Weekend jaunt to the Zoo, this is life as it's meant to be

I’ve started to read this blog: http://www.handsfreemama.com/, an amazing blog that mirrors what I’ve been saying here. A powerful post to read is this one, http://www.handsfreemama.com/2011/06/07/missing-more-than-life/, I highly recommend reading it as a parent, as a father, and as a techie responsible for these very tools of social distraction. Scroll down to the bottom of that blog post to the “I Know” portion written about the author’s daughter Avery, that’s when it hits home.

But not anymore!

I admit it, while I started on this path months ago I’ve since lost my way. After being re-inspired to remove distractions from my life in order to focus my time, energy, and attention on those that matter most, I decided to once again go “Facebook Free”. I’ve already gone Google+, Twitter, and Instagram free for months now. Last night I deactivated my Facebook account. It usually takes up to a week before the need to check Facebook subsides. In the meantime there are so many healthier habits to adopt, I can’t wait! Here’s to living more, posting less. Join me?

What you can do is often simply a matter of what you will do.

- Said by Reason in The Phantom Tollbooth

I was reading the Phantom Tollbooth to my daughter for her bedtime story when this passage came up and I thought, wow, that’s a powerful message and so I’m sharing it with you… the Phantom Tollbooth is a great story too if you haven’t read it (as a kid or as an adult, although I liked it better as an adult).

Opportunities are never missed; They’re just picked up by someone else.

- Unknown.

Came across this great quote shared by Noe on Facebook. Such an awesome quote because it’s so true. Opportunity is only opportunity if you’re prepared to take advantage of it. Seize it and make it yours!

Real adventure is defined best as a journey from which you may not come back alive, & certainly not as the same person.

– Yvon Chouinard. Shared on Facebook by Joyce Kim.

What an awesome quote. There’s many adventures in life and they don’t all require you to travel to faraway places.

Those who don’t believe in magic will never find it.

–Roald Dahl

I believe. I teach my kids to believe… without it the world would be a dull place indeed.

Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid.

- Albert Einstein

At the door of the miserable rich man sleeps the contented beggar.

- Tibetan saying shared recently on Facebook by the Dalai Lama.

There’s a great blog post this morning on HBR, No is the New Yes. Of the four practices, I do number three and four daily. I do what works for me and I suggest you do what works best for you. From the HBR blog post:

Saying no, thoughtfully, may be the most undervalued capacity of our times. In a world of relentless demands and infinite options, it behooves us to prioritize the tasks that add the most value. That also means deciding what to do less of, or to stop doing altogether.

IT NEW YEAR. YOU SUCK.

TIME TO DESTROY SUCK, BE AWESOME INSTEAD.

ME, FAKEGRIMLOCK, SAY BEST WAY IS BE STARTUP. BE LEAN. FIND MARKET. ITERATE UNTIL AWESOME.

NOW.

IT TIME FOR STARTUP YOU.

STEP 1: BE LEAN

YOUR LIFE FULL OF FAIL. EVERY DAY LIFE PAINT NEW LAYER OF EASY, LAZY, DO NOTHING ON YOU. YOU COVERED IN FAIL PAINT.

EVERYTHING NOT MAKE LONG TERM WIN IS FAIL PAINT. WORLD OF WARCRAFT. FACEBOOK. HANG OUT WITH LOSERS. EAT ANOTHER BIG MAC.

EACH TRIP THROUGH DRIVETHROUGH OF FAIL TURN YOUR TIME AND MONEY INTO MORE NOTHING. YOU WANT HAVE SOMETHING? FIND MCDONALDS OF YOUR SOUL.

BURN IT TO THE GROUND.

DESTROY FAIL PAINT. LIFE NEED ONLY TWO THINGS:

1. STAY ALIVE

2. WIN

STOP DOING EVERYTHING ELSE.

STEP 2: FIND MARKET

MOST PEOPLE SPEND LIFE DOING THINGS THAT SUCK.

STOP.

LEAN LIFE ONLY HAVE THINGS THAT WIN. ONE OF THEM THING YOU LOVE TO DO.

DO THAT INSTEAD.

SOMEWHERE PEOPLE WANT WHAT YOU DO. SOMEHOW IS WAY GIVE IT TO THEM.

MAKE THAT HAPPEN.

DO THING YOU LOVE MAKE YOU MORE AWESOME. GIVE THING YOU LOVE TO OTHERS MAKE YOU MORE AWESOME. YOU MORE AWESOME MAKE YOU BETTER AT DO EVERYTHING.

THIS YOUR AWESOME ENGINE. WHEN IT TURN, YOU WIN.

TURN THAT ENGINE.

STEP 3: ITERATE UNTIL AWESOME

GET STARTED EASY. KEEP GOING HARD. YOU MUST BURN TO ESCAPE LAND OF DO NOTHING.

LAND OF DO NOTHING FULL OF FAIL. MOST PEOPLE AFRAID. DO NOTHING.

YOU NOT MOST PEOPLE.

MAKE THING YOU LOVE INTO FIST. SHOVE INTO BIGGEST FAIL YOU CAN HANDLE. SURVIVE PAIN. LEARN. REPEAT UNTIL WIN.

NOW FIND BIGGER FAIL.

PATH OUT OF NOTHING IS STACK OF WIN. CHOOSE RIGHT FAILS AND STACK WIN INTO VICTORY.

BUT WAIT, THERE MORE…

STEP 4: BALANCE

THIS PART EVERYONE FORGET.

BE AWESOME FOR 1 YEAR, BURNT OUT HUSK FOR REST OF LIFE NOT GOOD PLAN.

OPTIMIZE TO WIN FOR LIFE. USE WIN CAPACITORS.

WIN CAPACITOR NOT MAKE WIN ON OWN. IT STORE AWESOME FOR MAKE BIGGER WIN.

GOOD FOOD. SLEEP. BE FIT, HEALTHY. FRIENDS THAT NOT SUCK. HOT LOVING. NICE DOG. ALL GIVE EXTRA AWESOME WHEN TIME TO WIN.

FIND RIGHT WIN CAPACITORS FOR YOU. STACK TOGETHER, SPEND TIME MAKE THEM GREAT. EVERY SECOND SPEND ON WIN CAPACITOR IS 5 SECONDS OF MORE WIN WHEN NEED IT.

STEP 5: BE AWESOME, NOT ASSHOLE

THIS OTHER PART EVERYONE FORGET.

BE AWESOME FEEL GOOD. IF NOT FEEL EVEN BETTER FOR EVERYONE ELSE, YOU DOING IT WRONG.

BE AWESOME IS BURN WITH FIRE THAT MAKE EVERYONE WARM. BURN FOR JUST YOU IS BE ASSHOLE.

FORGET YOU. BE AWESOME FOR WORLD. BE AWESOME FOR SELF HAPPEN ON OWN.

THAT IT.

YOU READY. PEEL AWAY FAIL PAINT, STRAP AWESOME ENGINE TO BACK, GRAB WIN CAPACITORS AND ROCKET INTO SKY ON STACK OF WIN.

ONLY THING THAT STOP YOU IS YOU. GET OUT OF OWN WAY, SET COURSE TO AWESOME.

STARTUP YOU.