These start-ups pop up so fast I have a hard time checking out all of the services and products I want to, but I still try.

Here’s The Problem

The problem with this is that I have an account on nearly every new social media and web 2.0 service that exists, and I rarely use any of them. I am taking services and trying to make them fit somewhere, rather looking at new services and seeing if they actually present me with any sort of value.

I have a blog (obviously) and I have a Twitter account, FriendFeed, Socialthing!, orkut (I think, I’ve never used it), Facebook, MySpace (never use it)… Well, you get the picture.  When I hear about something I sign up, check it out, and rarely do I ever return. I am the epitome of the ADD super-connected web service junkie with the attention span of a gnat.

Case in point: I heard about Tumblr, which is a great little micro-blogging service that I was able to find some application for within our company. It is simple to use, and allows me to post short messages with a nice interface excluding the clutter of a more feature-filled service like WordPress. It is all I needed to solve a problem and nothing more. 

I decided that I should start a Tumblelog personally as well. I created it and started posting alongside this blog. My justification was, “I will use this to flesh out my ideas before posting them to the blog. Posts to Tumblr will be more reflective and will be a spring-board for full blog posts.” My Tumblr account turned into a personal journal and I wasn’t comfortable with juicy details about me on the interwebs. Plus, I already write in a journal. Regardless, I didn’t need a separate blog to flesh out blog ideas in the first place, that’s what drafts are for.

Here’s The Solution (Not Earth-Shattering, Mind You)

I was looking at my Tumblelog today and thinking, “What was I thinking? What am I going to do with this?” and I realized that I need to stop signing up for everything that crosses my path if there is no specific, immediate application for it. If I don’t need it, I don’t need it.

This epiphany also applies to other areas of life as well; I don’t need a new car, a bigger house (just yet), a Mont Blanc pen, a Rado watch, etc. Mass-marketing has turned me into a consumer and I hate myself for it. I already have far more than I need or in some cases have any right to, so I’m going to try and tone it down a bit.

Starting with my infatuation with new web services that I don’t need.

Something about the fact that everyone everywhere is creating new resolutions that they are feigning commitment to cheapens the whole underlying idea of self-improvement that New Year’s resolutions represent. If you really wanted to improve on something you would decide to do it on March 23rd or August 5th, not just because everyone else is doing it. Not just because that is the socially agreed-upon time to make some change (or state that you want to make some change).

With all that being said, I have some New Year’s resolutions but they have come about only coincidentally along with the new year. I recently bought and started reading “The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People”. It’s a great read and it has some information and ideas that are truly ground-breaking for me, especially the idea that our lives should be lived based on principles rather than based on people’s expectations or our personal goals.

Our goals should be a reflection of our principles and ultimately this is the only way that we can find satisfaction in achieving our goals. The importance is placed on identifying and committing to sound principles and one of the ways to do this is to create a “Personal Mission Statement”, “Personal Creed”, “Personal Manifesto”, etc. Tonight I began mine and I would like to share it with you.

This is my manifesto. I like “manifesto” because it sounds aggressive and underground and important. Where this manifesto differs from New Year’s resolutions is that these values or actions can always be improved or can continue all my life. It’s a work in progress and you can consider these as my New Year’s resolutions if you so choose:

• Get to know and love my God better.
• Consider people’s feelings.
• Consider my impact on the lives of others.
• Build deep relationships.
• Speak honestly, with sensitivity.
• Communicate early and often.
• Ask questions.
• Seek solutions.
• Do everything I can with what I have.
• Listen twice as much as I speak.
• Wake up before I NEED to, leave before I NEED to, arrive before I NEED to. Basically do things before I NEED to.
• Consider tomorrow today and next year this week.
• Make and keep commitments.
• Be available to others.
• Be supportive of others.
• Improve myself every year.
• Learn something new every day.
• Do something outside my comfort zone as often as possible.
• Express my creativity.
• Live transparently.

How about you? How do you feel about New Year’s resolutions? Do you make them? Do you keep them?

Ever since then it has been something in the back of my mind that I would love to support. I plan on supporting their work by buying some of their merch. They have stylish shirts and hoodies that stand out and make a statement.

You can support them too. Join me and nearly half a million other people for the 2nd annual TWLOHA Day today by writing “Love” on your arms. This is not an official TWLOHA event, but you can never go wrong by spreading the message of love.

Check out the Flickr Group, Facebook event and the official To Write Love on Her Arms website. Here’s some art that I did for the event:

I have to say that my single biggest struggle at this point in my life is probably procrastination. I put things off for far too long before ultimately deciding it must be done so I can get on with my life, or before it decides that it must be done before the world unravels around me due to my lack of action.

• Voicemail… I’ll check it later.
• Letter to send… I’ll send it tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow.
• That email doesn’t need to be dealt with now… I’m going to have a coffee now, I’ll deal with it after.

With Great Freedom Comes Great Responsibility

Unfortunately it is very easy for me to put off the things I need to do, even the things I want to do, because I have the ultimate freedom to do whatever I want whenever I want. I don’t have a rigid schedule at work each day, I have tasks that I must complete and fit into my day, but how and when I complete them is up to me. At home, no one else decides when I need to eat or clean or sleep or read or write or play guitar or… you get the point. I have all the freedom in the world.

The problem is, with any freedom you need to manage it properly. Just because I am free to complete a report tomorrow doesn’t mean I should leave it until then.

Just Do It!

Might as well do it now…

That is what I have been learning in recent years, that completing a task as soon as it comes to mind rather than putting it off until later means that the task gets completed, before it needs to be (and the world threatens to unravel). I can then focus on other tasks, new tasks, tasks that I want to complete. I am no longer focused on the growing inbox, the full voicemail box, the dirty dishes.

Get it done now and it doesn’t need to be done later. You will never “want to do it” or “feel like doing it”. That’s the thing about tasks and things we need to do, sometimes they suck, are monotonous and boring. But they still need to get done.

Limit Freedom, Create a Routine

Sometimes tasks can’t be done right away. There are often times where I feel like writing new music in the middle of the night, but my work will suffer in the morning if I do that. So I try to create routines where I can place the tasks that I need or want to do. If I have a (semi) rigid schedule to work within, there is less chance that I will procrastinate or become absorbed in some meaningless task like playing video games for 12 hours. 

Create a routine for when you get home, after you finish cooking, before you go to work, after you get home from work. Having short, simple, practiced routines will really help you get the tasks done that you would otherwise put off or forget.

Whatever you do, don’t let freedom kill your productivity.

Do you have a productivity tip for when you REALLY don’t feel like doing something?

Near Future Addition: Multiple Language Support

At the request of some users of the Bible Gateway iGoogle Gadget I will be adding have added additional languages to the gadget. As one user, Martin, pointed out, Bible Gateway allows different languages and translations, so it makes sense for the gadget to support additional languages as well.

You Can Help!

If you are interested in using the gadget in your language, and you are able to help with the translation, please send me the following information to  :

• Your name and email address
• Your website/blog link (if you have one)
• The language translated to from English
• The following words/phrases translated from English to the language of your choice (please include the English word/phrase you are translating from. Place the translation next to the word e.g. Search - Recherche):
  • Enter your search here
  • Search
  • More Information
  • Default Version
  • Hide Keyword Search?
  • Quick Search
  • Keyword
  • Match ALL words
  • Match ANY word
  • Match EXACT phrase
  • Match whole words only
  • Display
  • References only
  • Verses & references
  • Sort by
  • Book order
  • Relevance

I will use the first translation I receive for each language and give credit to the translator on the Google Gadget information page, along with a link to their website or blog.

Thanks in advance for your help! Together we can make this gadget appeal to more and more people, by delivering the ability to search Bible Gateway in their own language!

Thanks and Blessings!

- Trey

Bible Gateway is a great site where you can search the Bible for verses or topics. I use it every morning to do my daily reading and the search functions are top notch. I created the Google Gadget to use from my iGoogle page where my reading schedule is on my Google Calendar. If you use iGoogle you can add the gadget by visiting the information page and clicking the Add to Google button.

If you have suggestions or questions about the gadget check out the information page and get in touch.

In about a month I will be moving out into the unknown, into my first condo. There are a whole lot of things that will change at this time, but the scariest of all of them is that I will have to cook for myself — and survive what I cook for myself.

Luckily, Dave Navarro (@davenavarro) of Rock Your Day just posted a tweet about Sushi Day, a blog that posts sushi recipes.

This week’s featured recipe over at Sushi Day is the Crazy California Roll. Looks like fun to make, and I love sushi! Let’s just hope I have better luck than Allison (@sushiday) when I set to make myself some Crazy California rolls. :D

Does anyone know of some good blogs/sites where there are easy, classy recipes for a young bachelor such as myself to take a stab at? (The pun is absolutely intended!)

Right now in my life I have made the decision to undertake something important and I am not sure what the outcome will be. I am putting a lot on the line to take this course of action and I have no way to know or control the outcome. It scares me to death! But that’s really all I can plan for, just the step that I will take.

The Problem With Human Plans

The funny thing about planning is that it doesn’t guarantee success or the lack of pain. We think that if we plan and research diligently enough we can avoid pain or mistakes or outright failure. The problem is that most of us see planning as a set of results; the outcome of the actions we take rather than the actions themselves.

You cannot plan an outcome. The outcomes or consequences of every action you take are determined by millions of external factors that you cannot even remotely hope to control or even have any knowledge of in most cases. We are just human, and we can only take responsibility for our own actions. Only God could use all of the factors, hidden and seen, to plan an actual result. As humans, we are relegated to looking only steps ahead of ourselves and moving forward with the information and insight that we have access to.

“You Can Plan a Pretty Picnic, But You Can’t Predict the Weather.”

Any plan has both a degree of success and of failure built in. Some actions are safer than others, having a long history of success, such as a sales technique that has worked for thousands or a public speaking style that has engaged millions of people in different audiences. Some plans are filled with unknowns, and there is really no information that you can find or research that can be done to shed more light on the possible outcomes. By taking an action that you know has worked many times in the past, you can pretty safely guess what the outcome will be right?

Not necessarily. Even the safe plans have unforeseen external forces that can make the consequence of your actions undesirable. Maybe you used a particular joke at all of your sales calls and it worked splendidly to break the ice between you and your potential client, but one day you told the joke to the one person who finds it offensive. No sale.

You cannot plan an outcome. I like the way Andre 3000 said it in “Ms. Jackson”, “You can plan a pretty picnic but you can’t predict the weather.”

Have Good Reasons Behind Your Plans

You need to make sure that you have the right reasons for the actions you take. Let’s pretend that you really feel that you need to tell a friend something important, but it is something that may wreck your relationship for the rest of your lives. You also know that more harm may come of keeping it unknown.

What outcome can you expect? Will your friend value your honesty? Will they become upset or untrusting? Will they never speak to you again?

There is really no way to know, but you know what you must do. And you know why.

Plan an Action

Now that you realize that you can only be responsible for your actions, you need to plan an action. Maybe you need to plan a set of actions. Just make sure that the possible negative outcomes don’t hold you back from the positive action that you must take. It’s really very easy to plan an action, just think,

“What am I going to do? Why?”

That’s it. If your planned action is for the right reasons, do it. What comes next can be dealt with as it comes. A lot of the decisions we make need to come to blind faith. Faith that no matter what happens, the action you took was the right action and that through the consequences you will be taken care of and you will come through. You may be hoping for a particular outcome, but just know that even if you don’t get the outcome you really wanted, there was a reason for it. There was something to be learned or experienced.

I hope that the action I need to take results in something spectacular. It has that potential. It also has the potential to utterly destroy me. Naturally, I’m pretty apprehensive about the whole thing. But I know what I need to do…

Is there something that you know that you must do but are afraid to do it for all the unknowns? Or is there an action you took in the past, knowing that there was a huge potential for failure, that resulted in something beautiful? Share with us in the comments.

Is there a way to live from our souls outward rather than from our body inward?

I have read much from spiritual experts who say there is a vast universe within us that we can learn to tap into and utilize in our day-to-day journeys. Most of them inform us of this and guide us through the process of learning how to use this resource to satisfy our carnal desires; a big house, fast cars, a beautiful wife, a beautiful family.

I think that generally these people are on to something, they have a lot of knowledge and useful advice, but the focus of these books/videos/etc. is backwards

Shouldn’t we be nourishing our souls, rather than pimping them to satisfy our flesh? Shouldn’t we use our bodies and time on this earth to satisfy our souls and the souls of others?

I rarely get the soul/body balance right. Most of my time is focused on things that exist in a dying world full or scratch the itch of a dying body. When we die and this world disappears will it matter that I was the best CEO, programmer, Guitar Hero? I doubt it, yet that’s where the majority of my time — and I’m sure yours too — is allocated.

We simply exist, working hard to survive and then entertaining ourselves to numb the pain and monotony of merely existing and surviving. If all there is to this life is surviving and entertaining myself to forget or dull the pain from the suffering and struggles, I want off this ride now.

But I know there is more and know I’ve barely scratched the surface in discovering all there is to know about it.

I can’t wait for heaven, I wish I could go now. This world sucks and my flesh sucks and my soul is screaming to be let out to go to a better place. Maybe it’s a cry for home.

But that isn’t where I am in the master plan just yet. I have to continue and learn how to feed my soul and the souls of others around me. I need to learn how to operate from the command centre of my soul rather then the switchboard of my ego.

I pray the journey isn’t longer than it needs to be. I suppose when put into perspective next to eternity, it won’t be.

What do you think makes up who “you” are? Is it a physical description, such as skills and hobbies and job positions that end once you die? Or is it a spiritual description, such as divine purpose and an eternal home and soul cravings?

This week has been a week full of soul-searching and deep thought. Although I regret that I’ve missed two blog posts, I have had a lot of blog-worthy thoughts go through my head and writings go down in my notebook.

As much as I want to stay consistent with my posts, I really don’t want to post a bunch of ‘fluff’ posts such as links, etc.. Link posts can be interesting, but I don’t write a blog to share links, I write a blog to practice writing and have conversation.

So I just posted this ‘fluff’ post to let everyone know that I will be back soon. Probably tomorrow.

It’s an interesting topic I would like to post, a little, well… odd maybe. Sometimes I have those odd thoughts that most people don’t think about. At least if they do they are smart enough not to share those thoughts, but I’m not that smart.

Talk to you tomorrow! You can decide then if it’s an odd thought or a really ground-breaking thought. I think it’s really an earth-shattering thought personally.