As I spend more time on it over the next few days I’ll add the ability to read multiple items from multiple sheets – my organizational system gives me one sheet for each month of a given year.  I’d also like to add support for writing to a different calendar, as well as a to-do list or even my new favorite toy – GQueues.

The functionality I’m really looking for is the ability to populate the information from the spreadsheet to multiple sources, and have my to-do list or GQueues push out to each source when the item is completed, ultimately logging the date (and amount paid) back on the spreadsheet.  But I tend to get ahead of myself – that will probably require more checks in both directions that I will ever feel like writing.

Oh, and a disclamer – I’m no programmer, I just dabble.  If you want to talk to a coder, talk to my brother.

function GoogleAppScriptExample() { 
 var ss = SpreadsheetApp.getActiveSpreadsheet(); //gets the active spreadsheet
 var sheet = ss.getSheets()[0]; //gets the active sheet
 var payee = sheet.getRange("A3").getValue(); //you can figure the rest out yourselves, its not that complicated.
 var dateDue = sheet.getRange("B3").getValue();
 var amountDue = sheet.getRange("C3").getValue();
 Browser.msgBox("Payee: " + payee + " Due Date: " + dateDue + " Amount Due: " + amountDue); //turn off for real deployment
 var cal = CalendarApp.getDefaultCalendar();
 cal.createEvent(payee + ": " + amountDue, new Date(dateDue), new Date(dateDue));
}

Have fun – I’ll keep posting stuff as I get it done.

If your self-confidence is low, can you do things to change that? Do you control your own self-confidence?

I believe you can take steps to increase your confidence. You weren’t born with low self-confidence and you don’t have to rely on others to increase your self-confidence. If you feel you are not competent, smart, attractive or whatever it may be… that can be changed.

Here are four steps to help build your confidence:

Accept yourself

Imagine what your life would be like if you could just be yourself, without thinking twice about other people’s perceptions of you. The first step is to accept yourself. Nobody is perfect, so why spend time worrying about the things you can’t do?

You’re probably familiar with the voice in your head saying you’re never good enough. Instead of listening to that voice; focus on your successes. Use them as an example to drive you forward.

Do something you enjoy

Decide what work brings you joy. This may seem obvious, but how much time do you spend thinking about the work you enjoy doing? It’s easy to get caught up in checking things off that to-do list or rushing off to yet another meeting. Take a few minutes this week, and make a list of all the work that jazzes you.

Don’t forget those non-work things that give you pleasure:

• time for family and friends
• look after your health
• pursue hobbies and interests
• stretch your mind

Find your peers

Building and maintaining self-confidence is not a solo effort. You need the support of like-minded people. It is easier when you are among people who are share the same interests mind-set as you. They will understand you and vice versa. This creates conditions for healthy conversations. You will feel more secure in your ideas when others want to hear and appreciate what you have to say.

Set Goals

Setting goals is not complicated. It can be challenging, but the process of goal setting can be of value to you in building excitement and commitment, which are important factors in achieving success.

The idea is to begin with a small single step that can then further developed into giant strides. Learn to do the work at hand rather than to overwhelm oneself by looking at the whole of a large task.

Break a big task into a list of small tasks. Check off each step you complete. A completed task, no matter how small, gives a sense of achievement that boosts self-confidence and gives more drive to try a bigger task.

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• 33 Striking Differences Between Winners And Losers – So Which Side Are You On? (healthmoneysuccess.com)
• Six Secrets for Building your Confidence (thecustomercollective.com)

Recommended: The Zen Habits Handbook for Life!

If your self-confidence is low, can you do things to change that? Do you control your own self-confidence?

I believe you can take steps to increase your confidence. You weren’t born with low self-confidence and you don’t have to rely on others to increase your self-confidence. If you feel you are not competent, smart, attractive or whatever it may be… that can be changed.

Here are four steps to help build your confidence:

Accept yourself

Imagine what your life would be like if you could just be yourself, without thinking twice about other people’s perceptions of you. The first step is to accept yourself. Nobody is perfect, so why spend time worrying about the things you can’t do?

You’re probably familiar with the voice in your head saying you’re never good enough. Instead of listening to that voice; focus on your successes. Use them as an example to drive you forward.

Do something you enjoy

Decide what work brings you joy. This may seem obvious, but how much time do you spend thinking about the work you enjoy doing? It’s easy to get caught up in checking things off that to-do list or rushing off to yet another meeting. Take a few minutes this week, and make a list of all the work that jazzes you.

Don’t forget those non-work things that give you pleasure:

• time for family and friends
• look after your health
• pursue hobbies and interests
• stretch your mind

Find your peers

Building and maintaining self-confidence is not a solo effort. You need the support of like-minded people. It is easier when you are among people who are share the same interests mind-set as you. They will understand you and vice versa. This creates conditions for healthy conversations. You will feel more secure in your ideas when others want to hear and appreciate what you have to say.

Set Goals

Setting goals is not complicated. It can be challenging, but the process of goal setting can be of value to you in building excitement and commitment, which are important factors in achieving success.

The idea is to begin with a small single step that can then further developed into giant strides. Learn to do the work at hand rather than to overwhelm oneself by looking at the whole of a large task.

Break a big task into a list of small tasks. Check off each step you complete. A completed task, no matter how small, gives a sense of achievement that boosts self-confidence and gives more drive to try a bigger task.

Related articles by Zemanta

• 33 Striking Differences Between Winners And Losers – So Which Side Are You On? (healthmoneysuccess.com)
• Six Secrets for Building your Confidence (thecustomercollective.com)

Recommended: The Zen Habits Handbook for Life!

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Continue reading Rob Pardo speaks about Blizzard game design

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In my last post I wrote about how you can find your passion, but today I want to focus on the mistakes people make while going after their dreams. If you can identify with any of these mistakes, you might want to get it corrected as fast as possible. It will help you get back on track to moving towards making your dreams a reality instead of moving away from them.

We often get stuck in arbitrary things. We make excuses. We try to find shortcuts, and we try to do all these things that in the end only prevent us from reaching our goals. If you're really serious about pursuing your dreams and making them real, then you may want to read on...

1. Stopping at Uncomfortable

When you start something new, it will be scary. If you are serious about finding, following, and making your passion(s) and dream(s) a reality, you will have to deal with fear. You will have to accept that being uncomfortable means growing as a human being and making progress towards your goals.

I'm not talking about being physically uncomfortable, such as sitting on your leg until it falls asleep. I am talking about being emotionally uncomfortable. Being afraid to take the next step because you don't know what lies behind the next turn. Your journey will be unique, so you will have to learn how to deal with this yourself.

Look at it as driving a car: you know your destination (most times), but you can't see beyond the next bend. You still know where you're going, but you just can't see it.

2. Looking for Shortcuts

A lot of people are looking for shortcuts. They are looking for that one thing that will make them catapult to the front of the line and eliminate years off their learning curve. I'm sorry to say this, but it doesn't work that way. If you want to create your dream life and live out your passion(s), you will first have to find your passion and then take action to make it happen. (If you love gardening and want to teach other people how to do it, for example, that's excellent, and you can make a living doing that if you really want to.)

Remember, there's always room for those that are willing to go the extra mile. Stop looking for shortcuts and start using what you have. There are no magic bullets out there that will do it all for you. You will have to learn. You will have to work hard and you will have to make mistakes and learn from them.

3. Waiting for Perfection

I'm so guilty of this one. I used to be the worst perfectionist. I still am to a certain degree, but I'm more aware of it now. I am able to let things be imperfect without going crazy.

You don't have to wait for the stars to align or for someone to give you permission to go after your dreams. Most people blame their circumstances for not allowing them to make their dreams a reality. This is a big mistake. If you want to live your dream life, do what you love and change the world, you will have to take matters into your own hands and make a change.

You can always start somewhere. Don't worry about not knowing what to do. All you have to learn is what to do next. (Maybe you need to start a blog. Do a simple Google search for that, and you'll find plenty of tutorials. Maybe you will even fail at blogging and learn that you like something else instead.) It's all a part of the process. Successful people didn't become successful overnight, although that is what it usually looks like. They often failed over and over again until they found what worked for them.

4. Failing to Listen to Your Heart

Your heart knows things. Your mind...not so much. Your mind worries, it analyzes, it judges, and it does all those things that can easily take over your life. Now, I'm not saying that the mind is bad, it's just a tool, but it has become a bad thing in most people's lives because it has taken over. Many refer to this as the Ego, the Id or whatever you like to call it.

Your heart, on the other hand, will let you know when you're on the right path. You will feel good when you're following your passion. You will feel awesome when you're heading in the right direction, and you will feel blissed out when you realize that you have a whole guidance system inside of you that is perfect for you. (But remember, you also have to understand your emotions, because your heart may be trying to tell you something and you may be blocking it with fear or a surface emotion.)

If you want to pursue your dreams, start by finding your passion, then thinking about how you can make it real, and then taking action. It's really that simple. If you want to slow yourself down, then go ahead and pick one of the deadly mistakes above.

But know this: you are here for a reason. You are here to have a positive impact on this planet. You know that thing that you feel in your heart that you've always wanted to do? I'm here to tell you that you can do it, if you really want to. So what are you waiting for?

• A good chance
• Almost certain
• Better than even
• Definite
• Highly probable
• Highly unlikely
• Impossible
• Improbable
• Likely
• Possible
• Probable
• Quite likely
• Rare
• Seldom
• Unlikely
• Very

Do they mean the same thing to the people listen you use them or read what your write?

What you say is only as effective as what is heard and understood by the listener. Too often, our messages are obscured by the the words we use. We compound the problem when we are unaware of the gap between what is intended and the message received.

I am guilty of using all of these phrases when speaking and writing. I shouldn’t expect other people to adopt what I think the phrases mean; I should work on using the clearest language possible.

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Do you remember to the days of college, when you were required to sort through your curriculum and career goals with your designated college advisor? Education startup MyEdu aims to replace this by helping students virtually access their academic information and create a roadmap tailored to their career goals.

To date, over 2 million students at 750 universities have used MyEdu to earn their degree. MyEdu’s suite of online products try to streamline the entire process of a college student’s lifecycle, from selecting a college through to earning a degree. The suite includes detailed course descriptions, grade distributions, official course evaluations, and student reviews to pick the right classes; and schedule Planner to build the best schedule that fits a student’s time constraints and goals.

MyEdu also includes a graduation and degree roadmap to help students build a plan and stay on course towards the degree they want in order to graduate. And the academic progress dashboard allows students to track their grades in a centralized place. MyEdu charges a $20 annual subscription for the entire academic suite.

The startup, which just raised $5.5 million in funding from Bain Capital Ventures, has a compelling model to help both students and parents participate in the college planning process. And as colleges are now rapidly adopting web technologies as a educational tool (i.e. Blackboard); it makes sense for universities to do the same for college advising.