Recently, I cut the number of RSS feeds I follow in half…and I plan to do it again.  You see, I have a problem. I feel like if I subscribe to a feed, then I am obligated to reading it.  This self-imposed obligation causes unwanted stress in my life.

Stress aside, I felt I had stopped learning. My information overload is not just related to RSS feeds, it pertains to all the information I consume. I began is recognize these symptoms a few months ago. My learning system shutdown. I was reading but not retaining any of it.

Have you experienced this?

No longer able to keep up or retain the information I read….I was forced into taking drastic action. Here’s what I did.

• Google Reader RSS feeds: Reduced my feed count from 250+ to around 100. I used two criteria to make this decision: frequency I fully read the articles and posts I mark as favorites.
• Newsletter E-mail: I made deep cuts here. I unsubscribed from virtually every e-mail list I was on. The amount of e-mail I comb through today is significantly lower. Honestly, I was not reading most of it anyway.
• Push Notifications E-mail: These are all the notifications from Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc. I eliminated all the e-mail associated with the social networks I participate in. By being active on these networks, I still see everything I need to see.
• Newspaper/Magazine Subscriptions: I canceled all of these. I never read the hard copies.
• Books on my bookshelf: I was reading a book a week.  I found I read books, placed them on the shelf, and rarely looked at them again. My first wave of clean-up was books that I would grade a “C.” I donated 40+ books to the local library.

Removing all this clutter made a world of difference to my mental state of mind. I felt a tremendous burden was lifted.

Did this do the trick?

The answer is NO!!!! Why? I was still consuming way too much information. Did you notice what I eliminated? That’s right, I only removed the NOISE!!!

I did not address the real problem…information overload. My learning system was still shutdown.

In my search for a better solution, I remembered a passage in a book I read a couple of years ago.  The book is Ken Blanchard’s Know Can Do. Blanchard wrote this book in search of helping his readers and speaking audiences retain more of the concepts he was teaching.  The learning cycle goes like this. Humans require exposure to a subject six-times before they own the material.

• First exposure: We reject the new material because if conflicts with previous knowledge
• Second exposure:  We resist it because we can’t accept it
• Third exposure: We partially accept it, but we still have reservations
• Fourth exposure: We fully accept it because we feel it express what we have been thinking
• Fifth exposure: We begin to use the material in our conversations
• Sixth exposure: We own it and freely pass it along to others

This process is very similar to the coaching training program I went through at Newfield. For each module we learned, we followed a similar process.

• In-person lecture
• In-person practice with classmates
• Conference call lecture
• Reading about the subject
• Writing about the subject
• Teaching the material to a learning group

Did you notice the similarities? Throughout the process I was continually learning new things each time I was exposed to the material. More importantly, I owned the material.

Try it for yourself. Take out a piece of paper and without looking back at this blog post, write 2 or 3 things that stuck out to you.

Finished? Great, now go back to the beginning and re-read this post again. When you get back to this point, write 2 or 3 more impressions. Did you write something different?

Next time, try this exercise with a chapter in a book. I’ll bet you write something different the second time around.

Want to own it? Write about what you read. Verbally share the information with some friends. The more ways you digest and communicate the information, the easier it is to own it.

Finding the right information intake balance is very subjective. My plan is to further reduce what I read and to focus on learning the material I choose to read. I encourage you to explore ways to challenge how you receive, learn, and share information.

What can you do right now to improve your learning process?

Related posts:

1. The trouble with learning
2. Lost and searching for meaning and direction
3. New Perspective

I don’t know about you, but I’m tired of the same old same old. Get up, go to work, come home, sleep, and repeat.

Let’s do something different. Something fun. Something creative. Something we can laugh about. Something we can share with others. Something we can be proud of.

What ideas are percolating right now? Write them down. Share them in the comment section.

I’m imagining a day filled with spontaneous adventurous activity. A day to remember. A day that will only be trumped by tomorrow’s unplanned insanity.

What can you do break your daily routine? What small step can you take to remove the boundary lines and move beyond the electric fence?

Boundaries are limits we place on what is possible. A healthy lifestyle consists of healthy boundaries. The lines we create subconsciously lock us into limited behaviors. By removing these lines, we can access our creative right brain. Freeing us to visually explore our world and spontaneously play.

Do you miss play? I do.

Play sparks our senses. We feel, taste, smell, imagine, hear, and follow the bliss of the moment. When we play…we prioritize every moment through curiosity, adventure, and fun.

Isn’t that what life is all about?

Ask any 5-year-old what they want to do today….the answer will be unanimous…PLAY

Its time to play!

I’m ready to play.

Let’s play together.  Let’s build a playground together.

Are you ready to play?

Meet you on the playground.

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We are a familiar with the catch phrase…Lights, Camera, Action. Most of us attribute this to the movies or television.  Everything in life can be translated into another domain.

For instance, we can simply deploy this concept and change a pattern or situation in our life.

We begin by shining a light on it;

Next, we whip out our camera and take a snapshot of our future;

Finally, we take action to move closer to our desired future.

Did you see how easy that was? Ok, maybe you need a little more explanation.

Shining a light is self-awareness. Awareness clarifies how we see the world and how the world see us through the lens of what has occurred in our life up to this moment. Whatever we discover is neither good nor bad. It just is what it is without judgment.

Self-awareness expands our perspective, creates new possibilities, and generally makes it easy to amplify our life’s journey. Awareness is our green screen for limitless choices. We can choose to change our relationship with our discoveries or leave them as they are. The choice is ours and only ours to make.

Assuming change is what we want, we need a plan to get there. We need to remove the green screen and replace it with a picture of us in our future.

Go ahead…I double dare you to whip out your camera and take a snapshot of your future.  Are you up to the challenge?

Describe it in as much vivid detail as you can.

• What does your future snapshot look like?
• What are the top 10 reasons you want to achieve X?
• What rewards do you expect to receive along your journey?  (could be knowledge, experience, something more tangible).
• What challenges do you expect to face? Who can give you support or help along the way?
• What qualities will allow you to survive these obstacles?
• What will be different in your world when you have achieved your goal? How will it affect others around you?
• What are you going to do to make sure your journey is FUN?

You have all you need to be successful in this journey right now.  You are not lacking anything. Any resources you may need will magically appear when you need them.

Our marvelously scripted screenplay is worthless without bringing it to life. Action is required. We must commit to designing and practicing actions that move us closer to our desired future.

Action builds momentum, creating the required inertia to propel us on the road to achieving what we desire. Our envisioned future begins with a commitment to take action. We commit to learn new skills or behaviors. We commit to practicing what we want to learn. We are what we practice. We become what we practice.

If the practice is the right practice for our learning, then we must continue to practice until we embodied the practice.  If our intended results are not achieved by this practice, then we need to revisit and redesign our actions.

Even if you fail, you are a success. We learn from all our experiences. Our commitment to action is what’s important. Your success depends on you being responsible for your actions and inactions.  Do not let anything or anyone get in your way of success.

Your present self is afraid of your future self!

Related posts:

1. Resistance is the doorway to action
2. Our stories shape how we see ourselves

The road traveled is filled with potholes, twists, turns, dead ends, and long open stretches of open road. Navigating all these obstacles makes the journey all that much more satisfying. Reaching our destination unharmed and better for all the decisions made is what we live for. Our choices seemed hard at the time. In retrospect, they were easy.

We agonized over some decisions. They paralyze us into inaction. Why do we allow simple decisions like what to eat or wear, go here or there, pc or mac, etc. to send us into a pothole? We drove in that direction. We made that choice. We choose to drive on the wrong side of the road. We need to make smarter decisions for ourselves.

Many of us strive for peace, love, and happiness in our lives. Do we really need a rock-bottom crisis to trigger action into positive change or can we simply make a choice and take action?

Short-term decision-making is driven by negative emotions (fear, anger, frustration). Long-term decision-making is fueled by positive emotions (love, joy, happiness). Focusing on the long-term is like bugs on the windshield. It flies in the face of our normal behavior.

What is normal behavior anyway? Normal behavior is a ritual. Rituals are known quantities. They are safe, comfortable, and risk free. They manifest themselves in routines, emotional responses, standard response or opinions, and knee jerk reactions. They are second nature to us. We do them without thinking about them.

Challenging rituals is the road to finding our voice in the world. This is the map to long stretches of open road. Let us put the pedal to the medal. Does anyone hear the song “I can’t drive 55” playing?

How do we challenge our rituals? How can we free ourselves to find our voice?

We start by focusing on what brings excitement and happiness into our lives. We skip the part about focusing on traditional problem solving techniques. We take a pass on all the negativity in our lives. We focus solely on bringing all the good we have to the forefront.

We vivify the world we want to live in.

I want to live a life where we are all connected to each other. Unconditionally accepting each other for who we are. Celebrating all the good we individually have to offer the world. Sharing in each other’s success. Helping each other become the best version of ourselves.

The best version is different for everyone. Individually, we have the capacity to help another along their chosen path if we decide to make that choice. We will choose to show up in every conversation with love and compassion. We will speak and listen from our heart. We will unconditionally respect and support each other’s growth.

Smart decisions are about taking small daily actions to expand our possibilities to live. We will open our minds and allow our creative juices to flow. We will trust the choices we make. Future decision will come easier. We support the path we want. We live.

We Vivify!

Related posts:

1. Learning and applying is the road towards mastery
2. New Perspective
3. Listening to the voices of doubt will get you nowhere fast

How does the word “responsibility” really show up in our lives?  According to dictionary.com’s definition, responsibility means accountability or blame. So I am either accountable for my actions or I blame others for their in action. Does anybody else find this fascinating? I do. Let us see if we can find this working this way in our society.

Recently, huge back-to-back snowstorms (40+ inches) crippled the DC metro area. The public opinion on snow removal and schools re-opening has been a lightning rod discussion topic.

My parents taught me self-initiative and to take action. I reacted to the enormous snowfall by digging my way out. I cleared sidewalks. I shoveled streets. I helped my neighbors remove their snow.

Many people I met had the opposite response. They were bitter and resentful. The county failed to plow my street. My kids are driving me batty. Why are the schools still closed? I’m trapped and can’t get out. Where are the plows? These people wanted someone to blame. They did not want to take responsibility themselves.

A friend was complaining about their DirecTV not working due to heavy cloud cover and the mounting snow on the satellite dish.  I asked if they were blaming Mother Nature, DirecTV or themselves for subscribing to satellite TV? Stupid snow was the answer.  Clearly very frustrated by being stuck inside.

The definition holds true in these two recent life examples, but does it hold true in other life events?

When I think about responsibility, I generally think about it from a personal accountability standpoint. Responsibility also carries a burden,  sense of duty, and constraints. These emotional feelings can weigh heavily on our ability to move forward in life. The weight we experience is directly related to the choice we make. Blaming focuses our attention towards finding fault and feelings of guilt thereby weakening our ability to show up the way we want to show up in the world. Accountability is much more powerful and gives honor to meaning to our actions.

When we feel overwhelmed by responsibility, we feel trapped and our possibilities for escaping seem very limited.  The same responsibility that is trapping us offers a path for escaping the noose we have around our neck.

Consider this story.

Kevin is happily married with three kids. His wife Amy is a stay-at-home mom. He wants to find a more fulfilling career. He wants to have more autonomy and be more actively involved in decision-making. Kevin likes his current job but it does not give a sense of purpose. He feels constrained by levels of bureaucracy and lack of information sharing. He blames his lack of motivation on the inability to get anything done.

His thinks employer should be doing this and they should be doing that. He would love to find another job that provides work that is more meaningful. When ask what that job might look like, his first response is about money. He has placed a financial noose around his neck.

Do you see the paradox here?  Kevin is accountable for his family responsibilities. There is nothing more important to Kevin than providing for his family. He blames his employer for not providing work that is more meaningful to him. Ironically, he is not accepting personal accountability in his search to find work that is more meaningful. Money is just a symptom of the challenge Kevin is facing. Responsibility has gotten the better of him and is controlling his actions and in actions.

Is responsibility keeping you down, or are you keeping responsibility from helping you up?

Related posts:

1. Unwanted Behaviors
2. Snow-Pocalypse
3. Learning and applying is the road towards mastery

Many self-help books offer up the question “What gets you up in the morning?”  The answer to this question provides insight into what you love most about your life. Conversely, the question “What keeps you up at night?” attempts to pinpoint what bothers you most about your current life situation.  Together, meaning and direction can be found by answering them.

To maximize the potential benefits of these questions, I suggest the following approach for each question.

• Find a quiet spot. Close your eyes. Take a few deep breaths.

Relax you body and release your tension with each deep breath.

Ask yourself the first question. “What gets me up in the morning?” Continue breathing.

• When it feels right, write your response for next fifteen minutes.  Getting out our top of mind superficial responses happens in the first five minutes. The good juicy stuff comes after we clear the path for it.
• Summarize what you have written in three words.  Read this post on why “three words .”
• Do these three words epitomize my current state of being? Are you happy with your answer? Does this answer give you meaning and direction?
  • If yes, move on to the next question, “What keeps me up at night?”
  • If not, repeat the process until you are satisfied with your answer.
  • If you are still having trouble after two or three attempts, it begs the question, what are you going to do about it?

Create a visual reminder with your answers. Here are some ways to create a visual reminder.

• 3×5 index cards. Write each question and 3 word response on one side of the card
• Post-it notes.
• Calendar Task. Set a recurring reminder.
• Screen saver or wallpaper for your computer or phone

Use whatever method works best for you.

Re-visit your answers from time-to-time.  Do they still resonate with you? Are they still supporting the meaning and direction you wish?

There are no perfect answers here. There is only a life-long journey of learning and discovery.

Related posts:

1. Power of Three
2. What dream are you ready to begin living?
3. Are you ready to unwrap your gifts?

How many words do you need to summarize something?  I could ramble forever and a day and you will be able to summarize everything I said in THREE words or less.

Somewhere along the way, our society adopted this attitude of more is better.  Journalists are paid by the word, not the article. Professors set guidelines for the length of our research papers.  Book publishers contract authors to write a book of X number of pages. Speakers for hire, give presentations based on time, not content. With all this unnecessary filler and noise, is it any wonder we struggle to retain what we read and hear.

Talk about rambling and unnecessary filler…..let me get back to topic.

Three words are sticky and easier to remember.

Scott Ginsburg occasionally tweets THREE WORDS OF ADVICE .  Chris Brogan sets his annual new year’s resolutions using three words.  Kimberly Rattley teaches three-word playback in her leadership training to corporations.

Marketers use this technique all the time to create memorable slogans.

• Wendy’s: “Where’s the beef?”
• Coca-cola: “Coke adds life” “Coke is it” “Make it Real” “Always Coca-Cola”
• Nike: “Just Do It”
• BMW: “Ultimate Driving Machine”
• Avis: “We try harder”
• Kellogg’s Rice Krispies: “Snap! Crackle! Pop!”

I use them to:

• Summarizing conversations
• Setting priorities and goals
• Taking notes and remember ideas
• Making commitments

“3” is a magical number.  Don’t take my word for it, experience the power of three for yourself.

• Go read another post on this site and write a comment summarizing it in 3 words.
• Use 3 words to describe what you clients expect from you
• Can you summarize the last request made of you in 3 words?

With a little practice, it is as easy as saying your A-B-Cs.

What can you accomplish by using the ”Power of Three?”

Related posts:

1. Lost and searching for meaning and direction
2. What dream are you ready to begin living?
3. Information overload is driving me crazy

When I say the phrase “Super Hero”, what image pops into your head?  For me, it’s Superman.

“Faster than a speeding bullet.  More powerful than a locomotive.  Able to leap tall buildings in a single bound. It’s a bird! It’s a plane! It’s Superman!  Superman, man of steel, Superman. “

Superman was born in a time (1938) when this country needed heroes.  Early Superman was a social activist at heart. He fought for social justice; a champion for the common person; he was the “big blue boy scout.” His archenemies were corrupt business men and politicians. With the exception of kryptonite, nothing could stop Superman. He was invincible.

In 1938, America was struggling to emerge from the great depression, the Mob scene was in full swing, Nazi Germany was beginning its assault on the world, and people were desperate for hope and change.

The world is facing many of these problems today.  We are struggling to find our economic footing and are facing the worse financial crisis since the great depression. We expect and demand more from our leaders. At the same time, our patience, tolerance and acceptance is becoming shorter and shorter.  Climate change is challenging our traditional beliefs. Global warming is not just about the planet warming and the ice caps’ melting; it is about human survival.  We need to develop alternative energy solutions. We need to reduce our current carbon output.  We need to preserve and enrich our farmlands or we face the inevitable of not being able to feed the world.

History is full of global population reductions.  The earth is as bent on survival as you and I. Change will happen and happen soon or nature will take matters into its own hands.  We need a superhero.

Superheroes do not idealize or pontificate issues.  They are constantly evolving their belief system and do not rest on their laurels. They are uncomfortable with the status quo. They do not allow people, politics or parties to tell them what is acceptable or unacceptable.  They do not pretend to have all the right answers and are open to finding new ways to solve problems. They see a problem, make a decision, and take action. Yes, it is that simple.

We know what is right for us.  We do not need to examine all the angles and potential outcomes.  We do not need someone else’s approval or acceptance.  We are responsible for our own action or inaction. We are our own expert.

Super heroes are present in our everyday life.  They are parents who take an active interest in their kids well-being.  They are people who actively engage in the local community.  They volunteer for all sorts of activities.  They placed the greater good above themselves.  Everyday super heroes recognize and respond to people, situations, and themselves with compassion, empathy, appreciation, gratitude, and by being helpful.

You are the superhero the world needs.  You have everything you need to take action at your disposal right now.  The only kryptonite is the excuses you make for not taking action.  Nothing can stop you.  You are invincible.

Claim you role as a super hero. Be the super hero you want to be.

What super hero act are you going to perform today?

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