Today’s post was written by Dion Baker.  He is a writer for The Intangible Wealth and a respected song writer, poet, and visual artist.  And he also shares my love of ants.  – Brad

Today I went to the craft store with my wife to return some items we recently purchased. While she was being helped at the register, I decided to venture off into the store to see what else they had in stock. Not too far from the register, I saw several items on the clearance shelves. I perused through the shelves to see if there was anything of interest; not much. The mix of colorful ribbon and Spiderman bookmarks on sale didn’t quite hold my attention. I continued checking out the products to my right and guess what I found? A small pile of children’s books! As I walked toward the books there was a small book at the top titled, “The Ant and the Grasshopper”. Now, I’m excited…

So I picked up the book and started reading.

Here’s the synopsis of the story. There was the Grasshopper, the Ant, and other insects. It was the summertime and the Grasshopper was always being lazy, idle, and playful with his time. The weather was pleasant and he felt he should enjoy it, so he chose to be lazy and not work. But each time he saw another insect they weren’t being lazy, they were working. When he saw the Ant she was carrying food for the winter. He saw the Bee and he had yellow pollen all over his feet from toiling in flower nectar. He saw the Spider and she was threading her web. The Grasshopper was surprised that they were working while the weather was so beautiful. So he told them, “What are you doing? It’s summertime! Put down the work and have fun!” But they all said, “No, no, Grasshopper. We need to work and gather food for the winter! And you need to be gathering food for the winter too!” But the Grasshopper kept playing and never took heed to their advice.

And then the inevitable happened; winter came.

The snow piled and the wind blew and the Grasshopper was left hungry in the frigid cold. He was so cold and hungry that he asked the Ant for shelter and food. The Ant was appalled at the Grasshopper knowing that he spent his summer days in laziness and didn’t heed their advice to work. So the Ant told him:

“If you play all summer, you’ll go hungry all winter”

Summer represents the times that things are easier and winter represents when things are more difficult. Each of these is only a temporary season that comes and goes during our lives. Summer doesn’t last forever and winter is inevitable. When things are easier for us that is the best moment to prepare for the moments they will not be.  Therefore, the best time to ease our sickness (winter) is by preparing ourselves when we are more healthy (summer); the best time to prepare ourselves for difficult financial times (winter) is by saving money when we do have money (summer). The perfect time to gather what we need is during the time we don’t need it.

The Grasshopper didn’t bother gathering his food during the summer. Consequence: when the winter came, he had nothing to eat and was very cold. Why did he end up like that? He spent his days of vitality – when he had the most time and conditions were most comfortable – to indulge in laziness.  We should learn from him, but we should not be like him. Instead, we need to follow the model of the other insects. How so?

Invest our time in accumulating resources of value.

If we do that, the winters won’t feel as cold and hunger won’t trouble as much or at all. As the summer draws to a close, we are reminded that comfortableness is temporary and difficulties are inevitable. I challenge you to reflect upon your last 90 days and think about yourself in terms of your activity. Have you been the Grasshopper or the Ant?

- by Dion Baker from Intangible Wealth

Stressful jobs, recession money woes and unrelenting pressure from family and social duties can turn even the most cheerful person into an anxious pessimist with little motivation. But positivity is all in your mind, and once you understand that your mood and your outlook on the life is something you can actually control, you’ll be more ready to tackle any challenges that life hurtles your way. Here are ten little tips that will help you turn negatives into positives, ultimately letting you lead a life with less worry.

1. Speak in the positive. Even if you have to convey a negative thought or emotion, say it in the positive. For example, instead of saying or thinking “I can’t get through this,” say, “I’m lost” or “I need help.” Speaking in the negative just reiterates your negative feelings.
2. Rethink obstacles. Try to view problems as something you can work through, instead of obstacles that prevent you from getting what you want. Just because your first plan of action didn’t work, doesn’t mean there isn’t another way.
3. Avoid ultimatums. The more pressure you put on yourself and other people, the more out of control you’ll feel. Ultimatums also tend to make small issues blow up into problems that cause more trouble than they’re worth.
4. Force yourself to smile or laugh. Release a little positive energy by smiling at someone or telling a joke.
5. Remember the things you’re good at. If your job is killing you, think of all the things you’re actually good at, like fly fishing, listening to others or painting.
6. Reach out to others. You don’t have to see a therapist to reap the benefits of talking about your problems. Friends and family can also give you another perspective on your problem that will help you get through the tough times.
7. Sleep on it. If you just can’t see around an obstacle, put it aside until after you get a good rest.
8. Start more sentences with “I can.” Try to turn as many “I can’ts” into “I cans” each day.
9. Reduce your stress level. Try to reduce your stress level by doing one positive thing each day, by giving yourself a little more free time, going to bed early, or visiting with friends.
10. Figure out how your problems will pan out in the long term. Will this problem still be a major issue in 3 weeks, 6 months, or one year? Gauge your reaction to problems by asking yourself how important and relevant they are to your life.

This post was contributed by Tara Miller, who writes about the online psychology degrees. She welcomes your feedback at TaraMillerr00 at yahoo.com

“The important thing is this: To be able at any moment to sacrifice what we are for what we could become.” ~ Charles DuBois

I think ambition kills more weight loss than any other factor.

When you first start a new diet and exercise goal what do you do?  You want to run out and buy a new treadmill. You want to go buy a new bike. Get new workout clothes. Get new shoes.

You might eat nothing but cabbage for 3 days.  Luxuriate on meals of carrot tops and wheat stems.  Flax seed becomes the snack food of champions.

New diet goals are a lot like falling in love.  Married people know the “falling in love” stage lasts a short time when bumped up against 10 years of marriage.  The in-love phase, where passions are high, where your eyes glass over and your heart races when your love appears might last a few months.  But only a base of realistic expectations, builds a base of stable and solid love that can last a lifetime.

Too many unreasonable expectations cause failure in diets and in love

When you first create a new diet plan, you get excited.  This is when the inspiration and motivation is high.  But sadly, early diet goals can be like falling in love.  Eventually we get to the point where we see the not so pleasant side and passion wanes and pain increases.

Your treadmill becomes a clothing rack.  Going to the gym starts to suck.  The idea of eating just one more salad makes you want to gorge on Boston Cream Pie…

Dieting is Like a Love Affair With The Wrong Person – Passion Short Lived

I call the loss of passion and motivation the dip.

The dip happens in business.  It happens in dating relationships and in marriage.  Similarly, the dip happens with workout and dieting goals too.  But you knew that already, didn’t you?

When you’re in the dip, it is easier to slack off and believe slacking it isn’t so bad.

However, we all know the result of accumulated days of slacking.   As the days of lethargy pass and pass, there will one day be an accounting.  And then what?

We go back to falling in love with another system.  And history repeats itself.

The dip is a fact of life.  It is predictable.

The dip isn’t only for weight loss, falling in love with any goal early without developing a long term plan is dangerous.

Here’s a prediction for you – am I psychic?  Pick a long term goal.  If your goal will take a month or more to reach, you will hit the dip.  At some point you won’t want to follow through.  Not doing will feel better than doing.  No need in complaining about it or weeping into a 1/2 gallon tub of ice cream.  Expect the dip and plan accordingly.

You might ask how we can plan for and compensate for the dip when trying to lose weight.

Make A Lifestyle Change.  Oh Really?

We’ve all heard the way to permanent weight loss is to make a lifestyle change.  But rarely do we hear how to do it.  This is so irritating I want to beat myself over the head with a meat tenderizer.

Whoever says “just make a lifestyle change” (without telling you how) needs a swift kick in the butt because if we don’t know how, it is impossible to do.

A Lifestyle Change is Serious

A lifestyle change is huge.

It means changing your life — forever! Did you ever consider that when someone said “make a lifestyle change to lose weight” ?

Therefore, I am going to give my how-to on creating a lifestyle change for losing weight.  

Lifestyle Change 101

When starting out to lose 50 or 100lbs. most people usually take on too much too soon. It’s exciting at first, but then 3 or 4 days in, we get tired, our muscles ache, the day of fasting lemon-rinds soaked in fungus tea makes the head throb.  So we want to quit. Hint: That’s the expected and natural result. You should not be surprised when you quit.

Going back to the lifestyle change, you can’t go from 10 years of rest to 10K marathons in a week.  It’s common sense right?  Yet dieters push to get fast results to keep motivated for the long term.

Here’s an idea – forget about motivation for a minute.  And think about 20 years from now…  That’s how the smart money investors think.

Lifestyle change is like a money investment

Picture yourself as an investment strategist.

A new investor comes to you for some advice about what to do with $10,000 they painstakingly saved.  He says he wants to put it all into the stock market by buying shares in a brand new company.  You find out this company is one he overheard some people talking about at Starbucks.

He wants to get in on the ground floor of this stock before it shoots to the moon.

What do you think of his investment strategy?  How much growth can he expect in 20 years?

You know the odds are staggering in favor he’ll lose all his money.  He’s moving too fast into a direction he knows little or nothing about.  He is going “all in” so there is no way for him to adjust for market fluctuations – no way to adjust for the dip.

So you tell him to forget about the quick fix – long term investing is where the real money is made.  You put together a portfolio of mutual funds that balance risk with security.  Then finally, you tell him to put his money in for the 20 year stretch.

Permanent weight loss is what it is – permanent!  Permanent results from temporary changes rarely, if ever, work.  So we need to start thinking permanent in order to make it happen.

How do we reach a state of permanency when it comes to being thin or trim?  Like our new investor above, we make a long term investment.  We think 20 years out…  And we don’t do anything we can’t reasonably expect to do unless we can do it for that 20 years.

Can you subsist on cabbage soup and eggplant seeds for 20 years?  Of course not.  Can you start out by running 5 miles a day within the first week?  No, you’d be crazy to try.

Where real long-term weight loss will happen.

Within reason what small changes can you make to your diet today that will last 20 years?   And don’t give me that “I can drink 2 slim fasts a day for the next 20 years” nonsense!  –  I said within reason.  We cannot make unreasonable changes and make them stick.

How about “I will eat at least one green vegetable with every dinner?” That’s simple enough isn’t it?  It doesn’t require any measuring, weighing or graphing on a scientific calculator.  Just look for the color green on your plate come dinner time.  If none exists, find some.

Here’s a tip where you don’t even have to give up anything – “When eating a sandwich at lunch, I will cut it in half.  I’ll eat 1/2 and save the other for later in case I get hungry.” I probably don’t have to tell you how this cuts calories and helps cut down on unnecessary snacking.  But at the same time, the psychological pain is minimal.  You haven’t given up the whole sandwich, just the timing of how you eat it.

Here’s another idea “I will never eat 2 side orders of starch during the same meal”.   Seems simple to me.  It isn’t painful.  In fact, it’s been my personal eating philosophy for nearly 25 years.

Goal exercise of the day

Here’s something to do today – I expect you to do it today.  Print this article and fill out the form below signing it as you would a contract.  It is a contract with yourself to do 3 simple things every day for the next 20 years.  I recommend hanging this contract on your bathroom mirror so you can see it every day.

Follow through with this contract or the kitty gets it!

You know you’ll be able to do it because the three changes are reasonable.  I can’t stress this enough.  They should be so simple, you should feel guilty they aren’t hard enough.  Seriously!

Make a list of 3 reasonable changes you can make to your diet or exercise you can follow through on for the next 20 years.

Don’t make excuses!  Do it now!

20 Year Contract

Date: __________________

I _______________________________________ hereby promise to follow through on these three habits for the next 20 years. At the end of 20 years I will have effectively changed my lifestyle.

My three habits:

_______________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________

Signature: ______________________________ Date: ___________

Witnessed by: ___________________________ Date: ___________

If you find this post helpful, please vote for it on stumbleupon or delicious.  Or just send it to a friend  You’d be helping me a lot.  Thank you!

- Brad Isaac
Follow Me on Twitter

CIO magazine interviewed me recently about Mind Mapping and why I use it.  The article appeared last night:

Brad Isaac, CIO at Breslow Starling Frost Warner, an accounting firm, uses a mind mapping application from Mindjet for project management. In situations like deploying a new server, mind mapping helps him keep track of the project and ensure he’s covered the necessary bases: who’s managing it, who will be using it, who needs training, he says. “You’re able to address all these layers of a complex project in a visual manner and it only takes moments.”

CIO: Mind Maps Fuel Productivity

The interview was more in depth than what is covered in the article.  Will the print edition will cover more?

I went into how I not only use Mind Mapping for work, I use it for play, blogging and at-home projects.  Much like I have on my blog in the past.

This is one of those Saturday afternoon projects that turned out much better than even I imagined.

I was needing a docking cradle for my iPod touch, but two things bothered me about buying one.  First, I didn’t want to spend the money.  But I also didn’t want to bring another piece of plastic gadgetry into the house if I could avoid it.

It occurred to me my iPod touch 2G came in an attractive jewel case.  Perhaps there’d be some way to convert it into a docking cradle.  Sure enough, there was a way and the results were jaw dropping!

Supplies needed

Here’s what you need:

• Leatherman
• Dremel with cutting blade
• Sharpie
• Jewel case used in packing your iPod 2G
• Plastic docking adapter that came with iPod 2G
• Sync cable

Step 1.  Outline the cut pattern on top of jewel case

Center the dock adapter under the TOP of the jewel case.  Then outline the INSIDE curves of the adapter.  Don’t worry if it’s not perfect, the top of the dock adapter will cover mistakes.

Step 2:  Carefully cut out a square with Dremel cutting blade

Take your dremel and cut a square in the plastic.  This makes the rest of the cutting easier.  Take your time and make this as accurate as possible.  One false move and you’ll put an ugly scratch in your case.

Step 3: Carefully SCORE the rest of pattern with Dremel

With the Dremel blade, simply follow your sharpie pattern.  I was able to cut some of the plastic away.  But I simply scored the rounded sides so I could finish with my Leatherman.  Also notice, I did NOT cut out space for the dock adapter tabs.  Later, you’ll be able to hook those in place.

Step 4: File the clear plastic until the dock adapter fits perfectly

This might take some time.  Simply file around the edges with your Leatherman until the dock adapter fits.

Step 5: File a v-notch into both side of Sync cable

Your sync cable will eventually snap into the dock adapter.  In order to do this, you need to cut and file a v-notch into each side of the top attachment near the top.  (Double click the pictures to see).

Step 6: File down “hooks” if your cable has them

Older ipod sync cables had hooks in them to keep your iPod attached.  If yours is one of these, you’ll need to file down the hooks.  Simply hold your Leatherman / file on a table and scrape the top sides of the sync components until the hooks are gone.

Step 7: File hole in dock adapter so it can fit top of sync cable (keep it snug)

Out of the box, the hole in the dock adapter is not large enough to fit the top of your sync cable.  So get to filing.  You will need to file all edges of the hole to make it wider and longer.  Tip:  Frequently insert the sync cable to make sure you aren’t making the hole too big.  You want it to just barely fit so it can support the weight of your iPod.  Eventually, it will snap into place.

Step 8: Snap top of sync cable into dock adapter

After carefully filing, you see the top of your sync adapter barely fits into the hole.  Keep pressure on it until it snaps into place.

Step 9: File notch into bottom of jewel case for sync cable to go to computer

Almost done.  File a notch approximately 1/2 inch long one one of the long edges of the bottom of the case.  You will probably want it centered but you can go an inch to the left or right if you prefer.

Step 10: Finally, put it all together

1. Insert the dock adapter into the top of the case by hooking the tabs under the clear plastic and pressing it down flush with the top of the case.
2. Place the cable over the hole you filed in the bottom of the case
3. Close the top of case to the bottom.
4. Youre done!

Step 11: Enjoy your new dock!  P.S. It doubles as a storage case

Again, this dock looks far better in person than in the pictures.  It works great too.

Remember, you can always pack up your earphones, cable, polishing cloth and other small accessories into this dock.  You might even choose to put the iPod in it too.  But you have to take it apart more.

For more fun projects like this, be sure to subscribe to my RSS feed or my 100% spam free newsletter.

If you like this iPod docking cradle, please share this post with others by submitting it to Digg or StumbleUpon.   Thanks!

Flashcards are in my opinion, the very best way to memorize the most information quickly.  Traditional index cards with your own handwriting are easy, cheap and efficient.  You can carry them in a pocket or purse for learning just about anywhere. 

However, there are a few downsides.

You can lose a card or two.  You can drop them and have to play 52 pick-up.  Or you might find that keeping them in a particular order is nearly impossible when they are carried loose in your pocket.  In those cases, I recommend making your own Pocket Flashcard Caddy.

All you need is

• Index cards
• 1 Book Ring
• a 1-hole punch

You can use standard 3×5″ index cards, but I like to cut 8×5 index cards into quarters.  There are several reasons for this. 

1. It saves paper. 
2. The mass of cards are smaller to carry in your pocket. 
3. By cutting the 8×5 ruled cards into quarters, the lines are horizontal so when you write your answers, they appear at the same angle as the questions.

Make your flashcards using the no-fail flashcard technique so you can ensure maximum learning.  Then go back and punch a hole in the upper right hand corner of each card.  Finally clamp them all together with your book ring. 

Now, you can keep them in your pocket for learning know matter where you go.

You know how important it is to read.  Reading leads to new and better skills and higher concentration.  It improves your success rate and ability to communicate.  But many of you feel like on top of everything else you have to do, you don’t have time to read all the time.  In fact, you might be one of those who pushes reading to the bottom of your list of things to do.

If that’s the case, you should check out my post The 26 Major Advantages to Reading More Books…

“Reading never did anything for me..” some say.   What a shame.  Because reading is still one of the best ways to learn new concepts and skills.  When you have a problem with your career, you don’t necessarily have to go back to college or take night classes.  A problem with your marriage, doesn’t necessarily mean having to go into years of therapy.  Reading can be an inexpensive and time saving alternative.

So the excuse of not having enough time to read is poor at best, delusional at worst.   

But there’s also a secret to reading when other people are wasting time.  In fact, I used it to gather 634 extra hours of educational reading in the past year – without cracking a book.  How did I do it?  Read on to find out.

Here’s what I did…

In the normal day to day reading of marketing, self-development, and copy writing blogs and web pages, I would highlight long articles and push them to Text-2-Go.  Same thing with some e-books – the ones that allow you to copy and paste text.

This saved time in reading web pages because I know that oftentimes the most valuable articles are the long ones.  I could effectively procrastinate on those articles by pushing them to my iPod.  What was left were the short 30-second read posts that I could read or skim right there.

Those familiar with David Allen’s Getting Things Done, know this form of active reading both meets the 2 minute rule and the use of buckets for information.  I immediately read the pertinent articles that take more or less 1 minute to read.  The others get put in the bucket for “ear reading” later while driving, walking or just lying back relaxing.

After about 1 year of using the software, I’ve chalked up an extra 634 hours!  Much of what I’ve gotten from that is motivation, writing skills and enhancements, hot marketing tips, copy writing strategies and organizing skills.

Then I’d go back to my favorite audio-book creation software Text-to-go and import the articles for reading back to me while I was driving.  I’ve also used it while walking, hiking, and jogging.  There’s nothing quite like idea generation while out on a walk.  

Here’s a small sampling of blogs that translate well into educational audio learning (there are many more, but these are a few that came to mind):

Zen Habits

Problogger

Dosh Dosh

Michel Fortin

Basically, Mark, the coder behind Text-to-go has thought through his software before he coded it.  We met through email and on top of his wise coding, he’s a nice Australian.  It’s tough for us to get in touch due to the time difference.  

It’s as simple as highlighting an article and clicking the text-to-go button.  Next thing you know, it’s sitting on your iPod – ready for your next trip.

The text-to-go method is so quick I’ve snagged some articles on my way out the door.  I’ve tried just about every text to speech app on the planet and Marc’s is by far the most efficient.

I found out yesterday he’s got a Beta in the works.  I knew he was tossing around some ideas for speech/word correction.  You see, one drawback of text to speech is the voices often can’t compensate for odd spellings, acronyms and abbreviations.  If you are listening in your car, the voice might read “Run ipconfig /all and check DNS settings” as “Run ipp-cinfing slash all and check Dinns settings“.  This is confusing to the listener.  

Well, in his latest beta, I knew he’d be working to make corrections like this easy.  Fortunately, I was not disappointed.  I don’t want to blow all the secrets of his next version, but I’ll say his correction utility is again, well thought out and shall I say ingenius?.  I corrected at least 15 mispronunciations this morning in just 5 minutes.  

There are also some other features to the new beta that are both fun and productivity increasing.  What that means is this year I might inadvertently squeeze in 2-300 more hours of this passive reading.  

If you like this post, please consider stumbling or submitting it to Digg.  Thanks!!!

Courtesy of Rules of Thumb, here are some tips:

• MEASURING DETERGENT Fifty percent of the amount of detergent recommended by the manufacturer is plenty. Ditto toothpaste!
• DYSLEXIA AMONG THE POPULATION About 2 out of every 10 people have dyslexia.
• GETTING RID OF BACK PAIN If your back hurts more when you climb stairs, walk up a hill, or get out of a chair, you need to do extension exercises.
• TIMING YOUR GARAGE SALE Hold a garage sale the first weekend of the month because people who get paid monthly have more money to spend then.
• THROWING OUT CLOTHING – Sometimes when cleaning out your closet you’ll come across a garment that you don’t wear because nothing goes with it. If you aren’t ready to spend any money to make the item work for you, you probably are ready to give it to Goodwill.

I am a firm believer in serendipity- all the random pieces coming together in one wonderful moment, when suddenly you see what their purpose was all along. — David Levithan

Vista Connection Woes?

I’ve had a few friends who report having trouble connecting their Vista machines to their home routers. If you are having trouble connecting your Vista computer to your home router, it could be this bug too. Lockergnome posted the remedy. Too bad you have to edit the registry to fix it – but it works if you dare.

Long List of Traffic Boosting Tips

I fall in the category of writing more but promoting less. Unfortunately, on slow traffic days, it feels like I am talking to myself.

Thankfully, Bloggirl put together a long list of tips for those like me who need boosts in traffic. If you have any recommendations for me, please post.

Write Better by Avoiding Repetitive Words

Are the words in my posts getting repetitive? Or do you see the repetitive word nature in any of my posts? There’s a new tool out called WordCount that analyses the frequency you use certain words.

Is hiring a virtual personal assistant for you?

Is hiring a virtual personal assistant for you? – Sometimes we all need a little help. A virtual assistant is much more cost efficient than hiring someone full time. Where having to pay someone to be on site 20-40 hours a week, virtual assistants only work when you need them. Slacker manager is reviewing the site Longer Days in this article. - side note: I tried contacting Longer Days using their online chat feature and it reported “connecting” for 20 minutes which is unfortunate. Still waiting to hear back via email.

I was working on some background blog cleanup when I stumbled on a cool plug-in called Web2pdf that converts any and all blog posts to pdf (Acrobat) format.

I took the 30 seconds and installed it just for fun.

Give it a try on any post here by clicking on the Save page as pdf button

Might I suggest to new readers to look over to the right under the Popular Posts?  Those would be a good place to start for PDF generation.

Let me know what you think!