With the imminent onset of the Spring Training baseball season, I couldn’t help but think about America’s favorite past-time. I started to realize that there are quite a few life lessons that can be taken from the classic sport and I started to compile a list. Here are the 9 that stood out to me the most:

1) Don’t Argue Balls and Strikes - …Even if you are 100% sure that it was bad call. Try not to blow up in the umpire’s face; it can only result in an even worse outcome. Take the good with the bad and trust that the law of averages will eventually be on your side. Basically, don’t sweat the small stuff.

2) 3 Strikes, You’re Out – But you’ll always have another at-bat. It’s okay to get discouraged when you just can’t get that clutch hit or squeeze out that bunt, but remember that there is always next time.

3) Not Every Pitcher Is An Ace - Many would like to be the best and to work with the best, but we can’t all be the best! Remember that everyone has specific skill sets and learning how to make the most of one’s own skills as well as others can have a profound effect on the outcome of a venture.

4) Team Practice Works – Getting to know your fellow team members, their habits, strengths, and weaknesses can serve to develop a solid core of trust and communication. Take the time to really get to know your partners for not only what they can do for you, but what they can do overall.

5) Platooning Isn’t A Bad Idea – Platooning, filling a position with more than one player, may be a great idea. Be it with a cool-as-a-cucumber veteran or a pair of dirt-dog rookies, platooning a position isn’t always a bad idea. It reveals opportunities to pass valuable information from player to player. It inspires even more of a team feeling between the platoon players, not to mention an increased productivity from the friendly competition that may result from a multi-staffed position.

6) Don’t Be Afraid To Ask / Don’t Stop Learning – Having trouble with your curveball? Not sure where the weakness in the strike-zone is? The best ball players are those always trying to find out from others what they cannot see themselves. What may seem impossible to spot for us, may be immediately obvious to others. Don’t be afraid to ask for advice, help, or some on-the-side coaching.

7) Go Down Gracefully – Despite the feeling of defeat, don’t be a sore loser. Congratulate your opponent; commend them on a good game and go to sleep at night knowing you tried your best. Try not to throw anyone “under the bus” or put the blame on others. The same goes for winning.

8 ) Take Responsibility - As a corollary to #7, don’t wait for someone else to “throw you under the bus”. If you are responsible for something, come right out and own up to your mistakes. Do not try to cover it up. Do not try to pass the buck. Successfully handling simultaneous responsibilities can really show the kind of person you are.

9) It’s Not Over ‘Til It’s Over – Don’t be too discouraged by a multiple run deficit. Until that last out is recorded, anything can happen. With the right team members, the right attitude, the right skills, and a little bit of luck, games can be lost and won in a heartbeat.

The next time you sit down to watch your favorite baseball team play their arch rivals, take a step back from the action and notice some of the life-analogies that exist within the subtle game. If you come up with any good ones, comment below!

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When it comes down to it, we all want to get the most out of life. After all, if nothing else, we are here now and we should make the most of our time here.

Sometimes we can get all wrapped up and tangled in “being productive” and “getting things done” that it just gets too overwhelming and we risk a burn out.

What does it mean to get the most out of life? Everyone should, and does, have their own personal answer to this question, but we can generalize a few things to common domain.

For me, “getting the most out of life” means maintaining ambition and always reaching for the next goal, while preserving a feeling of content with my life at any given moment.

At first this seems impossible. How can you really want to grow and better yourself if you are completly content with the way things are? Here’s what I have come up with:

1. Enjoy the Little Things – The inspiration for this post came from Leo Babauta’s post at ZenHabits, entitled The Simple Life. It lists just a few of the “little things” that really define what life is all about: Really take the time out to walk around outside after a morning rain-storm; Turn off the news, cell phones, and computers, and watch the sunset with your favorite beverage. Just slow down and take in everything. It will not be there forever.
2. Make Goals In Many Categories – There are many benefits of goal setting and various ways to organize your goals, but an often overlooked aspect is to vary your goal setting across different categories. You may always be aware of your goals at work or for your next project, but be sure to think about what it is you want to accomplish in other aspects of your life. Do you want to learn to play an instrument? Become a better cook? A better husband? Modularize and write down these goals just the same as you would goals for the office or work. Be aware of all your potential.
3. Be Yourself – It is emotionally and physically draining to try to be something you are not. Being honest with yourself and act as though you are comfortable in your own skin and with current mindset will make you truly feel comfortable in your own skin and with your current mindset. Do not be afraid that some people won’t like the real you. Treat others with respect and respect will be returned.
   
4. Get Inspired – Try to find a few people in your life that you highly regard. These could be people you want to impress, people you want to make proud, people you admire for accomplishing similar goals, or just a good friend with equal values. They should be interested in your goals, they should listen to what you want to accomplish and how you plan to accomplish such tasks, and they should never put you down. Find a good reason to succeed and better yourself.
5. Spend Time With Friends and Family – Perhaps one of the best ways to feel content in life is by spending time with your friends and family. There is not much I enjoy more than a dinner and coffee with family members or a trip to a local eatery with my buddies.
6. Develop A Fear of Decline – To get the most out of life, it is not so much that you should have an undying strive to better yourself, but rather it is more that you have an undying fear of falling from your current situation. If you maintain an enduring desire to at least stay where you are in life, then the only possible way to go is up. With this mindset and a little ambition, you’ll eventually move up and get to where you want to be.
7. Do More Than Necessary – The man who only does the work assigned to him will never grow. Go above and beyond what is requested, required, or expected of you. Be the go-getter of your group and let everyone know it. You will feel more accomplished and others will look up to you, further spurring your growth.
8. Employ The Things You Learn – In today’s information age, we are so often bombarded with information that we let many things slip through our fingers. It is a curse of many avid blog-readers, especially in the niche of personal development, to spend hours reading productivity, time-saving, self-growth articles and websites and never actually employ the tips they are reading. They are accomplishing the exact opposite of what they are reading about. Do not just be one of the many readers. Be aware of what you read, really soak it in and think about how you can apply it to your life and actually use it to progress.

Remember, “getting the most out of life” is a relative phrase. To each person it will mean something different.

The key to a fulfilling life is moderation in everything. Try not to focus on only making more money, buying a bigger house, or getting a notch higher on the corporate ladder. Realize that we live in the here and now and make the most out of it. As John Lennon said “Life is what happens to you while you’re busy making other plans.”

An aside to my readers: I just want to let you all know that I am in no way ceasing to update PersonaDev.com. I am just a full-time college student with many projects to complete and exams to take in the past weeks. I hope to pick back up the rate of posting by next week. Thanks for sticking around!

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]]> http://www.personadev.com/2008/05/03/8-guidelines-to-get-the-most-out-of-life/feed/ 2 http://www.personadev.com/2008/04/10/how-to-make-a-great-first-impression/ http://www.personadev.com/2008/04/10/how-to-make-a-great-first-impression/#comments Fri, 11 Apr 2008 00:42:26 +0000 Tim Bridge http://www.personadev.com/2008/04/10/how-to-make-a-great-first-impression/ Face it. The next time you walk into a room with new people, assumptions about you will be made. Within the first few seconds of meeting a new person, he or she will form an opinion about you based on your appearance, mannerisms, and body language. These opinions are often difficult to overcome or undo, [...]]]>

Face it. The next time you walk into a room with new people, assumptions about you will be made.

Within the first few seconds of meeting a new person, he or she will form an opinion about you based on your appearance, mannerisms, and body language.

These opinions are often difficult to overcome or undo, making these first encounters extremely significant.

Luckily, there are some things you can do to ensure that these assumptions and opinions are positive. Here are 10:

1. Be Punctual – Not much is more detrimental to one’s opinion of you than tardiness. A person you are meeting for the very first time will not care to listen to your excuses, despite how “real” or “good” they are. Plan for delays in traffic or other impeding events and remember that arriving early is much better than arriving late.
2. Neat and Tidy - You won’t make it far without the ability to present yourself in an organized manner. Take care to make sure you look your best. Make sure your hair is cut and your fingernails are trimmed. Is your attire appropriate for the occasion? Is it a business meeting? A casual setting? Be sure to iron and remove any stains from your clothes. This is perhaps the most important tip. Failing to present yourself in an orderly way can cost you greatly.
3. Play the Name Game - Be sure to suitably introduce yourself. Give your name, a tidbit of information about yourself and something about why you are introducing yourself. An example would be something like “Hi, my name is Tim Bridge. I am from XYZ Pharmaceuticals for the seminar on water quality”.
4. Body Language - 55% of communication is done through body language. This is definitely enough of a percentage for you to put in a significant amount of time perfecting your body language. The most important aspects of body language to master are your eye contact and posture, including arm positioning. For an informative article on perfecting your body language, check out 10 Tips to Boost Your Body Language Skills.
5. Focus On Them - The one golden rule to follow if you want someone to like you is to make them feel good. The first and foremost thing in your mind at any moment during the conversation should be “Is what I am saying making him or her feel good?” Avoid asking a ton of questions, but keep the conversation’s spotlight on him or her. A big portion of this is the ability to listen well. To spruce up on your listening skills, give 10 Tips to Be A Better Listener a once-over.
6. Remember to Smile – A strong, confident smile can do wonders for a first impression. Spend a few minutes in front of the mirror and determine which of your smiles fit the occasion best. Be careful not to smile too much though. This could make you seem insincere and artificial.
7. Preliminary Research - Although its not always possible, in many situations, you’ll have to opportunity to do some research about the person or people you are meeting. Prepare by collecting a few key questions that you’d like to ask and familiarize yourself with the hobbies, likes and dislikes, or activities of the individual before you are introduced. For example, does he participate in the company softball league? Does she have any children?
8. Forget the Rest of the Day - No matter what happened earlier in the day, act like your day is going perfectly. Your hair may be all over the place, you just received a parking ticket, and your coffee shop was out of your favorite bagel, but you must leave that all behind and act pleasantly and courteously. Just put it all behind you for a few minutes and portray the kind of person you want to be seen as.
9. Act Like It’s Not A First Impression - If you treat your new acquaintance like someone you’ve known for years, you’ll automatically start using friendlier body language and smiling more. Any nervousness you may have exposed through your tone of voice will be diminished, which will be noticed immediately by the other individual – getting your relationship off on the right foot.
10. Don’t Worry Too Much - Prepare as much as you want to or are able to, but once you are there, live in the moment. Try to keep your focus on the outside by responding to others and really communicating rather than focusing on your thoughts and trying to analyze situations. Once you are in the heat of the moment, stay there and go with the flow.

You have only a few moments to make an ideal impression and if it doesn’t go the way you had planned, it is difficult if not impossible. The next time you are preparing for a first impression, be sure to employ these 10 tips.

Know any other ways to make a great first impression?  Post them in the comments! We’d love to read about them.

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We’ve all heard of the many benefits of controlling your body language. It’s been flaunted as one of the many ways to move up through your company, get that girl or guy you’ve been eyeing from across the room, and just increase your overall mood.

What body language really comes down to though, is communication. Sure there are many other benefits of understanding and controlling your body language, but at their hearts, the benefits come from good communication.

This can be attributed to Albert Mehrabian’s 7%-38%-55% Rule of communication. In this rule, words account for 7%, tone of voice counts for 38%, and body language accounts for 55%. 55%! That means that more than half of communication is done through body language!

Here are my favorite tips to enhance the control of your body language and be a better communicator:

1. Eye Contact – To write about all the subtleties and benefits of good eye contact would be enough for its own post entirely. For now, keep in mind the basics: maintain eye contact, but do not stare. This may seem difficult or peculiar at first, but after a few days of consistency, you’ll realize your eyes are one of the best ways to convey emotion, feeling, and to communicate effectively.
2. Arms – Arms are clues to how receptive a person currently is to interaction. Let your arms rest at your sides or move them behind you. Try to refrain from crossing your arm as this is usually perceived as a defensive sign. However, arms work both ways. If you are talking with someone who just said the wrong thing, don’t hesitate to cross your arms and let them know.
3. Hands – Keep your palms face up. Open palms are seen as receptive to interaction and friendly. Hand gestures with you palms facing down can be seen as dominant and perhaps aggressive. Instead of fidgeting with your hands, use your hands to describe something as you talk about it.
4. Legs – For many people, legs are the hardest part of our bodies to control. Be aware of their movement. They have a propensity to move around when we are stressed or nervous, next time you feel your legs moving, make an effort to keep them still. As with arms, crossing your legs matters. There are many ways to cross your legs and although legs have less importance in determining the receptiveness of a person, be aware that the “Figure-Four”, which is bringing up your leg to rest on the knee of the other, is the most defensive stance.
5. Posture - Be sure to stand up straight. Keep your shoulders back and head up. Your spine doesn’t stop at your neck, it travels up and through your head, so be sure to keep your head straight too. Slouching not only makes you appear shorter, but it also portrays you as a person with low self-esteem.
6. Dedicate Attention - As a kind of catch-all, if you are seriously interested in what someone has to say, your body language will project that you are. To really get a grip on your listening skills, check out 11 Tips to Be a Better Listener.
7. Get the Angles - Angles are everything. Be aware that one’s body in relation to another’s is an indicator of one’s feelings about those others. We tend to angle towards people we find attractive, interesting, friendly, and fun, and we angle ourselves away from those we do not. A subset of angles is leaning. Whenever seating restrictions, like stadium seating in a classroom, hinders traditional angling, leaning can be seen amongst a crowd with the same conditions as angling.
8. Smile – Smile frequently, but not constantly. Smile especially when you are introduced to someone, but if you keep that smile on your face for too long, you’ll seem artificial. Laugh frequently, but try to refrain from laughing at yourself. Laughing at oneself is often seen as a nervous maneuver. Be aware of other mouth movements. We often tighten our lips or tilt them to one side when we are thinking. This same pursing of the lips is used when we are trying to hold back a nasty comment. Be aware of this because it will be picked up by others and they will get the feeling you are not happy.
9. Watch Your Distance – Create your own personal space. Let other people know that you have your own personal space and be careful not to invade theirs. Standing either too close or too far from a person is not a good thing. Before you make a decision, observe the average distance between others in the room and pick a distance accordingly.
10. Proactive Mirroring - When two people are talking and getting along with each other, they often begin to unconsciously mirror each other’s body language. You can use this to your advantage by pro-actively mirroring a person to induce a “getting along” situation. For example, if the other person leans forward slightly, you lean forward slightly. If the other person places one hand on her lap, you would do well to do the same. However, give ample time before imitating and don’t be an exact mirror, let some changes in their body language go un-mirrored.

Over all, remember to be patient. Learning and employing these tips successfully and integrating them all to work together will take time. Be patient, practice each one in its own time. Be aware that every person has their own “perfect ratio” of which tips to rely on more, and which to push to the back burner. Practice, practice, practice, and find out which is best for you.

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Everything is going great. You’re driving down the highway we call life and your projects are moving along swimmingly, your goals are approaching faster and faster as you press down on the accelerator.

Suddenly, the engine stutters, there seems to be a loss of power. You glance down at the dashboard and see that the fuel gauge is pointing to E. You’ve run out of gas.

Sound familiar? If so, then this post is for you.

We’ve all been hit by the sporadic slump. When it feels like your drive for success has faltered. You just don’t want to do anything. We don’t know why or when exactly it happened, but it did happen and now we are stuck in it. Here are 10 ways to avoid falling into a slump and how to recover when you’ve run out of gas.

1. Focus – Many slips into a slump are the result of being overwhelmed with just too many things going on at the same time. This feeling can be canceled out with a string of small achievements. Just make a list of the things you need to get done, prioritize the list, and then focus on completing one thing at a time. Crossing off items from a to-do list is a great way to get motivated again. Once again, I highly recommend the Three Lists of Three method as it allows for deeper focus on a specific task without the risk of an overflowing list.
2. Exercise – I’ve written about the productivity increasing benefits of exercise before in 5 Lifestyle Changes To Make You Feel Great and Be More Productive and 11 Solid Ways to Enhance Your Memory. Here is another opportunity. Whenever I fall out of my exercise routine, I see myself fall out of other routines in my life as well. Exercise is a great way to uplift your mood. Exercise has a positive effect on four of the main chemicals of the brain the effect mood: Serotonin, Epinephrine, Dopamine, and Endorphin. So get up, go for a walk or run. Lift some weights. Go bowling. You’ll get a mood-boost and feel much better. This is one of the best ways to break out of a slump and you won’t regret it.
3. Accept The Slump For What It Is - Remember that a slump is just that: a slump. If you feel that you’ll never recover from your slump, then you’ll have a much more difficult time actually doing it! Remember that motivation waxes and wanes like the moon. Sometimes its there in all its glowing, bright majesty, other times, it’s seemingly nonexistent, replaced with a black nothingness. But it is really always out there somewhere and it always returns.
4. Get Out – No use lying around the house feeling melancholy. Work up the drive to get out and do something. Visit a friend or family member. Take a significant other out to dinner. Go down to a local park with a bag of charcoal and grill up a meal. Getting out of the house and into the sunlight will have an uplifting effect on your mood and help to pull you out of the slump.
5. Talk About It – Grab a buddy or relative of yours with whom you can talk about your problems. Sometimes just talking about your problems helps your brain to organize and prioritize all the tasks you have on your plate. This will help to dissolve the “overwhelming feeling” that often accompanies many slumps. Once you do away with that feeling, you’re soon to do away with your slump.
6. Do Not Give Up – As a corollary to number 3, do not give up your goals. Remember that it’s just a slump and it’ll pass. Keep your goals in the forefront of your mind and remind yourself of what you want to accomplish. Perhaps write them down in big letters and pin it up on the wall above your desk. Try to remember the passion you once felt about your goals and take a few minutes out of everyday to reread your goals and remember why you want to reach them.
7. Brush Up On Your Time Management – Enhancing your time management skills will help you deal with an inundation of tasks. You’ll be able to get more done with less time, be able to cross more things off your list quickly, and just invite feelings of accomplishment faster than normal. Here is a list of 11 Tips to Increase Your Time Management Skills that should serve you well in this endeavor.
8. Clean Up Your Place – Take some time to clean your home. For many people, there is nothing like a clean home to inspire motivation. A cluttered and disorganized living-quarter can definitely be the cause of a lack of drive. If you find that your dwelling is a little more messy than normal, pick up clutter, put things back in their place, grab a broom and sweep up.
9. Clean Up Your Body – Sometimes when we are lacking motivation, we lose the drive to keep ourselves clean! Take a shower, brush your teeth, comb your hair, shave, and put on some fresh clothes. Do whatever that you do to make yourself feel attractive and presentable. It is said that how one looks is a direct representation of how one feels about oneself. You’d be amazed at how much feeling clean and looking respectable can pick up your mood.
10. Stop Planning – Many people in a slump are stuck in a state of “analysis paralysis.” They spend their time worrying or planning instead of actually doing. So much effort and thought is put into perfecting their next action as to not waste time or energy that when the time comes to actually make a move, they have no time or energy left! This puts them further in the slump and makes it even more difficult to recover. Don’t let this happen to you. Make a move, do it now.

When all is said and done, remember that you will recover. Slumps are unavoidable, but no slump is permanent. Try implementing these 10 tips and you’ll see that your next slump will be much shorter than normal.

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Everyone has a few people in their life that just refuse to appreciate the success of others. Despite any achievement you may complete, goal you may reach, or any pride you may feel, these cynics act the wet-blanket and find a way to rain on your parade.

These people come in many denominations. They can be younger or older, richer or poorer, close friends and relatives or mere acquaintances, but they are always there.

In general, odds are they are pessimistic towards your success because they are jealous or even fearful of it. However, knowing this is often not enough to deal with their negativity.

Here are 7 ways to manage such negativity, keep your aspirations high, and stay on track to a happy, successful life.

1. Keep Aspirations Personal and Private - Most naysayers will not appreciate or commend something in its baby stages. Try keeping silent about your goals until you have achieved something significant. Once you have something concrete to show, they’ll be hard pressed to find something entirely negative to say about it.
2. Positive Passivity - An ideal way to silence a potential naysayer is to merely shrug it off. Be positively passive. If someone is trying to shoot you down, you have no obligation to listen to them. Be aware of the potential for an explosive conversation and how to handle one.
3. The Old Switch-A-Roo – Try to adopt the approach of using someone’s negativity as motivation. If someone tells you “you can’t do that,” make it your goal to prove to them that you can.
4. Keep A Progress Log – Write down your significant achievements and whenever you reach your goals. If ever a cynic tries to get you down, just take a look at your Progress Log and be instantly reminded of your potential and ambition.
5. Distance Yourself – Although not possible in some cases, try to get away from pessimists. Try to surround yourself with people that always see the glass as half-full. Intelligent people realize that supporting others in their endeavors earns reciprocated support and leads to a less stressful life. Surround yourself with smart people.
6. Recognize Constructive Criticism – It is not always the case that someone is intentionally downplaying your success. Try to be aware of constructive criticism and realize when an individual is sincerely trying to help you up instead of putting you down.
7. Remember Why - Remember why some people insist on spoiling your mood. They are often jealous and fearful of your success. Whenever you think somebody is trying to put you down, keep this thought in the back of your head and smile. They just wish they were more like you.

All in all, you are your own best judge. If you think your accomplishments are worthy of acclaim, then they most definitely are! If, however, you find yourself succumbing to the wet-blankets of the world, try out these tips and methods and let me know how they work out. Do you have any other methods to curb the daily pessimist? Please, let us know in the comments.

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Have you ever been the victim of a bout of anger and rage in a social situation?

Maybe you’ve found yourself at an office lunch with that one person that knows exactly how to get to you, how to make subtle little comments that get your blood boiling.

You try to sit back and tell yourself to calm down, but you are upset, angry, and full of rage. You decide to let this fella have it and open your mouth to spew a stream of swearing.

But your emotions are clouded by anger and rage and you end up making a huge fool of yourself over something unimportant. This is what I like to call an explosive conversation.  Explosive conversations are usually one-sided, blood-pressure-increasing, illogical conversations that have no goal or purpose.

Here’s how you can control the situation. In order to avoid situations like these and explosive conversations, we must first understand why and how they happen.

Some people enjoy getting on another’s nerves. A term I’ll use to describe these people is “verbal abuser”. Verbal abuse is a common defense mechanism for discomfort and a way of disguising inferiority complexes. The goal of a verbal abuser is psychological domination.

Our goal is to be non-reactive to verbal abuse and escape from explosive conversations as soon as possible.

The first step to accomplishing this is realizing one simple fact: A conversation is in the control of the person listening. When someone talks to you they are soliciting a response from you. They want and need you to react. As the listener, you have the ability to determine where the conversation goes, if it goes at all.

The next step is to determine your approach: Passivity or Out-Framing. Each approach has their time but I find passivity to be used more frequently.

Passivity is employing the mindset that you do not care in the slightest about what is being said. In many social interactions, the person who reacts least is more “important”. Use to your benefit the realization that one tends to react earlier and additionally towards people that have a higher social “rank” than one.

By purely ignoring a speaker, you show that you are not even interested in thinking about what was said. This is a good approach for passivity but sometimes complete ignorance is not possible. In these cases, take your time before you respond. A delayed response shows that you are not unsettled and are non-reactive to verbal abuse.

Out-Framing is an approach derived from Neuro Linguistic Programming created by John Grinder and Richard Bandler. It is the idea that the meaning of a conversation is called the frame. For example, if I say to you “Hey, you are definitely not smart enough to work with me,” then I have set the frame such that you want to prove to me you are smart enough. Any second-level meaning to a conversation is called the meta-frame. In the above example, the meta-frame is set such that I am in a position of judging and you are in a position of proving, thus I am dominating.

When people try to engage you in an explosive conversation, they are trying to get you to accept a frame. By avoiding the frame and suggesting your own, you’ve escaped the explosive conversation.

To reset a frame, all you have to do is leave the answering to him. In the above example, an out-framing response would be something like “Under what criteria?” Basically, try to never find yourself directly defending yourself.

Try employing these methods whenever possible. You’ll find yourself engaged in an explosive conversation much less frequently.

A popular analogy for a computer’s memory management systems is the human mind.In this analogy, the hard drive of a computer is equivalent to a mind’s Long Term Memory. The RAM of a computer corresponds to one’s Short Term Memory.

However, one main divergence arises: in a computer, one can easily upgrade memory by purchasing a bigger hard drive disc or plugging in an upgraded RAM chipset. One cannot do this for the human brain.

Luckily, there are methods for expanding the human memory capacity. Here are 11:

1. Multiple Exposure – A common example for this tip is the average college student. For most college courses, a direct positive correlation exists between attendance and good grades. This is the result of extra exposure. Even if a student does not take notes during the class, her brain is still processing the information. Later when said student studies for an exam or does her homework, her brain will recall some of the information from the class and studying will be easier and more of a refresher. This is why most courses and education establishments employ the 3-exposure technique known as lecture, homework, and exams.
2. Pay More Attention to More Difficult Information – This may seem obvious but it is often overlooked. In reality, when we are taking in information for an extended period of time, we tend to lose focus after some time or fall into an expectation of the quality of information. When the quality changes, we may continue taking it in as our expectations propose. Think of it again, as a college student. To take notes on every word a professor utters would be difficult and counter productive. To be as efficient as possible, we must be aware of information quality changes and act accordingly.
3. Learn What Kind of Learner You Are - We all learn differently. Some of us learn best through visual cues, some through auditory cues, and others through pure hands-on experience. Most of us are a mixture of all three, but specialize in one. Use this test to determine what kind of learner you are and from now on, try to use it to your advantage.
4. Teach – A great test to tell if you really understand something is to teach it to another person. Not only does it verify that you fully know the material and make obvious to you the aspects on which you need to improve, but it serves as an additional exposure.
5. Relate - Intelligence is the ability to take what you know and relate it to new subjects. When you are learning new or difficult information, take a few moments aside and think about an analogy that relates the information with something you already know. The ability to say “this is like that” will have a great positive impact on your ability to remember “this”.
6. Repetition – This is one of the most common memory hacks. When you find yourself trying to remember something, just repeat it to yourself aloud multiple times (if you are an auditory learner) or writing it down multiple times (if you are a more visual learner). This is an offshoot of multiple exposures and learning what kind of learner you are. It increases your exposure to the information and banks on what kind of learning fits you best.
7. Get The Old Ticker Tickin’ - Getting your heart beating can greatly improve brain functions and brain volume. In a recent study, aerobic exercises three times a week for 1 hour in exercisers ranging from age 60 to 79 has shown brain volume increases to match the volumes of people 2 to 3 years younger
8. Catch Those Z’s - Cut out your sleep and you cut out your body’s ability to repair itself. During consciousness, your brain delegates many resources to environment processing, response, and decision-making simulation among many other things. While you sleep, all these resources can be used to repair overused neuron connections and workout underused connections. Get your shut-eye, enhance your memory.
9. Employ Other Senses - Ever smell sun tan lotion and be reminded of a beach experience? Ever smell a pine tree and recall fondly a past holiday season? This is because smell is the sense most closely related to memory. Why not use this knowledge to your advantage and exploit your sense of smell? Next time you are trying to remember a piece of information, take out your nearest aromatic food item and smell it while reviewing the information. Next time you need to remember said information, bring along with you the food item. The smell will help you remember. This also works with taste but often not as well. I find chocolate works best for the taste version.
10. A Bottle of Red… – Well, maybe not a bottle… One glass will do. Studies show that increased brain activity from crossword puzzles or brain teasers for about an hour followed up with a glass of red wine may help to preserve your memory. Studies conducted by Philippe Marambaud, PhD. show that the chemical compound resveratrol, which is found in red wine, may help prevent Alzheimer’s disease.
11. Grab A Cup o’ Joe - Caffeine provides a boost to those parts of the brain involved with short-term memory, attention, and concentration. When you know you will be utilizing these three functions, help your self to a cup of coffee or anything else that provides roughly 100 milligrams of caffeine. Be wary though as the effects of caffeine only last about 45 minutes before a refueling is required.

It is always a good idea to try to increase your memory. Just like popping a new RAM chip into your laptop, everything you do will get a speed and efficiency boost. Good luck!

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The last month has been one of the most productive of my life.

PersonaDev.com is growing comfortably. My work seems easier. I am getting up early and attacking assignments and tasks with enthusiasm rather than regret.

I am getting in better shape. I am eating right and I am exercising daily.

In general, I am getting things done and my short-term goals are being met earlier than I am setting new ones.

I sat down the other day and asked myself “Why has your last month been so productive?”

I came up with 5 activities and concepts that stimulated my month:

1. Sleeping Better – I despise waking up late. When I wake up late, I feel like I’ve wasted so much time and it puts a damper on the rest of the day. This month, I’ve been rising early. First, figure out when you are most productive. Are you an early bird? A night owl? Now try to wake up 5 minutes early each day or stay up 5 minutes later every night until you are awake for the majority of your “most-productive” time.
   
   
2. Eating Better – Eating right can be an amazing energy boost. Cut out fried foods as much as possible. Stick to chicken and salads whenever you can. Make sure you get the right intake of protein for your weight and activity level. Eat breakfast! Just a few minor changes in eating habits can improve your vigor significantly.
3. Exercising – Exercise makes you feel alive. Now, this doesn’t mean you should immediately start running 3 miles a day or head to the gym determined to bench 250 lbs. The goal is to get moving, get your heart pumping, sweat. In today’s world, we are too often confined to small spaces. Pushing your body to its limits is a great reminder of what you are capable.
   
   
4. Low-Stress Environment – Don’t burn yourself out trying to do too much at once. Pick a few of the most important tasks and really apply yourself to them. In the past year, I’ve significantly reduced my workload and my overall performance has seen a great increase. Minimize your tasks. Learn Time Management. Learn to prioritize.
   
   
5. Develop a Routine – The most important of them all. Everything must be a lifestyle change. A real desire to be more productive. Get into a routine, wake, sleep, eat, and exercise at the same times everyday. Make gradual changes. Slowly wean out the fatty-foods or chips and wean-in chicken or nuts. Shift your sleeping schedule 5 or 10 minutes every night. A drastic change too quickly will just serve to burn you out.

Remember: confidence is viral. Succeeding and seeing results in one aspect of your life will inspire success and results in all other aspects. Be confident, be successful.

Try out these 5 tips for a few weeks and you’ll be sure to see solid increases in your productivity.

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Good communication skills are perhaps the most invaluable skill one can have.

No matter how much you know or how good you are at a specific task, without the ability to express yourself clearly and efficiently, you’ll never progress as far in life as you could have if you had this ability.

Luckily, great communicators are made, not born. The 8 tips below along with some practice will put you on a streamlined path to communication excellence.

(1) Understand Your Message – If you don’t understand what you are trying to say, how can you expect to others to understand? Try summarizing in one or two sentences what is the main idea of what you want to say. I find this works best by writing your intended message down.

(2) Remove Ambiguity – Look for any ambiguous words in your message and replace them with something more certain. There are two types of ambiguity for which to look.

• Definition Ambiguity - In the English language, most words have more than one meaning. For example, saying “I need a couple reports by this afternoon,” could mean a few reports or exactly two reports. In this case, it would be best to replace the word “couple” with an exact number or range of numbers.
• Sentence Ambiguity - Also known as Garden Path Sentences, it is possible for a sentence to have an unclear meaning. An example is “I know a man with a dog who has fleas.” Does this mean the dog has fleas or the man has fleas? Consider revising this sentence to something like “I know a man with a flea-infested dog.” The meaning is much clearer in the latter sentence.

(3) Record Yourself – It is often the case that nothing helps more than switching roles. In this case, try making yourself the listener. Grab a tape recorder or use your computer and give a speech or have a conversation with a friend. Listen analytically and critically to the tape. Try to notice things that you may need to change. You are your own best critic.

(4) Avoid Reaction - Mind the difference between ‘response’ and ‘reaction’. A ‘response’ is a product of your mind. A ‘reaction’ is a product of emotion. While in a conversation, carefully chose your tone of voice, words, and timing before saying anything. THINK about what you are going to say and how you are going to say it before you speak.

(5) Eyes, Eyes, Eyes – As cliché as it sounds, eyes really are a window to the soul. Making consistent eye contact conveys interest and sincerity. If you show a real interest in what you have to say, this interest will surely be returned by your listeners.

(6) Practice – There are tons of daily opportunities to practice your communication skills. These opportunities range from social environments to more professional environments. Talk with the people with whom you ride the elevator and jump on the opportunity to give that presentation for the new project your team is proposing. The only surefire way to get better is practice. However, practicing communication skills requires one thing: courage.

(7) Do Not Be Afraid: Take pride in your voice! It’s there for a reason. Have the courage to say what you think. Never feel that your opinions are not meaningful as they are your opinions. Odds are that in any given group of people, at least one person is thinking the same thing you are and does not have the guts to speak up. The very worst (maybe best?) that could happen is someone will open your eyes to a completely different perspective and you will receive the respect you deserve for voicing your opinion.

(8) Listen! - Keep in mind that communication requires more than one side, more than you. Beware of getting all wrapped up and tangled in what you want to say that you ignore what others are saying to you. Listening well and actively to others’ ideas is just as important as expressing your ideas well and clearly. For a more in-depth guide on how to listen well, this article has 10 Great Tips To Be A Better Listener.

In my personal opinion, the most valuable of these tips is practice. If you practice enough, everything else will fall into place in time. Be mindful of your progress and be confident!

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