Let’s get something really, really clear.  I hate NAMBLA.  HATE.  (I won’t link, google if you must know what that horrible organization is and does).

I also hate HATE the KKK.  Of the organizations they are 1 and 1a in terms of “totally evil, but sadly, must be legal.”  That whole libertarian streak

I’m going to use these vile organizations to help me lose weight.  Stay with me here, I know it’s a stretch.

How To Use People You Hate For Goals You Want:

I’ve been in an accountability group for a while.  I’ve been focusing on selling 100 blogs.  That goal is on pace.   The one that’s not, though…I’ve gone through it in fits and starts, and it’s been an interesting journey for me.  Right now, I’m trying to lose 40# in 100 days.  About 40 days in, and I’m only down about 9 net pounds, and all of that was from a couple of weekends.   I’m doing better-but-not-great at the dinner table.  I’m doing badly at getting to the gym.  Flat out badly.  I need to work out more.  Nothing has worked–my intentions are good…but between sleep training Ruby and everything else, I’m just not making it.  So let’s fix it with something that MUST work.

So, I had an idea.  What if a kitten would die if I didn’t work out.  Sadly, both PETA and I agree with the premise that kittens shouldn’t die if I don’t work out.

So, I had another idea: what if I lost money from not working out.  (Note: when you’re less attractive, you lose money)  So I wrote out a check to a few friends, and told  them the score:  I don’t work out, they cash the check. Still, it doesn’t have the STING that I want.  Because I’m helping friends out.  And it’s a perverse incentive.

So, I thought: first, time I miss the gym it’s a warning.  I get a check written out to a couple of friends and they cash it.  The SECOND time.

Well, let’s just say that I become the Grand Wizard of NAMBLA.

So, 4 checks.  All with instructions: Cash this if I don’t prove that I got to the gym.  First check goes to my friends.  The second check?  That goes to NAMBLA or the KKK.

They BETTER do it.  Phil?  Jesse?   Counting on you.  They’ve been sent SASEs.  I gotta go to the gym man.

I’ll probably up the ante a little bit and make a picture of my ‘food diary’ become necessary.

Anyway, the rule is this: I gotta prove that I was at the gym, or these puppies get cashed.

I gotta do this  till October 1st…then the checks I will void.

Bottom line: I get one day off a week, either Friday or Sunday, but not both.  I’ve got to post a video by 1am the next morning on Youtube proving that I was at the gym.  I don’t know of a practical way to prove a workout, but this is good.  I’ll also be taking a picture of what I ate and putting it here.  All this is in the sidebar to the right.  Please subscribe.   Rat me out.  I’m tired of the excuses.

My Gym is urban active, and here’s the first video I got:

These little accountability videos will show up in the side bar.  I’ll do the vids with my crappy Blackberry.  I would rather have a PXL 2000, but this will do.  Join me at http://www.youtube.com/user/accountachris to track my progress and encourage me not to deal become the Grand Wizard of Nambla.

Oh, also: if I go to run at the woods, that counts, too, but I gotta find a stranger to say what day it is and go on video.  Should be fun.

Fight Racism: Encourage Me To Get To The Gym.

I made a badge since Ryan wanted one.

Not to be vague, but I’ve battled the IRS for a while now.

That is to say, I’m not fully in compliance and I have a mid-five figure balance.  Right now, I’m making income.  Right now my blogs are getting things done, and my blogs are selling.  I’m punching my way out, and I’ve put together a few eggs.

But, those eggs, see, they made me nervous.  The new revenue officer has found some dough.

And I spent most of Thursday trying to figure out how to hide what I had.  Take it out, put it in a safe, whatever.  It’s appocolypse money, trade for silver and gold money, yano?

Well, the novel idea struck me:  I owe more than I have.  Why not just embrase the worst possible thing.  They get my money.  Not like they’re not getting it anyway.  So what.

Now, I can earn it all back.  Now, my balance with the IRS is less than 20k.  Now, I can earn that in a month, AND support my family.  Now, I’m free because they ain’t comin’ after it.  There’s nothing for them to take.  I put my faith in God, if you will, and cast my lot with my ability to outhustle the collapse.

Because, kids, let’s face it, the silver, the little I got ain’t gonna be jack.  Getting levied?  Who cares.  Bring it on.  Doesn’t matter.

I can earn my way out of anything in the world.

I can solve any problem because I’m not a victim.

So what do you fear?  What’s the worst thing that cam happen?  If the economy gets bad, fast, what then?  Chances are, you’re making excuses by worrying too hard.

More soon, man.  More to come.  But take your punches, don’t avioid ‘em.  Chances are they won’t hurt that bad, and the mental worst case scenario is worse than the actual one.

This will be a quick Friday night post, hopefully.   My favorite band is the Smashing Pumpkins.  Big margin there.   Billy Corgan is a world class badass that has the stones to sneer at Oasis, and to sing about love and to crash the guitar, and to force every male emotion out through a nasal whine that sounds about as much like bagpipes as it does like a rock singer.   I love the music, the overblown bloated narcissism, the dreams, the ideas that everything matters.    The first three records, and the Aeroplane boxed set had so much passion and nerve and fire.   It was the music I went to school to, the music playing when I kissed girls, and the music that was scratched into my soul.   I hear the Pumpkins and I’m back in DC, back in Pittsburgh, back scheming to get a girl to come over and make me her happy victim.

I’ll never stop liking the Pumpkins.  Even today’s stuff has the desperate whine, the plea to make things better that’s always there, always audible and the hope for a better world and a better place.   Kurt Cobain was anointed the spokesperson of Generation X, but it was really Billy that made the difference, Billy Corgan that was the most like Generation X.  Maybe he wanted to die, but he didn’t quite have the guts to burn himself up.  Who knows.   But in every song, then and now, there’s passion.

It feels amazing, to listen to that music, every time. My angel wings….

Another band–the Killers–looked to take a real shot with their first record. I heard it and thought “who the hell is that,” a when they first came out. Mister Brightside had it. The way I felt when I was 24, and I was sweating every girl. I wanted to hoard all of the affection around me, it was never ever, ever enough. I wanted every kiss from anyone, and that song, painted that picture perfectly. Here it is:

It feels like 24. That was a good start. But then, something went awry with the newest (terrible) record. You take your passion, and get all entitled making shitty quotes about how it was time for U2 to hang it up. Not focusing on channeling the passion, and they come out with forgettable mediocre & passionless drivel like this:

Boring. Tedious. Rich placated rockstar that can’t find something to care about. Talented, sure, but he’s just diddling around with it. He’s gone all adult contemporary on us, and because he’s the “it” band right now, nobody’s gonna tell him. The Anfernee Hardaway to Michael Jordan. He doesn’t even give a crap about what he’s singing, only whimpering about his place on the rock charts and who’s giving him his props. Maybe some critics were impressed, but this was skillful and soulles music.

What I want to know: What are you passionate about? What will you STAY passionate about so you don’t turn in an “Are We Human,” trite performance. What burns so bright in you you can’t wait to change it? That’s what you should be doing, if you got the skill. That’s where you need to be.

I’m declaring December 1st, 2008, January First 2009. Stay with me here.  I want 2009 to be a blast, an incredible year.  And I know that things are going to be difficult, but I still want this to be the best possible year for me.   So I’m starting early.  I’m not going to have a listless december and watch ANYTHING happen.  I’ll take new business, I’ll wrap up outstanding stuff.

I now have a budget that matters–I’ll make my own peak experiences. That will come easily enough–getting through this year.  I don’t have an ‘income goal’ per se–I must have money to make my life right, and I’ll simply have it.  $43k left to retire my debt is necessary and definitely useful.

You can’t have a life of splendor without intensity, and you can’t have a life of splendor if you permit the cancer of mediocrity to be in any part of your life.  I need to focus.

That puts my total income need at…$110k for 2009.  I won’t settle for a penny less.  But there’s good news:  I love what I’m doing.  Love it.  I don’t get tired.  I wake up at 5 with bursts of energy.  So, I can do this.  IF I make just under $10k/month…I get to live something damn close to DreamLife.  (9166.67) to take out of the business.   I can do that–that could be 6 blogs a month, which I could certainly do.   I know I’ll have income from several sources.  Having $9166.67/month to hit EVERYTHING (budget + taxes + debt retirement) is pretty slick.  I need to have a WAY better cash position.  I guess I need about $25k/cash to play right at this table.

…
I know I need to bid, finish and bill on gigs to make this happen, and I’ve covered how to do that before.  I just know the number I need to hit.

And in December?  I’m going to hit $12,000 net net net to me.

But really, enough money stuff.  Money is oxygen.  I need it to live, but it’s not the purpose of life.    It’s on the hierarchy, but again, who

I’ll track it though…and make some basic things to track money stuf.
…

I have 4 planned ebooks in 2008/2009 that I’ve got in various stages:

1. The Loan Officer Bailout Plan:
   1. Working with Realtors
   2. Working with social media
   3. Restoring Trust
2. The Compleat Sociopath:
3. F–ktherapy.Com (drops next week, kids, it’s a title shot)
4. white paper:  Switching to FreeLance.

1,2 & 3 are for sale.  #4 is going to be how I did & am it, free for all.

They are in basecamp, outlined and orgainized (except for #4, that’s my gift to the world…such as it is).
…
Additionally, I have to do rewrite Subprime.  That’s 92,000 quality words due by 3/15/09.  Not as big and nasty as it sounds becaue the bones are pretty good.  It reads well, I just need to brighten up the colors.

As the rewrite takes place I need to secure the correct agent.  That will take till June 1st, and I’ll make it happen.  I know that if my submission merely waits in line, it won’t happen.   I also know that I can annoy the hell out of those folks.   But, I can take a middle path: I can give value first, & get noticed.  Simple.  I’m stalking 5 agents.  I know what they’ve sold.  I know who I want to represent me, and I know what THEY need.  And I’m helping.    If I have till 3/15/09 to do 92-94k words…then that means that I’ve got to write…94k words in 112 calendar days.

That’s going to be far fewer WORKING days–but still.
…

Right now, I’m working to get to 175 # (en route to 159).   I have reason to believe that through all my flailing fits and starts I’ll get there this time.   Why?  Because of where I’ve already been.  I’ve lost a ton of weight as it is.  And by March 1, 09, I’ll be 175#.

My basic plan is to do about 450 minutes of cardio a week, and do an intense weight training schedule (lifting 5 days/week).   Working so far, well enough at least.   That goal is truly the most important to me–I could fail everywhere, and if I finish 09 @ 175#, I’ll probably be happy.
…

That’s pretty much it.  Those are the big goals and dreams that matter to me, so Mark, there you have it.  The big dream list.

To get there, I need to create a spreadsheet again.  I talked about this once before, recently.  I’m paring it down:
…

What I’ll Be Tracking:

% of weight lost vs. goal, what pace I should be on, etc.    (LBS lost, % to goal).   We’re gonna call it a 50# goal, baby…for now.  I’ll need to lose more, but we’ll go with 50# in 98 days.   That’ll get me friggin’ close.  Again: this goal is it.  If I don’t recreate my body, it’s a failed year.  Really.   That’s not overstating it at all, the way I look is a symbol.  I don’t have any doubt–none–that this will be the easiest goal this year.

1. Weight (will do calculations automatically)
   1. % to goal
   2. On pace for
   3. Should weigh:
2. Cardio Minutes Done:
3. Workouts Done:

Income earned (actual) % of pace, etc.   I’m going to through December’s income in with 2009′s, because I want a head start on the new year.  Consequently, I’m going to have till December 1, 09 to get to my goal.

1. Contacts Made
2. Database Adds
3. Bids Outstanding.
4. Bids Accepted
5. Bids Collected.
6. $ Earned.

Subprime Words ReWritten: There is a goal of 95k +/- 5k.  The ending and beginning have to be perfected.   (Subprime is mostly about men and women–the idiotic way we choose to pair off, simultaneously taking sex too seriously and too frivolously, making it a goal and a curse at the same time.   The backdrop is the low rent folks that made up the industry).  This will have a goal over a period of time.

I’m not going to think ‘survival’ anymore as a goal. Being the near prison bitch of the IRS for a couple of years can (at the least) take some of the color and flavor out of your life which then bleeds into your dreams. When your dreams discolor, then we have problems. Big ones. I went from world conquest to paying the mortgage. Nobody would run through a wall to pay a mortgage. Sometimes dreams are fantasies, but you gotta get after ‘em, even so. You’ve gotta keep pretending, thinking, being, living, and sucking every drop of joy you can get out of whatever time we’re here.

You can’t dream when things aren’t working, when you’re negotiating with the electric company for one more day, when you’re anxious about everything that exists. You can’t dream and you seek the psuedosafety of a steady job. Nothing wrong with a job, but if you’re not pursuing the highest, most and best-est, you’re not doing yourself.

I was miserable as a lender. My generally upbeat demeanor hid the fact that doing that job was no fun for me. The income in the FIRE industries comes from being able to absorb other peoples’ money stresses. I got no problem with Lenders, just wasn’t my personality. Was a business guy, a creator, a provocateur, a writer, and other stuff. Like closing deals, making deals, floating proposals. Love cold calling. Love it with all my heart, and I love the predictability that it creates. But I felt like if I had a ridiculously steady job and a ridiculously steady income that lending provided. How can you leave? How can you take a flight of fancy? What do you do to exist in the mean time?

If you’re not into your job, baby, no steady paycheck’s gonna help. You can’t buy your soul back, you can’t do anything about it when you let it slip. My situation was made easier by the fact that the first X of each paycheck was sucked out. Talk futility? Talk about a guy that closed a lot of deals in the heart of the meltdown, and still had no money coming in. September of 07, I think I was 60% of the office revenue, and my net check was under $1900 bucks for the month, post beatdown. I needed somthing close to 1.5mm a month just to get a check.

The theft I was enduring killed my big dreams, and the really big dreams had been bought off by the promise and reality of the easy-money-in-the-housing boom. I wonder how much talent was bribed into douchebaggery by the subprime boom, and how much more is being bribed into douchebaggery by the rest. Nothing is going to make any of it work for you. Don’t dream small. The biggest mistake I made in life was not following what I was destined and supposed to be (a close 1a to that is taking life advice from muddle brained mediocrities).

Will smith said that creating a “plan b” creates the NEED for a “plan b.” He’s right. You have to cut the cord, and take a title shot.

Dream big. Create in your mind a perfect life, and make it happen. Impose your will on the world, and declare war on anyone that’s going to distract you or stop you. Make better friends, and pursue the highest course you can. Pursue splendor, and don’t allow anything to take you off course.

First of all, Larry, Serge, way to be a gangster.  You’ve got way more info about me than the IRS does, and for that I applaud you.   Across your servers pass my dreams and hopes, and god love it if I don’t know enough about your privacy.  Second of all, this will be reworked for BHB or Lenderama soon.

Still, I trust you for the most part, for the time being, and so I am giving you even more information about me.

All your life life is about metrics:  how many days, how many shots of adrenaline, how many kisses, how much breath, how many thrills, how many tears and how you felt about it all.   And anytime you want to hit a goal, most of the time you can measure it with metrics.

How much weight do you want to lose?  ~Calories Burned + Calories In = Weight (YMMV).

How much business do you want to do: (attempts–>marketing touches–>responses—>conversion %)

Anyway, the gorgeous thing about Gdocs is that the ‘fill out a form,’ function is stupid simple.  And what I want to do (create a kickass bourse for small projects and elite freelancers) is easily measured.   How many projects did I get, how many ppl. did I pitch, how many blog posts did I make?

So again, since the ‘fill in a form’ function makes things easy, and since I know, more or less what I want to do.  Now, I’m not going back into Mike Ferry-douchebag land.  That land is for some people, and I appreciate the standard of excellence, but I’m not making the commitment to lifestyle, and overhead and materialism that that stuff does.

Since I’m creating my life, I can choose, right?  SO I’ll put together a doc that has:

1. Time I woke up (I’m not consistent–I don’t really care what time I get up, but I care what I do when I get up.  scratch that.  I want to be up by 7am, but I don’t need to get up at the BCD anymore)
2. Writing done/measured
   
   1. Morning pages  [discrete yes/no, should be 75% or better, averages s700 words]
      
   2. Subprime (a novel, yes, a novel…want to write ~650 words a day.)
      
   3. FT (next and nifty project…want to finish 2 essays a day)
      1. This will require some serious sales/promotion time in about 3 weeks.  Kick
         
   4. GCB:  I like to have something ready for semi-public consumption once a day.
      
   5. FT Blog Post
      
   6. Other Blog Posts:  I blog at a number of places and I want to blog 3x weekly around.  (I used to wish to blog 4x weekly).
      
   7. OPB:  (I am a ghost blogger, and I must write for them in the morning or the snakes get out from my desk and run loose)
3. RRN marketing tasks (I am passionate about processes.  always have had an operations bias.   RRN gives me the chance to address that:
   1. First sales call made by:
   2. Leads generated
   3. RRN Blog post written
   4. RRN promotion done
      1. (this needs some love)
         
   5. Projects Quoted
   6. Projects Accepted
   7. Projects Completed:
      
   8. $$ Collected
4. Exercise:
   1. calories in
   2. Calories out
   3. Weight (yes virginia, I gotta post)
      
   4. Cardio
   5. resistance)
   6. Reading Done (pages).

Now:  Because GDocs can be a damn simple form, I can do this really quickly.   docs.google.com fill in a form.    I create 180-200 columns and have the end sum them up.  Each time I fill in a new form it appends a column, so what I’d be able todo this pretty easily; if I got my exercise done, it’d append to one, etc.   The forms can all live on a PWD protected WP page that can be my “dashboard,” and I can make a public dashboard so I can be held accountable for my progress.

Since my blog is a thesis blog, I can put the code in the top right-hand sidebar and have it look semi attractive.

Next thing:  I make them all add to a column with 60 or so days.  I column sum it/divide it by days.   I can see what %% I’m done, etc, pretty easily.  This can be a kicking way to do numbers analysis and Opt Out of the meltdown.
The next thing that I need to add is some sort of ‘days past’ mechanism so I can know what pace I’m on.

So i’ll see:

Sub prime words:  700  goal 21,000:  pace :  24000: % etc.

Not hard.

I love freelancers.   I love the idea that someone can say, “I’m not gonna be a corporate douchebag.  I’m going to do the work I love on my terms."   I love freelancers.   I love the people that want to create, invent, propel, and are fearlessly going against the grain.   I love freelancers.  I love it that there are more and more of them each day.   That more people are getting setup to fuel dreams, and pursue their muse.   Sure, there are still corporate jobs to be had out there, but why?  The big thing about 2.0 is that it’s an object lesson in how easy things are.

But freelancers have enemies.  It’s uncomfortable for middle managers to have to deal with preternaturally competent generation Yers that have figured out how to make a name for themselves.   The same efficiencies that cloudware uses to set us all free is now also being used to throttle, harness and crush the spirit of freelancers. 

Of course, I’m talking about Odesk. 

To ruthlessly commodities freelancers seems to those with little imagination that it’s a mitigating risk.   By having controls (random iterated screenshots, strict hourly pricing, a one way-street ratings system), first glance seems to make it appear that you are  going to ensure quality.

But it’s not the case.   As Issac Kelly said, "God, it’s like dealing with people you got away from work to begin with."   A level of corporate control, another attempt at making us docile and obedient lambs.

Do you really, for a second, think that ANYONE is going to do their best work when subjected to per minute billing & strict hourly controls?   No.  You’re basically ensuring some sort of mediocrity with this system.  And I guess mediocrity is normal& it seems safe.  

My big question is this:  Why would an employer want to hire someone that is willing to subject themselves to this sort of thing for anything but "oil change" level work?   Where is the humanity and connection between people?   Where is the comradery & charm of engaging as equals?   You’re not getting the best or the brightest, and then neophytes are going to think that that’s what the world of freelancing is, a race to the bottom.

I want Odesk to fail.  AND to make them fail, I’m going to offer something better really, really soon.

Premium freelancers, premium prices & short projects.  The fact that 2.0 allows us to be radically decentralized and to create an organization out of nothing works in my favor.  The fact that Odesk has taken the "just like employees," position works in my favor. 

I’m going to make a big damn bourse for freelancers, and I’m going to make it the best thing that has ever been. 

Because as a nation of independent, hardscrabble farmers, America kicked ass.  As a nation of employees, we’re getting our clocks cleaned.  Let’s clam for ourselves the freedom & independence to work as equals, to work with honor and not some code.

Odesk is a nightmare for Freelancers, and an affront to the entire movement.  No self respecting freelancer should touch them with a ten foot pole.  Let that place be the province of hacks and amateurs. 

I’ll find the work for all of you, I’ll get you paid what you’re worth, and I’ll make all of us rich in the process.   I’ll be blogging about this as it takes shape, but it’s surprisingly concrete and specific in my head what I need to do, and how I’m going to do it.   I am glad someone showed me what Odesk is because it’s everything that I’m not.

It’s not really happened to me before at any point.  I’m not an ‘at work sociopath,’ but I haven’t ever felt the stifling overwhelm that I do right now.   Haven’t felt work related stress in a long time.  It’s ‘uncoool’ or ‘non deterministic’ or something to feel like there is a lot to do, but there is a lot to do.

Some of it is in the new gig I took as finance director for Robert Owens For Ohio Attorney General http://owens2008.com.  That is a massive job—raising money for a (really good) third party candidate.  Some of it is doing stuff for HREU and some of it is doing stuff at http://loanofficersurvivaltraining.com.   Some still is GenuineWife’s class schedule which has me one-on-one with the kids four evenings a week.  My friend Jeremiah talked about overwhelm and at the time I couldn’t relate.   It’s not happened to me—even though I’ve stared down some massive failure, I have never felt out of sorts about it. 

Boy.  That changes. 

I feel like a computer that has just been asked to open all of its programs at once while updating its drivers.   It’s not gonna run fast for a while, and progress is halting.  I have to make some changes—pare some stuff down, and further renegotiate some commitments.  I don’t know what to turn off and what to do, and I’ve never had the kind of withering indecision that I feel now.

I picked up Robert Greene’s ‘33 Strategies of War’ again the other day.  Strategy #1: Declare War On Your Enemies: The Polarity Strategy is what I need right now.  I am being gnawed by rats that I’ve created.  I’ve put too many little tethers on myself and almost everything that I think is mandatory is really optional.   My enemies are all that distracts me from what I want to do and be.   The little unfinished tasks and the little daily and weekly commitments.   Even GTD can’t help you if you’re ‘D’ ing the wrong ‘T’.  

And so stress accumulates.    I talked a little about it here, at Freelance Folder, how we need to fight a war on clutter—both mental and physical. 

I  not just DONE it, and pared down my roles to simple tasks, and gone to war.  I’ve been…well…trying to keep things clean and level.  I’ve been overly distractible.

Fighting a multi front war is tiring.  Having to sustain income for my family while chasing dreams and muses is…not a joke.  So I have to realize I’m in a war and throw myself into it.

I’m fighting a war for my soul.

I’m fighting a war.  There are many battles to manage, but to get to the next part of my life with my soul intact, there is a ton that I have to do, know be, think.   I have to be growing all the time and I have to challenge myself, but I have to also ensure that I get things done.  Get it?  I have to get ahead of the details, and master everything.  Or else i get gnawed on by Winston’s rats. 

Seriously.  If I let the details chew me up, I’m toast.  Useless to myself wife, kids.  Not having I have to not let that happen, fight the battles that I’m in, and choose the projects that matter to me.   I have to do it this way, because that’s who I am and what I do.  Armies can get destroyed by their inability to manage sickness of bring food to the front lines.    I can be killed by having the damn details get at me.

It’s time to go to war.

Fix/Sell/Close

When to quit vs. when to stick.

And–what do you do for money, and what do you do for love?

I’ve said it before: there is nothing that I adore inherently about the Real Estate/Mortgage business. I DO love the fact that it’s an awesome playground for entrepreneurs. I do love the fact that it is largely a meritocracy, and there are few barriers to entry. But I’m not a ‘born’ broker, not like Dan, and not like Brian. I love my customers and I love my Realtors. I love helping people, and I love testing and measuring marketing.

But the real truth? I like the mortgage business. Always have. I’ve never loved it. I’ve made a great income, but I’ve never been absolutely gung-ho about being a mortgage lender. I’ve never said that this is my career. I’ve held back. I never thought that it was the….”Highest and Best,” use of my time, energy and talent. I never thought that the mortgage (or real estate) business was the last job I’d ever have. Oh, it’s a perfect job in many respects. It’s a high income job that allows a lot of latitude over scheduling. But it’s not the end all and be all, never was.

We’re often embarrassed to say what our big damn dreams are. Our family members tell us to ‘be realistic,’ sometimes, and that’s not always good advice. If you are passionate about something–so much so that it feels like a privilege to work 18 hour days–it will be hard to keep you down. They call things ‘labors of love’ for a reason. You’d damn near do it for free, and wake up happy that there is a market (even one you’ve created) for what you are doing…and the minutes pass like seconds, and you can’t stop thinking of ways to get better, and you thank God for the opportunity that you have.

…or you wake up in your late 40′s crying about the chances that passed you by, and the fact that you never had the guts to take your shot. To give homage to April, you don’t want to be screaming out the window, “What about my prime, Mick? At least you had a prime! I had no prime, I had nothin’!!” Of course, not everyone finds themselves in work. The human impulse to define people by their work is too limiting. We all have different roles: I want to be a better imitator of Christ, a great Dad & Husband, a great friend, a good student and a good teacher…all before I want to be summarized by my job. The former roles that I want to apply the first fruits of my labor, and those are things I want to do with fervor and zeal…and yet it’s easy to get distracted by the urgent.

Road #1: Job as a Means to an End

Since it’s 100% ok to not be defined by your job, then it’s OK to have a job to fuel the rest of your life. If being a Real Estate Agent isn’t your calling, but there’s no stable market for hang gliding, using a Real Estate job to be a world class hang glider (or Dad, or whatever) is 100% OK. It’s never OK though to be engaged in an activity without doing it right, so even if you find yourself at Starbucks, do it right, do it well, and keep your mind turned on so you can do it better, and then leave it be so you can do what you want to do. I’d guess people in this role will still blog about their jobs, still do things for advocacy’s sake (the wonderful things you learn from Todd),

Before you think “I’d never sell out like that,” let me offer an example of the company you’re in. Bono is a “Job as means to an end,” guy. For him, being a Rock Star is a cool job, but it’s just a job at this point. He does everything that he can to keep it interesting, but he’s just leveraging the influence he has so that he is able to serve people and do what he feels is right to do. (And his passion also fuels his rock-star ness). There is no shortage of passion in Bono, he appeared on American Idol to get his message out, because his message is more important to him than anything else.

Road #2 Job as End

The other good road is having a “job as end route.” It looks like this: you find, or create, a job that is the best thing you could ever imagine doing, you do it well, and you share your knowledge of how to do it. If you would almost give up anything to be doing what you’re doing you’re in that role. You’ll acquire the tangential skills easily because they support you in your dream role. You’ll do the things that you need to do to become the world’s best whatever. Almost every activity–done as the best in the world–will support you at a six figure lifestyle. Even inane pursuits, like Poker or World of Warcraft create ridiculous incomes for people.

I’d betcha that Bruce Springsteen sees being a rock star as the highest, coolest and best use of his time. He seems like a guy that would still be playing clubs in Jersey and Philly for free, even if he never had been able to release “Born to Run.” He might have a day job somewhere, but he’d still have his hungry heart. He does an occasional turn as the ’cause guy,’ but for the most part, he’s digging his role as a rock star and couldn’t understand why he hell anyone would do any other job.

Most people take neither road, they take the mushy middle. “It pays good,” without really realizing that they are selling out, like Owen Wilson did. They live lives of ‘quiet desperation,’ Most people won’t have the guts to pursue any course with zeal and abandon. Most people take a job, and hope to find fulfillment without embracing any role that they have to any degree of meaningfulness. They are tepid, neither in or out of their jobs, lukewarm about everything that they (we) do.

Before GTD came into my life, there were some seriously daunting projects that I was so fearful of that I couldn’t start. It was a “where do you start, oh, you’ll never get it done…oh, it’s too much….” feeling.

Most of the time, GTD talks about next actions–what is the next thing that you’re doing, not EVERYTHING.

Below is an example of 10-14 hours of work, put down into simple chunks.
The Goal: To have a streamlined, uniform, scripted process for taking 1003 information from customers, and making it the best possible application; we want it to take 15-20 minutes at the most, collect all of the info we need…and set expectations for the customer.

Tasks:

1. Get an exhaustive list of stuff we want to collect.
   1. Borrower Info (kids, where they live. contact info)
      
   2. Res. History
   3. Work History
   4. Assets
   5. Income; get specific.
   6. Dealbreaker Questions (have you been self employed, how long have you been on title, how much do you weigh)
   7. FORD questions (family occupation rec. dreams
   8. Other Mackay 88 questions as they come up.
      
2. Get a “minimum” /starter list of stuff we want to collect for prequals.
   
3. Dealing with online aps: upgrading them to meet our standards.
   
4. Organize it in the order we want to collect it (prequal/then full ap)
   
5. Script it in the way we want to say it, in the order we want to say it.