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[craigashleyrussell]

31: Any action is better than no action at all

#31: Any action is better than no action at all #StartupLife #Procrastination

Even when being hunted and having to hide, not move, stay quiet requires active strategising which is action albeit mental only.

Even procrastination requires some form of thinking about a problem so as to prioritise it . Putting one’s head in the sand and ignoring a problem is the absolute worst strategy. More than that it is cowardly.

I used to do that more often than I would like to admit.…

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[craigashleyrussell]

32: Little pleasure can equal big pain. Little pain can equal big pleasure.

#32: Little pleasure can equal big pain. Little pain can equal big pleasure. #ProjectL #Investing #Macrovmicro

I’ve long contended that pleasure and pain are different sides of the same coin. Or as Chrissy Amphlett of the Divinyls sang, “There’s a fine line between pleasure and pain”.

A biscuit now equals two hours on the treadmill later. A credit card splurge equals years of interest. I hate the treadmill and I hate credit card interest.

But I’ve found the reverse to be true too. Saving for a major…

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[craigashleyrussell]

33: When you choose the process over what the process brings you, you win

#33: When you choose the process over what the process brings you, you win #ProjectL #Goals #MacroMicro

This is the most recent incarnation of, “it’s about the journey, not the destination.” Over the years it has been said a thousand different ways by a thousand different people. This is my favourite.

It feels the opposite of goal setting theory but it really isn’t. Goals are about taking a macro view. Process, or journey or whatever you want to call it, is all about the micro. I find the…

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[craigashleyrussell]

#34: Tick. Fucking. Tock. #ProjectL #DAAS #TimFerguson #MS A quote from Tim Ferguson of Doug Anthony All Starts (DAAS) fame who developed MS which turned his world upside down.

[craigashleyrussell]

35: Nett Hourly Rate is the most important financial number you need to know

#35: Nett Hourly Rate is the most important financial number you need to know #ProjectL #Budgeting101 #FinancialPlanning #GetRichSlow

The quickest way to calculate this number is to look at your most recent tax return. Find the total gross income and subtract total tax paid. Now divide that number by the total hours you worked in that year. Unless you work fixed rostered hours you’re going to have to guesstimate that number. Take into account public holidays (typically we get 8 every year). Remember all the sick days and mental…

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[craigashleyrussell]

36: 90% of what you know only has value when you give it away

#36: 90% of what you know only has value when you give it away #ProjectL #Knowledge #Startuplife #ConsultancyLife

I’ve found that by giving away most of what I know I’ve built trust and deep rapport with potential clients. When I tried to charge for every bit of advice the phone stopped ringing. And that makes perfect sense because I was drawn to people who you could ‘pick their brains’ without getting an invoice. Besides that, almost all human knowledge is available at http://www.whatdoyouneedtoknow.com(not…

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[craigashleyrussell]

37: Goals are just dreams with a date

#37: Goals are just dreams with a date #ProjectL, #Goals #Goalsetting #ThinkandGrowRich #NapoleonHill

I’m a big fan of goal setting. But I have over analysed, over complicated and over thought both the process and the destination to the point where I have missed the point almost entirely. When I was first directed to the original seminal work on goal setting, ‘Think and Grow Rich’ by Napoleon Hill my focus was more on the ‘Rich’ part than the ‘Think’ part. And then my mind turned to self-limiting…

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[craigashleyrussell]

38: Down to earth beats out of this world

#38: Down to earth beats out of this world #ProjectL #Buddhism101

I’ll take a doco over a mega-budget Hollywood action film any day. I have discovered so much more value in the authentic than the pretend.  Same goes for people. If there’s one thing 25 years in advertising and PR has taught me it’s how to spot bullshit at distance. I guarantee I’ll be as fucking as authentic as possible; like it or not.

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[craigashleyrussell]

39: Patience is the secret sauce

#39: Patience is the secret sauce #ProjectL #Patience

Another in the patience theme, mostly due to the significance this trait now plays in my life. Time, I’ve discovered is not the enemy; it is an ally.

I find patience to be the secret driver to getting things done. It prevents procrastination from taking over because it forces forward movement at all times. Patience allows options to be weighed and considered thought to be realised. 

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[craigashleyrussell]

40: If you don’t waste it, you’ll waist it

#40: If you don’t waste it, you’ll waist it #ProjectL #Healthyeating #weightloss #changingconventions

‘Finish your dinner or no dessert.’ I think I heard that every night as a kid growing up. It was supposed to be stick and carrot but I think it was stick and stick. I just didn’t need the calories being forced into me. Forced may be too strong; encouraged, perhaps.

Either way, it developed a poor relationship with food that dominated for the next 30 plus years. I’m not blaming those who raised…

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[craigashleyrussell]

#41: Fear will kill you before you die #ProjectL #Startuplife Not the kind that's real like being face to face with a big cat in a small cage.

[craigashleyrussell]

#42: Every project will be three times harder, take three times longer and cost three times more than first expected #ProjectL #startuptips This piece of wisdom which I originally thought of as complete crap is actually very true. Uttered by a very successful property developer came my way during a regular WiP meeting many moons ago.

[craigashleyrussell]

43: If you can bend, you won't break

#43: If you can bend, you won't break #ProjectL

The image first appeared here as the author’s artwork for a tattoo

Flexibility in both body and thought have become very important to me. Many old ways of thinking have not served me well. Trying to make life fit into these outdated doctrines is like putting a square peg in a round hole. Adapting to new ideas has proven to be far more useful than fighting against them.

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[craigashleyrussell]

44: There’s plenty of money in the middle of the bell curve

#44: There’s plenty of money in the middle of the bell curve. #ProjectL

I’ve explored* both ends of the bell curve and discovered too few customers on the right-hand side and too many competitors on the left-hand side. Most businesses, and people for that matter, exist within the middle of the bell curve. They feel safe there because they are. The outliers might tempt them now and again but until the majority of the sheep make a move, either way, the middle of the…

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[craigashleyrussell]

#45: Happy Wife = Happy Life #ProjectL This lesson follows on from yesterday, which if I learnt earlier in life perhaps would have avoided all the misery and expense and misery and cost of 'uncoupling' with wife #1.

[craigashleyrussell]

46: Marry a MILF

#46: Marry a MILF #projectL

Not everyone can or should do this but for me, it’s been the best thing ever.

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[craigashleyrussell]

47: Beware of agents

47: Beware of agents #ProjectL

Dodgy estate agent Anthony Brancatella pleads guilty to $2m swindle

Anyone who positions themselves between what you’re selling and the person wanting to buy then takes a fraction of the action from your end, without adding real value, is an asshole.

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