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Goal Gym; Goal Large or Goal home

By On December 29, 2011 · 4 Comments

Goals should be geared to creating life! More life, to be lived and enjoyed. The more I mull the goal setting and tracking and achieving paradigm the more I think that there is confusion between  goals and tasks. The road and the journey. Time and life.

If we are to look forward into our lives, we must not look up the rocky paths that are ahead of us, but rather lift our heads. Look ahead as the proverbial crow flies and look to our goals. That for me is what goals are about. They have to be the compass that guides us out of the wandering paths which split into path after path detour after detour. Goals are the kick in the nuts we need to remind us that the path is not the destination and why giving up is not an option.

Goal gym: Goal Big, work hard!

What does it help us to set these tiny goals? Why aim to get out of bed early if we aren’t planning to use the extra time to take over the world?

  • Pick Goals that make you feel!– If a goal doesn’t scare you, thrill you, make you smile like a fool it’s not going to fuel you. Goals only work if they light a fire under you. If you need to keep topping your goals up with interest, passion or excitement you’re destined to fail.
  • Pick Goals for yourself! – Only you are accountable to your goals so go large or go home, when you pick goals for yourself you’ll  feel the lid lift on what you’re capable of doing.
  • Send your goals out into the world – When you go and goal big you need to stay accountable, make your goals a living statement of your life. Blog about it, put up posters notes tattoo your goal above your navel. Turn other people on with your passion!
  • Turn your world into a “Goal gym” – Surround yourself with the tools you need to leverage your reality into your goals. Work out on them often. There are finite steps between where you are and where you want to be. Start walking now!
  • Go big but keep your number of goals down – This is the big one. Do choose big nasty scary goals. However do choose fewer goals. If you are going to pour your heart, soul and more into your goals you can’t spread yourself thin. Go big on the important goals and the rest will see to itself.
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Take a Technology Fast and Remember How Freedom feels

By On August 17, 2011 · 9 Comments

<div xmlns:cc="http://creativecommons.org/ns#" about="http://www.flickr.com/photos/kikisdad/69844475/"><a rel="cc:attributionURL" href= There is a warmth to candlelight a warmth that’s has been counteracted in the 21st century. The cold calculated face of technology has stolen that warmth from us. We have light but Somewhere along the way we lost the wonder of light, the glow of candlelight the sound of silence competing with natures orchestra.

I was reminded of my love for that warmth and the sound of that silence last week when some genius in a Coca Cola truck flattened a fairly important pole down the road from me. Plunged into darkness I found myself free. Free from the temptation of the television, free of the drone of the technology, my apartment walls looking a alive as the shadows crept up and down the walls as if chased by the candlelight.

I ended up reading most of the evening in the silence time seemed to be feeling a bit soppy and enveloped me and instead of running away from me as it’s been known to do, we proceeded through the evening in a sweet embrace. For once I didn’t feel rushed or anxious. Technology withdrew and calm descended in the space it left behind.

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Really Simple Syndication: What is RSS? Why use RSS feeds? How to use RSS?

By On August 14, 2011 · 17 Comments

So you visited my site or another blog and would like to pop in more often and keep track of the content on the site. So you add the site as a bookmark and Bob’s your father’s brother. Except what if you wanted to be notified when new content is added or existing content is updated. Well you can by subscribing to the RSS feed but what the heck is an RSS feed?

What is RSS

RSS feeds are the answer to the modern internet. The internet is all grown up and with the growth of broadband across the planet we have as a planet access to more information faster than at any time in history. We are no longer limited by our technology but by time we have available. RSS feeds are a result of the change in the face of technology allowing content on the internet to change constantly. The internet as you know it will not be the same in 5 minutes time and has probably changed fairly drastically in the last 60 seconds. RSS feeds were designed with this in mind, the dynamic web a web in constant flux. A static bookmark is no longer sufficient for a website who may add and update content many times an hour. We need content as and when it changes RSS delivers your internet right to your browser in real time.

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RSS means Really Simple Syndication

The syndication bit simply means the delivery of media and the really simple is what RSS is.

Now you:

  • No Longer need to check for updates when a site is updated your RSS feed gets updated automatically
  • No longer need to navigate to each site you regularly read the content is right there when you open your RSS feed reader
  • Can receive breaking news as and when it happens
  • Drastically reduce the time you need to spend on the internet
  • Drastically increase the amount of media you can consume

I have included an additional video as well as text guides on how to use RSS feeds all of which are quite comprehensive, in the resources at the end of the post should anything still be unclear.

How to use RSS

  1. Get an RSS reader there are a plethora of RSS readers on the market for sale and for free I suggest starting with a free reader like Google Reader image
  2. Once you’ve found a RSS feed you’d like to subscribe to click on the RSS icon.image
  3. If there is a drop down select your reader if not you should see a screen similar to the one below where you’ll be able to choose your preferred RSS reader.image
  4. Go back to Google reader and you should see the latest posts from the RSS feed you’ve subscribed to in Google Reader

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That is as they say is that. Rinse and repeat for every site RSS you’d like to add and a come back daily and keep track of your important sites as and when they change.

How to Use RSS Feeds More Resources:

Everything you need to know about RSS feeds and feed readers is included in the this guide on how to use RSS.


Internet: Useful Tips:
RSS In Plain English

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Conquer your Fear of Success

By On July 17, 2011 · 16 Comments

“Procrastination is the fear of success. People procrastinate because they are afraid of the success that they know will result if they move ahead now. Because success is heavy, carries a responsibility with it, it is much easier to procrastinate and live on the ‘someday I’ll’ philosophy.”

Denis Waitley quotes (American motivational Speaker and Author of self-help books

As old as I am this success thing still confounds me. As hard and as long as I work toward my goals it often feels like I”m using large amounts of my time fighting with myself. There’s just no way to win. Now this is not going to be a scholarly discussion of fear of success. I’m no psychologist I can’t diagnose a phobia and I’m definitely not a wiki.

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All I want to do today is discuss what I know, the frustration caused by the symptoms of fear of success and how to combat it before failure moves into your spare room and starts bonding with your kids. The definition and psychology of the fear of success is pretty simple its fear of change dressed up like an elephant and standing in your living room. No one mentions it but we all know it’s there as we choose over and over to be mediocre.

Supping on the Bananas of disappointment

When we talk about fear of success, the change we fear just happens to be positive. We hairless apes are very clever but we long for routine. Change in any shape size or flavor scares the crap out of us. Until we find the motivation to change, the motivation to succeed we will continue on our negative path supping on bananas of disappointment feasting on meal worms of failure until we finally hit rock bottom or worse still, never hit rock bottom and live our neat lives of quiet desperation living in constant fear of success.

So how do we escape the clutches of this self inflicted mediocrity? Let’s not try let’s do!

Feel the Fear of success, and connect with your Passion

  • Start right now and admit your fear of success and the changes it will bring
  • You’re afraid of that promotion, afraid of losing that extra weight just plain afraid
  • Take a bit of time to understand why you’re afraid of success. The most common fear is that after you solve your biggest problems you cease to have excuses without excuses what ever would you complain about.
  • Connect with your passion when mediocrity comes calling in your life never focus on what you don’t want focus on what you do want let that connection with your passion become the rope that binds you to it and keeps the fear at bay
  • Visualize success and all the benefits that come with it often
  • There is abundance in life open your eyes, focus on your goals and on all the success you see in the world, look at all the ways you are already successful. No one needs to lose for you to win there are infinite opportunities for everyone.
  • Failure isn’t the worst thing on earth

Forget thinking, do!

  • Stop over-thinking, success is good, they say that our ability to reason sets us apart from animals well sometimes we just need to put our brains in neutral and focus on doing.
  • Once you start doing you start learning and that learning is invaluable it also takes your mind off of all those imagined problems success will apparently bring.
  • Success is good go read the definition in the dictionary you fool
  • When you start doing you start learning to flow, to tune out the world stop thinking and take pleasure in the doing. Allowing you to auto-pilot your way to success. Remember what it feels like when you are in flow and are able to produce at a high level for long periods. being able to call on this flow state is the key to lasting change.

Talk your way to success

  • When you’re not doing talk. Talk about what you’ve done talk about what you are still going to do keep the dialog going. Everything is created twice. Talking about what is going on in your head breathes life into your dreams and makes them real to you and your network. Talking makes you accountable for your actions to others and yourself
  • Plan big go ahead and plan every part of your success, every step you plan to take, every meeting every document, hell plan your outfit when you make it. The best way to combat change is  to anticipate it. Plan for success and you’ll find your fear will become trivial.

Start Small but start!

  • Start small see this guest post based on Leo Babauta’s excellent The power of less for tips on how to approach your goals effectively
  • The only failure is failing to try start as small as you feel comfortable with but start now.

As the world barrels along the enemy of great truly is good. We are all of us settling for good when great is within our reach. We need to remember that success lies on the other side of failure if we turn tail and run whenever we fail we’ll never make it. Fear can be the fuel for your success or for the flames of your failure. Only you can decide if good is good enough though.

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Reconnect with Passion, 4 ways to Achieve your Goals

By On July 17, 2011 · 9 Comments

A while back I discussed the Price of Perfection, as it related to my writing goals. Writing that post reminded me once more to find ways each day to reconnect with my passion for writing and for life if I want to achieve my goals. I have never been one to spend my time obsessing about my goals but it is important to internalize goals if we are to have any chance of achieving them.

You’re probably motivated by fear of failure

Without clearly defined goals I can guarantee you one thing. You are just as likely to achieve what you value as goals as you are to achieve what you don’t. That’s a 50% chance of failure right off the bat. Now I see you looking at me with pleading eyes, “please Michael can’t the glass be half full” I hear you cry. Ok for you I’m going to make the glass half full … Except now that I think about it, one of those thick books on my bookshelf is on NLP. Would you believe me if i told you that 9 out 10 people reading this post are motivated by what they don’t want not by what they do want and value. We are very literally running on auto-pilot away from our goals. The problem is all our goals and everything we value is on the far side of that mountain of fear and self loathing not in the other direction.

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Your fear is your fuel

I see I’ve got you thinking now. To those shaking their fist at me, no I’m not a quack, in fact stay behind after class I have a note for your mother. The proof, as one of my best friend reminds me so often, is in the pudding. The majority of people on the planet today are living lives that are less than or equal to mediocre. Your life probably has a fair sprinkling of mediocre in it too. When you are not connected to your goals you are probably connected to your fears. Your fears are feeding your mediocrity, keeping your goals at arms length.

Passion is about values not value

It’s not about your bank balance, car or your salary. Mediocre is about how well you are living. How closely your life, goals and your values are aligned. How proud are you when you speak about who you are, not about what you have? Any Yahoo with enough money can buy a shiny BMW. Only you can live a life that allows you to sleep soundly at night with a faint smile. Only you can figure out how to fall asleep secure in the knowledge that today you exercised your purpose  achieved your goals on this planet and added value to the world.

These are some of the best ways I’ve found to integrate my goals with my life:

Spend at least 5 minutes a day dreaming

This tip is the most fun on the list, for each goal you are working toward spend part of your 5 minutes visualizing what achieving that goal will look like, smell, like, feel, sound like and what it will taste like. The more senses you call upon the better. Visualizing helps to make this possible future and achieved goals more real. Only when your dreams and goals exist in your minds eye completed and achieved will your body start taking the many steps toward them.

Leave yourself visual reminders of your goals

Put up post it notes with your goals on them. Write your goals in the margins or inside covers of your notebooks. Send yourself future dated e-mail reminding yourself to focus on your goals. Get software get posters get crayons if you want just get creative with remembering your goals. The only way these reminders of your goals will work is if they can knock you out of our stupor during your normal work day.

Tell your friends

Speak about your passions and goals often. Tell your friends tell strangers tell your cat. The more you involve other people the more committed you force yourself to be to your goals. All the poor people you tell will become walking breathing reminders of your commitment to your goals and the fact that your name is on the line. Always remember though your goals are for you. So use the livestock around your cubicles and the love of your friends and family to your advantage for a change.

Research success

Spend your free time reading about people who exhibit the values you wish to have. Find people who have succeed in areas you desire success. The exercise will teach you how how it’s done also you’ll learn from the mistakes from others. The most powerful lesson I take from research is that it is possible. How empowering is that statement? It is possible! As soon as you allow that thought into your life a lot of excuses disappear like manure in the sun.

The only way to achieve your dreams is to live your goals. Use these techniques and any others you come across to incorporate your goals in your living.

See also: How to use Evernote and GTD for setting and achieving goals and objectives

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