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How to Become a Minimalist Business Ninja (and do work that matters): Interview with Everett Bogue

By Scott | February 21, 2011 | Follow me on Twitter

“Start by changing yourself, then inspire other people to change. Maybe, just maybe, we’ll manage to change the world in the process.”

~Everett Bogue

If you want to do the impossible, then surround yourselves with others who consistently do it.

For this reason I’m constantly meeting entrepreneurs and folks living life on their terms. It’s the best way to keep me true to my own faith, and to the extent that I can get some of the inspiration to rub off on you guys, all the better.

I had a beer (actually a few) with Everett Bogue a few weeks ago. He’s a pretty crazy dude…to say the least. And I love it. For starters, the guy lives on less than 50 things. I think I have 50 things in my desk drawer…

He is a minimalist in every sense of the word. And he’s built a fantastically successful business from it in under a year. He now spends time between…well, wherever he wants.

I’ve learned a lot from Everett in the past months. Don’t get me wrong, I am no minimalist. And I don’t intend to be – at least by his definition. But I do believe it’s a worthy direction to head.

In the past two years he’s come out with three rockstar guides - Minimalist Business, The Art of Being Minimalist (no longer being sold) and Augmented Humanity. These are a few of the very few products I wholly endorse on this site.  They’ve dramatically changed the way I run my business.

Enter Everett…

1. What’s your story? What put you here?

A year ago I lived very differently than I do today. I sat at a desk, I did what I was told, I had very little energy and I wasn’t exactly sure why I was living at all. Then everything changed.

For the last few years I’d been hearing a whisper on the fringes of society, some big change that was about to happen, but I wasn’t sure what it was. Slowly, one by one I started to notice as friends dropped off the radar. These were people who’d been pursuing the traditional idea of life — the 9-5, the house, the cars, the trips to the mall. Then they just stopped, and vanished from the life I’d been living. I tracked down a few of these people, and found out they were vagabonding around the world.

I wanted to do this too, but I didn’t know how. I wanted to live on my own terms, working and living from anywhere, I wanted to be free. So, I got rid of all of my stuff, quit my job, and I’ve been wandering around ever since. At the moment I’m in San Francisco, but where will I go next? No one knows, not even me.

2. Congrats on the transition. It seems like more and more people are getting into these types of adventures these days. Why should anyone care about what you’re doing compared to the millions of other blogs out there?

Who cares about me, what you should be caring about is you. Why are you sitting at a desk all day? Why are you here? What is your purpose in life? If it’s possible to live and work from anywhere, why aren’t you working towards that happening? I’m not unique, and neither are you. If you want to achieve something, chances are someone else did it before you. Ask them how they did it.

3. I couldn’t agree more with the idea of modeling what’s been done. So, what gave you the courage to strike out on your own? What was the tipping point?

I thought for a long time that I needed courage to do this, but the more research I do on location independence, the more I see it as an inevitable change in the way our culture works. The production of information in our culture is accelerating rapidly, and the actual physical goods we consume and produce is dropping at an incredible rate.

What society needs now is idea makers, and idea traffickers.

The natural exotropic progression of the evolution is towards an information society, and computers grabbed us by our fingers and are dragging us there. We just need to embrace it really — but sometimes it takes courage to hug someone.

4. So how do you turn this into a business – what’s your model?

I live the change I want to see in the world, that’s my business model. It worked pretty well for Gandhi, and it’s working pretty well for me. I just asked: how do I want to live? And the reality of it was pretty extreme. I saw a guy with a t-shirt on yesterday that said “there’s nothing normal about normality.” This is so true. Stop trying to be normal, start trying to be awesome. Teach people how to be awesome like you. This is my business model.

5. What about success –  how do you define it?

Success is a mindset. You have control over your mindset. If you have control over your mindset, you have control over your success.

6. What is your 80/20 – the most high value/high leverage work that you do?

We get really confused about what work actually is. I spent a lot of time studying what actual work is, and what we think it is. People tend to think of work as a reaction, like someone sends them an email so they respond to it and then they’re done working. In reality, answering emails is simply responding, it’s not working.

Working is creating information which helps people, at least to me.

It might be making a bench for you. Who knows? The point is that reacting isn’t working, it’s reacting. The most important work I can do is to give people permission to be awesome, so I do that every day. This is creating work that matters.

7. Well it’s clearly been working. You grew your following from 0 to over 8,000 in about a year. How’d you make this happen? What was your strategy?

You can’t create a following with strategies and tasks, it just doesn’t work. No amount of gaming the system will work. What matters is creating work that actually matters to people. That’s how you create a following. What do you want to change in the world?

I can see a lot things we can change. We can stop people from driving cars so much. We can inspire people to eat better food. We can teach people how to harness the energy that is all around them to make the world a better place, and make them more successful in the process.

If it isn’t already obvious though, the best ways to communicate with people are Twitter and blogging. Don’t do anything else except those two things.

8. Well put – I wish I knew that a year ago before I dumped countless hours on ‘strategies’. On that note, what has been the biggest waste of your time?

Every day that I sat at that desk in New York longer than I had to. You should never work on a project that you’re not passionate about just because you don’t know what else to do with your life. Change is the only way to grow.

9. There is nothing I believe more strongly Everett. Right on. Getting back to how you grew so fast, did you have anything lucky or crazy happen that added to it? Maybe getting on the front page of Digg or something.

This is going to blow your mind, and everyone else’s, but there was no magic bullet moment when success suddenly dropped out of the sky. The reality is that a successful business like mine grows one day at a time. It’s a collection of 25 people telling 50 people about my blog, and 50 people telling 100. This adds up over time, and creates the moment for success. Once in awhile I’ll get Stumbled or linked to by a big blog. Those are just blips of momentary high traffic — none of those readers stick around.

If you do work that matters, you don’t need magic bullet moments. And reality is that magic bullet moments don’t matter anyway, so stop searching for them and start changing the world for real.

10. What does a typical day look like for you?

I wake up, look out the window and smile. I throw my laptop and my yoga clothes in my bag. I go out into the world. I buy an orange and a banana at the fruit stand and eat them as I walk. I get a coffee at a coffee shop and write a little bit. I grab some lunch. I meet up with remarkable people (tomorrow I’m hanging out with Maren Kate). I go practice yoga for 2-3 hours. I go to sleep. No one decides my schedule but me, so maybe I’ll not do any of those things. Maybe I’ll do everything.

11. Not a bad schedule. So what advice do you have for those looking to live life on their terms?

Start to really take a look at the world we live in and notice how much needs to change. We’re destroying the planet, bit by bit, day after day. We sit on the couch and watch TV all day. We drink milkshakes on our way to work. This isn’t silly, these things do need to change if we’re going to make any progress. And you know what? people want these things to change. I know it seems odd, but they do.

Start by changing yourself, then inspire other people to change. Maybe, just maybe, we’ll manage to change the world in the process.

**********

Now that is music to my ears. Thanks Everett! Do things that matter to you and the world will notice. It will also be a better place as a result. That’s no joke. Everett is a living example of this and I feel fortunate to consider him a friend and inspiration. His ‘work’ will blow your mind. I hope you’ll spend at least a few minutes with it.

If you are at all serious about making a dent in the online world, Minimalist Business is worth a look. If you just want to stop consuming a bunch of useless crap and get rid of some stress, then perhaps check out The Art of Being Minimalist. If it’s not available anymore then Leo’s book is awesome as well – The Simple Guide to a Minimalist Life.

Most importantly, start doing things you care about. Nothing else really matters. The rest is easy…

Do you have questions for Everett and how to get out and do meaningful work? Please leave them in the comments below.

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The Importance of Being a Beginner (and Leveraging Superpowers)

By Scott | December 28, 2010 | Follow me on Twitter

Written by Scott Dinsmore – Follow me on Twitter.

The Importance of Being a Beginner

“All glory comes from daring to begin.”

~ Eugene F. Ware

Last week I took a Hip Hop class and a surfing lesson. It was my first ever of the former and had been years since the latter. I felt about as coordinated as a monkey in boxing gloves, trying to peel a banana.

It was awkward. It was humbling. It was brilliant.

I was a beginner and I loved it.

The world needs more beginners. It’s time to take action!

When was the last time you did something for the very first time? For most of us, it’s not often enough.

Why is it that the world seems to avoid new things at all cost? When given the choice between doing what we’ve done before and trying something for the first time, we default to what’s comfortable. But where’s the fun in that? If you don’t try, you’ll never know. I propose we put an end to it, and we all commit to being new at something. With 2011 upon us, the timing’s perfect.

It’s ok to not be the best at something.

In fact there’s huge power in being a beginner. Here are a few:

  • Keeps you humble
  • Gets you out of your comfort zone
  • Removes expectation or comparison
  • Connects you with people on a new level – gives a window into their world
  • Gives you a chance to find something that lights your heart on fire

Why are we so scared to be beginners?

We all have the things we’re good at. Either we’ve done them for years or they come naturally. We tend to spend the majority of our time on these. In most instances this is a fine thing.

But what happens when you get relatively good at a job you hate? It’s easy. You’re comfortable. And as a result you never take the plunge to experience the real juice of life.

This fear of being new can keep us from the richest aspects of living. It can keep us from our soulmate as we stay in our comfortable relationship, it can keep us pounding the keyboard when we have an idea that the world needs built, and it can keep us on the couch when our bodies capable of running across town.

It’s ok to be a beginner –  but be sure to leverage your Superpowers.

Realize that your current natural skills and talents (which I like to call Superpowers, as mentioned in The Beginner’s Guide to Being Congruent) are transferrable in more ways than you think. Maybe you stay in your sales job because you’re great at building rapport, relating to people’s needs and closing deals, but you happen to be selling snake oil and you hate it. Then get out and be a beginner with a new product. Or even better, create your own product and apply your natural magic.

A new activity doesn’t need to require new skills.

I was recently working with a reader who was starting to realize she was losing her passion as a school teacher. She loved the teaching but hated the beauracracy and BS that came with it. This made her feel guilty.

Then we started to brainstorm. She had the biggest part figured out. She was a kick-ass teacher and there was nothing more exciting to her than educating. To know this in your mid twenties is huge – we should all be so lucky.

This was a killer start. Then we began to think through where else these Superpowers could be useful. The ideas began to flow – There’s for profit education, private tutoring, corporate training. The list goes on. Maybe she’d rather start up her own advanced tutoring business. Talk about a low risk endeavor and she already had the assets to be a rockstar at it.

Who knows what she’ll decide. The point is you can be new at a role, career, job, sport or hobby but be an expert at the underlying skills required to experience success.

Focus on your Strengths – just find a new application.

I am the last one to suggest you spend all your time working on your weaknesses. Weakness are important to improve only to the point where they allow you to function in society. Past that, all one’s energy related to improvement and education should be dedicated to further mastering your natural Superpowers. Tom Rath will pound you over the head with this in his Strengths Finder 2.0–a required read for anyone truly in search of freedom.

Being a beginner doesn’t mean you don’t focus on your strengths. It’s simply a new application of your core.

Embrace being a Beginner – Just like when Steve Jobs was fired.

Steve jobs, in his 2005 Stanford Commencement Speech recalls one of the most character-building experiences of his life. It was the mid 80′s and he was fired from Apple Computer – yes, the company he started in 1976. After the drama, he had no choice but to be a beginner.

Surprisingly, Jobs recalls it as an unbelievably refreshing and inspiring life chapter – To have no expectations and just to go forward and create. He went on to build two more business successes in Pixar and NeXT (which eventually sold for $7.4b and $429m respectively). NeXT was later bought by Apple at which point he returned as CEO.

Spend 15 minutes with his speech. Whether you’ve seen it or not, it’s worth another watch. I keep it on my iPhone and watch it monthly (a little ironic, I know).

Dreams start at the beginning.

Every dream that saw a glimpse of daylight, before anything else, had to begin. The start is never glamorous. You’ll fumble, you’ll be ridiculed, you’ll doubt yourself, you’ll try to rationalize why you should put it off. That’s why most dreams stay dreams. The fear of beginning is too great.

This first step is the most important step of even the most epic journeys and experiences. Without it, not a damn thing will happen.

But once you start, amazing things begin to occur. The first step feels like trudging through partially dried cement, but the next feels a little lighter and after a few strides you feel like you’re sprinting barefoot down the beach. Momentum is a powerful (and nearly unstoppable) thing. But something must first be moving to harness it.

I’ve experience this in everything I’ve started and stuck with, from barefoot ultramarathons, to my investment partnership, this website back when my mom was the only subscriber, my Personal Freedom Coaching and my 5 years of long distance that finally lead to marrying the love of my life.

Every new beginning reminds me why it is so crucial to keep trying.

If you had dreams of doing great things, or doing anything at all, you better get comfortable with being a beginner. As an entrepreneur I’ve embraced it. I’ve learned to thrive off of the uncertainty.

There’s one thing that’s certain: If you never try anything, you’ll never experience greatness.

It’s not a coincidence that this comes right as we’re about to kick off a new year. There’s no better time to channel massive momentum. Now is all of our time to be a beginner. It always is.

I like to pick at least a few things each year to give a crack at. I usually stick to ones related to my businesses or physical and mental growth activities.

A few things I plan to be new to next year (stay tuned for a full list in a few weeks):

  • Surfing
  • Simplifying
  • Triathlons
  • Creating a knock-out course/guide to help my readers live on their terms

How to be a beginner in 2011. An uber-simple process.

1. Know your Superpowers. Think of what you’re freakin awesome at. What skills allow that? What do you love to do naturally? Public speaking, crunching numbers, counseling others, doing deals, making friends, writing a million lines of code? Strengths Finder 2.0 is a killer shortcut for this.

2. Pick your focus. What have you always wanted to start? Ideally pick something you believe will add fulfillment and enjoyment to life (is there any other reason to do something anyway?). A side business, a new career or a new relationship. It should truly move the needle. And for fun also choose something totally off the wall (hip hop 101 anyone?).

3. Create a bunch of tiny steps. Chunk your new focus down into really basic and manageable tasks. This makes getting things underway a lot less stressful. If you want to start a new career then the first little step may be making a list of 5 people you can talk to in your new space. Then set up meetings with them. And so on. If it seems easy, we’ll start, if it seems too hard, we won’t.

4. Begin! This is the hardest part, but all it takes is two seconds to say “that’s it”, “never again” or “let’s begin”. Those words, spoken with enough meaning and emotion, can change your world. Take the two seconds, and then another five minutes to complete your first task. You’ll never experience the magic if you don’t start.

5. Let the momentum rip. It quickly becomes unstoppable.

There is no waiting.

What you do today turns into how you spend your life. Do you want to spend today putting off what you know will ignite a bonfire of passion? If you forgo the new and exciting today, that will likely be the story of your life.

Do you know the most dangerous word in the world? Later. It’s a euphemism for never. Get over the fear of not knowing how to do something or failing or being new. That’s all going to happen anyway. Might as well charge it head on. Without those ‘risks’, magnificent things can’t happen.

The beginnning is where it starts. So naturally, I’ll see you there.

What new path have you been putting off? What will you vow to be a beginner at in the new year? Tell us in comments because that’s what creates accountability.

And please take 2 seconds to share this on Twitter or Facebook. The world needs more beginners!

Photo courtesy of saipal

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11 Steps to Insane Focus: Do More of What Matters

By Scott | November 9, 2010 | Follow me on Twitter

Find Intense Focus

The Power of Focus

“One reason so few of us achieve what we truly want is that we never direct our focus; we never concentrate our power. Most people dabble their way through life, never deciding to master anything in particular. ” -Tony Robbins

Written by Scott Dinsmore

Average Read Time: 4.5 Minutes

This morning I woke up, brewed some Yerba Mate, caught a glorious rooftop sunrise and proceeded to get more done before breakfast than I had in the past 4 working days combined.

How about you? How many important things did you get done last week? I mean the things that actually got you closer to your biggest goals and dreams.

Take a minute to think about it and write a couple down. How many did you come up with?

For many the answer is few if any at all. Why?

In a word: Distraction.

Lack of focus is the most common killer of making things happen.

In the last 10+ years there’s been an unconscious shift from encouraging focus to condemning it. It’s happening without us knowing and we’re all likely victims. As soon as multitasking became possible and encouraged, our focus died.

Mine certainly did.

We have to fight our very best fight to get it back.

Leo Babauta is leading the charge with his latest book Focus, which is more than worth the read. I hit up a sweet barefoot run with Leo last week where he filled me in on some of the good stuff. Unbelievably powerful.

Without focus we are headed for disaster and the consequences are as dangerous as they come.

What’s the biggest risk of losing our focus? Wasting our time and living a meaningless life.

The solution is to simplify. Get back to the basics of doing the important.

Here’s a brief 11-step guide to reclaiming insane Focus.

1. Know what actually matters. Be honest with yourself about the actions that truly move the needle in your business and your life. An 80/20 analysis is a great place to start. If you’re stuck, just think of the tasks you fear the most–that give you anxiety just to think about. Those are likely the most important.

2. Pick your top 2-3 core tasks each day. These are the things that must happen no matter what. If you get these done your day is a success. Stick to no more than three, or better yet one. They must move you closer to your big goals. Checking email does not count.

3. Do them first thing. For me writing is one of my core actions, so I write for an hour or so as soon as I roll out of bed or after my morning workout (it’s 5:45 am right now). The longer you wait, the more distractions will intrude. Nothing happens before these get done.

4. Do not connect to anything until your core tasks are done. Don’t convince yourself you need the internet or email to do your most important tasks. 95% of the time you don’t. Leave the internet off and phone on airplane mode until you crush through the important.

5. Kill multitasking. Stop thinking it’s more efficient. It’s not. No surfing during phone calls, reading during meals, chatting while writing. Do one thing at a time. Simple. Not only is multitasking terribly inefficient but it stresses you out and it’s rude to anyone around you.

6. Turn off email and notifications (and anything else that interrupts you). When you sit down to do something, nothing else gets attention. Just because someone decides

to email, chat or call you, doesn’t mean it’s more important. Those things can wait. But if you know they are waiting there, you’ll be too tempted. Avoid temptation at all cost. We are too weak. I don’t trust myself with email on my iPhone so I totally removed it.

7. Don’t check email in the morning. This is the most effective (and difficult) single practice I’ve found. I know every one of you have heard this one. So why doesn’t anyone actually do it? It will change your life. It feels terrible to know we’ve spent a couple hours refreshing and going in and out of email without really getting anything done. I assure you that if you check it, you won’t be able to help yourself, and you’ll stumble face first into the worm hole. So don’t even open it until you have a few hours of focused action under your belt (this is at least 11am for most).

8. Batch your emailing to two times a day MAX. Maybe 30 min before lunch and 30 min late afternoon. If you need an email for your core task, do not go to your inbox. Go straight to the search feature and find it. If you need to write an email as a core task (which should very rarely be the case), write it offline in a simple program like notepad. Save reactionary items for after you get the important done.

9. Try to get less done in a day–practice Slow Working. Don’t fill every moment of your calendar with tasks (this is a huge one I’m working on). You’ll be stressed and rushed the whole day. Slow down and move through your core tasks calmly. Then maybe you do a few more things with the remaining time but don’t cram them in. If you do, you’ll always feel behind.

10. Plan more time for each task. This is the easiest way to alleviate the schedule. And things always tend to take longer than we think. If your core task will take you 45 minutes, then block out 90. Actually schedule it on your calendar. If it only takes you 40 minutes then suddenly you have free time–how freakinawesome (and rare) is that!

11. Take breaks and reward yourself. Most of us can only intensely focus on something for an hour at best. Take at least a few-minute break every 30 or 60 minutes to clear your head. I love going up to my rooftop for a couple deep breaths and a view of the Golden Gate. Find a fun way to get you free and clear. Take a walk, meditate, feed the ducks, breathe, get a snack or some water or listen to an inspiring song. You pick.

Do the above and your day will be a victory before most people wake up.

It’s a pretty awesome feeling. You’ll get way more done than you planned but your mind and schedule will also be clear to enjoy life a little more. Few things feel worse than an unproductive day. Nail your big things early and use that energy to take the rest of the day by storm. Take a walk with your wife, play with your kids, go down to the beach and read. Do whatever you want. That’s the point.

Everett Bogue hits on this in graphic detail in his Minimalist Workday. Very practical free guide.

Enjoy having nothing to do.

When was the last time you had nothing to do? Many of us can’t remember. It’s because we set our days up for failure. With more tasks than we could ever accomplish and loads of wasted time in between. Filling every second of your day will do this. With the above, you’ll suddenly have time to spend in your own way. That’s when your mind really starts to have some fun. The big ideas will begin to show up.

We are addicted to wasting time.

Realize that mindless work is an addiction. It’s just as dangerous as smoking or alcolhol. I’m not kidding. Email, Facebook, twitter, texting, surfing, news–it’s all a deadly serious addiction. We just think it’s ok because everyone else around us is wasting their life on it. If everyone started smoking tomorrow would you start? That’s what I thought.

The path to freedom can be difficult to see, mostly because the world is telling you it’s not there. A path begins by walking. These addictions have caused us to lose our way and most importantly, lose our focus. We avoid the present. We avoid what matters. And we avoid what’s right in front of us. Be it a sunset, your husband or that client call you’ve been putting off.

With pure focus we can be unstoppable.

You’ll get more done in a day than most get done in a week, with time left over to savor the subtleties of life you forgot you enjoyed so much.

When in doubt, ask yourself “Am I wasting my time to avoid the important?” Be honest. You’ll know the answer. Do something about it.

How do you get focused? What are your biggest distractions? Please share in the comments section below. Even one sentence goes a long way.

A Free Bootcamp for Bloggers-This Week.

A bad ass blogging Bootcamp started this week called How to Write Like an A-List Blogger. It’s run by Leo Babauta of ZenHabits. The first week is free, and the full 6-week program costs a few bucks but is hugely worth it if you’re serious about having a business online. This group has helped me grow this blog by 1500% in 6 months.

If you’re a day or three late, you can still sign up.

The course contains modules on:

  • The little known power of Story
  • Coming up with great topics for posts
  • Advice on writing posts
  • Style
  • Headlines
  • Getting your posts to a wider audience

Sign up today for the first week free, to see if it’s worth your time.

Other Resources to Help You Along the Way:

Leo Babauta’s new book, Focus- there is a free and paid version available

Everett Bogue’s free eBook The Minimalist Workday

Quadruple Your Productivity and Enjoy a Little Life

Living the 80/20 Life: 5 Ways to Achieve More with Less

Photo 1 courtesy of my wife, Chelsea :)
Photo 2 courtesy of ssh

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20 Presence Hacks: A Guide to ‘Right Now’

By Scott | October 5, 2010 | Follow me on Twitter

20 Presence Hacks Reclaim the Now

“Give your fullest attention to whatever the moment presents.”

-Eckhart Tolle

Written by: Scott Dinsmore

Average Read Time: 3 Minutes

When was the last time your mind was clear, calm and empty? Completely absorbed in the present moment? For many, it’s tough to remember.

Of all the things I’ve tried to do over the years from starting businesses to running super long distances or helping others find freedom, by far the most challenging has been staying present. For most of us it’s not natural. We’ve been trained almost since birth to constantly be multitasking and getting as much done as possibile in the littlest amount of time.

It’s easy to forget that life is not only about accomplishments, tasks and goals. Those are all great but too much focus on the past or future leaves little to be enjoyed right now. And now is all we really have.

This constant focus on getting things done and what’s next is where most stress comes from.

It is ok to not be busy all the time.

Ever since Eckart Tolle made presence famous, I’ve been compiling shortcuts to the Now. (His book The Power of Now had a mind blowing effect on my thinking. Very worth the read).

Most of these are available no matter where you are. All you need is your mind. Experiment with them and adopt a few routines to reclaim your moments.

20 Presence Hacks

1. Breathe. Presence starts with the breath. Feel it coming into your body and out. What temperature is the air? Feel your stomach expanding and contracting. Picture air filling your lungs.

2. Enjoy breezes. I read about a man who’s favorite thing in the world was breezes. Every time he felt one, he stopped everything and just enjoyed it for a few moments. Imagine how amazing his life must have been. The more triggers we can have to bring us back to the present, the better. They could be breezes, smiles, running water, clouds, anything. What are yours?

3. Savor your food. For most of us eating simply means chewing. Usually done while rushing to the next task. When was the last time you consciously paid attention to each bite? How the food tasted and how it felt against your teeth and mouth? It’s almost impossible if you eat on the go or while you do other things. Sit down and just be with each bite.

4. Smell. Deep focus on any of the senses will naturally bring presence. Next time a smell catches your nose, stop and enjoy it. Let it be one of your presence triggers. Close your eyes and let the aroma take over.

5. Be extreme. Do a wild and crazy extreme sport, where your life depends on your focus. Presence is a requirement. That’s why rock climbers, sky divers, downhill skiers or competitive martial artists are often addicted to their adventures. It provides the exhilarating feeling that nothing else in the world matters.

6. Marvel at your body. Be in awe of how it works. While exercising give intent attention to each muscle group, joint and bone and how it functions to make your movements possible. Yoga is a great practice because it’s based around this awareness. But any sport gives you a reason to marvel.

7. Do some yoga. On that note, let’s get flexible. Yoga gives focused attention on your breath and body movements while getting a kick-ass workout. Ultimate mind clearing.

8. Get into nature. Observe the colors, notice the life in every direction, breathe in the air. Nothing beats some intimate time with nature. Even a short walk can be all it takes.

9. Count. If our mind is racing with ideas, one technical method is to push the chatter out with another mental task like counting. You can count your breath or nothing at all. Close your eyes and see how high you can get before your mind wanders. Make it a game.

10. Unplug. Technology is the killer of presence. Shut off the phones, social networks, email notifications, computers and anything else that needs power. They all distract us from our moments.

11. Give a toast. Or anything that makes you super nervous. I consider things like speeches to be extreme mental activities that have a similar effect as extreme sports. When addressing an audience, you’re forced to be right there. Being scared helps with presence too and speaking is most of our biggest fear.

12. Listen. Hear what the person with you is saying. Listen intently and actively respond. Be engaged.

13. Be captivated. Sunsets are my favorite way, and recently I’ve found the same in sunrises. Allow yourself to be in amazement of something around you.

14. Watch a movie. This isn’t permission to become a couch zombie, but movies can draw your focus like nothing else. I make them a weekly or biweekly treat. Much better than TV with distracting commercials and sometimes shallow story lines. Get absorbed in a good plot and for a couple hours everything else  disappears. For extra credit pick something inspiring or emotion-provoking.

15. Observe the world. Notice the people walking down the street or a man mowing his lawn or a dog being walked. Simple everyday things, in isolation, can offer awesome calm.

16. Be alone. No distractions. No people. Just you and your thoughts. Try it out in nature. Makes a great setting to try any of the other twenty on this list.

17. Change your environment. When things are overwhelming or your thoughts are going wild, leave the room. Go outside, talk to someone new. Simple way to break a challenging pattern.

18. Get some help. Guided breathing and meditation can be enormously powerful. I carry a number them on my iPhone to throw on in if I ever need to slow down. Jon Kabat-Zinn has some great CD’s. Can be a useful before bed and after waking up routine.

19. Realize you’re not present. As soon as you realize you’re not present, you’re present. Might only last for a second, but it’s a start.

20. Have nothing to do. Give yourself permission to do nothing. Clear away the clutter and just be. You might get more done than you think.

And a Bonus (and the most important of all):

Do one thing.

Presence in it’s simplest form comes down to doing one thing at a time. That’s it. This goes for anything in life, not just the above. If you’re running, then focus on running. If you’re eating then savor the food. If you’re brushing your teeth then feel the brush moving back and forth. If you’re reading an article online then tune everything else out (especially if it’s this one…).

If something is important enough for you to do then it’s important enough to deserve every ounce of your attention. Leo Babauta at ZenHabits calls this Single-Tasking. If it doesn’t have your full attention, it’s likely a waste of time.

Being Present Takes Work

For most, there is nothing more challenging than tuning out the world and being right here. Don’t be hard on yourself. Just be conscious of it and slowly incorporate the above or whatever works for you.

I used to think people who sat around or traveled without a book or journal were missing out on so much.

Now I realize that perhaps I was the one missing the action as I had my nose buried in a book when I could have been breathing in the scene or making a connection with the person right next to me. Reading, learning, writing and accomplishments have a very important place. But so does the opposite.

Schedule some time to do nothing today. Just be. Without it, you could be missing your most valuable experience of the day.

What are you best Presence Hacks? Please join the conversation in the comments section below. Even a few words or one sentence goes a long way.

If you liked this article, please Tweet about it or tell your friends on Facebook using the links below. And It’d be awesome if you’d forward it to anyone you know it could benefit. Thanks!

Other Resources to Help You Along the Way:

The Art of Slowing Down: 12 Simple Steps

Find Peace in a Busy Life

The Power of Now

Learn to Meditate

Photo Courtesy of: vramak

Title Credit: Leo Babauta’s post Top 10 Productivity Hacks of ZenHabits inspired the title of this post. Thanks Leo.

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The Curse of Too Much: Why Most People Never Live Their Dreams and What to Do About It

By Scott | September 22, 2010 | Follow me on Twitter

The Curse of Too Much

“Perhaps too much of everything is as bad as too little.”

-Edna Ferber

Written by: Scott Dinsmore

Average Read Time: 4.5 Minutes

Do you know the biggest roadblock between most people and their personal freedom?

Not understanding what’s really enough.

What is enough for you? It’s a question so few stop to answer. Instead we let other people, advertisements and emotions answer for us.

How much do you need to be happy? How much money, how much status, how many things, how much free time?

Most peoples’ response is something like “a lot” or “more than I have”. Totally unclear and ambiguous.

But do you have a number? A crystal clear response to the above? If not, then we’ve got important work to do.

How can you ever expect to live life on your terms if you don’t take the time to realize what will be required to do so?

The curse of too much is everywhere:

  • We think we need more food than we do so we overeat
  • We think we need more space than we do so we buy too big a home
  • We think we need more things than we do so we overspend
  • We think we need more money than we do so we overwork
  • We think we need more freedom than we do so we end up alone
  • The list goes on…

While traveling up the Dalmatian Coast last month, I met shop owners, artists and fisherman with the simplest lives, who all shined with happiness. They didn’t have iPad’s or nice clothes and they didn’t care. They knew what was enough for them and they were content.

This forced me to rethink what I really needed to be happy. It’s an important exercise and I hope you’ll do the same.

Most dreams are a lot more achievable than people think. But you must let the rubber hit the road in order to get anywhere.

Understanding what’s enough and finding your dreams: A 3-Step Process

Step One: Define your dreams

What do you really want? Get as graphic and as detailed as you can. I’m talking lifestyle, where you live, what you own, how you work. Ask why until you know the reason behind each dream. If you say you want a big home or a boat, then why? After enough ‘why’s’ you’ll likely come back to the desire to be happy or experience some other similar emotion. Understand what’s behind the dream and write it down.

Step Two: What will it cost?

Get even more detailed. I’m not just talking about money, but also time. When it gets down to brass tacks, rarely is it the money that keeps people from their dreams, but the free time needed to live them. That’s the kicker.

How many hours, days, weeks or months are required to do it? If you want to travel the world by sailboat then charter the course, know which cities to visit and how many days at sea. Be sure to buffer time for storms, broken masts and all the other adventures you may find on the water. Talk to people who have done it so you’re less likely to miss something major. The more detail the better.

How much money will it cost? Be specific and do some research. If you want to spend a year in Italy, find apartment rental rates, Euro conversions, grocery and travel costs. These numbers may not turn out to be totally correct but the point here is that they will likely be a lot less than you expected.

Step Three: What actions are required to get you there?

If it’s time you need then what will you do to free your time? What can be outsourced? What can be done remotely? You might even want to employ The 80/20 Rule. You should be diligent about this whether you plan to go somewhere else or not. Your time is too valuable not to.

How much will you have to save? What little extras in life will you give up to make this dream a reality in months rather than never? I’m not talking about sacrificing a latte a day to afford a plane ticket in a year, unless of course you want to. Maybe you begin to realize the joy of cooking as opposed to eating out. Saving does not have to mean less enjoyment. It just means taking a new view on what’s already in front of you. Do you really need all that crap you spend money on?

For a game-changing perspective on what’s enough, check out The Simple Guide to a Minimalist Life or The Art of Being Minimalist. I will never look at ‘things’ the same again.

Wanting Too Much Money

Not knowing what’s enough will keep you from your path.

People don’t pursue their own path and instead adopt someone else’s because they have this belief that they need more than they actually do.

If you always want a bigger house, nicer car, with more trinkets, you will always be fighting to keep up and it will never end. As soon as you realize that experiences are more important than things, your world will change.

The only reason we want things is to achieve an emotional state.

We accumulate money with the hopes of one day trading it for experiences and emotions-namely happiness. Why not skip the nonsense and go right to the enjoyment? You don’t think it’s possible? Go spend a week or two in Zimbabwe or South Africa watching kids play. You’ll get a new understanding of what’s enough to enjoy.

If you don’t have enough right now to be happy, it’s likely you never will.

Personal Story: Finding enough to spend a year in Italy.

One of my dreams has always been to live in Italy for a year or so to spend time writing, reading, learning Italian, soaking in a new perspective and picking up a few cooking tips. In the past years I’ve found all kinds of reasons why this wouldn’t happen. I have businesses at home that I can’t leave. I don’t have the time. My life is here. Europe is expensive. And on and on.

Just recently I went back through the above three steps to realize that 90% of my obligations can be taken care of with a laptop, skype and wifi. The other 10% can be outsourced. My rent and cost of living in Italy would be a fraction of what it is in the heart of San Francisco (even on the Euro) and my life would still be here when I returned.

All of a sudden a dream became possible. Very possible. I could hardly sleep after realizing it. I don’t plan to go anywhere too soon, but knowing how within reach it is, is the type of thing that adds passion to life.

More is in reach than we have any idea.

You’ll Never Actually Get There

Without clear dreams it’s likely that you’ll never ‘get there’.

‘I want a million dollars’ one might say. Once they get it they want $10m. Then $50m. If you believe the number is the end in itself, you will be on a road that never arrives.

If you don’t know why you want the money, status or achievement, then you will always want more. Every mountain top will turn out to be a false summit with a more daunting peak in the background.

I urge you. Get as crystal clear as possible about what you want and why. Is it all really necessary?

Are you happy now? If so then why push it so much? We only have right now. You will never be in your future. Happiness not spent now does not mean more happiness later.

The most powerful realization I had years ago was that I was not going to enter into the same game as everyone else. I did not need all that so many others felt was ‘necessary’. I was taking my own path on which there would be no comparison. It started with understanding what I really wanted from life and continued with putting it to action.

I encourage you to do the same.

Know what’s enough to be happy. I’ll make a bet with you that it’s a lot less than you’d think.

What have you realized is more in reach than you thought? How have you decided what’s enough? Please share with all of us in the comments below.

If you liked this article, please Tweet about it or tell your friends on Facebook using the links below. I’d appreciate it.

Other Resources to Help You Along the Way:

The Simple Guide to a Minimalist Life

The Art of Being Minimalist

Photo 1 Courtesy of: rolands.lakis
Photo 2 Courtesy of: aresauburn

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