Seriously, the moment I switched to the MBP, I realized just how much I dreaded my old Dell Notebook. I haven’t booted it back up since to retrieve old documents (which says something about the importance of those docs).

Somethings I really like about the Mac is the ease with which I can create Podcasts, edit imagines and video, and of course the many fun and creative productivity applications. The exact type of creative and productive people that a Mac is geared for, are the types that come up with and create simple and productive new applications.

Two pieces of software, in particular, have a very special appeal to me both for their simplicity, and shear power they add to my productivity arsenal. They are the WriteRoom and TaskPaper by Hog Bay Software. Both of these programs are available as FREE 30-day TRIALS.

WriteRoom: Distraction free writing

For people who enjoy the simplicity of a typewriter, but live in the digital world. WriteRoom is a full-screen writing environment. Unlike the cluttered word processors you’re used to, WriteRoom is just about you and your text.

It’s hard to explain the experience, but there’s something about being locked away in a  matted black screen with simplistic green font, that ignites my motivation and creativity in writing. There have been several occasions where I woke up at 5am, turned on WriteRoom, and cranked out 3 full articles by 6:30am.

Just one such morning, and the program has already paid for itself. I use WriteRoom for everything from the aforementioned blog article, to reworking small snippets of text for e-mail, and copy. I even wrote my entire ebook in WriteRoom, and it didn’t take me more than a day.

Be prepared to play. That’s exactly how I feel when I’m in my WriteRoom, alone with my words. I’m not saying that it cures all my writing block, fix my atrocious grammar, and help me crank out my first prize winning novel. I’m just saying it’s simple, fun, and productive, and if you own a Mac, try it for free.

TaskPaper: Simple to-do Lists

For Mac users who want an easier way to make lists and stay organized. TaskPaper is a simple to-do list that’s surprisingly adept. Unlike today’s complex organizers, TaskPaper is just about you and your tasks.

I’m new to TaskPaper. In fact, I only downloaded and started using it this morning (about 8 hours ago). I’ve already managed to get a lot of use out of it, and transfer some of the Tasks that I had written elsewhere into this application.

It’s simple, to be sure. It has some intuitive features, ones that I’ve always wanted, but never saw in any other application. Jesse, the programmer, is clearly a creative and productive individual, who uses his programming superpowers to help people that want productivity without the bullshit.

The interface is as simple as NotePad, but it has some extra features. You can organize and search by Project, Task, and Label. It’s really that simple, but I’d suggest watching the 10 minute screencast and trying it yourself to see what I m ean.

I’m in the works of planning a large Personal Development meetup/seminar, and I’ve been able to use TaskPaper very effectively for the planning part of this event. I’ve also used it for smaller tasks like, podcast interviews to record this week, books to review, and most importantly how I’m going to break down my studying into efficient and manageable chunks throughout the week.

There are dozens of programs out there that are geared towards productivity. What works best for me, may not be your cup of tea. I encourage you to jump into the comments below, and let me know what software has (and has not) worked for you in the past.

Attention: Don’t forget to download my free ebook, How to Get a Girlfriend!!

I must admit that AJ and Jordan Harbinger, the brothers responsible for bringing us the Pickup Podcast played a big role in motivating me to start the Practical Personal Development Podcast that you see on this site. Had I not seen the level of success that their Podcast has achieved, and the incredible value that it brings to single males everywhere, I may not have opened up this medium, and all the doors of opportunity that have been opening because of it.

1. Self Described As…

Here at Pickup Podcast, we’ll show you how to build the LIFESTYLE that you’ve always wanted. Every week we discuss social dynamics, interpersonal skills, and sexual charisma. We bring in experts from different backgrounds and perspectives to share stories and content to help YOU bring out your best!

We offer practical advice that’s simple to understand, easy to implement, and, of course -fun to listen to!

We’re always having a great time, and we want you to have the same. Come join us, AJ and Jordan on our weekly adventures. Learn something different, do something incredible, and be amazed as you watch yourself, and your lifestyle, transform into what you’ve always wanted!

2. Social Interaction Scientists

Some people describe AJ and Jordan as Pickup Artists, which makes sense if you look at the intuitive, creative, expressive nature of what they do in social interactions. I would go so far as to call them social interaction scientists.

Although not certified from an accredited school on the psychology of social interactions, I have no doubt that they’ve read, and experimented more than many people with degrees. What this means for single guys is that they can teach you, step by step, how to take the ‘lucky’ out of ‘getting lucky’.

A big question people have is, does this stuff work? Sure! Just like any other skill, social skills are improved with properly aimed practice and repetition. You can aimlessly go out into bars, and not meet a high-quality person every day, and you’ll do nothing more than practice being clueless.

However, practice proper form and techniques, combined with expert coaching and advice, and you’ll be on your way to getting skills that will stay with you for life. Think about it, if you take away the guess work and chance out of interacting with the opposite sex, what will be possible for you? Such skills will extend into other areas of your business and social life.

3. At The Site

The team at Pickup Podcast just relaunched with a new design, which I must say is beautiful and functional. It very much matches the banners that you see here, which should give you a taste, and make you want to see it, if only for the design.

Along with the new theme they’ve installed user profile pages, as well as a favorites and karma system. The blog articles are filled with content from other leading ‘social interaction scientists’ or gurus as you might call them.

The main part of the Pickup Podcast website is of course the Podcast, which currently features over 70 episodes with 100+ hours of free dating tips and interviews with experts. I think this is great, because AJ and Jordan can’t possibly know everything, but with the awesome collective of gurus they sure do cover most of the bases.

There is also an active forum and community surrounding the Pickup Podcast. This gives you the opportunity to ask questions from experts, peers, and of course AJ and Jordan. In fact, it’s highly likely that they’ll use your questions live on the Podcast.

When it comes down to it, theory is theory, which is different from hands on experience. That’s where The Art of Charm, the sister site of Pickup Podcast, comes in. Once you’ve warmed up to the idea of taking your dating life to the next level, you’re given the opportunity to get hands on training from expert dating coaches.

They have bootcamps (or seminars) in different parts of the world, so you’re able to choose something near you, or go elsewhere and make a vacation out of it. The coaches will take you into the field, meaning real social interactions, and give you real-time advice as they watch you perform.

Even the great Michael Jordan, and the all-star Tiger Woods have coaches. If the best in the field need coaches, to improve just a tiny bit, image how much improvement you could get at your current level.

4. Window Shopping For Women

This is where it gets interesting. Window Shopping for Women is a training program that coaches men to pick up women on the internet. Does that sound weird? Hear me out before jumping to conclusions.

There are several reasons why people use websites such as MySpace and Facebook. There’s the networking purpose, making friends, oh and of course meeting a romantic interest. Window Shopping for Women teaches you effective techniques for building an interesting profile. It teaches you the proper way to start an online conversations, and caries you through the ‘things to avoid’ as well as the important things you need to do in order to secure a date.

When it comes down to it, you’re awesome, and people would be lucky to deserve a chance to meet and date you. Just because your technique is off, or you haven’t had a lot of practice with the opposite sex shouldn’t lock you into a lifestyle of solitude. Give these programs a try, and see how you could self-improve your social life.

*Pickup Podcast – The Art of Charm – Window Shopping for Women*

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Attention: Don’t forget to download my free ebook, How to Get a Girlfriend!!

Tools to life is completely free online self help coaching system and support network that is a labor of love. We have been helping people loose weight, improve their relationships, resolve depression, overcome anxiety and get better careers for over 20 years.

I’ll vouch for the site looking like a labor of love. I made a profile and was really impressed by the way the site was designed and put together. Everything is thought out and it looks very welcoming. It’s a social network website that has a purpose

I wanted to take a look at what kind of self-help programs Tools To Life was offering, so I signed up for their flagship program by Devlyn Steele.

Developed by creator and founder of Tools To Life. This is a 90 day program giving you daily reading, audio, video and exercises to learn the skills of making better choices and creating the goals and success that you want in your life.

As soon as I clicked in I was asked to e-sign a very craft personal commitment statement:

I, AlexShalman, agree that I will dedicate time and action to learning program “Tools To Life – Devlyn Steele” and creating the changes and results I want in my life. I agree to follow the course day by day. I understand that change is a process and to achieve real change I need to not concentrate on instant gratification results, but to a process of real change. I know I am powerful and with guidance and support I can create the life I want!
This is just a dramatization

I was impressed because the program demands commitment, which is the missing ingredient in many self-help programs. Once inside of the program I was once again impressed. I liked both the feel of the site, navigation, etc. and I liked the amount of tools available to help me achieve my goals.

This picture represents day one of the 90 day training course. As you can see they have many audio-video instructions, tips, tools, advice, a place to record your progress and list your to-do list. You even get a couch and support along the way.

I even had a little fun playing with their to-do software online. It’s very intuitive and easy to use.

The whole program is self-directed, meaning you will guide yourself through the process without anyone on your back. The claim is that Tools to Life is free and will always be free as it is a gift to the public. I think it’s a great gift and the program does have potential to be life changing. The problem with this program, and every other program, is that it’s useless unless people put in the time and effort to follow the steps to completion.

If you do end up giving this program a try, you have nothing to lose except a little time, but have a pretty interesting program to gain. Enjoy.
If you’re looking to advertise on this site you can always check out the advertisement page.

Attention: Don’t forget to download my free ebook, How to Get a Girlfriend!!

For the past month I’ve been having some excellent workouts. Workouts that I’ve been really looking forward to. Some people would argue that work outs should be strictly work and no play, but I disagree. I think it’s possible to have a lot of fun while getting your work done at the same time.

If you’re an American, and I know a lot of your are, then it’s very likely that you aren’t meeting the minimum recommended exercise intake. I’m sure the percentage is lower because you are investing time into personal development. This is why I’m sure you will appreciate learning of new ways to improve your health through exercise.

The Essentials of a Good Work Out

1. Sweat. Your body temperature rises, and so does your heart rate. You’re using your body at a higher level than you would throughout your day. This makes your regularly scheduled tasks much easier compared to the threshold you’ve set for yourself through your workout routine.
2. You give it your all. This is an exercise in mental fitness, rather than simply physical fitness. You develop a level of discipline when you’re pushing yourself to the next level. Later in the day when you’re working on a really tough project, you’ll get through it because you’ve already established discipline.
3. It’s fun and variable. I think a fun exercise is crucial because doing the same thing over and over can be mind-boggling. On one hand you want to develop discipline, but on the other you want to actually do the workout and gain physical benefits.
4. Safe. Let’s face it, if you drop a 200lb weight on your chest, or get sprained ankles from your exercise routine it’s going to distract you from your regularly schedule programming. You can push yourself to new limits without hurting yourself. If you’re not sure how to do that than invest in a couple of sessions with a personal trainer.

Urban Rebounder

I mentioned that I’ve been having great workouts, and I’m sure by now you’re curious to know what I’ve been doing. My ‘secret formula’ is the Urban Rebounder. It has all of the essentials that I mentioned in list above. It makes you sweat, you can give it your all, it’s fun, variable, and safe.

It’s an excellent cardiovascular workout for kids, adults and seniors of both the male and female species alike. J.B. Berns, who practiced martial arts for over 20 years and is said to be one of the best personal trainers in America according to fitness magazine, is the creative force behind the Urban Rebounder.

I got a chance to speak with him through e-mails and he seems very knowledgeable and dedicated to his product and to serving people. He even invited me to his Urban Rebounding class up in NYC, but I have yet to accept his invitation and schlep my way over there.

When J.B. sent me the Urban Rebounding kit, complete with rebounder and 6 DVDs, I felt like a kid opening up presents. Essentially I was since J.B. had sent it to me for free to review for you guys. At first it looked kind of big, but then I realized that you just simply fold it in half and put it in a closet and you’re done with it until the next day. I personally keep it in the basement under the ping pong table when I’m not using it.

If you and a friend both decide to get one so that you can exercise together you can get a special carrying case, which should make it an absolute breeze to transport. I didn’t get one with my package, but when I order the second rebounder to keep at Marina’s house I’ll get myself 2 carrying cases.

The Urban Rebounder DVDs each have about 4 workouts on them, and you get really ‘close’ with the Urban Rebounding instructors when you see them for 30 minutes each day. Well it’s each day for me, but you can do 20 minutes 3 times a day. It’s up to you. I personally get a lot of entertainment from their huge personalities when I’m working out.

With so many workouts you don’t get a chance to get bored of them. They’re easy enough to follow all the steps, but you can choose your difficulty by simply pressing harder on the rebounder. If I can get a great work out from it so can you.

Go ahead and take a peak at the Urban Rebounding website. If you’re ordering I would get it from there directly because you’ll get the best deal and it will be easier to deal with any issues that might come up. Urban Rebounder official site.

Attention: Don’t forget to download my free ebook, How to Get a Girlfriend!!

David B. Bohl is the life coach and author at Slow Down Fast. David went from the fast track of owning and operating a financial firm that was taking over his life to recapturing life balance and cultivating a truly happy existence.

Trained as a professional life coach by the Denver Coach Training Alliance David has empowered +200 people over the past two and a half years. The interesting part is the caliber of the people that make up his clientèle.

For the most part David’s clients are successful overachievers that are on the fast track in the same way that David was at one point. They’re intelligent people, some of whom work at Silicon Valley and others who are licensed psychologists.

David enables people to design a life based on what’s important and not what society tells us is important. I think it was a good choice for David to purchase this review here since the demographic of the readers are intelligent overachievers interested in taking their life to the next level.

David stays current on all the “self-help revelations” as well as the classics with his habit of reading 3 books a week. That’s a lot of books David- you are one well read man.

David’s Mission Statement:

I empower people to live their lives their own way, achieve what they want in life, and to give them the tools to sustain that desired life and lifestyle.

I try to live a values-centered life. I lead by example – I put into practice my values in all of my affairs. I try to be the best husband, father, son, brother, friend, community member and business person that I can be and to leave the world a better place for all I come in contact with. My mission is to contribute to people’s lives instead of adding negativity to their lives. All of this while remaining pragmatic and real.

Mantra: To Empower Others

The Happiness Trilogy: 3 Steps to Happiness, Success, and Fulfillment

1. Your Life in Balance
2. Your Personal Mission Statement
3. The Goal Book

These are the 3 ebooks that make up David’s Happiness Trilogy. David tells me that he has had so much success with these ebooks that after thousands of copies sold he has been contacted by a publishing company to bring these to hundreds of thousands more people.

The Slow Down Fast happiness trilogy takes you through a process and gives you all the tools that you need to change now and continue to grow throughout the rest of your life.

You can purchase all three of these ebooks, a value of $63.97 for just $37.00. Nice discount.

“Everything you need to define and live out the perfect life for you is within yourself, waiting to be discovered.”
~David B. Bohl

David’s: 5 Pillars of Balance

1. Change Your Paradigm from “Why?” to “Why not?”
2. Try one new thing every day.
3. Put family and friends first.
4. Everything in moderation, including moderation.
5. Share of yourself.

“Life is too short to waste and more isn’t necessarily better. Who you are is most important so figure out your own secret in to life.”
~David B. Bohl

David’s: 5 Things To Create Change

1. Learning and Investigation
2. Commitment
3. Determination
4. Action
5. Sustained Effort

Why Choose David B. Bohl?

If David’s success, accomplishments and experience as a life coach aren’t enough for you to consider a session or a purchase of his book then consider some of these other reasons. He might not be Tony Robbins or Brian Tracy but he’s way cheaper, he’ll work with you personally and easily he’s accessible by phone: (866) 538-3226.

From the perceptive of satisfied clients David boasts a 100% success ratio with his coaching. I think that’s very impressive number although I’m not sure if it’s completely accurate. David is great to talk to because you can sense the excitement and passion in his voice. You can tell he’s very present and with you during the conversation.

While his coaching sessions can be as much as $147.00 per session, they do come with personalized one-to-one coaching, e-mail support and a money back guarantee. My experience with being coached weekly (not by David, but by another coach) has shown me that coaches can in fact make a huge difference in your growth.

A couple of David’s most popular posts are:

• Are You For Real?
• Do You Make The Mistake of ODing on Self Help?
• David’s Blog
• Learn more about David

“The time is now. Now is always the right time for change and growth.”
~David B. Bohl

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Attention: Don’t forget to download my free ebook, How to Get a Girlfriend!!