a) Passionate about building a better life for yourself

b) Dedicated to accomplishing your goals and dreams

So if those two things above resonate with you, then read on to see what Hani Khaursar (our super cool video editor at MindValley) has whipped up. It’s from her fresh off the press blog, The Blisscipline. I dare ya to check it out.

My favorite was #4 and I’ll probably have to work on it though. Drop a comment and share what your favorite points are and what you’re going to be working on.

Why Checking Out The Competition Is Sometimes A Bad Idea

By Hani Khaursar from TheBlisscipline.com

How many times did I freak out while building this site – my friends a.k.a super support group can give you a detailed report I’m sure. I would be moving along confidently and then decide to go ‘do some research’ and check out other blogs and websites. This is usually when the trouble began. I would start comparing my website, articles, videos, myself even to every other website out there and freak out! Yes, I’m quite dramatic.

Things I would freak out about:

• “Everyone else is better than I am”
• “How in the world am I going to do all of this?”
• “Am I providing value to people?”
• “No one is every going to read / watch / come to my blog!”
• and on and on..

Lucky for me, I have the most amazing friends and mentors – many who are successful professional coaches – who readily shared their knowledge with me. I’m not telling you this to show off, but because I am going to share the knowledge they imparted on me, with you (hurrah!) It has been priceless for me and has helped me tremendously and if you’re out there trying to make it on your own (I know it can be scary) I hope this knowledge can help you too!

Technique vs Mindset:

You’ve heard this argument before? Well, if you’re still not where you want to be in life, then you haven’t heard it enough! I cannot stress enough how understanding the difference between the two can change your life. No matter how much you follow in the footsteps of someone successful (technique), if you do not have the right mindset, then you’re going to fail.

What is the right mindset? Read on:

1) It is ok to fail: What is your Bounce back rate?

When my business idea was shot down by a mentor I was completely bummed. Understand that I respect this person a lot and his opinions mean a lot to me. However instead of ditching the idea I decided to take his advice and use it as a template of ‘things I need to improve’ in the idea.  It is ok to get your ideas shot down, what is important is how quickly you bounce back. Use all your rejections as a way to develop the right mindset.This is the best time to practice. If you let every rejection (and there will be many) make you lose your ground, then you will get nowhere.

2) Stop being a perfectionist!

I was told one day to repeat to myself, “I am a recovering perfectionist” as many times as necessary. Every step of the way during the process of creating this website I had to repeat that to myself or else this website much less any of it’s articles or videos would never have seen the light of day. Never let your quest for perfection distract you from your true objective. This one is a tough one especially for me because sometimes it physically pains me to put out videos or designs that don’t have every ‘t’ crossed and every ‘i’ dotted (again with the drama!) but I won’t let my perfectionism (is this even a word?) sabotage my success so I put out videos even if weren’t up to my personal standards because I would much rather see them published than not at all.

Click here to continue reading about the right goal-getting mindset »

Flow by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi

“Perfectionism and optimalism are not distinct ways of being, an either-or choice, but rather they coexist in each person. And while we can move from perfectionism toward optimalism, we never fully leave perfectionism behind and never fully reach optimalism ahead. The optimalism ideal is not a distant shore to be reached but a distant star that guides us and can never be reached. As Carl Rogers pointed out, ‘The good life is a process, not a state of being. It is a direction, not a destination”

This is the single most important thing that has transformed both me and my company.

Just writing about flow wouldn’t do the philosophy justice, so I want to share with you a video of my experience at Engage Today. It was an amazing time to say the least. Just the thought of being on the same stage as the Dalai Lama, President F.W De Klerk, Sir Richard Branson, and Sean Stephenson still gives me goosebumps.

I was voted by the audience as one of the top 3 best speakers along with Sean Stephenson and Tony Hsieh (founder of Zappos.com).

With it’s impressive speaker line-up, Engage Today was one of the biggest personal growth events of the decade. Transformational leaders from all over the world flew into Calgary to share their wisdom on making the world, business, and each other better.

Along with the video, I just want to share with you what Greg Habstritt, the man behind the whole event and a great entrepreneur (he’s a winner of the Young Entrepreneur Of The Year award), wrote about my talk on business and flow.

Vishen Lakhiani is one of the rising stars in the world of online marketing and strategy.  He’s considered one of the top marketing minds today, and has been sought out by some of the biggest transformational leaders like Jack Canfield, Bob Proctor, Janet Attwood and dozens of other thought leaders.

Vishen was one of the top-rated presenters of the entire Engage Today event, and for good reason – he shared a ton of amazing information and insight on how he’s created one of the fastest growing online strategy companies.

Among other things, Vishen shares in this video:

• How he grew his company over 400% in revenues over a 1 year period
• What “the state of flow” is, and how it holds the key to energizing your company
• His explanation of “the Paradox of Intention” and why happiness cannot be tied to your goals
• What to do if you’re in a job or career that you don’t like
• Does it make sense to hire entrepreneurs into your business?

You’ll love Vishen’s energy in this session, and you’ll quickly see why he was one of the most popular speakers during the entire event!Watch his video, and please POST a comment below and let us know what you think!

Do you agree with him?

Do you think Vishen is one of the “new generation” entrepreneurs like so many people have called him?

The concept of flow is just the beginning though. If you’re really serious about transforming your life and career, then I want to invite you to something special. I’ve just conducted a free teleseminar with enlightened entrepreneur, Max Simon. We’ll be talking about the pivotal and essential turning point that every business or driven person must go through as well as what it really takes to succeed.

Just click here to listen to the teleseminar »

And as always, drop a comment and throw in your 2 cents. Can’t wait to read your comments.

Terry Tillman

About a year ago, I met Terry Tillman in Hawaii at the Transformational Leadership Council where he inspired me with some really amazing team building exercises.

Just a side note on Terry. He’s one of the top people in designing team building exercises for companies and organizations in the world. I even sought his advice for our MindValley team retreat and used quite a few of the exercises he showed me. If you want to know what went down in our Bali team retreat, check out this post »

Anyways, I just wanted to share this with you because I really liked Terry’s message. It was the message that he sent to his own list.

…

A 2010 Message From Terry Tillman

2010!!! Wow! We’ve already heading into the first week of another new year. Wasn’t it only last year that we were reading about all the fear-based Y2K concerns forecasting the impending year 2000 “Millennium bug”? Was that a decade ago?

When Greg asked me to post a little article here my knee-jerk reaction was, “I’m too busy, I don’t have time…” And that’s the reason why I agreed to write this. I tell others to do the thing you don’t want to do if you want to be free, and grow and learn. Move into the resistance, rather than away back to the safe, familiar, comfortable habitual behaviors. So, let’s see what shows up here…

The transition from December to January, one year to the next, the old to the new is a time when many of us review and resolve. With good intentions we acknowledge where we fell short in the past and voice good intentions, goals and objectives for the coming 12 months.

Sometime during the first week of each year my wife and I sit down together, away from any distractions and go through what’s become an annual “ritual”-we go through a process to complete the year just finished and voice intentions for the coming 12 months (There’s nothing sacred about 12 months. That’s an arbitrary time period, so we could be talking about 6 months, or two years).

This is an important time of the year, because I know that where I look is where I go. I create my reality by what I focus upon. And I’m now committing a major part of my next focus. I’m beginning an action that will determine my experience and results for the next period.

COMPLETION, AGREEMENTS & SAYING “NO”

Our first step is to acknowledge what we’re grateful for. We write this down. It’s usually four or five pages for each of us. I’ve made it a habit to look at what I have, do or am to be grateful for, daily. The end of the year list is a summary, and claiming, a receiving and acknowledging.

With an attitude of gratitude I’m automatically abundant. I have the experience of abundance and I will never need to endure the loss of any one thing (You might want to read that again).

Every agreement or promise I make and every action I’ve started that is not complete requires a little piece of my consciousness and energy, usually unconsciously. So a next step in our process is to reclaim some of that energy. We list incompletions and decide what we intend to do to complete them. We eliminate or re-chose and re-commit. Often it’s as simple as declaring completion–Just saying “It’s done”, or “I’m not going to do that .”

Much of the stress experienced in business and personal lives is the result of over committing-agreeing to do more than can be done well, thoroughly, enjoyably and in a balanced manner in the time allotted. I’ve found that if I want to have less stress, I need to learn when to say “no”. Be more selective in my choices and agreements.

If I want movement and change, if I want to start something new, I need to stop something. That means saying, “Yes” to one activity is saying “No” to others.

For example, last week I looked around my office and home and noticed that I had three books and four magazines open. I have been in the process of reading them-a couple of them I started several months, or more, ago. Those are incompletions, and broken agreements with myself (I’ll get to that in a minute). I know that I pay a big price for broken agreements, and lose energy and focus when my environment is filled with incompletes.

So what can I do? I closed two of the books and put them back on the bookshelf. I tossed a couple of the magazines in the trash, and I closed the others. Done. Complete! Energy reclaimed. Later I can choose again to read them. If I want. For now I’m choosing something else. I’m always amazed at how much better I feel after simple acts such as those. I begin to feel more in charge, more of the author(ity) in my life.

Some completions may take a little more effort and time. Some I can renegotiate (with myself, or someone else if they are involved). Basically I’m reviewing my past choices and bringing them into the present and making a new choice. Sometimes that may be the same one as in the past; sometimes it’s altogether new. After all, in some ways I’m hopefully a different person, with different information at this moment than when I originally made the choice. What would I chose now?

When I reviewed my incompletions last week I found very few projects and activities that I wanted to cancel, or say no to. That’s good news to me. That means I’m on course and have kept pretty current and present.

I did however clarify or remember what my agreements and commitments are. That’s been very helpful to me already. A couple days ago the managing director of a company I’m an advisor to and investor in asked me to get more involved in a particular operational challenge the company was having. That would have entailed more work and time commitment. With the recall of what I originally agreed to fresh in my mind, and remembering what I’m best at and enjoy, it was easy to say “no”, thank you. In the past I might have been afraid I’d upset the client, spark disapproval, be judged, or even lose the contract (and money). However, I’ve learned that the price I pay for not being true to myself, and making my choices from the inside out, is even greater.

Often in seminars I will ask the group, “Who would like greater self-esteem? More confidence? Greater self-trust? Better relationships? More energy? Consistently, in every country (94 so far) and every seminar, around 95% of the hands are raised. And then we launch into a two-hour lecturette and process.

We probably don’t have the space for all that here, so I’ll just give the bottom line–THE KEY to experiencing all of these rewards is basically, KEEP YOUR AGREEMENTS! Do what you say you are going to do.

Or, alternatively, if you are experiencing low self-esteem, lack of trust, low confidence, deteriorating relationships, low energy… look to your agreements. Chances are you’re overcommiting and/or not keeping them.

And, the reason we’re looking at this now, at the beginning of 2010, is that this is the time of the year when people make resolutions–This year I’m going to lose weight, start an exercise program, play and laugh more, risk more, travel to…, relax and pause more (work hard, rest often), take that speed reading class, spend more time with my children, write a book, eat healthier food, learn a new language… These are all agreements with our selves. And if we don’t keep them, we automatically suffer the consequences called low self-esteem, lack of trust, low confidence, deteriorating relationships, low energy. Automatically.

A part of our conscious doesn’t register if we broke the agreement just a little or a lot, or if it was a big agreement or a little one. It is binary, Yes or no? Did you do what you said you’d do or not? Did you keep your word? The process is unconscious, internally, and the consequences are automatic, whether we keep the agreement or break it. So, what to do?

TIPS TO ASSIST IN KEEPING AGREEMENTS:

1. Write down your agreements and promises. I have an agreement with myself that if it’s not written down I haven’t agreed to it. I also have a list in my Palm Pilot (soon to be transferred to my new iPhone) called, “Pretty good idea, someday maybe”. I’m curious, and active. I daily discover many things I’d like to jump into or learn more about. Some of those I don’t want to forget, so they go in my Someday Maybe list. It’s a great list, and I review it periodically. Every once in awhile I actually commit to something on the list. My best selling book was on this list for three years before I committed to writing it.
2. Learn to say “No”. You have that right, and I’d say responsibility. It’s part of being true to yourself and taking care of yourself and following your heart. I have a stress reduction seminar designed around learning to say no. It’s important, and it’s something a majority has difficulty with.
3. Renegotiate. We make agreements with the information, abilities, knowledge, skills and feelings we have at the time. As we get involved in whatever is the activity and process we gain more information, skill, knowledge and ability and thus at any future moment, if we were to make that choice again it may well be a different or modified choice. We have the right to renegotiate. To change.
4. Make agreements important. If I realize how important they are, and the consequences for breaking them and the rewards for keeping them, I find it easy to realize how important they are. And if I get they are important I will keep them.

This has gotten long. I thought I was going to discourse about intentions and methods, focusing on what rather than how and on setting goals, and how those are different from Purpose, Mission, Dreams, Visions. Some other time…

FORM & STRUCTURE

For those of you who want more form and structure, here are some questions that can guide you in your 2009 review and 2010 goal setting. When I go through these kinds of questions I like to consider my answers in several area:

• Physical
• Emotional
• Mental
• Spiritual
• Financial
• Family
• Community
• Service

Completing and Remembering 2010

What was your biggest triumph in 2009?

What was the smartest decision you made in 2009?

What one word best sums up and describes your 2009 experience?

What was the greatest lesson you learned in 2009?

What was the most loving service you performed in 2009?

What is your biggest piece of unfinished business in 2009?

What are you most happy about completing in 2009?

Who were the three people that had the greatest impact on your life in 2009?

What was the biggest risk you took in 2009?

What was the biggest surprise in 2009?

What important relationship improved the most in 2009?

What compliment would you liked to have received in 2009?

What compliment would you liked to have given in 2009?

What else do you need to do or say to be complete with 2009?

Creating 2010

What would you like to be your biggest triumph in 2010?

What advice would you like to give yourself in 2010?

What is the major effort you are planning to improve your financial results in 2010?

What would you be most happy about completing in 2010?

What major indulgence are you willing to experience in 2010?

What would you most like to change about yourself in 2010?

What are you looking forward to learning in 2010?

What do you think your biggest risk will be in 2010?

What about your work, are you most committed to changing and improving in 2010?

What is one as yet undeveloped talent you are willing to explore in 2010?

What brings you the most joy and how are you going to do or have more of that in 2010?

Who or what, other than yourself, are you most committed to loving and serving in 2010?

What one word would you like to have as your theme in 2010?

You can check out more of Terry’s work over here »

I love Robin Sharma’s book The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari. It was handed to me by a friend and we made it part of the office library. Pretty soon, others fell in love with that book as well and our office book collection grew to include some of Sharma’s other works like “The Greatness Guide”.

I met Sharma in person twice. Once was when I was speaking at an event in Hawaii called the “Transformation Leadership Forum”. We went out for sushi and ended up having an awesome night discussing philosophy and our lives and the paths that lead us to where we are today. And a few months later when Robin was in Asia on a speaking engagement he stopped by our office to say hi. It’s not everyday that such a well known author stops by our office just to say hi and sign autographs. But Robin did — and our team at MindValley are solid fans!

So I wanted to share this with you today. It’s Robin Sharma’s list of his Goals for 2010. Funny, inspiring and definitely worth looking at. I’m starting on #11 tonight.

62 Ways To Make 2010 Your Best New Year Yet

By Robin Sharma, January 3rd, 2010

1. Remember that leadership isn’t about your position. It’s about your influence.

2. Get fit like a pro athlete

3. Lift people up versus tearing people down

4. Protect your good name. An impeccable reputation takes a lifetime to build. And 60 seconds to lose

5. Surround yourself with positive, ethical people who are committed to excellence

6. Remember that even a 1% daily innovation rate amounts to at least a 100% rate of innovation in 100 days

7. Believe in your dreams (even when others laugh at them)

8. Measure your success, not by your net worth but by your self worth (and how happy you feel)

9. Take an intelligent risk every 24 hours. No try-No Win.

10. Read “Buffett: The Making of an American Capitalist”

11. Watch “Man on Wire”

12. Regardless of your title at work, be a team builder.

13. Remember that business is all about relationships and human connections

14. Say “please” more

15. Say “thank you” more

16. Know your Big 5: the five things that need to happen by the end of this year for you to feel it’s been your best year yet

17. Read your Big 5 every morning while the rest of the world is asleep

18. Read “As You Think”. At least twice this year.

19. Be willing to fail. It’s the price of greatness

20. Focus less on making money and more on creating value

21. Spend less, save more

22. Leave everything you touch better than you found it

23. Be the most positive person in every room you’re in

24. Run your own race

24. Stay true to your deepest values and best ideals

25. Write a handwritten thank you note to a customer/friend/loved one every day

26. When you travel, send love letters to your kids on hotel stationary. In time, they’ll have a rich collection to remember your travels by

27. Read “Atlas Shrugged”

28. Be a problem solver versus a trouble maker

29. Rather than doing many things at mediocrity do just a few things-but at mastery

30. Honor your parents

31. Commit to doing great work-whether anyone notices it or not. It’s one of life’s best sources of happiness.

32. Give more than you receive (another of the truths of happiness)

33. Have your 1/3/5/10/25 years goals recorded on paper and review them weekly

34. Be patient. Slow and steady wins the race. The only reason businesses that went from zero to a billion in a year or two get featured in magazines is because 99% of businesses require a lot more time to win

34. Underpromise and then overdeliver

35. See part of your job as “a developer of people” (whether you work in the boardroom or the mailroom)

36. Wear your heart on your sleeve. When people see you’re real, they’ll fall in love with you

37. Be authentic versus plastic

38. Read “The Alchemist”

39. Remember that life wants you to win. So get out of your own way

40. Consider that behind every fear lives your next level of growth (and power)

41. Eat less food

42. Drink more water

43. Rest when you need to

44. Read “SUCCESS” magazine

45. Write your eulogy and them live your life backwards

46. Demand the best from yourself

47. Remember that the more you go to your limits, the more your limits will expand

48. See everything that happens to you as an opportunity to grow (and therefore, as a precious gift)

49. Be obsessed with learning and self-development

50. Become comfortable alone (you are the only person you get to be with your whole life)

51. Smile. It’s a stunningly effective way to win in business and life

52. Reflect on the shortness of life

53. Be bold when it comes to your dreams but gentle with those you love

54. Remember that success is dangerous because it can kill drive/innovation/passion and going the extra mile. Be successful yet stay hungry

55. Read “The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin”

56. Be of deep value to this world

57. Own beautiful things but don’t let them own you

58. Use excellent words.

59. Laugh more.

60. Don’t complain, gossip or be negative.

61. Plan as if you’ll live forever but live as if you’ll die tomorrow.

62. Feel free to pass these lessons on to those you want to help.

For more on Robin Sharman, visit his website RobinSharma.com »

Why? Because according to several studies in the field of will power and New Year’s resolutions, it appears that the more you try to change, the less permanent change there will be.

So surprise, surprise. Humans don’t have the best willpower. Turns out, when we overload our brains with stress and goals, we’re way less likely to follow through on a new habit, lose weight, or quit smoking. When it comes to getting rid of bad habits and creating new habits, it appears that doing one thing at a time is best.

I really recommend reading this article. Even if you’re not planning to go into 2010 with a resolution,  everyone should understand how their minds work. Especially when it comes to personal development and being the best you. The studies alone are worth reading about (some interesting stuff about food, eating, and will power).

And for those who’re planning on losing weight, there’s some really interesting facts and tips in here.

Personally, I don’t do New Year’s Resolutions. My philosophy is, if you have a new practice or goal you want to start working on, why the heck would you wait for the new year? Get started now.

Blame It on the Brain

By Jonah Lehrer

The latest neuroscience research suggests spreading resolutions out over time is the best approach

Willpower, like a bicep, can only exert itself so long before it gives out; it’s an extremely limited mental resource.

Given its limitations, New Year’s resolutions are exactly the wrong way to change our behavior. It makes no sense to try to quit smoking and lose weight at the same time, or to clean the apartment and give up wine in the same month. Instead, we should respect the feebleness of self-control, and spread our resolutions out over the entire year. Human routines are stubborn things, which helps explain why 88% of all resolutions end in failure, according to a 2007 survey of over 3,000 people conducted by the British psychologist Richard Wiseman. Bad habits are hard to break—and they’re impossible to break if we try to break them all at once.

Some simple tricks can help. The first step is self-awareness: The only way to fix willpower flaws is to know about them. Only then can the right mental muscles get strengthened, making it easier to succeed at our annual ritual of self-improvement.

The brain area largely responsible for willpower, the prefrontal cortex, is located just behind the forehead. While this bit of tissue has greatly expanded during human evolution, it probably hasn’t expanded enough. That’s because the prefrontal cortex has many other things to worry about besides New Year’s resolutions. For instance, scientists have discovered that this chunk of cortex is also in charge of keeping us focused, handling short-term memory and solving abstract problems. Asking it to lose weight is often asking it to do one thing too many.

In one experiment, led by Baba Shiv at Stanford University, several dozen undergraduates were divided into two groups. One group was given a two-digit number to remember, while the second group was given a seven-digit number. Then they were told to walk down the hall, where they were presented with two different snack options: a slice of chocolate cake or a bowl of fruit salad.

Here’s where the results get weird. The students with seven digits to remember were nearly twice as likely to choose the cake as students given two digits. The reason, according to Prof. Shiv, is that those extra numbers took up valuable space in the brain—they were a “cognitive load”—making it that much harder to resist a decadent dessert. In other words, willpower is so weak, and the prefrontal cortex is so overtaxed, that all it takes is five extra bits of information before the brain starts to give in to temptation.

This helps explain why, after a long day at the office, we’re more likely to indulge in a pint of ice cream, or eat one too many slices of leftover pizza. (In fact, one study by researchers at the University of Michigan found that just walking down a crowded city street was enough to reduce measures of self-control, as all the stimuli stressed out the cortex.) A tired brain, preoccupied with its problems, is going to struggle to resist what it wants, even when what it wants isn’t what we need.

Click to continue reading »

We had put up the wrong link that required you to pay for shipping and handling amongst other things.

But I spoke to Mike and he’s apologized for the mistake. He’s put up an exclusive link for just FinerMinds readers: http://www.mikelitman.com/finerminds/

From there you’ll get an instant download. No shipping and handling, no monthly offer, nothing.

Michael had someone immediately put up that link specifically for our blog yesterday morning in New York.

Thanks for being so understanding!

Click here to get Conversations With Millionaires — Instant Download »

It scares me how fast time flies by and I’m often left wondering, “Where did it all go?”

So I came across this article that I think would help out anyone who’s ever felt like there just wasn’t enough time to get everything done.

Check it out and if you’ve got any tips, just drop a comment below. Can’t wait to read them.

10 Ways to Gain an Hour in Each Day

by Christine L. Hohlbaum

The stack of books tumbled from my arms onto the floor. One look from the librarian told me I had better slow down or else. She even uttered the words, “Sometimes doing things slowly can actually be faster.”

Should I tell her I wrote the book on it? I opened my mouth, then thought better of it. I had, after all, potentially damaged her property. What she didn’t know was that I was conducting an experiment. I had decided to see what would happen if I actually went against the principles of the “power of slow.” I left the house in a busy state of mind and tried to cram five errands into 30 minutes so I could be at the auto mechanic by 11 AM. The librarian’s words proved the point.

You are more productive when you go slowly.

I breathed in the slow, releasing the cloak of busyness I had purposely donned, then drove the speed limit to the mechanic’s. I arrived right on time.

The power of slow says time is your friend, not your foe. When you embrace time with an abundant attitude, you actually have more of it. You expand your experience of time itself simply through your mindset. Time savoring raises your awareness of what you have in the here and now. By enjoying the moment, you make decisions informed by that abundance. Time abundance, much like time starvation, is a self-fulfilling prophecy.

When asked if I would want one more hour in the day, I say, “No. I have more than enough time.” It seems like an oddball answer to a question most people answer with a resounding “yes!” The truth of the matter is time is a construct we designed. It is an organizing principle to help us make sense of our lives (and to meet up at the same moment at Starbucks). So if it’s not real, why do we treat it like the monster under our bed? Oh right. He’s not real either. Maybe, just maybe, time starvation is in our minds.

Our collective urgency, fear and yearning to stuff more into our day are merely symptoms of a much larger issue: how we relate to time itself. Establishing a positive relationship with time is a lot like investing. You have to give something to get a return. Investing a little time on the front end can give you a surplus at the end. Whether you’re a working woman, retiree, stay-at-home mother or single, here are 10 simple ways to gain more time in your day.

1. Manage expectations. Have you ever seen the look on the person’s face whose expectations you have improperly managed? It’s not pretty. To avoid mismanaged expectations, use the feedback method of communication. Essentially, you feed back to the other person what you think you’ve heard, then ask that person what they heard you just say. Once you have reached an agreement on what has been said and heard, you can be assured both sets of expectations are in alignment. This method can clear up potential misunderstandings on the spot. In addition, it will save you hours of cleaning up the mess you could have prevented had you managed those expectations properly in the first place.

2. Set your priorities. Make a note of your top items each day. Include even the “little things” such as “take out the trash” that would otherwise simmer in your subconscious as a stress point. Create a success chart in which you log the things you would like to accomplish, then move each one to the complete column as you fulfill each task. (Excel is great for this). At the end of the day, you’ll be able to have a visual for all that you’ve managed in your day. Remain flexible in case your priorities shift (leaving a burning building, for instance, is more important than finishing that report on your desk).

Click here to continue reading »

Check out this article from the Huffington Post and if you’re as scatterbrained as I am, then this list will make time management and accomplishment as easy as your ABCs.

If any of you have any more tips on making the “less is more” philosophy work, drop a comment and share. I can’t wait to read your pointers and ideas.

Accomplishing More By Doing Less

By Marc Lesser from the Huffington Post

I would propose that we always accomplish more when we approach each moment and task in an open, relaxed, and fully engaged manner — whether leading a meeting, answering emails, or taking our children to school. In this way, our sense of accomplishment depends more on the way we act (which we can control) than on the results (which may be out of our control). No matter the chaos of any particular day, this can become one of our most important and useful aspirations and measures of success. Sometimes the greatest accomplishment is having the courage and skill to make intelligent midcourse corrections. At other times, the greatest accomplishment is having the courage to do less.

To accomplish more by doing less involves a simple yet profound transformation: it’s a different way of being in the world. You may, in fact, be no less busy, but you will be less scattered and distracted, and you will accomplish more of what matters to you: more of what aligns with your deepest purpose and intention; more of what brings you satisfaction and connection with others; more of what you believe really needs to get done. Doing less and accomplishing more is about aligning your actions with your values and your particular passions. And finally, by becoming more peaceful and at peace with yourself, you will spread that into the world, which will become that much more peaceful and sane as a result.

Here are five practices, five ways to do less, that may result in more accomplishment:

1) Take time to step out of regular activity — Do less by taking the time to rest mentally and physically in between or outside of your usual activities, perhaps instituting a regular practice of meditation, retreats, breaks, and reflection.

2) Pause in the midst of activity — Do less by pausing in the midst of activities: mindfulness practice (such as coming in touch with our breath in between reading or sending emails) and walking meditation are two examples. Try reading a poem during your lunch break, or just going for a leisurely stroll, right in the midst of your busy day.

3) Do less of what is extra — Do less by identifying and reducing unnecessary activities. In this case, “unnecessary” means those things that

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