Category Archives: Productivity

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3 Tips For Getting Your Goals Back On Track

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Have you ever felt like you have come completely off your tracks? Projects just not getting done in time, disconnected from your routine, commitments not being met? Of course you have. We all have, and I have too. In fact, I have been off track for the past few weeks (probably months) now. Let me tell you three tips I used to step back and take control again.  Read on.

accident of a wooden toy train

I read a ton of blogs across a wide spectrum of subjects. One could say they are my resistance. I like to think I am learning and fine tuning my research into procrastination. Seriously though, from these blogs I pull ideas that I want to apply in my personal life. I have written about a few of these and, honestly, I’m not doing that great in any. So many thought leaders in the world of blogging say that you have to be honest, real, and open in your writing. Well, this is me ‘fessing up.  It is also me passing on some steps that I am working on to get back to my commitments.  If you are in a rut and off track a bit, hopefully my experience is of some help in getting you realigned.

So, what happened?

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Platform Conference Recap: 8/10 – John Saddington

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The eighth speaker at the Franklin, TN, Platform Conference was visionary entrepreneur John Saddington. John is the founder of 8Bit, a self-described band of digital rapscallions. One of their products is Standard Theme, a premium WordPress theme for publishers and photographers. If you like the layout of my blog then you like Standard Theme as it’s what I use. John spoke to us on ‘Finding Opportunity in the Ordinary’ and outlined a method for looking at the things around us that can help in giving direction on what our platform could be, focus if we already know it, and ideas if we are stuck.

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As so many speakers had, John related his ‘story’ as he opened. He described being a student of engineering, breaking some rules, failing at engineering, taking two masters degrees at Dallas Theological Seminary. None of this speaks to the ‘normal’ path to net success. However, if you have been reading along on the 10 part series you will have discerned a subtle truism. There is no normal path. You have to be you, and you have to share a lot of you with others.

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Platform Conference Recap: 3/10 – Michael Hyatt: Prepare to Launch

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Resistance. What can stop you from doing what you know you can and want do? This was the key theme in Michael Hyatt’s presentation on preparing to launch. It was the second session Michael presented and the third of the Platform Conference. The concept of ‘The Resistance’ comes from Stephen Pressfield’s book, ‘The War of Art‘, and earlier in Seth Godin’s book, ‘Linchpin.’ It is not a question of ‘if’. The resistance will show up in your life. Michael’s presentation outlined the key attributes of resistance and gave us strategies for dealing with it. My recap follows below.

motherboard

The resistors in the photo above serve a function in electronics. Resistors in your life prevent or slow you down from doing what you really need to be doing serve no function other than to confirm that the resisted thing really is what you should be doing.

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That Is Just Dumb!

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Have you ever said that after experiencing something for the first time? Normally tech related, right? Well yesterday I found out that I was not alone in this and that even thought leaders can make incorrect assumptions about a new idea. I’m attending Platform Conference, a conference on developing a ‘platform’ for your business, product, or personal brand. It is being hosted by Michael Hyatt, author of the book “Platform: Get Noticed In A Noisy World”. Last night I found out that we had something in common. We both started out thinking Twitter was ‘dumb’. Read on.

Instagram

Michael admitted that when he first heard of this thing called Twitter he really did not know much about it, could not see the application for it, and labeled it ‘dumb’ in a conversation. Very quickly after he revisited the application and, realizing the potential, changed his thoughts on its practicality. Today he used Twitter as an integral part of his platform and has many blog posts on how to better use the technology.

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Not Another iPhone App Blog Post!

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I know what your thinking.  This subject has been done, and done well, by so many others. In fact, when I Google ‘best iPhone apps blog post’ I end up with a return of 189,000,000 posts. So what can I add that’s a bit different here. Well, this post is not going to dwell on the standard apps that, in my opinion, everyone with an iPhone (or iPad) should have. Dropbox, Twitter, Evernote, Reeder, Skype, LinkedIn, Flipboard FaceBook, IM Pro, Hootsuite and Buffer are key productivity and social apps that most readers will have already installed. Lets talk about some that are a bit off the beaten track.

Tools

So, considering that an app is really a tool (hence the photo above) to do something, what are four that I recommend?