April 6, 2010

Life is what happens to you… Was inspired by John Lennon.

Posted by stephenlafond under 36525 days, Choices, Courage, Decision, Here, Life leadership, Now, Results, Time, Wasting time | Tags: , , , , , , , , |
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“Life is what happens to you while your busy making other plans”

John Lennon (1940-80) British rock musician

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We often say things like, “when I’m older, I’ll do this; if I had more time, I would start this project; when my children are grown up, I’ ll have more time to take  care of myself.” If, If, If, when, when, when…are just excuses to test our determination.

When we really care about someone, we do what we must do.

When we really care about something, we become very creative in order to get what we want.

What we can be, we must become, ultimately, it is one of the best ways to be at peace with ourselves.

Stop waiting and Start acting NOW.

 

What are you waiting for?

 

April 4, 2010

Are you aware or not ?

Posted by stephenlafond under 36525 days, Aware, Awareness, Choices, Here, Now | Tags: , , , , , , , , |
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“The aim of life is to live, and to live means to be aware,

 joyously, drunkenly, serenely, divinely aware.”

Henry Miller (1891-1980) US novelist

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When I am completely aware and living in the NOW, it is easier for me to accept the things as they really are and not as I want them to be. It’s when I’m preoccupied with the potential problems of the future that I lose most of my awareness. This is why it is so important for us to put things in perspective, especially a long-term perspective. If I ask myself questions like the following ones;

What will I think of this particular problem in 1, 5 or 10 years?

How will I feel about this frustration a week from now?

Why am I so annoyed with this person?

How can I keep my calm when I’m stuck in a traffic jam?

Who cares if this stranger is insulting me?

… you can continue with your own questions here.

When we think of it, it is often these petty annoyances that disturb us the most.

After we take the time to answer these questions with a long term perspective in mind, we can start to live in the NOW again, and that improves our quality of life. Awaress is in the NOW .

 

Why does it take so much time to so many of us to understand this simple reality?

Or if we understand it, why is it so difficult to practice in our own lives?

 

 

April 2, 2010

The thief of time

Posted by stephenlafond under 36525 days, Time, Time magagement, Wasting time | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , |
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“Procrastination is the thief of time.”

Edward Young (1683-1765) British poet

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A lot of people are afraid to lose their health.

In most cases, we can and will regain our health.

A lot of people are afraid to lose their friends.

We can always make new friends.

A lot of people are afraid to lose their money.

But we can always earn more money.

Very few people are conscious of the time they are wasting

Procrastination robs us of our time, life is short.

In which area of your life are you procrastinating?

Why ?

 

April 2, 2010

Time is a great teacher

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“Time is a great teacher, but unfortunately it kills all its pupils”           

Hector Berlioz (1803-1869) French composer

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Time is a great teacher when we dare to make mistakes.

Time is a greater and more effective teacher when we accept to learn from our mistakes.

Time is the greatest and wisest teacher when we learn from the mistakes of others and avoid to make them ourselves.

Time will eventually kill all of us, and since we don’t know when, one of the most important lessons Time can teach us is:  To live each day like if it was our last .

What would you do differently if you learned that you had 100 days left to live?

If you can find YOUR right answer to this question,  Why wait ?

 

April 1, 2010

Now is the time!

Posted by stephenlafond under 36525 days, Courage, Life leadership, Time, Time magagement, Wasting time | Tags: , , , , , , , , , |
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“Now is the time”

Martin Luther King Jr. (1929-1968)

American civil rights leader & Noble prize Prize winner

 

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Martin Luther King died at 39 years of age. When we look at everything he accomplished in such a short period of time,

I think that he fully practiced what he preached. He was totally focused on his task.

What fascinates me is that with so little time, he produced RESULTS that are timeless.

Doesn’t it fascinate you that he accomplished so much in so little time?

How focused are you on YOUR tasks , on YOUR projects, on YOUR life passion?

What will be YOUR legacy?

Do you even care?

 

 

March 31, 2010

Marcus Aurelius

Posted by stephenlafond under Consequence, Decision, Illusion, Important question, Life leadership, Thing | Tags: , , , , , |
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“The first rule is, to keep an untroubled spirit.”

“The second is to look things in the face and know them for what they are.”

Marcus Aurelius (121–180)
Roman emperor and philosopher

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When I try to live each day like if it was be my last, it gives me “an untroubled spirit” because of the satisfaction of having done the best that I could with the resources and the opportunities that were given to me.

When I try to look things in the face, it forces realism on me, it is not what happens to me, it is how I react to what happens to me.

Do you find it difficult to look at things for what they really are?  

                                                 OR                                             

 Do you INSIST on seeing things AS YOU WANT to see them? 

 

March 30, 2010

Excerpt from “The Law of Clarity” from Brian Tracy

Posted by stephenlafond under 36525 days, Choices, Clarity, Consequence, Life leadership, Results, Time magagement | Tags: , , , , , , , |
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I’m sharing with you some passages from the text “The Law of clarity” from Brian Tracy.

Here it is,

The Law of Clarity
By: Brian Tracy
Clarity accounts for probably 80% of success and happiness. Lack of clarity is probably more responsible for frustration and underachievement than any other single factor. People with clear, written goals, accomplish far more in a shorter period of time than people without them could ever imagine.  Your success in life will be largely determined by how clear you are about what it is you really, really want.

The more you write and rewrite your goals and the more you think about them, the clearer you will become about them. The clearer you are about what you want, the more likely you are to do more and more of the things that are consistent with achieving them. Meanwhile, you will do fewer and fewer of the things that don’t help to get the things you really want.

I have nothing more to add.

 

March 29, 2010

Why are they kvetching all the time?

Posted by stephenlafond under Choices, Complaining, Important question, Kvetching, Life leadership, Time magagement, Wasting time | Tags: , , , , |
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It seems to me that some people are complaining and complaining and do nothing else.

If only they would realize how short life really is, they would come to the conclusion that their complaining is a waste of precious time, time that will never come back.

Since our time is so limited, doesn’t it make sense to figure out what we really enjoy and try to spend as much time as possible doing it? Again, I know, it is so obvious, so why are there so few people doing it?We all have responsibilities, but we also have spare time, and it is in that spare time that we can improve our quality of life.  

 Shouldn’t we all try to find a way to make a living while having fun?

Do you find yourself complaining too much?

Do you think it’s a waste of time and energy?

 

March 28, 2010

Happy or unhappy?

Posted by stephenlafond under 36525 days, Choices, Consequence, Decision, Important question, Results | Tags: , , , , , |
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Why do a lot of people keep doing the same things over and over even when it makes them unhappy? They complain but change nothing.

They focus on the externals and neglect what is going on inside their minds.

They invest money on their houses, on their cars, on their swimming pools, on their boats and don’t invest money in their minds, on their skills and on their personal development.

They sit on their couch in the living room watching other people on television live their lives  and make money doing it when they could be living their own lives fully.

They talk about diets and health  endlessly without realizing they are sitting on the couch with a bag of chips and soda. All talk and no action.

This is just a personal observation.

And then again, without being aware of time going by…

What is YOUR relation between happiness and how you invest your free time?

 

March 27, 2010

Advice from the great Socrates

Posted by stephenlafond under 36525 days, Control, Important question, Socrates, Time magagement | Tags: , , , , , |
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Socrates said many years ago “A life unexamined is not worth living”

Well, why is it that most people don’t take the time to quiet their minds and take a look at their lives?

Why don’t they don’t ask themselves some important questions like;

Who am I?

What do I want to do with my life?

What are my natural talents or skills?

What makes me happy or unhappy?

What am I afraid of and why?

Who do I like to spend time with?

Do I like my job and why?  Why not?

Why am I afraid to change my job?

What can I do to improve my circumstances?

What do I control and what don’t I control?

How much time do you invest trying to answer YOUR important questions?

 

 

March 26, 2010

Sweet illusion, disappointing results

Posted by stephenlafond under 36525 days, Choices, Illusion, Life leadership, Results, Time magagement, Wasting time | Tags: , , , , , , , |
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One of the great illusions in our life is to be addicted to busyness, it gives us the feeling of being productive, but are we really?There are so many demands in our life that it becomes very easy to lose focus.Our attention is requested by family members, people who depend on us and friends who want to spend time with us.Then there is the information overload or all kinds of other activities. It’s not always easy to SAY NO to less important activities when we should  SAY YES to our most important projects. It requires constant vigilance.

The time that we waste will never come back. I repeat; the time that we waste will never come back.

It is a sad reality but it is also a great wake-up call.

How do you make sure that you don’t waste too much precious time?

 

March 25, 2010

We are so busy…Oh yes? Busy doing what?

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From the moment that I know what I want, I should increase the amount of time that I invest on what I really care about and reduce or eliminate the time that I spend on non-important things. I should try to be aware as often as possible. I mean COMPLETELY AWARE.

The intensity of my desire on the project will influence how long it will take me to accomplish it.

Most people are busy, some are very busy, the question is ; Are they busy doing what they really care about?

 

March 23, 2010

Why do so many people waste so much time?

Posted by stephenlafond under 36525 days, Choices, Life leadership, Time magagement, Wasting time | Tags: , , , , , |
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I’m astonished how so many people in so many fields of activity and from different backgrounds are wasting so much time. Think of all the kids who are wasting too much time on video games instead of learning practical and useful skills. Think of all the adults who are wasting too much time watching television or surfing aimlessly on the Web. Think of all the people of all ages wasting time on the phone or chatting on the net. What a waste of resources. Of course, we need to relax once in a while and it is good sometimes to do some mindless activities. But how much is too much?

 

What do you think ?

 

 

March 23, 2010

Don’t Take My Word, Read This Book!

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My life is the result of my hourly and daily choices. My number of days is limited and this is why I must make the choices that I really care about.

A good book to read that illustrates this point of view is CHASING DAYLIGHT by Eugene O’Kelly, a story of a successful executive who learns that he has brain cancer and about 100 days left to live. His priorities turned upside down and he explains to us in his own words that what used to be his “KING VALUES”, commitment to his family, job and responsabilities became, after receiving his diagnosis awareness,complete awareness of the time left. 

Shouldn’t we review our values and priorities before Life forces us to do it?

 

March 22, 2010

Do I Always Make The Right Choice?

Posted by stephenlafond under 36525 days, Choices, Consequence, Life leadership | Tags: , , , , , |
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Do I always choose correctly, obviously NO.

Do I always practice what I preach, unfortunately NO.

Ask my wife, she’ll be happy to confirm ….

And by becoming aware of this, I keep improving every day.

I control what I eat, drink or don’t drink. I decide to exercise or not to exercise. I can waste time surfing the web aimlessly OR I can read good books with a clear objective in mind. I can stay by myself or meet with interesting people. I can take some classes or stay ignorant. I can be generous or greedy. I can be patient or impatient. I can be angry or peaceful. I can be dissatisfied or thankful.  I can be optimistic or negative. I control with who I want to spend time with and who I don’t want to spend time with. I decide who can influence me and who can’t . These choices are mine and mine alone most of the time.

How often do you consider the consequences of your own choices?

 

February 16, 2010

No More Time To Waste!

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This is when I decided to calculate the approximate number of days that I had left to live. I took the life expectancy of the average male in Canada in 2005 and it gave me approximately 15600 days left to live.

This is when I started to count mine 15600,15599,15598,15597.

It made me realize that I had already lived 14326  days. I had lived about half my life already …….behind me , bye bye …..I will never see those days ever again.

I WISH I HAD KNOWN THIS EARLIER…

This was a  shock to me because there was so much more I wanted to accomplish.

Who wants to have regrets on their deathbed?

My first reflex was to see how I could influence the number of days I have left. So I decided to invest more time in exercising and eating better. I made a list of things and places that I wanted to see, visit and do before my life is over. I checked how I could incorporate my list of dreams and projects into my  personal dashboard.

These are the kind of things I could change quickly without much thinking.

What do you intend to do with your time left?

 

February 5, 2010

What’s Next?

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I started to identify my most important goals that I really cared about. The kind of things that if I were on my deathbed, I would  regret not doing.

So I made a list of all the activities and projects that I really cared about.

My original list had 114 projects and goals to accomplish.

Now with a wife, young children and a business to run, where would I find the time to accomplish all these goals?

This is when I started to count how many potential days that I had left to live. When I fully realized that my time is limited, that is was impossible to do it all, that’s when I fully grasped the concept of priorities. Before I would prioritize some minor tasks and would fail to prioritize some significant goals.

So I decided to set some goals that I have been procrastinating about for too long and set a deadline with a clear and measurable objective. That was the easy part.

Then I had to find a way to measure the results and the progress.

So I created a spreadsheet and built myself a personal dashboard. I was already using a dashboard in my business and I was measuring the desired results. So I figured it wouldn’t hurt to try it in my personal life.

That was another easy part.

But how was I to be certain to accomplish my goals? I had to create a sense of urgency. To remind myself constantly of the brevity of life. The fear of not being able to accomplish my most important goals is a strong motivator. I also tried to set a deadline to get myself to move it.

When was the last time that YOU asked YOURSELF ;

“WHAT DO I REALLY WANT?”

                       and

“HOW BADLY DO I WANT IT?”

 

January 27, 2010

How Long Do You Expect To Live?

Posted by stephenlafond under 36525 days, Choices, Consequence, Important question, Life expectancy, Life leadership, Results, Time magagement, Wasting time | Tags: , , , , , |
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How many days do you or I have left to live on this planet?

Life goes quickly and the clock is ticking.

Time is life’s most precious asset.

A human life has a potential of approximately 36525 days to live. (100 years)

Did you ever stop your daily activities to think about that?

Every night when I go to bed, when I fall asleep , I have one less  day to live.

Yes I know, It sounds obvious, but when was the last time  you really considered that? Were you ever aware of this?

This is what it looks like.

36525,36524,36523,36522 if I am a newborn.

27395,27394,27393,27393 if I am 25 years old

18263,18262,18261,18260 if I am 50 years old

9131,9130,9129,9128 if I am 75 years old

1826,1825,1824,1823 if I am 95 years old

365,364,363,362 if I am 99 years old

This scenario is based on a perfect life potential, in a perfect world.

Now, in reality, my life expectancy will be influenced by which part of the world I am born in. It also depends on whether I am born a male or a female.

Life expectancy may vary between 35 and 85 years old depending on which country I am born in.

For example if the life expectancy in my country of origin is 35 years old , I should expect to live 12780 days as a potential.

If the life expectancy in my country is 85 years old , I should expect to live approximatively 31046 days.

Next comes the hereditary factors on which I have very little control over, like an unexpected and unforgiving cancer and other uncontrollable circumstances such as car accidents, sport accidents, plane crashes …….I’ll let you meditate on this matter until next time.

How long do you expect to live?                         

 

 

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