Posts in Category: Principled Ideas.
Routinely Professional
Been thinking about this a lot lately in relation to work. When I do certain things before I go out and work each day I have a much more productive day. I have been coaching a youth hockey team for the last 3 years and I have noticed when players have a certain routine that they do before each game they are much more consistent than ‘non pregame routine’ players. When I was playing hockey competitively I had a few quirks before each game I played. I always put my left skate on first, tied it, then right skate, tied it, then left shin pad, then right, same order with my elbow pads. I did the exact same stretch before every game, I still do the same one when I play now. I used to have a few other things I did and I at one point had to drop them because if I messed up the routine at all I would feel off when the game started. I made it a focus to not have anything superstitious because it was too easy to get disrupted mentally if I messed anything up.
Professional Athlete Routines
So in thinking about this my idea is to do the same thing in relation to work each day. Having a few things to do before each work day to make sure you start the day off right. I used to have a very strict morning regiment.
- 5:00-5:10 Prayer/Meditation
- 5:10-5:40 Read Spiritual Texts
- 5;40-6:00 Shower
- 6:00-6:15 Get dressed- smelling good.
- 6:15-7:00 Reading a self help or business book.
- 7:00-7:30 Read current business periodicals- Mags and such.
- 7:30-8:00 Review plans for the day-Start working
This routine got absolutely destroyed when I met my wife and we were hanging out late every night. I look at it now and it was good, I learned a lot, but it was also so tedious and robotic. I think about keeping something like this with young kids and it would be almost impossible to make it a week with that specific of a routine. This routine did form the habit for me now that I do certain things every morning. Pray, read-spiritual and business, and either get some hockey in or another kind of workout. Getting up early and doing something physical makes a huge difference for me. Having a young son now, I don’t adhere to anything nearly as structured, but I do have those certain things I do every single day.
Professional Athletes Routines
I did a few quick Google searches and found these articles on athletes routines:
- Nadal has a strict routine every time he steps on the court.
- Some athletes have borderline OCD rituals.
- This video of Lebron James is crazy, has like 3-4 different handshake routines before his famous chalk cloud.
- Ten funnier pre game routines.
I am thinking about a new routine/mechanism to make sure I start off each work day with guns blazing. I would love to hear what you do, especially if you have a specific thing you do every day, before any certain event, or if you had/have your own sports related pregame routine.
Obama is more effective than his opposition.
Doing vs. Talking
This may seem weird but watching Obama get that fly has made me spend some time thinking about what he has done.
I have recently been reading the Tapstack (free mini books that are apps on the iPhone) titled: “Why did I marry you anyway?” by Barbara Bartlein, RN, MSW, The title may seem kind of weird, but it is a great book with a great message, very pro marriage and staying married. In it there is a page speaking on action that I found very powerful, quoting her:
‘You don’t get a degree because you intended to go to school. Or a paycheck because you thought about showing up for work. Intentions don’t count. I get so tired of hearing “I should’ve,”"I would’ve,” and “I could’ve.” Enough already! The should’ves, would’ves and could’ves of broken promises and commitments are not impressive. When evaluating human behavior, I always look at what people actually do, not what they say.” -Barbara Bartlein
Why Obama is more effective.
Obama has been a good leader, not from what he has said but by what he has done. Although I disagree with many of his policies and agendas, he has quickly and decisively led America (to where? is a big question, but where headed there in a hurry). He is very effective at passing legislation. The recent bailout was incredible, I can’t say I was tuned into the news everyday as it went down (as it is going down) but it was done with alarming speed. I think Americans felt like something needed to be done about our financial situation immediately and allowed for the government to throw around money like it is going out of style. Effective. Not effective in the sense of principled solutions to problems, but effective in the sense of just getting stuff done.
Credentials.
On the news and through Facebook I hear a lot of Obama detractors and it makes me laugh. I could quote all their opinions about him and it would just take up a bunch of time. It comes down to this: Sitting on a computer somewhere posting videos or ideas online about Obama is simply not effective. By posting a video on your Facebook page or website about Obama being evil or doing an awful job you aren’t really doing anything. Look at his resume: Bachelor at Columbia, Harvard Law School graduate, teacher at U of Chicago Law, Attorney, U.S. Senator, U.S. President, and lately Nobel Peace Prize winner. He has some serious credentials. Not that credentials mean everything but compare them to his haters? It makes you think.
My Point.
It’s simple. He hasn’t gotten to the White House by accident, he has done it with very deliberate intention. He is highly effective, his campaign of ‘Change’ was no joke. He is changing things. I have a lot of respect for him. He is a great example of the American Dream. In America we can be whatever we want to be. If you disagree with Obama, just be aware of what your up against. He has done some monumental things, and those that oppose him think they can post some quotes, or disagree with him online and make a difference? You have to be more clever than he is to be more effective than he has been. Watch him get this fly, can you do that?
TImothy Ferriss Web 2.0 Keynote
I love his book ‘The 4-Hour Workweek’ and really enjoyed this keynote.
‘They’ are obviously the experts.
I love when people start a sentence off with, “Well, they say…”, followed with some axiom or quip. When I was younger I always assumed the ‘they’ that people were quoting were very distinguished professionals who had created the axioms or quips. I thought maybe groups got together to create these catchy sayings to make it easy for the rest of us to understand complex issues. I was real young when I thought this way, obviously very naive and deep down I think I hoped that what ‘they’ said was true, because as soon as I heard that ‘they’ had spoken I listened.
Who are ‘they’?
Not sure if it was one day or over the course of many days when I began to realize that people who qouted ‘they’ had no clue who ‘they’ were. Who is this elusive, catch phrase starting, ‘truth’ dropping group? I started to look at the people who qouted ‘them’ and looking at the results in their lives. Many people who quoted ‘they’ lived lives that did not inspire me. I started to question ‘them’, the people always referred to as ‘they’, and I quickly realized that ‘they’ were never known individually, and that ‘they’ had clever sayings but very limited ideas on many things. The sayings were in many times much cleverer than the actual advice.
I don’t know who ‘they’ are, and they definitely don’t know me.
When I started my first business, I consulted with anyone who I knew that had their own business, and asked them their thoughts about partnerships. Almost everyone one of them shared what ‘they’ had to say about partnerships, but none of them had any personal experiences to share. In fact, almost every person that I spoke to on the subject refused to have a business partner of their own becasue ‘they’ had spoken out so harshly against it. Luckily by this time I had overcome my earlier naivete and I was quick to see through the clever sayings. I did start my business with a partner and it was, to this day, the best decision I have ever made in my professional career. It turned out to have the exact opposite effect that ‘they’ warned me of.
How to handle the elusive ‘they’.
- Just question what ‘they’ have said.
- Ask yourself who ‘they’ are, each time ‘they’ are quoted.
- Look at the person who is quoting ‘them’, what results are they getting?
- Do your own due diligence. Next time you hear on these quips, research the facts.
Steve D’Anunzio has an incredible book called ‘Prosperity Paradigm’ and in that book he has a line that says- “Merely thinking differently is not enough- you must think the opposite.” I love this line and think it is a great thing to try when one of the messengers for ‘they’ have spoken. Common sense is commonly wrong.
Please leave your comments on this post, I would love to hear your thoughts on this topic. Thank you.
The Meaning Behind The Static
The word Static has many different meanings. I am using the following meaning: informal, angry, or critical talk or behavior.
Life is FULL of static!
Life is full of static. I repeat, Life is full of static. It is so prevalent in the world yet it seems to go unnoticed until you try to go against the norm. I like the term to go ‘Rogue’. When others see you in this ‘Rogue’ status they tend to be very critical of you and their behavior towards you changes. They no longer give you the benefit of the doubt, sometimes they wait to watch you fail. Sometimes well-intentioned friends and family can cause more static in our lives than our household dryers (like when you forget fabric softener). Really though, they think they are helpful by’clinging’ to you, warning you, criticizing you, they don’t realize how unhelpful they really are.
So how do we find meaning in all the static?
Static will never cease in your life. In fact it may possibly get worse. But you have control over what it means in your life. For myself, when the static gets stronger than I take it as a sign that I am headed in the right direction and a breakthrough is nigh. I like to give people the benefit of the doubt and say: “This person probably wants what is best for me, but only I know what is best for me.” Hate the static, not the staticky one. Actualy I say think a great meaning behind static is that the universe is telling you that you are on the right track. The static can wear us down and make our goals look impossible, it is up to us to create the meaning for static in our own lives.
Static is static.
I believe that static has no power in and of itself. It is just noise, thoughts, and worries of other people passed on as advice. Let each of us see the static in our lives, attach our own meeting to it, and accept the universe’s compliment to us as we journey to our potential, destiny, and rewards.