Daily Ramblings – Motivation Monday – Taking Action

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Achievement, Action, Goals, Rabindranath Tagore, Recharging, Relaxing, rituals

“You can’t cross the sea merely by standing and staring at the water.” – Rabindranath Tagore

Brainyquote

Action is the only way to achieve what you want in life. You can think about, pray about, or talk about the things you’d like to do, but action is the only way to change what you want to do into a result. I used to be a “think about” guy. I’d think, I’d think, and I’d think, but never achieved. You would think this was common sense, but it isn’t. There are all kinds of ways to avoid achieving something. Fear is big. The fear of failure has probably thwarted more people throughout history than any other reason I can think of.

The reason successful people win is that they fail more than anyone else. Each time they fail, they learn something. They gain wisdom. This is the advantage that comes to those that try. The more they try, the more they fail, the more they learn.

This week I’ll be focusing on my JavaScript course, my LPIP course from Centerpointe Research Institute, and my NLP course offered by Udemy. I’ll also continue revising and editing my book (3^rd draft). Meditation and exercise will also be on my agenda for the week. Finally, my reading schedule. I’m reading two books on writing. Story Engineering, is one book I’m reading; the other is on outlining for non-fiction writing. What I am learning as I begin my writing career is the importance of pre-writing or sketching out a story, characters, world building, and the research that feeds these areas of a work. I learned the importance of outlining for any writing. It helps form more organized works and allows the author to flesh out their thoughts in an organized way.

I had a great weekend. I’m a huge advocate for video games. I continue to do my daily rituals, but my entertainment is video games and watching shows on Netflix, Amazon Prime, and Hulu. On the weekends I recharge my batteries for the upcoming week. It’s great! This weekend we met with friends in Flint, Michigan at one of our favorite Thai Restaurants. The food is great, and the company was awesome. We do this monthly so we can stay in touch and enjoy some good food.

I enjoy having a balance of work and play. When I’m playing video games or watching a great show, it takes my mind off things I must do and gives the mind time to consolidate and reorganize itself. Some of my best ideas for writing or anything I am pursuing comes while I play a game or enjoy a good movie.

What do you do to relax? What do you do to recharge? What are your goals this week? What are you looking to achieve by week’s end?

I hope all of you have a great week!

Until next time…

Dave

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Daily Ramblings – Daily Quote – Winston Churchill – Reflection

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Beginning anew, Goal Setting, Planning, Recharging, reflection, Winston Churchill

“Christmas is a season not only of rejoicing but of reflection.” – Winston Churchill

I’m a huge fan of Winston Churchill and this quote is right on this time of year. I always get giddy during the holiday season. I enjoy the giving and grateful feelings that arise during this time of year. I also enjoy the time to relax, reflect, and the process of reviewing the year and how to move forward in the new.

What did I accomplish this year? Did I hit the goals I set for myself? What could I do better? Where could I focus my efforts in the New Year?

As I review things there are a few high points. The first is this blog. I didn’t realize how great it would be to create and write a blog. It’s awesome to see people from all over the world reading my postings and responding to them. The technology of today truly has created a global dialogue where people of different countries, cultures, and languages can interact with each other, learn about one another, and exchange ideas. It truly is a great time to be alive. Who knows what the future will bring. My guess is that we’ll see new devices, new technological breakthroughs, and a whole lot more.

I’ve written quite a bit about goal setting, self-discipline, leading a balanced life, and most recently about finding and pursuing your passion or life’s work. It’s hard to pursue these things when you’re supporting a family, working 9 to 5, and all the rest, but it is possible. If you are truly passionate about something, you’ll make it happen. For me, this year was the first year of my early retirement. I’ve found out a few things about myself that are quite interesting.

Retirement really isn’t retirement to me. I still have goals, I still have things I want to do in this life, and I still have a drive for a consistent and productive day. The only difference is that I am now in almost 100% control of my day. It is quite liberating, but also requires that much more self-discipline. Have you ever heard that saying, “The more rope you’re given, the more rope you’ll have to hang yourself”? This is the potential for retirement. You can either set up a daily schedule, plot out your goals and pursue them, or surf the net all day and get ZERO accomplished. Time will go by and you’ll wake up one day saying, “Where the hell did the year go?”

This year was a year of adjustment for me. Adjusting myself to a reduced income. Adjusting myself to all the time I have. Adjusting to living home with the parents and getting used to interacting with my Dad who loses more of his memory daily.

This month I’ll be finishing two books I read this time of year as part of my reflection. The first is The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey. The second is Getting Things Done by David Allen. I thoroughly enjoy both books because they really get you thinking. They also provide some helpful frameworks for planning, setting goals, and pursuing excellence in all areas of a person’s life.

I’ll begin work on the first of many books this year. The first step was finding a local coffee shop I could go to for my writing. I found one! It is called the Exquisite Corpse and it is nice. It will be my haunt after I get done with my gym routine. I like writing in areas where there are other things going on. I don’t need absolute solitude to create. Right now, as I write this blog posting, I am listening to some music. Music is one of the keys to my writing.

The rest of this month, in and around the holidays, will be mapping out the first quarter of the year. What do I want to accomplish? What’s the goal for the entire year? Once I’ve got things mapped out it’s off to set up a daily schedule to accomplish the things I set out to do. I really look forward to the New Year.

Well, that’s it for today folks. I hope you’ve enjoyed my writings this year and hope to continue to improve this blog to gather more followers. It’s all about the content and I’m still refining mine.

Until next time…

Dave

Daily Ramblings – Daily Quote – Funny Quote

Tags

family, Friends, Gratitude, Holiday Season, Johnny Carson, Recharging, reflection, Resetting

All, I’ve decided to move my Ted Talks and Funny Quotes to Sunday. It’s a good day to have a giggle and enjoy a nice video that I’ve hand-picked over a nice cup of coffee or tea, with some of your favorite music playing in the background.

Here’s today’s funny quote:

“Mail your packages early so the post office can lose them in time for Christmas.” – Johnny Carson

I’m old enough to remember the late Johnny Carson, one of America’s iconic late night talk show hosts. Johnny was a nightly companion when I was growing up because Mom and Dad loved watching him. His humor was always terrific and he had some of the most interesting people as guests.

Today’s talk show hosts just don’t hold a light to this guy. I wish all of you, regardless of your faith, a terrific holiday season, filled with joy, love, and companionship. This time of year is truly my favorite because I missed so many of these while I served in the US Army. Now, I really take the time to enjoy myself, my family and friends and relish every moment.

I can only hope that you find peace, companionship, and have some time to really enjoy your holiday season. I use this time to reflect, recharge, and prepare for another great year.

If you are one of my followers, Thank you so much for taking the time to follow my blog. I just started it this year and have learned a great deal from your blogs and find new and exciting content here every day.

Happy Holidays to all of you!

Dave