Increase The Force with a Mind Mapping Resource

Posted on February 10, 2012 by btsandwich

: Cut the crap with a map

I recently posted about the exact method to breaking down goals into smaller manageable chunks, so you can achieve them, using Tony Buzan’s Mind Map technique. That was nice of me wasn’t it?! Not long after writing that post I came across some free mind mapping software called FreeMind (there is a download link in that page) so I thought I’d share it with you. It’s not shiny and sparkly but it does the job perfectly and costs nothing (did I just mention that twice?). If you check it out and decide to use it… USE it. You will see definite improvements in your goal achieving activities.

Click here to view the post for exactly how and why to plan the achieving of your goals using a mind map.

Use it to stay on course and annihilate your goals, systematically. As a bonus, you’ll probably find that while you’re building out your mind map, you’ll get yourself into a really systematic, problem solving mindset and will come up with ideas and strategies that you didn’t have before. This is a natural side-effect and shouldn’t raise too much alarm… if symptoms persist for more than a day, consult your doctor

Tip: As you build out your mind map, you will notice that certain words, strategies and steps keep popping up, repeated in different areas of the map. This shows you that these are the most important ones. Highlight these ones to keep them blatant and in your face. Keeps you focused.

Here’s the link again to the mind map post and how to use.

If you go to the effort to plan it, do it… enjoy!

Goal Setting vs Goal Achieving – Get Shit Done

Posted on January 30, 2012 by btsandwich

The vast majority of the world is over-setting and under-achieving. Don’t hold it against ‘em though… just show them this post, give them a slap and then send them back on their merry way with a fresh perspective and a new tool in the box… okay? Here goes…

You see blog after blog, website after website and book after book droning on and on and on about setting goals. You’re probably sat there thinking “so do you”. Well you’d be right, except I focus more on goal achieving than on goal setting. Goal setting is easy; you think of a goal then you set it. Breaking down the goal into smaller more manageable goals is the more advanced version of this, but the main objective is obviously to achieve the goal… not just to set it, no matter how meticulously broken down it is.

Let me reiterate that – Setting a goal is good, yes, but achieving the goal is the ultimate result we’re after.

Too many of us set goals, then set more goals… maybe achieve one… then set more… don’t achieve them… set some more and blah blah blah. The term I use to describe this is ‘over-setting’ (generally followed by under-achieving, see the connection?). Before long, not only do over-setters convince themselves that they are not cut out for this ‘goal setting’ thing everyone bangs on about, but they get thoroughly pissed off and they give up trying completely. If this is the case for you, don’t worry, it’d seem you’re pretty good at goal setting to be honest. You’ve been pretty shit at goal achieving though. Sorry.

What I’m getting at is this; thinking about goal setting only, is the same as having the raw ingredients for a cake and no recipe, or at best, having the ingredients and the recipe but no cake. Goal achieving is putting the ingredients and recipe together and carrying out the instructions until you have not only made the cake, but eaten the damn thing as well. The setting of a goal is purely a track to run on and a means to an end. Most people are only focusing on half the job.

How do I know what most people are focusing on?

Go to Google Adwords Keyword Tool and in the Word or phrase field search for keywords on both ‘goal setting’ and ‘goal achieving’. The first row in your results shows the number of global monthly searches for that exact phrase. Right now the results are as follows:

: Ready… set… set… set…

and…

: Ready… set… go!

As you can see from these images:

Goal setting = 201,000 global monthly searches

Goal achieving = 33,100 global monthly searches

Surely this should be the other way around?! Which category would you fall into?

What makes the difference between goal setting and goal achieving?

The difference is the ‘doing’ of the goal, so what makes us ‘do’? What makes the all important difference between action and inaction? The following list will help:

The goal you set must be a goal you want to achieve
The pleasure obtained from achieving the goal must outweigh the ‘pain’ of the process
You must have, or be willing to get, the resources needed to carry out the process
You must have the motivation to act
You must have a reason to act
You must believe it’s feasible
You must believe it’s achievable

The process of goal elimination:

1. Ask yourself if you really want to achieve this goal or if it’s just something you think you should do. If you don’t want it, scrub it off your goals list immediately. The longer it sits there, the more you are convincing yourself that you are not a goal achiever.

2. The pleasure/pain principle. If you hate the process of achieving a goal, from which you get only a mild amount of pleasure, there is simply no point. Scrub it. You won’t do it.

3. Not having the resources to carry out the achieving of a goal will serve only to give you an excuse for not having achieved it. If you don’t have the resources, figure out if/how you can get them immediately or it’ll always be on the back burner, eating away at your goal achieving confidence.

4. The motivation to act is what makes all the difference. Surround yourself with things that motivate you. Remind yourself constantly what’s in it for you. Use videos, pictures, visualisation and whatever else motivates you.

5. Your reasons will vary loads. It might be that your reason is just for fun, or to get promoted and earn more money or to make life easier in the future or to build confidence and self-respect. What is your ultimate reason for wanting to achieve the goal? No reason, no motivation, no achievement.

6. Feasibility is a difficult one. When you look at the world today you see thousands of inventions and creations that would previously have been thought of as not feasible. Whether or not your goal is feasible, the thing that matters is whether you believe it is. It’s the belief which will inspire you to action. Don’t believe it? You won’t achieve it.

7. Is it achievable? It’s true that most people are capable of a hell of a lot more than they think. But it’s certainly not true that anyone can do anything, as so many ‘gurus’ say. If you have no hands, you can’t click your fingers and make things happen, fact. Look for reasons why you can succeed and reasons why you might not. Then take the reasons you might not and try to solve them. If you really can’t see any way of achieving the goal after intensive research, you need to find a similar, achievable alternative with similar benefits.

If you are a serial goal setter, try this:

Have a list of all your goals in front of you.
Run each one through the above seven goal eliminators.
Scrub off any goals you have set which don’t apply to all seven rules.
Don’t set one more single goal until you have achieved at least half of the remaining goals on your list.

Get mad. Get motivated. Get fucking busy. You need to convince yourself exactly what you’re capable of… starting now!

How Bad Do You Want It?

Posted on January 26, 2012 by btsandwich

Here’s some serious inspiration/motivation for you. It makes me want to hit something. Shamon!

My takeaways from this:

Decide how bad you really want something. If the right amount of desire is there… commit to it relentlessly
Cut back on sleep to gain time and productivity (you can train your body to adapt to less sleep)
Sacrifices have to be made if you want the best possible chance of success. Anything less is not your best
Focus is huge. Focus on what you want and nothing else
True success is the lessons you learn getting there, not always the end goal, money in this case

Oh… and don’t wear a suit in the sea.

Rich Branson… More Than Just a Name

Posted on January 18, 2012 by btsandwich

“Everyone needs something to aim for. You can call it a challenge, or you can call it a goal. It is what makes us human. It was challenges that took us from being cavemen to reaching for the stars” - Richard Branson

: Making Britain proud, legend!

This is a quote from one of my heroes in life, a total dude. Branson has broken the mould with regards to how he treats and creates business. He has all the good stuff but doesn’t conform to the usual businessman stereotype and rarely partakes in one of my huge pet hates – the full suit and tie wearing idiocy. He isn’t always serious. He isn’t boring. He lives life to the full and is a decent all round fellow with good morals. If Richard Branson says it, you can basically take it to the bank.

Check out his Wikipedia page here.

[The quote is from his book SCREW IT, LET'S DO IT. Lessons in Life and Business... which is a really inspiring read by the way]

Fresh Off the Press – BTSs Manifesto…

Posted on January 10, 2012 by btsandwich

No further introduction needed.

: Boss The Sandwich’s Manifesto

And that’s all there is to it!

Smart.

At a Cross-Road?

Posted on January 9, 2012 by btsandwich

Goal setting, force of habit and comfort zone stretching can be perfectly summed up and combined by metaphorically learning to cross the road again.

Ok, so imagine you’re a toddler again. You thought you could do anything. Crossing the road wouldn’t have been an issue for you. You might have got squashed in a matter of seconds, redecorating 20 metres of tarmac, but you’d have done it anyway. There was no fear, but no education either. Before long though, your parents taught you to be scared of crossing the road to prevent the blatantly obvious.

The next step to learning was watching and analysing what was going on before ever having to take the risk yourself.

Then came the formula. When I was at school I think they called it the green cross code. We were taught where to stand, where to look, what to look out for and what order to do it all in, along with some other little tips to stop us becoming pitiful pancakes.

Around this time, still just a tot, you nervously brave the roads alone. You start small, still with a little bit of guidance initially and work up towards bigger, busier more intimidating ones until you can safely manage them all alone.

At first, the process was running the formula through your head as you approach. Stop. Recite the formula to yourself and consciously follow it. You’d be worried along the way and probably over cautious, but the formula would see you through safely. The whole process would have taken a hell of a lot longer and a hell of a lot more effort than it does now though.

Then all you did was continue to cross roads until the habit was formed and now you pretty much do it on autopilot unless the road is particularly busy. Even when it is, it takes no effort really to find the right, safest place to cross and get it done.

Now you automatically analyse the situation on approach. You see if traffic is coming, you even judge where it’ll be by the time you reach the kerb if you continue to walk at the same speed. Most of us then, if possible, adjust our walking speed accordingly on approach so that by the time we approach the road we don’t even have to stop at all. And most of this is without consciously thinking at all. Getting to the other side successfully and safely is… erm… childsplay?

Pull the metaphor apart and see the similarities. Then make a decision…

Am I going to want to cross any big roads in my lifetime?

If so, get practicing on the little ones now.

Summary: Either use experts to show you a formula you can use for developing a habit of setting and achieving goals outside your comfort zone, or use different tried and tested strategies and combine them to make your own formula. Once you have the formula, use it on ever increasing projects until the habit is secured and is yours to keep and exploit. Before long it all becomes second nature. It’s a small price to pay in the short term for such decent, permanent gains.

Become Ha-bit Better

Posted on January 3, 2012 by btsandwich

How you do anything is how you do everything. It’s a saying I’ve heard kicking about for a few years now and it’s actually a decent way of finding out what you might be doing wrong… in anything you do. What it basically means is that your traits and idiosyncrasies tend to run through all aspects of your life. Some you notice, others you might not.

Ever leave things half done? Or even worse, nine tenths complete? This isn’t a bad example of where you’d likely find one of these awkward strains of difficulty worming its way through everything you do with your life. You might find you have a tendency to stop reading a book before it’s finished. Or you tidy a room and don’t bother with the finishing touches. Maybe you finish a project, but miss out some of the finer, yet vital details. If this is the case for you, you can guarantee that in some way it is stopping you achieving the goals you’re after.

I chose incompleteness as an example because it is definitely one of the most common, but have a good think about your traits. What could you be doing better? What might you not be doing that you should be? Once you’ve spotted it, change it. Right down to the tiniest version of the problem. Using the example of not getting things finished, go finish something that you know you’ve left, prematurely. Make excuses to develop your new habit as a completer finisher. Take on projects. Small ones, then bigger ones.

I’ve mentioned the importance of developing good habits before. This time I’m referring to getting rid of bad habits and sticking a few good ones in their place. With consistency, you’ll soon convince your brain that you are, by nature, someone who [insert desired attribute here]. Once you’ve reprogrammed your hard drive and have it utterly convinced, it’ll start to work in your favour. Without conscious effort or intervention, you infallibly live up to your self-image. Once you have altered that self-image for the better, you will find it more uncomfortable physically and mentally to not behave in the way you’ve conditioned yourself to. Champion result.

In summary, find what’s not working and how it’s affecting all the different areas of your life. Change the habit at every available opportunity plus create opportunities.

Walking On Hot Goals

Posted on December 22, 2011 by btsandwich

: Game of extreme hopscotch anyone?

The goal set: Walk on hot coals

Status: Achieved

Exactly how it was done:

Googled walking on hot coals in my local area which brought up a charity site who were doing a sponsored firewalking event with experts http://blazefirewalking.com just over a week away.
Sent an email to ask if I could join in.
I received the registration form etc the day after I sent the email. Filled in and returned. Set to go.
I set up an account at http://www.justgiving.com which is a site where people can donate/sponsor you using their credit/debit card. No chasing or nagging to do later!
I then created an event on Facebook and added the details of how to donate, including a link to my justgiving.com sponsor page. This made it really easy for my mates and family that chose to contribute. I only had a week to raise a minimum of £100 but I just managed it. Thanks to those who helped me out.
Turned up for the event and successfully expanded the old comfort zone. Nice.

What happened when I got there:

I arrived to a decent sized crowd of sponsored firewalkers and we all sat in a type of function room where we were all provided with Mencap t-shirts to wear for the event (couldn’t help thinking shoes might have been a more sensible bet!) and was treated to the relevant training and a kind of mini motivational seminar.

It would have been worth going to just for that really, I reckon. The seminar covered body language and how it affects the mind and how your mind affects your body. There were a few things we did, but the best was something which I’ve read about a few times in different books but to be honest never fully believed.

It’s the experiment that shows the effects of positive and negative self talk on your body strength. When you tell your body you are weak, you lose strength. When you tell yourself you are strong, you gain strength. The difference in the strength is pretty amazing. Click here for an exact how-to for this. It’s worth doing yourself. If you hear of or even see someone else do it, you won’t believe it’s real.

What made it better than I expected:

Was well chuffed to be on the receiving end of the gratitude from the charity. Now that it’s done, I realise that doing it purely for the charity without gaining the experience, would still totally be worth it as well (suppose that’s the goody two shoes in me).The good people who volunteer for Mencap deserve a mention. Consider them mentioned… and appreciated.
The aforementioned seminar and its content.
The decent banter between everyone and the support everyone gave each other. That sound a bit girly?

Lasting effects:

It feels mega to have found it, booked in and done it all in the space of about a week because I have literally had this written down on a list of goals to achieve for a few years now and haven’t done anything about it ‘til now… and yes… it was that easy. It took nothing but 20 seconds of research and a tiny bit of action. That alone has helped reinforce my belief/knowledge that

It’s no good setting a goal and not trying to achieve it.
There’s no point procrastinating. I obviously could have done this years ago along with loads of other cool stuff.
The timescale of achieving a goal can be a tiny fraction of what you expect it to be.
A goal can be loads easier to achieve than you expect.

There are obviously psychological effects too (which is the reason firewalking is so popular). You can’t help but realise the one thing that is staring you square in the face…

That things which at face value appear to be frightening and presumably painful experiences, can easily be the exact opposite, i.e. liberating, confidence building, fun and rewarding.

Also the Positive/negative self talk experiment we did has at least quadrupled my awareness of what I think and say to myself. I think positively about myself as often as possible anyway, but now I’ve seen incontrovertible proof… I am a shit load more vigilant.

Summary: An all round wicked experience which I would recommend.

This is part of an ongoing project in goal setting and achieving outside of my comfort zone to aid personal development and growth. See category Comfort Zone and Goal Setting Project to check out what the hell I’ve been up to. I will be achieving goals which are outside my comfort zone in all aspects of life, e.g. mental, fitness, strength etc.

Enforce The Law – Pareto’s Law

Posted on December 12, 2011 by btsandwich

Paretos Law is one of those findings that you remember. It’s like “wow, yeh, that’s actually right” or “can’t be!” then after a few seconds of thinking, “wow, yeh, that’s actually….”

If you’re a thinker you start mentally applying it to everything and figuring out how you can use it to swing life in your favour… ‘cos that’s what it does. It’s the art of learning from mistakes and noticing and using what works in a funnelling process which uses the best methods that achieve the absolute best results for your efforts.

So what is it and how does it work?

It appears to be a universal law that approximately 80% of your results are achieved through 20% of your effort. 80% of the end is created by 20% of the means. This figure is changeable, but it only really changes to prove more extreme examples like 10/90.

: 80 – the percentage of the pie that looks like Pacman!

Think how important this knowledge actually is. What are you spending only 20% of your efforts on that is earning you a massive 80% of what you’re after? Once you’ve figured it out, you can pretty much disregard the 80% of efforts giving you a pitiful return of only 20% fruit for your labour. Cut out the crap, non productive stuff and focus on the proven result smashing activities.

Now you’re doing this, you’ll soon be able to then re-apply Pareto’s Law which will expose the best 20% of activities from the best 20% of the original. Eventually, you have a perfect method for achieving mega mint results and you’ll only really be using 20% of your efforts! But you’ll be using them effing well!

Some examples of where you can look for Pareto’s Law:

Marketing methods vs success rate
Exercise vs fitness gains
Productive income generating activities vs Income earned
Client base vs sales numbers
Your charm vs the lady action it gets you!

Where can you see Pareto’s Law in action in your life? How can you exploit it? This is life-altering stuff if you use it properly to your advantage. Get selfish for a bit… gear your efforts towards the best possible results. Done!

Comfort Zone and Goal Setting Project

Posted on December 11, 2011 by btsandwich

Here’s what’s going to happen. In the style you will become familiar with, I am going to be using myself as the guineapig to show you that I am willing to do as I say. Follow me on my journey of comfort zone expansion right here and see the proof in an ongoing series of goal achieving… just outside of my comfort zone.

This is a live experiment in personal development so you can see the results and what they bring before you commit to doing them yourself.

The first goal in the series is going to be something I’ve been meaning to do for years but for some reason, likely laziness, never got around to. Firewalking. Walking on fire. This should be a good start I think. I just Googled it and it just so happens there is a charity firewalk in my area on the 19th of December! Perfect! Sent an email request for the fundraiser pack so should be in business very soon. Short notice for raising cash but I think Facebook should come in well handy for that.

The fact that I had the idea and Googled it and there is one ’round the corner, I am assuming that these type of charity events are pretty frequent. Spot on for stretching comfort zones these charity fundraisers… and you’re doing some good at the same time. Win win.