Self awareness through personality tests and the like

Know thyself

- Inscribed at the lintel of the entrance
to the Temple of Apollo at Delphi.

The better I know myself, the better I have been able to apply myself. It is truly amazing to me how much of it is about knowing your strengths and weaknesses, and focusing on your strengths (don't waste valuable time on the weaknesses). Figure out your strengths, and get so good that those ten things you are good at that there is no match for you.

My goal here is to collect a list of URLs and offer you my insights. That is my project for the week and I'll keep you posted.

Meanwhile...

Know Thyself by Alexander Pope

Know then thyself, presume not God to scan;

The proper study of mankind is Man.

Placed on this isthmus of a middle state,

A being darkly wise and rudely great:

With too much knowledge for the Sceptic side,

With too much weakness for the Stoic's pride,

He hangs between; in doubt to act or rest,

In doubt to deem himself a God or Beast,

In doubt his mind or body to prefer;

Born but to die, and reasoning but to err;

Alike in ignorance, his reason such

Whether he thinks too little or too much:

Chaos of thought and passion, all confused;

Still by himself abused, or disabused;

Created half to rise and half to fall;

Great lord of all things, yet a prey to all;

Sole judge of truth, in endless error hurled:

The glory, jest, and riddle of the world!

You have to watch this! (Keith Ferrazzi)

Optimizing optimization

Since I started this blog I am beginning to realize that I need to become smarter about the kind of information I spend time researching and that I need to be be mindful of the marginal utility of additional research. I doubt that knowing 5 more things about effective sleeping habits is really going to help me that much more. So, for you, dear reader, I am going to start shortly the "Best of Simply Unstoppable" list (recommendations for other names are welcome). Essentially, this is going to be the hotlist of those things which I have done that have had the most profound impact on my ability to be more. Also, as always, if you find any of the information here helpful then please leave behind a comment or two -- hearing from you makes my day!

HEALTH: Good sleep

Here is my recipe for making sure you have great sleep:

• Do vigorous exercise (cardio and weights and ...)
  
• Do not sleep in the afternoon (definitely not for more than an hour)
• Go to sleep between 10 PM and 2 AM. The body has been found to best repair itself in that timeframe (I got this from a blog whose source is unconfirmed, but the times do sound reasonable).
  
• Make sure you have taken care of everything you need to (put the cellphone in the charger, prepared your bed so that it does not have any stuff left on it, set your alarm clock, left your shoes by your bed so you can jump off the moment you wake up... -- checklist on the way)
• Spend a few minutes on your journal and visualizing all the things that it would take for tomorrow to be an ideal day. Close the journal and have it ready for your next entry.
  
• Now, go do your business in the toilet (why sleep with waste in you)
• Put on some relaxing music if your bedroom/bathroom are connected (even if they are not, good music can be waiting for you -- just set it to sleep)
  
• Take a cold shower (for efficiency, you can brush your teeth while showering) for 3-5 minutes
  
• Wrap yourself in a nice warm towel (you might even want to pre-heat your towel)
  
• Once you are nice and dry, get into bed and sleep. Do not think. Just sleep.
• Become an early riser -- wake up at the same time EACH day. To me, 6 AM seems to be the perfect time.
  

As for beds, I strongly recommend Tempurpedic.

Links:

• Scientific American: Why we sleep

HEALTH: Cold showers are the way to go!

(DRAFT POST) Nothing leaves me feeling as fresh as a cold shower. I strongly recommend trying it out. For some reasons why you should, check out:

• Cold Water Therapy Effectiveness
• Benefits of taking cold showers
• [CNN.com] 100-year-old: Try cold showers for long life
• Cold Shower Cures (***)
  

SPIRIT: Brain Wave Therapy

I have been trying out Kelly Howell's Brain Sync and I must say that it is truly powerful! I have not felt this alert in years. Try it! Really, I was a cynic, but I am sold. Try it, and you'll see the magic.

RELATIONSHIPS: Remembering Names

Remembering names is definitely a very important skill. As Dale Carnegie said, by remembering someone's name, you are giving them a subtle complement by showing that they made an impression on you.

Here's a great article to check out: http://www.cnn.com/2005/US/Careers/07/22/names/

CAREER: Professional Networking through LinkedIn

LinkedIn is a truly outstanding webservice. Check out Guy Kawasaki's entry on LinkedIn, and I will have my thoughts for you shortly.

INTELLECT: Speed reading

There is so much to read and so little time. I have always been interested in speed reading tools and I must say that today was my lucky day because I came across so many tools at one go.

I am going to give EyeQ a try and will report back on my experience. Meanwhile:



There is also the similar application Spreeder

And here are some other training videos by Blue420:
Level 1:


Level 2:


Level 3:


Word Recognition Exercise

Word recognition 101
Uploaded by alice057

Eye Muscle Exercise


Speed reading tests available here

Another cool app: http://www.mobiledynamo.com/prod01.htm
Other links: http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=speed+reading&search=Search


Other links which I am still researching
a; b; c

How to tie your headphones

Here's a cool way for you to tie your headphones so that you look organized, save time, and save money on new headphones.


Actually, I much prefer this

Packing clothes

For you to look good, your clothes must look good. For those of you who travel a lot, check this out:


And for those of you who want to show off, check this:

FITNESS: Polar Heart Rate Monitor

I have been told by many people that using a heart-rate monitor is the best way to train hard, get fit, and not get injured. I am seriously thinking about getting one. For those of you who are in the market for a Polar watch, I would recommend shopping from JomaShop (no, I don't get anything from this).

INTELLECT: Memorize using MindBurn

MindBurn is Mac application which helps you memorize by carefully making you look at the information at periodic intervals. Essentially, the idea is to work against the forgetting curve. I have used this regularly for the last few weeks, and I cannot recommend it strongly enough.

Golden Habits

Sow an act, reap a habit; sow a habit, reap a character; sow a character, reap a destiny!

- George Dana Boardman

One of my goals for this year is to develop habits that will take me to my dream. I came up with a long list, and then realized that I should first come up with a framework to structure my knowledge. I decided to intertwine Anthony Robbins' 6 Needs with the 6 Dimensions for Wellness. Through this framework, not only was I able to have a good structure to organize habits which I already knew, but the blanks also made apparent other good habits. Here are the dimensions* which I came up with (slightly modified from the 6 Dimensions for Wellness):

1. Health
2. Wealth
3. Professional
4. Relationships
5. Spirit (Emotional and spiritual)
   
6. Capabilities (intellectual, skills, etc.)
   
7. Enjoyment

In my upcoming posts I will be discussing golden habits for being successful in each of the above mentioned dimension.

*There is the very interesting question about what are the important parameters to consider for a balanced life, and for that I will refer you to Moz Hussain's upcoming book Balanced Scorecard (link to relevant post).

PS: If you have a golden habit that has made you successful, then do share in the comments and I will be sure to acknowledge your contribution.

Golden Habits for your Professional Life

We spend a large percentage of our life working. It is certainly important to figure out how to make the most of that time.

	Need	Habits	Remarks
1	Significance	Visualize daily the professional goals you want to accomplish.
2	Growth	Journal what you have learned - what you did well, and what you can do better. Solicit feedback. Participate in a Toastmasters meeting every week - have excellent communication skills
3	Certainty	Consistently work on highly transferable skills and research alternative employment opportunities.
4	Connection	Connect with colleagues.
5	Uncertainty	Entrepreneurial ventures.
6	Contribution	Help your colleagues and peers.

Golden Habits for Health

Following the same method of analysis, here's my table for health:

	Need	Habits	Remarks
1	Certainty	Daily exercise and carefully planned nutrition (this is a big one in itself so I won't expound on it here). Weekly massage. Do not eat any meat. Drink lots of water (more specifics TBD).
2	Significance	Pick one event, compete, and win Appearance - Moisturize your skin regularly, dry skin-brushing.
3	Growth	Increase workout intensity and duration by 5% each week. Sign up for progressively more difficult races and visualize yourself succeeding. Monitor your racing times and celebrate your improvement.
4	Connection	Journal your experiences while exercising - truly connect with your body, mind and soul through incantations. Make your body feel loved. Participate in a sporting activity with your peers at least once a week.
5	Uncertainty	Always have one new sport that you are learning. Never exercise along same route twice.
6	Contribution	Participate in a charity race at least 3 times a year.

Question: How to meet your needs while being in excellent health?

Golden Habits for Wealth

I ranked how I felt each need would be met by the given dimension. Wealth meets my needs in the following ranked order, and I have listed alongside the accompanying habits.

	Need	Habits	Remarks
1	Certainty	Save 30% of all income Update your personal accounts daily
2	Significance	?	Spending on status symbols doesn't seem right...
3	Growth	Monitor net worth
4	Contribution	Donate 10% of all income
5	Uncertainty	Invest 50% of savings Have at least one entrepreneurial engagement
6	Connection	?	Money can't buy love!

PersonalGrowth.com - Self-improvement through social networking

PersonalGrowth.com is a great resource through which you can get in touch with others who are also interested in self-improvement. Check it out! Also, here's a link to my profile.

The Secret: The power of visualization

Watch this! It'll change your day...and maybe your life
The Secret