Better Faster Smarter – For Business Owners and Entrepreneurs

“People who are unable to motivate themselves must be content with mediocrity no matter how impressive their other talents.”

It's David, CEO of ArcStone. I wanted to gather a few resources I came across this month related to improving productivity in both work and life. I hope they prove to be as helpful to you as they were to me.

Podcast - "How to become smarter, better and faster, in 8 easy steps" - from Marketplace

Listen to Charles Duhigg as he reflects on his book "Smarter, Better, Faster." He walks through staying calm in chaos, best practices for team-based brainstorming, how to better listen to your coworkers, and establishing "true productivity." 

A 4-step guide - "The 4 Rituals That Will Make You An Expert At Anything" - from Barking Up the Wrong Tree

Even when we try earnestly to become an expert at something, we often hit a wall. These four rituals may seem obvious, but they aren't often what we go to first when we try to make a change in ourselves. 

A more in-depth article - "Build You User Base with These Human Behavior Hacks" - First Round Review

It's crazy how wrong we can be about how we and those we market to will behave. Cindy Alvarez of Microsoft walks us through behavioral economics as a whole and then how this affects our target audiences' actions in particular. Let yourself be surprised by your users and then react to that as you think through strategy. 

Blog series - "Practicing Meditation at Work" - from our ArcStone

I feel I've benefited greatly from 20 + years of meditation practice. My wife Lisa suggested I pass along some of what I've learned to the rest of the ArcStone staff with a meditation series. I took her up on it – our team now meets once a week before lunch and I walk us through getting started with meditation. We've made it three weeks - read the recap here and consider bringing this practice into your day.  

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