I get a kick out of smiling a big smile and saying HI! to runners and walkers and watching their stunned reaction!

It only takes about a week and then they smile back without a delay – it’s too funny.

Keep with it – nothing succeeds like success!

Just read your 12 for 2012 posting. Many of the points truly resonate with me and I am making “Be Here”, Admit Fault First” and “Declutter my Life” my focus and priority for 2012 and have already started on the “declutter” this year and considerably benefited from the positive impact of doing so.

Take Care and best wishes for 2012.
Gary

Just read your 12 for 2012 posting. Many of the points truly resonate with me and I am making “Be Here”, Admit Fault First” and “Declutter my Life” my focus and priority for 2012 and have already started on the “declutter” this year and considerably benefited from the positive impact of doing so.

Take Care and best wishes for 2012.
Gary

Here’s my best advice for de-cluttering.
1. Don’t put it on a list, instead do 5 minutes right now.
2. Don’t move, remove. Have the recycle bin and garbage bag at the ready and be ruthless. (read Chapter 1 and 2 from Gretchen Rubin’s Great book The Happiness Project)
3. Celebrate the small changes.

This habit is one that always makes me happy!

Thanks for the note!

I think that there are so many things that we undervalue as we chase after more “stuff” to fill our day, life and mind.
I was listening to Jian Ghomeshi’s interview (www.CBC.ca/Q) this AM with Clay Johnson (author “Information Diet”) and getting even more inspiration to have less in my mental RAM.

Stick with it and (as always) celebrate the results!

Thanks Hugh!

Thank you so much for taking the time to blog these tips Hugh!

I’m with you. Sometimes we just need to be back to the simplicity of silence. I know if I keep the ‘buzz’ on all day it feels like I haven’t had a break.

Here’s to a bit a silence in our life!

I have been practicing “empty the mental RAM”. I cancelled the internet at home (and don’t have a tv). I don’t even turn music on when I get home. It’s incredible what a restful place my home has become!

Hope you are well.

I think this is such a great example of how one activity is not an addition, but a subtraction from our load. I find the same thing with raking the leaves, walking the dog and taking my girls shopping. These are such simple activities that they make my day easier, even though they are on the list as “task.”

Thanks for sharing.

re: Empty the mental RAM – I’ve discovered that coaching my son’s hocky team is a great mental release.

I find myself thinking about the team, rather than my work during the evenings and week-ends. It is a very good mental break/holiday.

This is great! What a cool way to challenge yourself and learn from someone new. All too often I have thought about talking with someone that my intuition pointed me to but haven’t – opportunity lost. When I have reached out it has always been positive.
“Kid, you’ll move mountains! Today is your day! Your mountain is waiting. So…get on your way!” – Dr. Seuss

I think you will get a kick out of the next 3!

This is great and I’m now feeling guilty that I drive my daughters to school. I must stop feeling so sympathetic about the 30 lbs of books and bulging packpacks.

Thanks for this!

Thanks for this! I know that the SMART acronym is often dismissed as being hackneyed, but it still works.

Without wanting to break the mold, here is a provocative variation: Change the R to “Risky”, in other words, make sure that the goals is a stretch goal that creates some tension from where you are (present state) to where you want to go (future state). Jim Collins does a great treatment of this in Good to Great when he talks about the race to the moon with Kennedy.

Thanks again for this.

What a great way to start the day! I find that if there is one quick way to shift my mood it is to look at what I can do for others. Thanks for sharing.

I know what you mean(!) I am finding that the down times with my feet up reading a good book or walking my dog (instead of pounding off a one hour training run) are more fulfilling than ever.

I love the anchor to brushing your teeth. This is a brilliant way to make your habits happen everyday by combining them with something you know you will do! Thanks for sharing that (I’m thinking there are loads of other daily routines we could anchor our affirmations to.)

The second part of this annual intention is, while I brush my teeth at night, to be grateful for something specific that happened that day. Last night it was for an opportunity to socialize with some friends.

Tethering your iphone is pretty handy, especially when you are in public spaces and want to work on your macbook. Here’ s a link that will walk you through it. The neat thing is that once you have done it once (like with WIFI) the next time you macbook will recognize the phone and link it up.
http://www.iphoneincanada.ca/tips-tricks/how-to-tether-iphone-3g3gs-over-usbbluetooth-on-3-0-firmware/

A Happy and Healthy 2012!
Renee

I think that as amazing as Dropbox, Evernote are we need to keep remembering that the best tools are the ones that are all around us, like a well written book.

Glad it brought you a good laugh!

I really appreciate your note and honesty!

Hugh

I love that note about the empty Inbox! You are on your way to effectiveness (now all you have to do is remove it completely and really have them guessing!)

On another note: a colleague came by my desk yesterday and said “what’s wrong with your inbox?” It was basically empty, thanks to one of your workshops I attended years ago, and she did not understand how it was possible! Thank you for that! : ) Siobhan

I agree, it is a little like ADD. In fact Dr. Ed Hallowell (author of books like Crazy Busy) does claim to see many people that exhibit signs of ADD in their adult years as a result of their frenetic lifestyle.

The good news is that the anecdote is simple: stop doing once in a while throughout the day and get back to reflective thinking and single-tasking!

I think that every time we can get a team to ‘look in the same’ direction is a good thing. I also like to check in with a team after a process like this and get feedback on the process itself. A simple question like “Was this a useful process for you?” followed by “How do you think this will help us?” can be a great wrap up to the conversation.

Thanks for the comment.

I notice that sometimes the simple processes are the most effective. That double benefit that I see constantly happen is that the team is more effective and the awareness of expectations has been raised.

Thanks for the comment.