This week on Forbes I only shared part of the story about increasing time in 2013. I made the bold claim that, if you found one hour each day to be more productive than you were the year before, you could add 365 hours of time to your year. Or said another way, 15.2 days of better living in 2013. (Read it HERE) Awesome thought right? Who wouldn't love an extra two weeks to get things done in the new year?

The idea hit me while recovering from jet lag after our Thanksgiving trip to Europe. I was going to be at my usual time (midnight) but waking up an hour earlier than normal (4:45ish) and functioning just fine each day on less sleep than I usually run on. So one morning around 5:15 as I started my 2nd cup of coffee, the thought struck me, what if I slept one hour less everyday for a year? That question led to the math that lead to the Forbes post this week. If I slept one hour less every day in the new year, I would be AWAKE for an additional 15.2 days worth of the year.

So, like I frequently do when I have an epiphany over my early morning coffee before anyone else is awake, I sent myself an email reminder to run the idea past some friends later in the day. When I did, I was met with two reactions:

1) You are freak who doesn't need sleep, stop judging me. In fact, you are unhealthy for sleeping as little as you do now.

2) That's cool, but what on earth would I do with all that extra time?

The first reaction was some what in jest, but it was definitely interesting to see how long people sleep being such a hot button issue that my suggestion of GAINING TWO WEEKS OF AWAKE TIME IN THE NEW YEAR set off their defenses.

But the second reaction was actually more concerning to me. Some of the very same people who I've heard complain recently of not being as far along on projects or goals as they'd hoped were viewing the sacrifice of sleep as a price too high to pay. Or that whatever they might be able to accomplish in that extra hour wouldn't be as valuable as an extra hour between the sheets.

This is not a post recommending you sleep 5-6 hours like I do, I know that isn't for everyone. But I am of the mind to say that it is amazing what you body can do when it is trained to. It is even more amazing to see what your mind can do when it is trained to consider every waking or sleeping hour as part of a much bigger plan.  My goals and ambitions stress me out everyday. The "what" and "why" are bigger than what I can see as far as the "how" are concerned. Most nights when I go to bed I am already thinking about what I am going to be working on when I get up the next morning.

Again, this rant isn't to say that my sleep patterns are to be modeled or are right for anyone other than me. But it is to say that, I hope in the new year, every hour of your day, waking or sleeping, will be considered as far game towards getting you to your goals and the ambitions that you have for the new year and that those goals and ambitions will be big enough that all habits and patterns are open for discussion and modification to optimize your life in the new year.

“Entrepreneurship and investing is 100% about managing your own psychology.” - Chris Sacca So how do you manage your psychology using negative stimuli? Chatted a little bit about it in today's Forbes post.

In today's post on Forbes, "The Dream Team: Hipster, Hacker, and Hustler" I jump into how these three different team members can form a crack team of commandos to make almost anything happen.

While most people would tell you that they believe business cards in their current physical form are on their way out, no one has really cracked the code on what will replace them. There have been attempts at virtual business cards and smartphone tapping shenanigans, but they haven’t really ever taken off. So, while we wait for the day when we can shake hands with someone and immediately be connected on LinkedIn, I’ll share my own business card innovation. I only carry one business card at a time...

Read the rest of the post HERE

In my Forbes post today, I dig into the Right People, Right Place, and Right Time that the team from Not For Sale created and the ideas that generated in that moment leading to the creation of REBBL Tea (you can read the whole post HERE)

But beyond that, there is the awesome story that REBBL Tea has the chance to be one of the first truly sustainable companies that is directly tied to and launched by a non-profit. The ideas of the Philanthropreneur that I first started writing about here in 2008. REBBL is working extremely hard to show they're not just a "do good company that has some products to sell" but that they are a full fledged best in category tea beverage.

"We're not trying to guilt people into buying our product," Mr. Batstone told me. "That's not sustainable. What we are doing is creating the best tea company out there. It just so happens that we are a part of a much bigger movement in the process." He then went on to tell me that their marketing and in store retail displays will not resemble the current typical "guilt wear" products that are out there. "It is essential that the reason people buy REBBL is that it is a great product and not that they feel bad for others. The first is a sustainable business the second is a fad."

"Slavery is a business," says Samuel Baker, Director of Business Development for Not For Sale, "And, we're going to fight it with business."

To learn more, check out this video below and go to causes.com/REBBL