Use Your Time Well

Happy Thrive Thursday! This week we discuss...Making Your Habits Fun, How to Host a Good Party, and Tips for Prioritizing! Here are 3 ideas, 2 quotes, and 1 question to consider this week... Idea #1 "Sometimes all you need for exceptional results is average effort repeated for an above-average amount of time." Idea #2 "Make your habits fun. This doesn't mean each habit will be the most fun thing in your life, but nearly any habit can be made more fun than it is currently. Ask yourself..."What would it look like if this was fun? What would it look like if meditation or exercise or writing, or whatever, was fun? Find the most enjoyable version of each habit you do." Idea #3 "10 years or 1 hour. Those are the two time frames worth prioritizing. 10 years is shorthand for thinking longer-term than nearly everyone else and doing things that are really ambitious or meaningful. Most of the deeply meaningful things in life require long time horizons: building a business, cultivating a happy marriage, growing a family, getting in the best shape of your life, etc. How do you work toward the 10-year things? In 1 hour increments. 1 hour is shorthand for doing things that can be accomplished from start to finish in a single session like a good workout, a good writing session, reading a chapter of a book, going on a fun date, etc. The key is that you finish with something accomplished, not with half-work still waiting to be completed. If you spend 1 hour working toward a 10-year project, and you repeat this day after day...you're going to end up living a lovely life." Quote #1 Physician and YouTuber Ali Abdaal shares a useful bit of advice he received from one of his medical school professors: "An hour before 9 is worth 2 after 5." Source: Twitter Quote #2 Actress and dancer Joan Crawford on how to host a good party: “The best parties are a wild mixture. Take some corporation presidents, add a bearded painter, a professional jockey, your visiting friends from Brussels, a politician, a hairdresser, and a professor of physics, toss them all together, and try to get them to stop talking long enough to eat! It's especially important to have all age groups. I've never noticed any generation gap. All the younger people I know are bright and attractive and have something to say and they dress like human beings. They love to listen, too. They make wonderful guests." Source: My Way of Life (hat tip to Nick Gray) Question of the Week... What's the one action that moves the needle more than 100 other actions? What's the one choice that renders 1000 other choices irrelevant? Most things are not worth optimizing. Master the big moves and move quickly and peacefully through the other stuff. For more on this topic, I highly encourage you to reach out to me at a2b4me.com... Have an awesome week and Keep Moving in the Direction of Your Dreams!

The Week's Challenge: Plan Your Week Effective people plan every week, taking time alone before the week begins. Your goals, roles, and Q2 activities are your "Big Rocks"...schedule them first and the "gravel" of less-important tasks will fit around them. - Find a quiet place to plan for 20-30 minutes- Connect with your mission, roles, and goals.- Choose one or two "Big Rocks" for each role and schedule them.- Organize the rest of your tasks, appointments, and activities around your Big Rocks. Ask Yourself: What are the one or two most important things I can do in each role this week? "If you were to ask me what single practice would do more than any other to balance your life and increase your productivity, it would be this: Plan your week...before the week begins." - Stephen Covey For more on this topic, I highly encourage you to to reach out to me at a2b4me.com... Have an awesome week and Keep Moving in the Direction of Your Dreams!

Happy Thrive Thursday!This week we discuss...The Value of Leaving Things Alone, Nonmaterial Needs, and Broadening Your Interests!Here are 3 ideas, 2 quotes, and 1 question to consider this week...Idea #1Something I heard recently and I've tried to adopt whenever possible:"It's hard to grow beyond something if you won't let go of it."Idea #2"Broaden your interests. It's nice to have at least one surprising hobby or passion.People find it interesting. In many ways, the part of you that is least expected is more respected."Idea #3"Talent is rarely enough to assure victory and bad luck is rarely enough to guarantee defeat.Do they influence the outcome? Of course. But your response will always sway the final tally."Quote #1Jesuit priest and writer Baltasar Gracian on the value of leaving things alone:"Know how to leave things alone, for if knowing how to refuse is one of life's great lessons, an even greater one is knowing how to say no to yourself, to important people, and in business.There are non-essential activities, moths of precious time, and it's worse to take an interest in irrelevant things than to do nothing at all."Source: The Pocket Oracle and Art of PrudenceQuote #2Systems engineer and environmental scientist Donella Meadows on nonmaterial needs:"People don't need enormous cars; they need admiration and respect.They don't need a constant stream of new clothes; they need to feel that others consider them to be attractive, and they need excitement and variety and beauty.People don't need electronic entertainment; they need something interesting to occupy their minds and emotions. And so forth.Trying to fill real but nonmaterial needs for identity, community, self-esteem, challenge, love, joy, with material things is to set up an unquenchable appetite for false solutions to never-satisfied longings.A society that allows itself to admit and articulate its nonmaterial human needs, and to find nonmaterial ways to satisfy them, world require much lower material and energy throughputs and would provide much higher levels of human fulfillment."Source: The Limits to GrowthQuestion of the Week...When you're living a good day, what is one habit that tends to be part of that day?Can you find time for that habit today?For more on this topic, I highly encourage you to reach out to me at a2b4me.com...Have an awesome week and Keep Moving in the Direction of Your Dreams!

This Week's Challenge: Live in Quadrant 2 When we are highly effective, we spend most of our time in Quadrant 2; these activities include:- Proactive work- Important work- Creative thinking- Planning and preparing- Building relationships- Renewal and recreation This Week:- Choose a Q2 activity that could have a significant impact on your life.- Schedule time this week to do it. Ask yourself: Which Q2 activity do I most need to implement? "The main thing is to keep the main thing...the main thing." - Stephen Covey For more on this topic, I highly encourage you to reach out to me at a2b4me.com... Have an awesome week and Keep Moving in the Direction of Your Dreams!

Happy Thrive Thursday! This week we discuss...Time Assets vs. Time Debts, Slow Change, and The Importance of Failure! Here are 3 ideas, 2 quotes, and 1 question to consider this week... Idea #1 Something I heard recently and I've tried to adopt whenever possible: "Whoever has the most fun, wins." Idea #2 "Water never complains, but always pushes back. Always. Drop a boulder in front of a stream and the water will simply flow around it, taking whatever opening the landscape will give or, when nothing is offered, patiently building up its resources until it rises to a height where a new gap is found. Flow like water. Never complain, but always push back." Idea #3 "Time assets vs. Time debts. Time assets are choices that save you time in the future. Think: saying no to a meeting, automating a task, working on something that persists and compounds. Time debts are choices that must be repaid and cost you time in the future. Think: saying yes to a meeting, doing sloppy work that will need to be revised, etc. Time assets are an investment. Time debts are an expense." Quote #1 Actress Elizabeth Bibesco on the importance of failure: "We learn nothing by being right." Source: Haven: Short Stories, Poems and Aphorisms Quote #2 Author and recovering alcoholic Sarah Hepola on slow change: "Change is not a bolt of lightning that arrives with a zap. It is a bridge built brick by brick, every day, with sweat and humility and slips. It is hard work, and slow work, but it can be thrilling to watch it take shape. "Source: My relapse years Question of the Week... Apply the Pareto Principle to your relationships. Who are the few people that deliver the majority of happiness in your life? Can you schedule time with one of them today? For more on this topic, I highly encourage you to reach out to me at a2b4me.com Have an awesome week and Keep Moving in the Direction of Your Dreams!

This Week's Challenge: Prepare for Quadrant 1 Quadrant 1 is both urgent and important. It deals with things that require immediate attention. We all have some Q1 activities in our lives, but some people are consumed by them. - Pick a recent Q1 Urgency - Brainstorm ways you could avoid or prevent it in the future Ask Yourself: How many of my crises could be prevented with preparation? "Most of us spend too much time on what is urgent and not enough time on what is important." - Stephen Covey For more on this topic, I highly encourage you to reach out to me at a2b4me.com Have an awesome week and Keep Moving in the Direction of Your Dreams!

Happy Thrive Thursday!This week we discuss...The Real Reason You Fail to Stick with Habits, and The Secret to Making Anything Great!Here are 3 ideas, 2 quotes, and 1 question to consider this week...Idea #1"It's hard to build momentum if you're dividing your attention."Idea #2"Many people assume they are bad at writing because it is hard.This is like assuming you are bad at weightlifting because the weight is heavy.Writing is useful because it is hard.It's the effort that goes into writing a clear sentence that leads to better thinking."Idea #3An idea from Atomic Habits:"On any given day, you may struggle with your habits because you're too busy or too tired or too overwhelmed or hundreds of other reasons.Over the long run, the real reason you fail to stick with habits is that your self-image gets in the way.This is why you can’t get too attached to one version of your identity.Progress requires unlearning.Becoming the best version of yourself requires you to continuously edit your beliefs, and to upgrade and expand your identity."For more on this idea, see Chapter 2 of Atomic Habits.Quote #1Record producer Rick Rubin shares the secret to creating hit records (or making anything great):"If you need 10 of something, make 30. Then pick the best."Source: The Creative ActQuote #2Author and naturalist Henry David Thoreau on the value of walking in the woods:"I come out to these solitudes, where the problem of existence is simplified.I get away a mile or two from the town into the stillness and solitude of nature, with rocks, trees, weeds, snow about me.I enter some glade in the woods, perchance, where a few weeds and dry leaves alone lift themselves above the surface of the snow, and it is as if I had come to an open window.I see out and around myself.This is what I go out to seek.It is as if I always met in those places some grand, serene, immortal, infinitely encouraging (though invisible) companion, and walked with him."Source: In Wildness is the Preservation of the WorldQuestion of the Week...What's the most fun you could possibly have in one year?For more on this topic, I highly encourage you to reach out to me at a2b4me.com...Have an awesome week and Keep Moving in the Direction of Your Dreams!

This Week's Challenge: Use Your Time Well The Time Matrix (see pic) defines activities based on Urgency and Importance. - At the start of the day (or night before), use the Time Matrix to estimate how many hours you will spend in each quadrant. - At the end of the day, record how many hours you actually spent in each quadrant. Ask Yourself: - Are you satisfied with how you spent your time? - Which quadrant do you spend the most time in? - What are the consequences? - What needs to change? "The key is not to prioritize what's on your schedule, but to schedule your priorities." - Stephen Covey For more on this topic, I highly encourage you to reach out to me at a2b4me.com Have an awesome week and Keep Moving in the Direction of Your Dreams!

Happy Thrive Thursday! This week we discuss...The Work Required To Be Happy, and Important Lessons That Aren't Taught In School! Here are 3 ideas, 2 quotes, and 1 question to consider this week... Idea #1 "You are the average of the 5 habits you repeat most." Idea #2 "Speed is perpetually undervalued. Asking that person out today means you get to live more of your life with them and less of your life waiting. Starting your business today means you begin learning immediately and have more time to figure out what works. Go fast. The future is never guaranteed and the right time may never come." Idea #3 "Many people won't attempt something unless they can find an example of someone else who is already doing it. Rely on this type of thinking too much and you'll never do anything interesting. Your path through life is unique. It is important to extract lessons from the experiences of others, but you can't wait for a perfect example to take action. You are the example." Quote #1 Writer and psychoanalyst Marion Milner on the work required to be happy: "Let no one think it is an easy way because it is concerned with moments of happiness rather than with stern duty or high moral endeavour. For what is really easy, as I found, is to blind one’s eyes to what one really likes, to drift into accepting one's wants ready-made from other people, and to evade the continual day to day sifting of values. "Source: A Life of One's Own Quote #2 Mike Markkula, an electrical engineer and investor who worked alongside Steve Jobs and eventually became the first chairman of Apple Computer, shares a few of the company's core principles: "The Apple Marketing Philosophy: Empathy. We will truly understand their needs better than any other company. Focus. In order to do a good job of those things we decide to do we must eliminate all of the unimportant opportunities. Impute. People DO judge a book by its cover. We may have the best product, the highest quality, the most useful software, etc.; if we present them in a slipshod manner, they will be perceived as slipshod; if we present them in a creative, professional manner, we will impute the desired qualities. "Source: Internal memo (January 3, 1977) Question of the Week... What is one important lesson for life that isn't taught in school, but that you want to teach to your kids? For more on this topic, I highly encourage you to reach out to me at a2b4me.com Have an awesome week and Keep Moving in the Direction of Your Dreams!

This Week's Challenge: Set a Goal Your goals should reflect your deepest values, your unique talents, and your sense of mission. An effective goal gives meaning and purpose to your everyday life and translates into daily activities. - Consider a goal you've been working on or pick a new one. Define the outcome. What would success look like? - In your planner, schedule the activities you need to progress your goal. Ask Yourself: What one thing can I do that, if done regularly, would make a tremendous, positive influence in my life?" Happiness, in part, is the fruit of the desire and ability to sacrifice what we want now for what we want eventually." - Stephen Covey For more on this topic, I highly encourage you to reach out to me at a2b4me.com Have an awesome week and Keep Moving in the Direction of Your Dreams!