I just finished a fantastic book called Drive by Dan Pink, which is all about motivation, the rewards used to motivate us, and how the way people are rewarded (in a carrot and stick way) needs a major overhaul.

He also identified the three areas that motivate us in anything we do, which are:

• Autonomy (having control over the task, rather than being dictated to)
• Mastery (the task is something that we want to master)
• Purpose (that the task fits into a bigger picture somehow)

Interesting to take these into account when setting up your goal list. Looking back now, I think if I was to re-start this project, I would cut down the list significantly, to maybe 4-5 bigger things that I wanted to focus on getting better at in the next 12 months, and do that. Not that I regret this list – it has been a great way to taste test a bunch of different things to see what I would like to go further with.

One interesting question the book raised was the concept that ‘a great man is a sentence‘, for example Abraham Lincoln’s sentence was that he ‘preserved the union and freed the slaves’. Watch the video below for more.

I have been thinking over the past few days about what I want my sentence to be. Not sure just yet, but it is certainly a great way of focusing your mind on what is most important in your life.

Anyone interested in learning more about the right and wrong ways to motivate yourself and others should definitely read this book.

My sister Mel snapped this shot of her car’s speedometer as it reached the impressive milestone of 183,000 km.

Take one abandoned house.

Add a touch of creativity and effort.

And the willingness of lots of people to get involved.

Plus chalk.

And you end up with something fantastic.

Before I die is a project by Candy Chang that invites people to think, and then contribute, their greatest desire before they do reach their eventual end.

Go here to check out all the photos and more about the project.

Are you the kind of person that used to love getting ‘well done’ stickers in your school book for doing your homework? (I know I was).

If you are, you might like Daily Feats.

In their own words, “DailyFeats is where you, and your family, share and earn rewards for your positive actions — your feats.”

Basically, you earn different badges, and different points for the different feats you achieve, from getting up early, eating whole grain bread or doing a work out. Check out the video for more.

Today is my 28th (gulp!) birthday, which means exactly two years left to complete my last 100 or so goals. A goal a week from here on in might be a bit tricky, but nothing worth doing was ever (as one person I read about puts it, the tastiest ice cream is always the hardest to scoop).

I thought this comic from Toothpaste for Dinner is quite true.

I am really bad at over-checking my Twitter feed, or Facebook, or just randomly watching videos on YouTube. Maybe computers are like the cigarettes of the 21st century?

I feel like there are two types of people in the world.

Those who avoid things that give them fear, and those that embrace and overcome fear.

And it is the latter group who change the world we live in for the better, and lead fuller lives.

For me, it is when I overcome something that scares me it gives me an awesome feeling of accomplishment inside. And most of the time makes me realise that the thing I feared (i.e. skydiving) wasn’t really that scary after all.

The point of this post is simply to say ‘embrace fear, actively seek it out, and attempt to overcome it‘.

There was an article in the newspaper the other day listing the top 10 things that make people scared.

Here are the top 10, in no particular order:

Buying a home

Marriage

Redundancy

Giving birth/attending birth of child

First kiss

Leaving home

First day on a new job

Meeting the in-laws

Losing your virginity

Operation

What do you think was number 1 on the list? The results may surprise you. Click the image thumbnail below to see them in their correct order.

Were there any missing that would make your top 10?

I love simple ideas that get people interacting. And this is one of the best.

Notologist is a website where people leave random notes around. The finder of a note is requested to leave their response on the Notologist website, where other people can leave their comments about the reply, and get a conversation going.

A couple of my favourite notes so far is:

Pencil or pen?

To which the answerer wrote:

Pen. They’re mightier than swords, right? So you can use it to write something OR fight a pirate.

So far most notes are left in the US, but London and Melbourne have also been notified. Check them all out at the website.

(via Brandflakes)

I spotted this in Westfield in west London on the weekend, full of people completing the sentence “In 2011 I will…”

Click the image below to get a close up of what a few people wrote.

As long-time readers of this blog may remember, back in 2008 I successfully attempted to travel to every station on the Melbourne train network in one day (I did it in just over 18 hours). Here is my summary of the day.

Not the coolest of achievements, but an achievement none the less.

I read in The Age yesterday an article that a young man named Lachlan had tried to beat my record.

Unfortunately for him, he didn’t succeed. Delays and a late afternoon illness got the better of him.

Lachlan later sent me a message on Twitter saying ‘ Congratulations on your successful attempt! One cancellation & an illness lead to my failure — you may hold the fastest time!’

For those of you familiar with Inspector Gadget, you will remember that at the end of every episode his enemy Dr Claw, upon being defeated once again, would proclaim ‘I’ll get you next time Gadget; next time!’

Well, I am getting that vibe from Lachlan’s message. He may have been defeated this time, but I sense a second attempt coming soon.

And if so, I wish him the best of luck. Anyone crazy enough to want to do 18 or so hours of train travel has earned my full respect.

Plus, records are made to be broken.