Some ideas that may give you a different perspective on igniting your creativity:

-    Do nothing – just sit for a bit.  Early in the morning is best.

-   Write what’s on your mind at the start of the day or before you go to bed

-    Exercise - My best ideas always come during a physical activity.

-   Take a walk – Look at your surroundings.  Breathe in the air.  Enjoy nature and all of it’s beauty.

What gets you going? Think about where you have your best ideas.  We’re all different.  It takes an observing mindset to really understand  yourself.  The more you understand, the more you can leverage this time.

Seek first to understand, and then be understood.  You have two ears and one mouth for a reason. All of these are  motto’s that mean the same thing.  The simple fact is…IT’S NOT ABOUT YOU. The more you can change your focus to others, the more you will get ahead in this world.  It’s called building relationship capital.

This article is a call to arms. Relationships everywhere are suffering.

I go to my local Starbucks to work quite often.  About 3pm, the junior high kids come stampeding in.  After taking over and ordering their Frappuccino’s, they sit with their friends and start conversing.   Coupled with the verbal back and forth is a constant watch on their smart phone.  Whether its texting, updating Facebook statuses or checking their twitter feed, their attention alternates between their “real” conversations and the one’s in the cloud.

Let me also say this…a mea culpa of sorts.  I also fall prey to this at times.  Fortunately, I’ve taught myself to become aware of it.  In addition, I’m in corporate technology sales, so I’ve seen firsthand the power of building relationships the right way.

I’m concerned about this.  I have two kids, ages two and four.  I believe it’s only going to become harder to build truly authentic relationships.  It’s so hard to focus on the moment with all of these distractions.  Listen, I’m a big believer in the power and value of social media, but it’s a potential black hole if you don’t manage it the right way.

What can we do about it?

We all have a job to do.  Put your phone down when you’re talking to someone.  Encourage your kids to do the same.  As I said, I fall victim to this as well.  I’m sure my wife will tell you that she wished I would throw my iPhone away at times.  I’m one that has a hard time shutting down.  It’s the perfectionist mentality, the constant acceleration that our society portrays as necessary.  While I’ve become a lot better at stepping back and disconnecting, I have a long way to go.

I believe the ability to cultivate relationships will become a big differentiator in years to come.

If you can focus on making yourself stand out.  Simply focusing on being interested and not always thinking about getting your next word in will separate yourself from the crowd.

Is 2013 set up to be your year? Insert Year X here.  How many times have you said “this is going to be the year”? I know I’ve done that and had minimal success until I started setting goals and following a plan.

You MUST have a plan to accomplish great things in life.

We need to reflect on 2011 and all that we accomplished (and didn’t).  And then, look to 2013 and what CAN be.  It’s easy to look back and see all the things you DIDN’T accomplish, that’s just the way a lot of us think – the perfectionist mentality.  It’s so much more important to think about what you did accomplish – sometimes you have to dig deep.

As you reflect on 2011, it would be great if you had some sort of concrete list you created in early 2011 to compare your results to.  Or, something you created at some point.  If you’re really diligent, you may have a weekly or even monthly goal sheet.  Let’s cut to the chase – the more you review your goals, the more you’re staying accountable and executing on them.  I highly recommend at least a monthly review.

If you don’t have a concrete list for 2011, it’s a fresh year, and a great time to start.

I have a solution for you

Scott Dinsmore, from Live Your Legend, has published his 2013  goal setting guide. It’s a must do.  I say “do” because it will take some work.  Yes, doesn’t anything worth doing take work?  That being said, I promise you’ll build momentum and a systematic approach to actually executing on what you’ve set out to do in 2013. Although I’ve always done some sort of goal setting, I was fortunate enough to get my hands on Scott’s 2011 guide.  It helped tremendously.

Get the guide via the link right here:

Live Your Legend Goal Setting Guide 2013

I set my goals for 2011 and it became a great source of inspiration for me.  I can’t tell you how much this became my compass and really helped me stay on course throughout the year.  Sure, there were some areas that I fell short.  I probably had…no, I know I had TOO MANY goals on my list.  That being said, I know that I wouldn’t have met most of these ambitions without a guide and a plan.

I recently went through this exercise with his 2013 updated guide and it’s really helped me focus in on what I want to accomplish this year.  Here are some keys that have helped me and I believe will help you as well.

GOAL SETTING KEYS

1 – Make them as concrete as possible – This is really important.  I recommend writing them as if you’ve achieved them already.  For example, I’d love to get my body fat under 10%.  So, a good way to write it is something like this – “I am at or under 9.9% by April 30th, 2013.”  Then, break this down even more.  A good weekly goal for me is to workout at least 4 days.  Plan your work, then work your plan.  You will see in the LYL guide how to go about this.

2 – Understand your Why – Crucial, crucial step.  A must do here….you have to think about this.  This is where your motivation lies.  Ok, so for me – BF under 10%.  Sure, it’s to look good, but more important, it’s to feel good.  On top of that – it will make me a better father, husband, performer at work, writer, etc.  This makes these types of goals stick.  Side note – I never used to think like this.  Thanks to reading and learning about this type of stuff, I now get it.  It’s one of those things you know, but until you really drill down, you don’t get.

4 – Keep it Simple – The old adage, “less is more”, rings true here.  Setting 50 goals for the year is pretty ambitious and you’re probably setting yourself up for failure.  Scott’s guide does a great job of narrowing down your areas of focus (in the wheel house for GTD fans out there) and then drilling down on each – setting 1-3 goals for each area (i.e. Health/Vitality, Financial, Work/Career)

5– Setup a consistent review (on your calendar) – I know for me it helps immensely if I don’t have to think about it.  I’m a big believer in putting reminders/milestones on the calendar.  So, each Friday, I have a goals review time set aside.  Stay as disciplined as possible with this.  I set aside an hour, but you be the judge on how much time you need.

6 – Be willing to change course – You’re not going to accomplish everything you set out to accomplish.  It’s just the way it is.  I guarantee you’ll be a hell of a lot closer to execution though  because you formalize this stuff.  Be nimble.  If something needs to change, don’t be afraid to.  If something needs taken off, take it off.  Add when necessary as well.  Remember, less is more. If you’re adding too many, you’re asking for trouble.

7 – Find a partner – I’m a big believer in partnering.  Find someone you can work with on this.  Send someone this guide and do it together.  Maybe it’s a friend, partner, co-worker….doesn’t matter.  Go through this process, and send them your goals sheet/document.  Then, make sure you meet consistently.

Genuine relationships are in danger of extinction.

Seek first to understand, and then be understood.  You have two ears and one mouth for a reason. All of these are  motto’s that mean the same thing.  The simple fact is…IT’S NOT ABOUT YOU. The more you can change your focus to others, the more you will get ahead in this world.  It’s called building relationship capital.

This article is a call to arms. Relationships everywhere are suffering.

I go to my local Starbucks to work quite often.  About 3pm, the junior high kids come stampeding in.  After taking over and ordering their Frappuccino’s, they sit with their friends and start conversing.   Coupled with the verbal back and forth is a constant watch on their smart phone.  Whether its texting, updating Facebook statuses or checking their twitter feed, their attention alternates between their “real” conversations and the one’s in the cloud.

Let me also say this…a mea culpa of sorts.  I also fall prey to this at times.  Fortunately, I’ve taught myself to become aware of it.  In addition, I’m in corporate technology sales, so I’ve seen firsthand the power of building relationships the right way.

I’m concerned about this.  I have two kids, ages two and four.  I believe it’s only going to become harder to build truly authentic relationships.  It’s so hard to focus on the moment with all of these distractions.  Listen, I’m a big believer in the power and value of social media, but it’s a potential black hole if you don’t manage it the right way.

What can we do about it?

We all have a job to do.  Put your phone down when you’re talking to someone.  Encourage your kids to do the same.  As I said, I fall victim to this as well.  I’m sure my wife will tell you that she wished I would throw my iPhone away at times.  I’m one that has a hard time shutting down.  It’s the perfectionist mentality, the constant acceleration that our society portrays as necessary.  While I’ve become a lot better at stepping back and disconnecting, I have a long way to go.

I believe the ability to cultivate relationships will become a big differentiator in years to come.

If you can focus on making yourself stand out.  Simply focusing on being interested and not always thinking about getting your next word in will separate yourself from the crowd.

Life is about dividing and conquering. Small steps, done consistently over time, lead to big performances.

Leo Babauta, of Zen Habits, talks about setting goals and building rituals.  He recently published and article that articulated the simplest “algorithm” for building positive, lasting habits over time.

His Process:

Start very small

Do only ONE change at a time

Be present and enjoy the activity (don’t focus on results)

Be grateful for every step you take

The most profound piece of this is the “one at a time” motto (#2).  We tend to try and take too much on.  Not only do we want to lose weight, but we want to read more, workout more, call our parents more, meditate more, pray more, etc.  Our success is typically fleeting.  Maybe a couple solid days, then one day of non-success and we’re done.  Leo’s methodology of one at a time is profound.  He calls for 4-6 weeks of one habit.

Let’s say you want to wake up earlier.  Just do that.  Don’t take anything else on.  Concentrate on waking up earlier, that’s it.  If you typically wake at 7am, don’t get too drastic.  Think about doing this over 4-6 weeks.  Maybe it’s just 6:55 for a couple days, then 6:45 and so on.  You get the picture.

The cool thing about this is that waking early will lead to more success in other areas.  You’ll have more energy throughout the day b/c you will get more done early (I know… seems backwards).

Remember, the key here is to NOT do anything else with regards to changing habits during this time.  It’s fine to list out what else you want to do throughout the year, but one at a time for this approach.

If you do the basic math – 52 weeks, 6 weeks per habit, you’re talking at least 8 new habits formed throughout the year.  If I told you that you’d be rocking it in 8 different facets of your life by the time one year goes by, how would you feel?  I’d be pretty damn stoked.

Taking on too much is one of my fatal flaws. I’m a big culprit of trying to change too many things at once.  I hear what Leo says about this, but I haven’t been listening.  Part of the reason I’m writing this to publicly admit this and make myself accountable to changing, ONE AT A TIME.

So, who’s with me?

My initial habit to change is to write everyday.  I’m starting small, just 5 minutes a day for the first week.  My goal is for this to lead to more consistent posts, even if some are shorter than what you’re used to seeing.  At least once a week to start.