Productivity Today: Finding Your Flow for Maximal Productivity

Surprise! I actually created two new classes with Skillshare this year and this one is all about how to enter the flow state of mind while working!

Flow is the state of being fully in the moment and completely immersed in an activity to the point of effectively disappearing into it. In it, there’s no conscious division between the doer and what’s being done—there’s only the doing.

Flow can transform your experience at work, as well as your productivity, satisfaction, and happiness. While there is no hard and fast rules for inducing flow, there are ways for you to recreate meaningful flow in your life. Join me as I share my methods for unlocking your potential at work and setting yourself up to be more productive with flow. You can take the online class for free here. 

Together, you will:

• Understand the meaning of flow

• Find where flow already exists in your life

• Analyze flow themes and build your personal flow strategy

• Share these strategies amongst your team and encourage others to reach their full potential

A 10-year McKinsey study on flow and productivity found that top executives are five times more productive during flow. That’s a 500% increase in productivity.

Whether you’d like to increase your productivity at work or simply find joy in what you do, this class will provide you with the tools to harness flow in any scenario. I hope it helps and that you truly enjoy this masterclass in finding focus.

Productivity Optimization: Tips and Tools for Automating Your Workflows

With over 55,000 students and over 1 million minutes watched on my previous Skillshare classes, I am excited to announce my newest class on how to set up workflow automations!

Automation softwares are so important for becoming more efficient and creating meaningful output across your team. Join me as I share top productivity tools for automating your workflows, enabling you to refocus your energy on what you're passionate about and become the best version of yourself. You can take the class free here. 

Together, you will learn how to:

• Measure your time in order to maximize your ROI

• Determine the automation opportunities within your workflows

• Plan and build your workflow automation, with tools like Zapier.

• Re-measure your ROI to ensure you are actually saving time and energy

• Maintain and monitor your automations for long term success

Whether you’re in a leadership position on your team or just starting out, this class will provide you with the tools to focus on what really matters and exercise your creativity in the process. I hope it helps and that you enjoy this automation masterclass.

Productivity Today: Managing Attention in the Digital Age

Want to be more productive? I’m excited to announce my new free online class with Skillshare & Todoist on better managing your attention in the digital age. In this class, I’ll share how you can increase your attention span, quiet your mind, and get more done. You can take the online class for free here. 

In today’s world, everyone wants your attention. From app and website notifications to emails and calendar invites, it can be difficult to stay focused on the task at hand. In this class, I'll share how you can increase your attention span, quiet your mind, and get more done. You’ll learn how to:

• Hone your ability to focus

• Reduce daily distractions

• Improve your prioritization process

Whether you’re freelance or full-time, everyone can benefit from learning how to better manage their attention. After taking this class, you’ll regain control over your own attention, allowing you to put your focus where you want it and be more productive every day. Learn to control your attention and take your productivity to new heights in this class.

It's Friday Night

It's Friday night.

What are you doing tonight? What did you do this past week? Did you take action and enjoy your week? Or was it one of those weeks you just dreaded going through?

If you think this week could have been better then you should take the minute and forty seven seconds to watch the below video from Gary Vaynerchuk. I could say more, but I think Gary said it all for me. Enjoy! 

Taking Action

September 27th is National Voter Registration Day in the United States. As such, I could list off a bunch of information about the current political landscape, the Electoral College, or democracy in general just to convince you that the system is worth your time. But I'm not going to do that. I'm not going to even talk about the candidates. I just want to talk about taking action.

Yes, all the systems, processes, and entities above could be stronger. But something being broken doesn't mean it is hopeless.

I watch entrepreneurs beat the odds day after day to improve and fix the broken systems, industries, and entities in the world. They do so using only the scarce tools and resources provided to them. So, why is that they can do what others can't? It's simple. It's because they take action. They take action instinctively, again and again, day after day, without hesitation. 

A handful of people who we call entrepreneurs take action and change the world over time. So imagine if everyone seized each day and took action without hesitation in their own lives. I am not going to ask you to register to vote. Nor am I here to tell you that need to vote on November 4th. Instead I am going to ask you to take action, in order to solve the problems in the world that you see. If there are tools at your disposal, don't squander opportunity and watch them waste away. Use the opportunities in your life to make the world better.  

In other news, here are some tools I happened to find on the cyber; I mean Internet:  

• TurboVote: Sign up to receive election reminders, get registered to vote, & apply for your absentee ballot.
• Vote.org: Everything you need to vote.
• VotePlz: Get ready to vote.
• And many more! 

See what I did there? 😉. Hope it helps! 

Paul Polizzotto Transforms Advertising Into Real World Positive Social Change With CBS EcoMedia

Paul Polizzotto (Eric J. Smith / CBS EcoMedia)

From the CBS EcoMedia office’s in New York City, Serial Social Entrepreneur Paul Polizzotto, who is one of the most passionate and dedicated entrepreneurs I know, joins us for episode 19. Paul is the founder and CEO of CBS EcoMedia, which harnesses the power of advertising and transforms it into a powerful engine for positive social change. 

Paul’s personal philosophy and actions around social entrepreneurship over his lifetime have created an incredible story thus far. His journey started in California when he was younger and used to surf the then polluted waters of Santa Monica Bay. Paul noticed that the existing companies in the contract cleaning industry were improperly discharging contaminated water into the storm drains, which then drained into the bay that his friends and him surfed in. His first company Property Prep helped to improve those conditions through a solution that properly disposed of the contaminated water. He now works to improve the world through his most recent company CBS EcoMedia, which was acquired by CBS and funds the most effective non profit companies that are taking on the most urgent social issues of our time. In this episode we also discuss:

• Seeing opportunity around you in the world everyday.

• How surfing and risk taking has influenced Paul as an entrepreneur.

• What happens at the intersection of art and engineering.

• Difference between working hard FOR an idea and working hard ON an idea.

• How to be receptive to the right ideas in your life.

• Paul’s 4 criteria for knowing if an idea is worthwhile to pursue.

• How Paul created the national Adopt-A-Waterway Program in the United States.

• Using existing business models to transform other industries.

• The partnership with CBS that led to EcoMedia being acquired.

• If you get exactly what you want, will you have the courage to follow through with it to meet your goals.

Ambition Today Question of the Day™:

How should a person take an idea they have and navigate it into reality?

Links from this episode:

• CBS EcoMedia

• Paul Polizzotto on Twitter

• Viewers to Volunteers

• CBS

Thank you so much for listening and applying these useful tips and strategies to your life! If you have a chance, please drop by and leave a review for the show on iTunes by clicking here. Also, who should I interview next? Please let me know on Twitter or in the comments. Do you enjoy this podcast? If so, please leave a short review in the comments below. It keeps me going…

Be sure to listen and subscribe to Ambition Today in the iTunes Store for iOS, on Google Play Music or Stitcher for Android. 

Listen to this episode now: 

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Founder Institute New York

Your Heart Rate At Gunpoint

Recently my friend Aleksandar Vukasinovic, Founder of Emozia, was robbed at gunpoint while walking home from work. Luckily, I can confirm Aleks is alright. Also, it turns out that during the encounter he was wearing some wearable technology. I felt there are some profound lessons about technology and the meaningfulness of life in his story, so I wanted to make sure I share it with you. Here is Alek's story in his own words: 

---

Aleksandar Vukasinovic Heart Rate

It’s a beautiful evening, albeit a little cold. I’m heading home after a long day. I’m walking down a familiar street. I feel safe, I feel happy.

Two guys are walking in my direction. Nothing unusual about them.

As we are about to pass each other, one of them bumbs into me. He grabs my hand and shoves a gun into my rib. He instructs me not to speak or move. His accomplice covers my other side. I am cornered.

My first thought is “Is this seriously happening to me?” I look down at the gun — yes, yes it is. “Should I run, should I fight, should I scream?” I though. In a split second, I decide to fully cooperate. I don’t want to get shot.

They showed me into an ally off the main street. There is no one around. No one can see us.

And then it really hit me: they could kill me right there. No one would see. No one would know what happened. My fear turned into horror. What was I going to die for? I want to experience life, I want to help people, build companies, have a family. I was going to be denied that, for what? Because of what? I felt pure horror as I realized that my time to experience life and use my skills to build a better world might be up.

The guys told me to empty my pockets. They instructed me to unlock my phone and other personal accounts. I did everything they asked me to do. They backed away with my belongings pointing the gun at me. The guy with the gun told me to stay put and then they ran and disappeared form sight.

A few days later, once the ordeal was over and I was able to process what had happened, I began analyzing wearable sensor data form the event. Unbeknown to the perpetrators, I study wearable and mobile sensor data as part of my work. Luckily, I had a bunch of wearables on me that I was testing that day. One of them captured my heart rate through the ordeal.

My usual resting heart rate is 58bpm. My heart rate right before the confrontation was 80bpm. When the perpetrator pushed the gun into my ribs, my heart rate spiked to 130 bpm. When I began thinking about my death, my heart rate rose to 164bpm. When they took my belongings and started backing away, my heart rate decreased to 118bpm.

I found the data fascinating. To me, it suggested that the most stressful part of the ordeal was not getting assaulted or seeing a gun. The most stressful part was realizing that I was out of time to live through the experiences I wanted to have and to make the contributions I wanted to to my family and community.

The more I thought about the heart rate variations and the thoughts that went though my head about my mortality, the more I looked at the experience as a blessing in disguise. I kind of got to experience how I would feel before I am about to die practically at the start of my life. And I don’t want to feel that I didn’t experience everything I wanted to, that I didn’t contribute everything I could, that I didn’t leave the world a better place than I found it.

The event drastically changed my outlook on life. It motivated me to doubly pursue my goals, to mold my life into what I want it to become and fight for what I believe is right. In a weird way, I not only forgive the perpetrators but also feel thankful for the perspective that I got from the experience.

If you want to find out why I had the wearables on me — check out emozia. I hope that sharing this experience inspires you to live your life in a way that makes you and others smile!

Education vs Experience

@TheSiskar

Many entrepreneurs, or just people for that matter, spend time educating themselves when they come up against an obstacle. They spend time researching online, asking friends and family, reading books, and more. Education can be a powerful force when you are working to solve a problem. The key word in that last sentence though is work. 

Education is a tool that can be leveraged through experience. Without acting on new knowledge, the energy you put into educating yourself with new information is not that useful. It could even paralyze your efforts without you realizing it. This is why it is so important to act on and work through your problems while you educate yourself. 

Here is the secret though. While education needs to be applied through experiences to be effective. Experience does not require education to make progress toward your goals. 

Experience through action can still be useful even if you are not educated. It is obviously not as powerful as when education and experience are combined, but still better than just endlessly educating yourself. On it's own pushing through with pure experience may be harder at first, but it will still result in progress toward your goals. Also an added bonus, experience can even sometimes cause education as a by product of jumping in. 

Have I mentioned before that I minored in Philosophy? I know this is a bit of a deep logic piece about casual inference, but if you are still following me here, the point I want you to take away is this. 

The next time you find yourself searching the internet for an answer while dazed and confused and all progress toward your goals has ceased, stop what you are doing. Take a step back and ask yourself if you can just move forward. If so, go for it. Jump in and move forward with the next or another step. More often then not, the best educational answers you were searching for will reveal themselves to you on the other side of experience anyway. 

P.S. You can listen to this for a little extra motivation when pushing toward those harder goals. 

This Is How To Overcome Self Doubt

This is the face of self doubt. This is what it looks like in real time. You only have to watch up until the first minute in the video below to know what I am talking about.

This is Filmmaker and now also Youtuber Casey Neistat on March 30th, 2015. He had just come back from vacation and during that time made the decision to start vlogging everyday. Coming up with vlog content was not much of a challenge on the exciting tropical island this adventure started on, as it was upon his return to New York City. Being back home in New York he was realizing the commitment to himself would have to now work into his existing day to day of 8 hours at a desk, reading e-mail, and sitting in meetings. 

I have been thinking about this moment more and more recently. Especially as I work to make Siskar.co a consistent flow of insight into startups, ambition, and life growth. I have considered forcing myself to release content everyday. Watching that video you can see the moment in time, right there where a person doubts they can achieve the goal they promised themselves. It can feel almost like staring the mirror. So what do you do.

"So I can make today interesting and maybe even tomorrow interesting, but I do have some general concerns about sustainability. Anyways, here is my first vlog from New York City." - Casey Neistat

This is what you do. You put your head down and you make today interesting. And tomorrow you make tomorrow interesting. The day after that, you make it interesting too. And you keep going, and going, and going. You work. Then you work more. Some days are harder than others, but regardless you keep working. You just do it. The first step to greatness is taking the first step. 

Fast forward 200 days and vlogs later, Casey is still vlogging every day. It has paid off. The result of him putting his head down and fulfilling his commitment to himself has been incredible. His Youtube subscribers have increased over 1,000,000 since starting and his daily videos get over 500,000 views every day within hours of him posting them.

So in conclusion, I am going to just do it. Let's go make today more interesting. Hope to see you tomorrow. 

All of Casey Neistat's Vlogs since March 2015.

The Best CEO Speech Ever: Charlie Kim, Next Jump

At the Founder Institute in New York we have incredible Mentors come every week to mentor the founders of our startup companies. Sometimes we share some of those excellent Mentor presentations. This is one of the best CEO speeches of all time.

This motivational speech was given to the Founder Institute New York by Next Jump CEO Charlie Kim on Branding & Marketing. It includes over $200,000 of free branding knowledge, takes you to the future of the information economy, and also includes lessons from the entrepreneurial ups and downs of growing a billion dollar company. Through the Next Jump Leadership Academy, an invite-only full immersion workshop designed to share and teach programs around our learnings becoming a deliberately developmental organization, Charlie Kim works with some of the best leaders in the world.

Straight Outta Compton Is A Startup Movie

In the spirit of old school hip hop we are going to take it back to my high school days. I am in a garage with 5 friends and my buddy Mike has a drill gun in his hand while he is ducked inside the driver side door of my 1990's Vinyl Top Mercury Cougar. He is in the process of drilling a large hole through the engine compartment's firewall located under the front dashboard. He finishes and we push the new wires through. Shortly after we hook up those wires up to the refurbished head unit we installed in the dashboard, power up the amplifier in the trunk, and finally startup the car to hear some beats pour out of the just set up Alpine R subwoofers in the trunk. 

One of the first things you want to do when you install a new system in your car is hear how it sounds. We immediately put in a mixtape we made up consisting of some Led Zeppelin, Beastie Boys, and of course it included some N.W.A.  

The group N.W.A. has influenced me since I was younger, which is why I was excited when recently I saw the new movie Straight Outta Compton. While watching it my startup focused mind couldn't help but connect the parallels between the story and the startup world. 

One of the reasons I love early stage startups so much is the idea of the come up. Starting with just a little come something and making it so much more through hard work and creativity.  

Thats what startups do and that's what N.W.A. did. They used creativity and their existing environment to open up a new level of authenticity in music that prior to them didn't exist. 

When you look at it you can see that N.W.A. stumbled upon a market with large potential that hadn't been changed in awhile. This meant the timing was ripe for disruption, which is important. They applied a unique solution, which they assembled a credible team around based on their upbringing. The perseverance and hard work was put in by all the founding members overcoming numerous obstacles in their way. The revenue model was clear and established as viable with the potential to scale. 

If you haven't seen the movie yet, I highly recommend you check it out. Meanwhile you can watch Kendrick Lamar sit down the Dr. Dre, Ice Cube, MC Ren, and DJ Yella of N.W.A. to hear first hand how they view the way they changed the game. 

Play The Long Game: Hard Work And Patience

Gary Vaynerchuk released on YouTube yesterday a new short film title "Hard Work & Patience". The film has one message. Play the long game.

Patience is under rated. If you put in the hard work, keyword hard, long enough you can get there. I am a big fan of Gary Vaynerchuk and the message he is working to get out in the world. You check out the video below. Well worth the 4 minutes to get yourself inspired and fired up to work, hard. 

Spotify Playlist: The Come Up, Music to Motivate

The Come Up: Music to Motivate by Kevin Siskar

is my continually growing motivational Spotify playlist with the intention of boosting entrepreneurial motivation when people need it most.

Over 7 hours of motivational Spotify music to help you grind through whatever dream you are pursuing. That means if you listen to "The Come Up" only a mere 1,282 times while working toward your goals you will have achieved that epic perfection milestone of 10,000 hours.