I got a very good review at work yesterday. Not as good as I did before (110% vs 115%), but good enough. And with a quarterly base increased by 10%, the payout is very nice. Plus, we were at 100% company rate, so overall, a very nice raise. I am sure happy with it.
So with that money, we can go ahead and start our kitchen renovation. I think it should be really cool to have the house updated!
A new initiative at work, reports, is what has given me the edge at work. It has also made the work I do there interesting. It’s my baby. I know it. And others know it.
My face as a result changed.
There is some resistance in terms of putting out a new initiative in place. My irregular expressions blog. I don’t know if it will hurt or help. I might develop some negative reaction to it. Might not be worth doing. Perhaps I add it as a blog to confluence? That’s an option.
Starting the day with spending 5 minutes or so writing is a great idea. I used to put it off at work. Or feel tired when I go to sleep.
I feel refreshed in the morning! And I seem to have a fresh mind in the morning as well. I hope it continues.
Bonus time is today. I expect to get a very good review. I’ve been trying hard to do the best work possible. I think I’m continuing to do what’s expected of me.
Am I going beyond? Not really. I guess I have to start doing that more.
Can I do more? Sure. I can be an example to others. I can challenge others. I can do it! Sure I can.
I think I do a good job at work. I don’t cause problems. I work mostly on my own. I create things. I get things done on time. And I do quality work.
Can I do better?
Of course. I am thinking about sending out an email letter to others. But I’m hesitant. Other people are doing lunch and learns. I should create my version of self improvement.
My son had a very good sing-a-long practice yesterday. I’m proud of him. He’s trying. He’s not perfect. But I dont’ want him to. He’s trying. I like that. I love that! Over the autumn, he did not try very hard to play soccer. He was just 5. Weird age, to be honest. We will sign him up again and try again. I will buy soccer net so we can practice. I think it should be fun, fun, fun.
And one other thing. Fabian is into basketball. I love watching the Knicks with him. He really gets into it. It’s very, very interesting. And it allows me to spend time with him.
I really need to take advantage of the time with him and try to teach him things. I know I”m lazy. But not a lot is required. I think we can have even better time as a result!
So far being a home owner is very enjoyable. Yes, there is more work. Yes, it’s much more expensive. But it’s really much more satisfying!
The biggest difference is when I look at my kids. Their options opened up! Really. They can do much, much more now. They have a nice playable basement. They have a great backyard. They can really do all they want.
I am learning quite a few things as well.
This year, I want to work on our lawn. I want to make it greener. I want to improve the structure of it. I want to aerate it. And I want to build a basin or two in the back to improve the water flow.
Seems like a never ending fun! And that’s why we love the house.
Yes, we do. We really love it!
I’m a weirdo. I am different. Sometimes that’s good, but not always.
I am focused on myself a lot. I like to do things for myself. I like to read. I like to keep working on myself.
As a result, my family suffers. Not really suffers, but does not benefit as much..
A lot of times I”m just tired.
Waking up at 5am has its benefits. But I feel tired. A lot. Around 9 and after, it’s hard for me to stay up. My wife is on a different schedule, so she would like to do things.
I don’t have an answer to me being tired yet. I have to at least try to be refreshed during the week so I don’t feel so tired on a weekend. That’s one approach. The other? Get some more sleep on a weekend. I’m going to do that. I will wake up at 6am on a weekend. I tried changing it to 5, 5:30, 5:45. But I should stop playing around. When I wake up at 6, I still have some time to read, to write this blog entry, to do things! And as a result I will be less tired.
When I come from work, I need to spend an hour or so with my kids. Playing, reading, etc. Kids, kids, kids. Not me. Nothing else. I should challenge them. I should interest them. Anything. Take them for a ride. Go outside and play. Go inside and have fun. No tv. No video games. Just plain human interaction.
I owe myself to spend at least that much every day with my preciuos. Otherwise, time flies. They grow up. And I will miss this time and regret not doing that.
Only a first day that I write in the morning! It doesn’t hurt to try it out and see how it works.
One of my goals is to do the things I feel resistance to. Yes, there is some resistance that I feel before sitting down and starting to write. That’s a good things. Sure, I’d like to check out how the Knicks did yesterday (lost badly, btw). Yes, I’d like to read some WSJ. Yes, I’d like to read something newsy. But that’t not the point. The point is to learn from experience. The point is to write about something that I experienced the day earlier. And that’s not “easy” and thus the resistance. That only tells me that I should do it!
One of the other things that I find myself slacking is writing my daily goals. My success rate is not that great lately. I am wondering whether I should change the schedule to morning as well. Brian Tracy recommeds writing it right before going to sleep, or the first thing in the morning. I think I find it more valuable when I do it at night. When I do that, I wake up more motivated. But not writing it is worse than writing it at a wrong time. That’s why I should do it before sleep or right after I wake up.
So, without further ado, I’ll go ahead and strart writing my goals.
I have stopped writing in this journal lately. Too many things going on. Is writing it towards the end of my working day a bad idea then? Perhaps. Then I should consider writing it the first thing in the morning! I think I’m going to give it a try next week.
What? Write for 10 minutes about pretty much anything.
Yeah, writing it the first thing in the morning might be a good idea. It’ll set the pace for the day. The downside, of course, is that I’ll forget things. I usually don’t remember a lot from the previous day. But writing is better than no writing!
New year. New beginnings.
Major theme for me at the beginning of the year is to step back and look at how I can improve things.
One such thing is simplifying! Reduce information overload is another way of looking at it.
Remove blogs from RSS reader.
Remove the number of people I follow on Twitter.
Done that. And seems like it’s helping me a lot!
It’s time to start writing my journal again! I stopped. I lost motivation. I did not find the time.
Excuses.
I benefit from writing. I improve as a result from it. I get motivation from it. I improve my writing as a result.
That’s why I need to be doing it every day. Even on a weekend. I have to find 5 minutes every day. Is allocating 5 minutes for something that’s useful too much? I don’t think so. I need to do better. There’s really no excuses. Get it done Stas!