Recently, I have been compiling and writing a book that is designed to help readers to go about their business more effectively. When I talk to other people about my blog, I describe the writings as dedicated to developing personal productivity.

My basic philosophy is that we create desires and that these drive us to take action. If we fulfil the desires, then we feel good. If we don’t fulfil the desires, then we feel bad. Doing well in life thus revolves around understanding and managing desires (to remain consistently cheerful), and developing the personal capability to fulfil desires, i.e. to solve all personal problems. This leads to the following main areas of focus in life:

• Attitude management
• Problem solving
• Skill development
• Productivity enhancement

By combining these things together, we get a final result of vastly enhanced personal productivity, whereby we fulfil more desires, in shorter timescales than ever before and all done in a cheerful and pragmatic manner.

The book has a ‘Ying and Yang’ approach, since it is never enough to study just one aspect of a subject, we must also study the inverse too. The book sets out with the premise that procrastination is the main bane of everyone’s life. Procrastination is the condition that occurs when we are blocked in our minds and in our practical activities and as a result we delay doing the things that really make the difference in our lives. The book explains and dissects procrastination in detail and the goes on to give great detail about what we need to replace procrastination with, once we overcome it.

The first part of the book is entitled, ‘Attitudinal Resistance,’ as the mental condition behind resistance is what drives our feelings and our subsequent actions. Once you know how to manage your attitude well, then you will find yourself driven to get on with the things that you want to do. However, this is not enough, you will come to a quick stop in your activities, if you don’t have the knowledge and ability to tackle ‘Practical Resistance.’ This part of the book is split into two sections: Strategy and Tactics. The strategy behind Practical Resistance is to have an innate understanding of problem solving and of what is required to take an idea from creation through to fruition. The tactics behind Practical Resistance deals with the operational side of getting things done and the practical methods and tips available to make sure that you organize yourself well and keep making progress.

I have created this book, because I want to help other people to find good solutions for their needs very directly (and without the years of frustrated wandering that I had to go through to get to grips with these important things!). I have assumed that everyone wants to feel good as often as possible and that everyone wants to have the personal competence to fulfil personal desires. I’ve created this book from the point of view that I decide what people need to know and so there’s a distinct danger that I end up with a book that doesn’t satisfy people enough, because I haven’t addressed their needs sufficiently, nor in a manner of communication that is the most appealing and appropriate.

That brings me to the purpose of this post: I’d like to involve you in the final development stages. I’d like to carry out some research, through surveys, teleseminars and direct consultations, on what you want and how you want it delivered. To this end, I have recently revised my original free e-book, now called, ‘Understand How to Operate Your Brain Perfectly’ and I offer it to anyone who signs up for the newsletter that I will create, which will, in part, focus on finding out what it is that you want and that will help you the most.

So, for newcomers, please sign up and download the book – it’s only 19-pages long, but it’s a revealing read, as confirmed by a recent comment from Ellen, who said, “Read your giveaway book today on operating your own brain and just wanted to say thanks for an extremely lucid and helpful account of the internal struggle. I’ve been using buddhist methods for years now to attempt to observe these mechanisms in myself–your theory is spot on—but I have never before come across such a detailed and lucid explanation. Brilliant!”

For established nickpagan.com readers, please go ahead and sign up for the newsletter as I particularly value your input. I promise to you that I won’t pass on your details to spammers (I hate spam too) and each mailing that you receive from me will always give you the option to opt-out at any time. The opt-in form is at the top of the page in the right hand column.

Many thanks!

Nick

[Photo by Vierdrie]