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Goal Setting

January 11, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Is it important to set goals?  Is it a smart thing to do?  Well these questions are a matter of opinion, but I would say that setting goals is a very smart thing to do, and very important too.

If you don’t have goals, you might end up just wandering aimlessly.  With goals you have a constant reminder of where to focus so that you can achieve your goals.

Many people make a mistake, though, when it comes to goals.  They set their goals way too high.

For example, if you set the following goal, what are you going to do to achieve it?

I want to be a millionaire.

Is that a realistic goal?  Not really.  I mean, I am not saying that it can’t be achieved.  In fact, it is not hard to achieve at all these days.  Truth is in this age, a million dollars is not a huge amount of money.  But, if you do want to become a millionaire, you need to set some smaller goals first, because you cannot become a millionaire overnight, or even by the end of the year.  At least most of us cannot.  Instead you need to start out making more money than you are now.  You need to earn enough money that you can start setting some money aside.  Maybe you will invest that money, either in something like a stock, or perhaps use that nest egg to start your own business.  Starting from such an investment will allow your money to keep growing.  Once you achieve that goal of earning extra money, it’s time to move on to another small goal that will propel you on the way toward your ultimate goal of becoming a millionaire.

Hitting the Target

Hitting the Target

What are the problems with setting such a lofty goal from the beginning? Well, I can think of at least a couple of problems with that:

  • Setting a huge goal may become a burden.  It may discourage you since you cannot meet your goal in a short time frame.
  • You may set such a large goal and not be able to figure out how to do it.  If you set smaller goals you can more easily get it done and work your way toward your larger objective.
  • Because achieving your large goal may take so long, you may lose focus and eventually just consider it impossible.

One way you might work is to figure out what you ultimate goal is, and then set smaller goals that would be like steps toward your big goal.  Setting a goal that will not be completed, though, for 10 years or even 5 years is somewhat unrealistic, though, because you will lose interest and abandon the goal before you reach it.

Goal setting is a good thing.  It’s a smart thing to do. Just remember to also be smart about the way you approach goal setting.

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Spending money on your tools

August 3, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Unless you are already retired, you must have some kind of job, a career, whatever you want to call it.  In short, you must be doing something to earn money.  They say that money can’t buy happiness, but I know that having no money is surely a sad situation and having money makes life quite a bit easier, and in my opinion happier too.

Of course, there are millions of ways to earn money.  Maybe you are a painter.  Maybe you work construction.  Perhaps you are a taxi driver.  Or, like me, maybe you work on a computer day in and day out.  These days, it is likely that you spend at least some time working on a computer, regardless of what your job is.  I mean, if you are a painter, you probably spend some time on the computer to track your customers.  Really almost any job these days has some element of computer use.

Logitech Wave Keyboard

Logitech Wave Keyboard

Today, what I want to address is your tools that you use for your work.  If you are a construction worker, maybe your tools are things that we would more traditionally consider to be tools – a hammer, screwdrivers, saws, etc.  But, every profession relies on some type of tools that are needed to get the job done.

My profession is mostly writing, but also includes other things that I do on the computer.  I suppose that the computer makes up probably 98% or more of the work that I do, and the money that I earn.  So, one of my tools is the computer.

I have other tools too

High Quality Mouse

High Quality Mouse

Working on the computer, what tools could I possibly have?  Well, think about it.  I have lots of tools:

  • Keyboard
  • Mouse
  • Digital Camera
  • Cellular Phone
  • Printer
  • Blank CD’s
  • My Desk
  • My Chair
  • I could go on and on…

Yes, each of these things is a tool that I use to do my job.  I don’t swing a hammer, but I do type with my keyboard and use my mouse to navigate around my computer.  Without these important tools, I could not do my job.

Because these tools are very important to me, I spend money to buy quality tools.

Let’s look at my keyboard as an example.  I use a Logitech Wireless “Wave” keyboard, which is a high quality ergonomic keyboard.  I have been using this Wave keyboard for about 5 years now, as I recall.  Before I had this keyboard, I used a cheaper keyboard which was not an ergonomic model.  I began developing problems with my wrists being painful, and I could not do my job as I wanted to due to the pain.  Now that I have an ergonomic keyboard, and some other tools, my wrist problems have been greatly alleviated.  Now, I can do the work that I need to do in order to earn an income, and also to make me happy with my life.

This keyboard was expensive.  It cost me about $150 back in the day when I bought it.  That’s an expensive keyboard, although certainly not the most expensive around.  But, is it really worth spending $150 on a keyboard?  Yes, it is.  You see, as I explained earlier, when I used a cheaper keyboard I developed problems with my wrists, and could not work as much as I needed to.  In fact, even 10 minutes or so of typing, and I had to quit for a few hours to let my wrists rest.  Now, $150 for a keyboard, which I have used for 5 years?  That means that the keyboard has cost about 8 cents per day.  And, the keyboard does not need to be replaced yet.  Maybe I’ll get another 5 years out of the keyboard, making it only 4 cents per day.  But, even if I went out and replaced the keyboard today, the $150 investment was really worth it.  Having a quality tool made it easier to do my job, provided a better quality of work, and offered great reliability.

Use the right hammer for the job

Use the right hammer for the job

Same thing with the mouse.  Having a good quality mouse is very important, especially in ergonomic ways.  You see, using a mouse that properly keeps your hand in the right position and such helps keep you from developing an injury like carpal tunnel syndrome or something similar.  I routinely spend $100 or more on a mouse, even though there are models available for as little as $2 or so.  But, I am a writer, and do other things on the computer.  This is my profession.  Sometimes I spend many hours every day using these tools – the tools of my trade.  Spending the necessary money is not a worry, in fact, if I did not spend for quality tools for my profession, that would be a worry for me.

Now, in other areas, I don’t necessarily buy the best quality of tools.  For example, I have a cheap hammer.  But, I don’t use a hammer often, nor is it part of my profession.  The quality of my hammer does not affect the work that I do to earn money.  I think that if I used a hammer twice in the same year, that could be considered as a year when I gave my hammer heave use.  Because of these factors, I really don’t need a high quality hammer.  Just like Bubba the builder, he doesn’t really need a $100 mouse, since he uses the computer only rarely.

So, what about you?  What is your profession?  Do you have the right tools for the job?  If not, maybe it’s something to consider.

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Making a judgment

July 20, 2011 By 6 Comments

Making a judgment.  We all have to make judgments about almost everything in life.  However, making judgments prematurely can be a bad habit to get into, and not a smart thing to do.

There is a fellow whom I know, although we have never met in person.  I know him only through the Internet.  For some reason, I’m not even sure why, I never liked the guy.  Somehow, on the Internet, he rubbed me the wrong way.  I don’t remember what it was, but I suppose that probably on the first time we had any dialogue on the net, he said something that I didn’t like.  I don’t know how he felt about me.  Maybe he didn’t like me, maybe he liked me, I can’t say for sure.  But, I didn’t like him.

Shaking Hands

Shaking Hands

Yesterday, I found out some new things about the fellow.  To be honest, I saw him on a TV show yesterday.  He said some things while being interviewed on the show that made me realize that I had judged him prematurely, and that my judgement of him was wrong.  In fact, after seeing him interviewed on the show, I kind of like the guy.

In fact, there is a third person whom I trust very much, and he also knows this fellow whom I had misjudged.  I mentioned this to that third person, and he said “oh yeah, he is a real good guy!”  Made me feel kind of bad for having judged the man when I really didn’t have enough information to do so accurately.

So, I am going to do my best to remember that making a judgment, unless it is based on hard evidence, is not a good thing to do.  Judgment should be reserved until it is deserved, and is accurate.  It’s a good habit to handle it that way, and I’m going to do my best.

Filed Under: Bad Habits, Being Smart, Feature Tagged With:

If you are not guilty, are you innocent?

July 18, 2011 By 53 Comments

I am not a lawyer, and using the old joke, I never even played one on TV.  I will say, though, that there was a time in my life when I thought I wanted to become an attorney, and I am still interested in legal matters to some extent.

Recently, there has been a trial in the United States that has been widely followed.  Of course, many people will easily know that I am talking about the trial of Casey Anthony, over the murder of her daughter Caylee Anthony in 2008.  This post is not really specifically about that trial, although the contents of this post were inspired by the results of the trial.  But, as far as the guilt of innocence of Casey Anthony, I’ll leave that for others to talk about, because it is, to be honest, of little interest to me.

The US Supreme Court Justices

The US Supreme Court Justices

After Ms. Anthony was found to be “not guilty” though, there has been discussion on TV among legal experts.  A lot of lawyers that I have seen on TV have exclaimed that “she was not found by the jury to be innocent of the crime, it was found that she was not guilty.”  Of course, I can see the difference between the two, although in some ways the argument is like splitting hairs.

Innocent

Innocent

In one instance, if a person is found to be guilty of a crime, that means that the justice system has found that indeed, they did commit the crime.

On the other hand, if the jury finds the person to be “not guilty” of the crime, it means strictly that evidence has not been presented that is strong enough to consider the person to be guilty of the crime.  The jury does not have the option of finding the person “innocent,” they must choose between guilty or not guilty.

So, these legal experts pontificate that since the jury found the defendant to be “not guilty” that does not necessarily mean that the person is innocent.

But is that correct?

I always thought that the statement was correct, but after thinking it over recently, I find that the statement is not correct at all.  I would argue that if a jury finds a defendant to be not guilty, that person is indeed innocent.

How?

Why?

Well, under the United States system of jurisprudence, a person is “Innocent until proven guilty.”  If a jury finds that a person is “not guilty” that would mean that the person is not guilty of the crime.  Further, if you extrapolate, if you have been found to not be guilty, you are innocent, because you are innocent until proven guilty.  You were never proven to be guilty, thus you are still innocent, and always will be.

Anybody care to argue that point?  It seems simple to me.

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Incorporating Faith into your life

June 16, 2011 By 6 Comments

Look, I am going to be very up front and clear.  I am not a Bible thumping person who goes around pushing my religion on others.  Not at all.  In fact, I admit freely that I often feel that my faith is not as strong as it should be.  I am a Christian, and I try to live a life that follows the path of the Lord, although like all of us, I am not always successful in that quest.  In fact, I often am not, even though I desire to be.

I will also readily admit that sometimes when I read or talk to people who tell me that there is no God, I can be vulnerable and consider the possibility that they may be right.  Thus, my faith is not nearly as strong as I wish it was, or where I think it should be.  But, in the end, I believe in God.  When times come up when my faith wavers a bit and I consider the possibility that there may be no God, even then I feel that I should live a clean life where I care for my brothers in the world, and live in a way that follows the same path that we are taught by God.

On the road to faith

On the road to faith

I also understand that we, as a human race, follow different belief systems.  I believe in God and his son, Jesus Christ.  I have friends who are Jewish, Muslim, Atheists, Agnostic and whatever other belief systems you can think of.  I have no problem with any of them.  In part, I believe that we are all worshiping the same being, just with different names, and slightly different beliefs about that entity.  Well, of course the Atheists do not follow any God, although they have their own personal belief system.  I have no problem with any of that.  What I choose to believe and what you choose to believe may be different, but I feel that we can still live with respect and even admiration toward each other.  I don’t see a conflict.  I also do not feel a need to make an effort to convert others to my belief system.

Journey of Faith

Journey of Faith

There is something that happened today, this morning, which strengthens my faith.  Truth is, this thing that happened has happened so many times over in my life that I should expect it.  You see, this morning I had a need for something that was lacking in my life.  I felt it was impossible that the thing I needed could be obtained, at least not today.  Maybe someday my need would be fulfilled, maybe not.  But, I felt like I needed to have that need fulfilled today, and just felt it was not even remotely possible.  I have been thinking about that need for some time now, but this morning I felt it was critical in my life to get fulfillment of the need.  About half an hour after I was thinking that, I got an e-mail from somebody whom I don’t know.  He knows me through reading some of my websites and such, but I don’t know him.  Well, he e-mailed me and told me he wanted to do something for me, and went on to tell me what he was going to do.  The thing he was going to do was to fulfill that need that has been on my mind.  I thought it was impossible, but now he has already done it.

Now, I just feel that if there was no God, how could such a thing happen?  Just by chance?  The odds of that are nearly zero.

As I say, this sort of filling of a need at the seemingly most opportune time has happened to me before, when I felt the need was strong.  It can be anything in life that is needed.  So, it leaves me wondering, if this sort of thing has happened many times over in my 49 years of life, how can I let my faith waver at times?  I guess it is because of being human and imperfect.

What I do know is that I am very thankful that my need was fulfilled this morning, and I am thankful to the person who filled that need.

So, I have to say, I believe that incorporating faith into your life is a smart thing to do.  It’s not that a smart person can analyze and come up with proof of a God, or anything like that.  In fact, it is about being smart enough to give up some control and believe in something even without evidence.  That’s what faith is all about, and I believe that faith is a smart thing to have in my life.

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Sticking with something that doesn’t work

June 6, 2011 By 10 Comments

Albert Einstein had a great quote, you’ve probably hear it, but here it is again for those who have not:

Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.

Yep, if you are doing something and the results show that it is not working, why would you keep doing it over and over again?  It certainly is not a very smart thing to do, yet many people do exactly that, even people who are smart.

So, for me, what it comes down to is that if you have tried an idea and it does not work, you can refine it and try it again, you can even do that several times.  But, if, in the end, you still cannot get your idea to work, it is time for you to accept that it is better to simply move on and find a new thing to do, something that actually works.

Einstein defined crazy!

Einstein defined crazy!

But, like I said, you don’t need to quit after the first time.  I don’t think that Einstein would say that it is crazy to try something a half dozen times if you are making adjustments and trying to get your idea to work.  In fact, I think it would be crazy not to try it a number of times.  Fact is, few things work perfectly the first time, so you really should try again and again, just not in perpetuity.

However, that said, you really must have a built in barometer to determine when it is time to throw in the towel, and move on.

Do you think that it’s shameful to give up and move on?  I don’t.  If you don’t try your idea, you will never know if it will succeed.

The Key to Success

The Key to Success

I heard a saying recently.  It went something like this:

Q: What do you call somebody who has never failed?

A:  A person who has never tried anything.

That’s right, if you don’t try anything you will never fail.  But.. you will also never succeed.

I want to succeed, so I fail from time to time.  What about you?

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College! or not….

June 2, 2011 By 30 Comments

If you are smart and young, college is in your future.  It’s almost a given that a kid who gets good grades and is recognized as being intelligent will most certainly go to college.

But, should he?

I’ve been thinking about this question lately, and after pondering the question for a week or so, yesterday I learned something that surprised me, but also reinforced my thinking on the matter.

You see, I am not a college graduate.  I don’t regret it, I rarely even think about it.  I attended college for a little over 2 years, but dropped out because, frankly, it bored me to death.  Since I dropped out of college, I have not only not regretted it, but I also feel that it has not hurt me in terms of success either.  I feel that I have lived a fairly successful life.

College - is it right for you?

College - is it right for you?

Having not attended college, or at least not finishing college does not mean you are uneducated, or not smart.  Being smart and your level of formal education are two completely different things.  In fact, I could argue that if you are smart, you need college even less than somebody of average intelligence.  Perhaps being smart can help you recognize that you don’t really need college.

Anyway, having been thinking about this topic for a while now, I have discussed my thoughts with others, some online, others in person.  The reactions are varied, but in general the vast majority of people think that if you want to be successful, you need to have a college degree.  Yesterday, I was reading the news and came across an article that reinforced my thinking, though.

Peter Thiel

Peter Thiel

It seems that the co-founder of Paypal, Peter Thiel, through his Thiel Fellowship, is offering to pay young people not to attend college.  Huh?  Paying them to not go to college? Yes, you read that right.

Thiel has a program going called “Twenty under Twenty” under which 20 people under the age of 20 have been selected to each receive a grant of $100,000 in exchange for not attending college and following their entrepreneurial dreams.  Thiel feels strongly (obviously) that people can be successful by bypassing college and going straight to work on their ideas for business and technology.  He is putting his money where his mouth is.

Peter Thiel has been putting his money where his mouth is for a while now.  Years back, when Mark Zuckerburg started developing Facebook, Thiel saw potential, and he invested $500,000 into Zuckerburg’s idea, that $500,000 is now worth billions.  Zuckerburg ended up dropping out of college and is now a rich man.

Other very successful people have skipped or dropped out of college too.  Bill Gates is a famous example.  Things worked out pretty good for him too!  In fact, here is a list of the wealthiest people in the world who did not complete college:

  1. Bill Gates, founder of Microsoft
  2. Steve Jobs, founder of Apple Computers
  3. Frank Lloyd Wright, famous architect
  4. Buckminster Fuller, architect, philosopher, inventor
  5. James Cameron, movie director
  6. Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook founder
  7. Tom Hanks, Actor
  8. Harrison Ford, Actor
  9. Lady Gaga, Singer
  10. Tiger Woods, Golfer

Now, don’t take me wrong, I do feel that there is a place for colleges.  Primarily, I feel that colleges are good for many people.  In addition, there is a place for a relic from the past:  Trade Schools where people can learn a job or a trade.  But, for people who are already very smart, learning from experience is a great way to go, in my opinion.

So, is college worthwhile?  For many it is.  Not for all, though.

That’s my opinion, what do you think?

Filed Under: Being Smart, Feature Tagged With: ,

Taking some time to laugh at ourselves

May 28, 2011 By 2 Comments

No matter how smart you are, I am sure that you do a few stupid things.

What?  A smart person doing stupid things?

You better believe it!

Hey, we all do stupid things from time to time.  I can think of a lot of times when I have done something stupid.  It can be embarrassing, and when you do something stupid, probably the first thing you do is take a peek around you to see if anybody witnessed your stupid act.

How can we overcome doing something stupid.  Well, we can minimize stupid acts by simply being more careful and thinking through our actions a little more instead of acting impulsively.  However, we can never completely eliminate doing stupid things.

Take a look at this video that I found on YouTube:

Come on now… we’ve all done some pretty stupid things.  Can you share with us a story about a stupid thing that you’ve done?

Of course, when you do something stupid, you will be embarrassed.  However, don’t you think it is healthier and just all around better to just admit our stupidity in the moment, and taking a few minutes to just laugh at what we did?  I think so.

Filed Under: Bad Habits, Being Smart, Feature Tagged With: ,

Taking Stock

May 27, 2011 By 4 Comments

I have a routine.

I think we all have a routine to one extent or another.

Things we do.

Just automatically, almost without even thinking about it.

I think that for most of us, whether we even think about it, our routine is important to us.  It is what we do, and the reason why we do it is simply because for one reason or another, at one time or another in our life, the things we do in our routine have become part of our routine because they are things we need, and things that are important to us.  If these things were not important to us, we would not do them every day.  Right?

This morning, I was in the middle of my morning routine:

  1. Get up.
  2. Boot up my computer.
  3. Check my e-mail to see if anything important came in overnight.
  4. Check a series of websites that publish information on topics that I care about.
Taking Stock

Taking Stock

Hold on.

Scratch that #4 above.

As I was checking my “regular websites” this morning, I realized that much of this stuff was not important to me anymore.  Some of the stuff, to be honest, I really don’t care much about anymore.  Why am I spending time checking about stuff that I really don’t care about.

After the realization, I sat there thinking.

What is important to me these days?  I’ve changed a lot, and it is different things that are important to me than what it used to be.  But, what things really are important to me now?

Honestly, I was not sure anymore.  Oh, of course things like my family and friends are important to me.  That’s not what I’m talking about, those things are a given.  I’m talking about my interests, things that I care enough about to spend some time every day keeping up with the topic.  That sort of thing.

Jimmy Buffett

Jimmy Buffett

As I sat there thinking over what is important in my life, the words to a song that I like came to me.  The song is called “Distantly in Love” by Jimmy Buffett.  The first verse of the song seemed to fit my feelings this morning:

Pay phones all were ringing as the crowd went roarin’ by
Lovely dancers swaying to an island lullaby
Beside the southern ocean taking stock of what’s to be
Writing you this letter that you’ll probably never see

It’s the third line that fit my feeling today – “Beside the southern ocean taking stock of what’s to be.”

Yes, I realized that it’s time for me to take stock of my feelings and interests today, and to revise my routine to something more current.

One of the parts of my routine that really is of little interest to me these days, but used to be, is an interest in US Politics.  I used to be a real political junkie.  These days, I don’t even live in the USA any more, so why do I even care?  Fact is, I don’t care too much any more, but I still check the political news religiously every day.  Why?  I need to cut that off, and spend that time on something that is more relevant to my life that I am living today.  I need to take stock of what’s to be in my life, and modify my routine to fit what I discover when I take stock.

The fact is, as I think this over, we all need to take stock from time to time and unclutter our lives of things that really don’t mean much to us any longer.

Just like what Jimmy Buffett says in the song… I want to go sit next to the southern ocean and take stock of what’s to be.  I think I’ll do it today.

What about you?

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My day for good habits

May 19, 2011 By 6 Comments

It’s only a little after 10am, and I’ve already made this a day for good habits.  Even though it is still morning, I have already worked in three good habits for my day.

I didn’t set out to make today a “good habits day,” it just happened that way.

I was thinking about it a little while ago, and realized that I was already on a roll for the day, and I might as well work in a few more good habits for the day to make it really spectacular!

What have I done so far today to get the day started right?

Lets have a look:

  1. I went for a good walk.
  2. While out on my walk, I got a haircut.
  3. I made it a priority to write a new article on this site.

I consider each of these to be good habits.  Why?

Walking

Walking is good exercise

Walking is good exercise

Any kind of exercise is a good thing.  In these days when we have computers, TV, all kinds of other such things, it’s easy to lead a lethargic lifestyle.  That’s why we have to force ourselves to get up from that chair and go do something physical.  I basically have two activities that I like to do for exercise.  I like to walk, and I like to swim.  Lately, I have not been swimming much, so I have been relying on walking to get in the exercise that my body needs.  So, this morning, when I decided that I needed to have a haircut today, I decided to walk to the barber shop and to walk back home again.  Why not?  The barber shop is not too far anyway, so I even made a few rounds around different blocks in my neighborhood, taking the “scenic route” to the barber shop.  Getting exercise is important to me, especially because I have diabetes, and exercise helps me maintain good health.  I admit that I don’t always get as much exercise as I should, but lately I have been doing pretty good with it, especially doing a lot of walking.

Haircut

Barber Shop

Barber Shop

I enjoy getting a good haircut, and I find that it makes me feel relaxed and refreshed when I do it.  I try to get a haircut weekly when I can.  Sometimes it slips to every two weeks, but never longer than that.

One of the things I really like here in the Philippines where I live is that when you get a haircut the barber always gives you a massage to end the haircut.  He massages your head, shoulders, back and arms.  It always makes me feel good and relieves a lot of stress when I get a nice massage like that, and getting a haircut makes me feel good too.

So, going to have a haircut is a natural for a good health habit, and an all around good feeling.

Writing here on Habits for Smart People

Writing on my blog

Writing on my blog

The last week or so I have slipped and have not been adding new articles to this site.  When I do that it makes me have a feeling of guilt, which I don’t like.  So, making the commitment to get back to writing, after lapsing, is a good habit to get back into.  I find that the act of writing about good habits helps me maintain good habits in my life.  Writing the articles helps remind me of the kind of lifestyle that I want to lead, and thus it is something important in my life.

So, there you have it.  Just a little after 10am now, and I have three good habits under my belt!  I want to get a few more in before the end of the day, so I better get busy.

What about you?

Filed Under: Being Smart, Feature, Good Habits, Health Habits Tagged With: , ,
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