This Tuesday at 12pm Eastern I’ll be giving a live coaching teleseminar / webcast about how to immediately start getting organized and begin to crush procrastination so you can start getting things done.  No magic formulas, no gimmicks, and no “sounds good for you but it couldn’t work for me” advice.  What you’ll hear is about an hour of good stuff that will help you start turning the tide against the two big things that hose your ability to get more of what you want out of life.

Will your life change overnight?  Hell no.  Will it be better next week than it was last week?  If you listen, learn and take action, you’re damned right it will. Changing habits takes time, and isn’t it time you got started on trading some bad habits for ones that serve you?

The coaching is 12 bucks, you’ll get downloadable MP3s and PDF transcripts if you can’t make the call, and you’ll get a magical secret bonus that will make kicking bad-habit ass even easier - a free PDF of my 160+ page book, “What’s Holding You Back?” which you’ve probably seen on sale in the sidebar to the right.  (If you’ve already bought the book, I’ll find something else of value to pass your way).

Why You Should Breathe A Sigh of Relief

You know those people who offer teleseminars and it’s nothing but a sales pitch?  You won’t get that crap on this call.  I’m not going to try and sell you on anything during the call, so don’t sweat it.  The $12 is enough, consider it buying me lunch and a beer.

Four Calls In One (But I’m First In Line …)

This teleseminar  is actually a four-part series – I’ll be speaking Tuesday, but other speakers will be on Wednesday through Friday.  If you’re one of my readers who is running a business online, these speakers will be of interest to you. Lynn Terry, Wednesday’s speaker, is a stay at home single mom who has put food on the table for 10 years by making money online without being one of the scummy, spammy, string-them-up internet marketing used car salesman people.  (Hmm, I am pretty punchy today …)  Lynn’s been one of the “good influences” on me, so I’m looking forward to listening to her.

The other two speakers I don’t know, so, what can I say.  We’ll all learn something new.

So, if you’re a business builder, the other 3 calls should be of interest – but if you’re not, still sign up to hear my presentation and get my book for free.  It’s worth it, and hell yes I’m biased.  But I mean it.

I hope to see you on the call and will begin posting on the work-life balance series again soon.  In the meantime, keep on keepin’ on …

Dave

(Sorry, this was in the past … subscribe to catch the next one)

That royally sucks. And frankly, it’s unacceptable.  We deserve better than to live reactive lives, hoping things will get better but feeling in our gut like they never will.  So let’s start putting an end to the cycle.

How To Overcome A Lack Of Balance (Or Just About Anything Else)

The truth is, we only get better at things we spend a bunch of time on. That’s really all there is to it.  If you just approach things on a hit-or-miss basis, you’re going to get results that, well, suck.  But if you work on it every day – and you pay attention – you begin to do something magical.  You begin to become aware of things.  Sometimes happily aware (as in “wow, I never noticed that before”), sometimes painfully aware (as in “oh, shit.”).  But the bottom line is that you become aware.

And when you’re aware, you have the knowledge you need to change things.  It’s like learning a skill such as archery.  If you fire one arrow a week, you’re going to say to yourself, “Damn, I can’t hit that bulls-eye at all.”  If you fire seven arrows in a row, you’re going to notice, “Damn, I’m veering to the left.”  Now you have something to work with.

The secret, magic formula isn’t secret or magic at all.  It’s ridiculously simple.

Do something – anything.

Keep tabs on the results.

Adjust what you’re doing as necessary and go back to step 2.

The problem is, most people do this:

Do something – anything.

Keep ta– oh crap I forgot I have to do this and that and there’s another 5 emails and now the phone is ringing and this person is yelling at me and I’m late with this other thing and man, where did the day go I’m wiped

Feel like crap, and wonder why you can’t get it right.

You see where I’m going with this.  The way to overcome a lack of work life balance is to make the time every day/other day/three days/week/whatever to regroup, refine your strategy, and try again.  That’s how you improve.

Life Is Going To Explode On You, Messily And Without Mercy

Balance isn’t something you can get by winging it, unless you have a very slow-paced life to begin with.  No matter what you have for your goals, life throws urgencies your way.  No way to avoid it.  The way to survive that is to create an island of time where you can shut away the world and focus on what you can do today to get your life more balanced, and how yesterday’s strategy panned out.

Most people do the “Ready, fire, fire” thing.  This is the “aim” part that nobody wants to do because they feel so overwhelmed by the need to fire. Back up.  Remind yourself that getting even a tiny bit of extra power in your life gives you a base to build on.  You’ve probably heard of the debt snowball (or even the “income snowball“) – this is the balance snowball.  No matter how busy you feel, you can find 15 minutes, somewhere, to start making a strategy and working it continuously.

The bottom line is, we lack balance not because we’re too busy, but because we’re not regrouping often enough to handle things actively (rather than reactively).  We’re not asking ourselves “What will it take to make things balance the way I want them to?” every single day.  We’re not taking a hard look at the results we’re getting every day, and we’re not adjusting our strategy accordingly.

My 7 Day Challenge: Make A Daily Appointment In The War Room

Though I’ve got a good handle on time management (hell, I wrote the book on it, so to speak), I have to admit I haven’t mastered the work-life balance thing yet.  Here’s what I’m going to do – and I invite you to do the same.  For the next seven days, I’m going to carve out at least 30 minutes a day (I’ll use the morning, since I wake up early) to assess where I lack balance, how I can start turning the tide, and how my strategy works. I’ll share what I’m learning with you.

I actually have a lot of the tools I need … I just haven’t been using them.  But for the next 7 days, they’re getting used, and my home office will become my “war room.”  Your war room can be anything – an office, your car, even the bathroom (hey, when you have a house full of people, you know that’s the one place you can be alone in).

I welcome your comments, advice and tips – and if you happen to be a life balance coach, drop me a note in the comments below.  I’d love to hear from you.

Here’s to getting started,

Dave

So now I’m bringing the challenge to all my readers here.

How To Rock Your Weekend In Just 60 Minutes

You have 48 beautiful hours awaiting you (72 if you’re taking a Memorial Day weekend in the States), and here’s what I’m challenging you to do:

• Spend 30 minutes each day of your weekend doing something you’ve been putting off (but that would really add value to your life and make you happier).

That’s it.  But when I say “something you’re putting off,” I’m not talking chores, or around-the-house projects, or things that you feel that you have to do.  I’m talking about the things that add meaning to your life that have fallen on the back burner because you’re so damned busy.

Maybe it’s picking up that guitar for a few minutes and dusting it off.  Maybe it’s wrestling with your kids or enjoying some quality Lego time.  Maybe it’s reading a book, or soaking in the tub, or taking a walk in the woods.  Whatever it is, make it something that’s meaningful.  Something that takes you away from the stress of your week, lets you live a little bit, and lets you enter the next week without feeling like life’s getting away from you. Don’t wait until life slows down to enjoy it.  Enjoy it now.

The Benefits of Rocking Your Weekend

Rocking your weekend with this 2x 30-minute a day challenge has it’s benefits.

• You’ll feel hella good at finally doing something enjoyable you’ve been putting off.
• You’ll start to see that it’s not so hard after all to fit in time for yourself and others.
• You’ll feel the urge to make this a habit.

Imagine that – breaking away from the feeling that life’s too busy and realizing that getting balanced even when you’re busy isn’t an impossible task.  It’s within your grasp if you’re willing to be patient.

How To Rock Your Weekend Right Now

Thinking “I should do this” isn’t enough – you need to take a little bit of action before Friday is over to prime the pump for some weekend follow-through.  So here’s what I suggest you do to max out your chances of making this a weekend that truly rocks:

• Leave a comment below telling us what you’re going to do with your 2 30-minute blocks this weekend (subscribe to comments b/c I’ll be following up on Tuesday!)
• Spread the word via some link love, tweets, or Stumbles
• Follow me on Twitter & I’ll give you a weekend shout-out to kick you in gear

Looking forward to seeing how this weekend’s challenge goes & how you make this upcoming weekend one to remember.  You only live once, so don’t blow it!  See you in the comments -

Dave

Rock Your Day all through the week – Subscribe to this blog today.

It’s been a gritty, no-hold-barred set of posts on Rock Your Day lately.  I’ve asked you whether you’ll regret where your goals take you, and made you come to terms with the reality that you won’t get a second chance to make up for lost time.  The time to balance your life is now, not some magical time later that you’ve been telling yourself is just around the corner for months/years/ohmygodhasitbeenthatlong.

But the challenge most of us face is that we feel like we’re already too damned busy to get balanced.  What are we supposed to do?  Don’t worry – I’ll give you the goods after the opening act.

Getting Balanced Happens One Step At A Time

The trick to getting balanced is to take the pressure off.  We tend to resist taking action to balance our life because the idea of getting balanced seems overwhelming, like climbing Mt. Everest in one hella-big jump.  Even the phrase “getting balanced” carries the connotation that we’ve arrived, that everything is in order, and fundamentally we know that life just ain’t so.  So why even bother to try conquering the mountain in one jump?

The simple answer is this: don’t try.  Don’t saddle yourself with the tension that comes when you try to set too many goals at once, when you try to mold yourself into the perfect Superman/woman we know no one can never be (yet somehow still tell ourselves is a reasonable goal).  Instead, focus on today.  Right now.  Specifically, a slice of time from 5 to 15 minutes.

You may not have time to balance your life today, but you cannot tell me that you can’t carve out 5 minutes to work on something.  You can try, but you know that you’d just be bull$hitting yourself. I say that from a position of authority, because I’ve been doing it myself, telling myself that I’ll “get around” to a few things I’ve been slacking on but have resisted because I have so much on my plate.  So for a moment I’ll have to stop kicking Brett’s a$$ and start kicking my own again.

15 Minutes = 3 Areas Of Increasing Balance

Here’s an example of what I mean by taking balance one step at a time.  On a physical level, I know I need to get back into yoga (or my sister won’t stop bugging me). On an emotional level, I know I need to get back into focusing on gratitude daily.  And on a spiritual level, I know that I’m not spending the time that I used to looking inward and asking the tough questions.

So here’s what I’m going to do over the next 7 days – I’m going to carve out 5 minutes for each of these things – no damned excuses allowed – everyday for the next week.  Sure, 5 minutes of yoga a day doesn’t sound like much, but think about it – I can develop a mini-routine of a few nice stretches.  5 minutes of journaling what I’m grateful for?  I know that will make a difference.  And 5 minutes of introspection?  It won’t necessarily change my life, but it will make me more conscious of what I’m doing and thinking … and that’s where momentum gets built.

5 minutes seems like too small a slice to be worthwhile, but from experience I know it’s incredibly worthwhile, for two reasons.

• First, it’s like tracking what you spend or what you eat – the very act of awareness begins to change your attitudes and habits automatically.

• Second, once you taste a little bit of balance, you crave more.  You start getting more motivated to find more time, and 5 minutes turns to 10, then 20 … and an upward spiral begins.

It’s easy – so easy that you’ll be tempted to not try it yourself.  But I challenge you not to shrug this off.

Dave’s 7-Day Challenge To You (Don’t Pass It Up!)

I wouldn’t be much of a friend if I didn’t try to kick your a$$ a bit too.  You know the 3 things I’ll be spending 5 minutes each on for the next 7 days … what are yours?  Tell me in the comments area below.  Don’t be shy or make excuses – just pick 3 areas of your life that you want to get more balanced and “give a little bit of your time” to it.

You have 15 minutes.  You know you do.  Use it to change your life.  (Oh, and if you haven’t done it, take 15 seconds to subscribe to this blog for more adventures in a$$-kickery)

First Things First: Make Sure You Update Your Feed

The old blog was growing fast over the last few weeks, so that means a lot of you will need to update your feed reader to the new address to ensure you get your daily fix of hard-working fun. Here’s the new RSS feed:

• http://feeds.feedburner.com/RockYourDay
• Set up your feed right away, because each feed comes with a free chapter of my 160+ page book, What’s Holding You Back?

Time To Thank All My Fellow Rockstars

This kickin’ blog design was done by none other than James and Harry from Men With Pens.  Thanks to them for all the blood, sweat and tears that went turning what I wanted into a great-looking theme.  Bonus thanks to Jonathan Fields for this post, which I sorely needed during the design process

Thanks to Nate Whitehill of Unique Blog Designs for the slick cover art for the programs in the right sidebar.

And one mega-thanks to Michael Martine for helping me troubleshoot & fix a problem with the RSS feed book bonus – now it’s all set!

There are many others I’d like to thank who helped me along the way to getting this new blog set up – and I’ll be sure to give you your props in upcoming posts.  Your help, support, and comments have been invaluable.

Now It’s Time To Get Ready To Rock!

After you update your RSS feed, please be sure to leave a comment below saying hello and possibly even suggesting ideas for things you’d like for me to cover in this blog.  I’ve got a lot of great tips for getting the most out of your day lined up but would love to hear what you’re hungry for.

So, now opening for Dave Navarro … you! (Can’t wait to hear the sound …)

If you’re serious about taking control of your time (and your life) as quickly as possible, nothing beats the support and guidance of a solid time management coach.

I can help you get the upper hand in mastering your time management / project management skills by working you through the habit changes which are essential for success and peak productivity.

I specialize in taking motivated, already successful people and help them laser target the specific, simple things they need to do to get leverage over their time so they can get more done with less of a workload.  For most of the year, my client load is made up of entrepreneurs who generate 5-figures a month or more.

I personally enjoy working with high-performing clients because they see the value of their time more clearly than other people and are more willing to take action to get what they want.

I work with all my coaching clients via phone.  The immediate, one-on-one conversation allows us to can get honest about things, ask questions rapidly to get to the heart of the matter, and come up with quick solutions.  All my coaching clients have unlimited email access to me as well, in case there are any along-the-way questions that come up during the week.

My coaching is 100% satisfaction guaranteed (though I have never had a refund request).  Here’s a rundown of what I can offer:

• All coaching packages come with a copy of my “30 Hours a Day” audio coaching program (which currently sells for $147)
• All coaching packages come with a copy of my “7-Figure Confidence” audio coaching program (which currently sells for $47)
• All coaching packages come with a copy of my “Becoming an Early Riser” audio coaching program (which currently sells for $27)
• All coaching packages come with unlimited email support
• All coaching packages come with a private online discussion forum if you choose to use it
• All coaching programs are fully guaranteed

I can tailor your coaching experience to give you the level of support you need:

• Gold: One 45-minute call per week ($500/month)
• Platinum: Two 45-minute calls per week ($950/month)
• Diamond: Three 45-minute calls per week ($1350/month)

If scheduling allows, calls on the higher tiers can be combined if that suits your coaching style – for example,

• One 90-minute call per week ($950/month)  [instead of 2 45-minute calls]
• Two 70-minute calls per week ($1350/month)   [instead of 3 45-minute calls]

And all coaching comes with my personal guarantee:

• If in the first month, you are not satisfied with your coaching, you can request your money back and get a full refund.
• In subsequent months, if you are not satisfied with your coaching, or need to discontinue, you will receive a full refund for all unused sessions.

As I’ve said, I’ve never had a refund request, so I’m confident to offer a 100%, no hassle guarantee as well as full access to over $200 of my audio coaching products.  I would be pleased to provide references at your request as well.

Note: Due to a full coaching practice and many exciting ongoing projects, I am not taking on new clients at this time.  However, if you’d like to get on my waiting list and be informed of any vacancies, please join via the form below.

• You’ve got crap in your Inbox on a regular basis that you will never, ever read.  Ever.
• It’s piling up.
• It must pile up no more.

Get honest with yourself – if you’re receiving information that you’re either not reading or not acting upon, it is essentially worthless.  Actually, it’s a liability because it is cluttering your inbox and causing you stress.

• If you haven’t opened a newsletter you’re subscribed to for the last few issues, unsubscribe.
• If you don’t act on the good advice contained in a news letter, unsubscribe.
• If you receive newsletters you don’t want to unsubscribe from because you really think you’ll read it in the future, set up a rule/filter that will archive it in a “to read” folder so that it never clutters your inbox again.

Your time is too valuable to waste it managing information that shouldn’t have to be managed manually.

Get the crap out of your inbox.  If you get a lot, phase it out a little at a time.

You’ll thank yourself for it, and you won’t know what to do with all the room it frees up in your inbox.  And that’s a great place to be.

Keep on rocking (and subscribing),

Dave

But there’s a dark side to that, the one that’s not as seductive, because it requires facing up to a few ugly truths.

You Don’t Keep Your Boat Above Water By Bailing Faster

If you have holes in your boat, what’s the solution?  It ain’t bailing faster.  It’s plugging the freakin’ holes.

“Holes” are the things that cost you, that drag you down, that slow or reverse your hopes of progress.  Plug those holes and you don’t have to do more of X to get more of Y – it’ll just happen.

• Eat less crap and you automatically turn the tide come weigh-in time.

• Stop wasting so much money and your cashflow “magically” improves.

• Etc.  Etc.  ETC.

Plug The Holes In Your Focus And Stop Taking On Distractions

You want to get more done?  I’m with you.  I’m on your side.  For the next few days, keep a piece of paper/notebook/Crackberry at the ready and just jot down what’s derailing your focus each time it happens.  Do this for a calendar week and you’ll have a map of all the holes in your boat.

Then start getting to work on plugging them, one by one.

You get more done, automatically, without working harder.

Yes, it is just that easy.  But only if you do it. Most people will chicken out, take the path of least resistance, look for something that will give them the magic answer.  Fine, you can buy my time management system – but be warned, the first chapter will tell you the same damn thing.

Get something convenient to take notes with.

Take notes for a week and track yourself.

Take action on one thing at a time.

WIN.

There’s a famous guitarist named Dave Navarro.  I’m not him.

I’m a different kind of rockstar, the kind who sweats behind the scenes rather than on stage, kicking successful people’s asses so that they become even more successful.  I’m a personal productivity coach who gets deep into the minds of people who have everything going for them but are hitting some speedbumps and roadblocks – and I pull no punches until they break past the limiting beliefs that are holding them back.

I help entrepreneurs get “unstuck.”  I push people past what they think they are capable of.  I find solutions to their problems that they had never even considered, and I get them to think bigger, work smarter and believe in themselves more.  I take their psychological baggage and help make sure it gets lost at the airport.  I kick their asses, and then I teach them to start kicking their own so I can move on to the next rockstar-to-be.

I’m not saying this to impress you, because I’m not looking for new coaching clients.  My dance card’s full.  I’m saying it because if you don’t have someone who kicks your ass on a regular basis, doesn’t put up with your excuses and demands that you rock out with all the potential that you have inside … well, you better find one fast.  We all need people like that.

Hell, I call on a whole team of people to kick my ass every week, lest I start screwing up.

What You’re Really Here For

You clicked this link to find out about me.  You need to think about yourself instead.  About what you want out of life.  About what you’re no longer willing to settle for.  About what you’re going to pour yourself into changing.

About how you’re going to rock your day, every day, from the moment you get up until your head hits the pillow and you fall asleep satisfied with a day well lived.

The first step is subscribing to this blog.  The second step is picking posts that speak to you and then commenting on them so you can get in with a group of people who want to rock their day too.  You rise to the expectations of your peer group, so make sure you’re hanging out with winners, all the time.

So that’s all you need to know about me.  I rock my day, every day, and I teach others how to rock their day, too.

If you’re ready to demand more out of life, quit settling for excuses and make each day as satisfying as it can be, join us here at rockyourday.com.

You’ll thank yourself for it.

Keep rocking -

Dave

Want to bust that feeling today and feel like you’re ahead of the game? Then front load your schedule for the day and feel like a champion (and stress less!) by getting ahead of the game.

Front Loading: Your Productivity Bazooka

Front loading is simply the act of slamming out results in the early part of the schedule, rather than the latter. In other words, move your “crunch time” to the very start. By forcing yourself to think in crunch mode right off the bat, you’ll have a much easier time of avoiding distractions, staying focused, and delivering great results.

Three Easy Ways To Make Monday Rock

• One effective tactic I use is to mentally pretend that my boss has given me an urgent deadline that is well before the end of the day. If I have a full workday of stuff scheduled, I re-frame the due date to 1:30 pm, and jump on work like crazy. When you think “Someone needs this quick,” it’s generally more driving than “I’d sure like to get things done faster …”

• Another tactic is to make it a game. Set aggressive mini-milestones throughout the day and start the clock running. When you see the time ticking away, you’ll have an easier time knocking out your front loading efforts. Compete against yourself, and prove how much you truly do rock out.

• A final tactic is to focus on something you want to do with that extra time you’ll have if you crunch for the first chunk of your Monday. Maybe you can reward yourself with some relevant blog reading. Or you can take a long lunch and not feel guilty about it. Or – just as importantly – you can get ahead of the game by front loading some of Tuesday’s tasks instead.

Give It A Shot; Leave Others In The Dust

Front loading your Mondays aggressively can put you way ahead of the competition (as well as your co-workers). While other people are moaning and complaining about their Mondays, you can smile knowing you’ve done more by 12pm than they’ll do all day. And getting ahead of the game is a great way to turn Mondays into something to look forward to.

You’ve read this far – don’t forget to subscribe for more day-rocking productivity tips.