Tag Archives: Marathon

Planned too much again, but I did it!

I planned a bit too much today, but I did it again, even though I was distracted by all kinds of little problems with the site of Eigen Horeca Makelaar that has just been upgraded to a system including data entry screens.

And I was thinking a bit about how this all started, how I apparently was able to satisfy the customer in the end, a customer who is not easily satisfied, but who gave me some compliments the last few days which made me feel really good. Or actually I was not really thinking about the start, but of all the effort I did to keep this customer, like trying to satisfy all his needs. And from a business point of view that may not be the wisest thing to do, but just thinking right now, yes, I think I can be very proud that I kept this customer, against all odds, including being far away in The Philippines and never being able to see him and his team.

And it was a difficult road, that felt like I gave too much, as this is a very demanding customer and I often give away too much. And even the last few days were still demanding, as there were more little things that needed to be solved than I expected, even though technically the upgrade of the site was a very large upgrade. And the customer experienced more problems than I expected, but still, right now, yes, I think I can be proud of myself that I pulled this of. And I guess I already gained a lot of respect fixing all kinds of little problems over the last year or so, and with some things the last few days I think I just confirmed that I am worth it, no matter the problems.

So where to go from here? Actually I have no clue, but I hope with this project I confirmed that I can deliver, even though there are still many minor things I would like to be solved, like to be better.

Well, time will tell, and yes, I made a decision to follow the customer, satisfy the customer as best as I can, no matter the cost or the time or whatever it takes. That is and will be my business model from now on, just be the best in custom made web applications. And it the saying is true that you will reap what you sow, then somehow this must come back to me, in the form of positive things. As I did my best, no matter what.

Stopping?

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Somehow I am thinking about stopping writing every day, but somehow I also decided to continue to write every day. So I think the main issue is to make my posts, the things I write, interesting again, more interesting or just inspirational. As often I find myself, like now, late at night ‘having to’ write my daily posts, send the daily inspirational e-mail and update my gratitude diary. And this ‘have to’ often has nothing to do with writing for you, with the history and the purpose of this site, this blog.

So yes, while writing I know I am going to continue. As that’s just something I decided. But I have to find a way to make it more inspiring, for you as well as for me. As this is not really working, although I still believe that if I write every day for two years Google will start seeing this site as more serious. And that is also kind of the way I started to write, like ‘anything will do’ as long as it is original content and related to the site, to the subject. And in a way I still believe that is true, but I just want to do more and also enjoy it more.

But not easy with no real feedback (yet). And there may be various reasons for that, but I think still one of the reasons is that the site just doesn’t show up in Google enough yet. And another reason is that the content is just not interesting enough. And still another reason is that the tools are not good enough yet.

But yes, the longer I work on this project, the more I admire all those people, all those bloggers who write all these serious blogs. And write every day, or every week, or at least regularly. Because it is not easy to do that, even though right now I know I have developed the habit of writing every day, here and in my more personal Dutch blog. And the more I am working on the tools, or not working that much on them, the more I realize that also that is not as easy as I thought As today I had planned some small extensions, but it was late and I was only able to work very shortly on it. And I made hardly any progress, even though I worked in my normal working speed. So I also admire all those people making tools in other sites. As that often takes much, much more time and effort than one would think. As it seems it is with most things in life.

So yes, maybe I have been too hard on myself, maybe you have been too hard on yourself. As most things that appear so easy if we see other people do it, apparently effortless, come with a lot of effort and time spent. And come with developing habits. And come with persistence. And yes, I also believe things come easy, or relatively easy if you do it inspired, as Abraham Hicks teaches it. So yes, easy, kind of effortless. But not without effort and a lot of time and a lot of persistence.

Amazing

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It seems something amazing has happened to me. As where before I tried to finish the things I planned for a day or the things I promised, now I actually do finish them. Or at least do them. And I even finish things that somewhere during the day appear impossible. Like when a week ago the electricity went off somewhere in the evening, I felt like I wouldn’t be able to finish my posts. As often when the electricity goes off at that time it will be somewhere the next morning when it is fixed. So I somehow accepted that I couldn’t finish the things I had planned for the day and went to bed. But the electricity came back around 5 am the next morning and somehow I noticed and finished my posts at that time. And it felt a bit like cheating, but of course it wasn’t.

And today I had a similar experience as I had planned to work on a letter, preferably finishing it. And I didn’t know where the draft was and I needed that draft to at least do ‘something’. And I couldn’t find the draft where I expected it to be, so I felt kind of desperate, but somehow it showed up and I was able to work on it and produce a ‘final draft’, which was within how I stated what I had planned to do. And it feels like Infinite Intelligence is starting to help me with this, as normally I wouldn’t have had the opportunity to finish my posts early in the morning, like being aware the electricity was back and act on it, or just find this document where it was not in the place where it was supposed to be. And right now I can’t even recall where I found it. It feels like it just came to me so I could finish it.

So no, I’m not happy, I’m not there yet. But no matter how bad I can still feel, something seems to have changed, for the good.

And remember, this all came from my deepest down one and a half year ago and with starting making the bed every day.

Almost there

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Almost there for today, although I’m very tired and have the feeling I am overdoing a bit. But I can still do it and write this post, which is the last but one thing I had planned for today. And yes, I guess I’ll make it a very short one, the same as I can short cut my last planned item for the day. But I did it, no matter what, and this time with a lot less pressure than I used to feel before. This time it feels more like a choice: I can do it and I cannot do it and both is okay.

And yes, in my mind is still the suggestion from someone else, something I read in a book or on a website, that if you can’t do the whole thing, then just start doing 1% of the thing, just to get the feel. And talk about it as if it’s already the whole thing. So that’s always kind of an escape I have if I run short in time for the things I planned to do, but I hardly ever need that escape as I became much more careful in planning.

And for those people who don’t know, I used to be, and I guess I still am, very chaotic and not so disciplined. And becoming more disciplined also came with a very simple trick: making the bed every day. That’s also something I read somewhere and someone once made kind of a negative remark on it. But for me it seemed and seems to work.

So start with little things and try to extend them slowly (if you want). And if you don’t make it, don’t beat yourself up. That’s it.

Love what you do

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Just read this quote:

“The only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven’t found it yet, keep looking. Don’t settle.” – Steve Jobs

And I love what I do, but somehow something is missing and somehow there is too much what I don’t like to do. And while thinking I loved more to be the manager of Active Discovery Designs instead of being the whole of Active Discovery Designs what i am now. As today most of my day was spent on doing all kinds of errands in the city, like doing bank transactions and paying bills. And yes, I kind of like that also, but it meant I arrived home at the end of the afternoon and started working something like 5pm.

Mitsubishi Pajero And looking back I see many of my mistakes, but I also don’t know how I could have done it differently. And that is still what is bothering me, what is keeping me busy thinking: how can I make it work, how can I rebuild Active Discovery Designs in a way that would work. And the image of Active Discovery Designs in my mind is quite clear. I see the building and I see 200 people working there. And I see myself in a black Pajero going there, something like being the CEO, something like managing the whole thing, giving it direction.

But no, I don’t see the management team and the employees. As it seems they are not there, they are not in Cagayan de Oro City, not in The Philippines. So how will I get them here?