A lot has happened since my last blog post.  When I last posted an article in early September, John McCain was leading in the polls and the Dow Jones was 3,000 points higher than it is today.

Oh, and the US lost a ton of jobs.  They originally reported a loss of 159,000 job losses in September, the worst in five years.  Turned out that they were off (by a lot).  Instead, there was a loss of 403,000 jobs in September, followed by 320,000 job losses in October.  November topped them all: 533,000 jobs were lost, the worst in 34 years (which also brings the total to 1.256 million over the last three months alone).

They say that one sad story is tragic, but a thousand of them is a statistic.  It’s very easy to forget that every single job loss has a person, a story, a life that was attached to that job, and when we’re talking about numbers this big, it’s simply overwhelming.

Which brings me to why I’m writing this post after such a long hiatus.  During the last recession in the early 2000’s, I was one of those statistics.  It was my first job after being done with school.  Ever since grade school, I was told to get good grades so I worked hard at it.  In college, I was told that engineers would always be in demand so I worked hard in that major.  When I worked for an internet company, I was told to work hard and I would get rewarded in stock options.  The company went bankrupt, my stock options were worthless and I was out of a job.  I remember telling myself, “It wasn’t supposed to end this way.  I did what I was told.  I was faithful and worked hard but I have nothing to show for it.”  I was angry and unemployed.

Fast forward to the present.  I had to take a break with my blog to write a proposal for the company I work for today.  While I was writing that proposal, I got news of winning a previous proposal I wrote (I mentioned it in my last post).  So what about that proposal that made me take a break from blogging?  I just found out I won that too.

What changed?  Getting laid off a few years ago taught me the hard lesson that I can’t let others think for me - I need to think for myself.  I also learned that the Puritanical devotion of working hard is not nearly as valuable as working smart.

I’ve always wanted to get back to blogging, but the recent economic turn has really inspired me to pick it up again.  I was in the middle of redesigning the blog layout for a relaunch, but I’m not sure I can wait that long.  There’s chock full of stuff I want to write about!  I started this blog as an outlet for myself to help people do the right things for pursuing their goals and dreams.  It seems like a good time for me to blog about it again.

Just wanted to share with you that I have a guest post up at Write to Done called Use Michael Bay as Your Writing Muse (wow, they actually accepted my post!). It’s a fun read, so I hope you get a chance to check it out.

Also as a brief update, I’ve been fully immersed with a work proposal in my day job. While I was working on this proposal, I also got the good news of a new contract win from a previous proposal of mine! The good news is I succeeded in bringing more work to my company, but it also means that I now have more work that I need to find time to do.

Things should settle next week, and I have a few lessons learned from all this that I want to write about in the upcoming posts. In the meantime, check out the fun post that’s currently at Write to Done!

Image credits: focal intent

Lately I’ve been going through a change of heart. They say that it doesn’t matter if you win or lose, but only that you tried. I don’t believe this anymore.

I don’t want the doctor to just “try” and heal me from a life-threatening illness, I need the doctor to succeed! My bank will not accept that I “tried” to pay my credit card bills, my payments must be timely received or else my credit score gets affected. For these types of cases, simply having the intention will not make up for the failure to deliver.

This line of reasoning is making me think more results-oriented and focus more on the bottom line. It also got me to ask myself a more fundamental question: is it who you are or what you do that really matters?

Action Speaks Louder Than Words
Let me clarify my belief on trying - it’s definitely important to try. Success can only happen as a result from trying. I just think that winning should not be completely devalued. I believe that intent manifests into action, and action leads to success. The right intention doesn’t always produce the right action, and also, the right action doesn’t always produce success. However, if you repeat the right actions over time you will eventually achieve success. Likewise, your accomplishments over time will ultimately reveal your character. This statement is important - who you are will ultimately be revealed by your achievements. Do you know anyone that thinks they’re a nice person but their actions show they’re not so nice?

Can You Believe the Facade?
What about the people that do things for show? The ones that don’t act with sincerity but instead for the sake of their public image? A good example are the politicians that visit soup kitchens and inform reporters well ahead of time to maximize the PR opportunity. If one is conniving enough, one can effectively shape their public image, which may not necessarily be consistent with their true self.

Ask the Right Question
As I asked myself these questions, I came to the conclusion that I was not asking the right questions. There are two questions here. First, is who you are or what you do that matters with respect to public perception? Second, what is the answer with respect to the Truth? Sometimes the Truth can be openly seen and the public perception is the same, but in many instances they are not.

You can choose which question is most important for yourself, but I chose to answer the question with respect to the Truth. In my humble opinion, intent leads to action which then leads to achievements. Over time, if I honestly assess my achievements and they’re not consistent with my beliefs, then I was delusional and I am not who I thought I was. Others may or may not see all that I’ve done, but I would know and that’s how I keep myself accountable.

Can You Judge a Story Before It’s Over?
I also believe that the record must be long enough to make a good judgment. Looking at a small snapshot can be misleading. In fact, I don’t even consider looking at my life history to be sufficient to judge me. I’m not done yet! My story is still being written - you can’t judge a book before you finish reading the ending. Likewise, there are many stories going on with me now, and even more that I have not yet started, which brings me back to full circle. Who I am might already be defined, but I also care about who I want to be. My beliefs, values, and goals will continually manifest itself into actions and achievements, and if I continue to act with integrity, then who I will be will become consistent with who I want to be.

You’re faced against the establishment and all the rules are against you. Those rules are there for a reason - to protect the haves and to keep out the have-nots, and you’re one of the have-nots.

To succeed in such situations, sometimes you have to break the rules. If you’re willing to do what it takes to win, do it right. You’ll need the criminal’s mindset if you want to pull this off. Here are the guidelines for using the criminally-minded approach. However if you get caught, better not rat me out!

1. Be prepared to break the rules: These are the conventional rules, the ones where the have’s created to help them get bigger while also making it harder for the up-and-comers like you. They’re afraid of you because you’re better than them and their only advantage is having a head start. However, you’re also smarter than them so those rules won’t stop you. In order to break those rules though, you have to first be willing to break them.
2. Believe that you will get away with the act: Have the vision and confidence that you will succeed. If you look suspicious or lose your cool, you’ll be busted.
3. Gather the right crew: You’ll need the right partners in crime to pull the heist. No one can do this job alone, so make sure you get like-minded people who can give you the help you need.
4. Case the joint: Exploit weaknesses in the system. Every system has a weakness, and success is a matter of finding this weakness and understanding how to exploit it.
5. Have a meticulous plan: Put on your mastermind hat. Be particularly attentive to details, because you may not have a second chance. You got valuable knowledge after casing the joint, so don’t let it go to waste by leaving things to chance.
6. Always have a Plan B: Even the best laid plan can go awry due to unexpected events. Have a Plan B, and make sure it’s good enough that it would actually work if it’s used!
7. Feel the rush: Get a sense of thrill and adventure for committing the crime. Use the excitement to heighten your senses and to be alert.
8. If needed, bust out the big guns: Remember, the have’s do not want you to succeed and may have security systems to take you down. Pull no punches - if things are going down, don’t be afraid to use your heavy ammo. For inspiration, think Scarface:

Are you drowning in work? Do you consistently end your day with things on your to-do list that you wanted to get done but never got to? Has your productivity in your day job been reduced to the point that you regularly work nights and weekends? Let me ask: if someone gives you yet another project to work on now, will you scream?

My friend, I’m here to tell you that this lifestyle is not sustainable. Consider these 10 tips which might help give some immediate relief and help you ride those waves of work.

1. Check messages only twice a day: People spend 28% of the day on interruptions and recovery time (roughly $650 billion a year in the US). To get some of that 28% back, limit the frequency of checking messages. This includes email, voicemail, and tweets (for you twitter users). If it’s urgent, they’ll call.
2. Put first things first: Of all the things on your to-do list, there’s likely just a select few that are truly important. Remember, urgent does not always equal important. I highly recommend the story about the big rocks to illustrate this point.
3. Use one master to-do list: Post-it notes were supposed to help people keep track of things, but a lot of time can be wasted trying to get info that’s on stickies scattered everywhere. Use the same device to consistently capture what needs to get done. It can be on paper or stored electronically, but it needs to be consistent.
   
4. Focus on tasks that you’re good at: If you want to work fast, do the tasks that you do well. These tasks are in line with your strengths. Seems simple enough, but surprisingly this tip is often ignored.
5. Say “no” more often: Less is more. Don’t waste your time on things that suck your time and energy but give no value.
6. Delegate: OK, so you’re faced with a task that you’re not good at, but you can’t say no to it. Find someone who is good at it and delegate it.
7. Procrastinate on purpose: It goes by many different names. Proactive procrastination, creative rescheduling, structured procrastination. The main objective is that you’re not doing nothing, but instead you’re simply doing something else.
   
8. Batch process your jobs: You can increase your productivity ten-fold if you batch process your small jobs and do them all at once.
9. Only worry about things you can control: Why waste time and energy worrying about something outside of your sphere of influence? Worry less, because you’re more productive when you have a positive attitude.
10. Get enough rest: Allow yourself more sleep. Take additional breaks. Take a vacation. If you allow yourself proper rest, you’ll find you can do more in less time.

I could be anyone. I could be your new neighbor, your nurse at your next hospital visit, your cashier at your grocery store, or perhaps your next future boss. I might be the person who gives you the tip for your next career break, or perhaps the one who introduces you to your future spouse.

Right now I’m a stranger to you, but I could be someone that makes a positive and significant influence in your life. However, have you given me any reason to help you? How do you normally treat a stranger? Do you make that stranger feel a little uplifted after an encounter with you, or do you simply dismiss the stranger? Perhaps on bad days, you even deplete them and make them feel worse for taking that brief moment of your time? We’re talking about all kinds of strangers, from new strangers we’ve never seen before to the familiar ones that you run into in your daily routine but never actually met.

With all the strangers you will meet in the future, some could potentially improve your life in ways you can’t imagine. The question is, have you given them a reason to?

The Practical Reasons for Being Nice
Being nice to people helps your network, but there’s practical reasons to be nice other than for favors. It’s no surprise, but people want to be around positive people and they naturally gravitate towards such people. Studies have also shown that 9 out of 10 people are more productive when around positive people. Just simply being around positive people will make you more productive.

How You Should Be Nice to Me
Say there was an incident where you gave me a negative encounter and now you want to make up for it. You might think the next positive encounter will get things back to normal, but it won’t. According to the book How Full Is Your Bucket, studies have shown that you need a ratio of 5:1 - five good encounter for every bad encounter for the relationship to stay healthy. This ratio is a general rule, which can be applied to couples and marriages as well as for employees and work environments.

Also, remember that what you find to be positive might not be quite positive for me. For example, don’t give me a Starbucks gift card if I don’t drink coffee. Give me something that I would appreciate. If you don’t know, then simply find out - that’s why the nice gesture you give will be special. Engage me in a little dialogue and empathize to find out what I like. Otherwise, your efforts could be wasted and you might be better off not trying at all.

Why Sometimes You Shouldn’t Be So Nice to Me
Although I want you to be nice to me, let’s not overdo it. How far is that point? Earlier I mentioned that 5:1 was the magic ratio for being nice, and they also found out that you’d get diminishing returns beyond a 13:1 ratio. At that point, being nice is watered down and it just won’t get the same effect. In other words, if you’ve given me a positive encounter thirteen times, you might want to consider hurling an unexpected insult at me to keep me in check. (Okay, not an insult, but perhaps a constructive criticism.)

Unexpected Benefits
OK, allow me to practice what I preach. This blog is about personal development, so hopefully this gesture is something you might be able to use. StrengthsFinder is an online traits test to help people identify their natural strengths. Only people who purchased the book has access to a unique registration code for the test, but I have an extra registration code (one is also included in How Full Is Your Bucket). Feel free to leave a comment or contact me directly to ask for my extra StrengthsFinder code (if I get multiple request, I can pull a name out of a hat).

We can use more random acts of kindness in this world. Have you gave, or perhaps even received, a random act of kindness recently?

Image source: Mhogan35

I think the person who takes a job in order to live - that is to say, for the money - has turned himself into a slave…. Is the system going to flatten you out and deny you your humanity, or are you going to be able to make use of the system to the attainment of human purposes?
-Joseph Campbell

In his book The Hero with a Thousand Faces, Joseph Campbell describes how mythological stories all follow the same fundamental pattern called the monomyth. This pattern has been repeated in various myths throughout history and the pattern has stood the test of time - why? Because it resonates with us. I sincerely believe the Hero’s Journey is the ideal approach to a career - any career.

The Journey Begins by Hearing the Calling

Act I of the story begins with some disturbance, some evil that has threatened everyone in the hero’s world, and the journey begins by the hero accepting the challenge of searching for that elixir or that magical treasure that can bring peace back into his world. In reality, there’s countless number of such “evil forces” that threatens our world, whether we define our world as the entire globe, the community we live in, or wherever we draw the boundaries in our minds.

When you follow your bliss… doors will open where you would not have thought there would be doors, and where there wouldn’t be a door for anyone else.
- Joseph Campbell

If you’re paying attention, there’s no shortage of callings that need you. For that reason, pick the calling where you can be the greatest hero. That means one that needs your special skills and talents the most, the one that plays to your strengths. Think of the treasure as the product, and the journey as the process. If the process requires a strength that doesn’t interest you, then pick a different journey, a different process to get that same product, or simply figure out the best product that you can get with the process that suits you the best. Unlike the heroes in the myths, you can choose the adventure to pursue.

All Adventures Require Overcoming Barriers

Perhaps the most important barrier to cross is the first one, the entry gate. According to Campbell, the first barrier is the point of no return. You’ve accepted the quest, and now you have to follow through with the mission. What is the entry gate to your career, to your calling?

You’ll need to slay monsters along the journey, and these monsters are called threshold guardians. Every treasure worth pursuing has threshold guardians to protect it. Heroes are not always successful in every battle against such monsters, but once they succeed, heroes are always stronger after they defeat these monsters. That’s why they are an important part of the journey - to defeat the dragon guarding the treasure, the hero must become stronger by first battling the threshold guardians.

Opportunities to find deeper powers within ourselves come when life seems most challenging.
- Joseph Campbell

The treasure is always underground somewhere in an innermost cave. You’ll have to navigate through dark and unknown paths to find the treasure. At this point, you’ll need a wise old sage that can guide you. The sage can be an old hero, a wizard, or perhaps a mentor in the career that you choose. Don’t be shy to ask for help from a mentor. Draw upon the wisdom and experience of the mentor to navigate through the darkness and help you find the treasure.

Seize the Treasure

The moment of truth. You see the treasure, and the only thing stopping you from taking it is the dragon. No one has ever defeated the dragon before, and if you were to have faced the dragon at the start of the journey, you would have merely contributed to that statistics. However, you’ve become a stronger, more capable hero from your journey and you’ll need to rise to the occasion and deliver the greatest battle of your life to slay the dragon.

It is by going down into the abyss that we recover the treasures of life.
-Joseph Campbell

However, the adventure doesn’t stop with slaying the dragon. The legend isn’t complete until the hero returns to the world with the treasure to share. The journey to the innermost cave was a challenge, but the journey back into this world with the treasure can be a greater challenge. Victory isn’t achieved until you help make the world a better place with the treasure you found.

In the End, the Journey Was as Valuable as the Treasure Itself

The hero successfully returns with the treasure, and peace has been restored in the hero’s world. However, the hero is not the same person who started the journey. The world benefits from the treasure, but the hero benefits from the journey. When it comes to careers, the process can be as important as the product.

I don’t believe people are looking for the meaning of life as much as they are looking for the experience of being alive.
-Joseph Campbell

Here’s a trivia question: what causes the seasons to change? If you said it’s from the Earth getting closer or further from the sun as it orbits, then your answer was the same that many Harvard grads gave in a survey. And like those Harvard grads, you would be wrong.

More fun facts: even though your veins are blue, the blood that flow inside of them are still red. Napoleon was not a short man - he was slightly above average height for French men in those days. These are common misconceptions, and it might be somewhat humorous to find out about them, but what if misperceptions lead us into making the wrong decisions? If you are faced with an important choice, will you be able to figure out what you know from what you don’t know?

The Woman in the Wheelchair
I thought about this question after I read one of Glenda’s blog post recently. Glenda was at an outdoor event and she saw a frail elderly woman slumped in a wheelchair, seemingly empty of much life in her. The elderly woman in the wheelchair seemed dependent on others in order to feed her and to adjust her position in her wheelchair. Glenda felt sorry for the woman because it appeared that life had ceased to flow in her, that she was down to her last trickle. When a family member tended to her however, the elderly woman responded with a purely joyous and loving smile, taking Glenda by surprise. There was much more life in the elderly woman than Glenda originally assumed.

Glenda felt terrible for passing judgement. She saw a frail-looking woman who was in a wheelchair, and she made assumptions that the woman was living a miserable life. What added to Glenda’s sense of guilt is that she made a mistake that she wished others wouldn’t do to her. Glenda has cerebral palsy and is also in a wheelchair.

The Impact of Misperceptions
Glenda posed the question to her readers: is it possible for people to not pass judgement? I took the bait and chimed my two cents worth. There’s something about us that instinctively fill any gaps of knowledge that our minds may have, and typically it happens without realizing it.

We know that the Earth has an elliptical orbit around the sun, but that’s not what causes the changing seasons (it’s the tilt of Earth’s axis). We know at least that the Earth orbits around the sun and not the other way around, but even that fact was once not well known. The Spanish Inquisitors did not know this, and this misperception led to their sentencing of Galileo to house arrest for the rest of his life.

Veins are blue not because low-oxygen blood is blue, but rather because of Rayleigh’s effect. The myth that Napoleon was short was likely due to a British propaganda rather than on facts. Misperceptions are trivial until we rely on them to make important judgements, particularly if they are life-affecting judgements. So to answer Glenda’s original question, I believe that it’s human nature to make assumptions, but we bear the responsibilities as individuals on how we act on these assumptions.  We need to know what we don’t know before we make important decisions.

Today’s blog post is a special highlight post for any new visitors, particularly if you’re coming from Liz Strauss’s Blog-to Show. Welcome to 7P Productions!

This blog is about achieving goals and dreams. The articles are sometimes light and sometimes a little on the heavy side, but I always aim to provide something of value in the articles and to make it a good read as well.

Below are links to a few of my recent articles that were popular. Check them out and hope you enjoy!

• Which Superhero Blockbuster Movie Are You?: I subscribe to Joseph Campbell’s theory that all heroic stories follow the same archetype pattern called the monomyth. From Batman to Kung Fu Panda, we can use one of the superhero blockbuster movies to help us figure out who we are.
• The Hidden Water of Life: Have you lost your passion? Perhaps it could be for work. Or for your significant other. Or, perhaps it’s some goal, some pursuit, some mission that you have been faithfully serving all your life but the realities of the day-to-day has worn your passion down. This article is simply one person’s opinion of how to get that passion back.
• Eight Rules of Leadership from George Washington: Dear Senator McCain and Senator Obama: you are running for a position that we lost faith in. For the winner, remember this… be the great leader that is needed. Earn our support. Get back to first principles. You only need to look to the first President as a model for being a great leader.
• Do Nice Guys Finish Last?: I decided to finally answer this question once and for all. This can only be achieved by applying a scientifically rigorous approach. My method was to think of a few questions that would test my theory, arrive at the answers using my gut instincts, and then use Google to see if anyone else agrees.
• Apologizing Is a Form of Weakness: When you apologize you show weakness. Good. Be weak. Show you’re human. Make mistakes. Make them early and make them often. Learn from them. Grow.

Welcome every morning with a smile… Let your first hour set the theme of success and positive action that is certain to echo through your entire day. Today will never happen again. Don’t waste it with a false start or no start at all. You were not born to fail.
- Og Mandino

Starting the day right can give good momentum for the rest of the day. Having a power morning is a key ingredient for a fruitful day. Here are some tips on getting the most out of the morning.

• Wake up early. In theory, there’s no difference in waking up early or late as long as you get the proper amount of sleep. However, there is a psychological advantage when you wake up earlier than the average person. You got a head start and you’ll have more time to do preparation before engaging in the real world.
• Make it a routine. It can be tough to be an early riser, especially if it’s before sunrise. Having a regular time for waking up helps the body be more alert in the mornings.
• Exercise. Good health is always a benefit with exercise, but studies have also shown that morning exercise helps you to sleep better at nights.
• Meditate. Just like rebooting your computer is a good way to make it function cleanly and smoothly, meditating in the morning is like rebooting your mind for the day.
• Eat breakfast. It’s the most important meal of the day. According to the Mayo Clinic, we should choose 3 from the following 4: fruits and veggies, grains, dairy, and protein. Did you know that you can actually gain weight when you skip breakfast?
• Take a shower. When you shower, do you do it in the morning or at night? I used to shower in the evenings, but I found that morning showers helped me to be more alert.
• Read the news. Or blogs. Or whatever your source is on what’s the latest happenings in the world.
• Prioritize your To-Do list. Leo from Zen Habits coined the acronym MIT to mean “most important tasks.” Our to-do list might be never ending, but put on top of the list a couple of mission critical tasks that will define the day to be a successful one.
• Check your emails. Only once. Getting a lot of emails can be very distractive and overwhelming. You actually are more productive when you check them only a few times at fixed times of the day. I only do them 2-3 times a day - once in the morning, once at lunch, and one more as it gets toward the end of the day.
• Go to bed early the night before. The right amount of sleep for you can range between 5 to 10 hours. Whatever is best for you, make sure you go to bed the night before to get the amount you need.

Not everything on this list is needed, such as reading the news or showering in mornings rather than at nights. Is there anything on the list that you think is most important? Is there anything that should be added to the list?