1. Schedule regular social activities. 
2. Follow a fitness plan. Apart from all the physical benefits of exercise, you'll enjoy the mental satisfaction of knowing that you're taking good care of yourself again.
3. Pursue a hobby. Pick a hobby that has little or nothing to do with what you spend most of your week doing and pursue it with passion!
4. Volunteer. Nothing brightens the soul or warms the senses like giving to another for no reason other than to give.
5. Write a manifesto. Have you forgotten what you want out of life?
6. Ask for help. Whether your struggle is with a particular part of a project or with something general, like time management, asking for help will get you to a solution faster than you could ever hope to alone. 
7. Make others laugh. Humor keeps us sane even through the most stressful of circumstances.
8. Make an escape list. An "escape list" is a list of everything you'd need to do in order to escape a situation that's driving you nuts. 
9. Embrace a morning ritual. Set your alarm a few minutes earlier than usual and spend the "extra" time sitting in a sunny spot in your living room with a cup of coffee and a good book.
10. Stop making excuses. The fix? Accept responsibility for your part of the problems that plague you. 
11. Be accountable. Accountability is something we're all familiar with but rarely put into useful practice. You can use accountability to drive your personal development and avoid burnout.

1. Embrace Your Fear. Recognize that you will be distracted sometimes and accept those distractions as opportunities to improve.
2. Plan For Interruptions. Effective planning is a cornerstone of the productive lifestyle. Plan extra time in to satisfy distractions.
3. Delegate And Postpone. Once you've identified an interruption as something that needs attention, try to postpone your involvement.
4. Attack Procrastination. The simplest way to attack procrastination is to synthesize urgency with truncated deadlines. If it normally takes you 3 hours to do something, hit the bathroom, grab a glass of water, set a timer for 90 minutes, and tear into your work! 
5. Split Your Day Into Targets. Distractions are most dangerous to the person working without short-term goals. You can keep yourself out of the danger zone by setting targets throughout your day. 
6. Limit Inputs. The more you limit channels people can use to distract you, the less likely it is that you'll be distracted. 
7. Batch Outputs. Responding to emails in batches and scheduling a block of time to make phone calls etc
8. Communicate Your Schedule To Others. When it comes to managing people-based distractions, communication is key. Need to finish a project? Let the people in your work group know that you'll be off-limits until a certain time. 
9. Begin With The Main Point. When you encounter a distraction, get to the heart of it immediately.

1. Don't make it personal. People are allowed to disagree with your position, just as you're allowed to disagree with others.
2. Get the facts. There could be facts you need to know about or areas you need to explore before taking action. 
3. Listen. Listening demonstrates the value of the relationships you have and that you're willing to listen and engage with others. That can speak louder than any amount of yelling.
4. Simple assertion. You have the right to be treated with respect and consideration, and coolly asserting that right is a powerful strategy.
5. Be ready to be wrong. If you're wrong, admit it. Don't hang on to your position just for the sake of wanting to be right.

1. Test them against your values.  When faced with a tricky decision it's often a good idea to line up your choices and ask "Which one of these most honours the things that mean the most to me?"
2. Trust your gut. Look at what your intuition tells you is the 'right' decision for you. Forget about all the "What if's".
3. It just doesn't matter. Ask yourself this question – if your future happiness wasn't dependent on your decision (and it isn't, by the way), which way would you go?
4. Have enough information. Go and get the facts before you make a complex decision. When you feel yourself pursuing every fact or every piece of information before you make a decision, stop yourself. Ask "What do I really need to know to make this decision?"
5. Respect your doubts. We all naturally shy away from change. Your doubts can help you prepare for change and get ready for what could happen.

1. Ease into the Evening. Instead of walking in the door after work or errands and immediately launching into another chore, allow time and space to downshift into evening mode.
2. Create a Dinner System. Rushing to get dinner on the table is a major source of evening mayhem, but a little bit of preplanning can help you power through with a minimum of stress. 
3. Keep the Kids Busy. All the shortcuts in the world won't help if you're constantly being interrupted, so a little creativity may be needed to get the kids out from underfoot.
4. Plan Homework Time. To avoid last-minute cries of "Mom, I haven't done my homework yet," having a homework routine is a must.
5. Share the Work... and a Break. Dividing tasks between you and your partner can make family time more serene for both of you.

What Is A Mastermind Group?

• The coordination of knowledge and effort of two or more people, who work toward a definite purpose, in the spirit of harmony.

What Are The Benefits of a Mastermind Group?

• Mutual support.
• Differing perspectives. 
• Resources.  
• Accountability. 

Starting a mastermind group is deceptively simple in its steps:

• Pick a Topic. This may be as narrow as you like, or as broad as you like.
• Pick your Partners. A mastermind group is only as good as the people in it – pick your partners with care.
• Agree On Ground Rules.
• Meet!

• Two words: mutual beneficiaries. 
• Similar Drive and Commitment. 
• Diverse Skill Sets. 
• Problem Solvers.

How Do I Run A Mastermind Group?

• Meet Regularly And Precisely.
• Give each member equal time.
• Don't Interrupt.
• Decide if you need an agenda.
• Decide on whether to have a facilitator.
• Capture. Make sure you capture what happened at each meeting – lessons and triumphs, goals, and items you want to keep each other accountable to.

• What Are You Working On? 
• What Did You Learn?
• What Do You Need Help With?

1. Throw an "orphans" party. If you're facing the prospect of a lonely Christmas, gather up your single friends and anyone you know whose family is far away and have a party.
2. Get active. Go sledding or skiing, take a hike or just bundle up and take a long walk. The fresh air, sunlight, and physical activity will do you good.
3. Start a new tradition. One big reason people get wistful this time of year is that the traditions they've always practiced remind them of people who are gone.
4. Have a salad. The fatty, sugary, and salty foods that make up a big part of traditional holiday eating can all make us feel sluggish and mopey, even if we have no particular reason to feel down.
5. Avoid the liquor. Alcohol is a depressant and if you're already tending towards depression alcoholic beverages can speed up the downward spiral.
6. Find a "Blue Christmas" service near you. Many religious denominations are adding "Blue Christmas" services to their schedules, recognizing the special need to minister to those for whom Christmas is too much to bear.
7. Embrace imperfection. The holidays put a lot of pressure on us to do everything just right. Try to lower your expectations to a realistic level.
8. Get some light! Artificial light is no substitute for sunlight.
9. Volunteer. Depression often comes with a feeling of uselessness, so make yourself useful by volunteering.
10. Practice personal productivity. Stress is a killer this time of year, and personal productivity is intended first and foremost to minimize stress.

1. Is what I do really worthwhile? In other words: Does my work make a difference to people?
2. Do I enjoy my job? Do you you get a buzz from what you do?
3. Am I learning? If you are still developing and learning in the job then it is an investment of your time. 
4. Does this job lead to somewhere I want to go? Is this experience useful in preparing you for something else you might want to do?
5. Am I well paid? On an objective assessment are you fairly compensated for what you contribute?
6. Do I get on with my boss? A difficult boss can make your time at work miserable.
7. Do I get on with my colleagues?
8. Am I empowered to be creative and do things my way? This is more important for some people than others. Does it matter for you?
9. Is my work/life balance acceptable? Most people would like more time with their families but work is demanding so they accept some kind of balance.
10. Is my job title prestigious? Do you feel proud when you tell people where you work and what you do?

1. Create shopping lists on the weekends. Gather with your family and write down everything you need to buy for Christmas: food, presents, etc. 
2. Beat the rush. To remain productive at work it's important to make plans and schedule while you are home and to do this in time without delaying untilthe last moment. 
3. Dedicate your after-work time to online shopping.
4. Ask for favors. There's nothing wrong in asking for help from your friends and family if you find yourself stressed by time.
5. Organize your work and get things done. Once you get to the office, forget about Christmas and organize your work.
6. Deal with important tasks first. Morning is the most productive part of the day for most of us, so it's better to get the most important tasks done in this part of the day. 
7. Steal time from your break if you want to check last-minute offers. If you know there will be a good promotional offer and you want to catch it, you can do this during you lunch break.
8. Focus on your work not on how your vacation will be.
9. Avoid distractions.
10. Be consistent in your work. If you start falling behind, don't give up!
11. Think about the consequences if you won't finish the work. It's not a nice approach but this might motivate you.

Procrastination: Not a Problem!

• Perhaps procrastination simply isn't the problem we think it is.

The Real Problem

• To understand the real problem, let's look at some cases in which actual failures occurred, and why they had nothing to do with procrastination.
• Failure #1 – A Missed Due Date: Sam's homework was due on Monday morning, and she waited until late on Sunday evening to get started. Analysis: Most might call Sam a procrastinator, but I only see that she has a weakness in scheduling her time. 
• Failure #2 – Several Delays: Mike has made an internal decision to cut the lawn on Saturday, an activity that he despises. On the appointed day, other events intervene, and he decides to cut the lawn on Sunday instead. Analysis: Was Mike procrastinating? Many would say yes, and they might strongly imply that he was just being lazy.

Solutions

• The negative judgements and feelings related to procrastinating don't come from the delays, the putting off or the postponements.
• Instead they come from our judgemental minds which have decided that something or someone is to blame.
• Stress is never caused by life circumstances, but instead it originates in the thoughts that we have, and whether or not we believe them.
• So, if you think you have an issue with procrastination, start by separating your actions from your thoughts. Deal with your skill at scheduling if you need to.

Here are ten little gestures that can spread goodwill in our own communities:

1. Tip generously: As often as you can afford, leave a tip of 25%, 50%, 100%, or even more.
2. Compliment someone: Tell someone how much you like the job they're doing, their outfit or new haircut, their singing voice – whatever. 
3. Be totally open with someone: Let someone know exactly how you feel about something on your mind.
4. Give someone a book you've read: Making a gift of something you've read and enjoyed is more than just a nice gesture, it's a way of showing someone that a) you think of them, b) you understand them, and c) you want to share something with them. 
5. Make something for someone: Bake an extra batch of cookies, draw a picture, decorate an extra Christmas ornament, and give it to someone for no good reason.
6. Send a letter, email, tweet, or text message out of the blue: Email someone you haven't spoken with for a while, or text someone you see every day just to be nice. 
7. Commend an employee to their manager: It's one thing to tip or compliment someone for their service, it's another to contact their manager and tell them what a great job they've done.
8. Teach someone how to do something: Share your skill or talent with someone by showing them how to do something.
9. Let someone shine: Put a spotlight on someone else's talents by letting them take over a presentation, deferring to their wisdom, asking them advice, or otherwise flex their "talent muscles". 
10. Connect like minds: Introduce two friends or colleagues who you feel have something to gain from each other.

1. Study another industry. Go to the library and pick up a trade magazine in an industry other than your own.
2. Learn about another religion. Starting to see the reason in another religion can also help you develop mental flexibility.
3. Take a class. Learning a new topic will not only teach you a new set of facts and figures, it will teach you a new way of looking at and making sense of aspects of your everyday life.
4. Read a novel in an unfamiliar genre. Try reading something you'd never have touched otherwise – if you read literary fiction, try a mystery or science fiction novel.
5. Write a poem. While most problem-solving leans heavily on our brain's logical centers, poetry neatly bridges our more rational left-brain though processes and our more creative right-brain processes. 
6. Draw a picture. Drawing a picture is even more right-brained, and can help break your logical left-brain's hold on a problem the same way a poem can. 
7. Turn it upside down. Turning something upside-down, whether physically by flipping a piece of paper around or metaphorically by re-imagining it can help you see patterns that wouldn't otherwise be apparent.
8. Work backwards. Just like turning a thing upside down, working backwards breaks the brain's normal conception of causality. 
9. Ask a child for advice. Ask a child how they might tackle a problem, or if you don't have a child around think about how you might reformulate a problem so that a child could understand it if one was available.
10. Invite randomness. Embracing mistakes and incorporating them into your projects, developing strategies that allow for random input etc can help to move beyond everyday patterns of thinking into the sublime.
11. Take a shower.There's some kind of weird psychic link between showering and creativity.

1. Task lists: A simple list of things you have to do.
2. Project planning: Creating a list of tasks associated with a projects can be a great way to wrap your head around the project.
3. Wish lists: A wishlist is a list of things you want to buy but don't need right away.
4. Grocery/shopping lists: One of my most effective lists is a simple one-page list I made of all the groceries I regularly bought.
5. Gift ideas: Keep a list of odd, attractive, or just-right-for-you-know-who items throughout the year to help make Christmas, birthday, and anniversary shopping less stressful.
6. Checklists: Any recurrent multi-step tasks – like packing for a business trip can be done more easily if you write up a simple checklist.
7. Reading journal: Basically, this is a list of books you've read with notes and adequate information to recall the text later.
8. Links and logins: Almost everyone has dozens of websites they need to log into on a regular basis. Keeping a list of all these sites and your login info can be a lifesaver!
9. Life lists: A list of your short- and long-term goals can be a great motivator, as well as a trigger list to help generate new projects.
10. Reference: Any information you find yourself referring to often can make a useful list – metric conversions etc
11. Logs: Broadly speaking, a log is a list of events tied to specific dates/times. Keeping a list of your exercise achievements etc
12. Daily summaries: A one- or two-line summary of the day's events can help to remind you of problems that arose as well as how you dealt with them.

How to Keep Track of Your Lists

1. Pen-and-paper: A notebook can be easily modified to make all your lists accessible.
2. Desktop software: If you're using Outlook or Lotus Notes, you have a task list manager at hand. Other options include using a note-taking program like Evernote or OneNote etc
3. Web Applications: Any task-list manager that allows categories (Todoist is a great one, since it literally allows you to create multiple lists).
4. Wikis: Wikis are excellent list management tools. I've listed them separately because various wikis run on your desktop (like TiddlyWiki, a self-contained, easy-to-use wiki) or online (try PBWorks or WetPaint).

1. The time-sucking fiend. The time-sucking fiend seeks only your time – the more of it they can consume, the stronger they get. But the most powerful weapon in your arsenal against time-sucking fiends, your wooden stake, is to just say "No".
2. The humorless hellhound. Besides taking up your time, the humorless hellhound sucks the fun out of life, demanding an explanation of every off-hand comment you or anyone else makes. Be firm with the humorless hellhound – simply say "It wasn't important" and steer the conversation back.
3. The vacuous horror. The vacuous horror is an idiot, and he or she doesn't care who knows it. Their pleasures are simple: drink to excess, bed hot chicks or dudes etc. The silver bullet here is to tell them it all sounds pretty lame.
4. The detail demon. While attention to detail is important, the detail demon isn't concerned with making sure things work, he or she is concerned with a thousand minor points that have no significance. Like the time-sucking fiend, under no circumstances give the detail demon any control over your time! Instead, ask them to write up an itemized list of their concerns and email it to you.

1. Be confident. You will be nervous and that is natural. The best antidote is to rehearse a clear and confident opening to your talk.
2. Look them in the eye. Do not hide behind a lectern or read from your notes. Walk about the stage, look directly at people and talk to them from your heart. 
3. Speak clearly. Your voice is the tool that does the job so use it well. You should not rush or mumble. 
4. Use some rhetoric. Simple contrasts work well e.g. 'We come not in fear, but in hope.'
5. Pause. The most powerful weapon in the speaker's armoury is the pause. Use it carefully and it will rivet your listeners. 
6. Don't worry if you forget something. If you speak from memory and without notes then you will often forget some item that you had intended to say. Don't worry. 
7. Finish strongly. End with the one clear message that you want people to take away and then thank them for their attention.

1. Have a mission. Perhaps the single most motivating factor in our lives is the sense that we're fulfilling a greater purpose. 
2. Measure improvement. Set goals whose progress you can measure.
3. Make learning a primary goal. An important part of personal growth is achieving or moving towards mastery.
4. Examine your life. Ask yourself what gets you out of bed in the morning, and what keeps you up at night. If your answers are positive things, you're in pretty good shape.
5. Separate work from rewards. Work we choose to do – like hobbies – rarely suffers from motivation problems.

1. Take it on the road. A powerful approach to getting re-started is to switch up the scenery by tackling your project in a new place.
2. Do 20 minutes. Set a timer for 20 minutes and promise yourself to work until the dinger goes “ding”.
3. Limit yourself. Limit yourself to doing no more than 30 minutes, or an hour, or 4 hours, or whatever is reasonable.
4. Skip the hard stuff. Often, the hard stuff is easier once you’ve finished the easier bits – you develop the expertise to handle parts that earlier were beyond your abilities.
5. Tend to your knitting. Or fly a kite. Letting go of the problem is sometimes the only way to solve it.

If you have to give a keynote speech then preparation leads to success. Here are some key tips:

1. Investigate the audience. Find out as much as you can about your audience, their interests and their likely mood.
2. Talk to the organiser. What are their expectations? What would represent success for them?
3. Investigate the logistics. What is the room layout? Understand the programme and exactly how much time you have.
4. Select the theme of your talk and the key message. What is the single most important thing you are trying to achieve with this talk?
5. Write down various ideas that support your message. Collect different ideas, stories, quotations, jokes (if appropriate) that relate to and support your theme.
6. Build a structure. Whatever the topic, your talk should build in a logical way so that your audience can easily follow your train of thought.
7. Add some light and shade. Think about how you can make your talk really engaging by mixing the approach a little.
8. Practise, practise, practise. Practise the talk – preferably out loud.
9. Memorise and use prompt cards. You should not try to memorise the whole talk – just the key headings so that you can remember the main points.

What is commitment?

1. Commitment is passion. Obsessive passion, maybe. Someone who is truly committed to something can’t not do it.
2. Commitment is action. Actions speak louder than words, right?
3. Commitment is obligation. Doing boring or hard things not because they are fun, but because your commitment demands you do them.
4. Commitment is larger than the self. Commitments are personal, but they’re also about relationships.
5. Commitment is voluntary. Commitment is obligation, yes, but it’s freely chosen obligation.

When you break up with someone…

• Know why. You don’t have to tell your soon-to-be-ex everything, but you should at least understand for yourself.
• Be honest. Be clear about the main reasons things aren’t working for you.
• Don’t drag it out. You’ll both be happier if you make a clean break sooner rather than later.
• Be gentle but firm. There’s no reason to be hurtful, no matter how bad things are going.

When someone breaks up with you…

• Dignity first. Don’t threaten, attack, list their shortcomings back at them etc
• Get to a safe place. Getting dumped is hard work – you’re going to need a little while to process it.
• It really isn’t you, it’s them. Don’t be too hard on yourself – they dumped you for reasons that have to do with who they are, not who you are.
• But don’t let yourself off the hook, either. The person that just dumped you had their own reasons, but that doesn’t mean you’re perfect.

After the break-up…

• No take-backs. Seriously. No booty calls, no pre-existing commitments, no getting together just to talk.
• Let hate happen. Being angry at an ex is natural.
• You don’t have to be friends.
• Don’t get even. If you were hurt badly, your instinct might be to hurt them back. Not a good idea.
• Don’t stalk. Stop worrying about their life and start living your own!
• If you’re being stalked, don’t respond. Stalking is a simple positive reinforcement mechanism: the stalker does something, and are rewarded when you respond.

• Problems are there to be faced and overcome.
• We cannot achieve anything with an easy life.
• One of the main determinants of success in life is our attitude towards adversity.
• Whilst we cannot choose the adversity we can choose our attitude towards it.

How can you change your attitude towards the adversity that you face? Try these steps:

1. Confront the problem. Do not avoid it.
2. Deliberately take a positive attitude and write down some benefits or advantages of the situation.
3. Visualise how you will feel when you overcome this obstacle.
4. Develop an action plan for how to tackle it.
5. Smile and get cracking.

What if…

• What if I forget the words when I stand up there?
• What if I go completely blank?
• What if I totally suck?
• What if I look or sound stupid?
• Code for “I’m too scared to do anything, so I’ll do nothing”.

A Disease

• Self doubt; it’s a disease that doesn’t discriminate.
• It affects our mind, our emotions and even our physiology.

Knock, Knock…

• For many of us, self doubt comes knocking on our door every day.
• It’s just fear in a different outfit. Self-doubt with a little make-up and a pretty dress.

Fear by Another Name

• That’s all self doubt is by the way; one of the many faces of fear.
• Self-doubt is essentially self-created and perpetuated because it can only exist in our head.
• In the pursuit of our best life, our challenge is not to overcome self-doubt but rather, to manage it.

The Human Experience

• Of course, over time we will find a way to turn down the volume (of the banging on the door), but a life totally devoid of self-doubt is an unrealistic goal.

The questions we should ask ourselves in relation to this chat are not:

• “Do I ever experience self-doubt?”

But rather:

• 1. “What impact do I allow self-doubt to have on my decisions, behaviours and results?”

• It takes about as much work to do or fix the thing we’re worried about as it does to worry about it. Often, it actually takes even less.

• Procrastination: Investing our energy in anxious fretting instead of in our ostensibly chosen work.
• Disorganization: It takes a lot of work and effort to maintain a chaotic life.
• Over-organization: After a certain point our organization system can become its own source of anxiety, as we spend more time and effort worrying about where things go.
• Unattainable goals: It’s important to set attainable goals, and to accept failure and learn from it when we can – the alternative is a lifetime of regret and worry.

• Believe it or not, one of the most paralyzing fears is the fear of success.
• Success can feel like abandoning the people we care about.
• Or we might fear the way that accomplishing something big opens us up to criticism.
• Finally, our projects are often so much a part of ourselves that finishing feels like a death.

Success and Other People

• Working on any big project can cause conflict with the people around us.
• No matter how big a project or goal, we must make time for socializing, relaxing, and playing.
• Non-work time can be just as crucial to our success as the time we spend directly working towards our goals, because it recharges our batteries.

Fear of Falling

• Not achieving our goals has something really big going for it — if you don’t get off the ground, it won’t hurt if you fall.
• Striving for success always involves a risk — and the higher you climb, the farther you have to fall.
• A fear of failure or of negative criticism can instill in us a perfectionism that leads us to shy away from finishing a big project, and even from starting.

Who Do You Want to Be Today?

• We get fear of the unknown when we’re done with whatever big project we’re working on.
• It’s important to remember, though, that life doesn’t work like it plays out in our imaginations.
• But most important of all, we need to cultivate joy and satisfaction in the work itself — and in our lives as they are.

• Each of us has our own path to walk, and each of us has to find it on our own
• And even just accepting that there is some purpose in your life, without necessarily knowing what it is, can be a huge motivator