Category Archives: Plans

Endings and new beginnings

August 4, 2015 6:43 AM , Leave a Comment ,

I’ve moved about quite a bit since I left college.  I’ve gone from apartments to different houses and I always tended to think of the structure as just a space to hang my hat for a while.  But this was to be the place that I could finally settle into and feel comfortable.

It’s been nearly seven years since I bought my house.

The structure was fine and the roof was new and generally it looked like somewhere that I could call home.  But it has always been slightly “off”.  I couldn’t quite bring myself to get totally comfortable in the house.

A few major “imperfections” existed.  The chief imperfection was the carpeting.  As I’d always rented, I never paid much mind to flooring.  “Not my place”, so it really never mattered that much to me.

But looking at my place, “my place”, I could see that it did indeed make a difference.  Even in its most pristine and new state, carpeting, seems drab and shabby.  A cheap floor covering, a compromise material that makes no one happy.  It had to go.

Before that happened however, the great Houston drought of 2011 took hold of my foundation and wrecked it.  I spent quite a bit of money repairing the foundation and the interior re-decoration had to be put on hold.

Finally in 2013 I began a multi-year project to make this house a home and as of this last week the project is now finished.  I have to say that the results were more than I hoped for.

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I am finally beginning to feel that this is the space that I was meant to inhabit.  The house has a more airy and roomier feel.  It’s almost as if the living space is crying out for me to be more creative and proactive.

Thinking about the old carpeting brings to mind a soul sapping morass that was holding me down.  But this, this cries out for me to be more imaginative, more energetic, and more optimistic.

I know it’s ridiculous to ascribe so much to flooring but I think environment can be important in setting your mental mood for success or failure.

Another thing is that I’ve now finished this long-term project.  That in itself makes me feel good but at the same time it leaves a bit of a hole in my long-term plans.  I have some ideas and no doubt this new living space will inspire me think and plan out new challenges.

This has buoyed my spirits quite a lot.  It has been a bit of a challenging year and getting a success like this under my belt really helps a lot.  I just hope that this is the start of a long series of successes.

Posted in: home, life in general, plans, projects

Getting out there

July 11, 2015 6:33 AM , Leave a Comment ,

I was chatting about work and life the other day over tea at Starbucks.  The conversation drifted in the direction of business networking.  Not the computer kind of network but the personal type of network.  The type that’s hard for me.

Networking really hasn’t changed at all since the first business office was set up.  Having a wide circle of friends and acquaintances always pays off.  Although we may live in an interconnected world of instantaneous communications we still have to initiate contact with other people in order for it to work.

I don’t mean just send emails back and forth or maybe even have a phone conversation but actually “talk” to the other person.  Whether that person is a client, a colleague or even a competitor at another company.  Being more than just a contact card in an email directory is important.  It means that you’re an actual human being that the other person might think of when it comes time to ask for a job, a business opportunity or an introduction to someone else.

Initiating contact doesn’t have to be a big production involving flowers or lunch or whatever.  You can just initiate contact by asking the other person how they’re doing during the course of your regular work exchange.  Do some “industry gossip”.  Talk about that other third company that has nothing to do with you or speculate on the future of your field.  Ask about their goals and plans.

The main thing is that you become a known quantity, that you have a personality, and that you’re a factor in their life.  Not a giant factor but a factor.  You’ll never expect them to break down and cry on your shoulder and you should not expect them to lend you money but at the very least if things go bad you can send out resumes to them, you can ask them if they know about any open bids, you can query them about some job applicant that they may know.

This is the way that the business world works, folks.  It always has and always will be this way.

Posted in: business, career, friends, goals, jobs, opportunities, plans, relationships, social networks, standards and practices, work

find what really makes you happy

May 20, 2015 6:26 AM , Leave a Comment ,

I was thinking about a study I read several years back.  It was about how children that would instinctively put off instant gratification and momentary gains and instead pursued long-term rewards would statistically go on to have more fulfilling and successful lives.

What brought this on?  Well, I suddenly realized how far into 2015 we’d gotten and how the first quarter went past in a blur and the second quarter was close to done and I hadn’t reviewed the progress of my yearly goals yet.

Why hadn’t I done this?  I suppose I could give various excuses from being too lazy to dealing with illness in March to this and that but I also have to be honest and admit I have been partly dreading this.  I haven’t been doing as well as I’d hoped to be at this point.

So I was walking in downtown Houston the other day and thinking about this.  It was after dark and downtown was mostly deserted and it was cool and quiet.  Near perfect conditions to think.

Were these goals making me happy or were they becoming obsessions that would not yield long-term satisfaction?  Was I eschewing short-term gratification to pursue these goals or just denying myself living my life for no good reason?

I mean I created these goals in order to have a better life and to do something meaningful.  I think I did a pretty good job of it as well but the thing is that for some of my goals I think that I am pouring good resources into lost causes and basically wasting them where I could instead be using them for other projects.

So I have to evaluate these goals and see if these are worth continuing on and if I just hang on a little longer that things will get better or if I’m just hanging on due to some sense of pride that won’t let me quit on these goals.

I think that’s what I meant by the title “find what really makes you happy”.  Sit down, look at these goals, and see if they will truly make you happy.

Posted in: activities, advice, goals, motivation, plans

plans vs pipe dreams: Knowing the difference and leveraging them anyways

April 20, 2015 6:39 AM , Leave a Comment ,

Just as we also have carefully thought out plans, we also have pipe dreams.

We all have those wild and crazy ideas that would be nice to achieve but we “know” just won’t ever work.  These are ideals that we may dream about at bed time or just after lunch one day.  You can think and even see them but the rational part of your mind knows that they’re impossible so it discounts them as just impractical fantasies and generally forgets about them.

On the flip side we have those carefully worked out plans that we think and re-think all the time and we “test out” and know will work because we’ve put in the time to manage expectations and to make sure they can be implemented before anything happens.  We work and live through these every day.

Obviously, it’s bad to get hung up on a pipe dream and obsess over it to the point that you can’t function.  Unfortunately I see this type of behavior too much among some of my peers.  Obsessing about some material item, over some sort of achievement, over some love that got away from them.  Many people chase these unattainable goals to the point that they disregard some or all other important aspects of their lives.

On the other hand it’s equally as bad to just live out a carefully scripted and planned life.  If you only live a planned out existence you may find that opportunities that suddenly appear and offer themselves to you will be ignored or denied because they don’t fit in with your current plans.  You may find that you deny yourself an advantage or may find that your original plan may actual be detrimental to you just because it didn’t fit in.

I think most people can tell what a plan looks like.  A pipe dream is more difficult.  We can often fool ourselves into thinking an outlandish pipe dream is really a reasonable plan.  If we sit down however and look at it carefully and analyze it bit by bit we can often see the faults in the “reasonable plan” and see it for what it really is.

But like I said above, living only a planned life can be equally bad for you.  So how can we live a balanced life where we keep our hopes and dreams alive but allow our plans to carry us ahead?  We have to strike a balance.  Live the daily life within our plans but always keep those pipe dreams at hand.  Don’t totally deny them or discount them.

Even if you do chase after your pipe dream and ultimately fail, the journey, the process of trying to achieve that pipe dream may yield unexpected benefits, may open up new vistas and worlds that you didn’t previously know about.

Pipe dreams are sometimes the only things that can keep us moving forward when things are tough.  Learn to control them, learn to tame them.  But never let them die.

Posted in: advice, goals, life in general, motivation, opportunities, plans, thought

relax

March 27, 2015 6:08 AM , Leave a Comment ,

I’ve been running full tilt this year.  Been keeping busy as much as possible and trying to get things done and trying out as many new activities as I can in my spare time.

I’ve been programming my spare time, mainly the weekends, for the last few months and I’ve been able to see and do a lot of cool and fun stuff these few months.

But inevitably you are going to get a weekend that you’re not going to have anything to do.  Now to clarify, I always have some chore or some thing to accomplish but I generally have more spare time on the weekends, generally in the evenings, to do something and I’ve been putting that to good use.

Like I said however, you’re going to roll into one of those weekends where either nothing appeals to you particularly, or the timing doesn’t work out, or you just don’t feel like doing anything in particular.

Unprogrammed time.  It happens.  In a way it’s a good thing.  Just a chance to let things settle down and let your mind relax.  We all need that sort of weekend from time to time.  At first I was a bit anxious about it as I thought to myself “come on, I have to have some “thing” to do”

But really this is just one weekend out of hundreds.  Maybe this will give me a chance to reflect, to take turn off the smart phone and just think, or at the very least just hit the reset button on my mind and start fresh on Monday morning.

Putting pressure on myself to have something to do is good in most cases but becoming fixated on that notion is not.  Using this time to really relax is a gift I should embrace.

 

Posted in: attitude, habits, hobbies, life in general, plans, rest, thought

Plans and goals for the new year

January 4, 2015 6:03 AM , Leave a Comment ,

2014.

I had a good year.  No doubt about it.  I had it laid out and planned and it worked.  Not to perfection, no.  But a good-sized chunk worked out for me.

Now how do you top that?  The fear, the doubt in the pit of my stomach is that you can’t.  I’ve been planning, dreading, stressing about this off and on since around October.  Before, during, and after my vacation I devoted a lot of time to this and finally round the end of December I got it all together in a master document.  Even typed it out, which I normally don’t.  Normally I write it all out in handwritten form in a notebook.

Here we are 4 days into the new year and already a couple of key aspects of the plan have been radically changed by events in the last few days.  Goes to show that you should always make plans and goals as flexible as possible.

Wouldn’t go as far as saying that things are wrecked but it definitely needs a radical rethink on my part.

Some things obviously will stay on track.

My health goals are going to move forward.  It’s weird.  In the last month I’ve met up with five people who I haven’t seen in over a year and they all remark on how much weight I’ve lost.  Gratifying, but I know that I have a long way to go yet and that I can’t let up.  If anything, this year I intensify. So that’s the most solid part of the plan.

But my career and financial goals need to be reconsidered.  I have to be vague here, sorry.  Partly because it is a private matter but mostly cause I haven’t worked out the dynamics of the situation yet.  I’ll be honest, I’ve gotten about 6 hours of sleep for the entire weekend and I’m writing this around 2 in the morning on a Sunday morning cause I couldn’t get to sleep.

I worry that if I don’t get this settled quickly that the rest of the plan will unravel. Writing this out in the blog helps me think though honestly no great pearls of wisdom have emerged thus far.  2015 could be such a huge success or a huge disaster depending on how things play out.  Maybe a more conservative strategy and hold some things off till 2016 or maybe “risk it all on one turn of pitch-and-toss” and see what happens.  Hopefully I’ll come up with some answers soon.

Posted in: activities, decisions, goals, plans, thought

Leadership

January 2, 2015 7:11 AM , Leave a Comment ,

“Experts in war depend specially on opportunity and expediency.  They do not place the burden of accomplishment specially on their men” – Ch’en Hao

“Now the method of employing men is to use the avaricious and the stupid, the wise and the brave, and I give responsibility to each in situations that suit him.  Do not charge people to do what they cannot do.  Select them and give them responsibilities commensurate with their abilities.” – Chang Yu

So why all the philosophical quotes?  Well I want to talk about an aspect of leadership that is seldom discussed.  What happens when a project goes wrong and the blame starts flying left and right.

In this case (and no I won’t name names) an acquaintance that works at a large company told me about a project she was involved in and how her project leader mismanaged the whole operation from start to finish.  When things started really going bad and the upper management began to take notice the manager started assigning blame left and right but of course never accepted any for himself.

In this case my friend described the project and all the challenges involved, all the tasks that needed to be done and some of the other people involved and it became fairly clear that the project manager had mishandled things primarily by not assigning people the jobs for which they were best suited for.  Senior personnel were given research jobs fit for starting staff and junior staffers were assigned tasks for which they had no training for.

The second error that the project manager committed was not making himself available for consultation and expecting the situation to resolve itself favorably.  When red flags started popping up and things were not going as the schedule demanded the manager failed to heed the warnings and take preventative measures.  He wanted everyone to stick to the original plan.

The last error and really something classless to do was to place the blame on the subordinates and not acknowledge his part in the failure.  By the way that my friend described the events it really sounded as if the project manager really believed that he was blameless.  Luckily the upper management took notice of the chain of events and took appropriate measures but the damage was already done and the project was set back several months and cost the company a lot of money and prestige with their client.

A situation that could have been easily avoided if the project manager had been more conscientious about his management of the project, had been more flexible in his approach but most of all if he had taken an active rather than a passive role in the development of the project.

 

 

Posted in: business, energy, motivation, plans, relationships

vacation work

December 1, 2014 7:04 AM , Leave a Comment ,

Even vacations can be work.  Well not really but yeah.

My daily routine and my life doesn’t end just because I’m going on vacation.  If anything, my life gets concentrated.  Those little breathers that we all have built into our daily routine disappear and I find out just how much I can really get done when the pressure is on.

I have to dig out the suitcase and take out of it all those things I “temporarily” stored in there and move them somewhere else.  Think about and find whatever clothes I will take on the trip and acquire those things that I don’t have and will need and if the place you’re going to is out of season, good luck finding beach wear in the Winter.

Some things I will buy for the trip and some things that I normally use everyday will go with me.  But which ones?

The personal kit.  That tube of toothpaste is dried out, get a new one, that razor is rusty, these pepto bismol pills are out of date, those band aids are all stuck together. Most hotels carry things like soap and shampoo but you know the one time you don’t pack them…

Cram it all into the suitcase.  Put the socks into the shoes.  Packing cubes are great but no matter what you only have so much space.  Play Tetris and try to change cubes around to get more things in.

Electronics.  How much to take and how much is overkill?

Besides all of that, like I said my life doesn’t stop because I’m going on a trip.  I have work to juggle round.  Clients that need to know you won’t be there and arrangements to make at the office.  At home I have to tag people to come check on things at home while I’m away.  I have to make sure my bills are paid and up to date till at least a week after I return so I don’t get caught short on time.

I still have to eat of course so grocery shopping.  Some of the items I will take on the trip, I need to use everyday.  I can’t pack them yet so I have to make sure I have space for it in the suitcase and not forget to pack it at the last-minute and hope that it doesn’t disrupt all the packing.

The seconds tick away as the departure date draws near.  Nerve wracking in a way.  Once the day arrives whatever gets done, gets done.  Everything else you will have to do without.

Then of course once your vacation is under way the clock starts running again and you’re counting the minutes till you have to go back.

Posted in: life in general, plans, vacations, work

resolutions, already?

November 19, 2014 7:06 AM , Leave a Comment ,

Someone on Facebook posted the other day that we had 22 working days left in the year and by golly he was close.  I had 24 left.  Where had the year gone?  Turn around and you suddenly find yourself wrapping Christmas gifts again and still doing a terrible job of it.

One of the things I had to do was to review my set of goals for the year.  Last year on my vacation I began setting down a series of goals, deadlines, and downright impossible challenges for myself.  Over the past year I’ve been checking myself off on them and I’ve done remarkably well on some and came to the realization on others that they weren’t really feasible at all.

I write these down in a notebook.  Other folks that I know have elaborate spreadsheets and computer files but I like the tactile feel of writing these things down on paper.  Makes them feel real, you know?  Plus it feels good to put a check mark next to or scratch out an objective.  Much better than guiding a mouse over a box and clicking it.

So what’s the difference between this and those inebriated yahoos on New Year’s eve that promise to stop smoking or lose 20 pounds? I don’t know.  Intent?  I think most people understand that promises made on or around New Years are just drunken boasts and carry about as much legal and personal force as a pinkie swear.  Putting these things down on paper after long and considered thought just makes these things feel real and serious to me.

So how to start?  Well not at the last-minute.  That’s where most people get in trouble and make ridiculous goals.  Start ahead of time.  Last year I started at the end of October.  This year I am starting now.

Firstly by reviewing my goals for the past year and seeing how I’ve done so far.  I will probably post my results in late December on this blog but I did get some significant things done.  I don’t have to go back and redo them next year so hey, progress!

Next I start considering “Hey that was ridiculously easy!  Why not try some more of that?” or “That was way tougher than I thought.  Better scale that down for next year.”  It’s an interactive process.  Lots of scratching out, erasing, reworking, even tearing out and balling up papers.

Next some refining.  “I have 5 things for that month and nothing for this month.  Move 2 things over”  More refining.  “Can’t do that in Winter, need to move it to Summer” A lot of checking calendars, checking websites, maybe even checking with other people.

By this time I’m spread out between 6 or 7 sheets of papers, on a couple of post it notes, maybe a napkin or two.

Time to collate and make my first “final draft”.  Put it all down in one place and look it over in its entirety.  Maybe then I get a sense of how ridiculous it sounds and start over but most of the time I will stick to it.  Maybe a few fixes here and there and go for my next and hopefully last “final draft”, the one that goes in the notebook.

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So there it sits in the notebook in my satchel.  Lying next to all my work and other notes, next to my laptop and pens.  An ever-present reminder.

Do I check it all the time?  No.  I probably refer to it more at the beginning of the year and slack off as things get checked off or the year gets short.  But I do check and I do try to live up to it.  I don’t beat myself up if I miss a mark but I do keep it in mind.

That’s really the whole essence of these resolutions, promises, goals, or whatever you choose to call them.  They are guidelines to live by, here to help.  They are not slave masters set over you made to oppress you.

If they ever start to hurt or hinder you more than help you then you know that something is wrong.

 

 

 

Posted in: plans

strength

November 15, 2014 7:07 AM , Leave a Comment ,

I’m told that I put too much stock into movies.  Well, that’s just me.  I don’t take in all my information through the written word.  A good-sized chunk of the information that I take in comes through visually.  That’s one reason I take in little bits of movies here and there and save them to chew over later.

I had a long night working the other night and got to bed round midnight.  One of a series of long nights that I’ve had working on the job, on side projects, on writing, on my fitness goals, on life in general in the past six months.  As always I didn’t get half of what I wanted done and I felt eternally behind schedule.

I needed to wind down a bit.  Let the brain disconnect from everything that had filled my head.  I didn’t want to get caught up in a book and stay up all night long and I was sick of being online, so I flicked on the TV and surfed round till I came upon the movie “Men in Black“.  At that point the movie was on a short but fairly memorable (memorable to me at least) scene, where a younger character is being recruited by an older character to join the team:

J – ” Hey, Is it worth it?”

K – ” Oh yeah, it’s worth it…. If you’re strong enough.”

 

 

If you’re strong enough.

Was I just trying to make sense of my situation or was this synchronicity trying to make me come to terms with my life as of late.  If you’re strong enough.  Actually that’s a fairly accurate description of life isn’t it?

“The adventure that you get is the one that you’re ready for” is a phrase I once heard.  Campbell I think.

The reason why some people can casually stroll into a situation, command it, and thrive while others are flustered, barely thread water, and eventually sink under the weight of it all.

I’ve been stretching out in so many directions in the last year or so.  Maybe more than I ever have in my life.  I’ve been doing things that I never dreamed or even considered that I would or could do.  Some of it has been nerve-wracking to say the least, some of it has been a pleasant surprise and made me wonder why I hadn’t done it before.

But it has been a strain at times.  Even on days when everything’s going my way I wonder if I will have time to do it all and on days when things aren’t going my way….

I could easily just stop many of these projects.  Just call it off and go back to letting life happen to me as it will.  The thing is though that I wouldn’t want to go back to that.  I in fact want to go faster.  I’ve held off on my life for so long that I feel that I want to make up for lost time.  Not really possible as I have some limitations to face.  But I keep trying, keep looking, keep seeing how I can accelerate my life to that point that I want to be at.

The adventure that you’re ready for.  Maybe my life has been slowly grooming and preparing me to reach this point.  Whether as a function of fate or as a function of my life experience I don’t know.  Whatever the case may be I have to embrace it wholly and see where this leads me.

 

 

 

 

Posted in: activities, attitude, plans