Monthly Archives: November 2013

Diet Coke Addiction

If you ever thought you had a Diet Coke addiction, you’re not alone. The other good news is that it’s not your fault. You probably don’t have a choice. Thank your brain.

Your brain is the one that’s addicted. Not so much you.  It’s your brain that doesn’t take no for an answer.

Part of it is the caffeine, sure. It’s the #1 addictive drug in the world. Your brain hurts without it.

The other reason for being addicted to Diet Coke? It’s there. Everywhere. Down the hall. Across the street. In the fridge.

A tired brain is a stubborn brain. And a stubborn brain wants instant satisfaction. When your brain knows an ice-cold Diet Coke is within reach, there’s no stopping it.

Want to end your addiction to Diet Coke? Just hide it. Better yet. Toss it out completely.

You won’t miss it.

Building your dream house

Building your day is like building a house. Make a plan and build it around the foundation.

There are two options for the type of foundation which you’ll build your day around:

  1. Exercise is the foundation. Physical activity. Examples include a morning walk, lunchtime trip to the gym, or an early evening fitness class.
  2. Work obligations are the foundation. Examples include morning status meetings, lunchtime trips to the pizza buffet, or early evening happy hour.

The foundation comes first. And it determines whether or not your house collapses.

What’s in your foundation?

Miss D

If you closed up shop, would your customers miss you?

If you stopped being an elementary school teacher and became an administrator, would your students miss you?

If you left your sweet sales job, would your clients miss you?

If you stopped writing your daily blog, would your readers miss you?

If your TV show switched time slots, would your viewers miss you?

If a role-player on your team left, would she miss you?

Ask this of yourself. Will you be missed?

The answer maybe no despite your current success (material or otherwise).

But longevity and truly valuable impact require the answer to be yes. Will you be missed?

For when you google yourself

Do you have a Google problem? Bad reviews? Compromising pictures from Facebook? Or maybe your name is Rick Santorum? Now there are services to fix that.  Reputation guards.

For a low monthly rate, you can have your reputation guarded by professionals. Never worry again about losing money, relationships or opportunity because Google is making you seem like a giant douche.

In related news, I’m also offering a reputation guarding service. It’s free. It’s called “Do good things you’d be proud of for when google publishes them to the world forever.” For more information, visit lifeisnoyoke.com.

Would you miss it?

A simple phrase to make you more productive, efficient and stress-free.  Oh, and it will do the same for your family, friends and customers. The phrase is a question, actually. “Would you miss it?”

“Would you miss it?” is good for spring cleaning. Pick up a blouse and ask yourself.

“Would you miss it?” is good for small businesses. Just ask the question of your customers. It especially works when considering any business purchase. Will my customers come back to buy because they miss this lamp I’m considering purchasing? “Will they miss it?”

“Would you miss it?” is especially good for software developers and consultants. Clients of these folks, too. Will Windows users miss the Start Button? Or, will the extra piece of functionality be so good that it will be missed if left-out? Or, will it over-complicate the system as a whole resulting in nobody ever saying, “I miss that awesome software, or website or store.”

Ask yourself, “Would you miss it?” If the answer is yes, you’re on the right track. If the answer is no, chances are you have a cluttered closet, a staggering business, or healthcare.gov.

My “Where you want to be”

This job? That job? This project? That project? This marketing tactic or that one?

No worries about that “how I’m going to get there” stuff. I’ve figured out where I want to be.

I want to be an influential leader in the American Health and Wellness Advocacy community.

That’s it.

Notice there’s no “doing verbs” like change or sell or build. That’s all “how you’re going to get there” stuff. That’s all stuff I’m doing, but most of it is getting me “where I want to be.” Anything not getting where I want to be should and will stop.

Want the formula? Fill in the blank: “I want to be a ________ (adjective and title/impact) in the _______ (specific community/niche).”

Some more examples:

  • I want to be a well-respected trial lawyer for personal injury plaintiffs in Illinois.
  • I want to be an innovator for the women’s apparel business in the Midwest.  (Hi, Mom.)
  • I want to be an active, present, and retired grandfather to my family.

Your “where you want to be” can and will change. For a while, mine was a “calculated risk-taking entrepreneur in the road-warrior consultant world.”  Now, it’s “an influential leader in the American Health and Wellness Advocacy community.” Later, it will be different.

But, I like where my “where you want to be” is now.

How about you with yours?

Career Advice

Lately, I’ve been giving the same advice. It’s not specific to food or fitness. I’ve found myself giving career advice. And the advice has turned out to be pretty good.

My career advice is a consulting buzzword. Actually, it’s probably more of an aphorism. Here it is:

First, figure out where you want to be [hand gesture]. Then figure out how you’re going to get there [hand gesture].”

Figuring out where you want to be, or what you want to is gold. To a hiring manager, it can explain four jobs in four years. It makes you valuable and attractive. It makes you seem more honest and trustworthy.  More employable.

But the best part of figuring out where you want to be? The “how you’re going to get there” part becomes very clear. You’ll hardly ever be lost.

It’s time to figure out where you want to be. Me included.

The One Thing

If you woke up this morning without an agenda, it’s okay.

You might not be as productive.  You might not feel satisfied later. You might even be a little stressed trying to plan your day on-the-fly.

But feel good about this one thing.  This one thing you can put on your calendar.

This one thing will make you more productive today.  This one thing will make you more satisfied tomorrow.  And this one thing will cut stress from planning your day on-the-fly.

Schedule a time for the end of today to make your agenda for tomorrow.

That’s the one thing.

Which is it, friend?

When your friends tell you they haven’t seen you in a year and miss you, what do you say?  I’ve been busy and I miss you too?

Nope.  No friend wants to hear that.  No friend deserves to hear that.

There are only two answers true friends want to hear.  And two answers you should be willing to give.

  1. I’ve had the best year of my life.  Let me tell you about it.
  2. I’ve worked too hard and don’t have enough to show for it.  Let me hear your thoughts on ensuring I never have to say that to you again.

True friends only want to hear one or the other.  And they’re mutually exclusive.  And there’s no in-between.

 

TGIDST: Daylight Savings Time and the Fortunate Few

Daylight savings not just so farmers have an extra hour of sunlight in their workday.  It’s not just based on needing to use less candle light (energy).  Daylight savings time helps some other people, too.

What about the bar owner who can serve Jager bombs for an extra intoxicated hour?  Daylight savings time helps him make more money in the fall.

What about the posturing apartment manager who can leave a memo on the elevator reminding us to set our clocks back and have a pleasant weekend? Daylight savings time helps him look like he’s doing a good job.

What about the fortunate ones like me who never set an alarm, but choose to wake up with the sun? Daylight savings helps us get started earlier.

But since very few people can empathize with a shrewd bar owner, or an incompetent apartment building manager or a guy who proudly quit his day job, why are we still doing daylight savings time?  Studies show it actually causes a 1% increase in energy consumption a decrease in public health.

What if daylight savings time was a choice? But instead of setting your clock back, how about just scheduling breakfast back an hour?

Could there be an easier way to decrease energy consumption and improve public health?

I bet there are several lobbyists out there who have some ideas.