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Taking Stock

May 27, 2011 By 4 Comments

I have a routine.

I think we all have a routine to one extent or another.

Things we do.

Just automatically, almost without even thinking about it.

I think that for most of us, whether we even think about it, our routine is important to us.  It is what we do, and the reason why we do it is simply because for one reason or another, at one time or another in our life, the things we do in our routine have become part of our routine because they are things we need, and things that are important to us.  If these things were not important to us, we would not do them every day.  Right?

This morning, I was in the middle of my morning routine:

  1. Get up.
  2. Boot up my computer.
  3. Check my e-mail to see if anything important came in overnight.
  4. Check a series of websites that publish information on topics that I care about.
Taking Stock

Taking Stock

Hold on.

Scratch that #4 above.

As I was checking my “regular websites” this morning, I realized that much of this stuff was not important to me anymore.  Some of the stuff, to be honest, I really don’t care much about anymore.  Why am I spending time checking about stuff that I really don’t care about.

After the realization, I sat there thinking.

What is important to me these days?  I’ve changed a lot, and it is different things that are important to me than what it used to be.  But, what things really are important to me now?

Honestly, I was not sure anymore.  Oh, of course things like my family and friends are important to me.  That’s not what I’m talking about, those things are a given.  I’m talking about my interests, things that I care enough about to spend some time every day keeping up with the topic.  That sort of thing.

Jimmy Buffett

Jimmy Buffett

As I sat there thinking over what is important in my life, the words to a song that I like came to me.  The song is called “Distantly in Love” by Jimmy Buffett.  The first verse of the song seemed to fit my feelings this morning:

Pay phones all were ringing as the crowd went roarin’ by
Lovely dancers swaying to an island lullaby
Beside the southern ocean taking stock of what’s to be
Writing you this letter that you’ll probably never see

It’s the third line that fit my feeling today – “Beside the southern ocean taking stock of what’s to be.”

Yes, I realized that it’s time for me to take stock of my feelings and interests today, and to revise my routine to something more current.

One of the parts of my routine that really is of little interest to me these days, but used to be, is an interest in US Politics.  I used to be a real political junkie.  These days, I don’t even live in the USA any more, so why do I even care?  Fact is, I don’t care too much any more, but I still check the political news religiously every day.  Why?  I need to cut that off, and spend that time on something that is more relevant to my life that I am living today.  I need to take stock of what’s to be in my life, and modify my routine to fit what I discover when I take stock.

The fact is, as I think this over, we all need to take stock from time to time and unclutter our lives of things that really don’t mean much to us any longer.

Just like what Jimmy Buffett says in the song… I want to go sit next to the southern ocean and take stock of what’s to be.  I think I’ll do it today.

What about you?

Filed Under: Being Smart, Feature, Good Habits Tagged With: , , ,

Are you complacent?

April 13, 2011 By 4 Comments

Are you complacent?  Have you ever been complacent?  I have, and sometimes I still am.  I try to avoid it, though.

What is complacency?  Well, it is when you become satisfied with something.  You get satisfied, you are no longer critical, you just accept it as it is and really do nothing to improve on it any longer.  It’s not a good habit.

Generally, I find that when you get complacent with something, that things starts to slide.  Why?  Because you are no longer giving it your attention and improving on it.  Even though it may well have been great at the time you became complacent, it will inevitably begin to go downhill when you no longer strive to improve it.  There is not much choice in the matter, that’s just how it is.

Complacency will lead in only one direction

Complacency will lead in only one direction

Ever heard the saying that if something is not improving, it’s getting worse?  I have heard people say that kind of thing before, and it’s really true in many instances.  If you are not complacent, you are paying attention to what is going on.  You are striving for improvements.  You are working, or at least thinking about the project at hand, and that work helps improve the project.  Once you accept the project and become complacent, you stop working for improvement.  As time goes by, you not only stop trying to improve in it, but generally you will also tend to ignore it, and the lack of attention can accomplish only one thing really… the project slides in importance, and also slides in it’s quality.

I have been Complacent

I have been Complacent

I have had this problem with some projects in the past.  One in particular that comes to mind was a business that I still own.  The business was really a big money earner.  It had lots of customers, and it was an innovator compared to it’s competitors.  But, because it was flying so high, I got complacent and gave the business less of my personal attention.  No problem for a few years, the company kept doing well just through it’s own inertia.  But, after a few years, things started to slide.  At first, you don’t get concerned, you just figure that it’s an anomaly.  Things will get better next month.  Seven or eight months down the line, though, when things continue to slide, you know something is wrong.  A bit longer and you realize that you’ve been complacent, and it cost you dearly.

Projects, businesses or whatever it is that you have become complacent about can be recovered, if you don’t let them slip too far.  If you let them go for too long, though, and the slide proceeds too far, it will be difficult to recover, and take a long time and a lot of effort.

Perhaps my best advice to avoid complacency might sound a bit strange.  What I would say is that you should step back from the project more often.  But, for a short period of time.  Don’t just let the project go, but strategically step back to refresh your mind.  After being away from the project for a few weeks, when you return again you’ll have a fresh perspective, a new way to look at things.  You’ll see things differently than you did before, when you were deep in the project.  Stepping back for a refresher will allow you to refresh, see things differently, and innovate in ways that you couldn’t before, because you were too close to the project.

So, don’t get complacent.  But, do step back for a refresher.  That will help you sustain your interest, and do it through a new view.

Filed Under: Being Smart, Feature, Good Habits Tagged With: ,

A very bad habit

June 21, 2010 By 2 Comments

This site is about habits for smart people.  I do consider myself smart, and other people tell me I am smart.

Smart people can have good habits, and we should strive to keep doing these good things.  We can also have bad habits, and we should work to try to overcome our bad habits.

One bad habit is setting up a website, having good ideas on how to populate that site with informative and entertaining content, and then dropping the ball.  That is what I’ve done on this site.  I got it started, and wrote some articles, interesting ones, I hope.  But, I dropped the ball.  I stopped posting new content here.  That is something that is a bad habit, and I want to address that.

Gotta get back to the keyboard!

Gotta get back to the keyboard!

There are multiple ways to address something that has become a bad habit.  In this case, the bad habit of ignoring this site.  I can see two ways of addressing this bad habit.

  1. I can simply shut down the site and move on with something else.  By doing this, I no longer need to worry myself about needing to write articles to put here.
  2. I can push myself to change this habit, turn it around, and start posting new content here.

I choose to do #2.  I am planning to redouble my efforts and start posting content here for those who read the site to enjoy.  Frankly, I am lucky if I still have readers here, because I have ignored the site, and most readers have probably already given up on finding interesting content here.  However, there are things I can do to win readers back, and to start building up new readers here.  I intend to do those things.

Bob MartinIt takes time to build an audience, no doubt about that.  For those who are brand new at blogging, it can take a very long time.  Even if you have great content, great insight and such, it just takes time for people to find you.  In my case, it is easier to gain a loyal following of leaders, because I already have other popular sites.  By promoting this site to my already loyal readers on other sites, I can build up a following here more quickly than somebody who is just getting started.  However, the downside is that if you go to the well too often, and then you don’t delivery, well, you risk the chance of losing followers, or if they continue following you on other sites, they just won’t follow you on new sites, because they feel that you lack the commitment to keep it going.

I want to turn that around.  I want to develop a new good habit of delivering good relevant content here.

Check back and see how I do.  It is my current plan to start adding a couple of new articles here every week.  Hope to see you again!

Filed Under: Bad Habits, Feature Tagged With: ,

Are you feeling comfortable?

November 23, 2009 By Leave a Comment

Are you feeling comfortable?  Relaxing?  Vegging out?  It’s a nice feeling, don’t you think?  Just having the luxury of being able to spend a few hours or a day or two doing nothing.  Letting your thoughts drift wherever they may go.  It’s liberating, a true breath of pure freedom.

It’s a bad habit.

Taking a little time to feel comfortable and relish in your accomplishments is a good thing.  But, if you do it too much, it is not a good habit.  Feeling comfortable means that you are not growing, you are not challenging yourself.  You are not expanding your horizons.

 

Are you feeling comfortable, or are you floating in dangerous waters?

Are you feeling comfortable, or are you floating in dangerous waters?

Ever heard the saying, “No pain, no gain?”  It doesn’t only apply to exercise, and the “pain” is not only physical pain.  Feeling uncomfortable can be painful, but going to places (emotionally, or physically) helps you expand your horizons, makes you expand the number of situations that you feel comfortable in, and is generally a good thing for your personal development.

comfy_chairHow about “thinking outside the box,” have you ever heard of that before?  Most of us have.  But, have you ever stopped to think about what it means?  Your “box” consists of the situations that you are comfortable with.  The things you know about.  Sitting inside your box and looking out allows you to see other areas that are new to you, new situations that are different from what you have experienced.  Now that you are looking over the edge of your box and seeing new worlds on the horizon it is your choice, do you jump out of your box and go explore?  It might, probably will be uncomfortable, because you can’t be certain what to expect.  But, if you don’t experience the discomfort of making that jump, you will never know for sure what awaits you.  If you stay inside your box, you will never know what was waiting for you on the horizon.  If you are a smart person, you will never be satisfied not knowing, you will always long for the knowledge that only can be gained by experiencing some discomfort.

Every time that you move into an area where you are even a little bit uncomfortable, you are growing.  The first time that we do anything it is a somewhat uncomfortable experience, because we are venturing into the unknown.  As we continue to do this new thing over and over again, we get comfortable with it, and we know what to expect in terms of outcome.  If we continue only doing the things that we have done before, there is no personal growth there.  So, if we are smart, we will venture out and do things that are new for us, and keep growing.

So, I probably overstated the fact at the beginning of this article.  Being comfortable is not necessarily a bad habit.  We should take the time to enjoy the rewards of our lives, no doubt.  Spending time relaxing and being comfortable for a while is a chance to reap what we have sown.  The habit that is a bad habit, though, is always being comfortable, and not moving beyond the sides of our box.  Staying in the box is a waste of our intelligence and initiative.  Staying comfortable is something you want to avoid at all costs.

Do you think that it’s possible that you will ever get to the point where you are comfortable with being uncomfortable?  Thank about that!

Filed Under: Bad Habits, Feature Tagged With: ,