One Year Twenty Times

If you could go back in time and talk to yourself at twenty years of age, what would you tell yourself? This is a hypothetical game people well over 20 years of age sometimes play which is more mental blather than something anyone takes very seriously. I've seen it as a time waster on social media or sometimes as an icebreaker for a small group. I have to admit it's something on which I've pondered more seriously as I've aged but I often find the more common answers to be rote, predictable and common.

I've considered the question often enough to come up with a variant. If today, I got a visit from myself twenty years from the future, what would my future self say to me today?

I think this idea may have something to do with what Albert Einstein called a thought experiment. What would my older self tell me today? Better still, if not a little darker, if today I mysteriously visited myself on my deathbed, in the future, the last day of my life, what would the dying me say to the younger me? 

I'm considering being Santa Clause during this year's holiday season and it's prompted me to think of myself on my deathbed. Would I regret being Santa or would I be happy about not doing it? Would my old self from the future say to me "do Santa" or would my old self say "playing Santa is stupid"?

I may as well ask myself many, many more questions about taking chances, risking failure, being uncomfortable or inconvenienced for the sake of a more meaningful and purposeful life. 

Fortune favors the bold.

Shut Up and Draw is a book I wrote recently which is full of humorous art and stories about how I came to be a cartoonist. It's available on Amazon. Just click here

Do Something

As I said in yesterday's blog, doing hard things eliminates most of your competition but 95% of everybody, even if they vow to do something, change their minds in short order. It's not unlike a new year's resolution to loose 25lbs but when  it comes down to changing eating habits and exercising, most people are unwilling to put in the work. It's too hard.

 

The Secret to Good Cooking

If I do something then I've eliminated most of my competition. Most people want to write a book. Most people want to start their own business. There are many things most people want to do but never get around to it.

My father was a career fireman but it wasn't originally what he wanted to do. He regarded his job as a fireman as only temporary until he found something better but that never happened. He freely admitted it so it wasn't like he was oblivious and for that matter, most people are aware of how time slips away. A very common statement is "where did the time go".

It all comes down to the matter of displaying the behavior required to have the things for which we pray. If we have ideas, talent, a skill or any of the other ingredients it takes to make our life meaningful then what more can we ask? God isn't going to wave a magic wand and make what we want. It takes some work.

 

Setting Goals Doesn't Work...You Do

I wrote a blog post a couple of days  ago (Jan 10) about the difference between a pelican and eagle and a great way to relate it to ourselves are the goals we set and reach. Someone once said (I think it was me) "do hard things". If my objectives are too easy then I'll not accomplish much but the other side of that coin says if my aim is unrealistic and out of reach, well, again, I'll not get very far, if anywhere.

There is a caveat. No matter what my objective, if I don't implement a plan then there is no point in even setting it. There are hundreds of books, speeches and posts about setting goals but much fewer on actually putting in the work to reach said goal. 

 

Fool, Genius or Both

I've often been complimented for my drawings which isn't unusual. Even mediocre artists are often praised for there drawings. How typical it is, whether as a profession or as a hobby, artwork is verbally appreciated but when it comes down to actually supporting the artist financially by hiring him/her or buying the art itself, people generally loose their  enthusiasm. I can't count the number of times people would want me to either draw them or draw at an event only to suddenly clam up when I mention compensation.

There are also the countless times I've presented some art as a gift only to discover it was discarded or left in the junk drawer which is why, now, I rarely make a gift of my drawings. 

The challenge and the real goal, if the desire is to be a professional artist, is to sell the art, in considerable quantities or at a fair price. However, as summarized above, even though we, as proud artists, think our work is valuable, most people don't see it that way as they prefer to decorate there homes with the bland, mass produced prints sold at big box stores.

The key, whether the product is art or shoes, or furniture, or life insurance, is that we have to find qualified buyers. That's the rub, as they say. It takes the business side of our minds; not just the artistic part.

Don't be a Pelican

Several years ago I worked on a boat in the Gulf of Mexico and our job was to travel from one oil rig to another and inspect them for structural integrity. Some of the rigs were quite large with 100's of workers but a surprising number of them were small, unoccupied structures with barely enough room for one person to stand. It was on these rigs that I developed an opinion of pelicans, of all things.

Pelicans preferred those small rigs and gathered in flocks, perched at the highest point and sit there but that's not all they did. They pooped a lot. And I mean a lot, in large amounts and often. They have a diet of strictly fish so the smell of there "droppings" was quite pungent. As I would climb out of the boat onto those nasty rigs, the deck on which I walked was thick with white poop slime which made my job more difficult and unpleasant. Those birds would sit above me and look at me with what I thought was nothing more than a stupid expression. They had nothing to do. They were away from predators , they have no nests to protect so all they did was sit there, eat the occasional fish and poop.

Over the years I've come to the conclusion that I can be a pelican. If I think like a disgusting pelican, I'll be a disgusting pelican. If I think like an eagle, a majestic symbol of excellence, which soars high above, I'll be more like an eagle. It's all about habits. I can have pelican habits or eagle habits.

What can those habits be? I may very well ask what's my behavior. My habits of behavior can be defined by what TV programs I watch, what I do on the internet, my work habits or how I talk to my wife. What kind of food do I eat? How do I spend my free time? What books do I read? What music do I listen to?

With the priorities I've set for business and personally, I know Life is too short to be a stupid pelican. 

The Discomfort Zone

Performance anxiety, discomfort and all the associated malaise is a sign of growth. It's not the fake it till you make it con because in this line of work If you "fake it" people will know it.

Anything worth doing is worth doing poorly until you learn to do it well.

Isn't it Grand!

I'm a pretty good student of words as I've found great interest and some profit in writing to accompany the humorous art I produce, so it's no surprise that when I come across a word or phrase I'm unfamiliar with, I don't skim over it and ignore it. In most cases I will seek out it's definition and proper use and somehow work it into my repertoire if for no other reason than to become more familiar with it so I can recall it when the situation arises.

Recently, in my readings, I came across the word "climacteric" which is one that describes with a great deal of accuracy, my 60th birthday only one week ago today. The definition from Merriam-Webster's is "a major turning point or critical stage". It's often associated with a period in a male's life during his physiological and psychological change related to normal aging. 

I regard my 60th as the grand climacteric in my life as I am deeply aware that I am aging and  that my days will run out eventually, as we all will experience. I refer to 2022 as the year of decision when I go over on the offensive to finally turn things around for the sake of my legacy if nothing else.

 

Attention to Detail

This morning, I was unexpectedly put in a position to lead a regular meeting of business owners when the usual leaders were a no-show. I decided to share my recent discovery of James Clear's book Atomic Habits in which he describes a series of small habits, some of which we already do, that can be improved upon or started and can lead to disproportionately large improvements. 

This is my approach to this new year which I will likely adopt in much the same way I adopted Acceptance and Commitment Training a number of years ago. My reason is that I already have the tools and many associated habits and all I need do is put them together in aggregation, working together to make 22 a good year.

Resolutions are Overrated

I haven't made a New Year resolution since I don't know when; at least since I've become my own boss. This isn't an indictment against those who do, but it seems so superficial when the projects I was working on last month are the same ones I'm working on this month.  

Others may agree and suggest  "only set goals". Yes, goals are something I also set but aren't my goals consistent enough that l don't have to renew them once a year and then only at the beginning of the year?

Cervantes said "the road is better than the inn". If I regard the coming year as a journey with a destination which includes objectives along the way, in the form of tiny habits, atomic habits as coined by James Clear, designed to alter my behavior for the long term, them the result is bound to be positive.