The Intangibles

At times I wonder if I’m after that’s something physically attainable or not. There are moments where everything is clear and it’s just a matter of moving towards it and grabbing it. Other times, it seems to be there, but I have seconds of doubt about the whole thing. That doubt can stop me at my tracks and lose motivation.

Faith says there’s something there even though you may not see it.

Belief says there’s something there regardless of what everyone thinks.

Reason says there’s something there because of your rational thought.

Truth says, there’s something there since a lot of people think that way.

Fact says, it’s there and all evidence points to it.

Opinion says you think something is there.

Doubt says, is it really there? How do you know?

Ideally, if you want to attain something in life, if you have all the facts pointing to it, there’s no reason why you can’t get it. But even facts are hampered by doubt. Doubt clouds the mind and changes reality in a seemingly negative view.

Yet, we need all these things to think objectively. To cancel out any of these trains of thought from the thinking process makes your conclusion incomplete. Some people are so determined to eliminate self-doubt from their lives. But as we are human, it’s necessary. It may even be vital. That doubt could be misunderstood.

It could be your intuition talking.

Things to Consider for Today:

• Late again.
• Is it becoming a habit?
• I’m not exactly feeling doubt.
• A bit of laziness perhaps.
• The fear of thinking as well.
• But when you prime the pump, the water comes out.
• If I can prime the pump once, I can do it again.
• Even though it could be difficult on any given day.
• The fact that I’ve done it before, means I can do it again. 

At the End of the Day

It was a full day: at church, taking the family out to meet Da Missus’ friends’ family for a movie, dinner and getting back home. Joe’s birthday is coming up in a few weeks, so a little celebration was done in his honor.

The day is done, but I have things to write. Even though I’ll timestamp this entry for 7:00pm on a Sunday, I won’t be done until after midnight.

Such is a full and happy day. 

Not knowing Where to go

I honestly have no idea where I’m going to go with Cyper. What I do know is that I won’t reach my destination by standing still, whatever that is. So I write and will continue to write. For all I know, this site could stay the same for a long time which wouldn’t be a bad thing. However, I feel there’s something more to uncover and I can do that by writing continuously.

I Gotta do it

I feel the same with the other things I want to work on. If I want to be a better artist, I must draw every day. If I want to be a better writer, I must write daily. If I want to build an online business, I must study business techniques and build that business each day. If I want to be a better teacher, I must study how to be a better teacher and use them in class.

(A side note: I wrote ’must’ and put it in bold and italics in place of ’should’. The important things in my life must be more assertive or it’s better to not write it at all.)

All the things worth doing must be done as much as possible.

Into the 2nd Week of 2012

I wished I could of slept earlier and I could of if I didn’t write this entry. But I just couldn’t. It wouldn’t feel right. Now I need to feel this way with the other things that are important in my life. Then things will get pretty interesting.

Things to Consider for Today:

• Perfect practice makes perfect.
• Flawed practice makes a flawed performance.
• Later, we call that a “style”.
• (Yeah yeah, I heard that somewhere before. It’s not mine.) 
• No Practice gets you nowhere.
• So stop wishing and practice.
• No one likes to practice.
• Unless you’re crazy.
• But that’s okay.
• The best of the best practices.
• They practice longer than everyone.
• They’re crazy.
• They’re obsessed.
• They don’t know if they’ll get anywhere.
• Because they’re crazy.
• But they are the ones that change our world.
• Still, any practice is better than none.
• And consistent little practice adds up.
• Slowly, at first and then, BOOM!
• While practice is only one factor to success.
• It’s an important one and the hardest one to do. 

Didn’t Expect That

In my earlier post, I had some nice and encouraging comments. Thanks Matt and Jill for caring! I find that they’re all good and giving me fuel to write more about… whatever I’m writing. I hope I’ll get more comments from other people, but for that to happen, I need to be more consistent and thoughtful with my writing. The only way for that to happen is to write a lot and be more objective.

We Never Know What Will Happen

I’ve read in a writing textbook that the title above is terrible and ineffective. Apparently, this kind of title is no good becuase it is a sentence. Morever, it’s not very mysterious and doesn’t encourage the reader to find out more about the article.

Titles can make or break an article. We as readers have only two to three seconds to decide if it’s worth our time to read it or not. Perhaps that’s why there’s not many people reading my blog…. Well, there are other factors to consider when writing articles on the Internet, but a good title is vitally important.

I should take my own advice and re-write the title I wrote for today’s entry….

Anyways, back to reason why I wrote the title in the first place.

On Monday and perhaps a few days more, I’ll see if my other projects will take shape. One of the members of my team is going into make a deal with some people with money. If it turns our alright, we may have the shapings of company. Then, things will get quite interesting. It’s been a long ways coming (since May last year), and waiting a few days more to see if this will move forward isn’t going break anything. I can only hope and pray that the deal will go nicely. That part is out of my hands.

The First Week of 2012 is Nearly Done

And we’re coming to the end of life as we know on this planet…?

I wonder what sort of effect this planet will have when it’s aligned with the other planets in one line. Will the Sun throw up some massive flares that will send our communications back to the Stone Ages? Or worse, destroy the atmosphere and bathe us with whatever rays which will either kill us or… make us into mutants with the ability to fly or lift 100 tons? Or will it be just another day?

There’s no certainty nor answers to this question. Sure the Mayan calendar ended on a specific date (December 22, 2012), but maybe the person who was in charge of the calendar might of suddenly died. I’ve read that the Spanish brought whole kinds of diseases that wiped out a good chunk of the natives in South America and that included the Mayans. Well, I hope someone will explain this to me. Or, I’ll have to read up on Wikipedia and update this entry at a later date.

Things to Consider for Today:

• Consider this.
• You’re made up of skin, bone, tissue and organs.
• Inside all that are cells.
• Inside all that are molecules.
• Inside all that are atoms.
• Inside all that are neutrons, protons and electrons.
• Inside all that is… something…
• Inside all that is… space.
• And that’s nothing.
• This entire universe is made up of space.
• This entire universe is made up of nothing, too.
• That’s a whole bunch of nothing.
• Facebook is nothing.
• Money is nothing.
• Cyper is nothing.
• Life is nothing.
• You are nothing.
• And this nothing feels good.

On My Way

Well, an unexpected phone call comes up after I leave a message. Some potential good news perhaps. I can certainly hope.

However, I have some ill-givings because I remember the good news came with a fortune told recently. I’m afraid the good news may lead to more fortune telling and paying for advice.

Do I believe in fate? There were moments where I may have when I was younger. Whether it was reading a fortune cookie or a horoscope, maybe the good things mentioned in the newspaper or a piece of paper could make my day. These days, there’s nothing to be believed in such things. It’s mere entertainment at best.

That brings me back to the good news I’m going to hear in a few minutes time. I remember being told his good fortune was never told for about 11 months until now. What does it mean? Belief wise, where was God in this? I’m sure a lot of you may say, “Just accept it at face value and be thankful.”

I would if he doesn’t say anything. It’s a kettle of fish I wouldn’t want to eat in the near future.

Life is just slipping Away

It’s funny how a few words mentioned during the day can affect your life. I’ve had that today.

I’m sure when I reflect on the things that happened the past several hours later on, it won’t have the same effect. But, ast is stands, it’s sure affecting me now.

Imagine this: You’re affected by the cold medicine you’ve been taking all day. To stay awake, you’re drinking coffee and keeping yourself active. You have classes to teach and have to be on top of your game and let outside distractions fade from your thoughts. But you have all kinds of discomfort: Your chest feels stuffy. Your throat feels stuck with flem and medicine (???) Your mind feels like you have a bunch of cotton balls were stuck inside. Your right knee occasionally aches while you walk in the cold. You feel bloated, but you haven’t had a bite to eat for like five hours.

That’s the kind of day I had.

I’ve been trying to make all this into something positive, but I’m always hearing things (real or imagined) that are disheartening. Oh what a wretched man I am! 

It’s Still All Good

Still, I have to find the good in this.

After all, to believe what I’m hearing isn’t going to help me in the least bit way. This isn’t going to help my family, friends or the people around me if I’m grumpy for the days to come. The show must go on and I’ll take it with a grin.

Time to get Some Stuff Done

After I finish up with this entry, I have some work to do. My condition is questionable, but I’m not absolutely miserable. I sure do wish some of the discomfort was gone, but I’ll have to make due. It’s time to dry my tears since no one cares for it.

Things to Consider for Today:

• You take your lumps.
• You define your lumps.
• You determine your lumps.
• You conclude they’re not lumps.
• You find gold in the lumps.
• You benefit from the gold in the lumps.
• And you take more lumps.
• You get laughed at.
• You’re called something foolish.
• You’re called an idiot.
• You’re not even looked at.
• You still move on and do what you have to do.
• Because at the end of the day, you matter.
• To who?
• To someone.
• Maybe you can’t see that someone, but believe me they’re there.
• Believe it.
• It may be a “lie”.
• But better to believe a “lie” that’ll make you stronger than a “truth” that can utterly destroy you. 

The Biggest Change

The first thing I’m tackling is my sleeping schedule. The time here is 10:23pm, so I don’t have much time. I hope that I can get to sleep by 11:00pm and wake up at 7:00am. It’s important that I start the day this way to get the things I want to get done. I found that getting eight hours of sleep consistently is a real challenge. Who knows much time and productivity I’ve lost by not sleeping and waking at the same time day in and day out? Well, it’s no use to regret what was done. The only thing to do is learn from it and make sure I get to bed and wake up at the same time from here on.

Spreadsheet Made for Progress

I’ve made my spreadsheet yesterday and printed it out. It shows a list of things I want done which I’ve listed out in a previous entry. I’ve also made a few more spaces if I wanted to add more things to the list and work on them as well. It’s strange, but I’ve never made a list like this before. I think I’ve read about it somewhere, but never implemented it. The first four days are pretty much empty. I hope on the 5th, that’ll be different.

iPhone Entries are a Pain

If you haven’t noticed, the last few entries were much more shorter than usual. That’s because I was on the iPhone typing away. It’s hard to say the least. I think if it were a spur of a moment or inspiration, it’s not going to be used that often. Well, who knows? I’ll keep trying anyways. The last few updates made it a bit easier to use. Maybe if I had an iPad, it would be much more simpler and faster. I certainly can write a lot more on a computer. Again, it’ll come down to sleeping when I’m suppose to sleep. I would like to write my entries in a specific time block.

Things to Consider for Today:

• It’s a work in progress.
• I need to keep adjusting and improving.
• Keep the eye on the prize.
• Review often.
• Find one thing to focus on.
• Work on it relentlessly.
• Keep it simple, even though life isn’t.
• See the progress.
• Make it measurable.
• Show creativity.
• Know that you will fail quite often.
• A baby falls and gets back up to walk again.
• It’s a principle of life and I should do likewise. 

Mindless

Man, I’m totally beat. I don’t think I’ve felt like this for awhile. It didn’t help that I’m sick from a cold.

At times, it was hard to think of an example while teaching a class. I was stuck for words. Fortunately, I was prepared and had enough materials in my head to teach the lesson. I shudder to think if I didn’t prepare properly.

Prepare the Day Before

This is something I’m trying to do before going to bed: Make a plan of what I’m going to do for tomorrow. The problem is it requires me to work at it. It’s a real chore. But these changes have to be for real progress to be made. Tonight, I’ll be making a spreadsheet on the things I want to work on and how much progress I’m making.

Staying on the Task

This may be the hardest thing for me in terms of working on the things that can change my life. I have more urgent matters that get in my way and demand my time. I wish that I can work on the list I made yesterday without any effort, but those things are important not urgent.

They require focus, determination and review. Already, I can feel the list slipping from my mind. If I wasn’t writing today’s entry into Cyper, I may not have anything done.

Actually, I’m already in catch up mode. It’s a matter getting it done when I get home and accept the extra work since they are important to me. When I do get around working on them, it’s time to roll up my sleeves and smile as I work.

There’s no way around it.

Happy New Year!

Well, the new year is upon us and it’s a chance start new (and old) things I meant to get into. I thought of making a list and will stick to this for 2012.

1. Wake up at 7:00am.
2. Read the Bible for 30 minutes.
3. Draw for 30 minutes.
4. Work on 3D for 30 minutes.
5. Work on Internet Marketing for an hour.
6. Read for an hour.
7. Think and plan for 15 minutes.
8. Exercise for 20 minutes 3 times a week.
9. Eat 3 balanced meals consistently.
10. Pray for wisdom in the morning and evening.
11. Write Cyper each day.

I think these will be a handful, but if I can work on these things for 365 days, I could:

1) Finish reading the Bible for the first time.
2) Become more healthier and have more energy.
3) Get more work done.
4) Work and finish some art projects.
5) Build a business that could create passive income to provide for my family.

Well, I’ll be writing more on Monday. The batteries on my iPhone is low. Happy New Year!

Talk About the Hardest Thing to Do

I find this is the most difficult thing to do if you don’t have momentum. To get that mentality, “I’ll get started and work on it” is such a big obstacle.

There are so many things I want to do. But when I have the time to do it, I see this hugh barrier in front of me and the question, “Why? Why get started? Don’t you have better things to do with your life?” Imagine that question just looming over you like giant with a big stick.

A lot of the times, I’ll make the simple excuse, “Hey. I can do this next time right?”

But next time could be never.

Time Loss on Indecision

I must of lost so much time on that simple and bad decision.

I remember my place was building up mold and mildew at the front door due the moisture made from the heat inside and cold temperature outside. It kept growing and growing and I knew I needed to clean it up.

But I didn’t.

Then, the mold just completely wrecked the wallpaper. Soon after, it became a major health issue, so I took the time to rip out the wallpaper so the mold wouldn’t spread. The wall dried and it stopped growing, but the front of the apartment looked awful. I knew I had to repaste new wallpaper at the front. But I told myself, “Hey, I can do this next time?”

Days, weeks, months would pass by. The same mess in the winter was there in the spring, summer and now fall.

Da Missus got totally fed up. She’s been nagging me, yelling at me to fix up the mess. She told me how friends and family coming over would look at the monstrosity and ask when it would be fixed. She would laugh and say nothing, but I knew it was totally bothering her.

After we tackled some tough issues in the house, she had momentum. She simply told me, “Let’s get the wallpaper done today.” And just like that it was done.

For me, I made such a big deal in my mind and couldn’t fathom preparing the materials and putting the wallpaper up on the wall. I thought it would take a massive amount of time and wouldn’t be done in a day.

After getting it done, it did take some time to do. It took about 4 hours to complete, but it wasn’t some unbelievable task that couldn’t be done. In fact, while I was at work, Da Missus went on and put more wallpaper in another area all by herself.

Did I make a mountain out of a molehill? Undoubtedly.

Unfortunately, there are other things in my life right now I’m mentally blocking myself in the worst way possible.

Factors That Prevent Progress

I find the things that blocking me from taking the first steps to action are several:

Distractable Items (computer, TV)

I would place distracting items at the top of the list since they’re so easy to access and use. Flipping channels and surfing the Internet? Boy, do they waste time.

Just Thinking About it

This is just too easy for me. When it comes to thinking, it seems innocent at first, but my mind wanders so easily at the age. I could simply think aimlessly for hours. It’s really strange but true.

Family Life

My life with my family is an accepted part of life. I have to deal with it and it’s important. Since I know these things, I can make my way around it by talking to Da Missus about needing some time each day. She doesn’t mind it and knows there is work to be done.

The Fear of Taking the First Step

I always feel taking the first step is very scary. I think I’m scared of changes, big and small. Even though I know that change is a constant factor of life, if those changes are not visible, I couldn’t care less about them. It’s the changes that I can see and could affect my life that bothers me. Excuses I know, but that’s the only explanation I can give.

Make that decision and Act

I’m not a fan of making decisions. I like a routine and going with the flow. The thing is. at my age and position, I can’t be in the back seat. There are some things where I should be leading the way.

When I drive my car, I have to make decisions, some of them rather quick ones. As a teacher, I have to make decisions on how to teach the lessons to the students. When a student has a question, I have find that answer that would help him understand what’s going on. I know that and used to the environment.

There are unknown factors that happen in driving and teaching. But decisions have to be made or there’s going to be an accident or problem with the class. I can’t stop. I have to keep moving and create a solution on the spot.

So, why is it so hard to do that with other things in my life?

What’s next?

For a change, I’ve presented more problems than solutions. Hey, I don’t have all the answers. If I did, I would be living a much better life right?

Not to say my life is bad. I think it’s quite good and it will become better.

Anyone who is living have problems. To think otherwise, you’re probably dead. Since problems are an inevitable part of life, it’s time to make some solutions and solve them right? I’m going to solve my issues and set a time limit, so I can expect them to be solved.

Maybe the answers will come from within. Maybe it’ll come from family or friends. Maybe it’ll come from walking down the street. The problem and solution are two sides on the same coin.

All I have to do is look for it and act on it. 

Things to Consider for Today:

• There’s a problem.
• There’s a solution.
• How do you find the solution?
• a. Think it out and act.
• b. Or act.
• The first solution may not work.
• Many times it doesn’t work.
• Don’t expect anything unless you have background knowledge of the solution.
• Go with “Building a better mousetrap” train of thought.
• We do this when we’re playing games.
• We do this when we’re solving an interesting problem.
• When you start, you got momentum.
• Priming the pump is hardest part.
• When the water flows, it’s becomes easier.
• The first drawing, writing, speech, lesson is going to be hard and gonna suck.
• So will the next tens, hundreds and thousands.
• It has to be hard, or you’re not going to do your best next time.
• Make sure your mindset is properly set.
• Then you’ll solve everything.
• In time.