There’s a difference between taking two years to do something and waiting two years for something.

What have you been waiting for?

Do something today — anything — that will bring you one step closer to your goal. Maybe that’s writing an action plan or organizing your thoughts.

If you want to get in shape, go for a walk. If you hate your job, search Monster or nPost for a new one (just not at work!). If you want to get out of debt, put a single dollar towards it. But whatever you do, stop complaining and start acting.

There has been a growing productivity backlash across the blogosphere, and quite frankly, I’m tired of it.

There’s Get Nothing Done (a play on the productivity system Getting Things Done), and countless blog posts about how they’re not setting New Year’s Resolutions and that resolutions are stupid.

Perhaps all of these negative people are simply trying to be “controversial” in an effort to gain readers. Here’s a hint, guys: I read 758 different blogs every day. When you ALL write “Anti-Resolutions” posts, it’s not controversial, it’s yawn-inducing. I’ve never skipped through posts faster.

Goals are not the problem. Resolutions are not the problem. Your failure to achieve your own goals and resolutions is the problem.

This is nothing to be embarrassed about. No one is perfect. We all fail, all the time.

The key is to get back up and keep on trying.

You will never accomplish anything if you don’t try. You will die alone and anonymously. And I’m willing to bet you’ll have a LOT of regrets on your deathbed.

Stop settling for mediocrity. You are better than that. I know that deep down inside, you know you’re better than that, too. So start acting like it!

Get up. Set your goals. Set big goals. Set really big goals. Then make a plan and follow through on your plan. If you get off track, get back on track.

Just stop giving up! Or if you do give up for good, quit taking pride in it. Giving up is the only true way to fail.

I’m too busy to wallow in self-pity alongside you. In fact, I’m too busy to write anymore of this post.

Every once in awhile as I’m pursuing one of my 101 goals in 1,001 days I will find myself hopelessly bored or uninterested with a next action.

When you find yourself feeling that way, it’s important to take a step back and ask: why am I really doing this?

A seemingly trite illustrative example from my own life: two of my goals are to watch every movie starring Robin Williams and Johnny Depp, respectively. I’ve had “The Survivors” (with Robin Williams) and “Corpse Bride” (with Johnny Depp–his voice, anyway) sitting in my “To Consume” box for nearly a month now.

I started watching both of these movies, wasn’t particularly interested, and yet felt obligated to watch them through to the end, so I kept staring with annoyance at the DVDs and thinking of all the other movies I would rather be watching.

Now, the original point of these two goals was that I enjoy these two actors’ work, and wanted to enjoy it more. Watching a film that I don’t like just to check it off this list is therefore contrary to the entire point of the goal.

Once I looked at it from this perspective, I immediately stuck both of these DVDs in their Netflix sleeves and sent off for two other movies. And if I don’t enjoy one of them, I’m sending them back a lot sooner!

Update: This viewpoint was reinforced by Tyler Cowen in a recent EconTalk podcast.

Consider starting a relationship (romantic or otherwise) with someone you’ve just met. You tell them your most embarrassing stories and most intimate secrets, share all your baby pictures, and let them in on your favorite color, animal, and flower. They now know everything there is to know about you.

But do you trust them just because they know all this information? No.

You trust them because of how they act with that information.

Similarly, lists don’t work if you can’t trust them. If I have to waste time and energy reminding myself to remember things that aren’t tucked away safely on a list, then my entire system fails me.

Once you’ve gotten into the habit, your lists may very well have every activity, task, appointment, and idea captured. But being able to trust your list only starts there.

Now, I love lists — I keep lists for my Most Important Tasks, my Next Actions, the food I’m going to eat today, and my AM/PM routines, among other things. While I would certainly survive without them, trusting my trivialities to my lists frees my personal resources up for more important things.

I’m often tempted to cross off an item on a list that I’m sure I’m about to complete, but I haven’t actually completed. For example, checking off “Call Jon” right before I’m about to call him. On the surface, this seems innocent enough.

But what if the phone rings the next second, and I get distracted, and I never call Jon? I already checked it off. I now need to remember that I still need to call Jon, even though it’s checked off on my list. There’s a chance that I might forget to mark my list accordingly, and won’t call Jon at all, because the closed checkbox doesn’t catch my attention.

Paranoia? It might sound that way. But my mantra is freedom through organization, and it’s not freedom if I’m wasting energy questioning the validity of my Next Actions list.

The next time you’re tempted to mark an item you haven’t completed as done, don’t. You can always check it off later, after it’s really done.

When I was first introduced to Twitter, I thought it was sort of silly — just a knock-off of Facebook status updates.

Initially, I was only Twittering with one offline friend, and when he moved on to Pownce, I abandoned my Twitter account until I read that Guy Kawasaki was going to give Twitter a try. Out of sheer curiosity, I went back to Twitter, and the benefits keep pouring in.

Thanks to Twitter, I got:

…to avoid a car accident. I mentioned that my tires were squealing every time I turned a corner. Despite my lead foot, that still seemed strange. Several helpful Twitterers pointed out that my alignment was probably off, and they were right.

…a Guinness and taffy! In yet another testament to how small the world is, Damon found me by tracking the keyword “Seattle.” (He lives there, and I was headed there for a week-long business trip.) Lo and behold, we went to the same (very small) boarding school back in Connecticut *and* used to vacation in the same city in Maine, and had a number of mutual friends. Not only did he buy me a Guinness when we met up, but he also brought me some strawberry taffy from his recent trip to Maine — my personal heaven!

…even more Guinness! I was one of the first people to follow Stephen and he graciously bought me a Guinness, too. Even better: he shared this photo of a flying pig:

…a new web designer. Frustrated with outsourcing anything beyond basic data entry, I turned to the Twitter world for help. I got *five* great recommendations for high-quality designers, and then realized — thanks to Eric — that someone I already knew was a designer and available for the job.

…a much faster computer. Jeremy heard me complain that my MacBook was slow and sent me an email with instructions on how to upgrade my RAM from 512MB to 2GB. I can’t believe I suffered with those slow speeds for so long!

…a new addiction. JKow introduced me to his Internet-based show, Something to be Desired, and I’m hooked — it’s so good, I caught up on the first four seasons in one weekend.

…an up-to-the-minute news source. Thanks to the Truemors News Network, my RSS feeds are quickly becoming old news. (Newspapers? What are those?)

…blog traffic. Google Analytics shows that Twitter is by far my biggest referrer.

…a mnemonic device for remembering how to say “almond”. Of all strange faults to have, I’m known for being unable to pronounce “almond” correctly. (I always said “Al-Muhnd” instead of “All-muhnd.”) Bill dared me to leave said mispronunciation on his voicemail, and our resulting conversation cured me of this problem. (I can’t stand Al Gore, so I shouldn’t say “Al-muhnd”!)

…lots of great new friends. i didn’t understand how at first, but Twitter is really a strong networking tool. Not only does it make Internet gods like Chris Brogan and Guy Kawasaki more human and accessible, but every day I get to participate in a new example of the power of numbers — raising money for college tuition, offering support or information during times of crisis, or simply cheering one another on through yet another all-nighter on the way to achieving our dreams.

I’m sure I’m missing a number of other examples, and I’m positive that Twitter will continue to affect my life in many more ways as time goes by.

If you’re not on Twitter, what are you waiting for? And if you are… how has Twitter changed you?

(Follow me on Twitter by clicking here: MarinaMartin on Twitter.)

Nothing is inconsequential. Too often we let moments go by without considering their importance.

While I’m not trying to make you paranoid, I would like to encourage you to be more conscious of the opportunities that your life presents each and every day. Sometimes, the seemingly smallest decisions are the ones that can change the entire course of your life. Getting in the car 10 seconds earlier could have caused you to be in an accident, or to have avoided one. Saying hello to someone in line at Rite-Aid could lead to meeting your future spouse.

A little story about me…

A neighbor once asked me to take in their mail while they were away on vacation. I saved it all in a brown paper grocery sack, which I delivered to them once they returned.

The following day, I noticed a Pizza Hut flyer addressed to them lying on the ground. Somehow, it hadn’t made it into the bag.

I was going to throw it out. Most people would have thrown it out. But instead, I walked back over to their house to give it to them.

My neighbor’s elderly mother was visiting. She was watching a soap opera and invited me in to watch with her. I agreed.

This was a Friday, and for those of you who are unfamiliar with soap operas, Friday episodes are typically cliff-hangers designed to get you to tune in again on Monday. This Friday was particularly suspenseful (to an 11-year-old)– a wedding thwarted by the appearance of the groom’s ex-wife (who was thought to have died years earlier), courtesy of the bride’s jilted ex-lover.

I was intrigued and asked a bunch of questions about the characters’ relationships. I tuned in on Monday, and Tuesday, and the day after that. I was hooked.

This was back in the day where 14.4 modems were the fastest available on the market, just being able to put an image on a website was VERY cool, domain names were $65/yr through Network Solutions, and Geocities was popular.

One day I logged on to America Online and found a messageboard about this soap opera. I made new online friends, and learned primitive HTML so I could setup my AOL member’s page in homage to my favorite soap couple.

None of the major TV networks even HAD websites at that point. Those pages (I can still see them now — tables with borders, bright purple backgrounds, pages that scrolled for miles…) led to official work for the network, for some of the actors on different soaps, and to actual paying gigs.

This may not seem all that exciting to you.

Except… I was 11. And a homeless runaway foster kid who hid at my “real” parents’ house (*they* weren’t going to turn me back in — one of those six of one, half-dozen of the other situations) so I could get on their AOL and lose myself for awhile.

The money I was secretly earning from those websites paid for me to escape to a really good boarding school, where I made amazing friends whose amazing parents always made sure I had a safe place to stay on holidays and had amazing teachers who treated me like I was capable of achieving anything. The experience led to other jobs that paid for college. The taste of working for myself taught me to never settle or compromise, and is why I work for myself now and would never have it any other way.

More importantly, I also met a woman through those messageboards (and later in “real life”) who took me under her wing and made me believe that I was deserving of a happy, successful life. She and I remain close friends to this day. Even if I hadn’t been able to escape, having her support could have kept me going through almost anything.

All because of a Pizza Hut flyer.

Have you had a Pizza Hut flyer in your life? Please share in the comments!

… is the one that works best for you.

As an entrepreneur and productivity guru, I read information on how to wake up early all the time. There are countless tips, articles, and even entire blogs dedicated to the topic.

It seems like everyone’s striving for an earlier wakeup time. Getting up before 6am for 30 consecutive days is even one of my own personal goals.

I am nocturnal by nature, and while I’ve always been highly productive, waking up before the sun rises is always touted as bequeathing supernatural levels of energy and progress. On those days when my sleep cycle rotated in such a way that I was waking up on a “normal” schedule for a few days, it did seem like I was able to get more done during those daylight hours.

Now, for the past six months, I’ve given up my freelance entrepreneur lifestyle to take an on-site assignment for one of my main clients. (It ends this month.) This has involved my having to physically appear in an office between 7am and 9am Monday through Friday, and often at least being available by phone by those hours on weekends too.

Here’s the funny thing: despite waking up early each and every day, my productivity has plummeted.

Why Daylight Only Feels More Productive

Productivity as a whole is a hard thing to measure objectively – at least compared to our total potential for productivity during a given timeframe. Setting clear goals with measurable criteria helps, but there’s no definitive way to know that today’s eight 400-word articles, hour at the gym, and freshly baked ciabatta bread equaled 87.5% of our total possible output for the last 24 hours.

Instead, productivity is measured in general terms – how ahead or behind we are on various deadlines (total number, difficulty, and feasibility of said deadlines notwithstanding), or, even more generally, how productive we feel we were at the end of the day. Herein lies the myth that waking early is a conduit to greater personal growth.

Much as I wish everything were open 24/7, the fact of the matter is that many of our most tangible, measurable tasks need to be done during regular business hours. Grocery shopping, getting a money order, stopping by the DMV – checking off a chunk of errands on our Next Actions lists just feels so much more important than “wrote article #36 while sitting in my pajamas at the kitchen table,” even if said article is what paid for those groceries in the first place.

How Waking Up Early ROBS You of Your Productivity

Think back to that last time you were in a total state of flow, working on a project that truly excited you, not caring when (or whether) you were going to eat or sleep again, wondering where the last eight hours flew by.

These flow states cannot be triggered on and off with a switch (although there are ways of encouraging their frequency). When you’re in flow, you want—and need—to stay in flow for as long as possible.

In order to wake up early on a consistent basis, you need to go to bed early. Going to bed early prevents you from entering flow.

Just the idea of needing to wake up early the next morning can stop flow in its tracks. If I have a great idea for an e-book or a new product or service at 9pm, and I know I have to be up at 5am, I’m probably not even going to get started on fleshing out my idea because I know that I’ll be tired and miserable all the next day if I don’t get any sleep the night before.

This is how people get trapped in mediocrity for their entire lives. Do you want to be trapped in mediocrity?

I didn’t think so (or you wouldn’t be reading this!).

What You Get When You DON’T Wake Up Early

When you ignore conventional schedules and instead let your passion and energy levels be your guide:

• Whole new periods of time will open up to you
• You’ll be infinitely more well-rested but sleep five or six times a week instead of seven
• Reach your goals faster by maximizing the amount of time you spend in flow state
• Enjoy more time with friends and loved ones
• Ignore distractions like the postal carrier, sales calls, and the constant flow of email – check everything during off-peak hours when you can get more done in less time

Everyone Else Does NOT Wake Up Early

Hop on Twitter at 3am tonight. See who’s up talking. Know that YOU are missing out on those conversations, those ideas, and that energy while you are asleep.

You are missing out every single night.

Don’t Just Take My Word For It…

Spend this next week on your usual schedule of waking early. (This works best if you have two consecutive weeks of similar work ahead of you.) Take extra care to record your productivity as objectively as possible, including the total number of hours worked. (Check out Dave Seah’s Printable CEO series for an easy-to-use time tracker.)

It helps to briefly journal about your mood, too – were you crabby this morning because you were tired? In the rush to get up and get going, did you have to leave your hair unwashed? (Yuck!)

Now, for the second week, eliminate your alarm clock. Sleep when you’re sleepy, work when you’re not. Again, record your productivity and total hours slept, along with your mood.

When you compare your final results (and I’d love to hear about them, too!), remember: it’s about quantity and quality together. I would rather work two hours less a week than spend two hours a day “working” but zoned out and pissed off.

Why You Should Still Wake Up Early… Sometimes

I’ve kept “wake up before 6am for 30 consecutive days” as one of my 101 goals in 1,001 days, but now it’s there for a different reason.

Before, I wanted to join the great cult of productivity leaders who accomplish more before 6am than others do all day. Now, I want to do it only because it’s hard and it requires a high level of self-discipline.

In other words, I want to prove I can, and say I did it.

But I’ll have to wait until I can afford to let my productivity suffer.

It seems like everywhere I turn lately, I hear people start a sentence with “I need X,” with X invariably being something that they do not in fact need at all – they simply want it.

The tragedy of this situation is that by assigning all of these trivial non-needs (hereafter referred to as “needs”) the importance of a genuine need, we lose the ability to focus on what’s most critical in order to propel us to what we really want.

A common example:

You really want to devote your life to pursuing your passion and derive a comfortable income from doing so. Making this change would require having at least three months’ income set aside.

However, you are living paycheck-to-paycheck in a 9-5 that you don’t like, you have a girlfriend who demands you spend your every free moment with her, and you live in a spacious apartment with nice furniture and a big-screen television in a nice neighborhood where you drive to the grocery store and the drive-thru burger joint almost everyday.

Each day, you express—and indulge—many “needs” throughout the day. You “need” to drive to work. You “need” a coffee at Starbucks. You “need” a newspaper. You “need” a Mountain Dew from the soda machine at work. You “need” to go out for lunch. You “need” to catch the season premiere of Lost tonight with your girl, a couple beers, and take-out Chinese.

Now you need to ask yourself what’s more important:

Being able to wake up each morning and indulge your greatest passion, free of the stress of overdue bills and a temperamental supervisor, or:

• Coffee at Starbucks (instead of brewing it at home, or making tea, or drinking water)?
• Driving to work (instead of taking the bus, or biking, or walking, or car-pooling)?
• Watching TV?
• Eating fast food (instead of eating inexpensive foods at home)?
• Lounging at home with your significant other (instead of working overtime, or a part-time job, or freelance work)?

Don’t confuse convention with need, either. If you’re truly passionate about your goals, you’ll suddenly see that you don’t need a car at all—you can bike, or walk, or run, or bus, or FlexCar around town.

The best part is, by cutting your expenses to the minimum, you’ll be able to live for that much longer on that much less money. If you initially need three months’ expenses set aside in order to take a stab at that new business, and your monthly expenses are cut in half, then you’ll only need one half of your original estimate.

Remember—these short-term sacrifices won’t last forever. Once you’ve put aside the resources you need to take the leap into doing what you really want, you will once again have the resources to splurge on dinners out and a nicer apartment—if those things are even important to you anymore.

Now, I am not advocating living off nothing but ramen and living in a tent in the park. Life just wouldn’t be enjoyable if we only tended our true animalistic needs and ignored all the rest. But there’s a difference between going through life unaware of indulging our wants and CHOOSING which to indulge and which to ignore in pursuit of a higher purpose.

However, when we sacrifice that which we want most for that which we want right this minute, we sacrifice the greatest enjoyment life has to offer for nothing but short-lived satiation.

As you go about your day, stop yourself and ask:

Do I really need to buy or do this? What alternatives do I have?

I challenge you to identify and eliminate five “needs” from your life this week! I’d love to hear what you chose and why, and what greater goal(s) you’re thismuchcloser to achieving as a result!

Many advocates of getting organized suggest starting small. Pick one room, change one thing, start (or eliminate) one habit.

That’s crap.

I don’t write this blog to coddle you. Baby steps is nothing more than procrastination in disguise.

Now, before you leave in a huff, let me qualify.

Deciding to overhaul your entire life for the better — starting now — doesn’t mean executing this commitment flawlessly everyday. You’ll fail. You’ll have setbacks.

And that’s okay.

It is far superior to cheat on your diet two days a week than to never change your eating plan at all, which is — let’s be honest — really failing seven days a week.

Failure doesn’t last forever. If you succeed five days out of seven, soon you’ll find those small successes snowballing into a success streak, and you may “cheat” only once a month, or not at all.

The only true failure is never trying at all.

So break out the pen and paper and start listing your goals. All of them. Now post that list everywhere — your computer desktop, the front door, the bathroom mirror, the back of your hand. Commit to seeing them all through — starting now.