For me, I just bought and set up a new site that I plan to launch by 1 June. My next “if I had time” task is to create 3 videos, one as a promo for the site, one as the initial lesson for folks that sign up and also the second lesson.

Take that next item on your list and figure out how to chop it down and get it done.

Tonight I’m writing the script for the promo video.

What is your next step? Go!

I’ve only had mine for a day, but I feel ready to pass judgement. Awesome!

Going from an iPad version 1 to the iPad 3 clearly seems worth it to me. Here are a few reasons:

The enhanced display. This new “Retina display” is fabulous. Although it isn’t significant in the HD movies (already HD on the iPad 1 & 2), apps and pictures look a whole lot better. One small detractor (for non-models) – the hi-res is a bit too good for looking at yourself in the camera.

Cameras. Not a big deal to iPad 2 owners, but having the two cameras is a great reason for iPad 1 owners to upgrade. Although I still intend to use my flip for videoing my speeches, the iPad 3 will make a great option and allow me to capture stuff I might otherwise miss. (It’s drastically better than my android phone’s camera).

Footprint. A little lighter and thinner than the iPad 1. Not a deal maker, but a plus.

Facetime. Video conferencing can be a nice perk, especially for travelers.

iCloud. I haven’t tried this yet, since I need to upgrade the OS on our home system to use the full features. I’ll post an update once I try it.

There are a couple of small detractors – nothing new to Apple fans:

Every extra thing costs more than it should. Although, you can find some iPad 2 products on sale now, even though they fit the 3.

Right this second, really, a woman two seats over (at Barnes & Noble) is on Facetime on her iPad (could be a 2 or 3). I’m trying to be at Barnes & Noble, here…

Everyone in the family will want to borrow it. Yeah, that happens. Deal with it.

Overall, I’m glad to have The New iPad. I think it’s worth a look for iPad 1 owners, and stupid-rich iPad 2 owners could do worse with their money…

Note: This post was written on the Worpress app for iPad. All hail WordPress.

Like this graphic? Get the basics of online marketing delivered in a free 20-part course from Copyblogger. No foolin’.

Do you want to print out this page, and just “Bang Head Here?”

What are your favorite methods for dealing with stress?

Run away - This can seem like a good idea, but where do you run to? Is there such a place as a permanent stress-free zone? If your run is just temporary, how will you deal with the stress when you return?

Shoot somebody – this may well be deserved, but it certainly fits the description of a permanent solution to a temporary problem. It’s best to avoid violence, no matter what the jack… did.

Ignore the problem – this is a very temporary solution to a less-temporary problem. A lot like running away, but without the running or the away.

Meditate – this one will help with some of the symptoms, but it can’t solve the root problem. Other common fixes in this category include yoga, running, weight training and boxing. Pick one, but there’s still more to do. Oh yeah, “Bang Head Here” works on this one too. (so does writing a blog post)

Face the problem head on –  simple, but rarely easy. The down side here is the short-term increase in stress that comes from facing the issue. However, if you get one more good night’s sleep, it could be worth it.

Of course, things like tornados, earthquakes and floods take quite a bit of time to get over, and problems with the job can too. Moron problems usually have a more direct solution available:

- Get a second opinion. Don’t gossip, but ask, “is it me?” Be prepared to find out that you are part of the problem. Maybe your friend or mentor can help you craft a solution for when you speak to the loser.

- Confront. That jerk may not know they are causing your stress. Don’t use e-mail! Be specific, non-judgmental, and solution-oriented. “What can we do different to work together?” <must…not…smack…>

- Follow through. Don’t expect one conversation with the idiot to do it. Relationships take work. Handling the main problem may solve the bulk of the problem, but you have to be watchful for flare-ups. After all, idiots are called idiots because, well, they are.

Stress sucks. Stress caused by idiots sucks worse. Whether you chose to run away, pray, or just “Bang Head Here”, you won’t get through it without understanding and confronting the problem.

Good luck with that…

<banging head noise is not simulated>

I recently saw this quote, from Sir Richard Branson. The second line is what caught my eye – it’s easy to be cynical…much harder to be successful.

After seeing Rory Vaden speak about success this weekend, this idea made a lot of sense to me. What do you think? Do we take the shortcut of being cynical more often than we should? What opportunities are we passing up when we choose the easy path in the short term?

Why cynicism seems easy:

1. It gives us an out. We can dump the responsibility somewhere else, so the failure isn’t our fault. This also means the success doesn’t get to be ours either. After all, trying is a risk, while blaming a poor economy, not enough time or not having support removes all of the risk.

2. It’s popular. How often do you hear your friends taking the easy path to cynicism rather than doing the work to be successful? “I know people who work out but don’t look any better”, “my boss likes so-and so more, so she I know she won’t give me more responsibility” or “just because you write a book doesn’t mean anybody will buy it!” These are all real concerns, but in the end they are ways to avoid the chance of success for the certainty of the status quo.

3. Pain avoidance. The thought of doing something big and then failing can be scary. We know the pain will be great and we know we’ll hear, “I told you so!” from our friends. Cynical comments like, “I know I’ll never get published” allow us to substitute a small pain now for a potentially bigger one later. Bonus: Our friends will usually support our cynicism better than they will our attempt at success.

Now that you know this, what can you do about it?

- Lead by example. You probably don’t want to replace all of your friends just to avoid cynicism. The good news is that many of your friends will probably be willing to support your attempts at success, if you’re willing to support theirs. If you change the “why bother” to “let’s do it!”, chances are they will follow your lead.

- Make the decision. Of course, you have to decide to make the changes that will lead to success. Rory calls it “Taking the Stairs“. However you want to think of it, you may need to make a conscience decision to make a change (or changes) to see success. Change the question in your mind from “Should I?” to “How can I?”Stop thinking about if or should, and start thinking that you will, and just focus on how.

- Follow through. Once you’ve decided to make the change, you need to keep it up . Don’t burn yourself out with 20 changes by next week. Keep focus on the decision you’ve made and use that momentum to stay on your path to success. If possible, have an accountability buddy who will keep you honest about your progress.

Cynicism may seem easy now, but it always leads to less success in the future. If I had listened to those voices (“who will read it”, “am I good enough”, “who cares”), I would have never created this blog two and a half years ago. I’m not making milions (yet), but I am doing something I enjoy. What about you?

Are you substituting cynicism for a shot at success?

Editors Note: I saw the quote mentioned here: http://jorgensundberg.net/content/top-10-personal-branding-quotes-those-who-made-it.

The challenge: read those books sitting around your house, apartment, room, or other domicile that have been waiting to be read for days, months or years. Called the “To Be Read” or TBR Stack.

If you are at all like me, and you buy books at a slightly faster pace than you read them, this challenge is for you. Although the initial challenge required a sign-up by the end of January, I think leap-day is as good of a time as any to get started!

Click the picture below to see the original blog post, and also leave me a comment if you decide to take the challenge. I’ll post updates throughout the year, and the person with the most read by the end of 2012 gets bragging rights.

What are you waiting for?

Why is the gym parking lot empty?
Why are the sales of Oreos climbing?
Why did you stop trying?

Did you know that if you made a New Year’s Resolution, you were set up to lose? Do you know why? More importantly, do you know what to do about it?

New Year’s Resolutions are (mostly) fake! Think about it. Did one of these (or similar) happen to you last October?

Maybe you’re sitting at work and worried about your job. A certification might help. Should you start now or on the 1st of January?

Maybe you looked in the mirror. You’d like to fit in clothing the next size down. Should you start now or on the 1st of January?

Maybe you want to take a trip next summer. You want to learn French. Should you start now or on the 1st of January?

When you put off starting that resolution, you automatically program your brain to give it a low priority. Then, when the second, third and final weeks of January come around you lose you resolve because it was never really important to you.

In fact, here’s another statistic I’m not prepared to justify. More than 75% of resolution failures are explained as being beyond your control. Stuff like, “I had to work a lot of overtime” and “my daughter keeps bringing junk food into the house” and “my son broke the dumbells”. You get the idea.

Now you know why, but what do you do about it?

First – Be SMART.

Specific
Measurable
Attainable
Realistic
Time-bound

Specific – don’t “lose weight” – lose 10 pounds
Measurable – don’t “fit into skinny jeans” – lose 2 inches on your waist
Attainable – certain amounts of weight loss may be unhealthy – make it something you can achieve
Realistic – losing 10 pounds is realistic – losing 100 may not be
Time-bound – set a date for your goal – finish writing that book in 12 months

Second – Avoid land-mines

In our house, we don’t have chocolate. We rarely have any sugar, no soda and we avoid certain fast-food options. We aren’t perfect, but we also don’t have chocolate “failure makers” planted around the house. Does it guarantee success? Probably not. But it helps, and it also avoids lapses.

Also, do things to help yourself. Take your own snacks to work.  Buy a refillable water bottle. Hang out at the library instead of the bar. You get the idea…

Third – Write it down

The goal has more power when it’s written down, committed to and shard with others. There is power in accountability. And having friends that won’t accept “it was the overtime” as an excuse gives you a better chance of success.

We’ve had our last holiday for a while. You next resolution goal should start as soon as you recognize the need. Take a look at what you want to accomplish, decide to do it NOW, write it down and commit to it. Otherwise, it’s just next year’s failed New Year’s Resolution, right?

The gym is all yours, if you want it…

Social media tools like Facebook, LinkedIn and others allow us to maintain our networks and stay in touch with those that are important (or not-so-important) to us. But, is simply having them as friends/contatcs/etc. enough? What do you do when you need your network?

First, start now – before you need them. If you only maintain frienships (real or virtual) and contacts to use when you need them, your friends will see through that. Better – be their friend when they need one.

Second, know who is who. Some of your on-line contacts are just that, on-line contacts. When you find yourself job-hunting in the fall, they’ll be happy to say, “Good luck!” However, they may not be in a position to do much more.

Third, maintain the relationship! This one is key. Know when their birthday is and be sure to drop them a line. Schedule a regluar lunch with each contact, e.g. every other month. See how things are going and if they need your help for anything.

Finally, keep track! It doesn’t help if you don’t know anything about your friends. It’s okay to write down things like birthdays and anniversaries. People actually did that in the pre-FaceBook era, ya’ know. I like to use contacts in my home MS Outlook program, but there are lots of other options you can use. Yes, even paper works.

Should you manage your network? Yes. Can yoo depend on automated systems to do it for you. Sure, if you’re happy with a network of automated replies from your automated contacts. If you don’t care enough to keep up with them and help when they need you, can you really expect anyone to be there for you? Even if it’s just someone to share a beer with during the big game…

Good question.

I’ve heard and given a number of answers to this question, and here are some that I’ve been told are best:

1. Speak outside of your club more. Take your experience on the road. Offer to speak at non-Toastmaster groups, and also speak at other Toastmaster clubs. If you have a really well put-together presentation on a popular topic like networking, job hunting, social networking, or something else that could draw a crowd, offer to give that presentation at another club’s open house to help them attract guests. If you don’t, then put one together.

2. Keep giving manual speeches. Whether you use idea #1 or not, every speech you give in front of a Toastmaster’s audience should be a manual speech. I keep a CC manual handy all of the time, plus I’m usually working on one or two advanced manuals as well. Also, it’s okay if you give a speech you’ve given before. It will have changed a bit based on what you learned, and should always be a manual speech. Look here for more ideas on repeating CC manuals. Most importantly, others will see you working on the manuals. If it’s good enough for you, it’ll be good enough for them.

3. Take on additional leadership roles. Not just Division Governor or higher roles, but there are plenty of “operation little bit” roles you can take on too. Volunteer to help with registration at a contest or conference, be a contest master, judge, or help find a location for your area contest. Serve as an assistant Area Governor, conference chair, or webmaster. If you haven’t heard of a role you’d like to do, suggest it!

4. Mentor a leader. Help your Club President, Area Governor or District Governor to do a better job. Offer to be on someones HPL (High Performance Leadership) guidance committee.

5. Coach a club. You may have done this for your first DTM, or maybe not. But many clubs still need coaches, and even clubs in the 13-19 member range could use some unofficial coaching. Offer to help with a membership drive, or speak (as in idea #1).

6. Call me. Contact your District Governor if you have questions or ideas. I (they) can refer you to someone who could use your help and expertise. If you don’t want to bug your DG, call your Area or Division Governor first.

Completing your  DTM isn’t the end of the path. It’s the start of your journey as an experienced Toastmaster. Take advantage of your experience and strengths, and help others get the most from their Toastmasters membership.

Recently, I ran a brainstorming session (Facilitating Discussion manual, project #2) at my Toastmasters club. The problem we were discussing was “Toastmasters Training”, and I was looking for input on what they, our club members, were most interested to learn. Toastmasters has a plethora of prepared topics we can use, ranging from 10 minutes sessions to four hour seminars. Plus, we have some experienced members capable of creating some awesome sessions on their own.

As luck would have it, one of those members had just presented a Leadership Excellence Series module on Resolving Conflict, so I had a great example to point to right off the bat.

Did they ask for Team Building, From Speaker to Trainer, or Organizing your Speech? Nope. Nearly every idea in the brainstorming session centered on one theme: helping new members understand (and benefit from) Toastmasters. The topics?

1. Orienting new members to the club
2. How to run special events (contests, open houses and our annual Christmas Party)
3. How to use the club, district and TI websites
4. Toastmasters organizational structure (Area, Division, etc.)
5. How to be a Mentor (for new members)
6. Goal setting for members

Also, they mentioned a need for a more robust welcome packet and some type of display of our member’s progress (see an example here)

Next step: I need to turn this into usable information for my club. That is, how do we meet this need? Goal Setting, Mentoring, and Orienting New Members each have modules that can be downloaded (free). In fact, there’s even supporting articles for some topics, such as mentoring.

Here’s the initial plan I will submit:

1. Split Orienting New Members into multiple sessions
   1. The Toastmasters Education Program (successful club series)
   2. Meeting Roles and Responsibilities (successful club series)
2. Split How to run special events into two sessions
   1. 12-15 minute session on Club Contests – related article here
   2. We  will need to develop a 12-15 minute session on special events (open houses and parties) – there’s a related TI manual called, Put on a Good Show.
3. Split the How to use the club, district and TI websites into three sessions
   1. Using TI’s website to manage your profile, order items and find information
   2. Using the Club website
   3. Using the District website (calendar and resourses)
4. Discuss the Organization structure, including the service chart and WHQ Org Chart. Could be a 5-7 minute speech, including projects 7 or 8 from the CC manual.
5. Deliver the Mentoring module (successful club series)
6. Deliver the Goal Setting and Planning module (leadership excellence series)

We will need to get a volunteer for each session, and work with the VP Education to schedule these periodically, like one per month. I think this is very doable.

Running a brainstorming session with your club can be an eye-opening experience. In a short 21 minute session, I compiled enough information from my club to make the plan above.

Do this at your club, and you can find out what your members have wanted and it may allow you to better support them in their goals.

You may not find the same request in your club. But if you go in with an open mind, you’ll find what your club needs and you can make a plan to support your members. Give it a try! Leave a comment with the results.

Editors note: This has been reprined from the District 22 Blog