The decisive reason behind my fervor for utilizing this particular process is the simplicity in it all. Yes, it may seem a bit cut and dry, but its effective and more importantly action oriented.
Just recently we all witnessed Lebron James go on national TV to discuss his major “Decision” on where he’ll play next season and likely for the rest of his career. In the interview, Lebron referenced the all-important Pros and Cons list:

If it can aid Lebron James, arguably the most powerful athlete in the world on the biggest decision of his career, I think we can all put it back in our decision-making tool box. Again, going back to simplicity, I like the fact that it’s easy to understand, straight to the point, and results driven. In this example, one may argue that a simple pros and cons list may leave out vital information that can’t be quantified as either good or bad. However, at the end of the day, the decision relies on the decision maker and it’s that persons job to take that vital information into consideration.

In my experience, making the right decision is often hard to quantify without a pros and cons list. In terms of every major decision I’ve made in life, I’ve either thought of or created an intuitive pros and cons list. Was I right in every decision? No, probably not. But, did I have the confidence to know that the decision I made was based on methodical reasoning, yes.

Each one of us has our his/her own way of making thoughtful decisions. Some processes may be longer than others and some maybe even more complicated. But, if the end result is to be confident, satisfied and in good spirits about our decision, I definitely recommend the pros and cons list process. Food for thought!

Often times we look at our intentions as important actions we’d like to happen. The problem with this ideology is that we aren’t taking control of our intentions. We simply leave it to the future to create what we want. For instance, some of us intend to make a million dollars by the age of 30. But in reality, we do not take the necessary steps to create this outcome. Instead we leave it to some theoretic intention that will make this belief true.

When we really question our intentions and figure out what we want/need, we’re able to gain control of our outcomes again. This is ultimately the first step in following through with our goals. Once we create the intent, we are able to build off of it and plan the necessary outcomes.

Although it is sometimes hard to know what we want, its better for us to figure it out than someone else. I’ve found that when we leave our intentions in the hands of others, we don’t get the most desired outcome. For example, my current job title is the one I chose and came up with myself. Instead of leaving the initial decision up to my employer, I went to my boss and told him my ideal job title that would suit my position best. I felt that it accurately described my current job functions and complimented the overall structure of our company. He agreed and even liked how I related the position to the overall goals of the company.

The key point I’d like to emphasize in this post is the importance of knowing our intentions. Not only “knowing” our intentions, but how they relate to our overall goals. In the end, our intentions and accountability lie in our hands. Thus we should account for them the best we can.

Thanks for reading! It’s been a while since I updated my blog, but I’m going to try my best to post as much as I can!

Making our work environment fun, relaxing and comfortable is one of the most important elements in increasing productivity. When we’re in tune with our environment, we allow ourselves more concentration to the task at hand. To clarify, when I say environment, I’m referring to the space and features we utilize when doing our work.

Whether it’s on a park bench in the city or on the steps of our front porch, our environment encompasses inspiration we can use to fuel our productivity. It’s similar to how many of us listen to music while at the gym. The music almost changes the environment we’re in because we become so in tune with the music . As time goes on, we feel as though without the music, we can no longer workout to our full capacity. This is a perfect example of how we can alter our environment to increase our productivity.

In high school I would try to do homework while watching TV, but this never worked. It was impossible for me to be productive, while trying to concentrate on something else. I think most of us put ourselves in this position without even knowing it. We might try to start a project at home, but constantly get distracted by the littlest things. Although we may feel comfortable at home, it might not be the most productive environment for us. In college, I would often find myself getting most of my work done after 12AM. That’s because I’d try to study with friends during the day, but it was a lost cause because we’d just distract each other the whole time (thanks YouTube).

So what’s the answer to the question in the title, “Does The Comfortable Hustle Increase or Decrease Productivity?…” Well, it depends. The definition of comfort is ambiguous and not the most descriptive work habit. However, at the end of the day, it’s about how we approach a project and our willingness to execute it. Once our comfort becomes synonymous with productivity, we’ll be able to complete our projects without distractions and/or procrastination. I constantly compare and contrast the most effective work environments for my productivity. Whether it’s a busy Starbucks or a quiet library, it’s important to realize what environment works for you and whether you can be comfortable/productive there.

One of my favorite things about LinkedIn is that it hasn’t succumbed to spam. With the larger social networks, it’s difficult to manage user spam and preference abuses. I’ve been on Linkedin for a couple years now, and I’ve yet to receive a spam message in my inbox. Everything on the site seems genuine and professional. Restricting users from sending cold messages to people they don’t know is a great way to reduce spam and avoid overflowing inboxes. If LinkedIn is able to maintain this solid structure, we’ll definitely see more effective networking and collaboration online.

I was inspired to write this post after reading Fortune Magazine’s story in May’s issue entitled: “How LinkedIn Will Fire Up Your Career.” Writer Jessi Hempel emphasized the importance of having a LinkedIn profile and how more and more companies are looking to the 7-year old site for future employees. Accenture, one of the largest private consulting companies in the world has said it will be hiring 50K new employees in the next year. Head of Global Recruiting for Accenture John Campagnino announced that 40% of those new hires will be from Social Media. (Hint: If you’re looking for a job, it might be a good idea to create a profile on LinkedIn). Even if your not looking for a job, it’s good to have a presence on a site that spotlights your professional talents.

Coming out of college I had no idea about LinkedIn. Granted it wasn’t as big then as it is now, LinkedIn quickly became my “go to” site for jobs, networking and potential connections. Before I knew about LinkedIn, I would often use the career office at my schools to find future employment. The problem with this was that the choices were so limited and rarely offered any appeal. I’ll admit I did find a few jobs utilizing the school’s database, but the options were bleak. With the help of LinkedIn, we are no longer boxed into certain careers or job opportunities. We can now research those people in the positions we want to be in and find out how they got there. The resources are limitless and definitely worth exploring.

This topic may sound vague and random, but I really feel it’s important to note; especially while in the creative process. As the web continues to provide opportunities in almost every niche, genre and subject I’m noticing more amateur products failing to satisfy their own projections. It’s great when new products come along and change the game, but in order to do this, our products need to be amazing.

One problem many of us experience when striving to create the best product is knowing when we’ve reached our goal. We often get hung up on small changes that take forever to fix. This ultimately drains us of our energy and initial focus of our end goal. Avoiding these common missteps and having a better understanding of our products will not only streamline the process, but also improve our overall work habits. We’ll see more improvements on our future projects and be able to take on more tasks.

“Do your best” or “Give it all you got” are a few cliches we often hear in pop culture rhetoric and little leagues around the world. But, If we actually break down these terms and look at them for what they’re worth, we’ll be able to see the true importance of what they mean. So, the first question I’d like to ask is “How do we know when we are doing our best?” There really isn’t a form of measurement is there? I’d like to think that I’m always doing my best in everything I do. The more that I convince myself that I’m doing my best, I’m then able to compare my current best with my previous best. If I see a discrepancy in my dedication, output and commitment, I will then know whether I’m doing my best or not.

This ideology may not make sense to a lot of people, since each of us gauge our performance differently, but it has definitely helped me. It has given me the ability to measure my “best” and work towards improving my “best” whenever possible.

In the end, the key question ends up being “What are your priorities and What would you like to accomplish in a specific time frame?” These are important questions to ask ourselves now because we avoid the last minute research and stress we will likely experience in the future. It also, puts us in the drivers seat in terms of dictating what we want, when we want it and how much we are willing to give for it.

Setting up goals and milestones is important in keeping on track and making sure we are making the most of our time. However, it can become difficult when unexpected distractions, priorities and obligations present themselves. Being flexible and dealing with these occurrences as they come is highly valuable. The mindset of not allowing anything to break us from our goals is stronger than any strategic plan or system. There are times in our lives when we get tested in how to deal with certain situations, but it ultimately depends on how we react and approach the situation, that demonstrates our commitment.

Getting back to the original reason I wrote this post, I want to emphasize the importance of seizing the day. Making sure we get the most out of each day we live is important for our growth, innovation and peace of mind. It makes us accountable in our progression for whatever we want out of life. The more we approach each day with purpose and accountability, the more we can get done. This all goes back to making the most out of our time and seeking new opportunities in everything we approach.

The idea of paying ourselves is often dismissed as impossible or as really difficult to accomplish. But what if more people embraced this “radical” ideal of paying ourselves. This would ultimately mean that each of us would need to be an entrepreneur of some sort and have investors, customers, or clients paying us. I agree. This is exactly what “paying yourself” means. So the real question is, why aren’t more people paying themselves? The answer to that is at the end of first paragraph

Most of us have been told our whole lives that we’re the employee, rather than the employer. From kindergarten to college, it is assumed that once we graduate, we get a “good” job working someone else. My question is, why can’t we all come up with a million dollar idea, get funded and sell that company for more than what we started with? Easier said then done right? Yes, but I guarantee that if more people tried this model, we’d see a shift in the economy.

Bigger companies like Wal-Mart, Viacom and Time Warner, would begin to disseminate while smaller more niche focused businesses would take over. Why is this important? Because it puts us (the majority) back in the drivers seat. We’ve seen this shift from big to small in the marketing world. Companies are now trying to reach customers by infiltrating our social networks, through sites like Twitter and Facebook. What if we could apply this to the general economy. What if we could shift other sectors of the economy into more specific and local oriented agendas? We’d probably see more development almost every community as a whole.

Thinking of an idea, executing it and selling it for millions is definitely a hard task. But so is getting a good job we enjoy? It may not seem like we’re putting much effort into finding a good job because we are desensitized to it. It is the norm to be looking for a job right now because they are few and far between. However, by trying a different route and capitalizing off of what we know, creating profit to pay ourselves shouldn’t be out of the question.

Priorities is another major factor when trying to complete specific projects. Most of us are either in school or working. Each presents projects on a daily if not weekly basis that we are constantly thinking about. The funny thing is that most of the projects dictated by work and school get done, but those that we produce on the side are often forgotten about. Why is this the case? Do we not care about these passion projects as much as the others?

If we actually analyze why most projects for work and school are completed in a specific time span, we’ll see a pattern of different variables. The three most important elements to completing projects are as follows:

Organization- Being able to efficiently organize the tasks needed to fulfill the project. Successful organization techniques include: breaking the project into small simple functions that succinctly progress. An effective blueprint allow

Application- Executing the project by applying the necessary functions laid out during the organization process. Timeboxing is an effective technique when executing various tasks. It lets us know

Completion- The last and most important element in this process is completing it. Author Seth Godin calls this shipping. Exit strategy is key here and being able to successfully complete a project depends on the fact that we finish. Godin emphasizes the importance in establishing a shipping date for each and every project. This will put even more pressure on us to finish what we started and have a final product.

So how do we avoid procrastination? It varies from person to person, but I’ve found that the more I focus on strategy and content, the less I procrastinate. We can almost equate this to public speaking and avoiding nervousness. In college I took a public speaking course and the professor would always emphasize the importance of knowing your content. He would say that the more we focus on content, the less time we’d have to worry about being nervous.

Lately I’ve been looking at alternatives to living the “normal” lifestyle. What I’ve found is that by striving for “average placement” in a society, that rewards remarkable individuals is a lost cause. A couple weeks ago I blogged about “How Being Different Pays…Literally..” In the post, I discussed that in order to be successful, we most go against the grain and establish our own lane. We must embrace new opportunities, and allow ourselves the potential for optimal growth in any field we choose. In essence, I was basically saying that we should not let our current situation influence our idea of success in the future. Being promoted may be a step up from our current situation, but that shouldn’t be the only step deemed successful

We must break away from what society defines as success. Since each one of us measures it differently, it would only be appropriate it that we figure out what success means to us individually. Once we are able to establish our goal of success, we can start prioritizing our lives and optimizing the best way to reach that point. It takes time, planning and discipline, but it is quite achievable. I honestly believe that through hard work, commitment, discipline, determination and persistence we can reach any goal we set out for.

In the mean time, I take this idea of success and I embrace it. I practice being successful everyday because it improves my confidence, decision making and overall creativity. Like everything else in life, the more we practice, the better we get.

In this context, we define “enjoying” as truly engaging in something we like to do. Whether it’s our passion or hobby, by truly enjoying what we are doing, we are productively engaging in our work. Taking pleasure in doing our work really makes us feel like we’re not working at all. Instead, we focus on the actual product, service or brand we’re working on and do our best to improve it.

Some of us may have different feelings towards our creative process or how to turn ideas into reality. Throughout most of our lives we are often told what to do, where to be and how to do it. On the other hand, when we create something from scratch, we are the boss and employee. It is up to us to motivate ourselves and complete the job. So how are we suppose to enjoy this process, when we have so much work to do? This is where are passion comes in. When we are truly passionate about a product, service or brand the process becomes enjoyable. Yes, there will be a few annoyances and monotonous tasks, but for the most part, we are doing what we want to do.

When we do what we love, we open ourselves up to even more opportunities. These same opportunities may not have existed, if it wasn’t for our initial attempt. Timing is also an important factor, but I’ve always believed “what’s meant to be will be.” When we make a whole-hearted effort to follow our passion, it almost feels like everything comes together and the tools we need are revealed. I’m not saying this happens every time, but the probability grows when we enjoy what we do.

Taking that first step in “Optimizing our life” is often intimidating. We are putting something we believe in, into action and letting go of any prior reservations. The more we practice these actions, the more comfortable we become in our creative process. As our confidence grows, we begin to embrace our ideas fully and are excited to try them out. Similar to adomino effect, once we put our ideas in motion, the rest falls into place.