Category: Soc Notes

I expect that I am going to be writing posts to this blog more often. It's not that I have a whole bunch of more ideas that I want to post. I do have a pretty big list of ideas to write about which I have kept for a couple years even though I haven't written many posts yet. It's just that I've been thinking about writing on my blog a bit more and realized that the biggest reason I don't write on it is because it takes me too long to make a post. So I've decided if I actually want to use my blog a bit more, which I do, that I will have to make it simpler to make posts.

Ways I Will Make It Simpler To Post To My Blog

1. I Removed All The Pictures And Won't Be Using Pictures

Having pictures really makes a blog better for people who are reading it. But this blog is more for me to write down my ideas and thoughts anyway. Not having to deal with making pictures for all the posts will save me a bunch of time and will allow me to quickly make posts. When I removed the pictures I also went through my blog posts and formatted them all similarly and decided on how I would format my new posts. I won't have to think about adding pictures or formatting my posts anymore, but can just focus on what I want to write.

2. I Will Keep My Blog Online Only And Use The Built In Editor

I used to write blog posts offline in text files or word files and keep them on my computer. Then I would just copy what I had written and add a picture online. Editing offline has advantages but it's not nearly as simple as just posting online, and keeping it online only has other advantages too. I can also edit from any computer now obviously which is a plus. I deleted all the offline copies of my posts and will edit and keep my blog online only. This is the main change that will make it easier and quicker to make posts. I've given in to just keep my blog entries online only, just like when I switched to GMail for my mail a †few years†ago. I don't really know why I thought I needed a copy in text files offline. Writing this blog post was a lot easier to get done than my old system of editing offline and then posting after. To make this easier I also made a couple changes to the online editor such as adding more lines to it. Now it feels a bit more like editing offline.

3. I Installed The Wordpress App On My iPad

Just in case I want to edit on my iPad 2, which I got a couple months ago when it came out. I always thought the iPad would be good for journalling or blogging as long as you are writing smaller posts. I've made writing posts simpler by not having pictures and keeping my files online only, which allows me to make shorter posts using my iPad if I want.

Why I Made These Changes

Simply, doing all of the steps above will make it way easier for me to post to my blog. I'm excited and think I will do more writing on my blog now. Making this post took way less time than I used to take writing a post, so I'm sure that by storing my blog online only and not using pictures will make we want to post more. Like I've found with many things in life, simplifying down to what matters most makes it easier to get things done and makes you enjoy things more in the end. In this case, simplifying the process to post to my blog will make me want to write in it more often and enjoy doing it.

So as it turns out I haven't used this blog very much or made many posts. Honestly, it isn't very surprising. I knew I may not use it very much. One of the reasons I don't post too much to it is because I'm never sure exactly what types of things I should write on it or how much I should edit myself. But now I know that my main reason for originally making this blog isn't really going to work out.

My first post to this blog explained the reasons why I was creating this blog. My plan was to keep an online journal about my goals and I was going to keep it simple. I would make the format somewhere in between a Twitter log and a long format blog. I would post little updates about my goals often. However I realize that I don't really want to do that publicly. Of course it should be obvious because I never did post anything about my goals. Anyway, instead of writing about my goals on this blog I will be writing about my goals more often in a personal journal. Here are a few of the reasons why.

Reasons To Write About My Goals In A Personal Journal

1. I censor myself when writing about my goals on a public blog.
2. I prefer to write about my goals privately for the most part.
3. I can write more often about my goals and not worry about grammar in a personal success journal.
4. People don't want to read every detail about my personal goals and life.
5. I like to sound somewhat good on a public blog and edit what I say.
6. I want a place to write about my interests, thoughts, and ideas instead of my life.
7. I can still update people on my goals and life once in awhile on my blog.

I realize I don't really need to write a post about what my blog is for. But just writing about this sets it in my mind a bit. Now I know that my personal journal is for writing all the little details about what I'm doing to reach my goals and about my daily life. And this blog is for writing posts that I edit a bit more and put at least a bit more thought into. I may still write some posts about my goals but they will be more thought out than I was originally thinking. And all of the little updates and writing about my goals will go in my personal success journal. Just knowing what this blog is for and what my journal is for will make it easier for me to write more often in both of them.

I will still use this blog for pretty much all the reasons I originally planned except for writing short posts about my goals and journaling daily on it.

What I Will Use My Blog For

1. To write about my interests like entertainment, music, baseball, technology, health, and fitness.
2. To write about thoughts and ideas I have that I want to tell people about.
3. To write and respond to items in the news and write my thoughts on them.
4. I will still use it to write some more well written posts about my goals and my personal life.
5. To practice my writing and editing skills since my personal journal I won't be editing what I say.
6. I will still use it sometimes to tell people about my life and keep in touch.
7. To write reviews about books, movies, games, and things I buy.
8. To put myself out there a bit without worrying about writing about things that are too personal.

Hello World! Welcome to my blog. I've wanted to create one for quite awhile and I've finally done it. I have no idea how long I'll keep it going or how much I'll write in here. But here are some of my reasons for creating the blog. This first post will be a good reminder to myself of why I want to write in this blog and what kind of things to write about.

Reasons I Created My Own Blog

1. To Write About My Goals

This is my main reason for creating this blog. I'm very into being organized, setting goals, and creating habits. I've read books like "The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People" and "Getting Things Done" that have helped me very much in my life. I've read a lot of articles on websites like Lifehack, Lifehacker, Zen Habits, and many others. I always keep lists and notes on my mobile computer, which used to be a Palm Z22 and is now an iPod Touch. I've reached some important goals in the last few years. Lately I've had a hard time getting motivated enough to work on an important goal. I keep reading about how one of the best habits you can get into besides creating the habit to spend time working towards the goal every day is to tell people about your goal or journal publicly about it. So I finally decided to make this blog so I can write publicly about my goals and the progress I'm making or not making. Hopefully writing about my goal will keep me thinking about it and motivated to achieve it.

2. Creating A Blog Was A Goal

I've kept a list of goals and projects in some form or another for years now. I change the goals on the list a lot, and take many goals off when I feel they aren't that important. But creating a blog has stayed on that list so I'm completing a goal just by creating this blog.

3. Make The Habit Of Journaling

Journaling every day is something that I want to get in the habit of doing. I've done it before, but I sometimes get lost in the details like whether I should do it in a paper notebook, or which software program I should use. I think that making a single public blog to write in will make this easier for me. I will also start writing in a personal journal too sometime hopefully. And between my private journal and my public blog, hopefully I can keep it simple and get in the habit of journaling about my goals and my life.

4. To Practice Writing

Besides journaling, I think it will also be very good for me to practice writing and to write more often. It's another habit that I've always wanted to get into doing more. And another habit that I read about as being something which can improve your life in many different ways.

5. To Write About My Interests, Thoughts, And Events

A few of the topics that I'm interested in and may write about are technology, computer programming, goal setting and productivity, health and fitness, baseball, reading, and music. And I could also write about general thoughts or ideas I have or about events I have gone to.

6. Telling People About My Life And Keeping In Touch

A blog is the perfect place to write letters or give updates to people about your life or to post a sort of online newsletter. I don't use Facebook much to keep people updated and I've also come to the conclusion recently that I don't particularly like Twitter, instant messaging, or online chatting. I prefer letters, email, or actually talking to someone in person or on the phone.

7. To Put Myself Out There

This isn't so much a goal of this blog as it is a consequence. I've stayed away from having an online identity quite a bit. I only got a Facebook account this year and I haven't posted to online forums much at all. I've been worried about putting things out on the internet that will always be there and I was aware of that early on when the internet began. Mostly I know that employers will find your blog or anything on the web about you. But I'm trying to relax a bit more about this and not stress over people finding out all about me. And as far as my blog, I can control anything put on my blog so if I want to remove something or take down my blog I can.

Taking The First Step

Most of my blog posts won't be nearly this long, structured, or well written. I'm not writing this blog to pursue a writing career or to market myself for a business or for my career. I'm not trying to create a blog about a specific topic and make money from ads or to bring something to the attention to a large audience of readers. I'm not even trying to create a blog that family and friends will necessarily read. I want this to be a place where I can quickly write about little things that I've done to work towards my goals. Or about little things that I've done in my life. And just having it be public and know that people could be reading it will give me some motivation to work towards my goals. But if it works out I might create some longer posts like this too if I get into the habit of writing and blogging.

Of course I'm all excited now and I don't know how often I'll post to this blog or for how long I'll keep it up. It's quite possible this could be my only post. But I certainly have a lot of reasons to write a blog. And taking the first step is often the hardest thing to do.

August 8, 2009

Take a look back at things you've done, and pat your back for a job well-done.

Being able to think independently may be the most important thing I've learned in my life.

Happiness may be easier not knowing how everything really works.

The world is in a better place than ever because of many people with caring hearts and intelligent minds who genuinely want to make life better.

I wonder if one of the best ways to find peace on earth would be for us to stop making movies about war.

If any endeavor that doesn't last our whole life is considered a failure, then most of us would never have any successes.

Individual people with helpful ideas to share may be more powerful and have the ability to change the world more than any time in the history of the world.

That which does not kill us makes us live longer.

I wonder if music could be one of the world's best weapons to help end war, violence, and country boundaries.

Teach a person to dream and they feed the world for a generation.

Matter not losing or failure, only learning for the future.

There is enough for everybody.

Sometimes when we're happy our life isn't as good as we think it is. Sometimes when we're sad our life isn't as bad as we think it is.

Be careful who you listen to and what news you subscribe to. Your life is determined by your thoughts and what you choose to feed your mind.

Intelligence and ignorance are two different paths to the goal of happiness, to be followed at different times.

I recently overheard the following fleeting and quick question and answer between two people, "Lotus like the insect, or lotus like the flower?" "Like lotus the car." Just in case you were wondering if we currently live in a culture of consumerism, capitalism, and materialism.

It takes more effort to be kind and considerate instead of reacting negatively, but it is worth the effort.