You have 24 hours to invest each day: 1,440 minutes, no more or less.
You will never have more time. If you sleep approximately 8 hours a day, you have 16 hours at your disposal. Some of those hours will be used to take care of yourself and your loved ones. Others will be used for work. Whatever you have left over is the time you have for skill acquisition. If you want to improve your skills as quickly as possible, the larger the dedicated blocks of time you can set aside, the better. The best approach to making time for skill acquisition is to identify low-value uses of time, then choose to eliminate them. As an experiment, I recommend keeping a simple log of how you spend your time for a few days. All you need is a notebook. The results of this time log will surprise you: if you make a few tough choices to cut low-value uses of time, you’ll have much more time for skill acquisition. The more time you have to devote each day, the less total time it will take to acquire new skills. I recommend making time for at least ninety minutes of practice each day by cutting low-value activities as much as possible. I also recommend precommitting to completing at least twenty hours of practice. Once you start, you must keep practicing until you hit the twenty-hour mark. If you get stuck, keep pushing: you can’t stop until you reach your target performance level or invest twenty hours. If you’re not willing to invest at least twenty hours up front, choose another skill to acquire. The First 20 Hours: How to Learn Anything . . . Fast! by Josh Kaufman James Altucher's Daily Practice helps keep your life balanced when you need it to succeed11/29/2013
When I look back at these times now I realize there was a common thread.
EACH TIME THERE WERE FOUR THINGS, AND ONLY FOUR THINGS, THAT WERE ALWAYS IN PLACE IN ORDER FOR ME TO BOUNCE BACK. Now I try to incorporate these four things into a Daily Practice The key is: every day try to make some improvement in the following areas: PHYSICAL, EMOTIONAL, MENTAL, SPIRITUAL. PHYSICAL – being in shape. Doing some form of exercise. In 2003 I woke up at 5am every day and from 5-6am I played “Round the World” on a basketball court overlooking the Hudson River. Every day (except when it rained). Trains would pass and people at 5:30am would wave to me out the window. Now, I try to do yoga every day. But it’s hard. All you need to do, minimally, is exercise enough to break a sweat for 10 minutes. So about 20-30 minutes worth of exercise a day. This is not to get “ripped” or “shredded.” But just to be healthy. You can’t be happy if you aren’t healthy. Also, spending this time helps your mind better deal with it’s daily anxieties. If you can breathe easy when your body is in pain then it’s easier to breathe during difficult situations. Here are other things that are a part of this but a little bit harder: • Wake up by 4-5am every day. • Go to sleep by 8:30-9. (Good to sleep 8 hours a night!) • No eating after 5:30pm. Can’t be happy if indigested at night. But the most important side effect of being healthy is that sickness will not get in the way of your freedom. It won’t get in the way of mental vitality, emotional health, and ultimately spiritual health. And will allow you to enjoy high quality of life in your later years. So find even the 10 minute routine that resonates with you. Don’t depend on the late night infomercials with their false dreams and promises. The cemetery of dead exercise machines in basements is an enormous graveyard. EMOTIONAL – If someone is a drag on me, I cut them out. If someone lifts me up, I bring them closer. Nobody is sacred here. When the plane is going down, put the oxygen mask on your face first. Family, friends, people I love – I always try to be there for them and help. But I don’t get close to anyone bringing me down. This rule can’t be broken. Energy leaks out of you if someone is draining you. And I never owe anyone an explanation. Explaining is draining. MENTAL – Every day I write down ideas. I write down so many ideas that it hurts my head to come up with one more. Then I try to write down five more. The other day I tried to write 100 alternatives kids can do other than go to college. I wrote down eight, which I wrote about here. I couldn’t come up with anymore. Then the next day I came up with another 40. It definitely stretched my head. No ideas today? Memorize all the legal 2 letter words for Scrabble. Translate the Tao Te Ching into Spanish. Need ideas for lists of ideas? Come up with 30 separate chapters for an “autobiography.” Try to think of 10 businesses you can start from home (and be realistic how you can execute them)? Give me 10 ideas of directions this blog can go in. Think of 20 ways Obama can improve the country. List every productive thing you did yesterday (this improves memory also and gives you ideas for today). SPIRITUAL – I feel that most people don’t like the word “spiritual.” They think it means “god.” Or “religion.” But it doesn’t. I don’t know what it means actually. But I feel like I have a spiritual practice when I do one of the following:
The Results • Within about one month, I’d notice coincidences start to happen. I’d start to feel lucky. People would smile at me more. • Within three months the ideas would really start flowing, to the point where I felt overwhelming urges to execute the ideas. • Within six months, good ideas would start flowing, I’d begin executing them, and everyone around me would help me put everything together. WITHIN A YEAR MY LIFE WAS ALWAYS COMPLETELY DIFFERENT. 100% I Was Blind But Now I See: Time to Be Happy by James Altucher In earlier chapters, we saw that there really is no such thing as "being" shy or "having a shy gene." So, the first belief that we will change is the belief that you are shy. You are going to take any old thoughts or self-images you may have had about being shy and replace them with thoughts and images of being confident and moving through the world in a whole new way. Don't confine
yourself to using this technique for just one belief; you can use it for any beliefs that have been holding you back. Use this method to change whatever beliefs you find less than glorious or less than resourceful. Step One: Discover How You Doubt. The first thing to do is close your eyes and think of something that you used to believe in that you no longer do. For example, you might think about how as a child you believed in Santa Claus, which hopefully you no longer do. As you recall that belief, become aware of everything you see that is associated with the belief. More importantly, since we are paying attention to the structure of the belief, look at the different visual qualities of the belief and make note of them. Regarding what you see and your belief that is no longer true but used to be, answer these questions: Is it flat or three-dimensional? What size is it? Is it clear or out of focus? How bright is it? With your eyes still closed, tune into the sounds that are associated with this belief of yours that is no longer true. Listen closely and pay particular attention to the sound qualities as you answer the following questions: Do you hear a voice of doubt? Do you hear a voice of authority? Do you hear other sounds? How loud are the sounds you hear? Step Two: Break State. Open your eyes, take a deep breath, and name three different things in the room. This will help you shift from a state of doubt back to your neutral state. You might even want to physically move around a little if it helps you return to your neutral, normal state. Step Three: Discover How You Believe. Think of something that is absolutely true. Pick out something that you have no question about and believe 100 percent to be true. Choose something simple, like "The sun will rise tomorrow" or "I need to breathe air to live." We're going to elicit the same visual and auditory qualities in this powerful belief that we just elicited for the doubting belief. Step Four: Break State. When you're done making note of all the qualities of what you see and hear, open your eyes, take a deep breath, and name three different things in the room. This will help you shift back to your neutral state. You may want to physically move around a little if it helps you return to your neutral, normal state. Step Five: Change the Belief. Think of a limiting belief of yours. Since this is a book about confidence, think of one that relates to your confidence or shyness. A good example is: "I can't go up and meet strangers easily." This is a belief that limits many people whose social and business lives would improve if they rid themselves of it. Once you've selected your limiting belief regarding confidence or shyness, close your eyes and notice all the visual and auditory qualities of that belief. This is just what you've done in Steps One and Three. After you've gotten the visual and auditory qualities of that belief, begin to change each and every visual and auditory quality of your limiting belief to match all of the visual and auditory qualities of something that you used to believe but no longer do—an old belief. This process recodes your limiting belief, transforming it into something you no longer believe. Make sure that the visual and auditory qualities of the limiting belief match those of the old belief as precisely as possible. When you're done transforming that belief, open your eyes. Take a deep breath and reorient yourself back into your neutral, normal state of being. Congratulations on removing a limiting belief! Since nature abhors a vacuum, we will place an empowering belief in your mind where this limiting belief used to reside. To do this, think about something with respect to your confidence that, when you believe it, will improve your life. Belief Change Pattern 1. Close your eyes. 2. Think about something that you used to believe was true but no longer do. 3. Notice all the visual qualities of that belief. 4. Notice all the auditory qualities of that belief. 5. Notice all the emotional qualities of that belief. 6. Open your eyes and name three different things in the room to clear your mind. 7. Close your eyes. 8. Think about a limiting belief you have, such as "I'm shy" or "I'm not yet confident." 9. Notice all the visual qualities of that belief. 10. Notice all the auditory qualities of that belief. 11. Notice all the emotional qualities of that belief. 12. Open your eyes and name three different things in the room to clear your mind. 13. Adjust your limiting belief to resemble something you used to consider true but no longer do. I encourage you to practice changing your beliefs and experiences. You'll be surprised at how easy and effective it is! Unstoppable Confidence: How to Use the Power of NLP to Be More Dynamic and Successful by Kent Sayre This is a very basic deconstruction: instead of “programming,” we now have three subconcepts to work with: Input—information you use to execute a process. Process—a series of steps the program takes, given the input. Output—the end result of the program.
This breakdown is much more useful. “Writing a computer program” means defining what information you’re starting with, defining a series of steps that describes exactly what the computer will do with that input, and defining the output the computer will return when the program is finished running. Think of a flowchart, which appears to be a useful mental hook for how programs work. You start the process with certain inputs. Along the way, you take certain actions when specific conditions are true or false. The process ends when you reach the end of the flowchart, and you’re left with the output: the end result of the complete process the flowchart describes. Creating a computer program seems to be a different way of doing the same kind of thinking you do when you create a flowchart. You ask the same sorts of questions: What am I starting with? What happens at the beginning of the process? What happens after that? After that? When does the process end? What do I have when the process is done? That’s basic programming, really. Defining inputs. Setting variables. Creating processes that lead to the desired outputs. Thinking through those processes like a flowchart, adding conditionals and exceptions as necessary. If all goes well, you supply the inputs, run the program, and get the desired output. This is a massive oversimplification of a very complex activity, but it’s detailed enough to be useful for someone new to programming. By deconstructing programming in this way, it’s easier to know where to start. The First 20 Hours: How to Learn Anything . . . Fast! by Josh Kaufman When it comes to money, fear is one of the most debilitating factors that will work against you in succeeding with the millionaire method. Fear can limit you, break you, second-guess you, and destroy you financially. It can cripple you to the point where you can’t act because you’re too afraid of the consequences. Either it’s the fear of investing your money, fear of not being able to enjoy life and have enough money to spend, fear of paying too much money in taxes, or whatever it may be. Fear and anxiety are severely crippling when it comes to your finances.
If you feel the fear when it comes to money or your future nest egg, remove yourself from the situation that you’re in immediately. Take a moment and go get some fresh air, or grab a pen and paper and begin writing out your thoughts. Write out why you’re afraid and try to react the opposite of how you would normally react. If you normally lose your temper, or begin to get agitated, do something to avoid that. Hit the gym, go for a run, or do some other stress-releasing activity. If you can interrupt the pattern and look at why you’re so fearful in the first place, you can work on correcting the problem. Finally, think about your choices logically. If situations confront you where your emotions begin to take over, stop and really analyze that, and analyze how you want to react. If you’re very susceptible to spending money in certain situations, realize that and do something about it. Fix the problem by not putting yourself into those situations. If you spend too much money at the bar, or by going out for meals too often, then cut up your credit cards. Whatever you need to do, make sure that you make a logical and conscious decision, and don’t allow your thoughts and your emotions to control you. Learn to control them. By taking control of your emotions, you can take control of your financial future. We can talk all we want about how and where to invest your money, how to generate more income, but none of that will help you if you can’t get control of the driver of the ship. If you can’t steer your mind in the right direction, even if you make good choices from time to time, you might end up jumping ship later on. When people get too comfortable, they begin to make poor decisions. And, it’s very easy to slip into this, believe me; I’m speaking from experience. But, as you make mistakes, you must learn from them. Don’t repeat the mistakes of your past. The definition of crazy is doing the same thing over, and over again, but expecting different results. Don’t repeat your same debilitating patterns. Make conscious changes, and be aware of your thoughts and your emotions. The Millionaire Method: How to get out of Debt and Earn Financial Freedom by Understanding the Psychology of the Millionaire Mind by R.L. Adams A sizable number of students seems to feel that a person should be completely moral before beginning to meditate. It is an unworkable strategy. Morality requires a certain degree of mental control as a prerequisite. You can’t follow any set of moral precepts without at least a little self-control, and if your mind is perpetually spinning like a fruit cylinder in a slot machine, self-control is highly unlikely. So mental culture has to come first.
There are three integral factors in Buddhist meditation—morality, concentration, and wisdom. These three factors grow together as your practice deepens. Each one influences the other, so you cultivate the three of them at once, not separately. This level requires a bit of mind control. But if your thought pattern is chaotic, your behavior will be chaotic, too. Mental cultivation reduces mental chaos. Meditation teaches you how to disentangle yourself from the thought process. It is the mental art of stepping out of your own way, and that’s a pretty useful skill in everyday life. Meditation is certainly not an irrelevant practice strictly for ascetics and hermits. It is a practical skill that focuses on everyday events and has immediate applications in everybody’s life. Patience is the key. Patience. If you learn nothing else from meditation, you will learn patience. Patience is essential for any profound change. Mindfulness in Plain English: 20th Anniversary Edition by Bhante Gunaratana Everything that you have and everything that you lack stems directly from a belief of yours.11/16/2013
Everything that you have and everything that you lack stems directly from a belief of yours. Similarly, all of the experiences you've had and all of those experiences yet to be had are because of your beliefs. Beliefs are pervasive throughout all areas of our lives. They influence what we do and how we do it to an extraordinary degree. Your quality of life depends upon the quality of your beliefs; the more useful and empowering the beliefs you hold, the more success you will attract.
Ask yourself whether a particular belief serves you. If so, keep it. If the belief keeps you stuck in a station of your life that you've outgrown, get rid of it and replace it with a more empowering belief. Consistently remain aware of your beliefs about certain things in different contexts—for example, you can wear a rubber band around your wrist and snap it every time you catch yourself uttering something less than empowering. This will cause your mind to associate that belief with pain, and since the mind wants to avoid pain at all costs, eventually it will eliminate that belief. Make it a habit to eliminate the beliefs that you notice tend to be useless or that are holding you back. Make it a habit to believe even more strongly in the empowering ones. Unstoppable Confidence: How to Use the Power of NLP to Be More Dynamic and Successful by Kent Sayre Meditation sharpens your concentration and your thinking power. Then, piece by piece, your own subconscious motives and mechanics become clear to you. Your intuition sharpens. The precision of your thought increases, and gradually you come to a direct knowledge of things as they really are, without prejudice and without illusion.
Meditation deals with levels of consciousness that lie deeper than conceptual thought. Therefore, some of the experiences of meditation just won’t fit into words. That does not mean, however, that meditation cannot be understood. There are deeper ways to understand things than by the use of words. You understand how to walk. You probably can’t describe the exact order in which your nerve fibers and your muscles contract during that process. But you know how to do it. Meditation needs to be understood that same way—by doing it. It is not something that you can learn in abstract terms. talked about. It is something to be experienced. Meditation is not a mindless formula that gives automatic and predictable results; you can never really predict exactly what will come up during any particular session. It is an investigation and an experiment, an adventure every time. In fact, this is so true that when you do reach a feeling of predictability and sameness in your practice, you can read that as an indication that you have gotten off track and are headed for stagnation. Learning to look at each second as if it were the first and only second in the universe is essential in vipassana meditation. Mindfulness in Plain English: 20th Anniversary Edition by Bhante Gunaratana The most successful people in all arenas of life are basically just sticking to the basics and doing the simple stuff over and over again until they get to where they want to go. It doesn't matter if you are studying to be a monk or a business mogul like Warren Buffet. The monk gets up every morning, does some work around the monastery and then gets on with his studies and meditation. Warren Buffet gets up every day, does whatever it is he has to do and then sits down and studies the market for up to 8 hours. There is no advanced formula to peace, success or happiness. They are all just the result of sticking to the same basics and becoming better and better through practice. The cool thing about sticking to the basics is that often times you will start seeing results very quickly and the results will keep improving the more you stick with it. Likewise, the solution to liberating yourself from the mind made prison is quite simple. Pick one or two concepts that you really like and start focusing on them in your everyday life.
The Mind-Made Prison: Radical Self Help and Personal Transformation by Mateo Tabatabai We are all artists. If you don't give yourself permission to share your gifts and talents with the world, you are never going to be truly fulfilled. You will always live with some sort of regret. It will be a waste of your potential if you don't share with other people your unique gifts to the world. Be a nurturer, an artist, a businessman, a wonderful friend, a great father, a fantastic lover, a spiritual teacher or an architect; it doesn't matter what you do, as long as you listen to what your gut is telling you and do what you are meant to do. Doing this will make sense on the very deepest level of your being because it is so much easier to be who you ARE and always have been, instead of trying to live up to a superficial picture you picked up along the way.
If you are not failing, it doesn't mean you are just THAT good, it simply means you have grown stagnant and you are not pushing yourself anymore. Never failing simply means you are playing it a little too safe. The Mind-Made Prison: Radical Self Help and Personal Transformation by Mateo Tabatabai |
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