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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. Azher is a native of Karachi, Pakistan and credited with the original concept of importing quality linens and distributing them to the U.S. market. He holds a Master’s Degree in Public Administration from the American University. He also has been a key figure in Indiana providing relief to Pakistan in the wake of the 2005 earthquake that killed 75,000 people.
JC: People seem to be drawn to success individuals and want to know their “secret” or get some “quick-fix” advice that will make them successful too. What advice do you give to people who ask you how to achieve success similar to yours?
(Read the rest of this article…)
October 1st, 2007
Jacob
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 about. But it’s there, rolling inexorably forward, destined to throw you a curve that you do not expect. It could show up sooner or later - but it will show up. Trust me.”
He goes on and encourages readers to write in their calendar: “David Allen said a month ago that something was coming I couldn’t foresee that would affect me significantly.”
That’s a pretty powerful statement - it really resonated with me. So on June 28th I wrote it down on a 3×5 index card and stuck it in a file to review on July 28th.
And I promptly lost the folder!
Today I found it. It’s ironic - and a bit spooky - that I found the lost folder exactly on the day I filed the note away three months ago. So what happened to me that I didn’t see coming, and that changed my life significantly?
(Read the rest of this article…)
September 28th, 2007
Jacob
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 a very polite email from her welcoming me as a member, and giving me some suggestions on how to start working with “her.”
I’ve “asked” her to remember a few things for me - nothing critical. But I have yet to really discover how to really take advantage of Sandy. The idea is such a good one - and it’s really well implemented, but I have been struggling to figure out how to work her into my regular productivity toolkit.
So I’m reaching out to see how my readers have been using Sandy. If you’re an IWantSandy.com user, please leave a comment letting me know how you use her, and what you think of the service.
If you’re not an IWantSandy.com user - go check out the service. It’s free for now (though I can’t imagine it will always be free) and the concept behind the service is excellent.
Maybe I just have too many productivity tools I’m trying to cram into my life, but I’m a sucker for a slick technology implementation.
September 27th, 2007
Jacob
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 true. I had an eye-opening experience this past weekend that has really caused me to pause and reevaluate myself - and you should too!
(Read the rest of this article…)
July 2nd, 2007
Jacob
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 way to take a note on-the-go, but when inspiration hits you’ve got to be ready.
I knew there had to be a better way to capture my thoughts while I was in the car or in a place where writing a note was just impracticable. I thought that getting a voice recorder might be just the thing I was looking for. So I did a little research online and settled on an Olympus VN-2100 digital voice recorder. It was small, cheap, and held about 6 hours of recordings in “high” quality mode. It also was stylish in a sleek-white-iPodesque kind of way.
I was happy with my new toy…er, tool…and over the next few weeks proceeded to record a ton of ideas, thoughts, next actions, and musings.
After using it for about a month I discovered that there is usually a downside for every upside.
(Read the rest of this article…)
June 28th, 2007
Jacob
Does your wallet look like George Costanza owns it? Mine used to. One day I decided that I was sick of having a fat bulge in my back pocket, keeping me sitting slightly off-kilter, and generally hurting my posture.
I slimmed down my wallet - got rid of anything that wasn’t essential to my day-to-day activities - and moved it to my front pocket. Ahh, it was refreshing…invigorating…liberating!
There was one unintended side effect - I didn’t have room to carry the various “club cards” that were in my previous wallet. For a long time I simply didn’t care, usually the cashier at the local grocery would have a spare card at her register and swipe it for me.
But a few months ago all of the grocery stores around me stopped allowing the cashiers to use a “store” card. Customers who didn’t present a club card were out of luck (and out of saving some cash). I was not happy by this turn of events, and I wasn’t about to fatten my wallet back up with the various cards I would need to carry.
So I was extremely relieved to find JustOneClubCard.com. It’s a nifty little why-didn’t-I-think-of-that online application that creates a single, wallet-sized card with up to 8 club card barcodes on it.
No longer do I have to carry Marsh, Kroger, Dick’s Sporting Goods, and Office Depot cards (or rather, not carry them). I just entered the numbers from my real cards, and created one handy card to use!
Just One Club Card currently has over 120 cards in their database, and if you’re card isn’t listed you can use their “advanced” feature to try to create your own barcode using one of the 12 different barcode symbol sets.
You might get a few bizarre looks from cashiers when you present your all-in-one club card to them. So far I’ve only used it at Marsh and Kroger and at both places I’ve received the odd look, but I’ve been able to successfully convince the cashier it’s really a legitimate club card code.
So give it a try, your wallet (and your back) will thank you!
June 19th, 2007
Jacob
I’m a fan of pen and paper - I like to make notes on 3×5 cards and I always carry spare notes with me. But finding a good pen - one that you can use but not worry to much if you lose - is always a challenge.
I love fountain pens and I use them at work and at home. They’re delightfully retro and really get my creative juices flowing. But a lot of times I just want to dash off a quick note and being a “lefty” makes using fountain pens an exercise in patience and control or the entire side of my left hand turns blue.
So when I’m on-the-go, or just need to dash off a quick note, I reach for something else. And by and large I dislike ball point pens. I know, everyone raves about the Fischer Bullet Space Pen, and I own one, but my preference is for something other than a ball point. I usually gravitate towards Paper Mate felt-tip pens. They leave an effortless line on the page, and I usually don’t smudge my hand to much with them. But they’re still not perfect.
So imagine my surprise when I found a lose Paper Mate “Liquid Expresso” pen at work a few months ago. They’re a felt-tip pen, but they’re fed by real, liquid ink. So they write almost exactly like a fountain pen, but dry quickly and work for a lefty.
The only complaint I have is that they feather a little on cheap 3×5 cards. But then so do fountain pens and plain-ol’ felt-tip pens, so I’m really no worse off.
But the line they lay on paper is amazingly smooth. The tip just glides across good paper; it’s hard to describe, but a pleasant surprise for a pen that costs about $1.75. In my opinion, they write a heck of a lot better than the Pilot G2 gel pens that so many GTD’ers love so much.
And the price is low enough that if I do misplace a pen (or more likely one “grows legs” and walks off my desk) I don’t worry to much about it. If you’re a picky pen person, I highly recommend you check them out for yourself.
And for the record, I don’t have any connection with Paper Mate, this is just my own opinion and it’s not bought or paid for. Hopefully if you’re a pen-and-paper devotee this will be a helpful little article about a pen you may not have tried yet!
June 16th, 2007
Jacob
If you’ve been intermittently successful getting to the SuccessMinders.com of late, it may be because you’re using the new Microsoft web browser, IE7.
It was recently brought to my attention that the web site would not load under IE7 - displaying the message Internet Explorer cannot display the web page and recommending you check your network settings.
The problem - which has now been corrected - resided in a WordPress module that apparently doesn’t play nicely with IE7.
Fortunately this plug-in was non-essential to the site or its back-end functionality, and I’ve disabled it until I can debug the root issue causing the site to appear to be offline under IE7.
Thank you reading - and if you’ve been using IE7 and missing the site, SuccessMinders is back!
January 17th, 2007
Jacob
I have previously written of my love of 3 x 5 index cards. I try to always keep some on me wherever I go to capture thoughts, “to dos”, and notes.
I had been using a leather card holder I picked up from an online company called Gifts For Professionals. It was inexpensive ($15.95) and held about 8 index cards neatly in my back pocket.
I had also looked at the Levenger pocket briefcase, but had stayed away from it because the $16 job from Gifts for Professionals had done the job.
Then the unthinkable happened…while in the middle of a move I lost my card holder.
(Read the rest of this article…)
June 5th, 2006
Jacob
I enjoy motivational quotes and things which keep me mindful of staying on-track to improve myself and develop new skills.
At my office I had some dead space on a cork board since I use whiteboards pretty exclusively.
So I thought, “Why don’t I create some quick little motivational cards I can print out to pin up on my cork board?” I had a 4″ x 6″ photo printer and a little free time, so I whipped up a batch that looked reasonably good arrainged in a 3×3 grid.
Once the cards were up people around the office commented on them. Some asked where I bought them, some asked where the quotes came from. They became a little conversation piece. Hopefully they had a positive influence on others in the office.
(Read the rest of this article…)
May 24th, 2006
Jacob
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