I don't really want to do do the math to see how much I've spent on this website over the years that I've had it up and not really done anything with it. When I first registered the domain I had ideas on what I wanted to do with it but never really had the time or motivation to really finish any of the websites I started or bought the domains for over the years. I've been tempted more than a few times to just let this go, too. Delete the blogs and let at least the .net domain go. When I started writing on the internet a long time ago, blogs were interesting to me but I never fully committed to doing it and they've LONG since lost popularity to numerious other social media platforms that had their "15 minutes" and then ultimately fell out of favor. I never really got into most of the social media sites post MySpace and livejournal. I don't have Twitter/X, TikTok, etc and don't care to. I've started typing posts numerous times here since the last time I've actually posted something but I get sidetracked and when I come back to it I realize that it doesn't matter, nobody is going to read it and once I've typed part of it out I stopped caring about it. So, I delete the partial post and forget about this blog for months, years... and then do it again.
I have themes that I keep coming back to. They're the tags that are on the posts here. I get in cyclic moods where I want to sell and donate all my stuff and just go somewhere else. I want to live in a tiny house in the woods. I want to get in better shape and ride my bike more. I want to read more. Do more artistic things. Spend more time with my family and friends. Go see some live bands. Get another project car and spend time working on it. One thing that's rarely on my list is post on my blog, build a new website or app or do anything with technology.
I get wrapped up in the day-to-day. Work, chores, errands and the little time I feel like I have I'm vegged out in front of the TV with some dumb YouTube video playing. Then I cycle again, start to type another post about how I'm not motivated to do anything, never finish it and then delete it.
I'm actually going to click the publish button on this one.
Showing posts with label motivation. Show all posts
Showing posts with label motivation. Show all posts
Monday, October 9, 2023
Tuesday, March 15, 2016
Have I made any progress?
Just over a year ago I posted a plan for the rebirth of my blog. It's time to see how I'm doing.
Since I made that post, I've only posted 4 blog entries. One was about someone (accidentally?) using my email address to sign up for accounts. Two were observations about behavior of coworkers. The last was about "corporate personhood" and the relentless pursuit of profit. I didn't post about any of the things I was planning on working on and writing about over the past year.
So, here's an accountability-type update, as brutal as it's going to be for me. These were the things that I had planned on working on and writing about:
I didn't make much of an effort to do too much with the food related topics. We did buy a little bit more fruit and vegetables and tried to work them into meals a little bit more. We ate a little bit less fast food but a little bit more prepackaged, frozen meals.
I went for a few walks, mostly on my days off, but that was about it for additional physical activity.
Reducing stress, worrying less: Not really.
Family and friends: Probably worse than before. I live close to my family (after being an hour away for a couple years) but really only see them on holidays and special occasions. I spend most of my time doing the things I was trying to do less of (TV and internet browsing).
Simplifying and decluttering is one of the areas that I've made some progress. After our last move, where most of our stuff was in storage for 2 years, we moved it into our new apartment where it continued to stay boxed up in our office and craft rooms. Much of it had never been unboxed in probably 3 1/2 years. So we started going through it and weeding out much of it for donations. We have made a few trips to Salvation Army to donate stuff already and have another small pile ready to go. A lot of the challenge here is the sentimentality of objects we've had for a long time, but don't really have any use for. I've been trying to periodically and repeatedly go through things like this and find more and more I'm willing to let go with each pass. I don't really want to move it again and have to find new places to store things that aren't useful.
Learning new things: I've worked a little bit on brushing up on some programming skills and started learning about some new programming languages, but at work I've been pushed more in the direction of business analysis instead of coding, so I'm also picking up a bit of project management and business analyst skills.
I haven't done too much with creative and artistic pursuits. I haven't spent much time on photography, painting or writing. I haven't picked up any new hobbies. As far as old hobbies go, I have spent a little bit of time working on computers (doing upgrades) and have spent a little time playing some computer games (Minecraft, Farming Simulator 2015, Forza 6, Fallout 4) and done a little bit of website work for my dad's business. I haven't spent any time working on cars or anything really mechanical. I read a couple books, but not too much more or less than usual.
I haven't decreased my TV or internet browsing time much, but that is one of the things that I really want to focus on this year now that the weather is getting a little warmer here in the Northeast. Making an effort to get outside will help keep from sitting in front of various screens for the majority of my life.
My realistic plans for the future are to actually try to eat a little bit more healthy. I plan to also get outdoors much more often to walk, run, ride my bike and do some easy hikes. I really want to make an effort to be more social, to see friends I haven't seen in a long time and be with my family. I want to continue to work on simplifying and decluttering to make it easier to move, should I choose to do so... which leads into my biggest thing to consider: moving.
Our current lease is up at the end of the summer and we don't want to renew. Work has been less engaging, more stressful and less rewarding. I'm getting tired of the area I've lived in for most of my life. I don't know where I would go if I didn't stay here, though...
Since I made that post, I've only posted 4 blog entries. One was about someone (accidentally?) using my email address to sign up for accounts. Two were observations about behavior of coworkers. The last was about "corporate personhood" and the relentless pursuit of profit. I didn't post about any of the things I was planning on working on and writing about over the past year.
So, here's an accountability-type update, as brutal as it's going to be for me. These were the things that I had planned on working on and writing about:
- eating more healthy / in-season / local food
- cooking at home more
- eating less prepared / fast food
- incorporating more enjoyable physical activity into my life
- finding ways to reduce stress
- worrying less
- meeting new people
- spending more time with family and friends
- keeping in touch with non-local friends
- simplifying and decluttering
- learning new things
- attempting to work on more creative / artistic things
- sharing thoughts and ideas
- starting new hobbies and revisiting old ones
- reading more books
- spending less time in front of TV
- spending less time aimlessly browsing on the internet
I didn't make much of an effort to do too much with the food related topics. We did buy a little bit more fruit and vegetables and tried to work them into meals a little bit more. We ate a little bit less fast food but a little bit more prepackaged, frozen meals.
I went for a few walks, mostly on my days off, but that was about it for additional physical activity.
Reducing stress, worrying less: Not really.
Family and friends: Probably worse than before. I live close to my family (after being an hour away for a couple years) but really only see them on holidays and special occasions. I spend most of my time doing the things I was trying to do less of (TV and internet browsing).
Simplifying and decluttering is one of the areas that I've made some progress. After our last move, where most of our stuff was in storage for 2 years, we moved it into our new apartment where it continued to stay boxed up in our office and craft rooms. Much of it had never been unboxed in probably 3 1/2 years. So we started going through it and weeding out much of it for donations. We have made a few trips to Salvation Army to donate stuff already and have another small pile ready to go. A lot of the challenge here is the sentimentality of objects we've had for a long time, but don't really have any use for. I've been trying to periodically and repeatedly go through things like this and find more and more I'm willing to let go with each pass. I don't really want to move it again and have to find new places to store things that aren't useful.
Learning new things: I've worked a little bit on brushing up on some programming skills and started learning about some new programming languages, but at work I've been pushed more in the direction of business analysis instead of coding, so I'm also picking up a bit of project management and business analyst skills.
I haven't done too much with creative and artistic pursuits. I haven't spent much time on photography, painting or writing. I haven't picked up any new hobbies. As far as old hobbies go, I have spent a little bit of time working on computers (doing upgrades) and have spent a little time playing some computer games (Minecraft, Farming Simulator 2015, Forza 6, Fallout 4) and done a little bit of website work for my dad's business. I haven't spent any time working on cars or anything really mechanical. I read a couple books, but not too much more or less than usual.
I haven't decreased my TV or internet browsing time much, but that is one of the things that I really want to focus on this year now that the weather is getting a little warmer here in the Northeast. Making an effort to get outside will help keep from sitting in front of various screens for the majority of my life.
My realistic plans for the future are to actually try to eat a little bit more healthy. I plan to also get outdoors much more often to walk, run, ride my bike and do some easy hikes. I really want to make an effort to be more social, to see friends I haven't seen in a long time and be with my family. I want to continue to work on simplifying and decluttering to make it easier to move, should I choose to do so... which leads into my biggest thing to consider: moving.
Our current lease is up at the end of the summer and we don't want to renew. Work has been less engaging, more stressful and less rewarding. I'm getting tired of the area I've lived in for most of my life. I don't know where I would go if I didn't stay here, though...
Labels:
goals
,
motivation
,
personal-objective
,
simplification
,
stress
,
thoughts
,
work
Tuesday, December 15, 2015
Corporate profit before all else.
Certainly there will come a time when the "corporate profit before all else" mentality has to come to an end. The questions are: When and how are we going to get there?
As a younger, more idealistic version of myself, I used to think that I had a strong dislike for "corporate America" but didn't completely know what that meant. Now that I'm a little bit older, I realize that I still don't know what it means.
I remember standing in a corporate bookstore flipping through a copy of Adbusters magazine, but (of course) not buying it. (Aside: How can you justify buying something with the whole profit model based off of convincing you not to buy something else? Wait, isn't that how a large portion of our consumer culture works? "You'll certainly be happier if you buy this brand of dishwashing liquid instead of that cheap ass one that's sure to leave your dishes dirty and make you the laughing stock of the whole neighborhood!!!") I'm sure I stood there for a few minutes in my [brand name] sneakers also flipping through a stack of magazines about mountain bikes, cars, running and whatever else I was interested in at the time thinking about "culture jamming" and the destruction that corporations were causing the world.
I remember eventually coming to the conclusion that it's hard to walk the line between feeling like a socially conscious, responsible person and a complete hypocrite... and the days I feel like I'm more on the former side, it's just complete and total ignorance.
The fact is that it's close to impossible to opt out of the "system" and still survive. Even if you pick an area of focus and do something that you think is a better, more responsible choice like buying "organic" foods at the supermarket from smaller companies, chances are good those brands are now owned by giant corporate conglomerates that have snatched them up for the brand name and the increased profit that comes with them.
In this example, larger companies snatch up smaller companies with good ideas / market share / turf that they desire and then slowly kill them off internally, fold them into their massive corporate structure and then "downsize" or just grab the brand and/or patents and sit on them. There are hundreds of things that are done purely in the name of profit that are much more questionable or unethical than buying up your competition, but I don't want to turn this into a massive list / rant.
Now usually when people become outraged by something they clamor for "increased regulations" but that usually just makes things worse. Tying shit up in bureaucracy for years and trusting someone that somewhere up to half of the population didn't vote for based on the side they label themselves as or even just how familiar their name is. Then these "representatives" hopefully ignore their convictions, biases and contributors and do the right thing for the country and the majority of the people. Yeah. That sounds like *exactly* what happens. (/sarcasm.)
There have been some headlines in the past few years about "corporate personhood" here in the United States (in light of a recent Supreme Court decision regarding Hobby Lobby, contraception coverage by insurance and religious convictions) and how it's probably time that it's ended. Many of the comments about these type of articles tend to lead to the conclusion that if a corporation was actually a person it would be a heavy-handed, greedy, money-driven psychopath with no empathy, sympathy or conscience.
That's the whole game, though. If (corporate) profit drives all available choices, and every one of those choices is a bad choice for someone or something else, why not just pick the best choice for you and get on with your day? Why care at all?
Acknowledging this isn't me giving up. This is me realizing that just saying you don't like something isn't going to change it. It's time to break free of conspicuous consumption and unchecked corporate profit and power.
We need to find better ways of defining what it is that makes us happy and better ways to get there if we want to have any sort of a future.
As a younger, more idealistic version of myself, I used to think that I had a strong dislike for "corporate America" but didn't completely know what that meant. Now that I'm a little bit older, I realize that I still don't know what it means.
I remember standing in a corporate bookstore flipping through a copy of Adbusters magazine, but (of course) not buying it. (Aside: How can you justify buying something with the whole profit model based off of convincing you not to buy something else? Wait, isn't that how a large portion of our consumer culture works? "You'll certainly be happier if you buy this brand of dishwashing liquid instead of that cheap ass one that's sure to leave your dishes dirty and make you the laughing stock of the whole neighborhood!!!") I'm sure I stood there for a few minutes in my [brand name] sneakers also flipping through a stack of magazines about mountain bikes, cars, running and whatever else I was interested in at the time thinking about "culture jamming" and the destruction that corporations were causing the world.
I remember eventually coming to the conclusion that it's hard to walk the line between feeling like a socially conscious, responsible person and a complete hypocrite... and the days I feel like I'm more on the former side, it's just complete and total ignorance.
The fact is that it's close to impossible to opt out of the "system" and still survive. Even if you pick an area of focus and do something that you think is a better, more responsible choice like buying "organic" foods at the supermarket from smaller companies, chances are good those brands are now owned by giant corporate conglomerates that have snatched them up for the brand name and the increased profit that comes with them.
In this example, larger companies snatch up smaller companies with good ideas / market share / turf that they desire and then slowly kill them off internally, fold them into their massive corporate structure and then "downsize" or just grab the brand and/or patents and sit on them. There are hundreds of things that are done purely in the name of profit that are much more questionable or unethical than buying up your competition, but I don't want to turn this into a massive list / rant.
Now usually when people become outraged by something they clamor for "increased regulations" but that usually just makes things worse. Tying shit up in bureaucracy for years and trusting someone that somewhere up to half of the population didn't vote for based on the side they label themselves as or even just how familiar their name is. Then these "representatives" hopefully ignore their convictions, biases and contributors and do the right thing for the country and the majority of the people. Yeah. That sounds like *exactly* what happens. (/sarcasm.)
There have been some headlines in the past few years about "corporate personhood" here in the United States (in light of a recent Supreme Court decision regarding Hobby Lobby, contraception coverage by insurance and religious convictions) and how it's probably time that it's ended. Many of the comments about these type of articles tend to lead to the conclusion that if a corporation was actually a person it would be a heavy-handed, greedy, money-driven psychopath with no empathy, sympathy or conscience.
That's the whole game, though. If (corporate) profit drives all available choices, and every one of those choices is a bad choice for someone or something else, why not just pick the best choice for you and get on with your day? Why care at all?
Acknowledging this isn't me giving up. This is me realizing that just saying you don't like something isn't going to change it. It's time to break free of conspicuous consumption and unchecked corporate profit and power.
We need to find better ways of defining what it is that makes us happy and better ways to get there if we want to have any sort of a future.
- We need to figure out how to destroy the notion of corporate personhood.
- We need to take away incentives to destroy everything (the environment, people's rights and freedoms, etc.) in the ruthless pursuit of profit.
- We need to tweak the legal system to end frivolous lawsuits.
- We need to stop funding government organizations that don't have the best interests of the people they serve as their only reasons for existence.
- Stop coveting other people's stuff.
- Pick some concerns that you're passionate about to focus on (environment, local business, etc.) and try to work them into all purchasing decisions.
- Take a few extra minutes to consider whether you really need something when making purchasing decisions.
- Try to buy secondhand goods, when possible.
- Donate or sell things that you've accumulated that someone might make better use of.
- Look for more durable, locally made products as an alternative to the mass-produced junk at the local big-box store.
- Services aren't exempt, either. Find a local Credit Union to do your banking. Skip chain restaurants, haircuts, stores...
Labels:
advertising
,
cynicism
,
economics
,
environment
,
goals
,
motivation
,
politics
,
simplification
,
thoughts
Friday, January 2, 2015
Rebirth
The idea of a new year being a chance for resolutions or a new start hasn't been something that I've found myself believing in. However, this past year, I've been feeling more and more like it's time to start doing things a little differently.
I don't want to say that I've been "in a rut" but it definitely feels like it's time to shake things up and see how they settle out.
One of the things I've been thinking about for awhile is a rebirth of this blog. When I registered the domain name and started posting, I had some ideas as to what I wanted it to end up being about but, as with most of the things I start on the internet, I always seem to end up holding back because I know that people in my "real life" (family, friends, employers and such) have seen or may possibly end up finding things I've put up. I still struggle with the issue of keeping my private ideas private and separate from my professional life and I'm sure that I'll always have that struggle. So, I'll take this opportunity to issue a disclaimer that anything here is solely my own opinion. However, there have been things that I've been thinking and would love to put them somewhere. Why not here?
So, as a new start to this blog, here is a list of topics I was planning on working on in my personal life, as well as writing about on my recently retired "motivation" blog:
I don't want to say that I've been "in a rut" but it definitely feels like it's time to shake things up and see how they settle out.
One of the things I've been thinking about for awhile is a rebirth of this blog. When I registered the domain name and started posting, I had some ideas as to what I wanted it to end up being about but, as with most of the things I start on the internet, I always seem to end up holding back because I know that people in my "real life" (family, friends, employers and such) have seen or may possibly end up finding things I've put up. I still struggle with the issue of keeping my private ideas private and separate from my professional life and I'm sure that I'll always have that struggle. So, I'll take this opportunity to issue a disclaimer that anything here is solely my own opinion. However, there have been things that I've been thinking and would love to put them somewhere. Why not here?
So, as a new start to this blog, here is a list of topics I was planning on working on in my personal life, as well as writing about on my recently retired "motivation" blog:
- eating more healthy / in-season / local food
- cooking at home more
- eating less prepared / fast food
- incorporating more enjoyable physical activity into my life
- finding ways to reduce stress
- worrying less
- meeting new people
- spending more time with family and friends
- keeping in touch with non-local friends
- simplifying and decluttering
- learning new things
- attempting to work on more creative / artistic things
- sharing thoughts and ideas
- starting new hobbies and revisiting old ones
- reading more books
- spending less time in front of TV
- spending less time aimlessly browsing on the internet
Labels:
art
,
bikes
,
books
,
creativity
,
cynicism
,
friends
,
goals
,
health
,
life
,
motivation
,
movies
,
music
,
personal-objective
,
stress
,
thoughts
Death of another motivation blog
A few years ago I started up another blog which was intended to help motivate myself to exercise, eat better and get in better shape. I intended to put stuff out on the internet for everyone to see to make it feel more permanent in an attempt to hold myself accountable for my choices and decisions. However, I was faced with the struggle of wanting to keep my private information and thoughts, well... private.
In the end, I doubt anyone looked at the blog. It was too targeted to my personal workout progress, which was minimal in scope and frequency and posts were few and far between and lacking in content. I stopped being interested in walking the fine line between private and public. I stopped exercising again out of boredom and excuse making and ended up deleting the blog and selectively rolling a few of the posts into my main blog, the one you're reading right now.
Flash forward to the summer of 2014. I had another wave of motivation and started up another version of my old workout blog. It was (again) going to be a place for me to share my struggles and triumphs mostly about eating, exercise and possibly other things related to my challenges with motivation. In what's now feeling like a pattern, I allowed my lack of motivation for personal projects get in the way of doing anything with the blog and decided to pull the plug on that one, also. Today, I moved a few posts from July of 2014 to this site and deleted it.
These are the posts that will now live here:
In the end, I doubt anyone looked at the blog. It was too targeted to my personal workout progress, which was minimal in scope and frequency and posts were few and far between and lacking in content. I stopped being interested in walking the fine line between private and public. I stopped exercising again out of boredom and excuse making and ended up deleting the blog and selectively rolling a few of the posts into my main blog, the one you're reading right now.
Flash forward to the summer of 2014. I had another wave of motivation and started up another version of my old workout blog. It was (again) going to be a place for me to share my struggles and triumphs mostly about eating, exercise and possibly other things related to my challenges with motivation. In what's now feeling like a pattern, I allowed my lack of motivation for personal projects get in the way of doing anything with the blog and decided to pull the plug on that one, also. Today, I moved a few posts from July of 2014 to this site and deleted it.
These are the posts that will now live here:
Labels:
goals
,
health
,
life
,
motivation
,
personal-objective
,
product-review
,
sports-exercise
,
stress
,
thoughts
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