1.  What are the 2-3 most exciting technologies that you use or are watching?

2.  What is the top trend that you are watching or think people should be watching?

I really don’t have a favorite as books need to address areas of interest topics so there isn’t one book that fits all and I’ve read far too many to have a favorite book.  Some of my favorite authors are Patrick Lencioni and Malcolm Gladwell as I highly enjoy their respectively, fable style of writing and  data backed discoveries.  Some of my favorites are: Win Friends and Influence People, What Got You Here Won’t Get You There, The Other 8 Hours, The Five Dysfunctions of a Team, The Goal

5.  What is your favorite website?

6.  If you could recommend one book for people to read, what would it be?

Set Your Own Rules, Live the Life You Want and Change the World

Author : Chris Guillebeau

Overall, I loved this book and didn’t really know what to expect when I first picked it up, but the title and subtitles caught my eye.  The book reinforces  many of the believes I’ve always had and Guillebeau’s introductions and thoughts on the subject were quickly reinforcing my own beliefs on the subjects of doing whatever you feel passionate about, regardless of influences or social peer pressure.  The book is separated into 3 sections:

• The remarkable life
• Reclaiming work
• The power of convergence

Live Your Core Values

Your core values don’t change easily and if you know them, they should be something easy to live by.  Doing so, helps you ensure you are living who you really are, not what someone else wants you to be, or what often shows up at the surface because of other people’s expectations.  Living who you really are means you are true to yourself, not others.  This of course is much easier said than done, however, the awareness of your own values and living them on purpose can be a huge shift to truly being who you are in life.  I have a couple preview articles you should find helpful to discover your passions and values.

Joy and Appreciation

These are very important to me and a big part of making life wonderful.  Living joyfully is hard to do if we cannot learn to appreciate what we have and all the amazing things that happen everyday.  Yes, life has its share of pain and struggles, yet it’s really just a choice what we want to recognize, think about and let influence our life.  There are often many more things to be joyful for and just a few things we could regret, dwell on or wish for that change the way we live and its the related choices that let us shape life into what we want it to be.  You have to choose to have joy and appreciation if you want them to exist in your life.  You probably know a some people who are happy or joyful despite tough circumstances? And how about people who seem miserable, while seeming to have everything they need in life with far less struggles and adversity.  Everyone I’ve met in my life with extreme circumstances are more easily affected by their choices of what they recognize from those circumstances and how they react to it, then the circumstances themselves and it makes a huge difference in the lives from person to person.  There is always joy to find, recognize and appreciate in life and making it at the forefront will free you to live the rest of your life how you want it, as yourself, instead of being caught up in the past or circumstances outside of your control.

Acceptance and Attraction

Living life, just the way you are means you have to also accept who you are.  Personal development is often seen as a place to change oneself but it isn’t really for that, its a place to discover yourself and recognize things to learn and change along the way.  This is what acceptance is based on as well, you have to accept yourself for the way you are and not burden yourself with overwhelming expectations of change.  If you know who you are now its much easier to decide what changes fit for you and to see the risks, challenges and work required to let them happen.  I’m certainly not saying that personal development is the opposite of living just the way you are, its that if you discover and truly know yourself the way you are now, it’s a journey of change through your life, not a specific target or point of change that you should strive for.

Accepting your own limitations and knowing your limits is important to let change happen naturally as well without forcing things that your body and mind will fight you on (perhaps even unconsciously).  Often what we learn about ourselves is useful to then understand our attractions as well.  Attractions certainly come in different flavors, some like minded and sometimes the old saying opposites attract is just as true.  Attraction can exist as well for things we already know and love, as well for things that excite us or fill a need that we are longing for.  This could be people, but often it is actions or activities as well such as bucket lists or life long dreams.  Attractions are useful to experience life by and they test our acceptance of ourselves and others in the process.  See that, can be a great reminder to accept what is and just keep on living life and the journey it presents.  The attractions will come and go, so let them.

Peace and Contentment

Finally, peace and contentment.  Living life as you are gives you freedom from the stress of change and expectations that do not meet who you are today.  The peace that this brings can be extremely satisfying in that it removes the distractions and burdens leaving you with clear mind and lets you be true to your soul with a contentment about life and living it, just the way you are.

Its been a couple months since I posted a set of my favorite articles and resources so here are a number of great articles and excellent videos for you enjoy.

How to Capture the Ideas Worth Pursuing

Can You Live a Balanced Life With a Cluttered Mind?

Where Has All the Passion Gone

18 Things I Wish Someone Would’ve Told Me At 18

111 Lessons Life Taught Us

How to Bounce Back When Things Go Wrong In Life

Are You Torn Between Different Creative Ambitions?

Incredible Videos

One of the most incredible research projects and results I’ve ever seen. The Birth of a Word – Ted Talks (by Deb Roy)

Another impressive Ted Talks about learning and teaching match with video and data systems for students and teachers (by Salman Khan)

With these couple of TED talks video, here is a great collection of TED talks for new graduates: The 20 Essential Ted Talks for New Grads

Another fantastic video to spread the movement of Earthships is this, about a great relief program that brought and taught Haitians together to build their first Earthship.

Leadership is often seen as one person steering and directing many and many of the names that come to mind first when thinking of leaders are those in the public sector, politicians, sports leaders, great authors and motivational speakers.  While many of these people are in fact incredible leaders, humble leadership is not often why they are so well known.  Humble leadership requires a leader to lead without a desire for attention, for getting well known or for because famous due to that leadership.  Those things may very well happen, but they are never a desire of a humble leader.

Parenting is Often Humble Leadership

Parents have a tremendous opportunity to lead their children and the desire to be a great parent is for the sake of others, not themselves.  Great parents do not hope to be recognized as great parents (from people outside their family at least) and they don’t typically think about any specific achievements they might gain from being the model parents they strive to be.  This type of parenting is a perfect example of humble leadership.  They show by practice what making good choices in life is all about, how to help others and care for one another and how to support people to learn and make great decisions on their own.  These traits are ones that any good leader should have as well and so parenting can be a great place to find leadership without their own agenda, an important part of humble leadership.

Putting the needs of others before yourself and truly wanting to make others more successful with no concern about the impact of that on you can quickly make a humble leader!

Leading by Example and Not Authority is Humble Leadership

Another area that humble leaders lead is by example.  Leading by example can be done by any type of leader but it tends to be done by humble leaders more.  Humble leaders are most interested in showing what can be done and by doing those themselves first.  They don’t force anyone to follow them and they typically lead by example with nothing more than a hope that others will see, and follow suit.  It is often done for leading with specific behaviors in a workplace.  Holding one’s values close and making decisions that let them uphold those values.  Or working in a particular field or role, despite their ability to change and go elsewhere.  It might even be that a humble leader makes a number of personal sacrifices for the sake a company or people in it, without those people ever knowing.  These types of actions and leadership happens every day, and while it is not always obvious to people and more so, often hidden on purpose by a humble leader, the fact is, that is does happen and is often going on in our very own workplaces each and every day!

Humble Leadership Occurs Between Friends All the Time!

Another not so well known area to find humble leadership is that which goes on between friends all the time.  Friends are constantly doing little things to make each other feel better, enjoy one another’s company and to help them get through tough times.  This caring and compassion are exactly the kind of things that humble leadership is based on.  Friends are constantly spending time together, laughing and enjoying one another’s company.  It builds trust, security and comfort that don’t exist without those close personal interactions.  Humble leadership is the same and takes time to develop that trust and security to gain the influence that is required for any leadership task.  It is done by relationship and gives plenty of time to let it develop and become useful.  Humble leadership is not something that can be forced or created quickly, just like most friendships.

Humble Leadership Drawbacks

The methods of a humble leader are very powerful and can create influence and impact with much more momentum and passion than aggressive leaders or authoritative leaders.  The biggest drawback is that one of time, as humble leadership is not something that can be done quickly.  It takes much more time and dedication to create change and get results from it.  The followers that humble leadership can generate however, are often much more loyal themselves and often new humble leaders are created as a result.

I believe that humble leadership is the most powerful of all leadership styles and while it isn’t necessarily suitable to all areas needing leadership, it is a style that makes relationships, trust and connections between people stay at the forefront. It aligns best with my own core values of service, honesty, spirit and integrity so it is something that I can let happen, instead of forcing it to happen.  What about you, do you have examples of humble leadership in your life, can you enjoy the natural aspects of leadership in a humble way and how do your core values align with your style of leadership?  I’d love to read your comments and thoughts on the subject!

Today, I have a guest post by Jack Simms, his contact details below the article.  Please join me with your comments and discussions on this article!

A Guide for At Home Entrepreneurs or the soon to be

Today, millions of Americans are retreating from traditional office environments and finding refuge working from home. In fact, many people who have more traditional jobs report that they long to work from the comfort of their home one day. Interestingly, many of those same people really haven’t given much thought to the kinds of businesses that might thrive in a residential environment or the logistical requirements of starting an at home business. Therefore, this article addresses some of the important issues every budding at home entrepreneur should consider.

Types of Jobs You can Perform from Home

Those who work from the comfort of their homes generally fall into one of two categories:

• telecommuters
• small business owners

Telecommuters generally work for someone else; that is, they are employees who answer to a boss and typically use technology (phones and email) to communicate with coworkers and management. In contrast, the entrepreneurs in this second class of at home workers developed an idea for a business and decided to conduct it from home.

Telecommuting Jobs

Rather than making the long drive to the office in rush hour traffic, millions of American employees work out of a virtual office. These employees hook up to the internet first thing in the morning, sometimes still un-showered and in their pajamas. While some find that a lack of interaction with coworkers can be isolating, others thrive in an environment where they can set their own schedules and toil away without someone breathing down their neck or distracting them in the adjacent cubicle. 

Although every company’s business model does not lend itself to telecommuting, more and more employers are embracing the concept. Why?, one might ask. Of course, there are many different reasons, but two are obvious. First, forgoing traditional office space can translate into financial savings for employers who don’t have to shell out money each month on rent. Second, allowing employees to work from home can boost morale and keep the staff happy.

Some common jobs that people perform from home are:

• Data entry
• Customer service
• Sales
• Medical transcription
• Bookkeeping and accounting

If you are specifically on a quest for at home employment, make sure to do your research. Because so many Americans yearn for the flexibility of working in the comfort of their homes, the number of scams out there is mind blowing. A simple google search (or a scan of the junk folder in your email account) will confirm that fact.

Original Start Up Businesses

Working from home can be a great option for entrepreneurs who have an original idea for a business but aren’t yet ready to launch it on a grand scale. Opening up the business from your home may be a financial necessity for some startups, or it may just be a wise economic decision based on the circumstances. Indeed, most small business owners are initially shocked by all the initial costs involved with opening a new business. Therefore, starting from home can allow you to test the waters and get the kinks out of your business plan before you obligate yourself in a long-term lease or overextend yourself in other ways.

The naysayers may claim that one’s home contains too many potential distractions for adequate focus on work. And, to be fair, some who’ve traveled along this path have had difficulty avoiding the lure of the television or ignoring the family debate in the next room. Indeed, working from home is not for everyone. However, if the circumstances are right and you are the kind of person who can remain focused despite routine household distractions, working from home may actually make you more productive. In fact, some reports suggest that individuals operating their businesses from home are more productive than their counterparts working in traditional offices.

Some of the common small businesses operated from home:

• Freelance writer
• Day care
• Blogger
• Various IT businesses (web design and support; general IT repair and maintenance)
• Bed and breakfast
• Small catering businesses
• Various landscaping businesses (landscape design; general lawn care; container gardening)
• Handyman
• Tutoring
• Photography

Factors One Must Consider Before Starting an at Home Business

When you have an exciting idea about a new business venture, it’s easy to get wrapped up in the creative process and forget about the boring details. However, the wise entrepreneur always remains grounded and does not lose sight of the logistics involved with opening a new business. The following items must be addressed before you make your home office a reality.

1. Legal Organization – Will you operate as a sole proprietor or an LLC? Or does an S corporation make more sense for you? Perhaps a limited partnership would be appropriate if you have multiple owners.If you don’t know the difference between any of these legal entities, that’s the good sign you need to retain an attorney to advise you on the most appropriate method of business organization for your new venture. Even if you are, in fact, familiar with the different options for business organization in your state, consulting some professional guidance is prudent. Indeed, although most states have forms posted online and permit non-attorneys to submit their own organizational documents via the internet, great care should be given to these kinds of decisions.
2. Tax Considerations – After you recruit an attorney as a member of your business startup team, a tax advisor should be one of the next slots you fill. Tax laws change constantly, and even if you’ve previously been capable of filing your individual income taxes yourself, chances are you need an expert to help you understand the tax implications of how you operate your business.
3. Local Laws – Do you need a business license to operate your home business? Do any local zoning ordinances impact your decision to work from home? If you haven’t asked these questions yet, you do so as soon as possible. Typically, local officials are glad to help small business owners ensure that their plans are on the up-and-up.
4. Neighborhood Considerations – Particularly if your home is newer, chances are it may be subject to restrictive covenants and governed by a homeowners’ association. Restrictive covenants often permit homeowners to operate businesses out of their homes, so long as the business is an ancillary (and not the primary) use of the property. However, consulting the actual document is imperative to make sure you do not violate any of its provisions.

When Your Business has Outgrown Your Home

Although some folks open a business with long-term plans to operate it from home, some types of businesses, if successful, will outgrow a typical residential environment. The point at which you need to move into a more traditional commercial or retail location may vary depending on the circumstances. For example, if you have clients visiting you on a regular basis, having them show up at your house may not create the professional image you want to project. In addition, if your business grows to the point at which you need to hire multiple employees, a home office may start getting crowded. On the other hand, if you conduct business exclusively electronically or by phone, perhaps you’ll never need to leave the comfort of your home. And showers may remain optional.

Jack Simms has been providing research on issues of interest to home buyers and owners for LeadSteps.com’s Online Mortgage Rates business for three years. Prior to his involvement with LeadSteps, Jack was a real estate professional providing marketing services to realtors in northern California. Jack’s research for LeadSteps’ Mortgage Rates Website is driven by his desire to better explain the complicated decisions involved in both home ownership and the purchase of a home.

I have a few great links to share from March that I think everyone will enjoy.  Most of the titles here speak for themselves and they are all great articles!

• Marshall over at BondChristian has an awesome series of articles here on Learning to Be More Childlike.  (Forget Worrying and Live Now, How to Play, Are We?)
• The Ultimate Guide to Blog Post Promotion by Kikolani is now available.  Kikolani is an awesome resource for blog building and so this book is sure to provide the guide you need to promote your posts!
• Should You Become An Expert? by Stephen at Ratracetrap
• Jonathan has another excellent article on empowering beliefs, one of my favorite subject
• I really like this article by Sid called, How to Organize Your Life
• Nine Things Successful People Do Differently
• Here’s A Secret for Personal Success
• How to Capture The Ideas Worth Pursuing

Short Term Ways to Boost Your Metabolism

Eat Breakfast

You body automatically reacts to not having food when you wake and will go into a slow metabolic rate for its automatic response to starvation.  This can only be eliminated by eating a decent breakfast every single day.  Studies show eating a bigger breakfast and shifting your calorie intake earlier in the day helps to increase your metabolic burn rate, reduce weight gain and the risk of obesity (published in the American Journal of Epidemiology).

Morning Caffeine

While I can’t stand coffee myself and prefer to avoid it for its negative side effects (particularly vein constriction from the brain), it is found in numerous studies (one published in the journal Physiology and Behavior) that coffee and other caffeinated drinks increase your metabolic rate and stimulate your breathing and heart rate. Its a quick action drug, highly addictive and can boost your metabolism by at about 10 percent.

Strength Training

Muscles burn calories, even while resting.  The more muscle you have the more calories you will burn in any given activity.  So strength training does 2 things, it increases your body’s temperature, which raises your metabolic rate on its own, and it builds muscle which will then increase your metabolic rate since more muscles burn more calories.

Long Term Ways to Boost Your Metabolism

Changing your metabolism is most effective over time as it is hard to gauge short term metabolic changes.  The more you improve or increase your metabolism the more energy you will have, more active you can be and the easier it will be to either loose weight or stay fit with an active lifestyle.  Here are some of the ways to increase your metabolism over a longer time frame.

Eating Habits

Both what you eat and how you eat have a big impact on your metabolism.  There are numerous foods that improve your digestion and boost your metabolism.  Ginger and fruit juices are high in enzymes that improve digestion.  Honey is a great antiseptic and helpful to the digestive system as well.  Lemon helps to cleanse the liver for more efficient fat processing.  Cinnamon helps to metabolize sugars in the body.  These are all great to add to your breakfast menu.  Cayenne is another metabolic rate booster and could easily be added to a drink mix.  Yogurt, nuts with high fatty acids and high energy foods like whole grains and fruits/vegetables are excellent additions to your regular diet.  Avoid processed and refined sugars and replace them with simple carbohydrates.  Spicy foods that increase your temperature (or cause a sweat) are also very good metabolism boosters.

Eat a large healthy breakfast (no, that doesn’t include 6 pieces of fatty bacon each day) and reduce the size of your lunch and dinner portions and replace that with eating small meals or healthy snacks more often throughout the day.  Various supplements can also help to boost metabolism, the simplest being vitamin C which helps to produce carnitine, an amino acid needed to burn fat.  Another nutrient that helps is calcium from dairy products as Calcium helps to increase the rate your body gets rid of fat as waste.

Regular Exercise and Aerobic Workouts

Simple exercise like walking can have a very positive effect on raising your metabolic rate.  The extra muscle activity in large muscles increase your body temperature, burns calories and develops lean muscle to also help burn fat.  Walking is also very good for digestion if done after meals.  Additional exercise and workouts that build muscle continue to raise your metabolism for the next 48-72 hours as muscles recover and then future use of muscles enable higher calorie burn rates.  The old myth of muscles burning a high amount calories even while resting is only true for a short time after training.

Weight training and high effort exercise are anaerobic and tend to burn more carbohydrates than fat during the exercise but they keep the muscles burning fat for several hours afterwards when high oxygen levels are available.  Aerobic exercises maintain higher levels of oxygen during the muscle activity and can be even greater at improving your metabolism.  They have the same after effects but during an aerobic workout, your muscles will still have higher oxygen levels, and since fat requires oxygen to burn completely, aerobic exercise will do more to burn fat directly.  Any good cardio workout is aerobic and will burn more calories during the workout than strength training for the same duration.

Regardless of your choice of exercise, doing it regular will have very positive effects on your metabolism as well.  Elevated heart rate exercise done with high intensity will even make you burn more calories for several hours after the activity.  The more active you are, the more likely your cardiovascular system is to supplying enough oxygen for cells to burn fat for energy.  This is also why an unfit person becomes out of breath so quickly when they engage in a new exercise. Iit quickly becomes anaerobic and the muscles do not get the oxygen they need so they burn carbs instead of fat.

Quality Sleep Habits

Sleep plays an important role in the health of our bodies and it is related to our metabolism directly as well.  Sleep is not all about the amount of time you sleep for as so many people are led to believe.  The real factor is sleep quality, which includes how well you sleep and how consistent your sleep patterns are to ensure a healthy, quality sleep. A quality sleep is when you get and feel well rested and your body has had the REM stage sleep time that it needs.  There are ways to increase your REM stage and get to REM faster and that is what I mean by quality sleep.  The biggest factor in quality sleep is the pattern of sleep that you have.  Your body works with an internal biological clock and each person has natural tendencies for wakefulness.  Following a pattern that is in line with your natural wakefulness and staying very consistent with it will ensure you have a quality sleep pattern.

Your wakefulness is directly tied to metabolism as your body will naturally reduce its metabolic rate as sleep onset approaches and your wakefulness levels decrease.  Therefore any exercising or activities you do to benefit from for boosting your metabolism is best done when you already have high alert levels.  If you are already fighting your biological clock and natural alert levels, it will take much more effort to activate and raise your metabolism.  On the other hand, if you are most active when your alert level is highest as well, you will benefit from already active and easily raised metabolic levels.  Your wakefulness levels and internal clock affect many of these other areas, such as diet as well.  Unfortunately, most people never take the time to learn about their true natural wakefulness and leave themselves fooled by sleep deprivation or habits driven by their social environment to lead them into thinking they understand their sleep needs, when in reality, they do not.  This impacts many things they do and can seriously hinder attempts to boost your metabolism.

Lots of Water

Water is not only a great appetite suppressant but also super at flushing our sodium and toxic from the body.  Often people who do not drink enough water feel hungry as its the body’s signal to want food (and water from those foods) when not properly hydrated.  Cold water also increases your metabolism since your body must do work to heat your core temperature back up and is great for flushing toxins. Water keeps you hydrated and it’s a lubricant for inside the body.

Business and Leadership

• The Manager’s Cheat Sheet: 101 Common-Sense Rules for Leaders
• 25 Inspiring TED talks for leaders and managers
• How to Be You No Matter What – 7 Simple Tips

Personal Development Picks

• Vulnerability – A State of Grace
• Loving The Life You Have, Not The One You Think You Want
• Give It Your All Not For Your Boss But For Your Work Happiness
• A key Ingredient of True Happiness
• Just Be Happy

Guides and Help

• Self Publish Your Book – Sell It On Amazon
• Free Lucid Dreaming Handbook
• Is there Opportunity Outside the Comfort Zone

Excellent Lists

• 60 Ways to Make Life Simple
• A serious list of 100 lists…
• 33 Ways to End Your Day

In Tell to Win, Guber shows how to move beyond soulless Power Point slides, facts, and figures to create purposeful stories that can serve as powerful calls to action. Among his techniques:

• Capture your audience’s attention first, fast and foremost
• Motivate your listeners by demonstrating authenticity
• Build your tell around “what’s in it for them”
• Change passive listeners into active participants
• Use “state-of-the-heart” technology online and offline to make sure audience commitment remains strong

As most of you know, I love story telling and believe it is a powerful tool to motivate and engage people.

How to Win a FREE advanced copy of the book?

1. Simply make a comment about why you enjoy story telling or what you think it is useful for
OR
Tell a short story about a time where storytelling has helped you.

2. You must include your email address in your comment so that if you win, you can be contacted.

We’ll randomly select a winner on the 23rd of January and send them their copy.   NOTE (Update Jan24, 2011):  Stidar has been selected from the comments as the winner so congratulations and thanks everyone for your comments on this book!  And again, thanks to the publisher for offering this extra copy for the give away, and I hope you enjoy the book very much!