Its amazing that some people know exactly what to say or do to set you off (in a bad mood).

And then there are those that know you so well, they know exactly what to say to make you feel 100% better.

A support system is so important to success.

I wonder if it is just simple coincidence, or something greater.

I had a dream about a person last night and was thinking about said person this morning while driving to work. And lo and behold, I see that same person working an unusually early shift.

..Writing has been an important exercise to clarify what I believe, what I see, what I care about, what my deepest values are and thats the process which makes you ask tougher questions ~Barak Obama

Its important to not complain about things you cannot control, to instead be aware of reasons/causes of your issues, to have solutions or steps to having a solution to those problems and to lastly be thankful in the things you do have.
Its an important lesson that i've learnt over the past few years.

I typically don't like having New Years resolutions b/c i'm the type of person to not rely on a certain day of the year to change my habits.. but I think that if it helps you get to the part to achieve positive change in your life, it's worth doing. 2 of my most major goals this year.. that kinda HAS TO happen.. and thus WILL happen is: 
1. Get a new job
2. Move out

Simple, no?
lol
I've set my mind to it, I have a plan.. so I ..think.. it will happen.

I have an excel sheet of things I want to accomplish as well every day which will lead me to accomplishing those two goals among other smaller (but still significant)goals:
- working out consistently
- studying poses and techniques for photography
- job prep (resume and cover letter refinement)
- rosetta stone
- blogging more consistently
- stock research
- research/steps to moving out
- a-photo-a-day (might literally need to be 1 photo a day)
- leisure reading every day

Having a plan.. then having a schedule.. then sticking to your schedule will achieve results. It won't be easy.. but it must be done!

Note to self:
1. Make sure I don't send thank you cards so late; probably easier said than done, but i've been receiving these thank you cards like 6-10 months after the wedding.. kinda slow

2. Make them more specific, the thank yous that is. Specify the gift you received, instead of just a generic description

Haha; in regards to that "Restless" article I wrote in 2009, I check it, it has 1.2k views. I have NO idea why it is being referenced every single day (about 10 times a day), but I finally changed it to protected status.. and see whether that makes a difference.

I have never wrote or blogged to get traffic, its not the kind of person I am: I don't care if anyone really reads anything I write (altho I kind wish more people looked at my photos). Its kind creepy when people visit the same entry over and over though..

I was going to make another blog to write about my progress in life.. and some more sensitive topics.. but I write so infrequently here anyways, so i'll do it here.

Its important to have a positive outlook on life, otherwise we waste alot of it unhappy, unfulfilled and wasted. What we don't realize is we affect those around us as well and slowly push them away, for who wants to be around a depressing person all the time?

Coincidentally, I read an article last night by Stephen Covey about the 90/10 Principle. Its about how 10% of life is made up of what happens to you. 90% of life is decided by how you react. We have no control over the 10% but the other 90% is different; you determine how you react to it which makes all the difference in the world.

The example in the article is as follows: 
"You are eating breakfast with your family. Your daughter knocks over a cup of coffee onto your business shirt. You have no control over what just happened."

What happens next will be determined by how you react; you can either curse, scold your daughter, have a verbal fight then with your spouse about it, etc etc
or
You calm your daughter, telling her to be more careful in the future, change your shirt and don't rush and leave for work etc.

The 90/10 Principle is all about how you react to life; whether you're a sponge and let negativity affect you, or let attacks roll off you like water on a glass.

I really like this principle.. I agree that by just changing how we react to things we have no control over, will make us happier and life will go along more swimmingly; if our lives are horrible, its because we allow ourselves to make it so. I enjoy the company of people who have a constant positive outlook on life but I also understand that life isn't always that great and we have stresses in our lives.

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Anyways; with that out of the way.. every week (maybe on sundays) I'll start writing about the things that i'm accomplishing in my life that I think are important.. or atleast steps in the right direction.

So this week:

• worked on my expenses. In a step to moving out, I think its important to figure out how much money you spend/need to set aside. I fear the step of moving out and the unknown that comes with it and i've known, knowing my expenses is one of those steps; its not hard, just a reality I don't want to address. So my first baby step that I took in this regard was to look at the past 8 months of credit card bills and see what my major expenditures were. I broke the items down into: clothing (very limited), food (consistent, but low), alcohol(rare), leisure(the bulk), charity, extra ordinary (big purchases you normally wouldn't make). I really just wrote down the numbers and didn't really analyze it too much yet.
• figured out a schedule of things i'll work on and when. Its very important to have a schedule of things to do. By doing things over and over, it becomes second nature and more importantly: habit. I've found.. the human person (see: me) has a very short attention span/is most effective is short bursts of activity. So 15minutes I allocate to certain activities. Every other day (vs every day) I'll work on them. This is important b/c there are ALOT of things I want to accomplish this year; two of the biggest things is 1) get a new job (a more fulfilling one, or one that makes more money, preferably both) 2) move out. But I also want to: exercise more frequently, work more on Rosetta Stone and learn Mandarin, work more on photography (theory, equipment, actual practice, with eventuality of it being a side job if not a full time job), blog more (here and my blogspot site), do stock research (to invest intelligently), do job prep and move out prep/research
• I was sick. Also there was New Years, where i've now resolved that i'm going to Niagara Falls for next year. While I like a low-key type of celebration and refuse to be a sheep that thinks they need to party, drink and get drunk for NYE and I AM an introverted type of person, I'm also adventurous and want to do something new and exciting. Being sick has caused another hiccup in my productivity, decreasing my willpower to stick to my schedule, and playing more video games than I wanted to. I'd like to get back into a good rhythm and get stuff accomplished; I was making lame excuses before, being in a funk/daze b/c of the passing of my grandfather.. and then not being able to do what was needed b/c I was sick.. enough excuses. But, another week is here, and time is a-wasting.