4 Jan What Has Become Of The Republican Party?

What Has Become Of The Republican Party?

Yesterday was a sad display of where the Republican party has come under Trump. While the Democrats were celebrating taking control of the House with a very diverse set of people, the Republicans sat there and watched.  Who was watching?  An overwhelming number of old white guys.  They could have been gracious and applauded the Democrats, but they chose to just sit there.  

And even worse was the spectacle playing out at the White House.  While the Democrats were getting great tv coverage, Trump decides to have a press conference.  This is so small of him.  He knew he would get tv coverage.  He did not disappoint.  He said some of the most ignorant things a President has ever said.  Not just recent presidents, but in the history of all of them. He once again proved just how dumb he really is.  It was said to see clips of it. 

The Republican party has no conscious now.  They put their trust in Trump and have rode him to the bottom.  Unless there is some drastic change in the next 2 years, they are going to be a very minority party after the 2020 elections.  

I know there are many people who support the Republican party and what it to return to its roots. That may eventually happen but it will take a large purge of the Trump ass kissers and the “Freedom Caucus .”  That will take time, maybe many years.  I don’t particularly care.  I am an independent.  I can’t support anyone who continued to support Trump after the things he has done. I want at least two strong parties because we need that for a healthy democracy.  Trump republicans are not it.   

3 Jan 2019 Why Do I Have Targets Not Goals?

Why Do I Have Targets Not Goals?

Most people around New Years come up with a list of goals for the year. For any it is to get into better shape.   The challenge with this is there is no measurable way to track progress or success. If you set a target instead of a goal, then you have a metric based way of tracking things.  With a target, you can also break it down into sub-components to measure how well you are doing.  

It is ok and desirable to make significant targets you want to achieve. In fact, you should make a target that seems almost impossible.  I say almost because a target has to have some reality to it.  If your target is to make one million dollars in income this year and you are only making fifty thousand, then there is very little reality in what you want to do.  However, if your target were $150k, thus tripling your income, then it would be a big challenge but not out of the question. 

It may seem daunting on how you get there.   This is where you need milestones.  It can be weekly, monthly or quarterly. For me it is all three.  I will have specific targets over each of these timeframes. This will allow me to course correct as needed. 

All of my targets are challenging.  It comes down to am I willing to do the work necessary?  I can plan all day long.  I can come up with detailed metrics.  However, the day in and day work determine success.  Do the work required, period.  No excuses.  Blame no one. Take total ownership.   Simple yes, easy no.  Worth it? Absolutely. 

2 Jan 2019 What Is My Why?

What Is My Why?

Most people have trouble defining why they want or need something.  They have no problem saying what they want or need. A coach told me that unless you can articulate your why you will not have a burning desire to achieve your want. Without that burning desire there is no chance of you obtaining your want.

My challenge in the past has been defining my why.  During the past year I had some things happen that brought my why into focus.  I received a medical diagnosis that was an easy fix but let me know just how easy things could change.  I also had another potential medical issue that turned out to be not the issue we thought it could.  These two events finally convinced me that I have to take better care of my physical self. 

My personal life also underwent some challenges that told me I have to make changes there too.  It is never easy to have a breakup of a marriage.  No matter how close you remain, someone always is hurt.  I can only reassure that the breakup will be done with integrity.  It is not the case where one has to win and the other loses.  Neither of us wants that.   We have no immediate timetable.  We will move forward as both are able to get organized and eventually relocated. 

I do have the burning desire to take charge of my life and get on the path to realizing all I can.  It is an exciting future.  2019 will see a tremendous transformation in my life.  I look forward to meeting all my targets and see the changes.   

1 Jan 2019 What’s In Store For 2019?

What’s In Store For 2019?

There are millions of people who say they are going to make big changes in their in life starting today.  Health and fitness clubs all over are crammed for the month.  Slowly but surely this dies out and by March things get back to normal.  They can almost guarantee it because they see it every year.

Why does this happen?  Because people don’t have their why.  Is 1 Jan really any different of a day?  No.  It has been used as a reason to start on some path to better their lives.  I know of this organization that uses December as a time to get people to start the habits and routines for a better life specifically so their mindset it not fixated on 1 Jan.  Many people gain weight between Thanksgiving and New Year because of all the holiday activities that have “bad” food.  If you start making changes on 1 Dec you may limit that weight gain.  I have started on the change process myself over the past several months. 

What is in store for me?  To make any change you should declare it publicly, so you have accountability.  There has to be some measurable component.  Here is my declaration.

I will optimize my body for fitness and life.  Whatever that translates into a specific weight I will accept.  My target is to fit into pants with a waist size of 34.  

I will treat food more as a fuel than an indulgence.  I will allow myself plenty of times to enjoy it, however, for the most part I will respect what I eat. My target is one “cheat day” a week.

I will continue to enhance my spiritual journey.  That does not mean any specific religious path but a realization that there are powers “out there” greater than me.  My target is to attend a 10-day silent mediation retreat. 

I will get my personal relationships in order.  I have some that need to be altered and others enhanced.  My financial target is debt free by 2020.

I will transition my business life to one where I can be location independent. My target is a consulting business by 2020.

I will provide monthly status updates on each.  

As someone said, “you have to get comfortable being uncomfortable if you want to see great change.”

Happy New Year!

31 Dec 2918 How Did The Year Go?

How Did The Year Go?

I started this blog with the one goal of posting something every day.  Well here we are at the end of the year and I did accomplish what I set out to do.  I did not meet all the goals I set for personal development.  I have made big strides in some areas of my life. Over the course of the year I have ranted a lot about President Trump.  I think I bashed him more than any one group or individual.  I think I only repeated myself a few times.  I may have covered the same topic from different angles but not outright the same.  I did do two postings on opioids that were very similar.

At the start of the year I was going to use this tracking system to make sure I did not have duplicate postings.  That fell by the wayside pretty quick.  For the most part I had no problem coming up with things to write about. There were a couple of times it was down to late the night before or even early in the morning a posting was due. 

I can’t say there was a posting I wished I had not done.  I may not have been as persuasive in some of my arguments in some postings.  Also, I may not have been as empathetic or compassionate as I could have been. This is especially true for the topics that are labeled as a disease when I say it is a choice.  That is ok. We need healthy, honest and open dialogue.  

What have I learned?  I gained great respect for people who have done this for a long time.  Getting content out every day is a grind at times.  I have to admit there were a couple of times I was ready to just stop.  But the weeks and months did pass.  

Will I continue?  I am not sure.  I am thinking about a longer form that is posted weekly. I am also considering going back to podcasts.   Or maybe I will do a combination of two.  I guess I better decide soon as the New Year is upon us.

Thanks for following me on this journey over the past year.  Let’s see where 2019 takes us.

30 Dec 2018 Am I Optimistic About The Future?

Am I Optimistic About The Future?

I know a lot of my postings are negative in tone, especially the ones about President Trump and Congress.  However, those are short-term in nature.  A new President will get elected at some point and Congress will swing back and forth between the two parties in power.  The overall institutions for the country are strong and are resilient.  Do we have big issues, absolutely?  There is a growing chasm between young and old, with young being under 35 and old over 55.  Both have large numbers to impact elections.  Each have different views (in a global sense) on where the country should go. This is ok and healthy for a democracy. But they should fix what they agree on and not just oppose each other.

It will be interesting to see how the country evolves when the white population is less than 50% and become a majority minority.  For the young crowd I don’t think this will be the big issue as they are much more integrated then the older crowd was. Slowly but surely our institutions will start to reflect the changing demographics.

On the world stage, the biggest challenge will be to see if Russia and China transition to democratic rule vice authoritative rule. If each stay on their current path, then there is a greater chance for conflict due to the ruthless nature of dictatorships. There is a positive in that both of their economies depend on the rest of the world. This is especially true for China. The United States and China are deeply inter-wined economically. Both depend on the other to maintain their countries standing.

The one big thing that tempers my optimism is that of the Islamic faith. Islam is very similar to where the Catholic Church was 500 years ago. Islam needs to have their reformation. Also, Sunni Islam and Shia Islam have to settle their centuries old disagreements. I doubt in my lifetime I will see these changes. But as each country modernizes the people will not want to live the austere life as dictated by the radical side of Islam.

I am optimistic about the future. Every generation produces great leaders who transform the world for the better. The future is always bright if you demand accountability from your politicians and you go out and vote.

29 Dec 2018 How Often Do You Think “What If?”

How Often Do You Think “What If?”

You should always look to the past for lessons learned. As the saying goes those who do not study history are doomed to repeat it. However, there is a big difference from studying lessons learned and spending time asking yourself “What If?”

Everybody can look back on their lives and point to specific decisions they made. Many of these decisions had a big impact. Some may have come out as you wanted, and others may have brought about results that had their own challenges. For those challenging ones it is easy to get into the trap of trying to predict what would’ve happened if you made a different choice?  It is easy to assume that the alternate choice would not have had as many challenges. That is wishful thinking at best. You make a decision at that time with the best information that you have. If your decision is based on a lot of factual data, then there is a good chance you can predict how things may come out in the near-term. Now near term may mean days or months or at most a year. It is very difficult to predict many things after a year and the difficulty grows exponentially each succeeding year.

If your decision is based on more emotion then facts, then your desired outcome is even less predictable. You may get some satisfaction in going back and asking yourself what if I made a different decision, however it really is a waste of time and more importantly a waste of emotional energy. Just accept that you made the best decision at the time. If better data comes up, you can always make a course correction. Learn from the past just don’t dwell on the past.