When we come across an obstacle, people typically do one of three things:

• Turn back
• Get through it by any means necessary
• Get to a vantage point to see if the reward is worth the effort to overcome the obstacle

For a long time, I was very much the second person.  Call it an ego thing, call it stubbornness, but I did whatever it took to achieve a goal.  Sometimes at great sacrifice to myself.  I don’t believe this is necessarily a bad thing, as I think we all need to build tenacity.

However, after the past few years, I’ve come to change my thinking.  I’ve come to value the “resources” it would take to acheive some goals, and I realize that often a goal is not worth the sacrafice.  So, before I dedicate my time and energy, I put some due dilegence into making sure the outcome is worth it.  This saves unneccessary effort.

The takeaway from all of this is to keep the end result in perspective and realize what it’s value is.

On rare occasions we have downtime in the office.  However, how we spend that downtime can greatly improve our effectiveness when we get swamped.  I look for ways to improve my productivity.  This typically involved improving my setup.

The first thing I do is look at the new technologies to see if any of them are viable as a productivity enhancement.  If one of them is, I’ll try it out and integrate when appropriate.  The second thing I do is learn something ancillary to my current area of focus.  This usually is something which is not required to perform my job, but could aid tremendously.  By doing this “homework”, when you’re back in crunch time, you’ll be greatly more effective.

For example, when I was doing a lot of coding, I’d spend my downtime improving my .emacs file so I could code much more effectively.  For ancillary learning, I learned about proper interviewing techniques.  This came in very handy when I was interviewing people to join my team as I had some of the best hires of the group.

At the risk of my management reading this, here is a little trick which leads to faster promotions.

Plant the “promotion seed” in your manager’s mind far before you think you’re up for a promotion.  This is done by simply asking your manager if you will get a promotion at the next opening.  While it may seem innocuous, by having them think about you getting a promotion, you have planted the seed for consideration of a promotion.

Managers have an internal clock of how long they need to consider someone for a promotion before they act on it.  By making them “consider” you earlier, you have started that internal clock sooner.  This has the double effect of additional pressure on a manager knowing that you expect a promotion from them.  If there is no pressure, then the manager thinks you’re okay with your current level and has no guilt about not promoting you.

Do this whenever you get a new manager, or right after you just got a promotion.  For example, I waited 2 months from getting a promotion before I planted the next seed.

by Mahatma Gandhi

1. Wealth without work
2. Pleasure without conscience
3. Knowledge without character
4. Commerce without morality
5. Science without humanity
6. Worship without sacrifice
7. Politics without principle

I saw an interesting article on how Jerry Seinfeld developed motivation to write jokes and made it into a habit. He took a large calendar and every day he wrote jokes, he put a big red “X” on that day. After a few days a chain developed.

Then his whole goal become to not break the chain.

By not breaking the chain there is not an opportunity to skip a day. Because once you skip a day, it is easier to skip the next day.

This is along the sames lines which of what Tony Robbins talks about. Doing something small everyday keeps your mind focused on it, and your subconscious continues to work on it even when you are not consciously. The small efforts build and soon build into momentum. When momentum develops, that’s when much is accomplished in a short amount of time.

Looking back at some of my major accomplishments, they all came by making small investments early on…and regardless of the fact that I did not see immediate results, I kept plugging away at it and after awhile I started seeing progress. Progress built and built until one day the “landslide” came and not only did I achieve my goal, I achieved far more than I ever thought possible.

Why are some people successful, and others not. Professor Carol Dweck explains the growth mindset.

The US is a very low context culture. Expectations on how a individual should behave and how information is conveyed is spelled out in words (ex. an airport). Contrast this to a high context culture, found predominately in eastern societies, where similar experiences and cultural norms allow for many things to be left unsaid. Information is communicated by the context a person is currently in, and the culture of the society communicates what is necessary (ex. an expensive gourmet restaurants).

This is typically due to a uniformity of culture over generations. However, the US is a melting pot of cultures, and this diversity is why a unified cultural contexts could not exist.

The result of the US being a high context society is the need for “excess” communication to get meaning across. This comes across as Americans being “loud” to low context cultures where these excess words are superfluous. And is much of the reason why these culture do not understand each other.

This idea is also seen in personal relationships. After couples spend time w/ each other, they start knowing what each other is thinking just by the context they are in. This ability of knowing what the context conveys to the other person is created through sharing of similar experiences. As a couple moves through life, they move into a higher context relationship and while they still communicate as much as they used to, they use words less and less.

I was considering today what drives people to the point of almost breaking. Working long hours when they don’t feel like it, or past the point they need to be comfortable in life. Some people are driven because they have a chip on their shoulder, while others are driven for their ego, and even more are driven to support their families.

So, I thought, “What drives me?”. I don’t have a chip on my shoulder, as I’ve had every opportunity in the world. Nor do I think it’s for my ego, as I would say I’m a secure person in life. Lastly, I don’t have a family to support.

I would say the reason is because of expectations. It is expected that I be successful and _that_ is what wakes me up early every morning even when I would rather be sleeping. It’s not my parents expectations either, as they already believe I am very successful. Rather, it is the expectations of myself. I believe I have the potential to do great things, and I think I would be letting myself down if I didn’t achieve them.

Ultimately, you are the only person who can drive yourself to be successful in life.

What is the same theme in every book like: The Magic of Thinking Big, The Power of Positive Thinking, Psychology of Achievement, and the ever famous, Think and Grow Rich? It is the use of the subconscious.

Have you ever had a problem at work, and you would just wake up in the middle of the night knowing the answer. That was the subconscious.

The subconscious is always running in the background acting on what it is given. If a person wants to know how they can make something work, the subconscious will give them all the answer. However, if someone wants to know why they screwed up, the subconscious will give them that answers as well. It can be your greatest friend, or your greatest enemy.

That is why it is essential to think positive. If you believe that you will succeed, your subconscious will figure out a way to make it happen. It can create any reality it believes exists. If you can wrap your head around making 6 figures, and truly believe it, the subconscious will make it happen.

Self-confidence is one of the first things people notice in you, and it can take you further than almost any other attribute.

So the first question is, how do you know if you posses self-confidence? You may think you have self-confidence, but is it the superficial kind which is just at the surface. Having true deep self-confidence is much different, and is what really matters. For instance, how many incredibly attractive people do you know, who may project self-confidence but are really the least confident of all? I would wager the answer is a “large portion”.

To find out how confident you are, there is a simple test which is best described in an example. If someone comes up to you telling you about their trip to China. They describe how the Chinese do things, about their culture, and what are the great sites to see. Yet, they do not know that you lived there for 2 years, and know far more about China. Do you have to one up them, and tell them everything you know, or can you just let them have their story and not mention anything? If you can just let them have their moment, you have true self-confidence.