Learning to Unplug in the Modern Era.

You've probably already realized this as you read this electronic Blog post, but we are in the "information era", and technology is everywhere. The human race is capable of accomplishing more today than we ever have been in our history. The cell phones that we carry in our pockets today have more computing power than NASA did when they sent astronauts to the moon. While this allows us to accomplish more in our daily lives we are also so inundated with technology that sometimes it's hard to unplug. If technology has taken over your life, make sure that you are taking a few moments each day to unplug, and find moments that allow you to have "quiet time", time without having to worry about the next e-mail, or status update. There are a few simple ways to work in some "mental health moments" into your daily life.

Take Time to Collect Your Thoughts:

If you’re serious about becoming a wealthy, powerful, sophisticated, healthy, influential, cultured and unique individual, keep a journal.” -Jim Rohn

Taking the time to keep a journal, which I learned the art of from my mentor Jim Rohn, can be a integral part of maintaining a healthy mindset. One of the best ways to organize the sometimes fractured and chaotic thoughts in your head can be putting them on paper to allow you the time to sort them out. Writing your journal can become a healthy and relaxing habit to add into your daily life.

Reexamine Your Technology Habits:



 One of the most important aspects of introducing a little bit of mental clarity into your daily life is stepping away from your technology. When you step away, take some time to make a genuine and honest evaluation of your use of that technology. Honesty with yourself is key here, fudging something is going to hurt no one but yourself. Evaluate your habits with technology and determine whether or not you NEED to spend the amount of time with technology that you are, or if it simply has become a habit. Brainstorm on ways to increase your productivity  could you be getting more done in less time? Do you NEED to check your Facebook, or can you shut it down at the end of the day? Are emails that come in after business hours important, or could they be handled in the morning? These are questions that only you can answer.

Get in Touch With Your REAL Interests:

As you are taking your time away from your technology, in addition to examining your patterns, decide what is most important in your life and commit more time to those activities. Consider taking a vacation, this doesn't have to even be a physical vacation where you leave town, but simply a vacation from your technology. Turning off all of your devices for the weekend can be an amazingly freeing experience. Most of all though concentrate on revitalizing and rejuvenating yourself in what ever manner is most productive for you.

"Men cannot see their reflection in running water, but only in still water. Only that which is itself still can still the seekers of stillness. . . . If water derives lucidity from stillness, how much more the faculties of the mind? The mind of the sage, being in repose, becomes the mirror of the universe."Chuang Tzu


"To the mind that is still, the whole universe surrenders." Lao Tzu


Technology isn't going anywhere, so to avoid burning out it is vital that you put into motion a plan to balance your technology usage with mental health and sanity time. While productivity is the most frequent argument against spending time away from technology the plain and simple truth is that if you do not take care of yourself, you won't be able to take care of your responsibilities.

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Are you Setting SMART Goals?

“You are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream.” 
― C.S. Lewis

One of the best suggestions ever made to me in both my personal and professional life was to set SMART Goals, if you're hearing this for the first time I'm sure your reaction was much like mine "of course I set smart goals, why would I set stupid goals?"Well SMART goals don't exactly refer to the overall intelligence behind the goal although if you follow SMART guidelines you'll almost certainly find yourself with smart goals!

SMART Goal-setting is all about following some simple guidelines set out by the acronym SMART.

S- Specific: Truly great goal setting is characterized by the fact that it is specific in nature. By this I mean that setting a goal of "being more successful this year" is not nearly as powerful as "I'm going to obtain 1 million in new business, and expand into 2 new markets this year". Paulo Cuelho (author of The Devil and Miss Prym) put it well when he said “Whenever you want to achieve something, keep your eyes open, concentrate and make sure you know exactly what it is you want. No one can hit their target with their eyes closed.” 

M- Measurable: Make sure that you can keep track of your goal so that you can, at whatever measure of time is appropriate, see if you are on course and adjust your course accordingly. That means that whenever is necessary be it daily, weekly, monthly, or quarterly  sit down and examine your progress towards your chosen goal. Take the time to really go through it and see exactly where you are, and what you can do to improve your progress towards this goal. Consider posting something to help you keep track of your goal, much as a charity would keep track of their progress towards a fundraising goal. This can serve as a helpful daily reminder of your goal and your progress towards it. 

A- Attainable: While this particular portion of the acronym is sandwiched in the middle, it is one that is missed more often than not, especially by small business owners, or inexperienced goal-setters of any kind. While I may start a new company tomorrow, the potential of me building a billion dollar business could definitely be there, but the potential of me having a billion dollar business by the end of the week is probably not there. If this is something that you are struggling with for your business contacting your industry's relevant trade organization in order to find a mean growth rate for like businesses would be a good idea.

R- Relevant: Set Relevant goals, this ties in with Attainable goals, be aware of how the current environment around you is going to affect your decision. For example, if you'd like to run outside everyday this year, but you live in Northern Michigan and will have 4+ feet of snow on ground for months of the winter, perhaps you should rethink your goal to simply "running everyday" that way you could run inside during the winter months and go back outside when the weather is more amenable to running. For business goals, be aware of the economic environment, how many others are you going to be competing with, what is the prevailing economic weather, all of these will factor into setting a relevant goal. 

T- Time-Based: Goals simply are not going to get accomplished if you do not set a time frame in which they need to be completed. Setting this time frame allows you to measure your goal as we discussed earlier, and track your progress towards it. 

Using this basic acronym in creating your goals will help you in both your personal and professional life. So next time you set a goal make sure to ask yourself "Am I setting a SMART goal?" 



“If you're bored with life, if you don't get up every morning with a burning desire to do things, you don't have enough goals.” 
― Lou Holtz

“If you're trying to be miserable, it's important you don't have any goals. No school goals, personal goals, family goals. Your only objective each day should be to inhale and exhale for sixteen hours before you go to bed again. Don't read anything informative, don't listen to anything useful, don't do anything productive. If you start achieving goals, you might start to feel a sense of excitement, then you might want to set another goal, and then your miserable mornings are through. To maintain your misery, the idea of crossing off your goals should never cross your mind.” 
― John Bytheway



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Possibility

Recently I was asked in a facebook group to come up with "power words" or phrases that were affecting my life, and while I think I was able to adequately answer the question, one word has been tugging at my psyche ever since this was mentioned. 

That word is "Possibility". While it seems such a simple term, I think too many of us today dismiss "possibility" as something that doesn't wholly impact us and our day to day lives. We too easily allow ourselves to be placed into a box of conformity and normalcy that restricts and limits what we are attempting to accomplish. I say that carefully because little outside of our own selves can control what we are capable of, or what is indeed "possible" for us. 

What I have begun to ask myself each and every day when I wake up is what am I going to allow to be a possibility this day, what I am going to make happen, and spending a few moments reassuring myself that nothing can stop me. 

I would encourage each of you that reads this to do the same, or something similar, stop listening to negativity outside of yourself, stop placing yourself inside a box of what's "possible" for you, for truly there is no limit to what you are capable of doing.