At my grandma’s funeral several years ago, I remember reading her short list of the things she tried to live by. They were these short phrases: Be the first to say hello. Compliment three people every day. Live beneath your means. Let the first thing you say brighten everyone’s d … | Continue reading
At the end of the day, a simple life is an inward reality with an outward lifestyle. But… if it’s a lifestyle you seek — a simple life with less stuff and less hustle — you can work from the outside in. This is how it goes with many other disciplines: start with the outward […] | Continue reading
You and I only have so much willpower, decision-making ability, and/or creative imagination throughout the day. Try to reserve that energy for things like deep work, deep conversations, and big decisions. The more you can automate the inconsequential areas of your life, the the m … | Continue reading
Many business owners and creative professionals have moments where they feel something called impostor syndrome. It’s a feeling that your success is an accident and you do not deserve it. You fear people will soon find out “you are a fraud” and that you do not possess an ounce of … | Continue reading
Someone with no financial margin — who lives paycheck to paycheck — cannot be extremely generous or philanthropic with their finances. No matter how much they want to. When your life and schedule are completely overwhelming and out of control, you have no breathing room; no margi … | Continue reading
When you begin a new habit and you’ve started taking action, only commit to it for 30 days or so. And then commit for another 30 days. Then commit for 90 days. Then commit for 6 months. At first it’ll be fun. But then it will be hard and mundane. If you start out by […] | Continue reading
When you’re feeling the pain of overwhelm, first, pause and listen to it because there can be two reasons for the stress you feel. It may be that life is saying you need breathing room. Or, sometimes that feeling of overwhelm is because you’re in a season of transition — you’re c … | Continue reading
There is a difference between worry and preparedness. You cannot be fully prepared for anything. So do your best to prepare and mitigate your risks, but then move on. Consider the risks and then live your life. Successful people are quick to make a decision and slow to change the … | Continue reading
Dual focus is trying to do two things at once and thereby limiting yourself from doing either well. Here are a few ideas for how to avoid dual focus: Break a project down into smaller steps that feel manageable, then do one step at a time Use this Show Up Every Day Worksheet to s … | Continue reading
If you’re feeling suck on a task or project, ask yourself: What would this task / project look like if it were easy? | Continue reading
Clarity comes through action and experience. Thus, you should focus on getting started and taking action more than you focus on the perfect end result. Optimize for the starting line instead of the finish line. Instead of committing to a giant, year-long undertaking. Commit to so … | Continue reading
There are 8 Laws of Focus. As we enter the final few months of the year it’s important to remember The Law of Tradeoffs. As David Allen said, you can do anything but you cannot do everything. In order to give your perpetual devotion to any one thing it will require the perpetual … | Continue reading
“We tend to overestimate what we can do in a short period, and underestimate what we can do over a long period, provided we work slowly and consistently.” — Gretchen Rubin | Continue reading
When you have something difficult on your plate — an activity or responsibility you must to do but which you don’t want to do — ask yourself how it could be easy and how it could be fun. (h/t Jenny Blake) | Continue reading
When you set out to make change, or to embark on a bold new venture, there will always be resistance. One common area of resistance is perfectionism and overthinking. “Perfectionists spend too much time on little difference as the margins at the expense of the important things.” … | Continue reading
At home, on a lazy Saturday morning, I have two favorite mugs. One is my 10-oz Lino Coffee Mug. And the other is my double-walled Monty cup from Fellow. | Continue reading
This is a question Sarah Peck brought up yesterday during a workshop she hosted. There are a plethora of things which we could do and unending demands on our time and attention. It takes design and focus to only do the things that matter most. Sometimes it can be nice to have a l … | Continue reading
When you make something that matters, it will be polarizing. There will be some people who don’t like it. But there will be others who love it. It’s not easy to make something and put it out there. But when you do, look around: are there people you find awesome, and are they happ … | Continue reading
What happens when you have the right goals, and you believe your action plan is dialed in… but your schedule and routines are all out of whack? How do you solve the problem of: cannot successfully implement the action plan? You start small. You pick one critical action that is pa … | Continue reading
If you spent 5 minutes every day doing pushups, would your arms get stronger? What if you did that every day for a year? You would become a pushup machine! You’d be totally unintimidated to do pushups anytime, anywhere. On the bus and your friend dares you to do a pushup — you’ve … | Continue reading
I once read that anything worth doing is worth doing poorly. Giving yourself permission to stink will make it easier to begin. And starting is often one of the biggest hurdles of all. A crappy first draft of an email newsletter is far better than no draft at all. Seth Godin wrote … | Continue reading
If you are a business owner or CEO, the current state of your business is a result of the decisions you have made up to this point… the goals you have set… the things to which you have said yes and no. If you don’t like the hours you work, the cycles of your revenue, […] | Continue reading
You can’t spend your time doing work that matters if you don’t know what matters in the first place. Or, in the words of Peter Drucker: ”There is nothing so useless as doing efficiently that which should not be done at all.” | Continue reading
I was just recently reminded of a time when my friend Dan Mall shared about how he replaced the phrase “I don’t have time” with “it’s not a priority”. He wrote: “Recently, I’ve tried to stop saying, “I don’t have time.” It insinuates that I’m a helpless victim to the all-powerful … | Continue reading
I think it was Greg McKeown who I first heard suggest the following: Have a minimum amount of time set aside for the good, the deep, and the essential things. Have a maximum amount of time set aside for those things which are shallow and not essential. | Continue reading
When talking with Cal Newport a while back, he shared with me about the 3 waves of productivity: First there was Efficiency Then Intentionally Now Meaning These three waves go in order and each one serves the next. You begin by just trying to be more efficient. Then, once you’ve … | Continue reading
Such as how to have healthy relationships. How to manage your money. How to take care of your body. How to be in control of your schedule. How to accomplish your goals. We are told that these things are important. And, if we are fortunate, then we may even see these things modele … | Continue reading
Speaking of how it’s okay to make a decision without knowing every last detail… Consider this: one drop of clarity plus 5 minutes of action. I have found that action brings clarity, and then, in turn, more clarity fuels more action. It’s a fantastic cycle. And so, when you’re stu … | Continue reading
You don’t have to take action on every idea. You can make a decision without knowing every last detail and option. It’s okay if you don’t finish every book you start. You don’t have to respond to every email you receive. There’s no need to push every project to the max. Having br … | Continue reading
It’s a challenge to have more ideas than time. But you don’t have to be a slave to all your ideas. You probably have lots of ideas that you want to do. But the existence of a good idea doesn’t mean you are obligated to spend time on it. Feel free to say no to […] | Continue reading
To accomplish your goals and live a focused life, you need three skills: – **Clarity:** What to do. – **Time Management:** When to do it. – **Integrity:** Doing that which you’ve … | Continue reading
Many people struggle to make regular progress toward their goals. This is often because the things they are doing are not actually related to accomplishing their goals. To create an action plan, I like to start with the end in mind, and then work backward. Once you have a desired … | Continue reading
Fact: By managing your time you can protect the fun stuff and ensure the other ares of your life don’t encroach on it. Take control of your time and do MORE fun stuff. You do this by (a) scheduling it so you have a better chance at getting to that activity; and (b) keeping the [… … | Continue reading
Some habits will have a disproportionately positive (or negative) impact than others. If you do a high-impact habit consistently for years then it will bring about a massive change in your life. Here are 4 high-impact routines that have created a disproportionately positive impac … | Continue reading
Without a clear idea of your own core values and the things that drive your decisions and motivation, then your schedule will reflect what someone else wants from you, rather than what you want for yourself. The three primary areas of your life that all need a clear direction: Yo … | Continue reading
No. Nope. No thanks. Not at this time. Nuh-uh. Nah. Sorry, but no. | Continue reading
Consider the difference between random tactics and focused strategy. If you are trying to make progress in an area of your life or business, or when you are fleshing out a new idea, then, at first, you have many new ideas and tactics. You say yes to all sorts of activities, ideas … | Continue reading
Whenever you set out to make change or embark on a bold venture, there will be resistance. One area of resistance that comes against our efforts to live a focused life is what I call “Counterfeit Rest”. When you have rested, you ought to be recharged and have more energy. Thus, t … | Continue reading
A while back, my pal, David Sparks, wrote about getting trapped inside a cycle of “false urgency”. And so David began asking himself this regular question: “Where have I created false urgency?” I spent years working as a marketing director for a large organization, and the overwh … | Continue reading
Between 6am and noon is arguably my most precious / important / valuable time of the day for getting things done. That’s why I keep all of my devices in Do Not Disturb until noon. This way I am free from any and all notifications, pings, buzzes, until the morning is over and it’s … | Continue reading
Tomorrow — Tuesday, July 26 — I am hosting a private, live interview with bestselling author Josh Kaufman. Josh is also the author of one of my all-time most-gifted books: The Personal MBA. Over the years Josh has become a dear friend, and I have gotten so much brilliant advice f … | Continue reading
Amateurs keep their options open. They say yes to everything. They have no boundaries. And they are overwhelmed by the urgent and buried under a million random acts of focus. On the other hand… Professionals and top-performers are focused. They design their habits in order to acc … | Continue reading
The 5 components of a focused life are this: Vision → Goals → Strategy → Schedule → Habits That above framework will help you identify where the REAL issues are with your focused life and exactly what to do about fixing them. In short, your habits should support your goals. When … | Continue reading
I grew up being modeled that the only way to lead by example is to do more, be more, and know more than the folks you are leading. But that model of “leadership” is literally unsustainable. I very much believe in leading by example, but there are other, more sustainable ways to l … | Continue reading
From time to time it can be empowering to try something new for a short amount of time. Try something and recognize that it’s not the new normal forever. Let it be a short-term action which will bring about an agent of change into your life and give you fresh perspective and clar … | Continue reading
For those with routines, habits, and lifestyle practices — there will always be the next time you do an action. This is liberating because it allows you to focus on repetition rather than perfection. You no longer need to have the “perfect date” or the “perfect family dinner” or … | Continue reading
Here is a good one from the archives that I’ve been revisiting myself. As you understand more about “whole brain creativity”, you can also learn how to communicate to others in ways they will connect with. ✚✚ | Continue reading
There are many areas of our life where being good enough is good enough. But for some special areas, why not strive for greatness? It takes significant effort to move something from good to great. But, for those important few things in life, that effort is worth it. Do you want a … | Continue reading