Teh Chad

Thinking the other day about how people talk about this and that in their lives, someone asked me how I change something that I don’t like. After a bit of thought, I replied that I hadn’t thought about it much. Now, I have.
Whenever I see something I don’t like, I don’t put much focus on it. I put focus on something that is positive in the same area.
For example, say I’m spending too much time just hanging out. Now, some people can do this early and often. I’m not really one of those, but say I was. And say that my hanging out time is with people who are not part of those that I respect and it may be having some adverse effects on me. Say that I’m becoming a bit too negative.
Here’s a solution: put time in to focus on finding those who are respectable. I take that back; let’s find people who eek excellence out of their pores. They are nearly always making things better. These people are the cream of our society. Step one: find them! Step two: spend as much time with them as you can. Spending more and more time with these folks will do several things. Among those things are getting you away from people whom shouldn’t be imitated, building better habits, learning new skills, etc.
When time is spent pursuing the great and positive things in life, the foul and rotten falls away. Just as it should!

Teh Chad > Finance, business, and people in simple terms, with photos!

I keep reading about some new top 3 or top 10 list that is dedicated to tools or programs that are “new” to-do lists.  Here’s the latest craze: teuxdeux.com.  Most of them are free, whatever.

When I think of those people who have really excelled in the business world (I see Richard Branson and Thomas Crown in that movie), I don’t see some little to-do list.  I see a pad of note paper or a very small portfolio in which they manually write and scribble.  It’s usually a complete mess too.

They don’t have the latest do-dad.  Why?  I would guess, since I don’t know, that they are too busy getting things done and working to get better!  So I have a question.  How many little toys do we have that “help” us get our jobs done?

I personally keep a single piece of paper that looks like crap!  I print my original tasks (which always get additions).  I keep spilling coffee on it, scribbling side notes and crossing them out as I finish them.  It’s a total mess!  But the piece of paper is all but destroyed before I trash it.

This really allows me to focus on getting my planned list done.  Then!  I can get good at these tasks!

An example of getting better at something….  I was given a website for my company.  I write all of the content for it.  This forces me to become a writer.  I used to blog (perpetualchad.blogspot.com) just for me and this site is still solely for me to express my ideas.   Through this whole process of a couple of blogs, a couple of years, and forcing myself to write regularly for my company blog, I feel like I’ve grown so much as a writer.  I’m nowhere near as good as any professional, but I’m really enjoying writing of late.  :-J

It has been a long time since things have NOT been changing.  I find it interesting how people change or don’t change in their environments.

Change has become readily apparent in my lifetime.  Before that, I cannot comment, but I hypothesize that there was significantly less social change in the average citizens’ day than there is now.  Al Gore had not invented the world wide web yet.  There was no such thing as a “cell phone” or the personal computer as we know it today.  People had a house phone and snail mail that you might have had to physically take to the post office.

In business, things have changed… a lot.  People are hand-cuffed to their Blackberrys, checking their email at LEAST 10 times each day.  I know a guy who has automatic searches setup three times per day with email alerts to him and one of his clients so that he can make ONE deal!  “Big” deals are no longer $120,000.  They are $1,200,000.

When someone complains about someone always being late, I have to laugh to myself a bit.  Okay, I have to laugh a lot!  In my hobby as a card player, I HAVE to be constantly adapting and adjusting to the people around me.  If someone does something, I make a note and look for it next time with the expectation of adjusting to it/them.  If I don’t do this, I lose money.  You can bet good money that if someone is late to an appointment with me, I will plan on them doing that the next time we plan to meet!

I guess the point of this is that we should be paying more attention to other people.  It does take a lot of practice.  However, if you work at something, then you WILL get better at it.  If not, I’m going to be a bit arrogant and giggle at the next time I see someone not adjusting!

TC