Get Control of Your Life
with the
ABC’s of Priority Management

If you have never prioritized your activities before, it is hard to know exactly where to start. When we focus on completing tasks, we tend to want to make everything on our list more urgent then it actually is. Start by every morning writing a list of everything that needs to be completed. At the end of the day, check your results against the list. Were you effective?

This very powerful list is you-the boss - directing you - the employee. Without a daily plan - directed with a purpose - nothing changes. Therefore, if it is your plan, your idea, your desire - write it down and track your results. You will become a great employee but an even better boss.

To make it easier for you to prioritize, I have used the ABC's of prioritizing. This is a standard format utilized in most Time Management systems. It helps to ensure you focus and accomplish your high pay-off activities between the other details you are working to accomplish in a day.

A Priority

If you do not accomplish an A priority, it will create financial loss, severe problems, or a loss of credibility. Consider these tasks as "have-to." The activity must be completed within 1-3 days.

B Priority

These have little or no pressure attached. They are generally your "want to do" items. B priorities mean you have established the beginning of balance on your schedule and you are controlling the details. These are the tasks, which come from your Item's To Do Journal and your Flight Plan Goal Setting Journal, if you are using the Strategic Self Management System. If you are a list maker, it would be those items from your list. B priorities should be done between 3-7 days.

C Priority

C items are the ones you have scheduled as "would like to do" if I have time available and so carry no urgency. Whether it is a favor, odd item, any task which can be done at your leisure, would be considered a C priority. This task can easily be accomplished 7+ days with no fear or loss of consequence.

The difficulty with establishing priorities is that we tend to want to make all items on our list an A. This can create an abundance of problems as, no matter how we look at it, we only have 24 hours in a day. All items you mark as an A are items you are absolutely committed to accomplishing for that day. These items carry stress because of the "have to" factor. Select them wisely.

You should consider A priorities as carrying a negative undertone because it should trigger to you that you are reacting to your environment and falling behind in the details. It represents potential problems and it should warn you it is time for a planning session as your tasks are getting in the way of your goals. If you find yourself having a difficult time deciding what priority to label an item, ask yourself, "What will be the result if I don't do it today?" Think about the effect and decide from there.

B priorities are your action steps from your Flight Plan, your To Do List and your monthly priority list. These are the items you wanted to do, are committed to doing, and can accomplish on a timely basis. If you do not have either of these journals, you can easily create an ongoing electronic list or a regular notebook will do. You will want most of your priorities to remain B as often as possible as it means you are in control of your schedule and your life is in balance. You are pro-acting to your plan versus reacting to others. These tasks represent what you WANT. Understanding with realization if you accomplish these tasks, you will have achieved what YOU set out to do.

C priorities are items, which eventually you would like to get to if you have some time available. This could include reviewing advertising materials for marketing ideas. Looking at course flyers to see what skill based learning you may want to take. You may decide to read an article on a new product you are interested in adding to your current line. A business owner may decide to pick up their own mail because they have some time left in their day. C priorities have no consequences attached but if done can create ideas or increase skill based awareness. If a C is on hold - there are no consequences. They are just items you would like to accomplish - if you can.

Wishing you continued success in the accomplishment of your short and long term, predetermined, worthwhile goals.

For more info on Time Management go to: http://www.StrategicSelfManagement.com/about.htm

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Marianne_Van_Weezep

How to Lose Weight & Get Fabulous Abs – Top 5 Things You Must Know

By Marianne Van Weezep

Have you ever wondered, with the amount of diet and weight loss programs, infomercials, books and videos flooding the market place today what it really takes to get fabulous abs? Do you not wonder if all of those things really worked why we are still struggling with obesity? Well, if you are ready to try again, here are some things that can help to make it easier to understand.

Good Luck and God Bless.

Dreams, wishes, Strategic Planning, Organizational Planning, Brainstorming, Problem Solving, participating in Success Workshops are all forms of the goal setting process.  It is where you provide the thought process to determine where you want to go and how you will get there.

Goal setting can seem like work on your first attempt for you have to provide concentrated mental energy to the task.  We are very good at accomplishing tasks through conditioned responses such as grocery shopping, driving, going to work, exercising, shopping, and find these tasks (goals) relatively easy to do.  They are easy because we have learned the “how” of the activity.  We are merely going through the motions.   

During the initial stages of the goal setting process, you are using your mental thoughts to determine all possible outcomes.  You are challenging your ideas and with the use of your imagination you are trying to identify how you can accomplish the new tasks in relation to not only your vision but also by comparing it to your current situation. 

If you have no personal reference point to compare with, you receive new energy awareness from being in unfamiliar territory.  You are now officially out of your comfort zone.     

During the thought development process you require extreme concentration for you have to snag those raw nuggets of personal thought,  get it in writing, and then develop it into a plan which you can mold and form into a gold nugget which brings value otherwise you have either gained an experience or wasted your time. 

The benefits for taking time to identify your direction in life are abundant.  The critical benefit being you actually increase your energy of belief in yourself and the new energy of enthusiasm (which drives your goal) knowing you can accomplish it.  Realizing you ARE in charge of your own destiny.

Think of the goal setting process in the same way as you would the philosophy of saving money.  If you invest now you get your reward later.  All you have to do is think, choose, and act and your reward will be payment in direct proportion to your effort.

What about when you feel tired, stressed and over whelmed in your current day-to-day environment and find it difficult to find the energy to provide the thought required to change the areas of dissatisfaction in your life?  Do the work in spite of yourself.  Sometimes just making the decision to do it gives us a renewed energy.  

Just start writing even if you are uncertain of your outcome.  Do not think about it – just go into the activity of doing.  The starting will propel you into momentum in turn increasing your energy flow and helping to eliminate the sensation of tiredness.

Stay on guard of lurking internal thoughts waiting to sabotage you in your ability to make the necessary changes.  These are usually scripts you have developed to protect yourself from changing.  

You may be familiar with a few commonly used ones:  “I’m tired.”; “I’ll do it later.”; “I can’t think right now.”; “This is too time consuming.”; “I’ll do it when I can afford it.”; “It’s not a good time for me right now.”  It is important to find the ones you use in order for you to be aware of your own saboteurs.

It is challenging to do anything when we are tired but knowing the effort you make in adjusting your goals will give you back time and a quick ROI should help to motivate you to continue trying.  The mental challenge you must develop is the continuous pushing at the identification process until your goals become your reality. 

Understand your energy comes from your internal thought process.  You can control how much and how little you do just based upon your thoughts.  If you think you can – you are right – if you think you can’t you are also right.  This is no secret so direct yourself to push through even when you are tired.  Success is in the details!

We have now officially determined goal setting is work.  It is easier to do the work once you have connected with the idea and recognize everything in life is work.  Washing dishes, cleaning the car, designing a garage, painting walls, reading a book, eating, sleeping, exercising, crocheting, playing video games, watching television, talking with your spouse, disciplining your children, going to the movies, taking a course, drinking a bottle of water – all of these tasks are work as they use up your life energy force.

We each have the same 24 hours in a day.  We each have only so much energy we can expend in a day.  We each have the ability to think.  Your only role in life is to determine, by using the power to choose, the work you want to accomplish.

Time management and goal setting facilitates the exploration and management of the work you identify giving you your greatest value.  The key word here is “you identify.”  You determine what you value.  It is in your choices where you can start to make rapid changes.

That having been said you now know the Buzz Words are merely the work of sorting out the process of your thoughts allowing you to clear up your objectives as to where you wish to direct your life energy. 

The art of Goal Setting is recognizing the different choices in our lives and strategically using our energy to get to our pre-determined result.  Goal setters understand the body is like a battery, only having so much energy in a day, and so pick choices wisely developing a written plan to make it easier to remain focused.

Goal setting is a personal choice.  Anything we have to do in life, we reject.  It seems to drain us of our energy.  Anything we want to do, we accept and no matter how much energy we put into it, we seem to want more.

Goals must have our enthusiasm, our drive, our internal commitment and focused energy to sustain us over time.

Strategic Self-Management:  Part 1 – 3 Critical Factors to Great Time Management   

When time management tools were first implemented, their principal benefit was they promoted tracking of our appointments or commitments.  As the demands for our time increased, time management tools also increased in their functionality.

Today they assist in managing long-term objectives (goals) while strategically managing day-to-day priorities.  The most important purpose is to allow you to monitor and measure your activities to ensure you achieve your expected outcome.

Most people utilize their current time management system solely for tracking appointments with a reminder of their daily activities.  The problem with this is in most cases your system becomes a glorified to do list with the potential of a lot of duplication. 

It requires you to transfer items not completed on your daily schedule.  This continuous writing forward fools the psyche into believing it is working harder than it actually is.  It creates feelings of frustration when we do not complete all the tasks we set before us.  We also run the risk of forgetting to transfer the unfinished task.

The greatest risk is utilizing this method is the danger of losing the information.  It is a well-known fact that success is in the details so you want to ensure your system has adequate tracking in place with the least amount of effort on your part.  To aid you, many software companies have developed electronic time tracking tools to keep all your information grouped into one location, easily allowing you accessibility without having to duplicate your efforts.

Electronic systems do take a bit of time to get used to as most of us are visual learners and thus require the need to be able to see the details spread out.  Electronic systems can also be more time consuming as they require you to have access to it at all times.  This becomes a bit of a challenge when you are out on appointments or away from your desk. Even if you have a hand held organizer, have you have noticed the expression on the faces of people as you are trying to enter your information.  Pen and paper is still a lot faster and easier.

In order to maximize your effectiveness within your own system, it is important to understand that you cannot manage time, only your activities in relation to time.  This system then, instead of being a time management system is looked upon as a project management system.

To get the most out of your system why not try adding an Item’s To Do Journal and a Project Management Journal.  These are the two easiest beginning tools to incorporate, regardless if you use electronic or a manual time tools, especially if you are serious about taking more control of your goals.  Use them to make certain you can monitor and measure both your long term and short-term goals amongst your daily requirements. 

The three critical factors to managing time management are:

  1.  A Time Management Day Planner:  Utilizing a time management system, which incorporates a scheduler, an individual To Do Journal and a Project Management Journal?  By prioritizing your appointments, goals, and non-related tasks, you have a greater chance of holding yourself accountable to tight deadlines.  

    2.    Holding Weekly Reviews with Yourself:   A weekly review will allow you to focus on transferring any details, which may be unresolved from the previous week.  It also allows you to determine if you accomplished what you set out to do.  Some questions to ask yourself are, “Did I accomplish my number one priority this week?  Did I accomplish my #1 personal goal?  If not, why not?  What did I learn this week?  What can I do better?  The clearer your questions, the easier it is to come up with new activities to challenge yourself to grow.

    3.  Updating Accountable/Measurable Tracking Systems:  The sure success of any great plan is in direct proportion to the tracking systems put in place.  This allows for flexibility of change and correction anywhere along the implementing of your goal.  So let us say your personal goal is to read 12 books this year.  Do you have a record of where you can track these to ensure you are indeed accomplishing your goal?  If you were working a sales or financial goal – do you have an excel spreadsheet to track your results?

Good time management principals come easy with practice.  Have fun with it and know it is all for your success!

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Marianne_Vanjecek

What does it take to stay ahead in a fast paced, recessionary time?  Where multi-tasking has become the keyword fundamental to any great resume in the market place.  Where job demands far exceed the regular boundaries of what used to seem practical for an honest day’s work and where the line-ups for these jobs today are reaching thru borders?

In today’s fast moving economy, it has become more important than ever to begin the discovery of how you can increase your productivity through wise time management principles.  These age old practices, with a twist of incorporating the advancements of technology with the primary goal of helping you to be the best that you can be. 

The primary focus in good time management programs is to assist you in how you can maximize your effectiveness by utilizing the 20% that brings you 80% of your results while identifying and eliminating the 80% time waster’s which bears you no fruit.  It is about working smarter, not harder.

The key elements of understanding good time management principles is in first being aware you cannot manage time, but you can manage your activities in relation to time.  In order to do this well, bearing in mind you are seeking to identify the 20% of your activities bearing 80% results, you must first go through the strategic planning stage (also known as goal setting) to identify the what, where, when, why and how behind your plan. 

Some very important questions you must resolve are (and this is just the beginning):  What do you want to do?  Why are you doing it?  What do you need in order to succeed?  What are your long-term priorities?  How does this fit with what you are doing today?  How will you accomplish your plan?  Did you include your family, financial and physical goals?

Developing strong goals allows you to manage your daily schedule to priorities rather than from never-ending, reactionary day-to-day activities.  It allows you to control the path you choose to take for your life.  It allows you to monitor and measure your success and adjust when necessary. 

Questions you will be able to identify are did you accomplish what you set out to do?  Did you remain focused on your goal?  If not, why not?  It will be far easier to respond to these questions when a strong accountability system has been included in the measurement of your goals.

The eight most powerful benefits you receive from increased time management skills include:

    1.       Increased Focus and Concentration – you are steadfastly working towards your pre-determined, worthwhile goals on a regular, consistent basis.

    2.      Increased Delegation Skills – you are able to delegated by tracking details of who, what, when and how long so you can inspect what you expect.

   3.   Increased Personal Self-Esteem – with every new task completed, as you feel yourself moving towards your chosen priorities, as you get closer to reaching the tasks you have before you, you feel a real level of personal achievement.  Your belief in yourself grows.

    4.      Managing Your Priorities to Your Activities – When day to day reactionary activities come up, you will be able to deal with them on a more proactive basis, eliminating the negative energy of stress as you quietly incorporate the additional tasks alongside your longer term goals.

    5.   Increased Communication – You will be able to confidently, and clearly communicate the time line of when the priority, goal, or task is to be completed.  You will be able to communicate if your goal requires others assistance, or has challenges or obstacles which require time to work through.  This will increase not only your ability to communicate but command trustworthiness as well.

    6.    Higher Levels of Overall Productivity – with a clearly out lined plan (or schedule) our days tend to go smoother.  We know exactly what is required and can tackle each item with optimism going through our days with routine precision, focusing on doing the best on each of the chosen activities.  Our attitudes will be more relaxed because we are clear of our own expectations.

    7.    Saving of Resources – When we are clear as to the priority of the task, we stay on budget as we know exactly what we need and why.  We save endless resources by preventing duplication in any form.

    8.    Higher Levels of Accomplishment through Clear, Concise Goals – our accomplishments increase with every new task we complete.  Our internal drive (our motivation) energized as we recognize our own ability of being able to do exactly what we set out to do.

We achieve many additional benefits when we remain focused on managing our time to the high pay-off activities in our lives.  Strive hard to stand above the crowd and continue to develop your skills of mastering your time through strategic planning.  It is your life, one life, live it well.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Marianne_Vanjecek

Strategic Self Management:  Motivation 1 : Recession 0

Throughout history, man has been studying motivational training but to date motivation is still a very complex and misunderstood word.  We easily go from an energy state of high motivation to spiraling into a total realm of negativity just based upon the information we receive, whether it is verbal or non-verbal.

We can be highly charged and energized one minute and feel flat and deflated the next by this outside stimuli.  For example sending out our resumes searching for a job we feel we are perfectly fit to accomplish but upon hearing a negative response or no response we can easily fall into the psychological state of panic. 

We can develop thoughts of worry (What if I can’t get a job?  What if nobody hires me?).  We can develop the fear of the unknown (How will I pay my mortgage?  How will I care for my children?).  Loss of motivation based upon an outside event triggering our raw emotions thus interfering in our ability to move forward.   

Perhaps we have a great business idea only to find looks of disbelief by family and friends who have underrated our talents, skills, and abilities immediately throwing us back into the state of uncertainty and feelings of inadequacies from the discouragement of lack of support.  Either way easily influenced by society making it particularly difficult to maintain our self-motivation. 

Each of us must determine our own level of motivation based upon previous life conditioning and experiences in order for us to remain in control.  For this reason alone, we must look inside for what we want for our true selves. 

“Know thyself” the Greek Philosophy and “to thine own self be true” are statements that have been around for centuries and are powerful in assisting in reminding us to identify what inner form of spirit we could rely on to develop our life long goals.  It is evident nobody can do the work for you so determining your inner yearning is of utmost importance!  After all, it is your life, your thoughts, your motive, your reason.

Forms of motivation include working for pay raises, building dream homes, raising a healthy family, working for the good of humankind, investment, self-employment, higher learning, respect, integrity, credibility.  The list and reasons for why we do things is endless and requires deep internal processing by each of us in order for us to sustain our drive of personal action.

During the trying times it is critical we protect ourselves from the onslaught of negativity.  We must instead force ourselves to focus on identifying what we want, why we want it and what we need to do in order to get there as this is the difference between whether we will increase our energy towards the accomplishment of our deepest desires or not.  This is the critical key.  It is our desires not others. 

The good news is self-motivation is clearly that.  It is the self.  It is you.  It is your thought energy.  The only true power you hold in this world is by your thoughts.  You are the provider of your perception.   

It is your responsibility to provide action towards your goals from the motive of reason determined by you.  It is your motive for action, which will drive and sustain you through the difficult times in your life.  Motivation is merely your thought energy, your reason for being which in turn shifts into physical action.

So how do you self-motivate in times of recession?  How do you go on with your dreams and your life when your home is about to be for-closed on, or you find yourself lacking in a job, perhaps your spouse has left or any other major life altering event due to the recession?  How do you cope with the additional burden of job responsibility with the cutbacks and having to do two jobs in place of one? 

First, you have to come to terms with how you feel about what is occurring.  You have to allow your emotions to go through the cycle of healing.  If you do not take this vital time at some point later you will find what you suppressed will be expressed in the least opportune time.  Go ahead and feel bad now.  Try not to struggle with it just feel your emotions.   

Take the necessary time to deal with these sentiments.  It is okay to be angry, disappointed, scared, depressed, numb, anxious, worried, fearful, or any other emotion you are feeling.  It should tell you, you are alive!

Give yourself all the time you need to sort through your challenges.  The important part is that you work through the emotions yourself so that you come to terms with it and come out with a clearer understanding as to what you really want.

Be vigilant of your surroundings to prevent from being, unduly influenced by others for when we are at a low emotional state, we are at a very high level of sensitivity for influence.  We must take care that the choices we make in our lives are truly ours and not for the satisfaction or gratification of others.  

Another critical key is to separate yourself from others viewpoints while identifying new strategies for your future.  Redefining your own motivation based upon your own individuality.  At this stage, if you rely too heavily on the influence of others, you run the risk of living your life as others would see for you instead of living the life pre-determined by you.

Try taking long walks, meditating, or simply sitting with your worries and staring into space.  Silence will help you to identify what is truly important to you in your life.  It will help you to clear some of the ghosts, which no longer work for you.  Sit as quiet as you can until you start to hear the strength of your own internal voice guiding you in a more positive direction.

What you will experience is your real self.  You will hear your own words telling you what you really want in your life.  Take care to be gentle with yourself and allow yourself the opportunity to explore these ideas.  Go ahead and write down anything you feel has value to you.  You will soon see a pattern begin to emerge.

Soon you will find one of your ideas will create a spark of excitement in the form of renewed energy within you.  Follow this idea and learn as much as you can.  Do everything humanly possible to learn everything you can about it.  By doing this you are fueling the embers of a fire stirring deep within and suddenly you know what you have to do and why you are doing it.

Once this has occurred you are ready to kick yourself in the butt and start back into life.  You will find your focus will attract to you everything you need to accomplish your vision. 

I have personally found it extremely helpful to start an exercise program at this point.  I find exercise helps to strengthen against attacks of negativity, which can greatly drain the young fresh spiritual ideas you are developing. 

By implementing a solid exercise program into your life, you increase oxygen to your brain allowing for increased focus, concentration, and stamina for your new founded ideas to take shape. 

Add to it vitamins and a nutritional program and you are now ready to run 24/7 inspired with high energy and ready to realize your new dreams.  As you take your life back into control, you feel a powerhouse of energy develop within you.  This is motivation!

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Marianne_Vanjecek

The Great Depression Brings Great Depression But Not A Loss of Hope:  5 Steps to Take Back Control   

Depression, recession, and down times have always been with us.  The difference is each one of us experiences it during different stages in our lives.  During these challenging times, it helps to remember there will be good times and there will be bad times.  It does not fix the problem but it may help to lower the level of emotional distress when arriving at this pinnacle of self-awareness - the requirement for growth. 

Making this adjustment is complicated today due to the high levels of exposure to information.  During the stressful phase, it is critical to remain vigilant and on guard to the differences between accuracy and misinformation.  It is serious, as information greatly influences our Financial, Spiritual, Social and Political well being.  The very categories we have to work on developing.

During times of misfortune, we must somehow manage to develop a plan as to how we fit into the new scenario and begin to define what role we will play.  If we learn to discipline and focus on only actions truly relevant and important to moving our life forward, not an easy task, we may be able to prevent further overwhelm.  How can we do this when we live in a world of negativity? 

    1.       Turn off your television!  At times of economic hardship, loss of direction due to job losses it is important to reduce the input of negative information.  We need hope not more doom.  Did you know when a recruit goes into the military the first thing removed is all information from outside sources?  Recruits are prevented access from newspapers, TV, or even family contact.  This is required to prevent the recruit from influence.  So if you are in the middle of the Recession/Depression and you are feeling depressed, the first thing you can control is the input from negative sources.

    2.       Surf the internet for answers to your questions only!  The internet can be a great source of information to help you to resolve problems.  Be equally careful, as it can also be a huge time waster if you are caught up in the chat rooms, forums or spend too much time socializing.  Another danger is the constant barrage of e-mails promising you great opportunities as a form and mechanism to get you to part with your money.  Take care!

    3.       Put your current financial state in writing!  It is your reality check.  It will give you the necessary push to go out and try something.  Do anything to try to resolve the current situation.  When you are actively working at resolving a problem you have less time to think about it.  When you put details in writing, think about it like putting your worry down on paper.  You can return to your worry at any time – you just do not have to carry your worry with you. 

    4.       Good things in – good things out!  It is critical you control the information you receive.  Read positively charged books, eliminate the negative people from your life, and get rid of the “nay sayers.”   

While eliminating the negative influences and taking a constructive look at our economic situation, we must also remove the excess energy of worry, fear, and self-doubt from our life.  This energy is highly destructive towards our ability to move our life forward. 

    5.       Keep Moving!  Walk, exercise, dance, garden, cycle, or any activity you can do by yourself to remove the excess negative energy from your body.  When negative thoughts interfere with our ability to concentrate it should trigger to us it is time to transfer to a physical activity.  This will release it.  Do not think about it just do it!

It is in our level of dissatisfaction when change can occur for it is at this time our perception is reminding us of what we wanted to become.  It is true there are no guarantees in life but there are better chances of success towards your outcome if you know what you want and are actively working at achieving it.  Time stands still for no one so anyone wanting to achieve must be a person of directed action. 

May all your hopes, wishes, and dreams become your reality!

A Muse on Technology:   Is it a Help or Hindrance to Growth?

It has become too easy for news media, financial statistical trackers, advertiser’s and experts in their chosen professions to give us detailed, micro managed information at an incredible pace in which we really have no tools or experience to manage in relation to our lives.

In my humble opinion too rapid as it leaves no room to debate and no room for enjoyment.  No sooner do we grasp one idea and the movers and shakers set out another 10 which are quickly discussed, refuted and counteract the one we have just spent time considering. 

The real problem lies in the fact that these ideas shape the very foundation of our existence and most of us cannot keep up.  Today caffeine is good, tomorrow it causes cancer.  Eggs are good for you one day and now they cause high cholesterol.  Smoking was cool now it is taboo. 

Bottled water in yet a mere 5 years later, the goal now is to ban it.  This leads me to the idea that high emotional I.Q. today is really about those who can adjust to the rapid changes of information in the market place and not what is scored on a test.

Toys are no exception to this rule either.  No sooner does one electronic gadget come into the market, and we are flooded with new technological toys.  We’ve experienced 8 track to cassette to records to CD’s and now the IPOD- all the money in which we invest to form collections, quickly disappears with the rapid changes in technology – you no longer can see where you invested your hard earned dollars and that was all in less than thirty years.  There goes your hard, earned money but more importantly, it is impossible to keep up. 

VHS – DVD’s – Blue Ray – each needing new machines, and the equipment you own has not even begun to wear out.  Computers, televisions, automobiles, the impact is financially devastating to each of us. 

Credit cards maxed out, savings lost through the stock market, house foreclosures, and job elimination is where we end up.  This is the reality of technology and its effect on life.  You can see the challenge and this is what we each must now examine for our self. 

It begs the question of,  What is quality of life?  What is it we really want?  What is it that will make us happy?  What is it we really need for our families, relationships, spouses, or jobs?

We know we are not fairing so well when the divorce rate is now between 40-50% and our alcoholism, gambling, and drug stats aren’t that much better.  By taking the time to answer these important life questions, we may start to lift the weight of stress and depression resting on most of our shoulders.

So is technology a hindrance to growth or does it push us to become more by offering us more?  This is not an easy question because in many cases Technology has become a trade off for other areas.

Technology has made writing essays, homework assignments, magazine articles, books, business reports, sales presentation all much easier to accomplish.  Rules of editing, grammar, spelling, and punctuation can easily be repaired by any software program and publishing and spreading information, whether good or bad, is quick today due to the internet.  We can all look like geniuses by the stroke of a key on our keyboards.  We appear to all be in an equal playing field, if we choose to utilize the tools.

The flip side to this is don’t we need to understand the basics of grammar, style, editing in order to deliver our best works?  Don’t we need to know the fundamentals of math and science to become great Doctors and Scientists?

Isn’t it important for our Brain to strengthen through education, practice, trial and error?  Don’t short cuts lead to poor quality of workmanship?  Doesn’t cheap labor produce cheap products, which don’t even last a year before they disappear from your environment?  Are you not tired of the overselling of ad campaigns that promise you a lot but delivers little?  Take this and you will look 20 years younger.

We can say technology provides us from a relief of physical strains.  We no longer tend to the fields with horse and plough.  We no longer have to hang our wash out to dry.  We no longer have to wash the dishes.  Ah yes, life does seem simpler doesn’t it?  Or does it?

Isn’t our food being made in China?  Is this good?  Aren’t we all becoming overweight due to lack of physical activity?  Is this good?  Can we financially afford to put one more piece of technology on our credit card? Do these “things” increase our life span?   Do we have too much time on our hands to play computer games, chat in chat rooms, watch reality shows, or, do we have none as we are working too hard to pay for all these changes?  Do we even have time to think or have we become robotic in our tasks?

Even the skill for developing the mental capacity to process (the brain) massive amounts of information is not required as we have technological tools to rely on for memory, mathematical equations, and with the internet, information is readily at our fingertips so we no longer even have to rely on our memory.

Difficult trade-offs, and much due to the real question of to the moon or not to the moon.  So you can see answering the question is technology good for our growth is a difficult one indeed.   

I believe technology can be good for growth when we incorporate,  strong physical, mental, family,  relationship, and most importantly, financial goals in our life utilizing the tools of technology as a mechanism of assisting us in a more peaceful balance.  

If we learn to understand technology is just a means for making life simpler then we can choose, by not only reflecting back and in the present, but also reflecting on the future, protecting us from falling into the trap of following the trends.  Allowing us to orchestrate the color of our canvas as to what we choose it to be.

With a clear focus on health, wellness, spirituality, nutrition, listening to our own inner cues, we stand a better chance of longevity.  With a clear focus on our professional career we can focus our finances towards the development of skills which will enhance our earning potential.  With a clear focus on family and relationships we will get an understanding of their needs and wants which we can work into our time restraints and financial budgets.

Divorce is expensive.  Weight loss programs are expensive.  Gambling and alcohol addictions are expensive.  Replacing a car every four years is expensive.  Keeping up with the latest computer gadgets and software programs is expensive.

When we take the time to reflect on our growth, we get a clearer understanding of what our real needs are and thus can prevent some costly errors.   So, in the end,  technology doesn’t hurt growth, but without a plan and a clear understanding of ourselves, it sure hinders it!

New Blue Zone Challenge: 21 Things You Can Do Today to Live Healthier & Longer

It is nothing new for us in life to search for the best anti-aging, nutritional and self-development products and services. We have been actively doing this for years. Nutritional supplements, anti aging products and weight loss products alone count for billions of dollars in yearly sales.

But what if it did not cost us a dime and we could save our money to get the same proven results by those who have gone before us, what would it take? Could we change the habits and patterns of our current way of life to accomplish these fantastic results of not just living longer but healthier? Would we be able to make the necessary changes?

Recently Dr. Oz, a medical Doctor who appears regularly on the Oprah show primarily focusing on health and wellness, went to 4 separate regions in the world to find out why these people were living longer, and physically and mentally stronger, than the average person.

The four locations referred to as the Blue Zone are located in Costa Rica, Sardinia, Okinawa, Japan and yes -even in the US, Loma Linda, California. What was most fascinating is these people, were not only living past 100 and 107, they are also healthy, active, and mentally alert.

The information learned was surprisingly similar to much of the information we are receiving today regarding good nutrition practices. This is good for it gives us the ability to make the necessary changes if we so desire. All combined, each region were similar with only a few differences. Loma Linda, CA's region was totally Vegan - no eggs, no milk, no cheese. For the rest the regions were very similar in diets and life styles.

Couple this information with the recent scientific study done on anti aging regarding the low calorie restriction diet which includes no processed food, very little meat, and lots of fruits and vegetables there seems to be a pattern forming. Doctors reported, in some cases these individuals who have been on the program for over 10 years, could live to be the first people to live to 150 years based upon their current physical shape.

Do you think this is possible? Early writings of the bible seems to show it may well be for it has reported ages in the 600, 700 and 900 years before death.

For those of you who are actively working on personal development here is a list of the 21 things these regions had in common. The people were living this way on a daily or regular basis. Long term is what they claim and, also made a point to state if you are not going to do it for the long haul you should not bother starting.

1. Exercise or remain physically active in some form or another
2. Have a real plan when you retire (better yet do not retire at all!)
3. Get 15 minutes of natural sunlight in order to get proper Vitamin D levels
4. Ensure proper levels of calcium intake.
5. Eat lots of broccoli, eggs and cheese
6. Make sure you have plenty of Omega 3 in your diet.
7. Red Wine - for the Retinol (but it was said 2 oz hard liquor or 2 glasses of wine daily would do the same thing. It's a relaxer as well.)
8. Drink Goat Milk (For your bones and heart. Tastes just like regular milk. Fat in goats milk is easier for the body to break down.)
9. Whole wheat Bread
10. Meat as a side dish rather than a main course. (Vegan diet in California)
11. Large breakfast, smaller lunch and dinner the smallest. (Eat dinner at breakfast and breakfast at dinner time!)
12. No smoking
13. No Processed Food
14. Less meat more nuts.
15. Stop eating when you are 80% full.
16. Eat Beans - lots of them. (High in antioxidants)
17. Laugh off and develop a great sense of humor.
18. Make sure you have a strong social network - develop strong family bonds.
19. Spend time with like-minded friends.
20. Always having something to do and work with a sense of purpose.
21. Do Yoga, meditation, develop a strong spiritual foundation, live in an attitude of gratitude.

So there it is. The list reported in order for us to remain strong of mind, body, soul in order to live to be a healthy, active 100+ year old.

Strategic Self-Management System: Part 2 of 3 – Dealing with the 28 Top Time Wasters

Time management is imperative for those moving on the fast track.  If you want to increase your overall productivity or boost productivity, time management is a good place to start.  It assists in the overall enhancement of increasing talents, skills, and abilities.  

To arrive at the decision to make the necessary change we must first recognize time waits for no one, (you cannot buy, beg, borrow or steal it).  In order to stay ahead of the challenges today we can start by looking at our time stealers.  We can easily correct and adjust the wastage to put us back into control.  

Whether you are dealing with time management for personal or professional reasons the goal of implementing successful strategies to combat the time wasters in your life is generally a good place start.  Sometimes just by recognizing the obstacles which stand in our way, we are able to make quicker corrections until soon you find you have saved numerous hours of repetitive work, and increased your overall results.  The time you saved easily converted into more actively managing higher pay-off activities and longer-term objectives.

Remember to be patient with yourself while working at developing new skills in your life.  It takes years to master the disciplines of goal setting and good time management.  It will make it easier if you remember life is a journey, not a destination.  You have all the time in the world to accomplish your goals.  Enjoy each moment as if it is your last.  Our success not founded upon how quickly we arrive at our destination but rather the character we build along the way.

Managing the top 28 Time Wasters (my list growing with the added new technology), although appearing challenging, it is the next critical key in getting to good time management practices.  If you focus on eliminating the worst three offenders, you will quickly find yourself winning at the game of time saving.

Remember you cannot control time, you can only manage time in relation to your activities so spend some time identifying what is important in your life and what you are ready to let go.  A re-evaluation will help you to identify aspects of what is currently working in your life but more importantly will start you on the right path of operating with a plan.

The areas to consider, and which have made my Top 28 Wasters are:

·         Operating Without A Plan

·         Improper Prioritizing

·         E-mail

·         Telephone Interruptions

·         Interruptions with Questions

·         Drop – In Visitors

·         Cluttered Office Environment

·         Filing Baskets

·         Too Heavy A Workload

·         Starting Tasks and Leaving Unfinished

·         Improper Delegation

·         Failing to Manage Oneself

·         Inability to Say “No”

·         Paper Work

·         Putting Off Major Problems

·         Inability to come to a Decision

·         Being too Detailed Oriented

·         Incomplete Information on Tasks Being Performed

·         Travel

·         Procrastination

·         Failure to Ask For Assistance on Difficult Tasks

·         Improper Communication

·         Failure to Set Regular Planning Sessions

·         Telephone Tag

·         Duplication Process

·         Meetings

·         Re-Inventing the Wheel

·         Do Tasks For The Sake of Looking Busy

Remember, it is your life, your one and only life, and your choice as to how you live it.  Take the time to explore and navigate all the various time faults and work hard to develop new goals towards eradicating them from your life. 

Include time for developing yourself to be the best you can on your journey and include the necessary time to reflect.  Once you are able to identify the work you love to do the most it becomes much easier to take and turn it into the necessary actions required for your long-term sustainable success.

Good luck in the development of your pre-determined, worthwhile goals and your successful journey in life!