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I'm practicing drawing with my Bamboo board.

What type of business do I want to have?

So I've finally made my business my top goal priority. If you read my other blog you'd see I was rather conflicted with all the others. But this is my number one focus.

 What type of business do I want to have?

  This was a question I was asked in a workshop and was told it was best to know from the start.
These were the options given.

1. To build an empire
2. To build something to sell later along the lines
3. A lifestyle business - a bit like a job - just earn enough to keep you in an accustomed lifestyle.
4. Partnership

Well I'm not ambitious so this is really just a lifestyle business. I want to earn enough money to keep me in a certain lifestyle. I'm not doing it to take over the world or have it printed on every billboard, hoarding or to fly private jets. Just to provide me a decent enough income to meet bills, go on nice holidays and pay the rent.

To be honest I haven't got a clue.

I need to build a postive attitude.

My attitude sucks. It really does. It's so appalling that I had to pull myself back and decide it was time to be to try and get some sort of motivation. So I'm really trying. I've gone back to saying and writing affirmations in the morning. Whether they work or not itI hope puts me in a better mood in the morning.

I'm doing my best. Sometimes there is nothing really to write about but if I did stop I might not start again.

Yay!Got the Business cards Today

Well they technically came yesterday but I was out of the house so I had to go the post office this morning to pick them up. They look really good. I designed them myself in photoshop with the help of this video from Youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C-gdz9gVIDc

This works in any version. I'm so excited just to finish my website next.

Starting my goal of bookkeeping.

I finally got out my bookkeeping book. I was about to procastinate but thought 'Ah, can't do that you have committed to achieving it as a goal.' Nothing interesting I just looked at it. It was twenty-five odd chapters. Then I thought maybe I could do two mock exams and then the real one. But then it occured to me wouldn't it make more sense if I got the course outline and syllabuses for these exams. Because after all even though I'm looking at the book it may be too much.



So let's talk goal setting language.
re-focused objective: to pass the Level I The Certificate in Basic Bookkeeping.
Method: Homestudy

Milestones one: Completing topics in the book corresponding to the syllabus the entire book.
Milestone two: To complete a mock exam and see how I do
Milestone three: Complete an online mock exam
Milestone four: Do a quick revision
Milestone five: Do the exams and post my results on my blog.

Limiting factors
Well the saying 'Know thy self' applies. I'm disorganised, I procastinate and I get distracted. On top of all that I never have any time and I'm always tired.

So I think to achieve I need to break down into tasks which I hope I follow. Sorry if I state the obvious but it's my task list.

Tasks for milestone one

• Print out syllabus.
• Set up realistic study timetable
• Start studying

Other stuff.
Well you know I'm blogging my food diary as well. That might be the reason I'm tired. Too fat. It's weighing down my bones and I even take the lift (elevator) instead of walking up the stairs. I'm not on a diet. I've been on too many and I know what works but it's a motivation factor. I thought maybe the food dairy would be a good idea.It's called Snuggie's fooddairy at http://fatlogger.blogspot.com.


Socks
I have a few worn out pairs of socks. What do I do with them? I feel guilty throwing them out. Maybe I should just darn them. How do I do that? The are mostly odd pairs. Does anyone have the problem of always ending up with odd pairs?

Decided on a goal: Bookkeeping

Okay, to carry on from my rant on goal yesterday  I've decided on a goal I want to achieve. Well really an idea which I have decided I want to be a goal. I’ve being thinking about it for sometime now and haven’t got round to it for various reasons. So I’ve decided to blog it and reveal and therefore commit to doing. It’s my bookkeeping exams. I want to do a first level in bookkeeping within a month. Not the most exciting thing in the world but it’s something.

So I have my goal now; To do a book keeping exam. I guess now I need to SMART it. You know the acronym or mnemonic used. Apparently it’s supposed to help one.

S – Specific: Is this goal specific ?
Well I guess it is. I want to undertake a level one in bookkeeping.
 
M – Measurable – is it measureable? I don’t really know but I guess since I need to take an exam, it must be in a way.
 
A – Attainable – is it attainable?
Well, factor in procrastination and getting distracted, I’m not really sure but I can only try. However am I capable? Yes, I am. Well I hope I am.

R- Realistic – Is it a realistic goal for me? I think it is – I can only try.

T – timely – or timescales. What is my timescale? Well I’ll be ambitious and commit to a month.

So now I’ve SMARTed my goal of bookkeeping what do I do next? I guess it’s about breaking down the goal into tasks. Not sure what but I guess studying will be a great start.

What’s missing?
Well motivation but I guess blogging about it will help push me forward. What else do I need? The three Ps  persistence, perseverance and patience. Most of all to have fun. Well as much fun as there is in studying for a book keeping exam.

How will you know I’ve done it?
well you don't. Okay, I’ll be blogging about my progress and you can see how I’m doing.And at the end of it I'll scan in a result sheet with my personal info blotted out. How does that sound?

Review:The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2009)

I just watched The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and thought I'd share my opinions with you. It's much better in my opnion than the book which I stopped reading after a few pages.

This was the Swedish version with subtitles. It is based on Stieg Larsson's book of the same title who in death continues to dominate the news with the dispute with his partner and family over his estate.

It's a good movie and a streamlined version of book (it's based on the book which I guess gives creative freedom away from it). It's directed by Niels Arden Oplev who brings the classic urban gritty feel to it. It's very dark and graphic in some bits. I wasn't too scared and this may be because it was in subtitles.

Noomi Rapace the actress who plays Lisbeth Salander gives a good performance and a sympathy to the character. Not sure the character Blomquist. He is played by Michael Nyquist and all I could say was it seemed he wasn't a natural jogger. He does a lot of jogging in the film.

The storyline
An investigative journalist called Blomquist is done for libel for printing lies about some industrialist. Blomquist is found guilty and then sentenced to prison. Before he goes to prison he has a few months to knock about. Blomquist is hired by a rich industrialist to investigate who killed his niece over forty years ago.

Before that the industrialist does a back ground check on the journalist. This is done by a firm who hires Salander as a hacker.

Blomquist takes the job and somehow Salander comes on board. They get it together and try to solve the crime or mystery of the missing girl. A lot of secrets are revealed and it ends happily.

Is it worth watching?

It's okay and if you like thrillers this may be your thing. There isn’t much of an adrenaline rush like in Hollywood movies. This is slower and has an edgier and raw feel. It lacks the sleekness of Hollywood movies which may be an appeal for some. Not botoxed actresses, everything is real. The women look their age and it's believable.

What I was left with? 

People take advantage of society’s vulnerable people and ill treat them because they think no one cares.

Something cooking: Vistaprint Business cards

It's hard to keep a blog when there is nothing to say. Today I've just finished off my business cards - well ordered them with Vistaprint. They have a few bad reviews on some review websites but they are cheap and since I'm a start-up I'll go with them first and upgrade later. Basically you get what you pay for.

I think the main thing is to read the small print and be very careful when you are confirming things at the checkout. Vistaprint tend to bundle a lot of other stationary. The final order screens are also confusing so be very careful in what you tick and don't tick.

Vistaprint’s special offers are great however do remember it's bait. I had a good offer via a flyer from Film Love. This was a fiver for 500 cards however it's available to everyone. I but decided to do my own design (in stead of chosing a template) which cost me a little more (they charge if you upload your own designs) and then there is the added cost of postage and delivery. Most places deliver in five working days however Vistaprint have different delivery times. Yes, that hits you at the order page.

I did a quick surf of other sites and found it was still very cheap. So till went along with it. Cheapest is twenty-one days, fourteen days, seven days, then three and finally next day. I opted for the fourteen days. I was thinking of taking twenty-one but though I'd spend more on a pint of beer so opted for fourteen. So do think about delivery times and the quality. You can upgrade on quality but it sort of defeats the points.

A decent batch of business cards will cost in the region of two hundred quid and Vista is doing it for a fiver - 500. I've seen the quality from my research around and it's very light cardboard. I am rather sheepish about getting it but then I do need business cards for networking and marketing purposes. No point forking out a lot of cash without having generated an income yet to cover it.

Breakfast and other events

Burnt the milk on the stove and I'm too bothered because it I have steaming hot milk for my cereal.

This morning I did my fitness video for the first time in months. My gut and breathlessness is becoming a bit of problem. Then I decide to treat myself - Ah the pit falls of not stocking up well. So I get some  Sugar Puffs cereal and some milk from the local corner shop.

I feel I am procastinating and holding back. Not too sure on what - maybe gettting a job. I'm not doing enough. I know everyone feels that in some shape or form. Not doing enough.

Noah - a story of love - flash fiction

There lived a man called Noah. Noah was unhappy. He was single. He was sad. Nothing more could be said about Noah.

One day as Noah was buying some food an idea came to him.  It was a clear vision. He was to build an Ark. He was confused. His parents had called him Noah after a no good uncle not for religious reasons. However everytime he went to this supermarket the vision would come.

Noah didn't know what to do. So he went to his doctor. But his doctor thought he was crazy. The doctor was an atheist. Noah was diagnosed with deep depression. Still the vision of the Ark came to Noah.

So Noah decided to start building his Ark. It was very simple, he'd start with a toy model. So he went to a toy shop. There was a pretty girl called Tina. She was the store greeter. She helped Noah pick the parts to build his model Ark.

Tina then asked Noah out. Noah said yes. They started to go out. They built the model Ark together and then Noah got an idea to ask Tina to marry him. He asked and she accepted.
Then Noah realised the visions of the Ark was about finding a way to get his true love; Tina.

The end.

The Procrastination Equation: How to Stop Putting Things Off and Start Getting Stuff Done

This is a book The Procrastination Equation: How to Stop Putting Things Off and Start Getting Stuff Done is written by a Dr Piers Steel who is a procastionation expert.
 

Well I haven’t read it as such. It’s like the Now book. I went to the Foyles on Charring Cross Road. and browsed through it. Foyles basement has all the wonderful and strange self-help books. Everything I find myself in the basement I know I have procrastination issues and need a book to fix them. Leaving the basement empty handed is an achievement –it means I’m not relying on a quack book to fix my life. However at some point I’ll let you know those that have helped me and why. 

I digress I spend extra time procrastinating reading it. It told me things I already knew but in a different way. I needed goals. Eureak! How about an original concept? Dr Piers Steel recommended a programme called  Rescue time which I loaded onto my computer.  Rescuetime.com logs your time and give you weekly reports and more depending on what package you signed up to. Quite intrusive if you think  Rescuetime as a tracking device but I was desperate and thought it will cease me procrastinating. Atlas now though I have cut down my time to the dailymail.co.uk – I guess that’s because I’ve been rather busy of late. Dr Piers Steel does suggest other stuff but I was skimming through and you'll have to get the book to find out others.  

The basic problem about getting The Procrastination Equation: How to Stop Putting Things Off and Start Getting Stuff Done  about procrastinating is just really finding another way to procrastinate. It’s just another or new way to package the ‘time management’ theme. It’s really common sense. I think I procrastinate because I can or would rather not deal with something.

Rescuetime.com does work but is annoying. It polices your ever move however I wasn’t as bad as I thought. It’s very irritating now and I’m thinking of unloading it.

Dr Piers Steel's basic message in  The Procrastination Equation: How to Stop Putting Things Off and Start Getting Stuff Done make goals you can acheive and stick to them. However like all there are a few case-studies who change their lives and if you have a time to procrastinate and feel you are progressing with the issue well you can always have a read. Did I get it? No. However you know books are not about what it says but how he says it so Dr Piers Steel's message may appeal to you. Unfortunately it does not browse facility on Amazon but  it may change your life so have a browse and see.

Review of The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference by Malcolm Gladwell

I've renewed this book The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference by Malcolm Gladwell on a number of occasions from my local library because I never got round to reading it and decided it was time to let it go.

I thought after two months I shouldn't be such a book hogger. I’m currently on the maximum limit of borrowed books which is twenty-five. So I’ve decided not to borrow any more till I’ve read them all. I thought if I blogged about things it might motivate me to read. I''m like a kid in a sweet shop when it comes to books and magazines. I need to get it all.

I found this a difficult read and slightly structured or fixed in a way to bring over Malcolm Gladwell's points. I actually got his Gladwell's Blinking book which I can’t call much of.  However it is the kind of book you’ll get because just one chapter catches your eye and is worth a read saying that several liitle gems in chapters between its covers.

The issue and problem with most of us is that we want to have short cuts to success and therefore spend of what we think is a ‘holy grail’ or path to guaranteed success. Malcom Gladwell even has a review from former president Bill Clinton and Gladwell is a New York times bestselling author.

The first is a huge endorsement and so is the second. However because Mr Clinton found something to say about it doesn’t necessary mean it’s useful for either you or me. Secondly a bestselling book just means a lot of people bought it not that they read it or found it useful. I’ve bought huge tomes of books and never read them.

The good bits.

 Malcolm Gladwell uses case studies to illustrate his points. The has a number of hypothesises or theories such as the stickiness factor – the uses as part of his case studies Sesame Street and Nickelodeon to illustrate. In my opinion there is an excellent chapter on the ‘The power of context’ and ‘Broken Windows’.

The covers innovators; as you know all these sort of books always introduce some type of management role play paradigm so in the same vein  Malcolm Gladwell has ‘Salesman’, ‘Innovators’ and you’ll have to read the book to find out the others. 

As I said there are a few gems and chapters that could be of use. There are excellent theories on suicide in young men in some area of the world and smoking amongst teenagers. Also a good chapter on marketing and finding ways to innovate. If you are good with reading between the lines you'll gleam a lot tips from Gladwell.

It is a popular (as in for the masses and not an academic text) science book and at times you feel Gladwell is just writing because another book because he has to. 

So a mixed review anyway the point was to return it to the library so I only have twenty four more books to read.

You can read more about Malcom Gladwell here. http://www.gladwell.com/tippingpoint/index.html