Author: alearningaday

Checking in on your Bucket List

Once I watched the movie – Bucket List, I simply had to make one of my own. And guess what, it was loads of fun!
I did this as a part of my yearly review process at the start of the year and left it at that.
Having ticked a couple of these dreams thanks to visiting the desert and watching 2 football games, I thought it was time for an update.
The geek within couldn’t help put some numbers in it. And I ended up adding ‘Importance’
and ‘Years’ columns.
Importance moves from 3 (VERY important) to 1(Good to do)
Years basically indicates when I plan to tick them i.e. 20s, 30s etc
A sample small portion of the list is here..
And thus, the 50 point (at this stage) list developed. I had great fun figuring out which of these goals were really important and which weren’t and dreamt a bit as to how I could tick those boxes.
Also, I realized that this year has been a great year as I have ticked 4 items off the list! Writing a list makes a huge difference.
So, have you begun working on your Bucket List yet? :)

PDT Part 2: On PDT’s i.e. Prioritized Daily Tasklists

This week’s learning draws inspiration from ‘The Ten Natural Laws to Successful Time and Life Management’ by Hyrum W Smith.

Smith tells us a poignant story..

Jake, one of Hyrum’s clients had come to meet him. Jake shared with him how he had gone back home after a workshop from Hyrum two years ago and actually, for the first time, thought about his governing values.

He realized ‘Family and the well being of my son’ was a value but yet, it never found it’s way to his daily ‘To-Do’ list.

So, from that moment on, Jake began ensuring he had ‘1-on-1’ time with his son. Over the next few months, Jake and his son spent lots of time playing baseball together, watching movies, taking walks in the park etc.
A year later, his son was diagnosed with cancer and he lost his fight to the deadly illness within two months.

Both Jake and Hyrum, at this point, had tears in their eyes. Then, Jake said simply – ‘ Hyrum, all I can say is that if it wasn’t for you, I might have drowned myself in regret. But, atleast now, I have the satisfaction that I did all I could.. And that made all the difference in the world’

We often associate ‘getting organized’ to just being more efficient, when it is actually a lot more than that. When done right, it is a way of life that is a path to happiness..

Hyrum’s powerful method of thinking of PDT’s or Prioritized Daily Task Lists involves us considering the pyramid above.. And planning with our values in mind. For example – if ‘Growth’ is a key value, then an example long term task could be to read 15 books in the year which could in turn mean 30 minutes of book reading every day, and so on. And, just to help you along, here is my learning from Hyrum on writing down my governing values.

Here’s to creating value based ‘prioritized daily task lists’ this week! :)

The Vietnam Experience

It’s been a day in Ho Chi Minh city in Vietnam. A few thoughts that crossed my mind are –

– The devastation caused during the Vietnam War was worse than I thought it was. Now, I am a big US fan.. But this was pretty atrocious. Especially using toxic chemicals to drive lands barren

– It is admirable that Vietnam has managed to achieve so much and come this far in 30 years

– We are in the tourist-y part of Ho Chi Minh (district 1) and the customer service everywhere has been consistently great. Everyone has a smile on their face!

– I am greatly impressed by the fact that there seems to be wi-fi coverage everywhere! Every cafe/restaurant has had it’s own wifi network. That, my friends, is great infrastructure! (I am writing this from a little cafe next to our student housing)

– HCMC reminds me of home (Chennai) in many ways. Something about the buildings and the crazy chaotic traffic. (it’s slightly less chaotic back home but well..)

– We’ve been riding along in little scooterettes which seem to be the norm here. There are more two wheelers than cars and we’ve had great fun! And the simple road rule here is that you can fo anything you want – absolutely anything!

– Oh and it’s nice being a millionaire – even if it is temporary.. :-D

There’s Mekong Delta and Cu Chi tunnels coming up in the next 2 days. Looking forward to it!

PDT Part 1: The Values Test

This is part of a 3 part series inspired by this very good book on Time Management that I am reading at the moment. Of course, there is some amount of cliché’d content but there is a lot of good content as well.

Our end objective with this test would be to just revisit how we manage our day currently. This is one step in a two part approach.

3 questions to kick start the challenge –
1. What are the values that matter most to you?
2. Can you explain what they mean to you in a sentence?
3. Can you prioritize them?

This might sound like really hard work but I had a go in the train journey this morning and while some fine tuning may be required, I have a list I feel represents what I believe..
—

To myself
1) Integrity I.e. walk the talk, keep commitments, demonstrate incredible energy and be dependable
4) Health I.e play hard, eat well and sleep well
5) Growth I.e. everyday I get better, invest in myself and read

To those around me
2) Family i.e care for those I love, quality time (1-1) by not taking work home, stay in touch and stay loyal
6) Grace I.e. grace under pressure, deliver when it counts and never make people feel inadequate..
7) Humble I.e never vain enough not to take in input to change for the better and to seek and merit divine help

To the world
3) Desire I.e. To be the ‘best I can be’ . To want to make a difference, to be the best I can be and give back
8) Orderliness I.e. Leaving every place Better than I found it
9) Openness and acceptance i.e. Of people and the world, broaden mind by new experiences – travel, the arts etc

Priorities
1. Integrity
2. Family
3. Desire
—
I found it to be enormous value of course – especially the prioritization part. More on why coming soon..

The man in the arena – Theodore Roosevelt

It is not the critic who counts;
not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles,
or where the doer of deeds could have done them better.

The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena,
whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood;
who strives valiantly;
who errs, who comes short again and again,
because there is no effort without error and shortcoming;

but who does actually strive to do the deeds;
who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions;
who spends himself in a worthy cause;
who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement,
and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly,
so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.

—
A reminder to keep fighting the ‘good fight’.. Stay inspired, all!