Put in 2% Daily Effort to get ahead of 98% of the Crowd

Focusing effort on something for just 2% of the day,
28.8 minutes daily, is more than most others will ever do.

If getting ahead is so difficult, how it can it be that small amounts of time could make a big impact?  The secret is to dedicate that few extra minutes each day to a focused task and then stay consistent with it.

Skills can be developed, knowledge can be learned, money can be earned.  But despite man's greatest attempts to turn back the hands of time, we are all left with only 1220 minutes each day to live out our lives.  Time is the one undeniable equalizer among all those who walk this planet.

But despite the lofty dreams of wealth and prosperity, very few will dedicate even just 28.8 minutes a day towards making those dreams a reality.

Water the Flowers, but also Pull the Weeds

Eliminate the barriers holding you back and you'll reach your destination much faster.

It is important to discover your strengths and nurture them, but while doing so you must be careful not to take your eyes off obstacles getting in the way.

These hurdles can hold you back and until you remove them they will continue to distract from your real objective of building upon strengths.

Take a Subtle Break from the Routine

Take a break from the routine.  Subtle differences make all the difference.

Wake up, go to work, come home, eat dinner, watch tv, go to bed... repeat.

The routine that millions of hard-working adults go through day after day after day.  And it's a habit that can be broken with just a subtle change.

Multiple Streams for EVERYTHING in Your Life

Do you have multiple streams flowing in to all areas of your life?

We have all heard about the need to diversify and not put all our eggs in one basket.

There is very sound philosophy in that advice, for it keeps us from creating a life that is overly dependent on one source.

But to be truly effective, we must apply the notion of multiple streams to all areas of our life.

Live with Innocence and Shameless Curiosity

Those who ask the question are often rewarded with the answer.

Are you curious about the world around you?  Likely you are...  but have grown accustomed to asking questions with great care as not to display any signs of ignorance.

You don't want to ask things of others for fear of being ridiculed for asking such "silly" questions; you are hesitant to reveal your ignorance by requesting explanations in greater detail;  you'd rather just tuck away that curiosity and move on to something else rather than risk embarrassment... *sigh*

Well, get over it.

Reading the Street Signs on the Road of Life

The signs are all around you if take time to look for them.

When traveling down the road of life, you'll find street signs at every corner.  Are you paying attention to them?  These are the subtle clues about what direction to take; the advisories that warn you to what lies ahead; the wisdom posted by others who have already traveled down the path you're headed...

Nothing Gets Done by Clock Watching

Tick tock tick tock.  Worrying about the clock will not help you get things done any faster.

There are many good strategies you can take towards accomplishing your goals.  You could treat each one like a mini project, strategizing how to manage each step; you could use imagery and visualize success, actively creating a picture of your future self; or you could simply rely on a handy to-do list and just tackle tasks as they come.

No matter the choice, you will notice a common theme in all these methods in that they are based upon giving conscious thought to your goals and figuring out the actions needed to achieve them...

Take a Rest to Increase Your Productivity

Work, work, work.  In order to get the most output, we need to commit to working 60, 70, 80 hours a week, right?  At least that's the perception... Or perhaps, misperception!

Despite the fact that most successful people will tell you it takes more than four hours a week to truly make progress in your goals, they often will leave out the part about rest and relaxation.  Interestingly enough, there are countless scientific studies that prove you are more alert, better prepared, and overall more productive, when you take time to rest...

Taking Action for a Desired Reaction

Are you taking positive action in your life?

"For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction."  This statement, derived from Newton's third physical law of motion, poignantly describes the result that occurs when one body exerts a force that causes an action from something else nearby.  It basically says that if you take action (any type of action), something around you will change.

Think about that for a moment...

Get in the Habit of Saying Yes

The doors of opportunity are often opened with a Yes

Are you a "No" person or feel like you're surrounded by "No" people?  If you find yourself hearing or saying No too often, it's time to change your viewpoint and look for more Yes...

No One else shares Your Vision... and that's OK.

Do others really share the vision you have?  Do they need to?

You have a vision for your life.  You work diligently to guide yourself through a beautiful journey that brings you closer each day to a future destination.  You feel it so strongly that you look to others around you to confirm it, to appreciate it, to support it.

But have you asked yourself if others can really share that vision you have?  They probably don't. After all, they have their own lives to lead, not yours...

...and that's OK.

Pay attention to the Journey AND the Destination

Always stop to enjoy the view, but never lose sight of where you're headed.

Many good-intended people will tell you that life is a journey and not a destination.  They will advise you to "stop and smell the roses," or "carpe diem(!), because life is what happens when you're making other plans."  While this may sound promising to some, a self-made sage intuitively knows that this is only half the story.

The point most people miss with their advice is that all the things you do along your journey should at least point you in the direction of your destination.

They are equally important.

Play to Win

In the game of life, are you playing to win?

In the game of life, are you playing to win, or are you just trying to avoid losing?

There's a big difference.

When you're playing to win, you're out seeking new opportunities to score -- whether that's calculated in terms of money, or time, or negotiated leverage, or potential happiness.  In essence, you're looking to improve upon your existing situation.

When is the Best Time to Get Started?

The conditions will never be absolute perfect, so why delay?  Get started now.

Have you figured out yet when is the best time get started on your new project/assignment/goal, etc?

Anyone looking to achieve the greatest possible outcome from a new venture will often look for a time when the stars align and everything is perfect to launch.  When should we roll out the new product line?...  When will the market recover so we can get the best price?...  When are those stocks going to bottom/peak so we can buy/sell?

Of, if not trying to actually choose a specific time, we may be simply waiting around until we have "enough" of whatever we feel is needed to get started...  "enough" money... "enough" time... "enough" information... "enough" courage... enough whatever.

Well, guess what?  The conditions are never perfect and there is never enough.

Put an End to the Waiting Game

Good or bad, life is happening to you right now.  Get out and make the most of it.

The infamous waiting game.  As much as we all despise it, most of us spend our lives playing it.

We wait for the conditions to be right; 
We wait for something good to happen;
We wait for our life to begin.

Well, it's time to put an end to the waiting game...

Reputation is in the Eye of the Beholder

Always remember, your reputation is held in their eyes.

Do you know what others are saying about you?  You should.  One's reputation is incredibly important, and while there are many things that you can and should do to forge a positive reputation, the cold hard fact is that it ultimate comes down to what others think.

Thus, your reputation is held in their eyes.

Cut it Out! Do Less to Accomplish More.

Don't ask "what more do I have to do?" Ask, instead, what you should do less.

When looking for ways to can get ahead or improve one's situation, most people start by think of what they need to add in their life.   "I need experience," "I need new skills," "I need to take a class," "I need to do more of this," or "I need to do that better," are some of the thoughts that run through their heads.

However, this is not always the most effective approach...

Stop Blaming Others, Even if they Deserve Blame

In the end, blaming others drains your energy and leads to nowhere.

Life is imperfect.  People are imperfect.  Chances are, you're a little bit imperfect too.  All we can do is make the best of our lives and deal with the situation we're in.

Thus, a Self-Made Sage knows that no matter who is to blame in any given situation, the future is never going to change unless you live with personal accountability and take your own actions to change.  The reason is because in the end casting blame on others leads you to nowhere.  Blaming others drains your energy.  Blaming others distracts you from your priorities.  Blaming OTHERS does not get YOU to where you ought to be.

Time is on Your Side

Are you fighting time, or embracing it?

Time.  The thing mankind has tried to take control of, tried to manage, tried to travel through and tried to stop, for all of eternity.  Time is the one thing everyone in this world has, and the one thing most feel there's not enough of it.  No matter what you do, no matter what you say, no matter where you go, no matter how you face it, time is always there.  Time is always there doing the thing it does best... moving forward.

So how does a Self-Made Sage embrace time?   Well, you can try to resist it, or you can embrace and go along with it.  Here's how...

Add a Chief Health Officer to Your Team

Who do you have looking out for your health?

Most people know exactly how much money they have left in their bank account, yet have no idea what their health status is.  At best they go for an annual doctor checkup and "hope for the best."  At worst the get dragged to the hospital only when completely sick, or never go at all.

Is that your health strategy?

Scripting the Movie of Your Life

Share your Movie of Me with the world!

The story of one's life can be inspirational, motivational, insightful, meaningful, or educational.  It can be touching or thought-provoking.  Their story draws you in, and it's easy to become engaged in the arc of their lives and witness the evolution they go through.  Most times you not only learn something, but you leave thinking about how you can apply that learning to your own life.

Enter the term "autobiography" in google and you'll find 67.2 million search results...

Improve Yourself by Helping Others

When you help others improve, you improve yourself at the same time.

Want to know the #1 strategy to improving yourself?  Here's a hint: it has nothing to do with placing attention on yourself at all.  The top approach is actually to focus on making others better.  That's correct, focus on helping other people is the key to your own personal success.

As a self-made sage, you know that you have the power to control your actions and positively influence your surroundings.  By turning your focus towards helping others become better, you put yourself in a position to become better yourself as well.  Here are some examples of the results you achieve when you focus on making others better:

Stop all that Dreaming. Start Doing

Are you ready to stop dreaming and start doing?

It’s easy to become a habitual planner.  For years I prided myself on my elite organizational skills, my keen strategic planning, my penchant for detailed to-do lists.  And then one day I realized ten years had gone by and most of my great plans had yet to materialize.  That’s when it hit me…

I wasn’t really planning at all… I was just dreaming.  And worst, I was working very hard at disguising those dreams as “plans.”  Once I woke up to that fact, I realized I needed to stop dreaming, and start doing.

A Replacement Strategy for Winners

Don't just stop what you're doing, replace it with something better.

"Hey, doc, it hurts when I do this..."
"Well, son, DON'T do that!"

Funny joke, but incomplete when trying to apply it in life.  It is not sufficient nor beneficial to simply stop an undesired behavior (nor likely to be successful if it's a deeply entrenched habit)... you must replace your actions with something else that can fill the void. 

Get in the Game

Are you ready to get off the sideline and get in the game?

The sidelines can be a fun place to be.  We get to sit on our ass and watch other people do all the work, mostly for our entertainment; and we don't have to think much, let alone break a sweat at all.

Depending on the skill level of those doing the work, aka the "professionals," we often pay big money to watch them perform.  And, when they're done, we go home with a little less money, a little less time, and nothing in our lives really changed.

Now, if we're talking about a baseball or basketball game entertainment, perhaps those factors aren't such a big deal...  But, what if we're talking about life? What if we're talking about your life?

Time Passing by All the Time

Are your steps leading you in the right direction?

In the immortal words of Pink Floyd, most of us are just "ticking away the moments that make up a dull day... waiting for someone or something to show you the way."   Like the title of the song these lyrics appear in, the subject of time is something that is relevant to every living creature and thus something we must always be conscious of.

Your inner sage is calling out for you to realize that time is a precious gift and true worth is measured in how you utilize that  time.  It is the most valuable resource you have.  And while there are numerous methods...

How to Find your Inner Sage

Are you ready to discover your Inner Sage?

A sage, by definition, is one who is wise through reflection and experience... a mature or venerable person demonstrating wisdom, prudence and good judgment.  

When we live a life that positively reflects our inner calling, and conduct ourselves in a manner that is appreciated and respected by everyone around us, we are being sages over our own existence.