The self-improvement process

• Plus: Find mentors, real (maybe someone from your work) or virtual (from books).  Learn from someone with more experience than you.
• Minus: Explain what you are learning while you are learning it. Teach someone with less experience than you.
• Equal: Find people who love what you love and spend as much time talking about this shared area as you can.

Every skill worth learning has dozens of micro-skills.

List the micro-skills. Figure out what you are good at, what you are bad at, and how you can learn to be better at each.

Procrastination is generally looked down upon and thought of as laziness, but it is your body telling you that you need to back off and think about what you are doing. 

You should try and figure out why you are procrastinating, as it can be a symptom of something broken in your life.

We all multitask at some point or the other, some of us more than others. Our attention and intelligence are deviated and substracted during multi-tasking.

Single-tasking is better than multi-tasking, as focusing completely on one thing at any given time is optimal. Even better is to move into silence and nothingness by doing zero-tasking. The more we zero-task (another name for mindfulness or meditation), the more we progress into creativity and excellence.

As you’re determining the habits or resolutions you’re trying to set, make the habit part of a bigger cause that’s worth the struggle.

You’re not just going to the gym, you’re building a new body that you’re not ashamed of so you can start dating again.

There are 3 parts to a good or bad habit: Cue (what triggers the action), Routine (the action itself), Reward (the positive result because of the action).

Compare that to a cue (you see your running shoes), anticipate a reward (a runner’s high), and make the behavior automatic (go for a run!).

We need to protect our brain from negativity, hatred, and racism that we see all around us.

The outside world and its many twisted problems, shown to us 24/7 aren't helping us or our family in any positive way.

Our daily lives are filled with ugliness, and forgiveness is the key to survival in this age.

Instead of trying to fix everything, just remain calm, forgive and move on. This is one of the surest ways to get your happiness back.

Your financial issues are fixable if you:

• Take your money seriously
• Stop unnecessary consumerism
• Stop making and defending your bad decisions.

A majority of people are broke, actually. We are not taking our money seriously, and just living paycheck to paycheck. We are doing it because there are so many like us, around us, doing the same. 

You can't achieve anything if you lock yourself up in your home. To live life to the fullest, you need to make bold moves. And this doesn't necessarily imply risk-taking.

Try to limit your potential losses. Protect the downside.

“It is only by being bold that you get anywhere. If you are a risk-taker, then the art is to protect the downside.”

• Having a core values list helps you make better decisions. The decisions you make come more quickly and efficiently than they would without it.
• Being unconscious of your core values makes you likely to keep repeating the same mistakes.

The core values that are most valuable to each of us come from our own personal experience, not from being taught.

As you put them into practice you’ll get better at internalizing these values and they’ll express themselves subconsciously with smaller decisions, as well.

Behavior change is hard, because we become comfortable with our patterns. It up takes a great deal of mental energy until it becomes habit.

Intermittent fasting challenges the “three meals a day plus snacks” style of eating we are so accustomed to, in which it’s easy to feel like you should take in a meal, even when you’re not hungry, simply because it’s lunchtime.

To avoid the morning munchies, look at the last meal you ate before starting your fast: Did it have enough fiber? Protein? Whole grains? Are you hydrated? Filling up with balanced and satiating foods before your fast will keep you fuller longer.

Of course, if you’re nearing the end of your fast and no amount of black coffee will fill the void, breaking your fast early is not the end of the world. 

 “Role Modelling” is one of the main factors behind successful change in organizations and consists of inspiring change by example.

While leadership will ultimately give you sign-off, the rest of the team will determine its success. So in an organizational setting, you must convince everyone of the necessity of change. 

In a collection of individuals, one bad seed can kill all the hard work you’re putting in. You must understand who you are working with so you can tailor your message and actions so no one becomes a bad seed. To do this, sort your team in the following categories:

• Fast Yes: those on your team and ready to work to implement the change.
• Slow Yes: slightly skeptical but still open and can see the value in what you’re doing.
• Fast No: quick to dismiss change but clarity and decisiveness can change that and turn them into strong supporters.
• Slow No: look like they can be persuaded but have already decided against you and will stall and undermine. Here, convincing by example is the best route.