Taking notes can be very difficult for people like me. My attention is always torn between the speaker and what I am writing. Often times, I write too much of the not important stuff and miss the important stuff while I write the unimportant. 

“Uhh… what did she say while I was writing ‘The restrooms are up the hallway to the left’ ?”

It’s frustrating to me and apparently many others out there. I found out that for me a better technique is Mind Mapping. By simply jotting one word thoughts and branching them out, I could write faster, keep the ideas straight while also maintaining attention.

Below is my interview with my friend Gina Trapani over at Fast Company where Gina gives her method and I describe mine. Which one works best for you? Let us know in the comments.

What motivates you?  What motivates your family?  What motivates your employees and coworkers?

You might be surprised.

After watching the video, what changes to your personal plan will you make?  Do you see how you can get leverage on yourself? 

Post ideas in the comments below:

“We are going to die, and that makes us the lucky ones. Most people are never going to die because they are never going to be born. The potential people who could have been here in my place but who will in fact never see the light of day outnumber the sand grains of Arabia. Certainly those unborn ghosts include greater poets than Keats, scientists greater than Newton. We know this because the set of possible people allowed by our DNA so massively exceeds the set of actual people. In the teeth of these stupefying odds it is you and I, in our ordinariness, that are here.” – Richard Dawkins

I’ll grant Richard Dawkins‘ views on life and death are controversial, but I still love this quote.

To me, it asks several important questions. Only the naive among us will never consider them and what they mean.

What is life exactly?

To me, life isn’t just waking up, breathing, eating, and muddling through your daily work. I think of that as stagnation.

Where life is the act of growing.

One may say “I’m growing. I grew by 20 pounds last year.”

That’s not the type of growth I am talking about, fatty. I mean growing in mind and developing your natural talents…Becoming more than what you are today — Getting smarter, stronger and becoming an expert in something.

If you aren’t growing, you are stagnant. Stagnant by definition means not advancing or developing.

When we talk about stagnant water, what do you think of? Water that is sick, murky, possibly infected with tapeworms. You don’t want to be infected with tapeworms do you?

Stagnant humans have their own murkiness. They might drink too much alcohol, suffer from depression, or worst of all settle for much less than they are capable. Much of the unemployment and recession woes are a symptom of people becoming stagnant. Not all can be blamed on stagnation, but a good portion can. People simply became too comfortable and trusting that what was easy would be there forever.

Becoming comfortable is a quick way to stagnation. The story goes as follows: He got a job. Liked the job. Did his work. Went home and watched TV for ever and ever. Amen.

Now, aside from that being the second most boring story on the planet, only eclipsed by The Great Gatspy, what can he expect if the company he works for is downsized? What if he gets laid off? What if his retirement account is raided like what happened with Enron? I guarantee, comfort will be the furthest from his mind. Panic will be the new best buddy.

But aside from avoiding calamity through growth, there is a joy we can experience too. Advancing our knowledge in our strong areas can be a lot of fun as well as lead to job security and advancement.

Increasing our expertise often leads to internal self worth and the respect of other people. Try it for a month and you’ll see. Pick up a challenging book that would increase your knowledge in your chosen field. Study it like you are preparing for an important test. Then come back and comment about how you feel.

I guarantee, if you study you won’t get tapeworms!

Those of you who have followed Tom Peters over the years know how much he’s contributed to the growth of excellence in businesses worldwide.    His book In Search of Excellence he co-authored with Robert Waterman is considered “the greatest business book of all time” by many and indispensable by most.

Well, Tom has a new book called The Little Big Things: 163 Ways to Pursue EXCELLENCE.  I am thrilled and honored Mr. Peters included of my essays as one of the ways to pursue excellence!   Mine is pursuit #50 starting on page 136 about how you have to show up to move up.  You can read my contribution by downloading the Acrobat pdf of it here (posted with permission):  Show Up! (It’s a Start.)

My copy of Little BIG Things arrived last week and it is indeed a BIG book – a whopping 576 pages in all.  But it isn’t the type of book you read cover-to-cover in one sitting.  All of the 163 pursuits are condensed nuggets of excellence building tips and strategies.  Pick one, read it, think about it and digest it.

There is a lot you can take out of just one of the tips.  If you employ all 163 you’ll be unstoppable!

“I have never let my schooling interfere with my education.” ~Mark Twain

I didn’t get the best grades in college. Isn’t it funny how by saying I didn’t get the best, it implied I failed? That’s a discussion for another day. But I made mostly A’s and a few B’s. And a C thanks to Chemistry… blah!

There are two reasons I wasn’t valedictorian. One, I didn’t have valedictorian set as a goal – in fact it wasn’t on my radar. But two (and more importantly) I was too busy getting an education to be bothered with too much study.

A college degree is good to have on the outside – it shows people outside yourself you have certain levels of proficiency and smarts. But it doesn’t contribute much to your education – where you will spend most of your lifetime working hours doing.

An education is exploring your passions and natural talents.

For me, much of my college career was spent writing, hacking my computer and improving myself via self development. Is it odd? weird? strange? to see I am still doing those things today and making a living from them?

I think coming to terms and honestly deciding where one’s true interests are is half the battle. It makes getting a true education almost effortless. And it is where you will make your greatest contribution as a human being.

Just make the decision earlier rather than later.

Today’s post was written by Dion Baker.  He is a writer for The Intangible Wealth and a respected song writer, poet, and visual artist.  And he also shares my love of ants.  – Brad

Today I went to the craft store with my wife to return some items we recently purchased. While she was being helped at the register, I decided to venture off into the store to see what else they had in stock. Not too far from the register, I saw several items on the clearance shelves. I perused through the shelves to see if there was anything of interest; not much. The mix of colorful ribbon and Spiderman bookmarks on sale didn’t quite hold my attention. I continued checking out the products to my right and guess what I found? A small pile of children’s books! As I walked toward the books there was a small book at the top titled, “The Ant and the Grasshopper”. Now, I’m excited…

So I picked up the book and started reading.

Here’s the synopsis of the story. There was the Grasshopper, the Ant, and other insects. It was the summertime and the Grasshopper was always being lazy, idle, and playful with his time. The weather was pleasant and he felt he should enjoy it, so he chose to be lazy and not work. But each time he saw another insect they weren’t being lazy, they were working. When he saw the Ant she was carrying food for the winter. He saw the Bee and he had yellow pollen all over his feet from toiling in flower nectar. He saw the Spider and she was threading her web. The Grasshopper was surprised that they were working while the weather was so beautiful. So he told them, “What are you doing? It’s summertime! Put down the work and have fun!” But they all said, “No, no, Grasshopper. We need to work and gather food for the winter! And you need to be gathering food for the winter too!” But the Grasshopper kept playing and never took heed to their advice.

And then the inevitable happened; winter came.

The snow piled and the wind blew and the Grasshopper was left hungry in the frigid cold. He was so cold and hungry that he asked the Ant for shelter and food. The Ant was appalled at the Grasshopper knowing that he spent his summer days in laziness and didn’t heed their advice to work. So the Ant told him:

“If you play all summer, you’ll go hungry all winter”

Summer represents the times that things are easier and winter represents when things are more difficult. Each of these is only a temporary season that comes and goes during our lives. Summer doesn’t last forever and winter is inevitable. When things are easier for us that is the best moment to prepare for the moments they will not be.  Therefore, the best time to ease our sickness (winter) is by preparing ourselves when we are more healthy (summer); the best time to prepare ourselves for difficult financial times (winter) is by saving money when we do have money (summer). The perfect time to gather what we need is during the time we don’t need it.

The Grasshopper didn’t bother gathering his food during the summer. Consequence: when the winter came, he had nothing to eat and was very cold. Why did he end up like that? He spent his days of vitality – when he had the most time and conditions were most comfortable – to indulge in laziness.  We should learn from him, but we should not be like him. Instead, we need to follow the model of the other insects. How so?

Invest our time in accumulating resources of value.

If we do that, the winters won’t feel as cold and hunger won’t trouble as much or at all. As the summer draws to a close, we are reminded that comfortableness is temporary and difficulties are inevitable. I challenge you to reflect upon your last 90 days and think about yourself in terms of your activity. Have you been the Grasshopper or the Ant?

- by Dion Baker from Intangible Wealth

While dropping my kids off at school this morning, I heard them arguing about musical instruments. For 5 minutes I listened to “you will have to play the recorder in your grade!” followed up by “no I won’t!”

Dumb arguments aren’t confined to kids. I once sat in a 2 hour meeting where two people argued over which shade of green to pick for a sidebar on a webpage.

I think before entering into any argument we need to ask ourselves 3 questions:

1. What do I get if I win?
2. What do I lose if I lose?
3. What is the cost of this argument?

I advised my kids: If the answer to questions one and two are nothing then say “okay” and talk about something else.

Costs can come in the form of wasted time & energy, hurt feelings and loss of respect (to name a few). Some arguments are worth having. Others do not benefit us in the least – and only cost us.

So if we’re going to argue, I’m going to make sure there is a benefit to winning or a loss to losing. Otherwise, you can have this win. I’ll save up for when we have something important to argue about.

Have you ever felt stuck?   The other day I got a question on Twitter from a friend who feels stuck with her project. She said “I’ll get one task done and then feel like I can’t go any further. How can I get unstuck?”

Getting stuck can feel like putting forth all your energy to go backwards. It’s stressful because I feel like I should be doing something, but I don’t know what to do. Why? Cause I’m stuck!

Some of my favorite ways to get unstuck  -

1. Sit still - Believe it or not, a great way to get unstuck is to sit still. I’ve written more in depth abou this before. But here’s the simple rule: Sit still in a quiet place for 1 hour. No phone. No TV. No Radio. Relax and the hurdles will desolve and your path will clear.
2. Take a long walk alone - An hour or more walk on your own without the iPhone, Twitter or music playing is the type of solitude that can clear the head and give you direction much like the method above.
3. Measure how much you care - Jonathan Mead writes an excellent way to get unstuck is to measure your care quotient . Do you care? If the answer is really No, then decide what you do care about and do that.
4. Ask a friend - I find talking it out with a friend who knows what I am trying to do can help me get unstuck. But there’s two keys to make this work.
   • The friend has to be honest.
   • I can’t be reactive or defensive about what they say
   • I need to be specific with what I’m experiencing and the end goal – i.e. getting unstuck.

   I’ve found if you just want to complain, that can be fun for awhile. But it won’t help you get unstuck. Being specific by saying “Hey, I’m feeling stuck in my marriage, job or business because ___________________.” Will provide a launching ground for your friend to give you feedback.

   Complaints usually cause friends to come to your defense. Complaints like “I can’t get anything done with her nagging me.” is more likely to lead to  “You don’t deserve that.”  than a ground-breaking unstickable suggestion.

   So although bitching is fun, it won’t get you unstuck.

5. Break it down to the ridiculous - Sometimes when I get stuck it’s due to me not seeing steps needing to be done. I might be looking at the mountain instead of seeing the 5lb. stones that need to be moved. Taking action on a mountain is uncomfortable. It’s scary. But moving a few 5lb. stones is easy. Taking the time to face what truly needs to be done, in the most simplest of terms will unstick many of the most sticky situations.

   So I’d challenge you to take your big problem. Write it down no matter what it is. If it’s “I am stuck in my career and I hate every day of my life” might be hard to admit but it’s a start. But if you do feel it, admit it on paper WITH the intention of changing it. Remember we aren’t going to wallow in it. Complaining is fun, but it’s not as effective as a plan. So start with an honest assessment of where you are now and then clarify it with where you want to be.

   Then take the time – maybe an hour – maybe 3 hours to break down what it will take to change that situation.  It really doesn’t matter how long it takes because when you’re stuck you’re wasting countless hours worrying.

That’s what I think, but what do you think?  Do you have any cool ways to get unstuck?  I know you do.  Share them in the comments below. 

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I am going to pick on my beloved wife for a minute. I was looking at her home office and noticed she had papers scattered everywhere.  Not only on the desk but under it.

Some of the papers important.  Some not.

My first question to myself was “who can work this way?”  Answer:  nobody at least efficiently.

My second question was “How does this happen?”  I mean, she didn’t plan to organize her office like an Exxon bathroom. It started out simple, attractive and easily accessible.

So what is the obstacle to organizing our stuff and more importantly our lives?

In thinking it through, I realized it wasn’t all her fault. Our kids can get into the area and leave their little messes. I’ve probably left a CD lying around here or there when I went to fix a problem on her computer.

So we can chalk up ‘other people’ as being a barrier to our organization.  Others don’t care about our work areas as much as we do.  They care about what they want and if it makes a mess for you, sorry – but they’re in a hurry.

But what else gets in the way of our organizing?

I noticed there was a small trash can (full) sitting in front of (blocking) her filing drawers.  These are the same filing drawers I painstakingly helped her organize – ala GTD – complete with labelmaker’d file folders.

Could this little trash can be part of the problem?

You bet it is.  Because something as simple as filing a sheet of paper into a file folder gets an upgrade from a mere task to a project.

Project: How to file a sheet of paper when your work area is cluttered:

1. Get large trash bag
2. Empty trash can
3. Find new place for trash can.
4. Open drawer
5. Find file
6. File paper

It might sound silly, but that’s how the mind works.  If something simple becomes a project, then you will resist it more.  Won’t you?

But then you can expand on that to cover the whole office.  Everything there is now an obstacle.  To do one thing, you’ve got to do 6 or more other things to get it done.  It should be simple, but it isn’t.

You see, it doesn’t matter the size of the obstacle that matters, it’s the emotional meaning we attach to it. And get this.  Sometimes the emotional meaning makes no sense!

As someone who likes projects, I’d often rather haul landscaping timbers, dig holes and build backyard planters than I would rather empty a shoebox full of items to “put away.”  That box has sat near my dresser for a month now.  Why not empty it?  Because of the emotional “project” I’ve made of it.

Sometimes just shedding conscious light on our mountains made of molehills can make all the difference…

Many people love TaskBlaze.  But admittedly, there are some headaches.  Those who use the old Beta version know it’s got some bugs.  Although it looks simple, there’s a lot of coding that went into building it.

 
Default Skin

Well, I’ve been burning the midnight oil on the latest version.  It fixes a lot of bugs and introduces new features too.  I am tidying up a few things and then will post a beta in a few days.

Here’s a sneak peek of what’s to come:

1. Post what you are doing to Twitter – Feeling social?  You can now Tweet what you are doing via TaskBlaze!  When you start a new task, your you can set it so your task-tweet automatically gets posted to Twitter.   Integration with Facebook and other services on the way.
2. New Timer Engine – I rebuilt the timing engine so it is much more reliable, easier to understand, and more bulletproof.
3. Improved skinning – Those of you who like customizing TaskBlaze can now go hog wild.  Skinning is now “folder based.”  That means pop your skin into a folder and pick it from a dropdown.  You can have as many different skins as you want.

   

   Left4Dead Smoker Skin

4. No more textbox clutter – Want to see your skin?  The Textboxes now hide to display your task, tags and other relevant info.
5. Font color picker – Choose the color of the fonts displayed in Taskblaze.
6. 30 Second Throbber -  What’s a throbber?  In the case of TaskBlaze, it is a ‘blink’ of your main button to catch your attention and remind you to stay on task.  Many wanted this feature.  It’s in the new beta.
7. Display optimized for older PCs – There was a display headache with older PCs where Taskblaze would look funky.  This newly optimized display works for those PCs.
8. Send to a friend – Many of you indicated you wanted an easier way to share the pleasures of TaskBlaze.  Now with the click of a button, TaskBlaze will create you an email that you can customize and send the download link to your friends.

 
Blueblazin’ Skin

I am especially thrilled with the Twitter posting abilities of the new version.  Where Twitter asks “What are you doing now”.  With TaskBlaze you can tell people really what you are doing and track it at the same time.  

So check the blog in a few days and I’ll have a new Beta ready for download.