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BOOK REVIEW - START WITH WHY

*really motivating book about passion, would read again if I lost sight of my goals 4.5/5 

 -WHY is another way of saying our purpose, our passion, the reason WHY we do the things that we do. If we all use this as a starting point, we would all lead better lives. We would not hit periods of confusion and frustrations to if the journey we're on is correct. And if we're on the right journey. There will be no questioning it cause you decide that’s your why 

-THE GOLDEN CIRCLE: The Golden Circle is a three layered circle. On the inner circle is the WHY moving out you'll go to HOW and end with WHAT. This is the Golden Circle in which you should guide all your decisions.    

-biologically, we all start with a why in our brains. In our brains we begin all feelings and decision-making in the limbic region. This is where the why begins for us biologically. Ex. of a "gut feeling", when you're making a decision and it feels right but you don't have the words to explain why.    

-Moving outward you navigating toward the neocortex part of your brain. This region controls the language. This is where neocortex would try to translate the limbic activities. Sometimes the translation is a bit fuzzy and the communication is not clear. But when it is clear, you have no trouble explaining your actions and why you are doing your action. 

-This is the same concept with knowing your WHY, HOW and WHAT. When you have all three area balanced, starting off with your WHY then you as well as others would understand your action. You would have a clearer picture for your journey and if it's the correct step towards your goal.

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BOOK REVIEW - WHEN

*Interesting book on timing 3/5 THE DAY -the overall message of this book is timing is very important and it can play a major part in your productivity 

 -everyone runs on different internal clocks - there are three categories people usually fit in 

-everyone usually have a cycle in their moods - it starts off being positive in the morning aka a peak (8am), dips in the afternoon aka a trough (2-3pm) and rises again in the evening aka a recovery (9pm)

 -based on how your internal clock run your cycle can begin at different time during the 24hr timeframe.

 -there are three categories people usually fit in to: the larks (morning people), the owls (night people), the third bird (the in betweens) 

- larks are suppose to do their analytic task in the early mornings, insight takes in the late afternoon/early evenings, make an impression in the morning and making a decision early morning. = OPPOSITE IS TRUE FOR OWLS 

-BREAKS: breaks are important for everyone because it allow us to be restorative = meaning if we stick to a task too long we lose focus. We need to take breaks to help us maintain focus, and reactivate our commitment to a goal    -social breaks are better than solo breaks and being outside allows you to mentally restore better (need both a physical break and a mental break) 

-NAPS: naps are important as much as break. If you can take them, take them. 20 min nap or less is the best time because it doesn’t cause that groggy feeling. Perfect break = drink a cup of coffee, nap for 20 mins then wake up. It takes 20 mins for a nap to fully release in your body. BEGINNING, ENDINGS, & IN BETWEEN 

-NEW JOB: to make fast start in a new job you have to visualize yourself transforming into a new role. You need to understand how it connects to the better picture. You need to fully release your old job and jump into the new one    - let your results do the talking - work hard and have the results before you begin to act confident   

 - build good habits early as motivation comes in spurts. Prepare for those troughs    

- sustain your morale with small wins- the singles largest motivator was making progress with meaningful work - wins doesn’t need to be large to be meaningful. 

-MIDPOINTS: be aware of the midpoint - usually people suffer from the Parkinson Law = where given x amount of time, you will utilize the the whole time no matter how long or short it’ll take you to complete the task    

-bc of this, people will usually pick up their pace with their project midpoint once they reach the uh oh point and bust their ass to finish strong at the end    

-to avoid this, PRIOTIZE AND HAVE INTERIM GOALS -QUIT YOUR JOB: if you answer no to two or more    

-do you want to in this job on your next week anniversary?    

-is your current job not demanding and in your control?    

-does your boss allow you to do your best work?    

-are you outside the three-to five-year salary bump window?    

-does your daily work align with your long-term goals? 

TIPS - its best to workout in the morning, as it’ll boost your mood for the rest of the day

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BOOK REVIEW - DEEP WORK

*would reread for tips on how to reduce shallow work 3/5 Every book write

The answer the books as trying to solve

Summarized the book in one sentence

Points the book was trying to make

Would I recommend it

This book will give you teach you the importance of deep work

Automation is becoming the norm. A lot of knowledge worker will be losing their job to automation because the work they do is consider as a shallow work (easily replaceable). How to distinguish ourselves and be able to compete in this market place? We must cultivate an ability to produce real value an increasing distracted world. This can only be accomplish by participating in deep work

The Idea

Deep work is valuable - as technology is not driving us out of a job, they are dividing us. An increasing number of people will lose in this new economy as their skill becomes automated. To thrive in this new technological world, we must be come more valuable by creating real value. Three groups will have a particular advantage: those who can work well and creatively with intelligence machines, those who are the best at what they do, and those with access to capital. Deep work help you produce at an elite level

Deep work is rare - with network tool on the rise, we all see busy and have multiple tasks lined up. The Principle of Least Resistance: we will tend toward behaviour that are easiest in the moment. We will do lots of stuff in a visible manner to seem busy.

Deep work is meaningful - We tend to place a lot of emphasis on our circumstances, assuming that what happens to us determine how we feel. Our brain instead construct our worldview based on what we pay attention to.

       The Rules

Work deeply - decide on your depth philosophy. Ask yourself, how often do you want to participate in deep work? What does your schedule allow? Are you willing to go to the cabin and hide away from everyone and distraction for days on end? Or does take one full day or two once a month to immerse yourself works better? Or you can be rhythmic and go based on habit, schedule it in as part of your day to day? Or if you’re super skilled, you can do what they termed as journalistic deep work which mean you can dive straight into deep work whenever you get a chance. If you choose to make it a habit, consider the following questions: where you’ll work and how long? (Location) How you’ll work one you start to work? (Ban internet) How you’ll support your work? (Food, exercise). Execute like a business plan. #1 always have a goal and what you’re working towards. #2 how to you measure your success (example, track how many hours spent doing deep work instead of the tracking the results, lead measures vs lag measures) #3 keep score of your work. Scoreboard creates a sense of competition that drives them to focus on these measures and its also provides a reinforcing source of motivation. #4 create accountability for yourself. Create an action plan of what you did and what you’re going to do.

Embrace boredom - the ability to concentrate intensely is a skill that must be trained. You need to work on it everyday in order to work for long periods of time. Your brain is being ADDICTED to on-demand distraction even when you want to concentrate. One way to work at it is meditation - or try productive meditation like when you’re physically engaged (the gym) and use that time to think about ONE PROBLEM

Quit Social Media - social media helps drive into our obsession with on demand distraction. Its fast and it gives us that immediate gratification and before you know it, you’re 2 hours in too deep of social media. Schedule in social media time if you must.

Drain the Shallows - shallow work is defined: noncognitively demanding task while often performed while distracted. These efforts tend not to create much new value I the world and are easy to replicate. ALWAYS SCHEDULE YOUR DAY HOUR BY HOUR. So you know when you need to do deep work and when you need to do shallow work.

          TIPS: mentally tell your mind to shut down when you’re done for the day so you have no lingering thoughts in your head distracting you.      

          when you send out an email, do the work in one email so theres less back and forth - be very specific

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BOOK REVIEW - CRUSHING IT

I’m getting hella lazy with actual book reviews. So I’ll just post up quick jot notes - for myself to review if I want to see what the book is about HIGH level.

*good book on social media, would read again 4.5/5 

Build your own personal brand. Know your why. Understand your passion. But make sure you communicate these threes things

You want to provide value

You love to give

[I forgot]

-Be passion.

-Be patient with your goal. Think long-term. But be speedy with your short-term. Don’t dwell too long on your content. Make mistakes. Faster you learn from your mistake, more prepared and educated you are. Be real, authentic. Don’t fake it till you make it, because once you make it and you don’t express naturally, all will be lost.

CONTENT IS KING. -produce on all platform. Social media is the future to personal branding. Even if you don’t know what you’re creating. Just document. Document all thought. And reread what you’re writing about. What you know. What you care about and know enough to educate others on.

-Twitter: write everyday on twitter. Twitter is easily the faster place for something to go viral bc of the easy use of the hashtag. Instagram: keep your content consistent. Reach out to others and collaborate to get your name out there. Collaboration is key.

-Snapchat: this is where you can post all the unfiltered stuff. Document your life. Make yourself seem human. Allow people to connect with you.  

-Facebook: this platform may seem dated for the baby boomers and x-Gen-ers but if you are starting a business. You need to be active on all platforms. The numbers don’t lie for Facebook. There are millions of users on that platform everyday. 

-Voice-Keep: Alexa and Google are next in domaining this digital world. Instead of taking out your phone and typing something, you can easily activate your phone with your voice. Learn to give out quick one min tidbit. Like how you ask Alexa to give you a weather update or daily news or fun fact of the day. Be part of that conversation. 

-Podcast: for those who are shy from the camera. Podcast is easier than video because you don’t have to devote your whole attention to this. You can easily listen to a podcast while you’re washing the dishes or driving. 

-YouTube: the biggest platform of it all. If you don’t know where your interest lies, start with vlogging. And the so subscribers you may have. See what they enjoy most and go towards that direction. 

[plainvon]

BOOK REVIEW - EMPIRE STATE OF MIND

“I’m not a businessman - I’m a business, man” - Jay-Z

What a fascinating book on the business side of Jay-Z. I’m very impressed with what Greenburg was able to produce without conducting any help or interview with the man himself. 

Jay-Z’s life is definitely inspiring, a man who refused to be bounded by his circumstances and make an “Empire” out of himself. I highly recommend this book for anyone who’s interested in the business side of the music industry. 

The lacking thing from this book is not that it’s not very deep. I would be very interested to know what’s Jay-Z point of view is on

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beginning thoughts

feeling 27 and not feeling fine? yeah girl, same here. 2017 was a good but hard year .. mentality. a lot of feelings confronted and mindset being challenged. wasn't the easiest chapter of my life. but its a good step in the right direction. feeling alive to start 2018. 2018 feels like a great year to succeed. I like the number two zero one eight. my little head has a lot of ambition and goals to be met this year. and I wouldn't mind remembering those four digits and sharing my journey with you all. i promise myself, I would start a blog. its more of a blog for myself than anyone else. well .. why not get a diary and write all your little thoughts and secrets in it - they said .. well no one said actually, I just assume thats what one would say if I told them about my project. well because I want to share my experience bitch, how bout dat. aggressive, dassss me. I prefer the word direct. some can, most cannot handle it. but i think everyone will learn to love me eventually. maybe there is a tortured soul out there who can use some comfort from my words, allow them to know that hey you're not the only poor soul who has no fucking idea whats going on in life and day is slowly passing by. just a platform for me to share my journey, perspective and experience trying to incorporate myself into the digital music world. looking forward to share my persepective and maybe conversations to anyone who manage to find this little space of mine. i aim to discuss music, technology, BOOKS, people, personal development and whatever is usually mulling around in my head

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BOOKS

I read. Like a lot.

Well, compared to 2016 me, it's a lot of books I'm reading now. I got some biographies by the greats going on, to reading interesting business books on the side, adding in a few social sciences books here and there. It just sort of goes on and on. I'm just reading so much that I feel motivated to create something. Anything really. See where it might take off (or not). So one of my goals for 2018 is to start blogging .. about what, that'll be a surprise for all of us lol.