Archive for January, 2008

It’s the end of January and the phrase “New Year’s Resolution” is fading quickly from our consciousness. Most of our resolutions, if we made any, are probably failed memories. What we really need now is a simple way to set some goals for the year and to find a way to accomplish them.

We have covered goals quite extensively on this site, but today I want to offer up a simple goal setting solution. This is so easy you can do it in a few minutes, but it may have a profound effect on your life. It was devised by one of the leading motivational speakers of our time, Brian Tracy.

Brian talked about this simple technique in his book, Success Secrets of Self Made Millionaires. This is a profound little book based on Tracy’s research into the lives of Millionaires and what helped them get there.

Brian says that one of the most important things that was apparent in everyone that he studied was goal setting. He devised a simple four step process that anyone can take to get started on this path to success. Here are the instructions…

1. Take out a sheet of paper and write down ten goals you would like to accomplish in the next 12 months. Things you want to have, do, or become.
2. Look at all ten goals and ask yourself this question. If you could only accomplish one goal on this list, but you could accomplish it in 24 hours, which one would would have the greatest impact on your life? Brian says in most cases it will jump out at you. Write the goal down in bold writing and set a completion date.
3. Turn the paper over and write down twenty action steps to accomplish this goal. This step will be easy at first but will become harder as you progress down the list. Don’t stop until you have filled in all twenty.
4. Each day take at least one action step to accomplish your goal

This is about as simple as it gets but Brian has had amazing feedback from people who have tried this simple technique. With this simple four step process, participants have gone on to create spectacular businesses, amassed fortunes, and have gone on to change the lives of others.

Why not try it for yourself today?

To make this even easier for you, I’ve created a two sided MS Word document called the Top Goal Worksheet that has ten boxes on the front and twenty on the back. Just download the file, unzip it, and open both sheets in Microsoft Word. You can add text to the document in Word or print it plain to fill in with a pen or pencil. When you are ready, print it front and back on both sides of a sheet of letter sized paper.

To fill it out, just follow the four steps above. 

Brian notes there is a risk in not taking these steps. If you don’t set goals you may end up on Someday Isle… someday I’ll do this or someday I’ll do that. Don’t let this happen to you.

Once you have your goals set, you may want to download our Goal Setting Toolkit, to carry your goals with you wherever you go.

If you are in sales or marketing, wouldn’t it be great to be able to carry a powerful Powerpoint style presentation along in your pocket or purse that you could show to a client at a moments notice?

If you have an Apple iTouch or iPhone you can do just that in just a few minutes using an Apple computer and Apple’s presentation software called Keynote. You just create the slide-show in Keynote, add your animations, transitions, and sounds and then export it to iTunes. It’s a simple click from there to import it into your iTouch or iPhone.

In the export screen in Keynote you can set your playback and build speed. The resulting slide-show is sharp, bright, and clear and the wonderful 3d animations that are available in Keynote come right over to the iTouch. Just click on the Video button on the iTouch and you’ll find your new presentation ready for use.

If you currently have an Apple computer and an iPhone or iTouch this is a great reason to buy the iWork08  suite from Apple. The Keynote application will create amazing presentations that will blow your audience away.

Keynote comes with beautiful templates and a host of 2d and 3d transitions and animations. It interfaces with iPhoto and iMovie for easy import of pictures and video along with an easy import of your best soundtrack from GarageBand.

The nice thing about Keynote is that it offers an easy import feature to bring your existing Powerpoint slide-shows into the program. With some quick modifications you’ll have an amazing presentation, ready to go out to the field in just minutes.

Instead of walking into your clients office with an intimidating laptop, now you can take your presentation along in a much more convenient, pocket sized format. If your client wants to see the presentation on a larger screen, just bring along a simple iTouch video cable and you can interface right in to their projector.

If you are new to Keynote, The Apple iWork Training Series Book will get you up and running in no time at all. Microsoft has also announced that its new Office 2008 suite for Mac offers similar iPod export features from the new version of Powerpoint. Have fun creating a killer sales presentation!

I picked up an interesting book the other day at the bookstore. It’s entitled Take The Risk by Dr. Ben Carson M.D. This book is written from a doctor’s perspective about taking risks in life.

The thing I found really interesting was Dr. Carson’s easy to use four step questionnaire for evaluating risk. He takes the risk in question and asks four things…

1. What is the worst thing that could happen if I take this risk?
2. What is the best thing that could happen if I take this risk?
3. What is the worst thing that could happen if I don’t take this risk?
4. What is the best thing that could happen if I don’t take this risk?

This is a best/worse case scenario with a twist because he asks the same questions in the negative… what will happen if I DON’T take this risk.

I have found these questions work very well from a goal setting perspective, especially the negative ramifications of not taking action on a goal.

Ben is a master story teller and he has a great story about growing up as a child in Detroit. His Dad left the family when Ben was a child and his mother was forced to move in with family in Boston for a few years. Ben and his brother attended a church school but the curriculum was quite a few years behind what he had experienced in Detroit.

When the family moved back to Detroit a few years later, Ben found himself way behind in school. He gives a striking example of just how tough it was. One day in the fifth grade the students were given a math test and they had to pass their tests to the kid behind them to be graded. The tests were marked and then handed back to the students. Then the teacher then went around the room and had everybody yell out what the scores were.

Ben tells of waiting in dread for his name to be called. The teacher called out “Benjamin” and he reported that he got nine out of 30 questions right… unfortunately he had misread the grade and the girl behind him corrected him… “Not Nine!,” she yelled, “He got none!”

As the classroom erupted in laughter, Ben felt really intimidated. He laughed it off but it really hurt. His mother soon found that Ben and his brother were doing very poorly in school back in Detroit. She gathered them together one afternoon and told them she was very unhappy with their performance. She announced that she was going to stay up that night and ask God what she should do about their sorry performance in school.

Ben and his brother had a hard time sleeping that night, and in the morning she announced that God had impressed on her that they were spending too much time watching TV.

She said “We’re going to turn off the TV, and from now on you can choose only three television shows each week… and every week you are going to read two books–you get to choose which books–and write me a report on each one.”

Ben and his brother protested loudly, but they didn’t want to disappoint their mother. So each week they went to the library and read two books as she requested. Ben read books about things he liked. First it was animals, then plants and then on to rocks.

One day in science class the teacher held up a black shiny rock and asked what type it was. None of the kids in the class had an answer… but then Ben, having just read a book about it, held up his hand and told the teacher it was obsidian. And then he went on to describe it in scientific detail.

Everyone in the class was surprised. The kid they referred to as “the dummy” was spouting off words as if he was a scientist.

That day Ben Carson realized he wasn’t a dummy after all, he thought…

What if I read books about all my subjects? Then I’d know more than all these students who have laughed at me and called me “dummy.”

Starting that day that is just what Ben did. He set himself a goal to be a lifelong reader. Within months his grades improved and his dream of someday becoming a doctor slowly came to fruition.

Today Ben Carson is a world renown Neurosurgeon performing complex surgeries on the brain and spinal cord. All because his mother was willing to take a risk.

She turned off the TV and sent her kids to the library. She found that the risk was too high to leave the TV on… and she was right.

Be sure to pick up Take The Risk and be inspired. This is one powerful book that can help you take the risk necessary to achieve your dreams.

When you are thinking about goals or projects you want to accomplish, you may have many things on your mind. It’s great to write these down and organize them on paper so you can see a visual picture.

A helpful tool that I’ve found is a funnel list. It’s a very basic document but it works well to organize your thoughts and create a flow to complete your project or accomplish your goal.

The basic funnel list consists of three columns of boxes that funnel into one large box where you write your goal or project title. You can use the document in many different ways, but here are some suggested uses.

1. Vertical Column Flow Funnel: Use each column of boxes for a different thought flow. In the top box put your first item, followed by the box underneath with the next item in the flow. Follow this down to the goal box. Here is an example…

   

2. Horizontal Row of Ideas: Instead of using the vertical columns for your similar ideas, use the horizontal rows. This gives you five rows to work with and may work well for some projects. You can use a right to left flow if needed.
3. Random Boxes: Use all 15 boxes to capture ideas on your mind. Just put your random thoughts or ideas in the boxes. You may want to work from the top in a right to left fashion or work from the bottom up. This free flow mind map can be usefully for collecting all of your ideas in one place.

I’ve created a Basic Funnel List that you can print out using Microsoft Word. Just download the template and open in Word. You can fill in the boxes using Word or you can just print it blank and use a pen or fine tipped Sharpie to write in your information. I’ve included both Word 2007 and Word 97-2003 templates in the zip file.

I have found this to be a great tool when I’m brainstorming an idea. Since it is easy to add flow to the document it really helps to put the steps together to complete a project. It’s a simple way to funnel your ideas into useful action.

You can also use our Five Minute Flowchart to create a similar funnel list on your desktop with cards. Have Fun!

In today’s AFC championship football match up, you have two teams with very different styles. The New England Patriots have been perfect so far, undefeated after winning 17 games. Their opponent today is the San Diego Chargers, whose passion showed last week as they defeated the Indianapolis Colts. With their three top players out on the sidelines they won by playing way down in their roster and coming up with the surprising win.

New England’s quarterback, Tom Brady, has been close to perfect all year. He has amazing precision when throwing the football. The rest of the team is precise as well. It’s a tight knit team who executes better than anyone else in the league.

San Diego is showing incredible fortitude. With their quarterback Philip Rivers on the injured list, and their running back LaDainian Tomlinson coming off a knee injury, they face very tough odds in today’s game. But the team has come together and they have one thing going for them… Passion!

Precision versus Passion… who wins?

It’s hard to argue with precision. When you do everything right and execute on every play, including your defense, you usually win. When your offense and defense are close to perfect, it’s a hard combination to beat.

Can San Diego who is passionate about winning… who wants it so bad that they can taste it… overcome the odds and score? Can they come together as a team today and go the extra mile and do what it takes to be victorious?

There are two great equalizers today… the weather and the wind. The temperature may be below zero with a strong wind in Gillette stadium. With this type of condition, precision may be out. Throwing the ball may be out. It may come down to a passionate brawl of a running game.

Precision vs Passion vs Mother Nature….

It should be one heck of a game to watch!

Go Chargers!

BTW… If you can’t wait for the game to start, you can build your own printable desktop football game and play right on your coffee table!

I love my iPod touch. Its touch screen interface is wonderful and the stock list of applications has been very useful. As long as I am within range of a wireless internet signal, this unit really shines.

I was really surprised when I logged into Apple.com yesterday and found that there was a major software upgrade available. Five new productivity applications available for $19.95 and a quick download. The applications are…

1. Mail: A robust e-mail application that works with popular mail applications such as Gmail, Hotmail, and Yahoo mail. The interface is fast and intuitive, with quick fingertip scrolling. You’ll love this app.

   

2. Maps: Take the best of Google maps and put it in a handheld interface with fingertip scroll and pinch resizing. This unit is really nice on the go. You find your destination on the map and with one click you’ll have step by step scrollable directions. This is a very useful app.
3. Weather: Quick… what is the weather going to be like this week? Not to worry if you have an iTouch. One click answers for all the cities that you have input in a clean weekly format. Fast and easy.

   

4. Notes: I really like this one. You can now input notes from the fingertip keyboard as fast as you can click. This is very useful for meetings, appointments, or just a quick note to bring home some milk.
5. Stocks: If you are an investor this bright clear interface will bring you the latest stock news (delayed 20 minutes) in an easy to read format. Just the stocks you want listed, without having to log into a web site.

   

After using these app’s for a day, I am a raving fan. These have really bumped the usefulness of this device up to a new level. What I really like is the easy to read screen and the intuitive interface. Within seconds you can get where you want and get the information that you need.

The new app’s require that you update your iTouch to the latest firmware and that you interface with the latest version of iTunes. The iTouch update is about 160 megs and takes about 30 minutes to download and setup if you have a broadband account. The actual app’s are a simple purchase from the Apple store through iTunes for $19.95

The good news is if you haven’t bought an iTouch yet, they now come with these app’s pre-installed. If you’ve been waiting to buy one, the incentive is now that much greater. Pick up one of these and increase your productivity and have one of the coolest devices going.