you joy and making your life wonderful. Hence the term Blissciplline.

Try These

Try these things for a start and see if you can make it into a Blisscipline.

• Waking up early everyday
• Eating more vegetables
• Eating more fruits
• Meditating daily
• Not gossiping
• Drinking 3 liters of water daily
• Being grateful for things (try Gratitude Log)
• Exercise at least 3 times a week
• Having time for your self
• Paying your bills on time
• Being on time
• Cooking at home (ok, maybe this is more my thing *grin*)

I want to know if you have been having trouble getting more disciplined and what you have done to overcome it if any. Or if you have started anything I've mentioned above, please let me know how it is going. If you are someone who is disciplined, then let me know how it has changed your life.

Looking forward to reading your comments!

Love and light!

What happens in 90% of all cases, is that the goal is just too overwhelming and so we feel discouraged and give up. Not a great start. But here's where the problem lies. It's not that the goals are too big, but how we go about achieving them.

Now, as many of you know, I'm a big believer in personal growth and the way to grow your company is to grow your employees. So I shared with them an extremely important technique in goal-setting that they can use in their work and personal life.

It's so simple. Ready to do this exercise? Then grab some paper and a pen and watch this video:

I believe strongly in this technique and it's how I've achieved some of my biggest goals. I've shared it with my office, my family, and my friends. It's something you can do with your circle of friends and loved ones too.

Cheers,

Vishen

PS: Drop me a comment and let me know what you think.  If you know a way to make this technique even better, I'd love to hear it.

So you head to the personal development section of the bookstore or library or start doing some research online. And what hits you is an overwhelming wave of information. It can be a little hard to deal with at first.

So we've compiled this mini course for you on taking back control of your life. They're practical, adaptable for each person, and it's what all gurus and experts touch on.

If you've got anything to add, drop us a comment below!

Step 1: Unlock Your Unique Abilities

The first step is to figure out who you are and what special talents do you bring into this world. If you're inclined to say you don't have any talent, you're dead wrong. Everyone's unique in terms of what they offer. Sometimes it's just a little hard to see.

As a starter, check out this article, 9 Questions To Unlock Your Unique Abilities from FreedomEducation.ca to get you going. It's an introspective exercise that'll help you discover a new side to you.

Step 2: Move Out Of Your Comfort Zone

You won't grow unless you force yourself to. And it's not always going to be comfortable. In fact some of the best personal growth comes from doing things you're afraid of or nervous to do. But once you breach this barrier, your comfort zone will grow and grow until you can do anything.

To give you some inspiration and support have a read through this quick but insightful article, How to Move Out of Your Comfort Zone. And for a really great video, check out Brian Wong's inspiring presentation to a huge group of teenagers on your Discomfort Zone.

Step 3: Set Goals You Will Actually Achieve

We all want to set huge goals. And there's no reason why we shouldn't. But the problem is that sometimes we set goals incorrectly. We tend to think of goals as these achievements that we can only enjoy in the future. But what about the process? Will setting Goal X benefit you right this very moment? It's time to think of the present.

This is why I love this article from Steve Pavlina, How to Set Goals You Will Actually Achieve. It discusses the way we think of goals and why we set ourselves up for failure. It's not about how big the goal is, but how you perceive the goal in the present moment. Or check out this presentation Vishen did on goal setting which has got the whole team to become huge goal setters - Achieve your dream life in Reverse: Strategic Goal-Setting in 4 Parts.

Step 4: Self-Discipline

I know this word strikes fear in many people's hearts. It's an icky word but it's something everyone needs. Nothing was ever completed without self-discipline. As soon as you make it a value in your life, your goals will come to you faster. You'll also feel better about yourself and more accomplished. New goals and habits won't seem so hard to you anymore.

For great insight, check out How To Have More Self-Discipline by Penelope Trunk. It goes through the link between self-discipline and happiness and how having discipline in one area will automatically lead to discipline in another area.

Step 5: Find Your Dream Career

Alright, this is where things can get a little tricky. Up until now it's all been about you, you, you. Now we're branching out into a whole new circle. All of the social conditioning we've received has been this: get a job, go to work, time = money. But that might not be so true anymore.

This step really depends on your personality and what you want out of life. Do you want to work for someone else and be part of a company? Or do you want to work for yourself? So here are two articles to help you weigh your pros and cons. One is by Steve Pavlina and it's called 10 Reasons You Should Never Get a Job. Brilliant way to look at things. Even if you're planning on working for a company, read this anyway.

The other article is How To Get A Job By Thinking Outside Of The Box from The Digerati Life. There are some really amazing businesses to work for these days. You just have to find them. There's nothing wrong with working for a company. I do and I love my job. Just make sure their values and vision are aligned with yours.

Step 6: Keep Your Energy Up

Now to do all of these steps you're gonna need some energy. And we're not talking about just eating a healthy breakfast. So do what you need to do to keep yourself refreshed, rejuvenated, happy, and brimming with energy. This could mean going for a jog, meditating, or chilling with close friends.

Here's a great article on how to keep your vibration up. It's called Unusual Ways To Raise Vibration and you're definitely going to have some fun with these ideas.

We know you have something to say, so don't be shy and let us know what you're thinking about in the comments below.

]]> http://daily.finerminds.com/mind/taking-back-control-of-your-life-a-6-part-mini-guide-on-living-the-life-of-your-dreams/feed/ 4 http://daily.finerminds.com/mind/self-improvement/the-myth-of-multitasking-how-doing-it-all-gets-nothing-done/ http://daily.finerminds.com/mind/self-improvement/the-myth-of-multitasking-how-doing-it-all-gets-nothing-done/#comments Mon, 27 Jul 2009 09:14:54 +0000 Dave Crenshaw http://daily.finerminds.com/?p=4202 I'd like to share a valuable principle with you. It's something I've taught to many business owners and executives I've worked with. This principle may go against the grain of some of your beliefs about time and the best way to get things done. Because of that, I ask you to keep an open mind.

Multitasking is a myth. It just plain doesn't exist.

Does that shock you? Multitasking has become something of a heroic word in our vocabulary. Many executives pride themselves on their ability to "multitask". Recent job descriptions that I have seen even ask that potential employees have the ability to multitask. A current national commercial sings the praises of multitasking. However, multitasking, as most people understand it, is deceptively counter-productive. Multitasking is tremendously costly. Multitasking hurts us every time we attempt to engage in it.

Background Tasking - Killing 2 Birds With One Stone

I should clarify a few definitions. When I speak of multitasking as most people understand it, I am not referring to doing something completely mindless and mundane in the background such as exercising while listening to a CD, eating dinner and watching a show, or having the copy machine operate in the background while you answer emails. For clarity's sake, I call this "background tasking".

Switchtasking - A Neurological Meltdown

When most people refer to multitasking they mean simultaneously performing two or more things that require mental effort and attention. Examples would include saying we're spending time with family while were researching stocks online, attempting to listen to a CD and answering email at the same time, or pretending to listen to an employee while we are crunching the numbers. What most people refer to as multitasking, I refer to as "switchtasking." Why?

Because the truth is we really cannot do two things at the same time—we are only one person with only one brain. Neurologically speaking, it has been proven to be impossible. What we are really doing is switching back and forth between two tasks rapidly, typing here, paying attention there, checking our "crackberry" here, answering voicemail there back and forth back and forth at a high rate. Keep this up over a long period of time, and you have deeply ingrained habits that cause stress and anxiety and dropped responsibilities and a myriad of productivity & focus problems. It's little wonder so many people complain of increasingly short attention spans!

Switching Cost - Sacrificing Quality

When we speak of multitasking, what we really mean is that we are switchtasking: switching rapidly between one task and another. Yet, each time we switch, no matter how quickly that switch takes place in our mind, there is a cost associated with it. It's an economic term called switching cost—and the switching cost is high.

When I shared this principle of switchtasking to a CEO of a respected national company, she was astounded. We did a budgeting exercise where we looked at how much time she was spending in a given week. In the process of budgeting her time and looking at how much time she was spending on each activity, we found that she was extremely over budget in what she thought she could accomplish in a week. The truth is, there are only 168 hours in a week, and yet she had put down that she was accomplishing 188 hours worth of work in that week!

As we went through the process, we realized where the extra time was coming from. It was from the fact that she was doing research at the same time that she was spending time with her family. When we came across this, I taught her how multitasking was a myth. She was spending time either with one or the other. She was switching rapidly between the two. In reality she was rarely spending any time with her family. She was really doing business research in the presence of her family. There is happy end to this story, however.

How To Throw Switchtasking Out Of Your Vocabulary>>

The next day we met she burst into the room, full of excitement. She exclaimed, "I'll have you know that I spent time with my family last night and I didn't multitask! I got home and said let's go to dinner. My kids were surprised. But we went to the restaurant and I paid attention to them and I didn't think about anything else but spending time with my family. At first I don't think they took me seriously. After they realized that I was really spending time with them and paying attention to them they were excited and I could tell they really appreciated it."

This CEO had come to understand that not only was switchtasking hurting her business, but it was taking a toll on her family. Once she clearly understood the truth and received some guidance on how to take action, she committed make changes. Her business, her family, and she are all better because of it.

There are a number of steps you can take to start changing your productivity, life, and the quality of your time. By changing your mindset you will be closer to achieving every goal you set out for yourself.

I've made a video for you on the baby steps you'll first need to take to get rid of switchtasking and the two major silent switchtasking killers that are in everyone's life:

Check out my video on the 2 silent switchtasking killers that could be wasting 28% of your time and how to get rid of them for good>>

PS: According to Basex Research, Americans are losing $900 billion a year on switchtasking!

Find out how this $900 billion is going to affect you and how you can stop the drain from hurting your business and life goals >>