Leading Up to The Summit

Well, every week can feel like a bit of a mountain climb at times.  Work is busy, life is busy and all that just to enjoy the weekend.  The climbing analogy for a work week is that its a long haul uphill to look forward to the end and for me, this analogy has been especially true venturing out to climb a few local summits in the nearby Rockies.  I wrote a few weeks ago about climbing Mr. Allan with my Unicycle and how it needed great perseverance.  I generally love to always take my uni with me, but I knew this climb was not a good fit for having it since there was a fair bit of scrambling and some bouldering to do.  Neither of which fair well with a unicycle on your back.  After doing the trip though now for the first time, I’ll go again for sure, and perhaps with the uni next time just for the fun of it and some scree downhill runs.  That would be excellent to ride on the unicycle!

Anyway, I had a shortened time frame on the weekend as I had plans to get to the lake for some wake boarding in the afternoon so I planned to pack light and move quickly to summit Mt. Yamnuska west of Calgary.  It was an absolutely perfect day and luckily I made it out early to the trail before anyone else so was fortunate to solo the entire trip up without seeing a sole.  Perfect solitude!  Sometimes I wish the hectic days at work could be started out in similar solitude, to clear the mind and get focused back on life, purpose, God and nature.  I guess that is what the weekend will have to be for when you with a lot with other people.  Don’t get me wrong, I love working with others, but sometimes I just really like time to myself and the beautiful world I find myself in.

So as usual, I had some great adventures on this climb as I don’t really do anything in my life like the masses so of course I didn’t stick to the trail, I had to venture off finding new things, getting turned off course and venturing out on slopes that really are not the best places to be.  After a few hours of climbing, some detours and a bit of backtracking I made it up to the summit to enjoy the incredible views with not a cloud in the sky.  Amazing!

Photography

Definitely one of my passions in nature is to capture it and photography, especially natural landscapes I have always had a keen eye for.  I spend a lot of time taking photos on a hike and then move quickly to the next vista to capture it as well.  Some people call me Mr. panorama since I absolutely love panorama photography and take them at every chance I have.  I’ve learned a great deal about photography through my artistic and 3D graphics business/hobby.  I have always used Canon’s digital elph series of point and shoot cameras (since I must be able to easily pack them in my active sporting / hobbies) so I really find myself always pushing the limits of such a simple camera without going all out for a DSLR or something more impressive.  Personally, I like to the challenge of taking great photos with a less than fantastic camera and it drives me crazy to see so many people with camera 10x better and worth 10x more than mine who don’t even know how to run them.  Photography is about knowing your camera in order to capture the perfect photo, its NOT about having a camera that CAN capture perfect photos yet not knowing how to use it.

The digital aspect of photography is really what I enjoy about it.  I love learning and playing with photography software tools and making the photos look their very best with some editing.  Panoramas are perfect examples of this as you just can’t do them without digital editing and the software tools now for it are simply stunning.  Please have a look through these select photos and panorama views and I really want to encourage you to look at what you capture as far as moments in life, how do you remember your adventures and is photography an element that you use to reflect on life and personal development?  I know if it for me so I wanted to share that and a few thoughts on that subject here.  I hope you enjoy it, I’d love to read your comments!

Note: If you are interested in seeing the summit panorama I created it as a full 360° view using quicktimeVR and an interactive summit panorama using Microsoft’s new HDView.  Both available free using those tools.

Favorite Articles

• 5 Ways to Conquer Your Fears
• Education Sucks Worse Than You Think
• An amazing human beatbox, artist, rapper, singer: DubFX. (Armen, this one is for you man!)
• Doing with Less! – A new ebook out by Daniel Richard on how to live a minimalist lifestyle.
• 40 Sites to Learn New Skills at Marc and Angel
• Ted always has fantastic talks and this one by Simon Sinek is that exactly on inspiring leaders!

100 Lists

Articles / Material on Relationships

From spending as much time on my ebook as I have, I want to include resources specifically on relationships and so this new section will highlight relationship content.

• Great Relationships: Set Aside Your Prejudices About Men and Women
• 50 Body Language Secrets You Need to Succeed in Life
• The Power of Relationships in Life Training

I am pleased to introduce this guest article by a new friend John, the creator of HiLife2B, where he hopes to inspire people and to help them achieve their dreams. Follow him on Twitter: @CJAnyasor

1. Believe that even the smallest compliment can save someone’s life

2. Remember that one person can change an entire nation

3. Understand that kids are smarter than we make them out to be

4. Just because old people are old, doesn’t mean they’ve lost their youth

5. Talent can be found under the dirtiest rock or in the most hopeless slum

6. Just because someone is poor in wealth doesn’t mean they are poor in spirit

7. Poverty is the greatest gift you can give a person. It is only then that they will have a choice to either become valuable or die as a quitter

8. Let the naysayers say nay and allow the criticizers to criticize: in the end you will have found greater happiness having pursued your dream

9. If a baby can smile living off of only breast milk and a mother’s love, you can smile too

10. The prettiest people can do the ugliest things

11. You are no different than the squirrel on that branch. You both eat a lot, hibernate for the winter, and have a tendency to be curious of humankind

12. From the CEO of a major corporation to the lowly janitor who sweeps where his boss stands; they are all insecure

13. To be creative is the most valuable thing in the world; don’t let anyone tell you otherwise

14. People conform because there is strength in numbers, but true strength comes from the person brave enough to stand alone

15. Unrealistic goals are hardly ever achieved not because they are impossible, but because everyone is too scared to make them real

16. Don’t be afraid to let those go who are hindrance to your high self-esteem, the life blood of your success

17. Embarrassment is a pointless emotion that only serves to confuse and over exaggerate reality

18. The only ways to stop negativity is to avoid it completely or face it head on

19. Irrational self confidence is worth more than rational defeatism

20. To live in no one’s reality but the one you’ve created for yourself is to achieve true happiness

21. Giving is one of the most underrated tactics to getting what you want

22. Fear the person who dreams unrealistically; one day he may acquire what he desireshel

23. Everyone has a weakness

24. Live and die as your passion; to be known as anything else is an insult to your existence

25. Do not deprive yourself or others of the gift of cartoons. Their creativity, hilarity, and curiosity have made me who I am today

26. Quiet patience and adaptive persistence are the two keys to perpetual happiness

27. Never feel ashamed of your natural instincts. They are there for a reason

28. Look at the people you are following in their footsteps. Is that the person you wish to be?

29. Don’t indulge in distractions that are short-lived and derail your long term efforts

30. To create a piece of art is to exist as a God within your mental domain

31. The movers in this world are the ones who create and consume only what coincides with their ultimate vision of themselves

32. Things are never as they seem. Always dig deeper to find the gold beneath the rock

33. Stereotypes don’t come out of thin air; all that is left for you now is to disprove them

34. Any crack in your resilience will be exploited if you don’t patch it up from time to time

35. Being assertive is a sign of a steadfast will

36. Negative people don’t deserve your time; positive people crave it

37. When your beliefs are tested, bring evidence to prove them wrong (granted you actually feel the need to)

38. When you have the strength to ask for more even after being knocked down countless times, there is nothing you can’t achieve

39. To look down to the ground is a sign of weakness. Look forward to showcase your unshakable confidence

40. Even one who is deaf can produce the most beautiful music

41. How much do you want success? How far are you willing to go?

42. A true genius is one who can sit for hours intensely focused on what he loves

43. Do not screw around with your time. It is the only thing within your absolute control

44. The only sense of entitlement you should feel is toward living your passion

45. The answers are always right in front of us. Just open your eyes

46. If you do not want to put in the work to make your dreams real then you do not deserve the right to put down anyone who fails in trying

47. The human brain contains 15-33 billion neurons; do not tell yourself that you are not creative

48. Do not let yourself fall into despair; it is a massive waste of time and emotion

49. People don’t tell you to try new things because it sounds “adventurous”. They say it because it actually works

50. If today was your last day, how many of these words would you actually follow?

51. To be an authority of any kind, you must earn and emanate respect

52. When in doubt, just laugh. Find amusement in how absurd your situation is then come out of the gate with full force

53. Don’t admire those who are simply hard workers with lots of awards under their belts. Idolize the people who are successful by working hard doing what they love

54.  Life won’t let you you get by with being stupid. You have to have knowledge of some kind to live in this world

55. Don’t confuse being stupid with being stubborn. Sometimes trying harder is all it takes

56. Do NOT allow anyone to disrespect you or make you feel less than you know you are

57. Don’t blame someone else for being better than you. Blame yourself for not working harder

58. Hard work is not something we should run away from. It’s pointless work we should fear

59. Don’t carry everything on your shoulders; that’s what friends are for

60. When you’ve lost your spirit, spend some time with youth. Their thirst for life and exploration will no doubt re-invigorate you

61. The fact that nothing in life is guaranteed is both a blessing and a curse

62. There is never only one choice: you don’t have to go up after you hit rock bottom. You can also choose to stay there

63. Sometimes you have to realize when you just aren’t good at something; this is the best time to regroup

64. Using old-age methods to solve new-age problems is setting yourself up for failure

65. When you’ve been sitting in the same spot for hours, trying to get something absolutely perfect, give yourself more than just a pat on the back

66. Not many people will risk everything in order to achieve what they want; in other words, be a risk taker and you will reap the rewards

67. Even when you know you’re close to the finish line, never let up

68. The only thing you can change about people are your relationships with them

69. What’s happened in the past is done. The future does not exist yet. The only thing in your mind should be what you’re doing now

70. You may be a great writer, a doctor, a lawyer, or a banker, but at your very core, the only thing we are best at is being ourselves

John is the creator of HiLife2B, where he hopes to inspire people and to help them achieve their dreams. Follow him on Twitter: @CJAnyasor

I received a message from Priscilla of Priscillamcintire.com introducing me to this list and was pleased to see myself among such a great list of personal development authors.  The idea behind promoting this list is to add personal connections to bloggers who deserve to be on this list since they use relationships in their blogging.  Well, I think that is really cool and am honored to be on the list.

From Prescilla’s Site:

No one achieves success without the help and support of other people. The book “Personal Development Kaleidoscope”, is a demonstration of the power of connection in action. The Kaleidoscope Relationships List began with only a list of the authors and their web-sites. These authors were eached asked to publish the list on their site, and to add 5-10 people who they feel use or have used the principles taught in this book effectively.

In order to increase the power of our relationships, we are asking those of you who have been added to the list to continue the process. Please post this list on your own site, then add people who you feel are effectively using the power of relationships to increase their own success, as well as, the success of others. Then email Priscilla at relationships@priscillamcintire.com

My Additions to the List

These are the people I communicate often with and definitely value the relationships with that I don’t yet see on the list.  I’ve already emailed each of your sites to Priscilla so I hope to see you added to the list.

Armen Shirvanian (Timeless Information)

Bunny (BunnyGotBlog)

Dragos Roua (dragosroua.com)

Steve Borgman (Success Factors)

Stephen (Balanced Existence)

Alik Levin (PracticeThis.com)

Arswino (Inspiration & Motivation Blog)

Ian (Quantum Learning)

Daphne (Joyful Days)

Lance (Jungle of Life)

Stephen (Rat Race Trap)

The List

Abu Aremu        Positive Self Talk Guide

Adam Kayce       Monk at Work

Adebola Oni      Naija Motivation

Al Ramsey         7pproductions.com

Alex Shalman     Practical Personal Development

Angela Lord at     Angelalord.com

Arthur Hung & Jason Fonceca     Spiritentient

Cheryl Ragsdale     That Girl Is Funny

Chris Cade Think without the box

Chris Marshall     Martial Development

CK Reyes           My Coaching Works

Cinderella S Kelley Kroh   The Krohs Nest

Cindie Wilding   Answers From Within

Corrinne Edwards  Personal Growth with Corinne Edwards

Craig Harper     Motivational Speaker – Craig Harper

Crystal Silver    CrystalSilver.com

Daniel Sitter       Idea Sellers

David Rogers     How to Have Great Self Confidence

David Zinger     David Zinger Associates

Dawn Edwards     Second Hand Roses

Dawna Jones      Management-Issues

Diane Brandon     Diane Brandon.com and Diane Brandon.net

Dr. Susan R. Meyer, Ed. D.   Life Work Cafe

Dr. Venerina Conti    VenerinaConti.com

El Baugher at Thesmilingspirit.com

Ellie Walsh at     Living the Law of Attraction

Frank Butterfield     Life Unfolding Beautifully and 68 Second Videos and Re/Transformation

Gamy Rachel     Mind Think Success

Gary Evans     Good To Feel Good

Gleb Reys        Personal Development Ideas

Gordie Rogers     Lifestyle Design 4U

Gregory Allen Butler     holistic-personal-development.com

Heather Bestel a little bit of me time

Henrik Edberg The Positivity Blog

Isabella Mori      MoriTherapy

Jacklyn Ker     Inspiring and Empowing Lives

Jeanette Maw     Good Vibe Coaching

Jeanne May        Goals and Aspirations

Jeff ‘Yoopersmith’ Smith    Shift-Your-Consciousness

Jennifer Mannion   JennyMannion.com

John Sadler      Bitesize Marketing NLP

Jonathan Fields    Awake At the Wheel

Jonathan Wells      Advanced Life Skills

Jordan Rosenfeld     Make a Scene

Judy Kinney      Dream and Flourish

Judy Martin       The Work/Life Monitor

Justin Wolsey Riggs     Easier Method

Kaya Singer     Awakening Business

Karen Putz     A Deaf Mom Shares Her World

Lexi Sundell     Energies of Creation

Liz Strauss     Successful Blog

Lori Painter at      Inspire2act

Lorraine Cohen     Powerfull Living

Lyman Reed     Free Personal Development Material

Lynn Solarczyk     Livingloa

Luciano Passuello     Litemind.com

M. Farouk Radwan     2knowmyself

Mel Kaye     Monday Morning Power

Melissa Goerke      Melissa Thinks Out Loud

Marelisa Fábrega     Abundance Blog at Marelisa Online

Meryl K. Evans     Meryl.net

Michele Woodward     Lifeframeworks.com

Michelle Vandepas     Conscious Destiny

Mike King Learn This

Mohammad Shafi’e     Ultimate Secrets of Success

Neil Sattin     NeilSattin.com and Natural Dog Blog

Patricia Schiavone     Thriving Together, AtoZEdit.com and Attracting The Best

Patricia Singleton     Spiritual Journey of a Lightworker

Phil Gerbyshak     PhilGerbyshak.com

Priscilla McIntire at    Personal Development Demands Success

Rachel Rofe at      Rachelrofe.com

Rahul Bhambhani    Take-20.com

Robert Henru       Reason4Smile

Robert Higginson    Robert Higginson

Robin Skeen     Robin?s Reflections

Rod Smith      Difficult Relationships

Sam Kotadia     MindSportLive.com

Scott Ginsberg     Hello, My Name Is Blog

Scott H Young    Scotthyoung.com

Sharani Robins     Sharani Girl on a Road

Sherri Joubert       Being The Change I Wish To see

Shauna Arthurs     Follow Your Path and Breathing Prosperity

Slade Roberson     Shift Your Spirits

Sonia Simone       Remarkable Communication

Steven Aitchison    Change Your Thoughts

Sugandi Iyer     Life Business Creations

Thea Westra     MyForwardsteps.com and TimeForMyLife.com

Tina Su     Think Simple Now

Todd Goldfarb     We The Change

Vincent Tan      Health Money Success
Vivienne Quek      Versa Creations

Zorka Hereford     Essential Life Skills

Zubli Zainordin     Your Wisdom of Total Happiness

Review: The Shadow Effect

with Debbie Ford

I received a free copy of The Shadow Effect to review and am actually having a tough time reviewing it. The Shadow Effect is about discovering and knowing the so called, “Shadows” in our lives which are the flaws, the bad actions, the painful things, the adversities we’ve faced which we avoid and try to keep secret from the world around us.  Some of these shadows are outlined and they include how we sabotage ourselves of our desires, our feelings, our egos and our persona’s we display.  All these things we hide and reject are buried inside us and we can’t keep them bottled up since it consumes so much energy to do so and it prevents us from allowing our brighter side to truly be revealed with our dark side together.

So, my first reaction was one of disappointment as I was really hoping for something with more of an impact to me and something that I could connect with.  However, that didn’t happen for a number of reasons.  First, the movie just seems to drag on saying the same thing without getting to many real discoveries and it has many old cliches which I found kept me out of the movie’s atmosphere over and over.  The movie presented a number of obvious biases as well.  There are certain media figures used as examples for the dark “shadows” while others are presented as great shining light examples.  I found these examples seemed to pinpoint and promote specific names with media clips while chastising others (I won’t even repeat the names used here) and that turned me off immediately.  It was completely unnecessary for the point in the movie.

Also, many of the examples are described with no real evidence or research, everything is presented as “probably” and “likely” this person that or that person must have done “this” at some time in their life.  These are not examples of the shadow in any way, it’s simply made up.  I could find those types of things in anyone’s life, especially if I am making assumptions about what they must have thought years and years ago which formed the so called shadow.  I found this just ridiculous.

I think the points being made about how our thoughts and emotions can cause later problems in our lives when they are not dealt with are great but the movie talks only about how rejecting these feelings is a problem without providing any really guidance to in fact deal with them instead.  The movie tries to drive you into your own mind of suppressed emotions and does nothing but stir those up and talk as if this “shadow” can be resolved to then “let our light in our awareness” to begin processing them.  Those are the words in the movie, not mine.  That really doesn’t mean anything to me and I’m not sure how it can help anyone.  I realize there are lessons to be learned in any dark experience and that they can lead to being a better person.  The way this is outlined as the shadow with dark and light seems off base to me.  The movie references a few spiritual aspects in terms of the shadow and this is where I really disconnected.  I can’t connect to something that is describes so strongly as spiritual yet they refuse to say anything about right and wrong, or good and evil, or God for that matter.  They use light and dark instead.  It’s just a way of hiding what the shadow really is if you ask me, which contradicts the whole point of the movie. The whole movie is based on revealing those hidden truths inside ourselves that we hide from the rest of the world. The light and brilliance of hope, grace and love by God versus the dark, evil, and tempting ways of Satan.  It seemed to me they want the viewer to feel like they have exposed something great and that there is a “divine recipe”, while they don’t even bring God into the picture of dealing with these types of evils inside of us.  The movie goes into some great points on forgiveness and how it is required to move forward to shield our spirits but I just can’t believe God again, was left out of this.  Sorry, forgiveness is not in ourselves, it’s by the grace of God and his Son, Jesus.  They dared not touch any of this subject in “The Shadow Effect” though, its all left quite universal.

Another area I absolutely disagree with were the points about how you can’t hate something that you don’t deeply desire yourself.  The movie says that anything you show that you hate or detest in others is really because you deeply desire it yourself.  This is ridiculous!  I can hate evil, murder and other horrific things without that desire or even a glimmer of desire inside me.  There isn’t a perfect balance of the so called “light and dark” in every person, like the movie claims.  These balances might exist in the universe, but they certainly shifts inside individual cultures, generations, amongst turmoil and absolutely in individuals.  Can people change? Yes. Does it require outside help and intervention?  Yes.  I’ll put my faith for that in God, not myself thanks.

The movie ends without giving you any tools to change, instead its feels like an infomercial for enticing you to buy the interactive DVDs and attend “The Shadow Effect” seminar processes.  There are many inspirational messages about light and references for brilliance and happiness and while the movie is motivational, it’s not something I feel can make any lasting change for someone.  It still requires more of the process (whatever that is) to allow any change to occur.  The movie reminds me very mush like, “The Secret” for its repetitive strong message without really telling you how or what is necessary to make any the movie’s promise actually happen.  Personally, I’d say not to bother with this movie, as it just doesn’t give any real things to learn or change from.  I haven’t read the book but if its anything like this movie, I’ll save myself the time and avoid it as well.

I’d encourage you to still go check out the trailer and decide for yourself.  I truly watched this movie with an open mind and wanted to learn what was so transformational, but I personally didn’t see that and the style in which the movie teased with no real actions disappointed me throughout.

Armen (at Timeless Information) inspired me to build my own 100 lists ( 100 ways to be a leader and 100 Ways to Simplify Your Life and Mind ).  A few people have continued with the trend. Here were some new ones and a few I came across while browsing.

• 85 Ways to Motivate Yourself by Arswino.
• Not continued from the 100 lists, but this is a great one as well.  88 Important Truths I’ve Learned About Life
• 100 Clevel Ways to Change Your Habits and Improve Your Life – I found this stumbling and even though its not new, its a great article.
• 100 Ways to Birth your Entrepreneurial Dream at Divine Purpose Unleashed
• 100 Ways to Improve Your Blog and 100 Ways to Live a Better Life by Dragos

A few additional articles I’ve come across and really enjoyed are here:

• Sharpen Your Conversation Skills by Brian Tracy
• How to Achieve the Impossible
• The productivity magazine is a superb free resource and issue #3 is now out.
• 11 Traits of Highly Creative People

I don’t normally include videos in my content or much of my stumbling but I watched this advertisement and it is truly an amazing one.

After Armen’s list of 100, my own 100 Ways to be a better leader and now several readers creating their own lists of 100 topics, I thought I would continue this trend and build one more on 100 ways simplify your life and mind. I’ve written a couple articles before on this topic and I’ve kept a few items from those articles on my list here, but most of this is new and it is really a useful way to find things to start doing. As with any of these 100 lists, obviously you can’t do all of these things (I certainly don’t) but you can pick some items on the list and start with them to simplify things in your life. I’d love for you to comment and add your own items or why not create your own list of 100 items, link back to these if they have inspired you and challenge your own readers to do the same and keep these lists going!

Simplify Your Actions

1. Start everyday with your most important task, leaving other ones undone
2. Do what you said you will do first
3. Say no when you are already committed and asked to take on more
4. Ask others for help whenever you need it
5. Finish things completely, don’t leave it only to have to come back again and again
6. Pick one thing at a time to do and focus on it
7. Make the most time for your passions and purposeful work
8. Leave spare time for yourself unscheduled and uncommitted
9. Prioritize your todo list
10. Keep one todo list and keep it short (only the most important things should be on it at any time)
11. Take time to be in solitude
12. Take time to pray and meditate
13. Make wasteful actions (like TVwatching or pointless internet surfing) more difficult to do to help avoid them.
14. Find and eliminate other wasteful actions in your life
15. Develop habits and daily routines to practise important actions
16. Read every single day
17. Plan your week and all major tasks for that week
18. Review your accomplishments each week
19. Be grateful for what you have, what you can do, and for everything in your life
20. Turn off your cell phone
21. Turn off all notifications on your computer from IM, email or other popups
22. Eat simple meals and don’t cook things that don’t need to be cooked
23. Eat less, which lets you also prepare less and cleanup less and store less
24. Automate any bills, payments, and money transactions that you can
25. Ignore distractions from media
26. Commute by bicycle or public transit instead of the busy freeway
27. Use commuting time wisely by reading or listening to books
28. Consider a career or job change to reduce stress
29. Find and maintain routines for day to day things

Simplify Your Stuff

30. Get rid of clothes you no longer wear or have worn in 6 months
31. Sell or give away household items you rarely / never use
32. Eliminate 2 things for every one new thing you acquire
33. Lend things out to friends often and don’t ask for it back if you don’t need it
34. Buy less stuff by only buying basic needs
35. Move to a smaller house or living space and get rid of all extra stuff
36. Give away books when you are done with them and let someone else enjoy them
37. Give up some electronic gadgets and do without them
38. Engage in simple hobbies that don’t require a lot of stuff (music, art, perhaps writing?)
39. De-clutter your living space and don’t keep any trinkets or excessive decorations
40. Consider going more green since this requires reducing things that consume power / energy
41. Get rid of your televisions or at least reduce the time you spend watching
42. Get rid of other media distractions in your life
43. Put a sign on your door/mailbox asking not to receive any flyers or unsolicited mail
44. Don’t carry all your credit or debit cards, just a small amount of cash for emergency
45. Downsize your vehicles or sell one
46. Clear out all clutter and extra stuff from your vehicle
47. Spend a weekend and pretend you are going to move, then clean out and get rid of everything you don’t need
48. Have a place for everything and keep it organized in place
49. Label, simplify and organize your file systems (both physical and electronic)
50. Consolidate your email accounts, bank accounts, RSS feeds and others
51. Recycle and reuse as much as possible
52. Give to those who have less than you
53. Volunteer your time for service to others
54. Keep a vegetable garden
55. Grow some plants and flowers
56. Enjoy nature’s company

Simplify Your Relationships

57. Be honest with others (it will help avoid complex issues and conflict)
58. Treat everyone with respect, not just your close friends or relationship
59. Treat everyone fairly, don’t complicate things with favoritism
60. Trust others without them having to earn it first
61. Accept people for who they are and don’t expect them to change
62. Compare yourself only to yourself from the past, no one else
63. Learn to say, “No”
64. Ask your friends and family for things they are looking for, and give them any items you can do without that you have
65. Keep all your contacts and address book items in one place
66. Involve your whole family with simplifying your life
67. Tell your friends about what you want to achieve by simplifying
68. Pick some of the actions above and do them with a friend
69. Focus on activities for doing things instead of buying
70. Spend less time with the “negatrons” around you and more time with positive people
71. Apologize quickly for any hurtful actions
72. Spend time in private with a significant other each week
73. Go for walks and have time to just talk with your friends and family (you don’t always need to be doing anything)
74. Make a gift for someone else instead of buying one
75. Write a personal thank you note or letter to a friend
76. Call someone you care for with no reason other than to tell them you were thinking of them and wish them a wonderful day
77. Walk away from all gosip and don’t participate in those conversations
78. Put family meals at home first and don’t let work get in the way
79. Stay completely disconnected from work on weekends and vacations
80. Listen to others and stop talking so much yourself

Simplify your Thoughts

81. Be content with life for health, love and happiness instead of with belongings
82. Keep less goals and plans (focus on just 2 or 3 at a time)
83. Exercise often as this clears the mind and keeps you healthy longer through life
84. Make time to do what you love and to provide relief from stress
85.Make a list of all your simple pleasures in life and pick an item from it to do every day.
86. Evaluate new things by asking “Will this help to simplify my life?”
87. Let go of perfectionism
88. Find what calms you and visualize it to reduce stress
89. Be positive and look for the best in things
90. Be anxious for nothing and live more in the moment
91. Let go of things from the past
92. Face and get over your fears
93. Always look for ways to improve oneself
94. Note and express gratitude
95. Know and stick to your limits for commitments
96. Seek knowledge only to apply it as wisdom
97. Look for and express love to yourself and others
98. Choose to be happy and at peace with yourself
99. All that you express, comes back to you, so think and express what you want for yourself
100. Seek and love God and He will provide, you need not worry about anything else

Here are a few of my favorite items I’m either been sent or have come across in my browsing and reading online in the last little while.  Not as big of list as usual, I’ll admit.  Its due to much less reading lately online and work with other things, either way, here are some gems I’ve come across, I hope you enjoy em!

• How Giving Changes Everything at ZenHabits
• I made another list of top 50 productivity blogs over at EvenCarmichael
• An interesting series of 5 articles over at BunnyGotBlog called, Advertising Towards Dummies
• A 2 part article that is most interesting on Thinking Traps
• An excellent 3 part series on Comparing Ourselves to Others
• 33 Things You Should Stop Doing to Double Your Productivity
• Five Essential Pre-Interview Strategies for Job Seekers
• 100 Inspirational Blog Posts for Personal Change
• First Comes the Fear Then the Blessing – I love this examination as it lets us look at what creates the fear and also what benefits we could have if that fear is eliminated
• Top productivity and personal development blogs
• If you don’t already know about David Zinger and the employment engagement network, check out some of his top reading list blogs and join the network!
• An excellent article on valueless leadership with a discussion well worth reading.

Carnivals

And as usual, I continue to publish some content to blog carnivals for promotion and to expose to and read from other bloggers.  Here are a few of the ones I’ve used recently:

• Carnival of Inspiration and Motivation at Positive and Successful Lifestyle Tips
• The June 7th Leadership Development Carnival
• Blog Carnival of Personal Power for 31 May 2009

Here are a few of my favorite items I’m either been sent or have come across in my browsing and reading online in the last little while.  Not as big of list as usual, I’ll admit.  Its due to much less reading lately online and work with other things, either way, here are some gems I’ve come across, I hope you enjoy em!

• 100 Clever Ways to Change Your Habits and Improve Your Life
• Top 10 Thinking Traps Exposed — How to Foolproof Your Mind, Part I
• Dragos – 7 Ages of a Business
• The Master List of Free Language Learning Resources

Online Graphics and Paint Application

I’m just so impressed with these online tools I have to share them with you as well.  They are three online paint and image applications that allow you to create and manipulate photos and other images in your browser.  They have many features of commercial applications but these ones are free, run from anywhere and don’t require any installation.  Definitely worth having a book mark for, check em out!!

• pixlr
• Aviary
• SumoPaint

Blog Carnivals

And as usual, I continue to publish some content in blog carnivals and have continued to see other great resources at them for related topics and good sources of personal development and leadership content.  Here are a few I’ve either participated in or found that I enjoy recently.

• Carnival of Family Life: In Praise of Mom Edition
• Carnival of Personal Development – Final Edition

I’ve been quite consumed lately by the many activities I’m involved in and commit to as you may have noticed from my lack of updates here. Work of course is busy for me as always (and yes, I’m grateful that it is, since so many people are not finding that recently), and my side business of graphics and animation has been exceptionally busy the last few months with good size jobs and back to back projects. This isn’t normal for me and I’ve taken on some projects that have been consuming much of my spare time.

Its often these rushed periods in life that really make me appreciate the joys that are in life and every moment I do have to enjoy stands out in the hectic day as a time to just stop for a moment and appreciate what joys are available to me. I am grateful for those moments and take extra note at busy times to just see how many joys there truly are in life.

Sometime there seems to be less time for joyful activities when you are overly busy but on the other hand, those joyful moments can be far more intense from the contrast of it. Here are some of the joys that particularly stand out for me during these times.

The Joys of Work

While work is absolutely a contributor to the stress I mentioned above, there is still much joy in it. A big joy for me in my work (whether that in engineering or 3D animation) is the joy of creativity. I’ve written a few articles recently about creativity and how it is a form of art in life. That ability to create and drive change is a huge joy for me in my work and an important reason for doing what I do. There is joy in that work and something I much appreciate.

The Joys of Relationships

While some aspects of relationships can suffer from having less time to spend together, they can also force new focus and appreciation. Of course, the one that stands out for me is the joy I have from my relationship with my amazing wife. She is so supportive during my busy times, which helps immensely to cope with the added stress. That support and the precious time we do have to spend together is one of total joy.

Friendships and time spend with other loved ones are can also be intensified when that time is limited as you time and relationships often is taken for granted when it occurs every day or at least on a regular basis. Take some of that away however and you definitely notice the joy more when you have a chance to experience it again.

The Joy of God

While the peace and love that God provides is always available to me, it’s especially important in stressful times as that joy is something you can rely on and help you cope with the situation. Whether it’s the awe of nature, the inspiration of God’s word, or the power and supportive strength that faith based belief provides, I can always rely on the Joy of God and hold dearly that ability in times of stress.

The Joys of Sports

Other joys of mine are my sports. Oh so many sports now that summer is upon me. I just got home from a great weekend out at our place at the lake and we spent part of the day out on the water, enjoying the sun, freezing lake water and some most so pleasurable wake boarding! I play soccer on a men’s league a couple nights a week as well and I HAVE to get out either on my own or with bikers on my mountain unicycle for a couple hours as well each week.

Stop and Notice Your Joys

So I didn’t want to only share some of my joys in life but to also encourage and hopefully inspire just a few readers to stop for a moment and look at what is joyous in your life as well. Are you finding your time being eaten away by the many things that absorb you in your life? If so, stop and notice what some of the joys you have in those activities. Perhaps they are small things or only short amounts of time for them but they are still there. They are easily taken for granted and not something to be forgotten. Stop and notice your joys!