Journal Ramblings - No 1

You could consider this the first milestone. I certainly wish I hadn't set such far away targets when considering what my milestones should be. But I think you should make milestones and try to stick to them, only creating new ones in-between if they seem too far off, as is the case now!

I need to read this!

My original plan was that I would create the site as a simple blog. My first milestone was to have 20 articles which included 3 videos. I had plenty of young successful people in mind for all of the interviews,  in fact I think I wrote around 20 names down when writing them in my logbook. The articles are a little harder, for me at least.

I presume its due to the nature of my life and experience so far and that only until recently have I been put in a position where my writings are read by anyone. But now, as all things seem to occur, they have gone from non-existent to detailed technical reports for my current job and these articles for my website. Certainly I have friends who are proficient in the art of writing and may (and will) point out the many grave mistakes in spelling and grammar that I am sure I am making with every key stroke. I even managed to self prove that point by misspelling "spelling" which is impressive!

So I shall endeavour to create these short journal entries in order for me to remember where I am and where I want to be. It will help me review my and my websites development as well as serve as stark reminder how bad I could possibly have been when I started. THIS BAD!

So how has it gone so far?

Well  good and bad, swings and roundabouts. I don't feel I really have met my quote so far for the production quality or quantity but its a work in progress as are all things. That's one generic answer right there!

Writing articles is harder then previously indicated. I suppose its one of those thing that looks easy but is actually very difficult like  sculpture or chess. I mean how hard could it be to chip a bit of stone out to look like something. The answer is fucking hard. But its not about the winning its about the taking part. Anyone can sit on the sideline or at home shouting at the TV like a demented chimpanzee as if if they were there they would have made a different move, or made a better tackle, or handled something better in some of the many ways that I always find people shouting at the TV for. Merely the act of taking part, of having a go will help me to get better and at some point reach my goal.

I recorded the first video ( first of three) with my friend and peer Mitu Khandaker, founder of one woman games development company "The Tiniest Shark" (if having an awesome sounding business doesn't make you want to start your own business I don't know what will!). The chat went very well and really bolstered my enthusiasm for the project. We covered some great topics and I was really happy with this as a starting point for IMNOTASHEEP.com. I will write a full review of the interview when the video is realised talking about some of the points which were covered and some which were missed.

Editing however was not the smooth sailing experience that I thought it would be. I'm using adobe premiere which is a beautiful piece of art as far as I am concerned. It to me truly feels like the pallet of a master, unfortunately I'm painting with my hands at this point!

But I love it and shall continue to add the hours of fiddling, attempting one thing, failing, attempting another thing, failing and just having some fun until its what I want it to be. Im sure in year or two I will not understand how I could have ever been so cack-handed with it all!

In case there is any confusion at this point which is definitely possible my end goal is to create a site that can help people of all ages to better understand what they want to do with their careers. I want to do this by creating relationships with people in different careers and hosting videos that delve into the murky underbelly of what its like to be an engineer or a programmer or an astronaut (on the to do list!). That way you can find out the best way to get to the career you want and if you have any questions you can just subscribe and ask them?

At this point I think I could write a small book about how I got to thinking about this subject but I will leave that for the next time.

Much love. 

Desire and vision

Vision Boards

My first Vision-Board

When I have talked to my friends about vision boards  a lot of the time the response is essentially "what a load of rubbish, why would you want to do that? But why not? Most of us spend our teenage years with posters on our walls of fast cars, sexy men or women or pictures of our friends.

Why do we do that? It could be because we like to be surrounded by what we love and what drives our passions, whether that's Kerry King from slayer playing guitar or a great night you spent out with your friends. 

So what is the point of a vision board and how do you go about making one?

The most cynical of my friends would continue to argue that there is no benefit from completing this task -  "I know what I like and what I don't like what could possibly be the benefit of sticking pictures on a poster that represents it?

With that I retort a simple quote:

"Definiteness of purpose. The knowledge of what one wants and the burning desire to posses it" - Napoleon Hill

If you can quantify your desires, If you can lay them bear for all to see, then you have taken the first step to achieving what it is you desire. Knowing what you want and by definition what you don't want in your life is a great tool for moving towards the "want". It also allows your mind to visualise what your life might be like if you possess your greatest desires, whether tangible products or life changing experiences, dangling the proverbial carrot on a stick in front of you to take every step forwards towards them and not allowing yourself to become preoccupied with some of the chores of life.

I have done this several times now. My first experience completing my vision board is detailed in a book called Dream, plan, reduce rick and take action - a book about franchise recruitment marketing by Sarah Cook. One subject covered by the book is vision, here is a small extract from the book written by myself about my first vision board experience:

"I started thinking about KPI's  (Key Performance Indicators) and then made the board after that. The pictures  represented the house and car I wanted, my interest in photography, my health and charity. My girlfriend and I were the background as I wanted to achieve everything with her in my life.  Then there were various sayings that applied to me at the time. Within the year my girlfriend and I had the house and I had the car. I had worked for professional photographers, I was in remission, my health was on the way up and I was training for charity events. That's the power of vision!"

Its pretty simple, all you have to do is collect pictures of what you love, what you want to achieve or what you would like to experience and put them together into a collage in what ever way seems best. You can cut them out of magazines or print them from your computer. You can stick them down with PVA or use Photoshop to make a collage and get it printed out professionally. Its completely up to you.

Why would you not want to be surrounded by what you love and what drives you?