Don Kowalewski
Writer. Ad Sales and Marketing. Social Media Content Creator. Aeropress Coffee. Makes the best salsa in the world.
Millennials
I’m not breaking any news, here, but my sister shared this video with me and I can’t stop thinking about it and, actually, can’t stop thinking about how it applies to my 13, 12, and 10 year old? Hell …how does it apply to me? Based on Simon Sinek‘s observations, I’m morphing into a Millennial. So is my wife. So is my sister.
If you have 15-minutes, watch it.
I wonder if it’s true, or he just makes it sound like it’s true. My sister showed it to her 12 and 11 year old. I immediately thought, “I’m going to show it to my kids,” and then I thought, well, maybe I won’t. Maybe I’ll figure out how to make them undo what they’ve done (or what I’ve allowed them to do).
Is it an epidemic, or just the new reality? I grew up in the 80s in the dawn of cable and MTV and Nickelodeon, and when Atari evolved into the Commodore 64 which evolved into Nintendo and then Sega Genesis. I spent …so …much …time …watching TV and playing video games. I’m sure my generation was labeled an older people said we were ruining ourselves. Is the video an overreaction to something new that will pass? Or should I really think about the irreparable harm that devices and social media might be having on my kids and will they be depressed and suicidal?
Or should I trick them by saying, “only a 1/2-hour of devices at night and NO DEVICES within a half hour of bedtime?” Should I limit devices on the weekend? I spent the hours of 7:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. almost every Saturday morning watching Saturday morning cartoons. I spend, I’ll bet, and hour or more every day after school watching cartoons. I had a favorite sitcom or show every night of the week and always watched a show before bed.
It’s not just Millenials with that cell phones in meetings – that’s everyone.
Anyway, really, really interesting.
#Project44 #Pullups2 #Sadness
It’s not all feel-good and “yay me” on the #Project44 experiment. This morning, I wanted to see how many pull-ups I could do.
Here’s a multiple choice quiz…
Tomorrow I’ll reveal the answer and I’ll probably tell you about how I can’t raise my hands above my waist, but let’s just say if you select “3”, you’re being generous.
I tried the pull-ups where my palms were facing me, because I thought the wide-grip palms-facing-away was more for getting a ripped upper back. Where pull-ups with palms facing toward my face is all about my bi-ceps.
Two pull-ups!!! Back in the day I could do 20+, and it didn’t matter if palms faced away or palms faced toward me.
(I know, I seem to be obsessed with palm direction).
I 
might be hoping to do a collective 44 pull-ups by the end of the year. Or end of February (2 pull-ups per day, 28 days in February …oh, I can get there). Then I got a chair and did some reverse-resistance (I don’t know if that’s an actual exercise term) pull-ups where I jump into the pull-up position and then as slowly as I can, lower myself until my arms are hanging straight, then I jump back into the pull-up position and slowly lower myself. And I did this until I could no longer “slowly” lower myself and until I would just drop. I hope you’re following this, because I won’t be posting a how-to YouTube video on this old-man/weak-man exercise routine.
My shoulders, back, bi-ceps, and tri-cep are still quivering and tomorrow as I struggle to shampoo my head (because I’m pretty certain I won’t be able to move my arms), pray for me.
Oh, and “44 social media posts per day” is evolving into “44 passion and work related social media posts per week, with a strategy.”
Thanks for following along and pretending to care.
#Project44
Remember my focus for the year 2017? I call is #Project44. This year I will celebrate my 44th birthday and I want to make this year matter. Here’s my list…
- B
e in bed by 9:44 or 10:44 - Wake up at 4:44 or 5:44 (depending on when I went to bed) and 6:44 on weekends
- Work up to 44 pull-ups
- Do 44 push-ups daily
- Publish 44 pieces of social media daily around my passions
- Exercise for 44 minutes daily (even if 22 minutes in the a.m., and 22 minutes at night)
- Listen (or read) something motivating 44-minutes each day
- Make calls (cold-calls) at 8:44 a.m.
- Get my weight to 144
- 44 new business calls per month (11 per week)
- Increase my billing by 44% (and my income by the same)
And I’ll even give myself 44-days from the day I invented this (January 4th, interestingly enough) to create the full plan and the map of #Project44.
It’s a rallying cry. It’s a mission. It’s fun. It’s something to focus on. It’s just the sort of crazy obsession that works for a guy like me. Will it work for you?
A friend is turning 30 and she launched something similar. If you’re 49 and about to turn 50, get creative with your magic number. My son is 12 and will turn 13 (a teenager!!!) later this year, and he wants to earn $1,300 selling his toys and collectibles on eBay and CraigsList.
Pick a number. Make some goals. Get started.
2017 is for #Mission44, Ending Procrastination, and Finding Flow
We’re nearing the end of January, and having themes for 2017 is already paying dividends. My themes are my own invention, #Mission44, along with minimizing procrastination in my life, and, finally, finding “flow”.
“Flow”, as I understand it, is that mental state when everything seems effortless and you feel in total control, you feel your creativity is at its peak, and stress doesn’t enter the picture. More on that in my next Blog entry.
This morning, Mel Robbins boiled procrastination down to its basic level – stress. Take a look. See if you agree. She calls it her 5-Second Rule, which leads to the 5-Minute procrastination fix. In a word – brilliant.
Time. I’m Wasting It.
Every day I get older and some day I’ll be so old, all I’ll want it more time.
But what am I doing with the time I have, now? I like to spend my time with my family. I cherish the time I sit with my kids before their bedtime and read. I like reading. I love my Monday nights and splitting a bottle of wine with my wife while watching The Bachelor. I think the long weekends I spend Up North on Memorial Day, Fourth of July, and Labor Day are the best. I like the time I spend coaching my children’s soccer teams. I like hanging out for hours with friends and talking. I like the time I spend talking on the phone with my brother, my sister, and my Dad.
I wish I had just a few more moments with my mother and my Uncle Jerry.
What about the rest of my time? What am I doing with that time? Am I pursuing dreams? Am I maximizing the talents and blessings God gave me?
I need to take stock of the time I’m wasting. I also need to ask myself is watching TV with my wife and reading with my children the best use of my time.
Years ago I wrote a blog about turning 40 and rationalizing how I was still a young man and life was nowhere near half-over. I told everyone I wasn’t mid-life and wasn’t having a mid-life crisis. I argued that the first 23 years of a person’s life in our Westernized society is completely out of their control (it’s still while the brain’s frontal lobe is forming, or some shit like that …I really researched it at the time). So if you don’t really start living and planning and adventuring until you’re, say, 23-years-0ld, and if you expect to live and be alive and motivated until you’re 75, well 50 is “mid-life” because “life” starts at age 25 and ends at 75, so a person has 50 amazing years during which they must do their life’s work.
Here I am 44. I’ve done some great things and I really gotta get crackin’ to knock off some BIG THINGS before I’m 50.
I will never dunk a basketball. I will never play on a British Premier League team at a high level, but I think there are some amazing things I still need to accomplish.
#Project44
#Mission44
Don’s Best-Of 2016 – Phone Bag and Ear Buds
Here we are 10-days into 2017 and I think it’s about time I start reporting on my best-of 2016. A lotta people compile lists in December but never stop to think the best-of might still be yet to come. It was for me. For example, my wife bought me a waterproof smartphone bag thingy for Christmas, and it’s brilliant. I don’t want a case on my phone. But sometimes I’m out fishing, or sledding, or by the pool, and I do . . . just to use my phone as a camera. And this baggy thing is perfect. And it has a pad inside to protect it when I drop it. And it floats.
If I had compiled my best-of before December 25th, it wouldn’t have made the list – and that would be a shame.
– 2015 was a research year and 2016 was a purchase year. I bought the Sennheiser MM 70i, and look at how the microphone aligns – it points up at my mouth/chin/vocal area instead of out away from my chest or, if it flips around, towards my chest. The noise cancelling is like magic. Even when not playing music, I can barely hear the outside world, and when I add any music at even low volume, the world goes away. It’s a little dangerous being that isolated, so even when I wear them on the edge of my ears so I can hear things like my kids, a car driving up behind me when I’m walking the dog, or sirens, they stay in my ear. This was inspired by my hatred of the Apple ear buds, but by my love of wired ear buds for talking on the phone, shooting selfie SnapChat vids, or anything else. Did I mention the incredible sound quality? I’ve taken a liking to classical music (to ward off Alzheimer’s) and when you listen to an orchestra, you deserve to hear everything.
In my next Best-Of, I’ll tell you the what the best song, mp3 player, and shoe is.
Ultimate Breakfast, Daily Supplement, and Post-Breakfast and Post-Dinner Supplements
Morning
One egg, scrambled, with a tablespoon of coconut oil and a handful of shredded leaf spinach. I chase that down with 3 ounces of orange juice mixed with a tablespoon of Bragg’s Apple Cider Vinegar, and I mix in a teaspoon of Green Vibrance, a teaspoon of Chia Seeds, 50 mg of Magnesium, and a baby aspirin.
Chia seeds are packed with omega-3 fatty acids, soluble fiber, and even a little bit of protein, these tiny seeds can elevate just about any meal or snack to a nutritional powerhouse. More here.
During the Day
I put MCT Oil in my late morning cuppa coffee (for my brain).
Dinner and Evening
After dinner, I put a half scoop of Green Vibrance mixed with a teaspoon of Maca Powder in some water and wash down another 100 mg of Magnesium.
Maca is packed with many nutrients, including fatty acids and amino acids. It is an excellent source of protein, vitamin C, calcium, iron, and fiber. More on Maca here.
Building 2017 Around Magic #44
My Dad was born in 1944. I was born on 7/11/73 and if you write that as (7-11) and (7-3) you get -4 and 4 and, well, that’s two 4s in a row.
I want to weigh 144 pounds by the end of the year (or sooner). I want to exercise for 44-minutes a day. I want to write for 44-minutes a day. I want to listen to (or read) something motivating for 44-minutes a day. I want to make 44 new business calls each month (11 per week) and make my cold-calls at 8:44 a.m. for 44-minutes every day. I should dedicate 44-minutes a day to a hobby or passion project. I’ll set my alarm for 4:44 a.m. I’ll turn off all TVs and glowing devices by 9:44 p.m. each night and spent 44-minutes getting ready for bed, journaling, or meditating until that 44-minutes is up. I’ll work up to 44 push-ups a day. I want to increase my billing at work by 44%. I want to grow my income by 44%. If I can fit it into my schedule, I’ll take 44-minutes to have lunch each day. I want to follow Gary Vaynerchuk’s advice and turn my work and my life into quality social media and focus on 44 pieces of social media content each day. (1 Blog, 8 Tweets, 6 Retweets, 2 Personal Facebook Posts, 2 Posts to Kaleidoscopic Raygun’s Facebook Page, 1 YouTube Vid, 2 Instagram Post, 8 Snaps, 3 LinkedIns, and then some other stuff to get to 44). This social content should be relevant to my passions and my livelihood (but I’ll still post about coffee and some random stuff …I’m only human and I’m still Don). OK. 44 social posts might be a bit much, but if I count Comments, I can do it.
I should build a new Blog and call it “The 44th Parallel.”
I do well when I’m obsessing about something. We all do. Obsessing about a deadline. A project. A goal. What if the obsession became your magic number and you built your year around it?
I don’t care your magic number …just pick one and apply it to some categories.
Why 44?
I turn 44 years old this year. That means I’ve reached the high end of the Adult 18-44 demo. I’m still solidly in the Adult 18-demo, which is considered younger skewing, and I need to take advantage of this youth (as defined by media companies). Because in 2018, I jump into the Adult 45+ demo and by then, I don’t matter to anyone (and everyone will know I got a tattoo because I’m desperately trying to show I still belong among the Adults 18-49, but we all know a 45-year-old has very little in common with an 18-year-old or 24-year old …crap).
Let’s get started and, oh, my next blog is going to be about #WhatsYourStory.
Magic Number 44 in 2017
I have an idea. This year I will turn 44. I’m going to build my year around that number. I should weigh 144 pounds. I should exercise 44-minutes a day. I should dedicate 44-minutes a day to a hobby or passion project. I should be able to do 44 push-ups. No. Wait. I should do 44 push-ups per day.
This is gonna be something.
What Do I Want to Be When I Grow Up?
I don’t wanna be a guru, unless you ask me for advice.
I don’t wanna be a life-coach, unless you ask me for a little guidance.
I don’t wanna be a stand-up comedian, but I sure like making people laugh and feel happy.
I don’t wanna be the highest billing sales person on my staff, but I definitely want people to want to, and like to, work with me.
I don’t wanna be a best selling author, but I want to assemble my eulogies, toasts, and stories int a book that can be a family history, of sorts.
I don’t wanna be a salsa mogul, but if you look back at my third point, you’ll see I like making people happy – and my Donnie Jalapeno Salsa is that good.
I love gurus. I used to write for a few of them. I want to write for them again. I wouldn’t mind being the man-behind-the-scenes. I really would like that. That’s a goal, right?
Here’s one of my favorites – Mel Robbins – and I hope you’ll watch her 2 1/2 minutes and then download the Best Year Ever manual.
Here’s Mel’s invitation to you and what she’s doing.
Don Kowalewski 