Do It Now! DIN DIN DIN

Do It Now - easier said than done sometimes. When I was a child, my grandfather (and sometimes my mother) always told me DIN DIN DIN about doing homework or chores. I thought it was complete nonsense because I wanted to be reading, playing or watching TV instead of doing what I was SUPPOSED to be doing.

As I look at my 500 emails a day, my job responsibilities, real estate and online businesses, relationships and chores these days, I am forced to admit that DIN DIN DIN is a really effective way to complete action items more effectively. I simply don't have time to look at the same thing or deal with the same piece of paper more than once if I don't have to. Do It Now, Delegate, File, Give Away, Throw Out are useful distinctions to make when figuring out next actions. The other observation is that leaving projects incomplete (and by that I mean with no forward progress after touching them) sucks my energy. That said, I am prone to getting overwhelmed at times, so I have to break projects down into possible parts to get done in a limited framework of time or I get discouraged. I notice that I, like many people, notice what I don't get done in the timeframe I consider appropriate more often than I celebrate my many successes. Do It Now is all about increasing energy flow because incomplete projects, relationships, whatever block energy and finishing stuff accelerates it and adds excitement and joy to life. I am never happier than when I am moving forward, learning and growing and DIN DIN DIN supports that.

Grandpa (and Mom - gosh, did I say that), you are RIGHT! Do It Now simply works.

1,140 Minutes a Day - Enjoying Yours?

Everybody has 1,140 minutes in every day, no matter what their economic status, race, religion, national or political affiliation. What are you doing with yours? Are you enjoying most, if not all, of those moments?

Take a look at how you are dividing up your time. For me, some of its passing is unconscious. What percentage is used up by sleep, work, family, relationships, volunteering, fun, whatever? More importantly, if you are spending 16 hours a day at your business or work, is it by choice or default? What do you most like to do? Are you doing it? If it’s a lack of money or time that’s stopping you, what changes do you need to make to alter your current situation? Savor life because those 1,140 minutes each day, once they’ve slipped by, are gone forever.

Consider working smart instead of, or more likely in addition to, working hard for a time to reach your dreams. The only way they are defeated is if we give up. Never give up on yourself.

Only Where Love and Need Are One...

“Only where love and need are one and the work is play for mortal stakes. Is the deed ever really done for Heaven and the future’s sakes.” Robert Frost wrote that and I have been thinking lately about what it means practically. My grandfather, whom I love dearly, is 98 years old, sharp as a tack, so I am very aware of mortality these days.

Need drives many of my actions and probably yours too – need to pay the bills, work at a job(s) or business(es), spend time with family and much more. I notice that love gets left out when I am focused on need but, in the world perception, need is a more legitimate reason for most actions. Why is that? How did they become separated? You see, I think what the Robert Frost quote means is that love and need are two sides of a whole and so are work and play. But we don’t live like that is true, do we? I see this quote as a path to wholeness and balance. I invite you to focus on love in your work and play and I suspect need will come along for the ride. Let’s experiment. It might be FUN!

Volunteering at EHS and Giving Back Time

Volunteering is, for me, a way of giving back to my community and my world in gratitude. It make my life richer along the way. I believe that giving money alone is great but not enough so I give of my money and my time. It keeps a balance and everything in perspective, whether my life is easy or hard in that moment. Today was NY CARES day when volunteers go into the schools and paint murals and clean up. I have also, from time to time, worked with Habitat for Humanity and even got my photo taken with Jimmy Carter at 135th Street once

EHS stands for the East Harlem School at Exodus House, an amazing middle school on 103rd Street with, in my unbiased opinion, extraordinary students. I have tutored there for 11 years and led book groups for the last 3 years, as well as acting as chaperone for trips and leading after-school programs periodically. EHS was started by my friend since high school, Ivan, and his brother. I went by to say, "Hi," and Ivan pulled me into their assembly where the students (ages 10-14) were learning about NGOs. I got a tour with two students and fell in love and the rest, as they say, is history.

To work with the students makes me think, how can I explain these ideas clearly? What is the key to helping this child learn? How can I make books come alive for them the way they do for me? What are they passionate about? And with math, which I am not excellent at, how do I teach the building blocks when it isn't easy for me either?! How can my experiences help them discover how to study, read and do their homework better? What makes their studies relevant to their lives and how can I communicate that? When I volunteer at EHS, my interaction with the students enriches all of us.

What is your passionate commitment in the world? I've never met anyone who could not think of some place or community where they really wanted to contribute when I asked them. For one IT guy, it was a computer lab. Volunteering takes time but it's also fun and rewarding. If you aren't already, try it for yourself and see.

When Urgent Hijacks Essential

Have you ever had a day neatly planned out to accomplish your specific and essential goals (work, family time, exercise, leisure, writing or reading, volunteerism, whatever) and you have eagerly begun BUT your phone or Blackberry/iPhone rings or texts you suddenly? EMERGENCY!

...and your perfect day is derailed.

What happened? Your child threw up in the lunchroom and needs to be picked up NOW. There's a leak in your bathroom floor, the tenant downstairs is complaining, the landlord is calling, the super needs to get in NOW. The sewer pipe in your 89-year-old investment duplex in Syracuse burst with the winter cold - call the plumber, call the property manager, reassure the tenant or put them up in a motel, fix it NOW. A diabetic family member is rushed to ICU, blood sugar crashed or soaring, get there NOW. A friend calls crying because they broke up with their boyfriend of four years, reassure them NOW. A colleague contacts you about an urgent project when you have 25 other top-priority projects on your desk already, get theirs done NOW.

Does any of this sound familiar? So what's the point? The issue is not the time it takes to take care of whatever has occurred. Life happens. It's inevitable. The problem is that it shatters our focus and distracts us from the underlying values, goals and dreams that were the foundation for our day's plans.

If you are anything like me, it's disappointing and discouraging to look at my essential to-do list for TODAY and have to move everything to TOMORROW. Tomorrow already has its own essential actions to be taken. Piling on Today's does not help.

What Can Be Done?
Evaluate your own priorities and values beforehand and act with those in mind. Otherwise, you will find yourself ricocheting around like a bb in a tin can to somebody else's urgent needs. Here are your options:

Act NOW
Delegate NOW
Negotiate NOW
Schedule Appointment NOW
Decline NOW

It does not always have to be YOU! But, if ACT NOW to address the emergency aligns with your fundamental values, goals and dreams, reschedule today's essential actions to a different day. Forgive yourself for not finishing everything and move on. Superman and Superwoman only exist in the movies and you are doing exactly what you are meant to do TODAY.

Dare to Be Bold, Make a Plan and Take the Risk

Time Management
"He who every morning plans the transactions of the day and follows out that plan carries a thread that will guide him through the labyrinth of the most busy life... But where no plan is laid, where the disposal of time is surrendered merely to the chance of incident, chaos will soon reign." by novelist, Victor Hugo.

Risk Evaluation
"How do you judge whether some activity is worth the risk? Do you base it on your fear? No, you should do some things that scare you. Should you base it on the probability of success? No, I don't think that's the answer either. Risk must be evaluated not by the fear it generates in you or the probability of your success, but by the value of the goal." by John C Maxwell in Failing Forward: Turning Mistakes into Stepping Stones for Success.

I have recently joined an A-Team (Accountability Team) with Todd Falcone for producing results in building my AP Flex Plus network marketing team (see Cool Links on left). As I have increased the number of contacts I am introducing daily to my business (whether they say 'Yes' or 'No' to the offer), I am getting more bold and brave in a lot of other areas at the same time. Previously, I would talk to a few people a week and then pin all my hopes on how those few might respond. Needless to say, that did not work very well.

I interact with more people each day. I ask for what I want directly and that is making all the difference. I do what I have not allowed myself to do for fear of disapproval or embarrassment and am more joyful. For example, I have written stories for many years and longed to read them aloud in public. Last night, for the very first time, I read my Maine short story, Swimming the Narrows... First at the Players Club in NYC in front of professional actors, comedians, musicians and poets. I shook for twenty minutes after I finished reading but I DID IT and you could have heard a pin drop while I read! I'm looking forward to stretching further and my next challenge. Scary and exciting!

So I dare you to act bravely and boldly in your own life, if you aren't already, and see what happens for you.