Embrace The Fact That You WILL SUCK

As a person who gets hung up with trying to do things perfectly before taking action, I personally know that perfectionism can be a silent killer. I’m sure some of you can relate.

The fear of making mistakes and embarrassing yourself is real fear, but will you allow this fear to prevent you from achieving your goals?

Realize that when you start something new, there will be a learning curve. There will be a period where you will suck.There’s no avoiding this fact. Everyone sucks when they get started. You are expected to suck when you start!

It’s empowering to realize that everyone sucks at what they do at one point or another, and it’s okay! If you are honest that you are new at something, you receive a license to make mistakes. Take advantage of this limited time free pass and suck as much as you can and learn from it.

Now, the “First-Time Free Pass” is a small window of opportunity. You are only new for so long before people start expecting more, so move quickly and learn and practice as much as you can.

Fear of failure is natural, but realize that failure is expected!

Go out there and embrace the fact that YOU WILL SUCK because it’s okay!

Tags: Achieving Success, Motivational

Mindset is THE Difference Maker

Mindset + Action + Circumstances = Outcome

I’m learning more and more that my mindset going into any given situation greatly effects the outcome. When I have a pessimistic mindset, I miss opportunities and lose out. When I have an optimistic mindset, I embrace the situation and usually have a more rewarding experience than if I had not.

Imagine two students enrolled in a difficult science class at a local community college, and both need this class to complete their degrees. In other words, both students have to be there.

Student A, does not particularly love science, but has made a conscious effort to keep an open mind and try to learn as much as he can. Student A goes to every class, does the work necessary to learn the material, and ends up not only getting a good grade but has also gained confidence and the satisfaction of reaching a goal. Student A has practiced his ability to assimilate new information, built a good working relationship with his professor, and even had some fun. Student A has added a new set of tools to his skill set, and now has a valuable reference if and when he needs it in the future. New skills and relationships lead to more opportunities.

Student B feels like he has better places to be. He feels like he will never really need this stuff in the “real” world, so why try? Student be lets others do the work and does not take initiative. He spends his time cramming for tests and copying homework, shows up for class sporadically, and ends up passing the class with a C. Nothing lost, but also nothing gained. So actually, Student B did lose. Student B went through the same school term as Student A, but has nothing to show for it. Student B lost valuable time and gained nothing.

If you are going to be somewhere and do something, why not get something out of it?

Circumstances are sometimes out of our control, but you and you alone control your mindset. If the window from which you look at the world gives you a shitty view, why not go find a different window?

Tags: Motivational, My Thoughts

Build Momentum – More Action and Less Agonizing

Planning, thinking, and agonizing by themselves lead to one thing. Nothing!

I have a lot going through my mind right now, and sometimes it’s just plain hard to get myself to get moving on work I want to get done.

I bet you’ve been there. You’re juggling multiple projects for your job, you have family obligations, and you have side projects hanging around that have been on hold for months. You’re overwhelmed and don’t know where to get started. It can be paralyzing!

Usually I find myself staring blankly into space with a laundry list of things I need to get done racing through my mind, but I have found a few simple steps to stop thinking and start doing.

1. First, relax and refocus (30 seconds)

Don’t let the feeling of being overwhelmed get a hold of you. As simple as it sounds, a few deep breaths is an amazing way to relax and refocus. I close my eyes for about 30 seconds and imagine a happy place, and I take 5 to 10 deep breaths. Inhale through your nose for 5 seconds, hold your breath for 1 second, and exhale through your nose for another 5 seconds. Breathe with your diaphragm. You should feel your stomach expand and contract as you breathe. You can use this any time you feel overwhelmed, and better yet, it’s free!

2. Try writing it down (less than 5 minutes)

Writing a list of to-do items can get that garbled mess of ideas out of your head and onto a piece of paper where you can organize and prioritize what needs to get done. Lifting the burden of remembering everything you need to do will allow your mental energy to focus on actually executing on your action items. Spend no more than 5 minutes on this step.

3. Pick one thing on your list and commit to work on it for 15 mins.

I procrastinate often because I don’t know where to start. To work myself out of this paralysis, I tell myself that even though I’m not sure where to start, I’m just going to start. I pick one thing on my list, and just start working on it. I have found that once I focus on just one thing for a short period of time, I either build momentum and get more done than I expected or realize that something else is more important and adjust my time accordingly. The key is to build momentum and usually that momentum leads to getting things done.

Just taking that first step gets your mind and focus pointed in the right direction. Once the wheels in your brain start turning, it’s a lot easier to get in a groove and actually start getting things done!

Run Your Own Race

We all need to run our own races.

No one can tell you what makes you happy. No one can decide what is best for you. No one but you decides how to live your life.

There are certainly people who care about you who might strongly disagree with your decisions, but it is ultimately up to you to decide which way to go. You might be right, but you might be wrong. Once you try, you’ll know better.

Sometimes, you need to throw caution to the wind and trust your gut. When you come across something that really gets you excited, keep chasing it.

Why sit on the sidelines and watch others achieve their dreams?

Go run your race and have some fun while you’re at it.

Discipline and Willpower Are Overrated

“It’s too hard. I’ll think about it for now and do it later.”
“I’m tired and have had a long day. I deserve to watch the entire season of 24 in one sitting.”
“I don’t feel like doing it right now.”

Maybe you have heard some of these excuses from your friends. So why is it so hard to just get down to it and get stuff done?

We know what we have to do, but often these important activities just get brushed aside for other things that keep us superficially busy.

Productivity takes more than “willpower” and “discipline.” I’ve given up trying to be disciplined. Rather I am going to assume from now on that I have minimal discipline when it comes to getting stuff done, and I will need to automate my schedule so I can’t even think about procrastinating. It’s like leaving your gym bag in front of the door at night so you don’t forget it in the morning.

One way to do this is fixed schedule productivity. This is a strategy I picked from Cal Newport’s blog www.studyhacks.com. The premise is that setting aside fixed blocks of time will allow you to automate the process of wondering what to do next. Personally, I use Google Calendar to set appointments throughout the day dedicated to certain tasks. For example, I know I have a project due at the end of the month that will require a total of 20 hours to complete. So, I schedule an hour a day Monday through Friday specifying the time and location where I will work on this project. The location is important. Pick an inspiring place where you will be able to focus on just that task.

This approach can negate the urge to procrastinate. Why?

1) I have removed the responsibility from myself to consciously think about what to do when. I spent 5 mins. entering the appointments in my calendar and now I don’t have to worry about deciding when to work on this project.

2) This breaks a large project into smaller pieces. Rather than waiting until the weekend before to get started, I would have been working on the project for the previous four weeks. This is way less stressful and might even make the project enjoyable.

3) A fixed schedule helps build momentum. Often, the tasks that need to get done aren’t all that hard, and just dedicating some some time to get started gets the ball rolling.

I am still refining my fixed schedule, but I have already seen it work for me. Now instead of just burning a hour or two in between class watching videos online, I use that hour to review for a class, read a book I have wanted to catch up on, or brainstorm ideas for new projects. These small chunks of time begin to add up to a lot over time.

I have finally accepted that I have a tendency to procrastinate, but now I have a weapon to fight off the procrastination monster.  Give it a try!

Tags: Productivity

Mixergy.com – Like Having Mentors Just a Click Away

The value of a mentor who’s been down a road you want to travel can save you a lot of pain and provide you with a wealth of insight and motivation for your own endeavors.

Enter mixergy.com.

The interviewer and founder of the site, Andrew Warner, does live streaming interviews with both well-known entrepreneurs and up-and-comers who are successful in their own right. The amount of information on this site is priceless. It is like having some of the best and brightest entrepreneurial minds sharing their personal experiences and knowledge with you.

Andrew does not claim by any means to be the next coming of Charlie Rose, and he will admit it himself, but that is what I love about his interviews-they are driven by raw passion and genuine interest. He’s managed to interview big names in the online world like Gary Vaynerchuk (author of Crush It), Tim Ferriss (author of The 4-Hour Workweek), and Jimmy Wales (founder of Wikipedia).

Yet, the interviews I find extremely motivational are the interviews with the lesser known up and coming entrepreneurs. A lot of these are smart, everyday people who found a niche market and a need on the internet and managed to build successful businesses through innovation, hard work, and creating a great user experience.

Anyone wanting to start a project or business should watch these interviews to learn from those who’ve been there.

Check them out for yourself:
Business Tips on Mixergy.com via Mixergy, home of the ambitious upstart!

Tags: Educational, Motivational

Achieving Success – A Little Bit Frequently Adds Up to A Lot

I want things to happen fast. I want to finish my pre-requisites and finish naturopathic med school in minimal time.  I want to start a business and want it to be successful right away. I want to hurry up and become successful. Now now now!

I have to remind myself to be patient and that pretty much all achievements require dedication, consistency, and focused effort.

My piano teacher was pretty blunt with me when he realized that I wasn’t practicing consistently and wasn’t getting better as quickly as I should be. He said, “If you’re going to get any better, you need to put something in the jar everyday.”

Dedication

In order to achieve something, you have to want it. Not just want it, but to feel a fire in your gut to want to go get it. I think we have to always ask ourselves, “Am I willing to work and go through some pain for this?” No matter how much you love something, you will run into roadblocks and you will have to dig deep to break through these barriers and a burning desire will keep you going.

Consistency

A little bit many times adds up to a lot. Working on something a little bit at a time over a longer time period is a lot easier and more effective than doing the same amount of work in one day. It’s like having a goal to get in better shape physically. You’re not going to get stronger from lifting weights for 10 hours or doing 1000 push-ups once at the beginning of every month. You’ll be in a lot of pain, and probably burn out from the workout binge. Instead, spread that out to 30 minutes a day, 5 days a week. You’ll see better results, and you won’t crash, burn, and then quit.

Focused Effort

I’ve realized that this alone could be the biggest contributor to success or failure. As one of my college calculus teachers told us, “Practice makes permanent.” Practicing will not make any difference if you don’t practice properly. Focus on a few game-changing activities that will give you the biggest boost towards your goal.

An example is Jerry Rice, arguably one of the greatest wide receivers to play in the NFL actually spent very little time playing actual football games. According to the book Talent is Overrated: What Really Separates World-Class Performers from Everybody Else by Geoff Colvin, Jerry Rice spent approximately 20,000 hours over his pro career conditioning, in classroom study, and reviewing game film while he spent only an estimated 150 hours of actual playing time and the amount of playing time is probably overstated because he wasn’t even in all the plays. So, if we do the math, Jerry Rice, one of the greatest football players of all time, spent about 1 percent of his time playing in football games.

So, before blindly jumping into an activity and calling it work, make sure it will actually provide a good return on your time and actually helps you make progress toward your goals.

Add to the Jar Daily

This principle can be applied to countless everyday life situations:

• Learning how to play an instrument takes consistent, focused practice
• Getting good at a sport requires doing drills, studying the sport, and staying in peak physical and mental shape
• Getting through school requires consistently taking in information, processing it, and retaining it, which usually requires practice and repeated exposure
• Saving enough money for a home or education doesn’t happen overnight

Achieving success isn’t easy and it doesn’t happen overnight. A little bit of work everyday will get you a whole lot farther than waiting for the perfect conditions to get started. Get started, work consistently, and focus on what’s important and you will reach your goals before you know it. Just put something in the jar everyday.

Tags: Achieving Success, Motivational, Productivity

Have You Challenged Yourself Lately?

When’s the last time you made a focused effort to try something new, take a risk, or to test your limits?

• Have you tried taking a class about a topic you are interested in?
• Have you tried a new sport or hobby?
• Have you read challenging material to learn more about a topic?
• Have you tried a project that will push your abilities to the limit?

Yes. There’s a possibility of failure when you try new things and it is scary–so is getting to that day you leave this earth and realizing that you could have been more. I fear this the most.

The hardest part sometimes is just getting started. Take small steps. Hell, make a leap if that’s what you need. We’re all different. Just get out there and do something!

I look at it this way. If you’re not where you want to be in life, maybe you’re not failing enough and need to push your limits. Maybe you are too scared to quit your job to go back to school because you’re not sure you can handle it. Maybe you haven’t applied for that job you feel you’re not qualified for because you don’t want to be turned down. Maybe you only do things that you know you can accomplish.

You won’t actually know what will happen until you try.

We all want success to come easily, but I’ve come to accept that success is not easy. When you increase your chances for failure, you also increase your opportunities to succeed. I know, it’s hard to stomach, but it’s the truth. Whenever you push yourself, you can either fail, or you can succeed. When you don’t try at all, you have no chance of failing AND you have no chance of succeeding.

Don’t be afraid of failure. It could be a sign that success is close by.

Tags: Motivational, My Thoughts

Getting Laid Off – My Window of Opportunity

Let’s face it–getting laid off sucks and can be a real shock. The job you likely have been working at for some time is suddenly not there anymore. The routine you’ve gotten accustomed to is no longer necessary. The ebb and flow of the workday is no longer there. You won’t be seeing the friends you’ve made at work everyday. The sense of security of a regular paycheck is gone.

On the bright side, you are suddenly free. The huge project you were working on with the impossible due date suddenly vanished from your plate. No more mandatory meetings. No more commuting to work. No more obligations to do as your boss tells you.

5 Side Effects of Getting Laid off

I have been laid off twice in the last 12 months, and I’ve run into some issues since then.

1. Damaged Confidence

Getting laid off is like slap to the face. Even if the company tells you that getting laid off had nothing to do with your personal performance, you know that the company did not identify you as valuable enough to keep.

The Flip Side:

I feel like I made a conscientious effort to do my job well, but I came to accept that getting laid off was probably a sign that maybe the job wasn’t the greatest fit for me. Doing work that I was just good at was keeping me from finding work that I was great at. After getting laid off the first time, I took the first job that I was not whole-heartedly excited about and it showed. I would come home frustrated daily because I was unsatisfied with my job. I usually didn’t look forward to going to work everyday, and I felt horrible. You will feel happier and likely perform better doing work that you love.

2. Lack of a Title

The dreaded question: What do you do for a living?

Unfortunately, our society is obsessed with personal achievement and titles are a symbol of that achievement. I no longer have a concise title to answer this question. Since I graduated from college, I connected my identity with my work. How could you not? What you do on a daily basis eventually makes you who you are, and for me, I identified myself with job I wasn’t one hundred percent happy with.

The Flip Side:

After getting laid off the second time around, I realized that these jobs were not a good fit for me. Somewhere along the line, I got caught up with the idea that you have to find a “respectable” and “stable” profession. I felt discouraged to chase the things I really enjoyed. I didn’t consider my hobbies and interests as a realistic careers. My most recent jobs did not accurately reflect who I was and what was important to me. From now on, I’m going to make a conscious effort to identify work I really l love, go after it, and will not settle for “good enough.”

3. No Regular Income

Obviously, not having a job means no steady income, and not having a steady income can be very scary, especially with a mortgage and bills to pay.

The Flip Side:

Luckily, I read a lot of great personal finance advice early on and started saving right away. I had an emergency fund to allowed for 6 months of living expenses if not more, but touching this money was a last resort.

I made sure to put in a claim for Unemployment Insurance as soon as possible. If you haven’t noticed, unemployment insurance is one of the deductions that gets taken out of your paycheck each month. In my case, I received about 50% of what I was receiving from my most recent salary and this helped relieve some financial stress.

If it came down to it, I would find any temporary job I could find, cut all unnecessary expenses, and continue to work on my passion until it could support me financially.

4. Irregular Schedule and A Lot of Free Time

You might be surprised, but not going to work and having a lot of free time can be overwhelming. My life basically revolved around a 40+ hour work week. Now this was an empty void that I didn’t know how to fill. I had to put my money where my mouth was. I would always tell myself, “I’ll [enter your choice of large, seemingly unattainable dream here] when I have more time.” Now I have the time.

The Flip Side:

It has been frustrating and difficult to dust off my creativity and to rediscover old dreams. Some people know what they love, but somewhere along the way, I started suppressing my dreams for more conventional activities, and I think countless others are doing the same thing. It has taken a lot of effort, but I am starting to really believe again that my calling is out there, and I am taking steps to find it every day. With my free time, I’ve been:

• visiting the library, reading books that interest me (it’s free!)
• exercising everyday to boost my energy and to clear my mind
• signing up for classes that interest me at my local community college
• learning how to use different software like Adobe DreamWeaver and PhotoShop at www.lynda.com
• blogging and reading other blogs by people I admire
• spending more time with family and friends
• brainstorming and constantly thinking of how to improve on the status quo
• learning more about my hobby, photography
• looking for opportunities

Everyone has a passion, you just have to take steps to find it and do whatever it takes to incorporate it into your everyday life.

5. Temptation to Settle for the Same Old Stuff

Once I got laid off, many former co-workers and friends reached out with leads, and I am deeply appreciative of my network coming to my rescue. But, many of these leads sounded very similar to what I was doing before, and after realizing that my heart just wasn’t totally into it, I made a conscious decision to move in another direction.

The Flip Side:

Sure. This is a big risk, and only time will tell if I made the right decision, or if I shot myself in the foot. I’ll accept responsibility for my own decisions.

Conclusion

Getting laid off not once, but twice in the span of 8 months is tough, and I could easily feel sorry for myself, but I ultimately view this as a huge opportunity–an opportunity to explore interests, an opportunity to pursue my dreams, and an opportunity to take control of my life. I dream of waking up every morning, feeling the blood rushing through my veins, and being pumped to go to work.

Tags: My Thoughts

Netflix Re-Thinks Corporate Culture

I came across this Netflix internal presentation on TechCrunch.com, and I totally want to work for Netflix purely because of its progressive view on corporate culture. Having experience in both a medium-sized startup, and a large company, I can say that both could benefit from taking some advice from Netflix.

After working for a few years, I feel strongly that it is equally important to find something passionate to work on AND to find an environment that makes it easy for you to do so. I would much rather work with great people doing something I love than to collect a large salary in an environment I can’t stand.

There are a lot of slides, but they go by quickly and it’s worth the read!

Tags: Fresh Thinking