Well, today was a much better day for my motorcycle. I had no oil leaks, the bike ran like a charm, and the best news is that the weather was not as hot as we have experienced in the past.
We were up early in Las Cruces to visit the American Legion, which was a new stop for us this year. While some may be averse to change, I enjoyed this change because it allowed us a brief glimpse of the city of Las Cruces. The people at the Legion were warm and very welcoming, making me put exploring Las Cruces higher up on my "bucket list". I will look forward to visiting again when we are not on a mission.
The breakfast the Legion provided was excellent and filling. The perfect start to a long and inspiring day. After breakfast, we went to the Las Cruces Veterans Memorial Park. It was here that we had an opportunity to meet a WWII veteran and family of some survivors of the Bataan Death March. We were also informed that by this time next year, there will be a Vietnam Memorial at this Veterans Memorial Park too.
After visiting this beautiful Memorial, it was off to Clint, TX for a quick fuel stop. We then wandered to Van Horn (not really a wander, more like a focused drive) and were greeted by the local High School Student Council who served all of us sweaty riders a wonderful lunch.
All too quickly we left Van Horn to Pecos, TX for our afternoon fuel stop. Here we are eternally grateful to Ray "Too Tall" McDowell and his wife, Kay "Too Small" because they donated fuel for all the riders. These two people have donated fuel to RFTW every year I participated. The are awesome patriots.
We then found our way into Odessa, TX and went immediately to Bass Rentals for an amazing dinner of fried catfish, fried chicken, hush puppies and all the extras. With our bellies past full, we all wobbled off to our respective hotels for some much needed cooling off and rest.
Speaking of rest, I believe it is also time for me to get some shut-eye. When I am not so muddle-headed, I will start posting pictures of the Run...
Until tomorrow...
Friday, May 17, 2013
Thursday, May 16, 2013
Run for the Wall - Day 2
Well, I know I promised a daily update on Run for the Wall, but hey, you can't anticipate all issues, and boy did my motorcycle have issues yesterday....
It was reasonably cool (or hot, depending on where you live) leaving Rancho Cucamonga, CA yesterday. We left under clear skies and somewhat comfortable temperatures. As we got near Palm Springs, the winds really kicked up, which is what they always due in that part of the state.
Even though the winds were gusting, it still wasn't an unpleasant ride. I love coming into Blythe, CA for our lunch stop. The people of Blythe will stop what they are doing and come out to the main street to wave the riders through. There were many people waving flags several signs, and many people clapping, saluting, and taking pictures as we rode through town.
We were greeted at the fairgrounds by Miss Blythe, who was a very well spoken young woman. She was so patient and kind, especially when several of our sweaty riders thought it would be really good to hug her. The City of Blythe again put on a wonderful lunch for the many riders that descended upon them. We had the opportunity to meet a former Prisoner of War (POW) and several other veterans of the City of Blythe.
After Blythe, it was a long drive to Tonopa, AZ. It was during that ride, I noticed my left floorboard was slippery. At first I thought I had stepped in something gooey at lunch, but after several attempts to clean off the bottom of my boot, I was unable to stop the floorboard from being slippery. It was then that I thought my boots were melting (what else could I think). SInce I had now convinced myself that my boots were melting, I wanted to see what was really happening, were my toes beginning to poke out???
Imagine my surprise to look down and not see a puddle of boot, but rather a very wet and shiny boot. That is NOT good. It means my motorcycle decided to start blowing oil out of the engine. At least I now had an explanation of why my floorboard was slippery. Now I look at the schedule to determine how far away the next gas stop is. We are 20 miles away from our destination and my mind is thinking that I have blown every ounce of oil out of my bike and it was a matter of moments before I seized the engine.
I grabbed hold of my over-active imagination, called my Assistant Platoon Leader and asked him to take a look at the left side of my bike. He does not see oil pouring out of the engine, but does note there is a lot of oil along the side of my bike. We decide it should be OK to ride the rest of the trip, I didn't want to pull over to the side of the road and wait for rescue (which was coming, but not for some time). As I pull into the gas station (with my heart in my throat) I turn the engine off and quickly trailer my bike. When the bike stopped, oil was dripping very quickly onto the ground. By the time the bike is trailered, no more oil is coming out, which I believe to be a very bad thing.
The great news is that my mechanic was available early Thursday morning. He was kind enough to put his other work aside and take a look at my poor bike. The great news is that I had only knocked a hole in my oil line and the best news was that I still had a quart of oil in the bike. No damage to the engine, and both oil hoses were replaced.
The bike is now running like a dream and I am looking forward to the balance of this trip. Today was fun with lunch in Willcox, AZ, and an evening stop in Las Cruces. I always tear up when rolling into Las Cruces, the Air National Guard is always out to greet us, and they are just such wonderful people.
It is now time to hit the sack, it will be an early start tomorrow, and another series of emotional stops.
Until tomorrow...
It was reasonably cool (or hot, depending on where you live) leaving Rancho Cucamonga, CA yesterday. We left under clear skies and somewhat comfortable temperatures. As we got near Palm Springs, the winds really kicked up, which is what they always due in that part of the state.
Even though the winds were gusting, it still wasn't an unpleasant ride. I love coming into Blythe, CA for our lunch stop. The people of Blythe will stop what they are doing and come out to the main street to wave the riders through. There were many people waving flags several signs, and many people clapping, saluting, and taking pictures as we rode through town.
We were greeted at the fairgrounds by Miss Blythe, who was a very well spoken young woman. She was so patient and kind, especially when several of our sweaty riders thought it would be really good to hug her. The City of Blythe again put on a wonderful lunch for the many riders that descended upon them. We had the opportunity to meet a former Prisoner of War (POW) and several other veterans of the City of Blythe.
After Blythe, it was a long drive to Tonopa, AZ. It was during that ride, I noticed my left floorboard was slippery. At first I thought I had stepped in something gooey at lunch, but after several attempts to clean off the bottom of my boot, I was unable to stop the floorboard from being slippery. It was then that I thought my boots were melting (what else could I think). SInce I had now convinced myself that my boots were melting, I wanted to see what was really happening, were my toes beginning to poke out???
Imagine my surprise to look down and not see a puddle of boot, but rather a very wet and shiny boot. That is NOT good. It means my motorcycle decided to start blowing oil out of the engine. At least I now had an explanation of why my floorboard was slippery. Now I look at the schedule to determine how far away the next gas stop is. We are 20 miles away from our destination and my mind is thinking that I have blown every ounce of oil out of my bike and it was a matter of moments before I seized the engine.
I grabbed hold of my over-active imagination, called my Assistant Platoon Leader and asked him to take a look at the left side of my bike. He does not see oil pouring out of the engine, but does note there is a lot of oil along the side of my bike. We decide it should be OK to ride the rest of the trip, I didn't want to pull over to the side of the road and wait for rescue (which was coming, but not for some time). As I pull into the gas station (with my heart in my throat) I turn the engine off and quickly trailer my bike. When the bike stopped, oil was dripping very quickly onto the ground. By the time the bike is trailered, no more oil is coming out, which I believe to be a very bad thing.
The great news is that my mechanic was available early Thursday morning. He was kind enough to put his other work aside and take a look at my poor bike. The great news is that I had only knocked a hole in my oil line and the best news was that I still had a quart of oil in the bike. No damage to the engine, and both oil hoses were replaced.
The bike is now running like a dream and I am looking forward to the balance of this trip. Today was fun with lunch in Willcox, AZ, and an evening stop in Las Cruces. I always tear up when rolling into Las Cruces, the Air National Guard is always out to greet us, and they are just such wonderful people.
It is now time to hit the sack, it will be an early start tomorrow, and another series of emotional stops.
Until tomorrow...
Tuesday, May 14, 2013
Run for the Wall - pre run jitters
These blogs are going to be very short, since they will be posted the end of each day, after all my chores/tasks/ responsibilities are completed. This will be my 7th Run for the Wall (RFTW), and I am as nervous about this run as I was when I first did the run in 2005.
The difference between the run this year and my first run, is obviously, RFTW has become my extended family. There are people I only get to see once a year, and it is wonderful and inspiring to see them each year. This year, the pre-run events started in Ranch Cucomonga, CA on Sunday, and the days have been extremely hot. We have had meetings both Monday and Tuesday, and a wonderful dinner was served to all the riders this Tuesday evening.
We had some awesome entertainment, we had the Marines from Pendleton today provide the Colors for our evening celebration. We had some wonderful singers keep us entertained while eating, and we had a great time catching up with everyone prior to our departure tomorrow. Today was like a homecoming, we got to see many old friends, and are already beginning to welcome more new friends to our family.
We are now all bunking down, in anticipation of the start of the run tomorrow morning. It is amazing how much still needs to be done before we head out tomorrow. I look at my bike and realize that I need to re-pack it once again, because everything is not where I want it to be. I can assure you that this exercise will happen each evening for the next few nights until I get everything in it's proper place for the run.
I have not participated in the Run (acutally I have always participated, but was unable to ride all the way) for the last 2 years, so this year is really exciting for me. Even though I have not ridden with everyone for 2 years, it still feels like yesterday.
I can't wait for the run to leave, Central Route heading north(ish) and Southern Route heading towards Phoenix, AZ. It will be warm, but we are prepared. We will be working with all the riders to be sure they have been drinking enough water and very little caffeine. The weather looks like it will be kind to us tomorrow, so if all goes like prior runs, if we leave in good weather, will will have good weather for the whole run.
It is now time to hit the sack. My clothes for tomorrow are already staged, I have my bike somewhat re-packed, and all that needs to be done is to get some sleep. Tomorrow will come early and I have to make sure that everything is packed securely on the bike tomorrow morning.
Until tomorrow...
The difference between the run this year and my first run, is obviously, RFTW has become my extended family. There are people I only get to see once a year, and it is wonderful and inspiring to see them each year. This year, the pre-run events started in Ranch Cucomonga, CA on Sunday, and the days have been extremely hot. We have had meetings both Monday and Tuesday, and a wonderful dinner was served to all the riders this Tuesday evening.
We had some awesome entertainment, we had the Marines from Pendleton today provide the Colors for our evening celebration. We had some wonderful singers keep us entertained while eating, and we had a great time catching up with everyone prior to our departure tomorrow. Today was like a homecoming, we got to see many old friends, and are already beginning to welcome more new friends to our family.
We are now all bunking down, in anticipation of the start of the run tomorrow morning. It is amazing how much still needs to be done before we head out tomorrow. I look at my bike and realize that I need to re-pack it once again, because everything is not where I want it to be. I can assure you that this exercise will happen each evening for the next few nights until I get everything in it's proper place for the run.
I have not participated in the Run (acutally I have always participated, but was unable to ride all the way) for the last 2 years, so this year is really exciting for me. Even though I have not ridden with everyone for 2 years, it still feels like yesterday.
I can't wait for the run to leave, Central Route heading north(ish) and Southern Route heading towards Phoenix, AZ. It will be warm, but we are prepared. We will be working with all the riders to be sure they have been drinking enough water and very little caffeine. The weather looks like it will be kind to us tomorrow, so if all goes like prior runs, if we leave in good weather, will will have good weather for the whole run.
It is now time to hit the sack. My clothes for tomorrow are already staged, I have my bike somewhat re-packed, and all that needs to be done is to get some sleep. Tomorrow will come early and I have to make sure that everything is packed securely on the bike tomorrow morning.
Until tomorrow...
Monday, February 13, 2012
Motivaitonal Monday - February 13th
Welcome to yet another installment of Motivational Mondays. I apologize for not providing your Wednesday installation of Fun Facts and Trivial Tidbits, last Wednesday was more than a little crazy...actually, when you come to think about it, all of last week was absolutely nuts. Well, before we get too distracted and I wander off into a discourse of how crazy a week can get, lets work on our Motivational Monday topic.
Last week we talked about reviewing your past successes, learning from those successes but not reliving those same successes. Today we are going to talk about dreaming. Dreaming can be good for you and it can be bad. We are going to cover both aspects of dreaming tonight...
Remember when we were much younger (only a few days ago for me...) and we had all these big dreams about what we wanted to do and what we wanted to be when we grew up? Well, hopefully you all have not yet grown up. You should continue to dream and to dream big. If you dream about relatively simple achievements, you will never get motivated to go out and achieve those dreams. If you dream big, you stand a much better chance of becoming motivated to start working toward that dream.
There is a practical aspect to dreaming big though. Dreaming big is one thing, but you can't dream of becoming a runway model if you are 5' 1" and more than a little overweight. There has to be a bit of a practicality to your dreams. You know what dreams you have that you can achieve with a lot of work. Some people may just talk about their dreams, but never put any effort into working toward them.
If your dreams are real enough to you, there is no reason in the world why you wouldn't be motivated to start working towards them. Start a "dream board" where you begin putting pictures of what you want up on a cork-board or wall. As you collect these pictures of your dreams, you should start becoming more motivated to obtain those same dreams. Then, on the days, weeks or sometimes months where you feel you are lacking the motivation to do anything, you can look to that wall and remind yourself of why you are working so hard.
No doubt you have also dealt with those who are "dreamers". These people may talk about all the great dreams they have, but they never, ever, seem to get anything done. They only dream about what they could do or have, but they never make the effort to work towards that dream. That type of behavior can be very de-motivational (is that really a word?). Those are the types of people that you want to avoid because they could suck you into their dream, and keep you from doing what needs to get done to achieve your dreams.
Your dreams should be your source of inspiration, something that drives you to get up every morning, and the same something that keeps you up late into the night. They should get you excited about the future, they should drive you to plan and work to achieve those goals. Powerful dreams can move you to heights you may never even believed you could achieve. These dreams are what create greatness in man.
So, focus on your big dreams, develop your own "dream board" and start working on moving closer to achieving that huge dream you have always had. Even creating a dream board is a lot of fun. You may find that the more you build your dream board or wall, the more you want to continue to build it. That board can become an awesome inspiration to you and your family to keep working towards your dreams.
Until Wednesday (really...I mean it...THIS Wednesday...)...
Last week we talked about reviewing your past successes, learning from those successes but not reliving those same successes. Today we are going to talk about dreaming. Dreaming can be good for you and it can be bad. We are going to cover both aspects of dreaming tonight...
Remember when we were much younger (only a few days ago for me...) and we had all these big dreams about what we wanted to do and what we wanted to be when we grew up? Well, hopefully you all have not yet grown up. You should continue to dream and to dream big. If you dream about relatively simple achievements, you will never get motivated to go out and achieve those dreams. If you dream big, you stand a much better chance of becoming motivated to start working toward that dream.
There is a practical aspect to dreaming big though. Dreaming big is one thing, but you can't dream of becoming a runway model if you are 5' 1" and more than a little overweight. There has to be a bit of a practicality to your dreams. You know what dreams you have that you can achieve with a lot of work. Some people may just talk about their dreams, but never put any effort into working toward them.
If your dreams are real enough to you, there is no reason in the world why you wouldn't be motivated to start working towards them. Start a "dream board" where you begin putting pictures of what you want up on a cork-board or wall. As you collect these pictures of your dreams, you should start becoming more motivated to obtain those same dreams. Then, on the days, weeks or sometimes months where you feel you are lacking the motivation to do anything, you can look to that wall and remind yourself of why you are working so hard.
No doubt you have also dealt with those who are "dreamers". These people may talk about all the great dreams they have, but they never, ever, seem to get anything done. They only dream about what they could do or have, but they never make the effort to work towards that dream. That type of behavior can be very de-motivational (is that really a word?). Those are the types of people that you want to avoid because they could suck you into their dream, and keep you from doing what needs to get done to achieve your dreams.
Your dreams should be your source of inspiration, something that drives you to get up every morning, and the same something that keeps you up late into the night. They should get you excited about the future, they should drive you to plan and work to achieve those goals. Powerful dreams can move you to heights you may never even believed you could achieve. These dreams are what create greatness in man.
So, focus on your big dreams, develop your own "dream board" and start working on moving closer to achieving that huge dream you have always had. Even creating a dream board is a lot of fun. You may find that the more you build your dream board or wall, the more you want to continue to build it. That board can become an awesome inspiration to you and your family to keep working towards your dreams.
Until Wednesday (really...I mean it...THIS Wednesday...)...
Monday, February 6, 2012
Motivational Monday - February 6
Happy Monday one and all!!! Welcome to our second February installment of Motivational Monday. Hopefully your Monday wasn't as bad as you may have imagined it would be over the weekend. For those of you who watched the Superbowl yesterday, it was a fun game... No matter who you may have rooted for, both teams played hard and well. I don't have any fingernails left after the game yesterday, but I am happy I got to watch it.
Watching these two awesome football teams battle it out for that ultimate prize, you have to wonder how they stayed motivated. Both teams had huge motivation to win, yet we all know there was to be only one winner. (In my book, both teams were winners, they both played to the absolute best of their abilities). I read in the news today that Tom Brady was utterly dejected after the loss to the Giants. It has to hurt, to be so close to winning the Superbowl for the fourth time in his career. Heck, the Patriots were leading until the last 4 minutes.
From this loss, you have to wonder, how does the team get motivated to play again? The most obvious is that you know they have to look at their past successes. They know they can win, they know they have the talent to win. Now, to stay motivated, they will have to remember the successes, but they must also look at what they did wrong and learn from those mistakes or missed opportunities.
What the New England Patriots are going through after yesterday's Superbowl is nothing different than what we all go through on a daily basis. The only real difference is that a lot more people saw them fail, whereas we may only have a handful of people watching us fail. In this economy, many people are looking for work and having one heck of a time landing a job. They may be interviewing like mad, but never getting that job offer they hoped for. It is difficult to continue day after day to remain motivated, when you feel like you are continuously failing and not landing that job.
You need to stay motivated, remember that you did land jobs in the past. Focus on your strengths, not your weaknesses, remember why you were so good at your job. Focus on your successes to help keep you motivated. As we discussed last Monday, you do not want to dwell on those successes, but if you feel that your resolve may be slipping, remember your prior success and strive to remember how good you felt when you did get that job, or win that big contract.
Use your successes to motivate you to move forward. Even though Tom Brady was very depressed and despondent yesterday, you know that in a day or so, he will start focusing on what they need to do to win the next Superbowl... He brought his team 3 prior wins, he will build on that and motivate not only himself, but his team to focus on winning so they can take the Superbowl podium next year.
Until Wednesday....
Watching these two awesome football teams battle it out for that ultimate prize, you have to wonder how they stayed motivated. Both teams had huge motivation to win, yet we all know there was to be only one winner. (In my book, both teams were winners, they both played to the absolute best of their abilities). I read in the news today that Tom Brady was utterly dejected after the loss to the Giants. It has to hurt, to be so close to winning the Superbowl for the fourth time in his career. Heck, the Patriots were leading until the last 4 minutes.
From this loss, you have to wonder, how does the team get motivated to play again? The most obvious is that you know they have to look at their past successes. They know they can win, they know they have the talent to win. Now, to stay motivated, they will have to remember the successes, but they must also look at what they did wrong and learn from those mistakes or missed opportunities.
What the New England Patriots are going through after yesterday's Superbowl is nothing different than what we all go through on a daily basis. The only real difference is that a lot more people saw them fail, whereas we may only have a handful of people watching us fail. In this economy, many people are looking for work and having one heck of a time landing a job. They may be interviewing like mad, but never getting that job offer they hoped for. It is difficult to continue day after day to remain motivated, when you feel like you are continuously failing and not landing that job.
You need to stay motivated, remember that you did land jobs in the past. Focus on your strengths, not your weaknesses, remember why you were so good at your job. Focus on your successes to help keep you motivated. As we discussed last Monday, you do not want to dwell on those successes, but if you feel that your resolve may be slipping, remember your prior success and strive to remember how good you felt when you did get that job, or win that big contract.
Use your successes to motivate you to move forward. Even though Tom Brady was very depressed and despondent yesterday, you know that in a day or so, he will start focusing on what they need to do to win the next Superbowl... He brought his team 3 prior wins, he will build on that and motivate not only himself, but his team to focus on winning so they can take the Superbowl podium next year.
Until Wednesday....
Wednesday, February 1, 2012
Fun Facts and Trivial Tidbits for February 2012
Welcome one and all to Fun Facts and Trivial Tidbits for February 2012. Since today is the first day of the second month of the year 2012, I thought it would be fun to review trivial facts about the month of February. February 2012 is special, not only is it the shortest month of the year, but for this year in particular, it is a leap year. So, I feel sorry for anyone born on February 29th, they only celebrate their birthdays once every four years.
Did you know that February starts on the same day of the week as March and November (in non-leap years) and starts on the same day of the week as August this year (leap year). In leap years, it is the only month that ends on the same weekday that it begins.
February was named after the Latin term februurm, which means purification (based on the purification ritual [Februa] held on February 15th in the old lunar Roman calendar).
The Anglo-Saxon's called February Solmonath, meaning mud month.
The Finnish people called February helmikuu, meaning month of the pearl (from the snow dripping off the trees).
February is the only month of the year that can occur without having a full moon (not this year, the full moon is scheduled for February 7th, 2012.
The second day of February is often referred to as Ground Hog's Day. The superstition that surrounds Ground Hog's Day is that the ground hog comes out of it's burrow on February 2nd to look around. If there is sunshine and he sees his shadow, then he goes back to sleep and there will be an additional 6 weeks of winter. If there is cloud cover and the ground hog does not see his shadow, spring is right around the bend.
The largest Groundhog Day celebration is held in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania where there is a celebration to see if Punxsutawney Phil (the ground hog) will see his shadow.
The Roman Catholic Church does not celebrate Ground Hog's day, but celebrates February 2nd as Candlemas Day (the festival of lights). The candles used in the church during the rest of the year are blessed on this day.
The whole month of February is a celebration of Black History month in the USA and Canada.
Did you know that February is also National Condom Month???
Shrove (also known as Fat Tuesday) Tuesday is in February and it begins the 40 days before Easter (for this year, that would be February 21st).
Some not so well known dates in February:
February 4th is Independence Day in Sri Lanka,
February 6th is Waitangi Day in New Zealand,
February 12th is Paul Bunyan Day,
February 15th is Flag Day in Canada,
February 24th is Flag Day in Mexico, and
February 28th is National Tooth Fairy Day in the USA...
Now that you know too much about the month of February, have a wonderful rest of your week.
We will chat with you later this week, (I have some thoughts that I will post in a few days...)
Until then....
Did you know that February starts on the same day of the week as March and November (in non-leap years) and starts on the same day of the week as August this year (leap year). In leap years, it is the only month that ends on the same weekday that it begins.
February was named after the Latin term februurm, which means purification (based on the purification ritual [Februa] held on February 15th in the old lunar Roman calendar).
The Anglo-Saxon's called February Solmonath, meaning mud month.
The Finnish people called February helmikuu, meaning month of the pearl (from the snow dripping off the trees).
February is the only month of the year that can occur without having a full moon (not this year, the full moon is scheduled for February 7th, 2012.
The second day of February is often referred to as Ground Hog's Day. The superstition that surrounds Ground Hog's Day is that the ground hog comes out of it's burrow on February 2nd to look around. If there is sunshine and he sees his shadow, then he goes back to sleep and there will be an additional 6 weeks of winter. If there is cloud cover and the ground hog does not see his shadow, spring is right around the bend.
The largest Groundhog Day celebration is held in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania where there is a celebration to see if Punxsutawney Phil (the ground hog) will see his shadow.
The Roman Catholic Church does not celebrate Ground Hog's day, but celebrates February 2nd as Candlemas Day (the festival of lights). The candles used in the church during the rest of the year are blessed on this day.
The whole month of February is a celebration of Black History month in the USA and Canada.
Did you know that February is also National Condom Month???
Shrove (also known as Fat Tuesday) Tuesday is in February and it begins the 40 days before Easter (for this year, that would be February 21st).
Some not so well known dates in February:
February 4th is Independence Day in Sri Lanka,
February 6th is Waitangi Day in New Zealand,
February 12th is Paul Bunyan Day,
February 15th is Flag Day in Canada,
February 24th is Flag Day in Mexico, and
February 28th is National Tooth Fairy Day in the USA...
Now that you know too much about the month of February, have a wonderful rest of your week.
We will chat with you later this week, (I have some thoughts that I will post in a few days...)
Until then....
Monday, January 30, 2012
Motivational Monday - January 30
Happy Monday one and all! Welcome to another edition of Motivational Monday. I am willing to bet that not all of you are feeling too "chipper" today. No surprise, today is Monday, and traditionally, Mondays are not all that much fun. Granted, some of you do enjoy Mondays, but for the person who has a great weekend, going back to work on Monday is not always enjoyable. Today we are going to review some more points on how to get through Mondays and how to not just survive the work-week.
One tip to remaining motivated is to let go of your past. Before you all get angry, please let me explain. There are a few ways you can let go of the past, but I am not suggesting that you let go and FORGET the past. The key here is to not DWELL on the past.
History (the "past") provides many great lessons for us, but if continued to dwell on what happened in the past, you will never be able to more forward. It is very important that we learn from both our past mistakes and our past failures. How many people have you encountered that seem to live in the past? They tell you how great things USED to be, and how much better their life was. Or they may tell you about the time they made that mistake and nothing has ever gone right for them since? It is that kind of thought processes that you need to get rid of.
If you continue to re-live the past, you will never find the motivation to make changes and improve your present. I learned one very important piece of advice many, many years ago that has stuck with me...you cannot change the past, you can only change YOUR ATTITUDE towards the past. This is extremely important if you want to keep your motivation for the future.
You need to acknowledge that the past occurred. If you made mistakes, you need to accept that you made those mistakes and learn from what you did wrong. By making mistakes, you are forcing yourself to learn. If you didn't make any mistakes, you probably would not be where you are now. Heck, the sticky note (that little yellow post-it note that 3M makes?) was actually a mistake by one of 3M's developers. They were trying to make a type of glue, only to make a glue that didn't stick very well. You all now probably know how successful the 'sticky note' is for many of us, especially those of us in an office.
Making mistakes opens up new avenues for us to try new things. Now that you know this doesn't work, you can try a different path. But, if you constantly lived that same mistake, you will never have the desire or motivation to try anything new.
How many people have you talked to that constantly relived their greatest successes? This is almost as bad, if not worse than reliving your mistakes. Constantly reliving your success could prevent you from going out and becoming even more successful. Like the mistakes of the past, if you learn from your successes, then you can become even more successful in the future. Also, realistically, how many of you want to hear for the 100th time how Joe made that one awesome sale and brought home a six-digit paycheck the next month? Wouldn't you rather hear about how Joe made that sale, and then has continued to make better sales up through today? Then, you can learn from Joe's successes and possibly apply his techniques to your business.
So, in a nutshell, if you want to build a successful future and maintain your motivation, let go of the past, both the pain and the successes. Use the past as a building block and a tool to motivate you to do even better in the future.
Have a wonderful Motivational Monday. Until this Wednesday...
One tip to remaining motivated is to let go of your past. Before you all get angry, please let me explain. There are a few ways you can let go of the past, but I am not suggesting that you let go and FORGET the past. The key here is to not DWELL on the past.
History (the "past") provides many great lessons for us, but if continued to dwell on what happened in the past, you will never be able to more forward. It is very important that we learn from both our past mistakes and our past failures. How many people have you encountered that seem to live in the past? They tell you how great things USED to be, and how much better their life was. Or they may tell you about the time they made that mistake and nothing has ever gone right for them since? It is that kind of thought processes that you need to get rid of.
If you continue to re-live the past, you will never find the motivation to make changes and improve your present. I learned one very important piece of advice many, many years ago that has stuck with me...you cannot change the past, you can only change YOUR ATTITUDE towards the past. This is extremely important if you want to keep your motivation for the future.
You need to acknowledge that the past occurred. If you made mistakes, you need to accept that you made those mistakes and learn from what you did wrong. By making mistakes, you are forcing yourself to learn. If you didn't make any mistakes, you probably would not be where you are now. Heck, the sticky note (that little yellow post-it note that 3M makes?) was actually a mistake by one of 3M's developers. They were trying to make a type of glue, only to make a glue that didn't stick very well. You all now probably know how successful the 'sticky note' is for many of us, especially those of us in an office.
Making mistakes opens up new avenues for us to try new things. Now that you know this doesn't work, you can try a different path. But, if you constantly lived that same mistake, you will never have the desire or motivation to try anything new.
How many people have you talked to that constantly relived their greatest successes? This is almost as bad, if not worse than reliving your mistakes. Constantly reliving your success could prevent you from going out and becoming even more successful. Like the mistakes of the past, if you learn from your successes, then you can become even more successful in the future. Also, realistically, how many of you want to hear for the 100th time how Joe made that one awesome sale and brought home a six-digit paycheck the next month? Wouldn't you rather hear about how Joe made that sale, and then has continued to make better sales up through today? Then, you can learn from Joe's successes and possibly apply his techniques to your business.
So, in a nutshell, if you want to build a successful future and maintain your motivation, let go of the past, both the pain and the successes. Use the past as a building block and a tool to motivate you to do even better in the future.
Have a wonderful Motivational Monday. Until this Wednesday...
Tuesday, January 24, 2012
Finding your Passion in Business
Last week we discussed reviewing where we were in business and setting goals for where we want to be by the end of this year. While we were discussing goal-setting, I mentioned that it was not only important to set obtainable goals, but to set goals that you were passionate about.
This week we are going to explore a some possible ways that you can find your passion in business. Let's first define Passion: "Passion is a term that is often applied to a very strong feeling about a person or a thing. It is an intense emotion, compelling feeling, enthusiasm or a desire for something." - Wikipedia definition
If you are in a home-based business, or are managing a small business. it is highly likely that you were extremely passionate about the business you got involved in. The problem is that running a business, especially a home-based business, can be very time consuming and tiring. After a while, you may start to wonder why you ever thought you wanted to be in business for yourself in the first place.
If you are still working your business, you may need to rediscover the passion in your business. It could be helpful to sit down and write down all the reasons WHY you got involved in that business originally. Sometimes, when you go back to the beginning, you can rediscover the passion that inspired you to start your own business. As you rediscover your passion, write down the points that you feel very strongly about. You want to remember those aspects of your business when times start getting difficult again. Do not focus on the negative aspect of your business, everyone has tough times, and focusing on the negative will not allow you to capture the passion (positive passion) that you were hoping to discover.
Once you are able to rekindle the passion you had at the outset, now would be the time to start setting goals for the future. If you had focused on the negatives of your business, odds are that your goals would not be all that they should be and you could very well start a downward spiral of your business. As you start defining your goals, always be sure to verify that you are passionate about the goals you are setting. You should be very passionate about all of your big, long-term goals because if you are not, there is a very high likelihood that you will not achieve those goals.
Make sure your goals are realistic, but that they are also designed to push you and your business to greater heights. If you can set long-term goals that you feel very strongly about, then it will be so much easier to remain motivated and passionate as you work towards those goals. After your "big" goals are set, then you can start designing those smaller, stepping-stone goals, that will help you to attain your "big" goal. Again, if you are passionate about the end result, you will find a much stronger motivation to continue working towards that goal, despite any road-blocks that will appear.
Sometimes you may discover that you cannot recapture the passion you once had. If you feel you are in that position, before you do anything rash, talk to some other small business owners. Ask them how they managed to work through their challenges. As we discussed last week, talk to successful people. Do not waste your precious time and energy talking to people who feel your passion is misplaced or misguided.
Continue to strive to be passionate in your business, and strive to provide the best services to your customers. By providing the best for everyone, in the long run, your business will prosper. One critical key to success in business is finding your passion in business.
If you are looking for some business opportunity to get involved with, perhaps we can be of assistance. If you do not see anything that triggers your passion, perhaps you can use some of the ideas from the website to discover what you are truly passionate about. As always, if you have any questions, please feel free to contact us.
Until next week...keep the passion...
This week we are going to explore a some possible ways that you can find your passion in business. Let's first define Passion: "Passion is a term that is often applied to a very strong feeling about a person or a thing. It is an intense emotion, compelling feeling, enthusiasm or a desire for something." - Wikipedia definition
If you are in a home-based business, or are managing a small business. it is highly likely that you were extremely passionate about the business you got involved in. The problem is that running a business, especially a home-based business, can be very time consuming and tiring. After a while, you may start to wonder why you ever thought you wanted to be in business for yourself in the first place.
If you are still working your business, you may need to rediscover the passion in your business. It could be helpful to sit down and write down all the reasons WHY you got involved in that business originally. Sometimes, when you go back to the beginning, you can rediscover the passion that inspired you to start your own business. As you rediscover your passion, write down the points that you feel very strongly about. You want to remember those aspects of your business when times start getting difficult again. Do not focus on the negative aspect of your business, everyone has tough times, and focusing on the negative will not allow you to capture the passion (positive passion) that you were hoping to discover.
Once you are able to rekindle the passion you had at the outset, now would be the time to start setting goals for the future. If you had focused on the negatives of your business, odds are that your goals would not be all that they should be and you could very well start a downward spiral of your business. As you start defining your goals, always be sure to verify that you are passionate about the goals you are setting. You should be very passionate about all of your big, long-term goals because if you are not, there is a very high likelihood that you will not achieve those goals.
Make sure your goals are realistic, but that they are also designed to push you and your business to greater heights. If you can set long-term goals that you feel very strongly about, then it will be so much easier to remain motivated and passionate as you work towards those goals. After your "big" goals are set, then you can start designing those smaller, stepping-stone goals, that will help you to attain your "big" goal. Again, if you are passionate about the end result, you will find a much stronger motivation to continue working towards that goal, despite any road-blocks that will appear.
Sometimes you may discover that you cannot recapture the passion you once had. If you feel you are in that position, before you do anything rash, talk to some other small business owners. Ask them how they managed to work through their challenges. As we discussed last week, talk to successful people. Do not waste your precious time and energy talking to people who feel your passion is misplaced or misguided.
Continue to strive to be passionate in your business, and strive to provide the best services to your customers. By providing the best for everyone, in the long run, your business will prosper. One critical key to success in business is finding your passion in business.
If you are looking for some business opportunity to get involved with, perhaps we can be of assistance. If you do not see anything that triggers your passion, perhaps you can use some of the ideas from the website to discover what you are truly passionate about. As always, if you have any questions, please feel free to contact us.
Until next week...keep the passion...
Monday, January 23, 2012
Motivational Monday - January 23rd
Welcome to the first Motivational Monday of 2012. It has been quite some time since we had a Motivational Monday, so let's get started.
Since this is still the first month of the new year, I'd like to let you in on my New Year's resolution. I don't usually believe in resolutions, but this one is not really a "normal" resolution. No, I am not going to resolve to lose weight (I should and am working on losing weight, it is a promise, not a resolution), nor am I going to resolve to quit smoking (because I have NEVER smoked in my life). My resolution this year is to NOT be MOTIVATED by negative people or negative situations.
Granted, that may sound a tad odd, but if you really think about it, the concept makes sense. If you want to lose motivation fast, start hanging around people who believe nothing good can ever come of anything. If you start feeling sick, you don't hang around sick people, right? This is the same concept. I am making a resolution to only associate with positive, up-beat people.
Sometimes you may be motivated by negativity, more along the lines of "I won't be THAT way", but if you are exposed to negative situations continuously, then you stand a very strong likelihood of also displaying that same type of behavior.
Keep in mind, positive, up-beat people are not always happy, but they do not bring you down or tell you how horrible the world is on a regular basis. Positive people will also have bad days, depressed days, but on the whole, they look at any set-backs in their progress as not insurmountable situations, but as a learning lesson. They will look at the positives of a negative issue and then work to overcome the current setback.
These are the type of people who are successful. They are the ones that many may envy because it seems that no matter what happens, they always end up on top. The reason they end up on top is because they maintain a positive attitude and most likely surround themselves with other positive people.
If you want to stay depressed, hang around with people who are always complaining. Even if you started the day in a good mood, how many times do you wonder where your good mood vanished if you constantly hear people complaining about everything from how horrible the weather is, to how bad their kids are? Sometimes you may discover that negative people surround you because they are trying to capture your positive attitude. These people are like sponges, sucking your good attitude out of your body. The key is to not let this happen to you. If someone is in need of positive reinforcement, definitely provide it, but do not continue to support someone who refuses to stand on their own and work on their own positive attitude.
Life is tough. There is no denying it. The important thing to remember though is that you may not be able to change the circumstances, but you are able to change your attitude about the circumstances. You cannot change your past, but you can change your attitude about what happened in the past and turn it into a learning experience. Learn from your mistakes, use the problems as a spring-board to a better future.
We would not have the light bulb if Thomas Edison quit after the first few attempts. Many of your self-made millionaires did hit rock bottom more than once in their careers. The failures just motivated them to do better and work harder for the next effort.
I will leave you with this thought for tonight from Anne Morrow Lindbergh, "It takes as much courage to have tried and failed as it does to have tried and succeeded."
Until Wednesday...
If you are looking for second income opportunities, check out www.hawgwash.net. There may be something there that could work for you. If you don't see anything, but would like to discuss ideas, please feel free to contact us at hawgwash1@yahoo.com.
Since this is still the first month of the new year, I'd like to let you in on my New Year's resolution. I don't usually believe in resolutions, but this one is not really a "normal" resolution. No, I am not going to resolve to lose weight (I should and am working on losing weight, it is a promise, not a resolution), nor am I going to resolve to quit smoking (because I have NEVER smoked in my life). My resolution this year is to NOT be MOTIVATED by negative people or negative situations.
Granted, that may sound a tad odd, but if you really think about it, the concept makes sense. If you want to lose motivation fast, start hanging around people who believe nothing good can ever come of anything. If you start feeling sick, you don't hang around sick people, right? This is the same concept. I am making a resolution to only associate with positive, up-beat people.
Sometimes you may be motivated by negativity, more along the lines of "I won't be THAT way", but if you are exposed to negative situations continuously, then you stand a very strong likelihood of also displaying that same type of behavior.
Keep in mind, positive, up-beat people are not always happy, but they do not bring you down or tell you how horrible the world is on a regular basis. Positive people will also have bad days, depressed days, but on the whole, they look at any set-backs in their progress as not insurmountable situations, but as a learning lesson. They will look at the positives of a negative issue and then work to overcome the current setback.
These are the type of people who are successful. They are the ones that many may envy because it seems that no matter what happens, they always end up on top. The reason they end up on top is because they maintain a positive attitude and most likely surround themselves with other positive people.
If you want to stay depressed, hang around with people who are always complaining. Even if you started the day in a good mood, how many times do you wonder where your good mood vanished if you constantly hear people complaining about everything from how horrible the weather is, to how bad their kids are? Sometimes you may discover that negative people surround you because they are trying to capture your positive attitude. These people are like sponges, sucking your good attitude out of your body. The key is to not let this happen to you. If someone is in need of positive reinforcement, definitely provide it, but do not continue to support someone who refuses to stand on their own and work on their own positive attitude.
Life is tough. There is no denying it. The important thing to remember though is that you may not be able to change the circumstances, but you are able to change your attitude about the circumstances. You cannot change your past, but you can change your attitude about what happened in the past and turn it into a learning experience. Learn from your mistakes, use the problems as a spring-board to a better future.
We would not have the light bulb if Thomas Edison quit after the first few attempts. Many of your self-made millionaires did hit rock bottom more than once in their careers. The failures just motivated them to do better and work harder for the next effort.
I will leave you with this thought for tonight from Anne Morrow Lindbergh, "It takes as much courage to have tried and failed as it does to have tried and succeeded."
Until Wednesday...
If you are looking for second income opportunities, check out www.hawgwash.net. There may be something there that could work for you. If you don't see anything, but would like to discuss ideas, please feel free to contact us at hawgwash1@yahoo.com.
Wednesday, January 18, 2012
Fun Facts and Trivial Tidbits - 2012
Welcome to the first installment of Fun Facts and Trivial Tidbits for 2012. It has been quite a while since this mid-week entertainment has been posted, so without further adeu, let's get started. Since we have begun a new year, perhaps it would be good to see what happened to us 100 years ago:
For you runners out there, did you know that January 1st, 1912 was the first running of San Francisco's "Bay to Breakers" race?
On January 6th, 1912 New Mexico became the 47th state admitted to the United States.
On February 14th, 1912 Arizona became the 48th state to join the United States.
May 11, 1912 Alaska is organized as a US Territory. By August 24th the Territory of Alaska organizes
It looks like our US Marines were very busy in 1912:
On January 9th, 1912 the US Marines invaded Honduras
May 30, 1912 the US Marines are sent to Nicaragua, on August 14th of this year 2,500 more Marines were added and they stayed until 1925.
June 5, 1912 the US Marines invade Cuba
In January 18th, British Naval Captain and explorer Robert F. Scott and his expedition arrive at the South Pole only to discover hat the Norwegian explorer Roland Amundsen had preceded them by just over a month. By March 30th while storm-bound in a tent near the South Pole, he makes the last entry in his diary, "the end cannot be far". Captain Robert F. Scott and 4 others in his expedition died in Antartica. Captian Scott's body and diary are finally located by November 12th of this year.
April 2nd, 1912 the Titanic undergoes sea trial under it's own power. After successful trials, the Titanic leaves Queesntown, Irland with final passengers and mail, headed for New York. On April 14th, on route from Southampton to New York, "Unsinkable" Titanic strikes an iceberg 453 miles southeast of Newfoundland. Six of the 15 watertight compartments are breached by a 300-foot gash. Just after midnight on April 15th Captain Smith of the Titanic orders lifeboats to be uncovered and for passengers to be assembled in preparation to abandon the ship. By approximately 2:30 AM the RMS Titanic sinks into the North Atlantic, an estimated 1,522 people of the 2,200 passengers and crew aboard perish.
On a lighter note, on August 27th, 1912 Edgar Rice Burrough's publishes the book, "Tarzan of the Apes".
March 1, 1912 Captain Albert Berry made the first successful parachute jump from an aeroplane over Saint Louis, MO.
Mrs. William Howard Taft plants the first cherry tree in Washington, D.C. on March 16th, 1912
On March 23rd, the Dixie Cup was invented.
In 1912, Casimir Funk, a Polish biochemist, then 28, published his discovery of substances in the body which he classified as "vitamines" (vitamins). He proved that some diseases are caused by vitamin deficiency.
Did you know that 1912 was a leap year and a U.S election, as 2012 is also a leap year and election year?
November 5th, 1912 Woodrow Wilson (D) defeated Theodore (Teddy) Roosewvelt (Prog) and President Taft (R). Who will win in the 2012 election...? Only time will tell...
Hopefully you enjoyed the initial 2012 mid-week installment of Fun Facts and Trivial Tidbits.
Until Monday...
For you runners out there, did you know that January 1st, 1912 was the first running of San Francisco's "Bay to Breakers" race?
On January 6th, 1912 New Mexico became the 47th state admitted to the United States.
On February 14th, 1912 Arizona became the 48th state to join the United States.
May 11, 1912 Alaska is organized as a US Territory. By August 24th the Territory of Alaska organizes
It looks like our US Marines were very busy in 1912:
On January 9th, 1912 the US Marines invaded Honduras
May 30, 1912 the US Marines are sent to Nicaragua, on August 14th of this year 2,500 more Marines were added and they stayed until 1925.
June 5, 1912 the US Marines invade Cuba
In January 18th, British Naval Captain and explorer Robert F. Scott and his expedition arrive at the South Pole only to discover hat the Norwegian explorer Roland Amundsen had preceded them by just over a month. By March 30th while storm-bound in a tent near the South Pole, he makes the last entry in his diary, "the end cannot be far". Captain Robert F. Scott and 4 others in his expedition died in Antartica. Captian Scott's body and diary are finally located by November 12th of this year.
April 2nd, 1912 the Titanic undergoes sea trial under it's own power. After successful trials, the Titanic leaves Queesntown, Irland with final passengers and mail, headed for New York. On April 14th, on route from Southampton to New York, "Unsinkable" Titanic strikes an iceberg 453 miles southeast of Newfoundland. Six of the 15 watertight compartments are breached by a 300-foot gash. Just after midnight on April 15th Captain Smith of the Titanic orders lifeboats to be uncovered and for passengers to be assembled in preparation to abandon the ship. By approximately 2:30 AM the RMS Titanic sinks into the North Atlantic, an estimated 1,522 people of the 2,200 passengers and crew aboard perish.
On a lighter note, on August 27th, 1912 Edgar Rice Burrough's publishes the book, "Tarzan of the Apes".
March 1, 1912 Captain Albert Berry made the first successful parachute jump from an aeroplane over Saint Louis, MO.
Mrs. William Howard Taft plants the first cherry tree in Washington, D.C. on March 16th, 1912
On March 23rd, the Dixie Cup was invented.
In 1912, Casimir Funk, a Polish biochemist, then 28, published his discovery of substances in the body which he classified as "vitamines" (vitamins). He proved that some diseases are caused by vitamin deficiency.
Did you know that 1912 was a leap year and a U.S election, as 2012 is also a leap year and election year?
November 5th, 1912 Woodrow Wilson (D) defeated Theodore (Teddy) Roosewvelt (Prog) and President Taft (R). Who will win in the 2012 election...? Only time will tell...
Hopefully you enjoyed the initial 2012 mid-week installment of Fun Facts and Trivial Tidbits.
Until Monday...
Tuesday, January 17, 2012
Being in Balance, or am I?
How many times have you thought that you had your life under control only to discover that you have been juggling one too many balls? Once you drop one of those balls, all the others just come tumbling down. I write these blogs in part to keep everyone looking at the positive side of life. My mother always taught me that if you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all. That is in part why I stopped writing. You all don't need to hear any more of the woes of the world, nor do you need to hear someone else jabber on about how tough life is.
My life got just a tad out of balance and I had a very difficult time getting that balance back. The way I chose to maintain balance, was to take a break from writing. I felt very guilty about not updating you all, but on the other hand, I discovered that I cannot juggle a dozen balls at the same time. I discovered that I had bitten off more tasks than I could chew and was getting so buried in all the things that "needed" to be done, I started burning out.
Along with work, weekend shows, I decided it would be good to get involved and become a foster parent in dog rescues. I had absolutely no idea how much of an emotional toll that took. For those of you who may not really know me, I am always open to helping hurt and abandoned animals. It doesn't really matter which ones, but I always end up getting involved in some kind of animal rescue, be it a baby bird that couldn't fly, a duck that got hurt, a dog that was found wandering along the side of a road, a cat that got hurt. I have always been there to help when I can. So, fostering dogs until they got adopted out seemed a great way for me to help.
Things have somewhat calmed down now, and with luck, I will be back in the blogosphere keeping you entertained, perhaps educated, or just curious. I still plan on blogging Mondays and Wednesdays with additional blogs when I have extra stuff to offer you.
Take care and we shall be talking once again, shortly.
Until Wednesday (i.e. tomorrow...)
Wednesday, September 21, 2011
Fun Facts and Trivial Tidbits - Wednesday Edition
Welcome to the Wednesday Edition of Fun Facts and Trivial Tidbits. As mentioned on the Monday blog, we are mixing things up a bit to see if we can add more spark to your work week. Mondays are usually blue, and we had been striving to make them less so. But Wednesdays have been so very tough lately, so for "Hump-Day" we are going to have some fun so you can get an early jump anticipating the weekend.
Do any of you remember when the earth passed through the tail of Halley's Comet at 9:30 PM GMT February 9, 1986? Did you know that on April 19, 1910 Halley's Comet made it's first appearance since 1759. Many people stayed home with their families expecting Doomsday the moment the earth passed through Halley's Comet's tail. Glad to know we are still doing OK (really???). The next expected appearance of Halley's Comet should be July 28, 2061...some of us may still be hanging around...
In 1910, auto racer Barney Oldfield, 32, set a new speed record at Daytona Beach, FL, traveling a whopping 131.724 mph. I can do that now on my bike on the freeway...(but I didn't....really...don't you believe me???)
Do you know what a spoonerism is? It is switching letters in a sentence... for instance, saying "jag of Flapan" instead of "flag of Japan".
Here are some fun facts regarding the English language - there are only three words in the English language that contain two 'U's' back to back. They are vacuum, residuum and continuum.
The only word in the English language that contains 3 back to back double letter combinations is Bookkeeper....
A novel with 50,000 words, none of which contained the letter 'E' was written by Ernest Wright. I wonder what the title of that tome was?
The letter 'Q' is the only letter in the English alphabet that does not appear in the name of any of the United States.
For you scientists out there - Do you know what the science of Anthroppmetry is? It is the measurement of the human body. This science allowed factory-made ready-to-wear clothing to be bought by people for the first time in the mid-1800's due to the need to mass-produce soldiers uniforms in different sizes for the Civil War in the United States.
How much do you fly? Are you concerned about the safety of flying in an aeroplane? Did you know that Donkeys kill more people annually than plane crashes? So, if you are afraid to fly for fear of being in a plane crash, go ride a donkey. If you survive that, odds are that you will survive a plane flight. (we won't discuss the groping involved with flying now though..)
Keeping along the lines of planes for a moment - a Boeing 747's wingspan is longer than teh Wright brother's first flight. That makes you sit up and think for a moment...
Lastly, for those of you who do minor home repairs, I bet you all have at least one can of WD-40 in your house to quiet those squeaky hinges, or to otherwise help loosen rusted screws. Do you know what the "WD" in the name actually stands for? It is an abbreviation for Water Displacer...
Hopefully you enjoyed your Wednesday Edition of Fun Facts and Trivial Tidbits. Monday will bring a return of some motivational ideas, and perhaps we will throw in an additional article next week, just for the fun of it.
Continue to stay tuned... Until next week...
Do any of you remember when the earth passed through the tail of Halley's Comet at 9:30 PM GMT February 9, 1986? Did you know that on April 19, 1910 Halley's Comet made it's first appearance since 1759. Many people stayed home with their families expecting Doomsday the moment the earth passed through Halley's Comet's tail. Glad to know we are still doing OK (really???). The next expected appearance of Halley's Comet should be July 28, 2061...some of us may still be hanging around...
In 1910, auto racer Barney Oldfield, 32, set a new speed record at Daytona Beach, FL, traveling a whopping 131.724 mph. I can do that now on my bike on the freeway...(but I didn't....really...don't you believe me???)
Do you know what a spoonerism is? It is switching letters in a sentence... for instance, saying "jag of Flapan" instead of "flag of Japan".
Here are some fun facts regarding the English language - there are only three words in the English language that contain two 'U's' back to back. They are vacuum, residuum and continuum.
The only word in the English language that contains 3 back to back double letter combinations is Bookkeeper....
A novel with 50,000 words, none of which contained the letter 'E' was written by Ernest Wright. I wonder what the title of that tome was?
The letter 'Q' is the only letter in the English alphabet that does not appear in the name of any of the United States.
For you scientists out there - Do you know what the science of Anthroppmetry is? It is the measurement of the human body. This science allowed factory-made ready-to-wear clothing to be bought by people for the first time in the mid-1800's due to the need to mass-produce soldiers uniforms in different sizes for the Civil War in the United States.
How much do you fly? Are you concerned about the safety of flying in an aeroplane? Did you know that Donkeys kill more people annually than plane crashes? So, if you are afraid to fly for fear of being in a plane crash, go ride a donkey. If you survive that, odds are that you will survive a plane flight. (we won't discuss the groping involved with flying now though..)
Keeping along the lines of planes for a moment - a Boeing 747's wingspan is longer than teh Wright brother's first flight. That makes you sit up and think for a moment...
Lastly, for those of you who do minor home repairs, I bet you all have at least one can of WD-40 in your house to quiet those squeaky hinges, or to otherwise help loosen rusted screws. Do you know what the "WD" in the name actually stands for? It is an abbreviation for Water Displacer...
Hopefully you enjoyed your Wednesday Edition of Fun Facts and Trivial Tidbits. Monday will bring a return of some motivational ideas, and perhaps we will throw in an additional article next week, just for the fun of it.
Continue to stay tuned... Until next week...
Monday, September 19, 2011
Motivational Monday
Well, this week we are going to mix it up a bit. I have been posting the Fun Facts and Trivial Tidbits on or around the first of the week for quite some time now. I thought I would try Motivational Monday, (versus my Motivational Wednesday - rolls off the tongue easier...) for a week or two and see how it goes. No, Fun Facts is not being preempted, it is just moving to Wednesdays. Please feel free to let me know which you would ultimately prefer, fun on Mondays or motivation on Mondays....
On to the motivation....
Last week we covered more tips on how to either get motivated to accomplish a task or how to stay motivated to keep working towards a goal. This week we are going to continue to explore how to remain motivated as you work towards your goals.
Many of you work for a living, you go to a J.O.B. (Just Over Broke), trade your time for their money, come home and just collapse. Well, doing that day after day, year after year, will seriously wear you out. Do you remember the first day you landed your first job? You were MOTIVATED. You had PLANS. You were GOING PLACES and TAKING NO PRISONERS. Now, most likely, you are just grateful to have a job, but it takes so much out of you that you have no more to give once you get home.
This is where the motivational tips I have been offering come into play. No matter how tired you may be, in order to improve your circumstances or work towards financial freedom, you need to not only define your goals, but really believe in your goals. Defining goals is relatively simple, the critical point it to not only believe in those defined goals, but to EMBRACE those same goals. The goals you define should be what you wake up thinking about and should also be what you think about as you are falling asleep at night.
By embracing these goals, you will discover you are as motivated as you were when you got your first job. But even with clearly defined goals, and you celebrating milestones towards those same goals, you will find over time that your motivation does begin to flag. This does not mean that your goals are no longer worthy. All it means is that you may need to find additional methods of motivation. Every new idea creates excitement, but as you continue to work towards your long-term goals, you will find times where you are still lacking motivation. This is natural and not a bad thing, all you have to do is to devise some additional motivational methods to keep moving through your 'slow' time.
One thing that will help keep your motivation fresh is to be sure that you ALWAYS make time for yourself. If you do not take care of yourself, no matter how supportive your friends and family may be, nobody else will take care of you. Remember to take time out for YOU. Do not lose yourself in your goal, your goal may be a part of you, but you still need to take some time to rest. Your mind and body do need this rest, even if you believe that you have to push through and continue to work. Spend some quiet time each day with yourself. This does not need to be hours at a time, it could only be 15 minutes to an hour, but remember to take time for yourself and keep in touch with who you are and why you are working for these goals. You may not feel like you have to do this daily, and if so, at least make an effort once a week to take time out for you. You don't have to sit in a tub with candles all over, it just means that you should do what YOU want to do for a little period of time. It is amazing how rejuvenating it is to do something that YOU want instead of constantly working to do stuff for everyone else.
After you have rejuvenated, do not forget to spend time with your friends and family. After you have taken care of yourself, you may also find it is easier to help your friends and family with their desires. It is critical to maintain a balance between work, goals, family and friends. Without a good balance, you will lose motivation very quickly. Strive to remember that your friends and family may not always be around for you to spend time with. Hopefully your friends and family are also motivated and excited about the goals that you have set, and perhaps part of spending time with them includes you all working towards the same goal.
Time is that commodity that once spent, cannot be taken back, so spend your time wisely. Avoid those who may 'suck' time away from you, they don't have enough motivation of their own, and would rather use you and your energy to get them motivated. This is personally draining, and you will find yourself losing that motivational drive again. Try to align yourself with other motivated people, because their energy will help keep you going. Then, if they start losing motivation, you are there to help them continue on.
Again, it is always very motivating to see your goals clearly written and posted in a public place. That way, not only you, but your friends and family can continue to see what you are working towards. As your motivation periodically lags, all you need to do is to catch a glimpse of your plans, and you will find that your motivation is rekindled.
These are a few more tips to keep you driving toward your goals. These tips may help keep you motivated even after a 10 hour work day, with dinner yet to be made and kids that still need help with their homework. After getting all that done, you may still be able to keep that tiny little spark of motivation alive so that you can do one more thing that will bring you closer to your goals. You will be amazed about how quickly you can get motivated when you can take tiny little steps toward your goal. By doing just one little task before you call it a day, you can go to bed enthused because you are now one step closer to your goal. It is a wonderful feeling to know that no matter how rough your day may have been, you still took one more step toward your dream. That should always keep your spark of motivation alive.
Hopefully you found some of these tips and suggestions helpful to stay motivated. Perhaps it will allow you to get through this week a little easier too. Have a great Motivational Monday. Wednesday we will pick it up and have some fun with the weekly installment of Fun Facts and Trivial Tidbits.
If you are looking for other income opportunities, please feel free to check out our website for ideas. We are always available for questions and even for bouncing ideas for other ways to find financial freedom.
Until Wednesday...
On to the motivation....
Last week we covered more tips on how to either get motivated to accomplish a task or how to stay motivated to keep working towards a goal. This week we are going to continue to explore how to remain motivated as you work towards your goals.
Many of you work for a living, you go to a J.O.B. (Just Over Broke), trade your time for their money, come home and just collapse. Well, doing that day after day, year after year, will seriously wear you out. Do you remember the first day you landed your first job? You were MOTIVATED. You had PLANS. You were GOING PLACES and TAKING NO PRISONERS. Now, most likely, you are just grateful to have a job, but it takes so much out of you that you have no more to give once you get home.
This is where the motivational tips I have been offering come into play. No matter how tired you may be, in order to improve your circumstances or work towards financial freedom, you need to not only define your goals, but really believe in your goals. Defining goals is relatively simple, the critical point it to not only believe in those defined goals, but to EMBRACE those same goals. The goals you define should be what you wake up thinking about and should also be what you think about as you are falling asleep at night.
By embracing these goals, you will discover you are as motivated as you were when you got your first job. But even with clearly defined goals, and you celebrating milestones towards those same goals, you will find over time that your motivation does begin to flag. This does not mean that your goals are no longer worthy. All it means is that you may need to find additional methods of motivation. Every new idea creates excitement, but as you continue to work towards your long-term goals, you will find times where you are still lacking motivation. This is natural and not a bad thing, all you have to do is to devise some additional motivational methods to keep moving through your 'slow' time.
One thing that will help keep your motivation fresh is to be sure that you ALWAYS make time for yourself. If you do not take care of yourself, no matter how supportive your friends and family may be, nobody else will take care of you. Remember to take time out for YOU. Do not lose yourself in your goal, your goal may be a part of you, but you still need to take some time to rest. Your mind and body do need this rest, even if you believe that you have to push through and continue to work. Spend some quiet time each day with yourself. This does not need to be hours at a time, it could only be 15 minutes to an hour, but remember to take time for yourself and keep in touch with who you are and why you are working for these goals. You may not feel like you have to do this daily, and if so, at least make an effort once a week to take time out for you. You don't have to sit in a tub with candles all over, it just means that you should do what YOU want to do for a little period of time. It is amazing how rejuvenating it is to do something that YOU want instead of constantly working to do stuff for everyone else.
After you have rejuvenated, do not forget to spend time with your friends and family. After you have taken care of yourself, you may also find it is easier to help your friends and family with their desires. It is critical to maintain a balance between work, goals, family and friends. Without a good balance, you will lose motivation very quickly. Strive to remember that your friends and family may not always be around for you to spend time with. Hopefully your friends and family are also motivated and excited about the goals that you have set, and perhaps part of spending time with them includes you all working towards the same goal.
Time is that commodity that once spent, cannot be taken back, so spend your time wisely. Avoid those who may 'suck' time away from you, they don't have enough motivation of their own, and would rather use you and your energy to get them motivated. This is personally draining, and you will find yourself losing that motivational drive again. Try to align yourself with other motivated people, because their energy will help keep you going. Then, if they start losing motivation, you are there to help them continue on.
Again, it is always very motivating to see your goals clearly written and posted in a public place. That way, not only you, but your friends and family can continue to see what you are working towards. As your motivation periodically lags, all you need to do is to catch a glimpse of your plans, and you will find that your motivation is rekindled.
These are a few more tips to keep you driving toward your goals. These tips may help keep you motivated even after a 10 hour work day, with dinner yet to be made and kids that still need help with their homework. After getting all that done, you may still be able to keep that tiny little spark of motivation alive so that you can do one more thing that will bring you closer to your goals. You will be amazed about how quickly you can get motivated when you can take tiny little steps toward your goal. By doing just one little task before you call it a day, you can go to bed enthused because you are now one step closer to your goal. It is a wonderful feeling to know that no matter how rough your day may have been, you still took one more step toward your dream. That should always keep your spark of motivation alive.
Hopefully you found some of these tips and suggestions helpful to stay motivated. Perhaps it will allow you to get through this week a little easier too. Have a great Motivational Monday. Wednesday we will pick it up and have some fun with the weekly installment of Fun Facts and Trivial Tidbits.
If you are looking for other income opportunities, please feel free to check out our website for ideas. We are always available for questions and even for bouncing ideas for other ways to find financial freedom.
Until Wednesday...
Wednesday, September 14, 2011
Fun Facts and Trivial Tidbits - Midweek
Last week we mentioned that September 9th is National Teddy Bear Day. Initially it was a U.S. specific holiday, but is becoming more celebrated by bear lovers around the world. That being said, how many of you know the origins of the name "Teddy Bear"?
The name "Teddy" bear was based on U.S. President Theodore "Teddy" Roosevelt. More interestingly, do you know the story of WHY the bear ended up being named "Teddy"? The name came about after a 1902 hunting expedition. At the time, no game was found, so by the end of the day, someone brought out a baby bear and suggested that Theodore Roosevelt might like to shoot at it instead. Roosevelt (understandably) felt that this was not sporting and refused the offer. This was illustrated in a newspaper cartoon entitled "Drawing the Line". A New York toymaker saw an opportunity and brought out a cute stuffed bear named "Teddy's Bear" and the rest became history.
Now on to some fun statistics - did you know that 81% of people say a "harmless lie" every day?
- Most people lie 3 time in 10 minutes of conversation (makes you really think about what you are talking about...)
- 2% of people think that lying is sometimes necessary (I can see that...)
- 65% of people think that it is often or sometimes OK to lie so as to not hurt someone else's feelings.
- 44% of people think that it is often possible to exaggerate the events of the story to make it more interesting (I know a LOT of people who do that....)
Along the lines of lying, did you know that 35% of the people who use personal ads for dating are already married? YUCH!!!
Did you know that Walt Disney was afraid of mice? Kinda funny, guess he worked this phobia out...
Do you know how they made the sound of E.T. (from the movie E.T. the Extra Terrestrial) walking? It was made by a woman squishing her hands in jelly - makes you want to go out and try that....yeah, right...
Lastly, do you know who the voice of E.T. was? Debra Winger. Never would have guessed that... Now I have to go rent the movie again and take a good hard look and listen...
Hopefully this weekly edition of Fun Facts and Trivial Tidbits was as much for you as it was for me. Have a wonderful rest of the week, and we will chat more on Monday (or perhaps this Friday if I am feeling chatty...
Until later...
Monday, September 12, 2011
Procrastination -
Tonight is more a night for procrastination than for real
work. We finally have another break from painful high temperatures, and
I would rather be enjoying the cool evening air than sitting in front
of the computer finding more obscure facts to entertain. You will get
your Fun Facts and Trivial Tidbits this week...just not
tonight...perhaps...
-
Horses
Tonight I should be helping you all laugh by providing my weekly installment of Fun Facts and Trivial Tidbits. Well, I am not entirely thrilled with that prospect tonight, and have been procrastinating writing this weekly article tonight. Granted, I have loads of silly bits of information to entertain you with, but for some reason, I do not feel that this weekly installment is going to be that much fun, I am not feeling inspiration.
Let's discuss procrastination instead... one of my favorite ways to procrastinate is to decide it is time to organize my desk. My desk periodically looks like a bomb hit it, even though I know exactly (well, almost) where every piece of paper really is. But, when I am not in a very inspired mood to do what I should do, that is the best time for me to straighten my desk.
I guess you could say that my desk usually doesn't look too bad, but if it is consistently neat, then you know I am procrastinating....kind of like tonight...
My next best method of procrastinating is to decide it is time to mend shirts, re-apply buttons, and darn socks...now really, how many people really darn socks anymore...if you are into procrastination...well, count me in...
Lastly my best method of procrastination is to play with all the animals around the house. That includes the two dogs that keep me company, but lately, I have been spending quality time with my neighbor's horses...not for any particular reason except that it has been pretty evenings, and I didn't want to go inside and get any work done...
I know, for those of you who read last week's Motivational blog on Wednesday, I talked about ways to get things done even when you don't want to do it. Well, as you can see, even though I have been procrastinating, I do still get done what needs to be done...just later than usual. Procrastination can be fun, so don't dismiss it out-of-hand.
Think of all the mischief you can get into by procrastinating, especially if others would RATHER you get your chores/tasks done... Procrastination does have it's benefits, heck, my desk does get regularly cleaned, the animals get played with, and over-all, I have fun. After I get the procrastination out of the way, I find I become more motivated to complete the tasks that I had been putting off.
So, the upshot is, some procrastination is good, but too much of it will get you in trouble. Since I don't feel like getting into too much trouble, I better start working on the weekly Fun Facts and Trivial Tidbits segment for either tomorrow or Wednesday. Stay tuned to see which day I end up posting...
Until tomorrow....
Wednesday, September 7, 2011
Another Motivational Wednesday
Today is one of my less than great motivation days, I am tired, even though it is the second day of a 4-day work week, it has been a loooong 2 days. Many of you are probably feeling the same way too. Here are some things that I have done to get motivation back into my day:
Goal setting is very important. If I hadn't told you all that I would be posting a blog tonight, odds are very high that I would NOT have posted anything tonight. I set that goal yesterday because I KNEW I would need the motivation to get this weeks blog done. There are days when writing is easy, the words just flow off my fingertips and onto the page. Then, there are other days, like today, where it feels like you are fighting to put even one word on the page, let alone a cohesive sentence. Knowing that I promised to write and especially publishing the goal made it a lot easier to be motivated to achieve the goal.
Keep your goals simple. This is the next step to remaining motivated to work on your goals. If you have a goal that is virtually impossible to achieve in a day, week, or month, your initial goal is far to complex. That is not to say you need to have simple goals, but what is important is to have relatively easy to achieve small goals that will ultimately bring you to your biggest goal. If you are standing at the bottom of a very large mountain and know that you have to get to the top quickly, it can be very disheartening. A way to achieve your larger goals is to set many smaller, simple goals that will guide you on your way to achieving your main goal. A great quote I have heard several times is: "How do you eat an elephant? ... One bite at a time".
Set a date to complete the simple goals. Set a specific date that you want to achieve these smaller goals. Do not set dates for all your goals, it could very easily demotivate you again. Set one or two dates for one or two of your simple goals, and focus on getting those completed. Once you succeed in completing those goals on time, you could easily become naturally motivated to start completing the other goals. Be sure not to try to complete all your goals at one time, it will not work, and then once you stop, you will not be motivated to start again. How many times have you gone to the gym to work out after a long absence, only to end up doing far too much on your first workout? You may feel OK that first day, but boy, on that second day, you may not want to look at a gym again.
Lastly, celebrate when you do achieve a goal. Get excited about your successes, no matter how small you may think they are. The fact is that you did succeed, celebrate that. Don't focus on the fact that you may not have achieved your whole goal, that will come with time and practice. Start small, celebrate each small step. You celebrate your child's first step, why not celebrate your own personal first step toward your goals. Rewarding yourself can be as simple as lighting a scented candle, taking a bubble bath, or even treating yourself to a cookie, but reward yourself for a job well done. If you don't do it, nobody else will. Don't let others bring you down, surround yourself with positive people and you will find your own attitude will also improve.
If you want to find motivation to achieve something it is critical to define your goals, keep your goals simple, set reasonable dates and then to celebrate each accomplishment. Once you do it, you will be amazed at how easy it is to remain motivated to complete the remainder of your tasks.
The hardest part is getting started. If you are not sure what your goals are, start writing down everything that you may want to do. Then from there focus on one item that really gets you excited. You will find then that setting smaller goals to achieve that one task becomes easier. Heck, your first motivational task might be to list what goals you would like to achieve. Set a date to begin that task, and limit how long you will spend writing down goals. By keeping your time short, you won't be overwhelmed with the task and you may be amazed at how motivated you become after you put just one goal down on a piece of paper.
So, stop reading and start your own motivational practices.
Until next week...
Tuesday, September 6, 2011
Fun facts and trivial tidbits
Did you know the origin of the word "September"? It's root is in the Roman word "septem" which means seven. This came about because in the Roman calendar, September was actually the seventh month of the year, not the ninth month as it is in our Gregorian Calenders. The Anglo Saxons called this month "Gerst monath (Barley month) because this was when they harvested barley.
Another interesting fact about September, is when Britain changed from the Julian Calendar (which is 365.25 days long) to the Gregorian calendar in 1752, we lost 11 days. So, September 3rd immediately became September 14th. Therefore time between September 3, 1752 and September 14, 1752 is the only time in British history where NOTHING happened... Pretty cool information?
Did you know that September 17th is Constitution Day (also Citizenship Day) in the United States of America? The United States Constitution was ratified by the US Constitutional Convention on September 17, 1787 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Now that we have the serious facts covered, let's have some fun with September - did you know that September is National Chicken Month? It is also Cholesterol Awareness Month right here in the good ol' U.S. of A.
The poem, "Mary had a Little Lamb" was published September 1, 1830
September also has a National Teddy Bear Day and a National Play-Doh Day. It seems like September is a great month to play in...
To wander off the subject of September for a moment, the interesting item about National Teddy Bear Day is that the United States has TWO National Teddy Bear Days, one in September and then another one in November. The November event was created by the Vermont Teddy Bear Company in 2000 to celebrate the contribution the teddy bear has made to popular culture....Perhaps in November we will discuss how the Teddy Bear got it's name...
The U.S. Supreme Court was established in September 1789 as was the U.S. Treasury Department.
In Medieval times, September 24th is traditionally the start of harvesting and Michaelmas Day (September 29th) is traditionally the last day of the harvest season.
Hopefully you enjoyed these fun facts and trivial tidbits about the month of September. There are a large number of celebrations and odd events that occur during the month of September. Have fun with them.
Tomorrow being hump day, we will re-introduce our Motivational Wednesday information. This way, you will stay motivated through the day tomorrow and then we can keep you motivated the remainder of the week.
Until tomorrow...
Thursday, September 1, 2011
Labor Day and other interesting things
Well, as you all are probably aware, I messed up on my days at the beginning of this week and I have yet to get re-calibrated. I was going to bring more motivational tips up, but realized that with tomorrow being Friday, you have more than enough motivation to make it the remainder of the week.
That being said, lets have some more fun. Since this upcoming Monday is Labor Day, I thought it might be interesting to cover some more facts about the origins of Labor Day and any other interesting things regarding this holiday.
Labor Day is currently celebrated in the United States as the first Monday in September. It was designed to celebrate the contributions workers have made to the strength, prosperity, and well-being of America.
It was first celebrated on September 5, 1882. On that day, some 10,000 workers assembled in New York City to participate in America's first Labor Day parade. The participants marched from City Hall, past the reviewing stands on Union Square, and then turned uptown to 42nd Street. At the end of the parade, the workers and their families gathered in Wendel's Elm Park for a picnic, concert, and speeches. This first Labor Day celebration was eagerly organized and executed by New York’s Central Labor Union, an umbrella group made up of representatives from many local unions. Debate continues to this day as to who originated the idea of a workers' holiday, but it definitely emerged from the ranks of organized labor at a time when they wanted to demonstrate the strength of their burgeoning movement and inspire improvements in their working conditions.
These celebrations in New York then spread across the country. It was the State of Oregon that became the first state to grant legal status to this holiday. In 1894, Congress passed legislation making Labor Day a national holiday.
Believe it or not, over 100 years after the first Labor Day observance, there is still some doubt as to who first proposed the holiday for workers. Depending on where you research, some records show that Peter J. McGuire, general secretary of the Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners and a co founder of the American Federation of Labor, first suggested a day to honor those "who from rude nature have delved and carved all the grandeur we behold."
But Peter McGuire's place in Labor Day history has not gone unchallenged. Many believe that Matthew Maguire, a machinist, not Peter McGuire, founded the holiday. Recent research seems to support the contention that Matthew Maguire, later the secretary of Local 344 of the International Association of Machinists in Paterson, N.J., proposed the holiday in 1882 while serving as secretary of the Central Labor Union in New York. What is clear is that the Central Labor Union adopted a Labor Day proposal and appointed a committee to plan a demonstration and picnic.
Labor Day has also been unofficially designated the end of summer. In some fashion circles, after Labor Day you can no longer wear white (shoes, purses, clothes) except for weddings.Hopefully you all will partake of this long weekend, the last of the summer holidays and have fun. For many, this weekend represents the last "official" time for backyard barbeque's, summer clothes and the end of summer vacation from school. For others, this holiday could allow them to finish chores that were put off all summer long. For me, it will be a time to relax and enjoy some much-needed time off.
However you spend your Labor Day and weekend prior, have a great time and we will chat again on TUESDAY...yup, Monday is a HOLIDAY. Enjoy
Until Tuesday...
Tuesday, August 30, 2011
Fun Facts and Trivial Tidbits - Late
Sorry guys, I lost track of time, forgot that YESTERDAY was MONDAY, not today. All the same, welcome to your weekly installment of Fun Facts and Trivial Tidbits, even though it is a day late...
Let's get right into the fun... tonight we are going to find fun facts about places around the world:
The smallest "country" in the world to have its own top-level domain name is Norfolk Island, off the coast of Australia.
If you love traveling and monkeys, Gibraltar is the only place in Europe where you can find wild monkeys (we are not looking at elementary schools...)
For those of you who believe that we are Always at war, it is interesting to note that the shortest war ever recorded lasted only 38 minutes (Britain versus Zanzibar, in 1896). Don't know why we can't have short wars like that again...heck, I have have known couples to have arguments longer than 38 minutes...
In 1892, Italy raised the minimum age for marriage for girls to a whopping 12 years old...wow, old maids...
In light of all the news regarding the latest hurricane, did you know that New York City has 570 miles of shoreline? That is one of the reasons why there was such concern about the hurricane hitting New York City straight on.
If you have ever traveled to the Amazon jungle, there are up to 3,000 species of trees that have been cataloged within on square mile. That is a major amount of diversity...
Do you know what the original purpose of the (now) leaning tower of Pisa? It was originally designed as a bell tower. Guess that got thrown out when the tower started leaning....hard to ring a bell that is almost sideways.
Did you know that more Siberian tigers live in zoos than in the wild?
Brazoria County in Southeast Texas is the only county in the United States and Canada to have every kind of poisonous snake found in those two countries.
And lastly, for those of you who HATE snakes and all those cold-blooded critters, the only continent without any reptiles or snakes is Antarctica.
Have a wonderful week. Hopefully you enjoyed this weekly update of Fun Facts and Trivial Tidbits. Until Thursday (since I am off by a day, might as well continue to be off this week...)
Take care...
Wednesday, August 24, 2011
Motivational Wednesdays
HAPPY WEDNESDAY!!!! Bet you thought I wouldn't be here tonight...HA had you fooled didn't I? Since I have been seriously challenged lately, I thought that tonight would provide a great opportunity to talk about some motivational techniques so that you too can possibly get more things done. Welcome to my Motivational Wednesday...
Since Wednesdays are typically the middle of a "standard" work week, many people have also called Wednesday's "hump-days". Wednesdays are a bit tough because you have struggled for two days to get here, but then the good news is that you only have 2 more days to the weekend. Since I personally do have trouble with motivation on Wednesdays (in particular...) I have started once again to pick up some motivational techniques so that I can get through the day and accomplish all the tasks I do have on my list, that I REALLY didn't want to finish. You all know THOSE tasks, the ones that NEED to be done, but you don't want to do them? (that is not to say I don't enjoy writing this Blog, I just noticed that I am seriously lacking in motivation all day on Wednesdays...)
One way to stay motivated is to reduce boredom and to understand what it is you do that may make you particularly bored. Being bored is a great way to lose motivation.... Being bored makes the day appear to go slower, being bored can easily lead to over-eating and being bored can make you grumpy. Identify what makes you bored and strive to eliminate that boredom. The real challenge comes when there is a task or core that you MUST do but it is supremely boring. The key here is to identify that task, and get it done as quickly as possible, because the more you put it off (because it is soooo darned boring) the more you will not get anything else done either. Boredom can really kill any motivation. If you know what your triggers are for boring tasks, find ways to avoid those triggers, even while completing that task. This is not easy by any stretch of the imagination, but once you master it, you can make those boring chores a lot easier to deal with. They may still be boring, but you have learned to cope with that. Personally, I strive to get the really boring tasks done as fast as possible...sort of like taking nasty medicine. Get it done fast and then reward yourself for a job well done....works for me.
Another trick to keep motivation up is to switch tasks so you don't get too bored doing one task. Strive to work on a few small, easy tasks and use them to break up what could be a long, drawn-out and possibly boring task. Pick up those small tasks when you are almost at your wits end when working on that big project. The little tasks completed will provide you a great sense of accomplishment and will help to keep you motivated to finish that large project you were working on. Also, buy taking a break from one project, and completing another, when you return to the original project at hand, you may find solutions that you didn't realized existed. Taking a break provides you with the opportunity to take a fresh look at an old task.
Lastly, to stay motivated and on task, remember to reward yourself for a job well done. You don't need to go to extremes, but if there is something small that you really like doing, reward yourself with whatever that is after you complete a task, even a boring task. By rewarding yourself for a job well done, you create a positive habit that will assist you in staying motivated and completing other projects. You could even look forward to completing tasks so that you can gather your own personal reward. This small reward could be as simple as a small cup of ice cream, or playing a quick game, or even taking a relaxing shower or swim. You can then be motivated to quickly complete your project so that you can reap your reward.
Hopefully some of these tips will help you to stay on task, remain motivated and finish those projects that have been dogging you for the longest time.
If I don't talk to you on Friday, have a great weekend and we will chat again on Monday.
Until then...
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