31 Wednesday Oct 2018
Posted in Halloween
Today is a day in America that all the young ones dress up as Princesses, Ghouls, Vampires, and Clowns with the hope of collecting as many candies as they can. With apps like Snapchat, wearing a costume is so much easier.
If you celebrate Halloween, have a great time tonight!
Until next time…
Dave
30 Tuesday Oct 2018
Posted in Ted Talk
Tags
Doing work that excites, Doing work that inspires, Doing work that matters, Interesting Ideas, Scott Dinsmore, Ted Talk
We spend a good chunk of our life working. Why not do something you that inspires you, excites you, wakes you up in the morning? Listen to Scott Dinsmore to find out how.
Until next time…
Dave
29 Monday Oct 2018
Posted in Motivation Monday
“All wish to possess knowledge, but few, comparatively speaking, are willing to pay the price.” – Juvenal
Read more at https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/juvenal_122569
Choices
Are there things you want to do with your life? Do you have goals that you’d like to achieve? Do you have a bucket list? What is the one thing you’d like to do before you leave this Earth?
The main problem with setting goals is choosing. We can only do so much in a day. We have only so much time on this Earth. We cannot do everything we want because it is impossible to achieve mastery in all the areas we contemplate doing well in. If you spread your efforts across too many things you will fail to achieve the mastery you desire.
Focus
To truly achieve what we set out to, we must first choose what we want to dedicate our time towards. Then, we need to understand where we are. What level of proficiency do we have currently? What do we need to do next to achieve the next level of mastery? When will be finished?
If you know where you are you can set up a process or plan to get where we want to go. By understanding the field of endeavor, we are pursuing, we know the next steps. Once we have an action plan it is nothing more than focusing on each discreet step to achieve what we set out to do.
Paying the Price
To achieve anything, we must pay a price. That price will your time, your energy, and your commitment to seeing what you start to your designated end. If you are willing to dedicate your time, energy, and commitment to this thing, you will achieve it at some point, if your goals are realistic. Setting a goal to be an Olympic swimmer or professional athlete in your late-sixties may be a stretch, but you could set a goal to be in the best shape you are capable of.
Your “why”
Your willingness to pay the price depends on the reasons you are pursuing the goal in the first place. Are you truly looking to lose weight, write a book, learn a new language, learn to play an instrument, or gain some other skill or talent because you want it or someone else wants it? Are you willing to do what is necessary to achieve your goal? If not, rethink your “why”.
The reason you embark on a personal journey must be compelling. You must be motivated, interested, and hunger for the goal(s) you set for yourself. Your “why” will be the one thing that drives you to get up and go to the gym, open your word processor and crank out some writing, go to your studio and pick up the brushes, or set down at the piano and practice.
No Goals
Maybe you do not have any goals. Maybe you are not motivated to pursue anything. Maybe life has just beat you up so badly that it is hard to even get out of bed, let alone set a goal to achieve anything. What’s the bother, right? What difference will any of this make?
Imagine a life where you could do anything you wanted. Money is no issue, time is no issue, and your inherent talents are no issue. You literally can do anything you want to. Now, pick something you’d do if this were the case. Seriously. Pick one thing you’d do if you had the money, time, and ability to do it. What would you do?
In my case, I looked at myself and visualized a more perfect me—a prototype of a better self if you will. Once I visualized that me, I began to think about where I was at the time and what I would have to do to get to that improved self. Then, I wrote down all the things I would have to do to get there. These are now my goals.
Maybe you want to become an artist or musician, a writer, a computer programmer, a weightlifter. Perhaps you want to travel the world, learn a new language, or explore ancient ruins. Maybe you want to become a film, restaurant, or music critic. Maybe you want to start your own non-profit, get more involved in politics, or get involved with charitable organizations.
Brainstorm the things your perfect self would do if you could. Feels liberating doesn’t it? Believe it or not, the great successes in our history made choices, wrote down their goals, and focused on what they wanted. They decided to pay the price and did it. Whether you are a Mahatma Gandhi, Thomas Edison, Henry Ford, Theodore Roosevelt, Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, or any number of high-achievers—they all decided what they wanted, agreed to pay a price, and stayed focused on achieving that vision of their more perfect selves.
Here are the things I’m working on this week:
I am in the middle of week 3 of the Jim Stoppani Shortcut to Size program;
I am working through a couple of books;
I am taking courses on mini-habits, cascading style sheets (CSS) programming, and mindfulness;
I am writing a section of my non-fiction book a day (around 500 words);
I am building articles for my blog pages;
I am meditating daily to achieve more calm in my life and improving my focus;
I am watching some shows on Netflix and Amazon prime (after work hours);
Well, that’s it for today folks. I hope all of you have a great week!
Until next time…
Dave
28 Sunday Oct 2018
Posted in Thank you
Hello, readers! I wanted to pass along my thanks for following Daily Ramblings. It was great to see some new faces this week!
For those of you who are new, here’s how my blog works.
Motivation Mondays
Ted Talk Tuesdays
Wisdom Wednesdays
Thinking Thursdays
Funny Fridays
Spiritual Saturdays
Sunday is reserved for my Thank you messages and updates on my character trait adoption. November will be the character trait of Tolerance. This month was discrimination. So, next month I’ll continue to work on discrimination and adding Tolerance to my character trait goals.
I hope everyone is excited about the upcoming week! I’ll see you all tomorrow for my installment of Motivation Monday.
Until next time…
Dave
27 Saturday Oct 2018
Posted in Spiritual Saturday
Tags
Assessing your Situation, Being Prepared, Finances, health, Insurance, LIfe's Surprises, Organization, Taking Inventory
“Life is a series of interconnected wheels. Very little can happen to you without it being known ahead of time by you. All you have to do is learn to be aware.”—Harold Klemp The Language of Soul
So how can you become more aware? It’s really simple, but it takes practice. If you are cognizant of your physical and mental health, take care of your finances, maintain the things you own (including your mind and body), you can avoid a lot of problems that will develop over time.
Neglect the things you own, your mind, your body, your relationships, and they will wither and die. We are never static. We are either improving or degrading. There is no in between.
I’m not knocking leisure or having fun. These activities are terrific for your mental health. It’s nice to settle down with a good book and a cup of coffee or tea. It’s nice to close your eyes and listen to soothing music. But everything has limits.
Living the life of a sloth is a sure way to personal destruction. Look around your surroundings. Are things in order? Look at your digital life. Are your files organized in such a way that you can find what you are looking for quickly? What about your calendar? Does it have all of your important dates in them with appropriate reminders? Are your financial responsibilities automated? Is your medical, dental, eye, auto, home, and life insurance up-to-date?
What are you doing today to improve—to take one more step toward a personal goal? What do you want to achieve in the very short time you are here on this Earth? How do you contribute and make someone else’s life and the world in general better?
Tomorrow is the day I really take my life into inventory. It’s the day I do not schedule anything except my religious pursuits, my weekly review of what I did and where I’m going in the next week, and my workouts. It is also a time to re-evaluate. Am I really going in the direction I want to? Are there are any goals I have set for myself that I’ve realized that I just don’t want to pay the price for anymore?
If you are tracking all of the things you need to and are keeping yourself abreast of where you are and where you want to go, there are very few things that will surprise you. That doesn’t mean that life won’t surprise you from time-to-time. There are always unavoidable accidents that come our way that we had no way of seeing. A few months ago, I was driving home from my sister’s home and accidentally ran over a semi-truck shock absorber that sliced open both of the driver’s side wheels on my minivan. There was no way I could have avoided this, nor see it coming. This is an example of an accident coming out of nowhere. A buddy of mine likes to ride his bike back and forth from work. He was driving down a dark street one night and accidentally ran into a parked car. Another surprise, I’m sure he had no idea was coming his way.
So, here’s some advice:
Keep track of physical health by getting annual checkups and going to the doctor when you think something might be wrong. Get to the dentist to get your teeth cleaned and checked out on a semi-annual or quarterly basis. Get to the eye doctor once a year.
Make sure you evaluate your insurance on a semi-annual or annual basis. Laws change, insurance policies change. Do you need a power of attorney or a will? Get that done so your loved ones aren’t blindsided by an accidental death and have a nightmare to deal with in Probate court.
Get your bills, birthdays, holidays, upcoming trips, tax filing dates, and any other dates that are important to you on a calendar like Google with the appropriate reminder mechanisms in place, so you don’t miss these important events. Then you can forget about them. Your calendar will remind you when it’s time to send out a card or a gift.
Get to the gym! Get your strength training in. Get your cardio training in. Plan out your meals for the week. Research and get the supplements you need that are specific to your body and temperaments.
Schedule times during the year to take inventory of what you own and donate or get rid of the stuff that is just collecting dust and doing nothing for you but taking up space. Schedule weekly or bi-weekly times to clean your living areas. Dusting furniture, sweeping and mopping floors, cleaning your oven, your refrigerator, your microwave. Get your laundry done on a weekly basis. Get your suits or dresses dry-cleaned so you have something to wear at the next surprise wedding or anniversary invitation.
I could go on and on, but you know what I’m driving at. So much of our lives can be automated and scheduled so you can alleviate the stress that is caused by worrying about these things. You also free up a lot of mental processing power because your calendar and to-do app will tell you what you have to do today.
By doing this you’ll be more capable of handling life’s “surprises” and be able to pick yourself up, dust yourself off, and get moving again much more quickly.
Well, that’s it for today’s Spiritual Saturday. I hope you are having a great weekend!!
Until next time…
Dave
26 Friday Oct 2018
Posted in Funny Friday
“Most of what we call management consists of making it difficult for people to get their work done.” – Peter Drucker
Read more at https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/peter_drucker_163694
Humor always has some truth to it. The above statement really hits it on the head.
Have a great Friday!
Until next time…
Dave
25 Thursday Oct 2018
Posted in Thinking Thursdays
Tags
Amazon Prime Video, Codecademy, Coursera, Goals, Movies, Netflix, TV Series, Udemy
Well, folks. Another week is almost gone. Before you know it, you’ll be bombarded with trick or treaters knocking on your door or hitting your doorbell. For me, Halloween is the beginning of my favorite part of the year—the Holidays! This year, I’m going to be good and continue to push forward with my weight loss. Last year, I took a hiatus from lifting and dieting and I paid for it, although it was fun eating all the cookies, cakes, and pies that go along with the holidays in my home.
This week is a week to reorganize my priorities. As you’ll see below, I’ve been binging quite a bit. I’m not neglecting my writing or my exercise, but I would like to do some more work on my learning sessions and my spiritual pursuits, which suffer a bit when I’m so engrossed in the next great series (It doesn’t help that my brother and sister keep passing along great shows to watch). Anyways, I hit the gym early today for my cardio. Tomorrow will be another cardio day. Then it’s off to week 3 for the Shortcut to Size program I’m on currently.
I’m up to a 14,000 word-count on my book and continue plugging away at it. One day at a time and I’ll get there! I’m also really enjoying my Calm Meditation App (see below in apps). My daily practice is really helping me with calmness and focus.
I had to help my Dad set up a new computer today. He loves YouTube. His other computer died yesterday, and I wanted to get it up and running for him. It took a while because we decided to use Mom’s laptop since she doesn’t use it much and it had a whole truckload of updates to do (around 6 hours or so).
One last thing. I baked my first batch of egg bites today, so I can get up nuke my eggs and eat them straight away. I love breakfast—but hate having to make something, particularly when I want to go to the gym. The batch I made today was just scrambled egg yolks, salt, and pepper. I’ll make another batch tomorrow and experiment with additives like cheese, bacon, peppers, onions, mushrooms, and kale. These are really easy to make and because I can bake 12 at a time, I can food prep my breakfast for the entire week in about 30 minutes.
Below are the things I’m doing to improve and change. I hope all of you have a great week!!
Exercise Program:
Jim Stoppani’s Shortcut to Size – (www.bodybuilding.com) – I’ve done this workout before and returning to it because it is just a good all-around weight routine. It’s 8 weeks in length, a 4-day split with 3 rest/cardio days mixed in.
Books:
Armor, Steakley – Recommended by an Army Buddy. A terrific book so far.
Ethics, Aristotle – Very dry, but required reading if you are seeking to learn from one of the world’s greatest philosophers. I enjoyed this book and found it really cool to find the quotes I like in the book.
The Shariyat Ki Sugmad, Paul Twitchell – This is my bible. I finished it and will re-read again. This book is a permanent fixture on my reading list.
Uncle Tom’s Cabin, Harriet Beecher Stowe – Still plugging away on this one. I’ve put it on hold, not because it is a bad book but due to the nonfiction reading, I’m taking on (I love nonfiction books more than fiction).
Classes:
Web Development Path – Codecademy – Currently learning HTML, CSS, JavaScript, and REACT.
De-mystifying Mindfulness Course – Coursera
Documentaries:
Movies:
Fun:
Ozark – Netflix (in the cue) – Re-watching Season 1 to remind me what’s going on. I’ll kick into Season 2 when I’m back on track with this one.
Madam Secretary (Netflix) – I just finished season 4 of this show and have to say I really liked it. If you like Designated Survivor or West Wing, this show is right up there.
Haunting of Hill House (Netflix) – I just finished this one and if you’re in the Halloween mood like I am you’ll enjoy it. This is not scary because of gore or anything, it is just eerie. You will have to pay a lot of attention as there is a lot of jumping back and forth between characters and time periods. I had to watch a few episodes over again to catch what I missed. Great cast and good writing.
The Man in the High Castle, Season 3 (Amazon Prime) – All I can say is: “Wow!”
Interesting Apps:
Calm App – This is a meditation assistant application and comes packed with all kinds of great features, soundscapes, and guided meditations. There are so many features available I do not have enough space to tell you about it. All I can say is try it out if you like Headspace or any of the other meditation apps that are out there. By far, this is the best app I have ever used. Annual price: $59.99. The price is well worth it.
I hope all of you are having a terrific week! See you tomorrow for Funny Friday!!
Until next time…
Dave
24 Wednesday Oct 2018
Posted in Wisdom Wednesday
“When it is obvious that the goals cannot be reached, don’t adjust the goals, adjust the action steps.” – Confucius
Read more at https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/confucius_140548?src=t_wisdom
When we strike out to achieve something, the territory is unknown—we have never done this thing before. If we had, it really wouldn’t be something to pursue—we’ve mastered it already. Pursuing goals will result in mistakes, missed milestones, and frustration. It’s ok.
When we first map out a route to a goal, we are guessing. We have read what others have done; we follow some of the steps they have taken. As we walk this path we find out that what these others have done doesn’t work for us. Do we give up? Never.
As Confucius suggests, we measure where we are, we look at the finish line, and we adjust our sails. We reformulate a new plan to help us achieve the same end-state. This could result in altering our diet, altering our writing plan, or even learn a new skill that will contribute to our goal’s achievement. Whatever we do doesn’t give up the goal it merely changes the route we will take to get there.
The changes you’ll make will relate to what you do each day. The action steps you are taking each day to edge toward your goal. These action steps, although small, will build toward your goal.
Here’s an example. Let’s say your goal is set and you are making progress. Once a week you review your progress against all your goals and discover that you will not meet your deadline by the time you set it. Uh oh! If you’re writing a section of your book a day (typically around 500 words or so), you can adjust this by writing two sections (around 1000 words a day). At the end of the next week, you’ll be writing 7,000 words instead of 3,500. This small adjustment should make a dramatic improvement to your writing plan’s productivity.
Maybe it’s a planning issue. You set out a daily schedule and for some reason fall off your schedule consistently. Print out your daily routine and look at what happens when. Perhaps it is an energy issue? We all have those parts of the day that we are most productive. Maybe you could adjust your writing to the afternoon or evening? Try it out. You have nothing to lose.
For me, my prime time for exercise is when I get up. I know that if I don’t go to the gym as soon as I wake up I will miss that workout. This was my adjustment to achieving my goal of being in shape and trimming some weight. Does this make sense?
Whenever you are pursuing a goal, take some time to review your progress. I typically do this on Sundays (my do-nothing day) to check in with myself and see where I am making progress and where I am falling behind. As I plan the next week, I adjust my schedule. I think about what is working and what is not working—then I make a new plan and review my results again the next week.
I hope all of you are achieving what you want to in life. If not, take some of the advice that Confucius offers. Good luck on your journey to success!
Until next time…
Dave
23 Tuesday Oct 2018
Posted in Ted Talk
Emilie Wapnick discusses the importance of both specialists and multipotentialites in this Ted Talk. She explains that the most important thing we can do with our life is to pay attention to our “inner wiring”.
I hope your week is going well!
Until next time…
Dave
22 Monday Oct 2018
Posted in Motivation Monday
Tags
Consistency, Persistence, self-criticism, self-improvement, self-judgment, Self-love, self-support
“If you fell down yesterday, stand up today.” – H. G. Wells
Read more at https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/h_g_wells_163592
One of my largest challenges is learning how to be non-judgmental and self-criticizing. I want to do so many things, get moving toward them, and then…You know the rest. I wanted to take a little time today to discuss the importance of “giving yourself a break.”
I am currently working through a meditation series on my Calm app called the “Relationship with Self” series. It is a series of 10-minute meditations that address things like self-criticism, impatience with self, judgment of self. Think about how many times in the last week you said, “I should…”. For me, it is beyond counting.
I have discovered over the last month working with the discrimination character trait that when you rise above the mind and realize your true nature (awareness), the negative and positive of things fades away. There is no good or bad, up or down, here or there. It all just is. It is just experience. When the mind gets involved it must label, compare, or judge. This is what the mind does—it must examine and measure to make any sense of what it takes in.
Does beating yourself up really make any difference? Not really. It just adds to your guilt, your angst, and lowers your self-esteem each time you start ranting to yourself about how you should have done this or failed to do this. This doesn’t make any sense, does it?
Instead, look at each day as an experiment. What works? What doesn’t work? Just like the quote for today, we all fall, we all screw up, we all fail. Today, we can get up, and try again.
It’s the start of another week. Be patient with yourself, be kind to yourself, love yourself. You should be your best cheerleader, not your best critic.
This week I’ll continue to work through my coding classes, my mindfulness course, writing my book, blogging, and of course, working out. I’ll also squeeze in some reading here and there and journal.
I hope each of you has a terrific week!
Until next time…
Dave
Daily Ramblings... 