Scott Desgrosseilliers

Top 5 List of Most Important Actions

I've enjoyed reading and researching into the Law of Attraction and The Secret.  All of the books of that genre get me pumped up to go out and tackle the world.  Identifying my goals and passions, creating meditations and visualizations, ...all of that stuff has helped to generate cool and exciting ideas.  But that is where a lot of how-to Law of Attraction books fall short. 

I'd have a ton of ideas and opportunities, actually too many, and would find myself swamped with things to do.  The anxiety of having too many things going on, plus new ideas streaming in, would give me a creeping sense of dread.  Because not only was I falling behind, I had no time for my new endeavors that I had intended into my experience.  The things that I wanted to do most were now causing me anxiety, because I had identified them and couldn't find the time to do anything about it!

I tried creating an elaborate Excel spreadsheet.  It had a nested hierachial structure of long-term goals, middle-term milestones, and short-term tasks.  A true project manager's dream status sheet come to life.  I was going to make it rich selling this thing!

I started using it and realized one small problem.  Managing my excel sheet sucked!  Not only was it unenjoyable, I actively seeked other activities to avoid having to interact with it.  My excel goal-tracking sheet was a failure.

However, every failure leads to a new opportunity.  At least that is what all of my "Secret" books and gurus tell me.  I began googling different productivity ideas.  I found a very simple one that has worked wonders for me.  I have been using it for 2 months and I've never gotten more done in my life.  I make a list of the 5 most important actions I want to do for the next day before I go to bed.  In the morning I keep it within eyesight.  I try to work on the list exclusively, starting with the first action.  I end up getting the majority of the actions listed done each day, if not all of them.  It's that easy.

I read about the technique randomly on the web.  Charles Schwab the steel baron of the 1920s was visited by a productivity guru.  Schwab told the guru he wanted to get more accomplished with his time.  The guru told him to write down the tasks in order of importance.  Start the day working on the #1 task and stay on it until it is completed.  When it is done, re-assess the rest of the list, then go on to the next item.  The guru (I can't find the guy's name anywhere) then finished his lesson to Schwab by saying to use it for a month and then pay him what it is worth.

Charles Schwab, in the 1920s, sent the guy a check for $25,000.

What have I got done with this method in 2 months?  I built an entire website from the ground up (details in a post next week).  I've upped my blogging and other writing ventures (posting this blog was #1 on my list today).  Most importantly I feel like each day I've managed to do some or most of the things that I most wanted to do.  That gives a lot of personal satisfaction that I didn't call it a night frustrated that yet another day was spent unwisely.

Artist Starves Dog To Death As Art

I am a very positive person and don't intend to focus on negative things with my blog.  So after this post it will be back to more uplifting articles and posts.  But I feel compelled to pass along this shocking story and a link to an online petition.  An artist in Honduras starved a dog to death at an art exhibition over several days and received an award for it!

The artist found a stray dog and chained him to the corner of an art gallery. The artist's idea was to showcase the suffering of the dog or something similarly deranged. So the dog was left tied in the corner without food or water until it died. I received a forwarded email showing pictures but I feel they are too disturbing to post up here.  You can read the story, find links to pictures, and sign an online petition against this artist's award here.

Its hard to decide the most disturbing past of this story. In the pictures you can clearly see hordes of observers. Its not like the dog was under heavy secret service security. Someone could have done something. But instead people came to check out the "show". Has entertainment reached a point where live deprivation is a good show?

I really don't know what signing an online petition against this artist is going to accomplish. Probably not much at all. Perhaps being aware that something like this can occur will trigger someone to speak up for a future injustice.

Reunion.Com Spam Is Terrible

Reunion.Com spam was the likely culprit if your internet connection acted slow yesterday.  Reunion.Com provided a perfect example of how to ruin your internet business reputation.  Not only did they email everyone in all of my address books in a sneaky way, they didn't even provide the information that I initially responded to.

The email from Reunion.Com arrived innocently enough.  "Someone from Auburn, ME is trying to contact you" or something like that.  I was at work, and so of course excited for a diversion, and quickly clicked on the email to find out which long-lost classmate it would be.  I get to the site and I have to register first.  I normally would register with my special spam email account used for online form signups.  However, the invitation had come to my primary email, so I was stuck using that account to learn who was looking for me.

This is where Reunion.Com got slimy.  As part of the registration process, they went through my entire address book.  I had people from work quizzing me "You are looking for me on Reunion.Com?"  My phone buzzed with a text that I was looking for myself on Reunion.Com!

At this point the Reunion.Com registration process spread like a true virus.  I kept getting email back from other people's address book's requesting reunions at their site.  I emailed the website giving them hell...it made me feel better but I doubt it will help any.

If any publicity is good publicity then Reunion.Com achieved its goal.   Because everyone was talking about how much the site sucks.  Slimy web business practices of email spamming leave me determined to never visit that site again.

My Love/Hate Relationship With Cold Stone Creamery

I feel a sense of guilt as I cast a wistful glance at the sign.  A glance turns into an abrupt turn, and I find myself speeding up to the counter.  "Love it Godiva Chocolate with double Reese's peanut butter cup and whip cream please" I blurt out like an expert.  2 minutes later I am up on my couch with my eyes closed, savoring every delectable bite.  I finish and furrow my brow to try and prevent the guilt from rushing in.  It's not guilt over the calories, although that sucks also.  I hate Cold Stone Creamery because of a few incidents between us.

Incident #1

Summer 2006, the day of the annual Luge Party.  I pull into my condo building with a pre-carved luge in the trunk.  It dawns on me that the luge has already begun the melting process, and its 7 hours until the first shot will be delivered off its icy post-carved surface.  Cold Stone Creamery is located on the ground floor on my building, mere steps from the main entrance.  I walk in and see one of the co-owners of the store, who also lives in the building.  I exchange a quick pleasantry and then explain my plight-

Me - "Hi, I've seen you a few times in the elevator.  I live in Millennium Centre also, how's it going?"Cold Stone Creamery female owner - "Pretty good.  How can I help you?"Me - "I have an interesting scenario.  I'm throwing a party tonight on the pool deck.  I bought an ice luge for the party, but it is already starting to melt.  Can I store the luge in your cooler?"Her - "What's a luge?"

I explain what a luge is.  She replies "I'm sorry, its a health hazard to have a block of ice in our cooler."  What!  A cooler that is filled with ICE and ICE cream, and it will be unhealthy to have more ice in it?  I storm out furious and rush to the grocery store to buy ice to keep my ice luge iced.  I vow never again to go to Cold Stone.

Months pass and I smirk in defiant willpower as I pass Cold Stone Creamery each day.  No way in hell will I go in there.  Soon a year has passed, I have spent a fun day partying on the pool deck, someone mentions ice cream and I decide I have punished the place enough. 

Incident #2

We enter into Cold Stone Creamery.  I see the other co-owner, the husband of the "ice luge health hazard" excuse lady.  I place my order.  Damn it looks good on the cold stone while they are smashing in my mix-ins.  I see that while my coffee with heath bar mix-in looks good, why not splurge another 50 cents and get another heath bar tossed in.

Me - "Man, that heath looks good. Can you toss another one in there?"Cold Stone Creamery Male Owner - "Sure thing!  Put on as many as you want, its more money in my pocket!"

What an ass.  I am not implying I should get a free mix-in.  But this guy was in absolute glee over the thought of taking my additional 50 cents for a mix-in.  I walk out of there irritated that I would break my willpower and go back to that place.  Although my coffee with double heath bar mix-in almost caused me to black out from taste bud sensory overload.  I make a new vow.  Never again go to Cold Stone!

My Resolve Weakens

Of course, as time passes, things get tricky.  I keep passing Cold Stone 3-6 times a day.  My anger softens.  I tell why I refuse to go to Cold Stone, but my heart isn't in it.  Ironically, the day a true competitor appears 1/2 block away starts the crack in my resolve.

We go into Berry Chill Couture, a "hip" new ice cream or yogurt place of some kind.  I say this because when you walk in, all of the mix-ins are displayed as icons floating on a plasma above the cash register.  This is disorientating to say the least.  The place looks and feels a little claustrophobic.  Plus the ultra-picky fiancee is grumbling she doesn't like something about the place.  So we hastily leave.  However, I am now craving ice cream.  The options are discussed and we buy ice cream, hot fudge, whip cream, and mix-ins and make our sundae.  It tastes good, but it was a lot of work and time, and city people want satisfaction immediately and without effort.

The Inevitable Cave-In

A few days go by and I need ice cream.  I don't really even want it, but I envision the flavors in my mouth and that's it, I'm a goner, gotta have it.  The thought of waiting in line at Jewel to get ice cream sounds awful.  So now its down to what matters more, my vow of anti-Cold Stone vs. my laziness to fetch and make my own sundae.

I feel a slight sense of anxiety as I walk in, as though the ice cream clerk will shout "Look everybody, he's back at Cold Stone!"  But no one says a thing as I order the Godiva chocolate with Reese's peanut butter cup and whip cream.  As if repeating the past, I blurt out "add another Reese's".  The owners are nowhere in site, and the clerk rings up my order without incident.  And the ice cream is unbelievably good, I am literally exclaiming "Oh God" multiple times while I eat it.  I being to understand why females crave chocolate, and I feel my X (female) chromosome give silent thanks.  My ancient grudge against Cold Stone has been put to rest just in time for summer.

Dodgeball Registration Brings Dreams of Summer

I received my annual rite of spring email this week…Dodgeball Registration!  The registration and coordination of the dodgeball team gives Chicagoans a glimpse of hope that the latest miserable winter is over.  Because summer in Chicago is paradise.  A hard-fought, much-deserved paradise after going through the wind chills, the ice, the awfully gray days of the April, and then just about when you are ready to up and move, May arrives and you are at all-day beer festivals.  I thought it could be interesting to review the dodgeball teams of the past

Dodgeball summer 2005 – O.F.F.

The first summer of dodgeball began by accident.  I got invited to join a volleyball team with some friends.  It sounded like a good idea to get out to the beach each week, but I also noticed that some of the volleyball teams are extremely skilled.  I looked at our team of my friends, all great people, none of them the type to win many volleyball games with.  I noticed on the volleyball page there was also a page for dodgeball.  The dodgeball movie had just come out and everyone had loved it.  It was decided that 3 of us would each recruit 8 friends for a dodgeball team.
We ended up with the team name O.F.F..  The premise was that IF we happened to lose a game, the announcer would have to say that  the other team “beat off”.  I cringe typing this, but a room full of people 4-deep in vodka lemonades thought it was uproarious at the time.  That season the announcer had a lot of opportunities to say “beat off”, because we got crushed the first 21 games of the year.  I believe we finished the year with a sparkling 3-37 record.  However, post-dodgeball partying was a highlight of the week and many times I was lucky to login the next day by noon…and I had half-day Fridays, which meant a 1 hour Friday, not too shabby.

Dodgeball summer 2006 – The 5 D’s.  Drink, drank, drunk, dodge, and drink.

Despite the rough record of 2005’s teams, there was a groundswell of interest in dodgeball.  That spring while out at various bars and parties I would be introduced as the dodgeball captain and most of the time at least one newly met person would ask if they could play.  We incorporated a couple of new ideas from our hard-learned lessons of 2005.  A better team name, better team shirts, bigger dudes, less scared chics.  The results were that we could go out all night in our shirts without feeling stupid.  We could win almost 50% of our games.  But we never were able to claim victory for an entire night.  This stunk, because if you win the evening’s round robin of games, you get Duffy Dollars, which you can spend at the sponsoring bar that night.   A new idea this year that worked really well was bringing a cooler of pre-mixed vodka lemonades to the game.  Some of our team members performed significantly better after a few lemonades.

Dodgeball summer 2007 – Derelict My Balls. 

The year our dodgeball team came together on all fronts.  We had a killer name.  Our logo and team shirts were the best looking in the league.  For the first time I actually wore my shirt to the gym because it was not too juvenile.  We were victorious on one of the dodgeball round-robin nights, enabling us to get a shot and a beer for the entire team after the game.  I was told my team had the hottest chics, always nice to hear for both me and them, particularly since we are the oldest team in the league by about a decade.  We routinely went out after the games for $2 you-call-it night at a bar on Lincoln ave (I forget the name and I have been there about 20 times) and got destroyed.  However, one thing remained elusive, our playoff performance, we still got destroyed.  Half the team was in California for a wedding during the crucial end of the season single-elimination championship tournament.

So what will dodgeball summer 2008 bring?  I have been around long enough to know that these things can’t be predicted.  But I am thrilled that dodgeball season is just around the corner.

Feelings-Based Decisions vs. Logic-Based Decisions

Human beings love to think of themselves as logical, rational, aware beings.  The ability to obey traffic laws, vote in elections for leaders, and many other social constructs support the logical, rational behavior of our race.  So how come logic doesn't play a big part in important decisions in our lives?

When I'm making a big decision, I felt I was as logical as the next person.  I discuss the matter with peers to generate outside opinions.  I research data on the internet.  And last but not least, I make the beloved t-chart.

The t-chart is a pro and con list.  You make a small case t on a piece of paper.  On the top left of the t, you write "Pros".  On the top right of the t, you write "Cons".  Then you list the pros and cons of your particular big decision.  I have merrily made many t charts in my past for all sorts of important personal and financial decisions.

What I've discovered is the t-chart didn't mean a damn thing.  No matter how the pro and con list stacked up, on any major decision I could feel what I wanted to do regardless of what my analysis told me.  If the t-chart matched my feelings, I felt emboldened to immediately and assertively make the decision.  If the t-chart did not match my feelings, I hemmed and hawed and still ended up going with my gut.

A few examples-

• I was in Orlando Florida trading nasdaq securities making great money in my mid 20s.  After a little over a year, I found out my firm had a few shady business practices.  I made a number of t-charts that all seemed to favor staying at the job.  But I couldn't shake the nagging feeling in my gut over working for shadiness, so I quit.
• Relocating to Chicago I got taken on numerous real estate tours in 2003.  I was shown tons of spreadsheets of how I could get an interest-only loan, by a huge pad, and then refinance with no worries due to the 20% appreciation of the market.  Reading this now it is easy to say that of course its not a good deal, but back then everyone was buying and all logic said to buy.  But my feelings were that the market could not possibly keep up so I stayed renting.
• I would always loudly and vociferously argue that you had to live with a girl for at least a year to know if it was right to marry her.  I got engaged 7 months after meeting my fiancee, and 4 months before she moved in.

I've tried to listen more and more to my feelings rather than just the surface facts.  It's my internal communication that I try to build up through daily meditation.  I feel the best decisions are when your instincts and gut are telling you loudly and clearly what you should do.

How Technology Affects My Life

I currently make my living working in the technology field.  There are times when I curse technology because my computer is running slow, an internet site is down, or some other technical exasperation.  However, I don’t think it dawns on me or others just how much technology has embedded itself into everyday lives in a helpful manner.  My life is much easier and more enjoyable thanks to the advances of technology.  Here is my 24 hour technology diary from Tuesday 1201 am – 1159am, looking at how I used to do things versus how I do them now a decade later.

Tuesday 1201am -

• Fantasy Baseball 10 years ago:  I hope that sportscenter might mention a quick comment on how any of my player's had performed in that night's games.  Most likely I would have no idea how my team performed.  The following day I would scan the newspaper for the boxscore of the previous night's games.  Sometimes, the games appear.  Other times the game did not end in time for the newspaper printing, so I am clueless.  On tuesdays i would have to buy USA Today and then spend a couple hours computing statistics for my teams.
• Fantasy Baseball today:  I have 3 windows open on my computer.  The first window has live pitch-by-pitch scoring of my fantasy baseball team.  The 2nd window has live pitch-by-pitch scoring of any baseball game I want to follow.  The 3rd window I am emailing trash talk to the rest of my league.

Tuesday 1am -

• Work 10 years ago:  I would be trying to get people out of a Nantucket bar after closing time.
• Work today:  I have a conference call with my India development team.  I am able to show them my computer screen real-time via NetMeeting while I talk to them.

Tuesday 10am -

• Socializing 10 years ago:  Unless I was at home, making phone calls to other friends that I also happen to catch at home, there is little way to get in touch with people other than the use of answering machine tag.
• Socializing today:  I am simultaneously chatting with 7 people on google chat, keeping 4 different phone text conversations going, and responding to 6 different people on email. 

Tuesday noon -

• Lunch 10 years ago:  Drive around to the one or two spots I know of, grimace at the lunch specials, order something anyways.
• Lunch today:  Decide that I once again have a desire for thai food, google "chicago thai", browse and compare menus among my top options, view on a map how close they are, call and place order.

Tuesday 5pm -

• Workout 10 years ago:  Go for a run outside.  Attach my 10 lb. walkman to my shorts, put in a cassette mix tape, the same stale one as always.  Use my stopwatch to tell me how long I ran.  Make a mental note to drive the same route in the future so I can figure out how far I have gone, and have no idea how effective my workout was.
• Workout today:  Put on my Nike+ sneakers with iPod sensor under the sole of the shoe.  Clip on my 1/2 lb. ipod nano, choose from one of a dozen workout mixes.  During my run, my Nikes tell my ipod how far i've run, how fast, what my pace is, and how many calories I've ran.  When I get home I plug my ipod into my computer, and it automatically transmit the info to Nike.  I can go to Nikeplus.com and view a number of graphs and analysis of my entire workout history.

Tuesday 11pm -

• Entertainment 10 years ago:  Groan about my 40 channels having crap on, and settle for MTV videos or some lame talk show.
• Entertainment today:  Groan about my 400 channels all having crap on, use on-demand to re-watch HBO series.

As you can see, technology advances have made life much easier for me.  The ease and speed that I can get information should translate into more personal time.  But because of the ease and speed of the information, I seem to have less personal time, because it is easier to fill the time.  Technology has undoubtedly made life better.