Daily Ramblings – Motivation Monday – Taking Action

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Achievement, Action, Goals, Rabindranath Tagore, Recharging, Relaxing, rituals

“You can’t cross the sea merely by standing and staring at the water.” – Rabindranath Tagore

Brainyquote

Action is the only way to achieve what you want in life. You can think about, pray about, or talk about the things you’d like to do, but action is the only way to change what you want to do into a result. I used to be a “think about” guy. I’d think, I’d think, and I’d think, but never achieved. You would think this was common sense, but it isn’t. There are all kinds of ways to avoid achieving something. Fear is big. The fear of failure has probably thwarted more people throughout history than any other reason I can think of.

The reason successful people win is that they fail more than anyone else. Each time they fail, they learn something. They gain wisdom. This is the advantage that comes to those that try. The more they try, the more they fail, the more they learn.

This week I’ll be focusing on my JavaScript course, my LPIP course from Centerpointe Research Institute, and my NLP course offered by Udemy. I’ll also continue revising and editing my book (3^rd draft). Meditation and exercise will also be on my agenda for the week. Finally, my reading schedule. I’m reading two books on writing. Story Engineering, is one book I’m reading; the other is on outlining for non-fiction writing. What I am learning as I begin my writing career is the importance of pre-writing or sketching out a story, characters, world building, and the research that feeds these areas of a work. I learned the importance of outlining for any writing. It helps form more organized works and allows the author to flesh out their thoughts in an organized way.

I had a great weekend. I’m a huge advocate for video games. I continue to do my daily rituals, but my entertainment is video games and watching shows on Netflix, Amazon Prime, and Hulu. On the weekends I recharge my batteries for the upcoming week. It’s great! This weekend we met with friends in Flint, Michigan at one of our favorite Thai Restaurants. The food is great, and the company was awesome. We do this monthly so we can stay in touch and enjoy some good food.

I enjoy having a balance of work and play. When I’m playing video games or watching a great show, it takes my mind off things I must do and gives the mind time to consolidate and reorganize itself. Some of my best ideas for writing or anything I am pursuing comes while I play a game or enjoy a good movie.

What do you do to relax? What do you do to recharge? What are your goals this week? What are you looking to achieve by week’s end?

I hope all of you have a great week!

Until next time…

Dave

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Daily Ramblings – Motivation Monday – The Empowered vs. Disempowered Life

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Achievement, Disempowerment, Empowerment, Goals, motivation, Persistence, Striving, Success

“The past cannot be changed. The future is yet in your power.” Unknown

Read more at: Brainy Quote

Every wonder why people live in the past? It is something I have recognized in the people I associate with and started wondering why people torture themselves over actions and events they can’t change? I recently learned during a course I am taking currently. It is because they are disempowered.

Disempowered people worry about things outside of their control. They worry about the weather, what other people are going to do or not do, they relive their past daily, particularly if that past event or action is traumatic. They just can’t let go of it. Subsequently, they gloss over the great things that are happening now or miss out on things that are great and working in their life. It is like they are wearing special sun glasses that taint everything that is wrong in the past and paint their present and future with the same filtered view. Why would anyone do that? It is because the brain has wired itself to be protective against a traumatic event that may occur now or again in the future. Instead of starting a new day and living fully in the present, they constantly worry that something bad will happen to them. This, in turn, becomes a self-fulfilling prophesy. Their lives do turn out the way their internal wiring dictates.

It is tough to leave the state of disempowerment. To some, being a victim is a profession. They can’t find the right job. Everyone is out to get them. They can’t find a lover. How could anyone love them like they are? They can’t set or achieve any goals. Why? I’ll fail anyway. This is a dismal way to live, wouldn’t you agree? Victimhood is their comfort zone. It is comfortable because if everything in their life is the fault of some outside entity; they are not responsible. Their life is one HUGE blame game. I can’t lose weight because everyone around me eats garbage. I can’t learn anything new because I sucked at school.

The opposite of a disempowered person is the person who is empowered. They take responsibility for their lives. They realized that they are in control. They are realistic, however. They do know that life will throw them curve balls. It is part of life, after all. Instead of being thwarted, they recognize it is something out of their control and learn ways to overcome the adversity. If they are out of shape, they learn about getting into shape. If they are lacking a skill, they learn how to gain that skill. If they are not finding the right people in their lives, they put themselves out there and meet new people. See the difference?

Choose a life of empowerment. Choose to take responsibility for your life. Choose to accept the things you cannot change and either live with these things or come up with solutions to overcome them. There is always a way—always. You just have to persist and keep trying. Simple, isn’t it?

This week I’ll continue working toward all my goals in writing, reading, learning, meditation, and exercise. I enjoy the daily routine of journaling, blogging, and working on my book. I enjoy the satisfaction of leaving a gym after a grueling workout. I enjoy reading and learning. I enjoy the solitude of getting quiet during meditation.

I hope all of you have a productive and terrific week! If any of you need any advice or help, feel free to reach out. I have some pretty awesome planning and execution hacks I’d love to share in all the areas I am pursuing. See you at the finish line!

Until next time…

Dave

Daily Ramblings – Motivation Monday – New Schedule and Exercise Routine

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Bradley Whitford, Brainy Quote, Exercise, Goals, journaling, Learning, Reading, Writing

“Infuse your life with action. Don’t wait for it to happen. Make it happen. Make your own future. Make your own hope. Make your own love. And whatever your beliefs, honor your creator, not by passively waiting for grace to come down from upon high, but by doing what you can to make grace happen… yourself, right now, right down here on Earth.” Bradley Whitford Read more at: From Brainy Quote

Happy Monday, folks!

This week will be full of activity. I’m taking a course on Neuro Linguistic Programming and a course on Politics. I am working on my recruiting book. I am also doing a lot of reading. My exercise routine will involve a new 6-day split. Today, I got back into the gym.

My 6-day workout plan is: Monday (Chest, Triceps, and Abs and 20 minutes cardio), Tuesday (Back, Biceps, and Calves and 20 minutes cardio), Wednesday (Shoulders, forearms, 20 minutes cardio), Thursday (Quads, Abs, and 20 minutes cardio), Friday (Hamstrings, calves, 20 minutes cardio), Saturday (Chest, Back, Shoulders, and 20 minutes cardio). I typically do 3 sets of exercises per body part.

It felt good to get back in the gym after a 4-month respite. I also adjusted my schedule. I now start my day at 6 am. Then I tackle my day in 2-hour increments starting with journaling, then reading, then learning, and then writing. In the evening I get my relax time with Netflix, Hulu, and some game time on my XBOX.

What are your plans this week? What are you trying to accomplish? Where are you with your New Year’s resolutions? Today, is the day to get all of that back on track. We’re in the 2^nd Quarter and you have a lot of time left before the end of the year.

If you are interested, leave a comment about one of your goals you’re struggling with. I’d like to offer suggestions. Well, that’s it for today, folks! Have a great week!

Until next time…

Dave

Daily Ramblings – Motivation Monday – Making Adjustments

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Exercise, Goals, Learning, Losing traction, Reading, Resolutions, Slipping, Writing

Hey, folks!

What’s the game plan for my week? I’m glad you asked. I’ll be working on the 3rd re-write of my book, shooting for a chapter a day. I’m hitting it hard in the home gym with a mix of cardio, abdominal work, leg work, chest work, Pilates, and Yoga. I’m also taking a Neuro Linguistic Programming (NLP) course on Udemy. I’m still going strong with intermittent fasting. This week I’m also learning AJAX within the Web Development Path at Codecademy. Finally, I raised the bar on my meditation practice. I’m up to an hour daily.

What do you have scheduled this week? How are you progressing on this year’s goals? Are you on track or are you missing milestones? If you’re off track, don’t lose sleep. Figure out where you are, retool your plan and get back at it. You can’t lose if you don’t quit, right?

I lost my motivation for book writing a few weeks ago. I discovered my motivation fell away because my process lacked detail. The rewriting process was the culprit. So, I sat down one day and thought it through, retooled, and got back to work. Since this is my first book, my process still needs to ironing out, but I’m back on track again.

If you’re stuck or losing momentum on a goal or resolution you set in December, try this. Think about why you set the goal. Think about what caused you to resolve to do whatever you resolved to do. You still have 8 months to achieve it.

Striving for goals or changes in your life are hard. If they were easy, everyone would accomplish what they set out to do. Don’t be a quitter. Don’t stop. Don’t come up with excuses. You wanted to achieve a goal. Achieve it. Maybe you are doing too much. Maybe you need to whittle down what you’re doing every day. The way to keep going is to keep taking steps towards your goal. Even if they are microscopic steps, continue. It may take you a while but you will succeed. You have it in you.

I hope all of you are making great strides toward your projects and goals. I’m cheering for you! See you at the finish line!

Until next time…

Dave

Daily Ramblings – Motivation Monday – Taking Advantage of Your Brain’s Automation

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Automatic, change, habits, Mindset, Neural Pathway, Steve Maraboli

“Once your mindset changes, everything on the outside will change along with it.”―Steve Maraboli, Life, the Truth, and Being Free

The mind is the tool we must use to negotiate our existence in this day-to-day reality. Today, you are the product of the choices you’ve made and the habits you have built. What hurts most of us is our inability to see how we create our own habits.

Imagine using a chisel to carve out a groove in a piece of wood. When you do something new, your brain creates a neural pathway to execute the steps needed to do that new thing. The brain is the chisel and your neurons are the piece of wood. Each time you do that act the neural pathway you created becomes stronger. It’s like taking your chisel and carving out a deeper groove in the wood. Do something enough and you’ll have a very deep groove. When this neural pathway becomes strong enough, your brain packs it away in your subconscious and it becomes automatic. Your brain is exceedingly good at this.

Your brain works through this process with everything. It builds neural pathways for muscular movements and it builds neural pathways for thoughts. When you think a certain way about a certain topic, your brain packs that away just like it does a physical movement like opening a door. Once you realize this process is taking place you can purposefully create your own habits and routines. It just takes consistent action.

If you take consistent action daily, let’s say exercising, your brain will begin creating a neural pathway that it can use to be better prepared for that exercise the next day. Each day you exercise, the brain fires the neural pathways related to the movements your body takes and the stresses your body feels. Each day you exercise your mind and body the exercise gets easier. It gets easier because the brain is strengthening all the neural pathways you use during exercise.

This same process of building neural pathways works for everything you do. If you want to build a habit, do it consistently each day (at the same time if possible). If you want to get rid of a habit, stop feeding it. The brain is efficient. It automates things to reduce the processing power required to do something over and over. Those things in your mind that are already automated begin to dissipate when the brain recognizes you are not doing them anymore.

To create a new habit, start small and do it consistently each day at the same time. Your brain will automatically begin building the neural pathways that support this habit and before you know it, you’ll be doing it automatically. You’ll know when you have established the habit. You’ll know because you will feel a little discomfort if you stop doing it. If you have an established exercise habit and get sick, you will miss a day of your exercise. Watch what happens internally. You will feel discomfort when you cannot exercise. When you feel this, you know that you have an established neural pathway supporting your exercise habit.

I hope all of you have a terrific Monday!

Until next time…

Dave

Daily Ramblings – Motivation Monday – How Are You Using Your Time?

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Achievement, Goals, Meaning, passion, Planning, Procrastination, time, Waste

“Time is an equal opportunity employer. Each human being has the same number of hours and minutes every day. Rich people can’t buy more hours. Scientists can’t invent new minutes. And you can’t save time to spend it on another day. Even so, time is amazingly fair and forgiving. No matter how much time you’ve wasted in the past, you still have an entire tomorrow.” ―Denis Waitley

I love this quote. I remember reading it a few years ago. It was an epiphany for me. It forced me to ask, “What do I do with my time?” My answer at the time was a little embarrassing.

I love video games. I love movies. I love TV shows. I used to waste an unbelievable amount of time on these things. I’d work, I’d come home and flick on the TV or the XBOX and that was my night. When I look back, I realize how much time I wasted on frivolous things.

Entertainment is fine. We all need to relax our minds from time-to-time. When this entertainment takes over your life, it is no longer fine. I used entertainment to escape my responsibilities—the important things in life, like exercise, meditation, writing, reading, and learning. Now, when I am seeking entertainment, I enjoy it. It isn’t a numbing experience. It is not an escape or a means of procrastination.

There’s a good exercise you can do, to see how you are spending your time. Write everything you do in 5-minute increments for 5 working days. You don’t have to be exact. Just capture as much as you can to see where you are putting your time. The results will amaze you when you take your 5 recorded days and look at what you did or didn’t do.

We all have more time than we will admit. When I did this exercise, I discovered that I was wasting my life. I got up, ate, went to work, worked, came home, watched TV, and went back to bed. What a dismal unengaged life right?

What do you want to do with your time? Do you want to exercise? Do you want to read? Do you want to write? Do you want to build and run a business? The possibilities are endless. Choose the things you want to do and get them on your schedule. My first choice was exercise. I wanted to get in shape and feel better. So, I carved out some time in the morning to exercise every day. This is where I started.

Now, that I am retired, I structured my day with a bunch of activities. Reading, writing, learning, exercise, and meditation all take up a part of my day. I also enjoy reading the news, keeping my email in-boxes cleaned out, and interact on a few social networks. These are the things I enjoy doing. All of them contribute to the goals I have set for myself.

What are you going to do with your day? What are your goals? Where do you want to be at the end of the year? In five years? You can do whatever you want to do. It is up to you. Make choices. After you’ve chosen the areas you want to pursue, plan how much time you want to spend on each area of interest. Then get these things on a daily list or calendar.

Go out and find self-help books on planning, goal setting, and time management. Watch some YouTube videos. Take some online courses. You can also ask yourself, “What have I always wanted to do but never had the time to pursue?” If you’ve done the above time-tracking exercise, you realize how much time you really have. Go after this thing you’ve always wanted to do. Maybe you wanted to learn how to garden. Maybe you want to start a coin or stamp collection. Maybe you want to start an exercise routine, take up yoga, or learn to ballroom dance. The possibilities are endless.

Life continues. Time continues. Why continue to follow the same path if you are unhappy with it? You can do whatever you want to. Weigh your options. Explore. Choose. You’ll be glad you did.

Until next time…

Dave

Daily Ramblings – Motivation Monday – Setting Stretch Goals and Writing Your Bucket List

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Achievement, Bucket List, failure, Goals, Learn, Pay the Price

“Don’t fear failure. — Not failure, but low aim, is the crime. In great attempts it is glorious even to fail.”

―Bruce Lee, Striking Thoughts: Bruce Lee’s Wisdom for Daily Living

Are you afraid of making mistakes or failing what you set out to do? If you are, I have an exercise you can work through. This exercise provides you a way to brainstorm your future. Write 100 things you would like to do before you die. This will be your personal bucket list. Assume you will accomplish these goals. You have the skills, talent, knowledge, and the money to do whatever you want. Try this. It is a great exercise and is the way I came up with my personal bucket list. This bucket list drives me to learn new skills and identifies new plateaus to shoot for.

I’ll be working on the 2^nd draft of 5 chapters this week. I’ll be checking my writing for grammar errors. I am scheduled to finish my 2^nd draft this month. Rewriting processes vary from author to author. I am working through my process hoping I can solidify this process for future non-fiction books. My writing efficiency will improve dramatically once I have this process completed.

My workout routine will stay at home using exercise bands. I got a new set this week that duplicated weights up to 50lbs. My home routine will be the routine I stick with while the weather here in Michigan makes driving conditions too dangerous to drive in. My goal is the same as last year. I want to get to 200lbs with about 10% body fat. I’ll get there. I’m slowly chipping away.

I’m on track with my blogging. I am at 516 followers, with a 1000-follower goal by year’s end. I use Sunday to read other people’s blogs and follow blogs I am interested in. I follow back everyone who follows Daily Ramblings. I am continuing to refine my content to continue to deliver top-level content that will keep and attract new followers.

My meditation schedule is daily. My reading involves 5 books. One book is a fiction book, another book is a history book, another book is spiritual, another book is on philosophy, and the final book is a self-help book. Each time I finish a book I replace the finished book with a book of the same category. I’m on track with my reading plan for the year. I finished book 8 of the 48-book goal I have set for this year.

I am also on track with my course load. I am taking a lecture series on YouTube, a political course on Coursera, offered by the University of Pennsylvania, and I am plugging through my programming course on Codecademy. The goal this year is to finish the Web Path I am enrolled in.

I hope all of you are on track with the goals you set in December like I did. If you are having trouble with deciding about what to do, take time and write 100 things you’d like to do, assuming you will not fail. When you have completed your list, write the reasons you would like to pursue these goals. The goals that have the strongest reasons are the ones you should focus on. Goals that motivate you will be the goals that are easier to incorporate into your daily schedule. Goals that don’t have a solid “why” will be those goals you place on a someday/maybe list. Your goals will change. Some will stick while others will teach you are not willing to pay the price that goal requires. It’s ok. Try things out. You never know.

As always, I wish you a great week!

Until next time…

Dave

Daily Ramblings – Motivation Monday –

Tags

Content, Contributing, motivation, passion, Unique, Walt Disney, Writing

“I believe in being an innovator.” Walt Disney

Read more at: Brainy Quote

There is so much content available online and it continues to perpetuate itself. Making your own contributions online is daunting, particularly when you second-guess yourself. You ask yourself questions like: Who will find my work? Who will like my work? Am I good enough?

You are unique. You have a voice. This voice is different. There are people who want to hear your words. Get it out there.

I love blogging. I love writing. I blog and write because I have things to say. I like to put my “two cents” out there.

When Disney came on the scene, there was no such thing as a theme park or full-length animated film. He brought both ideas to the market. Today, millions of people flock to Disney’s theme parks and watch his movies. Mickey Mouse is an icon known across the globe.

You never know who will read your words. You never know who will enjoy them. Get them out there. Pursue your dreams. You’ll never know until you do it.

Some people don’t like to write. That’s ok. Pursue the things you love. Pursue your unique interests. We all have a place in this world. Your passions are where you need to focus your time and effort. There is a need for your unique contribution.

Every single person we consider great, started with an idea. Henry Ford’s idea was the automobile. Edison’s idea was the light bulb. Disney’s idea was creating products that allowed people to escape their normal lives and experience “The Happiest Place on Earth”. Disney sold happiness and wonder. Who wouldn’t want to buy that?

If you know where your passions lie, pursue them. Even if you only have time to dedicate an hour a day, use that hour to pursue that passion. You’ll feel more alive during that hour than the rest of your day.

If you want to make money pursuing your passion, research. You could write a book about your passion, write a blog about your passion, or even teach others about your passion by creating course content for YouTube or an online education hub like Udemy. There are people who have monetized their passions in the same way. Look around. You’ll find these people and learn how they did it.

My Week

I’ll be working on my 2^nd draft of my book. I’m doing a chapter a day. This week will be chapters 6-10. My daily exercise regimen is in the home because of the bad weather we are experiencing in Michigan. I’ll be getting back to the gym in March.

I’m reading 5 books. I enjoy reading multiple books at a time. I read one fiction book, a book on history, a religious book, a self-help book, and a book on philosophy. I use a service called Scribd. Scribd is a service that gives you access to books, magazines, audio books, and papers. It is a terrific service for the $8.99/month. I recommend this service if you read as much as I do.

I read digitally. It takes a while to get used to reading this way. My folks have had a real difficulty reading digitally. They still enjoy reading paper books. Print books take up too much space. Digital books allow me to get as many books as I want. They take up zero space, other than the digital space they consume on my phone or computer.

I hope all of you have a great week!

Until next time…

Dave

Daily Ramblings – Motivation Monday – Finding Your Dream Job

Tags

Focus, Investigate, Love the work, motivation, passion, Paying the price, Productivity, Resistance

“Lack of direction, not lack of time, is the problem. We all have twenty-four-hour days.”― Zig Ziglar

One of the biggest challenges in life is to figure out what we will do with our lives. I remember contemplating this question when I was about to finish high school. Many of my friends already knew what they would do. Not me. I did not understand what I wanted to do.

Looking back, I would have told myself to choose an area of interest and try it out. As I have matured, I realized that every profession requires a certain price to pay. If you choose a particular area, investigate this area by reading about the people that exist in that field and excel. Learn about what they have to do to be on top of their fields. When you see the price, they are paying you can decide about your willingness to pay the same price. You can do this over several career paths to find the role or roles you will pay the price for.

Once I discovered my desire to be a writer and pursue my dream of learning computer programming life smoothed out. I felt a congruence in my life I had not felt before. When I wake up in the morning, I have a sense of purpose. I know what I will do and I look forward to it.

Once you realize that you’ve made a good choice, you have no resistance to learning, or the work involved in your profession. Writing and programming are a joy. Each day I write, or work on a programming project, it feels like fun rather than work. This was the final confirmation for me. When I realized that my work was really more like play, my efforts in both areas took off.

Like the above quote suggests, focus is the way to productivity and achievement. When you observe people that love what they do for a living, you sense a joy of purpose. The work they do seems effortless. They will work harder than their peers. You can see the joy they experience when they do this work.  You can also see people who are in the wrong position. You see them procrastinate, complain, and do the bare minimum to earn their paycheck. There is no love or purpose behind their work.

This is the key difference between people who are engaged in meaningful work they love and people in the wrong role. Their passion overcomes the price they pay to be in that profession. This passion provides the drive to be the best in their field because it is not work to them. They embrace the training and outside learning the job requires. They work longer and harder. Their work is of a higher quality.

If you are in a position you consider work, maybe it’s time to look at other roles. Research. Investigate these fields. Find out what the top people in these fields do and the price they pay to be the best. If you believe you can pay the same price, try it out. You will never know until you do. The average worker spends roughly 75% of their time at work. Why not do something you love?

This week, I’ll continue my regimen of working on my book, working through my current programming project, reading the five books I’ve selected, and hitting my daily exercise routine. I’ll continue to journal and meditate. I’m making good progress across all areas. I hope each of you has a terrific day!

Until next time…

Dave

Daily Ramblings – Motivation Monday – Ambition and Hard Work

Tags

Achievement, Ambition, Dedication, Discipline, Hard Work, Ralph Waldo Emerson

“Without ambition one starts nothing. Without work one finishes nothing. The prize will not be sent to you. You have to win it.”―Ralph Waldo Emerson

Have you ever wondered about what you wanted to do? I remember when I was in high school and wondered about this very question. How did people end up where they are? Why did people choose a job of doing his or that? This question haunted me for a few years until I came across the idea of enlisting in the Army.

When I enlisted back in the 80s, my first few years weren’t that great. After a short while I began to doubt my decision. Then I had a revelation. I asked myself, “Why not put all you have into this?” From the moment I decided to put everything I had into being the best soldier I could be, my military career took off.

I knew in high school that I wanted to do something I liked. I learned in the Army that what I liked is what I chose to dedicate myself to. In other words, everything I thought had an order to it, was backward. Obviously, you need some driver to get you to act. For me, the Army represented a full-time job, benefits, and the ability to support myself.

After I had decided to join the Army, it was now up to me to embrace that decision. I could have just messed around during my first enlistment, doing the bare minimum, but my thinking at the time drove me to do something worthwhile. Why waste my time in the Army, when I was going to be there anyway? So that’s what I did.

Each of us comes to a crossroads in our lives. We know we want a certain end-state. We then began scanning our environment to find the means of alleviating the dissonance between where we are and where we want to be. Our ambitions drive this part of us.

Once we have decided what we want or where we want our lives to be, we must work. We take advantage of our opportunities and do the work. Doing the work, we slowly begin creating the future we have envisioned.

When do we win? We win when we have worked hard enough, chiseled away enough of our current situation to achieve the life we want. Imagine the life you want and begin scanning your environment for ways to get yourself to that point. What do you have to do? What actions do you need to take? Once you understand what your life will “look” like it is nothing more than working your butt off to get there.

Until next time…

Dave