Daily Ramblings – Wisdom Wednesday – Life-long Learning

Tags

Computers, Curiosity, e-books, Laptops, Life-long Learning, online courses, Programming, smart phones, smart watches, tablets, video tutorials

Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay

Learning.

Most of us “learned” to dislike it because of school. We had to take subjects we didn’t like or maybe we weren’t that great at it. Whatever the reason, take a moment to think about those classes you took that you liked. There must have been a few you enjoyed right? That’s where you start.

The reason I bring this up is that I don’t want any of my friends, family, or my customers/readers to become complacent. The world is moving faster and faster. New technologies are coming to market more quickly. Do not be left behind.

“Anyone who stops learning is old, whether at twenty or eighty. Anyone who keeps learning stays young. The greatest thing in life is to keep your mind young.”  – Henry Ford

Each of us can learn new things. Start with the things you enjoyed in school. Maybe you liked shop class. Read books about carpentry, masonry, and metalwork. Maybe you enjoyed writing. Learn about writing. Maybe you always liked Astronomy. Learn about Astronomy.

I think you’ll find that learning brings a sense of accomplishment, joy, and builds confidence. Once you catch the “learning bug”, you may tackle some topics you didn’t like, but want to try again. Go for it! There are so many places to learn, whether it be an online course, a video tutorial, or a book.

 

Set a goal to learn something new each day or complete so many courses in a year. Take a variety of subjects so you can build new skills and knowledge. This variety will build on your current knowledge and help you find new solutions to problems you didn’t know existed. Simply by opening your mind and working through different topic areas.

With a Father who is suffering from Dementia, I am learning and working my brain with the hope I do not fall victim to the same thing my Dad has. It is tough to watch one of the smartest guys I knew, forget how to turn on a television or log on to a computer because he can’t remember how.

I’m also motivated to learn new things because I never want to be obsolete. In this information age, people are falling by the wayside because they can’t keep up. They can’t use a smart phone, smart watch, or tablet. They can barely use a computer. In a few short years, these people will not be able to do what most of us can do today with little effort.

Get out there and learn about your phone, your computer, your tablet. Go get yourself a smart watch and play with it. Get comfortable reading articles online, books in e-readers, sharing what you find on social media. Get a bank account app and use it. Learn all there is to know about the apps on your technical gear. Find new apps to play with and use, even if you don’t keep it or find the app to be a waste of time. The new apps will help you learn more.

Have you ever taken an online course? There are some that are free and they are really good. Have you ever read a digital book? Downloaded a digital book from your local library? Get on Coursera, Udemy, Study.com, or Skill Share. Take a course, complete it, do the exercises. Download a book to your Amazon Kindle App. Get yourself a music app and download the music. Get on Netflix or Amazon Prime Video or Vudu.com and stream a movie or television show. Show your parents and grandparents how to use this stuff. They are the generation that is falling behind currently and it is hurting them.

 

Before I came home, my parents did not know what Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, or Vudu was? They didn’t know what Spotify or Apple Music was. My Mom had a flip phone. My Mom and Dad still have a landline and don’t use it anymore. They pay 50 dollars a month for a phone that takes messages from robocalls. You see what I’m talking about? Don’t let your friends and relatives fall to the wayside. Take the time to show them how to use this stuff and keep them up-to-date.

To those of us that are caught up and know how to use these things—GREAT! Think about 20-30 years from now when your are older. Will you still be in the loop or will you fall to the wayside using the technologies you are comfortable with now, that, will be outdated.

 

Take the time each day to learn something new. Take the time to teach someone else that may not know what you know. Don’t be complacent. Continue to grow, to learn, to improve. It makes life exciting and worth living. I hope all of you are having a great week!

 

Until next time…

Dave

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Daily Ramblings – Wisdom Wednesday – Take Time to Plan

Tags

Alchemist, brain type, Chunking, Efficiency, planners, Planning, Project EVO, rituals

Image by rawpixel from Pixabay

I think many people avoid planning because they want to avoid pushing themselves into a corner or they feel they don’t have the time. They ramble through their days, constantly reminding themselves they have this to do or that to do and just do things as they rise to the attention level that mandates they do something. I used to be one of these people.

I’m not here to judge you. If you still operate this way, cool. I just found it has become easy to get a lot of things done, track everything, and cultivate a more organized, efficient, and productive way of doing things. If you’ve followed me for a while, you know that I ritualize everything and constantly look for new ways to become even more “automated”.

First, I’m a night owl. I start my new day at Midnight. This is when I do the bulk of my writing. The house is quiet, my inner muse is active, and the words just come. Subsequently, all of my writing tasks are between 12:00 Midnight – 2:00 AM. During this time, I knock out a section of my book, complete my blog posting for the day, work on any drafts of letters I am working on, along with any other writing on my radar. During this time I also do my planning for the day. I typically head to bed between 2 and 3 AM. I like to plan before I go to bed to take advantage of the subconscious mind’s ability to work on these things while I sleep. Later today, at 9 AM when I rise, I’ll dig right in and knock out the day.

I also take advantage of a technique called chunking. I write in a chunk right now. I learn in a chunk, moving through all the online courses and tutorials I am enrolled in. Finally, I read in a 1 and 1/2 hour chunk. The only thing I do not chunk is my exercise routine. This week that routine is 1 mini workout as soon as I get up, followed by a gym visit in mid-afternoon, and then ending with another mini-workout early evening.

Let’s talk about rituals for a moment. My rituals are trigger points, coupled with other trigger points. My first trigger is getting out of bed. Before I do anything, I do my first mini-workout. Meals trigger my next workouts. I workout at the gym after I eat lunch. I workout in the evening after I eat dinner. It’s a great way to settle the stomach and take advantage of those recently digested calories.

Meditation triggers the start of my day at Midnight. These triggers or antecedent events cause a cascade of events that are automatic. It took me a while to get in this position, but now that I am here, it is terrific. The day flows by smoothly.

That’s all fine and good, Dave, but what happens when your schedule gets blind-sided by something you have to take care of that is not in your ritualized day? This is when planning is most important.

Let’s say I have a project or a problem I’m need to solve. I plan thinking time to iron out what I will do. Note: Even when emergency problems arise, I take the time to think through a solution. Initially, I’ll brainstorm. Brainstorming is nothing more than writing every idea that comes to mind without judging or critiquing them. I enjoy using mind mapping software for this. Once I have all of my ideas down and cannot think of anything else, I look at all the potential solutions to my problem and choose the best course of action. Once I make a choice, I outline all the things that have to happen and organize them into a pecking order. Then, I transfer that outline to my current to-do app and begin knocking out the steps.

Here’s an easy checklist you can use:

1. Problem or situation arises that requires your action
2. Brainstorm
3. Critique ideas on time available, funds available, feasibility (can you execute all these steps without further training), and quality.
4. Choose the best solution
5. Visualize the end state of your solution
6. Work backward from this end state to the beginning of your work effort
7. Outline the steps or actions you must take to get from initial steps to final deliverable
8. Transfer your steps into your to-do app or a list you will track as you work through your project

 

I have recently purchased a new planning journal, called the Project EVO daily planner, and must say it is terrific. I realize there are a lot of planners out there. Investigate these and decide for yourself. What I like about the EVO planner is the test you take at the beginning to figure out what your brain type is. My category is Alchemist. My brain type is accurate (scary accurate). The initial evaluation is free. Once you complete it and order your planner, they’ll send you a planner for your brain type. If you’re curious, check them out here.

 

Another great thing about their service is the accompanying app they offer in the Google Play and iTunes stores. This app is used to scan your daily planner to track your daily and weekly results. It is awesome!

I hope all of you are having a terrific week so far! I appreciate all of you and hope my advice helps. I am constantly seeking new ways to organize myself and squeeze more and more efficiency out of my day. These hacks will help.

Well, that’s it for now.

Until next time…

Dave

 

Daily Ramblings – Wisdom Wednesday – Reading and Writing can Extend Your Life

Tags

Alzheimer's, Dementia, Entertainment, habits, journaling, Joy, Reading, Writing

Today’s Wisdom is provided by Kreuz (2019). His article (see reference below) provides the benefits of keeping a journal and reading fiction.

“Keeping a journal, for example, has been shown to substantially reduce the risk of developing various forms of dementia, including Alzheimer’s disease.” (Kreuz, 2019)

Journaling is personal. It can be a diary of sorts where you write about your day or it can be more specific like what you eat, your exercise routine, or even a catalogue of your thoughts, poems you like, or books you have read.

I do my gratitude journaling in the morning and keep a personal journal that I write in. My version of a journal is like a diary. It is a collection of ideas, things I think about, and a way to get things out of my head and onto paper.

The easiest way to start a journal is simply to buy one and set a time in the morning, afternoon, or evening when you write in it. Keep it handy. Over time, my journaling has evolved into a set session in the morning, followed by internal nudges that say “Hey, this is important or this is bothering you–write it down.”

Reading is also important. Kreuz (2019) states:

 

“Reading fiction, meanwhile, has been associated with a longer lifespan. A large-scale study conducted by the Yale University School of Public Health found that people who read books for at least 30 minutes a day lived, on average, nearly two years longer than non-readers. This effect persisted even after controlling for factors like gender, education and health. The researchers suggest that the imaginative work of constructing a fictional universe in our heads helps grease our cognitive wheels.”

The easiest way to start a reading habit is to set aside a time to read each day. I like to read in the afternoon and evening before I go to bed. It helps me sleep, and it does exactly what Kreuz (2019) explains–it works the brain because you have to create the worlds the author is depicting.

I read one chapter a day. If I have time, I read more than that, but the daily goal is one chapter. Everything after that is bonus reading. You can do the same. The key to reading consistently is to find books that really engage you. What genre do you enjoy? I’m a science fiction fan. I like stories about spaceships, aliens, clones, cyborgs, and the like. You may like mysteries, thrillers, or even romance. Find the genre you enjoy and stick with that for a bit. Once you begin reading and getting into a story, you’ll be hooked like I am.

Reading and writing are terrific ways to entertain yourself and keep that brain working. Try it out. A journaling and writing practice should take about an hour a day. Both will keep your mind working and keep your mind clear.

I hope all of you have a great Wednesday!

Until next time…

Dave

Reference

Kreuz, R. (2019). How reading and writing can help us live longer, healthier lives. Retrieved from: https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2019/09/reading-thirty-minutes-day-increase-life-expectancy

Daily Ramblings – Wisdom Wednesday – We Know So Little

Tags

Attitudes, Beliefs, Cars, change, Detachment, Homes, Loved ones, Property, wisdom

“True wisdom comes to each of us when we realize how little we understand about life, ourselves, and the world around us.” – Socrates

Each of us has an inner voice. Some call it conscience. It is that part of us that truly knows the difference between right and wrong. We all have access to it, but many refuse to listen. It’s that voice that guides us. The more you listen to that voice, the louder it becomes. When you ignore the voice, it dwindles until you can barely hear it.

I believe our conscience is necessary because it comes from a source unaffected by the change that occurs around us. We have adapted to the world we live in using the senses we have. These sense inputs create a map we need to survive. How accurate are they? Not so much. Our internal maps are only as good as the input we have received, which may have changed. People change. Environments change. We change. The internal maps inside us remain the same until we receive new inputs and those inputs cause our brains to adjust the map we use. When things change to quickly or without our knowledge, we are thrown into chaos.

The wisdom we gain over time, accepts that our internal maps are not reality, but a pseudo-reality that we need to make sense of the world. Wisdom tells us that what we think we know, we really don’t. It tells us that change occurs and we must expect it. It tells us that the map we have is inaccurate. This wisdom is comforting because it helps us realize that nothing is permanent in this world and if we are unattached to it, life becomes easier. We no longer fear losing something or losing someone because losing only applies when we are attached to something. Attachment in this case means we have an unhealthy relationship with physical things that will leave us. Attachment only causes suffering. Detachment frees us from wanting or needing. We are happy with what we have at the moment and will be just as happy if something changes in the next moment.

Wisdom tells us that the only things we can keep are those things we have earned inwardly. The love you have in your heart is yours forever. No one can take away your love for God, love for your significant other, love for your pet, love for your family, or love for yourself. The love you have is yours to keep forever.

Your car, your home, your loved ones, your pets, your job, your toys, and your life will all end. When your life ends, none of these things will go with you. The only things you will take with you are the experiences you have and the love you have in your heart.

Detachment is not an easy thing to achieve. Some consider it a heartless state. How can I not care about my husband or wife dying? How can I not care about losing my home in a tornado? The state of detachment is not a state of “not caring”. It is a state of balance. Losses and disappointments will cause the detached person to mourn. It is natural to mourn a negative situation. Detachment allows us to mourn a loss and then move on, without being stuck. It allows us to heal more quickly because the people, things, and experiences we “lost” were never really ours. If we never own something, can we truly be unhappy or sad when they leave us?

 

No. Detachment means we enjoy what we have to the fullest, while we have it. Then, when it comes time for something to leave our lives, we let it go. We move on. We move in a new direction. Detachment is the wisest state to be in when you are dealing with a physical reality in perpetual change.

I hope each of you has a terrific Wednesday! Thank you for reading this today!

Until next time…

Dave

 

 

Daily Ramblings – Wisdom Wednesday – Taking Care of Yourself

Tags

Explore, Food, Indulge, Read, Relax, self-care, Watch Movies/TV, Wisdom Wednesday

Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay

10 Simple Ways to Take Care of Yourself

This week’s Wisdom Wednesday is about the wisdom in taking care of yourself. I found this article on Pocket. If you haven’t explored Pocket yet, check it out here.

Here’s a quick run-down of the article for those of you who do not have the time to read it. There are 10 things you can do to take care of yourself. Here they are:

1. Indulge in a warm drink
2. Food is fun
3. Watch Movies/TV
4. Responsibility is your freedom
5. Find the quiet
6. Read
7. Explore
8. Relax
9. Speak up
10. Dork out

You’ll have to read the article to get the details, but I promise, the article is a short, quick read and some of this lady’s suggestions are awesome! We all need to take better care of ourselves, so eat great food, watch movies, explore, relax and most importantly–Dork out!

I hope each of you has a terrific Wednesday.

Until next time..

Dave

Reference

Campbell, S. (2017). 10 simple ways to take care of yourself. Retrieved from https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/294760

Daily Ramblings – Wisdom Wednesday – Giving of Yourself

Tags

Giving, Help, Humility, Love, Selflessness, Service, Smile, Wisdom Wednesday

Yesterday was one of those days when everything was just right. It was my Mom’s birthday. She opened her gifts and her cards. We took her out to dinner. My brother, sister, and niece called. I think she enjoyed the calls the most.

I spent time helping my wife study for a teaching credential she needs to pass by December. She works really hard and is putting everything she has into it. I love her.

“Before you can improve your life and find a measure of happiness, you must learn to do one thing every day out of pure love. That means, don’t expect anything in return—neither thanks nor happiness. Pick that occasion carefully. Then, whatever that one act of giving of yourself to someone else is, do it with all your heart.” — Harold Klemp — The Language of Soul.

Giving of yourself does not need to be a grand event. It could be as simple as cleaning up some trash in front of your neighbor’s home. It could be smiling at a young child in front of you at the grocery store line. It could be leaving a bigger tip when you eat out. It could be writing a letter to your folks or siblings. Giving of yourself brings a great warmth inside. It is hard to describe.

Serving someone else, without any expectation is a terrific thing. It is the selflessness of the act that is the most important. You just do something with no expectation. This selfless act will shrink your ego. It will humble you. It will calm you. It will improve your self esteem. It will open your heart.

If you’re down in the dumps, feeling lost, or depressed, try serving someone else. Strike up a conversation with a stranger, you may be the only person they talk with today. Smile at people. It may be the only smile they get today. Help someone. It may be the only time in their life that someone took the time to help them today. You may never know what a difference you made in someone’s life, but you will have made a difference.

I think I’ll end here. I hope all of you have a terrific Wednesday. As always…

Until next time…

Dave

 

Daily Ramblings – Wisdom Wednesday – Making Adjustments When Things Don’t Feel Right

Tags

Exciting, Fresh, Goals, Readjust, Reevaluate, Reinvigorating, Reset, rituals, To-dos

Have you ever experienced a time in your life where you didn’t feel right? You can’t put your finger on what it is, but something isn’t right. How do you get rid of that feeling?

The first thing to realize is that we are all growing or shrinking. This is constant. Some days you’re ready to take on the world and you feel like you’re in a sweet spot. At other times you just don’t feel right. It isn’t a physical sensation. It is a mental one.

I was in this funk a few months ago. I felt out of place. I wasn’t motivated to do anything. I was feeling out of sorts. So, here’s what I did to get out of it.

I revisited all of my goals. I looked at my daily rituals and tasks. What could I change?

I returned to basics. I looked at the areas I always focus on. The mental areas, the social areas, the physical areas, and the spiritual areas. Where was I falling short?

I began to reformulate what I set out to do at the beginning of the year. I began reading articles and books. I was searching for ways to get out of the funk I was in.

I went through my entire day and redid everything. I reexamined goals, eliminated all of my daily to-dos and reset everything. After a few days of working through my new to-do list, refreshing my motivation to get back at my goals, and pushing through my rituals, I started to feel better.

I began anchoring myself back to the trajectory I set for myself at the end of last year. Things started making sense again. I felt invigorated and aligned again. I dug myself out of the hole I created for myself.

When you feel like I did, the easiest way to get out of this is to reexamine what you are doing, how you are doing it, and evaluate each goal you have set for yourself. Are you really pushing yourself to be better or going through the motions? Are the goals you are pursuing really important to you or are they someone else’s goals? Are you really doing what you want to be doing?

If your goals are really something you want to do, sometimes you can change up how you are tackling the discrete steps you have created. Sometimes you have to drop a goal you are working on and move forward with another one. The key is to change up what you are doing, so it is fresh again. Once you do, you will inject a sense of excitement back into your life. Once you’ve done that, all is well again.

To summarize. We all get to a point where we feel we are stagnating. Sometimes the goals we have set are not ready to be tackled yet. Other things need to get done first. Or you may just be tired of pursuing what your pursuing. In either case, reevaluate what you are doing, reset your daily to-dos, rituals, and goals. It helped me get out of my hole; this process may help you as well.

As always, have a great Wednesday, readers. I wish you well with all the goals you have set for yourself.

Until next time…

Dave

Daily Ramblings – Wisdom Wednesday – How to be wiser

Tags

Brainstorming, Changing Viewpoints, decisions, Disassociate, family, Friends, journal, Learning from the past, wisdom

How to Be Wiser

Today’s Wisdom Wednesday post was inspired by an article I read over the weekend. It discusses how all of us can become wiser. Interestingly, it involves a few mind games you can utilize to invoke your inner wisdom.

The first step is to imagine you are advising a friend. Think about that. It is always easier for us to tell a friend what they should do if they ask us for advice. Why? Because we aren’t directly involved.

Another tactic you can use is imagine you are staring down at yourself from above. At the ground level you are blinded, you can only see what you see in front of you and behind you. You can’t see far enough ahead to see if something will actually deliver the best results when you make a decision. Now, imagine you are on top of a mountain and you can see what lies ahead. In this elevated position you can see what is up ahead.

You can also disassociate from yourself and make believe you are a friend giving you advice. When you are giving a friend advice, it is always easier and you will always provide them with better advice, then they could come up with on their own, because you can see their blind spots.

One technique I use is my journal. If you take the time to document what you are thinking about, including the decisions you make, you will find that you will see where you went wrong in the past. You can see the mistakes you made and avoid them in the future. By keeping a journal, you can review what went wrong and think about other solutions that were available at the time. You can ask questions like, why didn’t I do this instead? Or, you could see the options you were weighing at the time and see a better solution you can use in the future.

When you go back and review your journal, it mimics the suggestions in the article, How to be wiser (Hammond, 2017). When you are reviewing your journal, you can separate from yourself and become more objective.

Finally, you can brainstorm when you are tackling a new problem. You can write down all the potential solutions to a problem you have and weigh each one against the other. You can game out potential results with each solution you come up with. If you’re still stuck, you can take all of your brainstormed ideas and bounce them off a trusted friend or family member. In some cases, they may have already experienced what you have and may have a solution that worked for them.

Wisdom is gained over a lifetime. We can increase our wisdom by separating ourselves from our problems and attempt to view them from a higher vantage point. We can seek out advice from our friends and family. We can review our journal for previous problems we have faced and use the learning gained in our past and apply it to our present difficulties. Each of us has the ability to become wise and make better choices. We just have to become more aware of our circumstances and use all the tools that are available to us to make the best decision we can make with all the information at hand.

I hope all of you have a great Wednesday!

Until next time…

Dave

Reference

Hammond, C. (2017). How to be wiser. Retrieved from: http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20170124-how-to-be-wiser

Daily Ramblings – Wisdom Wednesday – Riding the Wave

Tags

Challenges, Difficulty, Making Judgment Calls, Multiple Priorities, Priorities, Riding the Wave, Rough Times

Image by Doug Wilmerton from Pixabay

What is wisdom? Wisdom is what we gain when we learn the hard way. When we tackle something new, we discover problems, challenges, and resilience. This applies to everything. The greatest learning happens when we are struggling.

Sometimes we can avoid the heartache of learning about something we don’t know anything about by reading about a person who is going through the same thing. Other times we stumble across a good piece of advice when we ask others to help us with a problem.

None of us goes looking for trouble. It just sneaks up on us, when we think we are on track or think we have something figured out. We learn that what we thought we knew, we didn’t. Interestingly, we discover that the things we depend on are typically the things that cause the most pain when they break. Think about the last time your car broke down. Totally unexpected right?

Last year I had a huge problem with tires. I went to visit my sister to attend a comedy show in her neck of the woods. While we were on our way, we hit a huge pothole and blew out a tire. A month or so later, coming home from my sister’s I ran over a shock absorber that was left behind by a semitrailer. It blew out two tires simultaneously. Three tires in a matter of months. Not only was it expensive to repair, but an absolute pain in the butt because the second time delayed me for 4 hours. Needless to say, I try to avoid driving through Detroit (because of the horrific state of the highways that run through there).

One of the wisest things I’ve discovered is the beauty of taking little steps each day toward a goal I want to achieve. You’d be amazed how many books you can read in a year by reading one chapter a day. You’d be amazed by how much you can write if you write a little each day. This can be applied to anything you do. I tend to like touching a whole slew of items each day. It keeps things fresh and it allows me to diversify my attention to many things, instead of focusing on just one thing. I do not multitask; I monotask. I focus on one thing at a time, but work across numerous areas each day. I write, meditate, exercise, read, take classes, run errands, and so on. Each task I accomplish contributes to a life-goal or a short-range or medium-range goal. That’s me. You may not like hopping and skipping around. You may not have the time.

When you are setting up your day, evaluate your productivity. Are you moving forward with your goals or spinning your wheels? Maybe you’ve taken on too much or you are trying to focus on something that just isn’t right for you right now. You also have to take into consideration that there will be days you can’t do anything because of outside circumstances. My nephew was in town this last week. He only visits once a year, so I wanted to take advantage of him being here by hanging out and doing things with him. This weekend I’m scheduled for a religious retreat. The retreat starts Friday and does not end until Sunday afternoon. Needless to say, this means that my priorities will take a back seat to this event. This is one thing to consider as well. You have to prioritize what is most important and put some of your daily to-dos on hold to take advantage of rare events that have a greater impact on your well-being.

Today’s article was spurred by the article I have referenced below. Give it a look. It’s a short one and will only take a few minutes to read, but it’s worth it. It caused me to think about wisdom in a new light. We really do gain when times are hard or our schedules are thrown into a tizzy. We have to improvise and adapt. This comes when we have developed the wisdom to realize that some days you just have to “ride the wave”.

Until next time…

Dave

Reference

Cohut, M. (2018). The road to wisdom runs through hardship study finds. Retrieved from: https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/320996.php

Daily Ramblings – Wisdom Wednesday – Making Adjustments

Tags

Adjustments, Learning, Learning from Others, New Plans, Tweaking, Unknown Unknowns, wisdom

Image by yogesh more from Pixabay

When it is obvious that I cannot reach the goals, don’t adjust the goals, adjust the action steps.–Confucius

Read more at Brainyquote.com

How many of you have set a goal, laid out the action steps, and found out you would not achieve the goal after beginning the work? (I raise my hand). This will not be a rare occurrence. The reason it will not be rare is that we are doing something we have not done before. We are traveling in uncharted territory. So what do we do? We take the learning that we have gained and re-apply that knowledge to the original plan and try it out. We continue this until we have achieved what we envisioned to be the goal.

Look at any art. Writing a book? Composing music? Painting a picture? If you take any artistic goal, you find that art is a series of improvements. You write the first draft. It’s ok, but needs a lot of work. The work is where the art is. You change a sentence here, move a paragraph there, change the title or order of your chapters to make your work more readable or fluid. This is yet another example of being flexible with your plans, knowing that you will make mistakes as you go. We make mistakes because we don’t know what we don’t know.

How can we avoid mistakes? Well, I think it’s impossible to avoid mistakes entirely. You can minimize mistakes by learning from others. There are many people on this planet and a lot of them who post tutorials, lessons, and other information that worked for them. Heck, right here on WordPress, you can find articles about anything. Some of them are terrific! For others you may have to find something on YouTube, an online course, or your local library.

You could use this as part of your plan to achieve a goal. Learn how to do what you want to do at some point. Let’s say you want to learn how to write a nonfiction book. You can find books, papers, classes all over the internet discussing this very topic. Fiction writing, writing poetry, or writing a short story are waiting for you to read, watch, and learn.

One of my bucket list items is to write a mobile app. I’m taking courses on Codecademy to learn the basics of programming. Then I can look for classes on mobile programming and I’m almost home. Then it’s just a matter of developing what I want to create for my mobile app and then learning the processes involved for submitting my app to the iTunes and Google Play stores. I haven’t looked yet, but know there are courses and tutorials available for this thing.

If you have your goal set in your mind, the pieces of the puzzle you need to complete that picture are waiting for you. Remember that you will make mistakes. That’s ok. It’s all part of learning how to do something. Once you know how to do something you can do the work and bring it home.

Well, that’s it for today, folks. I hope some of you enjoy this. If you have any stories to tell about how you found out how to do something, post a link here.

As always, have a great Wednesday!

Until next time…

Dave