Archive for June, 2011

What is Your Code of Conduct?

No Comments » Written on June 24th, 2011 by Brick
Categories: Articles, Inspiration, Personal Development
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I got a Kindle for father's day and I really like it. I can't quite explain why, maybe it's the eInk screen (no glare, no back-lit eye fatigue), or maybe it's just because it is single purposed around reading books). In any event, I downloaded The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin - you know the guy: one of the founding fathers of the United States of America. He's on the $100 bill! The book has been very inspiring, and one section in particular has resonated with me: the art of virtue. Benjamin Franklin articulated for himself a list of virtues, and what they meant for him. These are the standards he tried to live by (admitting failure on several occasions!). He even went so far as to devise a scheme to measure his progress in living up to this personal code of conduct. Given his success in life, perhaps a personal code of conduct is something we should all articulate for ourselves. Here is Benjamin Franklin's:

  1. TEMPERANCE. Eat not to dullness; drink not to elevation.
  2. SILENCE. Speak not but what may benefit others or yourself; avoid trifling conversation.
  3. ORDER. Let all your things have their places; let each part of your business have its time.
  4. RESOLUTION. Resolve to perform what you ought; perform without fail what you resolve.
  5. FRUGALITY. Make no expense but to do good to others or yourself; i.e., waste nothing.
  6. INDUSTRY. Lose no time; be always employ'd in something useful; cut off all unnecessary actions.
  7. SINCERITY. Use no hurtful deceit; think innocently and justly, and, if you speak, speak accordingly.
  8. JUSTICE. Wrong none by doing injuries, or omitting the benefits that are your duty.
  9. MODERATION. Avoid extreams; forbear resenting injuries so much as you think they deserve.
  10. CLEANLINESS. Tolerate no uncleanliness in body, cloaths, or habitation.
  11. TRANQUILLITY. Be not disturbed at trifles, or at accidents common or unavoidable.
  12. CHASTITY. Rarely use venery but for health or offspring, never to dulness, weakness, or the injury of your own or another's peace or reputation.
  13. HUMILITY. Imitate Jesus and Socrates.

I see a little bit of Zen Habits in this list, specifically Ben's item on Resolution: isn't this just like purposing your day by articulating your Most Import Task? What is your code of conduct? What would you add or change in Mr. Franklin's list of virtues?

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Only Keep The Bad Wine

No Comments » Written on June 13th, 2011 by Brick
Categories: Articles, Inspiration
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What conclusions about your life would you make if the plane you were in was about to crash? On January 15, 2009, Ric Elias was in seat 1D on US Airways Flight 1549. About three minutes after take off from LaGuardia airport in New York City, the plane was struck by a flock of geese which resulted in almost complete engine failure. Unable to reach an airfield, the crew decided to ditch the plane in the Hudson river. Miraculously, all 155 occupants of the plane survived. Ric recently shared the three things that went through his mind during the final minutes of the flight as he assumed his life would shortly be over.

I Collect Bad Wines

Ric realized that life can change in an instant. He thought about all the things he wanted to experience and all of the people he wanted to reach out to but had put off. He now says that "if the wine is ready and the person is there, I'm opening it". He no longer wants to postpone anything and this urgency has changed his life.

My Only Regret

Even though Ric felt pretty good about his life and that he had been a good person, he had one regret: wasting time on things that did not matter with people who did matter. As he puts it "I no longer try to be right, I choose to be happy". We often let our ego get in the way of what is truly important.

Dying Is Not Scary

In the final moments, Ric realized that dying is not scary and how in a way it felt as if he had been preparing himself for that event his whole life. However, it was sad. It was sad because he realized he wanted more than anything to see his kids grow up and he realized that all that truly mattered for him, his main goal and purpose in life, was to be a great father.

Watch below as Ric describes the gift of being able to see into the future, come back, and live differently:

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The 4 Secrets To Doing More In Less Time

No Comments » Written on June 9th, 2011 by Brick
Categories: Articles, Productivity
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Broken Time
Creative Commons License photo credit: dSeneste.dk

How do you get more done in less time? Business Insider recently presented the results of a study by Dr. K. Anders Ericcson in which the musicians were evaluated to see what the best performers did differently from the rest. The four significant practices of top performers:

  1. Work for shorter periods of time: 4 hours of deliberate, hard work is more effective than 7 hours of steady work. By working for shorter periods of time, you are motivated to optimize each working session since you know it is limited in length.
  2. Set goals for each work session: Leo Babauta at Zen Habits describes this as having three Most Important Tasks for each day - the goals that must be accomplished that day. Before starting any work session, know what you want to accomplish.
  3. Take Breaks: In Dr. Ericcson's study, they found the best performers took significant breaks between their intense work sessions. I'm much more productive in the afternoons if I take a long break for lunch and hit the gym. Enlightened work environments even encourage afternoon naps.
  4. Rest and Recuperate: I've mentioned this before - when we put our work aside it percolates in our subconscious. Our minds have a great way of working things out in the background. There are countless stories of scientists and inventors literally solving big problems in their sleep! They immerse themselves in the problem, and then when they put is aside and sleep, they wake up with the solution. There is a good reason the advice to “sleep on it” is given out so often: it works!

Read More: Why Successful People Leave Work Early.

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