Tips to Not Getting Sucked In....

I consider myself to be a nice person.
Too nice.
I am always getting myself involved in something that usually ends up being a time killer for me, taking me away from what I really should be doing.

Actually, I used to be that way. Over the past few years I have been cautious in where I commit my time. So I made huge improvements in not letting myself get involved in time killers.

I make an effort to not get sucked in.

Sure there are times when you need to help a friend, business associate, family member or another important person in your life and that should always take precedence.

Are there things that you can do to make sure that when those types of things come up, you can help without feeling like you got sucked into something that you never should have gotten involved in to begin with? I have a found a few things that work to help from getting sucked in.

When reviewing a project, program, or organization to get involved in consider the following:

Does it fit with your personal mission and vision for where you are and the direction you are heading with your business, life, family?

Do you need to take time to develop some new talent or skill or does it naturally fit with a talent and skill you already posses?

Are you passionate about this?

Will this help you grow in the right relationships with the people that you want to be in relationship with. (it never hurts to meet new people, but sometimes new people can steal more time for the wrong reasons)

Do you fully understand what is required of you?
Is there a time commitment?
Are you fully aware of what the time commitment will mean to other commitments already existing in the life you live?

Is this something that fulfills a purpose or passion in your life that you have always wanted to explore?

Is your involvement based on the involvement of other friends, family, co-workers? Do they understand the commitment???

Asking the above questions will help you determine if signing on to a new program or project can lead you to success and help avoid you just being sucked in.

Routines

What is it about changes in our routine that makes us want to run for the hills and hide in a cave?

It seems that I am bound and determined to go through each and every day totally different from the previous day.

I used to have a routine. Stuff I did at the same time every day. Each day of the week. Now, not so much.

Are things out of balance?
Are the wheels coming of the cart?
Are the monkeys that secretly help me direct my ship all jumping overboard?

No...I don't think so.

I think it's that this is the day and age we live in. My life, your life, the life of those around you may never be subject to routine again. And I think that's okay.

It's okay if Monday is different from Tuesday which is definitely different from Saturday or Thursday. It's really okay if you thought you could do the same things at the same time each day and now realize that you can not.

I think we need to stop worrying so much about getting into the routine of living everyday and go about just living everyday.

Sure we need to plan and make lists and check things off of lists. That just common sense. But I don't think we need to plan, plan, plan every single day down to the minute.

A little secret about a change in my routine....
I used to routinely, without fail, write all of my appointments, contacts, notes and task lists down in my Franklin Planner. I recently got a new Palm Smart phone. While the smart phone does make me feel, well, less than smart at times, it has become a great tool to get me out of my routine. I use it now for everything, all of my appointments, calendar, contacts, oh yeah and it's a cell phone too. I don't have to carry my planner anymore. This has lightened my load a great deal in the briefcase.

My new routine though...remembering to sinc the phone! (ok, so there is a catch) but it was a nice move on my part to push me into getting more into the technology age that we are living in. Pushing the boundaries and barriers of my routine has turned out to be a great learning experience.

Are there barriers and boundaries that are holding you back in the form of a routine. Is there a change that you should try? What can you do to push yourself beyond being reliant on a daily routine?

On Line Networking

It's been quite some time for me to post. There's been a lot going on and I guess I totally left behind the entire idea of why you have a blog to begin with...to tell people how busy you are. I am getting ready for some big trips and some big coaching thigns are on the horizon. It will be interesting to see how all of this plays out through the end of the year.

I wanted to take a moment to chat a bit about online networking. I have been spending alot of time on facebook. Probably too much time on facebook, but I have made some interesting connections there. In my upcoming travels I will be leveraging some of those new friends and taking the opportunity to meet with them and do some business. People I have never met and didn't even know...now have become linked to me and can be valuable resources.

Online networking is good too because I do not have to be any where at any specific time to do it. And I like that...I like that alot.

So tell me, what is your favorite on line networking site...facebook? myspace? linked in?
Which one works best for you and why?