Use the form on the right to contact us.
You can edit the text in this area, and change where the contact form on the right submits to, by entering edit mode using the modes on the bottom right.
123 Street Avenue, City Town, 99999
(123) 555-6789
email@address.com
You can set your address, phone number, email and site description in the settings tab.
Link to read me page with more information.
Using systems and habits to improve your life is a proven method to succeed. It requires seeing the work as a system and then adjusting your thoughts and behaviors to be able to take advantage of your opportunities in life.
If we want good habits, we have to figure out how to take learning and turn it into habit. It sounds easy. We assume we hear something new, and then apply it continuously the rest of our lives.
But this isn’t the way it happens. Usually that new information fades over time before we can apply it to our behavior. If we are lucky to apply it to our behavior, we usually only apply it for a short time.
Read MoreRecently I adjusted how I track my daily routines. I tweaked a few metrics that I use. I also set a daily minimum for gratitude.
I would think of three things every day for which I am grateful. They could be basic things such as the colorful autumn leaves. They could be around fun adventures with my wife and children. It could be something positive from work. It could be the upcoming weekend plans.
Read MoreYears ago, I was working in a production environment. We wanted to maximize the production of the location. We measured the output from each individual and the group as a whole.
We had several high performers and a few low performers. But most of the technicians were in the middle. They didn’t produce at a high level but didn’t produce at a low level. They were in the middle.
Read MoreIn systems thinking, we often look at a structure known as the feedback loop. There are several variations of the feedback loop. Of these, the reinforcing feedback loop is the one that can you use to improve the most.
This type of feedback loop occurs when the output of a system is fed back into the input. Then it is amplified and sent to the output. The output signal is then fed back into the input of the system to be amplified all over again.
Read MoreIt is said that the only constant in life is change. We all experience it. Therefore, we have to learn how to adjust with the times.
But to keep improving, we have to learn how to stay the course as well. Most goals are long-term. We can't snap our fingers and reach our highest ambitions.
Read MoreMost people want be successful. They want the awards, accolades, money, rewards, etc. for doing a job well-done. They envision what it will be like when they achieve their goal.
When we envision success, many people miss the long journey towards success. They envision a quick win. Or they keep the hard work in the background and focus solely on what it will feel like to win.
Read MoreLife can be chaotic. We all experience ups and downs in life. Some of these are natural, such as our aging through time, and other times this is unexpected.
Regardless of why, the impact is real. It feels as though complexity has overcome our world and stolen control. Without control, we start to get anxious. For many, this leads to a panicked mindset.
Read MoreWhen I was younger and ran into difficulties I would often stop. I would want to wait to better understand what is going on before I took a next step.
This would result in analysis. I would analyze the situation to try and find the best path forward. While trying to figure out what to do, I would stop any action.
Read MoreMost of us want control in our lives. We want to be able to choose the path we take. We want to have freedom over the decisions we make and the situations we face.
But many times control is an illusion. We assume we have control. We have some obvious control in some situations. But there is always a spark of unpredictability in any given life event.
Read MoreWhen people think of freedom, they think of doing whatever they want. They picture a life without any restrictions. They can spend what they want and never run out of money. They can eat what they want and never gain weight. They can drink whatever they want, do whatever they want and feel however they want.
But life isn’t that way. There will always be consequences to our behavior. Being rich might mean we can buy what we want. But it doesn’t mean we can eat what we want. It doesn’t mean we can drink whatever we want. We can’t just do whatever we feel like doing at any moment.
Read MoreWhen I first heard about the concept of systems and systems thinking, I was building a small business. I read an article that discussed the difference between successful and unsuccessful businesses.
The theme of the article centered on the ability of the successful small business owner to transition from doing everything to creating systems for everything. They relied on systems to run the business.
Read MoreAbout a year ago, I began the arduous task of rewriting my first book, You Can’t Surf from the Shore. That book was the very first thing I wrote on the systems and habits approach to improvement. At the time, I kept much of the systems info out of it to keep it simple and easy to read.
Over the years I have written a second book, thousands of articles, an ebook, and designed an 11-week course on the various aspects of the systems and habits approach to improvement. Surf from the Shore was in desperate need for a rewrite.
Read MoreSystems thinking changes the way we process information in the world. Instead of seeing the output from a system and judging it based on that information alone, we look deeper. We want to understand the depths of the system.
The surface of the system contains what we interact with on a regular basis. These are the outputs, the events. They occur and grab our attention.
Read MoreThe other day I heard a sportscaster say that an athlete’s performance was flawless. He said went on to say that the athlete gave, “flawless effort.”
Right away I cringed. Too often we focus on the end performance and ignore the steps leading to it. When the performance is magnificent, we see it as flawless. We assume it was his one-time effort that day that made the difference.
Read MoreWe all face challenges in life. When I was younger, I hated these challenges. I wanted things to be easy and pleasant. I did everything possible to avoid them.
Inevitably, they would still surface. When they did, my reaction was immediate. I wanted out. I wanted to get away from the discomfort. I wanted to end the negative feelings associated with that struggle.
Read MoreThe other day I was reading about a debate between several prominent authors and professors. The debate regarded the future of life. One side argued that life was improving, overall, across the globe. The other side took the counter point. They argued that quality of life will decline in the future.
As I read, I sided with the optimistic point of view. They provided better data. Almost all the main measures of quality of life have increased throughout the decades. They argued that there is no reason that this will end.
Read MoreWhen you are using systems and habits to improve your life, you will likely get to a point of exhaustion. It happens to everyone. Even with the best of intentions, you will become tired.
That is the point at which you start to question the work you are putting in. You measure it against what you feel you deserve to get from all that hard work. Many times, it seems like you haven’t received as many rewards as you feel appropriate.
Read MoreLife is complex. Sometimes, in the midst of something horrible, we forget that life can be great. Hearing someone talk about the beauty of a flower right after being fired would be infuriating, not joyous. The pain from the firing would drown out everything else.
But life contains those horrible moments and moments of bliss. They both exist in the same system. We can’t separate them out. They coexist.
Read MoreToo often we get caught up trying to be perfect. We dislike errors. We despise faults. We want to perform flawlessly without committing any mistakes.
While we may desire perfection, it doesn’t help us to improve. Instead of using it to get better, we try to avoid imperfection. Want to avoid any mistake so we avoid challenging situations.
Read MoreOur society craves more. We want more of everything we judge as good. It could be feelings such as happiness, joy, pleasure, etc. It could be material possessions and resources such as money, cars, houses etc.
On its face, this doesn’t pose a problem. If we want more happiness and are willing to do what is necessary to obtain that happiness, what is the problem? If we want to travel more and take a higher paying job to fund our adventures, who does it hurt? If we want a nice car or a nice house and are willing to do the work to obtain those goals, why shouldn’t we work for those?
Read More