Category Archives: Planning and Productivity

New things in the works

Provided everything stays on the schedule I’ve tried to set, I’m about two weeks out from launching a project that I’m actually pretty excited about.

Once I overcame the excuses and fear of the unknown, it was easy to get the ball rolling. Now, that ball is picking up speed every time I check something off my to do list.

Did I say I’m excited?

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Recognizing opportunity

I’ve been missing my camera lately. Haven’t been able to take a lot of time to get out and shoot lately.

Last weekend, I went to the Arnold Sports Festival just as I do every year. Needless to say, there are plenty of opportunities to shoot interesting things there. Those photos will be up when I get the time to do all the editing.  This isn’t the kind of thing I want to talk about in this post though. This one is about learning to recognize the less obvious opportunites.

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Filed under Lifestyle, Philosophy, Photography, Planning and Productivity

KISS ain’t just a band

At no other time in the history of the world has there been the access to information that we have right now. Whatever your interests, there is a huge body of knowledge that can teach you almost everything you want to know. Unfortunately, that backfires on people from time to time, usually in one of two ways. Continue reading

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Let there be booze!

On Sunday, I bottled the first batch of mead. It was the standard beginner’s mead, one known around the intarw3bz as Joe’s Ancient Orange. There was a little bit left that didn’t quite fit in the bottles, and it was delicious. It will be great after a little time in the bottles to age and mellow.

I also racked my second batch of cider into secondary fermentation, splitting it into two gallon jugs. I added half a can of apple juice concentrate to each, then topped one off with store-bought apple juice and the other with an apple-cherry-berry juice blend.

The first batch of cider is still hanging out in the bottles I put it in several weeks ago. I didn’t wait long enough for it to clear up on its own before bottling, so there’s sediment on the bottom of each of them. Because of that, I’m thinking about moving it around and re-bottling it. I suspect the same thing will be happening with the mead, that I sucked up some of the lees from the fermenter and it will deposit sediment on those bottles too.

Despite that, the first batch of cider is really starting to smell good. At first, there was a “hot” alcohol smell but it’s starting to mellow after a few weeks in the bottles. It should get very tasty after.

I’ve been officially bitten by the bug, and already thinking about the next batch of tasty goodness I want to put in the ferment bucket. I also find myself lamenting the lack of space to store as many different batches of things as I’d like. At least that’s saving me money since I can’t go out and buy all the stuff it would require.

I’m learning a lot throughout the whole process. It’s a fairly passive hobby but one that’s proving itself to be very rewarding. If nothing else, I’m able to officially check two things off my list!

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Filed under Hobbies, Planning and Productivity

Progress metrics…GPS for your sanity

So I’ve done a few posts about how I figure out what I want to do, the goals I have for myself. How do I make sure I’m making the right kind of progress? After all, what’s the point of doing something if you’re not moving closer to your destination or, worse yet, moving the wrong direction? Continue reading

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Filed under Philosophy, Planning and Productivity

How high is your bar?

I’m a pretty motivated person. I’ll admit that hasn’t always been the case but I learned to push myself and go for something big. It makes me a little sad sometimes to see people not really reaching for something great, just what they think they can do. There’s a group on Fitocracy called “Fitness Bucket List” where people put up lists of the things they want to do, their Holy Grails of fitness.

Now, I don’t want it to seem like I’m disrespecting anyone, I respect the hell out of anyone who’s making an effort to better themselves; we are the elite. What I’m seeing is a lot of people who just want to do things like “one pullup”. There’s nothing wrong with that at all. There are a whole lot of people who can’t do any.

To me, that just doesn’t seem like a bucket list type item.

Working toward that first one is a great milestone, but why stop there? Why not make the goal something like 3 sets of 10? Once you hit that first one, you know you’re on the way and it’s time to push through.

One of the things I want to do is 10 pistol (one-legged) squats per side. I can’t even do one right now, but that isn’t going to stop me from shooting for 10. It’s a high bar and a lofty goal but that’s exactly why it’s there. I’m setting my bar where it’s reachable but is still a big challenge.

I want to visit all 50 states and every NHL arena; people do things like that all the time, but it’s not going to be quick or easy. I’ve set that bar high enough to give me something big to reach for.

There’s no shame in anything you want to accomplish if it’s for bettering yourself. Just don’t be afraid of setting your bar higher. Without a doubt, you’re capable of way more than you give yourself credit for.

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The first one’s the worst one…

The first step, that is. Sometimes, it’s not only difficult, it’s also scary as hell. A lot of the time, references are made to Lao Tzu, who said “a journey of 1000 miles must begin with a single step”. There are other variations, depending on the translations, but you get the idea. Before you can get anywhere, you have to start going. Continue reading

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Outlines are sometimes better than plans…

It has now been just shy of month since I moved and I couldn’t be happier about it. It’s a fantastic place, reasonably priced, and the dog has lots of others to play with. My professional life is very busy and only getting busier; I’m writing between phone calls.

Unfortunately (or not, as you’ll see), one of my short term goals has hit a bit of a snag lately in that I ended up getting a new car last weekend. With fuel prices consistently on the rise, my faithful 2000 Blazer was no longer an economical choice for transportation after just over four excellent years of service. There were problems on the way that would have cost both more than I owed and more than it was worth. Luckily, I not only was able to get a great interest rate (so low you’d probably get mad) AND a great warranty/service plan, I was able to find someone who was willing to buy the truck for almost double what I owed.

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GOOOOOOOOOOAL (setting)!!!

This week is an absolute killer. Not only is it a heavy week at work, I’m also down to the wire on getting moved. Since I was out of town last weekend (Arnold Sports Festival, awesome as ever!!), I have to get all my moving done this week. I’m putting a load in my truck in the morning, unloading it at the new place on my lunch break, and doing another load after work. Every day. The goal is to have everything that isn’t furniture moved before Saturday morning. The only things I can’t get in my Blazer are my couch, bed, and dining room table. Everything else is definitely doable with just my little red truck.

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Got any change?

You wake up one day and realize that you’re not satisfied with where you are. Ten years ago, you had dreams and knew where you wanted to be. Now you’re faced with the realization that you’re not there.

You’re not alone here; it happens to everyone. I know it happened to me a couple years ago. I’d hit a really low spot and knew that something had to change. I knew that I wanted something better and that I was determined to never get anywhere near that again. It’s easy to say you’re going to change things.

It’s way harder to actually do it.

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