Sleeping And Smiling Your Way To A Great Heart

Researchers recently followed 15,000 people for 14 years. They found that those with a healthy lifestyle (exercise, nutritious diet, moderate alcohol, no smoking) had a 67 percent lower risk of dying from heart disease. But if the also got 7 or more hours of sleep a night, they had an 83 percent lower risk.

Scientists asked a group of people at risk for heart disease to complete a test that measured well-being, optimism, and life satisfaction. After following the participants for 25 years, the researchers found that the happiest and most optimistic people had 1/3 of the heart disease risk of the others.

Much Tastier Than Tree Hugging

"When people hear I'm a vegetarian, they always assume I'm into other kinds of activism. 'Oh, you're a vegetarian. Do you care about the environment?' No. I eat the environment. It's made of vegetables." - Myq Kaplan

United United States Of America

"It's the most important battle of the 21st century, whether what we have in common is more important than their differences." - Bill Clinton

Americans are much more similar than different. We love our freedoms, our resources, our social and career opportunities. We have to manage limited resources. We can do it together. We can do it with respect. We can keep our frustrations private and our teamwork public. We can do this!

Maximum Security Dentist

After cleaning my five-year-old patient's teeth, I accompanied him to the reception area, only to see him struggle with the oak door.

"It's heavy, isn't it?" I asked.

"Yes," he said. "Is that so children can't escape?"

- Jennifer Sloetjes

Spending Today

"Nothing is worth more than this day." - Goethe

Any worries on your mind? Anything you can do about them today that moves toward a solution? Is it a big enough worry to actually do those things? Then do them. Rest in the satisfaction that you've done the best you could today. And tonight, sleep with an empty mind.

Giving Thanks By Giving Help

It's one thing to say, "Yeah, thanks, I'm grateful and fortunate," but it's something else entirely to live gratefully. That's what my mom did. Every day she asked, "How can I live with gratitude today? Who can I help today?" - Tressel

I'm in a fortunate position to be able to help young people by coaching, teaching and singing. The freedom, the availability, the talents to be able to do this are amazing blessings. There are so many other little opportunities to help. Walking through the grocery store, someone drops a can of tuna. Pulling up to a stop light, someone else wants to pull into traffic from a side street. Few things match the sensation of taking advantage of an opportunity to help someone in need.

Happiness Equation

"It is impossible to be grateful and unhappy at the same time."

A morning cupful of coffee is nice. A morning mindful of gratitude is better. What simpler equation could there be. Want happiness, be thankful. Cancel out the subtraction of anger with the addition of a good blessings-counting.

Awkward Family Photos

If only she knew who they were.

Countable

"I've studied the lives of a lot of different people, people I wanted to be like, and I've found that one common denominator is that they were sincerely grateful for their blessings."

"Spending a little time calculating the number of things that go right is a simple but powerful way to reactivate our sense of wonder and gratitude." - Richard Carlson

What went right today?

- Woke up on time in a comfortable bed
- Warm shower
- Successful tutoring session with a home schooled student
- Grocery shopped (chicken nuggets - yum!)
- Took care of LMC business
- Played with the cat
- Tutored a new student in calculus 2
- Coached basketball practice
- Watched a movie
- Relaxing bath
- Late night snack with Dena
- Blogged!

Button Out

"If you had a bad day, don't worry. We all have a reset button - it's called tomorrow." - @YourPocketGuru

We lost our season-opening game on Monday night in underachieving fashion. I walked out of the gym locker room, into the health club locker room. Worked off the fleeting memory of the loss, hit the sack. Today's been a good day.

Private Practice

"The older our players get, the more they realize that it's their choice what they're feeling, what they're thinking, and what approach they're going to take to life." - Jim Tressel

Less-mature people are reactionary, with less handle on their attitude - susceptible to the events of their lives. Attitude has to be practiced over and over.

I stumbled onto a classical music station today, and let it play a while. Life doesn't have to be about rock and roll, about mighty highs and lows. Sometimes it's good habit to just chill. In the big picture, not much is worth hype. But peace is a good foundation for everything.

Heaven On Earth

"Paradise is where I am." - Voltaire

Today I'll have some physical pain, some tiredness, some failure. Meanwhile, I'll have a wonderful job, wife, family, band, students, team, co-workers, coaches, car, classmates, and hobbies to keep life full of joy and promise.

Before I Can Do, I Must Be

Before we can become champions, we must become what champions embody. We need our bodies and our attitude to be in good shape. We need sleep, exercise, rest, food, drink. We need faith, toughness, love. Then no matter what happens, our effort has won.

Hungry Old Saint Nick

"I tell my kids Santa is fat because he eats the children who get up early on Christmas morning. That way, I get to sleep in." - James Knowles

I Regret Nothing

Economists call it the sunk-cost fallacy: We think the resources we've put into something should help determine whether we keep it going. This sets us up for major regret later. The only question that matters, is whether that next dollar should be spent elsewhere. - John Nofsinger, Ph.D.

I invested years and years (and dollars and dollars) into membership of a church. There was some regret when I left. I probably stayed too long. It was major inertia from a lifetime of assuming it was the right way to live. By now though, I'm more at peace than those days. And, I like to think, I learned something about myself and re-injected a new level of energy into my days by riding my strengths and natural tendencies.

The church taught me about finding my "calling." What is that for you? What gives you the fuel to go for ten, twelve hours and come away feeling like you could do more?

I have regrets. And these days, joy.

It's A Stumble, Not A Fall

Learn to fall gracefully. The most successful entrepreneurs and executives first own up to their failures. Then they move on by putting their heads down and working hard to prove themselves again. - Daniel Roberts, author of Zoom: Surprising Ways to Supercharge Your Career

I led a student about 3/4 of the way into a problem before realizing I'd made a typo (write-o?). I could have just erased it silently, but I apologized. No one likes to make a mistake, but I think that moments of vulnerability help build comfort between adults and children. And actually, between adults and adults.

I Got This

"Research on successful entrepreneurs reveals that they're a tad overconfident. People gravitate to men who hold strong convictions. They have the cojones to take risks and reboot after failure." - John Nofsinger, Ph.D.

Drive Thru Skeleton Driver Prank

I Can Do Anything I Set My Mind To

If we're determined to be a victim, then we will be! I've had a lingering toothache for about 4 months. It was due to a misshapen crown. I visited the dentist, and things are on the mend. It was just a matter of time.

Meanwhile, by my count I have 18 tutoring students on my roster. I can get to 20!

Tossing Your Scares Away

"It was the scariest thing I've ever done. I had no knowledge. All the jargon they use on the set - I had no clue... I'm thinking 'Okay, just act. Just do what you know you can do.'" - Luke Evans

So much is out of our control when we're in a new situation! Being at varsity basketball practices is a different speed than with sophomores. I'm the least experienced coach on staff. It's a tremendous learning opportunity. I'm comfortable in my inexperience, because I've learned time and again that things get easier with practice. This will succeed too.

The Most Important Thing In Leadership

"The most important thing in leadership is truly caring."- Dean Smith

Sure, we want our leaders to be capable, and right a lot of the time. But for the most part they just fill a job. It's when they take an interest in our own well-being - our loves, our needs, our dreams - that trust blossoms, and productivity with it.

One Way To Win

"The way you win is not by striving to just ‘win the game,’ but by striving to play as well as you can.”- Bob Knight

Scores, or most any numerical measure, can be really cheap compared with the satisfaction of having done your best. Sometimes my best days have nothing to do with an observable accomplishment. Eating and exercising right, getting some bills paid and a haircut... just having discipline can give great satisfaction. And if along the way you have the opportunity to lose heart, some setback, and refuse to whine, that inner strength leads to an outer glow.

Cupcake!

I haven't blogged in a few days. Actually, not since our six-week-old kitten Cupcake entered the picture, or should I say pictures:

Bowdoin Vs. Colby College Wild Football Ending

Act Out Of Love, Not Fear

"Many people think the opposite of love is hate, but I would argue it's fear. While fear is a closing and contraction of the heart, love is a warmness and openness to yourself, the people around you, and whatever circumstance comes your way. If you're ever confused and unsure how to act, ask yourself one question: Does the action you're considering spring from love or from fear? Always choose love."

I could argue that the opposite of fear is faith, rather than love. But love is a more active verb, and just as well. The key is to turn the mind from self-destructive thoughts and move ahead with warm ones.

Do Something You're Afraid Of Every Day

"In order to be able to do anything really amazing or courageous, we need to be able to act even when we're afraid. This is learned skill. The more you do it, the better you get at it. Practicing in small ways can help you build the momentum for something bigger. Maybe it's asking that cute girl out at the grocery store, or negotiating a price when you don't feel comfortable haggling, or speaking up at work when normally you keep quiet. Whatever you're afraid of, practice doing it."

The article I posted earlier this week about personality types has got me thinking about becoming more of an extrovert. I tend to be passive in groups, so tonight's basketball tryout would normally have me doing more listening than talking; I made a point to be constantly coaching. Also, I tend not to go out of my way to introduce myself to others; today I made a point to walk up to a couple of people I see regularly at work but had not yet introduced myself to. You become what you practice, whether that's a fearful or loving person.

12 "Ferris Buehler" Fun Facts (From The Family That Actually Lived In The House)

By Eliza Murphy, ABC News:

Ferris Bueller, one of the most iconic movie characters ever, certainly had a great time playing hookie from high school after lying in bed pretending to be sick. We all remember his typical teenager bedroom, adorned with band posters and a British flag, the family's classic in-home intercom system, and who could forget that infamous doggy door Mr. Rooney creepily shoves himself through to prove once and for all that Bueller, just as he suspected, really was alive and well, romping around the Windy City in true "Chicka Chickaaaahhh" fashion.

Although the Balkmans no longer live in Ferris Bueller's famous home, they're thrilled to have had the opportunity to share those memories with Matthew Broderick and the rest of the school-skipping crew. Not to mention, tickets for the family to attend the movie's premiere in Hollywood was certainly a perk, too. But what you may not know is that the whole time famed film director John Hughes was shooting his 1985 box office hit, the actual owners of Ferris Bueller's house, The Balkmans, of 4160 Country Club Drive in Long Beach, Calif., continued living in the home alongside the entire cast and crew of "Ferris Bueller's Day Off."

 "It was a lot of fun," Matthew Balkman, whose parents, Jim and Sonya, owned the iconic circled-driveway home, told GoodMorningAmerica.com. "My mom liked parties, so this was just big party for her."  Balkman, now 53 and living in Seattle, says it took only 10 days to shoot the entire film's scenes at his house, but the experience, although short, left lasting memories.  Take a look at the top 12 behind-the-scenes fun facts about Ferris Bueller's house:   

1) A knock on the door was how the owners were asked to use their home. "They just knocked on the door," Balkman said of the home his parents lived in for 25 years. "It's interesting. There are location scouts if you're looking for a house for certain things. When they knocked on the door and said it was for a John Hughes film, in the '80s when all his movies were super popular, my cousin, who was in film school at the time said, 'You absolutely need to do this film.'"   

2) Ferris' room was replicated and patterned from the family son's real room.  "My brother, Thad, was in eighth grade at the time," said Balkman. "Ferris' room was patterned from my brother's room. He had the British flag hanging and all the posters and everything. The room you see in the movie was a set, just to make more room for the cameras, but the entire room was patterned from my brother's."   

3) Ferris and Jeannie Bueller had two younger siblings that never made it into the finished movie. "One of the funniest things, the picture of Ferris' sister with two other kids, those were her siblings," explained Balkman. "They shot part of the movie, but they cut those two kids out."

4) The doggie door Mr. Rooney crawls through was added just for the movie. "We didn't have a doggie door, so the scene where Mr. Rooney comes in through the doggy door, that was put in by them. But they removed it for us when they left."

    

5) Since the film was shot in California but was supposed to look like Chicago, eucalyptus trees were converted to look like pine trees, which are an indigenous species from the Chicago area. Palm trees were also removed so they would not block or be included in certain shots.  "We had the biggest eucalyptus tree in all of Long Beach in the back," said Balkman "My mom loved that tree. But they can't show a eucalyptus tree in Chicago, so they painstakingly built a cover for it, so when they showed the trunks of the trees when Ferris is coming through the backyard, it wouldn't look like Southern California."   

6) The coffee cup Cameron drinks out of when he visits Ferris was the Balkman family's real coffee cup out of their cupboard.  "I gave that coffee cup to my Dad for Father's Day."

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7) The key used by Mr. Rooney to enter the back door was the actual Balkman family's house key that the producers never returned.  

8) The house's intercom system was not real.  

9) A hole was drilled in the Balkman's side green gate so Rooney could peer through it.   

10) The fire hydrant which caused Rooney's car to be towed was fake and a neighbor was briefly perturbed because he thought his parking spot was eliminated.   

11) Thad Balkman's 14th birthday took place during the filming. Sonya, his mom, got a cake decorated to say, "It may be Ferris Bueller's Day Off, but it's Thad's 14th Birthday," which the family celebrated and ate in the kitchen with the film crew.  

 12) The kitchen scene cost an extra $1,000 to shoot because they had to replace all the food in the freezer and refrigerator. Everything spoiled when the crew turned it off to silence the humming sound for filming and forgot to plug it back in for a couple of days.  

One Way Leaders Open The Door To Success

"Kobe," a teammate said, "you can do anything you want on the court, but it's like you don't need us. We want to feel life you need us."

"You're grown men," he thinks. "And you're right, I don't need you."

Then he considers the courage it took for Fox to speak up.

"I had to respond. I had to be as transparent with them as they were with me. I opened myself up to let them know what my insecurities are. Once your culture becomes such that your leader communicates, then everybody does the same. We still didn't hang out together off the court, but on the road we'd all go out for dinner. I learned that a lot gets accomplished over dinner and a drink."

A person who shares often, and makes himself vulnerable, earns trust. There's no need to oversell yourself as a fool or flawless, just to communicate the truth openly and regularly.

Overcoming The Chill

"I have self-doubt, I have fear of failure. I have nights when I show up at the arena and I'm like, 'My back hurts, my feet hurt, my knees hurt. I don't have it. I just want to chill.' We all have self-doubt. You don't deny it, but you also don't capitulate to it. You embrace it, you rise above it." - Kobe Bryant

My Future Depends On Me

Men who agree with this statement tend to have higher incomes and net worth, says Brad Klontz, Ph.D. "People who take responsibility for their lives will examine what they did wrong and try to improve rather than blame others," he says.

Cultivate Wise Thoughts

"So little of how we see the world is based on fact and reality, and so much is based on subjective perceptions and interpretations. This is why unwise thoughts can be so destructive and wise thoughts can be so empowering. Choose to cultivate wise thoughts. We can't always choose how we feel, but we can choose what thought patterns and narratives we want to nurture."

Our next door neighbor on the other side of the condo wall is doing construction at 8:00am this Saturday morning. Long sequences of tap-tap-tap, followed eventually by inescapable drilling sounds.

Yes, it disturbs the quiet. But, it improves his unit and his resale value, and so our property value. Plus, I'm sure there are times where we make noise that he tolerates. People deserve slack.

Improving Your Nap-titude

Short bursts of shut-eye can help pay off a sleep debt, according to Dr. Chad Ruoff.

1. Napping earlier or later than the range of 2:00 to 4:00 p.m. can leave you groggy. Take advantage of your natural circadian rhythms, and keep the nap between 20-30 minutes.

2. Hit the bed. Get your body used to sleeping where it oughta sleep.

3. Wake up when it's time to wake up!

Free Legal Advice

Scott Curran was a corporate lawyer in Chicago. He was 34, but wanted to make a bigger impact on the world. Eventually, he became the deputy general counsel of a national public service charity. His advice:

- Keep exploring your passions. Read everything you can.

- Always be looking forward, but don't be afraid to step backward.

Stepping Out

"I think we all reach a point in life where we're not able to listen to common sense. You almost have to fall to get up sometimes." - Usher

I agreed to a free tutoring session with someone in "finance." It's not my core subject, but I did well in business classes in school. I didn't know what to expect, could easily have been clear that I was not competent for the task.

So what? Worst-case scenario, we move on our separate ways. Best case, I learn that I can tutor finance. And what do you know, I can.

Risking failure, stepping out, is growth.

Daily Calories Needed

(weight in pounds / 2.2) x 10 = 773

plus

(height in inches x 2.54) x 6.25 = 953

minus

(age x 5) + 5 = 215

Multiply result by 1.55 for moderate exercise 3-5 days a week = 2,342

Becoming Clark Kent

Headed to the eye doctor due to some blurriness in one eye. He said most people start using bifocals between the ages of 42-44. So I'm ahead of the curve!

Hmm, do these reading glasses make me look older? Wiser?

No, just more like Superman!

Create Space For Negative Emotions

"A common reaction to painful emotions like doubt, fear, or anger is to squash them down and pretend they're not there. You'll actually find it a lot more tolerable if you create space for them, instead. Imagine whatever painful emotion you're feeling as a compact ball of energy at your heart. Now expand that ball of energy to take up the whole room, the whole street, the whole planet, the whole universe. As it diffuses outward, the strength of the emotion wanes. As you pay attention to it, it loses power."

I would say that identifying negative emotions as a thing rather than part of me has helped me feel like a winner on... well... the admittedly few occasions that I remember to do this. Recently I received an e-mail that could easily have been interpreted as a subtle message that I was not doing my part. Or it was definitely much harder to interpret it as a compliment! The concern over that played with my mind a little longer than I'd like. Still, by turning my mind to other productive things, it passed. Now I re-read the e-mail in a different light, no problem. It has, as the quote says, lost whatever power it once had.

5 Things Successful People Do In The Evening

By Owen Linderholm, Yahoo! Small Business Advisor:

There are lots of sayings to highlight how getting going early can really lead to success. ‘The early bird catches the worm,’ ‘…early to rise makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise.’ But what about the other end of the day? New research suggests that night owls may actually be more successful than morning people.

There are plenty of people known to have late night habits. Perhaps the most famous is Winston Churchill who often worked until 3AM. Others include several famous writers like Gustave Flaubert, Franz Kafka, W.H. Auden and James Joyce, as well as other political figures including President Obama. Most of these people all tend to follow similar patterns in how they go about using the evening and nighttime to achieve success.

The research, done at the London School of Economics, showed that people with higher IQs are more likely to stay up late and that they show higher ‘level of cognitive complexity.’ Other studies also show that people who wake early fade in terms of cognitive ability at a faster rate than those who don’t. This article summarizes the results of several scientific studies that suggest night people are more likely to be better thinkers.

So what is it that night owls do to make them successful?

1. Take a break in the afternoon or early evening.

Many of the most successful and well-known night owls take a break from their day in the afternoon or evening – presumably to recharge – before returning to work and continuing much later than most people work. Churchill famously went to bed for an hour and a half at 5PM, rose, went to dinner (often very formal in his position as Prime Minister) at 8PM. When dinner ended, usually very late, he returned to work, staying up until anywhere from 1AM to 3AM. President Obama takes a break from his schedule in the early evening to have dinner with his family and then returns to work for the rest of the evening. Franz Kafka did most of his writing after a lengthy afternoon and evening break and returned to work after dinner from 11PM to anywhere from 1AM to 5AM.

2. Finish the day by preparing for tomorrow - something anyone can do

One of the common themes with successful people of all kinds – not just night owls – is to end the working day by preparing for the next day. Anything from looking over the schedule, doing prepatory reading and research to planning and adjusting what will be done. For night owls this can be a very in-depth process so that the next day is set up for success. President Obama always includes a review of the material needed for the next day as part of his end-of-evening ritual.

This is a common piece of advice for success in work and life: Take time at the end of the work day to get ready for the next day. It can simply be five minutes at the end of the day to look at your calendar or plans for the next day and set yourself up for success. If tomorrow is an ordinary day there may be nothing much to do. But if there is anything unusual going on, now might be the time to send a prepatory email or call someone to talk over issues before the big meeting, or do some research to prepare yourself right for a project that is starting. The secret is to make it a habit. Do it EVERY day – even schedule the time for it onto your calendar to make it happen. This doesn’t have to be at 11PM – do it at 4:55PM or whenever is convenient at the end of the working day.

3.  Reflect and Adjust

A common practice for night owls is to use part of that time to look back at the day and reflect on it and use that reflection to adjust the way they do things or to learn valuable lessons. This can be as simple as keeping a journal. People use journals from everything to personal reflection to analysis of their decision making to recording ideas they return to.  Not everyone formally uses a journal, but it is very common with writers. This is another evening tactic that can apply to anyone – even those who are not night owls.

4. Finish Things

Evening work is great for grabbing uninterrupted, clear time to finish things off. During the crowded, busy, interrupted day it can be hard to check, go over and draw a final line under tasks and projects. Night owls often find this ability to focus and concentrate uninterrupted to be a great boon in finishing tasks properly – rather than almost completing them and saying 'that’s good enough.' The uninterrupted time is a key for many of the successful night owls, particularly artists.

5. Do NOT do the little, ordinary tasks

It turns out that everyone finds it hard to do the annoying tasks like returning calls and answering email that is important but not critical. And it also turns out that everyone just finds it easier to do this in the morning (or at least after they get going – which in some of the night owl cases, like Churchill’s is pretty late). The evening turns out to be a better time for creativity and longer, harder projects and is best saved for that.

One thing is clear – morning and evening people are very different in their approach but can be equally successful.

Why Companies Hire "Athletes"

From Forbes.com:

At our company, we work to fill our roster with “athletes.” I don’t mean this necessarily in the physical sense, although it turns out that quite a few of our members are literal athletes – we have a national-class triathlete, I have a personal interest in competitive and recreational bodybuilding, and there are multiple marathoners, bikers, soccer, and basketball players, CrossFit enthusiasts, etc. on staff. We also have a companywide interest in health and fitness, which we call “Fishbowl FIT.” But when I advise people to seek and hire athletes, what I am really referring to is the athlete traits (akin to leadership traits) that make any individual an exceptional hire.
The traits of athletes we desire are as follows:

Move up http://i.forbesimg.com tMove down

 

1. They have the drive to practice a task rigorously, relentlessly, and even in the midst of failure until they succeed. Athletes are tenacious—they seldom or never give up. They also have a strong work ethic and the ability to respect and deal with the inevitable issues of temporary pain (along with the intuition to know when the cause of the pain is an issue too serious to safely ignore.)

2. Athletes achieve their goals. If one avenue is blocked, they find another path to success. If their physical strength has given out, they learn to work smarter, not harder. As they learn to become more effective they become more efficient.

3. Athletes develop new skills. Even though an athlete is highly specialized at certain skills, such as speed, blocking, or hand-eye coordination, they are also good at adapting to scenarios that call for cross-functional skills.

4. Athletes are exceptional entrepreneurs. As you consider new hires, you will likely discover that business athletes are often former (or current) entrepreneurs. Whereas people from large corporate environments may tend to be specialized in their skills and single-minded in their objectives, a business athlete is equipped to see the bigger vision of all that goes into making a company thrive. They can think strategically and are tuned in to the “big picture” and the long-term goals. They also know how to put the strategy into action.

5. Athletes strive for balance. Too much junk food and too little sleep will not contribute to a healthy company or a winning performance. Their bodies must be strong and in good condition, so athletes understand that they can’t cheat the system for long and expect positive results. A true business athlete will respect the laws of balance in energy, health, sleep, and nutrition (as well as the business corollaries) that will allow them to succeed and to do so not only in the present but for the long term as well.

6. Athletes work well with partners and in teams. Athletes know how to leverage the unique and complementary strengths of each member of their team. They know that cutting down a teammate or disrespecting a partner will only contribute to an organization’s demise. In fact, an athlete will typically put the needs of the team or a partner on equal par or even ahead of their own needs. How do you find and hire these athletes? Consider the questions you ask in interviews about outside projects, other interests, community service, the ability to focus on pet tasks, and the concepts of teamwork. And, as always, be keen to the ways you can recognize and hire for propensity instead of for current demonstrable traits. Many of my own strongest players have never previously excelled at a physical sport. They never knew they were athletes. That’s an important aspect of hiring athletes:
The world’s best athletes are not necessarily discovered; they are trained.

How are you finding, fostering, and training the champion athletes on your own business team?
Everyone deserves the opportunity to discover the “athlete” within themselves.

Setting A Daily Intention

"In many meditation and yoga classes the teacher will ask the students to set an intention at the beginning of their practice. The same exercise can be useful in your day-to-day life. Try asking yourself every morning, "What emotion or feeling do I want to cultivate today?" Maybe it's to be patient, nonjudgmental, self-assured, happy, or open-minded. Whatever it is, set an intention to foster this quality throughout your day."

How Your Personality Type Determines Your Paycheck

Fascinating. I am ISFJ, with only J being strong. I'm a few tweaks away from being rich!

Via CareerAssessmentSite.com
Upset that your paycheck isn't quite the size you'd like it to be? Ready to blame your company, the economy, Obama? Turns out you need to look a lot closer to home: in the mirror, specifically. A new study from CareerAssessmentSite.com indicates that your personality, specifically how driven and results-oriented you are, has a significant impact on your earning potential.
Granted, this shouldn't be world-shattering news to you. But it's useful for understanding how our specific personality types map out against the demands of work. The study at CareerAssessmentSite uses the famed Myers-Briggs Personality Test, which divides everyone into one of 16 personality types based on introversion/extroversion, rationality/emotion, and so forth. If you don't already know your type, you can learn more about the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator here.
Here's how the United States as a whole breaks down along Myers-Briggs lines:

Here's how far each personality type tends to get in his or her educational career:

And finally, the big news: how much money each personality type tends to earn:

Obviously there are many factors at play here, but the results play along expected lines: rationalists have the highest overall earning potential, with extroverted rationalists leading the way by a mile. Introverted idealists? Man, you folks have it tough. Get out in the world or stop thinking everything's perfect, one of the two.

10 Tips To Avoid Speeding Tickets

By Phil Berg of Popular Mechanics:

"The motorist is a source of revenue," says Richard Diamond. And it's become his life's obsession to change that.

By day, Diamond is the managing editor at The Washington Times. But by night, he is a relentless advocate for drivers. It started when he was 16 and got a speeding ticket from a California cop hiding in a speed trap. What Diamond considered an unfair tax and nasty constraint on his newfound mobile freedom has grated on him for 26 years. So Diamond launched into years of research on police ticketing strategies, some of it while employed on Capitol Hill, and all disclosed daily on his self-funded website TheNewspaper.com since 2004.

"Ticketing efforts have not gone down one bit," he says. Instead, there is a bewildering new variety of methods such as automated ticket machines with cameras and license-plate readers, doling out tickets for blocking bus lanes during gridlock or idling too long. "Any violation you can dream up, they're working on a device to ticket you. You can get laws passed for anything."

But speeding still makes up about 54 percent of tickets, Diamond says. Factoring the data from 40 states that report speeding revenue, "I estimate that it's $2 billion annually" in the U.S.

Here's some Diamond wisdom to help:

1. "The very first thing is to have situational awareness. If traffic slows, there's a reason," Diamond says.

2. Be ready for anything. There are speed traps from moving and stationary radar, lidar, known-location speed cameras, as well as hidden cameras, VASCAR stopwatch calculators, and just plain visual observation. In Vermont, for example, a police officer can simply make a guess of a vehicle's speed and it will stand in court, though that has been outlawed in most places.

3. "Keep a low profile—don't call attention to yourself. A minivan in the slow lane is less likely to get a ticket than a red Ferrari."

4. Keep quiet. Diamond says to present your license and registration and insurance card, and that's it. "You don't have to answer [anything] else—you have to say you're asserting your right to stay silent, or 'Please speak to my lawyer.' Do it in a polite way, nice and respectful. Antagonists get the most tickets. There are no warnings for a**holes."

5. Fight every ticket. In court, attacks on the legality of a speed-limit sign have been known to work. Attacks on the chain of evidence have worked too. In the Melendez-Diaz v. Massachusetts case of 2009, the Supreme Court ruled that the sixth amendment right to face one's accuser applies to lab tests. In California, courts have interpreted this to mean that photo tickets are not valid unless the technician who analyzed the photo testifies in court.

6. Now we're getting into serious ticket-fighting territory. "Check for the technical calibration of radar," Diamond says. "Usually radar evidence is admissible, presuming calibration. But in some states, any laser ticket is thrown out automatically because there is no calibration possible."

To do this, check the manufacturer specifications for the device via a FOIA (Freedom of Information Act ) request to the police department that issued the ticket. Ask for a description of how the police department abided by the calibration specs, which usually involves checking a radar gun's frequency with a tuning fork provided by the radar gun manufacturer and sending the unit to the manufacturer to be recalibrated. "It's worth investing the time to get your ticket overturned. I've done it myself in Virginia. First thing to do is pull up the vehicle code."

7. Check the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD), which you can find here, Diamond says. If the speed-limit signs aren't up to code, you can beat the ticket on a technicality. "Even the font of the sign is specified," he says. And "many places hide [speed] cameras behind signs and bushes. There's even one behind the welcome to d.c. sign."

8. "The judge is not there to find you not guilty. The judge is part of the revenue-collection machine. Give him a reason to find you not guilty," Diamond says.

The best way to do this is to record the conversation you have with the ticketing officer. If there is a contradiction between the recording and the officer's written report, Diamond says, "his credibility is shot." Just be sure to check your state laws before you do this. For example, Maryland does not allow you to record with a cellphone, Diamond says. There have been arrests in Massachusetts and Illinois as well for recording conversations with police, although the trend is for courts to dismiss these instances.

Get all the data you can. "Ask the officer where he was when he first stopped you, and how long he paced you." Then, Diamond says, photograph the speed-limit sign where you were stopped, the location where you first saw the officer, and the location where the officer says he first saw you. "Pacing is one of the top methods used for tickets, but in Pennsylvania the officer needs to have followed you for 0.3 mile to use pacing," he says. "Often they don't pace that far. They get sloppy a lot because they can."

9. Find a friend in the local police department. "This is the advanced course—knowing the patterns of where police are and when," Diamond says. "For example, the day after New Year's, that morning they're all sleeping. Look for shift patterns."

10. Finally, pressure your legislators. "We need to stop federal incentives for speeding tickets. States are paid for speed enforcement—the government measures this by speeding-ticket quotas," Diamond says. Voter pressure has banned speed and red-light automatic-ticket cameras by petition in 30 cities recently. "And they are liberal cities, conservative cities, rich like Newport Beach, poor cities, big like Cincinnati, small cities—it doesn't matter."

I'll Take Some Pain, Hold The Suffering Please

"In Eastern philosophy, pain and suffering are two very different things. Pain is the inevitable hardships of life, and suffering is the avoidable negative narrative we add on top of that. Losing your job is pain -- telling yourself that this means you're a failure is suffering. Ending a relationship is pain -- interpreting this to mean that you'll never meet anyone again is suffering. You can't eliminate pain, but you can end suffering."

I love this concept. Inescapably we will meet pain physically or emotionally. Winners accept pain and move on. Losers suffer. I've suffered too much; to attain a casual relationship with pain would be a great step forward.

Learning From The Critics

"Just as difficult circumstances can be opportunities for growth, so can interactions with difficult people. Imagine that any difficult person you encounter is actually the Buddha in disguise, put there to teach you a specific lesson about life or about yourself. What do you think the universe is trying to teach you?"

Although I dislike conflict as much as anyone else, these do tend to be moments that stick clearly in my mind. They can be sources of self-loathing. Or they can be sources of self-teaching. I learned long ago that among my talents is not to respond with a lot of words when being criticized. In many cases, looking back, a simple "thank you" would have been almost all that I needed to say. Then I can reflect later with a more relaxed point of view and sort out the upside of what happened.

11 Championship Killers - In Sports And In Life

By Alan Stein:

The wait is over! Basketball season is officially here.  The NBA season kicks off tonight, college programs started practice earlier this month and most high schools will hold try-outs in November.

Man, this is my favorite time of year!

When the season first starts, every team is in the championship hunt.  Every team sets their eyes on the final prize – winning a championship and being crowned #1.

Legendary Hall of Fame football coach Bill Parcells once said, ‘In order to win, you have to figure out what makes you lose.’

That is a powerful concept.

So before you can win a championship, you need to figure out what will prevent that from happening.

Here are 11 Championship Killers:

1. Entitlement: Players don’t feel they need to earn a championship. They think it will happen automatically based on tradition or last year’s success.
2. Arrogance: Similar to entitlement, players don’t think losing is even possible. They lack respect for their opponent and for the game itself.
3. Selfishness: Players think ‘me’ and not ‘we.’  They are more concerned with individual stats than with winning.
4. Complacency: Players think ‘good enough’ is good enough. It isn’t.
5. Lack of Confidence: Too much confidence (see #2) is a major problem. But so is a lack of confidence.  You have to believe you can win it all.
6. Lack of Effort: This one better be obvious.
7. Lack of Trust: Players need to trust coaches. Coaches need to trust players. Lack of trust on either side will create dysfunction and dissention and cause the entire ball of yarn to unwind.
8. Lack of Conditioning: It is a long season.  If players run out of gas mid-way through, they can’t finish the race!
9. Lack of Commitment: Winning a championship requires commitment on and off the court. Staying up late on your computer the night before a game or getting in academic trouble shows a severe lack of commitment.
10. Lack of Leadership: Coaches can’t be the only leaders on the team. Period.
11. Lack of Role Acceptance: Basketball is a team game.  Every player on the team, from the leading scorer to the last player on the bench, has a specific role.  To win a championship, every player on the team must know, accept and take pride in their role.

Integrating Mindfulness Into Daily Life

"Being mindful doesn't mean you need to spend hours a day meditating -- you just need to pay attention. We think we don't have the time, but it doesn't need to take any extra time. Practice paying attention when you're engaged in daily activities. When you're washing the dishes, wash the dishes, and try not to let your mind wander to the past or future. When you're eating, eat. When you're walking, walk, and pay attention to the ground under each step."

Though I don't do this myself - the planner in me takes over and I tend to multi-task during mundane activities - I would imagine that it is excellent for clearing the mind.

Washing Anxiety Away: The Week In Thanks

This morning I woke up with 15 minutes to get prepped and over to church, so I couldn't loosen up the vocal chords and hydrate the way I usually do. I'd fallen asleep at 4:00 a.m. The words to the songs were missing from the bulletin. Midway through rehearsal we were told by an outside party that an extra song was going to be inserted into our set. Then I was asked about volunteering a Saturday to serve at a retreat. Since (as far as I can tell) I was born adverse to change and with a cranky-meter that's fueled by tiredness, it was a blood-pressure-raising 15 minutes. What I'm thankful for is that I was self-aware in that moment. I could identify my stress and stressors. I knew it would pass, as long as I could stay quiet through it. In the long run, inner outbursts over such trivial things are silly wastes of adrenaline that plaque arteries for no good reason. There are strategies, habits that can help prevent them. I've been blessed with enough life experience and with it, a small dose of wisdom, to benefit from it. Well before the end of the hour, I was back to normal.

What is normal? I had the unexpected privilege of entering into a long conversation with a Leadership McLean County class member who has the ambition and personality of a future mayor. I mostly just sat and listened as she talked about a new job change, about her philosophy and dreams, and how she was "on cloud nine." It was humbling to be in the presence of someone so bursting with energy, and a reminder about how good God can be in anyone's life, including to open her eyes to new possibilities and boldness to make the job change. It reminded me more than a little bit of my own decision to follow my calling rather than money. It reminded me of what unbridled enthusiasm and passion looked like. It was an unexpected, impromptu gift. This is one of the memories that should arise brightly whenever I am faced with uncertainty in a situation like at church this morning. No fear, or its ugly anger by-product, can withstand a flood of gratefulness, rightly channeled.

Dena got home from a fantastic walk as I ended that last paragraph. She was fired up about the beautiful weather, heading out to sit on the patio with a hot drink in hand to enjoy the crisp autumn day. She was also ready to talk about some happy things on her mind... meaning that my goal of finishing this post before my 2:00 p.m. tutoring appointment was going to fail. It also meant that I arrived late for that appointment by a few minutes. You know what, I'm a lucky guy that my biggest "failure" of the day was having a wife in such a good mood and eager to share it with me that a couple of things had to wait. There again, inflexibility and anxiety over the illusion of control will cripple, and gratitude heals.

I'm up to ten tutoring students. The other day I was approached by a young professional interested in tutoring math, asking if I could mentor him about my business. Hidden Bloggers know that I got my start this year by doing the same thing; an experienced professional tutor shared his experience with me. It's a great opportunity to pay it forward. Meanwhile, I've been looking for some new branded apparel like polo shirts and sweatshirts for the winter. One of my students asked me if I'd mind taking an hour on Saturday to teach him how to shoot basketballs since he likes the game but hasn't had much tutoring. Yet another chance to pay forward the skills that have been shared with my by the Normal Community High School coaching staff.

I got to hear one of my favorite speakers give a presentation this week. I think coroner Beth Kimmerling is the best coroner in the nation, and it would be very hard for you to sway me otherwise. Her job is a mix of science and compassion so she has to wear many hats. She insists on personally delivering news to next of kin after someone has died. She worked to implement an ethics code for her profession. She takes on the hard jobs with a strong sense of commitment. These are the kind of people who reinforce what it means to be a success.

Now that the evenings are darker by the time change, we can give thanks for the extra hour of sleep and remember... only six weeks until the days start getting longer again.

May the new week bring peace and love, riding high on a sea of personal gratitude!

Success Is Not An Accident - Stephen Curry

Turning Straw Into Gold

"Our deepest suffering is often our greatest opportunity to learn about ourselves and take action to be better people. Working through suffering is how you learn to be patient, humble, and grateful. And developing strength in the face of painful circumstances teaches you that you don't need to fear the natural ups and downs of life, and instead can face whatever comes your way with inner calm and peace."

The other day I found myself deliberately accelerating to prevent a car from pulling ahead of me on the road. In that moment my instinct was entirely selfish, fighting for an almost completely insignificant cause to save a couple milliseconds of time. From where does this instinct come? How do I develop myself to handle it more maturely in the future? Though the incident was far from "suffering," the challenge is to self-reflect before it leads to something greater.

Patience, humility, gratefulness... the building blocks of peace. The calm upon life's ripples.

Illinois Distracted Driving Laws

Cell phone, texting news: A law prohibiting driving while using handheld cell phones and similar electronic communications devices goes into effect Jan. 1, 2014.


Fines for first offenses are set at $75. For subsequent violations the fines are $100, $125 and $150.

Gov. Pat Quinn signed the distracted driving legislation into law Aug. 16. The plan sat on the governor’s desk for most of the summer, but legislative sponsors expected the sign-off.

“Too many Illinois families have suffered because of accidents that could have been prevented,” Quinn said. “Anyone driving a car should be careful, responsive and alert behind the wheel.”
Sponsor state Rep. John D’Amico said: “I’m very happy that House Bill 1247 passed. I believe this law will become an important tool in making our roadways safer.”

The changes brought by HB 2417 amend the existing Illinois text messaging & driving law to include handheld cell phones and similar devices. The final House vote of May 28 was 69-48, basically the same count as on first approval of March 1. The Senate vote of May 23 was 34-20.

House sponsor D’Amico did not oppose the Senate’s change stipulating that a first offense is not a moving violation. The bill is a rerun of D’Amico’s HB 3972 of 2012, which also cleared the House by a similar margin but faded in the Senate.

The law replaces a crazy quilt of local laws, most created because the Legislature failed to act. D’Amico told Hands Free Info it took so long to push through a hands-free law because, “To this day, there still are some who won’t accept that using a cell phone behind the wheel can be fatal.
“Hopefully, this law will bring increased attention to the issue.”

Current prohibitions:

• Drivers 18 and younger are prohibited from using wireless phones while driving — with or without hands-free devices.
• All drivers prohibited from text messaging and related activities such as emailing and Internet use.
• All drivers prohibited from use of handheld electronic communications devices. Effective Jan. 1, 2014.
• Motorists prohibited from use of cellular phones in school speed zones and construction/road maintenance zones.
• Within 500 feet of an emergency scene, cell phone use and taking of photos or videos on wireless devices prohibited.
• In Chicago, all drivers talking on mobile phones must use hands-free devices. Text messaging prohibited while driving. Fines: $100-$500.
• At least 70 other municipalities have their own handheld cell phone laws. They include Highland Park, Winnetka, Evanston and Deerfield.