I’ve blogged ad nauseam about how the WHY is so much more important than the HOW. In other words, it is the meaning behind what you are doing that is far more important how you carry out the activity. In fact, you could even extend this axiom to imply that the WHY is not only more important than the HOW, but it is more important than WHAT you do as well!

I recently was given a copy of Never Eat Alone, a book on networking by Keith Ferrazzi. I had low expectations for the book, having been through numerous middling works that teach me less than I already know. I’ve been been very pleasantly surprised by Keith’s book. It is full of practical advice and some interesting theories based on his own experience as a young rising star in corporate marketing and consulting fields.

Anyway, Keith has a newsletter service that sends tips based on topics from his book. Today’s tip was very intriguing…referencing a story from Jon Gordon’s book, The Energy Bus;

“There’s a story about when President Lyndon Johnson visited NASA and as he was walking the halls he came across a janitor who was cleaning up a storm, like the Energizer bunny with a mop in his hand. The president walked over to the janitor and told him he was the best janitor he had ever seen and the janitor replied, ‘Sir, I’m not just a janitor. I helped put a man on the moon.’…Even though he was cleaning floors he had a bigger purpose and vision for his life. That is what kept him going and helped him excel in his job…So drive with purpose today and every day and cultivate it in your team and they’ll not only stay on the bus when it’s cruising but they’ll also get out to help push it when it breaks down.”

Wow! This just about floored me. A janitor putting a man on the moon. Puts work in a whole different light doesn’t it? Today, I wasn’t just working on a PowerPoint presentation, I was helping to move Microsoft one step closer to putting opportunity in the hands of every child in the world, through ubiquitous, powerful and affordable computing. Might sound corny, but when you think about it, it is TRUE….and it is VERY MOTIVATING.

What were you helping to accomplish today?

James wrote an post about Max Levchin, referencing this NY Times article with some details about his past and current endeavors. Max co-founded PayPal in his early 20’s, selling it to eBay shortly after going IPO…for over $1B.

Source: wYnand!

I know many vegans….that have stopped being vegan. The reasons tend to differ, but the root causes are more similar. Being vegan is not easy, at least not at first. People who initially adopt a vegan way of life can find it difficult to maintain unless they do a lot of homework and have a ridiculously strong will.

Source: evanleavitt

If there is one common feature that I have observed from successful people, it is that they are willing to accept uncertainty. Uncertainty is a fact of life. We never really know where our next breath will take us, let alone what a switch in career, time away from work, change in relationship or living situation will bring. Successful people might not embrace the fact that uncertainty is a fact of life, but they do ACCEPT IT.

Don’t believe me? Try this little exercise out for yourself.

This is the second in a series of five posts pertaining to my initial entry “Five Tips For Making Goals That Stick.“Overview. Five Tips For Making Goals That Stick

Part 1. The “WHY” Matters More Than The “HOW”
Part 2. Make Powerful Goals
Part 3. Make Specific Goals
Part 4. Use Peer Pressure To Your Advantage
Part 5. Reference Your Goals Daily

Make Specific Goals

Ambiguity is a major source of fear in our lives. Don’t let this fear keep you from dreaming big and setting big goals. The trick, is to not only set big goals, but to get super-crisp about them. You should do whatever it takes to get clear about what it that you wish to achieve or bring into your life. You should get to the point where you can literally smell, touch, taste, see and feel it. Even better, you should be able to clearly envision yourself having already achieved the goal on a literal and emotional level.

The challenge with doing this is two-fold. First of all, you need to actually figure out what it is that you want. Secondly, you need to develop your mental and emotional “muscles” to the point where you can experience achievement at a very deep level without having actually achieved anything. This is possible for everyone, but it might take a little practice.

I was reading this post at Tim’s blog, 10 Steps to Becoming an Email Ninja. It has a bunch of great tips to help you deal with e-mail. Where I work, e-mail is by far the preferred mode of communication. It is used, overused and often abused. Even after trimming down all useless email sources, I get 100-200 work-related messages daily. This is not something I am proud of, but it is a fact I must deal with.

Throughout the past 7+ years working there, I’ve adopted a few strategies to help me deal with e-mail overload. Whether you are dealing with hundreds of e-mails daily, or just trying to manage the few weekly messages you get in a more efficient and thorough way, these tips should help.

This is the second in a series of five posts pertaining to my initial entry “Five Tips For Making Goals That Stick”:Part 1. The “WHY” Matters More Than The “HOW”
Part 2. Make Powerful Goals
Part 3.
Part 4.
Part 5.

Make Powerful Goals

A surefire way to set yourself up for failure, is to not make goals that are incredibly powerful and compelling. If you aren’t motivated about it. If it isn’t something that you would get up early and stay up late for. If it isn’t something that you would do at almost any cost….than how do you expect to put in all the effort to achieve it?

I used to set incremental goals, taking something I did moderately well and just adding to it. I would get very specific and create a plan for achieving the goal….but would quickly lose the motivation to pursue it. I wouldn’t put the goal in a broader perspective. I’d just follow what I was doing in the past and extrapolate into the future.

For example, I’d run 5 miles one day, and decide that my new goal was to run 6 miles at a stretch within the next month. A few weeks into the process, something else more interesting would catch my attention, and I’d forget about my goal altogether.

Sometimes I would achieve the goal, sometimes I wouldn’t….and when I did achieve the goals…I often said “so what!” The more I did this, the more I stopped trying to set goals to begin with. I just started to go with the flow….that’s a definite way to ensure mediocrity! Something nobody should aspire to.

Now, I make it a practice to set really powerful goals. It is OK to have some smaller goals that you know you can achieve, but is the really big things that will keep you motivated and excited. How do you figure out what these big goals should be?

Here is a process I use to come up with life goals that are really worthwhile.

I saw this post at We Like It Raw, and it references a great NY Times Article about the Maca Root and a Medicine Hunter in Peru. The multimedia slideshow is great.

I started using Maca Root as a new ingredient in my Raw Power Smoothies every day. I was introduced to it after seeing it as an ingredient in my favorite meal replacement drink, Vega.

It’s great for adrenal gland support. Especially useful for people working stressful jobs and exercising intensely and regularly. It helps me sleep much better (it regulates my energy very well) and recover faster. Maca is an “adaptogen,” which means it normalizes body functions, lowering things that need lowering and raising things that need to be elevated.

I buy a powdered form (”Maca Magic” brand), and it has a very neutral taste. Just 1-2 teaspoons are all you need to add to your smoothie or juice.

Tony Robbins was on Larry King Live yesterday, and though I cannot find the recording online, I have something better…the full transcript! Larry interviewed Dr. Dean Ornish, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, Tony and a few others about diet and health. There are great tips in here.

Check out the full transcript here.

See my last post for a video of Tony’s last appearance on Larry King Live.

Below are highlights focusing on the comments made by Tony:

Tony was on tonight’s Larry King Live….I wasn’t able to catch it, but saw this clip from last year on the same program. A great conversation. I’ll post this year’s clip when I find it.

This is the first in a series of five posts pertaining to my initial entry “Five Tips For Making Goals That Stick.“

By “Why,” I am referring to the reasons why you do something and by “How” I am referring to the means for accomplishing that thing.

Accomplishing anything requires some level of motivation. Accomplishing anything, no matter how big or small, requires some internal motivation. Compelling reasons are the driving force behind any action that we do. We eat and drink because they are necessary activities to keep us alive. We carry on some occupation because we require some finances to make our way in this world. We participate in hobbies or sports because we derive some pleasure and a feeling of significance from doing those things.

Note: there are five follow-up posts to this article….expanding on the ideas below.

Part 1. The “WHY” Matters More Than The “HOW”
Part 2. Make Powerful Goals
Parts 3, 4 and 5 are yet to be written…

It’s about that time year! Everyone is out to make some massive progress on their resolutions for 2008. I went to the gym yesterday and it was totally packed. People were decked out in brand new workout-attire, iPods (even a few Zune’s!) and shoes. Wisdom has shown that these resolution rarely stick, but why not at least give it a shot?This year, take a few steps to make sure that you don’t let your resolutions fall by the way-side.

Tony Robbins is fond of saying “if you aren’t growing, you’re dying.”

There is a lot of truth to that statement. Most people I know do not make a concerted effort to improve themselves from a personal growth standpoint. They want to get wealthy, have more muscles, less fat, a better relationship (or a relationship period) and all that….but they rarely apply themselves to improve the fundamentals of their persona. The things (behaviors, thought patterns, emotional responses, raw skills, etc.) that will actually help them achieve those wants and needs. Instead they rely on dumb luck and a feeling of entitlement that means they deserve everything and more without having to work for it.

I’ve written a lot about health and fitness on this blog, but have infrequently ventured into the land of wealth, finances and mastery over your bank account! This is an area of passion for me (I went to school for finance after all) but have rarely brought up these topics with friends or anyone else I socialize with (outside of my vision board activities).

I don’t know why I haven’t ventured into this topic. I’ve certainly applied these skills to my own financial life. I just felt is was inappropriate or taboo to bring up money with others. I know for many people, financial matters are more of a touchy subject than ANY OTHER PART OF THEIR LIVES. People would rather talk with someone they don’t know about inner details of their relationships than even mention their salary! (There is research showing this….just don’t know where I read it).

Anyway, I am going start discussing more topics related to wealth and wealth mastery in this blog. I think it is critical for EVERYONE to at least get a basic knowledge of finance. It doesn’t matter if you are in debt, have no income or are a millionaire. The same rules apply and it doesn’t have to be that hard to get control over your financial matters.

There are also some very simple things that people can do to save more money EASILY, reduce debt and make smarter investment choices. The problem is, 99% of the population does not do these things. It is not because these people are stupid. In many cases it is simply because:

• They are unaware of a better way
• They are aware of an alternative, but think their way is better…or
• (I love this one!) They keep telling themselves they are too busy and will worry about it later!

So…going forward I’ll be sharing some insights and tips I’ve been applying when it comes to financial matters. I’ll also point out some observations I’ve made that might be useful for some of you.

Now….I need to go swimming through my money pit.