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This blog has been moved to Glen Sharp's New Blogger Life on my own domain using Wordpress.

The Fun Theory

Volkswagon has come up with an innovative way of encouraging desirable behavior by applying the theory that people will be willing to do all sorts of things they wouldn't otherwise if you make it fun. Sounds like a fun experimental project to me.

Work the System

Sam Carpenter has written a wonderful book about how viewing the world from a system perspective can be a mindset change with far reaching impacts.

Simply thinking about the myriad systems in everyday life tends to create a focus on cause and effect that can be very constructive. Recognizing that many different systems are at work that most of the time work flawlessly despite their complexity encourages optimism. When glitches do happen it is important to understand that most of the system is probably still working correctly and what is needed is to determine how the subsystem that has failed can be fixed. I like to think of this as the engineer's mindset, which is very beneficial to problem solving.

Sam has very generously made his book available for free as either an ebook or audio podcast on his web site.

Finding Motivation

Leo Babauta writes extensively on simplifying to be more productive. A major emphasis is that motivation is a key driver to not only getting things done but more importantly doing the right things that you are truly passionate about. Doing less but doing what really matters.

He also has something to say about finding motivation in his Essential Motivation Handbook ebook.

Click here to view more details about buying the ebook

Here’s the Table of Contents:

1. How To Motivate Yourself

2. The Only Two Secrets to Motivating Yourself You’ll Ever Need

3. A Guide to Beating the Fears That Are Holding You Back

4. Task Ninja: Form the Action Habit

5. Top 20 Motivation Hacks

6. The Ultimate Guide to Motivation – How to Achieve Any Goal

7. Progress, Progress, Progress! 5 Tips To Keep You Moving Forward

8. 7 Steps to Turn Your Self-Improvement Desires Into Reality

9. 25 Killer Actions to Boost Your Self-Confidence

10. 6 Small Things You Can Do When You Lack Discipline

11. 16 Ways to Motivate Yourself When You’re in a Slump

12. 5 Tips For Motivational Recovery

13. The Magical Power of Focus

14. 10 Ways to Beat the “Can’t Get No Satisfaction” Syndrome

15. 30 Incredible Places to Turn When You Need Inspiration

16. How To Deal With Negative Feedback

17. How to Doggedly Pursue Your Dreams in the Face of Naysayers

18. Achieve Your Dreams Despite Pressures of Work and Family

19. Why You Should Celebrate Your Mistakes

20. How to Actually Execute Your To-do List

21. The Yin And Yang Of Persistence

22. Enduring the Valley to Get to Success

23. How To Relax And Why It’s So Important

24. The Simple Guide To Single-Tasking Success

25. Stop Reading About It and Do It

Canucks have a way with words

Canadian Sayings Books: "So dumb he thinks Medicine Hat is a cure for head lice"

(Via Canadian Sayings Sample Pages.)

Fine Tune Your Brain

I am not a big fan of self deprecating book or blog titles but "Dumb Little Man" has some excellent content. From a personal system perspective a number of tips on things to do and helpful attitudes are offered to fine tune your brain.

Simplifying Life with Zen Habits

Leo Babauta writes a blog called Zen Habits where he espouses how life can be made more productive and with less stress by simplifying and eliminating the inessential. This is a powerful message in our times of information overload and people being overwhelmed by their complicated lives. Some might see parts of this message as being obvious or common sense but common sense isn't as common as it should be. My perspective is that the basics sometimes need to be reinforced so you move from knowing to doing. The keys to success aren't necessarily complicated. You just need to be clear on your priorities and have the discipline to focus your attention on what is important to you.

First you can start at no cost by reading his Zen Habits blog, The Power of Less web site, Write to Done web site, Minimalist blog, and checking out his free ebook, Thriving on Less. Of course if all these sources are too much, just pick one, such as the Beginners Guide to Zen Habits from the Zen Habits blog which has the most information to pick from or the Power of Less web site, which has a good summary of the latest and greatest resources.

If all this free stuff appeals to you Leo has also written several books/ebooks that provide the "Do-How" of simplifying and focussing on what is most important to you.

The Power of Less hard cover book is something you can settle down and read away from the computer.

The following ebooks are less expensive and can be downloaded right away:

The Simple Guide to a Minimalist Life

Zen Habits Handbook for Life or if you want to buy right away

Zen To Done or if you want to buy right away