No One On His Deathbed Ever Said, ‘I Wish I Had Spent More Time On My Business’

Identify the few things that have a long-lasting positive impact on your life and prioritize them from now on. They will be your new compass for life.

Compass of your life

There may be urgent tasks on your to-do list, but don't let these things keep you from what is truly important: your family, friends, and health.

Focus on the IMPORTANT - not the URGENT

<ol><li>Need to live: food, shelter and health</li><li>Need to learn: being intellectually stimulated</li><li>Need to love: having people you can trust and care for</li><li>Need to have a legacy: having a sense of purpose in life</li></ol>Focus on your life's principles to meet these needs; they are your guiding compass, your north star. These principles must guide ALL your decisions, not just some.

4 Needs to be Happy

Write a personal mission statement to guide you through tough times and hard decisions. Picture yourself at 80: What kind of life have you led? What makes you smile when you remember it?Start by taking steps toward your desired future right now!

Strong Vision of the Future

Specify for each goal: <ul><li>what: the right thing</li><li>why: for the right reason</li><li>how: in the right way</li></ul>Make sure your goal is under your influence and in alignment with both your principles and your vision for the future. Finally, your goal needs to be driven by importance, not urgency.

On Goal-Setting

Make time for work, family, and leisure so that each of these vital areas gets their share of your attention. Plan the coming week on Sunday with the guiding help of your principles. This will give you a broader perspective when planning.

Weekly Planning

<ul><li>See the other people in your life as an opportunity to cooperate and create win-win situations. </li><li>Rather than perceiving life as one big competition focus on the more positive outlook of one big cooperation effort where there is enough for everybody and where we help each other.</li></ul>

Interdependence/Cooperation Vs. Independence/Competition

Alone we can do little; Together we can do so much!

Empower your kids or coworkers by focusing on a "high-trust culture". This is characterized by: <ul><li>Mutual trust</li><li>Mutual respect</li><li>Being honest with each other</li><li>Holding each other accountable</li><li>Giving and receiving feedback</li></ul>

Empower those you lead

The Whole is greater than the Sum of its parts.

Combine your roles in life (work, family, leisure) by looking at the spots where they overlap and shifting your perspective to the WHOLE you. Maybe you want to exercise more but have to take care of your kids. An example of combined roles would be if you exercised together with them.

Connect - Don't compartmentalize

Preventers: <ul><li>Discouragement</li><li>Pride</li><li>Unrealistic expectations</li></ul>Try focusing on humility and gratitude for what you already have. Put the important things first. Everything else will fall into place, as the last idea/parabola will show you.

Inner Peace

Fill your jar in the following order: <ul><li>stones (your important things)</li><li>gravel (your urgent things)</li><li>sand (the other stuff in your life like material belongings)</li></ul>If you would reverse the order, the stones wouldn't have a place in the jar. So always start with the most important things when planning ahead in your life. If you want to read the whole story just search for jar story online.

The full jar

This book has helped me to use my principles and vision for the future to make better decisions and find out what is truly important. 

The New York Times–bestselling time management book from the author of The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People.   Stephen R. Covey’s First Things First is the gold standard for time management books. His principle-centered approach for prioritizing gives you time management tips that enable you to make changes and sacrifices needed in order to obtain happiness and retain a feeling of security. First Things First: The Interactive Edition takes Dr. Covey’s philosophy and remasters the entire text to include easy-to-understand infographics, analysis, and more.   This time-saving version of First Things First is the efficient way to apply Dr. Covey’s tested and validated time management tips, while retaining his core message. This guide will help you:   • Get more done in less time • Develop and retain rich relationships • Attain inner peace • Create balance in your life • And, put first things first   “Covey is the hottest self-improvement consultant to hit US business since Dale Carnegie.” —USA Today   “Covey has reached the apex with First Things First. This is an important work. I can’t think of anyone who wouldn’t be helped by reading it.” —Larry King, CNN   “These goals embody a perfect balance of the mental, the physical, the spiritual, and the social.” —Booklist Readers should note that this ebook edition differs slightly from the print edition and does not contain all the same materials.

productivity

Productivity

career

Career

personaldevelopment

Personal Development

business

Business

books

Books

Rebecca R. Merrill

A. Roger Merrill

Stephen R. Covey is an accomplished writer whose work has resonated with readers around the world. Stephen R. Covey has published several books that explore a range of topics, from fiction to nonfiction, and has received critical acclaim for the ability to weave compelling narratives. Stephen R. Covey's writing style is known for its depth and authenticity, and has earned quite a loyal following of readers.

Stephen R. Covey

First Things First

The key is not to prioritize what’s on your schedule but to schedule your priorities.

You must shift your priorities to the most important at any given time to move forward. Like riding a bike, where you have to shift your weight forward and start moving, not to topple over.

Don't try to achieve balance

<ol><li>Work: your job</li><li>Personal: relationships, hobbies, health</li><li>Home: Household chores</li></ol>Don't try to spread your time and energy equally between these three areas. Ask yourself: "What is most important right now?"

3 key areas in life

You can do anything, but not everything.

Identify these expectations, whatever they are for you, and let go of them. Stop worrying about what other people may think of you and make decisions that reflect what is truly important to you.

Unrealistic expectations

When you’re 20 you care what everyone thinks, when you’re 40 you stop caring what everyone thinks, when you’re 60 you realize no one was ever thinking about you in the first place.

<ol><li>Your mission: ABC Brain Dump will give you 26 different words -  look for recurring patterns/themes and write down your easily memorable and short mission statement.  </li><li>Your vision: “Where do you want to be in the future?” Use a vision board and imagine your best possible future. Turn it into a short, memorable vision statement.  </li><li>Your core values: Write down no more than 6 words that you would like others to use when describing you in your absence.  </li></ol>Put these 3 together and you will have a better idea of your life's purpose and a guide for making better decisions.

Define your life's purpose to make better decisions 

<ul><li>Set clear WRITTEN goals with a deadline </li><li>Set boundaries and separate from play (e.g. don't check your social media when at work and don't respond to work emails when at home) </li></ul>

On Goals and Boundaries

Productivity means firstly identifying your priorities and secondly focusing on them.  It does not mean a long list of tasks that don`t help you to move forward in life.

On productivity

<ol><li>Multitasking makes us slower and produces drastically inferior results </li><li>We need to take breaks: 20 minutes for every 100 minutes worked </li><li>Technology is not always better: Write down your ideas and to-do's from time to time. You will pay more attention and store the information better </li></ol>

Three productivity myths busted

Less is More

<ol><li>A: Important and urgent</li><li>B: Important and not urgent</li><li>C: Unimportant and urgent</li><li>D: Unimportant and not urgent</li></ol>Sort all your tasks into this framework and tackle the As before the Bs and the Bs before the Cs. Eliminate the Ds.

Priority List

C - Connected to your purpose?L - Linked to a goal?E - Essential?A - Advantageous?R - Reality-based?When you answer 3 or more of the above questions with yes the task is important. If not, then it is only urgent.

CLEAR

<ol><li>Why do you want to build a new habit?</li><li>Identify your triggers/cues</li><li>Define the behavior</li><li>Three Rs: </li></ol><ul><li>Record your progress</li><li>Reward yourself</li><li>Redirect your efforts if you have slipped</li></ul>

Good systems through the right habits

We all need more whitespace in our lives: Time to explore, play, and think. Try switching off your phone from time to time and going out into nature to get lost in your thoughts. Meditation can also be a great addition to your daily routine.

Whitespace - Play and Explore

This book gives a great overview of how to identify your life's purpose, prioritize your tasks in accordance with this purpose, and make good decisions in the process. 

This book is two things. It’s an eye-opener to the fact that we don’t have to do a million things to be productive (or successful). And it’s a coach that helps us trim the fat, get real with our purpose, and start living more intentionally-Goop Dalton helps readers by teaching us to focus on the most important things and create our own operating systems that are exclusive to our lives as individuals. By doing this, we can simplify and make life even better- San Francisco Book ReviewDalton’s ground-up approach to productivity teaches readers to identify their real priorities and, in doing so, cut their massive to-do lists down to size by learning to say no to the tasks that pull them away from their North Star-GratefulOverwhelmed. Do you wake up in the morning already feeling behind? Does the pressure of keeping it all together make you feel anxious and irritable?Tanya Dalton, CEO and productivity expert, offers you a liberating shift in perspective: feeling overwhelmed isn't the result of having too much to do -- it's from not knowing where to start.Doing less might seem counterintuitive, but doing less is more productive, because you’re concentrating on the work you actually want to be doing. Through this book, you can learn how to:<ul><li>Identify what is important to you and clarify your priorities.</li><li>Develop ways to streamline your specific workflow.</li><li>Discover your purpose.</li></ul>Named Top 10 Business Book of the Year by Fortune magazine, The Joy of Missing Out is chock-full of resources and printables. This is a legitimate action plan for change. Once you reject the pressure to do more, something amazing happens: you discover you can finally live a guilt-free, abundant life.

motivationandinspiration

Motivation & Inspiration

Tanya Dalton

The Joy of Missing Out

In his Book "Get Smart!" Brian Tracy shows us how we can all learn to use our brains better and make the most of our lives by thinking differently and planning long-term.

Get Smart

<ol><li>Short-term thinking and seeking immediate rewards</li><li>Long-term thinking and planning ahead</li></ol>We should all try to shift our perspective to long-term, goal-oriented thinking.

Shift your perspective

Ask yourself what life you wish to lead in 5 years and what steps are necessary along the way to get you there. Plan ahead and take the first step toward your goals now.

Long-term planning

We tend to make hasty decisions that can end up ruining our careers, our relationships, and our lives. Brian Tracy has some tips on how to use slow thinking to our advantage: <ul><li>Take 72 hours before making an important decision. </li><li>Meditate</li><li>Think without distractions (When was the last time you have not checked your phone every 2 minutes?)</li></ul>

Thinking fast and slow

<ul><li>Goals: What result do you want to achieve and when?</li><li>Objectives: The smaller targets (e.g.: this year)</li><li>Strategies: How can you meet your objectives?</li><li>Priorities: What are the actions that are most effective to move you towards your goals?</li><li>Actions: The everyday work to get you there. </li></ul>

GOSPA-Model for planning ahead

Think of the next step and take immediate action. You could set up an automated transfer of 10-15% of your monthly income into a separate savings account, for example, if you want to save for retirement. Once you retire, you will be thankful for it.

Act NOW

<ol><li>Present tense</li><li>Positivity/Gratitude</li><li>Make them as personal as possible</li></ol>For example: I am a healthy non-smoker by December 24th, 2023Most people do not bother to write down their goals. Be one of the few people that does! It will surely take you far.

The power of written goals

<ul><li>From your list of goals select the one you care the most about. </li><li>Find 20 things you can do to make this goal a reality. </li><li>Tackle the first task right away!</li></ul>

Major definite purpose in life

<ul><li>Write down all the tasks you have to do for work.</li><li>If you could only complete 1/2/3 of the things in the list, which would generate the best results?</li><li>Ask your boss/co-workers if you are unsure.</li><li>Focus your work day on completing those three things and grow your earning potential l. </li></ul>

The Law of Three

If I got the chance to do this from the beginning would I?

To quickly react and adapt to the dramatic changes in our world we have to adopt a new way of thinking. One way to do this is to apply the quote above to every area of our life and act on the answer you give yourself. Be UNFORGIVING in cutting your losses (emotional, financial, or time invested).

Flexible and zero-based thinking

<ol><li>Take chances</li><li>Make mistakes</li><li>Learn from mistakes</li><li>Find creative ways to improve</li><li>Start at 1. </li></ol>

Think smart (1/2)

<ul><li>Identify the underlying issue of your problem. To do that, break your problem down. </li><li>Brainstorm solutions and make a list. </li><li>Decide which solution will probably work best and try it. </li></ul>

Think smart (2/2)

Ever tried.Ever failed. No matter. Try again. Fail again. Fail better.

Success consists of getting up just one more time than you fall.

Every challenge is nothing more than a chance to make things better.

Brian Tracy helped me to shift my perspective and adopt long-term thinking. It has changed my life for the better!

Discover the secrets for how to think and act like the most successful people in the world and reap the rewards! In today’s constantly changing world, you have to be smart to get ahead. But the average person uses only about two percent of their mental ability. How can we learn to unleash our brain’s full potential to maximize our opportunities, like the most successful people do? In Get Smart!, acclaimed success expert and bestselling author Brian Tracy reveals simple, proven ways to tap into our natural thinking talents and abilities and make quantum leaps toward achieving our dreams. In this indispensable guide, you’ll learn to:   · Train your brain to think in ways that create successful results · Recognize and exploit growth opportunities in any situation · Identify and eliminate negative patterns holding you back · Plan, act, and achieve goals with greater precision and speed   Whether you want to increase sales, bolster creativity, or better navigate life’s unexpected changes, Get Smart! will help you tap into your powerful mental resources to obtain the results you want and reap the rewards successful people enjoy.

Brian Tracy is Chairman and CEO of Brian Tracy International, a company specializing in the training and development of individuals and organizations.He has consulted for more than 1,000 companies and addressed more than 5,000,000 people in 5,000 talks and seminars throughout the US, Canada and 55 other countries worldwide. As a Keynote speaker and seminar leader, he addresses more than 250,000 people each year.Brian has studied, researched, written and spoken for 30 years in the fields of economics, history, business, philosophy and psychology. He is the top selling author of over 45 books that have been translated into dozens of languages.

Brian Tracy

Get Smart!

Every action you take is a vote for the type of person you wish to become. No single instance will transform your beliefs, but as the votes build up, so does the evidence of your new identity.

Small changes may have a negligible immediate impact but when they become a habit and are repeated regularly over time they can change our whole lives.

Focus on trajectory rather than results

<ol><li>Cue: A trigger that gets you to act</li><li>Craving: a desire you want to fulfill</li><li>Action: the action of the habit itself</li><li>Reward: the positive feeling you get from completing the habit</li></ol>

The makings of a habit

Alter your environment to make good habits easy and bad habits hard: put your running shoes right next to the bed for example. Also have a detailed plan of action called an implementation intention.

Cue: visible and unmissable

Link an important but unappealing behavior to something you enjoy doing: like listening to your favorite music while doing your chores. This will release dopamine in the brain and you will actually enjoy the new behavior.

Temptation bundling

<ul><li>reduce friction for good habits (e.g.: keep that plate of fresh fruit right in the middle of the desk)</li><li>build up friction for bad habits (e.g.: unplugg your TV and put the batteries out of the remote when you want to reduce your TV-time)</li><li>Break each new habit down into something you can do in 2 minutes: read one paragraph or do 5 push-ups. </li></ul>

New habits must be as simple as possible

Attach some form of immediate gratification to habits with a deleayed return to make them satisfying. You could put 5$ into your piggy bank for each day not smoked.

Habits need to be satisfying

<ul><li>Track your habits (paper or app)</li><li>Form a habit contract with someone you respect</li></ul>

Stick to your habits

This book has helped me build great habits and it can do the same for you. Remember systems/habits are better than goals. 

The #1 New York Times bestseller. Over 10 million copies sold! Tiny Changes, Remarkable Results No matter your goals, Atomic Habits offers a proven framework for improving--every day. James Clear, one of the world's leading experts on habit formation, reveals practical strategies that will teach you exactly how to form good habits, break bad ones, and master the tiny behaviors that lead to remarkable results. If you're having trouble changing your habits, the problem isn't you. The problem is your system. Bad habits repeat themselves again and again not because you don't want to change, but because you have the wrong system for change. You do not rise to the level of your goals. You fall to the level of your systems. Here, you'll get a proven system that can take you to new heights. Clear is known for his ability to distill complex topics into simple behaviors that can be easily applied to daily life and work. Here, he draws on the most proven ideas from biology, psychology, and neuroscience to create an easy-to-understand guide for making good habits inevitable and bad habits impossible. Along the way, readers will be inspired and entertained with true stories from Olympic gold medalists, award-winning artists, business leaders, life-saving physicians, and star comedians who have used the science of small habits to master their craft and vault to the top of their field. Learn how to: <ul><li>make time for new habits (even when life gets crazy);</li></ul><ul><li>overcome a lack of motivation and willpower;</li></ul><ul><li>design your environment to make success easier;</li></ul><ul><li>get back on track when you fall off course;</li></ul>...and much more. Atomic Habits will reshape the way you think about progress and success, and give you the tools and strategies you need to transform your habits--whether you are a team looking to win a championship, an organization hoping to redefine an industry, or simply an individual who wishes to quit smoking, lose weight, reduce stress, or achieve any other goal.

health

Health

habits

Habits

entrepreneurship

Entrepreneurship

James Clear is the author of "Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones" He writes about habits, decision-making, and continuous improvement at jamesclear.com. His website receives millions of visitors each month and hundreds of thousands subscribe to his popular email newsletter.His work has appeared in the New York Times, Entrepreneur, Time, and on CBS This Morning. He is a regular speaker at Fortune 500 companies and his work is used by teams in the NFL, NBA, and MLB. Learn more at jamesclear.com

First Things First

The Joy of Missing Out

Get Smart!

Atomic Habits

Lukas Hoi