Borders Book Signing Saturday 12-3pm 12/18/10–Please Come!

Podcast with Eagles in Leadership (one of the best)

Every Day Dad: the Guide to Becoming a Better Father

http://eaglesinleadership.org/

CAN YOU EVER GET IT “ALL” DONE? (http://www.times-standard.com/business/ci_16728000)

Do we ever truly get it all done?

To think that we could have it completely whipped is a fallacy and a dangerous life paradigm. Could you get at least some of it done? It is possible. Here are a few ways and strategies that can increase your productivity:

1. Schedule your time for work — be consistent. Don’t do personal things in your schedule to work. Make it to do list and prioritize your tasks. A list is often more effective for those of us need to consult a reference or see it in writing. When you’ve completed a task, cross off your list. You get a real sense of completion in satisfaction as you see your list getting shorter and shorter.

2. Do the most difficult, time-consuming, least favorite jobs first — do the first things first. Do the hardest task at hand when you have the most energy and motivation to tackle the project. If you tackle the toughest job first, the rest of your tasks will seem that much easier.

3. Do not allow yourself to get interrupted by other people’s emergencies or drama-be able to say “No.” Learn to have boundaries. Learn to say no and a polite but firm way. Be professional, kind and understanding, but also be ready to use the most famous boundary word of them all: No.

4. Organize your files-set up the system right from the beginning. Don’t reinvent the wheel. Use a Day-Timer for scheduling. Have a 31-day and 12-month filing system. You can have technology, but don’t let technology have you. Do not reinvent the wheel. An ordered space will allow you to be less stressed.

5. Organize your workspace-the better organized and efficient your workspace, the more efficient you will be in time management. The time it takes you to search through out all your piles of paper or to remember where you put that file could be spent in working on new projects. Put the things you use most on your desktop and always put them back in the same place when you’re done. Keep a file organizer on your desk for current projects, so they are always at your finger tips. Have clearly delineated places for everything.

In conclusion, plan your work and work your plan. Translate intention into action daily by budgeting time for what is most important. Leverage your gifts ,skill-sets, and time and you will make the difference in your world.

My Rock and Roll Resume

If I had a nickel for every concert I have been to….I’d be a rich man”…..so goes the adage…

In my case I would have a few bucks!!…maybe a lot of money actually.

I am not sure if my Rock Concert List below is a badge of fame or shame in that it cost me in money, brain cells and hearing!
I am sure at 50 years, my hearing has suffered at the hands of Foghat and Black Sabbath and more.

This I am confident: these guys were the best of all time in an era of Rock and Roll Renaissance.
My experience with music is that simple worship songs on an acoustic guitar are more profoundly moving to me than a
multi-million dollar music extravaganza.
Time with music in worship of the Living God is definitively more heart-changing than a lead guitar solo by Jimmy Page or Jimmy Hendrix.

Well, here is the list and you may have one as well. Here is to guys who are just humans who still need God, love ,and people and are not the heroes to whom we wrongly attribute stardom and idol status…..Just another human on the Bus of Life. Many have perished in a life of questionable meaning and legacy. What will your legacy look like? Just asking…

Some of the Shows and Bands I have enjoyed as a young man mostly in San
Diego in the 1970′s—-

• Chicago
• Rod Stewart
• Leon Russell
• Black Sabbath
• Traffic
• Keith Green
• Lynard Skynard (Pretty sure)
• Yes
• Emerson, Lake and Palmer
• Led Zepplin
• Jethro Tull
• Bachman Turner Overdrive
• Ted Nugent
• Peter Frampton
• Moody Blues
• Neil Young
• Alice Cooper
• Aerosmith
• Steve Miller Band
• Steely Dan
• Elton John
• Foghat
• Bruce Cockburn
• Santana
• Eddie Money
• Foreigner
• Edgar Winter
• Earth Wind and Fire
• The Grateful Dead
• Merky and the Martians
• T Rex
• Supertramp
• Many more…..the best were forgotten in the Fog of….the moment.

Some of the bands I missed…..would have loved to seen:

• The Who
• The Stones
• The Beatles
• Pink Floyd (gave my tix away!)
• Many others….

All my heroes have changed and some are still alive.

Funny how we define meaningful lives and legacy.

Weird how we value what is art by artists of nebulous character.

Who are your heroes and what do they stand for? Better–what are you standing for?

Do we compromise ourselves in some way by enjoying art of those who may be real life monsters?

The Big Parenting Question–Results.

Effective Legacy

The big parenting question remains: “What is the essence, core purpose, or bottom line of our parenting? What do we want to leave behind and instill our children, and why? At the end of our lives, what would we like to leave behind and pass on to our children? What heritage, legacy, or inheritance will you leave?
Answer these questions, and you’ll be pretty close to discovering your purpose here on earth. Really get in touch with the answers and begin to do them incrementally and you’ll find that you’re a change agent, a life giver, someone who really blesses those around them. Answer these questions and begin to live them, today.

Our goal should be to nurture our children and help them flourish: to be the best they can be. We will explore listening, good communication, genuine encouragement, choosing to give grace, and laying a foundation of faith in God that governs all of whom we are and where we are going as a family. It all begins with relationship building on a quality life foundation that results in emotional health and well-being of our families. The end goal is that we may be able to leave a legacy and heritage for our children and their children as well.

What will they say about you when you are gone…and we will be gone one day! More importantly, how will they live when you are gone? Our job as fathers becomes paramount and hugely important for our kids!!
Legacy incorporates the following…
• A foundation of faith in God
• Their hopes and dreams and visions
• Learning contentment and satisfaction
• Children learning to know who they are—developing an identity
• Our kids understanding their strengths and weaknesses
• To know they are loved
• To understand fundamental knowledge and wisdom
• To own and live out real values and ethics
• To live a life of thankfulness and appreciation
• To possess as their own a love for God, people, the earth, and all living things
• To be able to apply wisdom, knowledge, and understanding… and so much more.
Why are we leaving a legacy is as important as what we leave as a legacy. You must ask yourself why you’d like to be a parent of the highest quality. What is in it for you, your child, the world at large, and your children’s children? What is your answer?

Do you live your life to impress others, or influence them by the quiet sanity that marks how you model your life? What is the mission, vision, and purpose of your life? Are you living in now? When will you start if you’re not?

New Book for Dad to Joyfully Engage in Family

Video for the Every Day Dad Book.

Available Now ….from Amazon.com

http://www.amazon.com/Every-Day-Dad-Becoming-Better/dp/1450536646/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1275775476&sr=1-2

Every Day Dad–Testimonials…Buy it now at Amazon.com

Buy the book today at:

https://www.createspace.com/3426266

Here are just a few of the things readers have had to say about Every Day Dad:

We are a society in crisis and the root cause is parenting. This book will give you great tools to become a better parent and a better person at the same time.

Larry Winget, Television Personality and New York Times Bestselling Author, Your Kids Are Your Own Fault: A Guide For Raising Responsible, Productive Adults

When I became a father, several decades ago, I wanted to be the best I could be. After all, that’s what I wanted to do in all the (work) jobs I had. There was no book on all that it takes. Now comes along Scott Hammond’s book with lessons that, with effort (yes, it requires EFFORT) puts fatherhood in excellent perspective for your success.

Jim Tunney, Ed.D
Author, Educator, Former NFL Referee

Scott Hammond’s book, Every Day Dad, is an encyclopedia for being a Dad. He understands the business of being a Dad and he communicates it extremely well. This book is a must for every Dad.

D.J.Young, www.Wisdom4Dads.com

It’s about time! What a wonderful concept and hats off to you, Scott Hammond, for bringing the extremely important, long overdue issue of fatherhood to the forefront. With shifting roles, two working parents, and changes in the world at warp-speed, we need fathers more than ever to help the women in the world with our shared bundles of joy. To enjoy the laughter, joys, tears, and milestones, there couldn’t be a more important role for the men of this day and age and for the children of tomorrow!

Karen Simmons, CEO, Founder, Autism Today

Click here to Read more comments and testimonials from readers.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR, SCOTT HAMMOND

Scott Hammond is the author of Every Day Dad: The Guide to Becoming a Better Father, a parenting expert, and the father of 9 children, who offers a unique point of view on fathering and intentional parenting. Scott is an award winning professional speaker and a recognized business consultant and leadership coach.

Scott motivates and inspires others toward positive, personal change and growth with his comfortable style, authenticity, and transparency. Using real-life stories, Scott shares how you can overcome life and parenting obstacles and become a better person.

Scott resides in McKinleyville, California with his wife of 27 years, Joni, and their kids. To connect with Scott, visit  BecomeABetterFather.com

The book is available NOW at…

https://www.createspace.com/3426266

TIME MANAGEMENT AND THE 80/20 RULE

Time management—

We all possess valuable resources, but none is trickier or more valuable than time.  Managing your time is THE key skill set in managing your life.  Show me what you do with your time and I’ll show you what your value system is all about. When leveraging time you will utilize and expand on core strength.  If you can manage your time well you can accomplish almost anything.  Using time incrementally, methodically, and strategically will help you stay on track and achieve your life priorities.

Personal productivity is only as limited as your proper use of time.  Wise use of time maximizes and leverages all resources and helps you achieve your goals, objectives, and priorities.  Good time management allows you to plan ahead and to use your purpose and passion with laser focus—nothing becomes impossible.  Your productivity, as you leverage your passion through good time management, increases exponentially resulting in compelling accomplishment.

“Plan your work, then work your plan” is a great axiom.  The “work your plan” part has to do with time management.  Planning is great, but is useless without execution.  Time management is all about the execution of your plans, goals, passions, and objectives.

Time management can be leveraged through productivity systems and good planning.

The 80-20 rule is evidence of this…. You accomplish about 80% of your results from 20% of your work.  The key here is to find your personal “prime time” then leverage that time in the most productive way possible.  To schedule around your 20% “prime time”, where you are most productive and efficient is the key to leveraging time, productivity, and accomplishment. For most people their prime time is in the morning.  This is the time to get all of your core work accomplished.  This key time is to be secured and set aside as the valuable commodity it truly is. Prime work time should be scheduled on a daily basis and should have compelling content at its core. Planning, goal setting, reviewing, communicating, executing initiatives, key meetings, key document creation, and much more are all the key elements of utilizing your prime time window.

Procrastination and its opposite  workaholism are both dysfunction to avoid.  Our society allows for both to its detriment.  It takes discipline and self control to avoid the dysfunction of workaholism and over commitment and the sickness and the result they produce. The same can be said of procrastination—we are to avoid it like the plague. It all starts with analysis and admission and truly owning our own poor habits.

The idea here is to have a balanced life. This begins with healthy relationships and healthy personal spirit.  Living your life in balance and alignment starts with living your priorities.  The piece and congruity that results is compelling.  A life lived well, living your priorities, and being able to have fun productivity that energizes you is a compelling work style/lifestyle.

The Covey idea of sharpening your saw and resting so you can work more efficiently is the key.  A life lived in balance with family, work, community, friendships, and personal fulfillment is truly a productive life.

It all starts at time management, personal discipline, and self-control.  Just do it.

Time management is—

The definition of Time management is a set of skills, tools, and systems that work together to help you get more value out of your time and leverage it to accomplish what you want.

Learning time management will do the following:

1. Give a personal definition of time management, and how you can use it
2. Help you know the signs that you’re off-track
3. Help you know the signs that you are on the right track
4. Help you know what your focus should be on

You know you’re on the right track when—

1. Your customers, boss, family and peers praise your accomplishments.
2. You meet your sales, personal, or family goals and have a positive performance
3. You are often considered for additional responsibility and special projects.
4. You feel good about your work and family and are energized by them.

You know you’re off-track, when—

1. You’re working really hard, and little is being accomplished
2. You’re not meeting your sales, personal, business, or family goals
3. People around you complain about you
4. You’re the only one who seems to think you’re doing a great job.
5. You’re always putting out fires
6. You’re spending a lot of his time socializing and complaining

Eight most common time wasters—

1. Lack of planning
2. Lack of priorities
3. Over commitment
4. Management by crisis
5. Haste
6. Paperwork and reading e-mail
7. Routine tasks
8. The telephone

How to combat procrastination—

1. Accept that procrastination is common, and that you are not unique
2. Fearing failure is absolutely normal… we often procrastinate because we fear failure
3. If you find you tend to procrastinate in certain situations… face them head on
4. Never choose low priority work in front of high priority work
5. Control your socializing at work
6. Schedule start time as well, as the finished time for your work being planned
7. Adopt single handling thinking. Touch it wants.  You’ll pick up one job only and only put it down when it’s finished. Multitasking is a myth…

We should focus on activities that—

1. Contribute to your customer,  family, stakeholders success and satisfaction
2. Booster personal productivity and performance
3. Support your family or organization’s strategic vision and goals

Time management tips—

1. Know and use your calendar or Daytimer
2. Prioritize demands on your time
3. Keep your priority list in front of you
4. Keep checking your progress with time management.
5. Stockpile work or questions, and to schedule says its time work on them.  Only work on things in your scheduled to do so.
6. Seek support when you need it— delegate
7. Develop techniques that help you when in a unique situation
8. Pick a morning or an evening to work when no one is around and get organized.  Order creates less stress and helps focus
9. Spend a few minutes at the end of the day putting everything in its home base and getting ready for the next day.  Remember… trash it, act on it, refer it, or file it away.

10.  Keep yourself motivated.

More tips for time management—

Making a commitment that you’ll measure time more efficiently to be the best promise you ever make to yourself.  In the long run, you’ll be glad you did.  Here are some tips that may help to some move your way to a little more time efficient life.  You may even find that after you get the hang of it, you’ll have more free time!!

1. Manage your availability— in which coworkers know when you are available to help them and when you’re not.
2. Learn to prioritize—one of the most important things you can do in your search for more time. Prioritize your commitments.  If you belong to any organizations that are turned into obligations, just give up your membership.  There is not enough time to spend on doing things which aren’t that important to you.
3. Make all your calls in the morning—this is when people are most likely to be available.  Then, block off the rest of your day on interrupted work.
4. Schedule time every week to take care of your filing—take time every week to get your filing done and keep up the organizing and purging of your files.  This will go a long way to help you stay on top of your job responsibility.  The get and stay organized.
5. Create an activity log—keep a detailed personal activity log for several days to determine how you’re actually using your time.  See where you’re spending too much and not enough time.
6. Control your busywork—it’s not always easy to admit that sometimes we allow ourselves to get immersed in busywork.  Focus on the job at hand and don’t let meaningless tasks consume your precious time.
7. Create a system for yourself—no one knows your schedule better than you do.  Incorporate simple and effective systems in your life that help you do what must be done on a daily basis so that you actually can get things accomplished.  Get a routine and form positive habits.
8. Don’t bite off more than you can chew—break up big projects into manageable pieces.  Divide your projects and concentrate on one part at a time. Gradual progress and growth is the best practice.
9. Never forced the finishing of a project, if it can be helped—there’s no point in force yourself to finish a job when you’re not making any headway.  Switch to another project in the new challenge will refresh and renew your mind so that you can return to the original job.   You will then feel ready to complete it.

10.  Plan ahead—this tip will eliminate the procrastination and ensure higher productivity.  Estimate how long a job will take.  Then at about one third more time.  Then count the number of days back from the deadline, and set that as your defining starting point…Hot tip!

11.  .Learn what is urgent, versus what is important—there is a tremendous difference.  Too often we respond to the urgent and forfeit the necessary.  In other words, things that demand our media attention usurp what is necessary.  By contrast, important tasks might not require an instant response, but they necessitate important activities that will keep you on track in achieving your goals. Be wary of the Tyranny of the Urgent!

12.  Under promise and over deliver—this is a very old axiom, but nonetheless very true.  Never promised too much; you’re more likely to disappoint people.  Instead, with all things, under promise and over deliver.  People will be pleasantly surprised when you’re done more than originally planned.

Five ways to improve productivity—

There is so much happening and less and less time to handle of all these days. Learning how to increase your productivity could give you the edge you need to get it all done.  The idea of getting it all done is nebulous at best.

Do we ever truly get it all done?

To think that we could have it completely whipped is a fallacy and a dangerous life paradigm.  Could you get at least some of it done?  It is possible…. here are a few ways and strategies that can increase your productivity:

1. Schedule your time for work—be consistent.  Don’t do personal things in your schedule to work.  Make it to do list and prioritize your tasks.  A list is often more effective for those of us need to consult a reference or see it in writing.  When you’ve completed a task, cross off your list.  You get a real sense of completion in satisfaction as you see your list getting shorter and shorter.
2. Do the most difficult, time-consuming, least favorite jobs first— do the first things first.  Do the hardest task at hand when you have the most energy and motivation to tackle the project.  If you tackle the toughest job first, the rest of your tasks will seem that much easier.
3. Do not allow yourself to get interrupted by other people’s emergencies or drama—be able to say No.  Learn to have boundaries.  Learn to say no and a polite but firm way.  Be professional, kind and understanding, but also be ready to use the most famous boundary word of them all: NO.
4. Organize your files—set up the system right from the beginning.  Don’t reinvent the wheel.  Use a Daytimer for scheduling. Have a 31 day and 12 month filing system. You can have technology, but don’t let technology have you. Do not reinvent the wheel.  An ordered space will allow you to be less stressed.
   1. Organize your workspace—the better organized and efficient your workspace, the more efficient you will be in time management.  The time it takes you to search through out all your piles of paper or to remember where you put that file could be spent in working on new projects.  Put the things you use most on your desktop and always put them back in the same place when you’re done.  Keep a file organizer on your desk for current projects, so they are always at your finger tips.  Have clearly delineated places for everything.

Time and Fathering…Part 1.

Writer and Father David Swanson shares his thoughts on what it takes to be a better father. In part one of this four part series David focuses on time.

Before having children, we fantasized about what it would be like to be a father. For some, it was peanuts, popcorn, and baseball games. For others it was placing their chair and table in their upright positions and flying away to far-off places. But one thing’s for sure. The fantasy never entailed working long hours, stressing about finances or career obligations, or fighting with a wife over how to raise the kids.

As a father of three, I decided that I was not going to settle for being the absent father who accepted the reality that, “being a good father means being a provider. And being a good provider means limited time with my kids.” I wanted to be the father I fantasized about, and I was willing to do whatever it took. Not too long ago, I was forced to do just that.

About five years ago, I was working 50-60 hours a week in a busy practice as a child and family psychologist in Encino, CA. My practice grew and grew until I was working 6 days a week, most days until 9 at night. I wanted to cut back because I wanted to be at home with my children. But I was afraid that if I cut back on my hours, people would assume that my practice was full and they would stop referring me. This would mean potentially losing our home and my practice.

A very smart and kind pediatrician friend encouraged me to take the risk. “You need to be at home with your kids,” he advised me. “If you don’t have any available times for clients after school, parents will take their kids out of school to see you.” After hearing my oldest son complain of my absence, I became determined to take my friend’s advice and reduce my hours. I decided that I would leave the office by 6 pm and I would not work on weekends. This was an incredibly stressful time. But fortunately the advice my friend gave me was correct. People did bring their children in during school hours. We didn’t lose our home. To this day, I believe it was one of the best decisions I have ever made. Sure, we had to take a step down in lifestyle, but I don’t think my kids care. I don’t know if they really even noticed.

Today, I coach their sports teams, we jump in the trampoline, we have Nerf gun wars at home (yes, in the house!), and we just got back from the Leo Carrillo Tide Pools where we hunted for starfish. I am the father in my fantasy. In my practice, I am often visited by fathers who wish they could be the father in their fantasy. These fathers often ask the question, “Where do I start?” When we evaluate their “father fantasy,” we usually come up with four core areas on which they choose to focus. I have laid out these four areas below.

Time

Tim Russert, former host of NBC’s Meet the Press and author of Wisdom of Our Fathers, said, “You can shower a child with presents or money, but what do they really mean, compared to the most valuable gift of all—your time? Vacations and special events are nice, but so often the best moments are the spontaneous ones. Every moment you spend with your child could be the one that really matters.”

The fact of the matter is that you are either a “present” father or a father who is “absent.” You cannot plan for life. You will never know when your child will utter his first word. You will never know when he will take his first steps. And you will never know when his first girlfriend will break up with him. Life happens and it is not subject to a plan. You are either there or you’re not. Planning vacations and special time are very important in moving closer to your family. Your child will always remember the Disneyland trips, the skiing vacations, and snorkeling in Hawaii. But will you be there when he is forced to deal with the pains of life?

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