Daily Ramblings – Motivation Monday – Maskless

Tags

Achievement, Assessment, Fun, Goals, Hobbies, Maskless, Monday, motivation, Planet Fitness, Relaxation

It is so weird going into stores without a mask on, but that’s the reality in Michigan now that we are getting vaccinated and cases of COVID are dropping. In other parts of the world like India, Japan, and Australia, things are going back to lockdowns yet again, as various strains of COVID reappear in previously safe areas. The CDC has opted to label these strains using Greek letters to avoid causing issues with the countries of origin. This makes a lot of sense to me, since no one has control how this virus mutates or where it will do so.

My local Planet Fitness is no longer requiring masks, so I’ll be heading there with more vigor. I don’t know if you’ve tried working out with a mask on, but boy, is that a butt-kicker.

Well, we are in the half-way mark of 2021. Now is the time to begin assessing where you are on your goals for the year. Are you on track? If so, awesome. If not, now’s the time to begin adjusting your efforts to make up lost ground. It’s also a good time to remove some goals you just can’t get yourself to do. It’s ok. Many goals suffer this plight. Some goals we set just aren’t right, or the timing is off. Whatever the reason, get rid of that ball and chain and stick with the goals you enjoy working on.

Enjoy your week, folks. Get your self-evaluations done this week. It’ll really make a huge difference at the end of the year.

One more thing I’d like to add is hobbies. Do you have one? Mine is video games. I love playing games and it is my way of blowing off steam and having fun. If you don’t have a hobby, take a look at some of the blogs out there. Many people are so excited and happy with their hobbies, they create blogs about them. Whether it is reading, writing, video games, exercise, coin/stamp collecting, drawing or playing an instrument, find one. I chose one that would serve me well as I get older. Hobbies are something to look forward to. Hobbies keep life fulfilling and fun. When I get my daily work done, I really enjoy playing my video games. This is what a hobby is all about–you have to look forward to it and get joy and satisfaction from it. Everyone has that one thing they can’t get enough of. Find that, and you’ll be entertained, satisfied, and will live in a balanced way. Remember the adage, All work and no play, makes Jack a dull boy? It’s true. Work is not a hobby. Hobbies relax, refresh, and engage us in something we enjoy.

If you don’t know what it is you like to do, or never considered a hobby, here’s a great link with 100 ideas: https://www.mydomaine.com/hobby-ideas You should be able to find something on this list to try. That’s it for now, folks. Have a great week!

Until next time…

Dave

Daily Ramblings – Motivation Monday – Week of August 31, 2020

Tags

3rd quarter, Assessment, Consistency, Determination, Goals, motivation, Track

Well, folks, we’re in the last week of August 2020. How is your year turning out? I realize this question may seem a bit sarcastic, but what I want to know is how are you doing with achieving your goals. I know some of them had to be put on hold or cancelled. A bunch of my goals were put on hold because the library, coffee shops, and other places I wanted to go for writing sites are still closed. The rest of my goals are on track. 

As we approach the end of the third quarter (end of September), continue to make adjustments to your plans for the goals you have. You can still achieve them, but if you’re a little behind, you’re going to have to kick into high gear to get over the finish line. 

Here is my schedule for the week:

• Writing Daily (Journaling, Book, Blog, Classes)
• Learning Daily (Writing Class, History Class, Coding Class, Sociology Class)
• Spiritual Exercises Daily (Journaling, Meditation, Reading)
• Exercise Daily (See Workout Routine)
• Reading Daily (One fiction book, two Non-fiction books)

Have a great week, folks!

Until next time…

Dave

Daily Ramblings – Spiritual Saturday

Tags

Assessment, Balance, Goal Setting, New Year, Planning, Review, Well-roundedness

Over the next few days I’m going to be reviewing 2018. I’m also going to be formulating what I want to do with my 2019. If you’ve never done this kind of exercise, I’d highly recommend it. The first challenge I ran across when I began my annual habit of re-reading good books I’ve found, was what areas to focus on?

Here are the areas I use to formulate a New Year:

Physical

• Diet Goals
• Weight-loss goals
• Exercise Goals
• Nutrition Goals

Mental

• What do I want to learn?
• How many books do I want to read?
• What podcasts do I want to watch/stop watching?
• What courses do I want to take?

Spiritual

• What spiritual practices do I want to continue?
• What do I want to do to contribute to my fellow man?
• What kindness can I spread to the world?
• What types of spiritual questions do I want to pursue an answer to?
• What spiritual books and courses do I want to take?

Social

• Where can I go to meet new people (physically)?
• Where can I go to meet new people (virtually)?
• What activities can I do to engage with people?
• How can I improve or maintain current relationships?
• How can I gain more followers to my blog?

These are just some thoughts you may be able to think about for your own review and goal setting. I like to work through exercises like this because they help me to capture what really worked previously, what didn’t work, and what I can do to keep moving forward in my life. I think the most important aspect of this exercise, along with others, that bring some semblance of order and meaning to my life.

We all want to wake up energized and anxious to get to work. As a retiree, this has become a really important thing for me. I want my retired life to be profitable, meaningful, contributing, and fulfilling. These things represent different things to different people. I would challenge you to really assess what you value. What you want to achieve. What you want to do with yourself in the next year.

As promised, I’ll be posting my finalized plan for 2019 on the 31^st of December. This was a good year. Next year will be better because I’ve built a solid foundation of writing, exercise, spiritual pursuits, and social activities. This year will be better because I am better. I have learned a great deal over the last year and look forward to begin applying all I have learned/re-learned.

I hope all of you have a terrific New Year’s Day! Take some time over the next few days and really think about all of your experiences in the last year. What did you learn? What do you want to apply to your future?

I’m excited to begin the new year and begin executing all of the things I am contemplating. I hope you have some time to figure out what you want and institute a plan that will bring all of your goals to fruition.

Until next time…

Dave