Redo. Renew. Reyou.

Rate Me! Evaluate Me! I'm Good and Ohhhh So Smart!

2007-12-11T20:30:00.000-05:00

It's that time of the year when Christmas carolers go a-wassailing, holiday lights twinkle merrily upon trees and employees everywhere prepare for annual performance reviews. I am in that mode right now as well as I prepare my own self-assessment to submit to my boss with his review of me to come sometime in January. As a supervisor, I will be receiving 9 self-assessments from my own employees that I will need to act on come January and while I am fortunate to have a really good group... 9 different appraisals? Yeesh. It's not a hugely welcome prospect, mostly because this is not something I can or would just blow through - it's just too important to people's careers to take lightly.

So here are a few tips for you to give some thought to as you get ready for performance review time (and some to help you prepare well ahead of time for future reviews):

Make it easy on your boss.
This comes under a few different forms and the more that I look at it, this might be one tip that comprises several at one time. If you work within a review process that has you assess yourself, don't make it hugely difficult for your boss to give you a positive review. First and foremost, write clearly and don't be ridiculously verbose. Also, give clear examples of what you have done in the past year. Now, if you don't have a formal process of writing up a self-assessment and you just have a one way review where your supervisor lays down his/her view of your work, these tips all still apply because this will all bolster your case if you and the head honcho do not quite see eyeball to eyeball.

Avoid mind-numbing detail.
While I have full faith that your achievements in 2007 were the stuff of Arthurian legend, it's best not to treat your performance review as the chance to recount every potential positive thing you did in lurid detail. If you need to abbreviate every other word in order to fit your epic tale into the pre-defined text box of the performance review form... you might just be including too much. Maybe that's just me.

Stay calm in the face of criticism.
At some point, someone is going to have less-than-stellar things to say about your work product... not me mind you, but the rest of your slobs might have this problem. But to be serious, it's just a part of the process and, in a way, you should welcome criticism provided it's constructive to your improving at your job. If no one ever tells you what you can do better or tweak a little bit, you're going to get stale and have a much harder time advancing (unless you have a gift for cold-eyed analysis of your strengths and weaknesses). But if you immediately face any amount of "room for improvement" with a tight forced smile and gripping the armrests of your chair lest you throttle your boss... you need to take a deep breath. While much can be at stake in your annual review, you will never ever help yourself by getting emotional - all you end up accomplishing is reaffirming whatever the criticism was in the first place. If you disagree with it, be prepared to provide examples to the contrary.

For the future:

S.M.A.R.T. objectives.
Ok, Ok... you, me and every other person I can think of hates to be told the tip of "Make sure you're doing S.M.A.R.T. objectives!" As a refresher, S.M.A.R.T. stands for:
Specific
Measurable
Achievable
Realistic
Timebound
Ugh, I hate myself a little bit just for writing that out. The idea of conforming your objectives to these criteria gets tiresome in a hurry, but I can definitely say that the extra hour or so you spend doing this will pay off later. This is (obviously) more of a long term tip.

Define a means to exceed your objectives.
This is a corollary to the S.M.A.R.T. tip, but in creating your own goals for the year, make it clear what you need to do not to only meet your objectives, but to exceed them as well. This can be a fairly process of chatting with your boss about what you feel it takes to be better than the norm and it helps to properly set expectations for the year ahead. For example, maybe your objective is to complete five IT implementation projects, but what does it mean if you do six? Is that top notch? Or do you need seven? Better to know that now as opposed to in December and be sorely disappointed if you and your boss have completely different ideas. And besides... do you really just want to slide along and never be seen as a top performer? If that's the case, I have no idea how you made it this far in a blog post all about how to do better in performance reviews. You're some kinda freak. Shoo.

The kudos file.
I'm not talking about those candy bars that masquerade as a semi-healthy granola bar, but rather, keep a log of all the praise, props and positive pronouncements (a 4 bagger of alliteration!) someplace where you can whip them out for your review. I do this with e-mails for myself and I also keep them for my own employees when someone sends me a nice note for someone on my team. But hey, I cannot say every boss will do this, so do it on your own and build up your arsenal of good work. This is absolutely killer material and should never be blown off.

Anyhoo, I will be knee deep in all of this soon enough and hopefully I am doing a good enough job of following my own advice on the topic. Stay tuned.

(And in case you are wondering, I took the quote from The Simpsons episode where the teachers went on strike and Lisa lost her mind not being graded)

Sitting in Queue

2007-12-08T10:57:00.000-05:00

Yup, this pretty much sums up my feelings as I sit here going on an hour in the virtual waiting
room hoping for Sox tickets...

Bring On the Power Tools!

2007-12-08T10:01:00.000-05:00

As I sit here in queue for 2008 Red Sox tickets, I thought I would bang out a blog post (all the while praying that my having another Firefox tab open will not somehow disturb my computer's mojo and send me careening towards no ticket doom), I was thinking about my upcoming Christmas shutdown break. At my company, we are shutdown from Christmas Eve through New Year's Day and believe me when I write that I am looking forward to it pretty heavily. In years past, I would spend the time deflating from the hard work of the year, collect myself a bit, hit the gym a ton and look forward to the clean sheet of paper that would be the upcoming year.

I'm doing something a little different this year during my break. In the vein of seeking to try new things and then detail those efforts here, I'm taking a big step (for me at least) of tackling some kind of project(s) here at the Chez Kuzia condo. In order for this to feel like a true challenge, it's gotta be something more than, say, painting a room (although I may do that as well). There's gotta be dust and mayhem and shenanigans and likely lots of cursing. One idea I have is to rip up the linoleum I have in my upstairs bathroom and throw down tile since I have some nice tiles leftover by the previous owner. Me and my handy Home Depot book will be attempting to make some sweet property value increasing magic, described in glorious detail right here with some photos and likely video. God help me.

The logical part of my brain tells me this is something regular people like me do all the time and are able to accomplish and get better at with some practice... but this is an area where I've long felt is some kind of real leap for me. Funny huh? For some people it would be going bungee jumping or wrestling an anaconda, but for me, it's replacing a sink or putting down some new floors.

And if anyone has any ideas on little things to do around this place to snazz it up (which I know is tough without actually seeing my place, unless I get some photos up here for everyone), feel free to let me know. One other option (which does not involve a ton on my part except for the almighty dollar) is to get some new appliances since the ones I have are not all that great. The dishwasher is getting some funk built up on the inside seals and that seems inherently problematic for a device meant to get things clean. I'm just sayin'.

FORE! Taking The Life Mulligan

2007-12-06T22:26:00.000-05:00

I'm a fan of the ESPN Radio Show "The Herd" with Colin Cowherd and I happened to catch a bit of his show today while driving home to have some lunch. Colin was discussing a bit of which teams in professional sports most need a mulligan, i.e. a chance to start over and get out of an ugly situation. For all of you non-golfers... a do-over. Simple enough concept.

But he also went into a little bit of detail about taking a mulligan in life and his overall point was very directly related to my theme of making life better through simplification. He commented about how during his early to mid 30's, he was on the rat race treadmill and as soon as he got off of it... his life improved dramatically. Of course, it's always helpful to find the right mix of job, friends, family and personal satisfaction to make it all really click, but it's a good lesson nonetheless. How often do we put things off because of work or put the things we say are important on the back burner because we will get to it tomorrow? It's probably one of my absolute worst habits... the things I will do later. The cool trips or life experiences I will take part in somewhere down the line. What's that line? Life is what happens when you're busy making plans?

I don't mean to have this entire post descend into utter cliche. But Colin makes a really great point in that adding more "stuff" to your life (the big house, the fast car, the best TV or even just the gnawing need for all of those things) just makes things more difficult than you need... and how does that possibly make you happier? Life tends to throw enough complications at you as it is, so why add further complexity all on your own? You know... like me doing that totally sweet 450 degree spin out on the drive home from youth group Sunday night. Hit me some sweet black ice while driving less than 50 MPH, losing control of the car and being one fortunate SOB not to hit anyone. Oh yeah... really good times there. Nothing quite like that moment when you realize you cannot turn out of the spin and for the next 5 or 6 seconds, you are waiting it out to see what in the name of all that is holy is gonna happen to you.

You can download the MP3 podcast from Colin show's today here. I highly recommend going to the ESPNRadio.com Podcenter to subscribe and get them delivered to you daily (especially if you are not able to listen to the show as it's broadcasted live because that ugly little distraction known as your job keeps getting in the way).

Balanced Life - Bringing Back A Classic

2007-12-05T20:31:00.000-05:00

I posted on this one before in the older incarnation of my blog, but it's certainly a good enough one to bring back again. Allen Galbraith goes through his 10 tips on how to lead a balanced life. Heck, I even see my old comment right there from when it was first published! Ahh, the memories of those halcyon days of yore...

It's interesting looking back on this post because in my comment, I say that tip #5 ("Don't buy into the culture around if you don't want to") was the one that stuck out the most, but the more I think about it, the more I think that #7 is pretty critical, "Recognize you have to be healthier than those around you." Why is this one sticking out more than the others?

I think it's because my mind has been thinking more and more about environment and the effect of the people who surround you on your life... the ups, the downs, the failures and the successes. It's something I blogged about just a few days ago here.

While I think most of us (me included) say the brave things like, "I am my own person... what other people do doesn't affect me and my choices", I think that more often than we can admit to even ourselves... those other people do affect us... and probably a lot more than we know. It's not as if we are completely malleable to the will of our friends, family and the dude at Starbucks who puts the extra sprinkle of cinnamon on your Grande low-foam latte. However, the people that surround us every day will have some impact upon us. My thought is that if you are in a rather unenviable balance of being surrounded by more negative people than positive or, those negative people are just louder and more convincing, you'll always have a much harder time at staying in a positive frame of mind. I don't care who you are or how finely honed your mental powers are there, Professor X... it ain't gonna be easy to hold off the marauding horde of doubters and ne'r- do-wells if you are flat out surrounded by those draining SOBs.

Recognizing those others who are the drains is not always easy - they most dangerous ones come in the familiar guise of a good friend or a close family member... but if you stop and take a little bit of time to think about who is in your life and what kind of impact they have upon you... you might be surprised at what you discover. Give it a try since I will be doing that tonight and reporting back later.

Great Tips: How to Open Blister Packages

2007-12-03T21:08:00.000-05:00

Ever buy something that comes in one of those blister/clamshell packages and then swear in nine different dialects as you attempt to open the sucker and get your goods out? This happens with me constantly when I buy things like cell phone accessories or other kinds of electronics. I just found this over at Lifehacker and the sheer simplicity of it knocked me over. Can opener! Who woulda thunk it?

Ok, not my most inspired post, but handy nonetheless.

Reuniting Man and... Umm... Glove

2007-12-02T22:12:00.000-05:00

I have no statistics to back this up, but I have to believe one of the things people lose the most (besides their minds, inhibitions and dignity) are their gloves. They are just so easy to misplace on a park bench, in a restaurant and so on. But what to do? Especially if you just lose a single one from the pair of hand-warming goodness?

Well, if you live in Pittsburgh, PA, you're potentially in luck if you are currently carrying on a quest of grail-like proportions for a missing glove or mitten. Onecoldhand.com is a Web site created to reunite missing gloves with their forlorn owners. What's not to love about that concept?

This site will not bring peace to the Middle East or prevent deforestation in the Amazon River basin... but isn't this the kind of thing you just like to hear about during the holidays? It's a small act of kindness, created with a bit of wit and whimsy for no other purpose than to remind people that there are a few nice folks still walking around out there. I know, I know... I'm being incredibly sappy, but I figure that I get a free pass during this time of year. And the rest of the year? Well, if you've ever met me, I am never short on the sap and I am a fairly firm believer in our needing a little more of it out there. I guess that is my personal question of grail-like proportions.

America's Cheapest Family

2007-12-02T21:54:00.000-05:00

Can you imagine being a family of 7 people and living on a post-taxes annual budget of $35,000 per year? Seems borderline impossible, but it seems there is a family who has done it out in Arizona as detailed in the linked post over at The Digerati Life by Silicon Valley Blogger, who does some really nice takeaway tips from looking at this amazing family.

The one that jump out at me most (since it is where I think I hit my own personal wall) is the notion of organizing yourself properly to attack a life of greater frugality. Oh, as if any words could ever be so true as this! I think of all the times where I spent more money than I needed due to just not planning ahead:

Not packing a lunch and then blowing money on an overpriced meal at the company cafeteria (which just ticks me off all the more because the food is less-than-delicious)
Wasting food (especially fresh vegetables) I bought because I got caught up in doing too much during the week and it goes bad
Buying something I saw in the store the first time I see it when, chances are, it's much cheaper on-line

In fact, I think when it comes to eating, that is where I run into the biggest issue. I like the idea of cooking a lot at once so I have tons of food on hand whenever I am ready to eat... but for reasons that continue to elude me, I don't do a great job of putting it into practice.

My baby steps goal is to getting in a bunch of weekend cooking and store it all away for the week. It's just one step, but one that will avoid a lot of last minute stops at places that are overpriced and (lest I forget) 100 times less healthy than what I can whip up myself.

Stuff I Like: Nordstrom

2007-12-02T10:45:00.000-05:00

Last night I ventured out to the mall as I do maybe once per Christmas shopping season and it was, thankfully, painless. I'm not one of those people against shopping per se, but during this crazed time of year, I stand against it as a personal protest. I find myself in less of a Christmas spirit when faced with all of the traffic, crowds, lack of parking and borderline obscene amounts of commercialism that malls have in spades.

But there is one place I never mind shopping: Nordstrom. There is something so completely different about walking through their stores that makes for a shopping experience that is wholly different from any other department store. Admittedly they are a more expensive store than Macy's, Dillard's and others, but they get one thing so very right, that I don't mind the more premium prices and why they earn a stuff I like designation: top-notch customer service.

I went in last night needing to pick up some lotion I use after shaving since my skin gets crazy dry and irritated using other products. The Nordstrom clerk was like every other one I have dealt with: pleasant, informative, helpful and just a breeze to conduct a transaction with. She also did something I have noticed all Nordstrom employees do which is subtle, but powerful. After running my credit card, she bagged my purchase and came out from behind the counter to stand next to me and hand me the slip to sign. In other words, they make an effort not to have something (in this case, the product counter) between them and their customers.

Is that alone enough to justify higher prices? You decide. I certainly don't go there just because they don't remain behind the counter, but in an age when your average person working a counter treats you like a leper, it matters. The amount of hassle I avoid by dealing with a Nordstrom salesperson who is polite, professional and knowledgeable enough to answer all my questions is worth paying a little more for. Plus, it's less of a hassle just getting around their store with the wide aisle and open sight lines.

Who said a little extra peace of mind doesn't have a price?

Simple Living: The Journey's First Steps

2007-12-01T18:12:00.000-05:00

Over the past few days, I've gotten a few pieces of fairly unwelcome financial news. Yesterday, I found out I needed about $800 of work on my car to fix up the O2 sensor and catalytic converter so I could pass my emissions test. Then today, I got the really super news at the
dentist that I have a crack in one of my molars and will need a crown… which AFTER insurance will run me $1,200. Needless to say, my wallet is a touch on the sore side this evening as I look over these completely unexpected costs.

All of this is a good lead-in (at least there was some silver lining to all of this) to something I've been thinking a lot about of late and something I plan on posting about quite a bit: what it would take and what it would mean to live a much simpler life. It occurs me quite a bit whenever I incur some financial hit because a simple life means seeking to live below your means and giving you a great deal of personal freedom.

This is not exactly a topic I plan on trying to tackle all in a single post, but I wanted to at least get the concept flowing now for everyone to consider since I'm sure there are a lot of people out
there who long for a little less life complication. So where to begin with a topic so vast? I thought this was a nice little piece over at Get Rich Slowly on how to get more value on what you already have.

It's a pretty interesting concept: Before you pull the trigger to make a purchase, get into the habit of being mindful to ask 2 questions:

How often will you use the item; and
How much enjoyment will you get out of it?

I've started to get myself into this habit of late because it can be very easy for me to confuse need against want. Perfect example. My car was giving me more hassles than I care to think about with the need for maintenance… and of course this was all kicking in after I got that bugger paid off. Feeling fed up with my car (the incredibly sexy 2001 Nissan Altima GXE… Limited Edition… because, you know… they only made like eleventy billion of them), I swung by an Infiniti dealership on my drive out from picking my ride up from service. I took an Infiniti G35x out for a spin and… holy crap, that was nice. I was rather smitten.

Oh sweet siren... call me not to my doom upon the rocks!

But you know what? As I left the dealership, got home and let the euphoria of dropping the hammer on 306 incredibly sweet horses wash away… I realized it was just a car. That's it. A really nice car, but just a car. It wouldn't change who I was as a person nor would it suddenly make me the definition of refined cool (as the commercials would suggest). What it would do is add an additional $650 to $700 per month to my budget with car payments and higher insurance premiums. So for me, it wasn't worth it… at least not yet. My car will crap out eventually and is rapidly approaching 100K miles, but until that time, it gets the job done.

This is a small step, but an important one - to begin to cut myself off from thinking things bring about the happiness or satisfaction you imagine they might as you consider snapping them up. It doesn't have to be something as elaborate and expensive as a finely tuned luxury sports sedan.

So here's to first steps that will, hopefully, lead to more and more steps... and more blog postings.

It's All About the Environment

2007-11-29T08:23:00.001-05:00

I'm sure in looking at the title of this post, a few of my friends reading this are hoping for an erudite post on greenhouse gases, carbon footprints and the magic of Al Gore's haircut... but I'm terribly sorry to disappoint. This is all about your gym/training/fitness environment and the power it has on your results.

I've come across several good pieces (all from pretty different points of view) and each with a common theme - if you associate yourself with positive influences and people, you're going to get better results. Is this high level nuclear physics? Hardly, but I've found that these kinds of statements are of the kind of thing people nod their heads in agreement to, but then do nothing to put into practice (and I can be just as guilty as anyone else in this regard, fo' shizzle). I found three little nuggets of goodness on the idea of environment and what it can do for (or against) you:

MSNBC has a piece about how gym friendships create a positive peer pressure environment which keeps people working out. It's like a nice little support group to keep you on the right track. However, I personally prefer the next 2 pieces since they are much less fluffy and get into the meat of the discussion a little more.

First, Jason Ferruggia (a pretty cool guy I had the chance to meet and buy a beer for once) wrote a piece called "The Company You Keep" over at EliteFTS. What I love about this piece is that it is like the MSNBC piece, but really magnified to show you how the people you choose to work out with (whether as a workout partner or just the people who surround you in your training location of choice) impact your progress like few other things. I can personally vouch for this because when I've been at the "chrome and fern" style gyms (see photo), it's just not the same for my training.

How driven do you feel to do better and get stronger if you are surrounded by people who put in zero to no effort? Who look like they are killing time or using the gym as purely a social environment as opposed to improving themselves? I contrast that against situations where I was with people who, for example, were stronger than I was... and suddenly... even in the course of a single workout, I was stronger too and lifting weight I never previously did. It's not magic at all, but it just seeing these other people and what is possible, things can suddenly become possible for you too. While you may not want to train to become huge or deadlift 700 lbs, I think there is a lot to be taken from Jason's article.

The last piece is by Chris Shugart over at T-Nation and this one is from the other side of the
motivation spectrum: toxic people. You hopefully recognize these people around you and how they can slowly, subtly kill off your positive attitude and motivation through cutting little comments that can erode your will over time. Again, you may realize there are negative people out there and can identify them a lot of the time... but what happens when they are not Betty Busybody from the office and instead... they are your spouse? Parents? Best friends? Do you recognize the insidious little game being played right in front of you by someone you love and trust?

Give each of these articles a shot since they have 3 different approaches to the common theme of what you surround yourself with will undoubtedly affect your success.

How Not To Eat... Ever.

2007-11-27T22:34:00.001-05:00

I'm a bit of a health freak 99% of the time, whether its working out at the gym, playing sports, taking carefully researched supplements or watching what I eat (and when I eat too). But like just about anyone, I do enjoy tying on the feed bag for the occasional splurge into the craptastic world of fast food. And when I do walk down that dark path of high fat, sodium and delicious goodness, I carry a whuppin' stick. If you are going to do it, go big... just don't do it all the time or else you will not be going big... you will just be big.

Men's Health pulled together the 20 Word Foods in America and that list... wow. You almost die a little inside just reading the thing. It's not as if the items on the list come as some kind of surprise, but geez, when you actually read the nutritional breakdown, it really floors ya. How about On the Border having 5 salads with more than 1,100 calories? Or a Carl's Jr. burger with 111 grams of fat?

MH also provides a Restaurant Report Card giving you the skinny (Ha ha! See what I did there? Ohh, I'm such the clever fellow.) on many popular restaurants and which (generally) are healthier than others. I do need to point out that I don't think this ranking is really all that great. Relying strictly on total calories per entree as the deciding factor strikes me as a bit weak since actual macronutrient breakdown (protein vs. fats vs. carbs) is pretty important as well. I do agree on Boston Market being a very nice option and that Panera's sandwiches are absolute calorie BOMBS. I love how their Web site tries to give you the impression of their sandwiches being lower in calories than they are by only showing half portions. Nice try, home slice.

Don't Be That Guy: World's Worst "Hunter"

2007-11-27T22:25:00.000-05:00

I used to do a "Don't Be That Guy" thing over at my old blog and thought I would bring it over here. I think it will work because Lord knows avoiding the stuff these damn fools do certainly is a good life improvement tip. Now on with the show...

There are many things in this life that are easy to get confused with each other. Twins. Wallabys and kangaroos. Me and Brad Pitt. The list goes on.

However, when you try to claim that in an attempt to shoot...

... and you really shoot...

... I cannot say you are a terribly credible guy... or a halfway rational one. Call me kooky, but I am just a stickler like that.

Life Is Bigger Than Your 3 to 4 Cube Walls

2007-11-26T22:21:00.000-05:00

Leo and his very fine blog zen habits had a post the other day that truly struck a cord with me and I believe it would do the same for countless cube-dwelling denizens like myself: "Escape Your Location: How to Become Free From the Office". Isn't that the dream of office workers everywhere? To find some way to not be stuck in a beige/gray cube for 8-9 hours a day?

I cannot be the only one who discovers an instant shot of productivity when I am doing work out of the office. There is always the potential for distraction when you are not in the comfy confines of the traditional workplace, but if you are professional about what you do and you truly do get your job done well... does the fact that you are not around for the Friday morning office bagel club really matter?

One of the more powerful suggestions is #8 under tips - reduce your needs. I plan on doing a fuller treatment of that idea in this blog soon. It's a concept I have been rolling around in my head for the past few months... how acquiring more stuff does little to make you happier and only ends up limiting you many times (not all the time, but more often than I think a lot of us... including me... care to admit).

Mind Like A Steel Trap... or A Wet Waffle?

2007-11-26T22:10:00.000-05:00

I don't think I am rocking anyone's world when I say we live in a fast-paced, multitasking, get more done in less time world. Every new form of technology that is first sold as "making things easier" or "providing flexibility" seems to inevitably create a new way for work and the world to follow you pretty much everywhere (and yes, I'm talking to all of you Crackberry users who need information hits like heroin junkies). Personally, I find all of this to be a real brain drain for me. Now, some people chalk this up to getting older (and have you ever noticed people chalk a lot of things up to getting older?) and I don't buy it. Not at age 35 anyway.

I think it's an unfortunate consequence of trying to do so many things at once that I've found myself being pretty bad at focusing on just doing one thing at a time. It's like a fuzz has built up on my brain. OK, think of it this way: Imagine you just ate about four Krispy Kreme doughnuts and the sugar crash is beginning to kick in. Then, you turn on those God-awful presidential debates and try to figure out what the hell any of them are talking about since they all lack the ability to answer any question directly. Got that image? Yeah, that's how I was feeling for a bit. Just... muddled.

To combat that, I picked up for myself a nice little Nintendo DS Lite with the game Brain Age 2. So, instead of me rambling endlessly with more written words, you can enjoy my rambling in video format. Seriously, how much better did your life just become?

Oh and my apologies for the lighting in the video. I am still a bit new to this kind of thing so the production values are a wee bit on the low end of the spectrum. Mea culpa.

Stuff I Like: The Go Bag

2007-11-25T21:48:00.000-05:00

If there is a Web site out there that I cannot recommend highly enough, it's Lifehacker. Spend a few minutes there and you will rapidly see a large piece of inspiration for my own site (although I happen to do a number of tweaks that they do not and have a slightly different focus). Regardless, it's a wonderful site and they come up with cool tips and nuggets of goodness daily.

A recent fave of mine is their concept of the "Go Bag" which you can see all sorts of examples of here. Essentially, a Go Bag is any kind of bag you would use to throw all of your daily essentials in before heading out to attack the day. The Lifehacker crew wanted to see what various members would use for bags and what life equipment they would put in it before venturing out into the adventure that is human life.

I just put my own Go Bag into action after picking up the REI Singular Sling Bag 2.0 (in Madrona... 'cause I guess calling it "maroon" was too tricky) and setting it up for daily use. And the results you can see here to the right.

So far I don't have everything in it I would like to, but off to a decent start thus far. Starting from the top and working my way down there is:
- my camera
- my Nintendo DS Lite
- my cool wallet my bro got me in Argentina
- my Moleskine notebook that I use to jot down random thoughts and, especially, blog ideas
- my 30gig iPod (ok, so the link is to the 80 gig one)
- my Motorola Q
- my Cabela's mini multi-tool (seriously handy little bugger)
- hand sanitizer
- a basic pen
- my current R.A. Salvatore book (I find these things addictive)
- my latest copy of Men's Health.

The one thing missing is a laptop, but I am working my way up to that slowly but surely. And please bear in mind... this is a sling bag... not a Seinfeld style "European carry all"/man purse. *shudder* But thus far, I am finding the Go Bag handy because everything I have in it is something I used to find myself thinking before, "Damn... I wish I had my..." The big thing is the camera and the notebook since with my seeking to get this blog moving, I need to be able to get ideas and snap up photos for content when the moment strikes.

Give the Go Bag a try and let me know how it works out.

Winning the War in the Corporate Trenches

2007-11-24T18:48:00.000-05:00

Office politics is usually a term referred to with disdain and often accompanied by a sneer. The term conjures up images of bootlicking toadies, backstabbing corporate climbers and untold amounts of cronyism within an old boys' network. None of this is terribly pretty.

The funny thing I've found is that the notion of office politics described above is not terribly accurate in a lot of ways. Do those kinds of nefarious activities occur in companies of all shapes and sizes all around the world? Of course they do, but that's not truly the full extent of what office politics means. In fact, think of the times you may have heard a co-worker blame office politics for their not getting ahead in the company. Now think of how often you thought they were airing a legitimate concern as opposed to your knowing it was more of a sour grapes moment. My guess is that you usually found the gripes more unfounded than based in moments of a true "screw job".

That's because office politics is less about being a kiss-up and really more about how you operate within the system of a corporate office. Many describes this as "knowing how to play the game", but I have a hard time thinking of it as a game given how serious it all is to the future of so many different people. To me, office politics, in its most proper sense, is most about:

networking with people across your organization and organizations with whom you work;
learning how to toot your own horn (because if you don't do it, who will?);
understanding who can help you with your career or a project and who will not; and
at the most basic level, figuring out how to get what you want out of your job and career (without being a complete jerk in the process).

A really nice article was done on the topic over at BNET called "How to Win at Office Politics". One caveat I would provide to the article is that the section on "Reconciling Mars and Venus" to describe how men and women handle office politics differently is definitely a reach and I would not place too much stock in their ideas on gender differences.

One piece I would like to emphasize on my own that is touched on in that BNET piece is to be careful of how you handle promoting yourself in the workplace. I am in very full agreement with the need to let other people know you are doing well, but there are some definite limits. Let me describe a person that you probably know (and unfortunately, I definitely do):

You walk down the hallway to the water cooler and run into Biff, someone within the office you know only casually. You do the usual pleasantries, say hello and ask Biff how he's doing. No sooner does the question finish on your lips than Biff launches into how he is working on projects for Executives X and Y and how many hours he has been working and blah blah blah. And this is not a sometime thing… it's almost each and every time you run into Biff. There really are no normal conversations with Biff because Biff is very busy selling Biff and all his delightful Biffness.

This is absolutely painful to endure as a listener and has the exact opposite effect than is intended – you don't sell anyone and your co-workers end up doubting that you really do any real work at all. All talk and no walk. Now, don't let this stop you from trying to promote yourself more at work… just don't pepper every conversation with it.

On a closing note, I do plan on writing about the workplace in my blog, but since I am actually fairly decent at office politics, I will avoid another cardinal sin: talking out of school. Many an erstwhile blogger has been unceremoniously dumped from their jobs by blogging in a little too much detail about what happens at work or about particular co-workers. I'm here to share some lessons learned… but there is a reason everyone at work sees me as the diplomat – Ma Kuzia didn't raise a fool.

Things To Do Before You Die

2007-11-24T11:00:00.000-05:00

I think everyone has some kind of list of things they feel they just need to get to before they hit they call it a life and retire the old jersey. I have a few that rattle around in my noggin and while many of them are not completely epic, I don't think things on these kinds of lists always need to be luge Mount Everest naked while singing the national anthem.

It is interesting to see what others pop onto their lists, as I found here. That looks to be a somewhat solid list, but as with any list that someone else makes, it is less-than-perfect for my own goals. First off, I ain't jumping off of anything with a damn elastic band attached to my fine self. Second (and I do not see one on this list that necessarily hits on this point), I am not doing anything that involves my #1 rule of vacations - no activities that could involve my being eaten. Shark diving? Seriously? I am not going to throw away the thousands of years of evolution that have firmly entrenched me and you are the top of the food chain so I can try to match Jacques Cousteau. Ain't gonna happen.

My hope is to get a list going and then incorporate some/all of it into my daily (or every other week) goal of doing something new and blogging about it here. I have actually done at least one of the things I really wanted to do and that is get my motorcycle license. Umm, I don't actually have a bike yet, but hey... got that license! Baby steps, baby steps. This one was a big one for me because it is something I've long been both fascinated by and a little scared of. Heck, even though I have the license I am still a little scared of it because in the Basic Riders Course I took, you top out at maybe 20 MPH or so on the bike. I am wondering what it will be like when I finally get a bike and hit 60 MPH on a highway surrounded by traffic... but deep down in my heart, I just have to do it.

Here are a few ideas of things I am looking to try soon:
- snowboarding
- run a 5K and possibly a marathon
- run with the bulls in Pamplona, Spain
- play running back for the Dallas Cowboys.

Yeah, the last one is likely not going to happen, but I want to stay consistent with the one thing I've said I've always wanted to do. Plus, I have mongoose-like quickness and I think I would be a great change of pace back. See, I'm not even demanding the starting job since I'm such a team player.

For a slightly more amusing list, see here from Maxim. #76 is my favorite ("Teach a monkey martial arts and then kick its ass.") and I need to figure out some way, some how to make that happen. If there is anything life has taught me, it's that kung fu monkeys are high comedy. Hell, any monkeys. Period.

And my buddy TC Luoma over at T-Nation has his list of things you don't have to do before you die (and it's a funny list, although I disagree with the running of the bulls part).

But I am curious to hear what other people have on their list since it does tell you a lot about your own individuality by showing what are some of the most important things to you. If I get some good ideas, I hope to try them myself on here and let y'all know how it went (even the trainwrecks).

How The Heck Do I Do That: Exercise Resources

2007-11-23T18:58:00.000-05:00

While I am by no means the authority on exercise, I have been training for these past 17 some odd years and have picked up a few things along the way. Some of these lessons came from those who are experts, some I developed on my own and some... well... let's just say they came as the result of some rather painful experiences (like the time I was playing around on a leg press, push the sled so hard it left my feet with 90 lbs on it, stopped paying attention and had the sled come crashing down on my knee caps).

A really common question I get is, "I have absolutely no idea how to do X", whether X is a particular exercise or maybe even an entire bodypart. Thanks to the wonders of the Internet, may the light shine upon ye, oh seeker of rock hard glutes and all that happy nonsense that makes life worth living (because, ya know... where would we be as a human race without glutes you could bounce a quarter off of?)

Here are some of my favorites that should help along:

EliteFTS.com
Let's get one thing really clear about these guys - they are about as hard core as you will find when it comes to training. Period. They primarily focus on powerlifting, strongman and such, but their site (and products) are absolute the best. You can find their exercise index here and if you look at the left-hand menu, you will see it broken down into various exercise types. The only downer is they are not in video form, but on the major plus side, their descriptions of how to perform the movements are spot on.

ExRx
This is one of the more common sites I've seen referenced across fitness and training forums to actually show someone what a particular exercise should look like. They use animated GIFs as a form of video and while they are a little small and grainy, they do get the job done.

University of Wisconsin La Crosse Strength and Conditioning Center
This is an excellent index of exercises and all of them have videos. While I find this list uber-kick ass, it might be slightly less useful for someone looking for (as an example) more typical arm exercises. Many of these exercises are geared towards athletes... but in all honesty, the general population would be better served with more people training and using these same movements as opposed to doing inner and outer thigh machines...which I am convinced were made by dudes interested in trying to check out women in short shorts and sell it as exercise.

Useless... unless you actually enjoy ogling and elevator eyes.

I will add more to this list later if I can, but I have also found some excellent exercise videos on YouTube. Now, here is a ginormous caveat on using YouTube for examples of proper exercise form: the site is full of people doing some of the dumbest nonsense with the most craptastic form on the planet. I see some of these videos of people straining with bad form and too much weight and wonder if that's what orthopedic surgeons and chiropractors use for porn. However, the EliteFTS guys have some great stuff and it's also pretty funny (especially if you aren't easily offended).

I will leave you with this video, though. This is possibly some of the best form for a barbell squat you will ever see... and the fact she takes a nice sniff of ammonia before doing the lift? 100% diesel. She could easily kick the ass of half the guys in my gym. I love it, so enjoy.

Keeping Your Finances Mint-y Fresh

2007-11-23T15:13:00.000-05:00

We all want to be better with our money (at least I do), but is it just me or is it not a pain to track all of it? Where are you spending those hard-earned dollars that seem to flow out as fast as they come in? Are you dropping cash at Whole Foods like a Halo 3 addict drops cash on Red Bulls and snack cakes? No? That's just me? Damn...

But it is an important topic during the most consumer-frenzy of times right now as people invade every retail outlet known to man for their Black Friday deals. It looks like things have gone to a new level this year with places opening up at 1 freaking AM. Ugh. So how to tame the spending beast and keep a few more sheckels in your pockets or at least know where those hard-earned coins are heading? For me, I am trying Mint.com, seen here in a delightful photo.

Mint.com is part of an ever-growing wave of personal finances Web sites designed to help you track your expenses, figure out where you are killing yourself and even offering a list of deals that could save you money based on services you are currently using. So, whether it's Mint, Wesabe, Mvelopes or a potential Web-based version of Quicken, there is certainly more resources than ever (with Mint and Wesabe being free) to help you in the quest to manage the almighty dollar.

At its core, Mint pulls in information from each of the financial institutions (banks, credit unions and credit card companies) you provide to it and then categorizes your cash flow for you. This obviously begins with a leap of faith in providing to Mint all of the necessary log-in information needed for Mint to automatically gather all of this information and there is a key crux of the matter: Are you comfortable with your financial information being pulled in real-time by a 3rd party? The folks at Mint do go into a fair amount of detail here about what they do to protect your critical information, from encryption in the data transfers, using the same tool as many large banks for gathering your information and even hacking their own site.

Once you are into Mint, the site allows you to get an overview of each of the accounts you have enabled Mint to pull data from. Here is a snapshot of my own account (with the more critical information blurred out from your nosey types), but at least giving you an idea of how Mint displays your transaction information.

Mint can also break down your spending into nifty pie and bar charts by category as well.

In addition, Mint seeks to provide you with offers to save you money by doing an analysis of your current credit card rates, spending habits, monthly bills, etc. Again, this gets down to a matter of whether you find this like a creepy financial Big Brother eyeballing your accounts or a personalized way to provide relevant offers. Of course, these offers don't hurt our buddies at Mint too much since I am sure there is a financial benefit for them if you end up signing up for the offers. There has to be some way to pay for a free site. I am more prone to think of these as being an improved means by which to view some potentially money-saving offers (although I am not sure how the offer below saves me much money right now since I am looking to pay down a balance and would rather enjoy a 7.9% APR vs. 13.74%):
So here's a quick summation of the whole Mint shooting match:

Good Times
- Pulls together information/financial transactions from a wide range of financial sources
- Mint categorizes items automatically and while it may be off on occasion, it is pretty simple to change the categories on a one-off or permanent basis.
- Interesting feature to compare potential savings or deals based on accounts you have or purchases you have made.

Ehh
- While it is great at pulling in past transactions, Mint does not have any features (as of yet) to put in future payments, credits, etc. In this sense, having a personal financial program like Quicken or Money really is a big benefit.
- No support for investment account information
- For the privacy-phobic, it may be scary to have a third party pulling all of your financial information into one place.

I think it is well worth a try since it's free and easy enough to stop the service if you are not finding benefit to it. In the end, it is like almost anything when it comes to money - if you are not being vigilant about it and making use of your personal finance tools, no amount of snazzy gadgetry is going to do you much good.

Turkey Day - Pre-Meal Prep

2007-11-22T18:05:00.000-05:00

Well, here's my first shot at doing a vlog (or video blog). Just a quick demonstration on how I decided to take my own advice to prep for some serious turkey-time later in the day. FYI - When you attempt this kind of activity, it is inevitable that at least half the time, someone will stop and ask you if you need some help (which is kind of nice, when you think about it).

How To Handle Turkey Day Like A Pro

2007-11-21T17:56:00.000-05:00

Ahh... Turkey Eve. Such a magical evening. People busily prepping for the next day's festivities, assembling pie crusts, baking and getting last minute necessities. Not me mind you, but... you know... people. I am just responsible for picking up some green beans and rolls 'cause requiring more of me on the high holy of cooking days would be a Geneva Convention level crime. Seriously. Nobody wants a part of it.

OK, here's the thing you need to know about handling Turkey Day like an absolute pro and not some kind of wide-eyed rookie noobster. First and foremost, handling Turkey Day like a pro has absolutely nothing to do with preparing the sumptuous meal many will enjoy. This is all about how to take down as much chow as possible without already being a competitive eating... *ahem*... "athlete". See my main man pictured with this post (my nephew Sam) from a few years back - he's got the right idea. It's strictly about being an absolutely lethal calorie killer. No mercy. And with that, onto my essential tips:

Be sure to eat breakfast
If there is only one tip of mine you follow, let this be it. The biggest rookie mistake is looking to starve yourself the day of Thanksgiving as if that will somehow allow you to pack in more during the actual meal. Oh the horrors of this one since it ends up being lose-lose: you miss breakfast (which is a vastly underrated meal to begin with) and then your stomach tightens up such that you get stuffed faster during the meal you were hoping to knock off in epic style. Seriously... eat some breakfast. Oatmeal works well, ya crazy fool.

Exercise early that day
This one might sound a little counterintuitive, but it definitely helps. Think about it: Aren't you always hungrier during the day when you exercise or are active early? It does not need to be anything elaborate, but I will tell you that if your chosen activity is a little more on the taxing side, you will be giving your metabolism a nice kick for the rest of the day... which means more pie and more pie is always good. I am hoping to get some video up of my morning exercise choice tomorrow because I have it all planned out and it's a doozy.

Skip the milk and don't load up on early rolls
Milk, while a wonderful beverage, is an appetite killer, especially at key moments when you need to reach down deep into the depths of your soul and take a long, hard look at yourself and ask... "Can I truly eat a 4th helping of stuffing?" You have to be prepared for that moment, people! You can't just waltz in ahead of time all cocksure that you'll know how to handle the big moment when it comes! You have to mentally prep! Visualize! This is war, my friends!

Oh and the rolls thing? That's just obvious - rolls are great, but don't let those doughy little buggers take up the room too early when you have not had the chance to sample everything else.

Proper clothing
Two words and two words only: elastic waistbands.

Go forth and be gluttonous... at least just for this one day. And in all seriousness, I hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving and actually takes a few minutes to be thankful. I know I personally have a lot to be thankful for, so it's nice to have a day devoted to feeling gratitude.

Who Do You Rely On?

2007-11-21T10:29:00.000-05:00

Over the past couple of years, I have gotten to know Alwyn Cosgrove, one of the best coaches/personal trainers around by both meeting him, having a few beers with him and exchanging a bunch of e-mails with him to boot. While I have certainly gained from his training expertise, he has been a great source of support and understanding as Christie has gone through all of her treatments for her leukemia. Alwyn knows a thing or two about blood-based cancers: he's had to beat it... twice. The second time involved a stem cell transplant that literally saved his life (as it also did for Christie).

He's got a great post on his blog that I wanted to point out about how to cull through the mountain of information available to us in uber-modern 2007. How do you decide who to rely on when looking for information or help? Keyboard jockeys with little to no experience? Or those who have proven themselves continuously in the trenches of their chosen field? Excellent food for thought (which is never a problem with Alwyn who always has something interesting to say).

And before you point out the borderline obvious notion that I could be easily described as one of those keyboard warriors dishing out advice in areas where I know next to nothing, let me put up some preemptive defense for me and my blog. If I have proven experience in something, I will post freely. If I do not, I will find those who do to make it useful for you or I will take you along on my journey to learn about that area.

I think that is going to be one of my biggest pieces of this blog, in the end: I am posting a lot of these ideas and tips as part of my own daily advancement towards a better life. Some days I will do well and others, not so much, but hopefully we all benefit in the end. Plus, I am incredibly handsome and charming, which is a bonus.

Anyway, enough of my rambling. Check out Alwyn now and thank me later... or don't, you ungrateful punk.

Something New Each Week

2007-11-21T07:50:00.000-05:00

I'm giving a bit of thought to finding something new to try each and every week and then posting about my experiences here. This could really be just about any activity you can imagine, really, but the point would be to figure out something to try and give it a whirl. It could be from the simple of trying some completely new food or a new sport (for some reason, I am thinking of trying a bit of snowshoeing when the white stuff hits here in New England.

The point is to venture out a bit of the comfort zone and see what happens. Isn't that where the growth kicks in anyway? Out there where things are a little less than cozy?

I got the idea (in part) from the fact that Google has these groovy blog widgets where you can put a poll on your site. I am thinking of letting readers decide what I will do. Now, please bear in mind that my list of new stuff is not going to include shark wrestling or snuff films, but I'm hoping to at least come up with poll items that would be personal stretches for me (otherwise this is a wussified endeavor in the end). I mean, putting on my pants left leg first vs. right leg first is not really the path to personal growth (although it admittedly would feel weird to try that).

Suggestions for the poll?

Living A Full Life

2007-11-20T20:58:00.000-05:00

"I came that they may have life and have it abundantly."
- John 10:10

Now, before you think I am going to turn this into a holy-roller style blog, let me put the above into context. I recently took a trip out West to Texas and Utah that did a lot for me in an area I feel is often overlooked by me (and likely by many people in modern life): perspective. I long ago lost count of the multitude of times in my life I have come to the jarring realization that I was living some facet of my life without the benefit of some real perspective.

And isn't that just so easy to allow to happen? You get up, rush through breakfast, get to work, get caught up in yet another fire drill that you've come to believe is of "mission critical" importance, stay too late at work, maybe get some time to go to the gym or get home for dinner a little late and then spend a little time seeking to unwind before going to bed. Sheesh... I got exhausted just reading what I wrote. That little day in the life view is not terribly unusual for a lot of people and one of the big problems with it is how ridiculously easy it becomes to see all of that as your sole world view.

Yikes.

So my trip out West pulled me out of a rut pretty much identical to what I described above and let me reclaim that precious, precious perspective (and also sharpen my alliteration abilities too). I'll get into the trip a little more in later posts, but whether it was the people I spent time with or the amazing vistas I took in (see the above photo of Zion National Park for proof of that), I just began to realize that I really had a lot of things totally out of whack... hence the quote I found in John 10:10. You don't need to be a Christian to appreciate the idea of how important it is to have life and have it abundantly.

My point of realization was that I was pouring an inordinate amount of my time, energy, efforts and self solely into work and my loved ones and friends were just getting leftovers and I damn well knew they deserved better. So therein lies the crux of the matter: If you keep allowing yourself to get bogged down in something that is not or should not be the primary driver of your life (work, stress, depression, addictions, fears, etc.), how in the world do you ever snap yourself back into proper perspective?

Here's what I think works well:

Solo time. How much time do you take in any given day to be free from distractions of every kind? 5 minutes? 10 minutes? Not at all? Build time into your day for just a bit of quiet time - it works absolute wonders. This can be meditation, prayer, taking a walk during lunch or just staring out the window at 2:35 PM on a weekday to clear your head for a few minutes.
Read more. Nothing like some jolts of information to make you realize there is much bigger world than that stack of papers on your desk. Newspapers, books and blogs (especially mine) certainly work well here.
Volunteer. While I have this #3, I would not put this one here from a ranking perspective (it just occurred to me third... gimme a break). Unleashing your inner do-gooder is an absolute win-win. You will come in contact with people who appreciate your help and you will get that much needed dose of how small problems really are. It's hard to be worked up about bad sales numbers when dealing with children battling leukemia or someone at a men's shelter who is just glad you are serving him a meal during the holidays.
Get out and talk to people. While this one popped into my head as more of something for the workplace, I am thinking this may be a bit more universally applicable. When was the last time you walked around to talk to your co-workers and just spent time listening to them without an agenda of your own? This is something I know I need to do more (especially as the supervisor of 9 people), but it can be really powerful to focus on the thoughts, needs and desires of someone else and put your own aside.
Floss. OK, OK... this has nothing to do with perspective, but holy mother of God... am I the only one who is not freaked out by Dr. Mayo saying "flossing can add 10 years to your life" or Dr. Raul Garcia firing out "Floss or die!"?!?!? I feel like I need to continuously run Glide between my teeth every hour of the day. Maybe that's twisted perspective. See, I made it fit in the end.

So what do you do to pull it all together a bit more? How do you stop your personal slides into the world of "Woe is me!"?