Sunday, 21 September 2014

How to Clear Your Mind in 15 Minutes

Are you having a crazy, distracting day? Here is a 15-minute approach to clearing the mind and regaining focus.
Some days just get out of hand. The workload is heavy, and still the emails and calls flood in. The pace can seem frenetic, and the constant interruptions not only disrupt your actions but your thought process as well. You move so fast you feel unproductive and sloppy. By the end of the day, you feel stressed and edgy. Worse, you can't shut down your brain because you feel you might have missed something important.
It doesn't have to escalate to the point at which you head home to snap at your kids and yell at your dog. There are simple ways to gain control during the most hectic and frantic of days. Below is a simple, 15-minute regimen from my friend and writing coach Carolyn Roark, Ph.D., who taught college students for years and knows a little about creating calm amid a world of chaos.
The next time the world is spinning you in all directions, go find a quiet place for 15 minutes and use this exercise to recenter yourself in the universe.
5 minutes of physical activity
Even though you may already have your blood pumping from running around the office, Roark suggests that heading outside and running or fast walking around the building will give you a break from the immediate chaos. Separation from the action will help your mind let go of the immediacy of issues. The release of endorphins will lift your mood and begin to break the stress.
4 minutes of gratitude
Now that your body is a little looser, you can start to clear your thoughts. The easiest way to slow down the pace is to remember why you are doing all of this to begin with. Use these minutes to contemplate how grateful you are for the people around you who support you and add value to your life. Be thankful for good health, good opportunities, and the wonders of the world you live in. You can take a broad approach and make a list, or pick one person and write a note. Send it tomorrow; no need for another task right now.
3 minutes of meditation
Now that you are in a positive state of body and mind, you can go to work on getting your mind to clear. Meditation is a very effective way of clearing out all the distractions and allowing you to find your center. There are several approaches you can use. Some people use prayer to quiet the outside and create an inward focus. Others cross their legs and hum. If you don't have an established method, Roark recommends you find some examples on the Internet or find a guided video on YouTube. Either way, make sure it has specific structure that guides you through the process so you have one less thing to think about.
2 minutes of silence
With your mind clear, the last thing you need now is to walk back into the distracting frenzy. Find a quiet place you can sit and desensitize. Even if you are at your desk, turn out the lights, turn off your computer and electronics, put on some noise canceling headphones, and block out all stimuli. Be alone with yourself and focus on your calm. You can set your smartphone on airplane mode so it doesn't disturb you, and put two minutes on the timer. If it's in vibrate mode in your pocket, it will gently let you know when the two minutes of quiet are over. By now, you should be calm, cool, and clear.
1 minute of deep breathing
At the end of the quiet mode, set one more minute on the clock. Of course, you know you have to head back into the fray, so, time to prepare. For the next 60 seconds, focus on slow breathing as you bring yourself back to awareness. You'll find that just the act of deep breathing will slow things down. For the rest of the day, if you find things edging out of control, you can simply go to a quiet space and repeat this one-minute breathing exercise, which should settle things down again. If it doesn't seem to work, just find another 15 minutes and go back to the top.
From Inc. Magazine

The Simple, Ridiculously Useful Guide to Earning a Living from Your Passion

So you’ve followed the Short But Powerful Guide to Finding Your Passion, and have chosen something you’re passionate about.


Now you need to make it a career — but are perhaps a bit lost.
I have to admit I was there, only a few years ago, and three years later I’ve successfully done it, even if I’m a bit battered from the attempt.
It’s not easy — I’ll tell you that up front. If you hope to make a quick buck, or a fast million, you’ll need to find another guide. Probably one with lots of flashing ads in the sidebar.
So you have your passion picked out? Here’s how to turn it into a living.
1. Learn. Read up on it, from blogs to magazine articles online to books to ebooks. Look for the free stuff first. Don’t use this as an excuse to spend hundreds or thousands of dollars. Most of the important stuff is available for free. Find a mentor, talk to others doing it, ask questions. Go on forums and ask questions there — from experienced people. Find others who are doing it well and study them closely.
2. Do. Do not put this step off for months and months while you learn. You’ll learn most by doing. Start doing it for free. Do it for friends, family. Find clients who’ll pay a small amount. Start a blog and write about it. Put it online and let others try your products or service. As soon as possible, go public — you’ll learn the most this way. Continue to do step one as you’re doing this step.

3. Get amazing at it. This is just more doing and learning.

4. Start charging. As soon as you can do it well enough to charge, do so. You can start low — the main thing is to keep getting experience, and to get clients who can recommend you to others. You want to work hard to knock their socks off. Slowly raise your rates as your skills improve.
5. Keep improving. Never stop learning, getting better. Use client or reader feedback to help.
6. Build income streams. This is where the money starts coming in. You can start this step at any time — don’t wait until you’ve done all the other steps. Build as many income streams as you can, one at a time. Some examples:
  • Regular consulting gigs.
  • Freelance jobs.
  • Ads or affiliate income from a blog or website.
  • Ebooks teaching people how to do something you know how to do.
  • A membership website that charges a small monthly fee (say, $9 or $20 a month) that will help others learn something you can teach them. This could include a forum, articles, videos, live webinars, other resources.
  • An online course, similar to the membership site, but not requiring you to do live stuff or have a forum. Course could include ebooks, workbooks, videos, audio, online articles, other tools.
  • Software or other downloadable products.
  • Merchandise such as T-shirts, books, coffee mugs, etc.
There are, of course, many other types of services and products you can offer. Each income stream might only bring in a portion of what you need to survive, but if you continually build more income streams, you can eventually live off your passion. Congratulations.
Equipment and office? For most passions, you can probably do it from your home with minimal equipment (often just a computer). Avoid having to pay for office space or having any overhead that will make it difficult to start up or put you in debt. Start small, expand only as your income expands. Buy as little equipment as you can get away with at first.
Quit your job? If you can possibly afford it, yes. This might mean living on savings for a few months, or living off your spouse’s income, and cutting back on expenses. If this isn’t a possibility, make time to pursue your passion — before work, after work, on weekends.
Work for a company? If you get good at something, you’ll be in demand. You can then work for a company if you like. I recommend you try doing it on your own unless you need equipment you can’t afford or get an offer you can’t refuse.
Written by Leo Babauta

10 WAYS TO DO WHAT YOU DON'T WANT TO DO

TELLING YOURSELF TO SUCK IT UP AND GET WORKING DOESN'T ALWAYS GO AS PLANNED. STOP AVOIDING THE INEVITABLE WITH THESE TRICKS IN GETTING DREADED TASKS DONE.


Life would be grand if we only did what our fleeting hearts wanted to do, each moment of the day.
Unfortunately, the laundry, taxes, and difficult conversations would never get done. The best books would never be written. All the achievements of humankind would be imagined, not realized.
So what should we do if we’re facing a task we don’t want to do? Well, we can run, and find distraction. That usually works, until it causes problems. Or we can find a way to get crap done.
Here’s how to get crap done.

1. MEDITATE ON WHY YOU NEED TO DO THIS.

Instead of giving in to distraction, sit there for a minute. Why do you need to do this task you don’t want to do? Sure, because it’s on your todo list, or because someone else wants you to do it. Or you’re getting paid for it, or someone’s got to do it. But why? What will this task help accomplish? Who is it helping? Dig deeper and find the good that you’re creating in the world. If you’re a dishwasher, you might not think getting dirty dishes clean matters, but those dishes are required to serve food, and the food nourishes people and it can make them happy and then they can go out and do something good in the world with a smile on their face. So connect the dishes to the good.

2. MEDITATE ON YOUR FEAR.

The thing that’s stopping you from doing the task, or wanting to do it, is fear. You fear failure or looking bad, you fear the discomfort or confusion of the task. So take a moment to look inward and see this fear. Feel it. Accept it as part of you, instead of running from it.

3. LET GO OF YOUR IDEAL.

If this fear were gone, you could just do the task easily. So what is causing the fear? Some ideal you have, some fantasy about life being free of discomfort, confusion, embarrassment, imperfection. That’s not reality, just fantasy, and it’s getting in your way by causing fear. So let go of the fantasy, the ideal, the expectation. And just embrace reality: this task before you, nothing else.

4. INTENTION, NOT RESULTS.

You are caught up with the results of the task--what will happen if you do it, what failure might result. So forget about the result--you can’t know what it will be anyway. That’s in the future. For now, focus on your intention: why are you doing it? If it’s to make the life of a loved one better, then that’s your intention. That intention is true no matter what the result is. Focus on this, not what bad things might or might not happen.

5. EMBRACE THE SUCK.

Doing something hard sucks. It’s not easy, and often you’re confused about how to do it because you haven’t done it much before. So what? Hard things suck, but life isn’t always peaches with roses on top (and a sprinkle of cinnamon). It sucks sometimes, and that’s perfectly fine. Embrace all of life, thorns and pits and all. Life would be boring without the suck. So smile, embrace the suck, and get moving.

6. GIVE YOURSELF CONSTRAINTS.

We tend to rebel against restraints: “I don’t want to do this! I want freedom!” Well, unfortunately, having unlimited freedom means unlimited choices, unlimited distractions, and nothing gets done. Simplify by putting restraints on yourself: do only one task at a time. Do just this one task for now. Do it for 10 minutes. Forbid yourself from going to any other websites or checking anything on your phone or doing anything else that you like to do for distraction, until you do those 10 minutes. Ask a friend to hold you accountable--another restraint that often helps.

7. DO A LITTLE, THEN GET UP.

If you have to write something, just write a sentence. Then get up, get some water, stretch. Pat yourself on the back for getting started! Now do a little more: write a few more sentences. Get up, take a mental break (don’t go to another website), do a few pushups. Go back, do a bit more. Pretty soon, you’re in the flow of it.

8. DON’T LET YOUR MIND RUN.

Your mind will want to run. That’s okay, that’s the nature of minds. They are scared, and they will rationalize going to distraction, going to what’s easy. Watch this happen, don’t try to stop the phenomena, but don’t give it anywhere to run to. Watch the mind want to run, but don’t act. Just watch. It will eventually calm down.

9. FIND GRATITUDE.

This task might seem hard or sucky, but actually there are a lot of great things about it. For example, if you’re doing it for work, hey, you have a job! You have money to buy food and shelter! You have eyes and ears and a mind to do this task! Imagine life without all these things, and then try feeling sorry for yourself for having to do something so hard. Or, instead, try being grateful for the opportunity to do some good in the world, to learn from this task, to get better, to be mindful as you do it.

10. LEARN AND GROW.

By meditating on your intentions and fear, by letting go of ideals and embracing the suck, by giving yourself constraints and finding gratitude … you’re learning about yourself. This task, as mundane or scary as it might seem, is teaching you about your mind. That’s a wonderful thing. So this task is a huge learning opportunity. What a wonderful way to spend your time!
From Fast Comapny

8 Classes You Need to Take to Become an Entrepreneur



It's often debated whether entrepreneurs need a college education, but there are a handful of courses that will almost certainly help you run your business better.

With the rising costs of college tuition, and the fact that you don't have to have a degree to be an entrepreneur, do you really need to go to school? After all, Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg, and Walt Disney were all successful despite dropping out of college.
Heck. Tumblr founder David Karp dropped out of high school at 14, and he's doing pretty well for himself.
The thing is, those are some of the more famous exceptions. In reality, college is still very useful for your future entrepreneurial efforts as well as helping you figure out what you want to be in the future. Most of the founders we all know met their co-founders in college and then started their impressive businesses.
Whether you're attending college full time or just looking to pick up a course here or there, here are the classes to take if you want to become an entrepreneur.

1. Finance and accounting

As a business owner of a hosting company that has a lot of transactions, there are two responsibilities I have that I originally was not concerned with: balancing a budget and paying taxes. Both are equally important to your business and, if not handled properly, will potentially spell doom for your startup.
Taking a finance or accounting class will give you a basic understanding of what to do during tax season and how to manage cash flow. More specifically, a finance class will teach you about the time value of money, the tradeoff between risk and return, dividend policy decisions, security market efficiency, and the optimal capital structure.
An accounting class will help you understand the health of your business by revealing the company's assets, liabilities, and owner's equity--which is done through a balance sheet. Furthermore, you can learn concepts involving cash flow and inventory, both of which will influence the success of your business.

2. Marketing

As an entrepreneur, you'll be heavily involved with marketing. Whether it's selling your idea or product to investors or customers, a background in this area is extremely beneficial. With a marketing class, you'll gain insights by conducting research into how to develop products that people want or need. You'll also learn how to develop a marketing campaign and how to engage your audience.
After taking a marketing class, you'll know that it's more important to find your market first, instead of wasting valuable resources in creating a product that no wants to support.

3. Economics

Another business-related class that you should be taking is economics. An economics class will give you a basic understanding of production, distribution, and consumption of goods or services. Economics will also inform you on government policies affecting your business and how you can function in the global market. Also, you'll learn the difference between microeconomics and macroeconomics.

4. Management

A trait that entrepreneurs must possess is the ability to rally the troops. But what if that's not in your nature? You could actually learn the techniques of being an effective and efficient leader by taking a management class.
A management class can teach you to properly communicate with team members when delivering criticism or delegating tasks, how to motivate your team, how to make your team collaborate with one another, and how to properly budget your company's finances.

5. Public speaking

Getting in front of people and making a sales pitch is one of the most nerve-racking experiences in my life. Which is why a public speaking course can come in handy. It will teach you how to deliver concise information in an allotted amount of time, how to make an argument, and how to practice your presentation. You'll also learn how to articulate your voice and handle your body language. While there have been arguments that a public speaking class is a waste of money, it still provides an opportunity for you to practice getting in front of a crowd and to gain awareness of certain unflattering traits. For example, I was never aware of how softly I spoke until I watched a video of one my presentations during a public-speaking class.

6. Writing and composition

Even if you're a decent writer, this is still an area in which you can improve. And if you're not a strong writer, then this is a class that you need to take.
Entrepreneurs will do their fair share of writing throughout their career. Whether you're composing a business plan, writing a press release, blogging, or pitching your idea to investors, your grammar skills will be put to the test. A writing and composition class will help you communicate your ideas clearly and give you fundamentals in executing proper writing skills.

7. Computer science

Even if you're not involved in the tech industry, there's a very good possibility that you're still going to have to rely on technology to market and run your business. It's definitely worth the time to learn concepts such as computer coding, how computers work, how software works, how to secure your system, how to compress digital media, and how the internet works.

8. Any American history course

I know. The thought of a taking a history class sounds dreadful. However, history is one of the most valuable courses that you could take. For example, you could learn about the mistakes that past historical figures have made--why is Thomas Edison more well known then Nikola Tesla? However, you can also learn how certain inventions and entrepreneurs changed the world. One of my all-time favorite classes was on the Gilded Age, which was an era full of wealth and industrialization.
Finally, there's the probability that you will have to write a research paper. This is a great skill that you can use whenever you're writing a blog post or conducting research, since you'll discover the different types of resources, which resources are reliable, and how to cite your sources correctly.
College can and will be a great asset to you and your company. It's also something that will help you in the future if your startup doesn't go as planned.
From Inc. Magazine

5 Habits of Healthy, Happy and Wise Entrepreneurs


Many entrepreneurs no longer want to trade success for their health, money for time with their families or a business at the expense of their passion.

With that, it’s more important than ever to devote yourself to improvement and success across all the facets of your life and not just toward your business alone. For example, developing a healthy exercise routine isn’t just good for your body, it’s a great opportunity to exercise your ability to keep personal commitments, improve personal discipline and hold yourself accountable for results. Don’t those all sound like they have great business implications as well?
Here are five ways to be healthy, wealth and wise across all aspects of your life.
1. Better boundaries. If you don’t have good boundaries, you’re not going to make it far in entrepreneurship or in life. The most successful people in life are those who know the power of no.
The first important step of developing better boundaries is to first decide what your core values are as a person and in business. Once you set the standards for how you want to operate personally and how you want your business to operate, you have to follow up that decision with action and keep them enforced.
For example, if you commit to your partner that Friday night is date night, you have to enforce the boundaries of your business creeping into your Friday nights. If you set the boundary that every morning from 8 a.m. to 10 a.m. you’re at the gym, you can’t let your staff infringe on that boundary with early morning meetings.
In the same regard, you have to ask your friends and family to respect the boundaries you set for your working life and day, especially if your work starts from a home office. Set the rules for yourself and then stick to them, using the power of no as you need it.
2. Take breaks. Work styles vary, but one thing is certain, getting up away from the desk is important. Moving around helps reset your energy level and stimulate new thoughts. It also gets the blood flowing, which is good for the mind and body.
Don’t just stop at getting up from the desk, though. Breaks from work altogether are important. Make sure at least one day of your busy entrepreneurial week is reserved for a personal day. It’s crucial to disconnect from work for periods of time to rejuvenate your mind and body.
Entrepreneurship is a marathon, not a sprint, so if you don’t make time for yourself you’ll burn out. Take breaks and use the time to wisely reconnect to your creativity and passion.
3. Say what you mean. Being an entrepreneur is hard work and there are times in the startup phase where you’ll want to agree to certain things to get going. That’s why step one of knowing your boundaries is so important as an entrepreneur. Know what you want and where you’re headed so that you can align your actions with your words.
Many arguments and misunderstandings can trace their roots to bad communication. You may shy from being direct to avoid hurting someone’s feelings, whether it’s a staff member or a family member, but entrepreneurs need to have clear, direct communication.
One great tip is to have the person you’re communicating with recap your conversation in their own words. See if what they heard from you is what you meant to say. If their recap of your conversation is unclear, then so was your communication.
Don’t get out of a challenging conversation until you’re both in agreement and can accurately summarize the outcome of the conversation. Then neither one of you will base your actions and next steps on assumptions about what was said, but rather upon an agreed-upon direction.
4. Watch your mouth. Words are powerful, and you need to make sure what comes out of your mouth agrees with what you believe and where you want to go. It’s harder to take back something you didn’t mean or waffle on a statement you previously made then to speak your truth the first time and stand by it.
Learning to say what you mean will improve your business and personal relationships, help ensure your boundaries stay in place and improve the quality of your communications.
5. De-clutter. If how you do one thing is how you do everything then you should take the time to practice the art of clarity. Clarity in conversation can be very important but so can clarity in your home, mind and body. Keep yourself organized in every aspect of your life by spending the few extra moments a day it takes to clean up after yourself, eliminate clutter and get organized.
Too much clutter in the inbox, on your desk and in your home can lead to unproductive time looking for lost items. When you keep your life organized, you’re able to access important things when you want them because you know where they are. That helps improve your productivity, and if there’s one thing every entrepreneur needs, it’s more time!
From Entrepreneur

Saturday, 20 September 2014

How to Become More of a Morning Person (Infographic)

We’ve all heard it. “The early bird gets the worm.” But what if you despise mornings? Like, really hate them?
There’s hope for you yet. While you may never love the sound of your alarm blaring at 5 a.m., there are several things you can do to become tolerant of mornings:
  • Get moving. Strap on those sneakers or roll out that yoga mat to get your body temperature. Not only will this help you stay awake later in the day, it will make it easier to fall asleep at night.
  • Avoid artificial light. Which is all the more reason to get outside during work hours.
  • Save the bedroom for snoozing. Stop working in your bedroom and your brain will be conditioned to recognize your bed as stimulus for sleep.
Take a look this inforgraphic created by telecommunications provider TollFreeForwarding.com and Gryffn Media for more guidance on how to become a morning person -- or at least a person who doesn’t view mornings with contempt.  
How to Become More of a Morning Person (Infographic)

Time Management Tip: Use a PERT Chart

pert chart time management project management
Do you have a project you need to have completed by a certain deadline? Not sure how to go about planning it?

Excellent time management and project management starts by having and writing down a clear plan.
A great way to plan your projects is to create a “PERT Chart.” 

What is a PERT Chart?

When you create a visual representation of your larger tasks and projects you and others can see it in its totality. This is often called a PERT chart. This time management technique is used by the most efficient and effective companies worldwide.  This chart enables you to see a variety of ways to achieve the task with greater efficiency.
Begin by determining the goals and objectives you must achieve to enjoy the outcomes you desire.  Start with the end in mind.  Take the time to develop absolute clarity about what your goals would look like if they were accomplished in an excellent fashion.  Then, work back from the future to the present.  Make a list of the logical steps, in order, that you need to take to get from where you are to where you want to be.

Time Management Plan Using a PERT Chart

The use of a PERT chart, (“Program Evaluation Review Technique”) sets out graphically all the steps you need to take, and when each one needs to be finished for you to achieve the final goal.
Perhaps the most powerful tool you can use to maximize your effectiveness and dramatically increase your level of accomplishment is a checklist.  A checklist consists of a written series of steps, in chronological order, which you create in advance of beginning work in the first place.

Clearly Define Your Time Management Goals

Your ability to clearly define and determine the steps that you will have to take from where you are today to the completed project is a mark of superior thinking and excellent project management.
The rule is that every minute spent in planning and creating checklists will save you ten minutes in execution and getting the job done.  This is another example of slow thinking that can dramatically increase your effectiveness and your output, and your ultimate value to your business.
This graphic is an example of a PERT chart.  There are many forms and styles available online for you to choose from.  From the time you begin using a PERT chart, you may be quite amazed at how much more you accomplish and how few hiccups or conflicts there will be between the steps.

pert chart example

How to Create a PERT Chart

1. Start With the Final Product. Draw a line with each of your objectives or goals plotted backward from the required date of completion.  Lay it out on paper so that you can see when you have to accomplish each part of the task in order to have the entire job completed on schedule.
2. Stay on Top of Your Projects. By thinking on paper, and using a PERT chart, you take complete control of the sequence of events.  You have a track to run on.  You have a series of tasks that you can check on to be sure that they are completed on schedule and to a satisfactory level of quality.  By using a PERT chart, you avoid being overwhelmed by deadlines.  You are always on top of your work and your major projects.
3. Set Your Deadline. If you need something done by the end of the month, you can set your timeline with plenty of cushion at the 15th or 20th of the month just in case unexpected delays or problems arise. Always remember Murphy’s Law, “Whatever can do wrong, will go wrong.”
Project Management Tip: The superior executive assumes that there will be problems, obstacles, unexpected delays and failures to complete the job on the schedule agreed upon.  These are normal and natural parts of business life.  Your job is to keep your hand on the pulse of the project continually, and then to solve the problems and remove the obstacles that are bound to arise.

Think Things Through in Advance

Remember, the most wonderful time management talent you have is your ability to think, especially to think things through in advance.  The more time you take to think and plan, on paper, the better results you will get, and the faster you will get those results.
Written by Brian Tracy