Daily Ramblings – Thankful/Thinking Thursday – Consistent Reading, Writing, and Learning

04 Thursday Feb 2021

Posted by Dave Gardner in Thankful Thursdays, Thinking Thursdays, Uncategorized

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Consistency, Exercise, huge results, Learning, Reading, small actions, Udemy, Writing

Over the last few years, as more of my schedule has come under my control, I have found that doing a little each day compounds into huge results. A little exercise, a little reading, a little writing, and a few minutes watching, listening, or reading some educational material can go a long way.

Some of you are working from home. The beauty of working from home is you can get a lot of things done in a more efficient way. You are not forced to work only for your boss and then look at that pile of laundry, dirty dishes, or snow-filled driveway on your own time. Now you can work on both sets of priorities simultaneously, other than those ZOOM conference calls that eat up a good portion of the workday. Why not take an hour a day and knock out a little in each area: reading, writing, exercise, and learning? It doesn’t take long.

The average length of a session on Udemy is roughly 5-6 minutes long. If you take a few courses, you’re looking at 20-30 minutes each day. You’ll get your graduation certificates in no time, and if you take the right courses, you’ll be adding some critical skills to your toolbox. If you select the 4+ star-rated courses on Udemy, you’ll also be entertained by popular instructors that make the material fun and interesting. 30 minutes a day for 6 days (assuming you subscribe to my “do nothing day” policy) is 3 hours of learning!

If you take the time to analyze what you do each day, I think you’ll be amazed at how much time you spend watching television or streaming videos, and other activities, that although entertaining, don’t build anything. I’m a huge video game fan. My current favorite is Call of Duty, Black Ops, Cold War. It’s a great game and very popular (over 100 million players worldwide). I could play that game for 10+hours a day and still have more energy to play even more. Balance is the key. We all need our downtime to relax, recharge, and rejuvenate. Watch those shows, play those games, get some of that “me” time, but balance this out with some productive activities that will keep your mind working. It is really exciting to me when I pick up some new skill that I can apply immediately to what I do every day.

That’s all I got today, folks. Have a great Thursday!

Until next time…

Dave

Daily Ramblings – Funny Friday – Government Workers

15 Friday Jan 2021

Posted by Dave Gardner in Funny Friday, Uncategorized

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Chuckle, Friday, FriYAY, Fun, Giggle, Happy, Laugh, Relax, Smile, Snicker, Weekend

Since we find ourselves in some very politically charged times, I figured I’d poke a little fun at government workers today, with this little joke.

How many government workers does it take to screw in a light bulb? Two: One to insist that the light bulb has been taken care of and the other to screw it into a faucet. – The Best Joke Book (period).

Have a great Friday, folks!

Until next time…

Dave

Daily Ramblings – Thinking/Thankful Thursdays – Lifelong Learning

14 Thursday Jan 2021

Posted by Dave Gardner in Thankful Thursdays, Thinking Thursdays, Uncategorized

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Fun, Hobbies, lifelong learning, online schools, school, Skills, Sources, staying competitive, Work

I’m a big advocate of lifelong learning. I am taking a python course currently on Udemy, but have a few more courses in the pipeline for the year. I want to get better with Excel (pivot points, charts, etc.), digital marketing, and data science. These are all on Udemy and are available for a small fee. I got all these courses with 10+ hours of content for about 40 USD. These courses will keep me busy for a while and provide me with the skills necessary to act in my new position in my religious organization for the State of Michigan.

I can’t stress how important it is to remain up-to-date with technology. My parents struggle with most of this, and frankly, so do many in their generation. Most of us in my generation learned technology as part of our jobs. We had to learn it because we needed these technologies to compete in the marketplace. Simple things like searching the Internet, using an email service, an online calendar, or a cloud-based storage system (Google Drive, One Drive, or iCloud). These things are so simple to me, but a mystery to those who have never used them. The world will continue to progress and leave these folks behind more and more.

Now, more than ever, it is important to learn technologies like ZOOM, Skype, or other video chat service. Because of lockdowns, schools and businesses particularly have had to use these types of systems to teach students and interact with their clients. They are also so cool to use to stay in touch with friends and family. My wife and I either Facetime or use ZOOM when she needs help with paperwork or something in AZ.

So keep learning. It is fun, it keeps you engaged, and will give you capabilities you may need in the future, as our societies become more “digital”. It’s also really fun to engage with people all over the world and make new friends. I have friends all over the states, friends in Europe, Australia, and even Indonesia. These technologies have shrunk our planet and give us access to other cultures. This helps us understand why other countries do what they do.

If you’ve never used services like Udemy or Coursera, feel free to ask questions in the comments section. I’d be happy to connect with you directly and help you out. I am not affiliated with any of these educational companies—I’m just willing to give you a helping hand in case you need help. These services are terrific and provide me with the ability to learn all kinds of things that I either find interesting or need to know to do something I want.

Here are some links for your use, should you take this up for yourself:

https://www.udemy.com/

https://www.khanacademy.org/

https://www.edx.org/

https://www.coursera.org/

These are some top online educational sites I have used and recommend. Most of them are absolutely free (except Udemy) and will require you to pay if you want a certificate of completion to use for college credit or employment purposes (Coursera and EdX). Udemy charges a fee for all its courses, but these are typically around 9.99 USD, if you are patient and wait for many of their sales events, which literally happen monthly.

Well, that’s it for today. I hope all you have a terrific Thursday.

Until next time…

Dave

Daily Ramblings – Ted Talk Tuesday – How Do Dogs “See” With Their Noses?

24 Tuesday Nov 2020

Posted by Dave Gardner in Ted Talk, Uncategorized

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Dogs, Educational, Learning, Sight, Smell, Ted Talk, TedEd, Video

This is a terrific video short that explains a bunch about how dogs use their noses to operate in reality. It is a terrific video. Enjoy!

Have a great Tuesday!

Until next time…

Dave

Daily Ramblings – Workout Routine – Week of November 23, 2020.

23 Monday Nov 2020

Posted by Dave Gardner in Uncategorized, Workout Routine

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50/50 plan, Biceps, Exercise Bands, healthy living, Home Workouts, working out

This week I’m doing two-a-days, focusing on one body part – Biceps!

Monday – Sunday: 50 reps session 1 / 50 reps session 2 Biceps Curls

Have a great week, folks!

See you at the finish line!

Dave

Daily Ramblings – Spread Your Wings Sunday – Week of November 1, 2020.

01 Sunday Nov 2020

Posted by Dave Gardner in Uncategorized

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Last week, we went through and figured out what goals we were going to miss, which ones we were still on track to finish, and which ones we had already completed. This week, we’ll be using our creativity to make some adjustments so we are assured to finish the goals we can still finish, and get ready for the big push for the remainder of the year. Remember, we also have to start looking at what we’ll do in 2021.

Weekly Challenge: Finalize a plan to finish out all the goals you set at the beginning of the year that you can still accomplish. Good luck!

Until next time…

Dave