About Me: Making furniture is an art. For an excellent outcome and comfortable experience, it demands skill, commitment, knowledge. For years I have been an artist, living with a passion. Cynthia, my love my wife… holding me up always. Taking very good care of me and my family…
Start with some soul searching. Look into your innermost desire. Ask yourself what result you expect. Are you passionate about it? Activate your brain and reflect on your goals. Be clear and passionate about it. Lastly, design your plans to achieve your goal. Plans are essential, can be modified, and should be evaluated often.
A common acronym used in goal setting is SMART, which has evolved to the SMARTER criteria. SMART stands for specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and time-bound. SMARTER stands for specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, time-bound, evaluate, and reevaluate.
Please refer to the book for more details on this activity.
Asking myself very badly - what do I seek.. what would make me happy? I want to bring out the creative side of me I guess. Where to start from?
Knowledge acquisition as well as personal growth and personal development are vital attributes needed for success.
For business
That is a good one.. I am old school and things are dso advanced right now that either I have to change and improve myself or quit it atogether. What should I do? I picked up a few books today from the bookstore to figure out a way anf my kid is telling me he saw some wonder wave table.. I got to see that now.
The plan also included specific details on ownership, office management, a financial plan, and a two-year pro forma.
Just like an individual needs a personal growth plan, every business also needs a business growth plan in order to remain successful and to keep up with the dynamics of the business itself.
I think I lacked some planning skills when I was trying to set up my own workshop. It didn't work well. I thought I would retire, but Not going to give up.. I will study, learn and plan it out.
Not just gardening, there are several things that I have commited to myself. Trying to define my expectations from my friends, family, life and myself. Sound vagues; actually it's put to put into words.
For some time I have been working on gardening. Now it is more of a passion that I want to grow as much food as possible in my backyard only. I have got seeds of eggplant - some chili and lemon seedlings. I need to plan it properperly now - so that I can use my small area wisely and most efficiently.
Make a conscious effort to develop yourself. Add new qualities to your life. Personal improvement means improving on the skills that you already have or on a specific area of your life.
Bringing positivity in my outlook and adding some humor is something I really need to work on.
Imagine yourself striving continuously to get to that end point or result. That’s the meaning of goal driven. Setting goals is a very fundamental compliment for achieving long-term success.
1. Set clear goals.
2. Make a specific plan.
3. Set timelines.
4. Prioritize.
5. Stay focused.
6. Track progress.
7. Celebrate goal achievement.
Define clear goals in line with the mission of the company.
• Establish the process to achieve the goals.
• Set realistic timelines.
• Review performance regularly.
• Manage and measure accountability.
• Monitor progress.
• Determine Rewards/ bonuses.
I am trying to develop something new out of the existing ones. May be I can just just come up something AWESOME! New dimensions to explore, giving my skills a new idea to focus on!
I am stable in my life when it comes to profession. However, I am lacking satisfaction. So, I am trying to figure out and set some realistic goals. And meanwhile also checking out the goals in an artist's life.
1. Plan. Every evening, plan your day ahead. Make a list of all tasks and items you must complete the following day. Prioritize your list and complete important items first.
2. Focus your mind on one single task at a time. Develop this skill and ability to direct your mind fully to one task at a time. Master the art of mental focus by taking control over your mind and being aware of what your mind is focusing on.
3. Develop a habit of narrowing your focus with determined intensity on one key item at a time. Keep your attention zeroed in on only one single task for at least sixty to ninety minutes each time. Taking a five- to ten-minute break every sixty minutes will improve your performance.
4. Eliminate distraction from the environment. Don’t allow intrusive distractions, such as text messages, pages, and phone calls, to interrupt your focus. So in order to stay focused, you must find and make a habit of shutting down these distractions that may be intruding into your focus or slowing down or limiting your productivity.
5. Eliminate intrusive thoughts. Avoid the habit of allowing your mind to travel around while you are focusing on a different task. When you learn how to focus, your mind you will also learn how to use it effectively to complete the tasks that you have on hand.
1. Take charge of yourself. You are responsible. Don’t allow anyone to take charge of your life.
2. Laugh. Keep a good sense of humor as often as possible. It will certainly contribute to your happiness.
3. Think positive. Commit yourself to always thinking in positive ways. Feel your mind with positive things. Don’t dwell on negativity.
4. Input. Control and reduce the amount of negative input that you receive. The world around us feeds us with a lot of negativity. Make every effort to stay clear of these kinds of input. They can have a negative impact on our mind-sets.
5. Gratitude. Be grateful every day for everything that you have. Being thankful for yourself or your life, for your relationships, and for the your situation in life is critical to helping you appreciate the abundance that you have.
6. Health. Taking care of your body will enable you to have a positive mind. Exercise is known to release happy hormones that will help give us a positive mind-set. Avoid ingesting toxins that can affect your thought process, like drugs and alcohol.
7. Less worry. Make every effort not to dwell on negative things that happened to you. You cannot control life. But you can control how you react to life. Worrying and dwelling on things that you cannot control will do nothing but create a negative mind-set.
8. Relationships. Take inventory of your relationships. Stick with those that elevate you to the next levels. Turn away from people who lack the capacity to see value in you. Distance yourself from people who consistently try to bring you down.
9. Smile. Smiling gives other people a good impression about you. Remember people’s expressions as you tend to mirror your expressions at them.
10. Life. Embrace life the way it is. Focus your mind on things that are important to you. Love yourself and live life fully with everything that you have right now. Control your reactions to events around you. Keep in mind that life is a journey and it is important that we live it.
Trying to worry less these days.. Whenever bad thoughts coming up I am keeping myself busy with some work even games. It diverts my mind.
In 50's when you have less energy, you have more negativity in your mind. I ought to worry less. Scheduling worry time.
Seven Steps That Helped Me Develop Courage
1. Dream big. The courage to dream and set goals can be challenging, but it is worthwhile and will help you develop courage.
2. Step out of your comfort zone. The courage of stretching one’s self a little into a brand-new zones which we have never explored, will give us new confidence and hence the courage to reach new heights.
3. Face your fears. Running away consistently from situations that cause stress and anxiety that we must deal with is the worst outcome possible. So we must resolve to accept negative outcomes and take action to correct these.
4. Take responsibility for your actions and results. Being committed to achieving your goals and your dreams also comes with the responsibility of becoming faced with any outcome. Facing this reality will help you develop courage.
5. Be ready to make mistakes. Remember that in everything you do, you must realize that you will make a mistake, but be ready to learn from their mistakes and have the courage to understand that if you make a mistake, it is simply that mistake. Learn from it and move on.
6. Be independent. Learning to stand on your own and facing new challenges will help you develop courage. Repeatedly leaning on others or looking to others for support in every decision that you make will limit or reduce your ability to become courageous.
7. Be confident. Be comfortable and confident with the choices that you make. Have faith in yourself. Teach yourself as well as those around you the benefit of self-confidence and perseverance because most of the time the outcome is courage
Courage is the key to success or anything else that you do in life. First for you need to have the courage to take responsibility of your actions and words. This is something that I have always believed in and truly follow. Whatever be the result I am glad that I had the courage toto acce things including my faults, mistakes as well as achievements.
I need courage to make a new beginning find new way new ideas. When my love is with me and I am able to work; I can make a new beginning every day.
Courage can win me a battle .. but the most difficult part is to have confidence in me.. Crafty stuffs don't always have future, but now I am going to have the confidence and turn the table around...
I believe I need to move towards my dreams, cross all fears ... It is all about having courage.
Tips that helped me stay consistent.
1. Do it.
2. Do it even when the going gets tough.
3. Do it even when you are tired.
4. Do it regardless.
5. Do it every day.
It is actually important...I have been so wrong .. I just gave up .. I have been so inconsistent. But not any more. I will try today, tomorrow, day after tomorrow and the day after that until I achieve my dreams.
I was done with fever.. I couldnt do much, but hated to miss my yoga session. I managed to get up even if its for 5 minutes but I did it! I am happy that I have been consistent!
Keeping things as simple and as straightforward and practical as possible is important.
Step1. Strategic planning must be in line with the business goals and mission. This deals with the long-term goals of the company.
Step2. Tactical planning, on the other hand, deals which short-term goals and specific actions necessary to achieve those goals and objectives outlined in the strategic plan.
Step3. Operational planning deals with the direct day-to-day functioning of the company itself. Operational planning determines all the goals outlined in that tactical plan of the company.
Checking out a few templates to write a business plan.
1. You must know your goals.
2. Plan your day ahead— every day. Write it down.
3. Establish priorities.
4. Tackle tough and important jobs first.
5. Schedule “block times” of thirty to sixty minutes when you are not to be interrupted so you can work on a major task.
6. Divide large tasks into smaller ones and then tackle them one at a time until they are all done.
7. Delegate to others tasks that you are not expert in.
8. Hire a personal assistant.
9. List similar tasks together so they are completed at the same time.
10. Use idle time wisely, for example to clean and organize your desk and to plan for the next day.
11. De-clutter your desk.
12. Don’t be a perfectionist.
13. Avoid procrastinating.
14. Limit the number of meetings you have every day.
15. Learn to say no to tasks that are not related to your goals.
16. Learn to say no to yourself.
17. Minimize socializing at work.
18. Avoid micro-management.
19. Take a break when you need to. Rest so that you are not exhausted and emotionally drained.
Improve your efficiency with a healthy lifestyle. Eat healthy, and exercise regularly.
1. Develop clear goals.
2. Plan. Develop a roadmap to accomplish your goals.
3. Model commitment to your goals.
4. Record your thoughts in a journal.
5. Track your progress.
6. Think about your results.
7. Give your employees challenging responsibilities incrementally.
8. Keep a journal of your progress.
9. Invest time and money wisely.
10. Review your work regularly.
I review my day and my work daily. This is something I have been doing since I was a kid.
Areas to focus
1. Faith
2. Finances
3. Character
4. Relationships
5. Career
6. Health
7. Attitude
8. Personality
9. Communication
10. Learning
11. Goal setting
12. Time management
Time management is something I had to work on.. But now I am doing good. Managing it well, spending quality time with myself.
Marketing procedures
Slowly, I am learning the art of marketing.. try out my hands at the social media these days. I am glad - getting great response as well. Inspires me to make inventions -some mordern style furnitures - space saving and classy.
I picked this up - email marketing for some of my wood art. Thinking to put up a sale next weekend but that depends on the response I get from my email marketing campaign.
Trying to follow the beginner's guide for an email marketing campaign from KISSmetrics.com.
Four simple steps.
1. Determine your needs.
2. Assess the resources available to you.
3. Rank the resources in order of usefulness to you.
4. Make or allow the time to use the resources.
Bonus Steps
5. Implement and train on the resources.
6. Maintain the technology and evaluate its effectiveness.
I accept that I am pretty dated I am not so Technology driven. I still prefer the traditional way of doing things - I prefer reading books rather than kindles or ebooks. It's high time that I accept the new changes because not everything is bad. there are so many great inventions that has been very useful for human kind. I just need to accept.
It is a laborious thing to get all the resources noted and getting them sorted according to their usefulness. Trying it hard.
Create workplace environment
1. Make each employee’s anniversary with your company an achievement and a special occasion. When employee anniversaries are celebrated, coworkers are excited and overall employee morale is boosted. Employee happiness is critical to the success of your business.
2. Employee motivation, a path for growth, and a flexible family work environment also build the strength of a small, family-oriented company.
3. Turnover is not necessary a bad thing. So it is important to get the bad employees out of the company so that they do not destroy your company.
4. An employee handbook is one of the first introductions that an employee will have to the general policies and procedures in a company. Make sure your employee handbook gives clear and precise guidelines on expectations from your employees. Most large companies or businesses should have an employee management committee or a human resources department.
Improve Employees’ Productivity
1. Ensure adequate new employee orientation.
2. Provide meaningful feedback.
3. Provide your employees adequate tools to perform their jobs.
4. Train employees on a safe work environment.
5. Design employee incentives.
6. Keep employees and managers accountable.
7. Identify areas that need improvement.
8. Identify areas for employee advancement.
9. Keep your employees informed and educated about new products.
10. Share performance data.
11. Allow some flexibility with work hours.
12. Train employees on how to handle difficult customers.
13. Invest in formal training programs.
14. Model the behavior you want to see in your employees.
Yes, I need to train my team on interacting with clients. So important for I myself cannot be everywhere so I need to have my others hands. Thinking to take a few mock sessions as well. I will get an idea how they are going to perform before they hit the pitch.
Ten Steps to Developing Healthy Relationships
1. Know yourself.
2. Be respectful.
3. Be giving, not always receiving.
4. Nurture your relationships.
5. Be accepting of the other person’s perspective.
6. Watch your words and take responsibility for them.
7. Communicate your thoughts.
8. Don’t bring stress into your relationships.
9. Be a good listener.
10. Be honest.
In the last 30 years of our marriage, struggles and hardship, we have seen so much together but all these small things (which are hard to put down into words) has helped us to be strong. It still feels like we met yesterday only.
It is important to communicate our thoughts. Otherwise, we suffer thinking why our partner doesn't understand us..
Crazy, but true.
Ten Steps to Stay Motivated in Accomplishing Your Goals and Your Dreams
1. Dream and dream big.
2. Identify your goal.
3. Research and study.
4. Step out of your comfort zone.
5. Shake off the negativity.
6. Make a plan and put your plan into action.
7. Enjoy your achievements.
8. Be persistent.
9. Believe in yourself.
10. Be consistent.
I am an old school guy.. And going to step out of my comfort zone and make an effort to match up the present trend. I may be able to beat them all, but going to make it a tough competition at least..
I am in my 50's. I am old enough to be matured, young enough to fight..
I would add a few things to it- reading motivational stuffs. Meditation - a calm mind is creative and motivated!
How to add Recreation
1. Planning. Be intentional about adding recreation to your daily schedule.
2. Time management. Effective time management helps create more time for recreation.
3. Eliminate unnecessary activities that sap your time and energy.
4. Don’t wait for a “huge time block to be available.” Work with what you have.
5. Learn to say no to things that are thrown at you that you cannot handle.
Several years passed, now I am in my late 50s. I always said to myself, I have to work now. I will rest tomorrow. That tomorrow never came.
It's sunday. Going out with my family and few other friends and their family for a picnic. It would be a change for us and kids will get sometime to be with nature.
Watched X-men:Apocalypse with my family...
Great time with caramel popcorn.
Not only kids, but even adults have the right to play and relax... They too need it for so many reasons. I just find out a bunck of benefits here. Take a look.
1. Change your mind-set. It starts with you. You make the choice. Give yourself a reality check. Only you have the power to believe in yourself and take the necessary steps.
2. Set goals long and short term.
3. Set up an accountability system.
4. Exercise three to four times a week.
5. Stop smoking.
6. Eat five to six small healthy meals daily.
7. Work toward a healthy weight.
8. Know your numbers: blood pressure, blood sugar, and blood cholesterol.
9. Reduce stress.
10. Plan your meals.
I have started having a healthy balanced diet. Workout and meditate daily. Oral hygiene is in my priority list.
Good investments for your morning ritual include:
Please refer to the blog for more details on this activity.
My investment is really paying me well - it is time for returns. My tomato plants are getting heavied down with bunch f tomatoes. Got roses.
Couldn't be happier than this.
Working on a few things that I wanted to do for a long time but failed to do so. Finally, my morning routine helped me to do so.
It is going so great, now I feel so energetic and motivated from the morning!
I work out and meditate in the morning.
Not sure what I will do but I guess I will work out and then get along with my daily chores. So that I have some free time in the afternoon.
I think, I would do something positive with the extra time. I would go out for a walk and do some gardening.
Oh yes I will exercise that is why I need to wake up early.
This great tool, first proposed by Steve Pavlina, forces you to focus on the hardest part of changing behaviors–getting through the initial conditioning phase.
Yes yes yes... I did it!
I tried it December last year but failed miserably. This is my second try - I am working to make a homestead. I also get a chance to change the look of my home. As my kids wake up, doing these thing get tough so I am enjoying my morning hours.
It has been more that one and a half months.. I think I have got habituated but still cant dismiss the idea of enjoying a late morning.
Not being long, but tried it for 4 days. Rest of the days I slept till 8 am. It's harder than I thought!
It's 2 weeks now and I guess I am still doing good!
For the last 1 week I am waking uo at 6.30 am. It gave me enough time to tidy up myself and get some work out. Really happy about that, but it is still not a habit.
By getting yourself moving you can boost your heart rate, making it easier to keep from falling back to sleep.
I have kept my alarm at the other end my room - so I actually have to walk down the walk to silent it. Next to it, is my washroom. I go and get a cold splash and I am awake.
I have always failed at it. I think I neve gave it my best shot - but enough is enough. I will be up at 6 am from now.
I have this problem to stay awake. Always tend fall asleep. After this activity, I could easily get to my normal morning routine without feeling tired or sleepy.
A brilliant way to prevent my eyes from shutting down!
I remember I have been bullied around in my high school for being weak. I never participated in any sports even.. (never got selcted in the team). So this morning routine has helped me alot. I am working out and I actually look good. I feel confident to go and talk to the girls as well.
Much more flexible! It has also improved my stamina.. Not that old anymore!
Gaining strength - it's what I wanted to do!
I do light low-intensity work outs.
It really works like a miracle. Hope it works even in the fall.
Though I generally love sit back on the couck with a cup of coffee, but I think that is where I was going wrong. I will stretch for 5 minutes as soon as the alarm rings! I promise to myself.
It is taking me less effort to get going and not to fall asleep. I in fact feel so energized and active.16 days more to go...
There was a time, when no alarm to wake me up and now the same guy is showing up way too early. I was depressed, but things are changing for good ... and yes as soon the alarm rings I don't stay on the bed. I did hit the door couple of times but that is still okay. A hard blow that wakes me up is still appreciated!
Don’t delay your ritual by eating breakfast, answering e-mail or having a shower.
I have eliminated the unimportant so no need to procrastinate. I clean up as soon as I do the mess, Saves me time in the morning.
I really do a lot of things that are unimportant like cleaning up last nights mess, taking a cup of coffee and reading books for almost an hour. I am too lazy that is why probably my days end in a big ZERO.
Okay, I will work it out.
Why wasting time doing the unimportant things first? As I realized, I saved quality time for myself!
I have always focus on the unimportant things so far! This is something new that I have learned! As I skipped everythign I got more time to workout in the morning.
The fit thing that I do after getting up is to get fresh and then go for a brisk walk.
Changed my usual morning ritual... I am actually having more than an hour in my hand by 10am. After I work out, I take a shower and eat breakfast. I guess I am super-fast now, not lazy! Bottom line is; it worked great for me.
If you write down exactly when you’ll wake up and what you’ll do when you wake up it’s easy to go back on your commitment.
I do maintain a journal, as well as a white board! It is really motivating and pushes me to do it even if I am feeling low.
I don't need this write up anymore. It is a habit now - A GOOD HABIT!
We remember visuals better.So,writing it down helped me a lot to remember my motto and kept me focused.
New year, new resolution - content change not hte habit.
It works like a reminder and as I am closing to a month of following I really don't require much of a push.. I think it is becoming my habit now. Really Glad!
6.30 am in big bold letters!
Through out this one month I have never failed. It kept me motivated.
I will wake up at 6.30am and do some yoga.
Written in big bold letters and pinned to the front wall of my bed! I see it, and know I have to get out of the bed. It works like some driving force acting against my will craving to sleep.. Hahaha..
I have written it down and sticked it at two places. 1. on my bedside table - right beside my alarm clock.
2. on the refrigerator.
Stick to your wake-up time or investment plan for the whole thirty days. If you skip a day or two throughout the trial you sabotage your efforts in making the habit stick.
Another fail! I am getting furious now!
I lost the track on the day count - but I am really enjoyinh this now. I go for a walk, do meditation/ pranayam then get to my organic kitchen garden. I have so many plans for the coming year! Staying consistent...Enjoying it most.
Yes! I always fail at this .. But I am still trying not to put myself down!
I have been consistent for 35 days.
For the ast 20 days I am waking up early.. Yes, I did fail a couple of days, but I wasn't well. But didn't waste another day with that excuse. Just being consistent.
This should be so obvious it doesn’t need mentioning, but it’s easy to setup a habit because you feel you should rather than you really want to. Pick an investment that you’ll be really happy about waking up an hour earlier to work on.
Writing something on my journey so far..
I tried planting tomato with the tomato slices, scallions, carrots! They turned out so well - really happy with my organic garden!
Oops! Sorry I never shared what I have intended to do in clear words. But I have been pretty skinny, I used to avoid going out even.. However, I have never been an obese person. I decide to stop being introvert and work on my physical look as well as my confidence level. I started with workout, dietery changes and I have gained 10 pounds in last few weeks.
I have worked on my lil' kitchen garden.. celery, herbs, tomato...
Got some help from youtube !!
I used to do painting as a kid. So I have decided to do a bit og workout and then paint ...
Truly inspiring!! I wanna paint something like this but totally out of practice.
I started doing a bit of gardening now as well. Loved to set up small garden in my backyard.
It’s not just fishing or reading or gardening. What important is that you get some good think time —particularly if you’re shy. A focused consciousness can actually decelerate us. Relaxation lets our minds stroll into the sorts of fresh links that prompt breakthroughs.
Life has changed. Few things happened as I planned, manyhtings didn't. I never realized it till now. Today, I was near the lake in the noon- I was so lost that I didn't notice it got dark. Never mind, I felt relaxed today.
Whether you walk outdoors or on a treadmill or around the city blocks, it can still spark creative thinking in you and trigger an innovative breakthrough.
I walked in the evening these days... feels nice.
Creating a breakthrough is a serious business, however, don’t dismiss play as something unimportant. It nurtures mind and motivates our mind to think in new unexplored ways.
I don't play beach ball or basket ball. I am good with a chess game! Brainstorming! :)
As we work on a problem, we get closer to it, but it can restrict our outlook. However, as we look at the problem at a distance, we discover several new angles and approaches to work better on it.
When positive, people can solve problems better and the grip of attention loosens that time and the filtered out motivation and ideas have a better influence on our problem solving mindset.
Creativity doesn't always come from a single mind. Sometime outside suggestions can ignite some marvelous work especially if it is from someone familiar.
We hate limitations but some can help us focus and challenge us to perform with limited resources. Forcing our creative process, it can trigger nice breakthroughs.
Getting some sleep can help us sort out the important thing from the non-important ones. Try to perform all the creative task first thing in the morning after a good night sleep.
Saving the creative tasks for morning! That's why I struggle so much in the second half of the day!
We can't get a breakthrough whenever we want so we need to be persistent. It is seen that people generally give their best work at the later stage of the entire creative process – by that time most of the people tend to quit.
If you are still thinking you can't trigger a breakthrough that simply try imagining yourself being creative. It might help.
It hurts when you give someone something but they react in an unpleasant way. For some people it is just the price tage and brands, and not the emotions behind. Thank Goodness, my kids are not like them.
Neither can I control past the future it is now I can control live and cherish but human beings are always running after things that they cannot control. I always teach tell my son to live in the moment, to live in present because that is what I do. I am happy!
Life doesn't create problems in our life, it is our intellect, our mind that throw problems. You cannot be in control of your life if you are not in control of your mind. Most of the time people including me think at that it's all fate - it's all our badluck but alone desire or thoughts cannot decide our lives. There are negative self talk, mindset, negative-thinking that pull our confidence, enthusiasm and energy down. We feel helpless. We cannot change things around us if we cannot change things in us. It took me long to realize but at the age of 60 I finally got it.
A road trip; Me and Cynthia were planning for over a year for this. Now is the chance. We were free beyond words. This expereince has been so refreshing. I wish if we had done this earlier and more often. But as it says, better be late than never. Age doesn't matter when you have the energy to start over again.
Human beings tend to control everything and when they fail your just mess up their own life. I used to control a lot of things in my fail. Took me years of failure to stop controlling everything. Now, it is much more peaceful.
I have stopped watching news. However, I do read news whenever I can but watching them kills all my positvie enegery and makes me low!
Very minutes I stopped caring about the past, things that I did... I felt better. We say we lay the foundation of our future self. But miss to follow that.