Daniel Shaw

Because life is too small not to always look for exceptional thoughts, people & experiences...About

Write the perfect story

Once upon a time there was ___. Every day, ___. One day ___. Because of that, ___. Because of that, ___. Until finally ___.

Stolen from the Pixar story artist Emma Coats, who tweeted out a series of lessons she learned on the job about how to create appealing stories.

Concerts

Somewhat similar to the list of top 10 musicians that I listen to, here’s a list of the top 10 concert artists that I’ve seen perform live…

Marcus Miller
Jamie Cullum
U2
Lenny Kravitz
Sting
Sade
Red Hot Chilli Peppers
Elton John
Santana
Diana Krall

Others include: Depeche Mode, Nick Cave

For me, the lure of sailing is the ideal combination of tradition and innovation, relaxation and excitement. The self-enforcement of discipline and order, and anticipation of the unexpected that invariably occurs at sea.

Lessons learnt in sailing, I believe can certainly be applied to today’s businesses, families and other areas of life. For example at sea, I learned:

how little a person needs, not how much

and

how wind to a sailor is very much what money is to life on shore.

I’d love to one day, perhaps during early retirement, take young boys & fathers out on bonding, “back to nature” trips to enforce some of the life skills that are so often missing in the buzz of electronic & car based town life and entertainment.

I started yachting in late 2011 and have since sailed over 18 days and 3 night passages almost 400 n.m. (nautical miles) in:

The Canary Islands x 3
Gibraltar x 2
Spain x 3
Morocco

I’d love to one day sail across the Atlantic and perhaps sail around Greece, Polynesia, The British Virgin Islands, New Zealand, Fiji and Samoa.

The Lure Of Blue Water Cruising

Getting carried away with the romantic side of ocean cruising is all too easy. All those dreams about trade winds blowing over palm fringed beaches and idling across entire oceans on the back of steady breezes,escaping the drab routine of everyday life, setting off into the blue exploring life on a small ship in a wide sea….

It’s a dream shared by many but realised by few.

Sailing Advice

If there is one word I’d use to sum up all the advice I’d ever give on sailing, it’s would be “dependable”.

Your crew, yacht, tools, materials, plans – You should know that they are should be “dependable”, should anything go wrong.

I use lists I’ve created to ensure that everything is diagnosable, accessible and everything has a back-up option.

Be a Dependable Skipper – Get qualified

For Mediterranean sailing the ICC (International certificate of competence) is enough to start with, but on any waters that have tides – you’ll be looking to get the RYA “day skipper” certificate, and before that the RYA “competent crew” certificate.

Have Dependable Documentation

Carry a crew & boat list for the authorities (keep several copies or print a special boat stamp and card to use)

The useful website http://www.noonsite.com/ will help you know what you’ll need in each country you sail to.

The crew list should include the following:

The names of the skipper and all crew and their date and places of birth
Passport numbers, places and date of issue and nationalities

The boat list should include:

Boat name, flag, port of registration
call sign
Brand and model of yacht
Length, beam and draft.
net and gross tonnage
Construction material
Number of masts
Brand and horsepower of inboard motor
Number, brand and horsepower of outboard engines and type of fuel used.

A dependable plan when the wind gets up:

When in doubt and the yacht is moving under wind, either in the harbour, close to shore or out at sea, use my heavy weather sailing checklist.

Here’s a handy wind speed conversion chart: http://weather.org/conversion.htm

Sail dependable waves

When sailing, we tend to worry about wind strengths, but it is usually waves that cause the most damage. So here’s where to get the best sea state forecasts:

US Navy website: www.usno.navy.mil/FNMOC/ (click on ‘oceanography products’)
Surfing site: magicseaweed.com

Waves are often at their steepest and most dangerous as they near the coast. Wave height is a crucial consideration when entering a harbour, especially if there are any sandbars at the entrance. If in doubt, stay out for the night or seek a safer harbour.

Dependable anchorage

Always have an exit strategy planned wherever you set anchor, in case the wind shifts or blows you off at night.

Dependable Fog precautions

Although somewhat similar to the heavy weather precautions, here’s my “fog checklist” which differs slightly.

Plot position at first sign of worsening visibility
Maintain plot eg with GPS
Hoist radar reflector if not permanently rigged
Put on lifejackets
Launch or at least prepare dinghy
Increase lookout and, if under power, stop engine periodically to listen
Sound foghorn every two minutes
Consider sounding into shallow water (big ships won’t catch you there)

Skippers Mantra:

Is the boat safe? Are the crew safe?

If so, then check…

Is the boat happy? Are the crew happy?

If so, then you’ve done your job well.

2 very useful sailing acronyms:

When doing the daily engine check before setting out: “WOBBLE”

Water, Oil, Belt, Bilges, Leaks, Everything & Electrics/Battery

When hoisting / bringing down the mainsheet: “KMT”

Kicker Ease, Mainsheet Ease,Topping Lift On

When the main is up and ready, backwards KMT – “TMK”

Topping lift off, mainsheet tighten, tighten kicker

Apart from the sailing checklists and cheatsheets contained on this blog, I’ve for 3 useful ones at http://checklistables.com/tag/sailing/ as well.

Finishing off with my dream boat:

http://www.discoveryyachts.com/our-yachts/discovery-55/

The 4 Hour Work Week

The Four Hour Workweek (4HWW) by Tim Ferriss is an eye-opening read, especially for those like me interested in personal productivity, and running internet-based business models.

Here are the best, no-nonsense takeaways from the book:

If you’re spending 12 hours a day at your desk, and still not finishing your work, it’s time to make a change.
Interest, energy and ability go up and down all the time. Trying to work through it when you’re miserable is unproductive.
Doing less is not being lazy. Don’t give in to a culture that values personal sacrifice over personal productivity.
Stop putting hard choices off because of timing. It kills productivity.
Ask people for forgiveness instead of for permission.
Emphasize what you’re good at rather than trying to correct weaknesses.
Figure out how to use stress rather than letting it make you less able and confident.
Don’t choose unhappiness over uncertainty. Define the worst case scenario to change this.
Watch out for fear disguised as optimism.
Give yourself less time to do everything.
Most problems solve themselves. Stop making an emergency out of everything and “cultivate selective ignorance.”
Master the art of not finishing things and interrupting people.
Some things are just time consuming and repetitive. Do them all at the same time.
Don’t make people ask you for permission. Clearly delineate when you absolutely need to and avoid otherwise.
Consider a remote personal assistant. Outsourcing isn’t just for companies.
Set unrealistic and hugely ambitious goals.
Forget about time management and the “results by volume” approach. – the real focus should be on doing less.
Use the 80/20 rule: 80 percent of the results come from 20 percent of the time and effort.

You can by the book here: The 4 Hour Work Week
And follow Tim Ferriss on his blog here: Tim Ferriss Blog

You make each day a special day. You know how, by just your being you.

This quote by Mr. Rogers, an American children’s host presenter, is the message that I wished I had heard as a child everyday, and the message that I want to pass on to every child I have the privilege to spend time with.

You make each day a special day. You know how, by just your being you. There’s only one person in this whole world like you. And people can like you exactly as you are.

Watch the video below, to see a man with a heart, way ahead of his time, defend his television programme in front of the senate and qote them the quote I have written above.

Personal Productivity (Added to notion)

Here are the top 10 personal productivity principles & techniques that I’ve benefited from in my life.

Making a Vision / Mission Statement
Setting Goals. Big, brave goals release energy. So, set them clearly and then revisit them every morning for 5 minutes.
Morning Rituals
Weekly Planning
The Pareto Principle
Task Management (Example: Getting things done – GTD – especially “mind like water” – getting everything out of my head, writing it down and using the “2-minute rule”)
Outsourcing – Outsource everything you can’t be at BIW (Best in the World). Focus only on activities within what I call “Your Picasso Zone”.
Time Management (Example: The Pomodoro Technique) and focusing on the moment.
Doing the First Thing First (Example: Big Rocks principle, what matters most, eat the frog first)
Inbox Zero

Other productivity tips that didn’t make the list, but are still so important to your productivity:

Stop waiting for perfect conditions to launch a great project. Immediate action fuels a positive feedback loop that drives even more action.
Keep tidy. Mess creates stress.
Sell your TV. You’re just watching other people become successful instead of doing the things that will lead you to your dreams.
Build routines/habits into your life—it’s much easier than disciplining yourself. Peak productivity is not about luck. It’s about devotion.
Don’t say yes to every request. Most of us have a deep need to be liked. That translates into us saying yes to everything – which is the end of your elite productivity.
Stop multitasking. New research confirms that all the distractions invading our lives are rewiring the way our brains work (and drop our IQ by 5 points!). Be one of the rare few who develop the mental and physical discipline to have a mono-maniacal focus on one thing for many hours. (It’s all about practice).
Get fit. Reaching your absolute best physical condition will create explosive energy, renew your focus, and multiply your creativity.
Workout 2X a day. Exercise is one of the greatest productivity tools in the world. So do 20 minutes first thing in the morning and then another workout around 4 or 5 pm to set you up for wow in the evening.
Work in 90-minute blocks with 10-minute intervals to recover and refuel (another game-changing move I personally use to do my best work).
Write a Stop-Doing List. Every productive person obsessively sets to-Do Lists. But those who play at world-class also record what they commit to stopping doing. Steve Jobs said that what made Apple. Apple was not what they chose to build but all the projects they chose to ignore.
Use your commute time. If you’re commuting 30 minutes daily, get this: at the end of a year, you’ve spent 6 weeks of 8-hour days in your car. I encourage you to use that time to listen to fantastic books on audio + excellent podcasts, and valuable learning programs. Remember, triple your learning rate is the fastest way to double your income.
Be a contrarian. Why buy your groceries at the time the store is busiest? Why go to movies on the most popular nights? Why hit the gym when the gym’s full? Do things at off-peak hours, and you’ll save many of them.
Get things right the first time. Most people are wildly distracted these days. And so they make mistakes. To unleash your productivity, become one of the special performers who have the mindset of doing what it takes to get it flawless first. This saves you days of having to fix problems.
Get lost. Don’t be so available to everyone. I often spend hours at a time alone outside. I turn off my devices and think, create, plan and write. Zero interruptions. Pure focus. Massive results.

I genuinely hope these personal productivity tips have been valuable to you. And that I’ve been of service. Your productivity is your life made visible. Please protect it.
Stay productive.