Dream Big

You have a choice. You always do. No matter what the circumstances are, you always have a choice. You can think small and live a life with limited choices or you can dream big and have unlimited choices.

You see, no one knows their limits in life. No one knows how far one can go in life. So don't limit yourself to small dreams. Dream big. No matter what, choose to dream big.

Time Management Tips When You’re Drowning in Email

This post is from Peter "The Time Man" Turla - 

If you live by e-mail, it’s easy to die by e-mail. E-mail fatalities come in many forms, and one of the most common is drowning. Here are some email time management tips that will help you stay afloat and swimming in the right direction through that flood of messages vying for your attention.

Keep your “business” e-mailbox as lean as possible. Having too many emails in your in-box is like having a pile of papers on your desk. It can be stressful just thinking about all that “stuff” you have to deal with.

Take time to get it organized. Create electronic folders so you have a place to keep messages sorted by subject or client or project. Plan your filing. Don’t use your In-box or “Sent Mail” as a huge miscellaneous file or everything will run together and get out of hand.

If you keep things organized in your email program, they’ll also be better organized in your mind. Just don’t get carried away with making too many folders.

Here’s a list of a few more ideas you can use to better handle email.

• Create an “Action Items” folder for important e-mail that needs attention. Review the items in this file daily and save them to your hard drive or delete them when you’ve finished them.

• Use the “Tools, Organize” or “Tools/Rules” function in your e-mail program to color-code incoming e-mail from your boss or key team members so they stand out from the others.

• Glance at all new e-mail “Subject” lines and delete the junk mail as you go. As you do this, look for the important ones that you’ll read.

• If your e-mail system can organize messages according to “threads,” read the last message first in a thread that deals with a particular subject. Many times you won’t need to read the previous ones.

• Decide what action or response is necessary whenever you read e-mail. By deciding right away, you save time not having to reread it and rethink what it’s about. Handle e-mail once when possible.

• Use your e-mail program’s filters to prevent spam.

• Before you set up auto-filing features consider whether urgent mail might wind up being auto-filed before you see it.

• When “Sent” and “Received” items relate to each other, store them in the same folders.

• Avoid getting on lists for jokes, cute stories, etc. If you like to receive this kind of material, set up an auto-filing function to send them into special files that you can review at your leisure.

• Unless you’re on a team with constant hot mails going back and forth, determine a reasonable frequency for checking your e-mail. Checking it too often could be a way to escape or avoid what you should really be doing.

• Learn to discipline yourself to focus on the task at hand and not feel compelled to open every email as soon as it comes in. You generally should attempt to work until you come to some kind of natural break or stopping point before you check your email so you can keep a good work flow and momentum going.

• If you have to keep complete records of e-mail correspondence, save your “Reply”e-mail. When you reply to people’s e-mail, a copy of their entire e-mail is automatically included in the reply.

• Use one address if you register for something on the Internet (which might attract spam), another for business, and another for personal use.

• Regularly purge your e-mail of outdated and unnecessary messages. Archive e-mail that you need to keep for historical reasons.

Playing With The Big Boys - Lesson 1

In the game of life, there are big boys (and girls of course) and then there are the rest of us. Big boys follow a different set of rules  from the small boys. Big boys play big games, think of big things, use big words and will absolutely crush you big time if you get in their way.

Big boys live in big houses, and drive big cars. And at night they sleep in their big beds and have big dreams.

Big boys rarely get into problems and if they do, other big boys help them. 

It is good to be big isn't it? However, not everyone will grow big. Some choose not to but many others simply do not have what it takes.

You might be happy with way things are with your life. Good for you. Life is not about getting the biggest house, having your own army or a million pairs of shoes. What you want in life is your choice.

But whatever is is you want, somewhere down the road, a big boy will want the same thing too. He will be waiting. You will have to pass him and to do that you will have to play his game according to his rules.  Here are a few lessons how you can do that.

The first thing you must remember when dealing with people of power is that to never appear as a threat. Big boys have big egos. They may appear humble, gracious and charitable,  that is just a front they show. Beneath it is something else. Something scary.

The rich and powerful are always wary of threat. The moment they detect one, they will remove it or simply crush it. Until and unless you are big enough yourself, do not ever do anything that can be perceived as a threat to them.

In the business world, they are many examples of companies starting small and growing into mega corporations. The car industry is a good example. When the Japanese first started making cars, they did not take on the U.S auto industry directly. First they focused on domestic markets, then Asian markets, before taking on the might of the US auto industry. In the early days the Japanese auto makers never appeared as a threat to the big boys in the US. If they had done so,  you can be sure the big boys in Detroit would have acted to preserve their dominance.

You have to keep in mind that men and women of power did not achieve their position by wearing kid's glove. They are ruthless, especially when they feel threatened.

Lesson No 1  - Do Not Appear As A Threat.

If

If you can keep your head when all about you 

Are losing theirs and blaming it on you, 
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you, 
But make allowance for their doubting too; 
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting, 
Or being lied about, don't deal in lies, 
Or being hated, don't give way to hating, 
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise:

If you can dream - and not make dreams your master, 
If you can think - and not make thoughts your aim; 
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster 
And treat those two impostors just the same; 
If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken 
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools, 
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken, 
And stoop and build 'em up with worn-out tools:

If you can make one heap of all your winnings 
And risk it all on one turn of pitch-and-toss, 
And lose, and start again at your beginnings 
And never breathe a word about your loss; 
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew 
To serve your turn long after they are gone, 
And so hold on when there is nothing in you 
Except the Will which says to them: "Hold on!"

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue, 
Or walk with kings - nor lose the common touch, 
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you, 
If all men count with you, but none too much; 
If you can fill the unforgiving minute 
With sixty seconds' worth of distance run, 
Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it, 
And - which is more - you'll be a Man, my son!

Rudyard Kipling (1865-1936)

'if' by rudyard kipling

If you can keep your head when all about you 
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you, 
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you, 
But make allowance for their doubting too; 
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting, 
Or being lied about, don't deal in lies, 
Or being hated, don't give way to hating, 
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise:

If you can dream - and not make dreams your master, 
If you can think - and not make thoughts your aim; 
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster 
And treat those two impostors just the same; 
If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken 
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools, 
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken, 
And stoop and build 'em up with worn-out tools:

If you can make one heap of all your winnings 
And risk it all on one turn of pitch-and-toss, 
And lose, and start again at your beginnings 
And never breathe a word about your loss; 
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew 
To serve your turn long after they are gone, 
And so hold on when there is nothing in you 
Except the Will which says to them: "Hold on!"

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue, 
Or walk with kings - nor lose the common touch, 
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you, 
If all men count with you, but none too much; 
If you can fill the unforgiving minute 
With sixty seconds' worth of distance run, 
Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it, 
And - which is more - you'll be a Man, my son!

Rudyard Kipling (1865-1936

Old Papers

I came across some old magazines today.

The first thing you notice about them is the smell. There is something unique about the smell of papers that have aged. It instantly makes one feel a part of history. Then you see the print. No fancy lettering. Neat and tidy. Uncluttered.

And then there is the adverts. Simple and straight to the point. You got to love them.

As I was going through them, I wondered about the its readers. I saw the publishing date, June 1970. What was going through their minds. I wondered about the writers. Where are they now? Are they still alive? Did they finished their careers as journalists or did they moved on.

As I put back the magazines in its place, I felt grateful for the invention of paper and ink that allowed one generation of mankind to capture its thought and allow the next generation to have knowledge of it.

Coping With Stress

Stress kills. You have heard than many times throughout your life but you like to think it kills other people and not you.

Maybe it doesn't, however here are a few strategies  that you can use to reduce stress now.

1. Write down your feelings.  Take a few minutes put on paper what you are feeling. What is making you you feel like that. Let it all out. Don't hold back.

2. Listen to light soothing music

3. Drink something warm. No alcohol

4. Focus on the present

5. Visualize places that you have enjoyed visiting

6. Try smiling

The above are some tips for immediate stress relive, below are some daily routine you can do to avoid stress or at least keep it in check.

1. Meditate

2. Pick up a hobby

3. Exercise at least 20 minutes a day

4. Write down what you are grateful for.

5. Smile

You have only one life. Live it to the fullest.