a2b4me...The Podcast! Keeping YOU Moving in the Direction of Your Dreams!

Happy Thrive Thursday!

This week we discuss...Acting Your Age, Financial Advice from a Grandmother, and Forgiveness!

Here are 3 ideas, 2 quotes, and 1 question to consider this week...

Idea #1

"On the ground, a rock is just a rock.  But when moving at high speed through the atmosphere, a rock becomes a meteor...alive with fire and burning bright.

People are not so different.  Without activity, we are lifeless and dull.  When moving fast and taking action, we come alive."

Idea #2

"Life is a series of tradeoffs, and greater results usually require greater tradeoffs.

The question is not, "Do you want to be great at this?"

The question is, "What are you willing to give up in order to be great at this?"

Idea #3

"A surefire way to make a bad situation worse is to continue replaying it in your mind.

The damage is done. The only thing that matters now is making the best choice given your current position.

Next play mentality."

Quote #1

Meditation teacher, Light Watkins, on acting your age:

"The advice shouldn't be to act your age. It should be to act your spirit.

Your age may try to prohibit you from dancing like that, or starting over, or trying something new. But your spirit would never do such a thing.

If something feels aligned, your spirit wants you to go for it, whether you're 15 or 85.

Acting your age makes you fit in more, while acting your spirit will indeed cause you to stand out...in a bad way to people who act their age, but in an inspiring way to those who act their spirit.

Try acting your spirit from time to time, and you can see for yourself which path makes you feel more alive."

Source: Newsletter by Light Watkins. (Hat tip to Wes Claytor)

Quote #2

Sasha Aickin, former CTO at Redfin, shares some financial advice from his grandmother:

"When you buy something cheap and bad, the best you’re going to feel about it is when you buy it.

When you buy something expensive and good, the worst you’re going to feel about it is when you buy it."

Source: Groupon's Success Disaster

Question of the Week...

Who (or what) do you need to forgive, so you can move on and live well?

For more on this topic, reach out to me at a2b4me.com

Have an awesome week and Keep Moving in the Direction of Your Dreams!

I felt the need to share today devotional with you...If we want the Lord to be number one in our life, we have to consider how we spend our time!

We are surrounded by the strengths of others, but we often don't tap into them.

- List your closest friends, family, and colleagues

- Next to each person's name, list strengths

- Could you match any of these strengths to a challenge you're facing?

Ask Yourself? What could I do to take greater advantage of the strengths of others in my life?

"When we're left to our own experiences, we constantly suffer from a shortage of data."  - Stephen Covey

For more on this topic reach out to me at a2b4me.com

Have an awesome week and Keep Moving in the Direction of Your Dreams!

Happy Thrive Thursday!

This week we discuss...Prioritization, Making the Most of What You Have, and Reading as a Form of Travel!

Here are 3 ideas, 2 quotes, and 1 question to consider this week...

Idea #1

"In the long-run, prioritization beats efficiency."

Idea #2

"When researching strategies, emphasize patterns over stories. One person succeeding means nothing. 100 people succeeding is a signal.

When explaining strategies, emphasize stories over patterns. People forget numbers and charts. Everyone remembers a great story."

Idea #3

"When determining the size or complexity of a new habit ask yourself, "What can I stick to—even on my worst day?"

Start there. Master the art of showing up. Then advance."

Quote #1

Painter Georgia O'Keeffe on making the most of what you have:

"Where I was born and where and how I have lived is unimportant. It is what I have done with where I have been that should be of interest."

Source: Autobiography

Quote #2

Poet Jenny Xie on how reading is a form of travel:

"Reading is migratory, an act of transport, from one life to another, one mind to another.

Just like geographic travel, reading involves estrangement that comes with the process of dislocating from a familiar context.

I gather energy from this kind of movement, this estranging and unsettling, and I welcome it precisely because it’s conducive to examination, interrogation, reordering.

Travel, imaginative or physical, can sharpen perception and force a measuring of distance and difference."

Source: The Self Is a Fiction

Question of the Week...

Before you ask, "What should I do today?"

Ask yourself, "What should I remove today?"

Create the space you need to succeed.

For more on this topic check out my podcast on anchor.fm or reach out to me at a2b4me.com

Have an awesome week and Keep Moving in the Direction of Your Dreams!

This Week's Challenge:  Take Down Barriers

When you approach a problem with the willingness to synergize, you can come up with new ways to remove challenges.

- Think about a goal you're working on.

- Identify the obstacles you're facing.

- Find someone to help you brainstorm ways to overcome those obstacles.

Ask Yourself:  What obstacle currently seems insurmountable if I face it alone?

"When you introduce synergy...you unfreeze restraining forces, loosen them up, and create new insights."  - Stephen Covey

For more on this topic check, reach out to me at [email protected]

Have an awesome week and Keep Moving in the Direction of Your Dreams!

Happy Thrive Thursday!

This week we discuss...Small Habits with Big Plans, The Shape of Genius, and Advice to a Younger Self!

Here are 3 ideas, 2 quotes, and 1 question to consider this week...

Idea #1

"It's only work if you would rather be doing something else.

Find a way to carve a career out of what you already want to do."

Idea #2

"Build small habits. Make big plans.

1) Keep your daily actions small. Strive to get 1% better every day.

2) Keep your daily mindset big. Think about how you can play a bigger game.

Start small, but never dream small."

Idea #3

"Great work resists compression.

Great explanations are short, but potent.

Great software delivers the same outcome in fewer clicks.

Great manufacturing processes create products in less time and with less waste.

The shape of genius is simplicity."

Quote #1

Computer scientist Alan Kay on the value of looking at old things in a new way:

"A change in perspective is worth 80 IQ points."

Source: Talk at Creative Think seminar

Quote #2

Painter Mariam Paré, who specializes in making paintings by mouth after suffering a spinal cord injury, offers some advice to her younger self:

"If I could talk to myself twenty years ago, I would tell myself to focus on my strengths, and not on my weaknesses; on the things I could do and not the things I couldn’t do; to strive to excel and hone those skills to the point of excellence.

That this was the best strategy to secure my future.

I would say to myself that the only real obstacles you have are those you create for yourself."

Source: In the Company of Women

Question For You...

Sometimes we are too hard on ourselves and criticize our mistakes to an unhelpful degree.

Sometimes we are too easy on ourselves and let excuses run our lives.

Which way are you leaning right now?

How can you pull yourself back to center?

For more on this topic reach out to me at a2b4me.com

Have an awesome week and Keep Moving in the Direction of Your Dreams!

This Week's Challenge:  Rate Your Openness to Differences

Our paradigm is often that we are objective, but everyone else isn't.  Effectiveness requires the humility to recognize the limitations of our perceptions.

-  List some differences that show up in your relationships:  age, politics, styles, etc.

- Write down what you could do to better value differences.

Ask Yourself:  Am I open to learning from differences?

"The key to valuing differences is to realize that all people see the world, not as it is, but as they are."  - Stephen Covey

For more on this topic reach out to me at a2b4me.com

Have an awesome week and Keep Moving in the Direction of Your Dreams!

Happy Thrive Thursday!

This week we discuss...Happiness, The Opinions of Others, and Accepting the Reality of Slow Progress.

Here are 3 ideas, 2 quotes, and 1 question to consider this week...

Idea #1

"Before you try to increase your willpower, try to decrease the friction in your environment."

Idea #2

"Your habits are how you embody a particular identity.

When you make your bed, you embody the identity of someone who is clean and organized.

When you study, you embody the identity of someone who is studious.

What identity are you embodying today?

Who are your habits helping you become?"

Idea #3

"Most big, deeply satisfying accomplishments in life take at least five years to achieve.

This can include building a business, cultivating a loving relationship, writing a book, getting in the best shape of your life, raising a family, and more.

Five years is a long time. It is much slower than most of us would like. If you accept the reality of slow progress, you have every reason to take action today.

If you resist the reality of slow progress, five years from now you'll simply be five years older and still looking for a shortcut."

Quote #1

Author Leo Tolstoy on the opinions of others:

"If you care too much about being praised, in the end you will not accomplish anything serious.

Let the judgments of others be the consequence of your deeds, not their purpose."

Source: A Calendar of Wisdom

Quote #2

Writer, artist, and podcast host Debbie Millman on happiness:

"You have to make your own happiness, wherever you are.

Your job isn’t going to make you happy, your spouse isn’t going to make you happy, the weather isn’t going to make you happy…

You have to decide what you want, and you have to find that way of doing it, whether or not the outside circumstances are going to participate in your success…

You have to be able to create your own happiness, period.

And if you can’t, then you need to find a good shrink who can help you figure out what it’s going to take."

Source: Is It Really Possible To Design Your Life?

Question For You...

How, specifically, do you want your life to be better at this time next year?

For more on this topic, reach out to me at [email protected]

Have an awesome week and Keep Moving in the Direction of Your Dreams!

This Week's Challenge:  Value Differences

Valuing differences is the foundation of synergy.

We are effective when we value and embrace the differences rather than rejecting or merely tolerating them.

We see others' differences as strengths, not weaknesses.

- Identify someone you disagree with and make a list of their strengths.

- When they disagree with you, say, "Great!  You see things differently.  I need to listen to you."

Ask Yourself:

- Do I know the unique strengths of the people I work and live with?

- In which relationships do I tolerate differences rather than value them.

"The essence of synergy is to value differences...to respect them, to build on strengths, to compensate for weaknesses."  - Stephen Covey

For more on this topic, reach out me at [email protected]

Have an awesome week and Keep Moving in the Direction of Your Dreams!

Happy Thrive Thursday!  Today we will discuss...Innovative Thinking, The Trap of Self-Pity, and How To Spend Your Time.

Here are 3 ideas, 2 quotes, and 1 question to consider this week.

Idea #1

"For those who expect everything, there are many curses.

For those who appreciate everything, there are many blessings."

Idea #2

"Money is not the only way to improve life. Instead of widening your margin of profit, widen your margin of leisure.  Instead of optimizing for money, optimize for time. Instead of seeking efficiency, seek recovery."

Idea #3

"Many good opportunities are ruined for the dream of slightly better ones.

Would you have a more successful career if you had taken that other job or moved cities?  Possibly.  But your actual career will definitely suffer if you don't commit to doing it to the best of your ability.

Would you be 10% happier in a different relationship?  Maybe. Maybe not.  But you'll definitely be unhappy in the one you have if you spend all day thinking about what else is out there.

The surefire way to end up worse off is to agonize over unchosen options and fail to make the most of the one you selected.  Every minute spent yearning for your unlived lives is a moment you can't invest in the one you actually have.

Choices matter, but so does your level of commitment."

Quote #1

Author Cheryl Strayed on the trap of self-pity:

"Nobody's going to do your life for you.  You have to do it yourself, whether you're rich or poor, out of money or raking it in, the beneficiary of ridiculous fortune or terrible injustice.

And you have to do it no matter what is true.  No matter what is hard.  No matter what unjust, sad, sucky things befall you.

Self-pity is a dead-end road.  You make the choice to drive down it. It's up to you to decide to stay parked there or to turn around and drive out."

Source: Tiny Beautiful Things

Quote #2

Biologist and Nobel Prize winner Sydney Brenner on innovative thinking:

"I strongly believe that the only way to encourage innovation is to give it to the young.  The young have a great advantage in that they are ignorant.  Because I think ignorance in science is very important.

If you’re like me and you know too much you can’t try new things.  I always work in fields of which I’m totally ignorant."

Source: A Conversation with Sydney Brenner

Question(s) of the Week...

When was the last time you felt a sense of wonder and awe?

What can that experience teach you about how to spend your time?

For more on this topic, reach out to me at a2b4me.com

Have an awesome week and Keep Moving in the Direction of Your Dreams!