Daily Ramblings – Motivation Monday – Done is Better Than Perfect

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creativity, Genius, Goals, ideas, Monday, motivation, Muse, Scott Allen, Writing

For anyone that writes a blog, you know that some days you just don’t have any idea what to write. For me, I just have a way of coming up with something to offer here that is meaningful to me and others.

Ideas for writing are the same as ideas for goals and projects. Some folks are overwhelmed because they have too many ideas. Others are on the other side of that spectrum–they have no idea. This can lead to being paralyzed, not knowing where to go, what to do, or what to write.

Scott Allen is known for the quote: “Done is better than perfect.” Perfectionism is paralyzing. It is one of the leading causes of procrastination. Keeping in alignment with Scott’s quote, it is better to do something, rather than nothing.

I like writing every day because it builds a habit. It also gives me the opportunity to get that great article now and then. Think about all the great work you missed out on because you either had too many choices or not enough. So, toss aside that perfectionist inside of you. You’ll give yourself the opportunity to do something great, even if you have days where you didn’t hit that mark. The key is to do something–anything, so you don’t miss out on those opportunities when the stars align, and you tap into your inner genius or muse.

Well, I’ll end here for now. I hope all of you have a great Monday. Remember: “Done is better than perfect.”

Until next time…

Dave

Daily Ramblings – Motivation Monday – Checklists

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Checklists, daily progression, Goals, Monday, motivation, Small Steps, To-do Lists

My daily routine is nothing more than a checklist that constantly repeats. It basically allows me to knock out all my important tasks each day on “autopilot”. I don’t think. I don’t worry. I don’t forget. I knock out my tasks and when I’m done, I do what I want. It’s a great system, because it doesn’t require motivation once I’ve worked through it for a few days.

Each year, I evaluate what I did during the year. What worked? What didn’t work? What do I want to accomplish this year? What did I want to accomplish last year that didn’t get done? Then I go about putting down daily tasks that will help me achieve what I want to get done.

For those of you who have goals you want to achieve, try setting up a checklist for all of your goals. The key is to do one or more things each day that build momentum toward your goal. If you’re writing a book, you probably want to put that as a checklist item each day, right? The same goes for exercise, journaling, and all the rest.

Once you start your first day, do everything on your list. When you’re done, you get an award, like watching movies, playing games, or whatever you enjoy. This is how I operate every day and boy, you can get a lot done in a year, if you do something each day consistently.

Well, that’s all I have for now. I hope each of you has a terrific Monday! Try checklists out. They really are easy to do, once you put together your list.

Until next time…

Dave

Daily Ramblings – Ted Talk Tuesday – Procrastination

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Aspirations, failure, Goals, Procrastination, Projects, Resolutions, Success, TedEd, Tuesday

This week, I wanted to concentrate on the things that prevent us from hitting our goals and/or resolutions. Procrastination is one of them. I hope you enjoy this video. I found it hit on some very good points.

Until next time…

Dave

Daily Ramblings – Motivation Monday – Consistency

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Consistency, Exercise, Goals, Goodreads, Monday, motivation, Reading, Routine

Good morning! Happy President’s Day!

How do you stay motivated for your daily tasks and goals when it’s a holiday? I follow a pretty rigid schedule of Monday – Friday, even while retired. There are certain things I do everyday, regardless of what holiday falls on Monday. The caveat to that is during the month of December, I pretty much take the whole month off.

I find consistency is the key to getting anything done that requires more than a day’s work. Take reading, for example. I use Goodreads to track all of my reading. I set a goal of roughly 60 books a year. If I read 5 books simultaneously each month (5 chapters a day), I will typically meet or exceed the 60 book goal I set. A lot of that depends on how big the books are. During those years I am reading a lot of history or non-fiction books, the number I hit tends to be lower. Most of these books (at least the ones I am interested in) tend to be quite long (400 or more pages). Subsequently, it’s harder to knock those ones down compared to a 200-250 page novel, which tends to move along more quickly. Anyway, for me it is better to do the same things each day on a schedule than just wing it. By doing a little each day, you can achieve quite a lot by year’s end.

For exercise this week, I’ll be doing some home workouts. I’m not a huge fan of driving in the snow or in inclimate weather. Here’s my workout:

Monday (Quads and Calves)

Tuesday (Hams and Abs)

Wednesday (Back and Biceps)

Thursday (Chest and Triceps)

Friday (Shoulders)

Each day I’ll do 50 reps for each body part.

I hope each of you has a great Monday!

Until next time…

Dave

Daily Ramblings – Motivation Monday – Here we Go!!

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2022, Goals, Mental, Monday, motivation, Physical, Social, Spiritual

Alright, folks. We are into January and today was my first day of 2022 in the gym. I love it!

What are you goals this year? Here are mine:

Read 40 books

Finish my rough draft of the Forever Soldier (my fiction story)

Learn Excel

Learn Canva

Learn Digital Art

Learn Digital Marketing

Get 1,500 followers for Daily Ramblings

Workout 300 times in the Gym by end of year

I have a few more, but these are more personal and I did not feel comfortable sharing them.

What are you goals? What are you seeking to achieve this year?

Whatever they are, I wish you well in your endeavors.

Here’s my workout schedule for the week:

Monday – Legs and abs

Tuesday – Chest, Shoulders, Back, and Arms

Wednesday – Cardio

Thursday – Legs and abs

Friday Chest, Shoulders, Back, and Arms

Saturday – Cardio

Sunday – off

I’ll be doing 3 sets of 10 reps for each exercise.

Well, that’s it for this Motivation Monday. Have a great one, folks!

Until next time…

Dave

Daily Ramblings – Motivation Monday – All the Best in 2022

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Achievements, Adventures await, fresh start, Goals, New beginnings, New experiences, New Friends, New Year

Well, here we are, folks! It’s a new year and we are all at the starting gate. Who will take off quick and burnout before the end of the year? Who will never get off the starting line? Who will methodically attack each of their goals and achieve them by year’s end? It is up to you.

It feels good to have a fresh start and I am excited about the days, weeks, and months to come. As we move through the week, I’m changing up some things for my daily postings. I hope you like the new ideas. I’ll keep you in suspense until these days hit. You’ll just have to wait and visit every day.

I hope all of your holidays were terrific. Mine were great! Family came out to visit, my sister moved back home, and we got in lots of movies, board games, and for me, video gaming. I also got into some really good fiction books. It was a great December!

Here’s to the new year, folks. I wish all of you the very best and hope you achieve all of the goals you’ve set for yourself in 2022!

Until next time…

Dave

Daily Ramblings – Bonus Content – Happy New Year!

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Adventure, Goals, Happines, health, Hobbies, Love, New Year, Projects, Prosperity

I’m posting this roughly 12 hours before the New Year, but since many of you are in so many different time zones, it just made sense to get this out there. 2021 was a good year and 2022 will be even better. This year, like every year, presents the opportunity for growth, improvement, and learning. I wish each of you a terrific 2022 filled with love, prosperity, good health, and achievement.

If you are finalizing your goals for the New Year, here are some areas you may want to consider if you are stuck.

Relationships

Health

Finances

Hobbies

Spirituality

Learning

Creative Projects

Travel Plans

These are some areas that I am diving into this year and figured some of you may benefit from seeing what I am doing and it will prompt you to do the same.

I’ll be back on my blogging schedule on Monday. It was a great idea taking December off. It was nice to just do my thing without a schedule, to-do list, or some other mechanism I normally use to track things. It allowed me the freedom to just be for a month, enjoy my family and friends, and get in some serious gaming. Now it’s time to get ready for the new year and get cracking at my new goals scheduled for the year.

Happy New Year!

Until next time…

Dave

Daily Ramblings – Motivation Monday – Rest, Relaxation, and Celebration

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Achievement, Contemplation, family, Friends, Goals, Monday, motivation, Rest, Strive, Thankful

This week the United States celebrates Thanksgiving. As we approach the holiday season, it is a good time to talk about taking a break. You’ve worked hard all year. You’ve put your efforts into personal goals and are beginning to look at what you would like to pursue in the new year.

Take that time. Enjoy your family. Recharge the batteries. Have fun.

The year is almost gone. You still have time to knock out the rest of your goals, but if you didn’t make it, don’t sweat it. Goals are voluntary. We set them and strive to achieve them, but things change. One of the revelations I had a few years ago was the need to drop a goal if I felt like I was pulling my own teeth to work toward it. It didn’t mean that the goal was a bad one; it merely meant it wasn’t the right goal at the time.

I’ll be posting this week, even though my sister is here, but will be less active in this and many of my online accounts, because it’s time to enjoy the family and friends that come over to hang out. Take advantage of this time. It’s once a year, and it is a great time to contemplate what you want to do next year, and how you did this year.

With that, I’ll wish everyone a terrific Thanksgiving, if you celebrate the holiday. I can’t wait!! The food will be awesome!

Have a great Monday, folks.

Until next time…

Dave

Daily Ramblings – Bonus Content – I Hit My Goal for the Year!

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1200, Achievement, Comments, Exciting, followers, Friends, Goals, Happy, Milestone, Readers, Wow!

Thank you, readers!

I just hit the 1200 follower goal for 2021. Man, what a day! Next year we’ll be seeking out 1,500. Thanks so much for the interaction, for those that commented, chatted back and forth, and enjoyed some of my content. I am so happy!!!

I’m still looking for some ways to share my passion of gaming, but will figure that out before the end of the year. Now that I’m back in the gym, I’m also going to bring back my exercise routine for 2021.

Thanks again, all of you who follow Daily Ramblings. I really appreciate it!

Until next time…

Dave

Daily Ramblings – Motivation Monday – Goal Assessment

Tags

2021, Covid, Goals, Planning, reconsolidating, refocusing, reorganizing

Here we are again! It’s Monday!!

We are quickly approaching the last quarter of 2021. Can you believe it? Now is the time to begin looking at your goals for the year and figuring out where you are. Are there some goals that have slipped your mind? Are there goals that are on track? Take a look at your list of goals for the year (personal, work-related, etc.) and see where each one is. Then decide which ones you want to continue putting effort into, which ones you haven’t dedicated much time to, and those that are behind schedule.

Once you’ve done your quick evaluation, decide which ones you are going to keep, which ones you’ll put on hold, and which ones need more attention. Then get to it. There’s plenty of time left in the year, whether your goals are fitness related, work-related, relationship-related, whatever.

Goals are important guideposts for our lives. They help us decide what is important to us, and guide our day-to-day activities. Some of you may have only a few goals, while others have a laundry list. You are the only person who can decide what is important to you, so if you have some goals that just aren’t cutting it, cut them loose. Focus on those goals you really want to accomplish and let go of those goals that you either resist doing or just don’t have as much time as you thought you did when you created them at the end of 2020.

Setting goals is a very individual thing. Your goals may be totally different from mine. What you consider important, I may consider frivolous. You see? But goals are important. The number of goals, types of goals, and what you set as a goal are all yours. What I’ve discovered personally is that some goals are driven by the social consciousness. They are goals that are extrinsically motivating.

What I mean is we set a goal because of outside pressure, not because we really want to achieve them. These goals tend to be the first ones to fade as we engage in the work needed to accomplish them. It’s ok to let these go, if you feel resistance to them each time you begin to work toward them. Maybe it’s not the time. Maybe it isn’t as important as we thought they once were. Now, let me be clear. There are some goals that we may resist, but still need to focus on. Exercise is one example. Most people resist exercise because it is uncomfortable. Most people resist writing or reading or learning or whatever. Sometimes we need to discipline ourselves to accomplish the important goals. These should not be tossed away, but we should take the time to understand why we are resisting them and also why they are important to us.

Another aspect to consider is your current situation. If you live in a country or region that has experienced lockdowns because of COVID surges, this may also play a part into your decision making. You cannot control what your government wants to do. So, if one of your goals was to get out and about, but this is restricted, you may want to let that one go, until you are sure that your government will not impose lockdowns again.

Well, that’s enough for now. Take stock of your goal list and make any adjustments you need to make. Now is the time to get re-focused on what we want to do for the rest of the year. I wish you well in your endeavors.

Until next time…

Dave