80 How-To Sites Worth Bookmarking
July 9, 2008
Sitting on my dining room table, I currently have half a dozen projects in various states of doneness. Some involve vivisected computer parts, others will eventually be wearable and a few are just cool things I’ve ran across on the internet. I like doing things myself — I think the DIY bug is one of the best communicable diseases in the lifehack community.
These eighty sites are the places I turn to when I’m trying to figure out how to accomplish any particular goal. Any time I’m facing a new project, I start searching for how-tos that will help me figure out how other people did similar things and how likely I am to finish the project with all ten fingers still intact. I’ve broken them up into a few different categories, just to help you narrow down what you might be looking for. Some are simply archives full of tutorials. Some are blogs that publish how-tos fairly regularly. Some are just great resource sites. But they all have provided me with the information necessary to carry through on a project.
Every How-To They Can Get Their Hands On
These ten sites are more than happy to host any how-to around. I’ve seen everything from computer hardware hacks to instructions for brewing beer on these sites. This is the place to start — you can narrow down your search as you get a better idea of your project.
- Make Magazine’s Blog
- Instructables
- How Stuff Works
- Evil Mad Scientist Laboratories
- wikiHow
- flickr
- Lifehacker
- Popular Mechanics
- DIY Happy
- Expert Village
What is the Value of One Hour?
May 23, 2008
When I was 21 years old a gentleman asked me what I thought the value of an hour was. At that point, I honestly did not know how to answer the question. He went on to teach me one of the most valuable lessons I have ever learned.
He suggested that the value of an hour was priceless. When this confused me some, here is what he went on to tell me this:
If you invest one hour each day in understanding yourself and your environment better, you will accumulate nine 40-hour weeks over the course of a year! As you can imagine I was blown away when he put it to me that way. Nine 40-hour weeks? This seemed impossible until I did the math. 365 days multiplied by one hour each is…yep, nine 40-hour weeks!
He went on to ask me how well I would be able to do something if I did it all day, every day for just over two months. Well you already know the answer to that…I could be awesome!
He went on to tell me that over the course of just five years I would have invested the equivalent of 1825 hours of focus on whatever I desired to accomplish in my life.
Imagine for a minute how incredible you could become at anything you did for one hour each day for the next year.
How physically fit could you get? How much more love could you give and receive? How much more money could you earn?
Let me suggest that one hour is a small price to pay in comparison to the payoff.
Just one hour each day may just be the razor’s edge you need to really get the results you want in your life.
For me the decision was easy. I have been studying human potential and the mind for over 20 years. Each time I think I’m getting a good handle on it, I am gently reminded of how much there is to observe and learn.
Is getting what you want in life worth one hour a day? I certainly hope so.
Regardless of the success I have achieved in my life, I still manage to set aside my hour to read motivational stories or listen to inspirational people. They are the fuel for my mind and it keeps me learning and yearning for more.
Please adopt an hour a day for yourself!
Pick one area of your life that you want to improve and commit the next 90 days to that one thing.
I assure you that the results you achieve will be well worth the decision!
And remember…you can’t get out of this life more than you put into it.
17 Ways to Stop Being a Perfectionist and Get More Done
February 29, 2008
Although sometimes it may seem like it, no one is perfect. Everyone makes mistakes and has at least a few faults. And while it may seem like a noble goal, striving to be a perfectionist in your work or personal life can actually be more of a hindrance than a help in making you successful. Focusing on making every detail perfect can end up making you get less done, not to mention leave you in a constant state of anxiety. These are a few ways you can stop worrying so much about being perfect, enjoy your work, and still get plenty done in a day.
1. Set realistic expectations. While it might be wonderful to finish your current project, start another, get new clients and keep up with all your household chores, the reality is that expectations like that aren’t always realistic. There’s no sense in making yourself feel bad by setting yourself up to fail. You don’t have to be perfect to be productive, so give yourself expectations that are something you can actual accomplish, you can always add on more later if you get ahead of schedule.
Striving for excellence motivates you; striving for perfection is demoralizing. ~Harriet Braiker
2. Give yourself credit. When you set goals for yourself, it’s easy to let yourself concentrate on the things that you haven’t accomplished instead of those you have gotten done. Give yourself some credit for the milestones and small parts of projects that you get done along the way.
3. Accept that you will make mistakes. While it might be hard for the true perfectionists out there, you can get a lot more done if you recognize that no matter what it is you’re doing, there are going to be some mistakes that you’ll make along the way. Accept this, and use these as valuable learning experiences to be better in the future instead of beating yourself up over them.
4. Ask for help. Though you might feel it’s a blow to your pride, asking for help doesn’t make you weak or incompetent. Sometimes having an outside perspective or a little extra help can make all the difference.
5. Focus on the present. It can be easy to get caught up in worrying about past mistakes or things that are looming in the future that may never even happen. Instead of trying to perfect your past and future, concentrate on doing what you need to do now to make yourself happy or get more work done.
6. Just get it done. Getting things done perfectly is great, but just getting them done period isn’t too bad either. Focus more on the action of getting things done instead of putting so much effort into worrying about doing each thing perfectly.
7. Relax. When you tense up because you’re worried or nervous about being less than perfect, you can make work a completely miserable and stressful experience. Just relax instead. Even if things don’t turn out perfectly, chances are good that things won’t be nearly as bad as you imagine.
Read more
Cultivate Greatness, Success & Passion Blog Carnival #018
February 4, 2008
Extra! Extra! Read all about it! Here we are with the 18th edition of the semi-frequent Personal Development Carnival at Cultivate Greatness! A great amount of wisdom to share within this edition of our Blog Carnival… many, many golden nuggets of wisdom to share… [ over 250 submissions! ]
If this is your first article listed in this personal development blog carnival, please provide a linkback to CultivateGreatness.com somewhere on your site, to provide a nice circle of link love! 
Here we are near the beginning of February. The year has just begun. Make sure to stay on task with your goals and move forward toward your dreams. You deserve them! Thanks for making the February 4th, 2008 edition of the Cultivate Greatness, Success and Personal Growth BlogCarnival a success!
