Happiness = Little things and Big Ones

I was talking with my friend Bobette Reeder this morning.  Her son is getting married this weekend, and she went with him to pick up the Tuxedos.  She said it was an almost surreal (and very happy) experience. There she was, watching her son…now a man…getting all the tuxedos for HIS wedding, and she was remembering him as a little boy at the same time.  Certainly a very special moment between mother and son.  Weddings are big occasions for happiness.

And last night, my daughter Lauren came home with her brand new business cards from her new (and first) job as an Assistant Account Executive at Edelman PR in NYC.  A small moment for sure, but one that made this mom very happy as evidence of my baby growing up and going out there into the world.

Is Life Balance a Myth?

Google life balance, and what you’ll find are 1,920,000 references.  Something of a hot topic!  But is life balance even possible?

When your life feels out of whack, it feels like you don’t ever have enough time to do everything that needs to get done, let alone the things you wish you could do. There are work demands, family demands, and social demands.  So much to know, so much to do.  It’s too much.  And all of today’s technology only makes it worse.  Emails to read and respond to, voicemails to answer, websites to build and maintain, and information bombarding us from all corners.  The advice to “take time off” and “take time for yourself” begins to sound like a bad joke.  It’s enough to make you consider “going off the grid” and getting “back to nature.” 

But there’s no need to go to that extreme.  What it boils down to is…what is important to you?  Balance doesn’t necessarily mean that your life has equal amounts of work and play.  It does mean satisfaction with all the areas of your life.  

It’s about making choices.

I often work with clients to take a look at all their responsibilities and obligations in order to eliminate those that no longer serve them, and to eliminate some of them out of their lives. We also work on learning to say “no”. So many times, I find that people say “yes” out of misplaced obligation or mistaken politeness, when what they really want to do is say NO.  No, they cannot bake ten dozen brownies for the bake sale; no, they don’t want to sit on the condo association board of directors; no, they don’t want to give up a weekend to attend a wedding of distant relation. 

It seems obvious, but you also need to know what you would like your life to look like.  In other words, what is your life vision and what does life balance look like for you?  Yet many (if not most) people live their lives by default rather than choice.  Learn what you value and measure all decisions against your values and vision for your life. Create your life plan, take stock of your personal environments and set about getting your life in balance your way! 

What in your physical and other environments needs adjusting so you can live your best life? You might, for example, survey your environment to see what information input and stimulation you can eliminate or contain.  Do you finish a book that you don’t enjoy because you have to finish everything you start? Why bother?  If it doesn’t grab your interest, return it or toss it.  Are your magazine subscriptions serving you, or are those piles of unread magazines becoming a toleration?  Do you really need to read three newspapers a day?  Might you not be better served to read your news online, and filter it so you only see those articles that are important to you?  You can choose how and when information enters your life, and use technology to make it serve you, instead of the other way around. Consider an Audible subscription (books, magazines or newspapers), one of the book synopsis subscription services like www.aheadspace.com/

I was watching Comedy Central  and a young comedian (Demetri Martin) said that when you wake up each day, you spend the rest of the day making choices.  So “when you decide to wear flip flops, you’re deciding that you will not be running away from people wearing sneakers.”  Whether you make those choices consciously or not is your decision to make.   

Yes, there are times when your life balance will be out of whack, for example when you are on vacation, or have a new baby, or a special project that requires all your attention.  Balance is about the overall equilibrium of your life. 

Or maybe, it’s really not about balance at all…but about integrating all the areas of your life.  An idea worth exploring!

What is fun for you?

I believe that almost everything in life has a funquotient™, and that if everyone would take the time to figure out what “fun” meant to them, life could seriously be amazing.  Because things that are fun are effortless.  When you are having fun, time zips by.  Life is grand.

So what is fun for you?  And how can you improve the funquotient™ of everything, even things that are supposedly un-fun? 

One way is to add a fun activity to one that’s humdrum.  For example, if you spend a great deal of time in your car…commuting, chauffeuring the kids, or just doing the daily tasks, sing along to great music or do what I do…listen to books on tape.  The result is that I look forward to driving.  Sometimes I even make excuses to drive, just so I can hear what will happen next in my book!   Audio books also make exercise and cleaning more fun.  So does great music…there’s nothing like mopping the floor to a great beat.  That mop does resemble Fred Astaire a bit!

I’ve even attended a fun funeral.  Now lest you think I am carrying this too far, let me tell you about it. It was the funeral of an elderly friend.  He was in his late 80s and had lived a healthy life up to the last several months of his life.  He landed in the hospital with just a few weeks left, and as a doctor, he knew it.  He decided to plan his own memorial service.  So from his hospital bed, he made all the arrangements, and also recorded remarks he wanted played at the service.  That service included three church choirs singing music he had selected.  Two world class viola players.  The tape he’d made about his life, his joys, and his hopes for the future.  Good food.  Good wine. 

Everyone left there laughing, talking and feeling great.  It was fun.

Of course everyone’s idea of fun is different.  I love cooking.  Collect cookbooks.  Sometimes pretend to be Nigella Lawson as I prepare yet another family meal. To Lois, one of my dearest friends, cooking is far from fun.  But she loves doing bead-crochet (and she’s really good at it) which to me is just another version of torture and frustration.

Doing things with friends is fun.  What do you do now that would be much more fun if you did it with friends?  Exercising?  Going for a mammogram together?  Painting your kitchen?

How else can you add a funquotient™ to your life?

 I’d love to hear your thoughts.

It’s all too much

Martha Beck recently wrote an article in “O” magazine on the anthropological reasons for overwhelm.  She says that ‘”Overwhelm” is increasingly common as demands on human attention increase exponentially. The human brain just wasn’t designed to handle the environment we inhabit. “

I felt like she was talking directly to me.

She goes on to say that throughout the ages, human life has been shaped by scarcity in every area of our lives.  For most of the Western World, at least, that is no longer the case.  ”Yet our brains, instincts, and socialized behavior are still geared to an environment of lack. The result? Overwhelm—on an unprecedented scale.”

We are surrounded by “stuff”.  Bombarded by information in unprecedented amounts.  Even overwhelmed by the amount of opportunities and choices that are open to us.  In “The Paradox of Choice” Barry Schwartz writes about how the abundance of choices “floods our exhausted brains.”   We are faced with an aisle’s worth of cereals, a department store of cosmetics.  Ten pages of choices on restaurant menus.  400 channels on cable television.  It really is all too much.

What to do?

I’ve worked with people who felt that they needed to research every possible option, every possible solution, every possible opportunity, before making a decision.  Good enough is never good enough for them.  And guess what?  As a result they are paralyzed.  Nothing gets done.  Or they worry that if they make one choice, they may miss out on a better one.  They are afraid to buy a computer because next week there might be a new one that has more features, or costs less money.  Afraid to say yes to one beau, because a better one might come along. 

What works is a few things that are simple, but not necessarily easy:

• Accept that good enough REALLY IS good enough most of the time.  Perfection is paralyzing.  My definition of a perfectionist is someone who is always looking for what is wrong so that they can correct it.  Not a good way to live.
• Decide how important a choice really is.  Choosing the right cereal is not that important.  Choosing the right spouse is. 
• Don’t (ever) second-guess yourself.
• Know what criteria are important to you.  That will make it easier to eliminate choices.
• Make choices based on what YOU want, not what others think.
• Rely on knowledgeable friends and reputable resources (e.g. Consumer Reports or Cnet.com) to narrow down the choices for you.
• Don’t go to a department store or Super-Supermarket when a boutique or neighborhood grocer will do.
• Ask yourself with the consequences of a wrong choice will be.  If they are negligible, don’t give the choice much thought.
• Give yourself a time limit for the choice, and decide that when the time’s up, you’ll make the decision based on the information you already have.

Better yet, trust your intuition and be spontaneous…live dangerously some of the time! 
 

Where have respect and courtesy gone?

I recently had an appointment with an endocrinologist that I had to wait over six months to see.  When I arrived at the office a few minutes before my scheduled appointment, the waiting room was full.  I had been warned that this doctor never ran on schedule, so after I filled out the requisite paperwork, I sat down with a book.  As I sat there, several pharmaceutical reps came through the office, and each was passed through to the doctor.  Meanwhile, we all sat in the waiting room….waiting.

An hour later, not a single patient had been ushered into the exam rooms.  I went up to the counter and asked when I might be expected to be seen.  The receptionist looked at the clock and said the doctor was running an hour behind.  That was obviously not true, since it was an hour past my appointment time, and there were still seven people ahead of me.

Just to make sure, I asked if all the people there were waiting for the doctor (thinking that perhaps they were there for other tests?) and she reluctantly admitted that they were.  I turned and asked the waiting patients how long they had been waiting, and was astounded that many of them had already been waiting OVER THREE HOURS.  And that this was the norm for this particular doctor.

I turned to the receptionist and asked for my insurance card and all my paperwork back…I was not going to wait that many more hours.  She enquired if I wanted to reschedule…and I replied that it was incredibly rude to have so little respect for her patients that she would make appointments and not even attempt to honor them.  She obviously had no respect for our time.  I wouldn’t want to be treated by someone who had so little regard for me.  As I left the office, I heard some of the patients clapping.

What has happened to common courtesy?  Why can’t this doctor (and the many others I have heard about when I shared this story) schedule honestly? 

And there are other areas where courtesy has gone astray as well.  People no longer seem to think it’s necessary to RSVP to parties and other events.  Thank you notes have gone the way of rotary dial phones.  People don’t respond to phone calls (let alone to email). 

Sad to say this discourtesy applies to all parts of life.  Witness it on the highway.  In restaurants.  Movie theaters.  At the highest level of government (and not just in the US.)   But it doesn’t have to be this way. 

Seems to me that there are two steps we each can do to combat discourtesy.  First, don’t stand for it.  When someone is being rude and trampling on your boundaries, ask for the respect you deserve.  Maybe they don’t even know that they are being rude.  And secondly, set an example.  Show respect and courtesy at every opportunity.  Better yet, go a step further and acknowledge people for the good that they do. 

We may not get back the rotary phone, but we can return to a kinder, gentler culture.

Creating a Support System

When I set out to blog on a daily basis, and to make changes to other areas of my life in the ensuing weeks and months, I know that I had to have support.  It’s something I tell my clients on a regular basis. 

My mentor, Thomas Leonard, along with his R&D team (which I was a part of) created the 15 Frameworks which are paradigms that people can come from. One of those was Self-confidence can be arranged.  That paradigm of arranging to get what you need can be extended to other parts of life to get what you need, whether it’s support, self-confidence, love or acknowledgement.  It’s about not relying on yourself–or chance–to get what you need.  Instead, you can set up the support structures you need, and design the situations that will help support the changes you want to make.

In this case, I designed two environments:  1) I went public on my blog, and 2) I emailed a number of friends and asked for their help in several ways:

“First, I’d like your support.  That can come in the way of emails, an “atta girl” message, or any way you see fit to encourage/nudge me along. Second, I would love it if you’d comment (on my blog), and/or join me in the challenge (on your blog)”

The same thing can be done when you’re looking for more love or acknowledgement.  Just decide what it is you want and need, and who you want and need it from.  Then let those people know exactly what you want, and how often. 

That can look like telling your family members that you need to have them tell you how much they love you each day, and even providing them with the words you need to hear.  Or it might be telling your boss and co-workers how you would like to be acknowledged.   

This might feel funny at first, but as everyone gets into the request, you’ll find that everyone genuinely enjoys supporting you, and you’ll enjoy the results.  I know I do! 

How time ran away….

I’m usually a pretty good juggler.  Or at least that’s what I tell myself.

But here it is, November 4th, and it’s been eons since I posted.  Actually, it’s been eons for a lot of things on my want to do daily list.  Which actually proves a point that I make to myself (and anyone who’ll listen.)

If it’s not on my schedule, I probably won’t get to it.

My daily “I want to do list” includes things like exercising, blogging, decluttering, drink more water, read for pleasure, meditate, throw out one thing I don’t need….  You get the idea.  Yet, lately I haven’t.  I’m not going to say it’s because I don’t have time…because I know better than most people, you never have time…you have to make time.  And I could.

But instead, I tell myself I deserve to sit down and watch some mindless television because I had a long day.  Or I tell myself I’ll “do it later” but something else “comes up.”  Or I just plain forget while I am in the throes of my day.

Unless it’s on my calendar.  Things that are on the schedule get done. 

Conversely, if I don’t block of “down time” on my calendar, it will probably get filled (and does) with clients, appointments, and other must-dos.

So why do I resist?  Why do I allow time to run away?

It’s certainly not a lack of desire or motivation.  I WANT to do all the things on my list.  I suppose it’s several things.  Old habits.  A concept of how the world works and time that harkens back to the structured days of school and working for others. (And it’s been a long, long time since either of those were true for me.)  Laziness.  Overwhelm.

A lot of my personal to-dos have been on my list for….well, way too long.  And it’s time to make a change.  So here’s what I am going to do.   I’m going public here and now.  I am going to pick one item from my personal to-do list and DO IT for an entire week.  (And hopefully longer.)

So…this week I will write a blog post every day. 

What about you?

On Scanners, Generalists and Renaissance souls

http://www.fourhourworkweek.com/blog/2007/09/14/the-top-5-reasons-to-be-a-jack-of-all-trades/

Tim Ferriss (author of the Four Hour Work Week) adds his voice to the growing chorus regarding people who have multiple interests, careers and areas of expertise, as opposed to specialists.

I struggled with this label all my life as family members and friends would inquire, “what is Donna doing now?”  Early on I had decided I wanted to be a new-fashioned Renaissance woman, and  at the same time envied (only slightly) people who were complete uni-focused.  It seemed so much easier. 

Nonetheless, I was compelled to change jobs and careers every three years, or when I went out on my own, to change businesses or the focus of my business just as frequently when boredom crept in.  I continued to read, study, and take on new challenges…creating my own renaissance identity.  For me, when I became a professional Coach, all those paths converged and combined, and now I often work with people who have taken a jack-of-all-trades path and are looking for the next one, or for a way to blend or monetize all their experiences and expertise. 

In his blog, Tim relates his top five reasons to be a Jack (orJill) of all trades and he points out, quite accurately I believe, that it’s often “the generalist who ends up running the show.”  In fact, quite often even if they didn’t start out that way, people who run companies must learn to become generalists since it takes a wide range of abilities, talents and skills to manage people, run the company, know what you don’t know so you can hire the people who do, etc. etc. etc.

So if you’re a Jack or Jill of all trades, revel in it and embrace it.  The world needs more of us.  They just don’t realize it yet. 

Yesterday was my birthday.  We spent a laughter filled day in Manhattan, window shopping, eating, people watching, eating, watching the Soho Artists Parade (more about that…with photos…at another time), exploring art galleries, hanging out (and eating) in Little Italy, and more.  It was a very full day.  And the birthday month continues today with Dim Sum with friends and a street festival in Red Bank.

What also continues today is my introspection on the coming year.  I’m going to go through the environments of my life and choose how to make them even better.  The easiest one is my Physical Environment.  We know that our physical environment often reflects what’s going on inside of us, and conversely changing our surroundings can change how we function.  Just think about how you feel when you clean a closet, or organize the garage.  There’s a sense of pride and freedom, and a freeing up of energy.  Several years ago after I moved things around in my office and added some whimsical decorative touches as well, I found that not only did my productivity increase, but my creativity as well.

So, with that in mind, here are the five things I choose to change in my physical environment this year:

1. I want more beauty and things that invite the senses to take notice. To that end I am going to have more flowers, scented candles, whimsical objects that make me laugh, and much more music.  I already have a good music CD collection, and yesterday I added some wonderful violin music to the collection.  I am going to play it more. 
2. I am going to use my living room more.  Even just for me to sit and read in it.  It’s called the LIVING ROOM, not the company room.
3. I am going to gift, freecycle, ebay or just plain dump half of what I own.  Okay, so maybe not actually half, but we have way way too much stuff.  And I’m beginning to think that it’s time begin thinking about Rightsizing in a few years. I don’t want to be frantically trying to decide what to get rid of then.  So each week I will throw out a minimum of five things so that eventually I am left with only things I love and use.  (I am allowing myself to make books the exception to this one…)
4. I am going to repurpose my dining room.  I have a lovely and traditional dining room complete with antiques and a chandelier.  But how often do we actually use it other than holidays?  I haven’t quite figured this one out yet, but I will find a way to make the dining room take on new life.  Maybe as a reading room?  And it needs to have more whimsy.
5. Not yet sure about this one…but it may be that this year, I am going to have more fires in the fireplace.

What about you? 

Personal Development…and the list is growing

I’ve been tagged by Priscilla Palmer for her Personal Development website.  [Thanks to Donna Karlin for recommending this blog.]  Priscilla has set out to share her passion for personal development with the world  As part of her mission, she has created a list of remarkable personal development blogs that’s continuing to grow and includes several of my favorites in addition to this one, and Transformational Girlfriends, a collaborative blog that I participate in with some incredible women. 

Now, I already subscribe to several feeds on personal and organizational development, but there were many on this list that I had never viewed before, and I haven’t looked at all of them…yet.

I would say my top five are:

Steve Pavlina at stevepavlina.com

Donna Karlin at Perspectives

http://www.lifehack.org/

http://tobeme.wordpress.com/

Seth Godin at Seth’s Blog

Here’s Priscilla’s entire list as of today (she’s constantly adding to it):

Aaron Potts at Today is That Day

Adam Alexander at Adam’s Peace

Adam Kayce at Monk at Work

Adam Khoo at Adam Khoo’s Philosophies and Investing Insights

AgentSully at Life Learning Today

April Groves at Making Life Work For You

Argancel at C’eclair  (for those who speak french)

Ash aka Mr. Biggs at One Powerful Word

Al at 7pproductions.com

Alan Torres at Made to Be Great

Alex Shalman at AlexShalman.com

Alexander Kjerulf at The Chief Happiness Officer

Alexys Fairfield at Unraveling The Spiritual Mystique

Albert Foong at urbanmonk.net

Amber at Random Mangus

Amie Ragan at Psychology of Clutter

Amy Hedin at There is no Maximum to Human Potential

Andrea Learned at Learned on Women

Andrea J. Lee at Money, Meaning, and Beyond

Andy Wibbels at AndyWibbels.com

Anita Pathik Law at Power of four Way

Anna Farmery at The Engaging Brand

Antonio Thornton at AntonioThornton.com

Ariane Benefit at Neat & Simple Living

Ask Lucid at Ask Lucid Spiritual Development

Barbara Sliter at Creatorship

Belle Wong at Abundance Journal

Bill Perry at Lucid Blog

Billy Smith at The Organic Leadership Blog

Blogfuse at LifeDev

Brad Isaac at Achieve It

Brian Clark at Copyblogger

Brian Kim at briankim.net

Brian Lee at geniustypes.com

Bob at everyeveryminute

Cam Beck at ChaosScenario

Cara Lumen at The Success Magnets With Cara Luman and Your Second Wind Blog

Carlon Haas at Possess Less Exist More

Chris Cree at SuccessCREEations

Chris Marshall at Martial Development

Chris Owen at Pink Apple

Christine Kane at ChristineKane.com

Clyde at Feeling Good

Colin Beavan at No Impact Man

Conceive, Believe, Achieve at Conceive, Believe, Achieve

Craig Harper at Motivational Speaker

Curt Rosengren at Occupational Adventure

Cyres at Cyres Matters

Damian Carr at Soul Terminal

Daniel Sitter at Idea Sellers

Darren Rowse at Problogger.net

Dave Schawbel at The Personal Branding Blog

Dave Schoof at Engaging the Disquiet

Davers at Language Trainers Blog

David Allen at The David Allen Company

David Bohl at Reflections on Balance

David Fitch at David Fitch.com

David Richeson at 360 Degree Success

David Rogers at How to Have Great Self Confidence

David Seah at David Seah.com

David Zinger at Slacker Manager

Dawud Miracle at dmiracle.com

Dean Lacono at Law of Attraction for Beginners

Debbie Call at Spirit In Gear

Debbie LaChusa at 10 Step Marketing Collection

Debra Moorhead at Debra Moorhead.com

Denise Mosawi at Destineering.com

Des Walsh at Thinking Home Business

Devlyn Steele at Tools To Life Guide

Dick Richards at Come Gather Round

Dominic Tay at Personal Development for Winners

Don Simkovich at Hey Don

Donald Latumahina at Life Optimizer

Donna Karlin at Perspectives

Donna Steinhorn at Rethinking

Dr. Charles Parker at The Core Psych Blog

Dr. Hal at Northstar Mental fitness blog

Drew Rozell at Drew Rozell.com

Dwayne Melancon at Genuine Curiosity

Edward Mills at Evolving Times

Ellen Weber at Brain Based Business

Emily G. W. Lilly at The Science of Waldorf Education

Emmanuel Lopez at The Adventures of Motivatorman

Ellesse at Goal Setting College

Elly Jolly at Jolly Life Coaching

Enoch Tan at Mind Reality

Eric Napier at Quotation Collection

Erin Pavlina at Erin Pavlina.com

Frank Kanu at Frank Uncovers Excellence in Leadership

Frank Roche at KnowHR Blog

Galba Bright at Tune Up Your EQ

Gilad Buchman at Sigsug

Gleb Reys at Personal Development Ideas

Grayson at Modern Worker Blog

Greg Butler at Life as Art

Greg Frost at ChargedAudio.com

Gretchen Rubin at Happiness Project

Gustav at Success-is-in-you.com

Guy Kawasaki at How to Change the World

Gyanish at Diethack

Halina Goldstein at The Inner Travel Journal

Hilda Carroll at Living Out Loud

Heather Goldsmith at A Creative Journal

Henrik Edberg at The Positivity Blog

Honman at Open Your Mind to Prosperity

Inkedmn at The Cranking Widgets Blog

Itzy Sabo at Email Overloaded

Jacklyn Ker at Inspiring and Empowing Lives

Jason and Michael at Black Belt Productivity

Jason Ivers at A Miracle a Day

Jason Womack at Fit and Effective

Jay White at dumb little man tips for life

Jean Browman at Transforming Stress Into Power and Cheerful Monk

Jeff Lilly at Druid Journal

Jeffrey Phillips at Think Faster

Jennifer at Goodness Graciousness

Jenny and Erin at Jenny and Erin

Jeremiah Owyang at Web Strategy by Jeremiah

Jerry Hart at Blue Print to emarketing

Jerry Lopper at Personal Growth

Jessa at clairvoyantGuidance.net

Jim stroup at Managing Leadership

Jim Walton at Black In Business

JoLynn Braley at The Fit Shack

Joan Schramm at Accelerating Momentum

Joanna Young at Coaching Wizardry

Joanne at I’m Happy Fish

Joe Vitale at Dr. Joe Vitale at Zero

John Pratt at John Pratt International

John Place at John Place Online

John W. McKenna at The Leadership Epidemic

John Wesley at Pick The Brain

Jon at Join The Secret

Jonathan at Smart Wealthy Rich and Freelance Folder

Jory Des Jardin at Pause: Meaningful Work

Josh Bickford at Reach For Magnificence and Reach for Magnificence

Josh Kaufman at The Personal MBA

Judy Martin at The Work/Life Monitor

Julia Rogers Hamrick at Julia’s Blog: Journal of the Journey Home to Eden

Julie Bonner at Declutter It

Kailani at An Island Review

Kammie Kobyleski at Passion Meets Purpose

Karen at Journey with Water Learner

Karen Lynch at Live The Power

Karen Wallace at The Clearing Space

Karl Moore at Karl Blog.com

Karl Staib at Karl Staib.com

Keith Ferrazzi at Never Eat Alone

Kevin Kinchen at Creative Power of Thought

Killeris at Attitude, The Ultimate Power

Kim and Jason at Escape Adulthood

Kim George at Doing What You Can Do

Kirk Nugent at Kirk Nugent.com

Kirsten Harrell at Ipopin

Krishna De at Biz Growth News and Todays Women in Business

K.L. Masina at Be Conscious Now

Leah Maclean at Working Solo

Laura Young at The Dragon Slayer’s Guide to Life

Lee Nutter at bmindful

Leo Babauta at Zen Habits

Life Reflection at Universe in a Single Atom

Linda Salazar at Awaken The Genie Within

Lisa Braithwaite at Speak Schmeak

Lisa Gates at Design Your Writing Life

Lisa Van Allen at Finish Strong

Liz Strauss at Successful Blog

Lodewijkvdb at How to be an Original

Lola Fayemi at Real World Spiritual and Personal Development

Lorraine Cohen at Powerfull Living

Luciano Passuello at Litemind.com

Lucid at Spiritual Suggestions

Lyman Reed at Creating a Better Life

Lyndon Antcliff at LyndonAntcliff.com and Cornwallseo.com

MT at MindTWEAKS

Maddy at Illuminated Minds Want to Know

Malathy Badri at Laws of Universe

Manny at Success Books

Maria Palma at The Good Life

Marianne Williamson at Journal

Mark at The Naked Soul

Mark Forster at Get Everything Done

Mark LaPierre at The Winding Path

Mark McManus at Build Your Life To Order

Mark W Shead at Productivity 501

Martin Avis at Kickstart Daily

Matthew Cornell at Matt’s Idea Blog

Meg Haworth at Life Lessons From Your Soul

Melanie Benson Strick at The Success Blog

Merlin Mann at 43 Folders

Michelle at aMusing My Genius

Michelle Moore at Happiness Blog

Michael Port at The Think Big Revolution

Michael Vanderdonk at TOACH Performance

Mike Janssen at Opgestroopte Mouwen

Mike St. Pierre at The Daily Saint

Mr.Wang at Mr Wang Says So

My Everyday Planner at My Everyday Planner

Nancy Tierney at Unconditional Confidence

Neil Patel at Quick Sprout

Nic Askew at Monday 9AM Blog

Nick Smith at Life 2.0

Nneka at Balanced Life Center

Organize-It at Organize-It

Pamala Slim at Escape From Cubicle Nation

Pamm Larry at My Spiritual Dance

Patricia Singleton at Spiritual Journey of a Lightworker

Patti Digh at 37 Days

Paul at Paul’s Tips

Paul Piotrowski at Self Help Wisdom

Paula Kawal at Paula Kawal.com

Peggy Payne at Peggy Payne’s Boldness Blog

Peter at I Will Change Your Life

Peter Aldin at Great Circle

Peter Haslem at Necessary Skills

Phil Gerbyshak at Make It Great

Philippe Matthews at Shockwealth

Priscilla Palmer at Personal Development Demands Success

Raymond Salas at Zenchill Powertools

Real Modern Man at Real Modern Man

Reg Adkins at ElementalTruths

Ricardo at Wake Up Tiger

Rich Schefren at Strategic Profits

Rick Cockrum at Shards of Consciousness

Rick Cooper at The PDA Pro

Ririan at Ririanproject

Rob at 7Breaths

Rob Cooke at Leave the Office

Robert at Compassionate Council

Robert at Myselfdev

Robin Yapp at Yapp 3.0

Robyn McMaster at Brain Based Biz

Roger Von Oech at Creative Think

Rolf F. Katzenberger at Evomend

Rosa Say at Managing With Aloha Coaching

Ryan Marle at The Alpha Project

S.J. Yee at Personal Development for the Book Smart

Sam at Aquire Wisdom and Live with Passion

Scott Adams at The Dilbert Blog

Scott Berkun at Berkun Blog

Scott Bernadot at Keeping The Secret

Scott Ginsberg at Hello, My Name Is Blog

Scott H Young at Scott H Young

Scott McArthur at McArthur’s Rant

Self Pursuit at Self Pursuit

Senia at Senia.com Positive Psychology Coaching

Seth Godin at Seth’s Blog

Shane Navratil at Zoomstart

Shauna Arthurs at Breathing Prosperity and Follow Your Path

Shaheen Lakhan at GNIF Brain Blogger

Simone at Dynamic Living

Simone and Mandy at Outfit Inspirations

Slade Roberson at Shift Your Spirits and Spiritual Blogging

Sleeping Dude at How to Wake Up Early

Sonora Jayne Case at Positive Realities Coaching

Spike at Organize It

Stephanie and Jeffrey at Brains on Purpose

Steve King at The Green Geek

Steve Olson at Steve-Olson.com

Steve Pavlina at stevepavlina.com

Steve Roesler at All Things Workplace

Stephen at HD bizblog

Steven Aitchison at Change Your Thoughts

Surjit at Gurushabad

Susan Sabo at Productivity Cafe

Suzanne Bird-Harris at Learning Curve Coaching

Ted Demopoulos at Blogging For Business

Terry Starbucker at Ramblings From a Glass Half Full

Thom Quinn at Qlog

Tim Ferris at 4-Hour Workweek and Lifestyle Design Blog

Tim Taylor at My Agapic Life

Tom Peters at Tom Peters.com

Tom Spanton at TRCoach

Tom Van Brunscot of Transformation Economy

Tony Chimento at Living Forward

Tony D Clark at Success From The Nest

Torlink at You Create Reality

Travis A. Sinquefield at Disorganizational Behavior

Travis Wright at Cultivate Greatness

Trizoko at Trizoko.com

Trevor Gay at Simplicity is the Key

Troy Worman at Orbit Now!

Tuck Self at Rebel Belle Blog

Tupelo Kenyon at Tupelokenyon.com

Ubertech at Geeks Guide To GTD

Vera Nadine at Vera Nadine.com

Vickie at Contemplate This

Wally Bock and his real-life management insight at Three Star Leadership

Wan Qi at Meditation Forum Mantras

Wild Bill at Passionate Blogger

and these collaborated sites:

Burst Blog

Change This

Change Your Thinking

Daily PlanIt

Did I Get Things Done

GTD Wannabe

Jobman2

Joyful Jubilant Learning

Life Coaches Blog Stratagies for a Greater Life

Lifehack.org

Lifehacker.com

Transformational Girlfriends

Unclutterer