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?

Posted by stephenlafond under 36525 days, Choices, Life leadership, Time magagement | Tags: , , , , , , , , , |
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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!

Posted by stephenlafond under 36525 days, Life leadership, Time magagement | Tags: , , , , , |
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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?

 

March 15, 2010

What Control Do You Have Over Your Daily Choices?

Posted by stephenlafond under 36525 days, Choices, Control, Decision, Life leadership, Time magagement | Tags: , , , , |
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I must figure out what I have control over and what I don’t have control over.

So what do I have control over?

I have some control on the choices that I make here and now.

In every 24 hour period, I try to make the best choices possible with the knowledge, the resources and the opportunities that I have.

Every minute, well not every minute but as often as possible, I try to become aware of my thoughts and my decisions. When I try to choose correctly at every moment, I should have a good and productive hour, when I try to choose correctly every hour, I should have a good and productive day, when I try to choose correctly every day, I should end up with a good and productive week, and month, and year and decade ….

What control do you have over your daily choices?

 

February 16, 2010

No More Time To Waste!

Posted by stephenlafond under 36525 days, Choices, Life leadership, Time magagement | Tags: , , , , |
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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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