#106 July 21st, 2023

How to Run a Meeting: 5 Tips for Effective Meetings | Brian Tracy

As you move up in your career you will need to develop the skill of planning and running effective meetings. I’m sure you’ve been in a ton of meetings that were pointless or poorly run, which is good motivation to not repeat those same mistakes. That’s why the first tip in this article is to make sure you are clear on why the meeting even needs to happen in the first place. What is the clear purpose and what is the clear outcome that you are trying to reach? Have an agenda on want you will actually do and discuss. It can be easy for the leaders of a meeting to dominate the conversation, but that is the opposite of what you should do. Instead you should facilitate and create discussion by seeking out the opinions of everybody involved. When you are more of a facilitator you can make it a developmental opportunity by letting subordinates have the chance to run the meeting. When you get to the end of the meeting make sure it is very clear what the next to do items are, who is responsible for them, and when completion needs to happen. Summarize what has been decided to make sure everyone is on the same page and understands the key takeaways. If there are notes or a recording from the meeting make sure that resource gets around to everyone so they can consult it if they need to.?

You're Not Your Diet. You're Not Your Body Fat Percentage.

This article will be helpful for anyone who thinks they get too much of their sense of self-worth or ego from their?body and physical appearance. The author describes how their obsession with their body’s appearance came to completely dominate their life, how they thought, how they spent their time, and what decisions they made on a daily basis. I don’t think any objective third-party would see that type of lifestyle and think that it was healthy. It sounds pretty rough to deprive oneself of so much solely to stick to a diet or training program. You have to find the line between being healthy and being overly obsessed. We have to be honest with ourselves about how we view our health is helpful or hurtful. Too much of anything can be bad thing. How l you eat and how you exercise should be about feeling energetic, strong, healthy, and being appreciative of what your body can do. Not a vanity focus on just looking good for the sake of looking good.?

Future Self: Using Peak-End Rule in Life Choices | NirandFar

This article explores how our brains create memories and how we can use that knowledge to hack our experiences in order to create stronger and more positive lasting memories. That is what it’s all about isn’t it, creating special moments with the people that matter to us? Because of how our brains evolved to help us survive, we are much more likely to remember how events end and also the peak of those events. Have you ever had a great night but then an unexpected problem happens right at the end of the evening that almost sours the whole thing looking back? Also looking back can you see tons of time spent on good things that are kind of hazy, but 30 seconds of peak experience is razor sharp in your memory? I like the example of remembering an amusement park ride while forgetting all of the time we stood in line. So what can we do with this knowledge? We should try to make sure that events and experiences end on high notes and that they build as they go. We also know that a shorter period of time doing something amazing would be more lasting than a long period of time doing something decent. Build your memories for the peak and for the end.?

7 Deadly Sins of Creativity

This article explores the common roadblocks that trip people up in pursuing any creative endeavor. Creativity is involved in many more things than we may initially realize. It’s not just standard examples like art or music. Anyone who has to create something new where there wasn’t something before is exercising creativity. These are common mistakes to watch out for:?

• you actually have to use logic as a first step?to make sure that the problem you are creatively thinking about is actually the right problem, that you have defined it correctly and are solving the real issue?
• Before you begin the actual work, check yourself that the problem is something you actually care about solving and that it matters to you. It is much easier to stick to something and do the necessary work when it actually matters to you and the pursuit of it gives you energy
• If you’ve been working on your creative solution for a while with no progress then you have to be willing to pivot and try something different. Test your solution in as many ways as you can to validate that it provides the solution you’re looking for
• You have to accept that trying new and different things comes with a risk of failure. Your solution is not going to be perfect from the start
• You also cannot work on the problem nonstop. You must take breaks to give your mind a rest and come back to your problem with fresh eyes. Often those breaks can actually be when your breakthrough idea comes
• Don’t let others limit you. People may try to drag you down to feel better about themselves or a loved ones may hold you back because they don’t want to see you fail, but you will not feel good about compromising going after what you want to appease other people?

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CPA tip of the week: The CPA exam does not get easier by procrastinating on studying. It’s still going to be challenging.

The amount of time and effort required to pass does not lessen by not starting. The sooner you start putting in the work the sooner you’ll be prepared to take it and pass it and the sooner you will earn the license!