I will no longer be posting to this blog. Follow my ideas on www.hatman2.blogspot.com
Connecting makes Your Stop for Real Estate , my real estate referral business, go. See www.yourstopforrealestate.blogspot.com.
It powers my approach to writing. See www.kearneymusicschoolmurders.blogspot.com where you can read my mystery for free, download it for free or buy it from Amazon.com more cheaply than you can print it.
It fuels my publishing outlet, By and for Writers. See www.byandforwriters.blogspot.com where you can get a poem or a short story published.
It is fueled by my reading and thinking and talking about entrepreneurship. For those ideas, go to www.hatman2.blogspot.com.So
Saturday, November 7, 2009
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
How to make the process enjoyable
Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, in his index-less but otherwise very fine book, Flow; the Psychology of Optimal Experience (New York: Harper & Row, 1990) gives, on pp. 209-211, gives four steps for structuring an experience to make it what he calls "autotelic", and an enjoyable challenge.
Here they are:
1. Set goals, have clear goals to work toward.
2. Become immersed in the activity.
3. Pay attention to what is happening.
4. Enjoy the immediate experience.
I agree with this. I do wish he'd included an index, though. But go to this book and read the entire thing. It's nearly 20 years old now, but it has fresh insights.
I still wish he'd indexed the book.
I'm trying to help people network more productively. Is this helping?
Connecting makes Your Stop for Real Estate , my real estate referral business, go. See www.yourstopforrealestate.blogspot.com.
It powers my approach to writing. See www.kearneymusicschoolmurders.blogspot.com where you can read my mystery for free, download it for free or buy it from Amazon.com more cheaply than you can print it.
It fuels my publishing outlet, By and for Writers. See www.byandforwriters.blogspot.com where you can get a poem or a short story published.
It is fueled by my reading and thinking and talking about entrepreneurship. For those ideas, go to www.hatman2.blogspot.com.So
Here they are:
1. Set goals, have clear goals to work toward.
2. Become immersed in the activity.
3. Pay attention to what is happening.
4. Enjoy the immediate experience.
I agree with this. I do wish he'd included an index, though. But go to this book and read the entire thing. It's nearly 20 years old now, but it has fresh insights.
I still wish he'd indexed the book.
I'm trying to help people network more productively. Is this helping?
Connecting makes Your Stop for Real Estate , my real estate referral business, go. See www.yourstopforrealestate.blogspot.com.
It powers my approach to writing. See www.kearneymusicschoolmurders.blogspot.com where you can read my mystery for free, download it for free or buy it from Amazon.com more cheaply than you can print it.
It fuels my publishing outlet, By and for Writers. See www.byandforwriters.blogspot.com where you can get a poem or a short story published.
It is fueled by my reading and thinking and talking about entrepreneurship. For those ideas, go to www.hatman2.blogspot.com.So
Saturday, October 31, 2009
Next Steps
So you have all this behind you. You've written your obituary. You've identified your cure mission. You've identified 3-5 main goals you want to achieve. You're certain you're congruent with all of this. You've got your financial priorities in line. You've looked at the time you spend and realigned if necessary. You are approaching the thing with a generosity of spirit and the desire to help people and pay it forward. You accept the fact that connecting is the most important thing you can do. You have adopted a pay it forward attitude.
You're ready. If you've been networking, you've probably been to some networking groups. You know that a bunch of people gather and trade business cards and talk. But what is really going on is nothing like what it looks like. So if you have some groups, let's wait on you for the time being.
If you're totally new to networking, here's what I recommend. Talk to your friend, family members, colleagues and make sure they're up to speed on what you are doing. Ask their opinion. Listen to it. Do not respond except to clarify. Then, when they're done ask what you should do. Listen again and don't say anything except to clarify what you don't understand. Then ask if they know of anyone they would recommend you talk about it. Then write down who they say and, unless it's inappropriate for some reason, ask if they wouldn't mind making an introduction for you.
If they don't want to do that, ask them if they could at least call the person and tell them you'll be calling them.
If they won't do that, ask if they can give you their contact information, how best and when best to contact them, and if you can use their name.
If they won't do that, I'd thank them very much and forget about them. I'd question how much of a friend they really are and they may use what you've told them to work against you. Some people like to stomp on other people's dreams.
Keeping a diary is not a bad idea in all of this. Write down who you talked to, when you talked to them, what you talked about, what they recommended, your observations and what you did on account of it. And keep copies of any correspondents.
Then, send each of them a thank you. You can send a card or an e-mail or take a phone call, and thank them for their help. If they gave you a name, or offered to make an introduction, thank them for that and say you'll be eager to talk to the person. Then work as hard as you can to cultivate that lead.
I'm trying to help people network more productively. Is this helping?
Connecting makes Your Stop for Real Estate , my real estate referral business, go. See www.yourstopforrealestate.blogspot.com.
It powers my approach to writing. See www.kearneymusicschoolmurders.blogspot.com where you can read my mystery for free, download it for free or buy it from Amazon.com more cheaply than you can print it.
It fuels my publishing outlet, By and for Writers. See www.byandforwriters.blogspot.com where you can get a poem or a short story published.
It is fueled by my reading and thinking and talking about entrepreneurship. For those ideas, go to www.hatman2.blogspot.com.
You're ready. If you've been networking, you've probably been to some networking groups. You know that a bunch of people gather and trade business cards and talk. But what is really going on is nothing like what it looks like. So if you have some groups, let's wait on you for the time being.
If you're totally new to networking, here's what I recommend. Talk to your friend, family members, colleagues and make sure they're up to speed on what you are doing. Ask their opinion. Listen to it. Do not respond except to clarify. Then, when they're done ask what you should do. Listen again and don't say anything except to clarify what you don't understand. Then ask if they know of anyone they would recommend you talk about it. Then write down who they say and, unless it's inappropriate for some reason, ask if they wouldn't mind making an introduction for you.
If they don't want to do that, ask them if they could at least call the person and tell them you'll be calling them.
If they won't do that, ask if they can give you their contact information, how best and when best to contact them, and if you can use their name.
If they won't do that, I'd thank them very much and forget about them. I'd question how much of a friend they really are and they may use what you've told them to work against you. Some people like to stomp on other people's dreams.
Keeping a diary is not a bad idea in all of this. Write down who you talked to, when you talked to them, what you talked about, what they recommended, your observations and what you did on account of it. And keep copies of any correspondents.
Then, send each of them a thank you. You can send a card or an e-mail or take a phone call, and thank them for their help. If they gave you a name, or offered to make an introduction, thank them for that and say you'll be eager to talk to the person. Then work as hard as you can to cultivate that lead.
I'm trying to help people network more productively. Is this helping?
Connecting makes Your Stop for Real Estate , my real estate referral business, go. See www.yourstopforrealestate.blogspot.com.
It powers my approach to writing. See www.kearneymusicschoolmurders.blogspot.com where you can read my mystery for free, download it for free or buy it from Amazon.com more cheaply than you can print it.
It fuels my publishing outlet, By and for Writers. See www.byandforwriters.blogspot.com where you can get a poem or a short story published.
It is fueled by my reading and thinking and talking about entrepreneurship. For those ideas, go to www.hatman2.blogspot.com.
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Time
As I said last time, we have only two weapons in our personal arsenal: time and money. I talked about money last time. Now, for time.
Mihaly Csikszentmkihalyi, in Flow; The Psychology of Optimal Experience (New York, Harper and Row, 1990, talks about attention structures. I don't know if he calls them that, but that's what they are. An attention structure is an entity that describes how you allocate your attention.
Richard Lanham, in The Economics of [Attention]; Style and Substance in the Age of Information (Chicago, IL; University of Chicago Press, 2006) calls our time the age of attention. We now have everything we need, so companies compete over the who gets attention.
We may be what we eat, but we are also what we pay attention to. If we watch soap operas or reality programs only, we become one kind of person. If we watch politics on CNN all the time we turn into another kind of person. If we pay attention only to the drug addictions of well-healed movie stars, we are another kind of person. Sports, another, and so on and so on.
We have to use our time like our money, as a scarce resource, which it is. We have only so much time allotted to us, so we have to use it wisely. If every penny spent is a penny lost, then every minute spent is a minute lost. You have to make sure that what you are pay attention to is working for you.
That doesn't mean you don't take a break, go on vacation, sit down and chat with somebody in a coffee shop. It just means you have to have a plan on how to use you time productively.
So keep a log of what you spend your time on. Just take a piece of scrap paper or a paper towell or something and for a week, write down everything you do, just like you were keeping track of expenses. Keep track of minutes. You don't have to be precise. Use 15-minute blocks if you want.
I keep track of it in hours, to only the 100th of the hour, in decimals. For example 15 minutes is .25 hours (15/60=.25). 10 minutes is .17 hours (10/60=.17). 50 minutes is .83 hours (50/60). You don't have to do it that way; I do because it makes the math a lot easier than trying use base 60 math, which I'd have to do otherwise. You don't have to keep it to two decimal points either, one might be enough. You don't have to convert 43 minutes to .71666666 hours, .7 might do. I would convert it .72 hours. But that's me.
Whatever procedure you use, it's important that you be consistent and that you be rigorous and complete. You shouldn't just do it for a few hours on Monday, then Saturday night, and the next Wednesday. Do it every day for a week. If you forget or get involved with something else, as soon as you realize you've fallen off the wagon, go back and estimate the best you can.
After you've done it for the designated period of time, add it all up and see what you're spending your time on. Excel works extremely well for this, but if you're more comfortable by hand, do that, use a calculator, or an adding machine, abbacus, slide rule, whatever. If you haven't done this, you may be surprised. You probably don't even realize how much time you spend watching sports. We become very unaware of ourselves unless we hold ourselves accountable.
Then compare it with your goals and objectives. For example you're goal is to become more aware of drama, and you're spending 8 hours a day watching VH-1, you might want to make some changes.
I'm trying to help people network more productively. Is this helping?
Connecting makes Your Stop for Real Estate , my real estate referral business, go. See www.yourstopforrealestate.blogspot.com.
It powers my approach to writing. See www.kearneymusicschoolmurders.blogspot.com where you can read my mystery for free, download it for free or buy it from Amazon.com more cheaply than you can print it.
It fuels my publishing outlet, By and for Writers. See www.byandforwriters.blogspot.com where you can get a poem or a short story published.
It is fueled by my reading and thinking and talking about entrepreneurship. For those ideas, go to www.hatman2.blogspot.com.
Mihaly Csikszentmkihalyi, in Flow; The Psychology of Optimal Experience (New York, Harper and Row, 1990, talks about attention structures. I don't know if he calls them that, but that's what they are. An attention structure is an entity that describes how you allocate your attention.
Richard Lanham, in The Economics of [Attention]; Style and Substance in the Age of Information (Chicago, IL; University of Chicago Press, 2006) calls our time the age of attention. We now have everything we need, so companies compete over the who gets attention.
We may be what we eat, but we are also what we pay attention to. If we watch soap operas or reality programs only, we become one kind of person. If we watch politics on CNN all the time we turn into another kind of person. If we pay attention only to the drug addictions of well-healed movie stars, we are another kind of person. Sports, another, and so on and so on.
We have to use our time like our money, as a scarce resource, which it is. We have only so much time allotted to us, so we have to use it wisely. If every penny spent is a penny lost, then every minute spent is a minute lost. You have to make sure that what you are pay attention to is working for you.
That doesn't mean you don't take a break, go on vacation, sit down and chat with somebody in a coffee shop. It just means you have to have a plan on how to use you time productively.
So keep a log of what you spend your time on. Just take a piece of scrap paper or a paper towell or something and for a week, write down everything you do, just like you were keeping track of expenses. Keep track of minutes. You don't have to be precise. Use 15-minute blocks if you want.
I keep track of it in hours, to only the 100th of the hour, in decimals. For example 15 minutes is .25 hours (15/60=.25). 10 minutes is .17 hours (10/60=.17). 50 minutes is .83 hours (50/60). You don't have to do it that way; I do because it makes the math a lot easier than trying use base 60 math, which I'd have to do otherwise. You don't have to keep it to two decimal points either, one might be enough. You don't have to convert 43 minutes to .71666666 hours, .7 might do. I would convert it .72 hours. But that's me.
Whatever procedure you use, it's important that you be consistent and that you be rigorous and complete. You shouldn't just do it for a few hours on Monday, then Saturday night, and the next Wednesday. Do it every day for a week. If you forget or get involved with something else, as soon as you realize you've fallen off the wagon, go back and estimate the best you can.
After you've done it for the designated period of time, add it all up and see what you're spending your time on. Excel works extremely well for this, but if you're more comfortable by hand, do that, use a calculator, or an adding machine, abbacus, slide rule, whatever. If you haven't done this, you may be surprised. You probably don't even realize how much time you spend watching sports. We become very unaware of ourselves unless we hold ourselves accountable.
Then compare it with your goals and objectives. For example you're goal is to become more aware of drama, and you're spending 8 hours a day watching VH-1, you might want to make some changes.
I'm trying to help people network more productively. Is this helping?
Connecting makes Your Stop for Real Estate , my real estate referral business, go. See www.yourstopforrealestate.blogspot.com.
It powers my approach to writing. See www.kearneymusicschoolmurders.blogspot.com where you can read my mystery for free, download it for free or buy it from Amazon.com more cheaply than you can print it.
It fuels my publishing outlet, By and for Writers. See www.byandforwriters.blogspot.com where you can get a poem or a short story published.
It is fueled by my reading and thinking and talking about entrepreneurship. For those ideas, go to www.hatman2.blogspot.com.
Saturday, October 24, 2009
Expenses
In your personal arsenal, you have two weapons. One of them is money. If you haven't monitored your finances regularly, start. Do a personal balance sheet. Look at your expenses every month and your income. How much are you spending and and how much are you earning.
If you don't know how much your spending, start tracking it. Be cost driven. Keep records of everything. If it's helpful, use a credit or debit card that gives you a hard copy at the end of the month. If you don't like credit cards, or have trouble paying off your amount every month, write stuff down in a notebook or keep receipts. Use whatever system works for you. You have to know down to the penny. Track it always. Track it every day.
Recognize that every penny spent is a penny lost. You have to lose as little money as possible. Make sure that every penny lost returns something to you that has value. Maybe it's your rent. Your health insurance. Your food. Your clothes. Whatever it is, make sure that you lose as little as possible, but no more.
Are you paying interest on a big credit card balance? Can you get a family member to lend you the money at no or little interest and pay them back and save paying the interest?
Do you have a car you're supporting that costs too much? Consider selling it and getting a cheaper one. I was supporting a car here in Philadelphia for $300 per month. I was driving it 1 day a week, and we have Philly Car Share. I sold it and put the money in a CD. It doesn't earn much interest, but it gets at least something instead of losing $300 per month. And it wasn't getting more valuable either.
I could go on and on, but I won't. Go hard on your spending. Don't be afraid to spend money, just make sure it's going for something that helps you.
I'm trying to help people network more productively. Is this helping?
Connecting makes Your Stop for Real Estate , my real estate referral business, go. See www.yourstopforrealestate.blogspot.com.
It powers my approach to writing. See www.kearneymusicschoolmurders.blogspot.com where you can read my mystery for free, download it for free or buy it from Amazon.com more cheaply than you can print it.
It fuels my publishing outlet, By and for Writers. See www.byandforwriters.blogspot.com where you can get a poem or a short story published.
It is fueled by my reading and thinking and talking about entrepreneurship. For those ideas, go to www.hatman2.blogspot.com.
If you don't know how much your spending, start tracking it. Be cost driven. Keep records of everything. If it's helpful, use a credit or debit card that gives you a hard copy at the end of the month. If you don't like credit cards, or have trouble paying off your amount every month, write stuff down in a notebook or keep receipts. Use whatever system works for you. You have to know down to the penny. Track it always. Track it every day.
Recognize that every penny spent is a penny lost. You have to lose as little money as possible. Make sure that every penny lost returns something to you that has value. Maybe it's your rent. Your health insurance. Your food. Your clothes. Whatever it is, make sure that you lose as little as possible, but no more.
Are you paying interest on a big credit card balance? Can you get a family member to lend you the money at no or little interest and pay them back and save paying the interest?
Do you have a car you're supporting that costs too much? Consider selling it and getting a cheaper one. I was supporting a car here in Philadelphia for $300 per month. I was driving it 1 day a week, and we have Philly Car Share. I sold it and put the money in a CD. It doesn't earn much interest, but it gets at least something instead of losing $300 per month. And it wasn't getting more valuable either.
I could go on and on, but I won't. Go hard on your spending. Don't be afraid to spend money, just make sure it's going for something that helps you.
I'm trying to help people network more productively. Is this helping?
Connecting makes Your Stop for Real Estate , my real estate referral business, go. See www.yourstopforrealestate.blogspot.com.
It powers my approach to writing. See www.kearneymusicschoolmurders.blogspot.com where you can read my mystery for free, download it for free or buy it from Amazon.com more cheaply than you can print it.
It fuels my publishing outlet, By and for Writers. See www.byandforwriters.blogspot.com where you can get a poem or a short story published.
It is fueled by my reading and thinking and talking about entrepreneurship. For those ideas, go to www.hatman2.blogspot.com.
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Write Your Own Obituary
I think it was Steven Covey who in Habit 2 told us to start with the end in mind. I don't have a copy of it or I would give you the citation.
The point is, where do you want to end up? Where do you want to be at the end of your life? What do you want to be remembered for?
If you could wave a magic wand, what would your life be like?
If you goal is to be able to sit on top of a mountain north of Vail and write the great American novel, how does what you are doing now, or what you want to do, fit into that? How is it congruent?
I'm trying to help people network more productively. Is this helping?
Connecting makes Your Stop for Real Estate , my real estate referral business, go. See www.yourstopforrealestate.blogspot.com.
It powers my approach to writing. See www.kearneymusicschoolmurders.blogspot.com where you can read my mystery for free, download it for free or buy it from Amazon.com more cheaply than you can print it.
It fuels my publishing outlet, By and for Writers. See www.byandforwriters.blogspot.com where you can get a poem or a short story published.
It is fueled by my reading and thinking and talking about entrepreneurship. For those ideas, go to www.hatman2.blogspot.com.
The point is, where do you want to end up? Where do you want to be at the end of your life? What do you want to be remembered for?
If you could wave a magic wand, what would your life be like?
If you goal is to be able to sit on top of a mountain north of Vail and write the great American novel, how does what you are doing now, or what you want to do, fit into that? How is it congruent?
I'm trying to help people network more productively. Is this helping?
Connecting makes Your Stop for Real Estate , my real estate referral business, go. See www.yourstopforrealestate.blogspot.com.
It powers my approach to writing. See www.kearneymusicschoolmurders.blogspot.com where you can read my mystery for free, download it for free or buy it from Amazon.com more cheaply than you can print it.
It fuels my publishing outlet, By and for Writers. See www.byandforwriters.blogspot.com where you can get a poem or a short story published.
It is fueled by my reading and thinking and talking about entrepreneurship. For those ideas, go to www.hatman2.blogspot.com.
Saturday, October 17, 2009
Translating Your Goals
Having done this rather large amount of soul searching and work, you now are ready to devise a personal plan for yourself. Take those four goals you developed.
Here are mine:
Now take your goals, whatever they are is okay as long as they are legal, moral, ethical, and flow from your core mission. And figure out exactly what you are going to do day by day to achieve them. Sometimes it helps to make a grid, with the days across the top and the hours down the side. Or maybe not, whatever helps you. You might want to experiment with it at first and see if it works and adjust as needed.
That's thing, you can always change what you're doing anytime. You're the CEO of your own company. But try to establish a period of time in which you will devote your full energies to it.
Of course if something is obviously off the mark, or you see something you obviously need to do, you can add it or delete it from your plan. You can tweak with your system. But try to create something you will pursue for ____ months or years, followed by a period of evaluation and revision
I'm trying to help people network more productively. Is this helping?
Connecting makes Your Stop for Real Estate , my real estate referral business, go. See www.yourstopforrealestate.blogspot.com.
It powers my approach to writing. See www.kearneymusicschoolmurders.blogspot.com where you can read my mystery for free, download it for free or buy it from Amazon.com more cheaply than you can print it.
It fuels my publishing outlet, By and for Writers. See www.byandforwriters.blogspot.com where you can get a poem or a short story published.
It is fueled by my reading and thinking and talking about entrepreneurship. For those ideas, go to www.hatman2.blogspot.com.
Here are mine:
1. Financial Stability.All of this is quite daunting, and we're like a dog trying to chase a speeding car. We will never catch it, but we have to try.
My life has been so hectic and up and down that just getting things on a stable footing is an an achievement. I thought I was, but then we had the Great Recession (GR).
2. Sound Mental and Physical Health.
I'm 63, so keeping fit and healthy is important for my longevity. I don't do as good a job as I should, but I'm working on it.
3. High Quality Social Relationships.
I am in a loving relationship, and I have a remarkable 101-year old father-in-law, and I need to keep good relationships here as well as with my friends and co-workers.
4. Strong Sense of Personal Well-being.
I need to have a sense of well being. This means taking quality time off, vacations, etc. Our furnace went on the blink yesterday. This does not give me a sense of personal well-being.
Now take your goals, whatever they are is okay as long as they are legal, moral, ethical, and flow from your core mission. And figure out exactly what you are going to do day by day to achieve them. Sometimes it helps to make a grid, with the days across the top and the hours down the side. Or maybe not, whatever helps you. You might want to experiment with it at first and see if it works and adjust as needed.
That's thing, you can always change what you're doing anytime. You're the CEO of your own company. But try to establish a period of time in which you will devote your full energies to it.
Of course if something is obviously off the mark, or you see something you obviously need to do, you can add it or delete it from your plan. You can tweak with your system. But try to create something you will pursue for ____ months or years, followed by a period of evaluation and revision
I'm trying to help people network more productively. Is this helping?
Connecting makes Your Stop for Real Estate , my real estate referral business, go. See www.yourstopforrealestate.blogspot.com.
It powers my approach to writing. See www.kearneymusicschoolmurders.blogspot.com where you can read my mystery for free, download it for free or buy it from Amazon.com more cheaply than you can print it.
It fuels my publishing outlet, By and for Writers. See www.byandforwriters.blogspot.com where you can get a poem or a short story published.
It is fueled by my reading and thinking and talking about entrepreneurship. For those ideas, go to www.hatman2.blogspot.com.
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