Staying Focused on Tasks That Matter

I am constantly getting sidetracked and distracted throughout the day and focusing on the tasks that matter, most importantly, those that pay is a key focus area of improvement for me in 2010

This post by Ali addresses the issue and offers some great advice! Make sure you check out her blog after you've read her article!

Jason R. Ayers asked in a comment:

With no sales, a business is just a bunch of untested ideas. So, my biggest challenge is making sure I spend 80% of my time focused on selling my products and services. It’s awfully easy to get sidetracked into operations, technical issues, paperwork, and other non-essential issues.

My questions is this: What are your best strategies to insure you spend the majority of your time selling your products or services so you can maintain adequate cash flow in your business?

I’m going to tackle this with a focus on small business, since that’s what Jason is asking about – but much of what I say will apply to any area where you need to keep your focus on the aspects of a project which really matter.

Strategy #1: Figure Out Your Major Tasks

This is an obvious point, but it’s one that I know I sometimes manage to miss out myself. Before you do much else, you need to be clear about what your major tasks involve. These tend to be the things that are absolutely fundamental to your business existing – the ones which take it from being “a bunch of untested ideas” to a business.
Here’s a couple of examples from my own life:

Business: The majority of my income comes from freelance writing for a handful of different blogs. I write anything from one post a month to two per week for each blog, and I get paid per post. Focusing on my major business tasks means that I tend to do all these blog posts on Mondays and Tuesdays (playing catch-up later in the week where necessary).

Non-business: I’ve been working on a novel for the past year, and I’ve finished the first draft (150,000 words) and am about 55,000 words into the second draft. To get the first draft done, I had to focus on the really major task of a novel – the actual writing! – rather than spending hours researching little details, or reading similar books, or chatting to writer friends.

What are your major tasks, in your business or on a particular project? What absolutely needs to be done in order for that business or project to exist?

Strategy #2: Use Your Best Times for Your Big Work

Use the times of day when you’re at your most creative and engaged to work on your major tasks. Again, this is an obvious point – but an easy one to overlook, especially in the day-to-day minutae of running a business.

For me, that means (wherever possible) doing the bulk of my writing in the mornings, and leaving administrative work like emails, and marketing work, until the afternoons.

I suspect you already have a good gut feeling for when you’re at your best (and worst) in terms of productivity and ability to concentrate on something sustained. Whether you do or not, give Charlie Gilkey’s Productivity Heatmap a try – I found it a great way to get an overall feel for my peaks of energy during the day. (It’s also an excuse to play with crayons…)

Strategy #3: Develop a Routine

The word “routine” can be rather off-putting if you’re a creative, impulsive, follow-the-muse type … and many freelancers find that no two days or weeks look alike:

Sometimes you work late into the night, or sometimes you take mornings off and then make it up by working Saturday afternoon. This does afford a lot of flexibility, but sometimes it’s good to know that you’ve put in a solid day’s work and you can enjoy your evenings and weekends like the rest of the working world.

(Cyan and Collis Ta’eed, How to be a Rockstar Freelancer – reviewed here, p52)

Having a routine doesn’t mean that you should start planning out your life like a school timetable (though that works for Glen); rather, I’m suggesting that you pattern your week so that you’ve got clear and sacrosanct blocks of time for your major tasks.

That might be as simple as spending Monday mornings on product creation, Tuesday afternoons on marketing, and the whole of Thursday on client work.

On a day-to-day level, a routine that allows you space to step back and see what you’re doing (rather than rushing from moment to moment) can really help. I like to take five minutes, first thing, to look at my plans and commitments for the day. Lunch-time is often a good chance to figure out what went right during the morning – and what’s a priority for the afternoon.

Strategy #4: Use the One-Two-Three Method of Prioritising

When I start losing focus, or when I’m staring at my task list trying to figure out where to begin, I shove an asterisk against the most important thing (not necessarily the most urgent), two asterisks against the next, and three against the third. Here’s part of my task list from Monday:

Part of Monday's task list

(I wanted to give a real life example, so excuse the messiness!) If it helps you to what’s going on, I cross out tasks when they’re complete. I wrote two posts for Diet Blog, and had a lot of other paid work – and some household, admin and volunteering tasks – on Monday. To make sure I could focus without feeling overwhelmed, I took ten seconds to mentally and physically prioritise the rest of my paid work.

I find that thinking three tasks ahead is comfortable; going up to four or five makes me feel overwhelmed again.

Strategy #5: Avoid Distractions and Interruptions

This is yet another obvious one, but it’s one that I find myself struggling with most weeks! When you’ve blocked out time to get the major tasks done, you need to actually do those tasks. Phone calls, checking Twitter, answering emails, and tidying the kitchen aren’t going to get you any closer to completion.

You know what distractions you give in to – especially the ones which tempt you when you’re working on something that requires a lot of energy. You also know what interruptions tend to crop up. Don’t be afraid to tell colleagues, family members or housemates that you’re busy.

There’s another, slightly less obvious point here: an unattractive working environment is a distraction in itself. (For a tongue-in-cheek look at this, try my Dumb Little Man post on 10 Ways to Create a Work Environment That Drags You Down…)

Strategy #6: Create a System for Routine Tasks

In any business – and probably in any big non-business endeavour – there are going to be a lot of little tasks that you do on a regular basis. The effort of simply remembering all of these can drain your time and energy. Taking five minutes to schedule them into your calendar, diary or planner means they’re off your mind and into your workflow.

Mark Forster’s Get Everything Done and Still Have Time to Play has some very useful thoughts about systems in the chapter “Structuring Your Work”:

Do you wonder why your correspondence always ends up in a pile of unactioned papers? It is because you do not have a system for dealing with it. Do you wonder why you cannot keep up with your e-mail? It is because you don’t have a system for dealing with it. Do you wonder why you are always having to waste time popping out to the shops to buy something you have run out of? It’s because … well, you’ve got the picture by now!

(Mark Forster, Get Everything Done and Still Have Time to Play – Amazon.com / Amazon.co.uk, p13)

Beyond that, many tasks can be partially automated. That might mean using template emails for contacting clients, rather than typing out information each time. It could mean having a particular time slot in the day – perhaps when your creative energy is low – to check various stats.

Don’t make things harder on yourself than they need to be. Get all your emails coming into one place (I used to have four separate accounts – now they all direct into my Gmail inbox, and I can send and receive from each different address there). If you manually visit a bunch of blogs trying to keep up with them all, then start using RSS. If you have routine formatting tasks – like getting your Word document or blog post to look right – then see if there’s a more efficient way. Nine times out of ten, there is.

If you’re struggling to find a quick, workable system to catch up with a backlog and stay on top of your email, I strongly recommend getting your hands on Charlie Gilkey’s Email Triage – reviewed here.

Strategy #7: Separate Work Tasks and Home Tasks

I’m far from perfect at this one, so I hesitated to include it – but I will as an encouragement to myself. ;-) And if you have any particular advice or tips on this, please do leave them in the comments…

If you run a small business – or if you’re still in the fledgling stages of starting one – then there’s a good chance you’re working from home. This has many advantages: I love being able to take a shower in the middle of the day, for instance, or pick up groceries when the shops are quiet. However, it’s also incredibly easy to end up spending time cleaning, tidying, washing up, shopping online and so on… and this doesn’t make for a productive work day.

I’m not sure I’ve found any perfect solutions yet! One solution is to grab your laptop and head to a coffee shop (I use my university library) – then you can’t go and put a load of laundry on when you’re struggling to keep up the motivation to work. You could also try working set hours, or working for time blocks (such as 9am – 11am).

If you’re a small biz type yourself, how would you answer Jason’s question at the start of this post? What strategies do you use to keep on top of the work that actually brings in the money? And if you’ve got a solution to working from home without letting a dozen household tasks creep in, let me know…!

Big Thanks to Ali for such great advice!!

A fantastic way to live

Written By Regina Brett, 90 years old


To celebrate growing older, I once wrote the 42 lessons life taught me.
It is the most-requested column I've ever written.

My odometer rolled over to 90 in August, so here is the column once more:

1. Life isn't fair, but it's still good.

2. When in doubt, just take the next small step.

3. Life is too short to waste time hating anyone.

4. Your job won't take care of you when you are sick. Your friends and parents will. Stay in touch.

5. You don't have to win every argument. Agree to disagree.

6. Cry with someone. It's more healing than crying alone.

7. It's OK to get angry with God. He can take it.

8. When it comes to chocolate, resistance is futile.

9. Make peace with your past so it won't screw up the present.

10. It's OK to let your children see you cry.

11. Don't compare your life to others. You have no idea what their journey is all about.

12. If a relationship has to be a secret, you shouldn't be in it.

13. Everything can change in the blink of an eye. But don't worry; God never blinks.

14. Take a deep breath. It calms the mind.

15. Get rid of anything that isn't useful, beautiful or joyful.

16. Whatever doesn't kill you really does make you stronger.

17. It's never too late to have a happy childhood. But the second one is up to you and no one else.

18. When it comes to going after what you love in life, don't take no for an answer...

19. Burn the candles, use the nice sheets, wear the fancy lingerie... Don't save it for a special occasion. Today is special.

20. Over prepare, then go with the flow.

21. Be eccentric now. Don't wait for old age to wear purple.

22. The most important sex organ is the brain.

23. No one is in charge of your happiness but you.

24. Frame every so-called disaster with these words 'In five years, will this matter?'

25. Always choose life.

26. Forgive everyone everything.

27. What other people think of you is none of your business.

28. Time heals almost everything. Give time time.

29. However good or bad a situation is, it will change.

30. Don't take yourself so seriously. No one else does.

31. Believe in miracles.

32. God loves you because of who God is, not because of anything you did or didn't do.

33. Don't audit life. Show up and make the most of it now.

34. Growing old beats the alternative -- dying young.

35. Your children get only one childhood.

36. All that truly matters in the end is that you loved.

37. Get outside every day. Miracles are waiting everywhere.

38. If we all threw our problems in a pile and saw everyone else's, we'd grab ours back.

39. Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need.

40. The best is yet to come.

41. No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up.

42. Life isn't tied with a bow, but it's still a gift."

A carrot, an egg, and a cup of coffee...

A carrot, an egg, and a cup of coffee... You will never look at a cup of coffee the same way again.

A young woman went to her mother and told her about her life and how things were so hard for her. She did not know how she was going to make it and wanted to give up. She was tired of fighting and struggling. It seemed as one problem was solved, a new one arose.

Her mother took her t o the kitchen. She filled three pots with water and placed each on a high fire. Soon the pots came to boil. In the first she placed carrots, in the second she placed eggs, and in the last she placed ground coffee beans. She let them sit and boil; without saying a word.

In about twenty minutes she turned off the burners. She fished the carrots out and placed them in a bowl. She pulled the eggs out and placed them in a bowl. Then she ladled the coffee out and placed it in a bowl. Turning to her daughter, she asked, ' Tell me what you see.'

'Carrots, eggs, and coffee,' she replied.

Her mother brought her closer and asked her to feel the carrots. She did and noted that they were soft. The mother then asked the daughter to take an egg and break it. After pulling off the shell, she observed the hard boiled egg.

Finally, the mother asked the daughter to sip the coffee. The daughter smiled as she tasted its rich aroma. The daughter then asked, 'What does it mean , mother?'

Her mother explained that! each of these objects had faced the same adversity: boiling water. Each reacted differently. The carrot went in strong, hard, and unrelenting. However, after being subjected to the boiling water, it softened and became weak. The egg had been fragile. Its thin outer shell had protected its liquid interior, but after sitting through the boiling water, its inside became hardened. The ground coffee beans were unique, however. After they were in the boiling water, they had changed the water.

'Which are you?' she asked her daughter. 'When adversity knocks on your door, how do you respond? Are you a carrot, an egg or a coffee bean?

Think of this: Which am I? Am I the carrot that seems strong, but with pain and adversity do I wilt and become soft and lose my strength?

Am I the egg that starts with a malleable heart, but changes with the heat? Did I have a fluid spirit, but after a death, a breakup, a financial hardship or some other trial, have I become hardened and stiff ? Does my shell look the same, but on the inside am I bitter and tough with a stiff spirit and hardened heart?
Or am I like the coffee bean? The b ean actually changes the hot water, the very circumstance that brings the pain. When the water gets hot, it releases the fragrance and flavor If you are like the bean, when things are at their worst, you get better and change the situation around you. When the hour is the darkest and trials are their greatest do you elevate yourself to another level? How do you handle adversity? Are you a carrot, an egg or a coffee bean?

May you have enough happiness to make you sweet, enough trials to make you strong, enough sorrow to keep you human and enough hope to make you happy..

The happiest of people don't necessarily have the best of everything; they just make the most of everything that comes along their way. The brightest future will always be based on a forgotten past; you can't go forward in life until you let go of your past failures and heartaches.

When you were born, you were crying and everyone around you was smiling.

The Top 50 Productivity Blogs Of The Year

Productivity for an entrepreneur is as important as musicality for a dancer. Anyone can setup a small business or step onto a dance floor, but it's important to get the most out of every action or it's wasted energy.

The problem is that many entrepreneurs lose motivation and focus because they lack the formal infrastructure of working for someone else. You see, it takes a disciplined personality to set accountable actions in order to become a successful small business owner. However, the good news is that being productive isn't a born trait, but an acquired one.

With the help of EvanCarmichael's "The Top 50 Productivity Blogs Of The Year", you too can shorten your journey and reach your goals sooner. The illustrations for the top 3 category leaders are provided by Happy Worker, a creative agency that makes custom action figures and custom toys. You can also view last year's list.

http://www.evancarmichael.com/Tools/Top-50-Productivity-Blogs-2009.htm

Do you Prioritize your Schedule, or Schedule your Priorities?

A time management consultant speaking to a small gathering of young professionals offered the following story to help make a memorable statement about managing priorities…

He held up a Mason jar, and said, "Imagine each of you had a jar exactly like this sitting in front of you and in it, you placed these rocks."

One by one, he placed the rocks into the jar. After placing five rocks in the jar, there was room for no more. He held up the jar. "Is it full?" he asked?

Many responded out loud, "Yes."

"Perhaps not quite full," he suggested, as he reached into his pocket and produced a small bag of gravel and began pouring it into the jar. He shook the jar gently from time to time, to help the gravel work its way into the spaces between the large rocks. When the jar would hold no more gravel, the speaker again asked, "Now, is the jar full?"

Not to be fooled twice, many in the class responded, "Probably not."

"You're catching on," he observed as he reached into his other pocket and removed a small bag of sand. As before, he began pouring sand into the jar, shaking the jar a bit so the sand would fill the spaces between the gravel and the rocks. "OK, can we agree that the jar is full now?" he asked.

Expecting that a trick remained up the speaker's sleeve, a young woman blurted out, "Water!"

"You're right, of course," he replied as he produced a glass of water and poured it gently into the jar. The group finally agreed that the jar was at last full.

"Tell me, then," he continued. "What did we just learn?" The same woman responded confidently.

"That no matter how busy you are, there's still room to fit something else into your schedule."

"That's interesting. And there's probably some truth to it. But there's a much more important point we can learn from this humble jar. Anyone else care to offer an opinion?"

The room grew quiet.

"What this demonstration teaches us is that we need to put the Big Rocks in first … or we'll never be able to place even one of them in the jar. The Big Rocks are our metaphor for the important things in our lives, or in our careers.

"There are many Big and Important Rocks to consider. At home, we have loved ones, friends, possibly an important community activity, continuing our education, and certainly, maintaining our health, along with taking time for ourselves and, for many of us, our spouse or significant other. If we let the little things — the sand, the gravel — get into the jar first, they'll fill it up so fast we'll never have time for what's really important. We'll be majoring in minors, constantly distracted from what we truly care about most... Of course, the same can be said for our careers."

"Don't prioritize your schedule. Schedule your priorities." — Stephen Covey.

"Things that matter most must never be at the mercy of things that matter least." — Johann Goethe.

Deepest Fear...

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It is not just in some of us; it is in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others. ~Marianne Williamson, A Return to Love: Reflections on the Principles of "A Course in Miracles," 1992 (commonly misattributed to Nelson Mandela, 1994 inauguration speech)

How to Fold a Dollar Into a Heart

Have you ever received a two dollar bill as change and did not want to use it? Fold it into a heart and keep it in your wallet or give it to a friend. A $20 bill can be used instead to make a cute gift.



Click on this link for a closer look

The Top 100 Business Blogs

While there are many great business blogs about, they are not always easy to find amongst the legions of make money online blogs.

The author of Business Opportunities And Ideas has gathered together this list of what he believes are the Top 100 Business Blogs on the Internet.

Warning: There's plenty of reading here to keep you busy!

Do you have what it takes to be a successful blogger?

I stumbled across this article today and couldn't help but reposting it as it touches on many areas that can be applied to success as a whole and are crucial for developing your Enneagram of Life.

The author posts 10 characteristics of a successful blogger, and much to my pleasure writes that a successful blogger is a healthy blogger, that in order to keep a sharp mind, a healthy body is required.

My other favourites are numbers 7 and 9:

"7. A successful blogger is always ready for change - He knows we live dynamic times that require a dynamic mind and personality.

9. A successful blogger wants to be better - He never thinks about becoming successful. He constantly tries to improve, as, the better the quality he will provide, the more appreciated he’ll be. He’s constantly climbing a mountain without a visible top. He know how much he has climbed, knows he can go further and simply presses on."

How many can you check off? Are there other characteristics needed for success??

How to Fix Your Water Damaged Cell Phone

It's happened to all of us - whether you've dropped your cellphone in a beer, in the kitchen sink, or even accidentally flushed it down the toilet... This article explains what to do when if you drop your cellphone in water.

The first few moments are crucial, so make sure you remove the battery, remove the SIM card and all the covers. Then it says use a vacuum, shake it dry and leave it on a papertowel before putting it in a box of dried rice overnight.

The key thing is that under no circumstances are you to try and switch on the phone!

And yes, the reason for this post is because all three of the above examples have happened to me, and while so far I've got the first two phones back to working order - I'm currently working on phone number 3... It is possible though, so good luck!

The Deserted Island Exercise

Step 1: Imagine yourself on a deserted island. The sky is clear. The wind is calm. The sea is smooth. You will be on the island for only 15 minutes. Also, imagine that you have arrived on this island without roles - such as husband, wife, salesperson, golfer, engineer, and so on.

Step 2:With this in mind, rate the You that is left; a You without roles. In other words, what is the value you place upon yourself devoid of all your roles in life?

Step 3: Using a separate sheet of paper on a scale of 0 to 10, indicate this rating; 0 denoting a low self-value and 10 denoting a high self-value. You can decide to place your rating somewhere between 0 and 10.

Step 4: After you have determined this rating, write a description in 25 words or less, of how you see your "role-less" self.

Step 5: Now state the one or two words that define your description - sort of like writing a definition first and then the word which stands for the definition - a Webster's Dictionary in reverse.

What "bars" do you jump over?

A Winner...

...has no-limitation in him/herself.

...knows the exhilarating feeling of success.

...has developed a lifestyle of winning.

...gains valuable lessons from not winning.

...judges his/her role performance not by his/her intentions, but by the end result of achievement.

...knows how to laugh at him/herself.

...doesn't judge others by him/herself or him/herself by others.

...refuses to allow his/her role performance to conform to the mold of an average person.

...is totally oblivious to the cheers or jeers of the crowd.

...welcomes a challenge, and is always ready to tackle the competition.

How You Can Master Photoshop Photo Effects Step-by-Step

I recently acquired a copy of Photoshop CS3 and while its array of advanced features are impressive they can also be overwhelming. In fact, knowing where to start and what to do with your pictures is an art in itself!

The work that Photoshop is capable of producing is phenomenal and yet when you look at your pictures, you may have no clue on where to start, what tools to use, and what those tools (if you did know) would even do!

My fear is that by the time I've finished "tinkering," the end results won't be worth the time and effort it took to learn how to do it...

With the help from this article from Hongkiat.com though, I've found a way to produce stunning pieces immediately.

He lists 41 of the Nicest Photoshop Photo Effects that show you step-by-step what tools to use, and how, when and where to use them. Best of all, the end results are nothing short of breathtaking!

Spending time on each one will teach you 41 powerful effects on real photographs very quickly that you can then replicate with your own photographs for fantastic results.

Once complete with those 41, Hongkiat also lists an additional 30 effects for photographs here.

And, if that's not enough. Check out Deke's 101 Photoshop tips in 5 minutes

These resources will make you an expert in no time!

Of particular note: How to Clone Yourself Enjoy :)

48 Hours in Pittsburgh

Arriving in Pittsburgh Friday night, we set out to see and do as much as possible with just 48 hours - hold on tight as we take you on some recommendations for a weekend in the Steel City...

Friday Night

Check-in: Renaissance Hotel, Downtown Pittsburgh
Right in the heart of the action on 6th St, the historic Renaissance Hotel is housed in a building dating from 1906, completely refurbished and reopened just a few years a go.

The staff were surprisingly unhelpful and cared little to make us feel welcome. With a big of haggling though we managed to persuade them to move us up from the fourth floor to the top floor - and the room offered some great views of the city and rivers.

Pittsburgh Steeler's Pep Rally @ Heinz Field
With the Steeler's big game the following weekend, we lucked out and arrived in time to experience the hype surrounding the city's Superbowl expectations with an organized Pep Rally at Heinz Field.



The honking and hollering on the roads around the stadium was as if they had already won the Superbowl!


PNC Park
With all the bedlam surrounding the pep rally, we opted to skip the taxi line and walk back over the bridge to the hotel via PNC Park.

Right next door to Heinz Field, this is home to the Pittsburgh Pirates Major League Baseball team and definitely worth the walk on the way back to the city.

Primantis
The Sandwich that made Pittsburgh famous...

The Primanti Brother's sandwich is said to have its origins in the city's steel days when blue collar workers needed a hot meal mid-shift that would keep them full all day long. However, the workers had neither the time nor the utensils for such a meal. By combining the sides of fries and coleslaw with the sandwich, a Pittsburgh staple was born.

Of note: Primanti Brothers made the list of "1,000 Places to See Before You Die in the USA and Canada," by Patricia Schultz.

Next, depending on what your in the mood for, Friday night is a great night to experience either a musical or some of Pittsburgh's nightlife.

Menopause the Musical


With a title like Menopause The Musical, we opted for the latter and headed to the South Side and counted over 40 bars driving from one end to the other! We were certainly spoiled for choice on where to drink!

South Side
With an unbelievable amount of bars, a pubcrawl up East Carson Street could be a weekend within itself!




Saturday

Sightseeing Around the City
We decided to check out some of Pittsburgh’s 89 neighborhoods. From the steps in the South Side slopes to Little Italy in Bloomfield, Pittsburgh’s eclectic neighborhoods are worth exploring.


Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens
Quite simply, stunning. The Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens have been inviting visitors to explore the beauty and mysteries of plants since 1893. Set amidst one of Pittsburgh's largest greenspace, Schenley Park, Phipps Conservatory stands as a cultural and architectural centerpiece of the city's Oakland neighborhood.



In recent decades, Phipps has evolved into one of the region's most vibrant, thriving cultural attractions, and is a great way to spend a crisp winter morning in the sun.



Cathedral of Learning

A local and national landmark, this is the centerpiece of the University of Pittsburgh's main campus in the Oakland neighborhood. Standing at 535 feet, the 42-story Late Gothic Revival Cathedral (above) is the tallest educational building in the western hemisphere and the third tallest educational building in the world.

Heinz Chapel
The Heinz Memorial Chapel began as a gift. Henry John Heinz, the founder of the H.J. Heinz Company, wanted to honor his mother, Anna Margaretta Heinz, with “a building” at the University. To this day, it still hosts hundreds of concerts, religious services, and weddings.


Fitzgerald Field House Dance-Off
Flicking through a copy of the Pitt News, we discovered a dance marathon taking place for charity and couldn't resist stopping in...



Raising $36,713.09, this was the most successful fundraiser in the history of Pitt's student organizations, obliterating the former record of $15,000. Full story is here


The Church Brew Works
This converted 1902 Catholic church offers a variety of brewed-on-site ales and lagers (the brewing equipment sits front-and-center, on what was once the altar) and a satisfying menu - even the original stained-glass windows are still in place!

A great place to stop for a relaxing pint after seeing the sights and sounds of Pittsburgh!

The Duquesne Incline & Mount Washington
A great place for a romantic dinner to round off the day, this nighttime view from Mount Washington was voted the the No. 2 beauty spot in America by USA Today.



The author wrote, "Standing atop Mount Washington, the steep hill that rises giddily on the city's south side, sightseers enjoy the unforgettable panorama of the Allegheny and Monongahela rivers flowing together to create the mighty Ohio, that waterway so essential in the nation's settlement. The rivers cup downtown's lustrous Golden Triangle, where landmark skyscrapers thrust upward like rockets. At night, lights twinkle on no fewer than 15 bridges."

Sunday
Our original plan was to head to Shady Side for a massage for madame while I watched the football. We slept in and ordered a complimentary breakfast in bed before driving through on the way to:

Carnegie Museum of Natural History
From the discovery of Diplodocus carnegii to the skull of Samson, the most complete Tyrannosaurus rex skull known to date, and the brand new, yet to be named, species of oviraptorosaur, the Carnegie Museum of Natural History has one of the finest dinosaur collections in the world.



Other exhibits include the Hillman Hall of Minerals and Gems, the Alcoa Foundation Hall of American Indians, Polar World: Wyckoff Hall of Arctic Life, the Walton Hall of Ancient Egypt, the Benedum Hall of Geology and the Powdermill Nature Reserve.



Carnegie Museum of Art
The Hall of Architecture, with its collection of over 140 plaster casts of architectural masterpieces from the past survives today as the largest architectural cast collection in the country, rivaled internationally only by collections in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, and in the Musee National des Monuments Français, Paris.



Having persisted through changes of taste and decades of public exhibition, the Hall of Architecture offers an opportunity to appreciate a cultural phenomenon of international scope.



Summary
Pittsburgh's diversity really surprised me and I was pleasantly surprised by just how much the city has to offer. This was a very fulfilling weekend and we didn't even get to the Andy Warhol Museum, the nearby ski resort, or even a Penguins or Pirates game.

Once renowned as the smokey Steel City, Pittsburgh has reinvented itself as cultural and entertainment city. From Heinz Hall to Hindu temples, from The Warhol to the Inclines, from Kennywood to a Steelers game ... Year round there seems like there is always tons to do here and I'd definitely love to come back to do it all again, in addition to the moments we missed.

"Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams"

Highly recommended: Carnegie Mellon Professor Randy Pausch gives advice on how to achieve your own career and personal goals.



Carnegie Mellon Professor Randy Pausch (Oct. 23, 1960 - July 25, 2008) gave his last lecture at the university Sept. 18, 2007, before a packed McConomy Auditorium.

In his moving presentation, "Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams," Pausch talked about his lessons learned and gave advice to students on how to achieve their own career and personal goals.

For more, visit http://www.cmu.edu/randyslecture

About This Blog

What is an Enneagram?

The enneagram figure is believed to have originated around 2500 BC. It is a nine-pointed figure inscribed in a circle and it's name derives from two Greek words, ennea (nine) and grammi (line).



The meaning of the symbol itself, together with specific category types organized around the nine points, convey a system of knowledge about nine distinct but interrelated areas of personal growth - or nine ways of seeing and experiencing the world.

My goal is to utilise the Enneagram for mapping and understanding nine areas of personal growth and development; for us to look at ourselves in new and different ways, and for us to ultimately become better people.

These areas are:

Family
Desmond Tutu once wrote, "You don't choose your family. They are God's gift to you, as you are to them." I will forever be indebted for what my family has sacrificed for me, present and past. And I hope to grow by continuing to appreciate everything they are for me. The Joyce Brothers wrote, "When you look at your life, the greatest happinesses are family happinesses."

Spiritual
Jack Kornfield wrote, "To undertake a genuine spiritual path is not to avoid difficulties, but to learn the art of making mistakes wakefully, to bring them to the transformative power of our heart." The goal of this blog is that very journey of learning that art.

Financial
"We live by the Golden Rule. Those who have the gold make the rules," Buzzie Bavasi once said, and Zig Ziglar reinforced this when he said. "Money isn't the most important thing in life, but it's reasonably close to oxygen on the "gotta have it" scale." For me money is about balance to which this blog seeks to find, as George Horace Lorimer once said, "It's good to have money and the things that money can buy, but it's good, too, to check up once in a while and make sure that you haven't lost the things that money can't buy."

Self/Personal
Louis L'Amour's quote captures the very essence of this blog, "Up to a point a man's life is shaped by environment, heredity, and movements and changes in the world about him. Then there comes a time when it lies within his grasp to shape the clay of his life into the sort of thing he wishes to be. Only the weak blame parents, their race, their times, lack of good fortune, or the quirks of fate. Everyone has it within his power to say, "This I am today; that I will be tomorrow."

Also, H.F. Hedge wrote, "Every man is his own ancestor, and every man his own heir. He devises his own future, and he inherits his own past." In The Prison and the Angel, Henry Van Dyke said, "Self is the only prison that can ever bind the soul." Through this blog I hope we can break out of our individual prisons and comfort zones to become the best we can possibly be.

Professional/Work
In Scnes de la vie Parisienne, Honoré de Balzac wrote, "An unfulfilled vocation drains the color from a man's entire existence." A view Jackson Browne reinforced, "Find a job you like and you add five days to every week." he said. Our jobs and careers can bring out the best in us.

Charles Kingsley wrote, "Thank God every morning when you get up, that you have something to do that day which must be done, whether you like it or not. Being forced to work and forced to do your best will breed in you temperance and self-control, diligence and strength of will, cheerfulness and content, and a hundred virtues which the idle never know."

Health
The greatest wealth is health. James West wrote, "Health is a large word. It embraces not the body only, but the mind and spirit as well;... and not today's pain or pleasure alone, but the whole being and outlook of a man." Arguably the most important of all the nine, as (George William Curtis wrote) "Happiness lies, first of all, in health."

Social
My blog Dom Forth Presents... focused heavily on some of the better social aspects of life. We are (afterall) social creatures. Yet, socializing nonstop without personal improvement is an opportunity wasted. "We Are the Sum Total of the Five People We Spend The Most Time With" Jim Rohn once said. Do the goals of your social groups match your own?

Education
This quote by William Haley encapsulates the very essence of my belief in education. "Education would be much more effective if its purpose was to ensure that by the time they leave school every boy and girl should know how much they do not know, and be imbued with a lifelong desire to know it. Great stuff!

Finally, the last area is Travel. Jawaharial Nehru once wrote, “We live in a wonderful world that is full of beauty, charm and adventure. There is no end to the adventures we can have if only we seek them with our eyes open.” I hope that through my travels I can become complete, but am fully aware that it is not travel itself that determines the individual. As Henry Miller wrote, “One’s destination is never a place, but a new way of seeing things.” Too true.

Is it a coincidence that it is these 9 areas that are so important? The number nine is a most remarkable number in many respects. It is held in great reverence by all who study the occult sciences; and in mathematical science it possesses properties and powers which are found in no other number.

In his book, The Enneagram, Understanding Yourself and the Others in Your Life, Palmer wrote that each Enneagram number, or style, is based on a pattern of where attention goes. By learning about what kinds of things one habitually attends to and puts energy into, one can observe oneself more accurately and develop more self-awareness.

And, that enhancing one’s self awareness with the help of the Enneagram, one can exercise more choice about one’s functioning rather than engaging in patterns of thought, emotion, and behavior in an automatic, habitual, unconscious way.

It is my goal for us to improve all of theses areas by really challenging these 9 specific areas of life. If it can help us look at ourselves in new and different ways, and we become better people then I'll be happy :)

Dialog in the Dark

Dialog in the Dark is a groundbreaking new Exhibition where blind or visually-impaired guides take your group on what the promoters hype as "a life-changing journey."

There were just four of us who took the challenge, and after being given canes, we were led through a series of fully-darkened galleries that replicate everyday environments like parks, fruit markets, crossing roads, and restaurants.

I was amazed as I could feel my hearing definitely become more acute as traveled deeper, and was surprised that I coped as well as I did.

The final stage where you are told to head towards the light sent shivers up my spine as my vision slowly came back.

I then started to feel quite sad as we walked away -- we were able to continue on with our lives into a beautiful January evening while I watched our guide head out, continuing on with the darkness...

Apparently more than five million people worldwide have learned to “see” in a completely new way at the Dialog in the Dark exhibits. While it was quite expensive at 20 bucks for the hour, it was still a worthwhile experience.

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Still want a closer look at Dialog in the Dark? Check out this video created by CNN There is information and comments from the visually impaired guide and visitors who have experienced the exhibit first hand.


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