Don Kowalewski
Writer. Ad Sales and Marketing. Social Media Content Creator. Aeropress Coffee. Makes the best salsa in the world.
#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.
A Sleep Solution
If you only knew how much I love my digital watch, you’d laugh at me. It has five alarms, a stop watch, tells the time in 12 time zones, and has a countdown timer.
I have all five alarms set for something.
- 9:55 p.m. – time to start my bedtime routine
- 6:55 a.m. – time to get the kids up for school/weekend wake-up time
- 7:40 a.m. – time to leave for work
- 10:45 a.m. – time for mid morning snack/MCT oil
- 5:15 a.m. – M-F wake-up time (this can vary based on the next thing)
But the thing I’m using the most is the countdown timer. When I boil eggs, I bring the water to a boil and as soon as the water boils, I cover the pot and boil the eggs for 9-minutes. When I put something in the washer, I set the timer for 28-minutes, because it will remind me the load is done. I set it for 20-minutes when I have clothes in the dryer.
What does any of this have to do with a good night’s sleep?
Here goes my latest, craziest “hack”. I used to set an alarm for the time I wanted to wake up but now instead, I set my countdown-timer for the amount of hours and minutes I want to sleep. The goal is always 7 hours. So if I go to bed at 11:00 p.m., I could set my alarm for 6 o’clock, right? Sure. If I didn’t have a countdown-timer. Duh. For the past three nights, at the moment I stop reading or decide it’s lights out and time for some R.E.M., I calculate how many hours I need and start the timer.
Brilliant, right?
Last night, I went to bed at 11:15 and was light’s out at 11:30 and determined that 6.75 hours of sleep would mean I wake at 6:15 a.m., giving me enough time for a short walk with the dog (it was zero-degrees out) which gets me back home in time for a 6:40 a.m. shower (I had subtracted out shaving time …I didn’t shave today).
So, right before bed I drank my orange juice with Green Vibrance and Macha powder (yuck), took 100 MG of Magnesium, and a half a banana, went to bed and because I was confident in the countdown-timer, the next thing I knew, my watch was signalling I’d successfully slept 6.75 hours.
Maybe it’s a mental thing, but there’s a different mindset when I lay my head down knowing I’ll sleep 6.75 hours rather than setting an alarm for an arbitrary time and hoping I get all the sleep I want.
Why does this work?
Your brain anticipates time and events in a linear way and think about when you know you have an appointment or date that starts at a specific time. As your “2 o’clock” approaches, it’s natural to keep checking the time. “Oh, it’s 12 o’clock. I have to leave at 1:45.” Later. Oh, it’s 1:05, I have 35-minutes until I have to leave.” Then, later, “oh, look at that, I have 5-minutes until I have to leave for my 2 o’clock.”
Your brain doesn’t stop thinking about the appointment. Now, I set alarms on my watch for 12:50 p.m., then 1:30 p.m., then 1:40 p.m. so I don’t have to keep checking and I’ll leave right on time at 1:45 p.m. Better still is countdown timers. If it’s 12 o’clock and I know I have to leave at 1:45, I can set my countdown-timer for 90-minutes so it alerts me at 1:30 p.m. Then I can quick set a 10-minute timer and when that alerts me, I’m out the door. And if I happen to check my watch, at any point, I can see exactly how long I have, versus doing some quick reverse math.
Does it make me sound crazy? When you’re anticipating a vacation, how do you track it? You tell yourself, “four more days,” and then, “two more days.” You don’t look at the date on the calendar and say, hey, it’s the 20th of December and I leave on the 23rd of December . . . no. You just know there are three days until you leave. Or 1 week until your birthday. Or 3 weeks until Star War Rogue One is out in theaters.
This “countdown” instead of “setting an alarm” at bedtime can trick your psyche and you can approach the amount of hours and minutes you want to sleep like you’re looking forward to something.
It works. It changes your mindset before you sleep and when you wake up in the middle of the night.
Try it, won’t you?
It’s Never a Bad Morning with Wisdom from Tim Ferriss
I’m calling the next 6-months the “Don Improvement Project.”
I’m gonna try the “get better by 1% each day” approach, and today started with actually getting out of bed when I wake up, versus laying their and doing nothing. If I can’t go back to sleep and get back into R.E.M. sleep, I might as well get up. And so I did. Then I took a 15-minute walk, and then I swung a kettle-bell around for 15-minutes. I emptied the dishwasher. I enjoyed a cuppa coffee. I relaxed while shaving and showering.
It was good. And then I listened to Tim Ferriss dole out some bits of wisdom during my 25-minute commute and am better for it.
Tim Ferriss never disappoints and I’m devouring his new book, Tools of Titans, because it’s an enhancement of the years of his Podcasts I’ve enjoyed. I’m going to use it as a personal improvement manual …because that’s how he wrote it. To be used like a users-guide to me (you).
Here’s a little sample of Tim talking about his book and answering some fan questions. Enjoy.
Don Kowalewski 