http://www.successminders.com Articles and essays on success, personal development, and personal improvement Mon, 02 Jun 2008 17:31:31 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en Today is my third day working at a standing desk. I had originally thought I would stand for a couple of hours - until my laptop battery died - and then switch back to my desk. That was five hours ago. I’m still standing, and I’ve gone to get ... http://www.successminders.com/2008/06/02/work-standing-up-day-3/ For a long time now I’ve read all about the benefits of standing while working. I’ve wanted to get a standing desk for a long time, but when I priced out real honest-to-goodness standing desks…well I just don’t have that kind of money to try something I may end ... http://www.successminders.com/2008/05/29/work-standing-up-day-1/ I had an interesting thing happen today, someone used the contact form on this web site and asked me if I would be interested in selling a blog posting and/or a text link. I’ve written in the past about building passive income streams, so I was interested to learn if the ... http://www.successminders.com/2008/01/28/cash-or-conscience/ The word “only” has been a good friend of mine. I’ve used it to justify a lot of dumb expenses in my life. I say things like, “Hey, adding HBO and Showtime to our satellite package is only $22 a month.” And I don’t think about how ... http://www.successminders.com/2008/01/24/how-to-only-yourself-to-death/ I’m “stuff” person…always have been. It’s not that I want to acquire stuff for the purpose of just acquiring it; I’m the kind of person who gets exciting by something, and then has to have all the requisite items and accessories to support whatever phase I’m going through. For example, ... http://www.successminders.com/2008/01/17/tricks-to-avoid-spending-too-much/ This is a unique article - a bit rant and a bit non-productivity - but I’ll try to bring it around to the purpose and mission of this site, but forgive me if it misses the mark. Over the last few months I’ve been working hard to improve my frugality. ... http://www.successminders.com/2008/01/11/customer-service-in-the-21st-century/ It’s no secret that I’m a big fan of productivity, organization tools, life-hacks…those things really tickle me deep down. I get a kick out of hearing about a new tip or trick to make my life easier. This one I stumbled on by accident, and it’s my favorite so far ... http://www.successminders.com/2007/12/14/the-1-idea-that-will-change-your-life-for-the-better/ We’ve all heard the quote (often mis-attributed to Dr. W. Edwards Deming) that…”you can’t manage what you don’t measure.” When working on reaching your goals (you do set SMART goals right?) you have to monitor and measure your progress so you know when you’ve achieved your goal, but you need to ... http://www.successminders.com/2007/11/08/you-need-more-than-measurement-to-reach-your-goals/ Last month I wrote an article titled What’s coming in your future?. In it, I described how a quote from David Allen’s book Ready for Anything had really resonated with me. I came into the office this morning and checked through my tickler file and sitting there in the folder ... http://www.successminders.com/2007/10/29/whats-coming-in-your-future-part-2/ A co-worker and I were recently talking movies. Specifically what we had coming from Netflix. I mentioned a few movies he wasn’t familiar with and he asked if I knew of any way to “share” my Netflix queue so he could see it too. I said I didn’t, so ... http://www.successminders.com/2007/10/25/will-you-share-your-queue-with-me/ I recently sat down with Azher Khan of Calderon Textiles to interview him about his thoughts on success, goals, and self-development. He is one of three share holders of Calderon Textiles in Indianapolis, Indiana and has been - by any measure - very successful in both his personal and professional roles. ... http://www.successminders.com/2007/10/01/successminders-interview-azher-m-khan/ Back in June I was re-reading “Ready for Anything” by David Allen and on the first page of the first chapter he writes: “Something is coming - probably within a few days - that’s going to change your world. You don’t see it yet. You don’t know what it’s ... http://www.successminders.com/2007/09/28/whats-coming-in-your-future/ Have you heard about Sandy? She’s a virtual assistant over at iwantsandy.com. When I first heard about “her” I thought, “What a great idea!” and signed up for a beta account. After a fairly long wait - so long I had honestly forgotten about Sandy - I received ... http://www.successminders.com/2007/09/27/i-want-sandy-how-are-you-using-it/ When was the last time you really took inventory of what you’re best at, what you’re good at, and what you weak at? If you’re like me, it’s probably been a long time. You might be surprised that the saying, “if you don’t use it, you lose it” is actually ... http://www.successminders.com/2007/07/02/reevaluate-your-limits/ If you’re like me, sometimes the best thoughts strike at the worst times…like, say, when you’re driving. Oh sure, I’ve been known to try to scribble a note to myself - holding the wheel with my knee, trying to pay attention to oncoming traffic. I’m sure it’s not the safest ... http://www.successminders.com/2007/06/28/capture-your-thoughts-on-the-go-and-a-great-tool-to-help/