Tonight was one of those times with the initial topic of “What does it take to have a better society?”. Your thoughts?

Picture a day

take at least one picture each day
Variant: post a picture a day

Read 5 hours per week

Spend an average of 1 hour each weekday, this should cause you to knock out a number of books, no matter if they are audiobooks, physical, or electronic

Cook Something New Each Week

Find some recipe that looks interesting to you. Cook it.
Bonus idea: take pix, post about it

Try a New Hobby & share it

Start something new for you, record your progress & share what you have learned online.
Start with whatever network you already have (Google +, Facebook, a simple website) and improve your sharing over time.

Interview Someone Each Week

Share what you learned from that person with both the masses & send it to someone specific that you believe will gain from meeting this person.

Change Your Life?

Each of these ideas take very little additional work to be accomplished, but the fact is that you have to be intentional & consistent to achieve them. There is also options for you to expand and do more, but a key is to start.

What will you do different in 2012, anything from this list?

Today I managed to do something I’ve not been able to do in a while.

I sat down & listened to some great audio, taking notes & sharing some thoughts.

This time it was based around the top downloaded episodes of StartingCube in November. This time last year I was planning on doing a podcast that was based on sharing great media that I found. Thoughts, quotations, clips, audio, video, and even text. It’s one thing to seek out keys to success, life, and achieving your dreams, but a more important step is sharing the greatness with others.

All people, at some level, want to impact or shape the world in a way that they desire. Finding, sharing and promoting stuff that I believe should be is part of how I do just that.

November was in interesting month for StartingCube Downloads. There were two driving forces:
- Stay At Home CEO
- Searches

With Stay At Home CEO, a project just starting & focused on helping Stay At Home Dads & Stay At Home Moms build businesses, I started it much the same way as StartingCube – an idea & a date. On the designated date I released stuff to the world. It’s interesting that Cube 61 was one of the top downloaded since that is one of the ideas presented there.

I wrote a lot in that post & just listening to those five episodes really helped with how life is going right now. I really should re-listen to episodes on a more regular basis.

With there being over 62 episodes, you could listen to one episode per day and not repeat an episode in over 2 months.

Another thing is I plan on start releasing new episodes in January 2012. There should be a post on my mindset involving that soon.

Already this month we have traveled over 1,000 miles. One 8 hour of drive time turned into 12 hours door to door … in the driving rain. The other direction was 10.25 hours door to door.

Of the next few weeks of December we have more traveling & family coming in to stay with us. It’s all a wonderful time of the year, but many things are fighting for my money, energy, time, and attention.

I’m trying to be careful with it & in turn think about what others around me. They probably have just as many things fighting for their attention, time, energy, money, and other resources.

I’m pretty happy with how this post turned out & the artwork I managed to put together with it. Thanks for your attention & if you want to go a step farther comment or share this post with someone else who is trying to do too much.

Reflect

The first step is to look back on the past year, or longer, and see where you have come from. What all has happened?

Having twin one year olds this Thanksgiving, I can say that the year went by fast. We both have much to be thankful for, especially the growth in our babies and each other — both as individuals, as a couple, and family.

Thank

This part is simple, but important – be thankful & speak to people what you are thankful for. As a general practice I am trying to be encouraging more in the day to day, but there are still some specific people who have had an impact that I try to go out of my way to thank.

Dream

This moves from the past & present side to the future. Dreaming what the next year or longer should be. Currently I am thinking about a model based on relationships for viewing your world, so:
- Yourself – physical, mental, spiritual, capabilities
- Family – the special relationships around you
- Business – if you are an employee – you are a business hiring out your services to your employer. If you own or desire to one one, then you have a slightly different relationship
- Society – other people who are not in your business, or family.

So, what are the dreams for those four big areas? What about the subparts? Can you paint a picture that you are aiming for?

Plan

The practical steps you intend to take to make your dreams reality. Before you fully make plans you need to make goals. Goals are important because they are the measuring stick of how well your plans do, but doing the important work to write out the steps you are going to take to make the dream a reality is also vital.

My family is in the middle. We talked about reflecting and thanks recently. This week my wife and I will talk about our dreams for the next year – thinking in those four big fields. If you can have one dream for each & work on just four things over the course of a year – it will be amazing, as long as you take the steps of really making a good goal and then a plan.

I enjoyed the time I was in the St Louis Arch and a client called asking about a change to a website. I told him I would get to it when I could & after getting off the call I realized I could from my phone. In moments, from the top of the St Louis Arch I had the site adjusted & an email off to him.

Now that I am a Stay At Home Dad, the ability to work where I am is even more important, but to do so you have to go through some steps.

This post on Stay At Home CEO titled Location Independence goes into three parts: Plans, Tools, Ability

They are not complex steps, but vital if you want to have more freedom and liberty in your life.

Saw these today … generally I like M&M’s, but this one is too scary for me.

If I saw them at a party I would try, but not purchasing myself.

[See post to listen to audio]

[mp3 - 13:22]

First learned of him while I was in high school & got to know him enough in 2004 that he would recognised me in a crowed in 2005, though not today. I hope his new book, EntraLeadership, is a huge success. Today he is on his book tour, in our home area, broadcasting from outside his office & celebrating being a New York Times Bestseller. At the party is free food, music, book signings, giveaways. The type of thing I enjoy, but things have changed & I could not bring myself to go.

My mother is a wise woman, growing up she focused on training each of her children how each should go by having custom rules based on the tendencies of that child. My natural tendency is to do more & more, thus the rule was that I could not have more then 3 activities (soccer, scouts, band, church, etc) at one time. At least one of my siblings had a minimum, for that child would not do any outside activities. Our parents also had veto power over activities & sometimes forced a particular activity on us.

This helped me learn about myself, or at least helped in the process.

Nearly 11 months ago my world changed.

I once interviewed Andrew Peterson, as a part of Artist Insider. He is a musician who learned enough about business to have his own company. This is something that most artist are not interested in all, so I was fascinated with what would cause him to do so when so many others would not.

The answer Andrew gave was the birth of his children. I did not understand this until recently. For Andrew it was motivation to learn about business, for me it is focusing my resources, especially my time. Looking back, this was a lesson my mother was attempting to teach me for years. It took the birth of my first two children & more to really get me back to it.

In the Last Few Months

This has been building. I would often think back on episodes of StartingCube, from How to Succeed to How To Change, What to do Next & Overcoming Adversity, and many more. I thought about Good To Great & the hegehog concept.

Then two key posts of my own:

• Paint The Picture
• production, investing, consumption & relaxation – A way to look at Life

The first is a process of setting priorities, the second – how I currently think of life in terms of producing & investing, consumption, and relaxation, all things we all need.

The big thing, the big reason why I decided not to head to Financial Peace Plaza today is that it does not fit with the main focus I have right now. I need more production & investing. I need more focused consumption.

Long term I will continue to help people solving public problems with private solutions.

I need to learn more about building businesses, meet more people, and improve my abilities and results as an investor. Today, was a step in self discipline of saying no to a good thing to spend time working towards something great.

If you want more, listen to the mp3, or check out the links. Cube25 [How to Succeed] & Paint The Picture are two great places to start.

Two changes:
1. what is a status

2. syndication

1. what is a status

Been thinking about how I had things set up to update facebook when a post was marked a “status”, well a status is a status, but there are times that I want a non-status to go to facebook (or twitter, or linkedin, or in the future google pluse).

So, that brought me to #2.

2. syndication

Now I have a new type of category set up – send-to. Then sub categories, with each going to different social media networks. The idea is that I can write something up, put it in whatever categories I want & it goes out to the worlds.

Now a post like this morning about the great podcast  I listened to might or might not be a status, but can still go the correct places.

With StartingCube, one of the things I think about every so often is how podcast websites, or band websites, or other art like painters, photographers, etc can share their work. It’s all about presenting the data in a way that fills the audience, and moves them closer to being a fan, subscriber, etc.

In the past, I’ve looked at blog style, reverse blog style, artwork, reverse artwork, random number of artwork.

Today, it’s a list.

Since the podcast has a unique, and hopefully interesting, title for each episode (along with an image), sometimes it’s best to just share a list of titles with someone.

Now I have a page template that will allow this, but just a list or index of show names seemed blah … especially when the time is taken to create some unique image for each episode, so when I was getting ready to make it live I decided to take the time to throw in some images.

The images are ever X number of items added, where the author/webmaster/whoever can turn them on or off & set how many posts should be added in between. This was important for spacing and the page template working in different settings.

I would love feedback on the Cube List pages.

Now that I think about it I could also have it where some experts are shown (and some not) or other neat things, but that is enough for tonight. I need to work on an actual StartingCube episode.

For number of weeks Lays Hot & Spicy chips have been missing from store shelves; today I found them again.

Last year I picked up a ASUS UL30Vt-X1 Thin and Light 13.3-Inch Black Laptop & it’s wonderful.

Now I am looking for a bag to carry it in, along with the cords, mouse, etc to both meetings & conferences. In looking at amazon this morning I am not totally sure, but I think either a more traditional briefcase or messenger bag style is what I am leaning towards. The dimensions are 12.9 x 9.3 x 1 inches.

looking for feedback & suggestions – some quick products I am looking at:

Backpack style were looked at, but not sure it’s what I want if I’m going to be out in public with it.

I am really looking for feedback & suggestions.

In the comments, I tried to thank for the thoughts & encourage her down the path she is on, and one thing came to me:

production, investing, consumption & relaxation

That might be a great way to look at life.

production

This is the act of trying to cause something to happen in the short term. You walk out on a stage of a body building contest, you release a post/article/book/podcast to the world, you go to work, you build a desk, you cut the grass.

A life without visible results can cause your heart to be sick … you need some production & results of production in your life.

investing

This is like production in you are attempting to cause something to happen, but the time frame is longer. The easy way is looking at investing in your retirement account, but it can also be putting time into training for your body building competition, learning a new skill, or reading a non-fiction book. Anytime the cause and effect relationship is delayed and unsure it’s more about investing then production.

consumption

Stop eating & you die.
Stop trading with others – produce everything you have, hold and consume & you become poorer. We must take into ourselves both physical goods, but also services of others, including friends and family.

In relationships there are times you are producing – providing for others, or investing – helping with the goal of a long term change, but there must also be consumption – gaining joy, laughter, entertainment or other desirable goods, services or emotions that you consume.

relaxation

Our body needs to recharge.

It’s good to be around stimulus, but it’s also important to unplug from time to time. As a parent of twin babies, I can say – without relaxation, sleep, or rest, it’s hard to do any of the three other areas.

At the same time, it’s hard to relax if you have not consumed the right stuff, produced, or invested for your dreams.

What about Giving?

Well, what about it? I am huge on giving, but understand that from my perspective giving a gift is either production or investing, depending on what the gift is and what the recipient of the gift is. I get something out of giving. I give because I want to, because a desire inside me is to either cause, prevent or stop something from happening.

Giving is good, giving is important, but for me giving is a part of life, not a category or way of looking at life.

Your thoughts?

On January 11th, 2011 I had a self-imposed deadline. I was going to start a podcast where I would share the great nuggets of gold that I had found and collected over time. For years I have gathered quotations, listened to & shared podcasts, books, and other media.That was the day I determined to be more intentional & open in sharing

As of that morning I did not have a plan in place, I had not even settled on a name, but I wanted the start date to be 2011-01-11 or 01-11-11 or 11-01-11 or 01-11-2011.

An idea came to me of calling the clips, quotations, and ideas cubes, because it was a little more interesting than blocks, and knew that I wanted the episodes to be something you could build upon. The domain name was secured, a site thrown up, and the first episode was made & released.

I knew I needed to just start, I was even thinking about a pattern for designing websites I had written on before & I knew that I had previously made podcast episodes similar to what StartingCube was in the past … but … never really released them.

The Big Two

There have been two episodes that have stuck with me the most, 50 and 25.

StartingCube 50 – How to Change – highlights some core reasons why I do StartingCube:
- promote ideas I desire to be spread around
- promote people, media, and products I want to succeed

Of the people who’s work has been shared on StartingCube, not everything they do I agree with, but they do enough good work that I want to continue.

StartingCube 25 – How to Succeed is not the most downloaded of all time, but considering it was released several months into doing StartingCube, it’s interesting how many people have and continue to download it. That episode talks about the steps a person needs to take to achieve their dreams. With that, I view a regular diet of StartingCube as fitting the bill.

Looking Forward

The second episode released was a recall of a story that Dave Ramsey told about the wise advice a billionaire shared with him. As I move forward with StartingCube, my intention is to keep moving forward & improving a little at a time.

Based on the original “how to find the best website for you” plan, I could work a site redesign, but at this point smaller improvements, like an updated About page, is more important move.

The style of episodes have also shifted a little, with shorter clips we are going to look to include an additional clip or quotation. Build upon a theme in each episode. We try to keep them short so that it just sparks a flame that the audience can take and build upon or let it go out. I don’t want StartingCube to lead people a long way each episode and finding a balance there is important.

The other day I was outside and noticed the moon & clouds. It looked cool. I went inside, grabbed my camera & spent a good bit of time attempting to capture the view I had.

Those pix are not what I was shooting for.

The next day I went and found a couple of youtube videos that explained a process. That night I went and attempted to duplicate the results.

Much improved, but I thought back on the image I had used for Starting Cube 25 – How to Succeed.

Looking at the pix from that night, I think I just got lucky.
A few days later, I was at a Krav Maga Seminar and first tried to just mess with the settings to get good shots in this dark room, with big windows (a strange combination).

Then I did something similar. I started looking at the values when I would almost take a pix in action mode, aperture mode, and a few others. Based on the values it said, I went into Manual mode, set the settings to around the same & played.

I’m pretty happy with the end result.

Matt Cutts: Try something new for 30 days

For the last hour or two I have watched tv, but keep thinking about this video.

What do I want to try for 30 days?

What do I want to do?

And it just hit me … just in time, about to be day 2.

I’ve been wanting to figure out WordPress Post Formats & find better ways of using them then the crap I see.

The other day I did some searches for advanced Post Formats techniques … nothing. All searches I did, in multiple routs, ended up with either “how to enable” or pretty much the exact same way of doing it.

This month: July 2011 : I am going to spend time every day working with them, learning them, and figuring out some cool ways to use them, so that the end result is that JonathanNation.com will do everything I would normally do on twitter, facebook, or other social media sites.

I’ll still use social media sites simply because I believe in reaching people where they are, but the hub, my personal hub, will be here.

From there, we shall see what happens. Some of the updates will be here, some on AllyNation. All in all, at the end of July I’ll know more & should have a much improved website.

Many of them have been featured in an episode of StartingCube.

At this point I know I have gone through these books:

• Tribes by Seth Godin [Cube 22 & Cube 50]
• QBQ! The Question Behind the Question by John G. Miller [Cube 11]
• Stop Acting Rich : And Start Living Like a Real Millionaire by Thomas J Stanley
• The Fifth Discipline by Peter M. Senge [Cube 31]
• Rework by Jason Fried, David Heinemeier Hansson & Mike Chamberlain [Cube 36]
• Drive by Daniel H. Pink  [Cube 37]
• The Dream Giver by Bruce Wilkinson, David Kopp, Heather Kopp (chance this was in 2010, not 100% sure)
• Linchpin by Seth Godin [Cube 45]
• Do The Work by Steven Pressfield

Parts of & intend to finish

• The Structure of Scientific Revolutions by Thomas Kuhn
• The Black Swan by Nassim Nicholas Taleb & David Chandler [Cube 35]
• Thou Shall Prosper by Rabbi Daniel Lapin [Cube 17 & Cube 34]
• Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln by Doris Kearns Goodwin
• The Road to Serfdom by Friedrich Hayek

Then there are a few additional that I know I have gone thought part of, but I don’t think I have really gone through it, but I have been through them before & plan on going through them again:

• Good To Great by Jim Collins [Cube 4]
• Cradle to Cradle by William McDonough & Michael Braungart [Cube 9]

Roughly in all about 11 books so far this year (counting up the partials).
Much better than last year. Having the pressure of finding and releasing 2 episodes of StartingCube has helped with the motivation of getting through and into new books.

I really like sailing.

This morning I was inspired to draw a little sailboat with two people in it. The first time I sailed a lazer there were either two or three young boys in the boat. Looking at lazer now I cannot imagine having more then one person most of the time.

Over the years I have used examples from sailing for all kinds of things, including reaching a destination & how one should travel through life.

I did add the blue background afterward.

This morning I was inspired to do some drawing.
Nearing the end of my first image I drew a tree.

It looked good.

Thus I decided to draw another image that was just a tree. It was ok, so I played with it a little in a graphics editor and put the border on. Finally I decided to go ahead and see what it would be like with a blue sky.

I’m pretty happy with the result.

Now I have added the original too, and plan on doing more with the process of most of the work in sharpie, then changing major white background areas (I have to draw on white paper) to whatever it needs to be.

As I read the list, my thoughts were two fold:
- I indirectly learned most of that while in a government school system, but that is not what they were intending
- The Boy Scouts of America: Boy Scout Troop & Order of the Arrow programs seem to be more intentional at developing those skills in individuals

for instance:
(some of Seth’s points that I learned in BSA programs)

• How to focus intently on a problem until it’s solved.
• The benefit of postponing short-term satisfaction in exchange for long-term success.
• The power of being able to lead groups of peers without receiving clear delegated authority.
• How to persuasively present ideas in multiple forms, especially in writing and before a group.
• Project management. Self-management and the management of ideas, projects and people.
• An insatiable desire (and the ability) to learn more. Forever.
• Most of all, the self-reliance that comes from understanding that relentless hard work can be applied to solve problems worth solving.

The reason that these elements are so well taught in the BSA programs is that they are designed to set the youth (and really adults) in a safe situation, but outside their comfort zone.

They provide a framework, or sandbox & some systems of safety.

Then lots of freedom.

One thing that could improve the different BSA programs, and similar organizations, is to reminded the adult supervision, and maybe leaders too, of those indirect lessons that are learned through the course of unscripted events & what can seem like chaos.

As to Seth’s other points:

• How to read critically.
• An understanding of the extraordinary power of the scientific method, in just about any situation or endeavor.
• Personal finance. Understanding the truth about money and debt and leverage.

They can be learned in the BSA, and other, settings. That was just not exactly my experience. A difference is some teacher needs to be involved and guide the student to these elements. It’s harder for someone to learn to critically read, or to use the scientific method out of chaos.

Past High School

The skills listed are important for big wins in a person’s life, but many don’t learn the skills or develop the taste while in High School.

If you are past your High School years, there is hope.

The biggest thing you have to do is be intentional in your education & gathering of experience. The biggest suggestion I have is to find a mentor, someone to learn from, and a group to be involved with. The mentor may or may not be involved with the group. There might also be advantages to being involved with two rather different groups (one with the mentor, one without).

For some the key will be action. For others it will be learning from others, in person or through media (books, websites, podcasts, etc). Whatever is natural for you, try to add the opposite to your life.

My phone vibrates with a new text:

NWS has issued a Tornado Warning for Rutherford, Coffee,  and Bedford County until 12:15 PM

I focus on the tv with the weather map and a minute or two later they show on the map the general area that they think a tornado hits.

A little while later official warning system kicks in, with a message that I had received at least 5 minutes prior.

I am very glad that I took the few minutes to set up a way to get push notifications (text in this case) when there are notifications. Waiting for the old school tv show interuption could take too long and sitting glued to the tv is a waist of time & energy.

The technological tools we have avaliable today are great.

Last 2 Weeks; This Week

Focus is something people have attempted to teach me most of my life.

In some regards I have the ability to have deep, piercing insight into a situation, system, organization, or individual. However, if I do not put forth the effort, or discipline, to keep focused, I produce less then I am capable.

When a sports team is not winning a normal step is to go back to the basics.

With people, this can manifest in a few ways, but I am taking three paths (kinda funny when thinking about refocusing).
1. Values
2. Vision / goals / destination
3. Action

It is easy to just keep doing what you have been doing. It’s easy to just do something.

I am once again deciding to strive for greatness, not what is easy or will probably end up being just good. It would have been easy to keep doing the LW;TW last week. It would have been easy to not put in the time in reading (a kindle book – not finished, but getting there).

It would have been easy to just keep on the path that I just got relatively recently career wise, but I was confronted with some thoughts that I am still working through.

My values and the destination I am heading towards must line up. Then the action (plan, or steps or wahtever) must push me towards the vision in the long term. What I have realized is that the values and goals worked … more or less, but the actions I was taking, the path I was following needs or needed to be adjusted.

Last 2 Weeks;

In the last 14 days, 5 of them were traveling to see family. Traveling with two newborns takes up a lot more time, primarily due to additional stops & longer stops. One travel day was last Monday.

Most of what I do for Starting Cube, clients, websites, I can do from anywhere, however I want to have as little responsibility while I am traveling as I can, thus I end up doing a lot of prep work before I travel.

Over the other time, we had a sick baby & my wife had a couple shifts of work. This reduces the number of blocks of time I have to work.

Creative work, like I often do, requires my head to be in the right place & time without interruptions. It might be I am playing a game, listening to something, or walking – but every time I have to shift ( forced by something outside of me ) it takes time to get back into what I was doing.

Starting Cube had some great episodes over this time; episode 25 How to Succeed is now the recommended “if you listen to one episode pick this one”.

Cube25 – How to Succeed
[See post to listen to audio]

Cube26 – Do Your Best
[See post to listen to audio]

Cube27 – Find The Right Price
[See post to listen to audio]

Cube28 – When Blocked You …
[See post to listen to audio]

This Week

This week I have a sister coming to visit along with Easter. I expect to work on writing up more on my values, priorities, and vision. Might even go through my Painting exercise in some way.

Starting Cube 29 & some other media are being reviewed.

I hope to go on a hike or two, taking pictures. It feels like it’s been a while.

There are storms in Middle Tennessee as I look back at last week & my focus for this next week. The big things from this past week are the number of people I had such an impact on that they thanked me. This next week I plan on focusing on working on systems, or “on the business” instead of “in the business”.

[See post to listen to audio]
[download MP3 - 17:44]

Thanks for Helping

As I thought about this past week I was floored by the number of people who thanked me, not in the moment of me providing advise, my skills, media, or solutions, but afterwards. Like Angela with Music Strong, who is focused on training musicians. Quiet Entertainer preformed a great show I was at this weekend & should post some videos I recorded soon. Brandon was helped through having his picture taken, as he took professional pictures.

I sent off a care package, a DVD full of podcasts, to a soldier I know who is deployed & came upon a police officer who was helping with a funeral processional.

Last Week;

Starting Cube

Cube0023 – Genius of the And
[See post to listen to audio]

Cube24 – How to Produce
[See post to listen to audio]

You have to ask – About StartingCube 24
[See post to listen to audio]

thanks to those who tweeted or posted on facebook these episodes

Ally Nation

All behind the scenes – been working on plans, helping clients, and thinking about reworking how we host websites, for the companies, clients, and friends.

Family

Taxes are done, kinda shocked how large of a return we are getting, lots of medical bills & new babies can do just that.

We have pretty much settled on the current will, just need to finish typing, print & find a time to sign.

April budget is not quite finished. Should be tomorrow.

Me

Recorded & Released more audio this past week then before.
Podcamp Nashville 11 follow-up
[See post to listen to audio]
A Best Shot involving Rain

This Week

Focus is internal systems, or working on the business and not just in it.

Thus for all major projects (Starting Cube, Ally Nation & Personal) – just bump along & then work on stuff that most people will not know about or see, until there is something to announce.

Types of Projects

• WordPress Custom Pages
• Web Hosting
• products, services, marketing & branding of Ally Nation
• General direction
• Adding non-featured content to JonathanNation.com

I like listening to the live shows at GSPN.tv/live & knew as I was listening to Business Tech Weekly 71 that eventually an episode of StartingCube would use part of it. I like and respect Andy Traub more and more as I get to know him.

Before you go on, make sure you have listened to the Starting Cube episode:

StartingCube 24 – How to Produce

[See post to listen to audio]
[mp3 - 6:57] One-Click Subscriptions to StartingCube: Zune : iTunes : RSS

My Response:

[See post to listen to audio]
[download MP3 - 15:04]

You have to ask:

• People cannot buy if you have nothing to sell.
• People cannot download if you have nothing to download
• People will not say yes to your request if you do not ask.

During my college years, I made a habit of talking to people who did not know me. Individuals like VPs, Deans, Department Chairs. A few years later I was totally out of practice.

One summer my wife and I were traveling around the country & ended up in Columbus Ohio one day. I had a day to myself. Nervously I arranged to meet a guy I knew online in person to walk around Ohio State University. Afterwards I was driving & spotted the Columbus Crew Soccer Stadium.

In an act of bravery, for me at least, I asked to be able to walk around & take pictures.
Here are some that resulted:

Going & asking people for help, or to do stuff you want, or for them to purchase, pay, or vote for what you want is both scary and vital to achieving your goals.

Don’t aim for perfection.

I know StartingCube was not perfect when it started … I talked about it in episode 1 – seed to tree and episode 2 – the billionaire to the millionaire.

The knowledge of great audio was something I knew about before producing Artist Insider in 2006, but just acting was what was needed.

Greatness can be sustained; perfection cannot

Do the best work you can & work to improve as you Help People.

The reason I support businesses as the best way to solve public problems is they are the most effective.

I am not talking about fraud, theft, or oppression – but equitable trades, where both parties end up with something they desire more then what they trade for it.

Recap:

I have to ask
I have to produce
I cannot aim for perfection, but greatness
I have to do my best & keep improving what “my best” is

That is why I am going on the Best Website for You plan. Have worked StartingCube the way it is, and why Ally Nation is in such rough shape. The first thing I have to do is figure out what I will produce on a regular basis, then figure out the best way to present it online.

PodCamp Nashville 2011 was a great experience.

A common theme: Be authentic.

I went and did just as I was planning. Went to a couple sessions the entire time, talked with people, and jumped from session to session.

One of the things I realized during it was I needed to just turn on the mic & record more often, as a primary method of content creation. With this post, I did just what I talked about in the Last Week; This Week post on 2011-03-28

Here is the audio:

[See post to listen to audio]
[download MP3 - 22:37]

And some more notes:

Full Time Mom – Stephanie Ravenscraft:
- “I’m not raising children, I am raising adults.”
- My kids think in terms of building a brand, integrity & consistency.

We Did – a panel on start-ups and success
- “Some of the best connections I have made was due to just meeting with people, even though you have no idea where it might lead.”

I’m going to look more into Nashville Entrepreneur Center – http://entrepreneurcenter.com/ – specifically the classes they have.

Meet a number of people including:

Bill Graff of Farm And Ranch Country
Mike Arnold of Concert Blast
Ted Chapin of Entertainment Cooperative
David Foster of The Gathering Nashville

- gaining twitter followers -

Around the time of #pnc11, my twitter followers increased by between 20 and 40. The theory I have is that it’s because I was putting out real content, and not just re-tweeting the schedule & other info people who wanted it would get from the @pnc account.

:: For Presenters ::

Notes for Presenters were taken, but I’m going to save them for now. Two were shared in the audio.

image used in banner found on flickr by Dave Delaney

This day I was at a house, with some time & my camera. I was raining, at some points hard and other times slight.

Walking around different points I was able to play with capturing water falling, splashing, and generally moving.

It was a fun time, with some cool shots.

:Update:

Here are more shots from that day:

Post PodCamp Energy

[See post to listen to audio]
[download MP3 - 30:52]

The focus of the week was PodCamp Nashville 2011. There were activities before and after this one day event, but so much was packed into those short 10 hours that it’s hard to look before or after it.

A major Realization

One guy I talked with at PodCamp was saying that he wants to share some of the knowledge he has from his years of being one of the greatest in his field. He still travels around the USA to big companies and venues to do this task, but nobody is really sharing about how to do what he does.

I encouraged him to go ahead and record what he does as audio. He has all the knowledge & equipment to do just that.

Then a lighbulb went off in my head.

I have all the equipment, knowledge, and ability to record my thoughts. I should do just that, then do a small post & push it out there.

This is my new plan:

• outline – to help keep me focused
• record audio
• put audio out there

Expect more of my thoughts, ideas, and views on both my personal site & my business sites, like AllyNation.com

Last Week;

Starting Cube

Two episodes, one had been in the can for a while.

Cube0021 – Means to an End
[See post to listen to audio]

on Cube21 – Means, Ends, Sun Tzu, Art of War & Business
[See post to listen to audio]

Cube0022 – Coloring Sheep
[See post to listen to audio]

Decided to just produce the episodes as they come to me, currently there are over 10 cubes sitting there. I want to spread them out, especially 4 that are from the same show. There are others from books I have written down.

Ally Nation

Found an interesting project by TED on Future of Advertising
eBook – new apporach
learning about WordPress Multi-site – part of the idea of migrating to a new host

Family

Decided on the Will stuff, need to finish with the print out  & go get signed
Tax numbers – worked on them, almost done

Me

Finished reading Stop Acting Rich & Live like a Real Millionaire – part of my 2011 Reading Intentions
Dentist & Haircut taken care of
2011 Movie  Post

PodCamp Nashville – best PodCamp I have been to this year.

This Week

Starting Cube

Record & Release 2 episodes, but also record some of the backlog of cubes I have for future

Ally Nation

Post more – I find stuff worth sharing & commenting on – work on the system for that
eBook – record some chapters, segments, or gather old emails. Not sure what final products will be (audio, video, and/or text) but progress will be made

Me & Family

Final numbers to Accountant – hope to do this Monday
Will – printed & signed
April Budget – our family writes out a budget a budget each month

Other & Unclassified

Post PodCamp post – something, not all media, but at least one writeup (posted somewhere)
- this post PodCamp element is really the biggest thing for the week.

It was a great weekend, preceded by a good week. I look forward to digesting, planning, acting & shipping new media out of me.

My first feelings of last week were “big disappointment”. Really I have one project I wanted to get through and did very little work on it. The number 2 and 3 tasks for the week also went unfinished. Where did the week go & what happened?

Interruptions are common, especially working at home with twin babies. Some days I am the primary caretaker. Other days there is “help” or my wife as the primary, but I am often called to help (or just feel I must). Then the few hours that I get away or the babies are away are productive, even if not on my top tasks.

However, I look at the calendar, accomplishments & focus of last week and much of what I set out to do was accomplished.

If I was not doing these weekly reviews & recording of goals then I would be left with an unrealistic view of the past.

Some things in my life needs to change, but that is the point of working on the system and not just in it. Day by day, learning about myself and the world around me – so that day by day I get better at shaping the world & my life to be what I desire it to be.

Super Moon Shooting

Over what feels like an entire week, but was technically 3 calendar days, or 2 nights, I went out and captures images of the moon. The moon was bright itself, but did not look the biggest I have ever seen. Might just be our location, but I can remember “HUGE” moons in the past and this was not one.

Two things came form this experience:
- I learned about my camera
- I am interested in shooting stars when there is no moon

Because I was sitting there and had a beam of light in an otherwise dark sky shooting a stationary target, I could play with the settings. I now better understand two of the settings, at least when shooting something bright like a stage or building in the dark.

Last Week;

Starting Cube
Released two episodes & one “follow up” by me. Really want to do another for the other, but did not happen.

Cube0019 – Media Earthquake
[See post to listen to audio]

my followup to Cube19:
[See post to listen to audio]

Cube0020 – Starting Out
[See post to listen to audio]

Ally Nation
Ebook on websites – very little was accomplished, other then some mental work on this & helping some people.

Did manage to update a little more then normal on the site, with an extra deeper look at StartingCube 19 – Media Earthquake.

Me

Post more then normal with three in the [Best Shot] series, and one original article about money and priorities.

I also managed to go walking & taking pictures three times, that is a good additional physical activity for me. Some of those days I also stopped by the Y and lifted some weights.

The mental breaks were good steps towards being more productive.

Family

- Will & Such – still not done, maybe this week
- Family Taxes – closer to done, not got everything to the accountant.

This Week

Starting Cube
Nothing above producing shows – this is being intentional to focus on the Ebook.

Ally Nation
Ebook
Work on server migration project.

Me & Family
Will & Such – need to make decisions, print & sign/notarize
Numbers to Accountant
Haircut – it’s time, this is the week.
PodCampNashville – [my plan of attack]

One thing I keep thing back to & promoted to a few people this week: The Tortoise Always Wins
(ref: Starting Cube 2 The Billionaire said to The Millionare).

This was a great day, where I went to a park, did a couple mile walk, listened to some great audio & took a bunch of pictures.

At one point, I walked into a field that had a fence in the middle of it. A thought ran through my head that I was sure I could get a some good shots of this fence.

As I approach it, I take shots. When I get to it, I spend some time playing with my camera. Manually adjusting the focal points, and other techniques.

Here is a slideshow of the rest:

I am currently reading three separate books, all audiobooks; part of my Reading Intentions 2011 plan.

• The Structure of Scientific Revolutions
• Thou Shall Prosper
• Stop Acting Rich And Start Living Like a Real Millionaire

A couple times a thought so strong came to me that I had to tweet, or post on facebook.

If you automatically think of wealth/money as evil, you will either do evil or be poor.

Not directly related to any one book, Thou Shall Prosper addresses a very similar topics but this also came to be due to the discourse and media coverage recently, including Wisconsin, Tennessee, and a few other locations. Wealth Envy is very powerful and a strong issue, but another one is the silly idea that to have wealth you must have done something “wrong”.

Granted, one could do something illegal (fraud or theft) or oppressive to acquire some money, even in great sums, but that discredits the way almost all wealth is generated in the USA, if not the world.

When you work, when you provide value and in trade receive something you value; you have not done anything evil, you have done good. Now, there are only two fundamental steps to amassing wealth:
1. earn money
2. don’t spend all of it

Ideally once you have the money, you invest – or allow someone to use the money at a price – the money, thus doing more good. You have enabled other people to pursue their goals.

At the same time, if you believe wealth or money is evil … you will have to either reject it, or embrace evil.

I want to thank my parents (and theirs) for emphasizing travel, camps & life experiences and provided me with much of each while growing up.

This was more directly caused by Stop Acting Rich And Start Living Like a Real Millionaire.

Within the first chapter, Thomas Stanley talked about what the millionaires he has surveyed over the years said they spent their money on, especially in regard to their children. The book really breaks the millionaires into two ends of a continuum, basically how glamorous they seem.

The children of millionaires who become millionaires had a common element in their childhood:

an emphasis on travel & life experiences;  not stuff

Thinking back on my childhood, we were not a glamorous family at all. I have four siblings, all younger then I, and for most of my life the income was my father’s government engineer salary, a little above the median family income. In addition to that, we did not live extravagantly. As far as I know my family always budgeted & used an envelope system to keep tabs on spending.

One thing that was pretty constant, either due to my parents or my Grandmother, is that we traveled. Not to far off exotic places, but around the Southeast USA.

I’m pretty sure I’ve been to most of the Tennessee State Parks. I have seen lots of old log cabins, so much so I can say — they pretty much all look the same inside.

Growing up, I also went to a Sailing Camp, Boy Scout Camp, Vacation Bible Schools, lots of National Parks, and major cities. The times I went to the National Order of the Arrow Conference (NOAC) for a week at a major college university was great. Family camping trips to a different state each spring break for years allowed us to see sites, learn about cultures, and meet new people.

It had a major impact on who I am. Not I am very grateful and thankful.

At the time there were points of wealth envy, not understanding why I did not have the cool stuff, but at this point … a point where no matter what it is, given enough time I could buy most items, I have other priorities.

I hope I do as good a job with my children.

Now off to plan the next adventure.

This was a wonderful day, where I had a couple mile walk in a park near a small airport.

At one point I was in the standard landing path and probably should have waited a little while longer for more birds to fly overhead, but it was great.

The little neighborhood we live in has several children who were all excited the first time we had a sunny day and could go out walking with our girls.

For some reason I am starting this early. I like the habit I seem to be forming with this series. In many books, the idea of only “planning out a week at a time” has been presented. I think I resisted doing that because I am  big picture type of person & a week seemed so small for goals and plans seemed better to be “daily”. Through this process I have found that I look at what I want to accomplish within a week, considering obligations, my schedule and such. Then when I am wondering “what should I do?” I go back to this post.

It has worked well

Lessons of this past Week

The biggest lessons came from feedback:

what I need [from you] is someone to look at my business from the business side of things. I see things from inside, not outside, and I don’t have the skills (yet) or knowledge base (yet) to know how to reach and grow an audience.

This is a pretty good definition of what an outside consultant does, or a coach. Out of all the strengths I bring to a situation, my perspective is probably the most important.

… I just think you can be more than what you are giving yourself credit for, that there are practical things that you can do to make your message more genuine …

We all suffer and are built upon our past. I am working hard for my future to be better then my past.

I want to thank the two people who sent those in, along with the other people who have encouraged me recently.

Last Week;

It was a short week simply because:

• Monday – travel day – all day – did not get home until late at night
• Tuesday – mostly recover from travel day (and the few days away)
• Wednesday – Accomplished some tasks, brother came to visit …
• Thursday – Wife at work, I took care of the kids, managed to make my visual arts group
• Friday – Wife home from a long day previous, she sleep most of the day – recovering from a 24 hour shift & prepping for another the next day. Not much work, but a good bit due to babies napping better
• Saturday – Wife at work, me take care of babies. Was inspired & wrote up a piece about PodCamp Nashville to be posted the next day. Also went and visited with some family.
• Sunday – mostly recovery day

All in all, it’s easy for time to just fly by …

Now to real accomplishments, because in all of that (and really it can be a lot), there was some neat stuff.

Starting Cube
Released two episodes:

Cube0018 – What Do You Do?

[See post to listen to audio]

Cube0017 – New Great Path

[See post to listen to audio]

Also, started soliciting feedback with a special forum / survey.

Ally Nation
Had some great interactions with clients / friends / leaders that I would like to work with.

Me & Family
Managed to do the first family budget for many months. We consistently did a monthly budget for 89 months in a row, then we had babies …. and … the days are long and the weeks / months are short … one thing lead to another & we did our March budget near mid March.

On Jonathan Nation . Com – managed to post a couple times, including an article about how I approach UnConferances ( like PodCampNashville on March 26th ) & several people retweeted about it.

Visited with the Dr our Babies go to; he is happy with their growth. They are both healthy, we just have two, so we pick up on any differences. The biggest difference? about a pound and a half …

This Week

Starting Cube
Keep going & keep working on the workflow. The goal of having a que of stuff in different phases has not been accomplished. This is not the focus this week, but progress should be made.

AllyNation
Ebook on websites – this is a priority. I want to see major progress done this week.

Me & Family

- do more paperwork (will & such) that have been pushed off for a while
- take more time to just write or record my thoughts and opinions on topics. Really want to do this each episode of Starting Cube.
- finish & “ship” some articles that are mostly done
- start some new articles

This week is what I would expect to be pretty typical or base. Only one monthly group meeting & wife works 2 shifts.

A baby is a little fussy & the dog wants to go out, so it’s time to stop typing, do the rest of the post prep (after taking care of those two little ones) & start on accomplishing this list for this week.

I have attended every PodCampNashville & the hardest for me to go to was the first.

All in all I am sorta an introvert. I like deep personal conversations and relationships. Parties where I don’t know anyone is hard, because I also don’t like approaching strangers, especially when I am out of the habit.

At PodCampNashville1 (in 2008) the event was small, much smaller then it is today, with one stage, and not many places beyond the main room, but one thing really struck me as I was first leaning about it at the beginning: The Law of Two Feet.

Law of 2 Feet – if you’re not getting what you want out of the session, you can and should walk out and do something else.

That was empowering and really effected the way I approach PodCamps, BarCamps and other UnConfferances.

What Seth Goden Says:
Seth Goden posted his stratigy for SXSW, a large converance going on this weekend, where he talks about the personal relationships, specifically instead of focusing on sessions:

I focus on what I do remember: the engaged conversations. The one on one discussions of what someone is working on. Helping a friend design a book cover or solve a thorny entrepreneurial problem. Sneaking out to go to a taco stand for lunch with a very cool CEO…

This is a great approach to attending a PodCamp, but my tact is slightly different, a PodCamp  is also slightly different.

With PodCamps, BarCamps, WordCamps, and other UnConferances, the speakers are generally people from the local area.

My Strategy when attending any UnConferances

I have two primary goals:

I'll be At PodCampNashville2011

• Learn
• Develop Relationships

Attend As Many Sessions as I can.
It’s not about the time I spend in a session, it’s about the number. At PodCampNashville there will be 4 or more sessions going on all at once. I look at the schedule, especally the impromptu room one that will not be in the printed book, and go listen to the presentation for at least a little bit in many. Looking at my BarCampNashville 2010 program, I made it to an average of 3 presentations per session time. There will be a few sessions I end up staying most of the time for.

Why?
It’s like interviewing people. I want to see someone to decide if I want to find them on twitter, or throw their site in my RSS Reader. Another element is, at times they will engage me so much I stay & listen more, or talk with them later in the day.

Stay For the After Party.
Stay For the After Party.
Stay For the After Party.
It is better to show up late for an UnConferance and stay for the after party then get there early and leave before the after party.

Another hint, it’s not about the beginning of the after party but closer to the end. With UnConferances, there are many people who are great people who volunteer. They work hard, and typically are cleaning up at the beginning of the after party. The after party will change a little as they get done with whatever roll they have and start to filter to the after party. More conversations happen, especially with people who will probably be at the event the next year & who live in the local area.

Look for Conversations to Join.
This can be a hard part for us introverted types … but there are conversations going on in the halls, breakout rooms, and eating areas. Go sit or stand next to them. Look engaged (if you are). Most of the people who come to an UnConferance are like you & understand both how hard it is to be at an event where you really don’t know people but are interested in the general topic the UnConferance is centered around.

I have seen many people at the after party, or even at a meal after the after party having fun and great conversations to discover that they meet just that day … the key is to overcome fears & engage people.

Bring Friends
Last thing, and this can help with the rest … encourage people who you know & believe would get something out of knowing more people interested in media & communications (podcamp) or business & technology (barcamp) or online publishing / websites (wordcamp)

A Free Event, worth So Much More

I will be at PodCampNashville 2011 on March 26th & sign up today and I’ll see you then … it’s free to come, the Law of 2 Feet apply, so you will get more then your money worth out of it.

This is the first real painting that I remember ever doing. As a part of a small group of people interested in arts, we decided to sit around and paint one day.

This was the image that I could not get out of my head. I love sailing, and post on sailing related stuff many times.

I can see issues in it, both in the techniques I used and the proportions of some stuff, but here are things I am happy with:

• the development of colors – lots of parts are due to a mixture of the colors
• the sail – might seem funny, but in reality of the parts of boat/person, it is the most like what I wanted
• the wind & water – I think I got that correct, the waves are pointing at the sail & you can see the boat cutting through the water
• the angle of the boat – the slight hiking out of the boat works for me

Going into this night, my wife encouraged me to go more abstract. I am glad I did not try to be more detailed, especially since we put a time limit and I could not paint, wait a few days, then go paint more over it.

During the night I also learned more about painting and some ideas of how I could do a better job next time.

The days were long, but the week was short.

The past 7 days passed in a blur. Major highlights include:

• first long distance trip with the babies
• three days I managed to go on multi-mile walks with camera & take pix
• seeing some family that we rarely get to see
• coaching clients & content production that will help even more people

RSS Bankruptcy – I did not intend to file RSS Bankruptcy, a term for marking everything in your RSS reader as read. I actually was down to around 400 unread messages & was pretty happy with it. Not all the posts represented time I really needed to spend digesting, it was sorta a “to do list” for podcasts I wanted to listen do & articles to digest. However, somehow it happened & now I am facing a “what to do now” moment.

Sabbath – a Sabbath, to me, is a day of rest & “intentionally disrupting your routine”. Ideally this happens weekly, where you take a day to recharge in whatever manner fits you. I’m not great at that pattern, but I guess I have managed to recharge a little this week and two things are more clear:

• I need to do a better job at having a planned sabbath in my weeks
• I need to focus on my basics & eliminate some “good” stuff, where I can do more that is “great”

Powerful Thoughts:

I updated facebook & tweeted these two out. I have also written an article that needs a little more editing, but these were two big thoughts this week:

If you automatically think of wealth/money as evil, you will either do evil or be poor.

I want to thank my parents (and theirs) for emphasizing travel, camps & life experiences and provided me with much of each while growing up.

Last Week

Starting Cube
- release 2 shows

Cube15 – Need A Vacation? – inspiration to build a business, not a job

[See post to listen to audio]

Cube16 – Getting Approved To Build Your Dream – ideas on influencing people

[See post to listen to audio]
- produced more – we are getting closer to my goal of having at least a week of the audio parts of an episode done at any time. This will give me more time to focus on other things, like my response to the episodes.

Ally Nation
- some words & plans were done on  the eBook
The eBook is a guide to setting up websites. I really want to have everything done by the 20th. That gives me about 2 weeks.

Jonathan Nation . Com
- wrote a little, did not “ship” …. writing is good, but shipping is what really is success.
- post a pix in [Best Shot] series

Family – time spent this is good

This Week

Starting Cube

- Produce 3 to 4 episodes
- Release 2 episodes

Ally Nation

- Release an article, probably on social media networks (what you should be on) – missed last week goal
- keep writing on the ebook – have first draft done, if not all text.
- figure out next phase of AllyNaiton website (this was WordPress 3.1 dependant)

Me & Family

- adjust the RSS subscriptions I have – focusing more on my goals and less on my hobbies
- get Will and other legal documents done/notarised
- have some traveling and family time here this week too

Looking at the calendar I can just see “lots of time with the babies”. This can translate into a good amount of audiobooks and podcasts. One thing I am going for is less on my to do lists, but more focused to do lists also, where when I reach the goals they are more important to me. That really is helping more people to achieve their dreams that include solving public problems as a private person, group, organization, or business.

Send in Feedback

On this day I took this dog out for a walk. It was a nice day, but the pictures actually make it look more dark and gloomy then I remember.

Picked this shot because it was the best one of the dog … it was also the first shot of a few I took as we walked. It’s interesting how the first shot I take tends to be the best.

Most weeks tends to be different then we envision them, when you add twin newborns into the mix it’s hard to dream at all.

Much of my last few months has been adjusting to the twins being a part of my life. I went from easily having 16 hours a day to work on whatever I see best, to 2 … and now a little longer, but mostly in short spurts. Leaning to focus, priorities, put first things first, and stop doing a bunch of stuff has helped.

This series of post, and other records like my calendar, also seems to help for two reasons:
1. let me see I am making progress – I can visually see accomplishments
2. when I need help focusing, I have a list of priorities to go back to.

Recent Lessons & Thoughts

Focus on most important & non-routine – last week was the first time I did something like this for public consumption. In reading it a few times a day I realized I included too much that was “normal” like the personal health/development of me sections. Nothing bad with what was written, but it can be said every week. Plan to focus more on special elements form here on out.

Sleep When the Babies Sleep – I think this wise saying is more true at 4 months then 1 month, for the babies did not sleep very long, but did sleep a lot at 1 month. Now they are sleeping in longer stretches over night, but there are still times when they awake in the night. If I stay up too late, like I did last night, I was ill equipped to take care of them. A balance point must be found, but I need to do a better job of being prepared.

Less info in specific areas – I like learning. Long ago I realized that I could not learn all that I wanted to, and needed to focus in. I stopped playing Fantasy Football cold turkey because of the time I would devote to learning about what was going on. Looking at my stats in my RSS Reader, I averaged 171.933 posts read every day for the past 30 days. At the same time I have 400 posts waiting for me to read right now, I cut that down form 800 a day or two ago. I am sure I can cut out a feed or two.

Last Week

Starting Cube

- release 2 shows ( Answer Includes: Genius, Inspiration & Perspiration & Price Right For You )

[See post to listen to audio]
- made progress so that production is easier & at higher quality
- more comments, and higher number of people listening & commenting

Ally Nation

- some words & plans were done on the eBook

Jonathan Nation . Com

- post a pix in [Best Shot] series

Family

- paid property taxes – loved going in and not having a huge line

Other

Managed to work out, go to two events with other people, talk to clients & perspective clients, write a good bit, and prep for the traveling I know I have fast approaching. WordPress 3.1 also came out & some time was spent learning & updating some sites.

This Week

Starting Cube

- Produce 3 to 4 episodes
- Release 2 episodes
- update a little more on the facebook page

Ally Nation

- Release an article, probably on social media networks (what you should be on)
- work on helping a few clients with their websites
- learn more about WordPress 3.1
- keep writing on the ebook

Me & Family

- get ready for some traveling I have

The big thing really is that Helen is working more the next two weeks & I have some travel soon, so prepping for that and taking care of the girls is the top priorities.

Send in Feedback

I have not shot a lot of pictures at night & when I do am rarely happy with the result.

This was an exception.

On this night I took our dog out to do his business … and the clouds & the moon was just calling to me. After I the dog was done, I went back out armed with the shoot & share camcorder and my camera.

Of all the shots I took this one was the best.

I like seeing the star, in addition to the clouds, moon and tree.

It is good on a regular basis to look at what happened in the past, pull out new lessons, and plan the next period of time.

I’m going to attempt to do that for myself here.

Last Week

I did a better job producing last week. One thing that helped was simply the babies sleeping longer & generally demanding less time.

Ally Nation – produced & released a new guide on deleting a facebook page
Started eBook #1 – a guide for people on a tight budget to the best website they can for as little as they can, both short term & long term

StartingCube – two episodes released:
- dealing with the unexpected that changes your plans
- a look at someone who has achieved his goals & broke many of the conventional rules
More importantly, worked on doing a better job in my production, giving myself more time for all the rolls I am currently doing.

Reading Intentions – managed to finish up Cradle To Cradle, QBQ! The Question Behind The Question, and listen to a little of The Structure of Scientific Revolutions & Thou Shall Prosper

Accounting – Managed to progress on family & business accounting. We had slacked off a large bit after the babies were born.

JonathanNation.com was updated with two posts within the last 7 days.

Managed to make two meetings that were both social and business. Social in the since that I enjoy spending time with the people, business in that I was able to coach, teach, or advise people there (or after the events).

Physical Health – managed to work out a couple times & start getting back into eating. Both are important for my goals of dropping alittle weight before March. Step 1 is making sure I eat at least 3 meals a day, it’s been hard with the wacky sleep schedule & baby care, but that is getting better now that I am focusing on being more intentional.

This Week

This week looks to be a big week. It’s the first week where my wife goes back to work at a Hospital. It’s been a long time due to work restrictions before the babies.

Looking at my calendar I see a few evening meetings that will be great, some coaching calls with clients, and a dentist appointment.

beyond that my focus goes something like this:

:: Big Projects ::

Starting Cube
- continue to break the production process into proper stages & get more in each of the ques.
- release 2 shows
- work on getting more interaction between people who listen to the show

Ally Nation
- continue to coach current clients & meet with perspective clients
- work on the eBook
- post at least one thing online (a guide, article, or promotion of someone doing great)

Jonathan Nation . Com
- Release this article
- post more ( sometime )

Family
- finish up “restart budget” & do March Budget
- finish updating Will & other documents
- pay property taxes

Development of Me
- Work out a couple times (minimum & beyond lugging around one or two baby weights)
- get through normal podcasts & at least make progress in an audiobook

:: Things that I could see, or hope to see, this week ::

WordPress 3.1 – when this releases, I will have a lot of work, but I have been waiting for this for too long.

Photography Options – I am going to try to do a better job of taking some pictures

The overall focus this week is taking little steps, both towards the goals I have and in the distance I can travel with each step.

Send in Feedback

This was an interesting day from a photography perspective.

It started out at a wedding in a small church with bad lighting. I managed to use my big lens & did get a couple good shots. The funny thing is that I forgot to get a shot of all the groomsmen. I played with the manual settings through this service.

After the wedding was the reception.

I forgot to turn my camera back to an auto mode, or adjust the settings, so I took several shots in the bright outside that were totally white.

Then got a couple shots of the car, couple & crowd. It was good, but in the end, instead of picking something else, I just went with this smile.

I did throw some additional pix in a facebook album, but I am not sure how public I want it, so you can see it for a little while.

This was at an amateur play by some youth on January 30th 2011.

The babies and the dog get along together well. Some of the best days are when everyone sleeps.

]]> http://www.jonathannation.com/nap-time-best-shot/feed/ 0 http://www.jonathannation.com/making-meaning-in-cube-5/ http://www.jonathannation.com/making-meaning-in-cube-5/#comments Tue, 25 Jan 2011 21:00:10 +0000 jon http://www.jonathannation.com/?p=1855

Starting Cube has been a fun project, but as I was producing the audio & images for episode 5 – Main thing of Tech – I was getting excited about this post.

Best place to start is listen to that episode:

Starting Cube 0005 – Main thing of Tech [mp3 - 5:36]
[See post to listen to audio]

Now I had some options, but decided that I would both produce some text explanation & audio, because people learn different ways.

Here is the first segment/post/episode of me just talking about something in audio:
[See post to listen to audio]
[mp3 - 16:05]

Now for people who prefer to read:

I know when I have to choose between text based learning and audio based learning – I pick the audio. Text is so much harder for me to get into my head. Emailing with Cliff Ravenscraft recently – he says he is a visual & the text on a page helps. I know other people who need talking heads, or movement to keep their focus. Because of that, and that I am quicker (might have said better) at talking then writing, I plan on recording more segments like this.

Making Starting Cube #5
This took me much longer then I wanted.

The first struggle was finding the right cube (clip, quotation, etc)  to center the episode around.

First I looked at the notes I have a few places with clip ideas.

Then I looked at the many notebooks that I have accumulated over time.

Finally I found the clip I wanted to use. Before StartingCube, I had made similar episode of a never really released show, but with some differences:

• Starting Cube – goal is to set out an idea & get out of the way
• other show – set out the idea & then direct the audience in thinking a specific way

I am glad I have the clips, but mostly just to reference ideas.

The format of ep #5 was messed with a little too, I would love feedback on that.

The Picture – St. Louis Skyline

I was thrilled to use this image. It’s from the Arch (or Gateway Arch).
The story goes, I went up in the arch and turned on my phone.

A client called – wanting an update to the website. I was armed with an android based smartphone. I made the changes form the arch.

I also IMed with people from the arch.

I would not be able to travel as much as I do if it were not for me being able to provide value, or help, people from most anywhere I am.

I also would not be able to provide as much value to my clients if I did not explore new things nearly as much as I do … part of that is traveling & exploring.

Meaning to Me

All technology has one main purpose – help you achieve your goals by taking away or making easier to do work.

Same thing applies to employees, vendors, contractors, businesses, coaches, and consultants.

A reason you hire a person or business is to take on what you don’t need to be doing, so you can focus on what you do.

It’s a form of trade & trade is what makes us wealthy.

Most anything I do can be done by you, but how much time would it take you compared to me & paying me my hourly rate?

People partner with me on ventures/businesses because I bring the experiences, networks, and problem solving abilities in areas that they don’t have.

Win-Win-Win situations are those that you use the strength of others (or technology) and then you can use your strengths (as opposed to areas you are weaker).

So, what about you?
What were your thoughts either of this post, the new audio, or StartingCube #5?

I really want feedback & appreciate you valuing what I have done enough to listen. I hope it helps.

I have received from a few separate people, thanks & praise.
Some examples:

thank you for messing up my life… again…! LOL

I love this.  …  I am so glad you sent that article hmmm food for thought! You’re good at that.

I’ve also gotten good feedback from StartingCube … and by good, it’s not always “You are good” or “keep it up”. It’s the little things. People liking the Facebook Fan page, or promoting an episode on their wall, or tweeting out a link to an episode.

That is the food that individuals who create stuff really need. At least I do & all those who I have talked with do. It’s the positive affirmation, in a world that will deliver hits to your life.

For me it can be as simple as asking for advice, promoting something I have shared with you, or even hiring me to walk along side you for a period of time.
I thought about these replies, and this is what I came up with:

Dear Friend,
I rock your world so many times for two reasons:
1. I believe you are worth investing my time and energy into – I see potential in you.
2. I am just showing you the world I live in … I know it’s a little different from what you are use to, but in my mind (and I think yours too) it is better.
Love, ~Jonathan

One of the things I care about deeply is people reaching as close to their potential as they can. All my world is centered around supporting people, ideas, and groups that I want to succeed.

This is done a few ways:

• sending people stuff that I believe will help them – books, quotations, clips, etc
• coaching – people hire me for a good amount to walk alongside them & help them
• partnering with people & groups – could be a non-profit like REIN or the BSA/OA that I just want to help. Could be businesses with others that I believe in.
• supporting – taking on a support role – this could be in video games, where I don’t seek to be the hero, but to make my team win. It could be the behind the scenes person helping take care of fires.

I’ve learned over the years that this is what is best for me & I want to thank you for letting me fill my calling when I help you.

Now, I have two things I would like you to do:

1. praise someone – not asking for me (though I will take it) – in a more public form share something great that you have found.
2. thank someone - I am not great at this, but working on it – go to someone in private & thank them for what they are doing or have done.

If you are wondering about “my World” the best place to learn more about it is to read what I read, listen to what I produce, and read what I share or write. I am not the only one there, but it is different from what you probably were introduced to in school or tv.

thank you again and you are welcome

I really enjoyed working on Starting Cube episode 4.

In it I shared the beginning of one of my favorite books: Good To Great by Jim Collins

A book that was written after 5 years of exploring if a group of people (a business in this case) could go from bumping along and being good to great, or absolutely fabulous, with sustained results.

The simple answer is it can be done.

However, the book starts off with an explanation as to why we do not see so much great in our lives, our churches, our families, our communities, governments and businesses.

StartingCube 0004 – The Good View [mp3 - 3:49]
[See post to listen to audio]

When I was working on the artwork for this episode, I thought of one trip I took a few years ago to the northwest corner of Wyoming, most know of Yellowstone Park, but it was a different part of the trip in the Grand Tetons Park that I was reminded of.

That morning we road a little boat across Jenny Lake.

It was a nice, wet, and chilly ride.

Once we reached the mountain side of the lake we began a short hike up to Inspiration Point, roughly 400 foot above the valley floor with a good view:

This is how high most people reach. From this point you look like you are on the top of the world. It’s an accomplishment & really is breathtaking.

Then you might turn around and see what is behind you:

Think what the view would be from up there.

We hiked back down, and instead of riding the boat back across the lake we had planned on hiking back to the car.

Later, I looked through my pictures and realized something about the pix I captured of the mountains & Inspiration Point.

You will see two arrows in the banner:

• the lowest arrow – points to about where Inspiration point is
• the higher arrow – the highest in that area

It should not take away from our accomplishment, experience, or the joy we had, but the understanding that there are still mountains to climb and settling or being proud based on what you have done can cause you to miss out.

on the flip side

Just because we have never reached that upper point, does not mean we will never … If  the party I was traveling with that day and I decided that our goal was to reach one of the peaks in the Grand Tetons, then I know we can, or at least we will make it past Inspiration Point.

I hope you enjoyed episode 4 of Starting Cube – The Good View & share your thoughts in the Comments on that post, or on your site & then post a link to your thoughts there.

I decided to go & support them by taking pictures. Here is my favorite shot:

This shot is of two instructors demonstrating a choke defense.

Other topics covered during the two hour seminar:

• basic stance
• hammer fist strikes
• a couple kicks
• bear hug defense
• choke defense
• gun defense

It was a great time. I picked out a small portion of the shots I captures and here they are:

This particular studio has classes in two major areas (Nashville & Memphis) and two locations in each. Cool Springs YMCA & FitNashville in Nashville.