Thursday 14 July 2016

Mentorship and Modelling In Action

A bee enjoying lunch.

Mentorship and Modelling In Action
Pitching Your Idea When the Stakes are High: How to be a Successful Millennial Entrepreneur -
Leerom Segal

Albert Einstein famously said, "You can't solve today's problems with the same thinking
that created them." Truer words have never been spoken. That’s why I’m so proud of the work
I saw at this year’s Clinton Global Initiative University, which brought more than 1,200 college students from around the world to the campus of UC Berkeley
to address major global challenges through “Commitments to Action.”
While my expectation was that the majority of the projects would be focused on technology-based philanthropy, there instead was a vast range of creative solutions presented 
to help solve urgent, critical challenges for communities around the globe.
One student group had plans to organize coding workshops for refugees,
while another was on a mission to create a self-sustaining herb cooperative.
It was then that I was reminded of the Thomas Edison quote:
"Vision without execution is just hallucination."

CGI’s Commitment to Action model, combined with the networking opportunities at their meetings, unleashes a lot of human potential because participants are hungry to execute, 
not just to talk. 
As a member of CGI LEAD—a mentorship program that pairs industry leaders
with entrepreneurial college students-- I was able to participate in a session at CGI U
that challenged mentees to pitch their ideas to mentors in one minute or less.
Just imagine you’re on Shark Tank, except instead of standing in front of the ‘sharks,’
picture yourself sitting around a table of global leaders and entrepreneurs.
It’s a different scene to be sure, but don’t underestimate the surprise and challenge
of having to explain your mission in under a minute! It was quite an experience sitting around
the table with our awesome mentees. And even though each mentee presented his/her 
own unique and brilliant ideas, we saw some very common patterns that came from making presentations in a high-stress, high-stakes environment. 
We can all learn a few things from the lessons that emerged:

Economize words, speak slowly, and breathe
Like everyone, I'm guilty of speaking too quickly, providing too much detail, and sometimes
even forgetting to breathe! It’s only natural. Stress, anxiety, and passion tend to overtake
calmness and make it more difficult for your audience to follow and absorb.
There’s a delicate balance between "rehearsed spontaneity" and authenticity,
but to clearly articulate a problem statement and vision in under a minute 
requires a lot of practice of Less is More. 
Perhaps that’s why Mark Twain famously signed off his letters by apologizing
"Sorry this letter is so long, if I had a bit more time, I would have made it shorter."

Why You & Why Now? 
In an effort to clearly articulate the solution, many of the students neglected to explain 
why they started their mission, why their personal journeys equipped them with the right context, why now was the right time, and so on... 

Polish your elevator pitch
It’s called an elevator pitch because sometimes you only have two floors to ‘sell’ your idea.
So it’s critical that you sequence your points in a manner that
(1) first engages the audience,
(2) sizes the problem,
(3) specifically explains your unique abilities or novel approach, and then
(4) scopes your initial focus in a credible manner to ensure people 
     lean into the balance of the pitch. 

Start with Proof & Positivity
Invariably, at every table, some mentees would begin by sharing an audacious vision
without first establishing their beliefs and/or accomplishments.
The most effective pitches however, began by highlighting progress and continued momentum.
The key is to highlight some supporting data, such as a trend, stat, or distinction about how you think about the problem or even build on partnerships that will help you achieve your goals.
It was illuminating to hear the difference in impact of an individual beginning positively,
sharing a metaphor for where they are on the journey, 
and then sharing the obstacles that remain.  

Storytelling Wins
I was impressed by the approach taken by University of Toronto student Ariel Sim, who has a CGI U commitment to use Google Maps to improve community development opportunities
for underserved populations in Senegal. Ariel started her presentation with a provocative question that engaged the audience by asking for a show of hands. Full transparency:
Ariel is my mentee but in no way had we discussed her idea or the pitch process in advance.
She naturally started by getting people's attention and launched into an immersive storytelling experience. It was only when she broke from the story to attempt a demo
that it proved more challenging to keep people’s attention.
People don't want to see your app, they want to know you and to understand your motivation.  
Whether you’re a student or an experienced professional,
keep these tips in mind for your next pitch.
Your delivery could be the difference between executing and hallucinating that big idea.

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/pitching-your-idea-when-stakes-high-how-successful-millennial-segal?trk=pulse-det-nav_art

Turbo Charged Reading: Read fast>>>Remember all>>>Years later
Contact M’reen at: read@turbochargedreading.com

You can TCR specialist and language dictionaries that are spontaneously accessed.
I can Turbo Charge Read a novel 6-7 times faster and remember what I’ve read.
I can TCR an academic book around 20 times faster and remember what I’ve read.
Introduction to Turbo Charged Reading YouTube
A practical overview of Turbo Charged Reading YouTube 
How to choose a book. A Turbo Charged Reading YouTube
Emotions when Turbo Charged Reading YouTube

Advanced Reading Skills Perhaps you’d like to join my FaceBook group ?

Perhaps you’d like to check out my sister blogs:
All aspects of regular, each-word reading and education.
TurboChargedReading uses these skills significantly faster
www.innermindworking.blogspot.com      many ways for you to work with the stresses of life
www.happyartaccidents.blogspot.com     just for fun.

To quote the Dr Seuss himself, “The more that you read, the more things you will know.
The more that you learn; the more places you'll go.”

Monday 11 July 2016

The Power of Mornings: Why Successful Entrepreneurs Get up Early

Foxgloves - what a beautiful thought.

The Power of Mornings: Why Successful Entrepreneurs Get up Early
Lisa Evans

When running a business, it may seem like there are never enough hours in the day.
Tapping into the power of mornings, a time of day when there are less demands,
might be the key to increasing your productivity.

For 15 years, Starbucks President Michelle Gaas has set her alarm for 4:30 a.m. to go running. Gretchen Ruben, popular author of The Happiness Project (Harper Perennial, 2011)
wakes up at 6 a.m. and works for an hour before her family rises.
Time-management expert Laura Vanderkam highlights what makes mornings special
and how we can use them more efficiently in her book What The Most Successful People 
Do Before Breakfast (Portfolio Trade, 2013).

Here are a few benefits to getting out of bed earlier. 
You are less likely to get distracted in the morning. An entrepreneur's day fills up fast.
If you wait until the afternoon or evening to do something meaningful for yourself
such as exercising or reading, you’re likely to push it off the to-do list altogether.
“There are going to be reasons why you can't tackle a personal priority at 4 p.m. – 
things have a lot less likelihood of coming up at 6 a.m.," says Vanderkam.

You have more willpower early in the day.
Even if you aren't a morning person, you may have more willpower in the early hours than later
in the day. "Willpower is like a muscle [that] becomes fatigued with over-use," says Vanderkam. During the course of the day as you're dealing with difficult people, 
making decisions and battling traffic, you use up your willpower, 
leaving you feeling depleted toward the end of the day.
Mornings give you the opportunity to set a positive tone for the day. If you've ever slept in
past your alarm clock or forgotten your kids' lunches on the counter, you know that starting off
the day with a failure can bring down your mood and affect your productivity at work
anderkam says waking up earlier allows you to start the day with a victory
and set the tone for a happier and more productive day.

If the thought of waking up at sunrise makes you cringe, Vanderkam recommends these four steps to transform even a habitual night owl into a morning person.

1. Keep a time journal. 
Vanderkam says one of the reasons people say they don't like mornings 
is that they stay up too late. She recommends keeping a time journal for a week 
to show where you may be using your time inefficiently. Vanderkam finds 
when many self-professed night owls look at their time journals, they often find 
they aren't spending their evening hours productively or doing anything particularly enjoyable.

2. Imagine your perfect morning.
Imagine what you would do if you had an extra hour in the day. Would you exercise?
Read the newspaper rather than simply skimming the headlines? "
[Getting up earlier] isn't about punishing yourself. 
You will not get out of bed if you don’t have a good reason to do it," says Vanderkam.

3. Plan your morning
Once you have decided what you want to do with your extra time, plan how to execute it,
and set as much up as possible the night before. For example, if you want to exercise in the morning, lay out your clothes the night before, or gather the ingredients for your breakfast.

4. Build the habit slowly. 
Vanderkam says you will likely hit the snooze button and sleep in if you try to switch your habits drastically. So instead of setting your alarm for 5 a.m. when you normally get up at 7:30 a.m.
set the alarm for 10 minutes earlier each day.
To make sure you don't lose sleep, go to bed 10 minutes earlier each night.
If you have trouble hitting the sack on time, set a bedtime alarm.

https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/226910

Turbo Charged Reading: Read fast>>>Remember all>>>Years later
Contact M’reen at: read@turbochargedreading.com

You can TCR software/engineering manuals for spontaneous recall – or pass that exam.
I can Turbo Charge Read a novel 6-7 times faster and rememberwhat I’ve read.
I can TCR an academic book around 20 times faster and remember what I’ve read.
Introduction to Turbo Charged Reading YouTube
A practical overview of Turbo Charged Reading YouTube  
How to choose a book. A Turbo Charged Reading YouTube
Emotions when Turbo Charged Reading YouTube

Advanced Reading Skills Perhaps you’d like to join my FaceBook group ?

Perhaps you’d like to check out my sister blogs:
All aspects of regular, each-word reading and education.
Turbo Charged Reading uses these skills significantly faster
www.innermindworking.blogspot.com    many ways for you to work with the stresses of life

To quote the Dr Seuss himself, “The more that you read, the more things you will know.
The more that you learn; the more places you'll go.”

Friday 8 July 2016

What's The Difference That Makes ALL The Difference?

King Cups like to be very close to water.



Turbo Charged Reading: Read fast>>>Remember all>>>Years later
Contact M’reen at: read@turbochargedreading.com

You can TCR music, poetry or self development material for internal knowing.
I can Turbo Charge Read a novel 6-7 times faster and remember what I’ve read.
I can TCR an academic book around 20 times faster and remember what I’ve read.
Introduction to Turbo Charged Reading YouTube
A practical overview of Turbo Charged Reading YouTube  
How to choose a book. A Turbo Charged Reading YouTube
Emotions when Turbo Charged Reading YouTube

Advanced Reading Skills Perhaps you’d like to join my FaceBook group ?

Perhaps you’d like to check out my sister blogs:
All aspects of regular, each-word reading and education.
Turbo Charged Reading uses these skills significantly faster
www.innermindworking.blogspot.com      many ways for you to work with the stresses of life

To quote the Dr Seuss himself, “The more that you read, the more things you will know.
The more that you learn; the more places you'll go.”

Tuesday 5 July 2016

Know Your Limits, Your Brain Can Only Take So Much

Cornflower.

Know Your Limits, Your Brain Can Only Take So Much
Michael Vaughan

Don't go out and buy a new day planner or learn a five-step decision-making process –
- they won't work. If they did, we would all be much happier and more effective.
The truth is that to improve our thinking abilities,
we need to understand the root of our problem -- our brains.
Angelika Dimoka, director of the Center for Neural Decision Making at Temple University,
conducted a study that measured people's brain activity while they addressed increasingly
complex problems (i.e., noise). Using functional magnetic resonance imaging to measure changes in blood flow, she found that as people received more information, their brain activity increased in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, a region behind the forehead that is responsible for making decisions and controlling emotions. 
But when the information load became too much, it was as though a breaker in the brain 
was triggered, and the prefrontal cortex suddenly shut down.
As people reach information overload, Dimoka explained, "They start making stupid mistakes
and bad choices because the brain region responsible for smart decision making
has essentially left the premises."
These breaker moments are becoming more and more frequent in most people's lives.
The underlying issue is that most of the activities we do throughout the day contribute to the load. In any given day, you will likely find yourself at the supermarket selecting a cereal
from among too many choices, at the office responding to never-ending emails,
and at home multitasking on daily chores. All of these tasks with the associated
information input begin to chisel away at your mental resources,
leaving you flustered and even helpless when faced with making far more important decisions.
Over the last few years, we have observed that when participants in The Regis Company simulations become aware of some the contributing factors to breaker moments, they do better at filtering incoming data, helping them when they need to make tough calls. 
Here is a brief overview of some of the noise contributors and some tips to more effectively handle them:

Choice: The more choices we are given, the more tired and less effective we become.
The human brain has limited resources and energy to expend to make each choice.
In the time between getting up in the morning and going to bed in the evening,
an average person makes thousands of decisions. Each choice we make drains a little more
from our mental reservoir. If there are days you know you'll need to be at the top of your game, reduce the number of choices you need to make on those days.

Multitasking: With so many demands surrounding us all the time, it's tempting to try to do it all
and at the same time. The truth, however, is we are optimized for task switching.
When we switch between tasks, our brains must halt any processing of the current rule set
and load a new rule set for the next task.
This happens quickly. But halting, unloading, loading, and restarting takes a toll.
To increase your performance or to enhance your ability to learn,
it is important to focus on the task at hand.

Information abuse simply means dumbing down information to the point
at which it is not questioned. Abuse is commonly seen in tools such as PowerPoint presentations, where rich data are distilled down to a few key messages.
On the whole, key messages that are thoughtfully constructed and articulated can be helpful.
The danger, however, is that our brains tend to be overly accommodating.
Public speakers, politicians and marketers count on being able to provide information
that subtly blends into the listener's understanding of the world without prompting questions
or analysis. To improve your decision making,
look past the nicely packaged data to the conditions that shaped them.

https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/230925

Turbo Charged Reading: Read fast>>>Remember all>>>Years later
Contact M’reen at: read@turbochargedreading.com

You can pre-read all your course material for internal knowing.
I can Turbo Charge Read a novel 6-7 times faster and remember what I’ve read.
I can TCR an instructional/academic book around 20 times faster and remember what I’ve read.
Introduction to Turbo Charged Reading YouTube
A practical overview of Turbo Charged Reading YouTube  
How to choose a book. A Turbo Charged Reading YouTube
Emotions when Turbo Charged Reading YouTube

Advanced Reading Skills Perhaps you’d like to join my FaceBook group ?

Perhaps you’d like to check out my sister blogs:
All aspects of regular, each-word reading and education.
Turbo Charged Reading uses these skills significantly faster
www.innermindworking.blogspot.com       many ways for you to work with the stresses of life
www.happyartaccidents.blogspot.com      just for fun.

To quote the Dr Seuss himself, “The more that you read, the more things you will know.
The more that you learn; the more places you'll go.”

Saturday 2 July 2016

5 Simple Cures to Work Smarter and Save Time

 5 Simple Cures to Work Smarter and Save Time
Matthew Toren

You’ve heard the expression “work smarter, not harder” before, but what does that mean exactly? When your inbox is packed, there's a giant stack on your desk
and the phone keeps ringing, how are you supposed to get it all done smarter?
The truth is many of our common ways of doing things aren’t actually productive.
When you focus too heavily on the act of doing over the brilliance of planning,
you can be spinning your wheels with a lot of extra activities that aren’t driving any results.
That means lots of time wasted on things that aren’t worth your attention,
or that could be handled in a more efficient manner.
As Benjamin Franklin said, “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.”
Here are five simple cures to help you work smarter in the days ahead:

1. Structure. 
The wealthiest entrepreneurs know that having some structure to your schedule creates
a routine of success. If you’re running around willy-nilly stomping out fires
instead of planning your business’s future, you’re going to burn out and fall behind.
The key to an effective workday is setting some structure in place. Get up at the same time Monday through Friday and carve out a routine, for instance; wake up, work out, eat breakfast,
 answer emails, phone calls, block out time for actual planning and work, 
check your email again, phone calls again, then be done for the day.
When you break out of your structure and start answering emails and phone calls all day
and all night, you are actually wasting a lot of time. Having structure allows you to prioritize
your day, trains your staff and clients when they’re going to have access to you
and also allows you to carve out dedicated time for family, friends and yourself.
Structure makes you a smart entrepreneur.

2. Drop the myth of multitasking. 
Perhaps for a few of the world’s most talented mothers, there is such a thing as multitasking.
But for the rest of us mere mortals, drop the idea that you can multitask and be effective.
The brain isn’t wired to do two tasks well at once. Focus on talking, typing, working or thinking,
but don’t try to do more than one. You end up wasting more time trying to correct your words
or rewrite your email. Your brain is losing efficiency each time it jumps to a new task.
Focus on one thing at a time, complete it fully, then move to the next.
This will help you gain much more time in the long run.

3. Urgent does not necessarily mean important. 
Part of being an entrepreneur is using sound judgment. You have to know your business model
and products. You have to trust your judgment to hire vendors and staff.
Apply that same sense of good judgment to the urgent vs. important tasks that arise everyday.
Part of the brilliance of working in a structure is that in many ways,
it eliminates this urgent vs. important issue.
If you check your email or return calls in scheduled batches of your structured routine,
it trains your staff and clients to figure out their own problems. Have the judgment and discipline
to step out of the easy habit of thinking every urgent thing is important -- it’s not.
Learning to let urgent go will save you a tremendous amount of time and stress,
so you can work smarter and focus on what’s important instead.

4. Turn it off. 
Smartphones and wi-fi are amazing. It’s easy to take them for granted now because
they’ve become a part of life that wasn't around just 10 years ago. 
Yet entrepreneurs such as Bill Gates and Richard Branson still managed to build 
billion dollar empires with a landline phone.
All this connectivity is convenience at its best, but it can also be incredibly disruptive
to your workflow. To work smarter, you need to find times in the day when the instant message options are off, the email notifications are blocked and the phone is on do not disturb.
All those pings, chimes and vibrating distractions take your brain out of a creative process.
Only you have the power to turn all the distractions off and focus on blocks of time
devoted solely to work, the creative process and your business.

5. Take lots of breaks. 
How can you take lots of breaks and still get anything done? Easy! It’s all about structure again. When you plan out your day to have moments of time between tasks for breaks,
you’re setting yourself up for success. When you go, go, go, you end up burning out big time. However, if you set up time for short walks, meals and other small blocks of time 
to reset your brain and fuel your body, you’ll have the energy 
and juicy brain matter you need to go strong all day.
Don’t feel guilty about getting up from your workspace every two hours for water, a snack
and a few laps around the block. Keeping your body fuelled and rejuvenated
will keep you working smart for a long time down the road.

https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/232755

Turbo Charged Reading: Read fast>>>Remember all>>>Years later
Contact M’reen at: read@turbochargedreading.com

You can TCR software and engineering manuals for spontaneous recall – or pass that exam.
I can Turbo Charge Read a novel 6-7 times faster and remember what I’ve read.
I can TCR an instructional/academic book around 20 times faster and remember what I’ve read.
Introduction to Turbo Charged Reading YouTube
A practical overview of Turbo Charged Reading YouTube  
How to choose a book. A Turbo Charged Reading YouTube
Emotions when Turbo Charged Reading YouTube

Advanced Reading Skills Perhaps you’d like to join my FaceBook group ?

Perhaps you’d like to check out my sister blogs:
All aspects of regular, each-word reading and education.
Turbo Charged Reading uses these skills significantly faster
www.innermindworking.blogspot.com         gives many ways for you to work with the stresses of life
www.happyartaccidents.blogspot.com        just for fun.

To quote the Dr Seuss himself, “The more that you read, the more things you will know.
The more that you learn; the more places you'll go.”