Jonathan Nation

Sailing Update 2012-10-25

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I keep thinking back to this quotation:

[a big goal is like] crossing an ocean. Some people try [by themselves], day after day,  … That’s like taking a rowboat across the ocean. It’s exhausting and usually unsuccessful.

 Others have given up trying and throw themselves entirely on “relying on God’s grace.” They’re like drifters on a raft. They do nothing but hang on and hope God gets them there.

 Neither trying nor drifting are very effective in [achieving the big goals]. A better image the sailboat, in which if it moves at all, it’s a gift of the wind. We can’t control the wind, but a good sailor discerns where the wind is blowing and adjusts the sails accordingly.

~ John Ortberg

This week I have been working hard on a research project I am undertaking.

I even implemented a new to do list strategy I found. One that is flexible enough to give me options, but focused enough to keep me on high important tasks. Some urgent, most not-urgent.

Today, however, [Read more…]

Attention Economy on SAHceo

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It’s been a busy month, already. This morning I am thrilled that I had a flash of creativity & pounded out a short article for Stay At Home CEO.

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.

production, investing, consumption & relaxation – A way to look at Life

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I just read a great post by a friend; she is not happy with how she spends her non-working times. She works very hard when at work, 12 hour days, but is not happy with the level of productivity or at least activity when not at work.

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?

Giving Thanks

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Rule #1: When the world goes flat, and you are feeling flattened, reach for a shovel and dig inside yourself. Don’t try to build walls.

~ Thomas L. Friedman, The World is Flat
Sitting on some clifs above the Stones River

Sitting on some cliffs above the Stones River

There are many different ways to approach a challenge, issue, problem, or opportunity, but one of the common ones is taught in life guarding:

  1. Survey the scene – you need to grasp what is going on, the status quo, and what resources are available.
  2. Check the individuals – the general question is “Are you OK?” – gathering more information on more specific parts of a scene that you cannot get from a distance.
  3. Call for help – contact 9-1-1 or Emergency responders, or the appropriate professionals who are better equipped to help long term.
  4. Preform additional evaluation & take action

Going into the Thanksgiving holiday, third weekend in November in my part of the world, I try to do a similar approach as if I was an outsider approaching the scene of my current life. It is vitally important that on a regular basis I take time to reflect on a deeper level then I normally do. It is necessary for me to review my days, weeks and months soon after they happen, but mostly to keep account of what happened, this period of time is different. It’s to force me into looking at longer periods of time, comparing to the goals I had set, and seeing not the individual threads in the rug of my life, but the big picture the best I can.

The goal: To reflect on this past year, find the good parts [the wins], and be thankful for it all.

First I take time to look at the past year and the major changes that occurred over the last 12 to 16 months. Then I look closer at the seven areas I view my life. By the time I celebrate Thanksgiving I should have a good list of accomplishments, treasures, moments, and praises both for me and for others. After Thanksgiving I typically go to work on steps 3 and 4 with goal setting, education planning, and targeted networking, but this writing is focused on just the first two: Surveying the Scene & Checking the Individual parts of a life.

Over the next 20 days or so, the plan is to write about what I am focusing on, maybe not at the exact time, but on a regular basis releasing a new item or area. To get started, the seven areas of life are:

  • physical – taking care of your body is important
  • mental – your mind determines much of your abilities and how far you will go
  • spiritual – deep inside you, you know there is something you don’t observe in the physical
  • production – career, jobs, it all comes down to providing or producing value to someone else
  • personal finances – inflows and outflows of money, dealing with giving, spending, and saving
  • family – the closest people around you, no matter if they are biologically related or not
  • social & community – the broader group of people you interact with on a regular basis

You made it this far …

I am always looking to me more leaders, linchpins, and problem solvers. We need more people to take on a business owner mindset, to seek out pains and problems then find ways to provide value to others.

Let's connect.

~Jonathan Nation

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