New Business Card
Photograph by Kate Trysh on Upsplash
My new business card will be on the way soon. I know I have talked about this before and I have been able to create my digital persona before the card has arrived and that has been really exciting. I have modified it some for when the card gets here so that I can have one that explains a little more about what I am trying to do and why I am doing it.
The timing for this card couldn’t have been more perfect. With COVID 19 pandemic happening the though of handing someone my business card scares me for two reasons.
I don’t want to risk potential customers health
I don’t want them to feel at risk even though they would want my card
That is where the Coppr card comes in to play. It is a plastic card that you never hand out. You just tap the persons phone with it and it sends a link to your Digital Persona. Where they can view all your links, add you to contacts and get a digital bio of your company. This is an amazing idea with the way times are right now and it is so fitting for social distancing.
I can set my card on a surface and if someone needs or wants my information all they have to do is scan the QR code or tap it with their phone. This is such a saver way to hand out my business card. When I ordered the card I did not have that thought in my head until I really started thinking about how things are in the world right now.
The money I will save not having to buy another business card is a plus as well. The question you might be asking is do I need this for my business, even with all the Networking events down. I can’t answer that but I can say that when things start to open up and people are still a little nervous about taking your business card.
Can you afford to not hand out your business card? The added bonus of them not throwing it away or using it for something else is amazing as well. They will be able to click your digital persona link and open up all the information you want them to see. All of this without getting very close to you.
Is this something your business needs? You will need to answer that question personally. I think it is something that my business needs and I want it for when things start to open back up. I have added it to my email signature as well as my social media profiles.
If you are used to handing out business cards this might be the route for you going forward during the pandemic and post pandemic age. If you have questions regarding this card you can find more information at the link below or feel free to reach out to me personally.
https://www.Coppr.com
As always take care of yourself and each other!
1917
The movie 1917 touched me in a way that I can’t explain. The movie if you haven’t seen it, was amazing. The conflict that shoulders go through during war is beyond comprehension. This movie digs deeper. It goes into the personal struggle of one soldier has about returning home.
You can sense the personal struggle even without details. That there is some reason why he doesn’t want to go back home. Something personal that is never answered, but you get a sense it is resolved by the end. There is so much more to this movie and I could go into details about it.
I will not spoil the movie for you. It was truly magnificent and touched my soul in a deep and personal way... I hope you watch it and it touches you as well.
Being a writer
Photography by Nick Morrison on Upsplash
Over the last month and half I have wrote a lot of words in the Ulysses app for writers. I have imported my first book into the app and I have added about 90,000 words to my writing. I have built habits to write everyday and I have hit those goals in great numbers. Working off a ten minute writing goal each day, some days that is five hundred words and somedays that is three thousand words. I never thought I would write that many words in one day let along in one sitting.
The truth is, two things, when you make a goal to write that is easy to start, the words just start to flow and next thing you know you have a lot of words on the page. Two, you learn to, well maybe, I learned that I loved writing so much that it doesn’t feel like much work at all. Even on days when I am exhausted, tired of writing and can barely think of two hundred words. The words just start to flow.
So how does one become a writer? Well it boils down to one thing and one thing only. You have to write, that is it. To be a writer you have to write and write a lot. The other truth is, you will get better the more you write and the more you read. I am not a big fan of reading but I want to be better at my craft and reading is part of that.
There is more to it than that and there is plenty of information out there regarding writing and how to be a better writer. I will share some of that information here to help you get started.
I have gotten a lot of good information from Shaunta Grimes on her Medium site.
I have gotten a lot of good inspirational information about keeping the Resistance at bay and writing from Steven Pressfield. I have read most of his books on Resistance.
Steven King has a book On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B003BVFZ4Q/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?_encoding=UTF8&btkr=1
The place I got the most information is the Business of Books Mastermind program.
https://www.businessofbooksmastermind.com
Sugar Ray Destin Jr. and the help of Business of Books Mastermind program helped me publish my first book.
Remember, we cannot do this alone, we need help. There are a lot of places for find help. The key is to find the ones that work for you and provide you with the foundation you need to success in writing. Do not settle for just anyone’s teaching and find the one that helps you the most. The one that calls to your soul and lights your body on fire for writing.
As always take care of yourself and each other!
Trust
Trust is so hard to gain. It is also the easiest thing to lose. I can take a long time to earn it and just a moment to lose it. Building trust takes time. Try not to break the trust you have earn if at all possible.
The hardest thing to gain back is the trust that was broken. You may work your entire life trying to gain back the trust that you once damage and never gain it back. Always remember in the end the work you do to regain that trust is always worth it. Don’t give up and never stop being better.
Professional
Photography by Hunters Race on Upslash
How does one become a professional? How does one stop being an amateur? These are questions that I have asked myself many times in my life. I have read many books about this and researched a lot of about this. Within all the information that I have read and research has been pointless. One thing that I have learned the most is that it is a mind set. A shift as Steven Pressfield has stated.
This shift is something we do in our own minds. This shift is free, yet extremely difficult and cost a lot. Not in money, but in many other aspects of life. It also requires to put down the amateur life and take up the professional life. Do stop doing amateur habits and build professional habits.
For years I had amateur habits, loosely setting goals, saying I was going to so something and not completing them. Never doing the work required to actually complete the things I said I was going to do. I have thought about blogging for years and I said I was going to do it for a long time. I would never set true goals or habits to actually complete them. Until now, I told myself I am a professional and I have started to build the professional habits needed to complete the things I have set out to do.
By no means am I, at this current time, completely set in my habits. I know there are more habits that I need to from to grow and become better at the skills I have. Yet I will share with you what I have learned so far.
I have learned to setup a workflow, habits and actually doing the work. I have made small goals that are easy to complete, these small goals allow me to complete bigger goals. I have build an app list that I use to create a workflow that keeps me focused. This allows me to complete the tasks that I have set out to complete through out the day. I also, most importantly, do not allow myself to get upset about a task that doesn’t get complete.
I simply move it to the next day and complete it on that day. I realized the more that I focused on the goals and tasks that I did not complete, the more I didn’t complete any of them. I allowed the amateur habits to kick in and put things off all together. Being a professional, you know that things will come up. Things will get in the way and you learn to overcome these things.
In building a workflow that works for me, I have setup the habits needed to complete the goals that I have set out to complete. I cannot create a workflow that works for everyone. My workflow doesn't work for everyone and that is okay. Your workflow will only work for you and it may work out for others. Find and do what works for you.
Learn from others and implement the pieces that work and don’t get hung up on the things that done. Throw them out, the sooner you throw out the things that don’t work, the sooner your workflow will start working for you. Do not hesitate to let things that are not working go. They are holding you back from being a professional at what makes you who you are. It is time to be a professional.
Do the work.
If you want some great information on this subject and a great place to start. I would start with Steven Pressfield’s books as well as Simon Sinek’s books. The information in these books have shown me the path that I should have be on such a long time ago.
Even with all the information out there, the choice comes down to you, are you ready? Join me on the journey and lets learn together. As always take care yourself and each other.
Finding your tribe
Photo by Praveen Gorakala on Upsplash
Some one say that my tribe is people on the path of recovery as I have been sober for fifteen years now and I can talk about the struggles of sobriety. There is a problem with this, a big problem. This is not the tribe that I chose or that I am have the heart to help grow. I rarely find myself talking to people about my recovery or the steps I took to become sober. I would not do a sobriety tribe any good. I would do more harm than good.
You can’t have someone choose your tribe for you. When you are passionate about the things you love and share them. You connect with other like minded people, that have a worldview similar to yours, one person at a time. You will find that one person that needs what your help and together you will build a tribe.
The critics will come too, people that don’t agree with you and don’t share your views of the world. That is okay, you should strive to connect people and build a tribe that is open and connects with you and each other. We all have a different and unique way of viewing the world. Some of that is the same as others and some of it is very different.
We have to be willing and open to connection with others. To share, communicate, listen and learn. We are all in this together, we can’t do it alone and we need each other. Together we can change the world and grow together.
I, one day hope, to turn this into a career and that would be amazing. It would be truly amazing to have a career doing what I love to do. I know that one day it might be.
I started this post about finding your niche and all the questions I had about finding your niche, but it turned into something completely different the deeper I went into what it takes to find a niche group of people.
The more I read about finding my niche and why it was so important about finding my niche. The more I began to understand that what I want to build here was something more then just a niche or a calling.
I want to build a place for you to come, to talk about the things you love and you are passionate about. To build a tribe around what we love and what make us passionate about life. I want this to be our place to connect with each other and share what we love with each other and the world.
Stoicism
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What is Stoicism? These are virtues that people have been striving for and committing to in daily practice for a really long time. I didn’t know anything about Stoicism when I first came across it. I have heard about things in movies and a small amount in books that I have read. However, I was unaware that there was a whole philosophy around this. I have been reading a lot about it because I went down a rabbit hole while researching about anger.
This rabbit hole has lead to some very interesting and compelling information. It makes me want to dig deeper into the Stoicism Philosophy. There are a few books that I want to get on this subject as well as a ton of information on the web. The amount of information I have come across has felt very overwhelming, yet very exciting.
So I will go into a brief explanation on what Stoicism is about and how I feel it still relates to the world today. Most of the information I have gathered here, was from multiple sources on the web, that I will be summarizing in hopes to give you a little understanding. I hope what I provide here will spark your curiosity and that you will dig deeper. If you find yourself doing that, please come back and share what you have learned. I would like to spend time talking to you about the things we are learning.
What is Stoicism? Per a dictionary on the web it is defined as below.
noun
noun: stoicism; noun: Stoicism
1.
the endurance of pain or hardship without the display of feelings and without complaint.
2.
an ancient Greek school of philosophy founded at Athens by Zeno of Citium. The school taught that virtue, the highest good, is based on knowledge; the wise live in harmony with the divine Reason (also identified with Fate and Providence) that governs nature, and are indifferent to the vicissitudes of fortune and to pleasure and pain.
That is a good definition, but truly one must dig deeper to define what Stoicism truly is. One must go beyond the literal definition to find the true meaning of Stoicism.
Stoicism is four core virtues and those virtues are:
Courage
Temperance
Justice
Wisdom
With all the information I have read there is too much to summarize to put into this writing. I am going to provide a few places on the web and some books to get you started.
I have started with this website.
https://dailystoic.com/what-is-stoicism-a-definition-3-stoic-exercises-to-get-you-started/
I am learning so much from this site and it provides a great list of books to read. Those books are:
Meditations by Marcus Aurelius
Letters From A Stoic by Seneca
Discourses by Epictetus
The Daily Stoic by Ryan Holiday and Stephen Hanselman
The Obstacle Is the Way by Ryan Holiday
On that same site is the following regarding how to be a Stoic.
9 Stoic Exercises To Get You Started
The Dichotomy of Control
Journal
Practice Misfortune
Train Perceptions
Remember—It’s All Ephemeral
Take The View From Above
Memento Mori: Meditate On Your Mortality
Premeditatio Malorum
Amor Fati
There is so much information out there that this tiny little blog post does not do the justice Stoicism deserves. The information I have wrote about it just the tip of the information that I have been reading about and I have yet to scratch the surface of all of it. What I am learning so far is pretty exciting and I am enjoying the information I am learning.
I hope the information I have provide sparks your interested and passion to learn. If it does and you would like to share, please come by and comment. Let us start and join in the conversation. Please join me on this journey of discovery. I look forward to hearing from you.
As always take care of yourself and each other.
Anger
Photograph by Noah Buscher on Upsplash
For as long as I have remembered I have been easily angered. I have never really understood why. Is it because people know how to push the right buttons? Is it because I never learned to be truly happy? I am not even sure if the answers to those questions would stop me from being angry. Do I allow all of this to happen? How do I control what I allow into my brain?
In this I will be doing a little research on what causes angry and what cause extreme anger. I will be attempting to find the answers, with the hope of learning to be better at managing my anger. I was going to use controlling, but I don’t think anger is something to be controlled. I am also not 100% sure it is something that can be managed.
I think it is something that can be lessened by not allowing certain things or people into your life. If that is the case, how does one manage to do that? Is there a process or a trick that can be done to allow this to happen? I am not sure, but I hope to be able to find the answers or better yet the path that leads me in the right direction.
As I research this topic more and more, I get into a lot of details and different information. There is so much information out there to go through that I have confirmed that this will not be the only post I publish about this. I was hoping to find a few key points to put into this post to help you right now. However, the key points I have researched so far dig deeper into this and I will continue to share those with you as I continue with that journey myself.
Please join me on this quest and I seek the answer to the questions in the earlier passage. Remember, that anger is just an emotion and there is nothing wrong with emotions. It is how we express that emotion that can be good or bad. Think about what is causing the anger, reflect on it and ask yourself will this matter to you in a few weeks or a few months?
I welcome you to join me on this path and come here to share in our journey together. As always, take care of yourself and each other.
Procrastination
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Why do I keep putting off the things that I know I really need to be doing? Is it because I don’t really want to do them? Is it because I don’t feel motivated about the tasks that need to be done? Is it pure laziness?
I have had the same tasks on my to-do list for 2 days and it is pushing into the third day if I don’t get them done today. I look at my to-do list and I get some things completed, but others I have no motivation to even start let along complete. This has triggered a thought to go see what is causing this issue. In part because it allows me to procrastinate on my current to-do list, work on one of my to-dos and possibly find the answers I am looking for.
The definition of procrastination: The action of delaying or postponing something.
“Your first tip is to avoid procrastination”
“So like thanks for the tip, but what am I supposed to do with that?”
How do we avoid procrastination?
At James’ site there is a scientific Guide on How to stop Procrastinating. In second two and three it list ways to stop Procrastinating and being consistent
Make the Rewards of Taking Action More Immediate
Make the Consequences of Procrastination More Immediate
Design Your Future Actions
Make the Task More Achievable
The Daily Routine Experts Recommend for Peak Productivity
How to Avoid Chronic Procrastination With Visual Cues
I am trying to get a better understanding of Procrastination with goal of being more productive. The questions I have in my head may be preconceived and my cause me to miss the point of the article above. However, I still asked them inside my head.
Does knowing what procrastination is and how it affects me, really help me stop procrastinating? If knowing all of the correct or what others perceive as the correct information, do that really help me if I am unable to action this information?
I have been reading James Clear’s article on procrastination and some of the points are really good. I am building into my workflow the following habit.
One of the best productivity systems I have found is also one of the most simple. It's called The Ivy Lee Method and it has six steps:
At the end of each work day, write down the six most important things you need to accomplish tomorrow. Do not write down more than six tasks.
Prioritize those six items in order of their true importance.
When you arrive tomorrow, concentrate only on the first task. Work until the first task is finished before moving on to the second task.
Approach the rest of your list in the same fashion. At the end of the day, move any unfinished items to a new list of six tasks for the following day.
Repeat this process every working day.
I have also implemented one of the suggestions already within my tasks manager application Things 3. That is making larger tasks more achievable. Right now I have a project that is for training that is about 20 hours long and spread out between 8 videos. I have scheduled 1 video every Monday, Wednesday and Friday until September.
This will also me to only worry about one video every other day and have the weekends off to study for the exam. This allows my brain not to get overwhelmed as it already was. Even that simple changed allowed me to see that the task is actually manageable.
It is not enough to know why we procrastinate. It is not enough to know the tools to help stop. It is learning to work those tools into your daily workflow so that you can tackle the tasks that you need to complete. The tools in James’ article fit into my workflow seamlessly. Find the tools that work for you, set goals and complete tasks. Once you have a working process come back and lets share this with others.
Until next time, take care of yourself and each other.
Struggle
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I have been working on my workflow and how to be more productive. I haven’t been able to wake up early like I wanted to. However, I have been able to wake up on time to get to work without being late. During the challenging times it has been very difficult to want to wake up. The motivation has not been there and it was getting very difficult to wake up and get moving.
Some reading that I have been doing was able to confirm that motivation does not always make you want to get up and moving. Forming good habits and a trigger to get up in the morning is more powerful than motivation to get you up and moving. I have attempted these triggers for a long time, but I have never been able to get them to work. I struggle with them.
When I first started writing this I was wanting to talk about my workflow but this has turned into the things I am struggling with. I could go on about things that I am struggling with because like a lot of people I am still learning to be who I am meant to be and there for I struggle with a lot of things. There are things that I have learned to overcome, there are things that I have learned to be better at and there are things that I am going to get better at.
All these things that I struggle with, one day I will look back on them and realize how far I have come. I will be able to reflect on the things that worked. I will also get to learn from the things that didn’t work. I will use what I have learned to make stronger goals and used what didn’t work to make sure I don’t make the same mistakes.
The benefits to reflecting on things is just that. You learn over time what works and what doesn’t work. Then you can be a better person then the day before. Every day you have the opportunity of grow and learn. We never stop learning and the moment you do stop learning is the day you stop growing.
If I was to tell my younger self what I have learned from this. I would be start learning things outside of school sooner. To know that you will never stop learning and you will never stop needing to learn something. As well as if some part of your life is not where you want it to be to you can learn to change that.
That even if you are good at something you can always practice to be better. That teaching someone else to do something you are good at make you better at what you do. There are people wiling to teach you something they are good at if you are willing to take the time to learn.
Never stop learning and remember everyone is able to teach us something. No one is to young to teach or to old to learn. There is always something new to learn each and every day. We just have to seek out learning new things,
What its like to be an essential worker...
I am classified as an essential worker. While it is good for me to get out of the house and into the office. After this extended time I am starting to see something that I am not sure people expected. The stress from having to come into the office people expected. I don’t think people thought about the affects of seeing the same people everyday would have on essential workers.
The conversations get to be the about the same thing or close to it. It's either about the current situation going on in the news or the pandemic. There are the occasions where you get a conversation outside of those and those conversations you cherish. This whole thing worries me, if this continues to stay like this for a long time.
At least for me, I am worried for a few reasons. I am afraid I will get very resentful of the people that I see everyday. I am worried that I will be come Jaded to their life and what they are going through. I am worried that we will get frustrated with each other and our business relationship will never be the same.
I can feel and see that being around the same people everyday is getting to me and my coworkers. It seems that there is nothing different from the day before to the day after and this feels and looks like a very bleak future. There is no really change, there are a few people that come by but that is slim. There are the random day to day curbside pick ups. However, there is no real rotation of personal and it feels like it is taking a toll on the essential staff.
We try are best to keep things as light as we can. We joke and kid with each other and find things to make the day more enjoyable, but will that last long enough to make it through this. The tensions could be building and we really don’t see that. I know the tension of this pandemic is building in me and if as a human it is building in me, I can suspect it is building in others.
It is not just the pandemic, it is the social tension that is building in people as well. Everyone is tired of the status quo, and you can see it in the news and in just about every media outlet. The world is in chaos and there doesn’t seem to be an end in site. It feels that we are at war, war with ourselves, war with each other and war with other countries.
Who am I kidding, this just could be how I am feeling and everyone else on the planet could be perfectly fine with everything. I don’t think that is the case but who knows. I only get to see what is in the news and talk to a select few people because of the pandemic.
How are we going to make it though this and still have lasting relationships with each other, stable relationship with other countries and still be able to do business?
I am not sure but it starts with us. We must vote, we must remind ourselves that we are not going though this alone and we must remember to treat others the best we can. If I am to make it though this I must do my best to be the best person I can to all that I meet and everyone that I can.
Thank you for stopping by, I hope you enjoyed this and it got you thinking. Feel free to commit and lets have the conversation here. As always please take care of yourself and each other.
Project Management iPad apps and Shortcuts
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I have downloaded to this iPad a few project and productively apps that I am starting to us in my daily life. I made the mistake again thinking that I could mirror someone else's workflow. I know this is a mistake because you cannot mirror how someone else works to fit into how you work.
You need to take what you learned from how they use the app and adapt what you have learned and make it work for your current workflow. As I work more with these apps I will add my thoughts and how I make them work with my current workflow.
Let's get into each application that I am currently starting to use. This will be a basic introduction into what each application does. As I use them I will write more about how I use them in my workflow and why they work for me.
Things 3
Drafts
Fantastical
AirTable
Okay I am going to talk about the list above first. During the writing of this I have added a few more to my list. I will write about those in another post. ‘
Things 3 app description on Apple Store
Things 3
This is a getting things done app for the iPad and iPhone. It has your To-Dos, Your Projects, Your Areas and your Plan. To me it is an all in one project management tool. I am currently working with a shortcut for this that I got from Christopher Lawley.
I am still working on getting the shortcut to work the way I need it and to fully adapt Things 3 into my workflow. It looks very promising and the more I work on just my iPad, I will start to see all of the apps benefits.
Drafts
Per the apps information page on the App Store, Drafts lets you turn text into action - it’s a quick notebook, handy editor, and writing automation tool, all in one. Instead of tapping around other apps, capture in Drafts first. Open it and write right away, then do something useful with your words.
Drafts is a good app for creating a lot of text and works really well with automation and shortcuts. I am currently using the Draft apps for list that I need to create. To-Do lists, Shopping lists and any other list that I need to be able to check off. This works with a Shortcut that I was able to find allowing me to run the shortcut without having to open the app.
Fantastical
Per the Apple App Store definition, Fantastical is the award-winning calendar and tasks app with features like natural language parsing, beautiful Day, Week, Month, and Year views, and much more.
As you guessed it this is a calendars and tasks app. I will be trying to make this my new calendar app. There is a shortcut that I got from online but I am still working on getting it to work correctly.
I hope to get it working soon and be able to uses this app to its full potential.
AirTable
Per the Apple App Store definition, AirTable is the easy way to create your own organizational databases. From Indie filmmakers to cattle farmers, creators and creatives around the world are using AirTable to organize their lives, their way.
This is a really interesting app to me because it is the only one so far that I am not sure exactly how to use. It is alway the one that I really want to learn to use the most. With all the ideas that are in this app, a lot of them are things that I am currently doing or want to do soon.
Shortcuts
Shortcuts is an Apple app that allows you to create automation and shortcuts related to applications on your device. When this first came out I didn’t think I would ever use it or make it part of my daily life. I am really enjoying creating, downloading and setting up shortcuts and automation. It has begun to help my workflow and I am building a better workflow around them.
These are just some of the applications on my iPad that I am starting to use and getting to learn better. I will be writing about them more and more as I get used to using them, issues I find and how they plug into my workflow or how I use them in my workflow.
I hope this gives you some ideas on some productivity apps. I know I didn’t go into great details regarding these apps but I wanted to provide you with some basics. I have for many years attempted to mimic someone's workflow or manipulate it into my own. I have found recently that it is better and easier if I just create my own workflow and use suggestion from others to see if I can improve my workflow.
Your workflow must work for you. If it does not then it hinders your productivity, makes you frustrated and leaves you feeling lost. Find what works for you, create a workflow, make it better and build on that.
As always thank you for stopping by. Take care of yourself and each other.
How I attempt to stay focus during these uncertain times...
by Estée Janssens on Unsplash
With everything going on in the world how does one keep focused on the things they need to keep focused on? I am not sure what works for most people but I know what has worked for me and is still a work in progress.
I use a Bullet Journal for most things as well as an iPad with the Ulysses app on it. I use the BuJo to plan out my day and months so that I can keep track of what I have planned for the day and what I need to plan for the whole month. I don’t always remember to put things in the BuJo and I forget a lot when I don’t. This is a habit that I haven’t made a daily practice yet and that is why I still think it is a work in progress.
I keep all the important things I need to remember in my BuJo. I have attempted multiple times to use the BuJo for more things, some of those have worked some of those haven't. The motto of the BuJo is to record thoughts, live in the present, monitor the future and to get out of your way. At least that is what it is for me. When I start adding to many things to the BuJo it doesn’t feel like that. So I keep it simple just like the creator of the Bullet Journal Method, Ryder Carroll.
So now I try to keep it to the basic, monthly log, daily log, goal both personal and professional, goals of my team and meeting notes. I have still yet to complete the two lives section, Letter to self, 54321 goals, and the clarity log. I will need to reread the book on those parts because they haven’t clicked. The things that I do use so far have helped me stay focused and on target even during these uncertain times.
Photo by Xiong Yan on Unsplash
I use the Ulysses app for all my writing and book planning on the iPad. I use it for a daily journal so that I can keep my mind focused on important things and to create a daily writing habit. This has just been a new habit that I have formed and it has done wonders to keep me calm and focused. It doesn’t always work, however, I find that less negative and self sabotaging thoughts are getting into my head now.
With the way things are in the world today, we are not sure what is going to happen. Sometimes we forget what day it is and what we need to do on a given day of the month. 2020 has been such a chaotic year and it is not over yet. I am not sure what you do to keep yourself from missing too many important things. It is hard not to. These are the two things that I have found that work for me.
Bullet Journaling and writing. Find what works for you and make it into a habit. When you start to remember the things that you need to do and are full of gratitude and happiness. Or maybe your aren’t either way. When you start to build the framework around the things that work for you, you will see the needed change in your life. Stop on by and share your experiences and lets have a conversation about life.
I look forward to hearing from you. Until next time, please take care of yourself and each other.
I am Excited
Photo by Julian O’hayon on Unsplash
I have made some recent purchases of a few things that I think will promote my writing and business more. I am super excited about them.
I purchased the new iPad keyboard with the track pad. It was a decision I made after thinking about the benefits of having it. I also purchase the Coppr business card. I purchased a skin for the card as I don’t want to have the Coppr logo on my business card.
I can’t speak much about how or if they will help my writing and business as I am still waiting for them to get here. When they do I will write more about each one and there pros and cons. It will be my review of the products.
So this will be part of a series of blogs that I will be putting together around these products and what they have allowed me to do. This is the first in the series and it details why I purchased each item.
I purchase the new iPad keyboard, because I don’t want to carry around an external mouse. The Bluetooth doesn’t connect automatically like I would like and that ability to chard the iPad through the keyboard keeps the cable from being in my way when I am charging it. Also it shows that it has a better angle for viewing, better keys for typing, and the trackpad has multi gesture. Also when you open the keyboard the trackpad is always connected.
It also states that there is added weight, which I am not concerned to much with, it is more about the items I have to carry versus the weight of them.
Coppr is a digital business card that has an online digital persona and allows add to contact right from the site. I have looked for something like this for a while now and I am really excited about receiving this card. I allows me to not have remember to hand out business cards, fear of them getting thrown away, buy new ones when some of my information changes. All this among other things like, having all my social media links, website links and a online bio.
The Coppr card allows me to provide this information to people by either them scanning a QR code or just tapping their phone with the card. With the way the world is right now, that is a huge plus. With COVID and the social distancing right now. People don’t want to get to close or touch a business card. This is going to be so helpful with the new normal of the world.
As you may be gathering from all of this is that I am a tech junkie. I have to watch myself or I will spend money I don’t need to spend on technology I don’t need. This is why it was a hard choice that took me a few weeks to buy the new iPad keyboard. I bought the Coppr card the moment I got the email because I have been searching for a card like that for almost two years. I asked the company to email me when the product was ready because I knew I wanted to buy it.
I will bring you more once I have each item in my possession and I am able to use them.
Thank you for stopping by and I would like to hear from you. Until next time, take care of yourself and take care of each other.
iPad as my main computer
Photo by Frankie Valentine on Unsplash
There are a lot of articles out there stating why an iPad should be your only computer and how to make it your only computer. If you are interested in reading about that just google search it. I could go into all the details on why I think you could make it your only computer but they is not always the case.
The reason it will work as my only computer is because it serves all my needs for my writing and future writing. However, it doesn’t serve as my only computer at this time. My day job requires me to have a computer and the iPad just doesn’t work for that.
As a writer it works great for everything I need so far. I use the Ulysses app for all my writing. I have Procreate for all my design needs. I have a RSS reader for all the blogs I want to keep track of, for story ideas and to become a better writer. I have Lumia Fusion for all the video editing I want to do. I also have a iPhone XS, plan on getting the 12, and a Nikon D750 DSLR.
With these tools, I have everything I need to create content and to share it. I do have other apps, for scheduling my business week, selling my book. With iPadOS I have a real browser allowing me to manage my websites. Now that you can use a mouse on the iPad, this allows me to use Safari in ways I could on a computer. Allowing me to create content for Instagram, Facebook and other social media sites.
I wrote this blog using the Ulysses app on the iPad and I am using the iPad keyboard and a Bluetooth mouse. I might upgrade to the newest keyboard because of the trackpad built in. I like to minimize the things that I care with me.
So why am I talking about all this? If you are a writer, make content that doesn't require a lot of high end gear or you want to start somewhere. The iPad might be a good option versus a computer. I am not saying it will replace a computer for things I need to do later on but for right now I am finally using the iPad I spent money on for more than just a few things.
I have found that the iPad is a great, light weight tool to carry if you can find a way to fit it into your workflow. If you are a writer and you are looking to replace your computer you may think about getting an iPad instead. If you would like to know more about my workflow so far and how I use the iPad as my main writing tool, please let me know.
Thank you for stopping by and I hope you enjoyed this. I look forward to hearing from you.
Becoming a better me!
Most of the books that I have read these last few years have been on self development. You know, the ones that teach you how to be the best self you can be. Some of them have been great and others have been okay.
All have taught me something... Most of them have taught me to take one day at a time and be better than you where the day before. Some have taught me to set goals and work towards those goals in small chunk so that I don’t get overwhelmed and feel burned out.
My main problem is that even after reading all about this and diving in really deep into learning these. Two things happened.
1. I didn’t put into practice a lot of what I learned
2. I also forgot a lot of what I learned
This can be a challenge for someone that doesn’t read a lot or take very good notes. It become a challenge because we have to re-read the books or go off of not so great notes. We make the same bad habits as we did before. We feel like we aren’t improving fast enough or at all.
As I write this, I remember what has worked for me, I take long notes. Then I take the long notes and pull out the most important information. That is the information that I make my goals around. I make tiny goals around the important information and take it one day at a time.
Soon I realize I have implemented the good habits that work and dropped the ones that will not work for me at this time. I always have my notes to refer to. You never know when a new goal, old idea, or habit will begin to work in your life.
Try them out. Keep what works and drop what does not. Always remember to be better than you where the day before. It's not about competing with someone else. It's about competing to be the best self you can be. Day to day.
Thank you for stopping by and I look forward to talking go you. I will see you later this week.
Blogging
I have wanted to blog for years and I really did not know where to begin. I still feel that I do not know where to begin. There is some much information on the internet on how you should blog and what you should blog about. How to get readers and how to make money.
Yet no matter how much I attempt to implement those practices into creating a blog, it never happens. I feel lost at what I am supposed to talk about or what I am supposed to share. Leaving me with a feeling overwhelmed and disheartened. How does one truly blog every day? How does one find content to write about everyday?
I am not even sure I can answer those questions but I am pretty sure I can write about something everyday. Something that matters to me, maybe. Something that matters to someone else, maybe, maybe not. I could also follow the post before and just write about anything that comes to mind to share a little insight to who I am and what my life is about.
I could to a lot of things and knowing where to start is half the battle. I think I will just start. Since starting is one of the hardest parts of blogging. It is time to start and blog daily. So here we go. Welcome to the journey and I hope you enjoy the ride. Thank you again for coming. See you tomorrow.
The Journey
I want to welcome everyone on this journey. What journey you maybe asking that you are joining? This is my blog journey where as I write and read more, you get to join me on the journey. You get to watch me grow as a writer, see what I am reading, and learn who I am along the way. I hope that we can enjoy this journey together, become close friends, and learn from each other. I hope that through my love for writing that you may learn to love it yourself and join me as a writer.
I am going to be open. This will be a struggle for me, as my writing skills will need to improve greatly and I have never been a big fan of reading. However, I am taking the advice of a lot of what I have been reading lately on writing. I am going to start reading a lot more. Recently I have being reading a lot of self help and personal development books. Though these books have been great and have gotten me out of a very dark place in my life. They are not enough to improve my skill as a writer.
I will be reading books that help with writing, that help with business, and that open my mind to character building, writing techniques and allow me to get lost in the love for reading. This is something that I have never had and I hope to have that. So today I decided to start reading a book that I have had for sometime. That book is Traffic Secrets by Russell Brunson. This is a book about business and I hope to share with you pieces that resonates with me.
I am also about to go down a very difficult road for me that involved some legal issues and anger issues that I have left uncheck for far to long. I hope as your read about that, that you know I am in a constant motion of improving myself. I also know that I will get a lot of hate as I share that journey with you. I also hope that I get a lot of love and that I help someone that maybe going through difficult times of their own.
I hope you are willing to join me on this journey. I thank you for taking the time out of your day to read my words and I hope that they inspire you, encourage you and bring you closer to understand who I am as a human being.
Putting all the pieces together
Working with Ulysses writing app, getting it linked to medium and my blog site has had some challenges and some major successes. I have been able to use a free plugin call Jetpack though my wp-admin site to allow direct publishing to my site. This doesn’t allow me to see comments but it does make posting a lot easier. I was able to publish a short writing I did on the fears that I am dealing with. I know it didn’t have a lot of details about those fears, but I am not at liberty to talk about that right now.
One day soon I will be able to and I will post more about it. So don’t feel that you are being left in the dark for too long. I will keep posting about the things I can and will post about the things I can’t as soon as I am able to.
Going back to Ulysses and blogging, I like how I can write in markup and not have to worry about styling my writing. That all the styling is done right at time of publishing. Using the build in tools that Ulysses has to offer.
I have read a lot about how your post should look when blogging, writing on Medium and other post. I feel that no matter how much I read there is a part of me that thinks all of that gets away from actually writing. All the posts and medium articles about how you should post and what it should look like. The formatting and all the styling. That is is the only way to get viewers.
What happens if I just writing to voice my opinion or how my day is going? What about if I write about what goes on in my life and how I am feeling? Per the instructions on the internet, this would not get people reading my blog or my post. I don’t think that is the case. I think readers come to you for what you have to offer and stay for what you continue to offer.
I think we spend to much time thinking about how were are going to style a blog post or a Medium article, that we miss out on the chance to write and share something with the world. If I had to wait until I get the styling correct, then I would never post anything. Isn’t the main advice that people are talking about is just start? There is no reason to be perfect. That if you wait to be perfect than you will product nothing.
Then why tell me how I should write blog posts or Medium article and not just tell me to write? I feel writing is the part that we are missing. I don’t know if I can write compelling how to’s or articles like that. I think I can write a compelling blog post about the things that I am going through on a daily basis or weekly basis with the hope that someone finds that is helps them get through their day. That is helps people know they are not alone in their struggles.
Hello World!
Welcome to my site, thank you for coming. This site is my blog site where I am currently working on things. It will change from time to time as I find what works for me and what I find to be the most please in to the eye. I hope you enjoy. Please feel free to comment on what you see so far and what you like or don’t like.