Version 7 of "The System" has big New Year upgrade

Continuously improved for the last 2 years, Version 7 is now available:

1. Extensive use of personalized drop-down lists for fast data entry without using keyboard. This improvement makes the System much easier on mobile devices.

2. Additional Details column with custom drop-down lists for more granular analysis.

3. Additional "Hidden" rows for multiple entries (see Sales, Prod Dev., etc)

4. Total Productive Time calculation added.

5. Many cosmetic changes, to highlight most productive activities, the Purpose and the Score.

Shown is the complete daily checklist I'm currently using (shown as of 11AM today). My Score for the last couple of days has been over 80,000. I'm still shooting for 100,000, but I want to achieve it without stress. 

Note the photo of my son and daughter, who I think of as my inspiration for wanting to do the best I can. And speaking of "doing my best", that is a phrase borrowed with great appreciation from Marshall Goldsmith. Just saying those words to myself adds extra power to my actions. Try it!

Ask and you shall receive

Steve Jobs video clip on why it is so important to Ask!
It's all about having the courage to risk failure, rejection, etc.
And taking Action!

ToBeWise: there's an app for that. Free!

If only there were an app that would start us on the path of Success in Life and in Business...

That thought has occupied my mind for a long time, starting 31 years ago. For much of the past year, I've been working on just such a thing, and as of just a couple of days ago, it's now available for iPhone/iPad users, in the App Store.

I call it ToBeWise, because, well, it's the best name I came up with, after considering a lot of others. The name describes the Result you will achieve by using the app: wisdom.

Wisdom:

the ability to think and act using knowledge, experience, understanding, common sense, and insight. 

Wikipedia

Imagine if you had that ability... pretty cool, right? The big challenge with having wisdom is that it takes a lot to Time to develop it, a lot of knowledge and experience just doesn't happen overnight, and most people just never develop enough of it to truly succeed in Life and Business.

You'd have to read tons of books, and have lots of years of major and varied life and business experiences, and then pull them all together to build your understanding to the level that it all became common sense to you, and from then on you could think and act in ways that would appear to others to be simply effortless insight... as if everything you did were easy and right on point.

If only there were a way to take a short cut through all the reading and study and get the basics internalized without effort. If only there were a way to channel the most successful and intelligent people who ever lived...  if only there were an app for that!  Well, there is!  

Start at ToBeWise.co and follow the simple system of 2 minutes in the morning and 2 minutes at night. Easy. Simple. Highly effective. Free.

Stop it!

“I know it was your idea, but it was my idea to use your idea.” 

The benefit of stopping certain negative behaviors can be far greater than all the positive ones combined. The following bad habits create challenges in interactions with others. CEOs often wrongly attribute their successes to these habits.

Promoting my value

Adding too much value:  Needing to add our two cents to every discussion.

Claiming credit that we do not deserve: The most annoying way to overestimate our contributions to any success.

Passing judgment: The need to rate others and impose our standards on them.

Starting with "No," "But," or "However": These negative qualifiers say to everyone, "I'm right, You're wrong."

Making destructive comments: The needless sarcasms and cutting remarks that we think make us sound sharp and witty.

Overusing emotions

Speaking when angry: Using emotional volatility as a management tool.

Negativity: "Let me explain why that won't work": The need to share our negative thoughts even when we were not asked.

Clinging to the past: The need to deflect blame away from ourselves and onto events and people from our past.

Making excuses: The need to reposition our annoying behavior as a permanent fixture so people excuse us for it.

Playing favorites: Failing to see that we are treating someone unfairly.

Empowering the Ego

An excessive need to be Me: Reframing faults as virtues because they're who we are.

Passing the buck: The need to blame everyone but ourselves.

Refusing to express regret: The inability to take responsibility for our actions, admit we're wrong, or recognize how our actions affect others.

Winning too much: The need to win at all costs and in all situations - when it matters, when it doesn't, and when it's totally beside the point.

Telling the world how smart you are: The need to show people we're smarter than they think we are.

Upholding boundaries

Withholding information:  Refusing to share information with others to maintain an advantage over them.

Failing to give proper recognition: The inability to praise and reward.

Not listening: Passive-aggressive form of disrespect for colleagues.

Failing to express gratitude:  Bad manners, plain and simple.

Punishing the messenger: Attacking the innocent who are only trying to help.

Adapted from a post by Marshall Goldsmith ("To help others develop, start with yourself.")