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One of the “Unforgettable Five” for me is writing (the index finger in fact). So? I write a bunch! I comment on FriendFeed, I contribute to my team in Facebook. I send e-mails. I write in my Google Notebook. Isn’t that enough? Won’t that count for my 30DC Cross Training?
It probably could and my conscience would be clear. However…
Is it trackable? Is it testable? Not that easy.
So I’ve decided that I’m going to post here as a record of my progress. Technically the challenge starts tomorrow, but since Ed leaked the first video (gasp!) I’ll start now too.
For today I have my spiritual little two fingers done and as soon as this is done I’ll do my exercise. That leaves the thumb. I’ve already watched the first video and been out doing 30DC stuff. So that will count for today as well.
Unlike many other blogs… I’m not going to recap the content of the 30DC. I will focus on how I am being impacted by the process. It may not be as interesting. But it will be more personal for me and it’s all about keeping my interest – right? What? It’s not all about me? That’s right it’s not. But if I want to succeed I have to want to. And so I’m building my want to by taking a different angle on commentary. This is a big lesson for me – instead of stewing over it and analyzing. Just get up and do it! Figure things out on the fly! That’s what I’m trying to learn. Take action and some things will fail, this is true. But there is also a chance that something will succeed. Taking no action, guarantees there will be no success. It guarantees it people!
Ok, I’m ready. That’s enough for this morning. Gotta’ leave time for exercise. And I have to get to work, only today and tomorrow and I’m out of work – again! Gotta make these days count.
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I have been thinking about the idea of daily disciplines for some time. And I’ve even thought up a little handy todo list you can always take with you. Take the fingers on your hand. You always have them around as a reminder. So I thought about using my fingers as a way of reminding myself of things that I really wanted to accomplish each day. And you can use them as a guide to accomplishing these little tasks that need to be done to push you from the rut you find yourself in, to the path you want to be on.
Maybe an example would be helpful. I’ll take myself. For my unforgettable five I start with my little finger and move across to my thumb. Your “pinky” finger and your “ring” finger. The two furthest from your thumb form the foundation of your hand. They are the two weakest fingers, but they are stabilizers. These are my foundational things I want to accomplish daily. For me, a spiritual foundation is key. So these represent prayer time and time studying the Bible. These are mine, they might not be something you would want to do. Feel free to apply the idea and not get all freaked out because the guy reads his Bible. Call me old fashioned. Do I seem defensive, or overly sensitive? I’m just so used to putting out disclaimer in our politically correct world because we have become such a tolerant people. Ok, I’m getting off the topic.
Next is my middle finger. It’s the longest finger. So I think about longevity. I’m not getting any younger, and I hate to tell you neither are you. Birthdays are a sure fire antidote to mortality. The more you have, the longer you live. It’s a proven fact. So I want to not only live longer, I also want to reduce the ‘aching’ and the ‘paining’ as much as I can. This means I need to do something active every day.
Ok, two more to go. The next finger, which I would call my “index” finger, is the one used in my country to point with. In sports arenas it is often used to indicate primacy. You know, as in “We’re number one!” So this is the number one activity that I do that isn’t necessary today, but will give me leverage. If you are a Steven Covey fan, this could be considered the “first things first” activity. For me right now, almost everything I want to achieve in my life includes some element of writing. But I suffer from writer’s block, the inability to put a thought down in an orderly way (I ramble. Now how’s that work with writer’s block? Frankly I don’t know.), and nearly fatal procrastination. So with this reminding finger I remind myself to write something down somewhere each day. Whether it’s an e-mail, a blog… something.
And finally I come to the thumb. This is the strongest finger and this is the one that makes the whole thing work. This represents to me the one task I need to get done today. Most days have something on the agenda that I need to accomplish before the day’s over. What is that one thing? It may be simple, or it may be accomplishing a piece of a larger project. Unlike all the others that remain constant, this item commonly changes from day to day.
There you have it. That is my unforgettable five that I carry with me every day. And completing these daily tasks, I believe, will change the balance of my life in incredible ways. I’ll expand more on that another time. But for now, I just wanted to share that and see if it’s helpful to anybody else. Would having that little list with you throughout the day be helpful? Or would it just be a constant nag on your brain? Speak up about it.
I have had this blog since last year at the end of the 30DC III (2007). I learned how to use WordPress and since then this blog has basically been a personal “ToDo” list or place to just babble about musings and hopes and dreams.
But this morning I committed to doing something different. I wrote a post to the Thirty Day Challenge Forum to start a different kind of team for this year’s challenge. You can see the original posted thread here.
I was a little vague in my forum post. But I didn’t want to run all my content in the forum and have nothing to say here!
I want to be more consistent in some of the little disciplines in my life. I’ve gotten a pretty good start with my new contract (which started Monday). I started doing some things so I would be back in some form when the job started. But last year I was very faithful in following and trying to implement the 30DC the whole month. And that experience had residual effects all the way to this year’s challenge. So with a little effort I figure we could each establish new habits that we’ve thought about but haven’t acted. It’s the impetus to act that I’m interested in.
I also want to encourage people in their 30DC experience. And since I don’t have a team (yet) this is my best hope of doing that.
So for starters, I want you to think about why you would want to join this team. What is it that you want to commit to along with your 30DC efforts? I’ll compile the list and figure out a way to share it so we can mutually encourage one another.
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