Daily Ramblings – Motivation Monday – Consistency

Tags

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 – Thankful/Thinking Thursdays – Reading

Tags

any.do, Apps, dark mode, digital reading, Goodreads, Kindle, Reading, Scribd, To-do List

Today, I’m grateful for the Kindle service of Amazon, Scribd, and Goodreads. I read quite a bit each year, typically gravitating to history, politics, military history, and other topics I can learn from. This year I wanted to mix it up with some fiction too.

Many of my friends still enjoy the smell of a new book. I have converted to digital versions of books. They are cheaper, and it is much nicer to read because I can adjust the font sizes. Many of the paperbacks on the market today print them in such a small font that I find it difficult to read.

I also like reading on my iPad, because it is so nice to hold in my hands. I just picked up the iPad Pro and got the 12.9″ screen. It is huge! I only use my iPad for three things–reading, watching movies, and listening to music. If I want to take notes, the Kindle lets me highlight them and keep them in a repository. If I am reading something on Scribd, I can use my laptop to keep track of anything I like and want to remember.

Goodreads is a terrific service. It is owned by Amazon, so any book I read on my Kindle is recorded on Goodreads. When you read 60 books or so a year, it is nice to keep track of what I’ve read so I don’t mistakenly reread something I have already read. It is also an easy way to track my reading goals. It tells me when I am ahead of my reading or behind. I schedule an hour of reading each day, and this synchronizes perfectly with my hour of meditation that I do at the same time. Many meditate with their eyes closed, but there are many meditations that can be done with reading, walking, or while riding on public transportation.

While I’m at it, I also have to announce my move to a new to-do list app. I used Toodledo for years, but became disenchanted with it recently because the interface between my pc and my devices is not the same and doesn’t synchronize well. Toodledo is not supported by the Apple Watch either. My new app is Any.do. It works the same on my iPad, iPhone, and laptop. It is also viewable on my Apple Watch, which is nice. There are some days that I have to get out an about in a hurry and it’s nice to have my todo list on my watch, particularly the grocery list, which is a part of the Any.do app. Another really cool thing is the ability to add the Any.do app to my gmail. Now I have access to all of my to-dos and projects in one place and can view them everywhere. Finally, Any.do can suck in anything from Apple, Google, or Microsoft (calendars) and automatically bring in your events as part of your to-do list for the day. I’m glad I made the switch. The final part is the dark mode you can move to. Microsoft office, kindle, Scribd, Any.do all have dark modes that are much easier on the eyes. Now that I have moved all my apps to dark mode, my eyes are so much more relaxed. Looking at white screen, like the one that we have to use here on WordPress is painful, so I write most of my articles in MS Word (in dark mode) and copy and paste them here.

Well, that’s it for today, folks. If you are looking to make a change to a new to-do app. Give Any.do a whirl. They have a trial period. Frankly, $30 a year is not a big deal, especially when you consider that most of these other apps run $60 annually.

Have a great Thursday, folks!

Until next time…

Dave

Daily Ramblings – Thinking Thursday – Book Recommendations

Tags

Bolton, Book reviews, Goodreads, Ian Douglas, Kindle, Reading, Scribd, trump, Warren Murphy, Woodward

I enjoy reading fiction and non-fiction. Here are a few books I’ve read that some of you may enjoy:

The Room Where It Happened – John Bolton

Fear – Bob Woodward

Rage – Bob Woodward

Singularity: Star Carrier Series – Ian Douglas

The Destroyer Series – Warren Murphy

The John Bolton and Bob Woodward books are political. They both describe the Trump Whitehouse. These were really good reads. I believe that every president is right for the times. Every president deals with the awesome responsibilities of their job in their own way. Many in the Trump camp disparaged these books before they came out, but after reading these books from two different authors, the feeling and descriptions both authors offered were pretty close. This leads me to believe that the descriptions in these books are pretty accurate. Anyway, I hope you take a look at these.

On the science fiction end, the Singularity: Star Carrier series is terrific. The Star Carrier series is 9 books. 8 of them are finished. I am currently on book three. I enjoy how this author delves into the scientific explanations about faster-than-light travel and all the rest he discusses in this story. They are very entertaining.

The Destroyer Series is also another great one, if you enjoy action and adventure, mixed with some of the funniest prose I have read in a long time. If you like action and writing that will make you laugh, these are terrific. This series is composed of 140+ books, but all are really quick reads. Usually I finish them over a weekend.

I’ll provide these book recommendations once in a while. For those of you in my audience who are avid readers, feel free to reach out to me on Goodreads. I use Goodreads because it helps me keep track of all the things I’ve read. I also recommend Scribd, if you are ok with reading books in digital form. Many of the books on Scribd are pretty recent and are part of the subscription. I read enough that Scribd pays for itself. The Woodward and Bolton books by themselves cost about 45 USD. I pay 9 USD a month for the subscription, which also includes audio books and magazines.

Here is my Goodreads link: https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/60448547-david

Send me an invite if you wish. I’ll accept.

Well, folks that’s it for this week’s Thinking/Thankful Thursday.

Have a great day!!

Until next time…

Dave

Daily Ramblings – Thankful Thursday – Scribd

Tags

Goodreads, gratefulness, Gratitude, Happy, Kindle, Learning, Productivity, Reading, Scribd, self-improvement, Studying

Today, I’m thankful for the Scribd app. If you aren’t familiar, the Scribd app gives you access to tons of books, magazines, and audio books. I read a bunch of books each year, and this saves me a lot of money. I am reading two books right now that retail for $15 each on Amazon right now. So the $8.99 I pay each month is well worth it. I like reading a few books at a time, so this service is terrific. Here’s a link if you’d like to check it out. https://www.scribd.com/

If you are an avid reader, who wants to save a few bucks, I’d highly recommend Scribd. I read about 60 books a year, and most of them are on Scribd. I am not an affiliate and get ZERO dollars if you join up, but trust me, this is a terrific service. You can also download this app to your tablets and phone. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve gotten my reading done sitting in a dental or doctor’s office. For a really good combination, you can listen to a song or two on Apple Music or Spotify, if you get these music services. I enjoy reading with either a focus or some other purely instrumental genre in the background. From time-to-time I’ll listen to classical, but for the most part, calming instrumentals that aren’t too “busy” work great for me.

Another great companion to reading is the Kindle and Goodreads apps. Most of my friends and colleagues use both of these, and it’s a great way to track what you’ve read, and share it with friends and like-minded folks, who enjoy the same genres you do. If you have a Goodreads account, it’ll automatically track what you read on the Kindle, but you can add books manually, particularly those you read on Scribd if you choose to try it out.

Well, that’s it for today, folks. Happy Reading!

Until next time…

Dave

Daily Ramblings – Bonus Content – Book Review

Tags

Best Seller, Bonus Content, Book Review, Denise McAllister, Goodreads, Reading, Sunday

 

My review

Click on the link above to read my review. I just finished it today and boy, is this book the right book at the right time.

Have a great Sunday, folks!

Until next time…

Dave

Daily Ramblings – Book Review – Blackbirch: The Beginning

Tags

Blackbirch, Blackbirch Series, Book Recommendation, Fantasy, Goodreads, K.M. Allan, Young Adult

Well, folks, my friend’s book was outstanding! I won’t give anything away about the story here. It is a terrific story and one that will keep you engaged throughout. I really tried to keep myself to one chapter a day to savor this one, but just couldn’t do it, once the story took off. I highly recommend this to anyone who enjoys the fantasy genre. Here’s the link to the book on Goodreads: Blackbirch: The Beginning

Bravo! Kate.

Until next time…

Dave

Daily Ramblings – Wisdom Wednesday – Learning with the Written Word

Tags

Amazon KIndle, Christina DesMarais, Confucius, Freebooksy, Goodreads, Inc.com, Nook, Reading, Scribd

“You cannot open a book without learning something.” – Confucius

Image by Eli Digital Creative from Pixabay 

Do you have a reading habit? I read voraciously every day. I read to learn new things, explore different historical periods, and analyze why an author did this or that to get his or her point across. I can’t imagine a day without reading. I truly enjoy it.

According to Inc.com contributor, Christina DesMarais, “reading fiction can help you be more open-minded and creative” and help you live longer. How much should you read? Well, it is really about what you prioritize during your day. It is possible to read 12 books a year, without too much work (that’s one book a month). I like to make a game out of it. If you haven’t seen this yet, Goodreads.com has a free reading challenge you can participate in every year. Just create a free account and click on reading challenge. You can select the number of books you want to read this year and it will keep track of that for you as long as you keep your list updated. Luckily, the Amazon Kindle helps you by linking directly to your Goodreads account. Click Goodreads if you’d like to check this out.

I read predominantly online because it is easier on my eyes. I also use a few services to get access to books. I have a library card for anything I want to get my hands on that is not available on the Amazon Kindle. I also use Scribd (which costs about $8/month). To get access to a lot of free books by Indie authors, I use a service called Freebooksy. Click Scribd to check out their services. Click Freebooksy to check out this amazing service. Scribd has saved me a lot of money by offering books I would normally have to pay for individually, because many of the books that were offered a year or so ago make their way to Scribd as a means of building a following beyond the initial hype associated with a book’s initial launch. Freebooksy will deliver a list of titles you can download for free. Scribd has a huge repository of books, magazines, audible books, and comic books for your use as part of your membership. There is a limit to how many books you can download, but I have not breached my limit yet. I’m not too big into audible books yet, but in the future when my eyes degrade enough, audible books may be another option I used to satisfy me.

If you are one of those people that have not fully embraced digital content, because you like the feel of a book in your hands or enjoy the smell of a new book you pick up at a bookstore, no problem. I would utilize your local library for those needs. I would challenge you to adapt to the digital world. You have so much more access to many books you will not find at your local library or that are available in print without a lot of cost. Many Indie authors will offer a Kindle-version of their book for free and charge a pretty penny for a hardcover or paperback version of their book. This is because Amazon will print on demand the books people order from them. One word of caution: Please read a few books by an Indie author in digital form first. I’ve run across some really great talent in the Indie space, but have also run across some really bad ones too. It’s better to find out that a book is bad in digital form that was bad vs. spending your hard-earned money on an untested author.

There are some other great resources for books that are out of print, rare, or really old. Check out these services if you’d like to find some real gems. The links are:

The HathiTrust Organization

The Gutenberg Project

The Literature Network

Authorama

All of these sites offer e-books that are compatible with the Kindle, Nook (Barnes & Noble), and most e-reader apps you may be using from the Google Play Store or Apple App Store. The link I’m most familiar with is The Gutenberg Project. I’ve read quite a few books from this site and they were terrific.

Well, I hope this helps some of you who may have been looking for some resources to help you get started on your reading quest. I truly enjoy reading and learn something new every day. Sometimes, just getting that one new idea from a book can provide untold benefits that will help you with your business, your writing career, your blogging, or even learning a new skill. I can’t recommend starting a new reading habit enough.

Until next time…

Dave