From the May 9, 2008 edition of THE WEEK magazine...
Roger Moore (yes, James Bond), reminiscing about Frank Sinatra:
"Frank said, 'You gotta love livin', Kid, 'cause dyin' is a pain in the ass'..."
Do it his way or do it your way -- either way: LIVE BIG!
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From the May 2008 MAXIM magazine...
Harrison Ford (aka Han Solo aka Indiana Jones), answering the question "You make about $20 million per movie, are you ever astonished at your paycheck?" replied:
"I was at first, but then I got over that."
I love that!
If you're good at what you do, and you can make good money doing it... then do it.
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A few weeks ago I sat down to write a Big Idea newsletter....
I thought I had it all figured out. I knew exactly what I was gonna write about. But when I sat down to the computer and started typing, something completely different ended up on the page.
And you know what?
It worked out quite nicely. The feedback I received on that newsletter article was 100% positive.
It just goes to show that -- sometimes -- the things we plan for often end up being quite different from the things we do.
Very, very different.
(I'm reminded of what John Lennon sang, in "Beautiful Boy": "Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans....")
My experience has shown that the most successful people around are those who can -- while they're busy making other plans -- keep their eyes and ears and minds open to new ideas and new paths that might propel them towards their goals faster than ever.
I can't even count the times I thought I knew on where I was going, what I was doing, and how I was gonna reach my goal... and then stumbled across a better path, a different path, a more exciting path...
Of course, it doesn't have to be about simply getting to your goal faster or easier or cheaper.
It might mean exploring an entirely new road. --Perhaps a less trodden one... that diverges into a yellow wood... covered in leaves no feet have trodden black...
...A road that takes you to someplace wonderful, someplace beyond what you had imagined....
But to take that road, your eyes -- and your mind -- must be open.
So today, be bold, be courageous! Explore the possibilities that lie just outside of where you think you're going!
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Are you ready? Here goes...
If you really want to conquer your time challenges, you start by conquering your calendar! And for most of us, our calendars our filled at the request of others. So... the more quickly you can decide if you are ("Yes, I can do that.") or are not ("No, I can't do that.") going to do a project, the more quickly you can get focused on taking action.
In those cases where you just don't know (or where you don't feel like you can say "no" at the time the request is made), "Let me get back to you" is a great stop-gap.... It givesyou a bit of extra time to check your schedule, clear your head, and choose the best option for you.
And if you still don't know, go with "No". You'll end up doing less of what others want you to do, more of what you want and in those rare cases where you feel really bad, you can always change your mind ("I double checked my schedule and, you know, I can go out to dinner with you...").
Here's a great time saving idea that can save the planet, too -- perfect for Earth Day (that's today, by the way)!
ELIMINATE JUNK MAIL!
That's right, reduce (or eliminate) the amount of junk mail (catalogs, flyers, mailers, etc.) that you receive every day, and you not only save yourself time... you save the planet, too.
Think about it....
If you reduce the amount of time you take to go through your daily mail by 2 minutes each day, you'll save yourself just over 10 hours a year (2 minutes daily x 6 days a week x 52 weeks = 624 minutes per year saved = 10.4 hours)!
It's easy enough to do, too.
Just go to the Direct Marketing Association's Mail Preference Service and opt-out of their members' mailing lists. That should dramatically reduce the number of catalogs, flyers, and junk-mail flotsam you receive -- and that means, ultimately, fewer catalogs get mailed, fewer get printed, and fewer end up in landfills.
And while you're at it, saving the Earth and all, visit OptOutPrescreen.com to remove yourself from those annoying credit card and insurance offers (which is also one thing you can do to reduce your chances of identity-theft).
See, saving the planet can be rewarding in more ways than you can imagine!
