Extreme Common Sense

Persistence

2012-01-27T10:29:00.001-05:00

On October 29, I changed my life. Will today be the day you changed yours?

At the start of 2011, I made my annual new year's resolution to do something about my weight. In March, I paid attention to it for a few days and my weight went from 185 pounds to 183. By late October, my weight was down to 178, a move in the right direction, but not much of one. That's when I pulled out Tony Robbins Ultimate Success Plan.

This plan has four steps:
1. Decide what you really want.
2. Take massive action.
3. Check to see if you're headed in the right direction.
4. If not, change your approach.

On October 29, I concluded that I was zero for four, so it was time to implement step four and change my approach.

In my journal, I decided what I wanted with a written goal and a plan. The goal was to weigh 155 pounds on or before January 15.

My plan identified the steps that I would take. The plan was simple, but the action, as Tony required, was massive:

Step one was to create and follow a stop doing list. I put my biggest weaknesses on this list.

No ice cream. No Steak N Shake shakes at 1000 calories each.
No trail mix. The bag says 60% less fat in big letters, and 150 calories per serving. I could live with that. I couldn't live with sevenmsrvings per bag.

Step two was to be aware of what I ate. I could choose a Wendy's spicy chicken sandwich at 450 calories or a Wendy's Grilled Chicken at 340. I found an IPhone app to track everything and report it out to Twitter and Facebook. Instead of an accountability partner, I looked for an accountability planet.

Step Three was to increase my exercise. The plan called for ten miles of walking every week. When I decided that didn't count as massive, I scaled it up. In December, I walked 132 miles, making me number ten out of over 3,000 people using the same program.

The programs I was using kept graphs of my progress. I recorded what I ate and what I weighed. I used a scale sensitive to 2/10 of a pound so I could see results every day. Some days were better than others. My January 15 weight check recorded 156 pounds, missing my goal by either a pound or a few days. As I write this today, on January 27, I weighed in this morning at 154.6 pounds.

The ultimate success plan works because it includes tracking your progress, taking massive action, and being persistent if things don't work. Today can be the day you change your life, but you don't need to take my word for it, or even Tony Robbins.

As Buddah said, "in the confrontation between the rock and the stream, the stream always wins -- not through strength, but through persistence."

You can find out more about the Ultimate Success formula in Awaken the Giant Within by Anthony Robbins.

I tracked food and calories with MyNetDiary on an IPhone.it is also available as a web application at MyNetDiary.com. I used the IPhone app Runkeeper to track my walking. Both MyNetDiary and Runkeeper offer options to post progress to Twitter and Facebook.

7 Billion and Counting

2011-12-12T09:18:00.001-05:00

With the world population now at 7 billion, what can we do to have a greener, more sustainable life style? When I heard this question recently*, I wanted to share my thoughts on it. After all, what could be more sensible than protecting the only planet we have? My thought was the environmental slogan "reduce, reuse, recycle," but on reflection we can and should do more.

Reduce

This thought can be expressed with another slogan "do more with less." Although usually used to justify budget cuts, the thought can guide us here. If we reduce our usage of something, say a plastic water bottle, we don't need to figure out what to do with it later. Some water distributors have redesigned their bottles to have less plastic in them. As consumers, we can and should reward efforts like this.

We can do our part more directly. By planning our day to be more effective, we can reduce personal consumption without impacting life style.

Reuse

We might not want to refill bottled water, but aluminum thermos bottles offer a highly reuseable way to approach this problem. If you don't want to refill the plastic bottle, can you find another use for the bottle itself?

Recycle

Plastic water bottles are the poster child for recycling. We can and should take the effort to see that they get directed into recycling systems.

Rethink

The point of buying bottled water in the first place is reliable, portable clean water. If we work to make tap water cleaner, we might be willing to reuse or even abandon the bottles. In the meantime, Brita is selling bottles with their filter built in, rethinking the concept of reuse. Reduce, reuse,and recycle can mitigate a problem but only rethinking can really solve one,

Remember

A more sustainable life style improves the quality of life for everyone. Everyone can and should help. If you think you can afford to just toss that bottle away, you don't understand the rest cost.

A poster child puts a face on a problem, allowing us to connect with the problem in a way that would be otherwise unavailable. We can't foresee the consequences of many of our actions, but we should be guided by probable consequences we can see.

Make a list of things you can and will do right now to to make the world a better, more sustainable place. This should be an action list, not a wish list. With 7 billion of us and counting, this should create many ideas and a lot of results.

* I heard this question, and some answers, at a Toastmasters Table Topics contest. Contestants are asked a question and challenged to give a one to two minute answer without preparation. It is a great exercise in extemporaneous speaking. You can learn more about Toastmasters at http://www.toastmasters.org

Thinking About The Box

2011-11-30T21:04:00.000-05:00

When we work on problems or projects, others often encourage us to think outside the box. Unfortunately, this is one of the most inside-the-box pieces of advice anyone can give. When offered, the usual meaning is to not limit our thinking. In my view, it is often more useful to think about the box, rather than outside it.

What Is "The Box"?

The box is often used as a metaphor, but when applied to our thinking it is very real if not physical. When we start to think about anything, our assumptions and beliefs define the boundaries of what we consider. We don't usually think about them as much as within them. By staying within them, we define a box for ourselves.

Real world constraints can also be a wall of this box, but more often our beliefs are more limiting than the constraint. A baby elephant that learns it cannot pull free from a tied rope won't even attempt to pull free when it grows to an adult strong enough to do so. The rope is a constraint to a baby elephant, but the adult it becomes is limited by old beliefs based on facts no longer true
.
Why We Want To Think Outside The Box

The vast majority of problems can be solved with tools immediately at hand. The tools are there because they have solved problems in the past. If a problem seems difficult, one approach to a solution is to look for a tool you don't know about.

For example, try to calculate the sum of all integers from 1 to 2000 (1+2+3...+2000=). This can be solved by grade school addition over a period of several minutes if you're careful enough not to make even one error over the many additions required, or it can be solved in a moment in your head with a change in perspective. 1+2000=2001, 2+1999=2001 ... 1000+1001=2001. That means there are 1000 pairs of numbers, each totaling 2001, so 1000*2001=2,001,000. Pair wise addition and multiplication provide tools to greatly simplify the problem.

For some problems, nobody has a tool to offer a solution. In those cases, looking for solutions outside the box can be either useful or necessary. Even in those cases, however, it is often more useful to think about the box rather than outside it.

Newton's Box

If you look casually, Newton's three Laws of Motion seem like a perfect example of thinking outside the box. Instead of limiting his thinking to things he could touch, Newton pushed out from the box to imagine planets in orbit to offer universal laws which hold even today. If anyone was capable of out of the box thinking, it was Newton. While he may have been capable of it, that wasn't what he chose to do.

Newton invented and validated calculus, a whole new branch of mathematics to calculate objects in motion. By doing so, he created a new tool built on the set of tools his peers commonly accepted. This allowed him to see the space outside the existing box by using the box itself as a frame of reference. The result was a bigger box with a better set of tools.

Thinking About The Box

Since the box was made up of assumptions and beliefs, Newton was able to solve a previously unsolvable problem by testing each and seeing if another could take its place. If we cannot solve a problem by thinking within our assumptions and beliefs, the time has come to think about them.

One approach which can work is to present your problem and your thinking to a colleague. Ask the colleague to question anything that isn't either proved or nearly so. You shouldn't have to prove that 2+2=4, but you may want to note it as an assumption. I shared a problem once, meticulously defending each step of my thinking until I stopped in mid sentence, staring at the answer. She didn't see it, but I did.

Another strategy is to explicitly write down every assumption and belief that may touch on the problem you are addressing. Then you walk through them one at a time until something gives. This approach is almost guaranteed to be labor intensive. It is not guaranteed to produce a result.

Eureka Moments

Every once in a while, ideas pop into existence as if from nowhere. These eureka moments typically occur when one thing connects with another, but even then they aren't useful until they can be connected back to known ideas, methods, and tools.

In the early 1600s, Johannes Kepler noticed a similarity between properties of geometric solids and the number and relative distances of planets in the heavens. He was elated that this showed geometry underlying the Solar System. Given this relationship and his inspiration, he looked meticulously at the data and found nothing. His eureka moment died because he could not connect his out of the box idea back to the box.

The idea that continents drift was first suggested in 1596 by Abraham Ortelius, but it wasn't until plate tectonics offered an explanation in the 1960's that the idea was commonly accepted.

Conclusions

Eureka moments -- out of the box thinking with no connection to the box itself -- do happen, but they only become significant when they can be grounded by recognizing their connection to the existing body of knowledge represented by the box itself. Therefore, it is frequently more useful to think about the beliefs and assumptions which act as the boundaries of our thinking to see if the box can be made bigger.

In his book Getting Things Done, The Art of Stress Free Productivity, David Allen develops a five step model for project planning he calls the Natural Planning Model. Step one includes identifying beliefs, assumptions and constraints so you can think within them. I talk about this on a radio broadcast you can listen to on YouTube. Find it here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RC56niTb9vM&feature=email

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2011-10-04T15:51:00.001-04:00

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Don't

2011-04-18T14:21:00.000-04:00

In his book Good To Great, Jim Collins covers the value of a "stop doing" list. His focus is on enduring organizational success, but the concept applies equally well for individuals. Our goal should be to decide yes or no, then either "just do it" as Nike recommends or "just say no". Real life is rarely that simple. Here are some of my key don't do items.
Don't assume against yourself. When you assume that something can't be done, it becomes a self fulfilling prophecy. I put this at the top of the list because it stops everything else. Henry Ford expressed it this way: Whether you think that you can, or that you can't, you are usually right.

Don't make big changes for small reasons. It is sometimes difficult to know whether a decision is big or small, but some decisions are obviously big. When your decision is big, the payoff should reflect it. Using liposuction to lose five pounds would be making a big change for a small reason. Using it to lose 105 pounds would still be a big change, but the reason behind it is big enough to consider.

Don't bet against the house if your goal is to win the bet. If the occasional lottery ticket is your idea of fun, go ahead. If it is your retirement plan, think again. Lottery tickets, roulette wheels, and other similar games assure the operator a profit. The more you play, the more you lose.

Don't over promise and under deliver. In Star Trek, Scotty consistently under promised and over delivered. In Star Trek Next Generation, Geordi LaForge delivered exactly what he promised, no more or less. Presumably, those who over promised and under delivered never got into, much less out of Star Fleet Academy. We can have an honest debate on whether under promising and over delivering erodes the trust of our colleagues. Over promising and under delivering is a formula for failure.

Don't spend what you don't have -- or what you do. There are cases where strategic borrowing makes sense, but they are rare enough that the act of borrowing should cause you to recheck your math. A store may sell you a TV for two years interest free, but make sure they don"t bundle in a loan insurance, an extended warranty, or some other gimmick to make money on something other than interest. Better yet, wait until you have money. Even then, shop intelligently. Warren Buffet owes a lot of his success to not buying things he could afford but didn't need.

Success is achieved by what you do, but your chance of doing the right things can be improved by identifying

What Got You Here Won't Get You There

2011-04-02T16:30:00.000-04:00

What Got You Here Won't Get You There: How Successful People Become Even More Successful by Marshall Goldsmith

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

As an executive coach, Marshall Goldsmith is known for helping successful people become even more successful, and this book provides an overview of his methods for those of us who are unwilling or unable to hire him directly.
The thesis of the book is that for successful people, social flaws which create problems for colleagues are the limiting factor of success. THe book draws on his decades of 360 degree feedback reports -- his tool of choice -- on his clients. From these feedback reports, Goldsmith and his client identify one characteristic to fix, recognizing that an improvement there will positively affect other areas as well. They further enlist those colleagues in an improvement process that can take 12 to 18 months.

The analysis leads to the identification of one of the twenty character traits Goldsmith has identified as something he can help with. The process begins with an apology acknowledging the problem and the hope of cooperatiuon from the person apologized to. From there, the stage for self improvement is set.

The heart of the book is twenty specific complaings. Goldsmith acknowledges that any one person will have very few of these traits. Each trait is listed and described in the text. He offers a simple regimen for improvement.

The book is valuable as a catalog of inerpersonal character flaws we can all work on and the starting point for improvement.

View all my reviews

Whisper from the Past

2011-03-30T17:25:00.000-04:00

It sounds like a plot from a movie: a message with critical information arrives mysteriously at the critical moment, changing your plans, your actions, and your destiny. No, this isn'tyour future self breaking laws of physics to share a stock tip. It isn't Obi Wan Kenobi advising you to use the force. It's more like Michelle Pfeiffer in Batman Returns, leaving herself a voice mail about a critical item she'd forgotten.

The obvious place to put date sensitive reminders is the calendar. It can be great for appointments, date sensitive reminders, or even things you might want to do. Paper calendars come with limited storage capacity and electronic ones may have a lot of competition for your attention. Here are a few other ways people have built to preserve and deliver those whispers from the past.

The Tickler File

Create a set of 43 folders -- twelve with Month names and 31 with numbers 1 to 31 for days of the month. For items less than a month ahead, put a note in the folder with the corresponding date. For items up to a year in the future, drop the item in the month you want to see it and put it in the corresponding day at the start of the month. You get free delivery of actual paper as far as one year ahead. Just remember to check the folders daily.

Scheduled Email Delivery
You can send an email into the future, either with or without attachments. The Internet offers a number of reasonable choices, including the following:

Nudgemail.com is a good reminder to yourself with no account needed. The message gets returned to you at the date and time specified.
Timecave.com and lettermelater.com require accounts but offer more flexibility, including delayed email to others complete with attachments. Because they have accounts, you can review your scheduled notes and adjust them.

If these services go out of business, or the account you are mailing to gets closed, or there is an Internet problem when the mail is scheduled, delays or failed delivery are possible. You probably don't want to do this with anything really sensitive. Even if the message can be stored securely, risk probably outweighs reward.

Use Tasks Instead of Calendar

Outlook allows you to created tasks with specific dates instead of (or in addition to) the calendar. Other task managers have similar features. You have far better control over your data than storing an email in the Cloud.
Keep a separate checklist of tasks you do every day or nearly so. Mine includes daily medication, feeding the pets, daily exercise, and other things I should do daily. This avoids recurring tasks filling up my calendar or action lists.

Summary

Use a tickler file to send physical paper, tickets, bill reminders, etc. to yourself up to a full year ahead.
Use time delayed email to send yourself or others in the future.
Put time markers on action items to clear thye clutter from your electronic calendar.
Beware of masked women in skin tight vinyl and their evil, rich bosses.
If you hear a whisper telling you to use the force, think April Fools joke before grabbing your light sabre.

Book Review: The Go-Giver by Bob Burg and John David Mann

2011-03-27T17:23:00.000-04:00

Some books offer powerful ideas wrapped in the context of a simple story. The Richest Man in Babylon offers financial basics. The Goal teaches the theory of constraints. Now The Go-Giver teaches what it calls the five laws of Stratospheric Success.

Subtitled "a little story about a powerful business idea" the book offers five related ieas, each given its turn as the story progresses over a week. In the story, the maiun character (Joe) is exposed to each idea in turn from a series of mentors. The story is not compelling: the ideas it illuminates are. The ideas are summarized here.

It's worth mentioning that though the subtitle talks about a business idea, the idea itself applies just as well to interpersonal connections outside business. This is good because my measure of success isn't limited to work alone.

The message of giving and receiving bears a famuily resemblance to any example which tells you to sow the seeds first and reap the rewards later. Another part encourages you to give value to as many people as possible ala Harv Eker's Secrets of the Millionaire Mind. Burg's own message from other books, that people buy from those they klnow, trust and like, is also present. The ideas are tied ttogether well and the connected web site provides more information on implementation.

The Go-Giver is written in the form of an epic hero's journey, but happily it's nowhere near that long. The entire book can be read at one sitting.If you prefer, you can take one chapter at a time and act on the lessons as the story suggests. Either way, this book is strongly recommended for your to-read shelf.

Effective Listening

2011-03-13T18:12:00.002-04:00

We all breathe every minute of every day, but that does not make us good at it -- just barely good enough for routine purposes. Athletes learn to breathe effectively for their respective specialties, as do actors and yoga masters. The rest if us do well enough with inhale then exhale.

Listening is another matter. Unless we go into a soundproof isolation booth, sounds reach our ears all the time. That's hearing, not listening. Like breathing, the standard Mark 1 human rarely listens effectively.

Listening is a skill we can all improve without the sweat of a jock, the method of a thespian, or the discipline of a guru. Because it helps us understand and deal with others, it can offer huge payoff in either competitive or cooperative situations. By any measure of success, it is a skill that can make you more successful.

Because it is a skill, not a talent, effective listening can be learned and developed with practice. It is Personal Development 101, and we can all benefit from a refresher course and an opportunity to practice.

For those of you near Columbus Ohio on March 17, 2011, my friend Janna Yeshanova-Stephens is offering a free one hour workshop that evening. Check out http://www.life-spark.com for more about Janna, or http://www.life-spark.com/ListeningSkillsFlyer-March17JourneysofWisdom.pdf to learn more about or register for the free workshop.

Where Is It?

2011-03-06T18:13:00.001-05:00

Panic erupts. Something you need is missing. It may be important, it is definitely urgent, and it's missing. Keys, glasses, cell phones, and other small, useful items mysteriously disappear when you need them most. Let's look first at ideas to proactively avoid losing things, then at strategies for when they get lost anyway.

Avoiding the Problem

Think about the last thing you lost. Where does it belong? Equipment, supplies and reference material all belong somewhere. That spot, wherever it is, is the easiest place to find whatever you're looking for. Take a moment to put it back where it belongs if you can. If you can't, put it in an inbox.

In his book Getting Things Done, David Allen discussed many reasons for using an inbox. He points out that if you try to avoid an inbox your house, your entire house becomes an inbox. If that describes your house and your life, no wonder stuff gets lost. Create an inbox, or at least an in area, and put stuff there if you can't put it away properly.

To avoid locking yourself out of your house or car, make a habit of having keys in your hand when closing the door. Lock the door with the key, or with the remote. Don't lock the door and push it closed unless the key us in your hand.

This Jedi Mind Trick can help you remember where you put something as you put it down. People learn things through visual, auditory or kinesthetic means, each according to his or her gifts. Which ever you prefer, your memory works best when you create links all three ways. Watch yourself put those keys down. Feel them as they leave your hand. Say to yourself "the car keys are on the bathroom counter under the toothbrushes" and be specific as you do it. In the best case, your learning processes have built strong links. In the worst case, you were paying attention at the time.

Okay, But My Keys Are Lost NOW!

You looked where they belong, where you thought they were, and the floor under where you thought they were. Either they weren't in the inbox or the inbox idea is looking better -- for later. For now, some serious searching is in order.

Picture the item in your hand. Where were you and what were you doing the last time you saw it? Who else was there? Retrace your route, looking most carefully at the last place you were and where you had them last. Is there someone you can talk to?

If that hasn't helped, it's time to make a list. Where have they shown up when lost the past? Where could they be? Who might have seen them? Could someone have moved them? Are there other ways you can look, other people you can ask?

In the end, of course, things do get lost That's why we have hide-a-keys, spare pens, and contingency plans. If life isn't about things, and of course it isn't, it really shouldn't be about missing things.

Summary

Develop the habit of limiting the places you put things. Pay attention when putting things down. Visualization can help as you put something down or as you realize it's missing. If you have to search, have a search plan, and always have a backup plan.

Location:Columbus,United States

The Empty Email Inbox

2011-02-25T14:14:00.007-05:00

In an article for lifehacker.com, Gina Trapani describes the Trusted Trio of folders she uses to keep her email inbox empty. Jim McCullen has developed a methodology for using email to manage action lists he calls Control Your Day. My system owes thanks to both and works well in an Outlook environment.

Trapani directs her email into one of three folders: Followup, Hold, or Archive. Followup requires some action that cannot be done quickly and immediately. Hold is for items that have no specific action but may need attention in the next day or two. Everything else goes into Archive.

McCullen uses Outlook rules, categories and search folders to make his system as automated as possible. Messages are dropped into an archive immediately and flagged as an @Inbox category. He sees and acts on them through a corresponding @Inbox (virtual) search folder. Other rules add other categories to messages as they arrive.

I use McCullen's rules to move incoming messages into a real archive folder, tag them with the @Inbox category and see them through the search folder the way he does. I have also created category / search folder pairs for Followup and Hold the way Trapani uses them.

The Process

As email arrives, it is automatically moved to the archive and tagged for the @Inbox virtual inbox. The message may be deleted but it will never be moved from the archive folder. If I need to find it, there is exactly one place to look.

Now the message is in the virtual search folder @Inbox, which will fill quickly unless I take action. Since I have the infrastructure ready, actions are simple to process.

Delete: For the (many) messages that have no value now or ever, the Delete key deletes the message from the archive and takes it off the @Inbox list. It is in the deleted items folder where it will stay until it gets purged, available for recovery but out of my world.

Reference: If I want to keep the message but have no specific plans, a single click on the category box toggles the @Inbox category. It stays in the archive where it can be found later.

Defer: If I want to bring the message back to my attention on a specific date, I can defer it. Outlook allows me to tag the message to show up on a specific date, or I can forward a copy to nudgemail.com.

Followup / Hold: With the press of a function key, I can tag the message into either Followup or Hold for any later action I want to take. The @Inbox search folder is empty, and further action takes place in Followup.

The most common Followup action is a reply to the originator or a forward to someone else. If I need to take some different action, I can forward the message into my action list. I use Toodledo but there are many choices. I can alsoforward to Evernote, which acts as an electronic notebook. Messages go there when I might need them away from my desk.

Setup for Outlook

1. Create a folder which will serve as your mail archive.

Right click Inbox and select New Folder...
Give the folder a name. McCullen recommends creating a new folder for each year -- for example 2011 Processed Mail. Trapani calls it Archive.

2. Set up categories you need. This includes @Inbox, Followup, and Hold. It should also include categories for messages if they can be identified by rules.

Select Edit -> Categorize -> All Categories...
Select New ...
Give the category a name. Assign Function keys to Followup, Hold, and any other category you will use frequently.
Select Edit -> Categorize -> Set Quick Click...
Set Quick Clicj to toggle the @Inbox Category.

3. From Search Folders, right click to create a new search folder for each category.

Right click on Search Folder and select New Search Folder...
Under Organizing Mail Select Categorized Mail
Select Choose... and pick the category corresponding to your category.
Click OK then OK to save the new folder.

4. Create a rule to move mail from your Inbox to your archive folder and flag it to the @Inbox category. Have it process any mail currently in your inbox.

Select Tools -> Rules and Alerts...
Select New Rule...
Your rule should look like this:

Apply this rule when message arrives

On this machine only

Assign it to the @Inbox Category

and move it to the 2011 Processed Messages folder

Save your work and apply the rule to all messages currently in your inbox.

5. If you have mail in other folders, for example project folders, identify and apply any additional category tags. Then add them to the @Inbox category and drag them into your archive folder.

6. Take each email in @Inbox through the process, identifying necessary Followup, Hold and action items.

7. Go celebrate. Your inbox is empty, your messages are all in one searchable archive, and you can identify appropriate Followup actions. Life is good, or at least a little better.

The Riddle of the Box

2010-11-28T20:29:00.001-05:00

How often do you think "outside the box"? How often does anyone? In my humble opinion, this kind of thinking, even though frequently discussed, rarely happens in practice. Almost every problem you solve is done by techniques you understand, by tools in your box. The same is true for almost everyone else, and for the problems they solve.

Plane Geometry begins with five axioms (assumptions) and builds an entire branch of mathematics from that. The axioms are the framework of the box, and the resultant proofs are only accepted when methods are shown to be inside the box. If you change even one assumption, you build a different kind of geometry and define a different box.

One of the great intellectual accomplishments of all time was Sir Isaac Newton's three laws of motion and the calculus invented to provide a mathematical basis for them. If ever out of the box thinking took place, wouldn't this be such an occasion? The idea was certainly original, but Newton framed his ideas with tools he created in a box of his own invention. Modern science starts by building the box first as a frame of reference.

Finally, consider Jefferson's concept of inalienable rights. He called them self evident truths, making them his axioms and defining the shape of his box. Others might question whether they were true, or if they were self evident, or what rights are inalienable, but in all cases the box structures the thinking whether you accept the assumptions or not.

Even when ideas make radical changes, the process is the same. Commerce and development were the result of one set of assumptions, ecology and green living the result of another. Even cradle to cradle thinking about a sustainable future is redefining the box.

That's the riddle: rational thinking is the process of connecting inspired ideas to some framework and exploring the resultant consequences. Imagine coming into a darkened building. Just as you turn on a light as you enter to see inside a room, inspiration lights up the box so we can see what is inside it.

We always think inside some box. This is great news. By adding to our tools and redefining the shape of our box, we add new rooms to our intellectual building which we can fill with resultant discoveries. If you gave a problem you can't solve, look for another tool or another box. Don't try to think outside the box. Look for a better box.

The Price of Free

2010-11-05T08:37:00.002-04:00

From time to time we all get offers of free stuff, either as an invitation to buy into more for a price or in an attempt to cement loyalty. The front-end is almost always good, but the total deal can be costly. Let's look at some of the more common offers and how you can benefit from them.

Accidental Death Insurance

Your bank offers $1000 of free accidental death and dismemberment insurance with the option to buy more: from $25,000 at $2 per month to $300,000 at $25 per month. You can ignore the offer, sign up for the free piece, or select one of the paid options.

At a minimum, you should take the free part. Insurance is an investment, and as an investment it requires intelligent management and you need to really understand what is being offered. Accidental death accounts for a small fraction of deaths so the odds of a payout are low. Getting an insurance quote will tell you if the offer is competitive. The rest is cost benefit analysis. Buying the extra insurance is an economic decision.

The first thousand dollars is not. In exchange for your contact data, which the bank already has, your heirs have a small chance of collecting a modest policy. This is a no cost no brainer. Take the free piece and evaluate the rest.

Loyalty Programs

Somebody offers you a discount or goodies for your loyalty. You can recognize these because you take a loyalty card or key tab with a bar code for each transaction. The store gets a customized buying history and the assurance of you as a customer. You get some savings or offers.

This one is a tossup. Your buying history has value, your loyalty even more value, and the payback may or may not be worth it. If you don't want something traced back to you, skip the program and pay cash. If you have privacy concerns, this is probably A bad choice. If you are going to be a repeat customer anyway, these programs can save you money.

Credit Card Reward Programs

Reward programs are credit card versions of loyalty programs. As long as you don't buy what you don't need, eliminate interest by paying when due, and don't pay more for the card than the rewards, the program can make financial sense for you.

Bank Giveaways

When I refinanced my mortgage recently, the bank offered me $50 if I opened a free checking account and set up automatic payments through it. I didn't need the account, but I was going to set up an automatic payment system somewhere. I accepted the offer, set up an automated deposit to the checking account just ahead of their withdrawal, and applied the $50 to mortgage principal
.
Free Meal Seminars

This offer shows up as an in invitation to a free meal while listening to an expert speak on retirement planning or financial services. Do you like the restaurant? Does the topic interest you? Is the presenter really am expert? Do you have the time? If you answered yes to all these questions, consider going. if not, your time is worth more than the Chicken Alfredo, or it should be.

Summary

The business of business is business, but it cannot happen without you. These programs can be win- win --- the business has already assured their side of the win. If you pay attention, you can get some tangible benefits. If not, stay away because by default the business will win big at your expense. Don't let the program change your plan and never let it change your plan. As always, caveat emptor.

Jay Elkes

Distractions

2010-09-13T13:47:00.001-04:00

There are two kinds of people in the world: those who get distracted from time to time, and those whose environment is unending distractions and interruptions. Either way, we all need to deal with distractions. Recently, the GTD (Getting Things Done) Virtual Study Group discussed distractions. Here are some ideas I picked up.

One of the fundamental ideas of GTD is getting everything out of your head. Internal distractions are nothing if not stuff that pops into your head. While washing the dishes or browsing the web don't seem like things you ought to put on a list, you can eliminate them as distractions by doing exactly that.

Interruptions (external distractions) come from emails, phone calls, or people showing up. Truthfully, this is your life showing up, just not at a convenient time. In such cases, you need to deal with both the activity that has been interrupted and the cause of the interruption. First, put what you were doing or a reminder of it somewhere you will come back to it. GTD suggests an Inbox when at your desk, a folder otherwise. Actions triggered by the interruption get noted, filed and processed the same way. Note cards you can keep in a stack are a good idea if you are on the move.

Sometimes, even with lists, you cannot get engaged in whatever you are supposed to be doing. This can mean you need focus at a different level. If you are unable to do something, maybe need to look at or update the plan. If planning isn't helping, consider your goal. If that doesn't help, should you be doing this at all?

The VSG comes with its share of geeks, myself included, and a couple geeky software ideas were also mentioned. One which works on both the PC and the Mac is Rescue Time at www.rescuetime.com. Since it records what is done when on your computer, it makes you aware of the distractions you yield to.

When all is said and done (or not), sometimes we just need a gentle nudge to get back into focus. Other times, you just need to shut up and get back to work.

For information about Getting Things Done, check out the book of the same title by David Allen. More information is available at http://www.davidco.com. The GTD Virtual Study Group holds periodic teleconferences which you can join live or hear on Podcasts at http://gtd-vsg.blogspot.com/. Further information is available on Facebook, Google Groups, or emailing Tara Robinson via tara@tararobinson.com.

Jay Elkes

The Truth Is Out There

2010-08-17T09:31:00.000-04:00

One thing I've learned recently is that rumors can have anniversaries. Another is that the Internet is not a reliable source of information. The truth is out there, but finding it and verifying it can be tricky. A convenient example showed up in my email yesterday.

The gist of the (incorrect message was:

Planet Mars will be the brightest in the night sky starting August. It will look as large as the full moon to the naked eye. This will cultivate on Aug. 27 when Mars comes within 34.65M miles off earth. Be sure to watch the sky on Aug. 27 12:30 am. It will look like the earth has 2 moons.

This story dates back to the year 2003 when Mars did make a close approach to Earth. No, it never looked as big as described here, and no, it never will unless you become the first person to go to Mars. Nonetheless, the story spread via email and each August it shows up again. I'm thinking of holding a Mars Hoax party to celebrate the anniversary.

What I do find dismaying is that people pass this kind of story on with no verification. There are many ways to check things out. Here are a couple you may find useful.

First, there are websites you can check for hoaxes on.

http://www.snopes.com/science/astronomy/brightmars.asp

http://urbanlegends.about.com/od/errata/a/two-moons.htm

Second, you can dig out actual data through WolframAlpha, which may be the Internet's best calculation website:

Mars in 2003

http://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=Mars+august+27+2003

vs 2010

http://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=Mars+august+27+2010

You will see the distance to Earth near the top and a drawing of relative positions if you scroll down. Comparing the two will show you that Mars was close in 2003. This year, Mars is on the far side of the Sun and nearly impossible to see.

My thought for the day: Before you put a CC Everybody onto an email, ask yourself if what you are sending out can be checked.

The Skills of Life: Capturing the Stray Thought

2010-08-03T14:11:00.000-04:00

At one time or another, we all need to capture a phone number, write down an address, or remember to buy cat food. Frequently, the note is lost or buried where it cannot be found. Stray ideas may have almost nothing to do with anything else. They belong in a capture mechanism which ensures they will get to the next step. Here are some basic strategies for keeping these notes where they belong so you have them available as needed.

Perhaps the easiest approach is a pad of paper with edges that can be torn off cleanly. A separate section in a loose leaf notebook or planner works equally well. The rules of engagement are as follows:

· A piece of paper collects only one piece of information. For example, during a phone call, you are given the name and number of someone else you need to call. Don't write it at the bottom of a page of notes, use a new piece of paper. Capture the name of the person you are calling and the phone number. You might also want to capture who suggested the call, why it is useful, and the date the note was made. Another call or another lead goes on another piece of paper.

· Never use the back side of this paper.

Your goal is to do something with that sheet of paper at the first opportunity. You might make the call, in which case the paper can be discarded without losing anything else. If you decide to make the call later, the paper can go into a tickler file or a calls folder, again without creating a problem elsewhere. Finally, you might want to copy the information onto a calendar or a contacts list for later use. If the paper has anything else on it, you are forced to handle it more than once.

Plan B is to reserve a section of your notebook or planner for input, capturing multiple items on a page. In a situation where many things may show up in a short amount of time, you aren't constantly looking for more paper. Also, the list may give you a better sense of how close you are to being caught up. The down side is that you will have to transcribe each item into its own calendar entry or list unless you can take action on each item in turn. Effort saved at the front end comes at the cost of more handling later on.

Electronic organizers can emulate either of these approaches. I prefer to put each thought or potential task as an item of its own and leave its category unspecified. Later, I can update it or change its category to include in an appropriate list, for example call, visit, or email.

Decide now how you will capture the stray thought that may show up and how you will integrate it into your life. In the end, a thought is not captured until you store it where it will be available when needed. Success is measured by the potentially conflicting goals of easy to capture, easy to find, and easy to handle when needed.

Extreme Common Sense and Consumer Credit

2010-06-02T12:12:00.001-04:00

Are you buying on credit because you don’t have the money with you, or because you don’t have the money yet? If the first, consider taking the time to get the cash before you by something nonessential – it will give you time to think instead of react on impulse. If the second, your financial future may be at risk. Credit cards can be an amazing convenience or a horrible trap. It depends on how you use them.

Imagine yourself as the owner of an upscale coffee shop watching your customers. One by one, they come in, order coffee, and pay for it with credit cards. It is the same transaction, over and over, and your business depends on exactly that. On the other side of the counter, each customer comes with a unique story. Let’s guess at a few.

You see Jane once a month. She comes in once a month, buys her drink, then sits at a table to pay her bills while drinking it. Jane doesn’t have the money with her, but she has the money in the bank. The debt will be paid when it is due. She is still buying something she doesn’t strictly need, but her credit is under control.

Bill is one of your regulars. He stops by every morning for coffee and a pastry on his way into the office. Bill pays his card when due, so his credit is under control too. From a financial point of view, his $5 per day would better serve him as $200 a month going into an investment program – he could fully fund an IRA with it. Using cash to make discretionary purchases might make him think twice.

Then there’s Sam – thank God for Sam. He’ll be back later for lunch, and he’ll use plastic then too. Sam doesn’t have the money yet, but payday is next week. He expects to have the money to pay off the card by the time it’s due, and he will if things go according to plan. Sam sits down at his table and plays with his new IPad – the one he expects to pay off in a few months. If he does, all he’s done is add cost to his purchases. If not, life is about to get expensive.

So what are the lessons here?

· Treat luxuries as luxuries, not as entitlements. Credit can be a useful convenience, a bad habit, or a dangerous addiction. Ask yourself if five years from now you’ll wish you’d made the purchase or not.

· If you’re buying something you don’t need, wait until you have the money to pay for it. You can reinforce this if you stop by the bank and get cash to pay for that high ticket item. The extra inconvenience and seeing the money being spent may slow you down. If not, enjoy your purchase – you’ve earned it.

· Even if you choose to use a credit card, wait to buy until you have the money to pay the debt off immediately. Credit is a convenience only when you aren’t paying for it.

· If you use credit to tide you over, pay it back aggressively. You can count on the tide going out again soon – your creditors do.

Buyer Be Thorough

2010-03-15T12:25:00.000-04:00

Caveat emptor (buyer beware) is ancient advice and certainly qualifies as common sense. Since today's purchases can be complex contracts with multile decision points, there can be many places where you need to pay attention. For somplicity sake, let's consider four distinct groups.

The Purchase

This is where every transaction starts, and the advice for it is old, tested and trustworthy.

Know what you really want ahd ask for it.
Know what you are willing to pay before you negotiate.
Be ready to say no and walk away.

There is nothing new here. Just keep your coat on and your credit card in your pocket.

The Upsell

The hamburger principle: condiments (ketchp, mustard, pickles, onions) are free.

The pizza principle: each topping is extra, certain combiations offered as packages.

The more expensive a product is, the more likely upsells will be attempted, cars, boats, homes and electronics are filled with upsells. There is nothing wrong with an upsell -- it may be what you want. My pizza is topping-heavy because that's what I want. Look at each item and eah package as a seperate transaction. Know what you want, know what you are willing to pay. Hold the anchovies and ask if the onions are a condiment or a topping.

The Extended Warranty

In Swim with the Sharks Without Being Eaten Alive: Outsell, Outmanage, Outmotivate, and Outnegotiate Your Competition (Collins Business Essentials) Harvey Mackay says "if you can afford to buy your way out of a problem, you don't have a problem." An extended warranty is not an upsell because you get no new features. They ar a form of insurance -- pay now to manage a problem you may or may not have later.

Unless your lifestyle or intended use is hazardous to the product, my rule of thumb is nver buy an extended warranty for a product you can afford to replace. Keep the warranty money in a safe place and use it to replace the rare item that fails with something new. Insure yourself, save money, and get a new product if somethng does fail instead of the older model which has already shown it can fail. On the other hand, if the extended warranty is free, take it.

The Money Back Guarantee

We all take card for test drives. It only makes sense. If a product offers a money back guarantee, trat the guaruntee as a distinct item. Note the terms and conditions of the guaruntee and evaluate the product as the guaruntee period comes to a close. If you aren't satisfied, ask for your money back.

Summary

Shopping can be a fine hobby, but buying should always be a business. If you are buying a contract insead of a product, tehre is much more to think about than just the bottom line.

References

Rocks in the River

2010-03-12T06:49:00.000-05:00

Here's the truth about white water rafting:

The rocks are already in the river
The water will barely notice your raft.

That said, there are things you can control (or at least influence):

You get to choose the river and when you take the trip.
You get to choose what you do to get ready.
You can invite others, but they can say yes or no.
You get some choice over the raft and the guide.

Life is a lot like that:

The rocks are already in the river. Problems will show up, and most of them will be at least partly visible in advance.
The water will barely notice your raft. Most of what you do is not going to be noticed by the rest of the world.
You get to choose the river and when you take the trip. When you make a choice, you enter a river. Big choice, big river.
You get to choose what you do to get ready. There is no substitute for preparation and planning.
You can invite others, but they can say yes or no.
You get some choice over the raft and the guide. Look for a good mentor before you launch the boat.

Either way, the point is to enjoy the ride.

Automate Your Savings, Not Your Finances

2010-03-10T10:16:00.000-05:00

I am a big fan of "pay yourself first," a concept shared in many books from The Richest Man in Babylon to THe Automatic Millionaire. It took me a moment when someone suggested unautomating finances to realize he was making a valid point -- a point I want to share with you today. Saving should be automatic, Investing should become automatic, and spending should be entirely manual. Let's examine all three points.

Saving should be automatic. This is the heart of paying yourself first. If you can divert 10% of your income into a savings plan, the consequences over a lifetime are spectacular. The keys are to start as early as possible and to be as aggressive as possible in your savings program. I first did this by continuing to live at my current level after I was given a raise. The raise itself went into a tax-sheltered savings program which turned out to be a lifesaver a couple decades later.

Investing should become automatic. Have you ever noticed that when apolitician talks about investing in the future, he's talking about spending money we don't have to implement something later generations may benefit from but will certainly pay for? On a personal level, investments are a long term strategic decision. THey need careful consideration, periodic review, and -- if you can get it -- expert advice. You want your automatically generated savings to fund your investments, but don't put everything in automatic until you've applied due diligence.

Spending should be entirely manual. I had always known this advice, but hadn't really said it that way before I heard about unautomating finances. While I believe in a life of convenience and comfort, putting some pebblres in the way of automated spending is probably a good thing. Here are a few things to watch for:

Habitual spending -- David Bach tgalks about the Latte Factor, money you spend routinely without thinking about it. If you take the time to think, you'll be a lot less likely to make coffee a ritual.
Subscriptions -- pay attention to how often you read magazines or take advantage of things you buy through a "xxx of the month" club. If more than half go unused or aren't really appreciated, shutting the automated cash flow of the subscription off or down may make sense. If you pay for hundreds of TV channels, does the cable company have a cheaper package you can live with?
Watch your credit spending. Credit scards make spending easy, they don't make paying for it easy. Using credit you will pay in full before interest accrues is okay, but even then when your fingers reach for plastic ask your self if thius expense is necessary.
Unshop aggressively. Don't be afraid to return something.

Finally, paying a credit card is not spending. If you cannot pay completely when the bill comes due, keep the card in your pocket until you can. When you don't pay off the card, you are buying a lending service. You are spending more by not paying than you are by paying. Credit should be something you have but rarely use.

Dealing With Big Changes

2010-03-05T10:56:00.000-05:00

We live in an uncertain world where we are forced to make decisions with less than perfect information. Even if the information we got was good when we got it, the situation may have changed. If it hasn't, it almost certainly will. With lives, fortunes and families at stake, decisions can be stressful. Several years ago, I came up with a rule of thumb to help me. I hope it helps you.

The rule is this: don't make big changes for small reasons. When the consequence of a change is big, your reason for doing it should be big too.

I like this rule because it encourages me to consider consequences directly. Is a decision likely to matter in a year, or two, or ten? If so, it qualifies as a big decision. If not, I may be fretting over something unimportant. Some decisions are clearly big ones, others clearly small. The rest may or may not, but a little thought will probably allow you to decide.If not, it is probably a big decision.

Next I consider motivation. What is my reason for making the change? Am I achieving a life's goal (big)? Am I reacting to something I don't like but might be able to change (small)? Great things can happen with enough motivation, but each of us scores motivation differently.

Let's consider a deliberately unclear example. Imagine that you are offered a new job at a different employer for a modest but not great pay increase. Do you accept the offer? Different people will answer this question differently precisely because they measure consequences and reasons differently.

Depending on your situation, a job change can be anything from a modest change to a huge one. To answer this, look a few years out and consider who else is affected. Trust yourself and get the best information you can. Changing the kind of work you do or moving to a new home will tip the scales toward big.

Now consider your reason for changing. How much money is involved? What are the prospects at the old and new job? Are the people at the old or new job a factor? Is the reason big enough to justify the change?

This rule is rarely going to cause you to decide against a potential change. More often, you will see that the consequences aren't as daunting as you thought (not so big) or that your reasons are big enough to justify the action. Either way will lower your stress and make you feel better about your decision.

Staying Half a Step Ahead

2010-02-25T10:52:00.000-05:00

If you are half a step ahead of a situation, your stress level is minimal. If you are half a step behind, the stress is nearly continuous. It is only one step, but it makes all the difference for your stress, your health, and your life. Consider the following example.

If you have an appointment to go to at an address you've never visited, when do you research the directions you need. I've seen too many people trying to do a quick internet map search when they should be on the road. If everything goes perfectly, they will arrive just on time. If not, they are setting themselves up to be half a step behind.

To get half a step ahead, consider doing your research anead of time. You could research the day before and put directions in your calendar so you can have it available when you need it.

This is just basic planning and applies more broadly than directions. What meetings or appointments do you have in the next few days? What information or materials will you need for each. Can you get that information or those materials ready ahead of time?

The key is to understand that preparation for an event is part of planning for the event. Make a habit of identiofying what needs to be done in advance, then do it in advance. Take the steps you need to take, but take them just a little sooner. You'll thank yourself later.

Book Review: The Checklist Manifesto: How to Get Things Right

2010-01-24T10:31:00.000-05:00

Professionals spend years developing expertise. We expect it as one of at least three characteristics that define a profession.

Selflessness -- put the needs of the person you serve above yourself
Skill -- expertise in a body of knowledge
Trustworthyness -- following a code of ethical conduct

Unlike most professions, airline pilots have a fourth; discipline -- developing and applying a consistent set of behaviors when things go wrong. As a surgeon, Atul Gawande led a team to develop a surgical checklist for the World Health Organization as a means of improving outcomes in hospitals around the world. This book is both the story behind that project and a collection of stories showihng the value of checklists in any complex profession.

Checklists are useful in two kinds of situations. The most common is in routine circumstances to make sure everything that should happen does hapen. They are also useful in high risk situations for a team to consider the problems which might arise and outline a contingency plan.

Although the book offers guideliens for deveoping checklists (simple, clear, focused on vital items only, etc.) it does so in the context of stories which illustrate their value. The book males a strong case for the use of checklists. I would have liked to see something more explicit in implementation guidelines.

The author strongly makes the case that checklists can save time, money, and lives. Even so, professionals resist using them. High priced, high tech solutions with similar success get aggressively marketed and enthusiastically implemented. It seems to me that developing and implementing checklists is appropriate technology which makes extreme common sense everywhere.

The Power of Feedback

2010-01-21T17:10:00.001-05:00

"You can't possibly win," Mike said as we competed against each other. In the next sentence, he told me why, and I knew he was right. I changed my tactics instantly, and suddenly Mike was on the defensive trying to remember what he had said.

More often than not, it pays to listen. Mike had given me a critique -- a commentary on my performance which offered neither criticism nor ideas for improvement. In this case, I didn't need advice on what to do instead. All I needed was to understand the folly of my original tactics. In some respects, the commentary we get fits into a rough scale.

· Criticism -- a comment with no attempt to be helpful. Sometimes the intent is to hurt.

· Constructive criticism -- offering something the speaker thinks may help.

· Critique -- a performance appraisal

· Feedback -- offering specific data about something so actions can be adjusted.

Toastmasters (http://www.toastmasters.org) use the term evaluation and try to give useful feedback. We see the results of nonverbal feedback every day. Feedback tells me how hard I should strike each key as I type. Feedback allows me to control a car and keep it on the road. Feedback is a necessary part of every functioning system.

Your life, and the lives of those around you, will be better off if you can avoid criticism in its negative sense, and offer and accept feedback in the positive sense. It is a skill we can develop like any other. Here's a quick plan for developing the ability to give and receive feedback.

Ask others to give you feedback. Open yourself up to the possibility of criticism. If you are lucky enough to get helpful feedback, great. If not, accept the data and let the criticism roll past you. As people see you benefit from their remarks, they will get more supportive with them and may ask for your thoughts.

Offer to provide feedback. Ask someone if they would like some feedback and provide it only when asked. Try to sense how much feedback they can handle. Often, a single point to grow on is most helpful. Occasionally, offering a complete list will be useful if there is time and need to get into detail. Beihg thorough cna be appropriate -- being viscious or petty never is.

Expand your circle of trust. Invite people to provide you feedback without requiring them to accept it from you. Look for more people and more situations where you can build the trust needed for an honest exchange of opinions.

Evaluate the feedback quakuty you get. Good intentions don't guarantee good ideas. Acccept the comments you've requested graciously, but decide for yourself what helps and what doesn't. If you find yourself disagreeing, look for a difference in perspective. Assume the other guy knows something you don't and try to find out what it is. If you can't, thank him and move on.

Evaluate the feedback quantity you get. If you get the same feedback from more than one person, it's probably time to pay attention. If one person calls yiou a horse -- laugh. If two people call you a horse -- suspect a consipiracy. If ten people call you a horse -- buy a saddle.

Extreme Common Sense

2010-01-18T17:09:00.000-05:00

.Would your life be better if you abandoned self-defeating habits and replaced them with others designed to reinforce your success? Obviously, it would. In later postings, we will explore ideas in detail. For now, let's take a survey of the half dozen ideas that are central to my concept of extreme common sense.

Pay yourself first. Abandon the habit of automatic spending. Replace it with an automatic savings program.

Money cannot solve everything, but the lack of it creates new problems. In The Richest Man in Babylon, George Clason offers basic and time-tested advice in the form of a story. The fundamental idea of saving "a part of your earnings is captured in the quote "A part of what you earn is yours to keep."

A more comprehensive and more current representation of the same message in David Bach's Finish Rich books including The Automatic Millionaire. Bach recommends automatic withdrawal from your wages as the key to his plan, financed by controlling habitual expenditures. If you can replace a habit of automatic spending with automatic savings, your financial outlook can improve dramatically.

Write down everything. David Allen says your mind is a great place to have an idea, but a terrible place to store it. Relieve your stress by capturing ideas and actions instead of depending on your memory.

Allen has written two books as alternate views of a system that takes you from capturing an idea to implementation. The first, Getting Things Done, defines a five step process for managing your actions and using them to support projects and goals. The second, Making it All Work, offers a different perspective and newer examples. Either book goes far beyond simply capturing ideas, but that's where you need to start.

Decide what you want. Think big, be specific, and yes, put that in writing too.

There are many books on this subject offering different points of view but conveying the same meGoalsssage. Anthony Robbins focused on the power of decisions in Awaken the Giant Within. Brian Tracy covered the importance of goals in Goals! How to Get Verything You Want--Faster Than You Ever Thought Possible. Rhonda Byrne took the perspective of visualization and the law of attraction in The Secret. Check out one or all of these, but in the end you still need to do something.

Take Massive Action. Think about all the ways your goals can be achieved and pursue as many of them as possible. Share your ideas with people and encourage them to participate. Think leadership, not salesmanship, and you'll be on your way.

Seek Continuous Improvement. We fikk our lives by doing things, most of them repeatedly. The Japanese offer a philosophy of continuous improvement in those things we do called kaizen. If you aren't fluent in Japanese, check out One Small Step Can Change Your Life by Robert Maurer. It is one small book that will change your life. You understand, I hope, that this habit is pointless unless you've decided what you want and are taking action.

Accept 100% Responsibility. Jack Canfield thinks this is so important he made it the first chapter of The Success Principles. Successful people say "I must do something"; unsuccessful people say "something must be done." I saved this for last because it reinforces all the other habits.

Be 100% responsible for paying yourself first. Your employer has already done his part -- more if he offers a financial match in a savings program.
Capture your ideas and actions into a consistent framework. Another quote from David Allen "there's no point in having the same idea twice unless you like having the idea." Asking a good thought to show up twice is a bad iea.
Only you can decide what you want. People can help, but you need to point the way.
Nothing says responsibility as loudly as taking action.
You are responsible for the quality and speed of your work. Take responsibility and seek to be smarter about how you do things.

None of these books will help unless you're prepared to follow through on their teachings. Developing improved habits is work, but I hope you can see the extreme common sense in how these ideas relate to each other. Don't thry to adopt all these ideas at once -- pick the one that seems like it might have the biggest payoff for you and start there. Email me at jay@extremecommonsense.net to let me know which one that is.