36525 days to live

Most of us underestimate the power of incremental change over time.

It seems to me that we have a tendency to  think that we must take dramatic steps in order to achieve something significant.

Confucius said:  A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.

Everything in life starts with a single step.

You learn to walk and you fall.

You learn your ABC and you forget at first.

You learn to add, substract and multiply and make mistakes.

You jump in the pool and sink under until someone teaches you how to swim.

Do you remember learning how to drive the shift stick?

Enough examples…

Why do so many people give up before they even start?

I believe that one of the reasons is that they start with unrealistic expectations.

In fact, so unrealistic that you can’t help but become discouraged.

The solution for this is to set for yourself some realistic goals that you are certain to achieve.

And reward yourself as soon as you reach your objective.

Then aim for another goal A.S.A.P.

Reward yourself again.

Rewarding yourself is very important especially if the challenge is difficult.

Over time, you will look back and realize how much you have accomplished or how much you have learned.

I encourage you to make small, daily investments that will soon lead to big results.

Just like the painter, with each stroke of the brush is getting closer to his masterpiece.

Each incremental change will bring you closer to your overall goal.

Your life will be your own living masterpiece.

We can increase our efficiency and our effectiveness by becoming better and better at our key tasks. One of the most powerful of all time management techniques is for us to get better at the most important things we do. Our core competencies, our key skill areas, the places where we are absolutely excellent at what we do, are the key determinants of our productivity, our standard of living, and the level of achievement we reach in our field.

Think of all the great achievers for a moment. Albert Einstein apparently couldn’t remember his own phone number. Why ? because it wasn’t important to him. He said that he never bothered to remember things he could find in a reference book. He didn’t want to clutter his mind with non-essential information.

Now think of Céline Dion. Does she know how to cook? Yes, of course she knows how to cook. But cooking is not her greatest talent. Singing is HER GREATEST TALENT. So for the last 30 years, she invested most of her energy on her greatest talent.

Me? I run a small business, and if you ever managed a small business, you know that we always have limited resources compared to big corporations and the public sector. I used to try to do it all, try to know it all and not sleep at all. But not anymore. Why? Because it’s impossible. For the last 10 years or so, I have been working and using mostly my talents. What I don’t like or what I’m not good at, I try to find people who can perform these tasks better than I ever will. The book that really woke me up to this fact is this one;

I recommend each one of you to read this book and fill up the online questionnaire to get to know your own strengths.

Thinking of yourself now: what is the single skill ( if you developed and focused on it completely) that would have the greatest positive impact on your life?  What is the one skill that determines the speed at which you complete your major tasks and achieve your goals?

Hints ? Usually it is something that you enjoy doing very much and it doesn’t feel to you like it’s a job

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What is the difference between efficient and effective?

The real question for me is : Is There A Life BEFORE Death ?

When they asked  Henry David Thoreau his opinion on the afterlife, he answered to them: One Life At The Time.

Sometimes , it seems to me that some of the people who worry the most about the afterlife are often the ones who don’t know what to do with this one.

Why should we worry about the unknown, why should we worry about something over which we seem to have very little control?

I hear many people talking about faith and yet, at the same time worrying constantly, how can they worry and have faith at the same time?

Isn’t worrying the opposite of faith?

Do you spend too much of your time worrying about things over which you have no control?

A good exercise to do regularly is to make a list with 2 columns. On the first column, write down the things over which you have control and on the other one, the things on which you have absolutely no control like the weather, the attitude of others around you or the choices that politicians make.

This exercise is good because it shows us clearly where we should focus our attention and invest our efforts.

On the things we can influence or have a certain level of control.

The other column?

Just let it go!

Really?

Yes really. Just let it go!

This way, perhaps you will improve the quality of your life while you are alive …