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Just want to share one of my favourite links with you all – lifehacker.com! Their motto is “Tips and downloads for getting things done” and I think that’s a fair description. No matter if you’re a tech geek, business traveller, DIY manic or all of the above – there’s always something useful over at Lifehacker. Check it out!

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This is my second post on the theme of motivation and inspiration. This time I have picked a speech by Randy Pausch. Randy was a professor of computer science at the Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, USA. In 2006 he learned that he had a terminal case of pancreatic cancer, and in the end of 2007 he gave an amazing university lecture titled “The Last Lecture: Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams”. It’s a lecture filled with emotions and realizations, but with a lot of humor and positive energy. It’s close to 80 minutes long, but it’s just so worth it. So please do watch it. Randy Pausch passed away in july 2008, but his words and thoughts will be with me forever.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ji5_MqicxSo

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The Toyota Way (or the Toyota Production System) is a philosophy and a set of principles introduced by Toyota to increase quality and put long term thinking in focus. It’s not an easy philosophy to describe, but it’s basically about putting quality before quantity, increasing teamwork and paying attention to detail.

I would advice you all to invest 60 minutes of your time to listen to an episode of the podcast This American Life. In the episode you will learn more about the Toyota Production System, and the challenges of exporting the philosophy from Japan and implementing it into an US auto plant. It covers a lot of important questions, interesting facts and gripping takes on human behaviour. You will find it useful in many ways!

http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/403/nummi

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I’m a big fan of the Opera browser and the dedicated community surrounding it, and this is why:

• I like to support an innovative scandinavian company
• Their track record when it comes to innovative browser technology
• It’s available on most platforms, and Opera Link syncs your bookmarks perfectly
• They are working with core web standards
• It’s lightweight, fast and slick
• It’s fun to be different and support the underdog
• Opera Mini. I’m not using it anymore, but it revolutionized mobile browsing, and is the only gateway to the web for millions of people around the globe
• The amazing executive team which I have been honoured to meet on location in Oslo

So, give it a chance. Get Opera today!

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Here are some interesting views on Google from the swedish web entrepreneur Ted Valentin:

http://www.tedvalentin.com/2010/05/google-content-producer.html

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There’s hundreds of thousands of books, movies, websites and public speakers claiming they know just the trick to get your motivation up, and help you make the most of your life. In my opinion most of it is crap, made only to separate you from your money. There are, however, amazing stuff to be found. I will share some of these treasures with you beginning with a speech that has meant a lot to me during the last 4 years. I always keep this one in the back of my head. Let me begin with a quote:

“You’ve got to find what you love. And that is as true for your work as it is for your lovers. Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven’t found it yet, keep looking. Don’t settle. As with all matters of the heart, you’ll know when you find it. And, like any great relationship, it just gets better and better as the years roll on. So keep looking until you find it. Don’t settle.”

These words needs to be put in context though. The quote is from a speech made by Steve Jobs during a commencement address for graduates at Stanford University in 2005. It’s an impressive speech that covers a lot of important subjects – and all this in 15 minutes. So go ahead, relax and give it a shot – it might change your life. Stay hungry, stay foolish!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UF8uR6Z6KLc

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These days it’s common to hear people brag about how busy they are at work, how many unread emails they have in their inbox, or how many hours of overtime they are working. This tells me NOTHING, and it’s no achievement what so ever to end up with a lot of stuff to do. I want people to tell me what they have actually done, and I want exactly that to be what matters. Feeling guilty? Don’t worry, just change your mindset. Focus on your achievements, and let your co-workers know about the real accomplishments.

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Just a small note for those of you living in the Stockholm area. Since some time back there is a government funded project called “Entrepreneur Sthlm” running in the region. The goal of this project is to empower entrepreneurs in different ways. They helped me out last year by putting me in contact with a private consulting company offering advice during the startup of my company. This is a service that usually cost you money, but was made free (well, financed by tax money) as a part of this project. I would highly recommend you to do the same if you’re considering starting a company, or if you’re in need of some advice for an existing business.

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If you’re not familiar with the podcast No Agenda, it’s time to wake up. It’s a great show with Adam Curry and John C. Dvorak dissecting recent news and events with a twist. Sometimes a bit too conspiratorial, but still highly enjoyable and good! They have been building their brand on an “open source” model allowing listeners and fans to use the show (and stuff related to it) in whatever way they find suitable. The result is a big movement with a lot of related sites and projects. Some are very good, and some are less good.

Anyway. I found it a bit tricky to keep track of all these sites and projects so I created a portal called The No Agenda Network for an easy overview and fast access to all the resources. The site got a lot of praise on air by Adam Curry and since then I’m noticing a very good number of visitors on the domain. So, go ahead – check out the No Agenda Network and don’t forget to check out the show as well!

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Jason Calacanis has some interesting thoughts on loyalty. Follow the link below and scroll down to the “You’ve Got Mail!” section. It’s quite a long read but it’s worth it.

http://calacanis.com/2010/04/27/red-jackson-gen-y-loyalty/

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