Wednesday 31 December 2014

10 Tips To Make Your Day Easier



Simplify Your Day

Here are 10 Tips to Make Your Work Day Easier:

  1. Focus on high reward tasks.  Doing things that take up maximum time but give no rewards should be avoided. Focus on your top tasks. Avoid unproductive things such as gossip, and office politics. Do not allow your colleagues to interrupt you unnecessarily.
  2. Don’t over plan.  Planning your work is imperative to a smooth work flow. However, too much planning before doing anything makes less time to get things done. Moreover, avoid plans to do too many things in one time frame, such as back-to-back meetings. This is the best way to cut short your ‘to-do’ list for the day and make your day less stressful.
  3. Learn to manage Email.  Email is one thing that takes the maximum time of an employee. Hence, if you know how to manage your emails, half of your work is done. You can make your work easier by limiting the size of each response, yet conveying the complete message.
  4. Learn shortcuts.  Setting up auto-text on your mobile allows you to respond to office messages on the go. You do not need to type the entire thing every time while responding to messages.
  5. Say “no” when necessary.  In addition to removing a few things from your ‘to-do’ list, saying “no” also becomes vital in the work place. Saying “no” conveys that you are capable enough to distinguish between work priorities, productive and unproductive work.
  6. Question what is not clear. Question the things that you think are not required. For instance, most of the office meetings are considered a waste of time. Ask if the meeting is actually required, what the agenda is, etc.
  7. Keep communication open.  The way you interact or communicate with people at different work levels also defines how smoothly you can manage your work. Hence, maintain professionalism, yet build personal rapport with colleagues. Keep all your communications clear to avoid any misunderstandings.
  8. Delegate work. Have a long list of tasks? Make it easier by delegating. It is worth delegating the work to a new intern, your direct report, or a virtual assistant. This way you can focus more on important things, and have other employees learn new tasks.  Delegate smartly, choosing the right person for each task.
  9. Don’t stress.  You cannot maintain the same level of energy every day and for every task. Hence, do not put pressure on yourself to fight for perfection. Yes, keeping focus on making things right is important, however fighting for perfectionism is like making your work life harder.
  10. Get organized.  The key to make your work easier is organizing everything- from your desktop to Email inbox, and from interactions with colleagues to meetings!

An Easier Work Day

Believe it; making your work easier is actually in your hands. Implement these 10 easy tips, and experience a better work day.


Monday 29 December 2014

10 ways to pursue excellence without negativity




10 ways to pursue excellence without negativity:

  1. Ask teams, who believe in the mission, where they can be better. Don’t point out their failures. Let them point out their aspirations.
  2. Every time you feel like pointing out a problem, ask, “How can we make that better?”
  3. Never allow conversations about issues or problems to end without finding some corrective action. At the least, set a “make it better” meeting.
  4. Choose your battles. Focus on behaviors and issues with high visibility.
  5. Ask, “What can we do about that,” when someone points out a problem or shortfall.
  6. Reject the need for big solutions. The need for big solutions is the reason teams end up doing nothing, except complaining.
  7. When someone says, “That won’t work,” ask, “What might help?”
  8. Focus more on where you’re going than where you’ve been. Apply Pareto’s 80/20 principle.
  9. Say, “You have more in you,” when something falls short.
  10. Think of the pursuit of excellence in terms of people, then systems. How can you maximize talent and passion?

Sunday 28 December 2014

Tips for turning difficult conversations into easy ones




Tips for turning difficult conversations into easy ones:

  1. Keep calm. Don’t turn it into Godzilla vs. Rodan.
  2. Treat’em like a child. You can’t talk them out of emotional outbursts and getting angry over it does nothing good.
  3. Say “Please speak more slowly. I’d like to help.” Slow it down. Don’t come off like you’re fighting back.
  4. Ask “What would you like me to do?” You gotta make’em start thinking in order to turn off the rage machine.
  5. Don’t make statements. Ask questions. Explaining is veiled dominance. Questions get them thinking.
  6. Start sentences with “I’d like…” not “You are…” If you start with “I” it’s hard to be seen as attacking.
  7. Let them have the last word. Don’t let your ego blow it at the last minute.

Saturday 27 December 2014

3 Steps to Think Clearly and Creatively




Here are the three steps to think more clearly and creatively:

Step 1: Think on Paper (30 Minutes)

There is a quote from one of the Rich Dad’s from the popular book Rich Dad, Poor Dad Book.  It goes,  “Always think on paper.”

Draw and doodle; Connect the dots.  Look to see how things flow together.  Cut and paste.  Use words and text to mold your ideas and explore your problems.

Once you've emptied your head you're then ready to…

2. Mastermind (1 hour)

The phrase “two heads are better than one” is an understatement.  Masterminding is when you have two or more people brainstorming and working together to come up with new solutions to problems.  It’s also a great tool for generating new ideas.

Use these sessions to brainstorm ideas and bounce new concepts off each other. Before you start your mastermind sessions, ask yourselves these 4 questions:

What is this meeting about?

What are you trying to achieve?

What are the challenges you want to overcome?

How will this help you? Your clients? Your business?

These are great questions to ask yourself when masterminding.  Just let the ideas flow and you’ll be surprised at how crazy and remarkable the solutions will be.

The last step is to…

3. Take a Mini-Vacation (2-6 hours)

Take a what?  Yes, a mini-vacation.

Decompress and disconnect.  This will help you solve your biggest problems with the least amount of effort.

You’ve got to give your subconscious breathing room.  It’s part of letting go and trusting in yourself.  Your best ideas are not the ones you get during a mastermind session or when you're writing them out.  They come 2-48 hours after you've done your deep thinking or had a really good masterminding session.

So the trick is to be patient; to let go and relax.  The more relaxed you are the better.  That’s why I suggest taking a min-vacation; taking a nap, go for a walk in nature or socialize with friends.  Just give yourself a break.  The ideas will come.

Think clearly and more creatively by following these 3 steps.  You’ll be glad you did.

Friday 26 December 2014

The 4 Habits You Need to Be Successful




The most successful people in this world maintain and master good habits. They realize what they do on a daily basis and where they direct their energy deeply matters when it comes to reaching their goals.

The habits you have picked up over the past couple of years is a reflection of where you are right this moment.

The sad news is that most people don’t have very good habits. The great news is if you are unhappy where you are at in your life you can gradually change the trajectory by altering what you do daily. To achieve high levels of success, you must start to develop the habits of the highly successful.

Below you will find four habits that will help you maximize the results you have been producing and live the life of your dreams.

1. Focus your energy. Learning how to direct your energy towards your most rewarding tasks is crucial for achieving high levels of success. One of the biggest mistakes that many people make is directing their energy towards low-valued tasks. Take a look at everything you have going on right now in your life. Pay close attention and ask yourself what the high-valued tasks are -- the ones that have the potential to bring the most reward to you and your business.

2. Ability to prioritize. Think of what is your most important goal right this moment. If you had to pick one goal that would make everything else in your life tick, this is it. High achievers never lose sight of what their major goal is. Every day, do something that will inch you closer to the achievement of your main goal.

3. Can project and complete tasks. Being able to start something and follow through until it's completed is a key to long-term success. 

Picture yourself completely finishing your projects and tasks. Take note of how you feel visualizing yourself getting the job done. The more you can picture yourself following through and completing important tasks, the more determined you will be to actually do so. 

4. Having a PMA.To be successful, you need to have a positive mental attitude, or PMA.If you do nothing about negative thoughts, chances are you will be settling for average. Instead, you need to continually feed your mind with positive thoughts. 

A great percentage of successful people have all experienced some sort of setback or failure. They could have just stopped their journey right there and called it quits. Instead, they had a positive mental attitude about themselves and their abilities, which gave them the power needed to continue along and reach their goals. Creating this sort of attitude could be one of your most important habits that you end up incorporating on a daily basis. 

No matter where you are in life, there is always more to reach for. When you constantly strive to become a better person, refine your skill set and invest in your future daily, you become more as an individual. When you become more as an individual, your value increases. The more your value increases, the more successful you will become -- and it all starts with your habits.


Monday 22 December 2014

Success Will Never Come to Entrepreneurs Who Do These 10 Things




Whether we are talking about a football game, an election or an entrepreneurial journey, one thing is certain -- there are going to be winners and there are going to be losers.
Want to stack the odds of being a successful entrepreneur in your favor? You can start by taking note of the following 10 things that you should never do.

1. Be jealous or envious

Seeing other people around you succeed should motivate you, even if they are your competitors. You should understand that every single person has the ability to become successful, and wasting time focusing on other people’s success or achievements will just sidetrack your own progress.

2. Look back

You are going to face hard times, difficult decisions and possibly even failure at some point. Don’t let small bumps in the road stop your forward progress. Find ways to maneuver around obstacles and continue to push forward, never looking back.

3. Make excuses

If you make a bad decision and screw up, own it. If something doesn’t work out as planned, don’t look for excuses. Search for the cause of the problem and chalk it up to a valuable business lesson. If you identify and own the problem you will not make the same mistake again. If you are constantly making excuses for your mistakes, you will continue to make them because you haven’t properly identified the root of the problem.

4. Stop learning

Your age, years of experience or level of success should never prevent you from learning. There isn’t a single person on this planet who knows everything. We can all continue to learn and be inspired from other entrepreneurs, whether they are billionaire household names or those just starting his or her entrepreneurial journey. 

5. Associate with negative individuals

People who constantly make excuses, complain and have a negative outlook should be avoided like the plague. We all know people like this. No matter what you say or what the situation is, they always chime in with negativity. People like this are a cancer and their negative aura can rub off on you. Surround yourself with like-minded individuals that are as focused and determined as you are.

6. Wake up without a plan

Time management is a crucial part of being an entrepreneur. There are only so many hours in a day, so to be efficient you need to know what your goals are and what tasks you need to get done prior to starting your day. If you are scrambling to create a plan of attack every day you are going to be in trouble. End each day by mapping out the following day’s to-do list.

7. Be scared to make changes and adapt

You need to be willing and able to adjust your plan and overall strategy, because there is a very good chance that you will need to adapt to maintain success in the future. Imagine if Apple never adapted and just stuck to making computers? After releasing the iPod it started manufacturing smartphones, tablets and now are releasing its first wearable technology, the Apple Watch. Once just a computer company, it is now a consumer-electronics powerhouse. 

8. Let your bark be bigger than your bite

Successful entrepreneurs don’t sit back and talk about what they are going to do. They plan, follow through and conquer. Nothing is going to get accomplished just by talking about it, and nobody is going to be impressed with words alone. 

9. Focus solely on dollar signs and decimal points

Instead of chasing the money, focus on creating products and services that make a difference and provide value. If you do this, the money will come. I would be lying if I said the goal of my company wasn’t to make money, but focusing on providing a great service paves the path for the money to follow.

10. Let failure stop you

Most statistics state that eight out of every 10 new businesses fail. Successful entrepreneurs go into everything knowing that there is a chance of failure. If in fact they fail it is viewed as part of their growth and they keep plugging along.
James Dyson is a perfect example, as his first 5,126 prototypes were failures, but the 5,127th one worked and went on to become the top-selling vacuum in the U.S. He is now worth $4.5 billion because he never once let failure stop him.

Sunday 21 December 2014

What does the US have that does not exist in the UK?




  • Free refills.
  • A tipping culture. Tipping is rare, and 10% is generous.
  • Guns. Well we have guns in the UK, but nothing like so many. And no real equivalent of the NRA.
  • Large numbers of homeless people.
  • A constitution that is known about and considered important.
  • Free speech. People have been sent to prison for what they've written on Twitter. It's much easier to sue for libel in the UK.
  • Megachurches. There are big churches in the UK, but they're mostly considered historical buildings, rather than places of worship. 
  • Arguments about mixing religion and government. The queen is the head of the church. But she delegates responsibility to the prime minister. 
  • Deserts. 
  • Extremely long highways. The longest road in the UK is the A1,   it's 410 miles long. 
  • Arctic regions.
  • Volcanoes. Extinct ones, but nothing as exciting as Mount St Helens.
  • Corn dogs. 
  • Real Mexican food. There are Mexican restaurants in the UK but they're rare. And they're not very Mexican. 
  • Cellphone numbers that look like regular numbers. Cell phone numbers in the UK start 07, so you know if you're calling a cellphone.
  • Police with guns.
  • Huge empty spaces with very little in them. 
  • (American) football teams. Well, ones you've heard of.
  • Baseball teams. Ditto.
  • Basketball teams. Ditto.
  • A large population of Hispanic people.
  • Handball courts.
  • 30 year fixed rate mortgages. Mortgages tend to be 25 years and tend to be variable rate. Sometimes they're fixed for a small number of years (10 would be a long time).
  • Acetaminophen (well, we have it in the UK, but call it paracetamol). But you can't buy more than 24 in one go, and they come in blister packs, not bottles.
  • Earthquakes. Small ones, occasionally caused by mining.
  • Tornadoes.
  • Hurricanes.
  • Rocket scientists.
  • Fire hydrants. They're called hydrants, but they look like this:
  • Weirdly restrictive alcohol laws. You can give your five year old alcohol, as long as you're at home.
  • Medicinal marijuana.
  • Hot weather. I only know of one occasion when it reached 100F anywhere in the UK.
  • Cold weather. The lowest temperature ever recorded in the UK was -17F. 
  • Illegal immigrants. Well, there are some in the UK, but not many, and it's not a massive deal. 
  • Private universities. They exist, but there are very few (one main one). 
  • Grits. Never seen it in the UK.
  • Iced tea. It exists in the UK, but if you ask for it in a restaurant, they'll think you're strange.
  • Rabies. It's a big deal. Bringing a dog or cat to the UK from another country is hard work. 

  • Bankruptcy due to health costs. Bankruptcy is much rarer - I've never heard a story of someone being declared bankrupt in the UK  (although it's possible), but no one has ever gone bankrupt because of health problems.
  • Cheese whiz.
  • Pancakes. Most of the time. (Pancakes in the UK are rarely eaten on days other than Shrove Tuesday, they're also thinner than an American pancake).
  • Roof solar panels. (At least, I've never seen them, I suspect they're rare, and unlikely to be cost effective.)
  • Ads for prescription only medicines to consumers. (The only countries that allow this are the US and New Zealand.)
  • Sourdough bread. (You can probably get it, but it's not common).
  • Cheese on sandwiches. In the US (in my experience) every sandwich comes with cheese, almost by default. You want a ham sandwich, that's going to be ham and cheese. A cheese sandwich seems to be a rare thing.

  • Borders. America spends a lot of time and money trying to make sure that people on the other side of the line stay on their side of the line. This is our side, that's your side- stay over there. 

    Being an island it's not such an issue for those in the UK. There are still scares about illegal immigrants coming to England by clinging to the bottom of of trucks or trying to hide in the underpants of cross-channel swimmers or whatever the Daily Mail conjures up as the next big scare, but there isn't a land border that has to be "defended".

  •   
  • Huge tracts of land

  • Cup-holders everywhere!

    One man cracked up when he went to visit America and saw cup-holders on baby carseats and on shopping carts:

      

Saturday 20 December 2014

What Is So Great About Warren Buffett?





  • He doesn't give a hoot about money.
  • He still wiped the floor with everyone else, and is the most successful investor of his time.
  • He runs $50 billion in float and a $200 billion company with only 18 staff. Most startups have more reportable staff than Buffett does.
  • Just to rub it in, he will give away 85% of his wealth.
  • He still lives in the home he bought way back in the 50s.
  • Most people have better offices than he does.
  • Most people drive better cars than he does.
  • I have a better phone than he does. But then again - he does have a jet - which he jokingly called "The Indefensible".
  • He does not suffer from the Halo effect and is unimpressed with wealth, both his and others.
  • He is empathetic towards the poor and doesn't suffer from the just-world fallacy that most rich people suffer from.
  • He understands how his privileged upbringing made him, and understands why it is important not to attribute success to personal traits but rather environmental factors .
  • He is extremely rational.
  • He sees through bullshit.
  • He constantly looks to the data in making decisions on mega-cat risk and future cash flows of his businesses (actuaries are his favourite friends).
  • He saw the GFC driven derivative blow up way back in 2002, and acted more or less accordingly. I think he was one of the few individuals to have ~$30 billion in cash at the height of the crash. Safe to say he bought everything.
  • He knows that mark-to-market or mark-to-volatility is bullshit. I think he called it mark-to-imagination or something.
  • He has an impressive memory and a savant like knowledge of most of finance, an edge he applies with almost merciless glee to exploit the huge gaping hole that are inefficient capital markets.
  • He knows that true risk is the height of the cliff that the drunk man walks along, and not his various second-by-second stumbling.
  • He knows that the market doesn't provide useful information and any incremental trade should be of as much import as a comment on a Perez Hilton blog.
  • He understands the importance of staying within one's circle of competence, the Dunning-Kruger effect and how easy it is for people to get tricked into thinking that they know something when they don't.
  • He understands that whether or not you have made money means nothing - what matters is the rationale behind it - the outcome is irrelevant, the prior probabilities aren't.
  • He understands that he is nothing without society and believes that "claim checks" should go to those who can best use them while being alive.
  • He finds modern financial theory a grand joke and a mere extension of the anchoring bias.
  • He mocks investment bankers, MBAs and many volatility absorbed quants with glee.
  • He moves billions of dollars in capital through public markets without moving them and without you knowing what he is entering or exiting. 
  • He understands the value of the option present in cash.
  • He understands that derivatives have nothing to do with derivatives, and everything to do with the fundamental underlying assets. He sees the trees from the forests.
  • He understands the power of compounding interest.
  • He understands the value of deferred taxes, float, cash, other people's money and having the balls to say that everyone else is wrong during a crisis.
  • He doesn't care what you think and he doesn't care what the market thinks.
  • He is cool under pressure. How would you feel when you had to run $50 billion in capital during the GFC?
  • He has returned a ~20% CAGR over 50 years.
  • He has made his early investors into hundred millionaires.
  • He understands that at the end of the day all that matters is catastrophic risk and cash in the bank. Everything else is noise
  • He is the ultimate contrarian, and changes his mind with ease.
  • He is hilarious, humble and nice.
  • He finds goldbugs idiotic.

Warren Buffett is the Chuck Norris of investing. This guy is untouchable, he crushes all the competition and he has outclassed everyone for more than half a century.

That is why Buffett is a boss.

Lessons learned: Trust nothing. Everything is quicksand. Maximum catastrophic VAR is always 100% of all capital. All correlations go to one - always assume worst case loss. Everybody lies. Accounting reports cannot be trusted. Fraud is everywhere. Real investors have cojones. Most investors are morons. Leverage is a bitch. Forced liquidation is the root of all evil. Margin should be marginalized. Sell cat insurance after cats. Never take on unnecessary counterparty risk - make deals on your own terms. Uncapped risk is a crime. You're not a real investor until you've lost ~60-100% on a trade and felt nothing. Cash is king (a cheap unlimited term call option on the world), concentration is queen, and real alpha comes from supplying liquidity to lemmings at a ridiculous haircut.

And most importantly of all - markets have no idea what they are doing.

Friday 19 December 2014

How Your Friends Influence Your Success




You can tell a lot about a person by the company that they keep. There's a saying that goes something like: You become the average of the six people that you spend the most time with.

If you look at your professional company — the other coworkers, colleagues, business owners and industry professionals that you most often interact with — who are they, what do they stand for and what do they say about you?


How is your circle influencing you?


Where do you stand among your professional peers? Are you always the leader of the pack or are you making sure to surround yourself with people who will push you to be your best?

When you play tennis, the best way to improve your own game is to play with someone superior to you. This allows you to rise to the challenge of bringing your play up to the other player's level, rather than holding back. Even if you are evenly matched with a competitor, it can be hard for you to improve.


Getting to the next level


Can the people around you provide you with the opportunities you are looking for and get you to the next level? If you are only networking, masterminding and interacting with those at your level who have the same types of contacts, they may not be able to push you to step up to the next level, and they will unlikely be able to refer you to those next level opportunities that you seek.

I see it as a challenge, particularly for women who stick to women's-only networking groups. While these groups have value, sometimes the women are missing the opportunity to connect with those individuals (which include men in higher positions) who can help recommend them for new opportunities.


Paying it forward


You can't always be the student, so when you can, remember that there are others than can benefit from your guidance. As you improve your tennis skills, let a novice play with you from time to time to get exposure. Pay it forward, as there will always be more to learn and more to give.

Thursday 18 December 2014

Peter Thiel's Key For Building A Successful Startup




Billionaire Peter Thiel, widely known as one of the founders of PayPal, is perhaps most strongly influenced by his experience as a professional chess player.

In his book  "Zero to One: Notes on Startups, or How To Build the Future,"he outlines his theory on "last mover advantage." 

His advice goes against the popular theory that being the first one to enter the market is one of the most important tactics for building a successful company.  Instead, he advises startups to view their business model like a game of chess and focus on their long-term vision. 


Tuesday 16 December 2014

How To Promote Your Blog Posts




  1. Post to Twitter
  2. Post to Facebook
  3. Post to G+
  4. Comment on a bunch of commentluv blogs so people can see your recent post
  5. Submit it to blog voting sites like http://Bizsugar.com or http://blogengage.com or Hacker News
  6. Deep link to other bloggers posts so they will be sent trackback notifications, getting them to your site might get it mentioned elsewhere - engaging with other bloggers is the best way to get your content promoted. 
  7. Mention other people and products in your post and send out tweets letting them know they were mentioned. 
  8. Get guest bloggers who will often promote the post to their audience (ex / current journalists have a healthy audience)
  9. Send an email newsletter to your list with a personalised intro and a link to the blog post (I use MailChimp it's great). 
  10. Go into forums that are are active in and look for threads that your post relates to, if rules permit reply with a link to the post. 
  11. Update your forum signature every time you release a new post. 
  12. Use WiseStamp so your email signature always shows your latest post.

Monday 15 December 2014

10 Ways To Increase Stress




10 ways to increase stress:

  1. Hide mistakes.
  2. Pretend you know.
  3. Make excuses.
  4. Expect perfection.
  5. Ignore progress.
  6. Worry about image.
  7. Protect yourself.
  8. Fake it. Pretend you’re something you’re not.
  9. Grab the glory.
  10. Serve yourself.

Sunday 14 December 2014

30 Convincing Reasons To Start Running Now




girl-running

What promises a healthier body, a sunnier outlook, and the perfect opportunity to catch up? This is no infomercial. Running is one of the best butt-kicking, calorie-blasting workouts around. Still not convinced? Here are 30 big time reasons to hit the ground running.

The Run-Down—Your Action Plan

1. Do it anywhere. Run, that is. Whether on the treadmill or in the park, it’s easy to rack up miles. Even better: Try lacing up the sneakers on that next vacation to explore a new place.

2. Make new friends. Tired of meeting duds at the bar? Check out local running groups or websites like meetup.com to hit the road with other health-minded folks. “Twenty questions” is just as good over a run (boozy brunches optional).

3. Save some cash. Forget fancy equipment or a pricey gym membership. When it comes to running, all you need to get started is the right footwear. (Don’t worry, running spandex is optional.)

4. Visit the doctor less. It’s not only apples that can keep the doctor away. Active people are less likelyto develop colon cancer. And ladies, women who regularly engage in intense workouts like running can reduce their risk of breast cancer by up to 30 percent.

5. Eat more carbs. Who doesn’t love a pasta dinner? Now there’s an excuse to slurp up more spaghetti. During intense training like preparing for a race (sorry, channel surfing doesn’t count) increasing carb intake might help running performance and boost mood during harder runs .

6. Keep it interesting. Forget boring laps around a track. Interval training helps boost metabolism and rev cardiovascular fitness. Bonus: Research shows runners who do intervals have more fun while running (really!) and might be more likely to keep it up .

7. Live longer. Who doesn’t want to live forever? Not only do runners have fewer disabilities and remain active longer than their sedentary counterparts, they actually live longer. And even as weekly running times decrease with age, the healthy benefits keep on ticking .

8. Get primal. Turns out Bruce Springsteen was right after all: Baby, we were born to run. It’s what turned us from apes to humans and was used by our ancestors to outrun prey over long distances.

9. Slip into skinny jeans. Running is one of the best calorie burners out there. For a 160-lb person it can burn more than 850 calories an hour. Not like we’re counting or anything.

10. Bring sexy back. Not only can having a rockin’ runner’s bod boost confidence in bed, regular exercise will help flexibility between the sheets—and get you in the mood more often.

11. Boost memory. Exercise has been shown to help keep the mind sharp and could even reduce symptoms of dementia. Hitting the track might also protect the brain against Alzheimer’s, even among those with a family history of it  .

12. See the sunny side. Active folks see the glass as half full not only while they exercise, but for up to twice as long after hanging up their kicks than their less mobile counterparts  . Talk about “Happy Feet!”

13. Get a natural glow. Believe it or not, working up a sweat can rid the face of gunk that clogs pores and leads to breakouts. A solid sweat session can also boost natural oils, keeping things fresh and healthy. (Just remember to remove makeup pre-workout and wash gently afterward to avoid breakouts.)

14. Improve self-esteem. Need one more excuse to go green? Runners who ran outside and snagged a good view of nature showed increased self-esteem post-workout than those who had only unpleasant scenes to gaze at .

15. Stay steady. Older runners can keep their balance better than non-runners, protecting their knees and tendons in the process. Take that, yoga! Be careful not to overdo it, though: Too much exercise can lead to stress injuries and bone loss .

16. Turn down the pressure. Running is a natural way to keep high blood pressure at bay—and fast. Amping up workouts can help lower blood pressure in just a few weeks.

17. Build stronger bones. Resistance training is awesome, but word on the street is that running might help produce even stronger bones than cranking out reps. As an impact exercise, running helps build the muscle that lower-impact workouts ignore, keeping bones healthier even as they age.

18. Get an energy boost. Feeling sluggish? Try going for a run instead. Just one running sesh can increase energy and chip away at fatigue .

19. Bring the furry friends. Dogs are man’s best friend for a reason—but they can also be man’s best workout partner, too. When it’s time to hit the trail, grab a leash to give your pet a new kind of treat.

20. Carve that core. A strong core improves posture, strengthens limbs, and helps make everyday activities a breeze. And whether we feel it or not, running engages that midsection, strengthening those all-important muscles. Bonus: A solid core in runners can improve performance, too.

21. Sleep better. Runners tend to adapt to set sleeping routines in order to keep running performance high. Even better: Running also encourages higher quality sleep, which translates into better Zzz’s all night long.

22. Do it year-round. Rack up those miles no matter what the weatherman says (dress appropriately, though!). Temperatures still not just right? Jazz up the ol’ treadmill run to get the same health benefits inside.

23. Jam out, speed up. Pop in headphones when running to increase speed and get a little musical boost. We won’t judge your playlist.

24. Check off those goals. Studies suggest that people who set and meet (or exceed) long-term fitness goals (like signing up for a half-marathon!) are more committed and satisfied with their exercise routines than those who trudge along aimlessly . And who doesn’t feel good about crossing items off their bucket list?

25. Show your heart some loving. Running for just an hour a week can reduce the risk of heart disease by almost half compared to non-runners  . And for those already hitting the recommended physical activity guidelines, an extra spurt of exercise can lower the risks of heart disease even more. (Just be mindful not to overdo it and cause more damage than good.)

26. Run stress away. Ready to pull your hair out? Instead of tuning in to a reality TV marathon, try running a real one. Not only does running boost the brain’s serotonin levels, regular exercise might actually remodel the brain, making it calmer and more stress resistant .

27. Be one with nature. Want to feel the grass tickle your toes? Try minimalist sneakers or nothing at all! Just be sure to ease into this type of running to avoid injuries.

28. Increase stamina. Running regularly will improve stamina, making workouts more enjoyable and productive. And let’s not forget that lasting longer isn’t restricted to the track—it’s useful in… other areas as well.

29. Get there faster. Instead of a leisurely evening stroll, try a jog around the neighborhood instead. It’ll burn more calories in the same amount of time.

30. Sound like a pro. We’ve got the running lingo to get you in the know. Ready, set, go!

Friday 12 December 2014

Wall Street CEO: Every Successful Person I've Seen Shares These Two Traits





After spending 40 years on Wall Street building Perella Weinberg, a global investment firm, Joe Perella has seen people come and go.

In an interview with financial career site OneWire, he shared what he thinks gives people real staying power — the power to build a successful business and brand in an incredibly competitive industry.

“I think successful people work harder than the average person,” Perella said. “They’re all smart. There are a lot of smart people in this world that aren’t successful. Luck enters into it. I call it serendipity. But you make your luck by really working hard … beyond your maximum level.”

Even more than that, Perella said, successful people don't have a maximum level. That is to say, they're always pushing for more. There is no top. There is no success for successful people.

"They're never satisfied," Perella said. "They know they can do it better than they did it yesterday, and they come to work every day saying, 'How do I do it better? How do I make a better firm? How do we earn a better return for our investors?'"

Perella urged young kids starting out in finance to keep these traits in mind, and when they're heading to interview to remember that everyone is good. In fact, everyone is great. The question is why you want to do the work and what you know about the firm.

Finding the Motivation to Change Your Entire Life




What Gets in the Way of Change?

None of these are insurmountable, but they can often cause us to put off major changes. So be aware of them:

  • Fear of change
  • Not wanting to be uncomfortable
  • Fear of uncertainty
  • Being tired
  • Fear of failure
  • Fear of not being good enough
  • Not having time
  • Being busy with all kinds of things
  • Waiting for something to happen
  • Perfectionism
  • Being overwhelmed with all that you have to do
  • Not knowing how
The Make It Happen Actions

These are the set of actions that I’ve found to help overcome fears, find motivation, and prioritize:

1. Find a purpose

2. Embrace your desire

3. Create the space

4. Surround yourself with others who will support your change

5. Make yourself accountable 

6. Take a small action