OK, not much to add today. It was a long one. This morning started out with a cranky review of some software. After that the rest of the day was just recovering from that.

Then after work I had some phone calls to take in the car and then a meeting with some high school buddies about some web endeavors we are trying to start up.

And after getting home around 9pm - I have some things I wanted to start in December. I’m trying to develop some plans and habits for 2012. So the month of December will be a test case. I’m starting a Bible study online. People can follow along as we go if they want through the year. So even though 2012 is a whole month away. I’m trying to set out a line in the sand to make sure that I’m well into the habit by the time the new year comes around.

I was sure I’ve talked about this before - - some things are just worth repeating.

One of the things I’m considering using this blog for is my “Will Do” list. Now why a WillDo and not a ToDo? Maybe you can think of it as a MustDo list. These concepts and lists have different purposes.

For example, in the time management system called “Getting Things Done” (GTD by devoted fans, and the rest of us…) the idea is to put everything on your list to get it out of your head and on to paper. Then you spend your time prioritizing and deciding whether that was hair brained, an errant dream, or a vital task that must be accomplished.

So now the weekend is here. I have family visiting, this is a busy, packed day ahead. All good reasons to take a break - or set a standard for a periodic Sabbatical.

The rules are - there are no rules. Hmm, that seems scary or intimidating to me.

In trying to develop foundational habits, when do you make an exception? I can think of two times. 1) When you must and 2)When you decide it’s OK to.

A few questions for myself. If asked:

Do you pray? Answer: Yes, I pray often. Do you study the Bible? Answer: Yes, yes I do.

Oh, that sounds wonderful. But let’s go a little deeper…

Do you pray and study the Bible consistently??  Oh, well, uh, er.  Easier said than done.

I mean, I go on weekend retreats where I’m expending tons of mental energy.  I have visits with family that make a normal routine impossible.  With meetings and activities that I’ve signed up to participate in, life gets very busy.  And I have a personality that tends to be easily distracted.

This site has been left to it’s own devices since I was in the hospital a year and a half ago. I’m thinking about re-branding this place, adding some curtains and changing the direction.

I need a place on the web to just splatter random thoughts. A public-private partnership (that just sounds so good… I think every endeavor should have a public-private partnership. It just would be so integrated) between hopes and dreams and actions and plans. The name is snappy, the URL is short. It definitely doesn’t roll off the tongue. It’s also not something you could give a shout out to on radio or in a podcast (hint, hint). But that’s not the intention. This is a place that you either “run into” by searching for all kinds of weirdness - or I let it slip to you that it even exists.

Time to try something new. Time to see about making things stick. Time to inaugurate a new ritual. Time to make the power of habits work for me instead of against me. Time to get going. It would seem that 2009 was a bad year for writing to this blog. I stopped at the end of ‘08 and now it’s late February in 2010! I haven’t decided if it matters much that I have older posts on here from my attempts at getting started as an Internet marketer. I think it’s quaint and if you see the history there - then you know I haven’t decided to nuke them. Those old posts will stay for now mainly because I want this site to be a bit messy. I don’t want to get all up tight because it isn’t perfect, because I’m not perfect and I don’t want any of my internally voiced excuses to pull me down. It is what it is and I’m going to make incremental changes and improvements instead of trying to “unveil a masterpiece.” I have created a blogging schedule and we’ll see how it maps out. Basically I’ll be writing something to publish on Thurs - Sun. So Mon - Wed is idea generation time and preparation time. It may be too big of a bite to handle. Maybe I should start small and master just one post a week for a while. Maybe I should get some momentum going. Or maybe it’s just time to take action, to get started, maybe it is time to try something new.
Posted via email from Mykl Kelsey’s posterous

I have been thinking about the idea of daily disciplines for some time. And I’ve even thought up a little handy todo list you can always take with you.  Take the fingers on your hand.  You always have them around as a reminder.  So I thought about using my fingers as a way of reminding myself of things that I really wanted to accomplish each day.  And you can use them as a guide to accomplishing these little tasks that need to be done to push you from the rut you find yourself in, to the path you want to be on.

I’ve been preparing the outline of my book.  I have given myself the deadline of 3/31 to complete it.  As I have been looking at topics I want to include and that I want to exclude, I keep coming back to these small daily disciplines, or habits, or rituals.  They seem to be the key in my thinking.

I was thinking the other day that I would like to be in such a place that no one could ever come to me and ask, “So, Jonah, what’s the word?” (Sorry, an allusion to VeggieTales Jonah…)  In other words, I would like to always be ready to tell something I’ve been learning from God’s word lately.  To do this I must regularly be in the word of God.

I have had two months now…

August was when I pushed everything off my desk and focused on learning about Internet Marketing.  I made it through and learned enough to know that I could turn the rudder of my life and head in that direction, but also that it isn’t quite me.  However, the lessons and friends I picked up are highly valuable.  These are resources for moving forward in my journey.

I just got back from a conference last night.  I’ve been gone for a week.  This is the first time my wife and I have been able to get away, just the two of us, for years - yes, years.  Maybe I’ll talk more about that another time.

Right now I want to say a few things about what I’m facing now.  I have e-mails, voice mails, things on my calendar that I put off until “after the conference,” and all the projects that I need to pick back up.  Where do I start?  This morning I read a chapter in a book about this very idea of focus.

I was in the first grade at Brier Crest Elementary school.  Our school had three stories and the stair wells were in the center of the building with sky lights letting the bright sunshine to diffuse down and reflect off the white tiles.  I was headed back to my class after lunch and from the top floor one of the 6th graders looked down the stairs and saw me.

“Hey kid!” he shouted, “you wanna learn something to make you real smart?”

I am convinced that books are the key to success. They have no power in themselves. Even the great holy books from antiquity are merely ink and paper of some sort. Their power lies in the fact that books are vessels. Vessels of knowledge. Through books we can talk with predecessors long after they’re gone. We can interact and learn from those who would be far too busy to take the time to teach us these same lessons.

What is a disciple?  No, it’s not some one dressed up in a saffron sarong trying to get you to buy a daisy at your local airport.  A disciple is simple a person who chooses to conform to a discipline.  Isn’t that a circular definition?  What’s a discipline then, something a disciple does?  Well yes, but there’s a bigger and better answer to that.

For some time I have been toying with a concept of how to live a life that mattered, hmm you could say a life of significance.  I even tried to set up a web site around the theme.  Something that I discovered was that there are small things you do that make your life very efficient and powerful.