DesertStandard

Went to the Zoo last weekend with Kathryn’s Dad and Step Mom and it was awesome!

There has been a severe degradation in my posting frequency as of late. This is due to a few external factors that have thrown my routine off a bit.

The biggest shift has been away from cycling, at least for the time being. This is mainly due to the recent rash of severe temps seen in the PHX area. Over 10 degrees above normal temps along with some mild heat stroke a few weeks back have forced me to hold off on the bike for a while.

In its replacement I have started back into the yoga quite extensively. I have also found a new studio in the Central PHX area: www.gravitycenteryoga.com taught by Erica. This place rocks, it is literally just a studio, no lounge or retail action here. Just a floor and restroom. Erica is over 10 years experienced in a number of Yoga traditions and works well with novices as well as experts. She loves to kill the abs, which I need, and really adds a lot of variation to the routine everyday.

I am off to Vail for a wedding this weekend so there will probably be little coming from me till next week. So keep the rubber side down and hold them mudras!

Meet up with Jeff Moriarty this weekend (if you can reference the name then you know how cool Jeff is already, if not then please look up Sherlock Holmes and eat some soap) to discuss getting Ignite Phoenix started up. The catalyst was a post on twitter regarding yet another tech networking group for finding and funding projects in the area. The general feeling for tech people is that these are more of the same: boring presentations trying to sell us on something we might be interested in but since the presenter is so worried about offending possible funders they cut it down to something that is boring and predictable.

Ignite is an O’reilly concept with the intent of getting the presentations down to a minimum but throwing a bunch together for diversity and unpredictability. Then you let the audience congregate with the ones they like the most and take it from there. The focus is on the culture and if the projects succeed that is great, if not then cool people got together and laughed a lot.

Right now we are looking for venues to hold it at and presenters to present. Give me a shout in the comments there or at the projects website here.

Here it is exclusive for DS readers only!

Really cool effort to get Google to add bike route finder to Google Maps. Go to this link and sign the petition. This is something Google should already have:
Google Maps ‘Bike There’ Feature Request Petition

This looks pretty cool as well. I have been thinking about getting another tattoo been inspired by anything lately. Its in Mesa this weekend.

Arizona Tattoo Expo 2008
New Times writeup

7pm tonight tumbleweed park - mcqueen and germann. its blues with shri
*Spring Starlight Concert Series

Some guys list off their girlfriends, I like to list off my jobs:
1987 – 1991 Deli Clerk at Family Deli
1988 Range Boy at the Vail Golf Course
1994 – 1995 Barista at Jitter N Shakes
1995 – Grunt at Engineered Handling Systems
1996 Pizza maker at Slices
1996-1997 Chef at Pasta Market
1997 Sandwich Artist at Subway
1997 Foreman at Engineered Handling Systems
1998 Sous Chef at The Garden House
1998-1999 Office Manager at Boulder Conference Center
1999 Sous Chef at Vail Golf Course
1999 Cashier at West Vail Liquor
2000 Roof Snow Shoveler in Vail
2000 Pizza cook at Chicagos
2000 Production at Vail Daily
2000 – 2001 Webmaster at ChemInk
2001 Office Assistant at NonProfit
2001 Telemarket at Anti War Place
2001-2002 Sous Chef at Fire and Ice
2002 Sushi Chef at Wasabi Room
2002 Front Desk Clerk at Biltmore
2002 – 2003 Salesman at Westward Innovations
2003 Salesman at Private Investigator
2003 – 2006 Sales/Tech at Godaddy
2007 Sales at Limelight
2007 – 2008 Sales at Assurity Financial Services, LLC.

Pretty good list huh?

I like Steve Pavlina’s take:

If you can’t seem to hold a job, perhaps you’re cursed with genius. One of the biggest quitters of all was Leonardo da Vinci. I wonder if his parents ever told him to stop flitting about — painting, engineering, sculpture, botany, anatomy, architecture, music, poetry, etc. – and just stick with one thing. Otherwise, no one would hire him. Imagine Leonardo’s Mom saying to him, “For Christ sakes, Leo! Last week you told me you were going to be an engineer… and now I catch you painting! You march yourself back outside, young man, and go finish that Yard-a-pult monstrosity you started last week.”

I have enjoyed all the jobs I have had, at least at the beginning.

So here I am again making my 4th career change in 1 year and I am hesitant to make the move cause I dont know if I trust myself anymore. After the Godaddy debacle I have been in a funk about what I want to do and who I am. Which sucks cause I have this really great mortgage payment to make each month, and I really like making that payment cause it means I get to keep living in my house.

Steve Pavlina has some great advice:

If you really want to switch careers, step one is to go to your current boss and say, “I quit.” Pretty complicated, eh? But for some people merely imagining this scene creates an adrenaline surge. Once you’ve taken that step though, you’ll figure out step two soon enough. This is a direct, guaranteed route to a career change. People do it all the time. And believe it or not, it actually works.

This morning I made this decision and have now vocalized it to three people. Though I havent made it to my boss I have vocalized it which is a big step in making it a reality.

Now I just need to decide what I am going to do next. =)

If you know me at all you know that I am pretty much full on ADD, but if you know me then you know that this is also what makes me who I am. The toughest part of having ADD is deciding on something and doing it. I have so many ideas all the time that I often get overwhelmed and end up doing none of them. So far for 2008 I have decided to start back up on Yoga, cooking all of my meals, keeping my house clean, shaving everyday (even saturday and sunday), coaching youth soccer, playing in an adult soccer league, reducing my alchohol intake, going to Toastmasters, finding a new job, reading a book a month, and getting involved in politics. Phew! and its only February!

So far I have kept good on the Yoga, the cooking, the cleaning, the shaving, the playing, and the reducing. While I have been able to accomplish all of this I am still sad that I havent been able to do all of the other things.

This is the problem with doing too much. Yes you have been successful at accomplishing a lot of your goals, but you focus on what you havent dont, primarily because it is unfinished and therefore still on your mind.

This is why it is critical to write down your goals and then break them up into peices that are reasonable to accomplish. Most goals are lifestyle changes that will eventually become something that you just do everyday, but the hard part is getting them started. So the key is to break up these lifestyle goals into manageble peices. If you are trying to make too many lifestyle changes at once you will get overwhelmed. Ease up. You have plenty of time to get everything done, but not all at once. Start with something easy like shaving everyday, then go on to making it to the gym three times a week, and then start eating healthy. The shaving is easy cause its part of waking up and takes only a few minutes. Going to the gym is a bit more complicated as you need to get a routine, then the clothes, and finally the gym membership. The eating healthy takes the most work to accomplish as you need to get the recepie, buy the ingredients, and then cook the food. Plus the eating is something you have to do multiple times each day so there is a lot more planning involved.

Another thing to consider is that some goals may need your to accomplish other goals first. For example Toastmasters is a weekly commitment that I need to make to the group and myself. The problem is that there are a few different locations that I can go to, but since I am in job transition I need to hold off until I know where I will be working. This is because I want to make it as convenient as possible so that I make it consistently.

Get a list put together of everything you want to accomplish in life. Then start prioritizing. I went with Yoga and eating because I want to be in good shape and save money. Cleaning the house came next because I just feel better about having a clean and organized house. Now the career one is really slapping me in the face so I have to get that done next. Then I will get the Toastmasters thing going which will lead to becoming a public speaker and finally a politician. Phew! Thats a lot but now its manageble.

When you feel overwhelmed, stop and take stock of everything you are doing and then break them down into their individual parts. Find out what is priority and what is dependent on doing something else first. Then put a timeline together. A good rule of thumb for getting a lifestyle change started is 30 days. Do it for 30 days to make it a habit and then move on to the next one.

Most of all though make sure you want to do it and then make sure you have fun doing it. There is nothing worse than accomplishing something that you dont care about.