Entries from March 2008 ↓
March 31st, 2008 — Getting results
Looking for improvement, growth? Overwhelmed reading productivity tips, emails, RSS subscriptions? Me too. How to distill avalanches of fantastic content into something consumable, applicable, simple daily repeatable practices?
Here is my take. Reverse engineer what software engineers do, adopt and adapt their Software Development Lifecycle to Personal Development lifecycle. The principles are the same, the techniques too.
by Pixelsior
From Software Development Lifecycle to Personal Development Lifecycle
Software development lifecycle (SDLC) has several chronological phases (software folks, I know there are many schools but I am sure you agree on the following core phases below):
- Inception. That is the phase where the vision is created and coarse grained requirements identified. How to identify your vision? Find your strengths, values, and purpose. Here is an example:
- Planning. It is the phase where detailed requirements identified and specs - architecture and design - are in place. Plan your life architecture and design:
- Implementation. This is the phase when programmers write code according to the specs from the planning phase. You are your life programmer, apply proven best patterns and practices for life programming and implementation:
- Testing. This is the phase when something tangible created and can be tested. Test it!
- Deployment and maintenance. This is the phase when rubber hits the road. ROI time. Does the software we created really get us a return on the investment? Does it get us close to the vision we created in the inception phase?
Agile or Waterfall?
There are plenty SDLC schools. What I witness in the field is that there are mainly two that dominate - Agile-ish and Waterfall-ish.
From wikipedia:
The waterfall model is a sequential software development model (a process for the creation of software) in which development is seen as flowing steadily downwards (like a waterfall) through the phases of requirements analysis, design, implementation, testing (validation), integration, and maintenance.
Agile software development is a conceptual framework for software engineering that promotes development iterations throughout the life-cycle of the project.
So what is the difference? The answer is simple:
I wonder why Agile is getting more and more popular…
What is your choice?
Become the architect, the designer, and the programmer of your own life. Create your own Matrix, plug in and live your dream life. How to start? Start With Something Simple, something that you know.
March 23rd, 2008 — Motivation
What are the most precious things in the world? How to identify what’s priceless?
Priceless is something that is given for free, but when lost it cannot be claimed back or bought. Time, health, and trust are given for free to each one of us. When lost no money can buy it.
by covilha
Time
Time is given for free. “I have no time” sounds too often. The more I hear it the more it sounds weirder to me. We are all given 24 hours a day, ain’t we? The trick is allocating right amount of time to the right thing.
My take is that Time Boxing Is The Biggest Secret For Achieving Results.
“Time is free, but it’s priceless. You can’t own it, but you can use it. You can’t keep it, but you can spend it. Once you’ve lost it you can never get it back.” - Harvey MacKay
Health
Most of us are born physically, mentally, and emotionally healthy. If it is not the case there is no reason to make it worse. Preserve it and grow. Invest in your physical, mental, and emotional health.
My take is that one must be sensitive to the 4 Dimensions Of Personal Power .
“To keep the body in good health is a duty…otherwise we shall not be able to keep our mind strong and clear.” - Hindu Prince Gautama Siddharta
Trust
Trust is hard to earn. Really hard. You earn trust by being there and offering value. Not just value, but the one that meets the challenge.
My take is two fold:
“Trust no one unless you have eaten much salt with him.” - Cicero
March 16th, 2008 — Communication Skills
How do you carry out your message during presentation? How do you save your audience from boredom during 60 minutes of your speak? Great content helps, but is it all?
You must actively engage with your audience. Studies show you must make spikes every 7 minutes to seize your audience’s attention back. ZoomIt is effective tool to create such spikes.
by karynsig
ZoomIt is a free download and easy to use software. After you download and run it, it sits in your icon tray.
Using ZoomIt
- To start using it press Ctrl + 1.
- To use pen - just use your mouse and its left button.
- To draw a line - press Shift and use your mouse left button.
- To draw a rectangle - press Ctrl and use your mouse left button.
- To draw an arrow - press both Ctrl and Shift and mouse left button.
Watch this short video to see ZoomIt in action - the video briefly demonstrates how to use ZoomIt.
Music by Gabin - Doo Uap, Doo Uap, Doo Uap.
I am curious if they used ZoomIt for their video clip :).
More presentation techniques
Presentation anti-patterns
When is your next presentation? Got spikes?
March 13th, 2008 — Getting results
Why you close your eyes when you want to concentrate and focus? You don’t?
I do. This technique falls into Resources Management bucket of the Personal Performance Engineering Practices
by ButterflySha
My take is that when you close your eyes your release very important resource - your imagination. That way external visual world distracts you less and helps unleashing the full power of your imagination.
I use this technique when I am trying to get a grip on complex problem. Even when with the customer I ask for the permission to close my eyes and listen that way. I listen and visualize what I hear. Weird a bit but works great for me and for the customer too. I spend less customers’ time saving them form asking redundant questions.
Lately I attended a talk where the presenter mentioned Rambam, one of the greatest doctors and philosophers of Middle Ages. The presenter said that people called Rambam “sleeping doctor” as he was listening to his patients with his eyes shut. It helped him to concentrate.
Mendeleev invented his periodic table of elements after he saw it while he was sleeping.
I found interesting rundown on The Ultimate Mystery: What Do Our Brains Do While Sleeping? that discusses what goes on in our brain when our eye shut:
“We think what’s happening during sleep is that you open the aperture of memory and are able to see this bigger picture,”
Note that there are situations that you better keep your eye wide open, like the case of driving :).
Want to focus and solve a complex problem? Close your eyes, ignite your imagination, focus and see a bigger picture, see the solution.
What is your practice? Please, share.
March 10th, 2008 — Getting results
What’s my life purpose? How do I find it?
Hell of questions, huh? Steve Pavlina offers one method for How to discover your life purpose in about 20 minutes. Here is my take - find your strengths first to discover your life purpose.
by s-t-r-a-n-g-e
Find your strengths
J.D. Meier recently published great post - Finding Your Strengths - where he distills “Now, Discover Your Strengths” book by Marcus Buckingham and Donald O. Clifton, Ph.D. It offers the list of 34 key strengths.
Go over the list and pick 5 that resonates most with you - not those that you like, rather those that you are the best at. Got 5?
Find your life purpose
“Ultimately, man should not ask what the meaning of his life is, but rather he must recognize that it [is] he who is asked.” - Viktor Frankl
Now that you know your strengths think how you can apply it to make the most of it. What is the biggest impact you can make using your strengths? Use 4 Dimensions Of Personal Power to maximize your strengths.
My strengths
Achiever - You have a relentless need for achievement. You feel as if everyday starts at zero and you must achieve something tangible in order to feel good about yourself. It brings you the energy you need to work long hours without burning out.
Analytical – Your Analytical theme challenges other people. “Prove it. Show me why what you are claiming is true.” In the face of this kind of questioning some will find that their brilliant theories wither and die. For you this is precisely the point. You do not necessarily want to destroy other people’s ideas, but you do insist that their theories be sound.
Communication – You like to explain, to describe, to host, to speak in public, and to write. This is your Communication theme at work. Ideas are a dry beginning. Events are static. You feel a need to bring them to life, to energize them, to make them exciting and vivid.
Focus – “Where am I headed?” you ask yourself. You ask this question every day. Guided by this theme of Focus, you need a clear destination. Lacking one, you life and your work can quickly become frustrating. And so each year, each month, and even each week you set goals. These goals then serve as your compass, helping you determine priorities and make the necessary corrections to get back on course. Your Focus is powerful because it forces you to filter; you instinctively evaluate whether or not a particular action will help you move toward your goal. Those that don’t are ignored.
Arranger – You are a conductor. When faced with a complex situation involving many factors, you enjoy managing all the variables, aligning and realigning them until you are sure you have arranged them in the most productive configuration possible.
My life purpose
As it seems to me my key strengths are results and communication. Create and share the knowledge, the how-to. That is it. Create and share.
More on finding strengths
