Your Secret WeaponWritten by Dave Balch
Did you know that you had a secret weapon to help you solve complex and perplexing problems? It is available to each and every one of us whether we know it or not, whether we use it or not.Do you want to know what it is? I knew you would: it's your subconscious. Stay with me here... and don't roll your eyes! This is not some hocus-pocus new age revolution or a pie-in-the-sky theory. This is a fact and if you're not taking advantage of it you are missing out big-time. The best way to explain it is with an example of how I used it just last night. It has been very hot up here in mountains (at least to me!) and I don't do well in heat. We have central air conditioning for first level but my office is on lower level and is way too hot for me to concentrate. So, I set up a makeshift office upstairs and wired it so I could operate my desktop computer (downstairs) from upstairs using my notebook computer. There is special software to do this and I couldn't get it to work properly: I could operate laptop from desktop, but not other way around, which is way I needed it to work. I tried everything: technical support at manufacturer's website, other user groups on Internet, comparing settings on different computers (after all, it worked one way, why won't it work other way??), reading documentation, "help" files, etc. To complicate situation, I was using an older version of software which was no longer supported. Needless to say, I was very frustrated and out of options; I couldn't think of anything else to try.
| | What Time is It?Written by Dave Balch
Sometimes you're flying high. Everything is going great! You've finished something that you've been putting off for a long time, or you just got organized, or a big order came in. Don't you just LOVE feeling like that? You are full of energy and those impossible tasks are just sailing off of your desk. You're to-do list is shrinking like a cotton shirt in a dryer.On other hand, sometimes you're pretty discouraged. "How am I ever going to finish that project? How can I possibly do all of things that I need to do in order to get to where I want to be?" Don't you just HATE feeling like THAT? It's hard to move a single piece of paper from one place on your desk to other. The easiest things look impossible to do. You are carrying a large stone around your neck and everything is an effort. I think that most people are like that; highs and lows, ups and downs. Even most productive people hit a brick wall once in a while and wonder to themselves, "What was I thinking when I took on this project??" Naturally there can be a zillion reasons why you are down: outside pressures, just lost a big customer or big deal, fight with a family member, illness or accident, etc. What separates men from boys, however, is how you deal with it. Sometimes you can help yourself when you're down by asking yourself one simple question: "What time is it?" WHAT?? That's right! I'm willing to bet that when you go from a high to a low rather quickly it is a function of time of day. Here's why: when you are tired, everything seems worse than it really is.
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