Month: July 2017

As a follow on to yesterday’s today is a sister post. I have 15 productivity hacks which will surely keep you up and at them!

Procrastination is not a disease, but a mindset, which means it can be changed, trained and controlled. It just takes some hard work and dedication.

If you want to change, you need commitment, as with no commitment, there will be little change. So before you attempt changing, evaluate how committed you are at making the change happen.

“You may delay, but time will not.” ~ Benjamin Franklin

With this all in mind here are some tips to improve productivity and keep yourself from procrastinating:

• Give (10+2)*5 a try – The (10+2)*5 simply means 10 minutes work + 2 minutes break multiplied by 5, completing 1 hour. (more here)
• Use red and blue more often – As per Science Daily, the colour red was found out to increase attention to details while blue sparks creativity as noted here.
• Create a great agenda – Don’t sit around and do nothing, plan to do the things and necessary tasks you would not have a chance to do when working or busy.
• Timetable your tasks – Like any other habits, procrastinating is a tough wall to break. Replace this habit with another habit. Timetables! Schedule what and when you will do it.
• Take it outside – Change the environment. Home is comfy, but try a coffee shop, try a park. These have way different vibes.
• Learn to hack productivity – The idea of being lazy is questionable, but if you can learn to fold a t-shirt in 3 seconds… this is more of a saver than being lazy.
• Delegate – If you can outsource, or have someone do the task for you then why not.
• Gadget and gizmo free – In a technological age, putting down the devices for a short period may go a long way.
• Be prepared – take 15 minutes the night before and prepare whatever you can. (pack bags, organize food, task list)
• 10 minute wake me up – Start the day with a jog, or some quick HIIT. Here are some examples: ways you can use a treadmill or 10 minute, no-equipment needed workout
• Mini steps – Big day or project ahead of you? Break it down into smaller tasks, with checklists and even include your coffee break in there.
• Inspirational Board – Use a whiteboard or backboard to have self-motivating quotes and a quick reminder of task lists.
• Redecorate/Arrange room –  This will brighten, lighten or enlighten your productivity. Don’t forget the effect of colours.
• Ready the nibbles – Before settling down to smash out a task, have your nibbles prepared earlier, otherwise, you will be making stops to the pantry… 
• Lock in chores – Have these scheduled and ready to go. But do it as a ‘2 birds 1 stone’ style. i.e. Folding clothes while catching up on Netflix!

At the end of the day – sometimes we just lack the urge to do or go. Well, in this case, it may just be better to jump in and get your hands dirty, otherwise, you never will…

“So what do we do? Anything. Something. So long as we just don’t sit there. If we screw it up, start over. Try something else. If we wait until we’ve satisfied all the uncertainties, it may be too late.” ~ Lee Iacocca

Photo Credit: Instagram: @shazleef | Location: Lakes Entrance, VIC, Australia

Today is your day. Today you should blast procrastination. It is another chance to take ownership. You know why I love each day so much? Because naturally, it is a start of something new. In essence, today is the start of something new, a new chance to conquer and achieve whatever it is you are doing.  Yesterday I challenged you to take a stand in your life, to rise up and take action of the remaining 165 days. For too long we procrastinate and make excuses.

The way to get started is to quit talking and begin doing. – Walt Disney

Below is a list of 30 ways you can blast procrastination out the door. You can use all of these or a range. Regardless, these should help put you back on track.

1. Get up and move – change your scenery
2. Setup reminders – daily, hourly and momentarily
3. Get a motivation buddy
4. Make yourself accountable
5. Create something every day 
6. Wake up early 
7. Go to sleep early
8. Clean and clear as you 
9. Cut the cable – get rid of it
10. Screw it, lets do it – Richard Branson
11. Schedule time blocks – be organized
12. Have a task list – tick off those boxes
13. Have a system – a routine
14. Don’t check your emails (set times to do so)
15. Destroy your social networks (Hibernate from them)
16. Time yourself in segments
17. Track yourself
18. Automate anything in your life
19. Create a playlist – PUMP IT!
20. Identify and face your fears – conquer
21. Realize you will never be perfect – be GREAT though
22. Become mindful – be aware
23. Set daily goals
24. Take a break when required (scheduled)
25. Stick with tools – stick with what you know and works
26. Entertain yourself – reset the mind
27. Work less – play harder, follow your heart and dreams
28. Have some quiet time (daily)
29. Don’t settle – you can do better
30. Focus on your Strengths – (Strength Finder 2.0)

Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven’t found it yet, keep looking. Don’t settle. As with all matters of the heart, you’ll know when you find it. – Steve Jobs

Photo Credit: Instagram: @shazleef | Location: Wallaga Lake, NSW, Australia

We have now hit 200 days. Whatever it was you had set out to do this year, you only have 165 days to complete it. That’s 4,000 hours.

The year is slipping away… and you are either SMASHING and CONQUERING your goals or you are simply FAILING to do anything and continuously POSTPONING whatever it is to the next day or someday. Let me remind you that SOMEDAY is not a day that exists. Someday is your way of saying this is isn’t your priority right now. Even though every day you sit thinking, wishing and dreaming that you had this or that… when all you need to do is TAKE ACTION. Take a leap, take a jump and see what you can do for yourself.

I have found that our biggest hindrance is motivation and confidence. When you are wanting to do something, something which is going to make an impact whether it is an impact to you or someone else – we can become a little overwhelmed or fearful of the idea of “What if I fail?”

Well, what if you do fail. What if you don’t. If you do fail, who will actually know? I mean, if you have told people well, of course, they may know, but if you don’t, then the only person you have to prove yourself to is you. Now I can understand, you may set the standard high, or the expectations even higher, but it is you. We are our own worst critics. We are our worst enemies. Get over yourself… you will fail sooner or later and I would think it is better to fail privately than it is to publicly. That may come too… but if you can handle failure from your worst critic (YOU) then you basically can handle anything. Seems legit right? Well, that’s because it is. What is even funnier is it is really that simple.

All you need to do is start something today, even if it is planning how you will start tomorrow. Any good project will have an exceptional planning period and whatever your goal is, is just another project.

I say screw failure. Let it come. Otherwise, the longer you wait around for something to be right and to be perfect, this is never going to happen. I am sorry to scare you or even surprise you. But this is a reality. People may seem like that have it all, but I can promise you there is something in some area in their life which isn’t as glamorous as the one they are showing. Why? Because we are human.

So I challenge you to get out there and MAKE IT HAPPEN. As it is your dream and your goal so it is all dependent on you. But feel free to ask for help along the way. As I noted before our biggest hindrance is motivation and confidence and this derived from the fear of failure. So how do we increase our motivation and encouragement…

Yep, you guessed it. Look and see what others are doing and find the inspiration to motivate you from what they are doing. Secondly, speak and work with others. Maybe you are trying to do too much as a lone wolf. Maybe you are thinking you can take on the world single-handedly… Well maybe you can one day, but right now you are a growing youngster who has more TALK then ACTION. So find a buddy, find a mentor, find someone who is going to inspire, encourage and motivate you through the thick and thin. You can even have more than one. Just do it.

There you have it. You have literally less than 4,000 hours of this year, in which the longer you wait the harder it is going to get to CONQUER whatever it is you want to accomplish this year. Don’t make the same mistake you have made before, making the year not what you wanted. Make 2017 the year you rose to the pedestal and made an impact. More so making an impact on you.

Photo Credit: Instagram: @shazleef | Location: Narooma, NSW, Australia

Excuses are what hold us back. They are the difference between this and that. The difference of growing or remaining constant. The difference between living in fear or taking a risk. The difference between living and dying. The list goes on. Excuses control us, consume us and dictate what we do. But further to this, we are the ones that make the decision to make an excuse. We think we have our valid reason, but here is a question for you. If we make excuses to avoid doing something, is this conflicting with our integrity? I mean, if someone asks if you can do something, but you come back at them and say you are kind of busy and you are not sure of your timeline of completing your current task… Now, this isn’t lying but it is using a situation, to manipulate yourself out doing a task which you don’t seem all that excited by.

Just think about it –

excuse – an explanation offered as a reason forbeing excused; a plea offered in extenuation of afault or for release from an obligation, promise,etc.

With this all in mind, we tend to continue to make excuse’s, which actually keeps limiting us of who and what we are.

Ever heard, or recall saying “I’ll be so happy when X happens”

At the core, we tend to believe the pursuit of “X” will solve our deepest problems. When really all we are is infected with the deadliest disease of all. 

The “I will be happy when” syndrome. 

This is ridiculous; following a life of chasing an achievement after achievement saying that completing each one of these will make you happy and content. Yes, it is GREAT that you are pursuing these goals and I say continue to do so, but don’t let it consume your ability to live happily. You should not have to be something in the future, or somewhere in the future to be happy. What about now? Why can’t you be happy now?

I have a challenge for you…

BE HAPPY TODAY.

Be content with your life, with what you have. Stop trying to fill your gaps within you, with outward success. A job, a person, a promotion, a house or winning the winning the lottery will make you happy, but they will never heal or cure the disease of being unable to be happy now.

Ask yourself these questions:

• Why am I chasing this? 
• Why do I believe achieving ‘X’ will make me ‘Y’?
• And the harder question, Can I be happy without them, or it, or that?

We can’t control the future; we can’t control the outcome of most events in our lives. But we can control our happiness. And when we’re happy with the real thing, there is rarely a need for “X”.

Photo Credit: Instagram: @shazleef | Location: Narooma, NSW, Australia

Money helps the world spin madly on and unfortunately, it also helps people spin madly on. Money can consume who we are and blind us from reality. Today I bring to you 10 things more important and more valuable than money. These are in no particular order…

Don’t count every hour in the day. Make every hour in the day count!” ~ Mark Amend

Time with your family

Money can always be made, but time, it will only ever be lost and consumed. You can never gain time, only spend it wisely. Family is important. If you were to charge yourself for the time you have spent with your family in comparison to the time spent away – how rich do you think you would be. Do the math… Let’s say you spend 3 to 4 hours a night per week. That is 28 hours a week and at a low entry rate of $20, that’s only $560 a week. Is your family this cheap? Or should they be worth more than this?

Writing down your ideas

Ideas will always grow as you grow. Your knowledge and wisdom through trial and error will help you derive new ideas and ways of doing things. Write these down, as this rich source of information is your mind working at its best. If you don’t, then one day you will come back looking for it and will have lost what potentially could be the next world shaking the idea.

Experiences

Your favorite moment – you cannot take it with you but it will always be in your mind. Yes, money can go with you, but money once again is consumed by the monster of society.  Plus you can never buy happiness, it is found in the moments by you.

Giving

Like a boomerang, as you give you will be blessed. As you throw it out it will go around and touch everyone. As it comes back to you and as you catch it, it will feel fun. The fun will always be better than money!

Laughing 

Laughing will always make you happier and even healthier. You will live longer. You cannot buy laughter, but you can find it the places you would least expect and it will never let you down.

Persistence

We all dream of doing something important, but it will take persistence to achieve it. This lets you share ideas and persistence also get people excited about ideas, and will surely get you paid for them too.

Ideas for other people

Aspire further in your own life to help aspire others further in their own lives. Here is an idea. Come up with “10 Ideas to make (Insert Name) Better”. This could be a person or a business. Send this list out and do it for 50 people/businesses. Maybe only 1 will respond, but that is all it takes for something great to start,

Your DNA / Legacy

What type of legacy are you leaving? The money will disappear over time, it may also increase. But who you are, your essence and passion, your ideas. These shared moments can live on forever.

Physical health

Health should always be more important than money. As if you are not able to operate, then it will make it hard to make money, let alone spend it. Be healthy every day, so you can live a long and healthy life. You will be happy.

You

You are an amazing contribution to society, to the world and to those directly around you. You don’t need money to be an impact. If you take away the money from the person, is the person still left? Well, he/she should be, as money shouldn’t define a person. You can be and are simply amazing without it. Don’t ever doubt it.

Photo Credit: Instagram: @shazleef | Location: Narooma, NSW, Australia

When you see the opportunity you want to chase, don’t wait around for it to happen. Take action now. Find a way to make it happen.

I have a question for you:

What would you do, if I said that there was $100,000 on the rooftop of a building right now and you have 15 minutes to get to it – Would you get it? Of course, you would. Would you know exactly how you’re going to get it? No, you wouldn’t. You would rush off with the goal in sight and work out the how and the what, while you are doing it. 

Seem’s legit, right? 

“To be successful, you have to be out there. You have to hit the ground running and if you have a good team around you, and more than a fair share of luck, you might make something happen. But you certainly can’t guarantee it just by following someone else’s formula.” – Richard Branson

Let me ask you another question: (you may want to write this down)

What do you have as your goal in life. Where are you trying to go? What are you trying to do? Take away everything. Stop what you are doing and think for a single moment. Define your very end game. 

Is it a business? A life full of passion? Financial Freedom? What is it? You don’t have to define all the specifics or the details, just jot down quickly what it is.

OK – now that you have it let’s move on.

What if I told you that right now, there is a door to your success, a door to your dreams and goals, just in hands reach and it is only up to you to open it. No catch. All you have to do is open the door and hit the ground running. You will have the goal in sight. You don’t need to know how you are going to get there, but you can work it out on the way. 

See my point?

• Like that $100,000 you too can have the future you want, as long as you go get it. You can take a leap now, a head start and figure out the details on the way. 

Photo Credit: Instagram: @shazleef | Location: Narooma, NSW, Australia

In the middle of it all, we must learn to soldier on and chase our moon. What I mean is find your mission and shoot for it! Shoot for the moon! Through sickness, challenge, struggle and day-to-day life. We must remain focused on that one thing we have identified to be worth fighting for. It was never intended to be easy, but it was intended to grow you.

How can we remain focused, continue earnestly and achieve greatness?

See below:

STREAMLINE YOUR LIFE

• The first thing you want to do is incorporate the things you love across the entirety of your life. Anything you can make simpler by preparing in advance or minimizing decision-making will further enable streamline to your life.
• Start decluttering your life. Get rid of the unimportant, time-sucking activities that waste your day. Decrease your time spent on meaningless tasks by being more efficient. Get rid of the things in your environment that don’t add value to your life.

WORK ON YOUR MINDSET

• Do you even believe it is possible to achieve what you are chasing?
• Your mindset is a crucial part of finding and doing what you love.
• Being able to think big, and view your life as full of potential and possibilities, can change your life in drastic ways.

REFUSE TO SETTLE

• Don’t settle for the second best, you deserve the best for you. Each day and every day of your life.
• Refuse to settle. Refuse to shrug your shoulders, saying, “I guess this is as good as it gets.”
• You need to soldier on, no matter what, until you reach your destination.
• Through thick and thin.

CONSIDER YOUR ENDGAME

• What is your dream life? Do you want to work with many people, a few people, or alone?
• Do you want to work for a large company, a small company, or a company you own?
• Do you want to be able to work from anywhere, or would you like to go to a specific location for work?
• Do you want a flexible schedule or predictable hours?
• Overall, what do you want your life to be like?
• Describe it and define it.
• Start writing down what you do know about your dream life.
• You will get more and more specific as you continue to learn more about yourself.

IDENTIFY AND FOCUS ON PASSION & STRENGTHS

• What are your innate strengths? 
• What are your passions?
• When you are absolutely on fire for something, it can give you excited to jump out of bed on Monday mornings, ready to start the work week.

TAKE MASSIVE ACTION

• Regardless, if you want anything of the above, you need to TAKE ACTION. 
• Even when you have bumps in the road. Do you want to be the person who fights for their dreams or the person who gives up easily?
• How badly do you want to do work you love? If you really want to create the life of your dreams, you’ll need to take action, over and over, even when you don’t feel like it.

Photo Credit: Instagram: @shazleef | Location: Narooma, NSW, Australia

Everyone can and will have a bad day. But how you handle it, react and make of it, is entirely up to you. You should take valuable action. 

What do you do, when things start to go horribly wrong?

Murphy’s Law states – Whatever can happen, will happen.

It is up to you to control how and what happens after something goes wrong. Sometimes, we can become so tied up in the worry and doubt, we forget that all we need to do is, step back think and react appropriately. How do you react?

• Do you become so negative you infect anybody who comes into contact with you? Only to regret it or apologize later?
• Do you over think the situation, say horrible things to yourself, beat yourself up and over exaggerate everything?
• Do you fall into self-pity, self-hate, turn off your phone and shut everybody out?

When you wake up every day, you have two choices. You can either be positive or negative; an optimist or a pessimist. I choose to be an optimist. It’s all a matter of perspective. – Harvey Mackay

There are better ways to handle horrible days and the below eight valuable points will give you an idea of what they are. I won’t elaborate on these, but I suggest you take some paper, jot these down and flesh out what these mean to you. You will most likely surprise yourself:

First, change your perspective.

Secondly, get out of the thinking zone.

Thirdly, look at what has gone well.

Fourthly, slap on some groovy tunes.

Fifth, avoid the negative people.

Sixth, be and get productive.

Seventh, do what always makes you happy.

Eighth, get out of the past!

Forget yesterday – it has already forgotten you. Don’t sweat tomorrow – you haven’t even met. Instead, open your eyes and your heart to a truly precious gift – today. – Steve Maraboli

Photo Credit: Instagram: @godsonsamuel888 | Location: Melbourne, Australia

Time is ticking away. It is nearing closer to the end of the year but you still have time to make a choice for change. We only have 24 Monday’s left of the year and they will be over in a jiffy!

These 24 days will and should be some of your most days important days, as these 24 days will highly influence the REMAINING overall 171 days of 2017.

Today is a chance to get ahead. In lead-up to next week’s Monday, you have a chance to set a new routine, as a chance to still get yourself on track, in progress for the greater you by the end of the year.

I am not going to say it will be easy, as it won’t be. But what I can say, is that it will be worth it a million in the end.

All you need to do is focus on owning your Mondays or “the start of the week”, own your Monday, set an attitude to the tone of ‘you can do this’ and go into the day willing, ready and all set to do your best. Be optimistic and to be willing to stretch yourself.

Now things won’t always go as planned but adapt and accept then apply accordingly.

If you have a goal in mind of maybe you have a few? Well, ask yourself ‘how much do you want this?’ Set your standard each week, of smaller checkpoints for the remaining Monday’s and go into each week to smash these small checkpoints before finally checking off your final goal.

So get out there, get prepping and get working on the goal. It is your dream, so take action. If you are that interested in it – you will find a way.

Photo Credit: Instagram: @_clfurlong_ | Location: Smiths Gully, Australia

Success is usually placed on a pedestal high in our minds like we would only dream of being there. What if I told you that your success is only seconds away?

That isn’t success, that is your perception of what you think success is, Let me tell you something, which I hope doesn’t surprise you too much; Success happens every day. Every day you are a success. When you get out of bed, when you do what you do and achieve it to the desire you had planned it to be or greater. That is a success.

But I get it, you want to be ‘all that’. Unfortunately, by nature, we always want to be on the other side of the fence where the grass is greener. Well, what if I told you that you can be. What if I told you that you too can do amazing things and see, feel and experience all that you think success is.

Aside from me already telling you that you are a SUCCESS…I think what you are looking for is, like the image shown above. Your own stash of diamonds, or whatever your equivalent may be.

Recently I have been inspired by a simple yet almost genius mentality, known as the 10-second rule. The idea is that you can withstand 10 seconds of anything — just count to 10, and then restart again. It’s like a calming deep breath. To put it into perspective, running is a perfect example where this can be used, or at the gym. When you are wanting to push to that extra 1 km, start counting to 10, having now accomplished that, do another 10 seconds.

But this can be applied to anything, but also if we take a step back and use this same mentality with everything in life, (maybe not using 10 seconds), but giving everything we are doing an extra shot of juice. Pushing through and challenging ourselves to go a little further. As one day, you may only need that extra 10 seconds to find that stash of diamonds, or finally, achieve the result you have been working on for so long.

“Champions keep playing until they get it right.” — Billie Jean King

Photo Credit: Instagram: @godsonsamuel888 | Location: Melbourne, Australia