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Building A Dream Life

Why is it That We Too Often Confuse Simple and Easy?

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No One Ever Said That Living Right Would Be Easy

I recently read a blog post from Rabbi Evan Moffic titled, The Difference Between Simple and Easy. As someone who is good at making simple things more complicated than they need to be, I had a light bulb moment while reading. I realized how much of the time we confuse these two.

Simple and easy do not mean the same thing.

For example:

“The Ten Commandments are simple. They are a list of ten things we should and shouldn’t do.

But are they easy? No. If they were easy, we would leave in a world without murder, theft, adultery, or conflict. They are simple but not easy.

Certain acts are easy and simple. Baking a cake from a cake mix is simple and easy. You pour out the mix, add water and eggs, stir, put in the oven, and enjoy.

Some acts can be easy but not always simple. Habits often fall into this category. Take driving, for example.

Driving is easy for many of us if we have been doing it for years. But anyone who has sat with a new teenage driver in a car knows it is not simple! It becomes easy over time.

Now the most meaningful category: Simple but not easy.

Following a diet is an example of simple but not easy. We generally know which foods are healthy and which are not. But we do not have an easy time sticking to them.”

Living right is simple but not easy.

It is easy to look at others and compare ourselves to them, both good and bad.

In Luke 18:9-14, Jesus shows us an example of a Pharisee and a tax collector doing this.

By all appearances the Pharisee had been living right. He was not greedy or dishonest. He had been faithful in his marriage, followed the law and tithed. All things that are part of living as God wants us to.

Then he did something that God doesn’t want us to. He built himself up by comparing himself with a tax collector.

Normally tax collectors were known for overcharging people when collecting taxes and would pocket the extra. They were looked down on by the Jewish people of that time.

The tax collector was belittling himself and feeling inadequate and unworthy. He was asking God for forgiveness.

Neither of these men was completely right or completely wrong.

We need to be careful to not compare ourselves to others.

We need to compare ourselves to what God wants.

This is simple, but not easy.

Like the Ten Commandments as well as the rest of the Bible…it’s all very simple. But living it out in our daily lives isn’t easy.

How Many Times Should You Try Something Before You Quit?

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Successful People Accomplish More Because They Persist Without Exception

This is an interesting question. How many times is too many…ten, fifty, a few hundred, how many?

Depending on who you ask, the answer will be different.

For example, if you ask one individual in England, how many attempts should be made at passing a driver’s text, he will tell you…157. Why? Because it took him 158 attempts to pass.

It is reported that he spent over $5,000.00 in fees to accomplish this.

This is some serious persistence.

We don’t know exactly how many times the lady went to see the judge in Jesus’ story in Luke 18:1-8. What we do know is that she wouldn’t take no for an answer seeking justice from the judge. Persistence like hers pays off.

Whatever we’re trying to do will happen if it aligns with God’s purpose and we persist.

Wanting to align my desires with God’s is one reason I include the “serenity prayer” in my daily prayer time.

God, grant me:

Serenity to accept the things I can’t change,

Courage to change the things I can,

Wisdom to know the difference.

Help me to:

Live one day at a time

Enjoy one moment at a time

Accept hardship as a pathway to peace

Take the sinful world as it is

Trust that You will make all things right if I surrender to Your will

In everything Your will be done

Amen

Persistence is a choice that we can make.

It is the 7th Decision (link) in Andy Andrew’s book, The Traveler’s Gift. I think this excerpt from the book explains it as well as anything…

“I will persist without exception. I will continue despite exhaustion. I acknowledge the fact that most people quit when exhaustion sets in. I am not “most people.” I am stronger than most people. Average people accept exhaustion as a matter of course. I do not. Average people compare themselves with other people. That is why they are average. I compare myself to my potential. I am not average. I see exhaustion as a precursor to victory.

How long must a child try to walk before he actually does so? Do I not have more strength than a child? More understanding? More desire? How long must I work to succeed before I actually do so? A child would never ask the question, for the answer does not matter. By persisting without exception, my outcome—my success—is assured. I will persist without exception. I focus on results.

To achieve the results I desire, it is not even necessary that I enjoy the process. It is only important that I continue the process with my eyes on the outcome. An athlete does not enjoy the pain of training; an athlete enjoys the results of having trained. A young falcon is pushed from the nest, afraid and tumbling from the cliff. The pain of learning to fly cannot be an enjoyable experience, but the anguish of learning to fly is quickly forgotten as the falcon soars to the heavens.

A sailor who fearfully watches stormy seas lash his vessel will always steer an unproductive course. But a wise and experienced captain keeps his eye firmly fixed upon the lighthouse. He knows that by guiding his ship directly to a specific point, the time spent in discomfort is lessened. And by keeping his eye on the light, there never exists one second of discouragement. My light, my harbor, my future is within sight!

I will persist without exception. I am a person of great faith. In Jeremiah, my Creator declares, “For I know the plans I have for you, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” From this day forward, I will claim a faith in the certainty of my future. Too much of my life has been spent doubting my beliefs and believing my doubts. No more! I have faith in my future. I do not look left or right. I look forward. I can only persist.

For me, faith will always be a sounder guide than reason because reason can only go so far—faith has no limits. I will expect miracles in my life because faith produces them every day. I will believe in the future that I do not see. That is faith. And the reward of this faith is to see the future that I believed. I will continue despite exhaustion. I focus on results. I am a person of great faith.”

It is up to you to decide how many times you should try something before you quit.

Just remember that this is a decision that you can make, but I recommend that you run it by God first.

Expressing Gratitude is One Place, as People, We Consistently Fail

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The Words, Thank You, Really Aren’t That Hard to Say

Why is it that as a society we have become so ungrateful? Somewhere along the way we’ve developed a sense of entitlement.

I think a lot of this currently goes back to the 20s and 30s and the hard times of the depression. People that lived then knew struggles and were grateful for what little they had.

After going through those difficulties many parents didn’t want their children to have it so hard and did what they could to make it easier for their kids. Each following generation has seemed to take this sense of entitlement to a new level.

A lack of gratitude is a human condition that didn’t start with the depression. It was around from the beginning. In Luke 17:11-19 Jesus healed 10 lepers of their disease and only 1 came back to say thank You. This is unacceptable.

No matter how bad our situation is, we can always find something to be grateful for. It’s up to us to find it.

When we find it…we need to share that gratefulness by saying thank you.

In 1850 the Lady Elgin sank off the shore of Lake Michigan. Following the crash, Edward Spencer, a young ministerial student at Garrett Bible College, plunged himself time and again into the frigid waters to pull seventeen desperate passengers from certain death.

But those lives weren’t saved without cost.  Edward’s repeated plunges into the icy lake permanently damaged the young man’s health.  Some years later, at Edward’s funeral, it was noted that not one of those seventeen people snatched from death that day ever bothered to thank him.

Gratefulness is a choice.

Consider Anne Frank and her situation when she and her family were hiding from the Nazis. Even in her circumstances, she chose to be grateful. She did this by comparing her situation with others that were less fortunate.  

“Like a breeze cleans smoke from the air, a grateful heart removes the clouds of despair. It’s impossible for the seeds of depression to take root in a thankful heart. God has bestowed many gifts upon me and for those I will be grateful.

I am grateful for sight, sound and breath. If ever there is a pouring out of blessings beyond that, then I will be grateful for the miracle of abundance.”

(The 5th Decision, The Travelers Gift, Andy Andrews)

What are you grateful for today?

There are a lot of different ways to show gratitude.

One of those ways is by doing what we do well. When we do this, it is saying thank you to the persons we are doing it for.

Professional golfer Arnold Palmer was known for his signature and the millions of times he gave autographs to people. He was adamant about it being legible.

“What’s the point of signing something if the person can’t read it or later can’t even remember who it was,” he reasoned. He would be frustrated when other golfers would just scribble something and call it an autograph. Palmer was grateful for people willing to wait for his autograph and he would thank them by signing legibly until everyone was taken care of.

It is much more enjoyable to be around happy grateful people than someone who is grumpy and complaining.

We need to bubble over with joy and gratitude for all the blessings God has given us.

Consider who you need to thank today…both God and/or individuals and then thank them.

Scheduling is Pretty Simple…It Comes Down to Our Priorities

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The Important Thing is to Get Clear on What Your Priorities Are

Scheduling is something that most of us struggle with. We plan out our day and then something happens to mess up that perfect schedule. As the day comes to a close, we beat ourselves up because we didn’t get everything done.

Why is it that we think we can do more than time allows?

Being too busy is a self-inflected problem. We all have a fixed amount of time. Why is it that we plan to do more than time will allow?

I’ve determined that I’m more productive when I overschedule my day. It creates a since of urgency and I get more done than when I don’t. I just have to remember at the end of the day to give myself grace for the things I don’t get done.

Another scheduling problem is the unexpected.

We already have an overscheduled day and then it happens…we end up with scheduling fires that need to be fought. There is no question that life happens and there will be unexpected fires to put out.

Yesterday I dealt with a schedule explosion. I had a day fully planned and unexpected, unplanned things kept coming up.

Fighting the hottest fire isn’t a very good scheduling system.

This is reactive scheduling. It’s much better if we schedule proactively.

The important thing to remember is that we have control over what we choose to do. Even if someone is holding a gun to your head, you have the power of choice.

So…if you have the power of choice…it’s up to you to choose wisely.

You can choose what you’re going to do and when you’re going to do it. Granted some scheduled events are out of your control. But you can choose if you’re going to attend or not. You can pick one event over another. You can decide!

This power of choice is the key to scheduling.

The problem is that too many people aren’t clear on their priorities. Determining what the big rocks are is critical to scheduling. You need to determine what your mission is and align everything around that.

I don’t mean to make it sound like knowing your life’s mission is an easy thing. It takes time and effort to find it. Sometimes it takes a life changing event like being hit upside the head with a board.

Priorities are the difficult part of this.

What makes one thing a priority over another?

This is something that is different for each of us. My priorities are not yours.

The important thing is to start figuring out what your priorities are and never stop.

Back to yesterday’s schedule…

I had planned to write this blog post yesterday. As the day progressed, more and more things continued to come up. I would move things around on the calendar as needed. (Gotta love that digital calendar. 😉)

From a position of life’s priorities…those things that popped up were more important at the moment than writing this post.

As I look at today’s calendar, I’m sure things will get changed as fires pop up or new opportunities present themselves.

If we start with a clear vision, know our mission and prioritize accordingly, we can be flexibly rigid with our schedules.

This clarity of priorities makes scheduling much less stressful.

A Lot of Things are True…But There is Only One Truth

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Belief is Important, But Not as Important as WHAT You Believe in

We are bombarded with information that is presented as true. The flood of information that is out there today makes it hard to know what to believe.

We take something at face value only to find out later that it isn’t true.

Knowing what to believe can be a challenge.

How do we know what to believe?

Knowledge is an important thing, but if we aren’t careful, it takes the place of faith. What we put our faith in is the key to unlocking the life we were meant to have.

Real faith is believing in something bigger than knowledge.

In Mark 9:14-29, Jesus’ disciples were unable to release a boy from his demon. The father of the boy asked Jesus to. “Help us if You can.” Jesus replied, “Why do you say, ‘if You can’?

Anything is possible for someone who has faith!”

At once the boy’s father shouted, “I do have faith! Please help me to have even more.”

After Jesus and His disciples had left and were alone, they asked Him, “Why couldn’t we force out the demon?”

Jesus answered, “Only prayer can force out this kind of demon.”

It appears that the disciples’ efforts were short on faith. For prayer to work we have to have faith.

Knowledge is important but it’s limited.

Faith, on the other hand…if we truly have it, has no limit. Jesus’ followers ask to have their faith made stronger in Luke 17:5-6. He tells them, that if they have faith as small as a mustard seed, they can tell a mulberry tree to pull itself up and plant itself in the ocean and it will.

When it comes to our eternal life…faith in the wrong thing isn’t good either.

Earlier in Luke 17, Jesus tells his disciples that, “Anyone who causes another person to sin, is in for trouble. It would be better for them to be thrown into the ocean with a heavy stone tied around their neck.

He goes on to say that we are to “correct followers who sin and forgive the ones who say they’re sorry.”

This sounds pretty straight forward. If we sin, we are to ask for forgiveness not look the other way.

It doesn’t say it’s okay to sin.

If we believe that Christ is God and that He came to earth as a man and that He is our only way to Heaven…then we need to believe everything He tells us in His Word.

If we believe this, then He is the one and only Truth that we can believe in.

Capturing Thoughts When We Have Them is the Best Way to Keep Them

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It’s Easier to Find a Note Than to Try to Remember a Thought

That’s not to say that finding notes is easy. What I am saying is that whether it’s remembering a thought or finding a note…both require an intentional plan.

I’m sure you’ve had great, earth-shattering ideas when you were in the middle of a conversation or driving down the road or doing some important task. You thought to yourself, “I need to use this idea to…start a business, develop a new product, send a man to the moon, etc.

The problem is…once you get to a point where you can do something with this idea…you can’t remember what it was.

This is a common occurrence. I know it’s sure happened to me more times than I can count.

That’s why it’s a good idea to capture those thoughts when you have them and keep them from getting away. This is a big reason that I take notes and refer to them later.

Over the past several weeks we’ve discussed ways to take and store notes, digital note taking vs. paper, taking notes when learning, and note taking for meetings.

I don’t know about you, but my mind is going non-stop with a million thoughts a minute.

There is always something bouncing around in my head. Like I said earlier, too many times those thoughts were lost into oblivion. Some of them may be best left there.

However, some of them are great ideas. These are the ones that I don’t want to lose. This is why I catch my random thoughts and ideas in OneNote.

OneNote is a Microsoft note-taking program for information gathering and multi-user collaboration. It can gather notes, drawings, screen clippings, and audio commentaries.

Now let’s dig into capturing thoughts and working through ideas.

I catch a variety of different ideas and thoughts in various areas. I separate these into different OneNote notebooks and sections to make it easier to find them later.

First let’s look at my Brain Dump:

This is exactly what it sounds like. It’s my go to for making a note quickly. I go back through it weekly. At that time, I sort them, move them…if need be, decide if they’re worth keeping or take some action on them at that time.

Next is my Daily Action List:

This is a list of actions that are ongoing today, this week and in the future. I refer to it frequently throughout each day. It is constantly being updated. This is a great place to catch ideas that are action related and I don’t want to forget or lose.

Then there’s random educational notes:

Other thoughts and ideas that I may need to catch come from podcasts and audio books that I’m listening to. The example shown in this screen shot is from a Belay podcast about delegating that I was listening to. In this case I was listening to this in my truck. I simply paused the podcast and made a quick voice message. OneNote converted it to writing. These thoughts are now saved so that I can go back to them when I get a chance.

Lastly, we’ll look at a working through ideas:

This form of note taking is just what it sounds like. It’s working through ideas. In this example these are ideas about the future remodeling of an addition to our home. One of the early things that needs to be done in a construction project of this kind is the sorting of thoughts and ideas.

This is especially important when there is more than one person involved.

This is a list of things that I want, my wife wants, and we want. It is a place to catch thoughts so that we can work through the list preparing for the final project plans. Using OneNote, it allows us to both have this list and add to it as we think of new things.

I think that we have covered the process of note taking and storing fairly thoroughly over the past several posts.

If you have any note taking thoughts…feel free to capture them in the comments below.

If you’d like to know more about why and how I use OneNote, you can open my toolbox and take a look.

Children Are Not Restricted by the Impossible and We Shouldn’t Be Either

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If We Continually Put Our Drop in the Bucket…It Will Overflow

Have you ever noticed how often we put restrictions on ourselves? We put up barriers between us and our dreams. We are our own worst enemy.

We tell ourselves, “I could never do that.”

Children on the other hand…don’t see any difference between possible and impossible.

When Jesus fed the 5000 it was a child who stepped up and gave the five loaves and two fish. Notice that he gave them to Jesus…not to the people. He took what he had and gave it to God and let God do the rest.

Think about that…5 loaves and 2 fish fed 5000 men. This is just the men…it doesn’t include the women and children. The actual number was probably closer to 20,000.

You want to talk about something that appears impossible.

The disciples were freaking out, telling Jesus that they needed to send the people to get something to eat, because there’s no way they could feed them all.

Oh, ye of little faith.

Not only did everyone get something to eat…there was more left over than they started with.

This is what God will do for us, if we will just give Him our “loaves and fish”.

It’s not up to us to do the impossible. We’re just supposed to give what we have to God and let Him do the miracle.

We are our own worst enemies. We’re continually telling ourselves that it can’t be done.

Don’t be afraid to dream big, because nothing is impossible for God.

“Great leaders – great achievers – are rarely realistic by other people’s standards. Somehow, these successful people, often considered strange, pick their way through life ignoring or not hearing negative expectations and emotions. Consequently, they accomplish one great thing after another, never having heard that something cannot be done. God may have been waiting centuries for someone ignorant enough of the impossible to do that very thing!“

Persistent Decision, The Traveler’s Gift, Andy Andrews

We’re familiar with what happens when there’s a leaking pipe with a bucket catching the drips. It’s only a matter of time before the bucket runs over if it doesn’t get dumped.

This same principle works when we all give our drips to God. He will multiply them, and the bucket will run over.

We’ve all been given something specific to do. Do whatever that drop is, put it in God’s bucket and watch the bucket run over.

Note Taking Done Right Is Like Having a Memory Filing Cabinet (part 2)

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In Addition to Expanded Memory, it Can Also Serve as Meeting Preparation

Over the past few weeks, we’ve been discussing the issues of note taking and how this can be an overwhelming and daunting thing.

We started out with the importance of determining the why before the how. Next, we discussed the struggle of deciding whether to do digital or use paper. Last week we talked about the additional memory storage that is available with notes and storing them in a way so they can be found.

Last week’s focus was on taking notes for learning – lectures, classes, webinars, podcasts, books, etc.

This week we’re going to look at meeting notes and how they differ from learning notes. Meeting notes are more about actions than learning notes.

They are about discussions during the meeting, decisions made in the meeting, actions that need to be taken, when these actions need to be completed, etc. Meetings should have an agenda. An agenda is a form of note taking prior to the meeting. If you’re responsible for the meeting, you’re responsible for the agenda.

There are two different motivations for meeting notes

  • Preparation of a meeting that you’re responsible for organizing
  • Taking notes in a meeting that someone else has organized

An agenda is a form of “preparation” note taking.

Like learning notes, I prefer OneNote for my meeting notes. This is a Microsoft note-taking program for information gathering and multi-user collaboration. It can gather notes, drawings, screen clippings, and audio commentaries.

Notes can be shared with other OneNote users over the Internet or a network. OneNote is available as part of the Microsoft Office suite; it is also available as a free, stand-alone app via the website and the app stores of: Windows 10, MacOS, iOS and Android.

If you’d like to know more about why and how I use it, you can open my toolbox and look at OneNote.

On some occasions I will use a Word document. This may be because some people in the group need it in this format or it is an agenda that someone else has prepared previously.

The most important thing to remember when preparing a meeting agenda is…WHY are we having this meeting?

Here’s an example of a simple meeting agenda in OneNote.

Just like last week, if you look at the upper left corner to see what notebook we’re in, you can see that we’re in the Business & Organization Notebook. The Section is the second one from the left, the Team tab. Looking at the right side of the screen you can see we’re in Sunny’s subpage entitled Daily Meeting.

Below the heading of Daily Meeting in the upper left, you can see the date and time of the meeting. This is created automatically when a new page is started. These can be changed at any time.

You will also see another date on the left side above the agenda. This is because in this format I take notes during the meetings and keep each one in the same OneNote page so that that can be reviewed later.

In this view you’ll see the previous day’s agenda with notes. There are two additional colors on this agenda. The blue is notes I make to myself as reminders prior to the meeting. The red are notes made during the meeting.

Here is an excerpt from a Word document meeting agenda/notes. This was prepared by the church secretary and sent out to people on the committee ahead of time.

If I am responsible for reports or if there are things I want to remember during the meeting, I will add notes prior to the meeting – blue. During the meeting I take notes on my tablet, these are in red.

This can seem like a lot of work, but for me it’s worth the effort.

There was a time years ago when I was a young chairman of a committee at the church and was asked a question.

I couldn’t answer it because…I forgot what was discussed in the previous meeting.

This was a traumatic experience for a young man just out of high school.

Situations like this are, in part, what has led to me being the note taking nerd that I am. For me it’s about being accountable to those who have given me the responsibility, whatever that responsibility is.

Next week we’ll look at note taking as a way to sort our thoughts.

How Would Your Balance Sheet Look if God Took an Accounting of Your Life Today?

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This is a Question We Should Be Asking Ourselves Continually Every Day

A young man who was working at his first job had made some mistakes. He was called into the boss’s office and demanded an explanation for the poor work and mistakes. The young man began making excuses and blaming other people.

Then the boss pointed out the window and said, “There it goes.” The young man turned to look, the boss said, “It’s a buck flying by.”

Have you ever seen a buck flying by? This is known as passing the buck.

When we are called to account for our mistakes, it’s tempting to “pass the buck”.

President Harry Truman used a well-known phrase, “The Buck Stops Here”. This means that I won’t blame other people for my situation. I will take responsibility for my actions.

We all need to take responsibility for our actions.

In Luke 16:1-13, Jesus tells His disciples a story about a manager for a rich man. The employee had been wasting the rich man’s money. The employee began passing the buck.

Jesus is preparing His disciples for when He is no longer around to watch over them. They will be responsible for sharing the message with the world accurately. He’s warning them that it will be easy to become weak and give in to worldly temptations.

 He was telling them to not PASS THE BUCK.

Like the man in the Scripture who is called to account for his actions, we too will be called to account for our actions. If you were called to heaven today, how would your accounting look?

Have you been a wise manager of your life?

Ten years ago, when I fell and hit my head, I was unconscious in the hospital for three days. While recovering, I asked myself this question. This was a point in my life when I became more intentional about living my life the way God had designed it.

Too often people go through life without seeking or finding their purpose. They meander through life without even looking for their purpose. Or they come up with their own worldly vision for what they want and go for that.

God is the creator of our lives. He has given each of us a purpose. Our lives were designed by Him.

We are given the choice of how we live. God doesn’t force us to live the life He designed.

Imagine a highly skilled architect that designs amazing homes. Everyone wants this architect to design their home. People are willing to wait years to get this designer.

Then, when you finally get to that long-awaited meeting, you hand the architect your own amateur plan. The one you drew on a napkin. Then you ask this master architect to simply approve your design.

This is how most people approach life.

Without any regard to the blueprint God has given us…we ask God to approve our design.

We need to step back and ask ourselves, are we doing the designing or are we building the life that God has designed for us?

At some point we are going to have to answer this question to God.

It’s a whole lot better if we ask ourselves now rather than waiting. If we ask now, then we can start remodeling our lives if need be.

Note Taking Done Right Is Like Having a Memory Filing Cabinet (part 1)

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It’s Up to You to Determine If You Need the Additional Storage or Not

Last week I promised that we would look at my note taking system and how you can have a system that works for you.

Previously, we discussed the how’s and whys of note taking and the pros and cons of different systems. We talked about the fact that most people want a simple, “one size fits all” fix for note taking and there simply is no such thing.

But that doesn’t mean it has to be complicated either.

Note taking is relative to the level of organization and detail that you want to accomplish.

It can be as simple as writing it on a piece of paper or as complicated as you choose to make it.

The important thing to remember is…it’s your system!

I have been asking “note taking” questions of family and friends over the past few weeks. The answers I got were as wide ranging as the number of people asked.

The one thing that I don’t understand is why some people don’t take any notes.

All I can say is that either they have a lot better memory recall than I do or it’s just not important enough to put forth the effort.

There is just so much information that I want to remember or review later that I need a way to store it and then be able to find it when I need or want it.

Of the four different whys that I listed in the previous two posts…

  • Learning – lectures, classes, webinars, podcasts, books, etc.
  • Meeting notes – decisions made, actions to take, etc.
  • Sorting thoughts – pros and cons, cost comparisons, getting clarity, etc.
  • Preparation – outlines for presentations, ideas for sharing, agendas for meetings, etc.

We will look at learning today:

The foundation of my note taking system is OneNote. This is a Microsoft note-taking program for information gathering and multi-user collaboration. It can gather notes, drawings, screen clippings, and audio commentaries.

Notes can be shared with other OneNote users over the Internet or a network. OneNote is available as part of the Microsoft Office suite; it is also available as a free, stand-alone app via the website and the app stores of: Windows 10, MacOS, iOS and Android.

If you’d like to know more about why and how I use it, you can find that by following this link to open my toolbox and look at OneNote. There are a wide variety of similar systems, but this works the best for me.

Keep in mind that I’m a bit of a detailed organizational geek. I do love me some note taking.

Don’t let my system scare you off.

Here is an example of note from a Thrivable You course I took.

You can see in the upper left corner we’re in my Education Notebook. The tabs across the top are the different Sections in the notebook. We’re in the fourth Section from the left, Thrivable You. Looking at the right side of the screen you can see we’re in Session 23.

Below the Session 23 in the upper left, you can see the date and time of the class. This is created automatically when a new page is started. These can be changed if they need to be.

I usually take notes in an outline format, but this is just me. One of the things I like about OneNote is the ability to hide content (see the plus signs). This means there is more information there and I can open it by double clicking on the plus sign.

The Notes and Questions on the right side are things I think of during the learning and don’t want to forget but was not something that was presented as a direct part of the learning.

A great thing about OneNote and most digital systems is being able to search.

Notice the Search box in the upper right corner. Searching can be done by Page, Section, Notebook or the complete OneNote.

There is so much more about OneNote note taking that we could go into…but not today. If you would like more information and options about my learning note taking or OneNote in general, let me know in the contacts below.

Next week we’ll look at meeting notes.