LH3 — Staying Positive

One of the most important habits to learn is to stay positive no matter what the stimulus and now matter what the context. Karel starts off this episode by quoting Helen Keller who said, "when one door of happiness closes, another opens, but often we look so long at the closed door that we do not see the one which has been opened for us". The episode includes a story about a university coach who was overly negative but whose behavior changed dramatically when confronted to an unwavering positive reaction. We have the power to decide how to react to a stimulus and if we decide to take the negative reaction it often yields less than optimal results; when we react positively, the outcomes are often much more favorable. Karel gives examples of positive approaches in situations regarding work and career, relationships, parenting, and health. In each, a specific positive approach can yield incredibly desirable outcomes.

LH2 — Time Management

Karel Vredenburg focuses on time management in this episode. You might be thinking, "I don't have time for that!" but after listening and taking the advice given you will have a lot more time to devote to the important items in your life. Karel starts off by quoting Thomas Edison who said, "Time is really the only capital that any human being has, and the only thing he can't afford to lose." to reinforce the importance of valuing time and thus managing it effectively.

Karel discusses taking control of your time, yearly and weekly time scales, prioritizing the roles you play, and then has specific advice on new habits to consider for use on the job including default meeting length, staying focussed during meetings, deciding whether a meeting, a phone call, an e-mail, or an IM chat is most appropriate and efficient. His advice for the rest of your life includes multitasking with an iPod, using audible.com to get your reading material, listening to podcasts, switching phone to voicemail and text messaging, subcontracting work at home, assigning tasks to kids and making their allowance contingent on the work, scheduling time for each family member, and also to watch out for over-scheduling activities at home and leaving some time for spontaneous activities.

LH1 — Overview & Setting Priorities

Karel Vredenburg welcomes listeners to this new podcast series and provides an overview of the content, format, and frequency. He also introduces the first topic - starting with the end in mind and finishes up by inviting listeners to provide feedback via the website or gmail.