LOVE YOUR LIFE!
with Nate Truman

Are you productive, or just busy? 4 steps to get back on track!

Friday, October 23rd, 2009

“Doing nothing is better than being busy doing nothing”

Lao Tzu

I am always busy, but I am not always productive.  I think many people take great pride in being busy.  It’s like saying “look at me, I must be important as there is just not enough of me to go around, so many people need me and my time.”  

What I really want is to be PRODUCTIVE, not busy.   If you are addicted to being busy, here are 4 steps  to help you move from just being busy, to getting things done.

1. Have a plan!  If you don’t know what you want to accomplish, your day will be spent on distractions.  Email, what to have for lunch, that stain on your clothes, office politics, Google image searches, and shuffling papers can fill your day.  You may even feel like you accomplished something because at the end of your day you are tired, and you were BUSY all day long!   To stay productive you need a short list of items you want to accomplish in plain view taped where you have to look at it all day, and allow that list to redirect you every time you see it.  Check you goal “compass” throughout the day to stay on course!

2. Do it completely the first time.  Don’t write or ask imprecise questions that then create new questions.  Ask for specific information or instructions, and then repeat it back to make sure you heard what was said.  Just trading something back and forth is being busy.  Completing the task is being productive.

3. Stop giving away your “life gold.”  If you don’t value your time and attention, advertisers, and unfocused people will steal your life gold.  You have so many minutes to live, so start asking yourself before you start taking on a task “Is this worth my life gold?”   Lao Tzu  understood this  when he said “Doing nothing is better than being busy doing nothing.”  I would rather enjoy the beauty of watching the wind rustle through the trees while letting my mind go blank, than sit in a meeting that I don’t need to be at, or managing email.  When you are dead, no one will say “Wow, her email inbox was almost empty!”    If you can’t be actually productive, don’t wear yourself out with busy work, stop and recharge your batteries. 

4. Simplify everything!  Say “NO” to requests if they do not help you focus on your goals.  Reduce your possessions to those that you actually use.  Each possession will take more life gold.  You have to care for it, repair it, polish it, dust it, and remember where you put it.  Choose any new possession carefully, as it quite possibly will be with you for a lifetime.  Say yes to opportunities or charitable requests that will allow you to be productive in areas of interest that touches your heart.  Volunteering for a church or school event isn’t busy work if you heart and mind agree it’s a good use of your life gold.

Furiously answering emails and engaging in office politics may seem like you are getting something done, but in the end, if nothing changes due to your efforts it’s just busy work.  Start making small observations and changes each day to focus on what you want to produce with your time and effort.  Visualize a shinny gold coin dropping out of your pocket every 10 minutes when you catch yourself being distracted from your chosen goals.  You can’t have that life gold back, it’s gone.  You spent it!   Now decide what you want to spend your next irreplaceable gold coin on!   Ingrain this mind picture into your daily life and it can help you spend your days more wisely on the goals and people that you have decided are truly important to you.  If you spend your life gold consistently on ONLY those goals and people that are important to you, you will be truly productive every day!

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Why Paying it Forward, Pays Big Dividends!

Thursday, September 10th, 2009

by Nate Truman

Let us not become weary in doing good,

 for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.

Galatians 6:9 NIV

“What’s in it for me?”  If this is the first question that pops into your head anytime you hear about an opportunity, you need a new question.   We all know people who always want to get their “cut” before you are finished explaining your idea to them.  Do you want to deal with that kind of person, or better yet, do people think of you as “that guy?”

There is nothing wrong with looking at opportunities, both personal and professional, to see if it’s beneficial for you.  However, if anytime a friend asks a favor or someone at work needs a ride in the other direction your first reaction is “how does that benefit me?” it’s time for you to make a change, and enjoy paying it forward.

The concept has been around a long time with the old adage, “do unto others, as you would have them do unto you” but most people add to that statement in their heads that others should do something helpful FIRST before you do.  

The idea was dramatized a few years ago in a movie with the title “Pay it forward” starring Helen Hunt and Kevin Spacey.   A young boy decides he can change the world by paying it forward.  He does three good deeds and he tells those three people that they should do three good deeds for others as repayment.  That one gesture of good will ends up spreading good deeds across the country.

So how does this work for you? Simple. You start first!  Volunteer at your favorite charity.  Ask to do an errand for an elderly person in your life, or take them out to lunch.  Start a program in your Church or school that people have been saying “someone should do something about…”    Help a friend or a friend’s friend move.  Don’t just lend someone your tools, go help.  If someone tells you they are out of work, take their resume, and actually help get them an interview at your company, or make sure it gets to someone you know that can help.  Plan a special dinner for your spouse or a fun secret outing for the family.  Before you know it, you will be getting your investment back two or three fold.   

Here is what will happen after just doing a few “no profit” favors for others in your life.  First, those that you did a favor for will start treating you more nicely.  Who doesn’t like that? Next, they will try and return the favor somehow.   Great!   If you don’t need any help from that person, suggest to them to pay it forward to someone else.  It really is infectious. 

You may be saying to yourself right now that people will just take advantage of you. Yes, some will take your help with out even a thank you.  What’s the worst that can happen in that situation?  Now they owe you a favor.  That sort of person will probably try and avoid you so you don’t ask them to return the favor. Great!  You did a kind act, move on. 

I have been investing in PIF (pay it forward) for some time, and the dividends not only keep growing, they show up in the most amazing ways!   People’s lives are happier and deals that never would have happened get done with a handshake.   I have helped people that are just acquaintances buy or sell big ticket items, get a job, get a pass into a special event, help a mother with a special need kid and many other similar favors with absolutely no interest in any return of the favor.  It makes me feel great, and I find myself wanting to do it again.  Often times just knowing you made a difference in someone’s life is reward enough.

The only problem is, the return on my investment keeps coming back in unexpected ways.  After awhile people know you have the heart to help others, and they start offering to help you.  Opportunities strangely crop up because of a favor you did months or years ago.

For me the best payback is seeing someone who has gone from just hanging on, to becoming alive again and is now helping others in their area of influence.  If you want massive return on your investments in life, pay it forward and watch the magic grow.

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Tags: balanced living, better living, destiny, Dreams, Goals, HABITS, happiness, Health and Fitness, Influence, integrity, Legacy, life mastery, motivation, Sales, self helpFriendship, Serendipity, smile, Uncategorized
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LIFE’S ULTIMATE GOAL!

Thursday, August 20th, 2009

By Nate Truman

“The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched. They must be felt with the heart.”
Helen Keller

Money, power, fame, sex.  Do you want these things?  I don’t believe you do.

You don’t want money or power; you want the security and freedom they allow you in life. 

You don’t want fame or attention from the opposite sex; you want the confidence and pleasure you believe they would bring you.  

So I will grant you all of your desires right now.  With or without money and power, you have the same level of  security that you will be alive tomorrow.  So you have as much security as the rich and powerful.  You have all the freedom you want, as you must choose how to spend your infinite now just like the richest and most powerful persons on the planet.   If anything, money and power rob you of  much of your freedom and time each day.  You are an amazing creation, unlike any other in the universe.  There is no reason for you to not be supremely secure in the understanding that you have a purpose to fulfill, and you have the freedom to pursue it with or without  riches or an exaulted postion.

Fame and beauty are so fleeting they often come and go, and leave the recipients more insecure than they were before.   So instead I give you the understanding that you can decide right this moment to be as confidant as you want to be.  Confidence is a decision.

You can get in touch with your inner beauty and share it with the world.   When she was alive, Mother Theresa in physical terms would not be  considered beautiful, but I dare you to look at photos of her and not see her inner beauty shining out of her eyes!  

In your mind, was Helen Keller cursed or blessed by being born blind, deaf and “dumb?”  She understood that even a silent and dark world was filled with beauty that could not be seen or heard or touched.

You have a connection to the universe inside of your heart.  You must release yourself from striving after goals that, in the end, are no more than dissipating smoke. Then you can begin to identify those needs you truly have for enjoying this gift of life. Only then will you be pursuing  Life’s Ultimate  Goal.

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Tags: balanced living, better living, destiny, Dreams, Goals, HABITS, happiness, Health and Fitness, Influence, integrity, Legacy, life mastery, motivation, Sales, self helpFriendship, Serendipity, smile, Uncategorized
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HOW TO WRITE YOUR PERSONAL MISSION STATEMENT

Monday, August 10th, 2009

by Nate Truman

“How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world.”  Anne Frank

A personal mission statement gives you clarity of purpose.  Most corporations have them, but unless they are the written down vision of a single person who started the company, they often become politically correct mumbo jumbo and that’s not what I am talking about here. You are going to create a short, clear sentence that defines who you are and who you want to be in the future.

To start you off, here are some short, clear examples of corporate statements.

3M – “To solve unsolved problems innovatively”
Mary Kay Cosmetics – “To give unlimited opportunity to women.”
Merck  – “To preserve and improve human life.”
Wal-Mart – “To give ordinary folk the chance to buy the same thing as rich people.”
Walt Disney – “To make people happy.”

Your mission should answer the following questions: Why are you here? What impact do you want to make when you get up every day?

You should also ponder your vision of your future, when composing your statement.  Where do you want to be in the future? 5 years, 10 years? Where do you see yourself at that time?  What changes can you see being made after years of your focus in a new direction?

The last item to include in your thinking is your values.  They are your rule book, so to make sure you don’t trample your core beliefs in your effort to move toward your vision, also keep those in front of you as you form your personal mission statement.

Then connect all three as a single message.  If you can make it as short as possible, it will be easier to keep in your head to redirect you when you wander off track during your day.   Don’t get stuck trying to write the “perfect” mission statement, it will change over your life’s journey. 

I think you will find that spending just a few minutes on creating a “slogan” for your life, you will gain a new clarity of purpose that you didn’t have before.   If you have a favorite quote that resonates with all of these elements, use it as your personal statement, or change it so it calls you to action.

  I have personalized a quote from Gandhi that keeps me more focused:

“I must be the change I want to see in the world.”

It calls me to action, it holds me accountable, and it applies in every aspect of my life.  Feel free to use it for yourself!  The quote from Anne Frank at the beginning has also been useful to me over the years.  It too keeps me focused on the positive change I can dedicate myself too and that I can start right now.   

Currently my personal mission statements are the following:

Today I have been given the gift of life; I will open it, enjoy it, and treasure it.

The longer one is “Spend each infinite now as best I can to leave the world a better, happier, love filled place.”

Enjoy the process of defining your personal mission statement.  Once you refine it so that each time you read it, it has the effect of correcting your life’s heading with renewed vigor, you will have found your “magic” words to keep you living out your dream life.

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Tags: balanced living, better living, destiny, Dreams, Goals, HABITS, happiness, Health and Fitness, Influence, integrity, Legacy, life mastery, motivation, Sales, self helpFriendship, Serendipity, smile, Uncategorized
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WHY YOU SHOULD SET WORLD CHANGING GOALS!

Friday, August 7th, 2009

by Nate Truman

“The greater danger for most of us lies not in setting our aim too high and falling short; but in setting our aim too low, and achieving our mark.”

Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni

If you want to take command of your one and only time here on Earth, the most important step is to have a set of clear, written goals.  I have read over many sets of other people’s goals, and 95% of them are standard wants and desires for items or situations that most people would agree could be a goal of theirs.  Financial security, weight loss or increased fitness, career success, bigger and better homes, cars, and so on.   Personal improvement goals and security or luxury goals do point you in a direction of action that will have you end up in a better situation than when you started.   

However, if you get out your list of written goals, and look at the long range goals, do they excite you into action?  Does the thought of eating small portions of egg whites and working out 3 hours a day to get to your “perfect” body fat percentage in 6 months bring a grin of anticipation to your face?  Or how about denying yourself any fun spending for 20 years so you can retire at some early age to then be able to do nothing all day and gloat about it to those still working?

Don’t get me wrong, I am all for implementing self discipline to achieve personal goals like these.  But how many people have had the above goals on their lists, only to give them lip service, or occasional effort?  Why is that?  The answer is simple, it’s because the goals are self oriented, and ultimately not compelling.

Now if you had a “world changing goal” at the top of these same goals, it changes everything.   It is all about whom you are doing them for, and why, that will create constant an enthusiastic  action.

Let’s suppose that you have a motivation to change a wrong in this world, or create a solution to a problem or situation that would literally change lives if you achieved it, even partially?   What if you needed the stamina that only a healthy body could give you, to be able to pursue that goal?  What if you managed to contribute so much at your job, or create something, that the money would flow to you, allowing you to retire from your daily job, so you could devote all of your waking hours to helping even more? 

From what I have read about Michelangelo, he was tireless, and always had more projects he wanted to achieve than he had time to do.  Bill Gates was tireless in dominating the computer world and the internet until that became too small of a goal for him, and now he’s tackling world problems.

 Bill Gates solving problems on a world scale

As far as I know, neither Michelangelo, nor Bill Gates is known for their rock hard abs.  Bill does have a pretty big house, but it wasn’t his long term goal.  It was a result of solving problems, and creating new ideas.  Michelangelo had money problems at times in his life, but relaxing in a big comfortable home was not his drive.   He worked tirelessly to release as much of the art and imagination that was in his soul as he could each day.   

I think Bill Gates is happier now, than when he was at the top of his game in the competitive world of computers.  Instead of his top goal of trying to dominate markets, his newer world changing goals are solving problems that help others.  He has always been driven to solve problems, but now his end goal, his driving force is motivated not by winning, or having the most money and stock, but by helping millions around the world live a healthier, more prosperous life. 

 When your over riding goal changes from looking good, and having things to impress others, to staying fit and using your things to help others, true happiness is achieved.   Abs and a mansion for you, or millions of healthy, better educated children because you lived?  Which of these goals would motivate you more?   In the end, which end result is truly more impressive?

I know, we don’t all have the talent of Michelangelo, or the resources of Mr. Gates.  But what if you modified your long term goals in your area of influence, to help one student? Support one great teacher with supplies, or started a movement to solve a problem in your town? Once you focus on how your contribution can help elevate and improve other people’s lives, you will change your part of the world, and leave a legacy that will bring you happiness. 

A world goal will outlive you, in ways you can not even dream of.  So write out your true inner motivation for each goal on your list.  Next, cross off a few that are only motivated by self centered desires.  Lastly, create your first world changing goal right now, and take the first small step of action before the day is over.  The universe only has one “you” to do the good that only you are in position to do. 

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Tags: balanced living, better living, destiny, Dreams, Goals, HABITS, happiness, Health and Fitness, Influence, integrity, Legacy, life mastery, motivation, Sales, self helpFriendship, Serendipity, smile, Uncategorized
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THE 3 MOST IMPORTANT GOALS OF YOUR LIFE

Tuesday, August 4th, 2009

by Nate Truman

“There is no chance, no destiny, no fate,
that can circumvent or hinder or control
the firm resolve of a determined soul.”
Ella Wheeler Wilcox

WRITTEN GOALS WORK.
They will set you on a course that you choose. With written goals, you can alter your heading and they will help steer you in a whole new direction. If you currently have goals that you know you will accomplish, I know you all ready have a written list of goals. They probably include long term goals, short term goals, personal goals, fitness goals, spiritual goals, as well as financial and career goals.

But even if you have worked hard at defining what you want in all of these categories, and are checking them off one by one, you may find yourself frustrated. If you sense that the “life ladder” you are busy climbing is possibly leaning against the wrong wall, you need to look at the three most important goals of your life.

Most goal setting programs ask you to write out your hearts desires, in different areas of your life. What kind of house do you want? What are you driving? Who are your future friends? What is your job title? How much money do you have in the bank? I call these the “froth” goals. They may seem to be the end desires and results that are the goals of your life, but they are not.

The three most important goals are global goals, and all of the “froth” goals are the end results of where your global goals point you. Just to be clear, a froth goal would be really nice deck chairs, on a luxury yacht, compared to the global goals of your heading and destination and why you want to get there. Getting there is half the fun, but not when you arrive someplace you didn’t ever want to go to!

GOAL #1 LIVE A LIFE OF INTEGRITY. To end up in a place of true accomplishment and happiness, you must have a goal of personal and professional integrity. If your “froth” goal is one of great wealth, I can tell you that if you pursue that goal without the guiding goal of personal and professional integrity, it will not bring you happiness. Check over you goals and make sure that none of your goals would involve cheating or hurting others to get what you want.

GOAL #2 DISCOVER YOUR DESTINY. In my early goal setting sessions, I wrote down all sorts of goals that the world had told me were “impressive.” There was only one big problem, they were not MY goals.
Until you work out what God has called you to do in life, you will swim against that current as hard as you can, but you will never arrive where the universe needs you to be. You have an inner love, a preset internal goal that has always been with you. How many parents have “planned” what sort of children they will raise together, only to discover that they came into this world fully programmed with their personality and direction for life? Spend some quiet time looking over your written goals, but also look for the larger unwritten goal. What specific global goal do you want to be using your time on Earth working towards?

GOAL #3 CHOOSE YOUR LEGACY. The last goal that you must have clearly in your mind is the answer to this question: What will your legacy be? What will remain after you are dead and gone? The spark of immortality seems to be inside each of us, and the idea of death seems more like a concept, even though everything tells us we will die, we seem to disbelieve it. You think you are going to live forever, and so far so good, right?
Well, to truly have all your limited time put to its best use, you must stop and ponder this question of what you will leave behind. For some it will be healthy, well loved children, improved lives because you were involved, or an endowment for a specific charity that played a part in your life. I don’t mean for you to set some sort of goal to get your name chiseled in stone, I want you to think long and hard about what sort of ripple you desire to have made in the lives you touched along your path. 100 years from now, no one will care about your body fat percentage, or if you had the latest clothes. Pay it forward, and invest in something that will outlast you.

Once you have a firm set of the three most important goals in your life, you can enjoy the journey, and the nice deck chairs, knowing you are headed in your true direction.

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