This month’s Groundhog Day Resolutions report took a long time to write, primarily because I had forgotten a lot of details since February. To make it easier to pick-up next month, I put in a ton of hours making a summary of major insights and decisions; this is now located on the expanded GHDR 2017 page and hopefully can be understood as a narrative arc. With luck, the review process will be easier next time.

So how did the month go? I think I’ve clawed my way back from the brink of nihilism and have rebuilt my foundation of optimism on (I hope) sterner stuff. The executive summary of my plans moving forward are (1) make the new website dammit by following a few key steps and (2) practice being unafraid to show more of myself to the world despite a fear of being seen as a weirdo. I’m so fed up with my lack of progress on my long-standing plans to make cool things, though, that I see rejecting people connections as a better way to get there. It’s not as dark as it sounds, though. What I think I’ve discovered is a way to have conviction without being co-dependent on other people. Or I’m crazy. Read on to form an opinion! (more…)

Recapping July’s Review

Last month I was very bored with my goals, and temporarily dropped them. Curious why I was feeling such boredom, I reviewed my current goals by drawing two maps of what I thought my life looked like, comparing them to the old map I’d drawn in 2009.

After quite a bit of thought, I had two takeaways:

• I was disconnected from people, including myself. I am primarily driven by the feeling of connectedness between what I’m doing and other people’s aligned deep interests/needs. None of my current projects was really hitting home in that regard.
• I wanted to try a different kind of productivity approach, which I called “gathering-style” productivity that would somehow avoid the need to manage my tasks and time. I knew that when I am in problem-solving mode, a lot of my motivational issues go away and “good stuff happened”; the trick is getting myself INTO that mode.

Though July initially seemed to be going poorly because not a lot of specific tasks were getting DONE, I think I’ve gained a new perspective on my need to express myself. (more…)

It’s time for the June 6 Review for my Groundhog Day Resolutions, which is my yearly goal setting ritual. It’s like New Year’s Resolutions, except they start on February 2nd, and also have followup review days on 3/3, 4/4, etc.

There is not much to report this month. I’m making progress on several GHDR goals, which are currently:

1. SEARCH FOR MINDBLOWING PRODUCTIVE SYNERGY
2. RUN A NEAT SIDE BUSINESS
3. DEVELOP CREATIVE INTERDEPENDENCE
4. PUSH ON THE 10-YEAR GOALS FOR 2024

Last month I augmented my approach with Objectives & Key Results (OKRs) which I’m updating on a weekly basis here. Here’s the main categories:

• Gain Mastery through Work
• Reduce Frustration & Increase Wellbeing
• Not Be Bored / Isolated
• Develop Cool Side Business
• Aspirational 2024 Goals

Each of these categories has a measurable action that I’ve determined lead to progress in these categorical area, which contribute to my more strategic Groundhog Day Resolutions. I think they need some rewriting to be more systematic, but despite this the addition of weekly OKR reviews is helping me maintain momentum.

I’m not sure there’s much more to say. Some highlights of the last month:

• The Virtual Coworking Chat Room continues to be a source of community energy and positivity. This is probably the biggest improvement in my work-life balance, since there are people “around” all the time in the chat room. I think we’re all getting a productive boost from just sitting in here.

• New ETP Design to Press – I finalized the new design and did a second run of 50 and 75 sheet pads using it. They should be in-stock by mid-June if all goes well.

• Patreon supporters slowly rise – This is great, and I’m learning to use the Patreon platform as a way to get more direct reactions from people. I need to put in some time updating some forms.

• It’s warmer – This is hugely raising my spirits.

The plan for this month is to keep hammering away at everything, particularly with respect to the work project which has some hard deadlines coming up.

There’s nothing much to else to report! You can catch up on my daily escapades through the WHATS UP DAVE livestream or checking into the Virtual Coworking Chatroom. You can links to both places at https://davidseah.com/virtual-coworking. It seems like I’m doing most of my “blogging” in the chat room, so this is a way you can connect with what I’m doing .

See ya next month!