Personal Update and a Little Sarcastic Motivation

It's been a busy couple of days. I am still getting the schedule for the summer together and finding a strategy that will continue to work during the school year. My list of blog posts to write has grown over the past couple of days, and I have taken to writing them down in my iPad which I carry around with me at all times.

I haven't had time to fully write them yet. Yesterday we made a 4 hour round trip to celebrate my wive's nephew's birthday and today we took a trip to my mother's to visit with my grandparents who are in town. So I haven't been on top of my blogging or social media.

But, I still want to get a post in, and there are many other aspects of my life that are going well. For example, I was able to run for 50 minutes straight this morning. This is pretty specatacular because it is the first time I ran that long in over two years. I am feeling stronger, faster, better and more motivated.

Speaking of motivation, as I was brainstorming ideas for blog posts I remembered an episode of Weird Things podcast where they were talking about an article from the Onion that had been making the rounds of acedemia. I remember listening to the episode back in April on one of my runs (that were actually more walking than running at the time), and I immediately went home and looked up the article.

Here it is. It's the most motivational piece of writing I have read in a long time. It's spot on to how I felt about life at the time, and somewhat still explains why I am doing a lot of the activities I am doing right now.

I don't want my passions to take second stage to the motions of life. I want my passions to drive me. I want to look back on my life at the end, and have many more memories of "That was awesome!" than "I wish I would have...".

In a way, this silly Onion article put me on the path of doing the blog, purchasing web domains, and working on various other projects. Read the article, and if it motivates you take action. Learn, Try, Grow, Do.

See you tomorrow.
-P

Personal Update

I have a list of topics to write about, but I thought I'd save them for a later day. Today was the 'Hawks Stanley Cup Ralley and I've been on daddy duty all day. So Instead, it's time for another personal update.

I'm doing pretty well on my 21 days of happiness challenge. I've been journaling my gratitude and my 24 hour successes and reached out to friends I haven't talked to in a while. 

My 30 day of organization challenge has fallen apart, and I took two days catching up on reading while fighting the weather to get the outdoor chores done. I guess that would make it a partial fail. I am getting back on task with organizing. Tomorrow night I am going to tackle the book shelves and filing.

I've been keeping up with the Nerd Fitness challenge. My soda intake started to peak again, but I haven't had one since yesterday, and for the few days before yesterday I kept the amount of soda intake relatively low.

I have been running four days a week in preparation for the Spartan coming up. I do need to increase the body weight workouts. I am feeling stronger and faster... and unfortunately more tired and sore. I'm not as young as I used to be. Tomorrow is another long run. I am hoping to increase my run time to 50 minutes.

And that about wraps it up for today. See you all tomorrow.

-P

How to be successful? Be a big baby: 5 things to learn from infants.

Okay, I am not suggesting you beg and whine to get your way. Nobody likes that. What I am saying though is that there is a lot to learn from infants. I've been on daddy duty quite a bit for the past few days and here are something's that I observed from watching my daughter.

1. Don't be afraid to try something new everyday. Never stop learning.

The world is new to a baby. They are always looking for something new to touch, see, smell, and of course, taste. By not fearing novelty, you open up a whole world of growth and experiences. Don't be scared.

2. When you learn a skill that you like, do it over and over and over and over again until you master it.

My daughter is learning to stand and walk. She will pull her self up on everything and is using anything that slides on the floor as a walker. 

3. When you fail at the new skill, take it in stride. Laugh it off and try again.

As a new walker, my daughter is constantly falling. When she does fall, she looks around startled smiles to herself and gets up again. On the rare times her fall causes pain, you know what she does? She gets pissed, and stands up again tears and all. Life and skills should be the same way. When you start something new you are going to stink at it for a while. You are going to make mistakes. Don't let it  get you down. Laugh it off, or get angry, and try it again.

4. When the tears get to be too much; when you are crabby and snapping, and the mistakes keep coming; take a nap.

Lots of studies show, we need our rest. When you are no fun to be around, when you make mistake after mistake, take a break from it. Meditate. Relax. You might be lacking sleep. Take a nap. Get your Eric to eight hours. You might think you are productive by burning the midnight oil, but if you do it too often you ability to get things done suffers greatly.

5. You can't do everything yourself. Ask for help.

Babies can't crawl up high. They don't have the strength to twist off lids. They can't open doors. They need you to help them do things. You do too. No matter how good you are... no matter how much you've studied, or trained you cannot do everything. You will need help. And that's okay.

So it's okay to be a little bit like baby. See you tomorrow.

-P

Stuck in a rut? - Try changing your physical appearance.

In honor of my favorite hockey team,the Chicago Blackhawks (perhaps you heard of them?), I decided to jump on the bandwagon and not trim my beard or cut my hair for the duration of their time in the playoffs.

What that means is that I put off my annual ritual buzz cut for the summer. Until yesterday, that is, because my Hawks are now NHL champions! So, anyway, yesterday I shaved my beard and my head.

I shave my head every summer to institute a physical change in my appearance. The act of making a change in my apperance helps move me into summer mode.

In addition, when I shave my head, I look lighter and more athletic. The wind blowing through my hair makes me feel faster. Partially because of this physical change, I actually work out more and have more confidence.

So here's a suggestion. If you feel like you are in a rut or are not happy with your station in life, try making a physical change in your appearance. This change can alter your mood and increase your confidence, making your life change easier and longer lasting.

Want a different career? Try dressing and grooming yourself in the same way as someone with that career. Putting on glasses makes people feel smarter. Dressing up in ties and power suits makes people feel more confident.

This is the reason swimmers shave their heads. The physical drag reduction is minimal. Swimmer shaves because the swimmers "feel" faster, then believe they are faster, and finally they swim faster.

This is the reason job coaches tell their clients to dress up for even the most casual phone interviews. And they tell job hunters to always dress up as if they were going into the office even when performing their search.

Now, I am not saying you should spend money on plastic surgery or make drastic expensive changes. Even small changes can lead to large mental changes. If you want to make a life-change, try making a change in your appearence.

See you tomorrow.

-P

Things to do - Communicate Appointments With Your Family Using Google Calenders.

Yesterday, as part of my organization challenge, my wife and I created a shared calendar using Google Calendars.

It's a great communication tool. Hopefully this will help alleviate problems due to my absent-mindedness and our very busy schedules. Google Calendars is great because either one of us can edit the calender, and we can sync them from our smart phones or tablets. She can even create a honey-do list to keep me on task.

In order to create a shared google calendar, all parties must have a google account. I highly suggest you sign up for one. They're free now. Just go to www.google.com and click on the upper right hand corner. You can use a previously existing e-mail, but I prefer to create a brand new g-mail account. By creating an account, you will have access to not only the calendar, but also YouTube, G-mail, google drive, and many many more google applications.

 

In order to sync a calender, the first thing you need to do is sign into google and click on calendars. Once there, you can create a new calendar .

Name your calendar whatever you wish. Then scroll down to the bottom of the page. Once there, you can add people to your calender under the "Share with specific people" option. If you want the other parties to be able to add and edit event then I suggest you move to the drop down menu and give them the option to "Make changes and edit sharing". Just in case.

After that, just click on the time you have an appointment, and add follow the directions to add that event to the calender. You can even add non-date specific tasks. You and your family can now keep each other in the loop for all your important events. It makes forgetting anniversaries a thing of the past.

See you tomorrow. Build those cathedrals.

-P

10 Things I learned from playing table top RPGs

A lot of people have negative opinions about table-top role playing games (RPGs). But I think they are no worse than any other hobby. As long as they don't become an obession, they are a great way to spend an evening with your friends. I've played a lot of table top RPGs (Dungeons and Dragons, Vampire, Werewolf, Star Wars), and I believe these experiences have made me a better person. Here are the top 10 things I have learn from playing table-top RPGs:

1.) The journey is more fun with friends.

Life, business, and gaming are better in groups. Companionship builds confidence. In groups you have people to share your success with; you have people to play devil’s advocate against your silly ideas; you have people to make you laugh at your failures; you have people to get your back when you bad mouth the half-orc barbarian after one to many pints of ale in the local tavern.

 
2.) Your choice of companions can determine success or failure.

The best adventuring party consists of a group of people whose individual strengths compensate for each other’s weaknesses. A group of wizards are not going to be able to climb the parapet or hold the crashing gate while their friends escape. A group of barbarians aren’t going to be able to detect and disable the trapped exploding treasure chest. Find people who complement your weakness and strengths.

 
3.) Natural ability will only get you so far, everything else must be earned.

In all table top roleplaying games, you start off the quest as an exceptional individual in an exceptional world. Compared to the average peasant, your character is an amazing individual, capable of incredible feats of strength, cunning, or magic. However, compared to fellow adventures, kings, dragons, and enemies your character is nothing but a level one individual. It is only through working and gaining experience that your character gets stronger, faster, and better and is able to reap the rewards of adventure. Don’t take your natural talents for granted keep striving to get better. Eventually you’ll find a challenge that can’t be overcome by raw talent alone.

 
4.) The bigger the risk, the bigger the reward.

When raiding a level one goblin den you’ll be lucky to find a common steel sword and a few pieces of silver. However, by sneaking into the red dragon’s lair and defeating him, you’re going to land yourself a cart full of gold, magic weapons and armor, and a ton of experience. Be a wolf. Weight the consequences and gamble with the maximum you can afford to lose.

 
5.) You must have a plan….

You can’t just run into that den around the corner and hope to take out everything that’s in there. It’s best to have your rouge sneak in and find out that are four adult trolls: one is sleeping, two have their back to the wall arguing, and one is vigilantly watching for approaching danger. Then you can make a plan on what spells to use, where to send your paladin, and make sure to finish the job with a healthy dose of fire.

 
6.) … and when that fails, you must be able to improvise.

Like actions in life, actions in table top RPGs  never go exactly as planned. When you run into the den of trolls and find out they are only illusions attached to an advanced warning system set up by an evil band of warlocks and shamans, you’re going to need to execute a new plan on the fly. Take change in stride, work with your advantages, do the best you can, and never give up.

 
7.) Even the best will fail; even the weakest can turn the tide.

Every table top RPG that I have played has a chance outcome for even the best to botch their roll, and even the worst to be able to score a critical hit. I have played a character built specifically for dealing with explosives and demolitions fail his rolls every time he tried to throw a grenade. I have played a level one illusionist wizard who unexpectedly incapacitated the high level commander of an invading war party with a single stone. Like life, you have to roll with the punches. Sometimes even with all the planning in the world you are going to fail, sometimes you’re going to be bested by someone or something who is obviously inferior to you. That’s life.

 
8.) The seven deadly sins will catch up with you.

I’ve played games with other players who displayed one of these attributes as a character flaw. Usually this character becomes the first to succumb to the challenges of adventure (sometimes by his own party’s hands). Don’t let your negative attributes cause you and your party to fail.

 
9.) Every choice you make has consequences. Everything is a choice. The worst choice you can make is doing nothing.

We often don’t realize that everything in our lives is a choice. We make a choice to take action literally thousands, if not millions, of times a day. These choices become more apparent in a role playing game. Do I take a left or a right at the fork of the road? Do I trust the young thief child, or the rich noble man? Should I sneak past the sleeping dragon, or start a fight while I have the advantage? The worst possible decision is to do nothing. Stopping on the road will not further your quest. Not choosing between the thief and the nobleman will gain you two enemies rather than only one. Eventually that dragon is going to wake up.

 
10.) It’s not over until it’s over.

Even when my character was up against impossible odds, I never stopped trying something to overcome. Most times he made it through, if a little worse for the wear. The worst that happened… he died. It’s the same in life. Never stop fighting until you can’t fight.

Thanks for reading. Keep building those cathedrals.
 

-P

How to Get More Time: Don't Value Your Time as Much; In Fact Give it Away.

Check out this article from CNN: You have more time than you think

Feeling stressed for time? I turns out that even though, as a whole, Americans have more free time than ever, we paradoxically feel more pressed for time.

According to this article, if you want to feel less stressed about your time slipping away, don't apply a monetary value to the time you do have. In fact, use your free time to do good for and with others. Volunteer, cheer up a friend, or just have some face-to-face time. Turns out when you do, your perspective shifts, time slows down, and anxiety decreases.
Give it a try... for a time.

-P

Personal Update.

I spent the bulk of today beginning my challenge of organization. Today the Mrs. and I tackled the garage and backyard. This was quite the challenge, my extra deep "man cave" of a garage has turned into the dumping ground for too-big/too-small baby supplies, clothes, and toys, and has not been organized since the girl's birth 10+ months ago.
The yard looked like we scattered hay an inch deep out there. The rains here in Illinois have cause my grass to grow at an accelerated pace, and it has proved to be too much for my mulching mower. It takes a long time to rake up all the grass clippings in my yard. But we have made progress. The yard is looking much better and is pretty much done, and I have made progress on the garage. I'm hoping to have it cleared out by the July Fourth weekend for some gaming.

I have also started the 21 day challenge of happiness from yesterday, but prefer to keep that private.

Today is going to be just a catch up-keep up day.

-P
Day of organization 01/30 (Spend at least 2 hours organizing and cleaning).
Day of happiness 01/21

How to Be Succesful: Rewiring Your Brain to Be Happy in 5 Steps.

Yet another Life-Hack TED talk from Netflix. This one is Shawn Achor's talk about The Happy Secret to Better Work. Watch the video here:

Shawn's premise is this: You can't become happy by achieving success, but must instead be happy in order to achieve success. If you define happiness by your successes you will always push your definition of success one step higher, and therefor happiness will always be on the horizon. Instead, train yourself to become happy, and you will have an easier time at school, work and in your social life. This will lead to success.

This video hits hard for me. I've been know to be negative about the future, and Shawn is right if you base happiness on successes you will always be hunting for the next slightly bigger, slightly better success to hang your happiness on.

Shawn claims that you can rewire your brain by doing 5 things for at least 21 days. Here are those five things.

1. Write down three Gratitudes - Find three things that you are grateful for each day. Finding three new things each day will train your brain to find the positives in life. We often focus on the negatives; which lead to stress and disappointment.

2. Journal about good thing that happened to you in the past 24 hours. Once again, journaling will help you focus on the positive.

3. Exercise - Increases the efficiency of your circulatory and respiratory system which feed your brain all the nutrients and oxygen it needs. It also causes your brain to release positive feeling chemicals.

4. Meditate- In our go go go society it is important to train your brain to focus. Find a quiet space and do nothing for a short period of time. I have seen articles and talks suggest a minimum of 10 minutes. I will expand upon this in a future blog post.

5. Random Acts of Kindness - Each day write a letter or e-mail to someone in your social group praising them or letting them know how much they mean to you.

If you do this for at least 21 days Sahwn believes your brain will begin to adapt and feel happier, and a happy brain means increased motivation and activity. Give it a try.

PS: Even though my 30 days of creation challenge is done, I am going  to continue to blog once or twice a day for the duration of the summer. Tomorrow I will start two new challenges. Challenge one: 21 days of happiness (adapted from Mr. Achor's talk). Challenge two: 30 days of organization.

So, I will see you all tomorrow. Build those cathedrals.

-P

Five Deathbed Regrets... and why Gaming is Good.

I have been on a TED talk kick lately, as you can likely tell from previous blog posts. Currently I am working my way through the eight episode package about life hacking on Netflix.

 There is a talk by game designer Jane McGonigal who talks about why playing games will extend your life and the top five regrets that people have on their death bed. Here is the aticle Ms. McGonigal References: from the Guardian.

Here are the top five regrets people have on their death bed:

1. I wish I'd had the courage to live a life true to myself, not the life others expected of me.
Be a wolf not a dog.

2. I wish I hadn't worked so hard. This one is especially poignant as a new father. I need to make sure I keep doing it for her, but I also need to do it with her.

3. I wish I'd had the courage to express my feelings. This is especially hard for me. I am a work in progress.

4. I wish I had stayed in touch with my friends. I think I really need to work on getting that weekly (biweekly game night going).

5. I wish that I had let myself be happier. Isn't that this whole point of the blog?

I was listening to Tim Pychylof iProcrastinate Podcast the other day, and he said something especially deep. He was asked about what he thinks about the concept of tomorrow in regards to people saying that they will "do it tomorrow." He responded, and I paraphrase, that always living in tomorrow is not the best idea. One of the only truths we have is that eventually, for all of us, there will come a day where there will be no tomorrow.

Let's not have regrets when that day comes.

-P

Day 29/30 Almost there!