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Wednesday, December 10, 2008

The Click Almost Heard Around My World

Yesterday was bad. Every little thing in my world was pushing on a vice that had my entire being wedged and crushed. So many aspects of my life are stressful right now. I know I've got it far better than a lot of people out there. I just feel like certain parts of my life are asking for way too much of me and there seems to be less and less of the best parts of my energy and attention to go around at the end of every day. Yesterday I wrote a post about everything I "hate" and as I went to publish it I had a wave of guilt and apprehension come over me. I realized that I definitely want a lot of things out of life right now, but I also have a lot of things I've wanted in the past as well. So, I oped to not publish (thank god).

Here are some cool updates I'm positive about:

I'm building my new businesses with some great resources and inspiration from Jack's Notebook written by an amazing writer, speaker and entreprenurial mind in Gregg Fraley. Also, Mike Davis, a.k.a. "The Global Citizen" has been laying down some quality v-logs on how he is starting a business from concept to operations, or "Notion to Motion". I look forward to it every day.

I'm working on two steady freelance project as well. One is building a website that revolves around early career advice. Great concept. Another is SEO writing. Both are through oDesk.com.

At the end of every day I think about how much I want to work for myself full time. Last night I had a conversation with an entrepreneur who said, "you know how people say you'll need 6 months of income to support yourself as you start a business? Make it 3 years of income instead." Basically he meant that you'll need time AND money to make great things happen. I have time, and I'm working on the money part as hard as I can.

Hopefully after the holidays I can get back to saving. Gift buying/receiving is one of my least favorite things to do, but I go along with it. It's one of the few ways I can really show I care about certain individuals. There are other ways, but I can only make people food or sing them a song so many times.

The condo front is still creeping along. I have several friends, mostly couples who own a house or condo. They're convinced I won't find what I'm looking for in my price range of $25,000 to $70,000 in Worcester, but I say foey to them! I think the bottom has yet to be seen and I'm crossing my fingers that when the bottom does come, I'll have the credit and down payment to snatch up a home of my own. Until then I refuse to hop on anything unless it's damn near perfect.

Will 2009 be the year of the reclusive, industrious James in spite of all this economic turmoil? I say "screw it!" Why sit and worry about the economy. Just keep working and creating as long as you're creative.

On a side note, my sister took Albie the cat back to the shelter yesterday. He was sick and simply un-trainable in regards to getting him in the litter box. The Vet said he probably has something wrong with him and that they're unsure of his background because he was a stray and only stayed in the shelter two days before I took him home. I hope whatever is ailing him is fixable and that he finds a good home eventually. As for my quest with for a cat, I have six months to pick any other from the same shelter. Right now I'm going to focus on getting all the cat pee smells out of my apartment first, then I'll worry about being a foster parent to a feline again. I'll be sure to pick more carefully next time, for sure.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Two out of my three cats have spraying problems (yes, completely different from peeing problems, as it is a behavioral issue rather than a litter box issue). And lord almighty, that smell is the toughest thing to get rid of.

Gregg Fraley said...

Thanks for mentioning Jack's Notebook in your blog JR, and best wishes moving forward with your various endeavors. I like that you mention creativity later in your post, because that's the antidote to all those things in your unpublished "I hate this..." blog. You and so many young people have daunting challenges, and, these are particularly tough times. And yet, what better time to reinvent -- your business, your career, your personal life. If you can do it now think of how good things will be when prosperity returns.

Work that notebook! Be in constant ideation mode around your challenges. Things will pop for you, I guarantee it.