January 2008

The Archives

• Entrepreneurship

  The Importance of Daydreams

  01.30.08 | Permalink | 3 Comments

  Author’s Note: Tangent ahead.

  Since I was a kid I have always dreamed of traveling the world ( and meeting Michael Jordan). I have a list of cities that I want to visit and even live for a while.

  Until recently I thought of this as just a foolish daydream but now realize that this silly dream is the most important thing I have.

  We all have daydreams of our hopes, visions, desires. Most though, including myself, brush off these grand ideas because of this thing called rationality. We grow up to believe that grand things most likely will not happen so we shouldn’t even try.

  Instead, what we should do is go to college, get a good paying job, buy a house, get lots of stuff, and do the “American Dream” that I guess someone must have invented in the 50’s. What about our own dreams though?

  We, as Entrepreneurs are in a position to see past this facade. To us, a daydream can be something more than a thought during a moment of boredom.

  My challenge to you is to rethink the rules and envision your daydream, whatever it is as a real possibility.

• Entrepreneurship

  Make Meaning: The Best Way to Better Your Business (Plus: Blog News)

  01.28.08 | Permalink | 2 Comments

  A while back I attended a speech called ‘Let Story Guide You’ at the Willow Creek Community Church. The speaker, Donald Miller, made me think a lot about my life and my business. He told some funny stories and made his point, which was very simple:
  Your life is your story. Would anyone want to read […]

• Productivity

  Productive Clarity

  01.26.08 | Permalink | 1 Comment

  A few days ago I had a moment of productive clarity. I was in a powerful mode and got more done in two hours than most would get done in a day (including myself most of the time).

  Since then, I have reflected on that time to try to duplicate it. As the song Clarity by John Mayer goes “I will wait to find, if this will last forever, and I will pay no mind when it won’t because it can’t. It just can’t. It’s not supposed to.”

  Though moments like this don’t last forever, you can still learn from them. Take the time and reflect on how it came about and what can be taken away from such a magical time.

  Here is what I learned in reflection of my moment of Productive Clarity.

• Entrepreneurship

  Zen-Pro-Blog: The Importance of a Name

  01.24.08 | Permalink | Comment?

  I have had a few people ask me why this blog is called Zen Problog. It is a simple enough question so I though I would address it today.

  When I was just starting out in business I had no idea what I was getting myself into. I was so overwhelmed that I nearly gave up a few times. Luckily, through my partner and friends, I was able to muster the strength to keep going.

  In the last year, my life has changed drastically. I have become a better person and a better entrepreneur. In this article I am going to break down how I made the name of this blog reflect my experience and ideals.

  

  ZEN

  “Emphasis on mindful acceptance of the present moment, spontaneous action, and letting go of self consciousness, judgmental thinking” - Wikipedia

  In this last year, I discovered that to truly accomplish great things I needed to take a Zen approach to my professional life.

  Having a great sense of presence in whatever it is you do is the most effective way

• Simplicity

  Simplifying Your Workday

  01.22.08 | Permalink | 5 Comments

  

  Do you work too much every day? Do you wish you worked less? Don’t those questions sound like the start of a cheesy Rx Drug Commercial? There is a better solution to dealing with your work day and it is far from being Over-The-Counter.

  I have spent many days working too long. It is something I struggled with for a long time and to be honest, I still do. But I have discovered new ways to lighten the load and make the day easier and more productive while taking up less time.

  Here are a few simple suggestions that make a huge impact on the productivity and simplicity of your day time.

• News

  Quick Hello

  01.21.08 | Permalink | Comment?

  Just wanted to say hi to the new readers. The blog has gotten a good amount of traffic from StumbleUpon and other social media sites in the last couple of days for the article I wrote called 22 Benefits of Owning a Business (and Why You Should Do It).

  If your new here be sure to check out the Most Popular articles in the left NAV and subscribe for future articles. Thanks for visiting!

• News

  Great Minds Speak: Vol. 2

  01.21.08 | Permalink | Comment?

  “Life is really simple, but we insist on making it complicated.” - Confucius

  Leo, the author of Zen Habits, has a guest post on the Tim Ferriss Blog that is great for modern professionals called 10 Steps to Become and Email Ninja.

  If you ever have to give presentations in your business (and even if you don’t usually), this article—Ten Questions with Garr Reynolds is a great interview between the legendary Guy Kawasaki and the author of Presentation Zen.

  Another guest poster on Tim Ferriss (Tim is out of the country), this time Anne Zelenka from Web Worker Daily, wrote a great article on 5 Boundary-Setting Tips for the Work Obsessed. For those who need to read this, I feel your pain.

  For you web workers and writers, this article at CopyBlogger is the best I have read on how to make great content. It called The Content Crossroads: Supernatural Success at the Intersection of Ideas. And as an added bonus, there is a kick-ass video at the end of a Guitar-off. (It will make sense when you read)