intensecomfort.com

Use Positivity and Mental Leaf Guards to Improve Productivity

2011-08-22T03:26:54Z

The context for this entry is a blog post by Stephen Pierce at DTAlpha.
http://www.dtalpha.com/talkback/924/success/how-to-increase-productivity/

You can watch it here, but I recommend Pierce’s site for anyone interested in improving his or her game. He has some very interesting takes on things, and I always learn something when I visit.

After you watch the video, come back here.

The video covers three basic areas of productivity:
- who are you and what do you want?
- what is the breakdown of what you want to accomplish?
- what practical method can you use to perform your tasks?

I find the creation of identity statements difficult. I can create them, but I really have to struggle to create and sustain them. I acknowledge this because I want you to understand that just because something is difficult, that doesn’t mean we get to let ourselves off the hook and do something easier.

To counter this difficulty, I created the following identity statement, and I recommend you use it or something similar if you have a similar problem.

I pursue my dreams, even when they are difficult to envision and/or achieve. I affirm my ability to achieve what I want, and have positive "mental leaf guards" that keep out the debris of negative influences.

These “leaf guards of the soul” can – and should – shield you from negative impacts of bad-news stories, from the ridicule (imagined or real) of others, and most of all, from your own self-doubts.

The rest of Pierce’s video comprises project and time management; worthwhile, yes, but the important thing is knowing who you are, standing for something highly positive, and – and having an intentional say in what is true about you that, IMO, forms the heart of what PIerce communicates, and it is what motivated me to tell you about it.

Your comments are welcome.

Technorati Tags: productivity,project management,identity,self-help

Productivity & Trouble in “Cloud Camelot”

2011-08-22T03:26:22Z

You can find stories all over the net about how we’re approaching a kind of nirvana with the onslaught of “cloud computing,” as if we are reaching toward a kind of “Cloud Camelot.”

Here is one such story that I came upon a in the Los Angeles Times; a look at Google’s new operating system and the advantages of operating “in the cloud,” meaning the use of internet servers instead of your local drive to store, access and use your data.

But perhaps things aren’t really so sunny and rosy in Cloud Camelot. Consider…

A friend of mine recently had his Gmail account canceled – without notice, without redress and no explanation, other than a cryptic message: “You violated our terms of service.” (TOS)

He has asked for and continues to await for an explanation. In the meantime, an email account he had for 5 years is gone.

While I believe there could be great promise with cloud computing – especially if you own the hardware and the plumbing, there are some potential problems worth taking into account as you make your choices.

#1 – You have a new master of what can be stored – the “cloud-keeper.” If you do something the cloud-keeper doesn’t like, and it acts as haughtily as did Google with my friend, you not only can lose access, but you can lose your data too. My friend asked, “Who’s data is it?” Before this happened to him, I would have answered that it was his data, and that I was sure that Google wouldn’t act otherwise. Looks like I was naive. So question: do you really want to be giving an organization that much power over you?

#2 – What it you store your data in the cloud and the cloud-keeper goes belly up, pushes up daisies and goes to the big erasing magnet in the sky? Again – your ability to access your data gets hosed.

I think that before I or any of my business efforts entrust my data “to the cloud,” the cloud-keeper had better make it very clear that (a) I will be warned if there is a problem relative to the TOS, (b) will give me an opportunity to get clarification and/or to defend myself if necessary, and (c) if the decision to terminate is final, that I have enough time and the ability to download my data from the cloud in a format that I can use.

Given the situation with my friend and his Gmail account, I think legitimate questions – business questions – need to be addressed before I will entrust my data into the cloud – not just Google, but any cloud. Because it appears that the cloud-keeper holds all the aces, and all I’ve got is 5 unrelated cards, with a 5 of spades as my high card. Not good.

Technorati Tags: cloud computing,business continuity

Large Lists, Responsibility & Respect

2011-08-22T03:25:10Z

We dislike spammers largely because they don’t respect our time. But consider: how well do we respect our own audience’s time?

When we send messages we believe worthwhile (note: even casual messages can have reasonable, even great worth on multiple levels), do we truly pay attention to and thus value our audience’s time?

Example – My first cut at this message included 640 words, and it communicated the thesis of this post rather poorly. My second draft communicated better, and came in at 292 words. This final version has but 258 words, including these. My message comes through clearer, and I have thus respected your time by refining my content instead of making you work for it.

The larger your audience, the greater your responsibility to respect their time. Here’s why:

The number of people on your list multiplied by the percentage who read/watch your message multiplied by the number of estimated minutes needed to do so gives us the total estimated minutes your audience spends on your message.

Example:
Suppose 15% of those on your list read or watch it.
You have a list of 10,000 people (not uncommon).
Suppose it takes 2 minutes to read your message.

Here’s the math:
15% * 10,000 people * 2 minutes = 1,500 readers/watchers * 2 minutes = 3,000 minutes (60 audience-hours)

Thus longer messages read by more folks cost your audiences even more.

Thus as you learn to persuade a greater percentage of your audience to read/watch, and as your list continues to grow, the responsibility to respect your list’s time by making every word count also grows.

Thus, be mindful of your success.

Technorati Tags: communication,time,respect

Productivity R.I.P. – The Dark Side Of Zero

2011-08-22T03:24:31Z

Philosophy time… What follows is not about hitting milestones on a project. It is rather a discussion about one’s philosophical orientation with respect to goals, projects and tasks.

I want to suggest that the worst number relative to project management, productivity and success itself is ZERO. Zero, as in zero movement; zero progress. You can make progress – even if very slow progress – by doing more than zero every day. On the other hand, zero movement after a billion years is still zero.

Consider a river that flows a few inches a year. These rivers, better known as glaciers, display the incredible power of slow but steady progress. Many of the valleys you see in the world were carved by glaciers; smoothed by glaciers; and made more fertile by glaciers. Water that just sits there – like a pond or a lake – doesn’t do much of anything to the lay of the land.

Movement toward a goal takes place when there is – well – movement.

If you have a project that needs to be moving along, even an extremely small advance represents advancement; progress. Maybe not enough progress to avoid missing deadlines, but you will be closer to hitting your targets, even if the movement is very, very small.

One-man (one-person) bands often get involved in internal projects that have no external, hard, fast, let alone penalty driven deadlines. Many have no concept of managing tasks in even a semi-formal way. But for tomorrow to not be a mere repeat of today; and for today to not be a mere repeat of yesterday, there must be advancement – away from zero progress.

For example, I am creating a slide-show video for ICT audience members. I have to construct this video one step at a time. Sometimes the step will consist of smaller “baby steps.” But even these oh-so-tiny steps represent progress.

Sidebar: IntenseComfort.com deals more with the philosophy and the “epistemics” of business, rather than the nuts and bolts or “how-to” of things. That doesn’t mean that the nuts and bolts aren’t important. Certainly they are. And I deal with that focus in another blog – The Business Opportunities Report. Today, I posted a review about a software app that can help you manage your time and your projects better. I encourage you to read it.

Zero goes on forever. As long as zero guides you or your business, progress cannot emerge.

What little tiny step can you take to move you project forward today?

Technorati Tags: productivity,project management,zero

What’s next? Don’t look back!

2010-12-26T00:14:38Z

This is my first 2011 New Year’s resolution: (NYR2011) What’s next? Don’t look back.

If asked to identify a single habit that held me back from pursuing heady dreams in 2010, it would be the desire to see if I had an effect and if that effect was positive. If I posted something on Facebook, did I get any positive responses? Ditto for twitter. If not, this sometimes lead to anxiety that discouraged further participation. Given that I have a very comfortable existence, I didn’t experience much motivation to change.

Except in one significant way: a growing feeling of stagnation; of marking time; and of not making the most of life. I think Abraham Maslow would say that I have started feeling the need to self-actualize more.

Positive changes generally do not happen without effort. They usually require a certain level of dissatisfaction, to the point of deciding to do something about it.

For me, this marking of time seems to spring from my desire to see the results of what I do before I strike again. While getting feedback is important, I too often allowed it to assume a much more dominant place in my life than is warranted. It is as if I have been videotaping the wake created by a boat, instead of focusing on where I could steer the boat.

So – my first NYR2011:

What’s next? Don’t look back!

Technorati Tags: Happy New Year,New Years Resolutions,Don’t look back

Tonight’s newsletter – IdeaVirus Series

2009-07-24T22:07:11Z

Turns out I’m one day late in my promise for this week’s phoenix like rising of the Bal’s Adventures in the Net newsletter. It’s a good thing I delayed, too. Here’s why. I finally landed on something that I can think my teeth into, and I believe you can as well.

We’re going to take a look at a master marketer Seth Godin’s book on viral marketing. I’m guessing you know who he is. If not, check out his blog.

This will be a deep look into his book, Unleashing the IdeaVirus. If you haven’t read it, and even if you have, this email study will give you not only a look into his ebook, but also a look at implications and ideas that I and others glean from it. In addition to what I provided in this newsletter, you will get access to a private forum, where the ideas can be discussed further.

Others? Yes, because I will be launching a forum next week where others who read and those who are deeply familiar with the material will have a chance to discuss it in depth.

There will be no charge for this discussion, and those who join now will never have pay a dime should this change.

There is a sign-up form at the top of my blog, and all you have to do is send me your name and a working email address. When the forum is ready, I will send you the link and you can sign up – for freè.

Anything else? Oh yes… two more things…

#1 – I’ll point you to where you can get the book for free – legitimately – once you sign up.

#2 – Once live, if you join late, early editions of this newsletter will be posted there.

The first email for this book study course, happens tonight. So if you want it, come and get it. Sign up and learn to create your own ideavirus.

- Bal

P.S. – Got people in your downline or who are loyal followers? Want to give them something of value that costs you nothing? Send them to this blog post so that they can sign up too (also, thereby showing them the power of the ideavirus in action).

P.P.S. – Remember – if you’re signing up, and if you have people in your social/business network who can help improve your bottom line by becoming better marketers, you have a very legitimate reason for sharing this information with them. So go ahead! Be loyal to your tribe and help your wallet. You’ll be glad you did.

“When the going gets tough…

2009-07-23T06:42:13Z

… the tough get going.”

Good evening. I hope tonight finds you intensely comfortable.

As the economy continues to sputter along, it is important to think about positioning your business. If you’ve never been in business during an economic downturn, let alone a recession, I want to give you something very important to think about.

If you were around when Al Gore was inventing the internet, then you remember when the internet really came into its own in the early to mid 1990s. It was the beginning of the dot.com era; where venture capital flowed like mother’s milk. It was a golden time. A time before sub-primes. A time before government scams. A time before everything in the government sucked.

During that time, people were in a mad dash to get their claims on virtual real estate as fast as they could.

Why? Because they knew that the people who established themselves first had a good chance of snagging the most business fastest. Those late to the party would have barriers the early adopters could avoid.

Then we went from dot.com to dot.bom. Profits mattered again. There was a big shake out as many of the dot.com companies fell like autumn leaves during a gale force wind.

But those that survived became the equivalent of the early adopters for the next economic rebound!

That’s where we are now. In the shake-out phase. If you can produce quality for your visitors and, of course, for your customers, you’ll be there when people start making their way back to the web to buy, buy, buy! You’ll be the one who has been “doing business since 2002!” instead of being a fly-by-night who opened shop just a month ago. Who do you think customers are going to trust?

So don’t lose heart. Stay strong. Be a champion to yourself and others.

Provide extra value now so that you build loyal followers. That’s how you rebound when the economy does.

- Bal

On Opportunity & the Recession

2009-07-03T09:38:50Z

Good morning -

It’s nearly 2:30AM – I’m about to call it a night and catch a few winks. But first a few words…

From the perspective of an entrepreneur, as long as there is a capitalistic system in place, everything can be seen as a marketer’s opportunity. Even disaster. Even tragedy.

Let us, of course, acknowledge that we are human beings and citizens first – with sensitivities and obligations to the society in which we live and conduct our businesses. And let us also acknowledge that any marketing that happens relative to someone else’s misery ought be done in a way that adds value to the lives of those affected, or at least does no harm.

The point isn’t to lose your civil perspective or disregard your moral compass. That’s not the point at all.

The point is that no matter what happens – no matter if you like or don’t like the President; if you like or don’t like the policies – whatever happens in the political arena can and should be fodder for your marketing efforts.

You are an entrepreneur. Among the most powerful people in this country. Among the people who MAKE THINGS HAPPEN.

Relish in this. Strut your stuff. It’s a rough road ahead, and the Administration isn’t making it any easier – that’s for sure. But there are opportunities to go after – opportunities that are once in blue moon – if not a lifetime – because of the recession. Look – be sensitive – and grab the opportunities you find for all they are worth.

- Bal