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Using an iPad for photography workflows  →

Over on The Sweet Setup, Marius Masalar wrote an epic article detailing how to use an iPad for your photography workflows.

I’m still loving and using my Olympus gear, but I can’t remember the last time I opened up Lightroom on my Mac. These days I import, edit, save, and share photos from my camera almost exclusively on my iPhone or iPad. And Marius’ article has shown me some awesome new tricks.

For one: I just downloaded Cascable, as an alternative to the “official” Oi. Share app. With Cascable you can remotely control your camera and wirelessly import photos. The interface is about a million times better. Though it does seem to be a bit slower at importing photos over the WiFi connection.

Using an iPad for photography workflows

The Full Focus Planner  →

Speaking of notebooks, if you like the idea of using an analog notebook but you do not like the idea of filling in all the details on your own, you should definitely check out Michael Hyatt’s Full Focus Planner.

In my office I’ve got one each of the Freedom Journal, Mastery Journal, Best Self Journal, Passion Planner, and a Cultivate What Matters planner.

Of all of these, I think the the Full Focus Planner is the best one. Though I don’t use it personally — I prefer the blank pages of my Baron Fig — the Full Focus planner emphasizes the things that matter most for managing your day and doing the things that matter. I basically follow a very similar structure in my own notebook, but I fill it in myself.

The Full Focus Planner

Live, Interactive Workshop with Yours Truly  →

Okay, this is going to be a lot of fun.

In about a month from now, on February 14, I’m hosting a live, interactive, virtual workshop. (i.e. the whole thing will be online, and it’s not a webinar).

During the workshop, we’ll be going through a good amount of the material from The Focus Course, with an emphasis on getting clarity about the things that are important to you right now and taking ownership of your time.

A few things you should know:

  • The cost is $20.
  • It is limited to the first 50 people.
  • There will be no replay.
  • 100% of the proceeds will be donated to Operation Broken Silence, which is an awesome non-profit that serving the people of Sudan.

Sign up here.

Live, Interactive Workshop with Yours Truly

Loving This Music by Jordan Critz  →

Jordan Critz Playlist on Apple Music

A few weeks ago, thanks to the “Pure Focus” playlist put together by Apple Music editors, I discovered some new music by Jordan Critz.

Critz is a composer and has done quite a bit of work for movies and television. But last year he stopped writing for licensing and began to write his own music.

(The MusicBed blog has a great behind-the-scenes look with photos and information about the recording and production of his most recent EP, which was done at a church-turned-studio with a 30-piece orchestra.)

On iTunes there are now several of his original works in the form of singles and EPs. And they are all just fantastic.

I’ve complied everything he’s put up on iTunes into a single playlist and it’s what I’ve been writing to lately.

Loving This Music by Jordan Critz

Last Call for Plan Your Year Access  →

Just wanted to give you all a heads up that right now is your last chance day to get access to Plan Your Year. This evening I will be closing the doors and you’ll have to wait until 2019.

What makes Plan Your Year so cool is that it’s a “done for you” approach to mapping out your upcoming year. It is quite a bit more than just putting events on a calendar and making an unordered list of hopes and dreams.

The Plan Your Year workbook has nine sections. And through them I’ve removed all the guesswork for you — all you have left to do is fill in the blanks. (I even recorded a video that walks you through every single section of the workbook, explaining in more detail what that section is for and how to fill it out.)

Through the workbook, I help you write out goals that are actually achievable and that align with the areas of life that matter to you. (Raise your hand if you’ve ever set a goal because you felt obligated to, and then it was like an annoying woodpecker on your shoulder constantly nagging at you.)

This is the exact same process my wife and I have been going through every January since about 2011. In fact, we’ll be sitting down to do our own 2018 Plan Your Year session later this week. (See? It’s not too late!)

I think you’ll be surprised at how liberating it is to write down your goals for the year. Not to mention, once you have your goals written down, you are significantly more likely to accomplish them.

All that said, if you’ve been on the fence, today is your last chance to get the Plan Your Year workbook. After tonight I will be shutting down access until 2019.

thefocuscourse.com/plan-your-year/

Last Call for Plan Your Year Access

Let’s bury the hustle  →

David Heinemeier Hansson writing for the Basecamp blog:

You’re not very likely to find that key insight or breakthrough idea north of the 14th hour. Creativity, progress, and impact does not yield easily or commonly to brute force.

I love that last line. Which is why I emphasized it.

Coming back to yesterday’s link about the Warren Buffett documentary, one of the things Buffett said was that he enjoyed spending time to just sit and think:

Many people would see [sitting and thinking] as totally unproductive. But many of my best business solutions and money-problem answers have come from periods of just sitting and thinking.”*
Some folks do need to be told to get off their butts and get moving. But some folks need to be told the opposite — to take a break, to sit down, go take a walk or go to bed. I have to tell myself the latter almost every day, because I’m an “all-in” sort of person and so my tendancy can be to work all the time.

Creativity, progress, inspiration, and impact are things which require action as well as inaction. Give yourself time to think and rest, as well as time to do to work.

Let’s bury the hustle

21 Things Daniel Bourke Learned From Watching ‘Becoming Warren Buffett’  →

An excellent list of things to consider and think about and nod your head in agreement of. I haven’t even seen the documentary yet, but it sounds excellent.

You can watch the whole documentary on YouTube here.

Here are a couple of excerpts from Bourke’s list that especially stuck out to me.

15. On Focus:

One time Warren was at Bill’s house for dinner and Bills dad asked them to write down on a piece of paper what was one word to describe their success.

“Focus.”

They both wrote down the exact same word.

Amen to that.

5. On Investing:

[Buffett] learned the two rules of investing from the same Benjamin Graham mentioned above.

  1. Never lose money.
  2. Never forget rule number one.

These two rules can be applied to many aspects outside of investing. Set the system up so you always win. Whatever your goals may be, alter the first rule to suit you.

Nearly seven years ago I started writing full-time. And since that time I’ve created a handful of other websites and products. My rule has always been to spend less on the creation of the product than what I was confident I could earn back. As a result, everything I’ve ever done has been profitable. The investments I’ve made back into my business have been the best investments I’ve made.

Points 7, 8, 9, and 13 are also brilliant.

(Thanks Mike, and Dan, and Jason)

21 Things Daniel Bourke Learned From Watching ‘Becoming Warren Buffett’

PSA: Focus Course Registration Open for 24-Hours  →

I’ve heard from several folks recently who had been planning to sign up for the Focus Course at the New Year but didn’t realize that we are currently not offering access to the Course.

(That’s because this past fall I changed course registration from being open enrollment to only being available twice per year. More on the reasons for that another time.)

So, if you want to jump in and get access to the Focus Course, I wanted to open up registration for a brief, 24-hour window.

Here are a few testimonies we’ve received from alumni:

  • “Without any hyperbole, I can honestly say that taking the Focus Course has been life changing.” — Ross K.
  • “The Focus Course is one of the best investments I have made so far.” Andrey S.
  • “I couldn’t be happier with the results it produced in my life.” — John V.
  • “The course has completely changed my life.” — Phong C.
  • “My husband, Ben, and I absolutely loved it!” — Havilah C.
  • “The Focus Course has been an awesome experience.” — Kate W.
  • “I have the tools to continue working toward achieving the focus I want in every part of my life.” — Ben B.
  • “It helped me define what was important and why — and how to execute on those things.” — Andrew C.
  • “The course is so practical and stimulating. It has bled into almost every area of my life.” — Sara P.

If those testimonies sound like the same sort of kick-start you want as 2018 begins, then you can get access to the Focus Course today.

PSA: Focus Course Registration Open for 24-Hours

You Are Not Late  →

Kevin Kelly (3+ years ago), and it is still just as timely and relevant:

Right now, today, in 2014 is the best time to start something on the internet. There has never been a better time in the whole history of the world to invent something. There has never been a better time with more opportunities, more openings, lower barriers, higher benefit/risk ratios, better returns, greater upside, than now. Right now, this minute.

You Are Not Late

Embracing Constraints  →

Seth Godin:

When we fight constraints and eliminate them, we often gain access to new insights, new productivity and new solutions. It also makes it easier to compete against people who don’t have those constraints.

There’s a useful alternative: embrace the constraints you’ve been given. Use them as assets, as an opportunity to be the one who solved the problem. Once you can thrive in a world filled with constraints, it’s ever easier to do well when those constraints are loosened.

Embracing Constraints

Brand New: Plan Your Year  →

For the past 6 years, every January, my wife and I take an evening or two and we map out our upcoming year.

We each get a few pieces of paper and use them to list the year’s important events, milestones, plus any goals we have or other things we want to do. Then we go through that list and decide when those things are going to happen and what we’re going to do to help make them a reality.

It’s a very approachable way to get a birds eye view of the upcoming year.

It helps us define what matters most to us for the year and what obstacles we may encounter. And year after year, this time of planning has proven to be a highlight. It has a positive impact on our year, and it’s also a lot of fun since the process facilitates some great conversation.

For this upcoming January, I’d love for you to be able to go through your own process if you like. (And you don’t have to be married — this is something that works for anyone and everyone.)

I have put together something simple and new. It’s called Plan Your Year.

Plan Your Year is a small workbook that walks you through the exact same process Anna and I go through each January.

The workbook is just $19 and is something you can do in a single evening. Check it out.

May you get out of bed on January 1 and get to bed on December 31, and in-between do what you want to do.

thefocuscourse.com/plan-your-year/

Brand New: Plan Your Year