Daily Ramblings – Motivation Monday – People

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Artists, Authors, Books, family, Friends, Legends, mentors, motivation, Writers

You know in all the motivation postings I’ve put up, I fail to mention people. So this one is dedicated to all the people that motivated me throughout my life.

We all have them. We have families. We have friends. We have husbands and wives, besties, and even colleagues at work or in our particular profession.

Two of my biggest motivators are David Allen and Stephen Covey. David Allen wrote the book Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress Free Productivity. Stephen Covey wrote the book The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. They are both terrific books that I refer to all the time.

My wife is also a motivator. I want to do well for her. When I was working, I was motivated by my fellow soldiers or colleagues at work. I wanted to do my part on the team.

Who has been your motivator? Any books, any songs, any poetry, or artists that get you going? What about your family and friends. Is there anyone you can think of that really drives you to do what you do?

If you’re like me, you have had plenty of people who have added value to your life, simply because they motivated you to do something you didn’t think you could do, or they showed you something that made a huge difference in your life. For me, Allen and Covey were those people. I didn’t know them, other than from reading their books, but boy, they impacted how I do things today.

Well, that’s all I got for now! Have a great Monday, all!

Until next time…

Dave

Daily Ramblings – Motivation Monday – Simplify

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Flexibility, Flexible, motivation, One Note, Simplify, To-do List, Todoist, Toodledo, Wunderlist

Have you ever dealt with an out of control to-do list? I have. I start out with a basic to-do list with the mandatory, “do not miss” things. Then, over time, the list grows and grows and grows some more. Before you know it, I’ve got a daily to-do list that has grown way out of control and I begin to dread even opening it up. So yesterday, I took some time out to consolidate, reorganize, and trim down that monstrosity.

Once I did, the motivation to tackle the daily to-do list returned.

If you have an out-of-control to-do list like I did, take some time to consolidate and reorganize your list. Here’s an example of what I’m talking about: Read the Bible Daily, read book A, read Book B, etc. Take these three items and combine them into read daily.

You can do this with all “like” tasks and trim down your list. You aren’t missing anything, but this gives you the flexibility to not read every single thing you have tagged for reading. Some days you’ll read for hours. On other busier days, you’ll read for 15 minutes. The list is flexible and allows you to dedicate the time you have to reading something, but not reading all of it.

I hope this helps you. If you like to have every single detail on your to-do list, don’t change it. What works for me, may not work for you. I like having a simple to-do list, that allows me maximum flexibility. You may not want to forget one thing and that’s ok.

Have a great Monday, folks!

Until next time…

Dave

Daily Ramblings – Motivation Monday – Motivational Music

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Inspiring, Legendary, Monday, motivation, Music, Powerful, Visionary, YouTube

I think you’ll agree with me when I say that music can inspire us. This is a music track that lasts about an hour, but you only have to listen to this for a few minutes. Try it out. This pumped me up after about 2 minutes.

I wanted to change it up a bit today, so enjoy!

Have a great Monday, folks!

Until next time…

Dave

Daily Ramblings – Motivation Monday – Labor Day

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Break up monotony, Celebrate, Do Nothing Day, focus on one thing, motivation, play games, Put together a puzzle, Read a great book, Rebel, Relax, Spend time with family or friends, watch tv

If you’ve read my blog for any length of time, you know I have a “do nothing day” each week on Sunday. I also take Holidays and do the same thing from time-to-time. Why? It’s nice to have a single rebellious day where I delete my daily schedule, check off all of to-do items without doing them, and just do whatever the heck I want to. It’s a nice break. It is also a great way to allow a little freedom into what would normally be a very tedious schedule.

So, for those of you who celebrate Labor Day today. Take the day off. Put your projects to the side, turn off your calendar reminders, and just do whatever the heck you want to. Enjoy the day. Be spontaneous. Anything that is away from your daily routine to allow yourself some downtime and satisfy the rebel in you.

Happy Labor Day, folks!

Until next time…

Dave

Daily Ramblings – Motivation Monday – Rewards

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Games, Monday, motivation, Movies, Naps, Reading, Rewards, To-do List

Another big motivator is a reward. You do something hard, reward yourself. You finish your to-do list, reward yourself. You accomplish a goal, reward yourself.

Rewards motivate us to do the things we’ve tasked ourselves with and give us something to look forward to. When I finish a task on my list, I play some games. I love video games, so this reward motivates me to get my stuff done, so I can play. The reward must be something you look forward to. It has to be your favorite thing, whether it’s a nap, a snack, television show, or some other thing. The reward must be worth the work you do or this tactic will not motivate you.

So if you have a long list of to-dos, spread out your rewards throughout the day. Knock out five tasks and take a nap. Knock out five more and watch your favorite show. I like to sprinkle rewards throughout the day because it keeps me rolling along. There is always something to look forward to.

Happy Monday, folks!

Until next time…

Dave

Daily Ramblings – Motivation Monday – Learning

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Google, inspiration, Learning, motivation, Presentation, problem, Udemy, YouTube

There is an event I was supposed to give a presentation to, but had to back out because of my family situation. To meet my obligation, I created a PowerPoint presentation that I converted into a video. All in PowerPoint! How did I do this? I learned how.

Whenever we are presented with a problem, particularly one that we do not know how to solve, we tend to procrastinate. I know I did. But, I solved the problem by taking a PowerPoint course on Udemy. Here’s the link: https://www.udemy.com/share/102gUM3@UBmn5-rxpk4mJ0JGZ6ZORLDOZi4WjMZqTbztQLkb_ZxR2E8NJcUAXIZ8NbEYeZ3f/

Motivation to learn is sometimes driven by what we need to do. I had a presentation to give. Others may have other tasks, but not know how to do what they need to know. Where does one go? For me, my “go to” is either YouTube or Udemy. I always gravitate toward Udemy because I enjoy learning in a step-by-step manner, which most of the instructors on Udemy use in their courses.

You may search through blogs, search YouTube, or just do an internet search in general. My brother used a YouTube video to replace a bad garbage disposal once.

So, if you have a problem, which involves learning something, get online and start looking around. You’ll find the answer. Once you’ve learned what you need to, motivation to get the task done takes care of itself. I could not wait to put my presentation together. The folks running the retreat I was supposed to attend, got the presentation and loved it.

Well, that’s it for today, folks. Motivation improves when we know what we need to do, and more importantly how to do it.

Have a great Monday, folks.

Until next time…

Dave

Daily Ramblings – Motivation Monday – Perfectionism

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Arthur Ashe, Completed, Done, Finished, Mark Zuckerberg, Monday, motivation, Perfectionism, Procrastination

“Start where you are. Use what you have. Do what you can.”

Arthur Ashe

Arthur refers to doing something, rather than avoiding action until everything is perfect. Perfectionism is a horrible problem, particularly when it comes to doing something you want to do. I have read many articles about this, primarily when it comes to writing, but this pertains to everything. I used to be a perfectionist, and it sucks. Can you guess what I got done? Not much.

Do the best you can with what you have. If you don’t know everything, that’s ok. Do what you can, learn some, and then do some more. It is really that simple. Yet, there are still some out there who are skeptical. That’s ok.

“Done is better than perfect.” – Mark Zuckerberg.

When you think about people like Zuckerberg, Gates, Jobs, you think productivity, right? You think about how the heck do they do all the stuff they do every day? I do. It’s because they do what they can, with what they have–now.

Try stepping out of your comfort zone, if you are a perfectionist. Just get whatever job you’re doing done, skipping over the perfectionist stuff that will delay this. How do you feel when you’ve finished? How does it feel to check that off your to-do list?

Well, that’s all I got for now. I hope you have a great Monday.

Until next time…

Dave

Daily Ramblings – Motivation Monday – The Right Tools and Delegation

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delegation, job, Monday, motivation, Productivity, Responsibility, tasks, Tools

Ever try to do something with the wrong tool? It’s frustrating isn’t it? Not only does it anger you while you are doing the task, you either avoid or dread having to do that task again. Having the right tool for the job is critical to motivation.

When I was working, I loved my job, but also loved the tools I used to do my job. I love a good tablet, phone, computer, and office gear. There’s nothing like digging into your work with a favorite tune playing on your phone with earbuds in, of course. There’s nothing like having a second screen with great apps on your tablet.

Regardless of what you do, there are tools available to complete the job. If you have the right ones–tools you really look forward to using–the job is even easier and actually kind of fun. It’s even more important when you are doing a new job or task. Investigate the tools others use to do a job. You’ll find that they use specific types of tools that make the job super easy. This combination of both fun and easy make the jobs or tasks ahead an absolute breeze.

Obviously, there are some jobs you just dread doing. They are boring, tedious, and do not take a lot of mental effort to complete. If you have staff working for you, delegate some of these tasks so that they can learn some of your job. It is your job as a leader to train your replacement, right? So, lighten your burden and pass off those tasks that others can do just as well as you can. This frees you up to focus on what you love to do, and gets the other jobs completed. Just remember: Delegation does not give up responsibility.

Recently, I had to put together some posters with QR codes for an event in Ann Arbor, Michigan. My organization was running a booth at their annual Art Fair. I did not have the tool to separate the first page of an e-book (PDF), but my sister did. She needs it for her job as a loan officer. She knocked out 7 PDFs in about 2 minutes. A last-minute request required me to do one more poster. Only this time, my sister was too busy to get it done in the time I had to get it done. Did I throw my sister under the bus and drop the ball? No. I found the tools I needed, and got the job done. I was responsible for getting this done for the event, not my sister. You see? I needed the right tool, and although I delegated the task to my sister, I was ultimately responsible for getting this done.

Well, that’s it for today, folks.

Have a great Monday!!

Until next time…

Dave

Daily Ramblings – Motivation Monday – Getting sick

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demotivator, habits, Headache, Monday, motivation, Sickness, To-dos

The ultimate demotivator is being sick. I woke this morning with a headache that is still with me. It’s hard to be motivated about anything when you aren’t feeling well. Yet, I am still completing the days tasks. Why you ask? They are all habits.

Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

I can still work on my book, post to this blog, and do what I need to, yet, if I am really sick, the whole thing gets put aside with no guilt. Why again do you ask? Because my daily to-do list is ingrained. I miss a day or two, the habits are still strong enough to help me get the things done that I committed to on my daily to-do list.

Photo by Breakingpic on Pexels.com

Obviously, take care of yourself. If you don’t feel well, take care of it by staying in bed, taking some medication, or get into the doctor. Also realize that sickness is a huge demotivator that will impact your ability to get the things done you obligated yourself to.

We all get sick. There’s no getting around that in the human condition. When there are things you consider critical to your life, you’ll gut through them, simply because they are habits. Habits, good or bad, are hard to break. So establish those habits while your healthy, and you’ll still be able to keep going when you aren’t feeling that great.

Have a great day, folks! The Aleve I took is kicking in now, and I feel a heck of a lot better.

Until next time…

Dave

Daily Ramblings – Motivation Monday – Exciting Projects

Tags

change, Excitement, Life, Love, Monday, motivation, passion

There’s nothing more motivating than working on something that you enjoy doing. The motivation is internal, because you enjoy it, you are good at it, and it feels great when you’ve accomplished something that fits all these parameters. It’s hard to be demotivated when you are doing something you enjoy.

Photo by Andrea Piacquadio on Pexels.com

Many of you highlight your love of quilting, woodworking, you name it. Are you ever unmotivated to do that thing that wakes you up in the morning? I know I am not. When I am working on my book or learning something new, it is just so easy for me to get to work. Now, I’m not a professional writer by any stretch of the imagination. I write for me.

Photo by Thijs van der Weide on Pexels.com

Perhaps you do woodworking like my blogging friend does, for the sheer love of the project and how a new piece will serve your family and add to the decor of your place. Perhaps you enjoy gardening like my Mom does. Each year it is one project after another to get those healthy, fresh vegetables to the dinner table, but each year, despite her age, she is out there in that garden. Why? Because all of the people I have described have a passion for these things.

Photo by Daria Shevtsova on Pexels.com

If you ever find yourself having some issues with a favorite project. The project starts to lose its excitement and your passion is wilting on the vine. Take a break from it. There’s no harm in taking some time off from one of your favorite things. Life can also get in the way. Illness in the family, and perhaps other issues, are stepping on your ability to really enjoy your favorite project because you have so many pressing needs. That’s ok too. We all need to take care of ourselves.

Photo by Min An on Pexels.com

Life also causes us to change. Maybe writing is no longer your thing. Maybe gardening is becoming too much now that the kids are out of the house. Perhaps, you have changed your interest area. That’s ok too. Go with it. There’s no rule in the book about how long we stay interested and passionate about a thing we’re doing. The only rule is one we create for ourselves.

Photo by Craig Adderley on Pexels.com

Have a great Monday, folks. Here’s to all of our favorite projects and the motivation and passion that go along with it.

Until next time…

Dave