Excuse me while I lower my standards.
It’s not about slacking or writing sub-par posts.
Procrastination experiment
It’s an experiment to counteract perfectionism and overcome procrastination to help me (and you) get over myself/yourself and the roadblocks in our lives.
The hurdles standing between us and our life’s visions can be built up into defining characteristics we have about ourselves that seem fixed, but I’ve seen and experienced enough change in my life to know that’s not the case and they’re dynamic and changeable (we may just be a little stuck and in need of a helping hand, sometimes it’s the hand of others and other times it’s our own hands doing the helping).
For me, it’s been an ongoing struggle to regularly share my words and ideas publicly (I won’t be publicly sharing my blogs and websites—past and present—that have stalled, but the sleuths can try to figure it out).
More specifically my current hurdle is posting more frequently on this blog (it’s a conundrum since I’m a private person that wants to share things here). It’s a good indicator of what’s needed for growth if it makes you feel a little anxious and like you’re out on a ledge.
What’s been your hurdle?
What have you been wanting to overcome or improve? Do you think a 30-day challenge starting today (or at a specific date/time in the next few days) would help you achieve your next milestone?
If so, I would love to have you consider joining the challenge personally (just leave a comment or reach out via the contact page to sync up).
If that sort of thing’s not for you, I would still love it if you follow along—while keeping the BOOing to a minimum.
[DRUMROLL]
This is the kick-off post to a 30-day challenge to write AND share my words with you more often—and to light a fire under my a$$ (aka a Panic Monster).
But why “30 days”…
…the reason for “30 days” is because that’s roughly how long it takes for most habits to develop. My strategy preference is to crowd-out a bad habit with a related good habit instead of just trying to remove and attack the bad one head-on.
For newcomers, you can learn about me by reading my about post, for those that have hung out here before and are curious about what I’ve been up to over the last 10 months I’ll give a recap at the bottom of the post.
The specifics of the 30-day challenge
This will be the 1st of nine posts that will be coming at you every Wednesday and Sunday, starting 6/14/20 and ending 7/13/20.
You can expect new posts on 6/14, 6/17, 6/21, 6/24, 6/28, 7/1, 7/5, 7/8 & 7/12.
I’m trying to really push myself here and develop a better writing (AND publishing) habit.
It’s also an opportunity to improve my writing and become a more productive writer.
The idea here is that I’ll be:
- Lowering my standards a bit (they’re pretty high, so curious if anyone will notice or mind a drop in quality and depth, or if they prefer this format)
- Keeping the word count down (750 to 1250 words) and narrower topics, which are a dramatic contrast to most of the other long, meaty stuff I’ve previously posted (which takes exponentially longer to write and edit)
- [Most importantly] Publishing more consistently and keeping the objective writing volume up (I write a lot, but most of it isn’t organized or object-oriented, so I don’t publish it)
I’ve been gathering a bunch of topics over the months, so there’s no shortage of ideas.
The posts will be somewhat thematic
[Although don’t hold me to it, since there are lots of relevant ideas I’d like to share here]
One big topic that keeps tapping me on the shoulder that I want to cover for a large chunk of the posts during this challenge will be investing.
Investing is where my thoughts and brain are for a disproportionate amount of time, as well as an area I have lots of experience in, where I’m regularly answering questions or discussing investments & investing with friends and family. I see the need to share and document what I know in a more organized fashion, which will also be a good way to think through my ideas more and also get feedback from you via comments, emails, etc…
I’m a big believer in teaching and sharing with others what you know in order to truly test if you really know it and if it dawns on me that I don’t know something as well as I thought then it becomes an amazing opportunity to learn more. The teacher becomes the student, and if the teacher is doing a good job then the student can put what was shared into action for themselves (or have a solid grasp of the ideas and methods where they could teach it to others—if they were into that sort of thing).
If you want to follow along that would be awesome, you can sign up via the email box at the top of this page or follow me on Facebook to get notifications of new posts.
If you want to join in for mutual support or some friendly social pressure feel free to contact me or leave a comment below with the details of your personal challenge—it can be similar or entirely different. The idea is to support each other and hold each other accountable so we all achieve our life’s visions.
It’s on!!!
KPIs
Progress: 1 of 9 posts completed (8 left)
Words written (target 750 – 1250): 948
10-Month Recap
- Constantly working and trying to be a better dad and have an engaged son that is into the physical world more than the digital one, and I’m satisfied, but there are still things I need to try since it’s an ongoing effort.
- I was dealing with some injuries and been trying out a bodyweight-only exercise routine, so far I’m really satisfied with the results, more toned and less bulk, which works for me since my goal is to have a strong, useful body that ages well. I will play with adding weights back once I have space for a home gym since even before the pandemic I cancelled my gym membership once I saw bodyweight-only was working for me.
- I stopped taking on new digital marketing clients to free up some time to try other ways to earn.
- Started experimenting with working with my hands, which I love, but found that I enjoy DIY projects and working on my own home and cars more than client work.
- Started selling yummy baked goods at the farmers market 3 weeks before the pandemic started, so it went from a launch that showed promise to a dead stop because the farmers market closed.
- Was in a to-be aired national commercial with my son after being scouted at the farmer’s market together.
- Made some adjustments to my portfolio to benefit from the pandemic and also be able to weather by selling some companies that have a low probability for success and semi-normal operations during and post-pandemic.
- Homeschooled my son every other week, which I found quite challenging at the beginning and it got better, but it makes me appreciate teachers and the public school system even more because of the pandemic and “walking a mile in their shoes”.
- And currently figuring out summer plans and activities with my son and for myself, since not yet clear what summer camp will look like and airplane travel.
And that gets us up to speed.
