Since filming that vid, I have moved into this state where I’m almost in “attack” mode with my todo list. I have everything laid out that I want to complete in a day and as soon as I complete one item, I move as fast as possible to the next item.

Its interesting because it puts me into more of a flow state and I’ve been able to really get a lot of stuff done this way.

I agree that sometimes we make mountains out of molehills and over-estimate how much time we can get our tasks done. The email example is great as it’s so true. Coming back from vacation is so much worse when we know that we will have a mountain of emails to get through. But, just tackling that problem and getting it done is key.

I’m also guilty of procrastinating on things that I don’t want to do. But, I have learned that it’s seldom as bad as what my imagination as made it out to be.

Karen

Also thanks to Karen for calling me out. I actually do have a 100 list that I simply forgot to include as a reference in this blog post. If you want to see my 100 goals, check it out here:

http://www.igniteyouressence.com/justins-stuff/100-life-goals/

Thanks for your comment Karen. You’re right, it is definitely much easier to say that to do. Hopefully by watching videos like this and reading material like the content on your website, people will have an easier time staying focused on the optimistic side of the coin!

I look forward to seeing your comments and watching you new blog evolve

No way! I can’t believe you just posted this video! This is exactly what had a thought about for my website (which I just started to put together, with the help of you and Ted). And one additional sections I wanted to tell Ted I want to add was a “life lessons” where I can share some of the amazing things that I’ve done, as well as some of the bonehead moves that I’ve made… (I’m really excited to see the feedback on both)

This post is about a bonehead move…

A big lesson I learned was about hiring a sound financial planner. There are a lot of people who call themselves financial planners, or an investment guy… but in my history I didn’t do my homework and trusted what they were saying with blind faith. I am a smart enough guy to take what someone says, and then logically evaluate it. But in the following example I failed to do so…

distribution vs dividend

Around two to 3 years ago I took a leverage loan for $50,000 to invest in a stock that was to pay me out monthly “distributions” of somewhere around 13%. and the interest I paid is around 3%. And considering this economy it was an amazing rate of return… or so I thought. Well the investment which I put the $50,000 was a poor one. And the main reason it was so horrible was because it paid me out too much of a distribution. in other words it was paying me my “distribution” out of the value of the stock, which caused its value to go down. It was all done legit I’m sure, but it was cleverly disguised because they never sold off the number of units I owned, and it was the market value that just dropped off – which makes total sense since they were paying out more than they were taking in.

So now I still owe the $50,000, and the original investment is worth $30,000. They have since lowered the distribution, which is a good thing, so hopefully the stock will stop tanking and recover over time.

It seemed a little too good to be true… and it was. The sad thing about this, was that I trusted the investor, and he assured me that it wouldn’t go down, even though I signed a piece of paper saying that it could.

Lessons learned.
1. Trust my own instincts.
2. Minimize the risk, leveraging can be an amazing tool, but it can also be your worst enemy.
3. Get a second qualified opinion. If they are a straight up financial person, they will encourage you to do so, then do it.
4. I can only beat myself up over it for so long, that doesn’t bring the money back.

I write this in hopes that someone else will not make the same mistakes I did… and there are lots more, I will be publishing on my website along with some of the amazing things I’ve got to experience in this roller coaster of life!

Great story and video Justin! Keep it up!

Sincerely,

Ian Chiocchio

I’ve been challenged even by a business enterprise instructor about “not setting my goals realistically”. My response was that I would never have arrived anywhere near the result I achieved if I limited my potential and didn’t raise the invisible glass ceiling to stretch to new heights.

It’s like warming up before working out or playing a sport. You need to expand your muscles to be able to utilize them fully. Otherwise cramps etc. will keep you from maximizing your effort.

This is a great instructional video and I especially like the download of the goal setting exercise.

I’ve done the 101 Goals Before I Die list and included it on my Day 1 of the Just for Today Challenge at my site – it’s a very powerful exercise which everyone should complete as it really focuses you to write down what you want to do, be, have in your life.

I agree that determining the most important goals in your life and taking action on them daily is the key. This is very motivating, especially when you cross off things on your list and realize that you are actually accomplishing what you set out to do.

Where’s the link to your own 100 Goal List? Care to share?

Here’s mine: http://www.ameaningfulexistence.com/2010/01/01/just-for-today-challenge-day-1-101-things-to-do-before-you-die/

Karen

This is very timely video as we all face stages of de-motivation. It can be so hard to be optimistic sometimes. There are such wild cycles that we go through, but I also think that we can’t allow external forces to affect our lives so much. We can win one hand, we can lose one hand. It’s what you are saying to yourself on each hand that will impact your life. Each hand or situation is external and shouldn’t affect your day-to-day equilibrium. Easy to say and hard to do, I know.

Btw, what’s with all the Starbucks coffee? True Canadians drink Tim’s (esp. now with the Roll Up The Rim contest).

Karen