22 Tuesday Jun 2021
Posted in Bonus Content, Update
Well, all. My brother left for Arizona and is heading back to life in the “furnace” He He.
I’ll begin my regular posting schedule again on Wednesday. I hope all of you are having a great June!
Talk soon!
Until next time…
Dave
10 Monday May 2021
Posted in Motivation Monday
Don’t watch the clock; do what it does. Keep going.
Have you ever watched the clock? When I am doing this, I realize that I am experiencing resistance. I can’t wait for the thing I’m doing to end. If you catch this yourself, take a moment. Perhaps this task is something you really don’t want to do. If you are in a position to choose, I’d recommend putting that thing on hold for a while. There’s no sense in doing something you do not enjoy or are not motivated to continue.
If you are in a position where the task you are doing must be completed or is mandated by your employer, find some ways to make it tolerable. I used to make things into a game. Let’s say you have to make some uncomfortable calls. Eat the Frog and get it done. Eat the Frog is the phrase used to get the stuff done you really don’t want to do at the first of the day, so you can get on with your day and avoid procrastination. Let’s face it folks, regardless of what you decide to do with your day, there is always something about that task that isn’t so fun. Get that stuff done first!
I find for myself that having a list of things to do each day is the best way to avoid clock watching. Plan out your day, list out the tasks you need to do each day, and knock them out. One by one. Knock one down, then off to the next. If your day is sufficiently planned with all the activities you need to get done, you’ll be motivated to keep checking them off as you go and the faster your day will go (psychologically). The closer you get to the end of your list, the easier it becomes, and the entire process is really motivating, when you know that once you complete those tasks you are done for the day, to do whatever you want to do. Make sense? When I come to work in an “unplanned” state, nothing is written down and no checklist is in place, my day is absolute drudgery.
Planning, creating lists, and checking them off each day is a terrific way to get things done, avoid the clock watching addressed by Sam Levenson, and get your stuff done, so you can do what you want to.
Have a great week, folks!
Until next time…
Dave
28 Wednesday Apr 2021
Posted in Thankful Thursdays
My sister just left for home. It was a nice 5 days. We watched movies, got take out, hung out in the living room and chatted, and she even watched me play some Call of Duty with my brother. It was a great visit! She likes coming down and hanging out with Dad because we don’t know how much longer Dad will be with us. Last night, they watched some Star Trek movies (Dad loves those).
It’s terrific to have family visit. The folks get a kick out of it, and it’s always fun to catch up. When I have a family member visit, you’ve probably noticed a little inconsistency with my postings. I put everything I am doing on hold when family comes to maximize my time with them.
Anyway, I’m grateful for the time we had together. It was great fun!
Until next time…
Dave
01 Monday Mar 2021
Posted in Motivation Monday
Tags
Dedication, Discipline, Drive, Games, Gaming Your Work, Motivation Monday, Techniques, Tenacity, Tools, Tricks
Today’s the day you stand up and tell the world, “Nothing you throw at me will break me.” I included this inspiring sound track from YouTube, titled “Unbreakable”, and hope you find it as inspiring as I did. It’s long (about 48 minutes), but worth it. Music has always been a great source of motivation and inspiration to me. I listen to different types of music to work on different things. When I am reading, I listen to quiet music. When I’m in the gym or working out, I listen to Rock. When I am just sitting in my chair with my eyes closed, I listen to classical or jazz.
If you’ve never used music to exercise, think, or knock out your daily tasks, give it a whirl. It really makes a huge difference.
My workout routine will involve full body with exercise bands this week. I’ll do this Monday-Friday. For cardio it’ll either be a walk around the block, my supine bicycle, or doing some stairs in my home.
Until next time…
Dave
30 Thursday Jul 2020
Posted in Thankful Thursdays
Tags
Cards, Chess, Dungeons & Dragons, Far Cry 4, Games, Nintendo, Playstation, Pong, Scrabble, Video Games, Xbox
If you’ve never played a video game, this post probably won’t have much meaning for you. I have loved playing games my whole life. It started with board games like Monopoly, Life, and Stratigo. My grandfather got me started with checkers and chess. Later, mom and my grandmother got me started with Scrabble.
As I matured, I ran across Dungeons and Dragons. Boy, that was a game. During my early years, we didn’t have cellphones or computers. We had games like Dungeons and Dragons, which captured our imaginations as we created characters and worked our way through various adventures created by one of our friends.
Later in life, came the Arcades. These new types of games were awesome. I got good enough at a few that I rarely spent any money to play them for hours. Other games never ended, and I got tired of those. From here, we moved to computer games. The first console I owned was an Atari, and we played basic games like Pong and many others. The first types of games I liked to play were the very basic games available at the time. Then came the Nintendo system with all of its Mario games, Zelda, and others.
From here I moved over to the Sony Playstation and finally ended up on the Xbox. The game I’m playing currently is called Far Cry 4 and boy, is it a fun one. The basic story is you are returning to the country of your birth, called Kyrat. You are there to spread your mother’s ashes in Lakshmana. Once you arrive, you are accosted by the country’s dictator. You escape his palace and become involved with a resistance group called the Golden Path. In this game, you can hunt, you can drive vehicles, fly a “buzzer” or a one-manned helicopter, you can grapple and climb mountains, and even use a wingsuit to fly from the top of a mountain to get around, the mountainous terrain.
What’s nice about a video game is the length of time you can play a game for such a minimal price. Yeah, 30, 40, or 50 dollars may seem steep for a “game”, but when you consider that the first time I played through Far Cry 4 it took 53 hours to beat it, the money is well worth it.
So today, I am grateful for the many games I have played that have given me so much pleasure throughout my years on this Earth. The board games I played with my family, Dungeons and Dragons with my friends, and now the Xbox, which allows me to play Co-op games with my Brother who is over 3,000 miles away.
Have a great Thursday, folks!
Until next time…
Dave
11 Tuesday Dec 2018
Posted in Travel
I’m writing this early because I’ll be busy cleaning up my brother’s house and getting packed up for my flight on Thursday the 13th. This trip was a terrific time. It started with my niece’s wedding. It was a wonderful ceremony and went off without a hitch.
Then it was a full week of reconnecting with friends, good food, and lots of laughs. It was also a great time to hang out with my brother, play some games, and binge watch some shows on Amazon and Netflix. I also got in some writing, reading, and some much-needed quite time to think about things and reflect.
I like my reflection time. I think about all kinds of things, like what my life would be like if I did this or that in my past or what I could change today and what effect that would have on my future. I like thinking about my family, my friends, books I have read. I even like to think about thinking sometimes.
I hope all of you enjoyed my Phoenix trip! I did. Friday, I’ll be back to my posting schedule. I really appreciate all of the new followers and the time you took to investigate and learn about my blog.
Until next time…
Dave
05 Friday May 2017
Posted in Happiness
Tags
Endorphins, Energy Boost, Enjoyment, Free time, Fun, Games, Party, Weekends
It’s Friday and the weekend is ahead. Even though I am recently retired, I still have great feelings on Friday, thinking about all of the things I will do this weekend for fun. My weekends are normally comprised of some reading, watching a show, playing a few games online, doing my laundry, organizing my room, and preparing for the upcoming week, not necessarily in that order. The biggest thing for me is the lack of structure during the weekend. It balances out my strict schedule during the week.
As I write this posting it is still raining outside. In Michigan, like most of the Midwest, we are getting rained on daily, with more coming tomorrow and tomorrow night. It is really a huge change of pace compared to my living in Arizona, where rain is sparse, but high temperatures are frequent (my brother said they hit 100 this last week). That is one thing I will not miss about AZ—the high temperatures of summer.
Anyways, as I stare out the window and notice the squirrels dancing about in the trees in our front yard, I enjoy the release of the weekend and the sudden boost of energy we feel when we know we are going to have fun. Isn’t that the weirdest thing? When we’re at work, we tend to feel tired and lethargic toward the end of a long week. As soon as we exit the workplace, get in our car, and pull out of the parking garage, we get hit with a huge amount of energy. Where does this come from?
Some of it I think is just the mental dump that occurs when we realize we don’t have to think about work until Monday. Some of it may even be a little bit of a psychological boost from endorphins from the expectation of our upcoming free time. Whatever it is, Friday afternoons are still great, even as a retired guy.
I hope each of my readers has a terrific weekend! I’ll continue to post my quotes and any workouts I get in over the weekend, but hope all of you have a terrific time with your loved ones, significant others, and friends and have a great adventure this weekend. I plan on hitting one of my favorite coffee joints for a nice cup and hitting the library for a few hours. I may go to the gym if I feel like it, but Saturday and Sunday are off days on my current workout routine. Who knows? That’s the beauty of the weekend.
Until next time…
