September 2012

Episode 143 – Tons Of Pain Without A Chance Of Gain

When I began to hit the gym – regularly – about 7 years ago, I heard and read the phrase alot, “No pain, no gain.” An even better phrase was, “Pain is the weakness leaving your body.”

We want to lose weight. And we want it to be easy. And fast.

We want to launch a business. And we want it to be easy. And fast.

Easy and fast.

It’s how we want our food, entertainment, education and whatever else we’re clamoring after.

Just because somebody somewhere experienced success easy and fast doesn’t mean it’s a model we can replicate. We love outlier stories though. They’re fascinating. They fuel our imaginations where we’re at the center of that story.

Lotteries employ that story in their marketing. Plop down a few bucks for a chance (slim and none) to win millions! Your life could change tonight, when you watch the local news and they announce those winning numbers. It could be YOU. It’s got to be somebody…why not you?

Because statistically it’s highly improbable.

Start a business. As long as you’re passionate about it, you can make it. Others do. Others have. Why not you?

Because statistically it’s highly improbable.

Today’s show is only a cautionary story, not one designed to get you to never take a chance. I just want to encourage you to take some smarter chances. Be wise. Avoid foolish failure. The world needs you to succeed.

I’m irked at those who prey on people who lack knowledge. That’s why I hit record today.

I love this saying, mostly because it’s so true:

“Everything is hard until it’s easy.”

Thank you for listening,

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How Well Do You Wrestle Your Schedule?

There are many things I’d like to change about my schedule, work flow and efficiency.

And I’m a guy who is pretty bent toward such activities, but it’s hard to get on track and even harder to stay there.

I’ve got lots of books on productivity. I read lots of blogs on productivity. And yes, I listen to Erik J. Fisher‘s new podcast Beyond The To-Do List. By the way, it’s a terrific podcast and I enjoy listening to what other people do.

Lately, a few things have compelled me wrestle my schedule to the ground. Again. Seems like I no sooner pin it down…then it gets back up and kicks my butt. Schedules are tough to create and even tougher to keep.

Here are my current motivators:

One, I juggle way too many books at one time. It’s a life long habit, but one that I’d like to change.

Two, and this one is much more difficult…I’d like to figure out a way to schedule better sleep habits. That may not be possible, but I need to try!

Three, I need to produce the podcast and release it the same day (and time) each week. This one is probably the easiest of the three.

Ryan Drean is a Dallas-based radio imaging expert who podcasts at Ryan On The Radio. I’m not in his space, but I enjoy his podcasts. He admits that a sporadic schedule rules his podcasting. Since I use iTunes to catch the podcasts I listen to, it doesn’t much matter to me when folks produce their shows. But it would be nice to hear Ryan more often. Then again, there’s the power of keeping ’em coming back for more.

It brings to mind the two parts of a schedule: a) when we produce, create, build, etc. and b) when we consume, read, watch or listen.

How do YOU consume content? Blogs, podcasts, videos, magazines, books, music, TV…content happens in more formats today than ever before!

Do you use an RSS reader? Do you use a podcast catcher like iTunes or Stitcher?

Do you schedule consumption of stuff or do you just snag it when it arrives (many people do)?

Do you schedule social media?

If you’re in sales, do you schedule making sales calls? If you’re a designer, artist or other creative type – do you wait for inspiration or do you report to work?

So many questions that we all need to spend more time answering. And if you’re like me you need to revisit what you’re currently doing because deep down, you know you could do a better job of managing your schedule (your time, your calendar).

No matter how organized or efficient I may be, it never takes very long before the schedule or process I’ve established is thrown out the window. It’s the nature of entropy. Over time everything decays. Nothing improves over time on its own.

I’ve made up my mind that every 2 weeks I need to re-examine my schedule including when and how I get things done. For me, entropy can begin to rule that quickly so I want to keep knocking it down before it gets back up, fully on its feet and slays me.

What about you?

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Episode 142 – The Power Of Dread (And A Yellow Fly Swatter)

Podcast: Download | HTML5 Playback

Dread.

It strikes us when we look at our phone to see a person who whips us.

It hits when an email arrives with the subject line, “Past Due.”

Dread can be major, life changing stuff. It can be a very minor daily beating we seem destined to endure.

That’s the power of dread? No. Well, it is a power, but it’s not the power I’m talking about.

I think dread can serve us. It can help us. It can make us better.

Listen to the show and I’ll explain the power of a yellow fly swatter!

We have to do some hard work to let dread work for us. It won’t just happen automatically.

It won’t be easy. But it will be very worthwhile. I promise!

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