I find myself thinking about all the messages swirling around us every second of the day. I’m not thinking specifically about advertising, that’s certainly something we could talk about but I’m really thinking about the ones we receive and give to each other. The plans and promises we make, the things we believe about each other and the world in the light of day and in the quiet times of night.

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It’s a week after this year’s NaNoWriMo has closed out and I’ve done some reflecting on what I’ve learned after another year’s efforts to write an entire novel in thirty short, short days. To be completely accurate I should say I’ve done some reflecting on what I’ve been forced to learn after another year’s efforts. These weren’t lessons that I had to struggle to come to; these are lessons that I couldn’t ignore.

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Image courtesy possibilityadvocate

Todays words from the digital man cave are about Reason #30….

A lot of reasons have been posted here over time, and I think I’ll stop with 30. I suppose I could keep going, since there are a number of reasons to like the guy, his website and his mission, but the last thing I’ll mention is his style. He just writes. I can’t remember where on his website he describes his method, but he doesn’t necessarily follow the conventions of blogging. For the most part I’m still stuck on blogging as it is widely accepted. Shorter articles. Relating posts with links so that people spend more time on the website and have more exposure to the content/advertising, etc. All this is good and fine, if your goal is to have those ads be viewed as many times as possible, clicked a few times, a product pushed here or there. Monetizing your blog. That is certainly one way to go.

If you’re writing for the sake of writing, or writing to cover a topic, you do yourself an injustice by sticking to 350 words or less. Because how much are you really going to say in that time? And how much will you really connect with your audience? I’ve still got it in my head that people have short attention spans and you’ve gotta be quick, and interactive. I do actually believe this is true. That’s just the generation I grew up in.

But I also know that if you’re compelling, or honest, or speak with an original voice (not necessarily an original topic), people will listen. They will stick around long enough to see where you’re coming from and what you’re about.

If you haven’t already seen yet that Steve Pavlina is someone worth paying attention to on the web, you just haven’t been paying attention. Sure, his website probably can be classified as “self-help” but if you assume you know what he’s about without taking a moment to understand him at least a little bit, you’re going to miss out on something that could change the way you look at life, and your journey through it.

Everyone should find something that they love, a craft that they’re passionate enough about to work at and become skilled enough to do this. Or something like it. Breakfast time has never been so lyrical. (more…)

Life has a habit of throwing a lot of questions into our collective faces. Questions about what we’re doing, how we’re doing it, and who we’re doing it with. Most of them are so open ended that it’s impractical to expect a definitive answer. How do you know when it’s the right time to make a move, or you’ve gone down the right path in your recent course of action. How can anyone know?

I’m not psychic, and I can’t see the future but I’ve got a simple little test that might help you out.

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Two days ago I hit part of one of my 30×30 fitness goals by performing 10 solid repetitions of the deadlift manuever using 225 lbs. It was more challenging than I previously thought it would be, but you know what?

Challenge status: COMPLETED

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