OK, here’s something new.  If you know me, you know that I am not a big fan of driving.  For one thing, I consider myself a below average driver, so if a competent driver would volunteer to tote me around I would be overjoyed.

But since that doesn’t seem to be happening any time soon, I try to find things to keep myself awake and engage while driving.  Long drives are a different animal, but the daily commute is a, well, daily challenge.

It seems like one of the biggest excuses, at least in my circles, is being too busy.  Busy or not, we all have the same amount of time in our day.  We get to choose to fill it up with busy activities or to relax, or to just be a bump on a log.  But we choose busy because we think busy gets us where we want to be.  Most of us don’t know where that is.  So as I have heard said before, “I don’t know where I’m headed - but I’m making good time.”

No, this isn’t the beginning of a series on my critical need for some kind of physical fitness routine. This is about conflicting priorities.

I have to write an article for our church’s magazine. The deadline is looming and I have to determine if I should be pumping out words here or there? This goes back to what I just posted the other day. There are times when you make a conscious choice to skip, to take a break, to be inconsistent. As long as you are consistent about your reasoning, right? Am I wrong on this? Make up your own mind.

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.

OK, here we go - or is it here we go again?  I have been simmering on some seemingly random thoughts lately and I’ve wanted to put them down someplace.  This site is dedicated to my silly, undisciplined thoughts and ideas.  So, this may be just the place to go.

I’ve been thinking about where I want to go with my business ideas and how the gap between where I am and where I see myself appears just too far to jump across.  But I read in e-zines and different articles on the Internet that this very gap is not nearly as far as it seems - so take a run at it!  OK, I’m hearing that.  But just like jumping into a pool for those of us with sensitive nerve endings, there is a little bit of courage that must be screwed up first.  To be honest, this journey began for me in December of 1999…  it’s almost 2009!  I mean jump or else head on down the same drudgery road your on!

Notice I didn’t say the crash of 2008, because that’s a different topic. One thing I’ve picked up recently - the way people are acting about this latest crash, tells me very clearly that trickle down economics works. People complain that improvements in the economy cannot come from freeing up those at the top to achieve.

But when times are bad, people sure complain that the pain is coming from those at the top.  The shortages and pain sure trickle down.  So it would seem that the trickle down philosophy does match the reality as people see it.

Today was my 15,000th day since being born.  It’s a great time to ask, “And what have you done with 15,000 chances?”

I have decided that taking action is what needs to be done in the next 15,000 days.  So stay tuned to see just what’s going to happen.  (Sounds mysterious, doesn’t it?)

I read an article this morning about how there are macro (100,000 year, 41,000 year, and 23,000 year) temperature cycles based on our planets orbital irregularities. And that there are also micro (1,500 year) cycles based on variations in the sun’s - a.k.a. the ‘ultimate’ cause of all global warming - cycles of activity.

There was also a little bit about the famous “hockey stick” of a long period of tame temperatures and then a big spike at the end proposed by a Dr. Mann. And how his poor statistical analysis makes even random numbers introduced into his calculations come up with this kind of alarming curve.

I haven’t posted at all through December. But I don’t want the current to slip by without making some mention of where I’m going. My last post mentioned some musings I was having about direction. I’m settling down to something more concrete. For one thing I’ve decided on just one book to work on for starters. Focus… focus. The working title is Set of Sail.

I’m working on consolidating some other goals. I currently have a list of 12 for 2008. I’m trying to decide if I can live with such a deluge or whether I should try for 10, 7, 5, or maybe just 3. You’ll know in just a few days - because I will post back here before the end of the year (this is why I added the Will Do category to this post).

I’ve been putting some time into thinking about setting some goals for next year. I’ve been concentrating pretty hard on my “day job” as we head into testing and prepare for an impending release - ready or not. As an aside, software development schedules are so ridiculous - with all these smart people, you would think that common sense would enter in somewhere.

Anyway, enough about them; let’s talk about me.

These next 3-4 weeks will be pretty stressful for me. I’m in the process of having some software tested and released. Why is this stressful? It’s not complete to my satisfaction!

Here is a thought about projects. I’ve used it in the software arena, but it may be helpful to you in other areas of your life.

There are only three things you can change to get a project completed. You can change the due date and give yourself more time to reach completion (the most sane option in my opinion).You can get help!  Have people join in.  For complicated projects, there will be a ramp up cost.  Don’t forget that.You can sacrifice quality and just “deliver something.“It has been the story of my life that I am rarely brave enough to use #1, I’ve never been wise enough to try #2 (although I’m eying that option very carefully), and I find myself time and again facing #3.

For me, I am a list person.  And I’m not.

I like making lists.  It can actually feel the items dripping out of my brain and onto the list.  I then have space to add new things to my mental memory banks.

But there’s the problem I see in many places.  I don’t have a good name for it though.  Well, when you don’t have a good name for something you give it a little description and call it a “syndrome.”  So this is “I declared it, so it’s done” syndrome.

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?”

Here is some good copy - nothing to sell, but it draws you in.  I used Mike Mindel’s flickr tricks to do this article.  The copy came in junk mail from family - (if it’s from family, can you really call it junk?).  But I pulled the images into flickr and used them for linking…  That and ScribeFire made it pretty easy to pull together.

So does this copy effect you?  For what purpose?  Does it bring with it a call to action?  To have a better day?  To forward it to all your friends and family?  What do you think?  Comment and let me know your thoughts.

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.

Everything that does start has to start some time. And so this is the beginning of a journey. It is my intention that if you come along with me, you’ll learn, grow, and change. It may be together with me, or it may be in opposition to me - but that you aren’t the same for having spent time here with me, that’s my goal.

So let’s see what happens!