By alik levin
July 16th, 2008 — Blogging, Getting results
Boost your blogging productivity with this free Plugin for Windows Live Writer (WLW) – Blog Post Templates Plugin.
Video: Blog Post Template Plugin for Windows Live Writer
What’s Blog Post Templates Plugin for WLW?
Blog Post Template Plugin For Windows Live Writer is a productivity tool to boost every blogger efficiency.
The plugin helps better style the blog posts and it saves time when creating and editing the blog posts.
See more info here - Blog Post Template Plugin For Windows Live Writer
Get the Plugin - FREE
Like it? Interested? Get it absolutely free here - Blog Post Template Plugin For Windows Live Writer
Get Source Code - FREE
Are you .Net developer? Interested in the source code? The full source code can be found here - WLW Plugin For Blog Post Templates – New Version (Including Full Source Code)
Enjoy!
By alik levin
July 12th, 2008 — Leadership, Motivation
“If you can’t beat them join them”, right?
Wrong.
It is completely wrong, unless you are joining them to beat them. Beat them either harder or smarter. Better both.
by TOMOYOSHI
You are not a quitter. But sometimes you get to the point where you want to give up on your dream. You feed yourself with ton of excuses why you can’t do it. You want to quit and move on.
Do not quit, you can beat them. You can beat them all.
Struggle is the meaning
When I was reading Tim Ferriss’ The 4-Hour Workweek: Escape 9-5, Live Anywhere, and Join the New Rich 
I stumbled on a very motivational quote:
If you don’t make mistakes, you’re not working on hard enough problems. And that’s a big mistake. – Frank Wilczek, 2004 Nobel Prize winner in physics.
It really made an impact on me and every time I feel down, this one helps me to get up and move forward toward what I believe, The Dream.
It takes time to win
I am a big fan of “Fail Fast” approach. In a nutshell it means that investing in something must gain fast results. If the investment does not gain any results, if it fails – stop doing it, change the approach. It helps avoiding Pyrrhic Victory. However, never give up on the bigger goal, The Dream.
It’s not that I’m so smart, it’s just that I stay with problems longer. -Albert Einstein
Struggle is your source of energy
In the The Power of Full Engagement: Managing Energy, Not Time, is the Key to High Performance and Personal Renewal the authors identify 4 Dimensions Of Personal Power: Physical, Emotional, Mental, Spiritual. Their approach is based on tens of years of research and applied practice – they actually Practice This ;). Their take is that our Physical, Emotional, Mental, and Spiritual muscles must be periodically stretched in order to refill our personal power reservoirs. Keep fighting to be stronger.
What’s not killing me only makes me stronger - Friedrich Nietzsche
Beating smarter
How do I become a smarter fighter?
Try applying ancient proven patterns & practices of martial arts – take, for example, Judo – my favorite sport :
The word "judo" … may mean "gentleness", "softness", "suppleness", and even "easy", depending on its context
The soft method is characterized by the indirect application of force to defeat an opponent. More specifically, it is the principle of using one’s opponent’s strength against him and adapting well to changing circumstances
Here is another great source of techniques to beating them smarter – The Thirty Six Strategies:
Whereas other Chinese military texts such as Sun Tzu The Art of War focus on military organization, leadership, and battlefield tactics, the Thirty Six Strategies are more suitably applied in the fields of politics, diplomacy, and espionage.
Take, fore example, this one:
19. Remove the firewood under the cooking pot.
When faced with an enemy too powerful to engage directly you must first weaken him by undermining his foundation and attacking his source of power.
The foundation
My take is that the foundation to becoming a smarter fighter is Emotional Intelligence.
Emotion Is Your Enemy – coach John Wooden.
Fight your enemy, become Emotionally Intelligent:
Self test
- Do you have a Dream?
- Have you ever gave up on your Dream? How did you feel? Drained?
- Have you ever fulfilled your dream? How did you feel? Empowered, ready for another fight?
- Do you want to become a smarter fighter?
- Do you want to win you Dream?
By alik levin
July 6th, 2008 — Blogging
The new Leadership Development Carnival #1 is up and running at Great Leadership, hosted by Dan McCarthy. This month’s Carnival is presenting a leadership development advice and commentary from over 30 leadership blogs, including my own article, Is Becoming A Leader Actionable And Attainable For All?.
There will be a brand new Leadership Development Carnival every month. If you’d like to submit an article, use the carnival submission form.
Enjoy the festivities!
By alik levin
July 4th, 2008 — Influence Without Authority, Motivation
What it makes the job to be a dream one? How can I find out the gap between what I have and the dream job?
I found the answers in the book by Marcus Buckinghamand Curt Coffman - First, Break All the Rules: What the World’s Greatest Managers Do Differently.
by Duke LeNoir
The book is “Based on in-depth interviews by the Gallup organization of over 80,000 managers in over 400 companies – the largest study of its kind ever undertaken”.
In the book the authors share 12 questions that in my opinion should provide very sharp answers to the questions – “Do I have The Dream Job?” or “What must be done to make it one?”. They group the questions according to the employees “maturity” – new on the job role, on track, up-and-running, thirsty for growth [my interpretation]. The authors compare this journey of career development to mountain climbing thus dividing it into 4 camps. 4 camps toward the summit – the dream job.
Below are the questions.
Base camp – “What do I get?”
- Do I know what is expected of me at work?
- Do I have the materials and equipment I need to do my work right?
Camp 1 – “What do I give?”
- At work, do I have the opportunity to do my work best every day?
- In the last 7 days, have I received recognition or praise for good work?
- Does my supervisor or someone at work seem to care of me as a person?
- Is the someone who encourages my development?
Camp 2 – “Do I belong here?”
- At work, do my opinions seem to count?
- Does the mission or purpose of my company make me feel like my work is important?
- Are my co-workers committed to do quality work?
- Do I have a best friend at work?
Camp 3 – “How can we all grow?”
- In the last 6 months have I talked w/someone about my progress?
- This last year, have I had opportunities at work to learn and grow?
Ask yourself. Ask your employees. Most of the answers you already know. If the answers are YES – you or the employee being asked have reached the summit, the dream job. Those questions that answered NO are the gaps. Take a look at the gaps? The most important question to ask is – “Can these gaps be closed?”. If the answer is YES, you have exciting times to come. If the answer is NO here is what happens next:
- If you are the employee… my advice to you – find another job.
- If you are the manager, it should explain this turnover thing you have. You may want to read The Dream Manager book right away.
By alik levin
July 2nd, 2008 — Blogging
Would you like to see how your blogodream might look like? Would not you like to know how your eBook feels like?
I am not a magician but I think I might be of help.
by Bohman |
Below are sample eBooks I’ve generated automatically from the few blogs I read. I did it using my gold nuggets collection method. All I needed is subscribe to the blogs’ RSS feeds and then press the “Magic” button. This type of modeling is useful for me in order to test wether I am ready to publish a book or not. Are you? Do you like what you see? No? Tell me, please. Be honest – help me to improve. |
The quest
If you want to have such sample eBook – just leave me comment with the link to your blog. I’ll add your eBook generated from your RSS to the list below.
The right prices of the service - FREE
No strings attached. I’ll do it for free – ABSOLUTELY free, so the price is just right. It is limited time offer. Hurry up 
Ask
If you like what you see – spread the word on your blog. If you do not like it – leave me a comment on what to improve – no obligations. I might consider insightful suggestions as a next version feature set ;).
Why?
Why I am doing it? I just love experiments (blogrdoc must know the feeling). I am testing the technology, I am testing myself for effectiveness. Once I test it I know what to improve and where to take it next. I need QA (quality assurance) team. I ask You to be my QA team. How do I reward you? I produce the eBook for you .
Disclaimer
If you would like me to remove the PDF file of your blog – please let me know and I will do so. Only good intentions.
The eBooks
Below is the list of eBook I’ve generated automatically from your blogs. Click on the <<file name>>.pdf below and the download will start immediately. If you click on the image, it will take you to my Sky Drive where I host the eBooks. You can grab there the script and embed it on your blog so it shows exactly the way it looks below. Have fun.
It does take...