30 Day Trial Day 17 - Know Yourself...

Welcome to Day 17 - To Thine Own Self Be True...
 
So I lead off with this today with emphasis added by me.
This above all: to thine own self be true,
And it must follow, as the night the day,
Thou canst not then be false to any man [especially yourself].
- William Shakespeare
Here is my list of items for today and yesterday.  If you haven't had an opportunity to take a look at my super awesome post from yesterday you can view it here.
 
know yourself
This is an important trait to learn as you go through this challenge.  It is so important to know who you are, how you do things, and why you do them.  Knowing this allows you to streamline your processes.  If you know that being tired makes you cranky than you should invest time in being well rested.  If you as a husband or wife have a need of you spouse than you need to communicate it to them.  This way, hopefully, they can prioritize your need into their whirlwind.  Case in point.  I have only had 3 hours of sleep today.  This means that my normal communication filters are turned way down and I am prone to harsh answers.  I have been on guard all day to make my approaches to the people around me.  Do you know yourself?  Is it important to do that? 
 
be charitable
Charity is very important to me.  I believe in giving in 4 specific areas.  Tithes are one area in which I give.  Tithing is where I give a portion/percentage of my income back to God.  This is how I honor what He has done for me in my life and it is a reminder that He is the one who provides.  Not .  This money is given to our family church.  I know that some folks have an issue with us giving to a local church, however this is between me and God.  Offerings are next on my list on types of giving.  An offering is something given that is outside of your tithe and generally given for a specific reason.  In the church we have building funds, and youth ministries among other things.  Offerings can often go to groups outside of the church like other churches or other non-profits.  The third type is giving of your talents.  There are certain things that you have a knack for that you can use to bless others.  I happen to be an accomplished turkey fryer and have given of this talent over the last two years at our church's Thanksgiving Dinner.  I enjoy making the food knowing that it will be used to feed the homeless as well as my friends and family in the church.  I have also shared my nerdy talents to my church and other organizations.  Lastly there is the gift of time.  This is the most valuable donation that you can make.  When you give of your time you give something that you can never get back.  Find a way to be charitable today. 
 
no regrets
Do you operate with regrets.  Do you live your life looking back and wishing that you could go back and fix it.  There is no more perfect time than NOW other than RIGHT NOW!  No more regretting what has past.  Focus on what you can accomplish today that will get you closer to your goals.  Another case in point.  Growing up I had a list of what I want to do before I get married.  (Side note: I don't know why I time boxed it at marriage.  There were several things on there.  The last one that I did was to get something I wrote published.  This lead to my push to one of my poems published.  Of course I cleared the list before my bride and I tied the knot.  =)
 
sort inboxes
I hate email!   HATE EMAIL!!!!!  Whew!   Glad I got this off of my chest.  SO back to the Challenge...  Take a look at the things that are coming into you life right now.  Imagine an inbox full of these items, tasks, and pieces of information.  It is completely overwhelming to try and tackle them in one big block.  However if you sort them into the 4 categories it will make it easier to handle.  Category 1 is urgent items that must be address NOW.  These items can only be done by you.  They also need to be done now or there with be serious consequences.  Category 2 are items that Important.  These items are important to achieving your goals but have a timeline applied to them.  Category 3 are the items that are urgent but not important.  These items look like fires but they can be handled by someone else or not at all.  Beware of this one.  People are always trying to pawn off there Category 3's to others.  Category 4 are the things that are not important and not urgent.  These are the time wasters.  These things sap time and leave you wondering where they day went.  Apply this filter to your inbox of tasks and deal with them accordingly.  I cannot recommend enough The 7 habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey and Getting Things Done by David Allen.
 
deserve happiness
Do you feel that you deserve to be happy?  Really?  I couldn't tell you the number of people that I have worked with that didn't think that they should be happy.  Something in their life made them feel unworthy of happiness.  Someone hurt them or they hurt someone and thought that they would never be happy again.  That, my friends IS A LIE!  You deserve to be happy.  There is no reason for you to be miserable.  You have to stop trying to find happiness in other people or expecting someone else to make you happy but you CAN BE HAPPY.  Just like everything else, happiness is a choice.  Will you choose to be happy today.  Smile More, Laugh More, Love More. 
 
produce quality
This might be a tough question.  Do you do you best?  I mean do you pour it all out on the table in your work?  Do you leave it all out on the field in your marriage?  Do you put everything you have into your parenting?  Today I ask that whatever you do, you do it with Excellence.  I talk to my teams all the time about excellence be the key to success over and over again.  Whatever you produce today, make sure it get's the seal for approved quality.   
 
write letters
Did I mention that I hate email?  Take some time to write a letter to someone today.  I gave a hand written letter to one of my team mates today.  She is leaving our project, and the company that she was a consulting for.  I am very proud of her for making this decision.  It was not an easy one for her to make but she felt that it was for the best.  I know she will be successful in what ever she does.  She produced high quality work.
 
I went to the gym today with one of my co-workers.  He is a triathelete.  Just his being there made me want to work out harder.  So in spite of my plan of 400 yards in 40 minutes I swam 800 yards in 35 minutes.  I didn't take as many breaks.  He even gave me some pointers on how to increase my speed in the water.
 
Used my card today.  My lunch didn't smell so good.  Not sure why.  So I go a chicken wrap.  YUM.
 
Whew.  Sorry for the novel today.  I hope that you are able to pull some nuggets.  Sorry about yesterday's short note. 
 
Go Go Go

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