I’ve used a lot of different documents  to record items, including plain paper, ruled paper, and my popular note taking template. While these are helpful, I sometimes find myself writing notes all over the place. When I get back to my office, I have to decipher the different scribbles and make sense of them.

To help me corral this tendency, I decided to put together a visual note taking system that will segregate the different thoughts into separate boxes for clarity. I needed to make it simple enough that it would work with most meetings and also have a central focus for takeaway items.

Here is what the visual meeting notes template looks like.

As you can see, there are ten outside boxes that revolve around a central core. The individual boxes capture ideas, references, and communications, while the center of the document is for the main points or meeting action steps.

Since this template has ten blank boxes, it’s easy to set them up for specific tasks. Here are some suggested uses that cover many meetings…

Fill in boxes for phone calls, emails, and future meetings.

Fill in individual boxes for different people.

Fill in a different box for individual projects

The center of the document is where you put your most important action points or takeaways

In some organizations, (Toastmasters, Rotary etc), there is usually someone designated to record the “minutes” of the meeting. This visual template can easily become your meeting minutes template. Just record the different actions in the individual boxes, and record the outcome in the center box. It’s then easy to fill out whatever documentation is necessary for your company or organization.

To help you with your next meeting, I’ve made the visual meeting notes template available as a free PDF. I created a basic version with blank boxes, and a deluxe one that has grids for extra neatness. Just select the one you want below.

Visual Meeting Notes Template Blank

Visual Meeting Notes Template Ruled

Question: How will you use your meeting template?

The post Visual Meeting Notes Template appeared first on Personal Success Today by John Richardson

This sheet is based on advice that I picked up years ago from Brian Tracy. He says when you write down your goals you need to put them in the present tense and in a positive voice. This helps your subconscious mind see them and accomplish them.

For example, instead of saying, “ I will earn $5,000 this month,” say, “I earn $5,000 a month.”

To make it positive, instead of saying, “I will lose 20 pounds,” you would say, “I weigh 150 pounds.”

To get started, print out my weekly goal setting worksheet, grab a pen and let’s get started.

Weekly Goal Setting Worksheet

Here’s how our sheet looks.

Start in the top box and write out a weekly goal in the positive and present tense, like you have already accomplished it. In our example above, I wrote down that I wrote 6,000 words per day by writing one hour per day.

As you start each day, grab your sheet and write out the goal for the day as if you already accomplished it. When you actually do accomplish it, put an X in the checkbox at the bottom of the daily section.

At the end of the week write out your actual results. As you can see in the example, I actually exceeded my goal by writing more words on Friday and Saturday.

By using this personal goal setting worksheet on a daily basis, you will keep your goal top of mind. By phrasing it in a present and positive manner, your mind will automatically see the result and set out to accomplish it (Your mind cannot picture a negative). Since the worksheet is based on individual days, it is automatically time bound.

This goal setting template is simple to use and will produce results fast. The secret is to be Positive and Present.

Free Weekly Goal Setting Worksheet

Need more help with your goals? My new book can help.

Goals for Life: Includes 7 Different Goal Setting Worksheets

Question: What goal will you set this week?

The post Weekly Goal Setting Worksheet appeared first on Personal Success Today by John Richardson

On the other hand, it is a word that too often crops up in my vocabulary when I’m frustrated and tired. Thankfully, quotes like these let me know the true nature of the beast.

Here are my top 10 favorite quotes about the word, “Impossible.”

“Every noble work is at first impossible.” ~ Thomas Carlyle

“Nothing is impossible, the word itself says ‘I’m possible’!”
~ Audrey Hepburn

“Start by doing what’s necessary; then do what’s possible; and suddenly you are doing the impossible.”
~ St. Francis of Assisi

“It’s kind of fun to do the impossible.” ~ Walt Disney

“What we need is more people who specialize in the impossible.”
~ Theodore Roethke

“Again and again, the impossible problem is solved when we see that the problem is only a tough decision waiting to be made.”
~ Robert H. Schuller

“What we can or cannot do, what we consider possible or impossible, is rarely a function of our true capability. It is more likely a function of our beliefs about who we are.”
~ Tony Robbins

“If your determination is fixed, I do not counsel you to despair. Few things are impossible to diligence and skill. Great works are performed not by strength, but perseverance.”
~ Samuel Johnson

“Some of the world’s greatest feats were accomplished by people not smart enough to know they were impossible.”
~ Doug Larson

“Sometimes I’ve believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast.”
~ Lewis Carroll

“Only those who attempt the absurd will achieve the impossible. I think it’s in my basement… let me go upstairs and check.”
~ M. C. Escher

“We are all faced with a series of great opportunities brilliantly disguised as impossible situations.”
~ Charles R. Swindoll

See, I knew it was impossible to only pick 10…

So think of this as an impossible dozen.

Question: What is your favorite Impossible quotation?

The post Top 10 Impossible Quotes appeared first on Personal Success Today by John Richardson

In our minds, we fail.

I read an insightful post by Nicole over on the Lululemon blog yesterday about failing. Since the age of 14, Nicole has had the BHAG goal of working for Ellen DeGeneres. Last year, she decided to put together a video to get Ellen’s attention. She contacted former Ellen guests to make cameos in her video, along with writing Ellen a song. She attempted to create a viral video while learning to dance, just like her former guests did. She was pretty proud of the way it came out.

She actually got good traction with the video post, with almost 5,500 views. It almost went viral. Unfortunately, she never got a call from the Ellen show.

She was so confident that something was going to happen, she genuinely wasn’t prepared for it not to. At first she was devastated. She stopped watching the show and was really upset when other people were chosen from Youtube for Ellen’s show. She also felt like she let down her blog followers.

Now over six months later, she has a better view. She was able to overcome failure, and has learned some things from the experience.

I had a similar experience a few years ago. I had written my first book, The Path of Consequence, in 2009. I self published and had it available on Amazon. The reviews were good, but I just couldn’t get any traction.

I figured my best bet was to get the book in front of an agent or publisher. My eyes really opened up in 2011, when publisher Michael Hyatt offered to take book proposals from the first 12 people that signed up for his inaugural “create cruise.”

I signed up the first day, and my wife and planned out a vacation around the cruise. I then sat down and planned out a proposal. I downloaded his book proposal eBook, and got to work.

I soon figured that I couldn’t just follow the instructions. I needed something bigger. So I created a proposal along with picture book explaining the concept. I created product packaging and a workbook to go with it. I became a one man marketing department.

When I finally sat down with Michael on the cruise, I figured I had all my bases covered. That’s when reality hit.

Book deals are hard to come by.

Michael was really helpful and gave me all sorts of pointers about getting published. I soon realized it was really hard to get picked up by a traditional publisher. To have a chance, I would need an agent and lots of writing experience. (Michael’s Get Published Now is an advanced version of what he shared with me)

While I knew the basic realities of the publishing business, somehow I thought my book and ideas were different. Looking back, I realize a lot of people make this mistake.

I was just another new writer trying to find a publisher willing to pick them up.

In reality, there are only a few spots available and they are really hard to get.

Kind of like the Ellen Show.

Here is my takeaway from the experience.

I can wait on other people to make things happen, or I can create my own books, videos and products. With the advent of self publishing, I don’t have to wait for a publisher or get an agent. It doesn’t mean I don’t have to create the best book I can, but it does mean that I don’t have to sit and wait.

Now I can write, edit and publish. I can hire third parties for things I can’t do myself (Editing, graphics, and formatting are common outsourced tasks). I can upload my files to CreateSpace or the Amazon Kindle Store

I have permission to create. I also have the responsibility to make it the best I can.

My suggestion to Nicole. You don’t need to wait on Ellen. Why not start your own video podcast, or radio show? Why not show the world the real Nicole?

In 2013, more than any other time in history, we can take the next step in our lives to write a book, create a video, or start a business. Why not get started today.

Here are a few resources to help you take the first step…

The $100 Startup by Chris Guillebeau

Platform: by Michael Hyatt

The E-myth Revisited by Michael Gerber

Let Go by Pat Flynn

Think Bigger: Take Action Today.

The post Why Wait? Think Bigger appeared first on Personal Success Today by John Richardson

Years ago I read an intriguing article from a woman known as the Fly Lady. She had a message to anyone who had a messy house. Start with the kitchen sink. Clean that sink as you have never done before. Soak it in bleach, use elbow grease, and then polish it up to a sparkling shine.

When FlyLady promised that if you learned to organize the space around you, it would spill over into every area of your life, I was interested. Very interested. I looked around at my space. As a guy, my center of the universe was my desk. It was a total mess. Books, papers, and assorted clutter were stacked over a foot high. For months I tried to get a handle on it, but I couldn’t figure out what to do with half of it.

There were papers that I might need someday. There were magazines that I hadn’t read yet, not to mention the free offers that came by mail, and the coupon books with great deals. I was frozen with inaction.

One day my arm hit the large stack and the pile went everywhere. It made me mad and almost brought me to tears. It was right then that the FlyLady’s words came to me… start with your sink. Well this desk was my sink, and it was one stinking mess.

I looked up at my computer screen right then and the answer instantly came to me. Right in front of my face was the “recycle bin” icon in Windows. I thought to myself, “When I don’t know what to do with a file in windows, I put it in the recycle bin. That way I know it’s safe until I decide to delete it. I need a recycle bin for my desk.”

I got up, grabbed a trash can, a plastic inbox, and a cardboard filebox. I threw away the trash, put away the books, put the bills and things that required action in the inbox. Everything else that I didn’t know what to do with went in the file box. This became my “recycle bin” and I stored it under my desk for quick access.

Suddenly my desk top was clean. I got out the furniture polish and made that desk shine. I made a pact with myself that day to keep that desktop clutter free. When new items came in, they either went in the trash, the inbox, or in the recycle bin. Real important stuff was filed away.

Over the next few months I discovered that the FlyLady was right. Now that my desk was cleaned off, the rest of my life was coming together. I learned how to plan out my week, prioritize my day, and manage my time. I emptied the bottom half of the recycle bin once a month and knew that if I needed something out of it, it was just a few feet away.

This simple action really revolutionized my life. My work desk was next. I setup a recycle bin there. Within a few minutes of sorting, I could see the desktop. Within 30 minutes, my desk was sparkling new again.

The next week at work I put together a daily planner, that managed my to-do list, emails, phone calls, and meetings on one sheet of paper.

I can’t tell how important that first action was. It truly changed my life.

Earlier this year, I decided to record my experience and put it together as an eBook. I wanted as many people as possible to take control of their own work areas. When I first made it available, I was surprised at the feedback. Even seemingly organized people mentioned that they had trouble with their desks.

I offered the Get A Life eBook for free in the Kindle store for a few days at the beginning of April. Over 1200 people came by and picked up a copy. The reviews were great and people began telling their friends about it.

Offering the book for free was key to jumpstarting book sales overall.

This last week, I offered up my new book, Goals for Life: Set SMARTER Goals That Stick, on a free promotion. This book is based on my experiences with goal setting over the last 8 years here on the blog. Over 800 people took advantage of that special. Over 2,000 books went out for the month.

If you missed the rollouts, both of these book are available on Amazon for $2.99 and come with handy downloadable templates. If you want to get your desk under control and your week planned out, Get A Life is for you. If you want to set some powerful goals, pick up Goals for Life.

The good news is, I’m planning on releasing a new personal development based fiction book and a new non-fiction book over the next six weeks. To find out about free promotions and special deals, be sure to subscribe to our mailing list.

Just enter your email address in the subscription box above. You’ll receive our Success-Connect monthly newsletter as well as updates about new books, videos and special offers. You can unsubscribe at any time.

Take a look at your workspace. If it needs attention why not download some low cost help today.

The post Why I Gave Away 2,000 Books In April appeared first on Personal Success Today by John Richardson

That has certainly been my experience.

Diets don’t work because they focus on things you can’t eat.

You can’t have

• donuts
• brownies
• ice cream
• cake
• certainly not cheesecake.

So you set a simple goal not to eat them.

All day long your mind is thinking about what it can’t have.

Pictures of brownies and cheesecake slices fill your mind’s eye.

It’s only a matter of time until your willpower drops and you give in.

BAM! All the weight comes back.

So… what can you do?

If you can find a basic routine that you go through each day that’s become a habit, you can change the routine and experience a different outcome.

Here are a couple of common examples.

Let’s say you have a large soda with lunch and dinner. That’s two large sodas per day. Each soda is 250 calories, so you are having 500 empty calories per day.

If you change the routine, and replace the sodas with iced tea or other non calorie drink, you instantly have a 500 calorie a day deficit. Over time you’ll lose weight.

You can apply this simple process to your morning Starbuck’s Latte. Replace that with a Green Tea or Coffee and you’ve just saved another 500 calories per day.

No diet, no hassle. No thinking about the brownies you can’t have all day.

A simple habit change can work wonders.

You can lose weight without dieting.

That’s the premise of my new book, Goals for Life.

We take goal setting and combine it with the latest research into habit change and willpower. The result is a new goal setting technique called SMARTER Goals.

This technique can give you a real breakthrough.

My book outlines a simple plan of action and includes downloadable worksheets to get you started. Just create a simple plan, find an existing routine, and replace it with something better.

Here are some common examples…

• Replace an hour of TV with writing. Get your book written in 6 months.
• Replace your large dinner plates with smaller ones. Save 100 to 200 calories on each meal.
• Replace listening to music while you drive with insightful audio books. Learn an amazing amount effortlessly while you commute.
• Set your morning alarm an hour earlier. Use this time to start a business, write a book, or start a blog. ( An incremental approach works well here)
• Replace the morning news with a running program. Train for a 5k and accomplish it in just a couple of months.

As you can see, you can do some amazing things with this habit replacement program. It’s just a matter of writing down your goal, identifying the existing routine, and then replacing it with an action that fulfills your plan.

Why not set some SMARTER Goals today?

My book is a quick read, and the enclosed worksheets will have your goals set in no time, with a specific plan of action to accomplish them.

Goals for Life. Set Smarter Goals that Stick

Question: What goals will you set?

The post How To Lose Weight Without Dieting appeared first on Personal Success Today by John Richardson

1. SMART Goals were obviously written by some controlling corporate type, who wanted to get his workers to produce more without causing trouble or costing him money. I mean, just look at the words used…

• Specific: Do what I say. I need to know specifically what you are going to do. I can just see your boss micro-managing this one. I told you to do 1A-step c, not 1B-step d…
• Manageable: Don’t ask me to help you with this or provide resources. This probably came from the board room. We don’t want to spend any money on this. We need the numbers without spending a dime.
• Achievable: Make sure somebody actually has done this before. This probably came down from the left brained CFO bean counter. We don’t want any creativity here. Just do the damn boring work the way we say it has to be done!
• Realistic: I’m sure this was added by the middle management team as a scapegoat. Don’t expect miracles here people. Hey, we got to add in coffee breaks, long lunches, and traffic. Certainly don’t ask for more than a 5% improvement.
• Timely: This obviously was added by the H.R. department. You know we can’t have these guys working overtime and we need to make sure we figure in vacations, mandatory meetings, and of course, the annual retreat. Better bump the deadline back a month or two.

Hmmm… something seems to be missing. We got all this corporate mumbo jumbo, but there is no “Action”step here. You mean we actually have to DO something to get results??

Maybe that’s why when I did an informal survey, SMART Goals had a dismal 53% success rate. Just swapping out the word Achievable with the word Action, might make a difference.

2. SMART Goals seem to be plagued with problems. Goal setters report problems with…

• Procrastination: Workers seem to want to do almost anything except work on their goal oriented tasks
• Willpower: There seems to be a hidden enemy that saps energy and focus. Workers report they don’t have enough willpower to stay on track.
• Stress: Having an additional “sales or performance goal” adds stress. Not achieving it adds even more.

So if SMART Goals are problematic, what will work?

What should you do if you actually want to achieve something?

I pondered that question for a while and decided to write a short book about it.

This book starts with the inherent problems of SMART Goals and offers a variety of solutions. By combining goal setting with the latest research in willpower and habit change, I came up with an easy to implement solution that allows you to take action, without the usual procrastination and willpower challenges.

The Acronym is SMARTER and you can implement it quickly and easily in many different environments. It’s designed to work better with the way our minds actually process data.

For those of you who really want to make a difference, I’ve included two chapters on IMPACT Goals. One is setup for personal goals, the other when you want to change the world.

IMPACT Goals are not easy, and require more time and effort, along with a coach or mentor. But when you really want to get something done, they provide results.

The book includes example situations with Bob and Sally, a fictional duo that will better explain how the different goal setting tools work and the pros and cons of each system.

Goals For Life is available in the Kindle store and can be downloaded in just minutes. (This book can be read on your computer, iPad, or Smart phone with a free downloadable Kindle reader) It includes 8 different goal setting sheets to match you individual needs. From basic SMART goals, to SMARTER ones, and all the way up to IMPACT goals, you’ll find tools here to make your dreams come true.

The post The Shocking Truth About Goal Setting and What To Do About It. appeared first on Personal Success Today by John Richardson

I am convinced that the greatest legacy we can leave our children are happy memories: those precious moments so much like pebbles on the beach that are plucked from the white sand and placed in tiny boxes that lay undisturbed on tall shelves until one day they spill out and time repeats itself, with joy and sweet sadness, in the child now an adult.
~ Og Mandino

This is one of my favorite quotes. I love the picture this describes…

The Choice

All good men and women must take responsibility to create legacies that will take the next generation to a level we could only imagine.
~ Jim Rohn

Our children’s future is our responsibility.

A Journey of Importance

“Carve your name on hearts, not tombstones. A legacy is etched into the minds of others and the stories they share about you.” ~ Shannon L. Alder

Create your legacy by caring for others.

Questions To Ask Your Parents

“Language allows us to reach out to people, to touch them with our innermost fears, hopes, disappointments, victories. To reach out to people we’ll never meet. It’s the greatest legacy you could ever leave your children or your loved ones: The history of how you felt.”
~ Simon Van Booy

While pictures may be worth a thousand words, our feelings convey much more…

Everything Beautiful Began After

“If you would not be forgotten as soon as you are dead, either write something worth reading or do something worth writing.”
~ Benjamin Franklin

Immortal words…

An American Life

“The past is a pebble in my shoe.” ~ Edgar Allan Poe

Past failures remind us of the importance of the choices we make today

Stories and Poems

The only thing you take with you when you’re gone is what you leave behind. ~ John Allston

You can’t take it with you…

But You Can Read About The Lives of Others

History is the essence of innumerable biographies. ~ Thomas Carlyle

One of the greatest learning experiences of life, is to learn from those who have gone before us.

Biography

“Everyone must leave something behind when he dies, my grandfather said. A child or a book or a painting or a house or a wall built or a pair of shoes made. Or a garden planted. Something your hand touched some way so your soul has somewhere to go when you die, and when people look at that tree or that flower you planted, you’re there.

It doesn’t matter what you do, he said, so long as you change something from the way it was before you touched it into something that’s like you after you take your hands away. The difference between the man who just cuts lawns and a real gardener is in the touching, he said. The lawn-cutter might just as well not have been there at all; the gardener will be there a lifetime.” ~ Ray Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451

Have you created a legacy?

The Fireman

Outlive your life! ~ Max Lucado

A simple but profound statement

You Were Made to Make a Difference

Question: What legacies will you leave?

The post Top 10 Quotes About Leaving a Legacy appeared first on Personal Success Today by John Richardson

“Entertainment has seduced us into believing that we have a chance to live the life they live in the movies. Even the people in the movies don’t live that life.

It doesn’t take 135 minutes to make a life, it takes almost a century.

Everything doesn’t depend on what happens in the next ninety seconds. Ever.”

~ Seth Godin

We Are Not Living in a Movie

“In contemporary art or movies, it makes perfect sense to be focused on the bleeding edge, on the new idea that’s never been previously contemplated.

But when we’re discussing our goals, our passion and the way we interact with the culture, it seems to me that what works is significantly more important than what’s new.”

~ Seth Godin

A Form of Hiding

“No, the only way to know what people think is to watch what they do, not what they say. Do they come back for more? Do you cause them to change their behavior? Can you make them smile?”

~ Seth Godin

But What Do People Really Think?

“Somewhere, right this very moment, someone is having more fun than you.

Making more money than you.

Doing something more important, with better friends, and a happier ending, than you. Or possibly just better at Words with Friends than you are.

You’re missing out.”

~ Seth Godin

Jealousy And The Lizard

“Most people, most of the time, aren’t creative, generous or willing to stand up and contribute worthwhile work to the community. At least not the contributions you’re hoping for.

To dismiss the crowd is a huge mistake, though.

Here’s the fascinating part, call it the golden shoulder: We have no idea in advance who the great contributors are going to be. We know that there’s a huge cohort of people struggling outside the boundaries of the curated, selected few, but we don’t know who they are.”

~ Seth Godin

Most People, Most of the Time

“Your history of work is as important as the work you’ll do tomorrow.”

~ Seth Godin

Building Your Backlist

“It’s almost impossible to have fun playing ping pong with someone who doesn’t care, won’t try or isn’t any good.”

~ Seth Godin

Ping, But No Pong

“We’re going to spend our entire future living in tomorrow—investing now, when it’s difficult, is the single best moment.”

~ Seth Godin

Never Enough

“Micro trends matter more than macro ones, but most of all, people matter. Individual human beings with names and wants and interests.”

~ Seth Godin

What Matters

“You have permission to create, to speak up, and stand up.

You have permission to be generous, to fail, and to be vulnerable.

You have permission to own your words, to matter and to help.

No need to wait.”

~ Seth Godin

You Have Permission

Question: What is your favorite Seth Godin post?

The post Quotes From The Master ~ Seth Godin appeared first on Personal Success Today by John Richardson

Yet, I’ve noticed something profound lately. It’s actually harder to get a hold of people now than ever before. I’ve got all this technology, but I can’t get a hold of you about the meeting tomorrow. Why is that?

The growing problem is technology fatigue. We have so many things vying for our attention, that our mind just tunes them out. It tunes them out, that is, until they interrupt us with a flash of the screen, a beep, or a ringing in our ears.

Then our conscious mind must stop what it is doing and send it’s very limited focus unto this source of interruption.

Constantly throughout the day, the interruptions come.

Our mind deals with them in one of two ways.

We either focus on the source of the problem, or we try to ignore them.

But our course of thought is always challenged.

And our productivity suffers.

I suggest a better way.

Why not plan out your week, prioritize your day, and focus your time – on paper.

Then turn off all of the distractions for a while and focus on one productive thing and get it done.

That’s the premise of my new Kindle eBook, Get a Life.

Unlike technology, paper doesn’t constantly interrupt us.

It sits there waiting for our attention.

It gives us control.

It helps us get things done.

My new book comes with 9 template downloads.

Weekly planners, daily planners, & time management sheets.

Free downloads, that can help you get more done, on time, with less stress.

Why not get a copy today, and… Get A Life!

The post Why Technology May Not Be The Answer To Greater Productivity appeared first on Personal Success Today by John Richardson