Post: #1

I wanted to pass along an excellent idea from Scott Adams. But thought I may as well turn into a thread in case others have useful tips...

1) In his recent book - Scott Adams describes an excellent system he uses to encourage himself to work out more often. He noticed that if he wasn't in the mood for working out - often the simple act of getting changed and putting on his sports shoes would flip his mind into work-out mode.

So - building on that - he often finds that the difficult thing about working out at the gym. Is not the work-out itself, but motivating himself enough to actually drive to the gym.

With that in mind - he makes a point of going to the gym each day. But - if for some reason he cannot be bothered with the gym that day - he allows himself the freedom to turn around and go home.

Just knowing you have a 'get out of jail free' card in the back of your mind is enough to get him to overcome any resistance he has to going to the gym.

Which is great since he finds that once he is at the gym - 95% of the time he feels like working out anyway.

The difficult thing is getting there in the first place. So to speak.

Still - every so often (4-5 times a year?) he will decide he is not in the mood for a work-out and just turn around and go home. He doesn't even feel bad when that happens since it a part of the 'system' he uses to motivate himself. So - it is just the system doing its job.

I am not a member of a gym. But if I do join one - I am going to adopt this system.

Post: #2

2) Ever forget somebody's name? Do the following:

PERSON A: "Hi there Bob, how are you?"

PERSON B: "Sorry what is your name again?"

PERSON A: "My name is George. How come you forgot?"

[HERE COMES THE CLEVER BIT!]

PERSON B: "No George, of course I know your name. I meant your surname..."

------------------------------

People aren't bothered if you cannot recall their surname. Particularly since - in alot of cases - they will have never mentioned it before, in any case.

Post: #3

3) If you are living in a foreign country and trying to learn the language - make a note of any words/phrases that pop up during the day which you didn't know but needed.

Then at night look up those words/phrases and learn them.

It is an efficient way of identifying the words you most need for your day to day living.

Post: #4

To reduce bad habits create one extra barrier between yourself and the habit. For example if you wish to watch less tv, move your television into the cupboard whenever you are finished with it. The need to get it out and plug it all in again is enough to support your own will to stop watching.

To support good habits remove one barrier between yourself and the habit. For example if you want to learn guitar, place the guitar out side of it's case in the middle of your living room, the ease of getting things started is enough to support support your own desire to learn.

Post: #5

Write down the 5 most important things in life to you. For me they are my body, my mind, my skill set, my social life, and my finances. Write down the 5 things you spend most of your time doing. For me weekly they are study:16 hours plus uni 7hours, working:18.5 hours, partying: 15hours(3 nights a week, 10 to 3 usually), Social dancing: 7 hours, gym: 3 hours. If the 5 activites that take up most of your time do not add to your your most important interests in life you are by definition being unproductive. Write 5 activies that would lead to you being productive and make sure most of your time is spent doing those activites. You cannot ever become who you wish to be without spending the majority of your time becoming that man, do not let yourself fall into a life or become a person you didn't choose to be. Do this activity once every 6 months.

There are various apps for tracking what you are doing day in and day out, if you cannot be honest with yourself about how you spend your time then download one and keep it up for a few weeks/month.

Post: #6

If you see a girl signalling the number 3 with her hand(which happens a surprising amount of time) you can get a cold read on where she's from. If she used the thumb, index, and middle finger say 'you're from mainland europe then?' and then go on to explain about hwo you could tell based on how she signalled the number three and that these kind of social differences are why the allies had much better spies., for some reason girls are incredibly receptive to this. Also really useful for catching spies.

Post: #7

This has potential!

To remember something, associate it with something else and say it out loud. For example, say your about to drive home from somewhere - house front door handle, respond to emails.

Aslong as it's not left too long, you should trigger the memory when you open your front door

Post: #8

Viz is a legendary adult comic magazine here in the UK.

Anyway - the best part of the magazine are the brilliantly funny (and stupid) 'Top Tips' that they publish from readers. I thought this thread would be a good place to point out this resource of strange logic and genuinely hilarious ideas.

Quote:EMPLOYERS: Avoid hiring unlucky people by immediately tossing half the CVs into the bin.

Quote:SCROOGES: Save money at Christmas by returning last year's cards to the sender with the simple inscription "Same to you".

Quote:NEWLYWEDS. Act in a surreptitious manner from the start of your marriage so as not to attract suspicion when you do have an affair.

Quote:GERMAN PERVERTS. Go to a beach in California and shout "Help! I've been stung by a jellyfish!" As the most natural remedy for this is dousing the sting in urine, you're almost guaranteed a golden shower from a gaggle of Baywatch beauties.

Quote:HOMEOWNERS. When selling your house, replace your furniture with children's tables and chairs, and use a dwarf estate agent. Instantly, your house will seem more roomy than it actually is.

Quote:COUNCIL highway departments. Save money erecting warning signs on dangerous bends. Simply sellotape a bunch of flowers to a nearby lamp post instead.

Quote:RECREATE the feeling of time travel by falling asleep on the train and awakening on arrival at your destination. Hey presto, you've arrived in the future!

Quote:HAVE FUN in the supermarket next time you go alcohol shopping. Fill you trolley to bursting point with booze, then add one packet of nappies. When paying, pretend that you don't have enough money and put the nappies back. Watch the faces of the checkout personnel. Priceless.

Quote:LADIES. When invited to a Buckingham Palace garden party, go wearing hair rollers, so that the Queen will think you are going somewhere REALLY important afterwards.

Quote:POWER COMPANIES. After a blackout, wait until midnight before turning on the power again. That way, everybody's alarm clocks and videos will be automatically re-set.

Quote:COMMUTERS. When you leave your house, sprint the first 200 yards and then revert back to your regular walking speed. This will save you from having to do the run of shame for the bus nearer the stop and look like a fool when you miss it.

Quote:USERS OF premium rate sex lines. Save hundreds of pounds by phoning the Samaritans and threatening to kill yourself unless they talk to you in a sexually explicit manner.

Quote:COMMUTERS. Give away the sad fact that your life consists of nothing but grinding routine by standing in the exact spot on the platform where the train doors will be when the service arrives.

Quote:OLYMPIC commentators. Inform the audience how old the female gymnasts are before they start their routine, thus preventing any illegal thoughts involving their flexibility.

Post: #9

(11-30-2013 08:49 AM)cardguy Wrote:  I wanted to pass along an excellent idea from Scott Adams. But thought I may as well turn into a thread in case others have useful tips...

1) In his recent book - Scott Adams describes an excellent system he uses to encourage himself to work out more often. He noticed that if he wasn't in the mood for working out - often the simple act of getting changed and putting on his sports shoes would flip his mind into work-out mode.

So - building on that - he often finds that the difficult thing about working out at the gym. Is not the work-out itself, but motivating himself enough to actually drive to the gym.

With that in mind - he makes a point of going to the gym each day. But - if for some reason he cannot be bothered with the gym that day - he allows himself the freedom to turn around and go home.

Just knowing you have a 'get out of jail free' card in the back of your mind is enough to get him to overcome any resistance he has to going to the gym.

Which is great since he finds that once he is at the gym - 95% of the time he feels like working out anyway.

The difficult thing is getting there in the first place. So to speak.

Still - every so often (4-5 times a year?) he will decide he is not in the mood for a work-out and just turn around and go home. He doesn't even feel bad when that happens since it a part of the 'system' he uses to motivate himself. So - it is just the system doing its job.

I am not a member of a gym. But if I do join one - I am going to adopt this system.

I like this idea so much that I may use it as a reason to join the gym.

An analogy I would give is going to work. Imagine you had a 'no consequences/no big deal' option of turning around and going home whenever you arrived for work?

Suddenly - going to work - would become alot less stressful since you had that lovely 'get out of jail free' card to hand for whenever you felt like using it.

Post: #10

The above tip comes from a chapter in Adam's recent book talking about systems versus goals.

Scott Adams thinks the key to success (in any field) is putting together a system which will help you to success. A good system will help you achieve success - in a number of different ways.

Whereas limiting yourself to goals is a bad way of thinking. He goes into more detail in the book. But the key gist is that having a good system will help you achieve your goals. On top of that - it won't specify what goals you are aiming for ahead of time. This is good because it is really hard to figure out what the best goals for you are. Since it depends on the opportunities that life throws your way in the future.

Goals are for losers. And systems are for winners. According to Adams. And he means it literally - since once you have achieved your goal, you have nothing left. But with a system - there is no 'end point' to aim for. It is a tool which is always of use.

Like if your goal was to pull more women. That is a bad way of thinking.

But if your system was to be more interesting, do more things and have more fun. That - in itself - would naturally throw up alot more opportunities to pull more women.

So - it is an interesting topic. And I could say alot more - it was certainly the part of the book which most jumped out at me.

Anyway - I just wanted to mention it here since Scott Adams recently did a blog post (on his excellent blog) where he talks a bit more about the concept.

http://www.dilbert.com/blog/entry/goals_vs_systems/

Post: #11

When you are in a large social situation you will commonly be asked 'how do you know the host/the person they came with/whoever' if the person asking passes the binary and the person they are asking about is beside you a good response is 'she and I...use to be lovers.(you can start or end with 'A long time ago' Then slowly turn to the person you just claimed to be an old flame with and put on a slow shit eating grin, thus far every one of them has played along, but in an obvious enough fashion to make it seem like a joke, which for some reason always drives the prospect crazy. When you have a girl trying to get to the bottom, asking her friends whether you used to sleep with someone, it is hysterical and totally puts her at your mercy.

Note: I would avoid doing this if it actually is an old flame, unless you are still on good terms. I would also avoid doing this if guys ask, cause why fucking bother. Finally if it's a girl asking about a guy you can do the same thing with a semi gay slant, but this builds the other dudes value too, showing his funny side, so be careful.

Post: #12

ZenHabits Top 20 Motivation Hacks
http://mattcallanan.blogspot.com/2012/04...hacks.html

#1 - Always think positive. Squash all negative thoughts.
#2 - Make a big public commitment. Be fully committed.
#3 - Create a friendly, mutually-supportive competition.
#4 - Keep a daily journal of your goal.
#5 - Visualize your goal clearly, on a daily basis, for at least 5-10 minutes.
#6 - Make it a rule never to skip two days in a row.
#7 - Become aware of your urges to quit, and be prepared for them.
#8 - Have powerful reasons. Write them down.
#9 - Get a coach or take a class.
#10 - Find inspiration, on a daily basis.
#11 - Reward yourself. Often.
#12 - Break it into smaller, mini goals.
#13 - Give it time, be patient.
#14 - Make it a pleasure.
#15 - Just get started.
#16 - Get a workout partner or goal buddy.
#17 - Post a picture of your goal someplace visible — near your desk or on your refrigerator, for example.
#18 - Join an online (or off-line) group to help keep you focused and motivated.
#19 - Hold Yourself Back
#20 - Chart Your Progress.

Post: #13

I have mentioned Scott Adams' excellent recent book (and blog) in this thread a few times.

So - I thought I would use this thread to pass along the following link. It is some interesting investment advice from Scott Adams.

http://www.dilbert.com/blog/entry/bad_in...nt_advice/

I like the way he thinks. He is not in a rush to invest. And just seems to wait around for a few years until an opportunity/interesting idea strikes him. And then goes all in. None of that diversification shit (which Warren Buffett is against as well).

It is a useful approach since Warren Buffett used to say that you should imagine you can only purchase 20 stocks in your entire life. That is how sure/committed you should be to each investing idea.

It is similar to how I think. If you were to ask me for an interesting investment idea today. I would be stuck. But I can guarantee a good one will pop into my mind at some random point over the next few months.

To me it is like Zen. You shouldn't try and chase good investment ideas. You should just see what pops into your head whilst you are busy reading, thinking and studying other stuff. In my case - all my best ideas just suddenly popped up as sudden hunches. But they are not hunches - instead they are subconcious analyses of all the different information you have come across over the previous few months.

To me that approach is better than just trying to think up an idea in five minutes off the top of your head.

Post: #14

This is a very small tip - but it worth tucking away.

Did you ever have a 'Get Well Soon!' card you had to sign - and you struggled to think of something witty to write?

Here is what I always do - and it always goes over very well.

You write the phrase:

This place is upside down without you!

Here is the twist. You turn the card upside down - and write the message so that it is facing the wrong way to everybody elses.

It is cute and effective. And goes over well since everybody always plays it safe and writes something boring on these sorts of cards.

Sorry - I feel a bit beta passing on this tip. Since it doesn't end with chicks crying - which is what I spend most of my time aiming for.

Post: #15

If a girl asks you what her name is thinking you forgot, first say "well what's my name then?" If she doesn't remember you're in the clear, and should touch her arm and laugh about it.

If she does, you go "Look, I don't want to get heavy here but I actually have dyslexia and really struggle with names." She'll immediately apologize and give you her name.

This has saved me SO many times.

Post: #16

If caught in the middle of saying something non-pc:

"...end quote. That's exactly what he said! Can't you believe it?!"

Post: #17

Never drink alone.

Post: #18

(05-10-2014 06:52 PM)cardguy Wrote:  This place is upside down without you!

I never heard anyone say this before, is this a popular phrase in England? I know Cardguy can't respond back. This is an open question to everybody.

Post: #19

(06-14-2014 01:05 AM)JoyStick Wrote:  

(05-10-2014 06:52 PM)cardguy Wrote:  This place is upside down without you!

I never heard anyone say this before, is this a popular phrase in England? I know Cardguy can't respond back. This is an open question to everybody.

I don't think so, I've never heard anyone use it.

Post: #20

it's not a well used phrase, but it is a nice tip