Hi Lifetickers,

We’ve been rather silent as of late, but rest assured the cogs at Meridian 86 have been ever turning (slowly, but surely no less). Our latest announcement heralds a major milestone being the completion of the journal functionality in the new HTML5 version. If you haven’t already, then check it out by logging in here:

https://www.lifetick.com/application/personal

What’s worth noting?

Well, hopefully not too much. We’ve been busy refining and extending, tweaking and mending so that the overall experience is better and therefore… less noticeable! But to be specific, you can expect to see:

• Improved iPad support
• Dreams
• Core value editing
• Journal editing
• Journal category editing

What’s next?

For those who are avid users of all things Lifetick has to offer, you may have noticed the absence of journal category reporting. This is because we are re-imagining it and other reporting capabilities by introducing a whole new reporting module. We hope this will really enhance your ability to get the full picture on progress. After this we’ll get onto the addition of the Status screen complete with a whole host of new widgets and improvements to existing ones.

Looking forward to your feedback. In the meantime, stay tuned. More to come… soon.

Hi Lifetickers,

Merry Christmas.

As many of you know, we have been working hard on our HTML5 application. We still have a long way to go, but we are ready to share with you what we have achieved so far. (Some of you may have already stumbled on to it if you logged in recently on an iPad.)

The good.
First up, the application is in HTML5, it should be faster – especially at start up, it works without Flash (eg: on iPads and other tablets) and it uses native font rendering, supports browser features like spell check, zooming and changeable font sizes.

We have tried to make improvements across the entire application, for example we tried to make it easier to create recurring tasks. We also introduced new views to the journal: recent activity and upcoming events. We believe that the recent activity view, plus the filters, will change the way you utilise the journal and remind you of things you have achieved which you may have forgotten.

The bad.
Not all the features and functionality have yet been developed, so you will still have to go back to the Flash application to complete some actions. Although we try not to release anything broken, you may encounter bugs and errors. If you want to help us out, you can use the ‘feedback’ link at the bottom of the application to let us know of anything you find.

The ugly.
To put it simply, if you are using Internet Explorer 8, probably best to skip it at the moment, if you are using anything earlier, then don’t bother. You may find there are a few elements which are mis-aligned, or some minor glitches in renderings. We hope to get rid of these as soon as possible. Even though the application does work on the iPad, we do want to make further optimisations in the future to make it more touch friendly with things like larger buttons.

You can try the beta application today by following this link: https://www.lifetick.com/application/personal. If you like the application and want to use it more, then once you log in to the HTML5 application, click on the account link in the top right of the application to enable the HTML5 beta application as an option every time you log in to the normal application. Logging in on an iPad will take you to the Beta application regardless on your settings.

We are keen to hear your feedback on the application, especially related to bugs and glitches. Remember if you are reporting anything to be specific about the error, and what browser and operating system you are using. We are also keen to know what missing features you would like to see next, your feedback will help drive our priority list.

Also, we would like to thank you for all your support in 2011, and we hope together we can achieve great things in 2012.

Hi Lifetickers,

As recently broadcast, we are progressing along the path of HTML5 conversion. For those that aren’t familiar with software, this means we are re-writing the front-end of our software (the screens you see) in HTML5 and moving away from Flex (Flash). Whilst as a user, your experience may not seem very different, the reality is that the application will be more responsive (quicker), easier to update at our end and finally, available on the iPad.

We will be doing our releases in stages. Today, we begin with the login and registration screens. Therefore, what you will now notice is we have a single combined login for Lifetick regardless of whether you are a coach or an individual user. Furthermore, coach users will be able to switch between their coach accounts and their personal accounts without logging out.

If you experience any unusual behaviour, you may need to clear your cache (within your Internet browser) to ensure that the new changes are detected by your browser. Otherwise, it should be a smooth experience. We will write again soon with more updates and hope your goal achievement is progressing according to the diligent schedules you set yourself in Lifetick!

Hi Lifetickers,

Hope this finds you well and on the path to achieving your 2011 goals. We thought it would be an opportune time to write a little bit about where Lifetick is heading in the coming months. You may have noticed we haven’t released many features this year and the simple reason is that we are working on one very big feature. Let me tell you a little bit about it.

Some of you may have already guessed from the blog post title, but we are currently rewriting our entire front end in HTML5. Presently it is written in Flex (Flash) and the time has come for us to move away from this technology. There are several reasons for this. Firstly, as many of you may already know, the iPad does not support Flash. This means that the only way to use Lifetick on the iPad is to log in to the iPhone version. Obviously, this is not ideal and we believe the iPad offers a perfect platform for tweaking one’s goals. Therefore, getting the full version available for iPad users is a growing priority. Secondly, HTML5 offers some significant performance improvements. In layman terms, this means Lifetick will load more quickly, ideal for users with slower Internet connections. Thirdly and perhaps with less certainty is the enormous cloud that looms over Flash. Apple set a precedent by not supporting it on the iPad. Ten years ago this might not have mattered. However, in the current market, this may have sounded the death knell for Flash. Many observers have suggested as much.

So what can you expect to see? Well, initially, we are keen to get a limited feature version available, followed by the all singing, all dancing full version. Keep an eye on the blog for updates, but we’ve already done considerable work and you should expect to see something in the next couple of months. We greatly appreciate your patience and support and will from time to time update some features in between HTML5 releases, but for now it is our number one priority. Beyond that we have a number of exciting things to release, but we’d rather keep them under wraps for now.

As a final note, you may be wondering why we went for Flex when we launched Lifetick? The answer is pretty simple. Nothing else really could deliver the smooth animation and style that Flex offered. In fact, even now we are pushing HTML5 to its limits in order to reproduce the stunning visuals that you’ve come to know and love such as pie charts, widgets and expanding goals. So, in short, times have changed and so must we.

Until next time, good luck with your goal setting and thanks for your support.

Hi Lifetickers,

Some of you may have noticed some strange behaviours with email reminders in the last 24 hours. This included reminders not being sent or too many being sent. We sincerely apologise for this inconvenience and can advise for now that the issue appears to be resolved. We will continue to monitor this in the coming days, but welcome any further feedback. Thank you to those switched on Lifetickers who were able to notify us very promptly of the situation. We are also monitoring system performance to ensure the application continues to run smoothly. As always, thanks for your support.

Hi Lifetickers,

It’s been almost a year since we launched Lifetick Coach and we’ve been very humbled by the positive feedback we’ve received. We see enormous potential for Lifetick Coach so we want to assure you that there are many improvements we have in the pipeline. In the meantime, please continue to send us your thoughts, ideas and feedback. These have been very helpful in determining our roadmap.

Speaking of which, we understand that the relationship you develop with your clients is an intimate and often longstanding one. Therefore, we are pleased to announce that coaches will now be able to incorporate their own branding in Lifetick. Our latest update enables coaches to:

• Create your own branded log in page for clients by including your logo at the top of the screen
• Place your logo inside the Lifetick application that your clients see and
• Redirect clients to a different landing page when they log out of Lifetick (e.g. back to your own website)

We hope that this will give greater presence to your business and the benefits you extend to your clients. In order to activate the branding, simply go to your Account page and check the “Enable custom branding” checkbox. There are three settings you can activate:

1. Logo (for login page and inside the application)
2. Log out action (for providing a new landing page (e.g. your website ) when clients log out of Lifetick)
3. Your own branded login page for clients (Provide this URL to your clients and they will see your logos on the login screen and in the app (Please note: clients will still be able to login via the normal method, but will not see your branding)

Feel free to place your login link on your own website so your customers get the full personalised experience.

Finally, we’ve increased the user quota for each plan, so even better value for money. (e.g. “Nimble” has increased from 8 users to 12 and “Tactical” jumps from 15 to 25.) Furthermore, we noticed a lot of coaches have smaller numbers of clientele. Therefore,  we have introduced a new plan called “Swift” to make Lifetick Coach more affordable for this group. It allows 5 users to be coached for only $14 per month.

Hope you enjoy and thanks for your support.

Hi Lifetickers,

I’m sure if each of us were to look back at some of the goals we’ve achieved throughout our lives there would be some surprises. Things that perhaps now seem insignificant, things that we may have forgotten about and things that we still smile about because of what it meant to us when we achieved them. Equally, looking forward it is easy to imagine that each of us has at least one big goal that seems so far away and almost daunting to think about. The kind of goal that in many ways we might wish one day will define us. The kind of goal we want to achieve more than any other. The kind of goal that is epic, all encompassing, invigorating and above all – worthy.

Today, I want to share with you a goal that is all of these things and more. It is not just a goal like yours or mine, but one that resonates around the world and touches millions of lives. It is a goal encapsulated by a single organisation’s mission and that is:

“Getting mines out of the ground, now.”

In 2006 I travelled to Cambodia as a tourist. There were many things that struck me about this country. First and foremost the people were genuinely happy and very friendly. Furthermore, they were incredibly hospitable. This of course, I have not found to be uncommon in my travels. However, there is a striking difference about Cambodia that is hard to ignore. Little more than a generation ago it experienced auto-genocide on a scale that is virtually unrivaled in the history of human conflict. The devastation was and is horrible. There are many reminders to this very day of what happened during that period including the museum that is Tuol Sleng (the school that became a prison of torture) and of course the Killing Fields where the graves of the victims are so shallow, the clothes they were buried in extrude from the ground. But of course, the greatest reminder is the people themselves because despite the warmth of their smiles, they continue to suffer the physical and emotional burden of landmines and other unexploded ordinances. And this suffering is impossible to ignore because many men, women and children whom I passed in the street visibly bore the suffering in their very bodies due to the fact they were without a leg or an arm and in one rare case without legs or arms as a result of stepping on a landmine often very near to their homes. This of course does not speak of the dead. During the conflict in Cambodia in the 1970s and beyond landmines were used to great effect by both sides of the conflict and as most of us know with landmines, the effect lasts long after the war is over.

During my time there I travelled to several remote places. On the way to one such place I met a young Cambodian man whose job it was to clear landmines and he worked for an organisation that I have since come to know is very widespread - The Halo Trust. Some of you may be familiar with the work of The Halo Trust, but for those of you who aren’t, The Halo Trust is an NGO (UK)/Not-for-Profit organisation (US) that “specialises in the removal of the hazardous debris of war”. In the 22 years since it commenced operations it has achieved the following milestones:

• over 1.3 million landmines destroyed
• over twelve million items of larger calibre ordnance destroyed
• over fifty million bullets destroyed
• over 2,800 heavy weapon systems immobilized
• over 129,000 assault rifles destroyed
• over 7,400 minefields cleared
• 27,367 hectares (67,625 acres) made safe from landmines
• 128,785 hectares (318,235 acres) made safe from unexploded and abandoned ordnance
• 12,409 kilometers (7,710 miles) of roads cleared

Despite these amazing statistics, there is yet much to do. Whilst progress has been phenomenal, many mines remain putting the lives of men, women and most often, children at risk. That is why we have decided to donate $1 from every sale (and subsequent payment) of Lifetick and Lifetick Coach to The Halo Trust to support them in the work they do in the many war torn places around the world such as Afghanistan, Cambodia, Sri Lanka, Mozambique, Angola, Somaliland, Georgia, Nagorno Karabakh, Kosovo and Colombia. We encourage you to visit their website for more information about how they do what they do and if you are in a position to do so, then by all means contribute in any way you can or spread the word. It is very easy to get caught up in our own goals in life, but it is also not out of reach to become a part of the worthiest of goals, even if it is in some small way.

Hi Lifetickers,

Quite recently my day to day organisation has been completely transformed as a result of a very simple app, underpinned by a powerful philosophy. When I say transformed, I certainly don’t intend to sensationalise. However, the cold hard fact is that when I think back to all the various “personal process improvement initiatives” I’ve undertaken over the years, none has been as effective, enduring or liberating as what I’m about to describe. But let me take you back a few steps.

Throughout its short history, Lifetick has been many things to many people – a project management tool, a task manager and most importantly a goal setting and achieving tool. We’ve always maintained that it was designed for goal setting, but understood the need customers had for it to be a tool for GTD (Getting Things Done) or simply managing day to day tasks and errands. At the time, we wrote a blog post discussing whether it was useful as a GTD app and what the limitations were. Furthermore, I went so far as to say I was going to start using Lifetick again for GTD and not just my goals. I did. And after a short while, I stopped. Like many other applications, I just felt it wasn’t right. It’s hard to put a finger on it, but it always seemed too much effort and not enough convenience. I’d pretty much given up on task management via apps after that and my general organisation suffered as a result.

However, sometime later I was introduced to Calvetica by my business partner, Tim. Calvetica is a front end for the iPhone’s calendar application. In an instant I was won over to its amazing ability to manage appointments. It was simple, quick and thoroughly integrated (using a gmail calendar meant I had iPhone, MacBook and browser access all the time without the slightest hint of some form of manual synchronisation). In fact, Calvetica put Apple to shame on it’s own device. Suddenly, appointments became easier to deal with because I could be bothered to actually enter them in when the appointment was created. (And no I’m not referring to business appointments that MUST be entered into a calendar regardless of how painful the experience might be at the time, but the day to day personal ones that we get tempted to leave to memory.)

It got me thinking about how I wished there was something like Calvetica for managing “To Dos”. Perhaps these guys had made something similar. I searched around for awhile and after about 30 minutes came across what I can only describe as the Holy Grail. In one short article, one of the founders of Calvetica distilled to perfection the very philosophy of what makes a good GTD app (but mostly what doesn’t) and how Calvetica itself could be used for such. In fact, it was one of those revelationary moments that seems so obvious and so crystal clear you are left wondering how you never came to that thought yourself. Whilst I strongly encourage you to read the article (if this topic is of interest to you), let me share some brief points that really struck home:

“They (GTD apps) all have four fatal flaws.

1. They all require management
2. They all require that you spend time reviewing what’s there
3. They are all too slow
4. They suffer from bloat”

If you just read that with a nodding head, then you are just like me. How often have I categorised to do items and why? How often have I filtered the list of items in countless ways in a bid to demoralise myself with the sheer volume of “yet to dos”. And why? Surely I only need to see what it is I need to do, when I need to do it. Unless it is a goal or project, then what value does any of this extra information add? For me it equated to a grand total of zero. Nevertheless, it gets better: The Criteria.

“There are five things  that I’ve found have to be in place for this system to really work well

1. It has to do the remembering and reminding for you
2. It has to go everywhere you do
3. You have to be able to get something into it in less than 10 seconds
4. Everything you enter must have a date and time
5. You have to be able to defer reminders”

And so, for iPhone users, the answer is there before us. In short, you enter your tasks as appointments with reminders. Of course, many people probably do this already (since the dawn of Outlook), but has anything ever done it as well and integrated as Calvetica? I highly doubt it. Hence why it works. The true test of a GTD app is whether we can stick with it. So far, everything has failed for me, except Calvetica.

Check out nimbledesign.com for the full article. You may be wondering why I felt compelled to share this on our blog. The simple reason is that it profoundly changed the way I manage GTD. Therefore, I owe it to readers to revise my blog post on the suitability of Lifetick for GTD. Some of you may argue to the contrary on the importance of using Lifetick or other apps and if so, I’m genuinely glad they work for you. I for one though will be keeping Lifetick for goals and the odd project here and there. When I need to buy some stamps or pay a bill, then Calvetica is my be all and end all.

Hi Lifetickers,

Like many sites, we put forward a lot of information about how to achieve goals. The methodologies one should follow, the benefits of having S.M.A.R.T. goals, the pitfalls along the way, the need to stay motivated and of course the transformative power achieving goals can have. Interestingly enough, what I fail to see on the world wide web is the concept (as I like to put it) of goal appreciation.

In its simplest form, goal appreciation is basically being able to sit back and appreciate the fruits of one’s labour. In other words, being able to appreciate what it is you have just achieved. Toasting the success, savouring the moment, cherishing that sense of accomplishment in all its glory. Now I’m guessing some of you are already saying “Oh yes I’m familiar with this and it certainly is talked about, so what is the he on about?” Well, it goes a bit deeper. Because in this newly created definition the concept extends to a period well before a goal is actually achieved. It in fact goes way back to the goals very conception. Not only that but it then continues to evolve and grow throughout the entire journey.

Let me explain. Jim Rohn put it best when he said “One of two things leads to success: inspiration or desperation.” The big question for each of us then is what motivates our behaviour in setting a goal for ourselves? Is it the positive side (inspiration) or is it the negative side (desperation). If it is in fact the positive side, then already you have tasted goal appreciation. Have you ever set a goal for yourself and realised at that precise moment that it is absolutely the one thing you simply must do? Do you remember what that feeling entailed? At that very moment a seed was planted and whether it is a one month goal or a ten year goal, that seed will grow. It is that very feeling which you need to cultivate so that it becomes something that will carry you through the journey. This in turn leads to my next point on goal appreciation.

Whether we realise it or not, goal appreciation should play an ongoing role in our efforts because it is two things. Firstly, it is our barometer. Something that reflects the changes in our circumstances or opinion. It is indeed the measurement of commitment toward that outcome. The barometer is in fact constantly informing us of whether we still want to achieve it. It is intuitive and it is inherent. It can’t be escaped. And therein lies the connection. It is the thing which tells us to keep going and by doing so allows us to appreciate what it is we are doing. Is the conscious connection always made? Perhaps not. But we should remind ourselves every time we continue with a goal that by actually choosing to continue we are already appreciative of what this goal is, regardless of whether it has been realised.

But as I mentioned, there are two aspects to goal appreciation along the journey and this next part is perhaps something that can be contemplated and practiced more easily. And if one were to retain anything from this post then this would be the point: The essence of goal appreciation is “being in the moment”. What does this mean? It means doing what you love and loving what you do. It means doing it well or not doing it at all. It means taking that task that may be one of a thousand toward a goal you are achieving and doing it with passion and commitment because anything less will only take away from the final completion of that goal and of course the appreciation that is to follow that event. But there is more (there’s always more). We always think that everything in life is about the destination. I contend that it is in fact the journey that matters. Without the journey, there is no destination and if you haven’t focused yourself on each step along the way, then you haven’t really gained all that you could from the journey.

Whatever your situation, whatever difficulty you face, whatever challenge lies ahead, you must take stock. And taking stock means assessing where you are right now to meet the precise challenge that faces you. But beyond that, to then smile in the face of adversity, knowing that it is your very own character being forged in that trial, knowing that (to use an already saturated saying) what doesn’t kill you only makes you stronger, will bring you clarity in your time of most motivational need.

Don’t lose the wisdom of the journey. Whatever the goal, your ability to appreciate what it is your are undertaking at any stage in the process will give you strength. Remind yourself of that and appreciate the here and now. One day you will appreciate the outcome, but today is not that day.

Hi Lifetickers,

Hope this finds you in good health and spirits and well on your way to achieving your goals for 2011. I did intend to write briefly on our release of Lifetick tutorial videos on YouTube. However, I think they are self explanatory, so I will simply provide you with a link to our channel. Feel free to subscribe so you can be notified when new tutorials are added. We’ve started with 10 videos and we’ll be extending this in the coming weeks to cover the various intricacies of our goal setting and life coaching software products. Hopefully, this will be of additional assistance in your use of the software. In the meantime, this post is being hijacked by news of some other events that have taken place in the last few days.

Here in Brisbane (and pretty much the entire state of Queensland in Australia) there has been a phenomenal series of floods. The devastation it has wreaked may in fact go down as the greatest our country has ever seen. Whilst the overflowing goodwill of the various communities in aiding the cleanup has been amazing to see and be a part of, the reality that now faces many thousands of people is one of great uncertainty as they try to piece together lives and livelihoods that have been literally swept away.

I’m acutely aware that a few words on this blog can do little justice in conveying the enormity of what has been (and will be) endured. Nevertheless, given our Lifeticking community is a global one, it would be a bit callous of me to provide a blog post on Lifetick’s progress without at least acknowledging what has happened literally a couple of miles down the road. Our hearts also go out to those in Brazil who’ve also suffered a similar fate, but sadly with a far greater sacrifice of human life.

One needn’t spend much time on a news website anywhere in the world to realise people everywhere are faced with adversity. Amidst this dark backdrop, there is one thing that remains certain. And that is the strength of human spirit. Whilst we are always evolving, perhaps what should not be forgotten is that we are also enduring. The very core of our being is one of endurance. It is a word that speaks so much. It carries with it a sense of weight and hardship. But it also speaks of hope. Because to endure something surely means to outlast it. And that is what defines us. It is the people who endure great suffering and emerge on the other side that so much inspiration can be drawn from. Surely the goals we set for ourselves are all the more worthwhile because we have had to work so hard for them… enduring the struggle to claim the prize. After all, isn’t it the journey that we are really interested in rather than the destination? What are highs without lows?

If you do start to wane in your efforts this year, don’t be down hearted. It is a part of life. But do draw strength from those who have truly suffered and endured. Their actions have spoken louder than the words of any great orator and they will continue to speak. It is the human spirit as its finest.