I know of no more encouraging fact than the unquestionable ability of man to elevate his life be a conscious endeavor. Henry David ThoreauOnce we believe in ourselves, we can risk curiosity, wonder, spontaneous delight or any experience that reveals the human spirit. EE Cummings

Habit 1: Control Your Time

Habit 2: Control Your Money

There is a habit you need to start on before these two but I want to suggest to you before you read on that you set yourself up to fail small. It will be necessary for you to “fail” that is to find out what does not work for you and to adjust it. Thomas Edison is reported to have tried 10,000 different solutions before finding one with promise. He did not try them all at once but one at a time, each time he said he found out what would not work. What we screw into a socket today is the result of many more discoveries and and small refinements.

To have habit 1 or 2 you first have to be able to control your own mind. It is so full there is no thinking time for much of anything except immediate needs and the latest crisis. To control your mind you have to get everything out of it. De-clutter it and keep it that way.

I adopted a Zen Habit from the E-book Zen to Done. I write everything down. It is a data dump but I keep my data safe in a small spiral bound notebook. I also carry a 3×5 card. On one side are my 3 MITs (most important tasks) for that day. On the other I write things that I need to do from errands, appointments etc as they pop into my head or I discover I need to do them. Once a day I transfer them into my notebook. You could keep them on one long list but I used different pages for different lists - one for Home, Work, Errands, my Blog, Business etc. I kept it to the few big categories in my life. I have been sticking to this process and it has amazed me the amount of peace I feel. What had seemed like so much is now just a few lines on a piece of paper and I regularly get a few of those things off of my list. It is like a tide with flowing in and flowing out. Most importantly it got the stuff out of my mind and off of my emotional capacity.

Leo wrote about 10 habits but advises to adopt one or maybe two and work on them for a month or two before moving on. Controlling your mind will give you energy and the process of collecting the data, only doing the 3 most important things and bunching tasks that can be done together will give you much more time control.

As a start for control of your money I suggest you go to the library and check out a few books. Those I have found most useful are

- Your Money or Your LIfe- a practical and doable guide to retire and live a simple life that gives you the time to volunteer, write or so what ever it is that is important to you.

- Total Money Make Over- change your attitude about money - control it to your benefit

- All Your Worth - set up a budget the fun way, simplify your needs, be more financially successful

This year slowly learn one good time allocation habit and one money habit that benefits you. De-clutter your mind so you can think about them. Use the Internet, find an online forum and read the conversations, participate in them but check all facts you find there with a couple of resources before you act on them.

By the end of 2008 you can move from less order and less peace to more order and more peace. Good habits will do that for you. You will have your own style, but the principles remain the same for everyone.

Have you done anything like this? Who or what was the catalyst? What advice can you provide about use of online forums? Can you recommend one for finances or time management?

Popularity: 2% [?]