Category: Random Thoughts (Page 3 of 4)

Apr 30, 2024

Since I last posted my websites were hacked, all three had malicious code but my primary website for my business was completely unusable.

I could be offering this as an excuse for not posting for two weeks – but the excuse is really only good for about a week of it. The other week was me being distracted.

But I’m really writing it to bitch about Hostgator – I should really do a real review. Anyway – they were worse than useless. When I called they sounded like they were going to be very helpful but when I said the site had been hacked and there was malicious code they let me know the team that handles that doesn’t work on weekends. Huh?? Is that like a joke – no seriously.

Not a joke. So I did some research found a new host and had all three sites migrated to a host that backs up daily – scans for malicious code 24/7 and helps if you do get hacked. A little more expensive but not really that bad. Anyway I chose SiteGround. I strongly recommend against Hostgator.

You know what they say “you get what you pay for”. I don’t happen to believe that but I do believe you don’t get what you don’t pay for.

April 12th, 2024

Well for the last 8 days I’ve been obsessed with getting my OKR’s (Objectives and Key Results if you’re not familiar with the terms) set up. I found yet another software that offers a free version for up to 5 users – after that you have to pay for 10 – at $9 per user per month. But it is even better the Cascade.

Their resources and training videos are amazing. And the clarity I’ve been able to establish about what I’m doing is – well I should be able to think of a better adjective – but for now just awesome.

In the meantime, I lost my 239 day streak in my journaling program. I use BigHugeLabs if you want to check it out. I was so shocked when I realized I’d missed a day. Especially because I was up at 3 am again – and usually the first thing I do is write.

At the same time I’m continuing my Reading Project – and since all of the books in this project are about measuring – I’ve just been immersed in this subject matter.

The 2nd software is called Perdoo. No idea what that means or stands for but – it is extremely well thought out. Cascade is great but Perdoo is better. Except so far in one respect – Cascade has a very simple process for connecting to Google Sheets for automatic updates – where Perdoo requires an add-on and an api key along with 3 pages of instructions. Not a fan.

I’m continuing to use them both for the moment until I get it figured out.

It’s not .. it’s about 4:30, but that was the first time I woke up this morning and asked Google for the time. Every morning right about 3 am I wake up.

Occasionally I can fall back asleep but most of the time I sleep for 10 minutes and wake up again. I find that “trying” to sleep just doesn’t work.

So, I get up and listen to videos I don’t have time for, and I read and I do this. The downside is by 8 am I’ll really want to sleep.

If I get lucky, I’ll have written something worth reading by then or read something worth writing about.

Sometimes I feel like an employee – I can hardly wait for Friday – today seems to be one of those days.

Nevertheless I listened to a terrific video this morning on strategy – something I struggle with. I get so hung up responding and replying and taking care of customers I forget I’m running a business.

I forget to think about what my output is really supposed to be. I forget to think about what I’m really trying to do. The Themed read I’m doing right now helps.

Here is the video 5 Mental Models to Think Like a Strategic Genius – I listened to it twice this morning, and I’ll listen to again tomorrow.

Day 8

March 27, 2024

It’s a concept I’ve been playing around with for years. Full disclosure it’s self diagnosed and very possibly total BS. It’s just as likely that I’m simply an undisciplined thinker.

My mind and my interests jump from one concept to the next incessantly. At the same time once I’m focused I can’t hear or see anything but what I’m doing.

When I had employees I would tell them “just because I appear to be looking at you while you’re talking doesn’t mean I’m hearing anything you say”. I wouldn’t listen to “but I told you” as an excuse or reason for anything. If it isn’t delivered to me in writing you may as well have filled a balloon with it and released it into the universe.

Thus the planning, and the tracking, and the spreadsheets and the OKR’s, mind maps, project planners, databases and the list goes on.

If I don’t really try hard to stay focused I’ll just spend the hours of my life responding and reacting and truly producing nothing of value.

And then the fear. Am I focused and measuring the right thing? Am I spending enough time planning, too much time planning. What has to be done today ? What can wait? What can I skip altogether? What should I skip altogether.

Okay, you get the idea. I’m not going to fight it, I’m leaning into it. Thus my current reading project on forecasting and measurement , which now includes 4 books. I added the book High Output Management. It’s been sitting in my shelves unread since 2012. I started it today and it seems to be a great book. Long sigh … I wish I’d have finished it the first time around.

Day 7

If we take care of the minutes, the years will take care of themselves.

Benjamin Franklin

Today is the beginning of the 13th week of 2024.

In Jan 2019 I read a book called The 12-Week Year. I came away from that read with several take-aways and intentions.

1. Read the book annually (not done)
2. Take every 13th week off to plan the next 12 weeks (not done)
3. Use their system, including time-blocking (not done)
4. Set 12-week goals rather than annual goals (done)

So here I am again, week 13. With another opportunity to execute on my intentions.

I intended, again to re-read the book in December – that’s when I came up with the Reading Project concept – and here we are then end of March – time flies, whether we’re having fun or not.

So today, I’ll begin my first re-read. I don’t feel like I can take the whole week off – that was a bit unrealistic – I no longer have employees – so there’s that. But I can take some time to do what I said I was going to do.

“It’s not what you know; it’s not even who you know; it’s what you implement that counts.”

Brian P. Moran, Michael Lennington, The 12 Week Year

Day 5