La crise, quelle crise ?

  • A simple method to find ideas and be creative

    Sometimes when you have to find ideas for your next project, irrespective of what it is, the best source of inspiration is other’s work!

    Originality is nothing but judicious imitation. The most original writers borrowed one from another.
    Voltaire

    https://unsplash.com/aleksdorohovich

    May the Kindle be!

    And for this idea generation, I generally use my Kindle! There’s a simple function in Kindle that allows you to annotate a text. I generally due this when reading a sentence or a paragraph that inspires me. I collection quotes too, like the one above, but I would say quotes can be easily found on the net, extract from text you read have a more personal relation: you read the book, the text ticked at a particular moment and you made the effort to set it aside.

    With a kindle, you can go back to your notes by opening My clippings (I have a pretty old kindle, so not sure it’s all the same in the newer ones, but I’m sure you’ll manage). There, I browse through all the extract I kept over the years. Inevitably, something will resonate. You will remember why you picked this sentence, it will remind you of a particular story or it will inspire you. It never failed me and I’m sure it will not fail you if you just use it.

    https://unsplash.com/mcraftpix

    Creativity is a matter of brain connection

    Being creative is not difficult, it just requires some action and some tricks like this kindle one. Ideas are never created ex nihilo, although sometimes we may feel they are. It’s just our brain playing some nasty tricks on ourselves. Because ideas are just coming from other ideas, linked one to another in a neuron mesh. The beauty of the process, the more you use it, the easier it becomes. Practice makes perfection!

  • Tying Productivity, Methods and Tools

    Your Hump Day Success Edge Post #3

    Productivity is a loose word as it may mean a lot of different things for different people. As per the Oxford dictionary, productivity is the state or quality of being productive, that is to be able to achieve a significant amount or result. If I need to deliver 10 actions in the course of the day, I want to deliver as fast as possible with the required quality. Therefore, productivity is generally linked to a form of time management (method) and to tools we use.

    Make your own productivity methods

    A good productivity method makes thing being created
    https://unsplash.com/dakotaroos

    Unfortunately for any human being, there are plentiful time management, goal setting, project management methods, just to name a few « buzzword ». The most important method is the one that works for you. I’ve seen many failed attempts to fit a square peg in a round hole. The only way to make any method work is to adapt it to our own existence and adapt our own existence to the method. This means making a conscious effort, but not a too steep one. It needs to make sense for you. If the method does not make any sense, change it!

    Make your productivity tool work for you (not the opposite)

    Adapt your tool to get optimal productivity
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    As a professional, I keep track of my goals and what I need to do in Microsoft Outlook, because it replicates to all my devices and is easy to capture any new task. But I’m not a classical user of Outlook, I’m a deep user of Tasks and Calendar, on my own terms. However, Outlook may not work in every situation, particularly for team work, for which I am using my own version of Scrum in simple Excel spreadsheet. Because my motto in productivity tool is: Keep It Simple, Stupid! If any tool requires more that one hour to master, I throw it away.

    Does this make sense? Let me know!

  • The one behavior that makes a huge performance difference

    Recently Inc.com published a post entitled The Productivity Secret Behind Bill Gates’s Incredible Success. The title entices you with the idea that Bill’s success is a matter of just a productivity secret, which is, of course, not really true. However, it puts the finger on something that has now been demonstrated numerous times: intensity of focus is a game-changing behavior and increases performance.

    Monotask

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    https://unsplash.com/negativespace

    For peak performance, the first to get rid of is distraction. Second, you need to concentrate on the one task you have to do. If you’ve ever been totally absorbed in what you do, like coding or painting, or any pleasurable activity, you should have been amazed at how time flies fast and how much you have done. This is the power of dedicating all your energy to one activity and one activity only. Of course our brain and body are multitasking: we breathe without thinking about it, we digest, we do all sorts of things without being conscious about them. However, dedicating our conscious energy to one thing only is what I’m calling monotasking here.

    Concentrate

    https://unsplash.com/asthetik
    https://unsplash.com/asthetik

    When you are about to do something difficult, you often need to concentrate. This moment of deep thinking allows to focus our mind and energy on what we are about to do. Unfortunately, with all distractions, many people have lost the ability to concentrate and dedicate oneself to deep work. If you are prone to distraction, you may need to start with short period of concentration, like 10 minutes, and increase slowly to be able to sustain an hour or more of deep concentration. Concentration will bring you to the next performance level.

    Meditation can help you reach your concentration goal. By bringing back focused monotasking in your daily work, you will soon be amazed at your results!

  • The only thing you can control is you…

    The only thing you can control is you…

    Your Hump Day Success Edge Post #1

    Today’s inspiration comes from Kevin Turner, Microsoft’s COO. During a presentation on Monday, he used this quote: « the only thing you can control is you, the only thing you cannot control is everything else ». When you reflect on this, you realize it’s common sense on one side, but really powerful when you’re interested in learning and growing. Do the Iowa results have an effect on what you do and think? If you’re in politics and your career depends on it, may be. Otherwise? Can you control what Cruz or Clinton will do? Probably not. Even Bill does not control Hillary! Joke aside, focusing on what you can control is the best, if not the only way, of creating a better you.

    https://unsplash.com/pawelkadysz
    https://unsplash.com/pawelkadysz

    Of course, you can argue that you can control any kind of machinery, your car or your direct reports, for instance. However, think for a moment. What if something breaks in your machine or car, what if one of your direct reports is sick? Can you still control them? The only thing you can really control is you, you are in charge of your actions and your emotions, and it’s within your power and decision to take control of your actions and emotions. Once you let go what is around you that you have no effect on, you can concentrate on what matters really: becoming a better you, to serve better others!

  • Your Hump Day Success Edge

    Your Hump Day Success Edge

    You open a newspaper, it’s all about politics, war, and horrors. Between lies from politicians, finance institutions ripping off your savings, and big corporation making billions, it seems the world is going down to the cellar. However, there are millions of individuals who have understood the underlying forces of success, who are living successful lives, and who seem to go through difficulties with ease. This is what I’m interested in. As a successful entrepreneur and professional, I’ve gone through tough days, weeks, months and years, gone through tremendous successes, and leveraged all my experience to continue to strive in whatever I start and do.

    I created this blog after the financial crisis of 2008 (if you are still wondering what happened, go and watch The Big Short) because I was fed up of all the negativity that was floating around. Yes, the financial system is rotten. Yes, politicians are corrupted. Yes, we can see the world is killing itself. Or we can be optimistic while not delusional, we can build on positive thoughts and actions, we can put a brick in the wall of the new world. And this is what I want to help people with, through this blog and my new resolution for the year: the hump day success edge.

    For non-English natives, hump day is Wednesday. Why hump day? From urbandictionary.com, hump day comes from « the context of climbing a proverbial hill to get through a tough week ». Therefore, the hump day is the best day of the week, because the weekend gets closer. However, I see this has the pinnacle of the week, the day of hope, of maximum energy. And because I want ultimate success, this is the best day to stop for 15 minutes and reflect on our lives, loves and craft. So this year, I will, every Wednesday, write on what can make each of us more successful in every aspect of our personal and professional lives. Simple no non-sense ideas, easy to execute, and game-changing.

    Get ready for the Hump Day Success Edge! Live February 3!

  • How to Disagree Without Being Disagreeable: 7 Tips for Having More Productive Discussions by HubSpot

    https://unsplash.com/martz90
    https://unsplash.com/martz90

    In our professional lives, we may not agree every time with others. Sometimes, we may be right, sometime we are wrong. But overall, it’s not because we disagree that we need to be « disagreeable ». This post from HubSpot goes over 7 tips to agree to disagree without being nasty. Those 7 advices are:

    1. Be mindful of your tone. No need to get angry, your ideas can go their own way by respecting other people’s idea. No need to yell or shout, stay courteous.
    2. Don’t use « you » statements. You do not want to judge the person, but to challenge her ideas. No need to point finger at the other party by using « you ».
    3. Avoid filler words or hesitant phrases. In other words: be brief, be bright, be gone!
    4. Do your research. Want to make a point? Facts, facts, facts. Less stories, more tangible facts.
    5. Don’t get personal. As with point number two, don’t point finger, don’t fill pointed finger at. Stay at idea and fact level.
    6. Be mindful of your body language. You mouth say something, but your body may say the opposite. Align yourself mentally and physically.
    7. Know your non-negotiables. Do not compromise on something you truly believe in, it will bite back later.

    This may seem common sense to many people, and yes, it is, but common sense is unfortunately lost this days too frequently. So next time, you disagree and want to find the right decision for both parties, have a look at those seven advices and… good luck!

     

  • Is dropping the jack planned obsolescence? A simple view and behavior on progress

    Is dropping the jack planned obsolescence? A simple view and behavior on progress

    Intrigued by the title, wondering what jack I’m talking about? Let’s define two words (stay with me, it’s gonna be fun and provocative):

    • Jack: in the context of this post, it’s a plug. There’s a good chance you are using one if you have a wired headset for your phone or mp3 player.
    • Planned obsolescence: « in industrial design and economics is a policy of planning or designing a product with an artificially limited useful life, so it will become obsolete, that is, unfashionable or no longer functional after a certain period of time », wipikedia.org.

    With this in mind, when there’s rumor that Apple is going to drop the jack connector on the coming iPhone 7, is this planned obsolescence? Some opponents to this choice claim that yes, I think the opposite, it’s not planned obsolescence, it’s progress. From the day we are born, until the day we are dead, we tend to want to progress, to make the next day better that the one we just lived. Although there are multiple way to do this, technical progress is one of them. Do you think that the electronics used to perform cardiac surgery has planned obsolescence and this is bad?

    If I think planned obsolescence, per se, is bad because it forces consumption of more and more devices and increased pollution, all this can be managed. First by managing what you do with your electronics. Almost all electronics devices can be recycled, and more will be as environment laws will become more stringent and customers will become more conscious of the impact their behaviors have. Second by taking care of all your objects. Maintenance prolongs life of any objects. For example, if you have a car, you bring it back for service maintenance so it continues to work well, do the same with all your electronics. Third, by not listening to all the commercials out there.

    We all know marketing is there to make you purchase the latest smartphone, tablet, or other gadget. But YOU decide. You can decide to keep your device one more year, but just thinking about three simple things:

    1. It’s hype not to follow the herds of early adopters who spend a premium to get the new thing.
    2. Purchasing the new toy triggers a shot of dopamine in your brain, so it’s not about the new toy, it’s about the shot of dopamine your body wants. Dopamine is known as the reward neurotransmitter, it makes you feel good, it’s also highly addictive.
    3. The new toy, like all toys, will be old very soon and there are huge chances you’ll get bored and will use the new toy as you were using the old one.

    I’m not saying you should not purchase the latest technology, I’m saying you should do it knowing what you do. You should do it understanding how to recycle the old. You should do it knowing curiosity and progress is inherent to our nature, and be happy to be able to live this incredible life. So is dropping the jack planned obsolescence? No, it’s not, it’s progress, it needs to be well managed for the present and future of mankind.

    What do you think?

  • Le développement personnel, pour qui, pour quoi ?

    yogaNous sommes tous plus ou moins à la recherche d’outils, de méthodes ou d’astuces pour se sentir mieux, être plus efficace ou développer ses capacités. Le terme « développement personnel » est devenu de ce fait un fourre-tout. Véritable industrie de nos jours, on y trouve autant de charlatans que de véritables professionnels.

    Matthieu Ricard nous interpelle dans cet article intitulé le développement personnel, pour qui, pour quoi ? inspiré par le livre qu’il a co-écrit avec un philosophe, Alexandre Jollien , et un psychologue, Christophe André.

    Il remet en perspective ce fameux « développement personnel », dans la dimension de notre rapport aux autres et des efforts à entreprendre pour devenir un meilleur être humain. Un texte tout court, qui fait réfléchir par delà les religions, les philosophies ou techniques de développement personnel.

  • How to kick the fear of public speaking in the b…

    public-speakingIt is said that on the fear list, public speaking comes before the fear of death. It has even its own word: glossophobia, coming from the Greek glossa, meaning tongue, and phobos, meaning fear. The symptoms of glossophobia can vary and are numerous: dry mouth, trembling body, sweating, just to name a few. In her article How I Got Over My Fear of Public Speaking, Kelly offers a good set of advices, from her own experience, on how to overcome glossophobia. I although introduced 3 simple hacks to better speak in public and 5 deadly mistakes to avoid to be a good speaker.

    Whatever your audience, whatever your topic, and whatever your public speaking skills, anxiety and fear always kicks in. There’s a story one of my mentors of public speaking that I particularly like: A young actress, after a play, goes to see the great Sarah Bernhardt and asks « madam, I never add stage frights, is this normal? » Sarah Bernard answers « Don’t worry, it comes with talent ». Just to say it’s completely normal to have stage fright, it’s actually a nice feedback loop that helps us remember the essential things to do to get good at what we are about to do.

    Here are a set of behavioral tips and tricks to feel better when you are about to deliver a public speech:

    • Shout! If you can find a secluded place when nobody hears you, go there and shout the loudest you can. It will help a lot empty the tension you have.
    • Stand right! Pull your shoulders backwards, push your breast forward and stand right. Exaggerate the movement before setting the foot on stage, it will relieve the tension in your upper body.
    • Put one foot slightly ahead of the other! A little bit like martial art practitioners. This will provide a better balance.
    • Breathe slowly and deeply! Breathing is essential, breathing slowly will lower your cardiac speed and lower your anxiety
    • Look at your audience, spotting friendly faces! There are always friendly and smiling faces in an audience, look at them like you were speaking to them one on one, but do not speak only to them, move your eyes around, and come back to those friendly faces.
    • Accept mistakes and failures! You tongue will trip. You will forget a sentence or a paragraph. All this, and more, happens, even to the best. The only way to avoid this is to rehearse, rehearse, and rehearse. If you do not have the time, accept little mistakes

    One thing that most people do not realize is that the best speakers, the Obamas, the Jobs, etc. are prepared to the max. They have a prompter, they have coaches, and they have rehearsed dozens of time. There’s no shortcut to being a great public speaker, but the above simple tricks will help you getting better and better.

    All the best!

  • Space Oddity, a dreamlike ode to space travel

    Since last Monday, there have been overwhelming tribute to the late David Bowie. Sales of BlackStar, his last album, launched two days before he died, have surged to a point of becoming number one in the UK. I have not been a die-hard fan of Bowie, but have enjoyed many of his songs, danced on Let’s dance. Modern Love and China Girl, listened thousands of time to Ashes to Ashes, but no other songs made as strong an impression on me as Space Oddity.

    480px-Bowie_SpaceOdditySingle

    While thinking about Space Oddity and browsing Youtube, I found the original video of the song:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D67kmFzSh_o

    It’s a very interesting version compared to the one that is most commonly known:

    I do not know which I prefer, but it almost seem two different songs, the 1972 version adding more instruments and changing the voice completely. Not even talking about the almost dreamlike images of the 1969 versions, compared to the almost dull images of the 1972 one (honestly, the guitar rifs are not even synced with the music, but eh, we are in the 70’s…)

    I discovered the version Chris Hadfield recorded in the ISS while reading his book (wrote a blog post on this):

    This last one takes a new flavor now Bowie’s gone. It’s probably not the best version of the song, but it’s the only one (with some changes in the words) that is resonating with a real in space experience.

    One of the reasons this song has such an impact on me is probably the fact I always been interested into flying and I wanted to be a fighter pilot until the day I was forced to wear glasses, and needed to forget my dream (that I overcome by getting my windglider pilot license at 17, more than a year before my car driving license). I still love flying today, although I do not pilot gliders anymore, but I still believe it’s temporary.

    Having said all this, what is the song that made a strong impression on you and that you are still singing or whistling years after, and that makes you happy?