Challenge Yourself ! At Random Times

Great Post from Quora 

About 6 Months ago I started doing something that changed my life, and I have continued it to this day because of the amazing effect. Every day an alarm would ring on my cell phone at a random time during the day. As soon as this alarm would ring I would look down at my cell phone and see the following:

CHALLENGE YOURSELF RIGHT NOW!

For the next hour I would try to challenge myself in whatever I was currently doing. If I was at a bar, I would go up to random people and try to start a conversation. If I was in class, I would ask more questions or try to take the best notes possible. And if I was working out, I would go for more sets and reps than I normally would do.

If you start this habit you will realize a lot of amazing things that you will keep for the rest of your life:

• You are more confident in yourself. If you can beat a challenge, or attempt one, every day it makes you feel like you are actually progressing in life.
• “Limits” won’t hold you back anymore. Limitations are often only set by ourselves or people that have never attempted to break those limits.
• Every day is filled with new experiences for you. The most common regret people have is that they didn’t do something because they were afraid to do it. Challenging yourself means to be afraid for a bit, but afterwards you did it, and that is a thousand times better than always wondering what could have happened.
• Others look at you with respect and awe. Go above and beyond what anyone else is willing to do and they will be filled with a mixture of jealousy, admiration, respect, anger, inspiration, awe, hate, fear, and excitement towards you. All because you are doing what they are too afraid to do and that gets them pissed off at themselves immensely.
• You will feel more in control of your life. If you can challenge yourself, beat old limits and drop fear from your life, you will have every reason to be in control. After all: There is nothing to contest it anymore.

When you do these challenges be sure to do it no matter what. If you wimp out as soon as the alarm rings, or you make an excuse on why you cannot challenge yourself right now, your life will not change whatsoever. Yes, it is scary. Yes, it does require you to step outside your comfort zone. But you will feel the difference at the end of every day, and the change in your life already after a week.

Try it for thirty days. The difference is astounding. I have done this for 6 months now, and I have not regretted a single day.

--From QUora

After work, is what determines your future! Spend one hour per day doing these 5 things and your life will change forever!

You finish work at 6 pm, go to bed at 12 midnight.

Within these six hours, how do you spend them?

Watching TV?

In fact, the activities you do between 6 am and 12 midnight,

the importance of it is beyond your imagination.

Too many people believe that,

your career is determined by the 8 hours of hard work and effort you put at work,

and your future and career progression depend on the boss and the company.

But the reality is that for most people, this thing, you are on your own…..

Read on…

“Cultivation”, it’s forever dependent by yourself.

If you found yourself not progressing in life,

you cannot blame and put the responsibility on your company for not grooming you.

1. What you do every night is important

My major in college was marketing, but I expect to become a designer.

So I practiced day and night,

picking up some freelance work to improve my design skills.

It took me a long time.

When I became a boss, I no longer need to involve myself in design work,

So I went back to the Marketing field.

Every day, when my children are sleeping,

I began learning to gain more knowledge, this again took me a long time,

But I begin to realise my returns.

If I rely on my working hours to gain skills,

then I will never have become a creative director and a product manager,

or like today, teaching MBA students on Marketing.

What I rely on, is myself giving myself “lessons”.

And the most successful people I knew, walked the same path as I am.

I have a friend who is a History graduate,

but he is interested in technical sales,

In the day, he does telemarketing, at night he learns how to code,

Finally, he became the vice president of sales in a startup company.

Now, he’s a CTO.

I have another friend, he received a degree in political science.

But he’s very interested in entrepreneurship.

he learnt a lot of knowledge on how to start up a company,

eventually, he founded a company and sold it,

Now he has reaped the rewards.

For them, what they do between 6 pm till 12 midnight,

is what determined their future.

Clearly, we need to balance life and work.

If you have a wife and children, every night, you have to stay with them.

Even if you are single, you also need a reasonable allocation of time to go to the gym, to meet with friends, or be alone to meditate and so on.

Of course, watching movies, playing games is good.

But there are things you do not need to do.

For example, watching the new season of a Netflix drama,

14 hours per week watching television (This is the average amount of time watching television).

The time spent playing the game Candy Crush.

Or spending time stalking your high school alumni on Facebook,

it does not seem to be good.

So what should you do?

2. Read more, anything will do!

My college mentor was born in Alabama,

A poor African family.

He was admitted to West Point Military Academy, and he became the first person in the family to go college.

Before going to Havard for his MBA, he’s a trained officer.

When I met him, he has already developed his career in the city of Colorado Springs.

I asked him, what’s his biggest success?

He replied, because he kept the habit of reading,

and he never stopped.

He believed that if you want to get what you want in life,

knowledge is the key.

He often asked his interviewees what book are they reading now,

the excellent ones can give an answer immediately.

Reading can give you a good headstart,

this is often what your peers cannot obtain.

Compared to others,

you are more likely to know other industries strategies and tactics,

and that may be helpful to your company.

You can transfer your knowledge within the organization,

create new possibilities for your company.

Moreover, your conversation topics will become more interesting.

Anthony Robbins said:

“If you spend one hour a day to learn about a topic,

a year later, in this regard,

the knowledge you gain will be more than 99.999% of the world’s people.”

Even if you have 30 minutes every night,

each week you can easily read a book.

You may not be an expert, but I promise,

you’ll know more than what your peers know.

3. Do some projects

You can apply the knowledge learnt to real work scenario,

this is only an ideal state.

If your company did not give you this opportunity,

create opportunities for yourself.

You can do some volunteer projects. They can bring you fame.

Working with a team,

you’ll understand how things work.

In the practical application of the industry,

and how it ultimately affect actual customers.

You’ll learn how to perform the task and meet deadlines,

and get feedbacks on what you are doing,

and benefit from it.

When you are not strong enough, these experience may not have any value to you.

But you are still a novice.

these experiences are far more valuable than the miserable pay you are getting.

If you can really convince others of your pockets of fruits of labour,

Then go try it. But do not let these private jobs affect your work.

4. Actively build your connections

In your career path,

a strong network of connections will make everything accelerate.

If you have not set up your own personal connections,

you’ll need to divide a portion of your time to do this.

A strong network of relationships, can enable you:

• contact smart friends, and learn their opinions
• get information and knowledge that are difficult to obtain
• help the company look for more potential partners
• or income generating opportunities

Go get to know your work colleague or boss…..

If you are an entrepreneur,

your network connections will be your early customers,

your staffs are a source of capital

rather than go home, or going to a bar,

you should find some inner circles.

There are many small groups which are highly relevant to your career.

You should try to integrate into these circles.

Every week, you can drink coffee together with new friends,

go drinking or have breakfast.

You can also look into everyone’s career developments on LinkedIn.

And establish a network with mentors in those professional industries.

They may be your next job employer, who knows?

Your connections will be your most powerful asset in the workplace.

Since you have time to watch “The Voice of China”,

you have time to build a social network.

5. The CHANGE of your LIFE starts TONIGHT

6 pm to 12 am, you go home, though physically and mentally tired,

you are free to do anything and do not have to take orders from others.

During this time,

you can switch off like switching off your computer at your workplace, switch off your brain.

But you can also do something,

make you smarter, stronger, have a wider network of people.

From the start tonight, take an hour a day to do these things,

I guarantee that after a year,your career, and life will change.

You have to do the hard things

You have to do the hard things. 

• You have to make the call you’re afraid to make.
• You have to get up earlier than you want to get up.
• You have to give more than get in return right away.
• You have to care more about others than they care about you.
• You have to fight when you are already injured, bloody, and sore.
• You have to feel unsure and insecure when playing if safe seems smarter.
• You have to lead when no one else is following you yet.
• You have to invest in yourself even though no one else is.
• You have to look like a fool while you’re looking for answers you don’t have.
• You have to grind out the details when it’s easier to shrug them off.
• You have to deliver results when making excuses is an option.
• You have to search for your own explanations even when you’re told to accept the “facts.”
• You have to make mistakes and look like an idiot.
• You have to try and fail and try again.
• You have to run faster even though you’re out of breath.
• You have to be kind to people who have been cruel to you.
• You have to meet deadlines that are unreasonable and deliver results that are unparalleled.
• You have to be accountable for your actions even when things go wrong.
• You have to keep moving towards where you want to be no matter what’s in front of you.

You have to do the hard things. The things that no one else is doing. The things that scare you. The things that make you wonder how much longer you can hold on.

Those are the things that define you. Those are the things that make the difference between living a life of mediocrity or outrageous success.

The hard things are the easiest things to avoid. To excuse away. To pretend like they don’t apply to you.

The simple truth about how ordinary people accomplish outrageous feats of success is that they do the hard things that smarter, wealthier, more qualified people don’t have the courage — or desperation — to do.

Do the hard things. You might be surprised at how amazing you really are.

The Ultimate Cheat Sheet For Reinventing Yourself

One Awesome Post  by James Altucher @jaltucher.

Reproducing it line by line: All credits to the original author

Here are the rules: I’ve been at zero a few times, come back a few times, and done it over and over. I’ve started entire new careers. People who knew me then, don’t me now. And so on.

I’ve had to change careers several times. Sometimes because my interests changed. Sometimes because all bridges have been burned beyond recognition, sometimes because I desperately needed money. And sometimes just because I hated everyone in my old career or they hated me.

There are other ways to reinvent yourself, so take what I say with a grain of salt. This is what worked for me.

I’ve seen it work for maybe a few hundred other people. Through interviews, through people writing me letters, through the course of the past 20 years. You can try it or not.

A) Reinvention never stops.

Every day you reinvent yourself. You’re always in motion. But you decide every day: forward or backward.

B) You start from scratch.

Every label you claim you have from before is just vanity. You were a doctor? You were Ivy League? You had millions? You had a family? Nobody cares. You lost everything. You’re a zero. Don’t try to say you’re anything else.

C) You need a mentor.

Else, you’ll sink to the bottom. Someone has to show you how to move and breathe. But don’t worry about finding a mentor (see below).

D) Three types of mentors

1. Direct. Someone who is in front of you who will show you how they did it. What is “it”? Wait. By the way, mentors aren’t like that old Japanese guy in “The Karate Kid.” Ultimately most mentors will hate you.
2. Indirect. Books. Movies. You can outsource 90 percent of mentorship to books and other materials. 200-500 books equals one good mentor. People ask me, “What is a good book to read?” I never know the answer. There are 200-500 good books to read. I would throw in inspirational books. Whatever are your beliefs, underline them through reading every day.
3. Everything is a mentor. If you are a zero, and have passion for reinvention, then everything you look at will be a metaphor for what you want to do. The tree you see, with roots you don’t, with underground water that feeds it, is a metaphor for computer programming if you connect the dots. And everything you look at, you will connect the dots.

E) Don’t worry if you don’t have passion for anything.

You have passion for your health. Start there. Take baby steps. You don’t need a passion to succeed. Do what you do with love and success is a natural symptom.

F) Time it takes to reinvent yourself: five years.

Here’s a description of the five years:

• Year One: you’re flailing and reading everything and just starting to DO.
• Year Two: you know who you need to talk to and network with. You’re Doing every day. You finally know what the monopoly board looks like in your new endeavors.
• Year Three: you’re good enough to start making money. It might not be a living yet.
• Year Four: you’re making a good living
• Year Five: you’re making wealth

Sometimes I get frustrated in years 1-4. I say, “why isn’t it happening yet?” and I punch the floor and hurt my hand and throw a coconut on the floor in a weird ritual. That’s okay. Just keep going. Or stop and pick a new field. It doesn’t matter. Eventually you’re dead and then it’s hard to reinvent yourself.

G) If you do this faster or slower then you are doing something wrong.

Google is a good example.

H) It’s not about the money. But money is a decent measuring stick.

When people say “it’s not about the money” they should make sure they have a different measuring stick.

“What about just doing what you love?” There will be many days when you don’t love what you are doing. If you are doing it just for love then it will take much much longer than five years.

Happiness is just a positive perception from our brain. Some days you will be unhappy. Our brain is a tool we use. It’s not who we are.

I) When can you say, “I do X!” where X is your new career?

Today.

J) When can I start doing X?

Today. If you want to paint, then buy a canvas and paints today, start buying 500 books one at a time, and start painting. If you want to write do these three things:

• Read
• Write
• Take your favorite author and type your favorite story of his word for word. Wonder to yourself why he wrote each word. He’s your mentor today.

If you want to start a business, start spec-ing out the idea for your business. Reinvention starts today. Every day.

K) How do I make money?

By year three you’ve put in 5,000-7,000 hours. That’s good enough to be in the top 200-300 in the world in anything. The top 200 in almost any field makes a living.

By year three you will know how to make money. By year four you will scale that up and make a living. Some people stop at year four.

L) By year five you’re in the top 30-50 so can make wealth.

M) What is “it”? How do I know what I should do?

Whatever area you feel like reading 500 books about. Go to the bookstore and find it. If you get bored three months later go back to the bookstore.

It’s okay to get disillusioned. That’s what failure is about. Success is better than failure but the biggest lessons are found in failure.

Very important: There’s no rush. You will reinvent yourself many times in an interesting life. You will fail to reinvent many times. That’s fun also.

Many reinventions make your life a book of stories instead of a textbook.

Some people want the story of their life to be a textbook. For better or worse, mine is a book of stories.

That’s why reinvention happens every day.

N) The choices you make today will be in your biography tomorrow.

Make interesting choices and you will have an interesting biography.

N1) The choices you make today will be in your biology tomorrow.

O) What if I like something obscure? Like biblical archaeology or 11th-century warfare?

Repeat all of the steps above, and then in year five you will make wealth. We have no idea how. Don’t look to find the end of the road when you are still at the very first step.

P) What if my family wants me to be an accountant?

How many years of your life did you promise your family? Ten years? Your whole life? Then wait until the next life. The good thing is: you get to choose.

Choose freedom over family. Freedom over preconceptions. Freedom over government. Freedom over people-pleasing. Then you will be pleased.

Q) My mentor wants me to do it HIS way.

That’s fine. Learn HIS way. Then do it YOUR way. With respect.

Hopefully nobody has a gun to your head. Then you have to do it their way until the gun is put down.

R) My spouse is worried about who will support/take care of kids?

Then after you work 16 hours a day, seven days a week being a janitor, use your spare time to reinvent.

Someone who is reinventing ALWAYS has spare time. Part of reinvention is collecting little bits and pieces of time and re-carving them the way you want them to be.

S) What if my friends think I’m crazy?

What friends?

T) What if I want to be an astronaut?

That’s not a reinvention. That’s a specific job. If you like “outer space” there are many careers. Richard Branson wanted to be an astronaut and started Virgin Galactic.

U) What if I like to go out drinking and partying?

Read this post again in a year.

V) What if I’m busy cheating on my husband or wife or betraying a partner?

Read this post again in two or three years when you are broke and jobless and nobody likes you.

W) What if I have no skills at all?

Read “B” again.

X) What if I have no degree or I have a useless degree?

Read “B” again.

Y) What if I have to focus on paying down my debt and mortgage?

Read “R” again.

Z) How come I always feel like I’m on the outside looking in?

Albert Einstein was on the outside looking in. Nobody in the establishment would even hire him.

Everyone feels like a fraud at some point. The highest form of creativity is born out of skepticism.

AA) I can’t read 500 books. What one book should I read for inspiration?

Give up.

BB) What if I’m too sick to reinvent?

Reinvention will boost every healthy chemical in your body: serotonin, dopamine, oxytocin. Keep moving forward and you might not get healthy but you will get healthier. Don’t use health as an excuse.

Finally, reinvent your health first. Sleep more hours. Eat better. Exercise. These are key steps to reinvention.

CC) What if my last partner screwed me and I’m still suing him?

Stop litigating and never think about him again. Half the problem was you, not him.

DD) What if I’m going to jail?

Perfect. Reread “B.” Read a lot of books in jail.

EE) What if I’m shy?

Make your weaknesses your strengths. Introverts listen better, focus better, and have ways of being more endearing.

FF) What if I can’t wait five years?

If you plan on being alive in five years then you might as well start today.

GG) How should I network?

Make concentric circles. You’re at the middle.

The next circle is friends and family.

The next circle is online communities.

The circle after that is meetups and coffees.

The circle after that is conferences and thought leaders.

The circle after that is mentors.

The circle after that is customers and wealth-creators.

Start making your way through the circles.

HH) What happens when I have ego about what I do?

In 6-12 months you’ll be back at “B”

II) What if I’m passionate about two things? What if I can’t decide?

Combine them and you’ll be the best in the world at the combination.

JJ) What if I’m so excited I want to teach what I’m learning?

Start teaching on YouTube. Start with an audience of one and see if it builds up.

KK) What if I want to make money while I sleep?

In year four, start outsourcing what you do.

LL) How do I meet mentors and thought leaders?

Once you have enough knowledge (after 100-200 books), write down 10 ideas for 20 different potential mentors.

None of them will respond. Write down 10 more ideas for 20 new mentors. Repeat every week.

Put together a newsletter for everyone who doesn’t respond. Keep repeating until someone responds. Blog about your learning efforts. Build community around you being an expert.

MM) What if I can’t come up with ideas?

Then keep practicing coming up with ideas. The idea muscle atrophies. You have to build it up.

It’s hard for me to touch my toes if I haven’t been doing it every day. I have to do it every day for a while before I can easily touch my toes. Don’t expect to come up with good ideas on day one.

NN) What else should I read?

AFTER books, read websites, forums, magazines. But most of that is garbage.

OO) What if I do everything you say but it still doesn’t seem like it’s working?

It will work. Just wait. Keep reinventing every day.

Don’t try and find the end of the road. You can’t see it in the fog. But you can see the next step and you do know that if you take that next step eventually you get to the end of the road.

PP) What if I get depressed?

Sit in silence for one hour a day. You need to get back to your core.

If you think this sounds stupid then don’t do it. Stay depressed.

QQ) What if I don’t have time to sit in silence?

Then sit in silence for two hours a day. This is not meditation. This is just sitting.

RR) What if I get scared?

Sleep 8-9 hours a day and never gossip. Sleep is the No. 1 key to successful health. It’s not the only key. It’s just No. 1. Some people write to me and say, “I only need four hours of sleep” or “in my country sleeping means laziness.” Well, those people will fail and die young.

What about gossip? The brain biologically wants to have 150 friends. Then when you are with one of your friends you can gossip about any of the other 150. If you don’t have 150 friends then the brain wants to read gossip magazines until it thinks it has 150 friends.

Don’t be as stupid as your brain.

SS) What if I keep feeling like nothing ever works out for me?

Spend 10 minutes a day practicing gratitude. Don’t suppress the fear. Notice the anger.

But also allow yourself to be grateful for the things you do have. Anger is never inspirational but gratitude is. Gratitude is the bridge between your world and the parallel universe where all creative ideas live.

TT) What if I have to deal with personal bullshit all the time?

Find new people to be around.

Someone who is reinventing herself will constantly find people to try and bring her down. The brain is scared of reinvention because it might not be safe.

Biologically, the brain wants you to be safe and reinvention is a risk. So it will throw people in your path who will try to stop you.

Learn how to say “no.”

UU) What if I’m happy at my cubicle job?

Good luck.

VV) Why should I trust you – you’ve failed so many times?

Don’t trust me.

WW) Will you be my mentor?

You’ve just read this post.