Coping With A Long Commute

Nowadays many of us make long commutes to work and back, sometimes lasting hours.
Some companies, especially those in which Information Technology and computers are used heavily have begun to realise the damage that long commutes can have. The more enlightened ones have become more open to accepting flexible working patterns which might allow employees to work from home now and again, or even completely. This can reduce the impact caused by the daily grind of getting to and from work. For example, you can produce a document at home and send it via e-mail to the office instantly. You can even hold a meeting with other staff members and clients now that we have teleconferencing.

However, for some jobs, there is no escaping the daily commute. So, how do you cope? This will largely depend upon your method of travel. There are certainly some things that would not be appropriate if you are driving but would be entirely suitable for a long train journey.

One thing that suits both car, bus, and train is using Audiobooks. For anyone who has never heard of these, They are just ordinary books that are read by someone else and recorded. If you have an MP3 player there are many web sites where you can legally download free audio books.

Many record shops, department stores and even some supermarkets stock these on both CD and cassette tape. However they can be expensive so instead, go to the public library and borrow theirs. Some people find that if they go for the more fluffy and easy-to-follow things it can be easier to use in the car. In the days when I used to commute for over an hour at a time I was very fond of listening to lectures. I learned vast amounts simply by making more use of the two hours spent in the car each day.

Taking this one stage further, you could also use the time to learn a foreign language. Many people say that this is something that would really love to do but they just never have the time. Those same people are often the ones that commute each day. Using CDs I did a German language course over a few months. It's a while since I did it and I'm certainly quite rusty now, however at the time I would have been able to hold my own in conversation should the need have arisen. How handy would this be as you think about your next year's holiday?

Along those lines, (with due awareness of the copyright laws etc) you could occasionally ask friends to make compilation CDs to listen to: it's a good way to introduce yourself to some new music.

If you're travelling on the train and you're not the sort of person to talk to a stranger then these ideas are great for you too. However there are considerably more options available to you:

Read a book, the old-fashioned way, once again, the option is there to learn something if you want to or perhaps even to just lose yourself in a work of fiction. The library can help you with this. However there are plenty of stalls and shops that sell second-hand books. You can often pick up a book in excellent condition for less than a pound.

What about learning handicrafts (knitting, crochet, etc)? This way you also end up with something you can use, perhaps a new top, scarf or hat. Incidentally it’s worth pointing out that many men have discovered that they really enjoy knitting as it helps them to relieve stress and winds and down after a hard day. It could work for you too!

There are plenty of others ideas -
Become great at soduko or crosswords.
People watching can be fun. Study your fellow commuters and write or make up stories about them or draw them. Who knows you may end up writing a book that other commuters can read or discover an artistic skill you never realised you had.

You could invest in a mini DVD player and work on whittling down your “movies-to-watch” list or play a game boy (or whatever they call them now).

Meditation or self hypnosis can both prepare your mind for the day ahead and calm your mind after a busy day. Most probably you never have time to sit at home for 30 minutes and practice quieting your mind - but on the train you can have 30 minutes of pure bliss. It can help even more than sleep at times. A cell phone with an alarm will help you emerge before you've missed your train stop if you aren't getting off at the end of the line.

A good way to get exercise, if you can, is at the end of the day, don't get on the bus at your usual stop - walk to a stop further away if you can. It can also allow you the ability to do errands on the way home, instead of having to go out again when you get home. Once again it could also help you to clear the day's events from your head

One of the problems with long commutes is that; by the time you get home you are so tired that you are in no mood to cook. Often people will eat an unhealthy ready meal or go to the local takeaway. Why not invest in a slow cooker or crock pot and a crock pot cookbook. You chuck a load of things in your crock pot in the morning and switch it on. When you get home - a delicious hot, nutritious meal awaits you. There are TONS of crock pot recipes out there on the Internet too, so don't assume you're only limited to stew or pot roast.

If you do drive everyday it’s worth bearing in mind that more and more people are taking up Car pooling. If you only have to drive once or twice a week instead of 5, you’ll be able to relax and read a book or paper maybe on 4 of the 5 days and only have the stress of driving through the city on one day each week. It's great for the environment too. Alternatively, you might consider ditching the car altogether once in a while and taking the train or bus if it’s appropriate.

We’re never going to live in a society where commuting becomes a thing of the past. But it's only dead time if you allow it to be that way. Use it

Believing In Yourself

Henry Ford once said "Whether you think you can or you think you can't, you're right".

We've all met a wannabe entrepreneur - the kind of person that talks about starting a business but never actually takes the dive and does anything. Perhaps they spend all their time reading books on the subject but never really do anything to get things going?

They always seem to have excuses. They say…
" I’m too old to start now."
" I don’t know enough to be in business for myself."
" I can’t afford it."
" I will never be able to get finance."
" The economy is too unpredictable."

The amazing thing is that sometimes these people don’t even like where they are right now in life. I know several people who absolutely hate their jobs but prefer to suffer rather than actually look for a better one. It’s pretty clear that these people just don’t believe in themselves. They don’t believe they can actually become a success so they just keep doing what they’ve always done never moving forward.

Here are some simple ways to start learning how to believe in yourself and your abilities.

Get some paper and list every one of those things you really believe about yourself and your abilities or the lack of them. List them whether they are large or small. Once you have that list go through each belief and examine it. Ask yourself the following questions about each:

1. Is this true?
2. What is the proof?
3. Has there ever been a time when this wasn’t true?
4. If there hasn’t, what would you do if it wasn’t true?
5. If the belief is that you can’t or shouldn’t do something, what would happen if you did?

Then go and do whatever it is you feel you can't. It doesn't matter if you do it better than anyone else or if you don't do it as well as you would like. It only matters that you do it.

So often we allow self-defeating assumptions that leave us believing we can’t succeed. Very often this is caused by people in our lives who’ve impressed their own beliefs on us. If you accept this you are doing yourself a great disservice and giving your power to someone else. To reach your goals in life, believing in yourself is extremely important.

It is time to push beyond what you believe are your capabilities. The assumptions you have about yourself may not be true. You have simply accepted these assumptions as truth without proof. Consider all the possibilities of each situation. Challenge the assumptions and have an open mind to the possibility that you could be wrong!

Once you’ve challenged your belief, found that it wasn’t true and made a start, stay motivated. This can be tough if the people around you are always telling you what you can’t do instead of what you can do. There will always be someone who wants to bring you down, that is just a part of life. Of course it hurts when it’s someone whose opinion you value, like a spouse, family member or friend, but move beyond that and stay positive. Keeping a positive outlook will also improve your motivation. Try being a little arrogant, it's OK sometimes. KNOW that you can achieve what you set out to do. Don't allow the negativity and ridicule of others to destroy your motivation. Stay focused and keep believing. You’re well on the way to success!

How to Create an Elevator Speech

Have you ever been at a party and someone you've never met says “So what do you do?” Then you say something like “I fix computers” or “I'm a florist” or “I'm an accountant”. Then they say “Oh..” then there's a pause and you then feel an overwhelming obligation to ask them what they do. They then say something like “I sell house insurance” or “I'm Chief Modality Officer for Information Services”. You say “Oh...” then there's another pause and soon the two of you part and go your separate ways.

It was probably a good thing. Most likely the two of you had nothing to talk about – or did you?

When you look at this scenario both of you did nothing to help either yourselves or the other person. You could be the most gifted accountant or florist. You may be a computer whizz. Neither of you gave the other an opportunity to realise how interesting each of you are.

An elevator speech is a concise, punchy, planned description that overviews the value provided by a person or organisation. It takes no more than twenty seconds which is the approximate time you might spend in an lift with a stranger and provides the answer to the listener's question, “what’s in it for me?” or “what’s in it for my organisation?”.
An elevator speech must meet the following rules:

• it must be entirely truthful.
• It must make someone think “Wow – that's interesting!” and want to find out more.

The best way to create an elevator speech that you can convincingly say without pausing, faltering, or stumbling (after you've rehearsed and committed to memory) is to start with “You know how ...?” and then state the problem you solve. Then follow up with “What I do is ...” and state how you solve the problem or meet the need and what the end result is.

As an example, here's my elevator speech.:

Q. “So what do you do Dave?”.

ME: “You know how people can have fears, mental blocks or habits that stop them achieving their goals in life? Well what I do is I help companies and individuals break through whatever that is so they can go on to achieve fantastic results in things that they previously thought difficult or even impossible.”

Can you see the difference? The usual response is something like “Wow...how do you do that? That must be so rewarding” Before you know it we're having a conversation and they are looking for ways I can help either them or someone they know.

Consider these two responses:
“I'm a wedding planner”

“You know how couples really want their wedding to be the most special day of their lives? Often they have incredibly busy lives and don't know who to trust when it comes to organising things. Well what I do is take all of that off their hands. I coordinate the whole thing for them and take the time and effort into getting things just right so that they can have the sort of wedding they've always dreamed of”.

What about this:

“I fix computers”

“You know how people rely their computers more and more nowadays. It can be really distressing when you've got hours of work or priceless family photos on there and a computer virus gets in and destroys them all or it breaks down. Well what I do is use specialist software to rescue all those precious lost files and then get the computer working again as good as new.”

or one last example...

“I'm an accountant”

“You know how tax rules can be so complicated? People often end up paying far more tax than they should or heavy fines where there was no need to. Well what I do is look after all of that for them and show them how they can keep more of their hard earned cash for themselves and their loved ones instead of giving it away to the Chancellor.”

Having a well rehearsed elevator speech means that you will never be stuck for something to say and you will ALWAYS be seen as an interesting person to talk to. If you're in business it can also bring you customers from places you never expected!