(토요모임) [04. Jan. 2020] Saturday meeting topic

[Scarlet]

Howdy !  It's me Scarlett !   

This week, we will talk about the things that we have to keep. 

In this perspective, main topics will be about Values, Targets, Priority-setting and Relationships. 

◈ Bucket list, Motivation & Time management

--- 5 Strategies for Getting More Work Done in Less Time

--- What Are Your Values?

--- 8 Benefits Of Identifying Your Values

--- What’s on Your Bucket List?

◈ Friendship

--- The Purpose Of Friendship: The Only 4 Types Of Friends You Need In Life

--- Making New Friends Gets A Lot Harder As We Grow Up Because We Are Not As Open As We Were

--- I Deleted 564 Friends On Facebook But I Have Saved 100 Real Life Friendships

◈ Environmental issue

--- Turning Europe into a giant wind farm could power the entire world

Hope you enjoy the topics.

With luv
Scarlett

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The Power of Batching for Productive Content Creation

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6 Easy Tricks That Will Make You More Productive | Forbes

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What are your values?

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20 Bucket List Ideas

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The Purpose of Friendship

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Can We Power the Entire World with Wind Farms in Europe?

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5 Strategies for Getting More Work Done in Less Time

Elizabeth Grace Saunders/ January 07, 2019

You’ve got more to do than could possibly get done with your current work style. You’ve prioritized. You’ve planned. You’ve delegated. You’ve tried to focus. The next frontier is increasing your efficiency so that you can spend less time and still do a good job.

Exactly which strategies will work best for you will vary person-by-person and situation-by-situation. But as a time management coach working with people who need to get more done in less time, I’ve found that employing even one of these five strategies can save you hours each week.

■ Clarify Actual Expectations

When you take on a significant task, talk with any key stakeholders about what they expect from you. Perhaps they need a PowerPoint deck, or perhaps they don’t. Perhaps they need an A+ job or maybe a B+ will be fine. Perhaps they need a comprehensive plan or maybe just an initial sketch will work.

One of my time coaching clients who works in the finance industry saved days of work when he got clear on the fact that in some instances, all that was needed was enough information to come to a go or no-go decision. Not all situations regarded a thorough in-depth analysis.

By clarifying what’s actually needed and to what level, you can save hours of time deciding what to do and getting tasks done.

■ Re-Use Previous Material

Your ability to reduce time by reusing and recycling work will vary depending on your particular responsibilities. But where you can, copy, paste, and edit. That could happen with emails, presentations, trainings, proposals, and almost any other type of activity where you’re communicating something very similar.

This strategy has proven most helpful for my coaching clients who give presentations or who teach. When you’re pressed for time, fight the urge to entirely update or overhaul materials, and use something you already have to save hours and deliver the best content. Top speakers tend to give the same speech again and again because practice makes perfect.

■ Develop Templates and Checklists

To speed up your process on routine items, come up with a template or checklist or find ones you can use. For example, I have a template email that I fill in every year to send to my accountant with my year-end tax information. And on a monthly basis, I go through a monthly finances checklist.

You might want templates for activities like putting together weekly reports, presentations, or meeting agendas. Also, you may find checklists valuable for weekly planning, one-on-one meetings, or other repeated activities. Both templates and checklists allow you to do a good job in less time because you don’t need to spend any time remembering what to do or deciding on the next step.

You can keep these templates and checklists in a more sophisticated system, but I find that often simply having them recorded in a Word document is sufficient.

■ Make It a Conversation

Depending on what you need to accomplish, you can potentially save time by sharing what you’ve done verbally. For example, maybe your manager asks you to research a particular topic. Instead of writing up a formal presentation, it may accomplish your purposes in less time to take notes and then talk through your findings during a one-on-one meeting.

This strategy can also work well if you need to communicate about more abstract concepts, like design. One of my coaching clients found it much faster to communicate with an architect through talking about or drawing up her thoughts instead of trying to write them down.

■ Time Box Your Work

Finally, a strategy for still doing a good job in less time is deciding in advance how much time you will spend on a particular task or part of a task, and then sticking to it. For example, if you tend to over-invest in the research stage, you may want to tell yourself that you have to stop after one to two hours. Or if you struggle with coming up with an initial draft, then you may pre-decide how much time you would like to invest in getting something typed out.

Time boxing doesn’t guarantee that you’ll finish the work in the allotted time. However, it can definitely help with focus. And deciding in advance on the time investment helps Parkinson’s Law, that work expands to fill the time allotted for it, to work to your advantage.

We all have our limits so I can’t promise that everything will get done by using the above strategies. But when you do employ these techniques, you can get more done in less time.

Elizabeth Grace Saunders is a time management coach and the founder of Real Life E Time Coaching & Speaking. She is author of How to Invest Your Time Like Money and Divine Time Management. Find out more at www.RealLifeE.com.

Article source : https://hbr.org/2019/01/5-strategies-for-getting-more-work-done-in-less-time?utm_source=facebook&utm_campaign=hbr&utm_medium=social&fbclid=IwAR2IZYpe7I96mymzELWFaJai2LQYEQgEAr5pbDtVBJltbE6kgzXn7aa4XwE

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How I Get More Done 2 Days Than Most People Do In 2 Weeks

Neil Patel/ Entrepreneurs

There’s one thing that I do better than most people. I’m not smarter than most people. I’m not more talented. I don’t have some Ivy League education. I don’t get a lot of lucky breaks.

Instead, I hustle. That’s my secret skill. But it’s not a real secret. I’ve taken the time to research productivity hacks, and use some of the most advanced techniques to help me get more done in less time.

A lot of the productivity stuff you read is basic — delegate, batch, keep a to-do list, etc. Those are great ideas, and you should do them!

But to really hustle, you need more than basic tips. You need some killer hacks that will allow you to slay your goals and dominate in life and business.

I put my productivity habits under the microscope, studied the data, and did some research. Here’s what I discovered about my ability to hustle harder than most people, and how you can do the same...

1. I figured out exactly where I was wasting time.

I was wasting a lot of time without even realizing it! I used to be a web-surfing time waster. I transformed into a productivity freak, due to a single little plugin.

I used an app called RescueTime (there are others available, too), which tracked where I was spending most of my time online. The app even showed me a productivity score each day.

I  found out that I was spending hours each week on useless stuff like YouTube and Facebook. I installed another app to keep me from visiting those sites that were wasting my time.

Instantly, my productivity skyrocketed. Before using these two apps, I was spending 4.8 hours each week on useless web surfing.

Apparently, other people have this problem, too. A third of workers waste three hours a day on stuff like social media. That means they’re losing eighteen weeks of work each year!

After tracking my time and blocking the time-wasting sites, I got back the wasted 4.8 hours each week. That translates into 250 more work hours each year, or an extra six weeks of work!

2. I sleep a lot.

Weird, right? I sleep more, but hustle harder. How?

This isn’t “advanced,” but it’s a massive productivity booster.

Getting lots of sleep — 9.25 hours a night — makes me more productive. When I don’t get enough sleep, it takes me four hours to go through 400 emails (my average daily email reply rate). When I get a solid 9+ hours of sleep, I can finish my email in 2.5 hours!

Harvard researchers found out that American businesses lose $63.2 billion per year, because of sleep deprivation. That’s a huge amount of waste!

Sleep more, and you’ll be way more productive.

3. If I start it, I finish it.

I’m a huge believer in starting what you finish.

A lot of people start a project, pause, and try to come back to it later. That’s a huge waste of time. It takes your brain several minutes to get back in the groove of what you started working on. Besides, what if you don’t ever finish it?

This often happens with email. You open an email, read it, don’t reply, and close it. You just wasted an average of four minutes. Gone!

When you get back around to checking email again, you’re going to read the same email again, figure out what to do, and compose a reply.

If you start something, no matter how small, finish it!

4. I break my tasks into bite-sized chunks.

Let me be honest with you. Big projects scare me. If I told myself, “Hey, Neil, start a business!” I would get paralyzed and not even start.

So how is it that I’ve managed to build several multi-million dollar businesses?

Easy. With bite-sized chunks. Have you ever heard this phrase? “How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time.”

I would never suggest eating an elephant, but I would suggest breaking up your tasks into little pieces in order to get it done.

I never put a task in my to-do list that takes more than one hour. It’s too daunting! Instead, I break every big project into twenty-minute tasks! I don’t mind spending twenty minutes on something.

When I accomplish a twenty-minute task, I feel super productive, and want to do even more.

Short-term gains like knocking out a 20-minute task help produce long-term gains! Checking off a task gives you a shot of dopamine, the feel good chemical in your body. That little gain makes you want to do it again, and again, and again.

Before you know it, you’ve turned yourself into a task-destroying productivity machine.

5. I work from bed.

Working in bed won’t work for everyone, but it works for me.

Since I’m always traveling, I stay in hotels a lot. I don’t use the hotel business centers or lounges, so I work from my room. Sometimes, my room might not have a desk (or really uncomfortable chairs), so I work from my bed.

It’s comfortable, I can relax, and get a ton of stuff done. When you’re in bed, you feel immune to interruptions, and people are less likely to bug you.

6. I work anywhere.

There is nowhere I can’t work. I’ve done all of the following:

- Shower? Brainstorming.

- Toilet? Writing articles.

- Bed? Anything.

- Washing my face? Conference call.

- Breakfast? Team meeting call.

- Flight? Email.

- Uber? Email.

- Walking to lunch? Business call.

- Lunch? Business meeting.

- Exercising? Email.

Working anywhere allows me to snatch every spare minute of the day and use it for something productive. Then, when I want to shut down and not work, I give myself total permission to do so.

7. I’m a minimalist.

There’s more to productivity than hacks, batching, time-saving tips, and apps. Living productively demands lifestyle changes.

I’ve engineered my life to be incredibly simple. Everything in my life helps me to achieve my purpose and goals. For that reason, I’ve stripped away everything that doesn’t help me towards that end.

I don’t own a home or a vehicle. I hardly have any stuff. Everything I own fits easily into a briefcase and carry-on.

Owning less stuff gives unleashes insane levels of mental focus. Plus, I don’t have to worry about all the time-sucking activities involved with owning lots of stuff, a house, or a car.

8. I outsource everything.

I’m only good at a few things, so I choose to do only those tasks.

What about everything else in life? Other people are good at doing those things, so I pay them to do it. I have teams of super dedicated, hard-working, and smart people who can hustle and get stuff done.

As I mentioned, I live out of hotels for 46 weeks of the year. (I couchsurf at my parents house a few times a year.) I stay in hotels that have room service, so I don’t have to worry about finding and cooking my own food. These hotels also have laundry service, so I don’t spend time finding a laundromat and washing my own clothes.

When it comes to my businesses, I only contribute 0.08% of the teams’ total work time. The things I choose to do are high-value tasks that I’m good at.

9. I schedule large blocks of time for self-development.

Stephen Covey developed time management matrix that looks like this:

Most people spend their time on quadrants, 1, 3, and 4. Some stuff is important, but most of the tasks are time wasters in disguise.

Why don’t we spend time on quadrant 2? The things in this quadrant are some of the most important things that we could spend our time on, but we usually neglect it.

I believe that if we spent more time on self-improvement, self-discovery, personal development, long-term planning, and strategy, we will become more productive.

Every day, I schedule these tasks right into my calendar. For at least sixty minutes each day, I spend time meditating, strategizing, journaling, and goal-setting.

As soon as I started doing this, my productivity shot through the roof. When I worked on my other tasks, I knew that I had a big time commitment looming, and so I worked harder, faster, and smarter to clear time for it.

The result was that I developed higher levels of productivity and was able to focus on self-development.

10. I work with my ultradian rhythms.

One of the most advanced productivity techniques I’ve learned is energy management.

Your energy levels go up and down during the day. You should do more mentally demanding tasks such as writing or strategizing during the time of day when you have the most energy. At your low energy points, you can do less demanding tasks like emailing or scheduling.

Discovering your best time of day to work forces you to a higher level of productivity without requiring more time or energy.

Conclusion

One of the most important things I’ve learned about productivity is this:  It’s not about how much stuff you get done. It’s about choosing what’s important, and focusing on it.

Productivity is more about getting the right stuff done rather than just getting stuff done. If you can figure out your big life goals, then you’ll be able to sort out the smaller things like your daily schedule, your daily goals, and the best way to organize your day.

Being productive isn’t an end in itself. It’s a means to an end. Knowing what you want out of life, and then pursuing it — that’s where true productivity really begins.

Article source : https://www.forbes.com/sites/neilpatel/2016/12/05/how-i-get-more-done-2-days-than-most-people-do-in-2-weeks/#c5ba09d2f0ed

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< Questions > 

Q1. Please describe your daily work process routine !  

Q2. How do you work more efficiently? 

Q3. How often do you plan your work routine? 

Q4. Above article suggested several strategies as belows. What is the most efficient strategy to work more efficiently among them? 

How to get more done in less time:

1. Clarify actual expectations

2. Re-use previous material

3. Develop templates and checklists

4. Make it a conversation

5. Timebox your work

Q5. Are you a minimalist or maximalist ? 

Q6. The writer outsource everything and focus on a few things that he is doing better than others. How about you? do you apply similar strategies? What is the things that you are doing better than others? 

 

Q7. Above article suggest one of the strategies to be productive as follows. Schedule large blocks of time for self-development. Below time management matrix was developed by Stephen Covey. Do you think how much time per day do you allocate to the quadrant 2? 

Q8. Above article's writer said he works every where and some examples as follows. How about your case? 

- Shower? Brainstorming.

- Toilet? Writing articles.

- Bed? Anything.

- Washing my face? Conference call.

- Breakfast? Team meeting call.

- Flight? Email.

- Uber? Email.

- Walking to lunch? Business call.

- Lunch? Business meeting.

- Exercising? Email.

Q9. Have you ever heard about the energy management? When do you think your energy levels go up? And when is the lowest moment for your energy? And what do you do during that time? 

Q10. A lot of the productivity stuff you read is basic — delegate, batch, keep a to-do list, etc. Those are great ideas, and you should do them! But author suggested more some killer hacks. Among them, what is the most effective ways to be more productive? 

1. I figured out exactly where I was wasting time.

2. I sleep a lot.

3. If I start it, I finish it.

4. I break my tasks into bite-sized chunks.

5. I work from bed.

6. I work anywhere.

7. I’m a minimalist.

8. I outsource everything.

9. I schedule large blocks of time for self-development.

10. I work with my ultradian rhythm (a repeated cycle in a 24-hour period)

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What Are Your Values?

Deciding What's Most Important in Life
 
■ How would you define your values?

Before you answer this question, you need to know what, in general, values are.

Your values are the things that you believe are important in the way you live and work.

They (should) determine your priorities, and, deep down, they're probably the measures you use to tell if your life is turning out the way you want it to.

When the things that you do and the way you behave match your values, life is usually good – you're satisfied and content. But when these don't align with your personal values, that's when things feel... wrong. This can be a real source of unhappiness.

This is why making a conscious effort to identify your values is so important.

■ How Values Help You

Values exist, whether you recognize them or not. Life can be much easier when you acknowledge your values – and when you make plans and decisions that honor them.

If you value family, but you have to work 70-hour weeks in your job, will you feel internal stress and conflict? And if you don't value competition, and you work in a highly competitive sales environment, are you likely to be satisfied with your job?

In these types of situations, understanding your values can really help. When you know your own values, you can use them to make decisions about how to live your life, and you can answer questions like these:
What job should I pursue?
Should I accept this promotion?
Should I start my own business?
Should I compromise, or be firm with my position?
Should I follow tradition, or travel down a new path?
So, take the time to understand the real priorities in your life, and you'll be able to determine the best direction for you and your life goals !

Tip:
Values are usually fairly stable, yet they don't have strict limits or boundaries. Also, as you move through life, your values may change. For example, when you start your career, success – measured by money and status – might be a top priority. But after you have a family, work-life balance may be what you value more.

As your definition of success changes, so do your personal values. This is why keeping in touch with your values is a lifelong exercise. You should continuously revisit this, especially if you start to feel unbalanced... and you can't quite figure out why.

As you go through the exercise below, bear in mind that values that were important in the past may not be relevant now.

■ Defining Your Values

When you define your personal values, you discover what's truly important to you. A good way of starting to do this is to look back on your life – to identify when you felt really good, and really confident that you were making good choices.

Step 1: Identify the times when you were happiest

Find examples from both your career and personal life. This will ensure some balance in your answers.

What were you doing?
Were you with other people? Who?
What other factors contributed to your happiness?

Step 2: Identify the times when you were most proud

Use examples from your career and personal life.

Why were you proud?
Did other people share your pride? Who?
What other factors contributed to your feelings of pride?

Step 3: Identify the times when you were most fulfilled and satisfied

Again, use both work and personal examples.

What need or desire was fulfilled?
How and why did the experience give your life meaning?
What other factors contributed to your feelings of fulfillment?

Step 4: Determine your top values, based on your experiences of happiness, pride, and fulfillment

Why is each experience truly important and memorable? Use the following list of common personal values to help you get started – and aim for about 10 top values. (As you work through, you may find that some of these naturally combine. For instance, if you value philanthropy, community, and generosity, you might say that service to others is one of your top values.)

Step 5: Prioritize your top values

This step is probably the most difficult, because you'll have to look deep inside yourself. It's also the most important step, because, when making a decision, you'll have to choose between solutions that may satisfy different values. This is when you must know which value is more important to you.

Write down your top values, not in any particular order.
Look at the first two values and ask yourself, "If I could satisfy only one of these, which would I choose?" It might help to visualize a situation in which you would have to make that choice. For example, if you compare the values of service and stability, imagine that you must decide whether to sell your house and move to another country to do valuable foreign aid work, or keep your house and volunteer to do charity work closer to home.
Keep working through the list, by comparing each value with each other value, until your list is in the correct order.
Tip:
If you have a tough time doing this, consider using Paired Comparison Analysis  to help you. With this method, you decide which of two options is most important, and then assign a score to show how much more important it is. Since it's so important to identify and prioritize your values, investing your time in this step is definitely worth it.

Step 6: Reaffirm your values

Check your top-priority values, and make sure that they fit with your life and your vision for yourself.

Do these values make you feel good about yourself?
Are you proud of your top three values?
Would you be comfortable and proud to tell your values to people you respect and admire?
Do these values represent things you would support, even if your choice isn't popular, and it puts you in the minority?
When you consider your values in decision making, you can be sure to keep your sense of integrity and what you know is right, and approach decisions with confidence and clarity. You'll also know that what you're doing is best for your current and future happiness and satisfaction.

Making value-based choices may not always be easy. However, making a choice that you know is right is a lot less difficult in the long run.

Key Points

Identifying and understanding your values is a challenging and important exercise. Your personal values are a central part of who you are – and who you want to be. By becoming more aware of these important factors in your life, you can use them as a guide to make the best choice in any situation.

Some of life's decisions are really about determining what you value most. When many options seem reasonable, it's helpful and comforting to rely on your values – and use them as a strong guiding force to point you in the right direction.

Article source : https://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newTED_85.htm

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8 Benefits Of Identifying Your Values
Allison Mandel

What does the word value mean to you? Can you define it?

Values are what you believe matter most in life. Everyone’s values are different. Some common values are love, success, friendship, intelligence, and respect.

As children, our parents and teachers pass values on to us and we live our lives based on what they’ve taught us is important, be that kindness, friendship, listening, etc. But as adults we must determine what is of most value to us on our own. Some of the values from childhood may stay the same, but you may realize that others have become increasingly more important as you have grown and changed. Tolerance, gratitude, and family, for example, may be of huge significance to you now.

So, without further ado, here are 8 benefits of identifying your values.

1. Values help you find your purpose.

Have you already figured out the purpose of life? If not, as is the case for most of us, values can help answer the all-encompassing question, “What is my purpose in life?” You can’t expect to know what you want out of life if you don’t know what is important in life. Knowing what you value gets you that much closer to an answer. Think about it.

2. Values help you react in difficult situations.

Values are guiding principles for behavior. They can help ensure you behave in a way that matches who you want to be at your core. People often react quickly in situations, especially difficult ones, and they don’t always take the time to think about what they are doing before they do it. You can use your values to reflect on situations, too, to decide, for example, if you need to apologize for something. What a helpful little tool!

3. Values help you make decisions.

When you come across the need to make a decision, your values can help you make the right call. Sometimes emotions get in the way of good decision making, but if you stop to ask yourself, “What would someone who values X do in this situation?” then you just might be able to come to a more clearheaded, less emotionally-affected decision.

4. Values help clear out clutter.

Do you ever want to eliminate excess baggage from your life? Identifying your values will help you rule out the things you really do not want, need or believe are important. People are consumed with so much these days. Weed the time- and energy-wasting things out of your life!

5. Values help you choose the right career.

All career paths come with pros and cons, we know that. But when you know what matters most to you, you can be sure you are choosing the right career path. If you value connection, interaction, and friendship, for example, then it’s possible a work-at-home job may not be a good fit for you. On the other hand, if you value travel, wealth, and conversation, then maybe a traveling sales job is perfect for you. Sometimes knowing your values can even help you determine if a promotion is the best idea for you. Who knew saying no to a promotion could be a good idea?

6. Values help you develop a sense of self.

Knowing your values means you can develop strong opinions about important subjects. You don’t want to just believe what your parents believed. You can’t just say you believe you what your friends believe. You need to figure out what you truly believe, and then you can share your honest self with others. This is important!

7. Values help increase your confidence.

Identifying your values increases your level of confidence because it brings about a sense of stability and safety to your life. When you know what you want, it doesn’t matter what other people want. When you know what is important to you, it doesn’t matter what is important to other people. This will naturally bring a sense of confidence to your life.

8. Values help your overall happiness level.

If you combine the results from benefits one though seven, then you have likely improved your life. You’ve developed a purpose, reacted better in difficult situations, made good decisions, found the right career, developed opinions, and increased your confidence. It’s fair to say you might just feel a little happier!

If you’ve never identified your values before, here’s a quick how-to guide to get you going on your process.

Make a big list of values (love, achievement, trust, compassion, wealth, honor, appreciation, etc.) or use a page like this. You can set a timer if you want, but it’s not necessary. As you read through, circle the ones that pop out at you—the ones that you feel are part of you. You can mark as many as you’d like at the start, but after you have your initial list, try to cross off the ones that don’t seem quite as important to you. Aim to get the list down to 10 or 15 values. Put these in order of importance if you can. Ta-da! Now you have your Top 10 (or 15) values. Don’t worry, though, values are not static. They change and evolve with us as we grow.

Here are my ever-evolving Top 10 values as of February 2014: love, family, personal development, integrity, honesty, acceptance, gratitude, laughter, kindness, and education.

What are yours?

Article source : https://www.lifehack.org/articles/communication/8-benefits-identifying-your-values.html

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< Questions >

Q1. What does the word 'Value' mean to you? Can you define it?

Q2. What is the most important value in your life?

Q3. When is the happiest moment for you on a yearly, monthly and daily bases?

Q4. The author suggests ever-evolving Top 10 values : love, family, personal development, integrity, honesty, acceptance, gratitude, laughter, kindness, and education. How about your Top 5 values in your life among them?

Q5. Are you attracted by the people who has similar virtue with you? 

Q6. If you already have important values in your life, what are the advantages and disadvantages of having important values and priorities among them?

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What’s on Your Bucket List?

101 Things To Do Before You Die

“Every man dies – Not every man really lives.” ~ William Ross

“The only people who fear death are those with regrets.” ~ Author Unknown

A few days ago, I was surfing online when I came across someone’s bucket list. It quickly inspired me to create my own list and write an article about it at the same time.

 What’s a Bucket List?

If you haven’t heard about the term “bucket list”, it is a list of all the goals you want to achieve, dreams you want to fulfill and life experiences you desire to experience before you die.

 Why Create a Bucket List?

If you don’t live your days by personal goals and plans, chances are you spend most of your time caught up in a flurry of day-to-day activities. Ever feel your days are passing you by without any tangible output to speak of? What did you accomplish in the past 3 months? What are your upcoming goals for the next 3 months? Look at the things you did and the things you’re planning to do next – Do they mean anything to you if you are to die today? Having a bucket list reminds you of what’s really important so you can act on them.

Even if you frequently live by goals or to-do lists, they are probably framed within a certain social context e.g. performance, career, health. A bucket list opens up the context. It’s a forum to set anything and everything you’ve ever wanted to do, whether it’s big, small or random.

It’s just like planning ahead all the highlights you want for YOUR whole life. Even though goal setting is already my staple activity, I still found many new things to do while I was writing on my own list. It was an incredibly insightful exercise. What’s more, coming up with my list gave me a whole new layer of enthusiasm knowing what’s in store ahead!

The objective of creating this list isn’t to instill some kind of a race against time or to create aversion toward death. I don’t see our existence to be limited to just our physical years on earth – I don’t see our existence to be limited to just our physical years on earth – our physical lifespan is but a short speck of our existence in the universe.

The whole point of creating your list is to maximize every moment of our existence and live our life to the fullest. It’s a reminder of all the things we want to achieve in our time here, so that instead of pandering our time in pointless activities, we are directing it fully toward what matters to us.

 Create Your Bucket List

If you don’t have a bucket list, I highly recommend you to create one. How much will it cost? Zero. How long will it take? Probably 30 minutes to an hour, or more if you get really caught up in the writing. :) What do you stand to gain? Significant clarity and focus on what you want from your life. It’s an invaluable exchange. :)

If you already have your list, take this opportunity to review it. See if there are new items you want to add-on. If so, add them in. Check if all the items listed are still relevant. If not, remove them.

Now, take out your pen and paper or open up a text document. Start writing down what comes to mind as you read these questions:

• What if you were to die tomorrow? What would you wish you could do before you die?
• What would you do if you had unlimited time, money and resources?
• What have you always wanted to do but have not done yet?
• Any countries, places or locations you want to visit?
• What are your biggest goals and dreams?
• What do you want to see in person?
• What achievements do you want to have?
• What experiences do you want to have / feel?
• Are there any special moments you want to witness?
• What activities or skills do you want to learn or try out?
• What are the most important things you can ever do?
• What would you like to say/do together with other people? People you love? Family? Friends?
• Are there any specific people you want to meet in person?
• What do you want to achieve in the different areas: Social, Love, Family, Career, Finance, Health (Your weight, Fitness level), Spiritual?
• What do you need to do to lead a life of the greatest meaning?

Come up with as many items as you can. The items should be things you have not done yet. Don’t stop until you finish listing at least 101 things! If you find yourself stuck, chances are you are mentally limiting/constraining yourself. Release those shackles – Your bucket list is meant to be a list of everything you want to achieve, do, see, feel and experience in your life. Check out the next section for added inspiration.

 101 Things To Do Before You Die

Here are 101 items to consider for your bucket list. :) Look through the list — any item that resonates with you? Take the items that resonate and use them for your own list! For your convenience, I’ve included useful resources (hand-picked by yours truly) to aid you in your bucket-list quest.

1. Travel all around the world 2. Learn a new language 3. Try a profession in a different field 4. Achieve your ideal weight 5. Run a marathon 6. Take part in a triathlon 7. Take up a new sport 8. Go scuba diving / snorkeling and experience marine life up close 9. Go skiing 10. Trek the Inca Trail 11. Go horseback riding 12. Do an extreme sport 13. Climb a mountain 14. Learn a strategy game 15. Connect with past teachers 16. Let someone know how much he/she means to you 17. Give a heartfelt surprise to someone 18. Perform a kind deed without expecting anything in return 19. Make a difference in someone’s life 20. Be a mentor to someone 21. Pursue your passion 22. Start your business 23. Fly in a hot-air balloon 24. Sing to an audience 25. Do volunteer work 26. Befriend a stranger 27. Get a drink for a stranger 28. Walk/Dance barefoot in the rain 29. Run barefoot 30. Experience a sunrise/sunset 31. See the Northern Lights 32. Witness a solar eclipse 33. Go stargazing 34. Plant a tree and watch it grow 35. Get a pet 36. Publish a book 37. Do public speaking in front of 1,000 people (or more) 38. Throw a mega party 39. Get a complete makeover 40. Learn wine appreciation 41. Join a social etiquette class 42. Be a matchmaker: Introduce your single friends to each other (the rest is up to them!) 43. Go on a blind date! (for the singles!) 44. Further your education 45. Play a (new) musical instrument 46. Win a lucky draw 47. Take up dancing 48. Learn a martial art 49. Go on a road trip 50. Backpack across at least 10 locations 51. Pack your bags and set off for a random location with no itinerary 52. Protect dolphins and marine life 53. Live in a different country for at least 6 months

53. Live in a different country for at least 6 months 54. Act in a film (self-production or otherwise) 55. Get featured in the media for something you are proud of 56. Knit a scarf 57. Create your dream home 58. Whip a home-made meal for your loved ones 59. Bake a cake for someone special 60. Go deep into the heart of Mother Nature 61. See snow (if you haven’t before) 62. Live through 4 seasons of the year: Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter 63. Read a book on a subject you had never thought of reading 64. Volunteer at a hospice 65. Fly a kite 66. Fall asleep on grassy plains 67. Contact a company you like just to thank them for their great product/service 68. Try out vegetarianism for 21 days 69. After that, try veganism 70. Followed by raw veganism. Then conclude which is the best diet for you. 71. Fold 1,000 origami cranes and give them to someone special 72. Conquer your biggest fear 73. Tell at least 10 people about your bucket list and encourage them to join you! 74. Go on a meditation retreat 75. Experience an OBE (out-of-body experience) 76. Start a movement on a cause you believe in 77. See cherry blossoms in Japan 78. Bury the hatchet with people whom you had conflicts with in the past 79. Get closure on any past unhappiness 80. Organize a picnic outing 81. Do something completely crazy and out of character 82. Fly first class 83. Hit bull’s-eye on a dartboard 84. Visit a volcano 85. Fly in a helicopter 86. Meet someone you can only dream of meeting 87. Tell your parents and siblings that you love them 88. Ride a roller coaster 89. Go on a cruise 90. Try frontline jobs for the experience 91. Fall in love 92. Be in a conscious, fulfilling relationship  93. Go on a romantic getaway 94. Do a somersault 95. Visit a castle 96. Change the world 97. Help someone in need 98. Learn sign language 99. See the Mona Lisa (in Louvre, in Paris) 100. Go to a costume party and dress up as your favorite character 101. Gain enlightenment

Article source : http://personalexcellence.co/blog/bucket-list/

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< Questions >

Q1. Do you have priorities in your life? What is that? Why? 

Q2. What is a Bucket list? Can you make a definition of this concept? 

Q3. Do you have a Bucket list? What is the top 3 items on your list ? and Why? 

Q4. What if you were to die tomorrow? What would you wish you could do before you die?

Q5. What are your biggest goals and dreams?

Q6. Some have a bucket list and the others does not. What difference could you find

       among these two groups? Which group are you involved in? 

Q7. From the article, you can find 101 things to do before you die. 

       Please share your best 10 choices from the list and reasons for your choice. 

Q8. How to live a balanced life without losing your focus on you life? 

       Please share your tips with us ! 

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The Purpose Of Friendship: The Only 4 Types Of Friends You Need In Life

Anna Chui/ Editor. Life Enthusiast. Amateur Musician.

Are you aware that as you grow up, friendship is the thing that drifts away most easily? Work, vacation, relationships, family times — they’re all so important to life that it’s just hard to put friendship at a higher priority.  

Have you ever been at supper at a friend’s home, you and your friends just didn’t have anything to talk about and had to force yourselves to just talk about something, like “so how have you been recently?”, or “oh the pasta is really nice…”?

This kind of awkward situation only leaves us wondering what friendship is for; but then, we also feel uncomfortable to have to declare that friendship has to be for something — how contradicting we are.

Here’s some good news for you…

Friendship does have its purpose, and having a purpose doesn’t ruin true friendship.

People come to your life for a reason. (Duh.) People do come together to become friends for some reasons though.

Alex Lickerman, the author of The Undefeated Mind: On the Science of Constructing an Indestructible Self talks about the things that draw people together as friends.

Instead of building friendships with random people, we tend to build bonds with people who share the common interests, share common values, have gone through the same difficulties, and who support each other equally.[1]

We’re being selective about friends because not everyone can serve the purpose of being able to exchange thoughts and feelings with us.

When we get to know people, there are four things we really look for.[2]

Firstly, we want reassurance so we know we’re not alone in being a specific way.

Everyone of us has our weak spots. There’s always something that we aren’t satisfied with, or some thoughts that we’re reluctant to share with others because we’re afraid of being judged or being let down.

We need the kind of friend who understands our thoughts and weaknesses; so we can feel comfortable to let down our guard and be comfortable with who we are.

We also want to have fun with people who we can be silly with.

Life is stressful; and we’re taught to always be serious and mature at work and in life as a grown-up. Imagine yourself as an elastic band, if you kept on pulling yourself and stayed tense, you’d eventually break. That’s exactly what would happen if we didn’t get enough fun in life.

Friends here, serve the purpose of letting you be as silly as you want and share the joy and excitement with you.

And we need someone’s help to clarify our minds.

We’re all imperfect people, sometimes we are confused and our minds go chaotic.

For example, very often we are frustrated at work and not quite sure why, but after we share our confusions with friends, we somehow get things figured out and have a clearer mind to go back to work.

A thinking friend who gives us constructive advice and asks us probing questions can inspire us to solve our problems and get to know ourselves better.

Finally, we network to seek collaborators to help us achieve our goals.

We have our own dreams and goals but we are small and fragile as an individual. To get things going, we need collaborators to align their abilities and energies with ours.

Take Emma Watson as an example, she’s an activist in feminism, and she networks to gather like-minded people who also aspire to fight for gender equality through the HeForShe campaign and the feminist book club Our Shared Shelf.

The spiritual core reason for a friendship is help us change and grow.

Motivational speaker Jim Rohn once said,[3]

“You’re the average of the five people you spend most of your time with.”

This relates to the law of averages,[4] a theory that the result of anything will be the average of all outcomes.

So if you want to grow, be successful, or simply be happy and positive; the people you spend time with matter.

Moving on from some friendships simply means you’ve understood what real friendship is like.

You may ask, “what about those who don’t share my ambitions or interests? And those who can’t reassure my existence? Or those who I don’t really feel comfortable to be silly with?”

As time goes, you probably will feel difficult to stay friends with these people. Dare to let go of some people who don’t help you change and grow as a better and a happier person.

It doesn’t mean you’ve lost hope or belief in friendship, it simply means you’ve understood what a real friendship is like.

Move on from the friendships that you can hardly maintain. You don’t need to deny having these friends, and you can keep the memories with you. Moving on is just a way to help you get closer to true friendships that are best for you and others.

This article is inspired by The School of Life’s The Purpose of Friendship. Watch the full video here.

Article source : http://www.lifehack.org/560546/the-only-4-types-friends-you-need-life

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Making New Friends Gets A Lot Harder As We Grow Up Because We Are Not As Open As We Were

Ana Erkic/ Social Media Consultant, Online Marketing Strategist, Copywriter, CEO and Co-Founder of Growato

It kind of makes sense, that as we grow older it is much harder to sustain friendships, let alone make new ones. There are a number of reasons for this. First of all, as careers, relationships and kids become our priorities, there is simply not enough time to chill all day with our besties and talk about everything. Moreover, as we get more mature, we get pickier about who we spend our precious time with. Remember when you were a teenager, you could hardly count all the members of your squad? And now, you can barely have one person to talk to once a month. Yet, this doesn’t have to be the end of your social life. Even better yet, now it is the time to make true and closer friendships that will last for a lifetime. Let’s learn how.

The new old friends

In order to warm up for creating new friendships, you can try reconnecting with the old ones first. This doesn’t mean we have to call each and every person we met, no matter how much we liked them. We all know a couple of great people we used to hang out with, that we simply stopped seeing due to our busy schedules. Make time to make a couple of phone calls and see how they are doing. This could be beneficial in many ways:

- Firstly, you will be much more comfortable meeting new people once you start in the familiar ground.

- Secondly, you may make more honest and open friendships with those people now that you have matured and are ready for more meaningful connections.

- Finally, old friends have probably met some new people that could potentially be your new friends as well.

Now that you have made the first step with the old friends, it is time to make some new ones. Here are some suggestions as how to make genuine connection with people you meet.

Be interested rather than interesting

When found in a new social group, most of us would focus on being interesting so as to make people like us. This is fine up to a point, but, if we are looking for ways to connect with people on a deeper level, we should prioritize listening instead of entertaining. People like when they feel they are being heard and when others show honest interest in their thoughts, feelings and beliefs about anything. By actively listening to what someone is expressing, we would show that we are not shallow and narcissistic, but respectful and caring. Moreover, once we take an interest in other people’s lives, we would be much more able to find things we have in common and build on that as we move forward.

Put yourself out there

In order to get something, you have to be able to give something too. Don’t be afraid to share some of your personal thoughts, feelings, or struggles with others. Being vulnerable will make you more human and people will respond to that. This doesn’t mean that you have to go around and tell all of your secrets to everyone who says “Hi!” to you. Once you meet people who you feel you can trust and have a lot in common with, feel free to be more vulnerable and share a bit more. This makes a bridge between good friends to very close friends. As we open up, we are letting people to truly get to know us, which makes us go from an acquaintance to a real human being in their eyes. Also, people will be much more willing to share their deepest feelings with us, as they will feel they can trust us and find a kindred spirit and a loyal friend in us.

Article source : http://www.lifehack.org/555996/making-new-friends-gets-lot-harder-grow-because-are-not-open-were

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I Deleted 564 Friends On Facebook But I Have Saved 100 Real Life Friendships

Jolie Choi/ Gone through a few heartbreaks and lost hundreds of friends but I am still happy with my life.

I was meeting one of my best friends from college last weekend. She lives abroad for work but she will come back at least once a year; every time she’s back she will definitely make an effort to see me and It feels like she never left.

During our chat, she asked: “Do you think it’s getting a lot harder to make friends as we grow up?” I laughed and said: “Who doesn’t think like that?”

Her question stuck in my mind that night, and suddenly I came up with another thought.

I opened my Facebook. Slowly and gradually, I deleted 564 friends that night.

Making friends is actually a lot easier than you think.

Let me prove this.

Imagine you met someone interesting at a party and you feel like it would be great if you guys could stay connected after the party. So the next thing you did was get onto Facebook, search the name, move your fingertip to the magic button “Add friends” and JOB DONE!

Just one magic click and you guys are friends now. Just as simple as that.

However, I think this redirected me to a deeper question.

What’s the true meaning of friends?

I tried to find an answer by recalling memories on how I made friends before “The Dawn Of Facebook”.

We approach new people, we talk to them, we share, we build trust and most importantly we make connections, in real life. After experiencing parts of our lives together, we value them as “friends.”

Then I asked myself while looking at my Facebook friend list, “How many of them have gone through that process?”

This is why I decided that I didn’t want to get overwhelmed by life updates from people who I don’t even recall who they are.

On Selecting “Who I want to delete?”

It’s hard at first, I’m not lying. It’s not because my reason isn’t strong enough, but when you have your mouse hovering over the unfriend button, everything seems to come to a final end.

No one likes to say goodbye and clicking that unfriend button makes ending the relationship official.

But ask yourself, “If Facebook didn’t exist, would you like that person to get access to that much information about your life?” and “Do you really want to know what’s happening in their lives or are you just afraid of missing out?”

Deleting Facebook friend is just as simple as that.

I don’t mean “hey-it’s-nice-knowing-you-for-a-while-but-we-barely-talk-and-I-feel-like-I-don’t-need-you-in-my-life-now-so-farewell-old-friend”, but the truth is an online goodbye doesn’t equal removing that person entirely from your real life.

True friends stay connected even without the help of Facebook (or any kinds of social media). And it’s kinda scary that we need a constant reminder on that.

Will They Get Mad? Maybe I think too much.

What if they come and ask me, “Why did you delete me on Facebook?” And yes, that sounds a bit awkward, doesn’t it?

No one likes to be ignored or removed but I think the problem is people take online relationships too seriously. 

People might think, “It’s not official until it’s Facebook official!”, but let me remind you of this.

Facebook life is just an Online Life and it doesn’t equal your Actual Life. Why would you spend time on getting social validation instead of having real connections with people you claimed to care about? or at least make an effort to really stay tuned with their lives?

Think about it this way.  How can one honestly be offended if you two don’t write on each other’s walls or feel weird to like each other’s photos or status?

Besides, you might be overthinking because they may not even notice. Either they don’t care or they don’t value social validation as much as you do.

But what if they really ask? Then take this as a good sign. This can mean they do care about you but just getting too busy with their lives to catch up. This gives both of you a good chance to reconnect.

So Now I have fewer friends, on Facebook, then what?

Looking at my “friend list”, the number has shrunk by half but my heart feels a lot more fulfilled and satisfying. Scrolling through my feed, it is clean and clear now.

I can finally see some of the updates from my old friends. I noticed that I have missed a lot of their precious moments because I had too many distractions before. So it’s time to catch up with them, both online and offline.

Decluttering unnecessary relationships doesn’t only free me up for more important people in my life but most importantly, I came to realize my mind and life can be so much simpler if I don’t value social media as much as the social standard does.

Article source : http://www.lifehack.org/559549/deleted-564-friends-facebook-but-have-saved-100-real-life-friendships

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<Questions>

Q1. What is the most important relationship in your life? 

Q2. How would you define friendship ? 

Q3. Do you think you can be a friend with your ex-boyfriend? 

Q4. Some said that friendship between men and women is possible. What is your opinion on that? 

Q5. Do you have any friendship you are still remember in your school days? 

Q6. What are friends for? This article suggest 4 kinds of functions of friendship as below. Which type of friend do you need the most? 

- Friendship for Advice

- Friendship for Alliance

- Friendship for Amusement

- Friendship for Reassurance

Q7. Do you agree that making new friends gets a lot harder as we grow up? Why?

Q8. Have you made any friends over the Internet?

Q9. How do you maintain a good friendship?

Q10. Where is a good place to meet new friends?

Q11. Do you usually contact with your friend in person or through online? Why?

Q12. Do you think it is possible to have a best friend of the opposite sex without becoming a girlfriend or boyfriend?

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Turning Europe into a giant wind farm could power the entire world
27 Aug 2019 /Simon Torkington , Formative Content

On windy days, Europe's growing number of wind farms can run entire nations on clean energy. But what if there were turbines in every potential location? Scientists have calculated that in such a scenario - however unlikely - Europe could generate enough onshore wind power to satisfy the entire world's needs.

Mapping the wind

Researchers at the University of Sussex in the UK and Aarhus University in Denmark have developed techniques to map the total potential of onshore wind energy across the European continent. The research suggests that Europe could produce 100 times more energy than it currently does from onshore wind farms.

The map below shows that countries in Eastern Europe offer the greatest potential for generating additional onshore wind energy, with Norway and Iceland also presenting the opportunity to maximize renewable energy production.

The research team used digital wind atlases to provide finely detailed information on wind patterns across Europe. Armed with this data they identified that 46% of the European landmass would be suitable for the installation of wind turbines, and that’s after excluding urban areas, military sites and other landscapes unsuitable for reaping the wind.

The study estimates that more than 11 million additional wind turbines could, theoretically, be installed over almost 5 million square kilometres of suitable terrain.

The report concludes that if this potential was fully exploited, Europe could provide the whole planet with all the energy it will require as far into the future as 2050.

However, we should note the use of the word ‘theoretically’. The research team is quick to point out that this is not a proposal, but an indication of the untapped power of onshore wind capacity.

“Obviously, we are not saying that we should install turbines in all the identified sites but the study does show the huge wind power potential right across Europe which needs to be harnessed if we’re to avert a climate catastrophe,” said co-author Benjamin Sovacool, Professor of Energy Policy at the University of Sussex.

The decline of coal

For two weeks in the early summer of 2019, the UK ran entirely on energy produced without burning coal. On those sunny, breezy days in May, the output from renewable sources allowed the UK National Grid to shut down its coal-fired power stations and pump wind and solar energy into the homes and businesses of consumers.

The UK’s reliance on coal has declined dramatically and its government has announced plans to shut down all of its remaining coal-fired power stations by 2025.

A global shift to renewables

China and India are installing renewable energy capacity on a vast scale.

China aims to increase renewable generating capacity by 38% in 2020 (compared to 2015 levels) with a total investment of $361bn, according to UN data. In recent years India has exceeded its targets for installing renewable capacity. In 2016 it overshot its target by 43%.

Looking ahead, India is planning to install 175 gigawatts of capacity in 2022, according to the UN. China is cancelling plans for new coal-fired power stations and India is expected to follow suit by 2022.

Winning a battle, losing the war

Despite the shift towards clean energy production, greenhouse gas emissions that drive climate change continue to increase.

Global coal power generation increased 3% in 2018, with growth mainly in Asia, particularly in China and India.

The UN’s Emissions Gap Report 2018 shows there is no sign of a peak in the amount of carbon being released into the atmosphere.

The report shows that in 2017 emissions from energy and industry went up after three years of stability. Climate scientists have warned we have just over a decade to keep the global rise in temperatures below 1.5 degrees Celsius. But to achieve that, greenhouse gas emissions will have to be 25% lower by 2030 than they were in 2017. As we head towards 2020, we are still moving in the wrong direction.

Article source : https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2019/08/europe-giant-wind-farm-could-power-entire-world?fbclid=IwAR0j6-nMsuEn8uGbzjX8d_8wEMslh1Vw1dT06XVJA-R6KquzfRZL2zUuhoY

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<Questions>

Q1. What could be the most probable future alternative energy source?

Q2. Have you ever been to europe? What was the most impressive scene in europe?

Q3. What is the cheapest alternative energy source?

Q4. Can the world economy survive without fossil fuels?

Q5. Life with no electricity and living off the grid - could you survive?

Q6. Electricity: How long could we survive without it?