Two people travelling in the car, a man and a woman, suffered minor injuries

Road closed after car crashes into lamppost on notorious bend - Liverpool Echo

The popular supermarket brand is one of the most recognisable in the UK - but few know about the meaning behind the name

People are only just realising what Tesco actually stands for - Liverpool Echo

The pair have been branded &#x27;a lovely couple&#x27; · Want all the best bits on the box? Share your email to get TV news, interviews, spoilers and more

Ricky Hatton shares 'exciting' snaps from holiday with Claire Sweeney - Liverpool Echo

Cork City had the second-highest annual growth rate in new rents.

Report shows latest average rents in Cork city and county

The main charge against each of them was one of engaging with others in a violent disorder.

Three Cork brothers avoid jail term for their part in violent disorder

The man has been on methadone for 24 years and he had hoped that he would obtain benzodiazepine-type street drugs in Cork for the purpose of ...

Man who stepped off train in Cork with shopping bag containing almost €60k of heroin is jailed

Passengers have been advised to use other city centre stations

Wirral line service update after flooding at Moorfields station - Liverpool Echo

Victim was rammed off bicycle by BMW before knifeman jumped out of car and attacked him

Thug who stabbed cyclist had previously jumped off bridge to avoid arrest - Liverpool Echo

One year ago Liverpool held one of the most successful Eurovision Song Contests in the show&#x27;s history

Life after Liverpool: How one city changed Eurovision forever - Christopher Megrath - Liverpool Echo

Knowsley Council was alerted after the substance was spotted in a Huyton park

Second park searched after 'unknown substance' found - Liverpool Echo

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Feeling trapped in a rut can make you want to make a drastic change, like starting a new profession, going on a dream vacation, or adopting a drastically healthier lifestyle. Major shifts, however, are typically unsettling. Quite pricey, too. As well as challenging. Therefore, you do nothing but wallow in your miserable rut, daydreaming of a radical change but failing to bring about any such transformation. In what ways can you end this pattern? The solution is quite obvious to experts. At least in the beginning, put your lofty goals on hold and focus on making little adjustments. Start your new life off right by doing a plethora of tiny things that will broaden your horizons, boost your energy, inspire your creativity, and teach you what works and what doesn't. Get some exercise—even ten minutes will do Endorphins are the hormones your body releases when you exercise; they reduce pain and tension. You've probably heard of them. However, exercise has far-reaching effects on your body beyond just releasing feel-good chemicals. Increased levels of the feel-good neurotransmitters serotonin and dopamine are another benefit of physical activity. Plus, your heart rate gets higher during activity, which means more oxygen gets to your brain. The benefits of a well-oxygenated brain are numerous and well-documented, and they include the alleviation of anxiety and sadness. Shawn Achor references an intriguing study on this in his book, The Happiness Advantage. I will be citing this book extensively in this piece; it is, by the way, an excellent read. Participants in the study were divided into three groups, each of which received treatment for depression by medication, exercise, or a hybrid approach. I was astonished by the findings of this study. Despite initial improvements in happiness levels being comparable across all three groups, the results of the follow-up assessments showed significant differences: What should I do today? Relocate to a more convenient location for employment (or engage in remote work) How we feel on the way to work each day might have a significant effect on our mood. Given that this is something we do on a daily, five-day rotation, it seems to reason that its cumulative effect would diminish our happiness over time. There is a negative correlation between commute time and happiness, according to multiple research. A study published in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health stated that people's happiness with their jobs and lives tends to decline as their commute times increase. Additionally, long commutes have negative effects on people's physical health and lead to a lack of physical exercise. So, it's not surprising that having a short commute (the distance between your home and your desk) has a significant impact on your happiness and well-being. Remote workers report 20% higher levels of happiness compared to their in-office colleagues, according to a survey conducted by Tracking Happiness in 2023. Nearly 9 in 10 people who participated in our most recent survey about the state of remote work reported favourable experiences with remote work, and nearly all of those people (98 percent) expressed a desire to continue working remotely at least occasionally during their careers. "The groups were then tested six months later to assess their relapse rate," explains Achor. A third of people who had taken antidepressants on their own had relapsed. With a recurrence rate of 31%, the combination group was just marginally better off. However, the exercise group's shockingly low recurrence rate of 9% was the most shocking. Relaxation, enhanced cognitive function, and a more positive self-image are all benefits of regular physical activity. Even in the absence of observable changes, regular exercise improved participants' self-esteem, according to research published in the Journal of Health Psychology. Optimal aspect? The Journal of Happiness Studies found that even 10 minutes of movement each day significantly increased participants' levels of happiness, so there's no need to swear off long runs or intense HIIT classes altogether if you want to live your best life. You'll feel like a million bucks if you get more sleep. The American Psychological Association reports that not getting enough sleep has a host of negative health effects, including impaired focus and memory, metabolic disruption, and elevated stress hormone levels. It goes without saying that a poor night's sleep can have a significant effect on your mood, in addition to the obvious health effects of insufficient sleep ("People who chronically fail to get enough sleep may actually be cutting their lives short," according to the APA). Inadequate or bad sleep exacerbated emotional states, according to a study published in the journal Sleep that examined the sleep habits of 30,594 British individuals aged 16 and up over a 4-year period. In order to measure health-related quality of life, they compared those who slept more and better with those who did not utilise the frequently administered General Health Questionnaire (GHQ): Mental health professionals who complete an eight-week mindfulness-based cognitive therapy programme to increase psychological well-being show comparable changes on the GHQ, according to the study. "They are also on par with the typical enhancement in happiness demonstrated by Brits who win a medium-sized lottery two years subsequent to the win." Reading this will improve your mood just as much as hitting the jackpot. Enjoy the company of loved ones Even for those who are naturally reserved, spending time with others is crucial to our well-being. Spending time with loved ones significantly improves our mood, according to multiple research. This is a quote from Daniel Gilbert, a happiness expert at Harvard University: "We are happy when we have family, we are happy when we have friends, and almost all the other things we think make us happy are actually just ways of getting more family and friends." I really like this explanation. One of the most extensive longitudinal studies ever conducted followed the lives of 268 men for 72 years under the direction of psychiatrist George Vaillant. He was asked about the lessons he had acquired from the men in an interview that took place in 2008. The answer from Vaillant: "That the only thing that really matters in life are your relationships to other people." He discussed the study's findings with Joshua Wolf Shenk of The Atlantic, who was interested in the men's social relationships and their impact on happiness: "No other variable, except defences, predicted late-life adjustment better than the men's relationships at age 47," says Wolf Shenk. "Good sibling relationships seem especially powerful: 93 percent of the men who were thriving at age 65 had been close to a brother or sister when younger." Go find a greenish area outside. Those of us who are cooped up at our desks all day long can rejoice: getting some fresh air doesn't require slaving away in the sun. The International Journal of Environmental Health Research found that a mere 20 minutes spent outdoors in a green area significantly improved participants' well-being. According to Hon Yuen, who was a co-author of the study, "some people may go to the park and just enjoy nature" (TIME). They are under no need to engage in strenuous physical activity. After you unwind and lessen your tension, you'll start to feel happier. Urban parks in Birmingham, UK, rather than Yosemite National Park, were visited by study participants, so there's no need to worry if the concept of finding a place green enough to be deemed "nature" seems far-fetched. For the majority of people, the ideal place to spend a warm, sunny weekend day is outside, close to the water, according to research out of the University of Sussex. Actually, people reported much higher levels of happiness when they were outside in natural settings as opposed to city dwellers. Temperature is an intriguing additional factor. According to studies published by the American Meteorological Society, human happiness is more affected by the present temperature than by factors such as wind speed and humidity or even by the day average temperature. Keep an eye on the forecast before you go outside for your 20 minutes of fresh air, because it was shown that happiness is maximised around 13.9°C (57°F).

What Should I Do Today?

In my , I promised to delve deeper into the «Daily Analysis» technique. So, here it is. My co-founders at , along with many of our team members and numerous fellow founders I know, practice this regularly and find it extremely useful. previous article about 1-1s Wunder Fund Why analyze your day? Reduce Overload: By aligning tasks and projects with your goals, you can cut away unnecessary burdens and focus on what truly matters. Notice Incremental Changes: Think of this as 'kaizen' in your daily life. Identifying small daily improvements helps create momentum for continuous enhancement. Learn from Experience: Reflection allows you to draw lessons from similar situations and apply them in the future. : Clear Mental Clutter It puts everything in its place, making your thought process more transparent and less chaotic. Live Mindfully: Daily analysis is a sharp tool that highlights your strengths and weaknesses, wise and poor decisions, and how you relate to time. It's about making conscious choices every day. Using this tool requires a healthy sense of self-criticism. You can test yourself by asking, «What are my weaknesses?» If you're coming up blank, this approach might not be for you yet. Genuine self-analysis demands honesty with oneself; you can't grow without acknowledging your areas for improvement. How to approach the analysis: To simplify the analysis of daily events, you can approach everything that happened through the following sequence: What did you want to achieve? What did you actually achieve? Why did it turn out that way? This clear, step-by-step way encourages focused reflection and aids in understanding both successes and shortcomings. By aligning your intentions with outcomes, you can uncover valuable insights to guide future actions. Daily Analysis Rules Don't try to recall yesterday's conversations or phone calls, you'll fail. Analyze everything when it's fresh. Analyze only the current day's activities Why does it take you so long to commute to work? Who called you and why? Could someone else have taken the call? What went well in the negotiations, and what did you miss? How can your team's workflow be optimized? Analyze everything It's tough to force yourself to analyze every day. You might be tired in the evening and want to relax. But you must use this tool consistently, or it will be ineffective. To make it easier, try to piggyback this habit onto one of your already existing habits/routines. Do it consistently Writing makes your analysis deeper and much more meaningful, allowing you to jot down conclusions and critical points to pay attention to. Write it down Review monthly Suggested Questions Intro questions (0-100%) + comment Overall efficiency of the day: How satisfied are you with your performance today? How well did you utilize your time? (0-100%) + comment Emotional state: Were you stressed or content? What affected your emotions? (0-100%) + comment Alertness: Did you feel energized or lethargic? What contributed to that feeling? (0-100%) + comment Health: How did you feel physically? What influenced your well-being? Event of the day What significant event occurred today that impacted you? Discovery of the day What new things did you learn about the world or yourself? What insights did you gain today? One of the monthly goals Just a reminder The actual analysis of your actions 👋 This framework emphasizes the actionable aspects of daily analysis. It's designed to prompt reflection on what's working, where you're failing, and how to strategically plan for future success. How can I enhance or develop these advantages in the future? What did I do well/right today? What did I do wrong? What could have been done better? How should I handle similar situations in the future and correct mistakes? What did I do poorly? Why wasn't it done? How can I avoid this situation in the future? What else could have been done? What needed to be done to get closer to those goals? This point suggests that you have some well-defined and written goals. Did today bring me closer to my long-term goals? How will I amplify strengths, circumvent weaknesses, and get closer to achieving long-term goals? This point follows as a conclusion from the previous four. What will I do tomorrow? Who can I be grateful to today, and why? Gratitude practice fosters a positive outlook, reducing stress and improving overall well-being. It enhances relationships through increased empathy and understanding, and over time can rewire the brain to reinforce positive emotions and resilience. Three good things that happened today This question clearly helps you remember and concentrate on the good things. Positive psychology and self-help BS are nothing new. However, we found that this specific practice, along with the previous one, does work well. It is particularly beneficial for Quantitative Researchers or anyone in high-failure-rate jobs — when a significant part of your attempts are unsuccessful. There is extensive research on loss aversion and how people are more sensitive to losses compared to equivalent gains. This sensitivity often leads some people to focus more on failures and the negative aspects of life. The aim of this point in the Daily Analysis is to provide a balance. I also recommend the books by Shawn Achor and by Martin Seligman. The authors engagingly elaborate on this subject, offering further insights. "The Happiness Advantage" "Learned Optimism" What did I do today that I could have delegated? Why did I do it? It's useful to ask yourself this question even if you don't have direct subordinates — you can often exchange time for money nevertheless. It's surprising how many people overlook this, spending their valuable time on tasks that drain energy or aren't their job in general. Do you really need every task to be done perfectly or in the way you would do it? Stay tuned for more on the subject of delegation. Formulate a new life principle If you read the incredible Ray Dalio book called , you know what I'm talking about here. If not — I heartedly recommend you read it. «Principles: Life and Work» Formulating a principle, I try to understand whether I can learn something from today's events, and if I can draw any lessons from them. If you take a moment to think about it, you might notice that each specific case is largely a repetition of the past; every specific instance belongs to some broader category of events. The practice helps identify decision-making patterns and recurring situations. Here's a simplified approach: Slow down your thinking process enough to identify the criteria you use to make decisions, or that you think you should use. Record these criteria as principles. Evaluate and refine them after assessing the outcome, preparing for the next occurrence of a similar event. 👋  This process can drastically reduce the number of decisions you need to make, while also improving their quality, helping you navigate life with more wisdom and clarity. Here are some raw examples of principles: Feed the other guy first If there are tasks that need to be delegated or if someone is waiting for your feedback to proceed with their work, do it before starting your tasks, not after. Usually, responding takes very little of my time, but a delay in work can last a day or two. Before doing something, ask yourself who is the best person for the job — and ask that person to do it For instance, recruiting. Or taxes. Or web design. Don't put off difficult conversations and don't hesitate to deliver bad news. Conclusion You might think that this practice is very burdensome, long, boring, and voluminous. That's not the case. Just give it a shot and see. For your own Daily Analysis, you can take any of the suggested questions, as well as come up with your own. There's no need to use all the questions right away. Start small. Remember, the key is consistency. You can use whatever instrument you like to perform the practice. I’ve tried many but eventually came back to a simple Google Sheet. Try doing this practice for at least a week, or better yet, a month. Even in such a short period, you'll notice how often problems, thoughts, etc., repeat, and you will discover many of your own flaws. Good luck with your reflections!

Simple Questions for Trading Your Day up

Of the power of the eleventh horn of Daniel's fourth Beast, to change times and laws

The Internet consists of three parts: creators, consumers, and servers where creators who build websites, apps, content, services, etc. then store it on the servers and later, consumers consume according to their need. But what if servers go down or failed? Just try to imagine you are at the end of the world who enjoys his favourite social media like Facebook, Twitter, etc. but the servers situated at another end of the world suddenly failed then what will happen? Then doubtlessly, you can say you will face service disruption, and some countries like China, the US, UK, Japan will face vast losses of millions of dollars in their e-commerce sell per hour { }. If you check out the history, then you will find there are already some examples of internet failure, like , In June 2020 , , and so on. All this possibly happened because of single-point failure, and in future, we may face more failures like this. Reference the Cloudflare outage on July 17, 2020 T-mobile had an outage that disrupted voice and data service across the United States Microsoft had an outage with Azure active directory services in June 2021 Suppose you compare the Internet with the . In that case, you will find that the Bitcoin blockchain has never faced any failure since ten years of its launch. It is possible because of the unique architecture of blockchain, , , etc. As Bitcoin blockchain is the first generation of Blockchain so it has some limitations and flaws; for example, low scalability, PoW consensus uses a massive amount of energy and computational power. Here, (ABBA) consensus can make a big difference because it is the most efficient consensus created by . Bitcoin blockchain decentralization PoW consensus asynchronous binary byzantine agreement Achour Mostéfaoui Introduction Of Asynchronous Binary Byzantine Agreement (ABBA) Consensus It is a different type of where this Asynchronous Binary (ABBA) consensus aims to produce blocks at any condition without any error, where the protocol assumes with virtualized subnodes connected by a reliable communications link. So the connection can be arbitrarily slow but will eventually deliver messages. If any network split happens in the network, then virtual nodes of the consensus protocol make sure to do successful transactions by making multiple attempts. consensus Byzantine Agreement asynchronous In asynchronous binary byzantine agreement consensus, the protocol assumes that less than 1/3 of nodes are Byzantine which means if 1/3 nodes are offline remaining 2/3 nodes can produce blocks. How Asynchronous Binary Byzantine Agreement (ABBA) Consensus works? Every consensus follows three steps first, block proposal creation, then block validation, and block elongation. The same in (ABBA) protocol follows some algorithms to carry out these steps. Asynchronous Binary Byzantine Agreement Block proposal creation algorithm The proposal creation automatically checks the queue and try to find if any pending blocks or pending transactions are there or not. If it found some pending blocks by comparing total blocksize with max block size, it takes blocks from the queue and creates block proposals. But if there are no pending blocks, it automatically arranges transactions in a block from oldest received to newest received, and in case if there are no transactions, it creates an empty block with no transactions. algorithm Block proposal reliable communication algorithm When a node creates a proposal, it communicates with other nodes using the data availability protocol, which make sure that if a block successfully created, the message transferred to the supermajority of nodes. There are five steps the protocol follows: Suppose a node A creates a proposal P and sends it to his peers for the vote. Each peer, after receiving the proposal P they add it to their proposal database PD. Peer then sends a receipt back with supermajority signature S, which contains a threshold signature share for P. Now, node A waits until receiving a supermajority of signatures from nodes. After receiving the supermajority of signature in favour of P, then node A circulates that supermajority signature to each node. An honest node will never vote on any proposal if there is no supermajority signature S. Data availability protocol ensures that if proposal P wins, consensus will be available to any honest nodes. Consensus round Asynchronous Byzantine Binary Agreements (ABBAs) in a consensus is very suitable for elastic blockchains and we call a blockchain an elastic blockchain because the node of an elastic blockchain virtually holds multiple subnodes inside it to increase scalability where we can delete or create a dedicated blockchain for a Dapp without sharing resources. So each virtualized subnode A who has received supermajority signature S for their proposal P will vote for Asynchronous Byzantine Binary Agreements (ABBAs) in a consensus round R. Each round R virtualized subnodes produce N instances of ABBA. All ABBA[i] agrees to a vote on block proposal from the virtualized subnode i, where all ABBA[i] completes with a consensus vote of yes or no. Once all ABBA[i] complete counting of votes started and a proposal with only one yes vote, the corresponding block proposal P is assigned to the Elastic Sidechain. If there are many yes votes, then P is pseudorandomly selected from the yes-voted proposals applying pseudorandom number R (R is the sum of all ABBA common coins). The winning proposal index is the remainder of the division of R by N-win, where N-win is the total number of yes proposals. Finalizing Winning Block Proposal After completing the round, we get winning block proposal P on any virtualized subnode A. now, virtual subnode A executes an algorithm to conclude the proposal and commit it to the chain. consensus But before finalizing a block node A makes sure that the proposal has signature shares from a supermajority of virtualized subnodes, including itself. After receiving the supermajority of signature shares, it will connect them into a threshold signature. A will then commit the P to the blockchain and the threshold signature S. Conclusion: The conclusion part is my personal opinion where I feel that the Asynchronous Binary Byzantine Agreement (ABBA) protocol is a little complicated to understand. Still, once you know how it works, you will find that this is a very secure consensus protocol because a proposal has to pass through multiple voting rounds and when I got to know about this consensus I found it interesting and described it in layman’s language. SKALE blockchain is a single project in the crypto space that uses this protocol to finalize blocks in its elastic blockchain.

Analyzing Asynchronous Binary Byzantine Agreement (ABBA) Consensus on SKALE Blockchain

Journaling is simply writing down thoughts and feelings, keeping a log of everyday life. We all might have experimented with keeping a diary, and journaling, in all its forms, remains a diary. A way to understand ourselves better through writing. Nowadays, there are a plethora of journaling types: bullet journal cognitive journaling dream journal food journal goal setting journal gratitude journal Morning Pages journaling one line a day journal pregnancy journal stoic journaling stream of consciousness travel journal wreck journal As a piece of trivia, blogging started as an online diary ( ). One of the first online diaries, if not first online diary, can still be found online . weblog the here My purpose is to present two types of journaling and hopefully, you will get inspired in grabbing a notebook and start writing. Stream of Consciousness In her 1934 book , Dorothea Brande described a new perspective on the stream  of  consciousness journaling: Becoming a Writer "The best way to do this is to rise half an hour, or a full hour, earlier than you customarily rise. Just as soon as you can—and without talking, without reading the morning’s paper, without picking up the book you laid aside the night before—begin to write." This technique was later popularized by Julia Cameron that renamed it the Morning Pages in her book . Julia Cameron says: “ ”. The Artist’s Way write three pages of whatever crosses your mind — that’s all there is to it She adds that this practice is non-negotiable, “ ” and she argues that by practising this form of journaling, you “ ”. mood doesn’t matter learn how to stop judging and just write “ Nothing is too petty, too silly, too stupid, or too weird to be included.”  You do not stop to edit or correct grammar, you do not think if phrases make sense or not, you just write. ” If you run out of ideas, you keep writing, even if it just a page of writing ‘I don’t know what to write. What should I eat today?  What’s the point in doing this?’ Why should these pages be done the first thing in the morning? So that we can identify our thoughts before our mind starts worrying or planning the day. In Julia Cameron’s words, “to catch yourself before your ego’s defences are in place. We are after candour — that, and specificity. We want to know how you really feel about your life.” Why three pages? Try writing for three pages only “this is useless. What is the point in this? I do not understand this”. Eventually, things will pop out in your mind, and ideas will spring to life ready to be captured in writing. Another critical point about this form of journaling is that we are not encouraged to read our own morning pages. Julia Cameron says that for the first two months, we are not allowed to re-read what we have written. Writing for 30 - 45 minutes first thing in the morning turned out to be too impractical at this point in my life. So, I added my own variations. Time Before starting work, I journal for 10 – 20 minutes. Other times, after a long, strenuous workout, when my mind is sore and numb, I free write for about 20 minutes. During this time, I do not raise the tip of my pen once, words are shouting, screaming, repeating, making no sense, but I continue to write, . enjoying the pure thrill of a proper brain dump Bilingualism I deliberately mix Romanian and English in these journal pages. I want to force myself to fire all my brain synapses that deal with imagery by translating expressions from a language into the other mot à mot, or starting one sentence in a language, and finishing in the other. Writing prompts I plant the seed of a thought and then I let it grow. I water this idea for a few days and after, I go back to my life. The most significant benefit of the stream of consciousness journaling for me (I can’t call it Morning Pages, as I deviate too much from the rules) is that harsh, ruthless critical voice learned how to keep quiet. I do no longer wait for inspiration to come. I start writing, knowing this journey will take me eventually to an idea with all kinds of sounds and colours and arms and legs that might make me say “Hmm…”. It is extremely gratifying to write freely, with no judgement. This act of journaling holds its own reward. Stoic and Positive reflections In the , Massimo Pigliucci notes that “ ” Stoic Guide to a Happy Life a typical Stoic exercise is the evening philosophical diary, a way to develop the habit to reflect on where we have gone wrong. What have we done well, and what could we improve. "Admit no sleep into your tender eyelids until you have reckoned up each deed of the day—how have I erred, what done or left undone? So start, and so review your acts, and then for vile deeds chide yourself, for good [ones] be glad. I make use of this opportunity, daily pleading my case at my own court. When the light has been taken away and my wife has fallen silent, aware as she is of my habit, I examine my entire day, going through what I have done and said. I conceal nothing from myself, I pass nothing by. I have nothing to fear from my errors when I can say: ‘See that you do not do this anymore. For the moment, I excuse you.’ I will keep constant watch over myself and—most usefully—will put each day up for review. For this is what makes us evil—that none of us looks back upon our own lives. We reflect upon only that which we are about to do. And yet our plans for the future descend from the past." Seneca’s way of thinking that the future descends from the past builds a bridge across millennia to George’s Orwell quote: "He who controls the past controls the future. He who controls the present controls the past." Those who know about the Scrum methodology will see the similarities between a sprint retrospective and a daily retrospective through journaling: What did I do? What did I do well? What not so well? How can I improve? Extrapolating, stoic journaling can be combined with growth mindset questions: What can I learn from today’s facts? What benefits can I see about this negative event? I am also careful to recall at least one positive experience. Why? In his , Chris Bailey mentions a talk with positive psychologist and bestselling author Shawn Achor. According to Shawn Achor, neurologically speaking, when you journal or talk about a positive experience you had at the end of each day “ Productivity Project book your brain stamps it as meaningful. The brain can’t tell much difference between visualization and actual experience, so you just doubled the most meaningful experience of your day. ” Done over time, your brain connects the dots and realizes you have a trajectory of meaning running throughout your life. It is not the gratitude as much as it the ability to scan your life for positives that make this habit so effective. To create lasting, long-term effects, Shawn Achor recommends giving these tactics a few weeks to train your brain to think happier. I can add here that maybe here lies the reason rumination and negative self-talk can push us inside a vicious cycle. The more we repeat an internal negative monologue, the more the brain stamps those thoughts as meaningful. And yet, a vicious cycle can be reborn as a virtuous cycle and journaling positive experiences can help this process. It should be no surprise that . Journaling might become another cathartic relief source for our hardships. writing heals When one can’t talk, one should write. I allow the thoughts I have been too frightened to speak them aloud to leave my fingers on the intimate space of a fresh page. Keep in mind there are no fixed rules, you can experiment and choose your own setting. Five minutes or ten minutes might suit you better. Write as much or as little as you like and do it as frequently or as infrequently as you want. Suppose you journal for a day in one week and after two weeks pass, you feel the need to journal for two days in a week. After a while, you might even miss journaling and feel a tingling in your fingers, burning to write. Do remember these pages are for your own eyes only, so be wary of privacy. Finally, I make sure that I journal as often as I can because I see journaling as a . In my opinion, self-care habits are tiny bricks that help us fight our daily entropy. self-care habit Because when, and it is a matter of when, not if, life crashes upon us, it is those tiny unremarkable habits we picked along the way that help us to get back on track. Parts of this article were previously published on my blog .

Finding Healing in Writing: How Putting Down Your Innermost Thoughts can Change Your Life

The success of a business is a journey, not a destination. It is a road that entails unconventional thinking and extraordinary measures. Several entrepreneurs opt for a , but only a small number of them manage to thrive. Most of us might anticipate the essential ingredients of a successful business. Though, the key lies in identifying the actions and proceedings required to implement that course. startup each year "If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more, and become more, you are a leader." Along with starting with your why, , a motivational speaker, has emphasized on being a great leader and empowering your employees. Simon Sinek What is empowerment? We all have heard about and making them feel comfortable. But what does it really mean? is not about dragging your team and forcing them along to pursue your goals. The foremost thing you need to grasp is that their success is your success. Choose to sacrifice for their safety, protection, and satisfaction. empowering employees Leadership To empower your employees, you must be aware of the practices involved in achieving it. For that, you might be interested in for preparing yourself as you embark on this journey. research topics in human resource management ● Make your team feel valued: While setting aside your ego, embrace their opinions. To be a good leader, one must be a good listener. Hence, try to ponder over their perspective and consider their suggestions. Even if you disagree, be polite in turning it down. Moreover, you can only value them if you cherish their accomplishments and praise their efforts. Though you might not be able to give them more money, give them your time. ● Give them autonomy: Whether they are dealing with a client or working on a task, allow them to adopt a specific procedure. They might handle a client in a different way than yours, or opt a different strategy for concluding a task. Though their means might be different, they recognize that they are capable of producing the desired results in their own way. Relinquish control and . Your employees must be entitled to some extent. Somehow, involve them in the decision making process. Whether it's about opting for a training program for them or transferring them to the next project, let them make achoice. refrain from micromanaging Along with this, encourage them to provide suggestions regarding the improvement in proceedings of the organization. They must play a vital role in setting up the right culture. ● Setting the right environment: A leader is the one for whom their team is willing to sacrifice. But what pushes the employees to give their blood, sweat, and tears for their cooperation? Simon Sinek, in his Ted Talk, shares this idea of creating an exemplary environment, an environment that inculcates a feeling of trust among the employees. Members of your cooperation must feel safe among each other. Moreover, they must never hesitate to reach out to their leader. Lead from the front by setting a high level of camaraderie among your team, making them own your vision. Impacts of empowerment "Pleasure in the job puts perfection in work." Empowering your team exhibits certain implications on their performance as well as your business. ● Motivation leads to Employee's productivity: When your team has a say in certain matters regarding your cooperation, they feel like they own it. This makes them driven by your purpose, and their vision gets aligned by yours. Hence inculcating them with a sense of motivation. A purpose-driven employee tends to work harder and give his 100 percent on a task. This has a positive impact on a business's productivity. Additionally, when a leader starts acknowledging the accomplishments and work of his team members, it turns out to be a sigh of bliss for them. A compliment or two encourages them to work with greater motivation next time. ● : Independence makes them excel Granting authority and freedom to an employee concerning a task enhances their decision-making skills. Furthermore, when you have not defined a strict mean to an end, it promotes creativity and encourages your team to opt for out of the box solutions. Whether it's a training program or a project that may demand a distinct skill set, whenever there is an opportunity for growth, support your team. Sit with them and discuss the career path they are interested in or the skills they are willing to polish. Moreover, offer them choices. Think of the possibilities that may benefit them excelling in their work and organize a that involves brainstorming for improvement. By giving them a voice, they will not only embrace the changes but also work hard to execute the required plan of action. counselling session ● The safe environment promotes a work culture - Simon Sinek. "A team is not a group of people who work together. A team is a group of people who trust each other" If your team feels safe in their workplace, it shows that they trust you as a leader. A friendly as well as aids tolerance during hard times. culture fosters performance When you have established a balanced role as a leader, neither your team would hesitate to contact you while facing any issue, nor would they ignore your instructions. A deep-rooted work culture makes your crew walk the extra mile and make your business flourish. Moreover, an easy-going environment alters employees' behaviour with your clients. Hence, strengthening customer relationships and increasing chances of customer satisfaction. ● Reduction in employee turnover: If you have managed to implement all the essential steps for empowering your employees and building trust among your team, your business will experience some astonishing effects. Not only your company's reputation in the market will boost, but your employee turnover will also lessen. As discussed above, when a team member considers itself to be part of a family, putting effort towards the same goal, it encourages them to remain a part of that expedition. We have to recognize that each of these impacts and positive outcomes is only possible in case of a caring, trustworthy, and supportive leader.

Empowering Employees: The Power of Empowerment!

They both start with a hunch instagram pixeltie Great breakthrough is often told as eureka moment or epiphany because there is a certain narrative thrill in the story. But that breakthrough has actually gone through a long period of incubation, a slow hunch developing into an idea for months or even years. This side of the story is often left untold. A seed Planted deep into your mind, a seed starts growing long before an idea pops into your head. The seed can be planted by yourself, when you encounter a certain problem, you start thinking about the possible solutions. More often than not, the planting process happens subconsciously. The idea is not yet developed in your mind, but you know that something is there. It's called a . Also, the seed can be planted by somebody else. Maybe a friend shared an interesting story or different point of view on a certain topic. If the story is compelling to you, it starts growing without you noticing it. A couple of days later you get another hunch about the topic. The idea is still not there, but you feel that something is happening. hunch How ideas are born? We all know that lightbulb moment. A sudden clarity where all makes perfect sense. An idea has been born and now it seems so obvious. But how does the idea come to life? An idea is a new assemblage of neurons in your brain. It is a synaptic sequence which had never happened before. In order to stimulate this new assemblage, you have to put yourself in a fruitful environment. Imagine yourself sitting comfortably in an empty dark room. The room has several doors which lead to different rooms (new ) but you don't see the door yet. Since you've placed yourself comfortably in the room, you have no intention of leaving it. So in order to discover something new, first of all, you need an to do so. ideas intention Creative process for a good idea Intention A little curiosity is required for you to find one of those doors, and open a new perspective for yourself. Curiosity is what pulls you out of your comfortable position and pushes you to novel discoveries. Those discoveries are not necessarily groundbreaking — they can just be a new perspective which will open more doors and enable you to see more and more rooms until you actually find the one which has a eureka written on the walls. But in order to start opening, you need to have the intention to explore. Idea spillover It is easier to explore with a little help from like-minded friends or colleagues. As Simon Sinek says — together is better. When you surround yourself with creative people, it's more likely that you will discover a perspective which otherwise wouldn't cross your mind. You can hear a new idea, which leads you to new approaches and your own ideas. An idea triggers a new idea, like a domino effect. This is why people move to a Silicon Valley — they can have more interaction with other people and pick up a ton of new ideas and experiences. Otherwise, if you're alone, you have to be a genius to figure some things alone. A friend in the room may have a different life experience with the doors (had a room in the attic), and he may spot a door in the ceiling which leads to a whole new level of the building. This is an idea spillover. You can pick it up, build a ladder and climb on the new floor and get a magnificent view. Adjacent possible You might want to use dark matter to power your spaceship and travel the space. But unfortunately, the science and the technology is not there yet. You have to work with the adjacent possible. You can only open a door which leads you to the room next to the one you are currently in. One discovery may lead you to another. You can only open a door on the walls of the room you are currently in, the number of options is limited, but stepping to a new room opens up new opportunities. This is why it is important to keep on trying. Inventions sometimes are results of an error, so the point is to just keep yourself busy. How to stimulate a good idea? Extremely overworked, me and my friend decided to visit a to unwind. We took a train, and went for a ride. The museum is amazing, the building itself is a piece of art. We really enjoyed it, and we've managed to forget the stressful day that we previously had. My friend bought a kaleidoscope as a souvenir and held it in his hand. On the way back, we enjoyed the ride and the scenery from the train. Since he was holding a kaleidoscope in one hand and a phone in the other, it came naturally to him to start recording a moving scenery but with a kaleidoscope on top of the phone's lens. museum of modern art The end result was useless — a psychedelic video that makes you really dizzy. But that idea seemed groundbreaking. I mean, the idea is useless, but what amazed me was the combination of events that lead to the final result. The idea was simply putting resources at hand to a novel use. Putting old parts to a new use. To me, that was a pure ingeniousness. I'm sure that the abstract exhibitions from the museum influenced the idea. Our minds had been previously so focused on work, so this new perspective came as a refreshment. If you're in the innovation business (and today everybody is), you have to . put your mind in multiple boxes Allowing the mind to move from one box to another will forces you to approach the same problem from different angles. You could do this with an interesting hobby. When was the last time you've done something for the first time? Our minds get saturated when we spend a lot of time thinking about one specific problem or topic. Changing the context helps you unwind and approach the problem from a new angle. It is important to browse through different topics and have broad interest because ideas can be sparked from totally unrelated context. A good example is browsing through printed newspapers. Newspapers facilitated accidental discoveries because finding a topic of your interest requires browsing through the rest of the pages. Some unrelated headline could grab your attention and give you a great idea. : Brainstorming. It doesn't really work. You put a limited number of attendees in a limited space and as if those two are not limiting enough, you limit the time they will spend in a brainstorming session. With so many constraints, it is hard to imagine that an idea spillover will happen. This is why I avoid those sessions. What not to do No brainstorming! Incubation process Thinking hard about the problem will not lead you to the solution. Well, not immediately. It takes time for the idea to grow from a hunch to a clear lightbulb moment. It's called an incubation process. Incubation is defined as a process of unconscious recombination of thought elements that were stimulated through conscious work at one point in time, resulting in novel ideas at some later point in time. So putting in the work is important. But having some time off is as important as thinking about the solution. So ideas are like sneezing. They both start with a hunch. You feel something will happen, but you don't know when exactly. You all know that awful couple of seconds of anticipation. You're about to sneeze, your nose is itching, but you can't force it. Sometimes, we use tricks like leaning our heads back (similar to the context switch for ideas) or closing our eyes. Often, tricks don't help and you think that you won't sneeze after all. And then, all of a sudden: "Achoo" — An idea is born! Want to learn more? Learn how to turn your idea into a successful today. business This book offers you a comprehensive guide through the entire process of creating a successful business. It is designed to make your start much easier by laying out the entire for you. The entire process is boiled down to its essentials, making the steps simple and easy to understand. business plan If you follow the formula which I reveal in this book, it’s very possible you can make a living by turning an . idea into a successful business _If you choose to follow the formula which I reveal in this book, it’s very possible you can make a living by turning an…_treasureroadmap.com Treasure Roadmap — How to turn your idea into a successful business — Best Books For Entrepreneurs… Get your free book summary by clicking on the image below:

Ideas are like sneezing

On December 8, 2017, we and paid out all unpaid distributions to those developers who had earned the minimum amount of $20. For the 230 developers who had not yet reached this goal, we have taken their undistributed funds and have donated the total amount of $1,000 in their name to . shut down the Code Sponsor platform A21.org Every 30 seconds someone falls victim to human trafficking. Through donations, A21 is reaching, rescuing, and restoring victims every day. They operate in 12 offices in 11 countries. They are on the ground working daily. Below is a list of developers who donated. We are grateful for your generosity in supporting important and impactful causes like this one. Hari Krishna Dulipudi (1hakr) Eugene Andruszczenko (32teeth) Adam Brenecki (adambrenecki) Adam Garrett-Harris (agarrharr) Ahmed T. Ali (ahmed-taj) Ahmed Tarek (ahmedtarek2134) Abhishek (akapila011) Kiran (akiran) Alex (alexanderson1993) Alejandro Vázquez Casillas (alexvcasillas) Amogh Banta (amoghbanta) Amrani Houssain (amranidev) Andreas Pizsa (andreaspizsa) Andrew Quan (andreweq) Ángel M (angelmmiguel) Ansuman Shah (ansumanshah) Arnold Gandarillas Castillo (arkgast) Quentin Goinaud (armaldio) Devin Smith (arzynik) Ashik Nesin (ashiknesin) Sébastien Chopin (atinux) Anatoliy Yastreb (ayastreb) Joseph Callaars (bcallaars) Bram Borggreve (beeman) Eana Hufwe (blueset) c4605 (bolasblack) Brad Pitcher (brad) Bu Kinoshita (bukinoshita) c0debrain (c0debrain) Nicholas Jamieson (cartant) Erik Rasmussen (erikras) Carlo Costanzo (ccostan) Charlike Mike Reagent ( ) tunnckoCore Lim Chee Aun (cheeaun) Gleb Azarov (cheerlesscloud) Kushagra Gour (chinchang) Chris Kacerguis (chriskacerguis) Chris Shayan (chrisshayan) Evan (codedraken) codl (codl) F6CF (creeplays) Maurice Rogers (cruzer45) Chad Smith (cs01) Cskaza Bassist (cskaza) Daksh (dakshmiglani) Dan Cryer (dancryer) Dan Revah (danrevah) Darkio (Cypherex) (darkio14) David Hu (davidhu2000) Deivid Fortuna (deividfortuna) Julian Finkler (devtronic) Haz (diegohaz) Divyanshu Maithani (divyanshu013) DIYgod (diygod) Doug Ayers (douglascayers) David R. MacIver (drmaciver) Krystian Drożdżyński (drozdzynski) Wojtek Witkowski (dubstrike) Duy Lượng (duyluonglc) Elio Qoshi (elioqoshi) Eric Peterson (elpete) VimalRaj Selvam (email2vimalraj) Ethan Cohen (evcohen) Ferit Tunçer (ferittuncer) Fadi Khadra (fkhadra) Richard Huang (flyerhzm) Forbes Lindesay (forbeslindesay) Florian Wartner (fwartner) Gabriel Duarte (gabrielduartem) Gabriel Rodrigues Couto (gabrielrcouto) Dylan (ganderzz) Gannon (gannon93) Arihant Verma (gdad-s-river) Xiang Gao (geekplux) Indrashish Ghosh (ghosh) Gil Barbara (gilbarbara) Glauber Ramos (glauberramos) coverguo (guocover) Tomás Aparicio (h2non) Patrick Scheibe (halirutan) Harris Jose (harrisjose) Anh Le Hoang (hoanganh25991) Hitesh (hsbalar) Vincent De Oliveira (iamvdo) Dolphin Wood (idiotwu) Jonathon Kelly (insidersbyte) Isaac Mann (isaacplmann) Baris Sencan (isair) Samarth Jajoo (jajoosam) Jared Reich (jaredreich) James Brooks (jbrooksuk) Jakub Jankiewicz (jcubic) J.T. Earl (jearl4) Jeff Jewiss (jeffjewiss) Jeroen Peeters (jeroenptrs) Jirayu Limjinda (jir4yu) Joel Gratcyk (joelgratcyk) jsleonzhang (jsleonzhang) June Domingo (junedomingo) kaleabmelkie (kaleabmelkie) Karuppiah (karuppiah7890) Kasper Isager (kasperisager) Keith Cirkel (keithamus) Kenny Lindelof (kennyltv) Yann Pringault (kerumen) Kevin Jalbert (kevinjalbert) Athan (kgryte) Kirill Danshin (kirilldanshin) 平奕峰 (koakumaping) Wahyu Kristianto (kristories) Ronald Kurr (kurron) Kyler Chin (kylerchin) Leo Maroni (labcode-de) Chris Lamb (lamby) Anton Lavrenov (lavrton) Lee Benson (leebenson) 杨奕 (leopoldthecoder) Líkið Geimfari (lk-geimfari) Lokesh (lokesh-coder) Miguel Piedrafita (m1guelpf) Mehdi Achour (machour) Marco Gava (macmotp) Mathieu Cornic (matcornic) Maxime GRIS (maximegris) Michael Bøcker-Larsen (mblarsen) Mike Delucchi (mdelucchi) Michael Fix (mfix22) mh-cbon (mh-cbon) Mike Street (mikestreety) Jeff Sittler (mindblender) Mingjie Jiang (mj66) Matt Swensen (mjswensen) Manish Kumar Khedawat (mkkhedawat) Michael (mmmries) shitake (molingyu) Marcel (mtrnord) Murhaf Sousli (murhafsousli) Nathanael Anderson (nathanaela) Ned Batchelder (nedbat) John Nolette (neetjn) Denis Lukov (nexts) Michal Čihař (nijel) njlr (njlr) nkahoang (nkahoang) ntalekt (ntalekt) Olim Saidov (olimsaidov) Omid Rad (omid) Tom Forbes (orf) Yeechan Lu (orzfly) PaddingMe (paddingme) Pedro (pedrohlc) Pedro Piñera Buendía (pepibumur) Peter Schussheim (peterschussheim) Lữ (phamxuanlu) Poly (polyrabbit) Léo Pradel (pradel) Shu Ding (quietshu) Ryan Kennedy (r24y) Raathigeshan Kugarajan (raathigesh) Jérôme Pasquier (rainbru) rajanand ilangovan (rajanand) Rami Jarrar (ramijarrar) Renan Liberato Sant’Ana (renanliberato) Raymond Lee (rlee0525) Randy Neu (rneu31) rnons (rnons) Robin van der Vleuten (robinvdvleuten) Robin Frischmann (rofrischmann) Romain Lanz (romainlanz) Roshan Jossey (roshanjossey) Robert Wagner (rwwagner90) Ryan Haudenschilt (ryanhowdy) Manoel Vilela (ryukinix) Artem Sapegin (sapegin) Sara Vieira (saravieira) Scott Ouellette (scottx611x) Sergey Chikuenok (sergeche) Seth Bergman (sethbergman) Shane M. Pelletier (shanepelletier) Jeff Detmer (shellthor) Shreyas Agarkar (shreyas-a) Simon Kagstrom (simonkagstrom) Samuel Smith (smithsamuelm) Nikita Sobolev (sobolevn) Simo Kinnunen (sorccu) chencheng (云谦) (sorrycc) Sota Sam Yamashtia (sotayamashita) Capuccino (sr229) Weilin Shi (steambap) Steven (styfle) Sunny Singh (sunnysingh) sunoj (sunoj) Alex Saveau (supercilex) satoru (suzaku) Sebastian Werner (swernerx) Collin Henderson (syropian) Tane Piper (tanepiper) Tanner Linsley (tannerlinsley) Connor Hudson (technoboy10) Brandon Hays (tehviking) Terence Ponce (terenceponce) Bert De Geyter (theholywaffle) Mischa Helfenstein (themihel) Mike Nicholson (themikenicholson) Sascha (thenightex) Harminder Virk (thetutlage) Tit Petric (titpetric) TJ Holowaychuk (tj) tntim96 (tntim96) Joshua Zhang (toruta39) Travis Ralston (turt2live) Sun Liang (untsop) Valentin Hervieu (valentinh) Alessandro Arnodo (vesparny) Vinit Kumar (vinitkumar) Vinicius Guedes (vinyguedess) Vishal Telangre (vishaltelangre) Vitor Emanuel Batista (vitorebatista) Garth Mortensen (voldemortensen) Wang Zuo (wangzuo) AJ Webb (webbushka) Whit Jackson (whitj00) NAN (wizard67) Justin Hall (wkovacs64) William Hilton (wmhilton) Fumihiro Xue (xfumihiro) Xheni (xh3n1) Antoni Jan Kępiński (xxczaki) M.Yasoob Ullah Khalid ☺ (yasoob) yetone (yetone) Zorex Salvo (zorexsalvo) If you would like to make a donation to this charity, please visit http://www.a21.org/content/restore/gotl4g Happy Holidays!

230 open source developers donate to fight human trafficking

“Just because you have someone´s email address does not mean they want to hear from you.” — Seth Godin This post is the continuation of a post from this past Sunday, “ and inspired by a post from a few weeks ago, “ ,” in which I forgot to include quite possibly the most important lesson: 52 Life Lessons I Learned By Asking 52 People The Same Question (Part 1)” 38 Lessons That Took Me 38 Years To Learn Instead of asking people what they are watching, ask them what they are reading. If you are reading this post first, keep going. Below are simply my favorite quotes in no particular order from the 52 books that I have been recommended this past year along with what each of them mean to me. In the comment section I would love to learn what you are currently reading or what your favorite quotes are. 52 Lessons from 52 Books as a result of asking 52 people the same question (27–52) 27. “Think about your hero. Do you think of this person as someone with extraordinary abilities who achieved with little effort? Now go find out the truth. Find out the tremendous effort that went into their accomplishment, and admire them more.” Mindset / Carol Dweck Reminder: Most overnight success stories are 10 years in the making. 28. “Greatness is not a function of circumstance. Greatness, it turns out, is largely a matter of conscious choice and discipline.” Good to Great / Jim Collins Reminder: Exciting lives are created by good choices and boring routines. 29. “Life is a helluva lot more fun if you say yes rather than no.” Like A Virgin / Richard Branson Reminder: I met my wife doing something I originally did not want to do. 30. “If you can’t learn, you can’t thrive.” Deep Work / Cal Newport Reminder: Figure out how you learn best and keep auding and making improvements to the process. 31. “The most promising ideas begin from novelty and then add familiarity.” Originals / Adam Grant Reminder: You do not have to reinvent the wheel, just add to the conversation. 32. “What gets measured gets improved.” Built To Last / Jim Collins Reminder: Tracking your health, performance etc, has never been easier, so take advantage. 33. “Just because you have someone´s email address does not mean they want to hear from you.” The Purple Cow / Seth Godin Reminder: Think of how you can help others, not of how they can help you. 34. The Ultimate Elevator Pitch - “Simply create a one-sentence answer to the following four questions: What do you do? What problem do you solve? How are you different? Why should I care?” The Presentation Secrets of Steve Jobs / Carmine Gallo Reminder: You never know who you are going to meet, so be prepared. 35. This is not a quote, but in this book, General George C. Marshall, was referred to as an, “Unnatural Genius,” and it dawned on me that I had never heard that before. Is there a higher compliment? The Road to Character / David Brooks Reminder: Never stop learning, trying new things and meeting new people 36. “Acronym of FAILURE: F — Frustration (you don´t have any answers) A — Aggression (Misdirected) I — Insecurity (You can´t cut it anymore) L — Leadership (You abandon it) U — Undisciplined (You stop practicing fundamentals) R — Resentment (You assume the victim´s role) E — Excuses (It´s everyone´s fault but your own)” Winning Every Day / Lou Holtz Reminder: Most of the time success is found by analyzing and fixing failures. 37. “ .” Ultimately, our progress, our growth, and our happiness comes from our ability to look within ourselves and ask the important questions Happier / Tal Ben Sharar Reminder: The quality of our life is determined by the quality of the questions that we ask others and we ask ourselves. “ ” 38. You need to stretch people to help them achieve their full potential. The most powerful way to do this is by having the courage to say, `I believe in you.´ These four words constitute the most inspirational message a leader can convey. The Score Takes Care of Itself / Bill Walsh Reminder: If you focus on supporting others, people will eventually support you. “ ” 39. Leadership requires two things: a vision of the world that does not yet exist and the ability to communicate it. Start With Why / Simon Sinek Reminder: Think like a philosopher, but communicate like a truck driver. 40. “The only guarantee, ever, is that things will go wrong. The only thing we can use to mitigate this is anticipation. Because the only variable we control completely is ourselves.” The Obstacle Is The Way / Ryan Holiday Reminder: We cannot control what happens, but we can control how we react and respond. 41. “We all fool ourselves from time to time in order to keep our thoughts and beliefs consistent with what we have already done or decided.” Influence / Robert Cialdini Reminder: Operate in reality. 42. “We convince by our presence.” Presence / Amy Cuddy Reminder: Stand up straight and smile. 43. “Positive thinking must be followed by positive doing.” Sometimes You Win, Sometimes You Learn / John Maxwell Reminder: After reading a book or listening to a podcast — do something about it. 44. “Those who succeed in an outstanding way seldom do so before the age of 40. More often, they do not strike their real pace until they are well beyond the age of 50.” Think and Grow Rich / Napoleon Hill Reminder: Life is long. Slow down and keep collecting and connecting your dots. 45. “Being present, paying attention to what’s going on rather than being caught up in your thoughts, can yield immense rewards. When you exhibit presence, those around you feel listened to, respected, and valued.” The Charisma Myth / Olivia Fox Cabane Reminder: Most people are so worried about what they are going to say they do not listen to what is being said. Do not be like most people. 46. “Happiness and success will pass, what endures is creating meaning in your own life and in the lives of others.” Fully Charged / Tom Rath Reminder: Never stop asking yourself how you can make the lives of the people around you better. 47. “For me, happiness is the joy we feel striving after our potential.” The Happiness Advantage / Shawn Achor Reminder: It’s the journey…. 48. “The man who can drive himself further once the effort gets painful is the man who will win.” The Four Minute Mile / Roger Bannister Reminder: What was impossible in the past is normal today. 49. “Work is a rubber ball. If you drop it, it will bounce back. The other four balls: family, health, friends, integrity, are made of glass. If you drop one of these, it will be irrevocably scuffed, nicked, perhaps even shattered.” The One Thing / Gary Keller Reminder: Friend, mother, father, partner, husband, wife is much cooler than any job title. 50. “The easiest thing to sell is truth.” The Power of Broke / Daymond John Reminder: Never work on something you do not believe in. 51. “You buck yourself up with the thought that `this too shall pass,´ but then you remind yourself that it may not pass anytime soon, and so you re-dedicate yourself to making the absolute best of what you have now.” The Little Big Things / Tom Peters Reminder: My wife and son are the only things that matter. Make them smile……at all times. 52. “You and everyone you know are going to be dead soon. And in the short amount of time between here and there, you have a limited amount of f*cks to give. Very few, in fact. And if you go around giving a f*ck about everything and everyone without conscious thought or choice, well, then you’re going to get fucked.” The Subtle Art of Not Giving A F*ck / Mark Manson Reminder: Just because a great writer used a bad word in his title, does not mean you should. And there you have it, my favorite 52 quotes from the 52 books that I have read in the last 52 weeks. Onto the next one. Any recommendations? If you have enjoyed this article, please ❤ or 👏 give it a so other people will see it here on Medium. Truly appreciate the support — means the world. And do not forget to click here to read 52 Life Lessons I Learned By Asking 52 People The Same Question (Part 1) . One Last Thing: If you enjoyed this post — head on over to and sign-up to receive all new posts and 2 free welcome gifts: “ — and “ ” — . www.mikethompsonblog.com 31 Ideas To Spark Creativity in Your Writing” my cheat sheet as a new writer for coming up with things to write about 225 Quotes To Inspire Your Writing #6 from said cheat sheet

52 Life Lesson I Learned By Asking 52 People The Same Question (Part 2 )

In the spirit of getting stuff done, let’s get on with it. 1) Remove Distractions — Notifications, News and Other Nuisances Every time we’re distracted from a task getting back to the job at hand. we waste approx 25 minutes It’s predicted we waste 60 hours a month at work purely because of distractions. 1 out of 10 people admitted to a day! achieving just 30mins of productive output Turn all unnecessary notifications on your phone off. Remove ‘News’ from your life. You don’t need to be the first to know about it (unless it’s your job to know obviously). If it’s important you’ll find out some other less invasive way. Take charge of the next 11 things below, zone in and watch your explode! productivity 2) Prioritise Everything Down to 3 Things Every morning, write down 3 important things to get done and make them clear and specific. Success is the sum of small efforts done day-in day-out — Robert Collier Not but “Research competitors” “Research competitors who offer gardening equipment for the UK market” Not but “Contact bloggers” “Contact bloggers who write and vlog about leadership in the European fashion industry” Clear and specific, is easily and . understood actionable 3) Max 30 Min Meetings There is nothing that cannot be said, discussed, understood and actioned within 30 minutes. . The more information we acquire, the heavier and weightier that knowledge becomes on our minds, which ultimately leads to an inability to retain until we take in and do nothing. Researchers in Texas found that, as humans, we develop a ‘cognitive backlog’ information before they zone out — hence why Ted Talks are approximately this duration too. 10 to 18 minutes is the ideal time to keep someone’s attention A few ideas: — make everyone stand up. The longer you stand, the more uncomfortable you are. The more uncomfortable you are, the more you’ll want the meeting to finish. Take away chairs — they’re inappropriate during any kind of interaction but especially meetings, plus they’re a distraction and quite frankly not needed. Leave phones at the door Everyone should answer this with a max. of 5 words. If everyone’s on the same page, discussions will go quicker. Short and sweet is the perfect mantra here. What are we meeting about? 4) Drink Water Your brain consists of 100 billion neurons and is made up of 75% water. Water increases energy, reduces fatigue, promotes weight loss, flushes out toxins, boosts your immune system and keeps those neurons of yours replenished. 5) Batch Tasks Batching improves productivity because of Neuroplasticity. “ Neuroplasticity is the ‘muscle building’ part of the brain; the things we do often we become stronger better at, what we don’t use fades away. That is the physical basis of why making a thought or action over and over again increases its power. Over time, it becomes automatic; a part of us. We literally become what we think and do.” When you’re putting your task list together, scan over those “next-to-dos” and group similar tasks together. Batching helps you make the most of your pattern of thought and helps build momentum towards nailing those tasks. A bit like streaks, you’ll start hitting a rhythm and becoming more and more productive as you go, optimising your brain with every stride. 6) The Pomodoro Technique 😯 “If you’re not getting measurable results, there’s a strong chance you’re wasting your life, one hour at a time.” Strong but true. There are only 675,450 hours in the average human life. Every hour that’s wasted is an hour you won’t get back. The Pomodoro technique is about breaking down all of the tasks you have into 25 minute blocks. Between each ‘block’ you give yourself a 5–10 minute break, and after every 3 or 4 Pomodoro blocks you take between 15–30 minute breaks. Are you the type of person who likes to jump between projects when your mind wonders; a pro at starting 20 different things but never really nailing any of them? This is definitely one for you to try. Choose your project and gauge a total time to work on it. Set a timer to 25 minutes. Work on the task for 25 minutes. Avoid all distractions and urges to multi-task. a 5 minute break to re-energise (no excuses and no telling yourself “you’re okay” — that’s missing the point). TAKE Start another Pomodoro. After four Pomodoros, a 20–30 minute break. TAKE Repeat. 7) Learn To Say No It’s good to help people, say yes to opportunities, attend events and support friends, colleagues and clients. However, now and again you have to say no. For your own sanity, here are a few ways to respectfully decline: (layers: positive | negative | positive)— The management sandwich “That sounds a great opportunity, but I’m all booked up until [insert date]. I’m happy to put this on my list for then if you like.” Straight up — “I’m so sorry, but I can’t.” Remove all doubt — “I wish I could, but it is just not possible right now. Thank you for thinking of me.” The Helpful ‘No’ — “Thanks, but I can’t. Let me help you find a solution.” It’s not you, it’s me — “Thank you for asking, but I’m not doing any [request made] while I’m working on [project].” if you’re stuck in a difficult situation, this article provides some interesting examples from weddings to lending money. 10 Guilt Free Strategies for Saying No — — who knew there were so many!? 50 ways to say no in different ways and varieties 8) Site Blockers , sites that distract us from a particular task destroy the abilities of even the most proficient multi-taskers. Studies show Block the sites that you find usually pretty useless, but take up a lot of your time. *cough* *cough* Facebook Chrome blocker — Downloaded by nearly 14,000 people Block Site Safari blocker — This one allows you to block sites on Chrome as well as Safari. Waste No Time Firefox blocker — I haven’t tried this one, but it has great reviews. Leech Block 9) Music Boosts Productivity Music gives a soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination and life to everything. — Plato You may find it hard to argue with one of the greatest minds of Ancient Greek philosophy, but actually research now shows you’ll find it impossible to argue with him. , found that where there was a lack of music in the workplace the quality of work was impaired and tasks took longer. A study by Teresa Lesiuk from University of Windsor, Canada Have you ever found that music without lyrics helps you work easier? That’s because when you are affected by numerous noises and differing tones it can cause disturbance in your thought process. However, listening to melodic music helps you regain concentration quicker. show that background music also helps you become more proficient at repetitive tasks but Lesiuk’s research suggests that certain types of music can improve our mood, which may be the more significant factor for improving productivity. Studies If you’re looking to be insanely creative, that ambient noises may be best. research shows “Deep basses and screeching synths might get you energised, but when listening and engaging in deep work, favour a more mellow sound.” 10) Start With Tough or Small Start your day with the most important or hardest task. When we start the day with the most important task, we are able to move into our other tasks for the day with a clear mind and positivity. If you don’t, that BIG thing that you need to do, looms over you for the whole day causing you to procrastinate and never really focus, as you work on the other tasks. If you want to build up to it, start with small easy tasks that don’t need too much effort from you and build momentum towards taking on the important task. Eventually, run into the spike and address the issue. The suns rays do not burn until bought to a focus. 11) Two min rule This is really simple. If something can be done in a couple of minutes. Get onto it straight away. When you come across tasks that are literally 2 minutes, it is better to get them done immediately. Otherwise, you’ll be scheduling for the sake of scheduling and building up things to do in your mind, which will increase anxiety and stress over something that doesn’t need to exist. 12) Listen to Elon Musk. Always. Wherever you’re from, whoever you are and whatever you’re doing, I’d always recommend listening to Elon Musk for advice on productivity, business and pretty much anything in life. his net worth of $15.9bn his hugely influential role across space exploration, electric cars and renewable energies Forget Forget His belief that if, “Something is important enough, even if the odds are against you, you should still do it.” touches on something we should remember to evaluate in ourselves: Is the thing you’re doing interesting to you? Is it important to you? If it’s not, stop those efforts. No productivity hacks will improve things in your life if you hate what you do. Happiness Inspires Productivity — Shawn Achor Community Guy and Co-Founder of . Drop me a line on sam[at]mywondr.co or check out what we’re building and let’s chat :) WONDR

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