Don Kowalewski
Writer. Ad Sales and Marketing. Social Media Content Creator. Aeropress Coffee. Makes the best salsa in the world.
#22Kill 22-Day Push-Up Challenge, Day 3
You gotta watch today’s video. You’ll see my dog goes nuts right around my 20th push-up. More crazy than she ever acts. Guess why? There was a skunk waddling across the street. Apparently my dog and I spooked the skunk outta my bushes (I could smell it before I walked outside) when we came outside. OK. So if that sounds crazy, watch it. You’ll see I couldn’t get her to sit-stay.
Now, for my blog post and my philosophical ramblings. I’m working on my morning routine. I wanna be one of those, “I get more done before 7am than most people do all day,” types. I hit the snooze, today. Doh! The snooze is such a silly thing. I know that in my heart. If I’m not in R.E.M. sleep, what’s the point? Nobody ever said, “oh, well, at 5:15 a.m. I was sooooooo tired, but 9 minutes later at 5:24 a.m., I felt incredible!!!” Sleep specialists don’t say, “if you’re struggling with sleep, set your alarm for 3:00 a.m. and then hit the snooze for two hours and you’ll feel rested.”
I’m banning the snooze-button in my life. Oh, snap. The “snooze button” as a business and life philosophy. That could be my book. Would you read it?
Then again, I think there’s a way you can use the snooze. Been reading alot about meditation and prayer. I think the snooze button should only be a safety net. When that first alarm sounds, it’s OK to lay there and think, reflect, and get your mind ready for the day. Tomorrow, I’m going to try this . . . my alarm will go off at 5:15 a.m.
I’ll hit the snooze.
Then I’ll practice my breathing, practice being aware of my thoughts, think about my day, think about my workout, say a prayer or chant over some Chakras, and then when my next alarm goes off, attack the morning.
Here’s my push-ups.
#22Kill 22-Day Push-Up Challenge, Day 2
I did it! I’m an achiever. I said I was going to do the #22Kill 22-day push-up challenge to help bring awareness to the horrible fact that an average of 22 Veterans commit suicide daily. I’m gonna have to look that up and Snopes it, because I want that not to be true. That’s awful and heartbreaking. But, having had some pretty deep, philosophical conversations with my friend P.F., a Marine Veteran with lengthy deployments in Iraq and the Middle East, I know Veterans see and do things that my fragile mind could not handle, so I can only imagine their thoughts, dreams, and mindset.
It breaks my heart. I pray for them. I should pray for, and do more, for them.
Now for something that filled my heart and I hope you have an hour to fill your heart, too. Every time I think, “that Tony Robbins is a big ol’ sham artist,” he goes and does something (like appearing on Tim Ferriss’s Podcast) and blows me away, inspires me, and puts everything in perspective. Honestly, I beg you (or ask you politely), if you have an hour (maybe a bit more), take a , on iTunes, right from the site, or Tim Ferriss even lets you just download the audio as a file and move it to your digital audio player.
Are you stressed? Do you have anxiety? Are you in a slump (as I currently am on a number of fronts)? Heck, even if everything’s clickin’ for you, I think you could get something out of the podcast.
I promise, when I blog about something, it’s not because I get a click-thru fee from Tony Robbins or Tim Ferriss. It’s because I’m a reqgular guy who sometimes comes across GREAT STUFF, and the podcast I linked above is GREAT STUFF. OK. I’m not gonna bully you. I just though it was amazing and maybe you will, too. Here’s two great quotes followed by my Day-2 Push-Ups.
“Don’t wish it was easier; wish you were better.”
@tferriss and@TonyRobbins“Life is always happening for us, it’s happening to us.”
@TonyRobbins on@tferriss
p.s. I’m not kidding when I say this, I’m going to listen to the entire podcast again, later this week, but this time with pen and paper in hand and take notes.
#22Day Push-Up Challenge, Day 1
Maybe two months ago, bowling buddy P.G. challenged me to the #22 day push-up challenge. I thought, “I’m in.” Then did nothing.
Now, someone else has challenged me and it’s time I stop “thinking about it” and just start doing it.
What is the 22-day push-up challenge? Well, my quick glance around the Internet tells me it might be one thing, but it might be another. I found Mission22.com and it’s devoted to the idea of helping reduce the suicide rate among veterans. Why the number “22?” It signifies that every day an average of 22 Veterans take their own lives due to PTSD and TBI. Then, there’s #22Kill.com which seems to be site that started the push-up thing.
I challenge everyone reading to join me. Leave comments with links to your video. Do it. Follow the instructions at 22Kill.com. Follow and Like and learn more at these links.
https://youtube.com/user/HCC22KILL
https://instagram.com/22kill_actual/
I kinda blew it in my video. I forgot to mention I’m doing it for John Ballard, Pete Forsythe, Cory DeKraai, and Darrin Wassom.
Here’s my Day 1 video . . .
Fearlessness, Jealousy
Read the title of this blog? How do these feelings tie together? I’m going to keep this short because I want you to use your time here (visiting my blog) to watch the video below. It’s 2-minutes and 45-seconds, and worth watching if “jealousy” is something you feel from time to time and then feel guilty about feeling jealous.
What’s that old Bible saying? “Thou shall not covet thy neighbor’s goods (and wife).” And then something quick follows regarding “fearlessness.”
covet [kuhv-it] 1. to desire wrongfully, inordinately, or without due regard for the rights of others: to covet another’s property: to have an inordinate or wrongful desire.
Are you spending too much of your mental energy on coveting, jealousy, and envy. I am. Me! A guy who has a blog, Instagram, Facebook, Snapchat, Twitter, Tumblr, and every other social media where he regularly posts things about himself, but only the good things, with little regard about how that makes others feel (possibly “envy” because, let’s face it, even if we don’t 100% intentionally do it, posting anything on social media is usually a bit of a brag).
My thought for the day is this …when is jealousy, envy, and coveting a good thing? What if I stopped obsessing about my friend’s giant lake house and boat that I don’t have? What if stopped seeing pictures on Facebook of friends traveling to amazing, exotic places and wishing that was me and being jealous of them. What if could learn to stop brooding about the accolades and awards my peers at work are getting (and I’m not)?
But instead, what if I started envying my friends and their honesty, their works of charity, their work ethic, their spirituality, or their ability to make and keep friends?
I guess I’m asking, can I turn envy and jealousy into a asset? Skip the next paragraph if you’re not into long, boring stories.
Today, my youngest daughter will perform in Rodger’s and Hammerstein’s Cinderella. This whole thing (her being in the cast and trying out) is completely on her. She’s not yet 10 years old. We’re not stage parents. We’re not pushing her or making her sing in front of us and demanding better and better performances. Nope. A few months ago, she saw her older sister perform in the 7th and 8th Grade production of The Lion King and she said, “I want to do that.” So we researched some places who might be looking for kids to audition, we found Project Daydream, and our little 9-year-old prepared sheet music (on her own) and rehearsed an audition song (truly, mostly on her own) and amidst a group of teenagers all trying out, she walked in there (fearless) and just sang and got invited onto the cast.
That is true fearlessness. Never did, “I’m too young,” or, “I’ve never done this before,” enter her mind or come out of her mouth. She got it in her mind that she wanted to “do that”, and did it. In the meantime, she’s been coached on singing, she’s gotten two small solo lines in a song (not just the chorus), they asked her to be young-Cinderella (at the opening), and I think she has one or two other parts.
Fearless. She sees some people are better than her and have more experience. She sees others who are not. But each night she comes home from rehearsal full of joy, smiles, and a light of optimism and energy.
I covet that. I’m jealous of that.
Actually. I need to be like that. We all do.
Today, I’m going to make jealousy and envy an action item and a powerful force in my life, rather than destructive. How about you? Are you jealous I’m doing that? Don’t be. Do it with me.
Thanks for reading and thanks for attending my daughter’s performances today at 10:30 and tomorrow at 6:30. Information here.
5-Minute Blogging – What Is the Impossible Dream?
7:48 a.m. – Start
I wonder if I should take my 5-Minute morning blogging to Tumblr or Medium because I want this blog to be about me, my birthday, and to be a place where I post my more polished and finished writing projects? Because, what is the goal of the 5-Minute blogging? The point, as I understand it from hearing my hero, Tim Ferriss, talk about it, is to take the things out of my cluttered mind and get it out on paper and organized. I did this yesterday and yesterday was a very good, very balanced day. For the first time in a while, when someone asked, “how was work,” I was actually and honestly able to say, “very good.”
I’m inspired to write, again. I was given a writing lead to write a 40,000 word book for a life-coach who writes about time management, life-balance, and . . . get this . . . Catholicism. If you’re reading this and don’t know, I’m a proud Catholic.
I don’t wanna get ahead of myself, but I might be writing two books. Yes. This might happen.
Things happen if you think them and act on them. Every morning I watch a quick motivator from Darren Hardy, and today’s lesson was dreaming the impossible dream, hanging onto it, and never letting it go. My dream? To write my screenplay (I have quite a story that will only work as a film) and sell it to Disney or Pixar.
Gotta run. Gotta follow up on every open lead, call, and task from yesterday and get my email to Zero and start my day.
7-minutes. Ran a little over.
7:55 a.m.
‘Sup, dude.
Sup dude. This is me taking a quick video and then quick blogging it. I mostly want to see if the video embeds. I also want everyone to know that just because I didn’t make a big deal on my blog about I Love Don Week doesn’t mean it wasn’t epic and that it’s not still important. Check it out. A belated birthday gift.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0js3tXbVbMw&feature=share
5-Minute Blogging
7:43 – Start
Tim Ferriss, my ultimate guru, recommends writing in a journal for 5-minutes to start each day. He also recommends meditating daily. He recommends cold showers, exercise, fasting, and delegating tasks to free up time for big things. I’ve been a devoted follower for years and I’m starting to wonder if I’m full of anxiety because I can’t reach his level of discipline, or maybe I just don’t do the things he says I should do.
Do I get bogged down in the minutia? Do I dwell on the past failures and fear future failures, while never enjoying the present, the past successes, and being energized by the amazing things I’m yet to do.
Do I look around and let jealousy, envy, and distrust dominate my day while not embracing the goodness, honesty, and friendship that people offer?
The morning journal is supposed to be 5-minutes where I write down all the worst-case scenarios and put on paper the doom and gloom, and then I’m supposed to revisit it at bedtime and see what was imagined and what was reality.
7:48 – End.
Obsessed with My Lawn, But I Come By It Naturally
I’ll bet, like every father, my Dad occasionally sits around wondering, “I wonder if I made an impression on my children and taught them something?”
Well, Dad, rest assured, you did. Especially when it comes to my lawn. My Dad always had the best lawn on the block. Period. And he seemed to have it effortlessly. He didn’t pay for a sprinkler system. He mowed it himself. He watered it with a oscillating sprinkler. He didn’t hire a service to fertilize and treat his lawn. But it was perfect. He plucked dandelions by hand.
His most amazing feat happened when we moved to a new house in the summer of 1988. Most everyone in the neighborhood had sod delivered and installed. Insta-lawn. Lawn in a day. And then they ran their in-ground sprinklers to make sure it took. My Dad? He planted seed. Not spray-on seed like many more of the new builds used. Nope. Grass seed that he spread by hand. He was patient. And disciplined. He watered. He overseeded. He mowed and trimmed. Overseeded some more. Fertilized four times a year.
It was an awesome lawn.
Now, here I am, almost 30 years later and I obsess about my lawn. It’s my pride an joy. I mow it myself. I fertilize it myself. I pull weeds by hand. I spot spray others. And now I’m remaking my backyard to be a grown-up/teen friendly yard and it required me to get rid of my sandbox, a play structure, and we had to take down a dead pine. I found some bricks to build a fire pit, but what I’m most excited about? I’m most excited about the sandbox area and the areas that surrounded the pine and how I’m planting grass seed and how, by next spring, it will be like a carpet around my firepit.
This either makes me borderline insane, or it shows I have a hobby, albeit unorthodox and not quite golfing or running. I like my lawn and take pride in it. My wife bought an outdoor couch at a garage sale. I built a fire pit. We’re rethinking and redesigning our garden path (which mostly became a weed-ville). And as Droopy says, ya know what? I’m happy.
To my blog readers – I’ll keep ya updated.
Oh, and I’m obsessed with this guy, The Lawn Care Nut.
It’s Like I’m Not Even Excited About I Love Don Week
I need to seek counseling or perhaps mood altering drugs, because here we sit exactly 4 days until the kick-off of “I Love Don Week” and I’m not excited. My list is pathetic
- Cub Cadet riding lawnmower
- new Shieldon case for my iPhone 5s
- more Kiehl’s stuff
- Leaf blower (exactly like the Black & Decker I have that’s dying)
- Men’s Health subscription
- Johnston & Murphy classic penny or tassel loafers
Just …look …at …that …list. It’s sad and pathetic. How can anyone get excited for “I Love Don Week” with a piss-poor list like that?
I knew this day might come when I …gulp …mature a little and grow up. I was walking around today thinking how blessed I am and thinking, “I have my family and my health and that’s all I want for my birthday,” and I really had to take my temperature. For the record, I’m not running a fever.
Help me help you celebrate me. Help me get excited. What am I missing? Why am I feeling content and feeling like I don’t wanna make a big deal about the week and my 43rd birthday!?!?!?
Help. If you need me, I’ll be at Urgent Care asking them to check all my vitals.
Be a Beacon
This morning, I sat through a fascinating lecture by Bob Kernan of jacapps (an app developer) and I sorta made a spectacle of myself during the Q&A (I swore I would play it low-key). That’s not really the point of this blog. You know why I blog, right? Because I think my blog can be a place to pull little lessons about life from the little moments in our life. Maybe I’m blogging just for me. But maybe you like it, too.
OK. So after the lecture, I got into a nice, long conversation with a former co-worker who I haven’t talked to in ages (but she complimented me on how thin and healthy I look, so of course I wanted to talk with her more just in case she had more nice things to say about me). I’m joking. I talked with her because it was nice to reminisce and I wanted to hear what she was doing, these days. She had quite a tale to tell.
The lesson for myself I took from it was (a) smile, (b) go into a room with a positive attitude, and (c) be grateful. Be in the moment. Every person in that room was a competitor with everyone else, but take away our business cards, and you quickly realize we’re all mothers, fathers, daughters, sons, friends, members of our Church, volunteer coaches, and hundreds of other every day, normal things.
I put on my Uncle Jerry hat (recall he’s the guy that made everyone in his life feel like #1), and suddenly the meeting was better, as was the conversation afterward.
The lesson is, we should all keep living and doing the promises we made to ourselves the last time something inspiring happened to us. Like, for me, it was when my Uncle Jerry died earlier this year. I told myself, when I’m stressed and knee deep in the drudgery, I really do need to take a deep breath and realize . . . hey . . . I just took a deep breath. I’m alive. I woke up on this side of the earth/ground. I can choose to be negative, gossipy, and think about all the ways everyone around me is an idiot or a jackass, or I can choose to be the opposite of those things.
Part of the lecture was about beacons that track your phone via Bluetooth. Basically, when you walk in range of a beacon, it spots you and starts talking to you. But all my co-worker (L.R.) could think about was the song You Can’t Be A Beacon, If Your Light Don’t Shine and while it might seem silly, I’d never heard the song before and it perfectly captured my mood and why I try to make every conversation, every meeting, and every opportunity something interesting and useful.
Don Kowalewski 