John Muir
All Wildness is finer than Tameness.
Category Archives: Misc
Regrets, I’ve had a few…
I’m in my mid-forties now, and you can’t live that long without making a few mistakes. Poor choices of words in a delicate situation, making a wrong career move, and bad money decisions early in my married life are just a few things I look back on with a cringe. Here are 3 ways I have used to get past regret in my life.
Realize that you are normal
If you hold yourself to a standard of unattainable perfection, you can live with guilt and anxiety your entire life. I once worked with someone who made a significant error on the monthly financial reports. She was a great employee, and had never made a mistake worth mentioning in the time she worked with me. She alerted me to the mistake, we fixed it, and moved on. There were no consequences, and there was no need for any discipline. But, she couldn’t let it go, and ended up crying in her office the rest of the day. Everyone is going to makes mistakes from time to time. Which leads me to the next point –
Don’t let your past mistakes define you
I’ve heard it said that everyone is a product of their decisions made up to today, and I believe that to be largely true. I would add, however, that how we deal with the consequences from those decisions reveals our character and makeup. Every personality type deals with mistakes differently. You may be inclined to blow them off, or you may internalize them. Internalizing guilt and shame can even lead to physical issues. Mistakes are going to be a part of your past, but don’t make them who you are. Learn what you need to from them and move on.
Always look 5 to 10 years into the future
One of the best pieces of advice I have been given, and one I give out regularly, is to make every decision with a view of 5 to 10 years into the future. If you want to save more money, change your career, or finally lose that weight, seeing how that decision impacts your life down the road can really add motivation, and make any mistakes seem small and recoverable.
Seeing ways that we can move past regret for past mistakes or poor decisions can help you make better choices in the future, and be a happier, more productive person. How do you get past prior mistakes? Leave a comment, and don’t forget to share!
Spring Cleaning!
I hate Spring. Before you come after me with pitchforks and torches, I know I’m in the minority here. I know I am supposed to look forward to the beauty and rebirth of the blah, blah, blah, but I just don’t get it. To me, Spring is a time of allergies, higher humidity, tax season woes, and the realization that despite what my neighbor’s lights say, Christmas is over. But, it is also a good time to take inventory and do some spring cleaning!
If you know me at all, you know that I am a neat freak. While never diagnosed as Obsessive-Compulsive, I’ve been told that I have “tendencies”. Not enough to be debilitating, but just enough to keep things organized. So, in order to put my disfunction to work for you, let’s hit three areas to work on to keep you running in top shape.
1) Your Computer (Mac)
Over time, your computer gets so clogged with all kinds of cruft, broken links, and general ickiness that it regularly needs a good sweep. To that end, I give you CleanMyMac 2. This lovely application will quickly scan your system and remove unnecessary cached files and broken links. It even optimizes your iPhoto library. I run it regularly, and I usually gain about 500mb of free space each time. Not too shabby. If you want to go even deeper, look at Onyx. It optimizes things I had never heard of before, and gives you several customizable options.
CleanMyMac 2 has a beautiful interface, and is very easy to use.
Onyx is extremely powerful.
2) Your File Cabinet
People have been saying for years that we will see the paperless office. Most have not achieved it, but I can tell you that for a small business, it is entirely possible. Start with a scanner (I use the Fujitsu ScanSnap S1300i Mobile Document Scanner
3) Your Office and Desk
Empty your trash. Take empty coffee cups to the kitchen. Get a wet rag and wipe up that sticky spot that has been there for weeks. Now, take everything off of your desk and wipe it down. As you put things back, ask yourself, “Does this NEED to be on my desk?” Brainstorm for a while about changing your setup. I have found sometimes just rearranging things on my desk can spark some creativity. Keep things minimal. I have my computer setup, scanner, printer (rarely used) and a picture of my wife on my desk. That’s it. Clear your desk, clear your mind.
She loves me so.
Following just a few regular routines like this can keep your small business office (and mind) clear for more creative thinking and planning. If you ever need any assistance, give me a shout!
What are some of your cleaning rituals that help you focus on the more important things? Leave a comment, and don’t forget to share this post with your friends!
The Best Facebook Tweak Ever!
Is your Facebook news feed crowded with useless ads? Do game requests make you want to punch a baby? Do you have friends constantly on a political rant, or are selling something you care nothing about? Have no fear! I have the answer.
Enter F.B. Purity. F.B. (Fluff Busting) Purity is a Facebook customizing browser extension. You can get it for free (donations accepted) for Safari, Google Chrome, Firefox, Opera, and Maxthon browsers (no Internet Explorer, but why would you use that anyway?). F.B. Purity allows you to customize the Facebook experience so you only see the information relevant to you.
If you are like me, you want to scan through your news feed, like or comment on friend’s posts, and get out. I have no interest in games, irrelevant ads, and the myriad of game and application spam that crowd my news feed. With F.B. Purity, you can completely eliminate anything you don’t want to see. Simply install the extension and go to Facebook. You will see a new line beneath the status update box:
Clicking on the F.B. Purity link opens the options menu. Poke around with the options to get the look that you want. It took me about ten minutes from start to finish. My favorite: The Custom Text Filter. This sucker is magical. If you are tired of your friends commenting on the President (positively or negatively), simply type “Obama” in the filter box. Any post with the word “Obama” will not appear in your news feed. Have a friend who sells a product you don’t want to engage with? Type the name of the product in the filter, and you won’t see any posts containing that product name in your news feed, but will still see all others from that friend! Friendship preserved.
As you can see in the picture above, you can see the number of posts that have been hidden, and you can click the Show link to view them if you wish. In ten simple minutes, I went from the regular crazy busy Facebook page to a lean news feed that allows me to use Facebook as I wish, and ignore everything else.
If you are looking for more tips and tricks, I have a FREE e-book for you with the tools I use to run my business. Click here to get it. Please leave a comment and share this post with your friends!
Are You Doing Work You Love?
It seems that most people assume that you have to work at a job that you hate and then stay at that job (hopefully) for the next forty years.
It is a myth.
A few years ago, I came across Dan Miller and his 48 Days To The Work You Love and No More Dreaded Mondays books and I have to say, it has changed the way I view my work now.
I thought you might like to check out the site as well.
Let me know what you think. It has worked for many people, and they share a ton of interesting success stories on the site.