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How To Read A Book For All It’s Worth

January 13, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Learning How to Read a Book Will Help You Learn More and Faster

I read a 3-4 of books a month.  When a book really catches my attention there are several thing I do to make sure it sticks with me.

1. Take Notes

I take notes on everything I read, listen to, and watch.  I am a note taking machine.  But I usually just file those notes away for future reference.  When  I read something that I know I need right away, I keep the notes where I can get to them and read them several times a day.

2. Underline, Bookmark, or Highlight

This only applies to books you own.  I get books from the library all the time so I can’t mark up the pages.  But if I own a book it gets well annotated.  I put sticky arrows to pages that are highlighted and underlined.  I write in the margins and dog-ear at the top and bottom to make sure I know where I am supposed to be reading.

Now that I am doing more reading on the Nook or Kindle and on my computer, I bookmark and highlight passages.  I need a way to get those passages straight to Evernote (Developer Idea Here).

3. Reread

If you own a book this is easier, but if it is borrowed or from the library you can buy it or just check it out again.  The second reading is where the deeper lessons come from.  I just finished a book I read over a year ago and the lessons really hit home the second time around.

4. Teach Someone Else

When you teach, you get more out of it than your students do.  When you develop a lesson plan it helps you dig deeper into the material.  Even blogging requires you to get deeper into what you are writing about.  Blog about what you read, just don’t steal it and rewrite it.

5. Apply It

When you use what you learn, you put it into your habits.  Adding this step to what you want to learn will increase your chances of doing what you want by 100%.  Go do it instead of just reading and memorizing it.  Knowledge may be power, but knowledge doesn’t get stuff done.

The best book on learning how to read a book is How to Read a Book
By Mortimer J Adler. Adler was the editor of Great Books of the Western World
from Encyclopedia Britannica. I used to own the 54 volume set from 1952 but only have the St. Augustine and Thomas Aquinas

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Innovation Breeds Complaints

August 30, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Have you ever changed something?  If you have then you know exactly what I am talking about. When innovators see beyond the here and now and begin to move toward what they see, many people will stand up and try to stop them from going.  If this is you, it is your job as an innovator to keep going and see the dream fulfilled.  People can’t see your vision, they can’t know what you know.  You can tell them everything you see but they will still not have as clear a vision about your dream as you will.

Surround yourself with people who will tell you the truth.  If you are going somewhere you need people to tell you to stop if you are going in the wrong direction.  Don’t confuse these people with the ones that are trying to get you to stop because they do not like change.  Rehoboam failed this test when he did not listen to the elders but listened to the younger leaders. (1 Kings 12)  You need people in your life to keep you from going off a cliff.  Leaders cn not lead from a vacuum.

Surround yourself with positive people.  These are people who may not see your exact vision but they will urge you to get there, and help you in any way they can.  Negativity can stop you dead.  Having just one person to cheer you on and tell you that you are doing a good job can drowned out the negative talk.

Put yourself in the shoes of the complainers.  ask yourself, what are they losing, and what do I need to give a little on to help them make the adjustment.  Moving to fast may be your only real problem.  Slowing down and taking the time to explain what you are doing may be all you need to get more people on your side and stop the complaints.

Remember there will always be people you can not please.  Use your positive influences to help you get past their arguments on to what you are called to do.

Image by alonso_inostrosa via cc 2.0

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Practices For Life

August 12, 2010 By Leave a Comment

The practices you choose to use in your life will make a difference on your success and failure.As we go through life we all need to be reminded about some simple lessons.  These are simple thing that each person can do but still so difficult for so many to grasp.

Gratitude Will get you pretty far. Being thankful for what you have and for anything you receive will change your outlook on life.  Once you are content with what you have you won’t need anything else.  You can choose to be grateful everyday.  Write down three to five things you are thankful for every night before you go to bed and begin to cultivate a new attitude.

Your thought life determines how you live. This is a play on the first one since all that we put into our mind is what we are going to get out.  If you are continually thinking, “I wish I had that,” or “He’s lucky to get that promotion.”  You will never find happiness.  Seek the Lord first and all you need will be given to you.

Know where you are going. If you have a destination in mind you are more likely to get there than if you don’t.  Take the time to find out where God wants you.  We were given the Holy Spirit as a counselor to help guide us in our walk with Christ.  If you are not seeking him in where you are going then you may not be going the right way.

Don’t worry about what others think.  This is a hard lesson to learn but ties in with the first two above.  We buy and want a lot of new stuff because we are scared of what people think about us.  Grown men shop at clothing stores for teenagers, plastic surgery is sky rocketing, and the lines are around the block to get the newest cell phone that doesn’t even work very well.  All because people worry about what others think.  Look at the birds and the flowers, do they worry and toil, no.  God still provides them with everything they need.

You can only give what you have. Put good stuff into your mind every day so that when you meet people who need what you have you can give it to them.  Listen to good music and teachers, read good books and blogs, don’t watch the news or graphic television shows.  You can get the top news headlines at Google News or newsmap.  When I learned that my TV watching was nothing more than a habit it was easy to stop watching and change my habit.

Be kind. When you find yourself not being kind think about why you are not.  What is in your mind that is causing you to be anything but kind to those around you.  Jesus said to, “Love your neighbor as yourself.”  The person that is closest to you or in need of your help at any point is your neighbor. Love every one like you would yourself.

Image courtesy of Samuel Stocker via cc2.0 licences

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What Traveling Can Teach You About Leadership

August 1, 2010 By Leave a Comment

My wife, children and I just got home from seeing her father in Indiana. It is a twelve-hour drive so we spent a lot of time thinking, conversing and planning the future. Here are some points on leadership we came up with.

Not Everyone Goes At The Same Speed

When you are driving this is obvious as cars go flying by you at 90 mph, or maybe for you it is reversed but that’s your business.  When you are leading you may not see it as clearly. When you want to see growth in a group of people your first tendency may be that, “I got it, why can’t they.”  Not every concept is as obvious to those we lead as it is to us.  Whether it is their maturity level, or the place they are at in their growth, not everyone will get it at the same time.

Not Everyone Will Follow You.

This has to be one of the most overlooked aspects of being a leader.  You may think everyone will follow you but the odds are that some one will not. Just like cars people will go faster or slower than you do.  People will pass you and some will drop off altogether. This is usually proportionate to your level of leadership.  We all know that if you have a lower level of leadership, people with a higher leadership aptitude will not follow you.  The reverse is true as well.  If you are an eight or nine there are threes and fours that will be jealous of your leading and they won’t follow.

Big Ideas Don’t Come Along As Often As Small Ones.

We went through tens of small towns along the way several medium towns but only three big cities: Atlanta, Chattanooga, and Nashville.  Big ideas are direction changers and take time to work through.  Developing a big ideas may take outside help to give you direction, but they also provide more options than smaller ideas.   Small ideas keep you going and build on the  momentum of the big idea. Smaller ideas may add to the big ideas or they may help your sort out details, but they are not direction changers.  Some small ideas may become big ideas if they are developed right, but that is for another post.

When Coming Out Of Something Big It May Take Time To Get Everyone Up To Speed.

When a big idea has run its course there will be people who want to stay at that level.  They want to hang on to the big idea because it gave them security and some it gave a leadership position to.  If it worked before why will it not work again many ask, not able to realize that times change and ideas become safety nets to keep us from being stretched and changed.  Some will abandon you or the organization for another place that can give them the safety of that one big idea that meant so much to them.

The Going Can Be Slow At Times

Traffic moves slow at times, and so does growth.  There will be times when you are developing an idea and it will feel like no one but you gets it.  Whether it is your growth, your people’s growth, or just the wrong time it will feel like you are going nowhere fast.  During these times you may want to give up or get off the road, but now is not the time.  It is okay to pull over and reevaluate and check your direction, but you need to get back on the road and keep going in the direction you believe you should.  Eventually you will see the pace start to pick up and changes start to take place.

image by flicker user kool_skatkat used under cc2.0 liscense

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Personal Development Plans

July 29, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Came across two great post today on personal development plans from google reader.  The first was  a simple question from Jesse Phillips at Catablog, “What is your personal development plan? share it!” I didn’t share mine because I don’t have a specific plan.  I read a lot of books and piggyback them off of each other, I read the bible and pray, I spend quiet time before the throne of God,  but I have not had a specific plan for a couple of years.

Luckily Ron Edmondson is where Jessie got the question from.  Ron had posted on his blog  Three Questions to Write a Personal Development Plan.  I immediately went to Ron’s post and scoured the article.  Ron is a leader and leaders help those around them.  I am not going to put Ron’s three very simple keys on here because I want you to go to his site and read them for yourself.

So do you have one?  Post it here, or over at Catablog.  If you are like me and don’t have one let’s get started together.

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First Things First For Complainers

July 3, 2010 By Leave a Comment

The fourth of July is my favorite holiday.  Any time you have a legal ability to blow things up it’s a good thing.  Growing up in a small town we were free to blow up anything we could get our hands on.  Many 4th of July mornings I was the first kid out of the house.  The problem was old man Cromwell as we affectionately called him lived directly across the street from our house.  Mr. Cromwell’s favorite holiday was any day I or one of the other ten kids in town did not bother him.

Can you see the conflict building?  Mr Cromwell carried a very long pistol in his overalls.  He hung the handle of the gun on the bib of the overalls so we could all see it.  Mr. Cromwell was not afraid to whip that pistol out and point it at us kids if we made him mad enough. My dad always told me that the gun was not even loaded, but just having him walk out of his house was enough to make all of us run.

Looking back I think our problem is one we all still face today.  Mr. Cromwell and I had a different view of what freedom meant.  Mr. Cromwell’s view of freedom was being able to live in peace without kids being noisy and bothering him.  My view of freedom was being able to prove that that old man was a curmudgeon who hated life and everything about it. Can you see the tension in our views.

Isn’t that the way our world is today.  So many people have a different view of freedom that our tensions build and we grow to dislike or even hate the persons we disagree with.

Freedom is a sticky subject.  While we as Americans have more freedom than any other country in the world we complain like we are being herded into train cars to be taken to concentration camps.  But doesn’t it work that way?  The more freedom we have the more we complain.  The more we complain the less freedom it seems like we have.  It’s a vicious cycle that we put ourselves into, and I know just as well as anyone how hard it is to get off the complaining roller coaster. Which is why I chose the scripture we read earlier for today.

Paul had a lot to complain about.  Paul’s freedom had been taken, years before this letter so he had been in prison for some time.  He was in Rome and under house arrest probably chained to something or some one most of the time.

Have you ever felt like that?  Maybe, oh let’s say, YOUR JOB?  Or maybe just your life in general.  You feel trapped and you hate this or you hate your boss or your spouse or your kids.  So what do you do? You complain.  And God hears every word of it.  Think about that for a second.  Every time you complain God hears it.  He hears everything you say, so he hears your complaint.  In His book God Change My Attitude, James MacDonald says this, “God never shrugs off complainers.  He deals with them.  If you are a chronic complainer, just set your watch: discipline is coming.”  How does that make you feel?  Made me feel pretty bad, because I am a chronic complainer. In the Old Testament book of Numbers we see how the children of Israel complained. In Chapter  11  it says, “Soon the people began to complain about their hardship, and the Lord heard everything they said. Then the Lord’s anger blazed against them, and he sent a fire to rage among them, and he destroyed some of the people in the outskirts of the camp.” God had – had enough.  He wanted them to trust Him and all they did was complain.

They complained at the Red Sea and God saved them.  They complained because they were thirsty and he gave them water.   They complained about not having food, and he gave them food.  Then they complained about not having meat. And God had enough he gave them quail to eat, but it came with a plague.

Do you see the pattern?  Paul has nothing to lose and everything to gain so he is content with what he had.  The Israelites were free and only had to trust in God and all they did was complain.

So lets look at how Paul told the Ephesians to cope.  In Ephesians 3:14 the first thing paul says he does is fall to his knees and pray.  “My response is to get down on my knees before the Father, this magnificent Father who parcels out all heaven and earth.”  Remember, this is the guy in prison.  This is the guy chained to something at all times and his response is to pray to the creator of the universe during this hardship.  But he doesn’t pray for himself, he prays for the Church at Ephesus.  He prays that they will have strength, that they will know the full love of Christ, that they will live full lives in Christ.  Then he says this, God can do more than you can imagine or ask in your wildest dreams.  I think that is his way of saying, “I’m gonna be okay.”

What does Paul say, “First things first.”  the first thing you should do is get on your knees before God.  Matthew 6 tells us to seek God first and we will have everything else.  Our New church name has our mission as well under it Seek God, Serve People, and Share life.   So What did he pray for them?

First he prayed that they would have strength.  Not physical strength, but an inner strength that would help them get through tough times.  Do you know anyone going through a tough time now?  Have you prayed for them, or do you just say well it will be okay, God is in control.    May be its you that has been kicked in the teeth.  Maybe you need a real strength that can only come from God.  Maybe you need a little intestinal fortitude to deal with what you are going through now.  God can give it to you.

The second thing he prays for is that Christ will continue to grow in them and they will experience his love.  Seeking God first is the key to this passage. When you let Christ in he begins to grow and change you as you open up your heart to him.  The famous Christian cop-out is, “Well God Made me this way.”  Yes he made you, but he loves you too much to leave you like you are.  Paul says, “you’ll be able to take in with all followers of Jesus the extravagant dimensions of Christ’s love. Reach out and experience the breadth! Test its length! Plumb the depths! Rise to the heights!  Live full lives, full in the fullness of God.”

The last thing Paul tells them in this part is God can do more than you can ever imagine.  Not by being a bully and pushing us around, but by changing us on the inside.

When we complain we don’t put God first.  When we put God first, we don’t complain.  When we live in the fullness of God, we may not have money, or fame, but we will have a future that never ends.

We have all the freedom in the world today, celebrate by enjoying the fireworks and the kids and the noise.  Celebrate with strength and love, and celebrate knowing that God love you very much, and knows what you are going through

Filed Under: Leadership

10 Great Ways To Find Balance

May 11, 2010 By 1 Comment

If we are going to find balance in our lives we have to start somewhere.  Learning to lead ourselves means knowing when to stop working, and start living.  No matter how much you have, it will never bring you peace.   I know there are more ways than these so feel free to add yours to the comments.

1.  Stop saying Yes.

No I don’t mean say yes to things you want to do and no to other stuff. I mean say no to everything.  Once you have told someone no, then you can go back and say yes later.  This will give you freedom to choose what you want to do and not have to back out of things you don’t.  Think of the times you have said yes to something you thought at the moment of asking that you wanted to do, only to realize later that it really was not your first choice of things to do.  Saying no to everything will give you a chance to test everything you want to do, then allow you to choose the best things.

2. Evaluate Everything.

When you evaluate your choices you can list them in the order of importance.  The example here would be volunteer at the church picnic or clean the house.  If you are going to freak out because the house is not clean, that would be the better choice.  While volunteering at the picnic may make the most people happy, your peace of mind is still the better choice.  Evaluating also allows you to decide earlier how to plan.  You could clean the house the night before and still make the picnic, if you evaluate and plan what you want to do.  There is no right answer to our question.  You have to decide what is the better option.

3. Plan everything.

Yes I know that people live among us that are free spirits.  Spontaneity is the only way they want to live.  I also know if they would plan in times to be spontaneous those weekends to Miami would be less of a headache on Monday morning.   As a free spirit you can take ideas 1 and 2 and give yourself more time to be spontaneous, but still do things  for your greater good.  Having a plan will let you see where you are getting caught making two promises at once.  Having a plan gives you the opportunity to see where you are at and make adjustments to help you do what needs to be done and not feel overwhelmed.

4. Learn to be intentional.

As I was developing a plan for spiritual growth I came across a word I had heard, but never paid attention to, “Intentionality.”  Intentionality means you are doing something you intended to do.  Have you ever said I wanted to be a better… or I wanted to spend time doing… The truth is you never intended to do either thing because you did not do them.  If you had really wanted to do them you would have.  Being intentional means doing what you say you are going to do.  I want to spend more time with my family but we have to much going on.  Then get rid of the stuff and spend time with your family.  Be intentional and you will never have to say I wish I had done that.

5. Plan one weekend per month just for you, or your family.

This needs to be done for a year in advance, and can not be compromised by anyone or anything.  This is your me time, or family time to just stop and relax.  It can be at a local park or a lake.  It can be at the house with the phone and computer off, but it has to be planned, and it has to help you unwind.  This is the one I will get the most push back on.  The, “I can’t…”  will start coming out.  You can make all the excuses in the world why you can’t do this.  Start making excuses why you have to do this, and it will get done.   If you learn the art of being intentional about the things that really matter you will do the important and not make excuses.

6. Downsize.

This is the one 90% of you will tune out.  If you have read this much then hang-on.  If you really want to have balance in your life, get rid of your stuff. Stuff is the reason most of us have no time.  If your house burned down tonight what would you try to save.  If your laptop comes before your children, my point is proved.  Take a serious inventory and list in order of importance the stuff you can not live without then start getting rid of everything else.  A good post to read on this is the 100 Items challenge. It has challenged our family and I hope it challenges you.

7. Don’t focus on what other people have.

When we look at the things others have we begin to want.  We see their nicer car, we see their nicer home, or boat, or couch, or cabinets, and we lose focus on why we are here.  When you focus on what you have been blessed with, you begin to see you have enough.  It may not be the newest and nicest, but it is yours and it is paid for.  Don’t get sold on advertising.  You are the reason the companies you buy from exist.  Go on a media fast for a week and see how you feel.

8. Evaluate what you say.

You may not know this, but we say a lot of words everyday.  Even shy people talk more than we think.  Taking time to think about what we say can help us find balance.  Instead of blurting out the answer you think the other person wants to hear, listen to them and let them find their answer.  This does two things.  It helps you not give bad advice, and it lets them know you care enough about them to listen to what they think.  Not giving bad advice keeps your conscience clear, and letting them know you care opens your life to new relationships.

9. Cultivate Friendships

Don’t try to go it alone.  You need people in your life that can come along side you and help you carry your burdens.  Jesus said, “my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”  He said that because he comes along side those that chose to accept his burden and helps them carry it.  There are many people in your life now  that you can turn to for guidance and help.  Take time to get to know those around you, and maybe you can help someone else in the process.

10. Realize Your Dream

Set a goal of living a balanced life, then set the small goals to achieve that.  Many people say they want to live a balanced life, but most don’t do it because  they never really start.  Starting the process can be as much as getting in the habit of getting up 30 minutes earlier each day.  don’t try to do everything at once.  You have taken to this point to get unbalanced, take the time to become balanced.  Living each day as it comes and practicing prayer and meditation, will increase your balance exponentially.  Don’t give up if you don’t get it the first time.  Be intentional and keep at.

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Dealing With Your Stupidity

May 4, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Being flexible with your body or mind is not an easy thing to come by.  Body flexibility may actually be easier because you can see the progress as you become flexible.  Mind flexibility is not as noticeable, nor is it as sustainable until it takes hold in your actions and habits.  Learning to be flexible in your job or family can greatly reduce your headaches and heartbreaks.

Forest Gump said,”Stupid is, as stupid does.”  So do your best not to be stupid.  But when those times come that you are not flexible. When your humanness just jumps right out and bites you on the butt. When you just become stupid.   There are things you can do to Reconcile Your Stupidity.

Take Responsibility For Your Stupidity

Sounds simple enough.  Well it’s apparently not.  I like many of you have been caught red-handed in blazing stupidity and just let it ride. The phrase “I don’t know what you’re talking about” comes to mind.  Really? When you think about it, why would anyone try to own up for some of the stupid things people do?  I love the TV show “Cops.”  It’s the only reality show I watch and I only get to watch it once or twice a month.  When some one is caught with drugs, or speeding, or drunk driving, or name the offense.  Rarely do they own up to what they have done. These people are caught on camera committing a crime, and refuse to take the blame for their stupidity.

Cops is not the only place you can see this.   It happens in offices, it happens in homes, it happens in religious institutions.  It happens everywhere.  So the next time you do or say something stupid, and you know there will be a next time because you are human.  Take responsibility for it.  This isn’t a sign of weakness, it’s a sign of maturity.  Owning up to your mistakes will show that you are willing to learn from them.   When you learn you grow.

Deal With It Immediately

Getting past your blunder in the fastest way is always the best way.  Once you have taken responsibility, find out how you can make it right.  Saying your sorry is a great way to start, but is not the last thing you should do.  Find out what you can do to make it better and really do it.  You’ve been caught in your stupidity, so now is not the time to try to get off the easy way.  Comedian Ron White said, “You can’t fix stupid.”  while I agree with Ron on that, you can at least make it better after you have done it.

Realize It Is Not The End Of The World

Some times our stupidity gets the best of us and we lose jobs, homes, and friends.  When that happens you have to realize that tomorrow will come and this is not the end.  Your final forgiveness comes from a place not seen by human eyes.  You also have to forgive yourself.  Many times that is the reason we hide from our stupidity.  It is harder to forgive yourself than anyone else. Once you say your sorry, and if you genuinely are, and there is nothing more you can do you have to move on.  Give it to God and start again.

 

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Learn To Lead Yourself Before You Lead Others

April 28, 2010 By 5 Comments

This phrase actually came from Tiger Woods. At his news conference before the 2010 Masters.  He actually said that his father told him he must, “Learn to help himself, before he helped others.”  But I decided I liked “lead” instead of “help” so thanks Tiger for the quote.

I have experienced many types of leaders through my life.  Many of them never really lead as much as they told those that worked for them what to do. They then went about taking credit for the good, and giving blame for the bad.  I worked with a man once that complained about Dr. John C. Maxwell’s writing on leadership, but never read any of it.  I would suggest he never learned to lead himself.

Discipline is hard, but discipline is a must for anyone who wants to be successful at whatever they do.  If you are always late, it is because you are not disciplined enough to be on time.  Not because your family is a late family and you always have been.   When I was in the Navy I learned this lesson first hand.  I was relieved from my watch every day by a man who was consistently late.  I reported the man several times and he was moved to other watch sections but his tardiness never ceased.  He was finally taken to Captains Mast and reduced in rank before being released from the Navy.  His inability to be on time cost him his job, and he never knew why.

Control your tongue. Swearing is one of the best signs of an  undisciplined mouth.  In the bible we are told that the tongue is like the rudder of a ship.  A rudder is small in comparison to the ship, but turns the thing.  Your tongue can lead you down roads you do not want to travel.  Swearing is not the only sign of an undisciplined tongue.  Arguing, sarcasm, complaining, and gossip are other signs.  No one wants to be around someone who complains all the time.  It’s just not fun.  Learn to control what you say and do by Forming Better Habits which can take some time, but pay huge dividends in the long run.

Discipline is more than being on time and controlling how you talk.  But being on time is a good start and controlling what you say is a good start.  Make a list of things you need to do and stick to the list this way you can be encouraged by you progress, and prodded when you slack.  Always remember, you can only accomplish something if you do it.   The minute you put it off, you will stop and lose your momentum.

From Mary Jo Asmus  Stuck? Admit It and Ask For Help

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Forming Habits You Can Live With

April 26, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Professionals will tell you it takes 21 days to create a habit.  While this may be true a habit that is only 21 days old can easily be broken.  Habits a truly formed over a lifetime of study and change.  The younger we form the habit in our lives the deeper the habit will be ingrained.  Kids that learn to get out their books and study as soon as they get home will keep this habit for a life time. On of the strongest habits we as Americans have is watching TV.  Yes it is a habit not a need for you to watch must see TV every night.

Here is one way to form a habit.

1) Take a 3×5 index card and write in the first person present tense the habit you want to form.  If you want to be more courteous, on time, an early riser, what ever habit you want to form write it on the card.  Only Do This For One Habit At A Time. If you try to change to many things you will change nothing.  Read the card every hour during the day to instill it into your mind. Example:

I get up at 5:30 every morning

2) Do what you say you are doing.  If it is hard to get up get a coffee pot that automatically makes the coffee before you wake up so you can go get a cup as soon as you get up. You must do the thing you want to.  Reinforcing by reading and then not doing only brings disappointment in yourself .  This turns into failure talk and you stop doing what you really want to do.

3) Don’t give in to tomorrow talk.  I’ll start tomorrow will never start.  You have to do the things you say you want to do or you will never do anything.  If you do the same thing enough days in a row you will find it becoming easier over time.  It becomes ingrained and you become better for it.   A habit is like a computer program that just starts ever time your computer starts.  You don’t have to worry about it and you know you can rely on it being there.  You will do the right thing every time without having to think about it.

Charles C Noble said this, “First we make our habits, then our habits make us.”  You can do what you set your mind to, but you have to do it.  Reading about it will not organize your house.  Watching a TV show will not drop the pounds.  Listening to a motivational speaker will not get you off the couch.  You have to go do it so do it today.

For all you techies here is a website to help you with your habits HabitForge.  It is free and emails you everyday for 21 days.  Another place I like is FutureMe.  You can send an email to your future self just so you know what you were thinking, or check up on where you thought you should be.

You Can Start A Payment Jar

I hate to admit it, but I have a swear jar.  If I use a curse word I put a dollar in the jar.  It only has five dollars in it, but that is a sign of a habit I need to break.  If you want to stop swearing or even stop eating out a jar is a good way to encourage change.  Fro the eating out, or spending money without accounting for it, you put the amount you were going to spend in the jar so you are saving the money instead of spending.  Yo can also do this by asking a friend to keep you accountable. This is the jerk friend that points out when you need to put money in the jar and smiles at your failure.  Yes it needs to be a jerk friend that you will get so tired of seeing their smiling face tell you to put the money in the jar you will stop doing to get back at them instead of losing the money.  Remember, you still have to do it for it to work.

Here is a quick idea from Unclutterer…Three quick organizing projects you can do right now

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