The Single Biggest Barrier to Success

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I’ve been a student of self improvement for nearly twenty years. I’ve read a library full of books on success. I’ve absorbed a ton of information on what it takes to be successful.

Yet here I sit at forty-one years old fairly mediocre. I’ve only sometimes achieved what I’d call success. And then only very modest success at that.

I’m a pretty smart guy. I already know what I need to do to succeed. Yet I routinely fail to do what I know I should do, what I know I could do if I just would do it.

Over the past couple months I have become acutely aware of the fact that even though it feel like something is holding me back from doing the things I know I need to do, in reality I am my own worst enemy. I am my problem. I just couldn’t figure out why I was so thoroughly and effectively sabotaging my own success.

Until last night.

Ah-Ha Moment

Last night I read something in yet another self improvement book, The Slight Edge: Secret to a Successful Life, on page 28, that was like a light bulb going off in my brain. For me it was one of those powerful “Ah, ha!” moments that comes along and can change the course of your life.

I’d figured out the first half of the equation on my own, even before reading those powerful words last night. Read more

Google Enters Browser Competition with Chrome

Internet behemoth Google took a major step towards their mission “to organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful” with their recent beta release of the Chrome web browser. With typical Google focus on simplicity and functionality, Chrome shakes up the usual web browser display a little.

In choosing to release the browsers as open source software Google looks to want to tap into the same type of vast volunteer developer community that has made platforms such as FireFox and WordPress so immensely popular.

First Impressions

The first thing you might notice when using Chrome is that the browser tabs, first made popular with FireFox but now are fixtures all the major browsers, are at the very top of the browser instead beneath the tool bars.

A menu bar is conspicuously absent a la IE7. But perhaps more noticeable is the missing search box. I expected a search giant like Google to make a search box the prominent feature.

Instead they took a different tack and integrated the search function right into the address bar. Very slick, even if it will take a bit of getting used to. Read more

Make Yourself Weird - Only Get to Know Folks Like You

Matt Damon was interviewed by the Associated Press recently and made some comments about the upcoming Presidential election here in the US that made some headlines.

Now I am a fan of Damon’s work. If you ever get a chance to hear him talk about what he put himself through to get ready for his break through role in Courage Under Fire it’s hard to deny the guy is seriously committed to excellence in his profession. And there is no doubt Damon is one of the most bankable actors around.

I like watching his movies.

Fear of the Unknown

In the interview Damon expresses concern about Vice Presidential nominee Sarah Palin because he “doesn’t know anything about her.” And it kind of freaks him out.

Were that really the case (the lack of knowledge, not the freaking out) I suppose I could see where he’s coming from. But with the intense media scrutiny that Palin (and her whole family) has been under these last couple of weeks it seems a little strange for him to say he doesn’t know anything about her.

I suspect he really means something more along the lines of “I don’t know anyone like her or who values the things she does.”

Take a look for yourself. Read more

WordPress Issues Security Uptate in Version 2.6.2

I woke up this morning and see that WordPress released a new version yesterday. The new version 2.6.2 is a security release.

It looks like the security exploit they patched is a fairly low probability complex hack involving randomized password generation and a bunch of technical blah, blah, blah.

Even so, you probably should think about upgrading your WordPress installation to this version fairly quickly. Upgrading is especially important if your blog or web site has a higher profile, PageRank, or traffic levels.