Archive for category Action
If you could talk to yourself in 5 years time, what would you say?
Posted by Tristan Rayner in Action on May 20, 2009
Don’t you wish you could talk to your younger self? You could let yourself know how life is, what mistakes not to make, how to get ahead, or that you should invest in that little start-up Google.
What about hearing from yourself in five years time? Leave a message for yourself now, and then read or hear that message in five years.
You can say all sorts of things. Make threats – “you’d better not be doing something you don’t like”, or“you’d better not be smoking again”. Remind yourself of what life was like, who you were best friends with, what you were doing on that day.
More importantly, you can ask yourself – are you living the life you want?
(Apparently careers websites thrive off this sort of thing too)
I really wanted to share this idea because it can be something amazing. Use it to inspire. Right now, work out what you really want and hold yourself to it. Hear from yourself on your birthday as a nice surprise. It doesn’t have to be five years either, it’s your choice as to when you hear from yourself. Set your goals and aims, and work towards those aspirations.
I’d love to hear your message to yourself and feel inspired by your own goals and aspirations. Even if it’s an abridged version that hides personal stuff, give it a go! My own message will be in the comments below.
Ed note: Since writing this I got a Twitter message with a link to EmailFuture. This site offers a free way to send yourself emails in the future. It might be worth a look.
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Effective action: The tip you must know before starting
Posted by Tristan Rayner in Action on May 17, 2009
Understand the problem before trying to solve it Source: kirtaph
Unfortunately, lots of us work on things that take hours for little reward. Sometimes we miss the mark completely. You can plan, mindmap, plan some more, hold meetings, work hard and still deliver a poor result.
Effective action delivers the desired result. To do this, your project needs to start in the right way. The key to this:
Don’t solve the problem too soon.
We look almost exclusively at the solution rather than the problem. It’s easy for us to get excited about what solutions we can provide without a proper understanding of what is required. Resist the temptation to start thinking about the solution and get a comprehensive understanding.
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Six ways to escape analysis paralysis
Posted by Tristan Rayner in Action, Productivity, Success on May 10, 2009
Image source: Jake Botter
Rushing blindly into a project is a great way to understand the old adage: Failing to plan is planning to fail.
You’ll get knocked around. You’ll realise you made a ton of mistakes, and that’ll learn ya’. You’ll definitely do better next time.
But we rarely get the opportunity to take another shot, or a second chance. If we do get that chance, it can be expensive or a big waste of time, or both.
Then there’s the other side. Governments and councils know about planning. Committees can be formed at the drop of a hat to dwell on important matters. There are meetings. Studies. Big unwieldy plans are made. Nothing happens for years. It’s a case of analysis paralysis.
Planning is just as important and necessary as taking action, but moderating the two is essential.
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Five Ways To Beat Procrastination
Posted by Tristan Rayner in Action, Productivity, Success on May 4, 2009
(Time Lost by gothick_matt @ Flickr)
You are wasting your valuable time through procrastination. Feel guilty? It happens to the best of us. It’s not necessarily bad either. Procrastination can be great for you. Some people would never have a clean house unless they had a report due. Others delay about buying something and don’t make a decision which saves them money (but they possibly never really get what they want – something I’ve talked about here).
Now I’m going to keep this short. This text is small, and you’ve probably got 100 other things to do. Even right now you’re probably thinking I’ll bookmark this to read it later. Well, I’m here to tell you about taking action, and you’re here reading so you might as well keep going…
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Book Review: Reclaim Your Dreams by Jonathan Mead
Posted by Tristan Rayner in Action, Book Reviews on May 2, 2009
Reclaim Your Dreams
This week I’ve been reading, exploring, and reviewing Reclaim Your Dreams by Jonathan Mead. In relation to this blog, I’m interested in how this ebook helps us take action, and I’ll be exploring relevant topics in this review.
Jonathan Mead is a writer who wants people to follow their dreams and be true to themselves. Taking action in his terms comes from realising who you are and what you want. Your current job and lifestyle may not be what you wish for but even without realising it, you bury your dreams by fitting in, conforming, and generally being “domesticated”. His blog is over at Illuminated Mind, and it shares a lot more of these thoughts and ideas. It’s a regular source of inspiration for myself.
Therefore, when an offer came to read his latest ebook Reclaim Your Dreams, I jumped at the chance. In short, Reclaim Your Dreams wants you to wake up and go for those passions and dreams that you are inspired by but cannot realise without changing the way you think.
There are two main sections in the book, broadly broken up into tuning into yourself to discover what you want (Part 1), and then making it happen (Part 2).
I was skeptical of the terrific claims made at the start of the book, but optimistic of what was inside. It’s easy to make a claim – it’s a lot harder to back it up. For me personally, when I picked up the ebook, I couldn’t really think of any dreams that stood out or untapped desires I was h0lding back. I wasn’t going to start dreaming easily – but I was willing to explore.
Read more
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Look beyond your trappings to take action
Posted by Tristan Rayner in Action on April 25, 2009
Are you trapped watching the clock? Photo: badboy69
When I started a new job at a consultancy, I was quite surprised to find that when talking about money, everyone talked in terms of hourly rates and what they make an hour, rather than overall salary package.
Because every as consultant works at a chargeout rate, everyone thinks in terms of hours. I found it amazing how quickly how dividing everything into hours becomes a mindset that influences actions.
Dinner out becomes 4 hours work, a holiday is worth 5 weeks work, a house mortgage – infinite. It’s even worse for lawyers and accountants, who book their time in 6-minute intervals.
Working more and more seems to become beneficial! A quick trip into work on Saturday means a few more hours for a few more immediate dollars. The urgency builds, and suddenly you’re thinking if I don’t work back, I’m throwing that money away! It’s not that you’re money-hungry, you just can’t imagine doing anything but trading your time for money.
It’s a trapping that many fall into. You spend your time looking at the ground, chasing every hour. The wide open sky, full of opportunity, is lost, as you run along hunting to justify your next hour. The grand scheme of life is lost. Forest from the trees, and all that implies.
How can you take action to develop yourself when you start dividing your life into an hour by hour basis?
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Living without a life: remedying regret with action
Posted by Tristan Rayner in Action on April 18, 2009
Focus on what really matters - don't let yourself become old and wistful
The New York Times recently had an article which discussed the findings of various studies at the Columbia U (.pdf) which looked into hyperopia, which when used in this context, means excessive farsightedness.
The study examined the commonly held belief that choosing vices generates regret.
In other words, the study wanted to look into whether or not those who carefully avoid short-term indulgances, such as impulse-buying, suffer any regret from their hyperopia. Do some people look too far ahead to enjoy the present, and experience a type of remorse?
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Book Review: Everything is Negotiable – How to get the best deal everytime by Gavin Kennedy
Posted by Tristan Rayner in Action, Book Reviews, Success on April 10, 2009
Everything Is Negotiable
I’ve always loved books and found that for a few years during University and studies that I’d really cut down on the number of books I’ve been reading. I hadn’t stopped reading – I was just spending more time surfing the net or reading textbooks and coursework. And often frittering away my time!
I’ve also decided to read more non-fiction books related to personal development and an understanding of the world at large. Last week I mentioned the Personal MBA and since then I have brought a few copies of starter books (thanks Booko) and ones that looked most interesting to me as of right now. More of them as they come.
A book that I picked up awhile ago and have been perusing carefully has been Everything Is Negotiable – How to get the best deal every time by Gavin Kennedy.
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The New Man Of Action
Posted by Tristan Rayner in Action on February 22, 2009
It's time to take action. Source: Brent Nelson
The New Man Of Action is me – Tristan. I’m a young man looking to achieve. I have the drive and the will to make something of myself. I probably have the smarts too. I like working, I enjoy putting effort into projects, and I’d love to run my own business.
However, I lack focus. I have all sorts of ideas all the time, and lack the organisation, commitment, and time management skills to really push past the early stages It’s taken awhile to realise this too – the moment came when I was talking to my Dad about a new idea I’d had. His comment – “you’ll never follow through with that“. Maybe he was right?
That’s the problem, and it’s time to take action. No more stuffing around, never making dreams realities. Take some risks, take a change, see where it goes.
The New Man Of Action is born. It feels good to start something.
The site will explore organisation techniques, time management, motivation, commitment, willpower, and the darker sides: procrastination, lack of drive, and more. It should be a fun, interesting, and challenging ride.
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In the beginning, the site was void, and without form…
Posted by Tristan Rayner in Action on February 22, 2009
Cold, bare, but rich in possibilities
Stay tuned. The New Man Of Action is live.
Look forward to much more content as I introduce myself and the blog, and get into some action.
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