Archives for November 2012

10 Things Your Friends Wish You Knew

11.16.2012 by Marc Chernoff // 26 Comments

10 Things Your Friends Wish You Knew

Friends are the ones who know you as you are, understand where you have been, accept who you have become, and still encourage you to grow. These people are special, and they should be treated as such.

Yet, sometimes you get so consumed with your own issues that you forget the basic principles of nurturing these relationships. So it’s time to re-learn the little things you should know to help your friends smile wider as they walk beside you on the road of life.

Here are some friendly reminders:

Your time is the best gift you can give. – In your relationships with others, nothing you can give is more appreciated than your sincere, focused attention. It is indeed one of the most valuable things you can contribute to any relationship. Being with someone, listening without a clock and without anticipation of results, teaches you about love. In other words, the success of love is in the loving – it is not in the result of loving. So don’t listen with an agenda or the intent to reply. Hear what is being said with the intent to truly understand. Read The 5 Love Languages.
You have the power to make a big difference. – Everyone in life wants to be loved and accepted. Your greatest achievements in life will be the direct result of finding this love and acceptance within yourself, and [Read more…]

15 Reasons to Run for Your Life

11.14.2012 by Marc Chernoff // 43 Comments

10 Reasons to Run for Your Life

Don’t walk away from these situations, RUN! Life is too precious not to.

Start running from…

People who keep hurting you. – Stop wondering why people keep hurting you. Ask yourself, “Why am I continuously allowing this to happen?” Speak up. Stand up for yourself. Sometimes we suffer, not because of the violence others inflict on us, but because of our own silence. Read The Mastery of Love.
Love that lies. – If another person steals the heart of the person you love, be thankful that you learned the truth sooner rather than later. Because their love was never true – true love can’t be stolen. We have to accept the fact that some people are going to stay in our hearts for a long time, even if they don’t stay in our lives.
Procrastination. – Sometimes we ask questions not to seek answers but to affirm something our soul knows already. You’re not doing yourself a favor by merely hearing the same answer from people over and over again. It is accepting the truth, making a conscious change and finally moving on to other things that is your answer. Give your soul a chance to explore the life you are meant to live. Stop asking the same questions – at some point you have to make a decision and take action.
Impatience. – The principle part of faith is patience. When we walk by faith there will be times when we hear and see nothing, and are tempted to [Read more…]

25 Things I Would Tell My 20-Year-Old Self

11.09.2012 by Angel Chernoff // 45 Comments

25 Things I Would Tell My 20-Year-Old Self

Perhaps a little rough around the edges, this is the ‘no frills, no fluff’ advice I would give to my 20-year-old self if I ever got the chance to travel back in time.

Life is significantly easier when you’re honest with yourself and others. This doesn’t mean you should be rude and inconsiderate, but it’s better to be upfront when you have to rather than concealing things and letting them fester.
Stand up for yourself. Some people will do anything for their own personal gain at the expense of others – cut in line, take money/property, bully/belittle, pass guilt, etc. Do not accept this behavior. Most of these people know they’re doing the wrong thing and will back down surprisingly quickly when confronted. In a public setting people tend to keep quiet until one person speaks up, so SPEAK UP. Read In Sheep’s Clothing.
Drama is never worth putting up with. If someone over age eighteen can’t be a reasonable, reliable adult on a regular basis, avoid this person.
The biggest disappointments in life are the result of misplaced expectations. Tempering unrealistic expectations of how something ‘should be’ will greatly reduce unnecessary frustration.
If you can make a reasonable living doing what you love, DO WHAT YOU LOVE. You may not get rich, but you’ll get to do what you love, and that’s [Read more…]

10 Critical Questions You Must Ask Yourself

11.07.2012 by Marc Chernoff // 35 Comments

10 Critical Questions You Must Ask Yourself

Wisdom is not about knowing all the answers; it’s about asking the right questions. In the long run, the simple questions you ask yourself on a regular basis will determine the type of person you become.

So today, ask yourself…

What do I appreciate about my life? – Think of your lifestyle as a diet. You fill it with the fuel that’s going to keep you performing at your highest level. Supplementing your daily routine with positivity can only make you stronger. Because once you replace negative thoughts with positive ones, you will start having more positive results. And over time, as this habit helps you reduce stress, release your hurt, and not take things so personally, you will not only feel better, you will look younger and live longer too. Read The Happiness Project.
Am I spending time with the right people? – There are over seven billion people in the world right now; don’t let a handful of negative ones ruin your happiness. No, you can’t choose every person you meet in life, but you can choose who you spend your time with. So be thankful for the people who walk into your life and make it better, but also be thankful for freedom to walk away from the ones who don’t.
What are my gut instincts telling me? – Never apologize for what you feel and what you don’t feel; that’s a betrayal of your truth. No matter [Read more…]

12 Unconventional Habits of Highly Productive People

11.05.2012 by Angel Chernoff // 38 Comments

12 Unconventional Habits of Highly Productive People

It is not enough to be busy…
The question is: What are you busy doing?

I’ve always been someone driven to excel and make the most out of this wild ride called life.

So when I read Tim Ferriss’ book The 4-Hour Workweek, a new world of possibilities opened up to me. After discovering his personal productivity tips, I knew the way I worked was never going to be the same.

Over the ensuing 18 months I diligently applied Ferriss’ strategies, from utilizing Parkinson’s Law to following the 80/20 Principle, to eliminating distractions and batching tasks. And I saw solid results.

But always looking to optimize, I decided to take it a step further. I decided to see if I could “out-Tim Ferriss” Tim Ferriss.

So I spent some additional time studying the habits of other successful people – reading their books, blogs, etc. to see what was working for them. And then I started experimenting with a variety of these strategies also to see just how productive I could get.

Some of my experiments failed, but many were resounding successes. Today, I want to share 12 unconventional productivity strategies that worked well for me. As I built habits around each of them, my daily efforts became noticeably more [Read more…]