Journal Entry: Wed, Nov 13, 2019

Definitely feeling sore after yesterday's push-ups! I don't want to push TOO hard, because I'm recovering from a cold, and don't want to prolong it. I will probably just focus on doing a couple of pull-ups today after I install the bar in the attic.

I'm getting better at squeezing any non-productive time out of my days, especially in the last 2 weeks when I made it a priority to record how I spend literally every second of my day. It's been revealing and inspiring, and I've decided to build an app that streamlines the process I've been doing using Google Keep and Sheets. So, now I'm just figuring out how best to maximize the amount of value I get from the 60-70 hours of discretionary time I get each week.

I want to get REALLY good at this over the course of this winter, because when it's summer time and we're doing shows every other weekend, I need to be even more of a ninja at guarding and managing my time during the rest of the week. Ultimately, I have about 2 dozen independent business plans that all should be able to self-sustain and generate decent income individually, but also, that tightly dove-tail with each other to provide services at huge wholesale discounts that my other businesses require, so that every one of these operations can run more lean than their competitors.

In order to turn all of that into a reality, I have to make sure every iron I have in the fire is getting some amount of focus, and also, to make sure I don't have too many irons in the fire at once. I'm really excited for this next chapter in my life. For the first time in a little while, I think I'm doing a good job of taking command of my time investments and forging new habits that will have a lasting positive impact in my life.

I bring all of that up because I think I will be actioning a lot of the things that were previously just great ideas that I hadn't finished executing on, including reaching out to mastering engineers to get my music into a Billboard-worthy state. I'm going to start better-leveraging my awesome contacts lists, especially on social networks. I'm connected with some Fortune 500 C-Level execs, big VC execs, and national news anchors on LinkedIn, so I'm going to start leveraging that network better.

My drop-ship business has been in a transition phase for a few years now and not really doing any business, and I don't want to keep losing fans on Facebook (it's gone down from 39K to 37.5K in the last couple of years since the site went defunct and I stopped doing posts)... so I'm correcting this. I've got a lot of great resources that aren't getting exploited to their fullest.

Since I've always made it a point of personal pride to give 110% to my employers and be a star asset to the teams I serve, I'm using that to my advantage in how I frame this next adventure. I'm treating myself like an employee of my own business, and I'm managing how my employee functions throughout the day, so the business starts to really take off. I'm watching over myself like I were my own parental guardian, and not letting my lessor "id" make choices that will spoil the brilliance of the fruit of my previous and future labors.

It's not enough to daydream about the life and the future that you want. If you want to visualize these things, that's a powerful and valuable way to focus your energies and keep you motivated. By all means, make a vision board! I love that kind of daily reminder.

The key, however, is to harness that creative imagination into visualizing the STEPS you take to achieving that goal. Don't just visualize your amazing new beach body, make sure you are picturing yourself going to the gym every day of the week, doing cardio and lifting weights consistently. Don't just think of becoming the next big hiphop sensation; conceive specifically of how you'll be building an email newsletter at all the shows you play, which you book by calling venues in the area with persistence, and how you'll engage in extensive outreach to other decent emcees to collaborate on a track or cipher, etc.

Talk is cheap. Actions are everything. Executing the RIGHT actions in the RIGHT order is crucial.

You can have absolutely anything you want in the world, but you have to build it yourself.

Clarify your intentions every day. You can't steer the ship unless you can see clearly, know where you are, and know where you're going. Make sure you are documenting what your goals are, from the macroscopic on down.

Ask yourself:

• How will I know I've achieved this goal?
• What is required to make this happen?
• What resources might I be able to tap to facilitate this?

This will help you identify what each tier of smaller tasks will be.

For instance...

I want to be a Billboard chart-topping hiphop artist.

How will I know I've achieved this goal?
I will play a sold-out show at Madison Square Garden. (goal uncovered)

What is required to make this happen?
I need to have a platform of enough fans that I can sell that quantity of tickets.

What resources can I tap to get to that level of fandom?
I need to build my email newsletter from my website and while at shows.

What is required to make this happen?
I need to have a decent EP demo I can give away at music festivals in exchange for emails, to get things started.

Other thoughts

I'm proud of myself for putting more time into journaling lately, and looking forward to getting this content shared online.

That's something I've been historically very bad at, and it means there's no real record of what my life entailed.

I want to turn that around, starting in 2020... the year of my sign, the Rat, and the year of hindsight.

In a lot of ways, this process began a little earlier in the fall, when I started and finished reading "Mind Hacking" by Sir John Hargrave. I'm really thankful for that awesome book... I don't recall who recommended it, but I'm very grateful to be employing some of the concepts found in it!

Last note of the day

How on earth did I still manage to put in 4 hours of time wasted on TV today?

I am a little anxious about being able to manage my time better during Week 3, and avoid screens entirely.

It's also plainly evident that I desperately MUST make this essential change, in order to take back control of my life.

Time to shine, baby!