I’ve been reading a book called “Death by Suburbs” – and basically it lays out all the spiritual sucker punches that suburban culture will throw at you. The most prevailing theme throughout the book is that of “Immortality Symbols” – those things through which we feel we can gain enlightenment/contentment, but never truly can. These things include the cars, houses, portfolios, achievements, job titles, and, surprisingly, the scholastic and athletic achievements of our children.

We spend too much time in our lives rushing towards and stressing over these things – which in our minds leave some sort of legacy, but in truth are mostly empty gestures and plastic trophies on a basement shelf. Being a Type A-ish personality, and entrepreneur, and having a self-proclaimed desire to earn money and be successful, I found these revelations both obvious and a little painful to apply to my own life. All that, and I’m one of the lucky ones – I don’t pull 60 hour weeks or travel constantly. I have a pretty standard schedule and a surprisingly laid-back work environment for someone who is, in my opinion anyway, reasonably successful.

So, why was the philosophy of Immortality Symbols somewhat difficult for me to accept? Honestly, I’m not sure. I think more than anything, that it instilled in me a fear of wasted time – both in business and in life. I’m fine with the “things” portion – I want to build wealth so my family can be comfortable and safe. I want a new(er) car so if it snows, I can put my wife in a safe 4-wheel-drive vehicle on the way to work. I want things paid off so my family doesn’t ever have to worry about if the bank is coming to take the house – all of this allows us to experience life without it being filtered through a haze of fear or doubt. There’s enough to worry about in the world without having to worry about money – and I can handle that as a reason for a drive to be successful.

It’s that time thing I keep coming back to though – is what I’m doing challenging enough for me professionally? Am I spending enough time with my wife, and are we doing things that challenge us to grow as a couple? Are there things we should be doing to help others who don’t have the good fortune that we do? It’s all these things that lead to what the author calls the “thicker” life. Releasing the desire for things and recognition (while still maintaining the security of your family) and experiencing all life has to offer..both good and bad. Time is the only thing that this universe can’t offer a single sentient being more of than it can use – it’s the most scarce and valuable resource we have.

Heh – well, I don’t suppose I offered any answers did I? In fact, I’m not even positive I posed a question. Maybe this was just a little reflection that I needed help me along my path to some sort of personal enrichment. Thanks for letting me share.

Still cranking throught the “Couch to 5k” without much trouble. Looks like I’ll be changing my goal a little though – from one 30 minute 5k to running 3 each week. I think I’ll get more benefit from that than trying to come up with something to top a timed goal. I’ll revisit that after my 30th birthday.

Also – my weight training schedule has altered some, mostly by focusing more on free weights than machines, and using bigger, more complex exercises..like bench and squats. For the record, even running a couple miles and doing a few sets of squat will leave you sore. But, it’s a good sore.

My goal in this is to achieve a level of base fitness that fits my body type. This can easily be achieved in 3 workouts a week – all running/weight trainng combos. I’m going to keep this up until I’m running the 3 5k’s each week, and lifting afterwards. I figure that will put me in a higher percentile than most. Also, hopefully by this point, I’ll be down to about 200lbs and then I’ll be able to reflect on the next stages of this.

For the record, I’m on pace to kick off my first 5k about mid-December, and I’m kind of looking forward to the challenge that maintaining that over the holidays will pose.

So, after nearly a month of weddings, blisters, rolled ankles, and non-standard gym practices, I’m finally back on a regular schedule. I feel about 1000 times better when I’m able to keep to that schedule, so hopefully no more monkey wrenches get thrown my way before Thanksgiving, anyway.

But, if they do, I’m working on managing that as well. I’ve written on the importance of momentum before – but I want to stress it again. The thing is – it’s easy to build. One trip to the gym, one task, one thing checked off gets it started. The key is to not let little hiccups (a week of training missed because of a wedding, or a blister, or a rolled ankle) knock your train off tracks for the long term.

Sure, it’s a little harder to get going when you have a hiccup – but the sooner you get back to task, the easier it will be. You and I both would probably be schocked at how many business plans, training schedules, and diets have failed because of one mistake. And, my friends, that’s what really separates the winners from the losers, the successes from the failures, the fulfilled from the longing – is looking at any barrier in your way, jumping over it, kicking it down, (or, my personal favorite, running around it) and getting yourself back on track.

My next post is going to be about motivation and goals, so no need to get into that here. I just encourage everyone to follow that dream – and when you hit that stumbling block and think it’s all over, force yourself to make one more step in a positive direction. Then another, then another – and the next thing you know, you’re right back on track.

So, what’s gone on in the last couple of weeks?

1 – I’m partnering up with another great marketer to work with a new client (hopefully, fingers-crossed), we just finished up an extensive marketing plan, and we’re hoping to sign them on in the next couple of weeks.

2 – My other client work is still trucking along, still amazed that I can make a living doing something that I love.

3 – I gutted Thesis off my 7xo Media site – and took it back to a brochure site. I don’t have time or motivation to market two blogs – so this site is going to focus on everything…marketing, business, politics….a regular potpourri of stuff.

Mostly, I’m going to focus here on higher level stuff – theory, strategy, insight…and less on tactics. I charge people for those tactics, so it doesn’t seem fair to spill them here – and, anyway, I’m working on a master plan here

Also – the gym work has been going pretty well. Definitely working hard on cleaning up the diet in order to get down to 200lbs. I think I’ll cruise in to my birthday goals, even if it’s just barely.

Ok – it’s cold in my office, my fingers are going numb, and I have revenue to generate.

Well, I was feeling down about this week’s accomplishments, until I realized I got in three good workouts and ran 1.25 miles at a pretty good clip without dying. That’s a long way from my 3.2 target for Jan 21..but, I remember from last time that it’s a huge milestone. The longer you run, the less it takes to add on the couple extra miles.

Looking back, it took me a couple months to get up to the 1.5 mile range, and another month before I was running 3+ miles a few times a week.

I also discovered a bit of enjoyment today in just “going running” without a real goal in mind. I think the pressure of trying to keep up with work and training targets was stressing me out. Plus, it just wasn’t fun.

So, here’s what I’m going to do – I want to lift three times a week, run three times a week, and do a light recovery cardio workout once a week. I imagine I’ll couple lifting with the first two runs and the recovery workout, with a longer run at the end of the week standing alone, but I’m not committing to that.

It’s entirely possible that, until I get up over 3 miles, it’ll make more sense to have my lifting routine follow my run and have my recovery day (different than the “off” days) be a long walk with the dog (or, a bike ride, assuming I get my tires fixed..again)

So, instead of boring you with constant details about my training, I’ll do the weigh ins and share some insight on training motivation and techniques..and keep my focus here on business, life, etc…

For lack of a better idea, I’m going to call this training day 12. Unfortunately, day 11 was 13 days ago.  That’s what a wedding and a blister will do to you. No biggie though – just going to restart C25K week 3, and try to progress from there.  I already feel better after the first workout.

Monday – W3D1 (90 sec intervals followed by 3 min intervals) + weight training
Ahhh yes, adding those longer intervals in the prvious weeks paid off, as I had just enough fitness to get through this workout at my target pace. I’m going to be running everything on the treadmill faster than what I plan to run on the road. Thankfully, I didn’t lose all my gains.

I’m dreading weighing in this week – as last week was just filled with Cake and dining out. Such is life, I suppose.

Tuesday – 45 minute elliptical. 5 1×1 track intervals.
Ugh – elliptical day. Going to have to think of some things to brighten it up..because it is boring. Just need to get through the next couple weeks to where I’m running 2+ miles at a clip, and I’ll swap things around some. Overall – a good workout, albeit a boring one.

Wednesday – W3D2 (90×90 and 180×180), weight training
Thursday – off
Friday – W3D3 (90×90 and 180×180), weight training
Saturday – 1.5 mile run, weight training

(Well, as you can see, there are always hiccups. Today, was my first day in the gym since Tuesday. I knocked out 1.25 miles and did the weight training. Update to come).

As you can see, I’m mixing it up a little.

My wife and I are also starting a “caveman” diet this week…meaning that most processed foods are out, with the exception of whole grain carbohydrates (in limited quantities), and some dairy. Mostly, it’s vegetables, fruits, and lean meat. I’m hoping this will help kickstart things a little more.

I want to share a lesson I’ve learned (often times the hard way) over my last 4 years of entrepreneurship. That lesson is: Momentum is the key to almost everything.

Now – there are a lot of things that allow you to build momentum, those things being the core tenents of motivation (passion, ambition, drive, etc…), but they all lead to one thing – and that’s building momentum.

What is momentum? In it’s most basic sense – it’s Newton’s second law. It’s a vector quantity representing an object’s direction and magnitude of movement. (thanks wikipedia!) You’ve heard it before – objects in motion tend to stay in motion. On a deeper level, the bigger the object and the faster it’s moving, the harder it is to stop it.

If you want to step outside the physics lab, you can learn about how to apply momentum to your daily life. This can be business, work, fitness – whatever you want to improve on.

Example #1 – I am on a mission this month to produce a lot of quality content for some of my 7xo Labs sites. Saying you’re going to produce 50+ items of content in a month is daunting…so daunting in fact that it’s easy to not even start. How do you even approach a goal like that?

Easy – using our basic understanding of how momentum works, we know we have to write that article, and write it now. Don’t worry, the second one is a little bit easier. Then, you ride that wave through the third and fourth. Next thing you know, you’ve built up your internal momentum to a point where you’re absolutely killing it. The beauty of momentum is that, while it can be hard to get going, it can also be hard to stop.  When people refer to the force of habits, they are really talking about momentum in their behaviors. If you’re in a habit of writing a couple articles every day, suddenly it’s easier to write them than to not…that’s momentum.

The most important thing I want to share with you about momentum is also the most encouraging – anyone can do it. That’s right – if you’re sitting out there with a business idea, you can start to bring your dream to life with just one step. One little step forward today, and a committment to making another tomorrow (then, recommitting tomorrow to the next day, an on and on) and you can start to live your dream.

It doesn’t even have to be big, but it should be meaningful.  Write a page of your business plan, get a hosting account for a website, pick a name, just do something. You’ll hit some bumps along the way, and may even change direction a couple times – but the momentum you’ve built will carry you through.

Notice the built in joke in the title? No – look again. Anyway – the heel is pulling itself back together some. I’m about to lose my mind not being able to go run, or really even walk the dog in shoes without ripping it open again.  I’m just hoping it heals up completely by Monday.  If not, I may have to tough it out and just go anyway.

That brings me to something I’ve been thinking about lately. With all the wedding (and additional) madness of the last month, I find myself wondering why some people handle stressful situations with grace and composure and some just spazz out and shut down.

Now, there are significant life moments where what I’m about to say doesn’t really apply – huge life changes (unexpected job changes, death, birth, divorce, etc…)that illicit such powerful responses that they can be difficult to process. I’m talking about moments where you’re behind at work, you have a family committment and the dog just pooped in the floor. Those kind of “freak out” moments that really require a dose of perspective.  Strangely enough though – I’ve seen people handle the big things better than the little things…but I’m wandering off path here.

What I’m thinking about is how silly it is that people sometimes just decide that their work load (be it professional or family) is just “too much” and throw their hands up and say screw it. The human body, mind, and soul are some of the most miraculous things in the universe. We can’t truly conceive a scenario in day to day life where anything is truly “too much.”

I’ve been reading 50 in 50 – where Dean Karnazes chronicles running 50 marathons in 50 states in 50 days. Yeah. So, if he can do that – why can’t we walk the dog, take our kids to school, get in a good work day, exercise, have dinner as a family, and maybe read a little? Here are some reasons I came up with:

1) There really is only so much time in the day – and sh*t happens. So, when your routine or goals get derailed, accept it and relax. One small hiccup can spiral out of control into a situation where you’re completely “frozen up.” If we demand perfection, then we have no chance.

2)Humans are by nature a little selfish and lazy. If I hear one more person recommend stopping and taking time to “be with yourself” as a remedy for a overly-stressful schedule, I’m going to scream.  That doesn’t even make any sense. It’s so much more relaxing to just get it done instead of spending time dealing with the stress of not having it done.

3)Stop focusing on the end game. In America especially, we are horrible at living in the moment.  Horrible. Take time to savor a nice view on your commute, or enjoy the work you’re doing – even if you’re just filling out spreadsheets. Breathe and enjoy the moment – because we’re all on our way out of here and only have so many moments left.

Well – that rambled on semi-coherently. Just wanted to toss that out there, as I’m working on not only optimizing my time (especially at work), but optimizing my mindset as well. As an entrepreneur, it’s best to embrace the chaos that is life – and focus on making the most of out every opportunity…be it a business opportunity or an opportunity to spend time and bond more deeply with your family.

[Edit: As I sit here awaiting a conference call, I forgot to mention one thing.  All the "Labs" sites that I'm working are not only to generate revenue.  They are also areas that I genuinely know a good bit about outside of marketing, and am also very passionate about. I would create these sites even if they didn't make money (although, I might not promote them as hard). I think the key to success in this area is writing about things you love]

The thing I love most about being an entrepreneur is that I can adapt to new opportunities as needed. Recently, I’ve been working to move 7×0 Media’s primary business model over to a more affiliate/advertising based model.  I feel that is still the way I need to be heading – and it is also a path that will take more than a couple months to get to where I need to be.

Recently, I was offered the opportunity to take on a good bit of SEO work – both with some new clients and continuing one project that was previously in the process of ending. Initially I was a little bit hesitant – as this was a step in a different direction that I had been planning. Then, thinking about it, a big portion of my desire to move away from the client model was that the margins are lower there. There is only so much work you can do in a week, and in turn, only so much you can earn.

However, just thinking “margins” and “scalability” is a small-view way to look at things. For one – I have examined my work routines and habits and realized that there is a lot of room for improvement there. As I get processes more and more streamlined, there is room for some scalability in this model. For another – I have to remind myself that I don’t have the luxury of just supporting myself anymore.  I have a wife who would like to start a family sometime, and I have to establish some amount of security to lay the foundations for that.

Most importantly – while I am perfectly capable of earning a good living with just my own sites, that will still take time – probably close to 6 months, of hard work before those project yield their fruits. Allowing my client work to dry up during that time would be foolish – because even a lower margin work load is better than a no-margin work load.

I also realized that I need to get back to just enjoying what I’m doing. I LOVE SEO. I love helping other businesses be successful.  It is selfish and silly of me to just stop doing that because I think there’s more money to be made just running my own sites. One thing I’ve been thinking about a lot is that, even in online marketing, there’s a lot to be said for simply enjoying what you’re doing instead of trying to determine if you’re earning the most you can in each and every minute.

The client model has afforded me a good living and an amazing quality of life over the years – and I will continue that as long as they will have me. My other projects will go on with the same vigor – and if they yield a great living as well, then that is great. But I will sleep better at night knowing that my income streams are diversified and secure, and I won’t be in a position to lose it all if something falls through.

My new year’s resolution each year is to make the upcoming year better than the last one – 2009 has already destroyed 2008 in that respect (and 2008 was a good year). I am feeling very excited and very lucky to be able to watch how the rest of this year and the next will unfold with my new wife, new clients, and new projects. I thank God every day for giving me the chance to do something that I love and live a wonderfully happy life.

Well, I said it would take a miracle to get through last week. I was right. Could I have pulled it off? Yes. Would it have been a little selfish to neglect time better spent with family and my wife? Yes.

So, I basically slacked off after Tuesday last week.  To top it off, my shoes wore a good sized blister during the wedding, meaning I have to take time to heal before I’ll be able to run again. I’m hoping to avoid shoes altogether until Thursday, when I’ll re-do some Week 2 workouts before re-starting week three over the weekend.

This weekend helped me focus on a lot of things – but the most important is that I’m not doing this to just “get in shape” – I want this to be a long-term lifestyle change. To that effect, I’m not terribly worried about missing a week.

Anyway, someone has to finish off the wedding cake and champagne

I’m not going to log targets for this week – I’d like to get in to the gym a couple times, but it’ll depend on my foot. If I get a nasty blister and try to push it, it ends up becoming a bigger problem than just waiting a couple days.