Self Improvement Daily Podcast

The 50/10 work rest ratio is just a fancy, more concrete way of regulating the way you spend your time working. And with the 50/10 ratio your productivity just might sky rocket.

The premise of this is simple. Spend 50 minutes working completely focused and undistracted, no checking your phone, no emails, no nothing. Then at the end of that time, take 10 minutes to address all of the little things that came up all at once.

The thought is that this will help you stay focused and minimize distractions.  By setting aside those 10 minutes to revisit the random things that come up.

This all stems from our subthalamic nucleus, the region of our brain responsible for movement.  It turns out the subthalamic nucleus also monitors our cognition, reacting to distractions as a reason to stop.  Something that helps silence your subthalamic nucleus is to minimize the stimuli around us, the random chatter, phone buzzes, email notifications, among other things.

Like I said, I am going to give this a try for the first time today, and I encourage you to try it with me! 

This message is an old and fundamental skill. If you can do this, you will always have a job, and you will always be an asset. The skill is sales, and in this message Mark Cuban gives his take on the subject.

"people always ask me, "What do I need to know to be successful?". If you can't sell, you know you're SOL. Because you're always selling. When I say that you have to understand what sales means. Selling is not about convincing somebody to give you money for something they don't want. Right?. Selling is about knowing in your heart, your mind , and your soul that the product of service you have can help anybody in your potential customer service universe. And so, whether I was selling baseball cards, whether I was selling stamps, this was the best thing you could ever possibly have for your life. And the same thing applies to all my businesses now. I'm always selling because I believe in my products and believe they can help. And if I have something that I do not believe will help you then it's not a good product".

There you have it.  People can smell BS from a mile away so make sure you believe that what you are selling is valuable.  We all sell something in everything we do, and it is never too late to start developing that skill

Mentorship is a hot topic these days, and rightfully so. Having a mentor helps in all facets of your life both professionally and personally.  

But why is mentorship so valuable? First, the experience you gain in mentorship is very valuable. Having someone who has been in that situation before, with the ability to reflect as a third party, is an incredibly powerful opinion to have on your side. It helps you understand the implications of your decisions on a larger scale.

But, not only do mentors provide big picture advice, they are extremely effective working in specifics and specialties. In my experience in entrepreneurship, I have received incredible advice from mentors who provided direction in otherwise aimless situations. Shoutout to my brother and mentor, Brian Rashid, for that guidance!

So, spend some time this week really thinking about a few people that you want to work closer with as a mentor. 

Lets talk about not feeling bad for yourself, and I am going to use my story a bit to explain. I am obviously very disappointed with my GRE score, which is fine because I put a lot of hard work into it and I wanted to be better. Although I still feel bummed, I am doing a few things that is helping me move past it in a productive way.

First, ironically, I felt bad for myself.  But, I only gave myself a 10 minute window. I took the time to get all of the excuses and complaints out of my system so I could start doing something more actionable. Next, I wrote down my thoughts and reflected on my preparation, mental state, and impressions about my performance. I know this will be helpful to have in the future and it helped me realize some areas for improvement.  Next, I refocused my attention. I still have an application to complete, and having that task helped me realize that there is nothing else I can do about my score for now. Also, if I want to make up for it, I still have a way to do that in my application. After getting some quality work done, I went for a run to squeeze the remaining emotion I had left in me and also push my body. Reaching my physical goal for the day gave me a small win that is helping me build my momentum back up. Lastly, once I was in a more objective state, I called up a good friend of mine, whose opinion I really respect, and picked apart the takeaways from my experience for the day.

All in all, I am very happy with how I responded to the unfortunate news. The thesis is feeling bad for yourself is never going to help. 

The quote, “the best view comes after the hardest climb”, is something that fits perfectly into my life right now.

Recently, I took the GRE to improve my application for Business School. However, the story isn’t that simple. I spent 6 months studying for the GRE about a year ago, took it 3 times, and still didn’t end up with a score competitive enough for the schools I want to go to. So, I took some time off, refocused, and hit it again for the last 2 months to finally get my score where it needs to be. That, mixed in with enrolling and removing myself from different schools, has made for quite an emotional journey.

I am confident that the best view will come after this hardest climb that I have been enduring for over a year. I am a firm believer in having faith in the process, and I don’t see this quote as conflicting with that. I see the view at the end as a way of reflecting on the journey and appreciating it even more. When presented with challenges, you should know that there is a light at the end of the tunnel. All of the time you spend alone working hard at your office will lead you to the end product you wanted.  How is that for positive thinking?

9/11 was a horrible tragedy for so many, but also really encouraging to remember the incredible acts of bravery and effort put in so many that day. With mixed feelings it helped me reflect on the importance of perspective.

I'm going to talk a bit about Respecting History.  he lives, freedoms, and opportunities we have are all because other people sacrificed to make it that way. History has an interesting way of reminding you of the bigger picture and your place in the world.

The first step to respecting history is to learn it . This can be through documentaries, books, streaming interviews, or however you prefer to consume content. Becoming informed on the different phases that shaped our world is a huge step in appreciating the life that you have.

Not only is it important to respect history in a classic sense, but it is also important in a familiar sense. Knowing your family history helps you understand the reasons why certain family members are the way they are, which will help you immensely when building relationships and connecting with them. The best way to learn about your family history is to just ask.

All in all, understanding and appreciating history adds a scope and perspective to your life that is really humbling. Take a moment today to appreciate the things that had to happen to get you to where you are today.

I want to share something I did that I feel like has truly impacted my life. I changed my laptop password to a positive affirmation.  I thought about a few things that are important to me that I thought would be cool to be reminded of every day, and took 30 seconds to change my password. 

I don’t want to give away my password, but it does involve gratitude, and reflecting on the great and positive things I have in my life. Things like being happy, being healthy, and being appreciative.

By changing my password, I mentally recite this positive affirmation throughout my day and am often affected because of it. It’s a quick reminder to stay grounded when the rest of my life is crazy. What I can’t prove but believe to be true, is the subconscious influence the affirmation has on my psyche. Repetition is key for anything, and I believe that repeating the same expression 10 or more times a day has to affect the way my brain operates. Although written repetition would be a better mechanism for instilling a new habit, this technique definitely serves its purpose, and it is so easy to incorporate. You can change your laptop password, your phone password, or even change your homescreen password to something that leaves a positive impression every time you interact with it.  

So, what are you waiting for. Take a few minutes right now to think about what is really important to you, and how you can best phrase it. Then, take an easy 30 seconds to be on your device and officially change your password, and let the affirmation work for you! I’m excited to hear your results! Have a happy, healthy, and appreciative day.

It's simple. Don’t take shortcuts. Put in the work to go about doing things the right way. I have three different reasons why.

First, is mentality. Our actions reflect strongly in our mentality. This is because of a psychological concept called “cognitive dissonance”, where our brains reject things that don’t align. When you take a shortcut, you are choosing to not face the challenge for all it’s worth. The small decision to take a shortcut will influence your threshold for will power the next time you are preparing you to be successful in the future.

The second one is about quality. Taking shortcuts means that you are deliberately skipping a step or process, which was likely incorporated in the first place because it ensures quality.  Don’t make that mistake, and never compromise quality.

Lastly, taking short cuts sometimes actually makes us lost. This can be counterproductive to the time we were trying to save by taking short cuts because it takes more time to get back on track. It’s kind of silly if you think about it.

Be extra cognizant of taking actions with intentionality and deliberate steps, and not to take any short cuts.