Become skilled

Become skilled in areas that will push you ahead. But be picky about which skills you hone.

You don't want to be well-rounded. Well-rounded only means mediocre in a plethora of categories.
You want to be sharp.

Image by Vlado

Focus on things that are: (1) Difficult to do, and (2) in high demand.

If you do this, the economy won't have you looking for jobs. The economy will have jobs looking for you.

Believe it or not, people still get job offers in a down economy. Why's that?

Because the people who are looking for jobs don't have skills.

Be relevant

If you aren't relevant, why do you spread your ideas? 

Answer: You probably don't.

Attention is so difficult to come by, so precious, there is hardly anyone spreading non-relevant  advice. 

There is such a huge tsunami of information out there, most (even the free stuff) is extremely timely and relevant. 

So be relevant or be silent.

Plug your ears

Know who you shouldn't listen to.

Here's the test. If they aren't (or won't soon be) where you want to be, disregard anything they have to say on the subject. No matter how good intentioned they may be, they obviously don't understand how to get there.


You might just be better off doing the opposite. Let's use olympic swimming as an example. If I want to be an olympic swimmer, I'm not going to listen to my mom on how to get there. Because she's not an olympic swimmer. I'm going to listen to Michael Phelps. Same goes for success.

If this person is telling me to go to school and they're $100,000 in debt, I probably shouldn't listen to them  if I want to be successful. If Bill Gates tells me to go to school however, I should probably get my a** to class. (Sorry, I had to.)

Just remember that while they may have good intentions, plug your ears when (in my case unsuccessful) people give you advice.

4 ways to be productive (on the go)

Being productive is hard to do when you are constantly moving. Being mobile can really put a damper on your productivity levels. If you'd like to enjoy and be productive, you just follow these tips.

Mark a certain time - When you have Wifi is ideal, because you (likely) won't have it all the time. Focus on the times that you do.

Touch it once -  I totally stole this from the ultimate sales machine by Chet Holmes. The principle still applies and I believe that you could benefit from it. Whenever you start something, you finish it. This way you only touch it once. (i.e. don't check your twitter while your working on that term paper.)

Attack the most important things first - Of course. If you don't have time to work on that ebook, you certainly don't have time to check your email.

Focus on downtimes - Rather than feel guilty for not getting to tracking your finances while you're on that roller coaster, feel guilty during the layover between flights. Much more gets done.


If you do these four things, you'll end up with a lot more finished when you have to move again. Or get on that flight. Just remember to have fun.

Because sometimes having fun can be the most productive thing that you can do.

Steve Jobs: The Diamond Cutter

Steve Jobs was more of a diamond cutter than all-out revolutionary innovator.

Why's that, you ask?

He didn't really come up with much first. He saw things in the wild, perfected them and sold them to the mass market. The mp3 player was out long before the iPod. The tablet computer was with us some ten years before the iPad. The cell phone came before the iPhone.

He saw diamonds in the rough, cut them into rare beauties, and sold them. He read the words that weren't on the page. He (and his team) had the foresight to see what was coming and create it. That's why they never relied on market research.

He said, "It's not the consumer's job to know what they want."

So true.

Estimate Accordingly

Whenever estimating anything, there's probably going to be (a few) variables that you aren't considering. Also, since people don't often estimate unimportant things, you're going to want your estimates to be as accurate as can be.

I utilize this little trick whenever I estimate anything, and I can't tell you how many times it has saved me.

I always estimate against myself. I put on the most negative point of view I can, and I use the 20% rule. The 20% rule goes like this; "Since every variable cannot be taken into account, one should add 10% to every figure against them, and subtract 10% from every figure for them."

Basically it goes like this.

Let's say I'll need $500 to go on a trip. And I have $500. Good, right?

Maybe. But to be sure, your calculations should go something like this.

Instead of saving $500, I should save $550. Instead of having $500, I (act like) I have $450. So, I should end up with $600.

In simpler terms, just add 20% to every expense.

Now, 20% doesn't sound like much, but in many cases that's all it takes to hedge against disaster.

Tim Ferriss' new book

So, you guys all know that crazy 4 Hour Workweek/4 Hour Body guy? Well, his name is Tim Ferriss (two s') has a new book on Amazon that I think should be checked out. I am pre-ordering a copy, and you should too.

In everything this phenomenal man does, he breaks everything down to the core and tests everything. He's a world class tango dancer, Princeton guest lecturer, and just a great all around guy. He's one of  the smartest, classiest, most creative people I've ever come across.

Ladies, I think he's taken, so sorry.

(Also I may or may not be getting a Kindle Fire from this post, so keep that in mind. As you should too, by going to the link, here, and posting on Facebook)

Enjoy

Enjoy yourself for one day. Just do everything you want today. Not everything you should do, or everything other people expect of you. Just everything you want, whether or not you can afford it. Even if it scares you. Because you should.

If you don't enjoy it, don't do it today.

Watch sunrises, take a walk, laugh, get lost, exercise (if you like & if you don't, don't), climb a tree, or make a connection with someone.

Just enjoy yourself today. You deserve it.