It’s 1984. Bruce Springsteen is about to be one of the biggest stars in the world – and he’s enraged.
After wrapping up his final recording session at The Hit Factory in New York city he meets with Jon Landau, his manager, to pick the final 14 songs for his upcoming album Born In The USA. Over two years in the making, they have at least 70 tracks to pick from, however, Landau tells Bruce there isn’t a single hit among them and the two of them get into an argument. Bruce is frsutrated, not just by the argument, but also of the challenges of trying to finish this album. He channels his frustration into writing one more song for the album.
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History will prove Landau wrong as there were already six Top 10 hits in that pile which made it onto Born In The USA, however the song Bruce wrote in his irked state ultimately became his biggest hit – Dancing in The Dark.
More than just a catchy song though, the lyrics provide life lessons as we get a glimpse of Bruce’s state of mind during that time: on the cusp of reaching his dreams, and yet frustrated that he was so close but still not finished.
Read the full article: You Can’t Start a Fire…
Do you wish you had more time? If you had an extra hour or two a day, can you think of how you’d like to spend it? In a recent article about How To Instantly Make Time For Yourself I discussed some research which found that for those surveyed:
- 70% rated themselves as busy or very busy
- 50% were more busy than they were the year before
- 90% wished they had more time to spend with friends and family
You can’t be busy without spending your time somewhere – the question is, do you know where your time is spent?
Read the full article: How to Track Where You Spend Time With A Time Log
“Follow effective action with quiet reflection. From the quiet reflection will come even more effective action.”
– Peter F. Drucker
Towards December each year I like to think back over the last past twelve months, and plan for the year ahead by asking myself a number of reflective questions. In the interest of being thorough my list of reflective questions gets longer each year, since we’ve always heard that more is better: more money, more time, more “stuff.”
Except that sometimes it isn’t. Sometimes, more is just distracting. Since reading Leo Babauta’s Simple Guide To a Minimalist List, I’ve been cutting many non-essentials out of my life, and decided to apply the same approach to my self reflection – focusing on only the questions that matter the most.
Read the full article: Reflection Questions – The Most Important Questions You’ll Answer This Year
“Silent gratitude isn’t much use to anyone.”
– G.B. Stern
Did you know that half of American’s don’t always say thanks? Regardless if you’re the type to always say thanks or not, you’re likely going to need to write a thank you card at some point. Especially around the holidays, when you’ll be receiving gifts – and will want to ensure you show your appreciation.
Like any other task, I like to complete thank you cards both effectively and efficiently. To do that, I’ll first discuss how to make sure my card is effective: thinking through the purpose of thank you cards and how to word your thank you note. I’ll then put it together in one easy template for your thank you card – so you can ensure your thank you cards can be written quickly and efficiently, but still hit all the right notes.
Read the full article: How To Write a Thank You Card That Actually Says Thanks
Do you know when you’re most productive? I bet you have some idea. Perhaps it’s early morning, or late at night – or even in the middle of the night!
How can you determine that? Simple – measure progress. Even if you don’t do it, you know how to – counting calories, tracking where you waste time online, and looking at tasks completed. In software development this is called velocity – the speed at which progress is being made.
That’s great, but it’s only useful when you’re looking backward – seeing where you’ve come from. I’ve been thinking lately about approaching my productivity proactively – and keeping an eye out for warning signs that my output is going to slow down. What are some signs I can look for to warn me when I”m going to be overwhelmed, and when my productivity is starting to go south? Do such things even exist? And can we act on these warning signs?
It turns out there are early warning signs that my productivity and focus is waning – my own personalcanaries in my productivity coal mine. For many of them, they are symptoms of a larger problem. Keeping an eye out for these warning signs me make sure I deal with the larger problemsbefore they get out of hand.
Read the full article: Early Warning Signs – Canaries In My Productivity Coal Mine
