24

Aug

Reality Check…. Building For The Long Term?

Posted by admin  Published in Self Growth - Motivation

Okay so we are officially 4 weeks into taking our off-line company (that actually focuses on on-line services marketed to the corporate world).

It has struck me really how much work it all is… Don’t get me wrong I am not shy of hard work.  Though it is totally different.

I compare the “hard days” when all I did was “online” work, compared to the “hard days” of now & it just totally pales in comparison.

The reason that is making it so hard, as its not just “us” anymore.  Its marketing teams, sales teams, trying to create new systems, trying to remove ourselves from those systems.

No longer does it become just about you & what you are doing, but about everything, situational awareness.

We were just joking around before (Daniel & I) about the fact that these are some of the most productive days of our lives purely because they have to be.

There is no time to not be performing…

It just made me realize even more that “hard days” & your current work is something that is adjustable depending on the situation you are in, or the situation you force.

This got me thinking… How could you “force” these days upon yourself so that you are in the zone from the moment you sit down.

I’m not entirely sure there is only one answer, or that I have the answer (I most certainly don’t) but if you have any suggestions or just want to get a word in.

Make a comment, I’d love to hear your feedback.

Speak Soon

Marc

Popularity: 31% [?]

3 comments

20

Feb

Massive Action, No Procrastination And Sick Results

Posted by Marc  Published in Self Growth - Motivation

Hey Avid Reader Fans :)

I’m in a pretty freaking chirpy mood at the moment so I am going to share a little story here.  Hopefully you can learn something from it.

This last 3 weeks for me has been absolutely on-fire productivity wise, with almost zero procrastination.  I am talking a full 8 hours of solid “getting things done” where you look back and go holy f*#k where did the day go and damn I got lots done.

All this has come down to a small mindset change that happened and a general willingness to get really really excited about what I am doing.

Most of this came through something I learnt off the fellas at StomperNet or more specifically an email (a free email, holy cow a free email you learn something from) that I believe was written by Andy Jenkins.

It was about how sometimes you need to just get things done and stop procrastinating and a small routine he went through in his head.  You see when he caught himself procrastinating, he would tell himself.  Look gosh damn it Andy it “just stuff” that you need to do, nothing more nothing less, just stuff.  In the end of the day all this “stuff” needs to be done.  Its just another thing or more “stuff” that you have to get down and do.

Now I thought i was pretty good at avoiding procrastination and being very active.  Though I still catch myself quite often doing it.  So I vowed to take on this thought that whenever I felt like putting something off I would tell myself (in these exact words).  “ffs Marc this is just stuff you need to do, it makes no difference what it is, you need to do it”.

I would say it over and over again, the more I acted on it, the less I had to say it and the easier it was when I did say it to just get it done.

Daniel (my business partner) will attest to my attitude the last few weeks :)

So publicly cheers Andy Jenkins from StomperNet if you are reading this I am one fella you have personally helped :)

Now the great thing is once you start powering through your lists of work to be done, you get better, more efficient, more productive, its like being on a legal high of enjoying work.

Imagine that.

Right now I am managing or helping with 3 seperate launches or product developments.  Improving all of the software we offer over at PLRPro, managing outsorcing agents 500% better, and being more active in the forums without even breaking a sweat

Oh check this out if you need a hand managing projects David Allen “Getting Things Done” we review it there.

So the end lesson is.  Stop procrastinating at what you are doing and throw yourself 110% into what you are doing.  Work smarter then you ever have before, work more efficient then you ever have before and you will guaranteed see magnificent results.

In 3 months time I will post an update which will blow your mind.

Oh if anyone knows Andy Jenkins personally, or Andy if you make it to this post do you think we could get a copy of that email you sent out (it is fairly old, at least feels like about 6 months) , I would love to show it here verbatim so that readers could get the full benefit.  Otherwise guys, go email him or something and point him this way :P

Kick Ass

Marc

Popularity: 28% [?]

no comment

14

Jan

When taking action becomes a problem…

Posted by admin  Published in Self Growth - Motivation

Guess what, action isn’t always the best course of action.

WHAT! you say, how is it that Daniel the all action orientated person could ever say such a thing!

Because there is a very huge difference between systematic action, and ‘busy’ action.

Systematic action is thought out, it is predefined and planned and is sticking to what your objective an end goal is

Busy action is changing your site from platform to platform (wordpress to html to joomla to whatever), it is moving from program to program

People often confuse the two, busy action is detrimental to your success, systematic action is where you will find yourself moving towards all your goals.

Before making this post, I had just thought that taking massive action in any direction is better than doing nothing at all, well… to be honest I am now at odds, because massive action in any direction is often worse than doing nothing because that action comes with an opportunity cost.

This makes me think of the quote by Abraham Lincoln:

“Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe.”

The opportunity cost of taking action in an unfocused direction is like wasting that first four hours of sharpening the axe… you’re trying to chop down a tree with a blunt instrument!

If you find yourself in a place where you aren’t getting results, look at your actions, you might find yourself sitting there swinging away getting no where, moving from ’system’ to ’system’… if this is you stop for a minute, look at what you are doing, go sit under a tree and actually think about what you are doing.  Then move forward.

Daniel

Popularity: 27% [?]

4 comments

28

Dec

Multi-Tasking Should Be Dropped From Your Vocabulary

Posted by Marc  Published in Self Growth - Motivation

WARNING - This is a long winded post, generally it is light hearted and will not be true for everyone, though i know some will relate to this and are having a similar problem - END WARNING

Okay I am going to give you a little insight into the weird and wonderful way that I (Marc here) personally think.

There are many quirks to personality, in fact I am sure I could fill an entire book on the subject. One thing I do know is myself, I know how my brain works, what my strengths are, where I fall down.

You could call me very “in tune” with myself.

Of course I find new things out everyday about how my brain works, this is just part of growing..

Though this one is a major part in the way I live my life

MULTI-TASKING IS THE DEVILS COUSIN

I don’t multi-task

Not at all, not even slightly, not even in the same vicinity, not even on the same planet. In fact the word alone gets me flustered.

Here’s why, and let me give you a little glimpse into why I don’t multi-task.

Simply because I cant, my brain will not let me multi-task (Daniel, my wife and anyone who knows me properly will attest to this 110% and have a chuckle over it).

I personally believe it is because my attention span is less then Zero, now try to manage multiple things at once with an attention span of minus zero and you will get my point.

What I am about to type is a typical example and happens more then I would care to admit.

Robert or Daniel will start a conversation with me (lets say I am sitting in front of my computer), the conversation could be about anything, generally it is a conversation that has not actively engaged me (not a topic that I would call my subject matter expert), it could be about coding, marketing whatever doesnt matter.

Around half way into the conversation my something will pop into my brain, or my desktop will catch my eye and trigger a memory to do something on my computer.

I can be literally mid sentence replying to the other person when I will stop, continue on with the seperate thought process that just entered my brain and leave the conversation hanging in mid air and continue doing whatever it was that jumped into my mind.

Of course Daniel or Robert, or my wife is now left hanging mid conversation going “wtf!!!”.

Lucky for me I am getting better with this.

Perhaps multi-tasking works for some people, though i believe that multi-tasking a high level action (one that is your main action, example driving a car is one action, though it contains many smaller tasks) is either not possible or only attainable by a select few.  Sure you could multi-task several “low brain activity” tasks, but a task that requires holding a logical chain of thought processes all requiring moderate attention?  Well if you can do this I envy you.

If you are multi-tasking, what you are really doing is taking your bucket full of water (lets call it brainpower) and then splitting that focus into multiple smaller buckets so that you can feel like you are doing more. When in actual fact you will realize that when you pour your “water” into these other buckets you are spilling some of it over the sides (quite a bit of it).

So if you have a similar problem read below and what you read may help you.

The answer for me is SINGLE FOCUS

What I do brilliantly if I can engage my interest in something, is completely absorb myself into one given task or goal, so much that almost everything around will seem un-important. Now you need to be able to keep other things in check, those that are important. Thats why I have my wife and business partner :P

What this means is that for me, I can be wildly productive if I am very clear about what I need to do, why I need to do it, and why it is in my best interest.

If I can define those few things, then I am at my most productive.

When I single focus on tasks, and even better when i can get really excited about a project or action, then I enter the zone of “super productivity”, if you have been there before you will know what I am talking about. Nothing gets in your way, everything seems to get done at break neck speed.

If you are reading this and go “holy crap this is me” then I suggest you get clear about what you have to achieve and give single focusing a shot. You might just find you take things to a new level.

If you are reading this and saying “this guys on drugs I can multi-task fine”

Then we are different people and I am sure you have learnt to be most productive multi-tasking.

“Always Moving Forward”

Marc

Popularity: 25% [?]

4 comments

27

Dec

New years resolutions… do they really work?

Posted by admin  Published in Self Growth - Motivation

Well, ‘07 is almost to a close, and it’s coming to that time where most people will be sitting down and thinking to themselves “did I really do what I wanted in ‘07?”, and “what should I resolve to do in ‘08?”.

The problem with doing such is that unfortunately, most people don’t follow through… a sad but true fact.

How many friends or family resolve to “go to the gym and lose weight”, or “I promise to quit smoking”.

And for the average person, it works, it sticks… for about 2 weeks.

Then the excuses come in, “Oh it’s raining today, I don’t think I’ll go for that jog” or “Damn that client really ticked me off, I’m going to have a smoke”.

And the downward spiral sets in.

Here is what happens, one good habit you break, not only breaks that good habit, but destroys just a little bit more all future good habits you either have or will choose to adopt into your life.

Some people are able to make these resolutions, and stick to them.  Good for them, but they are the exception not the rule.

There are three things I will be doing at the end of this year, the first is a recollection of the last year, who I spoke to, what I learned, how far I’ve come, the things I’ve, how I’ve grown as a person, friend, business person, father and husband.

Introspection often yields it’s own great results, it sometimes makes glaringly clear the things you should, and shouldn’t be doing.

The second thing is looking at my current life plan and working out this year, what do I want to do (if you don’t yet have a life plan, take some time to do it, it’s a work in progress, constantly changing and evolving, but you should have one, preferably written down).

By going through what I want to accomplish this year, it sets my RAS towards doing those things.  Looking back at last years objectives of what I wanted to accomplish, and working out what I did, guess what I found, I have done about 30% of list.

You might look at that and go well, that’s not very good… I look at that, and go GREAT!, why? Because that’s 30% more than I would have done had I started out the year with no plan at all.  (I also set objectives that are far reaching, that are going to force me to grow as a human being, so for me to do even 30% is a stretch).

The last thing I’ll be doing, is going through all the things I’m grateful for.  The things that have showed up in my life this year (and those that have continued to be in my life), the things that have made a difference.  My son, my wife, my business partner, my team, my family.  A few of many things I’m grateful for this year.

Take this time to not just plan for the year (plan the year don’t do the “New Years Resolution”), but to go through what you’ve done, and what you are grateful for.

Make today a brilliant day.

Daniel Turner

Popularity: 21% [?]

1 comment

23

Dec

Find your most productive time, and work with it…

Posted by admin  Published in Self Growth - Motivation

For the last 9 or so years, I have trained in the gym, I wouldn’t call myself a body builder, but I do enjoy training hard.

There’s something that as a weight lifter you need to learn early on, and that is, don’t fight your body.  If you need rest, then rest, if you need more protein, eat more protein, here’s the point of my post, if you train better at a certain time, then train at that time.  Don’t fight your body.

Being productive in work is no different, I have not met a human being yet who is at their best all day, every day.  Being human means living with internal cycles.

For me, I might work 12 or 14 or 18 hours a day depending on the day and what needs doing, but there is only 4-6 of those hours that I am actually ’switched on’, these are the hours that I make sure I am doing my most crucial work, building systems, marketing copy or processes, the things that have the largest impact on my business.

For me these hours are typically at night, and typically after about 9pm until about 1am, and during the day between 2pm and 5pm (if I’m lucky to get 2 spurts).

The rest of the time, I’m doing the stuff that ‘needs’ to be done, but doesn’t forge our business ahead.

My point is, find out what is the best time for you, and work with it, don’t try to be something you’re not.

For those of you who celebrate Christmas, I hope you are all set, and ready to rock and roll for a wonderful day with your family :)

Sincerely,

Daniel Turner

Popularity: 21% [?]

2 comments
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